Here you will find reviews on a variety of films and television series as well as articles on different topics. I will also be posting about my endeavours in becoming an author
It is not strange news when i say that not everybody is creative. Some people don't like being artistic and are perfectly happy to live life not doing anything but their typical daily routines. But for those of us that like to create, to dream of possibilities, to insipre others or to ask that question that tingles the mind at every asking "What if?" we know that creativey comes in many ways, shapes and forms. We each have our own method, or own areas of interest, a different sandbox to play in.
But where does our creativety come from and more importantly what ideas of ours fuel our desire to be artistic?
TED is an amazing institute where creativty and productivity collide in a shared understanding. I strongly urge anyone who is anyway curious about the workings of the human mind or who likes to daydream to check it out.
It is a site rich full of ideas and passionate speaches from many creative and artitsuc people the world over.
While the “based on a true story” premise is always a pull for most non horror types, those of us who frequent horror movies know this means absolutely nothing other than a cheap attempt at money making. This film while ably serving up jumps and frights is let down by predictability and cheap thrills.
It's the usual story of tried and tested scare tactics, ghostly reflections, strange noises, ominous shadows and weird scary dreams. It is the sheer abundance of these occurrences that leave you wondering why the characters basically “reset” as if the next scary encounter is their first. What lifts this film above the rest are the strong performances from the two leads Virginia Madsen and Kyle Gallner. They invested a lot emotionally into their respective characters of mother and son and really their relationship was more interesting and gripping than the ghostly happenings around them. The film also conveys a sense of family values and the tough decisions and sacrifices which need to be made when your son is suffering from cancer. However the efforts are forced.
The film is packed full of neat ideas and tricks but the directors inability to weave them together into something coherent and original resulted in a sloppy rendition of every haunted house horror movie we've already seen. The priest who is able to see and vanquish the ghosts is surprisingly human and his gift for his ability is actually rational and makes sense.
Fifty years ago a young girl heard voices and when it came for her class to contribute something to the school time capsule she wrote two pages of seemingly random numbers. Now, in the present day we meet Nicholas Cage who plays Dr Kesler, a depressed astrophysicist who is a raising his only son alone following the death of his wife. His son of course is given the paper from the time capsule covered in numbers. In a drunken stupor Kesler matches the numbers to every major global disaster around the world. They tell him when and where it happened and how many people died. But there are still some matched numbers left whose events have not yet transpired and so the race is on for Kesler to try and avert these catastrophes
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But his son is seeing strange people and soon he starts hearing the same voices as the little girl did in the beginning. He is given visions of the end of the world and also a choice he must be make.
Knowing is a thoroughly enjoyable ride that's part thriller, part sci-fi, part ghost story, it’s a film that actually does what it says on the tin by serving up what last year’s “The Day The Earth Stood Still” and the alien invasion horror film “Signs” failed to do.
Its main focus is on its characters, however Nicholas Cage' acting skills mire this somewhat endearing effort to make this film more than just special effects. Sadly he plays himself, again. However this is not all for the film is too sentimental, underlining the family aspect several times and drawing needless side plots and repeated character back-story into the foreground when something much more interesting could be shown or elaborated on. The film clearly tries to make us sympathise with the characters but sadly they just aren’t that interesting
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What makes this film good is that it is a sci-fi disaster flick that actually and finally follows through on its premise. The ending which has divided critics is somewhat fitting if not a little cheesy, but it does in a way make perfect sense however it is that very last scene that does nothing for the film and leaves you wondering if the writer and director were smoking something good...
So last Friday (or tonight at 9pm on Sky 1 in the UK and Ireland) Battlestar Galactica aired its series finale, the last episode ever. After a five year run the epic journey of survival came to an end. All those dangling plot threads were tied up and the show was given a definitive end. There will be no more. However, while critics adored it and showered the finale “Daybreak” with praise, the way in which it was handled has split the fan base down the middle, those who love it and those who hate it. I am in the later camp.
First of all I must take my hat off to Universal for putting up the money and allowing the show runners to finish out the series on their terms, which in television is quite rare. Instead of wrapping everything up in a one hour episode Ron Moore penned a script that ran over three hours. The studio agreed to let it go ahead and not only did they not say “this needs to be cut” or “loose that, it costs too much” they stepped up to the plate and budgeted the finale as though it was four episodes long and not three. The money that was invested can clearly be seen throughout the episode and gives it a movie quality feel.
So what happened? Adama mounted a volunteer only rescue mission for the child Hera who was being held by Cavil or Number One on the Cylon colony. Of course most of the characters go and an all out battle takes place in what is probably one of the best hours of action television I have ever seen. Without spoiling the action scene I will just say that they win and Starbuck jumps the ship, but the Galactica went through so much that when she arrives to wherever Starbuck took them she ruptures and “breaks her back”.She won’t be going anywhere ever again. But where did they jump to? We zoom out to see a very familiar looking moon and as we pan up, yep, we see the Galactica cruising towards Earth, our Earth. So what was that planet they found back in “Revelations”? Apparently that was the real earth and our earth is really Earth Two, named so because Earth was always a dream and nameless planet deserved to be named in homage to the dream that gave the crew and people hope for so many years.
