Hammock People | Jamie Roberts

Hammock Inc., a custom media, publishing and digital media company.

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My Super Bowl

March 5, 2010

As a friend aptly put it, the Oscars are like my Super Bowl. Ok, yes, I am totally addicted to lists of must-see movies, I geek out on Oscar-related trivia and I've even had parties where I served food items related to the nominees. (There Will Be Blood pudding, anyone?)

Some of my favorite moments from this year's list: Carey Mulligan blowing off her A-levels to go to Paris in "An Education." Meryl Streep enjoying French feasts with her husband in "Julie & Julia." All those beautiful balloons rising in "Up." So many of Jeremy Renner's powerful scenes in "The Hurt Locker" that explore its theme: War is a drug. An under-the-influence Jeff Bridges singing in the bowling alley in "Crazy Heart." The smooth George Clooney in every scene of "Up in the Air" (ok, I'm prejudiced. His female co-stars were pretty great, too).

My film-loving pals are throwing out their predictions over on Team Hammock. What's your pick?

Storytelling in 48 Hours

July 30, 2009

Quiet on the Set! Cameras rolling. Scene 1, Take 1. Action!

If you're an avid movie fan like me, you might harbor a secret desire to utter those lines on an actual film set. I got to be just that lucky recently as part of a team competing in the 48 Hour Film Project, a nationwide contest challenging amateur filmmakers across the country to write, film, edit and complete a short (five- to seven-minute) movie. All of it--from concept to execution--has to take place within 48 hours. Each team is randomly assigned a genre, ranging from buddy pic to horror flick, and all teams have certain elements (a character, line of dialogue and prop) that are required in the final film.

Friends in the illustrious (and award-winning) team Fighting With Forks invited me to be a part of the Nashville competition July 17-19. I didn't even ask what they wanted me to do, that's how fast I said yes.

The 48 hours we spent getting to know each other and working hard to tell a compelling story were intense but great fun. Our two days together roughly went like this: Around 6 p.m. on Friday, the entire team gathered to hear our chosen genre (fantasy) and the required elements chosen randomly for our city's competition (an actor named Charles or Charlene Little, a still camera as a prop and the line of dialogue, "I'm trying to decide.") We spend a few hours brainstorming possible storylines, ranging from the ridiculous (foreshadowing!!) to the sublime.

Around 10 p.m., the four writers got down to business, magically churning out a script by the wee hours of the morning (around 3:30--ouch). Here's the story they concocted: "A man has an epiphany where he thinks that he's Death. He goes to a therapist to hash out his recent revelation, telling stories from his youth and recent events. He lives with his goth girlfriend, Charlene Little, who is an actress/photographer also obsessed with death. In the end, after sharing several fantastical stories about people and animals dying in his presence, he realizes that his therapist, too, has keeled over."

The director of photography and his production assistant took the script and drew storyboards until the sun came up to prepare for the next day's filming. The entire team was due on set at 7 a.m., and everyone (director, DOP, actors, lighting director, cameraman, audio guy, boom mic operator, et. al) spent the entire day--until 11 p.m.--filming. We ate lunch and dinner standing up, with one hand on a slice of pizza while the other hand jotted down notes, set up the next scene or put on makeup. While we filmed, three prodigiously talented musicians wrote original music to go with the script, ending up with an entire album's worth of songs.

Next, our editor took the miles of raw materials and, along with the director, DOP and a writer, spent hours upon hours shaping the film. (Sleep is for sissies had to be their motto.) The film's title--"Now You're Being Ridiculous"--didn't come until sometime mid-afternoon. By 6 p.m. (an hour early!), the finished product was dropped off.

Satisfied with the ridiculous story told, all the players slept happily ever after.

Postscript: We won best overall film! Watch it here.

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A Marquee Quest: Jamie Reviews the AFI Top 100 (x2)

October 20, 2008

Many of us at Hammock are amateur film buffs, and our staff meetings often end with a thumbs up/thumbs down of the weekend’s top movies. At the risk of nominating myself for the ultimate film geek award, I have to admit that, for the past two or three years, I have been on a pursuit to watch all the movies in the American Film Institute’s 100 Greatest American Movies of All Time. Now, I realize that all lists are arbitrary and subjective, but I figured the AFI list was probably better than most, as it was voted on by an army of film experts. I was this close to finishing when, last year, AFI did the unthinkable: They REVISED the list.

After calming down my Taxi Driver-like rage, I started comparing the lists (bemoaning the exclusion of epics like “Doctor Zhivago”) and added the new films to my queue. A few nights ago, I viewed the final movie on my list, “Sunrise,” a 1927 silent film by F.W. Murnau, that tells a beautiful story of forgiveness and redemption.

