Blog Archives
Virtual Reality’s Impending Prize
We’re one day closer to March 29, 2018, with a brand new trailer…
Ready Player One has the challenge of following a highly-acclaimed book, but with one minor advantage:
Its director is Steven Spielberg.
The VR-centric story set in a dystopian future in Columbus, OH-IO splits time between the real world and an imaginative pop culture-rich virtual reality. The latter is filled with familiar throwbacks to iconic video games, music, and cinematic masterpieces in their own rights (ie-Back to the Future and Jurassic Park, to name just a couple). While this virtual reality purposely appears surreal, VR’s increasing role in modern society seems inevitable once a few codes are cracked for taking this experience mainstream in the coming years and decades.
Is this good? Bad? Somewhere in between? Time will ultimately tell with our ever-evolving relationship and fluid connectivity with deeply personal customizable technology. Regardless, a monstrous, life-altering prize awaits in the third act of Ready Player One.
However, will virtual reality lead society to an equally grand and illustrious prize down the road? Will currently living in Columbus, Ohio offer an exclusive key to this future?
There are just so many real questions to ponder…
maybe this is where virtual answers come into play?
Dana Carvey Makes a Small Impression These Days
Today is a perfect day to laugh.
Dana Carvey, an SNL and impressions icon, performs new comedy in an old way. What do I mean? Some of the best SNL sketches are when well-known figures are made fun of with great insight and precision. But there’s a catch:
The jokes are not activist-driven.
The video above showcases an increasingly rare comedic gift. We have to be able to joke around with and about each other without getting heated about every single little detail. Sometimes we just need to laugh. Mr. Carvey’s sense of humor is laser-focused on the punchline instead of the punch. Jerry Seinfeld is the same way. And Mr. Seinfeld has said that he will care about you if you’re funny. Otherwise, he’s not interested.
A sage perspective, actually.
So, this is Nicolas Cage trying to order a medium Tall at Starbucks…
A Real Leap of Faith
There are movies that transcend entertainment and invite audiences into an experience. This could mean a fantasy world like Star Wars, or a park filled with prehistoric dinosaurs.
Or, in rare cases, real-life moments in the purest sense.
The 15:17 to Paris is as close as you can get to a shot-for-shot remake of the literal heroism of the three American friends who faced down a terrorist with his small arsenal of guns and weapons on a foreign train in order to protect themselves and complete strangers. In many ways, this film could’ve only come from Clint Eastwood; the idea to use the real people and the initiative to tackle this specific story. And don’t forget that casting the real people (Spencer Stone, Alek Skarlatos, Anthony Sadler) was a risky calculation by Mr. Eastwood. Regardless, watching these heroes leap toward the terrorist to save lives will be something special.
Everybody should see The 15:17 to Paris starting tomorrow not because it’s projected as a blockbuster hit at the box office or as brilliant cinema, but instead to see on the big screen what Clint Eastwood saw in these three American men who reacted to the worst kind of adversity in the best way imaginable.
Short Film’s Latest (& Mostly) Silent Era
“…on this day in 2006, the company that brought the world the blockbuster hits Toy Story (1995), A Bug’s Life (1998), Monsters, Inc. (2001), Finding Nemo (2003) and The Incredibles (2004) was sold to the Walt Disney Company, their longtime distributor, for a staggering $7.4 billion.”
–Walt Disney announces $7.4 billion purchase of Pixar, History.com
Pixar is an ever-evolving, multi-generational animation game-changer for both in short & feature films. This animation studio, part of Walt Disney, has produced some of the greatest animated movies of all-time. Not all, of course. Let’s not be hyperbolic with no memory of the illustrious past in this industry. However, Pixar’s uniquely subtle style for five to six-minute shorts is something to marvel at with a great deal of satisfaction and happiness.
Bet you didn’t expect that director commentary in the middle of an analysis of Pixar’s animated storytelling techniques. It changes the way you view the whole video, right?
Just call it the eternal magic of movies, real and imagined.
Jimmy's Daily Planet 