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Friday, July 20, 2007

Guess What I Did Yesterday?



Went to the Grizzlies game, had a few dollar beers, went to BJ's got smashed. Oh yeah, I got engaged. The date is 10/10/10.....but that might change. Shall we continue this party this weekend?

Tuesday, July 17, 2007

The Frank Castle of the Import Scene



Did you see it again for the the first time? Remember seeing that there trailer in a pre-9/11 2001? Oh how things were so much simpler back then. The Limp Bizkit song that actually worked with the trailer (again, nostalgia rears it's ugly head into that thought), the recently out of production Toyota Supra racing a Dodge Charger, that awesome crash at the end....looking at it now, it was destined to be a classic just from the trailer ( I mean, shit....it's one of those "In a world..." trailers!). And on June 22nd, it was released. And, as a direct result, within months the scene was dead in Fresno. "How can a film change things in the real world?" one might ask. This was one of the first times that I saw first hand the imprint film was capable of leaving in our real world. But overall, was it was a good or bad imprint? That's the question with this film. On one hand, the attention it brought onto the scene that was, ultimately, the cause of it's implosion. On the other, it was the fertilizer that caused it to bloom into the $257 billion dollar business it is now. Sellout? Perhaps. But it was going to go mainstream eventually. What I ponder is what if this wasn't the way it was supposed to happen. Think about it in terms of a musical artist. Would you rather be know for working hard out of your apartment putting out record after record, playing joints that only very few people had actually ever heard of, all before being signed to a major record label and then blowing up or would you take the instant fame that would be thrust upon you by winning a national contest such as American Idol? No training, no background, no history. Just bam! Your a star. Either way, the outcome is the same, but the means of getting to that point are vastly different. This film, as a whole and it's lasting effects, is not too different from what The Punisher does. Sure, he only kills bad guys, but killing is killing, right? Or is it okay in some instances? Well, this'll be up for debate for years to come but please, I'd like to hear your views on this anit-hero of a film that is TFATF! Because all in all, I'm just a filmmaker trying to make my own imprint in the real world, without having to resort to Frank Castle-type tactics. Or is that the path I should be taking with Blur?

Monday, July 2, 2007

Internets Gold (formerly Interweb Gold)



So geniune, so real. That's what makes this clip so good. The slight lisp is just icing on the cake. Enjoy!

Downtown: Can it be revived?


I'm fucken tired of this issue already. No one seems to care about downtown anymore and although it was all that our local politicians could talk about a couple of years ago, not much action has taken place. Poor Reza has his lofts going and I wish him the best with that venture but it seems like Autry and his gang have left him hanging with the whole matter. Housing is a good start but without further development, it's gonna be hard to convince people to live down there. But that's just me, maybe I don't know. Perhaps I'm just talking out my ass but I thought that people were really going to try to change things and build up. But nothing after what seems like forever. Oh well. One of the initial reasons I started to write "Blur" was to showcase downtown Fresno. I wanted it another character in my film. The stage for the actors. As I worked through the script over the years, it became central to many scenes and the centerstage for the climactic finale. It's sad that a ANY city's downtown is so similar to the dead of night that is found out in the middle of nowhere in the dead of night. Downtown Fresno is just like the track of yesteryear only without all the people. That's a horrible state for the city.