National Board of Review Selects 'The Social Network' Best Film of 2010



Courtesy 'The Social Network' site

So excited to find out just moments ago that the National Board of Review has selected 'The Social Network' as best film of 2010. Jesse Eisenberg was chosen for best actor, David Fincher as best director and Aaron Sorkin for adapted screenplay.

The other nominees included nine other films as the Board's top 10 in alphabetical order -- "Another Year," "The Fighter," "Hereafter," "Inception," "The King's Speech," "Shutter Island," "The Town," "Toy Story 3," "True Grit" and "Winter's Bone."

Awards will be presented on January 11 with Meredith Vieira hosting.This is my favourite film of the year and certainly hope it will go on to win top honours in the other award ceremonies as well.

Say 'What?!' by Don Draper

The Hollywood Reporter posted this YouTube video of Jon Hamm as Don Draper from 'Mad Men'. It is quite self-explanatory...what?!

'The Social Network'

Source: IMDb

This movie is a genius melding of artful writing, acting and directing. The minds behind 'The Social Network' are as brilliant as the subject of the film. Aaron Sorkin's script is the backbone of the movie and it creates a solid foundation for Jesse Eisenberg who plays Mark Zuckerberg founder of Facebook, Andrew Garfield who portrays his business partner and friend, Eduardo Saverin, and David Fincher the director, to create a masterpiece.

I have seen this movie twice and will probably see it a third time, yes it is that good. So far for me, 'The Social Network' is the front-runner for the Best Picture Award.

The themes running through this movie mirror 'Citizen Kane', a dynamic person who is a pioneer in his chosen field and whose achievements raise him to great heights. Like Charles Foster Kane, the character in 'Citizen Kane' based upon real-life newspaper magnate William Randolph Hearst, Mark Zuckerberg also manages to alienate everyone, even those closest to him in his quest to succeed.

The movie may have taken a few artistic liberties, however the addage that it's lonely at the top, seems to fit 'The Social Network'.

This morning, I tweeted a thank you note to Kevin Spacey and Dana Brunetti who produced the movie and Mr. Brunetti returned a thank you tweet-exciting! If you have not yet seen the movie, I highly recommend it.

What's Happening to Television?

Source: Google graphics

Television, the equipment, television programming and viewership have all changed dramatically over the past 58 years in Canada and the US. Television was introduced to Canadian audiences in 1952-the CBC was Canada's first broadcaster. At that time there were 85,000 television sets in Canada; in 2010 that number is 21,500,000 (ref: pressreference.com). The number of broadcast channels available today is limitless and most host programs 24/7/365 days a year.

Today, I read in 24 Hours that 70% of Americans (by extension Canadians) still watch their favourite television shows at the time they are broadcast and only 16% record them to watch later. Nearly 80% of viewers over 45 years old watch TV traditionally that figure falls to 56% for people under 45. Nearly 9% watch TV shows online (Source: Marist College phone poll of 1,005 people).

There are so many choices available both in channels and how we watch television. I watch a lot of online content, nearly half of my television viewing is done online. However, my overall television viewing has significantly decreased (8 shows a week), whether that is due to content or me getting older or a combination thereof - before I commit a half hour or an hour to watching anything, it better be worth my time. My television of choice are such shows as "Mad Men", "Boardwalk Empire", "TrueBlood" and "Glee". Of course, there are my 'guilty pleasures' such as "The Vampire Diaries" and "Life Unexpected". The other two shows I watch are "House" and "Fringe".

CNN posted an article lamenting the fact that the 2010 fall television season is rather lacking in breakout hits and has suffered three cancellations already, one of which was "Lone Star" a show I really liked and I am still hoping that AMC, HBO or another cable channel will resurrect. The viewership for these cancelled shows is equal to a "Mad Men" audience (3 to 4 million); network television demands higher viewership -ie- advertising placements.

Some have said that audiences get the shows they deserve, however, networks are also less likely to support a low-performing show as they did in the 1980's when "Cheers" debuted to low ratings and would have been cancelled in its first season had it aired in 2010. There is still a place for quality programming on network television, which is supported by the success of shows such as "Glee", "The Good Wife" and "House".

Boardwalk Empire

HBO's 'Boardwalk Empire' was borne from the minds of Terrence Winter, he of 'The Sopranos' and Martin Scorcese, he of 'Mean Streets', 'The Departed', etc. not too shabby. 'Boardwalk' follows the lives of Enoch 'Nucky' Thompson, et al. in Atlantic City as Prohibition is introduced in January, 1920.

The series had only aired two episodes when it was renewed for a second season. As any actor will tell you, it all starts with the scripts and 'Boardwalk Empire' is no exception; the writing is stellar and is matched beautifully with actors who embody their character. Steve Buscemi is such a talented actor, having followed his career for many years now, he is a treat to watch as Nucky along with the notable cast of supporting characters - Michael Pitt as Jimmy Darmody; Michael Shannon as Agent Nelson Van Alden; Kelly MacDonald as Margaret Schroeder.

Prohibition has never looked so good.

