Episode 7: Start of Production

That's it. The first day of shooting is in the can... or digitalized to be more exact.

Only 3 weeks (minus one workday) of all-nighters to look forward to.

Wife #1 and Therapist #7

Ari Gold is not the best ever. But he is pretty close.



From Entourage Season 3 Episode 15

Distribution for African filmmakers

A little article from Variety about distribution (or lack thereof) for African films.

Little reminder of things to come

Start of production: less than a week

New website + remodeled blog: 6 weeks

Movie release: December 2010

DVD release: February 2011

Episode 6: Forming the team

I know i've been quite absent this recent weeks, but I have an excuse from my parents.
------------------------------------------------

Yaounde, Cameroon - July 7, 2010 - H7 Films has finalized casting on its next film, Sexually Friendly.

Tatiana Matip (Confidences by Cyrille Masso, 2005) and Jacques Ekwa will play the two major roles in a comedy that follows two single friends who decide to spend Valentine's Day together before they see their evening take an unexpected turn.

Shooting for the film written and directed by Henri Melingui begins at the end of July in Yaoundé.

The simultaneous online and theatrical release of Sexually Friendly is scheduled for the month of December 2010.

About H7 Films:
Founded by Henri Melingui in January 2010, H7 Films is a production company that will distribute her own films in African theaters but also worldwide online (streaming and downloading) through its future website.

Henri Melingui is also the editor of the movie blog Quartier Boz'art. (http://eng-henrimel.blogspot.com/)

"A yellow F***ing sticky something"

Ari Gold is far from happy he wasn't told James Cameron is directing Aquaman.



Entourage Season 2

Life after James Bond

A nice little picture showing that even if your name is Sean Connery, life after James Bond can be hard. Very hard.



From Zardoz (1974)

Action movie's All-Star Game

You name them, they are in the Expendables. If not, they're just not bad-ass enough...

Music Day

It's June 21st, time to listen to some music to kill time...

DVD of the Week: Charlie Wilson's War

A Congressman who snorts cocaine, hangs out with strippers, only employs young women in his office, never says no to alcohol, always finds the words to get a smile or a laugh (thanks to Aaron Sorkin, the writer ) and at the same time helps defeat USSR in Afghanistan ...

Seriously, what else do you need to watch Charlie Wilson's War?

DVD of the Week: Up In The Air

For those who know me, it wouldn't appear to them as a surprise that I love a film about a character who does not hide his desire to never start a family, whose profession is to hop from companies to companies to inform employees that they are fired and cherishes the fact that he only has to spent forty miserable "days" at home and the rest between airplanes and airports.

More seriously, Up In The Air is an example of a film that makes you smile (and think a little along the way) and will let many of you surprised to have spent 90 very pleasant minutes despite its very bleak subject -in appearance.

By the way, girls, did I say George Clooney is in it?

2009. Directed by Jason Reitman. With George Clooney and Vera Farmiga.

A little something about Nollywood

A nice little article about Nollywood (Nigeria's film industry) and the cinematic black hole Africa is turning into.

The SelfHelpless Movie - part 2

You may or may not remember it, but I posted an article (that I didn't translate, so you actually don't remember it) a few months ago about the Self Helpless movie. The film was directed by a small team of friends from the East Coast of the U.S. that has decided to shoot a small independent film and make it available for free on Bit Torrent.

I must admit that despite its free availability, the trailer didn't make me want to invest an hour and a half of my life in The SelfHelpless. On the flip side, if the distributors of Alice in Wonderland or Iron Man depended on me to earn a living, they would be unemployed, so make an opinion for yourself...

A month after the movie came out, the producers announced proudly on their blog that SelfHelpless has been downloaded 60,000 times. They are now asking everyone who saw the movie for free to contribute financially by buying DVDs, ashtrays, T-shirts, etc. ...

A not-so-stupid strategy, that could be turn out to be profitable given the low-budget. Except that 60,000 free downloads on BitTorrent does not automatically mean that the film was seen by 60,000 Web users (you tend to take more of a product than you actually need or use when it is free), and even less that those who saw the film in its entirety have liked it enough to contribute financially after the fact.

Slightly more puzzling to me is the insistence of the producers producers to show they are not seeking any return on their investment nor to get hired by the Hollywood machinery by using this film as a calling card. Unless of course, this is only a facade, although I think they really are sincere in their approach.

Because, beyond basic human greed, if their little film is actually good but they don't care about accumulating debts without getting enough money back, how will they go about shooting a second?

Ask the Greeks, you always end up repaying your debts ...

DVD of the Week: Pulp Fiction

I could write pages and pages about the movie of this week, but I'll just say once again that Pulp Fiction is easily among the top 5 of my favorite movie.

Yes, at 2 hours and a half, the film could easily be shortened by 20-30 minutes. And as far as originality goes, Tarantino is to cinema what Kanye West is to music: someone who recycles little-known works (sometimes more than just little-known) and lets the general public rediscover them.

Still, the movie's pretty cool, isn't it?

We're all gonna die!!!

Woody Allen as a kid in Annie Hall. 1977.

DVD of the Week: Looking for Eric

Eric Bishop is a postman in Manchester, and the least you can say is that going through a rough patch.

His relationship with his two sons is deteriorating by the minute, his daughter still holds him responsible for the break-up between him and his ex-wife. In addition to this, he has to deal with the bad weather in Manchester. In short, his life is far from being a lot of fun.

One evening, as Eric adresses the poster of his idol Eric Cantona, the famous number 7 of Manchester United, he appears to him in real life and decides to help him regain control of his life.

