Escape From Tomorrow - REVIEW

Hearing about this movie before it was released caught my attention. The idea of secretly filming a film INSIDE both Disneyland and Disney World WITHOUT Disney's permission is an unthinkable thing. You would think it's quite impossible to do, but we've been proven wrong. And thus, after searching the bowels of Youtube, I actually found a free HD version of Escape From Tomorrow to watch, and I'm kinda glad I didn't waste $4 from renting it.

PLOT:  An epic battle begins when a middle-aged American husband and father of two learns that he has lost his job. Keeping the news from his nagging wife and wound-up children, he packs up the family and embarks on a full day of park hopping amid enchanted castles and fairytale princesses. Soon, the manuf… Moreactured mirth of the fantasy land around him begins to haunt his subconscious. An idyllic family vacation quickly unravels into a surrealist nightmare of paranoid visions, bizarre encounters, and an obsessive pursuit of a pair of sexy teenage Parisians.

Yeah, I'm still shocked Disney didn't call their lawyers.

Escape From Tomorrow wasn't a bad film, but it wasn't the greatest. It's decent. However, I do applaud the film for its risk-taking role of filming in the parks and the director's preparations on how he would shoot the film (6 months of preparation). From its low budget, the film was impressive regarding effects. Sure, there were some notable green screen shots that brought me out of this world, but I was impressed with the limits the director had. The black and white noir look the film had also worked for the film's disturbing nature.

Acting wasn't the best, but it was tolerable. The writing, however, is what suffers in this film. The film's plot is really absurd and "out there" compared to the plot given in the description above. The story adds on different things in the film that confused me when they were introduced. The film suffers from fully explaining what the conflict really is. There are multiple enemies in the film and you aren't sure which enemy is important or useless. Escape From Tomorrow fails to provide a proper antagonist and a proper ending. The ending (disturbing, yes) had me confused. Those who will watch this will leave the film scratching their heads wondering what the hell just happened.

Though the film suffered writing/story issues, it was average. Once again, I was beyond amazed with the methods used to film this in a Disney park. I kept asking myself throughout the film how they managed to pull this off, and somehow, they did. I would only watch the film again for that only. Other than that, it's best watching this only once.


Rating:  5.5/10

Treatment 2.0 - Mockumentary

I am completely restarting from scratch. Originally, I had planned to do a voluntary documentary about judgement. However, due to scheduling conflicts with those that had agreed to volunteer, I've decided to create something else.

Ever seen Chronicle? The found footage type film involving a group of teens discovering super powers? This new project is inspired by that.

Basically, this mockumentary focuses on a teen filming a class project documentary, only to get bullied by another teen. To defend himself, he makes a choice that unveils his secret.

The way I have this planned is to film in 1st person POV, showing the story being told as if the viewer is that person. The main character also confronts those who will watch this by speaking to the camera, combining both voluntary and mockup elements.

The short is currently under editing, however, reshoots might be possible if necessary.

Shortest Film Review

This will be the shortest film review I will ever release.
Why? Because it's so bad, it doesn't need to be explained why.
All I'll say is the acting and the concept shows disrespect to the original content.

SUPER MARIO BROS. THE MOVIE -  Complete Piece of S***!

TWO DOCUMENTARY REVIEWS / PROJECT OVERVIEW

It's been several tough weeks, but over Thanksgiving break, I finally got a chance to watch some movies, but before I get to that, I want to discuss the documentary I viewed in class.


The documentary I saw in class involved "street art" and how it has evolved in several cultures and societies. At first, the documentary felt dull and boring until it added more of the "thrill" element to it as more artists begin to emerge from the shadows, but it's the journey that's more important rather than the outcome. As I finished watching the scene from Disneyland, I wanted to see more, and I really hope we get to see the results from that incident.


Now....onto a documentary film I've seen.

The documentary film I saw this week followed well-known WWE superstar CM Punk. The almost 2 hour documentary delivers the story of how Phil Brooks aka CM Punk made his way up to the top of the wrestling industry. What I really loved from the documentary is the fact how Punk completely talked about how WWE can be corrupt at times, and it still shocks me that WWE allowed him to speak of it. It also tells a personal story of Punk as his fellow friends and colleagues talk about their experiences with Punk. The documentary as well highlights Punk's greatest achievements in the company and his biggest conflicts in the company.

This documentary as well influenced me to never give up as Punk was underestimated several times, but he proved to everyone that he is indeed the "Best in the World". He advises people to never let anyone bring their confidence and dreams down and to never give up in any situation. This documentary is one of the best I've seen produced from WWE. There are hardly any decent documentaries from WWE. CM Punk: Best in the World is one of those great recent documentaries from the company.






As mentioned in the title, I will be discussing the overview of my documentary that's in development. The documentary will be based on how judgment motivates up-and-coming artists to exceed everyone's expectations. It will follow a few artists and their journey's as well as my journey to my passion.


The documentary will solely be based off this song as the shots in this documentary will focus on these people only and their stories.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VDvr08sCPOc

The Punisher - REVIEW

PLOT: An undercover FBI agent becomes a vigilante assassin and sets out to unleash vengeance upon the corrupt businessman who slew his family.

Based on the Marvel comics, The Punisher follows Frank Castle as the film explains his origin and reason for becoming a vigilante. Though at times The Punisher tries to become more of a mafia film, it still is a decent flick (compared to that god awful 1989 version).

The film itself is well written for its time, however, it feels as if it's a very cheesy mafia film, in which it fails to completely capture the mafia feel. Sure, the music helps, but some of the more influenced mafia lines end up being too cheesy which completely ruins that aspect of the film. Some of the dialogue as well feels weird at times, but nonetheless, it had its own moments to remember (Russian fight scene). Thomas Jane completely kills it as Frank Castle as he proves himself to be the only actor that can portray a good Punisher. The cinematography as well is beautiful, as it captures great landscape shots and silhouettes. Acting overall was decent and the action was decent. The music also was one of the great things for the film. Had the mafia feel not been ruined earlier with some of the writing, complete mafia experience for the film would've been perfect. The musical score itself pays tribute to the classic vibe of mafia-related films.

THE VERDICT - With a few writing problems as well as some choppy editing spots here and there, The Punisher is still a decent Marvel flick. Sad to say though that this is probably the best Punisher adaptation we'll ever get for now.

                                                            The Punisher
                                                  Rating: 6.8 / 10
                                     

                                Thomas Jane - Frank Castle
                                 John Travolta - Howard Saint

The Walking Dead (Season 4, Ep.1 / Ep. 2) REVIEW

Personally, I started watching The Walking Dead last year in the beginning of Season 3 with the whole prison fiasco and thanks to HHN, I now know of the show's existence. Of course, I caught up with Season 1 and 2 just days before Season 3 and I watched Season 3 (awesome season btw) and now here we are! After two episodes, I can honestly say this will be a far more emotional season.

S4 E1: 30 Days Without An Incident
I found the season premiere a whole lot better than Season 3's premiere. Yes it's cool to watch zombies die in awesome ways, but we can use more character story and development for the show, and the premiere this time delivered both awesome zombie kills and character development.

It's been somewhat 6 months after the events in Woodsbury as Rick and the rest of the survivors are shown raising this new community and life in the prison. With more than 30 people living in the prison as a shelter, we begin to see conflicts arise and these conflicts will sure cause quite a stir later on, but unlike previous seasons, we are immediately introduced the main conflict for this season: illness. The premiere as well had its fun moments with the whole zombie store scene as it completely captured the good ol' zombie genre we all know and love, minus some of the bad CGI and special effects. The makeup in the show is always amazing and beautifully as it shows its full glory in that scene.

VERDICT: 30 Days Without An Incident was somewhat a strong opening to what will be a strong season. As each new storyline is established, it's hard to tell what else is to come.   


S4 E2: Illness
Episode completely raises the bar as of now for Season 4. This episode felt like episode 4 of last season (Lori dead, T-Dog bitten). This episode finally showed the main conflict in action (illness). This as well is the first time we ever see the community under attack as we watch how they handle the situation, in which case, isn't handled very well because 15 people died due to a Harry Potter look-a-like getting sick and becoming a zombie. This episode was the perfect way to add on and explain how serious the issue of this virus is and as well, explains a traitor is amongst the group.

VERDICT: With another strong episode, "Illness" continues to proceed with the story adding both suspense and emotional aspects of storytelling.

The Inspiration of HOLDING COMPANY

The idea of the film I'm currently working on (HOLDING COMPANY) came from this...http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=co4YpHTqmfQ