Stage and Screen

I'm going to share some thoughts about the differences between stage and screen.

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Red Dawn

I know! I saw a movie in theaters. Try not to faint.

So, as the time Mayans predicted as of the End of Days draws closer, I'm enjoying the current crop of post-apocalyptic worst-case-scenario movies.  

Though, I must admit, I didn't have a really high expectation when I went into the theaters for this 1984 remake. I was drawn by the attractive faces and the action sequences, I will freely admit that.

While both of those things were were really very well done (My, has Josh Peck grown into himself nicely), I found myself really engaging with the story. The group of kids that decide to wage war against the invading North Korean forces (The original was invading Soviet soldiers, hence the title), and they are never safe, can never really let their guard down. I was genuinely stressed out by this, in a good way. I always felt the tension that the characters felt.

Aside from the ever present and eternally boring girlfriend/boyfriend coupling that Hollywood always feels the need to thrust in the middle of a really good movie (Perhaps I'm just biased) I really genuinely enjoyed this movie. It fed my paranoia nicely.

Not that it needed any more ammunition in the first place, but that is beside the point.

Abduction

Every so often I like to treat myself to a truly awful action movie.

Just to keep myself honest.

There's something that extremely stimulating about a bad action movie to me. Not only because of the "I'm going to make fun of this until the sun sets", but also because it inspires me in my own writings.

I would love to write bad action movies when I grow up.

But I digress. On to the movie.

Thus, we see the bad action movie in its natural habitat.

Everything. Everything about this movie save for some actually legit fight scenes courtesy of Taylor Lautner, everything about this movie was done poorly. Even the title has nothing to do with the actual plotline. No one gets abducted. There is no real truth to be revealed. The female protagonist was a whimpering do nothing that literally had nothing to do but get into trouble so the man character had to come save her.

But what really gets me in the lack of emotional development of these characters. The main kid's "parents" die...right in front of him and there is literally no mourning time before he suddenly grows super secret agent powers and takes down the bad guys of the mysterious government agency that his "parents" were apart of.

Also, the ending was thoroughly unsatisfying. There is a special place in movie hell for movies that sacrifice quality resolution to shove in the opening to make a sequel. Drives me nuts.

I think where it mostly went wrong was the screenplay itself. The casting was not actually that bad, believe it or not, but the structure from which this project was made was thoroughly unsteady at best.

All in all, two hours of my life I will never get back.

It was great.

Baby Cat Films

Baby Cat Films, a set on Flickr.

My cat (aptly named The Baby Cat) likes to watch movies with me. He has some strong opinions

Slither

You know, as I perused the videos that I was thinking about renting, I must have passed over this one about 100 times.

This remains a very huge mistake of my youth.

This movie is a fantastic throwback monster movie. A zombie flick with true originality and spiced with just enough humor to make it interesting, it remains one of my favorite zombie movies of all time.

The plot centers around a small town in the south. Invaded by alien worms that need a host body, thus turning the population of a planet into slaves to its will. It's up to this small town's Sheriff and a few of the citizens to save the world from this worm creature.

Grotesque realism and delicious gore galore, this movie is a must-see for comedy and horror fans alike.

One piece of advice: Don't watch it while eating anything. This is a grave mistake you will not soon forget.

I'm Just Very Excited

Just a friendly reminder that Iron Man 3 is filming in North Carolina

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I'm just very excited. 

Anyway, that's all I had to say. Carry on.

I Have To

In the light of all the press surrounding the recent Twilight Saga, I feel it is my duty as a film blog to at least mention it.

Now, most of you by now have learned that I very much abhor these films. I couldn't ultimately care less about the books, but that's neither here nor there. I feel like the films are terrible enough, but also harmful to the young girls to which they are marketed. I feel that this this article from NPR Arts & Life section sums it up nicely.

Whoo, mention over. Glad that's done.

Warm Bodies

Okay, I don't usually do this, but I am very excited about this movie.

It's called Warm Bodies and it looks to help with my romance craving while simultaneously be my personal celebration to the ending of the Twilight franchise.

