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thedeaditeslayer · 4 years

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Bruce Campbell talks ‘Evil Dead,’ ‘Spider-Man,’ ‘Xena’

The first time Bruce Campbell came across Sam Raimi, they were students at Michigan’s West Maple Junior High School.

“Sam was a year younger than me,” Campbell recalls, “and I remember him dressed as Sherlock Holmes playing with dolls in the middle of the floor. And I remember going way around him. And I found out later that it was Sam Raimi. We didn’t really come into contact until we got until high school.”

What a connection they made. After bonding over D.I.Y. filmmaking, Campbell and Raimi went on to do 1978 shoestring horror-short “Within the Woods” together, which they evolved into 1981 demonic thriller “Evil Dead.”

Campbell would periodically reprise signature “Evil Dead” character Ash Williams in various sequels and offshoots. And appear in Raimi-produced “Xena: Warrior Princess,” portraying slippery “king of thieves” Autolycus on that ’90s-iconic TV fantasy epic.

And then there’s Campbell’s memorable cameos in Raimi’s blockbuster, Tobey Maguire-starring “Spider-Man” film trilogy: the ring announced in the first, 2002 film, “snooty usher” in the 2004 sequel and a maître d’ in 2007′s “Spider-Man 3.”

Of course, Campbell’s made a mark outside that dynamic duo. He drew raves for his portrayal of a nursing-home-bound Elvis Presley in 2002 indie comedy-horror gem, “Bubba Ho-Tep.” Then there’s his role of Sam Axe on USA Network spy drama “Burn Notice.” Not to mention numerous other film, TV, voice acting and even video-game work.

The cult-fave actor will make his first ever trip to Huntsville this week, for Oct. 24 events at Von Braun Center’s Mark C. Smith Concert Hall featuring “Evil Dead” screenings followed by a Campbell-led chat about the film, his life as an actor and beyond. Tickets for these 3 and 7:30 p.m. events start at $32, via ticketmaster.com.

His upcoming projects include a comedy album with actor Ted Raimi, Sam’s brother, called “The Lost Recordings.” Campbell also is readying a book of essays called “The Cool Side of My Pillow,” which finds him riffing on subjects ranging from noise to the environment. He hopes to have both released by the end of this year. More info at bruce-campbell.com. On a recent afternoon, Campbell checked in from his Oregon home for a phone interview. Edited excerpts are below.

Bruce, when you do an “Evil Dead” screening event, do your discussions turn up new things about the film or that you haven’t thought of in a long time?

Every show turns up something new because it puts you on the spot. Someone will say something that will then trigger something that you had forgot. I just sat down the other day before one of these shows with my guy who is my frontman and I was like, “OK, l’m just going to tell the story of making this movie.” It’s not for questions I’m just going to tell you basically what you’re about to see. But yeah, every show triggers some new thing. I’ve seen the movie. I know how it ends. But that is the challenge, finding some new, weird tidbits.

Back in high school how did you and Sam Raimi first bond? Did you share a class or something?

Basically I got into typing class, that’s what started it. I could not believe I was stuck in this stupid class where everyone around me seemed to know how to type. I’m like, “How do you know this?” It was very frustrating. So I went to a counselor for the first time ever – I’d never gone to try to get out of anything.

So I go there and I say, “Hey can I drop this dumb typing class?” She goes, "Yeah, what do you want? I go, “What do you got?” So she comes up with “radio speech.” And I’m like, “Radio speech? Wait they do the morning announcements (at school) and stuff?” and I’m like yeah let me get all over that.

So I got into a class and Sam Raimi was also in the class. And the guy who taught radio speech also directed all the plays. We didn’t know how critical that was. The first year I couldn’t get in anything in my high school. I was auditioning for everything but I didn’t have a class with this guy. By the next year I had a class with him, and then me and Sam were in basically all the plays after that. We found out how the deal worked.

So I met him in radio speech and we’d do the morning announcements together and got to talking about what we do in our neighborhoods. I was making little regular-8 (millimeter film) movies and Sam was making Super-8 movies. So we started to join forces during the course of that high school run, that two or three years in there.

We were very productive. We didn’t really get into trouble because we were too busy like filming parties. We wouldn’t go to the parties we’d film the parties and use them in some way in our little films so it was a great guerrilla filmmaking period.

A celeb or well-known person you were surprised to learn they’re an “Evil Dead” fan?

I heard Charlie Sheen, one of his favorite things was to smoke a doobie and watch “Evil Dead 2,” and Alice Cooper’s favorite horror movie is “Evil Dead.”

If it’s good enough for Alice Cooper it’s good enough for me. You host the quiz show “Last Fan Standing.” What do you make of the mainstreaming of nerd-culture?

Every generation has its deal. In the ’40s most moviegoers were in their 40s and so the actors were in their 40s. Humphrey Bogart and Spencer Tracy and all the guys were in their 40s. You didn’t have to be 21. And then as the audience got younger the actors got younger and the people who run the companies get younger and so they’re really just catering to what’s popular.

Comic books have always been popular but now they’re really popular. Not really sure what that’s all about but yeah social media has certainly helped but I think it’s another form of escapism. Whenever times get weird, people want escapism. During The Depression they did the Busby Berkeley splashy musicals where everyone was happy all the time, when life was really miserable. And some decades where we’re really doing okay, the movies turned introspective and we go after ourselves and figure out why we’re like this and like that. And so I think we’re in a phase where we just want to be taken away to another galaxy and Marvel is very happy to help.

And you’ve been a part of that. In Sam’s “Spider-Man” trilogy, which of your cameos did you have the most fun with?

Well I don’t know it’s hard to lineate because they’re so critical. The first one I named Spider-Man. If I wasn’t in the movie a billion dollar franchise would be called The Human Spider. He wants to get in the theater in the second one, past the snooty usher who won’t let him in because he’s late, because it will spoil the illusion, so I think I’m technically the only character who’s ever defeated Spider-Man. And in part three, a superhero comes to a mortal for help. He wants me to help him propose to his girlfriend so it’s sort of a landmark case where a superhero goes to a mortal for help which is pretty rare. So I can’t delineate because they’re all critical to the “Spider-Man” universe.

Do you have any cool mementos from "Evil Dead or elsewhere from your career? Maybe something like the chainsaw from “Evil Dead 2”?

You know, it’s weird I’m not a hoarder, I’m not a collector. My brother, he has the shotgun from “Evil Dead,” but not because he loves movie trivia, he just likes guns. My brother also has I think the set of keys to the original cabin. That’s a pretty good one. Not sure how he got that one.

I have weirder ones. Like I have a prop from a 1989 movie called “Sundown: The Vampire in Retreat.” I have Van Helsing’s holy bottle where he shakes the holy water at them. And I have what I call my tchotchke shelf, where most people would look at it and they couldn’t identify what importance each item is, but there’s a story for each one.

Some of your favorite actors outside the horror genre?

Oh, I l love a lot of the old time actors. William Holden, he starred in “Bridge on The River Kwai” one of my favorite movies. I like the guys who had to work a lot. In the old days and actor would finish a job on Friday he was under contract, he took two weeks off and started a new movie a couple weeks later. Actors kind of just do one or two movies a year if they’re lucky these days and it doesn’t help them refine their craft.

I feel like the guys who worked a lot got good because they got really used to the process. I’m a fan of the studio system. Not all movies were good and not every actor was happy under the studio system, but I think a busy actor’s a good actor.

For your role in “Bubba Ho-Tep,” what was your process for tapping into Elvis’s vibe?

What guy doesn’t want to be Elvis, you know? So I worked with an Elvis impersonator for about a half an hour and then he gave up on me. He goes, “Look, man, you’re never going to get it.” I’m like, “Wow either I suck or you suck as a teacher but somebody here sucks.”

No, but I watched a bunch of footage and documentaries. There’s a good one, all his Memphis Mafia who worked with him, a filmmaker basically got them all drunk one night and interviewed them all and that’s where the good stories are. You learn a little more of the human side of him. But that’s pretty much it. I’ve never been a stage performer so mercifully there wasn’t that much of it, just in quick flashbacks.

And there’s a part of me, in the back of my mind, I want to know that Elvis' descendants, somebody, a daughter, niece, somebody has watched that movie and approved. We’ll see.

I thought it was a cool creative take on that whole Elvis thing.

I agree. That’s why I did it. It was one of the weirdest scripts I’ve ever read But yet it wraps up though. It has a weird premise but it has a really interesting theme of what do you do with old people. Do we forget these old people? And are they still useful in society, old people? And I thought it had a sweet ending, that these two old guys they kind of rally themselves one more time.

What’s a well-known role you’ve turned down?

Turned down? I don’t have a lot of those. I don’t operate in that rarified air of saying, “Oh I turned ‘Titanic’ down.” I tried to get a part in a studio movie called “The Phantom” and Billy Zane wound up getting the part." And it was down to me and Billy, I was number two for the job, but I didn’t really enjoy the process very much because it seemed more political than actually acting. It was amazing how many people you had to audition for, and you had to go up the ranks and each time it got a little more tense as you move up. So I’m good doing these weirdo little movies.

I read the budget for “Within the Woods,” the predecessor of “Evil Dead,” was a princely 1,600 bucks. What was the most expensive line item, you think?

Food and probably fake blood. Tom Sullivan, who did the special effects, probably needed to mold a few things, so he probably spent a couple hundred bucks on molds. A lot of it was footage because Sam Raimi likes to shoot footage, so we probably bought a lot of rolls of film. And we did go to a cabin to shoot it, so had to get in the car and travel so maybe a little gas money in there too. That’s about it.

What can you tell us about the status of the next installment of the “Evil Dead” franchise?

We’re honing-in, circling the building now trying to lock in a partner. We have a couple of bidders and we’re trying to just find the correct suitor and we have a script written and a director picked. Sam Raimi hand -picked a guy named Lee Cronin, who’s a very good Irish filmmaker. And it’s got a very good modern tale. It’s a modern-day urban “Evil Dead,” it’s called “Evil Dead Rise.” And we’re hoping to do that next year.

You were a producer on 2013 “Evil Dead” remake. What’s the key to making a reboot effective?

Well rebooting can be very confusing and frustrating and not always successful. Reboot, sequel, remake we have all these crazy terms. What we’re doing now is we’re saying," Look, this is another ‘Evil Dead’ movie and that book gets around, a lot of people run into it and it’s another story." The main key with “Evil Dead” is they’re just regular people who are battling what seems to be a very unstoppable evil, and so that’s where the horror comes from. It’s not someone who’s skilled. They’re not fighting a soldier. They’re not fighting a scientist. They’re not fighting anybody more than your average neighbor. This one is going to be a similar thing. We’re going to have a heroine, a woman in charge, and she’s going to try and save her family.

Speaking of a female protagonist, when you’re at a con or meet fans somewhere, who has the most passionate superfans: “Evil Dead” or “Xena”?

“Xena” hits them at an emotional level. Like, they’ll come up to me and Lucy Lawless (the actor who played the show’s title role) and just burst into tears, because her character helped them get through a difficult time. “Xena” is more representative of overcoming your struggles in life. “Evil Dead” fans are pretty fervent but they don’t cry as much.

#Bruce Campbell #Evil Dead Rise

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thehmsseabastard · 4 years

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So! Another movie adaptation review. This time, I’m doing (*insert drumroll here*)...

PRINCE OF PERSIA: THE SANDS OF TIME!

(This movie was recently added to Disney+ btw. Guess they finally remembered that it existed...I opted to not pay like Speed Racer though. Yo ho yo ho, a pirate’s life for me...)

