Okay, so people weren’t too enthused by the Screenhead Film Festival’s big prize giveaway (it was ten DVDs, man! That’s got a retail value of like two, maybe three hundred bucks!), but I’ve got something here that might put some fire in your belly.
It’s the Indieroar Film Festival, and I just got word of it from director Alan Rowe Kelly. Top prize? Five THOUSAND dollars.
Plus, you’ll also get some film editing software with that. And if that isn’t enough, there are also second and third prizes too, a thousand bucks a crack. Entries are being accepted in five categories: horror, drama, comedy, animation and documentary, and each entry must be UNDER twenty five minutes in length.
The public will vote on the gathered films, and winnow down the entries to the top twenty five in each category, the winners of which will be decided by a jury.
So if you’re a short film maker and you’re up for a shot at five grand, grab your camcorder and get to shooting. Deadline for entry is January 15th, 2010.
I have to admit, some of the most interesting movies I get copies of to review are the documentaries. Strange little pieces about strange little things, like the entire career of H.P. Lovecraft. And today, I’m bringing out a documentary of the kind the History Channel would probably love–War Dogs of the Pacific.
They mean it literally, you see–War Dogs of the Pacific is all about the dogs who fought in the Pacific theater in World War II. They were trained pretty extensively, and they served a whole host of roles in the war, including guard duty, ferreting out enemy positions, sensing enemy movement, and even outright combat. See, back in the last days of World War II, the Pacific was about the only game in town left. And the Japanese had developed an especial talent for hiding and attacking from ambush, so the idea came to use dogs to track hiding places. And boy, did it ever work.
This movie is spectacularly informative, and will almost certainly tell you at least something new about World War II and about the role that dogs played in this war. It’s a downright amazing role, too–considering that people back then handed over their pet dogs to serve in the war, in some cases for good, is just plain old amazing.
Of course, getting past the sheer awesomeness of the idea, you’re left with a pretty good if somewhat short documentary–this has a runtime of about forty five minutes. But it’s a pretty sweet forty five minutes, especially if you love documentaries or war movies.
The Screenhead Ten Scale loves this movie, but it realizes its tastes are a little unique, and thus hands War Dogs of the Pacific an eight out of ten for giving us all an excellent, if esoteric, view of World War II.
A very smart move by the Michael Jackson’s clan to take all the rehearsal footage during his preparation for his This is It Tour — and then some – to create a documentary depicting Jackson’s extraordinary and multi-level talent. The Sony release grossed an estimated $101 million at the worldwide box office, including a U.S. take of $21.3 million over the Halloween weekend.
Results:
1. This Is It
$21,300,000
2. Paranormal Activity
$16,540,000
3. Law Abiding Citizen
$7,303,000
4. Couples Retreat
$6,097,000
5. Saw VI
$5,560,000
6. Where the Wild Things Are
$5,081,000
7. The Stepfather
$3,400,000
8. Amelia
$3,000,000
9. Astro Boy
$3,000,000
10. Cirque du Freak: The Vampire’s Assistant
$2,809,000
(Source)
There’s absolutely no chance that Michael Jackson’s final movie This Is It will win an Oscar for Best Documentary.
I’m sorry, but that’s just the case. It was released too late in the year to be considered–at least this year. But it’s not too late, however, for it to take other honors. It could easily take the Academy Award for Best Picture, even if it has some pretty stiff competition in that department.
Most years, Academy Award for Best Picture is seldom a foregone conclusion even at the best of times. But let’s face it…this is a wholly different animal. This is a movie about the last concert ever that never actually happened but was in the process of doing so of one of the biggest entertainers of the twentieth century.
That and the Best Picture slate has been recently expanded to TEN competitors rather than five, so there’s some extra room on the field, a slot that This Is It could easily find itself in.
Can This Is It win? Well, that’s not clear. Especially since NONE of the slots have been filled yet. But is there every possibility? I’d say yes.
It’s hard to talk about a movie like March of the Penguins. It’s harder still to talk about it without narrating it in your head in a voice that sounds just like Morgan Freeman’s.
And if you can read these paragraphs without hearing Morgan Freeman, well, then you’re a stronger one than I am.
March of the Penguins, and its attendant documentary, On The Wings of Penguins (both of which are in the box set) are great looks at penguins. One deals with penguins in the arctic, while the other deals with African penguins. Needless to say, there are a whole lot of differences between the two, and you’ll learn all about them right here.
If you’re considering Christmas gifts for younger children, then this package might be pretty good for them. Sure, you’ll have to fend off some unpleasant questions after a couple penguins and chicks die, but the sheer amount of information they’ll get out of it is fantastic. Plus, there’s some penguin postcards and a little plushie penguin in the package, making this a pretty decent value for the price.
If your penguin knowledge consists primarily of anything you learned from Bloom County, then chances are you’ll learn a whole lot here, and Morgan Freeman’s expert narration keeps it fairly light and fun.
