You’d be hard pressed to find a large collection of people that are not looking forward to J.J. Abrams’ Star Wars: Episode VII. Similarly in my opinion, you’d be hard pressed to find a geek that wouldn’t want to be directly associated with the project especially in an acting role. Well today might indeed be every geek’s lucky day as Disney is now accepting video submissions for two roles in what is rumored to be Star Wars Episode VII.
It is important to note that it is not yet known in any indisputable way that it is for the new Star Wars, but the feeling leans toward it being the case. The roles are for Rachel, a girl 17 to 18 years of age and described as smart, beautiful and athletic. The other, Thomas, a young man between the ages of 19 and 23 described as handsome and athletic. These video submissions run hand in hand with open in person auditions being held in the U.K., Chicago, Nashville, Austin, TX and Troy, MI.
Nerds all over the world will likely be firing up their webcams, busting out their homemade lightsabers and practicing ‘The Force’ in efforts of earning a spot in the highly anticipated new addition to a beloved geek franchise. If it turns out that this is indeed for the new Star Wars I think it’s very cool to give your everyday geeks the hope at appearing in something they love so dearly. If it’s not for the new film, let’s just hope that no one ends up being a new internet meme like Star Wars Kid.
Will you be submitting yourself for one of these roles? Do you think it is actually for the new Star Wars? Sound off in the comments below!
Theme parks are such an interesting phenomenon. It’s a place to celebrate culture and technology, as well as, you know, cashing in on the the novelty value of properties. But hey, that doesn’t mean business can’t be fun right? Well that’s the idea behind Lionsgate Studio’s pushing a Hunger Games theme park.
“What’s that? The Hunger Games made what kind of money?! Well shit! Let’s turn that in to a theme park! That’s the next logical step to take right?”
Alas, this idea doesn’t sound too great on paper. There’s nothing about The Hunger Games that screams the happiest place on earth. Although, if they were going to take this route, we have made a list of demands that you could see here if you haven’t read it already.
Despite that list, we’re still confused as to why this Hungry Theme Park would even be a thing. Then we got to thinking… What other franchises would make BAD-ASS theme parks? So as a sequel to our previous article, we shall call this one Theme Parks 2: The Theme Parkening!
Nintendo World
This one is so obvious, that we’re almost embarrassed to even mention this on the list. I mean come on! There is such a vast universe here that is BEGGING to be made in to a theme park. You could have the Donkey Kong Konga River Ride, and sit in a barrel that goes through the rapids and madness of the Donkey Kong Country. Instead of the Disney signature castle, they could have the Hyrule Castle, and at the top, have Ganondorf at the top holding the princes like King Kong. What about having a Mario-Kart ride?! And go through the psychedelic ‘Rainbow Road’ race track! Of course, you could just take massive amounts of LSD and go-karting…
Joker’s Funland
I don’t know about you, but we here at One of Us sometimes like to ride the crazy train. Whether it’s long hours of recording and editing, or sitting at our keyboards staring in to the void of the abyss that is an empty shot glass, sometimes we begin twitch and laugh. Sure, Joker’s Funland would be probably a bit creepy, but sometimes creepy and crazy can be fun! All the staff members could dress up like the Joker’s goons, and in each ride, it would be set up as the Joker trying to kill you with demented carnival games. At the end of each ride, we hear him say some snarky remark of how disappointed he is that you’re still alive.
Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs
If you watched any of the Cloudy films, you would know how wildly creative they are. Not just on a story level, but especially on a visual level. Spaghetti tornadoes, pizza jets, and ice cream winter wonderlands, there is no shortage of material to work with. There is so much potential here to do parodies of other franchises using food also. Like Jurassic Park where we could ride Steakosauruses or flying carrotdactyls! We could also travel to outer space via spaaaaaaaace chiiiiips! If you need to get there fast, you can ride the coffee espresso train! And you know those spinning swing rides? Yeah, the top of the carousel could be a giant meatball, and the swings could be noodles. Of course, these are just our pastalation, as to what a park like this would be like.
