Updated Shorts...

I have been working tirelessly on editing both 'Hide.', formerly HTS, to be able to hit our self-imposed deadline to be on www.kickstarter.com AND 'The Circle of Men', formerly COM.

Both are coming along great. I look forward to be able to submit both to film festivals soon.

Also coming up this month, some work on DF & SC2.

Don.

2010 Updates...

It has been sometime since my last post. Quite a bit has happened...

In 2010, I began the rebranding of RnD as RnD Entertainment Studios.

July, I reformed RnD Entertainment Studios with Amy Lyn Howell, Jayson Martinez and Ted Souppa as the core creative and producing team.

August, We shot 'TRU LUV' and 'unloved.', two short films.

October, We shot 'The Circle of Men'.

November, We shot the pilot and trailer for 'Hide.'.

December has been spent editing and pre-planning for 2011 & the future of RnDES.

Along the way, Amy Lyn Howell has begun shooting her 1st short as writer-director ('Disc-Functional') and Jayson Martinez (with recurring RnDES people- Kirk Michael Austin and Kyle Austin) has begun work on the sequels to the immensly popular, film festival favorite- 'Street Cred'.

In barely 6-months, RnDES has shot 4 shorts and the beginnings of a web-series, while working on other projects. It has been a wild ride, and it's only getting started...

It was not all happy news though...

Don.

Phobia (Web Series) Episode 3 - Julie

Donald E. Reynolds' Director's Reel updated w/ Jasper Man

Jasper Man Trailer

Phobia (Web Series) Episode 2 - Sarah & Danny

a little update...

I have been developing a short film- for a Film Festival Challenge, editing Episode 2 of the PHOBIA web-series and working on design work for the upcoming PHOBIA (The Short) DVD. I will talk more about each, around June 26th or so.

Don.

PHOBIA (Web Series) Episode 1 - "The Man"

This has been a long time in the making...

Stop the dreck!

Sometimes I agree when I read stories that talk about the state of the Entertainment Industry. Sometimes I do not.

FlashForward was cancelled recently. I don't completely understand why. I just watched the most recent episode ("Countdown"). The main character Mark Benford, happens to be unlikable and pathetic. I struggled to watch this show before it went off for the "holiday break". However, when it came back in March, it came back strong and running hard. the showrunners changed at least three times, so I have no clue who was in charge of those of the show at that time. During this time, the first Simon (Dominic Monaghan) focused episode was fantastic. A couple of episodes later, the Aaron (Brian F. O'Byrne) episode took the only charcter that I liked less than Mark and made him my 2nd favorite charactor. A few episodes later again, there was a Janice (Christine Woods) focused episode which became one of my favorite episodes. Along the way the show introduced the great James Callis (Dr. Gaius Balter in BSG) as Gabriel McDow.

In the last half of the season, the show became much more Lost-ian, focusing on a character per episode. The show really needed to shockingly kill off Mark Benford and reinvent itself long before the finale. Unfortunately, the fans left and never returned. It doesn't help that the show is up against a couple of good shows; I watch the show on ABC.com as my DVR records two other shows at that same time. Here is a show that became quite good as the show evolved, but the network was unwilling to give the show a second chance. The network would rather take a chance on the much more horrible (though better cast) V.

Now, this morning I was looking through the Sunday paper and in the "TV Times" pullout the front page reads "NBC's new comedy stars (I'm not naming names.) as a woman who joins an online dating site, takes a 100-question comatability test and recalls a humorous time of her life." Can you say "DRECK"? How horrible of a concept is that? Not to mention 5-years ago. People meet on Facebook and other social networking sites now, who uses a dating service? The amount of money that went into developing this horrid concept could have been put to any number of better uses.

When the people with the money put that money into these absolutely assinine premesis and then wonder why the viewers don't flock to their networks (or films) part of me thinks that they deserve their financial losses. However, part of me understands that those losses are only going to cause the same corporations to make more and more below average shows that won't take the chance at being great... or not.

This is why the Entertainment Industry is in a downward spiral. Eventually, everything that goes down must hit the bottom. What will happen then?

As a culture, we have moved from a MTV generation to a YouTube generation. Does this mean that we will start seeing 15-minute shows? Or more 1st person camera pov-based shows, like the films Cloverfield and Quarantine? I don't know. I do know that the dreck has to stop or people will give up on the networks all together and just watch shows like The Guild or The Bannen Way online.

Rest In Peace, Lynn Redgrave.

Lynn Redgrave, passed away on May 2nd from undisclosed circumstances.

http://www.studiobriefing.net/2010/05/lynn-redgrave-dies-at-67/

Update...

Things have been crazy of late. I have been working on a major rebranding revamp of RnD.

RnD is preparing to go to the next level with some exciting project later this year.

With that we have a brand new web-site, though technically not "live" for two more weeks. http://www.rndes.com/

RnD Entertainment Studios has joined facebook and twitter... and flickr. We have updated our youtube site, which now includes my director's reel. All links are available through the link above.

More exciting news to come.

Don.

Donald E. Reynolds Director's Reel

Rest In Peace, Dixie Carter.

Dixie Carter, of Diff'rent Strokes, Family Law and Designing Women fame passed away at the age of 70 on April 10th.

http://www.deadline.com/2010/04/r-i-p-dixie-carter/

Rest In Peace, John Forsythe.

John Forsythe, from Dynasty and the legendary voice of Charlie from Charlie's Angels, passed away March 31st after a year long struggle with Cancer.

Rest In Peace, Robert Culp.

Robert Culp, best known for I-Spy and The Greatest American Hero appeared in over 100 television episodes and over three dozen films, passed away on March 24th.

Rest In Peace, Corey Haim.

Corey Haim passed away of apparent overdose on March 10th.

Rest In Peace, Frances Reid.

Frances Reid, who played Alice Horton on “Days Of Our Lives” since 1965 passed away on Feb 3rd at the age of 95.

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/search/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1004065584

Rest In Peace, Zelda Rubinstein.

Zelda Rubinstein from the Poultergeist movies and Picket Fences television show, passed away Jan 27th in the hospital.

Christmas Movies

Top Christmas Movies (in alphabetical order)

A Wish for Wings That Work
Die Hard & Die Hard 2
Emmet Otter's Jug-Band Christmas
Love Actually
Miracle on 34th Street (1947)
Serendipity

Honorable Mentions (in alphabetical order)

Go
Gremlins
Holiday Inn
Home Alone
Lethal Weapon
The Family Stone
White Christmas

Rest In Peace, Patrick Swayze.

Patrick Swayze passed away Monday after a long battle with pancreatic cancer.

http://movies.msn.com/movies/article.aspx?news=431218&gt1=28101

Don.

HOLY !@#$%^!!

The Walt Disney Co is in the procees of buying Mavel Enterprises. All that is required is stockholder approval.

I can see the cross-overs now...

Spiderman v. The Sorcerer's Apprentice

Wolverine v. Goofy

The Starjammers on Treasure Planet

Darkwing Duck meets Howard the Duck

The possibilities are endless...

Don.

http://scifiwire.com/2009/08/disney-buys-marvel-for-4.php

Rest In Peace, Ted Kennedy.

This is not solely entertainment news... But it is world news.

Senator Edward "Ted" Kennedy has passed away.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/32491712/?gt1=43001

Don.

Just a quick update...

My buddy that has been planning his series of children's books for nearly a decade took my post as a challenge.

By 12:01am on October 1st, 2009 he has agreed to have sent me a full and complete 1) prologue, 2) epilogue and 3) chapter one.

Stay tuned...

Don.

When should you give it up your dreams?

Recently, I had lunch with a friend that is following her dreams. I met her a few years back when she answered a job notice for my film, Phobia. She was an outstanding and unbelievable worker that was always looking to do and learn more. She became a highly respected and liked crew member. Over the next couple of years, she worked on numerous productions in various positions. However, during that time the film production business began to slow up. She began to pursue her teaching degree. This year she completed her degree and became certified. With the limited production jobs and her degree, she began interviewing for teaching positions… she had nearly given up on her dream to work in production. THEN, out of nowhere a production company called her from her resume submission months earlier. She now works for an extremely busy production company in an important capacity. She could have given up on her dreams, but she did not.

My dream of being a writer began when I was in the single digits. My first comic story was submitted before I was 15-years-old. My first screenplay was written before I ever considered going to college. Over the last few years, I have (with a creative partner) had a Los Angeles-based international agent, optioned a feature-length film script, had that same script go into pre-production with a $10M budget (before a hurricane closed it down), directed a short film and had the same short film debut at a film festival in NYC. I make baby step progress towards fulfilling my dream.

Despite knowing that, as Lao-tzu would put it, “A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.”, it can be quite a test on occasion to keep focused and directed to your dreams.

I have met many people over the years that have seemed as passionate as me, or even more so. Yet, after a time they drop their dreams and “make do” or “settle”. I can’t tell you how many people I have met that have put an expiration date on their dreams; people that have quit because they have not had the success that they thought that they should have by their 25th or 30th 0r 35th or 40th or whatever.

Louise Hay was 61-years-old when she published her 1st book. At the age of 80 and as a publisher, her book company became one of the largest publishers of Christian books in the world.

Many people in the entertainment industry may not receive any acclaim until later in life. Sir Ian McKellen had parts in over a dozen films from the time he was about 30-years-old; however it was not until he turned 60 and Apt Pupil and Gods and Monsters were released that the world “discovered” him. Then, X-Men and Lord of the Rings made him a worldwide acting superstar.

I have a friend that has a dream of writing a line of children’s books. For nearly 10 years we have been talking about these characters and plots… I know what will happen for at least ten books. I am so invested in these books after talking about them for so long that I fight him every time he wants to make changes. However, he is “to busy”, by his admission, to write. Yet, he wants to put an expiration date on his dream. He has the passion, the talent but I’m not sure about the confidence. It will be an injustice if I am the only one to ever hear his stories… especially since he has had some creative ideas that I would like to use, but have agreed not to… at least until he can publish…

Myself. It seems that I have been climbing up Mount Everest, in a blinding snowstorm, with a broken leg or two ever since the principal photography of Phobia ended. I have had two children born (they are a BIG plus- but still they can slow progressive forward movement). I have had multiple family members pass away after long illnesses. My son, who is nearly 2-years-and-9-months, has probably spent more than 6 months of his life (total) in the hospital just visiting loved ones. Throw in a near-death accident and other health issues for loved ones. Mix in a little bit of being laid off. I get down on occasion; once in a while I want to put an expiration date on my dreams… but I can’t.

I was born and mostly raised in the Hudson Valley in N.Y. The place I lived was not exactly small or rural, but it had a “small hometown” feel to it. Much like the place that The Dixie Chicks sing about in “The Long Way Around”, people grow up and marry the kids of their parents’ friends and buy a house a block away from their parents. I never, not even as a child, felt like I belonged there. I have a dream of something more, a dream that will never die.

So, what do I do?

I stop, take a deep breath (or ten), then I plant my feet, lower my head down and prepare to force my way forward, no matter what the pace.

After all, “A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.”, and I have taken that 1st single step.

Don.

District 9 = WOW.

District 9 ... was an event.

The last film that I went to see that I could say that about was Cloverfield.

Much like Cloverfield, quite a bit of District 9 is told through a documentary... but not all. This was the one bad thing that I can say about the film. The 1st 15 or 20 minutes were all told in documentary mode then there was a jump out and then back in and then it started cutting between the two. Eventually this worked, but there should have been cutting between the two from the beginning so that it was not jarring when it first happened. This was the only time I really felt that I was taken out of the story.

That said, I think I loved the film. At this point, I did not love it as much as Ain't It Cool's Harry Knowles. Read his much more eloquent (and quite accurate) review here http://www.aintitcool.com/node/42012. Much like Harry though, I do want to see the film another time... or three.

I found a few plot points predictable, yet I was still incredibly impressed.

There was A LOT of killing of humans and aliens and yet, the Halloween 2 trailer that played before was considerably more gorey.

