Singaporean film geeks!

I love Singapore: the people, the food (chicken rice!), the burgeoning film industry. To keep up to speed on what's going on in the island-city-nation, there's the "official" movie site, movieXclusive, which is a great resource, especially for the online DVD store, where you can get some great Southeast Asian films that are not readily available from sites like YesAsia.
Anyway, check out the awesome videoblog of various film premieres, press conferences and other cool stuff going down in Singapore, la! Since we're all BIG on Singapore, check out the MDA site that lists all the media commissions including film, TV and music, and the important work done at the Asian Film Archive, headed by our friend Bee Thiam Tan.

The Hollywood Remake King

Variety has a great interview with film producer Roy Lee of Vertigo Entertainment. A Korean American, Lee's landmark deal to remake RINGU into a huge box office hit in 2002, opened the flood gates for Asian genre remakes, with the majority of them bringing in box-office gold. Some of these hits are:

THE GRUDGE (originally JU-ON from Japan)
EIGHT BELOW (originally NANKYOKU MONOGATARI also from Japan)
THE DEPARTED originally INFERNAL AFFAIRS from Hong Kong)

Lee's film slate is increasing in '07: With remakes of Asian horror hits (and past HIFF selections) like SHUTTER, MY SASSY GIRL, THE MISSION, THE EYE, and THE HOST, just to name a few. To many Asian film enthusiasts, Roy Lee is the anti-christ: buying up the rights of films they adore and bastardizing and dumbing down them for the fat, lazy American public. I, for one, am not necessarily a big fan of this either, but there are benefits. These remakes are turning people to Asian fare and I've seen many of the originals also being released in the U.S. before their American remake or on DVD. Now if we can just get Americans interested in Asian fare other than horror or martial arts....

Top Ten of 2006

So, here's my top ten best films of the year. A caveat: this list reflects films that have U.S. distribution and were released this year, so films I've seen at various festivals or have shown at HIFF may not apply.
1. CHILDREN OF MEN -- Helmer Alfonso Cuaron paints a realistic portrayal of the future and spins an intriguing story that is high concept, yet, doesn't fall into predictable sci-fi traps. Clive Owen is the best anti-hero around and the Academy should recognize Michael Caine's brilliant work as a dope smoking, hippie activist.
2. THE PROPOSITION -- Best Western in years and it comes from the dark, twisted mind of musician Nick Cave. Grim, dirty, swarming with desert flies, this morality tale set in the Outback is reminiscent of the great John Ford westerns, but without the vistas of Monument Valley. Instead, we have gripping performances by Ray Winstone as the sheriff, and one heck of a villain portrayed by Danny Huston. His pontifications may have been cheesy if read by another actor, but Huston pulls it off.
3. THE NOTORIOUS BETTY PAGE -- Sultry and smart, this is not your traditional bio-pic, but instead, a funny and wicked look into the sex icon's role in changing the face of sexuality and pop culture in the 1950s. Former "it" girl Gretchen Mol finally delivers a great performance and she channels the sexpot with glee, tickling and teasing the audience as any great pinup gal should.
4. THE DEPARTED -- Hand's down, Martin Scorsese's best film in years! A tight crime story with stellar performances, especially from Jack Nicholson, who should win a Best Supporting Actor Oscar, this film, during production, was maligned by many film geeks as a bastardization of the classic Hong trilogy, INFERNAL AFFAIRS. On the contrary, Scorsese's "reimagining" is different enough to love both.
5. THE PRESTIGE -- Chris Nolan, the genius behind MEMENTO and BATMAN BEGINS can really do no wrong. A film about dueling magicians set during the dawn of the Industrial Revolution? What is not to love about this premise? Nolan has taken away the crown of pop movie auteur from M. Night.
6. BUBBLE -- A truly underrated film, BUBBLE was the inaugural project of HDNet Films (owned by Mark Cuban) in the whole day-and-date release strategy that was an abysmal failure. As for the film itself, it's a gothic small-town love triangle shot in brilliant HD and with non-professional actors, which resulted in a compelling, often times funny, many times dark film that I haven't seen since the days of TWIN PEAKS.
7. HARD CANDY -- Talk about a mindf-ck of a movie! This is one of the scariest films I've seen in years. Essentially a two character story, the HARD CANDY plays out with so many twists and turns and torturous tete-a-tete. To say a battle of the sexes is a major understatement. Ellen Page is brilliant, virginal, sadistic, and noble in this breakthrough performance. She's going places!
8. CASINO ROYALE -- The best Bond film since GOLDENEYE! It has all the tropes of a great Bond film (kick-ass villain, exotic locales, hot women), yet it is truly re-invented for the 21st C... It's updated for these Jack Bauer times. And although Daniel Craig makes me uncomfortable in his tiny swimsuit, he brings a whole new dimension to Bond, as a killer, a lover, and secret agent man in the making.
9. THE QUEEN -- Helen Mirren is simply amazing as Queen Elizabeth, portraying a woman steeped in tradition during one of the most tumultuous media events of the decade. Quiet and refined, THE QUEEN is so compelling, I wish it were longer. Cool tidbit: This is Michael Sheen's second portrayal of Tony Blair; he played the formidable PM in a movie for British TV called THE DEAL in 2003, directed by Stephen Frears. How cool is that?
10. VOLVER -- Pedro Almodovar does it again and Penelope Cruz has never been so ravishing! With such a strong ensemble of women, VOLVER could've easily veered into Ya-Ya Sisterhood. But, with Spanish flavor, and a master filmmaker at the wheel, VOLVER becomes a dark comedy about the magic of compassion, family, and yes, sisterhood!
Great Films to be released in 2007: THE HOST, JINDABYNE, HULA GIRLS, 12:08 EAST OF BUCHAREST, TRIAD ELECTION, RED ROAD, LUXURY CAR

