Game Seven (or, How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love Baseball)

This week I have been asked by many people (voices in my head), "Raymond, what do you think will happen in this World Series? What's your prediction?" Well, kind voice that whispers creepily at the worst moments, here's what I think.

I imagine the voice of Tom Hamilton or even Harry Doyle himself doing the commentary here.

Bottom of the 9th. 2 outs. The Cubs are up 4-3. Carlos Santana sings Oye Como Va to himself as he gets his lead on second base. Aroldis Chapman, now in his 4th inning of work, looks in to get the sign. The count is full on Jason Kipnis. John Adams is perched under the left field jumbo-tron leading the crowd with the beat of his drum. The crowd has turned it up to 11. The ground shakes all around Cleveland because of the noise (except in Browns stadium. It is impervious to excitement, anticipation, and any happiness whatsoever).

Aroldis kicks and fires a 103 mph heater towards home plate.

Kipnis swings and......

Miss.

Bill Murray rides a billy-goat out on the field to celebrate the end of the curse. Jake Arrieta rips out his own beard to prove his excitement! Joe Maddon looks at his team mobbing each other on the field and celebrating and thinks "why yes, my glasses do look hipsterish." Harey Carey bursts forth from his grave and wanders the streets whilst doing a Will Ferrell impression.

BUT WAIT A MINUTE!

The left field umpire races in to break up the camaraderie of the Cubs. It appears as though, YES! There's a man on the field! Charlie Sheen, the Wild Thing himself, is streaking on the field! Security is in pursuit. The Cubs are celebrating the breaking of their streak in the midst of an uglier streak, yet the umpire called time out before the pitch to Kipnis because of Charlie Sheen!

Kipnis gets back in to the box. Chapman, now disoriented because of the sight he saw (who blames him?), delivers another pitch. Kipnis doesn't miss this one. It goes deep.

Back.

Back.

Back.

Gone.

Ballgame.

Harey Carey returns to his grave. Animal Control catches Bill Murray on the goat and takes both of them to the pound. Bob Feller's statue completes his pitch. Ohioans everywhere wait in anticipation of Kipnis to take his talents to South Beach, and once he reassures them that he won't, they begin to celebrate. Chief Wahoo smiles even more. And even Corey Kluber manages to smirk. The Indians are World Series champs!

The most improbable end to an even more impossible series. No matter the outcome, it's been a wild and crazy World Series. Happy game 7, everybody! Here's to baseball.

(and go Tribe)

Movie Making Update

On October 2, 2015, I made an exciting announcement on Instagram about a passion project that was finally becoming a reality (if you missed this announcement, you can see it here). Maybe you did not think it was quite as exciting as I did, but nevertheless an announcement was made: the first day of shooting my first short film was commencing! I got a lot of messages asking about the project, congratulating me on doing it, and many many people being curious about how it would turn out. 

If you were too lazy to click the link, here's the announcement photo. Look how artsy that is. Wow. 

We had an awesome cast (Nick Schmahl, Jeff Dimick, Eli Stewart, Jules James, and Adessa Morris), an awesome crew (shoutout to Austin James), and even a script. We spent 2 weekends shooting and another weekend shooting reshoots. Then suddenly, all updates were silent. 

Over the past 4 months, I have periodically received messages asking "how did that whole thing turn out, anyway?" Ok, maybe that was just my mother asking, but it still counts! The questions still remain: what happened to this project? What the heck is this short film about? Is it even still happening? Is this what failure looks like? Why am I even reading a blog post about an indie short film by a writer/director who went to school as a Bible major? 

That last question hurts, but I will answer all of the OTHER questions for you here and give you an update about where in the process we are, and a little idea of what the future may hold when it comes to film projects. 


1) What happened to this project? 

Well, life happened. Immediately after we shot "Just Another Day", a funny thing happened. My camera that was purchased via Amazon.com had a malfunction that inhibited us from getting the footage from the HDV tapes onto my MacBook. You may read that and think "wow, you are using tapes to film it?" and my answer is quite simply "yes". I wish I could tell you it was because I believe that films should be shot on film and all of that artistic stuff, but the truth of it actually is the fact that the camera was the best quality I could find at the time of purchase that was within the budget allotted. 

