Take A Look -You Won't Regret It

While posting about what a great actor Benicio Del Toro is I thought about one of my favorite horror movies of all time -'The Skin I Live In'. If you haven't seen this terrific psychological horror movie then you're in for a treat!! Antonio Banderas eats up the role of a twisted doctor who -who -AW SCREW IT! I can't reveal the shocking truth about what this film is about!! See it, its freaky good!

Can DC Comics' Movies Ever Catch Up To Marvel's???

One of my favorite actors, Benicio Del Toro always ADDS TO whatever film he's in at the moment. Remember his too small role in Disney's lousy movie, 'The Last Jedi'? He played an unscrupulous arms dealer, willing to sell weapons to anyone -especially The First Order! Man, you could've done a whole series of movies on that character with Benicio playing it. Just one look at him and you wonder what that character has been through. If he gets into DC Comics' movies it'll help them because DC's films are in such bad shape it's ridiculous.

Take Me To BENICIO and SUPER GIRL Right Now! 

PUT YOUR PANTS ON -I MEAN SKIRT -NO, MAKE THAT PANTS --OK, MAKE IT A SKIRT

Not another terrible all 'females that wannabe males' movie!!! Hasn't Hollywood learned from bombs like the all female 'Oceans 11' and 'Ghostbusters'?? These idiots think they are actually catering to a demand for more female directed and starred in movies. But no one ever said that the movies need to be exclusive of males or show males WEAKENED. This is just more nonsense from people who don't understand feminism or from feminists who think they need to be men to be treated equal to them. Whichever is the case it's going to BOMB as well.

Take Me To All Female Hell

Happens More Than You Realize...

She's goes out a winner, having achieved notoriety for her work at a young age. I won't weep too much because of that. Life is cruel -just remember, lots of babies die before birth, right after birth and many die as children. In that light you see, Mya is a winner. Most don't realize how lucky they are just to reach the ripe old age of 20.

Mya Naylor Sudden Death 

SHAZAM This Movie Review!

'Shazam's a decent, standard (meaning professionally orchestrated) Hollywood movie that's a bit in a rush to entertain you but succeeds in doing so. What I mean by this is that the jokes -and there are plenty of them -and the pacing of the lines and cutting are rapid fire. That's not a bad thing UNTIL it becomes noticeable which it does in this film. That being said, let's take a look at it in a categorical fashion:

THE WRITTEN NARRATIVE

As I hinted at above, the writing is pretty standard and the characters all follow some predictable character arcs with a couple of instances of emotional insencerity thrown in do this cookie-cutter plot. The story goes like this. A WIZARD, the last of 7 ancient WIZARDS who's job is to keep in check the 7 Sins (yep, the one's from the Catholic religion), in check -is dying. He needs to pass on his magic to a 'chosen one'. While seeking out this special person he offends a young man by the name of Thaddeus Sivana and then years later must deal with him after he returns to seek respect. Conveniently (plot wise) the Wizard finally finds someone he can entrust his powers to in the form of Billy Batson and transfers it to him --sans instructions on how to use them! Hahaha. Anyway we all know that this is a set up for the well worn super hero origin trope of the hero trying to figure out what powers he has and how to use them.Thanks to the witty, sarcastic rants of the hero's foster brother, Freddy Freeman, the scenes of power discovery and training or pretty funny and entertaining. The rest of the story is unoriginal that it hardly bears mentioning -SO I WON'T.

THE VISUAL NARRATIVE

The visual direction of 'SHAZAM' is pretty basic. Nothing flashy here folks, just some good old, reliable camera set ups and special effects. CGI stuff looks pretty convincing and the cutting, pacing and flow of the action is good: most of the action is spontaneous and doesn't appear to be 'staged' like in a bad action movie. Also -be aware that there are some very, very violent scenes in this film which go great to counter the films heavy comedic lean. These scenes are downright brutal and chilling for a super hero film and when you see them you will know exactly which ones I'm talking about. In fact, now that I think about it, the director did a fantastic job bringing visions of true evil to life. True evil is rather merciless and you do get this impression when the '7 Sins' are freed from their frozen state as gargoyle-like statues inside the The WIZARD'S headquarters or lair and begin attacking ordinary people.

