Mike Schiller - Film & Entertainment Blog

About the Stop Online Piracy Act and how it could damage the internet as we know it

2012-01-18T19:54:00.003-05:00

The Stop Online Piracy Act is the most dangerous piece of legislation contemplated by congress since the vote to declare war against Iraq. It poses a real threat to content providers and social networking sites, and if it passes, the internet as we know it will be completely and utterly destroyed. Here is a link to an article that tells you everything you need to know about this harmful and dangerous legislation:

http://gizmodo.com/5877000/what-is-sopa

Please contact lawmakers to tell them you oppose it:

http://www.whitehouse.gov

http://www.house.gov

http://www.senate.gov

Review: Rider & Shiloh Strong's short film "The Dungeon Master"

2011-11-20T12:39:00.008-05:00

This Friday I visited the Williamsburg Independent Film Festival to check out one of Rider & Shiloh Strong's latest short films, "The Dungeon Master". The screening was at the Indiescreen Cineclub in Brooklyn, by the waterfront. It was an interesting film venue, which had an upscale bar/restaurant/lounge downstairs from the theatre. "The Dungeon Master" was definitely the best film in the block of films that screened there.

The movie was written and directed by Rider and Shiloh. Rider's girlfriend Alex Barreto produced the film and made a cameo in the beginning of the film. The film also features a song by Chris Trapper, whose music also appeared in their short film "Irish Twins".

The movie opens with a bunch of guys discussing the fact that they used to play Dungeons And Dragons when they were kids. The decide that they should get together and play the game over a few beers. When they do get together, one of the guys said he found someone to play the dungeon master. When the doorbell rings, they are all suprised to see that their Dungeon master showed up wearing a cape, and talking in character as if he really believed himself to be a real-life dungeon master. The dungeon master won't drink any of the beer, and instead tries to get the guys to get into character and play the game in character as he narrates the game for them. The guys really weren't very into the game, and begin to complain that the dungeon master is too devoted to the rules and trying too hard to create a fantasy vibe and get everyone to pretend they are the characters they chose to play in the game. Eventually one guy gets up and begins to taunt the dungeon master for being so immersed in the game, and sticks a piece of barbequed chicken in his face and rubs barbecue sauce all over him. The dungeon master then flips out and begins to chant as if he were trying to cast a magical spell. Everyone suddenly wakes up in the middle of a field. Nearby is a straw hut. Suddenly they all realize they have been teleported to a magical realm.

I highly recommend this short film for its humour, quality acting & directing, and high production value. Rider and Shiloh Strong and Alex Barreto are reinventing the art of the short film with their creations in recent years. Rider and Shiloh currently have another short film touring film festivals, "Method", which they directed and produced, and Alex wrote the script and starred in it. Alex also recently produced a short film called "Good News Oklahoma". Last year she starred in a short film I saw, "Career Day". A few years ago, Rider and Shiloh wrote, directed, produced and starred in a short film masterpiece I saw, "Irish Twins". I am eager to see "Method", and I recommend others see it too.

Me at the Williamsburg Independent Film Festival:

Rider and Shiloh's website/blog:
http://strongbrothersmagicshow.com

The Dungeon Master:
http://thedungeonmastermovie.com

Method:
http://www.methodthemovie.com

The Dungeon Master on Facebook:
http://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Dungeon-Master/107579662654672

Method on Facebook:
http://www.facebook.com/Methodthemovie

Rider and Shiloh's graphic novel "Blood Merchant":
http://www.facebook.com/BloodMerchant?ref=ts

The Dungeon Master Trailer from The Strong Brothers on Vimeo.

Method Trailer from The Strong Brothers on Vimeo.

Help Lea Michele Stop Horse Carriages

2011-11-15T21:35:00.004-05:00

Horses in New York are held captive, against their will, and forced to do grueling, dangerous work all day. They are forced to pull carriages in the rain, in the snow, and amidst perilous city traffic. Some horses have died on the job. An actress named Lea Michele, who is currently on a hit TV show called Glee, has done a video about the subject. I am asking everyone who reads this to sign the petition to end horse carriages at www.stophorseabuse.com

Please also post the link to your Facebook and Twitter. If you post it on Twitter, also include this tag: #stophorsecarriages

Please watch this video of Lea Michele discussing this issue and tell your friends to do the same.

Alexandra Barreto's "Good News Oklahoma"

2011-10-24T19:06:00.005-04:00

The multi-talented Alexandra Barreto produced a new short film which is currently playing festivals across the nation. The movie is called "Good News Oklahoma". The movie is a comedy parodizing the way news programs are put together and the way they borrow techniques from Hollywood to put news stories together, to get higher ratings. The main character is a liberal who is fed up with the local media, and starts her own show. Already the film has won an award, it won Best Comedy Short in the Atlanta ShortsFest. The cast of "Good News Oklahoma" includes several actors: Sarayu Rao, David Crane, Valerie Azlynn, Marc Evan Jackson, John Lavelle, Peter Cilella, Kelly Sry, and Mark Irvingsen.

Alexandra Barreto also wrote and acted in another new movie called "Method" which was produced and directed by her boyfriend Rider Strong and his brother Shiloh Strong. That movie is also on tour wit screenings all around the country as well as another movie which Rider and Shiloh produced, directed and wrote called "The Dungeon Master".

"Good News Oklahoma" website:
http://www.goodnewsoklahoma.com

"Method" website:
http://www.methodthemovie.com

"The Dungeon Master" website:
http://thedungeonmastermovie.com

Here is the trailer for "Good News Oklahoma"

"Good News, Oklahoma!" Movie Trailer from Doug Hannah on Vimeo.

Here is the trailer for "Method"

Method Trailer from The Strong Brothers on Vimeo.

Here is the trailer for "The Dungeon Master"

The Dungeon Master Trailer from The Strong Brothers on Vimeo.

Kristanna Lokken's Love Orchard

2011-07-12T15:43:00.004-04:00

Kristanna Lokken, who starred in Terminator 3: Rise Of The Machines with Nick Stahl and Claire Danes and Arnold Schwarzenegger, has a new project she is doing where she is producing a film about the farm she grew up on. Her love of this wonderful beautiful apple farm rich with cute, adorable animals, has compelled and inspired her to make this personal and moving movie. This is her third foray into producing, as she produced Lime Salted Love in 2006, Darfur in 2009, and co-produced Painkiller Jane in 2007. In Love Orchard, she will be playing the lead role of Karen. Also starring in the movie is Patricia De Leon. Check out the movie websites for more info on this cool indie project Kristanna is self financing, and check Kristanna's twitter too: http://twitter.com/#!/LokenKristanna
Movie websites:
http://www.loveorchard.com
http://kristannaloken.net

Rider & Shiloh Strong's New Short Films

2011-05-20T16:55:00.008-04:00

Rider and Shiloh Strong have two new films out, one of which was written by Rider's girlfriend Alexandra Barreto. The first one, "Dungeon Master", which Rider and Shiloh wrote and directed and Alex produced, features roles by Adam Busch of the band Common Rotation (who also co-wrote the movie Drones with Amber Benson), Jason Marsden (Boy Meets World), Chris Wylde and Alexander Polinsky. The movie recently screened at Tribeca Film Festival and won Tribeca (Online) Film Festival Best Short Film. The film also won "Best Comedic Short" at the Sonoma International Film Festival. The movie will screen again May 27, 2011 9:30 PM at the Seattle International Film Festival. You can buy tickets here.

"Method" is a film written by Alex herself, and it is a comedy about the lengths actors will go to in order to get their portrayals of their characters on point. Scheduled screenings have yet to be announced. Rider and Shiloh directed it and photographer extraordinaire Mallory Morrison worked on the crew.

For the latest updates and info on future screenings, there are 3 websites and 2 facebook pages you can go to, Rider and Shiloh have a blog about their filmmaking exploits, plus both movies have websites and FB pages up. Also I have listed the FB page for Rider and Shiloh's new graphic novel "Blood Merchant" as well for those interested. Beneath these links are the trailers for both movies.

Rider and Shiloh's blog:
http://strongbrothersmagicshow.blogspot.com

The Dungeon Master:
http://thedungeonmastermovie.com

Method:
http://www.methodthemovie.com

The Dungeon Master on Facebook:
http://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Dungeon-Master/107579662654672

Method on Facebook:
http://www.facebook.com/Methodthemovie

Rider and Shiloh's graphic novel "Blood Merchant":
http://www.facebook.com/BloodMerchant?ref=ts

The Dungeon Master Trailer from The Strong Brothers on Vimeo.

Method Trailer from The Strong Brothers on Vimeo.

CW Picks up Thomas Dekker's new show "Secret Circle"

2011-05-19T22:19:00.005-04:00

Thomas Dekker (A Nightmare On Elm Street, Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles) will be starring in "Secret Circle", a new show just picked up by the CW network. Also starring in the show will be Britt Robertson. Kevin Williamson, co-creator of "The Vampire Diaries" and writer of "Scream 4", co-wrote it with Andrew Miller. It is based on the Allow books of the same name penned by L.J. Smith who also wrote "The Vampire Diaries". Alloy is the same publisher that handles the "Gossip Girl" book series. This is the sixth pilot CW has in its 2011 development roster. They have also picked up Sarah Michelle Gellar's (Cruel Intentions, Buffy The Vampire Slayer) pilot "Ringer" and Rachel Bilson's (Jumper) pilot "Hart Of Dixie". "Secret Circle" is about a witch who is part of a secret coven engaged in a battle between good and evil. The show will be a one hour drama series, the same format as Dekker's past TV series "Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles".

NYC Opening Kyle Gallner's new movie "Cherry"

2010-11-06T00:37:00.004-04:00

Tonight I went to the NYC opening of Kyle Gallner's new movie "Cherry". The event featured a Q&A with the directors as well as with one of Kyle's co-stars, Stephanie Venditto, and others who worked on the film. Also, one of the artists whose songs is part of the film soundtrack performed their song live for the audience.

Cherry is about a boy, played by Kyle (who was in A Nightmare On Elm Street with Thomas Dekker) who is starting out his first semester in college. He feels a little out of place there and he meets a girl, played by Laura Allen (she was in From Within. also with Thomas Dekker) in art class who wants to get to know him since she thinks he's really talented. He starts hanging out with her and goes with her one night to her house for her lasagna which she compares to sex. There Kyle meets her daughter, played by Brittany Robertson (who was also in From Within with Thomas Dekker). He starts to get to know both Laura and Brittany. Together, they all have dinner, then Kyle gets very very drunk while Laura holds and empty wine glass in her hand. The two girls dance together to latin music while Kyle watches, and then he begins to feel sick and vomits in the bathroom. He stays the night, but that night he realizes Laura is dating a cop and while Laura is overheard with the cop in the bedroom, Brittany walks out to where Kyle is sleeping, jumps on him and starts kissing him. He is shocked by this and throws her on the floor. Kyle begins to stay at their house regularly and one night he kisses Laura, but since she's already involved with someone she says it's not a good idea. Kyle begins to also hang out regularly with Brittany, who turns out to be a drug user, and Kyle has to watch her buying drugs from her dealer, and this makes Kyle uncomfortable because he doesn't know how Laura would feel. Brittany explains that Laura has, in the past, had substance abuse problems of her own. One night she and Kyle return to the house to find out the cop has proposed marriage to Laura. Brittany gets very upset and goes upstairs angrily, the cop goes upstairs to try and talk to her and she attacks him with a pen trying to stab him. He fights back and when Kyle and Laura hear the commotion and run upstairs they think he is attacking Brittany rather than vice versa. They try to stop him and he throws them off him while trying to fend off Brittany who is still attacking with the pen, and Laura tells him to get out of the house. That night, Laura and Kyle and Brittany all leave the house in the car and the cop is chasing them and they panic and drive faster and end up crashing. When Kyle's mom, played by Stephanie Venditto (House MD, Without A Trace) finds out she drives up to college along with her ex-husband to pack Kyle's things and try to make him drop out of college., threatening to defund his education. Kyle persuades them to meet Laura, and they agree to go to her house for dinner. This is when Stephanie has a virtual nervous breakdown and Laura starts drinking again. The cop shows up and Kyle makes him leave and Stephanie asks "What just happened?" and Laura tells her "Kyle just told a cop to F--K off!". Laura then begins to freak out and this results in an argument that ends in Stephanie slapping Laura. Kyle refuses to leave with Stephanie and stays with Laura instead. When Kyle ends up losing his virginity to Laura, she being drunk calls out someone else's name and hurts Kyle's feelings. Kyle said he wanted to make love to her and she was instead just having sex thinking of someone else. Kyle goes back to stay in his dorm, finishes his project for school where he wins the contest necessary to get his scholarship, and when he eventually decides to visit Laura again, he finds her and Brittany moving out to go live with the cop. This was a very moving movie with amazing performances by all the actors.

