AQUAMAN FAILS TO IMPRESS AND AT TIMES IS BORING WITH TOO MUCH ACTION

Movie Review - AQUAMAN - PG13 - Starring Jason Momoa, Amber Heard, William Dafoe, Dolph Lundgren and Nicole Kidman. 

My initial thoughts on this mess is "Meh"...The movie is filled with tons of CGI, bad dialog, and it's a poor rewrite of a classic comic book hero. The only kudos I could possibly give this film are to Kidman, who performed the role of an action hero with a pristine caliber performance. But all of the help from a star studded cast couldn't save this movie. The cliche writing made it almost unbearable to watch this thing straight through without calling bullshit every once in a while...well, actually throughout the whole film.

There's a lot of cheese in this film; and by cheese, I mean a ton of explosions and large under sea creatures...there's also extreme eye candy for female women to gaze at whenever Momoa was in a scene without his shirt on and that’s all really about it. The director was trying to make a gritty underwater Wolverine movie and his efforts [plus those of the writers] just didn't cut it. Momoa may be ripped, biker-type good looking man, but he couldn't act his way out of a paper bag. 

One of the worst effects in the film is that it also has tons of scenes with fast swimmers, some action and a multitude of underwater neon light. The blue screen effects was just too much for me, and there were times where you could passed the blue screen, giving the actors a pasty look on their faces. The addition of Manta's unusually large helmet made things look a little too silly for such a hyped film.

Of course, at the end of the film, there was plenty of room for a sequel or even another addition for a Super Friends or Justice League sequel; not that I give a crap for something like that.

⭐️ ⭐️ 💫 (2.5 of 5 Stars)

RAMIRO AVENDANO ADDS ANOTHER FAILURE TO HIS ALREADY BADLY TAINTED RESUME...

 DAMN, ALREADY AN UPDATE TO THIS BLOG!!! - Please read below

THE OATH Series

DIRECTOR/WRITER: RAMIRO AVENDANO

STARRING [We guess] – Ramiro Avendano, Tony Todd, Jose Rosete

Story/Plot - Totally unknown. But apparently Avendano plays an ex soldier who is caught in the middle of a zombie outbreak where he alone is the hero and has to find people to aid him in his fight to survive???...it doesn’t sound all that original.

Well, here we are again. After two years of boasting that he would make his BIG film debut, but with a new production team, a real budget, and some Hollywood talent to brag about that he was able to secure, Ramiro Avendano made it clear on IMDB that his newest attempt at producing a professional production would be released for all to see on July 4, 2019. But instead of proving a point, he’s only done the same old shit that everyone who has searched this blog has learned...that he has failed to do anything but hype his own crap that will never see the light of day.

After such a weak trailer (released on THE OATH’s Facebook page) what will be the excuse this time, I wonder? (1) Ramiro has to take the footage to LA to have some professional editors put it together? (2) Ramiro has to hold back the release because...say it with me...”the powers that be at Netflix or Amazon said that they want to see more episodes?” (3) Tony Todd found a real producer in the business who wants to give the series a view first?...oh, the excuses will be plentiful and those in Ramiro’s “inner circle” will completely understand, I’m sure. (4) There’s another possibility that Avendano will push back the release date a few months to buy him time to put something together. Like always, he has a history of pushing release dates back to try and give him some time to try and impress only those around him and his inner circle.

UPDATE!!! - And Avendano does not disappoint as he has changed the release date for THE OATH Series now to October 2019, which is only just a few months away. We have received a few emails that have solidified the opinion within some of the cast and crew that Avendano is grasping for time and more funding to try and complete the two episodes of the series and get them out for release. Any chance of him holding a premiere in Vegas is planned only as a private viewing and probably only at someone’s home with a few cast and crew members allowed to attend. Another rumor [that is now a fact] surfaced from an email that alleged Ramiro and some of his team members planned to re-visit San Antonio to film some scenes to fill in gaps in one of the episodes. Emails have alleged that Avendano has asked several old cast and crew member to assist and mostly all have declined. He handled all camera duties and oversaw all material needed to be completed on a weekend schedule.

