Mondo Posters

So, my latest obsession has been with the Alamo Drafthouse and their bi-weekly releasing of their custom posters. I stumbled onto this great find because I was fortunate enough to check out a screening of "Kill Bill: The Whole Bloody Affair" down at the New Beverly theater in Hollywood. And Mr. Tarantino himself had commissioned the Drafthouse and more importantly one of their most talented artists, Tyler Stout to draw something for the event. The result was beyond belief and quickly spread throughout the internet.

Mondo Posters, http://www.mondotees.com/ , has since been an object of my obsession. They announce their sales via twitter and at a random time in the morning, ususally about a half hour after I get into work, and are usually sold out within 3-5 minutes. So yea, you've got that small window to make your purchase or pay double/triple on ebay.

Here are some of my personal favorites... yes they are bad ass, and yes I want all of them...

Update from Beyond the Grave

Wow, so the last time I've updated this thing was May? Where has the time gone? Well, not its July... I've finally got a gig at a mid-major production studio and have been working diligently. I have been attempting to write 2 seperate projects at once. Pretty crazy/stupid right? The first is titled "Scarsdale" and is a thriller about a husband who awakens from a drunken evening to find his wife (seperated but not divorced) dead in the back yard. This idea was not my own, but submitted for the Insiders screenwriting compeition at the writers store. This contest sounds pretty awesome, you write 15 pages, they pick a top then and you get a writing coach for 3 months to help you finish the script. Winners get guanteed meetings with Benderspink as well as a sit down lunch with Robert Mark Kamen (Fifth Element, Taken, The Transporter). So I've got that to look forward to... and I am also working on my next spec... again not a horror script. BOOOOO, but my idea is very promising, very funny, and very commercial so hopefully I can find my way into an agency/management company with this bad boy.

On a side note, where is all the horror movies? Last thing I saw was Scream 4 and I fell asleep while watching it... I was a half bottle of Captain Morgan deep but still... come on

I will try to keep posting on this thing if anyone out there reads it..

PRODUCTION HOUSE

So, I am officially throwing my hat into the comedy ring with my first television pilot, "Production House".  I know what you are thinking... television? But honestly I really feel that I want to start my career in TV and move into film. There are also more opportunities to work in this business in television. Just hopefully the studios realize that as many dumb ass reality shows they keep putting on people are naturally drawn to scripted programming. People want to be able to fantasize about living through elaborate characters. And most of all there are not enough good comedies on TV. Period.

The Office is done. They are going to attempt a season without the star but we all know how that ends up. Anyone remember the last season of Scrubs? Nope. 30 Rock is on its way out because Tina Fey and Alec Baldwin are going to be chasing that next level soon. Always Sunny is going into a 7th season. And yes it is still the funniest show on TV, last season was just eh compared to 4+5. The League, is very funny and very promising, hopefully will keep on truckin'. Workaholics, a new show from Comedy Central is on still. It has times of hilarity with some bright and flashy dialogue, but something just hits me that they are trying to hard to be like everything else. Besides cartoons, that's really it folks. The higher ups should start to notice the lack of ORIGINAL material and hopefully they will take a look-see at my wacky show.

-Cjevy

Love/Hate

I stole this from Kurt Sutter's (Sons of Anarchy) blog. A list of ten things I love and hate that everyone probably does not know about me.

I hate people telling me what to do
I hate people that force their opinions onto you
I hate fake people
I hate politics in America
I hate mediocrity
I hate being my own biggest critic
I hate not knowing what to do
I hate depending on other people to get stuff done
I hate getting older
I hate wasting time

I love being in love
I love competition
I love learning about anything
I love to sleep
I love a good tequila
I love finishing a project
I love anything 80's
I love originality
I love being myself around people
I love the people surrounding myself

Elm Street House

Look what I happened to stumble upon in Hollywood... one of the most iconic setpieces in horror movie history. 1428 Genessee Avenue. The owner has taken great care of it and has kept the house just like it was in the film. Anyway, just figured I would throw that up there because I was excited to see it, and MK thought I was a total dork for stopping the car and taking a picture, but it was worth it.