For more info on the movie visit:
http://www.cherrythemovie.com
http://www.facebook.com/CherryTheMovie

Here are photos of me at the screening:

Me with actress Stephanie Venditto:

Me at the NY opening of "Cherry"

Reviews: Jonathan Jackson & Nick Stahl in Kalamity; and Max Thieriot in My Soul To Take

2010-10-23T21:37:00.006-04:00

Last night I got complimentary tickets to a screening of Kalamity, a movie featuring lead roles by Jonathan Jackson of the music group Enation (he also was on Boy Meets World twice and played Kyle Reese on Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles), as well as Nick Stahl (Meskada, Terminator 3: Judgement Day). The other main lead was Christopher M. Clark, who played Jonathan's roommate and close friend. The movie begins with discussions about Jonathan's ex-girlfriend, played by Alona Tal. She's been missing, and Jonathan indicates that he hasn't gotten over her, but his discussions about her are also sketchy, it's obviously a sensitive topic that can get him angry and irrational. Nick tries to talk sense into Jonathan when this happens to calm him down and get him to be more rational about it, but his efforts don't seem to work. Nick's role is that of Jonathan's best friend. Nick's character is having issues of his own, as he has flashbacks constantly of the time he spent with his own girlfriend played by Beau Garrett. Nick is obsessing over his breakup with her, and having trouble sleeping. This makes it more difficult for Nick to realize that the things Jonathan is saying to him are increasingly psychotic and indicative that some serious issues are going on with him. Jonathan one night almost shoots a girl he knew from a bar but while she was driving home and only changed his mind because of something he overheard from her cell phone conversation distracting him. Then later he is talking to Christopher, and something angers Jonathan, so Jonathan punches Christopher so hard he knocks him unconscious and when Christopher falls to the ground his head hits the pavement and he is seriously injured and begins hemmoraging blood. Jonathan takes Christopher home and cleans the wound with dish soap and then leaves Christopher bleeding, instead of bringing him to the hospital. The next day, Jonathan claims to Nick that he will go to a trade show out of town, but in reality he is going to stalk Nick's ex girlfriend. Nick finds Christopher and takes him to the hospital to get stitches and then they realize that Jonathan would not be sent to a trade show, his employer would instead, so they know this was a lie and Nick calls Jonathan who lies again and talks a lot of cryptic psychobabble to try and confuse Nick about his whereabouts. When Jonathan finds Nick's ex-girlfriend and her new boyfriend, Jonathan lures them into the woods for a hiking trip and kills them both. While this is happening, Nick and Christopher find the dead body of Alona near where Alona and Jonathan used to go on their dates, thier "spot", and they know Jonathan killed her. When Jonathan gets back he finds his belongings out of place and realizes incriminating things have been found and moved, so he shoots Christopher and has a nervous breakdown. Nick arrives too late to save Christopher, and confronts Jonathan who confesses everything, and then Jonathan shoots himself to death.

For showtimes and tickets in NY visit
http://bit.ly/aV3b7C

For showtimes and tickets in LA visit
http://bit.ly/aqVbDI

To stay up to date about Kalamity join their Facebook page:
http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Kalamity/72198969249?v=info

http://www.kalamitymovie.com

For trailer:

I also recently went to see Max Thieriot's new movie "My Soul To Take" in 3-D. The movie is about the return of The Riverton Ripper, a dead serial killer with seven souls and only one of those souls was the killer. The serial killer was killed by police and on the day he died, the same number of kids was born as the number of souls the serial killer had, 7. Legend had it that those kids all were born with the different souls of the killer. Max Theiriot (Jumper) plays Bug, the lead character of the movie, one of the Riverton Seven, the children who were believed to have been born with the Ripper's souls. Every year the kids gather along the riverfront for a ritual where they talk about the legend that one year, on the day of the Ripper's death, the Ripper will rise from the river and kill the Riverton Seven, as he had vowed to do before he died. So each year the Riverton Seven challenge the Ripper to rise from his grave, as THEY vow to kill the Ripper if the Ripper ever returns.

On the night of thier latest gathering which is also their collective birthday party, Max is chosen to challenge the Ripper and he gets too terrified to finish the ritual. The other six of the Riverton Seven are played by Jeremy Chu, John Magaro, Denzel Whitaker, Nick Lashaway, Zena Gray, and Paulina Olszynski. Max's sister is played by Emily Meade. Max's sister runs around school spreading bad rumors about him, falsely accusing him of being a murderer, and telling her friends about his history in psychiatric institutions, which hurts Max's chances with the girls in school. His best friend is John Magaro's character, who helps him disrupt the class in what I would call the coolest scene in the movie. John dresses up in a Condor costume and Max begins a narrative about the life of the Condor as a class presentation. John runs around the room menacingly in the condor suit as Max loudly and terrifyingly boasts his knowledge of the Condor, warning the classmates about how deadly this bird can be. At the end of the lecture, John activates a contraption in the condor suit that causes fake vomit to spew out the beak onto Nick Lashaway who is also a class bully. Max is asked to leave the class. That day it becomes known that Jeremy was killed the night before while crossing the bridge. This is just the beginning. At one point John takes Max aside and asks Max if Max has ever killed anyone, and Max replies "Not that I can remember". This is the beginning of some serious self questioning for Max, who begins to wonder why his dreams are containing details related to the murders that are beginning to take place. As each of the riverton seven die, Max sees visions of them trying to give him clues, and Max doesn't know what to make of them. Also, Max is noticing that as they die, his mind begins to work faster and differently. Eventually it's clear that as each of the Riverton seven are brutally murdered, Max's body is absorbing thier souls and all their knowledge as well. Max tries to use this to help him figure out who the killer is... is it one of the Riverton Seven? Or did the Ripper never die in the first place and survive only to return to kill again all these years later? When I review movies, I usually like to write about the endings, but since this a whodunit mystery and not just a horror movie, I will not give away the identity of the killer. I will only say that up till the end of the movie Max was viewed by most as the most likely suspect, and what I will tell you is... Max was not the killer, even though he at times doubted his own innocence. Max was ultimately the hero of the movie. You'll have to see this movie to find out who the killer is and how the killer is stopped. This was one of the best horror movies I've ever seen, and I've seen quite a few of them. The entire cast's performances were top notch, though Max Thieriot stood out as the most talented of them, exhibiting his talent through a wide range of emotions not seen in many horror movies. A perfect Halloween movie for 2010.

For more information on this movie visit:
http://www.iamrogue.com/mysoultotake/site/index.html

Join the facebook page at:
http://www.facebook.com/mysoultotake

Thomas Dekker to perform live at special screenings of his movie All About Evil

2010-10-15T14:24:00.003-04:00

Thomas Dekker & The Evil Kids will be performing an unreleased song, live in concert, at special screenings of Thomas' movie All About Evil. Also appearing live will be other members of the cast including Nikita Ramsey, Ashley Fink, and Anthony Fitzgerald. These events will take place October 21st, 22nd, 23rd, & 24th, at the Victoria Theatre in San Francisco. Also performing live and hosting the night will be Peaches Christ and her crew. There will be additional surprises as well.

The movie is reviewed on this blog (see July 31st post). The movie features leads by Thomas Dekker (Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, From Within), and Natasha Lyonne (Party Monster, But I'm A Cheerleader).

For tickets, visit
http://store.peacheschrist.com/category/9-show-tickets.aspx

For more information visit:
http://www.allaboutevilthemovie.com

Here is the trailer:

The Social Network review + advance review of Katherine Heigl's movie "Life As We Know It"

2010-10-05T13:16:00.003-04:00

Yesterday I went to an advance screening of Katherine Heigl's (27 Dresses, Roswell) movie "Life As We Know It" at the AMC on Broadway and 68th St. I had seen 27 Dresses before, because James Marsden (Disturbing Behavior, Superman Returns) was in it. This movie follows the tradition of the classic romantic comedies of the 1990's. Katherine Heigl and Josh Duhamel (Transformers, The Romantics) play the leads who inherit their best friends' baby Sophie - even though the two of them are not married and didn't usually get along! The task of raising a child hadn't occurred to them before but they both realized this baby needed to be raised by someone who was already like family to her, so they decided to both move into their best friends' house and raise the baby together.

At first there is serious tension between them and they are not getting along. Josh Lucas (Poseidon, Sweet Home Alabama) plays a doctor who Katherine has been wanting to ask out on a date for a long time. She is so busy taking care of Sophie that she barely has time to meet up with Josh. They do get to go on one date to a nice restaurant. Josh Dumhamel also is having trouble with his past tradition of meeting hot girls and taking them home after one date. Eventually Katherine and Josh Duhammel spend more time together and begin doing things together and Katherine destroys Josh's motorcycle by accident and he says not to worry about it, a sign of how close they are getting. One night they decide to make marijuana brownies together and eat them, and they get high and end up in bed together. Trouble ensues when Josh Duhamel gets a job offer in another city, and Katherine gets angry when she finds out and she believes their whole relationship was a lie. Initally Josh moves and takes the new job, but after a fight on Thanksgiving, Katherine goes to the airport to stop Josh from leaving. Josh takes his car from the airport back home and waits for Katherine, and when she does he tells her his feelings and they live happily ever after.

The website for the movie is
http://lifeasweknowitmovie.warnerbros.com

The trailer is here:

After seeing Life As We Know It, I went downstairs and got a ticket for the Social Network, which I had been meaning to see. Jesse Eisenberg (Adventueland, Some Boys Don't Leave) plays Mark Zuckerberg, the co-founder of Facebook. The other co-founder, Eduardo Saverin, who started as the company's CFO, was played by Andrew Garfield (Lions For Lambs, Spider Man Reboot). Justin Timberlake plays Sean Parker, the founder of Napster who also played a major role in Facebook's transformation from a college dorm room project into a major corporation. A fact of interest is that Natalie Portman made significant contributions to the script of this movie, being that she too attended Harvard, the school where Facebook was founded.

