The Smalls is an online showcase for non-commercial creative work. We are here to inspire and to offer a medium where emerging talent can display work not only to fellow members of the contemporary creative community, but also to our subscription members in the broadcast, film and advertising industry.
Thu, 28 Jan 2010 03:38
THE SMALLS MOVIE, TV AND DVD NEWS
So when Avatar finally slips from the #1 spot, it actually may be a surprise. Perhaps as surprising as how mediocre the reaction to the Apple iPad announcement was. But we all went to Pandora yet again this past weekend, and this sci-fi epic pulled in another $34.9 million USD. The universally panned ‘Legion’ debuted at #2, yet only made $17.5 M – and it only goes downhill from here. ‘The Book of Eli’ squeezed barely $15.7 M, ‘The Tooth Fairy’ debuted at #4 with $14 M, and ‘the Lovely Bones’ rounded out the top 5 at $ 8.4 M. So what’s up? Were we holding onto our precious dollars wondering how much we would need for the new magic tablet?
Well thanks to Avatar, everything is going 3D. We just heard that the upcoming remake of Clash of the Titans (starring Sam Worthington, by the way) will get the royal treatment, as will the final two installments of Harry Potter. Are you excited about this? Is this a step forward or just another gimmick for movie studios? Will 3D be unavoidable in theatres, our homes, and on our iPad? Let us know what you are thinking in our forums!
It’s oddly a quiet week in terms of movie news… so far, we know that Guy Ritchie will be dumping all previous engagements to direct the second Sherlock Holmes movie. The historic video game series Mortal Kombat may be made into a new set of movies. And Sam Worthington may go from being a Terminator to a Na’vi to a Greek hero to… get ready… Dracula, in a new adaptation. Man this guy is busy! And in case you weren’t happy with the amount of Avatar related news this week, rumors are swirling that crew members are being hired for multiple year contracts for… Avatar 2?!
In TV news, ‘Ugly Betty’ surprisingly got the axe this week. This current season will indeed be its last, and the total number of episodes has been reduced to 20. Will you miss it? Perhaps knowing there will be an end will provide a purpose, much like how ‘Lost’ found a new energy when they came up with a deadline. And speaking of, we’re just days away from the final season premiere. In fact, there will be a screening of the first episode of season 6 in Hawaii this weekend, so if you’re willing to look at spoilers (or fly to Hawaii in time), we’re sure you’ll be able to search for them in a few days.
Alot of DVDs are out this week, from the chick pride flick ‘Whip It
’ to the hedonistic male fantasy ‘I Hope They Serve Beer in Hell
’. Bruce Willis fans have ‘Surrogates
’ to look forward to, and others can bid farewell to the King of Pop Michael Jackson in ‘This Is It
’. The original ‘Fame
’ also gets a new release on Blu-ray (did anyone see the remake?). But we recommend the new Criterion Blu-ray release of Wim Wenders’ ‘Paris, Texas
’. If you haven’t seen it, you must. This is one road movie that actually achieves the perfect meditative tone that we all seek in our real life journeys.
See you next week!
Tue, 26 Jan 2010 14:06
10 INSPIRING SOUND WEBSITES
Through our work with our much-loved Street Sounds (www.thesmalls.com/streetsounds) event, we have come across a number of people, organizations and websites that are truly inspirational within the art and science of sound.
Here are 10 sound websites that we love. If you have any you would like to share, please post a comment next to this article.
Enjoy!
The Smalls
Sound and Story Project of the Hudson Valley
How much do you know about the Hudson Valley? Check out this website for some cool stories and recollections from residents in communities everywhere from Manhattan to Albany.
http://www.soundandstory.org/home.html
China Blue – Sounds from the Eiffel Tower
Sound artist China Blue has recorded sounds and video from the Eiffel Tower. Head to this website to hear everything from ambient sounds to elevator vibrations.
http://www.chinablueart.com/index.htm
Wild Sound Stories – Step into the heart of nature
Bay Area sound artist Gina Farr collaborates with other artists such as Bernie Krause, Lang Elliot and Dan Dugan to create very cool six-minute audio and visual excursions into wild habitats.
