"THANKSGIVING" BRINGS GOOD FUN BACK TO SLASHER FILMS

🎥🎞️Movie Review🎞️🎥 - THANKSGIVING [2023] - R - NetFlix - Directed by Eli Roth. Written by Jeff Rendell. Starring Patrick Dempsey, Rock Hoffman, Nell Verlaque, Addison Rae, Milo Manheim, and Gina Gershon. Budget $15 Million.

Following a disastrous "Black Friday" event on Thanksgiving night, where hundreds of people were trampled or bludgeoned to death and changing the future lives of so many families, some mysterious murders begin to befall the small town  of Plymouth, MA that shake the very foundation of the towns once tranquil nature. Each murder that follows are released via video steaming on the internet and the police, plus a local high school student [Verlaque] find themselves in a "who done it" slasher series scenario.

THE GOOD - The development to all the characters is perfect. Some of the new slasher attacks are creative and many are cringe-worthy and well performed to give the viewer the right reaction. The pacing and editing keep the movie moving along and all of the new actors [at least that I noticed] are worthy of receiving high kudos for their performances. The veteran actors were used sparingly to help the youngsters move the film along in the right direction, and misdirection, for plot delivery. But I have to admit that the Black Friday event was just SO hilariously perfect and chaotic at the same time!

THE BAD - There's not much to note about this film having bad moments. There is one death scene that is just too far fetched and the amount of blood being squirted around was just beyond hilarious and poorly designed.

POST MORTEM - I could have watched an entire two hour film on just the Black Friday melee alone. There were some really good moments in the film where I was just like, "Don't go there!" and trying to help the next victim get away. This was a fun film and even thought I figured out the killer and his motives before the halfway point in the film - not bragging - I continued to watch the film and enjoy the directors vision of the story line he helped produce.

⭐️⭐️⭐️💫[3.5 of 5 Stars]

M.I. - DEAD RECKONING PT 1 PROVES THAT TOO MUCH ACTION JUST MAY BE TOO MUCH...

🎥🎞️Movie Review🎞️🎥 - MISSION IMPOSSIBLE - DEAD RECKONING PT 1 [2023] - [PG13] - Paramount+ - Directed by Christopher McQuarrie. Written by Christopher McQuarrie and Erik Jendresen. Starring Tom Cruise, Hayley Atwell, Esai Morales, Ving Rhames, Simon Peg, and Rebecca Ferguson. Budget $291 Million.

The film tells the story/plot of an AI program that is able to make decisions, create phantoms through computers, and also seems to be sentient in a strange way when activated; in the first sequences of the feature, a Russian sub has the AI program and falls prey to it's evil nature. The program was developed by an organization in Russia and there's a special two part key that is required to initiate the program. A female spy named Grace [Atwell] has one part of the key, while Llsa Faust [Ferguson] somehow has the other. Ethan Hunt [Cruise] is offered a mission to acquire both keys and take control of the Russian AI program, and if possible, dismantle it. Hunt puts his team together again and with little hope to succeed in their mission, head out to find the two parts of the key and find out what this AI program is all about.

THE GOOD - This is a star studded action film. This is a stunning addition to the Mission Impossible series and there's a perfect reason why the film was cut into two parts. There are some pretty impressive action sequences, choreographed fight scenes, and spectacular digital effects in this film. Cruise continues to perform all of his own stunts and he truly does some crazy stuff that is just too hard to believe. Location spotting for this film must have been a tremendous effort as the production covered over four countries.

THE BAD - Some of the action sequences are way too long and could have been cut short. The director [and the script writers] just love to see Cruise run and run and run; every other scene in this film has Hunt running this way and that, and I understand that Cruise is in great shape for his age. One part I can't shake off is the directors choice to over-present the addition of Atwell as the mysterious Grace character-spy in the film; the director trying to show the viewer that she IS beautiful, sexy and a tremendous actor…when she's NOT!

