“Everyone knows that nothing says ‘I Love You’ on Christmas like a banana that still has some yellow left in it…”

And with that said, A new Exploding Short, Tentatively titled “World Peace, Ltd.” is in the works.

A Primary (“Rough” sounds too unprofessional) draft of the script is up, and you can find it here.

We will need between 10 and 15 people in the cast. Casting will be at My house, (Call me for the address), Starting at Noon on Tuesday, December 26th. We will hopefully be ready to film on the 29th or 30th. If all goes well, we should be able to get this shot in a day.

If you are interested, either:
Email Me: arin@exgfilms.com
Call Me: 231-3293
Or Just show up

So here I am, everyone. Stuck in a La Quinta, in a blizzard, in CHEYENNE. I’m literally 45 miles from home, and I can’t get there.

This is the sound of me glaring at the blizzard: GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR.

I just thought you all should share my UNDYING PAIN!

I can’t believe it. 45 MILES!

Sigh. If anyone wants to give me moral/social/economic/geo-political support, please do. I could use it.

Classes are over, finals are done, and I’m free for a month to work on Terminal Philosophy and other projects! In seven hours I’ll be back in Fort Collins with a slight cold (which I’m sure will go away as soon as I can get a decent amount of sleep and not worry about assignments). But of more interest to you is this little tidbit:

I just finished authoring the second disc for the DVD release of Wholesale Souls, Inc.

And I’ve got all the packaging done.

Now I just have to get the title set up with CustomFlix and mail the masters out for proofing. This means that the light at the end of the tunnel is getting brighter, and the movie will be available for purchase within about two weeks. Unfortunately this means it probably won’t be available to buy as a Christmas gift, but IT WILL BE SHIPPING BY THE END OF THE MONTH. I promise.

Now for some leftover salad…

Consider this speech he gave today, on the last day of our writing class:

“I’ve decided not to do a final writing exercise today, unless you desperately want to. (pauses) I didn’t think so. Instead I’m just going to have you fill out this course evaluation, and when you’re done with that you can pick up your last two graded essays at the front of the room.

“I’ve enjoyed all of you, and I hope you’ve enjoyed me, at least intermittently. Other than that… have a nice life.” (he exits the classroom, never to return)

The class was left sitting there in stunned silence for about twenty seconds, and then a wave of laughter washed over all of us (and let me tell you, that class is a tough crowd).

Hot damn, I’m excited for his David Lynch class next semester.

…

Click here to see a Terminal Philosophy-themed final project for media class.

I kind of like the general layout and I’m proud of the title page, but the most important thing to notice is that the images stay in the exact horizontal and vertical center of the window, even when you resize it. This was accomplished with real, hand-coded CSS and I actually (kind of) UNDERSTOOD what it meant!

Maybe I should be a web design major.

…or not.

Let me also add that this has already done a good job of culling interest in the film, even before appearing on the internet: last week when I was showing the site-in-progress for crit, everyone really enjoyed the teaser (and Satan, Christ, and Leo being hit on the head all got hearty laughs).

That’s what I do. Cull interest. And cull it good.

If you can read this, you are at the new server. Congratulations. You have arrived. Give yourself a pat on the back. We’re all very proud of you.

We now have effectively unlimited storage space for our purposes, mad crazy bandwidth, and other goodies in the future. Thanks to our donors (Micah, Mike Charlie, Greg and Arin) for helping make this change possible.

Now some bad news: To keep this server up and running, I need to bring in approximately $100 per year in donations and sales revenue. This shouldn’t be too hard, but please consider dropping something in the tip jar when we post something you like. It helps us keep going, and helps me figure out what you all want out of the site.

More good(ish) news: The Wholesale Souls DVD will finally be coming out *SOON(ish)* More details soon.

OK, as a birthday present to myself (and in anticipation of forthcoming donations and DVD revenue), I am going to try to upgrade to a new server. This involves some complicated things, including transferring all the WordPress and bbPress databases and then switching the domain nameservers to point to the new domain. Anyway, there may be forthcoming difficulties with the site for a couple days. Please bear with me and know that wonderful things are coming.

Thanks,
Andrew

(P.S. to contributors: please do not post new articles until the transition is complete, as any new articles you post won’t be migrated over to the new server)

Aujourd’hui j’ai dix-neuf ans.

Big whoop.

The reviews for The Fountain are mixed. But if you’re smart, you won’t read this or any other review. Instead, you will go and watch the movie.

You heard me. Turn off your computer right now and go to the nearest theater showing The Fountain and buy a ticket.

Go. Now.

I’m a little late to the review party on this one even though I saw it on opening day, so I have a bit of a feeling which way the wind is blowing. Christian Science Monitor calls it “borderline unwatchable.” Ebert and Roeper give the movie two thumbs down. Philadelphia Weekly says of the film, “It’s hard to kick a mewing kitten, even one this stupid and ugly.”

The only thing I can think to say about this is, “why does this always happen to ME?” I left the theater convinced that The Fountain deserved an Oscar, and was going to win one. The same thing happened to me with The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou, which I thought was an absolutely fantastic film. The critics disagreed strongly. This worries me because to be a successful director I will have to make films that have broad appeal.

I will concede that I understand why some people might find The Fountain boring or lacking in structure. But I don’t see how anyone can call it a bad movie. I could explicate it, but I won’t. I have my own interpretations, but they are mine and yours will be different.

This latest film from legendary director Darren Aronofsky (who has produced a staggering three films since 1996), is impossible to categorize. It’s epic, yes; it spans 1000 years, but it is a story about two people. It is science fiction, yes, but not like any other sci-fi film in existence. It is complex, difficult, compelling, obscure, fascinating, spiritual, confusing, and beautiful. Breathtakingly beautiful. So breathtakingly beautiful that I don’t care about the plot. This isn’t to say that the plot isn’t engrossing or captivating; it very much is. But it’s not what matters.

This beauty isn’t just visual and aural, it is conceptual. The idea of a person turning into a tree, turning into a person, turning into a tree, is astonishing. The idea of stars and navigation by stars and life as dictated by a dying star inside a nebula light years away… these are absolutely wonderful. They are helped tremendously by jaw-dropping special effects that will be able to hold their own fifty years from now, transcendent cinematography by Matthew Libatique, and a dreamy-powerful score by Clint Mansell, and only slightly hindered by Aronofsky’s directorial style. He can be forgiven for his few errors. His last film, Requiem for a Dream, was about desparation. The Fountain is the exact opposite.

The Fountain, like all good literature and cinema, is a new and wondrous answer to the old question, “What is the meaning of life?” I don’t understand the answer, but oh what an answer it is.

[rate 4.5]