They arrive at our planet and land in Africa at a time where humans are only starting to band together in tribes, they can’t speak and have rudimentary instruments as tools. Now, here is where it all goes downhill. Instead of building a city they decide to disband to different parts of the planet, abandon technology and have their fleet of ships autopilot into the sun. They give the Basestar to the last remaining Cylon centurions who jump away. The humanoid Cylons stay with the humans to procreate. It is a touching idea and a heartfelt one but there is no way 38,000 people would all agree to leaving technology behind and live their lives with only the clothes on their backs. Although the issue was addressed it stretches plausibility to its limits in fact I would go one step further and say it was “jump the shark” material.
Next up is the resolution to Starbuck, you know the one who died and came back to life. We were told she was the “Harbinger of Death” and had a divine destiny. However, when push came to shove for her to have some resolution, it merely came down to her and Lee in a field, only for him to turn around and “poof” she was gone, vanished!. This worked for me, it was left rather ambiguous, she was the Holy Ghost as it were seeing as Harbinger of Death can be interpreted many ways, such as the angel of life, especially in paganism whereby death is a sign of hope. This resolution didn’t irk me as much as it has others. We had been told all along what she was, it was stated by both Leoban and Baltar as to what she was – an Angel of God, who unlike the Head characters was actually corporeal and could be seen by everyone. My annoyance with the story was that if that’s all she was and her destiny was to realise All Along The Watchtower held within it musical notes, the co-ordinates to earth, and all she had to do was punch them into a computer, why then was such a BIG deal made over her? Especially when the conclusion to her story arc was something minor.
The main problem with Battlestar over the years was probably that it got too convoluted and complex for its own good. It’s not a show like LOST where such mysteries are its driving force, they are the plot. Because of this we had many things that were difficult to put a cap on and were in due course left dangling. Battlestar has always had a very strong religious element to its story telling, with Head Six and Head Baltar taking on the guise of Guardian Angels. So ultimately all these things that one could surmise as coincidences were resolved by saying that it was in God’s plan which unfortunately has all the credibility of“A wizard did it!”
But that’s not all, we flash forward 150,000 years to modern day New York and Head Six and Head Baltar are walking through Times Square discussing the legacy of humanity and how all human beings are related to Mitochondrial Eve, a woman who shares the same DNA with all of human kind, this woman is Hera. As they walk through the streets of downtown Vancouver er… I mean New York, they discuss the plot of the show “All this has happened before and all of it will happen again”. Six says that this time she thinks no because it’s in God’s plan that something interesting will inevitably happen if a complex system repeats itself. We of course get a sly reply from Baltar who says “you know he doesn’t like that name”, they then continue their stroll and All along the Watchtower begins playing.
The shows fades out over a montage of shots about the advances in robotics. A not so subtle hint that screams “be kind to Artificial Intelligence or it will slaughter you!” which in reality makes you think that they didn’t break the cycle but merely stalled the inevitable, it will all happen again or maybe we are to be consoled by Six’s throwaway reassurances at the end.
Although many characters ends were touching and sad, such as Roslin’s death and Adama’s farewell sitting on a cliff top staring out over the plains of Africa, it was a pity to end Battlestar on a divine, almost metaphysical note rather than serving up a clear and concrete conclusion.
The whole point of Battlestar and what made it so good in terms of its storytelling was its disassociation to our universe in anyway shape or form save the name Earth and the issues it addressed. I felt that that last scene mired the entire show but I must say that I can also see the merit in it; it is a nice gesture or point to make about the endless cycle etc but a futile one at the same time.
While I hate to love the ending I also love to hate it for it reminded me too much of the Matrix. Every “ending” was a good idea but they were too disjointed and out of place to all serve the same story so when you string them together we get a forced resolution that becomes a major let down, which is a shame given the extremely high standard Battlestar set over the years, not just in Sci-Fi but for serialised drama.
All in all most things were left rather ambiguous. The audience is mired in a grey area, it's up to us to decide what may happen in terms of the cycle and basically dwell on our own thoughts or interpretations rather than getting handed a definitive "this is what happens" conclusion.
Who knows, maybe this is another Soprano’s type ending whereby it will grow on you over time, so far I have grown to like it a little more but only time will tell.
The end is nigh, after one miniseries, four seasons and two tv movies (the second due to premiere later this year) Battlestar Galactica wraps up it's epic tale of desperate survival this Friday March 20th. The Emmy and Peabody award winning show has garnered much attention over the years and has only faltered in quality less than a handful of times. It has established itself as one of the best sci-fi shows ever produced and has been labeled "The Best Show on Televison," according to TIME Magazine aswell as been branded "The only award-winning drama that dares tackle the war on terror," by The Guardian.
It is a difficult entity to review as the series plot is told in a multi-season story arc, perforated by side plots and mini story arcs, in other words, you need to watch from the beginning. As such my opinions will have to be withold until it wraps up completely.
Below is the promo for the finale as well as the trailer for the prequel series pilot "Caprica"
A charming film about two brothers, Tomas who is "normal" and Charlie his autistic older sibling. The Black Ballloon is well written and the scenes potraying the family's life and struggle to cope with an ADHD autistic son never feel cliche, they do occassionaly tap dance close to "drama for drama's sake" but such instances are few. The actors give strong performances, Tomas' difficuties and struggles are portrayed with amiable subtlty until he explodes in rage. Toni Collete is on top form as the mother but it is unfortunate she doesn't have as much screentime as the rest of the cast. It is Luke Ford's portrayal of Charlie that is admirable and well crafted. Gemma Ward also establishes herself as a young actress to watch. The film is beautifully shot and the story is an endearing one, though it does feel like it wishes it was something more than what it actually is.
