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PREDATORS ****4 Star

Directed by Nimrod Antal

Starring Adrien Brody, Topher Grace, Alice Braga, Walton Goggins, Laurence Fishburne, Danny Trejo, Mahershalalhashbaz Ali, Oleg Taktarov and Louis Ozawa

~ Film Reviewed by Oosters ~

Surprisingly decent sequel that doesn’t quite match the original but is a good deal more accomplished than any of its other sequels and spinoffs.

Embracing its silly B-movie premise, it’s a preposterous action film that dispenses its plot in the first ten minutes and then plays out like a violent game of dominoes, with each cast member being killed off in reverse order of their level of celebrity.

It’s oddly refreshing to see the sledgehammer subtlety of the original brought back into fashion; a grownup action film that does what it says on the tin is altogether rare these days.

Thanks Oosters ~

According to Wikipedia, Producer ‘Robert Rodriguez had developed the Predators (2010) script as early as 1994, although it was not until 2009 that 20th Century Fox greenlit the project.’ It just goes to show that even those with a proven record has to wait for their earlier works to develop and be fully actualized.

What I, and probably many others, found surprising was the fact that the main character in Predators is Adrien Brody. Think Predator 1987 starring Arnold Schwarzenegger. Then think Predators 2010 starring Adrien Brody.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m a fan of Adrien Brody in the handful of films I’ve seen him in. The Pianist was the first time he came to my attention and he was amazing in it. But what drew me to Adrien Brody was a vulnerability, a sensitivity and dare I say it a sense of the feminine about him. A softness.

So, back to Predators.

Chosen for their ability to kill without conscience, a group of killers, some trained and some who are not, must endeavour the alien race of predators that have set out to target them as prey. Dropped into the vast jungle of a distant world, these human predators must learn just who, or what, they are up against, and that their ability, knowledge and wits are tested to the limits in the battle of survival of kill or be killed. (taken from IMDB plot summary)

You’re talking about people as killing machines. And well, I couldn’t see Adrien Brody pulling it off. And not only that but director Nimrod Antal was worried about casting a woman because a woman was not seen as tough enough.

This is what director Nimrod Antal had to say about casting Brody and Alicia Braga who nearly wasn’t in it:

Q: Was it really a fight to cast Adrien Brody in the lead?

It was our job to make him look tough. We knew we could do it. That’s our job. If we want to turn a man into a woman, we could do that. If we want to turn a woman into a man, we can do that. We knew the perception of Adrien, especially films like The Pianist and everything, put him in a certain box in people’s mind and we knew that we could turn him into whatever we needed him to be. His passion was also refreshing. To see someone of his caliber really want something as bad as he did, what I can’t stand is when you have these comfortable actors who have some success and they’re just, “I don’t know, I don’t know.” This guy came in saying, “I want this. Please give this to me. I’ll fight for it. I’ll prove you guys wrong if you have any doubt.” That was bitchin’.

~

Q: You’ve got the perfect ragtag crew of humans for the Predators to pick off. Were there any characters who almost ended up in the film?

Nimrod Antal: There was one other inmate. There was an earlier draft where I think that there were two prison inmates that were thrown in together and in our earlier conversations, I think we figured out that it’s probably best just to have one from each region, one from each zone, from each country, from each continent, however it plays out. And I wanted to cut out Izzy. I wanted to cut her out. It was purely I didn’t want to have a prop running around going “Ahhhhh.” I knew that if we were really going to put a girl in there, she’d have to really sell it. My first concern was there aren’t very many theaters of war, there aren’t that many countries which allow women into combat. We were talking about hardened people who have seen a lot of nasty things. So I was a little bit concerned with that. I was worried and Robert actually was like “Dude…” I was like how many great girls have there been and then he started naming them off. He was like, “Well, Ripley, Sarah Connor, Nikita.” And I was like “Oh, I guess you’re right. There’ve been a few good ones.” It took me a bit to get my head around that, to accept that. And then, we cast Alicia Braga and she’s probably one of the toughest of the bunch. As a character and as a person, she was just awesome. It would’ve been a huge mistake if I would have won that battle.

