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Monomythic Screenwriting, Episode 8: World Building

By
Christian Angeles
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0
The City in the Sky from Alita: Battle Angel
Zalem, the city in the sky from the Movie, Alita: Battle Angel. Copyright 20th Century Fox.

World building often comes out of places of inspiration. The fun part is you get to play God. The hard part is tying it all together. Which is why world building often requires patience. It isn’t something easily fixable later-on. You can’t just claim that something as powerfully mysterious as the force, is made up of tiny microscopic midichlorians, and expect the audience to be alright with that answer.

A good world has different layers to it. Tiny intricate details, and complex working machinery, things that sustain the surroundings, but also, keep our characters in awe – just as the audience should feel. Most importantly, a good world provides a solid foundation for your story which can be built upon, or even destroyed, later. Just like how your screenplay serves as a skeleton of a film production, worldbuilding provides the basis for your story.

On the big scale, which I call the macroscopic level, your world will be your story’s environment, its rules, and its cultural history.

On the small scale, which I call the microscopic level, your world will be tiny Easter eggs, props, actions motions, and set pieces. Things like force powers of levitation, secret languages, and hearts of little battle angels powerful enough to power entire cities.

Your world as a writer is not just the location. Its every reveal about this universe you’ve created. It’s setting the tone and the rules to the story. Which is why, worldbuilding applies to every genre, not just science fiction or fantasy. Worlds are just as important in a romantic comedy, as they are in an independent dramedy, or action thriller.

As such, I’m going to bombard you with many questions to answer about your series. To better prepare you, I am going to breakdown this lesson into three segments: Sensations, Surroundings, and Rules.

SENSATIONS

Sensory details will be essential to your designers, but more than anything else: your actors. Now, actors and directors hate when a writer steps on their toes. They’re going to take your words and adapt it as their own. Being a purist doesn’t work in this industry – it’s a collaboration.

Here’s an industry trick to work around this: write in a way using actions and sensatory details, about what you think is important. If you can push story elements you care about… you can get into their head. Inception your script readers. Make them feel the way you’re feeling. Have them figure out how to emotionally reach that beat and make them believe they came to that conclusion when in actuality…

It was you, writer.

Action Slug (Instead Of This):

Nero is angry at Dante for arrogantly letting the Sword of Sparda slip away with the guards.

Action Slug (Do This):

Nero glares at Dante. Dante smiles back in return. He then lets his father’s ancestral claymore, the Sword of Sparda, get taken away by hell’s guards.

SIDENOTE: I used Devil May Cry characters as a reference without realizing the new game came out this weekend. Swear this was an accident. The writing in these games has always been awful. Though, I do very much dig the style.

I use sensational writing all the time. You should be selective with word choice in a script, because unlike a novel, which has more flexibility, all screenplays are written in the third person. You will write every scene from a distance (think of it as your cameraman) but your characters inner voice is harder to convey – which is where the actors come in.

Film is a visual medium. Everything about your character must be seen. Even in deep expository voice overs and speeches, there is usually something onscreen providing context.

Last week, I had you look at the world outside. Had you go somewhere, write it down, and focus on what you thought. You wrote down the most memorable details and kept it just by process of selection. You grounded it in the sensory experience. Look at your results and see how you respond to the world and its features. That’s you writing on the microscopic level of worldbuilding. Now, take some of that sensory details and perception, and put it into your writing.

Alita Battle Angel was amazing on a microscopic scale. Almost every fight sequence, action scene, and tiny detail contains something that adds worldbuilding into the story.

Try This – Microscopic World Building. Answer the following questions.

  1. Watch the Alita video. What details can you pick-up in terms of microscopic world building? What elements do you think were specifically written into the script? (Spoiler for those who haven’t seen it: the number she writes on her shoulder is one).
  2. Early in Alita, we see her focus on food (symbolic for her humanity) and that giant city in the sky (symbolic for social classism). What sensory details does your protagonist focus on that could be symbolic in your script?
  3. What kind of clothing do the people in your story wear?
  4. How would you physically describe your characters?

SURROUNDINGS

Research plays heavily into how worlds work. At the same time, you shouldn’t just adapt a place that’s already there. For instance, we’ve seen New York City a thousand times in film and entertainment, how do new iterations set in the city differ? What about these stories spin a new perspective on the city?

Here’s a sad truth: most of what you know about your world won’t end up in the story. A good world is one that’s experienced through your characters, believable, and doesn’t read like an encyclopedia. Bigger details of a city (Macroscopic) can be covered through description in the action lines. The tiniest details (Microscopic) should be seen through character interactions.

Luckily, it’s easy to research different surroundings in today’s age. You can google search street view for more information on specific places. Search Instagram and Pinterest for photos. Go to a local library to look up books and databases, research on reddit, or even talk to the people you’re writing about – pick apart their brains, and ask what it was like in this particular place and time.

Bohemian Rhapsody did a perfect job recreating Queen’s live aid performance, also known as the greatest concert of all time. This is because the band asked about people’s experiences at the concert, the band included.

Try This – Macroscopic World Building. Take a world you’ve crafted. Answer the questions.

  1. Set The physical parameters of your universe. Does it reach the deepest depths of the ocean or the edge of outer space? Silly, I know, but then consider this: what’s the furthest location you get to see on camera? What location or world does your story take place in? Is it a metropolis, a suburb, or rural area? These things are important in world building. But it also tells a producer how much your project costs, which if I haven’t stressed enough, could make or break your screenplay.
  2. What kind type of environment(s) is your world set in? Star Wars had very single themed worlds: Tatooine was a desert planet, Coruscant a city, and Hoth a giant ice base. Is your environment dangerous? How does your location affect your heroes’ journey?
  3. What’s the culture and history of this place? Think Wakanda from Black Panther, which is an amazing example of history and culture in worldbuilding.  
  4. What era does this take place in? How were things different then? If set in current time, what makes this world special? How is your setting different compared to other places in the world?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ysoaSjSh6zQ
This opening pretty much tells you everything you need to know about Wakanda. Setting the rules of the place but also detailing its cultural history.

RULES

A big reason fish out of water stories are popular in movies is rule setting. It’s getting to know the implicit versus explicit rules of the world:

The implicit, are things like don’t say Voldemort’s name aloud in Harry Potter. Or never make The Hulk angry or else he will come out. It’s the rules every individual knows that is kept a secret to the viewer. The worldbuilding discoveries that the audience will eventually have to find out as they follow along the journey.

The explicit, are things like hyperspace travel being a way of fast traveling across the galaxy. Wizards performing magic at Hogwarts. Or the idea that everyone just wants to find love during Christmas.  The explicit rules are the things everyone should see, know, or get to accept rather immediately about this world, the audience especially.

Your characters must learn about the world gradually throughout their journey because the audience is learning along with them. The viewer then learns the weight of the world by seeing the characters adhere to the rules, but also, by finding them try to break the rules. This teaches boundaries, which in turn, drives conflicts, as nothing gets people more rallied up than being told what they cannot do.

Try This – Rule Building. Take a world from a story you’ve crafted. Answer the questions.

  1. Who are the people inhabiting your world? What kind of jobs do they have there? How does the world maintain order? What universal rules are established here?
  2. What is the emotional tone of your world (I.E. are people happy, sad, or even angry)? Why do people feel this way? Is your emotional tone consistent? Describe it using several adjectives.
  3. Given your genre, what is the most important rule in this universe? Think of a fun way to learn about the consequences of breaking this rule, or even, break the rule.
Some lectures on World Building and how it all ties together, looking at director Guillermo Del Toro

TYING THE WORLD TOGETHER

You should never be afraid to pull details from your own life. To write what you know, because your experiences make the story relatable and feel genuinely real. Experience is something you can’t get from just reading. It’s where you find inspiration, but more importantly, authenticity – which is difficult for many artists. Especially because life is filled with distractions – things that take one away from the narrative.

At the same time, when creating worlds out of personal experience, the world must serve the purposes of the story. It should start with the question: what would the world be like if this situation happened?   

For instance, if your character was a clerk in a comic book shop, what would it be like if the rarest comic book in the world was accidentally delivered there? Maybe the authorities are looking for it? What if a mysterious organization offered a large sum of money to buy the comic, but at a disclosed location? What if this location turned out to be San Diego Comic Con? What if the buyer is allegedly, the child of Stan Lee, asking for the comic to fulfil his father’s last wish and family legacy? What would your character do? What kind of journey would they undertake?

It’s these types of questions that help build your world. In this example, the world is not just the comic book shop… but the world of comics and retail.  Good stories are grounded in realism (which should be your world), but they have something else special about them (which should be your story).

Try This – World Building Questions.

  1. Is there something otherworldly involved in your story such as magic or technology? What is it? How does it relate to the characters in your story?
  2. What kind of bodies of authority are there? How do they use their power in relation to your protagonist?
  3. Is everyone here equal? Why or why not?
  4. Are there languages? Are there barriers of communication?
  5. Is there a landmark or a heart of the location of your story? Describe it.
  6. Is there religion or beliefs in something otherworldly? Is this a story about faith or even finding love? How does your world convey intangible concepts?
  7. If you changed the genders of the characters within the story. Does your world still function?
  8. If you made the villains the protagonists or reversed your ending (this includes things like not getting the girlfriend, not winning, or having a bad performance). Does your world break? Why or why not? Your answer to this question will let you see how much of your world is built upon the characters, and vice versa.
  9. Be honest about this one: Does your world serve the purposes of your story? If you could cut parts of it or change it, what would it ideally be?

I hope this lesson was helpful. Next week, I’m going into characterization – the subject that I personally specialize in as a former mental health professional and character writer. I have a lot to teach about that subject, so get ready as there’ll be a lot to learn.  

‘Deadly Class’ Review – Episode 8: The Clampdown

By
Christian Angeles
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0
DEADLY CLASS -- "The Clampdown" Episode 107 -- Pictured: (l-r) Maria Gabriela de Faria as Maria, Benjamin Wadsworth as Marcus -- (Photo by: Katie Yu/SYFY)

In this episode of Deadly Class, Saya and Maria prevent a race war, Billy and Lex have a three-way with Petra, Master Lin and Master Gao choose sides, and Marcus tells everyone the truth.

DEADLY CLASS — “The Clampdown” Episode 107 — Pictured: (l-r) Maria Gabriela de Faria as Maria, Siobhan Williams as Brandy — (Photo by: Katie Yu/SYFY)

REVIEW

Episode 8 was a bit of a bottle episode as it forced certain characters together. What was brilliant, was who the episode choose to put together: Willie with Marcus and Victor, Maria with Brandy and Juan (Maria’s subordinate. Chico’s best friend), and Saya with Shabnam and Riku (Saya’s subordinate. Yukio’s best friend). The scenes provided much-needed character depth and worldbuilding.

As such, it’s crazy how layered this episode is, as even minor characters such as Shabnam, Victor, and Brandy, are looking to manipulate the situation in their favor. The splitting factions between Gao and Lin seem like a great hook implying the beginning of the end.

Now, since the pilot, I’ve been waiting for a war between factions. I really thought that the obvious choice would’ve been the Dixie Mob (as they’re racists), so I was impressed that it was between Soto Vatos and the Kuroki Syndicate. Especially, given Saya and Maria’s friendship. It was nice seeing the girls deal with their relationship outside of jealousy over Marcus. What’s even better, was seeing them kick-ass and take command as leaders. Something the show has shied away from.

I liked how this episode addressed the nature of these friendships, as I found it odd that no one ever mentioned how the ‘the gang’ consists of King’s Dominion’s biggest leaders. This episode comments on that, with Maria and Saya’s faction war – showing solid writing and decision making, that adds depth to this series. I especially love how they built the tension up in the cafeteria scene.

Finally, I take back my doubts from last week, as Lin has become lovable again. He seems to be the only parental figure in King’s Dominion who’s not a complete asshole.

FINAL SCORE 8.9/10

Episode 8 Promo Clip

RECAP

SAYA VS MARIA

The group plays the boardgame monopoly at the graveyard. Marcus says punk rockers survive the apocalypse because they’re always anticipating the end. Billy agrees and supports not having a real-life goal. Lex calls it classism in America, but Willie calls it racism, which Petra agrees with.

Saya interrupts their debate and asks Marcus for a moment alone, upsetting Maria, who is also present. Saya tells Marcus that someone killed one of her crew, and she suspects it’s Chester (fuckface). A jealous Maria interrupts them and asks for a minute alone with her boyfriend. Saya sardonically quips that she was just giving him archery tips (a reference to when Maria shot an arrow at Marcus’ face and Saya saved him).

Willie asks Saya what’s going wrong? She admits Yukio was killed. It upsets him, but he tells her that she doesn’t have to always keep her guard up. She rebukes him, by asking him when was the last time he was honest with anyone?

In private, Maria admits to killing Yukio to Marcus, but says at least Diablo thinks Chico’s death has been avenged. Marcus is upset, as Diablo will want revenge against a person at the top: he’ll want to kill Saya.

In school, everyone is gossiping about Yukio’s murder. Riku tells Saya the Kuroki Syndicate are worried his death makes them appear weak. Maria asks Saya for a moment in private to talk. Distracted, Juan attacks Saya out in the open. She defends herself easily, and then accuses Maria of trying to set her up, as she shot an arrow at her the night before. Marcus breaks up the fight between the girls, and the monks soon arrive to initiate a lockdown.

Episode 8 Sneak Peak

Marcus tries talking to Saya about Maria’s murder of Yukio but they get split up. He is locked in his room with Willie and Victor. Willie is upset because he was supposed to go on a date with Gabrielle. Marcus just wants to escape to warn his lady friends. Both Willie and Victor, call Marcus out for being a pretentious narcissist.

Juan and Maria fight over Chico's death.

Maria reprimands Juan. He admits that he was under orders from Chico’s father, and would rather face Lin’s wrath, rather than Diablo’s. Juan finds it concerning Maria won’t go after Saya. Brandy is locked in with them and points out that people close to Maria often find themselves in danger. Playing devil’s advocate, she reminds Maria that Saya is known for her revenge. As a result, Maria writes a fake order to put a hit out on Saya, but in actuality, sends a note out to Marcus. She asks her boyfriend to tell Saya that she requests a truce. Brandy is happy, as minorities killing each other saves Dixie Mob the effort.

Maria writes a note to Marcus which Brandy thinks is a declaration of War against Saya.
DEADLY CLASS — “The Clampdown” Episode 107 — Pictured: (l-r) Maria Gabriela de Faria as Maria, Siobhan Williams as Brandy — (Photo by: Katie Yu/SYFY)

In Marcus’ room, Maria’s note gets literally eaten by Victor. Marcus never reads what it says. Willie doesn’t help out, so Marcus busts out on his own. Willie warns him that if he’s caught escaping during a clampdown, Lin will fuck him up. Marcus goes anyway, and surely enough, is caught by Lin.

Riku accosts Saya over her friendship with the rats and Maria.
DEADLY CLASS — “The Clampdown” Episode 107 — Pictured: Lana Condor as Saya — (Photo by: Katie Yu/SYFY)

In Saya’s room, Riku accosts her for always hanging out with the rats and Maria. Saya claims it’s her clan and her problem, and decides to deal with this alone, declaring Juan is a dead man. As Madame Gao calls the students for lunch, Saya reminds Riku to only take out Juan and then takes a shiv with her.

In Maria’s room, Juan says they’re going to jump Saya at the cafeteria. Conflicted, Brandy plays devil’s advocate again, breaking Maria’s trust in Saya. Maria takes a lethal hairpin with her just in case.

Maria gets ready in line at the cafeteria expecting something bad to happen.
DEADLY CLASS — “The Clampdown” Episode 107 — Pictured: Maria Gabriela de Faria as Maria — (Photo by: Katie Yu/SYFY)

In the cafeteria, Saya moves in to take out Juan but because Maria is next to him, it seems like she’s attacking her. Maria retaliates against Saya. The girls have an epic duel against each other.

Madame Gao arrives, and has the monks break up the fight, and then takes Maria into custody. Seeing her as the school’s common problem string, she calls Maria a cancer, one that needs to be removed. Maria is taken away and Gao gives a suspectful nod to Riku.

Moments later, Maria is strapped to a chair and is approached by a very angry Riku. She admits that Yukio was her oldest friend, and that Maria knew he had nothing to do with Chico. She cuts Maria but Saya breaks in and tells her to back away. Saya kicks Riku’s ass. Riku threatens that Saya choose the wrong side.

Maria admits to Saya, that she discovered Yukio betrayed her. Yukio allowed the Kuroki to enter King’s Dominion, slaughter the monks, and kidnap Saya during detention. Saya asks why Maria didn’t just tell her? She realizes, it’s because Maria doesn’t trust her.

Saya admits she was just trying to help her best friend. Maria tells her: Don’t.

THE RATS HAVE A THREESOME

During the lockdown, Lex gets high off model glue. He debates with Billy over the future, as Reagan is still president, so all hope is doomed. Petra argues Lex always fights with her because he has crush on her. Lex says she’s confusing him with Billy. Moments later, Lex and Billy continue huffing glue. Petra reads the Vampire Lestat (one of my favorite books) and asks if his dock worker father would approve. Lex admits his dad was a hero, and we go into his flashback animation.

Lex’s father was a dockworker and honest man, his brothers, a horrible influence. One night, they snuck into the docks using their dad’s keys and when a theft went sour, they shot murdered a guard in the escape. Lex accidentally dropped his father’s badge at the scene of the crime. When the police came the day after, his father took the fall for the stolen goods and the murder. Lex has been living on the streets since until Saya recruited him to into kings.

Later during the lockdown, Billy and Lex fight over Petra again. She asks them to just admit they’re in love with her, which Billy does, but Lex scoffs at. She reprimands them both, as it’s up to the woman to give her permission. She then talks about her liberated views of sexuality and offers to have a threesome to check it off her bucket list. The boys reluctantly agree, but also, have no idea how to start.

A long time after, Petra complains she’s done all she can by herself. Billy and Lex debate on how to go about doing this without it being weird. Even Lex admits he has real feelings for Petra, and both would rather do it with her, alone. Petra asks why everyone can’t just have a good time physically, and whatever happens emotionally, just resolves itself. Billy finally fully agrees but Lex still hesitates. She says it’s both of you or none of you, and that when they’re 40, looking back at the wild stories of their youth, they won’t regret it. Also, Petra admits she wants to do this with guys she trusts. They finally agree to the threeway and Petra takes her boobs out.

A little bit after just get started, the lockdown is officially announced over. Petra is glad and says that she’s starving and puts her shirt back on. She claims there were too many feelings. Lex asks her, “Is it because we have feelings that you’re leaving us like this? Or is it because feelings disgust you?”

Petra says one word: “Yes.”

Then leaves the two boys.

TEAM LIN

Master Lin speaks with Gao before the lockdown is called.  She admits that after seeing her niece, Naya, that she was wrong to be angry at her brother. At the same time, she threatens that if Lin doesn’t find out what happened with the deaths of Yukio and Chico, that the guild will descend on them, and she’ll have to take Naya ‘to protect her’.

During the lockdown, Marcus tries escaping his room. Victor says he’s just desperate for people to think he’s unique. Willie claims Marcus is a selfish narcissist, as he doesn’t respect people and nobody else is allowed to have an opinion besides him. When Marcus escapes, he is caught and interrogated by Lin.

Marcus is tortured by Lin.
DEADLY CLASS — “The Clampdown” Episode 107 — Pictured: Benjamin Wadsworth as Marcus — (Photo by: Katie Yu/SYFY)

Lin beats the life out of Marcus, asking what happened to Yukio and Chico. Marcus calls Lin a hypocrite, and so Lin shows Marcus a video of him as a child with his parents.  He asks again, who killed Yukio or Chico. Marcus keeps the secret, but gives a tell away to Lin, when asked about the kids in the orphanage. As hours of torture pass, Marcus asks Lin if Jurgen’s death was necessary? Lin denies his death (he did let Jurgen escape, after all) and shows videos of Marcus’ dead parent’s bodies to torture him. Lin tells him to confess and reminds him that he’s not the bad guy – that he has only helped him, every step of the way. He threatens to kick Marcus out of school, forcing him be alone, again.

Marcus is interrogated by Lin.

The fear of being utterly alone causes Marcus to finally break. He confesses everything to Lin about Las Vegas. How Chico followed them and caught him and Maria fooling around, and how she murdered Chico in self-defense and eventually pinned it on Yukio to help Saya, and how Yukio was the one who let the Kuroki in, the same ones that murdered Lin’s monks and friends in the school. He thanks Marcus and retreats. That evening, Lin lies to Chico’s father, Diablo. He tells him that Yukio was a drug addict, one who owed Chico a large debt. When Chico tried to collect, Yukio killed him. That if Chico hadn’t been dealing drugs on schoolgrounds, Lin would’ve been able to prevent this.

Lin and Diablo shake hands making empty promises of peace.
DEADLY CLASS — “The Clampdown” Episode 107 — Pictured: (l-r) David Zayas as El Alma del Diablo, Benedict Wong as Master Lin — (Photo by: Katie Yu/SYFY)

Diablo is upset at the convenience of this answer and threatens Lin. Lin tells him that he has no loved ones and that he should find peace in the justice served to his son’s killer. For now, it seems Lin is looking out for the group.

TEAM GAO

Gao reads Marcus' diary.
DEADLY CLASS — “The Clampdown” Episode 107 — Pictured: Olivia Cheng as Master Gao — (Photo by: Katie Yu/SYFY)

The episode begins with Madame Gao reading Marcus’ diary in her office – the same one where people act as furniture.  Shabnam is with her, as he has been going through Marcus’ belongings and decided to share. She orders Shabnam to track every move Marcus makes, making him officially on team Gao.

Later, Shabnam calls his mother at the house and shares information about the Yukio situation. He also hears barking in the distance, which is a signature sign of Chester (Fuckface). Given the information about Marcus in school that Chester seems to know, it’s evident, that fuckface is getting intel from Shabnam indirectly: in the form of his likely kidnapped parents. This makes Shabnam, unknowingly, a double-agent for Gao and Chester.

Shabnam hands over Marcus' diary to Gao.
DEADLY CLASS — “The Clampdown” Episode 107 — Pictured: Isaiah Lehtinen as Shabnam — (Photo by: Katie Yu/SYFY)

Towards the end of the episode, Victor and Brandy share what they learned during the lockdown, to Gao. Victor shares that it seems Marcus is center of all the school’s problems. Brandy shares, that Maria doesn’t have control of the Soto Vatos anymore, as Diablo doubts her resolve. Consider both, on team Gao as well.

MARCUS TELLS THE TRUTH

Marcus addresses his friends at the rooftop graveyard.

At the end of the episode at the graveyard, Marcus meets up with Maria and confesses that he’s been trying to reach her. She admits that she’s fine but the two find it sweet that he cares. Saya joins them shortly after, and Marcus defends Maria’s honor by telling Saya what she did. How Maria’s actions were for helping Saya with Yukio. Saya denies him, saying Maria did it to help herself.

Willie is dressed up to surprise his girlfriend, Gabrielle. Telling Saya that he’s taking her advice and being more honest. This emotionally hurts, as Saya’s honesty this episode has done nothing but brought her pain.

Marcus decides to address everyone. Especially, because of the self-revelations he had while under torture. He states that his friends are the only family he’s had since his folks died. That he can’t afford to lose them. He admits that he didn’t kill the kids at the boy’s home. But he accidentally helped Chester, the mass murderer who did, escape. Chester had followed them to Vegas, and now, has Chico’s body. Marcus tells his friends that Chester’s given them a deadline, and now, they’re running out of time.

‘Captain Marvel’ Review: Middle Tier MCU Film Still Delights

By
Matt DeGroot
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If anything is true after 21 films set in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, it’s that Kevin Feige and Marvel Studios know exactly what they’re doing. They are incapable of making a bad movie. And as comic book movie fan I truly cherish that fact and look forward to their latest work two or three times a year.

But if we’re being realistic, not every single one of these can top the one that came before it in terms of quality. Sometimes we just have to be happy with the fact that the latest film is “pretty darn good.” And Captain Marvel is one of those films.

Captain Marvel will stake its place in the franchise’s history for being the first MCU film with a solo female lead. This is a long overdue and refreshing change of pace but the film’s originality and freshness mostly ends there. Sure, there’s a 90s setting and a remarkable cat (who may or may not be an actual cat) but the story operates within a world we’re pretty well familiar with by now and hits all of the standard beats for a Marvel origin film. Filmmakers Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck try to toss a little twist into the mix but shame on you if you don’t see it coming from a mile away.

Captain Marvel

But when Captain Marvel really works it works largely in thanks to the tremendous cast led of course by Oscar-winner Brie Larson. I was initially skeptical of Larson’s work here due to some wooden line delivery in the film’s trailers (and there’s definitely some of that throughout the film) but she really wins you over by the time Carol Danver’s story really gets underway in the finished film.

Even more remarkable though is the supporting cast surrounding Larson. Samuel L. Jackson gives his best performance as Nick Fury yet with the aid of some astonishing de-aging special effects work to effortlessly make him appear to be over 20 years younger (the same effects on Clark Gregg’s young Agent Coulson aren’t quite as effective though). Annette Bening kills it in a mysterious dual role that I won’t spoil more info on here. And Ben Mendelsohn is delightful as the leader of the shape-shifting Skrulls along with great work from the likes of Jude Law, Lashana Lynch, and Gemma Chan. I mean, if the quality of this cast isn’t enough to convince you to see this movie I don’t know what is.

Captain Marvel

I think it goes without saying that a lot of viewers will be flocking to this to learn more about the character who might be destined to save the world from Thanos in the upcoming Avengers: Endgame – and you won’t come away disappointed on that front if you stay for the post credits scene – but I left the movie absolutely shell-shocked by her overwhelming power after it fully blossoms in the film’s climax. It’s definitely fun to watch but it’ll be interesting to see how it is handled in future films because she’s SO POWERFUL that she runs the risk of being a hero we’re never truly concerned about. Here’s hoping they find her version of Kryptonite quickly.

And I know this will pain a lot of the trolls out there hoping this film would be total flop, but sorry boys – Captain Marvel is a perfectly delightful two hours at the movies. It doesn’t reinvent the wheel but it’s got a great mix of thrills, laughs, and spectacle all to the tune of the best soundtrack since Guardians of the Galaxy. This might be middle tier of the MCU but even that is a guaranteed good time.

Grade: B

‘Paddleton’ Review: Ray Romano’s Finest Performance

By
Christian Angeles
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0

I’ve talked about mumblecore on here in the past. It’s a very particular style of filmmaking, heavily reliant on improvisation and low budget techniques – though has somewhat seen its golden age dwindle over time. Lena Dunham (Girls) and Greta Gerwig (Ladybird) are probably the biggest names to come out of the movement. As is Joe Swanberg and the Duplass Brothers, whom I am a big fan of.

Mark Duplass Giving Advice on Creative Habits

I mention this because I’m a huge fan of Mark Duplass. He and director Alex Lehman, had worked together previously on their indie hit, Blue Jay which was a critical success distributed here on Netflix, after running the film circuits. Now, they have reunited here again for the film Paddleton.

Paddleton, is a mumblecore styled movie about two middle-aged loners, who live in adjacent, upstairs and downstairs, apartments. They are single best friends, who spend their weekends watching kung-fu movies, while eating some cheap homemade pizza, and playing a strange paddleball-meets-basketball like game, called Paddleton.

Mike (Mark Duplass) is suddenly surprised when he discovers he has terminal cancer, and only has a short time to live. Deciding to take matters into his own hands, he asks his best friend, Andy (Ray Romano), for help in committing legally assisted suicide: by going on a road trip to procure the end-of-life medication from a faraway pharmacy.

This forces Andy and Mike, to re-evaluate their friendship and better understand the meaningfulness of their lives and their relationship.  

Again, mumblecore is less about the story and more about style. It involves a lot of bantering, which is prominently featured within this movie. More than anything else, the narrative pulls from its actors. Which is why this movie takes up most of its time with Andy and Mike, as we get to know their best friendship, and watch as a person (Romano), genuinely loves and cares about their friend, up until the end.

Obviously, the final moments of the film are where it gets most emotionally powerful, much like the film Blue Jay, which preceded this one.  So while a stellar performance was expected from Mark Duplass, as he’s shown his range within this genre, Ray Romano – whose only major dramatic performance of note was playing the father in The Big Sick, was a major surprise.

