First I picked up my packet on Wednesday and got all of my affairs in order for a week of movie madness. Planned the schedule, which you can see on the right (check out b-side.com, it is an excellent source for festivals and I see bright things for that company’s future. I also used them for SXSW). Just to note: summaries of movies are in quotes and are excerpted from the Fantastic Fest guide, as they do a better job than I could have.

First movie I saw was Van Diemen’s Land. “When their guard is killed en route to prison in 19th century Tasmania, eight prisoners escape through the dense rain forest. Their poorly-conceived escape plans crumble, food runs out and the gang of prisoners engages in power struggles, psychological games and cannibalism in order to survive. Based on the true-life story of Australian prisoner Alexander Pearce.” I can’t say I hated this movie. That is pretty much all I have  to say about it. With this film you’re looking at an unjustifiably slow pace, and to me that kills off the superb acting and cinematography. The movie is quite beautiful, but the snails pace doesn’t serve to slowly ratchet up tension like Antichrist did; instead, it leaves you feeling slightly ripped off by the end. The historical factor of it was quite interesting though, as it was the fastest-recorded turn to cannibalism ever recorded (3 days without food).

Click on through the jump to read about the six other movies I’ve seen.

Next up was the world premiere of Jared Hess’ new comedy, Gentlemen Broncos, held at the beautiful Paramount. No summary for this, as I can do it in a few words: “kids favorite author steals his book, kid also has to deal with irritating pseudo-filmmakers, sprinkled with some awesome bad sci-fi featuring Sam Rockwell.” This movie was better than Hess’ Nacho Libre, but much worse than Napoleon Dynamite. I enjoyed myself, but it wasn’t any sort of reach for the director, and it feels like he is falling back on the same crutches repeatedly.  The movie is peppered by some great, hilarious scenes are all too infrequent and short. The Q/A was entertaining, and most of the primary cast was there along with Hess himself.

Went to the Highball later that night for the opening night party, and met Peter Sciretta of Slashfilm.com and Alex from FirstShowing, both of whom were nice (both of which are excellent movie sites you should be reading).

Went to the midnight showing of Paranormal Activity, where “over the course of three weeks in September and October of 2006, a couple ran surveillance and captured indelible proof on home video of a paranormal phenomenon. This footage has been edited into the feature film.” Part Blair Witch project, part [REC], but surprisingly quite original, creative, and eerie. I went into this movie with higher scarexpectations, and it disappointed in that category – it was more startling than anything. But the creep factor definitely stayed with me on the way home and going to bed. It was a very fun movie, and I highly recommend seeing it in a packed theater with a significant other.

The next day started with The Legend is Alive,  where “Dustin Nguyen plays a mentally challenged martial arts expert who is hell-bent on breaking every dirtbag face, back and flower pot that stands in the way os saving a young girl from the clutches of a human-trafficking gang.” Sounds way cooler than it was. 95% badly acted melodrama, 5% mediocre action. definitely not at the top of the line action movie. As the scenes were going on I was playing through my head how it could have been so much better, which is a bad sign. It played with the short The Stars Don’t Twinkle in Outer Space, which I highly recommend – although saying anything about it would ruin it. It is a 10 minute short from the UK, and you’ll probably never get to see it; however, if you do, don’t hesitate to watch it (although it is slightly depressing).

After that was Hard Revenge Milly (parts 1 and 2). The picture to the right was one of the coolest things I’ve seen in a theater – the director decided to make everyone in the theater some traditional Japanese steak – with a flamethrower. It was actually pretty delicious, although when I found out what it was foreshadowing I lost my appetite for meat for a while. On to the movie, which was about “a near-future post-apocalyptic bombed-out shell of Japan, where lawless gangs roam the outskirts of the city, raping and pillaging with impunity. Milly, left for dead by a particularly vicious gang, literally picks up the (her) pieces, bonds them with some truly inventive bio-weaponry, and takes bloody revenge, one lowlife at a time.” Crazy-awesome action, incredibly graphic bloodletting and all not very realistic, but fun. These guys were crazy. Shot very similar to the action and violence oriented anime, but live action. The second part dragged, though if the third part gets funding I could see them trimming  a lot out of this and making  a very good full-length feature with 3 parts (each was about 40-50 minutes, though Pt.2 should have been 25-30).

