art | James Hyatt

Brad Pitt Ain’t a Zombie-Killer

June 27, 2013 / jameshyatt / No Comments

Technically, he’s killing a virus that spreads itself through human hosts.

“But wait,” i hear you ask, “those zombies in 28 Days Later and 28 Weeks Later, they went through the same thing. Why aren’t you picking on them?”

Well, they did, and I am, and those weren’t really zombies either.

Call me a traditionalist, but true zombies get infected and/or are dead already, reanimate, and SLOWLY make their way toward your still-beating heart (and brain).

That’s the difference. You might think it’s splitting hairs, but ask yourself: is there such a thing as bad jazz? Or could what you’re listening to be classified as uptempo contemporary adult?

Listen, anything or things moving that fast may as well be robots or sharks or bears or aliens or coordinated groups of mass murderers: it ain’t the same as the slow, plodding actualization of your worst fears about death and mortality, come to remind you that humans can have a REALLY hard time getting along even in the best of times.

But I’ve made a whole presentation about this, years ago, and I stand by George Romero’s viewpoint:

July 13, 2010, Inside the Artist’s Studio Interivew with Molly Matlock.

However, I give massive props to Mr. Pitt and his whole production team for getting a movie like “World War Z” made in the first place, and getting it released as a PG-13 feature.

There are some interesting themes raised in the film, and it’s visually stunning, and parts of it quite intelligent. And I generally like Brad anyway.

But he ain’t fighing real zombies, is all I’m saying.

Enough with the zombies!

July 29, 2012 / jameshyatt / No Comments

No, no, I have nothing at all against The Zombies. Those guys were great!

I’m done with our culture’s continued and ongoing obsession with zombies in general. And that’s hard for me to admit, because I was identified as an expert on zombies in film, even to the point of leading a discussion about the raging slow- versus fast-zombie debate.

(In short, fast zombies are essentially the same as homicidal maniacs [looking at you, Danny Boyle and your 28 Days Later/28 Weeks Later] so who cares? Slow zombies are cooler because they’re a metaphor for the end that’s heading our way regardless. And they’re the catalyst of our own stupidity, self-centeredness and fear of life. But that’s just me yakkin’… )

Back to the main point: Zombies are everywhere now, and I don’t think that’s a good thing. In fact, it’s alarming. Is this a symptom of an underlying dread we have as a society? Do we collectively imagine, or even worse, believe, some big slate-wiper event is heading towards us, one shuffling footstep at a time?

Don’t get me wrong: zombies can be great. I loved “Sean of the Dead,” “Zombieland,” and even the FAR earlier “Return of the Living Dead”. The first time I saw the original “Night of the Living Dead,” it was shown using an old 16mm projector in the back room of our town’s public library. The experience was like watching a found-footage documentary, and as I was walking to my car – the parking lot lights went out. Yes, I nearly browned myself. But I told everybody what a great movie it was. And I’ve even watched the remakes of George Romero’s works, to mixed results.

I can also appreciate zombies as both political statements and as social events. Bring the whole family!

But damn, this death-cult worship is getting old. I know a lot of us are afraid: war, terrorism, mass shootings, disease, economic disaster, famine, rising sea levels, December 21, 2012 (and anyone want to make a bet with me on that, BTW?), Armageddon, the national elections… all the old classics.

So what? Get over it, and go DO something. do something to make your life, your family, your community a little safer. Maybe even a little happier.

I was in New York City during 9/11. It was terrible. But it wasn’t the end. Not by a long shot. why are we now worshiping The End?

And of course, we always like our monsters. It helps us project our real fears and anxieties onto something outward. Something fantastic, from the dream world. Fables brought to vivid focus. But this just feels like too much.

Is it possible to have a more life-affirming Other come to knock on the door in the middle of the night? Hey, The Joker was a relentless sociopath, but at least he smiled and liked practical jokes.

