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‘PREDATORS’
WELCOME TO THE JUNGLE
By Sean Chavel

Predators is the most entertaining action picture in many a moon, and perhaps if this movie and hopefully the upcoming “The Expendables” teaches Hollywood anything it is that old school action pictures are far more enduring and exciting than chaos-heavy spectacles (“The A-Team” and “Jonah Hex” are among the jerkiest currently). The imaginative script idea is by Robert Rodriguez (“Sin City”) who places a band of anti-hero humans back in the jungle, which is as inescapable as a Rubik’s cube is solvable. Nimrod Antal (“Kontroll,” “Vacancy”) directs.

Beginning with a crash landing out of the sky, Royce (Adrien Brody, “King Kong”) just barely manages to put the pieces together while seven other strangers around him drop in – a toss-up of mercenaries, an African warlord, a death row inmate, a Japanese Yakuza, the unmistakable presence of Dannny Trejo, an Israeli markswoman and a baby-faced doctor (that would be Topher Grace). It’s like “Survivor” with high stakes, but moreover, the script has Joseph Conrad’s classic story “The Most Dangerous Game,” also an entertaining and enduring 1932 movie as well as the inspiration for two dozen and a half movies over a hundred years, is written all over this sequel.

Yes, it’s perhaps the fourth sequel if anyone’s counting but good enough that it should be considered the first worthy continuation since Arnold Schwarzenegger fought the Stan Winston creation of alien-prawn / jungle-warrior back in the 1987 “Predator.” (You had the “Alien vs. Predator” films that wandered between the monotonous attacks.) The strong female heroine of this film is Isabel (Alice Braga, “I Am Legend”), the former Israeli markswoman, and she is a sharp-shooter as well as a girl with heart and active compass of loyalty. Isabel makes resounding efforts to raise morale amongst the troop.

Instead of an insistent mash-up of action scenes, the movie develops suspense as well as geography, allowing the characters time to discover their surroundings as well as the details of their circumstances. As an addition to this installment, there are rabid Predator dogs that rush the humans this time, six of them armed and ready to shoot these creatures in the eyes. The dogs are deliberately rushed out, and it becomes apparent to Royce that there is a game preserve strategy attempted by the villain Predators. These encounters are photographed in a fluid and comprehensive manner that lends the film its potency. The first noticeable CGI shot, a wide-angle reveal over innumerable humps of mountains, happens to be an awesome shot.

Popping in unannounced halfway in is a surprise actor appearance, a thirty-year veteran of movies, whom should not be mentioned other to say it momentarily feels like an Alec Guinness or Michael Caine role. Except that the encounter is a little more spooked out than you would hope for or would anticipate. From that point on, the action is very unremitting, the Predators attacking in ones or twos, the humans running for cover. In the film’s most amusing one-on-one encounter, the Yakuza engages in a swordfight with a Predator.

Enough background story becomes available about the Predators this time out, but it never convinces that these creatures are sophisticated enough to develop their own machinery and artillery. It’s possible to overlook this if you are able to acknowledge that the Predators have confiscated machinery and war ammunition from humans and other species from over the galaxy, and have adaptively learned how to use the technology competently. The primary interest of the filmmakers is to provide whippy sci-fi and hard and fast action, and they do all of this well and with a good sense of photography and editing composition.

If the film is not an entire orbital success it is that the film disappoints in a variety of small details. I never believed, for instance, in one of the human’s sudden shift of behavior in the final act. Somebody out there in the audience will find a large gaping hole in the plot, surely there is somebody, but perhaps you can suspend your disbelief long enough to not find it until after the movie is over. Until then, terrific action is back, in a film that is an echo to the ’80’s – when action choreography made relative sense.

Robert Rodriguez, Adrien Brody, Nimrod Antal, and Walton Goggins
By Jonathan Weichsel

The new film Predators does not merely respect its original source material, it honors it. After seeing Predators, I was not surprised to learn that the original Predator had a profound impact on the creative team behind the new film.

Robert Rodriguez, producer of Predators, says about the original, "There was something very special about that movie. It is something that inspired me to do mixed genre pictures later. I remember going to see it with my older brother who was a body builder. We saw every Arnold Schwarzenegger movie that came out. We went to it thinking it would be a Commando type film. Then it turned into kind of sci-fi and horror, and Arnold didn't really win at the end. The Predator blew himself up and Arnold flew off looking like he was going to the loony bin!"

Adrien Brody, star of the new film, has a similar memory. "I was about fourteen, smoking cigarettes in the front row of the theater in queens. I remember the theater, and I remember one of my really good friends was with me. We were there opening weekend, and doing our Schwarzenegger impressions for the rest of the week. It had a profound impact on me when I was an adolescent."

