The Woodlands, TX. Some promotional snapshots from the upcoming release of BIANCA 2029 are presented in no particular order. Starring Rachel Wilder as MSG Bianca Wolfe. Directed by D. R. Quintana. Music by Lora Mao. This film is a MICRO Entertainment production.
Spawned from the graphic novel of the same name, BIANCA 2029 was filmed and produced with the more than capable talents of multi-award winning independent film producer, director and screenplay writer, D. R. Quintana, who actually created and developed the lead character in 1990. This new film is the culmination of several years of writing and multiple cast changes in the leading role until this passed March.
The feature has already been released in Japan, screened and reviewed by several established film directors, E-Mag subscribers, and indie film producers in the U.S. who were impressed by the films delivery, cinematography, the and visual effects. More over, the leading lady, Rachel Wilder [who plays MSG Bianca Wolfe] in the feature has been given high marks of her presentation as a futuristic paramilitary soldier [and a sexy cosplay role player], who is trapped in a temporal world filled full of nasty bad guys that need to be taken care of in an aggressive and often violent way.
The studio is planning to have three extended trailers for the film, all to be released for preview before October as a promotional tool for the films full premiere. The entire films production was filmed in Montgomery county, Texas with special access to several landmark areas which will be seen in each new trailer. Each trailer release is being presented in 4K high definition video with 7.2 Surround Sound.
Essentially, this is a movie about a photographer and writer who interviews Kathy Bauer [Comer] long time girlfriend on a biker [Butler] who opens the world up to the beginnings of biker clubs that eventually turn into biker gangs. The setting is the late 1960s on through the 1970s and there’s a lot that Bauer recalls about the first formation of the local biker club called “The Vandals.” Initially, the club was created for dudes who looked cool on bikes and had a place to shoot pool, smoke, drink beer, pick up hot women, and ride. As the Vietnam War came to a close, new bike clubs start to form and things start getting a little more serious as bike clubs start turning into bike gangs. From there, a loss of morality and fun ruins good things as biker punks begin to take over, ending the era of just good old guys riding around and enjoying a simple hobby with good friends.
THE GOOD - There are lots of classic cars and motorcycles that will make any person drool over what is shown in this film. Mostly shot in small towns in Ohio, the transformation of the set locations were pretty impressive. There are a lot of cameos from various actors who seem to be working together from one film to another.
THE BAD - There’s very little dialog that happens throughout the film as Bauer [Comer] is narrating throughout most of the feature. Tom Hardy seems dry in his performance as he tries to stay dramatic and perform somewhere in the realm of a young Marlon Brando. I’m not completely sure that Austin Butler had more than 15 lines in this film, outside of being beat up and maimed throughout most of the film.
POST MORTEM - For being a “biker film” with a PG13 rating, this film failed to show any real biking or any real danger, except a few scenes were the cast was seen driving in a rag tag group on the same patch of road. There’s no romance, no action, NOTHING! The pacing is slow and there’s really no real action in this film to speak of, except a few fights that were too short with nothing really to make note of. The film was presented in a documentary-type format that actually made me nod off from time to time. If it wasn’t for this classic bikes and cars in this film, there wouldn’t be much more to look at or admire. I was somewhat disappointed.
⭐️⭐️💫 [2.5 of 5 Stars]
A pregnant woman (Stone) commits suicide and her body is sold to a mad scientist (Dafoe) who is able to save the body of the woman and the brain of the unborn child. He plants the child’s brain into the woman and reanimates her to life. The new woman matures quickly, learning about impulsive sexuality and losing her direction in life. She seeks adventure with a new lover (Ruffalo) through a myriad escapade of sex and has to join a French bordello, where she sleeps with all kinds of creeps and even a father in front if his children; while two little boys take notes. She did all this not only to survive, but to find a way to get her home, where when shes successful she discovers a dark secret about about her real life and the events that led to her mother committing suicide while she was pregnant.
