Appreciation for Andrei Tarkovsky

It was in high school when I first discovered Andrei Tarkovsky and after that I never really looked at movies the same way again. In high school I was in a class called "Cinema", and when I look back I think it may have been the only class where I really learned anything. I remember the day when we watched Stanley Kubrick's '2001: a space odyssey', and having seen the movie before it didn't bore me at all, but when I looked around the room I could see a few heads on the desk. And this is where I realized that this movie was a little slow. But the inspiring part in all this was where I was sitting. Whenever I looked up( not to see if I could spot the Monolith floating above my head) ,but a very striking portrait of Stanley Kubrick was drawn on a ceiling tile by a student who had had the class before me. So, when I delved into the career of Kubrick, I noticed that his movies paced a little different than other movies. But in some odd way, this facinated me. As I did more of my research in discovering different techniques, I came along one technique that only a few directors could pull off, the long take. Preferably tracking shots. And Kubrick had a lot of them, obviously influenced by the French director, Max Ophuls. More of my research into this technique, I came across this Russian director, Andrei Tarkovsky. I liked the name, so I looked more into it. Already extremely fascinated by the long take technique, I watched one of his films at random, assuming that it would probably be cool just to watch for the camerawork. The film I watched was 'The Mirror'. The film has no coherent plot and after I watched it I didn't like it. Basically, my head was laying on a desk the entire time, but after awhile I couldn't stop thinking about the film so I re watched it. After that, I watched as many of his films that I could get my hands on. His movies are really strange, and I don't think I could get into the philosophy of them, but the matching of his camerawork and the presentation of the stories have had a strong effect on me as an admirer of film. I will grant you that his films are a tad slow, but I think that's the beauty of them. He perfected the long take, not just with the fluent movements, but with what he was capturing. It seemed like he had perfectly captured the dream state. When it comes to movies that have really changed my life, it's hard to say. But I think that Tarkovsky's films have changed the way I look at the art of filmmaking and the unique things that you can do with film. His movies may have to take a couple viewings and also, be blessed to be watching his movies, because I don't think there will ever be another Andrei Tarkovsky.

"Tarkovsky for me is the greatest [director], the one who invented a new language, true to the nature of film, as it captures life as a reflection, life as a dream". - Ingmar Bergman



- Ryan

Movie Review:Blow Out

Ryan has been wanting me to watch this film for a long time now,and I've finally gotten around to watching it. Yes Ryan,you are correct. This film is AMAZING.

Blow Out is a thriller which was made in 1981 and is directed by the legendary Brian De Palma (who has made other classics,including Sisters,Carrie,Scarface,The Untouchables and many more). The film stars John Travolta (who also has a small role in Carrie),Nancy Allen and John Lithgow.

The story involves a man named Jack Terry (John Travolta) who is a sound technician and works with a director who has done a few low budget horror films. Their latest horror film is in post production, and they need a good scream sound effect to dub over the girl in the film,since she did a lousy job with it. So Jack goes out one night with his sound equipment to record the many different things that happen at night,hoping to get something useful. During his recording,a terrible "accident" occurs where a car careens off the road into a lake. Jack jumps into the water to save whoever is in the car and pulls out a young,beautiful woman. Underwater,he sees that the man who was behind the wheel is dead. So of course,he takes the unconscious woman to the hospital. This is where it starts to get interesting. The man who died in the car just happens to be a very popular governor who was running for president. The man had a wife and kids and a very respectable reputation. The woman in the car was not his wife,but a mistress. This causes alot of controversy at the hospital and a detective speaks with Jack,telling him to NEVER tell anyone about the woman and that if anyone asks, the late governor was in the car alone. Jack is morally conflicted with this because he believes the truth should be told about this, but he knows the detective has a good point that this information will break the family's heart. So he agrees to keep quiet about the situation. After the young woman is released from the hospital,Jack tries to befriend her and get to know her,and he also subtly tries to figure out why she was in the car with the governor. While all this is happening,he listens to his audio recording of the night it happened. He notices that right before the supposed "blow out" of the tire,he can barely hear what sounds like a gunshot. This makes him believe that this was no accident,but a murder. Through most of the movie,he tries his heart out to uncover the truth and to get everyone to believe that it was no accident. It turns out to be a pretty big conspiracy theory,which involves John Lithgow. This is easily one of his best performances. John Lithgow is very good at playing baddies. If you want further proof,check out this film as well as Raising Cain and the new season of Dexter,where just like in this film,he plays a serial killer.

Well that's all I'll say about the story. I don't want to give out any spoilers. I was totally into this movie from start to finish. It's an amazing thriller that grabs you with it's complex detective story and doesn't let go. Besides Grease,this is another film that very much helped boost John Travolta's career. It's very well acted and the soundtrack is PHENOMENAL.After watching this film,I actually made the main theme one of my ringtones. It's THAT good (Interesting Fact. The main theme is also used in a small scene in Quentin Tarantino's film Death Proof).

Alright,there you have it folks. Blow Out. I give it a 10 out of 10. An amazing film to say the least. We at Mosaic Pictures HIGHLY recommend that you watch it. You can thank us later. CIAO!!

