Month: July 2017

Inside the Chaos: Networking: How to Work a Room – Part 1

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Like many people new to the television industry, I hear all the time about the importance of networking. “You’ve got to meet people! It’s all about who you know!” It can almost sound disheartening for a young aspiring person in television, as some of us who do not “know anyone” may have felt. Here are some of the tips I’ve found in my travels. I am by no means an expert and when it comes to “working the networking room.” There are multiple ways to talk, meet and mesh with the right people, but if you find some of my tips helpful, take them, good reader!

PART ONE: Getting IN

GO TO EVENTS

-This is where you get out your planner, your phone, and Google and start looking up industry events in your area that are free. Ink Drinks, People and Pints, Relaxing Events, Meet and Greets, open launch parties, etc. Google them, pencil them in and then get out your phone and text your film friends to come! Do this for several reasons. 1) Opening the offer to friends increases your friendship. 2) Going with other film-industry people around you assists your game plan.*

*THE GAME PLAN – Get your friends together and, if you don’t already do this, give it a try (but use caution). When you go to an open event with friends, make sure you both know what the other is doing in the industry. When you start mingling, refer to your friends accomplishments and vice versa. Talk each other up. Get your friend’s name out there. It’s a great way to span your potential sphere of influence. Just remember, do not over talk anyone, boast without cause, or lie. An example: “Oh, you work in post? My friend is doing that at [insert show] and loving it! They are here somewhere. How did you get into doing post…”

GO TO PARTIES

Yes, parties and events are different, of course, but both offer different fertile ground to work with, networking wise. By parties I mean short film launches, film festival launches, wrap parties, studio launch parties, etc. These might be harder to find as not as many are widely publicized and they are typically much smaller, more intimate gatherings. My advice here: if the invitation or opportunity exists and you are able to take it, take it! If your a PA on a show and get a mass email to a team event like going to see a show together or a baseball game, don’t think, “Oh that is just for the upper management!” YOU GOT THE INVITE, YOU ARE INVITED. I once got a mass invitation to a launch party for a show I was on. We were still in prep and I had yet to meet anyone on the shoot. I went and ended up at a party with all the executive producers (the only people who came!) and for the rest of the show, they always smiled, nodded and said hello to me by name when they saw me.

VOLUNTEER

Use your best judgment with this one so as to not get taken advantage of. When I first started out in the industry (the first six months or so) I did a variety of free work for specific credits I was looking for. Some of them led to paid work down the line, and some of them did not. But offering people your time, at your discretion, and on projects you are sincerely interested in, can help create new networking strategies. Offer to read over an idea to a peer, offer a day of PA work for a non-union gig, offer some names for volunteers you know who might be interested in a project or event offer to tweet, like, or promote someone’s idea. Everything helps to instill you as a person who goes out of their way to support others in the industry and that is a valuable aspect in any instrumental friendship.

MAKE FRIENDS

It’s not any easier now than it was in grade school, so I get why that is, for some people, a terrifying notion. But here’s the thing, never feel like you are using people in the industry. I’ve heard a lot of friends express concern that “networking” feels very artificial and lacquered over. I’m sure it can be, but try to re frame it in your mind. Do not look at a person and think, “Hmm, what can they do for me?” Look at the person and think, ” What can I learn from them? What can we learn from each other?” And when you talk to them, sincerely listen. And sincerely care. As a general tip, talk to everyone you can, but network with people who you would legitimately want to grab a non-work-related beer with.

Part Two: Conversation Tips for Networking will be coming up next time

Writer’s confessions: 4 Struggles of the Part-Time Writer and 4 Solutions

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by Kierston Drier

Anyone here a professional or aspiring-to-be professional writer? Regardless of your level of success, professional writer is likely working contract or freelance. An aspiring writer is likely writing on weekends in order to polish their work and get it noticed. Sound familiar? What do both of these people have in common? Both of them are probably writing in their down time- one to hone their skills and one to stay sharp.

Here are five common problems of the weekend writer, and 5 ways to fix them.

PROBLEM: Motivation.

Whether you just finished your last paid script or you’ve spent the last two
years at a 9-5 job, motivation (or lack thereof) affects us all. You may be too tired to write, you may have a hard time thinking of new ideas. You may just have low moral thinking about how difficult the industry can be.

solution.jpgSOLUTION: Remember What You Love.

Remind yourself why you started doing this in the first place. Remind yourself why you love writing, and what stories you want to tell. Go back through your work and read the pieces you are most proud of. This is your passion, and you have it in you to follow it.

Also remember: it is okay to take a night off. But don’t let a night off slip into two months off.

time.jpg2. PROBLEM: Time

We hate to overuse the reason, but it is true. Time constraints affect us all. Between work, our homes, our partners, our family responsibilities- some of us also juggle school or parenthood in the mix of that, our weekends are shorter than they use to be and our work days longer than ever before. When do you find the time?

SOLUTION: Rethink Your Time.

No. I’m going to say “Make time.” Everyone hears that. But frankly, unless you want to forgo sleep, “making time” can be as impossible and squeezing a wall clock to get extra minutes out of it. So rethink the time you have.

