Open Bar: September 2, 2010
Anomalous Material’s bar is open on Thursday evening once again! I’m sure you can forgive us for shutting it down for a couple weeks since we had the Hollywood Fantasy Draft going. As you probably know by now, the Open Bar is a place for all our readers to discuss anything and everything they want.
Announcements
- Amy from Yet Another Magazine is looking for a writer. If you are interested, read below:
I’ve been posting this around without much luck, so I was wondering if you
could help me out with a request post.I need a writer/film reviewer in the NYC Area
This is my ad (http://mubi.com/topics/11166)
–
I run YAM Magazine (http://www.amy-wong.com/tag/yam/), a PDF-based
Magazine soon to be a website. For a while now, we have been receiving
invitations to press screenings – for some independent films – in the NYC
area… Brooklyn, around those areas – forgive my terrible New York
geography knowledge – and well, YAM Mag doesn’t have anyone to attend
those events.We can’t pay anything… yet – hopefully, we will in the future. But we’d
really like someone who likes all sort of films – who usually watches and
listens to everything from indie, pseudo-indie, to foreign films and
blockbusters – Hopefully, we’ll be able to get you on press screenings…
and maybe (just maybe) even get you passes to local festivals.If you’re not in NYC, but live in other countries… like the UK, France…
Germany, or China, Hong Kong, Japan. Anywhere really, we’d like to get
what’s on your local cinemas. You can PM, leave a msg here or you can also
visit our FB group (http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=96107973845).–
People interested could leave a message on the MUBI thread, join the FB
group, or leave a message on my portfolio. My portfolio has also email
contact info.If someone replies soon, we have received screening invites for The
Romantics this week… otherwise, we’ll wait for a future screening. YAM
would really like someone there this time.
If you have any announcement you would like to make, feel free to contact us!
The Open Bar Soundtrack
A Few Potential Topics for Discussion
- Your plans for the weekend
- Fantasy Football Season is upon us
- Has America peaked?
- The Big Picture: Afghanistan, August 2010
![Watch: Creepy Trailer for Slasher Pic ‘Maniac’ [NSFW]](http://www.anomalousmaterial.com/movies/wp-content/themes/yamidoo_pro/scripts/timthumb.php?src=http://www.anomalousmaterial.com/movies/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/elijah-wood-maniac-tb.jpg&w=50&h=50&zc=1)
77 Comments
Let’s see, what do I have coming up….oh yeah. I go back to school IN A WEEK. Good news: it’s my senior year of high school and I chose classes I wanted to take. Bad news: I gotta deal with a bunch of idiots for the next nine months.
Oh, and it’s my birthday next Saturday.
Happy Birthday Anna! Ah senior year of high school is the best year of high school, it’s a bit stressful until you get admitted to college but then afterward, it’s like vacation
Yeah, senior was a blast. Sign up for a bunch of extra curricular activities, and the year will be over before you know it.
Great choice of sountrack! I saw cinderella man for the first time a couple of days ago. Decent Ron Howard flick.
I think Cinderella Man is severely underrated, Howard does a good job directing and Zellweger and Crowe are more than just competent.
I’m trying to decide between resting up this weekend with TIFF coming up next week (and with it, 20+ films in 11 days)…or sqeezing in a trip out to see GET LOW and/or THE AMERICAN.
That’s almost 2 movies a day for 11 days in a row. Not only that but then you will probably go and blog about it! That’s insane dedication
I have discovered that four movies in a day is my limit (though there are some who can do five…don’t ask me how).
In 2005, I also discovered that going and seeing 2-3 movies a day for ten or eleven days is a lot of fun, but coming home and writing about them is way hard.
Regardless…for movie geeks like us, it’s a small price to pay for cinematic nirvana.
Wow thats intense. If I see more than two in a day (especially if I have never seen them before) they seem to flote together.
Exactly! I absolutely avoid seeing more than one new movie a day.
When taking in a film festival, you get used to it, and there are usually decent breaks in between films (one day I have one at 9am and the second flick isn’t until dinnertime).