It’s based on the Prince of Persia series (the Sands of Time Trilogy, not the two originals or the 2008 remake). So Disney got the rights to make this movie way back in...

2004? The movie came out six years later!

Anyway, they got the rights at that point. The producer apparantly worked on Pirates of the Carribean, so they decided to try and make a PotC esque franchise by taking cool elements from the source and making a good movie from it (though this time it was a game instead of a theme park ride). They also changed some stuff for the release date in hopes of launching a such a franchise afterwards.

So did they succeed?

Haven’t seen development for a second movie...so...I guess not. Come to think of it, outside of a likely mediocre VR game, there’s been nothing new for Prinxe of Persia in Ren years since the release of this movie and forgotten sands...

But I’m not here to discuss the issues of loosing what could have possibly-maybe-not really been another great franchise like Pirates’. I’m here to discuss whether or not it’s actually a terrible movie as many say it is.

This time, I’m going to try to break it down to pieces for the purposes of being comprehensible and sounding like I know what the fuck I’m talking about rather than just giving a likely subjective opinion...

ANYWAY LET’S GET TO IT!

1. THE STORY (spoilers ahead)

If you went to this movie believeing it would try to exactly copy the story of the first game, then I’ve absolutely no idea what to tell you. So I guess I’ll make a list of similarities and differences about such things

Similarities:

Persian Prince attacks city, gets Dagger, saves princess, runs from bad guys, fights bad guy, gets sent back in time to the start of the game (or movie in this case) and prevents the villain’s plan from ever really getting off the ground to begin with.

Said Prince is good at parkour and swordfighting.

Unfortunately, Princess doesn’t do much outside of being eye candy, occasionally share exposition, and take the Dagger from the Prince at one point (could they seriously not make her, like, be at least able to fight well? C’mon Disney, if you wanted to make this movie discount pirates, at least make the female lead more like Elizabeth and less like Sleeping Beauty!)

The King dies and then un-dies when the timeline gets reset or whatever

And now Differences! First, I will say that I understand some of these had to be made to adjust to the new medium (video games and movies aren’t experienced the same way, after all), but I’m still going to list them

The Prince has a name: Dastan.

He has two brothers, Tus and Garsiv

His uncle is the revealed villain instead of some random no-name Vizer

The movie is mostly in the desert city of Alamut and some nearby desert-y areas of Persia while the game takes place in India

The Princess’s name is Tamina instead of Farah

A lot of the side peoples like the Hassansins, Seso, and Sheik Amar were added to the movie

The Prince doesn’t release the Sands of Time in the start of the story. Instead it only happens in the Third Act

So, I’d say overall there was an alright job at changing the story to fit a movie setting more. You can’t really have a character that has much more human interactions as opposed to just parkour and fighting sand monsters not have some sort of name. The side characters help to establish decent side parts to the story.

Overall, I think the story is...okay. It’s not amazing, but I think it gets the job done in a reasonable fashion.

2. THE CHARACTERS

Now for the other important part. Before I get into the performance, I will say I’m disappointed in yet another instance of whitewashing in Hollywood. I would’ve definitely liked it if they could’ve avoided this issue, but for now I’ll tick off points for that and discuss the performances.

Jake Gyllenhaal does a pretty great job as Dastan. He’s a dashing rogue with some good lines and generally sells his performance pretty well despite the mediocre plot and story.

Ben Kingsley does a good job as the traitor uncle Nizam. While he’s not always as threatening as, say, the Hassansins, he does certainly have his moments in the film and his motivations are hinted at early in and make sense.

Richard Coyle’s Tus (left) and Toby Kebbell’s Garsiv (right) are mediocre. They’re not as interesting as Dastan or some other characters I’ll mention later, but I will say Tus as a character seemed a lot better and more fleshed out for the most part than Garsiv.

Tamina. Already said she’s a missed opportunity for a badass female lead. However, Gemma Arterton makes most of her interactions with Dastan pretty believable and I’ll admit that her attempts at trying to get the Dagger of Time back from The Prince are pretty neat and she almost succeeds two out of four times (actually nearly killed him in one of them, but he gets saved by:

Yeah, I know it’s a dead meme, but you get the idea.

And lastly, one of my personal favorite performances in the movie, Alfred Molina as Sheik Amar and Steve Toussaint as Seso. They’re not in the movie very long, but I have to say that they’re both my favorites in their own way. Molina’s Amar is quite funny and bizarre and makes for an entertaining supporting character, and despite the unfortunately limited speaking and screen time for Seso, his skill and general badassary are portrayed well.

I’d say most of the characters were good despite the many missed opportunities for the characters and the whitewashing issue. So! I’ll wrap up with a discussion on the effects and action (but not music. The soundtrack was pretty generic imo.)

3. THE ACTION AND EFFECTS

This is definitely the highlight of the film. The action, from the free running to the fights, is all done very well. One of my low key favorite scenes is just before the invasion of Alamut, where Dastan climbs the outer wall. Also, the effects when he rewinds time with the Dagger are amazing. (links aren’t working for me right now so you’ll have to find them yourself.)

Honestly, there’s a lot wrong with this movie between the whitewashing, the not-always-great characters and interactions, and the mediocre plot and soundtrack among other things. However, when this movie does something well, it does it pretty damn well. I think it’s a shame that this movie wasn’t completely able to break the “video game movie” mold, but for what it is, a swashbuckling action adventure movie, it’s good.

7.5/10

Honestly, if I had a decent mike, I could probably make a small YouTube series outta this instead of making a Tumblr essay...

#prince of persia #jake gyllenhaal #seabastard’s review #yo ho yo ho a pirate's life for me

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imaginesebastian · 4 years

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An Opinion on Spider-Man Through the Years

So if you know anything about me, you know that I’ve always considered myself as a Spider-Man expert. Since I was a little girl, I’ve read every issue of the original Spider-Man comics, seen all the animated shows, and became obsessed with the live action movies. Today, I decided to write about each of the live-action spider-men since 2002. Hope y’all enjoy the read that in all honesty is just a bunch of rambling.

Starting off with Sam Raimi’s original trilogy, Tobey Maguire has launched me into extreme nostalgia after recently re-watching his movies. That’s part of the reason I wanted to write this. Anyway, at 20 I still feel the same sense of excitement I first felt when the movies came out. Although it’s hard to believe that Tobey was playing a high schooler now, when I was younger it definitely made sense.

In my opinion, Tobey’s Peter Parker is the most comic accurate, all the way down to the intelligence and the nerdiness. His Spider-man, however, isn’t the most accurate. He doesn’t have as many quips and although his confidence does grow after he gets his powers, he doesn’t play into it the way that the comics do.

The Osborne vs. Spidey story-line has, without a doubt, always been my favorite. The way that they wrote it out in the original trilogy, even down to Harry seeking revenge for his father, is amazing. Not to mention that Willem Dafoe as Norman is always a win. Doc Oct is also a favorite of mine (which is why Spider-Man PS4 is one of my favorite games of all time) and the way that he was portrayed, the arms slowly taking over his sanity, had me on the edge of my seat. Spider-Man 2 is the first movie I remember seeing in theaters and I’m definitely glad that’s the case.

One thing I hated was the fact that the web wasn’t from a web shooter and instead just- came out of him? But the montage of him figuring out how to make the webs come out is still hilarious and will always be my favorite.

Also J.K. Simmons as J. Jonah Jameson is the most accurate casting in the world.

We don’t talk about Spider-Man 3.

Okay, okay. All I can say is Sony butting their heads into the movie was mistake #1 and mistake #2 was hiring that dude from That 70s show to play Eddie Brock. That man can’t act. Also Emo Peter Parker? I ain’t about that.

Moving on to The Amazing Spider-Man. I know that it was widely hated, but I can confidently say I enjoy the different take that Marc Webb (lol puns) took. It wasn’t as camp as Raimi’s but it was a slightly darker take. The popular consensus is that Garfield was too “cool” for Peter but in all honesty it was a front, and he was still very smart and very awkward especially around Gwen. He played into Peter well, just with a bit of added confidence but the only thing that was missed was Peter slowly gaining confidence. Instead he just had it from the beginning.

I also enjoyed the fact that we got to know what happened to Peter’s parents, and in the second film we got to learn just how much they loved him.

Andrew Garfield’s Spidey is the most accurate of the three, in my opinion. He has the quips, the confidence, and the suit. It all worked out very well for him, and if only he was given slightly better material I think that he could have been the best Spider-Man.

Lastly, Tom Holland. MCU Spider-Man is amazing, don’t get me wrong, but he’s not my favorite.

He gets dangerously close to side-kick territory, and yeah while he does work for Tony Stark very briefly in the comics, that was years after he had already been established as a hero. Tom plays Spider-man very well, but it’s absolutely nothing like any of the comics.

He’s the youngest iteration (which makes sense, he was supposed to be 14 in Civil War) but he plays into like he’s a child. I enjoy the father-son relationship that Tony and Peter have, and I like that Tony could mentor him but I just like the established and confident Spidey more.

Maybe that’s because these movies came out while I was already an adult and I see him as so young, but my point still stands. He’s still an amazing Spider-man and being the first Spidey to play along-side other heroes was a big job to take on and Tom did it with ease.

With that being said, I like him more that Garfield’s because he actually looks like he could be a Spider-Man, meanwhile Andrew seemed miscast. Just a touch.

Now I’m not saying that Tom is a bad actor, because he’s not. He’s acting with the material provided and he’s doing amazing at it (I even briefly talked about it with him at FanX). He said that he had big shoes to fill, and I told him that he was doing great.

I also think Jon Watts could have broke the MCU mold much like Taika Waititi did with Ragnarok but it was a missed opportunity :/

TLDR; each spidey had their goods and their bads. If you actually read this, thank you for listening to my rambling.

#also i know i'm a bucky blog but like #i still love spidey #always have and always will #anyway #love you all #spiderman #tobey maguire #andrew garfield #tom holland

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coe-lilium · 4 years

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TroS reaction (1st view)

Necessary premise in bullet points:

- I liked TFA when it came out and still do but as I dug into the franchise/canon (Disney only by choice) my enjoyment of it became more lukewarm. Came out of it dreading a potential Reylo but liking the two charas on their own.

- went into TLJ worried I’d hate it, came out with it being my favorite saga movie and sold on the Rey-Ren connection, whatever road it would’ve taken. Loved the “Rey’s powerful on her own/bc the Force wants to set Kylo’s wrongs right”. It felt good after two years of being bombarded with “this fucking Mary Sue can have any power only if she’s connected to powerful men of the saga, she has otherwise no right in being powerful” in forums spaces.

- went into TroS non-spoiled, wary of Palpatine return but relatively hopeful if soured about the “JJ our lord and saviour pleease save us from evil evil Jonhson” (HA!). The rumors about lore from the tv series being featured into the movie had me excited.

That said, here goes: [SPOILERS FOR THE ENTIRE MOVIE, ENDING INCLUDED, RIGHT OFF THE BAT]

I didn’t like it. I really hope to warm up to it more in future views, there’s absolutely stuff I liked or even loved, but as it stands now it was overall a massive disappointment on many sides and -worst of all- threatens to retroactively ruin my enjoyment in other previous stories.

First, the positives:

- Parentage notwithstanding, Rey was good. Her rage, her fears, her good heart, her commitment to the fight and the training, her longing for guidance… truly, if the bloodline revelation hadn’t retroactively ruined my investment in the character and themes I’d have fully, 100% loved her even if every single other part of the movie had been the same.

