The crew reciting Joker’s lines from The Dark Knight.

For those who haven’t seen either movie, we’re playing 2 guys from Inglourious Basterds in a scene from Harsh Times.

Just us acting out a scene from Tropic Thunder.

This is a film project of SlyFlicks. This is the first trailer. Shooting for the movie is currently in progress. Due to the hectic schedule of the crew, the release date is not yet known.

Remember the concept in The Producers? The classic story where producers figure you can make more money with a flop than a hit. And I think the best example is the following independent movie, “The Room.” It came out in 2003, but the way it was started involves a man named Tommy Wiseau, who wrote a book by the same movie name. So that book (and written as a play too) was then turned into a movie idea by Mr. Wiseau. The man somehow raised 6 million dollars, which no one can really know from where, for his film. My envy grows when he decides to purchase two cameras, one that is a high quality film camera and the other a digital average camera. While filming he placed both cameras next to each other because he couldn’t understand the difference. His script also needed on location changes, probably because the actors couldn’t understand some ideas. This film didn’t really see the light of day until April Fool’s day of 2009 where Adult Swim played a censored version that night. This awareness revealed a small cult following going on with this independent film where some cities were showing the film on the last Friday of every month at a midnight screening. A movie filled with so many plot holes, bad acting and odd lines that it became a hilarious film to watch with a group of people. My cousins hosted movie nights where a group of us would watch this film. Some would laugh, others wished to leave the room and many were scarred by the film. I couldn’t stand the movie at first but it grew on me as more and more I recited lines or funny moments with my friends. The midnight screening was an experience of its own, the first time I went to the theatre back in May, the screening was already sold out. A huge line formed leaving me and my friends in shock of how many people liked this movie like we do. Then in the summer, we went again, this time prepared with online bought tickets and getting on line early. So early that we were the first ones there on line. But watching the movie in a full sized theater is what makes it so much fun. First off, there’s an actual live band that plays whenever there’s a love scene (and there are several very unusual and hilarious love scenes). The audience sings along and discovering the actual lyrics is profound and so funny too. Then the excitement comes when on the screen, one character stands next to a small table with framed pictures on it. For some reason the pictures are of spoons, and this isn’t easily noticeable but when this is shown, the whole audience screams “SPOONS” and throws plastic spoons at the big screen. It turns into a spoon war, with missiles flying over your head, landing everywhere and sometimes you throw back and have little battles with the people behind you. The theater room was large and had 4 levels so many spoons reached the bottom level seats. It’s so much fun being in such an active audience, no other movie I’ve been to has that. When the lights go back on, you can see spoons covering the floor and even some under your seat. It’s amazing also to find so much more weird stuff I never noticed before in the movie that people point out or laugh at. And it makes one feel that they’re not alone in enjoying such a horrible movie. This is a huge example on how a bad film can create such an amazing response that makes one question if it really is so bad after all.

The Verdict

• Must See!
• Not Bad.
• Rent It.
• Must Miss!

“Transformers 2″ is where Michael Bay brings out all his movie ideas into one completely unstable film. This movie can sum up so many things on what not to do, and what to avoid in a sequel. The first film, in my opinion, was actually entertaining with the effects and storyline. But many fans were disappointed from (what they called) the lack of actual robot battles in the film. I thought the final climactic battle in the last act was worthy enough to say there was a lot of robot action put in. But Michael Bay seemed to have thought it’s a good idea to put more and more robot fight scenes instead of focusing on story or character development. The first film worked because it had a human main character that guided the story. This film is completely different and lacks any characters to care about. At the start of the film, I already couldn’t follow what was going on, who was fighting who and for what reason. It was literally just a big battle with a huge bicycle looking transformer. The main plot seemed to be that an ancient decepticon transformer (The Fallen, which is a stupid name in the first place) was hibernating in space and could only come back if no Prime transformer was left because those transformers are the only ones who can stop him. But then the Sam Witwicky plot is not to be forgotten, of him going to college and becoming something of a cube information surrogate. Honestly at the point this was explained, it felt like the movie was done by filmmakers under the influence of hard drugs. Nothing really made sense, and so much screen time was spent on cool looking robot transforming. And giving the robots different stereotypical personalities didn’t help anything. So many unnecessary things were shown with the robot and human storyline. At the beginning they showed that a satellite was a transformer, I got completely uninterested and thought they went too far. Then they bring in a girl who is actually a transformer…with a very long metallic tongue. Another point in which I couldn’t believe this is actually a real movie. The only beacon of hope I could get was when John Turturro came on scene. He’s probably the only actor in the whole movie I was entertained by. But the movie’s plot-lines kept making the movie more hard to enjoy, where these characters are doing so many random things so quickly it’s hard to follow. One of the last straws was when Sam went to robot heaven and was told of his (really dumb) “destiny” to save Optimus Prime. Looking back at this movie, I can see how this would all work in a cool transformers graphic novel with great detailed artwork to appreciate. But not everything can translate from comic to film, and this movie is a main example. Michael Bay with his explosions and random battles is kinda cool to watch with the hard work the animators did, but its not supported with anything if the plot is nowhere. And with news of a third film, I don’t know how Bay can do any better because in his eyes he made a great film better than the first one. I think he’s made one of the worst films I’ve ever seen.

The Verdict

• Must See!
• Not Bad.
• Rent It.
• Must Miss!

The assignment was to design a logo that is personal to me. The second version is a bit dramatic of a logo idea but I went with it. Alot of people like using skulls and it’s always cool. To make mine more original I did this one from scratch with the pen tool. Kinda gothic looking….

“Little Children” is a 2006 film by Todd Field, based on a novel by Tom Perrotta, that tells several intertwining stories of troubled suburban characters. The story, without giving too much away, surrounds a town that recently has a registered sex offender living there. This is a partial reason for tension in the neighborhood. Main characters include a wife/mother played by Kate Winslet who develops a secret affair with Patrick Wilson’s character. Jackie Earle Haley plays the sex offender who lives with his mother and isn’t very welcomed. The story is presented in sometimes a form of a novel involving a narrator that sometimes tells the audience the thoughts of a character in a moment. The script seems to only give selected scenes to the narrator while leaving other parts more towards the actors responsibility to present the emotions and thoughts. With multiple storylines, it can be difficult to collect them all in a coherent form. Sometimes one character doesn’t get as much screentime as another. In this case I think Jackie Earle Haley, who performed a very dark and realistic character, didn’t get as much development as Kate Winslet’s character. The screenwriting and directing mainly determines which character will be focused on more. Patrick Wilson’s performance was alright but I think he’s still missing something to really say he’s a great actor. Other supporting roles were carried out well, especially Jennifer Connelly, who I think had the best performance in the film Requiem for a Dream. Back to Little Children, the film’s style in cinematography was nicely done and what surprised me the most was the final act. In that act, I really was grabbed in and wanted to know what was going to happen next. I wish every film can have that effect where it grabs your full attention and where those last final moments really interest you. The film ends in with a very interesting message towards choices, family, adulthood and redemption.

The Verdict

• Must See!
• Not Bad.
• Rent It.
• Must Miss!