So, with older equipment comes some issues. Thankfully, the majority of filming was finished by the time we came across this issue. I sent the camera in to Canon to have them assess it and fix it. After they had it for a month, they returned it with a letter that said that they no longer made the parts needed to fix the issue. That was a bummer. 

That meant that I had to send the HDV tapes in to a development company who will take the footage and put it on both DVD and digital copy for me to have. This process will take about 6-8 weeks to complete, so that means editing will be able to begin in a month or so. 


2) What the heck is this short film about? 

Here's the log line for you: A man who fears anything "different" than his regular routines finds a mysterious package delivered to his apartment out of the blue. Insisting it must be a mistake, he embarks on a journey to return it to the sender. Along the way, he must come face to face with his fears, forcing him to ask himself whether "different" necessarily means "bad". 

The genre could be classified as "indie comedy". 


3) Is this even still happening? 

Heck yes! It has to happen. Why? Because of the awesome hard work that went in to putting this thing together. Nick and Jeff (our main characters) worked tirelessly and for long hours, putting up with a demanding director for 4+ days in order to put great characters on the screen. The physical demands put on Eli and Jules and Nick to do their own stunts deserves to be seen. A few technical hiccups are not going to stand in the way of us finishing this thing. 


4) Is this what failure looks like? 

No. That's not nice. Really? Why would you ask that? Come on, man. 


5) What's the future hold? 

On March 1, 2016, we will be releasing some exciting news about "Red Turbo Jacket Productions" (Twitter: @RTJ_Productions), the production company banner under which this short film and other shorts/promos/music videos will be made under. 

Also, I am currently in the process of upgrading our camera equipment and other accessories to help make a better quality product for your viewing pleasure. There are also 2 separate original scripts in the works (1 feature length and 1 short film series to be released Christmas 2016), 1 music video, 1 script revision, and of course Just Another Day editing that are to be worked on this year. 

It is going to be very busy this upcoming year, yet the excitement cannot be understated! Thank you for all of the encouraging messages and conversations surrounding this project in particular. I cannot wait to start releasing some footage and the full short film in about 2 or 3 months to you guys. 

And if any of this sounds interesting to you, enough that you may want to be involved either in front or behind a camera, feel free to contact me on here!

The 2016 Films to Search For

2015 was a pretty good year for film. 2016, however, is shaping up to be one of the better years to go to the theater, from huge blockbusters to fun indies to even some really amazing sounding passion projects. In this blog, I will seek to help tell you why you should be excited for the films I am pumped to see! Last year, my anticipated list involved a lot of films that I was so-so on, but the hype train sold me on including them. No more. This list is comprised of films that (as of the posting) I am very excited for! You will notice some films missing (sorry, Disney's Marvel fanboys and girls. No love for you here), but in their place will be movies you NEED to seek out to see either on VOD, cinema, or Walmart. 

Enough of my jibber jabber, let's start this list! Here are the 9 films you need to search for this 2016 year.

The Hipster Category (Ones You Didn't Know Were Coming)

Under the Shadow (January 22 @ Sundance Film Festival)

Trailer

If you want a head start on Oscar season, you need to pay attention to Sundance. This foreign language darling debuted there this year and is already drawing comparisons to the 2014 horrifying Australian film "The Babadook". That's mighty high praise for this Persian film, seeing that "The Babadook" is one of the best horror films I have ever watched. 

This film appears to have a psychologically horrifying story playing out over an equally horrifying landscape of waitron 1980s Tehran. While it might play out to be a simply overused "demon terrorizes home of desperate poor innocent family" trope yet again, I am sensing a fresh take on the story. Look for this one either at an Indie theater or Walmart this summer. 

The Hollars (January 24 @ Sundance Film Festival)

Trailer 

Jim returns home from his 13 Hours in Benghazi to find Beca is now pregnant with Pitch Perfect 3's plot. 

Ok, maybe that's not true, but John Krasinski's 2nd directorial endeavor appears to be able to tug all of the right heart strings to make a beautiful melodic indie film. This was picked up almost instantly at Sundance by Sony to distribute, which tells me that this was quite a catch. It will be quirky and hilarious (starring John, Anna Kendrick, and Charlie Day, how can't it be?), but the awesome story of a man returning to his home town after a long time away will be an interesting and thought provoking element to the story, one that almost all of us will be able to relate to. 