Working a 60 hour week? Jot down your plots, characters and ideas during your commute. Evenings loaded down with chores and various time-sucking responsibilities? Text yourself the joke you just thought, and use it for future reference.

Weekends loaded with social plans? Call your writers friends and turn your next night out into a writer’s night in- Make cocktails and bring your latest spec idea to the table- get feedback on it from the people who love you and share your passion.

Discouragement.jpg3. PROBLEM: Discouragement

Someone two years younger than you is already in a writers’ room. You career rudderless, financially treading water while other people seem to get what they want so easily. The story you’ve been working on just got made, and now you’re idea is worthless. It’s hard to stay upbeat when discouragement hits you.

SOLUTION: Reassess Your Goals.

Remember that success is not a party at the end of a long night. Success in the film and television industry is often more like a wheel that is forever rotating. Someone at the top today may not be tomorrow. Persistence, humility and hard work will take your farther than creeping someone else’s success ever will. Forget what other people are doing, and just do you.

Maybe it is something else getting you down? Maybe you’ve been nurturing a screenplay based on a historical figure, and just found out that same movie is coming out? Take some time to grieve, but then remember that you are not a one trick pony. If you want to tell stories for a living, remember that cranking out ideas is a part of that process. Find your passion for the next story you want to tell.

take risks4. PROBLEM: INSPIRATION
Okay, I have the time, the attitude, and the motivation- why don’t I have any ideas?!?!?! Someone tell me how to jumpstart my creativity!!

SOLUTION: GO OUT AND DO STUFF.

Great question, glad you asked. How do you jumpstart your inspiration for a piece? We often under-estimate that writing is very inclusive solitary work that frequently hauls us up in our rooms locked away from the world for hours at a time. How do you fix that? GO OUTSIDE.

If the best writing comes from real life, then writers must be students of life. It may seem counter-intuitive that in order to be a better writer you should…ahem…stop writing for a bit. Yet, this is a strategic choice. Go outside, meet people, do things, watch your favorite movies and TV shows with friends and family and talk about them. Go to mixers, go to film screenings, go to film festivals. Talk about the things you do and listen to other people. Ideas happen when life happens. So live your life, and ideas will follow.

Inside The Chaos: 5 Rules for Your Short Film

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We’ve all heard it before – your short film is a calling card for your work in your industry. A highlight reel of your best work. Many of us come out of school having made one, or on our way to making one. We often pour our hearts, hopes, souls, and paychecks into their creation. But are they good?

Today we will be analyzing the very first step of making a film: Crafting the script. Below are five major things that help shape a good script into a great script.

*Note: Rules are meant to be broken. There will always be films that make it big that transgress the general rules. But it is also true that the elements below will be found in more successful films than not.

effeciency.jpg1. EFFICIENCY

Bow down before this God. Your film must be efficient. What does that mean? The baseline definition follows ” to accomplish something with the least waste of time and effort; competency in performance” (Dictionary.com)

What does that mean for your short film? There must not be a wasted line, useless character or excess action. Every act and every sentence must do one of three things 1) assist in the goal 2) conflict with the goal 3) Pass on crucial information.

Even in comedy, where banter can be a source of humor, that banter must be directed towards the task at hand, and it must resolve with information being passed.

Consider Abbott and Costello’s Iconic “Who’s on First” sketch. This piece is nothing but quick and witty banter about a confused identity, but at the center, both characters are attempting to pass along vital information. Every line either assists that goal, conflicts with that goal, or passes on information.

originality.jpg2. ORIGINALITY

This is a tricky one. It can be argued that there are no new ideas. And countering against that, film genres like Romantic Comedies have been successfully exploiting the same plot arch for decades. Bottom line: Make sure your idea hasn’t been done before. And if it has, look for a way to get your emotional goals across in a slightly different way.

Research your concept! Has it been done before? If it has, find out how well it worked and why? How can you make your concept be the story you want to tell, without being a story that has already been told.

spoon feed.jpg3. DO NOT SPOON FEED YOUR AUDIENCE

A classic rule of cinema is “show, don’t tell”. Don’t tell us character X is having money problems. SHOW character X’s credit card being declined at the grocery store, show them digging in their pockets for bus money, show them walking past a pile of “urgent” bill notices in their hallway. Trust the audience. They will get it.

make us feel.jpg4. MAKE US FEEL

Like any true art form, there is some unknowable sense of magic in this element. I once went to a stand-up comedy class where the teacher said, “I cannot make you funny. But if you are funny, I can teach you tricks to make your funnier.” This is, essentially, the same deal. From the most novice writer to the most advanced, this is the jewel of a short film.

Whatever you are writing- comedy, tragedy, drama- we need to care about the character’s goal. We may hate them, we may love them, we may want them to win, we may want them to fail- but we, as the audience, need to want something from the character and their goal.

