Friday, November 18, 2011
"Red Wings" on Twitter!
Red Wings is now on Twitter. Follow us during production with the latest news and exclusive first looks at the production set. Follow us here!!
Tuesday, November 15, 2011
"Red Wings," getting ready to take-off!
It's the final week of preparations for the scheduled flight of Red Wings, a new short film written and directed by yours truly. In the last two weeks, our RW team has been building our production and diligently preparing for when the time comes to take flight!
The final week of pre-production means production week and the entire team is working frantically, taking care of logistical issues and planning the creative vision and we are excited what will is about the unfold this upcoming weekend. It's the final week for everything to come together and it is looking very good.
It's not too late to join us for the RW voyage! Remember, any contribution of $20 or more will reserve your copy of the Red Wings Exclusive DVD and a still-to-be-determined small gift. In addition, it will also give you access to the Red Baron Hanger, a members-only club that will give you behind the scenes access during production. It's like flying First Class!
You can make a contribution through our Paypal page here or clicking the button below. For offline contributions, please e-mail RedBaronHangerRW@gmail.com for more information!
Thursday, November 3, 2011
Presenting "Red Wings", a new short film!
Refine Films is excited to present Red Wings (working title), a new short film that we are producing this Fall 2011. I've teamed up with my colleague Jeff Gardiner and his production company, Madrid Rd Productions, whose recent film Love in The Time of Flannel played recently at the 2011 San Diego Asian Film Festival and Ventura Film Festival.
Red Wings is a story about a boy, his toy red plane, his imaginary world and how quickly that world can come crashing down. It is a fun, warm, adventurous, and simple story that highlights the humorous results when fantasy meets reality, especially for a young boy.
We are currently in pre-production, with production slated to begin November 2011. It is an active and busy time as we crew up, rehearse with our cast, and figure out logistics.
If you'd like to contribute to our project, it isn't too late to support us in creating a high-quality short. Any contribution of $20 or more will receive a Red Wings Deluxe DVD and a small, unique gift (TBD) when the film is completed (slated for early-2012).
To make a contribution, we have set-up a PayPal page to streamline the process or click the button above. If you'd like to send a check directly (after all, PayPal does take a cut), please contact Jeff Gardiner at jeff@madridrd.com for address.
We will be setting up an official website for the film soon. More updates to come!
(photo credit: Bryan Harrold)
Wednesday, November 2, 2011
Favorite Film Series [Wk:5]
The 2011 12th Annual San Diego Film Festival just ended this past weekend and of all the films that the festival had in its line-up, I was really only excited about one. Lost in all the hubbub of all the latest and best in Asian-American cinema, was a retrospective screening of a film considered one of the greatest and most important Asian films ever created and it also happens to be one of my favorite films.
The problem with this film is that it's very difficult to find a copy, much less a copy with English subtitles. Up to this point, I've only put films on this series that are relatively available for you to find. But watching this film on the big screen, with a new 35mm print, was such a treat at the SDAFF, that I'm willing to include this film in the series. If you're fortunate enough to come across another film festival doing a retrospective and playing the new print (apparently, there are a few out there circulating the circuit), and if you're really want to be considered an even moderate cinephile, do yourself a favor and at least sit through this film.
Alright, that's enough of the gushing pretense and let's talk about it.
City of Sadness (1989). Dir. Hsiao-hsien Hou
Why this film: If you look at the film from a textual perspective, City of Sadness is set in one of the most pivotal and emotionally charged moments of Taiwanese-Chinese history; that is, the transition period where one colonizer (Japan) is exchanged with another colonizer (Chinese Nationalist) and the "228 incident". Many viewers who hold City of Sadness in high regard often do so because of the film's contextual importance, as Dir. Hou's film was the first in post-martial law Taiwan to address this period of the island's history.
Not to diminish the contextual importance, but as a filmmaker, the film is also superb in other ways. Firstly, the fact that the "228 incident" is viewed only in its periphery, not the actual massacre/clashes between native Taiwanese and Chinese Nationalist or the struggle in political arenas, already sets this historical period piece in contrast to others of the genre. While most historical period pieces nowadays are all about center-of-conflict action and accuracy, Dir. Hou's approach seems courageous by comparison. We don't see anything of the incident or massacre itself, we see none of the politicians involved, but what we do see is the affect of those central events and individuals on the lives of families and friendships. The drama of the incident is seen in how relationships are impacted and changed. In a sense, this emphasis opens the audience to learn more about the incident by watching its affects rather than the incident itself.
