Yobi Film Results

The results are in - I just wanted to let everyone know that I finished 2nd place in the Yobi Film Contest. While not the top prize, I'm still really happy about the outcome and had my expectations far exceeded.

It's been a long process that many of you have seen play out on my blog, but even 2nd place feels amazing. In this case, I felt the first place winner really did deserve it so I really am satisfied to have made it as far as I did. The show of support was incredible and I owe that all to you guys. Your votes helped me outlast 38 other filmmakers, which is no small feat.

With the next season of Yobi starting up I think I'll take this summer to come up with a brand new, more ambitious short to try my luck at the top spot for a third time. First season I finished 6th, Second season in 2nd place, maybe 3rd times the charm?

Anyway, I just wanted to say thank you one more time for making the experience as memorable as it was. I'm actually very optimistic for everything going ahead in the next few months - including new film ideas.

With over 170,000 video views on the Geology Student alone it's tough to feel bad. Thanks for everything!

Movie Sounds Central

If you're anything like me you enjoy revisiting your favorite flicks. It's why I was so easily entertained by Movie Sounds Central, a site that lists numerous popular films and allows you to listen to audio clips of some of the best quotes from each.

A few of my personal favs include Planes, Trains, and Automobiles, Spaceballs, and Swingers. I practically know these movies off by heart already, but it's fun listening to the clips and trying to remember how the scene actually played out. It's not a bad way to waste a few minutes if you've got 'em.

Check out the Movie Sounds Central index here.

"Commence operation VACU-SUCK" - Spaceballs

E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial (1982)

One of the greatest buddy movies of all-time, Steven Spielberg's E.T. (1982) makes my list of Desert Island Flicks for numerous reasons.

E.T. was one of the very first movies I remember seeing as a kid. It seemed to perfectly capture the adventure and mystery of finding an alien while maintaining the perspective of a wide-eyed kid like Elliott. It made the world seem bigger, while reminding us that there's nothing quite like home.

The unlikely friendship between Elliott and E.T. is just as entertaining and heart-felt today as it was over 25 years ago. Finding a movie that holds up from childhood to adulthood is rare, and in my experience is full of more disappointment than surprise - but maybe I was destined to love E.T. from the beginning. As a kid, even before I even knew E.T. was a movie, we had various E.T. toys in the house. Born in 1984, my age timed me well for the releases on VHS. If E.T. was good enough as a plastic figurine, it was only cooler when I first saw him move.
 

By all accounts, E.T. is and was a blockbuster success so I'm hardly the first person to bring it to your attention. However, you may find yourself wondering what E.T. is like after all these years. It was actually someone elses' review that had me pop in the DVD again. Here's the excerpt from Collin Souter's article that sparked my interest:
 
"I believe in a good time as well as a thought-provoking challenge. I have always said that the best films are those that manage to be both (and by “good time,” I mean a laugh and a cry, because, let’s face it suckers, we secretly love to cry at the movies). “E.T.” may not be an intellectual’s smorgasbord, but it does showcase a director at the very top of his game. By the time Spielberg made “E.T.,” he had learned all his lessons from his previous hits (“Jaws,” “Close Encounters,” “Raiders of the Lost Ark”) and misses (“1941,” which I know is debatable). For this movie, he turned inward, put his camera at child-eye level and went for the quiet moments whenever he could. And, still, he didn’t let us leave the theater until we felt as though we had just been on the greatest roller-coaster ride of our lives". 

Spielberg is what pulls me even closer to this film now. What I've always respected in his work is, quite simply, his storytelling. Be it dinosaurs, sharks, raiders or aliens, it all makes me feel like I'm watching the work of someone who really knows what it's like to dream big, to imagine, and to take full advantage of what the movies are and can be. There's no doubt that E.T. embodies this spirit.

I think Spielberg's intent is to surprise and please his audience by building on classic concepts and universal themes - friendship, love, loss, growing up, etc. His characters and subjects have been constructed (sometimes literally) so well that they become destined for countless pop culture references. As one of the most bankable directors in history he's clearly been doing something right, and I find it inspiring to immerse myself in the work of a director that managed to take the mainstream route to success without sacrificing quality or originality.
 
E.T. is a simple but powerful story, with endearing characters, an underlying theme of tolerance and friendship. It makes me feel like a kid when I watch it, not just because I was when I first saw it, but because the film captures that innocence and playfulness that brings out the kid in all of us. It really is an amazing example of inspired storytelling and direction.
 
And you want to talk legacy? Who didn't pretend their bike could fly?