How exactly does a writer accomplish this? It is a highly subjective debate. But it starts making the character unique and still relatable. If your character is a jerk, they need to be a jerk in a way that everyone in the audience can relate to. If they are unknowable and horribly evil, they need to have a moment early on where they imply their reasons for being evil- and they have to be understandable, even if horrible. (Ex. “There is no good and Evil. Only power and those too weak to seek it”) If they are the dramatic hero, we need to see a human element of the hero within ourselves.

It is a tricky thing to accomplish, but if your work can make us feel, you have accomplished your primary goal.

take risks.jpg5. TAKE RISKS! (but educated ones)

Take some risks! Start your piece in the middle of the action. Make your main character a deplorable villain. Leave us on a cliffhanger or twist ending- but make sure these risks are measured, educated and, most importantly, well executed.

Your film should have one major over-arching goal: Leave the viewer with a feeling. You can take chances in your attempts to get there. The only guideline is to make sure those chances work. Want your characters to have a big twist ending? Great! Make sure it works sensibly and clearly, and that twist is air tight.

CLOSING

Short films are their own unique beasts, but a good short film can scream out to the industry that you are a professional who knows your stuff. These five guidelines are good ground rules for anyone taking the initial steps in crafting a film

TV REVIEW: TWIN PEAKS – SEASON 3 – EPISODE 9

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by Mary Cox

twin peaks“The Return, Part 9: This is the Chair

It was hard to know where this episode was going to pick up after last week’s jaw-dropping experimental venture into true Lynchian territories in “The Return, Part 8: Gotta Light?” but Part 9 swings us right back into the story of this season at full speed.

Evil Coop, who hasn’t been bested by the likes of Ray, is alive and well after being thoroughly mauled by The Woodsmen. Coop orders a hit on Warden Murphy, whom he previously blackmailed to escape from prison. Meanwhile, the LAPD discover that Dougie Coop has no previous records of existence prior to 1997, prompting them to stealthily take his coffee cup to get a DNA sample. Shortly after leaving a mysterious voicemail for an unknown person named J.T., Ike “The Spike,” is arrested.

Matthew Lillard gives a powerhouse performance as Bill Hastings in an intense investigation with FBI Agent Tammy Preston, who is speculated to be the “T.P.” repeatedly referenced in Mark Frost’s companion book, The Secret History of Twin Peaks. Preston questions Hastings on his blog, “Search for the Zone” (which, by the way, actually exists and is rumored to contain secret clues about upcoming episodes) and describes the death of Major Briggs, which careful viewers will note that we actually witnessed partially in “The Return, Part 3: Call for Help” while Good Coop was escaping from the Black Lodge.

The episode has a few other notable moments, such as Jerry Horne’s talking foot and Ella’s nasty armpit rash at The Roadhouse, but the most important sequence of this episode regarding advancement of the plot happens when Bobby, Truman, and Hawk go to investigate Mrs. Briggs, who reveals to them that the Major once foretold of their arrival. She gives the a small metal capsule from inside a chair that contains a secret coded map, which includes a small illustration, a set of numbers, and the word “Cooper” printed twice, alluding to the existence of two Coopers.

One small moment viewers might have missed was the scene where Chad is eating lunch by himself in the conference room. As Chad is ordered out of the room by Hawk, take a good look at what’s on his plate. After careful analysis, it appears to be nothing else but creamed corn. That’s right. The cop we all love to hate is straight up eating Garmonbozia.

For those out of the loop: in the Twin Peaks universe, Garmonbozia is human suffering in tangible form, which Lynch represents by creamed corn. It’s the preferred food of the residents of the Black Lodge. In Fire Walk With Me, we see Bob and The Man From Another Place chowing down on Garmonbozia on the Formica Table. Garmonbozia/creamed corn has often been a visual cue in Twin Peaks, and there are numerous references to it throughout the series and within the canon of the show.

Most notably, in The Secret Diary of Laura Palmer, Laura cites creamed corn as one of her favorite meals, lending to the developing theory that she is an entity from one of the two Lodges. This theory was reinforced in last week’s episode when Senorita Dido and The Giant (cited in the credits as ?????) released a glowing sphere containing Laura into the universe to counter the birth of Bob. All of this is probably not meant to indicate that Chad is a resident of the Black Lodge, but it is a quiet nod to the nature of his true self, and it seems to be foreshadowing a possible betrayal on Chad’s part.

We’re also treated to a scene featuring a “fight” between Andy and Lucy Brennan over the color of a chair that’s reminiscent of the slow-paced, campy melodrama of the first two seasons. At first glance, this sequence doesn’t really add anything significant to the episode, other than to act as a red herring for those who are attempting to suss out the meaning of the episode’s subtitle, “This is the Chair;” knowing Lynch, there’s a chance that this scene will hold some great significance in the future that we can’t currently see or understand.

Some Twin Peaks theorists believe that Lynch is experimenting with the notion of alternate universes and String Theory in this series. This means that every time a decision is made, a new universe is potentially spawned. Is the fate of Agent Cooper going to hinge on Lucy’s decision to buy the red chair or the tan chair? We’ll have to wait and see.

