Movies in 2014

1. The Hot Rock
2. The Valley Of Gwangi
3. The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey
4. To Have And Have Not
5. The Third Man
6. Below
7. It Happened One Night
8. State And Main
9. Furious 6
10. Vengeance
11. Running Scared (1986)
12. G.I. Joe: Retaliation
13. The Thing From Another World
14. Matilda
15. The Shaolin Temple
16. The Avengers
17. The Raid
18. In The Heat Of The Night
19. Dillinger
20. The Mission (Johnnie To Film)
21. Odds Against Tomorrow
22. Outrage
23. My Name Is Nobody
24. The Wolverine
25. Fulltime Killer

Hurt Hawks by Robinson Jeffers

Hurt Hawks
By Robinson Jeffers

I

The broken pillar of the wing jags from the clotted shoulder,
The wing trails like a banner in defeat,
No more to use the sky forever but live with famine
And pain a few days: cat nor coyote
Will shorten the week of waiting for death, there is game without talons.
He stands under the oak bush and waits
The lame feet of salvation; at night he remembers freedom
And flies in a dream, the dawns ruin it.
He is strong and pain is worse to the strong, incapacity is worse.
The curs of the day come and torment him
At distance, no one but death the redeemer will humble that head,
The intrepid readiness, The terrible eyes.
The wild God of the world is sometimes merciful to those
That ask mercy, not often to the arrogant.
You do not know him, you communal people, or you have forgotten him;
Intemperate and savage, the hawk remembers him;
Beautiful and wild, the hawks, and men that are dying, remember him.

II

I'd sooner, except the penalties, kill a man than a hawk, but the great redtail
Had nothing left but unable misery
From the bones to shattered for mending, the wing that trailed under his talons when he moved.
We had fed him for six weeks, I gave him freedom,
He wandered over the foreland hill and returned in the evening, asking for death,
Not like a beggar, still eyed with the old
Implacable arrogance. I gave him the lead gift in the twilight. What fell was relaxed,
Owl-downey, soft feminine feathers; but what
Soared: the fierce rush: the night-herons by the flooded river cried fear at its rising
Before it was quite unsheathed from reality.

Michael Mann On His Process

From Film School Thru Commentaries:

Edgar Wright: The Art Of Close-Ups

From Slash Film:

Sundance 2014 Cinematography

A list of the cameras used by the films at Sundance 2014.

Best and worst advice Sundance 2014 cinematographers have received.

Robby Muller on Down By Law

From a post on Cinephilia & Beyond:

The Raid 2: Sundance Interviews

An interview with directer Gareth Evans at Collider.

Movies in 2014

1. The Hot Rock
2. The Valley Of Gwangi
3. The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey
4. To Have And Have Not
5. The Third Man
6. Below
7. It Happened One Night
8. State And Main
9. Furious 6
10. Vengeance
11. Running Scared (1986)
12. G.I. Joe: Retaliation
13. The Thing From Another World
14. Matilda
15. The Shaolin Temple
16. The Avengers
17. The Raid
18. In The Heat Of The Night
19. Dillinger
20. The Mission (Johnnie To Film)
21. Odds Against Tomorrow
22. Outrage
23. My Name Is Nobody

Drifitng by James Dickey

Movies in 2014

1. The Hot Rock
2. The Valley Of Gwangi
3. The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey
4. To Have And Have Not
5. The Third Man
6. Below
7. It Happened One Night
8. State And Main
9. Furious 6
10. Vengeance
11. Running Scared (1986)
12. G.I. Joe: Retaliation
13. The Thing From Another World
14. Matilda
15. The Shaolin Temple
16. The Avengers
17. The Raid
18. In The Heat Of The Night
19. Dillinger
20. The Mission (Johnnie To Film)
21. Odds Against Tomorrow
22. Outrage

Moviehouse NOLA

An exhibit currently running through February 8th about New Orleans and her movie theaters.