Here we come to Antichrist, one of the most controversial films to come out in recent memory. From the masterful Lars Von Trier comes  a “groundbreaking, deeply disturbing and graphic nightmare vision about gender relations from one of the most important and influential directors of the last 30 years. Antichrist is a break from von Trier’s previous work in terms of aesthetics, resembling a Japanese horror movie reimagined by Andrei Tarkovsky.” I cannot in any way “recommend” anyone else to see this movie. That being said, I think it might be one of the best films in the last decade or more. This is a film that isn’t for entertainment purposes, it is a deeply allegorical piece of art, and a very intense, disturbing one at that. I came out of this physically exhausted, dazed, and depressed for a good hour. Sometimes Von Trier beats you over the head with symbolism a bit too much, but as much as I’ve absorbed of the movie, that is my only complaint.

Wait, I’m lying. The editing was also bad, particularly in the most infamous sequence of the movie. I’m not sure whose fault this is, but in certain sequences I can also see the DP being at fault, not just the editor (SPOILER: in explanation, during the self-mutilation scene with Mrs. Gainsbourg, there is first a shot leading up to the act, then a close up of the act actually happening that is framed the exact same way which takes you out of the action; also during the foxhole  sequence there are some really awkward things that happen with both camera movement and editing).  Also, LTV’s negative views of modern psychiatry are a little too evident and preachy. I also think it was lazy of LTV to not include any references to religion through the whole movie (especially given one of the subject matters, healing), which is rather unusual considering the title (maybe I’m missing something and if I’m am I would be glad to be corrected, but after seeing the film the title almost feels slightly pretentious and meaningless, though again I could be missing something).

Warning: if you think you’re prepared for the infamous graphic sequences, you are not. This movie is not for the faint of heart. Please don’t take that as a challenge – if you cannot handle sexually explicit images relating to torture that are depicted vividly, steer very clear. I am sure few people will be able to see this movie uncut on the big screen (in America at least, it’s already showing in the UK) so I don’t know how many chances you would get to see this until it comes out on DVD. Overall, if you feel like looking into Lars Von Trier’s soul (his heavy depression of a few years ago is alarmingly evident), and think you can handle it, this is an art film for the ages, even if it sounds like all I did was rag on it.

The last film I saw yesterday was the Secret Screening #2, which turned out to be The Men Who Stare at Goats.  All I have to say is a resounding “meh.” It was funny, and the cast was stellar, but with the talent behind it the movie should have been much better. It was well written, but for some reason I just didn’t fully click with it. That being said, I enjoyed myself, but I couldn’t shake the feeling that it was like a bad Coen Brothers movie.\

Up today: a nice break with an advance screening of Toy Story 1 and 2 in 3D, then Takashi Miike’s Yatterman, followed by Survival of the Dead with Romero live in person!

I just wanted to give you guys a little look-see at what is in store for us Austinites at the end of September. So firstly, lets you and me check out the trailer for Fantastic Fest 2009.

Now that we have that out of the way, you guys need to check out this link to see all the Gala Premieres for FF. This is important. Why? Most everything is sold out, with only Day Badges and individual tickets left. So, if you want to see George Romero live in person, or the premiere of Zombieland, CLICK THAT LINK and buy yourself some tickets. If you don’t then you’re not badass. Sorry.

At this point I’m going to be egocentric and let you know what movies I’ll be sure to catch. I have a badge, and I will be utilizing it to the fullest. The following is what I’m most excited about: check after the jump to see them all!

(These will be based on what I know or what I’ve heard about the following movies, not quickly looking up Wikipedia facts.)

Gentlemen Broncos
Jared Hess, 2009
This is supposed to be a comedic revolution. Sounds hilarious and I’m excited.

REC 2
Paco Plaza, Jaume Balagueró  2009
Sequel to the well-made REC, a Spanish language horror film what was great. Some of the best horror movies in the last few years have been Spanish language (I’m looking at you, Orphanage). Don’t know anything about this sequel.

Antichrist
Lars Von Trier 2009
The very controversial movie has showed in several places. Lars Von Trier has pushed my buttons in the past (in a good way) so I’m really excited about seeing this Cannes film. It has supposedly some of the most graphic moments captured on film, and I’m sure the movie won’t see any sort of wide release in the US (at least uncut). Brutal and unflinching, this is sure to be a highlight.