With Avendano's personal obsession with Automated Dialog Replacement [or ADR] that also derailed production efforts on another film, there is more confirmation that Ramiro arrived with his wife [Cynthia Chambliss-Avendano] to solely record some lines with local friends in san Antonio and film some small scenes; he in return has asked at least one of the actresses to promote herself as a star in a network series that will be released in October; something Ramiro had asked his old cast and crew to do during the Zombie Reign [ZR] campaign of film production. This is sure to spark a hefty response of older ZR actors and crew who were promised to be paid by Avendano for all of their hard work. But it’s obvious that Avendano will make no plans to visit old cast and crew members to pay them for their services over the course of two to three years that they worked for him. It's even more obvious that that he did not come to San Antonio to actually film, as he doesn't have any permits to film in Texas and he knows he's under a watchful eye now.

The funny thing is, where Avendano truly believes that there’s this mass following that is patiently waiting for his film to hit the streets has only been a fabrication of the dream world that he has built up in his mind. He has started to claim to his cast and crew that OATH will be released on NETFLIX, which is an invalid statement, as his production on OATH and it's Facebook page has already broken most of the rules for submission requirements to the streaming network. True, he has access to some names, but they would never have showed up unless he had a paycheck for them – that includes some old San Antonio talent that he brought to Vegas to impress with some new equipment and crew; no one in their right mind owes any favors to this nobody, that couldn’t produce a film whether he’s had a cool million dollars to waste on any film project or his now infamous lunch appetites and exclusive budget on fancy eating at high priced restaurants. What is clear at this point is that Ramiro certainly does not know what he's talking about and the admissions process for OATH will not let him select a release month for the series IF it was approved for acceptance.

We only learned about the release date to THE OATH Series a few months ago and we jotted down the date on our day planners just to keep an eye on the premiere – if there would even be one – and see what all of Avendano’s new hype would present. With the forty some odd Facebook followers [possibly the cast] who follow his posts, we’re pretty sure that a little over fifty people would have showed up for any type of premiere.

We’ve seen this Titanic sink before, once a pretty gruesome death. Even now, the crew in Las Vegas has grown ill of Avendano’s apparent lack for basic film principles and they’ve begun to jump ship before THE OATH Series has even been completed. There are rumors that Avendano’s team failed to secure film permits in Vegas, also as much as filming on locations without permission, and some other odd behavior that will be released on a later blog after we’ve confirmed some of the oddities with the actual people who witnessed them.

But for now, this review will stand as a COMPLETE waste of everyone’s time. I might be willing to change this review should the project ever actually hit a network or big screen for proper review.

UPDATE! - The OATH Series has only a handful of episodes that are sparsely completed and emails from the Vegas cast and crew have alleged that only two episodes are actually close to being complete, but still require a lot of filming to have them completed for submission to NETFLIX, who requires at least six fully completed episodes to be considered for acceptance into that streaming service contract with the network. And Avendano, who seriously does not know what he's doing or saying, does not have anything that fits withing the required format for submitting to NETFLIX. 💫 [.5 of 5 Stars]

HBO’S “CHERNOBYL” DELIVERS A COLD, DARK TRUE MOVIE

Series Review - CHERNOBYL - HBO (R) - A fantastic dark look at a real event that happened in 1986. The show focuses on the after effects of a reactor accident in Russia that killed a ton of people in only the first minutes after being exposed to toxic radiation...did you hear me?...REAL radiation exposure that cannot be denied as what will REALLY happen to a human body when exposed to radiation for only a few seconds, a minute, hours or days. There are some award winning performances in this heavy dramatic mini-series and I can see a well deserved Oscar nod for Jared Harris who leads the talented cast. Don’t expect any action sequences or love story material, but you can expect the truth about what radiation will do to your body when your exposed...and NASA still wants to say that American astronauts went to the moon after being exposed to cosmic radiation for five days??! ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ (5 of 5 Stars)

NETFLIX’S “DEAD TO ME” IS A REAL GEM!

Series Review - DEAD TO ME - Netflix (PG13) - An AWESOMETACULAR surprise for 2019! Christina Applegate has been needing to break out from her “silly side” films and get into the more darker-comedy projects. The production is flawless and the directing is superb through each passing episode. The best part is that Christina presents superior acting qualities showing an emotional side that is so overwhelming, it’s hard not to love her in the leading role. She and her co-star, Linda Cardellini, do an impressive job in this “who done it” thriller with so many interestingly delivered twists and turns. If your looking for a series to binge, get on this ride; it’s well worth it!

⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ (5 out of 5 Stars)

STUDIOS Q108.1 INTERNET RADIO SHOW HAS WON NEW AUDIENCE

Since December 9, 2013, the Q108.1 Internet Radio/Podcast Show has successfully presented news updates and inside information concerning the Indie film scene in Texas. The show has also covered a wide variety of existing winery's and wine bars within the plethora of communities throughout central and south Texas. Viewer numbers for the weekly live Podcasts have reached an all time high, making the Internet show one of the most informative and long lasting Internet shows ever produced from the Houston area.

The show is hosted by the studios owner and operator, D. R. "Dave" Quintana, who hired a group of young college journalists to first hunt down and investigate local film scene stories in Houston and eventually branched out to other cities within the state to get the broadest amount of Independent film news to young filmmakers and actors, to keep everyone up to speed on how films are being produced, invested and presented to their family, friends, and future fans.

Quintana says that the Internet show crossed over several formats, searching for the right chemistry with a co-host and a broader inventory of news and updates to help keep the right people informed about possible scams and drama within the film scene "clique circuit" that most local actors and crew can't deny exists, but no one wants to openly admit in fear of endangering their "acting careers" over local drama on a film project or team of filmmakers. The show has a strong reputation for being brutally honest about anything it uncovers during a news story, not sugar coating any drama or scam that might bring harm to young Indie film actors and crews.

It wasn't until August of 2014, that the radio show hit the perfect stride after bringing a new co-host onboard. Barbara "Barb" Johnston came to the radio by complete accident and who also helped bring in a new brand of listener; a more mature group of fans who take part in wine tasting and/or cycling, who enjoy the night life and want to know where they can find such places in the local community. Her introduction into the radio show brought an increase of fans that the show was lacking over the first year of it's creation. Barb is opinionated and doesn't waste a second to defend her ground, a strong reason she was brought to the show to both support the idea that the radio show is not biased to only one persons opinion and that on the radio show, everyone's opinion is heard without rebuke.

Dave and Barb not only share local indie films, news events, entertainment events, and concerns over the community of The Woodlands; but they hit a new nerve with the local wine tasters who have enjoyed the duos recommendation of wines that are tasted during each show and meals [mostly snacks] that are the best to consume with them; the duo does their best to visit each winery they promote to give listeners the best review. So far, the duo has reviewed and introduced winery's in Central Texas, The Woodlands, Conroe, Montgomery, Navasota, Houston, and many-many more.

Over the past five years, the radio team has shared personal moments and talked about their personal lives, which has helped the fan base feel closer to the hosts and log in each week to listen to the show and find out what's new in the pairs personal lives. The radio show has recently hit higher numbers by introducing a new "investigative style" of news that has stunned the local film communities with factual information concerning scams and local gossip which has damaged the lives of some innocent cast and crew members who put a lot of faith into an indie film director or producer. This new style of Podcasting has propelled the show to move from one film community to another, interviewing actors and directors as required to get the real story out on the radio.

As a service to future filmmakers, actors and cast members, the radio show plans to continue it's effort to keep everyone informed about what's going on in your Indie film community. If you have an Indie film story you'd like to share on the show, whether it's a good memory with a shout-out, or a nightmare to keep others informed, don't hesitate to contact the radio show here. You can use the same link to self-promote a new winery or wine bar that you may have visited recently. You can listen to a small database of shows on the Q108.1 Internet Radio Show Facebook page.

DOES WINNING A RIGGED AWARD BOOST ONES PERSONAL SUCCESS?

EDITORS NOTE - The following blog entry is the opinion of the editor [D. R. Quintana] and not the opinion of the cast and crew of Quantum Storm Pictures.

There are very few actors who will try and enforce the issue of hyping the win of being awarded "best actress" for a three second scene in a 5 minute fan film during a film festival they personally organized...but hey, I guess if you're trying your best to "fake it until you make it" then I guess it's a good start, for now. It may even seem a little silly that these same few actors will then use the "fame" of that momentous award to escalate their importance within the local community; suddenly claiming to be a professional film producer with the clout and experience to make better films than most of the elite amateurs who have yet to win award. They will often use any win as a platform for launching their film and acting career, promising to share the wealth of their award in the coming year with more films, more acting performances, and even more money which will be pouring all over their future films because of the glorious win that has now gotten world attention through the internet. Don't laugh dear reader, it's actually happening right now as we speak. It will only take you a quick search on any Facebook page that has local indie winner hashtags aligned to it; you'll be amazed at the number of local indie film actors and directors who claim to be "award winning" recipients who have broken away from the bottom dwellers of the local film scene.