Mad Men Season 4 Finale




Don Draper pondering his future...calling it off with Faye

Last night the 'Mad Men' season 4 finale, 'Tomorrowland', capped the best season of 'Mad Men' yet. If season 4 was about change, adaptation and coming to terms then season 5 will be about the journey that follows.

I will leave the dissection of last night's episode to others, but there are a few stand-out scenes for me as follows:

• Don introduces Sally and Bobby to Stephanie and tells them that his 'nickname' is Dick. I only wish that this had taken place when Anna was still alive.
• Don referring to Megan as Maria Von Trapp (The Sound of Music is my favourite movie, and celebrating its 45th anniversary this year :)
• Joan and Peggy commisserating about the men and the women they choose to share their lives. Priceless and so true.
• Joan revealing that she did not have an abortion and that she will have Roger's lovechild.
• Betty setting it up so she would meet Don at what was their marital home before it's sold. She pretending to have forgotten some items in the guest bathroom; he retrieving a hidden bottle of Canadian Club whiskey. Sharing a drink and Don telling Betty that he is engaged. The pained look on Betty's face, her trying to be mature and adult about the situation, congratulating him reluctantly...Don saw her struggle and tried to make it easier for her. The shot of them literally parting ways leaving the bottle and cup on the counter-leaving behind memories both bad & good, and the life they shared...at least in that house.

Matthew Weiner and his staff of writers are some of the most talented people in Hollywood. The lives of the characters are in good hands and I can't wait for season 5, is it July 2011 yet?!

'Jack & Bobby' Reunion on 'Mad Men'

As the saying goes, be careful what you wish for...for it may just happen. On Sunday night's episode of 'Mad Men' there was a reunion of sorts as some of the cast of 'Jack & Bobby' appeared on the episode entitled 'The Rejected'. From previous posts, you know that I'm a huge fan of both these shows. Unfortunately, 'Jack & Bobby' was cancelled after just one season, much to my dismay. So it was a pleasant suprise to see Matt Long join the supporting cast of 'Mad Men' for season 4 as Joey Baird who had a memorable introduction into the show as he and Peggy bantered back & forth calling each other John and Marsha, an homage to the comedy of Stan Freberg.

Another alumni of 'Jack & Bobby', Jessica Pare is now appearing as 'Megan' one of the secretaries. Sunday night's episode 'The Rejected' was special as it was directed by John Slattery, who plays Roger Sterling and who also appeared in 'Jack & Bobby' with Matt and Jessica. He played Jessica's dad in 'Jack & Bobby'.

Now I'm keeping my fingers crossed that Christine Lahti will appear on 'Mad Men', she played Grace McCallister on 'Jack & Bobby'.

Logan Lerman who played Bobby, is more than welcome to join in the fun as well although he may just be a little busy with his burgeoning movie career. Last fall he appeared in 'Percy Jackson & the Olympians' and has been tapped to star as D'Artagnan in the remake of 'The Three Musketeers'.

It has been five years since 'Jack & Bobby' went off the air, time to see it again.

The Power of Bargaining

In these challenging economic times, the power of bargaining or haggling...a type of negotiation in which the buyer and seller of a good or service dispute the price which will be paid and the exact nature of the transaction that will take place, and eventually come to an agreement [Source: Wikipedia] is a great skillset to have in today's workplace and personal life.

Employers and employees alike have been asked to be budget-conscious more so these days than perhaps in recent past years. As a manager, it is my mantra to run the office like I would my own finances - mindful of every penny/dollar that is spent and trying to get as much bang for our buck as possible. Since I have been manager, the office budget has come in at 5%-7% under budget, which is quite significant when budgets can be multiple millions.

This year our national office has asked that regardless of how fiscally responsible we have been, we have to constrain our spending by an additional 5%. Some companies would terminate an employee as the amount requested to be slashed equalled a salary. Instead, a lot of time has been spent on reviewing each budget item and reducing it where able. This required a lot of bargaining/negotiating with staff and stakeholders.

Other departments have also been asked to cut-back, for some this is not as easy - they have been used to dealing with this money not as their own and may not have been as careful about how it was spent. For example, a budgeted amount has been set aside for food & beverage (non-alcoholic) at an upcoming conference in the fall. Last year, the same organizers insisted that the hotel we had selected for the conference would not negotiate/bargain a lower price...I knew that was not quite accurate so this year, I took it upon myself to contact the hotel directly and bargain a more reasonable price that came under budget by $20,000. The hotel was very accommodating and told me that "they value our business and are in it for the long-run, not a short-term cash grab". This was a rather refreshing exchange between a salesperson and myself and opened up my eyes as to the power of bargaining.

Recently, I have applied bargaining in my personal life and managed to get two weeks free cable for some service issues that I experienced with the cable company. For some bargaining is not a new concept, however it bears reminding that being able to bargain effectively can be lucrative and that companies are willing to bargain if it translates into retaining you as a customer.

Mad for Mad Men

Sundays at 7pm Pacific on AMC

'Mad Men', I recall the first time (spring 2007) I heard that title and thought "what the heck is that all about?" bringing to mind the notion of a show about anger management. The 'Mad' in 'Mad Men' is a term coined by those who ran the Madison Avenue advertising agencies in 1960s New York. The show was created by Matthew Weiner who also was Executive Producer and writer on 'The Sopranos' another favourite of mine.

