February 2007 Archives (18 posts)
Shut Up & Sing (2006)
I never ever thought I would watch a documentary film about the Dixie Chicks. I don’t really care for country music and I dismissed these women as pretty blondes from Texas with a record contract. Boy, was I ever wrong.
Shut Up & Sing (2006) is an excellent film. It chronicles the fallout from the anti-Bush comment that Natalie Maines (lead singer) made at a concert in 2003. Sean Penn, the Dixie Chicks, many in the entertainment industry didn’t believe that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction. They questioned what Bush was saying and didn’t believe him. It turns out they were right.
FREEDOM OF SPEECH
The problem is that Maines exercised her freedom of speech — opinions that the some right-wing Americans didn’t want to hear. The media saw an opportunity to create a controversy, sell more newspapers, discuss the topic ad nauseam on television, sell more advertising and make money (my opinion).
DEATH TO THE COMMUNISTS
The film shows how the Dixie Chicks endured death threats, people labeling them communists, country radio’s boycott of their music, lost corporate sponsors and so on. Don’t get me wrong. These girls are filthy rich and I don’t think they suffered too much financially. Emotionally? Yes.
What I found truly amazing was how a right-wing group in the Republican party brought them down. They called the Dixie Chicks unpatriotic for making a joke and speaking out against George Bush. They convinced a lot of simple-minded people that the band was evil and deserving of their hate. Yikes! This happened in 2003!
GREAT STORYTELLING AND DIRECTION
Shut Up & Sing does a fabulous job of showcasing the talent of the Dixie Chicks. I had no idea that they were such incredible musicians and songwriters. I guess this is why I really liked the film—it completely changed my opinion of the band through great storytelling and direction. 
Films are rated from 1 to 4 stars.
Posted in DVD Reviews at 7:36 PM | Comments (2)
ChomskyTorrents.org
ChomskyTorrents.org is an interesting BitTorrent site with links to a lot of documentaries (CBC, PBS and other sources). Somewhere in the site there are links to content, related to Noam Chomsky.
I came across this site when looking at Top 20 Less Known BitTorrent Sites on TorrentFreak.
Posted in Web at 5:15 PM | Comments (0)
Rob Nickerson Improv
After three months of branding, designing and developing, JAK MEDIA launched the Rob Nickerson Improv website.
The Reviews section is a new take on the traditional client testimonial page. It’s designed to look a little like a movie poster with quotes from movie reviews. Phase II of the site will have video clips of keynote speaker, Rob Nickerson.
If you’re looking for an interactive, entertaining, keynote speaker for your next corporate event, then check out Rob Nickerson Improv. Make a booking! Impress your boss! Get a raise!
Posted in JAK MEDIA at 3:52 PM | Comments (1)
Ellen DeGeneres Please Retire
Was it just me or was Ellen DeGeneres really awful last night as the host of the Oscars? I just talked to a woman in my office and she also thought Ellen was incredibly dull.
I only watched the first 30 minutes of the show (I had a design deadline that kept me up all night). After watching Ellen’s opening monologue, I found myself flipping over to Dog Bounty Hunter on A&E.
Posted in Movies at 10:15 AM | Comments (2)
Bertolucci, Toback and Herzog
I’m a little behind my DVD reviews from last week. Bertolucci’s The Dreamer’s was the best of the bunch while Harvey Keitel in Fingers was just downright funny at times. The latest mini-reviews are in sidebar under Recently screened films.
Posted in DVD Reviews at 11:00 PM | Comments (0)
Best Villains
Shiz tagged me for Best Villains: Discuss where there is a discussion on who are the best movie villains. My top five would be:
Hannibal Lecter (Anthony Hopkins in Silence of the Lambs)
Gordon Gekko (Michael Douglas in Wall Street)
Mr. Blonde (Michael Madsen in Reservoir Dogs)
Alex Forrest (Glenn Close in Fatal Attraction)
Norman Stansfield (Gary Oldman in The Professional)
Posted in Movies at 10:37 PM | Comments (0)
What Does Marsellus Wallace Look Like?
What Does Marsellus Wallace Look Like is a brilliant interpretation of a scene from the film Pulp Fiction. Using nothing but text and some great animation you’ll be able to enjoy Sam Jackson yelling at Brett like you’ve never seen before. Turn the speakers down a little if you’re at work.
Posted in Motion Graphics and Movies and Web at 7:46 PM | Comments (0)
Coffee and my ex-wife
I’m on my fourth cup of coffee of the day. I usually have one in the morning and another after dinner but today was a little different. This afternoon, two people dropped by my office and brought me coffee.
