In the world of media, few can only
dream of having the power and the influence that filmmaker and producer Rodger
Corman has had. Most of you may not know who Rodger Corman is, but everyone has
been exposed to him in someway. He has been a moviemaker since the mid 1950’s
and has done the atomic science fiction (It
Conquered the World, Swamp Women),
teen pictures (Rock all Night,Teenage Doll), Gothic Horror (The Raven, The Pit and the Pendulum),
1960’s counter culture films (The Wild
Angels, The Trip) and many other genes though out his long and powerful
career.If like to watch campy
films that will end up on Mystery Science Theater 3000, he has made them. If
you like films are truly pieces of history, he has them. If you want to watch a
very tasteless gory and smutty exploitation film, he has made a number of
those. If which to see an Italian art house pictures, he has his name on a few
of those. As a film writer, director, distributor, and producer for nearly half
a century, his has made a huge influence and cult following in of himself.
But his influence also comes with a
number of people who had worked for had worked for him.Some of the actors that had gotten
their starts with Roger Corman include Jack Nicholson, William Shatner, Peter
Fonda, Robert De Niro, Pam Grier, and Bruce Dern. Directors that have worked
with him include Martin Scorsese, Ron Howard, Peter Bogdanovich, Jack Hill, Joe
Dante, James Cameron, and Francis Ford Coppola.
With all these facts in place, a
new documentary has been made about him and it is a must see for anyone who has
any interest in entertainment should watch this movie. It details his movie
career from his start at 20th Century Fox and to his current
projects. The film is called Corman’s
World: Exploits of a Hollywood Rebel and it fully live up to this title. It
shows his efforts making his own kind of movies. It includes interviews with
some of the names mentioned above and fans of his work. I firmly encourage all
the media students to watch this documentary at least once.
Sources
Corman's World: Exploits of a Hollywood Rebel. Roger Corman. 2011.
In the late 1970’s, Heavy Metal Magazine had just hits the
stands. An adult comic book magazine that was focused darker stories, creepy
and weirder plots, and yes, a lot of erotica. Today, the current publisher is
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles co-creator Kevin Eastman and releases only a few
issues each year. The stories range from really interesting to the lowest
common denominator in entertainment. However, the magazine is one of the main
influences in the more adult story telling in comics.
In every 1980, one of the magazine’s readers was filmmaker
Ivan Reitman (Ghostbusters, Meatballs, My Super Ex-girlfriend) decided to
create a feature film based some of the stories in Heavy Metal Magazine. What
was made were the following stories:
1)An Original Story about a New York City taxi
driver Harry Canyon in a film noir style alien mafia crime story set in 2031.
2)Richard
Corben’s Den, the story of a skinny teenager being sent to a another planet and
is transformed into one of the strongest persons one the planet and he is then
on a quest to save the love of his life.
3)Bernie Wrightson’s Captain Sternn. A comical
court case set on a space station.
4)B-17. A World War 2 boomer fight and unseen
enemy and then the rising dead.
5)So Beautiful and So Dangerous. The
government has meeting about whether or not aliens are real and aliens abduct a
scientist and a stenographer. The aliens are basically stoners, the scientist dies on entry,
and the stenographer begins a relationship with a robot.
6)All
the other stories told to everyone by a huge source of evil called the Loc-nar
and the final story is how he influenced a huge number of people to destroy the
citizens on this planet and one warrior named Taarna is out to kill them all.
One of the reasons that I like
this film is due to the sound track. It has a great original score and some of
the acts on the sound track include Black Sabbath (when Dio was in the band), Journey,
Grand Funk Railroad, and Devo. While these scream 1980’s, it is very nice to
listen to. Also, because Reitman needed to get many independent studios to
animate each section of the film, it does have a look that say low budget, but
it still very impressive to look at. For any fan of animation, this is a must
see.