Except for a brief war flashback to Starkiller game abilities (I lolled) I wasn’t even troubled by all the new abilities or their scope. Movies’ been inventing new powers since the beginning and the Force does what the Force wants. Again, fuck the genetics “twist”, garbage stuff.

- Kylo, next to… 95% that involved him? TLJ did a great job selling him to me and surprisingly this movie added to that instead of retconning it away. More competent but still stupid and petty from time to time. I’m glad he came back, glad he choose right and glad he was allowed more time on the right side than Anakin. I love redemptions and he was portrayed as wavering the entire trilogy, I don’t even really care that it could’ve done better. I’m happy for him and his family, that’s all. The kiss got a laugh out me but not a malicious one, I was kind of running out of reasonable reactions by then.

I’m just conflicted on how I feel about his death. Back when TFA was released I wanted him to survive to face what Anakin didn’t: justice (the kid-friendly setting prevented a death sentence anyway), atonement and growth from there, I still wish it happened and maintain that a different pacing would’ve allowed it. On the other hand, I’m also kinda okay with him dying. He righted at least a bit of his many wrongs, he saved a person he cared for, that his parents cared for and that could help the galaxy much more than he ever could and he was at peace. It was a good death.

- Kylo’s vision/illusion of Han. A surprise but a very pleasant, well acted one. Would’ve I maybe liked Anakin more, as Ben idolized him so much and for all the wrong reasons and because I love that disaster? Yes. Does Han work much better in the economy of the movie and trilogy story and do he and Ben have a much rawer relationship and history? Absolutely. I am a teeny tiny bit baffled as for why Luke didn’t also show up, but the actual scene was good enough I forgive it.

- Rey and Kylo bond and connection was one of the saving graces of this mess and I utterly loved it. Both actors worked their asses for for all their scenes and it payed off, oh if it payed off. Their DSII duel was perhaps a tad long but great nonetheless (Republic era Jedi jumps!), the hurt and the sense of absolute loss and grief they both conveyed -and shared!- after Leia’s passing was incredible, Rey regretting the near kill and softly going “I would have stayed, had you renounced the dark side”. She cared, yes, but not to the point of ignoring the horrors (something Anakin never quite understood). The “dyad” stuff was a bit overkill, just call it a force bond, we can see it’s freaking powerful, but the Force Skype and sharing of objects that came with the package, that I loved. Surprise lightsaber, Ren fuckers! :D Bet Anakin and Obi Wan were really jealous, that would’ve come in handy during the war.

- Finn was now fully invested in the cause, at ease, visibly happy to be with his friends, ready to bond and reach out, quick to plan, to act and to adapt to the situation, brave but cautious and calculating. I wish it was given a bit more focus, but I loved he found other young FO defectors. Also fuck yeah, he’s force sensitive and his ability is used, not just thrown in as a useless wink. Jedi Finn in future material, c’mon!

- Poe’s also grown. He was probably going to have more screen time with Leia had Carrie not died but there was nothing to be done for that. I’m not as happy as for previous 3 charas for the backstory retcon I’ll tackle in the negatives.

- Jannah was cool, the addiction of other FO defectors a welcomed one and the scene were she and Finn excitedly went over their “I broke free” moment was adorable. Good bean, I’d read more about her and her company.

- A bit lot annoyed at Bloodline being kinda tossed outta the window but getting Leia with lightsaber was nice. Give me some ancillary material to deal with the clash and I’ll fully forgive it.

- Jedi! MY GIRL AHSOKA MY MAN KANAN! I mean, I sure wish they were in a better movie, but hey, recognition for something more than the OT? No slandering of the Order but all of them collectively kicking Sidious ass once and for all? I’ll gladly take it. Anakin, my dude, I’m sorry your sacrifice was next to nullified but it was good to hear you again ;_; I didn’t hear Ezra’s voice anywhere so I can still hope he’s alive, well and with the Ascendancy teaching all their Navigators. “I am all the Jedi” remains a terrible line.

And now, oh boi. Here comes the long list of annoying - bad - stinking shit stuff:

- If I wanted to watch a 2 and half long videogame cutscenes I’d have done that in the comfort of my home without spending money for tickets. Go to level x to retrieve related macguffin, move to next level to get next macguffin and so on and so on. I liked close to everything in the DS II sequences, but what would’ve that dagger pointed at if the wreckage had fallen even a little bit differently?

In general, many plot points gave me the feeling they were stolen from the tv series and badly executed, like a mockery (or incompetence?). Case in point: Hux betraying the 1st Order out of personal, spiteful hate? Potentially good! The execution? A poor man’s Rebels Agent Kallus, already over in little more than 5minutes.

- Palpatine himself is a poorly, ridiculously poorly executed Maul resurrection storyline from tcw and rebels.

Because Maul was 1. explained and 2. got a good, long arc that made you forgive the undoubtably contrived ass-pull it took to bring him back while Sidious is just… there. You gotta accept it because the writer said so.

How did he survive? We don’t know and fuck you if you expect an explanation (they really had the absolute galls to have him say the iconic/meme line from Rots and apparently it was supposed to be enough?!) How could he “have all Sith reside inside me” when canon’s clear that Sith do-not-get-to-retain-their-individuality-in-the-Force, do not work well together (lmao) and he as an individual never gave a shit about the Sith except when they could serve his own personal desires? His entire approach to the rule of two and other Sith stuff is “fuck that noise, everything in the galaxy exist to serve me”. He’s fine dying as long as “the Sith rule”? Who IS this character, because he’s not Darth Sidious (as presented in Disney’s own canon, mind). Oh, you wanted explanations? FUCK YOU, screams the movie.

The mess gets somehow salvaged in the end as he comes to his senses and siphon the life out of Rey and Ben to de-rotten/revive himself to rule in person, now *that* was in character. Was he actually lying his ass off the entire time waiting for the moment he could siphon them? Hopefully but who the hell even knows.

In the end it just wasn’t worth bring him back. A holocron, a different Sith, even a hive-mind of old records/tainted wraiths of Sith (perhaps wearing Palps face to buy the old empire aficionados loyalty, idk) would’ve been better than “actually, Anakin suffered nearly his entire life and sacrificed himself for barely more than 25 years of peace and it still wasn’t enough to rid the galaxy of the monster who destroyed his and countless other lives”. But Johnson was the one shitting on beloved characters legacy and accomplishments, uh? Surely at least he’s got company.

Ian was clearly having a blast, so there was… that? And the initial sequence being legit creepy and the Sith storm or whatever the fuck was that. That can stay, it was cool.

- Poe, the latino character, got retconned from former Republic pilot (a backstory established before TFA came out and faithfully respected ever since) into a smuggler and gang member. Classy. What does Lucaslfilm have a story group for if not for stopping stuff like this from happening? Bonus Zorii being used for a “no homo! homo? no homo?” wink wink and for generally being a poor man Solo’s Qi’ra.

- The movie makes you worry for a character death three (3) times in a row only to immediately backpedal on it. The survivors are grieving, the scene is sober… and then suddenly! they’re alive! isn’t it wonderful? let’s insert a comical scene now that we’re at it! Sigh.

- The whole Threepio stuff was a contrived waste of time in a movie already full of more relevant plot treads that could’ve put that screen time to better use.

- Rey’s parents apparently aren’t assholes anymore bc they sold her into slavery to protect her from Sidious, which is… supposed to make it alright, a sacrifice in the name of love? If they had been shown trying to give her to a trusted person and then she was kidnapped that wouldn’t had been their fault, just unfortunate, but the movie shows them leaving their 5yo daughter with her in-all-but-name slaver so??

- Rey Palpatine… Rey. Palpatine. Gesù Cristo benedetto che minchia mi è toccato di vedere. That hurt. That was so hilariously over the top bad I just…I started laughing. On top of the entire thing, thank you so, soo much for validating all those fucking assholes who demanded Rey be connected to a powerful man in the saga to accept her powers and value, you hack. Jedi were never about power of blood and then you went and reinforced the very opposite. She ain’t powerful bc the Force recognized her as worthy to stop evil and chose to aid her anymore, she’s powerful bc grandfather was. Lovely stuff. Hilariously, now she has a lot more legit “Mary Sue” traits than before.

- Rose’s sidelining was a blatant bow to her and her actress haters whims. If in VIII she jumped at the chance of action, now she was fearful and “had to stay behind” studying maps. Fuck that noise.

- Even if she rejected it, underline is that the Skywalker line is wiped out and the Palpatine one thrives. I… just… wtf wtf wtf. A final “Just Rey” would’ve been more powerful -because now it would’ve been reclaimed- and less corny and in poor taste than a Palpatine taking on the Skywalker name. I’m not sure if Sidious is more offended or if he’s laughing his ass off in space!hell. Probably the 2nd. Bad.

- The final scene on Tatooine. It rang so empty because the planet brings warm memories only to the audience, not the characters. In-universe, that place brought nothing but misery to the Skywalkers: Anakin and Shmi were brought there as slaves and lived as such for years, Shmi was tortured to death and Anakin began his descent into the dark for crying out loud. Luke had to hide and saw his relatives murdered. Leia had no connection whatsoever to the place. The mera idea of burying Anakin Skywalker lightsaber into the sands of Tatooine and considering it a way of paying respect is… I don’t know, hilariously in bad taste? Rey, dear, what did you have personally against the guy? Put those sabers to rest on Naboo! Ah, but we can’t truly acknowledge the PT now, can we? Wack.

- It’s not TroS complete fault, that “honor” mostly sit at TFA’s feet but for all its omages, copies and almost slavish references, from a in-universe point of view it’s like the OT barely occurred.

The same evil man has been defeated (until next time?), the Republic must be rebuilt from scratch, a evil military is all over the place and must be dealt with, the Jedi Order has to be rebuilt… it’s depressing. A new evil taking advantage of the empire leftovers would’ve been one thing, but Sidious? He’s been effectively winning nonstop ever since he was elected Chancellor. He had all the power, all the influence, all the control and he maintained it all even as a rotten corpse in exile, the entire galaxy marching on his tune, controlled by his strings. And as the cherry on top of the cake he even managed to wipe out the family that could’ve, should have been his undoing! He effectively destroyed the Skywalkers. He outlived every Jedi, every survivor, every clone. I hate this. It’s sickening. I can’t even be happy Rex was on Endor anymore.

In general, the best word I can find for this movie is: coward.

So blatantly desperate to please, to be “forgiven”, to reference every single irrelevant thing -except the PT and the TV series in a intelligent way-, to throw fanservice after fanservice after fanservice no matter how nonsensical from all over that crossed the “corny” to wander into embarrassing territory many times over (Maz giving Chewie a medal outta nowhere? Come the fuck on now).

The cartoon series had twenty time the guts of this movie and I vehemently wish for Filoni to take the helm of the entire creative team in a very near future.

#tros spoilers #sw tros #star wars #star wars spoilers #tros negative #the more i think about sidious the more it sickens me #tros negativity

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that-shamrock-vibe · 5 years

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Movie Review: Tolkien

My Level of Enjoyment:

It is slightly unclear if I am the right audience for this movie. I do know of all six movies that Tolkien's work is based on, however, I have only ever seen the Lord of the Rings movies and not the Hobbit movies.

I am however a fan of biopics and Nicholas Hoult and both are what intrigued me here and both did not disappoint.

I took so much away from this movie possibly more so than I did Bohemian Rhapsody because, as a fan of Freddie Mercury and Queen, I've done my research and the movie simply added layers to that research.

