Are you crafty? Got amazing pony merch that you want to share with the world? I’m totally down with that. Especially if said merch has anything to do with Maude Pie, Flutterbat or The Derp. Because I heart BronyCon, and I heart saying bye-bye to all the monies.
So read about how you can be a big seller! Super Cider Squeezy 6000 need not apply…
And I’ll see you at BronyCon August 7-9, 2014! Yay! Fun!
Seems like only yesterday the 2014 ADG Award winners were announced. Now it’s time for the 2015 crop, and just like last year, it’s chock full of top-notch eye-candy. Those tasked with picking between the nominees will have their work cut out for them; with films like The Theory of Everything, Grand Budapest Hotel, Interstellar, Guardians of the Galaxy and Birdman? Phew. Wouldn’t want to be one of those folks, it’ll be tough work.
Not to mention the TV categories, with the likes of Game of Thrones, Mad Men, The Knick (SEE THIS IF YOU HAVEN’T YET. Yes I’m screming.), True Detective, American Horror Story, Key & Peele (remarkably well done art direction for sketch comedy) and Sherlock all vying for attention. What I wouldn’t give for a plane ticket, and the chance to rub elbows with the folks that create all that beauty. What? Y’all do your actors/actresses worship. I’m a be right here, fawning over set designers and special effects coordinators.
Read on for the full list of noms, and the deets about the ceremony! And if you happen to be there on January 31, toast ’em all for me, willya?
I’m sure it’s not an inexpensive option, but it is an option. Very cool that someone has stopped, looked around, and provided said option. Now if they’d only have a pet concierge for when I head to screenings. What? Kitties get lonely y’all. And they take it out on my sofa.
Go forth, become famous, and take pictures of your awards!
Veteran Film, Media and TV Producer Kenrick Cohen is Now a Powerhouse One-Stop Shop “Moviemaking Architect”
President of Multi-Faceted Company The Republic Media, LLC Launches “Done-For-You Moviemaking Concierge” Concept Including Scripting, Hiring Crew, Distribution, Paperwork – And Information Continuity Programs
SUMMIT HILL, Pa., Jan. 5, 2015 /PRNewswire/ — As a kid growing up in Birmingham, Alabama, Kenrick Cohen was like just about every American boy of his generation, obsessed with Star Wars. Seeing it multiple times in its original theatrical run, he confidently declared that he would make films for the rest of his life.
Now, decades later, continuing to expand his own dynamic resume as a writer, producer and media company entrepreneur, he’s helping people turn their own dreams into professionally-produced and marketed films. As a one-stop shop Moviemaking Architect, Cohen puts together the nuts and bolts of creating films for those with great ideas and secure funding.
“With independent film, the money person must be excited about the writer’s project – but what if the money people don’t want to make that movie?” Cohen asks. “I reasoned they want to see their own project on the big screen and would foot the cost of the film, retaining all the rights. That’s the beginning of the special Done-For-You Moviemaking Concierge program.”
While handling everything from A to Z, including scripting, hiring a team of experienced film and media professionals (including a top director and veteran crew), distribution and paperwork, he’s created a foolproof, revolutionary way to make independent films. His concept of the “Done-For-You Moviemaking Concierge” also includes a set of continuity programs, including newsletters connecting current events and industry business trends to the impact those things have on today’s indie filmmakers.
The decades-long road to making Cohen’s childhood dream of filmmaking a reality had its share of twists, turns, challenges, exhilarating moments and career shifts. These included stints as a news producer for the local CBS affiliate in his hometown, leading a live TV crew at age 25; co-creating a highly-rated hockey TV series, “Inside Bulls Hockey,” that ran 18 episodes; teaching English as a Second Language in Japan, then teaching and creating marketing DVDs and podcasts for Gateway Language Village school in China. He also briefly opened an English language school in Japan.
