STAR WARS FEVER

Right there’s a new Star Wars film coming out soon and before the worlds worst fans come out the woodwork to brag about the films collective brilliance there’s a few things I want to get out there and it’s not going to make me very popular.

Star Wars fans are the worst fans in the world why because even when it’s terrible and barely watchable or playable they go out in millions and pump money into a big pile of donkey crap. Case in point five of the last six films have been some of the most idiotic, offensive, boring things to come out Episodes 1,2,3 and Clone Wars were all of these things then we had The Force Awakens which sorry Star Wars fans is A New Hope 2.0 but it gets a free pass given that what came before it was so much worse Disney had to send out a message saying we know what we are doing. Then Rogue One something I like to call an amazing piece of not needed. A film that it is brilliant but really isn’t needed in any way at all.

But now we have The Last Jedi which we all know is going to make a lot of money regardless of how good it its. Backed by Disney giving the director his own trilogy which says to these people oh it’s going to so good that they are giving him is own trilogy. Yes it’s a good sign for the film but it’s also a nice distraction from the following.

1. Mark Hamill early in the process heavily criticised the writing and the direction of the Luke Skywalker character.
2. The director didn’t sit down with either the Studio or JJ Abrams to discuss the direction of the story.

Now I don’t doubt that The Last Jedi will be enjoyable but statistics don’t lie and they aren’t on the side of Star Wars. Which is why I won’t get excited and unlike fans I will go into this movie like any other with my eyes open and ignore the fact that just because it’s part of a million dollar franchise doesn’t mean that it’s any good.

One thing I will say is that Disney did a great job easing fans minds with The Force Awakens. But this is the first Star Wars film that has to deliver because now there are no more excuses for Star Wars no more George Lucas A studio ownership that can afford to get anyone they want to write and direct.

So Disney the game is on and now is the time we find out if the billions spent in buying out George Lucas was really truly worth it.

Roles within Cinema

With so many skellingtons coming out of various closest across Hollywood questions will soon begin to arise about where does cinema go from here?

The answer is increasingly complex yet simple at the same time adapt or die if cinema doesn’t change how it goes about it’s business that it will fall. However it isn’t that simple because you can’t mention the roles in cinema without mentioning equality. Now this is something that it is getting mentioned more and more and for good reason most things if not everything for hundreds of years has been made by men. ‘It’s a mans world’ is something that likes to get thrown around a lot through the years. But we are in a time we are no longer in a mans world we are a people and we have a duty to see that everyone gets treated fairly.

This is where things really get interesting because you have to start thinking about opportunities and being fair and unbiased towards any one minority. This will come in time sadly there’s no easy or quick fix the only thing we can do is be open to anyone who can fill a role or simply dares themselves to be better so they can be that role. But with time and education for those men,women and transgender who not only see a one sided vision of the future but feels like they should have preferential treatment and I’m not saying no one gender or sexual orientation type is worse than the rest. But in order to truly be equals we must face the fact that there are times we are all worse than each other it’s human nature.

It’s perception that will always be the greatest obstacle but just because a role asks for a Tom Hanks type doesn’t always mean that it should be Tom Hanks. Cinema has been the same for far too long and needs to change and the best way we can help each other is if we all stop seeing ourselves has a minority and start seeing ourselves for what we truly are. One race with many types of genders and sexual orientation but one race none the less a human race bound together by respect, opportunity and respect. Yes it seems like mission impossible now but it is achievable all we need to do is be open to all and the roles that anyone can now play.

Justice League Review

Justice League was facing an impossible challenge anyway being the film that has to fix the disastrous Batman vs Superman and also follow the success of Wonder Woman so the first obvious question becomes was it able to accomplish this and the short answer to that is no it doesn’t.

The film fails for a number of reasons the most obvious being that because during the process Zack Synder took a step back or got fired depending on what report you read and was replaced by Joss Wheedon who took on the project so they would green light his Batgirl film. There is a massive clash in styles and it really does show and because it you get this feeling on inconsistency throughout the entire film. It’s because of this that the entire film doesn’t really have a narrative flow because of all the changes from one director to another.

The visual effects are a pain and lacking to such a degree at times it looks like they’ve contacted a fanboy who still lives at home who can use After Effects and asked “hey fancy doing this.” and when you add shoddy effects with an inconsistent art direction it doesn’t matter what you do after that the film isn’t going to work and unfortunately it doesn’t.