With Tolkien though, as I mentioned before, I have never been a huge fan of his or his work. Not because I don't like him or it because I love the type of fantastical world he created with Middle-Earth akin to Game of Thrones, but because, as was commented on quite candidly in this movie, the story and films are long!

I mean honestly I have sat through the Lord of the Rings trilogy once one weekend solidly, and by the end of Return of the King I had forgotten the majority of what I had just seen because all three movies melded into one for me.

I have never seen the Hobbit movies either. which this movie ends with him starting to write the one book the trilogy is based on, but the one great takeaway of this movie for me, is by the end I wanted to go and watch all six movies just to see this incredible man's mind unlocked.

Themes:

I think there are two great themes in this movie that resonate with the type of writer Tolkien is, the first is the meaning of language.

There are numerous definitions of what language actually means spread throughout this movie, not just in sounds and ideas but also in the cacophony and beauty behind them, first mentioned by Edith and later with Professor Joseph Wright.

My favourite line in this movie is probably Professor Wright saying “language cannot be stolen only influenced”, because it is true that while every civilisation and culture has its own dialect and way of saying these words, the actual meaning and definitions all are the same at the base heart of them and therefore language does not belong to anyone and therefore cannot be stolen.

The second is this idea of fellowship, which obviously goes on to be a great influencer in Tolkien’s work. But this idea of friendship and the feeling that one small group can change the world, maybe not as a whole but make one small impact such as Tolkien’s writing or Geoffrey’s poetry. I mean it’s obviously not fighting a war but it is still bringing about a small amount of joy in life.

Cast:

This is definitely one of Nicholas Hoult’s best roles in recent years. As mentioned with The Favourite, Hoult is one of those actors who I will watch a movie just to see them in.

He is definitely an actor akin to Jamie Bell or Thomas Brodie-Sangstar who peaked as a child actor but has still maintained modest success in his later years.

I don’t think he’s the type of actor who needs a major blockbuster or successful franchise in his filmography to be a star but he does have a great resume behind him already; be that About a Boy, Skins, X-Men, Mad Max: Fury Road or this, every role does have a sameness where you can tell Hoult is comfortable with the possible exception of Fury Road but each have an understated quality to them that I believe is missed in favour of other bolder actors.

I thought the supporting cast was also very good; Lily Collins was great as Edith Bratt and actually reminded me of Emma Watson or Felicity Jones, the latter of which is ironic as there were likens to The Theory of Everything in this movie but of course Collins was not nearly as dramatic here as Jones was there. But that’s due to story not acting.

The other three members of the fellowship I felt were also well acted, both in child and adult forms. Geoffrey Smith’s actor, both of them, were very good at portraying a young man in the early 20th Century who was clearly dealing with his romantic feelings for Tolkien but not being able to express them because he knew they’d be unrequited. I really loved that dialogue between the two the day after Tolkien had his alcoholic breakdown and it seemed as if Tolkien knew Geoffrey liked him and for them both not to even react to that made this a subtle but great influence for the LGBT Community.

Other actors were fine and did their jobs, I thought the man playing the priest and the woman playing the boarding house caretaker were fine. Although for them to say that any part of Birmingham is civilised I had to laugh at being from Birmingham myself.

Sir Derek Jacobi portraying the professor was a great full-circle moment as his friend and colleague Sir Ian McKellen is famous for being Gandalf in Tolkien’s stories, I know this wouldn’t be the case but I would love it if the professor is who influenced Tolkien in creating Gandalf just for that connection.

Recommendation:

So yeah, if you’re into Tolkien’s work this is definitely a movie for you, if you love biopics you’ll love this, if you want to see Nicholas Hoult as the leading man he should be you’ll enjoy this. I wouldn’t recommend seeing this if none of those checklist options apply to you but if you are curious then check it out.

I rate the movie an 8/10, it was a great depiction of J.R.R. Tolkien’s history, it was a great cinematic interpretation of how he got his ideas. Like I said, this movie made me want to watch all six Lord of the Rings/Hobbit movies just to get some of the references.

So that’s my review of Tolkien, what did you guys think? Post your comments and check out more Movie Reviews as well as other posts.

#tolkien #jrr tolkien #nicholas hoult #the lord of the rings #lord of the rings #the fellowship of the ring #fellowship of the ring #the two towers #return of the king #the return of the king #the hobbit #edith bratt

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sunfrost23 · 5 years

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Whatever Wednesday: Iron Man Review

Ayyy guys, it’s Whatever Wednesdays, although for the next few months it’s actually going to be like… What I Think of Marvel Movies… Wednesdays. Basically, Avengers: Endgame is only fifteen weeks away, if you can believe it, and so I want to review all TWENTY of the MCU movies in preparation. Now you probably asked, “How can you review twenty movies if there’s only fifteen weeks?” Basically there’ll be some weeks where I review more than one movie. It’s that simple.

SO, starting off we have Iron Man, coming out ages ago in 2008. I was five years old, can you believe that? From what I’ve seen, people usually praise this film as one of the MCU’s best, and while I don’t entirely agree, I do believe that it deserves a lot of credit. I mean, it kicked off the whole entire Marvel Cinematic Universe. If it hadn’t succeeded, none of these other great movies that we know and love would even exist.

As for the movie’s plot, we start out with self-centered billionaire genius Tony Stark in Afghanistan to show off a new weapon that he’s invented: the Jericho Missile. On the way back, however, his convoy is attacked by terrorists and he is kidnapped. After he’s been tortured and locked up in a cave, they force Tony to build a Jericho Missile for them, but he manages to escape with the help of his cellmate Yinsen, building an iron suit to fight his way out. Sadly, Yinsen dies during the escape, but Tony makes it home safely.

His entire perspective now changed by his experience, he decides that he will no longer make and sell weapons, and he decides to refine the design of his iron suit. He uses it to take down the terrorists, but his greatest threat comes from within his personal life.

Obadiah Stane, a man that Tony considered his friend, is actually evil, and he tries to kill Tony by stealing the arc reactor, an electromagnet that both powers the suit and keeps Tony from dying from the shrapnel embedded in his chest during his terrorist adventure. Obadiah makes his own giant version of the iron suit, powered by the stolen arc reactor, and after Tony works his way out of his sticky situation, the two duke it out in an epic fight that ends with a big explosion and Obadiah dies.

After all that craziness, Tony appears at a press conference to address all the commotion surrounding this “Iron Man.” He’s supposed to cover it up by saying that it’s just his bodyguard, but Tony doesn’t give a flying crap about anything, so he just comes right out and admits that he is Iron Man.

Even though this isn’t my favorite MCU movie, it’s still really good, and probably the best one of the Iron Man trilogy, in my opinion. Obviously Robert Downey Jr. was pretty much born to play Tony Stark, and I think the film did a good job of portraying him as a likable character. Like, he’s a jerkwad, but at the same time, he’s a good man, you know? You know that he really wants to do the right thing and you root for him, even if his social skills leave much to be desired. All of the other actors do a great job as well.

The action is really good all throughout, and I think the special effects still hold up, even after almost 11 years. A lot of it feels very real, and I think they did use more practical effects in this film, which is always nice. It also has its fair share of epic moments, from the first appearance of the Mark I suit, to Tony suiting up in the red and gold suit for the first time, to the tank missile, to the now iconic “I am Iron Man.”

I also like the music a lot, there’s a lot of electric guitars which I think is fitting for the character. The main theme goes with him really well also. An unfortunate re-occurrence throughout the MCU is failing to maintain a consistent theme for each character, and I wish they had kept using this one for Iron Man, but oh well.

I can’t think of that many negatives, honestly. The villain, Obadiah Stane/Iron Monger, isn’t really compelling, he’s just kind of your typical evil businessman. There isn’t really any explanation for why he goes crazy at the end, although he’s probably just acting the way any of us would if we got a giant Iron Man suit to use. Although that makes me think of another thing: how did Tony survive the explosion at the end? He’s right there next to Obadiah when the giant arc reactor blows up and there is this, just, colossal explosion, but Obadiah, who is the bigger suit and therefore theoretically more protected, dies while Tony survives. And, like, without a scratch. You wanna explain that one? Because he’s Iron Man, I guess.

So yeah, to conclude, this movie doesn’t usually come to mind when I think of my top MCU movies, but it honestly is really good, and I certainly recommend it. It’s the best way to start in to the MCU, and it’s holding up even after a decade.

That’s all for today, folks, thank you ever so much for reading, and I will see you tomorrow.

#ironman movie review wednesday mcu marvel

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witchofthemidlands · 6 years

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The Shannara Chronicles

This is it. This is the day I finally let loose the rant. I’ve finally been pushed over the edge.

First things first I love The Shannara Chronicles. My favourite book in the world is The Elfstones Of Shannara and this adaptation has been so good that it is my favourite show besides Arrow. The acting is fantastic, the plot was amazing and there are some brilliant characters that are so complex and well crafted. The whole first season is just so aesthetically pleasing.

However, then we were given a season two and honestly, I was so excited. I couldn’t wait to see how they were going to tell the story from that point on. Which is when things started to go to hell.

Honestly, I could accept the devastating loss of Amberle as despite loving her character so much and feeling a deep connection to her character. I knew that she was always destined to become The Ellcrys due to the fact that I know The Elfstones Of Shannara inside out and believe me Amberle becoming The Ellcrys in the TV show was a happy ending compared to how grim it was in the book. I swear to god Wil and Eretria actually had to watch as The Ellcrys basically disintergrated Amberle piece by piece so she could form the new Ellcrys. It’s still the most horrific part of my favourite book which is why I am glad that the writers of Shannara decided to just have her step into the tree and become one with it. I was also fine with this because Poppy Drayton still appeared in season 2 as The Ellcrys. That was well done.

Poppy Drayton’s moments in season 2 were honestly probably some of the only redeeming features of the season as it just went downhill from there.

Bandon. Bandon sweetheart what the hell did they do to you? His storyline just made no sense at all that’s what! So he’s apparently ‘evil’ now. Yeah right the only darkness that Bandon was exposed to was when he was forcibly trapped in his own mind by The Dagda Mor. The Dagda Mor. Now, Bandon deserved so much better. I just still struggle to understand his storyline I really do. If in season 2 it was made apparently clear and been canon that a part of The Dagda Mor had lived on in Bandon and was possessing him having still got an evil hold on his mind. That would have been a lot more believable that what season 2 did to Bandon. I’m ending the Bandon rant there. I don’t want to think about what happened to him at the end...

Ander. Sweet, sweet Ander. How. How could they do that to him? How. I just... What happened with Ander broke my heart. He deserved more than that ending. He really did. He deserved so much more than what the second season gave him I mean the first mistake was putting him in a relationship with Catania. What even was that. That has got to be one of the most forced tv relationships in history and I’ve seen some pretty forced relationships on tv (Legends Of Tomorrow) (Wil & Mareth) I mean how? How did that even work out? To be fair I always thought it was incredibly unnecessary to kill the badass Commander Diana Tilton in season one. She was the only woman I could remotely see with Ander. Not Catania I mean what the hell? I’m guessing the writers just realised that the two did not have love interests and thought oh the smartest thing to do would be to put them together. No, it was not a smart idea. It was weird. However, the major issue with Ander is that someone actually thought it was a bright idea to kill the poor Elf off I mean seriously, who the legitimate fuck thought it was a good idea to kill him? I mean I swear to god that was one of the most pointless deaths I have ever seen on television in my life. I’ve come to the realisation that someone was probably most likely smoking something whilst choosing who to kill of in Shannara Season 2 because there was absolutely no reason whatsoever to kill Ander. Ander didn’t deserve that! He was one of the more complex and interesting characters in the whole show because Ander was real. He was flawed and he didn’t hide that he was a very realistic character who deserved so much more after everything he had been through in season one. After he had lost his entire family and the woman he loved. Ander deserved better, he really did I’ll let you all know that he didn’t even die in the books! He was one of those rare characters that actually lived! So why on earth did they feel the need to kill him in the show? His death brought nothing to the plot expect Mareth becoming Queen at the end. no one wanted that. I certainly didn’t. I just wanted King Ander. Was Mareth’s character seriously just created to replace Ander and Allanon’s characters? The only somewhat peace of mind I get when it comes to Ander is at least that he is at peace with Aine and Eventine now. Yet even still. King Ander Of Arborlon Deserved Better.

