Banksy: Genius or Thief?

Been a while. Just wanted to share a British documentary on the graffiti war between Bansky and King Robbo. If you haven't seen it, I recommend it. Very enlightening.



Banksy vs. King Robbo on Channel 4 from YSarna on Vimeo.

How can this guy sleep at night?

I know it's been a while since my last update, but I've been pretty busy with a lot of other things lately. I have been looking into vlogging, which may be the next step for Adriansvfx@blogspot.com. But down to business, what I want to talk about to day is something that I found too disturbing to not mention.

While browsing my usual websites I came across a short film about a homeless blind man. It was pretty poorly shot, but managed to get front page postings on more than one popular website. Normally this would bother me (I see a lot of trash that makes it to the front pages), but this particular video is a complete and blatant, shot-for-shot, word-for-word rip off of a Cannes Film Festival winner from 2007. It makes me sick that someone with true originality and obviously far more talent can be thieved from without any mention or recognition. Here are both videos, decide for yourself.

The Original:

The Rip Off:

Just disgusting.

Because I can.

~Adrian.

Drumtastic

Just a short one today. Thought I would share something with you folks out there in internet land. Years ago I discovered a set of videos on youtube of a young hipster looking kid playing a HUGE set of drums. I found him again today and needed to share him yet again. I need to get a set and start playing. And inspiration like this really makes me want to.

Because I can.

Adrian.

Don Hertzfeldt made a masterpiece of nonsense with his animated short film "Rejected" in 2000. After watching the following short, however, I think he may have been left behind in a cloud of nonsense dust. This was just incredible, confusing, and downright nonsense:

Because I can.

Adrian.

The Unseen New York

Browsing my usual online sites, I came across this fun little gem of a documentary made by Steve Duncan and his brave cameraman. The documentary follows them as they explore the closed and abandoned areas of the New York City underground rail system. It's amazing what they find in these vast and forgotten caves. He also scales the Brooklyn Bridge for an unbelievable view of Manhattan Island. Check it out:

Because I can.

Adrian.

2011 Superbowl Commercials

The only sporting day of the year that i genuinely look forward to is the Superbowl. Not that I watch football at all. In fact, I'm pretty sure it's the most boring of all sports. However, I ADORE watching the Superbowl simply for the commercials (as everyone does, lets be honest). So, for your viewing pleasure, I have tracked down almost all of them. For better or worse, here they are:








This movie looks awesome!



















































































Another Fast and the Furious movie? SO EXCITED!

Canadian Internet Cap Scandal!

Internet Service Providers (ISPs) are about to impose usage-based billing on YOU.

This means we're looking at a future where ISPs will charge per byte, the way they do with smart phones. If we allow this to happen Canadians will have no choice but to pay MUCH more for less Internet. Big Telecom companies are obviously trying to gouge consumers, control the Internet market, and ensure that consumers continue to subscribe to their television services.

These Big Telecom companies are forcing small competing ISPs to adopt the same pricing scheme, so that we have no choice but to pay these punitive fees.
This will crush innovative services, Canada's digital competitiveness, and your wallet.
We urgently need to send a clear message to Ottawa, saying that we won't stand by while some of the most profitable companies in the country indiscriminately add new fees to our Internet bills. Enough is enough.

UPDATE: The CRTC just made a decision that paves the way for new internet fees to be added to your bill. To stop this we need to raise our voices now more than ever. 

VISIT stopthemeter.ca to sign the petition or complete your petition signature below.

Oscar Picks

I don't claim to have any insight into the subject of the Academy Awards as a film buff. Working in the industry doesn't give me any advantage either. All I'm saying is I predicted the Hurt Locker to sweep the Oscars and no one believed me. So, hopefully continuing that trend, here are my Oscar picks for the 2011 Academy Awards:

BEST PICTURE:

Black Swan

The Fighter
Inception
The Kids Are All Right
The King’s Speech
127 Hours
The Social Network
Toy Story 3
True Grit
Winter’s Bone

DIRECTING:
Darren Aronofsky, Black Swan
David O. Russell, The Fighter
Tom Hooper, The King’s Speech

David Fincher, The Social Network

Joel and Ethan Coen, True Grit

ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE:
Javier Bardem, Biutiful
Jeff Bridges, True Grit
Jesse Eisenberg, The Social Network
Colin Firth, The King’s Speech

James Franco, 127 Hours

ACTRESS IN A LEADING ROLE:
Annette Bening, The Kids Are All Right
Nicole Kidman, Rabbit Hole
Jennifer Lawrence, Winter’s Bone

