George, I hope you're right.

In 2006, George Lucas not only made comments about the future of the movie industry, but he also made a very large contribution to USC's School of Cinematic Art. A $175 million contribution.

"In a lot of industries, the people in the industry give a lot of money to the schools that produce the people who are their employees," he said, pointing to the auto industry as an example. "The film industry doesn't seem to be too enthusiastic about that idea. I'd love to see the industry do more.

"As self-interest, it's good to have the best trained people working for you. And the best trained people come from film school.

"The world of moving images hasn't had a lot of respect (in academia)," said Lucas. "But it's the major form of communication in the 21st century."

This $175 million, he said, is meant to "put other universities on notice that this is an important discipline that needs to be fostered."

-From the October 4, 2006 article on Variety.com

I hope you are right, George. As a graduating film student looking for a job, this gives me a little hope. I'm looking forward to the industry seeing the hard work we have put in to our love for film. As much as possible, film students are producing films. However, our programs are one of the first to be cut from universities' budgets. Without this funding, our equipment is not what it could be and definitely not what it should be. UCF used to have three film degrees, and now we are down to two. One of which doesn't even get to go into the equipment room because there is not enough funding to insure all the students. The school does not have enough of the staff it needs for the film department, and after many years there is still just an interim head of the department. The film department needs more money so we can make better films!

Even though it is too late for some of who have graduated, or will be graduating soon, to receive extra funding, hopefully the industry will heed Lucas's words and see that film students are well trained and willing to do whatever it takes for the film. We have learned that the film comes first above all else. It is all for the film.

The Future of Movies: Vanity Fair is Totally Wrong

In October of 2006, George Lucas made a statement at the USC School of Cinematic Arts ceremony that big blockbuster movies were out, and the trend would be for smaller budget, online distributed films to rise. And yet, since we are in this time of recession, box office numbers are up since October 2008. People are still going to the movies - but then again, online film viewing is up.

Ten bucks a ticket is not something that is affordable for Hollywood's main audience 16-35 year old. These are the people who are having a hard time finding jobs that will give them enough money not to be house poor. These are the people who are turning to YouTube and Hulu to watch entertainment. These are the people who are downloading pirated movies off the Internet. These are the people that are hitting up sites that stream movies that are currently in theaters. So what if the quality isn't excellent, it's better than paying all that money to go to the movies.

Vanity Fair criticized Lucas for his statement that a new film wave is about to happen. It has only been two and a half years since Lucas made this comment. That was just when the movement was starting, and now it's gaining some ground. Yes, Fast and Furious made a ton of money opening weekend. Let's see how well it does over all. Opening weekend are mostly the guys who are looking for fast cars, action and boobs. Let's face it, that's what most of those films are.

Let's take a look at Joss Whedon's Dr Horrible's Sing-A-Long Blog. That was a purely Internet distributed film. It was distributed in three parts which added up to a run time of 42 minutes. The pre-production began during a time when the writer's were on strike and nothing was going on in Hollywood. Whedon took on the task of an independent filmmaker. He paid for the film himself and called in favors from a whole bunch of people. A lot of his family worked on the film as well. What Whedon did was offer the films online to be viewed for free, using Hulu, on drhorrible.com and then after they were up for a week, they were available to download on iTunes for $4.99. That could not be beat. The soundtrack hit number one in a matter of days on iTunes. Dr. Horrible is considered THE Internet event of 2008.

Whedon was attempting to make a statement about filming during the strike. However, everyone went back to work right before shooting began, and instead a different statement was made - Internet movies do work. If nothing else, Nathan Fillon said in an Entertainment Weekly article: "It's a brand new deal. The people who created it are the people who are in control of it. It's such a weird thing, an incredibly cool thing. I think a very interesting peek at how I think things are going to start to be: the future of entertainment, I believe."

Not only does Dr. Horrible help make Lucas's point, but YouTube sensation Julian Smith does. Since 2006, Smith has posted a short film on YouTube every Friday. This 21 year-old filmmaker is starting to make some serious waves on the Internet. With his "25 Things I Hate About Facebook" starting to get notice, Smith is being noticed as well. Smith was recently flown out to NYC to appear on the Tyra Banks Show. He has also been to the Facebook HQ in California. This kid is making some waves, and he's doing it all through the Internet.

These are just the beginning, but let's address the issue of Vanity Fair's article - since that is what I am really responding to. These are what Vanity Fair thinks is going to be the change instead of the Internet.