'Mad Men' is my favourite drama on television. It is simply excellent. I read an article when the show first started that all the items on the set are historically accurate to the month and year of where the story is set -ie-telephones, typewriters, clothing, newspaper articles, music...and all the smoking in the workplace, home and everywhere (for the record,I am vehemently anti-smoking). Apparently, detailed sketches and artifacts are kept in a vault. The show began in 1960 and is now set in 1965. Each season roughly covers one year in the story development with 1961 being passed over (season 2 started in 1962). It follows the lives of those working at ad agency Sterling Cooper now known as Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce.

'Mad Men' consists of one of the most talented casts on television today. The 4th season started on July 25 and I'm already dreading the end - a season consists of 13 episodes. Thirteen well-crafted episodes. When the show first started I would explain to people what 'Mad Men' was and told them to tune in and see if they would like it.  Since 2007, 'Mad Men' has won the Outstanding Drama Emmy twice (2008 & 2009) and won Outstanding Writing for the same years plus additional Emmys for cinematography and art direction. I'm certainly hoping that come August 29, there will be a three-peat plus some acting awards being handed to Jon Hamm (Don Draper), John Slattery (Roger Sterling), January Jones (Betty Draper), Christina Hendricks (Joan Harris) and Elisabeth Moss (Peggy Olson) - maybe Christina & Elisabeth will tie for Best Supporting Actress.

If you have not yet seen 'Mad Men' first visit the new online video featurettes to catch up on the goings-ons at Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce and see if you don't go 'Mad over Mad Men' too.

Joseph Gordon-Levitt

Joseph Gordon-Levitt Source: Askmen.com

Joseph Gordon-Levitt was introduced to me via 'A River Runs Through It' (1992) a lovely movie directed by my all-time favourite actor Robert Redford. At the time, Joseph (Joe) was 11 years old and already had that certain gleam in his eyes and witty smile that indicated that he would have a bright future ahead.

His next major star-turn would be on the small screen in '3rd Rock from the Sun' (1996-2001) where he played an alien with John Lithgow playing his dad. Not too shabby.

The next time I would see him was in 1999s '10 Things I Hate About You', a witty and smart teen comedy based on Shakespeare's 'Taming of the Shrew'. The movie also starred Heath Ledger and Julia Stiles.

It was at this time in his career/life where Joseph decided to make only 'good movies' and subsequent movie role choices reflected this as he starred in several low-budget, critically well-received movies albeit not successful at the box office.

In 2009, '500 Days of Summer' was released. I saw it twice in the theatre and many more times on DVD. It is one of the most original films I have seen in a long time - it is a breath of fresh air. A romantic comedy told from the perspective of the guy - the dialogue and acting is superb. My friends and collegues ask me why I like it so much, for me it is a movie which is true to itself and the audience is able to recognize its honesty; as a viewer you are drawn in and never feel manipulated by the film maker and writers. If you have not yet seen it, please do so.

In 2010, Joseph hit the big time, really big, with 'Inception' another truly exceptional and original piece of film-making by Christopher Nolan (he of 'Memento', 'Batman Begins' and 'The Dark Knight'). I know that this movie will be discussed for many years and could be a course taught in film school or any school for that matter. Personally, the action sequence near the end of the movie with Joseph is one of the coolest I have seen in any movie.

It has not escaped me that seeing Joseph play these many, varied characters, at times his expression eerily resembles that of the late, great Heath Ledger. In some ways their careers have mirrored one another. Heath too, in the late 1990s after making '10 Things' decided not to get trapped in the teen comedy genre and followed up with 'The Patriot'. Their paths met on the set of '10 Things' and Joseph embarked on a career which would have seen both actors probably play opposite one another again if it had not been for Heath's untimely death in 2008.

The latest news is that Christopher Nolan is considering Joseph for the role of the Riddler in the latest installment of 'Batman' if that is indeed so, we the movie audience will be in for a terrific performance. It will be sadly ironic for me if Joseph does play the Riddler and can only imagine and dream what it would have been like to have Heath, as the Joker, and he appear together in a movie again.

To 3D or not to Three Dimensional

3D, three dimensional, films have been around since the 1950's and recently have experienced a resurgence in popularity mainly due to the critical and commercial success of James Cameron's Avatar. My first 3D motion picture was last summer's highly successful Disney-Pixar film Up which was utterly charming and went on to win the Best Animated Feature of 2009. This summer, I have seen two 3D features: Disney-Pixar's Toy Story 3 and Universal Studio's Despicable Me.

Some of the questions posed by some viewers and film critics is whether the resurgence of the 3D technology is a cash-grab by the studios, charging viewers $3 extra (in Canada) to see a movie which is also available in regular 2D format. Some say, if you do not want to pay the extra cash, go see it in regular format; the argument is whether studios are contemplating creating movies exclusively in 3D format so that the higher price can be charged. Additionally, would the movie being shown in 3D be just as good, or better, in 2D? I will only speak for Toy Story 3 and Despicable Me - the answer would be yes - these movies are just as good, or better, in 2D.