The Last House On The Left **/*****
A remake of a remake... that doesn't sound too promising now does it? And you would be right to assume that it isn't. Why do all films in this genre, regardless as to whether they are remakes, feel the need to follow such a tired formula? While Last House is a tiwst on the typical horror story, it quickly falls into the same traps as every other film before it by offering up cheap shocks, obvious plot twists and one dimensional characters who behave without any rational thought. The film is an enjoyable ride however if you enjoy gruesome death scenes in all their glory without the flashy, MTV quick-cut style editting of the Saw films.
Edging it further downhill, it is one half kidnapping story, second half revenge story, the film is split in two giving you the impression of watching different stories unfold.
Watchmen is a superhero film of a different calibre compared to the likes of the Hulk, Spiderman and X-men movies. Even the newly rejuvenated Batman franchise could be considered another genre altogether. Based on the graphic novel of the same name published in 1986, Watchmen is a sprawling tale about masked vigilantes set in an alternate reality 1985. Nixon is still president, America won in Vietnam, and the cold war with the Soviet Union still looms large with both countries on the brink of nuclear war.
In development since 1994 the property has been bounced between studios until it finally ended up at Warner Brothers. Now 15 years later the film which consumed over three years of director Zack Snyder’s life finally hits theatres. Sadly it lands in multiplexes with a whimper instead of the roar we all expected.
Watchmen is a good film, it is entertaining and offers up one of the best opening sequences perhaps ever shot on film. It has a solid script and the actors serve up strong performances, though Jackie Earle Haley as the sociopathic Rorschach and Billy Crudups’ Dr. Manhattan are the scene stealers. When they were off-screen I found myself longing for their return, their characters and respective portrayals were certainly the most interesting; complex and memorable.
The cinematography is inspiring and beautifully captured. The visual effects are impressive and breathtaking to watch with the overall production design a testament to the many people who invested long hours crafting an alternate reality into something completely believable.
Snyder directs with a flare so precise and so in tune with the source material it’s hard not to admire his devotion to achieving something faithful. But Watchman is perhaps too faithful for its own good and that’s where it falls from grace.
Like all films based on other mediums, be it video games or novels, the film counterpart, while remaining loyal to the story and plot, is at its core, a different entity, and should be constructed and treated as such. Having not read the novel I was like so many audience members who were alienated. We could watch, but we could not connect for we did not have the Watchman aficionado’s wealth of knowledge necessary to fill in the gaps.
The film moved at a pace reminiscent of an injured hare, fast at one point, then clumsily the next. The narrative was chunky and fell in bits rather than flowing like a stream. Some scenes were too short, others were far too long, and some even seemed pointless, wrapping up plot threads that were already resolved but the extra scene gave depth and detail.
Yes, there is a further hour of footage to be edited in on top of the already lengthy 2 hour 40 minute running time of the theatrical cut and one could argue that my criticisms will be rendered nonsensical once said DVD is released. But a film should be whole and feel complete regardless of how many incarnations there are or will be.
A month or so ago I shot off a copy of “Madeline” to the online magazine “Abyss & Apex”. It was the first time I have ever submitted something and after painstakingly combing through the story to ensure there were no errors and that the formatting was correct my mouse hovered over the send button for quite some time before I ultimately hit it. Alas, one month later I awake to find an email from A&A sitting in my inbox. Sadly it was a rejection letter but upon reading it I didn’t feel one bit of disappointment or sadness, in fact I was happy that people had taken the time to read and weigh it up as something worthy to publish.
The email specified my story as a tale they enjoyed but ultimately decided not to purchase for it was not something that fit with the style of stories they publish. In other words it was standard rejection letter.So without further adieu I hit the internet in search of other magazines and submitted the same story to those who were accepting submissions or in reading periods. Only time will tell if it is rejected or accepted.
In relation to “Sephirot”, the web series currently in development at Danai Productions, I am happy to say that I have finally cracked the story past its initial log line / pitch and have completed an outline of the entire series. On top of that I have completed my first drafts on episodes 1 & 2 and I am currently penning episodes 3 &4 back to back. On the effects side of things, I have seen some early pre visualisations and designs and I feel confident this can be pulled off, but there is an awful lot of work to be done and sustained over a period of months. If we are dedicated, we will succeed.
Ireland was one of the first countries in Europe to declare it was in recession with the construction industry declaring bankruptcy sending the banks into complete disarray.The country fell into turmoil. The people questioned the competency of the government given the sudden resignation of the prime minister regarding anomalies in the books over his “personal funds” despite a successful re-election. The foreign workers have disappeared, vanished from the island back to their respective countries, the Irish scrambling to retain what jobs they did have and, if let go, frenzied amongst the themselves to be employed in the menial jobs once held down by the foreigners such as cleaners, fast food clerks, or slave labour, jobs that were otherwise known as sloppy seconds, jobs too pitiful for the “wealthy” Irish to even think about working.
But now things have changed, having the highest minimum wage in the Europe amongst other benefits to employees, things were just too costly for the major corporations to handle and so we had mass pull out transformingmany industrial estates into vast ghost towns, complete with tumble weeds if you look hard enough. There were no new jobs and too many people unemployed. The recent hysteria over welfare with queues stretching for hundreds of metres around the blocks only reaffirms the nation’s newfound dependency on those few remaining taxpaying folks.