POST MORTEM - There were several times that I got bored watching the long, extended action sequences that seemed too far fetched and just took the fun out of watching an action film. Many of the performances between actors were over extended and too dramatic at every turn. There sure is a lot of compassion between the team members and I am sure we all know what is at risk if Hunt can't perform above and beyond to complete the mission. I just think that more writing should have been considered to better develop the good guys and the bad ones as well. This is a good movie, just don't stop too long to check your text messages when some useless dialog is mentioned during the middle of an action chase scene and you loose track to where you were on your phone.

⭐️⭐️⭐️💫 [3.5 of 5 Stars]

SOUL SEARCHING MOVIE HISTORY BY WATCHING "SEVEN SAMURAI"

FILM CRITICS PERSONAL REVIEW  -

Released in 1954, the SEVEN SAMURAI feature film wasn't only a big hit in Japan, but the production methods of directing the film revolutionized the entire film industry in the U.S. Akira Kurosawa directed the film, which was at the time, the most expensive film to produce in Japan. Not only did his work of laying out a format of using triangular screenplay methods to formatting scenes with multiple running cameras change the way of capturing action scenes, but the story writing introduced American screenwriting to script movies using the same plot and team formation used in this epic film.

A major American Western film, THE MAGNIFICENT SEVEN [1960], used a direct copy of the plot formula used to script Seven Samurai. The writing formula worked so well, that many future films began to follow the same formula, building teams of characters to help accomplish the same goal, to save a certain faction of innocent by-standers, preserving the love between two romantic characters, all to accomplish the impossible, while possibly losing members along the way. Kurosawa's formula has been successfully used for many years, following the release of Seven Samurai, a major feat that I am sure he would be proud of today.

This Japanese feature helped launch the career of Toshiro Mifune, who went on to star in a myriad of Japanese Samurai and Ronin films that made him a huge name in the mid-1950's and late 1960's. Mifune had a memorable talent to play a serious character role while establishing the skill of using swords and close hand-to-hand combat. He would eventually break the barrier between the filming landscapes and land roles in America, always playing roles that kept him true to his Japanese heritage.

I recently watched Seven Samurai for the first time and even though the feature was filmed in black and white, there was something edgy and gritty about the film. It got me to re-think the final essay I wrote in college concerning filming formats and the use of film etiquette on set. Where in my youth I was inspired by the film techniques of Richard Franklin which helped him produce ROAD GAMES [1981], but now in my long life of critiquing films, I would have easily chosen Seven Samurai as my final essay to showcase my desire to produce films and influence other indie filmmakers in their immediate dream of becoming successful indie film directors, using filming techniques never seen before in the ever changing genre of indie film productions.

If you're just stepping into making indie films, you should know that all future Indie film directors and cinematographers should watch Seven Samurai, take notes for its reference potential in film pre-production planning and one must also admire the lighting difficulties that obviously occurred during many of the indoor and night scenes within the film. In the past few years I realigned my filming methods and embarked on a new quest to re-evaluate the type of film formats I plan to used in future productions.

Ride Easy, My Friends...and good luck on your future indie filmmaking!

THE QUANTUM STORM .357 E-MAGAZINE, ISSUE 29 FOR FEBRUARY 2024 IS RELEASED!

 QSE.357 ISSUE 29 dtd 2/1/2024

38 Pages

ON THE COVER - Lissa Moore, Actress.
Photos by Paul H. K. & Mary K.

MAIN ARTICLES

Texas Indie Film Madness - The top 2024 Austin indie slasher film "RHIANNON" is winning awards and getting rave reviews from some of the best filmmakers in the state.

Raking the Coals - Legends are being born with new talented actors taking leading roles. Stage actors are the top choice for casting directors; learn about what casting managers look for in casting films.

Films that deliver to fans - The top 20 list of Texas indie films that have proven with Meta Data to have the biggest followings in the state! - Is your film on the certified list?

Dead Reckoning - Western indie films are all but non-existent in Texas, however, one studio is attempting to change that. Meet the new indie film guys in West Texas! 

 YOU MUST BE A SUBSCRIBER TO VIEW THE FULL CONTENTS THIS NEW 2024 ISSUE OF THE QUANTUM STORM .357 E-MAGAZINE AND FOLLOW THIS BLOG

 Thank you for stopping by!

