I finally got to see Accounting for Loss on the big screen at the 48 Hour Film Project screening! It played so well in the theater with a full audience! I joined Team ‘No Sleep’ lead by Tim Moore and Joe Pelham, (the guys from Diamond View Studios). For the contest, you get 48 hours to make a film, and to make sure you don’t cheat, you get a prop, character, genre, and line of dialouge, that you have to use in the film. We drew the ‘Silent Film’ genre, and were worried at first, but then the ideas starting coming fast and furious.

Tim had contacted me to see if I wanted to be a gaffer or grip, but when I showed up, Joe suggested that I should be the lead actor, because I had “the look” for the main character, which is funny because the lead character was cuckoo-nuts. But this was my first time participating in the 48hfp, so let me tell you how it was.

It actually went alot smoother than I expected. I’ve heard alot of stories about how teams wouldn’t even start filming until sunday, 5 hours before the deadline. But only 3 hours after receiving our film assignment, we had a solid story idea. We started filming by at least 4 am, and finished around 6/7am, Saturday morning. We had all day Saturday and Sunday to edit, but used some of that to get me back in wardrobe for some extra footage of an alternate ending. We ended up getting the film in 9 seconds before the deadline. It was so nerve wracking!

But at the premier tonight, I was so excited. We were shown second to last, which is really good because our film would be fresh in peoples heads when they vote at the end. There were some funny and well crafted films before ours, but I was optimistic and felt ours could surprise the audience. One of the films that I was worried about was made by a team called the Black Ninjas, which was lead by a good friend of mine, Andrew Gash. I used to work with the guys on that team for a while, and then when 48hfp came around, the guys from DVS contacted me first, so I joined them instead. The Black Ninjas did really well though, so any award to them is well deserved. I was so happy about our film though, because the reaction from the audience was so good.

When our film ended, everyone applauded for a good 4 seconds. It felt like the whole audience had been holding their breath for the last 3 minutes of the film, and finally could let it out. It was definitely a different experience seeing it in a full theater than on my computer at home. There’s one part in the film that really got me. It is a moment where the film gets really intense, and the music builds, and there are flashes of images on the screen, and then the music and images crescendo and there’s a good 3 seconds of just blackness and silence. The silence is pushed so much that people almost begin to wonder, “is that the end??” but then the film comes back and starts building again. Tim and Joe made terrific cuts from the 4 hours of footage we shot. I was so proud to be a part of it.

Here’s the film:

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Fox Tampa Bay’s Charlie Belcher interviewed me and some young filmmakers this morning at the Sunscreen Teen Film Camp.

By the way, Charlie is a very funny comedic actor himself, and can be seen in the film – Lakeland Love Comedy, directed by Dave DeBorde.

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Rating (1-5):

Reviewed by Nick
Official Site: www.thelastairbendermovie.com/
Film Details

Genre: Fantasy
Summary: A horrendous failure of a film.

What I liked: Some of the effects looked nice, especially water bending.

Didn’t like: The worst thing I’ve seen from M. Night since Lady In the Water. I know all you fans are sitting there going,
“Yeahhh, he completely ruined the story!”. But that’s not all. Calm down. One thing that I think was the worst, was the acting, especially the younger actors. (Dev Patel as Prince Zuko acted fine). Much of the acting was TERRIBLE, and the dialouge was too “on-the-nose”. In other words, they told you everything that happened, or was thought, or what was GOING to happen. And then 5 minutes later there will be a naration of the thoughts of a character, saying the SAME exact thing. It is a slap in the face. It breaks a key rule of filmmaking, which is “show, dont tell”. So if you watch that movie and DONT know whats going to happen, your asleep. The script writers should have been fired.

