That’s Jentertainment

So it seems that the rumors were true. The entries that went up on the empire website were the English entries only. We got word today that Truman has been selected as one of the top 5 Irish entrants. I’m absolutely delighted that we get a night out to celebrate what we put so much work into. Reaching the top five is certainly encouragement to keep doing what we’re doing.

There’s an event to screen the shortlisted entries this weekend as part of the Jameson film festival. Then the top two Irish entries are chosen by judges Lisa Cannon, John Boorman, John Maguire and John Moore. (That’s a lot of Johns!) It will be great to see all the entries but because that will only take five minutes, we get to attend the film that was voted ‘Best Movie Remake’ by a poll ran by entertainment.ie.

The five shortlisted DISS are mentioned here but there’s no video links so you’ll have to wait until my review of the evening this weekend. Thanks to everyone that has been supportive of our video, you’re all lovely.

As I’ve been posting about the Jameson Empire competition for the past while, you’ve lived through our Truman Show in 60 seconds,  the hopes, the dreams, the extended version and even the bloopers. I mentioned in my last post that I was surprised with some really fantastic entries not making the cut. It seems I’m not the only one with these feelings.

It emerged today that the top twenty finalists of the competition are all British entries. This has created a glimmer of hope for all international entries as Chris Hewitt Empire film reviewer said this on the Empire forum:

“I believe that Irish entries will be judged separately. The entries on our site are UK entries, so if you’re Irish and you’re foaming at the mouth about not getting in… you might be a tad hasty.”

In doing so, he has sparked the hopes of all international entries again OR has uncovered a scandal. Let’s hope it’s the former as there are a few entries I’d be happy to see make the final few.

Got the news yesterday that our Truman Show wasn’t chosen as a finalist for the Empire and Jameson done in 60 seconds competition. Disappointed as I am, I knew it would be tough as it is an international competition. I’m not thinking of putting an end to Tin Foil Productions and our parodies just yet, especially since all of our six entries for The Touch Film festival made it to the final last year. Maybe the recipe for success is to have multiple entries! I’m still really happy with Truman. I think we did really well with the resources we had as well as having just one cast member in the final cut. It was also extremely fun trying to condense a movie into 60 seconds and I don’t think this will be the last time I try. It was a good way to enhance my editing skills and we had some great laughs filming it. Here’s a little chewing gum blooper.

I’m really surprised that a few entries didn’t get through. I thought this version of Sweeney Todd was especially brilliant.

If you want to see and vote for the finalists that did make it through, you can see them here.

A couple of people have asked me about why Ian, Denis and myself use the name ‘Tinfoil Productions’ and until recently, we didn’t have a team name. The reason behind the name is that I have been known to make props using tin foil. These props all look very similar and I was thinking that someone might recognize the pattern if we kept going at the same rate and so the name was born.

During our Back to the Future Parody, I was chuffed with all the costumes being so true to the film. I wanted to make a video camera for Marty so I took a Converse shoebox, attached a couple of toilet rolls, covered it in tinfoil and popped on a couple of milk tops as the ‘buttons.’ See below for an image of my handy-work in action. I was devastated when it got crushed in the car on the way home.

Tinfoil also saved the day in Back to the Future when we needed to transform a Golf

…….into a Delorean.

It seemed like such a flawless idea but it was a huge challenge because it was very windy that night. We opened the two front windows slightly to wrap the tinfoil over the top of the car while the person inside the car passed it from one window to the other. What we didn’t realize until after is that we were locking that person in the car by doing so. As we tried to get a shot of the car driving, the majority of the tinfoil flew off and forty minutes of effort was wasted. The funniest part of the whole thing is that anyone who sees the video doesn’t even notice the tinfoil on the car because it is so dark.

The most recent tinfoil venture was The Truman Show in 60 Seconds, which I talked about in this post. In the film, a light falls from the sky. Of course, the tin foil came into action again to make a prop that is strikingly similar to the camera in Back to the Future. We smashed a wine bottle inside a black bag and spread the glass around this ‘light’ after it fell from the sky.

Who knows what tinfoil props lie in store for Tinfoil Productions in the future!

I thought it was a Christmas movie. This is a terrible poster and tag-line for a really sweet movie. Everybody’s Fine is a story about Frank Goode played by Robert De Niro who wants his children to take time from their busy lives and all come together for a visit. His wife has recently died and he lives alone. After all of his children cancel on a visit to see him, he decides to travel to the different states that they live in to reunite his gown-up children: Drew Barrymore and Sam Rockwell playing two of them. What’s great about this movie is Frank. He is such a ‘normal’ character that will really pull your heartstrings as he goes on this journey. As the story unfolds, we discover more about Frank, his past and his children.

Somehow, this movie reminded me a little of ‘Up in the Air’ because of the journey of the two male characters and their ultimate quest for truth but I found this film less drawn out and slow than Up in the Air. Maybe if you loved Up in The Air, you’ll hate this. Either way, It’s interesting seeing a film from a parent’s perspective and I thought the story for Everybody’s Fine was subtly powerful. It might be a bit too sentimental for everybody’s taste and it won’t be going on my favorites list anytime soon but it’s worth a watch if family is important to you.Most importantly though, this is not a Christmas movie. It won’t lift or enhance your Christmas spirit at all so for that reason, it’s going on my worst movie posters list.