Bryan’s connections and sources, combined with my knack for framing, netted us a huge A (97 or 98, I believe) on this project. I’ll be posting all of these to the films page soon under one post called “News Packages,” but for now, here’s a post from Bryan’s Youtube page. Also remember to look him up on NoBoundaryproductions.com

More videos from us are to come, as well as one or two where I actually do the reporting, one where a certain local Governor is featured, and eventually one where we show how one nearby-campus beer store is still making money; OFF OF MINORS!

This has seriously been my favorite class of the semester, and its the only one I’m really going to miss. Wait till you see Bryan’s documentary profile on me, and mine on him. Those are going to be classics.

We’ve filmed a new movie with Future Film Makers called “Be a Dude, Man”- a quirky classroom comedy about a conflict resolution student who’s desk neighbor plans to kill him as soon as class lets out! Working with nearly 15 members of the Club, this is the biggest cast I’ve ever directed, and also one of the most diverse and cooperative.

In News Production (Videos WILL be posted soon), I’ve worked with Bryan Babcock (check out his feature length Documentary “Bicycle Man”) on 4 news packages, each one receiving excellent reviews from our teacher. We’re certainly top of the class over there. Here’s one of them:

Most of the credit on that one goes to Bryan.

Personal projects such as Clarity and Line of Sight are still in production but its been a bumpy road thanks to all the work I’ve gone through for school. I’ve been writing screenplays in Dr. Moeder’s classes, and those have gone, for the most part, well, and I hope to make some of them. I’ve written two essays for Film Genre, one on Eastern Promises and one on Brokeback Mountain. These will be included in the soon-to-come Essay’s portion of the website. I also wrote an essay on the Paradigm as guided by Syd Field, which has become a helpful tool in my story structure.

I’ve seen, what…three movies in theaters this semester? I know I saw Quarantine and Max Payne (reviews NEED to come, so far behind!), but I forget whatelse I’ve sat through. Quantum of Solace and Transporter 3 come out this month, so that’s what I’ll be looking forward to.

Other than that, it was this little news story that got me pumped to write again.

From always resourceful Darkhorizons.com:

Action heroes Sylvester Stallone, Jason Statham and Jet Li are in final negotiations to play the team of mercenaries in “The Expendables” for Nu Image/Millennium Films says the trades.

In “Expendables,” the main characters are sent to infiltrate a South American country and overthrow its ruthless dictator to liberate the population. Their team is “expendable,” hired to do jobs that no one else can or will.

Sounds simple. Even sounds really dumb. But hell, SOUNDS FREAKING AMAZING!

So I’ll try and catch up. At least this time I wasn’t a full month behind.

Ok, I know what you guys out there in blog land are thinking: A Christopher Lambert movie that ISN’T Highlander isn’t really worth anything. Well my friends, you’d be absolutely WRONG! Here’s my ghettolicious review of MEAN GUNS (1996) by Albert Pyun!

Mean Guns, a B-Action movie directed by Albert Pyun, is a non-stop crazy train of violence and comedy. It contains both utter malice and over-the-top machismo charisma thanks to a collection of leads and supports that play each of their simple parts to the most amusing letters possible.

So where to begin? How bout that plot! It’s all in the tagline, baby! 100 Assassins, 1,000 Guns, 10,000,000 Dollars! Ice T himself spells it out to his top-tier gamers: The World’s Best Assassins From the World’s Most Powerful Syndicate. They arrive at a state-of-the-art prison (which looks more like an uptown high school to me, but hey, that lighting makes it shine!) under no pretense whatsoever except to heed the call of their elite syndicate. The game? Fight to the death, cause all you motha-fuckas betrayed at some point–big or small it’s ALL THE SAME. Think the motivation of the badguy from Oldboy on a corporate level, and just as messy and impersonal and BOOM you’ve got the motivation of…well people you never see. But that’s beside the point because they get their personification through Ice T’s “platinum” grill yo!

The follow through is simple: Three players can win the game, claim a split of the money, and leave with their lives (I won’t spoil the twist where the syndicate is going to backstab them in the end and kill them all anyways…oops). This is all supported by the amazing cast of crazy people that Pyun and his writer Andrew Witham have created: Lou the psycho played by Lambert, a three sweet ass bitches (one kicks ass, one complains a lot, guess which one is hotter?), two hilarious birds known as Crow and Hoss, and Marcus the cold-blooded badass as played by an immensely under appreciated Michael Halsey. After the released of a case of guns and a box of baseball bats upon the crowd, CHAOS ENSUES. The main characters go through the prison forming bonds, backstabbing each other, and murderin otha gangstaz who get in der wayz. Deez G’s all play it fo Real yo, bringin out da beats to make dis gangsta ass film some heavy shit.

What I mean to say is that Lambert’s crafting of the character Lou is quite different from his typical shy-but-cunning Mcleoud persona of the Highlander series (or pretty much every other movie he’s ever done since). He brings such a joyous bloodlust to the role that it becomes hilarious contagious, bridging the gap of cheese-that-could be to enjoyable B-movie killtacularocity. There’s some range provided for his character as well, with comedic lines, bad ass looks, and even some real dramatic pauses in the end. I liked Lou. He was a cool character, with action moves such as running across table tops, wielding two handguns and smiling while being shot at, it was like watching some bastardized American version of Devil May Cry– and you all out there know my love for DMC.