Kill Bill: The Whole Bloody Affair

So the day has finally come... I got to experience Kill Bill the way it was originally supposed to have been experienced, as one 4 hour piece of raw cinema. So first off, I loved it... Kill Bill is my favorite movie of all time... yup number 1. Wall Street is number 2. I don't know if I could actually count off the rest of my top ten but Kill Bill reigns supreme as of now.

So, first off I would love to thank MK for sitting through the 4.5 hours of the film even though I know she is not that big of a fan. Me on the other hand was in heaven. There was not too much that was different from the original, but I still enjoyed seeing it in the theatre again. From what I remember, the animated sequence was longer, the crazy 88 fight sequence is in full color and longer, the finale of KB one with the chick in the trunk is different... but otherwise the continuity is still the same. Just a few brief moments that suggest difference.

The movie hardly differs from what you probably have at home. The "whole bloody affair" doesn't really mean shit, just that i loved seeing the film on the big screen with all the loudness and excitement that you would not have seen without being in a theatre. Either way, this shit is epic... Kill Bill is still my favorite movie of ALL TIME... yup, ALL TIME.... and I can only hope to get my hands on a copy of the Tyler Stout posters...

Insidious Is...

Wow so it has been a little over a month since my last post about making it to Cali, and I guess you could say the next task would be making it IN Cali. It's tougher than a year old piece of jerky that has been trapped under the seat of a three hundred pound truck driver out here. Jobs are few and fast. But I mean, I have to get lucky one of these days right? I'm leaning toward Biker gang or Assassin if things don't perk up. HA j/k.

So I have been busy writing lots of short stories and more recently an episode of It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, my favorite show. The episode is tentatively titled "The Gang has a Gambling Problem".  My first adventure into the realm of comedy. I am personally happy with it so far. I'd be more happy if I could somehow get it into the hands of an agent or manager or showrunner. But hey, its just another sample, and I guess it will stay that way.

Anyway this past week a new PG-13 (yuck) release into the horror world hit the streets... INSIDIOUS. First off, I read the script before I went into the theater. I wish I hadn't, but I honestly probably would not have went otherwise. The script was lean and mean. A modern take on Poltergeist almost to a tee if you ask me. The biggest difference between the two is that we actually get to head into the "further" in Insidious where as Poltergeist is just the bright ass closet. The imagery... holy shit the imagery in Insidious is the true lifeblood that pumps through this film. For such a low budget (1million) you really could not ask for more. The "red-faced demon" was truly terrifying in the first and second acts of the film. Without giving anything away from the movie, the third act was good at first but a letdown of a "final" fight between the protags and the demon. The problem was that they did not set up a way to defeat him earlier in the script. Lin Shaye is amazing as the psychic, very similar to Poltergeist again, but she really puts in a great performance. Insidious is a film you must check out in the theater because it will just not be the same at home. The score will scare the bejeezus out of you more than once alone.

Overall, the film is truly a salute to Hitchcock and old school horror films. Their really is no need for blood and gore or even the language associated with a typical horror film, since our protags are a family battling an evil force. It makes alot of sense and I salute James Wan and Leigh Wadell on thier latest venture.

9/10

The trailer-- INSIDIOUS

-Cjevy

My Journey Thus Far

So the time has come. I am officially in Hollywood now. Working not yet. But one step at a time, right? It has been an exciting week. The drive was an absolute experience that I suggest everyone do at least once. The journey took a total of four days but I probably could have made it in three.

