Don't be too hasty; for all we know, this could be his audition video for "2013 - The Year After Tomorrow's Indepence Day". Don't have to worry about things like "actors" or "script" with a sequel to a Roland Emmerich film.

let him direct "Avatar 2: Direct to Video"

It's alright. Not worth a million bucks and work on a 30 mil picture.

Then again he does have the nauseating shaky cam method down like a pro.

Well, Hell. It worked for Transformers.

I kind of like that they're slow robots. I hated all the fastness of the ones in Transformers; you couldn't tell what the fuck was happening most of the time.
But I'm curious: if the slow robots were going to turn into fortresses and then go all A-bomb when they got to the center of town, why did they bother blowing all that stuff up on the way there? It seems like a total waste of ammo. In fact, why did they even need robots? Why not just shoot a bomb in there and get it over with? I don't get it. Did he have to pay to enter the pie-eating contest, or did they just let him in?

Happens all the time. People get hired for features because they direct splashy commercials. Sometimes you get Ridley Scott and sometimes you get Tarsem. And what about the guys who did "Mama," and are now being mentored by Guillermo del Toro? Maybe they know how to tell a story -- maybe not. It's a gamble. This looked okay to me. Hope the team is ready to make the most of the big break and that they don't get shackled with some crap script. (One quibble: After putting so much care into the look, it's a shame they couldn't spring for some original music.)

I think the music made it, for sure.

It's killing me. What was the music from originally?

BITCH, PLEASE!
Vandal Savage did it first 11 years ago in the "DC One Million" crossover!

I liked it better the first time when it was called Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow.

Let's see, just in the last year "9" and "District 9" were released by di directors that were discovered because of their shorts

9

District 9

I thought nerds came here...

$500 huh? Did he downlad Maya off Bit Torrents?

Maybe, just maybe studios are so fed up on Emmerichs and Bays, they throw money after anyone, who can make a film for less money than the cultural state budget of a small European nation

But yeah this makes me think of either "The Producers" or SkyCaptain

Oh shit, someone call the Earth Defense Force.

The music is by John Murphy from the 28 Days Later soundtrack, called "In the House, In a Heartbeat" and like "Clubbed to Death" from Matrix, it's destined to get reused again and again as a shorthand emotional trigger because it works well enough.

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Id say thats insane if he did it for 500.00--

but of course what he doesnt tell you is that he didnt actually cost out the time he spent on it (or the computer to do it)-- so when he tells us he spent 5000 man hours on it its not impressive (alhtough I dont know minimum wage in Uraguay)- and all the actors were unpaid-- and so on-- 500.00 is a made up number---

Also when I see 40 ft robots coming at me on a highway-- my first instinct would be to jump out of my car and run away on foot as well....I mean making a Uturn and hauling ass at 60 MPH seems useless when I can run away on foot--- I guess he figures it will be easier to dodge them in a Zig Zag like Rhinos.

I love the guy at the pay phone who only just realized the city was being blown up by giant robots.

It's weird as hell seeing a stop sign say "PARE" instead of "ALTO".

This was pretty good, but I'd rather Hollywood look at the work of those brothers who did a Half-Life thing last thing.

I doubt they gave him the deal based on that short alone. I think thats what got him the meeting and then he managed to convince the executives that he could give them a return on their investment.
Anyways, its not like Hollywood is short on cash or anything. And 30 million isn't exactly Transformers level budget anyways.

Fede Alvarez is a commercial director and has a pretty lengthy credit list. If Ridley Scott can hire a British commercial director without credits to direct DiCaprio then Raimi should be allowed to hire this guy to direct a bunch of robots.

Are you jealous that you didn't get a couple of millions for whining about movies,Rob?

I wish the same fortune would reach me as well... my little Geek Film gets no love... guys check it out..
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ksVuvKKjkQE

"... can he manage a professional shoot or actors? "

Rob, he's going to Hollywood, not Vancouver.

it was kind of refreshing to see a city besides New York, LA, or Washington DC get blown up. Aren't there like a billion cities in the world and it is always one of those places. I guess you could throw Tokyo in there since all the Godzilla movies.

What I can't believe is that he stuck a baby stroller going down the steps. That's like a wilhelm scream. Totally overused, and has BEEN overused since the silent movies.

It was like a Stephen Sommers film with less shitty effects.

Heh...I caught the baby carriage rolling unattended down the steps. Nice eye for the classics. :)

Now all it needed was one of the robots tearing up and/or eating an L-train.

Great short. Hope he gets the contract. Hollywood desperately needs some new blood (it's a tragic year with Avatar and Twilight are being touted as the biggest science fiction movies of the year. WTF?) Methinks Rob has gone Harry Knowles on us and is going mainstream.

And there you have it. Uruquay's answer to Micheal Bay.

Be afraid. Be very, very afraid.

The name of the Country is Uruguay, not U R GAY ... xD

This was a pretty awesome video. Robots blowing up stuff--I mean, come on. Nonsensical but lots of fun for the 5 minutes.

I'm not saying that _I_ would give him the directors chair for a $30 million dollar movie though. He's got great skills, but let's face it, there's nothing original here.

Heheh. "U R Gay".

This music is the 28 Days Later theme, right? The only apocalyptic track worth hearing, in my opinion.

Bender's dream of Killing All Humans came true at last. Something terrible tells me that he was behind the whole thing....

this is really quality work and i think that it is entirely unfair to deem him "untrained."

as a student, it's really comforting...watching this movie and seeing that if someone does quality work, they are rewarded and recognized and given a chance to work in the medium they love.

what story is there is very subtle...and simple. approachable in the way that a short film is and should be. it was entertaining and well shot...especially when considering the forethought, rather, the imagination to coordinate each shot with what was likely a cheap video camera, hell, even a camcorder, and to superimpose the entire action in post.

i think that it's disrespectful to criticize the guy's work or question whether or not he "deserves" to be afforded this chance to participate in a field he loves.

i live in Uruguay and let me say, for a country that has no interest in film making that short is really awesome, no one (or almost no one) supported them. i think it took them like five years to make the short because they had to work, so for an underdeveloped country i think is really, really good. Besides you can't question Sam Raimi's decision, he's Sam fucking Raimi!!!

This is professional! The dude's name is Federico Alvarez, he made this film for a uruguayan rock group named "Snake" ;"Panic attack" is the name of their song, you can see the video clip here:
Ataque de Pánico! 2009 / SNAKE: Video Clip http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r8F9Qvror6g

He direct also several publicity spots so he has experience with actors.

Arriba URUGUAY carajo!!!!!!!