I had seen the Alive in Joburg short and while I was intriqued by it I was overall not that impressed. But I took a chance on this film... And the F/X did NOT disappoint. The budget for District 9 is listed at $30M. The special effects here rivial any $150-200M movie out right now... or soon to be released.

The acting by most was better than average. However, Sharlto Copely who plays the lead, Wikus Van De Merwe is extraordinary in his range. From where he starts to where he ends and everything in between. One should expect him to be the next big male actor.

This IS Classic Science Fiction. This could easily have been a novel by Phillip K. Dick or Clark or Asimov or Orwell.

I hope no sequel is made.

District 9 is definitely one of my top two films of the year and one of my top sci-fi films ever.

Just go with an open mind, because what you think you know about the film just from the trailers... you don't know.

Don.

(this photo borrowwed from http://pro.imdb.com/media/rm1764984832/tt1136608)

Rope

Anyone that knows me knows that Alfred Hitchcock is my favorite director. He has some movies that have received great acclaim over the years. Rope is not exactly one of them.

Rope made Hitchcock my favorite director. What he did. He changed the rules on shooting a film. The film is truly an exquisite piece of art.

Quint, a blogger at Ain't it Cool News, just posted a review of the film. I am glad to see that people continue to rediscover the underrated Hitchcock films.

Quint's review can be found here http://www.aint-it-cool-news.com/node/42051.

I would encourage anyone interested in film to watch the film a few times and learn quite a bit.

Don.

Guilty Pleasure... or Underrated Great Television?

How could I forget my number 1 guilty pleasure?

Psych.

Well, maybe the show does not qualify as it has witty and intelligent writing. Maybe it is a fact that I was a child of the 1980's, but I throughly enjoy the fact that one epside can reference classic '80's television, music, film and general pop culture, while guest-starring an acclaimed actress from a 1990's sitcom, with a plot that is "ripped from the headlines" and make it work in a fun and intelligent way.

The directing is often fun with the use of the "psych-vision" and flashbacks. The acting is better than average. And, you have to love a show that will occasionally make fun of itself with the opening credits... and always does with the closing ones.

If you were a "nerd" or "geek" in the '80's... Shawn Spencer would be your hero.

USA's Psych... Great television... undiscovered.

Don.


(this photo was borrowed from http://pro.imdb.com/media/rm2089128448/tt0491738)

Will it never end...?

A Buffy The Vampire Slayer without Whedon or Giles or Xander or Willow or Anya?


(this photo borrowed from http://pro.imdb.com/media/rm3623787776/tt0118276)


A Rockford Files without James Garner?


(this photo borrowed from http://pro.imdb.com/media/rm3234960640/tt0071042)

and NOW... ?

A Battlestar Galatica movie?

By Bryan Singer???

That re-boots the 1970's television Series?????

(see Variety story here: http://weblogs.variety.com/bfdealmemo/2009/08/singer-back-to-scifi.html)

Why? Oh, why?? Do the money collectors always need to beat a good idea to death??? While raping and piliging our memories????

I have a better idea... why not dig up some of the creatively inspired but short-lived shows of years past? I know that I would live to see an updated version of Otherworld or Automan or even StreetHawk.

Think about it.

I'll even pitch the new series and write a script for you.

Don.

Guilty Pleasures…

There are some shows that are… unbelievable. Shows like The Shield, the last two seasons or so of Lost. These are shows that are expertly written, directed, produced and acted. Then there are…

The guilty pleasure shows.

These are the shows that may not be the best written, or directed or produced or acted but that are entertaining and keep me tuning in week after week.

ALL things BBC America sci-fi…

Primeval shouldn’t really work but it does in a BIG way. The show just ended its 3rd season here in the US and every season it has managed to get better. Any show that can kill of main characters and successfully bring up less important characters to take their place has got to be doing something right- after all The X-Files could never do it. Primeval has killed off at least three main characters and made a fourth one leave with little chance of her coming back this past season alone.


