If I could find one word to describe The Machinist, it would be Hitchcock. Is it creepy? Yes. Is it thrilling? Yes. Is it a psychological horror that delves into the blurring line of reality and nightmares from the perspective of an insomniac? Yes. But all these things pale in comparison to the fact that this is SUCH a Hitchcock movie. If imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, then I posit that director Brad Anderson is the world’s most devoted Hitchcock fan. In every way I can think of, this brings to mind Hitchcock’s earlier works, such as The Rope or Suspicion, the way it builds tension with deliberate pacing, a painfully slow-building score, and camerawork that is unpredictable and far from steady. And while Anderson is no Hitchcock, if you’re going to make an homage, you might as well do it for one of the greatest directors who ever lived, because some of the greatness might just rub off on you!

Trevor Reznik can’t sleep. In fact, he hasn’t been able to sleep in a year! The effects on his health has been drastic; he is as thin as a rail and he looks dog-tired all the time. He works at a machine shop, where most people avoid him nowadays because of his gaunt figure and his tired, quiet demeanor. The only solace in his life is a prostitute named Stevie who listens to him and tries to make him feel better. One day, though, his life takes a turn for the worse when an accident around the shop costs a man his arm, and he takes the brunt of the blame from everyone. Trevor blames it on a worker who distracts him named Ivan, but nobody in the shop has ever met him or heard about him. He tries to find the man so he can clear his name, but nothing around him is making much sense. He starts having odd imagery flash into his head, he gets irrational fears about little things, Ivan appears in the periphery of his vision, threatening and terrifying, and mysterious messages come in the form of small clues to him about the identity of the man calling himself Ivan. Nothing is coming together for Trevor, it seems. Can he solve the mystery of the mysterious Ivan and try to piece his life together before it’s too late?

Christian Bale deserves some mention for the reason anyone knows anything about this movie. He dropped a LOT of weight to play insomniac Trevor Reznik, and the look adds a lot to the performance. Nearly 60 lbs of healthy weight lost to sleep deprivation seems like a lot, but I’ve never NOT slept for a year, so what do I know? Bale’s performance even recalls Jimmy Stewart in Rear Window, the paranoid man with failing health but a vivid imagination. It’s a remarkable performance, and it’s what sets the tone for the whole picture. The other members of the cast are all right, decent enough, but how can you honestly stand up against Bale’s sacrifice as an actor? Jennifer Jason Leigh’s character Stevie was very likable, and it was good to see her in pictures again, after what seemed like years since I last caught her in anything. Michael Ironside sleepwalks rather lazily as Miller, the guy who loses an arm to Reznik’s run-in with Ivan, but lazy Michael Ironside is STILL Michael Ironside, so I enjoyed my salty character acting silently. And keep an eye out for John Sharian, who plays the enigmatic Ivan. He is a great up-and-coming character actor; he really brings the weird to the movie with his creepy appearances. More than once his presence sent a chill up my spine.

Brad Anderson is an interesting director. He’s not nearly as visually dynamic as Hitchcock was, but here he uses the effects of tone and framing to really put us into the frame of mind of a man who has not slept in a year. Surroundings are blurry, the colors are sickly and unhealthy, the shot is never centered, but rather hung like an old photo in the saddest corner of the room. He does a lot to bring out the tension through the Trevor’s worsening dementia. He tries to keep it together in front of people, and part of the drama is in whether or not he can. He begins to feel like everything is wrong, like everything is against him, and while we don’t know who is doing this to him, part of this deep, confusing conundrum lies with him. Anderson keeps us guessing throughout as to just who Trevor is as a character, and I think that is the greatest feat of this film.

The Machinist might not be for everybody. It’s slow, it’s not exactly action-packed, and watching Christian Bale barely live is kind of unsettling after a while. But when you really get into the mindset for a psychological horror film, this is a good pick to make. It has a lot of stylistic flourishes that recall a certain portly director, a lot of confusing puzzle-box moments, and a scene where Michael Ironside gets his damn hand ripped off in a lathe! What more could you want?!?! I give The Machinist 7 1/2 skinny minis out of 10.

