Film: The Impossible

Yet another movie review today . I have been so dissapointed with the latest films that I have seen that liking two movies in a row is quite extraordinary and I wanted to share them :P

Yesterday I had the chance of seeing The Impossible, from J.A. Bayona (The Orphanage) and I really liked it as well. The movie is incredible intense, very emotional and even quite harsh at some points, making you leave the theater thinking about which are the really important things in life. I guess most of the time we are whining about trivial things and we lose perception about the things that really matter. It also reminded me of a Ted talk from Rick Elias about his experience when travelling on the flight that ended up landing at the Hudson river.

I can easily foresee The Impossible as a very strong candidate to the Oscars as best foreign film next year.

Film: Wreck it Ralph

I had the chance to see this movie last week and I have to say that I loved it! I think the movie has all the ingredients that a family oriented movie demands. It is also very welll dressed up with geek references to the videogames world and it works very well as a whole with a nice balance of humour, heart and action. 

The movie is also visually gorgeous, with very appealing characters and beautiful lighting.

It is kind of ironic that you can feel a Pixar-like flavour in the two last movies from Disney (Tangled and Wreck it Ralph) while the latest Pixar's movies are kind of lacking it. Thankfully the upcoming Pixar movies look very promising so I am looking forward to seeing those movies where they deserve.

Film: The Goon kickstarter

The guys at Blur are trying to get some crowd funding to produce a story reel of the movie so they have more chances to get it produced. I am so looking forward to seeing this movie done that I am backing up the project. Althought animation for the whole family type of movies are totally fine I am kind of missing movies that also use the computer graphics as a medium but with a more mature content. There is a bunch of people out there that grew up reading comincs and playing videogames whom a movie like this one could be very appealing.

I hope they make it.

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/624061548/the-goon-movie-lets-kickstart-this-sucker

Personal: New site, Lighting Pixels

The original purpose of this blog was to talk a little bit about lighting and cinematography, as there is very little information about the topic online, but after a couple of years I have realized that I am posting more about personal thoughts and random topics than about lighting. For that reason a few weeks ago I decided to create an new blog dedicated to just lighting where I´ll try to post information and images that I might find useful or interesting on the web. I have also tweaked the blog so it also serves as kind of my personal portfolio.

I will keep updating this blog as well although I will limit the posts to non lighting related topics that also interest me.

You can access the new site through the domain www.theposmaker.com or straight to the blog page at http://lightingpixels.blogspot.com/

I hope you find the new blog useful.

Misc: Interesting thoughts

I found this online and I thought It was worth to share.

When things in your life seem almost too much to handle, when 24 hours in a day are not enough, remember the mayonnaise jar and the 2 Beers.

A professor stood before his philosophy class and had some items in front of him. When the class began, he wordlessly picked up a very large and empty mayonnaise jar and proceeded to fill it with golf balls. He then asked the students if the jar was full. They agreed that it was.

The professor then picked up a box of pebbles and poured them into the jar. He shook the jar lightly. The pebbles rolled into the open areas between the golf balls. He then asked the students again if the jar was full. They agreed it was.

The professor next picked up a box of sand and poured it into the jar. Of course, the sand filled up everything else. He asked once more if the jar was full.. The students responded with a unanimous 'yes.'

The professor then produced two Beers from under the table and poured the entire contents into the jar effectively filling the empty space between the sand.The students laughed..

'Now,' said the professor as the laughter subsided, 'I want you to recognize that this jar represents your life. The golf balls are the important things---your family, your children, your health, your friends and your favorite passions---and if everything else was lost and only they remained, your life would still be full. The pebbles are the other things that matter like your job, your house and your car.. The sand is everything else---the small stuff.

'If you put the sand into the jar first,' he continued, 'there is no room for the pebbles or the golf balls. The same goes for life.

If you spend all your time and energy on the small stuff you will never have room for the things that are important to you.

Pay attention to the things that are critical to your happiness.

Spend time with your children. Spend time with your parents. Visit with grandparents. Take your spouse out to dinner. Play another 18. There will always be time to clean the house and mow the lawn.

Take care of the golf balls first---the things that really matter. Set your priorities. The rest is just sand.

One of the students raised her hand and inquired what the Beer represented. The professor smiled and said, 'I'm glad you asked.' The Beer just shows you that no matter how full your life may seem, there's always room for a couple of Beers with a friend.

Short films: Partysaurus Rex

One of the funniest short films that Pixar has made up to date. Congrats to the Pixar Canada team, they did an amazing job!

LINK