Not trying to single anyone out during this blog entry, I seriously ask that anyone who claims to have won a significant international award to please have their work ready for preview for those admiring millions of Chinese fans on YIZIHIBO that are out there waiting for their chance to emulate the performance that only few amateur Indie actors could ever achieve in their lifetime if living in the U.S. for only a few years; even though there is already word the at the system has been down for a few weeks due to a buy out.; but you still have to believe what you read on their Facebook pages? Within their own little world, they try to impress people all the time on their Facebook pages claiming to be working on that next BIG film and getting a large number if views through web pages in other countries; when in reality their working with just another "guy with a video camera" and both of them have no certifications in filming, have proof that they've ever completed a real film of any kind and don't have the right connections to even film a TV commercial.

In any movie production that arises, it takes more than just good looks, posing for fake scenes that aren't being really produced, and holding a gun to make a movie successful. As a matter of fact, it takes years of acting experience through acting courses, live stage performances and weapons training to give an actor the proper professional edge needed to give a film the luster to succeed at the highest level. So, if your an actor/actress who hasn't still grasped the most basic, fundamental language skills required to deliver dialog, then you have a lot of work to do. No tiara or acting award will erase the qualities you lack as an actor/actress and it will take more than a nine minute film to help you truly hone your acting skills and gain you real credibility in the heavy, sometimes intense competitive Indie film scene which struggles to gain favor as a film industry.

And if you think you can make it BIG in the Indie film scene with just your good looks alone, keep in mind that the indie film scene is a mecca of good looks and talent. It doesn't matter how many great looking actors or actresses are in your yet undeveloped and un-produced film that you may have, there are prettier and sexier actors that are willing to go the extra mile to prove their better and sexier for any role that you think your highly qualified for. And when I say better talent,  I Mean people who have studied for years in front and behind the camera and have proven themselves in the real are of movie production, through proven directors and producers that have actually finished films and have many under their belts to impress any investor wanting to throw cash down on a project. Given the opportunity to truly impress and make that film your in MORE special, all it takes is a simple email to contact me to help give your film project direct access to a talented actress who will perform to please and not surround the cast and crew with drama. These proven actors don't spend a lot of time on Facebook, worrying about how many hits and views they get for a post. They are honest, hard working professionals that love to film for the art.

But if your film production needs a real, certified actor/actress to up the ante in the acting department to win you a real investor, theres always the great connection through the Quantum Storm E-Magazine [QSE] as my publication always lists the top 30 actors/actresses in the state with bonafide SAG cards, lists of awards, long list of films they've partaken in; including featured roles and extras, and contact numbers for their professional agents. So, if your now claiming to also be a producer or co-producer in film productions, always be sure to keep your options open for a better actor or crew to help make the best film possible. Credibility and respect go a LONG way in the indie film scene for any future producer who is only wanting to put together the best team to make an impressive film for future fans, no rigged award will win you the hearts of both the film scene or future fans in your local community. Being a film producer means you know how to manage a production set, provide proper contracts to protect yourself and your actors careers, provide the studio the best equipment, materials, and locations that will separate your film project from anyone else.

If you claim to be an actor/actress, but also produce or co-produce a film project, at least have the dignity to educate yourself on how to do the job properly. Don't try to just be another person who plans on "making a difference" overnight and being a millionaire on a project that still shoots films on a Cannon 5D or a hand held camera!

D. R. Quintana
Editor in Chief

INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL JUST DISAPPEARS

Only a few weeks after the Quantum Storm E-Magazine [QSE] released an investigative news report over the possible rigging of awards for an international indie film festival [Rigged Indie Film Festivals & Awards Are Back In Houston dtd 1-4-2019], it seems the at the lone film festival in question, the U.S. Chinese International Independent Film Festival, has simply just disappeared from existence. Even the presented “committee” which overlooked this even has simply disappeared; with the exception of a few American and Chinese businesses who were wrestled up and asked to provide funding to help put it all together. Any online searches for the festivals websites have proven that the once active links were completely shut down and removed from existence; leaving many to speculate that the event was a sham all along.