Brutal Legend
This one is a bit tricky, only because this game is very under appreciated. Those of you who don’t know, Brutal Legends is a game that stars Jack Black as our tenacious guitar wielding character, that serves as a hellish love letter to everything righteous and freakin’ metal! Granted, this one would be a bit niche, but you know what? We want a theme park geared towards adults, and the universe created in Brutal Legends would be pretty sick. Stumbling drunkenly through the desolate plains of Beerhenge, or riding a highspeed death trap entitled the ‘Thunderhorn’, this place would be filled with hellish twisted metal architecture. Icing on the cake would be Ozzy Osbourne as the park’s announcer. That would seriously melt some face.
Ghibli Studios
This is the number one thing that baffles us the most, as to how this isn’t even a thing already. Sure, there is a Studio Ghibli museum, but there isn’t a full on THEME PARK dedicated to this body of work. Hayao Miyazaki has been hailed as the Walt Disney of Japan, so why isn’t there a Miyazaki Land? The characters he has created has become so iconic in both American and Japanese culture, and the novelty they have acquired is just as much as anything Disney has created. I mean come on! A Howl’s Moving Caslte ride is a given. Or have a spa and buffet place like in Spirited Away. Perhaps we could have a Cat Bus Rollercoaster? Or a Ponyo deep sea thrill ride! Or a Kiki’s Delivery Service big flight adventure done in the same vein as Star Tours, in that motion simulator ride style. Somebody stop us! Or else we’ll keep going!
So now we’ll leave it up to you fellow OOUies. What are your theme park ideas? Whatever they are, comment below and let One of Us know! Also, if you haven’t already (which if you haven’t WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU?!?!) check out our Audio drama by clicking the picture below… in spaaaaaaaaace!
Behold, The Pre-Weekend Recap rises from the mist once again! It’s starting to get cold outside, the sun’s going down incredibly fast, and jumping in the leaves loses its novelty after a few minutes. Instead of going outside, why not stay in and sit down with some fantastic One of Us content over the weekend?
Tell you what, I’ll even give you a few suggestions of which of this week’s features to start with, free of charge. I’m too nice for my own good sometimes.
Write A Movie With Us: Week 3
Write A Movie With Us, our collaborative script-writing project is in its third week! You and your fellow scribes will be making a huge decision this week because it is time to choose the plot of your crowd-sourced horror film. Your friendly neighborhood Scotsman and leader of the WAMWU project, Mr. Chris Harrison, has distilled the past two weeks of conversation into three different pitches. Take a look at each one, talk about the finer points of the three, and finally, give your vote and endorse your preferred option. Your voice has a great deal of influence here, so don’t let the opportunity slip past you. Get into the writers’ room now!
The INTERN-Net Show: Episode 6
You have to hand it to Chris Harrison, the dude is always busy producing top-quality material for all you kids out there. Not only is he running WAMWU like a pro, he also is the mad genius behind The INTERN-Net Show, a weekly discussion of the geeky news out there all over the world. This week’s edition is all about Doctor Who, the Saw franchise, Batman’s main man Nightwing, and a new segment called “In Defense Of…,” where Chris presents some unpopular endorsements of much-reviled media. This episode is definitely one of the books!
Introducing Our Newest Blog: Meet Ash & Fern!
We added two new members to the family this week, the aforementioned Ash and Fern! These self-described buddy cops of geekdom have an wide range of interests, some among them include the U.S. Men’s Soccer Team, Battlestar Galactica, geometry puns, Lord of the Rings, and of course, blogging! Get to know Ash and Fern by clicking on the image above and get hyped for the chronicles of their various adventures, featured right here on One of Us!
Mind Crafts: How to Make a Gus, a.k.a. “Sweet Tooth,” Costume
Mind Crafts, our premiere geek-influenced hobby show, is back with its second episode! This time, the talented and creative Ashley Moreno is here to show you how to replicate her Halloween costume from this year: Gus from Jeff Lemire’s acclaimed comic series, Sweet Tooth. Look, everyone’s wanted to dress up as a deer-boy hybrid freak living in a post-apocalyptic wasteland at least once. Now, you’ll finally learn how to make your latent dream a reality! In addition, Ashley’s opening up the Mind Crafts Mail Bag, so be sure to send her a ton of great questions and comments!
