Билетите за премиерата на Епизод VІІ отлитат по-бързо от Хилядолетния Сокол!

Днес най-големите фенове на Star Wars нападнаха кината по света и у нас, за да се сдобият с билети за една далечна галактика! Милиони се пробудиха още преди двойните слънца на Татуин да изгреят, за да са сред първите, които ще изберат ред и място за „Епизод VІІ: Силата се пробужда“. Други пък изобщо не спаха, и щурмуваха кината още преди те да отворят. Стана ясно, че въпреки зимната премиера, Дисни и Лукасфилм спазват традицията за среднощна прожекция. Верните почитатели на „Междузвездни Войни“ ще се стекат в салоните в нощта на 17 срещу 18 декември, а точно в полунощ лампите ще угаснат и магията ще се случи!

А вие ако още нямате билети – побързайте, не останаха! Скоро ще са по-голяма рядкост от кейбърски кристал… или имперски щурмовак с точен мерник! Носят се дори слухове, че един небезизвестен хътянски гангстер е изкупил добрите места, за да ги продава на черния пазар.



„Ами ако филмът е кофти?!“ – питат някои. На тях отговаряме – а когато спортните запалянковци си купуват билети за мач, дали се питат „Ами ако нашите не спечелят?“. Очакваме премиерата на „Силата се пробужда“ изпълнени с надежда. Но най-важното е това, че ще я посрещнем заедно!

И нека Силата бъде с всички ни!

Robot Overlords is overloaded with awesome!

I can't help it but cheer for this movie! And here's why:

It's like Dr. Who meets the Goonies! It's a brave all-age indie sci-fi adventure! It's the type of film that is centered around kids and teen characters, and still is not dumbed down as a kids-only film - something that you almost never get these days, with all the major studios "playing it safe". We had such films, but mostly in the 80s - stuff like "The Last Starfighter", "The Gremlins", "E.T.", "*batteries not included", "Flight of the Navigator" and "Short Circuit"... I mean, it is not today's kids movie, it does not seek to be mild or comedic or innocent, and it does not aim consciously at a specific target audience - it is just out there for whoever feels like watching it and it does not categorize or underestimate its audience. You cannot actually tell if it's made for teens, kids, young adults, family film, sci-fi fans... And I salute this boldness! In the recent decade there have been so few such films, in fact at the moment I can only think of J.J. Abrams' "Super 8", Joe Dante's "The Hole" and Garth Jennings' "Son of Rambow".

It feels like a film made with heart! It has enthusiasm written all over it! I do not want to spoil or give out the story, go watch the trailer if you'd like. Anyway, such films are best enjoyed when you let them surprise you, no expectations needed! I will tell you about the atmosphere! If you have watched any British, Australian or Canadian sci-fi TV series for younger audience, things like "Aquilla", "Escape from Jupiter", "Return to Jupiter", "The Odyssey"...

The acting is good, I really enjoyed all the characters, and by the way, is Gillian Anderson actually getting younger and hotter with time?! Geez, she looks so much better here than in The X-files! As far as the SFX and the CGI go - the digital effects may not be top notch, but do you actually need them to be? "Robot Overlords" has it all right where it counts! It's it's clearly done on a budget, it does not look like a 200-million-dollar picture, but I am so tired of shallow "all style and no substance" hyped up blockbusters that I even enjoy this indie feel of the film. Don't get me wrong - there's plenty of special effects (it's not all in the trailer, like with so many B-movies these days), and the effects are pretty decent and perfectly satisfactory. It's much better than anything you'd see on the SyFy channel for sure.

The camera-work and the editing, may not attract attention to themselves, but they are elements which often work best when unnoticed, which is exactly the case here. It's all on a level, none of that shaky cam and fast cuts which spread like a tumor in today's action scenes. The film's colour palette is eye-pleasing. The film is by no means gloomy and at the same time delivers a feeling of tension and peril with a pinch distopian atmosphere.

For me, "Robot Overlords" has all the elements of a modern sci-fi cult classic! I certainly hope it gets the attention and the recognition it deserves.

p.s. - It's not a flawless movie, but I give it 10 out of 10 to boost it's IMDb rating cause it's worth so much more than the current 4.something!

Vehicle 19 - review

I gave it 10 out of 10 on IMDb, not because it's the most amazing film out there, but because I feel it's a shame it has a rating below 5, and I'd like to boost it as much as possible! The trailer says it all, what you see is what you get, plus some unexpected turns, which I will save you (no spoilers here!). This is your average "framed & chased by corrupt policemen guy in a car... in another country".

This is a solid entertainment, a highly watchable and quite tense action thriller, which is smart enough to keep it short and simple. Both me and my wife enjoyed it quite a bit.

The film is quite short - less than 80 minutes if you don't count the credits - and I think it's a good thing, because it's light and it's over way before it manages to get boring. I'm sick and tired of overdecorated and pompous action smash hits with tons of CGI, where everything is predictable and lacks any individuality.

Nothing here is over the top or out of place. The main character is far from a saint and still by the end he gets really likable and people cheer for him. The African setting is refreshing. It adds to the odds against Paul Walker, and helps the foreign audience to identify with him - just like the guy we feel lost and kinda desperate.

To me it felt like an EuropaCorp flick - you know, the Besson-produced type of action. So if you like movies like the Transporter, Taken, B-13, etc. then I highly recommend this one!

There are a few things I could criticize. The African rap for example makes my ears bleed, but I admit it was well used to create atmosphere. In some scenes the character "explains" what happens, because it is not shown well (which is a kind of a cinematic failure) - like when two kids steal from him, I didn't get what exactly they took and there was a line like "They stole my glasses." - just a calm statement to make it clear for you. And they could actually add a minute in the end to show us the character AFTER all that happened, instead you get a voice-over of a news report, which explains you where he is and what happened with him, and then the credits roll. We could at least hear Paul Walker's voice... but it was like "OK, no time to shoot another scene, it's a wrap guys, we'll figure something out for the ending later." Here I felt like there's something missing to make the final scene really satisfying, but it doesn't mean you feel letdown or cheated in the end.

And to wrap it up myself - It's a simple entertainment and it's simply entertaining. Wish there were more movies like that coming out - engaging, fast-paced and short (or at least not too long!).

The Spaghetti West (2005) - Documentary

An in-depth documentary about one of my favourite genres! Watch and learn :)

In Search Of Moebius

An insightful documentary about the life and art of the deceased Moebius

Part 1
Part 2
Part 3

My brother Zdravko's Batman collection holds a Guinness World Record!!!

My brother Zdravko now officially holds a Guinness World Record for his Batman collection!!!

Dear Zdravko Genov,

Just to let you know that you are the current record holder and a certificate will be sent to you shortly to celebrate your achievement:

'The largest collection of Batman memorabilia belongs to Zdravko Genov (Bulgaria) and consists of 1,160 different items as of 10 December 2011.'

Yours sincerely,

Anna Orford
Guinness World Records

Facebook

Top 5 documentaries of the last year

This is my personal top 5 of the documentaries I've seen for the last year.
For some reason Trek Nation is not out yet, but I've still included it here, and King of Kong is a few years older, but I just discovered it recently, so it's here as well!

Here we go!

Bébé(s) (2010)



Superheroes (2011)



The Greatest Movie Ever Sold (2011)



The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters (2007)



Secret Origin: The Story of DC Comics (2010)



And one that is not out yet, but I'm certainly looking forward to see it!

Trek Nation

Big time festival and Life updates :)

The last few months have been pretty busy for me - defending my MA thesis, getting a driving license, dropped by to Slovakia for the "Golden Beggar" festival, and not to mention changing my marital status, moving to Poland with my beloved wife Ania and getting ready to become a happy father :)

So it is understandable why I didn't spare the time to update the blog regularly... To make up I decided just to list all the festival selections, nominations and awards so far :)

Feel free to watch the shorts on Vimeo - http://vimeo.com/nenko/videos

99% Rust

ORA (Observe Rethink Act)

International Video Art Fest – Athens, Greece, 2010

6th ViBGYOR International Film Festival, Thrissur, Kerala, India, 12th - 16th January 2011

Green Mountain Film Festival, USA, 2011

13th Mecal International Short Film Festival, Barcelona, Spain, 2011

Boomtown Film and Music Festival, Beaumont, Texas, USA, 2011 – 3^rd Place Documentary

IV International Festival ECOZINE – Festival Internacional de cine y medio ambiente, Zaragozza, Spain, 2011

2nd Stortford Film Festival – United Kingdom 2011

Croatian one minute film festival in Pozega – 2011

Possible Futures Film Contest 2011

17th International Festival of Local Televisions „Golden Beggar“ – Košice, Slovakia, 08-11.06.2011

Document Art - Interntional Festival of Films on Art, Ecology and Tourism Document.Art., Romania 2011

SCINEMA Festival of Science Film 2011 – Australia

Videoholica Video Art Fest 2011

Third International Festival of Tourism and Ecology film SILVER LAKE TOURFILM FESTIVAL - SILAFEST '11