Also, you may leave the theater saying “that seemed really quick”. Thats because they had absolutely NO character development. In the cartoon, they built the relationship between Ang and his companions, as well as his pets. In the movie, Ang and his friends didnt even TALK or share a single heartfelt moment. I’m half glad about that, because of their horrible acting. All they did was fight together. Also, the reason it might seem quick is because the pacing is awful. Its hard to describe, but it just went all out of whack. One second Ang is busting out of his spherical ice coccoon, the next, they are fighting the fire nation in the finale. I was sitting there like “I just looked down to have some of my 6 dollar popcorn, and when I look up, the credits are rolling!”. Just bad. Bad bad bad.

As for you die-hard fans of the actual show, yes they screwed that up to. Theres alot of things they cut out that I think would have been much better to leave in. Not just because I loved the show, but it really helped with the building of the relationships, drama and tension. Also, (and this may be a spoiler of sorts) but there’s a scene where Ang is talking to a “Dragon Spirit” in a cave in the spirit world. In the show, it’s this really awesome looking centipede thing with a human face. And you weren’t supposed to show emotion because it would steal your face. Therefore, the spirit kept trying to frighten Ang and make him show emotion, while Ang was trying to get answers. Before you say “Oh your just another fan! Everything can’t be in the movie!”, Wait. They could of taken JUST as long adding a little more legs, and a human face, as it took to make a full dragon. It was like, “well, in the cartoon he ate an apple, but lets make it a pear, just for laughs!”. So I didn’t like that very much.

As for the final battle. So much about it was just bloody ridiculous. I won’t give anything away, but SO many times I was sitting there going “Do this. Do that.” And they never did. They were so stupid. The fight is just so pumped up with effects, that the characters usually don’t do what an actual human being would do. And the audience would sit there saying “Turn around you idiot!”. But in this one, is was so proposterous that it was hard to watch. At the end, I didn’t care about any of the characters, because I hadn’t seen enough development to care about them. Like in I Am Legend, (spoiler) you really cared for Will Smith and the scene where he had to kill his only friend, his dog. Because they spent so much time showing how close they were, and how important the dog was to Will. Theres nothing like that in The Last Airbender. It was just sucky all around.

Oh and that one really cool trailer we all saw, where Ang is airbending the candles in a circle, and then the camera zooms out and theres a whole bunch of fire nation ships? I kept waiting to see that but it was NEVER in the movie. Jerks.

I could rant all day, but I think I’ll just end it by saying I absolutely 100 percent do NOT recommend seeing this film. Im giving it a 1 out of 5 simply because the effects were kind of cool. But I honestly don’t see how someone could WASTE millions of dollars on a poorly crafted FLOP like this.

Recommend for: No one over 12 except die-hard fans that just have to compare. But they won’t be happy neither. Kids under 12 probably will enjoy it and not be bothered by the poor dialogue, acting, and script.

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1. Rotten Tomatoes – This one is the best in my opinion. They make it really easy to see what critics say about movies that are out, when ever you need to know. And multiple people can review it, so it gives you a mix of opinions. It’s not just one source. But the thing I like the most about them, is that they tell it straight up. They don’t care what is popular, they tear into the movie if it stinks, and give good movie reviews when worthy.

2. RogerEbert.com – There’s  only roger on this one. But it’s number two on my list, because he, like rotten tomatoes, also doesnt care about the popular vote. He is also a known and respected guy with a reputation, so people listen to his reviews. Which are good as well. One thing its hard for a single person to do, is really anylize each genre of movie. Like, for me, personally, i hate slashers, but a good critic like roger would have to put everything into consideration. It could be well made. You can’t just shoot a movie down cuz you dont like it. So thats why he’s number two.

3. One Sentence Movie Reviews – What’s not to like. You’re in a hurry, you want to get a quick opinion on a film. More than a rating, maybe a few adjectives like ‘awesome’ or ‘horrible’, to really make a quick decision. You can check out dozens of reviews in just a few minutes.

4. Moviereviews.com – Cleverly enough. It comes in 4th though, because its just plain. It gives the reviews and thats it. It may of course be what alot of people want. But I look for more of a diverse set up. With multiple reviews and such. Still good though.

