Tagged: Star Wars

Ferguson reviews Mitchum in ‘The Wrath of God’ during THE LONG MATINEE

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  • October 17, 2010
THE LONG MATINEE -Movie Reviews by Derrick Ferguson
THE WRATH OF GOD

1972
MGM

Produced by William S. Gilmore
Directed by Ralph Nelson
Screenplay by Ralph Nelson and James Graham
Based on a novel by James Graham

Back in the 60’s and 70’s there was a sub-genre of the western that had these elements: a group of American outlaws/mercenaries/rogues would find themselves in Mexico or South America at the turn of the century and get involved in what amounted to a suicide mission that circumstances forced them to accept. There’s usually a huge amount of money waiting for them at the end of the mission but during the course of the adventure the outlaws would find their long buried sense of justice and honor awakened and they would abandon the money to take up the cause of the downtrodden and oppressed peasantry. This is pretty much the plot of movies such as “The Wild Bunch” “The Professionals” “Duck, You Sucker” and “Vera Cruz” but I’ve never seen this plot worked in such a goofy and flat out off the wall manner as we see in THE WRATH OF GOD.

Emmett Keogh (Ken Hutchinson) is a wildass Irishman stuck in South America during the 1920’s. He’s blackmailed into driving a truck north by Jennings (Victor Buono) who tells him it’s a load of whiskey that will fetch a helluva price in the United States that is suffering under Prohibition. Since Jennings was the guy who arraigned for his passport to be stolen, Emmett has no choice to agree. Along the way he meets Father Oliver Van Horn (Robert Mitchum) who is one of the strangest priests that Emmett has ever met since Father Van Horn drinks liquor like it’s lemonade, swears like a Kansas City pimp and totes a huge black valise carrying a Thompson sub-machine gun. It’s a weapon that Father Van Horn knows as well as a monkey knows his coconuts which he demonstrates when Emmett and Father Van Horn have to rescue an Indian girl named Chela (Paula Pritchett) from being gang raped by the soldiers of Colonel Santilla (John Colicos) The two men are forced to go on the run with the girl in tow but they’re caught by Colonel Santilla’s troops and Emmett discovers that the truck actually carries guns meant for the rebels. Jennings has also been captured by Santilla and the three men are made an offer they can’t refuse: in return for their lives they have to agree to kill De La Plata (Frank Langella) a local rebel warlord who is causing Santilla a great deal of trouble.

Posing as mining engineers, Jennings and Emmett infiltrate De La Plata’s fortress-like hacienda while Van Horn takes up residence in the village church, which has been desecrated. It turns out that De Le Plata hates priests and personally killed the last one himself. Del La Plata’s mother (Rita Hayworth) begs her son not to kill this priest and De La Plata agrees not to since Van Horn saves his mother’s life when the local mine caves in. You see, the mine is filled with gold and De La Plata has terrorized the villagers into digging it out for him. But the mine is horribly unsafe and he needs the expertise of mining engineers to get it out. Of course, the three outlaws have to kill De La Plata before he figures out that Jennings and Emmett know as much about mining as I do about Chinese arithmetic. The situation is complicated by Emmett’s relationship with Chela who has fallen in love with him and Van Horn’s increasing desire to live up to the trust the villagers have in him as a priest. And while the outlaws have no loyalty to Santilla, they also see that living under De La Plata’s rule isn’t any day at the beach either. So they make a decision. And that’s when the story really takes off as Father Van Horn begins to conscript the villagers to stand up for themselves against De La Plata, Chela marries Emmett and Jennings makes plans to break outta Dodge and save his own ass.

You see? I told you it was goofy. What makes THE WRATH OF GOD so much fun to watch is that you never know where this damn movie is going to take you or what’s going to happen next. There’s a plot twist every five minutes and just when you think you know what’s going to happen, it doesn’t. There are a lot of really funny one-liners thrown back and forth between the three leading men and from the amount of humor in the story you might think halfway through it that it’s a spoof of the genre. I mean, this is a movie that has Victor Buono as an action hero, for cryin’ out loud. We’re talking about a guy who’s best known role was probably as the King Tut villain on the “Batman” TV show. In this movie he has a great scene where he drives a car like a battering ram into the barricaded gates of De La Plata’s fortress while firing a Thompson sub-machine and then he jumps out to take on the chief henchman with his sword cane. And he’s totally convincing during his fight scenes of which he has several. And he has a bunch of great one liners, such as “We’re going to get along famously” which is used in this movie the same way “I have a bad feeling about this” was used in “Star Wars”