Zombieland
Ruben Fleischer 2009
Comedic romp with the main character from Adventureland (is that right?) and Woody Harrelson. Comedy + zombies has worked amazingly well in the past, so I’m really excited about the World Premiere of this.

Toy Story 1 & 2 3D Double Feature
John Lasseter, Ash Brannon, Lee Unkrich 1995
No movie summary needed. Everyone knows these two movies, and they’ve been retooled from the ground up for a 3D presentation. They’ll be released to the public a month after its FF showing.

Bronson
Nicolas Winding Refn 2009
Overseas film that seems to be about a man more suited to prison-life than one without bars. The trailer made me incredibly excited, and I’ve heard great buzz about it.

Survival of the Dead
George A. Romero 2009
George Romero’s new zombie movie, and he will be in attendance. ‘Nuff said.

The Revenant
Kerry Prior 2009
Don’t know anything about this, other than people telling me it is awesome.

District 13: Ultimatum
Patrick Alessandrin 2009
Sequel to the French action film District B13 – don’t know much about this second movie other than the first was awesome. If you haven’t seen it, it is on Netflix instant streaming

Ninja Assassin
James McTeigue 2009
A new Wachowski Bros movie? Count me in, even if it is starring Asian popstar Rain. I was one of the (seemingly) few that liked Speed Racer a lot, and this movie apparently spawned from the fight scenes Rain was in from said movie. Should have a wide release at the end of November from what I remember. It has ninja in the title, so it has to be good right?

Good work David, let’s hope you win!

We have now entered the month that school starts…scary!   Anyway, this short update is just to let everyone know we have our t-shirt order submitted and is being printed in the coming days.  This has been made possible by some amazing teamwork between the School of Management and Business, our awesome adviser Gregg Perry, and most importantly the anonymous donor who made a grant donation to help get this initiative off the ground.

Be sure to check back soon for an update with photos of some of these amazing pieces of fabric expression.  Very exciting!

So what does this mean exactly?  For one, it is a victory for legitimate customers and piracy advocates the world over.  Customers will no longer have to worry about DRM getting in the way of how they can listen or enjoy their music.  No burn limits, no player restrictions, no “dial home” software required. For pirates out there who have claimed for years that the reason they refuse to buy music is because of DRM restrictions have one less leg to stand on.  The idea is that removing these barriers for legitimate customers they will buy more music and pirates will have one less excuse to pirate and may actually turn into paying customers.

The change in sales as DRM is phased out by the major labels will be a major indicator as to just how much DRM has affected, if at all, music sales over the past decade.  I have a feeling that sales will increase steadily as I doubt people have been waiting for this announcement to purchase music that was once DRM restricted and they found other ways to acquire it.

I know that personally DRM has played a fairly major role in my decision not to purchase music from iTunes and in CD form.  My first real experience with DRM was long ago when I had a brand new God Smack CD that I wanted to play on my computer, which is where most of my listening happened because I didn’t have a car at the time.  The CD loaded up, but when I tried to play it in Winamp I couldn’t rip or import the CD.  Needless to say that CD got far less listening because I couldn’t play it where I wanted to!

The more telling tale of DRM restrictions hindering purchases was beyond my juvenile frustrations over my rock CD not working.  I had purchased quite a bit of music my freshman year at St. Edward’s.  I bought it because it was music I liked and knew I wanted.  I used iTunes because I had a Mac and an iPod, so it was a no brainer.  This wasn’t a problem until I got a new desktop PC that I wanted to transfer my library to.  As you can tell, I like listening to music on my computer as I’m sure many do.  I used, or shall I say tried to use, my wireless network to transfer my music over to my PC.  This was a long process as I had several gigabytes worth of music.  However, the transfer process would always get stuck on seemingly random folders which would mean I had to stop the transfer and start again, skipping the folder it got stuck on.  I figured at the time it was just the wireless network sneezing because someone turned a microwave on or something.  Later, I figured out that none of my iTunes purchases were present, because DRM kept me from just copying and transferring my music to a different computer.  It was a huge pain and after I figured that out I never bought another song from iTunes.  I did get a few songs from the Amazon MP3 store which has DRM free music but their store and purchase interface is much more difficult to manage and navigate that the iTunes store in my opinion.  Also, I don’t usually browse for music I usually follow recommendations from friends and from things I discover from the internet radio service Pandora.  Even then, my trips to the Amazon store were few and far between.

