When technology starts getting scary

This is really cool and extremely unsettling at the same time.

Apparently this thing has been on Youtube for over a year now. The freaky part of it is how they wrapped the legs in fake fur to make it appear even more dog-like.

Fire Truck Parade

Here's a somewhat boring video of the annual Engine 260 Fire Muster Parade, held Sept. 12, 2009 in Milford, CT. Lots of antique apparatus, and most of them belching out diesel exhaust which we had to breathe in for the entire parade:

Visual Effects: 100 Years of Inspiration

Hmmmm....maybe if I used some of these cool special effects, I might have won the Milford Independent Film Competition...

See my movie on a big screen!

As part of the Milford Independent Film Competition they're showing all the entries at the Milford Fine Arts Center this week. The theater is the old eastbound train station in Milford center, which is an exceedingly appropriate place to show my 14-minute documentary on the Airline Rail Trail!

Here's the scoop:
Milford Independent Film Competition

August 2009

Sponsored by
Milford Fine Arts Council
Milford Public Library
Friends of the Library
Stonebridge Restaurant

All showings at the Center for the Arts, 40 Railroad Ave, Milford, CT

Wednesday, August 5 at 7PM Free Admission
(total run time 84 minutes)
Two Brothers
Herbie's Delight
By the Book
The Clam
Airline Rail Trail
Redux
Veronica Always

Thursday, August 6 at 7PM Free Admission
(total run time 84 minutes)
Bungee Jumping for Tibet
Garden of Eatin'
Art in the Community
Memory Room
En Route
White Toast
Chess Set
True Story

Friday, August 7 at 7PM Free Admission
(total run time 82 minutes)
Oceane
Just a Minor Offense
A Moron by any Other Name
Grueling Guide to Cross Country Preparation
Ophelia

Thursday, August 13 7PM Tickets $5
Awards Ceremonies and Presentation of Film Winners
Emcee: Radio personality, Mr. Brian Smith

The Milford Public Library - 203.783.3290 abargar@ci.milford.ct.us
The Milford Fine Arts Council - 203.878.6647 milfordfac@optonline.net

My film entry in the MIFC

This is the final version of the documentary I entered into the Milford Independent Film Competition.

Finalist Judging
Saturday, August 1, 2009
10 AM - 1 PM and 2 PM - 5 PM
Program Room
Milford Public Library
57 New Haven Ave., Milford, CT
Free, Open to the public

Award Ceremonies
Thursday, August 13, 2009
7PM - 10PM
Center for the Arts
40 Railroad Ave., Milford, CT
Tickets $5
Winning Films, Discussion, Refreshments
I shot the video in the fall of 2005, compiled and edited it in December, and re-edited it this year (mostly by punching up the still photographs, adding sound effects, and fixing the audio levels), and I entered this improved version in the competition.

I also re-visited the trail last fall and shot a bunch more video on the Colchester and Lebanon sections, which I'll probably eventually add to the original footage and create a 24- to 27-minute film.

But for now, here's the latest version of the doc:

Boy, I stink

I'll admit it.

I'm a rotten blogger.

I haven't posted a single thing on this blog in months!

I stink!

Just so you know, I'm still around. Keeping busy with my other blogs (this one gets so jealous when I say that) and doing real-life sorts of things.

My filmmaking career has more or less stalled for now. I ran out of time to make my proposed documentary for today's Milford Independent Film Competition deadline, but I did re-edit and I punched up my rail trail doc and submitted that this week.

So there IS at least that.

Oh, and today it hit 80 degrees here, maybe for the first time this year! Damn, but it was a cool start to the year!

Writing and shooting

(Archive photo of my interview with actor
and activist Danny Glover back in 2006)
I'm currently working on a new short film for our local Milford Independent Film Festival, which has a July 10th entry deadline.

I'm enjoying the writing part, but the actual production is going to be much more stressful. I'm waiting for the weather to finally warm up and the trees to bloom, because a large part of my film consists of exterior shots around town, and it looks much better to have lush greenery than bare, dead limbs.