It’s 7:44 PM and I’m back at the office, finishing off a cappuccino from Starbucks. I was feeling a little sleepy and needed a boost. The caffeine isn’t working. I better work fast.
Maybe you’re wondering about the ex-wife bit in the title of this post. Relax. I don’t have an ex-wife, but a guy on my hockey team thought I did.
I told him that I didn’t get out of the office until 2:30 AM, one night last week. He asked me why I was working so hard and thought that I must have an ex-wife that was draining my bank account. Call me a weird but I found this amusing.
Posted in Personal at 7:39 PM | Comments (1)
Fincher’s Zodiac
The New York Times has an interesting article on David Fincher’s latest film, Zodiac. It’s been five years since his last film, Panic Room.
One of things that is generating a lot of buzz around Zodiac is that he made the actors do up to 70 takes for some scenes. Jake Gyllenhaal wasn’t too crazy about this style of directing. The film opens Friday.
Posted in Movies at 4:11 PM | Comments (1)
Bombippy is a personal weblog
Bombippy is a personal weblog. I write about photography, food, web development and films. I write everything on this site. There isn’t a staff, there aren’t contributors, it’s all Jay Kerr (Bombippy).
I am a web designer/developer/photographer/video editor/blogger that loves cinema. I am not a film critic.
A lot of people visit this site and read the film reviews because they’re looking for a recommendation—an interesting film watch. Others are curious and just want to know what I did on the weekend.
Lately I’ve been getting some interesting comments by some confused individuals. I didn’t care too much for a documentary called The Shutka Book of Records. I merely offered an opinion and the feedback I get is
Shame on you, stupid reviewer. Shame on you.
I reviewed another documentary called SHAMELESS: The ART of Disability. I didn’t enjoy this one at all. It just didn’t appeal to me. I received a nasty email saying I should be more supportive, that I didn’t write my own reviews, and that I only give 4 stars to blockbusters like Casino Royale.
I don’t get upset by this kind of feedback. I welcome it. I love it! If you write it, I will post it (unless your name is Andrew and you live in Vancouver).
If I don’t like a film that you feel very passionately about, just know that I’m a blogger and not film critic. I’m not pretending to be another Pauline Kael and will never have her influence.
Posted in Bombippy and DVD Reviews and Movie Reviews at 1:16 AM | Comments (2)
Understanding the Art of Cropping
If you’re a photographer then you’ll want to have a look at Michael Reichmann’s short essay on Understanding the Art of Cropping at the Luminous Landscape website. It basically comes down to understanding what your photo is about.
Once you understand and can articulate what a photo is about, the cropping should assist in the interpretation of the image, making it a stronger photo. Just read the essay if you want to print better photos.
Posted in Photography at 1:06 AM | Comments (0)
24 hours of graphic violence
Has anyone noticed how brutally graphic the television show 24 has become?
In last night’s episode Morris (Carlo Rota) was beaten to a pulp. That wasn’t enough gore for Fox though. A Muslim terrorist named Fayed took a power drill and pushed it into Morris’ back so that he’d arm a nuclear bomb. Just in case you didn’t believe Morris’ screams of pain, blood was spattered on the faces of people as the drill went into Morris’ back.
At this point in the show I felt sick. Sick as in, how I felt when I watched Michael Madsen’s character cut off a policeman’s ear in the Tarantino film, Resrevoir Dogs.
Does anyone in the US or Canada see a problem with showing this kind of violence on television? Is seeing a nipple on the half-time show of the Super Bowl worse than this kind of violence?
Fox seems more concerned with stories like, Controversy Sprouts Over Prince’s Super Bowl Halftime Show than the graphic violence in their shows. I mean come on, are people really that bent out of shape about seeing Prince’s shadow?
I don’t want to sound like a prude or a hypocrite but I was more than a little surprised by last night’s episode and I’m starting to lose interest in the show. Maybe I’m just getting too old for this stuff.
Posted in Television at 4:17 PM | Comments (8)
Where do you get your news?
Do you get your news through newspapers, TV, online, or magazines?
Television
I haven’t watched the evening news or any of the 24 hour news channels in a long time. I’ll watch 60 Minutes whenever I can but that’s it.
Newspapers
I have the Toronto Star and the National Post delivered to my door every morning. During breakfast I can usually get through both papers. At the office I receive the Globe and Mail and read it during my lunch.
Newspapers can be cheap if you get a subscription. I pay $3/year for the Globe and Mail. You read that correctly. They practically give the paper away. This way they can tell their advertisers that they have x number of paid subscribers.
Online
Throughout the day I’ll look at either Yahoo! News or the NY Times. I’ll also check Daring Fireball, popurls, TUAW and a handful of other sites.