iTunes made all their music DRM free a while ago and with more and more major labels going off DRM I expect sales for both physical media and downloads to begin to slowly climb again.  I may again venture back into the world of paying for music but I feel like another change has to happen before I’m truly happy with my purchases.  Why is music still so expensive?  Blockbuster movies take hundreds of millions of dollars to create and promote, yet I can walk into Best Buy and get a DVD for $15.  If I want a CD that has less content (only audio and shorter duration) and probably only cost a million dollars to make why is it still $15?

My most recent purchase was off the Amazon MP3 store for the new album by Tom Morello’s new band, Street Sweeper Social Club.  I got the whole album for $3.99.  I jumped on that purchase without a second thought.  There are about 10 songs on the album so maybe the sweet spot for music is 20 cents a song.  I don’t know but .99 or 1.29 a song just doesn’t quite do it for me if I’m not a huge fan.  Cheaper music might dramatically increase sales, who knows?

As major bands like Cold Play, Nine Inch Nails, and Radiohead pioneer the free and pay your own price models I hope that more bands adopt this model as they will likely make more in the long run if they can avoid the bulk payoff of record labels.  Music is an art, I believe that people deserve to be supported as artists if they have talent and fans that will pay for their work.  Record labels aren’t interested in art, they only care about how many units they can move.  As the anemic record labels lose relevancy I hope to see a surge in new artists, genres, and styles begin to pervade the music sphere. Support your local artists and musicians who still do what they love without the paycheck, they are the future of music.

I hope we at the DMC can support our artists and provide the resources and opportunities to help them succeed in a changing music business landscape!

I just got an e-mail from Time Westergren the founder of Pandora.  While not a personal e-mail sent directly to me it was more targeted than previous e-mails from Pandora’s Chief Evangelist.  There were two important details which I’ll quote here for your enjoyment and education.

So that is the good news.  The slightly less good news was this…

So what does that mean?  Well for myself and the roughly 10% of Pandora users who use the service constantly we have two options.  One is to pay a .99 cent fee when we pass the 40hr monthly mark for unlimited listening for the rest of that month.  The other is to subscribe to Pandora One, which is their premium service that includes a desktop client and more importantly is the quality streaming at 192kbs which is almost %75 better quality than what standard Pandora users get.  The cost for Pandora One is a yearly cost of $36 which is $3 a month, duh.

So I will likely opt to pay the little fee considering how much use I get out of the service, as long as the payment process isn’t too intrusive.  I do mostly mobile streaming from my iPhone so not having to try and wade through a mobile browser will save my life.  I don’t know if any of you are in this same echelon of Pandora user that I apparently am but I wonder how this will go over with the effected parties.

I’m personally thrilled that Pandora is still able to exist so that’s good.  Paying for something that was once free can be a bitter pill to swallow sometimes but it’s only .99 cents a month at the most so not a huge deal for me.  I don’t know though, I might be tempted to just go all out and get Pandora One and take full advantage of the desktop player and the higher quality streaming.  This should server to make an interesting case study for future students to learn from.

I think Pandora has followed an impressive path by rallying their fans to lobby on their behalf to lobby congress to keep legislation from passing that would have effectively killed internet radio as we know it.  Tim Westergren has been communicative and grateful to his fans and customers and they, I, am loyal to Pandora.  I hope Pandora continues to succeed and hope that the next time Tim is in Austin has the time and inclination to visit the DMC!

Not too much has changed in a week but I did learn a heck of a lot about how Student Life does T-Shirts and hopefully we will have some slick threads to sport come this fall.  Very exciting indeed.  So welcome newest members, please look around a bit and feel free to drop me or any of the officers a line with questions or ideas!

Also, I want to put my name on more stuff.

Also, exciting news…

I talked to Faith who works with UPB and it looks like it might be very possible we can wok with them to have a parking garage rave/dance party.  They had tried to do one last semester but didn’t have the time to bring it together.  With our help and the fact they already know the channells to make it happen it stands to be a very busy and awesome semester.

So welcome new people and we will see you this Fall!