Houdini the Movie Star

This often comes as a surprise to people, so it's good that the situation will soon be rectified with this release from Kino.

Wow, Kino is getting smart. They even have a trailer for it. I forgot to mention that the little I've seen already was extremely cheesy. But it's fun cheesy. I'm really glad this has the tin-can robot so you can see what I'm talking about:



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fh0F1glgKBk

The Making of Killer iPod Comment

Is this brilliant or insane? I lean towards brilliant.

Keep in mind that this is "The Making of Killer iPod Comment", followed immediately by the actual film itself "Killer iPod Comment." And in total it is only 2:23! That's a lot of cinema in one short time span.



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tuqLcBlk0gE

For the record, I'm unclear on the "Comment" part of the title. When I saw a screening with the filmmakers IN PERSON (Can you believe it?! I am soooo lucky!!), I thought they introduced it as simply "The Making of Killer iPod."

Mike Gilbert on Cinema

Wasn't that another fun world premiere movie event?!
Thanks again to Dennis Cozzalio at Sergio Leone and the Infield Fly Rule for hosting it and to everyone who participated by watching and commenting!

For posterity, here is the updated link to Dennis's broadcast and comments section:
http://sergioleoneifr.blogspot.com/2008/03/now-playing-mike-gilbert-on-cinema.html

Here also is the direct YouTube link:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A4LQqGVcwXQ
(It's helpful to go there and rate it and comment so it gets more attention.)

Spread the word on Mike Gilbert and this movie if you enjoyed it!

Dennis has got another great post up right now about all the amazing cinema events going on in L.A. His post reminded me that I had been considering doing a weekend roundup of the best screenings to go to as a weekly feature here. I may still do that. In the meantime, check out my hopefully useful L.A. Film Calendar links on my sidebar.

World Premiere Movie!

My latest short film, "Mike Gilbert on Cinema", will debut tomorrow, Wednesday March 5 at noon (Pacific time) on my friend Dennis Cozzalio's Web site, Sergio Leone and the Infield Fly Rule.

Be sure to tune in there tomorrow at noon in order to see the film, and feel free to leave a comment.

Here's the official announcement:

http://sergioleoneifr.blogspot.com/2008/03/premiering-tomorrow-mike-gilbert-on.html

Thanks to Dennis for hosting yet another zany sight-unseen premiere!

1906 Color Film About Scottish Tartans!

Yes, that's right, a complete 2-and-a-half-minute 1906 color film about Scottish tartans. It has a soothing, meditative effect. Enjoy!



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IbWtviN4BG0

The film is from the BFI's YouTube page (which came to my attention courtesy of The Bioscope). The fascinating technical aspect is the very early color film process, which The Bioscope has recently dedicated a lot of posts to. Here is the blurb about the tartan film from the BFI's YouTube page:

It's common knowledge that Scotsmen are macho enough to pull off wearing a skirt - perhaps it's all that caber-tossing. This disarmingly simple film concentrates on the tartan cloths of various clans rather than the men who wore them, and is an early filmic reminder of their huge importance to both Scottish national identity and the thriving tourist industry north of the border.

The film's unique selling point was that pioneering filmmaker G. A. Smith showed off the vibrant designs in Kinemacolor, among the earliest colour film processes that didn't involve meticulous hand-painting. And no dangly bits in sight. (Simon McCallum)

For more information about filmmaker G. A. Smith see http://www.screenonline.org.uk/people...

You can watch almost 1000 other complete films and TV programmes at the Mediatheque at BFI Southbank - http://www.bfi.org.uk/mediatheque