I am an Apex Predator. Does the lion feel bad killing the gazelle? Do people feel remorse when they kill a fly?

Hello I am the movie encyclopedia and if no one else will see it, I will.

I never really bought into the hype that surrounded this film. To me it just looked like another found footage film but this time with teenage superheroes learning how to harness their powers. I mean it was an intriguing enough premise that I knew I would go see it, but honestly I wasn't expecting much. Much to my delight my expectations were FAR exceeded and Chronicle is the best film I've seen this year so far. Granted it's still pretty early to be throwing that term out, but I'm pretty sure it will be on my Top 10 list this year.

The film follows Andrew, a troubled young teen who decides to start taping everything that goes on in his life. Whether it's because he thinks his life is really film worthy or because he's trying to find something to distract himself from the fact that he has an abusive, alcoholic father and a mother dying of cancer, it's up to the viewer really. He's constantly picked on because of his size (and the fact he carries around a camera) and his only "friend" is his cousin Matt, who would much rather he put down the camera and try to fit in with everyone else. One day, at a rave out in the middle of nowhere, Matt and his buddy Steve, the school quarterback and politician in the making, find a hole and convince Andrew to document what they find inside. They find what is inside the hole but before they can really get a good idea of what it is, they are knocked out and wake up outside the hole, but this time they have superpowers. Now they have to figure out what to do with these newly found powers and learn how to control them.

The story is interesting because it gets better as the film goes on. In fact if this film was a chart, it would be an upward slope. It starts off slow and kind of uninteresting but by the end it's an amazing character study/action film of troubled teens with superpowers. The screenplay is brilliantly handled, giving each main character their own struggles, feelings and grasp of the situation at hand and you really grow to care about these characters, even if they start to get a little loose around the seams towards the climax. The dialogue feels real, with only a few lines throughout that feel like "line" lines and the film progresses at a very nice pace, only stuttering a few times.

The acting, like the film, is also surprisingly good. The cast is relatively unknown, save for Michael Kelly as Andrew's father and Michael B. Jordan (from The Wire) as Steve but they all give really great performances. Dane DeHaan, who plays Andrew, is especially good considering his character goes from quiet to loud to crazy all within the span of 80 minutes and somehow keeps it relatively believable. You root for him and genuinely feel bad when something happens to him, in yet you can tell something is off about him. Alex Russell's Matt is also brilliantly done as he has sort of the opposite effect of Andrew's character. He starts off popular and ends up being a sweet and caring guy which is something you'd never think would come from him at the start of the film. The rest are great as well but Andrew and Matt really steal the show here.

One of the film's biggest successes lies in how it's technically done. It's a first person film (aka found footage film) but because of their superpowers, Andrew's editing skills (he's seen editing scenes from time to time) and the film not adhering to one single camera (there are multiple people with cameras) it's able to do things that no other film of it's type have been able to do and it adds a whole new dimension to how these films can be done. One of the big downfalls of this type of film is the shakiness and the need to stay in one static place. With this film there are swooping motions, back and forth quick cuts, hovering and above all else...barely any shakiness. From a cinematography standpoint this film is genius.

But films like these come with a price and that is my only real flaw with this movie: The Logic Questions. Why is Andrew taping everything? Why doesn't he put the camera down at certain points? Where did he get another camera? How was this footage found? How were they able to switch cameras (in the back and forth scenes)? Questions like these and more, as well as the short time in all these films that is spent explaining the camera and it's purpose (and most of the time, this film not being an exception, the reason is iffy), kind of take you out of the film if you try to overthink it. If you're willing to let those questions go and just enjoy the film it's not much of a problem but I did find myself wondering from time to time some of these questions.

Overall Chronicle is a great surprise of a film that I still think about today. Even if superhero/first person films aren't your thing, give this film a shot, it's worth every penny you spend.

MY VERDICT: TOP FILM (5 out of 5)

My Name is Might Have Been, My Name is Never Was

By Guest Writer Joanne Lewis-

Every year, dozens of TV shows are cancelled, most of them prematurely and to the chagrin of their viewers. The reason is usually down to money and ratings; scripted TV shows are more expensive to produce than reality TV or light entertainment shows, and are often watched by fewer people.

However, other factors like poor advertising of a show, drifting timeslots, or episodes aired out of order and put up against popular shows on other networks can also greatly contribute to a show’s lack of viewers. Curling up on your sofa bed and enjoying your favourite programme just isn't as effective at 4pm as it is after a hard day's work and many shows end up cancelled without having been given a fair chance, leaving what audience they gathered feeling cheated and longing for more, knowing they will never be granted it. 

Firefly

Many obscure shows often leave behind a devoted fan base upon cancellation, and few were more vehement in their outrage than the legion of Browncoats, the small but loyal fan base of Firefly. It helped that the showrunner was Joss Whedon, a self proclaimed geek who had previously built himself an army of devotees with Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel.

A seamless fusion of science fiction and western, Firefly had cattle ranches and saloons alongside hologrammatic communication and spaceships. Its technology, while futuristic, was still fallible and frequently broke down. Its characters were deep, flawed, and relatable, and instead of the typical paragons of society often seen in sci-fi, they were principally thieves and smugglers.