 

AUSTIN'S "THE ELITE SOCIETY" ENTERS PROUDLY ON TUBI...

🎥🎞️Indie Film Review🎞️🎥 - THE ELITE SOCIETY: THE TOKENS [2023] - NR - Directed by Arthur Muhammad. Written by Gina Nacole. Staring Miguel A. Nunez Jr., Norman Nixon Jr., Odessa Feaster, Shelton Jolivette, and Kerry McCormick.

Essentially, Edwin Stevens [Nunez Jr.] is a hard working man doing his best to maintain a prosperous life for his wife and son. However, he begins to see that his life and the homes around him seem to fall to the dark side of crime and sudden economic down fall that he take a chance to change things for the better. But some deals that can instantly fix things can be more damaging than no one could ever expect. He discovers and rebuilds his life with society that uses "tokens" that can take one into the past and can manipulate future.

Side note: There is some symbolism to the term "token" being used in advertising in this film. I honestly didn't see anything controversial about the term, except that it was mentioned at one point in the film.

THE GOOD - There are a few indoor scenes that really launched this production in the right direction. The lighting, sound, and set ups were perfect for delivering dialog and plot points. Most of this footage was used in the trailer to the film and I can honestly say, that the trailer was able to catch my attention and reel me in to watch this indie film. Kudos to Odessa Feaster and Kerry McCormick who delivered some outstanding work in the film. This is completed film with a genuinely original message that is played out through the end.

THE BAD - Several scenes carried out through over-acting and some potential young actors were robbed of their real performance due to bad cinematography. There are one too many "casting couch" scenes, one of them being honestly important in building up the drama, where the main character and strong supporting characters just sit on a couch with the camera plopped down at the opposite end, never moving between each performance; this is a common problem in indie film setups, especially with production teams using the gang [or boss] mentality in films. The lighting in some of the outside environment locations is atrocious and the sound dances around a lot, not staying clear and constant throughout the film.

POST MORTEM - This is a good film. Sometimes a director/Editor sees his own film so much that his misses something[s] that need to be adjusted; and there needed to be some work in post prior to being released to the open audiences. Sometimes having a second editor or even a third, to look over the film prior to it's release could have fixed a few of the issues before the BIG release.

 PRODUCTION BREAKDOWN

←  Lighting

↓   Camera Work

←  Screenplay

↓   Sound

←  Use of Visuals

←  Time Lapse

↓   Editing

↑   Rule of Thirds
←  Locations

←  Music
←  Ending/Follow through

⭐️⭐️⭐️ [3 of 5 Stars]

AMAZON'S "REACHER" SEASON 2 DELIVERS SOLID ACTION AND DRAMA!

🎥🎞️Series Review🎞️🎥 - REACHER Season 2 [2024] - R - Amazon Prime - Series developed for TV by Nick Santora, based on the Jack Reacher book series written by Lee Child. Starring Alan Ritchson, Serinda Swan, Maria Sten, Marc Bendavid, Shaun Sipos, and Robert Patrick. Amazon has signed for at least four seasons of REACHER with the third season now in production.

A wanderer after ending his military career in the U.S. Army as a special investigator carrying only the clothes on his back, a credit card and a tooth brush, Jack Reacher [Ritchson] stumbles on a diabolical plot of a multi-million dollar illegal missile sale that questions the loyalty of some of his old Army unit members who once discovered corruption within the military ranks.

THE GOOD - Ritchson delivers another fabulous performance as Jack Reacher in this new series where there are some interesting story arcs and flashbacks on how Reacher put a band of misfits together to build a perfect investigative team of U.S. soldiers. The supporting cast were given plenty of time to develop their characters and make many of them likeable and easy to follow in each new episode. Kudos go out to actress, Serinda Swan, who not only delivers an action centered character, but solid chemistry between her character and Reacher in a sub-romantic part of the series. Location spotting was perfect for the series and the addition of Patrick as a villain was a nice twist to the show.

