Archive for the ‘General’ Category
Telluride Review: The First Movie
Kevin Macdonald really has a big task ahead of him with the user-generated documentary Life in a Day. If you recall, the Last King of Scotland director teamed up with producer Ridley Scott for a film to be compiled from submitted clips shot by amateurs on the date 7/24/2010 (read our interview with Macdonald about the ambitious concept). Around 80,000 videos from around the world have been uploaded to YouTube for the project, and now Macdonald and co-editor Joe Walker (Hunger) have only four months to turn this random material into a feature set to screen at the Sundance Film Festival in January.
For the time being, we can see most of what they’ve got to choose from thanks to a handy gallery on YouTube, which is organizing the clips based on location, type of location, time of day and mood, and adding them to a neat-looking 3D sphere tool. Also, a global feature shows us where the majority of videos come from (not too much representation from Africa or the Middle East). I have already run into an odd problem where some videos don’t work with the tool because of an issue with embedding choices, but otherwise I’ve had fun killing a significant amount of time watching what hundreds of strangers were up to on the exact same day this summer.
Filed under: Documentary, Sundance, Cinematical Indie, Trailers and Clips
Continue reading YouTube Shows Off its ‘Life in a Day’ Submissions
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Stop Wailing: Corey Pavin Makes Right Call in Choosing Tiger
Filed under: U.S. Open
NEW YORK — The great benefit to Serena Williams missing the U.S. Open is that we’re getting a refresher course on Venus Williams.
For so long, Serena’s persona and antics, and her superior play, have hidden not just everyone else on tour, but also her big sister. And because so many people don’t seem to realize that Venus and Serena are different people, Serena has not only clouded the view of Venus, but also altered it.
At the U.S. Open, Venus has been a picture of courage, eloquence and grace. Come to think of it, she usually is. Serena was making us forget.
Venus is 30 now, and after beating French Open champ Francesca Schiavone 7-6 (5), 6-4, she advanced to the semifinals for the first time in three years. It is only the second time she has gotten this far in any major, other than Wimbledon, in the past seven years.
“Still young, I would say,” she said. “Still young in the head. Really young in the head.”
What a treat to see Williams here again. You had to wonder if she would ever contend for another major title, and especially this one, which she hasn’t won since 2001.
Maybe this is her last, best chance. But we’ve thought that before, too.
US Open: Wawrinka Ousts Querrey | Djokovic Breezes Past Fish
More: US Open Scores | Photos
Note that she said she’s young “in the head.” Her knees didn’t get the memo. She’s in pain, and has been off-and-on for over a year. She had not played a match since Wimbledon, and it’s just a hunch, but I don’t think her knees are holding up well now, either.With Serena Sidelined, Venus Reminds Us Where It All Started
Andre Agassi Gets Nominated to Hall of Fame
It was revealed on Sunday that another Pakistani cricketer was caught on cameras talking about how almost all the matches involving Pakistan were fixed. Yasir Hameed, the man in question, had tapes of his speaking to the News of the World reporter about the alleged involvement of many Pakistani cricketers in match-fixing. Immediatel…
Vitor Belfort wants a boxing match versus James Toney …
Props: ESPN.co.uk
Quoteworthy:
“I haven’t got anything against him, he’s a great fighter and he seems like a cool guy. But I wanted to fight him because he breaks down real nice for my game, and he’s got status in the division. He was the No. 1 contender so it’s a big fight for me. We’ll see if I’m foolish on October 16. He’s definitely the most dangerous opponent I’ve fought so far, and he’s the toughest too. He’s definitely one of the top guys I’ve faced for sure.”
Former WEC welterweight champion Carlos Condit prepares for his toughest challenge to date as he gets ready to lock horns with former division number one contender Dan Hardy at the upcoming UFC 120 event scheduled for Oct. 16 at the O2 Arena in London, England. “The Outlaw” called Condit “foolish” for requesting this fight and plans on punishing him for it when “The Natural Born Killer” tests his jits across the pond. Anyone think the Brit is going to be in for a surprise? Or is Condit biting off more than he can chew?
Carlos Condit: ‘Dan Hardy is definitely the most dangerous opponent I’ve fought so far’
Unverified Voracity Catches Up, But Not To Denard
V6′s 37th single “only dreaming/Catch” has made its debut at No.1 on the Japanese music charts, making it the 16th straight year the group has had a Top 10 single. The same record has only been achieved by two other music groups: B’z and SMAP.