Three of the charcters shown here do not make it to the end of Season 3.
(this photo borrowed from http://pro.imdb.com/media/rm492931072/tt0808096)


Torchwood: Children of Earth was phenomenal. Again, seemingly a BBC convention to keep fans on the edge of their seats- killed off a major character, sent another in to space, got the last main character pregnant and blew up their base of operations. All the while they were telling a gripping dark story.




Three of the charcters shown here do not make it to the end of Season 3.
(this photo borrowed fromhttp://pro.imdb.com/media/rm2443416576/tt0485301)


Doctor Who: Everything David Tennant. I was never a fan of the pre-Tennant series. But he brings such an energy and excitement and underlying sorrow and darkness that despite the not-so-great special f/x – this is one of my favorite sci-fi shows of all time. This is my 2nd favorite BBC show of all time just behind Coupling. I mention this because while rumors are that David Tennant is leaving the show when it returns in 2010 the writer of the best episodes of the series AND creator and writer of Coupling will be taking over as showrunner/ head writer. So, I suspect that I will give the show a couple of episodes to wow me.


(this photo borrowed from http://pro.imdb.com/media/rm596808192/tt0436992)

Gordon Ramsay. Whether it’s watching The F Word on BBC A or Hell’s Kitchen on FOX, Gordon is educational or entertaining depending on the show. But he and his shows are never boring.


(this photo borrowed from http://pro.imdb.com/media/rm2527433728/nm1451059)


Top Chef. I complain about the Masters episodes but I still watched them. However, I am much more looking forward to the return of the regular series, as-well-as Tom and Padma. My wife is looking forward to this show as well, since it causes me to be creative in the kitchen.

(this photo borrowed from http://pro.imdb.com/media/rm3960572672/tt0765425)


Gene Simmons’ Family Jewels. I received my 1st KISS album when I was about 7 or 8 years old. But I was much more familiar with Shannon Tweed from her roles on Days of Our Lives and Falcon Crest and Hot Dog: The Movie. Imagine my surprise when I saw that the Tweed-Simmons family is like the rest of us… albeit on another level. This is the only show that my wife and I watch live and not DVR’d.


(this photo borrowed from http://pro.imdb.com/media/rm3679425024/tt0498617)

Drop Dead Diva. I believe that there was a show on Lifetime in the late -80’s when I was still a young teenager called ENG. The show came from Canada I believe and was rebroadcast on the network. That was the only show that I ever watched on Lifetime. So, imagine my surprise when I was flipping around and caught the credits and saw a name I recognized. Thania St. John. May not be a Whedon (there is one of them in the credits of this show as well- Jed) but she has quite the pedigree. She has worked on such shows as Buffy, Roswell, VR5, 21 Jump Street, Lois and Clark and Eureka. Maybe it was because I had never heard of the show and had no expectations… But I was thoroughly entertained. It could so play down to the audience… and it doesn’t. With Journeyman and Eli Stone gone, this could be THE show with heart.



(this photo borrowed from http://mytakeontv.wordpress.com/2009/07/12/sunday-must-watch-drop-dead-diva-on-lifetime/)

Which brings me to Eureka… I could not really describe why this show works. But it does. I usually can argue why a show is bad or good. But with this show there are not a lot of great elements on their own… but the product that comes out keeps frustrating me when I have to wait for the next episode. I will note that the season long story arcs and the attention grabbing endings are big positives.


(this photo borrowed from http://pro.imdb.com/media/rm994547456/tt0796264)

I am sure that there are more on my DVR, but I am to tired to get the remote as I type this…

Last but not least is…

The Penguins of Madagascar. Yup. I said it. My son never made it through Madagascar and I fell asleep all 5 times I played it. We both found the 2nd move more entertaining- but I always thought that the penguins were the best part. One day while I was setting the DVR for another show, we discovered this show. My son loves it. We enjoy popping popcorn and sitting down at some point in the day to catch an episode or two. The best thing is that are no commercial during each “episode” just before, after and in between. Also, in a time when some many animated series promote sex, violence and pure stupidity the penguins are always trying to do the right things for their friends and neighbors.




