Because I never bothered to do this before and because the oscars are going on very soon, but mostly because I’m bored, I’m gonna write up my predictions…

Actor in a Leading Role
Winner: Forest Whitaker (Last King of Scotland)

Actor in a Supporting Role
Winner: Alan Arkin (Little Miss Sunshine) (Though a Mark Wahlberg win would be awesome)

Actress in a Supporting Role
Winner: Helen Mirren (The Queen) (duh)

Actress in a Supporting Role
Winner: Jennifer Hudson (Dreamgirls)

Animated Feature Film
Winner: Cars

Art Direction
Winner: Pan’s Labyrinth

Cinematography
Winner: Children of Men (better be mo-fo)

Costume Design
Winner: Curse of the Golden Flower

Directing
Winner: Martin Scorsese (if not, there will be a riot)

Documentary Feature
Winner: An Inconvenient Truth (watch this film)

Documentary Short
Winner: Um… Rehearsing a Dream… yeah.

Film Editing
Winner: Babel (most likely)

Foreign Language Film
Winner: Pan’s Labyrinth

Makeup
Winner: Pan’s Labyrinth

Music (Score)
Winner: Gustavo Santaolalla (I think)

Music (Song)
Winner: who cares

Best Picture
Winner: Babel (although Little Miss Sunshine is a possibility too)

Short Film (animated)
Winner: Lifted

Short Film (live)
Winner: Helmer & Son (totally guessing this one)

Sound Editing
Winner: Letters From Iwo Jima

Sound Mixing
Winner: Flags of Our Fathers

Visual Effects
Winner: Superman Returns

Writing (Adapted Screenplay)
Winner: Dunno… but I’d love Children of Men to win

Writing (Original Screenplay)
Winner: Little Miss Sunshine

Started out Friday with very little sleep, worked, rested, filmed a charity auction (with beer) and then played poker (with burbon), slept for two hours and then with a hangover in hand worked for just over eleven, then hung out with more people (more burbon and then rum), but not for too long as hangover was still hovering above my tired body at that point. Eventually slept for many many hours and woke up this afternoon not feeling very filmmaker like much to my disappointment (sorry Ross). Will have to reschedule Spit-Takes for another day (not too far away). Today was also friend Zoe’s birthday, where eating and drinking wine out of a jar (classy) took place and now I sit content to not be doing much.

Have started using tags for this website and have been attempting to tag previous posts, but there have now been over 100 made and that makes for a lot of clicking and tagging… ah well.

For coolness, here are a series of photos taken at just the right angle with just the right object, creating some of the coolest illusions around. Click on the sample photo for more.

And on my recent occasional visit to the Mountain Goats site where I wait with bated breath for their next New Zealand tour, I’ve noticed their website has had a new design. Do I mention how much I love the Mountain Goats enough here? Do you love the Mountain Goats? If you don’t, that makes you a communist. Forever I’ll have Rob to thank for introducing me to them on a fateful drive to Wellington, thus allowing me to pass the Mountain Goats love to a good portion of Hamilton. I wonder if he still reads this site… if you do… sup.

Here’s “No Children” live…

Found myself constantly thirsty and drinking large quantities of liquids today. And it wasn’t really the heat or anything, I just felt the need to drink rehydrate myself all the time and one after the other it wouldn’t stop. Totally strange and I blame the mustache for it. This bastard has got to go sometime, but at the same time I am drawn to its magical healing abilities and wonder if I should keep it or not. Then again, it would also make it easier on the totally-not-imaginary girls that keep throwing themselves at me. I rule.

But shot off a bit more of Spit-Takes today and have Sunday penciled in to shoot some of the actual more important scenes of the film. Total progress on Spit-Takes so far… about 6% filmed. Estimated after Sunday… 80%

Also filming a benefit function tomorrow evening and is currently in brainstorming mode over making some TV ads for the local Auter House video store… Which, I’m not sure if I’ve mentioned here or not, but if you live in Hamilton and you like good decent films, go there for all your good shit rental needs. Their selection is awesome and they even rent Criterion copies and everyone knows Criterions make me wet my pants in orgasmic delight.