The movie begins with scenes from mediation meetings between the lawyers of Cameron & Tyler Winklevoss, two Harvard Students who had asked Zuckerberg to build an elite dating website for Harvard Students. Instead Zuckerberg created Facebook, a social networking site intended to compel students to spend time checking out their friend's pages and sending emails to their friends asking them to join. Zuckerberg got the startup money from Saverin, who laid out $1,000 of his own money initially, and later contributed $19,000 while the company was supposed to be looking for advertisers and find funding. When Zuckerberg met Parker, Parker helps him expand Facebook to all 50 States, and gets him an additional investment worth $500,000, enough to expand Facebook to other continents. When they do this, they call Saverin, who has been in New York courting advertisers, to California. Zuckerberg and Parker fool him into signing contracts which take away his power at Facebook, and then later call him back to California asking him to sign more documents, which he then decides to read - and the contracts would've totally eliminated his shares in Facebook. This is when he decides to sue Zuckerberg. Soon after, there is an incident with Parker, who was throwing a party with interns from Facebook, where the police barge into the party to break it up and finds girls under 21 drinking with Parker who is also caught with cocaine. It is questioned in the movie whether Zuckerberg called the police to set the incident up, and it's also questioned whether Zuckerberg was involved with a media piece on Saverin accusing him of torturing chickens because he fed chicken meat to a chicken he was taking care of as a college fraternity ritual. There is no definitive answer in the movie as to whether Zuckerberg staged the bad press incidents with Saverin and Parker to push them out of the company. Andrew Garfield was at his usual best in the movie playing a compelling character who the audience sympathizes with. Eisenberg and Timberlake were excellent too. This is definitely one of the best movies I've seen in a while.

For more on The Social Network visit:
http://www.thesocialnetwork-movie.com

For the trailer:

New Meskada movie poster unveiled

2010-09-30T17:31:00.004-04:00

My friend Jen Gatien who is also the daughter of my first nightclub industry employer Peter Gatien, produced this new upcoming movie Meskada, which features leads by Nick Stahl and Kellan Lutz. Today they unveiled the new movie poster on their Facebook and Twitter:

And here is the trailer:

http://www.meskada.com
http://twitter.com/Meskada
http://www.facebook.com/MeskadaTheMovie

Blood Manor media preview party & anniversary gala

2010-09-28T12:26:00.009-04:00

Last night I went to a special VIP media preview party for Blood Manor, which also was celebrating its 6th Anniversary as NYC's premiere Haunted House. I had a great time. First there was the 7pm pre-party at Suzy Wong's, where they had a open bar provided by Stoli, with blood-themed mixed drink varieties which were created just for this event. I had about3 or 4 of them, they were so good, though they made it differently for me because I wanted it to be more cranberry juice and less vodka. Upon first entering Suzy Wong's a whole plethora of zombies and scary characters greeted me, they even had someone dressed as Freddy Krueger. The females were all dressed up to look like vampire zombies. All the zombies were covered in blood and eager to tell stories about "murders" they've committed or were planning. There was also a magician doing card tricks to entertain the guests. I had been to lots of Haunted Houses on Long Island, which were timid by comparison. Everyone knew to follow the zombies across the street at 8pm, and luckily it wasn't raining out when I walked over. Once inside Blood Manor, the zombies told us that normally photos aren't allowed but they will allow them just for this one night. What makes Blood Manor scarier than most haunted house attraction is the live actors they hired to jump out of unexpected corners and doorways, and they had them set up in torture chambers where they had some of the female zombies tied up and screaming for their lives, I was so scared during some parts of the tour that I huddled behind the Channel 11 news crew, trying to avoid anyone jumping out of the nowhere to scare me. I did get some pictures to give my readers an exclusive look at Blood Manor.

For more information on Blood Manor visit
http://www.bloodmanor.com
Blood Manor is located at 542 West 27th Street (between 10th & 11th Aves)
Very close to where Tunnel and Twilo used to be!

Photos of the Blood Manor Sixth Anniversary gala & media preview party:

Photos of Blood Manor:

Review: Drew Barrymore & Justin Long in Going The Distance

2010-09-15T17:54:00.003-04:00

This movie is one which I have to give a mixed review. Which isn't easy because Justin Long and Drew Barrymore were phenomenal in this movie, as was Christina Applegate. The movie also features a guest appearance by Gossip Girl's Leighton Meester in the opening scene. I promoted for the premiere of one of Justin Long's movies, Live Free Or Die Hard at Radio City Music Hall. He always does excellent movies. This one had a great and compelling plot. Justin and Drew meet in New York the night after Justin breaks up with Lieghton. The two share an immediate chemistry and start a relationship casually, calling their time together "hanging out" instead of dating. Initially Drew said she thought it would be a nice fling before going back to college on the West Coast. But the relationship gets serious enough by the time she's ready to leave that they decide to do a long distance relationship until college lets out. They have some trouble managing the long distance nature of the relationship but make due with text messages and internet video conferencing, which helped ease the pain of separation. Eventually Drew gets a job offer in California and tells Justin and he's upset and decides to end the relationship rather than have Drew miss out on the opportunity of her dreams to become a working writer. But then later Justin realizes he'd rather leave his job and go be with Drew so he romantically travels to see her in San Francisco and surprises her by showing up at a concert he sent her tickets for. The part of the movie I need to criticize is two problems with the casting of other leads in the film. Christina Applegate had to play the wife of a guy who was ugly, and this was totally inappropriate, an insult to Christina who has higher standards than that. The other part was a scene that would have been fine, a sex scene on the kitchen table with Drew and Justin naked together, this would've been very funny with just Christina walking in on them, because she is beautiful enough to be worthy of seeing what Justin and Drew look like naked. But the ugly "husband" of Christina's was sitting at the kitchen table and nobody noticed him until Christina turned the lights on, and this was upsetting because I don't see Justin or Drew as the type to take the idea of being seen naked together by somone so ugly- this is not something they would be okay with in real life. I don't know why that scene wasn't removed. Also, the roommate with the mustache was also ugly and I didn't like him hearing the details of Justin and Drew's sex life, that was offensive too. That said the rest of the movie centered around Justin and Drew and their beautiful time together and the romance of two lovers willing to wait months to see each other before waiting months again before they can see each other again, it's very romantic and showed the two characters as devoted to one another and the things they did to try and keep it interesting were really sweet and meaningful and romantic so the movie keeps the story of the couple alive and makes you care about the outcome, and the ending doesn't disappoint.

For trailer check it out:

For more information visit
http://going-the-distance.warnerbros.com

NY Model Mgmt Benefit for Redlight Children Foundation & Votre Vu Fashion Night Out

2010-09-12T15:08:00.012-04:00

They say a picture is worth a million words, so here are some photos from Votre Vu's Fashion Night Out and New York Model Management's Cover Girls For Change benefit for the Redlight Children Foundation. Both events were Friday, September 10th, 2010. I got to talk to the cast of the upcoming reality show The Perfect Housewives, and took a second to take a pic with Joan Rivers.

Me and Joan Rivers at Votre Vu's Fashion Night Out:

The cast of the upcoming reality show The Perfect Housewives at New York Model Management's Cover Girls For Change Benefit for Redlight Children Foundation:

Carol Ann, Michele Ann, and Barbra Lynn of "The Perfect Housewives"

Carol Ann of "The Perfect Housewives"

More photos from New York Model Management's Cover Girls For Change Benefit for Redlight Children Foundation:

Hayden Christensen's new movie "Takers"

2010-09-06T16:51:00.008-04:00

This weekend I went to see "Takers", which is the new Hayden Christensen movie. Christensen plays A.J., one of the Takers, and Matt Dillon plays Jack Wells, the main police officer in the film. The Takers are a team of sophisticated bank robbers, and a lot of the movie is very much like "The Italian Job" (2003 w/ Charlize Theron, Mark Wahlberg). The other takers are played by Paul Walker (plays John Rahway), Idris Elba (Gordon Jennings), Michael Ealy (Jake Attica), and Chris Brown (Jesse Attica). Tip Harris plays the role of Ghost, a former partner of the Takers who just got out of jail and claims to have a great job for them to pull off. The only problem is, Ghost is in leagues with Russian Mobsters who later are revealed to want all of the money for themselves. The job they have to pull is very much like the ending of The Italian Job, as they set out to rob 2 armored cars by bombing the street from underneath them. This is a film where there are multiple protagonists. The film compells the audience to care about Matt Dillon, as well as care about the Takers, despite the Takers being robbers and Matt Dillon being a cop. About half the storyline is devoted to Matt Dillon trying to find out who the Takers are and connect them to their most recent bank robbery where the cameras only caught them with their masks on. The other half the movie revolves around the Takers planning their next job, the job Ghost planned. They have the route the armored cars are taking, and they have the street map and the technology to access the traffic light system. The difference in this movie is that the armored car drivers are armed and they fight back with guns. This movie also sees many of its leads killed or injured, since it is later apparent that Ghost was playing the russians against the Takers to try and get them to kill each other off once the job is done. Ghost tells the russians where the Takers are hiding, and then locks the bathroom door and jumps out the window. The russians and the Takers get into a gun fight where Hayden's character dies, a scene that made me feel like crying. Then the Takers start to kill off many of the Russians, which is followed by all but two of the Takers dying, and the last two Takers do escape. They realize Ghost was behind this ambush, and find him at the airport ready to board an airplane with all the money. Another gunfight ensues and by this point Matt Dillon tracks them down, which is when Matt Dillon gets shot. Ghost finally gets killed at this point, and the two remaining Takers are able to make off with all the money. Although half the actors in the movie are african-american, this movie is not a hip hop movie. It is accessible to all audiences.

For more information & games visit the official website:
http://www.sonypictures.com/movies/takers/site/

Here is the trailer:

Before the feature film "Takers", one of the previews caught my eye. "My Soul To Take" is the new Wes Craven film, out October 8th, and it features an actor who has worked with Hayden in the past. In Hayden's 2008 movie Jumper, Max Thieriot played the younger David Rice (the later David was Hayden's character). He did an outstanding job and struck me as a great new talent who would has promising career potential. Now he is cast in the lead role of the latest Wes Craven (Scream, A Nightmare On Elm Street) movie. A movie I intend to see.

Here is the official website:
http://www.iamrogue.com/mysoultotake

Here is the trailer:

Also, September 13th is the season premiere of Season 4 of Gossip Girl. Here's a sneak peak:

Rider Strong in the new short film "Your Lucky Day"

2010-08-19T16:43:00.002-04:00

I was waiting for months to see this film which debuted at The Seattle International Film Festival earlier this year. Rider Strong plays the lead role in this film in which an old man who is a regular customer of a convenience store finds out his lotto ticket is a multi-million dollar winner. Rider is at first just there to shop, but he overhears this conversation, pulls out a gun, and demands the ticket. The old man resists and then a police officer who was also shopping in the store tries to intervene. He tries to shoot Rider but ends up killing the old man. Rider then shoots the police officer who then appears dead. In an effort to not have to kill everyone who remained in the store, Rider invites them all to share in the millions in exchange for the destruction of security tapes and invention of an alibi which everyone agrees to use. I will not give away the ending. The film in its entirety was posted onto the filmmaker's Vimeo page, so the video below is actually not a preview, but rather the film in its entirety. Enjoy!

Your Lucky Day from Dan on Vimeo.

Reviews: Zac Efron in "Charlie St Cloud"; plus Private Screening of Oksana Lada in "Crumble"

2010-08-09T19:11:00.004-04:00

Before I begin my reviews of "Charlie St Cloud" and "Crumble", I wanted to share some good news, Alex Barreto's short film "Career Day" won best short film at the New York International Latino Film Festival awards. Congratulations to Alex and Foe Killer Films on their award!

