Review - Arrival 4.5/5 *SPOILERS*

               Arrival is far from your average science fiction alien movie. This is a film that calls into question how we as a race deal with potential threats, and how we would and should react in the event of an extraterrestrial threat. It bears witness to stellar performances by Amy Adams, Jeremy Renner, and Forest Whitaker. All I can say is that I believe this movie landed a spot in my top 30 movies of all time for sure. It was the best movie of the year so far, in my opinion. I have yet to see Hacksaw Ridge, but I think Arrival definitely takes the cake.
               What I really liked about this movie, was how simple it was kept. If you're looking for an action-packed, high octane war movie about an alien invasion, look elsewhere. This is an alien movie for scholarly folk. The aliens are referred to as "Heptapods" due to their seven legs. twelve ships manned by these tentacled creatures show up as different places around the world. Nothing is known about them at first, they simply float in the skies above the countries they decided to reside over. A global investigation ensues to figure out what these ships are, how they got there, but most importantly, what is their purpose on Earth.
                Amy Adams plays the linguistics professor, Dr. Louise Banks. She was brought in by the U.S. Government to attempt communication with the aliens by boarding a ship every 18 hours through a hole that opened up. She is joined by Jeremy Renner's Ian Donnelly, a mathematician who will try and figure out technicalities of the alien ship and learn more about their technology. They form a close friendship over the course of the film.
                The cinematography and score of this movie is truly spectacular. Some of the best shots in an alien invasion film I have ever seen were done for this. This movie moved me emotionally. The music and feelings are felt by Louise, as most of the film is from her perspective and her motivations drive the plot. This movie managed to entertain and hold my attention, as well as be a beautiful peace of art, which is rare for me. I get bored easy.
                Director, Denis Villeneuve outdid himself with this. Another piece of his work is Prisoners, another favourite of mine, and you can really feel the same emotions in both films. It was scored by Jóhann Jóhannsson and he did a truly outstanding job. Absolutely the movie of the year.
                So did this movie fit my two most important categories? In both writing, adapted from Story of your Life by Eric Heisserer, and entertainment viability, this movie earns two thumbs up from me. Sci-fi fans and average movie goers alike NEED to see this film.

Arrival - 4.5/5
             

BCIT Acceptance

So I was recently accepted into the Television and Video Production program at BCIT. Finally deciding what I wanted to do with my life and taking this first step gave me the most freeing feeling. Being able to walk onto a film set knowing the basics of every role will be an excellent skill to have. Starting small obviously, but the dream is showrunning my own Netflix science fiction anthology series. If I can get there, that would be simply incredible. I'm feeling truly supported by friends and family and I have a great feeling about this next chapter in my life. Screenwriter and director is my dream job, and I pray to God I get there someday.

Short Horror Film

So I have a screenplay for a short horror film in the works. It'll be 5-10 minutes long.

Written and directed by me, some creative help from Mr. Keith Wise, and a couple people in mind to be on my cast and crew. If anyone reading this wants to get involved, give me a shout, I want this to be as successful as possible for my first foray into true film making.

I'll try to keep this blog updated as much as possible on the progress I'm making.

Have a good day, and God bless.

We Need More WW2 Movies

               War movies, specifically World War 2 movies, have some of the best titles in history. Saving Private Ryan is on my ever changing "top ten movies of all time" list. My number one favourite movie of all time is Inglorious Basterds, which isn't necessarily a war movie, but a Second World War era film. The only memorable WW2 movie in recent years that I can think of is Fury, with Brad Pitt and Shia Labeouf. Fury was pretty good, if I remember correctly. Not too many in the last few years would be my point here.

               Christopher Nolan's Dunkirk is swiftly approaching, and Tom Hanks' Greyhound is apparently in development, we have great stuff to expect. Yet, I still feel there is a gross void of WW2 movies in today's market. So many stories could be utilized, and still others could be invented.

               If I ever make it in the industry, I fully plan on helping to make some truly great WW2 films.

Lack of Original Content in Hollywood

It's truly disheartening to see how movies are these days. While there are some who keep putting out original and excellent stuff, most films these days are reboots, and sequels. If I see the horrendous Ghostbusters reboot spawn a franchise, I give up. Nobody comes up with anything original anymore, not saying I'm any different, but come on, I could do better than some of these big time writers running around today. People who have no business being in the director's chair are planted firmly in it, and nobody can write a plot that makes any damn sense anymore. Unrealistic events and characters run rampant.

Point is, I feel there should be more original work being done, even if it's heavily inspired by something else. An original movie can be very similar to another one from the past, as long as the writers are competent and bring their own version of storytelling to it. I'm just tired of the ceaseless rebooting of movies from the 80's and 90's being done today.

Anyway that's my rant for the day. Have a good day everyone.

Thoughts - September 11th, 2016

It's certainly been too long since I've posted anything.