This isn’t to say that there are moments of brilliance the play between Wonder Woman and Batman shines through very nicely almost like watching a live action Justice League Unlimited. The return of Superman was rushed but well handled because you could make an entire film off the back of the return of Superman alone. Henry Cavil finally feels like Superman at the end of the film which considering we’ve waited through Man of Steel and Batman vs Superman and about an hour and half of Justice League to have a Superman that feels right. But it was too little to late.

To me there are two Elephants in the room in regards to Justice League one is a Villain that looks terrible and sounds even worse. They missed an opportunity to really start advertising the actual threat from Batmans dream which is Darkseid but only gets a single mention. The other is Ezra Miller’s The Flash who when you first watch it becomes painfully clear that the writers earlier definition of comedy was slapstick with a hint of nerdy. It’s clear that they didn’t know what to do with The Flash so rather than be creative and create their own version of his back story they essentially did an adaptation of what you’ve already seen in the TV series.  There are some inconsistencies surrounding the character the most obvious being if he’s been active for three years which is roughly what you looking at then why does he fall over?, why still unsure of himself? and why is he slower than Superman?

Overall there are a lot problems that mask some really nice well thought out moments in the film and it’s because of this that they only way of truly describing this film is messy. enjoyable in rare moments but sadly a mess none the less.

But with The Flash getting rushed into production with other irrelevant movies in the pipeline I don’t see a way for DC to start rising to the occasion. Because has it stands all we are going to get is inconsistent occasionally enjoyable disappointments.

Sexual Harassment in Hollywood

This is a problem that by the looks of things isn’t going away any time soon so it’s important for a clear message to be sent not only to those that work within TV and Media but everyone around the world. The main word in that previous sentence being everyone, you see as it stands we are hearing about allegations being made at Men whom are both hetro and homosexual. These men could be doing anything from abusing their power or living a rather suggestive social life and it’s because of these we hear stories from being like Rose Mcgowan and many more. This problem stems right the way back to the early years of cinema when studios executives would make women dress in certain clothes and dance has a series of male executives (women didn’t have higher positions at the time) would pick the next star and who would follow them this method paved the way for several iconic stars Doris Day and further down the line Marilyn Monroe  to name but a large number.

The 30’s is how long one gender has been allowed to get away with exploitation. However in the interest of equality the troubling time will come when you hear of women sexually harassing men and the question becomes what happens then?

Well to be honest I believe that any man, woman, heterosexual and homosexual should be publicly named and shamed and face the consequences of their actions. Sadly there is no quick answer to this current mess. However I do suggest an element of calm and caution because it’s in times like these that a situation can escalate and everything become one giant Witch hunt.

Such actions are wrong, nobody in any endeavour of life or work has the right to use their position of power to satisfy their own sexual desires. Stars of Entertainment and Hollywood are among those that can look at the world and not only preach about a better tomorrow but also have the power to get up off their backside and help make that future go from the realms of the possible and into reality.

FOX under Disney

Now this is a story that has been making the rounds a lot of this past week Disney are making a move on 20th Century Fox and it’s got the world talking and for good reason because it’s a massive deal but there are a few things that I think need to be shared for the public to be aware of. Firstly they are not going after all of Fox Disney CEO Bob Iger has already publicly confirmed this. What they are going after is the complete control over it’s movies and tv properties. Now the first words out of everybody mouths was Deadpool, X-men and Fantastic Four meaning that all of the Marvel properties are finally all under one roof which was Disney’s plan from the beginning when they purchased Marvel back in 2007. This is a massive smoke screen because there are a few further things that people are ignoring and it is important to remember that the following movies and TV series will be under Disney control.

1. The Simpsons
2. The original cut of Star Wars
3. Gotham
4. NCIS
5. Avatar and it’s sequals
6. X-files

These are some of the more heavy hitters although it does mean Family Guy will also be under Disney control. Now for the most part it won’t mean very much Stars will get a proper Disney release with the original cut which means no terrible George Lucas moments. But for the most part it means additional income with The Simpsons alone generating in the region of 13 million a year. So there’s not that much to worry about and plenty to look forward to with new Heroes now able to make their MCU debut in phase four or five.

The only part of this deal that is troubling me is Gotham because even though it’s own product it’s still technically DC  which means Disney now have a direct line to DC meaning don’t be surprised if the current movies start to fail that Disney make a play for DC next.

But this is only the beginning of this story and more details will be released and I will be keeping a very close eye of this and watch how it progresses. Honestly it’s safe to say that MCU has some more movies to make.

If there’s anything you want me to write next or if you have any questions please feel free to comment and let me know.

