The Third Decade

Louie

This is a great video. I've seen this man biking around town before, but never gave much thought about his background story. I hope the filmmaker does more videos about people around town.

Louie from Brian Moore on Vimeo.

Found on UniversalHub.

Kevin Costner Sounds like a Kennedy

The Company Men is back on the block filming again. On my way to work this morning, one of the crew stopped me from walking up the street for a few minutes so that I wouldn't walk into one of the shots. While waiting, I watched Ben Affleck and Kevin Costner film a scene. I couldn't hear Affleck, but Costner was putting on an accent that makes him sound like a Kennedy. The funny thing is that they're both playing construction workers. Costner's character may be the poshest construction worker in Boston when this movie comes out.

If I were a teenage girl, I might swoon.

Ben Affleck waved at me from inside his car as it drove past me this morning. I guess that makes up for the slower-than-normal cable. I'd still prefer to take photos, though. Or at least for us neighbors to get passes to the opening. I'm just sayin'.

I saw Ben Affleck this morning.

A week ago when I heard that a movie would be filming on my street (at the house you see in the photo) I got a little excited. I thought it would be cool to catch a glimpse of a star or two and see what a production looked like in action.

Well, that feeling is gone. Filming began early this morning and it's not as wondrous as I would have liked. First I woke up to find my high speed internet crawling at the speed of dial-up. News sites took forever to load and trying to send and receive emails was a chore. I suppose no one told Comcast there'd be a sudden spike in usage in Roxbury.

Anyway, I took my camera with me to work figuring that I could at least get some shots of the filming and perhaps a star. When I saw Ben Affleck get out of a car, I pulled out my camera but was swiftly told that photography was not allowed. No explanation was given, but I suppose it's to prevent leaks. Still, aren't I allowed to take photos from a public street? I wasn't even sure if the street was still "public" since the crew was using both sides for two blocks. I live and work on the same street but had to ask to walk through since there was no space allocated as a public thoroughfare and no previous notice that pedestrians might not be allowed to pass through.

Hollywood in Roxbury

Today's Globe's article about soon-to-be-released movies that were filmed in Massachusetts reminded me about yet another movie about to be filmed here soon. This afternoon I heard that The Company Man, starring Ben Affleck, Tommy Lee Jones, and Kevin Costner, will do some filming at the First Church in Roxbury on April 13-14. I don't know if the stars themselves will be there, but Affleck has a history of showing up around town, so I wouldn't be surprised if he made an appearance. Hopefully that's also the week of school vacation. Otherwise, I can imagine the traffic nightmares outweighing the cool factor almost immediately.

Madea Goes to Jail, Black Folks Expected to Lose Their Damn Minds.

I'm all for publicity stunts, but I think Lionsgate Films was about to cross the barriers of good taste.

Tyler Perry's Madea Goes to Jail will be released soon. As part of their marketing for the movie, the film studio issued a press release this morning asking for people to show up and stage a mock protest in favor of Madea's release (note, the rally was cancelled this afternoon due to inclement weather). The "protest" was set to happen at 7:30am tomorrow at the intersection of Beacon and Park Streets, with the Fox morning news expected to pick up the story.

That intersection, however, is also where the Robert Gould Shaw Memorial and the Statehouse are. Think about it. Is that really an appropriate location for this kind of publicity stunt? The soldiers from the Massachusetts 54th Regiment (which are featured in the Shaw Memorial) would be spinning in their graves. I also wouldn't be surprised if anyone who's ever protested for civil, marriage, or other rights in front of the Statehouse might feel that Lionsgate is taking an important and powerful local symbol and reducing it to crass commercialism. Besides that, I would hate to think that Deval Patrick, Gloria Fox, or any of the other Black legislators would show up - purposely or accidentally - to add an air of officialty to the event.

Again, I'm all for publicity stunts. But, Lionsgate, please consider the context a little more next time. Yes, Fox news has a studio at that corner. But they could just as easily walk down to Park Street if the rally were there. Or even City Hall. I'm just sayin'.

Movie Shoot at the Cathedral

I thought there'd be some news about this by now, but I haven't seen any yet.

There was a movie shoot last night (Friday night) on Washington St. in front of the Cathedral of the Holy Cross in the South End. Washington St. was blocked off and a crowd of people stood on the sidewalk watching as a crane created a rainy scene and film crew recorded the action. It looked like the actors were walking in or out of Foodies, but I was driving and couldn't get a better look. Is Mel Gibson still in town or is this something different?

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Mel Gibson Possibly in Roxbury

Is it me or does Mel Gibson seem to be filming everywhere these days? I first heard he was coming here sometime over the summer. Apparently residents in Roslindale were upset about it...although I can't remember why at this point. Then, fast forward to last week when commuters were inconvenienced by hour-long delays on the MassPike. Today, I heard his name again when I happened upon a film crew set up at the Crosstown Center in Roxbury. I didn't see Mel himself, but everyone was waiting around for someone to arrive and "Mr. Gibson" was the only name with star power that I heard. 

This must be some movie to take this long to film and be in so many places around the area. I snapped a photo of the scene with my cell phone. Pardon the poor quality.

Miracle at St. Anna

Last night I had the pleasure of attending an advance screening for Spike Lee's new movie Miracle at St. Anna. With Inside Man under his belt and Miracle at St. Anna coming up, I like the scope Spike is beginning to encompass in his movies. His central focus is still on the Black American experience and perspective, but he's moving beyond the community's internal divisions and conflicts and exploring individual strengths and accomplishments. Let's hope he continues on this path because I think this is some of his best work in years.

Miracle at St. Anna, although 166 minutes, is so captivating that I had no idea 2 hours had passed by. The movie starts off in the present day and then travels back to 1944 to explain why the present turned out the way it did. I thought the modern-day scenes were a little weak and felt forced. Otherwise, the film does an excellent job at exploring the tension, confusion, and anger at the heart of being a Black soldier fighting in Italy in WWII. Spike took his time to develop the characters, explore the forces which shaped them, and make us feel connected to them. The audience was so caught up in the movie, that no one spoke or got up in the middle, both of which are rare for long movies, especially with a majority-Black audience.

So, with this weekend forecast to be a washout and McCain threatening not to debate Obama, check out this movie. I think it's one people will be talking about for a while.

Roxbury Film Festival 2008

I'm glad to see that Bostonist wrote a post about the Roxbury Film Festival. Overall, I've been surprised by the lack of posting local bloggers have done about the film festival. Independent artists - whether writers, filmmakers, or musicians - should do a lot more to support each other. One item I'd like to point out with Bostonist the post, particularly the title, is that the films are by, for, and about all people of color, not just the Black community. The Black perspective is heavily represented, but there are also films with Asian and Latino perspectives, too.

At any rate, I should add that This is the Life, the film featured in the still in the post, was fantastic! It offered a look at West Coast hip hop that opened my eyes to the movement which inspired the music of the famous artists we know now while simultaneously leaving behind the originators of the style. A good analogy might be the elevation of Elvis Presley while the blues artists he emulated lived in obscurity.

Anyway, get out and make discoveries of your own. There are a lot of films scheduled for this weekend and it looks like many of them will be well worth the price of admission.