'Bohemia: The Life of a New York City Poet' Movie Review
Written by: Karen Benardello
(Originally Posted on Karen's Examiner page)
New York poets often become famous for showcasing the Bohemian lifestyle in their work and interacting with their audiences. Director Richard Ramson, who hails from Queens, New York, wants to remind people of that “unique lifestyle within the poetry community” and prove that poets from the city that never sleeps actually lived what they wrote. Ramson is re-releasing his 2009 documentary ‘Bohemia: The Life of a New York City Poet’ on DVD this month to reach more people who still love hearing poets perform their work.
The R. Media Inc. Film release features some of New York’s best undiscovered poets, who are all from different age groups and races. They share a variety of their poems that show what life is like in the Big Apple. New York was a perfect place to film ‘Bohemia,’ because as Ramson said, “The audiences (here) are wonderful. Also, the greatest performers have graced the stages here, so there is a competition factor and prestige involved.”
Ramson also interviewed the poets, who have a variety of experience, both in life and on stage. He said he felt compelled to tell the poets’ stories because he “saw a lot of people who started at open mic nights. I saw a bohemian lifestyle of writers in pain…and an underground lifestyle that was opposite of what was shown on ‘Def Poetry Jam.’ I saw real people from all lifestyles who had something to say.”
To read the rest of this review, please click here.
Friday, April 29, 2011
'Fast Five' Movie Review
Title: Fast Five
Director: Justin Lin
Starring: Vin Diesel, Paul Walker, Jordana Brewster, Tyrese Gibson, Chris ‘Ludacris’ Bridges, Dwayne Johnson
Review Written by: Karen Benardello
Many action sequels today fail to captivate their audiences because the studios care more about capitalizing on their successful predecessors, instead of further developing their characters or creating any new, original stunts. However, the new action film ‘Fast Five’ proves it’s unique in the fact that the cast still cares about, and relate to, their characters and their stories. The series’ returning director, Justin Lin, who helmed the previous two installments, also honored the original ‘The Fast and the Furious’ by truly focusing on how the characters interact with each other.
‘Fast Five’ follows in the immediate aftermath of ‘Fast and Furious,’ and shows Brian O’Conner (played by Paul Walker) and girlfriend Mia Toretto (portrayed by Jordana Brewster) successfully freeing Mia’s brother Dom (played by Vin Diesel). Brian and Mia make their own way to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, and wait for Dom. They are reunited with Dom on a job stealing cars, which was set up by their friend Vince (portrayed by Matt Schulze). However, the job goes wrong, and three DEA agents are killed.
The owner of the cars, corrupt business owner Hernan Reyes (played by Joaquim de Almeida) goes after Brian, Dom and Mia to get back the car they stole from him. As the three realize why Reyes wants the car back so much, DSS federal agent Luke Hobbs (portrayed by Dwayne Johnson) arrives in Rio to apprehend them. Brian, Dom and Mia, now all fugitives, call in some of their friends, including Han Lue (played by Sung Kang), Roman Pearce (portrayed by Tyrese Gibson) and Tej (played by Chris ‘Ludacris’ Bridges), to help them pull off one last heist on Reyes.
Bringing back many of the original characters from the first three ‘The Fast and the Furious’ films was a smart move on Lin’s part. Walker and Diesel still have a great chemistry together, and seem as though they truly care about what happens to each other. Their natural bond translates well onto the screen, making it believable that Brian would forgo his career as an FBI agent in order to save Dom from going to prison. Even though the Brian and Dom relationship is still the most believable, even after the original film debuted 10 years ago, Gibson and Bridges also seemed as though they were immediately at ease with their co-stars. Even though Gibson and Bridges only previously starred alongside Walker in the first sequel, ’2 Fast 2 Furious,’ they convincingly showed their characters still wanted to protect Brian, Dom and Mia. Roman and Tej weren’t afraid of any physical danger threatened on them by Reyes or Hobbs, as they wanted to help Brian and Dom on the heist.
To read the rest of this review, please click here.
