If you know me well, then you know that I can rarely retain my excitement when it comes to the realization of my dream of being a real film critic some day. And ever since we went online with Film School Rejects last February (Exactly 1 year ago Thursday), and I started this little blog experiment, things have been growing at a rapid pace. So I thought I would take a moment to share with you some of the most exciting parts of the one year long journey that has left me believing that I could actually pull this off…

At some point during the year, I made friends with Mark Pfeiffer (Reel Times: Reflections on Cinema) who is the coordinator of the in-crowd when it comes to being a film critic in Central Ohio. Through this well-timed relationship and with Mark’s unexpected kindness, I was able to sneak into the Central Ohio Film Critics Association (cofca.org), where I join some awesome critics who actually get paid for what they do…

Also this year I watched as Film School Rejects took off into the stratosphere of film sites online, syndicating out to the web fronts for news leaders such as Reuters.com, USAToday.com, FoxNews.com and others. And we got paid for it. Woo hoo for the Rejects!

FSR’s writing staff went from the original 5 (myself, my good friend Brian, Tara Settembre, Jarvis Mishler and Matthew Alexander) to a crack staff of over 60 writers from all over the frickin’ world! We have writers in Greece, Canada, England and all over the US. It is just amazing to see how many people were willing to jump on board and be a part of something fresh and help it grow. If it were not for their hard work, I would just be another loser online with a blog and a dream. At least now I am the leader of an online community! But I am still a loser for the most part.

I got to meet some very cool people, such as Zach Snyder, director of 300 who I interviewed just last week. I also got to see over 200 films, most of which were free and prior to their official release! That will make you feel cool.

Some other cool things are happening — Northern Ohio Live Magazine did an article about local film buffs and chose to interview Brian. They also mentioned yours truly. I have also been invited (tentatively) to appear on the morning show on Channels 6 and 28 (ABC and Fox) here in Columbus on February 23 to talk about the Oscars. So as long as I don’t make any inappropriate comments about Clint Eastwood on live television, they may invite me back. Cross your fingers for me!!

As you can see, it has been an extremely busy year. I have slacked at my real job, disenfranchised friends, family and my lovely girlfriend in pursuit of my dreams (and somehow she has stuck with me), but it has been worth it. Every step has been a blast, and I am really looking forward to the next 365 days of being in the world of film. This year I am planning on attending the Tribeca Film Festival, continuing to drive Film School Rejects and possibly get noticed by some new outlets! Newspapers and television, here I come! Thanks to everyone who has supported me (and my sites) over the past year. I assure you the best is yet to come…

If you aren’t excited about the upcoming film 300, then you may want to check you pulse, because you may no longer be among the living. If you haven’t heard of 300, then get out from underneath your rock, check out the trailer, see the stills and bask in the glory of El Bicho’s raving review over at Film School Rejects. Now that you are prepared, we can talk some serious 300 game. The film is based on Frank Miller’s graphic novel 300, which tells the tale of 300 Spartans and their battle against a million Persians at Thermopylae in 480 B.C, a turning point in the early days of democracy. It stars Gerard Butler (Phantom of the Opera, Beowulf & Grendel) and is Directed by Zach Snyder, who remade George Romero’s Dawn of the Dead in 2004. In preperation of the film’s release on March 9, I had a chance to sit down and talk with the man at the helm, Director Zach Snyder and chat about 300, how it stacks up to Sin City and some upcoming projects that have fanboys (and fangirls) everywhere double clicking their proverbial mice:

Neil Miller: How you feel about the film, now that it is done and ready to be released? Did it come out the way you intended?

Zach Snyder: Um… I think it did. I Actually I am very pleased with what I got. You know, I went on a long journey and you when you leave you anticipate the ending. And it was only, I think, now that we’ve reached the ending that I look back and I go gosh, you know we did it. We kept our eye on the prize. And that is pretty, pretty monumental in some ways. I don’t know if I expected it to, to be honest.

NM: You have talked about the fact that you made a movie that you’d like to see. And a lot of movies in this genre, such as Troy or Alexander seemed to be these big studio driven flicks. How did you get Warner Brothers to sign off on you making your movie?