A lot to put on one movie, I realize, but I'm an optimist.

Likeable main characters, a female protagonist that I might actually engage with, really great looking special effects, and not to mention the kind of dark humor that I can't get enough of. I have to admit, this trailer has me hooked.

Whether I'm saying the same thing after I see it has yet to be seen.

I am quite fickle in that manner.

Show the Ladies Some Love

I think we have established from previous posts that I am a comic book fan. A long-suffering female comic book fan, but a fan nonetheless. There are certain things with female story arcs that I have had to grin and bear since I picked up my first Spider-man comic when I was 10.

Lately I have been really enthusiastic about the new Avengers franchise. The first movie was astounding and I'm really looking forward to seeing what comes out of the studios in the next few years. Whether it be Iron Man 3, Thor 2: The Dark World, Captain America: The Winter soldier, Guardians of the Galaxy, or eventually Avengers 2.

Then Marvel announced this.

An Ant-Man- movie? Really? Out of all the *cough* female *cough* Avengers they could have chosen to be the subject of their own film (ex. Ms. Marvel, She-Hulk, Tigra, Spider Woman), they had to choose the dude that changes size and talks to ants?

Granted, I've been wrong before about such things. The Iron Man movie chief among them. And handled correctly, I'm sure that it could be a great film, but I am tired time and again for female characters in any franchise not getting a fair shake. Is a female action hero such an oddity? Why can no one seem to make these kind of things work?

I look forward to this, loyal readers. A day when women aren't overlooked in the action movie industry.

Spring Awakening Revisited

If you'll recall in earlier posts, I mentioned a local production of the musical blockbuster Spring Awakening. Being unbiased about this production will not be easy, but in the days following closing night, I find myself feeling strongly about it, so I hope you'll allow me a few brief words.

The fantastic cast and crew I had the pleasure of working with was, of course, stellar. The music was incredible, fast paced when it needed to be and heartfelt when the need arose.

But I feel like there were quite a few things wrong with the script.

The text was adapted from a banned German play of the same name for the same subject matter. The story had a divergence that I'm not sure knew what it was trying to say. The character of Moritz comes to a tragic end after not having much character development in the first place. Melchior preaches about sexual education, but has dubious sexual consent sex in the hayloft with someone he supposedly cares about? Some of the characters on stage had no real storyline, just random bouts of shock value that I just couldn't engage with. The adults seemed like they were an afterthought and I think the decision to make them all played by two actors is a confusing and poor one.

In summary, great production (aside from myself), good music, but woefully poor play constitution.

Kiss Kiss Bang Bang

I think it's time now to pay homage to one of my favorite movies of all time. A film that I could watch over and over again and still not get tired of.

Yeah, I know I've said that before, but this is my blog and I'm feeling sentimental.

Anyway, the film I'm talking about is the film noir tribute entitled Kiss Kiss Bang Bang(2006)

A sordid tale of the more than slightly flustered Harry Lockhart, a small-time crook off the Hollywood for his big break. There he meets Gay Perry, a consultant, and his long lost love Harmony. Together they uncover the murder of a Los Angeles socialite that goes to the highest of the Hollywood elite.

With extraordinarily developed characters and an incredibly intricate plot, not to mention enough great dark humor to shake a stick at, this film is and always will be a permanent part of my video collection.

There. Now that wasn't so bad, was it?

Holiday Movie

I think, as the Jack-O-Lanterns slowly turn in on themselves and resemble one of my relatives that told me about what it was like during The  Great Depression, this is a great time to talk about favorite holiday movies. I think a favorite of mine would have to be the tried-and true favorite: The Nightmare before Christmas.

Not only does this movie no longer scare the crap out of me like it did when I was a child, but the characters and likable and the music is very well done. Also, I think it qualifies really well as both a Halloween and  Christmas tradition, so it's topical for months at a time.

So what do you think, loyal readers? Any holiday favorites you would like to share?

Snow White and the Hunstman

Can we talk about Snow White and the Huntsman for a second?

Just a second, I promise.

