Nightfire: Filming in Verona, Italy

While many of you may have either seen the trailer, or even the full film, Nightfire is probably a talking point you've heard about when hanging out in the Park School. I was lucky enough to travel to Verona, Italy this past January to work as the 1st Camera Assistant for this thesis film. It was a great opportunity to work on a professional run set with amazing actors, crew, and of course gear. Oh, how I miss that gear.

Now as demonstrated in the trailer above there were some quite intricate scenes that occurred throughout the film. From bike chase scenes to explosions, every day was an adventure to say the least. But you must know that this film wasn't made over night, well yes we constantly shot through the night, however, the production lasted 3 weeks and most days we worked for 16 hours with the occasional all nighter shoot. Well choreographed shots and blocking was the name of the game, because when explosions and special effects come into play there are only so many takes you get before you must move to the next shot.

(16mm ARRI Ultra Prime used with the Red Dragon.)

As 1st AC I was in charge of everything from making sure batteries were charged before we went on set(or right before the next big explosion), calibrating our DJI Ronin, even making sure the DP was out of bed in the morning. Now while I look back fondly on this trip, there were some serious road bumps we ran into across the way. 

(View from the watchtower located on the set of the military base.)

First off, the weather. We were filming in the middle of winter in northern Italy, seeing the Alps as we drove to set became a normal part of our day and it was a clear reminder of the winter cold. Not only did you have to bundle up before venturing to set, but we had to make sure the electronics would work properly. 

(Director of Photography, Garret Nicholson, preparing a shot on the Jib)

The entire film was shot on the Red Dragon which had quirks we constantly had to deal with. The first thing to know about Red cameras is that to have a clean image at higher ISOs you must perform what is called "Black shading". Black shading is the process of obtaining the functioning temperature of the Red. Typically this rests around a 45/65 split. There are two temperatures of the camera as you can see in the picture below.

To perform a black shade you will wrap the camera in a sound blanket or jacket, whatever is around really, and ensure that no light is getting to the sensor. It takes about 20 minutes but this will eliminate any grain obtained through high ISOs. However, after the one black shade is run, the camera needs to stay at that temperature of 65/45 (a few degrees off doesn't hurt). With the cold affecting the camera we would always have to have the Red otherwise the camera would drop below operating temp and the grain would trickle back into the shot.

Battery life was short lived and like most sets we needed a charging station. Sometimes it was a room indoors located on set, other times it was out of the back of a van or running off a generator.

(DJI Ronin)

Due to the calibration needed for the DJI Ronin's 3-axis gimbal we were forced to used RED volt batteries. To ensure smooth movement from the rig we had to have perfect balance and the larger batteries would not cut it. These RED volt bricks only last about 30 minutes when the weather is warm,  so when the cold was added it was cut down to 15 minutes at best. To keep the volts warm we resorted to holding onto batteries beneath our long johns and armpits. 

When using a tripod the larger Anton Bauer V-mount batteries were able to be used, but the majority of the film was shot on the Ronin so we had to troubleshoot this problem. When we were constantly running around I would carry the V-mount adapter. After we completed a shot we would set the Ronin on it's stand and plug the AC power adapter in and prepare for the next shot. This was a huge stressor of the trip, since the responsibility of battery master fell upon myself. However, having the AC power truly helped our situation.

Another issue we ran into was difficulties with the wireless follow focus. Due to the cold and issues with the receiver the follow focus would not deliver it's signal. We tried everyday to get the follow focus to work but still struggled to find the solution. In the end we had to just close our iris, cross our fingers, and keep our distance. The follow focus would have been an extreme help, especially for the long tracking shots the movie had. It just goes to show you never know what will happen on set, but you better be damn ready to work around anything that gets in your way. 

(Paul Wolter getting Wild)

Overall, I had the time of my life. Being able to travel across the world for film is something I want to continue to do for the rest of my life. I met amazing people, learned so much about the filmmaking process and how to become a better DP, and the wine made up for any sort of mishaps we had on set during the day. There is so much that I took away from this project but I'd have to write a book to do explain it all, so until then this will suffice. Until next time.

Samurai Champloo

Samurai Champloo is an action packed animated series that has a ton of kick ass fight scenes and never takes itself too seriously.  The characters are fun and interesting and are developed very well throughout the twenty six episode show. Aside from the action and story, Samurai Champloo has a very recognizable soundtrack that is a mashup of hip-hop and electronic which gives the setting of feudal Japan a very fresh, if not somewhat out of place, feeling to it.