Natalie Portman, Black Swan

Michelle Williams, Blue Valentine

ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE:
Christian Bale, The Fighter
John Hawks, Winter’s Bone
Jeremy Renner, The Town

Geoffrey Rush, The King’s Speech

Mark Ruffalo, The Kids Are All Right

ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE:
Amy Adams, The Fighter

Helena Bonham Carter, The King’s Speech

Melissa Leo, The Fighter
Hailee Steinfeld, True Grit
Jackie Weaver, Animal Kingdom

ADAPTED SCREENPLAY:
127 Hours (Fox Searchlight), Screenplay by Danny Boyle & Simon Beaufoy

The Social Network (Sony Pictures Releasing), Screenplay by Aaron Sorkin

Toy Story 3 (Walt Disney), Screenplay by Michael Arndt. Story by John Lasseter, Andrew Stanton and Lee Unkrich
True Grit (Paramount), Written for the screen by Joel Coen & Ethan Coen
Winter’s Bone (Roadside Attractions), Adapted for the screen by Debra Granik & Anne Rosellini

ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY:
Another Year (Sony Pictures Classics), Written by Mike Leigh
The Fighter (Paramount), Screenplay by Scott Silver and Paul Tamasy & Eric Johnson. Story by Keith Dorrington & Paul Tamasy & Eric Johnson
Inception (Warner Bros.), Written by Christopher Nolan
The Kids Are All Right (Focus Features), Written by Lisa Cholodenko & Stuart Blumberg

The King’s Speech (The Weinstein Company), Screenplay by David Seidler

FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM:
Biutiful
Dogtooth
In a Better World
Incendies
Outside the Law

ANIMATED FEATURE FILM:
How to Train Your Dragon
The Illusionist

Toy Story 3

CINEMATOGRAPHY:
Black Swan (Fox Searchlight) Matthew Libatique

Inception (Warner Bros.) Wally Pfister

The King’s Speech (The Weinstein Company) Danny Cohen
The Social Network (Sony Pictures Releasing) Jeff Cronenweth
True Grit (Paramount) Roger Deakins

FILM EDITING:
Black Swan (Fox Searchlight) Andrew Weisblum
The Fighter Paramount Pamela Martin
The King’s Speech (The Weinstein Company) Tariq Anwar

127 Hours (Fox Searchlight) Jon Harris

The Social Network (Sony Pictures Releasing) Angus Wall and Kirk Baxter

DOCUMENTARY:
Exit through the Gift Shop (Producers Distribution Agency) Banksy and Jaimie D’Cruz A Paranoid Pictures Production
Gasland Josh Fox and Trish Adlesic A Gasland Production

Inside Job (Sony Pictures Classics) Charles Ferguson and Audrey Marrs A Representational Pictures Production

Restrepo (National Geographic Entertainment) Tim Hetherington and Sebastian Junger An Outpost Films Production
Waste Land Lucy Walker and Angus Aynsley (Arthouse Films) An Almega Projects Production

ORIGINAL SCORE:
How to Train Your Dragon (Paramount) John Powell

Inception (Warner Bros.) Hans Zimmer

The King’s Speech (The Weinstein Company) Alexandre Desplat
127 Hours (Fox Searchlight) A.R. Rahman
The Social Network (Sony Pictures Releasing) Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross

ORIGINAL SONG:
Coming Home from Country Strong (Sony Pictures Releasing (Screen Gems)) Music and Lyric by Tom Douglas, Troy Verges and Hillary Lindsey

I See the Light from Tangled (Walt Disney) Music by Alan Menken Lyric by Glenn Slater

If I Rise from 127 Hours (Fox Searchlight) Music by A.R. Rahman Lyric by Dido and Rollo Armstrong
We Belong Together from Toy Story 3 (Walt Disney) Music and Lyric by Randy Newman

VISUAL EFFECTS:

Alice in Wonderland (Walt Disney) Ken Ralston, David Schaub, Carey Villegas and Sean Phillips

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1 (Warner Bros.) Tim Burke, John Richardson, Christian Manz and Nicolas Aithadi
Hereafter (Warner Bros.) Michael Owens, Bryan Grill, Stephan Trojanski and Joe Farrell
Inception (Warner Bros.) Paul Franklin, Chris Corbould, Andrew Lockley and Peter Bebb
Iron Man 2 (Paramount and Marvel Entertainment, Distributed by Paramount) Janek Sirrs, Ben Snow, Ged Wright and Daniel Sudick

