Everything And Nothing

The Livingston Gardener set to film in Jackson, Canton this August

The Livingston Gardener, the first feature film for Jackson native and producer Missy Tanner, will begin shooting this month in Jackson and Canton. It was written and will be directed by Mississippian Rob Ryan. The psychological thriller has a budget of $100,000, which was all raised from Mississippi investors. In the movie, an investigative reporter finds himself at the mercy of a convicted killer during a live, televised prison interview.

Missy Tanner began her career as an actor, starring in local theatre productions and commercials in Mississippi. In 1996 she packed up her car, and drove out West to Los Angeles where she landed speaking roles in several films and TV shows – Boogie Nights, Magnolia and Good Burger, to name a few. While in L.A., she began to pursue a career in advertising and worked for two of the top five film and television advertising firms while working on films like Mission Impossible: III, Lady In The Water and The Reaping. When her daughter was born, Missy decided to move back to Mississippi.

Ryan, a Millsaps graduate, now lives in Charlottesville, Virginia, and has also written a book, Jonestown, along with several other short films, including Murderabilia and Grasshopper.

Tanner has already sold the film to Synergetic Distribution for May 2015 digital download and DVD and is pursuing a theatrical distribution deal.

If you want to keep up with the movie, like their Facebook page. If you want to keep up with all of the movie news in the state, join the mailing list of Film Mississippi here.

[ H/T Sherry Lucas in The Clarion-Ledger ]

Gorgeous time-lapse is a "Love Letter to the Fog of the San Francisco Bay Area"

Read more here.

The Perks of Being a Wallflower

When I took my son to see The Beasts of the Southern Wild, we saw a preview for The Perks of Being a Wallfower. The preview said it was based on a book. It seemed geared towards a teen audience, so I told him we should read the book together and then go see the movie. He rolled his eyes. (After reading the book, not sure I'm quite ready to discuss some of the themes with my 12-year-old son anyways.)

The book is an interesting read. If J.D. Salinger and Nick Hornby had a love child, this book would be it. Music is almost a third character throughout the book. Music and books. (To Kill a Mockingbird, This Side of Paradise, The Great Gatsby, A Separate Peace, The Catcher in the Rye, On the Road, Naked Lunch, Walden, The Fountainhead, The Stranger, Peter Pan, Hamlet.)

And for those days when you need to remember how you felt in that moment, when you were infinite, here is a The Perks of Being a Wallflower playlist - a combo of all of the songs mentioned in the book and songs from the movie's soundtrack too. (I hope I get a gold star!)

Capture Your Own Hoth Snow Beast

You've been pissed ever since Luke Skywalker got captured by a Wampa. Now is time for your revenge! Get your own bear-rug style Wampa! High-quality synthetic fur, plush pillow head and fearsome claws. 

$99.99

50 Most Memorable Movie Cars

Rotten Tomatoes recently named the 50 Most Memorable Movie Cars. They generally only pick one car per film. Also, a car has to show up in a movie to make it on the list (so KITT and the A-Team van don't make it). And they say the rankings refer to how memorable a car is, not how cool it is (that would be a much different list).

Whip it good

George Lucas himself is even telling us not to expect too much from the upcoming Indiana Jones movie - "it's just a movie" after all. But he didn't say not to get excited about the toys bound to precede and follow that movie. And I just may have to have one of these Indiana Jones Electronic Sound FX Whips for myself. Whip-aw! ;)

$19.99

2008 Crossroads Film Festival

From April 3-6, 2008, The Crossroads Film Society presents its 9th Annual Crossroads Film Festival, incorporating over 70 films, local and national recording artists, pre- and post- parties and a variety of workshops and panels. Each afternoon kicks off with a Meet & Greet Reception for filmmakers and passholders and each evening ends with music at downtown venues.

Screenings begin at 7 p.m. on Thursday, April 3, at Regal Parkway Place Theater and run through April 6 and include the first two films of Crossroads 2008 Global Lens Film Series, promoting cross-cultural understanding through cinema. Films from India and Argentina will be shown.

On Saturday, April 5, Crossroads will offer a free Children's Storyboards & Flipbooks workshop and a screening of movies made by kids sponsored by the Canton Film Office at the Mississippi Museum of Art. Other workshops include Youth Animation, Teen Filmmaking, Sound for Film, New Media, Film & Music: Legal Issues, and Indy-pendent Filmmaking, featuring two Mississippians who, as teenagers, made a nationally noted recreation of Raiders of the Lost Ark.

And don't miss the only film to win two awards at 2008's prestigious Sundance Film Festival! The Mississippi-made Ballast will screen Saturday night, with Mississippi-based cast and crew in attendance. Saturday's Awards Party at Hal & Mal's will recognize the best features, shorts, documentaries, student and youth films, animation and experimental films and music video.

ALL-ACCESS festival passes are available online at www.crossroadsfilmfest.com or by phone at          800-838-3006       . Passes are $65 ($55 for Crossroads members) and get you into all events.  The full schedule is available online here.

Best movie weapons of all time

A Jedi knight's lightsaber has been voted the top movie weapon, beating out Dirty Harry's Magnum .44 to the post in a 20th Century Fox poll of 2,000 film buffs.

The Star Wars illuminated sword heads a mixed bag of offensive items, including the Hattori Hanzo katana from Kill Bill, Oddjob's unfriendly bowler hat and Indy's bullwhip.

The full roll of honor is:

1. Lightsaber (Star Wars)
2. 44. Magnum (Dirty Harry)
3. Bullwhip (Indiana Jones)
4. Samurai sword (Kill Bill)
5. Chainsaw (Texas Chainsaw Massacre)
6. Golden Gun (The Man With The Golden Gun)
7. Bow and arrow (Robin Hood)
8. Machine gun (Scarface)
9. The Death Star (Star Wars)
10. Bowler hat (Goldfinger)

[ via Video ETA ]

Apple announces online movie rentals

This week, Apple rolled out first-run movie rentals on the iTunes store in the United States - it will roll out internationally later this year. There will be more than 1,000 movies for online rental through iTunes by the end of February, with prices of $2.99 for older movies and $3.99 for new releases. Users can watch instantly over a broadband Internet connection, or download and keep the movie for 30 days while having 24 hours to finish the movie once they begin watching.

New films won't be available for download until 30 days after the DVD is released.

Eight reasons to love National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation

I re-watched National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation recently to see if Quentin could watch it. It was PG-13 but I couldn't remember why it got the -13 rating. HINT: Language. (So he's going to have to wait a few more years for this one, unfortunately.)

But Mental Floss's magazine blog had some interesting trivia about the movie in a recent post that I didn't know:

• The assistant director of Christmas Vacation, Frank Capra III, is the grandson of the legendary Frank Capra, who directed It’s a Wonderful Life. (Russ is watching that movie on TV when his grandparents arrive.)
• Cousin Eddie went on to star in his own made-for-TV Christmas Vacation - Cousin Eddie’s Island Adventure.
• Aunt Bethany (“Is your house on fire, Clark?”) is played by Mae Questel, the voice of Betty Boop and Olive Oyl. Christmas Vacation was her last movie.