Roger Ebert has waded into this discussion with both feet and started a conversation about this subject in an article for Newsweek. Not mincing too many words, he even titled the article "Why I Hate 3D and You Should Too". I do not 'hate' 3D however I would hope that it would not be the new standard in movie making. I could not imagine "The Sound of Music" (my favourite movie) in 3D. 3D for 3D sake is a bad idea.

Summer 2010

The gravel road in front of parental home

It has been a while since my last post, one month to be exact. Time flies when you're having fun, as they say.

After a busy spring, June was anticipated to be a quiet month, however that was not the case. Thus I embarked on my vacation straight from the office and feeling a bit on edge pending certain family dynamics upon arrival. It turned out to be a nice week with my family - parents, siblings and their kids. My sister and 6 year old nephew came back with me to Vancouver and we had a lovely week together as I showed off this gorgeous city.

Stanley Park Train-Spirit Train (Summer 2010)

Vancouver and area have lots of great activities to offer visitors and literally we did not leave the Lower Mainland for the week and still did not see and do everything that is available. We are very fortunate to live here. Some of the higlights: trips to Stanley Park; a ride on the Stanley Park train; visit to the Aquarium and petting zoo; Buntzen Lake; White Pine Beach; Animal Grossology; and a Vancouver harbour tour.

My favourite place we visited is the Vancouver Aquarium. It is a very interesting place and I think my nephew would have moved in, if that was allowed. We spent nearly 5 hours there and it definitely was one of the highlights of the week.

Buntzen Lake, Belcarra Park

Vacation

Can't believe that June is nearly over and I have not been able to post anything entertaining, relevant or otherwise engaging for a while. It has been a busy month, much busier than anticipated. As the saying goes, "no rest for the wicked".

Starting my vacation in a few hours, will be flying to Ontario to visit family & friends. Looking forward to it. Actually, bringing my sister and nephew back with me for a visit in Vancouver. This is my nephew's (6 years old) first trip on an airplane, so exciting for him...and us.

Flying on the red-eye tonight, which is always an interesting experience. A few years ago on a similar trip, I woke up briefly to see two yellow eyes staring at me...needless to say this caused me to jar out of my seat slightly and utter a brief, muffled shriek. The flight attendant asked the passenger to place the cat back into the carrier. Of course, I chuckle about this incident now but at the time it was a little disconcerting.

This visit, we will see 'Evita' at the Stratford Festival. Can't wait, my mom has been wanting to see this musical for a few decades now, it will be a special evening.

At midnight June 29/30, my sister and I will be seeing the opening of 'Eclipse', getting very excited to see that, it is my favourite book of the Twilight Saga.

It will be an action-packed time - fun, frolick and frivolity awaits!

David Slade Writes a Note to Fans

In honour of the Twilight Facebook page reaching 6 million followers, David Slade, director of The Twilight Saga-Eclipse, wrote the following note:

Dear fans of The Twilight Saga,

I want to congratulate you for reaching over 6 million fans on The Twilight Saga Facebook page.

It's hard to fathom that it was just over one year ago that I started constructing this third and epic adventure which takes place in the town of Forks.

I want to share a story about one of our days of shooting with you.

It was a Friday night and the rain was relentless. We were at La Push to shoot the tribe's histories, a great speech by Billy Black. We had Taylor and Kristen and the whole wolf pack around a campfire as the heavens let loose on us.

Gil Birmingham was in fine form as the rain hammered down on us all, we adjusted our lights so that the rain vanished into the black of night.

We constructed a tent over the scene to keep everyone dry as we worked, every 15 minutes or so we would have to tip it to stop the collecting rain from splitting the fabric.

For some reason still unknown, around 3am, the wolf pack stood exactly in the way of several gallons of rainwater as it was being cleared. Being the wolf pack, they just laughed it off as they stood there soaked to the bone.

We worked through the mud and the rain all night, until we had the scene perfected.

As we left, dawn was now cracking and in the dim light I passed a small army of fans who had braved the weather for the entire night, still standing there, holding drenched flowers and waiting to get a glimpse of our actors.

So, to those of you who stood behind our security, who waited in line at theatres overnight, to those of you who just love these stories, The Twilight Saga: Eclipse is a love letter to you.

Each day I felt the weight of your favourite scenes, your favourite lines, your dreams and your imagination.

It has been an unforgettable journey, and now as I finalise the last prints to ready the film for your local theaters, I cannot wait for you to see it.

Sincerest Regards,
DAVID SLADE

I actually remember that night David is talking about in the note. "LaPush" is actually Minnekhada Regional Park in Coquitlam, BC where 'Jacob Black's' house is located. I wasn't one of the Twi-hards waiting all night in the pouring rain, however Gil Birmingham who plays Jacob's dad, Billy Black, tweeted throughout that night about the progress of this scene and how wet and cold it was. I recall being thankful I didn't have to be outside. They began filming shortly after 7pm and it was completed very early morning.