For Veterans Day: Our 5 Favorite Cinematic Soldiers
On Monday, the United States celebrated Veterans Day, a solemn occasion dedicated to those who have fought in the conflicts our nation has faced throughout its history. A few members of the One of Us team marked the holiday by talking about the cinematic soldiers we admire and how their onscreen deeds made us appreciate the veterans of the real world. Check out our selections, feel free to add one of your own in the comments, and be sure to thank a veteran for volunteering to defend and protect this land and its citizens.
Art Contest: You Decide the Winner! Vote Now!
The art contest submission process was a resounding success. A great number of fantastic works came into the contest inbox. In fact, there were so many incredible submissions, we were simply unable to pick a winner. Thus, through the power of delegation, the responsibility to make the call comes to you! Click the image above to see the six finalists for the art contest and vote for your pick by leaving the number in the comment section. We’ll be counting the votes next week, so don’t delay on the democratic process!
That ought to do it for this week! Don’t forget, the first two episodes of One of Us’ exclusive audio drama, Infinite Variations, is available to you, completely free of charge! All you have to do is click the image below and enjoy the adventure, so get to it! Have a stellar weekend!
On the off chance there are any Fifty Shades of Grey fans out there jonesin’ for their fix of the upcoming S&M fest that the film will be, I’ve found three nuggets of info to tweak your naughty bits. I’m willing to bet this will be on the more painful than pleasurable side of news for fans whose blood is rushing in anticipation for the adaptation, but first off is that the production has been delayed and the release date for the film is now set for Valentine’s Day 2015 instead of August 1, 2014.
The departure of Charlie Hunnam and recasting seems to be the likely cause of the production delay, but other factors played into the decision on the release date- not the least of which being that it would be competing with Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy. Secondly, the series’ author E L James gave a brief interview with Entertainment Weekly in which she divulged that she was “terrified” about the upcoming production of the film. Her fears about the production based on the interview seem to be based entirely on how fans will react to the film and if it’s anything less than satisfactory, she believes they will hold her responsible.
Lastly, a slew of the first character photos have been released by EW showing the newly cast Jamie Doman as Christian Grey and Dakota Johnson as Anastasia Steele. Now, I have never read the books nor do I have any vested interest in this film, but the photos as previously mentioned…yawn. Everything about this film so far is boring to me even when Charlie Hunnam was cast to play the male lead. Doman does look to have the smoldering good looks the ladies will enjoy, but Johnson looks as though she has been cast in some inexplicable Twilight remake. I suppose given the book series started out as Twilight fan fiction that maybe that was the point from the beginning.
I can’t quite get tap into the mindset of a fan of the series to give a helpful opinion about rather or not these two fit the description of the character. I will say this those, in the photos of them together I already don’t quite see the chemistry- granted these are very earlier shots of them in character.
Have you read the Fifty Shades of Grey books? Are you looking forward to the movie? What do you think of the first character photos? Let us know on the comments!
Part of my early morning ritual is to hop on my computer and check a few things such as Facebook. Seeing a link to a new video from the BBC on the Doctor Who 5oth Anniversary titled The Night of the Doctor, I clicked on it not expecting much. Almost all the promotional videos had been cool, but extremely light on actual content, so what bit of importance could this little video possibly bring?
Then for the next six and a half minutes I watched in utter silence and awe as the awesomeness unrolled before me.
I knew what I had to do! I had to cover this for One Of Us! I immediately shot an e-mail off to our news editor, the mighty Chris Harrison, asking to be the person to cover this! There was just one problem,
I had to go to work.
As soon as my first break came around headed straight for my e-mail and felt my heart sink as I saw Chris contacting me back to say he had to put something up and he couldn’t wait for me.
Then I saw that he would let me do a reaction piece on The Night of the Doctor…
Chris Harrison, Coolest Person in the History of Ever!
and all was once again right with the world!
Now I’m going heavy into spoilers on this sucker, so for all two of you who haven’t seen it here is the video so we can get you up to speed:
First thing I noticed was cheap effects and the small and basic design of the sets, but as a fan of classic Doctor Who, where the effects the effects were always crap and a stiff breeze could knock over a set, the broke-ass nature of it all was actually endearing. The introduction to the Doctor was great as we hear his voice a split second before we see him. Even though I knew that voice my brain tried to pass it off as an audio fluke, but then there he was in all his greatness, the Doctor, Paul McGann. That opening line of his “I’m a Doctor, but not the one you were expecting” was pure gold as it fit into the story as well as giving a wink to the audience who were expecting Matt Smith.