First of all, I couldn't be more stoked about the current fairytale trend in the entertainment industry. I love fairy tales. One of the biggest was "Snow White and the Huntsman" that came out earlier this year.

I really don't think this reboot of the well-known fantasy got a fair shake. Despite the truly unfortunate casting choice of the main character Snow White, played by Kristen "This is the only face I'm ever going to make so you might just want to get used to it because for some unknown reason I still get work." Stewart and a few accents that got a little wonky, I thought this was a thoroughly interesting movie. The visual aspects were really beautiful and I thought Charlize Theron's evil queen was suitably terrifying. Chris Hemsworth brought an ordinarily overlooked character in the Huntsman to a level of a protagonist that I was really rooting for.

Thinking about the screenplay after the fact, touting this piece as a "empowered" Snow White might have been a little patronizingly ambitious, but the story was interesting, if not a little bit unfocused. There were a lot of loose ends that seemed like they were there to add length/look pretty adn the ending was pretty abrupt. Still, the entertainment value was enough to satisfy me.

Okay, second over. Go back to happily ever after.

Iron Man

Okay, I think I should get a round of applause for my restraint on putting a bunch of superhero movies on this little blog of mine.

Because I love them. Good or bad. I love them.

Thank you, thank you.

That being said, restraint is now gone.

I recently re-watched one of my all-time favorites: Iron Man.

I'm talking about this movie out of all of the superhero films not only for the fact that it started a multi-movie blockbuster franchise by itself and with the Avengers, but also for the fact that I really think this movie rewrote what Superheroes were supposed to be about.

There was solid characterization and a very engaging plot, but this movie made superheroes fun again. Tony Stark is a great, multifaceted character with a whole lot of depth, but he's also a partier and keeps living his life along with the fact he's a superhero.

I found the character to be engaging and believable in a way I never thought of him before and to this day it is one of my favorites of all time.
 

Spring Awakening

At the risk of sounding like the worst kind of theater kid, I want to talk a little about Spring Awakening.

Now, this has been well-established as a blockbuster Broadway musical about teenagers navigating their wonderful, terrible sexual awakening in 19th century Germany.

The reason I bring this up is I'm currently working on a production of this at Washburn and I've been thinking a lot about the script and what it's about.

Reading through the script, I found the subject matter to be surprisingly topical, if only told in that melodramatic way that musicals are famous for. People having trouble with sexuality and watching to hide it, even what can happen when kids are not properly informed about what is happening to their biology. I'm not sure I can get behind the style of this type of media because I'm not sure I'm the type of actor that can get behind spontaneously bursting into song and dance, I think it's going to be a pretty great production.

Okay, I think I'm done self-promotion for a little bit. Go about your business.

Cloud 9

Venturing into contemporary dramatic literature can be rather traumatic to put it mildly. There are certain parts of yourself you have to suspend when you read these kind of things, and when you're done, you close to book, look up calmly, and have a mild outburst that is something along the lines of "The f**k did I just read?"

Now, when you push that feeling aside about these pieces of work and discuss these pieces and really analyze them, you can stretch yourself and really get to places you never really thought you could, really see into someone else's lives in a way you didn't think was possible. Intellectual push-ups, if you will.

Then again, I love plays.

I might be a dork. I've made my peace with this fact, if you're wondering.

I'm saying all this because I recently enjoyed a play entitled Cloud 9, a play by Caryl Churchill. It was a complicated play not necessarily in content, but in its intended execution. The first act is about a British family that is a part of the Victorian colonization of Africa. The second act takes place in London in the 1970s, but is 25 years later for the characters.

Yeah, you read that right. It is surprisingly seamless, if you're wondering.

Usually casting is not something the playwright has much influence with, but this play required some female characters to be played by men and some males to be played by women actresses. This is a creative decision that gave a strong illustration to how women, men, and sexuality is viewed in society.

Usually I like  to focus on performances, but this play was very striking to me.

Street Kings

Ah, gritty cop dramas. I don't think I will ever be able to get enough of you.