State of Movies address

Every year thousands of films are made and released some are good some… not so good but they all have the same goal which is to be successful in regards to finance but also successful in telling a capable and enjoyable story. But with the world being the way that it is at the moment some very controversial questions are beginning to emerge from around the corner. Questions that are both complex and vital to the movie industry moving forward. Now a lot of people will have their own thoughts and opinions on these myself included. These questions also include:

Is Hollywood diverse enough when it comes to casting?

What role does sexuality play in movies moving forward?

These two questions are the most important and are in the most need of being answered because we live in a world that is changing rapidly and the a changing of the guard is suppose to happen. However with all the allegations coming out of Hollywood what we are in fact seeing is the tearing down the very foundations of Hollywood and rebuilding Hollywood in a way that is fit of purpose and adaptable to the needs of the audience and accepting of people from different backgrounds.

Making a comeback

Firstly I’d like to apologize for being away for the last year or so long story short my life got a bit messy but I’m getting better and I’m finally getting back on track which for me means getting back to writing about movies and expanding in also covering television and also doing some retro reviews so I’m able to not only give my opinion but also hopefully advise along the way.

I will be posting again very soon with a state of the industry post where I shall be going into detail about where cinema is as a whole and where it’s going.

Studios taking Control away from Directors

With reports of Fox taking control of the Fantastic Four during the editing process questions begin to be asked about if it is ever right for a studio to take executive action to such an extent that the original product begins to take on a new vision that is completely different to what was originally intended by both director and the studio. Now there are circumstances when it is a must in order to preserve the identity of a project or to prevent either negative reaction or if there has been a complete breakdown in communication between studio and the director.

A example of this would be Richard Donner and the Salkinds over Superman, orginally when Donner Signed to direct the film fresh of the success of The Omen. People immediately start looking at this film that also written by Mario Puzo writer of The Godfather. But by the time any sought of production begin roughly about 12 million dollars had been spent on test footage. However during production the Salkinds would keep on telling Donner that money was going out of control and that he needed to be better with their money. So when Superman was released Superman 2 was already 75% through production but Donner had enough of the Salkinds negativity and blaming him for the films budget which they were responsible for securing and spending, but that’s besides the point. So Donner opted to walk away from the project.

Donner and the Salkinds is a prime example of producers who expect too much and envy directors who go into the project with a clear vision. Now fast forward the current situation surrounding Fox and the Fantastic Four and we have a similar problem the direct had a clear vision of creating a different looking and feeling comic book movie. The studio gets envious and worried and frightened that they aren’t going to make their money back and take action. In this case Fox ended up ruining their own movie.You can also look at Sony and what they did with both Spiderman 3 and The Amazing Spiderman 2. They were so desperate to make money that they overload their film with villains and action that corrupts the story and really damaged the film and in the case of Spiderman 3 resulted in the film being compare to the lengths of Batman and Robin and Brett Ratners messed up sequel X-men 3 the last stand. Fox again in that case refused to giver orginal and proven director Brian Singer a break so he could make Superman Returns and actor James Marsden time away, that they fired him as director brought in a man who’s biggest hit to date was Rush Hour and killed off iconic X-man Cyclops played by Marsden within the first 20 minutes of the film.

Studios are always going to be fearful going into any project that they aren’t going to recoup their investment and will go to any lengths to guarantee success. Funniest thing is that any person in media can tell you that you can ever guarantee a film is going to be a success. However Studios who are in essence banks for film makers believe that everything can make money and when they take over a project often don’t know the first thing about cinema at all. The only thing they understand is money.

This is something that happens more often than not in media today, days of courage practically no longer exist to such a degree that independent cinema is the salvation for any hardcore movie goers because at least then they are satisfied that they are getting something written and directed to a degree that honours the words written and also hasn’t been changed by the studio in a desperate attempt to earn money. So sorry to all movie fans this insistence with the Fantastic Four happens all the time and if you look hard enough has happened all the time this is a rare occurrence of it being made public.

Fantastic Four Review (Spoilerish free)

When Fox first announced the reboot of the Fantastic Four franchise it was met with a lot of mixed reviews and deservedly so after the abomination that was the previous two films. Personally I prefer to hold onto my feelings until after the movie has been released. However this time round it was looking like Fox actually made the right call for a change. Casting looked good on paper young actors and leaning more towards the ultimate universe rather than the main universe which is a brave choice and also a good one because it’s a version that not everybody has seen. So already going in you have that sense of mystery and wonder because it’s not what people are expecting.