By the way, if you don't know who is Eric Cantona, shame on you, first of all. And a little clip that would help.

Musical Interlude: Camille

Simply Camille... live on French television. "La demeure d'un ciel"

Episode 5: Start of Preproduction

You may have noticed that my articles are few and far between these days, but that's for a good, don't worry.

This is simply because the "Between Friends" project is finally entering preproduction. Another good news is that I finally found a better title than "Between Friends" (not very difficult to do you might say). You will know about the new title later on, when the first poster is ready.

Pre-production is not that much fun because it means:

1. Assembling the cast
2. Preparing the shooting schedule
3. Storyboarding, costumes etc...
4. Rewriting the script

All this in addition to the construction of the website.

If all goes well, filming will begin in July and the website will be ready in early August.

In short, a lot of work in the horizon, and always exciting stuff on the blog in the meantime.

Sexy Sneakers

Lebron James and Nicole Scherzinger in a Nike commercial

Musical Interlude

"Hero" from the 500 days of Summer soundtrack.

DVD of the Week: Goldfinger

No need to sum up the plot, we all know how 007 works.

The world is in danger. He saves the world. And he spends some quality time with a Bond girl while doing so.

Sometimes there is only the opening sequence that deserves our attention.
Sometimes it's the whole movie.

With Goldfinger, it's the latter.

DVD of the Week: Moon

Moon is one of those films that peaked my interest instead of lowering it, after I read the script months prior to its release.

Sam Bell (Sam Rockwell) is approaching the end of his solitary 3-year mission on the Sarang lunar station, where he is extracting helium 3, a renewable energy source that has replaced oil.

But Sam begins to hear and see some very strange things as the days go by. Initially thinking that his long period of isolation is playing tricks on him, Sam ends up face to face with his "clone". Hallucination? Reality? Manipulation?

I guess you'll have to see it to believe it.

How to be American - part 2: the stars

When you decide you want to work in film, you need to take a look at the figures at the weekend box office numbers. This may seem boring at first, but it's very interesting to compare the performance of different movies depending on their genre, their budget, etc. ...

What is even more interesting is to go on specialized websites and read the comments below the articles, where people try to explain the good or bad performance of a film by the fact that an actor is a true star or not, is underestimated or overestimated, has no talent or a lot of talent, has always drawn crowds or has never done it. They do so by throwing insults at each other, which quite frankly, makes for an even better read.

Since we’re all trying to become Americans here, I’ll talk about movie stars, this week. Because if there's one thing that Americans have over the rest of the world, it is the magical aura of Hollywood actors, examplified by TV shows in which they are invited abroad with an ever-delirious crowd welcoming them.

In soccer or basketball, you’re ahead of the pack because you are just more talented than the others. Take Messi, Ronaldo, Kobe Bryant, Lebron James, for example. You score lots of goals you score or lots of baskets. It's that simple, it’s that objective. But it's hardly the same thing for our friends the actors.

Will Smith-although not particularly bad, is not better than most. Neither is Angelina Jolie. If I start talking about Jennifer Aniston, Cameron Diaz, Jessica Alba, Robert Pattinson, Ashton Kutcher, and many others whose talent is very well hidden, I'll still be here in 3 days. In short, unlike with Kobe or Lebron, when you put a stars in a bad movie, it's still a bad movie (Will Smith in Seven Pounds or Hancock). You put them in a good film, it's still just a good film. Basically, a star is expensive, but does not make that big of a difference in terms of quality.

How does one become a star in Hollywood if talent does not explain everything? And what is the point of having one in a movie?

An actor/actress does not necessarily become famous by attracting public attention with his talent, far from it actually (not everyone is Meryl Streep). He or she does with her looks (Jessica Alba, Jessica Biel, Angelina Jolie), his personality (who does not want to be friends with Will Smith or George Clooney), a person with whom he or she goes out with (Jennifer Aniston), the nightclubs he/she attends, sometimes even just the clothes he/she wears. This make him/her a star because there is much so much media coverage about him/her in magazines, even though that person's work itself has not necessarily been groundbreaking.

As for the use of stars, the explanation is simple. A famous actor is “everybody’s friend. " When he is in a movie that’s coming out soon, it attracts your curiosity, regardless of the film in question, just as if a member of our family or a colleague told you he will appear in the newspaper the next day. When you see a trailer or a poster in the street, that familiar face makes you unconsciously think that you will have a better time watching this movie rather than another.

The studios need that. A marketing device. They need celebrities who draw attention to themselves and not the (often poor) quality of their films. It would be simpler not having to spend millions of dollars to pay actors who are sometimes overrated. Just make good stories that the public wants to see without any regard to who is on the screen.

But at the same time, it is so much easier to make "Valentine's Day" and go play golf while spectators don’t realize until afterwards that they’ve been taken advantage of.

Because after all, a good script –unlike actors - makes all the difference, but it’s kind of hard to find...

Do you know what one looks like? If you do, no need to take the first flight to LA.
They don't buy them here.

DVD of the Week: Bal Poussière

Last week, a Cameroonian film, Quartier Mozart, was the DVD of the Week. Today, it's time for a movie from Ivory Coast to step forward, Bal Poussière.

This comedy may be older than me (produced in 1988), but it keeps all of its effectiveness after each new viewing.

The film follows Demi-Dieu (translation: Half-God), whose nickname comes from the fact that he's the one and only master in his village after God himself. He's decided to take a sixth wife. I think you understand that much (a lot actually) hilarity ensues as the film goes

Just like last week, you'll have to speak some French to understand what's going on, sorry ...