Read more at Crave Online.

I haven’t seen the film. But after the review from Oosters and the fact that Adrien Brody is in it – I would watch it. Just to see how Brody is transformed, if at all. It just goes to show that sometimes when you go against other people’s perceptions of what a character looks like, you could garner interest just because of that fact. This applies to films like KickAss and Leon where assassins are pre-pubescent girls. So yes, I’d watch it out of curiosity. And because I do like Sci-fi thrillers.

Have you seen it? Would you see the film out of curiosity?

Similar Posts ~

The Twilight Saga: Eclipse – Film Review

Whatever Works – Film Review

Shrek Forever After – Film Review

Check out:

Notes from Underground Contest Deadline August 15th

“Focus more on your desire than on your doubt, and the dream will take care of itself. You may be surprised at how easily this happens. Your doubts are not as powerful as your desires, unless you make them so.”

Marcia Wieder – Author

CURRENT STATUS: Reminder, Motivator and Review Meeting (Read on if you want to join me in my Corporation of One meeting)

What l have learnt:

• If you accidentally delete a post, you have not totally lost it. It’s in the Trash. I am so duh. Knowing that would have saved me a lot of time and effort trying to create the post again.
• Prime Real Estate by Mary Kole at Kidlit.com reminded me that ‘the first page of the novel, the first paragraph of a new chapter, and he last paragraph of a chapter’ are important.
• We are writers but we are also content publishers – if you have a blog – read Blog Content Strategy 101 (via ProBlogger).
• I need an online media room. Read Your Rockin’ Red Hot Online Media Room to understand what I mean (via amarketingexpert.com)
• Interesting post on using the present tense by Editorial Ass.

What I have done:

• Cleared out my Inbox.
• Went through all my old posts and tagged them.

WORD COUNT: Night Walker 139,000 in total. Saturday 31 July wrote 2,000 words.

I admit I’ve seen this one. And all I can say is it was a bit cheesy. My sister had stronger words but in the same vein. So it’s a good thing we’re not reviewing it. Here’s Oosters who can always say it better.

THE TWILIGHT SAGA: ECLIPSE * 1 Star

Directed by David Slade
Starring Kristen Stewart, Robert Pattinson and Taylor Lautner

~ Film Reviewed by Oosters ~

Another crashingly dull instalment in a franchise that seems intent on tearing down women’s sense of self-esteem while boring the rest of us to tears.

Again, the hopeless woman has to rely on men to tell her what to do, and the fact that her suitors are emotionally controlling, obsessive to a dangerous degree and constantly on the verge of physically assaulting her only appears to confirm her attraction to them.

It’s difficult to think of a more dangerous and self-harming message to convey to young women (the target demographic of the series); however much its legion of fans might insist it’s all “just a bit of fun”, the misogyny running through its bones is simply too strong to ignore.

Thanks Oosters ~

Stephanie Meyer, the writer of the Twilight saga, has been compared to JK Rowling. I’ve included this snippet that highlights their different writing styles (and a bit that might explain all the intense drama):

Rowling pieces her books together meticulously, detail by detail. Meyer floods the page like a severed artery. She never uses a sentence when she can use a whole paragraph. Her books are big (500-plus pages) but not dense–they have a pillowy quality distinctly reminiscent of Internet fan fiction. (Which she’ll readily grant: “I don’t think I’m a writer; I think I’m a storyteller,” Meyer says. “The words aren’t always perfect.”)…

Bella never stops gasping and swooning and passing out and waking up screaming from nightmares. Her heart is always either pounding or stopping. (Bella’s histrionics don’t feel at all unrealistic. When you’re writing about adolescents, melodrama and realism are the same thing.)

Read more here. 

Which style of writing describes the way you write?

If I had to choose which style I write like, my first draft would be like Stephanie Meyer – just pouring it out. I’m hoping the second draft would be more like JK Rowling – looking at the details. That’s such a cop-out. But it makes sense though, right?

