gabe_speaks (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
gabe_speaks) wrote2009-06-29 10:38 pm
gabe_speaks) wrote2009-06-29 10:38 pm
Oh, this movie can go very wrong . . . and a Question for Writers
So I used to stay clear of Netflix's Instant Watch because I had always thought that it was for all the B-Movies and reject movies that no one wants to waste time renting. Sometimes, I would watch really old movies -- like the entire Porky's trilogy, for instance -- or TV shows, when they finally started putting them up for instant viewing.
Every now and again, however, I'm pleasantly surprised when I take a chance on a movie. I did that with Evil (2003), a.k.a "Ondskan". I mean, the premise . . . it was alluring, compelling, tempting.
Okay, really I just recognized one of the stars, a former AC&F model by the name of Andreas Wilson.
Oh, who's that, you might ask?
Well, don't mind if I did!
And I did.
And it wasn't that bad, actually. Apparently, it had been nominated for Best Foreign Film at the 2003 Oscars. Or 2004. Whatever. The Premise?
Has anyone else seen this? If you have seen it, how'd you find it? I had some issues with the movie and its expectations on the viewers, but I have to say I was sad that the movie ended -- I wanted to see more! So anyway, now I'm risking it with another movie, this one a deliverable. In the Blood, starring even more cuties. The premise of this one?
"Okay. So this could go terribly, terribly wrong," comes immediately to mind. Tyler Hanes, by the way, is reportedly dating the gay boy -- or one of them -- who is in As the World Turns, Van Hansis, I think. Well . . . at least they were dating in 2008. Who's Tyler Hanes, you ask?
Van Aren't they a cute couple?!?! Hansis is the blond. For those keeping score, he was also the gay son in the wonderfully funny "Die, Mommy--Die!" And don't mind if I did. On either one.
Okay, so back to the movie. So far, it's been good. The acting's fine and the premise is interesting. I mean, the closetted gay boy is trying to deny his feelings. The more he experiments, the more psychic flashes he gets. Being about his sister, the flashes would be enough to send him deeper into the closet, but since there's a murder involved -- adn three girls have already been murdered on campus -- he starts to realize that he needs to explore deeper in order to, ahem, explore deeper. Balls deeper.
Okay, well, not that deep -- but one could dream.
Anyone seen this?
So . . . a nice idea, a gorgeous cast [the gay ones are actually gay, if you can believe that], solid acting. Mostily. I'll let you know how it pans out.
I've a feeling, since it involves denial, psychic premonitions, the murder of someone close to the one in the denial, and a rejected one-night-stand, that they are all inter-related, probably ironically. Like the premonitions send Cassidy into the bed of Victor [they even show a gun], then Cassidy has the visions and runs away without paying Victor, Victor finds Cassidy at the University and there's an altercation, and Cassidy's sister gets shot by Victor while trying to intervene. And Cassidy will keep tempting fate, because he wants to know what happens to his sister, by messing with Victor, which will only add fuel to the fire, leading to the murder of Cassidy's sister. Okay, that's my prediction. I'll report on what actually happens.
Okay, now the question for the writers: How well do you know your characters? This can go to really any fiction, including fanfiction [regardless of whether you deal with already-established canonical characters, or less fleshed out tertiary characters]. I was reading "The Art of Dramatic Writing" by Lajos Egri, and there's a section on knowing your characters completely. There's a list of questions that you ask yourself about the characters, ranging from basic physical attributes, to hoeps and dreams, to thougths on sex, to intelligence/creativity level.
How do you lot feel about that? Do you find it necessary to already know the life -- and death -- of your characters before you start writing them? How much do you feel you should know? Do you find that your characters, once you know them this extensively, write themselves? Or does knowing them too much put them in a little box in the corner that you find too hard to write them out of if need be?
Every now and again, however, I'm pleasantly surprised when I take a chance on a movie. I did that with Evil (2003), a.k.a "Ondskan". I mean, the premise . . . it was alluring, compelling, tempting.