In the world of films based on comic books, one of the most beloved and celebrated examples is Sin City. The film is three stories that are based on three stories of theSin City series written and drawn by Frank Miller (The Dark Knight Returns). It had done well in the theaters and was well liked by the critics for a reason. Not only does it have the hard pounding, heart racing, mind-blowing action and mystery, it is very artistic and a great piece that shows new innovations in movies.
The film has a very stylized look for a reason; Robert Rodriguez wanted to bring Frank’s characters, images, words, and tone to the big screen and that is what he did. The images in the movie are made to look as close as you can get to the pictures that Frank himself had drawn. Not only that, the lighting to made to match the lighting in the books. The actors look like the characters in the books almost to a tee. All of this brings out Robert’s love of new technology in which to tell his stories.
This brings us to the next great thing about this film, the special effects.
There are scenes in the film were it looks like the actors are in the same room. First of all, the only true set that was build was the bar that is the center piece of the film, most of the other pieces of scenery are computer generated and they look as real as real can be. Also, there are scenes in which the actors would have a month time difference in which they shoot their pieces in the film.All of which appear to be seamless and well put together.
It is one of the finest motion pictures in recent history, and fans are really longing for Sin City 2. So now, after more than five years after the theatrical run of the movie, It has been announced that Sin City 2 is in production and about to be shoot this year. Hope it goes well for all.
Sources
Douglas, Edward. Sin City 2 & Machete Kills to Films this Year.
If there is one film that I think lived up to the hype last year, it was the latest film version of the Muppets. I felt this movie was one of the best films I saw last year and the crowd was very fun to be a part of because the whole crowd was really enjoying the great story, the funny characters, the fun songs, and the funny jokes. If you need more of reasons to see this film, here are a few.
1)This movie is a labor of love. Jason Segel, one of writers and star of this picture, had pitch himself writing a Muppet movie when he had gotten some help from the Jim Henson people with the Dracula puppet musical in the movie Forgetting Sarah Marshall. It is clear that he really wanted to have a film that showed respect to the material and do a film that showed his of love of the characters and their movies and the show.
2)One song gets an Oscar, but all the songs are Oscar worthy. One of the songwriters is Bret McKenzie (a member of Flight of the Concords) and each song is well done and fun to sing along to. Some of the noteworthy songs include the opening number “Life’s a Happy Song”, Chris Cooper’s villain rap song “ Let’s Talk About Me”, Kermit’s sentimental song “Pictures in My Head” and finally the feel good song the really does feel good and got an Oscar “Man or Muppet”. These songs go well with the classic Muppets songs like the Muppet show theme and “The Rainbow Connection”.Honorable mention goes to the unoriginal songs in the film like Jefferson Starship’s “We Built This City” and AC/DC’s “Back and Black”.
3)It is an innocent simple story, but it is not dumb, sappy, or made just for kids. The story is that the Muppets’ biggest fan is trying to help Kermit get the group back together in order to prevent an oil tycoon from destroying their old studio. That is it and there is little nothing else in the conflict. But, like as stated before, this does not have the feeling that this was a dumbed down film for kids and it does not have too many jokes that little kids will never understand. It has a good mix.
4)The puppetry is well done. Even if the whole product is clearly garbage, anything with Jim Henson’s name going to have some good looking effects to their fictional characters. The director wanted to keep the old style of Muppets for it and if you get of the heavy use of CGI, then this is the film for you. Each character is lively and believable in each frame of the film.
5)It has good balance of old and new. It was nice to see the film have a great balance in this area because if the had done to many current references then the film may seem to become dated very quickly and to many old jokes would just make the audience think “That is all you can do”.
So here are some of the reasons you should see this move and now that it is out on DVD, it safe to say that it is worth the buy.
John Carter (Taylor Kitsch) is a former civil war officer who is in search of a cave of gold. While rebelling against those who wish for him to fight for their side, he stands as well known man who only works for himself type. When he does find his cave of gold, he is attacked by a member of the Therns (a magical group of people who wish to bring chaos to the planet Mars) and he is then transported to Mars. Here he discovers his increased strength from the planet's low gravity, allies himself with an alien tribe named the Tharks (they look like standard movie aliens) and gets involved in a war between two alien cities named Helium and Zodanga (these aliens look like earth people). He later fights for one of the cities, in the hope that he will find his real home.
