Monday, May 17, 2010

Films I've Seen Recently that I Liked

This film is Not Yet Rated
Hot Tub Time Machine
El Crimen Ferpecto
A Serious Man
Once Upon a Time in the West
Danger: Diabolik
Puffy Chair
Stranger than Fiction
Pecker
Speed Racer
Dance Party, USA
Gentlemen Broncos
Extract
Jekyll and Hyde, Together Again
The Darjeeling Limited
Rhinoceros
Frost/Nixon

Friday, May 7, 2010

Politically Incorrect Set Decoration Posters

One thing I like about being an indie filmmaker is that I don't walk on eggshells when it comes to Hollywood. I don't do what I do to please them. On the other hand, I don't try to intentionally try to piss off Hollywood--there are a lot of good people in the studios who can be very helpful.

However, if I think of a gag or want to lampoon a Hollywood sacred cow, I don't hesitate. For instance for my upcoming short film, I needed some set decoration. It's a film about a pretentious LA hipster. I thought some pop art posters would be good for the protagonist's bedroom. One idea that came to mind would be posters that are modern pastiches of the covers of the old Tijuana bibles. I really liked the art deco fonts and designs attributed to Doc Rankin.

tom cruise xenu tijuana bible I thought that the covers should apply to modern characters. One of them is Tom Cruise. I thought it would be funny to have a poster that satirizes Cruise's relationship with Scientology by suggesting that something is going one between the actor and a figure from Scientology theology: the galactic overlord Xenu. This is hardly the way to win friends in Hollywood.

bill o'reilly loofah tijuana bible Also, I thought it would be amusing to have a TJ cover parody that addressed the Bill O'Reilly sexual harassment scandal. In case you aren't familiar with the "loofah" reference, click here and read about the loofah/falafel reference that O'Reilly made to then-Fox News producer Andrea Mackris. This isn't a way of cozying up to 20th Century Fox (Rupert Murdoch NewsCorp owns both Fox and Fox News).

First Post

I'm really excited about my work. I'm doing a short existential/absurdist comedy and am working hard. I'll give more details later.