Blog Entries

2010 Oscar Nominees Podcast

charles.judson@gmail.com — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 21:00:00 +0100

The Atlanta Film Festival 365 Staff discusses the 2010 Oscar nominations, including the effect of 10 nominees for Best Picture on the ceremonies, the lack of respect for comedy at the awards, Hollywood’s Biases and the continued strangeness that is the documentary category.

Without Miramax, I Probably Wouldn't Be Here

charles.judson@gmail.com — Thu, 28 Jan 2010 21:00:00 +0100

That headline is a bit of hyperbole, but not by much. Although I was always watching movies I didn't really start curating my movie experience till my sophmore year of college.

By 1993, Friday night at Blockbuster had morphed from a ritual I enjoyed with my family to one I then enjoyed with my boys. About 8 or 9 PM, it would be five of us piling into one car to spend an hour browsing Blockbuster's aisles building our weekend playlist.

That list always had to be strategic. [...]

FROM PARIS WITH LOVE Review

charles@atlantafilmfestival.com — Thu, 28 Jan 2010 21:00:00 +0100

This action-packed well-edited tautly-scripted high-quality production stars John Travolta and Jonathan Rhys Meyers. I was mesmerized by the compelling performances by both John Travolta and Jonathan R. M. - who both play anti-terrorist U.S. agents. John Travolta's devil-may-care attitude was a joy to experience - and Jonathan R. M. nailed his role as a naive idealistic diplomatic aide/black ops agent-newbie/wannabe with total aplomb. Initially, I had low expectations but FROM PARIS W [...]

A Lesson From NORTH BY NORTHWEST: Sometimes It's Best to Let Your Ideas Go

charles.judson@gmail.com — Tue, 26 Jan 2010 21:00:00 +0100

The other day a letter from Harvey Weinstein to Errol Morris popped up on the interwebs, lettersofnote.com to precise. It's a fascinating note on how to sell oneself from one of the most successful and powerful distributors and producers of all time. Even in 1988, it was probably an anathema to receive a letter like that, in 2010 it's all part of the awards season gaming.

What really caught my notice on Letters of Note, as I was looking at past posts, was a letter from Otis L. [...]

Director Mark Claywell Talks About AMERICAN JIHADIST and Slamdance

charles.judson@gmail.com — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 21:00:00 +0100

This past Sunday, AMERICAN JIHADIST premiered at the 2010 Slamdance. About Isa Abdullah Ali, the film explores what it means to be a jihadist and why an American raised on the streets of Washington D.C. would pick up arms to fight in Bosnia or Lebanon. About a week before the premiere, I sat down with director Claywell at Crawford Communications, where he was working on the final sound mix, to talk about the film. Mark Claywell Interview (42m23s) [...]

The gift of membership: Why we do what we do

gabe@atlantafilmfestival.com — Wed, 20 Jan 2010 21:00:00 +0100

Recently, someone purchased a gift membership to ATL365, accompanied by a thoughtful dedication. While I sit here in Atlanta (not at Sundance on a late January morning), working on grant applications and planning for an amazing April event, this dedication serves as my inspiration. It epitomizes why we do what we do.

I wanted to share it with you so I've cut the proper names to protect the innocent:

Dear Son,

Earlier this evening I was talking wi [...]

DARIUS GOES WEST: One Free Vote = $1 For DMD Research

charles.judson@gmail.com — Mon, 18 Jan 2010 21:00:00 +0100

Accompanied by his eleven best friends, Darius Weems, a fifteen-year-old living with Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy (DMD), leaves home for the first time in his life. The rowdy crew sets a course for California where they hope to convince MTV to customize Darius's wheelchair on the hit show, Pimp My Ride. Darius Goes West been enjoyed by hundreds of thousands of people of all ages all around the world.

In 2007 a little film called DARIUS GOES WEST went on a tear, racking up awards at [...]

Slamdance/Sundance: And the Festival Year Begins

charles.judson@gmail.com — Mon, 18 Jan 2010 21:00:00 +0100

This week, two of the most influential festivals officially kick-off the 2010 festival season. From here on out, the stories on dozens of films will write, after surviving pre-production to post, their next chapters.

As you've probably heard ad nausem, the destiny of those films have rested more and more in the hands of filmmakers and producers over the last few years, and not distributors. Although, as Brian Newman has stated it in many a lecture, that destiny has always rested in [...]

