It's 1912 and you are kerpuffling down Main in your new
Stutz Bearcat, the envy of all who witness your
ride. The "dog house" hood, open bucket seats, a tiny "monocle" windscreen in front of the driver, and a cylindrical fuel tank on a short rear deck are attracting stares from passersby.
[more inside]
posted by ecorrocio
on Feb 4, 2012 -
64 comments
Covering Tohoku The Foreign Correspondent's Club of Japan (
FCCJ) has posted a special edition of its
No. 1 Shimbun covering the Tohoku Earthquake:
FCCJ members, many of them freelancers, were the first on the scene after the quake and have led coverage since. Weeks after the global media pack left, they're still here. There's articles by veteran Japan reporters such as
Charles Pomeroy who recently retired to Otsuchi after covering Japan for 50 years, to newer stringers such as
Gavin Blair who worked as a "fixer" for foreign prima-donna journos dashing in and out of the disaster zone. There is a photo by photographer
Rob Gilhooly who recently made
a heartbreaking trip into the exclusion zone near the plants. Although not included in No 1 Shimbun, freelancer
Yas Idei provides a Japanese perspective (in English) about the multiple disasters.
Idei's piece about Rokkashomura is pretty enlightening, frightening, and depressing.
posted by KokuRyu
on Apr 12, 2011 -
23 comments
People have been trying to make the appearance of three-dimensional movement
almost as far back as
the first movie cameras. The very first efforts used
stereoscopy (
more pre-
vious-
ly), which wasn't functional for theater-settings.
In 1915, the first public test of 3D film was deemed unsuccessful, as images presented with
green/red lenses detracted from the plot, but that didn't stop people from trying to make 3D films.
Polarized glasses are another inexpensive method of simulated 3D, while
shutterglasses are a more costly method. Up to 1998 or so, there were
approximately 187 3D movies made, not counting porn, cartoons and shorts (which bring the 1998 total to 263). 2009 is supposedly
the year that 3D movies really take off, as it has been reported that 3D films are expected to gross over $1bn (£700m) at the box office next year, a five-fold increase on their $200m haul in 2008.
There are some really big titles coming, including
the "3D drug trip" that is Avatar, and
all of the announced future Pixar releases will get the Digital Disney 3-D treatment. But 3D isn't limited to the big screen and big companies. The next format war
could be over 3D TV. And now the independent production company
MeniThings has released the feature-length movie,
Battle for Terra. [via
mefi projects, and a bit more on the movie after the jump]
[more inside]
posted by filthy light thief
on May 8, 2009 -
56 comments
I don't know what "independent film" means. At a time when the
Weinsteins are trying to extricate themselves from Disney, it seems an appropriate question to ask. There are Indie films (non-industry money) that are
supposed to imitate fancy hollywood films, there are new studios being opened outside of LA by Wealthy Christians in Denver hoping to convert through
CS Lewis movies and there are
Garden State,
Lost in Translation,
Eternal Sunshine etc. which are like other Hollywood films: have stars, and studio money but are marketed as "Independent Films." What makes these independent? Finally, and seemingly too infrequently, there are privately financed and self-distributed unusual films like
Assisted Living which despite their
obvious merits and the
critic's adoration are presumably ignored by the studios, blasted by the brain-numbing
EW and distributed instead by the two young first-time
filmmakers
Why can't we see more non-hollywood and non-hollywood espousing independent ART on the screen? Why do we let every other multi-million dollar romantic comedy be sold to us as "indy" just because it has a quirky soundtrack or aesthetic sensibility. What can we do about it? I'm going to the movies. You?
posted by tallbuildings
on Apr 15, 2005 -
30 comments
Indiana Jones and the Geriatric Star Spielberg and Ford confirm it to Fox News -- Indy will don his fedora again after Spielberg's next project. The film has a title and a script (they're mum on both). Can Harrison Ford be a believable hero at his age? He looked winded in Air Force One a few years ago...
posted by krewson
on Jan 22, 2002 -
42 comments