Plus, from Tanya’s site, is a really awesome write up on her thats on the New Zealand Herald site that you will read here. I’m not sure if it was in the papers as well (most likely) but its totally awesome, even if its about myspace the Tanya factor negates the -3 effect of myspace… which reminds me I have to check my profile again… Right after I gather more offerings for the magical healing Jebus mustache.

Just watched a copy of De Palma’s The Black Dahlia which I will most definitely say, sucked balls. Sucked the big unshaven scrotum of Satan’s balls it did. Oh my god, I feel absolutely betrayed. As a big huge fan of James Ellroy’s book and liking the idea of De Palma doing the adaptation (yet not getting my hopes high), it was still dashed like you wouldn’t believe.

The opening scenes were great and it looked like it was doing really well as a film version, but somehow, not even halfway through the film, it went in a completely different direction and even as a film alone and cries of how it was adapted aside, the whole plot ended up completely muddled and totally weak. And at many times the acting was just over the top, especially this one character which, I won’t say who, but oh my god… what the fuck?

Beautiful lighting and totally under utilised art direction was all compromised by De Palma still trying to keep doing his ‘signature’ camera movements which just didn’t fit with the piece and just ruined so much that could have at least possibly come out decent.

I’ve got to re-read my copy of Black Dahlia again sometime soon, just to wash away how craptacular that film was. Seriously craptacular and the awesomeness that is the book is the much needed toilet paper. But a totally awesome toilet paper that is.

Oh man, I’m so cheesed off by that film. But thankfully, I’ve also caught up and read on some of the news bits on Preacher being adapted as an HBO TV series which if true and hopefully (and a big hopeful as its the guy who did the crappy Daredevil and the just as crappy looking Ghost Rider) it’ll be done right and be just as awesome as the series, which they plan on doing as an issue is an episode, which I think is both cool and a little too retarded to stretch out that much. But who knows… Well Gandhi might.

I’ve just come to the realisation that since starting ‘work’ up again, I’ve become a tad complacent. I’ve not shot anything more of spit-takes and haven’t aspired to doing any else much either. A tad worrying, but at least this issue has been noted early.

Tomorrow is also pay day for me and its going to be the most awesome feeling in the whole world. After over a year of poverty, I’m now gonna have an income and be able to buy stuff. Of course, I’m saving it all (70% of all) for whatever the hell I do next in the not too distant future.

Also today, I’ve been having the incredible hankering to go on a road trip, or to just get the hell out of the city and chase the country-side for a while. I’ve been driving around a bit at night and find myself just stopping on the outskirts of town to hang out under the stars which is totally awesome and it’s not a normal feeling for me, but I’m feeling a tad nomadic at the moment and feel like travelling a bit. Ah well.

In other, more interesting news, big congrats to Marama and Joe and Brad and all at Down by the Riverside as their IMDb page has recently gone up (I think today), which coincides with the whole site itself getting a new look (like as of a couple of hours ago)… Shiny. I remember when I first discovered IMDb in 1999 (whoa) and how its awesomeness blew me away as it still does so today. I think the film I was first looking up stuff on what Big Trouble in Little China which is also still awesome today.

New, third Simpsons film trailer is out and formats viewable here, or hi res quicktime downloadable straight from here.

Also been finding myself listening to lots and lots of podcasts of Penn Radio, which is a great listen to and I’d recommend checking out one or two if you’ve got the spare time.

Also just realised I missed out on cheap Tuesday at the movies today. Though I’ve been watching a lot of a films from the store (a lot), there are still so many I want to see at the cinemas now. Thank Jebus I’m working though, it may make going on any other day a tad more bearable.

Finally, some Morphine music video awesomeness…

A happy Chinese New year to all. I’ve been watching and catching up on movies all day. Video store love baby. Video store love.

In a quick swoop… Borat is funny, Slither is fun, Jarhead is great and everyone should watch Me and You and Everyone We Know cause if you do, your cool. It’s science.