http://www.wildsoundstories.com/
Listen to Africa
Follow a team that is on a two-year journey by bicycle to record the sounds of Africa. You’ll hear everything from wildlife to people telling stories. The whole expedition is 24,000 kilometers long – lets see how many sounds it brings in.
http://www.listentoafrica.com/audio/
Whalesong.net
How could we not possibly mention top sound websites without including one that presents whale song? This site is very unique as it broadcasts live whale song – yes that’s right, live – except when the whales are migrating. From Maui to Alaska, you don’t want to miss this.
http://www.whalesong.net/
Open Sound New Orleans
As far as cities go, the musical haven of New Orleans is one of the most fascinating in the world. Visit this website and hear for yourself.
http://www.opensoundneworleans.com/core/
Live Antarctic Ocean Streaming
The Alfred Wegener Institute streams live audio from four solar and wind powered hydrophones off the Antarctic coast. Yes, this is very cool indeed – it transmits live from UNDER the Antarctic ice.
http://www.awi.de/en/research/new_technologies/marine_observing_systems/ocean_acoustics/
Sounds of New York
Whether you love or hate the Big Apple you will adore this site that features all kinds of street noise, talk and more.
http://www.soundsofnewyork.com/
Cinco Cidades Soundmap
An impressive range of sounds recorded across five Portuguese cities. People talking, ambient sounds and cool sound effects are all available. You can even mix your own loop.
http://www.cincocidades.com/en/soundmap/
A Sound Walk Across California
From the Library of Natural Sounds at the Oakland Museum of California, this website lets you listen to wildlife and more. Covers everything from the coast to Sierra Nevada to the Great Basin.
http://museumca.org/naturalsounds/
Wed, 20 Jan 2010 15:40
THE SMALLS MOVIE, TV AND DVD NEWS
So the first of the major film awards has spoken, and AVATAR is king! Not only did the film won for Best Motion Picture – Drama at the Golden Globes, James Cameron won for Best Director, surprising everyone (including himself). Everyone though this was Kathryn Bigelow’s year because of the massive support for ‘The Hurt Locker’, but somehow her ex-husband (yeah, did you know that?) stole her thunder. What will this mean for the Academy Awards? Will the votes go the same way, choosing the biggest blockbuster of this new decade, or will the pendulum swing back and support a small budget war film? The suspense is mounting.
Oh, and Ricky Gervais did a pretty good job hosting. Who do you think deserved to win? Air your grievances in our forums!
In box office news, it was no surprise that AVATAR remained in the top spot, pulling in USD $54.4 Million. The newest debuts, The Book of Eli (#2 @ $38.4M), The Lovely bones (#3 @ 19.9M) and The Spy Next Door (#5 @ $12.9M) did respectably well, knocking off all of the other previous top 5 films, except for Alvin and The Chipmunks, which held on at #4 ($15.3M). This week, we have a Harrison Ford medical drama (‘Extraordinary Measures’), a supernatural action film (‘Legion’) and a ‘Tooth Fairy’ movie starring Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson. Will any of them prevail? Or at least kick some rodents off this list finally?
So after Spider Man 4 fell apart, and we heard a reboot was already in the works, we cringed. But now we’re semi-excited to hear that the new director is Marc Webb, fresh off 500 Days of Summer. Director Alexander Payne is heading back to work with The Descendants, starring George Clooney. Happy Feet 2 announced some new cast members, Matt Damon and Brad Pitt – which is cool, but it would have been even cooler if Director George Miller put them in the latest Mad Max sequel. And finally, the sleeper hit ‘Paranormal Activity’ is getting the first of its sequels… do we smell eventual ruining of a great concept? Only time will tell.
TV fans of Torchwood may be able to relive the series again in English… I mean, AMERICAN English. There is a rumor that a US version of the series is now in the works, which proves the Hollywood adage of ‘If you find a good thing, remake it.’ And remember the superhero movie ‘Push
’? It’s getting its own television series, headed by Watchmen
screenwriter David Hayter.