The film itself has had a lot of mixed reviews and being honest it was hard to see why, the director opted for a more character driven story rather than an over the top action porn fest ( no offence avengers). It worked well because you really got to relate and understand the motivation towards the characters themselves and how they feel after going through such transformations. Even Victor von Doom had layers about him. So here you have this actual film with a typical normal cinema feel about it instead of a typical comic book movie feel. Then enter Fox and yes it’s painfully obvious that they have done something because when you enter the final third of the film everything changes and yes I mean everything changes look, feel, tone dialogue all changes. Doctor Doom becomes cheesy and the dialog is very juvenile to such a degree you start to hate the characters that you are supposed to be rooting for. Then you get to final scene and the film ends with a cheesy moment and then roll credits. It’s because of the films final third that throws everything off and annoys everyone who sees it because up that point you’ve got a different yet interesting movie that would make people happy because of it’s intelligence and subtlety.

Personally I don’t buy into reports of the director going nuts and all that stuff especially when it’s not validated by any of the cast and crew who all rushed and said they loved making the film and the director was a nice guy. Personally I believe that Fox saw what was going to the final product and took over editing and made a make shift final third out of fear. So much that they have destroyed a good film and any hope of a Fantastic Four franchise that people can relate to. Personally I think after Deadpool and X-men apocolypse Fox should just bite the bullet and give the movie rights back to Marvel. Because at least then fans can rest knowing that their most beloved characters are safe and sound. Sony has already learned this after they spectactulary ruined Spiderman not once but twice and now letting Marvel help them make a film that will make everybody happy or at least in theory anyway. Fox have delivered some good films X-men, X-Men 2 and Days of Future Past. All the rest have either been terrible or just plain bad. I think they have sabotaged their own movie again it’s time to let the pros handle it from here on out.

We were close to a great almost perfect Fantastic four movie and it’s because of fear of difference that you will only remember the film for it’s final third which is a shame because two thirds are perfect but it means nothing if the ending is terrible which in this instance it is.

Terminator Genysis (spoiler free)

With Apologies for so much time since my last entry personal life stuff that I’m not really going into. This week I sat down at my local cinema to watch the non-reboot, reboot of the terminator franchise. It was a bold attempt to reset and create an alternate timeline in which they have more creative freedom to do whatever they like. However on this occasion in this particular film not only did not pay off for them it went horrifically wrong.

Lets start with casting now I’m a big Emilia Clarke fan and believe she can act in some capacity, well she has to on Game of Thrones because if you can’t act your character seems to lose their head (literally). So when she was announced as the new Sarah Connor I thought good it works she sexy on her own give her gun and you have a lot of teenage men with hardons at the cinema. With all due respect to Clarke it wasn’t entirely her fault she was just trying to make the most of a piss poorly written film with a lot of laziness and lack of character development. Jason Clarke was given the role has John Connor and in a word single handily the dumbest thing they’ve ever done in their lives. He didn’t convince me at all at any point of the movie that he was the perfect choice. Personally I would’ve added a bit of continuity and asked Christian Bale how much money he wants to do it. Because it would link in with Salvation which isn’t had bad has people make it out to be and given how the story goes in Genysis would make a much better arc. Jai Courtney as I sit here writing this I try and think of something to say about this guy in this role and nothing comes to mind. He can’t act his way out of paper bag and even then that’s an insult to paper bags everywhere. There was not conviction in anything I didn’t feel his need to go back or his love for Sarah which also hampered the movies progress. Personally I would’ve cast somebody else, anybody else other than him.

The one thing that actually was handled well and was well put together was Matt Smith which was well handled and really, really well acted by Smith. Minus the bad American Accent personally keep him British would’ve worked just has well. I think what is the most disappointing thing about this film was how quick it became an Action Porno which is upsetting because it means you can’t tell a good story because all your working on is the action sequence or the next “Hey it’s Emilia Clarke with a bigger gun moment” and because of it the story suffers which means the film suffers. Arnie in this film proves why he is the undisputed King of the Terminator role. He nails it throughout the entire film and is much more convincing than in Terminator 3. But you know it’s a bad film when this ageing action hero is best thing about this film. His acting is the best, his performance in the way he delivers action sequences flawless.

They’ve missed out an opportunity here to do something really different or to just bite the bullet and reboot all together doing what they’ve done here doesn’t serve an actual purpose. I think producers watched Days of Futures past too much and thought the concept of rebooting the same universe can work. I hope the film does well enough to spawn the next part of the story they have planned because maybe then they can sort some of this stuff out and create a better film. But don’t get me wrong it’s still an alright enjoyable action film but has a member of the terminator franchise I would have to say better than 3 and four then again that’s not that difficult but still rather disappointing.