Just Wright - trailer

The trailer looks pretty common (that's a great joke, admit it). Except... There's DWAYNE WADE!!! And Dwight Howard!!!

Only for basketball fans. Some women think they're cute, though.

Episode 4: Planning to change home

I had planned to write my second article supposed to help you all become Americans, but unfortunately I was the victim of a very busy schedule and didn’t have time to work on it it.

What I did spend time doing was starting to work on the design for the production company’s future website. So I sailed all week from pages to pages in search of elements I would like to incorporate to the interface of what will become your favorite address. One thing that I quickly couldn’t stand at all were those "super cool" Flash animations that take a long time to materialize - even with a fast connection - and don’t actually add that much the page’s aesthetics.

There will be none of that for me, thank you. Instead, when everything is ready, you’ll find something simple and very easy to use. Because between the blog, the interactive screening room, the audio podcasts, the video clips, the trailers (“American style”), and the "making of" segments, you will easily get lost.

The transition will probably take place at the end of July – around the time I’ll start shooting my next film. I would like to make things happen faster, but I already know I will lose any kind of productivity between June 11 and July 11.

I know it's pathetic. But I am only a man.
It is the World Cup, after all. It only happens every 4 years.

DVD of the Week: Quartier Mozart

For those of you who didn't know it yet, the blog's name finds its origin in Jean-Pierre Bekolo's first film, Quartier Mozart.

I'm not pushing it too far when I say that this is the most internationally acclaimed Cameroonian film to date, with a participation at the Cannes festival as well as Locarno and Montreal. At the same time, this is a small admission of failure for Cameroonian cinema when you consider that the movie was shot back in 1992 and so far its success hasn't been matched by anything else.

The story follows the adventures of a young girl whose excessive curiosity led the witch of the neighborhood (yes, because there are witches everywhere in Africa...) to change her into a man.

Unfortunately, I couldn't find any clips with subtitles, so only the most courageous of you will give it a shot and try to understand what is going on.

A little music doesn't hurt from time to time

I will soon -not so soon actually- have the opportunity to talk about the importance of music in movies in general, Americans in particular, and its ability to raise the visual elements of a film.

In the meantime here's a sample of one of the best composers in the world, Clint Mansell.

The first song is Lux Aeterna from Requiem for a Dream
The second is Dead Reckoning from Smokin'Aces.

This is Nollywood

The film industry in Nigeria...

How to be American - part 1: the trailer

Throughout the following weeks I'll teach you to how be "Americans." Because after all, it is what we all want to become. Americans. Right?

Whatever the country, English-speaking or not, European, Asian or South American, American films have hade a huge success, often greater than the one enjoyed by domestic films in their respective countries.

Most international movie stars owe their global celebrity to their participation in a Hollywood product or a nomination / win at the Oscars.
The explanation cannot simply be the fact that all American films are better than others. Why then?

There are many answers, and trailers are one of them. Yes, trailers. There's just something about them that makes the difference.
Of course, there's the cavernous voiceover that makes even the greatest banalities exciting. (IN A WORLD WHERE EVERYONE IS LYING ... HOW DOES HE KNOW WHO’S TELLING THE TRUTH?).

There is also the recent top 50 hit which is used so that if you don’t like what you see, the film is at least associated with something you love to hear-or that TVs and radio stations have been hammering in your brain incessantly for weeks.
There is the fast-paced editing that makes you believe that there has to be something exciting since everything is moving so quickly.

Above all, the U.S. majors always make sure that at the end of said trailer you really know what the film is about. Entire film concepts are modified and some movies don’t even get produced because executives felt it couldn’t be summarized in a simple 150 seconds clip that can successfully attract audiences. Because that’s the name of the game: attracting people. Butts in the seat. By all means.

So you do what I already talked about above, but you also show all the best scenes of the film. So much for mystery or surprise. If there aren’t enough good scenes, you can also show a major plot twist (hello, Terminator IV and Sam Worthington who is in fact not human). What if the client feels robbed after seeing a mediocre movie whose trailer showed the only elements of interest? It does not matter.

You don’t believe me? Let me tell you a story, despite my really inaccurate memory. A few months ago, a marketing executive from one of the majors came to talk in one of my classes. A girl –pretty hot, come to think of her again- asked this question: "Don’t you think it is a bad thing that many trailers nowadays show much more than they should and don’t leave any room for surprises? I went to see XYZ recently and I realized that the trailer was more a summary of the film than anything else."

The - pretty funny - answer of our marketing friend? "Excuse me, but this is everything I've heard: Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, I went to see XYZ, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. You paid to go see the movie, my mission is accomplished and the job ends there. What happens afterwards is not my problem."

He’s right after all. You can’t get a refund. What will you do? Never watch a movie again in your life? I’d love to see that.

DVD of the Week: The Girlfriend Experience

Chelsea (Sasha Grey) is high-class escort girl who offers more than just a sex to her clients, she offers a "girlfriend experience"; she dines with them, goes to the movies, spends a whole evening talking with them and makes $ 2,000 per hour while doing so.

Nothing too surprising so far, except that Chelsea also has a serious "boyfriend", Chris, who is a fitness coach. Troubles begins when Chelsea start to fall for one of her customers.

The other important subject of the film is the economic crisis that began in 2008, and has affected our little couple. After all, when difficult times hit, $ 2,000 per hour starts to be a bit much, even for the richest of us. And the same goes for Chris' fitness sessions, who are not discounted either.