ART DIRECTION:
Alice in Wonderland (Walt Disney), Robert Stromberg (Production Design), Karen O’Hara (Set Decoration)
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1 (Warner Bros.), Stuart Craig (Production Design), Stephenie McMillan (Set Decoration)
Inception (Warner Bros.), Guy Hendrix Dyas (Production Design), Larry Dias and Doug Mowat (Set Decoration)/span>
The King’s Speech (Paramount), Eve Stewart (Production Design), Judy Farr (Set Decoration)

True Grit (Paramount), Jess Gonchor (Production Design), Nancy Haigh (Set Decoration)

COSTUME DESIGN:
Alice in Wonderland (Walt Disney) Colleen Atwood
I Am Love (Magnolia Pictures) Antonella Cannarozzi
The King’s Speech (The Weinstein Company) Jenny Beavan
The Tempest (Miramax) Sandy Powell

True Grit (Paramount) Mary Zophres

SHORT FILM(Live Action):
The Confession
The Crush
God of Love

Na Wewe

Wish 143

SHORT FILM(Animated):
Day & Night
The Gruffalo
Let's Pollute
The Lost Thing
Madagascar, carnet de voyage (Madagascar, a Journey Diary)

SHORT FILM(Documentary):

Killing in the Name

Poster Girl
Strangers No More
Sun Come Up
The Warriors of Qiugang

SOUND EDITING:
Inception
Toy Story 3
Tron: Legacy
True Grit
Unstoppable

SOUND MIXING:
Inception
The King's Speech
Salt
The Social Network
True Grit

MAKEUP:
Barney's Version
The Way Back

The Wolfman

The ones in red are total guesses. Let's see how wrong I am this year.

Because I can.

Adrian.

Eveything is coming up Ninja

Bored at work today, so I thought I would go through the internet and see what I can find. My favorite find today just made me laugh out loud. So, now for your viewing pleasure, a man in a three wheeled car getting chased by ninjas on roller skates.

Because I can.


Adrian.

Golden Golden Globes

I'm not one to watch the Golden Globes myself. I've always seen them as the "silver medals" to the Oscars (because lets face it, if you win the golden globe, you aren't winning the Academy Award. Period.). This year was the same story for me. I never tuned in to watch the runners up take the stage (mostly because Ricky Gervias was hosting, who I am not particularly attuned to). However, all over the radio, internet, and general social circles today I have been hearing about this "mean spirited", "hateful" performance by Gervais that was generally described as "crossing the line". So naturally, I absolutely HAD to see who he tore up, and how; Becuase we all love a good roast.

After hunting youtube, I found this compilation entitled "THE 2010 GOLDEN GLOBE AWARDS - RICKY GERVAIS INSULTS", Which I will share with you now:

Needless to say, America needs to grow a sense of humor. 


Because I can.


Adrian.

Minimalist Hollywood

Stumbled across a gem in visualnews.com. It is a collection of minimalist photographs of Hollywood actors in roles that they have played in the past. They are, however, not exactly dressed the part. The photographs were featured in the 20th Anniversary issue of Empire Magazine. 

What has this world come to?

Something has been on my mind for a little while. Scratching away at my sanity. Something that I overheard a complete stranger say in passing as I was nosily eavesdropping on their conversation. Usually I don't let things like this get to me, but I just can't seem to get his completely mislead, idiotic, justification-less argument out of my head.

As I walked through the mall, I happened to pass by Cinema 1 (the DVD store) as a couple was walking out. They were only a few steps ahead of me, and were chit chatting about the weather and what-have-you, until the topic of film arose. Naturally I could no longer ignore my urge to listen in. The man said the the woman "That 127 hours was a great flick though, we should go see it". To which the woman replied "I went to see it with Kerry on Tuesday. It was good, but I expected it to be better, you know? I mean, it was super intense, but otherwise it was just a guy stuck in a hole for 2 hours. It was entertaining, but I went and complained and got my money back anyway. It was all hyped up and I expected more".

Now this is not the first time I have heard something to this effect before, but that time was "the straw that broke the camel's back" so to speak. Her comment bore a hole into my mind, one that was deep enough that I can't dislodge it. So I shall blog.