Guillermo Del Toro, The Magician!

Mexican-born Guillermo Del Toro, of CRONOS, DEVIL'S BACKBONE, BLADE II, and HELLBOY fame, returns with his latest magic realism fable, PAN'S LABYRINTH. It's opened in select cities already (sadly not in Hawaii yet), and is generating major Oscar buzz for Best Foreign Film and various technical categories. Read a great interview with him, as well as various reviews of his latest, on Greencine.
What I like about Del Toro, as well as his fellow brethren, Alfonso Cuaron, who directed Y TU MAMA TAMBIEN, the best HARRY POTTER film, and CHILDREN OF MEN (Programmers Note: BEST Film of the Year) and Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu, of BABEL, 21 GRAMS, and AMORES PERROS, is that they easily blend reality and the fantastic with relative ease, and with no post-modern BS either. The Mexican troika were recently interviewed on Charlie Rose.

Korean domestic box office dwindling?

So say many industryites in the Korean film world. According to Mark Russell's Korean Pop Wars blog,that is a relative statement, considering that the domestic take this year will top $600 million! Bottom-line, it's the saturation of high-priced mediocre films and the increase in screens across Korea that is striking fear within the industry. Apparently, there is also a similar trend in Japan, where the domestic take, for the first time since 1983, has exceeded the U.S. take. This is all fine and good, but when you have a decimated DVD market, especially in Korea, there is little wiggle room to make money nowadays, especially with exorbitant marketing fees and rising star salaries. Gee, sounds familiar!

I love Japanese CMs

This is one of the best Japanese commercials I've seen in a long time. And the kicker? This CM is advertising a fiber drink! Why can't our commercials be so kick-ass? The Apple Computer CM during the '84 Olympiad? Puh-leeze... Well, not really. That was an awesome CM too. Regardless, give me sword-wielding high school girls vs. the yokai monsters any day.

Where's the Hawaii Film Critics Circle?

If Ohio can have a film critics society and actually send out a press release on their top films of the year, then we should have one too. I bet it would be more substantive too, since I know there are a great number of working journalists who are also well versed in film criticism.
Off the top of my head, here's a list of notable journalists who I think would be great in a hypothetical Hawaii critics circle:
1. Bob Green -- Honolulu Weekly
2. Ryan Senaga -- Honolulu Weekly
3. Michael Tsai -- Honolulu Advertiser
4. Derek Paiva -- Honolulu Advertiser
5. Gary Chun -- Honolulu Star Bulletin
6. Burl Burlingame -- Honolulu Star Bulletin
7. Tim Ryan -- Hawaii Film & Video Magazine
And this should not be Oahu-centric, by any means. There's some great reporters on Maui like Rick Chaveter, for example. Considering that the Ohio film critics circle only has 12 members, we're almost there! I would also greatly consider notable blog critics as well, and other film professionals like like moi and some professors at the University of Hawaii. We gotta make this happen!

Hou Hsiao-Hsien remakes RED BALLOON

According to Kung-Fu Cult Cinema, famed Taiwanese director Hou Hsiao-Hsien is remaking the French classic, THE RED BALLOON, as part of a film series honoring France's Musee d'Orsay. Juliette Binoche stars.

SNL Digital Shorts -- Better Than the Live Thing

Ever since the infamous LAZY SUNDAY sketch premiered in December 2005, showing an inkling of Saturday Night Live's new direction and the genius of Andy Samberg, it clearly shows that SNL's greatest stuff nowadays is mined from the An SNL Digital Short series. And although MadTV has been doing this for years, SNL will always be the standard in late night comedy. And I gotta say, the digital shorts are getting much more attention that the actual live skits (unless Alec Baldwin or Justin Timberlake are hosting).
Most recently, the Dick in a Box short has been taking the 'Net by storm, hitting all the Color Me Badd moves. I, for one, am totally psyched to see an anime parody on SNL and it's about Takeru Kobayashi, the hot dog eating champion! It's a great, great parody on Dragon Ball Z. Before long, SNL will have to drop the Live from their title all together and just be a collection of funny shorts for the night.

Korean films in Berlinale

The Berlin Film Festival is one of the most prestigious festivals in the world. It's also my first stop on the festival circuit this year, and I have to say it is the most efficiently run festival that I attend (Germans, of course). Anyway, Asianpopcorn has announced the Korean films that will be participating in this year's festival. A truly eclectic mix of titles this time around, I'm only familiar with E.Jyong's DASEPO NAUGHTY GIRLS, which is a randy, manga-inspired musical ala Rocky Horror and Porkys. I've only seen a clip from it, but it looks very midnight screening worthy. You may know the director's work from the wildly popular UNTOLD SCANDAL, which we showed a few years ago. Coincidentally, I have randomly run into director Jyong in the most wierdest places. I first met him at HIFF, of course, when he presented his film, but then I ran into him a couple times in Seoul, at like convenience stores, and I actually was on a bus two years ago to Cannes, and there he was! Plus, I recently ran into him in LA, of all places. I swear, I am not stalking him.
Anyway, I'll check out the rest of the Korean titles and many more and see if they will work for HIFF.

Jackie's Blog

Wow, even Jackie Chan has a blog. Media mogul that he is, why would he not? And it's in English too. Here's an insightful entry on the English dubbing process of one THE MYTH, which apparently has been sold to a U.S. distributor and is set for theatrical release sometime in 2007. News to me, especially since the film is fairly old now (it was released in China in 2005). When will U.S. distribs learn that Asian DVDs are prevalent everywhere? They have to act faster! As for Jackie, just finish RUSH HOUR 3 so Chris Tucker can work again.

Flops of 2006

Did you see FLYBOYS, BASIC INSTINCT 2 or ALL THE KING'S MEN? Me neither! Here's a great year-end report on the biggest Hollywood flops of 2006, with commentary on why they were D.O.A.

Top 10 J-films 2006

AsianPopcorn is listing Mark Schilling's 10 Best Japanese Films of the year. 2006 will be benchmark for the Japanese film industry, since domestic titles have surpassed U.S. titles for the first time since way back in 1983. Have Japanese films gotten better over the years? Perhaps. Or is it that Hollywood output is sucking ass? You be the judge.

IWO JIMA dominates Japan

Clint Eastwood's LETTERS FROM IWO JIMA, the Japanese companion of FLAGS OF OUR FATHERS, is taking the Japanese box-office by storm and is #1 in its 2nd week. It has already surpassed the entire gross of FLAGS. The film is also making waves and is being recognized in numerous critics circles, including winning best picture from the National Board of Review. Read more a Variety.
I'm also sure that there will be a big awards push for actor Ken Watanabe, who we honored at this year's HIFF.

TV Network Cabal Conspire to Crush YouTube

With all the proliferation of YouTube in the past year or so, from the hooplah of lonelygirl15, to catching up on your latest kdrama, and a plethora of stupid human and pet tricks, youtube has revolutionized videoblogging. We've even used it for our vblogs and it's a doozy! Anyway, the big networks have been cracking down in the past year on getting their copyrighted content off the site, in favor of iTunes and Google Video. You can even watch streaming episodes of new shows like HEROES on the NBC homepage. Anyway, looks like the big networks NBC Universal, Newscorp (owner of FOX), Viacom and possibly CBS will announce the launch of a new service that culls all their content and build on a new business distribution network to directly compete against them youtube anarchists! How will this affect indie filmmakers and will it be a first step in standardizing monetary compensation? Only time will tell and if this major endeavor will actually work. Keep your eyes peeled and your ears perked for the big announcement. In the meantime, read about in in the NYT.

Free Gore DVDs to Schools!

As in GORE, Al GORE! 50,000 copies of the AN INCONVENIENT TRUTH DVD are being donated to schools across the country, courtesy of Paramount Vantage, Participant Productions and The Environmental Media Association. If you're a teacher who would like to receive a copy for "educational purposes", then read more at dvdactive. And if you haven't seen this powerful documentary, then I would highly advise it, not only because of the alarming content matter and call-to-action, but because Al is actually charismatic with the greatest powerpoint presentation ever! Al-baby, why didn't you unleash this back in 2000?

Pop Stars & Triads: Stranger Than Fiction?

Seoul-based Mark Russell's great Korean Pop Wars blog is an insightful look into Korean entertainment. He has written about this industry in The Hollywood Reporter, Billboard and Newsweek, among others. Anyway, he highlights the top ten Korean acts of 2006 (more lists!) and how a report on Chinese triads in Korea is so conveniently spotlighted a week before the the release of MY WIFE IS A GANGSTER 3 starring HK starlet Shu Qi, she of high brow fare like MILLENNIUM MAMBO and guilty pleasures like SO CLOSE and THE TRANSPORTER.

Top Ten Lists from IFC

Ah, the end of the year, "best of" lists. I love making lists (and you'll get my own top ten films shortly). Anyway, the great folks at IFC News have come up with various top ten lists, seven in all, and boy, can they be any different this year? Everyone of the IFC reporters has a different #1, ranging from L'ENFANT, INSIDE MAN, and even MARIE ANTOINETTE, whom IFC reporter Thom Bennett proclaims: "I would be hard-pressed to find a movie that was the recipient of more misguided criticism than Marie Antoinette, but Sofia Coppola once again proves that she's one hell of a filmmaker - a historian would have probably made a far less interesting film." Sure, I loved the trailer, with New Order's "Age of Consent" playing through, but sadly, the film was a disappointment. It also didn't help that I saw it in Cannes to a booing audience. Ouch. I just think it works well for sad, high school girls, and that's about it.
Regardless of my disagreements, the lists are very informative and if anything, will help you construct your Netflix queues for the next 6 months. My personal faves from these lists: OLD JOY, CAVITE and definitely CHILDREN OF MEN, which opens this Christmas.