The Screenhead Ten Scale hands this sharply rich and pleasant documentary series a nine out of ten. Neither movie by itself really earns that high a mark, but considering the incredible value of the two-movie box set, it’s worth a little bump.
Join two-time Academy Award-winning actor and producer Michael Douglas (who narrates) and the world’s most pre-eminent paleontologists in this eye-popping IMAX adventure as they take an extra-ordinarily unique look at the age of dinosaurs and uncover some of history’s most astonishing finds.
Personally, I found Dinosaurs Alive! worth the watch because the visuals add so much to the understanding of the prehistoric creatures. The DVD is a great tool for any parent or school teacher who wants to teach their child about dinosaurs or for anyone who is an avid researcher of dinosaurs. The special features are supplied with educational tools that are very helpful with a Dinosaur Quiz and Meet the Creatures.
Dinosaurs Alive! brings dinosaurs, their behaviors and ancient environments to life on screen as never before seen—juxtaposing stunningly realistic and scientifically accurate CGI animation with intriguing 1920s documentary footage, dramatic new scenes of real fossils and current dinosaur hunting expeditions. Using state-of-the-art techniques, the filmmakers have created an array of amazingly life-like creatures based on the latest fossil evidence, allowing the entire family to see these remarkable creatures come alive … in a very BIG way!
So how big were these mysterious creatures that dominated the earth for 150 million years? How fast did they move? What did they eat? How did they interact with other dinosaurs and creatures? Which were the predators and which were the hunted? How did they raise their young? What was their world like and how did they deal with the forces of nature? And just how did they die?
Uncover the mysteries below your feet as you travel across the exotic dunes of the Gobi Desert and along the sandstone buttes of New Mexico with scientists who make brand-new discoveries and find what could be the oldest dinosaur ever unearthed in North America.
Screenhead has 4 copies of Dinosaur Alive! to give away. Post your name and we will pick the winners Thursday, November 12, 2009.
It’s not every day we get actual for-real documentaries out here, but when Wyrd Studios sent me a copy of their upcoming newest, Lovecraft: Fear of the Unknown, I figured it was about time we branched out a tick.
This is a massive work about the life, times and career of widely known and widely read H.P. Lovecraft, and includes a vast trove of pictures and interviews with horror authors and other figures. When you see Neil Gaiman and Guillermo del Toro within five minutes of each other, you know you’re in for an absolute doozy.
Frankly, anyone with even the vaguest interest in the work of H.P. Lovecraft is going to be absolutely struck by this movie. You will learn anything and everything you’ve ever possibly wanted to know about H.P. Lovecraft, and most of it will likely amaze you.
Of course, if you DON’T have the vaguest interest in the work of H.P. Lovecraft, then this will have no use or hold no interest for you. It’s a shame that a movie so deep and so well researched will hold interest for only a relative handful of people.
However, the Screenhead Ten Scale never cares about marketing, and thus hands Lovecraft: Fear of the Unknown an eight out of ten for being a great example of documentary work.
Sometimes, you’ve got to have a bad idea to make a good movie.
This is the first ever, as far as I and Google can tell, review of the movie Hobocon, a screener of which I was given by the film’s three lead actors–Benny (Rob Couch), Doctor Boxcar (Jason Slingerland) and The Pixie (Wilhelm Rumpf)–during my recent appearance at Kuzuricon.
They propose one great and terrible idea: to go to Gencon, one of the biggest gaming conventions on the planet, and attempt to live there for three full days on nothing.
No money. No motel room. No food. But can they survive on the kindness and the good will of their fellow gamers, a collection of homemade pins that they intend to use as trade goods, as well as three misappropriated press badges (they’re not technically press) to get through three days?
The answer? Yes, but just barely. Sleep deprivation is not pretty.
They’re going to do a whole lot of things with this movie–you can get a general idea of what Gencon is, you can see some interviews on why people come to Gencon, and of course, tips on convention-going for the truly desperate, including “how to cadge free food”, “sleeping in anime rooms”, “night security guards are douchebags”, and of course “hand sanitizer is your all-around hygienic friend”.
Naturally, this is a horrendously bad idea, but one thing is crystalline clear: this is a great movie if you’re even vaguely interested in the convention scene. The Screenhead Ten Scale, meanwhile, recognizes that this is an excellent example of a movie only a handful of people will be interested in, and grants it accordingly an eight out of ten. It’s only too bad that many people likely won’t care.
ome to some of the richest wildlife beyond the plains of Africa. Yellowstone: Battle for Life reveals the beauty and struggles of this amazing natural treasure. Every family and teacher must own the documentary. It’s for nature enthusiasts everywhere. The release contains three hour-long episodes that encompass nearly an entire year at Yellowstone National Park, as well as 30 minutes of behind-the-scenes special features.