The single has sold close to 60,000 copies, and has been used as the theme song to Yoshihiko Inohara’s (34) drama “????????? (Keishicho Sousa Ikka 9-gakari)” and the “Waseda Academy” TV commercial.
It is the fourth consecutive No.1 single the group has had out of a total of 24 No. 1s.
p.s. "Only Dreaming" has started to grow on me now (^_^)
Source: MomoEdgewood (sorry Mods, i forgot ^^;)
Latest V6 single makes history, group in same league as SMAP and B’z
Shadows of Film Noir: He Walked by Night
Since it was first published in 1965, Frank Herbert’s Hugo- and Nebula-Award winning science fiction novel, Dune, has spawned six direct sequels penned in Herbert’s lifetime, a still ongoing series of prequels and sequels written by his son, Brian, with Kevin Anderson, a commercially unsuccessful 1984 big-screen adaptation directed by David Lynch (Mulholland Drive, Blue Velvet), a 2000 miniseries made for the Sci-Fi Channel, followed by a miniseries that covered Herbert’s second and third novels, Dune Messiah and Children of Dune, and if Paramount’s announcement two years ago holds, another big-screen adaptation slated for a 2012 release.
Lynch’s film may have been the first adaptation of Herbert’s novel, but it wasn’t the first attempt. Pre-Star Wars, George Lucas was interested in adapting Dune, but the film rights were unavailable. Lucas paid homage to Dune by setting some of the action in Star Wars on a desert planet, Tatooine. Planet of the Apes franchise producer Arthur P. Jacobs stepped up first, buying the film rights from Herbert in 1971. Jacobs hoped Lawrence of Arabia filmmaker David Lean would take the directing reins on the big-screen adaptation, but Lean turned him down. Jacobs’ untimely death left Dune in limbo.
At surrealist filmmaker Alejandro Jodorowsky’s (The Holy Mountain, El Topo, Santa Sangre) request (actually demand) French producer Michael Seydoux purchased Dune’s film rights from Jacobs’ estate. Jodorowsky envisioned his son playing the central character, Paul Atreides, Orson Welles as the villainous Baron Harkonnen, and Salvador Dali as the Emperor Shaddam IV, with Pink Floyd providing an original score. Jodorowsky hired Jean Giraud (Moebius) of Heavy Metal fame and H.R. Giger (Alien) as concept artists. Production stopped before principal photography began. Dino De Laurentiis picked up the film rights and, after Ridley Scott’s (Gladiator, Blade Runner, Alien) brief involvement, chose Lynch to direct.
Filed under: Classics, Drama, Sci-Fi & Fantasy, Paramount
Continue reading Concept Art for Peter Berg’s Unrealized ‘Dune’ Project
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UFC 119 video: Frank Mir talks about all the ways in which he’s better than Mirko Cro Cop
“I’ve heard that, that he holds on to stuff too long, but I don’t really care about that. When I go to fight, I fully expect guys to do whatever they can to win, and if that means them trying to cheat or whatever, you have to be ready for that. You have to protect yourself at all times and that means even from things that are illegal. I’m going to come prepared and I’m going to do my best to stay out of any kind of submission hold so that issue won’t even come up.”
– Nate Marquardt, in a recent interview on “The MMA Hour,” reveals that he is well aware of the Kung Fu grip of Rousimar Palhares, who he takes on in the UFC Fight Night 22 main event on Sept. 15, 2010. Palhares has been called out a handful of times for not releasing his submission holds soon enough, including a heel hook on Tomasz Drwal at UFC 111 back on March 27, which resulted in a 90-day suspension despite the win. Marquardt has rich history with fighters who hang on too long — he struck Ricardo Almeida way back when after the fight was over because he felt “Cachorrao” applied a choke too long after he tapped. Almeida’s coach and mentor, Renzo Gracie, flew through the ropes and kicked “The Great” in the grill for the extracurricular activities. Any chance we see more shenanigans on fight night or are both fighters, as well as the referee, prepared to keep it super clean this time around?
UFC Quick Quote: Nate Marquardt plans to protect himself at all times against Rousimar Palhares