Today I finally went to see Charlie St. Cloud, which features Zac Efron (High School Musical) in the lead role alongside Charlie Tahan (who is also in Meskada, an upcoming movie produced by my friend Jen Gatien) and Amanda Crew (The Haunting In Connecticut). Zac Efron plays Charlie St. Cloud, and Charlie Tahan plays his brother, Sam St. Cloud. Charlie is a sailor who lives with his mother and brother. Sam is getting baseball lessons from Charlie because their mother can’t afford to pay for summer camp and the brothers make a pact to meet up at a certain time every day to practice throwing and catching a baseball. One night Charlie is ambushed by his brother as he is pulling out of the driveway. Sam convinces Charlie to give him a ride to a friend’s house to watch the baseball game on TV. As they drive down the road they joke around, and Charlie begins to have some trouble keeping an eye on the road. They stop in the middle of the street, an error that leads to tragedy. Two cars hit their car in succession, and once they are pulled out of the totaled car, they are put in an ambulance, and this is when Sam dies. At this point in the film, I couldn’t help but cry. Not many films get that kind of reaction from me. During Sam’s funeral, Charlie runs off into the woods to the secret spot where he had promised to meet Sam every day… and when he gets there, Sam’s ghost is waiting for him. The brothers talk, bond, and practice with the baseball, and at this point Sam realizes if he shows up at the correct time each day, he can spend time with his deceased brother, as if his brother were alive. Charlie takes a job at the cemetery so that he can work close to his brother’s grave and gives up sailing. Sam isn’t the only ghost Charlie sees, he also ends up seeing a friend of his who died in military service, and when he talks to this friend, he is seen by his coworker from the grave yard, and his coworker thinks Sam is crazy, since he appeared to be talking to himself. Then Charlie one day meets Tess (Amanda Crew). Tess is complaining about the flowers being dead at her relative’s gravestone, and Charlie agrees to plant some new ones for her. Charlie continues to play baseball with his brother’s ghost, but as Charlie gets to know Tess, the more time he is spending with her. Ray Liotta (Heatbreakers) meets Charlie for lunch one day and tries to convince Charlie to begin living his life again. One day, spending time with Tess results in Charlie losing track of time and going late to the spot where he usually meets Sam. Sam is hurt by this, and points out to Charlie that Tess followed him to the spot. Charlie turns around, sees Tess, and Tess tries to comfort Charlie. Tess is planning on sailing around the world, a feat she says should take her up to 6 months, so she tries to explain to Charlie that she doesn’t know if their getting so close before she leaves is a good idea. Then one day she takes her boat out and there is a terrible storm. She decides to test her boat by sailing directly into the storm. She goes missing, and everyone assumes she is dead because the search parties could not find her. After a lot of grieving Charlie suddenly realizes she probably isn’t dead, because he figures out the coordinates of where she probably is on the basis of what he would do if he sailed through such a storm. As he is out searching for Tess, Charlie realizes that rescuing Tess will require him to miss his daily meeting with his brother, and that this means he may not ever get to see his brother’s ghost again. He decides to keep looking for Tess and he does find her, after spotting her capsized boats near a jagged rock embankment. The movie ends with Charlie going back to the spot where he usually meets his brother, only to find that now he can HEAR Sam, but not SEE Sam. Sam says goodbye at this point, and then Charlie goes to find Tess and the two live happily ever after. This movie is a high quality drama, one that stirs up lots of emotions, especially sadness, though there are also a lot of happy moments which keeps the movie balanced.

This past Sunday night I went to a private screening of the new short film "Crumble" which featured lead roles by Okasana Lada (The Sopranos), Alexandra Grossi (The Sheol Express), and Raymond Hamlin (Nightmare). I had been invited to the red carpet premiere but my RSVP wasn't found until the day after the event. So my friend Renata Lorenc invited me to a private screening party on Sunday, an event open only to Renata's friends, which was held at the home of a friend of hers here in NY. Renata wrote, directed, and produced for the film. The film is set to premiere in Los Angeles but there is also discussion about doing a tour of film festivals. The film was shot in just 4 days, but the script was thirtysomething pages long. The movie begins with Oksana trying to convince her new husband Michael (Hamlin) to stop using drugs, and her husband responds only to offer her cocaine, and then to hire a female prostitute Bianca (Grossi) to seduce Oksana. Bianca and Oksana meet out in the hallway and get a chance to talk. Oksana is already upset at her husband for being a junkie and derelict, so she is somewhat open to Bianca, who makes it clear she is attracted to Oksana and she reassured Oksana that Oksana is not a prostitution client to her, but rather someone who Biance genuinely likes. Oksana still says no to Bianca, though. Then she thinks more about the dysfunctionality of her relationship with Michael, and decides to go to the address listed on the business card Bianca gave her. It turns out to be the address of a nightclub where a drag queen is monitoring the front door. Oksana talks her way inside and finds Bianca. The two begin to dance together but someone interrupts and pulls Bianca away for a prostitution client. Oksana goes looking for Bianca and finds her drugged by the prostitution client, and gets upset, so she lifts Bianca up and tells Bianca she is going to take her out of the club to someplace safe. Suddenly the pimp who also doubles as Michael’s drug dealer shows up and tells Oksana he owns her now that Michael “sold” Oksana to the prostitution club and the pimp claims he now has the right to keep Oksana there forever and that she no longer has individual rights as a human being. At this point, Bianca is recovering from the drugs she was on, and she pulls out a gun and tells everyone to stay away or else the pimp will be killed. This results in a clean getaway for Oksana and Bianca who decide they will drive and keep driving until they find a suitable town or city to live in where the pimp won’t find them. This movie is to be commended for taking a strong stance against the enslavement of human beings by pimps. It makes an important statement against the trafficking of prostitution slaves. I have had the pleasure of working on two movie premieres for the Redlight Children foundation, an organization that uses films to raise money to fight child prostitution slavery. Also, Ashton Kutcher and Demi Moore have a similar organization that they set up to battle against the enslavement of children as prostitutes.

For information on these foundations visit:
http://www.redlightchildren.org
http://demiandashton.org

For information about Crumble:
http://www.crumblethemovie.com

For information about Charlie St. Cloud:
http://www.charliestcloud.com

Me with Director/Writer/Producer Renata Lorenc at the private screening of Crumble:

Sony To "Reboot" Spider Man Franchise

2010-08-02T14:01:00.012-04:00

Today I read an article about Sony's decision to do a "reboot" Spider Man movie in lieu of creating the much anticipated "Spider Man 4" that they had been expected to do until recently. The article I read was unusually harsh, and focused mostly on anger over Sony's decision not to shoot the movie in New York. Reading this article compelled me to write one of my own, with my own perspective on the matter, because I have some positive things to say about the new film, despite being upset that they decided against making a fourth installment of the existing series.

Learning that Sony had inexplicably decided not to produce a fourth installation of the Spider Man saga that had seen so much success over the past decade, in effect also dropping Tobey Maguire and Kirsten Dunst from the lead roles in the new movie, my first instinct about what to expect was negative. There are some bad precedents for other film studios' attempts to start successful major movie franchises over again from scratch or change the storylines of such sagas, and also when they replace popular lead actors from such franchises with new actors.

Terminator: Salvation is the most glaring example of how a studio destroyed one of the most profitable franchises in history. The first mistake they made was by choosing Christian Bale to replace Nick Stahl who had played John Connor in Terminator 3. This decision made no sense because Christian Bale does not look like a John Connor. So the claim that this decision was made because John Connor needed to look older makes no sense. What did make sense was the previous choice that if Edward Furlong who played John Connor in T2 were to be replaced, Nick Stahl was an excellent choice, becuase if you look at what Edward Furlong looked like in T2, and compared him to Nick Stahl- they look enough alike to make the transition between T2 and T3 to be believable. Terminator 3 was, in my opinion, the best Terminator movie ever. Another sensible choice was Thomas Dekker to play John Connor in Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles TV series. He really does look somewhere in between the younger Edward Furlong, and the twenty-something Nick Stahl. He was credible as a John Connor and the TV series was excellent. Then out of nowhere Cristian Bale, who looks nothing like Stahl, Dekker, or Furlong... gets casted as John Connor. None of the actors who pulled off credible performances as Connor look anything like Bale, and you can tell that if even 10 years were to pass, all three of those actors would look pretty much the same as they do today. In 20 years, maybe they will have a few gray hairs, at most. So the notion that John Connor in the space between Terminator 3, and Terminator Salvation, would suddenly look like a 45 year old, was totally ridiculous and cost the newer movie a lot of credibility. Then, to make matters worse, they scrapped the role of Catherine Brewster which had originated with Claire Danes' appearance in Terminator 3. In T3, Arnold Schwarzenegger's good guy Terminator character claims that in the future, John Connor dies but his wife then leads the resistance. But in T-Salvation, there is no Catherine Brewster character at all. How can John Connor have a wife in T3 and then suddenly she disappears and his character has no memory of her having ever even existed? T-Salvation didn't pick up where Terminator 3 left off - John Connor and Catherine Brewster were supposed to be hiding out in an underground Presidential fallout shelter and coordinating resistance-organizing efforts via radio transmissions with a microphone. Another confusing casting blunder... in T-Salvation they tried to create a "lookalike" Terminator model designed to appear SIMILAR to Arnold's model... this was a disaster because all this did was make the movie look cheap. They could've casted Kristanna Lokken or Summer Glau to play Terminators in the movie and made the film have SOMETHING in common with the earlier films or show. T-Salvation made no sense to me, I watched it on a friend's DVD twice to try and make sense of the plot, and the movie could only be explained as having nothing to do at all with any of the three prior movies or the television series. It is no wonder the movie flopped. It was a disgrace to the Terminator name. Also, why they decided to cancel the extremely well-written and well-produced Sarah Connor Chronicles TV series remains a mystery.

Then there is the Batman Series, which, interestingly, also has Christian Bale in the lead, as Batman. This is the series which got restarted with disappointing results. In the 1990's series the lead role of Batman was played by different actors in almost every installation. Michael Keaton, Val Kilmer, and George Clooney all played Batman. Chris O'Donnell gave the final two installations some consistency by playing Robin. Since Keaton, Kilmer, and Clooney are all middle aged adults anyway, the transition of leads didn't make much of a difference, and in this case, the casting of Christian Bale later in Batman Begins was not offensive or ridiculous. That said, I watched Batman Begins and The Dark Knight and was bored to death by them. Dark Knight was better than Batman Begins, but these movies didn't have the comic-book feeling to them that the 1990's films had. They felt like surreal dramas instead of action-adventure films. These two films did very well at the box office, but they still serve as another example of a studio re-starting a franchise of popular and exciting films, and ruining them. My favorite Batman movies remain Batman Forever and Batman & Robin.

All that said, if there is anyone who would be biased against a new Spider Man movie that doesn't have Tobey Maguire and Kirsten Dunst in the leads, it would be me. It's really unfortunate that they decided to cut the series off at Spider Man 3 without finishing the storyline of Peter Parker's love affair with Mary Jane Watson. They would've been expected to finally get married in Spider Man 4, if the movie had been made. Knowing that audiences will not get to see the two get married is extremely disappointing. The scene in Spider Man 3 where Tobey is falling through the air and more concerned with saving the ring with which he plans to propose than he is with saving his own life was one of the most touching moments I've ever seen in an action movie. There was a strange comment posted underneath the article I read today where someone claimed Sony replaced Tobey because he was getting too old to play Parker, and this makes no sense. Tobey looks identical today to the way he looked in the first Spider Man movie. So this argument didn't make any sense. Yet once they did decide to re-start the series rather than to continue it, one would assume this means they would be replacing the lead actors as well.