CHINESE DEMOCRACY hits stores in March

... Yeah, right. Guns N Roses' latest album, titled Chinese Democracy, has a tentative release date of March 6th. Isn't this album, like, 80 years in the making? I'm not holding out any hope. On the other hand, Appetite for Destruction, is perhaps, one of the most elegant rock albums of all time. It goes into the time capsule. Read more about Mr. Rose's ongoing, OCD journey to get this album made and sully my childhood even more. Gosh, did you see his bulbous self, panting and wheezing, with them corn rows during his "return" at the 2002 VMAs? I believe the latest album was supposed to drop soon after those VMAs, 4 years ago!

CURSE OF THE GOLDEN FLOWER tops box-office in China

As totally expected, Zhang Yimou's latest big budget costumer, CURSE OF THE GOLDEN FLOWER tops the Chinese box office. Read more at Crienglish.

Chen Kaige admits THE PROMISE not up to par

Well, sort of. Chen Kaige, one of the premier Fifth Generation filmmakers, with such famous works as YELLOW EARTH, EMPEROR AND THE ASSASSIN and TOGETHER, among other great Chinese films of the last 20 years, speaks candidly about his career and how THE PROMISE, his latest big budget extravaganza was considered a critical and box-office disappointment. Read the insightful interview at GreenCine. What I want to know is, what was he thinking when he directed KILLING ME SOFTLY?

"Film criticism is effectively dead..."

So says Chris Gore of Film Threat. Variety highlights the tenth anniversary of the rise of movie geek websites like AICN and the web version of Film Threat, among other sites. With the proliferation of blogs in recent years, the hallowed halls of film criticism from such institutions like Pauline Kael and Cahiers du Cinema. Of course, there is the most famous American critic, Roger Ebert, who I consider the great equalizer, bringing film criticism to the masses thanks to his Lloyd's of London insured thumbs. So are fanboys and web-based critics the downfall of the A.O. Scotts and Manohla Dargises?

Studio Ghibli film not released in US til 2009

Japan's answer to the Mouse House, Studio Ghibli's latest anime feature, TALES FROM EARTHSEA, which is an adaptation of the Ursula K. Le Guin sci-fi/fantasy novel, was a modest hit in Japan this summer. Granted, it was not directed by the great Hayao Miyazaki, but rather, his son Goro. A big, public pissing match ensued between father and son, which may have soured the box office potential of the film. Ah, geniuses and their sons.
Regardless, U.S. fans won't get to see it for another 2 years until the rights of the Sci-Fi Channel miniseries adaptation expire on December 2008. Sure it co-starred the hapa and insanely cute Kristin Kreuk, but for the most part, came off as a poor man's version of DUNGEONS & DRAGONS (if there is such a thing). Oh well, I guess Ghibli fans will have to keep re-watching their SPIRITED AWAY and TOTORO DVDs. Read more here in Variety.

Canada's Top Ten

The Canucks make great films. Every year, the Toronto International Film Festival Group gathers a panel of industryites to determine the top ten Canadian films of the year. BTW, two that made the cut , we showed at the recent HIFF, THE JOURNALS OF KNUD RASMUSSEN and SHARKWATER, which received a special mention in the Halekulani Golden Orchid for Best Documentary category. It looks like we'll be bringing in Sarah Polley's directorial feature debut to the spring showcase in April, so check back for more info.