It also was at McGann’s introduction where my jaw first dropped.
One thing I do find confusing is the Doctor wearing a disheveled version of his outfit from the 1996 TV movie. It is odd to see because it is widely accepted that towards the tail end of his run the Eighth Doctor adopted a different look. They do let the version we see in the short keep the shorter hair, but they opted for a beaten up version of the Wild Bill Hickok look over the leather coat. I would have preferred to see the leather coat, but as the song says “You can’t always get what you want.”
In the beginning Heading towards the end
Cass was quickly introduced and fell into a rhythm with the Doctor almost immediately, until she finds out he is a Time Lord anyways. You know in just a few brief moments that she is exactly the kind of person the Doctor would have asked to be his companion. Her refusal to be saved by him is very telling. She is unwilling to accept his aid once she sees his TARDIS and sees no difference between the Doctor and his most hated enemies, the Daleks. She chooses death rather than his help and only becomes more resolute once the Doctor claims he’s staying with her, excited at the prospect of ridding the universe of even one Time Lord. The Doctor does stay, he could easily run away, but he doesn’t. He going to stand and fight desperately to save her and prove to her as well as himself that that he isn’t the bad guy.
They crash. They die. This is how bad the Time War has become.
They crash on Karn where the Doctor is revived however briefly by the Sisterhood of Karn. We first met the Sisterhood in the Fourth Doctor classic, The Brains of Morbius and the Eighth Doctor had dealings with them in the Big Finish productions Sisters of the Flame and The Vengeance of Morbius. They are a strange and powerful sect who have had tenuous ties to the Time Lords since the very beginning of the Time Lords’ rise to power.
“But wait a minute,” I hear some of you saying, “aren’t the Big Finish stories non-canon?” More on this in a second.
The Doctor has only four minutes of life unless the Sisterhood trigger his regeneration, the Sisterhood in return only ask that he get off his butt and do something to end the war. The whole set-up felt very Babylon 5 considering what happens to John Sheridan in the middle of the series, but that’s another topic for another day. Number Eight of course rejects the idea, he’s had no part of of the war so far and sees nothing to be gained by his inclusion, so death suits him just fine. The Sisters counter with the argument of how many have died due to his inaction and that if he dies here all of time and space will eventually burn.
Looking down at the corpse of Cass the Doctor’s hearts fill with sadness. Remember folks this is a man whose saved whole planets, galaxies, and indeed often the universe itself realizing that he’s been reduced to the point where he can’t even save one person. One more beautiful soul lost to a pointless war that he by staying out of the conflict has allowed to continue.
Being the Doctor just wasn’t enough anymore.
Only by damning himself and abandoning the principles that made him the Doctor could this man end the horror around him. He picks the word “warrior” because in his mind it is the furthest thing from what he is. Although the Doctor has been in many battles, he has always rejected the notion that he was in any way a warrior, but that is the word he uses now. The Doctor is glad when he hears that the change will hurt, he feels that to become what he needs to be should be painful.
Alone now, the Doctor looks back on all the people who traveled with him in this incarnation, he toasts to “Charley, C’rizz, Lucie, Tamsin and Molly”. It was at this point my jaw dropped again as Moffat & Co. had just went and made all the Big Finish Eighth Doctor companions now canon with the main series. To Cass he can only apologize, for failing to save her and the fact that he will now truly become the very thing she so hated. the Eighth Doctor drinks, triggering his regeneration, and the man that stands back up is a young version of the John Hurt Doctor proclaiming “Doctor, no more”.
I think my little monkey mind short circuited at this point.
In six or so minutes so many questions were answered, some of them stretching back all the way to when the show relaunched in 2005. The ultimate fate of the Eighth Doctor had been debated for years was now revealed. There also was much fan speculation that the The Doctor regenerated into the Eccleston version at the end of the Time War, which this short seems to also confirm.
