Nailed It

This blog post takes a side course by talking about the latest upcoming version of "Siskel & Ebert". It's been over a decade since Gene Siskel has sadly passed, and Roger Ebert's been off the air for more than two years due to the results of a poor medical procedure. However, their supposed permanent replacements, Ben and Ben, have ranked nowhere close in comparison, and their platitudes can make one cringe.

Now for the good news: They are soon being replaced again! Critics A.O. Scott and Michael Phillips, who each took turns in Ebert's open seat while Richard Roeper was his sidekick, always sounded spot on in giving detailed, honest movie reviews, praising or scathing when necessary. They've nailed it before; here's to them nailing it again!

3rd Site, Part II

So far, with the exception of a single pop-up window that was not a repeat occurrence, this 3rd site experiment is working well. Thus, I've decided to put the "Z site," aka Garett's Moving Ratings [and more], into the new location as well.

This includes the start of my Oscar Predictions for 2009, complete with a new design that works a bit better than last year's did, however creative it was. I've mentioned in a previous News Blog entry some possible nominees for Best Pic, but lately, there's been a LOT of buzz for Kathryn Bigelow, the Director of The Hurt Locker. Not only is she from San Carlos (the town I grew up in), but she also happens to be an ex-wife (prior to Linda Hamilton) of James Cameron (think Titanic).

Anyhow, her film is getting rave reviews, and she herself is getting serious talks about becoming the 4th female to become a Best Director Oscar nominee. Three cheers from a fellow San Carlan!

Top Ten Zen

Lately, I've been doing a LOT of web work. So, to give you just a PEAK of it, I've updated the Yearly Top 10 Lists of my Movie Ratings. Now, they appear a bit more like the Best / Worst lists, are color-coded, and are archived by year in a pull-down menu. It's much more sensical, and it's easier on the eyes!

Further, I don't know what exactly was faulty about my movie reviews on the Best / Worst pages, but I fixed 'em, and added several more! I'm hoping at minimum to have reviews for all of my #1 selections for each of the years there's a Top 10 List for, and I'm about half way there. New reviews so far were written for such films as Memento, Being John Malkovich, The Dark Knight, and Into the Wild. Quick reviews can't be that hard to write, right?

Anyhow, it's all located here. Next up: the 100th News Blog Entry!

All Signs Point to Mill Valley

Not to sound superstitious or anything, but today, I randomly received a note from someone giving positive site feedback. This person is named Christian Svanes Kolding.

christian svanes kolding, showreel, the "a-side" | 4 min. from svanes on Vimeo.

Why is this important, you ask? It's because his short film, Depression Served Six Ways, is listed as "great" on the Movie Ratings section of this site, and I had specifically viewed it at the 2005 Mill Valley Film Festival.

It's another reference to Mill Valley, and it had nothing to do with At the Core. Plus, it's always cool to get contacted by the filmmakers directly!

New Ratings Design

It's about time I shaped thost things up a little... After not touching that part of the site for a few months, I'm gettin' back on it.

The new movie ratings are slightly more colorful, and utilize more pages to cut down on loading time. There's also a semitransparent floating menu to weave among the different ratings categories.

As for my Oscar Predictions page, there's a completely new design that implements textual scrolling at the click of a button. Kinda hard to describe, but you'll like it when you see it.

Check it all out at directorG2.com/z jimthzz.bingodisk.com/public/z!

Sugar Kings

First: Tech problem fixed, and news blogs can resume!

Both "Tons of Sugar Cereal" and "The King Who Rained," the latter of which is above this paragraph, are now viewable on YouTube and are each embedded on their respective pages on this site.  Check 'em out!

Also currently in the works: 1/3 of the Demo Reels are completed, and will be uploaded once they all have been created.

Lastly, at Garett's Movie Ratings part of the site, movie reviews are being experimented with...

S H A R E :

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