If they had made a bad choice for a replacement for Tobey, I would be boycotting the new Spider Man movie and telling everyone else to do the same, but it happens the actor they chose for the role truly is deserving of the role, and this is why I felt the need to write my own article about this matter. An actor named Andrew Garfield was chosen to be the next Peter Parker. I am already familiar with his work, since he played one of the leads in Tom Cruise and Meryl Streep's 2007 film "Lions For Lambs". This movie was a political movie with a strong antiwar message, a movie that dramatized the way politicians and media pundits were mutually responsible for the lies and effects of the misinformation campaign waged by the Bush administration in the leadup to the Iraq war. Garfield plays a student called into his college professor's office to receive a lecture about his academic and personal potential, in which he's also told a tragic story about two students who volunteered to serve in the military only to die in the Iraq war. Garfield's performance alongside Streep and Cruise showcased a talent worthy of being casted in a lead role alongside them. It is for this reason that I am actually excited about the new Spider Man movie, and this is why I felt compelled to write this article. Garfield not only looks the part of Peter Parker, he is capable of pulling off a performance of equal caliber to Maguire. I recommend that anyone interested in getting to know Garfield's work, rent Lions For Lambs on Itunes by clicking here. Also, coming to theaters later this year is another of Garfield's projects, a movie called "The Social Network", where he plays a lead alongside Jesse Eisenberg, Rashida Jones, and Justin Timberlake. I've seen the trailer for it, and the movie looks great. Something a little along the lines of a modern day spin off Ryan Phillipe, Rachael Leigh Cook, and Claire Forlani's now-classic techno-thriller "Antitrust".

So with all that in mind, I have to give a thumbs up to Sony (not for rebooting the Spider Man series because 1-3 deserved to be followed with a 4, and there is no justification for them to think Maguire and Dunst warranted replacement) but instead my accolades are to the fact that since they did decide to remake the series, they at least decided to recruit an actor of equal caliber to Maguire, a sign that they intend to create a film that audiences will enjoy just as much as the prior Spider Man films. It doesn't matter where they decide to shoot the film, since the New York skyscrapers are usually done with blue-screens anyway. What matters is the talent involved in making the movie, because it is the talent that makes a movie worth seeing, not the budget.

For more information of Andrew Garfield's upcoming movie "The Social Network", you can visit http://www.thesocialnetwork-movie.com

Here is the trailer for "The Social Network":

Alexandra Barreto's short film "Career Day"

2010-08-01T15:21:00.003-04:00

What a busy 48 hours I had this weekend! After attending and writing about the NY premiere of Thomas Dekker and Natasha Lyonne's new film "All About Evil", I got an email at the last minute informing me there would be a screening of "Career Day", a short film I'd been wanting to see because Alexandra Barreto (Pepper Dennis, Blood Makes Noise) plays the lead role in the film. It screened Saturday afternoon at the New York International Latino Film Festival, presented by HBO. The movie begins with Alex cooking in the kitchen as her son asks her if he can go to work with her so he can write about her job for his school's parent "career day" assignment. Alex denies his request, telling him that since she works in a hospital, she doesn't want him going there and catching a disease from any of the sick patients. The kid doesn't want to take no for an answer so he follows the bus his mother takes to work, only to find that she exits the bus in front of a strange building, clearly not a hospital. Somehow he talks his way into the establishment which turns out to be a stripper bar. He even manages to get served alcoholic beverages at the bar, and then trouble ensues when he confronts Alex about her true profession as a stripper. Alex is to be applauded for taking this role in a film clearly meant to humanize strippers, and by extension, prostitutes, clearly with the message that strippers and prostitutes are not objects or degenerates, but rather real human beings faced with tough and tragic lives with issues beyond their control that drag them, involuntarily, into an underworld they would prefer not to be in at all. Some feature length films have carried the same message. "Joyride" (Tobey Maguire, Amy Hathaway), "Twist" (Nick Stahl, Tygh Runyan), "Whore" (Thomas Dekker, Megan Fox), and "Where The Day Takes You" (Lara Flynn Boyle, Will Smith)" all had plots or scenes meant to compel empathy for those who have the misfortune of being forced by circumstance into the world of stripping and/or prostitution.

Alex is currently involved with two other short film projects where she is collaborating with her boyfriend Rider Strong (Boy Meets World, The Penthouse) and his brother Shiloh Strong (The Mommies, Dinotopia). She is playing the lead in their upcoming short film "Dungeon Master", which Rider and Shiloh wrote, directed and produced. Additionally, she recently finished writing a short comedic film of her own, "Method", about an actress who takes her job way too seriously. "Method" is also a collaboration with Rider and Shiloh producing & directing, and Alex acting. So far they haven't posted either film on IMDB, but both films and the process of making them are discussed on Rider and Shiloh's blog. The brothers made their debut as filmmakers in 1998 with their short "Irish Twins", which I attended the premiere of at the Tribeca Film Festival. An excellent film which won awards at some of the other festivals it played at, I was impressed at how it had the quality of a major studio production, and it definitely overshadowed the other films it was competing with.

For more information on "Career Day" and future screening notifications, you can visit Foe Killer Films' Facebook page
http://www.facebook.com/FoeKillerFilms

To read about Rider, Alex and Shiloh's work on "Dungeon Master" and "Method", check out Rider and Shiloh's blog at
http://www.strongbrothersmagicshow.blogspot.com

Trailer for Career Day:

Career Day teaser trailer from Foe Killer Films on Vimeo.

Trailer for Irish Twins:

Irish Twins Trailer from Meyer Management on Vimeo.

Me at the screening of "Career Day":

NY Premiere of Thomas Dekker & Natasha Lyonne's film "All About Evil"

2010-07-31T07:21:00.005-04:00

Last night I went to the NY premiere of Thomas Dekker (Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, From Within) and Natasha Lyonne's (Scary Movie 2, Heterosexuals) new movie "All About Evil". A funny coincidence, Lyonne was also in the movie "Party Monster", which was a movie in part about the Limelight Nightclub, the club that got me started in the nightclub promotions industry, though I worked there long after the characters from that movie were no longer employed there.

All About Evil was excellent, a hybrid of horror and comedy. Natasha Lyonne was present and guest hosted the event. The movie was about a horror movie theater that Lyonne's character inherited. At first her mother tried to force her hand at selling the venue, which enraged Lyonne who wanted to keep the theater operational as a family legacy. So Lyonne murders her mother, belatedly realizing that the theater's security cameras caught the murder on videotape. She then hurries upstairs to where the movie projector is, as the theater's patrons begin to complain that the movie hasn't started yet. Accidentally, Lyonne presses the wrong buttons and the security video of the murder ends up being projected onto the big screen. The audience, not knowing that this is a video of a real murder, goes wild for what they think is a short film. Lyonne then devises a plan to reinvigorate business for the theater. She then begins a killing spree which she videotapes as she kills people. She murders patrons who unwittingly visit the theater at the wrong time, and also murders the local librarian. She even goes as far as to recruit two evil twins with a pathological criminal history played by Jade Ramsey and Nikita Ramsey, who are get released from jail with Lyonne's help. Thomas Dekker plays a patron of the theater who loves horror movies, and he begins to frequent the theater more often to see what he thinks are short films made by actual actors. Ticket sales improve dramatically and the theater begins to get significant press coverage as well. When Thomas brings a girl he knows from school to one of the films, the girl insults Deborah, who waits for a chance to get to the girl alone in the bathroom, and murders her on film. This is when the police get involved. The girl's parents blame Thomas because Thomas was the one last seen with their daughter. Then another girl from Thomas' school decides unwittingly to interview Lyonne, who takes her prisoner with the intent of later killing her. This is when Thomas gets suspicious because he knew his friend went to the theater to interview Lyonne and never returned. From this point forward it is clear that Thomas' character is the hero of the film. Thomas shows up with the police, but with no search warrant, they were powerless to get into the theater to investigate. An upper floor of the theater is where Lyonne has been hiding the bodies of her victims, and this is where Thomas' friend is being held captive. With Lyonne realizing that the authorities are closing in on her, she hatches her most evil plan yet... a plot to give free poisoned beverages to the entire audience on a night when the theater is packed with patrons. Thomas goes to the theater intending to warn everyone about the killings and tries to prevent the audience from drinking the poisoned beverages. To make matters more complicated, Thomas' mother shows up expecting to see a horror movie, in an attempt to try and understand why her son likes horror movies so much. She insists on entering the theater despite Thomas' warnings and when Thomas tries to tell the entire theater full of patrons that the drinks they got for free are actually poison meant to kill them all, some of them laugh at him and drink the beverages, which cause their faces to bleed and melt, and shortly after, vents from the ceiling begin to break and corpses begin to fall from above, too late for the victims who already drank the beverages, but in time for the vast majority of those in the theater to realize they had walked into a death trap. I don't want to give away the ending but Dekker does emerge the hero of the story, and he clears his name in the process. Overall, though the murder scenes do involve some blood and guts this is balanced out by a heavy dose of dark humor that makes the movie accessible not just to those who like horror but to a wider audience because of the comedic nature of the film.

Me with Natasha Lyonne at the NY premiere:

Me at the NY premiere:

For more information you can visit
http://www.allaboutevilthemovie.com

The schedule for screenings in other cities can be found at:
http://www.allaboutevilthemovie.com/tour.html

Funny Jimmy Fallon video segment

2010-07-24T13:09:00.003-04:00

Here is a really funny video from Late Night With Jimmy Fallon, where Jimmy Fallon jokes about Obama's facial expressions. I won't spoil it by telling the funniest part in advance...

Stereo Skyline's "Stuck On Repeat" out today!

2010-07-21T03:37:00.002-04:00

Long Island's Stereo Skyline released their first full length album today, you can get it on Itunes for just $6.99, check out this really cool independently produced advertisement for the album created by McKenna Tirado, Doris Steadman, and Dayton Tirado. They produced and acted in the video to help promote the release...

Trailers for Kalamity, Meskada

2010-07-19T02:33:00.003-04:00

Nick Stahl and Jonathan Jackson (of Enation) have an excellent new movie coming out soon, Kalamity. Here is the trailer:

Official site: http://www.kalamitymovie.com
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/kalamitymovie

There are also four video preview clips up on IMDB for another of Stahl's upcoming movies, Meskada, produced by my friend Jen Gatien:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1461249/videogallery

Official site: http://www.meskada.com
Twitter: http://twitter.com/meskada
Facebook : http://www.facebook.com/MeskadaTheMovie

Review: Chris Trapper's new EP

2010-07-18T09:38:00.002-04:00

Chris Trapper, formerly of The Push Stars, has a new EP out this week which is available as a "Pay What You Want" download. Chris Trapper is also known for singing the theme song to the 2006 television show "Pepper Dennis". The EP is called "Into The Bright Lights" and has a pop/rock format. Trapper is known for blending folk, pop, and rock sounds with his solo work, and most of his past work is a lot like Josh Ritter, but this album is a collaboration with producer Jason Meeker, which makes it sound on some tracks like he's being backed by a band, with more drums than prior releases. This makes the album more uptempo on those tracks. "Already Gone" sounds a little like something the Gin Blossoms would record. "Black Eye Blue" has the folk/soft rock sound that Trapper is best known for, and is the best bet for a radio single. "The Game Is Done" is another potential hit, since it is reminiscent of Melissa Etheridge's signature sound. Overall the EP is in some ways more commercial than some of Trapper's past work, but it retains enough of his preexisting sound to be a good introduction to Trapper's music for those who are unfamiliar with his music.