I’d love to keep adding to this and going into greater detail, but I’ve been working on it so long that it is once again time for me to go to work.
Stupid bill paying employment.
What were your favorite parts of the short? Let us know in the comments below. Let me also throw in a plug for my own review series here on the site, Big Finishing Move, where I look at Big Finish audio dramas. I’ll have many important announcements in the next installment, some of which pertain to the Eighth Doctor!
On this week’s show, the denizens of that gymnasium tardis discuss the already intriguing NCAA basketball scene, with the top two freshmen prospects going head-to-head: Duke’s Jabari Parker vs. Kansas’ Andrew “Ender” Wiggins.
We also force Elliott to play The Crossover and welcome back our guest co-host Tyler Mager who outlines a very interesting theory about the nature of the St. Louis Rams’ victory over the Colts. All that, plus jokes.
Show Breakdown…
The Crossover (5:22)
Elliott proves that not everyone is cut out to play our movie news/sports news hybrid game show.
Topics Discussed: Drew Goddard writing Daredevil series, Adios Ed Reed, NBA attempting to undo their biggest gaffe of all time, Lars Von Trier must trim his sex flick, Study suggests PG-13 movies more violent than R-rated movies, Jerry Jones has fire remorse, and Yahoo! creates fake 30 for 30 ESPN documentary on the final game from Space Jam.
Too Old For This Shit (34:20)
Still not sure what this celebration dance is or where it came from. All we know is that after seeing multiple players on multiple teams execute it awkwardly on Sunday, we’d like to see it retired.
Main Topic: NCAAB, NBA, and NFL Recaps and Awards (38:05)
“Ender” Wiggins vs. “Big Haircut” Parker, the developing NBA landscape, and of course, the NFL awards…
(Just call me Blake Gif-fin)
He Might Be a Cyborg: Drew Brees (62:50)
Not that it takes a lot to make the Cowboys look silly these days, but Drew Brees initiated the Sonic Death Ray that is his arm and dropped megatons of embarrassment on “America’s Team.”
Weekly Fantasy Report (90:32)
Who’s in the lead? Who were our Rudies and Fredos this week? How is the playoff picture shaping up?
The ITL Pensieve (111:35)
J.C.’s meteoric rise continues while Brian drops to third place and just one game ahead of Elliott…OF ELLIOTT!!!
Current Pensieve Standings…
J.C.–88-47
Adam (Tyler as Proxy)–81-53
Brian–79-54
Elliott–78-56
Make sure to follow us all on Twitter!! Do so and you’ll at least be as cool as this guy…
Board the ark and brace yourselves for a natural disaster more disturbing than Evan Almighty, because the trailer for Darren Aronofsky’s Noah has just hit the internet.
Based on the biblical tale, Noah follows the titular Patriarch (Russell Crowe), a man who sees visions of the end of the world in a giant flood. Noah attempts to convince his people of the oncoming catastrophe, but he is cast out by his village (lead by Ray Winstone) for his “crazed rants” along with the rest of his family. Said family, which includes his grandfather (Anthony Hopkins), his wife (Jennifer Connelly), his sons (Logan Lerman and Douglas Booth) and his adopted daughter (Emma Watson), must now fend for themselves in the wilderness, where Noah seeks to build his ark and save his family (along with an animal or two… of every kind) from the flood. The trailer can be viewed below;
Now, I’m not a religious man myself. Most of my biblical knowledge comes from Veggie Tales and The Prince of Egypt. However, I (like most) am familiar with the story of Noah and his ark, which is why I questioned Aronofsky’s initial interest in the biblical tale. Aside from the obvious spectacle of the flood, I wondered what drew him and the all star cast to this project story. Then this trailer comes long and it hits me; this totally fits as material for Aronofsky to cover.