Some facts about Stephenie Meyer that I didn’t know but I do now:

• The first Twilight story came to her as a dream.

• Her sister encouraged her to get the first book published.

• Her mother helped her with the ending of her last book – Breaking Dawn – which is out on Aug 2nd.

• She’s ‘an observant Mormon, she doesn’t drink alcohol and has never seen an R-rated movie‘?

• Stephanie Meyer wrote the first Twilight book in 3 months.

• She is the second of six children.

• It took a total of 6 months from the first word written to getting the publishing deal. (that’s mighty quick in the world of publishing)

What about you? Do you write like Stephanie Meyer – just gushing it out?

Did you watch the film? If so, what did you think?

Similar Posts ~

Whatever Works – Film Review

Shrek Forever After – Film Review

“Fear of failure and fear of the unknown are always defeated by faith. Having faith in yourself, in the process of change, and in the new direction that change sets will reveal your own inner core of steel.”

Georgette Mosbacher – Business Executive

CURRENT STATUS: Reminder, Motivator and Review Meeting (Read on if you want to join me in my Corporation of One meeting)

What l have learnt:

• Top 10 Qualities of Working Freelance Writers by Laurie Pawlik-Kienlen. It works for novelists as well.
• How pink covers can make some people see red (via Guardian.co.uk). A bit of fun.
• Writing and Marketing by Elisabeth Spann Craig. I found this useful.
• Don’t Be Spam by QueryTracker.net. The focus is on queries.

What I have done:

• Still learning Squidoo.
• Reading Christina Katz’s book ‘Get Known Before the Book Deal’ again. I skimmed it before. Reading it again to create a plan.

WORD COUNT: Night Walker 135,000 in total. Wednesday 28 July – did not write – I know – see the guilt on my face? My face is now under a pillow. Yes, I’m giving myself a hard time.

Today’s film review is for Whatever Works directed by Woody Allen.

Here’s the second film review from Oosters. Enjoy.

WHATEVER WORKS **** 4 Stars

Directed by Woody Allen

Starring Larry David, Evan Rachel Wood, Patricia Clarkson, Ed Begley Jr, Michael McKean and Henry Cavill.

~ Film reviewed by Oosters ~

Surprisingly positive and optimistic stuff that gets its message across more effectively by not shying away from some pretty dark subject matter (it’s essentially about a man finding reasons not to kill himself).

It’s far-fetched and deliberately artificial, but its conceits are necessary to address its concerns of mortality and the pursuit of happiness, as well as giving it free reign to break a few cinematic rules in a manner all too infrequent in contemporary modern comedies.

It’s a brave attempt to wring mirth out of misanthropy, and mostly succeeds.

Thanks Oosters.

Did you know Woody Allen’s real name is Allen Stewart Konigsberg?

You can see why he changed it.

Woody Allen. Can’t get simpler or catchier than that.

But why Woody?

If you check out his website woodyallen.com, he reads quotes and some of the snippets are odd (a bit like him), some of them are funny (a bit like him) and the rest I couldn’t understand (he talks too fast, don’t you think? And often in riddles).

Did you know he started off as a joke writer before becoming a comedian?

Yep. I tell no lie.

I didn’t know that either.

Unless IMDB is telling the lie. Woody Allen

…broke into show business at age 15 when he started writing jokes for a local paper…pumping out an estimated 2000 jokes a day…

I never thought his films were particularly funny. Oh, but I am famous for not having a sense of humour – that must be it. I read this extract from IMDB and thought it fitting to include because as writers and readers we can’t help but wonder if other authors are writing about themselves especially when their main character is about the same age and the same gender. This is what Woody Allen had to say about it and I think it’s true for most writers. Unless you’re writing a memoir.

The sensibility of the film-maker infuses the project so people see a picture like Annie Hall (1977) and everyone thinks it’s so autobiographical. But I was not from Coney Island, I was not born under a Ferris wheel, my father never worked at a place that had bumper cars, that’s not how I met Diane Keaton, and that’s not how we broke up. Of course, there’s that character who’s always beleaguered and harassed. Certain things are autobiographical, certain feelings, even occasionally an incident, but overwhelmingly they’re totally made up, completely fabricated.

