Monday, August 31, 2009

Rambo 5 is coming, but where is Over the Top 2???



It was announced today that Rambo 5 has been greenlit. Ageless wonder Sly Stallone is at it again! Stilll killing fools at age 62!

Variety says the storyline for R5 is about John Rambo fighting his way through human traffickers and drug lords to rescue a young girl abducted near the U.S.-Mexico border. How does Rambo solve human trafficking? By blowing mofos away with big guns and knives and then groaning with conflicted introspective agony!

I'm kind of annoyed that Sly is doing R5, mainly because this means that he has once again put off doing a sequel to Over the Top. WHEN ARE WE GOING TO GET OVER THE TOP 2? C'mon Sly, bring that back! Arm wrestling competitions are an ageless topic. Bring it back! We need to know what happened to Lincoln Hawk!

Saturday, August 29, 2009

Happy Birthday Michael Jackson


In honor of the King of Pop's birthday, here's a video of one of the greatest songs he ever wrote. This song had a HUGE impact on the WORLD back in the day. Big ups MJ (Lionel Richie and Quincy Jones helped put this track together, but still, MJ's on it)!

Also, in my humble opinion, MJ assembled quite possibly the GREATEST SUPERGROUP of all-time. Sure, Jay-Z can get Rihanna and Kanye to perform on a dope track, but MJ got EVERY great artist of his generation when "We Are the World" was recorded. EVERYONE.

To this day, I still understand how Dan Ackroyd got in this video, but big ups to him for the cameo.

Tuesday, August 25, 2009

I'm always a sucker for a film like this....



A friend and (Double Oh Three Productions collaborator) send this short film our way, about the big and small moments in life, all thrown into one clean film.

Sunday, August 23, 2009

Quentin Tarantino's Top 20 of the Last 17 Years

This is a repost from LA Weekly. I thought it was an interesting article:

Video: Quentin Tarantino's 20 Favorite Flicks of the Past 17 Years


When Ella Taylor asked
me to rename my top five films of all time, I tattled off the obvious titles. She then asked, "Any since the last 17 years?"

"In my top five?" I asked incredulously.

"Well, okay, top 10," she relented.

"Well, let me think about that."

And upon later reflection, I realized there was one movie released in the last 17 years that I love so much that, yes indeed, it could find its way onto that tough 10 list that constitutes the history of cinema.

That film would be the late Kinji Fukasaku's Japanese masterpiece, Battle Royale.

But upon singling out Battle Royale for all-time honor, I decided to list my top 20 films that came out in the last 17 years, 1992 to 2009. The only limitation I put on the films was they had to be able to withstand many viewings. So some great movies, like Mel Gibson's The Passion of the Christ and Apocalypto, didn't make it because I've only seen them once, and once was enough. Except for Battle Royale at the top spot, the others are listed alphabetically:

Battle Royale (Kinji Fukasaku)

Anything Else (Woody Allen)

Audition (Takashi Miike)

The Blade (Tsui Hark)

Boogie Nights (Paul Thomas Anderson)

Dazed and Confused (Richard Linklater)

Dogville (Lars von Trier)

Fight Club (David Fincher)

Friday (F. Gary Gray)

The Host (Joon-ho Bong)

The Insider (Michael Mann)

Joint Security Area (Chan-wook Park)

Lost in Translation (Sofia Coppola)

The Matrix (Andy Wachowski & Larry Wachowski)

Memories of Murder (Joon-ho Bong)

Police Story III (Supercop) (Stanley Tong)

Shaun of the Dead (Edgar Wright)

Speed (Jan de Bont)

Team America: World Police (Trey Parker)

Unbreakable (M. Night Shyamalan)

Right Said Fred Comeback....Really?



I get that people need to try and make a living, move forward w/ their careers, get a paycheck, etc., and that's cool, but wow. Wow. Wow. Right Said Fred back in the building? Really?

For a video named "Sexy Bum," there are a lot of unsexy bums throughout this video. It's like they made an omelet without cheese, ham, bacon, and veggies. They should rename the video "Bum."