 The story revolves around Fuu,  a waitress who enlists in the help of two samurai to hunt down the man that killed her father, referred to as the "man who smells of sunflowers". Mugen, a rude and unorthodox swordsman, Jin, a calm and emotionless samurai, and Fuu travel from town to town, embarking in one adventure after the other. Every episode, apart from a few two parters, focus on new environments and side characters which keeps the show fresh and entertaining. From accidentally thwarting a national revolution to entering eating contests and playing intense games of baseball, first time watchers will never expect what will happen next.

Fans of Cowboy Bebop, the animated space-western series, will find plenty to love in Samurai Champloo as they share the same creator and a lot of the same aesthetics. Although the space and samurai themes could not be anymore different, they are similar in other ways. The group of loners and rejects, the dramatic and cinematic styles, and a heavy influence of music are shared amongst both while still keeping their own individual and unique charm. Fans of either series should absolutely watch both shows.          

Overall, I would recommend Samurai Champloo to people who are trying to get into animated Japanese shows or action cartoons in general as it really is considered a classic. 

   

Samurai Jack

Samurai Jack, my all time favorite childhood program, is an American made cartoon that ran for four seasons on Cartoon Network. Created by Genndy Tartakovsky, who also created cartoons such as Dexter's Laboratory and Star Wars: Clone Wars, this show received 4 Primetime Emmy Awards and 6 Annie Awards. Sadly, upon entering the fourth season ratings rapidly declined and the show was not renewed for another season.

In creating Samurai Jack, Tartakovsky intended to create a show that "is cinematic in scope and incorporates action, humor and intricate artistry," due to the fact that he had conflicting feelings on typical action based cartoons. Influenced heavily by Seven Samurai director Akira Kurosawa his character and concept were both born. The plot of the show is that a samurai prince, who goes by the name Jack(voiced by Phil LaMarr), is thrown into the future by the shape shifting demon Aku (Mako Iwamatsu). Jack ends up in a time when Aku is the ruler of the world, we follow Jack as he attempts to return to the past in order to defeat Aku before he takes over the planet.

The aspect of this show that makes it so attractive is that it is unlike most all other children's shows. Samurai Jack does not rely mainly upon character interaction and dialogue to tell the story; however, it relies upon the stylization and visualization to develop the plot. One of the most impressive aspects is that every episodes stylization has a different influence. For example, there are episodes based off of My Neighbor Totoro, the Battle of Thermopyle, and Frank Miller's comic book series Ronin. The show uses multiple angles and split screens to build tension while showing different angles of action. Many episodes have little to no dialogue; it is this kind of minimalism that Taratakovsky uses that gives the show such a specific style.

This show has amazing design and plot. I would recommend that everyone check it out.

Battle Royale

Battle Royale is considered to be the original Hunger Games in more ways than one. It first debuted in Japan in 2000 and then made its way west with dubbed and subbed versions. Considered controversial to some, Battle Royal is graphic, bloody, and, in my personal opinion, a hell of a lot of fun.

The film focuses on a class of ninth grade students who are thrown into a massive battle to the death set up by the Japanese government. The students are released on a remote island and are given unique weapons and tools that they use either to defend or attack. The story highlights different students throughout and their interactions and hardships, ranging from adolescent love to
petty rivalries and they often end in murder. There is a good mix of action and the story progresses smoothly as more and more students are picked off. Although the ending is a little bizarre, so is the entire premise of the movie so in a way, it fits pretty nicely. Some characters are definitely more developed than others which kind of gives away who's going to make it to the end but there are enough twists and turns to still keep it unpredictable along the way.

I would definitely recommend the subbed version over the dubbed in this case. While some people may find reading while watching distracting, I can say through first-hand experience that the unsynchronized dialogue and subpar voice acting in the dubbed version is even more distracting in the long run. I would recommend this to people who would be interested in seeing a less kid friendly version of The Hunger Games and to anyone who enjoys action packed and violent movies in general. Overall, Battle Royale was a inventive idea that inspired The Hunger Games series in many ways, though the author won't openly admit it to the public.