Since launching his company The Republic Media, LLC (TRM) in 2009, the versatile and adaptable Cohen has drawn on his powerful skills as a manager and coordinator – and his ability to react and “put out fires” on the fly – to amass a coolly eclectic resume as a producer and film director. Focusing on producing and distributing online and filmed entertainment media for a global audience, TRM has produced live events for TV, feature films, award-winning internet pilots and shorts, as well as industrials.
Over the past few years, Cohen has executive-produced a spec pilot for the World of Unpredictable Wrestling based on the “live event” aesthetic TRM was founded on. He also directed a horror short (“Emmy”) that featured at several festivals, and numerous industrials; associate-produced horror-comedy feature film Shankman’s; produced the award-winning sci-fi web-series pilot The Abandon; and wrote, directed and produced the award-winning comedy short You’re It!
Upcoming projects include feature films, including urban crime thriller King, R-rated youth comedy The Ball Drop and sci-fi film noir Atlantic & Pacific.
The success of TRM is more impressive considering that during the time Cohen was building the company and working on these projects, he had gone back to Long Island University (LIU) Brooklyn to receive an MA in Media Theory and an MFA in Media Management (Line Producing).
The many surprising lessons he learned while attending grad school now fuel his passion as a Moviemaking Architect, putting together the minutest crucial details for people with passion, vision and money but not the “below the line” resources to make their film happen.
“I use my experience to create a pitch package and marketing plan to show the person I’m working with how the project will earn their money back and eventually profit,” Cohen says. “TRM functions as an employee, then subcontracts the director, crew and anyone else we need to fulfill the production needs. That allows the creator and/or financier who hires me to retain all gross revenue and not have any headaches. I don’t keep anything on the back end. Once the film is done, my company helps supervise royalties and rights while facilitating distribution and some exhibition.”
Read more: http://therepublicmedia.com/index.html
Sometimes I feel like I’m not writing enough. Then I do something like this; a list of all the stuff I reviewed in a year. Not too bad. No, not pro-level. Still, not too shabby. And a fine explanation for why I avoid my laptop all other days of the year.
To wit*:
Sometimes hitting the multiplex just isn’t in the cards. That’s when cable, the web and streaming step in to provide an instant movie fix. But how to separate the wheat from the chaff? I’m happy to help.
The Story: Frankenstein’s monster watched his “father” freeze to death. Now, he’s got nothin’ to do and nothin’ but time, because for some reason he won’t die (or age.) But hey, demons are trying to suss out his whole “living forever” thing. Good thing gargoyles have his back. Yep. Gargoyles, of the Gargoyle Order. Yeah.
The Good: Excellent FX. Some decent gargoyle/demon battles.
The Bad: Um. Where to start? The silly concept that could have stood alone without adding Frankie to it. The tossed-in “because science!” folks that only seem to serve…um, well, not even a love interest. Just there for looking all deep and thinky and shit. Re-purposing Underworld baddie Bill Nighy as the I, Frankenstein baddie (not that there’s any such thing as too much Nighy. But still; don’t be quite so cookie-cutter, m’kay?) The Big Bad Reveal that looked like G’Kar on a bender (another cookie-cutter alert). The fact that while watching this I got 12 levels up on Gummy Drop rather than investing my full attention once I realized that this film had absolutely nothing to say, and no real entertainment value beyond mythological creatures blowing up.
What really pisses me off is that I, Frankenstein was supposed to be a launch pad for a series that would ultimately have seen a Frankie/Underworld crossover. Dammit. Y’all should have done better. Combining these two promising mythologies would have been truly wonderful in the right hands. Emphasis on right hands. This is a muddled mess that leaves nothing but the bitter taste of missed opportunity. No matter how spectacular Aaron Eckhart’s abs are.
