FISHTANK, n 1: a familiar strangeness navigated by uncommon instinct. 2: the world as we know it. v 1: losing yourself in order to find what you left behind. adj 1: one’s life currently on display, not having previously been subjected to examination.
This original comedy production featuring Dominique Serrand, Stephen Epp, Jennifer Baldwin Peden, and Nathan Keepers opens at Theater de la Jeune Lune on February 16, running through March 22. Admission for anyone under 25 is just $9. Jenue Lune has produced some great original works in the past and this show looks to follow in that same style.
Few filmmakers have the cachet that del Toro has, as well as a deep love for the source material, an assured grasp of fantasy filmmaking and an understanding and command of geek culture as well as its respect. Del Toro has built that goodwill through such films as the Oscar-nominated Pan’s Labyrinth, Hellboy, Blade 2 (which was made by New Line) and The Devil’s Backbone.
Principal photography for the films, which will be shot simultaneously, is tentatively set for 2009. The production budget is estimated at $150 million per film. The release of the first film is slated for 2010 and the second in 2011.
2007’s barely-seen The Nines will be available on DVD this coming Tuesday, and its director has a lot of interesting things to say concerning its leakage on the internet.
“I’m not bouncy with joy over my movie getting torrented, but I think it’s a stretch to equate unlawful downloading with traditional theft. As many commenters have pointed out, The Nines isn’t available in any legal form in many countries around the world, nor will it be in any foreseeable time frame. So I have a hard time arguing that a reader in Germany should pay for the movie when there’s no way he could.”
“One of the things I hope to do with The Nines — sometime after the writers’ strike, when I can call Sony again — is work with them to release a low-res version of all the source material for The Nines, so budding filmmakers can try their hand at cutting (and re-cutting) a real feature. So I’m watching this first wave of torrents carefully, hoping the people who are downloading The Nines are doing it because they love movies, and not because they want to screw over some mythical The Man. Because to a very large degree, I am The Man in this case.”
Rancid has shed some light on the recording of their new record. The band had this to say:
“In late 2007 we all spent a few weeks together writing in Utah at Unknown Studios. The chemistry has been incredible and this record has come together very organically. All of the songs were written with us all 4 together in the same room. We hung out at Brandens house and when it wasn’t snowing we would play soccer, skate the ramp, and work on our UK Photobook.
Sometimes we’d just sit back and watch a Johnny Cash or Social Distortion dvd. We enjoyed having an environment where we could just relax and write with no pressure or distractions. Some days the snow would come down so much that it created a real feeling of solitude, bringing us together. Each night when we’d go out to eat at the local restaurants it was interesting to have us all together out in such a conservative community. It was like Rancid dining with the Osmonds, that was pretty much how it felt.
In early Jan 2008 we started recording the 7th Rancid record with producer Brett Gurewitz (who has produced 4 previous Rancid records). It’s coming along great and we’re deep into it at this point still currently tracking. With an expected release in June 2008, we are working hard and very proud of what we’ve done so far. We will post more info, videos and photos from our writing and recording sessions soon!”
Rancid - “Bloodclot” (from the Life Won’t Wait LP)
Though sounding a lot like the excellent 2001 documentary Chain Camera, American Teen looks to be the most widely praised film coming out of the 2008 Sundance Film Festival. In the clip below, director Nanette Burstein does the obligatory YouTube video promotion intermingled with part of the actual film.
American Teen intimately follows the lives of four teenagers in one small town in Indiana through their senior year of high school. Using cinema vérité footage, interviews, and animation, it presents a candid portrait of being 17 and all that goes with it. We see the insecurities, the cliques, the jealousies, the first loves and heartbreaks, the experimentation with sex and alcohol, the parental pressures, and the struggle to make profound decisions about the future.