THE GOOD - This is a quasi-fantasy built around a fictional steam punk era, so the costumes are pretty impressive. There is a dazzling performance by William Dafoe that completely wasn’t expected.
THE BAD - The camera work, cinematography and use of lenses were atrocious. Where the director was obviously trying to bring a mind altering epic film; in the genre of “Edward Scissorhands” quality, this film failed to deliver a solid storyline and keep the pacing in line with the film’s message. Filled with dark humor, color variances from black and white, to sepia to pastels, there was nothing in this film that seemed real or gave the clarification of ingenuity for what the plots story had to share.
POAT MORTEM - This movie is a pedophile/groomers dream. As poorly as the movie poster was designed, this was a horrible film. I’m surprised this film won an Oscar or two over an obvious plotline concerning pedophilia through the altering "what if" scenario that asks, "What if Emma Stone had the mind of child, would you still do her?" There was clear indication for the justification of pedophilia within the film’s storyline. Emma Stone is fully naked throughout this film, which completely eradicates any chance of her being remembered as a classy sex symbol. You should watch this when there’s nothing else to see on a hot Sunday afternoon.
⭐️⭐️💫 [2.5 of 5 Stars]
A WWII Kamakazi Pilot (Yamada) and a plane mechanic are the only two survivors of an attack by a large beast on a remote Japanese controlled island at the end of the war. The beast was immune to small arms attack and somehow the pilot made it out alive. When he returns home, he meets a woman (Kamiki) who has taken in an orphaned child. As the years pass, the large beast returns to Japan and attacks Tokyo Bay, wreaking havoc on the land. Due to the Cold War between the U.S. and Russia, Japan is left alone to deal with the problem. With limited war technology, Japan’s finest pull together to fight back against the beast (now identified as Godzilla) and with the help of one lone fighter plane, piloted by the Kamakazi Pilot, they devise an enormous and intriguing plan to kill Godzilla.
THE GOOD - A well written script and a plot that introduces Godzilla in an epic way. The use of CGI is outstanding, consistent, and the lighting is above what I expected in a foreign film. The acting is punctual and well delivered by a talented cast. The film flows flawlessly with expert editing. I give high kudos to the ADR of American voice actors who were selected to voice the actors performances. The film has a strong start and finish.
THE BAD - There is only one part of the film that failed me, and it occurs during the last act of the film where a line of ships and tug boats arrive to help the volunteer Navy pull Godzilla to his death. Other than that, I saw no real problems with this film.
POST MORTEM - This is an outstanding start to a reboot of the old films, setting things in proper motion for a new league of fans. Japan’s film industry took a large leap forward attempting to bring this film to life; especially with all of the required monster and miniature effects required to bring this epic film to life. I’m a big fan of this production team!
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫 (4.5 of 5 Stars)
Jim Henson was a passionate and dedicated artist who created an imaginary world of muppets that followed him his whole life. When he reached one plateau of success, he’d strive for another; never slowing down, never resting. This movie is a deep look into the man who brought us the humorous Kermit the Frog, the world of muppets, Sesame Street, The Muppet Show, and many other puppet movies and shows that created a strong cult following of loyal fans young and old.
THE GOOD - There was a on of never before seen footage of Jim Henson and his early family life. Many of his good, closest friends added their take on Henson’s rise in the entertainment industry. The documentary has the right pacing to keep you interested and the right artistic details to keep you entertained with several good uses of animated story telling, show the step by step process in his creative footprints of bringing certain characters to life.
THE BAD - Not that the film was rushed, but the documentary didn’t cover all of Henson’s creative works that touched pop culture, missing out on covering “Emmit Otter’s Jug Band Christmas” which was one of my personal favorites. IMO the movie could have been a little bit longer to cover those other shows that weren’t covered.
POST MORTEM - From life through to his death, Henson loved to entertain his family, friends, and fans. There was a lot humor and heart, tons of moment of deep emotion, including the painful loss of Henson at his death. It’s hard to believe that he is gone, but his work and his ideas continue on with the desire from his family. This was a touching, good documentary. Kudos to Ron Howard!