ZS: Ah, you know what. I don’t know what I did. But for some reason they had some confidence in me that I, uh… that I was very excited about… that they said, you know what they trusted me to make them a cool movie. And maybe it was that trust in me that made me work extra hard. They’ve been nothing but great.

NM: One of the things that sticks out about the film is that it is almost all digital – almost completely shot in front of a bluescreen. At what point did you say “we have to do this with blue screen” instead of shooting on location?

ZS: You know what, it happened I think early on because I knew that there was no way we could make those Frank [Miller] Frames outside. It was just going to be impossible to try and find those times of day that looked like that or that landscape that looked like that. It just didn’t exist in the real world. And so, that was really an early decision to say, “you know we’ve gotta make this.. I gotta make this world that doesn’t exist except for in Frank’s head. So we’ve gotta go make it, we can’t find it.”

NM: So would you say that was your goal for the film? To make Frank’s vision kind of come alive?

ZS: Yeah. Absolutely. In fact, that certainly was uh, I wanted to make Frank’s vision come alive and I feel like when I watch it that I get that. You know, after Frank saw the movie he said “you know, it’s the movie I wanted to see when I was young. When I saw my original 300 Spartans, this is the movie I wanted to see.” So that’s cool. It made me feel good.

NM: And the film does certainly seem to be an extension of the Frank’s novel, but what is different about the film than the graphic novel itself?

ZS: Um, there is a small difference in the story line. We added a thing with the Queen back home in Sparta. And, um, I would say that’s the major difference. I would say that other than that it is pretty much 90% the graphic novel.

NM: The film does seem to capture the graphic novel quite well, at least from what we can see in the trailer. It also feels like a “visual feast” of sorts. But what do you think will surprise audiences about 300?

ZS: I think that what’s surprising about 300 is that its not just a visual feast, it’s actually a thing… you know, people have come up to me and said “you know, I cried at the end of 300.” I’m like, that’s awesome. You know, and that’s what I would hope for. I want the movie… look… it’s a romp, you know. One of the things I’ve said is that, you know, it’s hard to go and see a movie that’s made for adults that’s fun. I think that, like, when people make that R-Rated movie 90% of the time it’s either like horrific or depressing. And I wanted to do a movie that when you walked out you were like “Fuck! That was awesome!” And like, you wanna kick some ass.

NM: And I’d say the trailer is definitely something that is getting people pumped up. Now, the soundtrack in the trailer is Nine Inch Nails. Is the rest of the soundtrack at all similar to that?

ZS: I would say that the soundtrack that Tyler [Bates] created is both modern and ancient at the same time. And it is a hard balance to strike, and he walks a razor’s edge with it but I think he really does pull it off. He has been working on the movie as long as I have and I sat down in front of him and said, “hey, make some music for this fucker.” And what he did was, you know, he really has been part of the process. And so he has evolved his sound with the film as its evolved. And he was able to create orchestral stuff that feels big and giant and epic but also these sort of guitar, kind of modern things that also makes the movie modern in its own way without pulling you out of the movie and making you go “what is this? Why do I hear fuckin’ rock and roll music?” He was able to do that, I think.

NM: Lets talk a little bit about Gerard Butler. We’ve talked about some of these other epics with these big stars in them. And Gerard is known in America, but he’s no Brad Pitt. What made him the choice to play Leonidas?

ZS: You know, when I first met Gerry we met in this coffee shop and he was immediately insane, in a good way. He stood up and he ranted around the coffee shop. He posed, he had the book with him. He had is own copy of it and he was like, “Look at this. This is awesome. I want to be like this.” And when I left I said, “Wow, that guy is… he’s the King.” You know, he’s the guy. And I went home to my wife who is one of the producers of the movie and I said, “Baby, I met Gerry and I think he’s the guy.” And she said, “Oh really, that’s exciting.” And he had to do a little song and dance for the studio, but not too much. He promised Alan Horn that he would get buff, get ripped up and that he’d quit smoking and he did. So that was kinda good.

NM: Was there ever anyone else in consideration for that role? Did the studio ever say that you had to get someone bigger?

ZS: You know, after I met Gerry, honestly I stopped looking.

NM: Now, you’ve talked about your years spent making commercials and how much traveling you were able to do. How do you think that prepared you to make the jump into feature films?