Tomatoes Eat You

ORA (Observe Rethink Act)

43th POL-8 im. Jozefa Milki - Polanica Zdroj, Poland, 2010-11-29

6th ViBGYOR International Film Festival, Thrissur, Kerala, India, 12th - 16th January 2011

Green Mountain Film Festival, USA, 2011

1^st PERL Film Competition – “Sustainable Living” – 3^rd Award

Croatian one minute film festival in Pozega – 2011

17th International Festival of Local Televisions „Golden Beggar“ – Košice, Slovakia, 08-11.06.2011

Possible Futures Film Contest 2011

19^th Yasujiro Ozu International Short Film Festival - among the 13 finalists of the 2-Short competition

Third International Festival of Tourism and Ecology film SILVER LAKE TOURFILM FESTIVAL - SILAFEST '11

Sleepyhead

43th POL-8 im. Jozefa Milki - Polanica Zdroj, Poland, 2010-11-29

60 Seconds Short Film Festival in Copenhagen Metro - Winner Audience Award

Art by Chance – Ultra Short Film Festival 2011

Croatian one minute film festival in Pozega - 2011

Where is your head

6^th International Short Student Film Fest „Early Bird” - Sofia, Bulgaria, 2010

5^th Le Trottoir in Corto International Short Film Festival – Milano, Italy, 2010 – nominated among 9 international finalists for the Gran Gala

Green Mountain Film Festival, USA, 2011

Puteaux short-film FEST'ival, France, 2011

Boomtown Film and Music Festival, Beaumont, Texas, USA, 2011

FiLUMS – 5^th International LUMS Film Festival, Lahore, Pakistan, 2011 – nominated for the Best International Short Award among 6 finalists

Sofia Film Festival 2011 – Jameson + Short Film Program

See A Paris South-East European Film Festival 2011

OffPlus Camera – Allegro Short Film Contest “Take It and Make It”, Krakow, Poland, 2011 – Finalist

The Amateur and Independent Film Festival KAN, Wroclaw, Poland, 2011 – selected at the Best International Short category

Backup Fest 2011 – Germany

Film Sharing International Low & No Budget Short Film Festival Tour 2011 – Stuttgart, Germany, 2011

9^th Irpen Film Festival – 04.06.2011, Ukraine

I’ve Seen Films – International Film Festival – October 5-14 2011, Milan, Italy

17th International Festival of Local Televisions „Golden Beggar“ – Košice, Slovakia, 08-11.06.2011 – Winner – Honourable Mention of the Jury

Shortini 2011 – Augusta, Italy

Hyart Film Festival – Wyoming, USA, 2011

flEXiff 2011 – Best Short Film Award Finalist

X Open St.Petersburg Student Film Festival Beginning

Seoul international Extreme-Short Image & Film Festival 2011, Korea

A Circle for Two

International Film Festival “Golden Rose” - Varna, Bulgaria, 2010

6^th International Short Student Film Fest „Early Bird” - Sofia, Bulgaria, 2010

Green Mountain Film Festival, USA, 2011

17th International Festival of Local Televisions „Golden Beggar“ – Košice, Slovakia, 08-11.06.2011

Naoussa International Film Festival – Greece 2011

Hyart Film Festival – Wyoming, USA, 2011

Fat Film Fest 2011 – International Short Film Festival, Fattizze (Lecce), Italy, on August 16-18, 2011

Possible Awards at the Possible Futures Film Contest?

The voting for the Possible Futures Film Contest has started!
Please, register as a voter and give your vote for my 2 short film - "99% Rust" and "Tomatoes Eat You!" (follow the link below)! Thanks :)

http://possiblefuturesfilmcontest.org/watch-vote/?country=Bulgaria

Festival Updates - Rutger Hauer likes Your Head!

My short film "Where Is Your Head" has been selected for the ''I've Seen Films'' Internet Contest: www.icfilms.org/eng/contest.asp

"Where Is Your Head" is now competing for the two internet awards: the Internet Audience ICFILMS Award and the prestigious ''20th Century Fox H. E.'' Internet Jury ICFILMS Award.

The short film determined to be the most successful by the Internet Audience, will be screened during the I’ve Seen Films Festival’s days and his/her author will be personally awarded by Rutger Hauer with the Internet Audience ICFILMS Award.