Director: Justin Lin
Starring: Vin Diesel, Paul Walker, Jordana Brewster, Tyrese Gibson, Chris ‘Ludacris’ Bridges, Dwayne Johnson
Review Written by: Karen Benardello
Many action sequels today fail to captivate their audiences because the studios care more about capitalizing on their successful predecessors, instead of further developing their characters or creating any new, original stunts. However, the new action film ‘Fast Five’ proves it’s unique in the fact that the cast still cares about, and relate to, their characters and their stories. The series’ returning director, Justin Lin, who helmed the previous two installments, also honored the original ‘The Fast and the Furious’ by truly focusing on how the characters interact with each other.
‘Fast Five’ follows in the immediate aftermath of ‘Fast and Furious,’ and shows Brian O’Conner (played by Paul Walker) and girlfriend Mia Toretto (portrayed by Jordana Brewster) successfully freeing Mia’s brother Dom (played by Vin Diesel). Brian and Mia make their own way to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, and wait for Dom. They are reunited with Dom on a job stealing cars, which was set up by their friend Vince (portrayed by Matt Schulze). However, the job goes wrong, and three DEA agents are killed.
The owner of the cars, corrupt business owner Hernan Reyes (played by Joaquim de Almeida) goes after Brian, Dom and Mia to get back the car they stole from him. As the three realize why Reyes wants the car back so much, DSS federal agent Luke Hobbs (portrayed by Dwayne Johnson) arrives in Rio to apprehend them. Brian, Dom and Mia, now all fugitives, call in some of their friends, including Han Lue (played by Sung Kang), Roman Pearce (portrayed by Tyrese Gibson) and Tej (played by Chris ‘Ludacris’ Bridges), to help them pull off one last heist on Reyes.
Bringing back many of the original characters from the first three ‘The Fast and the Furious’ films was a smart move on Lin’s part. Walker and Diesel still have a great chemistry together, and seem as though they truly care about what happens to each other. Their natural bond translates well onto the screen, making it believable that Brian would forgo his career as an FBI agent in order to save Dom from going to prison. Even though the Brian and Dom relationship is still the most believable, even after the original film debuted 10 years ago, Gibson and Bridges also seemed as though they were immediately at ease with their co-stars. Even though Gibson and Bridges only previously starred alongside Walker in the first sequel, ’2 Fast 2 Furious,’ they convincingly showed their characters still wanted to protect Brian, Dom and Mia. Roman and Tej weren’t afraid of any physical danger threatened on them by Reyes or Hobbs, as they wanted to help Brian and Dom on the heist.
To read the rest of this review, please click here.
Thursday, April 28, 2011
'The Last Circus' Movie Review
Title: The Last Circus
Starring: Carlos Areces, Antonio De La Torre, Carolina Bang
Director: Alex De La Iglesia
Review Written by: Karen Benardello (for Shockya)
Finding a director who wants to introduce a personal, political message into a comedy that features strange characters is not common, but Magnet Releasing seemed to do so with Alex De La Iglesia. His childhood and personal life seem to define his upcoming film ‘The Last Circus,’ which he also wrote. While he wanted to incorporate his pain, cruelty and love into the personalities of his characters, Iglesia’s devotion to them unfortunately took away from the overall story.
‘The Last Circus’ follows Javier (played by Carlos Areces as an adult) throughout his life in the circus. As a child in 1937, Javier watches his father, a happy clown, being dragged away by a militia during a performance to help fight in the Spanish Civil War. Affected by the fact that his father subsequently was held as a prisoner, Javier becomes a sad circus clown in 1973. While he befriends many of the other circus acts, Javier must endure the abuse of the happy clown, Sergio (portrayed by Antonio De La Torre).
Javier also must watch Sergio abuse his wife Natalia (played by Carolina Bang), one of the circus’ acrobats. After falling in love with Natalia, Javier tries to rescue her from her violent husband, which only makes Sergio even angrier. Natalia is unsure what to do, as she still cares for Sergio, but also becomes attracted to Javier.
Iglesia has said he wanted to set ‘The Last Circus’ in 1973, as Spanish leader Francisco Franco was giving up his control over the country. Iglesia, who was eight that year, has described the time as a confusing nightmare, and he perfectly brought his childhood struggle to the story. Javier and Sergio are both struggling to survive the terrible lifestyles they have endured, and they balance each other as they deal with their problems. They both seek salvation in entertaining families while performing with the circus and in their love for Natalia. Iglesia, who also wrote the film’s screenplay, brought an interesting take to his two male lead characters, showing that everyone takes on a different personality to redeem their souls.