ZS: You know, I still make commercials. I just made a Gatorade commercial a few weeks ago in Buenos Aires. I’ve been shooting commercials for, you know, 15 years. Three a frickin’ month in the old days. But I think the way it prepared me is, you know, in commercials every single job is a production problem. It’s a hundred and eighty degrees different from the problem that you just faced the week before. So when we did 300, it was the same problem over and over. You know, like how the fuck do you make this landscape look real? And how do you make this fuckin’ cool? With a commercial every single day is different, and every project and every shot is different. And in that way, I think its awesome training ground for a director to hone his skills with problem solving. Because that is your job as a director, you know, to solve problems. To figure them out. Anyway, that’s the way I do it.

NM: Wow, you seem like a busy guy. Do you thrive off of doing that, moving from project to project?

ZS: You know, I do I guess. I hate to sit still and I hate not to have something to work on. It’s hard for me not to. That way, you know commercials certainly keep me busy and feature films haven’t disappointed me either. Let me tell ya, they’re pretty hardcore.

NM: Yeah, definitely. Now I guess I would be letting down the fanboy sections of our readers if I didn’t ask about Watchmen. So what’s the latest update there?

ZS: Yeah, you know Watchmen is definitely the number one thing on my radar right now. I don’t have anything else that I am even honestly vaguely interested in, and working on other than Watchmen. I said to the Studio, I said “Listen, this is the coolest fuckin’ thing there is and if we don’t do this right then…” Whenever they ask me to change it I say, you know what nevermind. And they’re like “Ok, ok, ok…” It’s just one of those things that I feel really passionate about and I want to make sure its as good as it could possibly be. So we’re working on it, you know. We’ve been talking about shooting in the summer. Hopefully soon I’ll be able to tell you about some actors. I’ve been talking to a bunch of actors and soon we’ll be able to say who they are.

NM: So no real vacation for you, just right into the next thing?

ZS: No vacation. No way.

NM: Also, another project to which you’ve been attached is Rainbow Six. Do you see that in the future?

ZS: Yeah, you know Kurt and I wrote a draft of Rainbox Six, a version of it. And Paramount has it, and I don’t think they are going to do anything with it right now. They just kinda, for whatever reason Clancy has gone to the back burner for them. So yeah, I’m all Watchmen right now.

NM: Now, with 300 do you think that you’ve set a standard for your films going forward? Does your next film have to be as visually impressive or can you change gears?

ZS: I would hope that my… what do you call it? I guess I would hope that my aesthetic is consistent. I don’t know about more spectacular, but certainly more specific. And I would hope that every shot is good. That even if I’m shooting a shot in the city that its as cool as I shot I did in Thermopelae. I like that kind of thing, so I’m attracted to it.

NM: Now what else should people know about 300 that they haven’t gotten yet through the trailer, or the marketing campaign?

ZS: I think the big thing for me about 300 is that, you know. And the important thing is that… I’ll say it one more time. It’s a fun movie experience, you know. People, you know. Whatever they want to say about it. It’s a sword and sandals epic, it’s a war movie… all that stuff. The truth is that in the end I really just wanted to make a movie that is a ride. And its awesome when you walk out of it, and it’s satisfying and you saw something that you haven’t seen.

NM: Was it as much a ride to make it as it will be for everyone who sees it?

ZS: Absolutely, it was. Especially the shooting. It was a grueling, non-stop freak out, you know. Every day you’d get there and work all day, you’d go home, go to sleep and wake up and go right back and do it again. No rest, no fuckin’ downtime. Just fuckin’ hardcore all the way.

NM: What was your biggest challenge during the shoot?

ZS: I think that the physicality was the hardest thing. You know, we were all playing hurt, but we were all happy to do it. Around here it was like football season because we were all broken and just trying to hang in there.

NM: You mentioned how Frank was impressed by the film. What kind of involvement did he have with the production?

ZS: Frank was involved in the sense that I used his book as a bible for the movie. But early on he said to me “Look man, this is your movie. And I’m here for you but in the end its up to you to make it good or not.” And he was busy with Sin City, so he really kinda let me just go and do it.

NM: And not to dwell on Sin City, because I’m sure people will be eternally comparing the two films, but what makes 300 different than Sin City besides the fact that they were both born from graphic novels?

