That is all.

larger view

I advertised for voice actors for the Japanese footage for Go-Onger on a website I frequent Monday and received several responses and submissions for parts. I was tooling around last night adding some of them to a small piece of footage to get an idea of how things would be.

I am posting the clip here, bear in mind it is rough.

Shooting should begin Wednesday of next week. I am quite excited to begin.

And Shawn Llorca has joined the cast as Frankie/Go-On Green and Allison Miles as Christina.

larger view

Go-Onger Production Diary 2

So I have explained what a fan film is, so on to business.

I have finished the first episode of ‘Go-Onger’ entitled “Go-On!”

The majority of the main cast has been assembled so I will bring you what there is to know about the good guys.

The story brings us five people from varied backgrounds who must overcome their differences and use given powers given to them to stop the Pollutix. The Pollutix are a race of evil pollution creatures from another reality who seek to conquer and enslave mankind of this reality, naturally.

Pace Johnson/Go-On Red - Wes Bloomquist

A writer for the Crystal City Caller. Tired of writing for tabloid. Tired of partying, tired of drinking. Just tired period. Pace wants out of the city and wants to get on at a real genuine publication. He sends out resumes constantly but no one will take him seriously because of his job with the Caller. Undaunted he keeps trying hoping something will pay off. He sees the Go-Onger as a chance to do some good in the world and throws himself completely into it.

Aaron Harper/Go-On Blue - Bj Lewis

The Caller's paparazzi guy. Loves digging into the dirt of people's private lives and putting them out for the world to see. He doesn't plan on giving that up any time soon for anyone. Doesn’t like the idea of anyone being perceived as better than he is. Has historically bad dealings with relationships.

DeDe Dickerson "Triple D"/Go-On Yellow - Leslie Wilber

Staff writer for the Caller. Loves a good drink and loves a good fight. She thinks Pace is a sellout for trying to get into the world of “corporate journalism” and enjoys being able to write about what she wants when she wants about who she wants. She sees Go-Onger as a chance to fight and not get arrested. She finds a better reason for it as things progress.

Christina Hughes - Allison Miles

An introverted young lady, she believes in aliens, UFO's and all that. She swears she has been talking to a being from another dimension. Turns out she is right and the link between the Go-Onger and their power source. She wants to be a part of the team and is a bit angry when she is not picked.

Joslyn Baker/Go-On Black - Aprill Brandon

A staff writer for the Crystal City Tribune, the legitimate city paper. She often runs into Pace and the gang at the local bar hangout. Can't stand the Caller. She gets roped into the being a Go-Onger along with the fifth person.

Frankie Beck/Go-On Green - Shawn Llorca

A gamer. He is approached in secret by Aircore to become Go-On Green. Her rejects being chosen initially. A sister of his was a member of a sentai team years earlier and was killed in action. Frankie doesn't want to follow the same path.

Go-Onger Production Diary

So in this online diary I will give updates on the status of filming of the Super Sentai fan film adaption of Engine Sentai Go-Onger.

What is a fan film you ask? A fan film is one made by fans. Simple. People have done them for years about a multitude of shows, books, movies, such as Star Wars, various comic book heroes, the Matrix, Indiana Jones, etc. The largest number I have seen are Star Wars films, a lot can be found at theforce.net.

The first one I became aware of was Dan Poole’s ‘Green Goblin’s Last Stand’ a fantastic fan film that is very faithful to the story is adapts. Shot on vhs for $400 bucks back in the mid-90s it’s still one of the best out there. My recent loves have been “World’s Finest,” “Grayson,” and “Batman: Deadend.”

larger view

So one of my co-workers scoffed at my geekiness and love of Power Rangers and moreso for Super Sentai. She just doesn't understand the coolness aspect of Sentai which origins date back to 1975 with Himitsu Sentai Goranger.

American audiences of course got their intro to sentai through Mighty Morphin Power Rangers in the early 90s, an adaption of the Japanese sentai, Kyoryu Sentai Zyu Ranger. Back then the chopped and spliced the Japanese footage to suit their needs for a given episode. Recent seasons have gotten more sophisticated and hi-tech with adoptions.

That's that.

Now the other thing is in the newsroom, reporters have these little Canon digital cameras lovingly referred to as 'point and clicks.' Well these point and clicks have a video setting I have been making use of as of late and I have decided to do a film project using only my point and click and editing on windows movie maker, complete no budget-try.

My subject a fan-made adaption of Engine Sentai Go-Onger. It centers on five people brought together to save the world from the armies of the Pollutix, who are bent on making our reality their own.

I have suckered--er convinced some co-workers to participate in the mini-series. I have assured them no spandex will need to be involved.

