Avatar

So, I finally gave into all the hype and went to see Avatar. And found that the hype....was hype. I felt like Avatar was more of an experience than a great movie. I believe most of the people who miss out on seeing it in 3D won't be nearly as crazy about it. Stunning visuals and innovative technology aside the plot is not very developed and extremely unoriginal. It even came off as somewhat preachy to me. If your making a movie about aliens then I think they should be like nothing we've ever imagined before and their cultures shouldn't so closely mimic that of Native Americans or any indigenous society on earth for that matter. Why did the aliens have to walk on two legs, wear war paint, say prayers over a kill, and ride things that looked like horses? And why in "Aywa's" name did they set the sub-titles in PAPYRUS?

Although I was entertained this pretty much sums up my feelings about Avatar/Pocahontas/Ferngully/Dances With Wolves etc etc :

wild things

I saw Where The Wild Things Are this past weekend. I don't know how much children can really understand the more metaphorical aspects of the movie but either way, it is visually stunning. One of the things that I love the most about the movie is the kitschy handmade feel created by all the wooden elements and scribbly lettering. It's unusual for a director to really care about the extraneous materials outside of the film but Spike Jonze worked closely with Geoff McFetridge
to set up a style-guide for marketing materials and it definitely payed off.

"...this is a handmade film, make everything feel handmade.' Things that are handmade are made with love, they're made with care, they're made by groups of individuals."

typetastic

Typophile Film Festival 5 Opening Titles from Brent Barson on Vimeo.

This gave me a very strong desire to make type out of Jell-O.