Okay, really I just recognized one of the stars, a former AC&F model by the name of Andreas Wilson.
Oh, who's that, you might ask?
Well, don't mind if I did!
And I did.
And it wasn't that bad, actually. Apparently, it had been nominated for Best Foreign Film at the 2003 Oscars. Or 2004. Whatever. The Premise?
Adapted from a best-selling novel, this Swedish drama follows rebellious teenager Erik (Andreas Wilson) as he's expelled from high school for fighting and sent to the prestigious Stjärsnberg Academy. Having endured many beatings from his father, Erik is dismayed to face a similar threat from the academy's senior students, who bully the younger ones mercilessly. But this time, Erik is determined not to crack and lash out in violence.
Has anyone else seen this? If you have seen it, how'd you find it? I had some issues with the movie and its expectations on the viewers, but I have to say I was sad that the movie ended -- I wanted to see more! So anyway, now I'm risking it with another movie, this one a deliverable. In the Blood, starring even more cuties. The premise of this one?
Finally ready to explore his attraction to men, college jock Cassidy (Tyler Hanes) goes out with sexy Victor (Carlos Alberto Valencia). But in the middle of their foreplay, he has a disturbing vision of his sister's death, which may be linked to the recent murders on campus. A serial killer is on the loose, and the only way for Cassidy to have more psychic visions to help catch the murderer is to embrace his homosexuality completely.
"Okay. So this could go terribly, terribly wrong," comes immediately to mind. Tyler Hanes, by the way, is reportedly dating the gay boy -- or one of them -- who is in As the World Turns, Van Hansis, I think. Well . . . at least they were dating in 2008. Who's Tyler Hanes, you ask?
Van Aren't they a cute couple?!?! Hansis is the blond. For those keeping score, he was also the gay son in the wonderfully funny "Die, Mommy--Die!" And don't mind if I did. On either one. Okay, so back to the movie. So far, it's been good. The acting's fine and the premise is interesting. I mean, the closetted gay boy is trying to deny his feelings. The more he experiments, the more psychic flashes he gets. Being about his sister, the flashes would be enough to send him deeper into the closet, but since there's a murder involved -- adn three girls have already been murdered on campus -- he starts to realize that he needs to explore deeper in order to, ahem, explore deeper. Balls deeper.
Okay, well, not that deep -- but one could dream.
Anyone seen this?
So . . . a nice idea, a gorgeous cast [the gay ones are actually gay, if you can believe that], solid acting. Mostily. I'll let you know how it pans out.
I've a feeling, since it involves denial, psychic premonitions, the murder of someone close to the one in the denial, and a rejected one-night-stand, that they are all inter-related, probably ironically. Like the premonitions send Cassidy into the bed of Victor [they even show a gun], then Cassidy has the visions and runs away without paying Victor, Victor finds Cassidy at the University and there's an altercation, and Cassidy's sister gets shot by Victor while trying to intervene. And Cassidy will keep tempting fate, because he wants to know what happens to his sister, by messing with Victor, which will only add fuel to the fire, leading to the murder of Cassidy's sister. Okay, that's my prediction. I'll report on what actually happens.
Okay, now the question for the writers: How well do you know your characters? This can go to really any fiction, including fanfiction [regardless of whether you deal with already-established canonical characters, or less fleshed out tertiary characters]. I was reading "The Art of Dramatic Writing" by Lajos Egri, and there's a section on knowing your characters completely. There's a list of questions that you ask yourself about the characters, ranging from basic physical attributes, to hoeps and dreams, to thougths on sex, to intelligence/creativity level.
How do you lot feel about that? Do you find it necessary to already know the life -- and death -- of your characters before you start writing them? How much do you feel you should know? Do you find that your characters, once you know them this extensively, write themselves? Or does knowing them too much put them in a little box in the corner that you find too hard to write them out of if need be?