Kingsman: The Secret Service

Over spring break, I watched Kingsman: The Secret Service in theaters with a few friends. Overall, I thought it was an interesting take on the spy genre that delivered a lot of great action sequences along with a not-so-terrible plot. While Kingsman may have been overshadowed by Oscar nominees this year, it delivers enough fun to make it worth the price of admission.

The movie centers around Gary "Eggsy" Unwin (Taron Egerton), a rebellious teen who gets roped into the secret society known as the Kingsman. Throughout the film, Eggsy is mentored by Harry Hart (Colin Firth), a skilled assassin and saboteur who is in debt to Eggsy's deceased father. Eggsy needs to overcome challenges and outlast the other contestants as he tries to become a official member of the Kingsman. Meanwhile, Valentine (Samuel L. Jackson), a tech savvy billionaire leaves a trail of bloodshed and bodies as he leads up to his greatest, and most cynical, invention to date and it's up to Eggsy and Harry to thwart his malicious plans.

Going into the film, I really didn't have high expectations. Once the characters and plot were established, I thought it would be pretty predictable for the most part. However, there were a lot of twists and turns that kept me on the edge of my seat. Deaths of major characters and complete 180s in the plot were a few of the things that kept me excited.

Although at first glance the movie might seem family friendly, it has a R rating and it has rightfully earned it. The action scenes are brutal to say the least. With decapitations, loss of limbs, and more blood than a slaughter house, this movie is definitely not for those with weak stomachs. Overall, this film had a lot more than I was expecting. While I may not recommend it as the greatest spy film, it is a film you can have a lot of fun while watching.

Dy-no-mite!

I’ve always been much more of a TV person than a movie buff, so there are tons of movies that my friends are shocked to hear that I haven’t seen. This week, I crossed one of those movies off my list by watching Scott Sanders’s 2009 film Black Dynamite.

Black Dynamite is an action/blaxploitation film set in the 1970’s. It follows former CIA agent Black Dynamite, played by Michael Jai White, as he works to clean the streets from drugs and gangs after his brother is killed on the streets. Full of spoof-like camera movements and actor blocking, Black Dynamite delivers just as much comedy as action. From the nunchuck wearing, afro sporting, kung fu fighting CIA agent to one of the most absurd logical deductions probably ever made, Black Dynamite was an entertaining watch all the way through.

Through watching Black Dynamite, I gained some insight on ways to use camera movements to induce laughter. There are many times throughout the film that multiple consecutive dramatic zooms caused me to laugh while the character on screen did nothing but stare into the camera. I personally usually try to avoid zooming during a shot; i generally set the zoom beforehand and will just scale the shot in post to assure a consistent zoom speed. However, since this does cause a reduction in image quality, I generally just try to dolly instead of zooming when I am shoots. This movie showed me how planning out camera movements beforehand can add bits of comedy to scenes that may otherwise be dull at times. Between the entertaining 90 minutes of watching, and the insight on spoof-like zooms, Black Dynamite was definitely a good choice for a boring Monday night.

Rush Hour film series

The Rush Hour film series is a series of Hong Kong-American martial arts/action- comedy films starring Jackie Chan and Chris Tucker, directed by Brett Ratner, and distributed by New Line Cinema. The main plot centers on a pair of police detectives: a Hong Kong Police Force inspector and an American LAPD detective (portrayed by Chan and Tucker) who go on a series of misadventures often involving corrupt crime figures. All three films achieved commercial success and incorporate elements of martial arts and the buddy cop sub-genre. 

Rush Hour was released on September 18, 1998 grossing $244,386,864 worldwide.  Martin Lawrence and Dave Chappelle were originally considered for the role of James Carter, but Chris Tucker was finally chosen for the part. Director Brett Ratner, a big fan of Jackie Chan's Hong Kong movies, felt that American audiences would not be familiar with the jokes in Jackie's other movies, and deliberately re-used some of his gags. For example, the scene where Inspector Lee accidentally grabs Detective Johnson's (Elizabeth Peña) breasts is a reference to Jackie Chan's film Mr. Nice Guy (1997).  Jackie Chan, fortunately, did win over the hearts of the audience.  Many people found him hilarious, and a great actor. 

