I haven’t seen Up In the Air yet – and I’m starting to feel fairly desperate to do so – but I saw this video the other day at roughly 8900 websites and wanted to include it here.

This is a terrifically cool piece that director Jason Reitman put together following the press junket tour for his movie. Essentially it’s just a fast-paced look at the bizarre press rituals filmmakers go through to promote their films. I love these kinds of behind-the-scenes bits, especially when we get to see them during the film’s theatrical run. What exactly did we do before we were blessed with internet to give us these wonderful goodies?

Enjoy:

Tags: jason reitman, lost in the air, movie, Movie marketing, press junket, publicity, up in the air

The trailer for this May’s Apatow-lite romcom She’s Out of My League certainly won’t change anyone’s life with its overly familiar meet-cute, unlikely-romance, guys-humiliating-each-other, schlubby-dudes-deserve-love-too, embarrassing-sex-jokes sensibilities, but I have to say that I was impressed with the sheer amount of Pittsburgh-love that the clip shows. Someone in the Pittsburgh Film Office should probably get a delightful Primanti Sandwich coupon bonus for showcasing the following:

WOW is this a terrific shot of our skyline. Don’t you just want to come visit?

Nice to see our world-class zoo/aquarium here, although the dozen or so times I’ve visited this very spot, the polar bears are NEVER doing this. I’m guessing that this was the 89th take after the filmmakers smeared fish guts onto the glass and outfitted the actress with a baby seal mask (digitally removed in post-production, naturally).

I know that this marketing-a-riffic exclamation-point Pittsburgh logo probably exists somewhere, but I’m having a hard time finding it. I’m desperately hoping that the filmmakers simply created it for background atmosphere rather than some local organization thinking it was clever or visually interesting.

Here’s one of our typical Pittsburgh neighborhoods, soaked in sunshine with perfectly manicured landscaping and a massive in-ground pool. Wait, what?

And yes, it wouldn’t be a Pittsburgh movie if it didn’t at least once reference our blue-collar-y and lushy passion for the almighty beer. Yay beer yay!

(found via Movieline)

Tags: marketing, Movies, pittsburgh, she's out of my league, trailer

As much of a fan as I am of dorky movie mashups, particularly those involving my own bad-to-horrible Photoshop jobs – and especially those involving Nicolas Cage – the idea that someone has gone to the wonderfully demented trouble of creating a blog called Nic Cage As Everyone is, quite simply, a spectacular find. The site’s Cage-tastic photo-freakshow runs the gamut from the amazingly well-done:

To the truly bizarre:

Go take a long, long look into the abyss. Found via /film.

Tags: celebrity, movie, nicolas cage, photoshop

By the blue skin of Jake Sully’s monkey-cat tail, I had no idea this site existed. On movieclips.com, you can find great-quality, embed-able movie clips searchable by title, actor, genre and even setting and prop! Wow. Just…wow. I hate spending a boatload of time making my own clips, especially when YouTube then decides that I don’t “own” them or something. (found via fellow Pittsburgher @woycheck)

Here’s a Christmas favorite:

And here’s just because, you know. It’s Dirty Harry.

Tags: christmas vacation, dirty harry, movie clips, movieclips.com, Movies

Why, spicy pretzel balls, of course!

So hi there. I know I’ve been gone from these parts for a while, but I figured I might squeeze in some time here and there to post movie items of interest. For now, these will likely just be pictures, videos and links with little to no commentary. Mostly. Stay tuned to see what develops. And thanks for checking in, if indeed you’re doing so.

Say, have you been dying to follow Burbanked on Twitter? Well of course you have!

Tags: endoskeleton, james cameron, movie, terminator

I figured, because my last post was filled so completely with doom and gloom, that it might be a good idea to go ahead and provide an update to my job search status for anyone still lingering around these parts who happens to 1) not have heard about this otherwise, 2) still gives a hang and 3) really, really is too involved in knowing things about me.

I did, in fact, get a new job in mid-September. Familial tragedy has been averted and all seems right with the world again. I’m like a young kid on a bright new career adventure, discovering the big, wonderful world around me for the first time!

*cue the inspirational music*

I am now the Director of Marketing at a big e-commerce site called Alps Controls. We sell HVAC and building controls equipment, and if you’re wondering why a movie character who makes a living selling HVAC and building controls equipment has never been created, well I’ve been wondering the same thing. It’s an awesome industry, with awesome products, awesome customers, AWESOME trade shows, and in general features previously unheard-of levels of awesomeness.

All of that, and the fact that they’ve hired me and kept and my wife and children off of the streets, is – I assure you – awesomely true.

I’ve written about the job in a little more detail here, and I’m also blogging for my new company here.

As I mentioned last time, I’m still not completely sure where this will leave my beloved Burbanked. Time will tell. Taking a look at my traffic stats, it doesn’t appear to make a massive amount of difference if I’m blogging here with regularity or not – a fact that fills me with equal amounts of relief and abject depression.

In short: I hope to pop back up here from time to time. Stay tuned. Or don’t and I’ll catch you elsewhere.

Tags: alan lopuszynski, alpscontrols.com, Blogging, career, hvac, new job