I’ve never seen Ken Hutchinson in a movie before and have no idea who he is but he’s immensely likeable as the wily Emmett who seems to tumble in and out of adventures as easily as you or I eat fried chicken. A lot of the humor in the movie comes from him as he’s constantly thrown into situations where he’s clearly way in over his head but he manages to come through with luck and sheer dogged determination that even Dirk Pitt might admire. And as for Robert Mitchum…well, he’s flat out terrific in this. For much of the movie we’re never sure what the deal with Father Van Horn is.  Not only does he carry an arsenal of machine guns and grenades in that big black valise of his but he also has $50,000 dollars that he hints he got by robbing banks. He has a great scene where he tells the villagers that he’s going to hold an all night service in the church where he performs weddings, baptizes babies and hears confessions where it made clear that he knows the rituals of The Catholic Church inside and out but he also indulges in decidedly un-priestly activities like sleeping with whores, drinking whiskey like water and cussing like crazy. He also carries a Bible that has a concealed gun inside and his cross hides a six-inch blade. Nobody in the movie really knows if this guy is actually one really badass priest or a really eccentric badass who likes to pretend he’s a priest until he spills the beans near the end of the movie.

Robert Mitchum is one of those old type movie stars I love because he looks like a man who actually looks like he’s tough enough to kick your ass with just a look, unlike a lot of the current crop of movie stars who are just too damn pretty to look like they’re as tough as the characters they’re portraying on screen. Robert Mitchum comes from the crop of actors I like to call ‘Old School Tough’. I’m talking about guys like Lee Marvin, Robert Ryan, William Holden, Ernest Borgnine and Steve McQueen. You know what I’m talking about. Whenever he’s on screen in this movie you just can’t take your eyes off him, as you want to know just like the other characters what the real deal with him is.

There are a lot of great action sequences in this movie, especially when the three outlaws finally take on De La Plata’s army in a ferocious shootout in front of the church and the final showdown at the fortress. In between we’ve got a whole series of double-crosses, fistfights, staredowns and showdowns that will make your head giddy. Trust me, this isn’t a boring movie. In fact, despite having been made back in 1972, THE WRATH OF GOD seemed to me a lot more of how current action/adventure are made with it’s healthy mix of violent action, comedy and eccentric characters which is why I think it makes enjoyable watching today.

So should you see THE WRATH OF GOD? Hell yes. If you’re a big Robert Mitchum fan it’s worth seeing just for him alone as obviously he’s having a great time with his role and the material. Victor Buono and Ken Hutchinson also turn in great performances as well. Frank Langella has a wonderful time with his role as a bad guy and his scene in the church where he confronts Robert Mitchum and tells him why he hates priests and God is an example of just plain good solid acting from both of them that goes a long way to establishing both of their characters and sets up the conflict between them nicely. THE WRATH OF GOD works as a really good cinematic pulp adventure that should be enjoyed for what it is: a great way to spend a Saturday afternoon with the snacks and beverages of your choice. If you get Turner Classic Movies on your satellite/cable provider you can wait for it to show up there but if you’re a dedicated pulp or Robert Mitchum fan, spring for the rental fee and give it a try. I don’t think you’ll be disappointed. I know I wasn’t.

Rated: PG
111 Minutes

National Graphic Novel Writing Month, Day 15: Plotting Your Way Out Of A Paper Bag

National Graphic Novel Writing Month, Day 15: Plotting Your Way Out Of A Paper Bag

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  • October 15, 2010

Let me give you an example of a bad plot that you’re already familiar with– the story of William Tell.

The legend has it that William Tell was known as an expert shot with the crossbow. In his time, the new ruler of his land raised a pole in the village’s central square, hung his hat on top of
it, demanding that all the townsfolk bow before the hat. When Tell
passed by the hat without bowing to it, he was arrested. As punishment,
he was forced to shoot an apple off the head of his son.
Otherwise, both would be executed. Tell was promised freedom if he
successfully made the shot.

Now, ladies and gentlemen– do you think there’s any doubt that he made the shot? Of course he did.

In history, this is an exciting moment, because you don’t know if a real person could do it. But in fiction? BORING.