Some will be disappointed by the lack of sex in this movie (Sasha Grey is in it, what the hell!!!), the plot may not please everyone, but the photography by Steven Soderbergh (Ocean's 11, 12, .. ., 25) is gorgeous to look at.

PS: For those of you still pretending not to know who Sasha Grey, Google her ... "Aaahh, it's a pornstar, I didn't know that !"... Yes, of course you didn't know ...

Claustrophobes beware

Here is the trailer for Buried, a cool script I had the opportunity to read a few months ago. I was quite impressed by screenwriter Chris Sparling's ability to keep the entire story only inside a coffin.

Apparently, director Rodrigo Cortes managed the feat of transposing the original script to the screen without getting outside that wooden box for a single breath of fresh air. Ryan Reynolds plays a US truck driver who wakes up wounded in a coffin and has no idea how he got in there.

The film was bought by LionsGate at Sundance and will be distributed late 2010 probably.

Kick Ass - Hit girl

We would all like to know an 11 year-old like just like her...

DVD of the Week: Manhattan

Time will probably tell you that, but I can say it already: I love Woody Allen. Not all his movies are good, but when they are, they are excellent.

That's the case with Manhattan , a film he shot in 1979.

Isaac Davis (Woody Allen) is a writer and has a very hectic life. And when I say hectic, I mean it. His second wife (Meryll Streep) has left him for another woman, his best friend introduces him to his mistress (Diane Keaton) whom he ends up falling in love with, and he also has a relationship with a 17 year-old (Mariel Hemingway ).

In addition the funny dialogue,the black and white photography is admirable and makes you want to immediately teleport yourself to New York.

The Bonnie situation

From Quentin Tarantino's Pulp Fiction.

Take it to the next level

The life of a football player condensed in 3 minutes by Guy Ritchie (Sherlock Holmes). 2008.

Even the non-football fans can appreciate it...

Episode 3: Having an ear for music

A change scenery this week, since I am currently enjoying a little under a fortnight in Paris. Fortnight is such a cool word, I had to use it somehow.

I'm starting to reconsider my decision because of the low temperatures I have to deal with in comparison to the warm Los Angeles weather. And listening to my friends, the weather actually has improved since I got here. When I add that to the fact that I'm walking outside despite 3 or 4 degrees Celsius on the thermometer while I usually don't set foot outside when it's under 14 in LA, I realize that being cold is really a state of mind.

As far as positives go, I do have the opportunity to see French films that never make it across the Atlantic. I can also visit my friends, some of whom are musicians. This gives me the opportunity to think about the kind of music I want for the film, the amount of music I will use, and even the possibility of having a real soundtrack album, with over a dozen songs that would be available for sale when the film comes out.

So from now on, I'll keep an ear out for some cool stuff from unknown artists deserving some exposure.

DVD of the Week: Marock

Exceptionally, the DVD of the Week is on Thursday and not Friday this week. The reason is simple: it's complicated to have a decent internet connection at 10 000 feet above the ground.

I came across Marock accidentally, reading an article describing the strong criticism on the film, due to the onscreen presence of Muslims drinking alcohol, smoking cannabis, and only thinking about going to nightclubs. Inevitably, I was intrigued.

The story follows a young girl at the French high school of Casablanca. She falls in love with a boy who's a little older than her. One little problem: he is Jewish. I honestly expected a melodrama in the vein of "The Young and the Restless", but ultimately, the director has kept exaggeration from affecting her film.

In some instances, the film was a little immature and gave too much importance to things that did not deserve it. But at the same time, how do you make a film about a teenage girl, without having her being a bit immature and giving too much importance to useless things?

In short, this is clearly not one of my favorite movies, but I rather enjoyed the experience to finally see a decent Moroccan film .

Directed by Laila Marrakchi. With Mathieu Boujenah and Morjana Alaoui

Golden Eye Opening

The moment I look forward to before any Bond movie...

Song by Tina Turner.

Ari Gold and his enemies

Ari Gold, the super agent, explains to his wife that he just wants to do good business. And maybe destroy his enemies at the same time...

From Entourage season 6

Episode 2: Reconnecting with an ex-girlfriend

This week marked the real start of "Between Friends" (working title) as a project, since I finally went back to the script I wrote almost a year ago and hadn't read for a few months. (I've worked on 3 other screenplays since, so I wasn't just being lazy)

I must admit I was a little worried initially. You know how much you're disappointed when you meet a ex-girlfriend from high school that you thought was beautiful, intelligent, funny and you realize that she unfortunately doesn't measure up to your memories and the image of her you had in your head? That's exactly what I was afraid to feel. I was concerned the story that has danced around in my little head for the past months ends up being very different from the words on the paper (actually on Final Draft), with a lot of additional work needed in order to bridge the gap between my head and the actual script.

Fortunately, 2009 Henri did a much better job than 2010 Henri thought, and did not disappoint him at all.

There will only be minor changes to make, nothing serious. This makes the project move forward faster than expected, and 2010 Henri likes that.

On another topic, I was hoping that District 9 would bring a little something from the Oscars last night, but the competition turned out to be too strong. Too bad.

DVD of the Week: The Russian Dolls

I remember seeing The Russian Dolls for the first time in a Spanish class during my senior year. I obviously did not pay much attention to the film, between all the chatting, laughing, and micro-napping. It was only a few months later that I was finally able to fully appreciate it from beginning to end.