Movies in 2014

1. The Hot Rock
2. The Valley Of Gwangi
3. The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey
4. To Have And Have Not
5. The Third Man
6. Below
7. It Happened One Night
8. State And Main
9. Furious 6
10. Vengeance
11. Running Scared (1986)
12. G.I. Joe: Retaliation
13. The Thing From Another World
14. Matilda
15. The Shaolin Temple
16. The Avengers
17. The Raid
18. In The Heat Of The Night
19. Dillinger

Authors On Travis McGee

Plus:

Jules Dassin

Jules Dassin On Rififi

James Caan on Thief

Movies in 2014

1. The Hot Rock
2. The Valley Of Gwangi
3. The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey
4. To Have And Have Not
5. The Third Man
6. Below
7. It Happened One Night
8. State And Main
9. Furious 6
10. Vengeance
11. Running Scared (1986)
12. G.I. Joe: Retaliation
13. The Thing From Another World
14. Matilda
15. The Shaolin Temple
16. The Avengers
17. The Raid

Thunderball: Casino Scene Behind The Scenes

Who Needs Sleep: A Documentary On Sleep Deprivation

Found through FilmmakerIQ, this documentary focuses on sleep deprivation especially concerning those who work in the film industry:

WHO NEEDS SLEEP? from IMAGO - CINEMATOGRAPHERS on Vimeo.

Live From Sundance - One Hour Film School

From Lawrence Block's A Walk Among The Tombstones

Books in 2014

1. A Dance At The Slaughterhouse
2. A Walk Among The Tombstones

Movies in 2014

1. The Hot Rock
2. The Valley Of Gwangi
3. The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey
4. To Have And Have Not
5. The Third Man
6. Below
7. It Happened One Night
8. State And Main
9. Furious 6
10. Vengeance
11. Running Scared (1986)
12. G.I. Joe: Retaliation
13. The Thing From Another World
14. Matilda
15. The Shaolin Temple
16. The Avengers

Foundation 36 - Tony Fadell of Nest

2014 Sundance Short Films

You can watch all the Sundance selected short films on their YouTube channel:

Movies in 2014

1. The Hot Rock
2. The Valley Of Gwangi
3. The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey
4. To Have And Have Not
5. The Third Man
6. Below
7. It Happened One Night
8. State And Main
9. Furious 6
10. Vengeance
11. Running Scared (1986)
12. G.I. Joe: Retaliation
13. The Thing From Another World
14. Matilda
15. The Shaolin Temple

Armstrong Park Sign

I love this place:

Bayou Segnette State Park Boat Launch

Whiskey Religion

Sometimes religion is painful:

Saint Peter Street the other afternoon

On University Street in front of The Roosevelt

Movies in 2014

1. The Hot Rock
2. The Valley Of Gwangi
3. The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey
4. To Have And Have Not
5. The Third Man
6. Below
7. It Happened One Night
8. State And Main
9. Furious 6
10. Vengeance
11. Running Scared (1986)
12. G.I. Joe: Retaliation

The Charles Bukowski Tapes By Barbet Schroeder

 Found through Cinephilia & Beyond:

The Total Film-Maker by Jerry Lewis

This book is taken from a course Jerry Lewis taught at USC. It is currently out of print and very hard to find.

But now Cinephilia & Beyond has a copy for download.

Little Boy's Dirty Hand

Pots Waiting For Spring

Howard Hawks on John Wayne, Westerns, & Ernest Hemingway

Martin Scorsese Interview Wong Kar Wai

Johnnie To

Movies in 2014

1. The Hot Rock
2. The Valley Of Gwangi
3. The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey
4. To Have And Have Not
5. The Third Man
6. Below
7. It Happened One Night
8. State And Main
9. Furious 6
10. Vengeance

Hiking Couturie Forest Today

The monkey and I went to City Park and hit the trail in Couturie Forest. Nice walk in the wood in the middle of New Orleans:

By the way, apparently hiking can help make you smarter.