I use the word standard a lot in the first paragraph, and that is a word that I think really does describe the story of the film. The film is based on the first in series of books about the title character written by Edgar Rice Burroughs (which I have not read). This movie does have a number of standard movie elements, the anti-hero who must become the true hero, his love interest is there can becomes his main focus by the end of the film, one of the villains is just power hungary and so on and so forth. But it is done very well.
This film is not going to change the way we see movies, but I do think that it is an enjoyable ride and a well done picture. I liked the main characters and how they dealt with the conflict and the enemies did keep my attention. The effects ranged from very well done to fairly poorly done. The world of Mars was nice to look at.
The film cost 250 million dollars to make. It currently has made $254,510,000, which while it has made back it's budget; but, most likely, it has not made the money Disney was hoping to earn. If it is still in theaters, go see it. If not, then get the dvd.
On Saturday, March 24th, I went to the Warner Theater to see a show that was performed by none other then the Mythbusters. For those who do not know, the Mythbusters is a show on the Discovery Channel that features Adam Savage and Jamie Hyneman as they well bust various myths. Myths like can pop-rocks and cola make your stomach explode, can you set a wooden ship on fire using a lot of mirrors reflecting sunlight on to it, can you really make the magic bullet, and is Jimmy Hoffa's body really buried in Giants Stadium. Though every kind of science and mathematics that you can think of, they and their team, go out to try any myth that can be tested by use of the scientific method and see if there is any kind of truth to the stories they hear.
So you can only think about what they would be doing for a stage act.
Now, while this show was not really them busting any myths, this was more a demonstration of other facts that surround the show, like facts about their machines. One of the big highlights of the show was seeing some of the machines they could make like a huge gatling paintball gun that can shot four paintballs at once and a water pump the worked by the power of someone pedaling a bike. They also showed the science of things like why you can lay on a bed of nails not have your whole body go through the bed. Also, they showed off some of their known equipment from the show like the high speed camera they use for slow down moving objects.
The crowd was a fun mix of fans ranging from young kids and older people. It felt like there was no real set age group for this show and that helped because it is nice to go to shows that you fell more people can enjoy it. This was good because there were question and answer parts of the show (one for Jamie and one for Adam) and they give good, informative, and entertaining answers to each of the questions.
It was a good show and it you wish to know more about the Mythbusters, you can see them on the Discovery channel .
I recently had seen the famous film "Birth of A Nation" by D.W. Griffin with a club that I had recently joined and we had choose to see this film for all the reasons this film is so well known. I'll save my views of the film itself for maybe a future post. The next day I was talking about the film with members of my family and one person asks me if it makes me uncomfortable to watch films like this. For those who do not know, the reason this film is so notorious is because this silent picture is one of the most racist pieces of entertainment (it was once used as a recruitment film for the KKK) and at the same time it help create the modern way stories are being told in film. It is one of the most praised films of all time and is one of the most hated films of all time. All for good reasons.
I answered the question by stating that I know the reasons why I am watching this film.
The first reason is for educated prepuces. I am a media student and my main interest is film. I do make it a goal to watch many kinds of films for different reasons and a film this reputation is a movie on a huge list of films that I feel I must see at least once in my lifetime. Also the discussions about the film, I feel are better for others, than making the film go away. This is because we are talking about subjects that most do not which to discuss, but I find it better than being silent about them.
This leads to my next reason, I do not like pretending that things did not happen just because they are depressing, sad, or uncomfortable. Somethings can be over blown and talked about to the point that the speaker has noting new to say about it, but it still keeps going. But I rather the latter then nothing being discussed.
Finally, the main reason I have no problem watching this film. I know, while I watch it, that I am not the person who believes anything that this film is saying. I am also not any of the characters shown in the film and that helps me have a good understanding of why I am watching films like this.