ZS: I think that if you look at the trailer as an example you can sort of see the visual difference. I think it is pretty visually different from Sin City. And think that because it’s a single story and it’s a single historical story it’s much more… in some ways its more like a movie, you know than Sin City. I loved Sin City, don’t get me wrong but it’s more of a movie experience.

NM: Now do you see yourself ever getting away from the action/superhero genre?

ZS: Yeah, I could. If the right project came along. Again, you know its like you said before, I really just want to make movies that I want to see. If I’m attracted to the movie and thought, “Yeah, that’d be a cool movie to see,” then I’d be happy to make it.

Thankfully for the rest of us, the movies that Zach Snyder would like to see are films that we would like to see as well. If this film comes out to be half as cool as the man behind it, we are in for a treat for certain…

I am very aware of the fact that I am not a seasoned professional in this world of film criticism. Anyone who has every read one of my reviews could tell you that. But despite my lack of experience, I do understand the concept that you absolutely cannot look like an amateur in the world of showbiz (or the world of showbiz journalism for that matter). Thus I have become quite good at faking it, appearing as if I know what they hell I am talking about — feigning intellectual prowess, if I may.

Every once in a while, though, I allow myself to be exposed as an amateur and I receive the dreaded “who invited this guy?” look from those around me. It was the same feeling that I experienced the first time I attended a “press only” movie screening. There I stood amongst notable critics — not Roger Ebert or anything — but the most notable film voices in all of Central Ohio. They hailed from newspapers, magazines and television, I had a tiny website that I started months earlier with my lackadaisical friend Brian. I had sold myself this far, all the way onto the press list, and I was exposed in that moment as someone who was severely out of place. I hate that feeling.

But that is how it goes in life — sometimes you have to be the new guy in order to break in and get a shot at doing what makes you happy. I was struck with the same feeling again today, an overwhelming sense of naivety, but it ultimately resulted in by far the best experience of my career in journalism. Allow my to explain…

I have been all but fellating the publicity staff at Warner Brothers for weeks over the upcoming film 300, based on the graphic novel by Frank Miller. The trailer for the film is so spectacular that it could be used as a temporary substitute for intercourse for us movie lovers — it is that stimulating. I have been poking and prodding, attempting to score some insider info (which I have not yet gotten), a cool promotion for Film School Rejects (which we are very likely going to get) and possibly an interview with either Frank Miller or Director Zach Snyder (which I did get, thus the entire premise of this article). I finally scored the interview and was given a phone date with Mr. Snyder earlier today.

Aside from the fact that they were “running behind”, which translates into some jackass from Variety asking too many stupid questions and slowing down a day’s worth of interviews, it was a seemingly simple process. The publicist calls me, makes sure that I am ready to go and then throws Zach on the line and I have to then ask questions. Which would have been all well and good if I had any clue what I was doing when it comes to interviewing celebrities. I talked too much, explained my questions so meticulously that it left him with nothing but “Uh…” for an initial answer most of the time and I probably sounded like a brooding fanboy with too many “Thank you” and “Your movie fuckin’ rules” moments. And if that didn’t give away the fact that this was my first ever major interview, the fact that I ran out of questions surely did. I was stuck. What was my solution? Did I close the interview eloquently? No! I bumbled through some off the cuff questions like the village idiot. I would not be surprised if Zach Snyder, creator of what could be the “Film of the Year”, was giving me the “who invited this guy?” look over the phone.

But despite my obvious amateur status, the interview did go pretty well. How is that possible, you may ask? It turns out that Zach Snyder is one of the most laid back, cool guys you will ever meet in Hollywood. It was refreshing to talk to someone with such passion for what they do. He was relaxed, intelligent and ultimately just a cool guy. He has a razor sharp wit and a very personable nature — one of those guys you could just sit around and shoot the shit with about making movies. In the end, despite the nerves and the stumbling over my words, it was a very awesome experience. And just like every other situation I have come across in this business, with time I will become more comfortable and ultimately shake that “who invited this guy?” stigma for good.

Keep an eye out for the transcript of my interview with Director Zach Snyder over at Film School Rejects in the coming days…

Dreamgirls, oh Dreamgirls — how could they do it to you? You were such a surprise, an electrifying and endearing rags-to-riches tale led by the performance of the year from Jennifer Hudson. How could you have been robbed of a Best Picture Nomination? Those are the thoughts of so many Dreamgirls supporters, bitter of last week’s announcement of the Academy Awards nominees. It is true, non-believers, Dreamgirls didn’t make the cut. But is that really the biggest Oscar snub of the year? I think not. In fact, in our list of the Top 10 Oscar Snubs of 2006 Dreamgirls is just the beginning — in reverse order.