The first couple teasers are done, one you can see here. So be on the look out for this awesome new series from the guys and gals of Point/Click Prod.

From IMDB.com (a site I HATE by the way)

Toshiba today (Tuesday) formally announced the death of HD DVD, thereby ending its two-year-long battle with Sony over next-generation high-definition home video players. "We carefully assessed the long-term impact of continuing the so-called next generation format war and concluded that a swift decision will best help the market develop," Toshiba chief Atsutoshi Nishida told a Tokyo news conference. "It was a tough decision," he added.

 The company said that it plans to shut down its HD DVD research and manufacturing operations by the end of March. The decision leaves Sony's Blu-ray system as the sole high-definition consumer technology and may end a wait-and-see attitude that has stalled adoption of such systems in U.S. homes.

"With a single format, consumers may be more willing to buy high-definition DVD players, helping the market grow," Akio Mizutani, a Tokyo-based researcher at Mizuho Corporate Bank Ltd., told Bloomberg News. But several other analysts pointed out that stand-alone Blu-ray players cost around $400 (versus about $150 for HD DVD players) and that, with either system, a significant improvement in picture quality can be noticed by the average consumer only on the largest home-theater systems

After Wal-Mart said Blu-Ray only, you know HD was dead. I mean they were dead before then, but I mean dead dead.

Again I reiterate I don't really care all that much either way since I don't have a player yet, but one day I will and they I will have more than a blase opinion on the matter.

Okay, so while it's not exactly a movie movie, the Knight Rider pilot that aired on NBC last night was a TV MOVIE, so I can still discuss it, so ha I say!

Well it's been months since I first got word that they were giving Knight Rider a contemporary shot in the arm, I got a bit worried. I mean, have you seen  Knight Rider 2000 or Team Knight Rider? If you haven't count your blessings.

But this incarnation had Bourne Identity director Doug Liman on the production team. So that makes it a little easier to swallow.

In the pilot , Justin Bruening starred as the estranged son of Michael Knight, Mike Tracer. Deanna Russo played Tracer's one-time girlfriend and love interest, Sarah Graiman.

Bruce Davison co-stared as her father, physicist Charles Graiman, creator of the new KITT and possessing some knowledge and codes the bad guys want.

 KITT was portrayed as a black 550 HP Ford Shelby GT500KR Mustang. Val Kilmer was the voice for the new K.I.T.T. Mustang and Sydney Tamiia Poitier, daughter of Sidney Poitier, will play FBI agent Carrie Rivai.

I still am not exactly digging the new KITT, it's just not sleek enough, but ah well, what can you do? There were stupid illogical moments to be had of course. At times I was slapping my forehead and uttering a Homer Simpson-like "d'oh!", but I wasn't expecting Emmy Award winning stuff.

The best part for me was seeing The Hoff return for a cameo as Michael Knight. Good stuff and made it worth it for me.

Should the series get picked up in the fall it has some strides to make to get better.

...and it looks okay to me. I mean I confess I am not the biggest Indy fan, but I love http://movies.yahoo.com/mov...>Harrison Ford and the addition of http://movies.yahoo.com/mov...>Shia LeBeouf certainly pulls me in to as he is a great young actor.

And of course you can't too often go wrong with the directing of http://movies.yahoo.com/mov...>Steven Spielberg.

Should be chock full of adventure, laughs and awesome Indy whip action.

I mean it's no Iron Man or anything, but it will do.

...so it truly did my heart good when I saw that it was knocked out of first place at the box office this week. It's bad enough parents of kids ga ga over this girl spend hundreds and thousands of dollars on tickets to her shows, but to have a movie about her concert rake in as much as it did at the box office....

The only bad part about is the two movies that beat it suck. Fool's Gold is a lack luster attempt to harness the on-screen magic that Matthew McConaughey and  Kate Hudson had in the surprise hit, "How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days" (which I own, and I think is a good movie).

The other, Welcome Home Roscoe Jenkins, Martin Lawrence's latest starring vehicle...it's like hmm...let's see what happens when we take a comedian who has long since lost his solo box office drawing power, mix in a ton of well known black actors and comedians, Monique Imes, Michael Clarke Duncan, Mike Epps, Cedric The Entertainer, James Earl Jones, Margaret Avery, sprinkle on some slapstick comedy, some of our favorite black stereotypes, and bam! ---> Roscoe Jenkins.

There are far better ways to spend hours of your day than with these movies. Just go out and play with the kids, spend some time with your significant other, you know Valentine's Day is almost here.