Heck, even vampires resurrect and mix it up with us. Too bad the “Twilight” series reduced them to teen-dating anxiety…

Before Katniss; Other Teen Dystopia

April 3, 2012 / jameshyatt / No Comments

Yes, The Hunger Games is a box-office phenomenon, and good for them!

The film’s creative team did a good job translating the book to screen (and yes, I know there are some detractors out there, but screw ’em. A film is it’s own separate work of art and has its own needs and requirements). The producers also did a fantastic job keeping the budget down and production values high. Who can’t appreciate a film that can succeed artistically and financially, right?

But this isn’t the first teen-dystopia film. Not by a long shot. A really quick, top-of-my-head review would include Lindsay Anderson’s “If…“ with an incredibly young Malcolm McDowell; Michael Anderson’s “Logan’s Run“ with Michael York; and Stanley Kubrick’s “A Clockwork Orange“, with a not-as-young Malcolm McDowell. I could go on and mention Peter Brooks’ “Lord of the Flies“, and even “Children of the Corn,” but we’re getting younger and younger with these films. (And, with that last mention, crappier and crappier.)

The film I’m REALLY here to talk about is arguably the best teen-dystopia film ever made. You’ve probably never seen it, possibly never heard of it, and that’s a crying shame. It’s a disturbing, exciting and even hilarious work of genius by one of Japan’s premier directors, and he regarded it as his warning cry to younger generations.

That film is “Battle Royale” by Kinji Fukasaku. It came out in 2000, never got a real US release, but it will knock you on your ass. It’s been release on Blu-Ray recently, although you can also find regular DVD versions. The story takes place in a near-future totalitarian Japan that keeps its population in line and entertained by a yearly battle to the death of an entire randomly-selected school class. The set up takes place in just minutes, and the students literally have to come out of the room fighting. Beyond that, it’s a gigantic bloody game of hide-and-seek among the adolescent characters.

I first saw the film on DVD, with my nephew. We had no idea what to expect, and our jaws dropped in awe, terror and admiration as the movie played out. At the end, he turned to me and said, “That was the best movie EVER!”, so we promptly turned around and screened it again. It’s that damn good.

Even though the film won several awards and was the buzz on the festival circuit, word was an American release wasn’t possible so soon after the 1999 Columbine massacre. It looks like an American version is in development, but that’s been a rumor with different production houses for years now.

Do yourself a favor and check out the original, on Blu-ray or regular DVD. Keep in mind this film ISN’T for young children, and it’s in Japanese with subtitles. Oh, and under no circumstances should you check out the sequel. The director died while production was under way, and the film was completed by his son. It’s not good; really not good at all. Trust me on this.

All that said, I can’t recommend “Battle Royale” highly enough. Here’s the trailer:

Just a quick “Drive”…

October 18, 2011 / jameshyatt / No Comments

I know, I know. It’s been a long time between posts.

My excuse is I moved all the way across the continent to start a film production company with my amazing partner, Devon Moore.

Wesley Wolfe: “Only Ray of Sunshine”

March 31, 2011 / jameshyatt / No Comments

First the clip, then the story (but for this one, I recommend clicking on the “Vimeo” link in the bottom right, so you can see this video in its full glory. There are a lot of moving parts…):

The song is “Only Ray of Sunshine”, from Wesley Wolfe’s Storage album (Odessa Records, 2010).

Wes is a really nice guy — soft-spoken, polite, and hard working.

Why, exactly, would his video have a lot of bad cops doing a lot of bad things as one poor couple sat there bound (and the female, hooded)?

Because we talked him into it. Half-kidding — it started from a germ of an idea about this sweet little love song and how to shake up the visuals. Showing a couple in the park holding hands wasn’t going to cut it. The project needed the Creato Destructo Imagery edge.

“It started out as a concept about a guy tied up in a trunk being dropped off mysteriously in front of a woman already tied up — basically the action at the core of the produced video,” said director Jerry Stifelman. “Then we had a creative session with Wes, who came up with the idea of making everyone cops, based on the lyric, ‘We are all criminals disguised as cops.’ Then we all came up with having all the cops being as uncoplike as possible… I love working with an artist to bring the video even closer to the essence of the song.”