The director seemed to especially pour himself into Javier; Iglesia has said he made ‘The Last Circus’ to rid the pain from his own soul. He added that he feels hurt from his past, and longs for a happy life. Javier seemed to turn to the sad clown role to redeem himself for not being able to save his father when he was a child. He also wants to connect to Natalia to form a happy relationship, but his anger over his father’s imprisonment held his happiness back.
To read the rest of this review, please click here.
Starring: Carlos Areces, Antonio De La Torre, Carolina Bang
Director: Alex De La Iglesia
Review Written by: Karen Benardello (for Shockya)
Finding a director who wants to introduce a personal, political message into a comedy that features strange characters is not common, but Magnet Releasing seemed to do so with Alex De La Iglesia. His childhood and personal life seem to define his upcoming film ‘The Last Circus,’ which he also wrote. While he wanted to incorporate his pain, cruelty and love into the personalities of his characters, Iglesia’s devotion to them unfortunately took away from the overall story.
‘The Last Circus’ follows Javier (played by Carlos Areces as an adult) throughout his life in the circus. As a child in 1937, Javier watches his father, a happy clown, being dragged away by a militia during a performance to help fight in the Spanish Civil War. Affected by the fact that his father subsequently was held as a prisoner, Javier becomes a sad circus clown in 1973. While he befriends many of the other circus acts, Javier must endure the abuse of the happy clown, Sergio (portrayed by Antonio De La Torre).
Javier also must watch Sergio abuse his wife Natalia (played by Carolina Bang), one of the circus’ acrobats. After falling in love with Natalia, Javier tries to rescue her from her violent husband, which only makes Sergio even angrier. Natalia is unsure what to do, as she still cares for Sergio, but also becomes attracted to Javier.
Iglesia has said he wanted to set ‘The Last Circus’ in 1973, as Spanish leader Francisco Franco was giving up his control over the country. Iglesia, who was eight that year, has described the time as a confusing nightmare, and he perfectly brought his childhood struggle to the story. Javier and Sergio are both struggling to survive the terrible lifestyles they have endured, and they balance each other as they deal with their problems. They both seek salvation in entertaining families while performing with the circus and in their love for Natalia. Iglesia, who also wrote the film’s screenplay, brought an interesting take to his two male lead characters, showing that everyone takes on a different personality to redeem their souls.
The director seemed to especially pour himself into Javier; Iglesia has said he made ‘The Last Circus’ to rid the pain from his own soul. He added that he feels hurt from his past, and longs for a happy life. Javier seemed to turn to the sad clown role to redeem himself for not being able to save his father when he was a child. He also wants to connect to Natalia to form a happy relationship, but his anger over his father’s imprisonment held his happiness back.
To read the rest of this review, please click here.
'13 Assassins' Movie Review
Title: 13 Assassins
Director: Takashi Miike
Starring: Koji Yakusho, Takayuki Yamada, Goro Inagaki
Review Written by: Karen Benardello (for Shockya)
Combining extreme violence, bloodshed and the sentimentality of career criminals in an effort to push the boundaries of censorship has been Japanese director Takashi Miike’s claim to fame since he started his film career in 1991. Unsurprisingly, his latest action film, the Magnet Releasing movie ’13 Assassins,’ doesn’t fail to live up to his controversial reputation in terms of special effects. But the creative director also proves what a captivating filmmaker he is with his latest release, as he expertly includes a unique story and shocking themes.
Set during the end of Japan’s feudal era, ’13 Assassins’ follows respected samurai Shinzaemon Yakusho (played by Koji Yakusho) as he is secretly hired to assassinate Lord Naritsugu Matsudaira (portrayed by Goro Inagaki). As the Shogun’s younger brother, Naritsugu can’t be politically punished, so he rapes and kills innocent people whenever he chooses. Shinzaemom fears that after Naritsugu is promoted to a higher political position, he will commit even more heinous crimes.