-David

MRTYWAGM-- Best Sequels

MRTYWAGM---Best Sequels

Mosaic Pictures MySpace Video

Here is our next video in our new series "Mosaic Recommends that you watch a good movie.",in which we talk about some of our favorite sequels. This was shot a few weeks ago and we would've put it up sooner,but we've been having some technical difficulties in trying to upload it (either that,or Ryno's just been lazy on us.Your pick).We hope you enjoy.

David

The Adventures of Dave & Ryno-Episode 2:Everything is connected.

The Adventures of Dave & Ryno Ep. 2

Mosaic Pictures' Podcast

In this weeks podcast,we take our sweet time talking about all the films we have seen in 2009. We also talk about all the films we wish we would've seen. And during the process,we have come to the conclusion that as far as we know it,everything is connected.

David

Basement

Basement from Ryan on Vimeo.

This is our very first film. We made it about three years ago,before we even came up with the idea for Mosaic Pictures. For the longest time,we didn't want to share it because,as you will soon see,it's a steaming pile of dog poop. The only good thing about it is how short it is. But all of this aside,we finally decided to share it with everyone because it is an important milestone for us since it was our first attempt at film-making. Plus you will see how many similarities there are between this and Pizza Can Kill You. Another fun fact,this is the same basement as in Past Midnight! I hope you will all enjoy it for what it is.A horrible,very short film,but something we couldn't be more thankful for. For without Basement,there would be no Mosaic Pictures.

David

Our other websites.

If you like what you see on here,please check out our other websites as well. Here they are.


Myspace.com/MosaicPictures ADD US!!!!

Myspace.com/HurricaneDave87 This is David's own personal myspace. Alot of geeky stuff on here!!!

Vimeo.com/user352527 This is a video sharing website which holds most of our films/videos.

Youtube.com For the time being,we only have Pizza Can Kill You and Calling Ellis on here.


If you have a myspace page,PLEASE add Mosaic Pictures!! Thanks everyone!!!

David

Movie Review: Straw Dogs

Straw Dogs....I can never stop talking about this film. I first saw it a couple of years ago and to this day,I've never seen another film more emotionally shocking and breathtaking. Especially during the grand finale, it will grab you and wont let go. Here is a few interesting things about the film as well as it's plot. And just to let everyone know,to make it easier for me, I copied and pasted this portion from wikipedia. I figured it could explain it much better than I could.

Straw Dogs is a 1971 American film directed by Sam Peckinpah and starring Dustin Hoffman and Susan George. A dark, domestic psychological thriller, the screenplay by Peckinpah and David Zelag Goodman is based on the novel, The Siege of Trencher's Farm by Gordon Williams.[1] The film's title derives from a discussion in the Tao Te Ching which likens the human condition to that of an ancient Chinese ceremonial straw dog.
Controversial to this day, the film is noted for its violent concluding sequences and a complicated rape scene that critics point to as an example of Peckinpah's (and Hollywood's) debasement of women.[2] Released theatrically the same year as A Clockwork Orange, The French Connection, and Dirty Harry, the film sparked heated controversy over the perceived escalation of violence in cinema.[3][4] Nevertheless, it is considered one of Peckinpah's greatest films.[5] The film premiered in US cinemas on December 29, 1971.

Spoiler Alert-this portion which describes the plot gives alot of information about the movie.It's a pretty simple story though so I dont believe it will ruin much. But if you'd rather not read this,then go ahead and watch the film!!