Why? Because in fiction, you can have your characters do anything. They can be good enough or lucky enough to make the shot because the author says he’s lucky enough to make the shot. There is no suspense there.

I’ve said before that one of the things that drives me nuts about most fantasy novels, and a problem that I discovered when first writing Star Trek
stories, is that any story that you can technobabble your way into to,
or technobabble your way out of, is inherently boring. It’s make
believe. There’s absolutely no tension, the writer will wave his wand
and make everything come out. There’s nothing to resolve.

By contrast, any story with an choice – what do you do and
why? – has interest. Think about all the stories that haunt you, and
you’ll find that there’s often a choice that’s presented in the story,
and you revisit the story because the dilemma is still not fully
resolved in your own head.

This was brought home for me a few years back watching Star Wars— the real one, thank you– in a theater. The audience applauded and cheered like crazy during the final attack on the Death Star, but they surprised me by applauding the most during what I thought was the pivotal moment.

Quick now– you know the scene. What’s the pivotal moment?

The death of Biggs or Porkins? Spurs him on, sad, but no.

Blowing up the Death Star? Anticlimax. Go back earlier.

The death of Red Leader? Closer. Luke takes over command because there’s nobody else to take over at that point, and he chooses to do so, but that’s not much of a choice when every commander above him has been taken out.

No– the crowd went wild when Luke turned off his targeting computer. He chose to accept the world around him, and to take faith in his own abilities to solve the problem. No crutches, just him.

And then it’s followed up by the second great cheer, when Han Solo chooses to come back and join the fight just in time to save Luke’s hash, when Han chooses to be about something more than money.

Make your characters work for a choice, show how they change to get there– and you have a story worth telling.

So– it’s Day Fifteen. Half way through the month. How are you doing?

Remember: you can follow all the NaGraNoWriMo posts here!

Building Beauty’s Beast

Building Beauty’s Beast

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  • October 10, 2010

Glen Keane, one of Disney’s current Nine Old Men and a master animator, spoke with the press on Tuesday, the day Beauty and the Beast made its debut on Blu-ray. Walt Disney Home Entertainment provided ComicMix a transcript of the discussion, moderated by Mindy Johnson,  and below are excerpts from that discussion.

Mindy Johnson: Ttoday we’re going to get a rare opportunity to take a look at the building of Beauty’s Beast, one of the most iconic characters today.  And here we are with Glen Keane, who is just freshly back from Paris, and you spent several weeks there, Glen, preparing for an upcoming show.  Is that correct?

Glen Keane:  Yes.   Yes.  I’m actually having a – my first art show, where I’ll be showing a little bit of a retrospective of my animation drawings, my rough drawings, some from Beauty and the Beast, as well as the rest of my career.  And then, that’s a third of the show.  The other two-thirds are actually drawings from my sketchbook, speaker drawings, things that I’m going to actually be selling. 

But the idea is to give an insight into what goes on in the life of an artist who is an animator and where do you get your inspiration.  And actually, those are a lot of the things that we’ll be talking about today specifically about the character of the Beast.

But this show is at the (Arloudic) Gallery on the Ile Sainte Marie in Paris on November ninth, yes, so I’m excited about it.  If you’re there, you’re welcome to come to the (Vernusage) and it will be there for, I don’t know, a good month.

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National Graphic Novel Writing Month, Day #5: Whose Story Is It, Anyway?

National Graphic Novel Writing Month, Day #5: Whose Story Is It, Anyway?

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  • October 5, 2010

Editor’s note: We were all ready to discuss who you should be focusing on in your graphic novel, and then we remembered that John Ostrander, writer of GrimJack, Munden’s Bar, Star Wars: Legacy and Suicide Squad, had already answered the question for us a while back. So we’re reprinting his piece from October 25, 2007.

In any given story, one of the primary questions that must be
answered by the writer is – whose story is it? For example – in any
Batman/Joker story, we assume that the story is going to be about
Batman. He is the title character, after all. However, the story can be
about the Joker – taken from his perspective, with the Joker as the
protagonist and the Batman as his antagonist. A protagonist, after all,
is not always a hero.