Come back to the movies when good movies are there....and/or when Iron Man is there! (Not that I am completely biased about Iron Man or anything)

larger view

Mmm k, so in addition to reporting on all things education in Victoria, I have an interest in filmmaking. Shorts, features, animated, live action, I have written all sorts of projects. The majority of them have not gotten very far off the ground, due to crappy circumstances in most cases. I mean if it could have gone wrong for me it did. There are a couple shorts that have been done under my banner, Jigsaw Entertainment. One of them, 'the pact' i am including here. (It's not the final cut unfortunately)

Most recently I was in the early stages of trying to get a miniseries called "Party Girl" up and going, but things happened there as well. Undaunted, I regroup, rewrite and have a new project I am working on, "Red Lion"

Red Lion is the story of a young man who takes on the mantle dead vigilante to bring control to the streets, meaning to his life and-in his mind anyway-save his marriage.

I have asked a few co-workers to take on parts in the pilot episode. Depending on how that goes, I may do more episodes.

That's what I am doing, the purpose of the blog though is to see if there are others out there. Writers, directors, producers, anybody doing anything. I hate to think Victoria is the size that it is and there aren't like-minded people out there doing things cinematic.

I'd love to know you, talk to you, help you, bounce ideas off of you and vice versa. I'd like to see more on the amateur-aspiring professional filmmaking front here. I know it's here, I just have to find it.

I came across this article on 8 ways to cut back without sacrificing. "when times are tight—as they are now for many Americans facing declining home values, depressed stocks, and tighter credit markets"

 U.S. News asked budgeting experts for advice on how to make ends meet during tough times without sacrificing too many of life's pleasures. Among there top tips:

Host movie night. Going to the movies, especially if you're a popcorn fan, can easily cost $40 for two people. Instead, suggests Faye Griffiths-Smith, community leader for the American Association of Family and Consumer Sciences, rent a movie and invite friends over to watch.

And I was just wondering if anyone out there does this? Here at the paper we have a group of the Usual Suspects who get together for movie nights (although we haven't recently which I completely blame on Aprill) to watch a movie. Usually we skewer them MST3k-style. But it provides a good cheap time amongst friends.

Was just wondering if anyone out there holds movie nights with there friends and family.

If you don't. You should.

Holy $!$&! on a stick!

I knew this movie was going to be awesome when they tapped Jon Favreau to direct it. And the more I read about it, the more excited I became. Knowing how close to the source material they were going (WB/DC take notes) and the cast...Robert Downey Jr., as Tony Stark is just 100% spot on casting that you get once in a blue moon....Terrence Howard, Gwyneth Paltrow, Jeff Bridges....

And then the teaser emerged...the first shots of the Iron Man Mark I armor, with Sabbath's Iron Man playing in the background, beautiful

International Teaser

.the full trailer....beautiful and then seeing more shots of the Armored Avenger in the Super Bowl ad.....May 2nd...just can't get here fast enough.

I'm a bit late with my blog I will admit, I was a tad bit distraught last night. Don't get me wrong, I hate the Pats, but I wanted to see perfection. i wasn't alive for the '72 Phins, so I wanted to see this, but the Giants (even though the score doesn't reflect it) destroyed them...
But I digress....

Ah commercials, half the reason you watch the Big Game. I usually stick to movies but commercials in recent years have had all the buzz, all the star power and effort of any big budget action movie. 

Before Sunday I read a New York Times article that said advertisers were going with warmer softer advertisements for this year. With fire, giant rats beating people and multiple blows to a man's crotch I don't think they exactly succeeded in that.

While I could rehash each of them individually, I'll just give you my top three and the single worst Super Bowl commercial I have seen in a while....

1)Amp...while some people think a large man dancing with jumper cables attached to his nipples is going too far...I think it was the funniest thing in the world.

2) Justin Timberlake with this one I was scratching my head also, but it turned out to be a very humorous entry.

3) Pepsi Max...this had me scratching my head as they were playing What is love, the song synonymous with the SNL sketch and Roxbury movie. But after it was over I was definitely applauding it. Seeing the kid on the swing hit her sleeping dad and Chris Kattan’s “Stop it!”  at the end made it worthwhile.

Coke, Fed Ex, and Bud Light had a few good ones. The Macy's Day Parade bit from Coke was classic, almost enough to break into my top three.

The Budweiser training montage with the horse was just stupid. Despite my coworker thinking it worked, no it was not cool. It should have been used the year Rocky Balboa came out.

And the single stupidest flippin' commercial was the dog drinking out of the water bowl, and then we see Gatorade bottles and the tag line "man's best friend." It was stupid stupid stupid stupid. You have 30 seconds to wow us. You spent millions of dollars on those scant few seconds and that is the best you come up with?

E*trade was no....and the spitting up of the baby at the end...unnecessary.

But I am sure people will have differing opinions. And if you need a refresher, check the ads on myspace.com/superbowlads