This Indie awards festival was definitely not a scam, but it certainly also wasn’t a certified global event as it was advertised over the course of maybe two months. Several promotional ads and video commercials were prepared and posted on the Facebook pages owned by two people in Houston, Marcus Muhd and Nanae Volle; who alleged that the International Film Festival was a bonafide event with proper Chinese interest and a committee that was created to oversee the festival’s legitimacy. These ads were then copied or shared on Facebook media by various other sources who also claimed the event was legit; there is no evidence that funds were spent on any other advertising, except some poster boards, wooden awards, and large banners which were used at three locations in Houston. Even though some of the awards that were presented, only four in photographs, and those could have easily been manufactured by a local trophy store in Houston.

What comes in complete surprise was a gem studded tiara that was purchased solely for the "Best Actress" award and presented to none other than Nanae Volley for her two second scene and voice over part in a fan film trailer entitled, BLADE REMIX, which was directed by the secondary creator of the International event in Houston, Mr. Muhd. In the years that I have lived in the Houston area and have witnessed many Independent award platforms, I have never seen an actress receive a tiara for their efforts in a film, especially only performing in a film for a few seconds. Mrs. Valle seemed to love the attention of winning the award and the tiara as she was crowned the best actress in a Chinese International film that was actually just a short film, and a fan film at that. I also find it a bit humorous that no one can gain access to the fan film to see it in it's entirety and many of actors who took part in the fan film have stated that the fan film, which only consisted of an action sequence, was incomplete and lacked a full story to present to the judges. This has just been another element of various red flags that has arisen over the film festivals "alleged" judging of Independent films which claimed to have Chinese actors and culture presented within.

Whether or not this “International festival” was produced to serve the vanity of one or two people, with the likes of Valle strutting around the festival in awe of her award, is unclear. Even though there were some fantastic photos and web pages that were created which presented the look of a three to four day event, there has still been no evidence of the 200 Indie films were submitted for review, there was no list the Indie film titles with their actors, directors or their producers; nor was there a list of complete awards for all of the nominees and winners who submitted their films. Even worse is the fact that the QSE has learned that the winning film was not an International Indie film at all, but only a trailer for a fan film which could not possibly qualify for an International film by any means, as fan films cannot accept funds of any kind to help produce the film project, be submitted for International awards, or pay it’s actors as most international independent films require.

All of this speculation and lack of information has seemingly took its toll on a couple of people who planned the whole event out without any thought of the consequences that would arise after putting together an even under false pretenses. The local private businesses that were bought in as sponsors and investors were also misled in the attempt to help provide an honest Indie film festival to help bolster the local Chinese community who has not had proper representation in indie movie awards. The entire idea of a Chinese film festival might have started out like an honest venue to help bring more Chinese indie films and investors to the forefront of future productions, but instead either gave useless awards to those who didn’t properly earn the prestige or perhaps lined the pockets of a few people who were out to make a quick buck.

Only time will tell if a proper investigation by the local authorities and District Attorney begins to take place and if any serious crime had occurred during the International event that wasn't so International by the look of things. For now, the QSE can only speculate what actually transpired in Houston during the four to five days that an alleged International U.S./ Chinese Film Festival occurred with the proper representatives and committee’s required to hold such an event.

SPECTRE ZERO DELIVERS A POWERHOUSE OF EERINESS

Unlike a large majority of Independent films based in south-eastern Texas, the first episode of the Quantum Storm Pictures new flagship series was actually released for preview on Facebook to a surprisingly large number of online fans who had recently joined the fan page to have access to watching the twenty-two minute thriller that didn’t hold back in its presentation. Filled with dramatic performances, some hinted comedy and a plethora of visual effects that will keep viewers on edge and in suspense up until the final minutes of the show; the episodes message and plotline struck viewers directly on target making the first show a hit with fans.

Spectre Zero is another project developed by D. R. Quintana after he was considering filming a humorous and fake ghost hunting documentary which provided details on how teams try to create special effects to fool clients with misleading evidence uncovered by local ghost hunting experts.  During the development of several of those effects, the idea of creating a new series began to surface. Basing the remaining ideas of the show on a “sensitive” and a “psychic” that the director/producer was actually introduced to in New England, the rest of the first episodes were finished and then he was off to trying to cast the two leading roles.