You can get the EP at
http://christrapper.bandcamp.com

Reviews: Film: Knight & Day; Music: Enrique Iglesias, Kylie Minogue

2010-07-10T05:08:00.001-04:00

I finally saw Knight & Day, the new action flick that teams Tom Cruise up with Cameron Diaz. I wanted to see it really badly having seen the previews, so I wasn’t concerned with what newspaper critics were saying about it. I normally differ in my opinions from a lot of critics in my opinions because critics usually give big budget action/adventure films bad reviews while giving boring, slow-paced movies their nod of approval. Don’t get me wrong, I love a good drama, but it has to have certain caliber of actors and they need to be directed in a way that retains my interest in the movie throughout the film, which means new developments in the storyline unfolding quickly and dramatically. Fast paced action adventure films usually are among my favorites if they are well made, and Knight & Day was extremely well made. I had a great time watching this movie, which included some of the best fight scenes I’ve seen… for those of you who liked Mission Impossible 3, you would like Knight & Day even more, because the action scenes were a step up from those of MI3. Also, Knight & Day has a really cool semi-sci-fi premise… Tom Cruise has his hands on the first battery ever invented that doesn’t ever lose power or die out, one which fits in the palm of your hand, but has enough unlimited power to supply a small city with unlimited electricity for eternity. All the bad guys want to get their hands on this battery, for all their evil reasons left up to the imagination, but most likely to give it to terrorists or rogue nations. When this plot began to unfold at first I thought the oil companies were responsible for the endless stream of assassins sent to kill Cruise and Diaz. I thought the evil oil companies wanted to keep the battery from being made public so they can keep overcharging the American People (as a liberal activist, of course I’d first suspect the oil companies, LOL) but later in the movie, it does become apparent the battery is being sought by evil-doers who want to actually USE the battery themselves. If anyone who saw the previews wondered how and why Tom Cruise came to need to protect Cameron Diaz, here is the explanation… Cruise was with the CIA but when his friend invented this battery, suddenly Cruises’ colleagues realized this battery had street value on the black market, and a large handful of them turned against Cruise who (it’s assumed) wanted to get the battery to the US Government, because his intentions were for the greater good and not personal gain. Cruise makes the mistake of trying to take a commercial flight to find his friend who invented the battery, so that Cruise can protect his friend from the corrupt CIA-turned-traitors who, after not being able to detain or kill Cruise, decided to go after the battery’s inventor. Waiting for the flight, Cruise flirts for a minute with Diaz, and the flirtation is caught on camera, and seen by the corrupt CIA operatives, who had already known Cruise’s whereabouts and had set the flight up so that the flight seemed to have very few passengers, all of whom were assassins, and the pilots and crew were assasins too. Diaz happened to be flying to the same destination as Cruise, and at first was told the flight was booked. When the CIA evildoers saw Cruise flirt with Diaz, they thought she “must” be a critical player in the invention of the battery, possibly even have it on her. So once the flight was in the air, they wanted to kill both Cruise and Diaz, but the attack takes place when Diaz is in the bathroom and when she gets out, the plane is filled with nothing but corpses of the attackers which included both pilots. So at first, Diaz thinks Cruise is a psycho. The early part of the movie is divided between amazing action scenes with Cruise trying to save Diaz from well trained killers some of whom were assassination squads that dressed like SWAT Teams (A déjà vu from the bridge scene in MI3 only in Knight & Day, these squads have fifty times more killers). Those scenes are divided with comedic scenes of Diaz thinking Cruise is a lunatic out of his mind, and Cruise trying to convince Diaz that he’s the good guy and that the attackers are not trying to save Diaz from Cruise. The only criticism I have for this movie is, though most of the escape scenes are thoroughly thought out and well explained, there are about 2 or 3 where instead of seeing them escape, you see scene cuts that just presume that viewers will just attribute the escape to Cruise’s Jason-Bourne-like CIA skills. That only happened a few times, when overall, the movie had so many escape scenes, that the rest of those kinds of scenes balanced the missing ones out. I always love to see how escapes from danger are written into action films, it’s one of the coolest things about them, because with each new action film there are always inventive escape scenes where the hero of the film finds his/her way out of situations that seem inescapable. Knight & Day doesn’t disappoint overall, and the choreography of the fights is top notch. Most importantly, the film stays exciting from beginning to end, and yes there is a love story between Cruise and Diaz’s characters, and Diaz gets to show off some fight moves of her own, and at one point it is Diaz who saves Cruise’s life. I give this film high marks. It was action packed, funny, and inventive.

I also got the deluxe Itunes version of much-anticipated new album by Enrique Iglesias, which Universal has been promoting for months now with several hit singles already. The deluxe version has 3 bonus tracks not available on the CD release unless you get it at Target. To date, they’ve released four singles, two in English and two in Spanish. His most recent Spanish language single, “Cuando Me Enamoro (featuring Juan Luis Guerra)” is currently #1 on Billboard’s Latin Songs chart, and the lead English language single “I Like It (featuring Pit Bull) is #18 on Billboard’s Hot 100 Singles. “I Like It” is a really catchy song, and the only way I can describe it is the kind of dance single that you might hear at a Knicks game. I knew when I first heard it that it would be a hit, it gets you instantly the first time you hear it. “Cuando Me Enamoro” is a little more laid back but it is not a ballad, it’s a duet with Juan Luis Guerra who is a well respected latin artist who has produced a string of latin hits of his own over the years, though this was the first time I’ve heard a Guerra recording. This single’s #1 status is well deserved, it is a semi-uptempo number but not a club song, perfect for radio, and yes, it would play well as a crossover track at pop radio. It’s uplifting and fun to listen to, and has a memorable chorus. I do not speak Spanish, but I am very familiar with Enrique’s Spanish language catalogue. I first got into Enrique’s music in 2000 when he recorded his first English language album, which contains my all time favorite song of his, “Could I Have This Kiss Forever” which was a duet with Whitney Houston. The whole album was so impressive to me, that I collected all of his Spanish language albums, and enjoyed all of them thoroughly. So I am not just into his English stuff, I love his Spanish work too and there is no album of his that I have not listened to over and over. I don’t listen to latin radio overall, but I’ve collected both the Spanish and English catalogues of certain crossover acts such as Shakira, Gloria Estefan and Thalia. (Gloria’s amazing 1993 “Mi Tierra” album was my first ever Spanish language purchase and it is timeless!) So if I find out about a good bilingual artist I don’t limit myself to just their English work. You don’t have to be able to translate a song to be able to enjoy it. This puts me in a good position to review Enrique’s latest album, because the album is almost evenly divided between English and Spanish songs. The other two singles which have been overshadowed by the two aforementioned singles are “No Me Digas Que No” (which exists on the album as both a solo song and as a duet with Wisin & Yandel), and “Heartbeat (w/ Nicole Scherizinger)”. These were excellent choices for singles, but radio has overlooked them thus far. “No Me Digas…” is very similar to Enrique’s past Spanish language hits, it is slower paced than “Cuando Me…” but does have a great singalong chorus to it. “Heartbeat” is a club-dance song. It has a trancelike dance beat and a soothing vocal delivery. Nicole Scherzinger is one of the former Pussycat Dolls. and she put out a bunch of solo singles in 2007, no solo album though, but the Enrique collaboraton may have been born from the fact that in 2009 she was featured on one of Pit Bull’s singles, the remix of “Hotel Room Service”. The best English song on the entire record though is “Dirty Dancer (featuring Usher)”. This song is guaranteed to be a major hit single since it not only has all the qualities that made “I Like It” a hit, but beyond that it stands apart from every song on the album as the most danceable track on the album, as well as the song with the most crossover potential, because it appeals not only to the mainstream top 40 stations currently playing “I Like It” but to dance-techno radio as well. I know that KTU would be all over this song if it was a single, and club DJs would love it too. It’s a knock your socks off dancefloor anthem, all the way. It doesn’t even need to be remixed… it has the same quality that makes the album versions of many of Lady Gaga’s hits so popular to both nightclub and radio DJs before the song is even remixed. Speaking of those GaGa songs, Akon, a singer whose duet with GaGa was a major hit (“Just Dance”) does a duet with Enrique on this album, “One Day At A Time”, this song has more of a reggae rhythm and does have radio hit potential although if they do release this as a single, they should definitely rerecord it in Spanish because this has the kind of rhythm and feel that, with my knowledge of the format’s biggest hits, would make this a huge hit at latin radio. “Tu Y Yo” is the reverse situation… here is a latin song with the kind of danceable rhythm that would make it not just a hit at latin radio, but also at pop and dance radio if re-recorded in English. If remixed it would also be a great club single. That is one of the things I’ve always loved about Enrique’s work, his work in both languages has universal appeal and he always records music that appeals to both audiences, no matter which language the album is in, and his new record is the perfect way to get those two audiences to realize this about the rest of his past work. Also, I have to say, this album is a big step forward from his 2008 “Insomniac” album where he strayed from the sounds that made him so popular. “Insomniac” was the only Enrique album that ever disappointed me, so if you are someone who heard that album and felt the same way, you’ll be happy to know that his latest release is a return to artistic form for him. The bonus tracks on the deluxe version are all English ballads, anyone who liked his hit “Hero” will find these to be of equal quality. I do not know why labels now are always releasing two versions of every album, a deluxe version and a regular, cheaper version- some of these puzzle me and this is my only criticism of the Enrique release. Having been educated about the professional end of the music industry since I was a preteenager, I can recall such releases as Deborah Gibson’s “Anything Is Possible” which sold at regular price and had 16 songs on it. Alanis Morissette’s sophomore album “Supposed Former Infatuation Junkie” sold regular price and had 17 songs. These weren’t even billed as deluxe albums, they were just the normal versions. I can understand how Nonesuch Records justifies the difference between the costs of the single disc edition of the latest Natalie Merchant album and the double disc edition. The 2CD edition has a total of 29 songs on it, making it truly worthy of the word “deluxe”. By contrast, the deluxe editions of many recent releases have just a couple of bonus tracks. Kylie Minogue’s latest falls somewhere in between these two extremes because on one hand, there is just one single bonus track on the deluxe Itunes version, but on the other hand, if you are someone who will pay to see music videos and likes stuff like “behind the scenes” footage, there are a bunch of videos bundled into the package, so yes, it is truly a “deluxe” package in terms of product quantity, but if your sole interest is just the music and you’re not interested in videos, then you may as well just buy the regular version, which is what I did. If the collection of videos is, to Parlophone/EMI, the justification for the higher cost of the “deluxe” version, then the ONE bonus track… it should have been on the normal non-deluxe edition because there is no reason why the difference of one song on an album of less than 18 songs should be used to justify a higher price tag or the term “deluxe”. This word started surfacing on CDs earlier in the past decade when labels began to realize there was a market for re-released re-mastered classic albums repackaged with all the B-sides and/or remixes or live versions previously only available on past CD singles or vinyl 45s. At the time, the use of the word made sense, because these rereleases had tons of extra music on them that was either rare or previously unreleased and it was at least twice the quantity of songs from the original album, or even in some cases, 3 times as many songs. Now, the term is being used to explain why Itunes, or sometimes a specific retailer, has a version of the album with minimal additional content for a higher price than the standard edition. Since Enrique’s album had 3 bonus tracks and sold for less than what Itunes would charge to buy every song individually, this I was willing to buy. The Kylie album by contrast, for the one extra track, didn’t justify the extra cost. If labels truly want to give the public a choice between a regular edition and deluxe edition, and they don’t have 29 marketable tracks like Natalie Merchant did, all they need to do to make an album worthy of the word and price of a “deluxe” album is add remixes, or recordings of past live performances. They have the material to release, yet they don’t release it. The public deserves better and I am thrilled that the way Natalie Merchant’s latest album was released can be called a standard bearer for the way albums should be released by all labels going forward.