Xavier is a writer approaching 30. As he often says throughout the film, his life is a big mess. Like many people who write, his work helps him try to restore order in his life - or at least navigate through the mess. We follow Xavier during the months preceding the marriage of Wendy 's brother, the English girl he met when studying in Barcelona in L'Auberge Espagnole (The Russian Dolls is the sequel to that film)

Special mention to Cecile de France who does a great job here playing a lesbian financial analyst who "usually likes black girls".

Directed by Cedric Klapisch.With Romain Duris et Cécile de France.

Episode 1: Start from the beginning

For those of you who don't have the internal memory of a goldfish and do make a short stop on the blog every Monday, you probably remember that I promised you some info about my next movie a few weeks ago. Well, there it is.

What I can tell you for the moment is that the story follows two recently single friends who decide to keep each other company on Valentine's Day. Then... I suppose you will have see the film to know what happens next.

The working title is Between Friends and will most likely change. But you know how it often is with working titles, they start working and you eventually keep them.

The goal is to begin filming late in the summer of 2010 (Screw westerners, I should actually say late in the rainy season). Why so far? Because if there's one thing I have learned in life, it's that you can only make a good first impression once. So it is better to allow for some time to make every little detail perfect and not go to war unprepared. Especially for a first film.

Apart from that, the blog will continue its course (with DVDs on Fridays), only now with the addition of updates regarding the film's progress.

All this just for you... can you believe that?

DVD of the Week: The dinner game

It couldn't be any simpler - and therefore any better. Brochant Pierre (Thierry Lhermitte) and his friends invite idiots to dinner every Wednesday and take pleasure in electing the "idiot of the night".

Unfortunately, this Wednesday, Peter is having back spasms. He finds himself trapped in his apartment with his idiot, Francois Pignon (Jacques Villeret).

And that's only where his problems start. Pierre also has to win back his wife -who just left him- with a little "help" from François, who will demonstrate his status as a WORLD CHAMPION throughout the night.

Somehow, I couldn't find any english clip to post here so here's the link to a short trailer. For the courageous ones, there's still the French trailer on the other version of the blog.

Mom, how do you make bad films?

If you ever take a class about the film industry or film distribution, there is something you will hear very often: despite the fact that it’s all about the money, no one sets out to make a bad movie. This is true. Nobody wakes up one morning and decides to spend the next 3/6/12 months of his life working on something he will be ashamed of when the world will lays eyes on it. However, there still are a lot of people who go to bed at night knowing that they are more likely to get a Razzie than an Oscar.

So what happens, inside a studio, between the first words written with optimism on a blank page (more exactly a new Final Draft file) and that first screening that makes you understand you just threw away a few million of $?

Starocracy

As Ari Gold – Vincent Chase’s agent- once said in an episode of Entourage, "without Vince, this project is just a bunch of chopped up trees with words on them! Translation: at the Oscars, when they say a good script is essential for a film, there are very much full of crap. If a script -no matter how well-written- does not attract the interest of a famous actor or director, no one is willing to finance it. At first, this seems quite logical. If Jennifer Aniston, Anne Hathaway, Ashton Kutcher and the likes are interested in a project, it has to be a good one, right? Wrong. The main quality of an actor is to act. The main quality of a director is to know what to do with a camera. Recognizing a good story when you have one before your eyes is a more than an optional quality for many of them. Now you know how you get films like Love Happens, Bride Wars or What Happens in Vegas.

Idiocracy

I hope it’s nothing new for you when I say that a film doesn’t need to be intelligent for it to be succesful. After all, the world is not exclusively populated by PhDs in nuclear physics. And The Hangover is a prime example of a good movie that doesn’t cater to university professors. Unfortunately, there is a problem that producers, who are not stupid, have to face. What is the acceptable limit of stupidity that you cannot exceed? Because if you do exceed that limit, you’ll find yourself with Miss March, When in Rome, or Year One.

Merchandising (merchandising-ocracy didn't sound really good, so I stuck with a real word)

It's simple, instead of actually making a film, you just put together 2 hours of colorful moving images. Then you can sell toys, comics, t-shirts, key chains, caps, a new attraction in the park and all kinds of other stuff...
Example: Transformers, GI Joe, Star Wars: The Phantom Menace, Daredevil, Spiderman 3, Land Of The Lost
Coming soon: Monopoly movie, Barbie movie, Transformers 3

Sadly, the only solution to prevent these films from happening would be that ridicule could actually kill somebody. But according to my information, Michael Bay is not dead; he is actually a very rich man. The producers of Land of the Lost (a film that lost dozens of millions of dollars) are also alive and hope they will have more luck next time.

Are bad films going away any time soon?
No. Apparently, they’re not.

DVD of the Week: 2 Days in Paris

I was going to talk about an entirely different movie when I read that Julie Delpy was about to make 2 Days in New York , the sequel to her first film.

2 Days in Paris follows a Franco-American couple (Marion and Jack) during their brief stay in the French capital, after a long trip through Europe.

This little layover slowly turns into a nightmare when Jack discovers that Marion is still in contact with many of er exes and some of them don't hesitate at all to tell him about her past adventures with them.

But there is more, Jack also has to deal with his in-laws. The least you can say is that they are a bit special, with the parents having an obsession with sex.

And to make things easier, Jack -who doesn't speak Franch- must also face the language barrier.

What's new, Henri?

From time to time I'll take a break from regular posts and let you know what's happening behind-the-scenes of the blog.

1. Very happy to see that the blog's Facebook page now has over 700 fans. 7 being my favorite number, the next goal is not 1000 but 7000 fans. And to achieve that, I need a little (lot) of help. So don't hesitate and invite all your movielover friends like you and me. Maybe, emphasis on maybe, there will be a big (translation: small) reward for those who bring in the most people.