“I wanted the two leading characters to be in their early twenties,” recalls Quintana. “It’s very rare to see two twenty-something’s running a prominent paranormal research team and also trying to be professionals in the field. Most of the time on the news and in documentaries, psychics and sensitive’s are much older people who have had years of experience in their backgrounds.”

Quintana wanted fresh faces to work with, both to mold the actors to what the series requires and to have a little more fun behind the camera, so he hired Daniel Erik and Sara Mao, two relatively new actors who only worked as extras in other film projects, to take the leading roles; a decision which proved to harbor success with the presentation of the first episode. Taking casting to the next level, Quintana also accepted to use the skills of local Houston Indie actors [as extras] who would be willing to return to the series to build up their characters.

“I was casting the first season of this show with sheer honesty and no delusions of grandeur that we would have million dollar offers or instant success if we completed the first season,” adds Quintana. “I was concise with all of the details, as I wasn’t sure how long it would take to put the whole first season together, especially as everyone in the cast and crew was going to have to work for free and the studio had to work around so many schedules that were based on volunteer ethics.”

Principle production started in February of 2018 and crossed over the course of eight months with the casting of over nine actors/actresses to help complete shooting enough material for season one. Some of the local Houston actors who stepped up to help in the production are: Alexi Yi, David Kufner, Shruthi Bekal, Gwendolyn Chang, Saira Ramos, and Joseph Marshall, who all played large parts in their perspective episodes and are expected to return to the series in season two. The studio is planning to expand the cast for season two as required, plus travel to vast area in Texas to complete more eerie episodes in the near future. Even now, the studio has recorded over eight episodes of material, but only four full episodes have been edited to completion, but not in chronological order.

Quintana said that the studio decided to begin production on all of the scarier scenes that required special and visual effects first before starting work on the actual scenes that required dialog through acting. Even though scheduling was grueling to complete each episode, the change in formula seemed to speed up the completion of each episode with limited production time of four hours per day; which helped many of the cast and crew who were parents that had family waiting for them back at home.

But the real treat of the first episode is the tremendous soundtrack and audio effects which were produced and written by Lora Mao. Each new track delivered to each art of the show with a unique eeriness that defies explanation on how the tension and drama was delivered in each scene. Quintana says that Lora Mao didn’t hold back, she was committed to the project from the start and her ability to adjust to his musical demands proved that she was more than qualified and mature to handle each track as required by the director/producer. Even now, Lora Mao is reaping in the success of her music as she is selling tracks for the show on the Internet.

“Lora has a style of producing original tracks of music that is second to none in Houston,” says Quintana. “She’s efficient, professional, and loves what she does. There is no doubt in my mind that without Lora, this project would not have delivered such a strong first episode to preview to the fans out there. I am very proud to have her on our team.”

Unlike most Indie films that only ever post a 7 minute trailer of their film projects, Spectre Zero’s first 22 minute episode is posted on Facebook as a preview and will be removed in twenty days. The rest of the series episodes will eventually be made available through Amazon.com in 2019. So if you’re interested in watching the newest production from Quantum Storm Pictures, this will be your only chance to see it for free until the series is released on Amazon.com. You can see the full first episode HERE.

NETFLIX SERIES REVIEW - LOST IN SPACE FAILS MISERABLY LOST IN BAD STORYTELLING AND PLOTLINE

The QUANTUM STORM Studio Review - LOST IN SPACE - Netflix [PG] - I'm a big fan of the original television series, not a big fan of the movie, but this new Netflix series was a HUGE disappointment! 

Another series falls prey to the idea that spending large amounts of money on useless and baseless CGI is the way to go. Especially when some dumb-ass director tries to bring in J.J. Abrams-type lens flares to make things look more spectacular, well...you know that the whole production team was hoping something in the presentation of the show would make fans cry out for more.

But plain and simple, the plot and story is transparent, the acting is dry and filled with tons and tons of useless monologue that just stretched out each episode and left very little room to get to the point of the overall picture. The flow of the series bounces up and down after each new scene that was poorly constructed to tell three different stories at the same time; sometimes, you are even left to wonder "what happened to that other character when all of this was happening?"