Plot
David Sumner (Dustin Hoffman), a timid American mathematician, leaves the chaos of college anti-war protests to live with his young wife Amy (Susan George) in her native village in Cornwall in the south-west corner of Great Britain. Almost immediately, there is tension between the couple as David becomes immersed in his academic work while ignoring Amy. Craving attention, Amy begins to flirt with several of the town locals (Jim Norton, Ken Hutchison, Donald Webster) doing repair work on the couple's isolated farmhouse. One of these locals is Amy's former lover Charlie Venner (Del Henney).
Amy's flirtations and David's intellectual reserve create resentment and the workmen begin to taunt and harass them. David discovers their pet cat strangled and hanging by a light chain in their bedroom closet. Amy claims the workmen did it to prove they could get into their bedroom and to intimidate David. She presses him to confront the villagers, but he refuses. David tries to win their friendship, and they invite him to go hunting in the woods the next day. During the hunting trip, the workmen take him to a remote forest meadow and leave him there with the promise they will drive the birds towards him. Having ditched David, Charlie Venner returns to the couple's farmhouse where he confronts Amy. He rapes her in a controversial scene where Amy begins to enjoy the rape due to feelings she still has for Charlie. After they're finished, a second villager, one of the workmen who had left David in the field, arrives, forces Venner by shotgun to hold Amy down, and rapes her.
After several hours, David realizes he's been tricked and returns home to find a disheveled and withdrawn Amy. She does not tell him about the rapes. Later that week, they attend a church social where Amy becomes distraught after seeing the men who raped her. David and Amy leave the social early and while driving home through thick fog they accidentally hit the village idiot Henry Niles (David Warner). They take the injured Niles to their home and David phones the local pub about the accident. Unbeknownst to him, earlier that evening Niles accidentally strangled a young girl from the village, and now her father and the workmen are looking for Niles.
The phone call alerts them to Niles's whereabouts. Soon the drunken locals, including the men who raped Amy, are pounding on the door of the Sumners' home. After a few minutes of their breaking the windows and hammering on the door, the local magistrate arrives and after attempting to defuse the situation, is shot dead by the young girl's father by accident. It's decided at that point that the father and the workmen agree that they cannot go back on what they've done, but only continue. At this point, David realizes that they will not allow anyone in the house to live and begins preparing to defend his home. First he heats two saucepans of cooking oil. Then, when one of the men attempts to unlock the window, he ties his hands together at knife point. As more men appear at another window, he burns them with the boiling oil, temporarily incapacitating them. Then he lays down a large mantrap in his living room and sends Amy upstairs to hide.
When two more men enter and attempt to shoot him, he knocks the shotgun out of one of their hands, causing it to fire and mangle the man's foot. He then engages in a fight with the other man, beating him to death with a fire poker. Finally, Charlie appears and holds David at gunpoint, but before he can shoot him, the two hear Amy screaming. As they both run upstairs, the fifth man, one of the men who had raped Amy before, is there. He tells Charlie to take David downstairs and kill him so they can rape Amy again. Instead, Charlie shoots him and David begins to fight Charlie. As they reach the living room, David, despite Amy's pleas not to, kills Charlie by springing the mantrap over his head, crushing his neck. As David looks at the carnage around him, he murmurs "Jesus, I got 'em all." He is then attacked by another villager, who is shot by Amy. At the end of the film, David is driving Niles to town, when the latter turns and says: "I don't know my way home." David solemnly replies: "That's okay, I don't either."

Like I said, some big spoilers in there,but you should still DEFINITELY see the film.One thing I love about the film is how morally conflicting it is. In one scene,Susan George is raped by her ex-lover. At first she strongly resists and it is clearly rape,but as they get into it,you start to see she is slowly starting to enjoy it. It's these types of mind games that Peckinpah brings to you that makes him such an amazing director.And man,do I LOVE Dustin Hoffman. And this is easily my favorite film of his. I love his character. Near the end, he is so determined to defend his own house at all costs,only to protect a crazy man who just strangled a little girl.Many people think he is exacting revenge on the angry locals because of his wife being raped,but if you pay attention,he never finds out about it.It makes you wonder what you would do if you were in his shoes. He has the situation where 5 angry,drunk men are outside desperately trying to break in to his house so they can get the village idiot,Henry Niles,so they can find out what he's done to one of their daughters. He could so easily end it all by simply giving them Henry Niles,who probably deserves the punishment since he killed the girl,but then again,he isnt right in the head so its not entirely his fault. But due to his morals, he is hell bent on the idea of protecting his home and wait until police show up to pick up Henry Niles. And it all ends in one of the most violent,amazingly visual showdowns I've ever seen.My favorite kill would have to be the bear trap over the head. OUCH!!

So far,this is the only film I've seen with Susan George,and she is SPECTACTULAR in it.So I'm looking forward to seeing what else she has done.And its not just her,but the entire cast that give such an amazing performance.One reason I'm doing a review on this film instead of my number one favorite,Pulp Fiction,is simply because mostly everybody already knows about Pulp Fiction.While this film isnt very well known,which is a true crime because its one of the best I have ever seen.Sam Peckinpah is such an incredible director and to be doing this kind of work in the 70's,he was truly ahead of his time. It's such a timeless film of which the material will never grow less shocking or emotional. So please,take the advice of a big movie lover,and do whatever you can to see this film. Rent it.Buy it. Borrow it from me, I dont care,just watch Straw Dogs. You owe yourself the true enjoyment this film will bring.

Well,I guess that's all I have to say about Straw Dogs. I hope you all enjoyed the read. If you did, I have about 30-40 blogs on my myspace(Myspace.com/hurricanedave87) filled with all sorts of crazy material,so check those out and drop me a line on either my myspace page or here on blogspot.. Thank you everybody!!Check back often for new blogs,videos and what have you. Oh,by the way.......watch Straw Dogs.

David

2010:The Year We Made Contact

Since it's 2010 what better time than now to recommend this film?

2010 is the sequel to 2001: A Space Odyssey and it is an adequate sequel in my opinion. But the differences between them, among storytelling and vision, is what really sets these two films apart. 2010 was written, directed, produced, and photographed by Peter Hyams, the director of such films: Capricorn One and Stay Tuned. And this was all done with the blessing of Stanley Kubrick.

This science fiction tale takes place nine years after the first movie. Dr. Heywood Floyd, played by Roy Scheider (the man who was originally in charge of the Discovery mission), joins a crew made up of Russian scientists. Leading the Russian crew is Tanya Kirbuk, played by Helen Mirren. Their mission is to find out what happened aboard the Discovery in 2001, and to further investigate the Monolith and its mysterious origins. One of their main objectives is to reactivate Hal 9000, even though "he" was one of the main problems in 2001 . During this mission, on planet earth, tensions are raised between the United States and Soviet Russia and this is where the movie is a tad bit dated, but still an entertaining film.