SCORE: 8/10
 

******

“Mary Cox is an entertainment writer from the United States. Her hobbies include making good beer and bad decisions, watching drag queens fight on the internet, and overanalyzing everything. Mary one day hopes to be the person shouting “World Star” in the back of a Waffle House brawl video. She is currently tolerating life in Toronto. You can follow her on Twitter at @M_K_Cox”

TOP 10 TV SHOWS OF ALL TIME by Mary Cox

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twin peaks.jpgOver the past two decades, television has changed rapidly from something scheduled that has to be enjoyed in limited settings, to a fluid medium of entertainment that exists primarily on the internet. Some people bemoan this change as the death of television, when in reality, it’s an artistically freeing transition that gives the power of choice to consumers, and a wider audience to producers. Broadcast television might not be completely dead just yet, but it’s going extinct; digital media is undoubtedly the future.

As a consumer and reviewer of digital TV releases, and as someone who’s looking towards the future of entertainment, here are my top ten favorite series of all time:

10. Superjail!

This short-lived animated series debuted on Adult Swim in 2008 and ran for four incredible seasons until it was canceled in 2014. Superjail! was known for it’s psychedelic visuals and graphic cartoon violence. The series follows life inside a brutal prison located inside a volcano, and every episode ends in a slapstick horror bloodbath.

Superjail’s Warden, a cheerful and indulgent Willy Wonka-esque character, spends his time either stressing out Jared, the prison’s anxiety-riddled accountant, or lusting after Alice, the transgender sadomasochist head guard. Newcomers to the show should watch “Combaticus” and “Ghosts” to get a taste of the humor, pacing, and aesthetic of the series. While Superjail! may never return, the show’s director, Christy Karakas, is set to release a new series entitled Ballmastrz 9669 in 2018.

9. Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt

This series that premiered on Netflix in 2015 is another successful project by 30 Rock’s Tina Fey. The show’s titular protagonist is a perpetual optimist who is trying to find her way in New York City after spending the majority of her adult life in an underground doomsday cult. Kimmy transitions to life outside of the bunker with help from her old-school New Yorker landlady Lillian, her flamboyant Broadway wannabe roommate Titus, and her clueless socialite employer, Jacqueline.

On top of being hilarious, the show manages to address the consequences of long-term emotional trauma and PTSD in a way that is both authentic and easy to digest. As a serial program, new viewers should ideally start from the first episode of the first season, but two highlights you can’t miss include the episodes “Kimmy Goes to School” and “Kimmy Rides a Bike.” You can check out all three seasons of Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt available right now on Netflix.

8. The Boondocks

Based on the comic strip of the same name by Aaron MacGruder, this animated series premiered on Adult Swim in 2005. It’s fourth and final season was released towards the end of 2014. The Boondocks follows the lives of the Freeman family who move from Chicago to the mostly white suburban neighborhood of Woodcrest. In The Boondocks, Huey, a ten-year-old retired political activist, acts as a problem solver and moral compass to his talented but
troublesome younger brother, Riley.

This series tackled big issues like class, race, and identity, all while maintaining great comedy and a visual style heavily inspired by Japanese animation. You should definitely check out the episodes “Return of the King” and “The Color Ruckus” to get a feel for The Boondocks. There’s rumors of MacGruder developing a new series for Amazon, but you can catch his other show, Black Jesus, streaming on Adult Swim right now.

7. Seinfeld

Widely regarded as one of the most influential sitcoms of the 1990s, Seinfeld was the brainchild of Larry David and Jerry Seinfeld. Famously described as “a show about nothing,” Seinfeld followed the lives of Jerry, Elaine, Kramer, and George as they dealt with handling social faux pas and the frustrations of living in New York City. A large part of the series was based on real-life experiences of its writers.

Most people have seen the series at this point in time, but if you haven’t, start off with the episodes “The Junior Mint” and “The Hamptons.” Seinfeld has been off the air for close to twenty years now, but you can still get your Larry David fix when the brand new season of Curb Your Enthusiasm returns to HBO on October 1st, 2017.

6. Archer

Featuring some of the tightest writing and brainiest references on television right now, Archer is a phenomenal animated series. Although the show’s format has changed in recent seasons since its 2009 premiere, Archer primarily follows the missions of a fictional spy agency in post-World War II America. Sterling Archer, an American take on James Bond, performs espionage missions for his mother Mallory’s spy agency with his on-again, off-again girlfriend Lana.

However, the place where Archer really shines is in it’s support cast, especially regarding Pam, a crude and overweight gossip who has a double life as a bare-knuckle fighter and street racer, Krieger, a mad scientist with a hologram anime wife who may or may not be a clone of Hitler, and Cheryl, an eccentric heiress with a choking fetish and an ocelot. Can’t-miss episodes include “Legs” and “El Secuestro.” The ninth season of Archer will premiere on FXX in early 2018.

5. Arrested Development

A sitcom that premiered in 2003, but was revived for Netflix in 2013, Arrested Development follows the life of Michael Bluth, the seemingly only sane man in the entire Bluth family, who are a collection of wealthy and out-of-touch socialites. The Bluths have to learn to deal with the real world when the family’s patriarch, George Bluth Sr., is taken to jail on charges of embezzlement.