THE BAD - There are a few subtle slow parts in some episodes and a shoot out that just seemed to stretch too long in a realistic sequence, killing off a side character that IMO was spent too much time developing just to end up in the coroners office. Some female fans of the show may recognize that Ritchson's "total physique" may be more absent in some of the critical love scenes, which I am sure isn't getting the best of reviews.

POST MORTEM - This was an awesome series and one that I was so looking forward to previewing after reading several of the books. The climatic parts of the final episode were filled with so much electrified action scenes that a ton of green screen effects were required, but the directors handled the required CGI brilliantly. This series has distanced itself from the now infamous Tom Cruise movie series and I am sure that [in time] Ritchson's enthusiasm to play the character on the BIG SCREEN will soon catch fire.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ [5 of 5 Stars]

"KILLERS OF THE FLOWER MOON" SLOWLY PERCULATES TO MAKE IT'S POINT...

🎥🎞️Movie Review🎞️🎥 - KILLERS OF THE FLOWER MOON [2023] - [R] - Apple TV - Directed and Produced by Martin Scorsese. Script by Eric Roth, based on a 2017 book of the same title by David Grann. Starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Lily Gladstone, Jesse Plemons, John Lithgow, Brendan Frazier, and Robert De Niro. Budget $200 Million.

Based on true events, a WWI soldier [DiCaprio] returns home to the state of Oklahoma during a time when an oil boom has struck the state on Federal Native American territory; more centered around the Osage Nation, where a large number of Indian families have retained the rights to the riches being pumped out of the ground. Lots of money is being tossed around and the soldiers uncle [De Niro] promises his solider nephew a job as a taxi driver. The soldier falls in love with a local Osage Indian woman [Gladstone], who becomes the heir to the family fortune after several coincidental, and orchestrated deaths by murder have left his wife as the last of the family line for future oil fortunes. Over twenty-five local Indian deaths finally raise concern through the Native American Indian Council who send representatives to Washington DC and demand that the United States President send the investigators, under the control of J. Edgar Hoover, who runs an organization that eventually becomes the FBI, to look into the mysterious murders that have eluded justice due to Oklahoma's inability - due to the lack of respecting the rights of Indians during that time - to enforce law on Indian territory.

THE GOOD - The details required to transform the Oklahoma territories into a dusty 1920's old town environment is just mind blowing. The location spotting, wardrobe and makeup for the era, including the Native American wardrobe are just spellbinding perfect for the film. The captured sound was perfect and crisp; captions were added when truly needed. Very little use of green screen or CGI was required for the film and the cinematography was epic, capturing the vast fields and beauty of the Oklahoma "home range" countryside. The lighting was spot on to capturing the dusty, sepia feel of the time captured from old video and photographs of the time.

THE BAD - There are a ton of scenes which could have been edited out to speed up the film. The over three hour run time just seemed too unnecessary and I feel like a lot of good performances by DiCaprio and De Niro suffered because of all of the red tape that was used to go from one scene to another. Flash back scenes are added at a point where they could have just been presented in order of the scene as required. There were no real secrets in this film that needed to be presented to the viewer.

POST MORTEM - This film has a lot of big names in it, but it's definitely not a film that I will want to see again for a long time. There are no moments where I was like, "Let's see that again!" or a scene that brings me to remembering just how much talent was in this film. I'm surprised that DeCaprio took the role of the villain in this film and I'm sure that no one will be surprised in seeing De Niro sitting in another court room, charged for the mischief his character partook in the lawless lands of Oklahoma. Be prepared to hit pause a lot when seeing this film.

⭐️⭐️⭐️💫[3.5 of 5 Stars]

"SOUND OF FREEDOM" CANNOT BE DENIED AS THE MOST POLITICALLY INFLUENTIAL FILM OF 2023!

🎥🎞️Movie Review🎞️🎥- SOUND OF FREEDOM [2023] - R - Amazon Prime - Directed by Alejandro Monteverde. Written by Rod Barr & Alejandro Monteverde. Produced by Eduardo Verastegul & Jim Caviezel. Starring Jim Caviezel, Mira Sorvino, Bill Camp, Cristal Aparicio, Eduardo Verastegul, and Kurt Fuller. Budget $14.5 Million.