The special effects are pretty good for it's time. And since Stanely Kubrick destroyed the models after the production of his movie, this ultimately challenged the crew to make new ones resulting in reconstructing the Discovery. But it was Stanely Kubrick, so why complain?

As I said before, this is a whole different film than Kubrick's vision of the future. 2010 seems to have a different pacing allowing for a clearer story and different tone altogether. Although 2010 seems to be set in the future, it feels to much like the past. For example, the Cold War influence. When 2001 was more of a prophecy of the future some would say. For example, the video phone. Hyams created a great science fiction movie that seems to be lost underneath its predecessor and I believe it should be recognized as a movie of its own.

Fun Trivia: There are a few cameos to look for in the film. Arthur C. Clarke, the author of the novel, makes two apperences and Kubrick makes a very ingenious one. I'll let you figure them out.

"My God, it's full of Stars"

-Ryan

Movie Review: Avatar

Let me first start off by saying that when I was going into the theatre to see this film,I really wasn't expecting much. I was going out on a date with my girlfriend Amanda and the hottest topic of discussion for movies at the time was Avatar. We figured it would be fun to see since it's in 3D,but we weren't expecting much more than "fun". Boy,was I surprised! Yes the movie is a hell of alot of fun,but it's also a pretty damn good movie!!I wasn't expecting much since I'm usually always let down by the big blockbusters. Films like Transformers,Twilight,X-men Origins:Wolverine and many others I have found to be pretty horrible. Not in this case. Anyways,on to the review.

This film stars Sam Worthington (from Terminator:Salvation and the upcoming Clash of the Titans),Sigourney Weaver(C'mon,everyone knows her),Michelle Rodriguez(Resident Evil,The Fast and the Furious),Giovanni Ribisi (Boiler Room,The Other Sister),Joel David Moore (DodgeBall,Hatchet),Zoe Saldana(Vantage Point,Star Trek) and Stephen Lang (Public Enemies,The Men who stare at Goats). So it's pretty much an all star cast and they all do a wonderful job,but I have to say my two favorites are Zoe Saldana and Stephen Lang.Zoe plays the main Na'vi character as well as the love interest and Stephen Lang plays a colonel who turns out to be one of the best villians I've seen in recent cinema. Everyone else,of course,puts in really great performances as well.

The story is set in the year 2154 on Planet Pandora.Pandora is home to an ancient tribe known as the Na'vi,a race of indigenous blue humanoids who are approximately 10 feet tall,dwarfing most humans.The humans come to Pandora to mine for a precious mineral,and as it turns out,the greatest reserve of minerals happens to lie underneath the Na'vis main village. The marines try to handle the situation politically and peacefully by sending humans into the Na'vi village as avatars,donning a Na'vi body. So the humans are actually laying in a sort of pod using their brain functions to control the avatars.Sam Worthington,who plays the main character, is a wheel chair burdened marine who is the first person to be successful in infiltrating the Na'vi village and becoming one of them.Sigourney Weaver plays the head scientist who is their to lead and support him every step of the way. Michelle Rodriguez and Joel David Moore both play fellow marines. Michelle Rodriguez is a pilot while Joel David Moore is alongside Sam Worthington donning an avatar.Giovanni Ribisi plays the head boss of the marine corporation and his main intent is to drive the Na'vi out so he can get his precious minerals.Zoe Saldana plays the main Na'vi character,one of my favorites in the film.She does an amazing job with all of the motion capture and voice work.And last,but certainly not least is Stephen Lang,the second in command colonel leading the mining expedition. He gives such an incredible performance as a ruthless soldier who will do anything to get what he wants and to get the job done.Overall, everyone does a really good job in this movie. The only complaint I might have is with Michelle Rodriguez. She's not really bad,but some of her dialogue is pretty cheesy.While I'm talking about complaints,there is one other thing I have to talk about. The story. I won't give anything away, but when you watch this film, you'll find out it's VERY predictable. There are some twists and turns,but most people who watch films on a daily basis will more than likely know what will happen next. If you've seen Dances with Wolves,you'll know exactly what to expect. It's pretty much a by-the-books action film that turns out to have many incredible performances,amazing CGI and 3D effects and a story that is actually pretty emotional,although predictable.James Cameron,the director of this film,did an amazing job. He's been working on it for 15 years now,since 1994, and the production of this film cost approximately 500 million dollars!! And as crazy as that sounds,the movie did so well in theatres that they have already trumped that price mark and have turned a profit on the film! Which is pretty awesome because they havent even gotten to dvd sales yet! Good for Cameron. He's earned it. He simply cannot make a bad film. And all the films he has made have been HUGE blockbusters. Terminator,Teminator 2:Judgement Day, Aliens (the last two films happen to be some of the best sequels ever made.Good on ya,Cam),True Lies,Titanic and now Avatar. Wow. What an awesome job history!!