If Right Said Fred is back, I wanna see Roxette, Martika, Nelson, and Warrant come back too. Bring everyone back. The KLF, the Divinyls, all them cats.

Wednesday, August 19, 2009

LA Food Story now in Post....

We finally wrapped production on our latest cinematic venture, LA Food Story. The shoot was dope, and now we gotta take care of business in post. Shout outs to the production crew and cast for doing their thang this past weekend. Also, big ups to all our vendors who helped us out.

Now let's make this happen, post-team!

Above is a cool publicity picture we took during the shoot.


Thursday, August 13, 2009

JCVD: Incredible

If you're not a Jean-Claude Van Damme fan, then you need to get on board this hot tamale train (SYTUCD reference). Jean-Claude Van Damme is simply incredible, and in JCVD, you'll see the great Jean-Claude like you've never seen him before! EXPOSED and UN-BELIEVABLE!

Bloodsport - epic. Kickboxer - classic. The one where he's a twin - Eddie Murphy like skill. The one w/ the hockey ring (Sudden Impact) - amazing. Double Team - Dennis Rodman. The Quest - sucked but not his fault. Jean-Claude is a national treasure (I'm adopting him from Belgium). And in his most daring role yet, Jean-Claude lays it all on the line in JCVD by playing HIMSELF in present time.

Vunerable, dynamic, self-effacing, honest, the high leg kick thing - Jean-Claude is all these things and more in his performance of himself. Quite possibly, his BEST performance ever/ very close to when he beat Chong Li in Bloodsport.

JCVD is so amazing that I don't even know how to describe this movie. I can't. You just have to watch it. The whole time I was like, "I'm watching a mad genius at work. In 10 years, I will understand what this movie meant to me. JCVD is ahead of its time."

Once you'll see it, you'll understand. However, I must say this:

WARNING: PLOT SPOILER ALERT

The JCVD monologue is one of the most AMAZING pieces of cinematic work I have ever seen! The monologue is unbelivable for so many reasons! It was like Leo holding Kate in Titanic esque in epicness. THE MONOLOGUE IS AMAZING!

Monday, August 10, 2009

G.I. Joe: The Rise of Movies That Shatter My Childhood Memories

Wow. I really can't even get into the specifics of this movie. I'm in so much pain right now. I mean, I didn't have high expectations, but man, I feel queasy.

Overall, G.I. Joe: The Rise of Pain in My Head.

Friday, August 7, 2009

G.I. Joe: A movie I will be sucked into watching. Why you gotta play on the nostalgia card?




Basically, studios are like, "Let's make a movie about every toy the 18-49 (more 18-34 really) year-old demo played with as a youth. We'll have big explosions, a big cast of random mis-matched celebrities, and film titles with a colon followed by an epic statement. No one will be able to resist us."

....You had me at big cast of random mis-matched celebrities.

I kind of hate myself for wanting to watch this movie, but it's G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra starring Dennis Quaid, Channing Tatum, Marlon Wayans, and Sienna Miller. How can I resist?

Wednesday, August 5, 2009

We're Forever Your Girl, Paula.




When New Kids became NKOTB. When MC Hammer released The Funky Headhunter "gangsta" album as "Hammer". When Full House added the second set of twins. When Fresh Prince switched out moms. These are the moments that changed history forever, and now we've come across the biggest turning point of the 21st century - The incredible Paula Abdul leaves Idol.

I won't get into the business aspects of the situation (i.e. contract issues, new contracts for the others, etc.), but the bottom line is Randy, Paula, and Simon are no more. (I know last season had four judges, which was like the experimental Saved By the Bell summer jobs at the Malibu Sands Hotel episodes, but Paula was still there).

Randy, Kara, and Simon just won't be the same. It won't. The three judge panel is nice cuz it gives Simon more air time. And yes, Kara has current street cred in the music industry, but she didn't sing Cold Hearted (/look into his eyes/oh no/he's been telling lies/ - genius). Cold Hearted, yo!