I expect to be doing a lot of shooting in a few weeks, maybe by the middle of May. Which coincides with the busiest time of the year for me, so it's gonna be difficult to find the time to do this.

The editing and post-production is a lot easier, because I can do that any time, day or night.

I'm keeping the details of my project under wraps for now, except to say that it's entirely a one-man production (which means, sadly, that it WON'T star Danny Glover) and it will be shot and produced within Milford exclusively.

More info later as it progresses.

Confessions of a Shopaholic

Here's a still from the thoroughly awful movie "Confessions of a Shopaholic". I only post this because about a year ago I was in Manhattan while they were filming this scene right outside my hotel.

Which happened to be the St. Regis.

I can't afford the place (of course) but I was doing a work project there, so they picked up the very nice room for me.

Here's my blog post from March of last year:

Today there was a movie being shot right outside my hotel. A big film crew arrived early and started setting up on 55th St. Around lunchtime I strolled over to see what was going on.

There was a small crowd of people milling around the street corner, near a hot dog vending cart, so I wandered over to check it out.

I walked up next to a couple standing on the sidewalk and looked around. There was a makeup person applying some powder to what I figured was an actor a few feet away. I looked down and realized I was standing right at the end of dolly tracks, and a big Panavision 35mm camera was mounted on a dolly and pointing my way.

"Excuse me sir! You need to move," a production assistant snapped at me.

What the fuck?!?

"I'm sorry, I was just watching what was going on with these people," I said.

"These are all extras! They're actors! You're in the shot! You need to be across the street, please." she said, pointing to a much bigger crowd, all looking my way.

Ah! That makes sense! I muttered an apology and skulked across the street, somewhat embarrassed.

So I fired off a few shots and quickly left. I don't even know yet what was being filmed, but I can always call my butler (yes, each floor of the St. Regis has a butler, who will fetch you more ice or help you dispose of a dead hooker, whichever is needed) and ask him to find out for me.

Butlers rule. Everybody should have one.

I don't know how I survived this long without one.

UPDATE: I eventully asked the concierge instead. He said the movie was "Confessions of a Shopaholic", which apparently is a Disney vehicle with a slew of well-known actors in it, none of whom I saw during the few minutes I was there. I guess I just missed Isla Fisher.

Some awesome Canadian PSAs

There's something about those Canucks and the way they don't shy away from the most gruesome public service announcements. I know they're trying to do the right thing, but sometimes they go so far over the top that you think you're watching an SNL spoof commercial.

And you don't even have to feel bad for laughing, because they're all Canadian! Stuff that stupid simply doesn't happen here!

(Yes, I know some of you won't see the humor in these ridiculous videos. I think they're hysterical. What can I say? Some people get it, and some don't. No apologies.)

Here's a few of my all-time favorites:

"She Spilled My Coffee"
The classic! A clumsy waitress gets exactly what she deserves for her carelessness. And of course the guy didn't even tip her!



"Watch That Skid!"
I don't think a kevlar vest would have helped this guy. On the plus side, he'll probably get a nice workman's comp check.



"Reaching a New High"
Another clumsy one. Some people are better off being taken out of the gene pool. Sadly, this moron will probably survive long enough to reproduce.



"The Sous Chef"
Or in this case, the "Sue" chef! Get it? Cause she'll probably sue somebody! LOL! Ah, I kill me. Great scream in this one, too.



"The Interrupting Cow"
Another beaut! This gal gets what's coming when she makes the mistake of correcting a rather earnest gentleman. Watch what he does with the stapler!



Oh well...I guess I'll get used to Hell once I get there. I hear the weather's quite warm there.

SPECIAL BONUS PICTURE!

Here's one I found on the prevent-it.ca website. It made me howl. I'm starting to think I should talk to someone about this.

Milford Independent Film Festival

MIFF? Sure, why not?

Actually, it's the MIFC, which is the Milford Independent Film Competition, since it's more of a simple short film competition than a festival. But I'd rather get MIFFed than MIFCed, which makes no sense at all.

Now that I think of it, neither does this line of idle nonsensical speculation.

Anyway, visit the Milford Fine Arts Council (MFAC) website for details and entry forms. Submission are due by July 10th.