(this photo was borrowed from http://www.myfreewallpapers.net/cartoons/pages/madagascar-penguins.shtml)


Don.

G.I. Joe is there!!! ...more or less...

G.I. Joe is throughly entertaining...

Just don't go expecting high art.

I was an avid reader of Marvel's Larry Hama's G.I. Joe comics of the 1980's. I liked the cartoon but felt that it strayed to much from the comic. The comic was GREAT! The fact the Joe team was based on a real military base was cool. The fact that Cobra was based out of Springfield was brilliant. The fact that Cobra Commander was a disillusuioned car salesman that inadvertantly began a ku klux klan organization to defy the government was ingenious and very phrophetic... (Maybe Timothy McVeigh was a Cobra Commander fan...) The Snake-Eyes stories (whether with Storm Shadow or Scarlett) were always a high point of that month's comic readings.

But I Digress...

G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra is kind of a happy mess. Dennis Quaid is frakking great as Hawk. Rachel Nichols was pretty kick ass as Scarlett (though to young for the role). Sienna Miller did a good job as The Baroness despite the writing.

The base located in the desert left me with questions- such as why is a super secret black ops organization being run from the middle of a third world country, among others.

The Snake-Eyes/Storm Shadow stuff was handled pretty well while taking little from the actual history. I understand that it is hard to take stories with a backdrop of Vietnam and modernize them. Even with the various Gulf War iniatives it is not the same. Making the "brothers" children was not a bad idea. Having them still be children when the Master was killed was not so great as it never allowed time for the kids to bond. This film made them appear to be enemies while skipping all of the parts that made them brothers.

One of the worst historical revisions was the line about Snake-Eyes taking a vow of silence after the death of the Master. Again, this may have worked had they still not have been kids. Really, would a black ops group recruit a man that would never talk? How did he even get into the military without being able to say "Yes, sir"? In the comics it was an accident that disfigured him. What was wrong with that?

Personally, I think that the script chose the wrong lead characters. Duke and Ripcord? Duke was just a replacement for Hawk... and Ripcord? I don't think that he was ever an interesting character. Though Marlon Wayans played him well. And having all of the villiany rest on McCullen's shoulders? Poor choices.

And, don't even get me started on those dumbass roboto suits...

And then there was that awful ending... Rex turns McCullen's face in to metal, when he had the original mask next to him the entire time? (Have you not learned anything for the ludicrisness of Fantastic Four's Dr. Doom's stupid metal skin?) The fact that both McCullen now Destro and Rex now Cobra Commander are captured AND the fact that The Baroness was revealed to be a pawn... and let's not forget the fact that Storm Shadow died (allegedl) violently. The only villain left is... the President of the United States/ Zartan.

So, sequel? The president closes down G.I. Joe and General Hawk with the help of the original Joes (i.e. Snake-Eyes, Scarlett, Stalker, Doc, Rock'n Roll, Grunt) and the healed Storm Shadow and Baroness save the world from... Serpentor!!!

Some may think that this is a bad review. It's not. This is an accurate review. I enjoyed the movie. I didn't look at my watch until about the last 5 minutes so it kept me entertained, which is more than most movies...

Don.


(this image borrowed from http://www.comicvine.com/gi-joe-a-real-american-hero-silent-interlude/37-113726/)


(this photo was borrowed from
http://www.harpersbazaar.com/cm/harpersbazaar/images/sienna-miller-gi-joe-de-44496488.jpg)


(this photo was borrowed from http://www.rachelnichols.net/gallery/showphoto.php/photo/12107/size/big/perpage/12)


(this photo borrowed from http://www.availableimages.com/images/pictures/2009/gi-joe-the-rise-of-cobra/aph_5.jpg&imgrefurl)

Rest In Peace, John Hughes.

The writer-director of such iconic films as Home Alone and The Breakfast Club died in NYC today of a heart attack.

http://pro.imdb.com/news/ni0916488/

http://movies.msn.com/movies/article.aspx?news=424766&GT1=28101

note: The above photo was borrowed from http://pro.imdb.com/media/rm1296145408/tt0088847