The series was known for its dedication to long-running jokes, and it’s writing received wide critical acclaim. To get the most out of Arrested Development’s style, you need to watch it from the first episode, but “Out on a Limb” and “Top Banana” are too good to not highlight here. The fifth season of Arrested Development is returning to Netflix sometime in 2018.

4. Rick and Morty

This animated sci-fi series by Justin Roiland and Dan Hammond is Adult Swim’s newest smash hit. The show follows Rick Sanchez, a functioning alcoholic mad scientist, and his weak-willed grandson, Morty, as they travel through time and space on increasingly dangerous and surreal adventures. Originally conceived as a parody of Back to the Future, Rick and Morty is known and loved by its fans for its strange juxtaposition of family life drama against a slapstick fantasy background.

Be sure to check out “Lawnmower Dog” and “Auto Erotic Assimilation” if you’re new to the series. While the first episode of season three was released as a prank on April Fool’s Day, new episodes of Rick and Morty are set to return on July 30th, 2017.

3. Twin Peaks

This series originally premiered in 1990, but has been recently revived by creative masterminds David Lynch and Mark Frost for a third season. Twin Peaks initially follows Special Agent Dale Cooper as he investigates the death of Laura Palmer in a sleepy Pacific Northwest town. As time goes on, and more supernatural elements are introduced, the show takes on an entirely new direction and aesthetic.

Spanning three seasons, one movie, and a massive cult following, Twin Peaks is known best for it’s combination of melodrama, camp, and Lynch’s trademark surrealist imagery. It’s impossible to recommend a single episode from this series, but it’s honestly worth it to start from the beginning and work your way forwards with this show. Season three of Twin Peaks iscurrently airing on Crave TV.

2. Tim and Eric Awesome Show, Great Job!

Created by Tim Heidecker and Eric Wareheim, this sketch comedy series featured avant-garde anti-humor, and was heavily inspired by the aesthetic of public-access cable and infomercials from the early1990s. Episodes of this series usually were a collage of short sequences, often featuring a blend of celebrity cameos and amateur actors found on Craigslist. Part of what makes this series work is the ambiguity of who is (and who isn’t) in on the joke.

Tim and Eric spawned a spinoff series, Check it Out! With Dr. Steve Brule, starring Academy Award nominee John C. Reilly as a clueless investigative journalist. Be sure to check out “Carol” and “Chan” if you want to get into this series. Wareheim has been busy directing music videos for bands like Major Lazer, Beach House, and Blonde Redhead, but the third season of Heidecker’s new project, Decker, is set to air on Adult Swim on July 16th, 2017.

always sunny1. It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia

A powerhouse black comedy that originally premiered on FX in 2005, It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia is one of the best television shows ever produced. Even after twelve seasons, this series, created by Rob McElhenney and Glenn Howerton, has still managed to keep its edge and stay relevant.

The series follows the lives of Dennis, Dee, Charlie, Mac, and Frank, the most self-centered and sociopathic characters currently on television, as they manage a small Irish-themed bar in South Philly. “The Gang Gives Frank an Intervention” and “Frank Reynold’s Little Beauties” are my favorites, but any episode from this series (after season one) won’t leave you disappointed. Season 13 of It’s Always Sunny is set to premiere on FXX in early 2018.

HONORABLE MENTION:

RuPaul’s Drag Race This show doesn’t belong on my main list considering that this isn’t a scripted series, but I live and breathe for Drag Race. Every season a gaggle of truly sickening drag queens competes for the title of America’s Next Drag Superstar. This show has absolutely everything: top level performances, professional artistry and craftsmanship, a positive LGBTQ2+ message, and drama like you wouldn’t believe.

It’s a disservice to Drag Race to cherry-pick a single episode, but anything past Season Four will be a great place for new drag fans to start watching the show. RuPaul’s Drag Race Season 10 will premiere in early 2018, but if you can’t wait that long, RuPaul’s Drag Race: All Stars Season 3 is set to be released before the end of the year.

 

******

“Mary Cox is an entertainment writer from the United States. Her hobbies include making good beer and bad decisions, watching drag queens fight on the internet, and overanalyzing everything. Mary one day hopes to be the person shouting “World Star” in the back of a Waffle House brawl video. She is currently tolerating life in Toronto. You can follow her on Twitter at @M_K_Cox”

Film Review: WAR FOR THE PLANET OF THE APES (USA 2017)

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Deadlines to Submit your Screenplay, Novel, Story, or Poem to the festival: http://www.wildsound.ca

WAR FOR THE PLANET OF THE APESAfter the apes suffer unimaginable losses, Caesar wrestles with his darker instincts and begins his own mythic quest to avenge his kind.

