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There are days when I have to pinch myself to make sure I’m not dreaming. To be able to do what you love and be paid for it is well…..COOL. However there are also times when even i go green with envy at what other people do for a living and I’m not talking bout Ron Jeremy here or how much money they make. That’s not really why most of us do what we do. We could be making a lot more money doing something else.

Michael Mann said it best in “Heat” during that incredible coffee table scene between Pacino and DeNiro which has to be one of the most awesome scenes in the history of cinema.

Vincent Hanna: I don’t know how to do anything else. 
Neil McCauley: Neither do I. 
Vincent Hanna: I don’t much want to either. 
Neil McCauley: Neither do I.

Fucking incredible innit ? …

A friend of mine invited me to a screening of her short film. She must have noticed my usual excuse of not having a car and proceeded to add further incentive by promising “free beer and food”. Needless to say I was sold but I had to convince another friend of mine to tag along and did so by offering “free beer, free food and lotsa hot girls”. The last bit was shameless conjecture on my part but happily I was proven right.

So there we were last week on a Sunday in a full house auditorium in Little Tokyo watching screening of short films based ostensibly on the issue of human trafficking. I think there were bout 10 films in total. Some were ok, a couple were good, a couple were basically youtube videos masquerading as shorts and one was an extremely offensive piece of christian missionary propaganda bullshit which …

I was actually gonna post this on the 15th to neatly bisect the month into two halves but alas the heat wave that is sweeping across LA put paid to that plan. Anyways “der aaaye durust aaye” so without further ado here is my take (brief) on the films I have seen this month.

Kylie Minogue Fever Tour Manchester (2002) Australia

Kylie at the top of her powers in the aftermath of her blockbusting breakthrough album Fever.  The DVD chronicles one night’s performance at Manchester which is both visually stunning with all the pyrotechnics and costumes. Oh and that voice. I still zone out each time I hear “Love at first sight” and this version is just incredible. Must watch for any Kylie fan.

Iron Man (2008) USA

I had been waiting with bated breath for this one coz I never miss any RDJ film and I’d been dying to see this ever since …

Last fall as me and the gang of desis from Bombay were winding up our NY adventure we suddenly realised that we needed to do some heavy duty shopping. I wasn’t as concerned as the rest coz I had gotten admission to my place of study in LA and knew I’d be returning soon but for the others it was au revoir time.

So me and my buddy (code name Enigma) land up at Macy’s to ravish and pillage during one of their frequent sales. I for one never shop there coz I find the clothes too expensive and not really suited to my style of dressing. More about me later.

So anyways Enigma is eying a $200 pair of sunglasses and I’m trying to talk him out of it saying the money would be better spent buying some fancy electronic gizmo. He looks at my pityingly and says “Chutiya tu bahut …

Well I’m back with the concluding part of the HD saga.

Just as a point of interest I spoke to the DP of Film A today and she told me that they shot 12 pages on the final day. I almost coughed up my acai smoothie when I heard that.  That’s like Roger Corman speed.

So anyways the night before the first day of shoot of Film B I found myself at the neighborhood laundromat trying to get my work jeans clean from the mud and paint it had been subjected to. What was really freaking me out was my prized ASC cap was also caked with paint as the interior of the plane we were shooting in was filthy. I was also hungry as hell it had been a long shooting day where I along with Oleg had run around with the Shakycam all day and that bitch gets heavy quick …

Note- Forgive the stream of consciousness nature of this post as I wrote it over 2 days without doing any editing at all.

It’s a lazy saturday morning in SoCal and I’m nursing a massive hangover caused by getting shitfaced all over Venice Beach last night. My only caveat to Christian before indulging was that during the night not a drop of American beer would sully our lips and he wholeheartedly agreed. In alphabetical order we drank Bira Moretti, Newcastle Brown Ale, Red Stripe and finally Corona. I guess the pounding in my head proves that like spirits it’s not a good idea to mix beers. Oh well, que sera sera.

So as I lie in bed listening to some ethereal music by my newly discovered musical muse (Explosions in the Sky and El Ten Eleven) I ponder over the events of the past 2 weeks and the events that led to …

There are essentially two kinds of approach to making a film. Either objective or subjective. Now most films employ a combination of both and the few times that  filmmaker has tried to stick to either one of them have led to interesting films but they haven’t been classics. I would argue that film is almost always subjective for the decision of where to place the camera changes the meaning of the entire scene being played out whether in fiction or documentary but that’s another debate for another day.