Tomorrow I challenge the movie gods with Jason and the Argonauts! Until then!

On last week’s show, former Adelaide 36er Brad Davidson joined Kevin Brooks and Brett Maher in studio to talk about his controversial remarks made on his blog about former teammate and current Melbourne Tigers player Julius Hodge.

Also on the show, Tim Keeble, sport writer at the Illawarra Mercury talked about whether the Wollongong Hawks have what it takes to be in the top 4.

The boys also discussed the performances of Aussies abroad including Houston Rockets player David Andersen and Portland Trail Blazers player Patty Mills. As well as the latest results from the National Basketball League and the Women’s National Basketball League, KB and Marzy’s Tips of the Week, Scoozi Cafe’s Player Spotlight of the Week and new segment NBL & WNBL Headline News.

KB and Marzy also gave a shout out to Detroit Pistons player Allen Iverson who recently retired from the NBA after 13 seasons.

Watch the show anytime at AustraliaLiveTV.com.

Mild-Mannered Reporter

Writer: Geoff Johns
Penciller: Gary Frank
Inker: Jon Sibal
Colorist: Brad Anderson
Letterer: Steve Wands
Assoc. Editor: Wil Moss
Editor: Matt Idelson
Covers: Frank w/ Anderson
Publisher: DC Comics

While I generally enjoy stuff Johns does, my feelings toward this series have been trending toward the negative. Initially, I thought it was sorta cool that elements from the various versions of Superman were being incorporated into this. But as this series has progressed and I consider it further, it seems more of an amalgamation than something definitive. It’s like a “PC” version of Superman intended to offer these little bones to as many readers as possible, without giving any one group a clear Superman.

This issue picks up with Clark’s (or should I say Kal’s?) early days in Metropolis, with a sinking Daily Planet where he’s been hired to replace someone else. From the country-boy-in-the-city bit to getting his briefcase stuck in the door to sliding into the parasitic elevator man, this is a Clark Kent far too much like the silver age “Clark-is-the-mask” persona put forth than I care for. There’s also a distinct feeling of Christopher Reeve’s presence here…it’s easy to hear his voice in the character.

Arriving in the office itself of the Daily Planet, Clark meets Jimmy, Ron, Steve, Perry, and of course Lois. Cat Grant is present, looking very much like she does in the current “present-day” story, which seems to do away with all the great characterization from her introduction through the mid/late 1990s–as if that version of the character never even existed.

Lois takes to clark just fine from the get-go…just another reporter for her to break in. The two head to a Lexcorp technology demonstration, where Lois uses Clark as “bait” to distract the guards while she slips by (apparently anyone from the Daily Planet are expressly not welcome around Lexcorp). Lois winds up falling of the building in an attempt to avoid getting squished by a helicopter that malfunctions, leading to a duplication of that scene from 1978’s Superman film in which Superman arrives on the scene, catching the falling Lois and a helicopter as his first public act. (Though people surrounding him and Lois demanding favors and askins salvation is kept, to give him something to go home and think about).

The art, truly, is the best part of this book. It’s just a bit much, though, that it’s so easy to see Christopher Reeve…that’s the primary problem I have with the visuals. It’s not that one shouldn’t be able to see Reeve, but that this Superman is then tied to that vision of the character, anchored in a past rather than freed to grow into the future.

The writing in and of itself is not bad, by any means. Johns certainly knows his stuff, working in subtle elements of the various Superman origins/backstory through the years–the films, the silver age comics, Byrne’s revamp, and presumably a bit of Birthright and Smallville (though if so, the latter two are over my head at present). It’s great that recognition is given to all the different visions…but it’d be better if there’s just one definitive version, rather than this bastardization of so many takes on the character.

Ultimately, this is a good issue in and of itself…just that the reworking of the character to bring so much of the silver age and films into the comics seem to rob the character of so much development that was accomplished over the past 20-some years.

