Bill Markwick
09-05-2005, 12:35 AM
The Wes Craven movie "Redeye" is about a portrait photographer (Cillian Murphy) who's upset at the red eyeglow he keeps getting with his digital camera and its built-in flash. He's spending a fortune having retouching done by a Photoshop expert (Rachel McAdams).
He sets out to find a camera that takes external flash to cure the problem, but soon finds that marketers are in charge and cameras have been dumbed down to maximize profits - once-common features on every camera now appear only on high-end models, if at all.
In the best tradition of Charles Bronson and Robert de Niro, he sets out to rectify this. Arming himself to the teeth, he forces his way into the headquarters of a major camera manufacturer and takes the designers hostage. "We're going to design a proper camera!" he yells, "And we're starting with the hotshoe!"
Craven gives a nod to Clint Eastwood when he has Murphy point his .357 Magnum revolver at the head of a designer and say through clenched teeth, "G'wan, punk, put the cable release socket back in while you're at it."
There's comic relief: a designer secretly tries to substitute the on-camera flash for a proper autofocus-assist light, and Murphy fires a shot into his CAD computer, shouting "I saw that!" The audience roars.
In the obligatory sex scene with McAdams, said to raise the bar on what you can show in a commercial release, the viewer can only think, "It's well lit, but there's not much depth of focus."
It's passable autumn fare, but suffers greatly from not having enough pictures of cameras.
** 1/2
;)
Bill
PS: in case the content and smilie didn't work, don't go to see the movie based on this post. :D
He sets out to find a camera that takes external flash to cure the problem, but soon finds that marketers are in charge and cameras have been dumbed down to maximize profits - once-common features on every camera now appear only on high-end models, if at all.
In the best tradition of Charles Bronson and Robert de Niro, he sets out to rectify this. Arming himself to the teeth, he forces his way into the headquarters of a major camera manufacturer and takes the designers hostage. "We're going to design a proper camera!" he yells, "And we're starting with the hotshoe!"
Craven gives a nod to Clint Eastwood when he has Murphy point his .357 Magnum revolver at the head of a designer and say through clenched teeth, "G'wan, punk, put the cable release socket back in while you're at it."
There's comic relief: a designer secretly tries to substitute the on-camera flash for a proper autofocus-assist light, and Murphy fires a shot into his CAD computer, shouting "I saw that!" The audience roars.
In the obligatory sex scene with McAdams, said to raise the bar on what you can show in a commercial release, the viewer can only think, "It's well lit, but there's not much depth of focus."
It's passable autumn fare, but suffers greatly from not having enough pictures of cameras.
** 1/2
;)
Bill
PS: in case the content and smilie didn't work, don't go to see the movie based on this post. :D