And yes, I'm going to submit one (or possibly two) entries.

The Harbor Seal & Me

We had a cute little visitor at the beach about 2 miles from my house last week. A Western Atlantic Harbor Seal.



The li'l fella is about 5 feet long and obviously healthy. He was snoozing for the first 15 minutes after I got there, but then he started lazily rolling around, chewing on shells, and then he put his nose in the water, trying to eat snails. Every so often he'd cast a glance at the big funny animals who walked around nearby on their hind legs, but mostly he ignored us.

The crowd kept back at least 20 feet or so, having been notified that the seal is a Federally-protected species and it's against the law to interact with him. Plus, he's got a mouth full of canine teeth that I bet would easily snap your fingers off.

I called Joyce and told her about him, and she almost went crazy with jealousy because she was stuck in work. She loves sea animals, so hopefully the cute fella will still be there when she gets out later today.

UPDATE: Joyce called a couple hours later and said she was able to get to the beach after lunch and she saw the little beast. She's very happy now. And the seal apparently is happy too, because he left the beach about an hour later to continue his migration.

Film Festival revived in Milford

Organizers of the Milford Film Festival had made plans to bring the event back to life after an absence of twenty years. The 2009 festival will accept short films in several genres. The winning entries will be screened at the Milford Fine Arts Theater the Thursday before the annual Oyster Festival in August.

More details are available from the Connecticut Post.

I'm thinking about sending in my Air Line Rail Trail documentary. They'll have details available on February 28th, so I'll decide then.

Two not-so-new videos

I was going through my VHS video archives and found some awesome footage from when Reagan was President (first term) of me doing some fun parachuting stuff.

The first one is our pirate jumps off of the Newport (RI) Bridge, back in 1983 or 84.



And this one is a Santa Claus jump I did about a year later:



I'm turning 50 next month, and while I've known people a LOT older who still jump, I consider it a closed chapter in my life. I've accomplished everything I'm going to, and I have other stuff I enjoy doing more.

Plus, my back is kind of fucked up, and the idea of jumping out of airplanes doesn't hold the same appeal anymore.

"Righteous Kill"

I finally saw Righteous Kill, the awful Robert DeNiro/Al Pacino movie that sucked so badly it only scored 21% at Rotten Tomatoes.com.

Other than the tremendous waste of talent that this movie represents, the only significant thing about it is that they filmed several scenes at The Star Cafe, a bar about 1/2 mile from my house last year. Here's some photos and screen caps (click on them to show full size):

This is supposedly the exterior of the bar, taken at another location. It establishes the fiction that the bar is located in a downtown NYC area, rather than the suburban street that the real bar is on.

This is the actual exterior of the bar, with the windows blacked out because either they knew the movie was gonna bomb and they didn't want anyone seeing it, or more likely because they were shooting scenes that represented nighttime and they didn't want sunlight streaming in to ruin the effect.

The next two images are screencaps from the actual film. Basically, it shows some of the inside of the bar, but it looks much nicer on film than it actually is. But I think that's because they dressed the set with lots of extra lights and things that make it look more colorful than the drab, rundown pub it truthfully is.

(I hope the owner isn't reading this; someone said he heard the guy threatened someone who referred to his beloved cafe as a "seedy" bar!)

Michael K. Williams & me

Today I met and chatted briefly with actor Michael K. Williams (IMDB listing) at a broadcast of the XM satellite radio's "Opie & Anthony Show".

Williams is an amazingly talented actor, probably known best for his intense portrayal of the gangster "Omar" on HBO's gritty and ridiculously underrated series "The Wire". He's also been in recent movies such as "Gone Baby Gone" and the new Spike Lee joint "Miracle at St. Anna".

We spoke briefly, and he was genuinely pleased that I complimented him on a very funny line he tossed out in a room full of comic heavyweights. We shook hands, and a guy in the audience took the photo.

The camera was messed up because it's so old, and the image had a weird blue tint covering it, so I converted it to B&W and lightened it up a bit, which is why the photo is so grainy. But it was really a great pleasure to meet such a gifted and intense actor.