Paula IS American Idol. A girl from the Valley, turned unlikely Laker Girl, turned unlikely beloved late 80s/early 90s pop music icon. She was not the prototype pop star, but became a pop legend. She IS this show.

What will Paula say this week? What will she wear? When will be blow up on Simon? All that amazing, unpredictable, and overall Bill Walton-like judging will be gone. GONE. All that next-day water cooler talk is gone. Your entertaining judging will be missed, Paula.

Of course, Idol will still keep rolling strong financially, similar to Star Wars I, II, III, but it just ain't the same as the original (i.e. Star Wars episodes IV, V, VI). Simon's gonna need to carry the squad next season for awhile until the new three can gel as a group.

Don't leave, Paula! I don't want any Jar Jar Binks action next season.

Monday, August 3, 2009

(500) Days of Summer: Is no good movie safe from a "Chinese" family?

Warning: Contains specific references and possible plot spoilers.

First off, (500) Days of Summer is a buzz-worthy movie this season, and deservedly so. The film gives a realistic portrayal (through cool visual music-video esque devices) of recalling a relationship. (aka, your memories are all disjointed about some old dame, but then the shizz makes sense at the end.) Joseph Gordon-Levitt is gonna get mad love after this film, and indie-queen Zooey Deschanel does what she does best - Sing, wear vintage clothes, sport a bike helmet, and make you find it all endearing. Also, this film makes LA look good, which is always a plus.

However, I can't let this film off the hook with its Asian stereotype references. Hey, I like racial stereotypes like the next person, but when a movie only picks on Asians, I get a little defensive. Please correct me if I'm wrong, but Latinos, African-Americans, and basically anyone that isn't Asian is spared in this film racial humor wise.


Overall, the movie is somewhat stereotype free (that's cool), except when...
  • IKEA scene - Tom specifically states that a "Chinese family" is staring at them when they're on the bed. Why he gotta point that out? When you cut to the family, it would be obvious to anyone that it is a "Chinese family" being played by a Japanese mom, probably a Laotian dad, a Vietnamese kid, a Cambodian kid, and a Burmese kid. C'mon, so obvious. Didn't really need to state that in the dialogue. Showing a shocked family without that specific dialogue is perfectly fine and still funny.
  • Watching porno scene - Naturally, if you're gonna rent porn, you're gonna rent "Sweet and Shower." (See, sweet and sour is a Chinese food thing, so Sweet and Shower is porno Asian people humor funny.) Perfect opportunity to stereotype another race, but the filmmakers went Asian on this one, again. (Could've done "Smoke My Hookah" to throw a racial stereotype bone at the Persian communitiy).
  • Korean liquor owner scene - Fine, I'm being racial here assuming that the guy was Korean (could have been Vietnamese), and true, Asian guys do run a lot of liquor stores in LA. And yes, the scene was pretty straight forward. Tom was just buying some stuff. However, the Asian dude kind of overracted, and I just found that poor.
Overall, these moments don't distract you too much from your entire viewing experience, and you can't please everyone with racial humor, but yo, mix it up a little bit. Throw the Asians a bone here. Sun Yue just got cut from the Lakers and Yao Ming is out for the next year.


Saturday, August 1, 2009

5 Years So Far for Double Oh Three Productions

For the first entry of our new blog, we decided to take a look back at 5 years worth of our own independent filmmaking. We've been hanging in there, working hard for you, for 5 years now! During this time, we got an award-winning feature documentary self-distributed, several short films created, scripts written, and have had the opportunity to collaborate with many talented artists. Here's hoping for many, many more years of inspired filmmaking...

The Queen from Virginia: The Jackie Bong Wright Story





Go to Kenny

Go to Kenny Trailer from Double Oh Three Productions on Vimeo.



Break-up Therapy

Break-up Therapy from Double Oh Three Productions on Vimeo.



BPS


BPS from Double Oh Three Productions on Vimeo.



Mug for the Camera

Mug for the Camera from Double Oh Three Productions on Vimeo.