Story: 7/10
Art: 9/10
Whole: 8/10

The Boy of Steel

Writer: Geoff Johns
Penciller: Gary Frank
Inker: Jon Sibal
Colorist: Brad Anderson
Letterer: Steve Wands
Assoc. Editor: Wil Moss
Editor: Matt Idelson
Covers: Frank w/ Anderson
Publisher: DC Comics

The silver age is apparently back. This issue–while including smaller moments of Clark and his parents, and of Luthor and his own life, as well as some of LUthor’s interaction with Clark (establishing them as acquaintances if not exactly best buds)–primarily focuses on the Legion of Super-Heroes and their first meeting with Clark, and allowing him to tag along “back to the future” with them. While in the future, recently-introduced elements (I believe from Superman and the Legion of Super-Heroes) are established as being present from the get-go of things. It’s also pretty easy to fit the original silver age story of the characters’ first meeting between the pages here. The issue’s finale introduces another character whose presence means the current Superman is all the more NOT the character I grew up on.

The story itself isn’t bad–Johns has a great handle on things. However, I’ve bristled for years now at elements being “snuck” back into the Superman mythos that I’ve thought make him too much “super” and not enough “man” and this story really puts aside any sneaking and is quite overt at putting things back into the mythos. At the same time, I imagine that going back to re-read Superman and the Legion will reveal references to what is shown in these pages.

I’ve been curious as to exactly what is and is not official cannon in the Superman books of late, so I’m glad to see his secret-since-Infinite-Crisis origin revealed at last. The execution seems to be working quite well, even if I don’t like the content all that much.

The art team provides fantastic visuals. Even Clark as “Superboy” comes across as pretty realistic–he looks rather awkward in the costume and it’s easy to see that he’s not entirely comfortable in it yet. At this point, Frank is pretty much my favorite Superman artist, and very certainly in the ranks of Dan Jurgens, Jim Lee, and Alex Ross.

Again, while far from enamored at the undoing of so much of the Superman I grew up with from 1989 to present…I can’t deny that in and of itself, the story and art are both of high quality, and taken apart from my preferred continuity, this issue has some of the best Superman work of the last decade.

Story: 8/10
Art: 9/10
Whole: 8.5/10

2004: El Maquinista di Brad Anderson

Un piccolo gioiello di produzione spagnola (tranne rare eccezioni accolto molto bene dalla critica specializzata).

Una atmosfera sinistra, una tensione perenne, un coinvolgimento continuo e totale da parte dello spettatore caratterizzano L’uomo senza sonno. Non sai se ammirare maggiormente la splendida fotografia livido-azzurrata (una delle cose migliori viste negli ultimi anni), le sofisticate immagini e inquadrature, l’accorta regia, la perfetta messinscena, la performance dell’intero cast (tutti gli interpreti sono da lodare senza riserve).

Un horror? Un noir? Certo, ma anche qualcosa in più.

Un film che indaga non banalmente nella psiche umana e che pone inquietanti interrogativi che riguardano un po’ tutti noi: una parabola sui sensi di colpa; sulle angosce e fobie che attanagliano gli esseri umani; sulla mancanza di vie di scampo alle inquietudini, alle paranoie, agli incubi, alle ossessioni di un’intera società.
Un’opera perfettamente dosata tra realtà e allucinazione, ambigua e rigorosa, intensa e ipnotica, cupa e disturbante, una inesorabile discesa agli Inferi  in cui ognuno può trovare i più svariati riferimenti, da Hitchcock a Polanski, da Lynch a Fritz Lang, da David Fincher a Cronenberg, da Kafka a Dostoevskij, ma del tutto originale  (Il Mattino scrive: “«L’uomo senza sonno» può essere definito un thriller psicologico con un uomo divorato da un’angoscia hitchcockiana che vive un incubo lynchiano facendo un percorso disseminato di trappole polanskiane”).

