Now playing.

Stacey and I go to the movies a lot. If we weren't shooting Interplanetary, we'd probably go even more often (we caught four flicks while vacationing in NYC).

I've been thinking about posting short movie reviews, to spread the word about movies worth catching (or avoiding, as the case may be). But then I thought, "who wants to hear an amateur movie director complaining about the work of professional movie directors?" So maybe it makes more sense to just post links to movie reviews I agree with.

Having said all that, Stacey and I saw Superbad today, and it lives up to the hype. For more, check out Roger Ebert's 3.5 star review.

While we're at it, here are a few other flicks I've seen recently...

Becoming Jane

Stardust

Sunshine

Ratatouille

The Ten

The Simpsons

The long play.

For anybody who can't get enough of Lisa Mason and me talking about movies and stuff, here's the uncut version of our recent interview (in three parts):

Part 1
Part 2
Part 3

Lisa's liner notes...

Included in the interview: The extended Tarkin discussion! Chance slams his day job! Lisa derails the entire interview with a plea for fudge from Desoto Caverns! Plus a lot of really fabulous stories of filmmaking that for corporate radio reasons, didn't make it to the final cut!

If you listen, please pardon my first few seconds on mic. It took me a little while to get going that morning.

And thanks again to Lisa, not only for the interview, but also for taking the time to put together two versions of it!

Maybe Al Gore is right.

Earlier today, Stacey and I returned from a trip to New York City. We went up to see the Police and visit with a few pals, including Paul, Andrew, Robb, and Carol. Everybody apologized for the weather. "I hate you guys came up right when it's getting so darned hot outside."

I tell you, those guys don't know from hot. Since we cut off the AC before we left last week, it was 95 degrees inside the condo when we got home. The Birmingham high for the day was in the triple digits, and it's apparently heading that way again tomorrow.

I know it's summer in Alabama and everything, but damn.

The NYC trip was Stacey's and my first real time off in weeks. It was nice, but tomorrow we go back to the day jobs, and this weekend we go back to work on Interplanetary. I'm already thinking we should have stayed in NYC a little longer.

Alternate interview file.

Here's a direct download version of the recently-posted interview with Lisa Mason...

http://209.12.142.75/interview_w_lisa.mp3

Hopefully, it will work for anybody who had problems with the streaming version.

EDIT: Link changed to reflect new server address (2008-Oct-01).

EDIT: Link changed due to MP3 file being moved to a different server (2007-Dec-31).

A few photos from last weekend.

All wet.

We shot Saturday and Sunday, and environmental conditions were miserable both days. The heat was one thing, but the humidity... It was so humid our paper and gaffer tape wouldn't stick and our makeup effect glue wouldn't stick (it's hard to make a movie without adhesives). Our film was sticky, which wasn't good because it jammed up the camera magazine. I mean, it was so humid I thought it might start raining inside the warehouse. Still, I still had a great time.

We fired off real big blanks in a real big working gun. We pretended to rip off a guy's arm. Somebody flailed around with a simulated missile in their simulated mouth. We had fog machines and crazy lighting, a dune buggy, airlock doors, and fake blood all over the place. It felt like we were a bunch of 12-year-olds making movies in somebody's parents' basement.

The only bad thing was we didn't get everything done. I figure we still have about two pages of stuff to shoot at Atrox. So we'll try again weekend after next.

Talking Interplanetary.

The lovely and talented Lisa Mason, who plays "Lori" in Interplanetary, is also a morning DJ for 106.9 FM ("The Eagle") here in Birmingham. She recently invited me over to the radio station for an interview about Interplanetary, Hide and Creep, and all other things Crewless.

You can hear the interview at the Eagle web site, via the link at the bottom of Lisa's page.

You can also try this direct link.

As I'm known to ramble, especially when talking about movies, the interview went on for 30 or 40 minutes. But don't worry -- Lisa was kind enough to edit the interview down to a much more reasonable running time.

Thanks to Lisa for all the work she did setting up, conducting, and editing the interview. Hopefully, we'll do another one when Interplanetary is actually finished and ready to premiere.