Bill Hicks- Bill Hicks is a comic that most people mainly know for his content and that should be noted because a lot of his comedy is his view on various topics and a lot of it is very controversial. But this works for a few reasons. One reason is that it shows how fearless he was as a comic. Also, his reasoning in a number of things he has said works because he gives off the feeling that he really believes what he is saying and is not just doing to shock people or get a rise out of the listeners. He also just really good giving good stances and interesting views on topics.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_Hicks
Ron White- Another member of the Blue Collar Comedy Tour, Ron White is one of my favorite comics because he has the fearlessness that Bill Hicks has, but he is a really different style of entertainer. He is number one, a great storyteller and most of the things he says seem to be really true, but they almost have this comic book style feel to them. He has this style to his comedy that at times he even goes “well that’s nuts”, but it is not so unbelievable that it takes me out of the real world.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ron_White
Chris Rock- I really enjoy his stuff because of the energy he puts into every one of his jokes. He really seems to give off the idea that the listener must hear each one of his words. Another thing that I really enjoy about Chris Rock how he can look at a topic and quickly point out the problems with both the people who like it and the people who have issues with it.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chris_Rock
Louis CK- He is a weird comic, not because he is surreal, but because his comedy is often so random and he seems to not have a set list of topics that he talks about like most comics do. Also he is comic that seems to be breaking the fourth wall in the world of stand up comedy and is just moving past in what seems to be the limits on comedy.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louis_ck
Lewis Black- Have you ever heard someone say something like they would listen to so and so sing the phone book or something like that. For me, I think Lewis Black could read the Scarlet Letterand make it at least humorous. His delivery is very funny and works with almost anything. I also enjoy how harsh he can get and how full of life he can make the story at the same time.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lewis_Black
My top three standup comics
Patton Oswalt- His is like if I cut up a million books and make comedy out of the pieces. He has this very larger than life, very imagery way of doing comedy and it feels like someone made an Internet forum page of the most odd ball people and made it into a life form that made perfect sense. But as weird as it is, in my mind I can see everything he is describing and enjoy the very animated humor he gives.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patton_Oswalt
Bill Cosby- He is the prime example of someone who had a list of things he wanted his comedy to be and that is what he got. Bill Cosby has to be one of the best story tellers in the world of entertainment, because not only do the stories work, but also he can tell a story that was set in a reality that you can be in. Just about all of his stories and points of view are at least interesting, but most often funny to listen to. He also shows how well done clean comedy can be done and not be in your face about it.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_Cosby
George Carlin- My number one favorite stand up comic, it is said George Carlin’s comedy had three main subjects that he talked about:
1) The English language
2) The Small World (losing things, men who wear hats backwards)
3) The Big World (life and death)
All three of these subjects he had talked about with witty remarks and with a point of view that seemed to really just grip you and not let you go. Through out all of his various forms of being a standup, he has always had this stylized flow to it that keeps the listeners in the comedy world, but can also make you rethink about the subject as well. I also love that he seemed to tackle any subject and at least tried include it in a way that his audience could enjoy for at the least entertainment level.