He utilizes the type of banter and humor of Romano’s own signature style. But what’s compelling about the performance, is how he maintains this façade of support – while all the while, emotionally dying on the inside, over his friend.

It’s easily the actor’s most compelling performance to date, in one of the saddest movies I’ve personally watched in a long time.

You can Watch Paddleton Stream on Netflix.

Monomythic Screenwriting, Episode 7: Inspiration

By
Christian Angeles
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0
The Sandman series inspired me to become a professional writer. Artist: J.H. Williams, The Sandman: Overture.

In this screenwriting lesson, I talk about inspiration. Where to find it, how to harness it creatively, and what are some different outlets you can use to get the ideas flowing.

Where to Find Inspiration

This is easily the most forward advice I could give to any writer. The easiest way to find inspiration is to simply to go out into the world and experience things. Get out of your comfort zones. Say yes to the world. Learn new things.

One of the biggest problems I find with new writers isn’t that they don’t have something to say, it’s that they don’t know how to say it. They’d like to express the words or the emotions, but they just haven’t experienced enough of the world yet.

I Think Robin Williams summarizes it best in ‘Good Will Hunting’

There’s only one way around this: do things. Write that first draft, travel to new places, taste that exquisite new dish, and ask that person you like out on a date. Do things, because inspiration only comes through living.

How to Harness Inspiration Creatively

When I first began writing this I had done so by hand. My computer was in the repair shop because I had accidentally broken an internal cooling fan when dusting inside with a can of compressed air. It initially seemed to have worked. At least, until my laptop started sounding like a jet engine when I turned it on. Apparently, spinning the fan too quickly, or worse in the wrong direction, you can ruin it. As a result, I started writing this lesson on a napkin – over some fast food, crying about how expensive my laptop repairs were going to cost (turned out, it wasn’t so bad).

Now, getting away from writing on a laptop has several benefits.  For starters, you google search and second guess things a lot less. I can’t tell you how much time I waste researching and rewriting mid-progress – a nasty habit I don’t recommend, as writers should really try and bang out the first draft before overthinking things. But one of the niftiest things I learned about while handwriting is that it forces you to slow down and think about your words carefully.

I can type on average, ninety-five words per minute. When I hand write, I’m lucky if I can move at a fifth of that speed. Writing on loose leaf paper and on sticky notes and in moleskin notebooks, allows me to take a more calculated approach. To be more present and in the moment.

Which is important, because often the biggest problem I have after finding inspiration, is never allowing myself the time to actually feel inspired. Which is to say, I do these amazing wonderful things, yet never really give it the time to process in my head. It’s always onto the next big thing.

Sometimes you need the laptop to break. Sometimes it’s better to step back and really look at the bigger picture. And yes, I understand, we live in a digital age of instant access. I myself, am usually micromanaging several projects at a time, all while looking for possible writing opportunities. Query letters, meetings, and e-mails all need replying to – the hustle is never enough. What’s worse, is that I’m part of a generation conditioned to feel this way, or else admonish in the guilt that we’re missing out on something bigger.

 

We Call This FOMO. It’s toxic to your health and happiness.

Let me ask, when is the last time you spent a day doing absolutely nothing?  Where you spent a weekend with no plans, no schedule, and no responsibility? One of my favorite quotes is by A.A. Milne, author of Winnie The Pooh:

“People say nothing is impossible, but I do nothing every day.” – Pooh Bear

look at all the bothers i give GIF
We Should All Be More Like Pooh.

There is magic in doing nothing. In turning yourself off and becoming receptive to the universe. It is in these quiet moments, in mindfulness and the mundane, in-between of things, where we process: life.

If experiences are how you find inspiration, reflection is how to harness it. But you can only do that if you allow yourself to disengage. You can only reflect, if you give it your time and attention.

Then, once you’ve embraced the memories of all these amazing experiences: write that down. It doesn’t even have to be a full-on project – just be in that moment. Get inspired by the different elements of your life. Share what you’ve learned to your audience using words.

What Are Some Different Outlets?

Not everyone has the time, money, or resources to get out and try doing new things. After all, people have responsibilities. Mortgages to pay. Children to raise. In this section, I’ll talk a bit about different outlets people use to get inspired that you can do on a budget.

Drugs

If I’m gonna be blunt about it, just about every creative field involving art has had some sort of drug exposure in my experience. It’s an easy outlet, and a great way to trigger a lot of the same neurotransmitters you feel during novel experiences – particularly, dopamine.

Am I advocating drug usage over doing something like taking that lifelong desired trip to Italy? No, but I am admitting it is an outlet for inspiration. And when I say drugs, I’m not talking about just the hard ones, like heroin or cocaine. I’m including caffeine from coffee, or nicotine from vaping or cigarettes as well, vitamin supplements like B12 in excess, and even herbal remedies.

I count all of those as drugs too. Obviously, it’s not in the same classification as opioids or LSD, but nevertheless, these are all artificial ways of stimulation. And though the highs can be very high, they also never last – which can lead to a lot of different health problems. Including lifelong addictions.

Music

An easy, and much more practical source of inspiration is through music. You can cover your music bases through itunes, spotify, and even amazon prime – all at affordable subscription plans, some of them even free.  

When I cover episodes of Deadly Class I usually listen to the soundtrack for each episode, as they’re very selective songs, but each is representative of the era.

I once even had a writing partner who listened to Hans Zimmer compositions, and only Hans Zimmer compositions, to get hyped up before starting a project. He believed that if the voice God could be heard without it blowing our minds into nothingness than it would probably sound like Hans Zimmer’s music. Though he was also very crazy, and if there was a voice of God, I’d imagine he’d sound something more like James Earl Jones, though that’s just my opinion.

 

Podcasts

This is hands down one of the best things to get into and a great foot-in-the-door towards the industry, and I’m not just saying this to plug TheWorkprint podcast, as I’ve been listening to podcasts for years.

Some great podcasts I recommend for Screenwriters:

Pillar Alexandra’s On The Page podcast interviews different industry professionals working in Hollywood. She’s also a great script consultant and analyst herself, and her book The Coffee Break Screenwriter is just as good of a starting point as any for any up and coming screenwriters.

Scriptnotes by John August and Craig Mazin, is probably the premiere screenwriting podcast in the industry (if there is one). They’re both incredibly insightful, and talk about almost every situation a professional screenwriter will eventually face – with guest appearances from industry producers, and hours of content analyzing structure and industry history. This is probably the gold standard for script podcasts.

Draft Zero,  by Chas Fisher and Stuart Willis, is a newer podcast that takes a much more down-to-earth approach with screenplays. Both are screenwriters that haven’t officially really blown-up just yet, but still remain to have a large, and growing, following. Together, they look at what makes screenplays work and share some wisdom about what it’s like being in the industry at their level.

Again, I highly recommend podcasts and I 100% recommend all three of these, personally, as they contain great gems of screenwriting and industry knowledge.

Movies

Probably the best thing you can do as a screenwriter is watch movies. Or as I’ve shown here time and time again, even read screenplays of a favorite film that inspired you.

I used to watch the movies Fight Club, Annie Hall, and Casablanca – once a year, every year, because they were my favorite films. To be honest though, I’m a sentimental person who has a hard time letting go of the past. So now I stopped rewatching a lot of things I’ve seen before, and the only movie I occasionally replay now is It’s Such a Beautiful Day, by Don Hertzfeldt. Mostly, because it’s a movie so bizarre yet also… beautiful. I sort of see a reflection of myself in that work and I highly recommend it if you haven’t had a chance to watch it.

Part One Of Three, of “It’s Such A beautiful Day”

Literature

When all else fails, read a book. The public library is free. Most also have graphic novels now, and some even stream audiobook collections and e-books online. Reading is also a great way to discover style, voice, and tone. Plus, if you’ve been paying attention: a lot of young adult authors have been getting their book series adapted for screenplays and movies.

So, find an author that you like and read their works. Then pick a genre of style of literature that’s the exact opposite and maybe even read that too.

I’ll leave you with some advice that my favorite author, Neil Gaiman (Author of The Sandman comics, and whose upcoming TV series, Good Omens, we covered back in NYCC 2018) said during one of the Masterclass lectures that I’ve been listening to:

“Remember that your influences are all sorts of things. And some of them are going to take you by surprise. But the most important thing that you can do is open yourself to everything.” – Neil Gaiman

Try This: Finding Inspiration

  1. Go out and Experience Something.
  2. Shut up and write down your experience somewhere. Be sure to add sensory details, like how something felt or what colors and hints of lighting were there. You can even take notice of the smells and the sounds in the air. Just be in the moment.
  3. Find a new inspirational outlet that you like. I’d go with podcast or book, personally.

‘Deadly Class’ Review – Episode 7: Rise Above

By
Christian Angeles
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0
DEADLY CLASS -- "Rise Above" Episode 106 -- Pictured: (l-r) Benjamin Wadsworth as Marcus, Liam James as Billy, Lana Condor as Saya, French Stewart as Scorpio Slasher -- (Photo by: Katie Yu/SYFY)

In episode seven of Deadly Class, Marcus reveals what happened at the boy’s home, Scorpio goes full-on Silence of The Lambs, Chester introduces his cousins, Willie gets laid, and both Gao and Maria run into someone from their past.

DEADLY CLASS — “Rise Above” Episode 106 — Pictured: (l-r) Benjamin Wadsworth as Marcus, Lana Condor as Saya — (Photo by: Katie Yu/SYFY)

REVIEW

First, The Breakfast Club, then Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, and now, Silence of the Lambs – I’ll admit, film parody is amusing but it’s starting to break the vibe of the 1980’s. Scorpio’s silence of the lambs’ bit is fun in this episode, but I had issues with how little oversight they had for such a dangerous serial killer. We’re not even told of Scorpio’s fate by the end of the episode – which to me is a large plot hole.

I’m also confused as to where the monks are for the umpteenth time in the series during Scorpio’s escape. Whether intended or not, Gao is right – Lin is failing this school. The staff is unruly, the murders are rampant, and the kids are always running away. Atop this, Lin has some serious problems with his sister. Issues which are meant to be kept a secret. Yet one of the biggest things that bothered me, was how is living in a nice public suburban house and taking a daughter to music lessons in public – living in secret?

Atop this, I’m not sure where I stand with Maria’s storyline. I believe we’re supposed to empathize with her, but outside of killing Chico, she’s giving us little to work with. With how little screen time we get between her and Marcus, I don’t sense any sort of chemistry for their relationship to build off. This could be intentional; yet, for the sake of storytelling, makes Maria a forlorn victim. She is constantly being manipulated and this episode is no exception. It’s upsetting me, as fan.

Willie’s plot thread seems to be so far removed from the others. I’m not sure where his arc is going – though I hope it ties together with the main storyline. Meanwhile, Billy seems over his father and the rats seem to have become an afterthought in the series.

Overall, some of the plot has grown stale the past two episodes. We’re rounding the end of the first season, and I’m losing almost all compassion except for Saya and Billy. Still, I’d like to see how it ends.

Final Score: 7/10

Sneak Peak of tonight’s episode

RECAP

DEADLY CLASS — “Rise Above” Episode 106 — Pictured: (l-r) Benjamin Wadsworth as Marcus, Lana Condor as Saya — (Photo by: Katie Yu/SYFY)

THE BOY’S HOME MASSACRE

Marcus journals in the courtyard about how he used to cry over his parents and the life he once had. Now, he’s just too far gone, always waiting for the next messed up thing. Saya arrives asking why he called her there. Marcus admits that they’re in trouble. His old roommate Chester is holding onto Chico’s body and is threatening to reveal it to his family unless he finds him in 24 hours. Marcus wants to keep this a secret from Maria, as she’s barely holding it together mentally. Saya gets angry, as Maria is the one who killed Chico in the first place. Marcus feels bad for involving Saya, but she condemns him as he didn’t have a choice. He shares his journal, detailing what happened at the boy’s home.

We see a flashback. At the textile sweatshop beneath the boy’s home, Marcus plans his escape by hiding needles inside the inner flesh of his cheeks. When they find needles missing at his station, he is called into Mrs. Rank’s office, the leader of the orphanage. Marcus is strip searched and put down, then taken back to his room.

Chester harasses him for a sandwich and Marcus gives him one. We soon learn that it’s poisoned. Marcus pulls the pins out of his cheek and adds them to his concoction. He reveals to Chester, the instructions he found in his anarchist cookbook, and shows off his makeshift pipe bomb. Marcus calls in the guards to help a dying Chester, as he hides behind his bed mattress, and then detonates the bomb.

He grabs the guns from the guards and finds Mrs. Ranks. Instead of killing her, he pushes the button to opens all the cell doors. Freeing all the children causes a riot, one which Marcus hoped would expose Mrs. Ranks. Instead, from the ashes Chester found a gun proceeded to murder every single person at the boy’s home, as Marcus escaped.  

Marcus admits to Saya that Chester is the “Fuckface” killer on the news. He confesses that he has kill him. Saya corrects him, saying, “We have to.”

DEADLY CLASS — “Rise Above” Episode 106 — Pictured: (l-r) Benjamin Wadsworth as Marcus, Lana Condor as Saya — (Photo by: Katie Yu/SYFY)

COUSIN CHESTER

Chester is having conversations with Chico’s ice bucket head, though it mostly tells him what he wants to hear. He is living at Shabnam’s house with Dwight (Brian Posehn) still being held prisoner. Dwight requests to Chester, if it would be alright if his cousins would stop stabbing him. Chester regretfully says no, as he needs to keep the extended family happy.

We then meet Chester’s many cousins, also living in the house. He promised them wealth from when he becomes famous. Soon after, we discover that his family is trying to reenact Chester’s murders for him, as it’s faster in spreading the “Fuckface” reputation on a wider scale. His cousin, Jimmy John, his first murder by forgetting to leave the “Fuckface” graffiti in blood. As punishment, Chester drunks Jimmy John’s face a toilet filled with his own shit, that he was just using.  

Later, Chester shares with Chico, that Marcus is the one who started everything by destroying the boy’s home. Chester’s just took it toward its natural progression. He admits that he misses the home as he felt structure there. Chester shares that he loved a dog once, one that his father made him put it down, and so he murdered him in return. Chico is supportive of Chester’s quest to be famous and get on Donahue, though again, it’s all in Chester’s deranged head.

SILENCE OF THE SCORPIO

Marcus sneaks with Saya, to find Scorpio Slasher (French Stewart) locked away in the lower levels. He asks the psychopath for help in finding Chester, in an obvious homage to Silence of the Lambs. However, Slasher dislikes Marcus, and is also bored with his story. At least, until Marcus admits Chester likes to fuck dogs, which then piques Scorpio’s interests. He offers him a quid pro quo to help if they take him to a taqueria to enjoy a carnitas burrito. Scorpio then gets up out of his chair, revealing he’s not as weak as led on to believe.

DEADLY CLASS — “Rise Above” Episode 106 — Pictured: (l-r) Benjamin Wadsworth as Marcus, Lana Condor as Saya, Liam James as Billy, French Stewart as Scorpio Slasher — (Photo by: Katie Yu/SYFY)

While escaping, the trio find Billy in the puzzle room, trapped. It’s the only secret exit out of the school, but only if you can solve the puzzle and not die. Saya gets to work on it. After being updated on what’s happening, Billy asks Marcus why he didn’t ask for help with Chester. Scorpio admits that Marcus and He are alike, though Marcus denies it. Saya solves the puzzle and they find a secret way out of Kings. They attach a leash on Scorpio which Billy holds.

In the city, Scorpio gets his burrito. He asks Marcus why he wants to kill Reagan, in an again homage to Clarice in Silence of the Lambs. Scorpio says Chester is a product of his environment, which upsets Marcus, as it diffuses responsibility. Annoyed, Saya yanks at Scoprio’s chain which he responds by easily taking the table knife and pressing it against Saya’s jugular. He lets her go, then requests for ice cream, claiming that he’ll cooperate once he’s had one.

DEADLY CLASS — “Rise Above” Episode 106 — Pictured: (l-r) Liam James as Billy, French Stewart as Scorpio Slasher — (Photo by: Katie Yu/SYFY)

Billy takes Scorpio for Ice Cream. Outside, Marcus freaks out to Saya that they’re wasting time, walking around with serial killer on a leash. Saya tells him about the red string – A Japanese belief that some relationships are bound by fate. Marcus rebuffs at first, but she tells him myths come from somewhere. Scorpio joins them outside, ice cream in hand. He admits that he and Marcus being the sole family survivor of tragedy is shared pain – yet, Scorpio tries to destroy society as a result; Marcus seeks justice to make sense of losing his parents. While the two disagree on everything, their mutual hatred for wealthy society does seem in par with one another’s beliefs. He helps Marcus find his roommate.

DEADLY CLASS — “Rise Above” Episode 106 — Pictured: (l-r) Liam James as Billy, French Stewart as Scorpio Slasher, Benjamin Wadsworth as Marcus, Lana Condor as Saya — (Photo by: Katie Yu/SYFY)

That evening, as they walk the streets, Scorpio says dog people are weird. Billy condemns him, as he killed teens in cars because they were sexy. Scorpio proclaims that everyone he murdered is going to paradise with him as a slave when he dies, thus he has a reason. He doesn’t respect Chester because it lacks a reason. Still, he ends their journey at the San Francisco animal shelter, at an unwanted Dog drop off he deems basically, an orphanage. They hear screaming from around back. Saya and Billy investigate, just as Scorpio admits he’s “fucking amazing”.

The group finds Chester, ready to murder a girl for abandoning a puppy. Marcus intervenes and Chester is amazed that he found him.  Suddenly, Billy brings Scoprio and then lets him off his leash. Cousin Jimmy John comes at Scorpio with a knife, which the serial killer turns against him, and uses to disembowel him quickly. Scorpio introduces himself to Chester, the boy admitting that Scorpio’s his hero. Chester then retreats to his car. Saya chases after with Billy and Marcus, but Chester drives off.

WILLIE GETS LAID

Willie goes over Gabrielle’s house. They share a moment, talking about the afterlife. Willie shares that when his pop’s died, he didn’t feel like that guy was his dad. He discloses that whatever death is – he just hopes it treats his dad right. Gabrielle calls Willie out asking if this is how he does it? Act all vulnerable, then hope she drops her panties. Willie says no and admits he doesn’t do this with anyone. She then jumps his bones.

After sleeping together, Gabrielle goes to the bathroom to get dressed. Willie gets a message on his pager and must leave because of a family emergency. Gabrielle tells him he doesn’t have to go if he doesn’t want to. He chooses to leave anyway.

MADAME GAO LOST SOMEONE

At King’s dominion, Maria beats Lex relentlessly with her fan during a sparring match – which Lin breaks up. He comments on how adrenaline got the best of her, though Madame Gao thinks Lin isn’t doing enough. Maria storms off, and Marcus wants to follow, but he is stopped by Saya – who reminds him to keep their cover.

Madame Gao expresses concerns to Lin about Jurgen’s escape, Chico’s disappearance, and now Maria. She mentions his failures have become unforgivable. She wonders had Lin’s family lived, would he have sent his daughter to King’s Dominion – keeping the honor of their family’s tradition of service? Lin reassures her absolutely, and then questions her resolve. Gao reinforces that the death of her son has made her hardened. Yet for Lin, his family’s loss has made him soft – she questions why that is.

Later that evening, Lin takes his daughter home from Pipa lessons and Gao greets them in the lobby. She admits, she hasn’t seen her niece since she was a baby. Lin’s daughter shares that her name is, Naya. Gao says it’s a beautiful, family name, one that they’d called her as a child.  

She asks Lin why he put them in this position, as he casts shame upon the family. Lin reasons only she could’ve caught him. Gao reprimands him, that any parent who had lost a child could see through his false grieving.  Gao leaves, telling Naya that she’ll see her soon.

MARIA GETS TO WORK

Maria is called in the office by Madame Gao after beating Lex. There, we meet Diablo (David Zayas, from Dexter) who hugs Maria, but then confesses shame, as she wasn’t enough to protect Chico. She proclaims dedication – that Chico is her only love. Which Master Lin supports by defending her honor.

Diablo asks Lin if he has children. He lies, saying he had a daughter. Diablo admits that he’ll never give up searching for his son – and will claim vengeance on the families of those responsible. He leaves Lin’s office with an ominous message: “He was in your care”.

Later, Diablo’s enforcer visits Maria in her room. He confesses the boss is disappointed. She has 24 hours to get results, or else they will return to murder her.

In a party at a club, Yukio, the Asian kid who ratted out Saya – uses the bathroom. Maria slashes his throat from behind, then escapes. However, his friend soon find Yukio’s body, and Maria is forced to hide in a hallway. A waiter serving cocktails finds her and notices the blood. She tells him to hush, but he starts screaming. She murders him as well, with blood on her hands as she exits through the back.

Maria enters a car. Diablo tells her she’s done good.

Monomythic, Episode 6: The Best Screenplay goes to… Bullshit!

By
Christian Angeles
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0

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=97ZF_i5S5MQ

Trailer for all the Best Picture Oscar Nominations

After a monthlong hiatus, Monomythic is back! Although I’m going to be trying things differently, speaking with a bit more honesty andshortening the posts, while providing the tools necessary to write screenplays.

What do I mean by honesty? Well, so far everything I’ve taught can be found in a book, blog, or forum. But I’ve definitely been holding back for the sake of censorship and clicks. Something I take pride in about monomythic is that I’m not trying to sell you something. I’m just sharing what has worked: for professionals who did it (Yes, I know quite a few of those), and for those who aspire to make a living through writing – myself included. More than anything else, I get to use this platform to talk about my love of stories – so I’m going to try writing and sharing more authentically, and less robotically.

The Reddit r/Screenwriting page has some great forums and discussions and AMA’s (Ask Me Anything) with people in the industry. I’d check that out at some point. Though if you’re feeling in the need for a refresher first, before immersing yourself into the all-knowledgeable yet ever-toxic world of reddit, I’d recommend reading these books:

Save The Cat

Screenplay: The Foundations of Screenwriting

Story

I’ll get back to Sunday lessons again starting next week. Today, I felt the need to address something…

THE OSCARS ARE BULLSHIT

I love the Oscars. There’s this history and prestige behind it, and the red carpet and celebrities make it all seem glamourous.  Yet at the same time, the show has become more about the ceremony to me than the actual awards. I haven’t respected the “Academy” since 2008? When I realized The Dark Knight, arguably the best superhero movie of all-time, didn’t even get a nomination for best picture. A slight which has led to a decade of progressive changes.

But over the years, as I’d kept getting upset over some of the Oscar choices, and as I’d learned more about film overall, I had learned a very important lesson as a screenwriter and film viewer: The Academy has nothing to do with film quality. It’s about politics.

Case-and-point, Martin Scorsese hadn’t scored an Oscar until The Departed, nor did Guillermo Del Toro until The Shape Of Water. Both are great films, yet still below the quality of both acclaimed director’s best works. Then you see movies like Titanic, win the Oscars twice. No, I’m not kidding. Click on that link and you can find another Titanic beyond the James Cameron picture, which won screenplay in 1953. Both Titanics have not aged well over time (much like the real Titanic), though in their defense… there are a lot of forgettable academy pictures.

Atop of that, acclaimed directors like Akira Kurosawa, Stanley Kubrick, Orson Welles, F.W. Murnau, or Christopher Nolan – never won on Oscar in their lifetime (outside honorary achievement awards).  Arguably one of the greatest actors of his generation, it had taken over twenty years of trying for Leonardo DiCaprio to finally win an Oscar. Crazy-eyed, Nicholas Cage won it on his first try. As had Anna Paquin (X-Men, True Blood), at 11 years of age. The long list of Oscar Snubs goes on and some of the names here are astounding.

Ever wonder who actually decides the Oscar Winners every year? Well, it’s mostly a club of middle-aged white men, working in the industry, who need a special ‘invitation’ to be part of the voting elite – a group which also consists of public relations professionals, and studios with self-interests…

BEST SCREENPLAY: AN IMPOSSIBLE STANDARD

Which takes me to the point of this post. If you check, the 2019 Oscar nominated screenplays are already posted online free to download. These include both best original and best adapted screenplays.

Read the first pages of these. You’ll see a trend. Some of these are written in ‘proper format’ but a lot of these… well, they’re not.  If you look, ROMA is written more like a natural screenplay – one that’s visual and commanding, yet also reassured because director Cuaron is essentially writing to himself.

VICE is written in comedic style. Edgy and to the point, yet never-the-less on point with its conviction. Of all the selections, I think this one is the truest to format, reading as a screenplay should.

But First Reformed, is more of an adaptive drama. It’s terribly descriptive, with long expository dialogue and overly detailed action lines – good for a drama, but one that needs to pull the reader in or else it fails quickly as a page turner.

All of these are different. None of them are standard. It’s art, yet, as scripts are a basic blueprint/instruction manual for production teams, it’s also cookie-cutter version of art. It’s impossible to judge best screenplay because these ‘so-called-bests’ aren’t following scriptwriting rules. Which is something you can’t afford to do…

Someone like you: A starter, without a reputation, who needs to get past the first and second round of readers – literally cannot write the way these screenplays are written.

For one, you shouldn’t be calling shot directions. Yet, some of these writers for best screenplay are the very directors, just like with Cuaron. In fact, some of these scripts being judged are the shooting script – meaning that its loaded with camera directions – which you’re told in almost every writing book, never to do. Second, almost all these scripts feature location details and musical choices – specific, yet essential to the world’s being built.

This is great for a script… it’s also really hard to get a project past a reader when you’re that specific. Details like these read as costly dollar signs, and for spec scripts entered into contests and call-to submissions, don’t be surprised if they are turned away.

What most people don’t understand is… you’re rigged to lose best screenplay. You, as you are right now – a newbie. At least until you’re famous, in which case, the rules don’t apply to you, so go ahead and call your type of camera shot. But until then, you’re screwed.

Which is why I stress again, that you shouldn’t care so much about writing the best script. Just focus on writing your script. Which is going to be vastly different, per project, depending on who you’re working with and what you’re trying to do in the industry.

You Can CLICK HERE to Watch The Oscars Live Ceremony Streaming on youtube (Link to close after today).

‘Deadly Class’ Review – “Stigmata Martyr”

By
Christian Angeles
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0
DEADLY CLASS -- "Stigmata Martyr" Episode 105 -- Pictured: (l-r) Lana Condor as Saya, Benjamin Wadsworth as Marcus -- (Photo by: Katie Yu/SYFY)

In this episode of Deadly Class, Marcus and Maria start dating – leading to a slew of complications, Madame Gao starts laying down the law, Billy takes a new approach with Petra, and Chester finally dubs himself Fuckface.

Sneak Peak of the episode

Review

Normally, I go into an extensive review but lately life hasn’t allowed me the time. I will say, this episode is a nice restart back into king’s dominion – especially, after the craziness of the Las Vegas trip. There are ramifications from Chico’s murder – mostly, that the gang is falling apart and struggling to keep it a secret.

Maria and Marcus’ relationship poses a threat as it’ll throw suspicion on Chico. Willie isn’t handling murdering someone well, and Maria is constantly watching over her shoulder out of fear. Master Lin’s storyline moves forward too – his personal life and feelings start to show his vulnerable side, which is bad for the leader of a school for assassins.

Overall, however this episode was okay but mostly filler for me. There’s a little bit of character building, but nothing that you haven’t seen, outside of Gao’s more significant and powerful role in the series. Maria’s storyline definitely was the focus; however, I thought her backstory would’ve been stronger if they showed it before last week’s episode – as it would’ve weighted the stakes of Chico’s life better.

Maria’s portrayal of mental illness also felt more like something out of a lifetime movie than a grounded character. Though I did enjoy the build-up of their little romp outside king’s.

Final Score: 7/10

For Some Behind the Scenes for Episode Six.

‘Deadly Class’ Recap – “Stigmata Martyr”

Maria Falls Apart

It’s been a month since Vegas, and no one’s found Chico’s body. Maria and Marcus have started dating. She’s been depressed since murdering Chico and Marcus doesn’t know how to help her. He feels guilty because she killed Chico to save him, and he doesn’t know how to return the favor – so now, they’re dating. Partially, over mutual feelings of guilt.