My documentary: The Air Line Rail Trail

It's getting to be that time of year again, when the fall foliage will begin turning, and I'm going to make another trip to bike the Air Line Rail Trail up in mid- to north-eastern Connecticut. I'll probably bring my camera again and make an updated version of this movie.

In the meantime, here's a higher-resolution version of the 2005 documentary that Joyce and I created. Enjoy!

I can hardly wait!

I love Kevin Smith movies, even the horrible ones. Yes, "Jersey Girl" too! So I can't wait for October 31st to see "Zack & Miri Make a Porno"!

Bat Attack

This video is from about a month ago. So far, we haven't had any more attacks.

Video mashup

Here's the audio from a famous scene in "Clerks" set behind some video from the Star Wars "Revenge of the Sith" movie.

If you're familiar with Kevin Smith's 1994 indie film "Clerks", you'll enjoy this one.

Another insipid sailing video

When I'm not political blogging or working, I tend to mess about in boats.

Here's a short video of our race last weekend. Summer is FINALLY here!

Bonus: fireworks at the end!

"Hollywood East" project in danger

Before the project ever got off the ground, it ended up in court.

From the CT Post:

BRIDGEPORT — A former state Democratic Party chairman, once a lawyer for the team chosen to redevelop the former Army engine plant in Stratford, testified Wednesday that federal officials refused to close on the deal unless one of the team's partners was barred from remaining active in the project.

Edward Marcus, who had been a lawyer for Hollywood East/Area 51, LLC, until a bitter internal fight for control erupted in May, was allowed to testify in Superior Court over vehement objections from lawyers representing the partner in question, Hector Natera, and his brother Ed.

They have filed a lawsuit seeking to oust Allen Christopher as president and CEO of Hollywood East, which was selected in March after a bidding competition conducted by the federal General Services Administration. The team plans to redevelop the 78-acre property bordering the Housatonic River into a multi-faceted production complex for movies and other entertainment ventures.

Sadly, this power struggle is endangering the entire project and may cause it to be delayed indefinitely.

Hollywood East/Area 51 might go the way of the doomed Utopia Studios project unless a settlement can be quickly reached.

Battle of Lexington reenactment

Here's a couple minutes of people dressed as Revolutionary War soldiers and their ladies, pretending to kill each other. Even though this video doesn't do a great job of showing it, the good guys won in the end.

Although, those Brits were definitely more stylish. They get points for fashion.

Ricky's mom is a busy body

Poor Ricky was traumatized.

He could never get over his embarrassment.

He soon lost interest in sports. His grades started slipping at school. Ricky's friends noticed a change in him and started avoiding him.

The shame gnawed at Ricky during his every waking moment.

Ricky's parents sensed a deep sadness in him, but it was the 70's and parents weren't as knowledgeable about the warning signs of depression as they are today.

Plus, Ricky's mom was usually hopped up on Valium when she wasn't hitting the bottle. And Ricky's dad often worked late at the office, although Ricky's mom suspected he was having an affair with his secretary, a sexy young thing named Jennifer. Jennifer always wore short skirts to work, even though it was the middle of winter.

So Ricky never got the attention he needed.

Months later, Ricky took his dad's shotgun and slaughtered his entire family, before turning the weapon upon himself.

All of Ricky's friends and relatives were shocked and appalled at what happened. Ricky didn't leave a note or confide in his friends about what he was going to do.

The tragedy left a hole in the community that still hasn't healed completely, even though it happened way back in the 70's.

But there IS a lesson that can be learned from this horrific event:

Next time, knock bitch!

"Hollywood East" to locate nearby

I can almost see it from my house. A new digital movie studio is going to take advantage of Connecticut's film business tax breaks and move into an empty military industrial site in Stratford.

From The Connecticut Post:

STRATFORD — In the town where the once thriving Shakespeare theater put Stratford on the map as an entertainment showcase, a New Haven film and multi-media production company is planning to do it again by creating "one of the largest studio complexes in the United States" at the former Army Engine Plant site on Main Street.