Rush Hour 2 was released on August 3, 2001. The film grossed $347,325,802 worldwide, making it the most successful film in the Rush Hour series. In an interview, director Brett Ratner admitted that the first part of the karaoke scene with Chris Tucker was not supposed to be filmed. Tucker refused to act like Michael Jackson with the cameras running. During takes, he went up as entertainment for everyone. Secretly, Ratner told the cameramen to film it but to not let Tucker notice them. On an episode of The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, Tucker said that while he was filming this movie in Hong Kong, many locals mistook him for NBA star Kobe Bryant. In the film, while Tucker's character is running up the stairs, the old woman shouts, "Move out of the way, Kobe" to him. This film obviously had a very strong cast and crew connection, which is key for a well-made film to be produced.  It also creates the feel-good emotion that comes with great films. The mural on the wall of the Heaven on Earth Massage Parlor was copied from one in Scarface, which Harris Yulin and Ratner appeared in. It is funny to see a parody take place in such a popular film.  The scene where Jackie Chan and Tucker are running down the street naked in Hong Kong was an actual take; production could not block the street off for the shoot. The scene where Chan and Tucker run in the streets was inspired by a scene in The Accidental Spy (2001) which Chan made before this movie. Ratner saw the film and decided to include a similar scene in Rush Hour 2 (2001).  Although this film incorporates a lot from past films, it was very well put together, and obviously, the public reacted positively to it.  

Rush Hour 3 was officially announced on May 7, 2006, and filming began on July 4, 2006. The film, set in Paris and Los Angeles, was first released on August 10, 2007, and grossed $258,022,233 worldwide. Academy Award-winning film director Roman Polanski co-stars as a French police official involved in Lee and Carter (Chan and Tucker's characters) case.  This movie, said by most audiences, did not live up to the expectations of the last two movies in the series.  Rush Hour 3 was literally, rushed, and not as well made, I believe.  The story and plot could have been executed better. All in all though, it was a good third movie to a big series.  

Because of the films' collective box-office success, director Brett Ratner and writer Jeff Nathanson were considering the production of a fourth installment. In the DVD audio commentary for Rush Hour 3, Brett Ratner joked that the fourth Rush Hour film could be released in 2012. Ratner and Nathanson are exploring many concepts, including the use of the motion capture technique for the possible sequel and various different film projects with Chan and Tucker. It has been reported that the fourth film may be set in Moscow.  Although I think that this series has had its run, and maybe they should just leave the legacy of the great movies alone, I don't think I would mind seeing a Rush Hour 4.  I would not like to see actors that are not Chan and Tucker.  To conclude, I think they should just leave it as is and count their blessings.  

This series was hilarious and is a must see for everyone who loves comedies!  Chan's stunts are impeccable and fun to watch.  Tucker's humor ties it all together in a fun, feel good, action-comedy. 

Ip Man

One of my favorite martial arts films still to this day is Ip Man. It has all the fun of crazy action sequences and intense fighting scenes while still maintaing a mature feeling. The characters are really fleshed out and their development throughout the film is very well paced. Overall, Ip Man appeals to fans of martial arts films as well as dramas.

Ip man begins the movie at the peak of his life living in the city of Wing Chun during the twentieth century. He has a great family, a beautiful house, and the respect of the townspeople. He is also the greatest martial arts master in the city and even defeats a thug who beats all the other masters without even breaking a sweat. However, the peace and prosperity doesn't last long as Japan begins to occupy China in 1937 as part of the Sino-Japan War. People are evacuated out of their homes and forced into hard labor. Ip man also finds himself in this situation and needs to adapt a new kind of lifestyle he had never experienced before. Through many hardships and lost lives, Ip man must fight through everything in order to survive. In the end, Ip man must make the toughest decision of all; weather or not maintaing his honor is worth sacrificing his life.

There is a very uplifting first twenty minutes that really sets a false feeling for what you would think the rest of the movie would be like. I first saw this movie without knowing anything about the movie and I initially thought it was just about Ip man beating up bad guys. It suddenly takes on a slow and morbid feeling once the war begins and Ip man is forced out of his home. Other than the intense story, the fighting scenes are some of the coolest and well choreographed I have ever seen. The fighting seems very realistic and it gets very brutal and graphic in some scenes. My favorite scene is when Ip man fights ten black belts at once and just destroys everyone. There is very good build up to the final fight and the ending feels very satisfying.

All in all, Ip Man is a film that blends action, drama, and history into a very entertaining story.  