Maria is afraid that Chico’s father will discover what they did, as he’s a ruthless and very dangerous Cartel leader It doesn’t help that he also put Maria in charge of figuring out what happened to Chico. The gang decides that in order to avoid suspicion, no one can know Maria and Marcus are dating. Maria’s sudden mood swings struggle to keep it secret. Meanwhile, Saya has been avoiding seeing her best friend in public.

In the boy’s showers, Marcus is approached by Maria. She got him a present for their one-month anniversary. Marcus isn’t sure about protocol as he’s never been in a relationship. He promises to get her one, but isn’t sure when he’s supposed to (One week? One month? Six months?). They kiss and she  pulls away his towel – stating that he can’t hide it (his penis) forever. Obviously, the two haven’t had sex yet. Suddenly, Billy arrives, and he scolds them for being so out in the open.

Rumors have been spreading in the school about Maria. Saya asks if Maria told Gao about killing Chico during an interrogation earlier, she says that she didn’t. Saya gets on her case as Maria seems to be losing it. Maria rubs it in Saya’s face that she’s in relationship with Marcus and that she’s in better place with him and so don’t need to take her pills anymore. Saya tells her to not skip her medicine.  

Maria goes up to the rooftop wanting to dance with Marcus. She kisses him in front of Petra, who later tells Marcus she won’t tell. Saya pulls Maria to the side telling her she’s not being herself. That she’s putting everyone in danger.  Maria gets defensive, saying that Saya is jealous that she’s with Marcus.

Maria leaves and then listens to Marcus’ mixtape in her room. She’s distressed, and so she starts drinking and looks over an old photo album of her family.

We get a flashback of Maria’s origins story. Her father had stolen provisions from a village run by Chico’s father – but only enough to provide for the family. Unhappy with the theft, Chico (as a child) and his father murder her entire family. Ending by crucifying her father on a cross. Chico mentions to his father that Maria can be of use, and so they spare her – recruiting her to work for their family.

The next morning, Maria is approached by one of the Soto Vatos – telling her they need to get revenge on a suspected kid that they think, might’ve been involved in Chico’s disappearance. She mentions that she was put in charge and orders him not to do anything. Moments later, we see Maria breakdown. She starts self-harming, stabbing a pencil into her hand like a nailed crucifixion – reenacting her father’s pain those many years ago.

Saya tells Marcus that he needs to get Maria under control, but he doesn’t know how. Saya reveals that Maria is bipolar. That she stopped medicating and that’s why Marcus needs to do something.

Marcus complains how he always gets into this shit. Saya is upset that he’s making this about him. He calls her out, stating that’s not the real reason why she’s mad. The two share an almost intimate moment… only for an arrow to fling, nearly killing Marcus. Saya catches it but it grazes him in the cheek.

Marcus chases after the assailant. He corners his would be killer, revealing that it’s none other than his girlfriend. Maria says she knew Saya wouldn’t let that arrow hit him, the same way she knew she’d try to steal him away from her.

Marcus is furious Maria tried to kill him. She’s very apologetic and breaks down – saying that she’s just always scared these days. Incredibly vulnerable, she kisses him, and he responds in kind. They proceeded to have sex right outside King’s Dominion.

At combat class the following day, Marcus looks at Saya who is apparently upset. She seemingly knows what happened.

Gao lays down the Law

At the beginning of the episode, Maria gets interrogated by Gao over the death of Chico. She condemns Maria for killing Chico over love, and mentions how love is an exploitive weakness. Maria responds saying Gao knows nothing about love, earning her a slap in the face. Madame Gao then shares a story, with the lesson: telling the truth can save own life. Soon after, Saya is brought in for interrogation as well.

Later, Lin and Gao talk in the hallway – she’s not happy with how undisciplined the students are becoming. To further her point, the two find Billy, second slater, being punished S&M style by Miss De Luca.

At Atypical Combat Skills class, Maria, Brandy and Saya combat ninjas. Master Zane gives Saya an A but scolds Brandy as she assaulted her team mates. He gets on her case over the Dixie Mob’s racist beliefs – mentioning that he’s going to fail her, despite the fact Brandy took down the most Ninjas. However, Madame Gao intervenes and tells Zane to ace Brandy and Fail Saya. Saya does not take this kindly. In response, Gao dislocates Saya’s arm, with Marcus coming over to her to snap it back in place.

Later that day, Master Zhang is scolded for not changing Brandy’s grade. Madame Gao spars with him and brings him to his knees. To make a message over it, she has Brandy carves an A into Master Zane’s forehead. It’s obvious that Madame Gao favors the legacies.

That evening, Lin talks to Madame Gao about their actions. They get in dispute over beliefs, their history, and the future of the school. We reveal that Madame Gao is actually Lin’s sister.

Lin goes home that night, revealing that he has a daughter. He lives in a typical happy suburban home, with the woman he loves who may possibly be his wife (the woman with the tiger tattoo on her back).  It’s a big issue, as we’ve established Madame Gao sees love as a vulnerability, and we’re revealing that Lin seemingly has a very loving family life behind the scenes.

Marcus’ tries to be a Hero… again.

Marcus’s story is heavily tied to Maria’s in this episode. He makes a mixtape for Maria in his room as a makeshift anniversary present, but Shabnam calls him out on it, as he’s making it for a hot girl – given the drawing of unicorns and horses on its cover.

At hand-to-hand combat, Billy mentions Victor’s become a bigger asshole due to Chico being missing. Miss Deluca spars with Victor as per a half-handed comment by Shabnam. She beats Victor easily, commenting that when faced with impossible odds, it’s better to decline than to attempt that which is beyond you.

This leads to Shabnam getting hazed by Victor in the showers. However, Marcus breaks it up by implying Victor is gay, as he always seems to attack boys in the shower (add to the fact that Petra put three fingers in his ass when they hooked up). Shabnam is upset, as he thinks Marcus has made it worse. Victor will go after him harder for the entire year.

Willie gets a job for Marcus at the comic shop. Willie is seen moping around, not doing well over the murder of Chico. He can’t seem to be himself anywhere – which bothers him. A girl hits on Willie, talking up superman, but he rebukes her. Marcus tries to get Willie to snap out of it, as she was being nice to him. Willie apologizes to the girl, to be revealed as Gabrielle. The two share a love for Alan Moore.

Billy Tries a New Approach with Petra

Marcus asks Billy about how he’s feeling. Billy says he’s feeling better because now that his dad’s dead, he and his family are finally free – resolving the issue of his dad’s murder rather easily.

Billy and Marcus talk about girls as Marcus seeks advice about what to do about Maria. Billy mentions the easiest way to win a girl over is to pretend you don’t like her. He tests this theory, by showing an obvious love letter to Miss DeLuca at class, right in front of Petra. Miss De Luca wants to know what Billy expects. He replies with, “maybe, tie me up and call me rude names?” Miss De Luca obliges, which is why she’s caught hogtying him when Lin and Gao arrived.

DEADLY CLASS — “Stigmata Martyr” Episode 105 — Pictured: Liam James as Billy — (Photo by: Katie Yu/SYFY)

At the graveyard, Saya and Petra discuss the fallacies behind Voltron. Billy asks her if she saw him hogtied by miss De Luca. She did but doesn’t care. He condemns her for being prude. She says he has no idea of the kinds of sexual scenarios she’s thought up of, which totally catches Billy off guard.

Fuckface

Fuck Face savagely murders two innocent civilians. He finally gives himself his signature ‘Fuckface’ name as he plasters it on the wall behind him, trying to record the murders on video, but he forgets the tape.

By the episode’s end, he calls Marcus at school. Marcus is shocked that his interaction with Chester in Vegas wasn’t just a dream. Chester is mad that Marcus took credit for the murders at the boy’s home. He then reveals that Chico’s head is being held by him in an ice bucket. He gives Marcus three days to find him, or else he’ll send Chico’s head to the cartel.

‘The Magicians’ Podcast Review: Escape From the Happy Place

By
Nicole C
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0
THE MAGICIANS -- "Escape from the Happy Place" Episode 405 -- Pictured: (l-r) Spencer Daniels as Charlton, Hale Appleman as Eliot Waugh -- (Photo by: Eike Schroter/SYFY)

In this week’s episode of The Magicians, Alice can’t seem to catch a break, Eliot looks for a door, Penny 23 gets drugged, and Julia loses someone.

‘Umbrella Academy’ Netflix – Review

By
Christian Angeles
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0
Adam Godley, Ellen Page, Robert Sheehan, Tom Hopper, David Castañeda, Aidan Gallagher, Jordan Claire Robbins, and Emmy Raver-Lampman in The Umbrella Academy (2019). Photos by Courtesy of Netflix.

Based on the Eisner Award winning Dark Horse comic by ‘My Chemical Romance’ singer Gerard Way and artist Gabriel Ba. ‘The Umbrella Academy’ is the story about a dysfunctional family of superheroes, who reluctantly reunite at their father’s funeral. Together, they learn from a long-lost sibling, that they have only a few days to prevent the end of the world.

The first season of Umbrella Academy combines storylines from the first two trade paperbacks: Apocalypse Suite and Dallas. And while the tone of the series remains faithfully bizarre, it’s also more palatable – with much of the storyline getting an overhaul of the more ridiculous elements of the comic (Like Martian primates. Or largescale battles against national monuments), while all the while, focusing more on characterization. The main plot of season one primarily focuses on the storylines of numbers five and seven – whose chronicles drive most of the season-long conflict.

And while the series is never shy on oddities or adding episode-by-episode
mystery, it also fails to resolve many issues by seasons end.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LNQWQOZINzE
What is the Umbrella Academy?

The series starts by birth: forty-three children born from women with spontaneous pregnancies across the world, all at the same date and time.

Seven of them are adopted into the illustrious ‘Umbrella Academy’, a school run by peculiar philanthropist, Sir Reginald Hargreeves. An eccentric billionaire with but one intention: save the world. These seven would later grow up to be dysfunctional adults, reluctant superheroes forced to come together only to grow apart.

Now, the first few minutes meeting the family within the series opening are nothing shy of exhilarating. Introducing five of the academy children with a ‘Phantom of the Opera’ styled introduction.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=101&v=TCL94-MsxYc
This Lindsay Sterling rendition is what was used for pilot

The beginning of the Umbrella Academy series rings like a rock opera about superheroes. It’s certainly exciting to watch, and very much in tune to Gerard Way’s style.

Meet Your Heroes

The characters are more developed in the show.

Saving the world from what, is a question the series doesn’t answer directly. Instead, most of the story is a chronicle of interpersonal narratives that juggles troubling father issues, the pains of growing up under celebrity spotlight, time travel, and the mysterious organization that polices it – the main characters, showcasing their many oddities and crazy characteristics to the audience. Indeed, the show never shies on showcasing the kids playing with their powers – something which converts into some serious conflicts within their adult lives.

It’s odd to admit this but Luther (#1), is more visually appealing in the show compared to the comic. It’s one of the biggest changes but works well for the series. He’s a good leader, but one who hasn’t had the opportunity in years, living for years on the moon because of a cause no one believes in anymore. He has a large stature and commanding strength, but his nobility is a little blunt in world layered within shades of grey.

Diego (#2) is what you get when you mix Bullseye’s skills from Daredevil with Nightwing’s independence from Batman. He’s nimble, but a hothead. One who’s constantly butting heads with Luther.

Alison (#3) is a celebrity. Her entire life handed to her because of a special ability to mind control people by spreading a ‘rumor’. However, it’s a power she’s been caught abusing, causing her divorce, and forcing her to lose custody of her child. Her and Luther have had feelings for each other, since they were kids.

Klaus (#4) is a wise-cracking drug addict who can seance with the dead. A superpower which left him rather traumatized, as Hargreeves never went easy training him as a child. He’s constantly trying to score drugs as its an easy way of silencing the dead’s voices in his head.

Klaus can occasionally interact with Ben (#6), his brother who died while at the academy. Ben serves mostly as Klaus voice of reason and indefinite companion. Trying his best to keep his brother sober to help the family.

Number 5 (#5) is from the future. He warns the family about the end of the world. He can jump through space and time, though had accidentally taken himself to the apocalypse at the age of 13. He has lived a full-life since then, working for a mysterious organization who is currently, on the hunt for him. He is also much older than he appears.

Vanya (#7) was the only member seemingly without powers on the show. She’s been isolated from her siblings her entire life, kept under close eye to Hargreeves, yet never allowed to participate. As a result, she wrote a scathing book about her experiences with her family.  

The Takeaway

Gerard Way is no stranger to storytelling. ‘I Brought You My Bullets, You Brought Me Your Love’ was one of my favorite albums as a teen, largely in part of the vampire adaptive storyline.

I’m not ashamed to admit that I loved My Chemical Romance and have been a fan of Gerard Way, longer than I care to admit. Umbrella Academy is filled with a style reminiscent of the Black Parade days. It’s weird and eccentric and very in your face bizarre.

It also takes inspiration from other comics, Doom Patrol being the most obvious. Likewise, Diego is definitely a take on a Batman acolyte sort of persona, and Vanya’s storyline is very similar to The Dark Phoenix saga.

It’s fascinating to watch, yet showcases a problem I’ve had with Umbrella academy since its beginning: the series is utterly aimless. It would seemingly introduce elements for the sake of seeming hip like strange orchestral death cults or a zombie driven Eifel Tower Space Ship, yet did not have an organic fit for these things into the story.

However, much of this style was also omitted from the tv series because it lacked context. Umbrella Academy is a comic about style over substance. And while the show’s iteration is definitely more cohesive, I still think it lacks a sense of direction moving forward.

By the end of the season, I couldn’t help but question what we had accomplished besides taking the viewers along for a wild ride. Like a concert, the series is great for being loud and making momentous statements, with personal story arcs within these in-between moments of rest – yet to what purpose, is a different story.

This isn’t a straightforward TV series. It’s more along the lines of AMC’s Preacher, if you’re into character piece narratives with a plot that doesn’t actually matter. The real story is about the family. The organizations, time travel, and end of the world? Actually, don’t really matter… nor do they make a whole lot of sense moving forward.

Showrunner, Steve Blackman, known from such hits as Altered Carbon, Fargo, and Legion, is a large reason why the adaptation has gone well. Even the musical influence, which I’d assumed had been Gerard Way, were also choices made by Blackman. Though he’s done a great job adapting the material I can see a wall on the horizon soon.

I think the problems of the series are best showcased in the reception to the shows season finale and how it differs from the comic books. It’s not the best episode, however, I think it highlights the show’s biggest shortcoming: that there is no real plan for Gerard Way’s eight-volume series.

Let me also throw this out there: the first issue of Umbrella Academy came out in 2007. The first issue of the third volume just came out in October of 2018. It’s been one season, but The Umbrella Academy has already adopted the first two volumes between Vanya’s saga and Number Five’s story with the organization. The only real written material left… is in this year’s volume three. And while there is an outline moving forward, there’s a universal difference between working with an actual script/produced comic versus dealing with a loosely adapted outline/treatment.

This is not to detract from the series. But there was always that bothered me when Umbrella Academy got the greenlight for the series. It’s a rather incomplete story for an adaption, and we’re already starting to hit Game Of Thrones season eight territory… where we’re almost out of material.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0DAmWHxeoKw
You can watch ‘Umbrella Academy’ on Netflix.

‘Alita: Battle Angel’ a Masterpiece

By
Christian Angeles
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6
This coming of age sci-fi epic, starring Rosa Salazar, was directed by Robert Rodriguez. With a screenplay written and developed for over a decade by Laeta Kalogridis, and James Cameron, who also served as producer alongside longtime partner: Jon Landau. All very big names in cinema.

Synopsis

Alita: Battle Angel is the story about Alita, a cyborg girl (Rosa Salazar) who is found in a junkyard within Iron City. She is brought back to life by Dr. Dyson Ido (Christoph Waltz) and gifted a new body which Ido crafted for his daughter, before her untimely demise.

He names the girl Alita, after his own daughter. She has an entirely cybernetic body, except for her teenage brain, and a uniquely special heart strong enough to power all of iron city – the remnants of a technology of ages past.  Alita is mostly happy with her second chance at life but knows that she’s much more than Dr. Ido leads on. She wants to discover what this feeling inside her is, but more than anything else, she wants to discover who she is.

At first, Alita is lighthearted and naïve about the mysteries of this world. Her learning experiences mirrors our own journey discovering the ins and outs of this dystopia. How a world crisis forced all of humanity into this dual-sided metropolis, and a war 300 year ago led to the abolishment of guns and advanced technology in Iron City. Nevertheless, Alita appears as an innocent girl learning about the basics of her own humanity, unaware of her great potential.

In the first act, she is mesmerized by Iron city, a skyscraper slum of stacked trailers and makeshift ghettos located beneath the city of Zalem – the technological paradise above them in the sky. She then meets Hugo, a teenage boy around her age who sells junk parts to Dr. Ido on occasion. Alita immediately takes a liking towards him.

She learns about Motorball, the exciting sport highly celebrated throughout Zalem and Iron City. One day, Hugo teaches her how to play with some of his friends, including his best friend Tanji (Jorge Lendeborg Jr.) and their mutual friend Koyomi – played by the lovely Lana Condor. Readers of TheWorkprint will be familiar with Lana Condor from Deadly Class – a show I review, weekly.

Lana Condor talks about what it was like working on ‘Alita’

All is not well in Iron City, as there are mysterious stalkers on the loose stripping cyborgs for their parts – one of whom, is the ginormous Grewishka (Jackie Earle Haley), a monstrous transformer-sized cyborg working for Vector (Mahershala Ali) and Dr. Chiren (Jennifer Connelly), the two superpowers run Motorball in Iron City – Vector as showrunner, and Dr. Chiren as doctor and parts specialist, who happens to be the ex-wife of Dr. Ido. Likewise, both Vector and Grewishka serve as vessels for the mysterious Nova – an observer from the city of Zalem, manipulating Iron City from behind the scenes.

Over time, fragments of Alita’s memories begin to unlock: her history as a rebel fighting a war over Zalem, 300 years ago. She signs up to be a hunter-warrior (bounty hunter, the only form of police in Iron City) to fight evil and unlock further memories, as combat seems connected to her hidden purpose. There are many who want to stop Alita, as she’s a gifted warrior, the very last of her kind. She battles to discover who she is, all the while, protecting the ones she loves.

You Can Watch Alita: Battle Angel in Theatres Now

Criticism

One of the biggest problems this movie has is that critics are comparing it to pre-established science fiction movies. Complaining that they’ve seen it before in Ghost in the Shell, Valerian, Transformers, or even Elysium. With the amount of content getting released across multiple platforms these days, it’s just about impossible to have ‘not’ seen a storytelling technique before. My issue is that anyone that’s a storyteller (hi, that’s me) can breakdown how a story pulls from an infinite number of other stories – especially if they’re from the same genre.

Using that same logic I can say Star Wars is a rip-off of Flash Gordon. Or that the Bible is just a poor man’s Epic of Gilgamesh. They’re not and that’s sort of my point. Stories have taken details from each other since the beginning of time. There is no such thing as an original idea, just an original way of combing ideas.

Now I understand, because it’s James Cameron, and people have given him flack for this over his career. In fact, I also think Avatar is just a retelling of Ferngully – as the movie is visually and conceptually similar. Still, this shouldn’t detract you from the experience of this movie. You should enjoy a movie as its own thing. Especially because cynicism in cinema as of late is killing the industry.

Alita pulled in 9 million at its premiere and is expected to make 37 million over this weekend, much of which is in due thanks to Imax and Premium 3D screenings – which is how the movie is best experienced. Yet even then, it is still projecting to be a box office failure.

New York Times feminist critic, Manhola Dargis has complained over Alita’s sexualized features. Condemning it as unnecessary for a cyborg. – especially when Alita transforms into a more adult version of herself (particularly one with developed breasts).

Unlike Ghost in the Shell, where The Major (The Main Character), also a cyborg, doesn’t care as much about her physicality, including her sexualized assets (as she uses them more as distractive tools for espionage if anything) – Alita does care about her gender identity and being a girl. Mostly, because romance plays a major role in her growth as a woman.

I think the critic missed a major element of the worldbuilding in this movie: Alita’s not just taking on her shape out of identified gender norms or preconceived notions of beauty, but because it’s her subconscious view of herself. This is not her going for a makeover – this is her actual form. Alita’s original body was that of a child’s because it was a gift given by Ido, constructed originally for his daughter.

At the same time, if we’re going for body imagery and Hollywood’s heteronormative sexualization – let me also point out that by the end of this movie, when Alita’s adapted into her final form, we throw a lot of this debate out of the window: look at how she looks in her final avatar – it’s more suited for a warrior than a sex symbol.

Finally, let me point out that Robert Rodriguez directed this movie. Sexuality and heteronormative masculinity are usually very prominent in his films – but in this movie, you can see him do a good job of letting that go by the wayside for the sake of telling a good story. And if you’ve seen anything by Rodriguez, you’ll also notice he’s fond of writing strong coming of age female characters, as is James Cameron.

To be fair though, gender and sexuality in technopunk/cyberpunk has always been a problem. Mostly, because it plays with sexual aesthetics while at the same time, completely denounces them in lieu of cybernetics – playing with the idea that people who are tantalized by sexual arousal are less evolved and constricted by physical needs. All of which could be removed when you have a literal mechanical off switch.

By the mid-2000s, the genre had phased out, and the style never had the chance to adapt to the more gender-woke identity issues of today – nor truly held a stylistic impact during the time of the #MeToo movement. At least, until recently.

Character Development

sad rosa salazar GIF by 20th Century Fox

I like that the movie took its time to develop Alita’s innocence and childlike sense of wonder. You get a solid story arc that takes her from humble to hero. It hits harder when she becomes the warrior, we expect her to be later, and the film does a great job pacing it out by starting her on such the opposite end.

20th century fox fighting GIF by Alita: Battle Angel

In fact, I haven’t seen a female character this kickass in a movie before, and I’m including such hits as Hunger Games, Tomb Raider, and Wonder Woman – Alita is a thing of her own and I think it’s because you see her earn this right from literally scraps of nothing.

Much of this, is because Rosa Salazar is nothing shy of amazing, giving life to this doe-eyed do-gooder. She does a good job balancing headstrong aggression with vulnerable sensitivity, as Alita is an all-or-nothing character who wears her heart on her sleeve (like every teen), going through a journey of self-discovery throughout the entire movie.

Now, I’ve been a fan of Rosa Salazar since discovering her in the SXSW movie hit: Night Owls. Her early career is surprisingly comedic, performing sketches at collegehumor, and recording funny videos on the now defunct platform: Vine. But she’s also a tremendously rounded actor – this movie, finally showcasing the full depth of her talents. Rosa brings youthfulness to this secretly seasoned warrior, as she carries a powerful finesse and weight to Alita – yet is also still utterly adorable, and very susceptible to cute little puppy hugs (watch the movie, you’ll understand).

sad rosa salazar GIF by 20th Century Fox

Likewise, the motion captured body language and expressions of Alita’s face is reminiscent of the technology used to create Na’vis from Cameron’s Avatar. You can see every microexpression in Alita’s face, making her emotional range extraordinarily expressive.

Manga-styled eyes were a design choice made by both Cameron and Rodriguez for the character. Though it’s a decision that resulted with mixed audience reactions, it does add an extra layer of emotional conviction: you can blatantly see how Alita feels through her eye expressions, much more beyond a normal protagonist.

Christoph Waltz as Doctor Ido, Idara Victor as Nurse Gerhad, both interacting with Alita for the first time

In addition, enough can’t be said about Christoph Waltz in yet another amazing performance. He provides us a solid mentor and father figure to Alita, in role reminiscent to Django, unchained: where he was also wholeheartedly good natured, yet also capable of providing his own ass-kicking. More than likely Django had a lot to do with why he’d been picked for this role, as Tarantino and Rodriguez are frequent collaborators, and very good real-life friends.

I’d also be amiss by not mentioning the wonderful performance by Jackie Earle Haley as Grewishka. Many will remember him as Rorschach from the movie Watchmen, but his credits since then have showcased such an incredible range including prominent roles in Narcos: Mexico, The Tick, Lincoln, The Dark Tower, Preacher, Robocop, and A Nightmare On Elm Street. His performance  was a new experience for the actor, as he plays a motion captured character who is large and clunky, but overall, he did a great job with was tasked of him. Likewise, those fight sequences between his character and Alita are some of the best in the film.

Rosa Salazar stars as Alita in Twentieth Century Fox’s ALITA: BATTLE ANGEL. Photo Credit: Courtesy Twentieth Century Fox.

To round it out, Rodriguez also brought along some of his series regulars, people we’ve seen him collaborate regularly with over the years. Michelle Rodriguez as Gelda, the squad leader to Alita’s unit during the flashbacks. Jeff Fahey from Lost as McTeague, a fellow bounty hunter with a penchant for dogs, and even Eiza Gonzalez as the deadly Nyssiana, who played Pandemonium in the From Dusk Till Dawn tv series.

The Style

Now, Robert Rodriguez is not a director known for subtlety. His style has always been hard hitting, using what works, and executing on moments that take your breath away – much of which, is inspired by the director’s love of cinema.

Alita is distinctively his tamest film to date. Most of it, appearing more like a James Cameron movie, rather than something the director had created. It’s not until well into the second act, where we can finally attribute Rodriguez’s signature style through a stylish bar brawl. For reference, Robert Rodriguez’s movies Desperado and From Dusk Till Dawn have two of the most renown bar fights in cinema history – so he’s really good at directing this type of scene.

But fight sequences are where this movie really shines. You really get to see the extent of its special effects through combat. With details never blurred down like in a Transformers or Marvel cinematic fight scene, everything in Alita: from the hardest axe kick, down to fingernails on her hand, is crisp and intense and loaded with detail.

This is a movie that should be watched in the highest quality possible. If not for the fights, then because the city is breathtaking, and the motorball scenes alone are some of the best combinations of motion capture and CGI to date.

Also, for a PG-13 rating, there is a lot of violence in this movie. We’re talking full-on eviscerations and decapitations, all of which is seemingly okay because… robots? To be honest, some of these dismemberments are brutal for your average standards – I’m surprised with what they got away with but it really works in the movie’s favor.

be right there falling GIF

There’s a moment when Alita jumps into the pit to face the bad guy. A moment of unbound courage and leaping into danger where we know that from this point onward: she’s a hero. It also comes with a perfectly placed one-liner soon after, that pretty much sells the movie for me and any Robert Rodriguez fans.

here i am roll GIF

The Script

A lot of what people don’t like about the movie is the story. Alita Battle angel has had a long and gruesome 20-year journey. What worked against it was the lack of the necessary technology and a dying cyber-punk genre. Eventually, James Cameron translated many of his ideas into his cult classic Dark Angel – inspired by ironically enough, Battle Angel Alita.

In that time they refined their script and personally, I don’t see what’s wrong with it. Sure, the first act moves forward rather quickly, bombarding us with information and exposition- but it’s ridiculously detailed world building, arguably some of the best I’ve ever seen.

Unlike in Avatar, which is filled with breathtaking moments that sort of serve no purpose outside of looking pretty, this movie is intriguing because it never wastes a scene. Everything you see and interact with teaches you more about this world – one that’s rich with so much material.

I didn’t notice it until my second time watching the movie. But every tiny detail serves a purpose. I’ll give you some examples:

In Act One, while simply walking the street with Ido, Alita questions why there are so many languages in iron city. We establish that it’s mixed because they are all that remains of humanity. Alluding to the 300-year-old war and Alita’s secret backstory. Shortly after, we see Motorball introduced on a television much earlier than the film’s explanation, and later, a Hunter-Warrior bounty paper is found blowing in the wind.

These are all things important to the story that are introduced at the very beginning – you just didn’t realize its importance. It’s these small moments in the movie that tell us a lot about the world but is also hard to catch the first time around.

Even the introduction of Hugo, is a scene served not only as a budding romance but to showcasing the warrior mechs, Alita’s caring nature (Puppy!), and her open-hearted take at the world. Also, if you’re watching a second time, pay attention to Doctor Ido’s patients – that actually hints at the cyborg problem from the very beginning.

Rosa Salazar stars as Alita in Twentieth Century Fox’s ALITA: BATTLE ANGEL. Photo Credit: Courtesy Twentieth Century Fox.

Likewise, pay attention to the Hunter-Warriors introductory explanation, because it emphasizes all guns being banned in Iron City. It’s good for world building when you consider the mechanized heavily armed machines walking about – but even better when you take into consideration Alita’s flashbacks and the weapons her people used.

All of this shows great detail in writing.