Director Nimrod Antal also remembers where he was when he first saw Predator. Antal was 14 years old, and he saw it at the Avco on Wilshire. He even still remembers what friends he was with at the time. Antal recalls, "I walked out and was like, 'whoa.'

The creative team also talked about what they wanted to go into the new film. Antal says, "One thing we wanted to do was bring back old school hunting techniques. Driving, flushing. We wanted to bring back the jungle and make sure it was a character in itself, something that would be threatening, so everything from lighting to photography was used to create a location where a simple image would feel threatening. We always started from the original film. We wanted to make something that the fans would appreciate but would stand on its own. We tried to mirror the original as much as we could without aping it."

There has been a lot of talk of Brody's physical transformation to become the character of Royce, but Brody pointed out that there was an internal transformation as well. "The two do go hand in hand. It is surprising to me how much psychological transformation ensues with physical transformation. If you feel strong and look good, your confidence level grows. I restricted my diet in an effort to harness everything I had in my power to be ferocious. For the first time since college I lifted real heavy weights, which creates additional testosterone. The physical transformation was important, but I also spent a lot of time cultivating the qualities I felt Royce would possess that would put him in a leadership position. I poured over military manuals and field guides and even read Sun Tzu and other Eastern philosophy."

Actor Walton Goggins also spoke about his preparation for the part of Stans, a death row inmate. Goggins says, "The thing about physicality for actors is once you get it down the rest falls into place. Stans is a guy who has been incarcerated for the better part of twenty years, and hasn't walked for more than six feet in one direction for fifteen years, except for once a week when they take him to the shower. He's not socialized. He's not normally around people. So, my preparation was the antithesis of Adrien's, in that this is a guy who has never been in the woods, much less the jungle. His walk is weird. He's walking for miles, when yesterday he was in a cell. My physical preparation was the lack of physical preparation."

Predators opens July 9th.


DON'T QUIT YOUR DAYDREAM
By Richard Kaplan

What happens when you take two thirty something innovative and gifted indie rock musicians? Put them in a rented RV with a makeshift recording studio and filming equipment for a 24 day cross-country journey? Oh, and one more thing. Their plan was to travel to twelve different locations to collaborate musically with twelve different artists with whom they had never met, except for one.

Well, the answer is a film festival award-winning music documentary and praise worthy CD called "Don't Quit Your Daydream." The Los Angeles based duo, Clark Stiles and Nathan Khyber and their band "The Good Listeners" recently regaled an enthusiastic audience at the American Cinematheque's Egyptian Theater in Hollywood with a viewing of their celebrated documentary complete with a Q & A session followed by a live courtyard performance.

As the documentary unfolds, we learn that Stiles and Khyber were former members of a 90's rock band named Absinthe who had been signed by Sony and given a $500,000 advance only to be unceremoniously dropped by the label before they even really got out of the gate. Through the filming of "Don't Quit Your Daydream" we meet a myriad of colorful characters like Bingo Richey living in a desolate area of Joshua Tree who boasts that he is succeeding economically earning hundreds of dollars a year! The song born from that encounter is "Square Houses." On an art ranch in Marfa Texas, we meet the affable Bugs Salcido who informs us that he received his nick-name in his youth as a result of an over-bite. The duo also came aboard a swamp-tour boat in Louisiana to record with Ron "Black" Guidry and were hustled into paying $500.00 to an auto mechanic named "Daddy Mac" Oar for a taste of his down home blues guitar and vocals. And, out in a barn in Lexington Kentucky they collaborated with an artist named Adrian Grenier well known for his HBO role of Vincent Chase from Entourage. Grenier, a guitar player and friend of Stiles and Khyber was an associate producer on the project with his company Reckless Productions. During the Q&A session Grenier talked about how the duo used to ask if they could come over to his house to rehearse, and how much he enjoyed the benefit of hearing great live music filling the house. He also commented on how proud he was of the guy's for getting this project done.

The "Don't Quit Your Daydream" audio CD is extremely well produced and will rhythmically delight your senses and engage your imagination. And, the benefit of the companion award-winning DVD will place everything into perspective. The music these guys create is very appealing. This however is not the first time that the Good Listeners have conceptualized unique formats for albums. Their first release was "Ojai" recording one song per day at a rustic residential home in that town. Next came, "Crane Point Lodge" which was made in a remote town located in upstate New York among ghosts and spiritual aberrations.