It has been said that David Slade is a perfectionist, so expectations are high for Eclipse. It is my favourite book of the series and I certainly look forward to the finished product on June 29.

The Twilight Saga - Eclipse Soundtrack

The people behind the new Eclipse Soundtrack streamed the entire deluxe version online on June 2. A novel approach to marketing and/or building of anticipation until the release of the movie on June 30. Believe me, a true Twi-hard will not require a build-up to the release of Eclipse.

I have listened to each song now a number of times, and in my opinion is the best soundtrack yet in the Saga. I loved the Twilight soundtrack, not so much the New Moon soundtrack, although I loved New Moon's score.

Some of my early Eclipse favourites: The Bravery - Ours; Florence + the Machine - Heavy in Your Arms; Sia - My Love; Atlas - Fanfarlo; The Black Keys - Chop and Change; Beck & Bat for Lashes - Let's Get Lost; UNKLE - With You in My Head; Howard Shore - Jacob's Theme (can't wait for the score); Battles - The Line; Bombay Bicycle Club - How Can You Swallow So Much; Atlast (The Time and Space) Fanfarlo remix; Cee Lo Green (Johan Hugo) - What Part of Forever. Basically I have just listed most of the soundtrack - which is rare as there is usually one, two or three songs that stand out.

Chop Shop Records, Atlantic Records and Summit Entertainment must be very happy about this-I predict the soundtrack will be a bestseller for a number of weeks this summer.

Billy Burke's New Video "Removed"

Billy Burke is the actor who plays Bella Swan's dad (Charlie Swan) in The Twilight Saga. He was born and raised in Bellingham, Washington so he's what you might call a 'local'.  He debuted his new song called "Removed" in April along with his new website. I like this song, bluesy-country-rock. This morning, he launched the video for the song.  As Billy explains on his website:

I had the good fortune of being visited by my close friend and up and coming filmmaker Devon Gummersall. He and I both thought it might be a sweet opportunity to shoot some unplanned, guerilla style footage for an impromptu video for “REMOVED”. My super-cool wife and best pal Pollyanna Rose agreed to play with us and thus, we set forth on a one day into night excursion to see what we could come up with. As you’ll see we started out on the deserted streets of Shreveport (Louisiana) and ended up literally, in the closet of the house we were renting.

The video isn't ground-greaking but it complements the song well. Plus we get a peek at what that part of Louisiana looks like, in case 'Breaking Dawn' will be filmed there.

Twilight Convention May 14-16, 2010

Did I mention that it was a busy week? This past weekend, I attended my first ever convention of any kind and, of course, it was the Twilight Convention which was held at the Sheraton Wall Centre Hotel - the same hotel where Robert Pattinson (Edward) and Kristen Stewart (Bella) stayed along with some of the other cast. This was the first Canadian city to host the official Twilight Convention - as it should, since two of the movies 'New Moon' and 'Eclipse' were filmed here.

About 500 participants attended each day, Sunday was the busiest day as it was standing-room only and had people squeezed into the Grand Ballroom. We had reserved seats for the weekend, and a great centre view of the stage and guest.

I have hundreds of pictures - don't worry, won't be posting all of them :) Here is one picture for each guest who attended this weekend with a brief caption. It was a lot of fun and we are making plans for next year already. All the guests were engaging, interesting, gracious and gave thoughtful answers to the questions posed by their fans. For more in depth coverage of the question and answer session visit Mandy's Mind.

Bronson Pelletier (Jared)

Lori Joffs & Shelley from Twilight Lexicon, first Twilight fan website

Kiowa Gordon (Embry Call)

Jodelle Ferland (Bree in Eclipse)

Cameron Bright (Alec, Volturi)

Daniel Cudmore (Felix, Volturi)

Catherine Hardwicke, director of 'Twilight'

Peter Facinelli (Dr.Carlisle Cullen)

Stars on Ice - May 14, 2010

This was a busy week for me in entertainment, when it rains it pours as they say. I go for months without much happening, than BAM! my social calendar is filled up. My week started with the Eagles concert, which was amazing. On Friday night, it was Stars on Ice.

I have not seen live figure skating since the 1980's and this show was a real treat for the eyes. The skaters included Kurt Browning; Scott Moir & Tessa Virtue, Olympic gold medal winners in ice dance; Joannie Rochette, Olympic bronze medallist; Jaime Salle and David Pelletier, Olympic gold medal winners in pairs in 2002; Jeffrey Buttle; Marie-France Dubreuil & Patrice Lauzon (ice dance 2002); Cynthia Phaneuf and Shawn Sawyer.

The artistry and choreography were amazing, these athletes are inspirational.

One of the group numbers.

Jaime Salle & David Pelletier

My faves - Tessa Virtue & Scott Moir - simply sublime

The Eagles

Sixteen years ago, I moved to British Columbia (Vancouver area) from Ontario. Soon after settling into life on the westcoast, it became apparent that I was somewhat lost in translation.