Flaws

This is not to say the movie is without its flaws.

One of the biggest plot holes is Doctor Ido, who really withholds a lot of information from Alita for the convenience of plot. It seems like every time Alita crosses a new threshold of self-discovery, Doctor Ido reveals a new tidbit of information he’d withheld about her past. The story provides enough reasons to provide hesitation of trust between the two, mostly that Alita’s incredibly dangerous, but the two have such a strong daughter/father relationship that most of the time, Ido gives into her when she simply asks.

crushing slam dunk GIF by 20th Century Fox

Also, I hate to admit it, but I wasn’t a fan of motorball. Visually it was breathtaking, but there were moments reminiscent of The Phantom Menance and podracing to me, where I thought to myself: why is this even here? Then I realized it was because it’s a big part of the anime adaptation, so it’s essential to the grand overarching story. I thought it was cool but not ultimately necessary for the hero’s journey.

Likewise, that love story between Alita and Hugo works on paper, but I thought was weaker in the actual execution of the film. Keean Johnson tries his best, but there are some very awkward moments I can’t help but think was related to the mixture of motion capture and live action performance. Though I think for story’s sake, he fits the role of ‘object of affection’ rather well.

Finally, there’s several other amazing cameos I want to spoil, but the first rule about secret cameos is that we should never talk about them. So instead, I’ll talk about Nova. His story as the behind the scenes threat makes him a prototypical villain in the stylings of the Emperor to Darth Vader. Yet, he wasn’t really all that necessary in this movie. As Vector held the menacing villain role on his own, like Darth Vader to the Emperor… oh wait, I see what they’re going with here.

Nova’s role is really meant to tie-in the Alita’s backstory to the main storyline, but the movie leaves the conflict utterly unresolved – the only hopes of seeing a resolution being a sequel that at this rate, will probably never be made.

The Take

Movies are meant to be a visual experience and Alita does a great job of that, showcasing some of the best in 3D filmmaking. I’d compare it to Avatar but that would be a disservice, as the movie also features stellar acting, on point editing, and well executed directing – going above and beyond a traditional Science Fiction film. With an ethnically diverse cast picked by Robert Rodriguez (The El Rey network owner strives for diversity in entertainment and to get more Hispanics in cinema).

Now, adapting a screenplay written by James Cameron, is a herculean task. He has a lot of notes, which is why I’m impressed with the story. The only qualm I had about this film, is that it’s two hours when it should be three to four… but realistically, people wouldn’t watch that.

You’re getting the best of what Robert Rodriguez does as a director. Plus, you get a script by James Cameron, and a blockbuster level adaption of a beloved technopunk manga.

I don’t know what else to say but for the future of good cinema’s sake:

PLEASE GO AND WATCH THIS MOVIE!!!

Final Score: 9.3/10

Eventual Directors Extended Cut: 9.8/10 (Yes, I’m predicting it)

‘Deadly Class’ Review – “Saudade”

By
Christian Angeles
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0

In this episode of Deadly Class, the gang pays homage to Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas by dropping a ton of acid, all while traveling to the city of sin to assassinate Billy’s abusive father. Similarly, romances are finally embraced, and story arcs wrap-up in rather bloody ways.

Now, the ‘Vegas’ storyline was always going to be the most intense episode of the series. If you listen to TheWorkprint podcast on itunes, in our first (and only) episode of ‘TV Talk’, I briefly talk about how difficult it would be to adapt this episode.

Between the blatant drug usage, cold-blooded murder, and death of a major character… I wasn’t sure how this episode could be adapted. At best, I figured it would be a three-episode arc, divided up to really weigh in the beats of the story and flesh out some of the comic scenes.

I was completely and utterly wrong.

The series does an incredibly faithful job adapting the comic – literally translating comic-to-screen, virtually scene-for-scene. I haven’t seen something this purist in adaptation since Zach Snyder’s Watchman.

A lot of this could be due to Rick Remender’s influence as showrunner. And though this made me tremendously happy seeing how faithful of an adaptation it was, this episode also left me feeling… disappointed.

You see, I thought it could have been better. There was just so much material in this arc that could’ve easily been spaced out through several episodes. Billy’s relationship with his dad, Saya and Maria’s best friendship, Marcus’ oddly reflective drug trip, and Willie… well, they could’ve given him the assistive friend role – and it would’ve been great for character development.

In the comic a lot happens during the Vegas arc, and many of the actions here have longstanding consequences for the series. Although it’s tremendously fun, it’s also incredibly fast. Something I wish the TV series had paced out better.

Marcus Goes on quite the trip this episode.

Yes, this episode is fun because it’s a bunch of teens doing drugs. But one of the qualms I had with both the comic and show, is that the acid-dropping diffuses responsibility for everyone… particularly Marcus and Maria.

What they do this episode weakens the characters decisions because a lot of the blame can be placed on drugs. Something which works well in the comics, as the timing is more relaxed, but when a major story arc and revelation are placed together scene-by-scene while placing your main characters under the influence? I don’t think that’s good decision making.

Simply put, drugs are forcing the narrative forward, not decision making.

Unlike in the comics, Marcus has now had four episodes to establish a voice. One that we’ve come to know yet are still sort of learning about in an ambiguous, drug induced way in this episode. We get in Marcus’ head, which is good, yet at the same time, nothing during his drug induced trip leads us to any real revelation – it’s like a message that almost got a point across but instead got lost in translation.

Atop that, we have had such a detailed Maria and Chico storyline that we’ve built up over the series that ends… rather abruptly. Especially, as we’re just getting to know Chico, his little brother storyline being mentioned in only the last episode. 

To make matters worse, our gang is on this big impulsive drug trip. Where acting on desires highly outweighs logic. The episode is just so trippy, it’s almost… confusing. Marcus passively just arriving to these major events rather than actively doing something to act on them.

Some other issues:

  • Disposing of Billy’s father seems unaddressed and highly unrealistic.  While the story arc itself I think has a great payoff and excellent acting… they get away with it all too easily, especially given the level of mistakes that are made by everyone in this episode.
  • Chico’s duel with Marcus, with him giving him a second chance to grab the gun and make a move, seemed oddly honorable and very out of character to me. Especially with how we’ve established him as a cold-hearted killer in the last few episodes.
  • Willie’s moment at the end of the episode felt a little anti-climactic. Repeating the same exact conflict that has been built up several times since the beginning. Maybe if they showed a little more push that could’ve worked in the scene’s favor.

Things to Lookout for:

  • There are a lot of great homages to Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. The people, the dialogue, even the road trip in the car. The entire first half felt like an homage to the movie.
  • I don’t know about everyone else, but I actually do love this love triangle that slowly developed and felt so authentically sad for Saya – whom we’re starting to learn is just a girl who wants to have fun but can’t or else her daddy will assassinate her.
  • Billy and his storyline are becoming the most heartfelt emotional beat in the series. His cries felt so real, and his conflicting feelings over the deed is much more emotionally weighted here rather than in the comics.
  • Say goodbye to a fan favorite and hello to a more prominent antagonist.

Overall, I thought it was awesome that they were even able to adapt the storyline as faithful as they had. But I do think it should’ve been spaced out better.

Final Score: 8.9/10

You can watch ‘Deadly Class’ Wednesdays at 10pm EST on SYFY. e

‘Deadly Class’ Recap – “Saudade”

The episode opens on Marcus in a police station. He’s looking at officers with glazed eyes, mind incredibly phased out on drugs. He thinks the officer knows what he did. Suddenly, Master Lin arrives and Marcus looks down, noticing blood stains on his hands.

We cut back to earlier. On the late night road trip to Vegas, Saya drives a convertible with the gang, with Marcus sitting passenger side. He is a bit socially anxious, sharing his beliefs that human interaction is just a manipulation dance – popular kids being the best at it.

Defensive, Saya argues that she’s a well adjusted. Marcus questions, “Do well adjusted people go on drug-fueled road trips and use fake IDs to illegally gamble?”

Meanwhile, Billy, Maria, and Willie sit in the back. Willie asks Maria how she thinks Chico is going to react when he realizes she snuck away. Surely enough, Chico’s car stalks close behind Saya’s. We see in his case in hand that he is armed with guns and his signature knife.

In the daytime, the gang arrives at the Creepy Daniel’s Hideaway Bar, during a gathering of hippies. The gang is looking to score some drugs. The others are surprised Saya is joining them. She mentions that she’s with the yakuza, and so she’s actually rather seasoned in drug usage – much to their surprise.

Showing his competitive side, Marcus mentions he can handle scoring his own drugs. Though it seems like an obvious attempt at impressing the group – especially, Saya.

Marcus talks to Billy about whether they’re going through with murdering his father. Billy says that he must, otherwise, his brother will end up in King’s Dominion and his mother will end up dead. Willie is rather uncomfortable, as the location is filled with weird jugglers and freaks – crowds he’s not used to. The group also mentions a rumor in passing: That Saya has to graduate Valedictorian or else she’s literally dead.

Marcus purchases some acid from a Hippie. He offers some to Willie, but he’s not a fan of psychedelics. Atop of this, from all we’ve seen of Willie, he might actually be straight-edge as well (in the party episode, he was drinking fruit punch after all).

DEADLY CLASS — “Saudade” Episode 104 — Pictured: (l-r) Lana Condor as Saya, Maria Gabriela de Faria as Maria — (Photo by: Katie Yu/SYFY)

Meanwhile, Maria and Saya enthusiastically do cocaine in the bathroom together in a scene that’s taken almost panel-for-panel directly from the comics. It’s friendly, with a girls night out sort of vibe the two seem two have shared multiple times the past few episodes.

Marcus is not having any sort of experience with the drugs he bought. The girls get out of the bathroom very overexcited on cocaine to say the least. Maria pokes Marcus repeatedly in chest – mentioning that the two of them are going to have ‘fun’ – sexual implications heavily implied. Saya scolds Marcus for purchasing bunk drugs, basically calling him out as a newb. Defeated, Marcus walks away.

DEADLY CLASS — “Saudade” Episode 104 — Pictured: (l-r) Benjamin Wadsworth as Marcus, Luke Tennie as Willie — (Photo by: Katie Yu/SYFY)

He then goes to the bar to buy liquor, but his fake ID fails. Back at the table, Saya scolds Marcus even further. A hippie approaches Marcus and tries to sell them Acid. The hippie gives them ten tabs and the gang tries them out. Willie partakes reluctantly, due to the actions of an over-enthused Saya, who forces one down his throat.

Marcus ends up doing 7 hits of acid believing it to be fake drugs as well… but he is very, very wrong.

DEADLY CLASS — “Saudade” Episode 104 — Pictured: Benjamin Wadsworth as Marcus — (Photo by: Katie Yu/SYFY)

Moments later, Marcus is hiding under the car complaining about digital mountains. Maria and Saya tell him he’s out of his mind. Willie mentions that they’ll be there a long time if they wait for the mountains to leave.

Maria and Saya stare at each other, also tripping balls. Maria goes back underneath the car to sweetly reassure Marcus that he’ll be okay: the mountains won’t infect his digital consciousness.

Meanwhile, Billie returns after getting a blowjob from a Hippie. Willie explains to him that they’re all tripping on acid, Marcus, especially. Billy goes down to reassure Marcus he’ll take care of him…

We cut to LAS VEGAS, Billy now driving down the strip as he’s the only sober one not filled with a head full of acid. We see lights everywhere set to Vegas in the 1980s. Marcus is enjoying the scene, a giant gaping smile uncharacteristically etched across his face. He stares at the fancy colors which transform into kaleidoscope patterns. Billy offers Marcus a cigarette. While smoking it, Marcus tries making patterns out of his smoke clouds – some sort of Asian symbols.

Billy mentions he can’t fight the drugs or his head will explode – in a reference to Doctor Gonzo in ‘Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas’. Marcus suddenly notices an animated leprechaun that looks an awful lot like Ronald Reagan.

We then go full blown animated sequence. Acid level color scheme, strange nature-themed mushroom stylings, and oddly enough, some original artwork which looks directly made by Wesley Craig himself, artist of the ‘Deadly Class’ comic series.

It’s difficult to make out what’s happening during the drug trip, but some images are of Marcus killing his first victim, Master Lin as Confucius, and a strange little girl wearing a little red Ribbon hair tie. We also hear quotes from his parents. In the series’ most ambitious animated sequence to date.

It ends with Saya and Maria greeting Marcus in the car outside the entrance lobby to the ‘BigTop, BigTop’ casino – in yet another homage to fear and loathing in Las Vegas. Marcus tries walking, and they use a distorted reality and frozen effect, with messed up Ralph Steadman styled faces, and a distorted reality movement shot, including the spike Lee slow motion double dolly where the character remains still but the environment moves. We even get some slot machine backdrops and roulette wheel dissolving overlaps, in the series’ most ambitious set design and camera work to date.

DEADLY CLASS — “Saudade” Episode 104 — Pictured: (l-r) Benjamin Wadsworth as Marcus, Lana Condor as Saya — (Photo by: Katie Yu/SYFY)

Marcus walks the Lobby while holding hands with Saya – the two sharing some friendly bantering. At this point, everyone is tripping hard. Maria talks to a waitress, while Billie steals a bottle of beer. Willie asks why somebody shit in the ice machine and then asks Billie, whom he believes is Teddy Ruxpin, “Why can’t they be friends?” Marcus swims in the floor admitting that he’s not the acid king. Later on, Marcus gets to the room with the others and Saya leads him to bed, helping him settle down.

Back at the police station, Marus wonders how much Acid it takes to kill somebody? His eyes are unrealistically red, as he’s nearing total mental and physical collapse. He admits that he’s terrified. That he’s afraid of being alone or spending another year without a friend.

On the TV at the police station, Marcus hallucinates and watches a nice version of himself and Billy in an oddly positive, sweater wearing version of the two. He then flips realities and sees himself at the station on the TV in the hotel.

Marcus talks to Billy about what’s going on as it’s clear time and reality is breaking in his acid induced state. Billy admits that his dad has good in him, but he’s an asshole who can’t help digging himself into a deeper hole. Marcus shares about his parental issues, though often through drug induced hallucinations.

Moments later, Billy gets into a scuffle in the adjacent room which snaps Marcus back into reality. Billy’s father says all he wanted of his son was obedience. The three get into a scuffle. Marcus kicks Billy’s father off of him, which leads him to trip and bang his head on a ledge – killing him.

Billy loudly weeps, unbelieving that his father is now dead. It’s awfully heartfelt tears that feel a little too authentic, a great performance by Liam James. Marcus mentions they must dispose of the body.

After the break, Marcus and Billy are locked out as he left the keys in the room while disposing the body. Still tripping, Marcus then starts talking to an Ice-T themed slot machine, who is telling him to play. His face lights up as he wins. But he is then taken away by a casino guard.

This brings us full circle to the cop reaming Marcus for his fake ID. He offers to let him go if he can keep the winnings. Marcus just wants to hide the blood on his hands.

Marcus can’t believe he got out. Master Lin tells him that he’s high on drugs – to call his mother and apologize for what he became. Lin disappears… turning into another guy, proving to be yet another Marcus hallucination. He’s given words of wisdom:

“What you don’t focus on will come true.”

Marcus desperately wants this drug trip to be over. He goes into the elevator where a man is looking away. Marcus is unsure of proper elevator etiquette in yet again, another homage to Fear and Loathing. It doesn’t matter though, as the man turns out to be his terrifying old roommate, Chester (Fuckface)- who is alive and confronting Marcus in person for the first time. Given that he just hallucinated a non-existent Master Lin, Marcus can’t tell if this is real or not.

Moments later, Marcus is banging on the door of a hotel room screaming that he can’t take it anymore. It opens, to a scantily clad Maria who is wearing nothing but a red bra and panties. He complains about the hallucinations, then notices her passport. The two share a moment of vulnerability, the two bonding over a desire to want to disappear and start over. They share in each other’s pain as it’s the thing that defines them both.

This leads to a passionate kiss. Maria asks Marcus if he’s ever been laid on acid. He mentions he’s never been laid. Suddenly, Chico enters the room, catching them in the act. He starts open firing his gun on Marcus in an angry fury. Marcus runs into the hall. Chico aims at him, but Maria cuts his arm with her fan. He knocks her down and continues chasing after Marcus.

Running across the Street, Marcus ends up outside a convenience store. Chico tackles him through a window. They duke it out. Marcus tries holding his own using his unconventional fighting style but he ultimately gets beaten up severely by Chico. Kicked several times in the face, Marcus wakes up in a daze, just as an older man holds Chico up with a pistol.

Marcus sees an animated creature interact with him. One who reminds him how unbelievably fucked he is. The old man gets beaten, as Chico get takes the man’s gun, and then murders the helpful bystander. Marcus runs for it, but Chico tracks him to a garbage can outside.

Chico tells Marcus when he found Maria, she was also just a rat. Angry that Marcus was about to screw his girlfriend, Chico tosses a gun towards Marcus so that he has a chance to defend himself. The gang arrives and tells Chico that he can’t kill Marcus due to Master Lin’s rules, but Chico doesn’t care. Each of them try to stop him.

First, Billy tries to calmly convince Chico not to kill him by gently trying to tlak him down. Chico stabs Billy in the gut in return, and Saya keeps pressure on Billy’s wound.

Maria stands up to Chico. He’s still very upset she betrayed him – as his family brought her up from out of nothing. She angrily defends herself, saying that his family used her: to kill, plant explosives, and be their whore. Angry, Chico punches her in the face.

Willie then grabs the gun has chance to kill Chico… but can’t find the courage to do it, as he’s still a pacifist. Suddenly, Maria runs up to Chico and slits his throat with her fan – in a dramatic executed fashion. The group runs.

Once they leave, Chester arrives just in time to find Chico’s body and picks it up.

On the drive home. Maria kisses Marcus and holds him. Everyone is worn for wear. Saya looks on at Maria and Marcus in the mirror, noticeably saddened. Billy looks on as well staring off in the distance – the today’s actions weighing on his conscience.  


‘The Magicians’ Review: The Quickening Cometh

By
Nicole C
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THE MAGICIANS -- "Marry .... Kill" Episode 404 -- Pictured: Summer Bishil as Margo Hanson -- (Photo by: Eric Milner/SYFY)

In this week’s episode of Syfy’s The Magicians, Julia gains a new follower, Quentin destroys some model airplanes, Josh experiences the Quickening, and Alice forms an unlikely alliance.

THE MAGICIANS — “Marry …. Kill” Episode 404 — Pictured: Trevor Einhorn as Josh Hoberman — (Photo by: Eric Milner/SYFY)

The Return of Josh’s Lycanthropy

We learned of Josh’s sexually transmitted lycanthropy a few seasons ago and it has returned to wreak havoc at the worst possible time. After returning to Earth from Fillory and the death of Bacchus, Josh is making muffins at the apartment as a means of coping with post-traumatic stress and offering his condolences to Quentin whose own father had passed away. The Monster is the living room trying to figure out what the thing is that he ripped out of the other god and Margo comes in trying to trick the being into switching bodies with something else. Creature Eliot doesn’t bite though and teleports himself away. Later on Josh offers Margo a muffin and says that he’s sorry about El. Suddenly he starts to fixate on Margo’ lips, gets a massive nose bleed, and then transforms into a werewolf. He attacks her and then wakes up to discover it was thankfully only a dream. Except he realizes that there’s a literal bloody mess next to him and he barfs.

The next morning Josh is panicked trying to clean the dead animal in his room when Penny 23 comes in with a suspicious look on his face. The traveler tricks Josh into allowing him to look in the trash bag containing the small bloody carcass. Penny 23 then asks if this is the Quickening and Josh confesses he doesn’t know. The only thing the other timeline Penny is sure of is that the other magician needs to stay away from Julia and perfect timing as she pops in asking if they’ve seen any books laying around. The ex-goddess needs to find something that can help her figure what to do when a god needs some medical troubleshooting advice. Penny 23 quickly volunteers to help her, but then Josh suggests talking to the maenads who acted like priestesses and nurses of the gods. He thinks they would still be in Fillory and so the traveler says that he can take her there.

Josh heads to Brakebills to confront a crypto-zoologist professor that he contracted lycanthropy from. She explains that in the 48 hours leading up to the Quickening all lycanthropes develop urges that begin with nightmares or waking dreams. Their condition is technically a curse that is driving them to have sex with an uninfected person or kill them. He asks Helen why he can’t just lock himself up until the Quickening passes, but she says that won’t stop the urges and he’ll end up just ripping his own guts out. This is all set up to ensure the curse continues. Talk about a crazy magical STD.

He ends up revealing his problem to Margo and she actually tries to help. She does it on her terms though and asks him again if he’s going to nutsack out on her because doing that won’t fix the problem. They begin by performing a ton of research and the high king of Fillory finds an Indonesian ritual that’s supposed to stop supernatural transformation. However, Josh gets an Uber alert surcharge notification and he realizes that as Isaac, he had slept with a woman whom he probably passed on the curse to. Being the nice guy that he is, he goes to find her to see if she has it and if he can help. Well, as luck would have it the woman does have it and she mutilated someone in her bedroom. Yikes. When he gets back to the apartment, Margo managed to translate the spell and they only need to get one exotic ingredient, a Komodo dragon. Rumor has that Kanye keeps one in his New York condo so off they go. But before that though Josh hands her a pistol with silver bullets, in case he wolfs out and she needs to stop him. Margo takes the gun but is adamant that it’s not going to come to that. Awwww.

After sacrificing Kanye’s lizard, they drive out to the woods to perform the ritual ending with Josh screaming and eating the raw heart of the animal. Unfortunately, it doesn’t seem to work and while in the car he begins to wolf out. He makes her stop the car and he runs away into the forest. Eventually Josh returns seeming more like himself and when Margo asks why she should let him back inside, he explains that he kind of made a tree into a werewolf. It’s only a temporary solution though until they can get to Brakebills. Once they get there he locks himself into a cage because it’s the only solution left that he can think off. He doesn’t want to pass the curse on to someone else or kill anyone, so he’s choosing to just end his own life is it comes down to it because that’s the only thing he can live with. Margo then does something really unexpected and locks herself inside the cage with him, throwing out the key. They end up sleeping together with her as a consenting participant. In the aftermath she says that she just couldn’t stand lose another friend and besides it was unlikely that she was going to live for another 30 years anyways to experience her own Quickening. He also asks her if this is just a casual thing to which Margo responds that she saved his life. It seems like she needed this as much as he did because she was able to make a difference in this situation, where she wasn’t able to with Eliot.

Alice Makes an Unexpected Alliance

Back at the Neitherlands branch of the Library, we discover who came up behind Alice last week and it is none other than Christopher Plover. Author and child predator who was directly responsible for Martin Chatwin becoming The Beast. Looks like he’s been hiding out in some dark corner for awhile now and he seeks her out to make a deal. He’ll help her with her problem if she helps with his. Plover needs her assistance to find a world that he can go to in order to live in peace and where he can’t do any harm. To do that he needs her to cast a spell on a world book. She’s still repulsed by him, but he asks her if she’s unintentionally ever hurt anyone she loved. While Alice admits that she’s done things that she regrets, she also says that she doesn’t think she deserves happiness. He tells her not to be so hard on herself.

Plover shows her the Revision Room while they are hidden in the shadows of some bookshelves overlooking the area. He tells her that if the Library discovered that their books were missing, she and her friends would be hunted down. The trick is to use a writing spell that would construct a fake but air tight storyline. They would need to steal the manuscripts, cast the spell, and then return them before the pages are bound into actual books. Alice assumes that he’ll only show her how to execute that if she aids him with the world book. Reluctantly she agrees and uses her talent to bend light into to become invisible to grab her groups’ pages.

Back at Plover’s hideout, Alice reads through the final pages of Quentin’s book and realizes that he is going to die next week.

Julia Gains a Follower

In Fillory, Julia and Penny 23 are walking through the encampment where the bacchanal was being held to find Shoshanna about to end to her life. They are able to talk her out of it by saying that they need her help. Julia explains that she used to be a goddess, gave up her powers and now she can’t do any magic yet still is indestructible. They drink some peach schnapps to honor Bacchus and Shoshanna then performs a strange ritual of sorts trying to read the other woman’s aura. Unfortunately, the results are inconclusive but the maenad suggests another method that might help. However, it needs to be performed by someone who believes in Julia. Penny 23 volunteers for this very intimate diagnostic where he applies oil to her body and then washes her feet. They are an interesting pairing though where Penny 40 and Kady were a very passionate and fiery match, this Penny seems less volatile to match a calmer Julia as well. The duo though return to Shoshana after and provide the water used to bathe the ex-deity’s feet in. As the maenad begins to read the liquid, she says that the ability to do magic and having power are not the same thing. Suddenly a flame erupts and a small rainbow light appears, prompting Shoshana to admit that Julia wasn’t kidding earlier when the other woman claimed she used to be a goddess. When Penny 23 asks if she’s all good now and won’t kill herself, the ex-priestess says she can’t because she has a new deity to follow. Shoshana then kneels before Julia and takes her hand to officially pledge herself.

THE MAGICIANS — “Marry …. Kill” Episode 404 — Pictured: Jason Ralph as Quentin Coldwater — (Photo by: Dean Buscher/SYFY)

Quentin Returns Home

Poor Q, his mom had left him a voice message that his dad passed away and to make matters worse he had missed the funeral. We discover that he doesn’t have the greatest relationship with his mom either as she still perceives him as a kid who destroys things. Julia offers to accompany him and to explain that it wasn’t his fault for missing the ceremony. But he declines and ends up returning home by himself. There he is tasked to clean up his father’s model airplane room, which is filled with dozens of small crafts. His mom asks what was wrong with his dad because there was no one at the funeral, where were his friends? She then tells him not to break anything before leaving him to it.

As he works on packing up the many planes, The Monster comes to visit and strangely enough helps Q cope with the death of his father. Creature Eliot gives in to Quentin’s request to let him finish cleaning up and promises to sit still and watch while the other man thinks of his dead father. He seems dubious that he would learning anything from this game however. Sure enough The Monster is bored again and asks Q why his mom telling him to do this matters so much if how she views him would never change. The magician answers that because sometimes he thinks she’s right and nonchalantly the powerful being suggests that he should own that and break all the planes on purpose. It becomes a cathartic exercise as Creature Eliot helps Q release the pain of his dad’s death by destroying the fragile objects that for the moment, symbolized how he viewed himself. In the aftermath, The Monster comes to understand that dealing with death makes people feel better and so he tells Q that he needs the other man’s help to find more gods and thus reveals that Eliot is dead. What the damn hell.

The two are at a diner some time later where Creature Eliot says that it happened fast and he promises that the former high king of Fillory did not suffer. As The Monster tries to convince himself that Quentin will come around, the camera zooms into his eye and into his mind, where we see the real Eliot is actually still alive! He’s dressed in his dapper self, looking around at what seems to be an empty and stylized Brakebills campus.

THE MAGICIANS — “Marry …. Kill” Episode 404 — Pictured: Summer Bishil as Margo Hanson — (Photo by: Eric Milner/SYFY)

Final Thoughts

  • Wonder what exactly the marks on Christopher Plover’s forehead mean or do/did?
  • Margo has saved Josh’s life twice now. First by preventing The Monster from killing him and now from his Lycanthropy.
  • Is The Monster’s child-like state a result of having the gods remove parts of him that had higher cognitive functions perhaps? Like as a way to stunt his power by keeping him unable to fully grasp and understand the world around him?
  • I’m digging Shoshana’s IDGAF personality.
  • So is Josh Margo’s boy toy now?

The Magicians airs on Syfy Wednesdays at 9/8 central.

‘Lego Movie 2’ Review: Second Part Is the Best Part

By
Christian Angeles
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0

For this review of ‘The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part’ I guest starred on an episode of ‘After The Credits’ a movie review podcast run by fellow screenwriter Robert Kijowski, and his co-host, Norton. It’s available below and on spotify.com. They do a pretty good job breaking down what’s ‘Awesome’ about ‘The Lego Movie’ sequel – with a few bricks of commentary added in by yours truly.

Listen to “After the Credits episode 4.07 (Brick and Bare)” on Spreaker.

Listen to “After the Credits episode 4.07 (Brick and Bare)” on Spreaker.

‘Lego Movie 2’ Review

A month back, I talked about a film’s marketability in Monomythic: Episode 4 of my screenwriting blog. How selling a movie can sometimes be more about merchandising rather than the actual story. Think George Lucas and Star Wars action figures. Michael Bay’s Transformers and his 8% cut with Hasbro toys.