From Daisy, this is the Brick Testament… which is just great fun to browse through and read. Plus its illustrated with lego and anything with lego is 150% cooler. Even the Bible.

Also something I want to do myself, are photos taken at just the right time to make it look like people are floating in mid-air. 200% cooler, even without the lego found here.

And finally, the latest (and wishfully not the last) Grindhouse trailer is out. Downloadable straight from here.

And so today was our last official day of shoot… A nice easy hospital clinic room scene with short dialogue between two characters, with absolutely no hiccups. Much beer was celebrated afterwards and now I write this from work as it is, as always, a boring night.

It’s like coming out of another world, making a film at every waking hour, going mental and crazy and creative and all and now its over and we’re all going back to menial jobs and getting the bills paid. Along with a few pick-up shots and cutaways, there is still much post production work to be done, months of editing lie ahead along with re-creating the soundscape, ADR and scoring of the music… and with a little luck, it won’t be long till we’re back in the saddle, ready and making the next film.

But right now all I can think about really is how awesome my bed is going to be once I finish this shift in five hours. Woke up Friday morning with a massive hangover, nothing paralytic, just nasty. Spent the day watching films and contemplating sleep before going off to work an hour early (as if I remember what time shifts are supposed to start) and killed time in a bar celebrating Brooke’s birthday with mates and shooting tequila (which was intended to help work off the hangover, but just made things a tad worse). At work, I was being ‘re-trained’, so there was another fellow on to retrain me, but we just took advantage of the extra manpower and took turns at napping (Jay got two hours, I slipped in just over three). After work, there was enough time for a couple hours more of sleep, shooting at one till four and then drinking, poker at a friends place and then now I’m at work still writing this. Pretty tired and don’t think I’m making too much of a point blogging all of these details. Though I must add, appologies to both Marama and Joe and Daisy and co for being unable to attend both of your respective housewarmings.

Um… thats about all I’ve got left. Oh but how cute and cool and annoying would this alarm clock be? It like wheels itself away and rolls around your room going off if you don’t wake up properly and turn it off the first time. Neat-o.

Woke up early and took a nap. Came into work half an hour late. Took a couple of minutes to remember how to work everything. Served an irate Italian only speaking customer, had one kid puke up in front of me, served hot summer clothed babes and got stared at by scary yellow shirt staring guy.

It was weird as hell to be back there. Though the store had changed a little bit, I remembered everything in the job and there are a lot of associated memories from when I last worked there which was really surreal at times to remember. Some good, some bad, but it was certainly interesting.

Anyway, this is brief. Malcom is coming down tonight and there will soon be much drinking and rejoicing of the old days really soon. Ready and waiting for the hangover tomorrow.

So Valentine’s Day turned out to be pretty amusing…

Another day off, getting appropriately bored at home, I took off to town to hang about and possibly buy more chips for my recently re-emerged poker habit (w00t gambling!). There, I seemed to bump into my largest count of people to be bumped into in town. Cause usually, there are a lot of people I run into when I go anywhere (being Hamilton) and it’ll be a random ‘hello, whats up?’, but there were at least double the usual amount today. ‘Singles stragglers’ one person said, ‘being at home is too much of a singles thing to do on Valentines Day”. Dunno if he’s onto something or not there.

And not long after that, I caught up with Skott and others and we went to Karapiro to wakeboard where I sucked balls and water and spent a good portion of my time trying to subtly get a game of poker going when we got back. But it was a beautiful evening on the lake. Water was perfectly calm and surprisingly warm. The only drawback was near the end of the day, casting off for one of the last rides, the boat suddenly stopped accelerating and on closer inspection, the propellor had actually fallen off. Got really dark quickly as we were searching for it too and will just have to leave it til another day or two to try and find it if it’s still there.

Hope y’all had a nice/crappy Valentine’s. Mine was a nice relaxing one before I’d have to start work again tomorrow. Though pity we didn’t play poker afterwards.

Happy valentines day!