True story - I was watching the news with my aunt and a story came on regarding cross-border shopping, which at the time (1994) Americans were coming to shop in Canada as our dollar was so low (approx. 73 cents). The reporter asked them why they were coming to Canada, they replied some shopping and to see the eagles. My eyes popped out of my head as I exclaimed "The Eagles!!! Oh, my I have wanted to see them my whole life. When are they here? How long are they here for?" My aunt calmly replied that they would be here for a few weeks. "A few weeks?! Are they here to rehearse?" Aunt: "Rehearse for what? They come back every year to the same spot near Brackendale." Me: "They come back every year? They must be very popular here." Aunt: "People come from all over to see them. They spend hours observing them and taking pictures." Me: "Observing them? Taking pictures, sounds like a zoo. Wouldn't that be rather distracting when practicing their music?" Aunt: "Music? What are you talking about?" Me: "The Eagles, the band!" Aunt: "The band? Never heard of them, I'm talking about the birds."

This was followed by fits of laughter from both of us. My aunt thought she had a serious birder on her hands. My mind is trained for entertainment, not bird watching. In years since, I have seen eagles and they are visually stunning to see up close, magnificent raptors. Of course, this story has been told and retold a few times and each time we end up laughing.

Well, finally on May 9, I will go see the Eagles (the band) - Long Road Out of Eden tour. They have sold out 3 shows in Vancouver.  There will be thousands of us observing and taking pictures of them while enjoying their music.

Grey whale wanders into downtown Vancouver - CTV News

This afternoon a Grey whale wandered into the downtown waters of Vancouver. False Creek is a small body of water which is fed by the Pacific Ocean (English Bay & Georgia Strait). Apparently this 40-foot mammal thought he/she would do some shopping in Yaletown or serve to intimidate the Chicago Blackhawks who are in town for game 3 of the NHL Playoffs. The Vancouver Canucks' mascot is an Orca after all.

CTV has a great video of the whale swimming from Science World under the Cambie Street Bridge back out to sea.

BC Place Stadium Roof

May 4, 2010, a day which changed the skyline of downtown Vancouver forever. The largest air-supported domed roof in the world, BC Place Stadium, which hosted the Opening and Closing Ceremonies for the 21st Winter Olympic Games, was deflated today to make way for a new retractable roof. The new roof is slated for completion in 2011. Below is a timelapse video which shows the stadium through the years including the lowering of the roof this morning. (Photo: courtesy Metro News Vancouver)

Bill Condon to Direct 'Breaking Dawn'

As you know I have been somewhat critical of the possibility of Bill Condon directing the last installment of The Twilight Saga, Breaking Dawn. See previous post. Today, he issued the following note to the fans of the saga and I have become a convert, this note made me smile and shows he has a great sense of humour and understands the fanbase. Hopefully this will result in a great movie(s) - still no confirmation as to whether it will be one or two movies, however those in the know say 'Breaking Dawn' will be two movies.

Source: from Twilight Facebook

A note to fans from Bill Condon

Greetings Twihards, Twifans, Twilight Moms, Team Edward, Team Jacob and Team Switzerland,

I just want to say hello to all of you and let you know that I'm stoked to be getting underway on the adventure of making BREAKING DAWN. As you've probably heard, I've been given a very warm welcome by Stephenie and Team Summit - who are super-focused, as you know, on getting these movies right.

I'm pretty busy bringing myself up to speed on what you already know by heart: I've read BREAKING DAWN twice, rewatched Catherine's and Chris's movies 2-3 times each, have all four CDs playing in my car, and have Catherine's notebook, Mark Cotta Vaz's companion books, and even Volume 1 of the graphic novel here on my desk - a corner of my office is starting to look like Hot Topic. I realize that this barely qualifies me for "newborn" status in the universe you've been living inside for a few years now, but a guy's gotta start somewhere.

Like many of you, I've always been slightly obsessed with vampires, dating back to the prime-time series DARK SHADOWS, which I followed avidly as a kid. But that alone hadn't been enough to get me interested in making a vampire movie, even though my early screenwriting and directing efforts grew out of a great love for horror movies and thrillers. Since making GODS AND MONSTERS thirteen years ago, however, I've been yearning for a return to a story with Gothic overtones.

The wonderful world that Stephenie has created has obviously struck a chord with you, and I don't think it's difficult to see why. For me, her characters are simultaneously timeless, yet very modern. Rooted in a beautiful, real landscape with a great sense of place, Bella, Edward, Jacob, and the rest of the Forks/La Push menagerie, experience emotions that are primal, and universal: desire, despair, jealousy - and it all comes to fruition in BREAKING DAWN. This is a final chapter in the best sense; not just wide in scope and scale, but emotionally charged and intense throughout.

I'm a huge admirer of the already-iconic Kristen, Robert, and Taylor, and wanted to be the one to work with them as they face the challenges of bringing your beloved characters to the end of their journeys. Really, what could be more fun than that?

Please feel free to ask questions in the comments section below, and I'll do my best to answer them. I hope that this will be the first of many occasions I'll get to check in with you as we set to work bringing BREAKING DAWN to the screen. I am excited and grateful to have all of you alongside me for my TWILIGHT journey.