Shinzaemom recruits eleven more samurai, including his nephew, Shinroukuro (played by Takayuki Yamada), to bring with him to kill Naritsugu. The 12 samurai devise a plan to kill Naritsugu as he makes the voyage home to Edo. Along their journey, the samurai take on hunter Kiga Koyata (portrayed by Yusuke Iseya), who they find in a forest, to help them find the village they have chosen to fight Naritsugu in. Once they reach the village, they discover Naritsugu has a much larger army than they anticipated, but the 13 assassins don’t back down from the challenge.
Miike, who is also known for dazzling audiences with his black humor and bold style, has said he tried to respect the original ’13 Assassins’ movie, which was released in 1963 by director Eichi Kudo. Miike achieved his goal by creating stunning visual effects and stunts, particularly during the scenes when Shinzaemom and his fellow samurai are fighting Naritsugu and his men. With the help of screenwriter Daisuke Tengan, the director was able to create a jidaigeki (which means period drama in Japanese, and usually refers to the Edo period) action film that perfectly balanced a well-developed story with justified, and perfectly-executed, action and violence.
To read the rest of this review, please click here.
Director: Takashi Miike
Starring: Koji Yakusho, Takayuki Yamada, Goro Inagaki
Review Written by: Karen Benardello (for Shockya)
Combining extreme violence, bloodshed and the sentimentality of career criminals in an effort to push the boundaries of censorship has been Japanese director Takashi Miike’s claim to fame since he started his film career in 1991. Unsurprisingly, his latest action film, the Magnet Releasing movie ’13 Assassins,’ doesn’t fail to live up to his controversial reputation in terms of special effects. But the creative director also proves what a captivating filmmaker he is with his latest release, as he expertly includes a unique story and shocking themes.
Set during the end of Japan’s feudal era, ’13 Assassins’ follows respected samurai Shinzaemon Yakusho (played by Koji Yakusho) as he is secretly hired to assassinate Lord Naritsugu Matsudaira (portrayed by Goro Inagaki). As the Shogun’s younger brother, Naritsugu can’t be politically punished, so he rapes and kills innocent people whenever he chooses. Shinzaemom fears that after Naritsugu is promoted to a higher political position, he will commit even more heinous crimes.
Shinzaemom recruits eleven more samurai, including his nephew, Shinroukuro (played by Takayuki Yamada), to bring with him to kill Naritsugu. The 12 samurai devise a plan to kill Naritsugu as he makes the voyage home to Edo. Along their journey, the samurai take on hunter Kiga Koyata (portrayed by Yusuke Iseya), who they find in a forest, to help them find the village they have chosen to fight Naritsugu in. Once they reach the village, they discover Naritsugu has a much larger army than they anticipated, but the 13 assassins don’t back down from the challenge.
Miike, who is also known for dazzling audiences with his black humor and bold style, has said he tried to respect the original ’13 Assassins’ movie, which was released in 1963 by director Eichi Kudo. Miike achieved his goal by creating stunning visual effects and stunts, particularly during the scenes when Shinzaemom and his fellow samurai are fighting Naritsugu and his men. With the help of screenwriter Daisuke Tengan, the director was able to create a jidaigeki (which means period drama in Japanese, and usually refers to the Edo period) action film that perfectly balanced a well-developed story with justified, and perfectly-executed, action and violence.
To read the rest of this review, please click here.
Interview: Morgan Spurlock talks 'The Greatest Movie Ever SolT'
Read Shockya's interview with Academy Award-nominated filmmaker Morgan Spurlock, who directed, produced and stars in the upcoming documentary ‘Pom Wonderful Presents: The Greatest Movie Ever Sold.’ The movie, which is set to be released in select theaters on April 22, 2011, follows Spurlock as he explores product placement, marketing and advertising in such outlets as films and television shows. In the film, he details what goes on in pitch meetings and marketing presentations, and how even the smallest ads affects people’s everyday lives. Spurlock discusses with us, among other things, why he decided to make ‘The Greatest Movie Ever Made,’ and whether he was able to keep final control over the final movie.
Interview written by: Karen Benardello
Question (Q): Was your outfit (the jacket with the sponsor’s patches on it seen in the movie) the sponsors’ idea?
Morgan Spurlock (MS): Here’s the worst part, it was all my idea. If you watch the film, this whole pitch of the suit was my brainstorm. So now, these are my own chickens going home to roost. It comes with the territory now.