The Everything Else: Hey, a centuries long rivalry between mythological good guys & mythological bad guys, with a super-special person/monster/thing that bucks the system. Yeah, I loved this story when it was called Underworld. But apparently Kevin Grevioux can only come up with one basic premise, and after he brought us the stylish noir of Underworld, that’s all he’s got. Granted, I, Frankenstein could possibly be a totally kickass graphic novel, with a rivalry like this backing it up. But in this incarnation, it’s bled dry. Perhaps Selena got jealous (and thirsty)? I still would love to knock back a beer with Grevioux, because he obviously has some fantastic ideas. But next time, pleasepleaseplease tap a collaborator. Pair up with someone like Ennis or Snyder…and blow my ass out of the water. I’d love that.
Here’s the breakdown:
Would I watch it again?: NO. Unless I lost a bet, or a bunch of my fellow horror fiends were blasted and we MST3K’d this puppy. Or just wanted to see Eckhart’s abs under some seriously heavy spirit glue & latex scarring.
Should you see it?: You like the premise? Re-watch Underworld.
Netflix average rating: 2 stars
My rating: 2 stars. Didn’t hate it, but didn’t enjoy it either.
Had to share this excellent post from Rebecca Hains. As another girl who grew up loving Legos, here’s hoping that “pinking it up” doesn’t become the norm for that company.
And also, Maritsa Patrinos rocks.
A comic titled “LEGO Friends” recently went viral, striking a chord with people by humorously pointing out that girls don’t need a separate line of LEGO toys. No, no—girls just need better female representation within existing LEGO sets:
“LEGO Friends” by Maritsa Patrinos of Seasonal Depression. Used with permission.
I was so taken by how well this cartoon encapsulates so many parents’ and advocates’ position on the unnecessary gendering of children’s toys—a topic I address in detail in my book, The Princess Problem—that I reached out to the cartoon’s creator, Maritsa Patrinos, to learn more about her work.
Maritsa is illustrator living in Brooklyn, NY who grew up just outside of Washington, DC and went to Pratt Institute to study illustration. Since graduating in 2010, she’s worked on staff at Marvel Comics, made backgrounds for a Cartoon Network show called MAD, and has worked in different editorial jobs, including a couple New Yorker comics. For the past…
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Screenings! Free! Happy new year (almost)! This time it’s Selma, a film about Martin Luther King, Jr.
Here’s the synopsis:
SELMA is the story of a movement. The film chronicles the tumultuous three-month period in 1965, when Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. led a dangerous campaign to secure equal voting rights in the face of violent opposition. The epic march from Selma to Montgomery culminated in President Johnson (Tom Wilkinson) signing the Voting Rights Act of 1965, one of the most significant victories for the civil rights movement. Director Ava DuVernay’s SELMA tells the real story of how the revered leader and visionary Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. (David Oyelowo) and his brothers and sisters in the movement prompted change that forever altered history.
Want passes? Of course!
It’s Awards Season Onslaught time! So that can mean only one thing; quickie reviews so you (and I) can get out and enjoy the season faster. Feliz Chrismukwanzyulekkah y’all!
Before: Straight up; this ain’t your momma’s Once Upon A Time. It’s your momma’s Sondheim, which means it’s a dark look at the Grimm Fairy Tales, if the Wikipedia page on the musical is any indication. Maybe I don’t want to see this; dark tales from Disney, directed by the dude that pooped out Nine? Oh man. But Rob Marshall did give me Chicago too, in all it’s hammy glory. And Anna Kendrick is awesome…plus Le Streep. Alright. I’m in. I’m just putting my trepidation on record.
During: Holy crap, Emma Blunt has PIPES! She’s awesome. This is kinda the way I felt when I first heard Kendrick sing in Pitch Perfect; that wonderful moment when someone you already enjoy shows a facet of themselves that makes you like their work even more. Happy face time y’all. Loving the melding of movie set and theatrical setting here; you’re meant to know that you’re watching a play. There’s just enough mock-up here, with the forest and the overly colored sets, to keep things fun and slightly tongue-in-cheek. Probably why the darkness of the subject matter rolls off so well. Depp is obviously having fun with his Wolf, and his makeup and costuming harkens to Cats rather than Rick Baker realism. It works here. So does putting Christine Baranski into the shoes of Cinderella’s evil Stepmother. That touch of real theater adds to the fun, as does Tracy Ullman as Jack’s Mother.