Fewer middle-range movies
VF says that the Hollywood bubble of producing a bunch of films popping doesn't mean there will be fewer blockbusters produced, they see it as the films that have a budget between $25 million and $100 million will be cut. That's films like Twilight. If anything, Twilight showed Hollywood that they could make a film for $37 million that looked like a big budget film that also raked in the cash. They obviously got the hint from opening day numbers. (See Impassioned) If that teeny-bopper film could do it, and have been done with quality, Hollywood should take notice and make more of those lower budget films. Some innovations might have to be made, but we have the technology, we can make movies for cheap. Just ask any film student.

People will keep investing in movies
They may keep investing in movies, but that doesn't mean the movies are going to stay on the big screen. A lot of the independent investors will invest in independent films, which may get better distributions rights if they go for Internet distribution. This isn't an alternative, VF, this is just a fact. A fact I hope you are still right about in the next six months.

DVD sales will plummet
Very true. Not only that, but Blockbuster Video is going out of business as well. DVD prices are just too high, and with the piracy issue, DVD sales have to rise to combat it. This does not bode well for the consumer. However, Red Box is doing very well. Pay-Per-View also does well. Being able to rent videos for a dollar a day is a luxury we could get used to. Pay-Per-View just needs to lower their prices a little, because if I can just go to my local Wal-Mart and get a Red Box rental for $1, I'd rather do that than pay $3 to press a button, and those films don't have the extra features a DVD would have. Then again, it depends on the consumer's preference. But VF is right, DVD sales will and ARE plummeting.


Let's face it: it all comes down to the consumer in the end. The new consumers are those coming of age who have grown up with the Internet. They are more comforatble getting their news and watching their entertainment online. With Facebook and Twitter on the rise, isn't it obvious where the new media is going? As a student recenlty wrote in his composition class: "The benefits of new media are boundless and teens [as well as college students] aren't wasting anytime trying to reach those bounds."

So Say We All: what the frak am I going to do now?

Now that Battlestar Galactica is at an end, it's time to look back at ten of the most memorable moments from the last five years.

1. Starbuck and the Goat. Since this episode is not far into the aseries, we're not so attached to the characters yet. We don't quite understand why Adama would put the whole fleet in danger for one person. This is before we get to know the dynamics. The coolest part of this is Starbuck pulls open the Raider. We get to see the insides of what makes a cylon tick. We see that even though they are engineered, they are also flesh. Plus, Kara learning to fly it is pretty cool. And ingenious when she gets Lee to realize who she is.
-You Can't Go Home Again - Season 1 Episode 5 -

2. "No more mister Nice Gaius." It's not anything too important, but it seems as if this line stands out amoun the rest. Gaius is still all paranoid about being found out, as he is for much of the first season. This line just shows Gaius at his most likely breaking point.
-Six Degrees of Separation - Season 1 Episode 7 -

3. Watch that towel! The most memorable moment for any BSG fangirl was that moment in "Final Cut" when Lee dropped his towel. That was a killer moment that put the fourm boards ablaze. The TiVos were reround several times. Girls were swooing. When the writer's went on strke and that towel was up for grabs, many, many pencils were sent to win that towel. Forget that hockey game with Chief or that phonecall from Anders. It was all about Apollow's towel. Katee Sackhoff said it right, "When Jamie dropped his towel every girl swooned." There was no better time for a girl watching BSG than the towel scene. All that manly beauty was for us to enjoy and take in.
- Final Cut - Season 2 Episode 8 -

4. Downloaded. The first time we really get to understand cyclons is during "Downloaded." We see the struggle of Cylons when they have to readjust to their new body. We see Boomer really didn't think she was a cylon and was fighting it as best as she could. We see that Six is trying to help the humans as best as she can without getting caught. Caprica Six and Boomer really want to help the humans as best as possible. It was a new side of things we hadn't seen before. It just made us like Boomer and Caprica Six more when they helped Anders out.
- Downloaded - Season 2 Episode 18 -

5. Oh no, Baltar won the election and we're stuck on New Caprica. Oh well... WHAT! A year has jumped by!? No one was expecting this. It was quite strange when it happened and all these things had changed we didn't realize about. Lee and Kara were on bad terms, Kara was married to Anders, Lee to Dualla, Lee was fat, and basically everyone was on New Caprica. And then the Cylons attacked. What the frak happened in that year. It was such a shock at the end of the season not to know what had happened, or what would happen after the Cylons attacked.
-Lay Down Your Burdens - Season 2 Episode 21 -

6. Lee and Kara finally did that and we missed it??? The fleet is back together, Lee is not fat anymore, and to help relieve stress a dance is going onboard the ship. The Old Man kicks Chiefs ass and people are able to releive their stress. Woot. Now, let's find out what really happened between Lee and Kara. At least we get to see the whole of their liason. This is the knowledge the shippers of Lee/Kara have been waiting for since the miniseries. Finally the truth was revealed.
- Unfinished Business - Season 3 Episode 9 -