	10. Dreamgirls All those nominations and no Best Picture nod to show for it. My guess is that everyone and their brother’s auteur friend are all upset about Dreamgirls being snubbed from the Best Picture race just because. The film was good, yes. Jennifer Hudson shocked the world. Again, a resounding yes. But was this film the end-all-be-all best film of the year? Not really. I wouldn’t even place it in the top 10.
	9. Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Farris They did get a little bit of love from the Academy… Ok, they got a ton of love from the Academy. But while Little Miss Sunshine is set to light up Oscar’s stage, the dynamic directing duo that dual-handedly created such a fun, endearing and twisted film is going to go unrecognized. It is disappointing, but at least they have a good shot at making it on stage — they are nominated for Best Picture, which ain’t half bad.
	8. Aaron Eckhart (Thank You for Smoking) I understand why Forest Whitaker got nominated. I also agree with Leo DiCaprio getting a nod (although his performance in The Departed was better). But can’t you slip Aaron Eckhart’s razor-sharp performance in there somewhere? Eckhart was charming and despicable, tactful and irreverent. That has to stand for something, doesn’t it?
	7. Wordplay 2006 was a year that was ripe with fine documentaries (2 of which made this particular list). The first snub goes to a little documentary about crossword puzzles with a lot of heart. Add in some celebrity cameos and a charming story of nerd-ism and you can’t deny that this is the first (and possibly only) film ever made that makes crossword puzzles as interesting as the Superbowl.
	6. Perfume: The Story of a Murderer The critical mass was so up and down, back and forth with Perfume. It was a delightfully quirky tale about a man with an acute sense of smell and a penchant for slaying beautiful young women. The intrigue of Perfume was in its oddity — an oddity that seems to have gone too far for the Academy, too far even to get thrown a bone even the Cinematography category.
	5. Shut Up and Sing The second documentary to make the list was by far one of the more controversial of the year. It was far more interesting than Professor Gore’s Inconvenient Truth with just as much politically charged sentiments. It told not just the story of The Dixie Chicks and their run in with free speech in our Bush-ian country, but it exposed that behind every scandal there are real people with real emotions and real crosses to bear.
	4. Sacha Baron Cohen (Borat) Sacha Baron Cohen got the ultimate consolation prize this year — a nomination for Best Adapted Screenplay. What he should have gotten was a nom to mirror the Golden Globe that he just won — for Best Actor. But oh that Academy, they do not dig comedies do they? What they failed to see was that Cohen’s performance was more than comedic, it was the most spectacular embodiment of a character in any film all year.
	3. Bobby Yet another one of those films that broke the critical consensus into violent sects, each taking a strong stance with either thumbs up or thumbs down. Emilio Estevez wrote and directed one of the more powerful films of the year. Poignant and relevant to today’s political climate, Bobby should have been a welcome addition to many categories (Including Best Picture and Best Original Screenplay). But alas, it fell deep down into the cracks, right next to another late year sensation…
	2. Children of Men That other late year sensation? Alfonso Cuaron’s Children of Men. Probably one of the most astonishing accomplishments in film in the last decade, Cuaron’s film only received two measly nominations (Cinematography and Editing). It could have been deep in the Best Picture race, but a very late (and mostly mishandled) December release would be its downfall. What a shame…
	1. Jack Nicholson (The Departed) When The Departed hit theaters, it was Jack’s movie. He was pure gold as the sexually deviant mobster with a rat in his house. Guided by Martin Scorsese, Nicholson gave probably one of the best performances of his career (which is saying a lot). He deserved nothing less than a Supporting Actor nod, right next to Mark Whalberg. The only bigger snub possible in this year chalked full of great films would be if Mr. Scorsese himself is denied the Best Director Oscar.

Agree with it or not, those are my Top 10 Oscar Snubs of 2006. While the situation surrounding Dreamgirls is a tabloid tragedy, there is plenty more for some to be angry about.

What are your top snubs of 2006?