The Witch (February 19)

Trailer (if you dare)

Kid's, this isn't Hocus Pocus. Set in 1630s New England, this horrifying film from one of my favorite distributors, A24 (seriously. I could do an anticipated list with just their films), promises to scare the pantaloons off your rear, the pilgrim hat off of your head, and make you never want to celebrate Thanksgiving again. 

The trailer promises a chilling, gritty, freakish experience. In a world where horror films tend to rely on old tropes and gore over solid terrifying story, this film breathes fresh air to bring it back to life...only to scare the life out of you. 

Baaaa baaaa baaaa (don't get why that's there? WATCH THE TRAILER.) 

The Mid-Range Favorites 

Demolition (April 8)

Trailer

Jake Gyllenhaal is a man that is in the prime of his career right now. That previous sentence may be an understatement. He has played 3 distinctly different people in his 3 major films the past 3 years (Nightcrawler, Southpaw) and now Demolition. This film promises to have quirky humor and a darker story. I mean, come on: he's writing a letter to complain about getting cheated out of peanut M&Ms 10 minutes after HIS WIFE DIES IN A CAR ACCIDENT. After his life was figuratively demolished, he will physically build it back from the ground up.

This will definitely be a challenge to his acting range, as he will need to be charming yet deep, funny yet sad, and overall awesome. Along on the ride will be Naomi Watts and Chris Cooper, both stellar talents in their own right. Fox Searchlight is a reliable studio, and they've backed this film, which means you should too come April. 

Nice Guys (May 20)

Trailer

Confession: I am not a Ryan Gosling fan. I loved "Drive", but one of the things that bugged me about the film was that they were making Gosling out to be a tough guy. The soft voice is not "tough guy" to me. I'm sorry (I'M LYING). 

However, that being said, this is a perfect casting. Gosling is a private investigator that is, well, not a tough guy. Russell Crowe is a tough guy that is, well, not the brightest. They will team up to be a hilarious duo running around 1970s California, leaving a trail of broken windows, explosions, bullet holes, and laughs. This film looks to be good enough to make me forgive Shane Black (the director) for the atrocity that was Iron Man 3.

The Little Prince (March 18)  

The Little Trailer Here 

"You will make an awesome grown up some day"

That line perfectly captures the problem with our youth's busy schedules these days, and it is the poignant message of this film. The mixture of cg animation and stop motion is beautiful. The voice cast (Paul Rudd, Jeff Bridges, Rachel McAdams, James Franco, Benicio del Toro, Ricky Gervais, Paul Giamatti, Marion Cotillard, etc) is amazing, and the classic tail seems to be interwoven well into a bigger story. 

How excited am I? Let it go on record that this film WILL BE NOMINATED AND MIGHT WIN BEST ANIMATED at the Oscars in 2017. Write that down.   


The Stuff Of Legends (Or, What We've All Known About)

Silence (2016) 

Trailer

Martin Scorsese. Liam Neeson. Rising stars Andrew Garfield and Adam Driver. Do I need to really sell you on this anymore? I will. 

This is the film Scorsese has been trying to bring to the big screen for years now, and 2016 we are going to get it...hopefully. A heart wrenching story about Jesuit priests in 17th century Japan who are spreading Jesus' name and rescuing their mentor. Even judging by the crew involved and the stills we have gotten from the production, this looks to already be a major Oscar front runner whenever it finally hits. Once the release date is out, mark your calendar. This will be a tear jerker and inspiring tale. 

Suicide Squad (August 5)

Trailer 

"Man of Steel is too somber." "DC films have no humor." "DC movies wouldn't know a joke if it hit them." "The funniest thing about DC movies is that they actually thought Green Lantern was good." 

In comes Suicide Squad. This crazy, zany, utterly chaotic action movie is going to be the talk of the year, well after another film that is. What makes this movie so unique is that it is a huge departure from the typical comic book film. The first team up film in the comic book cinematic universe era to feature villains instead of heroes will be an interesting dynamic, especially since the marketing has appeared to show no real attempt to make the villains heroic. 

