Saw Baby Driver, directed by Edgar Wright, last week. Love it so much I downloaded the soundtrack to Spotify and listened to it every time I'm in the car. Last night, I saw A Ghost Story directed by David Lowery. To say it haunts me may be an understatement. I woke up still thinking about it.
Read MoreI watched Wonder Woman this past weekend and it is - hands down - my most favorite Superhero film of all time! Here's Matt Workman's take on the cinematography of Wonder Woman which consists mostly of Steadicam shots, practicals and natural lighting. So cool!
This is my most favorite short film of all time. It's visually stunning and the story - told without any dialogue - is cute and meaningful. Enjoy this Piper trailer!
My bro surprised me with a special treat tonight. We had dinner at Ðôi Ðũa, a Vietnamese pop-up tasting series held at Shopkeepers Gallery in Northeast D.C. The entire evening was so "hygge." Really. Candlelight everywhere, great company and ... the food! OMG! The food was delicious, delicate and beautiful! I felt like I was attending one of those cozy Kinfolk dinners. The dishes were creatively prepared and gorgeously presented by Anna Vocaturo and Sarah Bui, chefs and owners of Ðôi Ðũa. I've had Vietnamese food all my life and it's one of favorite cuisines of all time. But I've never had anything quite like this. By the way in case you're wondering, "Ðôi Ðũa" means "a pair of chopsticks."
Anna Vocaturo and Sarah Bui, gracious and talented chefs and owners of Doi Dua.
I think it's time to post a few lists from Cahiers Du Cinema, oui?
This winter has been a strange one. We barely get any snow and then the weather at times was unseasonably warm even though it was only February or early March. On one of those late, warm afternoons, I went for a walk around Burke Lake, saw a beautiful strange bird fishing for dinner, and experience Days of Heaven moments which Terence Malick himself would approve.
It took Christopher Nolan about a year to make his first feature film Following on the weekends with his friends. How inspiring is that? So when my friend wrote a screenplay for Finding Rachel, we all decided to get together for a weekend to shoot a few scenes, even though the script was not entirely finished ... yet. We were a tiny cast & crew of four. Can't tell you much more about the story other than it's a romantic comedy loosely based on something that happened in real life.
I'm stoked to be the DP for Finding Rachel and edited a few scenes last night. Hopefully, we can finish this project one day. For now, here's a sneak peek at Finding Rachel, written and directed by Nora Hoang, starring Alex Chhang, sound & boom operated by Kathy Eng. All are close friends of mine. By the way, Alex is also one of the best Muay Thai fighters I know!
We all know that Terence Malick films are not for everyone. Those who love them, LOVE them. Those who don't get them, can't stand them. I'm in the first category. Sometimes even when I don't get them, I still love them. Malick is well-known for his philosophical visual storytelling that showcases nature in her finest, most awe-inspiring moments. This video by Jacob T. Swinney demos just that. You'll have fun trying to guess which shots are from a Malick film and which shots are from a nature documentary. Have to admit ... I was a wrong a few times, huge Malick fan that I am.
With the 2017 Academy Award Ceremony not too far away, it's time to reflect on all the previous winners ...
From 1927 to 2016 - the very best of cinematography.
This face! My epic crush with Cillian Murphy continues ...
One of my top 10 favorite films of all time is Frances Ha, written by Noah Baumbach (who also directed the movie) and Greta Gerwig (who also starred in it). It was shot in beautiful, silvery black & white tones using Canon 5D Mark II cameras.
Here's a video essay on the visual language of Frances Ha by the good folks of Framed.
If you haven't seen the movie yet, please please please put it on your Netflix queue.
If you're a Wes Anderson die-hard fan like me, this one's for you!
One of my most favorite films of 2016, all the talk you hear about La La Land is all true. Everything about this movie is just ... magical!
That's a mouthful of a title. But if you follow my blog, you know I'm a huge huge fan of Brandon Li, the talented nomadic filmmaker. His latest short film is Hong Kong Strong. It is a gorgeous roller coast ride through the iconic city.
To start off, you can watch Hong Kong Strong here.
And here's Brandon's Director's Commentary:
And there's also a commentary by Steven Richard Davis, the composer of Hong Kong Strong:
If you're totally inspired now to go out there and make your own beautiful travel films, here's a bit of advice for filmmakers from Brandon.
Gus Van Sant shared his six rules of moviemaking with Moviemaker Magazine recently.
Rule No. 6 on Photography is my favorite:
Don’t get cuckoo with the lights; you don’t really need them anymore. Film stocks today can handle wildly different color temperatures and low light levels. Keep the pace lively. Don’t waste too much time making the shot look perfect, moving objects on surfaces, playing with the blocking—just shoot it. Don’t over-think. Get a really good director of photography, but don’t fight with him. He has the same control over you that you have over the actors, so he can make you cry.
The remaining five rules are:
1. Be strong. Confident. Get enough sleep. And relax.
2. Stand up for your ideas. Be direct, as in being a director. Take it easy, but don’t let them tell you how to make your movie.
3. Take control of the budget. Go through the budget line by line, and decide if the items in there are things that you really need—or need more of.
4. Make the directions clear and simple for your actors.
5. Take liberties with the script. It's not written in stone.
For more details, check out this Moviemaker Magazine's article.
I'm reading Werner Herzog's book Werner Herzog: A Guide for the Perplexed, a 592-page book full of fabulous passages on life and the art of filmmaking.
Werner Herzog - image via Google.
Here's my favorite quote-of-the-day from Mr. Herzog, a self-taught filmmaker who saw his first movie at the age of 11:
“The best advice I can offer to those heading into the world of film is not to wait for the system to finance your projects and for others to decide your fate. If you can’t afford to make a million-dollar film, raise $10,000 and produce it yourself. That’s all you need to make a feature film these days. ”
I discovered Cameron Douglas, a talented musician based in London, totally by chance today on sofarsounds.com.
Cameron Douglas, performing at a Sofar London event. Image via Google.
After my sister told me about sofarsounds.com, a website that brings together musicians and music lovers everywhere in the world, I started browsing their list of international musicians. And soon enough, I stumbled upon a couple of YouTube videos featuring Cameron Douglas.
On their site, Sofar describes their mission as:
“Bringing the magic back to live music. Amazing artists in intimate spaces, performing stripped-back sets to carefully curated audiences. Please, arrive on time, stay to the end. Sit down, settle in and just listen. You’re gonna love it.”
And you will! When you sign-up to attend a Sofar event, you won't know who will be performing until close to the day of. The live music event can be hosted anywhere, and usually in an intimate setting such as someone's home or rooftop.
A Sofar performance on a rooftop - image via sofarsounds.com.
It's an event made possible by music lovers for music lovers! My sister is attending one tomorrow and promised to tell me all about it!
When I'm next in London, I hope Cameron will be there performing again.