Q: Did you think when you were first starting out that you would even have a film?
MS: We had no clue when we started. We thought it was a great idea. We didn’t know if it was even possible. As every advertising agency said absolutely not, we won’t do this, with the exception of Kirshenbaum. As we call every every product placement company, and every product placement company said “We are not helping you, we want nothing to do with this movie.” Only two would go on camera and do interviews, which were Norm Marshall and Britt Johnson. Then we started calling brands ourselves, we said let’s grab our own destiny, let’s start calling the companies on our own. Me and Abbie Hurewitz, my co-producer for the film, literally started calling brands over and over and over again. “No, no, no, no, absolutely not, we want nothing to do with this, I already saw what you did to that other corporation, no way do we trust you with our brand.” Some of the things they said were some of the most terrible things. At some point, you go, why are we still doing this? Nobody’s saying yes. The thing that kept us going the whole time was for every person at the top that said “I don’t want anything to do with this movie, there’s no way we’re helping you,” all the people that worked underneath them who passed us up to that person would say to us on the phone, “I’ll do anything I can to help you that won’t get me fired.” So the fact that everyone at the bottom wanted this movie to be made but no one at the top did, we said we have to figure out a way to get this film made. What happened at the end is that we called about 600 companies. You say, how did you call 600 companies? We broke it down by category. We try to fulfill every category we can. We go by shoe. So think of every shoe company. First off we called the Nike, the Reebok, the K-Swiss, the Puma, Converse, all the way down the line, until we ended up with Merrell, the greatest shoe you’ll ever wear. We called all the beverage companies. If you’re going to have a beverage company, start at the top. We called Coke, Pepsi, RC Cola, then all the way down the line until we magically ended up calling Pom Wonderful Pomegranate Juice. After 600 companies, 580 of whom said no, we ended up with 20 companies that said yes, which is incredible. The tenacity isn’t even the right word to begin to explain the amount of work it took to get us started, to get these companies on board, it was pretty phenomenal. That was nine months until the first company said yes. It was January 2009 when we really started to brainstorm and decided to do this. The first company saying yes was August, September (2009). It was eight, nine months until Ban Deodorant said “Yeah, we’re in!” It was $50,000 dropped in the bucket. But what that one step did, Ban coming on board literally gave us the ability to say “Well, Ban Deodorant’s doing it.” No one ever wants to be first. No company ever wants to be first and no body ever wants to be last. Once we pitched Ban and Ban said yes, then we went and met with Pom. We called them on the phone, and Pom said, “Well, Ban’s doing it.” So it was Ban Deodorant, lynch-pin of ‘The Greatest Movie Ever Sold.’
Q: We saw the process of choosing the theme song. What was it about OK GO that led you to believe they would be the right fit?
MS: We tried to get a lot of other people, like Jay Z and P. Diddy, who have real brand association. These people didn’t want to do interviews. There were real big artists, like Beyonce, the people who have real brands and real ties to products who wouldn’t do it. OK GO was a band, who, the minute we started talking to them, they’re already done sponsorships. They did an amazing thing with Range Roover. They’ve already worked with brands, and had a lot of brand experience and with commercials too. Like they said in the film, some of them were a little dirty, not like they should have done it. So when I met with them, I thought, these guys are great. So when I proposed to them to do the theme song, they jumped at the chance.
Interview written by: Karen Benardello
Question (Q): Was your outfit (the jacket with the sponsor’s patches on it seen in the movie) the sponsors’ idea?
Morgan Spurlock (MS): Here’s the worst part, it was all my idea. If you watch the film, this whole pitch of the suit was my brainstorm. So now, these are my own chickens going home to roost. It comes with the territory now.
Q: Did you think when you were first starting out that you would even have a film?
MS: We had no clue when we started. We thought it was a great idea. We didn’t know if it was even possible. As every advertising agency said absolutely not, we won’t do this, with the exception of Kirshenbaum. As we call every every product placement company, and every product placement company said “We are not helping you, we want nothing to do with this movie.” Only two would go on camera and do interviews, which were Norm Marshall and Britt Johnson. Then we started calling brands ourselves, we said let’s grab our own destiny, let’s start calling the companies on our own. Me and Abbie Hurewitz, my co-producer for the film, literally started calling brands over and over and over again. “No, no, no, no, absolutely not, we want nothing to do with this, I already saw what you did to that other corporation, no way do we trust you with our brand.” Some of the things they said were some of the most terrible things. At some point, you go, why are we still doing this? Nobody’s saying yes. The thing that kept us going the whole time was for every person at the top that said “I don’t want anything to do with this movie, there’s no way we’re helping you,” all the people that worked underneath them who passed us up to that person would say to us on the phone, “I’ll do anything I can to help you that won’t get me fired.” So the fact that everyone at the bottom wanted this movie to be made but no one at the top did, we said we have to figure out a way to get this film made. What happened at the end is that we called about 600 companies. You say, how did you call 600 companies? We broke it down by category. We try to fulfill every category we can. We go by shoe. So think of every shoe company. First off we called the Nike, the Reebok, the K-Swiss, the Puma, Converse, all the way down the line, until we ended up with Merrell, the greatest shoe you’ll ever wear. We called all the beverage companies. If you’re going to have a beverage company, start at the top. We called Coke, Pepsi, RC Cola, then all the way down the line until we magically ended up calling Pom Wonderful Pomegranate Juice. After 600 companies, 580 of whom said no, we ended up with 20 companies that said yes, which is incredible. The tenacity isn’t even the right word to begin to explain the amount of work it took to get us started, to get these companies on board, it was pretty phenomenal. That was nine months until the first company said yes. It was January 2009 when we really started to brainstorm and decided to do this. The first company saying yes was August, September (2009). It was eight, nine months until Ban Deodorant said “Yeah, we’re in!” It was $50,000 dropped in the bucket. But what that one step did, Ban coming on board literally gave us the ability to say “Well, Ban Deodorant’s doing it.” No one ever wants to be first. No company ever wants to be first and no body ever wants to be last. Once we pitched Ban and Ban said yes, then we went and met with Pom. We called them on the phone, and Pom said, “Well, Ban’s doing it.” So it was Ban Deodorant, lynch-pin of ‘The Greatest Movie Ever Sold.’
Q: We saw the process of choosing the theme song. What was it about OK GO that led you to believe they would be the right fit?
MS: We tried to get a lot of other people, like Jay Z and P. Diddy, who have real brand association. These people didn’t want to do interviews. There were real big artists, like Beyonce, the people who have real brands and real ties to products who wouldn’t do it. OK GO was a band, who, the minute we started talking to them, they’re already done sponsorships. They did an amazing thing with Range Roover. They’ve already worked with brands, and had a lot of brand experience and with commercials too. Like they said in the film, some of them were a little dirty, not like they should have done it. So when I met with them, I thought, these guys are great. So when I proposed to them to do the theme song, they jumped at the chance.
'Stake Land' Movie Review
Title: Stake Land
Director: Jim Mickle
Starring: Connor Paolo (‘Gossip Girl’), Nick Damici (‘The Black Donnellys’), Kelly McGillis (‘Top Gun’), Danielle Harris (‘Halloween [2007]‘)
Review written by: Karen Benardello
With the over-saturation of vampire films and television shows in America today, it’s getting increasingly harder for screenwriters to create a unique script about the blood-sucking creatures. Fortunately, director Jim Mickle, who helped pen the screenplay for his new movie ‘Stake Land,’ not only included creative twists to the vampire mythos, but also added a religious sub-plot that will surely make many viewers question modern American culture.
‘Stake Land’ follows a young teen, Martin (played by Connor Paolo), as he’s first introduced to the new vampirism epidemic that’s sweeping America. He witnesses his parents and younger sibling being killed by one of the bloodthirsty creatures, and is rescued by a stranger, simply known as Mister (portrayed by Nick Damici). Having no where else to turn, Martin travels across the country with his new mentor, who teaches him how to hunt down the vampires, who have a mix of zombie qualities in them.
While searching for the rural civilization known as New Eden, which has been set up in Canada as the vampires can’t adapt to cold weather, Martin and Mister kill two men trying to kill a nun, Sister Anna (played by Kelly McGillis). One of the men’s fathers turns out to be fundamentalist militia leader Jebedia Loven (portrayed by Michael Cerveris), who believes the new vampirism plague is the Lord’s work. Acting in God’s name, Jebedia and his followers search the country to find Mister to take their revenge on him. Not only do Mister, Martin and Anna have to fight off the vampires while they travel towards New Eden, they must also stay off of Jebedia’s radar.
Mickle, who co-wrote the horror film with Damici, took an interesting, unique look into the world of vampires with the story. Instead of showcasing the world through the eyes of the vampires, who are usually highly intelligible creatures who can easily blend into society, Mickle took the risky venture of questioning what would happen if they brought on the collapse of modern civilization. As many viewers watch Mister, Martin and the other humans they meet on their journey search for a way to survive, they will surely appreciate Mickle’s message that people can’t take what they have for granted.
While Mickle also included the basic characteristics of vampires in ‘Stake Land,’ such as needing to drink blood and not being able to go out in the sun, Mickle made the right decision to also include characteristics of zombies. Viewers will empathize with Martin, Mister and Anna’s plight from the vampires, and their need to kill every one they come into contact with. The vampires are unintelligible creatures who no longer have any sense of humanity or any characteristics of their former human selves; their only goal is to feed on and kill humans.
To read the rest of this interview, please visit:
http://www.shockya.com/news/2011/04/21/stake-land-movie-review/
Director: Jim Mickle
Starring: Connor Paolo (‘Gossip Girl’), Nick Damici (‘The Black Donnellys’), Kelly McGillis (‘Top Gun’), Danielle Harris (‘Halloween [2007]‘)
Review written by: Karen Benardello
With the over-saturation of vampire films and television shows in America today, it’s getting increasingly harder for screenwriters to create a unique script about the blood-sucking creatures. Fortunately, director Jim Mickle, who helped pen the screenplay for his new movie ‘Stake Land,’ not only included creative twists to the vampire mythos, but also added a religious sub-plot that will surely make many viewers question modern American culture.
‘Stake Land’ follows a young teen, Martin (played by Connor Paolo), as he’s first introduced to the new vampirism epidemic that’s sweeping America. He witnesses his parents and younger sibling being killed by one of the bloodthirsty creatures, and is rescued by a stranger, simply known as Mister (portrayed by Nick Damici). Having no where else to turn, Martin travels across the country with his new mentor, who teaches him how to hunt down the vampires, who have a mix of zombie qualities in them.
While searching for the rural civilization known as New Eden, which has been set up in Canada as the vampires can’t adapt to cold weather, Martin and Mister kill two men trying to kill a nun, Sister Anna (played by Kelly McGillis). One of the men’s fathers turns out to be fundamentalist militia leader Jebedia Loven (portrayed by Michael Cerveris), who believes the new vampirism plague is the Lord’s work. Acting in God’s name, Jebedia and his followers search the country to find Mister to take their revenge on him. Not only do Mister, Martin and Anna have to fight off the vampires while they travel towards New Eden, they must also stay off of Jebedia’s radar.
Mickle, who co-wrote the horror film with Damici, took an interesting, unique look into the world of vampires with the story. Instead of showcasing the world through the eyes of the vampires, who are usually highly intelligible creatures who can easily blend into society, Mickle took the risky venture of questioning what would happen if they brought on the collapse of modern civilization. As many viewers watch Mister, Martin and the other humans they meet on their journey search for a way to survive, they will surely appreciate Mickle’s message that people can’t take what they have for granted.
While Mickle also included the basic characteristics of vampires in ‘Stake Land,’ such as needing to drink blood and not being able to go out in the sun, Mickle made the right decision to also include characteristics of zombies. Viewers will empathize with Martin, Mister and Anna’s plight from the vampires, and their need to kill every one they come into contact with. The vampires are unintelligible creatures who no longer have any sense of humanity or any characteristics of their former human selves; their only goal is to feed on and kill humans.
To read the rest of this interview, please visit:
http://www.shockya.com/news/2011/04/21/stake-land-movie-review/
Monday, April 25, 2011
'The Greatest Movie Ever Sold' Movie Review
Title: POM Wonderful Presents: The Greatest Movie Ever Sold
Director: Morgan Spurlock (‘Super Size Me’)
Starring: Morgan Spurlock
Review Written by: Karen Benardello
Movies have always been an original outlet for filmmakers to tell their stories, but what happens when the lure of money and distribution deals become more tempting than creative control? Director Morgan Spurlock strives to tell the world what really happens in the deals between the entertainment and advertising businesses in his new documentary, ‘POM Wonderful Presents: The Greatest Movie Ever Sold.’ Not afraid to break down barriers to prove how product placement has become so transparent in movies, Spurlock was successful in showing how consumers make subconscious decisions on what to buy based on what they see in films, even though his documentary was paid for entirely through sponsorships.
‘POM Wonderful Presents: The Greatest Movie Ever Sold’ follows Spurlock as he examines the phenomenon of product placement, marketing and advertising in the world, particularly in movies. The documentary focuses solely on Spurlock reaching out to advertising agencies, product placement companies and brands, asking if they would finance the movie through pitch meetings and marketing presentations. The movie’s marketing process features the filmmaker in the center of the advertisements for the brands that ultimately agreed to sponsor the film. While most brand officials refused to be even interviewed on camera, let alone be associated with the movie for fear of how the publicity would harm their companies, there were several that agreed to take part, including Hyatt Hotels and Resorts, Jet Blue, MovieTickets.com and Merrell Shoes. POM Wonderful Pomegranate Juice ultimately became the lead sponsor, paying $1 million to have its name before the ‘Greatest Movie Ever Sold’ title.
When first hearing about the concept of ‘POM Wonderful Presents: The Greatest Movie Ever Sold,’ the plotline, or apparent lack there-of, of the film isn’t very appealing; sitting through an hour-and-a-half of Spurlock just asking companies if they want to sponsor his film about product placement in movies seems redundant. It seems as though it wouldn’t show audiences how product placement affects Americans’ lives. Even Spurlock has said that he and his fellow producers didn’t even know if this type of movie was possible when they first began filming, as they didn’t know if any brands would be interested in working with them.
To read the rest of this review, please visit:
http://www.shockya.com/news/2011/04/21/the-greatest-movie-ever-sold-review/
Director: Morgan Spurlock (‘Super Size Me’)
Starring: Morgan Spurlock
Review Written by: Karen Benardello
Movies have always been an original outlet for filmmakers to tell their stories, but what happens when the lure of money and distribution deals become more tempting than creative control? Director Morgan Spurlock strives to tell the world what really happens in the deals between the entertainment and advertising businesses in his new documentary, ‘POM Wonderful Presents: The Greatest Movie Ever Sold.’ Not afraid to break down barriers to prove how product placement has become so transparent in movies, Spurlock was successful in showing how consumers make subconscious decisions on what to buy based on what they see in films, even though his documentary was paid for entirely through sponsorships.
‘POM Wonderful Presents: The Greatest Movie Ever Sold’ follows Spurlock as he examines the phenomenon of product placement, marketing and advertising in the world, particularly in movies. The documentary focuses solely on Spurlock reaching out to advertising agencies, product placement companies and brands, asking if they would finance the movie through pitch meetings and marketing presentations. The movie’s marketing process features the filmmaker in the center of the advertisements for the brands that ultimately agreed to sponsor the film. While most brand officials refused to be even interviewed on camera, let alone be associated with the movie for fear of how the publicity would harm their companies, there were several that agreed to take part, including Hyatt Hotels and Resorts, Jet Blue, MovieTickets.com and Merrell Shoes. POM Wonderful Pomegranate Juice ultimately became the lead sponsor, paying $1 million to have its name before the ‘Greatest Movie Ever Sold’ title.
When first hearing about the concept of ‘POM Wonderful Presents: The Greatest Movie Ever Sold,’ the plotline, or apparent lack there-of, of the film isn’t very appealing; sitting through an hour-and-a-half of Spurlock just asking companies if they want to sponsor his film about product placement in movies seems redundant. It seems as though it wouldn’t show audiences how product placement affects Americans’ lives. Even Spurlock has said that he and his fellow producers didn’t even know if this type of movie was possible when they first began filming, as they didn’t know if any brands would be interested in working with them.
To read the rest of this review, please visit:
http://www.shockya.com/news/2011/04/21/the-greatest-movie-ever-sold-review/
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)