I can hear a few readers now (unless those are just the voices in my head) crying out “But Thomas, this is certainly a change of pace for the man behind Black Swan and Requiem for a Dream!” Sure, the fact that it’s a biblical epic with heavy special effects might seem like something totally out of Aronofsky’s wheelhouse at face value. However, the trailer gives hints of themes familiar to the director’s earlier works; visions, question of sanity, our main character being outcasted from society, mad obsession, etc. Aronofsky appears to be taking these themes he loves to explore and applying them to a story that is both universally recognizable and palpable material for a huge blockbuster. Who’s to say that the struggles of Noah has with his visions can’t parallel Nina’s struggles with her psychotic breakdown in Black Swan? Or that the exile of Noah and his family won’t mirror Randy “The Ram” Robinson’s displacement from the modern world in The Wrestler? Or that eventual rebirth of the world won’t recall the reincarnations of Thomas in The Fountain? Maybe I’m reading a bit too much into this, but I can see the familiar signs with scenes like the one of Ray Winestone casting the Noah family out or Noah waking up from a haunting vision.
On a more trailer specific note, it looks as if the budget is all there on the screen. The expansive flood destruction, plentiful variety of animals and massive size of the ark all give the film this grand sense of scale. Plus, the performers seem like they’re giving it their all, particularly Russell Crowe, Anthony Hopkins and Ray Winestone in any of the scenes where they’re confronting each other. They don’t seem like subtle performances, but they’re performances that fit the giant nature of this end/rebirth of the world story. I may not be a religious man, but I can appreciate a story with the appropriate amount of powerful steaks and emotional turmoil, which seems to be present in the trailer. So, if it wasn’t obvious before, I’m fully onboard with seeing this latest vision from Darren Aronofsky come to life.
But what do you all think? Is this destined to be the new Ten Commandments or will it be lost in the flood? Post your thoughts in the comments below.
I can’t believe we are still having this discussion, but I want to start off this article with an honest assessment of reality.
Space Jam is not a good movie. It is entertaining, it is unique, I will even go as far to say that it is an iconic part of the 1990s. But even the most ardent Space Jam fans (there’s a phrase I thought I’d never have to say), after a few moments of honest reflection, would say to themselves, “Wow, this movie kinda sucks.”
And that’s fine! Personally, I think that its stupidity is its greatest strength. While most films actively try to avoid being terrible, Space Jam lathers itself in absurdity and failure, to its great benefit.
Regardless of the film’s quality, many people have an unbreakable love for Michael Jordan’s foray into acting. Some of those people have produced something wonderful. The team behind Yahoo’s comedic short video series Sketchy has a Space Jam documentary entitlted 30 for 30: The Space Jam Game. The video is a parody of ESPN’s highly-acclaimed documentary series and it is better than it has any right to be. Check it out below:
While that was thoroughly entertaining, the documentary I would love to see is an in-depth feature about how the hell Space Jam went from someone’s coked-out fever dream to an actual film. Call me when that’s done.
Care to suggest other films that could use documentaries? Would you like to rant about how much you love Space Jam? The comment section is open!
So, week Three. After another highly creative and engaging week we have arrived at our first major decision to be made; what our script will be about.
So take a look at the catch up video below and continue reading before heading off into the comments section once again.
So, based solely on the content provided over the past two weeks, I have created three individual pitches for our script. I want you to choose which one works the best and which we should pursue. Feel free to discuss what works in each one, what could potentially be added but make sure to make sure which one you want to pursue.
Possibility 1. The future is here. With computers, smartphones and digital technology we are truly living in a new age. But what about the communities, struck with poverty and crime, that are left behind. Looking for his break, documentary film maker John Smith takes on a local urban legend serial killer, who maimed and tortured within a housing block many years ago. As he begins to investigate the legend, he finds that all is not as it seems with the block and the residents may know more than they let on.
So, this stemmed from the concepts of home invasion and an institution or location filled with people who weren’t quite right. Here, the character would investigate and pry into the lives of the people who live in this block, the older ones who were alive when the murders occurred especially. His obsession grows, and he finds himself, possibly with his crew trapped in the building block full of psychotic characters who take pleasure in their torture.
Possibility 2 John Smith, photographer by trade finds an intriguing camera at a garage sale. The seller is keen to remove it from his own possession. John finds a strange figure inhabiting the camera with every photo he takes regardless of where it is took, getting closer and closer to the lens. John’s obsession with the camera grows and he begins to experience strange dreams and visions. After multiple attempts, the original owner allows John to meet with him, he begins to understand the origins of the camera but the owners Suicide ends the meeting. John needs to figure out what is going on, what he can do and why he can’t seem to help wanting to press that shutter over and over again.