Finally, while being feted around the world as a bona-fide auteur, Dir. Hou has been known as a filmmaker of necessity, characterized by long takes, methodical, lingering camera, penchance for wide-shots, and all those characteristics combine to play out beautifully in this film. For example, the long takes allow real acting to take place, for actors to shine as they embody their characters, and the entire cast does so well in capturing the complex emotions as things spillover, out of their control. A young Tony Leung is brilliant playing the deaf brother Wen-ching, who, in typical Dir. Hou fashion, is deaf out of necessity (Leung couldn't speak Mandarin/Taiwanese effectively). Two side bits about the actors: 1) the best actor award goes to 3rd brother, who had to first play a crazy, shell-shocked war veteran, then a Shanghai-like gangster, and finally, a brain-dead brother. 2) My favorite actor goes to the grandfather, who is just adorably endearing and also plain hilarious the way he rides various people in the story.
A lot more can be said about this film, and there I'm certain there have been many articles and treatments have been written, but I'll stop here and hope you get a chance to watch this wonderful film.
Languages: Mandarin, Taiwanese, Cantonese, Japanese (amongst others)
Availability
Netflix: Not Available
Amazon: Not Available
UCSD: Available (Limited)
SDSU: Not Available
San Diego Public Library: Not Available
(Check your local research-oriented, liberal-arts university library, they may have a copy)
The problem with this film is that it's very difficult to find a copy, much less a copy with English subtitles. Up to this point, I've only put films on this series that are relatively available for you to find. But watching this film on the big screen, with a new 35mm print, was such a treat at the SDAFF, that I'm willing to include this film in the series. If you're fortunate enough to come across another film festival doing a retrospective and playing the new print (apparently, there are a few out there circulating the circuit), and if you're really want to be considered an even moderate cinephile, do yourself a favor and at least sit through this film.
Alright, that's enough of the gushing pretense and let's talk about it.
City of Sadness (1989). Dir. Hsiao-hsien Hou
Not to diminish the contextual importance, but as a filmmaker, the film is also superb in other ways. Firstly, the fact that the "228 incident" is viewed only in its periphery, not the actual massacre/clashes between native Taiwanese and Chinese Nationalist or the struggle in political arenas, already sets this historical period piece in contrast to others of the genre. While most historical period pieces nowadays are all about center-of-conflict action and accuracy, Dir. Hou's approach seems courageous by comparison. We don't see anything of the incident or massacre itself, we see none of the politicians involved, but what we do see is the affect of those central events and individuals on the lives of families and friendships. The drama of the incident is seen in how relationships are impacted and changed. In a sense, this emphasis opens the audience to learn more about the incident by watching its affects rather than the incident itself.
Finally, while being feted around the world as a bona-fide auteur, Dir. Hou has been known as a filmmaker of necessity, characterized by long takes, methodical, lingering camera, penchance for wide-shots, and all those characteristics combine to play out beautifully in this film. For example, the long takes allow real acting to take place, for actors to shine as they embody their characters, and the entire cast does so well in capturing the complex emotions as things spillover, out of their control. A young Tony Leung is brilliant playing the deaf brother Wen-ching, who, in typical Dir. Hou fashion, is deaf out of necessity (Leung couldn't speak Mandarin/Taiwanese effectively). Two side bits about the actors: 1) the best actor award goes to 3rd brother, who had to first play a crazy, shell-shocked war veteran, then a Shanghai-like gangster, and finally, a brain-dead brother. 2) My favorite actor goes to the grandfather, who is just adorably endearing and also plain hilarious the way he rides various people in the story.
A lot more can be said about this film, and there I'm certain there have been many articles and treatments have been written, but I'll stop here and hope you get a chance to watch this wonderful film.
Languages: Mandarin, Taiwanese, Cantonese, Japanese (amongst others)
Availability
Netflix: Not Available
Amazon: Not Available
UCSD: Available (Limited)
SDSU: Not Available
San Diego Public Library: Not Available
(Check your local research-oriented, liberal-arts university library, they may have a copy)
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