Ireland is viewed around the world as “The Land of 1000 Welcomes”, the people friendly, caring and openly hospitable, they know how to have fun and yet remain levelled and down to earth in life. If only the world knew the truth. The product of major economic growth too soon, too fast left Ireland feeling bloated and self confident. The People suddenly found their pay cheques getting fatter, money pouring in, companies flocking to the land to set up and take advantage of the new tax incentives, labour laws and extremely skilled work force. But power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Politicians spent copious amounts of money on lavish functions, flying across the country in helicopters, purchasing private jets, and one of the biggest scandals - implementing an electronic voting system that never worked. Nearly €2m gone on the latter alone but no-one did anything, yes there were complaints and moaning but there was so much money flowing through the country what was €2m? Nothing. And so with business booming, nightlife, eating out and tourism soaring, it was such an alluring place to set up a life, rolling countryside, breath-taking views, and an ancient culture and history, the latter of which has been heedlessly sacrificed to make room for unwanted new roads and ugly, gratuitous new landmarks all because Barcelona, London and Paris had one so we should too.
But then the foreigners arrived, oh the foreigners, what a blessing they were for now there was no need to get our hands dirty, those from poorer economies could now clean up after us happily earning their salaries in the lowest of the low type jobs. But enemies often appear as angels, and the Irish people were oblivious in their ignorance as the foreigners worked and worked, all the time sending their hard earned juicy pay cheques home to their families. The leaching had begun. But we pushed on, content with not having to deal with the nasty side of labour, gallivanting around the world, buying that new car or house only because we could, not a care for the thought of repayment because money was an easy commodity to come by.
We existed in an altered state, we were now a nation of arrogant, pompous pigs, too short sighted to see past our watery borders, self absorbed in our island mentality and “ah sure that will do” nature. Things weren’t thought through, it all became sloppy. The foundations were holding up a badly constructed building and under pressure, began to crack and crumble. But suddenly, almost in the blink of an eye, the building collapsed. We had gone from one of the richest countries in the developed world to one of the poorest, almost overnight.
People were forced to go back into those jobs they so despised, the foreigners and major companies gone, the government trying to control the chaos, in their one act of wisdom froze and bought out all the banks, ensuring peoples current finances. But all that debt ranked up, the millions of euro owed is being called in at steep interest. People are scrambling to repay their debt, leaving their sumptuous one bedroom penthouses they are once again moving into houses with friends. Families are reuniting, all living under one roof, tightening their belts and wallets learning to be again one entity.
But this is how the recession is a good thing. People need wake up calls, moments in life that force reflection and self assessment. Too many people point the finger and blame those around them or something for the faults in their life, why things have gone wrong. But the truth is, if you were to point and blame, but do so at a mirror, you would be taking a step in the right direction. We are the cause of all our problems and, if unchecked, our ultimate demise, no one else. This is a time for people to realise their mistakes, analyse and ensure history does repeat itself. Learn from the past and move on but leave the past where it belongs.
A sense of value should reassert itself, to appreciate and cherish your belongings that you worked so hard to buy; you earned the right to have them. Your possessions should no longer be your “stuff”. Family is once again starting to have meaning, people banding together to help each other through tough times creates hard to break bonds. Appreciating the values of family and understanding your worth will lead to empowerment without the arrogance. Maybe we will once again open our eyes and see the whole world out there and welcome them with open arms, assist, love and cherish on first sight because we too have gone through hard times. Stability will be a long time coming and the future holds many questions but it is important to remember we will not be overwhelmed for the answers will only come one at a time.
(L-R, Holly Grainger, Christian Cooke, Philip Glenister, Zoe Tapper)
"DEMONS"
A few weeks ago ITV aired its new television series Demons. A sci-fi /fantasy show about a teenage boy who discovers he is the last descendant of the legendary vampire hunter Van Helsing and must now step up to the task and continue his ancestors’ legacy of demon slaying. That is pretty much the plotline for the entire series and while it may sound intriguing it is by no means a promising endeavour. In a nutshell this show is downright awful.
It is such a mess I don’t know where to begin, in fact I wonder how it ever got into production. I watched the first two episodes because it is important not to judge a series on the pilot alone for the subsequent episodes generally build on what was laid before, even filling in some holes as they go along. This was not the case, nor will it be if the third episode’s preview is anything to go by. Like all first episodes we are introduced to the world of the series and then meet our main characters.From the very first lines I could tell this was going to be bad.
The setup is horribly handled with a brief glimpse of a monster and our hero being stalked by a grotesque looking man as he goes about his daily life where he meets his long lost Godfather, Rupert Galvin, who turns out to be his soon to be mentor. That being said the presumption of things going on holds us to believe an exciting revelation will soon take place and that Luke is in fact something more than a hero. Unfortunately this is not to be as we are brought through a mind numbing set up that is no way realistic or believable even in the sci-fi fantasy realm. So many people write in the genre without realising the important subtext necessary for your story to be successful, it is not ok to just throw in a random secret hideout, advanced weaponry, and ancient literary characters who are in fact real with no explanation or hints of how these things came to be. Motive, reason, and plot are fundamental in any genre, just because it is fantasy doesn’t mean these factors should be dropped. I mention borrowed literary figures because one other character in this tale is Mina Harker of Dracula fame, who in this world is a blind but very successful piano concerto player. She is also a psychic. The explanation given is that Bram Stoker was a liar and a cheat who borrowed the details of his tail from real life happenings and shaped them into a novel. Fine, but that’s it? What happened all those years ago? Why is she still alive? How was Stoker involved? They had the chance right there to build a concrete foundation for the mythology of the show but it was immediately wasted.