Jupiter Asending

Jupiter Ascending, released February 6th, can be added to the list of box office failures that sare seemingly hitting theaters nonstop in early 2015. Directed by the Wachowski Siblings(Lana Wachowski and Andy Wachowski), this film was expected to be a must see sci-fi action adventure for moviegoers, with the latest visual effects and all-star cast. Sadly, this was not at all the case. The first week was an absolute disaster for the film. With an estimated 200 million dollar budget, opening weekend brought in under 50 million dollars in both domestic and foreign theaters.

(Here comes the plot summary. Try to bare with me)
This film is about a woman named Jupiter Jones (Mila Kunis) who is a struggling cleaning woman for rich residents of the city of Chicago. One day, during a routine surgery operation, she is attacked by aliens that are posed as human doctors. Luckily she is saved by an alien adventurer by the name of Caine Wise (Channing Tatem). We then find out that an alien prince by the name of Balem (Eddie Redmayne) wants Jupiter dead so that he can inherit a production plant on the planet Jupiter and rights to the Earth. If she is left to live Balem will not receive his inheritance due to the fact that Jupiter is a genetic reincarnation of his mother, the recently deceased matriarch of his house. The movie follows the many attempts made by the royal family to kill Jupiter or trick her out of her ownership of the Earth. The movie concludes when Balem is killed by Jupiter and she returns to the Earth. We then realize she is going to continue living her life as an everyday house cleaner, not at all acknowledging that she is the supposed queen of Earth.

The plot is outrageously hard to follow while watching the movie. Even after I saw the film I needed to read multiple plot summaries from various websites to try and half understand what was going on. Another aspect of this movie that had a negative impact on the overall quality was the ridiculous dialogue. There were many scenes that were supposed to either be epic or romantic but if the viewer paid any attention to what the characters were saying the effects were ruined. For example, in one scene that is supposed to have a mystical effect a side character by the name of Stinger Apini (Sean Bean) is explaining to Jupiter how she is the Queen of the Earth. During this scene a swarm of bees surrounds Jupiter without touching her. Apini then says that bees were put on Earth to sense royalty, and that is why she was not stung. Seriously?! This is an actual interaction between two characters in this movie. The dialogue is poorly written and is only interesting in a shocking humorous way.

Sure, this film looks really good. The animation and visual effects are spot on, but that is quite honestly all this film has going for it. The acting was also slightly underwhelming. I was really hoping that with such a star studded cast there would be something to look forward to, especially from Eddie Redmayne who is nominated for an Oscar for his performance in The Theory of Everything. Those hopes were crushed when he began speaking in a ridiculous and dry voice that he maintained for the entire movie. Tate and Kunis did not do a terrible job; however, their performances in no way added to the film.

To be quite honest I was very disappointed with this movie as a whole. Besides the expensive budget and flashy visual effects there was not much going for the film. Yes, there were big name actors; however, their performances were all adequate at best. The plot was extremely confusing. Every time there was an advancement in the story it was forced and usually made little to no logical sense, even for a science fiction film. I would not recommend wasting the money to see this film in theaters.

3/10

Jackie Chan and Editing Action

Tony, the man behind the youtube channel Every Frame a Painting released a new video this week specializing in Jackie Chan. If you haven't seen any one of his other videos I can't recommend them enough, they are very well edited and Tony knows a lot about all kinds of films. But what I found interesting in his new video is how action and comedy are quite similar. In terms of how they should be filmed to get the best reaction and how showing everything is always better. Just like a joke showing the action and in the same frame showing the reaction is the best way to pull everything out of the picture. If someone is hit on screen showing the hand and then the reaction from the hit draws more effect from the audience. The video goes on to explain more about the differences in action between American and Asian films. The editing in Hollywood for action has become more about cutting from one shot right as they get hit to the next. Tony goes on to explain that in many asian action films editing has been used to alter the continuity of each hit. So as someone throws a hit the hit is quickly shown and then cut to close up and quickly see the hit again. With only a couple frames it's barely noticeable but adds an extra force behind each hit. I find it extremely interesting how editing can be used in this way and can not wait for Every Frame a Painting's next video.

Check out the video below:

The Golden Age of Special Effects.

We live in an age of CGI. Hollywood studios have been finding that it is a lot easier to CGI a bunch of enemies or explosions or anything in action and Sci-Fi films. Unfortunately I am one of those people that have not really enjoyed these transitions. Almost all of my favorite action and fantasy films took place in the mid-2000's. Lord of the Rings, Kingdom of Heaven, Mask of Zorro, The Bourne Trilogy. These films had a sense of realism to them that a lot of the more modern action films don't.