Couple of things I want to address:

1. I have movie reviews for Suicide Squad, Morgan, and Sully in progress

2. A friend of mine started a gaming channel, just giving him a shoutout: Wondergaming.

3. Starting to think about getting a YouTube channel running to create content such as short films, movie talks, and hopefully take my sci-fi crime thriller into a fully fledged web series.

Movies are my passion, and writing and directing is going to be my focus going forward. Great things are happening, I can feel it.

Review - Nerve 3.5/5

            I went into Nerve hoping to see a pulse pounding thriller, and it did not disappoint. Emma Roberts, who I feel is a highly underrated actress, pulled off her classic character trope of a shy and withdrawn teen named Venus, or V, wishing only to keep herself under the radar. Following her story, I grew to actually care about her as a character, worrying for her more and more as she came across increasingly challenging dares for the game of Nerve. Dave Franco portrayed an excellent polar opposite to Roberts as Ian, an adrenaline junkie with a dark past that isn't revealed until late in the film. The feats that these two accomplish together had me closing my eyes or cringing while on the edge of my seat more than once.
            V starts off as a quiet and introverted teenage girl, who is thrust into Nerve by the sudden realization that she's not the most exciting person in the world. Her friends describe her as basically a sidekick, and she sets off to prove that she has an edge, even if that edge hasn't exactly manifested itself yet. Against the wishes of her peers, she teams up with Ian and the pair undergo challenges that gradually increase in difficulty, until the drama and pressure placed on her become too much.
            Ian counters V at every turn in terms of personality traits, and that's what attracts them to each other. The bad boy effect begins to take hold of V, and with Ian's influence, she becomes a true daredevil. The viewer begins to care about the duo, and love them together. The on-screen chemistry between Franco and Roberts wasn't the greatest, but it was definitely enough.
            As always, I look at a movie and grade it on three things; did it make sense, did it serve its intended purpose, and was it entertaining.
            As far as plot and character development, I had no problem with this film. The events made sense as they passed and continued on to the next, and the characters gradually were placed in different positions than they were at the beginning of the movie without being rushed.
            Nerve was intended to be a nail-biting thriller, and it was just that. The excellent direction by Henry Joost and Ariel Schulman delivered a heart-pounding experience that truly made me scared for each of the characters.
            I was utterly shocked at some of the stunts V and Ian had to pull off, each one was a surprise, and some had me wanting to pass out from the sheer anxiety that would come from the stunts they pulled. The movie definitely did entertain me, and kept my attention the entire duration


Overall, Nerve is a solid movie for regular viewers and adrenaline junkies alike.
It receives a solid 3.5/5 from me.

Nadine's Quirks and other Perks

I've known Amy my whole life, and seeing all the cool stuff she creates is just awesome.

Everyone should check out her page, Nadine's Quirks and other Perks . The artwork she posts and talks about is just great, and I'd love for more people to support her.

Graphic Novels and Comic Books

So I'm starting to work on a graphic novel idea I had. Well, it's just going to be a story for now, whether or not it ever reaches graphic novel form is unknown at the moment. The idea is a science fiction crime thriller that will consist of four parts, and follow the story of an ex-soldier and physically enhanced warrior who fought in a great war between an alien empire and the human colonies in the Andromeda Galaxy. Now living in a post war, dystopian society, he leads a resistance with his brother against the government left in charge of the colonies. However, what happens when freedom fighting becomes terrorism, and the people longing for a greater world become anarchists. He struggles with this idea while slowly coming into conflict with his brother and the very ideals he once fought for. Dealing with the aftermath of his telekinetic abilities slowly destroying his mind.

This is what I'm going to be working on currently, and I hope to turn it into something truly great.

No Words - Freewrite

Yes, I'm finally getting back on the horse with this damn blog. Here's a freewrite coming from a post on /r/WritingPrompts.

          There she was, as elegant as ever, ravishing even in an over-sized hoodie and sweatpants. Her glasses sat crooked on her face, and she bore a slim smile on her face, as always. Her hair partially hidden under a beanie, she walked to the back of the shop and ordered the same regular cup of coffee she did every morning. She was that kind of girl. 

          She sat on the sofa across from me and we exchanged smiles. She got to work immediately, finishing that paper that was due Thursday in her psychology class. Her organization was impeccable, yet marked with disorder. There was a method to her madness, no matter what she did. Her stressful life was a facade for serenity. She was that kind of girl.

          Maybe I was crazy, but it felt like I knew her beyond this coffee shop, like we had shared a history. Good and bad memories flooded my head, that I knew had never even happened. She was an enigma, an unsolvable puzzle in the very centre of my life. She was the reason I came to this coffee shop every morning, just to see her. She was that kind of girl

          I smiled, finished my coffee, and made for the door. As i walked past her, she grabbed my arm. I looked down at her and she stared right back at me. 

          "Hi, I'm Emily." Her first words to me. It was a long time coming, but she did what I had never realized I wanted to do. She beat me to it. She was that kind of girl.