Incredibilmente perfetto un quasi irriconoscibile Christian Bale, stralunato e scheletrico, spettro di se stesso (ha perso davvero una trentina di chili per interpretare il ruolo, facendo il contrario del Robert De Niro di Toro scatenato). Un uomo sofferente e malato che, insieme al sonno, ha perso anche la capacità di affrontare i propri fantasmi. Assurdo che non sia stato considerato per una nomination agli Oscar: tutti i critici (anche quei pochi che non si sono mostrati benevoli verso il film) hanno giudicato sbalorditiva la sua prestazione.

scheda

premi e riconoscimenti

by Ramses Flores – Collider.com

Brad Anderson (”Session 9″, “The Machinist”) has now signed on to direct the filmed adaptation of the graphic novel “The Living and the Dead”.  The graphic novel by Robert Tinnell and Todd Livingston started off as a screenplay before turning into a comic and has now been revisited by the two creators with the news of Anderson coming on board.  You can get all of the details when you click on the jump.

In their exclusive report, Comics2film at Mania.com reports that the 2005 graphic novel focuses on a monstrous character who “engages in the nineteenth-century version of snuff theater, luring innocent people in a Grand Guignol of flesh and blood.”  In all fairness, they didn’t have reality TV in the 19th century. The story sounds pretty pulpy, Gothic, and Hammeresque to me and knowing that Anderson is going to be behind the camera makes me think that this could be pretty great.

I really like Anderson’s films mainly because of his direction.  I think that he’s outstanding at creating a certain mood or atmosphere and it seems like I’m not the only one who thinks so because Tinnell is quoted as saying: “Obviously he’s a storyteller, and obviously he knows how to build tension, but what I also like is that when you watch his movies you really feel like you’re inhabiting the space.”

It’s still unclear when Anderson will start production on “The Living and the Dead” since he is currently attached to direct “Vanishing on 7th Street” which starts production this month.

Amazon Specials!

Tira de Marmaduke

La tira cómica Marmaduke, creación del dibujante Brad Anderson, estará llegando a la pantalla para el 2010, bajo la dirección de Tom Dey. Aunque aún no hay detalles, sabemos que se tratará de una cinta híbrida, y que contará con las voces de los siguientes actores.

• Amanda Seyfried – Mazie
• Jeremy Piven – Bosco,
• Ron Perlman -Chupadogra,
• Christopher Mintz-Plasse – Guiseppe,
• Stacy ‘Fergie’ Ferguson – Jezebel,
• Steve Coogan – Raisin,
• George Lopez – Carlos
• Damon Wayans Jr. – Thunder

En cuanto a la trama,  será algo difícil imaginar la dirección que llevará, considerando que el personaje suele aparecer en cartones de una sola viñeta.

The Boy of Steel

Writer: Geoff Johns
Penciller: Gary Frank
Inker: Jon Sibal
Colorist: Brad Anderson
Letterer: Steve Wands
Assoc. Editor: Wil Moss
Editor: Matt Idelson
Covers: Frank w/ Anderson
Publisher: DC Comics

I don’t know how to describe it, really…but there’s something special just about the look of this issue. The cover’s fantastic–Gary Frank is by far one of my favorite Superman artists. The logo on the gradient-blue sky background stands out very nicely (and yet does not look out of place). This is the first issue of a mini-series…the Secret Origin part tells us we’re going back to the “beginning,” and seeing a young Clark on the cover, happy and with his parents, also both looking happy–speaks volumes to the characters. Perhaps it’s that this really gives credence to that saying about a picture being worth a thousand words–a thousand words to the positive thus hit before one’s even looked inside the issue.

Then again, perhaps it’s none of that, and simply the anticipation for this issue–after it was announced last year, and I thought it would be out by early summer and had to wait these extra months for it, and I just so enjoy finally getting to begin reading a definitive origin for the character since the Byrne stuff was chucked awhile back.

The story begins with Clark playing football in answer to challenge from classmates. Peter Ross breaks his arm tackling Clark, and guilty as Clark feels for that, he’s guilted further by facing Pa (in a scene that somehow put me VERY much in mind of that scene with Peter and Uncle Ben in the Spidey film as Uncle Ben lectures Peter on Responsibility). We see other elements introduced–Lana, and the school, Ma and Pa, Smallville itself, Lex Luthor, to name a few. These all come together as the issue progresses and we see first the discovery and solution to some newly-developed/discovered powers on Clark’s part (and how his parents play a strong role in that) and then the implementing of his powers as disaster strikes Smallville. Finally, we see the development of the costume.