The only light in the tunnel for this series was the cast which was rounded up for the show. I have to admit that there are blips and flashes of promises when the actors finally got into their roles...if you want to call them "roles." Again to put it plainly, "...having a career U.S. Marine play a useless father and husband because he was deployed most of his career and his wife resented it because she was the scientist of the family"...? Hello, who wrote this shit!? Sure, we live in a generation now where the woman is the strong anchor in the family and men are looked down as 'non-leaders' for this new generation of snowflake who are being brought up in our now soft society. But everyone knows [or should know] that military moms are bad ass, they kick ass, and always stand by their husbands when the tough gets going. This part of the series was written from looking at the "outside of what could be", instead of looking into a real military family and seeing what truly is!

One of the worst aspects of the series is showing that there is "token black actress" who's in the show as a main character in the family which was never explained...but was obviously added to prevent a white-washing of the show. The teens in this show are talented and cute, but none have the acting chops to pull off their roles in moments where they have to believe what they see in the CGI world. The scripted dialog produced for them seems to simple to employ and you're supposed to believe that if they shoot off some techno-babble, that these kids are smarter than your average bear. I sure as hell didn't fall for it and neither will the future followers.

But the absolute worst parts of the series has to be the tremendously bad editing, bad sequencing, non-tempo and the really horrible "J.J. Abrams-type" CGI that just left this pile of dogshit streaming for over nine episodes. I gave it a chance to prove me wrong, but the whole thing just puttered off and left the whole shit-smack open for a season two which would be an adventure-less idea to bring into next year. To say the least, the writers of this show had no idea how to create a solid SciFi show with enough drama and intrigue to keep the viewer entertained. I pray there won't be another season, but the Lost In Space trolls are already out claiming how good the first season was solely due to the robot, who was obviously a guy in a suit...and looked like a guy in a suit. 

☆ [Generous Star][1 of 5 Stars]

CAN A BAD TRAILER RUIN YOUR INDIE FILMS PREMEIRE?

The honest answer to a question about the potential of having a solid Indie film trailer is “Yes, a projects success depends on what it takes to bring attention to your Indie film!” and it makes a HUGE difference to the success of your films potential for having a premiere – but don’t actually believe that people outside of your little circle really care. Indie films come and go all the time, and most of the time, the only people that truly care about your film project are the actors, the production team, their families, and friends that know about the Indie film and what it’s all about from the team. So, what should you do to get the best attention for your film?

First, get someone outside of your circle to promote your film to all of the news outlets and through all of the local Internet news circuits that they can; having someone that isn’t biased to your pride helps out a lot. Local Indie film directors try to produce fancy websites and Facebook pages to help quick-start the promotion process, but directors have BIGGER things to worry about than try to promote their own Indie film. Sure, every actor in the film claims to have ‘this contact’ and/or ‘that agent’ that can help to get the word out about your film, but a true promotions director knows the real contacts to get the word out about your film. Let them do the hard work and give them the best material to advertise your project without remorse or recourse for under promoting it.

A solid promotional director will cost you money, but to trust an accomplished advertiser to push your work to the right people outside of your circle is the best investment you’ll have when the premier date comes dancing around in the local community. A proven promo-director has to out-smart the previous ‘big Indie hit’ that came before you, so it’s always a contest to get the best person at the helm of pushing your new Indie film. 

With that, you’re going to need a solid trailer. So, where do you begin with your first trailer? What source material do you need? Should you use real material from your film?

Well, trailers are a tricky thing. Some production teams use ‘trailer ideas’ to bring investors and producers in to help their projects with money or locations; the proper term is ‘pitch film’ or ‘sizzle reel’, so if you decide to work with a team who say, “It’s called a trailer”, I highly recommend you bail out from that team right away. These types of people find out the hard way about movie making, so as a growing actor, it’s always a good thing to know when it’s time to bail when you’re working with stubborn people.

If your team has an Independent film idea you’d like to ‘pitch’ to an investor or potential producer, you want to produce a ‘pitch film’ [or sizzle reel] which is usually a seven or eight minute look into your project idea. But, we’re talking about a ‘trailer’ for your Indie film, right? So, let’s go over what you need to present to people outside of your project to get them excited to see your potentially exciting film.