To acquire the "Don't Quit Your Daydream" DVD and CD go to www.dontquityourdaydream.com


Kisses: A Life Less Ordinary for Two Irish Youths
By Joseph Marchelewski

Ireland can seem more like Compton, Harlem or some other American inner-city if displayed in the right light. Kisses, a film by Lance Daly (The Halo Effect, Last Days in Dublin), is a painfully beautiful portrayal of two children trying to overcome everything that's trying to crush their souls. The film follows Kylie and Dylan in their journey through Dublin, trying to find Dylan's brother who is left homeless after running away from an abusive father.

Kylie is played by Kelly O'Neill, a newcomer to movies. The character's strength is matched by how aware she is over surroundings. Her past was marred by a family member, a reality known only to Dylan, and the abuse she suffered is the reason she wants to be as far away from home as possible. Kylie displays the dangerous reality many abused girls suffer; a strong desire to break free of an abusive situation with no real means of escape. As she drags Dylan through the streets looking for his brother, they both come to realize that running away is much easier said than done. She has no idea how to manage the few dollars she has; she is also unaware of how dangerous the rest of the world is when there aren't a hundred parents standing around.

Dylan's story is just as sad, if not worse. Dylan has an abusive father, a seemingly powerless mother and a brother who got so fed up that he up and disappeared years before the film begins. What might be the saddest realization is that Dylan is numb. He speaks of his brother's disappearance in a "matter of fact" manner, as if he was discussing someone else's lost cat. No remorse, no sorrow, just a hopelessness that infests every last part of their reality. Being robbed of his innocence at such a tender age creates a sort of mourning, as if the audience has to weep because Dylan knows he cannot afford the luxury.

As depressing as some of these moments might be, the film is less about tragedy than it is about two hopeless people finding hope together. Dylan, played by newcomer Shane Curry, and Kylie are running constantly, and are forced to save each other from disaster time and again. However, in those moments when they are forced to save each other, they find the one person in the world who cares about them. Dylan, thankfully, can't rely on his abused mother or his angry dad to lead the way; Kylie has to find an inner strength her family is trying to desperately to beat out of her.

The film is shot in black and white, except for the scenes when Dylan and Kylie come together. The story is solid, if simple, and the acting is mostly very strong. A strange encounter with a Dredger (small boat) captain is a little odd, and the actor leaves much to be desired, but the film moves along well anyway. Kisses is only 75 minutes, much shorter than most feature films, but it adds to the intensity and passion. Were another fifteen or twenty minutes tacked on, it might seem so fantastic as to be impossible. As it is, one could imagine two small children experiencing just such a story of escape.

Kisses is not for the faint of heart, but if a movie-goer is looking for a film that will uplift them without a $150 million budget, then this is the one. A love story about 10-year-olds might seem odd, and seeing two adolescents kiss while surrounded by trash is not the ideal big movie moment. However, true romance is discovered by two young people looking to live an Irish life less ordinary.

Shriekfest Film Festival Meet and Greets
By Jonathan Weichsel

The Shriekfest film festival, now in its tenth year, is the longest running genre film festival in North America. Shriekfest holds its Meet and Greets the last Tuesday of every month at 7:00 at Hollywood Billiards, where everyone from producers, directors, writers, and actors can share their love for making horror and genre films.

Denise Gossett, founder and director of The Shriekfest Film Festival, started the Meet and Greets because, in her words, "I knew filmmakers needed a forum to communicate and network." Gossett tells me she strives every month to create an atmosphere where everybody is down to earth, friendly, open, and eager to help one another.

In this she has succeeded. Hollywood Billiards was buzzing Tuesday night with an energy that has become all too rare in Hollywood. Everyone was eager to talk about their projects, and hear about what other people are doing.

Throughout the night I spoke with many Meet and Greet regulars, and asked what the event means to them. Writer-director Tyger Torrez told me, "I like communing with likeminded individuals. It gives you a great energy. It is very motivating to hear about other people's projects. I like catching up with my friends and networking. The Shriekfest Meet and Greets are something I look forward to every month."

Director J.T. Seaton said it like this: "The world of independent horror is small. It's real tough to get your work done, and it's real encouraging to talk to other artists who are in the same boat as you are and to bounce ideas off them. Either they have done it and can give you advice, or you have done it and can give them advice."

With all the talent that the Meet and Greets attract, it is no wonder that so many producers make it a point to attend. Independent producer Chris Staviski told me, "This is a wonderful place to meet other professionals. We all give each other advice. As a producer, you can't buy the type of knowledge you gain here. I have met people from all aspects of the industry, from makeup people to actors."

Producer Mark W. Capehart told a similar story. "This is one of the best places to hook up with all types of people in the industry. I have met aspiring writers, PAs, distributers, and everybody in between."

Many networking events in Hollywood can be stressful, but as actress-producer Alexis Adkins put it, "The networking here is relaxed so you don't feel a lot of stress. You can talk to people as people, and through that make excellent connections."

