Comedy Film Movie Review - Pineapple Express

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The Plot Thickens as Madeleine McCann Mystery Continues

An unbiased look at the events surrounding the tragic disappearance of Madeleine McCann.

In the UK the only thing on the front page of our newspapers recently has been the story revolving around the tragic disappearance of 4 year old Madeleine McCann 127 Days ago. The beautiful little girl with the unmistakable teardrop shaped flaw in her retina (See pic below) is still missing and needs to be found.

The tot disappeared from an apartment in Portugal whilst the family were holidaying there and since then Kate and Gerry McCann have gone through what can only be described as every parent’s worst nightmare. The nation has been swept up in a wave of support for the family, each one of us desperate for Maddie to be found safe and well. Posters have been plastered in shops, towns, business and websites in hope that someone somewhere will give the police some kind of clue to work from.

Whilst undoubtedly everyone feels the pain that this family is going through there has also been a wave of controversy sweeping the case, first beginning when it was revealed that the children had been left unsupervised in their room.

Here is a quote from a recent article in ‘The Sun Newspaper’ that explains it much better than I can. I will also leave full links back to The Sun at the bottom of this article for people to view the full article details for themselves.

“Kate and Gerry left her (Maddie) and their twins Sean and Amelie, two, asleep in the apartment at the Mark Warner Ocean Club complex in the resort of Praia da Luz, on the Algarve.The couple went and sat 50 yards away to dine with friends at a restaurant within the site. They chose not to use the free babysitter service available because they did not want to leave their youngsters alone with a stranger. Instead, each adult in the party of nine would check the children every ten to 15 minutes. Critically, the patio doors were left open so they could get in and out of the apartment with ease.” Source - Online Reporter for http://www.thesun.co.uk

Now as a parent, I cannot help but think it was an irresponsible thing to do, I know the room was extremely close to where the adults were dining but I still could never have risked it. I don’t know about any of you?

Regardless of what we may think, I suppose it is not really our place to judge, this couple have been to hell and back recently and they certainly don’t need people condemning them for something I’m sure they have now realised wasn’t the best of decisions.

Something that does bug me about the whole case though is how did the rest of the children not hear anything? Surely if someone had come into the room and ‘taken’ Maddie she would have made a noise, or whoever it was would have made a noise? This has lead people to think that maybe she knew her abductor. If in fact this is actually even what happened. We are of course still none the wiser.

In a twist of events recently Maddie’s parents have been questioned, I know a lot of people had their doubts about the sincerity of the McCanns from the beginning, most people I have spoken to have commented on Kate’s “Lack of emotion” during the case and how she seemed to be handling things better than any of them would have imagined themselves coping. Again, how would we ever know unless (God forbid) it happened to us? We all react to stress and devastation in different ways, maybe until Maddie is found she feels she has to be strong for the sake of her other children? Who knows?… None of us.

There are a few elements of the McCanns story which don’t make sense though, I’m going to link you to an article (again from TheSun.co.uk) which shows the list of questions asked to Kate McCann whilst she was held for questioning:
http://www.thesun.co.uk/article/0,,2005320001-2007411055,00.html

After reading the article above what did you think to the questions? I must admit, some of those do make me stop and think for a second, whilst I would never outright point the finger at anyone I can definately see why there are some issues that need to be cleared up.

I think that regardless of what any of us THINK happened we should try to remember the things that we do know for sure. Madeleine McCann is a 4 year old child who is missing and needs to be found.

Obviously police have to explore all angles of the case and if that includes questioning the parents then so be it, let’s just remember this doesn’t automatically make them guilty.

If I’m completely honest, I do find myself wondering if we will ever know what truly happened to Maddie but like everyone else I am hoping beyond hope that somehow she will be found alive.

If you want to read more about Maddie’s disappearance here are a few direct links. The official find Madeleine site is the first link on the list. Remember, if anyone has any details that can help, the numbers to call are there as well as pictures to print off and display. The more awareness the case receives the more chance there is that Maddie will be recognised.

http://www.bringmadeleinehome.com/
http://madeleine.ceopupload.com/
http://news.bbc.co.uk/
http://www.thesun.co.uk

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Quest for a Video Blog - What would you like to see?

This website has become very popular over the last 6 months (shortly after I released Boy Who Never Slept) I get a lot of traffic and responses from my blog posts on movies and filmmaking and of course from my filmmaking endeavors which include my first movie release of BWNS.