However, you should bear in mind that if it had survived longer, it’s possible that Dollhouse would not have come about and likely that Joss Whedon would not now be directing The Avengers.

Wonderfalls

Wonderfalls was a show about a twentysomething slacker named Jaye with no ambition to pursue a career of any sort, content to drift by in a dead-end retail job in a Niagara Falls gift shop. One day, without warning, inanimate objects in the form of animals begin talking to her, giving her cryptic commands to perform and not shutting up until she relents. Although the simple actions ended up helping people around her, their contrary nature caused Jaye to begin questioning her own sanity, along with everybody else.

Although no explanation was given as to why the animals started talking, how they knew what advice to give, or what they eventually hoped to achieve, the series would likely have developed in such a direction had it been allowed to continue beyond four episodes indiscriminately shuffled around in the schedule.

Jake 2.0

It’s possibly a little pretentious to describe a show as being ahead of its time, but in the case of Jake 2.0, you could make an attempt to argue the point.

It starred Christopher Gorham (Ugly Betty’s Henry) as a young geek who becomes mentally upgraded when the spoils of a secret government project are stolen and he ends up on the receiving end of them, subsequently being assigned an agency team of a gruff veteran, a hot girl and an authoritative older woman to monitor him as an experimental project to see how his abilities develop and ascertain if the recreation of the project is a possibility.

That may well sound quite familiar, but NBC’s Chuck came along some time later. Jake 2.0 was made back in 2003, a time when the world was less accepting of the concept of geeks as protagonists and even heroes. Thanks largely to the concurrent ascension of Judd Apatow and Seth Rogen, the idea has become firmly rooted in the popular consciousness and is now a standard set up. It‘s just a shame that the transition came too late for Jake.

Brimstone

When the phrase “Devil’s bounty hunter” is uttered, most people – if they think anything – will likely think of Ghost Rider. However, Brimstone is a world away from the histrionics of a leather-clad biker with a flaming skull.

The superbly monikered Ezekiel Stone was a police officer sent to hell for murdering his wife’s rapist, then offered a second chance at life by the Devil when a mass breakout from the underworld occurred and 113 souls escaped. Tasked to track them down – usually by a resurgence of the crimes that damned them – if Stone managed to send them all back, he would be free to live again.

Brimstone was notable for its supremely dark tone, but set apart by the intermittent verbal sparring between Stone and the Devil, each doing their best to one-up the other. While neither may have liked the situation that much, each was dependant on the other. 13 episodes were made, 12 souls were returned and a greater underlying mystery involving a rising antagonist was hinted at right before the plug was pulled.

Moonlight

Here is proof that just because something involves vampires, it does not necessary follow that it will become a great success story. Moonlight arrived shortly before the dual phenomenons of True Blood and Twilight induced stratospheric popularity for the bloodsucking undead, and did not resonate as powerfully with the viewing public. Additionally, its premise of vampire looking to attain redemption for past sins by working as a private detective might have edged too closely to the ground covered in previous shows like Angel, Blood Ties and Forever Knight.

Regardless, it was a fun and undemanding series that slightly twisted traditional vampire mythology in a way to streamline its relative logic, but not so much as to make it appear self-consciously defiant.

It aired twelve episodes before going on a three month hiatus in early 2008 as a victim of the Writers’ Strike, before returning with four episodes due to viewer demand. Sadly, this brief resurgence was not enough to save it and it was cancelled soon after.

Ghost Rider: Spirit Of Vengeance

 
  Ghost Rider 2 is like a mixed bowl of chips. You go to a party of there is a bowl of chips and it just so happens when the host was filling it with Sour Cream And Onion(your favorite), that bag was only halfway full and didn’t fill the bowl. So the host takes a whole bag of Salt And Vinegar(not your least favorite, but you would never buy them as a personal treat) and mixes it in with your Sour Cream + Onion. While you eating the Sour Cream, your happy, but while your eating the Salt and Vinegar, your not exactly satified, but your excited because you know as you dig further your going to get to your Sour Cream chips and be happy. Make sense? No. Fuck you.

    Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance is a as I said that mixed bowl. But let’s talk about the failings of the film first. The screenplay, credited to Story By David S. Goyer, Screenplay by Jim&Joe and David S. Goyer. Jim & Joe don’t matter, what matters is Goyer. Goyer is a writer whose name a movie suggests neither the greatness or terribleness of the film. His name means nothing. His name when it comes to direction means trouble. The Invisible, trash. Blade: Trinity, rubbish. The Unborn, the worst movie I have ever seen theatrically. A movie where even Gary Oldman is terrible. David S. Goyer is proof of the uselessness of most screenwriters. His name may be on the Nolan Batman films and the first two Blade films, but he’s hardly to thank.