The Lego Movie represents this idea perfectly: a film series based on a longstanding brand with a built-in audience and a plethora of sellable toy products. What’s even better, was that despite many attempts LEGOs had no truly memorable mascot since the 1950s – with no face for the brand except for the building blocks themselves. An empire built, brick-by-brick, by custom skins and endless worlds of ever-changing possibilities.

LEGOs are a merchant’s dream selling you an entire universe on the basis of a simple brick.

Which is what makes the original film so refreshing. Everyone knew how exploitive the series could be. There was skepticism amongst the audience’s initial reactions.  

So the series surprised us by playfully embracing it. Seeing what would happen if we blended all the universes of the sets sold separately, together. Like many of us who played with LEGOs as Children, once had.

The movie acknowledges nostalgia. Parodies the quest of a ‘chosen one’ by making Emmet, the LEGO everyman with a heart of Gold, our protagonist and ‘Master Builder’. Emmet is the American Dream – operating on a modus operandi that everything is awesome, at least, up until he realizes that there’s something inherently stagnant about this kragle contained world.

So he goes on a journey to save it. Letting go of his preconceived notions of the instruction manual settings by embracing a childlike sense of imagination – which in turn saves the world. The movie, a surprisingly heartfelt story, proving an equally playful as it was a reflective theme about why we play with toys in the first place.

With the writing/directorial team of Phil Lord and Christopher Miller, the first LEGO movie delved deep into world building possibilities, while also explored some LEGO meta-humor, and juggled just the right amount of nostalgic childhood panache – because let’s be honest, the Toy Story 3 comparisons would be inevitable if they went too fully in that direction.

Overall, The Lego Movie became the surprise big hit of the season. Which is why, expectations were ridiculously high for The LEGO Movie 2: The Second Part.  And though Lord and Miller still wrote the script, they also ceded directorial duties to Mike Mitchell, noted for the Trolls movie.

The movie picks up right where the first left off: with the merging of two worlds. The Duplo blocks of the ‘systar’ system invading the only recently stable civilization of Bricksburg.

Whereas the original movie embraced imagination and wanting to be special, ‘The Lego Movie 2’ quickly deconstructs everything we’ve come to see. Embracing a more semi-adult theme by focusing on ‘deconstruction’ as Bricksburg quickly delves into Apocalpyseburg over a five-year timespan. Reintroducing the world with dystopian themes straight out of a PG-13 version of Mad Max.

To be honest, at first glimpse the movie is a very hard sell. We’re told that the new world is rough just because of the day the ‘syster’ representatives of theimpenetrable duplo blocks invaded.

Likewise,  Emmet’s sunny life is different – still idealistic yet the world around him has turned gritty – technically undoing all of the themes and lessons of the first movie – which is rather offputting.

Though all Emmet cares about is his life with Lucy and his friends – which all comes crashing down once a spaceship arrives and abducts his loved ones. Forcing Emmet to take the call to adventure yet again, to save the day and maybe even become more brooding and ‘adult’ enough to impress Wyldstyle into being ‘special friends’.

I’ll be honest, I really didn’t like the premise of the movie much until the second half. Act one just seemed like one long LEGO action sequence and chase scene that took itself oddly seriously. Filled with humor and amazing LEGO related effects, but lacking a sense of direction. It’s hard to feel stakes on the line when you’re laughing at the nature of this LEGO universe.

Atop of this, because of how the first movie was executed with the sidebar storyline featuring Finn and his father, I couldn’t help but wonder what was happening in the real world that made Apocalpyseburg go into chaos. Which was mostly ideas about how a brother and sister simply fought over LEGOS that the movie didn’t showcase until much later.

But see that’s the joke. The script WANTS YOU to feel this way. Because ‘The Lego Movie Part 2 THE SECOND PART’ is exactly about just that: the second act. That is where it really picks up and makes sense of the movie.

*SPOILER ALERT*  

Because in Act II, the movie finally reveals a LOT of the motivations of the story.

Yes, it’s about the brother and sister fighting, but it’s also about a sister who just wants to spend time with her brother – similar to how Finn was to his dad in the first movie.

But what’s really funny and the selling point to me is that we get the time travel explanation. How Emmet becomes Rex, and how ludicrous it all seems until I remembered, “Oh wait, this is an imaginary story set in a world about building blocks where anything is possible.”

And that’s the key. The movie works hard in putting in stakes and taking itself seriously at first, but what redeems the story is that in act two, they stopped taking the world so strict and serious – after all, LEGOs is about playing! And that’s what is really awesome. So much so, that I’ll double-down on that by saying when the theme hits its climax, do you really think it’s coincidental that the ‘Awesome Remix’ is chosen as the music that pushes us through Act Three?

No, that my readers, is excellent screenwriting.

*END SPOILERS*

Great Things In No Particular Order

  • Tiffany Haddish as Queen Watevra of the Systar system. She’s definitely the superstar of this movie – with great musical numbers and terrific acting.
  • Emmet in the abyss known as under the washing machine.
  • Throw away the master builder. This one is all about the fist destroyer.
  • Writing. It’s so excellent in embracing the heartbreaking end of adolescence, while also taking responsibility towards the inequalities of gender dynamics – all in a thorough divide of boy versus girl siblings, while at the same time – critiquing the disparity of parental responsibility, but first and foremost, taking a strong stance on the important issues: warning us about the efficacy and haphazard dilemmas one gets into when regarding time travel.
You Can Watch ‘The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part’ in theaters now

‘Miracle Workers’ Pilot – Review

By
Christian Angeles
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Based on the book “What in God’s Name” by Simon Rich, Miracle Workers is what you get when you take the original premise of ‘The Good Place’ but remove all the fun aspects of Heaven. With an average script, a boring hook, and a series that is solely relying on the star power of its two biggest actors.

That said, if you’re into ‘How Does Heaven Work’ types of Heaven and God stories – the series may be just enough to keep you engaged.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pBVqgz0a4Kc
You can Watch ‘Miracle Workers’ Tuesdays at 10:30 on TBS.

Steve Buscemi is God in this universe, though one who is washed up and well beyond his great years. He lets Heaven and existence mostly run itself like in a corporation – while he lavishes in laziness and entitlement, ignoring the bad in the world, but embracing the good wherever he can find it.

Mostly, this version of God is lazy but really just wants to be loved again.

Set in a super office known as Heaven Incorporated, we meet Eliza (Geraldine Viswanthan), a worker looking to upgrade her position from literal ‘dirt’ farmer. She transfers to the department of answered prayers, where she meets Harry Potter himself, Craig (Daniel Radcliffe).

Craig is an awkward recluse and the sole person working in the department of answered prayers up until now. He obsesses with helping people find things, though that is the extent of his divine intervention. A big reason for this is that seemingly grand acts of intervention often holds vast ramifications – such as natural disasters, leading to the deaths of many people.

Eliza learns of this the hard way, causing a flood that saved someone’s crops but kills many people. She runs up to the ‘Steve Buscemi’ God, to request help – and surprisingly, he actually listens to her.

Addressing Heaven INC. the next day, God’s decided to blow up the Earth instead of act – as life has gotten too complicated. Undeterred, Eliza works her best to save the planet – seeking the help of Craig, who is more than happy to have a friend now, to aid in her impossible task.

She makes a wager with God that if she can answer one of the ‘impossible’ prayers in two weeks – in this case: having two humans whom already really like each other, fall in love – then God won’t destroy earth. If she loses, God gets to watch her eat a worm… also, the Earth still gets destroyed.

I want to say that there’s more to the pilot than this but there isn’t. There are funny tidbits here and there worth watching, but the overall lack of imperative stakes makes this pilot sort of boring (Everyone here are angels, I’m sure why they’re compelled into caring about humanity anyway?) as are the reasonings both God and Craig even remain committed to the Earth in the first place.

Though I won’t entirely discount the series, as of now it’s something I’ve absolutely seen before – though performed better elsewhere. That being said, the pilot does a well enough job with setting up the series.

Final Score: 7.5/10

‘Devil in The White City’ Picked up by Hulu

By
Christian Angeles
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After ten years of development and adaptation attempts, the ‘Devil in the White City’ will be airing on Hulu as an original TV series, partnered with Paramount TV.

Originally set to be a feature film, the rights for the story were originally purchased by Leonardo DiCaprio, with Martin Scorsese originally set to direct, and DiCaprio himself, originally set to star as the infamous main character.

Based on the book The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic, and the Madness at the Fair that Changed America, written by author, Erik Larson. The series is about renown serial killer Doctor H.H. Holmes, a charming yet sinister insurance fraud charlatan, one of the first known American serial killers, and the man behind the infamously known “Murder Castle”.

The castle itself is praised by many horror and crime aficionados, as the building served as inspiration for many ‘haunted house’ stories of its time. Located next to the infamous 1893’s “World’s Fair” during the ceremony’s 400th anniversary, the castle served more as a real life haunted house.

The building itself is now long gone but was known for its intricate designs and complex hidden passageways. This included hidden gas chambers, dissection tables, secret laboratories, and a crematorium – all of which Holmes would use on his unsuspecting victims confirmed to be at the least
27 people, yet professed by Holmes himself, to be well over 200+ people.

Scorsese and DiCaprio are still attached to the project as executive producers. To what extent they’ll serve in the Hulu series, we won’t know for certain.

View of the World’s Fair Hotel (labelled as ‘Holmes’ ‘Castle’,’ but also known as the ‘Murder Castle,’ after it’s actual purpose became known) (on W. 63rd Street), Chicago, Illinois, mid 1890s. The structure was designed by serial murderer Herman Webster Mudgett (better known by his alias H.H. Holmes), a phramacist who built the structure to lure his, mostly female, victims from the World’s Columbian Exposition, then occuring in Chicago. The interior was a mazelike, with rooms for torturing his captive victims, as well as both a lime pit and furances in the basement, which were used to dispose of the bodies. Holmes was convicted of four murders, but he confessed to 27 and there was widespread, and credible, speculation that he could have been responsible for several hundred. The building bured down in 1895. The photo originally appeared in the book ‘The Holmes-Pitezel Case, a History of the Greatest Crime of the Century’ (by Frank P. Geyer). (Photo by Chicago History Museum/Getty Images)

If you’d like to know more, click this episode of the LORE podcast. It’s the same podcast from the TV series I’d interviewed back in October.

It’s also where I first learned about the castle personally.

‘Deadly Class’ Review – “Mirror People”

By
Christian Angeles
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DEADLY CLASS - “MIrror People” Episode 103 (All Photo credits by: Katie Yu/SYFY)

“Mirror People” is the episode I’ve been wanting to talk about most since the pilot. It is probably my favorite out of the four I got to see early. The episode executes well, blending everything we’ve built-up regarding our story, along with providing a good amount of character depth. Atop of this, the episode delivers on what I’d expected from the series since the beginning: reckless youth, 80’s pop culture, fighting assassins, and coming of age drama.

There’s a lot to admire about the detention episode.

To begin, the dialogue sounds like it’s spoken from a 1980s teenager. Whereas I wasn’t one hundred percent sold in the tone of voice in the party or dance episodes, I think this one is a perfect harmony blending teenage angst, the desire for acceptance, and the right amount of sardonic riffing. Befitting for the Gen-X youth of the era. More importantly, there are some compelling emotional dialogues that capture not just the dramatic moments, but some of the fun throw-away liners too.

Through good quality speech and banter, we get what these kids are going through: yes, they’re assassins but they’re also just teens. Still growing up and trying to have fun. The series, not shying away of utilizing the talents of its cast.

We also get a good sense of character backstory in this episode. Chico lost a brother. Saya, is on the run from a very tumultuous family life. Billy wants to protect his family. Petra comes from a deranged occultist family.

This is actuated by stellar performances from the entire cast. Chico is really on point, showing us his lighter (who knew that guy could be fun?) and darker sides – for a very well-rounded performance by Michel Duval. Marcus becomes surprisingly less complacent and highly chivalrous – never hesitating to help those in need. Even Saya finally shows some vulnerability, her cold demeanor finally some surprisingly warm depth in regards to her family. Now, Saya isn’t the easiest character to portray emotionally. But Lana Condor does an excellent job. With a performance that’s a little unhinged and just outside the comfort zone of Saya’s normally calm yet devil-may-care demeanor.

That’s the thing, this episode is incredibly precise in the details. Never wasting a second of screen time.

Some storylines worth notice to pay attention to:

  • Marcus and Saya’s budding romance. How it builds off the previous episodes, deconstructs it from Saya’s perspective, and circles back in organic fashion.
  • Petra and Viktor’s failed romance and how it provides emotional depth in one of the series’ strongest scenes.
  • The Detention crew messing around! It’s fun and fitting for each character. Plus, we get to see Chico and Marcus even put aside their differences for a friendly bout of sparring, American Gladiator’s style.

The emotional tone in this one is also just stellar. From the sadness of Lin over what happened with Jurgen last episode, to the detention crew’s playful ‘Breakfast Club’ tribute, and even Petra and Billy’s side stories. Even the fight sequences – the best since the pilot – are all weighted in related drama, with Saya’s family history hitting into each gut-wrenching punch and blade slash.  

Most importantly, this episode was great for the series’ tone because we finally see some death again. Even though we’ve been playing high school with the party and dance episodes, I think the audience needed a reminder that this is indeed a school for assassins – people will die in this tv show. There will be consequences.

Overall, this episode executes on all levels. They couldn’t have done a better job. The only reason I don’t give this a perfect score is because I don’t think it is ‘game changing’ or redefining the genre. But as an episode of TV it’s as excellent as it can get.

Final Score: 9.7/10

You can watch ‘Deadly Class’ Wednesdays at 10pm EST on SYFY.

‘Deadly Class’ Recap – “Mirror People”

The episode opens on Dwight Shandy (Brian Posehn), the Hessian’s drug dealer from episode 2. He’s doing the ‘Risky Business’ slide while still partying at Shabnam’s house days later: all by himself. While making breakfast, he gets into a heated pop culture debate over the phone regarding ‘Risky Business’ berating the movie’s story but praising the sexual appeal of actress, Rebecca De Mornay. It’s a one-sided conversation. We can’t hear who he is speaking to, but Dwight eventually relents and curses his debate partner out, revealed to be… his mom. The doorbell rings. Dwight answers. It’s Marcus’ old roommate from the boy’s home at the door.

At King’s Dominion, Saya trains with her Katana in front of a mirror. A monk approaches, taking her, Chico, and Viktor away to detention – which we soon learn is a two-day lockdown in the library as discipline for misdeeds against the school. It’s also a convenient opportunity for the show to do a parody of ‘The Breakfast Club’. As they are escorted, the Asian kid with orders to act on Saya (end of the last episode), now revealed to be Yukio, tells a man over a payphone that the students will be at the library.

At detention, Master Lin is upset. Not because of what they did, but because everyone in detention had gotten caught. He has the monks confiscate their objects – Petra’s soda, Chico’s knife, and Saya’s sword. Lin heads upstairs with Saya’s blade. In the diner, every staff and patron is armed with a sharp weapon. As he leaves, he tosses Saya’s sword to a trusted guard for safekeeping.

Outside, Willie meets up with Maria who asks him to make her a passport. She acknowledges he’s locked up for two days in detention and that this is the chance she has to get away from him.

Billy receives a call from home with some concerned news. His little brother telling him that creeps are wandering by the house again. He goes home for the weekend to fix things, finding his home in disarray. We meet Billy’s family: a mother and little brother looking on hard times. We also meet his father slightly off-screen. He’s a big guy, who’s not the nicest of characters.

Back at the library, everyone is bored and looking for ways to pass the time. The banter and scenes here are refreshing and fitting – seemingly pointless but is actually good character building. Viktor does pushups. Marcus makes fun of Viktor’s many Swatches.

Chico gets more-and-more hotheaded. Saya is concerned over her sword. The group then gets philosophical, debating on the nature of empiricism and free-will, again – all character building. They do agree on one thing though: hunger. As there’s apparently, only one chest of food for the weekend – which apparently contains only two tiny bags of chips. Petra shares a tale about the contraband storage area. It interests the detention crew, but more so Saya than anyone else, as she thinks her sword is probably there.

Sneak Peak of Tonight’s episode

Saya tries to kick down the door but fails. Marcus picks the lock for her, sharing his obvious opinion: that Saya is in love with him. Saya reveals that he is her pledge: she’s tethered to him and any trouble he gets into she is punished for too (hence, why she’s in detention). The group breaks out.

Viktor debates with Chico about the mechanics behind Robocop in a funny scene. Petra tries explaining it to him, but it just confuses Viktor more. Marcus talks to Saya and tries understanding how pledges work. He’s skeptical, because if she doesn’t care for him, why is she breaking the rules with him right now if she could be punished even more? Saya follows Bushido – she lives and dies by her sword and refuses for it to be locked in some closet.

Petra leads them to the confiscation vault. Marcus picks the lock. Surely enough, it’s all there: the spoils of everything ever confiscated at King’s Dominion. The group goes to town indulging on the loot. Saya notices her sword isn’t there. At the upstairs diner, we notice two men in Oni masks approach: it’s a showdown. The guard with Saya’s sword draws her blade.

After the break, Chico and Marcus battle American gladiator style. An ecstatic Viktor finds a grenade hidden under several layers of a Russian doll. Soon after, Marcus and Saya share some intimate Smalltalk – he’s trying to cheer her up as everyone is having fun except her. Saya is still upset about her katana. Marcus finds a small motor bike and has an idea to cheer her up.

Moments later, Marcus and Chico take bets on whether Saya can Evel Knievel jump over a makeshift spike pit they built. Of course, she pulls it off, showcasing the badass Saya is. Enjoying herself, she asks the gang if they can make it bigger.

At home, Lin rests his head on the lap of a woman with a large tiger back tattoo (perhaps his wife?). Saddened by Jurgen’s defection, Lin second-guesses his decisions – wondering if King’s Dominion has lost its way. He worries because no one gets away from King’s and lives. But the woman with him says, “I did.”

While playing with more contraband, the detention crew makes more Smalltalk. Chico surprisingly puts on a cassette tape from “The Cure”. He mentions that it was brother’s favorite album… at least, it was, before he died. Marcus apologizes for bringing it up. Chico mentions how could he understand, as he and Marcus come from different worlds.

Jaden, the Hessian who’s remained mostly nameless and who put Billy’s fingers in a mousetrap last episode, is about to try and jump the same spike pit Saya had. He counts down with the fingers on his left hand before hitting the throttle but before he can reach one… he loses the entire hand via Saya’s Katana.

The two men in Oni masks have arrived. One is wielding Saya’s sword taken off the guard from upstairs. They begin fighting with the group, but it only takes seconds to realize the teens are severely outmatched. Viktor is cut across the abdomen. Petra is stabbed in the back. With three of the gang bleeding out fast, Saya orders everyone runs. They retreat to the library, but not before Chico tosses Jaden behind and leaves him to the Oni men. Jaden gets murdered in front of Marcus, who then gets in the library and locks the door.

Inside, Marcus is furious at Chico for getting Jarden killed. Chico reasons that he had to be left behind otherwise they’d all be dead. Everyone is panicking. Saya reveals that the two men are Kuroki Syndicate – cousins that are looking to take Saya home, as she left on bad terms. Chico is more than willing to give her up. Marcus refuses to surrender, reasoning that once they have Saya – there’s no reason for the Kuroki not to murder the rest of them. Angry, Chico starts trashing the library. He finds a secret.

While trying to come up with a plan, Marcus and Saya realize Chico’s missing. They find the vent, which is now open. They follow it down a hallway and find Chico, who closes the exit gate in on them and locks it – wishing Saya well on “The family reunion”.

In the library, Petra lies next to a dying next to Viktor. She shares her backstory. Her life used to be normal until father found a ‘New God’ and became a crazy cult leader. He gauged Petra’s mother’s eyes out, then forced Petra to watch as her mother died. Viktor wonders why she’s sharing this story. Petra believes they’re going to die there.

Saya mentions she needs to get her Katana back from her cousins and tells Marcus to find help for the others. Marcus tells her she’s insane for going after the sword at a time like this. She mentions it’s the only thing left of her father. Marcus refuses to leave her and let her die but is suddenly slammed into a wall and knocked out. The cousins use a sleeper hold on Saya, saying that her brother is expecting her.

At the dorms, Willie hands Maria a comic containing a passport. He tells Maria not to tell Marcus he was reading any of his independent comics. Seconds later, as Maria rushes into her dorm – Chico is there waiting for her. She is startled, but is deft enough to hide the passport in her back pocket as she pretends to gift the comic to Chico.

Lin arrives back at the diner to find his heavily armed guards dead and scattered everywhere. He then bars the exit, as the two Kuroki arrive carrying Saya. Lin arms himself with a nearby sword and gets ready for a showdown. In ever surprising fashion, Marcus jumps the one carrying Saya and bonks him on the head with a frying pan. He drops Saya and her katana, which she soon picks up and wields with great proficiency.

Master Lin battles the Kuroki wielding two scythes, while Saya battles the other one who picked up a spear he’d found lying on the ground. Marcus helps Saya in the battle using an unconventional style of mostly dodging and throwing objects in the way.

It’s an intense fight on both sides. Eventually, Marcus is able to get behind and disarm the spear-wielding one, as Saya stabs him in the heart with her Katana (with great skill as she apparently avoided stabbing Marcus). She breaks down in tears soon after. The other Kuroki member leaves.

Petra and Viktor are wheeled out in stretchers by the Monks. So is a deceased Jaden. A vigilant Yukio, the spy assigned to watch Saya, watches on from the hallway as they wheel past.

At the graveyard, Saya drinks. Marcus offers to be there for her but only if she wants. She mentions that her cousin was hard on her throughout her entire life, but only because he wanted her to be great. She hated him for it, but it worked. She’s conflicted about killing him. Marcus tells her it’s not supposed to feel good.

Saya tries to confess that at Shabnam’s party…  but Marcus cuts her off and playfully tells her “When you tried to kiss me.” Saya says Marcus clearly misunderstood. His hand edges closer to hers. She holds it and it’s oddly comforting.

Back at Shabnam’s house, his parents finally return home but find the house in disarray from the party. His father says at least he made friends, but his mother argues that teens need boundaries, and that she’s going to call “that school”. Suddenly, a voice clears his throat and asks, “What school?”

The camera turns to see Dwight in chains like a dog in chains (a subtle nod to the comic). Marcus’ old roommate holds Dwight on a chained leash.

At the dorms, Marcus goes to check up on Billy and update him about what happened. Billy’s face is severely bruised. He admits to Marcus that he’s at the academy because his dad owes the mob a million dollars, so Billy is being trained to work for them to pay off his father’s debt.

Yet when he arrives home, Billy finds his father in even more debt from gambling. Billy calls him out on it and his dad gets angry, so Billy tries to leave. His dad stops him and then gets abusive. First, by slamming his mom, who tries diffusing the situation, into a wall and then by getting on top of Billy and beating him relentlessly with his many ringed fist. Billy admits he found an opening and got on top of his father but couldn’t find it inside him to hurt him.

Marcus tells him he’s just a kid who still loves his dad. Billy admits that his mom and brother are not going to survive his dad. When Marcus asks what they can do to help? Billy offers they take a road trip to Vegas. To kill his dad.

Thus, beginning the craziest arc of the beginning series.

From Deadly Class issue 4, Illustrated by Wesley Craig

‘The Magicians’ Review: a Heist, a Party, and a Prison Break

By
Nicole C
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THE MAGICIANS -- "Bad News Bear" Episode 403 -- Pictured: (l-r) Summer Bishil as Margo Hanson, Hale Appleton as Eliot Waugh -- (Photo by: Eric Milner/SYFY)

In this week’s episode of The Magicians, Margo makes a deal, Quentin plays a high stakes card game, Penny 23 and Kady go on a heist, and Alice and Santa make their escape.

THE MAGICIANS — “Bad News Bear” Episode 403 — Pictured: (l-r) Hale Appleman as Eliot Waugh, Summer Bishil as Margo Hanson — (Photo by: Eric Milner/SYFY)

Margo Makes a Deal

After Margo gets sent back to New York by Bacchus, she encounters Marina 23 at the lobby. The hedge witch passes on some free advice to not go up to her condo because there is currently an entity that walked through all her wards as if they weren’t there. She’s going to get some food instead. Margo however wants to go help her friends and it’s a significant moment because in many ways she used to be like Marina and put herself first and foremost. Now she was willing to go into danger for people she cared about. Reluctantly, the former Brakebills student tells the other woman to get the creature to sit on her gold chair and ring a bell which will incapacitate it.

Margo heads on up and walks in, at first thinking that she was finally seeing Eliot but Q stops her and quickly explains that’s not her best friend. Creature Eliot (or The Monster) is trying to decide the order in which he’s going to kill everyone. He ends up deciding that Josh goes first while sitting on the golden chair when Margo makes a decision and tells the powerful being that she can give him Bacchus. She knows that he’s hunting gods and she can deliver one to him. The Monster is intrigued and stops killing Josh. She then says that she can provide the location, but only if he lets everyone live and he can do whatever he wants with the god. However he counters that Bacchus would only run away from him, so having just the location is no good. Margo then flips a secret compartment hidden within the gold chair and shows him a vile of ambrosia that can knock out a god. An irritated Josh comes and whispers to her that she shouldn’t keep revealing information so easily. Creature Eliot then decides that Josh should be the one to poison Bacchus because the man is friends with Bacchus and the god wouldn’t suspect that. The three of them then teleport to Fillory.

Once there, Josh tells Margo that she’s both a terrible and good friend even though she says that there isn’t any other way for them to get out of this situation. The Monster comes up to her and says that there isn’t much he can relate to in their world but he does understand what it means to be a bad and good friend. He wants her to teach him more and thinks that they are the same. Margo says that they can never be friends unless he lets her talk to Eliot to prove that the other man is still in there or that he can leave his body. But the former Blackspire prisoner won’t do that and has no intentions of leaving his current abode because they all care so much about Eliot.

Josh in the meantime heads over to the bacchanal and asks one of the maenads to let him see Bacchus. She tells him that she doesn’t know what he’s talking about and that it’s Ember who is inside the tent. But he recognizes her as Shoshana and says that they met at the Bed Stuy party. Shoshana then instantly relents and looks obviously relieved, explaining that she didn’t think he’d remember her and that it’s good he’s here because Bacchus has been in a really dark place. So he goes inside the tent, makes the god a margarita using the ambrosia instead of salt and chats up Bacchus. The two bond and the god dedicates the drink to his friend which makes Josh chicken out and he slaps the cup away. The amateur chef then claims to have peed in it and leaves. Outside Margo knows that he lost his nerve and tells him to pussy up and take one for the team because otherwise she was going to dump the ambrosia in the communal cauldron so that everyone would get poisoned. With this threat he gets the deed done and Bacchus passes out. The Monster then drags the god’s body into the woods and they have a little chat.

It gets interesting because we discover a few more details about this crazy powerful being. Firstly that he had the same parents as Bacchus and so it does make sense to ask why does Bacchus get to be a god and he doesn’t. So obviously The Monster did something really horrific to get put inside Blackspire where he ate all the other inhabitants. The other gods did in fact steal something from him so he opens up the guy’s chest and rips out what looks to be some kind of glowing organ. But to Margo’s one fairy eye it’s like staring at the sun. So now what could that be? All we know is that it’s a part of the creature that knows stuff.

THE MAGICIANS — “The Bad News Bear” Episode 403 — Pictured: (l-r) Jason Ralph as Quentin Coldwater, Arjun Gupta as Penny Adiyodi — (Photo by: Eric Milner/SYFY)

Frankie and His Secret Sauce

Meanwhile, Marina 23 returns to her condo and tells Q, Kady, and Penny that there’s a bounty on their head issued by the MacAllisters. The official Library story is that it was the MacAllisters who heroically brought magic back and so they get a free pass and access to lots of magic. Everyone else that wants to do any type of significant spell work needs to place a request with the Library and they are given power coins. The most significant one is called a Dewey. Quentin offers to pay their bounty to Marina instead in exchange for her not turning them over to the MacAllisters. The hedge witch is willing but it will cost them five Dewies. After she leaves, Julia shows up having asked Dean Fogg to cast a locator spell because she still couldn’t do any magic. Once she is caught up to speed on what’s been happening, the group comes up with a plan that might work. Penny 23 knew a forger back before he went to Brakebills so hopefully Penny 40 did as well. Thankfully the two shared the same password and the traveler is able to contact his guy Frankie.