Director: Matt Reeves
Writers: Mark Bomback, Matt Reeves
Stars: Andy Serkis, Woody Harrelson, Steve Zahn

Review by Gilbert Seah
 
The original PLANET OF THE APES films were camp and occasionally goofy. They were never taken that seriously. The first featured Charlton Heston stripped naked so that the audience could see his bare buttocks and ended with him cursing God after discovering the Stature of Liberty half buried in the sand.

This followed with BENEATH THE PLANT OF THE APES where subterranean creatures were battling the apes that ending with Earth blowing up. What next? ESCAPE FROM, CONQUEST and the most ridiculous BATTLE FOR which ended the series.

The series reboot began similarly with PLANET OF THE APES flowed by RISE and DAWN OF and now WAR FOR. The primary difference is that the reboot series is serious fodder. The camp and fun is gone. What is left is a serious man vs. ape and the fight for what is right, things that also can get quite ridiculous. When things get ridiculous, the series will end.

The plot takes place two years after the events of DAWN OF THE PLANET OF THE APES. Caesar (Andy Serkis) and his apes have been embroiled in a war against humans. As the ape population decreases, Caesar wrestles with his darker instincts (isn’t the film serious enough?) in order to avenge his fallen companions. The encounter with the apes and humans puts them into the ultimate confrontation, to determine the fate of the Earth. But the plot is not as simple as it sounds. It also involves a mad colonel (Woody Harrelson) a kind of Marlon Brando character from APOCALYPSE NOW. (There is a poster with the words APEPOCALYPSE NOW, as if the similarity is not already evident.)

The actual war involves two factions of human beings – one led by the colonel who believes that sick human begin should be totally destroyed and the other the rest of the world who believe that the sick can be cured. The apes are caught in between. The problem with all this is the oversimplified plot. What about the other nations of the world like he Chinese, Indians etc. Also, the number of apes can never outnumber the number of humans, though the excuse given is the virus that eliminated most of the human population.

Caesar leads the apes out of the jungle to the new land like Moses in the Bible’s old Testament. The analogy is so obvious and makes the film even more serious for the fact. To the filmmakers’ credit, the film has excellent production values and looks absolutely stunning on film.

So what is the attraction of the PLANET OF THE APES films? Someone once told me he wanted to go see it because he was so obsessed with seeing apes riding horses with rifles slung round their backs. The question is whether the fascination will hold after 4 or 5 similar films. WAR FOR THE PLANET OF THE APES is the 4th of the reboot series and cost a whopping a amount of money with a running time of 140 minutes. Perhaps enough is enough!

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch? v=UEP1Mk6Un98

Also, Free logline submissions. The Writing Festival network averages over 95,000 unique visitors a day.
Great way to get your story out: http://www.wildsound.ca/logline.html

Deadlines to Submit your Screenplay, Novel, Story, or Poem to the festival:http://www.wildsound.ca

Watch recent Writing Festival Videos. At least 15 winning videos a month:http://www.wildsoundfestival.com

Film Review: THE LITTLE HOURS (USA 2017)

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Deadlines to Submit your Screenplay, Novel, Story, or Poem to the festival: http://www.wildsound.ca

the little hoursA young servant fleeing from his master takes refuge at a convent full of emotionally unstable nuns in the Middle Ages. Introduced as a deaf blind man, he must fight to hold his cover as the nuns try to resist temptation.

Director: Jeff Baena
Writer: Jeff Baena
Stars: Alison Brie, Dave Franco, Kate Micucci

Review by Gilbert Seah

THE LITTLE HOURS is a naughty sex comedy based on The Decameron
by Giovanni Boccaccio, written and directed by Jeff Baena who reportedly did some studies in Medieval History.

The story involves a young servant, Massetto (Dave Franco) fleeing from his master (Nick Offerman) after been discovered frolicking with his wife. He takes refuge at a convent full of nuns by pretending to be a deaf mute at the advice of Father Tommasso (John C. Reilly). The nuns led by Sister Marea (Molly Shannon) are no innocent creatures of God and prayer. The film concentrates on three of these ‘mean nuns’ Sister Alessandra (Alison Brie, Dave Franco’s real-life wife), Sister Fernanda (Aubrey Plaza) and the most naive of all, Sister Ginerva (Kate Micucci) who eventually turns out to be the worst of the lot.
The humour is lame at best. It seems as if the script is grabbing at last straws at being funny. Take the dialogue of a nun at confession out of a scene from nowhere: Father, I have sinned. Yesterday, I took out a whole turnip and ate it without sharing with the sisters…” to which she is told to stop being greedy.

It does not help the narrative that there is no strong lead character but multiple characters including three nuns, the Father and the supposedly deaf-mute. The film appears to aimlessly move along with any goal, message or purpose.

The film is clearly not a harmless sex comedy for it contains some nasty parts. One is a graphic description of torture methods that thankfully are not shown on screen. The sex scenes are too erotic (including a lesbian and threesome segment) for comfort with too much nudity for a commercial film. It is not surprising that the film was chosen and premiered at Sundance in the Midnight Madness Section, implying that all is possible and that audiences can be shocked.

For a film that puts in so much effort into location, look and period atmosphere all the characters speak in modern American accent. Dialogue like “Get the f*** out of here, don’t f***ing tap to me,” are common, even though the ‘f’ word was clearly never used in those times.