2. I will very soon have the pleasure to give you some information about my first film. So keep your computer within arm's reach from now on...

3. At the same time, I have already started writing what will - hopefully - be my fourth film. 4 to 5 years in advance, if that's not called planning ahead ...

4. After the incessant demands of a certain "CC", one of the first fans ever, I will do my best to speak more often about French cinema. Also, if you want me to talk about a particular topic or ask me a question, please keep it to yourself. I don't have the time nor the inclination to answer.

5. I've always wondered at what point do written words stop conveying second degree humor. Haven't you?

6. I wish I could show what I can do best through videos just like some of my friends from high school or college. But something tells me that a video of me typing on a computer for several hours in the middle of the night would not produce the same effect.

7. I think audio podcasting may be a solution, with a voice-over by Morgan Freeman. Or exotic dancers, maybe? Suggestions, anyone?

DVD of the Week: Before Sunset

Valentine's Day is 2 days away. It's sad, I know. It was therefore inevitable for me to talk about Before Sunset, one of the best romantic films in recent years.

Celine and Jesse spent a memorable evening together in Vienna (Austria) 9 years ago (in Before Sunrise, 1995). 9 years later, Jesse has become a successful writer and is giving interviews in a bookstore in Paris. The subject of his book, you guessed it, the evening he spent with a stranger he has not seen again since. Celine traced him back through the newspapers and pays Jesse a visit at his book signing.

The result? For those who didn't like, it's 80 minutes of people talking endlessly and doing nothing interesting (translation: no onscreen sex ).

For others, it's an excellent film that addresses issues of lost love, destiny and the pursuit of happiness ...

It's up to you to pick sides. I have already chosen mine.



Directed by Richard Linklater. With Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy. 2004

Who is afraid of the Web?

Last week, I concluded my post about piracy by rejecting some of the blame on the studios’ management teams, who despite their impressive online marketing campaigns are more than reluctant to actually show their films on this medium.

Everyone agrees that the future of the industry will be in online distribution and day-and-date releases (Theatrical, DVD, internet). Yet each industry member waits for the other guy to dip in the online waters, just to see if he survives. 3 things can explain that phenomenon.

1. Fear of theater owners

Their position is unambiguous. If you violate their window of exclusivity (4 months in most countries) for new films, you can say goodbye to your relationship with them. Also, until further notice, there is no better way to make huge amounts of money in little time besides theaters (ask James Cameron and Fox if you don’t believe me). To make theatrical releases even more critical, many ancillary revenues (free and pay TV, airplanes, hotels) are usually based on a percentage of box-office revenues. So, until they willingly accept to be more flexible regarding the window of exclusivity (translation: never), tomorrow is not the day you will see studio films have day-and-date releases.

2. Fear of change

Every studio executive agrees that it would be great to distribute a film simultaneously around the world at a considerably lower cost. But until you show them an Excel spreadsheet guaranteeing gross revenues similar to those they receive in the current system, they will prefer to remain the victims of piracy and complain to their government about it. After all, Avatar (the most pirated film in the world, despite the 3D factor) used the old system and did very well for itself, thank you. In addition, if the logical response to relatively lower income (combined to more than proportionally lower costs) is to decrease film budgets and studios operating expenses, who is telling Will Smith, Angelina Jolie, Amy Pascal and Tom Rothman (CEO of Sony and Fox, respectively) that they need to reduce their salaries by a few millions of dollars or use the company’s private jet company less frequently? Because I'm certainly not.

3. Fear of spectators

All that money Netflix and Amazon are making- with films released several months ago - is great. Great as well are those polls saying that "real people" (a group I'm apparently not a part of, as I've never been polled for anything) want more legal access to movies. But like St. Thomas, everyone wants to see several films released directly online and enjoy financial success before believing it. There is no guarantee after all that once a quality copy is available on a torrent, "real people", as full of good intentions as they may be, will not be tempted to enjoy “free” entertainment. There is no guarantee either that torrents’ fanatics will accept to pay to see what they used to steal not so long ago.

This reluctance to embrace online distribution can be summed up by one word: FEAR. People whose careers (and especially lifestyles) come from a particular system will only accept change with a gun to their heads (example: music, automobiles). Fortunately, change will (inevitably) come from "outsiders who will have everything to gain and nothing to lose.

Don’t say I didn’t tell you so when it happens.

DVD of the Week: Before The Devils Knows You're Dead

Today is Friday. So it's time for the DVD of the Week.

It was about 1 in the morning the first time I saw this film back in 2007 at an old Pasadena movie theater where there were about 7 spectators, my two friends and myself included. No need to say that my expectations were very low for this one.

Yet ( Before The Devil Knows You're Dead ) was a great surprise. It was intense, suspensful, and beautifully shot. The story consists of a series of flashbacks and flashforward explaining the causes and dramatic consequences of the robbery of their parents' jewelry store by two brothers with pressing financial needs. As a bonus, Marisa Tomei (The Wrestler) spends half the movie in her underwear, in case you're into that kind of thing.

I would love to get into more story details but it would be difficult to do so without "spoiling" the movie for you. And the trailer is already doing much better job at that than me.

Directed by Sidney Lumet. With Philip Seymour Hoffman, Ethan Hawke, Marisa Tomei. 2007.

The Declaration of the Rights of Man and the Internet Pirate

Last week I talked about voting with your wallet to stop the studios from continually releasing mediocre films for the simple reason that there will always be people to see them.

