Jules Verne

As a person who in my early childhood I did not like confined spaces, it stems from an incident being trapped alone in an elevator for a period of time.  The irony of having that fear was some of the greatest stories I grew up reading and admiring were Vernes' adventures that the heroes traverse through tight knit spaces to explore wonderous lands.

Jules Verne was a French novelist, born in Nantes, France, Feb. 8, 1828.  Educated in law, he gave it up to write unsuccessfully for the stage. In 1862,  however, he wrote "Five Weeks in a Balloon", which initiated a new and enormously popular type of fiction.  Basing his romantic adventure stories on possible scientific invention. Verne succeeded in fascinating and startling his audience , and made many predictions  which have since come true.  His books owed their popularity to their peculiar combination of fantastic detail and plausible scientific explanation, Among the best known of them translated into English were

 A Voyage to the Centre of the Earth (1864), Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea (1869),  and Around the World in Eighty Days (1873).  He died Mar.24, 1905.

The Amazing Spiderman (2012 - 2014)

A Sony Pictures reboot starring Andrew Garfield in the title role. Focusing on Peter Parker in his high school years and his first love interest Gwen Stacey.   The film holds true to many aspects of the comic book, Revisiting the hero's origins, introducing older characters such as Captain Stacey, and revealing the fate of Peter's first love.  

Most importantly the film and its sequel explores Richard Parker, and how Peter's parents influenced who he would become beyond his aunt and uncle.  

The specter or mystery of why his parents left him that dark and stormy night had plagued Peter all his life, the film explores and shines a light on that untapped history.  It gives a compelling and independent sub-story in both Amazing Spiderman movies. The parental history mirrors Richard Donner's Original Superman concept on how Jo-El being able to be there in guiding his son once he becomes of age in the aftermath of his own demise. To have his son become the hero he is destined to be.  Both sets of parents met a fiery explosive ending and both left messages and a video representation of themselves that their son's were able to watch and learn from, carrying with it the secrets of where their powers come from and how they are different.  The movie of father's and their children holds true in the both movies, with Gwen and her father,  Peter and his adoptive parent Uncle Ben, and to some extent in Richard Parker's former partner Dr. Connors who Peter strikes a bond with in the field of study.

Peter is nearing the end of his High School years and is coming of age, Uncle Ben and Aunt May are pillars of support to guide him. Like the Kent's,  Ka-El's adoptive earth parents, they shape and provide a grounded and supportive foundation  for our hero, before he ventures forward .

Denis Leary plays Captain Stacey, a role he took on with great honor and pride in representing a fallen hero in the line of duty.  The tone of tragedy and how the hero never forgets, is in many respects the thesis of Spiderman and what makes him different from most superhero archetypes, it always comes down to the basics of he rarely wins in his personal life, cursed with personal tragedy he finds a way to overcome his adversary to keep his neighborhood safe, but having experienced those losses is what shapes him, and keeps him grounded.  

In the Amazing Spiderman 2, Peter is haunted by Captain Stacey's dying words, compounding the heavy choices he makes with love interest Gwen Stacey. Who as written in the comics - fulfills a dark destiny of her own. The film concludes on Gwen's climatic ending, However, finding cathartic resolution would take ten long years and a dark cloud haunting The Amazing Spiderman .  The long awaited resolution brought on a full admission of guilt and loss followed by a redemption arc found only in Spiderman No Way Home; that provides a full and robust concluding trilogy to the Amazing Spiderman's story.  The paradigm shift is the line given repeatedly over 20 years of Spiderman "With great power comes great responsibility", This re-telling of a singularity that is a cog for the 5 Sony Spiderman movies,  Into the Spider-verse, and No Way Home. 

The Amazing Spiderman 2 gave us a scope of  loss then decided to end on a more somber note like the conclusion of  The Empire's Strikes Back.  We as a collective audience were begrudgingly given time for our hero to make his legendary return and close with a satisfactory third film.  That was unfortunately not provided in the final act of Spiderman 2, The 2014 sequel only provided that specter of unfulfilled aftermath. With the hero out of high school, alone in the world, and conflicted. The Rosetta stone or North star to guide our hero back would be a commencement speech, written in truth by actress Emma Stone who drafted the speech herself as she did not become a valedictorian in her own life,

Thunder Force (2021)

Thunder Force was filmed in Atlanta, and shot over a course of three months, it concluded it's principle photography by the end of 2019. Making it one of the last few movies unhindered by the pandemic. Thunder Force marks the sixth collaborative effort between  Writer/Director Ben Falcone and his wife Melissa McCarthy.   With what feels like a fixed budget and possibly time constraints the movie has only a few set pieces. However, within those pieces we are given stellar art direction, and an adequate amount of special effects to tell its story which was a derivative of being superhero movie with an origins story.

Married for 17 years, the duo have been in a relationship for nearly 21 years, Ben and Melissa met working with the ‘groundlings’ an improvisational and sketch comedy troupe.  Falcone who self references himself as an actor and producer, has made a few cameo appearances in some of McCarthy’s films.  (The Heat, Spy, Identity Thief, Happytime Murders, and Bridesmaids)

Ben Falcone, now  an established author had cut his teeth creatively being a writer and music composer for Looney tunes, he will be releasing a limited series titled ‘God’s Favorite Idiot’ sometime in 2022.  It is also to note that Falcone who began as actor has kept largely producing in the genre of, comedy or light hearted projects.   He has written, directed, or produced six projects that McCarthy has starred in, all of which were the ones that critics have panned the most on, when reflecting upon Melissa McCarthy complete body of work.  The first project was Tammy (2014)  a script they worked on  together with the initial intent of being an indie film, they sold it as a script first, largely in part of Melissa clout and knowing producers to read and give it a chance.  The script was designed to showcase Melissa’s range and skill set outside of the fast talking and cute best friend characters that she developed in television with Gilmour Girls and Samantha Who?.

As a married couple that collaborates in both writing and developing, the duo takes large swings in the comedy by tying in equal amalgams of drama and edgy tension, albeit tension catering to a broader form of comedy.  

The latest project was the Netflix exclusive ‘Thunder Force’, an original intellectual property that really parodies the superhero genre.  With the help of acclaimed actress Octavia Spencer, the film begins on childhood, establishing the bond and complexities of the heroes.  As it carries over and connects them to the present and their relationship moving forward as the city’s protectors.

The film keeps the raunchy, physical comedy that has made Melissa McCarthy a household name, and not since Life of the Party, has a defined love interest for her character.  As the star, Melissa McCarthy takes a commanding role and spotlights the leading woman in the romantic relationship as well as anchoring the pace and tone of the overall film.   Ben & Melissa had Just completed filming the movie Super Intelligence four months prior , when they re-cast Bobby Cannavale  who was her leading man /love interest in that film.  With the chemistry and ease of working together; They had Bobby play the antagonist know as ‘The King’ and really kept a character at odds with her character, and once again took big swings in both broad comedy and its physicality of superheroes  battling for the city.

Looking back, a year removed from the release date on Netflix; the movie has an earnest collection of actors doing what the script calls for them to do, but it does feel it out stayed its welcome.  There are purposeful cliché, and over the top physical comedy.   Jason Bateman’s charismatic Crab Character is a shining spotlight and gives the movie some value and heart.  Unfortunately it is just one of the many soon to be forgotten streaming service movies that have been deemed middle of the road.

Spiderman Trilogy (2002 - 2007)

Contributed By Guest Blog writer - Evy 

The original Spiderman movie, released in 2002  - directed by Sam Raimi is about a superhero who is a teen in high school. Peter Parker who was bitten by a spider receives spider like powers, who can now climb walls, have super strength, and make webs. This finally gives him the courage to get the girl next door Mary Jane Watson.  His uncle is killed by a bank robber, that he indirectly let happen. He fights a deadly new foe named the Green Goblin; unbeknownst to him is the father of his best friend Harry Osborn. He eventually and inadvertently kills Norman Osborn aka the Green Goblin, making his alter ego the sworn enemy of his best friend.

Spiderman 2, directed by Sam Raimi and released in 2004; sees a teenage Peter Parker, who still in high school, meets Dr. Otto Octavious a brilliant scientist, who Peter admires.  With the added invention of mechanical tentacles to aide in Otto's experiments, a horrific accident occurs resulting with his wife dying.  The accident also causes Octavious to become mentally unstable as each tentacle was designed with their own A.I. conflicting with his own mind. Ultimately Spiderman and Dr. Octavious fight resulting in the doctor's own demise.

Spiderman 3,directed by Sam Raimi and released in 2007; discovers Uncle Ben's real killer - who becomes Spiderman's latest Foe known as Sandman.  Harry; Peter's former best friend has become the new Green Goblin and is bent on revenge.  These recent events are affecting our hero mentally which is affecting his relationship with Mary Jane.  All this negativity allows him to bond with an alien symbiote as his personal life begins to erode  away.

The Future is Now

Soylent Green was released in 1973, Directed By Richard Fleisher - whose works include Doctor Dolittle (1967), Fantastic Voyage (1966), Conan the Destroyer (1984), Red Sonja (1985) ....  featuring a solid cast lead by Charlton Heston, Edward G. Robinson, Leigh Taylor-Young, Chuck Connors and Joesph Cotton.   The film takes place 49 years into the future - that is in relation of the theatrical release of this film.  

The Premise - The world is overpopulated, our story takes place in New York City, a densely overpopulated and starving mecca.  Charles Heston  plays NYPD detective Robert Thorn who is investigating the murder of an executive at rations manufacturer Soylent Corporation, with the aid of an academic named Sol - played by Edward G. Robinson.  The duo begin to make some real progress, when without warning has the Governor intervene and shuts down the entire investigation.  Thorn now obsessed with this mystery decides to launches his own further investigation, without the knowledge of any law enforcement.  

The film is a science fiction murder mystery - that got many things right, our planet was seeing itself projected into overpopulation, there are catastrophic climate change taking place,  corporations do have some power over the government, and the 1 percent wealthy can afford a better and cleaner living as that divide of rich versus poor widens during these critical economic times.

Outstanding - This film is both a cult classic and is revered in the pantheon of movie history.  Its contribution has it being one of cinema's most daring and surprising twist endings for its decade.

No Escape was released in 1994, Directed by Martin Cambell - whose works include The Protege (2021) Casino Royale (2006), Vertical Limit (2000), GoldenEye (1995)..... features a very eclectic cast lead by Ray Liotta, Ernie Hudson,  Lance Henriksen, Kevin  Dillon, Stuart Wilson, and Kevin J. O'Connor. The film takes place 28 years into the future - that is in relation of the theatrical release of this film.  The film was released overseas under a different name as either Escape from Absolom or Absolom 2022.

The Premise - Corporations run the prison system - like Alcatraz  in concept - the worst criminals are exiled to this island for life.  Liotta is an ex-marine named John Robbins who is sentenced for murdering his commanding officer.  Upon arrival Robbins is captured by a group called the Outsiders whose leader is a sociopath named Walter Marek - played by Stuart Wilson,   Eventually escaping,  Robbins is taken in by the Insiders lead by a terminally ill doctor called The Father - Played by Lance Henriksen. 

The film is purely fiction - the only thing the film got right are surprising human characteristics, that society has now shown, politically in the United States  with the Republican Party, we had a dominant leader, whose members conform into a tribal mentality. Also when faced with a potential extinction level event like covid-19 which began near the start of 2020;  It would make sense in the film world that people would set aside their differences and come together for a common threat, However, (with the exception of the medical community) the reality was people today decided to double down to either being the left or the right.   No Escape talks about factions who live amongst themselves without outside authority, consequence or interference. Similar to the eco-system established in Lord of the Flies.  No Escape was based on a  1987 novel called The Penal Colony,  by Richard Herley.  Historically in concept Australia, was conceived to be a Penal Colony of sorts, and a world without a governing body or judicial system in place that is a  notion that has been explored in both film and in books for decades. Just it doesn't exist anywhere in today's world.

Outstanding - ITS NOT , this is widely a forgettable film, there is a 50/50 chance you may remember or recognize the film's 1994 poster.  Unless current society disintegrates due to catastrophic  climate change, which leads governments of countries to become decimated, or the economic crash becomes so tumultuous making 1st world countries impoverished -This film mirrors no semblance of the year in which it resides in, and has completely missed its mark 

Solo (1996)

When you think of the movie Solo, automatically one would assume its the prequel Solo: a Star Wars Story, a movie that did not receive much critical praise. This is not that movie, however its a disaster that pre-dates that movie.  Which would then lie the question of what was this original Solo  movie?  If the Hans Solo movie was cursed by making comparisons, what curses did this film inherited?  More importantly if it was that bad why have we not heard of it?  even at the release of Solo: a star wars story.

Well sit back and know it was a long long time ago,  a science fiction story, about a secret military mission that gone awry, when the latest military's prototype, an A.I. Android concluded that self preservation means keeping it's own long term memories over the military's desire to erase and restart his initial programming was it's primary objective.

Based on Vietnam veteran Robert Mason's first novel called Weapon. Whereupon an android named Solo lives among Nicaraguan villagers after he deems them innocent while his government handlers targeted them for execution. 

Weapon was published in 1989, making the original story pre-dating all the circa 1990's action troupes of that decade; stamping a precedent in original concept over movies of that decade (but not the 80's). This was screenwriter David L. Corley first commercial big budget theatrical movie adaptation, according to IMDB he continued to write three more adapted screenplays, all of which went straight to video.  Executive Power and Angel's Dance where films in which he also directed; and nearly a decade after the release of  Solo, David L. Corley wrote his final screenplay Jean  Claude Van Damme's movie titled Second in Command, a direct to video which was abysmally received by both critics and audiences and thus concluded his career in Hollywood and the film industry in general.  

 Solo's debut in theatres was August of 1996 and is ranked 160th in highest grossing films of that year. Making just over 5 Million dollars at the box office, with a projected budget of 19 Million dollars, the film was a financial disaster.  The movie was released one year after Van Damme's Universal Solider;  a film about a slowly self aware cyborg who turns rogue from his military handlers.

 Solo shares the  1991 story of Terminator 2's idea of a boy and a deadly robot bonding, and why the robot can't conceive of an emotion - in this case laughter as oppose to tears of sadness. The film shares an underlying comparison to the 1986 movie Short Circuit where a robot becomes self aware and runs away from its military benefactors  for its own self preservation  over the risk of losing its own long term memory, as it's battery source bleeds out; that until his creator and friend arrives to give him a new one.  The film borrows  visual cue's and the echoing sound ideas of laughter in a  jungle which can be seen in the 1987 film Predator. 

Popularizing itself with Michael Jordan's Nike commercial Ad  and utilizing his most famous Gatorade slogan "Be like Mike"-  Solo  uses a rolodex of familiarity of established pop culture with the hopes that the zeitgeist will carry over into it's box office receipts.

 Life after Solo, for a revered  Mario Van Peeple's career was very much under the radar for the remainder of that decade, until the semi successful movie Judgment Night; but it would take the 2001 release of Will Smith's Ali to gain recognition and awarded accolades for his supporting role.  That comeback bumped up his Hollywood status and saw Mario return to the Director's Chair since 1994's New Jack City; telling the story of his father's celebrated career in Badassssss! which garnered multiple Independent Spirt award & NAACP image award nominations.

On its own Solo fits the category of a 90's blockbuster film, with its' budgeted action, use of guns, explosions, chops, punches, and memorable one-liners. The success of this film rested on in its very own use of words when it decided to deal with the devil.

Hancock (2008)

 Initially titled "Tonight, He Comes", to which in context of the final movie, makes no connective sense , This film center's around John Hancock, the second conceived movie title, before settling to the single name ' Hancock'.

Featuring  Will Smith in the lead role, The movie was slated for a 2007 release, but due to changing of directors, problems with film board advisory warning and conflicted test audiences reactions;  the movie was trimmed and scenes re-shot. To the point of it barely resembles the original 1996 script of Vy Vincent Ngo.

Not much is publicly known of the original version as it was rumored to be gorier with a more sadder ending as Hancock suffered PTSD and had violent outbursts, The film script was initially sought out by director Michael Mann, Tony Scott and couple of other directors, as screenwriter Vince Gilligan took over and re-wrote the screenplay after creative differences with Vy Vincent Ngo had him walk away from the project.  The film had to pass the film advisory board twice to avoid the initial R- rating.  Test audiences did not like the movie and a particular scene of Will Smith.

In Ngo's version, Hancock was sexual frustrated, as he could not have sex with women, on the condition when he orgasmed it would kill them. Test audiences did not find it funny and the concept was one of the reasons for a R-rating.  Peter Berg came on board as director and had that scene re-imagined with Hancock being a hero dealing with alcoholism.  Berg sited the movie Leaving Las Vegas as an influence in which its leading star becomes a suicidal alcoholic,

 
It was in the re-write that critics notice the movie, and made their complaints; as the first two thirds of the film had Will Smith being charming and comedic with our hero causing millions in damages and become callous with consequences. To a tragic figure where the stakes in the movie had very real dramatic pull, the sudden shift in tone caught the ire of many film critics, but audiences still loved the movie as it became the 4th highest grossing movie of the summer of 2008.  Which wasn't much when the final budget of the film was just over a 150 Million.  

As for the initial title, I as a blog writer can only speculate as being a horror reference of the violence Hancock would inflict onto the character of Mary in the original draft, or its a double entendre for the character's short falls. 

The film also ear marked the beginning of the end of physical media, as it posed as a litmus test in consumers viewing habits.  Sony who is a divisional  producer of the film,  Offered an exclusive deal, if you owned a new Bravia television set and had an internet connection you could download the film and watch it at your leisure. One month before the release on DVD and Blue Ray.  This was the film that ushered in the proven success of video-on-demand to be a viable platform. The 2009 CES convention saw technology and distribution shift that way.