The only two festival experience that really tested my endurance were CHE and Spike Lee’s WHEN THE LEVEES BROKE. Both films were over four hours long.
Get Low was good, hoping to have the review up either tonight or in the morning. I wrote half of it last weekend, but then went blank.
And I can’t wait til I get to attend my first film festival. Next year when I have the chance to fly anywhere in the world, I’m hoping it lines up with one of them.
I love seeing two movies in the same day, but I don’t get to often.
thanks, Castor~
=D
School starts on the 7th. This is more tragic than I think any of you can grasp.
I start on the 10th (a day before my birthday).
…happy birthday?
Well, yeah, that’s not very happy at all. I’m sorry.
I sorta miss school, especially since football is starting back up. That, and doing the extra stuff like play production and speech. Great times.
Ripley I understand how tragic this is, school started last week for me and I’m already feeling suicidal.
It’s utter pain.
Hello Castor, everyone’s favorite bartender
I’m hoping to see Expendables with my buddies this weekend, I’m not going to let the critics sway me from not seeing it. Between now and Saturday I have to crunch in getting my pitch ready. It’s all in my head, so the trick is getting it down on paper (or computer I guess) for people to make sense of it 
Hope you enjoy The Expendables Ruth!
I’m working on my second pitch as we speak (I’m going to pitch 2 movies since Julian had to back out of his spot. I still have to let my first pitch bounce around my head so that was convenient I guess lol)
The Open bar. I haven’t taken part in one of these yet. Though I thought for a long time about doing something like this (granted I don’t get your kind of readership + commenting). As for me, I’m going to spend this lovely labor day weekend resting in the mountains of Tennessee (not Deliverance style I’d like to note). I used to do fantasy football, but these days I just don’t have it in me to try.
Still no luck on the job front though
. Few companies hiring entry level, and those that are you gotta be looking at just the right moment or you miss it. Hopefully I’ll have something before the year is out.
I know the job market is absolutely brutal. The unemployment situation is definitely a big problem around the country. Keep your head up and best of luck in your search Ryan.
Careful of them hillbillies in the middle of the woods lol
Yeah, be wary of the ones with banjos.
Still being a novice about blogging, I want to find a way to be sure of more readers/commentors. More specifically, I’m asking you this: what movie do you want to see reviewed by me?
I saw that you reviewed French Connection, why not have a go at another more culty 70′s film! Gone in 60 seconds!!! By far the best car chase scene ever. Its actually othe only reason to see it but its totally groundbreaking in so many aspects!
I can honestly say that Castor is one of the busiest bloggers I’ve come in contact with. All in favor of ensuring he gets a load of LAMMYs next year, say “aye”. Aye!
Aye!
…don’t know where Castor finds the energy!
I haven’t been around this block for very long but I do find it strange that Anomalous Material didin’t sweep those lammies last year!
I guess this might be the year. Do they do a live boradcast of their award cermony with winners and nominees attentinf through skype?
Nope. When the nominations are announced it’s usually via LAMBcast. They’re posted a few days later.
I think a live gala on internet would be awesome but I guess the technology aint stable enough for that being considered!
I don’t know how he manages the time!
He and Red were nominated for 8 last year, so I’m ready for him to take even more next year.
How many categories is it?
I’m new to the Open Bar myself. I’ll begin by ordering a Jack Daniels and Coke please.
This seems like the perfect place to say that I’ve got a week devoted to Steven Spielberg upcoming on my site – starting a week on Saturday – 11th Sep. If anyone wants to contribute a review of a Spielberg film all are welcome…and any ideas about contributions are also welcome (anything Spielberg related really…reviews, retrospectives, what you love/hate about his work, etc.,)
You definitively need to review “Duel” his best film to date as I see it.
Would also be interesting with an article focusing on the apprentices of Spielberg both the hard on relations like Zemeckis but also if its possible for a similiar “Spielberguesqe” director to emerge in todays film climate?
