Blog posts by Nelson Carvajal 
cineBYTE
"Made In China" Available For Rent On SundanceNow
Nelson Carvajal Jan 13, 2011
Producer James Choi (Network with him Cinefile!) and the team behind the award-winning indie darling Made In China were some of the first individuals who became part of the Cinefile platform. Now that their DIY comedic film has toured the festival circuit, it now finds a rental home at SundanceNow!
"Slinkys, Pet Rocks and Ant Farms … behind every great novelty item is a great Novelty Inventor.
Co-written and directed by Judi Krant (in her directorial debut), Made In China is a comedy about one such inventor, Johnson (Jackson Kuehn), a self-styled novelty inventor from a small town in East Texas ...
Movie Review
127 Hours
In Theaters
Nov 16, 2010
Danny Boyle makes a triumphant return to form with 127 Hours, a buoyant and harrowing plunge into a micro-universe of elemental peril. In 28 Days Later, Boyle dizzied us with a dystopian, zombie-laden Europe. In Trainspotting, we shared the same dingy apartment space with that fim's heroin-addled protagonists. Now in 127 Hours, Boyle literally places the audience between a rock and a hard place. Based on the incredible true story of mountain climber Aaron Ralston's five-day stint of being trapped by a boulder in a narrow, isolated canyon, Boyle directs 127 Hours with the crisp flair for clarity ...
cineBYTE
2011 CineYouth Festival: Call For Entries!
Nelson Carvajal Jan 11, 2011
CineYouth: Imagination. Education. Celebration
The Chicago International Film Festival’s yearly youth film festival, CineYouth, is now accepting submissions of short films (10 minutes or less) from filmmakers 20 years old and younger. CineYouth, now celebrating it’s 7th year, will be held May 5-7, 2011 and will screen over 100 officially selected films and hold a live film shoot workshop challenge. CineYouth invites filmmakers from all ages from around the country to come together, share their work, learn from each other and be inspired. CineYouth is held at Columbia College Chicago, home to the biggest film school in the ...
Movie Review
2012
On DVD
Mar 02, 2010
There is a formula, this “hard-to-get-it-wrong” formula for films that deal with the end of the world which is simple to grasp: introduce engaging—or at least likable—characters in the first act, blow up the world in the second act and finally, allow those likable characters to reshape their value systems to whatever degree during the third act. For example a negligent mother who has been reformed or a powerful politician who suddenly sees that the common folk are real people too. Whatever the case, well-crafted disaster movies reassure audiences that sometimes all it takes is a dire global ...
cineBYTE
27th CLFF: Themes of Nature, Disorder & Social Identity
Nelson Carvajal Apr 10, 2011
The 27th Chicago Latino Film Festival boasts the tagline "100% Red Carpet Free" and it's an accurate depiction of its niche programming. Going against the grain of other popular festivals--which tend to weigh more resources and time toward marquee content--the CLFF continues to curate a thought provoking catalogue of films (both long and short format) that are often unseen and usually fall through the cracks of domestic distribution. Basically, it's a treasure trove of stimulating content that is pretty hard to find elsewhere.
Consider a Colombian entry, Retratos En Un Mar De Mentiras (Portraits In A Sea Of ...
cineBYTE
27th Chicago Latino Film Festival Begins Friday
Nelson Carvajal Mar 30, 2011
This upcoming Friday marks the opening of the 27th Chicago Latino Film Festival. An always diverse and unusually energetic fest, the CLFF looks to bring in even more of the talent behind the film selections this year. Outside of the festive galas and afterparties, be sure to check out the eclectic film schedule here.
"As the oldest and most comprehensive Latino film festival in the country, it presents over 100 films in an array of genres –fiction and documentaries that reflect the great diversity of Latino culture in the United States, Latin America, Portugal, and Spain.
Every April, for two ...
cineBYTE
4 Final Film Frames That Left Us Saying: “WTF?”
Nelson Carvajal Apr 30, 2010
WARNING: SPOILERS SWIM IN THIS CINEBYTE
It’s a blessing and a curse. An interesting film has kept us engaged, interested or provoked in a way, for its entire run and then…it happens - The Ending. And it’s not just the ending scene—it’s the very last shot, the last frame that can leave a viewer dazzled, confused or feverishly angry. Here go four last frames in particular that garnered proper WTFs from audiences everywhere.
4. The Shining Directed by Stanley Kubrick – Final Frame: 4th of July B/W Still Photo.
Sure it’s one of the best ...
cineBYTE
4 Opening Titles Sequences—And The Movie Mindset They Put Us In
Nelson Carvajal May 17, 2010
Spelling It Out: Star Wars
Perhaps the most thorough opening title sequence in movie history, Star Wars announced itself as the middle segment of a larger story canvas. And how did it keep viewers up for sticking around? By essentially giving a “Last time, on Star Wars….” recap that provided background info, time and character motivation upfront. After that quick rundown, cinemagoers were relieved and ready to kick back and watch light-saber action cross and Storm Troopers take a beat-down.
The Ol’ One-Two Punch: Dr. Strangelove: Or How I Learned To Stop Worrying And Love The Bomb
On the other ...
Screenshot Weekly
CANON T3i Has Arrived
"Last month Canon unveiled the Rebel T3i (EOS 600D) upper entry-level DSLR. It continues to use the 18MP CMOS sensor seen in the Rebel T2i (550D) but gains a tilt and swivel 1,040k dot LCD monitor like the one offered on the more expensive 60D. It also gains the ability to remotely ...
Incredible Time-Lapse, Tilt-Shift Remix Of Rear Window, by Jeff Desom
This is an astonishing video and if you're a fan of the film it makes it even more astonishing knowing how he put this together in such a beautiful, seamless remix of scenes from the amazing set Hitchcock had designed. This is a real treat. It's the best thing I've seen on Vimeo in a while.
