Coffee and Celluloid

Flickchart - Finding the Best Movies

Posted July 14th, 2008 at 3:16 am by C47

Flickchart aims to answer one long plaguing question - if so many movies are rated five stars, which one’s the best?

Yes, AFI tried to answer that question. But Citizen Kane? Really? It was his stupid sled.

Flickchart’s method is painfully simple. Two movies shown side by side. Pick the one you prefer. Move on.

If you haven’t seen one, or both, just press the button and a new movie pops up. Based on which movie you prefer, Flickchart adjusts your ranking to create your very own Top 20 list.

Of course there’s a Top 20 based on all the users. This is a list I could agree with.

Each film has its own page, based on the data from users and it’s ranking over time.

And you can discuss and debate comparisons.

Though some really are no contest.

It’s simple, addicting, and a fun little site. Of course, there are a few things I wish it had. It is beta, so these could be on the white board.

Ability to import ratings from other sites. Yes, I do like the way Flickchart rates movies. But I’ve spent a considerable amount of time rating stuff on IMDb and Netflix. So it’d be cool if there was some sort of conversion to import those ratings.
More random comparison. I know this is beta, so I’ll cut some slack here. But how many times do I have to compare The Last Samurai?
Profile options. Again, beta. But just in case, there should be more profile options other than photo, change password, and delete ratings. Location and About Me are good places to start.

That’s it. I’m sure most (at least the last two) will come in updates.

I could see their system being something that’s bought and implemented in Netflix or Amazon.

But for now, it’s a fun site to check out. I think some beta invites might be coming my way, so stay tuned.

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Posted in Links, Movies | 6 Comments

Strobist and World Press Photo - Photography Coffee-Break

Posted June 20th, 2008 at 9:40 pm by C47

Here’s a collection of links I’ve been hording relating to still photography. Some things to gain from photography: mastering composition, lighting, quick shooting, and using what’s available. Enjoy!

Strobist Preliminaries - Gear and Jargon Basics [Pduncan]

This video finally made all the off camera lighting options click and lead to my purchase of the Nikon SB-800 flash. Scott Kelby’s Lighting Gear Week was also a great resource and motivation to open my wallet.

World Press Photo - The Award Interviews [A Photo Editor]

This is an amazingly designed site featuring photographers talking about their award winning images. Most importantly, as you can see above, the photo takes center frame.

Indy Returns - Annie Leibovitz Photo Shoot

So the movie didn’t live up to my hopes, but Annie Leibovitz always does. Short little video covering the shooting of the Vanity Fair photos (though not the epic one above. Nor these Leibovitz photos).

The day before… [PhotoWalkPro]

Very clever photo campaign illustrating how the world can change in a day, so catch your in-depth news. I wonder how truthful those dates are.

Movie Directors and the Means of Production

Nice little collection of 100 photos of famous filmmakers on set in the golden age, back when HD was the start of ‘How Do You Do?’

79 80 Years of Best Picture Winner Posters

They showed them briefly during the Academy Awards. Enjoy to your content all 80 posters of the (mostly) greatest films from the past 80 years.

Indiana Jones in Lego

Klocki has been having a cool Indian Jones conest to illustrate memorable scenes. These are some of the best. I think these are the rest.

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Week of Haircuts and Screenings

Posted April 26th, 2008 at 12:34 am by C47

It’s time to pull out the razor blades, get a trim, and make it look like you’ve taken care of yourself for the past 6 months. That’s right, the parents are coming.

Just about every guy has gone under the scissors, myself included. What’s the occasion? The summation of all the past months worth of work - the F3 screening.

All 26 films will premiere on the big screen at the Student Life Cinema. Using the Student Government to our advantage, we were able to get posters for the films printed, and have some cheese and fruit platters before the screening.

With food and good (mostly) design, how can you go wrong?

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Posted in Exhibition | No Comments

Disney and Universal in 4-D!

Posted March 21st, 2008 at 7:42 pm by C47

Last week, to end spring break, some Film School friends and I met up at Universal Studios for a day of Florida Resident Discount thrills. I’m more of a Disney person¹, and hadn’t been to Universal in a while (we went to both parks, so when I say Universal I’m referring to both Islands of Adventure and Universal Studios).

I know Universal has more thrilling rides, such as Hulk and Dueling Dragons, but overall I still think Disney’s rides are of better quality. Basically it comes down to story. Disney is the master of story, and they use their rides as another outlet to tell stories, not just to sell thrills. Disney also uses the medium amusement parks provide to its potential. Specifically, I noticed this difference when it came to the 3-D shows².

Basically, Disney treats the 3-D screenings as if you, the audience member, are actually in a theater and the characters are real and on screen. Honey, I Shrunk the Audience, the show is all about you. It’s Tough to Be a Bug, the bugs are doing a performance in a theater for you. They’ve created rules about the environment and they stick to it. Yes, Muppet Vision breaks this a bit, as does PhilharMagic, but overall their shows bring you into the world, and I think that makes them more successful and more desirable to watch again.

The 3-D shows at Universal are Terminator and Shrek (Spider-Man is in a whole other league and I’ll give Universal credit for doing an amazing job with that). This was the first time I saw Shrek, mainly because I was angry last time that they got rid of the Hitchcock show. It was enjoyable, but I don’t feel like I am taken into the world of Shrek. Instead I feel like they made a good short film (that you can see here and here) and then figured out how they could make the seats react to what happens on screen. You can even buy it on DVD. Try putting Bugs or Muppets on DVD.

Terminator is a little better. It starts out good, with actors going in and out of the screen and you’re in the world that is on screen. But then they go into a five minute short film (here, here, and here) that’s interesting, but not need-to-wait-30-minutes interesting.

Don’t get me wrong, I like Universal. Disaster, their re-imagining of Earthquake, is hilarious with Christopher Walken. But I think I’ve had my Universal fill for the next couple of years.

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