Although I thoroughly enjoyed The Hobbit, an Unexpected Journey, the excessive use of animation really took me out of some of the scenes. There were scenes that were exclusively CGI and since I knew it was all CGI, all suspense was immediately taken out of the scene. I think the reason why I enjoyed the big budget action films of the 2000's was because special effects were not good enough at that point to completely shoot a scene, but could only be used to enhance scene. Give them that extra something if you will. For an example I have added two scenes, both from director Peter Jackson, one from the Hobbit done completely in CGI and one from The Fellowship of the Ring, decide for yourself which one has more tension.

Hopefully, you agree with my opinion that the second clip is much better. Mainly because of the lack of frame cluttering. It's almost as if Peter Jackson told the animators to put as much stuff in the frame as possible. This excessive animation really makes it difficult for me at least to get personally involved in the scene. The sad part is, is that a scene shot in a forest with a bunch of guys in costume did so much more for me than and thousands of dollars of animation could.

I am going to bring up a point here that might cause some contention. As some of my classmates have already stated, they really did not like the film Pacific Rim, and while by no means did I think it was a great film. I found it to be very enjoyable and worth the money I spent in the theater (mainly cause I didn't watch it in 3D). Now obviously this film relies on CGI like it is nobody's business, but the thing I found interesting after looking a bit further into the making of the film was that director Benicio Del Toro made a conscious effort to make the cockpits of the Jaegers a real set and the enhance it with CGI. Here is a clip about building the set.

 

 

Now I thought that was pretty amazing. Especially because of the lack of necessity. They were already making an extremely CGI heavy set, Del Toro could have just as easily had the actors put in a green screen environment and done everything in post, but he said no. I want to add a sense of realism in an otherwise unrealistic film. This went as far as to make real functioning pilot suits and helmets. 

Well for those of you who have stuck through this whole post and watched all the videos and listened to all my wild comments I say thank you. I always appreciate a good debate, so if someone has a conflicting idea I'd love to hear their arguments. After all, we're here to learn.

Pacific Rim. Really?

*WARNING - spoilers to follow*

A few days ago, I finally got around to watch del Toro's Pacific Rim. I truly wish I hadn't. I really just need a place to rant about it. After just barely being able to force myself to finish the movie, I simply had to look online to see what others thought of this disaster. Turns out, a whole lot of people actually really enjoyed it. The movie somehow received a 72% on Rotten Tomatoes and a 7.5 on IMDb. Seriously? You've got to be kidding me. I'm sorry del Toro, but here's why you don't deserve those scores.

The first issue I found with the movie started, well, at the very beginning. A voiceover. That's what the director thought would be a good way to start the movie. A voiceover is probably the biggest copout anyone could use in order to catch viewers up to speed. While it's an effective way, it's the least creative and simplest way to summarize what's happened up to what we're seeing. There are dozens of other, better ways to do this.

For those of you who don't know, Pacific Rim is about an alien invasion from giant, reptile-like creatures, called Kaiju, that come from deep under the ocean's surface. Us, meaning humans, build giant Rockem Sockem Robots, called Jaegers, to fight off these creatures. The voiceover used at the opening of the movie basically summarizes the aliens' first arrival and the battle that's been going on for so many years to fight for our survival. Instead of a voiceover, del Toro could have simply used quick shots of news channels so that viewers understood what was going on. That's probably the simplest substitute. Honestly, even if there was absolutely no introduction to the issue, the plot was simple enough that viewers could figure it out on their own.

The second, and probably the largest, issue I had with Pacific Rim was the fact that there was absolutely no trace of character development. Sure, Idris Elba's character eventually warmed up to the idea of allowing his adopted daughter, Mako, to become a Jaeger pilot, but that's merely because the entire planet would be doomed if he didn't. Elba's character remains the same hard-assed man throughout the entire movie. Raleigh, the main character of the movie, never strays from his "unpredictable," loose-canon nature. I don't think his tone of voice ever really changes either. Mako, pretty much the only female character in the entire movie, simply wants revenge for the death of her family. When she was young, a Kaiju attack wiped out her entire city, which is when Elba's character finds and rescues her. One would think that, being a movie and all, Mako would eventually put her lust for revenge aside so that she can better fight the monsters and save the planet. Nope! That would simply be too close to making Pacific Rim a half-decent movie. You would probably see more character development if you replaced every single character in the movie with a sack of potatoes.