The big talk surrounding this so far has been Will Smith as Deadshot, Margot Robbie as the lovable Harley Quinn, and the new Jared Leto Joker. The latest trailer, however, may reveal that the real scene stealer might be Jai Courtney's Captain Boomerang. Any way you slice it, this looks to be a truly entertaining movie unlike any the comic book hero world has seen yet. 

It also might show how awesome all of Batman's villains are, and really help establish how super Bats is, which brings us to...

My Most Anticipated Film of 2016

Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (March 25)

Trailer 

To anyone that knows me, this is no surprise. As I sit typing this out in my "Batfleck" shirt, I can't help but think back at the 3 year wait we have had for this film. It has not been easy. The popular thing to do is to nitpick everything that comes out, but alas that is the life of a film fan. 

We are getting the 2 biggest heroes in history on the same screen for the first time. We have a Batman that looks like the Batman we all imagined. We get the first major motion picture version of Wonder Woman. That will sell itself. 

I am really hoping this will be as good as it can be, and unlike many people, I have full faith in director Zack Snyder. Watchmen is one of the greatest CBM of all time. Man of Steel brought together the best of Superman (hope in the face of hopelessness, full air to air combat, muscles). Now, take that vision and throw in one of the best directors today (Ben Affleck), and you can bet that the end product will be good. Batman is my favorite hero, and this film will do him justice. 

Yes that was a Justice League pun. 

Anyway, what about you? What are you looking forward to this year? Civil War will be cool, Deadpool will be nuts, X-Men will be crazy to say the least! We'll be back this time next year to see how right and how wrong I was about all of this as well. 

The Far Too Long List of 2015 Films and Opinions On Them You Don't Care About: Revisited

2015 was a fun year to go to the movies! There were some great films, some lack-luster ones, and then there was "Jem and the Holograms", which may cost as much for 1 blu-ray as it made in it's entire theatric run. At the beginning of 2015, I made a list of films I was anticipating going into the year. Well, now it's time to keep me accountable. Do I have regrets? Did they all live up to they hype? Here's how we are going to rank them. 

From best to worst, this is how we will be defining the 2015 films:

Buy Full Price 
Buy It At Buy-Backs
Red-Box This 
Don't Even Let Someone Pay You To Watch It 

Now, here are some honorable mentions that I did not have on my list going into last year, but are pretty well known. Are they definitely worth your time, or should you skip them? Here's my 2 cents! 

Ex Machina-Buy Full Price 
Mad Max: Fury Road-Buy Full Price 
Shaun the Sheep Movie-Buy It Full Price
Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation-Buy It At Buy-Backs 
Hateful Eight-Buy It At Buy-Backs
Furious 7-Red-Box This
Black Mass-Red-Box This 






Ok, now here's my most anticipated list from 2015: revisited. 

The Hipster Category (Ones You Didn't Know Were Coming)

Chappie (March 6) 
Rotten Tomatoes Rating: 31%

This movie may be my biggest regret on this list for a few different reasons. First off, no matter how much I tried to defend the film, the best parts were in the trailer. The robot was adorable and fun, but nothing else really was. Second, the side characters were annoying, Hugh Jackman was wasted, and it was just overall a big mess. But the biggest reason I regret this? Because when I wrote the piece last year, I had another film in this slot. It was a little movie called "Ex Machina". You read that right. I subbed piece of poop "Chappie" in for the film that's nominated for best original screenplay and best visual effects Oscars, and should arguably been nominated for best supporting actress and best picture.

Chappie is a definitive and unabashedly "Don't Even Let Someone Pay You To Watch It". 

True Story (April 10)
Rotten Tomatoes Rating: 44%

"This could be one of the better films of the year!"-Raymond Morris, February 2015

That guy was actually right for once. I Red-Boxed this limited release indy a couple of months ago, and it was well worth the $1.99 I payed for it. Don't let James Franco fool you with his "This Is The End" and "The Interview" roles; when he puts his mind to it, he is one of the better actors working in Hollywood today. His role as a manipulative convicted murderer that preys on the vulnerable Jonah Hill is nothing short of chilling and brilliant. While Felicity Jones's role is subdued and not-noticeable, she did well. Jonah Hill was also very solid in another dramatic role for his bright career. The story and direction and slow and methodical, but in a way that keeps you very interested and guessing all the way until the end. 