As a result of my self-imposed cinema class, I’ve created somewhat of a monster. I continue to add new films to my watch list and annoy friends as I pontificate on the finest work of Orson Welles, John Huston and Billy Wilder. If you don’t have time for your own reel-to-reel movie festival (i.e. have more of a life), take a look at a few of the AFI films by genre that earned my critical nod—and beware of a few I wouldn’t rewind:

Western: Most unexpectedly complicated: My dad loves Westerns (he watched double features every Saturday growing up), but I’d rarely agree to watch with him, assuming all were too predictable and cookie-cutter for my taste. But after connecting with Gary Cooper in “High Noon” (1952), Humphrey Bogart in “The Treasure of the Sierra Madre” (1948) and John Wayne in “The Searchers” (1956), it’s possible that I’m a new convert to the genre. And who doesn’t enjoy the ironic humor and undeniable charisma of Paul Newman and Robert Redford in 1969’s "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid”?

War: Most surprisingly touching: “All Quiet on the Western Front,” a WWI film from 1930, still has relevance in its depiction of the horrors of war (though it fell out of the list in the revised version). It was just as moving to me as 1978’s “The Deer Hunter,” another devastating look at the sacrifices that war demands. And I’m not sure if this fits in the genre since there are no scenes on a battlefield, but I cried like a baby at 1946’s “The Best Years of Our Lives”—a story of three WWII veterans adjusting to very different lives when they return home.

Epic: Most disappointing: For all the films that connected with me, there were many that I just couldn’t recommend, even if I knew I was supposed to like them. David Lean’s 1962 “Lawrence of Arabia” is famous for its lovely cinematography, and the iconic desert scene is definitely a stunner, but it often bored me. Blasphemous, I know.

Probably the worst thing about AFI updating its list is that it forced me to watch two movies by D.W. Griffith. After suffering through three-plus hours of the 1915 “Birth of a Nation,” the AFI gurus of 2007 then said, no, his 1916 “Intolerance” is the superior masterpiece of the silent film era. Another three hours I will never get back.

Though not an epic, the Marx Brothers’ 1933 movie, “Duck Soup,” was just as difficult of a slog. It’s safe to say that the humor of Chico, Harpo, Groucho and Zeppo is lost on me. I did, however, get the unintentional humor of the interminably long “Spartacus” (1960), but I doubt my laughter at the famous “I am Spartacus” scene is the takeaway Stanley Kubrick had in mind.

Romance: Most joyful: I was completely charmed by the 1934 Clark Gable and Claudette Colbert romantic comedy “It Happened One Night.” Its elements—the meet-cute device, the fiery chemistry between the stars and screwball humor—are mimicked in a lot of romantic comedies today, but it did it first and best. All others should bow before this delightful movie’s throne.

This genre is all about the right mix of chemistry: I wasn’t expecting Katharine Hepburn and Bogart to give off quite as much spark as they do in the fun 1951 adventure “The African Queen.” The clever ways that director John Huston shows their affection growing is sweet to watch.

And I better understood Charlie Chaplin’s charm after the bittersweet romance “City Lights” (1931), a story of the Little Tramp’s love for a blind flower girl. You’d have to be made of stone not to tear up at the final scene.

Thriller: Most deliciously creepy: I’ve long been a Hitchcock fan, but I found new things to appreciate in re-watching “Vertigo” (1958), “Psycho” (1960), “North by Northwest” (1959) and “Rear Window” (1954).

The 1950 psychological drama “All About Eve” features a fun twist; the turn Anne Baxter makes from innocent to manipulator, one-upping the great Bette Davis, is chilling to watch.

And I loved the distinctive styles exhibited by Kubrick in the satiric “Dr. Strangelove” (1964) and by Arthur Penn in the taboo-breaking “Bonnie and Clyde” (1967).

That's (Almost) a Wrap: Finally, here are the AFI films that made it into my top 10:

1. “Casablanca” (1942)—The beautiful cinematography, the unforgettable characters, the spot-on acting, the can’t-it-be-different ending, the memorable dialogue: Not sure what could knock this out of my all-time No. 1 spot.
2. “Citizen Kane” (1941)—You know how some movies get so hyped there’s no way you could ever appreciate them? Orson Welles’ mysterious, spooky, flawlessly constructed masterpiece is not one of them.

3. “The Graduate” (1967)—Benjamin Braddock perfectly embodies the disillusionment of youth. It’s made me a life-long Dustin Hoffman fan, and 1982’s “Tootsie” is another gem. (We’ll forget about the Ishtars.)
4. “On the Waterfront” (1954)—I loved Marlon Brando’s “coulda been a contender” scene, a touching illustration of longing and regret, and it made me better appreciate the actor’s status as the greatest actor of his generation.

5. “To Kill a Mockingbird” (1962)—Has there ever been a more heroic character than Gregory Peck’s Atticus Finch?
6. “Chinatown” (1974)—The film’s eerie tension and shocking violence bowled me over. Faye Dunaway is amazing in her freakout scene, and Jack Nicolson’s gritty detective made for just the right anchor for this cool, creepy film noir.
7. “It’s a Wonderful Life” (1946)— Jimmy Stewart has never been more appealing than in this Frank Capra classic. (I won’t even try to count how many times I’ve seen it.)
8. “Vertigo” (1958) or “Psycho” (1960)—Don’t make me choose!
9. “The Best Years of Our Lives” (1946)—In the taxicab scene with the three war heroes, watch how well the actors play their characters’ ambivalence about returning home.