Once Frankie arrives the tone of the show changes into an Ocean 11 type heist where the gang needs to get their hands on a real Dewey that will serve as seed magic. They then need to acquire a real black card (black cards are an unlimited source of Dewey coin withdrawal) that will serve as a template. So first, Quentin and Penny 23 attend an underground push game where Q will need to beat three opponents at cards. The match is simple where each person takes a card from the deck and then the individual with the higher card wins. The art comes in knowing how to cheat accordingly. Q is able to best his first two opponents and ends up using all the ambient magic in the air to play a fair game against the house. But he has an ace up his sleeve in the form of a hidden card in his sock that he pulls out at the appropriate time to win and collect the Dewey.

Next up, Penny 23 and Kady team up to borrow the black card of an unsuspecting older female magician so that Frankie can copy it. After some quick flirting and a spell, the item is returned with their target none the wiser. However, now comes the tricky bit. We discover that Frankie’s secret sauce is luck (it’s also his discipline). People who use his forgeries get such insanely good luck that no one ever questions them. The problem is that the luck is a zero-sum game and so for this to work, someone will have to hold a horribly bad luck stuffed bear until the Dewies can be withdrawn from the Library. Julia at first volunteers but nothing happens once she holds the toy. Frankie says that whatever is causing her to be indestructible is messing with his work and she tosses the item to poor Q.

Kady and Penny 23 arrive at a branch of the Library in really bad disguises (hello blonde wig and a bad mustache). They witness Frankie’s discipline at work. First, there is an incredibly long queue inside when suddenly someone announces that there is free ice cream outside and everyone decides to get some. Next up, a Librarian checks out the black card and all seems to be in order except that she has to check a book of banned magicians. Kady’s picture is in there but then a noise distracts the other woman and the image magically jumps out of the book and into a shredder. The Librarian then fills up the paper work and sends the request over to their home office for 12 Dewies (Penny suggests they take some for themselves because they will still need to cast a strong cloaking spell to protect themselves from Irene). But talk about bad timing because meanwhile Q has been having a really bad day. He’s gotten soup spilled on him, paper cuts, suffocation via a huge snake, and suddenly gets a call from his mom (he hadn’t heard about the welfare of his dad since they turned magic back on). He momentarily puts the bear down and the luck evaporates for Kady and Penny 23 when the home office flags their request for further inspection. Who happens to be the dude inspecting? The other traveler. But luckily, Quentin grabs hold of the bear again and the douche Librarian begins to have massive issues with his contact lenses and can’t see for crap. He gives up and just approves their request. With that, they pay five Dewies to Marina (who turns how didn’t actually place trackers on them) and Frankie for his services. Kady in the meantime took some initiative of her own and transformed the bad luck bear into a fake Dewey that is now in the hedge witch’s possession. Somehow she also gets the condo. Go Kady! Looks like she was inspired by an earlier discussion with Penny 23 about doing what she thought was right.

Q waits until later that night to finally check the voice message that was left on his phone while holding the bad luck bear. He tells Julia that everything they gave up doesn’t seem worth it. She relinquished her divinity and he allowed for his dad to get sick again. Jules though says that she knew the cost of bringing back magic and she would do it again though she understands that he wouldn’t. He asks her to stick around while he listens to the message and from the little we can hear it does not sound like good news.

THE MAGICIANS — “Bad News Bear” Episode 403 — Pictured: Olivia Taylor Dudley as Alice — (Photo by: Eric Milner/SYFY)

Prison Break: Alice and Santa

In the meantime, Alice has been collecting paint chips from the wall of her cell when she gets an unexpected visit from Dean Fogg. He tells her that he only has a moment and comments that the Library has the book of every person that ever lived and so now that the great blank spot is over, if her friends were to get their memories back The Order would know and they would try to find them as protection against The Monster she spoke about. After some deliberation, Alice realizes that Fogg was trying to tell her something and the time to act was now. She uses the magic neutralizing paint and stuffs it into the lock to break the ward. Then she and Santa look for their books as well as the others and then head to Zelda’s office to use her fireplace. Except that her and her friends’ books were sent to the revision room. She decides to stay behind and tells Nick to get out of there instead, she’ll figure something out. Just as she’s sneaking around in the stacks, she gets accosted by someone we don’t see. My guess, it could be the real Penny!

THE MAGICIANS — “Bad News Bear” Episode 403 — Pictured: Trevor Einhorn as Josh Hoberman — (Photo by: Eric Milner/SYFY)

Final Thoughts

  • Margo really has nerves of steel to be able to talk back to The Monster, especially with the creature still inhabiting Eliot’s body and that he could kill them all with his pinky finger.
  • Kady is also handling having to work with Penny 23 fairly well considering that her Penny is still in the Underworld. When the two of them held hands because the other traveler appeared, it made me miss Penny 40! I know they did that just to be able to bounce out of there quickly if needed, but it was a reminder of what their relationship had been like.
  • Speaking of Penny 23, he seems to be a much calmer version in comparison to Penny 40 who was a lot more hot headed.
  • Who could have been the person who came up to Marina 23 after she got the fake Dewey coin that was really the bad luck bear? Also nice touch that Kady then got some free puppies right after too!
  • Poor Josh, he really got the short end of the stick this week having nearly been killed and being forced to help murder someone.
  • RIP Bacchus, you partied hard.

The Magicians airs on Syfy Wednesdays at 9/8 central.

‘Hanna’ Review

By
Christian Angeles
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2

With a special 24-hour preview after one of the most boring Super Bowls in history, Hanna is the story about a unique young girl (Esme Creed-Miles) raised in the woods by her father, Erik (Joel Kinnaman, Altered Carbon) – a defected mercenary on the run. Erik has spent years building Hanna’s survivalist skills. She is proficient in shooting, hunting, and hand-to-hand-combat: tools needed to endure not just the wilderness, but the government agents on the hunt for them.  Especially, special agent Marissa Wiegler (Mireille Enos), a rogue CIA operative responsible for killing Hanna’s mother.

Yet there’s something different about Hanna. The product of what appears to be some sort of experimentation colony, Erik and Hanna will do whatever it takes to survive and bring down the woman that’s been after them Hanna’s entire life.   

The Trailer that debuted during the Super Bowl

A Fairytale Adapted Movie

The series is created by David Farr, a renown theatrical director of the Royal Shakespeare Company. It is based on the 2011 film of the same name – which Farr had rewritten and adapted from an acclaimed blacklist script written by Seth Lockhead.

What’s unique about the original film is that it’s a modern fairy tale disguised as a survivalist thriller. As a girl hidden away in the woods (Hanna) is whisked away from her quiet world and has gone from reading about the fairytale lifestyle to physically living them, as she runs from an evil step mother (Marissa) who killed her father (Erik).

Likewise, like many traditional fairytales, it’s a script that is about a coming of age rite of passage. Hanna ventures out into the real world like in ‘The Little Mermaid’ to pursue the very things that make us human. Except in this case, replace being a mermaid with… being a genetically enhanced trained assassin.

What strikes me about Hannah, besides the fact that the trailer was one of the only good things about Superbowl LIII, is that it’s a proven formula lately: survivalist stories where a young girl is trained by an older parent, not only to survive independently – but to become fierce and deadly. All the while exploring who she is and what it means to be a girl coming of age.

Trailer to the Original ‘Hanna’ movie.

Survivalist Genre

The survivalist genre has become sort of a thing the past few years. I believe it started with The Road by Cormac McCarthy – a popular book adapted into a movie starring Aragon himself, Viggo Mortensen.  

The Road is set in a post-apocalyptic future where a father must keep his boy alive in a hellish journey of survival. It’s a tale of how to survive a barren derelict world, with nothing but bare essentials, a survive at any cost mentality, and the hope of seeing some semblance of a future generation – though why exactly when humanity is all but entirely gone – is a different theme of the story.

‘The Road’ later went onto inspire the design of the game The Last Of Us, arguably my favorite videogame. Since then, there’s become this odd new genre of parents doing everything it takes in keeping their daughter alive. In fact, that’s actually the exact plotline for Logan, this latest (and probably last) season of The Punisher, Birdbox, and by proxy, A Quiet Place – which is very similar in story.

All these movies and shows are about how far someone will go to keep the ones they love alive. Although I used to absolutely love this genre, personally, it has also gone the way of the Zombie for me (Zombie survival stories I consider different from survivalist stories, as it usually incorporates a message on society a la George Romero or proves that the humans are the real monsters a la Walking Dead), as it’s a formula that was once compelling yet arguably getting a little overplayed.

The Pilot

The Hanna pilot is well executed. With calculated lighting meant to evoke the cold of winter, close-up action sequences that tend to be very expressive (as in, we focus on facial reactions), and memorable performances from actors Joel Kinnaman (Altered Carbon) and Esme Creed-Miles (Dark River).

The characters we get to understand rather quickly: Erik is an overprotective father doing whatever it takes to keep his daughter safe. Hanna is a girl growing up with focused combat abilities yet learning about how to be a teenage girl in a world she’s only discovering now.

The world is established enough to promise an intriguing story about a larger organization on the hunt for the two, and the action keeps the pacing on the edge, maintaining the thrill factor of will they or won’t they ever get caught, and how will Hanna survive? My qualm with the pilot though, is it seems they’ve thrown the fairytale element entirely out the window.

Overall, it seems very interesting. But again, if you’re into the survivalist genre, you’ve seen this before.

My Final Take: 8/10

RECAP – FOR THOSE WHO MISSED IT

The following is a recap of the pilot episode that premiered after the Super Bowl. Spoilers Ahead.

The series opens in Romania, 2003. Erik (Kinnaman) patiently bides his time to make his move, which is then soon executed in timely fashion. An evening inside job infiltration of a government training facility of sorts, we see Erik sneak through the armed facility, passing dogs undergoing torturous experimentation, and ending at a room with lines of infants in incubation, where we meet the series protagonist, Hanna.

He stows his baby away with him, brutally taking out some armed guards along his way out. We notice he is someone with special combat training, as he makes short work of his opponents without hesitation.

Just outside the facility, he rendezvouses with Hanna’s mother in a getaway car. The two escaping past a trail of gunfire. They rest at a makeshift hotel for the evening. Share an intimate family moment the following morning. Soon after, the military arrives at their door. The couple sneak out around back with Hanna and drive away, but a large helicopter gives chase with a hail of gunfire brought about by special agent, Marissa Wiegler. They reach the outskirts of a large forest that can provide cover from the chopper for them but must drive past a large open meadow to reach there.

With no choice, they beeline to the forest. With a clear shot the helicopter fires. A barrage of bullets hits the car and it soon crashes into the trees. Hannah’s mother’s corpse lies in front of baby Hanna. Erik grabs the infant and escapes on foot, just as the car explodes seemingly killing the entire family – at least to those chasing them.

We then hear the show’s theme song “Anti-lullaby” written by Karen O from the Yeah Yeah Yeahs. It’s a soothing rhyme filled with lyrics about not falling asleep, evoking this softly childlike tone that when lyrically analyzed, is stripped away of its innocence – which fits perfect for the series.

We fast forward years into the future. Hanna, now a teenager, kills a deer. She is ambushed by a man who tries to strangle her – later revealed to be Erik himself, her own father. The two live by themselves in the woods on the lam from whomever was tracking them. They have quiet dinners together living off the spoils of the wilderness. He teaches her foreign languages, pop-culture and basic rules for survival: most importantly, that human beings are to be avoided at all costs. That evening, Hanna has her first menarche – a very coming of age moment – but one she ultimately keeps to herself.

The next day a plane flies overhead. Hannah chases after it until she reaches the edge of the forest – where red markings imply the boarder that should never be crossed, as beyond is where civilization might find them.

Later, the two undergo a vigorous training montage. Eric trains Hannah in combat, hunting and shooting. She asks her father that evening why she can’t traverse beyond the red marked boarder. Wonders why exactly it is she is being trained: to serve what purpose? Erik responds that it’s because one day, she will have to fend for herself without him.

The next morning, Hannah tries climbing the trees over the red boarder (maybe the ground is mined? Not certain about the point of this scene). In the distance, she sees another person! Rushes up to them and meets a teen boy sawing lumber. He offers her a Snickers for the first time, which she finds amazing as it’s her first-time having chocolate. He tries to ask if she needs help, but she misconstrues his advances, twisting his arm in self-defense, which makes him leave.

Later on, Erik asks where Hanna was today. The two get into an argument, where Erik ends up slapping Hanna across the face in anger. She’s likewise furious as to why Erik has kept secrets from her throughout her entire life. She wants to know who the people hunting them are.

The next day, she meets up with boy again at the same place. She asks for another Snickers bar. Even tries her first cigarette too. The boy asks questions about Hanna’s personal life, obviously wanting to get to know the girl. She, likewise, wants to know what lies beyond the forest. He offers to show her something amazing and the two ride away together on the boy’s motor cruiser. Hanna loves the feeling of the wind in her hair for the first time.

The two arrive at a communications tower. They climb up a large satellite dish, sneaking inside and share a moment looking at the stars. Just as Hanna is about to share her first romantic experience, they get caught by some evening guards. As the authorities approach, she runs, leaving the boy behind.

Hanna tells her father that evening about the boy, breaking down in tears, as she admits the guards may have seen her face. She mentions that he wanted to touch her – though Erik makes little of it.

He asks his daughter if she wants to leave – to live a normal life. She confirms that she does. He then shows her a picture of Marissa, the woman who killed her mother and wants Hanna and him dead. Hanna understands this is what Erik has been training her for. Tells her father that she’s ready to kill her.

In a faraway location, Marissa spends time with her own family. She soon gets intel about at a girl found yet gone missing at the communications tower – confirming to the audience that Erik was indeed an agent on the run with a daughter not too far from that location – one who’d match the description of the missing girl.   

The next morning, Hanna wakes her father. She hears them: Machines, three of them, surrounding all around them. The two pack-up and run, shortly finding a soldier in the woods looking for them. The military have orders to kill Erik and capture Hanna alive.

We see an epic stealthy fight scene. Then the two steal the soldier’s radio. We soon notice, Hanna can sense the soldiers around her – showing beyond human abilities of her senses.

Hanna mentions they need to split the scent – the father and daughter deciding to go their separate ways to throw the military off their trail. She goes over her father’s instructions for situations like these:

If they can’t find each other, to send a postcard to the address he gave her addressed to alias ‘Peter Olson’.  Go to Berlin, 224 Heine Strasse everyday at noon. She also goes over her own alias they established together, one her father had her rehearse many times over. Above all, she’s never to trust Special Agent Marissa Wiegler, as she lies.

The two then split up.

Yet moments later, the guards confirm they have Erik in their sights, but before they can kill shot him – Hanna intervenes, announcing “Help Me!” on the radio they’d stolen off a guard.

With this the heavily armed guards approach Hannah to take her away – Erik looking on in shame as his daughter is captured. Orders are given by Marissa to take her in but hide the girl’s identity. Hanna is lifted away in a helicopter. As it rises, she looks out into the sunrise – the promise of a new day awaits.

You can Watch ‘Hanna’ on Amazon Video in March 2019

Supertrash: ‘Supergirl’ 4.11 “Blood Memory”

By
Alyssa Berkowitz
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0
Supertrash

This week on Supertrash Alyssa and Jen discuss episode 4.11 of Supergirl “Blood Memory.” While we absolutely LOVED Nia’s storyline in this episode, the James/Lena and the Alex’s memory loss storyline was just baffling. We spend a good 20 minutes trying to figure out if we are supposed to believe that James and Lena are a happy couple or not. And the number of questions we have about Alex’s brain wipe is to long to list (except we do list all of them during the podcast). But the saving grace of it all is the marvelous Nia storyline. 

Listen to “Supertrash: Supergirl 4.11 “Blood Memory”” on Spreaker.

Show Notes:

First, we should start off with corrections corner, J’onn did tell Kara that Alex lost her Blood Memory at the end of  the episode. (What blood memory is exactly though is never explained.) 

Supertrash
Alex unable to keep a straight face at James and Lena having a “Special Connection”
Seriously, is J’onn Brainy’s or Nia’s game night partner?!?!

Don’t forget we have launched a Supertrash Patreon, so if you want to support us while also receiving some cool stuff, be sure to check it out! Supertrash Podcast Patreon

Be sure to follow Supertrash and the hosts on Twitter:

Supertrash Podcast: @SuperTrashCast
Jen: @JenStayrook
Alyssa: @TVwithAPB

The ‘Shadowhunters’ Season 3B Trailer is Finally Here

By
Nicole C
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0
Shadowhunters

By the angel! Freeform has finally graced us with the season 3B trailer to Shadowhunters.

Following the events from the first half of season 3, we finally see the true face of Sebastian (Jonathan) Morgenstern (Luke Baines), who was resurrected by Lilith (Anna Hopkins). The queen of demons tied his life force to his sister Clary’s (Katherine McNamara) and the two had disappeared after Simon’s (Alberto Rosende) Mark of Cain rune destroyed the rooftop demonic headquarters. This left both Jace (Dominic Sherwood) and Simon devastated.

Since the show was cancelled, fans have been promised a conclusion to the story and we get a glimpse of that through the trailer with Simon and Izzy’s (Emeraude Toubia) almost kiss and Luke (Isaiah Mustafa) telling Maia (Alisha Wainright) to be the pack leader. There were also so many different moments that I can’t wait to see more of especially Brother Zachariah presiding over a wedding, the two flaming swords Izzy and Clary are holding, Sebastian’s wings, and his change of hair color from Fairchild red to Morgenstern platinum blonde!

What are you most excited about in season 3B? Tell us in the comments below!

Shadowhunters returns to Freeform on February 25 for the final hunt.

To catch up, check out our recaps here.

‘Deadly Class’ Review – “Snake Pit”

By
Christian Angeles
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0

In ‘Snake Pit,’ King’s Dominion holds a dance. Meanwhile, Jurgen makes a tough decision, as friendships are soon tested.

The episode opens with an animated flashback at the boy’s home. Marcus’ old roommate seen at the end of last week’s episode, is watching a dog pageant on TV while verbally bullying a recently beaten up Marcus.  He glamorizes a dog he once had sex with, all the while, touching himself in bed. He mentions that his father never understood: the nature of loyalty in animals over humans.

In the corner, we see Marcus cowering with his back turned. But upon closer look we see what he is really doing: building a makeshift pipe bomb.

At present day King’s Dominion, Marcus plays a boxing videogame with Willie in his room.  The behave like best friends, at least, until Shabnam gets out of the shower.

Startled by Marcus’ roommate, Willie changes demeanor and acts like he’s accosting Marcus for money owed to him – leaving the room after giving Marcus a bogus warning. Shabnam scolds Marcus for getting involved with F.W.O. Marcus then apologizes to Shabnam about not backing him up when he was beaten with his mother’s dildo by Lex in the party episode.

Moments later, while traversing the halls of King’s Dominion together, Shabnam breaks down the school’s classist hierarchy to Marcus: the rats, being on the level of measly servants. Despite this, it’s evident that even though he was born wealthy, Shabnam is the school’s biggest loser.

Soon after, Shabnam picks up a ticket for the school’s Legacy dance. He mentions to Marcus that the Rats (students without gangs or legacies – like Marcus) cannot attend and that the event is specifically known for its hazing of them.  Suddenly, we see Billy get his hand caught in a painful mousetrap set by one of the Hessians – a good example of the type of hazing expected in this episode.

At Blow Dart Workshop, the class showcases their skills. Saya is amazing as always. Marcus completely sucks. Meanwhile, Petra and victor take this time to discuss their little ‘hook-up’ in the last episode. Victor asks Petra out to the Legacy dance, but she says no. He tries hard to win her over.

DEADLY CLASS — “Snake Pit” Episode 102 — Pictured: (l-r) Taylor Hickson as Petra, Sean Depner a Viktor — (Photo by: Katie Yu/SYFY)

At Poison Lab, the class works on cooking some ‘Mellow Yellow’ – a drug known for its terrifying hallucinogenic effects. Brandy reams Petra for sleeping with Victor and mentions she made the right choice in rejecting his invitation to the dance – as Petra doesn’t belong with the legacies.

Seconds later, Billy manically laughs at the Hessian who broke his fingers with the mousetrap. In an act of chivalry, Marcus intentionally spills mellow yellow all over the same Hessian – causing him to enter a delirious frenzy.

Immediately, Jurgen dismisses the class. Everyone except Marcus. The two share yet another heart-to-heart, Jurgen referencing that perhaps he lost his ways. Something about Marcus inspires Jurgen, so he bestows Marcus some advice: that things will only get worse, so he should learn what he can and get out – especially before finals. It’s an ominous warning, but a great hook, especially for fans of the comic who know what he’s refering.

In the halls, Saya and Maria talk about attending the dance. Marcus tries to talk with Willie about Jurgen’s warning, but Willie immediately rebukes him – as he has his F.W.O. crew with him and can’t be seen speaking to Marcus.  Finally, Petra agrees to go with Victor just to spite Brandy.

At lunch, the Rats tease Petra for sleeping with Victor and accepting his proposal to attend the dance. Suddenly, everyone in school begins staring at the Rats as they eat their meal. Chewing cautiously, they pull out of their mouths… a tail. The legacies just fed them… Rats.

At the bathroom, Lex and Billy throw up their meal. Marcus remains calm, as it’s ‘not his first rat stew’. Lex and Billy playfully declare ‘war’ on the legacies – vowing that this hazing will not stand unpunished. Moments later, Lex delivers packaged mail to everyone’s dorm rooms – which turns out to be dye-packs that explode, ink utterly ruining the legacy kids clothing.

Meanwhile, Maria sits in her room listening to music. Chico enters and says hi. Maria requests that she needs a break. That she wants to attend the dance with just Saya, as a girl’s night out. Chico reluctantly agrees.

Jurgen calls Master Lin in for a meeting. He gives him a resignation letter. Lin tells him that it’s basically a suicide note. His father took considerable risk in breaking Jurgen out of prison. Signing into the academy is a commitment for life. Jurgen is upset that the school seems to only benefit the legacy kids now. He feels that the work they do no longer makes a difference. And the rats won’t pass their final exams…

At Fundamentals of Psychopathy, actor French Stewart plays instructor and serial killer, one with a notorious reputation much like Marcus. He asks the students about the thing they hate most, eventually, calling on Marcus – who admits that he loathes bullies – including ones such as his teacher. The two, part on bad terms.

DEADLY CLASS — “Snake Pit” Episode 102 — Pictured: (l-r) Benjamin Wadsworth as Marcus, Maria Gabriela de Faria as Maria, Lana Condor as Saya — (Photo by: Katie Yu/SYFY)

At atypical Combat Skills, the students must rescue a hostage. Saya carefully sneaks in, followed by Maria who is donning her day-of-the-dead attire. Marcus, on the other hand, stumbles immediately upon entry: ruining their element of surprise. The trio fights the captors, and though outmatched, Marcus improvises: choking the soon-to-be-revealed instructor out with a phone cord. Marcus passes with flying colors in class for the first time.

Master Lin crawls into a strange executive styled room to address the issue with Jurgen to his superior.  The furniture is made of living people: servants standing in poses serving as tables, chairs, and various fixtures. Lin tries to reassure his master, an Asian woman of strong authority, that Jurgen is loyal and that they should let him go peacefully. She reminds him that the institution is a lifelong commitment and commands Master Lin to kill Jurgen anyway.

Saya and Maria saunter the suburban streets before the dance. They share some of their hopes and dreams with each other. Saya admits she’s a bitch but wants to party for the rest of her life. Maria acknowledges that she’s crazy but does seek a bit of a normal life. It’s a little odd seeing Maria Condor in such a role reversal from ‘To All The Boys I’ve loved before’ – but it works, given our characters.

The girls arrive at a liquor store. Maria tries to use a fake ID to distract the man at the counter. It fails, and so Saya kicks a bottle towards the man as Maria slams him to the counter. They steal bottles of strawberry wine – showing that though these girls are deadly… they’re also very inexperienced (Really, strawberry wine?).

Meanwhile, Marcus journals a deep diatribe to himself about the need to fend for yourself, taking Jurgen’s warning to heart. Suddenly, Willie comes over to hang out but Marcus rejects him, given Willie’s own rejection earlier in front of his F.W.O. cohorts. Willie gets defensive to Marcus, saying that he can’t help the legacy he was born into.

At the dance, Maria and Saya have a good time. While Shabnam sadly dances by himself. At the graveyard, the rats launch fireworks from the rooftop – having a good time of their own.

Chico shows up to crash the Dance, ruining Maria and Saya’s evening. He pulls Saya away and tells her that the little personal story the girls shared on the suburban streets: all meant to manipulate information out of her. He admits that he’s using Maria to spy on Saya, as she’s the leader of the Kuroki Syndicate.

Petra seems to be very much enjoying Victor’s company. He then takes her to the bathroom, where Brandy secretly awaits. He reveals to Petra that she’ll always be a rat – rejecting her in a heartbreaking scene. Moments later, the newly dressed Petra, stripped of her gothic attire and dressed as a valley girl, is humiliated on stage.

Petra joins the rats on the roof after being completely embarrassed. The rats decide to team up together yet again to take part in more shenanigans against the legacies. Hating how they bullied Petra, Marcus agrees to join this time.

Maria asks Saya what Chico said to her. Saya replies that it’s exactly as Maria said – implying that Maria already informed Saya, or that Saya is keeping Maria unaware that she knows. We’re not certain who is telling the truth – but either way, it seems Saya has the upper hand. The girls decide to ditch the dance together.

 Marcus and the rats disguise themselves as the Monk Security. They infiltrate the dance and use blow darts to poison all the legacy students with Mellow Yellow. The revenge seems to be going well until Chico arrives and begins to severely beat up Marcus. Willie arrives to intervene and gets right in Chico’s face.

It’s a very tense moment: the two alpha dogs of the school butting heads. Chico, leading the Soto Vatos, Willie, the F.W.O.  Just as it looks like they’re about to go at it, Lin arrives with his monks and breaks up the dance.

Later in the evening once all the crowds have cleared out, in a sweet and sentimental moment, Billy arrives and plays ‘lady in red’ to cheer up a saddened Petra. The two are the only ones left at the dance. They dance cheek to cheek in an adorably way.

Over video games at his dorm yet again, Willie hangs out with Marcus – admitting that he is one of his ‘people’. It’s obvious the two are good friends now.

In a tense scene, Jurgen talks with Lin. He reiterates again, that he is mad how the legacies already have a set path, and that his lessons serve an utterly meaningless purpose. The two men look meaningfully at each other, knowing they are at a crossroads.

Jurgen requests a head start. Lin nods and pours a farewell drink to toast with his friend. Jurgen sniffs the drink: potassium chloride. Lin tells him… that was his head start.

The two masters exchange blows in an epic battle. Lin gets in a position to deliver a killing blow but spares him. He gives Jurgen a warning: “Mark my words. They will come for you.”

In the last scene, a student finds a large stack of money and a picture of Saya, all contained in a message box. We’re left uncertain as to what it means.

THE TAKE

Honestly, this was the episode I was expecting in episode 2. It did a fantastic job of world-building, hit hard on the class differences, showcased more of the school’s deadly arts, and emphasized the divide between factions – all things I thought they should have addressed in episode 2.

Atop that, it also brought up some new plots: explaining the subtle issues with the rats and what functions they serve in school. It also brought to light a major character conflict with Jurgen and Lin. Atop of, introducing a new hierarchy, as it’s evident Lin takes his orders from someone.

Really, this episode does a great job building upon the story. But that’s not all. It also does an even better job developing Marcus. His voice-over is more distinct this episode – with solid reasoning as to why he is brooding. This is in contrast to last week’s whinier/Holden Caulfieldesque attitude Marcus had, where he self-destructively antagonized almost every character with a greater-than-thou demeanor. We even see Marcus finally excel at something: his untraditional fighting style.

My only qualm with the episode is that it’s a little hard to follow. It took a re-watch to understand how it establishes the Rats vs. Legacies mentality. I also think it’s a problem that the dance high school trope has happened this early. Three episodes in and two of the biggest high school tropes have already been spent in the Party and Dance episodes – neither of which are in the comics, meaning that this was a TV development call.