I have 2 main problems. The first is the most obvious, the fact that she complained for her admission price back, regardless of the fact that she was genuinely entertained by the movie. She returned her ticket on the grounds that the film of her choice didn't quite live up to her expectations. It wouldn't bother me so much if her reason was that the disliked the movie, or even that she got bored and fell asleep (not that I think it's possible to fall asleep during 127 hours). Imagine how little money the industry would make these days if the general public could justify a ticket return that easily. Hollywood would collapse if being entertained wasn't enough to satisfy the masses.

Which brings me to my second issue, that being entertained wasn't enough to satisfy. More and more I hear people shun or trash talk movies that don't have a "deeper" message. There seems to be a problem with stuff blowing up, something being too funny, or one too many appearances by Nicholas Cage. Without a profound lesson learned, are films just not worth it any more? May I remind you the reason why films and filmmaking was first created in the 1880's was entertainment.

It just bothers me that people expect so much from something that was never created to deliver more than what it promised. Entertainment.

Because I can.

Adrian.

J.J. Abrams The Mystery Box

There was quite the push at work for myself today. A lot of things that apparently required my "somewhat immediate" attention. However, through the intermittent chaos, I still managed to find, and watch, a very interesting/inspiring micro lecture by J.J. Abram about mystery and creativity, given at a TED conference.

Check it out if you get a chance. It is obvious why this guy has become so influential in the film world.

http://www.ted.com/talks/j_j_abrams_mystery_box.html

Captain's Log

I find it fitting that my first ever blog should be on the first day of a new year. There is something very refreshing about it. Almost as if it represents a "fresh start", something that most people seem to need these days. Not that by any means was I disappointed with the paths that I was on yesterday, because that isn't at all the case. I was very content. However, today has arrived, and with an unfaltering urge to grow forward, I find myself here, writing to no one, with the hopes that this new social endeavor will continue to be just that. New. Something that can always be the inspiration for conversation.

With that in mind, there is something that I had on my mind. Something that today is most widely known for (besides hangovers) and that is the idea of "fresh starts". Everyone enters a new year with high hopes; Aspirations for better year than the one before. As I mentioned, I was never in discontent with 2010. In fact, by all respects, It was probably one of the best years I have experienced thus far. So why has this "fresh start" been on my mind. Well, like everyone else, upon the beginning of a new year, I have set myself some resolutions. Ones that I think, this year, I will finally be able to accomplish (and no, it isn't the usual "lose a bunch of weight and eat healthier" that most people would expect. I have no delusions of building a six-pack or looking like the next Mr. Universe). They are simply three goals measured not by accomplishment, but by personal satisfaction.

1) Inside Voice:

As anyone who knows me well enough can tell you, I am loud. Sometimes unbearably loud. I am convinced that I was born without the ability to control, or perceive, the volume of my voice. Since I had become speech savvy as a boy, I felt the need to shout my opinions to anyone within earshot (even if that earshot was just across the dinner table). Naturally projecting my words from the diaphragm, I quickly developed reputation as the loud, obnoxious kid on Stanlow Crescent (and this reputation still precedes me in my social circles).

Inside Voice is my first resolution of 2011. I hereby entrench myself in the struggle to cage my booming voice. So I may, for the first time ever, find myself in quiet conversation.

2) Sans Sailor Mouth:

Again, if you spend time around me with any consistency, you know how crude and vulgar my talks can become. F this and all that SH. It's a habit that I have developed in my upbringing (that's right, I'm blaming my parents). As a child of a Scot and a Brit, our house was never short of F-bombs and the occasional derogatory slur. Even at times when these kinds of diction unnecessary, even inappropriate, I find I always fall back into the same verbal routine.

Sans Sailor Mouth is resolution number two of 2011. I will commit myself to finding suitable replacements for fuck, shit, dick, and yes, even cunt. They are unattractive and I have no need for them.

3) Be Opinionated:

This may seem a strange new years resolution. To commit myself to be MORE opinionated rather than less. However, this may make more sense after this confession. I have a struggling difficulty to form opinions that are solely my own. Most of the opinions I have now are simply recycled from those I respect, admire, or even in some cases terribly dislike. I find myself repeating and reusing thoughts from others, presenting them as the workings of my mind, and sometimes with little understanding of their true context or meaning.

Be Opinionated is my third and final 2011 resolution. I will gather information and ponder my own opinions in the place of the recycled, reused, and repeated thoughts of others.

So there it is, my 2011 resolutions. To be judged not by accomplishment, but self satisfaction. Perhaps I will blog my progress. But for now, I leave with a quote from my favorite web-comic writter, Ryan Sohmer.

Because I can.

~Adrian