Thank you Cameron. You have scored big time again. I give Avatar an 8 out of 10. An amazing science fiction/action film filled with great characters,eye candy visuals and some pretty badass action moments. The only thing holding this film back from a 10 is some of the acting is a tad cheesy and the story is very predictable and has been highly overused in other films.Other than that, I loved it. It's still in theatres,so if you haven't seen it yet,I highly recommend you check it out. If you do,make sure you go see it either in imax 3D or in regular 3D. I'm sure it's still a great film in 2D,but the 3D effects are pretty damn sweet. Thanks for reading!!! New episode of MRTYWAGM will be up later on this week!! Later guys.

David

The Adventures of Dave and Ryno #1-Loretta Lynn is real?

Welcome to our very first podcast from Mosaic Pictures!! Our brand new podcast is titled "The Adventures of Dave and Ryno"which features David Lester and Ryan Hight. It's basically just us BS'ing about everything,including movies,videogames,music and our own personal lives and experiences. We hope to make this a weekly (or at least bi-weekly) series of podcasts. Our first episode is us talking about movies we have seen that night,movies we watched in 2009 and.....Loretta Lynn is real??!! Hahaha please give it a listen and leave some comments on what you think. You can either listen to it on this page,or you can actually download it and put it on your ipod!! -David

David's entire video-game collection.

Well,as many of you know, I'm a pretty big geek when it comes to stuff like movies and videogames. But for the people who havent actually seen my collection of both movies and videogames,you don't really know just HOW BIG of a geek I really am. So to show,I've decided to create a list of my ENTIRE videogame collection. I've thought about doing the same for my movie collection,but between the vhs's,dvd's and the copied dvd's,I literally have about 6,000 of them. Give or take,NO JOKE. I have copied games as well (Mostly for PS2) and I have somewhere between 200-300 of those. So when I say my entire videogame collection, I really mean the actual games and not the copies themselves. So here's my list. I'm going in order from oldest to newest consoles.

NES- Battle Toads,Mike Tyson's PUNCH OUT,Double Dragon 1 & 2,Yo! Noid,Spy Hunter,Kid Icarus,Bad Dudes,RBI Baseball,Super Mario Bros 2 & 3,Ninja Gaiden,Batman,Bionic Commando,Little Nemo:The Dream Master,Batman Returns,3-D Worldrunner,Metroid,Ghosts N' Goblins,Adventure Island.

Sega Genesis- Strider,Quackshot,T2:The Arcade Game,Cool Spot,ZOOM!,Crue Ball,Road Rash,PGA Tour Golf II,and Gunstar Heroes.

SNES- Super Star Wars (All 3 of them),Bubsy 1 & 2,Prince of Persia,Jurassic Park,Super Mario All Stars (Which features all three of the original super mario bros,plus the lost levels),Super Mario World,Super Mario World 2:Yoshi's Island,Super Mario RPG:Legend of the Seven Stars,Super Mario Kart,Tetris & Dr. Mario,Extra Innings,Act Raiser 1 & 2,EarthWorm Jim 2,The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past,Mortal Kombat 1,2 & 3,Street Fighter 2,Joe and Mac,F-Zero,Starfox,Spawn,Out of This World,Killer Instinct,Mega Man X,Super Ghouls 'N Ghosts,Final Fight, TMNT IV:Turtles in Time,Contra 3:The Alien Wars,Gradius 3,The Lion King,Zombies Ate My Neighbors,Donkey Kong Country,Darius Twin,Aladdin, and Super Metroid.

N64- Pokemon Snap,WWF No Mercy,Knockout Kings 2000,Top Gear Overdrive,Madden '02,Super Mario 64,Mario Kart 64,Mario Party 1,2 & 3,Conker's Bad Fur Day,Banjo-Kazooie,Perfect Dark,The Legend Of Zelda:Majora's Mask,The Legend of Zelda:Ocarina Of Time,Clay Fighter 63 1/3,007 Goldeneye,Donkey Kong 64,StarFox 64 and Paper Mario.

Game Boy-Mystical Ninja,Mole Mania

Game Boy Color- Little Nicky,Chicken Run,The Mask of Zorro,Mission Impossible,The Mummy,The Mummy Returns,Spider-Man,Indiana Jones and the Infernal Machine,Blade,Turok 3,Metal Gear Solid,Action Man,Shrek:Fairy-Tale Freakdown,The Grinch,Perfect Dark,Driver.

Game Boy Advance-Jurassic Park 3:Island Attack,Planet of the Apes,Spider-Man,Monsters Inc.,Max Payne,Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2,Castlevania:Harmony of Dissonance, and Metroid Prime.

Playstation- Street Fighter Alpha,Crash Bandicoot:Warped,Hot Shots Golf 2,Syphon Filter,Silent Hill,Resident Evil:Director's Cut,Metal Gear Solid,Evil Dead:Hail to the King,Heart of Darkness,Fear Effect, Fear Effect 2:Retro Helix,Tomb Raider 2,3 and 4.