You can be part of the Jury and give your vote! Please take a minute to register and vote for "Where Is Your Head" Here is a link: http://www.cortoweb.com/contest/index.asp

In order to vote, you register, confirm the registration via e-mail, log-in and then select "Where Is Your Head" from the list of films! Thank you :)

Amari - Tiger

Amari - Tiger from Francesco Calabrese on Vimeo.

10x to Butch for sending this :)

CLICK HERE for more retro sci-fi music video coolness!

Festival Updates - Your head goes to Paris!

"Where Is Your Head" is in the official selection of the first SEE a Paris South-East European Film Festival which will be held from the 12th to the 17th of April this year, in the prestigious “L’Entrepot” in Paris. This festival is going to be an unique opportunity for the audience to watch the finest selection of feature, short, animated and documentary films from the twelve SEE countries.

Festival Updates - Tomatoes Eat an award!

My short film "Tomatoes Eat You!" recieved the 3rd Prize by the judging panel of the PERL Film Competition – “Sustainable Living”! The film was shown during the PERL International Conference hold in Istanbul. It will be shown again in Cologne in May during the International Conference of CSCP (Centre on Sustainable Consumption and Production).

And more good news!
Right after it got the 3rd Documentary Award at the Boomtown Festival, "99% Rust" is now selected to be shown at the IV International Festival ECOZINE, that will take place is Zaragoza, Spain, from 13th to 21st May 2011!


Just a reminder, "99% Rust" is also in the Green Program of the 13th Mecal International Short Film Festival which will take place from 8th to 17th April of 2011 in Barcelona, so if you're in Spain you can choose where to see it ;-)

Моля подкрепете Sleepyhead в гласуването на 60seconds Kortfilmfestival

Здравей!
Моето филмче Sleepyhead се класира на конкурс за едноминутни видеота, и в момента тече гласуване за награда на публиката. Ако имаш време ще съм ти благодарен да удариш едно рамо!

Ето линк: http://www.60sec.org/Publikumspris2011.php

На страницата намираш Sleepyhead (by Nenko Genov, Bulgaria) и кликваш на Vote for this film.
После има само една подробност - че попълваш и-мейла си и ти пращат веднага писмо с линк, на който трябва да цъкнеш, за да се потвърди вота.

Благодаря предравително :)
А ако разпратиш линка и на още хора - двойно и тройно благодаря!! :)

Battle: Los Angeles - Asylum vs Columbia Pictures

VS

OK - we all know what Asylum is all about. Some time before the
Hollywood releases a major blockbuster they release (straight to DVD or
TV) their so called "mockbusters". Transformers goes TransMorphers,
Death Race goes Death RacerS, 10 000 BC goes 10 000 000 BC, Lost + King
Kong = King of the Lost World, etc.

But I'd like to underline - even if the titles, the topics and the
posters and cover designs of the Asylum films are an undeniable rip-off
of major Hollywood hits, the movies themselves are quite often original
and far from the storyline of the imitated movie. Close your eyes for
the rip-off factor and you get a decent TV-feature or an entertaining
B-movie.

None of their movies is brilliant. They are far from masterpieces. But
just plain hate is wrong. You have to appreciate them for what they
are, not take them too seriously and if your expectations are not over
the roof you might find yourself enjoying Asylum's titles.

So far I liked their Sherlock Holmes the best - it was a fresh take and it
had some quite cool ideas, even if the low budget and production value
take away from the movie.

In the case of "Battle of Los Angeles" I would say that Asylum did way
better than the original! Call me crazy, but I enjoyed their B-movie
galore on SyFy channel far more than the misunderstanding called
"Battle: Los Angeles".





The blockbuster is nothing but a flat storyline with cardboard
characters, mixed with shaky camera, random shooting and average CGI.
If there is something to be appreciated there it is the designs of the
alien ships. But come on, "Independence Day" did way better and it did
it 15 years ago! "Battle of Los Angeles" on the other hand manages to
entertain quite a bit, despite the obviously low budget of the
production and weak acting. The resources are used well, the movie
doesn't take itself too seriously, and makes the most of what it has.
There are some neat touches like a chick with a katana slicing flying
robots, classic B-movie flying saucer invasion, post-apocalyptic sets,
pilot in a WWII plane who came from another time, giant alien creature
with tentacles and teeth, Dr. Who's daleks homage, the katana chick gets an eye-patch... Come
on, it's COOL!!! And it doesn't scream "I am an awesome movie, let me
rob you of your 10 bucks and 2 hours, so you can enjoy my awesomeness
on big screen!"

In this Battle... Asylum wins for me!

Give it a try, it's very watchable :)

Take a look at the katana chick in action!