Day one, Orlando to Orange, Texas. Definitely the worst and hardest leg of the tour. It rained for seven out of the thirteen hours I drove that day. The best state had to of been Louisiana. You pretty much drive through the bijou and on a long tumultuous bridge for at least a half hour. Pretty cool. I listened to Stephen King's "On Writing" for 8 out of the 13 hours that day. It was really just nice to hear how the Legend himself works and operates. He writes and/or reads for 5-6 hours a day, no more, no less, no matter what. Christmas, Thanksgiving, his own Birthday. If he has an idea he does not let it escape his brain until it is on paper and I can not agree with him more. Drugs, alcohol, even getting hit by a fucking car could not stop the abominable force that is Stephen King.

Anyway, day 2 was a game changer. Feeling glum and not up to it, the Badlands of Texas changed my outlook on the journey, maybe even on life. The speed limit is 80. Let me repeat that, the speed limit is 80. I blew past a state trooper on the highway going 87 and did not get the cherries in the rearview. Ha. But just cruisin' through that desert with nothing but some good tunes and my own thoughts was a mind blowing experience. The twelve hours it took me to get to El Paso seemed to blow by just like the tumbleweeds.

Day 3, El Paso to Phoenix was a short trek but a memorable one. First off El Paso is pretty weird. On the highway you can literally look into Mexico and see how different it is than the US. Mudhuts, slums, all right on the other side of the expressway. New Mexico on the other hand is a cross between desert and grasslands. Tall, yellow, grass lines the 10W but only for about 150 miles. Til you hit Arizona. The bold and beautiful Arizona. No shit, I have never seen sights so beautiful and so intimidating in my entire life. Tall canyons, red rocks, lonely highway. I stopped in Tombstone, pretty much just to say that I did. I wanted a cowboy hat, but they didn't have any at the generic gas station closest to the highway. The final leg from Phoenix to LA was probably the most exciting. Probably nerves, but I just have been waiting to get to the land of opportunity for so long that I was just so relieved to be here.

I officially arrived. LA. Hollywood. On my fourth day here I got to go to the FOX studios lot. My gracious host happens to be an important force at New Regency Studios, based at Fox, who got me on the lot. As we pulled into the garage, BAM right to my left. Dr. House. Fucking Hugh Laurie is pulling out of the Galaxy garage at Fox, directly in front of the Die Hard, Nakatomi Towers, in his Maybach Mercedes eyeballing the shit out of me because I stared at him while he was trying to pull out. Wow. Where the hell am I? Anyway, I got to eat lunch at Moe's Tavern. Then I had a sit down with the President of Production at New Regency Films. One of the most informative and important twenty minutes of my life/career. It felt like a job interview at first, but then not at all. We talked about how he got into the business. How his connections helped him get to the top and how he wanted to help me but he also has everyone in his family asking for help as well. He did however give me the greenlight to submit scripts to his studio. And I mean could anyone really ask for anything more, from being in LA for less than a week? People slave and write for years and never see the inside of a studio lot. I am truly blessed for everyone that has helped me get this far and I will fight to get as far as humanly possible.

So I am currently re-writing Tissue(s) for submission because it is a fantastic premise, but I just did not write it correctly the first time around. Too much prose. Paper thin characters. An unlikeable Protagonist.  I am determined to change these things during this next week. For I will re-write the script from scratch, keeping the meat and cutting the fat. Wish me luck. And again, thanks to everyone who has helped me get this far, especially my dearest fiance, MK. It is for us that I am trying so hard, but it as also been hardest on her. She's my everything.

So that has been the last week or so of my life. I will keep writing on here if anyone is interested about trying to make it in the Businesses of all Businesses.

-Cjevy

WoW so it's been awhile

The holiday season has come and gone and I have neglected my little pet project here for far too long. I am continuing the learning process I have developed and have been plotting the structure and characters for my next literary adventure. A comedy.

Let me say that comedy is harder to write than horror. And I love Horror. I guess I am a little off my rocker but Horror is just easier to write for me. It comes naturally. I have soaked in thousands of hours of viewing scary movies and I just know how to construct them. I am giving myself 2 weeks until I have to start writing otherwise I am moving onto a new project.... Anyway I will make a real post this week and continue the previous topics about what truly scares us.

Cjevy