It also took me out of the moment, the fact that they’d even have a dance at what’s essentially a school for killers. I was really upset at the logic behind it until I realized, on my third watch through that it’s because it’s a LEGACY dance. The children from families with privilege most likely wanted it.  

Overall, a big step up from the last episode.

Final Score: 9/10

‘The Magicians’ Review: One Problem at a Time

By
Nicole C
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0
THE MAGICIANS -- "Lost, Found, Fucked" Episode 402 -- Pictured: Hale Appleman as Eliot Waugh -- (Photo by: Eric Milner/SYFY)

In this week’s episode of Syfy’s The Magicians, everyone gets their old selves back, the dean comes really close to living life underneath a bridge, Alice hatches an escape plan, and Fillory gets a god.

Quentin Needs To Get a Pig

At the ruins of a temple in Greece, Creature Eliot tells Brian/Quentin that he needs to go into the woods to get a pig, the younger the better. Presumably, this will be the sacrifice performed to entice a certain god to appear before them. The powerful ex-prisoner of Blackspire explains that the deed must be stained with human effort. Brian/Q is able to get a little cute piglet and Creature Eliot asks him to kill the little one but he refuses. So while he doesn’t get killed, his arm gets really mangled. Eventually Brian/Q gives in and the animal is slain on the altar. After some hard praying, another god (presumably) appears and Creature Eliot pounces. However, the powerful entity soon gets bored of their banter and slices open the new god’s body. He thrusts his hand into the other’s chest cavity in search of the item that was stolen from him. But it turns out that the guy is not the god Enyalius but his servant.

Side note: Enyalius is another name for Ares, Greek god of war, but he also had a son who used that moniker with the Greek goddess Enyo.

Marina 23 Figures Out Who the Mysterious Foursome Are

After failing to get a peek inside, the spell triggers an automatic recorded angry phone call from Fogg, Marina 23 puts two and two together realizes that the group must be the dean’s favorite students. She has Kady/Sam and Isaac/Josh go to the kitchen while she puts the amulet on Penny 23/DJ Hansel and has him raise his arms. She then is able to view a tattoo that is on Penny 23 (not on his fake persona) and is able to activate it so that the traveler can teleport again. Or she might have just removed a ward that was preventing him from tapping his traveler powers. Of course we know that Marina 23 is going to use this knowledge for her nefarious purposes.

They teleport into Fogg’s office where she quickly knocks Todd out. After that the hedge witch takes a small bottle from a previously locked cabinet. When the dean enters some time later, he finds his student slumped down on a desk and wonders out loud if he’s drunk. Marina 23 then comes out of nowhere and stabs Fogg with a syringe. She’s injected him with the same potion he gave to the others and that she advises he better take the antidote quickly. When he says there isn’t one, the former Brakebills student says that since it takes about a day for the potion to kick in he’d better get to it because she isn’t going to make his new persona anyone good. As Marina 23 and Penny 23/DJ Hansel leave, Todd comments that they need to get Fogg some help stat.

Margo is Being Stalked in Fillory

Meanwhile in Fillory, a very confused Margo/Janet is still tromping in the woods trying to figure out what to do next when she stops by a lake for a sip of water. Suddenly she is pulled in by the same slimy hand that we saw at the end of last week’s episode. As she struggles for air inside an underground cavern, we finally meet the individual who had been stalking her. He addresses her as your majesty and seems to know that she’s not herself at the moment. Meanwhile he introduces himself as the lord of all Fillorian fresh water, but she can call him Lord Fresh. She asks why she was pulled down here and he says that he’s here to give her birth rite box. Strangely enough Lord Fresh explains that the events that have transpired to her were kind of according to some plan. He confirms that he knows about the spell and that at the moment she cannot touch her birth rite box because it would kill her. For whatever reason it was dictated that she would be absent from Fillory, lose herself, and her return this day and hour. However, it also predicted that she would learn how to rule and dictate alone. Well that can’t be good. Lord Fresh comments that the enchantment on Margo/Janet is very strong but in order to claim the box she needs to find Ember. He takes her back to the surface and tells her to follow the mountains and to return when the spell is broken. The creature even provides her with a fresh fish for lunch. Soon though she is captured by Fillorian guards.

She is taken back to Whitespire, which is convenient for her as she eventually meets Fen and Tick. Fen is currently acting high king since Margo, Eliot, Quentin, and Alice were all out of Fillory. The duo head to the prison to meet this woman who claims to be High King Margo, but when he tries to explain Fogg’s spell gets angry. Margo/Janet then says that she’s not claiming she’s who they aren’t talking about though she did have a dream about a certain goat god. The two Fillorians then reveal what’s been happening in their land and it seems that their air has gotten even more saturated with Opium, resulting in a lot of deaths with people falling asleep at the most unexpected moments. So is this what triggered Ember’s in case of emergency apparition? Or was it actually the release of the Blackspire creature since the castle does reside below Fillory? Margo/Janet then makes it very clear that she doesn’t care, but because she needs to find Ember herself she’s ready to do this and help them find the god.

They set up a map and Tick lists where Ember had been spotted around Fillory. Based on the previous sightings, Margo/Janet surmises that the god is moving east and asks Fen and Tick where the next debased hot spot is in that direction. Tick answers The Hare on The Ass tavern. When the trio arrive there, a party is in full swing and Margo/Janet confronts the person with the goat horns who turns out to be a familiar face. It’s Bacchus dressed up as Ember. Curiouser and curiouser.

Alice and Santa Work Together

Back in their cells at the Neitherlands branch of the Library, Alice and Santa come to an agreement of sorts as he tells her that he can get her magic. Turns out magic flows through the air tubes that the Library uses to get messages across their facility. She’s able to dismantle one of the casings and sticks her arm into it. Granted she’s cut from the effort and begins to bleed. But through that she’s able to cast a spell to control the cockroach and uses it to walk around the Library undetected. The bug then is able to find Zelda’s office which just happens to have a fireplace. Soon though the Librarian kills the insect with her shoe. Alice has been able to see enough and asks Nick if the stuff about him and chimneys are true. He confirms and it looks like they may just have a way out of there.

Dean Fogg Has Todd Work on his Memoir

Determined to walk the moral high ground, Dean Fogg has no plans to try and reverse the spell he did on Q and the gang and instead will go through with his own personal transformation into a new personality and forget his old life. But before that he has Todd follow him around as he ties up loose ends so that the student can record it as a part of his memoir. He tells one professor that the other man was his best drinking buddy ever and that he had a very rare bottle in his office that he was handing over. Next he pays back some gambling debts with another faculty member while admitting that he’s a degenerate gambler. Fogg dictates that magic has been a brutal series of disappointments and having lived through 40 timelines finds that it was all for nothing makes. However it makes leaving this life oddly liberating. He then comes up to another professor, sucker punches the guy, and tells him to tell Jennifer goodbye. Fogg apparently had an affair with the dude’s wife. He then goes on to say that he was raised by his grandmother but could never tell her how much he loved her because all forms of intimacy terrify him. Back inside his office, Kimber/Julia comes in and basically comes out to say that she thinks she should leave because he’s the only one who believes she belongs here and he’s on his way out.

He tells her to sit down and begins to explain that his life has been a series of regrets, one of the biggest one is something he did to a group of very millennial students of his recently. By saying that, the spell got triggered though he quickly counteracted it. So it looks like he does know that Kim is actually Julia and says that he created a spell that gave the students new identities because their lives were in danger. Now unfortunately, the same spell was being used on him. He’s in a predicament because if he revealed that there was a way to reverse it someone would perform it on the group and ensure their deaths. Fogg refuses to let this happen and so must accept this grim circumstance. Meanwhile it looks like he knew that Marina 23 had been spying on him this entire time. Back at her condo she had been watching with Penny 23/DJ Hansel over a bowl filled with oil.

The dean gets a visit from his tailor Etta who’s come to fix his torn suit. She also then shows her latest work for him that’s still in progress and Fogg gets super choked up after he smells it. He says that the scent is his grandmother’s huckleberry pie. As he tells Etta what he’s done to Quentin, Margo, Kady, Josh, Julia, Eliot, and Penny (23), and that he’ll soon be sharing a version of that fate himself, she tells him that he has a very loving heart. She knows that he’s used her bespoke suits as an armor all this time. Awww.

While walking one of the school hallways by himself, Fogg is confronted by Kimber/Julia who comes to the conclusion that she’s one of the spelled and that he needs to undo it. He won’t do it but urges her to be more careful than ever. His parting words to her are that finally getting to be her teacher has been an honor.

What happens next is heart breaking as we see a raggedly dressed man begging for money outside a building. Marina 23 comes out and the homeless individual is Fogg. She greets him coldly and says that he’s now the saddest loser she ever buried, her dad. So there’s definitely a story there too. She even takes the little change he’s made and walks away.

Todd and Kimber/Julia Try to Save the Dean

After Fogg left Brakebills, Kimber/Julia confides to Todd about the spell cast on the group and how she’s trying to undo it to save the dean as well. After glass breaks inside the Physical Kids cabin even though magic is off, Todd has a massive realization. Apparently the former head of the school had been working on a perpetual battery over the years and perhaps he had finally finished it. The duo find the battery hidden inside one of the classrooms and as Kimber/Julia touches it she gets hurled forcibly against a wall and dies. Todd freaks out and calls for a medic, but the woman soon returns back to life with a loud gasp. It looks like some of Julia’s goddess juice is still in there because they can’t be killed easily. Her plan is to keep trying to short the thing out by repeatedly touching it. Todd watches on in horror at first though soon grows incredibly bored. After multiple attempts, she succeeds and the battery drops dead.

As everyone then turns back to their respective true selves, Margo confronts Bacchus in Fillory and asks why he wants everyone to think he’s Ember and he sends her back to Earth. Quentin is still with Creature Eliot who explains that the gods took a part of him that knew things. Q agrees that the gods were wrong and it was unfair. Unfortunately he makes a wrong move when he asks the entity if he could get Eliot back once the former Blackspire resident had what he wanted. This throws the guy into a fit of anger and the two go to Marina 23’s condo. Kady, Josh, and Penny are there and Creature Eliot says that he’s not here to play.

Final Thoughts

  • Julia saves the day again. For everything that she’s been through she still genuinely wants to help people and that’s why I hope her goddess powers return in full force at some point.
  • Now that the gang are themselves again, they now have to deal with Creature Eliot and his tendency to kill things right away. Will everyone escape unscathed? Probably not.
  • Dean Fogg kind of got lucky that Julia was able to kill the battery that was powering the spell. Marina 23 is just as vindictive as her timeline 40 version and it would have been rough living life as a homeless man.
  • Who else is on Creature Eliot’s god kill list? Suspect that Bacchus may be in there since why else did he suddenly decide to go to Fillory and impersonate Ember?
  • What could be in Margo’s birth rite box? And more importantly who set it up for her??

The Magicians airs on Syfy Wednesdays at 9 pm.

‘Deadly Class’ Review – “Noise, Noise, Noise”

By
Christian Angeles
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DEADLY CLASS -- "Noise, Noise, Noise" Episode 101 -- Pictured: (l-r) Jack Gillett as Lex, Lana Condor as Saya, Liam James as Billy -- (All Photo Credits by: Katie Yu/SYFY)

It’s the day after Marcus killed Rory. He’s noticeably shaken up but is also in deep denial. He goes to great lengths to convince himself he’s above it, but is evidently, having trouble sleeping.  

At the lawn outside King’s Dominion, Marcus hangs out with his fellow Rats, hoping to score some weed to ease his thoughts. Billy judges Petra’s taste in music, while Lex acts boisterous as always. According to Petra, the school is completely dry on drugs right now. As they leave for class, Marcus hallucinates and sees a vision of Rory out in the open.

At poison lab, Jurgen Denke (Henry Rollins) teaches about a lethal poison. One that the US government is keeping for undisclosed reasons. While they’re on the topic, some kids tease Marcus about wanting to kill President Reagan again.

Marcus tries to go about his day pretending things are okay. He starts by trying to make casual conversation at the library – which fails. At that same moment, Billy returns some books – all of which, are littered with hand-drawn dicks scribbled all over them.

Marcus goes outside to smoke cigarettes. Jurgen talks to him, and shares that he is also angry at Reagan, having lost friends and a few partners from AIDS – Reagan neglecting that it was an issue. Marcus wants to do something about bullies like Reagan. Jurgen warns him that’s idealistic bullshit. Although he likes Marcus’ gumption, Jurgen gives him a warning:

“You have the thing this place is supposed to nurture, and they all see it, and that’s why they’ll try and destroy you.” – Jurgen

Back in AP BLACK ARTS Willie talks about killing Rory. How he murdered him, and then dumped the body in a dumpster and lit it on fire, spinning the story to make it seem he did it alone. Master Lin is angry that amongst his class, only Willie finished the assignment of finding and killing a person. He says that he is going to give his students a new test and asks Willie to meet with him after class.

Moments later, the students from AP Black Arts including Maria, Chico, and Brandy, sulk in the Hallway. Each had different reasons why they couldn’t kill someone. Suddenly, the hallway starts to go on lockdown. Metal bars sealing the exits.

The hall fills with poison gas. Over the P.A., Lin gives them a riddle. This is their new test: the gang must solve his riddle and find a way into the botanical garden for the antidote in five minutes… or die.

They panic at first. Saya gives some sound advice, and Marcus picks the lock. The students get out and traverse to the botanical gardens, but also, begin to cough up blood. Marcus triggers a floor trap which causes the exit gate to slowly close, just as a pair of monk guards arrive. Having to fight more experienced fighters, the group needs to fight together and escape – working as a team.

Meanwhile, Master Lin and Willie watch on from monitors in Lin’s office. Lin is suspicious of Willie’s exploits because he doesn’t know how Willie could lift a grown man’s body into a dumpster by himself. Still, Willie doesn’t snitch despite seeing his friends potentially get murdered.

The students get to the gardens. Marcus notices each plant at the gardens has a unique sigil – and that the riddle Master Lin was giving, was about a fish. Marcus finds the proper plant but is put down by Chico before he can grab the cure. All the students collapse from poison, except Maria, who notices what Marcus was going for. She grabs the root and cures everyone yet hesitates to cure Chico. Only doing so at the very last second.

We meet Shabnam for the first time at the cafeteria. He is the prototypical 80s nerd but comes from a well-off family. He is running for class president – handing out mixtapes for free.

At the cafeteria lunch table, Lex makes fun of Shabnam for his musical tastes on his mixtape. Billy mentions to Marcus, that those who failed the poison test were revived by the monks. Shabnam sits with them in the cafeteria – much to their disdain. Shabnam decides to throw a party. Given how dry the school is, the rats agrees to join – inviting the whole school.

Saya and Maria are at their shared dorm room. Saya mentions Marcus is her secret pledge. Both girls talk about how they each kissed him, though both for very different reasons: Maria to manipulate him into killing Chico, Saya to get him to return as per her mission from Master Lin.

Saya mentions the party is a good way to take the edge off. Chico comes in and surprises his girlfriend with a night out on the town. Saya is irritated at this, as the girls made plans together, but chooses to let it go.

This takes us to the high school party episode. We see all the crews from the school hanging out. Including Saya, who rarely makes an appearance. She also brought her sword along with her.

Billy desperately wants to talk to Petra at the party, who’s rocking some serious fishnets in her gothic attire. He is incredibly nervous talking to her but Saya gives him some words of encouragement.

Meanwhile, Marcus finds the Hessian’s drug dealer (Brian Posehn) crashing the party. He has a gravity bong going.

Shabnam’s house is ruined. He complains someone shit on the wall. Brandy and Victor joke around. He asks her how much it would cost to bang Shabnam. She says $20,000. He walks off disheartened by her response.

Willie brags to his friends at the party about his kill. Marcus is in a corner, listening to his Walkman. Marcus listens to the Smiths. Willie condemns his taste in music. The two exchange back and forth, though mostly it’s Marcus suggesting to Willie to cut the charade – Willie isn’t having it.

Billy approaches Petra. Just as he’s about to go in, Lex cuts in and starts being an asshole to everyone. First, to Petra, then Brandy, and finally, even to the Hessian’s drug dealer.

Marcus calls Lex out. Moments later, he tells Saya that Billie tried to ask Petra out, but Lex ruined it for him. Suddenly, Brandy randomly throws Saya and Marcus into the closet for ‘Seven Minutes in Heaven‘. The two share an intimate moment.

But Marcus gets distracted by Willie, who boasts about killing that guy. Marcus kicks the door down and rushes over to Willie, telling him to shut the fuck up – which upsets the F.W.O. (Willie’s gang)

Marcus angrily storms off. Willie follows.

Willie confronts Marcus and reveals why he’s a pacifist: a rival gang broke into his house as a kid. He grabbed his father’s uzi in front of him and tried to defend his dad but the kickback was too much. Willie killed the gang, as well as accidentally killed his own father. Now, he’s sworn off guns ever since, which Marcus immediately empathizes with. Willie reminds him he has a reputation to protect. And to not call him out on it in front of his people. Because if he ever loses his reputation, he is dead.

Billy is manically looking for a Quaker Oats box. He noticed as a kid every house had one and believes that the Quaker Oats man looks like God – therefore every box is just God looking down on them.

Marcus believes Billy is just looking for ways to avoid talking about his feelings to Petra. With a little push, Billy goes for it, and tells her… that he’s in love with her.

It goes horribly. Desperate to get out of the awkward situation, Petra grabs a shirtless Victor and takes him upstairs to have sex. Billy feels like utter shit.

At Date night, Chico and Maria have dinner at a fancy restaurant.  Maria mentions wanting to hang with her friends. Chico reminds her that everyone is an enemy. He mentions that he’s loved Maria since he was a boy and that in the end, all they have are each other in this world. Maria reminisces with Chico. They’re enjoying up until an old friend runs into Chico at the restaurant. He invites him to join them, much to Maria’s dismay.  

At the party Marcus drinks alone. Brooding and self-reflective, he realizes… why the hell is he trying to be a hero for everybody? What does impressing people get him?

In serendipitous timing, Brandy makes a racist comment.  Marcus’ throws his drink in her face. Saya pulls him to the side before a scene is made. She calls him out on his bullshit with Willie and the assignment, and how Marcus is hung up with guilt. He denies it – though it’s obvious she’s right.

Later in the evening, the drug dealer finally introduces his name: Dwight Shandy. They share some banter over marijuana, then hooks Marcus up with some weed – which he immediately smokes.

Finally, Shabnam returns… with 20,000 dollars. He looks for Brandy but is interrupted by Lex, who is now playing with a ridiculously large Dildo he’d found in Shabnam’s mother’s room. He flops it around and starts prodding guests with it until Shabnam pushes him down. Lex doesn’t take this kindly. He proceeds to beat Shabnam with his mom’s dildo. At least, until Saya intervenes and cuts it in two with her sword.

Marcus looks on at this spectacle, now stoned, and enjoying every hilarious minute of this. As an angry Lex storms off to cry, Victor arrives, completely naked, with some wise words of advice:

“There is old K.G.B. wisdom. Sometimes you are dildo, and sometimes, you are face.”

The cops show and break up the party. The lights and sirens bring back Marcus’ hallucination of Rory, who manically starts to laugh at him. Marcus has a breakdown. Willie grabs him and tells him that one of the cops just recognized him (Marcus is still wanted for murder). He takes Marcus in arm, and the duo hightail out of there.

After Dinner, Chico and Maria go into the car with Chico’s friend. Maria does some cocaine with Chico’s buddy in the backseat, ready to celebrate the night away. Suddenly, Chico pulls out a gun and shoots his friend in the head.

Wiping the blood off Maria’s face, Chico confesses that he knew about Marcus and her. How she tried to convince Marcus to murder Chico. Maria looks horrified. Chico threatens that even though he would never kill her because he loves her, if she pulls shit like that again… she’s going to wish he had.

The next day, Professor Lin takes Marcus to Rory’s funeral. Marcus is nudged forward to the procession. Admits that Rory stole, beat women, and hurt people. Rory’s Daughter tells him to go to hell, spitting in Marcus’ face.

Master Lin talks to Marcus. He knows Marcus killed Rory. Marcus finally admits that the guilt has been weighing on him. In a surprising move, Lin comforts him. He shows evidence of Rory’s multiple homicides. Reassuring Marcus, that he may have saved some lives by killing him. Lin tells Marcus he is proud of him, which picks up Marcus’ spirits.

Back at King’s Dominion, Lin takes Marcus to get his new room assignment. Marcus is moving in with Shabnam.

Later on, Saya gives Lin a report on Marcus. She’s been spying on him, reporting on his actions to Lin. She tells him the truth: that Marcus didn’t kill those kids at the boy’s home. Lin asks, “Then who did?”

We cut to a man with a messed-up face having sex with a goat. An officer catches him but gets hit by a ton of bricks overhead. The man tells the cop that he’s looking for Marcus.

The Takeaway

The episode leaves us on a cliffhanger. One that’s a faithful adaption to the comic book with its introduction of a new character. This episode was also, surprisingly almost all original material.

Although this was a solid episode in building up the world of the students and the style of the era, I was also taken aback by how all over the place it was. Oftentimes, the series feeling like it was meandering – with Marcus’ brooding and intervening a little too much at times.

When I’d first watched this one, I expected some tensions between factions. It’s a little strange how hated groups could come together for a party and I wanted the series to explore that – yet it’s mostly still our core gang.

I was also surprised by some character choices. Lex is a bit of an ass to everyone at the party, yet is also Billy and Petra’s friend? Likewise, Marcus has now become unhinged multiple times now: first swinging at Chico in the pilot, and now getting up in Willie’s face at the party. His hotheaded behavior seems a little at odds with his more brooding demeanor – though a lot of it is pent up guilt.

I also wasn’t a big fan of how they portrayed the ladies in this episode. Almost all of them are either hung up on Marcus, are racist, or are getting abused. Oddly enough, Petra hooking up with Victor might have been the most affirmative action performed by a female character this episode.

Final Score: 8/10

You can watch Deadly Class Wednesdays at 10pm on SYFY. Sneak preview of this episode here.

‘The Magicians’ Review: A New World Order

By
Nicole C
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1
THE MAGICIANS -- "A Flock of Lost Birds" Episode 401 -- Pictured: Olivia Taylor Dudley as Alice -- (Photo by: Eric Milner/SYFY)

In the season four premiere of Syfy’s ridiculously addictive modern fantasy, The Magicians, things have changed for Quentin and the gang after having their memories wiped and given new personas as ordinary people. The Library now controls magic and everyone needs to petition for allotments. Alice is still imprisoned and the creature from Blackspire is now roaming free after hitching a ride inside Eliot’s body.

Here are the biggest moments from tonight’s episode.

It’s a New School Year at Brakebills

The opening scene is a call back to season one when Quentin first gets his invitation to take the graduate program test Brakebills, except this time the potential new student is a woman named Kimber D’Antoni and instead of Eliot smoking a cigarette in a snappy vest it’s Todd! He even uses the same line and tells her that she’s late. Awwww. A very confused Kimber follows him and we are immediately clued in that this isn’t the Brakebills we know because Todd gives her a pro-tip to always be nice to Librarians since they control the good stuff. Inside the testing room, Kimber takes her seat and is greeted by Dean Fogg who explains that all questions will be answered eventually. However their task now was to finish this exam.

As test booklets are opened, Professor Lipson monitors their progress on an enchanted scoresheet and we see that poor Kimber is getting a lot of x’s. The faculty member comments to the dean that the one who short circuited the globe isn’t doing well. Fogg breezily replies that because their magical supplies tend to run low at the end of the day, it could be reason for that strange occurrence. He then takes a look at potential student through one of his lenses and it cracks. Lipson thinks they should mind wipe her but Fogg disagrees and that they should keep Kimber on for now. He also suddenly has a terrible headache. Audiences though get a look at her through the broken glass and big reveal, she’s actually Julia!

Alice is Still a Prisoner

Meanwhile, ex-niffin Alice is still being held against her will inside the Library at the Neitherlands. After breaking her agreement with them last season she’s been stuck as a prisoner with only a cellmate next door to communicate with. Zelda pays her a personal visit and brings bacon, the only food that is tempting enough to get the magician to end her hunger strike. Alice immediately knows that the librarian read her book and taunts the other woman about enjoying the part after where she and Q sleep together. The librarian doesn’t take the bait though and only comments that she can’t let the former Brakebills student starve. Alice gives in and takes a piece of bacon and then asks the other woman a question. Zelda doesn’t give her a chance to speak further and says no, Dean Fogg isn’t coming today.

But as Zelda walks back to her office, the dean is there hand delivering records of his newest batch of students as mandated by her group. She smiles and says that this is just a formality and that she trusts his judgment and method. However, she asks about Kimber because Professor Lipson reported that she caused a malfunction and the dean honestly answered he didn’t know what caused that. Zelda then adds that Alice is fine, just depressed and angry as always. Fogg notes that she’s fixated on the creature and worried for her friends, but the librarian brushes that concern aside. She then justifies that even though his students saved magic, The Order stepped in as oversight to make everything safer. Unfortunately, it seems that she would not be able to prevent Irene MacAllister from ensuring the questers silence should they ever resurface from their version of the witness protection program. He then comments that his one solace in all of this is that when his attempts to protect his students fail, their blood will be on her hands.

Kady is a Police Detective

Kady’s new identity turns out to be a tough as nails police detective named Sam Cunningham. We find her super pissed off that a guy she just busted got released for some unknown reason. Kady/Sam discovers that he’d been brought in six times previously and never ever got charged with anything. Her partner recommends that she drop it, but of course she can’t so she starts following the dude in question. He spots her easily of course and runs into a store where audiences are shown quickly that there is a star emblem at the door. Kady/Sam follows inside and she flashes her badge to the store clerk before heading to the back. She opens supply room door only to find a mirror with a red substance (probably blood) streaking down. Viewers know that the dude is likely a hedge witch and used the glass surface as a mirror bridge to portal out of there. When she goes back to the front to question the store employee, he shrugs and says that he must have not heard since he had headphones on. We then see that he too has a hedge witch star on his wrist. Kady/Sam’s intuition is tingling and she knows there’s something up with that symbol.

Back at the precinct, she starts to google star tattoos hoping to see the one she saw earlier but strange things start to happen. As she is able to find one that mentions hedge witches, her computer abruptly shorts circuits and shuts off. Kady/Sam then writes it down on a notepad when she suddenly knocks her coffee onto it. She heads to the evidence locker where the lights begin to crap out and she relies on her phone flashlight to look at a binder full of graffiti images. The detective finds the one she’s looking for and heads to the site. However, she herself is now being observed by the same guy she was chasing previously. After texting someone else, he uses a spell to try and figure out who she is and a powerful counteractive enchantment is enacted. Fogg’s work is indeed quite sophisticated since it seems that if Kady/Sam comes anywhere near direct contact with the magical world a series of preventative measures occur. If someone from the outside tries to tamper, they are forcefully stopped as well.

Kady/Sam is able to locate Mark (the perp) and he explains that he’s only selling charms and enhancements. He has no desire to poke into what kind of witness protection spell she has going on. As soon as Kady/Sam asked if they called themselves hedge witches, a cable satellite dish freakishly comes crashing down on them. Mark soon realizes that she has no idea what he’s talking about and shows her a protection medallion. She rips it from his neck and he runs away from her, only to be suddenly hit by a moving truck. Yikes.

Back at her desk, she decides to put on the amulet despite how crazy she feels to see if it actually works. Kady/Sam run a search for Jesamin Lili Cunningham and one result that comes up is a graphic novel entitled A Flock of Lost Birds: A Detective Sam Cunningham Story by James Tiberius R. Martin. She clicks on it and a cover image is brought up that shows her as Sam featuring Isaac Karimov (Josh) and Kimber D’Antoni (Julia) as well.

Margo Gets a Visit From Ember

Meanwhile Margo (as Janet) has fallen asleep at her desk and Ember’s voice is overheard telling her majesty to arise. She seemingly wakes up and heads for the door, only to find herself inside the throne room at Whitespire. Ember tells the high king to approach and we find out that he is a projection previously set up by the greatest god of Fillory that was triggered because some catastrophic event has happened to his world. Margo/Janet is confused AF because she has no idea what’s happening. She protests that she is a fashion editor not a king and clearly this message is not for her. Ember gets pissed and commands her to fix this now.