7. Starbuck starts to go crazy and blows herself up. Lee and Kara's relationship has come to a finality. Kara has started to go crazy thinking on what Leoben has been saying. She has been seeing the maelstrom over and over. When Starbuck blows up in the storm from the pressure being too much, the look of pain on Apollo's face is overwhelming. It was quite a shock for her to blow up like that, especially after her and Lee reconciled.
- Maelstrom - Season 3 Episode 17 -

8. Ander's going red-eye. The first four of the final five were revealed at the end of the previous season. Anders, Cheif, Tory and Tigh are all dealing with trying to keep their identites secret while still doing their jobs. Anders didn't want to fight in the battle with the Cylons because he was afraid of turning against the fleet. Luckily Anders was there or the fleet would have been destroyed. When Anders had the staredown with the Raiders and they turned back, we were surprised. Not before have we seen this happen. It was a very welcomed surprise.
- He That Believeth In Me - Season 4 Episode 1 -

9. Earth, destroyed. After so many trials of searching and waiting, the fleet finally finds Earth. However, it has been destroyed by some unknown factor. After all this time and hope there is no Earth to cling to. The fleet has lost their hope. Those who have gone to the ground look off into despair as they glance over the desolate landscape. We are not sure if it is really Earth, we hope it isn't, but those hopes are soon to be dashed.
- Revelations - Season 4 Episode 10 -

10. I hate that Dee. She is so awful. I wish she would just di---- *shocked* Did that just happen? From the moment she stopped dating Billy and she started dating Lee she was someone to be hated. From "Sacrifice" on, she was someone to blame for Billy's death. If you asked many a fangirl, you would hear their disdain for Dee. Hatred for her festering. When Dee shot herself after a nice dinner with Lee, it was unexpected. No one knew why should we do that. She had the opportunity to get back together with Lee, a chance any girl would kill for, and she in fact kills herself instead! Not understanding what was going on with Dee, many sat in silent shock and confusion about what had happened. That Dee would actually die was not something that had been seriously thought would happen, let alone a true hope.
- Sometimes a Great Notion - Season 4 Episode 11 -

These are just a few examples of memorable moments from Battlestar Galactica. Even though the series is now over, these moments as well as others will remain with us long after the show is finished.

This. Is. For. MUFFIN!

For some reason The Spirit is not getting much play at the theaters. At least, not around where I live. It's only in one theater and at the very back of the hallway. Not someplace that this amazingly corny film should be. It needs to be in at least 10 of the 22 screens and on the biggest ones available. It's the gem that's been hidden among Valkyrie, Marley & Me, and The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. I saw a trailer for this film in just about ever film I've seen for the last few months, so why has it not been getting the acclaim it so deserves. When there are kind of downer movies like Valkyrie and The Reader in theaters, shouldn't the funny ones be as equally seen?

I'm not going to lie. Gabriel Macht has become my newest person to watch after I saw this film. I think it's what they did with his eyes that just jumped out of the screen and captured my interest. I have seen Macht in other films before, but this role just seemed so perfect for him. It was comedic and interesting all the way through.

The film isn't going to win any awards. Directed and written for the screen by Frank Miller, it's got Miller's typical style. If you can call it a style since we've only seen one of his directed films in Sin City. However, he did write 300, which was amazing. stylistically speaking for the film, what I mean by Miller's typical are the empasis of a few colors - RED, WHITE, BLACK, BLUE - and a fuzzy feel to it. It's a comic book on screen.

Impassioned, an analysis of a cultural event

First, a little history
Fangirls has entered the vocabulary of many this year, and its history really doesn’t go much farther than that. Fanboys, however, has been a much familiar term. If I had been morn male that’s what I would’ve been called. Instead I grew up a geek because there was no word for me. It wasn’t until highschool when I met a few more of my kind did I realize I wasn’t alone. Not to mention, it was the time of Pirates, Johnny Depp, and Orlando Bloom - fangirliness was coming out of the shadows in droves. I had found my name.

The fact of the matter
Fanboys have been around since 1977, and we all know there has been fanboys before that time as well. As the female sex has ridden the coattails of the men for years, with Star Wars and the like, we finally have something of our own. I stumbled across this on MovieFone yesterday:

"Z is for Zzzz...
The sound of Internet fanboys make when ‘Twilight’ is brought up. Yes, it’s unfair, as fan girls don’t jeer at their obsessions with ‘Star Wars’ or ‘Batman,’ but the minute the gals finally get a franchise of their own, it becomes the mockery of Comic-Con and the Internet."