I’m still wondering – why Woody Allen is called Woody?

Come on someone must know, other than Woody Allen himself that is.

Any of you out there know?

[Woody Allen pic taken from here and Whatever Works poster from here]

Similar Posts ~

Shrek Forever After – Film Review

“If you keep on saying things are going to be bad, you have a good chance of being a prophet.”

Isaac Bashevis Singer – Journalist and Writer

CURRENT STATUS: Reminder, Motivator and Daily Review Meeting (Read on if you want to join me in my Corporation of One meeting)

What l have learnt:

• It seems your book can be very fashionable one minute and then not for ages and then fashionable again. Read Lost Classic Aunt Mame Revived After 50-Year Gap (via Guardian.co.uk). It would be a shame if you weren’t alive for it though.
• I have an iPhone so I sometimes check my blog pages on it. Read Why You Should Be Optimizing Your Blog and Website For Mobile by Jeff Bullas to see why.
• Authors Guild Estimates Royalties in Wylie Agency & Amazon Deal: “Author Receives 60 to 63% of the Retail Price of the Book” (via eBookNewser).
• Author Paul Elie on life before he got published (via The Days of Yore). It’s always good to know that even the published writers struggle too at one point.

What I have done:

• Managed to sleep. Trust me, it can be a massive feat sometimes.

WORD COUNT: Night Walker 133,000 in total. Friday 23 July 1,000 words. Didn’t write Monday 26 July and trying to not feel guilty about it.

I’m pleased to introduce Oosters, my very first guest, to this blog.

If you cannot feel the excitement I’m feeling while tapping these words imagine a wave of excitement blowing through your hair…or round head…right now. Yes, I’m excited.

Oosters watches a lot of films and after he watches them, he sometimes, more often than not (please, please), want to say something about them.

So I’ve asked Oosters to review films he has watched on my blog and I’m really glad he said yes because quite frankly I wish I could review films the way he does. Oosters is much better at articulating what he thinks. The most you’ll get from me is ‘uh, yeah it was good’ or ‘uh, yeah, it wasn’t that good’.

So early this afternoon as I sat at my iMac staring at a blank blog post and thinking ‘s**t, I have nothing interesting to say’ and praying for inspiration, my prayers were answered when I received his first review – Shrek Forever After. (Oosters, thanks mate.)

And here it is:

SHREK FOREVER AFTER ***

~ Film reviewed by Oosters

Something of a shame to see a third sequel to a film that originally seemed to rail against the lack of originality in feature film animation (and one that borrows so liberally from the 1946 classic It’s a Wonderful Life), this is nonetheless an improvement on its rather lacklustre predecessor, though still not in the same league as the first two films in the franchise.

Strongly-realised principle characters and the usual parody of fairy tales, mixed with contemporary pop culture references and more old-school vaudeville routines lend it what has now become a unique kind of sweetness – it still manages to strike a reasonable balance between sharp humour and genuine emotional involvement.

The tiredness its protagonist feels as the film begins reflects the series as a whole though, and a story about the limits of true love should be wary of testing the audience’s.

“Most great men and women are not perfectly rounded in their personalities, but are instead people whose one driving enthusiasm is so great it makes their faults seem insignificant.” Charles A. Cerami – Author

CURRENT STATUS: Reminder, Motivator and Daily Review Meeting (Read on if you want to join me in my Corporation of One meeting)

What l have learnt:

• I saw a website offering a PDF, email and print options for their blog post. Great idea.
• You can still be rejected even if you’ve published many books before says Rachelle Gardner – The Learning Curve that Never Ends.
• Writing Resources or Why We Send Out Links by BubbleCow shows you how to give value through providing links and how Gary Smailes does it.

What I have done:

• Joined Hootsuite. Another application to get used to.

WORD COUNT: Night Walker 131,000 in total. Monday 19 July 1,000 words. Tuesday 20 July 1,000 words. Wednesday 21 July 1,000 words.