Hollywood East/Area 51 was unveiled Monday by the U.S. Army and General Services Administration as the company that submitted the winning online bid last month of $9.6 million for the 78-acre contaminated waterfront property now known as Point Stratford, and the company formally selected to redevelop the site.

The property, which borders the Housatonic River and is across the street from Sikorsky Memorial Airport, has been dormant for 12 years, but is considered the key to Stratford's economic redevelopment.

After numerous failed attempts to develop the parcel, which was the site of defense manufacturing for decades, most recently engines for Army aircraft, the U.S. Army intervened last year just as the Town Council voted to sell the property to developer Monti-Posillico of Long Island.

"We are very excited about Point Stratford," Allen Christopher, president of Hollywood East, said Monday in a prepared statement.

The place is literally three miles from my house! This is gonna be great!

Frozen Grand Central part II

I posted the original video a while back. By now there's a good chance that you're one of the over 10,000,000 people who've seen this video on Youtube:



I decided to attempt the same thing, the cheap and easy way!



Now I'll just sit back and watch those millions of views roll in! I'll be a Youtube Sensation for sure!

Teri Garr's IMDB listing

Apparently someone over in England has a bit of a problem with American actress Teri Garr, and he's gone through the trouble of creating his own version of her Internet Movie Data Base listing; complete with full screen credits and character names that I somehow missed over the years.

I'm sure the fact that I find this hysterically funny is a symptom of some deep seated psychological defect, but it make me laugh and that's all I care about. Besides, I'm too busy to spend the required time with a psychiatrist to fix it.

Click on Teri Garr's IMDB Listing to see it.

Then, after you've had a loff or two, visit the REAL listing for that unique American filmmaker, cinematographer, and all-purpose bon vivant slash ne'er-do-well, known informally as Your Humble Narrator.

This is so cool

This is the kind of thing that I really love about the Internet. Stuff like this wouldn't normally ever get seen except for Youtube.

And it's much more clever than cats playing piano or a sexually confused boy ranting about Britney Spears.

Aaaaaand....more movies!

Michael Clayton - Reasonably taut thriller, with George Clooney in a fairly restrained performance. The always dependable Tom Wilkinson was reminiscent of Peter Finch's role in "Network", and a chilling Tilda Swinton looking icily competent. Fine movie with some decent twists.

I'm Not There - Todd Haynes scores with another off-beat flick. Some of his movies I've enjoyed were "Velvet Goldmine" and "Safe", but this one is even more remarkable. The Bob Dylan story was never told so artistically, and the idea of having multiple actors portray him, including Cate Blanchett (above) was stylistically brilliant. Great covers of many Dylan songs help make this a really enjoyable film.


2 Days in Paris - Julie Delpy wrote, directed, and co-starred in this engaging "relationship" movie. Adam Goldberg was perfect as the neurotic boyfriend to Delpy's outgoing personality. I mentioned the two Richard Linklater-directed Julie Delpy movies, "Before Sunrise" and "Before Sunset" in a previous post, and if you liked those movies you'll find this one even more satisfying.


Waitress - Cute movie, sadly the last by writer/director/co-star Adrienne Shelly, who was the victim of a homicide while the film was being readied for release. With perky Keri Russell and a pragmatic Cheryl Hines, this film is somewhat reminiscent of the 2005 movie "Junebug", but more cheerful overall.

Snatch (2000) - Very fun "guy" flick, with plenty of fighting, laughs, and action. A guilty pleasure. Brad Pitt's performance was hysterical (when I could understand what he was saying!)

"Southland Tales"

Finally, here's Richard Kelly's long-awaited "next movie"; his apocalyptic vision of the near future.

This futuristic fantasy stars Dwayne Johnson ("The Rock"), Seann William Scott ("Stiffler" from the American Pie movies), and Sarah Michelle Gellar ("Buffy") in what has been called a train wreck of a movie.

Dwayne Johnson and Seann William Scott
I wouldn't be so quick to dismiss it, though. Yes, I thought the script could have been better. "Donnie Darko", Richard Kelly's breakthrough movie, was subtle and engaging. Southland Tales is obvious and distracting. It was reminiscent of "Buckaroo Banzai", which was fun, but very "noisy" in the sense of a lot going on all at once, and you really needed to pay attention to follow it.