All the best,
Bill Condon

P.S. Answer #1: No, there won't be any musical numbers

Final Eclipse Trailer!

Dakota Fanning, who plays Jane in The Twilight Saga, debuted the new (and final according to Summit) Eclipse trailer today on Oprah - and it looks awesome!! Not that I'm biased but Eclipse is my favourite of the books and this movie looks like it will live up to the hype.

David Slade, director of Eclipse, is back in Vancouver as of this morning for the pick-up shots discussed last week. If the movie is as intense as this trailer...it will rock da house! Judge for yourselves.

Glee Flashmob in Seattle

There have been many Glee-themed flash mobs which have taken place around the world. Glee has indeed become a global phenomenon. Below is a video taken at Westlake near Seattle.  I recall last May when the pilot debuted and not too many people had heard of Glee, actually their twitter account had 1,200 of us diehards, now it's just under 150,000. At that time, they were concerned that Glee was not yet a trending topic, oh how times have changed in just one year. As I have said before this show is my favourite program. Glee airs on Tuesday nights at 9pm. Wish there was a Glee channel - 24/7 Glee, I would watch that.

The Twilight Drama, er Saga - Eclipse

On April 11, I happened to be on twitter as David Slade, director of Eclipse, tweeted the following:

This was quickly followed by another tweet claiming his twitter account had been hacked-it had a funny cartoon as twitter profile pic which showed a guy pouring sulphuric acid in his eyes. David is bit of a jokester, dry English humour, will be interesting to see how that translates to 'Eclipse'. Then as sudden as the tweets appeared, they were deleted.

Gossip mongers ran amuck with speculation that Summit is freaking out about the final product and plans were announced on April 14 to do some re-shooting (pick-ups) with some of the principals, namely Rob and Kristen in Vancouver in the upcoming weeks-the studio said 3 days have been set aside. David Slade will also be here. Doing re-shoots is apparently not unusual. Larry Richman, an independent film journalist, tweeted the following:

My take on reshoots: "Reshoots" make it sound like something is wrong but in most cases it's nothing like that at all. In most cases it's simply that things are discovered during the post-production process that can't be easily fixed technically. It could be something as mundane as a crew member accidentally being seen in a shot, a mike visible, a car in the background, or other things visible that shouldn't be and can't be removed digitally or by creative editing. In more extreme cases there may be feedback from test screenings which show that certain scenes were too confusing, or revealed too much or too little, or annoyed people, or were too short and should have been longer (for which no additional footage exists). Or possibly they didn't have the necessary coverage -- camera angles. Sometimes there are continuity errors that aren't discovered until post-production, like someone wearing a different shirt or objects in a room or a shot that weren't there in one shot but appear in another. Bottom line: reshoots don't necessarily mean the production is "troubled" or that something is "wrong" with the film. Of course, that is a possibility.

So all's well? Probably not but this speculation makes it all so much more interesting doesn't it? Summit has been mum on the subject; it has been said that the studio and David Slade have had a tumultuous relationship-certainly did not start well with Slade dissing the Twilight Saga altogether before he was tapped to be director of 'Eclipse'. Slade's twitter profile location right now says he is "at the edge of the abyss" his bio states "He stared into the abyss and as expected the abyss stared back" this quote is from Friedrich Nietzsche which reads "Whoever battles with monsters had better see that it does not turn him into a monster. And if you gaze long into an abyss, the abyss will gaze back into you." Wonder who the monster is in this scenario-the fictional kind or a dig at his current employer.

A few hours ago, Summit announced that the second and final 'Eclipse' trailer will debut on Oprah, Friday, April 23. This brings us back to David Slade's tweet that he had seen a rough cut of a new trailer-so it is true after all. I get a kick out of all the backing and forthing, however, people need to realize that this is called show business for a reason, the studio's priority is to protect its product and bottom line, therefore if that requires adding a bit of this, a bit of that, that's what they will do. We have an extra 2 months of time; 'New Moon' was completed at the end of May 2009 and released November 20, 2009; 'Eclipse' was finished on October 29, 2009 and will be released on June 30, 2010-there is ample room for tweaking.

Whatever the case, I think 'Eclipse' will be great. Let's face it these movies will never win any traditional film awards. 'Twilight' the first movie was a small movie in every sense, it really was an independent film; 'New Moon' had the benefit of having a bigger budget and PR machine which went into overdrive as soon as the movie was finished-too much I think for by the time we saw the movie in November we had already seen the movie through the many trailers that were released. Keeping something in the vault and surprising the viewers appeals to me - so I'm fine with two trailers and let the mystery-building begin.

Female Rockers - 'The Runaways' Legacy

Breeanna Hare, special correspondent to CNN, has written a great article entitled "Where are the modern-day 'Runaways'?" She writes that women have come a long way in the music industry to be regarded on the same footing with male rock stars, however at times it still appears to be a bit of a struggle to be taken seriously.