Maria Bamford- this is the Comic on this list that I wish more people knew about. Besides being a comic, she is also an actor with credits in Adventure Time, Hey Harold, and did commercials for Target's late 2010 shopping season. I like her humor for how surreal and cleaver she puts everything together. Listening her comedy is like being on a fun roller coaster that has many loops and turns. Also, she really shows her talent doing voices in her act and she can illustrate a great story using all of this with many kinds of characters.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maria_Bamford
Brian Posehn- I do not think he is the most talented comic I have ever heard, but his subject matter
(mainly subjects like heavy metal, comic books, and being a nerd) is mainly stuff I relate to and what I talk about with others. Also he is a comic that is not really trying to do more than he can do, most of his comedy is not about the ethics of the world or the mysteries of the world around them or even the most clever remarks about others. While other comics on this list are also like this, he shows this just a little more then the other comics in my opinion.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brian_Posehn
Dave Attell- He is a comic that I enjoy because yes he does harsh subject and some of the jokes are some of the best examples of jokes that are lowest common denominator in humor; however the jokes are for the most part better than the normal jokes like them. I also like how dark he can get, but still can be very cartoonish at the same time. Also, His one liners have a nice flow to them, but they can also be just as random.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dave_Attell
Jeff Foxworthy- There is a reason he is one of the most famous comics ever known. His comedy is memorable and at times very simple to understand. Also I am on the fence when it comes to the redneck culture, at times I enjoy it and at times I have issue with it and Jeff works well with me on both my moods. Also his non redneck stuff is really funny.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeff_Foxworthy
Sam Kinison- While I do not enjoy everything he had said in short career, you cannot say that he was not entertaining. A former preacher, he had used this past job to help develop his loud, energetic, and powerful performance style. He is a comic I wish was still working not only because he is really funny, but a lot of his comedy is very dated. Also he is credited with looking at subjects like religion, sex, and marriage in a new way that was different for comedy at the time.
I have just finished watching the first three seasons of the Showtime series Dexter,based on the book Darkly Dreaming Dexter by Jeff Lindsay (which I have not read). The story of the show is that Dexter Morgan (Michael C. Hall) on the surface seems to be a normal, yet a little creepy, male who works as a bloodstain pattern analyst for the Miami Police Force. He does the normal job of trying to find criminals of many kinds, but mainly cold blooded murders. This is only what the main characters see, but if a killer gets past the legal system and walks away free to kill again, then Dexter's true side comes into the spot light. The truth is that Dexter is just as cold blooded as the killers because he is a serial killer as well, but his main targets are the killer that walk free. He does this for a number of reasons:
1) To feed his desires.
2) To not go to jail, as he makes every effort to hide it his crimes very well.
3) To find some kind of humanity in himself.
Dexter was taught a code when his adopted father discovered that Dexter was like this at an early age. Though out his childhood, his father had taught Dexter how to live in the real world and later help develop Dexter's code that he must not get caught at all costs and that he must only murder people that he knows for sure are murderers.
There are a number of subplots in the series, like his relationship with his girlfriend and how that develops overtime and how Dexter himself still sees the person that he is and how he tries to find true connections with people.
After watching three seasons in roughly two months time, it is safe to say that I am a fan of the show and hope to own the other dvd sets as well.
One reason I like the show is that the idea seems like a silver-lining fantasy that many people have thought of when the hear about real killers, the idea that there is a serial killer that can goes after other killers. Only a channel like Showtime could give us a show like this and it is all the better for it. I think that while this isn't really the best character study of someone who is a killer, it does bring up the ideas that could be thought about in cases like this, like could someone like this be fully functional in this world and could they change who they are as a person. If you really want to have some understanding of the tone of the show, think about this; Dexter through out each episode speaks in internal monologue and it sounds like one of the characters in theSin Cityfilm.
Other than that, the show is just a well done story. Each episode is part of a bigger story in the season, but it still has it's own story to watch. The characters are diverse, interesting, and have their own issues to deal with in the show.The stories in each season are nice as well. I think my favorite so far is season two where Dexter fears that his crimes maybe will be fully discovered by his own police department.
I also enjoy the way violence is handled. It both works well for the gorehound in me, but is also not so over the top that most other viewers can also enjoy the show.
Overall, I say give the show a watch.
One person I would like to interview would be the singer Johnny Cash. Since the mid-1950's, Johnny Cash became one of the best known people in music. With songs like "Walk the Line", "Daddy Sang Bass", "Don't Take your Guns to Town", and "Ring of Fire". With both his original songs and his cover tunes, he has entertained many people and has gone through many transformations in style and sound. While I enjoy the early years and one of my favorite albums is "The Highwaymen", but my favorite Johnny Cash albums come from his final years when he was working under producer Rick Rubin (Public Enemy, Slayer, and RUN DMC). Songs (original and cover) in this time line include, "Ain't No Grave", "Redemption day", "God's Gonna Cut You Down", and, most famously, his cover of the Nine Inch Nails song "Hurt".