THE ACTING

All of the actors are pretty decent and well chosen. I've always said that casting is the most important thing in visual storytelling. Actors have to not only be able to handle the emotional and intellectual manifestations of their characters but they also need to PROJECT THE CHARACTER'S MAIN QUALITIES OR ESSENCE WITHOUT SAYING A WORD. This helps in maintaining the all-important SUSPENSION OF DISBELIEF in the audience. Shazam's actors mostly fit this bill quite well and in some ways they exceed it (speaking about the resourceful and flippant best friend / sidekick to Shazam -Freddy Freeman (played enthusiastically by Jack Dylan Grazer. He nearly steals the movie with his downright carelessness with testing the newly minted super hero's powers.)

So, all in all this is a movie is definitely a must-see for comic book movie producers and other professionals and for non-professionals as well. It's whole premise of a bunch of young kids gaining super powers is irresistible and provides enough material for a bunch of sequels that definitely would like to see (if they are done well, of course!)

Copyright © 2019 George Alan Booker, all rights reserved

Wasted Beauty And Talent Leads To Tax Debt!

It's a damn shame that the famous Mel B (aka 'Scary Spice') never parlayed her great beauty into a film career after her pop group, 'Spice Girls' faded from view. Actresses with even lesser amounts of beauty have made the jump into the the visual storytelling scene and are making big bucks. Now Mel B has had to deal with accusations of non payment of taxes. But to her defense she has been seriously distracted. She's claimed that in all this time she's been dealing with abuse from her now ex husband Stephan Belafonte. You can't think about a career in acting while enduring psychological and physical abuse at home. That's why I always say that talent and skill mean little in reality. Luck is almost 100% responsible for a person's success. Of all the people that make it there's even more that failed to live through childhood or wound up with evil career destroying people in there lives. So don't sweat it if you fail at being a very successful visual storyteller of some sort in this life. Even doing a little MEANS YOU'VE SUCCEEDED compared to all of the others who haven't even gotten that far

Now You See Millions -NOW YOU DON'T. Mel B's Spice Girl Bucks All But Gone

Mel B On The Rebound! 

You Know She Hates You If She Has Her Vagina Scraped After The Breakup

Just look at this woman!! What man in his right mind would MARRY her and then ABUSE her??? Some guys out there are stupid as fuck and deserve absolutely nothing in this world! NOTHING. If you see a woman of this level of quality and she's being abused it's your job to take her away from that loser!! I've done this in real life. It don't take much to separate a beauty from a shithead. She just needs a little nudge --and she's yours! Date her yourself or hook her up with your buddy. Just rescue her!

Star Wars A New Hope Full Soundtrack!

Before Star Wars you couldn't get a kid (or many adults) within 20 miles of ANY classical music. Then after the movie debuted young people were rushing to the stores and buying up the Star Wars album like it was a Beetles recording!! Hahaha.  I was among them! Up until then I filled my days with Rock and Roll only! Well SW ended that. There were TV news spots showing the album flying out of music stores faster than they could restock them! From there us kiddies went to the other classics like Beethoven and  Wagner, etc. Wow, quite an amazing effect! If you've never just listened to the pure music of the soundtrack then you're missing out. And 'Princess Leia's Theme' belongs right up there with the greatest classical recordings in history (my humble opinion!)



YOUTUBE COMMENTATOR: "This is giving my ears a boner" -Sprite

My Spider-Sense Is TINGLING!! I Sense A LAWSUIT COMING!!!

FanATICS -you know those people who call themselves fans but really should be placed inside a mental institution -plan on making some sort of really serious MOVIE regarding the unmade 4th film of famed Spider-Man original trilogy director Sam Raimi. Now we've had a shit-load of Spidey films since the original Raimi trilogy and to tell you the truth, they weren't THAT BAD considering it was made by a bunch of Hollywood studio types that typically use comic books to wipe their asses with (You ever wonder why they can never get the costumes or stories just like they are in the comic books? Yep. That's why).

Well this is all just great news if you are a fanATIC. But if you are a Hollywood honcho it's not. Why? Because the higher the quality of fan films the more they involve professionals working on them. And the longer the fan film is the more it's like a real movie. To say it simply: you're no longer helping the studio advertise it's product with your amateur fan film but you are now a COMPETITOR.

And with all competitors in the visual storytelling fields you must be crushed. Sorry, it's nothing personal. But there's only so many dollars out there and each and every visual storyteller believes that those bucks look better in his fists than in yours. So, my spider-sense is tingling. I sense a lawsuit coming right at these guys.

Oh, by the way, this article is located at a shitty website. You know, one of those web sites where images and logos and crap follow you down the page where ever you scroll to. So my advice is to probably just type the same subject matter into your browser and Google another website -if this website is just too fucking annoying (which it is). It even crashed the browser tab it was on!!

