So, first things first: Thumbs up or thumbs down?

I am part of the video game culture. I grew up with it. And for the most part I enjoy it. Thoroughly.

As for the film side of me? I enjoy movies.

As for the 40 % of critics who claim this movie sucks because it “feels like a video game”?

FUCK YOU GUYS
THUMB WAY FREAKING UP

Well, I’ve tried to make it a habit of limiting profanity on my site. In this case I just happened to fail.

This movie was as glorious as the Spartan victories: beautifully edited, filmed, colored, acted, played out, paced: yes, it is as visionary as it claims to be. Take all of the speeches of the three Lord of the Rings films, roll them into just any one sentence that Gerard Butler speaks as King Leonidas, and you have one of the most action, inspiration, and emotion packed movies I’ve seen in years. It’s a mix of old-fashioned “patriot” films like a Clint Eastwood/John Wayne WWII endeavor, mixed with the unleashed power of today’s “overblown violence.”

Let me say one thing about the violence- it is not going out of its way, a la KILL BILL to promote it’s action scenes- it feels freaking real, even with CGI blood thrown in.

This is a true myth coming alive as film, and the only time I’ve seen it done as strongly was with Hayao Miyazaki’s last few great works Princess Mononoke and Spirited Away. And those were animated.

The acting in this film was classic and genuine. Not a single person or single line seemed to “ham it up”- it all went with the style the film wanted to convey- and that was pushing legend to the limit without breaking complete realism. The fact that the fight actually played out more historically accurate (although we can only assume) than the trailers make it look to be (this is NOT a “kung fu flick in disguise”), means that there’s just something brutal and passionate that I believe a majority of movie goers, from ANY COUNTRY would be proud to use as an example of human history.

Hell, even for angry Persians who might not like having their nation’s history being filled with a humiliating defeat- at least this movie makes your opponents look like something worth losing to.

The pacing never let up- every scene was interesting or visually poetic in some way. Not really a movie for actual imagery- this was hard, old fashioned “what you see is what you’ve got” stuff. But some moments, such as when one traitor is mentioned in a scene taking place in Sparta, and the film cuts to a scene of another traitor on the battlefield, really proves this movie has brains and was TRYING.

Honestly, guys- that’s all I want to see. Some serious effort from your film making. If Bodangofish can work out half as well as Sam and I think it might not have sucked, a movie about 300 angry white boys slaughtering everything in site shouldn’t be that hard. It isn’t.

And they beat, trampled, and crushed all GOOD expectations. My first words after seeing the movie, and it can be quoted as truth:

“IT HAD A PLOT!” which is not something I was expecting. I was expecting, pretty much “yeah these guys want us dead let’s kill them” and then 70 minutes of ripping colorful enemies apart in a crimson veil of unbridled massacre.

But, to my most pleasant surprise- there was more to it than that. I cared for the characters, I cared for the future of this brutal civilization, and I cared for the destruction of the invading enemy- I wanted to see them not only defeated. NO. This was much more important than, let’s say the proving of a point in Ridley Scott’s much under-appreciated Kingdom of Heaven or the “vanquish evil” motivation of the LOTR saga- no this was something far heftier and more important to my pathos:

I wanted to see these bastards humiliated.

And by the end of the movie: Everything you wish could have happened, did happen, and the fight scenes did not become at all repetitive. The final “battle” took the PERFECT turn, didn’t ham it up, and drove the story home.

This is a FOUR STAR MOVIE. No reason not to watch it, no reason not to enjoy it. No it is not some brilliant character-driven intellectual masterpiece, but in terms of raw film making, sheer effort, and complete payoff?

Damn…how can you actually not love this? I’m sure by the end of the weekend, the people who hate this film will be a lowly 300 hundred again the thousand nations of people who will LOVE THIS FILM. Too bad they won’t have the resources to win THAT fight though. This thing is going down in history as a classic of modern cinema- mark my words.

Hey guys, sorry for missing some updates lately, it’s just been one of those weeks.

I’m goin crazy here.

Anyways, there’ll be a dry-rehersal of the new film tomorrow in the Club, and also an announcement of other activities.

I’ve come to the conclusion that this film will be a er…CONCLUSION to a “trilogy” of films I’ve made, starting with Box Spies and ending with Silver or Lead.

I dunno, it’s just an idea. It’d actually be pretty effective if done right.

Also thinking of storyboarding the film, but don’t have a big chance of that.

Sorry for rambling, but we’re finally getting on track with the club. Once this trilogy is produced, I’ll be moving on to more serious work. It’s a step in the right direction, I believe- moving from simple Macguffin set ups to important philosophical insights that I might have.

I’m thinking of this one movie where a kid, isolated at his college campus, takes up the task of nightly moonlighting as a “super hero” but to no real avail- nothing bad actually happens. It drives him to depression and even further anxiety as he drives himself deeper into this fantasy, eventually causing his own destruction, or salvation. I guess it’ll just depend on how I’m feeling when I write it.

Anywho, glad to be posting on this site. I really love having this thing. I’ll be putting new videos up soon! Later.

This video isn’t really relevant to anything STRIKE A POSE!!! related, but hey, I figured some of you guys might get a kick out of it.

Go to TVINJAPAN.com to check out more…similar videos.

I just finished the opening scene for the movie I want to film on campus this semester. It’s a short action thriller called “Silver or Lead” and is about a Hitman who takes a bribe, a Bodyguard who takes orders, a mafioso who takes what he wants, and a corporate crime syndicate that gets taken down.