These things are very...uncomfortable. I think that's the best way I can put it. It's a subject matter that I know nothing about, therefore when watching these movies, i have a complete suspension of realities.

I bring this up because my copy of Street Kings became available at the library.

Yup. The library. Great place to get movies from. Check it out. For the low, low price of $0 you'll never get anything done again but be thoroughly entertained while doing it.

But I digress.

Street Kings features a tough as nails LAPD detective used to crawling through every underhanded loophole he can manage in the name of getting scum off the streets.

It's really fun to say stuff like that.

This troubled detective, no stranger to tragedy, investigates the violent death of his former estranged partner and gets thrown into the underbelly of the politics of enforcing the law.

I thought this movie was incredibly engaging. Despite the character's abrasiveness, I found myself rooting for them by the "Oh, my God, this can't end well" conclusion.

It's a hard life out there in the world of cop dramas. Watch your back.

The Losers

Anybody that knows me will tell you I have a special place in my heart for throwback action movies.
There's nothing quite so satisfying as a well put together (complete with gratuitous violence, against all odds victories, and a generous amount of one-liners).

My recent cheesy action movie fix was The Losers, a shoot-'em up action movie based on a graphic novel that came out in April 2010.

This film followed the formula that I stated earlier pretty closely. A military unit, victim of a betrayal and abandonment by their our United States government, turned influential psychotic villain named "Max" set about getting their revenge and clearing their names.

Now, anybody that sees the poster for this flick (shown above) is probably going to gather that it's not going to be in the running for any Oscars, but suspending your other intellectual, sipping fine wine and watching Citizen Kane movie-watching self for a moment, there's something to be said for some brain suspending entertainment. This movie was solid, the dialogue was easy most of the time, and I had a good time watching it.

The only real glaring issue was the ending. While I thought there was plenty of room for an ending that would tie up the movie nicely, but we are currently living in a culture of sequels and this made a dump-truck sized opening for one when it really wasn't needed. It was like it didn't have enough confidence to finish with itself. Even if there was a need for a sequel because the material was based off a comic book arc, it should have had an ending with a lot more resolution.

Still I highly recommend any movie with the tagline "Anyone else would be dead by now". How can that possibly go wrong?

Circle Mirror Transformation

I recently caught Washburn University's production of the bright and shiny new play Circle Mirror Transformation. The play is about an remedial acting class in a small fictitious town in Vermont. The people in the class get to know each other through the various acting games/activites that they participate in.

The production itself was very visually stimulating. The long sweeping lines of the set gives the audience the circular feeling. The acting and costumes were solid as well. Generally, the acting and the costumes were solid as well.

Mostly, where I thought the show as lacking was the script itself. This script composed of entirely too many scenes and when I say too many scenes, I mean upwards of fifty scenes all separated by a punctuating blackout. These blackouts came at times where there should have been character development, but unfortunately left the audience in the dark as to who these people were. While this seems like a little thing, I was left with a lethargy about their conflicts and relationships and ultimately didn't care about where the play went. I found the script rather shallow.

Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip

I've recently been re-watching one of my favorite TV shows of all time and just like a few other of my favorite TV shows of all time, it was only on the air for a short time.

  
Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip was a TV show created by Aaron Sorkin about a TV show that debuted on NBC in 2006. It chronicled the ins and outs of a late night comedy sketch program of the same name. Despite its short time on the air, it had developed characters and a focused plot line accented with other story arcs as well. While it had a little bit of fault with preachy content and some overwrought story lines, I feel it's one of the lesser appreciated shows that has been on the air, much like Sorkin's earlier TV series, Sports Night

Intro

Hello, all. My name is Arissa L. Utemark. I'm an undergraduate film student at Washburn and hope to continue my education in Playwriting/Screenwriting. I was a playwriting finalist in The Center of the World Festival in 2011 and have had my work produced on Washburn University's stage in a production in 2012.

While most of my acting/writing experience has been in live theatre, I have a passion for film and have been watching them all of my life.

For the most part I will be focusing my journals on story structure, with a few other aspects of a creative work for analysis.

Stay tuned.