Click Here To Read About The Disaster Before It Happens

The Trouble With A Good Idea...

Movie Pass' attempt at bringing subscription-style services to the chain movie theater business was at least admirable, if not poorly handled. The service has basically killed itself with misguided rules concerning how many movies a member to it's club can watch and at what price. And it failed to anticipate that their business model could be easily 'stolen' or done better by the theater houses THEMSELVES. Hahaha. I'm about a day from going to an AMC theater and getting me my $20 a month, 3 movies a week movie pass!!! Yaaay! I'm a kid again, watching a bunch of flicks in the movie theater like it was a TV set instead of the big screen!

Check out the full article here...

It's Trademark Lawsuit Time! Just Who Owns Alita: Battle Angel???

There's a fight going on for the total rights to 'Alita: Battle Angel' even though there's a movie out on the subject right now. WTF. That mark has been in use for years BY ANOTHER COMPANY other than the one's that have made the movie.

How can this happen in this day and age of instant information checks?? Either there's a big misunderstanding between two companies or somebody's trying to walk over someone else (someone a lot smaller than them!)

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/thr-esq/foxs-alita-battle-angel-hit-trademark-lawsuit-1181407

Better Late To A Great Movie Than NEVER! CREED!!

Finally watched the well received boxing movie, 'CREED', and boy was that a good flick! Full of great scenes and superb, realistic 'street' dialog and emotions. Not a sappy 'scrappy loser makes good' tale but one where the struggle is emotionally difficult and the fall is always near -but the hero, famed (fictional) boxing champ, Apollo Creed's bastard son, Adonis Creed, vindicates his existence by following in the footsteps of the father he never knew. If you got the time (and the popcorn) you need to watch this movie. No nonsense great filmmaking!!! Can't wait to watch part 2 that came out at the end of last year [I'm so late to this 'Creed' film series-it's painful!]

Double Blows: 'Oscars So White' and '#Metoo' Movement Raise Questions Of Ligitamacy In Academy Award Contenders

Here's a well thought out article on how films can become embroiled in political movements and / or social causes (such as the 'Oscars So White' complaint) which may or in some cases may not ruin their chances of reaching a greater audience.

How Green Book and Bohemian Rhapsody Became This Year’s Oscar Villains

 

 

 

 

You Can't Steal What's Already Yours Back From The People Who Borrowed It!

Go To Article

 
Fans are upset that the creator of a Star Wars fan film didn't get any money from the music that Disney sued him over because of an alleged copyright infringement. But why??? You are already using COPYRIGHTED AND TRADEMARKED MATERIALS to make your Star Wars film and YOU WILL GET MONEY FROM IT AFTER IT'S BROADCAST ON YOUTUBE. Why is everyone shocked that this system is perceived as two directional by the people that own the legal rights to it?? They should be able to make money off of YOUR MOVIE too WHICH HAS THEIR SUBJECT MATTER IN IT.

Disney has done no wrong. In fact this is revealing: more companies are going to start taking control of their content from the fans BECAUSE (I'm sorry to bust your fanboy bubble) YOU NEVER REALLY OWNED IT. It was on loan and the loaner (or LOAN SHARK) is coming to collect. And he's got the corporate muscle to do it.

Up until now corporations have been at a loss on how to deal with the rampant theft, plagiarism, copyright and trademark ripping on the Internet. Seems like they've finally figured it out: You make it, get your Youtube chump check -then we take it and make some real bucks off of it (after the lawsuit -of course!)

The 6 Million Dol- ER! The 6 BILLION DOLLAR MAN Movie (adjusted for inflation!) Is Almost Here!

The great old TV show, 'Six Million Dollar Man', starring Lee Majors, is being remade into a theatrical movie starring Mark Wahlberg (he of the 'Transformer' franchise). BUT the project is still being dragged along by Warner Bros. It'll take forever at this rate to get this great concept onto the big screen! The classic TV show had the best sci-fi intro ever! The Youtube link to it is provided below, as is the article to the '6 Billion Dollar Man' foot dragging going on behind the scenes.

https://movieweb.com/six-billion-dollar-man-movie-release-date-2019/

6 Million Dollar Man Original TV Intro

San Andreas (The Earth Quake Save) 4K

From 'San Andreas'! One of the most incredible disaster film scenes ever shot! If you missed this movie the first time around you missed an incredible visual experience. The incredible 'single take' shot through a building as it crumbles was worth a $100 movie ticket!!! Thank goodness we only had to spend about $10.00 on average (non matinee of course!) Enjoy!