The film occasionally has the feel of a Monty Python film. The most identical scene is the one in the castle where two soldiers stand guard of Massetto’s cell.

Aubrey Plaza, most memorable as the bikini clad girl Robert De Niro drops his ice-cream on, plays a naughty Sister Fernanda who also serves as producer of the movie.

Director Baena attempts to pick up the film’s pace with a climatic rescue of Massetto from the castle prison by the three sisters. The decoy of a tortoise with a candle on its shell is a possible metaphor for the story’s pace.
For all THE LITTLE HOURS is worth, the film appears like an alternative remake of MEAN GIRLS set in a convent in the Decameron Tales era. But with less plot and unfortunately less humour.

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dc_wqGyXCs8

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Film Review: A GHOST STORY (USA 2017) **

festreviews 2017 movies, movie, Movie Review, Uncategorized , , , , ,

Deadlines to Submit your Screenplay, Novel, Story, or Poem to the festival: http://www.wildsound.ca

A GHOST STORYIn this singular exploration of legacy, love, loss, and the enormity of existence, a recently deceased, white-sheeted ghost returns to his suburban home to try to reconnect with his bereft wife.

Director: David Lowery
Writer: David Lowery
Stars: Casey Affleck, Rooney Mara, McColm Cephas Jr.

Review by Gilbert Seah
 
If a film is weird enough, it makes matters worse if the filmmaker makes the film even weirder. This is the case with David Lowery’s ghost story drama – an extremely difficult to follow, confusing yet the simple storied film.

Lowery is well known for having directed Disney’s PETE’S DRAGON, now doing his minimalist project, something I guess he always wanted to do.

The story follows a couple who is referred to in the film’s notes simply as C and M. C is the male (Casey Effleck) and M is the female (Rooney Mara). When the film begins, the couple are are in a suburban home about to sell their house. They are quiet, indicating perhaps though director Lowery never makes it certain, that they need more communication. They talk about a piano with M shown dragging it out to the front of the house for garbage collection.

The next scene has C in a morgue. He is next shown in a sheet with two cut out holes as eyes. C is apparently a ghost though no reason is offered. Another ghost in a sheet with two cut out holes appear later on in the. Film. Again, it makes no sense whatsoever.

The film goes on. Moving on at slower than a snail’s space, Lowery tests the audience’s patience to no end. The music is eerie, dialogue kept at a minimum. People move in and out of the house as C occasionally scares people in the house by throwing cutlery.

As if matters cannot get worse, the film shifts back and then forwards in time towards the last third of the film. There is also a scene where a bulldozer suddenly demolishes the walls of the house.

The ghost can disappear, as is assumed when the sheet crumples to the ground. It can therefore move on to heaven or better things? No one is sure.

The film contains lots of long takes – especially long takes of close ups, something not too often seen in films. An example is the re-visited poignant scene in bed where C and M face each other in bed, kiss and fall asleep. The first time the scene is performed, it lasts a full 5 minutes. There are again other scenes this slow moving.

Performance-wise, nothing much is required from Mara nor Effleck. This is a director’s piece not the actors. All the actors are required to do is brood and brood, and maybe put a sheet over themselves. Needless to say, there are no special effects required in this ghost story.

A GHOST STORY is not badly made. It is well executed, well performed and a nice mystery from start to finish, challenging the audience. It is a haunting ghost story, but not a scary one, though the art house concept will scare commercial audiences away. Many critics at the screening loved A GHOST STORY but I am not a fan.

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c_3NMtxeyfk

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Film Review: NEAR DARK (USA 1987) ***** Top 10

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Deadlines to Submit your Screenplay, Novel, Story, or Poem to the festival: http://www.wildsound.ca

near darkA small-town farmer’s son reluctantly joins a traveling group of vampires after he is turned by a beautiful drifter.

Director: Kathryn Bigelow
Writers: Kathryn Bigelow, Eric Red
Stars: Adrian Pasdar, Jenny Wright, Lance Henriksen

Review by Gilbert Seah

NEAR DARK is Kathryn Bigelow’s first and arguably BEST movie, which did badly at the box-office in 1987 making only $3.5 million on its $5 million budget. The film did garner positive reviews.

NEAR DARK mixes the western and vampire horror genres based on a script written by Bigelow and Eric Red. The story follows a young man, Caleb Colton (Adrian Pasdar) in a small midwestern town who becomes involved with a family of nomadic American vampires. Starring then little-known actors Adrian Pasdar and Jenny Wright, the film was part of a revival of serious vampire movies in the late 1980s.

It all starts one night, when Caleb meets an attractive young drifter named Mae (Jenny Wright). Just before sunrise, she bites him on the neck and runs off. The rising sun causes Caleb’s flesh to smoke and burn. Mae arrives with a group of roaming vampires in an RV and takes him away. The most psychotic of all the vampires, Severen (Bill Paxton), wants to kill Caleb, but Mae reveals that she has already turned him. Their charismatic leader Jesse Hooker (Lance Henriksen) reluctantly agrees to allow Caleb to remain with them for a week to see if he can learn to hunt and gain the group’s trust.