Why must you get so offended fanboys? Us girls finally have something of our own. Yes, it is something you will never understand. It is something ingrained in our subconscious. Stephenie Meyer has created something that just gets us deep down in our souls. You may never get it, but let us enjoy something of our own for once. If you don’t like it, just let it go. You don’t have to live or understand everything, but if you haven’t at least read every word of Twilight you have no ground to stand on to diss it. If you have read all of that, then by all means you can criticize it all you want. But there is absolutely no reason to call Edward "gay" just because you are sick of being in Bella’s mind since she’s all gaga over Edward and you happen to like women. You can keep Princess Leia, but we’re taking Edward and running. The fangirls can at least concede the attraction of the fantasy of Princess Leis in the golden bikini. Can you at least let us enjoy our sparkly vampires without name calling?

HATE HATE HATE
I have never seen so much hate on the Web as there is for Twilight. I understand that all your flair and bumper stickers on facebook have been taken over by Twilight, but let’s just face it - it’s a cultural event that won’t be here for long. So just SUCK IT UP and deal with it. I know it’s annoying not seeing as many Jonas Brothers or Chuck Norris flair as you used to, but it seems there is as much anti-Twilight/Edward as there is Twilight. Right now we are in a cultural trend. The final book was released and the long awaited film came out. For the next 3 months or so, twilight will be The Thing. When it gets less show times in theaters and eventually fades out, there will be something there to take its place. (My hope is there will be a BSG revival.) Then it will be Harry Potter’s turn again. Then Twilight will be on DVD in which a few more extra Twilight fangirling moments may happen, but it will soon all fade out. Whenever "Midnight Sun" finally makes its debut, watch out! Us fangirls will be back in action doing our fangirl thing.

With that said...
For those who compare book!Edward to movie!Edward - STOP. I’m going to let you in on a little secret. Are you ready? Okay. Your imagination!Edward is a billion times better than any real person could embody for you. Here’s how it goes: Literature and Cinema speak in two totally different languages. With novels, there is so much more that can be said and felt. Our feelings are those of the characters we see the story through. This is one of the main reasons that as one reads the reader falls in love with Edward right along with Bella. We see Edward through her eyes and he is perfect. Cinema is a language of images and dialogue. We can only know as much of the character and their feelings as they tell us in their words and actions. We can’t get inside their minds - except through voice-over. I know what your arguments are going to be, so let me just get down to it.
Edward was so awkward. In the books he was so smooth. What happened?
If you hadn’t talked to a girl outside of your family in 107 years you’d be a little awkward too! Think about it - Edward said everything smoothly in your mind because that is how you see him; as someone extremely charming and smooth. But I have never met a 17 year old boy that was charming and smooth. Have you? Plus, Robert Pattinson was given a manuscript of Midnight Sun. He has a little bit more insight into Edward than we do. All that added into his performance.
What happened to Jasper? He never blinked!
With a two hour film in which there was a very low budget for a film as big as it was, you have to cut some stuff. The expositions about the other Cullens got cut out. Tough luck. Go reread about them in the books. BTW - Jasper did blink I watched for it specifically.

The film is really unbelievable
Let’s start with the numbers. $7 million in midnight shows alone. Almost $36 million the first day. And by the end of the weekend, just under $70 million. Currently it is at over $121 million in 11 days. It was the highest weekend debut for a woman director EVER! If I estimated right, about 25% of the above the line positions (director, producer, writer, editor, stars) were held by women! I don’t know people really grasp at how amazing that is. Of the top 250 grossing films of 2006, women only held 7% of the ATL spots. 22% of those films didn’t hire any women in those positions. For a film to have nearly 25% of it’s ATL positions to be women is unbelievable. Not to mention the sequel was announced the day after opening. It astounds me. It gives me hope.

And finally
If you have read all the way to this point, you must be wondering what my opinion on the film was. For a $37 million budge film, it was pretty damn good. Even though I don’t compare the books to the film, I have to say that it did a really good job of staying true to the story. This film is no award winner, but it still is entertaining. The performances by Kristen and Rob were decent, but there is still room to improve. I did miss seeing more of the other Cullens, but it is understandable why they weren’t there. The scenes that did include the family were very well done. I found the comedy and the drama to be appropriate. There wasn’t anything added that detracted from the story. The effects will definitely get a boost in the next film since its basically guaranteed there will be more money involved. The action was good. The supporting cast has potential. I look forward to seeing more of Ashley Greene in the next film. Billy Burke as Charlie was perfect. I enjoyed it and can’t wait to see the film again.

If you’ve reached this point and still disagree with me bout it not being as good as the book, let me ask you something: Did you enjoy the movie as a movie itself?

Yeah... That’s what I thought.