I also added that this was not an encouragement to all the pirates that plague the Internet and try to pretend they do nothing wrong. When listening to them defending themselves during interviews, you would almost be tempted to pass The Declaration of the rights of Man and the Internet Pirate in Washington.

Yet none of their arguments (seeming reasonable at first) hold up:

1. Culture is a public service and should ideally be free.
Let’s be reasonable for a second, music and movies are not comparable to health and education in terms of necessity. And despite those being absolute necessities, everyone has to pay (directly or through taxes) to access these services. And no one would ever dream of asking a doctor, a teacher or a policeman to work for free because of the greater good his activity brings to the community. On the same subject, I wanted to tell you that every single one of us contributes in his own way to the public interest. So why don’t we all offer to work for free? It would be a little hard to sustain ourselves, but the general interest would benefit from it. Right?

2. The most recent films are mediocre at best.
This is an opinion that I agree entirely with. But like I said before, we'll all die someday. Why waste your time with movies (2 hours of your life) that do not interest you and you don’t deem worthy of spending a few dollars on (online or in theaters)?

3. The studios and the movie stars earn too much money.
This is completely demagogic. Let's put things in perspective. $20 millions per movie is a lot. 10 millions euro to run after a ball is too much. But either you have no interest whatsoever in sports or cinema and do not contribute to fill up the wallets of all those actors, directors, football and basketball players, or you're interested in it (to some degree), therefore it is illogical in this case not to reward someone who provides something that has value for you.

4. I'm just sharing what I love with my friends.
It is perfectly legal to lend a movie to friends and family. But let’s not fool ourselves now. I am not a Facebook addict, yet I still have over 500 "friends" (a drop of water compared to others). I know we all love to feel popular but no one has over 500 close friends and needs to publish a link to an illegal torrent on his Facebook page.

The only reason one can use as an excuse for illegal downloading (one that engages the responsibility studios) is that the copyrights holders don’t make any legal way to see the film available in your country.

That will be the subject of my post next week. So sit tight

What, already missing me? Don't worry. I'll be back.

Caution! Overheating brain

I have been taken hostage this past Friday. Taken hostage by 3 members of the fairer sex who forced me to watch Twilight on DVD this weekend. When I woke up (at the end of the film), I found myself in the middle of a discussion about the questionable (to say the least) quality of this film and many others that still earn millions of dollars anyway because apparently people don’t like to think too much when going to movies.

Having miserably lost our debate mainly because I lacked the courage to offend my enemies (what kind of man likes to be on a woman’s bad side?), I make myself feel better by giving you here my 7 reasons why entertainment ≠ total lack of intelligence and/or logic in film.

1. It may sound stupid, but when a friend tells you a story that’s completely uninteresting, devoid of any logic or sense, generally you do not like that. That guy just wasted 10 minutes of your time. Now imagine that your friend’s name is Michael Bay or Roland Emmerich, the story he tells you sometimes lasts up to 2 hours and 30 minutes, and in addition he makes you pay for "honor" to listen. I think you get my point.

2. Because studios know they make mediocre films but continue to do because people will see them anyway. As a film fan, I'd rather vote with my wallet in deciding not to help these films succeed. (For the clever guys thinking it's an encouragement to piracy, we'll have a talk next week).

3. Because although I’m not a Secretary of State or a President, I cannot afford to lose 2 precious hours of my life (we're all going to die at some point, I remind you) on the grounds that I don’t want to think too much. I can afford that even less since this.

4. Did your brain really overwork after Inglorious Basterds, Slumdog Millionaire or The Dark Knight ?

5. Did your brain feel that much better after What Happens in Vegas, 27 Dresses or The Proposal ?

6. If you think the only way to get your dose of special effects is to see Transformers 2, 2012 or Wolverine , watch District 9 . Seriously. Now. Go ahead, I'll wait.

7. Let me summarize. Between classes we skip (we all did), exams we study for on the day before, American Idol, The Messi/Ronaldo, Kobe/Lebron debates, Youtube clips of ninja cats or babies who say "Blood! Not funny! "And finally the parties on weekends, when do our brains actually get so overheated?

The beginning of the H7 Films era

I promised you a surprise a few days ago (for the 4 people following this blog). Well here it is.

I hope this is the beginning of a long adventure and there will be a lot of people to enjoy the ride with me.

If I were you I would invite some friends. Because we will have some fun.


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Press Release:

H7 Films builds its web

The new production aims to bring African cinema to the forefront

Yaoundé - Major change in the African cinematic landscape: the creation of H7 Films by Henri Melingui.

H7 Films will be an African film production company based in Yaoundé (Cameroon). In addition to financing and producing its own projects, it will also distribute them around the world.

"Our challenge is to offer original and innovative stories that hardcore moviegoers can embrace and that a wider audience can still relate to. ", said Henri Melingui.

The company will use the Internet as the focal point of its global strategy. It will make its movies available in Video on Demand simultaneously in all territories without any restrictions.

The African public without a broadband connection will also have access to these movies on DVD. The distributor will a tour of event screenings in every major African city.

"Through my blog Quartier Boz'art , I had the opportunity to talk about the disappearance of theaters, piracy, and limited financial resources in Africa. However, I believe that the current environment is still favorable to a rebirth of cinema on the continent. The key is to remain creative and flexible in front of the obstacles that arise, "added Melingui.

H7 Films already has several projects in advanced development.

The new structure will officially start its operations during the second half of 2010.

The Porn industry: the future of cinema

No, I'm not completely insane. The facts are there to prove what I’m saying.