Based on a true story.  Tim Ballard [Caviezel] is a Special Agent for Homeland Security assigned with arresting pedophiles who download and distribute child pornography. After arresting a criminal, as he has done many times before, he finds himself in a position to be able to save a little boy that was being passed around as a sex slave. Knowing he has a son the same age, this puts him on a newer personal mission to save the little boys older sister who is still in the sex slave system. The amount of work and money that is passed to keep the sex slave operation running is never explained, but Ballard sticks to his training and personal desire to see this through the end and reunite the missing little girl with her family.

***Important note - This is an independent film that has raised a lot of attention concerning the sex slave industry that is a billion dollar operation in the United States.

THE GOOD - This is one of Caviezel's most powerful and emotional roles ever; he sells emotion with very little dialog and just the look in his eyes. The crisp and attentive cinematography captures the right feel for the vastness of the South American jungles and the dark tones of shadows and light that actually exist. All of the acting roles from the prime performances to that of the extras were perfectly cast and performed by actors who have never had much training. The two young actors were perfect for building emotion on the mental toll being put on them to survive. The location spotting was a tremendous effort and refined to keep all of the scenes real and delivered with a gritty feel for the poor environment that most captured sex slaves are exposed to on a daily basis.

THE BAD - The story leaves out some important little details concerning who is actually in charge of making the sex slave industry a success. Obviously, someone is handing over the serious cash to keep things running, but the film never goes into it as one might though it might. There's very little action, but there really wasn't a need for it.

POST MORTEM - This is a tremendously powerful little film. Be aware that Hollywood and other mainstream production companies and media did no support this film upon it's release, do the nature of the subject matter and that many known pedophiles hide within the mainstream entertainment industry. This film isn't that knock-out punch film that can expose everything and bring down the right people, but it does let viewers know that this does happen on a daily basis and that there are evil forces in the United States who support it. This indie film has the right message to send to America and everyone needs to watch it!

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️[5 of 5 Stars]

THE QUANTUM STORM .357 E-MAGAZINE, ISSUE 28 FOR JANUARY 2024 IS RELEASED!

QSE.357 ISSUE 28 dtd 1/1/2024

42 Pages

ON THE COVER - Zara Majidpour, Actress/Model.
Photo by D. R. Quintana

MAIN ARTICLES

Making History in Houston's Indie Films - Zara Majidpour leads a talented cast in a feature horror/drama movie which has crossed over 5,200 views on Facebook & continues to gain fans, positive reviews & a strong fan following.

Behind the Scenes - Zero Zero One has gone through several re-shoots & intense additions to bolster the feature to ensure fans are entertained throughout the movies run. We interviewed some of the new actors added to the film.

Is it time for you to update your Head Shots? - In this issue we list the names of certified photographers who are highly recommended for updating your portfolio. We have real professional photographer listings for Austin, Dallas, Ft. Worth, Houston, and San Antonio!

Meta Data - Learn how to sell your indie film to the right streaming service by keeping tabs on the Meta Data your film brings in.

YOU MUST BE A SUBSCRIBER TO VIEW THE FULL CONTENTS THIS NEW 2024 ISSUE OF THE QUANTUM STORM .357 E-MAGAZINE AND FOLLOW THIS BLOG

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AMAZON PRIME HAS A SURPRISE WINNER WITH "X"

🎥🎞️Movie Review🎞️🎥 - X [2022] - R - Amazon Prime - Directed by Ti West, also writer and producer. Associate producers include Jacob Jaffke, Kevin Turen, Harrison Kreiss. Stars Mia Goth, Jenna Ortega, Martin Henderson, Brittany Snow, Owen Campbell, Stephen Ure, and Scott Mescudi. Budget $1 Million.

In 1979, a group of mischievous Houston, Texas filmmakers set out to produce an adult film on the outskirts of the city. Even though their intentions of making a profitable adult film are honorable, the farm where the producer selected to shoot the film has some not so cozy owners who turn out to be serial killers. One by one, the film teams cast and crew are killed off until the reasoning behind the murders is revealed.