In the meantime, Caleb’s father (Tim Thomerson) searches for Caleb and Jesse’s group. The action is non-stop and the film an absorbing watch from start to end.

It often happens that a director’s first film is his or her best, the director often putting everything he or she has into it. None of Bigelow’s features including her Oscar Winning THE HURT LOCKER could ever match the energy and inspiration that can be observed in NEAR DARK. “The night is so bright, it will blind you.” is a sample of some of the dialogue spoken. Bigelow must have loved this line so much that it is repeated in the film.

Bigelow also ups the ante in her horror movie with the introduction of a really creepy character in the form of a child vampire called Homer (Joshua John Miller). This is an old man in a child’s body. A case of Pedophilia. When Homer meets Caleb’s little sister Sarah (Marcie Leeds) and wants her as his mate, it is no wonder Caleb sacrifices all to save her.

I first saw NEAR DARK in September 1987 at the Toronto International Film Festival as part of the public, before I was a film critic. NEAR DARK was brought in and screened last minute. But Bigelow was there after the screening for a Q & A session. I remember being really impressed at the film and at a female director capable of such exciting male action. I recall someone asking her too: “Why did you pick Tangerine Dream to do the music for the film?” Her answer: “Aren’t they great?” This is pure inspiration and filmmaking from the heart.

NEAR DARK is one action set piece after another, the top two being the bar segment where the vampires terrorize a local biker bar, killing everyone before burning it down followed by a police takedown at a motel.

NEAR DARK screens on July 21st, as part of the TIFF Cinematheque retrospective of Kathryn Bigelow films.

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FiYSirEHS5E

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Film Review: BABY STEPS (USA 2015) ***

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baby stepsDanny, a Taiwanese-American man, and his partner Tate long to have a baby, but the complex world of international surrogacy is further complicated by Danny’s well-meaning but extremely meddlesome Ma who wants to control every aspect of the process all the way from Taipei…

Director: Barney Cheng
Writers: Barney Cheng (screenplay), Barney Cheng
Stars: Tzi Ma, Michael Adam Hamilton, Jason Stuart

 Review by Gilbert Seah

When gay films first started appearing on the screen, they dished out fresh topics like coming out, cross cultural gay relationships, partying, drug use, gay biographies, cruising, sex change, gay marriage and rent boys. New ideas for a gay film are running out. BABY STEPS deals with an Asian mother meddling into her son’s gay relationship in her never ending quest for a perfect grandchild.

The film is written, directed by and co-stars Barney Cheng as the Taiwanese American, Danny in an Asian-Caucasian gay couple relationship. The mother is played by Grace Guei, who starred in Ang Lee’s famous THE WEDDING BANQUET. BABY STEPS adds the modern spin on surrogacy. Mother and son travel the world including Taipei, Bangkok, Mumbai and Los Angeles to search for a surrogate mother. It is a gay story told for the first time, from a gay mother’s point of view.

Cheng knows the poignant moments in the life of a typical gay couple and milks them shamelessly. Scenes like the reunion after a trail separation and showering together are examples which he puts on screen to strengthen the audience’s conception of the strength of the relationship.

Cheng’s humour is mildly funny with hardly any laugh out loud moments.

Actress Grace Guei, reported in the press notes to be the Taiwanese version of Meryl Streep (not going to argue this), though not bad in her role is not given much to do much except to sulk and look sympathetic for all the meddling she has done. Cheng’s character uses the word ‘okay’ mixed with his mandarin dialogue, once too many times. Cheng might be remembered or his role in Woody Allen’s HOLLYWOOD ENDING. Michael Adam Hamilton passes as his pretty boy boyfriend, always all smiles and catering too much to the Asian needs.

The film could have concentrated more on the coming-of-age of the couple’s relationship, instead of always assuming that everything will be ok. The film at least considers other substantial issues like the emotions and fears of the surrogate mother. Danny’s mother, typical of gay mothers is still ashamed to come out to her friends other gay son – another important issue dealt here. In BABY STEPS, these topics offer a fresh look on cross-cultural gay relationships.

Though BABY STEPS makes no great strides in the progress of gay films, it does leave a mark. The film suffers from an over-sentimental melodramatic ending.
Small films like BABY STEPS with a smaller target gay audience usually complete a successful LGBT festival run before going to the various VOD platforms. If the films are really lucky, they might earn a limited theatrical release. For BABY STEPS, it opened in Taiwan on Mother’s Day 2015, and was part of a national discussion on LGBT rights that helped propel Taiwan to legalize same-sex marriage in May 2017. Of worldwide significance, the U.S. State Department has hosted U.S. embassy screenings of BABY STEPS throughout Asia, including China, Mongolia, and Myanmar – to share the American value of LGBT equality around the globe. BABY STEPS will release digitally in the U.S. and Canada on August 15th via Gravitas Ventures.

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8rhESwlKQgE

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