The characters are boring, flat and very one dimensional. Christian Cooke who plays our hero has the expression of being hit in the face with a wet fish and looks constantly bored in his role throughout. Philip Glenister who plays Galvin speaks with a terrible American accent and his performance conveys a demeanour of a tired actor who is doing this to pay the bills. After muddling through the setup and plot points we get to the payoff when Luke finally steps up the plate and accepts his role as the last Van Helsing in an attempt to save his friend who has been kidnapped by an evil demon, the one who was stalking Luke from the beginning. We are treated to an ominous line about how Luke is really the one the demon wants but then he dies and that’s it. Again there is no why? Why is Luke so important despite his new found lineage? Was there some sort of plan? If Demons outnumber humans and are powerful why are they still in hiding? We know nothing is going to be revisited seeing as the series is only six episodes long and episode two had a brand new “monster of the week” storyline, disregarding any attempt at adding to the characters, their background or progressing the story to something on a broader scale. We learn that Galvin is not to be trusted in episode two but only because a new character says so which is a pathetic attempt at intrigue and suspense. The third episode looks to be more of the same with the introduction of yet another demon.
Everything on this show happens without reason; the characters behave irrationally and believe pathetic attempts of exposition from other characters. The only high point in the show is Zoe Tapper who plays Mina Harker. She injects her character with a sense of mystery and at times spitefulness. But in truth Demons is badly written, badly developed and with the likes of ‘Inhuman’ being the main buzz word and dialogue like ‘I will most surely smite thee freak’ and ‘put the gun down or forever know my wrath you freak!’ leads you to believe that a class of 5 years olds wrote the script. It is also abundantly clear the show doesn’t know its target audience with desperate attempts to reel in everyone. There’s action for guys, the sci-fi fantasy element for those who like the genre, the tone of the show reflects light enough family viewing and Luke wanders around with his top off for most of the episode in an attempt to hone in on hormone unbalanced teen girls.
“Demons” is without a doubt one of the worst things to come out of the UK in recent years. Although the second episode was a minor step up the ratings clearly showed that Demons will not make it out of its first season with over 1 million viewers tuning out for the second instalment. Unabashed style over substance, it is a shameful recycled form of Buffy the Vampire Slayer and exploits age old and over used storylines. If you are looking for a decent gothic fantasy drama I would recommend the BSKYB series HEX that aired a few years ago, though that series suffered from a misguided second season. If you are akin to a more sci-fi fantasy style show do check out the Canadian series “Sanctuary” starring and produced by Amanda Tapping of Stargate fame. The series just finished airing its 13 episode first season on ITV-4. Or in fact better than both, check out Supernatural, one of the best shows on television these days.
I started this blog as a means to write notes and keep a diary of sorts on my travels. But my current mindset is that of not wishing to fulfil weekly or monthly instalments on my escapades through Canada since it is pretty much exactly the same as back home except I am in a different country. So without further adieu I am changing this blog to postings which shall reflect my thoughts on current media goings on, namely in film, television and the literary world. So from now you will find my opinions on these things wrapped up in reviews of films and TV shows and occasionally articles on current issues akin to my previous posts on female directors and FOX Studios. I will also be using this blog as a means to keep track of my writing endeavours and to give insights on what it’s like behind the scenes i.e. actually writing a script, or novel, or short story etc and what one goes through when submitting works for publication.
I hope to do weekly postings at first, be it a review or an article, it depends on what I’ve seen, read or heard about the week previous. I will not be deleting my old posts on my travels, they will stay I just won’t be posting new ones. Further to this I shall be re-tagging all posts so that a sidebar legend will work for people wanting to read reviews only or articles only etc. Changes will begin this week with a new layout and continue over the coming weeks. My move to Toronto will hopefully not upset my desires for this page but I shall play that one by ear.
So I decided a while back to move to Toronto to stay out the rest of my visa, so without further delay I booked my flight for January 27th at 7am… I will no doubt have to fork out $40 for a cab seeing as transit won’t be running when I have to leave. That being said I am excited to experience a new city, Vancouver has been great. There’s so much stuff I still want to do here like visit the Island, go to Tofino and kayak around the bay but those activities would be best suited to the summer months. Guess I will have to come back, but I’m feeling stagnant here thanks to low wages, high prices and rent payments that leave me feeling one arm short. In other news Vancouver has been pummelled with snow storms bringing transit to a grinding halt and snowing people in. Snow is not normal in Vancouver, if it does snow, its 2 – 4 cm depth and it’s gone within a day. The snow fell to a depth of nearly 30 inches over the course of 3 weeks. We only went outside if we had to! While Toronto is snow ridden as well they are at least prepared and expect that type of snowfall every year. Vancouver on the other hand spent their snow clearing budget for the year in one weekend! Thankfully temperatures are on the rise again and the snow is melting, but streets are flooding now… it will take a few weeks for it to get back to normal I guess!
So yeah, Toronto in three weeks for three months, it should be fun! And I will not be making the same mistakes there as I did here.
It took me a while to come up with a concrete opinion on this film. Generally it is 'you either like it or you don’t' but every once in a while you come across a film that will leave you whimpering and frustrated because you simply don’t know.
Repo! is a musical or should I say it is a rock opera, with all of the songs having a rock or metal flavour to them (In fact the lead guitarist of Japanese metal band X-Japan makes a cameo). Set in the not too distant future, organ failure is an epidemic and one corporation is a beacon of light in this mire of death. GeneCo offers organ replacements and you can pay off your debts in a monthly bill, however, if you miss a payment they send out the Repo man to repossess your organs and kill you. Enter Shiloh, a 17 year old girl who has a blood disease and is isolated from the world, locked away in her room and cared for by her loving father who holds many a dark secret.