The art–as I said above about the cover–is just fantastic. There’s a detail and realism to the visuals that works so well with the story and getting things across…and yet, it doesn’t feel like it’s being overtly realistic. It just captures a level of detail that makes it easy for the mind to fill in the blanks and set these static images to motion as you read.

For newer readers, this is simply an “origin” story–telling the beginnings and background/motivation to things we’re seeing play out in the current issues of the Superman books.

For long-time readers, it may be much more. This seems set to be THE origin, the definitive story of Superman’s background in the books’ current incarnations. Forget Man of Steel and Byrne…forget Birthright and Waid…for that matter, forget Smallville. This is none of those…and yet, it seems to be quite respectful to them all, acknowledging them subtlely and taking key elements from them as the story requires.

Though I’ve looked forward to this series–and yes, delivered extremely well, meeting (and maybe exceeding) my anticipation/expectation–I remained skeptical. I grew up on the 90s Superman, beginning while the “Byrne revamp” was yet FRESH…and there are several key moments to that interpretation of the character that have been done away with in recent years that I’ve greatly disliked. While this fails to RESTORE them…something about Johns’ crafting of the story puts other things in a light that begins to redeem the changes, making them sit much better with me.

The return of what I consider “silver age elements” is handled nicely, and in a modern way that makes things quite plausible in the present.

I don’t think I could’ve asked for a better opening chapter of this mini.

Even if you’re not following the current New Krypton stuff in the ongoing titles, or any Superman comic at all…this is a book to pick up. The writing, the art, the story as provided by the blending of both…makes for a great read, and I’m already eager for not just the entirety of the story, but to see this thing put into a single volume.

Highly, highly recommended.

Story: 8.5/10
Art: 9/10
Whole: 9.5/10

By Gail Simone (writer), Aaron Lopresti (penciller), Matt Ryan (inker), Brad Anderson (colorist)

The Story: Black Canary and Wonder Woman are shopping in Tokyo, waiting for their next meta-human cage fight as they hunt their prey. Diana continues to struggle with balancing the Amazonian and human cultures through her observations of Dinah. When they go back to the fights, they find a trace of their quarry, realizing that they’ve become prey themselves. This throws a whole mess of danger their way as they become separated and square off against long, long odds.

What’s Good: This issue opens up in media res and whether it is the internal world of Diana or the external world of the underground meta-human cage matches, the action and pace never slows. A lot of this is exemplified by Black Canary, whom Simone portrays as a sort of party girl of substance. The external action of stealth, subterfuge, ploy and counter-ploy work well and keep the pages turning, even as the villains slowly come into focus.

Gail Simone also continues to excel at character work. Diana is troubled, and Dinah is a perfect foil. Not a lot of respect is given to Wonder Woman in terms of monthly sales. I have two theories about that. One is that boys/ men (the majority of the readers) aren’t buying a female-led book. I don’t think it’s sexism; a big part of comic books are about hero-fantasy and if you’re a guy, you aren’t going to have hero-fantasies about being Wonder Woman. My second theory is that creative teams haven’t really portrayed her in the stature she should have as a member of DC’s Trinity (Superman-Batman-Wonder Woman). At least that second point is ending with Gail Simone, who has found a way to make Wonder Woman more powerful at the same time as she’s found more and more dramatic ways to hurt her. The key to doing it right is to expose what is true inside of Diana, and no one seems to do this as well as Simone– from all the strength and through the pain. The writer simply knows how to paint the classic, essential Wonder Woman.

What’s Not So Good: Nothing. Neither Simone nor Lopresti hit a false note. This is a strong story.

Conclusion: Gail Simone is a writer to follow; and with one third of the Trinity in her hands she’s going to continue to make waves.

Grade: A-

-DS Arsenault

Transsiberian (2008)

Ouvimos falar d’este filme num qualquer programa da rádio e pelo o que diziam ficamos curiosos para o ver, algumas semanas depois aqui está.