How Editing Saved and Made Star Wars Great

This is a superb (and to the point --talk about editing!) examination of why Star Wars 'feels' the way it feels. That snappy, quick pace and sharp dialog was on purpose. And now we know how Lucas succeeded so grandly... his Editorial Force.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GFMyMxMYDNk

Boba Fett Is Ready For His (Helmeted) Close Up!

I sure hope that Disney has had enough of burning itself at the stove of mediocrity and terribleness; enough that they make sure they hire quality directors and writers and not flashy idiots (J.J. Abrams and most of the rest of the 'Rey Trilogy' films) for all of the Mandalorian episodes. The movie appears to be dead in the water but streaming episodic shows (such as 'Game of Thrones) is big now and that's where this will be seen. Then on TV perhaps. Some episodes can even be shown in the theater if they market it right. Anyway this is good news.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/davidkirby/2018/11/01/star-wars-tv-series-the-mandalorian-is-great-for-disney-and-fans/?fbclid=IwAR0a5eZUz-LDy4c9rlyaXfEGoXzgGrHzgDLdqhx5p8TNHIOy23lSe3ML7PA#3fcd9e04132a

NOW SHOWING: 'A Simple Favor'

ANNA KENDRICK and BLAKE LIVELY'S new movie plays like a candy coated minefield and is a delight to watch unfold. It's humorous, treacherous, sarcastic and sexy all at once.

ANNA KENDRICK plays a deceptively innocent Internet website entrepreneur named Stephanie that's been on a hidden emotionally fall since a personal tragedy. She then meets someone who (apparently!) is the exact opposite of her in the woman, Emily, played to the hilt by the lovely but rough around the edges-feeling BLAKE LIVELY.

Once the two get to know each other a little bit more -and I stress 'a little bit' they begin a game of mental cat and mouse that soon involves the character Sean, (the husband of Emily), acted to perfection by HENRY GOLDING. The plot of this film is practically irrelevant; it plays second fiddle to the more important thing on demonstration here: that the people you think you know are more complex than you think and what's worse they have only shown you what they want you to see... because they have plans for you.

The director, PAUL FEIG, and cinematographer, JOHN SCHWARTZMAN, each did excellent jobs in graphically alluding to and revealing the true darker natures of the characters. Using solid lighting effects, muted tones, and vivid colors along with any necessary shadow play the cinematographer kept the film visually appealing. Meanwhile the director's unflashy, unpretentious style kept you concerned only with the plot -as it should be. All of this was set off by a sometimes bouncy, definitely irreverent, and without a doubt sharp script by JESSICA SHARZAR.

Having noted all of these things one of the most important qualities you'll notice about this film is the refreshing nod to real life random diversity of racial interactions. You have Muslims, Blacks, Asians, Gays and of course Whites casually interacting on a constantly changing basis. Like your modern American city you can be talking to an Egyptian at one moment, take a call from your Asian secretary the next, then get stopped by an obviously Gay gentleman looking for directions -all within 5 to 10 minutes of each other. I haven't seen a movie display so many different types of people within it's narrative so effortlessly.

Another unexpected bonus I got from this film was ANNA KENDRICK'S 'secretly horny nerd girl' appeal. Her nascent loveliness is of course well known but this film reveals a another level of her acting skills and charisma in general.

No regrets watching this movie indeed. So if you want a good 'little' film that flirts with the murder-mystery lover in you then go watch it!

George Alan Booker © 2018 All Rights Reserved

'SEARCHING' [otherwise titled: 'SELF-SABOTAGING YOUR OWN WORK']

I managed to go see the new movie, 'Searching' a couple of days ago and came away from it largely entertained but also with a nagging feeling that somehow it had let me down.

After much thinking I realized that the mood I entered the theater with -that of a thriller fan about to see a good, suspenseful or at least shock filled movie, was ruined as soon as the film began by the presentation of a short film contest winner's work. The event was hosted by the director of 'Searching' himself.
 

Let me elaborate. At the beginning of the film the director addresses the audience and presents to you a short film contest winner  who made a light film about Internet driven searches. The plot of this short film was about a young man who mistakenly suspected that his girl was cheating on him and seeking confirmation of this by snooping into her phone contacts and then to other information services available on the Internet. The film was comedic and for what it was, well done. But without me realizing it the damn thing had all but destroyed my reasonably high level of anticipation for the thriller, 'Searching' that immediately followed it.