PS2- Metal Gear Solid 2 & 3,God of War 1 & 2 (actually trying to sell these two,only 20 dollars),Silent Hill 2,3,4 and Origins,Evil Dead:A Fistful of Boomstick,Evil Dead:Regeneration,Killzone,Space Channel 5,The Thing,Resident Evil 4,Indigo Prophecy,Shadow of the Collosus,Mega Man Anniversary Collection,Primal,Rise of the Kasai,The Getaway,Freedom Fighters,Ratchet & Clank:Going Commando,Ratchet & Clank:Up Your Arsenal,Rise to Honor,Viewtiful Joe 1 & 2,Max Payne,Eye Toy Play 1 & 2,Headhunter,GTA III,GTA:Vice City,GTA:San Andreas

Xbox-Beyond Good and Evil,Buffy the Vampire Slayer,DarkWatch,Whacked!,Rogue Trooper,Ninja Gaiden,Enter the Matrix,The Matrix:Path of Neo,Gladiator:Sword of Vengeance,Chase:Hollywood Stunt Driver,Splinter Cell,Splinter Cell:Pandora Tomorrow,Splinter Cell:Chaos Theory,Brothers In Arms:Road to Hill 30,Brothers In Arms:Earned in Blood,Pariah,Far Cry Instincts,Far Cry Instincts:Evolution,Constantine,Manhunt,Metal Arms:Glitch in the System,The Warriors,Jade Empire,Total Overdose,Unreal Championship 2,Lara Croft Tomb Raider:Legend, Dead to Rights 2,The Chronicles of Riddick:Escape From Butcher Bay,The Godfather,Doom 3, Star Wars The Clone Wars/Tetris Worlds,The Punisher,Mech Assault 2:Lone Wolf,Grabbed by the Ghoulies,Serious Sam 2,Run Like Hell,Painkiller:Hell Wars,Crimson Skies:High Road to Revenge,Psi-Ops:The Mindgate Conspiracy,The Guy Game,Brute Force,Legacy of Kain:Defiance,Max Payne 2:The Fall of Max Payne,Sonic Mega Collection Plus,Halo 1 & 2,007:Everything or Nothing,Prince of Persia:Warrior Within,Leisure Suit Larry:Magna Cum Laude,Marc Ecko's Getting Up:Contents Under Pressure,Black,Oddworld:Stranger's Wrath,The Incredible Hulk:Ultimate Destruction,Indiana Jones and the Emperor's Tomb,007:From Russia With Love, Project Snowblind,Star Wars:Republic Commando,TimeSplitters:Future Perfect,Counter Strike,Sega GT 2002/Jet Set Radio Future,Armed and Dangerous,Urban Chaos:Riot Response,Return to Castle Wolfenstein: Tides of War,Stubbs the Zombie in Rebel Without a Pulse,Doom 3:Ressurection of Evil,BMX XXX,Breakdown,Advent Rising,Conker:Live and Reloaded.

Nintendo Gamecube-Mario Party 4,5 and 6,Resident Evil,Mario Golf,Super Mario Sunshine,Super Smash Bros. (A few others as well which I cant think of since they're stowed away in my dad's closet)

PSP-God of War:Chains of Olympus,Lumines,Resistance:Retribution,Infected,Loco Roco,Secret Agent Clank,GTA:Liberty City Stories,GTA:Vice City Stories,Ratchet & Clank:Size Matters,Syphon Filter:Logan's Shadow,Daxter,Pursuit Force.

Xbox 360-Batman:Arkham Asylum,Halo 3,Halo 3:ODST,Guitar Hero 2 & 3,Call Of Duty:Modern Warfare 1 & 2,Call of Duty:World at War,Ghostbusters:The Video Game,Battlefield 2:Modern Combat,Battlefield:Bad Company,Gun,GTA IV,Assassin's Creed,Sonic's Ultimate Genesis Collection(features more than 40 genesis games!),X-Men Origins Wolverine:Uncaged Edition,WET,Left 4 Dead 1 and 2,Dead Rising,WheelMan,Kane and Lynch:Dead Men,Crackdown,Bully:Scholarship Edition,Hitman:Blood Money,Rainbow Six:Vegas 1 & 2,Army of Two,Stranglehold,Gears of War 1 & 2,Sneak King,Big Bumpin',Pocket Bike Racer,Saints Row,Call of Duty 2 & 3,Xbox live arcade unplugged:Vol. 1,Dead Space,F.E.A.R.,The Orange Box (Featuring 5 games in one. Mostly Half Life),The Darkness,Scene it? Vol. 1 & 2,Resident Evil 5,The Chronicles of Riddick:Assault on Dark Athena (Also features an updated version of Escape From Butcher Bay),Mirror's Edge,Wanted:Weapons of Fate,Bioshock.