The Meet and Greets attract real film lovers, which makes it easy for people to connect by discussing movies they love. As journalist Heidi Martinuzzi, co-creator of the website Pretty Scary put it, "There's really no other way in Los Angeles to find other people who share my views on film and my passion for making them. The Shriekfest Meet and Greets are a unique way to connect with other genre filmmakers."

There is a strong sense of community at the Shriekfest Meet and Greets. Many people come every month not only to network, but also to spend time in each other's company. Perhaps no one else expressed this sentiment better than actress-producer Michelle Tomlinson when she said, "There is a sense of like minds coming together almost in a family setting. The Shriekfest Meet and Greets are a place to see your friends."

If you are a genre filmmaker and want to meet others who share your passion, then check out The Shriekfest Meet and Greets. They are held the last Tuesday of every month at 7:00 at Hollywood Billiards, 5750 Hollywood Boulevard, Los Angeles, CA 90028. Admission is free. To learn more about Shriekfest and get information on upcoming meet and greets, visit them on the web at www.shriekfest.com. ;

'THE LAST AIRBENDER'
SHYAMALAN WASTEFUL
By Sean Chavel

It would have been fair to have reviewed The Last Airbender in a 2D format rather than 3D, since you can barely see the thing half the time. Imagine seeing a normal movie ten years ago with sunglasses inside the theater - this is what retrofit 3D add-on has done to the movies. Yet this gimmicky add-on enforced in the post-"Avatar" era is the worst 3D job yet.

Only those who have seen the Nickelodeon series will have a strong fastened idea of what is happening in the film. Back then it was called "Avatar: The Last Airbender" but the beginning prefix of the title had to be chopped off once James Cameron got the big-screen rights to it. With "Airbender," the diminishing talent of M. Night Shyamalan, whose career went from "The Sixth Sense" high to "The Happening" low, gets another whack, although this time, he's a director-for-hire.

Ditching kitchen-sink suspense for panoramic spectacle, M. Night Shyamalan gets to work with a story that takes place in a land far, far away. How many centuries back (or what planet? Did I miss something) is a mystery, but if there is one thing Shyamalan actually does well here it is composing action scenes with unbroken steadicam shots that move in and out of martial arts and magic powers pizzazz. While the film is immersed in cold Himalayas kind of temperatures, the action choreography warmed my heart nevertheless - an antidote to "A-Team" kinetic nonsense.

What kills the film, more than anything else, is the casting. Jackson Rathbone and Nicola Peltz, as brother and sister Sokka and Katara, are awkward white kids in an Asian setting speaking in Beverly Hills or Malibu, California dialect, while other Indian actors are mixed in randomly, and other whites given shades of make-up and lighting effects to help look Asian. Huh? Yes, this is recipe for disaster, isn't it?

The little hero is Aang (Noah Ringer, white not Asian) who may be the Avatar that can overwhelm the dark side, in this case, the Fire Nations. Aang is the Chosen One, as big-budget sagas now require, and the character - he's like a little shaved-head monk with Buddhist tattoos lining his forehead - is only persuasive in this exotic Asian setting when it's a wide angle shot and he doesn't have to talk. Dev Patel ("Slumdog Millionaire") is, hold your breath for this compliment, a nice-looking guy. Can't wait to see him get another role so he can have a continuing career. Because as Prince Zuko, he sucks. Ooh, I didn't mean to say that. I mean, I can't figure out what he's trying to do with his character except that he's flexing his eyebrows in order to invoke petulance.

The actors would have been better off not talking, and Shyamalan would have been better off not writing the TV-to-screen adaptation. But - you can loosen up the clench in your face right now - for there is a saving grace as Aang passes the learning stages. In addition, to airbending little thwarting tornadoes, there is firebending (blah in 3D), and then finally its best resource: water-bending - in gulpy round goblets - which leads to enjoyable scenes watching Aang hurling strands of water energy at bad guys whom as a result get swathed in human size totems of ice blocks. Humorously, the bad guys wriggle inside helplessly.

Too often the picture quality is dreary and monotone. Some critics have complained already that "Airbender" is as turgid as "Lady in the Water," which I'd qualify as a candidate as one of the five worst films of the last ten years. But it just can't be fair to Shyamalan, whose work was compromised by studio casting pressures, and whose work was hi-jacked with a gratuitous 3D job. Don't worry people, when 3D is done well again, like "Avatar," we'll tell you about it. But the usage of 3D has not been merited too often and its demonstration has been a part of Hollywood brainwashing on the American public. Shall we tell theater chains to start tossing out those hunks of junk, those 3D projectors soon?

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