Author: shelby

Urban Nights Insider 4 – Late Night Footage

After completing filming for Urban Nights segment Late Night Stranger a couple of weeks ago – see the Urban Nights blog for details – It was decided that some behind-the-scenes footage I took on the set should become the fourth episode of the series Urban Nights Insider.

This episode features a short message from Producer Shelby Jones (me!), and some behind-the-scenes footage from The Late Night Stranger that I shot. It’s really funny! =)

I plan to continue making episodes to keep everyone updated with current Urban Nights progress. As mentioned earlier, the official Urban Nights blog is also a great resource.

February 6, 2009
Weekend Box Office: Jan. 16-19

Almost up to to date with this series! Keep your fingers crossed!

Some more big numbers from January, this time from the weekend of January 16-19. We have the premiere of Paul Blart: Mall Cop with a huge $39.2 million.

Sharply dropping off from first place to land in second is Gran Torino with $25.6 million. My Bloody Valentine 3-D edges Biggie Smalls tribute Notorious for second with a $700,000 advantage.

Finishing out the top five is the children’s film Hotel for Dogs, which earned $22.9 million.

Not one film in the top five this weekend grossed any less than $20 million. That’d be fine in my account any day, so the execs must be loving it!

Weekend Top 5:

Statistics are provided by Box Office Mojo

January 25, 2009
Weekend Box Office: Jan. 9-11

Still playing catch-up with the Weekend Box Office! Sorry!

Starting off January strong, we have Clint Eastwood in Gran Torino, which grossed $29.5 million in its opening weekend.

Bride Wars starts off at just over $21 million for second, followed by The Unborn at $19.8 million. Marley and Me lasts another week in fourth place, and The Curious Case of Benjamin Button holds off its top five title with $9.2 million

Weekend Top 5:

Statistics are provided by Box Office Mojo

January 24, 2009
SquidFlicks goes Maximum Overdrive

If you happened to visit the site at any time yesterday afternoon or throughout the night, you may have noticed that you were not let in. Well, there was a massive failure of one the many anti-spam features of the site; one of which caused every user to be banned from the site. After much hacking and searching, I found the solution this morning and got the mess cleaned up.

I am sorry for any trouble this may have caused you!

Everything should work fine now, but I think the site may have a mind of its own ala Maximum Overdrive.

If you are experiencing any problems accessing the site, please contact us and we will try to fix the problem ASAP.

January 23, 2009
Joe Dirt

Intro:

When a lovable but rugged wanderer is discovered by a local radio talk show host in a Los Angeles radio station, his story becomes an instant hit. Going by the name of Joe Dirt, he shares every aspect of his life. From the day his parents left him at the Grand Canyon at the age of eight to his days as a janitor for a school in Louisiana, Joe travels across the entire United States searching for his parents, meeting new friends (and some enemies) along the way.

It takes the interview to make Joe realize that he had been happy after all, but his tireless search and goal prevented him from seeing it originally. Can Joe go back, or is it too late?

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January 21, 2009
Never say die (to the laserdisc)

Panasonic has finally announced that it will discontinue the production of its line of Laserdisc players. Laserdisc was a format created in the early 70s that failed to gain a following against the more popular and user friendly VHS format. It was technologically superior, but expensive and cumbersome, not to mention huge. The discs were almost a foot in diameter!

The technology that was developed during the use of the laserdisc helped make what the CD, DVD and even the Blu-ray formats what they are today.

I myself remember using laserdiscs in elementary school; there was a binder full of bar codes, and you would scan a picture or section from the book with the remote, and the laserdisc would pull up the information on the screen. I also remember a couple of instances where the discs were badly damaged after one short fall.

While it’s sad to see a format go, it’s way overdue in the case of the Laserdisc. Thank you for DVDs and Digital Video!

Sources:
Wikipedia
Engadget

Do you have a Laserdisc player? Tell us below!

January 16, 2009
YouTube breaks radio’s heart

YouTube has recently enacted a new copyright policy that differs from their usual routine of deleting uploaded user videos. In fact, one might say it’s even worse: they are removing the audio of videos that included copyrighted and commercial music. That comprises of a very LARGE amount of videos that face audio removal, from parodies to family videos!

Once again the music industry is making matters worse for their consumers. The free publicity offered by all the fans using their favorite artists’ music in their own personal and expressive videos will soon be no longer.

I understand that using a clip of a commercial song in a video without explicit permission is against copyright law, but why is the RIAA targeting Joe Schmoe and his family home videos? Come on.

This could be bad news for YouTube reign on internet video uploading, and the consequences of this oppressive new copyright measure could very well spread to other video sharing sites. A great way to start off a new year on the Internet, that’s for sure.

Source:
http://mashable.com/2009/01/14/youtube-mutes-videos/

Watch ‘em if you’ve got ‘em, folks. What do you think about the latest move from YouTube? Tell us below!

January 15, 2009
If movie posters told the truth…

Wouldn’t it be great if you could see a movie poster and not be fooled by deceptive marketing? It comes as a great disappointment to most when they see a great looking movie poster or trailer, decide to watch said movie, and are sorry they did watch it afterwards.

Well, fear not; holytaco.com has taken some of Hollywood’s biggest misleading movie posters, and performed some slight revisions to better display what the movies really are to prospective viewers.

These graphics are great! See for yourself:
http://www.holytaco.com/if-movie-posters-were-honest

What do you think about misleading movie posters? Do you think that more resources should be spent on improving the movie rather than tricking people into watching it? Tell us below!

January 14, 2009
Lost Returns for Season 5

After the debacle caused by last year’s writer’s strike, ABC’s hit show Lost will commence its fifth season on January 21, 2009 with a three-hour premiere consisting of a clip-show and two back-to-back new episodes.

The series was originally planned to end during the 2009-2010 season. Beginning with the 2007–2008 television season, the final 48 episodes would have been aired as three seasons with 16 episodes each, with Lost concluding in its sixth season. Due to the writers strike, the fourth season featured 14 episodes, and seasons five and six will have 17 episodes each.

I have loosely followed the show since its start, and have enjoyed it. It seems to be pretty deep, and you have to watch an episode several times to get all the information in it. I know several people (especially my parents) who have eagerly awaited the new season. I have no doubt that the events in the next two seasons will be more entralling than the previous four seasons!

Are you excited about the new season of Lost? Tell us below!

January 13, 2009
Blood Diner
This is a guest review from jdog, aka Jason Beckman. Thanks for the submission Jason!

Director: Jackie Kong
Writer: Micheal Sonye
Starring:
- Rick Burns
- Carl Crew
- Roger Dauer
- Lanette Lafrance
- Lias Guggenheim
Release Date: July 1987 (USA)
Run Time: 88 min
Genre: Horror/Comedy
Tag Line: First they greet you, then they eat you.

Intro:

Blood Diner is a weird horror/comedy that focuses on two brothers, Micheal Tutman (Rick Burns), George Tutman (Carl Crew), and their wacky, serial killer uncle, Anwar Tutman (Drew Goggars). (Who is, as I should also add, just a brain with eyes in a jar.)

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January 12, 2009