With this in mind, there are a number of things I would like to ask him. One thing that I would like to know about is feeling of the world music as a whole and what he thinks of different sub-genes. I also would like to know about his thoughts of the artists he has covered like Nine Inch Nails, Sound Garden, Tom Waits, Leonard Cohen, and Glen Danzig. This comes from my respect of the fact that he had seemed to have some kind of interest in newer artists, something I fell most artists do not really have any interest in ( let alone, artists of different genes). I think these facts are would be cool to know about, because I see him as a musician that has gone beyond his known styles and can be seen as the number one country artist that even non-country fans like to listen to.
Another thing that interests me about Cash is his faith. I am someone who is not a believer in any kind of religion, but I do enjoy his songs about God and other subject matter of the like. I guess the reason for that is because that his songs about this subject seem to have a more real feeling of being connected to something, but still questioning everything around him. I would like to know more about how he gets to these directions in his songs.
This could go with the next topic that I like to discuss with him. He and I both have an interest in dark subject matter and while we have different ways of going into these ideas, it is still there. I would like to know more about his interest in the dark side of the world.
I have no idea of how the interview would go, but I is nice to think about.
Most people say that the best way to watch a film for the first time is with an open mind and judge it on it’s own merits. Nice idea, but I get hyped up as much as anyone else and each year I have my list of the movies that I really want to see in the year. With this in mind, I now present my “TOP 5 FILMS I CANNOT WAIT TO SEE IN 2012 AND REALLY REALLY HOPE THEY DO NOT SUCK”.
“Following the death of District Attorney Harvey Dent, Batman assumes responsibility for Dent's crimes in order to protect Dent's reputation and is subsequently hunted by the Gotham City Police Department. Eight years after the events of The Dark Knight, Batman returns to Gotham where he must discover the truth regarding the mysterious Selina Kyle, while stopping the villain Bane's plans to destroy the city” (Wikipedia)
This film is at number 5 mainly because I believe that it is a safe bet that it could be a good film. Batman Begins was a great start to this film series. The Dark Knight was to many people a masterpiece (including me). So with all these facts backing it and that most of the same people have come back in the third (and supposedly final) film in this series, it looks like a good time to fight crime.
I am not asking for the movie to be better than the second one. I am just asking for it to be a well-done film. I will say, I was not expecting the next villain to be Bane. But it should be interesting.
“From creative genius Tim Burton comes “Frankenweenie,” a heartwarming tale about a boy and his dog. After unexpectedly losing his beloved dog Sparky, young Victor harnesses the power of science to bring his best friend back to life—with just a few minor adjustments. He tries to hide his home-sewn creation, but when Sparky gets out, Victor’s fellow students, teachers and the entire town all learn that
getting a new “leash on life” can be monstrous.”(Ross Miller)
I really had issues with Tim Burton’s last movie, but this project does seem more promising. Based on a 30minute black and white film that Burton had made in the mid 1980’s. A story about a boy and his dead dog, a fun film for all to enjoy. Also, it is stated that this version will be another stop motion film. Since I like the other Burton stop motion movies and this, while based on the classic Frankenstein story, is more of a classic Tim Burton story, so there is some hope.
“Dracula, an owner of Hotel Transylvania, a five-star resort for the world's monsters, invites some of the most famous monsters to celebrate his daughter Mavis' 118th birthday. Unexpectedly visited by Jonathan, an ordinary young traveller, Dracula must protect his daughter from falling in love with him” (Wikipedia)
A few facts about this film give me mixed feelings:
A.The known cast (Adam Sandler, Kevin James, David Spade) has in the past, given mixed results. Ranging from good to really bad.
B.The spawn of Dracula will be played by Disney darling Miley Cyrus. Yes I know, family film.
C.Based on this story description, of all the things people could do with a Dracula story, they turned Dracula into Steve Martin in Father of the Bride.
But what makes me want to see this film, 2 big things.