True Story is a "Buy It At Buy-Backs". I'm serious. True story. 

Southpaw (July 31)
Rotten Tomatoes Rating: 60%

When this movie came out, a lot of the buzz surrounding it was not about the quality of the film, but the fact that the trailer ruined the film. That fact, along with the generic "meh" feeling of the film after it came out lowered my expectations a bit. Perhaps that lowered expectation helped out in my viewing experience. From a technical standpoint, there are beautiful shots, great performances from Jake Gyllenhaal (who, fun fact, is playing a role originally intended to be played by Eminem in the film) and breakout star Oona Laurence (who plays his daughter), a solid story, plus (being a youth pastor) I found the plot line with Forest Whitacker's character was really cool. There are clichéd elements, but that's tough to avoid in any sport's film. 

What left the biggest impression on me in this film was the ridiculously depressing first hour/hour and a half of this two hour film. Just when you think it cannot get any worse for Billy Hope (Gyllenhaal), it does. There's no over-acting here, which really helps make this film good. Also, the big plot device early in the movie had me tearing up a mere 20 minutes in. 

The action is crisp and engaging. The ending, although somewhat predictable, was one of the best fights I have seen. Part of me wishes there was more fighting in the film, but looking at is from a full-story perspective, they got just the right amount in it. In a year where "Creed" would not have been out, this would have gotten more buzz. 

Southpaw is a knock-out in the "Buy It At Buy-Backs" category, although if you are a sucker for sport's films with adult language, this one is a "Buy Full Price".   

The Man From U.N.C.L.E. (August 14)
Rotten Tomatoes Rating: 67%

This movie took my money, and I was ok with it. I went and saw this bad boy in theaters, even after what I would consider a "weaker than Gumby at the gym" marketing campaign. 
This film suffered in the respect that it could not figure out who it's audience was. Are you going for the people who watched the '60s spy show? Are you trying to introduce this to a new 18-34 demographic? From the commercials, you could not really tell, and that showed in the box office returns. 

Despite all of this, the film was a fun, action packed, lighthearted summer popcorn flick. Guy Ritchie has his fingerprints all over this film, which is definitely to it's benefit. The same time machine he used to transport us back to watch "Sherlock Holmes" was used again to take us back to the 1960s world of suave spies, femme fatales, and fancy cars. The dialogue was witty  the action was fun, and the music was...AHH...fantastic. The music is something I will always commend Guy Ritchie for in his films. He is a master at grabbing the essence of the time period and putting a modern twist on it, and it is no different here. 

For me, The Man From U.N.C.L.E. garners a "Buy It At Buy-Backs", just missing the top tier. 



The Stuff Of Legends (Or, What We've All Known About)

Avengers: Age of Ultron (May 1)
Rotten Tomatoes Rating: 74%

I am going to be honest here, I was not THAT excited to watch this movie. The reason it was on my list was because I felt as though I may be lynched if it were excluded. That being said, it lived up to my lack of anticipation. 

This movie is one of the bigger disappointments of the year. I will hand it to the Marvel fan-boys out there: Ultron in the trailers looked mighty menacing. The problem is similar to Chappie in that the robot's best parts were all in the trailer. Instead of menacing, we got a sarcastic child in robot form. He reminded me less of a menacing villain and more of a 5th grade bully who thinks he's the funniest kid in class. Marvel has a tough time developing villains, and it simply continued here. And without a good villain, how good can a super hero film be? 

Also, lets take a moment and point out how afraid this movie was to take itself seriously. There's a difference between having clever meta dialogue that points out what we in the audience are thinking and then beating us over the head with it. The first is fun, the second is fear to be serious. That's another thing I have begun to notice with the MCU (and was repeated in Ant-Man). 

Also also, how Marvel essentially pulls a "Look at us, we aren't Man of Steel. LOOK, WE'LL SPEND 30 MINUTES SHOWING HOW EVERYONE IN THE CITY ESCAPES ON THE HELLICARRIER!" scene. 

However, I will say that one of the coolest scenes was when Vision took Thor's hammer. Not only was it very humorous, but it was also brilliant exposition without words. You could spend 15 minutes having a discussion with him to see if he's a good guy, or you can have him prove his worthiness by picking up a hammer. Well done, Joss. Well done. 