Wil. In the first season I loved and adored Wil Ohmsford he was a naive sweetheart and even though when it comes to Amberle I ship her with Allanon. I thought how they portrayed Amberle and Wil’s relationship was great. However, Season 2 Wil was just... honestly I don’t want to say anything too harsh as I love Austin Butler and Wil and he did an excellent job but Wil’s character just changed so much in season 2 and not just physically. I actually really liked his short hair it reminded me of Austin’s days in The Carrie Diaries. In season 2 Wil lost that spark he’d had in season 1 which is understandable seeing as he’d lost Amberle and that broke his heart and I could understand his depression from that and at first I was glad to see that his obsession for Storlock had gotten him to the place of his dreams but I slowly started to get annoyed with Wil when he began to blame Allanon for what happened to Amberle. Now I’ll warn you all now Allanon is my favourite, any character judges him and I get annoyed with that character. You should have seen my victory dance when Prince Arion was killed not once but twice in season 1. But seeing Wil be so against Allanon reallly upset me as Allanon has done nothing but try to do his duty to The Four Lands and try to protect Wil. Their friendship in the first season was lovely and honestly reminded me of early days Slade & Oliver from Arrow but the way he blamed Allanon for what happened to Amberle? That was not a good move. Amberle understood exactly what she had to do. She knew what her duty was an accepted it knowing the price. Wil starts blaming Allanon for all this and for not telling him earlier? Well I’m sorry Wil but whilst he may look like one, Allanon is not a god he cannot decide the fate of The Ellcrys for it and on the subjected of not telling Wil. Wil should remember that Amberle knew what she had to do but she chose not to tell Wil until the last moment. She did. That was her choice, not Allanon’s. So personally I do not think it was right of Wil to put the majority of the blame on Wil. Honestly, one of the best parts of season 2 was when Amberle basically roasted Wil in person for Wil’s lingering thoughts and feelings about what went down in the season 1 finale.

Mareth. When I first heard about this new character I was excited as she was a magic user and I immediately began to theorise if she’d be Allanon’s kid and I was happily surprised to find out that I’d guessed correctly when she revealed herself to be Allanon’s daughter. That first episode of season 2 I loved Mareth straight away she was headstrong, sassy and an all out badass. She also made harsh remarks about Wil. What’s not to love! However, when she suddenly ‘fell in love with Wil’ I began to lose interest in her because I was annoyed that she was just being made out to be another love interest for Wil. If Wil had spent the whole season getting over Amberle and finding his way back to Eretria slowly. I could accept that. That would have been good story tellling but putting him with Mareth? I just didn’t see that. The only reason I was interested at first because I thought haha Wil’s going to have to face scary ass Dad!Allanon but I didn’t even get that so nope. No interest what so ever in Mareth & Wil. It just felt increadibly forced and like ‘Wil has to be with someone so let’s choose the only female character not in a relationship’. The main reason I went off Mareth though is when I realised what her character was being used for and that was most likely to be Allanon’s replacement. Like, good luck with that and all. Malese Jow is an amazing actress and I love her and everything I’ve seen her in has been fantastic but, she’s not Manu Bennett.

Last but not least. Allanon. Now, Allanon is my favourite character he always has been ever since I read the books for the first time. I was ten years old when I first read The Shannara Chronicles. At primary school I had the job of sorting out books in our school library and seeing as I was always invisible I could stay in that library for hours and no one would even know I was gone and I did. I spent hours on that library reading the books I found on the high shelf. The Shannara Chronicles trilogy. Now, I was ten so I didn’t understand most of it. Not like I do now but the characters that I became attached to were Allanon and Amberle. Amberle was like a badass Disney Princess and Allanon was like Merlin. Kind and wise. Allanon was always my favourite from the very beginning. I always just pictured Merlin everytime I read Allanon and I felt a wonderful connection to Allanon’s Merlin like character. However, when I finished the trilogy. Allanon died in the final book and it broke my heart. I remember at the age of ten sitting in a chair crying when Allanon died. I’d felt so attached to that character. He’d taken all the characters on this wonderful fantasy journey. It was Allanon’s death that made me decide as a writer that I would never kill my main character because I could never put anyone else through the heartbreak I had gone through when my favourite character died. However, when Allanon died I came to this acceptance and told myself that if somehow one day there was ever a movie or a film of The Shannara Chronicles I would be prepared and fine and accepting when the eventually happened and Allanon died and sure enough when it was announced that there would be a tv show seven years later at seventeen I had remembered what I’d said to myself at ten and that I’d be prepared and accepting of Allanon’s death when it eventually happened. Then they cast him and all preparation went out of the window. Seeing as thanks to Arrow, Spartacus and The Hobbit, Manu Bennett had become my favourite actor. Initially it was a great thing. Despite not being exactly who I imagined as Allanon seeing as I always saw an old Merlin whenever picturing him in my head. My favourite actor was going to play my favourite book character can’t get much better than that but then I remembered. Allanon dies and if any of you reading this are Arrow fans and remember season 2 of Arrow when Slade was killed by the Mirakuru when he first had it you’ll understand what I mean. That scene traumatised me and he wasn’t even actually dead. He came back. I have rewatched Arrow hundreds of times but never that episode. For those of you who haven’t seen Arrow basically, Manu Bennett is very, very good at doing heartbreaking traumatic death scenes which is why when I knew he was going to be Allanon. All preparation I had for his eventual death went out the window and when it happened... I broke down crying exactly like I did when I was ten reading Allanon’s death yet it was a million times worse because it was actually happening on the screen. I just... I can’t even begin to describe my emotions surrounding that but I will explain my one of anger and that is due to the fact that he should not have died then! Not in the second season! I mean come on! It was trilogy for a reason! If they had done three seasons of The Shannara Chronicles, kept the stories similar to the books and had Allanon dying for Wil and Eretria and their kids at the end you know what? Fair enough. Fair enough but not like that!!! Not in the second season. Who the heck thought it was a bright idea to kill (in my opinion) the best character in the whole damn show. The best actor left and then expected it to get renewed? To be fair I’m kinda believing that when the writers went though with killing Allanon they probably thought well that’s not going to go down well. Let’s kill Wil to just to make things even more traumatic and horrific. The entirety of season two was just a tragic mess!

What annoyed me more was that they didn’t even use Allanon to his full potential in season 2. I swear he was in bed for most of an episode and barely in the first few (I don’t even want to think about him being tortured) the best thing he did was that awesome jump through the closing gates. That was badass! Now the lack of Allanon could have been due to the fact that Manu suddenly decided to return to Arrow which was just beautiful or because they just wanted to focus on Mareth and Wil seeing as Mareth was evidently intended to be Allanon’s replacement. The one redeeming thing they did was make the Warlock Lord Allanon’s emo doppleganger. That was cool and well done. I mean Manu VS Manu... I have very few words to describe how I feel about that. I was deeply satisfied I know that for certain as the more Manu the better but Allanon did not need to die at that point in the show. There was just no point for his demise at all and it just succeeded in reminding me of my childhood trauma of losing my favourite book character.

Allanon Deserved Better.

Allanon Will ALWAYS deserve better.

To conclude. The denial is strong. The Shannara Chronicles Season 2 simply does not exist. The first and only season of The Shannara Chronicles is the most spectacular season I have ever seen on tv.

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corellianangel · 6 years

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Fan Review: Solo: A Star Wars Story

May contain minor/some spoilers after the cut.

I suspect that Solo: A Star Wars Story might be a bit like its title character. A bit rough at the start, maybe shady, pretty good-looking, and definitely out to get your money. But, as it goes on, it becomes more and more apparent how good and truly nostalgic and lovable it is.

This is a film that “nobody wanted.” Which means...what? I wanted it. When I saw Star Wars ANH, I wanted to know all about that cool Solo guy. And finally, 41 years later, I got my wish. And yeah… I’m mostly happy. After Last Jedi, I was pretty much done with the franchise, so it’s not like I went in with high hopes.

Solo is a relatively low stakes reprieve from the “we must save the world/galaxy/universe” all-or-nothing epic trope that has plagued us for the last few years. This is an adventure, a coming of age, and a western heist. Stakes are high, but only for the characters you are relating with onscreen, making it a curious addition to this year’s blockbusters.

Make no mistake; This is a love-letter to original trilogy Star Wars fans. It’s Han Solo in an Indiana Jones style adventure ( and what could be more fun than that).

4 out of 5 stars.

The first minute of Solo is exactly how a movie about the titular character should begin. But then it immediately lags, then even more so under ill-paced exposition. As soon Han goes solo though, it gains momentum. Then a short few minutes later as Woody Harrelson appears, things get rolling outright.

Alden Ehrenreich takes a bit of time to slide into Han’s scuffed boots, both onscreen and in our fan hearts. But when he does, it works wonderfully. He’s not the sexy gruff cynic Harrison Ford portrayed. No, he’s a “Kid,” who's got dreams. He’s a romantic. He’s wide-eyed, immature, and even petulant at times. But like Harrison’s portrayal, he’s arrogant, talented, goofy, jealous, easily embarrassed and will gladly spin a terrible lie. And oh yes… he can turn it on. Not at first, no… that’s really awkward ( more on that with Emilia). He’s not Harrison Ford by a long shot, but when given the chance later in the film, he makes a scene his own, and it’s HOT.

Unfortunately though, Alden is easily five inches shorter than 6’ 1” Harrison. And it’s glaringly obvious (especially to me, as I am quite a tall person). Sadly, Alden’s 1” platform 2”+ heel boots can only add so much. Otherwise, I’m satisfied with his portrayal. Alden’s a great actor, he had huge boots to fill, and I think he’s really been treated unfairly by the fans. Give the kid a chance, he might win you over.

Donald Glover IS Lando Calrissian though. He’s sexy, sauve and even a bit silly ( in all the right ways… make no mistake). I daresay Mr.Glover has taken Billy Dee William’s place in my heart as the epitome of Lando. Whether he’s coming on to Han, or Qi’ra or some unspecified alien species, he’s a pansexual on the level of Oberyn Martell from Game of Thrones. An arrogant playboy badass, who loves all the finest things. He is willing to enjoy everything life has to offer, and why not? It’s hard not to love him as a result. Lando movie, anyone?

Tobias Beckett is everything Han wants to be. Beckett is also in love with fellow crook Val, and his attachment to her is cemented firmly in a couple of scenes, which unlike the Han/Qi’ra scenes–have great chemistry. And Woody Harrelson’s portrayal of yet another grizzled mentor is stunning. I found him much more appealing than Harrelson’s equivalent character from Hunger Games. Though the mantel is starting to wear. Don’t get me wrong. I adore Woody Harrelson. His being in this film gave me a reason to think I might just like it. I’m just not sure I want to see him as yet another badass mentor after this.

