As you all can see an exciting change has been made to the website! We have no unveiled our new theme and banner so that when you guys visit the website you can finally recognize it as uniquely ours- something that shows off some of the best moments in SAP history!

So I hope you all enjoy the new look, in terms of functionality the website is still the same, and forums will hopefully be upgraded to match soon enough!

In the meantime, I’m going to start posting EVERY DAY. Even if its something nostalgic or generally unimportant, best to post SOMETHING. I find it inexcusable that I have left our readers with empty mental stomaches for the better part of six weeks- its time to just start posting whatever our crew finds interesting!

So today I have a link to a video, a heads up on one of our biggest inspirations ever, and a quote from a famous actor that gives a glimpse into my upcoming personal criticism of The Dark Knight:

First off, the amazing TV show, Battlestar Galactica, is getting it’s prequel film, and Sci Fi has the first trailer here.

Secondly, we have news about Strike a Pose!!! Inspiration, RYUHEI KITAMURA is going to be making an American Version of his cult classic, VERSUS. Here’s the scoop, brought to you by DreadCentral.com:

Kitamura just announced that he’s working on an American version of Versus. He just finished a draft of the script and will do one more to polish it up. It’s going to be a few years before it’s made, as he’s doing an action film first, but he stated, and I quote: “The US Versus will be insane!”

And finally, Sir Michael Caine has cast his vote towards the making of a third Batman Begins film, and IMDB has the story! Check out the full article here.

“He tells WENN, “I think this one will be such a success it will be difficult to do a sequel because we’ve done one and we’ve topped it, obviously, and now we’ve got to top this.

“That is difficult. That is difficult because we’ve already broken the box office (record) in American movie history. We’ve got to break our own record. It’s hard.”

I’ll have more on my personal opinion of both The Dark Knight and WALL-E later this week.

For now though, enjoy the new update, and for those of you who don’t know what VERSUS is, check out this great fan video from UltimateVersus2005 on Youtube.

“You have to understand that rightly or wrongly, I consider myself an artist and I consider the work that we do art. In helping to tell stories by creating these characters. I came out as an actor. I am not a technician. I am techno-ignorant, but I love creating characters and telling wonderful stories. Thinking of myself as an artist doesn’t allow me to think of size having to do with importance.”
~from Imdb.com’s Stan Winston page.

One of the most important figures in my inspirations for film making died last night.

His name was Stan Winston, and he is solely responsible for the amount of Aliens, Predator, and Terminator toys within the storage of my old collection. He was a living legend- the single most creative special effects artist in the industry and quite possibly of all time, having crafted both the dinosaurs in the Jurassic Park series and the physical suit that Robert Downey, Jr. used in the recently succesful Iron Man

It is quite rare for a special effects artist to be so well known by name and not just his studio, but many people were big fans of his work. He was a big enough deal to be one of two special effects artists on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Nominated for over 30 cinematic achievement awards in his lifetime, he was also a four time Oscar Winner for his work on Terminator 2, Jurassic Park, and Aliens. His works with James Cameron, Tim Burton, Steven Spielberg and many, many others have crafted the imaginations and fascinated a whole generation of film going kids and adults.

For all his hard work and his endless amount of entertainment, realism in effects, and memorable characters and creatures, Strike a Pose Films salutes you, Stan Winston. There certainly wouldn’t be a Bodangofish without you.

EDIT:
I’d like to throw this video up on the site- a very tastefully done and touching piece by our friends over at joblo.com and Arrow in the Head that details some of the best moments in Stan’s legacy. I swear I nearly cried. This man WAS my childhood.

So much to talk about and so little time. But here’s the gist of it:

FUTURE FILM MAKERS UPDATES
We’ve been doing a LOT of hard work. Quite a few projects underway, including the previously mentioned Jasper Conroy: Salisbury Bounty Hunter, the recently completely Gullman: Defender of Salisbury (yes, there is a theme here), and the running of our amazingly soon-to-be-mega-successful FILM FESTIVAL!

We currently have about 3 feature length and 15 short entries, totaling at over FIVE HOURS of footage. Here’s a brief idea of what we’ve got:

FILM FESTIVAL SPRING 08
Starting at 3 PM we’ll be showing:
7even Days by Jay Szech (75 Minutes)
Panel with Jay (10- 15 minutes)
Short Break (5 minutes)
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Robert Cogdell’s Films (10 minutes total)
Short Panel with Rob Cogdell (5 minutes)
Hudson Harrison by David M. Demerest (7 minutes)
Conflict Now by Dylan Hintz (8 minutes)
War: A Documentary by Thomas England (20 Minutes)
Short Break (5 minutes)
Scott’s Worst Day by Scott Dotterwich (6 minutes)
Playing Games in Purgatory by Ryan Henry (45 minutes)
Short Discussion (5 minutes)
The L Files by David M. Demerest (8 Minutes)
Piano Man: A Documentary by Marc Gast (20 minutes)
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WAC Zombies (6 minutes)
Mean Boy and Bum by Ed Lauler (5 minutes)
I Don’t Live Today by Ed Lauler (15 minutes)
Man of Action by The Future Film Makers Club (3 minutes)
Gull Man by The Future Film Makers Club (4 minutes)
Hit and Run by Alexis Morrel and Lauren Depaul (60 minutes)
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Post show Previews:
Jasper Conroy by the Future Film Makers Club
An Old Hope and Option Ingredients by Dan Gvozden
Line of Sight and Clarity by Dylan Hintz
—————————
This event will be ending around 10 or 11 PM