I first heard of repo back in the summer when I downloaded the trailer. Now, I hate musicals, mostly, Moulin Rouge and Sweeney Todd being the only two I actually enjoyed. Needless to say from what I saw of this I thought it looked amazing, a rock/metal musical set in a sci-fi fantasy gothic future, my kind of film!
My expectations were shattered, in both good and bad ways. Repo! fails as a film, Repo! fails as a musical, but it is good. The script is a nightmare, adapting anything from stage to screen will be difficult, especially a musical however in this instance it feels like the songs were kept and the typical scenes that weave the songs into a cohesive and understandable plot were removed. This, as a result, leaves Repo! feeling heavily disjointed. It is interjected with characters that have no connection to the story or main characters; they do things without motive, things that don’t even carry the plot forward. Coupled with musical numbers that are for the most part unflattering and boring, Repo feels like a montage of wannabe goth band music videos trying to tell a story. But to give some praise, some songs are pretty good, and very much enjoyable such as “Chase the Morning”, “Seventeen” and “Zydrate Anatomy” but topping these numbers we have the voice talent of Sarah Brightman whose angelic voices lifts this film high from where it should stand. Anthony Stewart Head does a competent and impressive job with his role. Young Alex Vega as Shiloh is endearing and shines with potential. Even Paris Hilton does a good job, but her role is disturbingly parallel to her real life persona.
Now the good part, Repo! is fantastic to look at, the cinematography isn’t exactly easy on the eyes but it is different and strangely appealing. The film as a whole was shot digitally in HD instead of on film with some flashback parts shot on 16mm. We are even treated to several sequences completely rendered in comic book form, with speech bubbles and descriptive boxes included. The production design is impressive with costumes and sets taking on a Victorian era aesthetic with a flare of S&M.
The film is competently directed by Darren Lynn Bousman of SAW fame and he deserves much credit for his effort since he makes as much sense from the incoherent script as possible. He allows the camera to slow down and appreciate the choreography, the sets, and the actor’s performances. Gone is the choppy and flashy editing.
Repo! Is excessively violent, there are many musical numbers set around the murdering of others, there’s even a scene whereby the Repo man kills a victim and acts as a ventriloquist! There is a subtle social commentary on mankind’s obsession with vanity and ever evolving materialism, but such efforts fall flat before the thought enters one’s mind. Repo must be commended for its attempts and its many missteps should not be contrived as failures for what it achieved on a budget of only $8.5m is indicative of passionate filmmakers. If only the script had a few more passes, this would probably have been a cult classic - a status I am sure it will achieve come the DVD release.
By all means do see this film, if not to just broaden one’s horizons. Fans of the Rocky Horror Picture Show and Sweeney Todd will certainly find it appealing and enjoyable for it comfortably nestles somewhere between the two. Those who prefer the flavour of Mamma Mia and High School Musical should maybe avoid and wait for the Jonas Brothers in 3D.
Name five film directors, in fact lets push that number to 10, 15 even. What’s the point of this? Well for one I bet every director you just thought of were all male. Yes? Does it not get you asking the same question I have been pondering the answer to over and over for the last while, that question being; where are all the female directors?
Twilight was a small $37m budgeted film released this November. It is based on the first novel in an inexplicably successful yet poorly written series of books about a teenage girl who is in enrapturing love with a vampire and gets caught up in a lifelong saga dealing with the supernatural. The film was released on a whirlwind of anticipation, more so hyped up by the die hard and loyal female teenage fan base and as such it has made an impressive $138.4m in the US alone, otherwise known as a box office triumph.Its opening weekend was so successful that the sequel was greenlit the day of its release, and now due to its popularity the studio behind the film, Summit Entertainment, has announced the production of the entire series of novels into films, each respective sequel being released one year apart, akin to the Saw series starting from November 2009. Only one change has been made so far and it was almost immediate in its execution when the announcement was made, and that is the firing of director Catherine Hardwicke.
A director is responsible for the execution, production design and overall delivery of a film so in this respect she deserves a lot of credit for the success of Twilight. So why then was she fired? I myself haven’t seen the film but I have seen many scenes since I work in a movie theatre. It is very well shot with a lot of the scenes done with a “handheld” technique conveying a more realistic experience. A film’s direction style definitely determines the performance of a majority of actors and the overall tone of the film. The major problem with Twilight is that all of the action scenes are shot with a flare that denotes inexperience and incompetence with the style. A lot of the action orientated shots in Twilight look like a cheap attempt at special effects that should belong in a student film.
This is a fair enough reason to fire somebody or should I say hire somebody else, especially if the books take a more action orientated or special effects route. Catherine Hardwicke is a director who is widely recognised for her work in true to life, gritty indie films. Two of her most recent successes are Thirteen and Lords of Dogtown. Her vision and style may have worked well for the first film but would it work for the second and subsequent third and fourth features? While this sort of decision is something that needs to be thought on heavily I do agree with Summit in their choice to hire new blood if the series goes in a different direction and frolics in a genre that is alien to the director.