Now, to my review of the Kylie album. I have both good news and bad news. Mostly good news, so I will start with the bad news. This new album marks the first time in the past 10 years that Kylie has released a studio album that does not contain any songs written by songwriter/producer/singer Cathy Dennis. Dennis was the mastermind behind Kylie’s international hit single “Can’t Get You Out Of My Head” and since then she worked on all of Kylie’s subsequent albums until now. Dennis is, by far, the single most proficient pop music songwriter in the world. Though she is best known to some as a pop singer herself who had a string of hits in the early 90s which included dance anthems such as “Touch Me (All Night Long)”, and “Just Another Dream” as well as timeless ballads such as “Too Many Walls”, Cathy Dennis found even greater success as a songwriter beginning in the late 1990’s, which began with a string of major pop radio hits she wrote and produced for S Club 7 (She wrote/produced almost ALL of their hits). In the past decade, some of her biggest hits included Britney Spears’ “Toxic” which won a grammy, and Will Young’s “Anything Is Possible” which at the time set the record for the fastest selling debut single in UK history. Her partnership with Minogue was credited as the primary reason for Minogue’s return to United States prominence in the year 2000, so the fact that Dennis’ name was totally absent from the liner notes to Minogue’s newest album was a major disappointment, especially since this album is the most dance-oriented album Minogue has released since 2000’s international hit album “Fever”, the album where she partnered with Dennis on 3 songs one of which the most successful worldwide hit of Minogue’s career. That said, the good news is, Minogue chose an excellent producer to co-produce the entire album. Stuart Price either produced or co-produced every single song on the entire new album, titled “Aphrodite”. For those of you who don’t already know the name, Price was the mastermind behind Madonna’s mega-successful “Confessions On A Dance Floor” album, which contained such hits as “Hung Up” and “Sorry”, and is by far the most successful of Madonna’s albums within the past decade. That is not to say this album isn’t unique and different from the Madonna record. Minogue puts her own stamp on it with her unique brand of sexually charged vocal delivery, and Price’s sound has been updated since Madonna’s 2005 opus. A further tidbit about Price, he is also known as Thin White Duke and as Jacques Lu Cont, and has produced remixes under those monikers for such acts as Gwen Stefani, Seal, Britney Spears, and Depeche Mode, among others. One track “Aphrodite” stands out because it blends Price’s modern-day sensibilities with some of the sonic qualities that graces Minogue’s 1980’s work with Stock Aitken and Waterman which created a global radio presence for her. First single “All The Lovers” by contrast has a trancelike sound that is reminiscent of her “Light Years” album, the album she did just before “Fever” which was very successful in Australia and Europe. There is a remix EP of “All The Lovers” out on Itunes right now, and I did buy that too, all the remixes work for club DJ play, and thankfully, these remixes do have the full vocals of the song and aren’t just dubs. She hasn’t done as many full vocal remixes in the past decade as she did in the 90’s and 80’s, so this was refreshing. “Illusion” is less radio friendly than most of the album, sounding more like her “Body Language” songs which radio and clubs didn’t really respond well to. “Cupid Boy” sounds a lot like it could have been an unreleased track off the Madonna “Confessions…” album, but with Minogue’s voice instead. The intro to “Looking For An Angel” actually sounds almost identical to the intro to Madonna’s “Let It Will Be”. Overall, the album is a blend of sounds representing the various stages of Minogue’s entire career, mixed up with some tracks that sound like they were written for Madonna. So there is something for everyone. I know that some people who bought her CD singles within the past decade shared my disappointment at the lack of vocal remixes. The “Can’t Get You Out Of My Head” Vinyl double-LP single was all dubs except for the original version, and her only true underground dance-club anthems were the Roger Sanchez mix of “In Your Eyes” and the Narcotic Thrust mix of “Red Blooded Woman”. Almost all her other remixes were either dubs or versions that weren’t targeted to nightclubs or to radio. The remixes off her last album were even strange, a mixture of breakbeat electronica and rock with vocals chopped up. So the fact that her new single was remixed for underground dance clubs and they retained the vocals and delivered versions suitable for current club formats, this made me very happy. I recommend them. That said, the new Minogue album is, overall an excellent work that anyone who ever liked her music would enjoy from beginning to end. However, there is no one song that stands out as potentially mega successful the way there is on the Enrique album. If this album is to match the success of “Fever”, word of mouth alone could achieve such success, but word of mouth has to be propelled, so the label is going to have to be aggressive in its marketing of this one since Minogue’s last couple of albums haven’t sold too well in the US. Touring would be a major help and the material off this album mixes well with her entire catalogue so she could really put a great show of new material mixed with greatest hits culled from any of her albums. Also, she should consider working with some higher profile remixers who are guaranteed hitmakers like Oakenfold, Tiesto, or Dave Aude, to name a few. That can help make these songs into the massive club hits they deserve to be.

Act For Haiti benefit in Orlando, FL- July 17th

2010-06-30T12:21:00.004-04:00

I want to post a reminder for anyone in Orlando Florida who wants to attend Michael Stahl-David's benefit, Act For Haiti. I am really happy to have been able to get involved with this event, and promote it to my email list. This is a free acting workshop with a suggested door donation of $30, hosted by Michael Stahl-David who was the lead actor in the movie Cloverfield. It is to raise money for the CINE Institute which is Haiti's only film school, a great cause I support since I went to two acting camps when I was a kid, French Woods and Long Lake. I know the value of performing arts education, and want others to be able to have access to it.

http://www.facebook.com/actforhaiti
http://youtube.com/actforhaiti
http://cineinstitute.com

Lots of quick notes, music & movies to recommend

2010-06-30T03:48:00.006-04:00

This week I am a bit time strapped so I have a whole bunch of quick recommendations, not enough time to get too in detail though...

1. Fueled By Ramen artists Versa Emerge just released an awesome new record, you can get it in music stores like J&R Music World and on Itunes with bonus tracks. The album is called "Fixed At Zero", and almost the entire album was posted on the Myspace and it was awesome. I don't have time to write a track by track analysis with radio single choice recommendations like I usually do, but they have a great sound similar to Evanescence and Fall Out Boy, I just learned about them yesterday, so if you like EMO rock this is a must-have album.
http://www.myspace.com/versaemerge

2. EMO music is all the rage now, and another cool act I found out about, they are unsigned, is Break The Glass. They're a local act from North Platte, Nebraska, and are very popular in their hometown, ready for a break on the national stage.
Their music is available for free on PureVolume,
http://www.purevolume.com/BreakTheGlass
They also have a myspace up at
http://www.myspace.com/breaktheglassmusic

3. Two more cool artists whose music I've enjoyed lately, female singer/songwriters, amazing pop/crossover potential, Joy Valencia and Zuri Star:
http://www.myspace.com/zuriallenstar
http://www.myspace.com/joylovemusic

4. Excellent new male singer/songwriter, along the lines of Josh Ritter, with an extremely versatile knack for different musical styles, soft rock, is Sam Shrieve, I bought his album and loved every minute. It's available on Itunes and in independent record stores.
http://www.samshrieve.com/
http://www.myspace.com/samshrieve

5. Haven't heard it yet, but Elijah Wood, who has been getting involved in lots of musical projects such as acting with Selma Blair in a Danko Jones music video, and starting up his own record label, Simian Records; he put together this benefit album "The Art Of Elysum", featuring some of his favorite acts. It's to benefit The Art Of Elysum a non profit that helps children with serious illnesses...
Click here for the Itunes page
and the organization's website is:
http://www.theartofelysium.org

6. If you got my mass email and were confused about what the subject line "Join me on Everything Will Happen Before You Die"... let me explain. It is a website for a predicted-to-be excellent upcoming movie project with a lead role performance by Nick Stahl (also in the upcoming movie Meskada produced by my friend Jen Gatien). If you don't have my email anymore because the confusing subject line made you decide to delete it, there's a link to my profile on the website you can still sign up and add me as a friend. They're promoting the movie with really cool, unique social networking software. You can make a profile and also upload MP3s and I am sure this also means you will get on their email list for when the film is set for a theatrical release.
Click here for my profile and sign up, invite friends!

You can watch the trailer here:

7. Another independent film to check out which is not yet in theaters... Rider Strong produced and acted in the upcoming science fiction movie "Darkening Sky". I read the plot, loved it, and really recommend this movie highly. Rider is an up-and-coming filmmaker besides being an amazing actor. I went to the New York premiere of his short film "Irish Twins" (which he wrote, produced, acted in and directed with his brother Shiloh) and was really impressed. The brothers are currently working on another short film "Dungeon Master" which will feature Rider's girlfriend, the talented and ever-fabulous Alexandra Barreto in the lead role. Here are the links for "Darkening Sky":

Like the movie on Facebook

Here is the movie website:
http://www.darkeningsky.com

Here is the trailer:

8. Another upcoming movie not yet in theaters, with the lead played by Thomas Dekker, singer/songwriter and also known for his lead in Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, is All About Evil. It's a horror movie, and Thomas always makes great movies. For the premiere he performed an original composition, possibly titled "Welcome To The Horror Show" at least that was the chorus.

Check out his musical performance here:

And here is the trailer for the movie...

That's everything I've got for all of you now... enjoy!

Kellan Lutz's ad for People For The Ethical Treatment Of Animals

2010-06-28T02:13:00.004-04:00

Kellan Lutz, who is one of the leads alongside Nick Stahl in the upcoming movie Meskada, did an advertisement for People For The Ethical Treatment of Animals. Meskada was co-produced by my friend Jen Gatien, who is the daughter of Peter Gatien, the owner of the nightclubs where I got my start in the nightlife and special events businesses, the Limelight, Tunnel and Palladium clubs.

Here is the ad Lutz did for PETA:

...and here is the trailer for Meskada:

Check out this excellent music video...

2010-06-27T22:31:00.003-04:00

Elijah Wood and Selma Blair acted in this music video which is styled like a short action film, the recording artist is named Danko Jones and the song is called "Full Of Regret" (Their new album "Below The Belt" is out now on Itunes)

New Eminem "Recovery" pre-release review

2010-06-20T13:39:00.003-04:00

This week I was given an advance promo copy of the new Eminem album "Recovery". The album is a very introspective work, with the bulk of the material focusing on Emimen's recovery from drug addiction, hence the title. The album features a lot of singing, which makes it stand out from most hip hop records. The first single, "Not Afraid" expresses Eminem's sentiment of confidence in his first post-recovery release and in his decision to record an album which features a stong anti-drug message. The album's message is focused on the pain and struggles Eminem faced as he juggled his career with his recuperation from an addition that almost cost him his life. Most of the lyrics throughout the album tell Eminem's personal story as a recovering drug addict, and his feelings about his return to artistic form with his new record.

Among the highlights of the album is the inclusion of guest vocal performances by Liz Rodrigues on two tracks, "25 To Life" and "Almost Famous". Her commanding vocal performances remind me of Kirsty Hawkshaw (a frequent collaborator with Tiesto). "Almost Famous" is by far the most potent track on the entire album. Eminem raps about the way the public's perception of success in the entertainment industry is based on popular illusions about life in the public eye. The song reflects how Eminem's success contributed to his drug addiction which almost killed him. Liz Rodrigues sings the chorus, "You dream of trading places, I have been changing faces, you cannot fill these shoes, there is too much to lose, i wake up behind the trenches, you run around defenseless, there is too much to lose, you cannot fill these shoes, "I just Wanna be famous... but be careful what you wish for". The vocals are delivered in a "warning" tone of voice which is what Eminem is trying to achieve with this track... an attempt at making the public understand the danger of getting "drunk on success" so to speak, spiraling out of control, and the risks involved with doing so... the destruction of one's life or even worse, potential death. This is the most single-worthy tracks on the album thanks to haunting backing music, excellent songwriting, and a powerful performance.