Actors are the life force that drive a movie. They have the power to decide whether a movie tanks or becomes a hit. I'm not quite sure who picked the cast for this movie, but they sure did a very poor job. The main character, Raleigh, played by Charlie Hunnam, was probably the least emotional character I've ever watched in my entire life. Hunnam's monotone voice and blank facial expressions made for a reasonably boring, one-dimensional character. I was nearly put to sleep during his few monologues.

Idris Elba, who played the role of Marshall Stacker Pentecost (which really isn't a name to begin with), pretty much had the same issue as Hunnam. At the climax of the movie, when Pentecost decides to return to Jaeger piloting, he yells "We are canceling the apocalypse!" Anyone who's at least seen the trailer knows what scene I'm talking about. This very moment should make viewers sit on the edge of their seats, overly eager to see what's about to happen. Me? I felt nothing. I was shockingly indifferent due to Elba's tone which slightly resembled that of a parent scolding a child.

I'll end this topic with one last example of poor casting. For some strange reason, whoever was in charge of putting this odd cast together thought it would be a good idea to place Charlie Day, an actor who has been reasonably successful in recent comedies, as the doctor/scientist character in Pacific Rim. I understand Day probably wanted to try out a new role, and I understand that his character was meant to add a bit of

comic relief to the movie, but what I don't understand is how viewers are supposed to take his character at all seriously. Typecasting is a thing. It's a sad fact of the movie industry, but nonetheless, it exists. If Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson was cast as a tooth fairy (oops, that's already happened), nobody would be able to take the movie seriously. It's simply too far outside of their normal roles. Some lucky actors are able to escape the monster known as typecasting, but Charlie Day is not one of them.

The final issue I found with Pacific Rim came towards the end of the movie. What many action movies like to do is state the solution to a problem and try to bullshit their way into making it sound like a discovery that required some higher level of intelligence. What really happens is that the writers of the movie can't think of a way to realistically solve the problem, so they make a solution appear out of thin air.

A prime example of this situation is demonstrated towards the end of this movie. When all hope is lost, and the resistance is convinced that the Kaiju will finally wipe out the human population, Charlie Day's character decides to use the futuristic technology that exists in the movie to connect his mind with that of a dead Kaiju's brain. Even according to him, this kind of experiment would have killed pretty much anyone, but of course, that would inconvenience the movie's plot too much. Day's character then claims, after magically surviving the procedure with little to no physical damage, he "discovered" that placing a nuclear bomb in the space-time bridge, which the monsters have been using to get to Earth, will collapse the bridge and end the invasion. There was no fictional scientific proof. There was no questioning his logic. It just worked. Poof. No more Kaiju invasion.

For a guy who honestly enjoys watching the occasional mindless action flick, I can say that I've never been so close to turning off a movie so many times. Was Pacific Rim an awesome movie? Yeah, I guess so. I'd be lying if I said it wasn't fun to watch a giant robot smack an alien over the head with a boat. I'd also be lying if I said the robots probably didn't kill more people than the actual aliens did when they would throw them through heavily populated city buildings. Pacific Rim was basically just Transformers on steroids. It was twice as awesome, but just a mindless.

Elysium < District 9

This past week I finally got around to seeing Elysium, a new film directed by Neill Blomkamp who was the director of District 9. I had been very excited to see what Blomkamp had done with this film because District 9 is on my list of favorite movies. I really enjoyed District 9 because I felt that it brought something new and different to the table and it was something that I hadn’t really seen before. I was expecting something like District 9, but after seeing Elysium I was a left feeling a little let down. Now don’t get me wrong, Elysium was a fine movie—packed with action and Matt Damon being tough and rugged. It had a great feeling of continued suspense and uncertainty, I never was able to guess the entire ending (which was a major plus for me), and Elysium (the space station) was breathtakingly beautiful. I thought that the acting, especially by Sharlto Copley who played Agent C.M. Kruger, was fantastic. Who wouldn’t be afraid of him?

And for those of you who know District 9, you might remember Copley as Wikus Van De Merwe, a total 360 character change from Agent Kruger.

Besides that, I just felt like it was just another movie. It addressed the topics of immigration, but I just felt like that had been done before. I didn’t feel the characters of the movie change or grow throughout the movie. There was almost too much action for that change to happen. It was always going, going, going without much introspection. District 9 really got my hopes up for this movie, but Elysium just didn’t pack that raw and unexpected punch that District 9 accomplished.