Sometimes, when I’m having problems with a story, I’ll go back to that
simple, basic question – whose story is it? The answer sometimes
surprises me. When I was writing my historical western for DC, The Kents,
I assumed for a long time that the story was about Nate Kent, who was
the direct ancestor of Pa Kent, Clark’s adoptive father. It was only
when I was deep into the story that it occurred to me that the story was
actually about Nate’s younger brother Jeb, who takes a wrong road,
shoots his brother in the back at one point, becomes an outlaw, and
eventually has to make things right.

The story may not always be about a person. When I wrote Gotham Nights,
the focus of the story was the city itself, and the city was comprised
not only of its buildings and roadways but, more importantly, the people
who lived there, of whom I tried to give a cross-sampling. Batman was a
part of all that because he is a part of Gotham City but the miniseries
didn’t focus on him. It was Gotham City’s story.

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Spectacled 7 Author on Earth Station One Podcast!!!

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  • October 1, 2010

Check it out at http://tinyurl.com/27uv44j

Earth Station One Episode 27 – I Think I’m A Clone Now, There’s always two of me just a hangin’ around.


This week on ESO, Mike, Dan and Mike are joined by comic book writer Bobby Nash to talk about his new trade paperback Yin Yang, and then we dive back into the world of Star Wars and talk about Episode II: Attack of the Clones. Also this week we try again at our new crew rant section “Crew Kudos“.


Join us for another fun filled podcast that we like to call Episode 27: I Think I’m A Clone Now, There’s always two of me just a hangin’ around.


Table of Contents
0:00:00 Intro / Welcome
0:02:26 Crew Kudos – Batman: The Cult / The Akinator / Superman – Batman: Apocalypse / Comic Book Prices
0:28:48 Bobby Nash Interview
0:53:32 Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones
1:29:13 Show Close

BEAU SMITH JOINS LIBRARY OF AMERICAN COMICS

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  • September 24, 2010

Beau Smith, marketing advisor and writer, has joined IDW Publishing’s Library of American Comics imprint (which includes some pulp like comics within its vast amount of material) as its new Director of Marketing.

“We’re thrilled to have Beau onboard,” says LOAC Creative Director Dean Mullaney. “He and I go way back to the 1980s and Eclipse Comics, where I was the publisher and Beau the Marketing Director.”
A graduate of Marshall University in his native West Virginia, Beau has worked in all realms of publishing and marketing in comics. In addition to Eclipse, where he got his start, Beau was the VP of Marketing and Publishing for Image Comics, Todd McFarlane Productions and McFarlane Toys. Beau was with IDW Publishing for many years as their first Vice President of Marketing, and is the former Director of Product Information for toy maker JUN Planning USA.
As a writer, Beau has written Batman/Wildcat,  Star Wars, and Wolverine, and his stories have appeared at DC, Image, IDW, Eclipse, Dreamwave, Moonstone, Dark Horse, and many other publishers. He created several well-received series, including Wynonna Earp, Parts Unknown, Maximum Jack, Courting Fate, and Cobb.  If that wasn’t enough, he offers his opinion on pop culture in regular columns: “Busted Knuckles” at Comics Bulletin, and “From the Ranch” for Sketch Magazine, and Far From Fragile for Impact Magazine.  Beau is also the author of the most common sense business book on the comic book industry- No Guts, No Glory: How To Market Yourself In Comics published by Blue Line Pro.

Beau will be focusing on retailers, and expanding the LOAC’s presence in libraries and universities, so all retailers, librarians, professors, and teachers are encouraged to contact Beau at: beau@loacomics.com  304-453-6565

Review: ‘THX 1138’

Review: ‘THX 1138’

George Lucas is a filmmaker who believes that movies are works that can be revisited and altered as the artist’s vision or his tools change. This has been a hallmark of his dating all the way back to his 1967 USC student film, [[[Electronic Labyrinth: THX 1138 4EB]]]. When Lucas and colleague Francis Ford Coppola made it from film school to Hollywood, they wound up getting the money to make a feature-version of the story as Lucas’ film directing debut. A co-production between Coppola’s American Zoetrope and Warner Bros., [[[THX 1138]]]was shot and released in 1971 to dismal results.

In the wake of his subsequent success with 1977’s Star Wars, he re-edited the film back to his original 86 minute cut, adding in five minutes, for a re-release. After tinkering endlessly with the [[[Star Wars]]] trilogy, Lucas decided it was time to go back and play with THX 1138, resulting in an 88 minute director’s cut that was released on video in 2004. Adding in numerous CGI elements, the spare film is filled out, in some cases for the better and in most cases, to its detriment.