Downloaded xbox 360 games and arcade games-Call of Duty Classic,Wolfenstein 3D,DOOM,Psychonauts,Contra,Shadow Complex,GTA:The Lost and the Damned,GTA:The Ballad of Gay Tony,Braid,Castle Crashers,Hexic HD,UNO

PS3-The God of War collection (1 & 2,Remastered in HD),Uncharted:Drake's Fortune,Uncharted 2:Among Thieves,Borderlands,Brutal Legend,Resistance:Fall of Man,The Bourne Conspiracy,Rock Band 1 & 2,DJ Hero,Street Fighter IV,Brothers In Arms:Hell's Highway,Mortal Kombat versus DC Universe,Fallout 3:Game of the Year Edition,Metal Gear Solid 4:Guns of the Patriots,Lego Batman,Silent Hill:Homecoming,Infamous,Little Big Planet:Game of the Year Edition,Prototype,BUZZ! Quiz TV,FEAR 2:Project Origin,Saints Row 2,Guitar Hero 5,Guitar Hero:World Tour,Terminator:Salvation,The Saboteur.

Playstation Network games-Mortal Kombat 2,Zen Pinball,Burn Zombie Burn!,Wheel of Fortune,Rag Doll Kung Fu:Fists of Plastic,Super Street Fighter 2 Turbo HD Remix,Calling All Cars,Blast Factor,Marvel VS Capcom 2,UNO,TV Show King

Wii-Wii Sports,Wii Sports Resort,New Super Mario Bros. Wii,No More Heroes,Link's Crossbow Training,Madworld, and The House of the Dead:Overkill

WOW!!! What a project that was!! Well there you have it...my ENTIRE videogame collection. And again,that doesnt even include all the copied games I have. I hope you guys at least read SOME of it since I put alot of effort into making this list. Of course,this list will eventually grow since I'm always buying games,whether it's new games coming out,or old games so I can expand my retro games collection. And I'm sorry,but if you want to see all the movies I own,you'll have to swing by my apartment sometime,because making a list of that would literally take me hours and hours and HOURS! I hope you guys enjoyed checking out my nerdy collection of games. Oh yeah, I might as well make a list of the blu ray movies I have since there's only a few for the time being.Again,this list will eventually grow.

Blu-ray- The Matrix,No Country for Old Men,Halloween (the original),The Wizard of Oz,UP,MAD MEN season one,Transformers:Revenge of the Fallen,Spider-Man 3,300,Evil Dead 2,Weeds seasons 1 & 2,Planet Earth documentary,9,Chasing Amy,Star Trek,The Wild Bunch,Zack and Miri make a porno,Family Guy:Something something something Dark Side,Terminator 2:Judgement Day,Pinnochio,Sleeping Beauty,Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs,The Hangover Unrated,Pan's Labyrinth,Requiem for a Dream,Risky Business,Inglourious Basterds,District 9,Terminator:Salvation,Road House,Donnie Darko,Public Enemies,The Boondock Saints,and Leon the Professional.

Here is a wish list of games I want.... Assassin's Creed 2, God of War 3, Dead Rising 2, Red Dead Redemption, Max Payne 3 And many many many many many others.

Ok,I'm done now,lol please,since I put so much effort into this,leave me some comments or message me letting me know whatcha think. Thanks guys!!!!!! David :-)

MRTYWAGM-Top 5 thrillers

MRTYWAGM--Top Five Thrillers from Ryan on Vimeo.

This is our 3rd installment in our video blog series and the first one to start doing 5 rather than 10. Me and Ryan both agree on these films as our top five thrillers. Now when we say top 5,it doesnt mean our absolute favorites,but more along the lines of thriller films that we have recently really enjoyed. Our next episode will be up in about a week or so,which will be covering our top 5 sequels. -David

MRTYWAGM-Ryan's Top Ten Favorite Films

MRTYWAGM--Ryan's Top Ten from Ryan on Vimeo.

This is our 2nd video blog for the series "Mosaic recommends that you watch a good movie.". This time around,we are doing Ryan's top ten favorite films. This is a special video because this will probably be the only video blog featuring Ryan in front of the camera. He prefers to be the camera-man,but it was necessary for him to do this one since it's his own top ten. It's also special because this is the most he has talked in front of the camera! So please,leave some comments in support of the Ryno!! -David

MRTYWAGM-David's Top Ten Favorite Films

MRTYWAGM--Dave's Top Ten from Ryan on Vimeo.

This is our first video blog that we have made for Mosaic Pictures. It is now a series of video blogs titled "Mosaic recommends that you watch a good movie." The sole purpose of these video blogs is to reach out to our audience and recommend great movies. This is a video of my personal top 10 favorite films. Please drop us a line on what you think. -David

IMMEDIATELY!!!

Immediately from Ryan on Vimeo.

This is not a film,but me goofing around a few years back when I was doing landscaping. I'm trying to be a Crocodile hunter-esque character giving an instructional video on how to protect yourself from poison ivy. Ryan and Josh always use this video as a punchline,proving that yes, I will do ANYTHING to entertain. -David

The Shot

The Shot from Ryan on Vimeo.

This is a film Ryan shot about two years ago with his nephew Devon. I (David) didn't actually have any involvement in the production of this short.This was around the same time that Mosaic Pictures was coming into fruition. Hope you enjoy. -David

Tube (Unfinished)

Tube from Ryan on Vimeo.