When Thandie Newton appeared in Beloved back in 1998, I was an instant fan. I’d seen her before in a few other flicks, but she blew that one out of the water as the title character. Since then she had worked steadily in a number of critically acclaimed roles. I was absolutely thrilled to see her in this as Val. And utterly heartbroken that she was totally underused. When Val is onscreen, she overshadows everyone else, even Beckett. It’s a shame we don’t see more of her than we do. Boo!

Emilia Clarke as Qi’ra…Hmm. She’s cute, charming, and tries her hand at swordplay here. But honestly, the Queen of Dragons is a poor fit. The original casting call was for anything other than yet another white brunette. And with amazing ladies like Tessa Thompson in the running, why oh why did we end up with Emilia? If not racism (God, I hope not); Ang’s answer: Think $$$, from Game of Thrones fans in theatre seats. I can think of no other reason. Her chemistry with Alden is tepid at best ( and any of that comes much, much later). I feel bad for Emilia here. I think she was miscast, and that tarnish will always stay with the fans. ( P.s. : the three adult heterosexual males I watched the movie with, were over-the-moon smitten with her. To each his own. I guess…)

On to the non-humans...

Joonas Suotamo as Chewbacca is physically brilliant. He’s stolen my heart as Chewie from the lovely Peter Mayhew (sorry Pete) over the last three movies. But honestly, we discover nothing new about Chewbacca in this. Zero. It’s rather unfortunate. I wish I could say more. But we learn more about Chewie in episode three than this. A missed opportunity. Sorry Chewie. For some reason Disney put your character in the doghouse here.

L3-37 is another definite weak spot in Solo. We have a snarky female droid (yay!) as a droid-rights advocate (cool!). But it’s so completely overwrought. Only Lando’s constant eye rolls save this character from being as ridiculous as Jar Jar Binks. Which is another shame, because I felt she fills in the current canon equivalent of Lando’s copilot droid Vuffi Raa, from the EU/Legends novels from waaay back in the 1980’s, (interestingly they are both pilots, are both self-aware droids and have vaguely parallel fates) Some editing issues arise as far as L3′s character is concerned too. She’ll be leaning, casually watching, while droids are being slaughtered in front of her, but only interferes with other robots later in the same scene? Why?? Were the first dead droids not good enough for her to save? It’s inconsistent, poor editing; and that really hurts the character. Sorry Phoebe Waller-Bridge, you did great job with what you had. I’m not sure that the script/editing was as good as you deserved.

The spaceship the Millennium Falcon is 100% a full character in this too. Without giving too much away, she represents her pilots as they sit at the helm. She’s treated with more respect - reverence even - in this, than any other film. And I can say this is her movie as much as it is Han’s. Millennium Falcon fans, you are in for a treat!

And the bad guys...or one guy anyways....

Paul Bettany is chilling and utterly convincing as the gangster Dryden Vos. He also has much better chemistry with Qi’ra than Han. I’m fairly certain this is mainly due to Paul’s astonishing acting ability. He first came to my attention as the title character in the darkly funny UK crime film Gangster No.1. I was floored by him then and he’s still blowing me away, even as the rather challenging character Vision in the MCU. Bettany does not disappoint in Solo either. He took over this role with zero preparation, with the weight of replacing another respected actor at the last minute in an extremely troubled production. And the optics of having a white European actor taking over from an African-american are...ermm...not the best. He pulls it off, though. But I can’t help but wonder what Michael K Williams would have brought to the role. Vos is a soulless psychopath under Bettany, not unlike his character in Gangster No.1. Would Williams have brought the tragic–almost romantic deep spirit and inner strength he brought to his gangster Chalky White in Boardwalk Empire to Vos instead? It’s rather sad we will never know.

I don’t think I can say much else about the other antagonist(s) without spoiling a bunch. But let’s just say...wow! Well done! Surprises and fan service all around!

There is something missing here too. We never see Han as an imperial pilot. Nor the promised Shakespeare-inspired comedic comic book characters that Ron Howard teased last fall. These gems may be reserved for DVD releases, but I feel Han’s missing academy stint is definitely a gap in this story. And the movie lacks because of it.

Importantly, I do recommend seeing this in IMAX 2D as it is a very dark and muted film.

The usual amazing, special effects, costumes and sets we’ve come to expect from the Star Wars film franchise are all present here. The styling is different from the previous films, as it takes place about halfway between Episode Three and Rogue One. It’s neat to see the evolution of the Empire’s gear.

And the easter eggs are everywhere; prequels, Rebels, Clone Wars, Star Tours ( the Disney Park ride), the comic books from the 1970′s and 80′s, the EU/Legends Han Solo novels by Brian Daley, the Lando Calrissian novels from the same era are especially referenced numerous times. Even the Indiana Jones franchise gets a significantly placed nod.

To say the least, the fan-service is strong with this one.

But not the Force. Not at all. None of that simple tricks and nonsense here at all.

Because I’m a pretty hard-core fan, I pre-bought two showings on initial release. The first time I saw Solo, I was unsure if I actually liked it, but it seemed to be a decent film. The second viewing ( the same night) was an absolute joy. Times three and four were with different groups of adults, and they all had a blast. Five was with a group of 13 year old girls, and they all enjoyed it too.

So let’s call my rating of Solo then, 4 out of 5 stars.

Honestly I don’t get the backlash against it. Don’t take your Last Jedi hate out on this. It’s a fun ride with decent jokes and no space-boob-milk monsters—honest!

And if you think Solo offers nothing different, new, or imaginative. You are 99% correct...Remember, we got that full package of “different and innovative” in Last Jedi. If that’s your schtick, watch that one instead then.

Oh, and one more thing- that 1%?... two words:

Shower scene.

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secret-diary-of-an-fa · 6 years

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If Violence Doesn’t Work, Magic Will (God of War Trilogy Review)

WARNING: This turned out too long to proofread properly this morning, so there are one or two egregious grammatical cock-ups that I’ll have to edit at a later date.

Oh, Kratos, you loveable, mass-murdering hunk o’ Grecian man-flesh, what would we do without you? Probably die of old age instead of a chain-blade to the fizzog, that’s what.

That’s right, folks! I’ve been playing the classic God of War games- specifically, the original trilogy. There’s a new one out, which apparently has much more dad-angst and much less gratuitous nudity (and I will play it eventually), but for now I’m all about those first three games. By golly did they ever set a gold standard in the hack-and-slash genre. Let’s have a quick reviewski, shall we?

Well, first off, it’s worth noting that the games are actually slightly misnamed. Kratos does become the god of war at one point, but he only spends like, fifteen minutes of playable time being the god of war before Zeus decides that giving an obvious nutter like him deity-level power miiiiiight have been a mistake and smacks him right back down to mortal status. Really, he’s just a very angry bastard who commits genocide on a semi-regular basis, but I guess Bastard of Genocide didn’t have the same ring as God of War and you know what the marketing department is like.

Anyway, comic-effect nitpicking aside, I love the God of War games. Partly, it’s the sheer scope of the plot. Yes, each game is technically a separate entity in its own right, but they’re really telling one coherent story… which I will now spoil with carefree elan. Kratos was once the leader of a Spartan army, until he faced defeat. Then he called on Ares for help and offered him his services as a murderous psychopath in return. Ares took the deal, but eventually tricked Kratos into killing his own family (like you do) in the belief it would make him a better warrior. Kratos broke his service to Ares and, years later, Ares went even more bananas and attacked Athens. The other Greek deities decided that Kratos was the best guy to kill Ares, so they gave him his chance for revenge. He killed the former god of war using the power trapped in Pandora’s box and Zeus et al made him the new god of war. That’s the first game. The second game picks up with Zeus and company realising that Kratos might be a tad unstable, what with being a naturally violent man who’s perpetually trapped inside the trauma of having killed his own wife and child. Zeus tricks him into relinquishing his godlike power and casts him into Hades… which doesn’t pan out well, because apparently dying just doesn’t take if you’re sufficiently irate. Thus, Kratos claws his way out of Hades and recruits an army of Titans to wage war on Olympus. Building this army takes up the second game. The third game begins and, with all the pieces in place from Game 2, the war kicks off. Kratos gets a hint that he’ll need Pandora’s box again and sets off through through the war to retrieve it and Pandora herself- the living key to the box. In the process, he basically has to kill everyone on Mount Olympus. Pandora very nearly helps Kratos achieve a sense of inner peace and redemption, but then dies unlocking the box, which turns out to already be empty, because the secret weapon- hope- was already absorbed into Kratos the last time he used it. Kratos- always angry- is now also broken, and after he exacts his final revenge on Zeus, he also kills himself (obviously it doesn’t work, ‘cause there’s a new game set after these events… but the thought was there). In doing so, he unleashes the power of hope and bestows it on mankind. Now that’s a plot! It does a great job of affecting the scale and feel of an actual Greek epic and there’s something very awe-inspiring about that.

God of War has always been praised for its combat, and it’s certainly satisfying to kill a whole army’s worth of overconfident dipshits with a blur of blades and the occasionally ludicrous bit of magic. However, when it comes to gameplay, it’s the puzzles that I really like. Yeah- it’s a game series called God of War and it’s got surprisingly cerebral environmental puzzles in it. That’s a pretty ballsy choice on the game developers’ part and I wholeheartedly applaud it. The puzzles themselves play fair, for the most part, and the solution is never completely ridiculous. There were times when I had to call up a strategy guide on my laptop, but I always knew it was because I was having a brain-fart and overlooking something obvious. I never got the sense that the games were dicking with me (well- there’s one bit that isn’t really a puzzle where you have to climb a spinning cylinder covered in swords that can fuck right off, but we’ll let that pass). Mostly, though, the appeal of the puzzles is that they force you to slow down and look at the world you’re in properly. A lot of effort went in the art direction in the God of War series and the end results are some of the best-looking and most breathtaking vistas in any games. It’s nice that you get to do something in that environment other than repainting it with other people’s lovely vermillion viscera.

Ultimately, however, the appeal of God of War lies in how resolutely over-the-top and truculently immature it is. Kratos himself has basically no ego or superego: he’s pure, enraged id, driven by a deepseated sense of betrayal and loss combined with an obvious addiction to sex and violence, and the gameworld is the perfect place for him. Beyond the combat, there’s also lashings of nudity and very specific acts of wholly unnecessary brutalisation that Kratos will carry out on helpless opponents outside of combat regardless of what you the player think of it. There’s a bit where he rips of Helios’ head so he can use it as a flashlight, and another bit where he saws off Hermes legs just to steal his fancy go-faster shoes. He even bumps off one of his own allies- Gaia- because she let him fall off Mount Olympus and went into battle without him (the game actually makes you do this bit yourself- you have to hack her arm off while she’s trying to pull herself onto level ground so she falls of the mountain. Later, when she comes back, mortally wounded, you have to dive into her giant body through an open wound and punch her heart until she has a heart attack. No, really). Oh, and there’s sex, too. Not with Gaia- which would probably be too logistically challenging to animate. After Kratos has murderised about half the pantheon, you can choose to take a break and celebrate a rampage well done by boinking Aphrodite. Most games would have their lead character take the object of his desires in his arms then cut tastefully away. Not God of War III. The camera moves away from the act itself… but not in a tasteful way. While you play a button-prompt based mini-game in order to bring Aphrodite to orgasm, the camera watches her two handmaidens, who look on and provide sports-commentator style analysis of how its going… until they get so excited that they start fucking one another. You can play that minigame as many times as you want. Then you can go right back to ripping people’s heads off with a sword tied to a rusty chain as though nothing happened. I can’t imagine that happening in any other game series. Well, maybe Saints Row, but that’s a thought experiment for another day.