But one must do both in carefully thought out proportions lest the film become shrill and propaganda and not really art. That’s not to say it should be an equal mix, just a well considered one. It is for that reason that I do not write reviews for I feel it would be disingenuous for me to do so. BTW I love that …

According to Maslow’s need hierarchy theory each human being is governed by…well…a hierarchy of needs. According to him….oh fuck it. Just look at the picture. It’s self explanatory. If you don’t get it google it.

None of the needs mentioned mentioned are mutually exclusive of each other but rather since the human psyche is a complex structure it goes to reason that we employ a combination of needs to make our way in everyday. However it is also true that one of these needs is the overriding or alpha need. Which one is it is subject to age, economic status, mental health and a shopping list of other factors. I know mine and I’m guessing that you know yours as well. If you don’t or don’t care then you are probably a slacker watching life whizz by and wondering at …

At this moment by common consensus South Korea and Brazil make the most innovative, insane and influential movies anywhere in the globe. I try to watch each and every Brazilian film I can get my hands on coz I’m just in love with the kinetic yet organic feel of their cinema. My samba heroes are Fernando Meirelles, Glauber Rocha, Walter Salles, Hector Babenco, Cesar Charlone and Walter Carvalho. One of the most brilliant films I have seen in 2008 is “Tropa de Elite” which recently won the Golden Bear at Cannes. Last year I fell in love with an absolute gem of a movie called “The Year my Parents went on Vacation‘.

The same adulation and reverence that is accorded to these two cinematic powerhouses today was replicated for the sole benefit of one nation about 15-20 years ago. Those guys were the …

A few days ago I was chatting online with a friend of mine about an upcoming project of hers for an NGO she works and in the midst of our banter she happened to mention an documentary film festival that they organize each year. She went on to ask whether I would be interested to do programming for it. Now I love documentaries as much as I love burritos (a lot) and I was flattered but also totally bemused.

The reason being that I am the the polar opposite of somebody who would be the poster boy for such a job. For starters you would never associate me with being deep / intellectual and I while I do possess a social conscience, I am totally not interested in politics. I’ve never voted and will never do so. I only read the sports and entertainment section of the newspapers and most importantly …

The concluding part of the saga

The ride down from base camp to the motel where we all were supposed to congregate before heading off to our respective homes was to take about an hour. Enough time to get the answers I craved for. I’m not a nosy person by nature but have a deep abiding love for mystery and gossip.Before I could start Eric asked the most obvious question. Was C happy with the way the shoot had gone.

She was reasonably happy despite not getting all her shots on day 2 but seeing things from my very limited vantage point I would assume that she had gotten enough coverage. Of course one can never get too much coverage but just enough is always managaeble for narrative. Documentaries of course are another story. Just turn on the camera and forget that it’s there.
That’s how you get films like “Meninas” or “The …

When we last parted company our intrepid protagonist namely moi was deep in the kingdom of Morpheus after a honest day’s work.

The story continues on Day 2……….

I’m normally a pretty sound sleeper and was pretty much dead to the world until Raoul banged on the door and woke both me and Eric up. We got freaked coz we were late and the fuck up happened coz we had forgotten to set our watches to the daylight changing switchover. I still don’t think I get the hang of the concept but wtf, I’m a fobbie anyways. Eric should have known better but he blamed it on me saying I should have reminded him. Whatever dude.

After getting ready in record time we go outside to the parking lot where most of the crew had already assembled. Raoul gave us a huge grin and apologized for scaring the shit outta us but it …

I thought it might be interesting to detail what goes on during a film shoot from a distinctly below the line and outsider point of view. This film that I worked on was very unique for me inasmuch I landed up on set without having a clue what the film was bout or having met a single crew member. The experience however was nothing short of exhilarating.

Our story begins in January 2008 when yours truly had freshly arrived in LA and was trying to navigate the treacherous waters of this town. I somehow came across a crew wanted ad online for a UCLA MFA thesis film and applied for a position in G&E aka Grip and Electric aka lightboy.

The shoot was supposed to happen in the end of the month but due to bad weather kept getting delayed. I spoke to the director a couple of times on the phone …

So in continuation of my previous post which didn’t go down that well (surprise surprise) I shall profile some filmmakers whom I think exemplify my pet theory.

Despite being totally different in terms of the techniques they employ and the genres they usually work in they also have a lot of common attributes apart from being incredibly prolific.

1) They work with low to mid budgets
2) Tend to work with actors instead of stars
3) They always seem to push they envelope and sometimes they fall flat on their ass
4) The amount of fun they have in the process of filmmaking is very apparent
5) Their weakest films have occurred whenever they have gone commercial / mainstream

Michael Winterbottom

17 Films in 13 years

One of the most innovative and provocative filmmakers around who has been making indie gems for a long time. A very well respected counterculture filmmaker who is known for his keen adaptations of …