As a film lover and someone who loves to keep his ear to the ground to hear about films that people are talking about, I found “The Strange Thing about the Johnsons” to be a film everyone was buzzing about since 2011. Premiering at Slamdance, director Ari Aster’s short film has made waves across the board amassing a following of film lovers. The aspect about Ari Aster’s short film is that it’s built a foundation of movie lovers that have seen the film and either love it or absolutely despise it. Checking the buzz on the net, I’ve seen so many viewers who detest it from head to toe and just bash it endlessly, while others appreciate and adore its guts. One commenter of the film claims this is a part of the Jewish agenda to tarnish the African American image.
Tag Archives: Thriller
Forensic Speak: How to Write Realistic Crime Dramas [Paperback]
The lovely Jennifer Dornbush has written one of the few manuals for writing that I tore through in a matter of hours. “Forensic Speak” is a painstaking guide for screenwriters, and authors of all kinds who want to write a crime or detective novel, but don’t know all of the terminology that comes with the profession. Writing a novel or screenplay without knowing the terminology not only immediately removes all believability from your story, but is distracting to the viewer or reader who may know more than you do, in the end. I assumed “Forensic Speak” would be three hundred pages of endless terms and definitions, but Ms. Dornbush structures the book to where anyone seeking a reference for a particular terminology can find what they’re looking for.
Judge Dredd (1995)
Before the comic book movie revival of the twenty first century, the nineties didn’t have that many notable comic book movies to brag about. There was the awful “Tank Girl,” and the even worse “Barb Wire.” There was “Spawn,” and “Generation X,” and “Nick Fury: Agent of SHIELD,” “STEEL,” and “Batman and Robin.” And like those aforementioned titles, Hollywood adapted these titles completely missing why readers actually flocked to them in the first place. Never content with laying waste to more underground comic books, Hollywood eventually got its hands on Judge Dredd and turned it in to a Hollywood schlock fest that was so desperate for an audience it cast Rob Schneider in a major role.
Titanic (1997)
It’s not a surprise why “Titanic” ended up becoming one of the highest grossing movies of all time and was later de-throned by “Avatar” by the very same director that brought us the aforementioned movie. Both films are so utterly broadly written and vague in their mass appeal that they’re pretty much guaranteed to be massive hits. With his hand on the button of the latest special effects, and a script that can be as ho hum and derivative as possible without a single complaint from his audience, “Titanic” is one of the two major blockbusters from director James Cameron. And like his future massive hit “Avatar,” it is an immense crowd pleaser because it doesn’t challenge or push its audience to think. It merely offers up vague characters, hackneyed archetypes, and a bang up special effects presentation that is still the small highlight in a giant disappointment.
Breaking Bad: Our Thoughts on the Finale
WARNING: The following article contains spoilers to all five seasons of “Breaking Bad.”
With Gustavo Fring dead, thanks to the wits and desperation of Walter White, “Breaking Bad” begins at a time where Walter is pretty much the only potential heavyweight in the crime world. Fring was in fact the king of the castle for decades and Walter worked with the man to ensure delivery of his special meth as well as battle for his life. Over the months preceding Fring’s death, Walter’s use became less and less a necessity to Gustavo and soon Walter decided that he had to shoot first or find himself dead and buried.
Planet of the Apes (2001)
Subtlety has never been one of Tim Burton’s strong suits as a filmmaker. As a storyteller and overall director, Burton’s films rely on imagery and over enthusiastic narratives to do what he can’t as a craftsman. Oddly enough Burton is assigned to direct a remake of one of the most thematically subtle films of all time. “Planet of the Apes” is one of the most relevant commentaries on humanity and politics that has ever been brought to the big screen, and Burton never really grasps that aspect.
The Room (2003)
My love for The Room has not been an easy road. It took months of fine tuning, refinement, some conformity and skipping doses of my meds to get down to the level of Tommy Wiseau and his unmitigated cult masterpiece. Whether you’ve seen the movie in its true form, whether you’ve seen it play on the April Fool’s Day airings on cable television here in America, whether you were there during the great tirade of Wiseau on online critics, “The Room” and its charms are almost impossible to ignore. It’s a movie so bad, so inept, so unbelievably painful, it’s almost impossible to comprehend anyone thought it would be great on-screen, “The Room” is a film I constantly quote to this day–ohai Mark!