That is not enough to save this movie, though. I give Age of Ultron a lower tier "Buy It At Buy-Backs", almost "Red-Box This". 

Jurassic World (Jun 12)
Rotten Tomatoes Rating: 71%

"I'm throwing this into guilty pleasure territory. It'll be fun. Who doesn't want to see Star Lord (Chris Pratt) play with pet velociraptors?" 

Yep, that's basically what this is, with a little bit of "nostalgia steroids" injected here and there. Look, I won't sit here and tell you that this is a bad movie. I won't sit here and say it's a great movie either. I will tell you that it's fun, it's crazy, and it's very enjoyable, both if you have an emotional connection to the original or if you do not. This wasn't the only "take the plot from the original and just rename the main characters to make it new" film of the year, but my goodness it was fun. 

If you have an emotional connection to the original, this is a definite "Buy At Full Price", but if you don't, it's still a solid "Buy It At Buy-Backs".

Minions (July 10)
Rotten Tomatoes Rating: 55%

After seeing the previews for this movie, the expectations for me could not have been any higher. I loved the first two Despicable Me films, so I was not going to expect anything less from this one. After it came out this summer, the early buzz from critics was not very positive, especially considering the overall success of the first two. With this in mind (plus the fact my summers become so busy that I hardly see half of the movies I want to), I did not desire to see this much at all. I finally watched it at the end of January. 

I would be lying if I said that this is a masterpiece. I would be lying if I told you that I do not regret putting this on my most anticipated list. But, I would also be lying if I said this movie was garbage. It's anything but! 

Sure, the best parts of the first third of the movie are in the previews. Yeah, the jokes become very repetitive at times (YES, PEOPLE IN ENGLAND DRINK TEA, WE GET IT!). The thing is though, the movie is clever, it is fun, and the minions continue to be adorable. Do we need another one? Heavens no, but this one was ok. What was missing here was a truly solid story to push it through. 

Minions gets a "Buy It At Buy-Backs" ranking, which is good considering I was expecting to give it a "Red-Box This" rank going into the movie.  

Mockingjay Part 2 (November 25)
Rotten Tomatoes Rating: 70%

I was ready to finish this series off with a bang. I was prepared to forget the dullness of Part 1 and embrace the action packed Part 2. 30 minutes into the movie I was still waiting. This was a definite victim of fluff. There was probably enough here to make an epic 2 hour 30 minute conclusion to the series, but they instead broke it up into two separate films, stuffing as much as they could think of to make enough content for two films. The result, however, was a boring Part 1 and a pretty annoying Part 2. This was not by any means the most disappointing of the year, but my goodness it got close. 

J-Law had moved on from the series and you could tell. However, I do not know if that was because she was acting dull or if the screenplay was that way. I would not be surprised by either option. However, I was surprised by that ending. Yet another reason to wait until after the movie to read the book. That ending and the 20 minutes of action throughout the movie are not enough to save this, however. 

Mockingjay Part 2 gets a weak "Red-Box This". 

Star Wars: the Force Awakens (December 18)
Rotten Tomatoes Rating: 93%

Coming into this movie, I remember thinking to myself "man, they've done a great job at not telling much about the movie and getting you to see it based purely off of nostalgia." Little did I know that nostalgia IS the movie. 

Overall this is a very fun exciting movie. It is very much a better made "Jurassic World". What do I mean by that? Basically, if you take the original film in the series's plot and rename everything, you can pass it off as "an original that pays homage to the past films". However, where Jurassic World does it subtly, Star Wars: The Force Awakens does it blatantly (well, at the end). 

For 2/3 of the film, they do a great job of setting up stuff in their own world that is in the spirit of the originals. The final third strips away the subtlety and basically plagiarizes "A New Hope". Fly through a trench, shoot the Death Star Star Killer Base in the right spot and blow everyone up. Tadah! 

Also, Finn was a missed opportunity. Where we could have explored a whole new element to the franchise (a storm trooper on the run? That's awesome), we get to see him turn into comedic relief. To me, it felt more like I was watching Keenen or Kel play Star Wars on All-That than I was an actually character interacting with Han Solo. 