On 25 To Life, Liz Rodriguez's chorus vocal is reminiscent of Kristy Hawkshaw's breakout hit "It's A Fine Day" which was recorded with Opus III. She sings very spiritually and her contribution helps make this one of the most memorable tracks on the album. This is one of the slower songs on the album, though it would work really well at radio. Throughout the song, Liz vamps "Too late...Too late..." as eminem raps about his drug addiction. At the end of the song he goes as far as to close with "Fuck you hip hop... I'm leavin you, my life sentence is served".

Two of the other songs with the best chances of being radio hits are "No Love" and "You're Never Over". "No Love" features a guest rap performance by Lil' Wayne and the song revolves around a vocal and instrumental sample of Haddaway's 1992 Euro-dance/pop hit "What Is Love" helping to make the song catchy and instantly memorable to audiences. "You're Never Over" also has mainstream hit potential thans to a recognizable vocal chorus sample from Gerard Mcmann's 1980's hit song "Cry Little Sister"... which most people will recognize as the theme song to "The Lost Boys", a classic vampire movie with Corey Haim, Corey Feldman, and Jami Gertz.

Another of the standout anti-drug tracks is "Talkin 2 Myself" where Eminem directly addresses his audience to speak about his feelings about how his addiction detracted from his artistry, and he issues an apology to those who may have found his last two albums lackluster, "Encore i was high on drugs, relapse I was flushin' em out, Ive come to make it up to you now no more fuckin around, I got something to prove to the fans cause i feel like i let em down, so please accept my apology I finally feel like I'm back to normal". The song features a guest chorus by singer Kobe.

Two additional noteworthy collaborations warranting mention are "Love The Way You Lie" which features Rihanna, and "W.T.P." featuring P!nk. Interestingly, though these two songs feature the most prominent guest performers on the album, they are largely overshadowed by the aforementioned potential hit singles. They are great songs, but possess less radio airplay potential than the songs I've already listed. "W.T.P." stands for "White Trash Party" and the song is a midtempo track with some rock influences. "Love The Way You Lie" is a slow song, and the instrumentation sounds somewhat reminiscent of Rihanna's song "Umbrella".

Overall the album is a courageous anti-drug-addiction message to followers, and a step forward in Eminem's artistic evolution.

Brazilian Film Festival, Photo Studio Opening, + reviews of Rihanna remix album + new Josh Ritter & more

2010-06-06T18:08:00.006-04:00

I went to a couple cool events this weekend, but before I start on that, I've got to say the highlight of my week was watching Alexandra Barreto (of Pepper Dennis, Tooth & Nail, and the upcoming short film Career Day) make a guest appearance on the FX channel's TV show "Justified" this past Tuesday. She will be a guest on the show again this upcoming Tuesday, January 8th. I was invited to go to a party this coming Tues, but I've decided not to go so I can instead watch this special episode. I would go to the party and download the episode on Itunes the next day, but all the TV episodes now are only in High Definition, and I found out my computer won't play HD videos. I bought Season 10, episode 22 of Law & Order SVU ("Zebras") and the Saturday Night Live episode when January Jones hosted; and neither of these videos would play on my computer because they were in HD. I don't know if it's the amount of memory in my computer, or the fact that I'm running Windows XP. Those of you who can watch HD on your computers can get this past week's episode of "Justified" on Itunes, and this coming Tuesday's episode will also be available on Itunes on Wednesday.

I had a busy weekend attending events this week. Friday the cool place to be in Hoboken was a studio opening party for Sigen Photography. The photographer, Irina Smirnova, showcased her work which was projected onto the wall as techno music blasted from speakers. While there I spoke with an independent film producer Lisa Cataldi, who is currently working on a short film called Thelonious Hands, the film is expected to start shooting in July. There were excellent gourmet cupcakes catered by Tawny Ong, as well as free drinks and custom-wrapped chocolate bars which were wrapped in paper imprinted with a photograph of the NYC skyline and on the back of the wrapping was Irina's website address ( http://www.sigenphotography.com ). After the photo studio opening party I paid a visit to Hoboken's Ninelounge, a classy venue with bottle service and flat screen TV's which was designed by the same designers as NY's Pink Elephant nightclub. Once inside, I pleasantly surprised to find that the manager there was a former manager from Pink Elephant.

Saturday I went to the opening night of the Brazilian Film Festival. I had to be there at 5pm to get my credentials, but there was a reception that began at 5pm in the Inffinito Lounge which is in the same building as Tribeca Cinemas. They had music by a DJ named Leanna, who played upbeat music which sounded Brazilian or Latin at the very least. Upstairs was a small VIP reception where I picked up a complimentary Corona, and there were also free Yuengling beers and Poland Spring bottles. Downstairs in the main reception they gave out free miniature personal pan pizzas. I met with an actress who has a movie in the festival, her name was Rita Cadillac, and I learned a little bit about her. She started out as a dancer on a Brazilian television show and also hosted a popular Brazilian TV show in the 80s. She's considered legendary in Brazil both as an actress and dancer, and her life is the subject matter of the film featured in the festival, "Rita Cadillac, The Lady Of The People" which screens Monday June 7th; and Wednesday June 9th.

The movies I saw Saturday at the opening were "The Well Beloved One" and "Mamonas 4-Ever". "The Well Beloved One" was totally up my alley since it was a comedy about corruption in politics. It was a hilarious movie about a mayor who would do anything to be re-elected and further his career. The movie parodied the way politicians use all sorts of accounting tricks to pay for pet projects for which the funding simply doesn't really exist. This movie is the story of a conservative mayor who gets elected because he promises to build the first local cemetery for a town that never had one before. Since city hall couldn't afford to pay for it, he takes money out of the town's electricity and water budget causing power and water shortages, and still he needs more funds so he shaves money away from the contractor's budget, resulting in a cemetery filled with graves too small to be occupied by a human corpse. Throughout all of this the mayor is having trouble juggling three mistresses, all of whom keep angling to marry him. The mayor spends the entire film at odds with the town's liberal local newspaper which invents false stories of a shark in the water at the local beach to damage the mayor's tourism revenues, hoping the tax shortages will lead to the mayor's downfall. The mayor finishes work on the cemetery only to realize he can't hold a grand opening ceremony unless someone dies, so that the opening of the cemetery features a commemorative burial. It is then that the mayor first prays for his own sick cousin to die, and then later tries to enlist the help of a murderous fugitive, who he goes as far as to hire as chief of police in the hopes that the criminal will kill someone soon. I found this movie to be very entertaining, upbeat, and funny. This movie screens again Wednesday June 9th. The other movie I saw, "Mamonas 4-Ever" was a documentary styled film about a popular Brazlian comedy-rock band called Mamonas Assassins. The movie talked about how the group originally formed, the factors that led them to decide to record comedy rather than conventional pop music, and how their unique brand of comedy won them popularity and commercial success in Brazil.

Now on to music reviews. Rihanna has a new remix album out, "Rated R (Remixed)", a collection of brand new remixes, all of which are by Chew Fu. Chew Fu is also known for remixes of recent hits by Blake Lewis, Lady GaGa, and Timbaland featuring Nelly Furtado. The highlight of the album is the remix of "Russian Roulette". Her voice soars on this track, especially in the sensual chorus, "And you can hear my heart beating, oh you can see it through my chest, said I'm terrified but I'm not leaving, know that I must pass this test, so just pull the trigger". Of all the tracks on the album, "Russian Roulette" has the best vocal performance and it's complemented perfectly by Chew Fu's techno rendering, which turns it into a sexy club anthem. There are two more highlights of this album, the Chew Fu Molotov Mix of "Fire Bomb" and Chew Fu Guns In The Air Fix Mix of "G4". These two remixes play back to back actually, and they sound great together. Chew Fu does do a great job of creating remixes that have different rhythghmic paces so that altogether their remixes play well as a full album. "Rude Boy" and "Stupid In Love" were remixed into midtempo versions to provide some cool-down tracks for the album. "Wait Your Turn" is another of the more uptempo remixes on the album and a great song too. The album also has a cool intro-track which is mostly instrumental, "Mad House"; while "Hard" and "Photographs", the last two songs on the album, both sound like the kind of songs DJ's usually play at the end of the night at parties.

Another great dance track that is out now on Itunes is the latest single by Leighton Meester of Gossip Girl - "Your Love's A Drug". It's a mid-tempo techno song with an anthemic chorus, perfect for both radio and clubs. This is a strong follow up to her hit dance track "Somebody To Love" which featured Robin Thicke. With each single release Meester demonstrates her vocal prowess even more. It would be great if they could commercially release some remixes of these singles. So far the only remixes she'of hers are the remixes of "Good Girls Go Bad". 3 are available as bonus tracks to the deluxe version of Cobra Starship's album "Hot Mess", and one remix is available for individual purchase as a single on Itunes. For those of you who haven't heard Cobra Starship, their music is a cross between rock, techno and pop. Their most recent single "Hot Mess" was also remixed and is available as a remix single on Itunes. They also have an awesome song called "Chew Me Up And Spit Me Out" from the soundtrack to Megan Fox's movie "Jennifer's Body".

Now on to rock- Josh Ritter's latest album, "So Runs The World Away" is a phenomenal album. For those unfamiliar with his work, Josh Ritter is a cross between soft rock, folk music, with subtle country influences. He is also known for intellectual, thought provoking lyrics; often his music is heavily influenced by Ritter's liberal political views. The three must-hear highlights of Ritter's latest are "Southern Pacifica", "Long Shadows" and "Lantern". "Lantern" would make a great single, since it stands out as the record's most upbeat and memorable track. "Long Shadows" is also a fairly upbeat song, while "Southern Pacifica" is a ballad. There are a couple of harder edged songs on the album "Rattling Locks" and "The Remnant". "Folk Bloodbath" goes from a slower tempo to a midtempo pace with very dramatic lyrics. Ritter has done a fantastic job of building up a following over the years with minimal support from radio, due to the superb quality of his songwriting and performances. He's released a bunch of live albums which are further testament to the strength of his concerts, all worth checking out if you like his studio work.

New movie "Meskada" produced by Jen Gatien

2010-05-24T21:47:00.003-04:00

Tonight I decided to post a brief notice to let everyone know that my friend Jen Gatien, Peter Gatien's daughter, has produced a new movie that is opening in theaters this year. The movie is titled Meskada. The movie was an official selection of the 2010 Tribeca Film Festival.

The movie is about a detective, Noah Cordin who is investigating the murder of the son of an affluent politician, Allison Connor. Allison's town is a wealthy neighborhood, and the only clue in the investigation leads to Noah's impoverished hometown of Caswell. Frustrated by the investigation's pace, Allison Connor uses her power on the Meskada County Board of Commissioners to threaten to stop a new factory from opening in Caswell. As expected, Caswell residents open their own independent investigation into the murder, while Noah continues his own investigation.

This movie is one of the best movies slated for release this year so keep your eyes peeled for it.

Official movie website:
http://www.meskada.com

Trailer on YouTube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NCa-SP4bKHU

IMDB:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1461249/