Infact “Boy Who Never Slept” has become a keyword of sorts with lots of daily searches for it’s proper name. With the increased popularity (thank you readers) I’ve started to receive a steady stream of correspondence from filmmakers, fans, students and random surfers sending me everything from encouragement to, to story ideas, to movie clips and filmmaking advice

It’s so cool and I’m very happy that it’s generated this response. I’m going to be launching a video blog as soon as I can and I need YOUR INPUT. Read more

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Pan’s Labyrinth Movie Review Analysis Commentary Guillermo Del Toro

This film will probably win an Oscar and go down in history as one of the greatest movies ever made and very deservingly. When I went to see Pan’s Labyrinth at the theaters I had heard very little about it. I just happened to check rotten tomatoes and my jaw dropped with the rating of 99%. I purposely shut the window and didn’t read any of the reviews, because didn’t want to spoil it for myself. By reading in-depth reviews ahead a time you’ll ruin some of the mystery and suspense a movie can bring to you.

Wow, was I surprised. For whatever reasons I thought it may be kina like a kids movie, it’s not. It’s rated R and is an intertwine of dark fairy tale worlds with crazy monsters and stunning special effects and a dark “real” world of war and destruction. The interweaving and visual effects make this movie so effective. It’s a film that has impressed basically every film critic, and yes I mean every. Doesn’t that tell you enough right there? Read more

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Two Short Stories from Another Writer / Artist named Solomon Rothman

I recently was able to correspond with Solomon Rothman and I’m not talking about myself. It turns out that a sculptor / artist / screenwriter/ actor / all around talented individual - shares my same name and is living in New York. His history is very impressive including being the former art director for Will Eisner Productions.

Recently we exchanged a few e-mails and after visiting his website (I had been there before and had remembered some very cool sculptures) I read two of his short stories.

” A Walk in the Snow” and “A Wake Up Call In The Bronx.” After reading both those storys my my reaction was (quoted from an e-mail to Sol)

” Wow!, they were extremely vivid and intense. Your rich descriptions, mixed with the perspective of yourself as a boy made them especially effective.”

So I suggest you read them, but you should note: they contain adult subject matter and aren’t for children. Sol describes “A Walk in the Snow” on his website as “This is a Christmas story… not the usual Christmas story. It’s seen through the eyes and heart of an abused little boy.”

[tags]Solomon Rothman, short stories[/tags]

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THANKS to New Advertisers, I finally have a budget of sorts for another film

THANKS to New Advertisers, I finally have a budget (of sorts) for another film

I’d like to thank everyone who has ever purchased a text ad on this site or PPC advertising (google adwords). Recently there has been an explosion of new advertisers, enough to produce another film with somewhat of a budget (still a no budget movie, but if this level of advertising continues I’ll have enough to pay for an HD camera, sound equipment, meals for the actors, etc)
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Is Second Life a Creative Virtual World or Self Imposed Matrix?

When I was reading through the blog at Haxan films I ran into an interesting post about how the filmmaker is releasing a screening of the movie altered in “Second Life“, at a virtual drive up theater. Whoa, that’s weird, but cool, but weird. Releasing a real movie that no one has seen, to play in a virtual drive through theater, where virtual characters will watch it on screen with humans sited at computers watching it under the persona of their Second Life character.

Crazy stuff. I’ve been seeing the online interactive video game universe known as Second Life pop up increasingly often on CNN, and wired news and decided to give it a bit of thought on this post. Part of me sees the trend as a disturbing regression into a fake or virtual world, like a self imposed matrix and stirs up some haunting images that would work well in a sci-fi / horror film and would prob dark uses of technology.
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Remastering the Sound for Boy Who Never Slept - Correspondence with Douglas

The following is an e-mail I recieved from Douglas concerning improving the sound for BWNS. My reponse is also posted below:

well i did enjoy the film where as the video quality is as good as its gonna get but your audio can be inproved alot and easily. If you are intrested I can remaster it for u or teach you how. I am not in it for the money but any lil bit helps, I think you got a great story and should be told the best way possible. Read more

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Sex Objects and Examples of Bad Website Graphic Design

One year ago I wrote a brief article entitled “Examples of Bad Website Graphic Design” (copy of article on this website). Through article marketing, it was sydicated on a number of different sites including webdesign.org. I recieved the following comment on that article, which raises questions about my intended audience and woman as sexual objects. I’ve posted my reply below and I welcome your response.

Estela writes

Do you think you could you take off the comment about “People aren’t necessarily going to read the text of your website just because a girl in a bikini is on it” from your “Examples of Bad Web Site Graphic Design” article on webdesign.org? As a “girl” webdesigner, I feel like you aren’t addressing me in your article. Instead of contributing to the idea that women and girls are sex objects, why don’t you write to an audience of ALL people (male, female, etc)? That sentence sort of spoiled the rest of the article for me.

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