I mean the blockbuster is more vibrant than ever but he still managed to do them with such quality that you can’t do anything else than sit back and enjoy.
The mix of quality and commercial have never been more frequent than in Spielbergs best blockbusters.
While I certainly didn’t grow up seeing Spielberg’s best stuff, it kinda stinks seeing how he hasn’t really been puting out good quality material as of late. His last excellent movie in my book is Minority Report, and that seems like ages ago.
Well its quite obvious these days that he is rather producing than directing.
Interesting fave film Joel. Although I don’t agree that Duel is his best work it is definitely one of his better films.
An article about the Spielberg ‘kids’ would be great. I’ve alluded to them in a piece I’ve written about his influence on film. A dedicated feature would be great though.
What I love about Duel is that its film narrative at its purest. I mean its almost a silent film but still has some of the greatest tension ever caught in a film.
His other films are more commercial and crowdpleasing but I really like the artistic approach coming from the fact of really straightforward storytelling.
I hope they release a killer blu ray of this some time soon where Spielberg makes an exception to his rule of not doing commentary tracks.
Yeah, I agree with you. It showed a genuine talent for visual storytelling and does deserve to be talked about among his top 6 or 7 films. I do think he used those skills and added to them with Jaws.
Oh, and be careful with the Jack and Coke. Heather might get a little crazy and beat you up just so she can have your drink.
Haha…by the sounds of things there wouldn’t be anything left in the bottle if Heather’s around!
I drank enough Jack Daniels for everyone on Friday. Since then I’ve had to not drink anything.
And yes I am going for the top spot of this months leaderboard! If no one does a Kai and totally explode in the commentary field it should be a solid win. I have some really cool films that need to be reviewed in here…
You’re gonna have some competition, man. By that, I mean me.
Thanks for the heads up Anna! I’ll make sure to keep you behind me in the standing. What would your choice of price if my connection would go down and I cant keep up with you?
Has America peaked? hmm hard to say since I dont live there (actually studied as exchange student in Topeka KS 2001-02) but I read a really interesting book about development countries actually being the ones on their feet right now. While the typical developed superpower nations are staggering in a depression kind of state due to feeling that they have reached a peak and feeling that they can’t develope more.
This is very true to Sweden right now and I think there is something to think a lot about in your daily life to become aware of it and being able to take back the control.
My sister goes on about how we’re like the Holy Roman Empire, and she’s kind of in love with the sentiment. I don’t really want to talk about how we’ll inevitably decline, though. Being the middle-class American I am, I don’t like thinking about depressing things.
The thing is, it’d be very easy for us to fall into anarchy, because we’ve been spoiled in our lifestyles that we couldn’t survive without electricity, or unfiltered water (that is, a lot of people don’t know how to filter it themselves), or economic displacement of any kind.
I’m sad now. Let’s talk about puppies.
I can see how the development countries are doing better. They are probably building on their production values, while America has gone the other way the past couple decades. I understand why companies do it to cut costs, but taking jobs elsewhere has really hurt the country. I think we have peaked, per say. I guess it just depends on how you perceive “peak”. As in an almost perfectly balanced and stable economy(never gonna be absolutely perfect), or where certain numbers might be at their highest point, but only a small percentage of the people have all the wealth.
Tomorow is going to be a loooooong day. Nebraska’s first football game is tomorow night at 6, so in preperation some friends are mine are going to begin tailgating at 8 in the morning. I plan to donate at 8 in the morning, so I can’t go there quite that early, but I plan on being there by at least 11. Then I have another live fantasty football draft in the afternoon. Then of course, the football game (guessing 41-3), and then the celebration afterwards. Only to turn around and work at 7 in the morning on Sunday.
So I’m going to Cape Cod tomorrow and staying there until Wednesday or Thursday (not sure when). Our vacation house there has no internet connection (yes, I’m pissed off at that), so don’t expect to hear a lot from me. You win this one, Joel…
Wow you are going after that big storm uh?
Thanxs Anna! I appreciate it. But Kai as usual seem to want a run for it aswell.