News Wars
The Globe and Mail had an interesting story about a PBS Frontline series called News War. Starting next Tuesday at 9 PM, this four-part series, hosted by Lowell Bergman will take a detailed look at American journalism and where it is heading.
Consider that most people under the age of 30 never watch the evening news on television. People are relying more and more on blogs, Digg or news sites for the latest information. This has a huge impact on traditional news outlets and the future of journalism.
So where do you get your news?
Posted in News at 8:19 PM | Comments (5)
The Shutka Book of Records (2005)
On the first Wednesday night of each month I’m at the Bloor Theatre for Doc Soup — a monthly film series that is part of Hot Docs (documentary film festival). Last night’s screening was an unusual film from Czech Republic called The Shutka Book of Records (2005).
The film is a crazy look at the ‘Happy Valley’ in Macedonia — the largest Roma (Gypsy) community in the world. This is a world that is full of bizarre characters that pass the time by ridding themselves of evil Genies, vampire hunting, training geese to fight and holding listening contests to see who has the best collection of Turkish music on cassette.
The film is supposed to be an honest look at the Gypsy culture. It shows an impoverished group of people that are proud of their heritage but I found myself skeptical of everything in the film. The Shutka Book of Records is more of a comedy like Borat (2006) than a serious documentary. I’m willing to bet that Sacha Baron Cohen saw The Shutka Book of Records and used it as an inspiration for the film version of his Borat character.
Shutka director Aleksandar Manic has plenty of funny bits about a crazy disco dancing senior citizen (pictured above), a uni-brow pop star with cheesy music videos, a transvestite, a ‘Belgian whore’ that has a child with a 70-year-old man and on, and on. The film’s narrator is constantly making funny remarks and observations about the people of Shutka so that they look more backward than the people of Kazakhstan in Cohen’s film.
I don’t know. Parts of the film were very funny but after a while I found these crazy characters (or actors) to be a little boring. Apparently the film is quite popular on the film festival circuit and has quite a following. Unfortunately, it didn’t appeal to me at all. ½
Films are rated from 1 to 4 stars.
Posted in Movie Reviews at 11:07 AM | Comments (3)
Universal to remake Mon Meilleur Ami
One of the best films I saw at TIFF last fall was Mon Meilleur Ami (2006). It was just released in France and hasn’t even played in North America but it’s reportedly going to be remade by Universal Studios (Brian Grazer to produce).
Monika Bartyzel of Cinematical sums up my feelings when she asks, “why on earth must Hollywood continue to re-make overseas films without giving them a chance here?”
Mon Meilleur Ami is a terrifci French film. Try to see the original if you can before it is remade with Ben Stiller and Jim Carrey or whoever Brian Grazer decides to cast. Hopefully an American version of this film never sees the light of day. My review of the film is here.
Thanks to James for the link to Cinematical — a great blog on the film industry.
Posted in Movies at 10:10 AM | Comments (1)
Recently screened
If you’re new to this site and still finding your way around, don’t forget to check the sidebar under Recently Screened Films. This is where I post mini-reviews of movies.
I don’t always have the time to write detailed reviews of everything I watch so this is a good place to see what I’ve been screening in the home theatre of late.
Posted in Movies at 12:10 AM | Comments (0)
Crank (2006)
Jason Statham plays an LA hitman that has bee poisoned and has 87 minutes to live. If his heart rate drops below 55 MPH he will die. What follows is a stylish but poor rip off of the film, Speed (1994).
Some people told me that Crank (2006) was a good movie, others said it blew chunks. Lets just say that the 20 minutes of video commentary I watched was better than the 87 minutes I wasted on this film.
I like Jason Statham. I thought he was great in all of Guy Ritchie’s films. He was awesome in The Transporter but then he did Transporter 2 and we all wondered why. I guess its too easy to pass up a pay cheque for doing a crappy formulaic film these days.
Crank has a few interesting moments like the Google Earth video used to show you were the ‘bad guys’ are hiding out in LA. The hundreds of stunts and crazy camera work is interesting as well but it hardly adds up to a decent film.
If anyone recommends you rent Crank or worse, that you should purchase the DVD, slowly turn around and run as fast as you can.
Posted in DVD Reviews at 11:55 PM | Comments (0)
More DJ Champion
This week on Livebait.tv we have more DJ Champion. Ian talks to Max about his musical influences and the making of Chill’ em all.
Last weekend we visited the Brick Works in Toronto and spoke to Evergreen about their plans for this space in the Don Valley.
This weekend we’re off to Hamilton to do a story on geocaching which is becoming extremely popular across North America. If you haven’t got a clue then stay tuned to Livebait.tv.
Posted in Web at 9:35 AM | Comments (0)
