Nature Chick: Humans are still decent

Nature Chick: Humans are still decent: "I saw a news reel on Yahoo News this morning about a homeless man who returned $3,300 and a lost backpack from a light rail car in Tempe, Ar..."

Another douchey contest to rip off screenwriters

I didn't say it. Reading between the lines of Script Mag's review of the new Amazon Studios contest. I would NOT submit my material to it.

Mel's Hollywood Feminist of the Day is Ryan Gosling!

An excellent media quote from actor Ryan Gosling defending women in Melissa Silverstein's brilliant WOMEN AND HOLLYWOOD blog. Thank you for being our hero, Ryan!!!

New review of The Commune from Horrorphilia

We'll be doing a podcast with them soon, too!

Review link.

Black Swan

I absolutely adored this movie. I felt enthralled, even breathless in some scenes.

Director Darren Aronofsky brilliantly blends several genres to keep the audience as on their toes as the athletes we are observing. The surprise of not knowing which genre will be drawn from next, as well as the wonderful details of everyday ballet life add up to an unbearable tension. It is a huge achievement that in cinematic world where audiences are conditioned to see bigger and bigger torture scenes, Aronofsky can make an entire theatre audibly gasp and hide their eyes at real-life dancer wounds like a split toenail and a long hangnail.

Why these scares work is because of the wonderful sound design, creative and flawless CGI, and expert stalking camera work that thrusts us into the lead character's pointe shoes. Aronofsky forces empathy with techniques I haven't seen since Silence of the Lambs made us see through Clarice's eyes. The scene on the subway where the dirty old man comes on to Portman's character is reason enough for every man who wants to understand a woman to see this film.

Portman gives the best performance of her career, and lives up to the promise we all saw in LEON. Her baggage of growing up onscreen to be a competent, passionless performer is integrated seamlessly into this role and the theme of the movie: the masochism of being a female performer in a misogyinistic world.

The result is a sublime, frightening fairy tale that accurately captures the dog eat dog ballet world, what it's like to be a modern female artist constrained within misogynistic institutions like the acting and ballet world, and the transcendent freedom that artists feel only onstage as they lose themselves in the shamanism of channeling The Role of Their Lifetime.

Why we pay to watch them jump into the abyss for our voyeuristic pleasure is a whole other movie.

Give it a chance, go along for the ride, and AVOID THE TRAILER.

A great horror night in San Diego!

Brought to you by our good friend Miguel Rodriguez, founder of Horrible Imaginings Film Festival and the man behind Monster Island Podcast!

Catherine Hardwicke's next genre film

Little Red Riding Hood. March 2011. Looks like another genre bender with a potentially empowering female lead. Fingers crossed.

Night of the Hell Hamsters

Another brilliant short you can watch free online. Funny, but definitely horror from a gifted filmmaker.

You're a pretty good short filmmaker...

...when you can generate suspense using teddy bears as your thespians. Kudos to DAY OF THE TED. Yes, it's free online! And quite funny.

Watch Terry Gilliam's latest

Even the masters are moving to online shorts sponsored by corporations. The wave of the future.

I feel both pain at the corporate tag, and pleasure that another filmmaker is getting paid to work in these perilous times. Get used to it.

The Legend of Hallowdega
by Terry Gilliam
An Amp Energy Juice Film

Our last LA screening of THE COMMUNE!

*****We've NEVER DONE THIS!!!!

Buy a ticket to our last LA screening and get a FREEEEE autographed DVD of THE COMMUNE!

They're signed by me and wrapped in plastic...one less holiday gift for you to buy!

The Valley Film Festival
THIS FRIDAY, November 12th
7:30 pm

The Commune- Promo for The Valley Film Festival from The Commune Movie on Vimeo.

Massively thrilled to be planning for Women in Horror Month!!!

Because February is right around the corner, it's time for female genre filmmakers and the men who love them to go from a whisper to a scream. WE EXIST!!!!