DVD releases this week include Ricky Gervais’ ‘The Invention of Lying
’, and did you know there is a ‘Smokin' Aces 2
’? We didn’t. Season 5 of ‘Weeds
’ has also been released, as is the classic ‘thirtysomething
’ – if you are too young to remember this show, you should pick it up. Our recommendation? ‘Magnolia
’. This PT Anderson film gets a new Blu-ray treatment this week, so now you can watch frogs fall from the sky in full 1080p.
Sat, 16 Jan 2010 00:36
THE SMALLS MOVIE, TV AND DVD NEWS
Here’s some news for you all… but please make sure to read up on what’s happening in Haiti right now. They need our help.
Not much movement last weekend in the box office. Avatar is still on top (#1 @ $50.3 Million USD), Sherlock Holmes is going to have to enjoy making money as number 2 ($16.6 Mil), kids are streaming in to see Alvin and The Chipmunks 2 (ALSO $16.6 Mil), and the well reviewed Daybreakers had to be satisfied with a #4 debut at $15.1 Mil. It’s Complicated still hangs on to #5 which is pretty impressive.
The Book of Eli (Denzel), The Spy Next Door (Jackie) and The Lovely Bones (Marky) and all open this weekend – will any of them dethrone the King of the World?
We the biggest news this week was the sudden death of the Spider Man franchise. After a lot of casting and deadline squabbling, Sam Raimi and Tobey Maguire have left the project. So instead, the ever-resilient movie studio is now going to enact the fastest reboot in history (The Hulk may currently hold that title) – putting a brand new cast in and starting over in high school. Hey, you have to keep making money.
Well here’s some good news – Ivan Reitman is directing Ghostbusters 3!!! The director of the originals returns to the help for the upcoming film. We’re excited to see the old gang back together, but what is this we hear about a ‘new generation’ of ‘busters? Not so sure about that… Those who complained about Ryan Reynolds as Green Lantern can now rejoice – Peter Sarsgaard has been cast as the villain, adding some much needed gravitas. Oh, and video game fans can rejoice that the trailer for ‘Tekken’ has finally hit the web. But we all know people have their arms up (both good and bad) hearing that Transformers 3 is starting to shoot this coming May!
We’re a little worried for Netflix, the largest by-mail DVD rental service. Their online service, which streams hundreds of excellent movies is getting some backlash from the studios, who want more money in exchange for when people rent their films (of course!). Disney is the first, teaching all of our kids a valuable lesson.
The big TV news is that NBC bumped Jay Leno’s 10:30 show to 11:30… which means Conan O’Brien has to move to 12:00… Conan is certainly not happy. Does this mean the end for the Tonight Show? Will Conan go to another network? We have yet to find out.
Just a little less that three weeks until the premiere of the final scene of LOST… have you looked for spoilers on the internet? Are you being good and watching the whole series from the beginning? Let us know in the forums!
Listen, we usually throw in some DVD recommendations here. But with the recent disaster in Haiti, please put your money somewhere good. There’s plenty of relief funds and charities out there – find the one that you want to support and get some aid over there quick, ok? See you all next week.
Fri, 15 Jan 2010 12:52
WANT TO HELP HAITI?
The Haitian earthquake is an enormous tragedy. If any of our Smalls members want to help the people of Haiti, we want to make the search for places where you can donate online a little easier.
The Red Cross
http://www.redcross.org/
The Red Cross allows you to choose “Haiti Relief and Development” when you donate money.
Direct Relief International
http://www.directrelief.org/EmergencyResponse/2010/EarthquakeHaiti.aspx
Fedex and other large companies are working with Direct Relief to get help to the people of Haiti. You can donate online or via text message.
World Vision
http://www.worldvision.org/worldvision/eappeal.nsf/egift-haiti-quake-relief?open
This organization is already in Haiti, and their money goes primarily to food, tents, blankets and clean water.
If you would like to give money to the United Nations – go to http://www.un.org where you will find a link to donate, its visible directly on the Home page.
There is also the WHO recommended site to visit:
https://www.pahef.org/donate/donate.aspx?source=Her
If you cannot find a suitable organization, contact your local government and ask for help on where to turn with your donations.