Which could have been good, except that most of the distraction wasn't germane to the plot. And the obvious laziness of the script was off-putting, with way too many "nods" to other films, inside references, and outright thievery in the writing, including Kiss Me Deadly, Repo Man, Mulholland Dr., Blade Runner, Buckaroo Banzai, Kelly's own Donnie Darko, and many others. I dunno, but these obvious references tend to take me out of the story and remind me that I'm watching a movie.

Sarah Michelle Gellar
The casting was a bit obscure. Dwayne Johnson has a solid career ahead of him as a B-movie action star, but his character in ST required a bit more depth than he could dredge up. Sarah Michelle Gellar seemed to warm to her role as the movie progressed. And Seann William Scott handled his unnecessarily repetitive lines with competent aplomb. A slew of former Saturday Night Live performers rounded out the cast, with a few notable exceptions. Wallace Shawn, Jon Lovitz, and Miranda Richardson were also used to some effect.

Visually, the movie is quite stunning. The world of Southland Tales is strange and awesome, but also unnecessarily confusing at times. This movie cost $17 million to make, and I wonder what it would have been if they spent around $30-40 million on it? A bit more script development and a few different actors could have made this film a huge off-beat hit. As it is, I think this film missed the mark, even though it showed the mark clearly and I get the feeling it could have hit it if it really wanted to.

Jon Lovitz and Cheri OteriWhen the DVD comes out, it'll be recut and have enough extras that it'll probably show a decent profit. Despite it's flaws, Southland Tales is destined become a sort of cult movie, and it will most likely flourish in it's second life as an intriguing DVD.

And maybe Richard Kelly will learn from it and create another movie with the same visceral impact that Donnie Darko possessed.

I certainly hope so. I know he has it in him.

More movies

More movies I've seen recently:

Frida - Selma Hayek's riveting 2002 portait of Mexican artist Frida Kahlo. Great performances abound, especially Alfred Molina's lofty depiction of famed artist Diego Rivera. And Selma looks great, despite the unibrow.

300 - "SPARTAAAA!" OK, look, it's just silly. A comic book movie. There's nothing new or remotely inspiring about this green-screened movie, shot entirely on location in a Montreal studio. But if you watch it with the RiffTrax commentary by Mike Nelson of MST3K fame, it's kind of entertaining.

Stardust - Decent enough fantasy from the imagination of Neil Gaiman, who also wrote "American Gods", which I really enjoyed. Robert De Niro does a turn as a flamboyant pirate, but Johnny Depp is better at it. Plus, Michelle Pfeiffer is in it as an evil witch desperate to recapture her youth. She's a WILF.

Into the Wild - Slightly fictionalized but entertaining account of a rebellious college graduate who defies...everything...to get back to...something. Then he starves to death in the Alaskan wilderness. What a dumbass.

Superbad - I watched it with proper expectations (read: none) and wasn't disappointed. Silly teen vehicle, blessedly rated "R" with plenty of Clerks-style vulgar language. Seth Rogan as a ridiculous cop adds to the fun. He was recently announced as the lead in "Zach & Miri Make a Porno", and I can't imagine a better choice for Kevin Smith's next movie.

This is England - The writer-director's turbulent childhood, set in Margaret Thatcher's England during the Falklands War. Raw and touching at times, definitely worth a viewing. The skinhead guy reminds me of a young British Bruno Kirby.

Mini's First Time - Amusing little comic crime-thriller, with Alec Baldwin and a very sexy Nikki Reed, along with boozy mom Carrie-Anne Moss, makes this a fun flick. Jeff Goldblum is in it, too. I can totally see these people all living in the same Beverly Hills neighborhood. And killing each other.

Death at a Funeral - English farce. With stiffs. 'nuff said.

Evening - Zzzzzzzz...what on Earth possessed me to watch this boring-assed chick flick? I could have spent the time better by punching myself in the head with a waffle iron. More entertaining, too.

Movies I'm going to watch soon and might discuss here:

Waitress
Rescue Dawn
FIDO
Cherry Crush