So obsession and elements of the supernatural are very present here. We can play around with dreams/nightmares (even the uncanny valley) and focus on his descent into madness. Perhaps somehow the figure haunts him, in every single reflective surface? Taunting him. We can create a fascinating origin, a ghost story even, take influence from things like The Ring, Shutter, The Grudge. Certainly slow, building the tension. A possible conclusion could be that final shutter press, releasing whatever it was in the camera, trapping him now, until someone else finds the camera.
Possibility 3 Renowned Serial Killer “Killer Joe” (name TBD) contacts film maker John Smith. He wants him to create a documentary film on his legacy. John is hesitant, but he needs a break and Joe promises to hand himself in afterwards, and tell the police he made him do it. John reluctantly accepts and begins to “rabbit hole” into the killers world. He will be tested – witnessing (filming) murders and engaging with a very intellectual killer his world begins to change.
So this description is slightly vague, for good reason. It could go two ways – perhaps it is simply he follows the killer etc etc, or we reveal, perhaps, in part using what has been shot (touching, though not following found footage) to reveal that he was the killer the entire time. He has split personality and his mind had put them both at odds for one to win. This, again touching on elements that cropped up frequently the past two weeks. Joe can try to rationalise what he does as he brings John into this world. As John slips, who do we identify with? Potentially interesting.
There are three, distinct roads to travel down. It is your decision which we take. The roads themselves haven’t been fully built yet, so names, situations, characters can all still evolve, be added and change over the next few weeks. Think of this as the groundwork.
Of course, this process is organic and can grow at any moment! So don’t worry if you missed the previous weeks and want to catch up on what’s going on; you can do that here for week 1 and week 2.
Next week, we’ll be looking at bringing these characters to life. So once you have made your decision start thinking about these characters, who they are, where did they come from? what makes them tick, who can we include beyond “John”. Keep those things in mind for next week, and I’ll see you in the comment section.
Forgive me if the title of this article initially appears misleading, but I assure you that all will be made transparent once ramblings have ceased.
I don’t believe in the death penalty. Not out of some saintly consideration for all living beings or a desire to live by a Biblical edict to “love thy neighbor.” I have neighbors, I can’t stand them. And my sense of justice is bred of a lifetime of watching Charles Bronson movies and caring so deeply about the ones I love. If someone were to harm my loved ones, you had best believe retribution would be swift and only administered by law enforcement if they sped to find the guilty parties before I did.
No, I don’t believe in the death penalty because of the corruption and/or completely apathetic ineptitude of our criminal justice system. Too many innocent people are executed in this country every year simply because they cannot afford to pay for the DNA testing that could exonerate them; oh yeah, the burden of that expense falls on them under the law. That, along with racial bias and bureaucratic nonsense strips away any sense of absolute justice and therefore renders a death penalty unacceptable. The system is broken.
So why would I support the documentary There Will Be No Stay? Is it not a chronicle of the lives of the “men and women tasked by society with carrying out the death penalty?” You bet. But I do support this doc, and after you’ve had a chance to watch the trailer below, and examine the Kickstarter page, I’ll tell you why I support There Will Be No Stay.
I believe in documentaries.
I believe in the power of strong documentaries to transcend the limits of individual interests and circumvent esoteric value sets. I also believe understanding is impossible without confrontation, without contextualization. Documentaries pull back the curtains and shine a light into even the most obscured or infinitesimal corners of the human existence; sometimes triumphantly, sometimes to our great horror, but always for our benefit.
But most of all, I believe in Arcanum Pictures. Arcanum is a local production company that was started by two of my very good friends, but their friendship alone does not purchase my endorsement. I have seen how tirelessly they work, and I know the raw potential of the talent they are currently cultivating. I believe that their efforts will continue to bring the best possible content to the forefront when, much as in the cases of revealing documentaries, most of the world seems not to notice.
For these reasons, I believe you should support this Kickstarter and help fund this documentary. Watch the trailer again, consider contributing, or if not, help spread the word so that those with the means can navigate to the cause.
I believe the guys at Arcanum would appreciate it.