***Special Note - This film is the firs part in a set of three films which are currently in production. The prequel to this film is called "Pearl."

THE GOOD - This film is filled with well thought out practical effects! The location spotting for this film truly gave this feature a good texturing feel of the late 1970's and the music selection was also perfect for the time. The road trip aspect of the film was delicately shot with an ominous preview of the calm before the storm. The creepy factor in the film truly captured the duty, old feel to the living conditions of the time on an old farm. The tempo of the dramatic acting in the latter part of the film was delivered perfectly and the death of one actor was totally unexpected. On a special note, the introduction to the alligator was a nice touch in the film to bring it down together towards the end of the film.

THE BAD - There are some scenes in the feature that are shot just way too dark; it was possibly purposely done to hide the obvious details of the masks and makeup used on two of the actors. The beginning of the film is very slow and it takes a little time for the story to start developing; I had the temptation to shut off the movie and see something else, but once I got passed the slow stuff, the better part of the film began to churn out nicely.

POST MORTEM - I am honestly not a big fan of slasher films, but there was something flashy, sexy, and grotesque about this film that I liked a lot. There were some standout actor deliveries, one being Henderson whose work mimicked a younger "Matthew McConaughey" in his performance. This is a fun film with an Urban Legend type feel to it and it does deserve a sequel to it.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ [4 of 5  Stars]

NETFLIX'S "REBEL MOON" IS NOT ONLY MONSTOROUS FLOP...IT'S A COMPLETE WASTE OF TIME

🎥🎞️Movie Review🎞️🎥 - REBEL MOON; Part I [2023] - PG 13 - NetFlix - Directed by Zach Snyder. Written by Zach Snyder. Screenplay by Kurt Johnstad & Shay Hatten. Starring Sofia Boutella, Charlie Hunnam, Ed Skrein, Anthony Hopkins, Michael Huisman, and Djimon Hounsou. Budget $166 Million for two films.

The plot is simple, an edgy farm girl [Boutella] raised by a local farmer after she was found in a crashed warship, proves that she is actually a skilled warrior in hiding after the farmers in her village are threatened by a local imperial General [Huisman]. After an incident of misfortune, she sets out to start a rebellion to help save the local farmers in her community by soliciting the help of other "locally talented soldiers" - led by Hounsou - who eventually become "rebels with a cause" and try to overthrow the imperial forces threatening a larger commune of free worlds.

***Keep in mind - At some time in Hollywood history, Zach Snyder throw in his hat to try and write episodes 7, 8, and 9 of the Star Wars trilogy, and Rebel Moon was his treatment script to Disney that was turned down. Snyder found a few producers and put together his treatment script to film alone.

THE GOOD - This film is an action packed SciFi film filled full of some spectacular special effects, obvious practical monster makeup, and some breathtaking space-filled visual wonders that are plenty and marvelous to view.

THE BAD - There are lots, and I mean LOTS, of slow motion scenes that are truly unnecessary and over utilized in every action sequence for no particular reason at all. There was no clear description of who or what the Imperial forces are or what power they control in the area of their universe; except that they exist. The dialog is cold and strung out at every turn with very little character development, except for the leading character [Boutella] who actually worked for the bad guys after the imperial forces killed her parents and then...well...it's never explained. As a matter of fact, there's very little explanation of anything in this film; you are forced to accept what is because this person is carrying a big gun and that person has two swords that they wield with precision. There's nothing remarkably smart about the dialog or the screenplay.

POST MORTEM - This film is a mosh-posh of Firefly, Dune, Star Wars, John Carter, and Riddick wrapped up on one epic failure with bad story telling. I fought myself from time to time, trying not to check my phone for better entertainment than just watching this piece of shit film. Prior to the films release, there were some awesome trailers that definitely caught my attention, but in the end, this film is going no where and there definitely won't be a line of toy merchandise to help the film bring in profits. 

⭐️💫[1.5 of 5 Stars]