An Incovenient Tax
Posted by Jeremiah on June 9th, 2008 @ 05:09 PM | Comments (0)

I wanted to write a quick post about a new project that is being launched by our friends over at Life is My Movie Entertainment. They produced our feature film, Dangerous Calling.

Their new project is called An Inconvenient Tax. I am really excited to see this film. It is examining the problems with the Tax system in America. The plan is to interview several influential politicians and economists to figure out the best solution. The premise is based on a Patrick Henry quote:

“The oppression arising from taxation, is not from the amount but, from the mode… The whole wisdom of the science of Government, with respect to taxation, consists in selecting the mode of collection which will best accommodate to the convenience of the people.”
-Patrick Henry

The film asks these questions -

How does congress go about deciding what changes should be made?

What’s the solution and who will decide it?

They start production next week. You can find out more by going to
www.AnInconvenientTax.com.

D-Day: Remember
Posted by Jeremiah on June 6th, 2008 @ 07:10 AM | Comments (0)

“I pray that our Heavenly Father may assuage the anguish of your bereavement, and leave you only the cherished memory of the loved and lost, and the solemn pride that must be yours to have laid so costly a sacrifice upon the alter of freedom.” -Abraham Lincoln. (Quoted in Saving Private Ryan.)

Make plans to watch The Longest Day, Saving Private Ryan, or the first couple episodes of Band of Brothers tonight.

Remember what they did.

Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Crap
Posted by Josh on June 5th, 2008 @ 08:30 AM | Comments (0)

I guess you can tell by the title of this post what I thought of the new Indiana Jones movie. I’m honestly baffled that it’s getting any positive reviews at all. In my opinion it’s much worse than any of the Star Wars prequels which are pretty much universally loathed. If you haven’t seen it, my advice is to skip it. Your life will be better for not having seen this steaming pile of dung. However, if you plan on ignoring my advice, be warned. There be spoilers ahead.

Still with me? Ok. Here we go.

First problem. The beginning. The first three movies start with the end of some other adventure Indy was on. It didn’t have anything to do with the movie we were about to see. The idol in Raiders, Nurhache and the diamond in Temple, and the Cross of Coronado in Last Crusade. This latest movie, starts right into the story. (I use this term loosely as there really is very little story.) Now, some may say I’m just being nostalgic here, that there really is no reason to stick to the established form of the previous movies, but I would disagree. The openings of the previous movies helped to establish our hero as part of a larger world. They added mystery to the character. We never really knew all that much about Indy. The new movie, missed an opportunity to show us what Indy’s life is like 20 years later. Sure we’re told he was in the OSS, but why not start it off by showing us that.

Next thing that really bugged me was the complete and utter implausibility of it. I know all the critics are saying that the old movies were just as silly and unbelievable, but that just isn’t so. The original movies would go just up to the edge of believability and then take one step over the line. In Raiders and Last Crusade, nothing supernatural happens until the end. In Temple, the heart scene and Indy under mind control happen in the middle, but are the only examples of anything mystical. These movies presented our world as a great big mysterious world where magical things just might really happen. The new movie went so far over the line of believability that I was fully aware that I was watching a movie. It never sucked me in and made me believe in magic like the original movies.

Then there was Indy himself. In the original movies, Indy was human. That is what made him so great. His plans never worked. He was always a step behind. He frequently got caught, but always managed to make it out just in the nick of time. He always seemed to be in danger. In the new movie, at the very beginning, he survives a nuclear blast! Let me say that again. HE SURVIVES A NUCLEAR BLAST! It was at that point in the movie that I lost all interest. Where is the danger? If an atom bomb can’t kill him, why on earth should I be fearful that the Russians might kill him

Then there was the confusing story. There were setups without payoffs. Pointless plot points. A confusing macguffin. Does anyone know what the skull was supposed to do and why we didn’t want the Russians to have it? I haven’t a clue. Why not let them take it to the space ship and get destroyed, which is what happens anyway?

I could go on and on about how much I hated this movie, but I’ll leave it at that. I’m going to forget it ever came out and pretend I live in a world with three Indiana Jones films instead of four.

What did you think of the movie?

The Score is…
Posted by Jeremiah on June 2nd, 2008 @ 11:45 AM | Comments (0)

awesome!!!

Josh and I just got back from Los Angeles, California. Or for those in the know - L.A. And we both LOVE it out there. But sadly, we aren’t moving out there just yet. We had an awesome meeting with our composers. They have been working very hard on the music for Dangerous Calling. We got to hear about a third of the music and we really like it. They have done an outstanding job.

It was so exciting to see our film with brand new music over it. So far, we’ve only seen it with James Newton Howard music from Signs and The Village. The new stuff really adds a lot to the film. We are so excited to hear the final music. We are going back to L.A. in a few months for the recording sessions with live musicians!!! I can’t wait.

Our composers have all three won Emmys for their work on Batman The Animated Series. Here is a picture.

Michael McCuistion, Lolita Ritmanis, and Kristopher Carter. (By the way, we asked them to hold the Emmy. They are really very nice and down to earth.)

We also took some time to go to Disneyland while we were out there.

The pretty and pregnant lady in the middle is Josh’s wife, Becca.