Tube is a film we started shooting about a year ago at my dad's old apartment. It stars David Lester and Josh Kibler. Due to technical difficulties (mostly sound issues),we were not able to finish this film. Since we no longer live at that apartment, we will probably have to reshoot it all in order to finish it. Due to our busy schedule with our next film and all of our other Mosaic activities,it will be awhile before we can get around to finishing it. -David

Roadside Distraction

RoadSide Distraction from Ryan on Vimeo.

Myself(David),Ryan,Josh and my dad were all down in Atlanta a couple of years ago visiting my uncle. On the way back,in the heart of Atlanta, my dad's truck broke down. Fortunately we had two vehicles so that we could use mine to go to a parts store to pick up a new battery.Anyways, the truck broke down underneath a bridge and behind one of the bridge columns was a homeless person's bed. So we decided to do a sort of "Bum's Cribs",if you will. Enjoy. -David

Calling Ellis

Calling Ellis from Ryan on Vimeo.

This is our first film that we have made in my new apartment(Notice the huge amount of movie posters). Ryan had a small script ready to go and it was one night where we were bored and we were just like "Hey man,let's make a movie!!".It only took a few hours to shoot the whole thing. A pretty easy shoot since it's all inside the apartment and it only stars myself. This film now makes it sort of a hitman trilogy (Past Midnight,Pizza Can Kill You,and now Calling Ellis). Check it out and let us know what you think. -David

Pizza Can Kill You

Pizza Can Kill You from Ryan on Vimeo.

This is my directorial debut and the one film that helped put Mosaic Pictures on the map. To this day I still consider this to be our best film. There are alot of underlying themes and there are certain moments that make you question what you would do if you were in this scenario. We actually made a film before this one called Past Midnight,but for the time being,it is only available on our myspace page. Myspace.com/MosaicPictures. Please leave some comments on what you think about this one. :) -David

The Earrings of Madame de...

The Earrings of Madame de... (1953)

Directed by: Max Ophuls from a novel by Louis de Vilmorin

Although this film was mentioned in one of our top tens, I wanted to elaborate more and try and give you a better understanding in why I chose this film as one of my favorites. So if we do more of these "reviews" we will try and pick different ones.

This wonderful film from the great French director, Max Ophuls, is undoubtedly his masterpiece. One thing that really makes this movie stand out is the camera work. Other directors like, Sam Fuller, and more recently Martin Scorsese and Paul Thomas Anderson have emulated this masters elaborate movements with the camera, but to really justify this please put this in perspective. The cameras he used during that period were huge and to move the camera like he did was pretty amazing. Stanley Kubrick once said that his cameras could move through walls and he was right. There is moment in the film where the lead actress, Danielle Darriuex, is caught in one of her infamous lies and Ophuls camera catches the emotion with one tracking shot.

Besides his terrific camerawork,Ophuls always picked great actors. Danielle Darriuex, who was a regular for Ophuls and two men who may be some of the most underrated actors in cinema, Charles Boyer and Vittorio de Sica, the famous Italian director with films such as The Bicylce Thief and Umberto D. They both give great performences and with Darriuex leading them it makes for a great story. The story revolves aroud Louis de.., played by Darriuex(her last name isn't revealed and niether is Boyers'), Louis, who is struggling with a huge amount of debt, searches around her lavish home for expensive items in order to pay it off. She comes across earrings that were given to her as a gift by her husband. After she sells the earrings back to the jewelry shop that they were originally purchased, the store owner declines and Darrieux gives one of her notorious fainting spells. As Darrieux and her husband, Boyer, attend an opera. Louise pretends that she has lost her earrings. Boyer, being the intelligent he is, knows that she wasn't wearing them that evening. But reluctant as he is, he believes his wife. This incident evolves into a small scandal, where after reading a article in the paper, the store owner, gives the earrings back to the general and explains the situation. Without telling his wife, Boyer, plays with her and catches her in one of her lies. Since the earrings are technically forgotten, Boyer gives them to a mistress of his as a farewell gift. His mistress, a supposedly compulsive gambler, cashes the earrings in for money. And then somehow they have fallen into the hands of Vittorio de Sica. And at the train station, this is where the two lovers meet. Like other Ophuls films, the story goes in a circular motion, much like his camerawork. This is a tragic story that doesn't really end well. And it's kind of hard to have any sympathy for Loiuse, but with Ophuls direction and the acting of Darrieux, you can't help but feel for her.

Our New Blog

Although we have our myspace page, we would also like to start this blog. On this site we will generate other content. Such as movie reviews, updates, tributes, and general mumbo jumbo. Some things to look forward to in the future is a production blog for "About this Car...or " Morbid Memorabilia". So whenever we start the film, we hope to have daily updates .

Another thing we will be trying is a weekly(or whenever we feel like it) podcast. A fun little thing we have been wanting to try. Our weekly videos of " Mosaic Recommends that you watch a good movie" will be up shortly. So expect a lot more things on our new blog of 2010. Best wishes and a Happy New Year from David Lester and Ryan Hight,the co-founders of Mosaic Pictures.