Satoshi Kon and "cinematic writing"

Midnight Eye is the best site for critical studies on Japanese cinema. Maintained by two gaijin, Jasper Sharp and Tom Mes are two guys who really know their stuff and are tapped into new, emerging talent, while at the same time, appreciating the great masters and cult heroes in Japan's illustrious cinematic history.
They've got a great interview with anime director Satoshi Kon, talking about his latest masterpiece PAPRIKA, which we presented at the last HIFF. Man, was he a party animal, and he loved Sidestreet Inn too! Check out the Paprika trailer on YouTube.
There's also a great review of Thomas LaMarre's fascinating book on Japan's first post-modern writer, Tanizaki Junichiro, who in his heyday in the early 20th century, fused western tropes with traditional Japanese storytelling, as well as mass media influences to create an experimental narrative that was truly "cinematic". Filmgeek holiday gift alert! Go buy the book now at Amazon.

Foreign films vie for piece of awards pie

Sure, VOLVER is hitting big in the specialty box-office and the big studio contenders like LETTERS FROM IWO JIMA, BABEL, and APOCALYPTO are mostly if not completely subtitled, but how do foreign language films snag some of the awards campaign spotlight without being relegated into the "subtitle ghetto"? With upcoming titles like Guillermo Del Toro's PAN'S LABYRINTH and Zhang Yimou's opulent CURSE OF THE GOLDEN FLOWER, the new focus is to go for the shotgun approach (i.e. technical categories), rather than focusing on traditional strategies. Read more here in Variety.

New GRINDHOUSE pics

Had no idea that Naveen Andrews (he of LOST fame and life partner of Babs "Beaches" Hershey) and Freddy Rodriguez (SIX FEET UNDER and recently in BOBBY and HARSH TIMES) are both in it. EW has some exclusive pics from the Robert Rodriguez/Quentin Tarantino fanboy splurge fest opening in March.

vBlog: HULA GIRLS (Closing Night Gala)

Sorry this is late; a great vblog of the HIFF 2006 Closing Night Gala of HULA GIRLS, with the one and only Jake Shimabukuro and Jennifer Perri, performing the theme song live on stage. The lovely Jennifer, who now resides in NYC, flew all the way to Hawaii to perform the song to a sold out screening at the historic Hawaii Theatre Center. There are also some heartfelt closing words from our fearless (and obviously tired) leader of this whole dog & pony show too. Enjoy!

Regal Cinemas Cracking Down on Annoying Moviegoers

This may be old news, but wanted to highlight this anyway, since Regal Cinemas is the main venue sponsor of HIFF. A new pilot program is arming moviegoers with a new gadget that allows them to call in the ushers and remove unruly audience members with the press of a button. If the program is successful, Regal will implement it in all its theaters nationwide, including the Dole Stadium 18, the home of the festival. Coming soon to a theater near you: Crack down on cell phone users, chatty Cathys, and parents who bring their newborns and terrible twos to rated R movies. I mean, seriously, we live in a society here! Read more about this new program at Reuters.

Great Holiday Gift for the cineaste you love!

Highly recommended! Get The Village Voice Film Guide: 50 Years of Movies from Classics to Cult Hits, edited by recent HIFF guest and former VV critic himself, the classy Dennis Lim, who also contributed a great HIFF overview at greencine. In the meantime, get the book at Amazon!

China Loves Prison Break!

Thanks to the wonders of BitTorrent, American entertainment has become instantaneous to the rest of the world. People can now download new episodes at the same time as their U.S. broadcast and not wait six months to a year for them to debut on their terrestial station. Same goes with pirated movies and software, and since BT has become omnipresent, Hollywood has decided to "sleep with the enemy." In China, where BT is as natural as walking and eating, it has sped up the acculturation process of entertainment -- PRISON BREAK is one of the most preposterous television shows ever (Yet, I can't stop tivoing it), but because of this new phenomenon, it has become a huge hit in China. In fact, prison themed works, like said show and THE SHAWSHANK REDEMPTION (aside from making grown men cry), are considered windows into the American psyche because it explores the U.S. criminal justice system. Read more at Danwei.