Bringing a balance to Lambert’s over-the-top madman is Marcus, played effortlessly, flawlessly, and damn near wordlessly by Michael Halsey. Now Mike hasn’t been in a lot of things people would remember, and I’m not sure if this is the one he’d want to be remembered for, but if I had to be known for a performance I’d pick this one: The man freaking channels Charles Bronson’s natural bravado and quiet masculine power from Once Upon a Time in the West as if he had just played Ouija with a Death Wish box set. He’s the kind of killer who is quiet, composed, and never misses a shot simply because he “timed it right” rather than has super-draw abilities (more on that by the end of the film) and impresses more with his piercing gaze than any crazed-kill one liner could ever accomplish. He’s really the main highlight to this show and its sad to say he didn’t get nearly as much credit for holding this movie together as DA T or Chris Lambert.

So what do you get when you throw a Ghetto Gangsta, a Foreign Nutjob, and a Trans-Historical Gunman character into a death match? You get 100% pure awesome. The fights are brutal without being bloody, complimented with great sound effects that really pound the senses without the use of bloodpacks. The action is messy without being incongruous allowing the editing to keep it sharp and painful, and the comedy is stylishly timed keeping the film from feeling far too serious. Nods to greater works are peppered throughout, including but not limited to John Woo flicks like Hard Boiled and Sergio Leone films like The Good The Bad and the Ugly; the latter of which has a familiar melody possibly mimicked into the score of Pyun’s movie. Its a real collage of hand-to-hand, bat-to-face, gun-fu combat all kicked into overddrive.

If you find this movie, please buy it! It is a real treasure of B cinema and is a perfect template for amateur action makers to follow. And it sure as hell had a better story than Paul Anderson’s recent action disaster Death Race. It probably cost one quarter of the budget as well! You wanna make action movies, then get MEAN GUNS and learn sometin you FOO!

Thanks Kara for taking the notes!

Notes from 2 October 2008:

Here are the key points and events that have happened this meeting:

The meeting went on for 1hr25min with 12 members present! Yay for everyone who showed up! We also had a new member show up as well.

There are two events that will be happening within the club:

• A movie viewing will be taking place in GUC next to the Starnet Lock-in this Friday at midnight. Time is scheduled to vary depending on when members arrive. Also enjoy the Lock-in which begins at 6pm.
• Horror Movie Maddness will be taking place NEXT Friday until Halloween night! It will be in Fulton 111 at 700 pm. It’s going to be lots of fun and you’ll get to see horror movies throughout the ages!

Tuesday night is banner decorating night!! This is for Homecoming week and the theme is ::drum roll:: GULL’S JUST WANT TO HAVE FUN!!! We’ve brainstormed many ideas from Sammy’s Seagulls (spoof of Charlie’s Angels) to The Birds (yay Alfred Hitchcock!!!). Any other ideas will be appreciated as well.

Thomas England will be filming with Travis Carr on Sunday at noon. Get in contact with Thomas if you want to help or have any questions/comments.

There have also been movie concepts ideas about movies that will be potentially made from creepy stalker kids to what could be really going on next door.

Also, the Bulletin Board is in need of a little help and a make over as well! Help decorate whenever you can, be creative and come with any arts supplies you may have. Get in touch with Dylan for more information. Your help will be appreciated.

Have a great week and see you next meeting!

Notes from 25 September 2008:

This is what happened in the last meeting in case you missed something OR if you were not there:

The meeting ran for 1hr45min which is pretty good for the club and also a very good turn out: fifteen people!

We are going to be closely working with NBS and SU TV for broadcasting purposes and to get recognized by others. NBS meets will possibly be at 630 in the new building in room 152 or 154. Email Katie Edwards for more information or just hit her up on facebook. Message Eric Ware for more information on SU TV as it is believed that the meeting times and day will change due to conflict in class scheduling. They are looking for ideas for TV shows such as game shows so anyone can put in their input for an idea; just talk to Eric.

Movie Ideas So Far
10/2/08

Noisy Neighbors
-Day Dream gag flick where a guy is sitting in his apartment hears noises from the rooms next door and imagines what they could be. Hilarity ensues.
Matt Solomon

Bride
-College student Cory Hertz is failing English, and his tyeacher says that he must pass his research assignment or he’ll fail the semester. Determined to pass, he and his friend Douglas Perry stumble upon the story of Mea Briddel, a student who disappeared right before graduation. As they dig deeper they uncover a tale that they never imagined.

It’s basically a mystery horror, and it parallels the story of Mea Briddel before her disappearance and that of Cory and Douglas’

Mike Woodard

The Stranger
-The new guy at college meets an intoxicated girl, becomes obsessed, stalks her, and uhh…yeah. You get the idea.
Rob Cogdell

On Writing
-A college student is suffering writers block goes through hell trying to finish his paper. Drugs included.
Travis Carr

Untitled Keith Mathias Project
Geoff gets a call one day from a girl he hasn’t talked to in a while (friend from back in college). They get together and spend some time together. Kind of a sad/sappy/introspective look into what people REALLY do when they graduate college, and how feelings can carry over through time. Screenplay is about half done, no revisions as of yet.
Keith Mathias

That’s all for now!

I know I haven’t been around to do the site justice for a while, but I’m just getting used to school again. Everything will be returning to normal shortly. In the meantime enjoy another Max Payne featurette.