To be honest, I had never heard of 'The Runaways' until last summer when Kristen Stewart (she of Twilight fame) was selected to play Joan Jett in a biopic featuring the first all-female rock band. As a child of the 1980s I was familiar with Joan Jett ('I Love Rock and Roll') but never knew that she began the first female rock band. My first introduction to female rockers were Stevie Nicks, Bonnie Tyler, Melissa Etheridge and of course Deborah Harry of Blondie - as for bands, The Bangles and The Go-Go's.

The movie, 'The Runaways' is a great and gritty portrayal of what it was like in the mid-1970s for women to be in control of their own destiny - something which was quite new for the male-dominated music industry. One of my favourite lines of the movie occurs when Joan takes a guitar lesson only to be told by the instructor that women do not play electric guitars. Think this may have been the first and last guitar lesson she took then taught herself to play.

As Belinda Carlisle of The Go Go's sang "We've got the beat, yah, we've got the beat!" Rock-on sisters.

Is Bill Condon About To Sink Fangs Into 'Twilight' Saga's Two Final Segments?

Mike Fleming of http://www.deadline.com/ reports that Bill Condon has emerged as the number one choice to direct the final two installments of The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn, I’m told. Summit Entertainment hasn’t signed him, but I’m told that after several strong meetings, they are negotiating. Condon was among a list of A-list directors approved by Summit and Twilight author Stephenie Meyer. That list included Gus Van Sant, Sofia Coppola and Fernando Meirelles. Shooting will begin in the fall, and I heard the plan is to shoot two films back to back.

Having gone through much-publicised directorial choices for New Moon and Eclipse, this is nothing new to Twi-hards. However, I must say was a bit surprised by this choice. All I can think of is seeing singing and dancing vampires and werewolves, of course that is silly except if Summit is thinking of adapting it into a play/musical at some point in the future-don't laugh, would not dismiss it too quickly.

Bill Condon is credited with both the writing and directing of Dreamgirls, which went on to win the Best Supporting Actress Oscar for Jennifer Hudson so this could mean higher callibre directing and someone who is in tune (no pun intended, well maybe) with the screenplay. Regardless of who directs the final installment of the Twilight Saga, we will still go see it...a few times.

Fun fact - Hinton Battle who starred in Dreamgirls was also in the musical episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer 'Once More With Feeling' so there is a vampire connection after all :) Speaking of Buffy, Joss Whedon should have been considered 'grr, argh', now that would have been interesting...

Everyone Needs Some 'Glee'!

It has been a long wait since the last new episode of Glee aired late 2009. Four months of anticipation & excitement have been building leading up to the debut of the next 9 new episodes on Tuesday, April 13. "Glee, by its very definition, means opening up yourself to joy" that's how the show was introduced to us in May 2009.

Glee is my favourite new show of 2009. As I watched the pilot almost one year ago, I hoped that others might like it as much as I did...usually the shows I adore are cancelled soon after their debut or simply disappear never to return again (such as 'Jack & Bobby', 'Men in Trees', and 'Moonlight' PS-CBS, you missed the boat on this one-you should have hung in for another few months until 'Twilight' was released in November 2008).

So it was with some hesitancy that I allowed myself to really like the first show but who could resist the charm of these quirky characters and the music. iTunes recorded a marked increase in sales of songs featured on Glee - for some bands this means finding new popularity with a new generation.

The cast of Glee appeared on Oprah today making them officially a hit. The writing and acting is top-notch, I really hope that both will be sustained for what should be a TV gig to last a few years (5 at least) thus securing syndication so we can enjoy many years of Glee!

Clever Advertising (not an oxymoron)

It is not very often that I actually take note of advertising on TV - usually, I turn to my laptop, change the channel or walk away and do dishes, etc. During the Olympics there were some very clever ads, such as Bombardier, Visa and Chevrolet. Commercials which you would never see at other times largely due to the cost involved of buying ad space.

Over the past few weeks, two advertising campaigns (PS-no product endorsements are implied) for Hyundai Canada Sonata 2011 and 'Arctic Sun' by Tropicana Canada have peaked my interest. Both campaigns are very innovative and creative, some would say isn't that what advertising should be - yes, however most times this is just not the case. I should add that this does not want me to run out and purchase either of these products, yet I applaud the ingenuity in producing these ads.

Tropicana Canada approaches product promotion from a unique perspective for their 'Brighter Mornings for Brighter Days' campaign. Excerpt from the description of the making of this commercial:

The Tropicana brand is taking a uniquely Canadian approach in the trend of expedition marketing through its new “Brighter Mornings for Brighter Days” campaign launching on March 1st. And it couldn’t come at a better time, when Canadian pride is at an all-time high.

To kick-off the national campaign, Tropicana literally brought a brighter morning to the frigid, remote Arctic town of Inuvik, Northwest Territories, where its 3,500 residents live without a sunrise for weeks each winter. A team of Canadian filmmakers captured the monumental raising of the sun in Inuvik for a series of documentary-style commercials, which will be featured prominently in the new campaign.



Hyundai Canada launched their campaign a few weeks ago. Love that Jeff Bridges is the voice of Hyundai; he also is/was the voice of Duracell batteries. This commercial caught my eye just a few days ago, love the music and how the cars seem to do a dance before they align themselves like keys on a piano.