The next morning, Margo/Janet yells at her assistant to set up a meeting because the color correction on the model on the front cover of the magazine is horrendous. She also then complains about her eye seeing weird colors when Sophie hands her an eyepatch and explains that the doctor would be able to see her next week. Margo/Janet reluctantly takes it and starts adds a fashionable accessory to it. She then asks about the books she requested. The other woman remarks that she got locked of the Amazon account and she’s calling around but bookstores in the city are sold out of Fillory and Further. That’s not weird at all.

While walking inside the office, the editor is suddenly accosted by Kady/Sam who begins to explain that something really weird is happening to them. The person introduces herself as Sam Cunningham, a narcotics officer with Seattle PD then hands her a copy of A Flock of Lost Birds. Kady/Sam opens to a page with an illustration of Margo/Janet. It’s hard to convince the other woman but the police officer believes that Mark was indeed a hedge witch, that her life isn’t real because it’s all in this graphic novel, something was definitely done to them, and she knows that this all sounds crazy. As Kady/Sam asks Margo/Janet to confirm details of her life multiple lightbulbs erupt above them. Convinced, their goal now is to find the other characters in the book and figure out what the heck is happening.

The Library Jailed Santa Claus

Back at the Library, Alice’s next-door neighbor tries to a give a measure of comfort that he’s been in her shoes before and it’ll all be ok. He reveals that he was locked in there because he was trying to perfect a spell to find good children and reward them. Unfortunately, he needed a book that was locked in the Poison Room. Things obviously did not work out and he got caught by the Librarians for possession, murder, and other charges. Alice then asks if he’s Santa Claus and the man tells her to just call him Nick. He attempted to escape a few times in the beginning and even tried to kill himself the old-fashioned way. But his point was that he’s glad he’s still alive and that they’ll figure out a way out of there together. When she asks him why he cares, he responds with Christmas 2004, the pink diary her parents thought her brother got her and vice versa. Nick says that she’s good and he knows she hurt people, but she isn’t a bad person. This is actually a pretty important moment for her character because she had been struggling with the emotional repercussions from her time as a niffin.

Last season she decided that magic corrupts no matter what and that the world was better without it. Alice was even ready to drink Fogg’s potion to mind wipe herself and get an entirely new personality. It’s somewhat fitting though that she’s the only one of friends who knows the truth and has to live with the consequences of her actions in destroying the original keys that forced Julia to give her up power, leaving them vulnerable when Irene, the Library, and Dean Fogg showed up at Blackspire.

Nick makes her promise to hang in there and she does. However, in the next scene he’s calling out to her frantically and bellowing for help. We see that Alice somehow managed to slit her wrists and was on the floor bleeding out. A panicked Zelda comes in and the young magician is taken to the infirmary for healing. When she wakes up, she’s strapped to a kind of magical oven mitt and sees a cockroach crawling on the floor. For some inexplicable reason she goes after the insect and puts it into her mouth. The head librarian then comes in to check on her and we find out that she’s singled Alice out for rehabilitation because the younger woman has the potential to surpass Fogg, her father, and even Mayakovsky in abilities. Zelda understands that she hates it here but hopes that one day she’ll change her mind and join them.

As she is returns to her room, Alice spits out the little cockroach who survived the ordeal inside her mouth. Nick berates her for being stupid to pull off that stunt and she explains that she wasn’t trying to commit suicide. It was just a meant to help her figure out a way to get out of there.

Kimber Is a Squib?

Back at Brakebills, it’s discipline day and Kimber/Julia has gone to the dean to talk about her situation. Once again, this moment is a familiar one as back in season one, Quentin himself didn’t have a discipline for a while (until the fifth episode – minor mending). Since Fogg’s own spell is suppressing all of Kimber’s abilities and the poor student is wondering if the others are right that she’s a squib. The term squib is from the Harry Potter series and is a derogatory term for non-magical folks born into magical families. The deans tells her that she reminds him of another young woman who had a similar tenacious mind but he rejected her from the school. Left on her own she got very badly hurt and he just wasn’t willing to make that same mistake again. So he urges her to be patient.

Reunited Mostly

Kady/Sam and Margo/Janet are able to locate Isaac/Josh and DJ Hansel/Penny 23. Firstly, how much do I love that Hansel the model DJ from Zoolander is the basis for Penny 23’s alternate persona? The answer is a lot. They are unable to find Kimber (because she’s at Brakebills already), Nigel the illegitimate son of a British lord (presumably Eliot who is now being occupied by the creature), and Brian the English professor. The latter two have both been reported missing by their families. Margo/Janet suggests that they look for the author of the comic book, but Isaac/Josh says that it was written 14 years ago and he has memories from then so what does that even mean? DJ Hansel/Penny 23 asks if the guy who got hit by a truck is still alive because they could ask him some questions. He’s interrupted by the sudden appearance of Marina 23. She also got the hell out of her original timeline last season and she’s here to help them. Looks like she had been the person that Mark was texting under the name scorpion. Fitting description.

The hedge witch takes the group back to her stolen condo via mirror bridge and activates her wards. She then proceeds to try a revealing spell on them while holding the protective amulet, but it doesn’t work and they are all knocked out except for Marina 23. Unconscious, Margo/Janet returns to the dreamscape where Ember is once again waiting for her at the throne room inside Whitespire. The manifestation of the dead god is super annoyed of course that the high king still hasn’t fixed matters when she cries out that she’s in New York, not in Fillory. In that moment he thinks he can be super helpful by ending her to the other world. As Margo/Janet wakes up forreal in a forest, she is understandably freaking the hell out. We get an ominous viscous looking hand appear as another mysterious creature is watching her.

Creature Eliot is Super Creepy

Meanwhile, Creature Eliot is still with Quentin/Brian and the former prisoner of Blackspire is planning to kill someone in Greece for some grave deed. The powerful being is clearly very aware that a glamour has been placed on Q and even he is unable to break it, having to dance around and call the other man Brian but not really Brian. He then explains that he’s going to have to kill the guy’s friends and so it’s really better that the English professor has no idea what that’s all about. Creature Eliot then leans in and whispers I like you, offering his melting ice cream to the other man. A very disturbed Quentin/Brian leans in to have a bite, since he just witnessed a dude die from not saying there were sprinkles on the cold treat.

Final Thoughts

It’s ironic that in this season, Julia is the only student at Brakebills while the others are out fending for themselves as this is an exact opposite of how it was at the beginning of the series. Clearly Fogg has a soft spot for her even as he doesn’t know that Kimber is actually Julia at the moment. Or does he? It’s not clear if he actually saw the real her through the lens.

I’m also wondering what happened to the real Penny at the Library. His soul is still contracted to work for them so will we somehow get him back even though his original body is gone? But since he ate that cupcake last season does that mean that he can never leave the Underworld? It’s very Persephone and the pomegranate seed. Speaking of the Library, I hope we find out more about The Order and what their true goals are.

I also can’t wait to find out more about the creature of Blackspire and what his backstory is. Will The Magicians make me all emotional over another supposed baddie this season? Highly possible. In any case, Hale Appleman is slaying it and showing us this thoroughly disturbing yet childlike character.

Now that the show has been renewed for a season five as well, we can all collectively rejoice that this won’t be our last run. Till next week!

The Magicians airs on Syfy Wednesdays at 9 pm.

‘Wargroove’ Hits Switch, Xbox, and PC on February 1

By
Bilal Mian
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Wargroove

Wargroove, a turn-based strategy game from developer Chucklefish, is hitting Switch, Xbox, and PC on February 1. Players will be able to choose a commander and wage war on battling factions, using their “groove” to strategically sway the fight in their favor.

Highlighted in today’s Nintendo’s Indie Showcase, Wargroove aims to offer a modern take on popular handheld strategy game series, Advance Wars.

Chucklefish set out to create Wargroove after noticing nothing in the current console space filled the gap that the Advance Wars franchise left behind.

Wargroove

With Wargroove, Chucklefish “aims to recreate the charm and accessibility of the titles that inspired it whilst bringing modern technology into the formula.” Players can look forward to “high resolution pixel art, robust online play and deep modding capability, ultimately creating the most complete experience for Advance Wars and TBS fans.”

Players will also be able to design and share online their very own maps, cut-scenes and campaign stories with easy-to-use editors and in-depth customization tools.

Wargroove launches on February 1st on PC, Nintendo Switch, and Xbox One, priced at $19.99. A Playstation 4 version will be arriving soon after.

USA Renews ‘Suits’ for Ninth and Final Season

By
Bilal Mian
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Suits Final Season

USA Networks has renewed Suits for its ninth and final season. The final season will consist of ten episodes.

“Suits has played an instrumental role in our network’s DNA for nearly a decade,” said Chris McCumber, President, USA Network and SYFY. “I and everyone at USA Network sincerely thank Aaron Korsh, our partners at UCP and the entire Suits family for their tremendous creativity, devotion and support over a truly amazing run.”

Creator and Executive Producer, Aaron Korsh, released the following statement:


“Though I know it isn’t true, it seems like only yesterday USA Network took a chance on an unestablished writer’s very first hour long script. These days that’s a common thing, but forty seven years ago when I first wrote the Untitled Korsh Project, nobody did it. Nobody except the people at USA and UCP. First and foremost I would like to thank Alex Sepiol and Dennis Kim, without whom Suits would never have gotten made. I also cannot thank Bill McGoldrick, Jeff Wachtel, Bonnie Hammer, Chris McCumber, Ted Chervin, Dave Bartis, Gene Klein, Doug Liman, Dawn Olmstead and everyone at the network and studio enough for their dedication and support throughout the years. And to the exceptional writers, cast and crew – thank you for your passion and devotion, without which, Suits would be nothing. And last but never least, to the fans who have stuck with the Suits family through thick and thin, through can-openers and flashbacks – thank you for always speaking your mind. Without you, I might start to think I’m getting the hang of this writing thing. And once that happens, nobody wins. I look forward to enraging and hopefully sometimes delighting you with the final episodes. Finally, to my wife Kate and my children Cooper and Lucy. Thank you for enduring countless late nights and times away, for me to get to live my dream. I love you. Love, Aaron”

Suits returns tonight with the back half of Season 8, which finds Louis as the new managing partner of Zane Specter Litt. 

SYFY Renews ‘The Magicians’ for Season 5, Promotes Henry Alonso Myers to Co-Showrunner

By
Bilal Mian
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The Magicians Season 5

SYFY has renewed The Magicians for Season 5. The news arrives one day before the series returns for its fourth season.

“We couldn’t be happier or more excited to conjure another year of magic and all it entails — love, hate, loyalty, betrayal, sex, foul language, drugs, battling gods, monsters and the most dangerous enemies of all: other human beings,” said executive producers and co-showrunners, John McNamara and Sera Gamble in a press release.  “We have the best writers, producers, directors, cast and crew in the charted multiverse. Here’s how strongly we believe this: anyone who tries to poach a single one of them will be cursed. And we have the voodoo dolls to do it.”

Henry Alonso Myers, who has served as an Executive Producer and writer on the series, will also be joining McNamara and Gamble next season as a co-showrunner on The Magicians.

“Having been a fan of Lev’s books since before meeting with John and Sera, the opportunity to bring his world to life has been like a dream come true,” said Myers. “It’s rare in this business to find a combination of great material, great creative partners, and a phenomenal production team like ours. I’m not sure which particular dark magic landed me here, but I’ll be sure to keep doing all of it in secret, just in case.”

“Henry has been with the show since minute one of Season 1. His talent, professionalism and love of all things magical has been instrumental to our success. We couldn’t be happier to see him become co-showrunner. Also, he bakes the greatest bread this side of the Hudson River,” added McNamara and Gamble.

Based off the bestselling novels by Lev Grossman, The Magicians centers on a group of 20-something friends from Brakebills University as they discover their magical abilities and ward off evil creatures who threaten to destroy the magical world they’ve come to know.

Season 4 of The Magicians premieres on SYFY tomorrow, Wednesday, January 23 at 9/8c

‘Carmen Sandiego’ Review

By
Christian Angeles
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Last Friday, Netflix released a new Carmen Sandiego animated series based on the hit videogame and children’s animated series of the ’90s. It stars Jane the Virgin’s Gina Rodriguez, as Carmen Sandiego – a role she’s more than thrilled to be portraying, and Stranger Things’ Finn Wolfhard, as a teenager hacker going by the alias: Player.

The series is fantastic. Its animation is magically colorful, action sequences fluid, and environments both rich and beautiful. With a cavalcade of characters from various cultural backgrounds, well represented in the series’ globetrotting adventures.

What’s great about this iteration is that it’s smart but also doesn’t shy away from the action. More secret agent spy thriller than the traditional educational video game.

It all begins in untraditional fashion: with a two-part Carmen Sandiego origin story. Something groundbreaking for the series, as Carmen has always been a mysterious lady in red – little to nothing known about her cultural background or backstory.

Zack and Ivy (Left). Carmen. Shadowsan and Tigress (right).

In her origin story, we meet Carmen as an abandoned child. See her develop, play pranks, and grow as sort of a prototypical ‘blacksheep’ at Vile’s academy for thievery. She has mentors, best friends, and even a possible romantic interest? That is of course until things inevitably go awry, and Carmen has to leave the only home she’d ever known.

In this version, Carmen is a young adult, most likely late teens or early twenties. She is a good person – using her brilliance in espionage and tactics to play a robin hood figure of sorts.

The writing does a great job at modernizing the character. Making Carmen an incredibly well-rounded girl with an assortment of skills, but also someone human that the viewer can warm up to – especially when compared to the calculating yet cunning version of her character often portrayed throughout the decades.

Once the origin story is over, the series slides into its more episodic structure. One caper per episode, usually, with some geographic and historical details of each new location. We follow Carmen Sandiego as she travels all over the globe: France, Indonesia, Ecuador, Netherlands, Australia, India, and the US. With each handpicked location: historical backstories about priceless artifacts and fascinating geographical details.

There are also, cameos and callbacks to the original animated series and game shows. The criminal organization VILE returns serving as the series antagonists. As does ACME, whose mission it is to bring the VILE criminal underworld down. Zack and Ivy, of the original animated series, return as the brother and sister duo bent on aiding Carmen in her capers.

Likewise, the series also sees a slew of new regulars. In particular, slightly incompetent yet well-intentioned special agent Chase Devineaux, and his brilliant, albeit shy, partner Julia Argent. The two are on Carmen’s heels every episode yet always seem one step behind. There’s also the thrilling ninja, Paperstar – a character as equally deadly as she is creepy (played by Kimiko Glenn from Orange is the New Black and Spiderman: into the Spider-verse)

Netflix greenlit 20 episodes of the series. So far, season one has only dropped nine, meaning there is either a midseason break in the works or a second season to be debuted later – at Netflix’s whim.

Overall the series is well done and very detailed. Especially, the personal aspects of Carmen’s history. Do yourself a favor though, don’t look too much into the series online because the finale was so authentically surprising – even I didn’t see coming.

Overall, Carmen Sandiego is a beautifully redone reboot and I’m excited to see more episodes.

Final Score: 9/10

 

You can Watch ‘Carmen Sandiego’ Streaming on Netflix

Monomythic, Episode 5: Synopsis

By
Christian Angeles
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0

This episode is about writing a Synopsis

At this point, you should have an idea about the story you’re trying to write. If not, that’s okay, the next lesson will be on inspiration and world building – which is a good place to start with coming up with these ideas.

However, since we talked about loglines, I’d like to transition briefly into writing a synopsis. They usually go hand-in-hand with writing loglines. Afterward, I’ll also talk a little about pitching.

Lesson 5: SYNOPSIS

The synopsis should be a brief paragraph summarizing your series. It should highlight everything your logline wasn’t able to convey.

Obviously, that covers a lot of material, so I’ll go over the basics of what you should focus on.

Now, there are many ways to approach writing a synopsis. You can have an outline that you can highlight the bullet points of and summarize that way, or you can have a fully written treatment that you breakdown and pitch: selling the premise of your story.

In almost every method, you know what big points you want to sell about your series. Which is why I had you focus on loglines. A lot of the times you can write the synopsis based off them.

In episode 3, I wrote a logline with a brief synopsis below it. Here it is again.

 

 Synopsis of THE GHOST IN THE MACHINE:

“In a not so distant future, science has finally bridged the gap between mind and machine, creating specialized devices able to connect human minds through the internet. Immediately, it became adapted for use in corporate America: the ability to micromanage and network with individual workers, streamlining a new industrial complex.

The efficiency of America’s product development had made all forms of competition obsolete. The device, redefining industry standards, had expectations to expand release onto the global market. That is, until the death of Kensei Nakamoto, Japanese business tycoon and the first user of the device in Asia. His death has led to an FBI investigation of William Maven, the device’s charming yet despised innovator, who now seeks to find and fix the error in his experiment. But what William finds out about the machine is much more than he bargained for.”

 Now is this the strongest synopsis? No. I probably could’ve found a way to get to the point faster.

Here’s the thing: there are so many ways to write something more concisely in screenplays. In fact, you’ll soon learn that the art of script writing… is usually just shortening things and editing down to the point where your readers/producers/production team can run through it in a fast read through.

Unlike other forms of writing, screenplays serve as directions for teams of many people. How a screenplay reads to a producer, will be different to a director, actor, showrunner, lighting crew, and set designer. All of which serve different roles.

So being concise and to the point is key – but even then, methods differ by genre approaches. Writing a comedy is very different than writing a drama. I’ll get more into this in the future.

As for writing the synopsis of my logline, I wanted to touch on all the selling points of my screenplay. I do it, but to be honest, it’s still not the most direct. I could’ve done better.

For one, it’s a somewhat misleading title as Ghost in the Machine could very well be a story about a literal ghost living within a computer from the way I pitched it (Spoilers: It’s not. This confuses the genre being pitched. This is bad).

Secondly, I’m not really leaving much for the location scouts to work with. Usually a good script will take something like this into consideration – especially because elaborate locations = money spent.

Finally, I can see red flags about the world building already in this synopsis alone. Like why is this device only released in America, especially if it’s a corporate environment – where almost all dealings have some degree of international holdings involved?

And it’s true, I had problems with that in this story. But again, I wrote this in my early 20’s. I’ve learned a lot since then.

The goal of your synopsis should be to tell us the details you highlighted about your logline. It’ll never be perfect, but the goal is to have people not second questioning your pitch. Which is why, again, I bring it back to the formula:

 

HOW TO WRITE A SYNOPSIS

All you really need to do is elaborate on what you choose to represent in your logline. It’s just like we did for episode 4.

  1. Hero – Your protagonist with a flaw to fix by story’s end.
  2. Catalyst– The Call to adventure that brings them on the path.
  3. Midpoint– The middle of your story, the moment that best embodies your character’s change. The scenes where we are in the thick of this world you’ve built.
  4. Theme– Lesson of your story.
  5. Death– The undoing of your midpoint. The worst-case scenario. The thing your protagonist wants to avoid most.
  6. Antagonist– The thing that hinders your hero’s journey. Again sometimes, it’s more than a person it’s an embodiment of an idea or something our hero has been avoiding.

 

THE GHOST IN THE MACHINE 

 Logline (with points):

“The maker of the world’s first brain-to-brain neural network (Hero) comes under investigation (Catalyst) when a wealthy industrialist commits suicide (Midpoint, Death) while using his program (Antagonist).”

Synopsis:

“In a not so distant future, science has finally bridged the gap between mind and machine, creating specialized devices able to connect human minds through the internet (Midpoint). Immediately, it became adapted for use in corporate America: the ability to micromanage and network with individual workers, streamlining a new industrial complex. The efficiency of America’s product development had made all forms of competition obsolete. The device, redefining industry standards, had expectations to expand release onto the global market. That is, until the death of Kensei Nakamoto (Death), Japanese business tycoon and the first user of the device in Asia. His death has led to an FBI investigation of William Maven (Catalyst), the device’s charming yet despised innovator (Hero), who now seeks to find and fix (Midpoint) the error in his experiment (Antagonist).

 

All I wrote was built on what I had already used in my logline. Notice, that I added more elements to build the world of the story here. That’s what I was trying to pitch here, less the narrative and more the world that this takes place in. This is encouraged, as you want to convey what you find important about your story.  For a further breakdown based on what I already know about my story,  but you don’t, read onward:

 Hero – Charming yet despised innovator: William Maven. My Protagonist. The guy who I based off Tony Stark. Notice I also say he’s despised, as he basically changed the global economy – putting a lot of people out of the job. I mention this because your hero needs to be flawed. So, I figured, a very successful yet somewhat guilty feeling narcissist plays well for this story.

 Catalyst – The investigation. This is what kicks off our story. It forces William back into this world (He ’s early-retired. Living lavishly off his billions) and gets us through the plot of this story.

Midpoint – Find and Fix. The midpoint of this story has always been discovering what the ghost in the machine is and fixing whatever it was that caused Kensi Nakamoto to kill himself. To do so, we’re inevitably going to go deep into the intricacies of how the science works and see how far William will have to change – going from selfish narcissist to hero who needs to do the right thing to stop these deaths from happening.

Theme – Again, I didn’t mention the theme in this story. The reason being… is that the script plays with viewer’s expectations. It’s a mystery story. There is a huge twist at the end where we put all the evidence gathered together and realize: None of this is real. this entire thing is just one big messed up experiment gone wrong – sort of like the Bandersnatch episode of Black Mirror.

Death – Death of Kensei. Literally, the goal is to prevent people like Kensei Nakamoto from dying. However, it also serves a second function in this story. The more our hero learns about this mystery, the closer he comes to his own death.

Antagonist – His Experiment: The ghost in the machine. Which, inevitably is the truth behind the mystery.

 Now, these points I have in bold (Hero, Catalyst, Midpoint, Theme, Death, Antagonist) for both loglines and synopsis writing are actually very important. A lot of them represent different parts of the monomyth listed in the hero’s journey. They’re often used in just about every screenwriting book, though in different ways, shapes, and forms. Everyone seems to call them by their own names in a way, but you can tell what they’re trying to get across.

And that’s it. That’s all it takes to write a synopsis, just build on your logline.

Is this the only way to write a synopsis about a project? No. Case and point, let me use Black Mirror as an example:

 

BLACK MIRROR: BANDERSNATCH

Logline (with points):

A young programmer (hero) starts to question reality (catalyst) when he adapts (midpoint) a mad (death) writer’s fantasy novel into a video game (antagonist).

Hero – Young Programmer who created the game.

Catalyst – Starting to question reality, which gets us to questions and the thick of the episode.

Midpoint – Adapting the game and finding more and more ways to finish the game on time.

Theme – Again, notice no theme. Thrillers are difficult to add themes to as they usually involve twists and spoilers.

Death – The writer who tried to do this last time went mad. It’s also what our character would like to avoid.

Antagonist – Video Game itself: the tool that’s breaking our hero’s reality.

 

Synopsis:

“In Bandersnatch, viewers make decisions for the main character, the young programmer Stefan Butler (Fionn Whitehead) (Hero) who is adapting a fantasy choose-your-own-adventure novel into a video game (Catalyst) in 1984. Other characters include Mohan Thakur (Asim Chaudhry) and Colin Ritman (Will Poulter), both of whom work at a video game company, Butler’s father, Peter (Craig Parkinson) and Butler’s therapist, Dr. Haynes (Alice Lowe). The film is based on a planned Imagine Software video game of the same name which went unreleased after the company filed for bankruptcy (Death). It also alludes to Lewis Carroll‘s own works that feature the bandersnatch creature (Antagonist). A piece of science fiction and horror, Bandersnatch incorporates meta-commentary and rumination on free will.” (Theme) – Taken directly from Wikipedia.

Not a clean example but it gets the point across. You can cover issues in different ways and play with structure, the importance is that you highlight elements of your story. Now, is it fair to use Wikipedia as an example? No, not really. But in my defense, Wikipedia’s entire being is built upon writing synopses about virtually everything. And for all intents and purposes… this is very much Bandersnatch. Again, a synopsis is only as useful as its intention of the person reading it. Convey the information that you want to sell.

https://youtu.be/XM0xWpBYlNM

If you haven’t tried Black Mirror’s Bandersnatch yet, you should.

 

*Spoilers: The Ghost in the Machine*

I figured I’d add this for anyone curious about my movie that never got made or sold…

In my movie, the truth behind the mystery is that the experiment to bridge two minds directly through an electronic network was a failure. One of the subjects died. The other entered a coma – though with many of the other’s thoughts and memories. Parts of the dead person’s mind, slowly integrated into the living one.

This led to a mental schism of sorts. And a dream reality where the movie takes place in. William Maven isn’t real. He is an aspect of a nightmare, slowly getting the person dreaming this world to remember the truth and wake up. Solving the mystery, leads to William’s own inevitable demise, as he was never really a person. He also seems self-aware but it’s only because we’ve been watching the dream/movie unfold the way that it has: from his point of view. The Ghost in the Machine is actually the person dreaming, leaving hints to get themselves to wake up.

Funny thing is this idea came out before Black Mirror, but looking at it now, I think it would make for a solid Black Mirror episode.

*End Spoilers*

 

Anyway, to reiterate: to write a synopsis, elaborate a bit more of your story based off your loglines/the source of the material (If going by outline/treatment). Think about what your buyer would find most prospective and focus on that.

Be wary about length. A solid synopsis usually only runs one paragraph. You also don’t want to summarize the entire movie (Like what I wrote under spoilers, you would never pitch that to get your script produced. If anything, I’d pitch that ending in round 2 – if there is one).

Try This: Writing a Synopsis

  1. Straight to the point for this assignment: write a synopsis based off the logline you’d written for episode 4.

 

PITCHING

Pitching is a skill and not really something I’m the best at. If I was, I’d most likely be in Hollywood myself – writing coming of age dramas about kids who just want to belong somehow somewhere.

However, it’s important to be aware of this while writing a script. You can write a terrible script (please don’t) but can be amazing at pitching and still get your treatment sold (I’ve seen treatments that sold that were honestly, quite terrible in my opinion).

It’s a thing meets a separate but intricately related thing.

 This is going to be your bread and butter. It’s a method that has mixed results in the community, yet most of us screenwriters at some point and time used this to sell movies. You should know it because there’ll be an inevitable point where you’ll have to use it.

Ultimately, in order to convey your ideas in a concise manner, you’re going to have to narrow it down. Saying it’s a thing meets a thing, helps for two reasons:

  1. It conveys genre. It tells us if the movie is an action/drama/suspense/thriller by picking moves that are those genres, or even, a genre hybrid.

Example: 500 Days of a Summer is a romantic comedy.  It’s “Annie Hall meets When Harry Met Sally.”

  • The plot to Annie Hall is damn near identical. And the interview format for When Harry Met Sally is also utilized.
  • Both are stories about when a guy meets a girl and their relationship blossoms/ends – what they got out of the experience: the theme.

Though for producers, a thing meets a thing this just answers how they can sell this movie. The types of ratings it will get (Ratings are a killer for getting your movie produced. Rated MA movies are very hard to sell compared to a PG-13. Full list here).

  1. We now know it’s a romantic comedy. Sure we can just say it’s a romantic comedy, but for some mystical reason, people like to be reassured with something they’re familiar with. Hence, the thing meets a thing.

For ‘The Ghost In The Machine’, it’s Following meets Ghost in the Shell. For all intents and purposes, those two movies probably summarize it best. It tells you it’s a sci-fi movie. It also tells you it’s a mystery.

Don’t be afraid to talk about your idea to other people. Pitching to people is basically just getting familiar with conversation – and being proud of your ideas. There’s this bad miscaption in the screenwriting community that if you talk about your series, someone is inevitably going to steal from it. Sorry to tell you this but your idea isn’t that special. The script, maybe. You, definitely. Concepts and ideas though… those are free reign. You can read about it here, and even here. And, if you really don’t believe me: Here under ‘ideas’.

Truth is, there is no such thing as copyright on an idea. Everything is open for use. So, the best you can do is finish a script and then copyright that material. However, contracts do make a difference. Signing an NDA gives the person some protection – though even then, are you really going to have a studio sign an NDA before pitching your project?

Remember, these are people who read thousands of scripts a year. Unless you’re that established, it’s going to be a difficult battle.

Try This: Pitching

  1. You have the tools now so go for it: pitch your movie to a friend. Use your logline and newly written synopsis. Get some feedback, too.

That’s all for this week. Next week we’re going in a fun direction: Where to find Inspiration. Also, I’m going to talk about worldbuilding, which is also a very fun topic.

 

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