chris | word

Now this is happening.

The Grove in Los Angeles is one of those great, outdoor shopping areas that attracts all manner of people. It’s situated next to the famous Farmer’s Market, which has been a fun hangout for hipsters, and non-hipsters alike, for many years.

I was at the Grove tonight to see a screening of director Steven Soderberg’s latest movie Haywire. It’s an action extravaganza starring MMA sensation Gina Carano, Michael Fassbender, Channing Tatum, Ewan McGregor and Michael Douglas.

I will be doing a full review later this week for The Flickcast. For now, just enjoy the above picture I took at the Grove this evening.

Yes, it’s actually even nicer than it looks in the picture.

On a related note, we’ve made the decision over at The Flickcast to make the site dark in protest of SOPA and PIPA. We firmly believe in stopping piracy but we don’t want to give up liberty to do it.

For more on how you can get involved, go HERE.

Because of my personal disgust with SOPA and PIPA, i won’t be posting here at all tomorrow either. Be back Thursday.

Have a great day off from me.

I’m a big fan of movies. Some of you might already know that. I have a particular fondness for movies from the 70s and in particular, conspiracy/thrillers.

One of my favorites is the Peter Hyams sci-fi conspiracy thriller Capricorn One. It stars James Brolin, Elliott Gould, Sam Waterston, Hal Holbrook, Brenda Vaccaro and O.J. Simpson. In case you’re not familiar (and we could get into a bit of spoiler territory here), it concerns a group of NASA scientists who, along with some astronauts, fake a mission to and landing on Mars.

The astronauts go along with it until something goes wrong with the spacecraft sent up as part of the fake missions and the entire world ends up thinking they’re dead. So, in order for the conspiracy to keep going they have to be dead. . . for real.

Knowing this, they escape and try to survive long enough to let people know they’re alive and it was all a big hoax. It’s a fun movie and well worth watching. Give it a try.

For fun I’ve included the trailer for the film below. It’s fun to watch trailers made before MTV and before people’s attention spans dropped off to nothing. The editing style is so very different.

Even though I try to stop myself, I’m still a slave to some conventions. One such convention is the “Best Of” lists that invariably crop up at the end of the year.

Of course, I bowed to convention and did one. It was published over at The Flickcast. However, because I like to help and I like you, I’ve included it below as well.

No need to thank me.

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As is the usual practice almost anywhere were column inches or post counts matter, writers such as myself take to their keyboards and make lists. I am no exception and, with a great deal of difficulty and toil, have managed to cobble together a list of what I think are some of the best things of 2011.

I don’t really want to bore you with a lot of explanations as to why I picked what I did. Suffice it to say these picks are mine and mine alone. Also, they are not in any particular order, mostly because I find it hard to rank them that closely. Or, I was just too lazy.

Either way, here you go.

Movies

Drive
The Artist
Attack the Block
X-Men: First Class
Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol
The Descendants
Thunder Soul
13 Assassins
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2
Hugo

TV

Game of Thrones
Fringe
Community
Homeland
Breaking Bad
Justified
Sons of Anarchy
Archer
Happy Endings
Boardwalk Empire

Games, Gadgets, Software, iOS Apps, etc.

Apple iPhone 4S
Apple iPad 2
Apple iOS 5
Wordpress
Final Draft
iA Writer
Batman: Arkham City
Cal of Duty: Modern Warfare 3
Saints Row: The Third
Forza Motorsport 4

Comics

Detective Comics Batman (DC)
Justice League (DC)
Green Lantern (DC)
Irredeemable (BOOM! Studios)
Daredevil (Marvel)
Criminal: Last of the Innocents (Icon / Marvel)

Can’t wait for Marvel’s “The Avengers.”

I may have mentioned it before but I like this movie and especially this scene. If you haven’t seen it, watch this and then go watch the whole movie. It’s worth it.

I don’t think it’s much of a secret that I’m a film nerd. I love movies of all genres but have a special place in my heart for sci-fi. Among my favorites is Ridley Scott’s 1982 film Blade Runner.

The film, an adaptation of Phillip K. Dick’s novel “Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep,” made quite an impression on me as a young man. I saw the film at a rough cut screening in San Diego after having won tickets on a local radio station and was treated to a version somewhat different from the finished product. It was a great experience.

I’ve watched the film so many times since that day and each time I still see something new in it. It was definitely before its time and not something soon to be repeated — any potential reboot/remake notwithstanding.

One of the stars of the film is Sean Young. She played Rachel, the replicant who thought she was human. During my travels in Hollywood I almost worked with Sean on a film but she ended up doing it and I ended up dropping out. At least I had the pleasure of meeting her once during pre-production.

She could not have been nicer during the meeting and towards the end even put up with a few Blade Runner questions from me that had absolutely nothing to do with the project we were talking about at the time. I enjoyed that meeting very much.

Recently, Sean put up a bunch of polaroid photos of her, and others, taken during the Blade Runner shoot. They are pretty cool and show a lot of my favorite actors as their younger selves. They also give us a glimpse into the friendship and bond that takes place during the making of a film.

I’ve often heard people in the business describe the filmmaking process as like going to war. You have a mission and you have a group of people all working together to reach a common objective. I’ve never been to war nor do I ascribe the same significance to filmmaking as I do to the sacrifices made by our men and women in uniform.

However, I get what they mean. Long hours, sometimes difficult working conditions and a sense that you’re isolated except for the rest of the people working with you can lead to that esprit de corps often talked about in military circles.

I’ve experienced the bond and friendship that comes from hours, days, weeks and months “in the trenches” and often it is an amazing experience that you keep with you for the rest of your life. It’s one of the things I miss most about working in the business, on set, helping to create something.

Still, I do like what I’m doing now. Writing is, in some ways, much harder. But is also very rewarding when you know you’ve done a good job on something. As you often work alone, you don’t develop the camaraderie and bond as you would on set but the sense of accomplishing and creating something is certainly there, and often more pronounced.

No, I don’t think I would change how things are now. I’ve got my memories of the good times and I’m still great friends with many of my comrades in arms. For me, those are enough.

Here’s a trailer for a film I’m really looking forward to seeing. Sadly, it doesn’t have a US release . . . yet. Let’s hope by the power of the Internets we can make it happen. Until then, enjoy Space Battleship Yamato.

I see a lot of movie posters, especially these days working with The Flickcast, and I have to say that this one from Robert Rodriguez’s upcoming Machete is probably my favorite of the year so far.

It’s fun and cool and goes a long way to tell you exactly what the movie is about. Which is, of course, everything you would want from a movie poster.

Plus, the movie looks pretty awesome too with a great cast including Danny Trejo, Robert DeNiro, Michelle Rodriguez, Jessica Alba, Jeff Fahey, Steven Segal and Lindsey Lohan. I know, right?

Check it out and enjoy. Also, if it’s still up, check out the trailer for the film over at The Flickcast.

I’ve seen a lot of movies over the years and many of them had one or more superheroes in them. Some of those superheroes were also women and probably looked pretty good in their costumes. However, I’m fairly certain none of them ever looked this good.

I give you Scarlett Johansson as Black Widow in Iron Man 2. You’re welcome.