As producer, it was a great moment when we really connected with the talent on the concept. Truly, this was an idea that hasn’t been done many times over in a music video.

But also as producer, I began tugging at what hair I have left — there were so many questions:
– Where are we going to find all these people?
– How are we going to find (and pay for) the cop uniforms and accessories (badges, caps, etc.) for all these people?
– WHERE can we pull this off?
– We’re in a small town. This really has to be done in public to visually “sell” the concept. What will our REAL cops think?

The good news is Wesley is well liked, so we were able to draft a lot of his friends, fans and family. And the good folks at Odessa Records also joined in. Then, we worked our own lists of good-humored friends, and supporters of Creato Destructo, and got enough bodies to approach a visual critical mass the video scenarion needed.

In terms of the uniforms, accessories, and other things that were needed — hire us and we’ll tell you all about it. (But one thing that worked in our favor was Halloween.)

We also benefitted from the great talent at Playmakers Repertory Company and the affiliated UNC Department of Dramatic Art. Not only were we able to “seed” trained actors into the bad-cop group — we also found standout talent Kelsey Didion, who earned my undying loyalty to her acting skills by sitting there, for hours, bound and hooded on a cold and windy day. (Kelsey, I hope someday to see you win an Oscar…)

And for location, well… we’ll have to protect the names of innocent property owners.

But enough from me. What does Wesley Wolfe think about the video?

“Jerry, James and Tracy are the kind of people I love to work with. People that have the need to create, and find any way possible to do so,” Wolfe said. “They let no obstacle — especially the all-mighty one, budget, stop them. Through ingenuity and resourcefulness they have found away to put on bigtime productions with little budget…

“I feel fortunate to be a part of their collection of work. I have only heard great thing from people that have seen it. My closest friends we’re blown away by the video. The production value speaks for itself.”

So far, so good. How did he feel about the process of taking his song (a highly personal thing), and handing it over to others, to translate it into a video that wasn’t necessarily… his?

“Another thing I admire is how open and flexible Jerry was to ideas and changes in post production. He truly treated this project as a collaboration. I have no doubts that my ideas and thoughts were taken into consideration, and not just tossed to the side. Something rare in any art project, especially when all I had to do was just show up for the shoot,” Wolfe said.

Aren’t those some production values? Damn right! Even though I personally was still anxious on shoot day — because we had so many extras to manage — it was an amazing experience to watch as each person put on a uniform shirt, pinned on a badge, and donned headgear. They became bad cops right in front of our eyes, and it went from concept to stunning reality in just a few minutes.

The experience is well described by our own Tracey Oliveto:

“This shoot was really fun because once everyone was dressed and given their marks, it was like a big outdoor party. I couldn’t stop smiling at the image of 30 or more people dressed in uniforms, doing their thing in the sunshine and it definitely makes you stop and think about the roles we all play in life,” stated Oliveto, Creato Destructo’s associate creative director. “It was quite a spectacle and drew curious attention from passersby. Of course, James gave our Carrboro (police department), a heads up – after all, it could have looked like some kind of conspiracy.”

Tto be honest, we had a few uneasy weeks as the local police tried to figure out if we were making fun of them, or cops in general, or if it was some kind of weird art project. This being Carrboro/Chapel Hill, it appears they settled on “weird art project” and decided not to pursue the matter any further…

All that said, the last words belong to Wolfe:

“I was nervous at first about being on camera. I really don’t like posing for pictures or seeing video of myself. They talked me into it, I trusted them fully, and I don’t regret it one bit… All in all, a great experience.”

We’ll be happy to do it again, Wes!

Wesley Wolfe (left) photographs the anarchic chaos.

Big Star Third: “Kangaroo”

March 23, 2011 / jameshyatt / No Comments

First the clip, then the story:

This is another song from the “Big Star Third” performance collective. The song is “Kangaroo”, written by Alex Chilton.