O realizador Brad Anderson trás-nos a história do casal quase perfeito Roy e Jessie, eles partem de Pequim para Moscovo no expresso Transsiberian (confesso que nunca tinha ouvido falar e fiquei cheio de vontade de um dia me aventurar).
Durante a viagem conhecem outro casal Carlos e Abby que não são aquilo que ao início lhes parecem ser (a mim nunca me enganaram, lol).
De um momento para o outro este filme entra numa acção que só acaba mesmo nos créditos finais, Roy e Jessie de um momento para o outro vêem-se metidos no meio do mundo do tráfico de droga e de um assassinato.

Adorei o papel de Woody Harrelson que ele desempenha a meu ver muito bem, quanto aos restantes também nada a apontar.
É um filme que vale a pena ser visto!

PS: Muito provavelmente hoje vou comprar o KillZone2 para a PS3, não se esqueçam adicionem saYker na PSN!!
PS2: E esta quinta-feira temos os Inglourious Basterds do Mestre Tarantino:D

"And we would have gotten away with it too, if only you had never seen a Scooby Doo episode before."

One of the biggest problems with film and television is predictability; after watching thousands of hours of sitcoms, dramas and movies I can often see the next plot point coming along like it has beepers and a blinking light. It’s not so much that the plot is redundant – although it often is – but that the brevity of the material (especially commercial television) doesn’t allow for proper story arc and character development.

So often what happens is either the director/writer cheats, or the information is presented in such an obvious manner that you’re almost being told “hey, this is a clue!”. Of course people have the attention span of a gnat these days, so maybe I’m overworking the issue. But here are two key rules you can usually count on:

1. If an odd fact is introduced - like a character being left-handed or a man just quit smoking - pay attention. It’s probably a critical piece of information and not just padded dialogue.
2. If within the first five or ten minutes a character looks to have opportunity and motive, that character probably didn’t do it.

Few writers/directors would be crass enough to have the killer or key plot fact come sailing in out of left field at the eleventh hour, that’s just not fair. But a well-played twist requires what I’d call  sleight-of-mind…laying everything out there but being clever enough to not point at it with a floodlight.

An example of a well-presented twist is The Sixth Sense. (SPOILER ALERT…) At the end of the movie, when it was revealed that a key character was dead, I immediately recalled a scene where he was at dinner with his wife, had a conversation and even touched hands. But when I replayed the scene, I noticed that they in fact did not touch – their hands passed within a second of each other – and there was no eye contact. And then there was the revelation about the use of the color red. Then finally, the most obvious clue of all - “I see dead people“. Well played, M. Night Shyamalan – it was all right there in front of me and I missed it. Too bad you have been unable to hit the mark since then.

So for this Friday’s exercise, ten recommended movies that I think did the job well. Some will be very familiar, a couple are stone cold classics, but I’ve avoided the real obvious ones like Psycho, Vertigo, Fight Club and The Shawshank Redemption. These aren’t my ten favorite movies, but I’d watch any one of them again in a heartbeat, and if you haven’t seen them I suggest you immediately add the omissions to your shopping list or Netflix queue.

In alphabetical order:

Angel Heart:  Probably a little more obvious than most (Robert DeNiro’s character’s name) and a little overwhelming with visual pizazz, but the end(ing) justifies the means. One of Mickey Rourke’s better performances.

A Beautiful Mind:  Having two dynamic actors like Russell Crowe and the great Ed Harris was huge; they could not have sold this premise with pedestrian performances.

Donnie Darko:  So was it a horror flick, a religious allegory, a knock on conservatism, a time travel epic, a fable or a study of hallucinatory madness? Yes.

The Game:  David Fincher is more famous for the brilliant Fight Club but this tense and clever story keeps you wondering what and who you can believe. Michael Douglas, Sean Penn and a large supporting cast do the script justice.

House of Games:  David Mamet, a master of words and misdirection, at his peak. Joe Mantegna and Lindsay Crouse deep in the world of con men and grifters where not everything is what it seems to be.

Memento:  Christopher Nolan directed and wrote the screenplay based on his brother’s short story, and Guy Pearce provides a brazen and brilliant performance alongside Joe Pantoliano. Told backwards, like Nolan’s prior film Following.