Fundamentally, most games of the last couple of console generations demonstrate a degree of restraint. No matter how dark and fucked up their subject matter is, they want to portray relateable characters and tell a story that doesn’t alienate potential players. The original God of War trilogy doesn’t give a tuppeny fuck if the things that happen in it make you uncomfortable and as a result, it’s probably the weirdest, freshest thing I’ve played since… well, since Saints Rows 2, 3 and 4. It approaches its gameplay segments like a B-movie director approaches each scene of his films. It looks at the characters, props and setting on hand and asks “OK- what’s the most extreme and shocking thing that could happen using all these?” Then it just does that thing.

The new God of War is supposedly a lot more mature, portraying Kratos as an old man, trying to be a better person for the sake of a new son. From a narrative perspective, that’s probably the right move, since there’s only so many times Kratos can murder and fuck his way through an entire civilisation without learning a single cocking thing before it starts to seem silly. I’m not sure if the series will flourish under such a tonal shift, though. After all, the originals were good because Kratos was a psychopath with a sublimated deathwish and the sexual contenance of a meerkat with access to viagra. Once my PS4 is fixed/replaced and I’ve had a chance to play it for myself, I’ll let you know. For now, I’ll be focusing on God of War: Ascension (the prequel). I suggest you get yourself the original trilogy and see what I’m raving about for yourself. Until then, my vengeance (by which I mean blog entry) ends here.

#Secret Diary of a Fat Admirer #god of war #Kratos #review

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3orangewhips69 · 5 years

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The Departed - Noah

“Maybe. Maybe not. Maybe fuck yourself”

Perhaps the type of attitude that we should all employ in our daily lives. There is an unbelievable amount of content to try to get through in this movie but damnit I’m going to do it because “I’m the guy that does his job”

Directing

Martin Scorsese may very well be the best director there is right now (perhaps ever). For me, it’s probably him and Tarrantino at the moment who are at the top of the list. The fact that Scorsese has a legit argument for 3-4 of the top 10 movies of all time spanning across 5 decades is pretty remarkable.

Is this his best movie?

Maybe the toughest question you could ask someone. I would argue that it is probably his 2nd best, because it is too difficult to put this ahead of Goodfellas. I don’t know that you can go wrong choosing either one because, well If you know anything about movies than you know what I’m talking about. Both are all time greats and neither answer is incorrect.

Casting

His choice of casting in this movie may seem like a stupid thing to compliment him for because it may seem like he just called up all the best actors he could find that would do it and then placed them in the according roles. The fact of the matter is, for each character I can’t think of anyone else playing their role. Which means probably a combination of damn good acting but also damn good casting.

Looking back on the movie now, and seeing possibly the two biggest movie stars of the 21st century (Pitt and Damon) pit against each other in a blockbuster movie in the beginning of the century seems absolutely genius. But, I’m here to tell you that it was the choice of all the other actors that made this movie the all-time great that it became.

Acting

I’d like to open with what may seem like a bold statement to some, but in actuality is 100% a fact. The 3 old guys out acted the 3 young guys and it’s not even close.

Leonardo Dicaprio

Some people forget that this movie is still a part of Leo’s crasging onto the scenes. You could argue thatb it was this movie that cemented his place as one of the true Hollywood stars that would be a player in the film industry for years and years to come.

However, I like to bring up this movie when I defend the argument that Leo is not one of the all-time great actors. He has a habit of finding himself in movies with great directors, where he gets out acted by at least one, if not more than one, of his co-stars. This movie is no exception to that. Leo does a good job of playing a scared shitless undercover cop for most of the movie, but there are certain points where I just get the feeling that he doesn’t belong. Where everyone else in the movie seems like local Bostonians hardened by their environment, Leo does not. I just don’t buy the fact that this is a guy who is half Boston thug and half “lace-curtain fucker” to quote Wahlberg. There is no element of a hard core background or any elevated level of toughness that would have been passed down from his father’s side. Maybe that’s the way he wanted to play it, but I would have loved to see it go the other way. But once again, he is completely overshadowed by all 5 of his costars time and time again.

Matt Damon

Much like Leo, this movie was at the end of the beginning for Matt. He had already done Good Will Hunting, Oceans 11 and started The Bourne trilogy, but once again I would argue that it was this movie that cemented his place as it did Leo’s.

This is the kind of role that we don’t often get to see Matt Damon play but I would love to see more often. The scumbag, morally corrupt, ass hole role really suits him in my opinion. We get to see a little bit of it in Interstellar, but other than that he often plays the crowd favorite. Much different from Leo’s performance, I fully believe Damon in his role and background. Some of that may be able to be attributed to the fact that he is Boston born and raised, but he still makes me believe every aspect about his character throughout the movie. However, as much as I am a fan of his, his performance fails in comparison to the other four on this list.

Martin Sheen

One of those actors that I really wished was in more stuff because quite simply put, he just delivers. Time and time again he is great in whatever role he is cast in. His role for this movie may not have been the most fun to portray, but necessary none the less. He is fully believable scene after scene as a straight shooting, Catholic good guy from Boston with high morals. There is not much more to say about his performance other than the fact that the pairing of him and Mark as a team is an absolutely perfect contrasting duo.

Mark Wahlberg

Talk about a character that just delivers quotable quote after quotable quote. For a guy who was still trying to come on to the scene as household name actor, this performance was an absolute home run. It’s a crime that he didn’t have more screen time because I could have watched 6 hours of him telling people to fuck off. The energy he has in every scene is unmatched in this movie by everyone except maybe Alec Baldwin. For me, this is definitely one of the 5 movie roles (The Fighter, Invincible, Four Brothers, Lone Survivor) that I can point to for Mark Wahlberg and say that, “yeah that guy is a damn good actor”.

Alec Baldwin

“Patriot act! Patriot Act!” I’m convinced that nobody else could have played this role. He is electric in each and every scene he is in and truly plays off the other actors perfectly. His acting when it’s him and Damon is different from when its him and Wahlberg is different from when it’s him in a larger crowd of people. Perhaps my favorite short clip from this movie would be where he attacks the Tech guy that was responsible for having the cameras installed in the warehouse. His acting throughout that entire scene really wakes the audience up and gets them ready for the last 30 minutes.

Jack Nicholson

Widely considered one of the best actors of all time and deservedly so. He’s produced some of the most memorable characters in cinema history and this movie is no exception. The fact that he was able to take Whitey Bulger and then implement some Jack Nicholson in order to produce Frank Costello is pretty remarkable. His entire performance could be summed up in his attempt to resemble a rat. In fact all of his facial expressions and hand gestures are what truly make this performance. The next time you watch this movie, I implore you to focus on his facial expressions and body movements in all of his scenes.

Quotes and Scenes

Other than the ones I have already mentioned. Here are a few more of my favorites. The reason why I love some of these quotes are more situation based. So please go back and watch the movie and watch the scenes with these quotes.

“What are you delivering cannolis or something?” – Leo to the two Italians from Providence

“Situations like these, back in the day. I would have killed everybody. Everybody that worked for me.” – said by Jack definitively while nodding his head in a calm assuring manner

The whole scene with Jack and the Chinese.

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blschaos3000-blog · 5 years

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Its 12:17 am

Welcome to “8 Questions with”.

When I was asked if I wanted to chat with our next guest,writer-director (and actor) Bill Foster,it a real quick and natural “Hell yeah!!’ He is the man behind the upcoming indie Western “Showdown on the Brazos” and is the third member of the film I have chatted with. Bill has a deep love for the Western genre and has worked very hard at making “Showdown” into a movie that shows this. You would think a simple Western would be easy based on the hundreds of movies the studios churned out during the last 40s and throughout the 1950s. No huge special effect budgets,costly sets to make,no green screens. But for someone like Bill,that is the furtherest thing from the truth. While not a natural screenwriter by his own admission,he could have excused for writing a quick,cliche driven shoot’em up and went home. But as a former educator for over 30 years,Bill knows all about “short cuts” and how taking the easy way isn’t the RIGHT way as he stressed to his teaching peers and students. Do the very best you can with what you got and you’ll have no regrets. Its why I am very excited personally to see Bill’s work in “Showdown”,not only do I expect a great film but am eager to see how it reflects Bill as a artist and creator. So let’s saddle up and mosey over to ask actor-director (and writer) Bill Foster our 8 Questions…..

Please introduce yourself and tell us about the project you are currently working on.

I’m Bill Foster, I’m a retired school teacher/administrator after 33 years in the business. Right now I have two main focuses, the movie “Showdown on the Brazos” and establishing our vineyard.

What was life like growing up in the Foster household What are your three favorite memories growing up?

We grew up very poor. So little things like fishing and hunting were always an exciting time. We had a stock tank with catfish and we could fish in it when we were not working. We worked hard daily whether with my dad in construction or on the farm. 2. Would be getting to go to the mountains of New Mexico and fishing with my Uncle Rudy and Aunt Milly. 3. Going to the Brazos River and fishing with my Uncle Joe.

What did you do for a living before you started your true calling as a actor?

I was in education for 33 years. I started off teacher vocational agriculture and biology. I then moved into the administration side and became a principal for 15 years. I then moved up to superintendent for 11 years and retired in January of 2016.

Did you always have a deep passion for the Western genre? What were some of your favorite movies and actors growing up?

I always loved the Western genre, I grew up watching the Lone Ranger, then moved on to any western that came on our television. My favorite Western actor was John Wayne, without hesitation. I loved every movie he made. My favorite western of all-time would be “The Searchers”. I also liked the trilogy of cavalry movies he made with John Ford. Fort Apache, She Wore a Yellow Ribbon and Rio Grande.

You are the writer-director of the indie Western “Showdown on the Brazos”,where did the story come from and was it hard writing it for the screen? As the director,did you find yourself doing re-writes during the daillies?

The writing process was totally different than writing a novel. Trying to convey the mental picture without pages of description was very difficult for me. But quickly learned I could do the same with dialogue. I researched script formats, being I had no idea on the proper format. I researched and then settled on the same format that was use in “The Searchers”. But since then I have converted it over to Final Draft a more modern format. I have changed things slightly while on set. But the major re-writes have come between shoots. I’ll add or take away scenes, but mostly add. I might add characters or build up scenes with more dialogue to make the scene more dramatic or adding humor to a scene.

What has been the three things that surprised you as a director versus being an actor?

Of course, how fast the budget is spent. It all adds up so quickly. 2. How much time it takes getting ready. Being independent we have to get everything ready, costumes, meals, site etc… 3. How people donate their time so unselfishly. I have had so many people donating their time, whether by acting or just helping in anyway possible. It has been really amazing experience.

You also got to appear in some high profile films like “Alita: Battle Angel” and “Fear the Walking Dead”,can you share a couple of stories of your time on the set of those projects?

On Alita I was brought onto set and the Production Assistant pointed at me and said “Sit here, you’re a drunk.” Then his boss comes by and asks “Is this the drunk? Good choice!” Then the assistant director walks by and asks him, “Is this the drunk? Excellent choice, good job.” On the set of “The Son”, after a day of shooting Pierce Brosnan shook my hand and said, “Good job chap.”

Do you feel the American Western film has become to “politically correct” in as many westerns no longer show conflict between cowboys/calvary and Indians?