This version is sung by Durham’s Brett Harris. His recent album, Man of Few Words, is getting great reviews.

And as mentioned earlier, this is an ongoing concert series by a diverse community of musicians performing the whole of Third/Sister Lovers, working from scores re-created by composer Carl Marsh. Chris Stamey (the dB’s) provides additional orchestration and serves as the series producer.

This video captures the performance at the historic Playmakers Theater on the University of North Carolina campus, February 2011.

The next performance of Big Star’s Third/Sister Lovers will be on Saturday, March 26, at Mason Hall in NYC, 8 p.m.

The NYC concert will include the rhythm section of Jody Stephens (the only remaining original Big Star member), Mike Mills (REM), Will Rigby and Charles Cleaver. They will be joined by Stamey, Michael Stipe, Matthew Sweet, M. Ward, Norman Blake (Teenage Fan Club), Ira Kaplan (Yo La Tengo), Mitch Easter, Tift Merritt, plus special guests Lost In Trees, with Jane Scarpantoni, Django Haskins (The Old Ceremony), Brett Harris, Sidney Dixon and Matt McMichaels.

Video by CreatoDestructo Imagery; Jerry Stifelman directing, James Hyatt 1st AD and Shay Stifelman, camera par excellence.

Southern Story Standoff

March 1, 2011 / jameshyatt / 1 Comment

I’m standing in my favorite coffeehouse in the world (Open Eye, Carrboro NC), innocently waiting for my drink. Minding my own business.

In walks a friend, someone I hadn’t seen in weeks, possibly months.

There’s something different about him. Oh, that would be the sterile pad covering the lower part of his throat.

Almost as if it were covering… a tracheotomy scar?

“What’s up?” I say. And did I mention my buddy was a little wild-eyed?

“Not much,” my friend rasps.

Dammit. He HAS had a tracheotomy.

“How things by you?” he asks.

Oh my God. He’s not only held back his story, he’s just checked me (think chess).

I have to respond. And ss a storyteller myself, i know I have two options, neither of them great:

1. I can blow him off as politely as possible, and try to get the condensed version of whatever has happened either from other friends, or from the man himself when I have more time or he has less time.

2. I can open myself up for the narrative, right there. And this is tricky, because there’s a code of conduct involved. Once I open myself up, I have to let him tell the story in full, as he sees fit.

It could be five minutes, or it could be an hour and five minutes. It could be as straightforward as Hemingway or as ornate as Faulkner. It could be as clean as… well, no Southern writer I know of, but it could be clean. Or it could be as profanity-filled as a Navy riot, possibly describing things I didn’t know were physically possible or even part of the human imagination.

You just never know with these things. You also never know if it’ll be worth the effort, or if it’ll be something you immediately want to scrub out of your mind.

But that’s the chance you take.

Once you start, you can’t stop the story. It’s worse than hitting someone’s Mom. They can hit back. But once you cut a story short, you’ve essentially killed it, and wounded the storyteller.

And there will be payback.

So… what to do?

“It’s just been a lot of hurry up and wait. You know,” I reply.

The coward’s way.

“Boy do I,” his rasp now even more pronounced.

Is he doing that on purpose? Can he modulate with that scar? How long do they stay open? I could ask, but…

“I gotta run,” I say, coffee now firmly in hand. “But call me, let’s catch up.”

He gives me the look. The look that says, ‘Next time, I own you.’

“Yeah, my brother, we’ll catch up,” he wheezes.

I turn and shuffle out the door, in shame.

I’ve let a good storyteller down, and I’ve left a possible great story hanging out there. But next time. Next time.

Maybe even with a drink or two. I wonder. What happens if you slam a beer with a reasonably fresh tracheotomy scar?