Rey was awesome, however, and I cannot wait to see her journey throughout the series. Kylo Ren has the potential to be one of the coolest and deepest villains we have every seen in this series too. The curious thing to see now will be if Disney will continue to play it safe with simply remaking the original films, or if they will consider their fan-service debt paid and move on to truly fresh and new film ideas with episodes 8 and 9. 

Star Wars: The Force Awakens, being 2/3 fun and 1/3 remake gets an upper-tier "Buy It At Buy-Backs" from me. And no, I do NOT have a bad feeling about this rating. Thank you. 


The Peanuts Movie (November 6) 
Rotten Tomatoes Rating: 86%

This was my most anticipated for 2015. There was only one other time in my life where I felt THIS excited going into a theater, and that was for Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. We all know how that movie went over. So, did the Peanuts Movie live up to my rather lofty expectations, or was I left in an emotionally unstable state after watching a series almost ruined?

Quite simply, this film did not meet my expectations. 

IT DEMOLISHED THEM AS IT WENT TO A CRAZY NEW AWESOME LEVEL. 

This film was perfect, quite simply. The characters were just as I remembered them. The new animation was awesome to see and still left me feeling right at home. The story was cute and felt ripped from the comic itself. Being the oldest person in the theater that was not with a child, I figured that the reason I loved this was the nostalgia. However, about half-way through the film, a little kid that was maybe 6 or 7 blurted out "HAHAHAHA, Snoopy!" 

That simple phrase proved to me that this film not only pleased nostalgic twenty somethings, but also was successful in reaching new fans. I was hoping it could break in and get a Best Animated Film nomination at the Oscars, but alas it did not. But just because Charlie Brown never kicked the football doesn't mean he stopped trying! And just because it did not get a nomination does not mean we won't see new Peanuts movies. I am looking forward to the next one! If there is not a new one made, I will be happy we got this one. 

The Peanuts Movie gets a "Buy It Full Price" rating from me, no questions asked. No "oh good griefs" needed. Save your nickel, because if you do buy it full price you won't need that psychiatric help. 




So what do you think of the assessments from last year? What was your favorite film from 2015? Stay tuned for my most anticipated list for 2016, which will feature some surprises! 

-Raymond Morris

Film Geeks Win: or Why the Academy Awards Help and the Grammys Hurt

Awards season is upon us. Soon, the trending topics and Facebook feeds will be filled with news about nominations for the top of two very distinct entertainment avenues: film and music. While both of these avenues share a common theme of entertainment, the pinnacle of achievement for both (Academy Awards for film and the Grammy Awards for music) could not be any more different if we tried. One of these ceremonies helps further the development of it's industry, while the other is a laughable ploy to generate further funds and ignore the greater artistry available inside it's own industry. While one may play to the popular, the other celebrates the diversity within it's industry, almost to the aggravation of the masses.

What I'm trying to say is simply this: the choosiness of the Academy Awards helps further film as an art, while the Grammy's are a detriment to the music industry.



Let me explain a little bit. But first, I have a confession: I am a much bigger fan of film than I am of music. I tend to check IMDB at least 5 times a day, read at least 5 articles a day about what's going on in the film industry, as well as watch a couple of different youtube channel shows on film and even check daily on what my favorite film critics and professional cinephiles are writing/saying/talking about in the indie and Hollywood world. However, being into film helps me to see how things that take place in the film industry effect the greater Hollywood film-scape; specifically in understanding the choosiness of the Academy. 

This "choosiness" is many times seen by the masses as "pretentious", "snooty", and "out of touch with reality". But, just like vegetables are not always the tastiest but necessary to good health, the celebration of these films actually can (and does) help take the film industry to a place that the money-hungry Grammy's can only dream of going.  Films like "Birdman" (2015), "The Artist" (2012) or "The King's Speech" (2011) can seem very boring and tedious to watch, and names such as Alejandro Iñárritu (2015) and Alfonso Cuarón (2014) are ones that many people in the general public may not actually recognize, despite the fact that all three of the films won the Oscar for "Best Picture" and these two directors won "Best Director" in their respective years. 