Flashback to the 80s; a new technology now allows consumers to record content on a cassette. Two formats are competing, VHS and Betamax. JVC is OK with adult film producers using the VHS format to sell their movies when Sony and its Betamax refuse. Result: Although Betamax format was comparable in quality, VHS became the universal format for videocassettes. The Hollywood studios, initially reticent to this new technology (Universal and Disney took Sony's Betamax to court for copyright infringement) eventually follow the trend after witnessing the success of adult films in home video format the following years.

With the advent of the Internet in the mid 90's, the producers of adult films again showed to their more conventional counterparts how great a tool the web could be to promote films and reach audiences wherever they are in the world and at lower cost. The introduction of broadband has only confirmed the trend since the pornography industry has exploded with the emergence of countless sites allowing downloads and/or legal streaming on the web when, at the other end, conventional cinema is still in its infancy as far VOD goes.

However, the fate of the more recent war between new DVD formats (Blu-Ray and HDDVD) has not been decided by the adult industry as producers didn’t care much, having already understood that the future was mainly in the digital. Conversely, American and even French studios persist in their efforts to convert us to Blu-Ray, while DVD sales have collapsed over the past two years.

In short, all I was trying to say is that if you're an aspiring filmmaker/producer, you have much more in common than you think with your “adult” colleagues. Few people are willing to go into theaters to see your work and you cannot afford to spend millions on marketing or even in production. However you can find viewers around the world who are still interested in the message you want to convey through your films (“love each other” for porn and whatever you think you have to tell).

Well, now you know where to look next time you want to see where the cinema industry is heading.
And you also have a ready-made excuse if your boss catches you on questionable websites in the middle of the afternoon.

Don’t thank me. You’re welcome.

What's your favorite movie?

I hate this question. Actually I hate those who ask this question. Because they don’t want to know what movies you like in general. They want to know what is the movie you like the most in the entire universe (including Pandora). They don’t accept no for an answer. They absolutely need an answer and only one.
"I know there may be several, but if someone woke you up in the middle of the night and put a gun to your head, which movie would you choose? "(A very likely situation, knowing that most burglars are moviegoers. It’s common knowledge.)

Normally, I try to avoid having to answer such questions, but when you take film classes there will always be someone to ask, usually with two or three people around who are willing to conduct an endless debate about the quality of your choice.
Or maybe you're talking to this girl with unbelievable cleavage and mini-shorts -which is not difficult to find in LA, and it'd be silly to break the rhythm of your conversation before it takes you... I digress. In short, sooner or later you will have to answer. So I think. And I think Pulp Fiction .
No, it can’t be that. The movie is brilliant ("some serious gourmet shit"), but there are at least 30 minutes that could have been cut. And Tarantino borrows from a lot people. I see the long debate coming from a mile away and I have no time for that. Before Sunset then. No, I'll look like one of those pretentious people who like films that nobody watches where two characters talk to each other for 90 minutes. I keep thinking.

I start to curse myself for having this discussion with this classmate or having told that girl with unbelievable cleavage I studied cinema, until the light started flashing. Truman Show . It's perfect. Everyone has seen it, I see nothing to edit out, I do not get to look pretentious. It's intelligent without being too complex. And as a bonus, it turns out that I actually like it. Voilà. Now my classmates will have nothing to say about my choice and I can finally go home, or the girl with unbelievable cleavage will say she loved the film as well and now we have something in common. The conversation continues on another subject, and then another, eventually leading to... I digress again.

Now a question for you; what's your favorite movie? I mean if someone woke you up in the middle of the night with a gun to you head ...

Movie theatres in Africa

The film industry in Africa is at a standstill and the problem is very simple: NO THEATERS => NO FILMS.

Thus the question: how do we prevent the closure of theaters in every city of Africa? First of all, why are these theaters closing? Don’t African people like movies? Everyone does, right?
Some say Africans are poor, $1 or $2 for a ticket is too much to ask for people who barely have enough to eat.
Also, new foreign films arrive late (when they arrive). DVDs (pirated or not) are available long before their release in Africa.
Theaters are in poor condition. Some mention the bad smell, others the ripped seats when it is not simply a film different from the one announced that finds itself projected on the screen.

So inevitably, people got organized. Filmmakers, journalists, alerted the authorities and called on African governments to fund and maintain historical theaters that would be managed by the state, allowing cinema to survive and retain its function as a vehicle for African culture.
Personally, I hope all these efforts fail.
I'm not saying this out of hatred or meanness. Simply, the solution is not to fully nationalize an industry that requires an great amount of both creativity and diversity like the film sector does.

This is not the solution because the real answer to our initial question is this: There is no money to be made in Africa with film.
That's what everybody says. So naturally, it must be true. All this movie crap is nice and all, but it brings nothing. End of discussion.
Yet there are many beautiful cars parked in front of the DVDs stalls disseminated around our street corners.
Yet alcohol flows freely in the nightclubs of our main cities.
Yet there are very large houses (mansions even) that one can see in the upscale neighborhoods of these cities.

There is an opportunity to capitalize on this minority of privileged people by opening small theaters and allow ourselves to grow as all the film industries in the West have before us. Entrepreneurs with a long term vision could establish a network of small venues across Africa, which would be a better generator of profits that these large theaters (with only historical value) of almost 1500 people that are dying before our eyes.

Sure, that requires brainpower, some collaboration with film producers and some time to implement, but is definitely feasible.
Or maybe, Africans do not like the movies.
Perhaps that’s the real answer