So many questions…

And because it might save a life, here’s this clip:

Sundance 2011: Day 5, the YouTube Connection

January 24, 2011 / jameshyatt / 1 Comment

First, a couple clips, then some stories:

But I concede that — apart from Virginia being impossibly cute, adorable and brave — this teaser doesn’t say much about the “Life in a Day” feature. Let’s try one more:

As mentioned earlier, if you live in Ann Arbor, MI; Brookline, MA; Brooklyn; Chicago; Los Angeles; Madison, WI; Nashville; San Francisco or Seattle — you can attend a special local screening of a Sundance 2011 film.

For the rest of us, YouTube will make it possible to collectively share the world premier of the “Life in a Day” documentary as it’s screened in Park City, Utah.

All you need to do is go here, by 8pm ET, 7pm CT, 5pm PT on Thursday, Jan. 27: http://www.youtube.com/user/lifeinaday

Following the screening there will also be a live Q&A with the documentary’s director, Kevin MacDonald, along with a small group of specially-invited contributors to “Live in a Day”. (Impressive stats: this project drew more than 80,000 clips, and uses 1,125 of them. I’m sure the project probably shortened the lives of about 10 editors…)

Note, though, that the film WON’T be freely available on YouTube after that (it still has a theatrical run coming up this year), although you’ll be able to see a re-broadcast 7pm on Friday, January 28, in your local time zone.

But Sundance and YouTube have worked out something else that can keep you captivated through the rest of the long winter months.

Check out The YouTube Screening Room, which is showing a total of 12 shorts from Sundance 2011, plus four “career-starting” shorts from past festivals (!), and four shorts from the Sundance Directors Lab* (*no guarantee these won’t suck…). And they’ll add more on January 27 and February 3.

Meanwhile, here’s a loving tribute to 8-bit video game heros:

Want something a little more significant from your short films?

Okay, fine, check out skaters in Kabul!

Tomorrow, on the ground in Park City.

Sundance 2011: Days 3 & 4

January 23, 2011 / jameshyatt / No Comments

First, a clip, then a few stories:

Oh, and full disclosure — I’m not at the 2011 Sundance Film Festival YET. We get there Tuesday, and I prefer to avoid the insanity and overhype of the opening weekend blitzkrieg, and focus instead on the week that follows (including the awards). I feel compelled to note this because Friday I ran into a friend I hadn’t seen in several years, and the first thing he said was “What are you doing in town? I was reading your blog and thought you were already at Sundance.” I have no idea how his wife and kids are doing, but my bad — I’ll slap up a dateline when I’m in Park City.

Five feature films with early buzz:

All that said, early word of mouth — which still has to be filtered through the reality of aggressive publicists pushing and tugging to get their spin out before multiple screenings and hundreds, even thousands of festivalgoers have had a chance to separate the good from the merely well-publicized — is placing a few feature films into the spotlight. (I’ll have something on docs next time.)

Again, early going. This could be laughable in one week, but here we have it:

Red State —
I’m still holding out hope for Kevin Smith. I love the guy, but I don’t think he’s honed his directorial skills in terms of cinematic eye and character motivation.

But I will stand on Ben Affleck’s coffee table in my cowboy boots and declare that “Dogma” is not only Smith’s best film, it’s also a great film, period. My many reasons are a whole other discussion, but at the core I believe Smith loves the idea of all the good religion can do, and is horrified by how we mere mortals actually use religion for our petty power/control issues. This passionate belief might also make “Red State” stand out from his usual work. Here’s hoping.

Oh, and JOHN GOODMAN!! Melissa Leo! Kevin Pollack. The acting talent is there.

Higher Ground —
I previewed this earlier — it’s Vera Farmiga’s directorical debut, and she’s acting in it as well. (She starred next to George Clooney in “Up in the Air”, and played the counselor/girlfriend in “The Departed”.) This film has a good pedigree.

Like Crazy —
Directed by Drake Doremus (“Douchebag”, 2010), it’s a dramatic romantic about first love. Awww.