It’s the Awards Season Onslaught time! So that can mean only one thing; quickie reviews so you (and I) can get out and enjoy the season faster. Feliz Chrismukwanzyulekkah y’all!
Before: Wait. This is a Tim Burton joint? Oh man, I hope it’ll be more true to history than Big Fish crazy. There’s a time for crazy, and a time for filling folks in on a crazy story. Plus, I had two old Keane prints in my bedroom when I was a kid. Creepy as hell, yet I couldn’t take ‘em down. They were judging me, and found me sad. Y’know what else is sad? The official web site looks like it’s been hacked by Walter’s family…or perhaps that’s simply Burton’s way of letting potential viewers in on the sturm-und-drang of Keane’s life before they hit theaters?
During: “I think what Walter Keane has done is just terrific. It has to be good. If it were bad, so many people wouldn’t like it.” — Andy Warhol
Merry free speech Christmas, y’all!
Now we can get back to the real question; does this movie suck or not?
Meanwhile, I’m off to my own Christmas Eve tradition. Christmas Fettuccine & The Holiday. Happy Merry!
Sony Pictures To Distribute “The Interview” Online Beginning Christmas Eve Through Google Play, YouTube Movies, Microsoft’s Xbox Video and Dedicated Website
Film To Be Widely Available On Demand Throughout The United States
[Culver City, CA – December 24, 2014] Sony Pictures Entertainment announced that The Interview will be available online across the United States starting today, Christmas Eve.
As of 10:00 a.m. PST, the film will be available to rent in HD on Google Play, YouTube Movies, Microsoft’s Xbox Video and the dedicated website http://www.seetheinterview.com at a price of $5.99. The film can also be purchased in HD for $14.99.
“It has always been Sony’s intention to have a national platform on which to release this film,” said Michael Lynton, Chairman and CEO of Sony Entertainment. “With that in mind, we reached out to Google, Microsoft and other partners last Wednesday, December 17th, when it became clear our initial release plans were not possible. We are pleased we can now join with our partners to offer the film nation-wide today.
“We never stopped pursuing as wide a release as possible for The Interview. It was essential for our studio to release this movie, especially given the assault upon our business and our employees by those who wanted to stop free speech. We chose the path of digital distribution first so as to reach as many people as possible on opening day, and we continue to seek other partners and platforms to further expand the release.”
“I want to thank Google and Microsoft for helping make this a reality. This release represents our commitment to our filmmakers and free speech. While we couldn’t have predicted the road this movie traveled to get to this moment, I’m proud our fight was not for nothing and that cyber criminals were not able to silence us.
“No doubt the issues we have confronted these last few weeks will not end with this release, but we are gratified to have stood together and confident in our future. I want to thank everyone at Sony Pictures for their dedication and perseverance through what has been an extraordinary and difficult time.”Fans can watch The Interview on several platforms including:
· Google Play: the movie is available to buy or rent at play.google.com, and can be watched in the Play Movies & TV app on Android and iOS phones or tablets, or streamed in the living room via Chromecast, Roku or the Nexus Player.
· YouTube: the movie is available at youtube.com/movies and can be watched on the web, in the YouTube app, or on select living room devices like Chromecast, Apple TV, PlayStation and Xbox.
· Microsoft’s Xbox Video: the movie is available to buy or rent on the Xbox Video app on Xbox One, Xbox 360, Windows 8, Windows Phone 8 and XboxVideo.com.
· SeetheInterview.com: In addition, The Interview is available at the dedicated websitewww.seetheinterview.com, which is sponsored by Sony Pictures and powered by Kernel and with payments through Stripe, a secure payment platform.
In addition to Google Play, YouTube, Microsoft and http://www.seetheinterview.com, The Interview is also being released in more than 300 United States theaters on December 25th.
Got a dollar to spare? A quarter?
Atomic Fangirl 