The 2004 version is now out on Blu-ray from Warner Home Video and is an interesting exercise to watch. You certainly see the detached Lucas, the one we knew wanted Star Wars to focus on the droids. He’s uncomfortable with people it seems, or at least he was, and stuffs humanity under the surface into a loveless, emotionless existence in this bleak story. We don’t know when mankind moved underground or why, but clearly, to keep the population busy, new levels of scrutiny are employed, bringing George Orwell’s Big Brother to life.

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Monday Mix-Up: The Midichlorian Rhapsody

Monday Mix-Up: The Midichlorian Rhapsody

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  • September 13, 2010

Hey there, kids! Remember when Star Wars was awesome? Yeah, we do too. Then ole’ George fired up his bank of super computers, “wrote” a script, and here we are years later still trying to figure out what happened to the Star Wars of our youth. But, prequels be damned! Give the credit to the YouTube viral nation, for spawning an amazing creation that’ll melt that polar ice cap you have in your heart when you hear the word… midichlorian.

Well, the video vanguards have put together a mix-up of Star Wars saga of one troubled youth, and married it with “Bohemian Rhapsody”. Blend it well, add an umbrella and slice of pineapple and you get Jeff and Maya Bohnhoff’s masterpiece, the Midichlorian Rhapsody.

Chicago Comic Con: A Tale of Two Cons (Part One)

Chicago Comic Con: A Tale of Two Cons (Part One)

  • News
  • August 21, 2010

We, the true believers all have that “home show”. That convention we never miss because it’s in our backyard. We treasure the memories we build there. And for those of us who aspire to become creators (like me and my Unshaven Comics cohorts) the “home show” is also where we first took the plunge and moved to the other side of the aisle to become creators, not just conventioneers. For me, that home show has been the Chicago Comic Con. I, of course, knew it as “Wizard World Chicago” when I first walked in the doors a newly christened comic fan in 1999. Ever since, that show has been a stalwart in my calender. I’ve not missed it, now, for 11 years in a row. Suffice to say, I’ve had a ton of great memories over the years. From catching the first glimpse of The Dark Knight, sitting mere feet away from Christian Bale, Christopher Nolan, and David Goyer… to sitting in a jam packed ballroom, sharing a laugh over the secrets of Wonder Woman #219… to that first year I had to give up attending Wizard School panels, in order to sell my first graphic novel.

As the years have passed, my Unshaven family and I have noticed a rising trend. What started as just ribs and pokes from snottier fans who’d long proclaimed Wizard to be unhip and “mainstream”, changed to a general malaise from many of the fans we stood shoulder to shoulder with in lines for huge attractions like Kevin Smith Q and A’s to the aforementioned Dark Knight sneak preview. It seemed many Windy City con goers where feeling a slow and steady decline in attendance, in spirits, and most importantly in quality. As I touched on it in a previous article… it would seem that at last year’s Chicago Comic Con, a keystone had crumbled. Where once mighty booths manned by the biggest publishers stood greeting con-goers as they entered the center, were now gone, and replaced with questionable replacements. In 2009, where DC’s mighty banners once hung, and the DC Direct glass where my nose was pressed with palpable envy stood a Tonner Doll booth… where porcelain cherubic faced Harry Potters and Twilight Edwards now glared at me in monotone smiles. Where the Mighty Marvel erected it’s booth where cathartic creators sat and signed piles of books now sat a blacklight-rave music pumping-psuedo ninja weapon booth, manned by people who I can assure you couldn’t tell the difference between Deadpool and Deadshot. Thus, today it was with fearful steps that I entered that large hall once more… and hours later, I sit here, truly sad to type these words: My home show is a sorry shadow of it’s former self.

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Knock me over with a feather: ‘Star Wars’ in Blu-Ray in 2011

Knock me over with a feather: ‘Star Wars’ in Blu-Ray in 2011

  • News
  • August 20, 2010

Wow. Who could have foreseen that George Lucas, who has skillfully exploited every single new video format to come along in the past 33 years for maximum financial gain, would release Star Wars on Blu-Ray sometime in 2011 with even more clips that we never saw before? And only as a box set for all six, so you can’t cherry pick your favorites?

Impress me, George. Put both editions of the original trilogy on there.

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