I will begin by telling you that having a ‘clique of friends’ to help support your film is a good thing, but you need sheer honesty to see if your film is worth bragging about. Remember if you’re an Indie filmmaker/director, people outside of your friends circle [or clique] always expect local Indie films to be crappy and lack material worth watching, so your trailer has to prove those people wrong. Always show them that you have class within the production, and that yeah, it’s actually going to be a fun film to watch. I know what you’re dying to ask; “How do I do all of that?”

As I stated earlier, it’s all about honesty. First time local Indie directors are always looking for someone to hand out accolades for every small scene they complete; but how good are those scenes really? How did everything tie in together? Was the mood you wanted to present in retrospect all there? These questions cannot be answered and evaluated by the production team. I hate to say it, but if you clearly have a scene between two people sitting on a couch, passing out what you think is a key point or important information within the films storyline, you should truly consider not showing that in your trailer. “Couch scenes” are considered amateurish, strong signs of a low budget production, and will give the audience an ill fated glimpse into the quality of your film.

I recommend for first time directors to set up a private screening for different genres of people after your films first run at post editing who are not part of any clique or production circle. They should be split up in several groups to best evaluate a rating system, evaluate flow, and gage interest for maturity purposes if your film declares a film rating of PG or higher. These groups can be split up in age groups, like this:

- First group 8-16 years of age.
- Second group 16-24 year of age.
- Third group 25 or older.

Keep the numbers of each group small to less than three per age group. These groups should be allowed to take notes and openly review your film. If you feel that the younger audiences[8 to 16 y/o] won’t understand your film or be too afraid of the projects content, remove them from the first group and add another age group who will help you get the right type of review that’s good for your project. Ask this audience of reviewers to be brutally honest as their review will help you establish a movie rating for your film; whether the film will be PG, PG13, or R. Don’t ever just assume the rating of your film because you ‘feel’ it should be a certain rating for future audiences.

So from here, let’s pretend you have your review and now you’re considering on producing a ‘trailer’ because the initial reviews from your unbiased group gave you good marks. Keep in mind that most professional trailers to a finished film should run under two minutes in length. If you’ve produced a comedy, make sure the trailer is funny; if you’ve produced a dramatic film, make the trailer dramatic; if you made a horror film, make damn sure it’s scary; if it’s a sexy film, make the trailer sexy. The best advice I can give is, don’t tell the viewer the whole story and plot about your film. A trailer is preview of things inside the project that best represents the whole meaning of your film. Push the envelope where you need to and if you have a film format that separates you from other Indie films, toss that in for good measure.

Some of the best trailers we’ve ever previewed have been those trailers that have presented the unexpected without giving away too much. Most of those trailers were produced by persons not related to the production team; meaning that the director put the production of his films trailer into the hands of an experienced editor who has actually seen the film and knows what will make the trailer tick to audiences. A good sound track is also key to delivering a punch [or dramatic peak] that fits the mood of the trailer. The prowess of your actors will be evaluated by the audiences when they watch your film, so don’t worry so much about trying to present the total acting quality in your trailer.

People love to see flowing scenes from one scene to another, so be sure to make your trailer flow constantly with scenes you now will set the mood for the trailer. If your trailer can bring in only one person outside of your friends circle to see your project, then the trailer has done its job. The list for bad film trailers is long and distinguished, but if your current trailer design has the following bad practices in trailers, you should consider cutting a new trailer.

- Trying to show the entire cast of your Indie film in the trailer; because you feel like you owe it to the entire team.

- Making up scenes in the trailer that are not in your film.

- Showing a plot twist in the film that gives away your film’s best avenue for stunning your future audience.

- Presenting the names of all of the actors and production team in a trailer “credit scroll” just to satisfy your crew’s vanity.

- Presenting a release date or venue location on your trailer; as you will wind up making updates to every change of venue; always present only one trailer for your film to use in all promotional venues.

If you’re an Indie filmmaker who has several successful films in your resume, the lists and the information shared may not mean much to you. But if you have yet to successfully break away from your local Indie clique and get impressive ‘outside’ numbers for your films premiere, it might be due to not bringing in the newer crowds through your previous trailer. Try a change in your post production habits, put your faith in an experienced Marketing or Promotions Manager, and try some of things we’ve presented to help you on your way to improve the attendance in your new films premieres.

D. R. Quintana

CEO and Editor of the QSE

Submitted as Liner Notes - His opinion is not the opinion of all of the QSE Staff or the actors who work with him on film projects.