The mantle has thus passed to Chris Weitz (The Golden Compass, American Pie) but that is a tangent to this discussion. My point here is that this studio story got me thinking, where are all the female directors? I myself tried to name as many as I could but I could only think of two, Catherine Hardwicke and Sophia Copolla. Further thought on the subject gave way to my remembering Phyllida Lloyd, the stage turned screen director of Mamma Mia, but three out of an entire industry? Surely something is up.
To go to the other side of the spectrum we have Punisher: War Zone, a comic book action flick directed by Lexi Alexander that bombed instantly upon its release last Friday. The ironic thing about this director is that she was nominated for an Oscar for “Johnny Flynton” a short film of hers. She is also responsible for the tremendous success of Green Street starring Elijah wood back in 2005.
With the patchy success of female directed films the big question to be asked is why aren’t there any more female directors? Why it that 95% of all films released a year is are helmed by males? It has been proven that women make competent film directors so one can’t be prejudiced and bigoted and say female directors’ just plain suck. So again I ask - where are all the women? Something to mull over I guess.
It has one of the most impressive theme tunes ever orchestrated, instantly recognised by anyone and immediately resonates with blockbuster mayhem. There is no shadow of a doubt that 20th Century Fox is one of Hollywood’s biggest and most formidable film studios. It has garnered some impressive talent and producers the world over and established some of the most lucrative franchises in film history such as the Alien, Star Wars, Die Hard and Predator series. Fox also has it hands heavily embedded in television with Fox News and FX, film distribution including its indie distribution arm Fox Searchlight and of course it’s DVD distribution and rights ownership. When discussing a major corporation it is important to realise that the operation of such a business is made up of many people and many associate companies, only a few of which have been named above. Fox in itself is in fact made up of two companies and held together through a merger deal established in 1935 between Fox Film Corporation and Twentieth Century Pictures. It is a subsidiary of, as well as financially kept afloat by Rupurt Murdoch’s News Corporation thus giving it the worldwide recognised title of Twentieth Century Fox, a News Corporation Company.
Suffice to say Fox has a global empire, even possessing shares in BSKYB, but this article is not about the fundamental workings of the studio or cross examinations of the industry, it is about the creative decisions taken by FOX in a lot of their recent projects and productions and how they are leading the way in butchering the creativity of others.
Granted the film industry is a business and decisions need to be carefully made to protect the investors’ interest and money and more importantly ensure an economically viable profit. It is FOXs’ antics in this matter that are frustrating as well as their methods in executing rash decisions which generally result in them spending more money. I can only describe FOX like a slippery serpent. It is apparent from peoples experiences working with them that they are never up front about something, executives’ opinions constantly change, scripts are re-written and new decisions made, all of which happen behind the back of the film director or television show runner while they are headstrong and enthralled in completing their vision which was given the “go ahead” from the same irresolute executives.
Let’s look at a few examples, many of which can be attributed to this year alone. Matthiew Kassovitz, a well known and much acclaimed French director spent five years developing Babylon A.D. A film based on an extremely popular book called Babylon Babies. It is a science fiction novel set in the not too distant future that paints a dystopian future for mankind where most of Europe is an eradicated wasteland. The premise seemed interesting enough and what better person to both write and direct the film. Fox bought the script and agreed to finance the movie. A few months before its release there was a rumour that the film would only be 90 minutes long. This was odd seeing as the novel is complex and Mr Kassovitz had stated that he did it justice and the film would be over 2 hours. A few days later it was then officially announced that FOX had ordered the initial edit to be short and snappy as they wanted a fast paced, action blockbuster. Fair enough.
It was then discovered that Matthiew Kassovitz had been fired. FOX did not like what they saw and thus took the picture out of his hands and re-edited it themselves. This resulted in Mr Kassovitz releasing a statement about his experience. Apparently his vision was butchered, a lawyer was always present on set reminding him to shoot the film the way fox wanted, to rewrite scenes etc. The film in question was shot to have a running time of nearly 2 hours 15 minutes. Vin Diesel, the star of the film who looked tired and stressed for the entire movie, even commented on the situation, asking the press sarcastically “Am I even in the movie anymore?” Matthiew Kassovitz later renounced the film as his work three days before it opened saying it was “a horrible mess” and a “bad episode of 24”.Babylon A.D. was a box office disaster and flopped immediately upon its release earning a paltry $11.5m in its first weekend of release and at the end of its run its total worldwide and domestic gross stood at $71.6m, a sore sight, seeing as it was budgeted at $60m excluding marketing.
At this point you may be saying so what? Fox owned Babylon AD, they HIRED Matthiew Kassovitz to write and direct, they didn’t like the job he was doing for them so they fired him, they tried to limit the collateral damage by re-editing his work, this sort of thing happens all the time, in every type of job the world over. – True, very true, but it doesn’t work that way for film. While the directors, writers are work for hire they still have creative license. The type, style, tone and “vision” of the film they want to make, the type, style, tone, and “vision” of the film the studio want to make is all discussed, debated, and agreed upon in many meetings in pre-production. All the scenes that will be in the film are described in the shooting script, they are all discussed, mapped out and scheduled. Fox would have had input on set design, costume design and everything else at this stage of production. And yet they didn’t like what they saw towards the end. How can anything be achieved when you don’t stick to your guns. If you have faith in somebody, you trust them then continue to trust them! Fox have shown that they will agree with you one minute then disagree with you when your back is turned.