A breathtaking reboot of the Superman trilogy

The original Superman film--besides "Superman and the Mole Men" (1951)--debuted in 1978. The film told the story of an alien orphan sent down from the planet Krypton who becomes the world's first superhero. As is the case with most trilogies, the first of the series was most certainly the best. After a couple failures at making a better Superman movie, the hero was dropped from theaters. That is until recently.

In June of this year, Zack Snyder's "Man of Steel" crashed into theaters. The film received very mixed reviews from viewers. For the most part, I feel that Man of Steel matched, if not slightly surpassed, the original Superman film's plot. What the reboot did that the original--or any Superman film for that part--did not do, was show viewers what exactly happened on Krypton before Clark Kent landed on Earth. Sure, we were told countless times what happened, but despite the fact that older versions of the film could not pleasingly pull off such a scene due to the lack of cinematic technology, Man of Steel was truly the only Superman movie that even tried.

Another thing the film did that others did not, was that it laced humor in with all its endless drama and action. Here's just one of many examples...

What really made this film an absolutely stunning reboot to the Superman trilogy was the film's breathtaking cinematography. Whether you liked the film or not, there's no possible way that you could say the cinematography was just so-so. Even some of the computer-generated scenes of the film--particularly the drawn-out fight scenes--are possibly some of the most extraordinary demonstrations of cinematic artwork that have ever appeared on the big screen.

While not all viewers may agree that Man of Steel was a phenomenal film, it's simply unfair to say that it was not a super reboot to the Superman trilogy.

Die Hard 5? <--- Really?

     Okay so one of the most well known acton series is the Die Hard series.  Bruce Willis plays the role of John McClane, a New York cop saving the world.  The first Die Hard movie was unlike anything the theaters have seen before.  The non stop action and comedic language that Bruce Willis is noted for makes this movie a classic in action movies.  Since the first movie came out 4 others have followed.  The second film was not as good as the first but they came back with a third where Samuel L. Jackson co-starred with Bruce Willis and was a slight continuation of the story line from the first movie.

<---FIRST MOVIE

     The story of John McClane ended in 1995 until in 2007 when a forth movie came out to try and re-amp the series that everyone loved.  Live free of Die Hard was a good forth movie for not filming anything in 12 years, but that should have been it, there is now a fifth Die Hard movie!  There is a sense of over kill that has hit this well known and respected series.  A Good Day to Die Hard has been hammered by the critics and the script is said to be uninspiring.  Making Bruce Willis look like a bad ass has been done before!!!  For most of the time on set, articles have said that Bruce Willis barely acted, he really didn't care at al about the film, the producers should have just stopped then, if your starring actor doesn't care about the movie then there should be no movie.

   

<---FIFTH MOVIE
(See the difference)



     I am disappointed in the sense that a fifth movie was done, they should have left the series at 4.

Django Unchained and Christoph Waltz

Over the holidays, I managed to make it to the movies three times. Two of those three times were to see the new Quentin Tarantino spaghetti western flick “Django Unchained”. Django was an absolutely brilliant film, combining all the qualities you expect from a Tarantino flick and then some. You were given the proverbial Tarantino gore, witty banter, and slew of absolute brilliantly written characters, but also saw the intertwining of an unforeseen amount of humor (the KKK scene? BRILLIANT) with a compelling love story that drove the film’s protagonist throughout this entire elaborate and entertaining plot. All while taking place in the cruel and slavery infested era that is the 1850’s south.

What made “Django Unchained” even more incredible, and what I personally loved about it, was the absolute exceptional casting and performance by the actors. While they were all brilliant, Christoph Waltz (Dr. King Shultz) was on another level as far as I’m concerned. What astounded me about Waltz’s performance was that he was not only able to portray this very intellectual character so fluidly with his unconditional charm and enunciated vocabulary, but also capture the roughness and danger that is the bounty hunter. As you know, he won the Golden Globe for best supporting actor for this performance and still awaiting to see if he can go for two for two with his Oscar nomination in the same category. Waltz won the Oscar two years ago for his role as “Hans Landa” in Inglorious Basterds. I think it’s safe to say that if Waltz should work exclusively on Tarantino films for the rest of his career, well he’d be just fine.