5.onlygoodmovies.com – This one isn’t focused on movie reviews primarily, but it has the coolest movie lists that you’ll ever find online. Such as “20 reasons NOT to see avatar”, “Scariest Movie Rabbits”, and “Best Doomsday Scenarios”.

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Guest Review by Harold Hisona

Jake Sully, a former marine, has been paralyzed with his broken body. He was confined in his wheelchair without a consolation of being able to recover from his current condition. Being a soldier, he never quits and keeps on fighting even inside him. He always wants to be a soldier, ready most of the times and willing to fight. His determination to be able to walk again pushed him to get enlisted among the people to travel to the human outpost in the world of Pandora; some scientists were able to discover a mineral which is the solution to the energy crisis that the world may experience. Pandora is the world of other creatures called “Na’vi” and is light years away.

This is the part of the movie wherein hope can be seen in the heart of Jake Sully. Everyone who watches the movie will surely be moved by the determination of Jake who is willing to do everything to regain his able body. Aside from that, the heroic side of Jake tells everyone that he will do everything just to help the world he is living.

Pandora has its own atmosphere which humans cannot penetrate. Thus, the Avatar Program was launched to solve the problem. Scientists were able to extract DNA from a Na’vi and mixed it with the DNA of a natural human. Thus, the creature would look like a Na’vi but driven by a human inside. The good thing is that the consciousness of both human and Na’vi are linked together that a person driving the body will be able to comprehend and feel the way Na’vis do with the understanding of a human. Aside from that, the “Avatar” would be able to breathe under the atmosphere of Pandora.

Upon knowing this, Jake never hesitated to be born again with a new body able to do what he wants it to do. And this made him gain more determination to pursue the mission to infiltrate Pandora and to mine the precious minerals needed for the world.

Infiltrating the home of the Na’vi is never as easy as what Jake thought it would be. He should have died if not because of the help of Neytiri, a female and beautiful Na’vi. Neytiri’s family would like Jake to join their clan in which Jake hesitated at first. However, as days passed by that he was treated nicely by Neytiri, he felt the affection for her that he should not feel. And every single day that he was together with the clan, he was able to understand how Na’vis live in their small yet happy world.

This is the point wherein Jake was put in a dilemma of making a decision whether to pursue his mission or be with the woman he started to love.

Would Jake’s feeling hinder him from fulfilling his mission to save the world and pursue the mission he wholeheartedly accepted without bias?

Was his love be enough to help Na’vi fight for their home which is soon to be spoiled by humans?

The Highlights

• The movie is not just about the spectacular display of pyrotechnics, visual and audio effects. Rather, it is about a love story between two entities who are not supposed to meet. However, destiny crossed their paths.
• This is not any typical 3D movie. It contains appealing ambient which you have never felt and witnessed before.
• Without the effects, the scenes would always be special. The power of emotion goes beyond everyone who watches it.
• In your imagination, the world of humans and Na’vis are seamlessly connected when Jake met Heytiri.

Bad Points

• None.

Harold is one of the Movie Review Writers of Big Pond News where you
can find tons of High Definition Sci-Fi Movies to enjoy. Take time to visit the Big Pond Movie Section and
browse through the movies you may want to watch.

My (KidReviewer) thoughts: Avatar was VERY visually entertaining. With all the creatures, the plants, and even the entire culture James Cameron was able to create within the alien tribe of the Na’vi people. It was sort of like the story of Pocohantas, and a little like Romeo and Juliet. Two people from apposing sides fall in love, and the rest unfolds. I heard that this film was going to change filmmaking all together. I didn’t really see anything I considered groundbreaking directing other than the use of so much CGI, but that’s just building on other films. No real innovative camera shots or new ways to go about blocking a set.  It was LOVELY CGI though, and the creatures, plants, and people all look so real. So maybe the need for actors is diminishing? Or maybe not. Other than that it was just a really good movie.

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