Writing Movie “WRONGS” By Jim West   Hellboy Directed by Neil Marshall Written by Andrew Cosby   2004’s Hellboy with Ron Perlman in the title role was perhaps the best we will get for this comic book character.  Helmed by the fantastic visionary Guillermo del Toro, the 2004 film used mysticism to set the tone of the film.  This reboot just goes straight for gore and blood.  Rarely do I find myself in such a situation with a film that I am hard pressed to figure out how to salvage it or make it better.  This is such a… Continue reading

Writing Movie “WRONGS” By Jim West   SHAZAM! Directed by David F. Sandberg Written by Henry Gayden and Darren Lemke   Since the 2018 huge success of the colorful and fun filled Aquaman, DC has finally learned that melodrama and dark tones are not what audiences want with their superhero films. Shazam may not bring in the big box office numbers as Aquaman, but it should do well in spite of following familiar story beats of a superhero discovers his powers type story.  With two writers on this film, they both pulled off a film perfect for middle graders and… Continue reading

Writing Movie “WRONGS” By Jim West   Us Directed by Jordan Peele Written by Jordan Peele   In 2017, Jordan Peele had a smash hit in his directorial debut with Get Out.  An original and fresh horror film that was layered and captivating.  It is easy to say his next foray into horror genre had many salivating.  With a modest budget of 20 million and a cast of great actors who made big impacts in Black Panther (Lupita Nyong’o and Winston Duke), this certainly had all the right components of a solid film.  Yet for Jordan Peele as the sole… Continue reading

Writing Movie “WRONGS” By Jim West Captain Marvel Directed by Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck Written by Nicole Perlman, Meg LeFauve, Anna Boden, Kevin Fleck, Geneva Robertson-Dworet An origin film has quite a lot to accomplish story wise in its runtime.  It must introduce the hero, show them before they were a hero, what event or tragedy created them, and what challenge they must face both internally and externally to be able to complete their journey to becoming a hero.  What typically bogs down origin stories is either the mishandling of the hero’s journey, or the lack of a flaw… Continue reading

Writing Movie “WRONGS” By Jim West   Cold Pursuit Directed by Hans Petter Moland Written by Frank Baldwin Based upon a Norwegian Film, In Order of Disappearance (2014), this film translates well with the same director helming the American remake.  Liam Neeson turns in a subdued performance as a father of a grown son who gets murdered by drug dealers, and takes his revenge by killing them one by one.  This black comedy action film has a few surprising laughable moments by way of how people get taken out, but ultimately the film feels a bit flat and lacking of… Continue reading

Writing Movie “WRONGS” By Jim West GLASS Directed by M. Night Shyamalan Written by M. Night Shyamalan Unbreakable (2000) was a film that blended the thriller and superhero genres masterfully.  Since that film M. Night Shyamalan has had his hits and mostly misses at the box office.  Then in 2016, he surprised many with his film Split.  The ending of that film bridged Unbreakable to the events that unfold in Glass.   Bruce Willis reprises his role as David Dunn.  A man with superhuman strength and toughness.  Samuel L Jackson is back as the evil mastermind, Mr. Glass.  James McAvoy gets… Continue reading

Writing Movie “WRONGS” By Jim West Bumblebee Directed by Travis Knight Written by Christina Hodson For years Michael Bay has brought us the big explosions, huge CGI spectacles, and thread bare storylines that have summed up what the Transformers franchise has been about for over a decade.  Shia LaBeouf led us through the boy meets his car / transformer back in 2007.  Now over a decade later we get a film dedicated to the yellow Transformer full of heart, Bumblebee.  This time we get set back in the 1980’s (trend right now for Hollywood films so pay attention Wonder Woman,… Continue reading

Writing Movie “WRONGS” By Jim West Aquaman Directed by James Wan Written by David Leslie Johnson-McGoldrick, Will Beall, Geoff Johns, and James Wan DC has had a hard go at trying to catch up to the juggernaut that is the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU).  With flops in Batman V. Superman, Suicide Squad, and Justice League they had some lifeblood pumped back in their veins with Wonder Woman and now Aquaman serves the DC Universe well by essentially taking the dark characters and even darker film tones and trading it in for colorful and vibrant characters and scenery.  It would be… Continue reading

Writing Movie “WRONGS” By Jim West Widows Directed by Steve McQueen Written by Gillian Flynn and Steve McQueen This film has it all.  A solid director and a fantastic cast with Liam Neeson, Viola Davis, Colin Farrell, Robert Duvall (he steals perhaps the best scenes in the film), Daniel Kaluuya, and Michelle Rodriguez.  Yet it seems this film with such a great premise and cast falls apart due to only what I can deduce as a horrible decision in editing. Here comes the spoilers. This film immediately thrusts you into the lives of wives of criminals.  We see them getting… Continue reading

Writing Movie “WRONGS” By Jim West   Creed 2 Directed by Steven Caple Jr Written by Sylvester Stallone, Juel Taylor, Sascha Penn, and Cheo Hodari Coker   Sylvester Stallone has time and time again shown audiences why Rocky is the pinnacle of sports dramas and the bar that other films should meet or exceed.  This film covers a lot of ground story wise and the four writers on this film did a phenomenal job of giving each and every character their moment to shine.  The classic training montages are there, and the fall and rise of a hero of the… Continue reading