Once Upon A Time In America:  Maybe my favorite gangster movie of all time, and considering how perfect a movie Goodfellas is, that’s saying something. Sergio Leone directs a star-studded cast but you have to pay close attention.

Primal Fear:  I’m normally not a Richard Gere fan but he’s great in this one as his arrogance is his downfall. This film launched Edward Norton’s career (an Oscar nod in his first real role) and made me fall in love with Laura Linney.

Session 9:  One of the truly atmospheric horror movies of recent times, far from the gorefests that are passed along as horror movies today. This is creepy and unnerving, and even David Caruso is good in it. Director Brad Anderson now works on Fringe.

The Spanish Prisoner:  Mamet again. Everytime you think you know what’s going on, you really don’t. It’s like watching a magician show you the trick but then repeatedly doing it again. The final scene makes me wonder if Mamet didn’t intend the entire movie as a con, but I change my opinion every viewing.

From The Las Vegas Review-Journal:

Baby saved in Kingman murder-suicide

By DAVE HAWKINS
SPECIAL TO THE LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL

KINGMAN, Ariz. — A Kingman policeman was wounded while in the middle of a murder-suicide call, but another officer managed to remove a baby who was in harm’s way Sunday.

[Source: Jahna Berry, Arizona Republic] — Amid today’s cutthroat real-estate market, Jim Fijan drifts off to sleep thinking of ways to rent more office space in a 27-story tower in downtown Phoenix’s CityScape complex.  Brad Anderson starts checking his e-mail at dawn.  The early start helps him find tenants for One Central Park East, a 26-story office building a few blocks away from CityScape.  Anderson and Fijan work for the same company, CB Richard Ellis.  Although the good-natured co-workers say that they don’t see each other as rivals, each leads a highly competitive team of brokers who are essentially chasing the same pool of possible tenants.

It’s not uncommon for a large firm to represent clients in the same neighborhood, but the matchup between CityScape and One Central Park East underscores how the strong renter’s market has affected commercial real estate in Phoenix.

The two projects will inject more than 1 million square feet of office space into a downtown market where layoffs have created a glut of empty cubicles.   The $175 million One Central Park East glass tower stands at Central Avenue and Van Buren Street.  CityScape’s shiny tower near First and Washington streets will be nestled in a $900 million, three-block complex that will have shops, restaurants and a hotel.

They have more in common than proximity.  They have sweeping views of the Valley, are of similar size and are close to light-rail stops.  Tenants would be a few minutes’ walk from downtown shops, restaurants, and the Phoenix Convention Center.   And both projects were planned during rosier times, when high-end office space, classified as Class A in the real- estate world, was in high demand downtown.  Now, that’s not the case.  [Note: To read the full article and online comments, click here.]

For me just the look of one of these Grain Surfboards is enough for me. Don’t they look great? However, the fact that the production of these boards puts less strain on the environment than your average plastic board does, makes them even cooler.

Grain Surfboards began in the basement of a home minutes from the waves in York Beach, Maine. Mike LaVecchia combined his love of board sports with a passion for traditional wooden boat-building techniques to create works of art for riding waves. Brad Anderson joined as co-owner shortly after and, with the help of some friends, Grain has grown into a full-fledged surfboard manufacturer known for innovative techniques, classic designs and ground-breaking products. And pieces of art their products are!

Just look at the pictures. These are fine pieces of work… You can buy them off the rack, but also have a board custom made for you. Imagine yourself: Whaleshark wetsuit, Grain Surfboard, waves and sunshine….

Through Coolhunting

The Museum of the Rockies will host a preview of exclusive art pieces for sale at the annual fund-raiser Wine Classic, 7-9 p.m., Thursday, June 4.

This is a chance to meet regional artists, including Barbara Van Cleve, Jeb Todd, Parks Reece, Keith Anderson, Adria Pope, Kyle Bajakian, Brad Anderson, Will Pope, Kirstin Kainz, and Beth Livingston. Hear the stories behind their art while sampling hors d’oeuvres with a no-host wine bar. The artists will have exclusive art pieces for sale as well as a raffle drawing. For reservations call 994-1998. Cost is $10 for members, $15 for non-members. More details at MOR.