Well, it didn’t really hit where I am. Besides it was downsized to “tropical storm” anyway.
Uh yeah, but you have a vacation house! Enjoy!
I was going to use the long weekend to apply the things I learned in the ProBlogger challenge. That sounds like sucking up, huh? It’s true though! I spent a large portion of my evening creating a post with trailers of upcoming films I want to see. I don’t normally put a bunch of video because it’s always a problem. I did it though. After I had to re-size all of them and then the same trailer posted like four times, I’m very impaired with all this stuff! I’m mostly relaxing. I went to the library and picked up a bunch of interesting DVD’s.
I have found it really hard to post videos when using a 3 column design. So you might wanna try a design change.
What kind of site engine are you running? Since switching to my own host and wordpress.org with thesis as software I dont have any video problems anymore.
It was really hard to embed when running my blog on regular wordpress.
I’m still on Blogger for now. I’m swamped with so many other things I don’t have time to figure out WordPress and all that other stuff.
when you get the time I’d check out wordpress. Their regular all in all package on wordpress.com was easier for me to use than blogger.
What’s all this long weekend talk? We had our Monday off work last week here in the UK…can I have another one please!
It’s Labor Day weekend over here. Not sure if it’s different in other parts of the world.
Our (Sweden) labour day is May 1st.
Hi I pretty busy in this weekend. I gonna spend this week with my family. However I plan to watch ‘October Sky’ and ‘The World’s Fastest Indian’ movies. Hope I enjoy it. Then whatz up for you Castor…Have a nice weekend to all. Cheers
Gotta work on my movie pitch
Dito on that. I haven’t even started to assemble the post or breaking down the plot. I’ll give it a couple of hours tomorrow.
I actually work today, and both my kids start school tomorrow, which is sad that our fun summer is over, but good in the way that I’ll return to the blogsphere full force stalking you all as adamantly as ever. Also, it’s going to be strange to have mornings (only three hours) to myself quietly. I intend to use it for writing and working out, but for some reason I don’t think I’m going to be super productive anyway!
And Castor, I’m glad you decided to host this whole pitch your movie thing, it’s awesome to read, and was a ton of fun to do. I wanted to flesh out my second act more and leave the third as a surprise, but I didn’t have the time, so it’s not nearly as long.
CHEERS!
YAY! More Heather around here can only be a good thing
Glad to see that you are enjoying the movie pitches. It’s so much fun to read and see how creative people can be.
It’s the opposite for me Heather. I have less time when the kids start school. I have so many more things going on and I have to fight them for the computer too! Then I went and got the bright idea to take a class myself. Boy, what was I thinking? So I’m trying to fit it all in. This weekend I went to the movies, watched a DVD and I’m almost done reading my book. So then I’ll have some new content to write up!
Oh and yesterday I watched Inside Man and I dug it. Denzel is the mother fucking bomb YO!
Inside Man is a very solid movie indeed and I enjoyed it myself
I watched, “Let The Right One In” yesterday. Still processing it!
I didint like Let the right one in! Haven’t read the book either.
It was very different than what I thought. I’m thinking they’ll have to make a lot of changes for the American version.
from what I have heard they are changing the setting from winter climate to desert mexico.
But I was disapointed when seeing the US trailer. It looked like the swedish one cut from cut.
Eventhough the US producers said that they were going to approach the movie as their own adaptation of the novel not a remake of the Swedish version.
Absolutely loved that film. Was heartbroken when I heard the American remake was going into production, but the trailers don’t seem to be half bad.
So Cape Cod is nice. Not really much happening here (it’s a MILLION times more interesting pre-Labor Day).
I’m catching up on my reading. I’m currently reading F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby. It’s essentially my last book for the summer (mind you, I’m reading it for myself and not for school).
My next book might be Elmore Leonard’s Get Shorty. Might also throw in Eugene O’Neill’s The Iceman Cometh, just for the hell of it.
Hey, at least you know what I do besides watch movies and blog.
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