Other than that, good news: THE GALLERIES ARE BACK UP! Check out the new pictures here

New videos will becoming up soon, with Gull Man and Jasper Conroy, plus footage from the set of An Old Hope trip that I took last month.

I’m incredibly busy with this festival, as you can see, but hopefully it’ll all pay off! We’ve got a lot of entries and we’re making a big name not just for the club, but for film making in general through this amazing festival!

Tomorrow I, Dylan Hintz, will be going on an epic journey to that metropolis known as New York City to help my friend Dan Gvozden, a fellow student film maker, on the set of his newest project, An Old Hope.

I will be driving back to Montgomery County, riding to the metro station down to DC, taking a bus to Chinatown NY, and then walking the rest of the way to NYU all at four in the morning.

I honestly can’t wait. I will get footage and pictures.

Dan’s very gracious in giving me a role as PA (production assistant) for this film, even going against his producer’s advisement to add another person. Must mean I’m doing something right! And its all thanks to the people who check out my website every day, or even every month. Even if you’ve just looked at it once, it’s all cause of you that I’ve made it this far.

So I’m asking the people that enjoy my site to check out Dan’s website, dan-gvozden.com and watch his movies, and then go to the official movie website for

Here’s a brief synopsis of the plot:

A promising young writer, Lucas Ford, decides that while he is successful he wants to get more out of his writing than just a paycheck. So one day he makes a public announcement that he will be disappearing until he is finished writing what he feels is the ultimate entertainment experience. After 30 years Lucas returns to find out that the script he has written, “The Star Wars,” was already made and has become the most popular film of all time.

It sounds like its going to be pretty great! So everyone head over to his site and offer your support! I’ll be sure to bring back footage from the set if I make it back in one piece!

This isn’t really going to be a review, simply a reflection.

Tonight I watched a movie that I had been cautiously avoiding for the last few months. The story of Chris McCandles has been far from mind for three years since I read it in my senior year of high school. Sitting in a factory line desk, taking notes from a materialistic, sports-enthused history teacher, and trying hard to ignore the hypocrisy and mindlessness of recent American history, this book was the only thing I came close to enjoying in that class. Alex Supertramp, as Mccandles wanted to be known during his journey, was a half-genius, half crazy privileged white American male who gave up his hard earned savings, college degree, and chances for a rational future in 1990 to go live on the land of modern America.

For this, he learned much, met many, influenced a handful, and died alone in the very wilderness he so loved.

I sit here, typing on a computer- my main occupation consisting primarily of machines, electronics, and permits- knowing full well my life could have easily become that. I had tried to leave home many times in my high school years. Sometimes driving, sometimes walking, sometimes running. I never made it much further than a few miles. I once walked maybe four or five down the local tracks until I came across the Shady Grove Metro station.

I called my mom to pick me up, if I remember correctly. It was always just to blow off steam.

What Alex had that I don’t, however, was a real vision of getting lost. Getting away and coming to a state of nothingness. Mono-no-aware. Complete letting go and embracing the surrounding.

It is only then, after all, that we can truly start over.

I write all this, thought provoked by a spinning disc in a DVD player in the utmost disdain. I almost let this movie pass me by. I should not have been afraid. Though it does make me wish I could take such a journey or live such a life for some time, it did not drive me mad with the hatred for a society I am very much a part of. It did not turn me against my current lifestyle.

I recommend this movie fully without any caution to anyone and everyone. If you don’t like the story, hell, at least you can see a plethora of On Location shooting of parts of America you’ll probably never visit (or at least completely appreciate). The acting can sometimes feel preachy, but over all it is potent and alive. Knowing that these actors like Vince Vaughn and Hal Halbrook are playing REAL LIFE people who REALLY met and knew this kid with words taken from the amazing book by Jack Krakeur brings so much more emotion to the viewing. The beauty of the cinematography, the graceful montage editing, and the overpowering quotes of such great writers as Tolstoy, London, and Thoreau used in the narration really cements this movie as a work of art and truth.

Not my favorite movie. It most likely won’t break my top 25, though it certainly is one I will purchase, remember, and look back to when I feel like I’ve been stuck in my house for a day too long.