In a way yes, I also think that “they” are also trying to find other story lines to portray. So many people, I believe, get so wrapped up in doing something different, or sending a message in their movies has caused the genre to really get larger. But also we have started becoming more truthful about the way the Indians were treated and their life style. Even though we may not agree with their culture sometimes, they were a very noble race.

Do you feel video streaming services with help or hinder the indie film making community going into the future?

Help, it gives more avenues to get your work out to the public. If it was just the theater, indie’s would have very little chance of being seen nationwide. But with so many different avenues to have your movie seen it really helps.

What is next for Bill Foster?

I have another book coming our this fall- “I Heard the Quail Whistle” which I have signed with a company to hopefully find funding for the movie. I will then direct the movie.

The cheetah and I are flying over to watch your latest film but we are a day early and now you are playing tour guide,what are we doing?

The private screening of Showdown on the Brazos will probably be in San Antonio. San Antonio is full of rich history of Texas, blending the Mexican and Texas cultures together. I would give you a tour of the famous Alamo mission, which I’m sort of an expert on. We would ride the boats on the river walk and then dine on our delicious cuisine in your choice of restaurants along the river walk. Before arriving at San Antonio, you would arrive at Quail Whistle Vineyards, which I own. I would give you the tour of our future plans for our vineyard, followed by supper. Which would be a sirloin steak cooked to perfection over mesquite fire pit along with potatoes and peach cobbler. You would have the choice of beverages, ice tea, cold beer or wine. Then sit on our porch and watch the sun go down over our beautiful Texas horizon.

I like to thank Bill Foster for taking the time to chat with me as he is one very busy man. Rest assured the cheetah and I are waiting to see “Showdown on the Brazos” and sharing our thoughts with our readers. You can keep track of Bill Foster and “Brazos” a couple of ways:

You can follow Bill on his IMDb page. You can find out more on “Showdown” on the film’s Facebook Page.

You can also read the interviews I did with two of the stars of “Showdown”:

My interview with actor JF Davis My interview with actor Brian Elder You can also read past interviews by clicking here.

Thank you for your continued support!!

8 Questions with…………..writer-director Bill Foster Its 12:17 am Welcome to "8 Questions with". When I was asked if I wanted to chat with our next guest,writer-director (and actor) Bill Foster,it a real quick and natural "Hell yeah!!' He is the man behind the upcoming indie Western "Showdown on the Brazos" and is the third member of the film I have chatted with.

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knightofbalance-13 · 7 years

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http://dudeblade.tumblr.com/post/160557741934/the-writers-comfort-zone

I don’t hold miles, Kerry, and Grey in a high regard when it comes to their writing abilities. At least, when it comes down to writing a serialized show like RW/BY.

Considering the number of times where you attacked the writers, specifically Miles, and the amount of misinterpretation and blatant bashing and manipulation of facts, everyone who cares knows this and knows you’re biased as fuck against them so your words hold as much weight as a feather here.

Look, the Chorus Trilogy of RvB was good. Sure, it had some questionable bits (Like pretty much putting Felix in nearly every episode), but it was still enjoyable. We got to see Doc again, We got to see F.I.L.L.S/Sheila again, and Tucker’s sword-key was used for a plot point.

It was good.

Notice how Dudebalde’s one question part example isn’t the question of how Doc came back, how O’Maliey manifested, how Miles wouldn’t stop throwing in characters but concerns screentime concerning a character voiced by Miles. AKA that is a rehash of “Jaune too much screentime” And this equally bullshit considering Felix is one of the main villains and is always in the company of the other villain thus for the villains to have a presence in the story, Felix HAS to be in the episode.

Camp Camp was enjoyable. Yeah, the Hitler jokes got old in that one episode, and there were some other questionable things in there (like how some characters are portrayed, and forced to give sympathy to despite having not earned it), but it was enjoyable. I could laugh at that Romeo and Juliet parody sequel, and Nikki’s fourth-wall awareness.

It was good.

Again, the example doesn’t work, this time because you’re questionable example doesn’t have a specific instance so how would one improve on it. You were able to give a specific albeit totally incorrect example above and now you give a possible correct but too vague example here. The two definitive wrongs and you used them both in succession. Jesus.

Chibi had a lot of episodes that were either hit-or-miss. Regardless, season one had a lot of episodes (more than the first two volumes combined if you don’t count WoR). Still,the Jaune asking Weiss thing got old in Volume 2, and there was no way that it could become likable just by putting it in a comedic setting. But there were some enjoyable bits. Like those comic adaptations one, and Yang’s training montage.

It was good.

Anything concerning Jaune you have no right to argue in due to your massive bias against the guy and the guy who voices him as well as your inability to remove personal bias from your analysis. And again. your description of RWBY Chibi being hit or miss doesn’t work because that’s comedy as a whole (Being hit or miss by nature) thus useless as criticism. And now you’ve screwed up again, both times and in quick succession. Ugh...

But RWB/Y is the first time the writers have to make something with original characters, that isn’t episodic orcomedic.

They aren’t in their comfort zone.

You’re wrong on two levels. One, RWBY is classified as a Dramedy like Red Vs. Blue and thus has comedy in it so your comedic point is invalid.

Two: Red Vs. Blue stopped being episodic back in Season 6 with each episode either setting up or progressing the current plotline in a serial manner. And by your own admission, they did a good job on Chorus. So your episodic point is invalid.

They have nothing to follow, and this is why I dislike Volume 4. It just felt like nothing was planned. Four Relics? - Thrown in there to make it look cool (despite the fact that this idea was a cliché for so long, that it’s probably written in stone), and Jaune’s unnecessary upgrade (Seriously. He just sacrificed defense so that way he could do two side swings, two diagonal swings, and one overhead swing; as compared to the single sword that could parry, stab, and do many more things that a great sword could not.).

Well, this is hilarious as fuck.

1. Acting like nothing was planned despite the fact that this season WAS the planning season thus it is BUILDING the plans. Not to mention the pacing in this Volume was better than the previous Volumes which had a more steady stream of plot progression and character progression than before. Meaning this Volume was probably planned out, especially since Monty planned teh outline of RWBY with the writers as well so that’s crap.

2. Surprise, Jaune is getting bashed here! Not only is the upgrade only shown in the final episode of the Volume and said episode didn’t have Jaune as the focus no matter how much whining is made thus we haven’t seen the full extent, not only does it make sense to give Jaune the tactician the ability to switch the style he has between versatility and defensive to power and offense thus giving his team the edge in whatever they need at the time but you are arguing the practicality of a greatsword in a world of sniper scythes, shotgun gauntlets, pistol whips, rifle javelins, purse Gatling guns and so on!

3. And this is the funniest thing: You have not said a word about the Maidens despite the fact that it is confirmed that the MAIDENS were thrown in because it was cool and the relics are CONFIRMED to be planned originally, thus you completely missed the mark.

Nothing feels as if it was planned, and that’s why this Volume felt like Dawn of Justice. People wanted it. People were hyped for it. But it just didn’t live up to the hype. Yang’s complex character arc? - her nightmares and panic attacks are never mentioned after she gets her prosthetic. - Look, I get that animation is hard,and that it takes effort. - Y’know what isn’t hard? - Having a character just talk.

No, it’s just like Volume 1 and 2: Build up to a climax. Does this mean people should judge RWBY entirely on Volume 1 alone despite the fact that RWBY is a continuous story? Because this is equally foolish.

And has it not occurred to you that maybe this show made by a small company using new software, without their main animator and a limited amount of time while producing another show (chibi) and mentoring a new writer on a much older, more well respected show (Red Vs.Blue) And thus they don’t have all the time in the fucking world to do this. Apparently not, or it did and your realized you couldn’t bitch about it so you ignored it.

It’s becoming increasingly obvious that the writers are running out of ideas as to how to progress the story. Hell! They had to make Ruby state why she’s doing this journey when the audience already knew why she was doing this journey. We don’t need to be filled in on what we already know. It simply felt as if it were filler designed to give Ruby extra lines to remind us that she’s the main character.

Or, here me out, Ruby was telling other people why she was going to Mistral and thus informing the people or it was a recap style in which Ruby was restating it to ease the audience into it. I don’t know because you conveniently don’t bring up a specific instance or quote!

Also, running out of ideas huh? Are you sure that’s it and it’s not, I dunno, Volume 4 being build up thus the purpose of the Volume was to set things up for Volume 5 and not to advance the plot that far, considering the focus was on character interaction, character development and world building.

I want the show to get better, I really do. But the writers have no intent on listening to any criticism, and their lack of communication with the VAs shows that even they have some issues with how the writing is going. If they had explained to them as to what was going on, they could have offered some advice as to how to write their character.

- But they don’t. In fact, Arryn had to issue an actual apology for voicing her concerns as to how the character she was chosen to voice was acting. I don’t know if it was her own choice to do so, or if it was the writers that made her do it, but regardless, not even the voice actors know what’s going on.

Well, they have no intent on listening to criticism from people whole, manipulate facts and attack them and they have every right to do so. Even if the criticism is actual criticism and not attempts to control the show for their own agenda, the writers can still choose to rebuff criticism if they feel it isn’t needed. And considering Miles seems to be a frequent practitioner of self deprecation, if he feels it’s going alright, I’d give him a fair chance.

And you want proof you manipulate the facts? you said Arryn was apologizing for what she said on Always Open when the Twitter post is about her clarifying what she meant, which is stated to be an apology to try and make the writers look bad through the image of forcing Arryn to apologize which, as a concept, is stupid considering Arryn doesn’t work on Rooster Teeth, has other voice acting jobs and they can’t fire her because she’s a main character VA meaning if she was being mistreated as you say, she can speak up and teh writers will have to do as she says.

They get no input. They don’t get to voice their opinions about how the script is being written. It simply feels as if they’re just there to look pretty and voice the characters.

While the writers get to have all the glory of writing such an epic storyline that could do with some improvement.

Mind proving that? Mind showing us a video or tweet or anything that says they have to say the lines exactly as they are written? Because you apparently ahve never heard of ad libbing where a Voice actor can just make up or change a line on the spot, which is very much a possibility. Proof? One of the most iconic and defining lines of the horror movie villain Freddy Krueger (”Welcome To Primetime bitch!” is an ad lib so it’s entirely possible. Especially since you would need to animate everything AFTER the lines are recorded to properly sync the libs. Hence why english dubs in anime are either shit or new mouth flaps are added.

Like I said before: I’d like for them to plan out at least three volumes in advance to at least, show that they have a plan and that they aren’t shoehorning new things to make the show sound ‘cool.’

It would alleviate some concerns.

Like a certain animator who constantly threw in shit because it was cool, either spoiling plot points or character moments or bring a character in too early or completely fucking over the established universe and rules? Yeah, nice try there, unless I see a post you made criticizing Monty, I’m assuming bias against the current writers.

Also, would it kill them to hire more writers instead of spending that money on one-shot actors? - Seriously, am I the only one who has a problem with this? - All that money, WASTED! Just so they could say that they had TeamFourStar and Funimation actors in their show? - It just doesn’t feel worth it.

Like at all.

No, you are not. I actually agree that was a waste of money and could have be used better. However, this still doesn’t excuse the fact that you have manipulated the facts, lied several times and used manipulative language to try and get the readers to hate the writers. Even this point, the only one I agree with, is pretty tainted considering that Monty wasted money getting Jen Talyor to voice Salem, the main villain and not some random randos.

This was just a giant bitch fest against the writers and I advise you to shut up or learn to make criticisms that aren’t the result of misinformation and bias.

#rwde bullshit

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