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫 (4.5 of 5 Stars)
QSE.357 ISSUE 33 dtd 6/1/2024
42 Pages
ON THE COVER - Victoria Yap
Photo by D. R. Quintana
MAIN ARTICLES
Take a look inside Operation Iscandar - The studio releases the first official look at a new series that will have action & an exciting storyline. Read liner notes to the development of the shows scripts/screenplay.
Meet Victoria Yap & other actors of Operation Iscandar - The studio says top notch actors were cast for this new series. Learn about their backgrounds & acting credentials.
From script to screen
- A good films history is only as good as the documentation kept from pre-production to the completion of your project. Learn how to keep your key ideas from prying eyes.
Take a look at QUANTUM ECLIPSE! - The studios second project and short film filled with horror and solid drama, starring Stacie Rowe & Valjean Eskridge II.
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
The Woodlands, TX - Years of feature film and web series experience in developing new and inventive projects, has brought the studios newest science fiction effort to the forefront of this years line of planned production.
Operation ISCANDAR [Is'-kander] is fallout from a plethora of scripts, that stretched out over thirteen years but under a different title. The initial series fell under few tweaks and re-writes to ensure that if it would launch again, it would have to be rooted under a original project, distancing itself from other well known and established television shows and series.
What surfaced during an intense re-write of the original scripts and screenplay was an interesting dark tale of intrigue that embroiled a story of the aftermath of a galactic war, fought many light years away, but one that still endangers the lives of countless worlds on the outer edge of the known universe. This idealism became the basis for ISCANDAR's message; captured, presented, and aimed at a broader new fan base filled with a need for a solid, darkly cerebral SciFi series.
This reinvention required a new title and also a new way to market and advertise the series in this age of multimedia where just about anyone can produce good entertainment in videos just thirty seconds long and successfully present them on several well-known platforms. With Houston's amateur independent film community now floundering in the scraps of "what was," the studio spent two years studying on how to develop shorter scripted video content by building plots and storylines to target viewers with viral content, building a solid trend to better harness the attention of potential new fans. This new format is planned to deliver the shows message with "direct impact" story telling, but without lengthy or drawn out dialog that can slow episodes down.
One word, "Iscandar" [originally pronounced as Is'-kan-'Dahr] was one of the familiar words, used to identify the name a distant world in an old SciFi animated series called "Star Blazers" that ran on American television in 1979; but in Japan it ran under the name Space Battleship Yamato five years earlier in 1974. The CEO found in his studies that in Arabic, and under pronunciation of "Is-kander," the word fell under the new meaning of "the protector of men." Using the newly understood pronunciation of the word, the studio re-wrote the title of the SciFi project and a different vision of the series began to form. Operation Iscandar would be produced to define the series as a mission to guide mankind towards a peaceful and productive future, to be protected at all cost. There would be no need for space ships, no Federation, no empires.
Vast changes in the news series scripting also demanded that new talent to be cast.
Due to the name change and now the shows direction, the studio began
developing new characters to fill the show. After an intense casting
call of which over 75 local Houston actors responded to, the studio
found its lead actor. Leading this series would fall to the talented and capable hands of Victoria Yap
of Waller, Texas.
Yap quickly proved to be an established actress in the local indie film community with extensive training and skills, working with some of the most talented Houston based independent actors and film teams. She has a strong history in acting, but also as some impressive experience as a producer which can help the series develop further in future episodes planned for production.
The studio team was truly impressed with Yap's video submissions for her audition which separated her from a short list of finalists. Yap insisted that she was captivated by the series script and felt that she was up to the challenge of bringing the character of Aria Vista to life. A first time meeting with the show's director, proved to present a strong chemistry between the actor and the show's creator. Shortly after the first meet and greet, the two began working on taking larger steps to get the series into production in a shorter time span than originally planned.
Every good SciFi series needs a deadly bad guy or evil woman to ruin the progress of the heroes plan to save the universe, so the studio cast Stacie Rowe to take the role as the antagonist, whose only purpose is to literally disrupt the progress of good intentions towards the end of the first season. She is a new comer to SciFi projects, mainly accepting castings for western genre short films, features, and the like. She submitted a casting video for Iscandar, and even though her submission was received a week after the submission deadline, the casting director saw something dark in her video submission that could be used in the show, but for another darker and sinister role. After submitting her video audition, Rowe was concerned that the studio didn't reach back to her right away.
"I get this audition request from this man who I didn't even attempt to pronounce his last name," recalls Rowe. "Time passed and I emailed him asking if the role had been cast. A little later I received a reply and got a 'Oh, good to hear back from you, I will call you tomorrow morning' and I thought to myself, 'Awe damn, I’m pushing it!' But when I got the call the next day as he promised, the director said that my audition reminded him of a ten year nightmare he'd been having and I thought to myself, 'Stacie, you really blew it!' But he explained his reasoning, adding that my audition was BADASS in more ways than one. So yes, he had me at BADASS!"
Rowe has also accepted the lead role and has been cast as a Sheriff in the studio horror film, QUANTUM ECLIPSE, which is currently in production.
Yap will have a talented core of actors to assist her in the series. The actors, Anders, Eskridge, Rowe, and Ramos have all signed on board to launch the first season of ten to twelve episodes for a strong start this fall. The series has not been rated, but it will be produced in 6K format with 7.2 Surround Sound quality.
A teaser trailer has been released on both Rumble.com and on the studios Facebook page, with a planned trailer release before the end of August 2024. The Quantum Storm .357 E-Magazine will promote a feature issue with more details and behind the scenes production photos in June.
Based on true events, Comedian Donny Dunn [Gadd] is a struggling artist, just trying to live the dream of being a successful comedian in a field full of strong competition. He's been lucky to have people help him along the way, sometimes having the changes of a lifetime land his way, then things just seem to crash down on him hard. One day at his real job, a bar-tending gig, he meets a barfly named Martha [Gunning] who turns his world around by becoming a relentless stalker who seemingly begins to turn up everywhere he goes. She emails him constantly and it increases to an absurd attraction after she gets his phone number. Due to some circumstances that occurred in his past, Dunn becomes consumed with trying to understand why Martha has chosen him, opening up his own traumatic past which only makes things worse, and he struggles with every inch of his being to find a way to escape Martha's control over him.
THE GOOD - The writing and screenplay are mesmerizing and hard to believe. The deeper and deeper the story goes, the more and more draining of life is taken from the lead actor. You see the actor [Gunn] deteriorate along with the story, each event that transpires, and his transformation is truly and starkly breathtaking. Gunning's performance of "Martha" is a far cry from hope against a real lady who truly does exist. Her performance as the deranged Martha is noteworthy for award and applause. All of the extras in the seven part series are well performed and presented as either strong supporters of Dunn's claim or friends who question his failure to shut Martha down from the very beginning.
THE BAD - There is a dark part of this series that just caught me off guard. It deals with date raping, and even though it is important to see what actually transpired to understand the lead characters mindset, it was tough to watch.
POST MORTEM - This is one mind fuck of a mini series. If you've never been stalked before or bullied by persons who were beneath you in stature, this is one hell of a series to watch and try to learn from. Kudos to all involved!
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫 [4.5 of 5 Stars]
In 1979, during the hayday in the growth of televised Championship Wrestling, a legendary wrestler, Fritz Von Erich [McCallany], known in the early circles of wrestling lore as a “maniac fighter,” was not only proficient in the sport, he was considered a master wrestler who never got to win a Championship title in his career as an active wrestler. Later in life, he prepared three of his sons to carry on his legacy. These three young men would change the path of wrestling forever, but the family was cursed with bad luck, which seemed to step in at every attempt to secure a championship within the family. One by one, the sons began to die of under strange circumstances, including the overuse of drugs, committing suicide, and dealing with serious injuries that forced them all to live with considerable pain. This movie concerns Kevin Von Erich [Efron], who at the end of his wrestling career, distanced his personal family from the "Von Erich" curse by changing his family name.
