Great 10 min Short Film

Watch this short film - brilliant concept with a unpredictable twist at the end. So good, I watched it again immediately as soon as it finished. A super-super tight script, which may not be apparent on first viewing.

The Preview Bait-And-Switch

Have you ever gone to see a movie, and after watching it, felt utterly cheated because the movie looked nothing like the preview. How was it possible that the only funny thing in the movie were the 3 jokes in the prevew? How was it possible that the preview seemed so much more funny, exciting, scary than the actual movie itself?

Here's how. Devious editors, armed with a magician's sense of misdirection, can make dog-turd seem like a steamingly hot delicious meat-loaf.

The proof? Here's two previews that have been floating around the net, showing how one can cut a classic into a completely different genre, using some brilliant moves on the cutting floor. Watch how music, pacing timing, and montage, can make light into dark, and dark into light.

1. The first is "The Shining" [redux] as redemptive family comedy:


2. And the second, reversing the genre-switch, is "Sleepless in Seattle" as horror:

He Got Game

So I was out on the town with Kim and Petrice, our beloved 6" 11 (I exaggerate somewhat) Nubian Princess. As we were just about to walk into the AMC Van Ness cinema complex, a sultry voice called out behind us, "Hey you, wait, wait a second."

Not knowing who the voice was addressing, we all turned around to see a tall fresh-faced young man, flashing a thousand-dollar smile in the direction of Petrice.

"I justed wanted to say that you are a beautiful woman," he said as he moved towards Petrice, looking straight into her eyes.

A royal flush appeared on Petrice's face.

"Anyway, that's all I wanted to say," he said as he made the most casual of gestures, brushing her elbow with the tips of his fingers. He paused for a fraction of a second, before turning around to leave.

Squealing like a teen-age girl, Petrice cried, "No! No! Wait. Hold on." as she grabbed for his hand, desperate to prevent him leaving.

At this point, I and Kim decide to prudently enter the building, leaving Petrice to tete-a-tete with the stranger. As soon as we got inside to a safe enough distance away, we turned around and tried to make out what was going through the glass doors.

We see the two of them in animated conversation, at one point, he kicks his legs out sideways, eyes a fluttering, whilst she is lost in the glow of male attention.

Then he ups the ante - he kisses her, first on one cheek, then slowly, the other.

They swap numbers and he leaves.

Petrice joins us inside the theater with a self-satisfied smile painted on her face.

"Well what happened?" we asked. "What did he say?"

"Hurrumph," answered Petrice, composing herself, "he said that I was the most beautiful spoken word artist that he'd ever seen. That's interesting becaused I haven't performed in *quite* a while."

"No no no. Tell us what line did he use to make you let him kiss you?"

"Oh," giggled Petrice, "he said my dimples were so cute that he asked if he could kiss them."

Asking to kiss the dimples, oh my, did he have game.

museum of freaks

I while ago, I visited the American Museum of Natural History in New York - this was a disturbing place, where all sorts of under-handed racially offesnsive displays were mounted. Anyway, it's taken me a while to gather my thoughts and photographs, but I think I've polished the piece enough to tell the peoples about it. In this museum, you will find pornographic displays in the name of science:



and displays that play a little bit hard and fast with fantasy: