Hue's Blog

Tron, deconstructed

I saw Tron twice, IMAX 3D, stadium seating. Here's what I saw mashup-wise.

First time through:
Avatar, Matrix, Gladiator, Star Wars, The Big Lebowski, Predator, Dune

Second time through:
Grease, High Noon, the "Take On Me" video, more Matrix, A.I., Snake Eyes from the original G.I. Joe comics, The Running Man, Starman (didn't see that coming, did you?)

The Gilt Story

There's an expression in film - the audience is either crying or talking.  Which means that if you (the filmmakers) move them emotionally, all reason and analysis go out the window.  If you fail to move them, then the rule book comes out with an audit of all the ways you failed.

Imagine four years ago if someone said "okay, we're going to have another auction site, and we'll sell clothes, but maybe vacation packages too, who knows, maybe even cars?"  In 2006 we needed another auction site like we needed a hole in the head.

Then Gilt comes along, gets it's story straight and makes the audience cry.

Confusion 2.0

In 1996 I wrote on my web page about how I felt buffetted by conflicting forces in my life.  I couldn’t tell what the future held and I was confused.  What’s changed in 14 years?  Nothing, except now I'm writing about my confusion on a blog.

A great David O. Russell interview

That’s the most beautiful thing that I like about boxing: You can take a punch. The biggest thing about taking a punch is, your ego reacts and there’s no better spiritual lesson than trying to not pay attention to your ego’s reaction. That’s what takes people out of the fight half the time. They get hit and half the reaction is, your ego is saying, “I cannot believe that person just lit me up, how humiliating.”...That’s why I love Bill Clinton. I just love people who can take a punch and pick themselves up and come back...I had a few humbling years, and those years made me a better filmmaker. I write better now, and I see better now cinematically.

The full interview (here) is definitely worth the read.

Interview with "The Online Guys"

Last year Rob Holmes, a Texas-based film critic, tweeted as he headed into Saint John of Las Vegas.  I tweeted back, telling him to enjoy the film.  He followed me, I followed him, etc. etc. and recently he asked me to be guest on his show "The Online Guys".  I joined Rob and his co-hosts Nils Montan and Samantha Collier for a great talk on indie films, social media, the Hero's Journey and Steve McQueen.

Here is the link.