    The problem with Ghost Rider: SOV lies within it’s script, within it’s story. William Goldman says that screenplays are really only structure and that the quality of writing doesn’t matter. Of course, he’s known a grumpy old man but taking that to heart as the job of the screenwriter, Goyer has done poorly. Neveldine/Taylor, the great directors of this film(and I mean that, great, I really think they are great and not at all the faults of this picture and the only reason it at all works but we’ll get to that). Yes, Goyer is able to give us ACTs 1-3(and in that order) yes there’s a story, but he is no wordsmith. Poor interactions between characters of just simple exposition. That’s all it is. I don’t think the man has any idea how to bring characters together other than by transferring the T2 relationship between the T-800 and John Connor to this film. Neveldine/Taylor are forced to direct scenes in which two people are talking exposition of they are not the directors to simply have two people standing or sitting, talking, unless someone is getting their nipple or elbow severed, or the main villain is tap dancing for no reason at all.

    The basic story of the film is that The Devil(Ciran Hinds) is getting weak in his human body and needs to transfer his power to little Danny boy, who happens to be his son. He employs, Carrigan(Johnny Whitworth) of whom eventually becomes the villain Blackout to find the boy. And then of course Ghost Rider needs to stop that with the promise from Charles Miner/Stringer/Luther/Idris Elba that his demon will be released and he will be a free man. The demon boy has a mother, Nadya, played but Olga Kurylenko’s twin Violante Placido, of whom has a past relationship of barely any concern to the film with Carrigan.

    The movie works and only works because of Neveldine/Taylor. The film is essentially Crank Lite. It’s Neveldine /Taylor tied down. The Crank films work because there are no limits. Severed elbows, fucking in the middle of a horse track, horse cock,  tap dancing bad guys, living heads inside a fish tank, full bodied Tourettes, a man electrocuting himself for 90 minutes to survive. The Crank films and Gamer are essentially video games. No Rules, no plausibility. Ghost Rider, a film involving demons and angels though apparently requires some sense of not so much plausibility as it does sanity. This seems like a case of directors being tied down and doing their best to get their signature style in. All their crazy camera work is certainly here but only a small amount of their humor, but when those scenes come, it’s quite satisfying(especially the flaming piss). They know Cage works when he’s crazy(Bad Lieutenant, Vampire’s Kiss, Leaving Las Vegas) and we get some moments of that and when it comes, it is so refreshing, but then come the scenes of story, of exposition. The film is too chained down but having to be a coherent semi-blockbuster that Mr. Ten Movies In The Cinema a year can take. The Crank films aren’t films for Mr. Ten Movies In The Cinema a year. What happens in this film is directors doing things they obviously don’t care for: a story that isn’t absurd(yes it’s absurd but it’s not meant to feel absurd, while the Crank films are all about feeling the absurdity of every moment), they’re directing scenes they are actually supposed to convey some sort of emotion(Gamer did this but Gamer they wrote). The problem is it feels like Neveldine/Taylor don’t care for the story, it feels like the would of loved to have written and made their own movie, but that sadly didn’t happen, but nonetheless, there are still a good amount of Neveldine/Taylorisms to somewhat satisfy and not make the film a complete mess.

    One problem that can be thrown their way is the action. There is certainly a quality to it, but the problem is Ghost Rider is essentially Superman. He simply throws his chain and baddies are ash. Of course when there is the Superman problem, the weakness has to be thrown to the fact that he must protect the boy and the child but a superhero fighting mere mortals takes away from any tension in the action. Yes, it’s fun to see bad guys freak out and not believe this demon guy, kicking their ass but even when it comes time for Ghost Rider to fight the super villain that is Blackout, it isn’t anymore special than two regular dudes fist fighting in the backyard.

    As for the performances, Nicolas Cage is Nicolas Cage. He’s great when he’s crazy(and thankfully we get some of that) but when he has to sit down and have a sane conversation with someone, obviously, he doesn’t care. He’s bored, I’m bored, we’re all bored. Cage is a great actor and a terrible one. Subtleness is not is mode. Charles Miner/Stringer/Luther/Idris Elba is somewhat enjoyable in his French accent but all in all, he’s a great TV actor, an acceptable film actor but he’s able to hold together the scenes of sane Cage and make them somewhat worthy of screen time. Johnny Whitworth as the villain Blackout? It’s something I’m sure some will say is terrible but some will say is enjoyable, but it certainly isn’t great. It felt the potential of that villain that should steal the show but never really does. He’s essentially the secondary villain behind The Devil/Rourke but he gets the job done enough. Ciran Hinds though seems to actually have taken his role quite seriously and ends up being the best part of the film. There is just something so fucking creepy about his face and with a face like that, The Devil is the perfect role. He is certainly miles better than Peter Fonda in the previous film. When it comes to the boy and his mother….well who cares. They’re there. The mom’s hot and that’s all she needs to do.

    All in all, I personally found the movie to be satisfying, of course that is going in to see it with the horribleness that is every review that is coming out. But that fact that they decided to screen it at Butt-Numb-A-Thon(not exactly Cannes) tells us that someone  at Sony had faith in this. Showing a film that is apparently terrible according to most people two months early seems like quite a risk.  Neveldine/Taylor seem somewhat proud of the film and there is enough of them in the film to show that. If you’re a fan of them, there’s a chance of enjoyment and I feel it might only be my fandom that made me enjoy this film., but it does give me worry that the guy who wrote this, wrote the new Superman film.