The opening scene is only three pages long, so hopefully it won’t run over five minutes and will remain entertaining. It contains about seven characters, including

TOD ENGEL-

the Hitman played by Scott Evans in THE INTERSECTION, returns to finish off

JIMMY FRATELLI- The unseen mob boss, played by John Doherty this time, from THE INTERSECTION, who owns a laboratory on the East Coast. He’s protected by suits

QUINT- (auditions open) a smart, crass bodyguard who will meet his end rather quickly, thanks to the loud mouth of his co worker

ROB- (auditions open) a boisterous wannabe mafia soldier, who misses the good Ole’ days when he could beat people to a pulp, not just pop them with a cap, such as how

VICTOR- (Rob Moroney) the outside guard who gets his face smashed into a brick wall, defining the action to this film, he also will be run through right before

BODY GUARD MACGUFFIN- (Chris Magelitz, Pending) the elite bodyguard of Jimmy Fratelli who appears to have no name, who is the only person seemingly able to catch Engel off guard.

In attempting to move females into my scripts, there will be a woman’s voice over for the walkie talkies that the guards communicate through. After this scene however, I’m moving into finally diversifying my characters, with a woman playing the main bad guy. However, that script is a little further off. I’m going to be showing off the paces for this one during the next club meeting.

Anyways, this is what I do instead of school work. Silly me, I guess.

I love my job though. This is actually going to be a really good film.

Dan Gvozden is a student of film making at the exquisite NYU. I don’t know much about him past that, except he’s obviously talented enough to be making his own films on actual FILM, unlike my Mini DV exploits, and has been doing a lot of hard work in the industry, amateur and otherwise, for a good part of his life.

I met the guy at a mutual friend’s birthday party, and Dan’s comments on my early work, Locked Blades, lead to enough inspiration for me not to give up all hope. We keep in touch from time to time, but being that he’s one of the busiest people alive and I’m on the road to becoming the same, it’s hard to cross connect.

However, around 2:30 this morning we had an interesting discussion (I.E. Nerdy as all hell) on Trilogies. As noted, I’m not a huge Star Wars fan. I always found all but the second flick somewhat childish. But I do know why people love it- the original three movies are truly great accomplishments in escapism and adventure. Maybe if I wasn’t so keen in going against the flow. Then again, while I dislike Star Wars, he dislikes Spider Man, so it all balances out in the end, doesn’t it?

Here’s the conversation we had, in Verbatim.

DAN…star wars is untouchablely the best trilogy ever and dont’ give me this lord of the rings shit
DYLANHmmm…
DYLAN Hah. No I wouldn’t.
DAN becuase those movies blow
DYLAN LOTR was the same thing for 3 movies. The first movie was good. REALLY good. After that I kinda got…bored.
yea
DAN agreed the 3rd one was good
DYLANThe first movie was a small, intimate quest.
DAN but not as great as the first
DYLAN Which made you appreciate the characters. It felt like you were walking in the world with them, and seeing these great mystical things. The second and third were just “yeah…watch us kill stuff for 2 hours”
DAN yea i mean there was more to it than that
DYLAN: I liked them, but the third wouldn’t have won an oscar if anything better was out that year.
DAN but the 1st was by far better than the other ones
DYLAN yeah I’m trying to think of a better trilogy, but you’re right. I can’t think of anything else with that kind of consistency.
DAN nope nothing is better indy comes close
DYLAN Although I never really appreciated Star Wars, all 3 movies ARE consistently decent.
………..skipping a little further down
DYLAN I loved Alien 3, but no one really agrees with me.
DAN its a good concept
the cgi was poorly concieved its a mixed bag
DYLAN I thoguht it was good for the time. And it still works. But yeah, that speech that Charles S. Dutton gives towards the end is classic to me.
DAN yea i mean i own it
DYLAN “You’re all gonna die to night. But how’s it going to be? Standing like men, or on your knees?” If I’m ever a general of an army, I’m stealing that fucking monologue and we’re going to kick Mongolia’s ass. But yeah. What about The Matrix as a trilogy?
DAN The 1st one was good great actually 2nd one was ok 3rd one blew
DYLAN Hmmm… Let’s see…you’ll never even CONSIDER SpiderMan…but I’d agree because the first one was waaaay too cheesy in retrospect. What about POTC when it finishes? You think that’s got a chance to knock out starwars?
DAN no way the 2nd one blew
DYLAN Pirates?
DAN yea it was an hour too long i would love to recut that movie
DYLAN Hahaha I agree. But damn what an hour. Absolutely stupid as fuck movie, but with some really overblown entertainment. Drove me up a wall. If you cna release yourself enough to feel that “kid inside” bullshit, you’ll love the movie. but its…really damned hard.
DAN the bad guys were pretty cool but that’s about it
DYLAN Johnny Depp in a gerbil wheel. If you ever thought you’d see that at any point in your life, ok. But I didn’t. Seeing it was GREAT. but yeah, otherwise I agree. I think the third will be really good though.
DAN yea it could be
DYLAN …AHA. I found a trilogy that could contend, but I dunno if you’d go for it. The Dollar’s Trilogy.
DAN the fact that i haven’t heard of it means no
DYLAN Fistful of Dollars, Few Dollars More, The Good,the Bad,and the Ugly.
DAN oh yea they are good
DYLAN The ultimate western trilogy masterpiece.
DAN really good
DYLANThey are GODLY.
DAN but still no star wars
DYLAN heh. they’re closely related though. They both ripped off Kurosawa to get their starts.
DAN yea
DYLAN Ripped off like CRAZY.
DAN yea but yea anyway i gotta go to bed
DYLAN So in essence, every good movie ever made owes itself to Kurosawa anyways.

And there you have it folks! A new, nerdy discussion. This will go in the “forums” section, since I deem it a discussion. Later guys.