THE GOOD - The transformation of a few actors [Zefron and White] were extraordinary. The addition of Harley Race [played by Kevin Anton] was completely mind blowing. Very good use of vintage vehicles.
THE BAD - The cinematography was atrocious. Too many closeups and not enough open-panning of the wrestling matches giving a wide view of what was happening in the wrestling ring. The screenplay was weak, most importantly, there wasn't enough character development between the brothers, except that they were brothers and that the father was a borderline self-centered narcissist who demanded nothing but success and competition between his sons. Even though Zefron is a talented actor, I feel that the emotional toll being felt by Kevin Von Erich during his darkest time was way beyond his ability to grasp the performance; just looking sad doesn’t cut it. The production team seemed unable to bring the 1980's back to life, even incidentally filming scenes of today's downtown Dallas skyline, trying to pass it off as what was once seen in the early 1980s. ***On a special bad note, the casting of Aaron Dean Eisenberg as Rick Flair was a complete embarrassment to the actual wrestler man/personae.
POST MORTEM - I was raised on watching Texas wrestling on television. This film would have been better off as a made for television movie. The intensity of Fritz Von Erich didn't match the acting result of emotion from the other actors and the wrestling spots were too short. There were so many questions to the real events that occurred to the Von Erich family, that the script and director seemed to only gloss over important events and show a softer side of the story telling to keep the real family members from reliving certain dark experiences. If this film was based on real events, the fans and viewers deserve to see what really happened. I also think that the ending to this semi-indie film was just a little looney; showing three brothers meeting each other in heaven after two committed suicide and one died of a drug overdose. If this truly was an attempt at making the end of the feature an emotional moment, it was badly planned and poorly executed. This is an okay film to watch on a Sunday when you have nothing else to do.
⭐️⭐️⭐️💫 [3.5 of 5 Stars]
GHOSTIES stars Tanner Fontana, Jessica Yanker, Haley Coker, Emily Thompson, Alan Berkowitz, Fabritzia Faustinella, and Matthew Jasso. The movie was produced in five days during the late spring and early summer of 2011 with a low budget slightly exceeding $8500 and shot entirely in Montgomery, TX. Many of the crew members on the production team were the mothers of the actors; the most prized mothers who assistanted the director were Joan Yanker Scardino, Jamie Coker, Yvonne Fontana, Tina Carroll, and Darla Redwine.
The film was presented on the big screen four times in four different cities, Katy, Texas being the debut city which brought in the most attendance to the short film. With the help of t-shirt, movie poster and DVD sales, the movie paid off the films budget plus a whole lot more. During the time of it's release, GHOSTIES was the first successful film produced entirely with young teenagers as lead characters who partook in a film that succeeded past a rivalry of slasher and zombie films, all were released during the same time, but Ghosties crushed those other films in ticket sales and attendance. The marketing for this film was well planned and theater attendance [on its premiere night] proved that targeting teens was a move never attempted before in the local Houston area.
The director would enjoy four more movie debuts with four new film premieres, but GHOSTIES would prove to be his lone plateau of success on the big screen. The director says that a sequel to GHOSTIES was attempted with an all new set of little actors. But even though the script, the production was again fun, funny and exciting, it was only successful at delivering the product as a sizzle reel.
"Some people say we waited to long, some say that the magic was all used up," adds Quintana. "I think there's another movie left to tell the tale of the little ladies and the ghosts that haunt their local cemetery, but maybe the story should be told as grown ups, as they are all grown up now...but you never know."
Casey P. Costelloe
Contributing Writer.