Detective of Programming

Behind-the-scenes of a festival: MIDNIGHT SUN, a touching young love story from Japan, was a big hit at the recent HIFF. However, once the shows over, there are still loose-ends to take care of, even weeks after the festival goes dark. We ship off the 35mm print of MIDNIGHT SUN to another festival in Italy, thinking case closed. A couple of weeks ago, we get frantic e-mails and calls from the Italians and the Japanese that the print never arrived and it's gone missing. Therefore, the distributor had to send over their pristine, archive print to Italy. More crucial was the fact that we needed to find the lost print and send it over to Iran, because the filmmaker would be in attendance! After digging through airway bills, documents and numerous phone calls, I had no leads. Then, out of a gut feeling, I drive over to the courier's office out by the airport, right before they closed for the day, and demanded to spot check their depot. And lo and behold, the print was sitting right there, apparently re-sent back to Hawaii! I was going to blow a gasket, but the feeling of joy overcame me. The print was back in HIFF possession and I immediately called the distributors. Since there is an embargo on shipping to Iran, I had to re-route the print BACK to Japan, so they can then send it off to Iran. Whew! Case closed. Dun Dun!!

Leo vs. Leo

So, the Golden Globes were announced this morning. BABEL leads the pack with 7 noms. Disappointed that in the foreign category, two US-produced titles have taken up slots that would've gone to other films. LETTERS FROM IWO JIMA should've been placed in the Best Picture category and how is APOCALYPTO a "foreign" film? In the meantime, this year's doppelganger theme has Clint vs. Clint (for best director) and Boston Leo vs. African Leo (Best Actor)! Coincidentally, these showdowns are all WB films.
Anyway, you can join the heated globes discussion over at the Hot Blog.

See MY LIFE DISORIENTED on PBS!

Eric Byler, director of CHARLOTTE SOMETIMES, AMERICANESE, and Moanalua graduate, directed a teen show pilot called MY LIFE DISORIENTED, which we screened in our popular DisORIENTation shorts program at our last film festival. Anyway, the pilot is airing on PBS and the producers are mounting a grassroots campaign to get as many people to tune in, and request for more airings, with the hopes to get the show picked up for a full-season order. I gotta say, I quite enjoyed the show, which plays like an Asian-American DEGRASSI HIGH, and I am a huge DH fan! If you are interested in joining the fight, you can e-mail PBS (make sure to cc the producers) and find out when it airs in your area. In Hawaii, it's airing on 12/26 at 10pm. Set your tivos! In the meantime, you can check out a couple of clips on YouTube.

Cool filmmaker blogs

I love blogs. From business to personal, I subscribe to so many, that it takes me all weekend to catch up on the various RSS feeds I subscribe to. Blogs are also a great way to get insight on filmmakers in not only their daily lives, but a clear evolution on their thought processes and what makes them tick creatively. Therefore, here are some blogs you should check out from HIFF 2006 delegates:
Matt Dentler, the SXSW Festival producer's daily blog is one to check out on the going ons of one of the best film fests in the nation, as well as what's happening in the Austin film scene; Malay filmmaker Yasmin Ahmad's witty and intelligent blog chronicles her travails around the world, traveling with her films like GUBRA; ANG PAMANA: THE INHERITANCE from Filipino-Canadian director Romeo Candido really showcased this multihyphenate's range and get more insight from his daily blog, where he talks about his cultural background, hip hop, and the best Pinoy recipes; finally, check out Katsuhito Ishii's Nice Rainbow blog, where you get the latest news on his upcoming projects, photos from his recent Hawaiian vacation and other zany stuff. Sadly, it's only in Japanese.

A Charlie Brown/Scrubs X-Mas

I'm a big fan of SCRUBS, so I was stoked to see this special in-house video that was made for cast and crew of the cast's dub-over of A Charlie Brown Christmas. It's quite funny, especially if you are a big fan of the show. Either way, it's worth taking a look!