A Morning by James Dickey

Books in 2014

1. A Dance At The Slaughterhouse

From A Dance At The Slaughterhouse

Fort Saint John/Spanish Fort

I discovered Fort Saint John/Spanish Fort today on Beauregard Ave. I can't believe I have spent most of my life here in New Orleans and have never been here and never heard of it. This was oneo f those happy accidents too. Lakeshore Drive was closed,s o I had to get off. Driving down Beauregard, I see these weird rock formations and realize there is a historical marker. I had to U turn to come back to it. Such a great find:

Lake Ponchartrain Today

Port Ponchartrain Lighthouse

Lighthouse at UNO at the end of Elysian Fields:

Hollywood Reporter: Casting Directors Roundtable

DPs and Gaffers - 6. Hard Light, Fresnels versus PARs

Movies in 2014

1. The Hot Rock
2. The Valley Of Gwangi
3. The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey
4. To Have And Have Not
5. The Third Man
6. Below
7. It Happened One Night
8. State And Main

BAFTA Guru: Cinematography Secrets With Rob Hardy

The Third Man

A nice Cinephilia & Beyond post on The Third Man with some PDF's to download and read.

New Orleans - Kings Day 2014

Kings Day is the end of Christmas and the start of the Mardi Gras Season in New Orleans.

Glorious King Cake:

I am a traditionalist and try and only eat King Cake during the Mardi Gras Season.

We decided to go to Camellia Grill for dinner tonight before Phunny Phorty Phellows:

A streetcar passing us at the corner of St. Charles and Carrollton:

Movies in 2014

1. The Hot Rock
2. The Valley Of Gwangi
3. The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey
4. To Have And Have Not
5. The Third Man
6. Below

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey

Say what you will about the film, but these are some of the best behind the scenes/making of videos for any film:

The Valley of Gwangi

Movies in 2014

1. The Hot Rock
2. The Valley Of Gwangi
3. The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey

Movies in 2013: Thoughts On Some Of What I Watched

Best new movie I saw this year: Iron Man Three. I constantly go to it for dialogue. Also, the best hidden surprise of any film this year.

Smurfs 2 is probably the worst.

I was disappointed by Frozen and Man Of Steel. Both are messy films that can't make up their minds what they want to be.

I barely remember seeing Monsters University this year. I remember the short before the film better than the actual feature, which is indicative of where Pixar and Disney are at right now. Their shorts are great, their features not so much.

I enjoyed diving in to Ben Wheatley's films. I am interested to see how crazy Doctor Who let's him get. He could really bring a danger and fun to the series, if they let him.

Nice to finally see some of the Duplass Brothers films. I am not a fan of their style, but I appreciate what they have done. I also think they really do well bringing out the good and bad in sibling relationships.


Pacific Rim and the Godzilla films I watched this year were nice fun with my little boy.

Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy was a nice solid espionage film. I will be going back to it. I also watched the BBC adaptation which is also great. I love the way things are said in both without being overly revealing.

Also exposed my little boy to some classic films from when I was a kid such as Jurassic Park, Goonies, and Princess Bride. Nice to see they can still have a fun influence on kids. The Lost Word: Jurassic Park is better and more fun than I remembered, but it doesn't seem like Spielberg directed it.

Thor: The Dark World proves Marvel is getting better with Phase 2 and they keep secrets better than anyone. I just wish they would bring some of that maturing to Agents of SHIELD.

1970's crime films still draw me in all the time. There is just something about crime films from that era that I love. I didn't see a bad one.

Becket and The Lion In Winter is the best double feature I watched all year. Pure greatness from the language to the excellent acting.

I didn't see as many films as I wanted to this year. I certainly didn't get to the theater this year as much as I wanted. My best time at a movie theater was taking the monkey to see Dr. No at the Prytania and introducing him to James Bond. I hope to get to the theater more this year. I also hope to see more films actually released this year.

The Hot Rock

Movies in 2014

1. The Hot Rock

Martin Scorsese on John Cassavetes

From A Bittersweet Life:

Inside Serpico

From Cinephilia & Beyond:

Why Your Film Needs A Good Gaffer

 From Filmmaker Magazine:

Happy New Year 2014

Happy New Year world from New Orleans. It's a strange world. Let's keep it that way. Be safe out there.