About
Being
I’m an Irish Australian located in Melbourne with an unhealthy obsession with gadgets, video games, aviation and cult movies. I spend way too much time analyzing the minutiae of movie props and building replicas of them. By day I work for a movie production and theme park company.
Reading
The DV Rebels Guide. by Stu Maschwitz. A great book for anyone looking to increase their understanding of basic film making techniques. The autor’s dissection of an action sequence from La Femme Nikita will change the way to watch action movies.
Rebel Without a Crew. by Robert Rodriguez. Recounts the story around the making and marketing of Rodriguez’s film El Mariachi and his efforts to bring it to screen. Personally, Rodriguez is a big hero of mine so I read the book with a slight suspension of disbelief, willing myself to be caught up in the story of how someone could produce a Hollywood movie for under seven grand… the reality is that a lot of work had to be put in to the picture before it could be printed to film. But still, the 10 minute film school at the end will save you going to film school. Nearly.
The Making of Indiana Jones. by J.W. Rinzler. A long-awaited definitive version of the story of the creation of the Indiana Jones films. 300 pages of interviews, sketches, rare photos… a must for any Indy fan.
Watching
Harold & Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay. I just totally love the first film. I’ve seen the film 10-15 times, I can recite every line. I listen to the soundtrack weekly. The second film almost delivers a “message”, but it’s still a wild ride with two completely awesome characters and Neil Patrick Harris’s work outdoes his performance in the first film.
Get Smart (2008). So funny. It’s not really a remake but more a modern reinvention. Anne Hathaway is funny and believable and utterly gorgeous in every scene. Steve Carell is super funny (as always) but adds a emotionally mature and likable Maxwell Smart to the story. I was hurting from laughing so hard. Please see this film.
Indiana Jones and the… preposterously long name. Indy 4 is just flat out great fun. As a huge fan of the series, previously burnt by Lucas’s revisionary massacre of the Star Wars mythos, I was a little afraid of what he and Senor Spielbergo would do with my beloved Indy. But thankfully the film had some great throwbacks to the original trilogy and while the overall story didn’t quite hit in to the Indy world of Christian religious mythology, it allowed me to escape from the real world for a couple of hours and to be honest that’s all I ask of most movies.
Listening
Wolfmother. Probably the best band to come out of Australia in years. Their influences are obvious but their spin on hard rock is original and infectious. I can’t wait for their next release.
The Killers - Sam’s Town. Their second album is a departure from the first- maybe a fraction over-produced- but still magnificent. My standout favourite track has to be “Bling”.
Beck- The Information This guy is a complete genius. Beck did a gig at the Forum in Melbourne on a tour after his Odelay album and it remains one of the best shows I’ve ever seen. Beck’s stuff is the ultimate chillout music, especially his Guero album which I still listen to a couple of times a week.
Playing
Shopping
jasonodonnell.com’s online store
Contact
jase@jasonodonnell.com
I’ve been struggling with a broken rib that’s taken ages to heal. My Osteopath asked me about what kind of bag I carry around, and I just described it as a normal satchel bag. She asked me to think about what I might be able to take out of it. Of course, everything I thought of was ESSENTIAL, so the only way I was going to do the job properly was if I completely emptied the bag and individually justified each piece as it went back in. Here’s a pic of what came out. After the jump see the list. It’s actually a very cathartic exercise.
As a teenager I got so much out of model aircraft building; it taught me one of life’s greatest lessons- that you get out of something only what you put in. Model kits do come with instructions, but they don’t come with a manual. They tell you how parts should connect together and in what order, but they don’t reveal the nuances of the work involved in making something really great.