Please note that The Smalls does not endorse or make any guarantees about any of the mentioned organizations or their donation programs – but we do encourage our members to help the people of Haiti, in any way they see fit.
The Smalls
Wed, 13 Jan 2010 13:03
WHAT DOES JUPITER SOUND LIKE?
We are really excited to let you know that beautiful sounds from The Space Gambus Experiment, written and produced by Kaman Sabran, are now available in the Sound Map inside The Smalls Street Sounds. An amalgamation of sampled sounds - such as the drone of Jupiter (!) are gently woven together with beats and music to create something entirely unique.
Curious? Go to www.thesmalls.com/streetsounds and check it out!
Tue, 12 Jan 2010 19:00
CALL FOR MUSIC
Do you have a song or a short piece of music that you have created? The Smalls Street Sounds would like to hear it. Whether it is a piece of ambient sound or a 3-minute rock or jazz concert, upload it to our interactive Sound Map today and you could see your work used in an award-winning short film this spring.
In addition to displaying your music to thousands of film professionals, you also enter a draw to win an iPod touch. For every sound you enter you increase your chances of winning.
To learn more about The Smalls Street Sounds and to visit the Sound Map to upload your music now, go to www.thesmalls.com/streetsounds
Tue, 05 Jan 2010 16:10
THE SMALLS MOVIE, TV AND DVD NEWS
Welcome to 2010 everyone! Did you miss us during the holidays? We sure did miss you. It’s sometimes pretty quiet during these times in the entertainment world, but there has been some milestones set this year.
You don’t need us to tell you that it is James Cameron’s ‘Avatar’ that has set new global records for its incredible new vision of not only an alien world, but a 3-D IMAX experience like no other. In only 17 days, the film has brought in over 1 Billion dollars, which indeed is a new record. We know people who have gone to see this 3 hour + epic multiple times, and despite what may be said about the dialogue and other little faults, this breathes new life into an industry that has been battered by television and the internet for far too long. You really cannot have this at home, so get off your butts and go outside!... in order to go back inside J
For those who couldn’t get into screenings of ‘Avatar’, it wasn’t all that dreary. ‘Sherlock Holmes’ has steadily held the #2 spot – great for dates, families and people waiting for Iron Man 2. #3 was the sequel to ‘Alvin and the Chipmunks’ – probably brought in the rest of the family / young children crowds. Adults flocked to ‘It’s Complicated’, which took the # 4 spot, and last but not least the ‘Blind Side’ remained in the top five, as it has proven to be for people of all ages. One could easily categorize who went to see these movies, which give you some perspective on how films are chosen to be made and marketed, yes? Consider that your lesson for today.
There’s a lot of gossip going around. A new adaptation of the Frank Herbert novel ‘Dune’ has a director – Pierre Morel, of ‘Taken’ fame is now at the helm. Bond 23 has hit delays, as MGM is in trouble and is still waiting to be bought out. Sadly, John Hillcoat’s (‘The Road’) next project, The Wettest Country in The World is no longer, due to the financing company falling apart. In remake news, ‘The Orphanage’ is getting an English language remake, directed by Mark Pellington. Prequel lovers may or may not be interested that the classic, ‘The Thing’ is getting one soon (the shoot starts in March).
We know our TV news has been ‘Lost’ centric lately. But the premiere of the final season of ‘Lost’ is only a month away in the US, and the internet is buzzing with gossip, trailers, and more. Dig around, and you’ll be able to find some spoilers, giving you clues about what this series has been all about. What do you think? How will it end? Feel free to go to our forum and hash it out!
You still have some room in your media library after the holidays? Or are you ready to return some to get films you REALLY want? Don’t forget about 2009’s smash hit ‘District 9
’, a truly visionary work that looks great in both Blu-ray and DVD. There’s a lot of TV releases this week, including ‘Chuck
’, ‘Big Love
’ and a new Blu-ray release of ‘Battlestar Galactica
’ season one. This week however, we’re in a romantic comedy sort of mood – so why not check out ’10 Things I Hate About You
’? Remind yourself how promising Heath Ledger was even way back then.
See you next week!