Did any of these films or directors top the charts in ticket sales or box office returns in those years? No. In fact, in the last 7 years, only 2 films that grossed in the top 20 domestically won best picture, and 2 directors won best picture with that feat. (King's Speech, 2011, #18 and Slumdog Millionaire, 2009, #16, along with their directors). What is even crazier is this fact: out of 35 best director nominations over the past 7 years, only 5 have been involved in movies that cracked the top 20. In fact, only 52% (39/75) of Best Picture nominees have been in the top 50 grossing films domestically in the past 10 years. 

In short: the quality of the film and quality of directing is the bench-mark for winning the Oscar. Many of these films are not wide release or huge in their budgets, but these budgetary constraints force the filmmakers to focus more on story and characters than thrills from mindless explosions and effects ("Ex Machina", with a budget of $15 million, is nominated for a VFX Oscar this year. This is the smallest budget since the '80s to gain such a nomination, and it was a film that very well could have been nominated for best picture). 

To contrast this a little bit, let's look at the Grammy Awards. In the last 7 years, only 2 winners of song of the year and only 2 winners of record of the year won with a song that was outside of the top 10 selling singles of the year. Even crazier than that high percentage is the fact that a staggering 78% (39/50) of albums that were nominated for Album of the Year finished in the top 50 in sales the years they were nominated. 

In short: if you sell a lot of records, that's what matters. Quality may not mean as much as long as you make a lot of dough. 

This sort of logic in the Grammy awards voting has led many in the industry to make a mockery of the awards. The lead singer from the metal band "Tool" once declined to show up to receive an award they won, stating "I think the Grammys are nothing more than some gigantic promotional machine for the music industry. They cater to a low intellect and they feed the masses. They don't honor the arts or the artist for what he created. It's the music business celebrating itself. That's basically what it's all about."

Even Michael Bublé made a slight under the breath comment about the state of the Grammy's on Good Morning America, when, after watching the new music video for Psy's "Daddy", he commented that "If this is what we have to look forward to at the Grammys next year, I'm out!"

When the rewards go to whatever attracts the most attention, the effort and attention will go towards shock factor, even to the detriment of the art. 

What is cool to view is how the Academy Awards approaches awards. Do they go to the things that get the most money? Like we stated earlier, no, no they do not. What this does, however, is push filmmakers and studios to a better product across the board. Smaller independent films get awards, shining light on new and fresh talent (both actors and directors, screenwriters and cinematographers). This fresh talent is then added to bigger budget products, boosting the quality of the blockbusters that are available. 

It is a well known fact among my friends that I do not always fully enjoy every film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, but even I can recognize the improvements they have made across the board with each film that is put out. It is beginning to attract Academy Award caliber talent (Benedict Cumberbatch, Robert Redford, Glenn Close, Samuel L. Jackson, etc). This phenomena is not limited to Disney's Marvel either. DC is getting Ben Affleck to star as Batman and to direct a solo Batman film (his film that he both starred in and directed, "Argo", won the Academy Award for Best Picture), and they already had Russell Crowe and Kevin Costner in "Man of Steel". X-Men has Michael Fassbender and did have Ian McKellon and Patrick Stewart. 

Award winning talent in "main stream" films equals better products. These help further the industry and take film in a better quality direction, and a big reason for it is the continued prestige of it's biggest night: The Academy Awards. 

So, what does all of this mean? Certainly, people will continue to pay good money for repetitive music because that's what the Grammy's lend them to. Also, people will continue to purchase tickets for the next explosion fest at the box office that has absolutely no story. There is no getting rid of low quality mindless entertainment. But the difference is this: with film, every October-January, the box office is inundated with "Oscar Bait", or the high quality, high story, high character films that will undoubtedly win a plethora of awards, giving the general viewing audience an avenue for a more "high brow" quality of entertainment. 

The music industry will continue to inundate top-20 stations with music that is (quite frankly) bland, mindless, and sad. People will buy it because there are no other options, and although the music will digress, the money will continue. Much of the music that should be recognized for it's artistic integrity will be ignored because it's biggest stage (The Grammy's), will choose to ignore it as well. 

As both awards ceremonies roll around this February, take a chance to look at the nominees. Have fun discussing what is and should be nominated, and always remember that entertainment is subjective, but high quality is always noticed and should be respected and honored. And the chances are good that if the high quality entertainment is being noticed and honored in the program you are watching, you are probably watching the Oscars.