Our friends at the Heroic Melon Collective have done it again! They released their latest episode of the Awkward Compilation on Christmas Eve entitled “Awkward Again – episode 03: Holidays“. This Christmas themed episode was not as comedic as their usual entries, but it was definitely in keeping with the holiday spirit. It’ll warm your heart just watching it.

You can check out season 1 and season 2 of The Awkward Compilation here!

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!!

-phibz.

It has almost been a month since the conclusion of the 2010 Toronto International Film Festival but I have continued to review the 9 films I watched through written and video form. With the help of friends who came to watch the films with me, and some Q&A footage of the screenings, I have compiled 3 video reviews on our Banana Times youtube channel. Enjoy:

Banana Reviews – TIFF 2010 – Legend of the Fist: The Return of Chen Zhen (with Dexter Chu):

Banana Reviews – TIFF 2010 – Late Autumn (with Alison Chan):

Banana Reviews – TIFF 2010 – 127 Hours (with Lester Calleja):

I will probably make at least one more video review before the month goes out so stay tuned! And for those of you who want to read what I had to say about the 9 films I watched at TIFF, here they are:

Legend of the Fist: The Return of Chen Zhen
Late Autumn
Break Up Club
127 Hours
I Saw The Devil
Red Nights
Bunraku
Poetry
Black Swan

Until next time!

-phibz.

In light of David Fincher’s latest film The Social Network (if you haven’t seen it, watch it, trailer here), we here at The Banana Times would like to re-introduce a short film we made even before The Banana Times started, Book Of A Million Faces. This 9-minute piece is a mockumentary reflecting on the global Internet phenomenon of Facebook. But in this parody the social network is called “FaceNovel”, and the narrative plays out like a public service announcement spliced with real and scripted interviews to illustrate the addiction users have with this online service. Please direct your attention to the Book Of A Million Faces below!!

The Banana Times presents:
Book Of A Million Faces

This short was made in 2007 as a final film project in my sophomore year. Having made an experimental car-exploitation short and a documentary portraying our friend Dexter Chu earlier that year, I intended to simply join a project and get a decent mark as a crew mate. But succumbing to my desperate need for attention, I threw together a pitch in one day and decided to make something that makes fun of Facebook. And thus, Book Of A Million Faces was born! I talk a bit more about this old project in the video blog below:

The reason why we decided to re-release this old flick of ours was to pay tribute to the ever-expanding phenomena of Facebook, the drama that the creators had to endure in its creation, and ultimately David Fincher and Aaron Sorkin’s recent masterpiece in The Social Network. Even though Book Of A Million Faces pokes fun at Facebook, we only do it out of understanding and respect for what Mark Zuckerberg has done. In the end, we make fun of what we like and what’s important (:

Enjoy!

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The Social Network – A Banana Review:

David Fincher and Aaron Sorkins’ The Social Network is one for the books. If this film was part of the Toronto International Film Festival lineup this year, it would have rivaled 127 Hours and Black Swan. Many would object to making a film based on the lives of people who are still under 30 years old and so soon after the creation of Facebook. Less than a decade after the fact a film was already made. But due to the subject matter, I believe it was necessary to make a film this swiftly. Considering the exponential rate the cyber world is growing, in comparison to the real world, a biopic based on the lives on Mark Zuckerberg and his peers would soon become irrelevant if left untouched.

With the trending curve of Internet phenomena these days, maybe the film should have been made even sooner than it did. But having this story come out of the godly hands of Aaron Sorkin and the brilliant vision of David Fincher, The Social Network was more than anyone could have imagined. An impeccably written screenplay that drove the story with hypnotizingly great dialogue between strong yet fragile leading characters. The verdict? I’m going to watch it again. Keep in mind Inception was the only other film I watched twice in the theaters this year. Look out Oscars, we got another contender.

Banana Rating

/10

-phibz.

PS: The Social Network raked in 45.9 million dollars at the box office in its 10 days in cinemas. Chyeah.

The Banana Times Productions presents,
The Banana Times Productions Highlight Reel

This video is a reel of The Banana Times Productions’ existing and upcoming work. Hope you enjoy it!

The reel was shown at the Awkward Night Out screening event, which showcased Awkward 5, Awkward Orgins and Awkward 6 by Lemon Meringue productions (join us at The Awkward Compilation Facebook group). You can watch the final episodes in links below:

Awkward 5
Awkward Origins
Awkward 6

The Banana Times Productions is also part of a creative hub of aspiring artists from various media called the Heroic Melon Collective. The HMC consists of film, video, music, art and entertainment that will provide a diverse and constant stream of work for our online and offline audiences.

Join our HMC group here!
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=136806583547&ref=ts

-phibz.

At the Awkward Night Out