Dan O’Bannon, the writer of the first Alien movie once said that he recalls in the late 70’s walking into the empty office the CEO of FOX for a meeting. He was early but he noticed a bulky script on his desk. He was very pleased to think his script was on the “top of the pile” at a major studio. He chanced a look at the cover page to see “Alien” written on it but with two other writers’ names below it. He was of course taken aback and heard a voice behind him saying “you weren’t supposed to see that” Needless to say after some haggling and the threat of the whole project coming apart, the initial script was kept and the project moved forward.
Recently this year, Gavin Hood, the director of X-Men Origins: Wolverine, was overseeing the construction of a set, he had left all his instructions and plans for the remaining set yet to be built and praised everyone for how pleased he was with the dark, decrepit look of another set piece just completed. He departed to film elsewhere for a few days and when he returned he found the same set completed redressed, made lighter and less foreboding on orders from FOX, but he was never informed of the decision.
Television is also FOX’s playground with two new shows on the schedule already in development hell.Joss Whedon, best known for creating and helming the cult TV series Buffy the Vampire Slayer for 8 years and Angel for 5 years, has a new series debuting in the spring called “Dollhouse”. For the second time, FOX are plaguing him with apparent problems in the show and how “it will not work”. They are also at odds with how it is delivered, the tone, style and type of show it is. Commissioned by FOX for a 2008 fall debut Dollhouse was pulled from the schedule with major re-writes and reshoots ordered by the powers that be because “they didn’t like what they saw”. Thus again giving Mr. Whedon a headache for it is territory he is all too familiar with. Back in the early 2000’'s a little sci-fi show called Firefly was on the airwaves, it was critically liked and received much acclaim for both its storytelling and characters, it also received decent but steady ratings. FOX cancelled it. Uproar ensued from fans and Joss Whedon was naturally upset for it was doing nothing wrong. It blossomed on DVD becoming one of the most loved cult sci-fi shows out there; it even spawned a film in 2005 called Serenity to wrap up the ailing plot threads and the story is still continuing, albeit in comic book form. It is a decision I’m sure FOX regrets to this day.
But here we are yet again, they are telling a man who does not only know but has proved on several occasions he knows how to write, direct and produce a good, solid and entertaining TV show. So now, with reshoots complete and an agreement reached between Mr. Whedon and Fox on the “type” of show it will be, Dollhouse will premiere in January paired with season 2.5 of the disastrous Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles which was inexplicably picked up* for a third season by FOX. The only down side is that they have been moved to a show time slot known as the “Friday Night Slot of Death”. Fox are hoping that the pairing with Terminator will boost the shows’ ratings, which makes no sense at all seeing as that show is the worst rated on their network. It also begs the question as to why they put a new show on Friday night when most people aren’t even home. Only one Network got away with that type of scheduling and it was NBC’s Sci-FI for they did their Sci-Fi Friday line up but it wasn’t for just one or two shows, it was an entire marathon - Stargate Sg1, Stargate Atlantis, Battlestar Galactica and Dr. Who, it was an incentive to stay in and people did. This type of move sets queries in motion, do Fox regret their decision green lighting the project? Are they hoping to get a decent pull from the show so they can make some money back because they weren’t really interested in it in the first place? Why doom a show to cancellation before it has even aired?
Next up is Virtualiy, a new sci-fi show for FOX by Ronald D. Moore (Battlestar Galactica). Directed by Peter Berg (The Kingdom, Hancock), the project was written as a TV movie/ backdoor pilot but word has just been spread that it is already in trouble. Fox again do not like what they see and are ordering some rewrites and reshoots. One major change been speculated online is FOXs’ desire to omit the two openly gay male characters completely from the show. Fox have not yet released a statement regarding the shows delay but seeing as the information was only leaked recently something will probably crop up in the New Year.
Like any major corporation there are always publicity stunts, with the release of their remake of “The Day The Earth Stood Still” last week FOX announced that they would also release the film into space. That’s right; they broadcast the film into space, or more accurately Alpha Centauri, the closet star to Earth besides our own sun. It will take approximately 4 years for the signal to get there and 4 years for something to get back, so 8 years for a round trip.
Now, did I miss something?Why would you want to send a film depicting the eradication of the human species from the Earth due to our destructive, brash and arrogant nature, our unwillingness to change, into the cosmos as a “hello from earth” message? In the future, if aliens do show up and shoot first ask questions later, we’ll know why.
So, as far back as the 1970’s FOX have demonstrated their methods of betrayal, ignorant decision making in many projects and made clear their arrogant backstabbing attitudes. The result is films and TV shows, some whose existence is a joy but their potential ultimately squandered in a pool of dead drivel, continuously pumped out to be a commercial success, to keep the tills ringing s and the cash flowing so the horrible cycle can start all over again. I would not say I am decided, my frustration has grown tremendously over the last year with this studio, but I am heavily leaning on the prospect that FOX are creatively butchering creativity, destroying the movie going experience and quite possibly the Earth.
* While this show was on the slate for cancellation for a long time, it was reluctantly greenlit for a 2nd season due to the economic downturn so that mid-show advertising ensures some form of profit for the network despite paltry ratings. Warner Bros who hold the rights to Terminator have been offering licensing fees to FOX at a discount rate, 10% of normal rates in an effort to promote Terminator 4 released next year
It is not strange news when i say that not everybody is creative. Some people don't like being artistic and are perfectly happy to live life not doing anything but their typical daily routines. But for those of us that like to create, to dream of possibilities, to insipre others or to ask that question that tingles the mind at every asking "What if?" we know that creativey comes in many ways, shapes and forms. We each have our own method, or own areas of interest, a different sandbox to play in.