Number one, I am a big sucker for monster mash movies. Stuff like Rankin/Bass’s Mad Monster Party, andRob Zombie’s The Haunted World of El Superbeasto. For me, any piece of entertainment that falls in gene is at least just fun to watch.
Number 2, I am a huge of the director, Genndy Tartakovsky. If Cartoon Network was ever part of your life, then most likely you have been exposed to him. He worked on shows like 2 Stupid Dogs and The Powerpuff Girls. He was also the creator of shows like Dexter’s Laboratory, Sym-Bionic Titan and Samurai Jack.
Having enjoyed just about all the projects that he is a part of and it seems like an awesome idea to have him make a full-length feature film. Also, this is a film to done in 3D computer animation and I have not seen Tartakovsky try this before.
“Django Unchained is set in the Old South, and follows Django (Jamie Foxx), a freed slave who treks across America with the German dentist turned bounty hunter Dr. King Schultz (Christoph Waltz) to retrieve his wife Broomhilda (Kerry Washington) from the charming but sadistic Francophile plantation owner Calvin Candie (Leonardo DiCaprio) and his entourage of ruthless slavers.” (Wikipedia)
I often say that my favorite filmmaker is Quentin Tarantino, why is he? Well that is another blog post. Well, Christmas of this year is the release of his new film. He has stated that he wished to do a film that had slavery as it’s subject matter, but do it in the style of spaghetti western. I like the idea and he has yet to make a film I have hated. Hope it goes well.
“When an unexpected enemy emerges who threatens global safety and security, Nick Fury, the director of the international peacekeeping agency known as S.H.I.E.L.D., finds himself in need of a team of superheroes to pull the world back from the brink of disaster.” (Wikipedia)
Iron Man, The Incredible Hulk, Iron Man 2, Thor, and Captain America; These are films that to my way of thinking were (in varying degrees) good solid motion pictures. Now all the main characters in each of these films come together in one huge blockbuster. For me this is the film that has been hyped the most and has given the most hope for it to be a good film. And we hope it does well.
Have you ever had seen or heard or tasted something at you wish was more well known because it is all senses just plain good. Well I have a film that I wish more people had seen and it is called Attack the Block.
(Story)
Written and directed by Joe Cornish (Edgar Wright’s co-writer on Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz) gives us stylish and thrilling Science fiction story. The movie takes place in south London on Guy Fawkes Day. While the city is celebrating and shooting fireworks, a street gang (lead by Moses (John Boyega)) find, follow, and kill an alien that crash lands right front of them. After they take it back to the building that they live in, they see many lights in the sky that only they know are in reality more aliens and they decide to go alien hunting. However the aliens are more powerful and dangerous then the last one they killed. Now they must get back to their building while fighting back Cops, other gang members, and the invaders.
This is seems to be a simple story and the movie handles it well. The questions are answered, the characters develop, and I finished the film satisfied in how the whole think came together. The movie does well with the thrills and pacing and the elements of comedy are not overbearing and does mesh well with all the creepy moments. Nothing seems to topple over each other and have shifts in tone, the whole thing feels seamless, it is that well done.
(Acting)
All the actors fell natural and understand their characters. I enjoy each character as they interact with each other and you do gain a sense of these characters really being in a community. Along with the gang members, a woman they tried to rob right before the alien crash named Sam who must survive and deal with the aliens and the gang, Jodie Whittaker has done a very good job in her role because she worked well as a character who must place her hatred of the gang and saving her life from the creatures.
(Look)
I think the way the film looks has a mix of the following
1)1970’s low budget gritty crime films
2)Solid colors like fruity favors
3)City lights
4)Early ninnies rap video
And, like comedy and thrills, works well with each other.
Also, while the alien effects are simple, they are well done and believable.
(Final thoughts)
Just saying, go see it. You will be glad you did.
Sources
Attack the Block. John Boyega, Jodie Whittaker, and Nick Frost. 2011
Ebert, Rodger. Attack the Block. <http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20110727/REVIEWS/110729986>. 2011