So after I watched the thriller (an unoriginal who-done-it drama that may have ripped off one or many TV detective tales...) I had this feeling that it LACKED some quintesential satisfaction. That feeling I soon found out came from the comedic film presented before it. I confirmed this with another person who saw the short film and he bitterly denounced the short film as a 'stupid thing to do'. I completely agreed.
 

I paid my money to watch a THRILLER, that many people said was good, and got shoveled a 15 minute or less AMATEUR and genre CONTRARY movie at the start of my evening. It was one of the most stupid and selfish things I've ever seen done to a captive audience such as a movie going public. It was a blatant PLUG for some AMATEUR DIRECTOR who I and I feel others COULD CARE LESS ABOUT. In a way I was hoodwinked into buying one piece of crap movie to watch a better one. Had that awful short film been placed AFTER the real movie -the thriller I went there to see- then I may have been more receptive to it's humorous take of jealousy driven Internet / social media snooping but it wasn't. I had to swallow this bitter pill up front and now I resent it.

The name of this director (of 'Searching') I'll now remember as some sort of 'bait and switch' clown trying to be like Pixar or something without realizing how and why Pixar puts humorous or clever shorts in front of their damn HUMOROUS AND CLEVER MOVIES. They don't conflict, that's why. They don't show you a fucking Horror short film contest winner before the main Action-Adventure movie or a fucking Documentary on the Berlin Wall fall before Toy Story 5!

That's one way to get a negative review of your film, Mr. Director That Shall Not Be Mentioned. Instead of me acting like that masses of watermellon heads talking about how good the main feature was you got one explaining your self-serving, intellectual arrogancy. I'll make sure I watch your next film on a DVD I rent for a dollar if I watch any other movie you make at all.

One saving grace was the superb performance of lead actor John Cho. If you see this I'm-such-a-clever-writer / director' bullshit film then see it for how John Cho saves it.

Alan Booker

More Fake Star Wars From Disney

Get ready to duck because this garbage is coming our way far too soon (Christmas, 2019). Why in the sacred halls of the Jedi Temple do people call this Disney trilogy featuring that tomboy, Rey, part of the 'Skywalker Saga'?? None of these films are about Luke or Leia or Darth. Even that lousy SUB PLOT of Kylo Ren and his quest to become a Dark Lord of the Sith (I guess this was his quest until the lazy writers had him kill Snokes who I GUESS was training him...) was not enough to call these movies a part of the 'Skywalker Saga'.

These are the REY FILMS. THE REY TRILOGY. Let's clarify that right now. And who in the hell is REY?? We still don't know the answer to that simple question. And if she had bad parents (hinted at in 'The Last Jedi') then who the hell raised her?? A bunch of Jawas?? She was a young girl abandoned by her parents (in 'The Force Awakens') and yet we are TWO FILMS DEEP INTO HER STORY AND SHE HASN'T MENTIONED WHO THE FUCK RAISED HER!!!???!!

This Rey Trilogy is turning out to be some of the WORST examples of visual storytelling in film history. Put out by a major studio too!! WTF.

So if in the next and last Rey movie (hopefully!) Disney fails to address the 800 pound Bantha in the Death Star docking bay then it'll signal the end of Star Wars as we know it. If Jar Jar Abrams (J.J. Abrams to all those still in denial) fails to fix the mess THAT HIS COWARDLY ATTEMPT at visual storytelling caused; his and Disney's ARROGANT attempt at remaking a CLASSIC MOVIE SUCH AS 'STAR WARS-A NEW HOPE' when they made that POS  film, 'The Force Awakens'), then the forces of REVISIONISM have won.

For like an evil third world government that forments a revolution, claiming to be FOR THE PEOPLE, then after seizing power they become dictators while claiming that the REVOLUTION is STILL BEING FOUGHT, Disney intends on making us believe that the REBELLION was never successful and is an ONGOING BATTLE. They call the previously victorious Rebel Alliance 'The Resistance' now... STILL FIGHTING the war so that the CORPORATE DICTATORS can stay in power!

All this post rebel victory stuff was covered in the SW comic books and novels that Disney chucked out of the Falcon's window recklessly once they bought SW from Lucas. Now they're going to give us THEIR MEDIOCRE VERSION OF IT ALL?!?!? Hell no!!

https://makingstarwars.net/2018/08/principle-photography-on-star-wars-episode-ix-has-begun/