THE BOOK OF ELI review

charles@atlantafilmfestival.com — Sun, 17 Jan 2010 21:00:00 +0100

THE BOOK OF ELI The Hughes brothers (Albert and Allen) directed this 118-min movie starring Denzel Washington, Mila Kunis, and Gary Oldman. Filmed using the RED digital camera, this bleak color-bleached post-apocalyptic tale suffers from a serious case of plodding, slow pacing. At almost 2 hours, it simply dragged on and on... and could have been shortened to 1.5hr with little loss to the plot. That said - the plot/story itself could be improved because there were a few glar [...]

BOARDWALK EMPIRE Teaser Trailer

charles.judson@gmail.com — Thu, 14 Jan 2010 21:00:00 +0100

Will I have to add BOARDWALK EMPIRE to my DVR rotation? With Steve Buscemi, Martin Scorsese and Terence Winter on board, it should be a no brainer and the teaser trailer is impressive in scope. So much so, you might think this is being released theatrically. HBO knows how to spend some money.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mm30JBh8pnE&feature=player_embedded

Hopefully this will be on the opposite spectrum of Scorsese's GANGS OF NEW YORK which like BOARDWALK, w [...]

American Idol and Pants on the Ground

charles.judson@gmail.com — Wed, 13 Jan 2010 21:00:00 +0100

Has it really been 5 years since since William Hung infamously butchered Ricky Martin's "She Bangs"? Every year there's one bad audition that stands out and spawns a cult of personality around the singer. It looks like ATL's own General Larry Platts may be that singer for this season of the hit show.

His anti-saggy pants composition "Pants on the Ground" was such a highlight of last night's Atlanta edition of American Idol, it has spawned several You [...]

Talking With Anessa Ramsey & Michael Laurino About Yellowbrickroad and Slamdance

charles.judson@gmail.com — Tue, 12 Jan 2010 21:00:00 +0100

Atlanta based actors Anessa Ramsey (THE SIGNAL) and Michael Laurino (Fox's PAST LIFE) star in YELLOWBRICKROAD, a film about a team of researchers trying to discover why 70 years ago, an entire town mysteriously marched off into the woods. Premiering at this year's Slamdance, I sat down with them at Apres Diem to talk about the film, Slamdance and what it's like to be an Actor in Atlanta. Warning: There is some language.

Yellowbrickroad Website: http://www.y [...]

SPOILERS WITHIN: AVATAR's Jake Sully: Kind of a Likeable Character, Really Horrible Leader

charles.judson@gmail.com — Sun, 10 Jan 2010 21:00:00 +0100

Is Jake the Great White Saviour? I've seen this question, well, more like accusation, floating around on zee nets. What think I? Well it led me to think about Jake's leadership abilities on the battlefield. The conclusion: As a leader he's horrible at it and if he applies for the job again, don't hire him.

As ex-military, who would have relied on satellite scans and other magical-techno boxes back on Earth, Jake should have KNOWN AND REMEMBERED that the corporation would [...]

Email Etiquette for Filmmakers On Film Festival Secrets with Additional DOs and DON'Ts.

charles.judson@gmail.com — Sun, 10 Jan 2010 21:00:00 +0100

How to tell if you’re a spammer

So here’s something that happens to me a lot.

Filmmaker emails me with a question. I respond. Filmmaker takes my response as proof of fervent interest in his/her film and promptly adds me to an email list, pimping the film’s screenings in cities where I do not live.

Sound familiar? I [...]

Are Fan Films Worth It?

charles.judson@gmail.com — Tue, 05 Jan 2010 21:00:00 +0100

The New Year has barely begun and already some folks are getting bad news, or in this case for BMB Finishes, sharing bad news .

BMB had produced a Legend of Zelda fan film, based on the lucrative and influential Nintendo franchise over the course of two years. Once the gaming company got wind of THE HERO OF TIME, they ordered BMB to stop distribution, which included a few screenings in theaters. In the spirit of the holidays, Nintendo allowed BMB to keep the film up till the end [...]

My Favorite Television Shows from 2000-2009

charles.judson@gmail.com — Sun, 03 Jan 2010 21:00:00 +0100

Putting together my list of favorite scripted U.S. shows of the 2000-2009 was actually easier than I thought it was going to be. The main criteria was that the shows had to have premiered 2000 or later and had to have been developed for U.S. television. Hence why shows like COUPLING (BBC) or THE SOPRANOS (debuted 1999) are not on this list.

First, my favorite show of the decade:

THE WIRE

Is This It?

gabe@atlantafilmfestival.com — Sun, 03 Jan 2010 21:00:00 +0100

This new Warhol-esque Almodovar campaign reminds me of something...I just don't know what: