Captain America

Captain America has been reinvented by marvel in a desperate attempt to salvage what is left of the American way. Only one problem... Does anyone remember the American way?

This has been my most anticipated Marvel movie, something about superheroes and the 1940s really spoke to me and it said "cool". But then I finished watching it the disembodied voice finally said "I tried to be cool."

WARNING, NERD RANT:

The movie was too unrealistic and fast-paced. The technology available to the Germans was better than what we have available today! If they wanted watchers to believe what was going one they would have made more effort to preserve the integrity of the year the movie was taking place in! Not only that but the damage the Germans did with these weapons caused many towns to crumble, if they wanted people to be convinced then why wouldn't they explain why these destructions where completely wiped from history?!? Now down to the fast paced part, the movie would not let you get close to any of the characters. In fact, they killed off a main character before you even had a chance to care! The movie just kept a truckin, one second you are at a fair, the next you seeing Cap get muscles, next thing you know he's on Broadway, then he breaks into one of the most fortified compounds known to man.....by himself without any formal training whats-so-ever, then he's promoted, forms a band of misfit fighters (With an American Asian solder, which, if I know my history, wasn't all Asians sent to a consentrason camp after pearl harbor?) Then he's on a train, then a bike, then he beats the bad guy...... As with Thor, character development was almost non-existant.


Sorry, the nerd in me took over. But in all seriousness, it was a movie, more fun than action. It wasn't meant to be realist, it was just simply made to be a film. For amusement (not thinking). And to get Capt. in the film series before the avengers comes out.

If you ask me, I would call the movie Marvel's attempt at family movie night, but if you ask me another question, I would say the the video game had a way better plot.

Movie Credits

Ask anyone who knows me and they will confirm that I always say "I always judge the quality of a movie by it's credits." And if you don't stay till the end of the credits, you are lame. You aren't giving these thousands of people credit.......and you might miss out on some cool last clip.

Now why you ask do I do that? That is because credits are supposed to be fun! The end of a movie, when the tension dies down, when you finally get to wipe your eyes from laughing so hard, when you can breath a sigh of relief! If you can tell that they spent no money on the end, you can bet that these people didn't love making the film.

My favorite credits are ones that fill in the gap, where you find out what happens after the happily ever after! Along with the ones that aren't over the top, like iRobot, where bits of tech-looking lines pop up according to the music in a very dramatic fashion, to match the drama of the movie.
Remember, credits match the mood of the movie, look for it the next time you watch a film!

Here are two credits that mirror the film.
Bolt, which shows the carefree fun, and whimsey of the movie using a different yet equally as effective art style
And iRobot, which shows the drama, without the need for many visuals.

Special effects, something great, something amazing, something overused by Michael Bay. Effects are usually what makes a film now a days, can you imagine the Transformers films without the Transformers? Nope. That's why effects are so important, they are used to suspend belief, open imaginations and shape worlds. Yet sadly that can also be used to replace the story, like Tron Evolution, or Transformers 3. These movies really had no plot because the companies that made them thought that they could solely use the effects to rake in the cash. What did we learn from this? It don't work.

Now why, you ask, would I bring up the subject of effects? That is because I would like you to become an effects artist! How? You ask? Well, I must say that you ask a lot of questions. You will be able to start using the magic of special effects using FXLab! A easy to use, fun to see, effects program an elf with a learning disability could use! Please enjoy and be creative! Oh, and did I mention that there was a free, un-expiring demo?

fxhome.com

Fatherhood, something hard, something messy, something rewarding. Yet it is something few people experience. Sure they have kids, they love them, but they are never really fathers. If God is our example of a father figure 99% of dads across the world are missing the mark. But what if they realized this, what if they strove to right the wrongs, fight the fights, and win back the hearts and minds of their children, then give them back to God? This is what Courageous is about, answering that one "what if?" and then some.

Now I have been fan of the Kendrick brothers since their first film "Flywheel”. Two brothers that looked at the movies today and realized its application in the spiritual realm. From their first attempts at holding a camera steady to this movie, God has had their backs, and I was happy enough to be able to be one of the first to view the fruits of their labor.

As many of you know, I enjoy making films, and I know about many of the mechanics that go into making a movie. Not only that but I am a avid movie watcher, not just for entertainment-but for dissecting. And when I went to see this film, I knew that their last film "Fireproof" was a good movie, but it still gripped tight to that "New filmmaker" smell. For this, I was expecting something like Fireproof, only more polished. I was wrong. What I got was a full MMA HD smack down for my eyeballs, my sight and expectations lost, but high quality and pure filmmaking expertise stood over their remains holding the championship belt. And when my eyes finally recovered, they didn't have a moment of down time, this film was brilliantly layered, there was always something going on, and all of it was needed.

This film was sheer filmmaking perfection, color grades, editing, camera shots, all done for the glory of God. I am angry at my keyboard's pure lack of ability to relay how I truly feel about the movie. Acting was brilliant, you saw pure, unacted emotions on these people's faces, making every bit of drama completely your own. When characters shed tears, theirs hit the ground right next to yours. They showed fathers this is life, and that God is with you though all of it. This is where the always present "negative paragraph" goes. But I shooed it away, this movie deserves nothing but respect, because obviously, it had God's.

Fathers in this fallen world rarely stick around. They want nothing to do with their sons, daughters, and spouses. And because of this, earth falls deeper into the black pit it dug for itself. Crime rates rise, young suicides pour into it, and bitter hearts cause this black concoction to spill over the sides of the glass and onto humanity, making for a drowning world without the respect for God only daddies can teach. This movie shows fathers that they have a bigger part in this life than they thought, and that there is no way out of it, because you are either a good father, or a bad one. You stay a father period.  But the choice is yours. Will you let your children drown in this world, filling up their lungs with the gunk fathers before you left? Or will you be a part of the clean up team, protecting your kids from the world, showing them God's love? To teach them to do the same as you, so they may dry the world and make it presentable for the second coming. Will you sign the resolution and increase your accountability or just sit back on the couch, scratch your stomach, and merely be a spectator?

This movie opened my eyes to something as well, although I am not a father odds are, I will be. This frightens me terribly, I fear that I will not be able to fully be the father my son/daughter deserves but this movie shows that I will never be. Not without help. It says that fatherhood without the inventor of it is doomed to failure. But with him, you will have the strength to outweigh the world for your children. In the mean time, for now, I just need to prepare my heart for it. Do not just see this movie to support, view to learn, view to cry, view to show that God is in this with us. "As for me and my house, we will follow the Lord."

But this movie did something else, it opened my eyes to a job I was completely oblivious to, even though it was being performed in my own home. I never realized what all went into my dad's job as a father before. I never knew that it was so grueling and demanding. I never knew that he deserved a great deal more respect than I was giving him. But now I do. But for me, I am just happy that my father was already doing what the movie teaches perfectly.

I love you dad.

Every man is important when working on a movie, and today I would like to focus on some of the most important people in the industry-the editors. The editor's main job is to make the movie flow together, to make the film watchable. But what many people fail to see is that they just don't click and drag, they are artists, and the movie is their canvas. This ain't no paint-by-numbers. They have to decide what scenes or angles will work together, which ones would present the best emotion for the scene, and which ones would go together unnoticed. To show you the true meaning of the film editor, and to save me time trying to tell you about my experiences as an editor, I will show you this awesome youtube video about the spirit of the editors working on the movie "Iron Man 2"

Summer movies are coming to an end sadly, but to be frank with you (Frank is always honest, you should meet him sometime) there were not many good movies that dropped into theaters this year. Now what are you doing? Don't throw away your popcorn and local theater gift certificates that relatives gave you because they forgot about your birthday. Movies are still a movin! Here are three films that are awaiting your eyes. Though you may want to wait till the DVD of Abduction to come out.

Courageous: I've been following the Kendrick brothers since their first film "Flywheel" and it encourages me to see them getting backed by Sony, and kicking Box Office butt. But this is not just a movie you see to "support" your beliefs, it's a movie with a meaning, and an ordination from God. This is definitely one you need to see.










Abduction: filled with unknowns, thrills and conspiracy Abduction reminds me of Eagle Eye. It is a movie you'd want to see if you are into explosions. Though I believe the language barrier is being pushed.

Real Steel: I've been waiting for this film since June. Effects, fighting robots, And the same effects company that worked on the Transformers movies, what more can a growing boy ask for?

Soul Surfer

Things were looking up for Bethany Hamilton, she had a loving family, a God that loved her, a best friend, and a promising future doing the thing she loves best-surfing. Not to mention two loving brothers that perfectly fit the role of comedic relief. But this all changes when she starts putting waves before God. God tests her faith in a way that will change her world. She looses her arm in a shark attack, something that could end her career as a surfer and her dreams. But she finds that God's plans for her are not her own, and that everything will be ok on the waves using unwavering faith.

This is her true story.

When we started pushing this at the book store I'm working at, I was a little optimistic. It seems that now a days Christian movies are the same old script, same old tale, and same old bad photography. But to push a movie, you got to know it. So one night I shelled out twenty bucks, bought the blu-ray, set up a flat screen in my dark room and popped it in. And what I saw was impressive and touching yet at the same time a little unsettling.

This is my true story analyzing her story.

If you read the cover, you'd know that Bethany Hamilton is alive and well today, this is a true story. How much the movie kept to her real story I don't know. But I must say that this movie was as touching and well written as God's real tale of Bethany. Though not quite as perfect as God's.

There was a lot of blue in the movie, since the ocean was where most of it took place. The photography made sure you got the full impact of the waves and the breathtaking scenery of beautiful Hawaii, making you feel like you are soaked to the skin during a vacation that you and your wallet will never have. The movie is a great experience not unlike soaking your eyes in a bowl of Hawaiian Punch.

The characters and actors in the film played their part perfectly, causing this "Drama in Seaworld" to truly come together. The movie is not all about the color blue though, there was stress (the director did a good job of keeping you on the edge of your seat for the shark attack.....that won't happen for another twenty minutes) not only stress but love, drama, and true feelings were coming out of my small flatscreen. These emotions made the movie good.

But let's sit down here, I need to tell you something rather sad, but more so, shocking. You see, when you make a movie, especially to a secular world, you need something to push it. A formula, if you will. When it comes to kid's movies, you need humor. Animal movies, apparently you need crude jokes. But the formula that Sony picked for this film was, skin. Since for surfing you need swimsuits Sony decided to cash in on that secular goldmine, enough to keep it Christian-themed, but just enough to get some dimwitted males to go. Though innocent and unnoticeable at first, you start to pick up on the certain camera angles and clothing, along with one certain competitor who's wardrobe resembled a shark attack in itself.

But that flaw aside, the movie was a very well put together piece dripping with good writing. Though touching at times I feel that the movie had sadly more skin than God. To put it frankly, To much Surf but not enough Soul.

Buy worthy, but not quite up there with Fireproof.