But the buzz is far less about the film itself, and far more about the female lead, British actress Felicity Jones. She’s been in Julie Taymor’s “The Tempest”, Stephen Frears’ “Cheri'” (with Michelle Pfeiffer), and a lot of BBC productions. But word is she burns up the screen.

The Future —
It’s a “quirky” “offbeat” romantic comedy written, directed and starring Miranda July, who did “Me and You and Everyone We Know” (2005). Which I liked, and I didn’t expect to.

One of the twists of “The Future” is that the couple in the story are brought together by the woman’s cat — who also narrates the film. And, wait for it — Miranda July also provides the voice of the cat.

Yes, I know. On paper, enough to have me running screaming out of the theater. But this is Miranda July. I like her work. She might nail this one.

And please God, let’s just hope it’s not a misfire on scale with Cindy Sherman’s “Office Killer”… speaking of cool artists that completely failed on film.

Martha Marcy May Marlene —
I also previewed this earlier, as another Sundance Institute “homegrown” project in this year’s competition.It stars a THIRD Olsen sister, Elizabeth, who by all accounts does pretty well. It could be the next “Winter’s Bone,” down to a shared actor, the always-good John Hawkes (I know; great name for an actor!). He’s also been in “Deadwood”, the previously-mentioned “Higher Ground,” and was in “You, Me and Everyone We Know.” That dude is all over this year’s Sundance.

Anyway, another religious-folks-gone-bad theme, which is yet another current of the 2011 festival. Keep an eye on this one in terms of jury voting, but it may not make it through the clutter of the audience award.

Also keep in mind not all these films are in competition. “Red State” and “The Future” are premiers, so the only awards they’ll be going after are distribution and ticket sales this year, but they may arrive at your local arthouse sooner than the three on this list that are in competition.

Next time, documentaries with heat.

Sundance 2011: Days 1 & 2

January 21, 2011 / jameshyatt / 1 Comment

First, a clip, then some stories:

This is an interview with first-time director Elgin James, whose film “Little Birds” is in the Dramatic Feature competition at the 2011 Sundance Film Festival.

“Little Birds” is also the film Robert Redford hopes will win the competition, not that there’ll be any undue influence with the judges or anything. Has Redford come out and said that? Not in so many words, but the will and intent is there.

What Elgin James’ film represents is a shifting of the festival’s focus by Redford and Sundance’s leadership (speculation on my part). James is a product of the Sundance Institute’s filmmaker lab, and “Little Birds” is one of six films in competition this year that came out of the labs.

— In previous years, it wasn’t a given that being selected for the directing, screenwriting or producing workshops held by the Institute would be in any way a ticket into the festival itself.

(Background: the two things are essentially separate entities. The Sundance Institute is actually based in Sundance, Utah, not Park City, although it also has offices in Los Angeles and New York. The festival is an offshoot of the Institute, but it’s firmly based in Park City, although there are some screenings in Salt Lake City, and this is the second year the Festival is conducting a multi-city, same-day screening of feature entries. This year it’ll be Jan. 27.)

Back to topic, it had actually become kind of a knock on the prestige of Sundance that much of its carefully selected and nurtured talent hadn’t really broken out into successful (read, “popular”) careers — although Institute folks will tell you that’s not their focus at all — but these “homegrown” films weren’t even represented significantly in past festivals.

For whatever reason — perhaps it’s a great, breakout collection of young filmmakers this time, perhaps not — one of the narratives of 2011 is this is the year of Institute-nurtured films competing with the rest of the world.

How will they do? The festival just started, so there are 9 more days for word-of-mouth to generate, but “Little Birds” has buzz. Is it buzz based on a great film? Too early to say.

Other “homegrown” Sundance films include “Here” by director Braden King; “Circumstance” by director Maryam Keshavarz; “On the Ice” by director Andrew O. MacLean; “Pariah” by director Dee Rees; and “Martha Marcy May Marlene” directed by Sean Durkin.

So break out your scorecards and start taking notes. We know at least the first storyline of SFF 2011.

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Five feature films with early buzz:

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