Film Jockey Fan Art - "City of Bones" - UPDATED

UPDATE - The last one had a weird pic of Izzy, so I changed it to this one...looks a little better.

Well, I'm not huge on creating my own fan art, but when I get passionate about a certain film or book etc., I like to get creative with photoshop. So, in honor of my crazed obsession with this book series of which the first book is being turned into a movie, here's my first official release of an attempt at fan art. A poster for "The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones." (Due out August 2013).
For those of you who are familiar (or not familiar) the characters from left to right are Luke (Aidan Turner), Jace (Jamie Campbell Bower), Clary (Lily Collins), Alec (Kevin Zegers) and Isabelle (Jemima West).  I did leave out a couple other key characters, but like I said, this is the first of...well, probably not that many. I just used a bunch of pictures off of Google and Izzy's body is actually a picture of a drawing that I found of Izzy (with Jemima's head photoshopped, haha).  Then there's the logo of course.  I just wanted to take a whack and see how it would turn out. I think it looks alright! Let me know what you guys think!

"The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones" film - Forsaken?

For those of you TMI fans who may be, but probably aren't reading this, you get the title of this post. But do you really? As everyone should know by now, The Mortal Instruments is a book series of six fantasy novels, authored by Cassandra Clare, and it's the most recent endeavor to fall victim to Hollywood's book-to-film adaptation frenzy. Although I had my apprehensions when I first heard about my favorite series getting the "celluloid treatment" (just made that one up...pretty good, eh?) two years ago, I quickly warmed to the direction that this film might be taking. However, upon the recent revelation of several casting announcements, my anger reached an alarmingly high pique.  I soon realized that I had no other choice but to turn to the blogosphere. (Spoilers ahead)

TMI: COB Cover Art

For those of you who are unfamiliar with this franchise, "The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones" is the first in a series of six urban fantasy books about our young, fiery, redheaded heroine Clary Fray. She is a fifteen-year-old, seemingly normal girl just going through the motions of adolescence with her best friend Simon Lewis. She lives in Brooklyn with her mother Jocelyn Fray, who is a single mother and an extremely talented artist; a trait which Clary has inherited to the utmost capacity.  Her mother's best friend Luke Garroway is a father figure to Clary.  He has been there for her ever since she was a toddler and, although he is gentle and understanding at heart, he has a fierce side that you wouldn't want to mess with.
While at a club one night with Simon, Clary witnesses a murder. The victim? A demon, or Downworlder. The perpetrators? Demon killers known as Shadowhunters. Jace, Alec and Isabelle are the three Shadowhunters whom Clary is first acquainted with. She is shocked at what she witnesses and immediately interrogates the three of them, who quickly shrug her off as a "mundie" (Shadowhunter slang for mundanes, regular humans). However, Clary is quickly sucked deeper into this hidden world when her mother is kidnapped by a demon the next night. Desperate to get her mother back, Clary seeks out the help of Jace and his friends and she discovers that there is much to her past that her mother kept hidden from her.
Valentine, the white-haired, rogue Shadowhunter, is the suave and seductive, yet terrifyingly motivated villain. He is the culprit behind the kidnapping. Why? Because he is Clary's father and he knows that Jocelyn holds valuable information that he needs.  Through this journey, Clary realizes much about herself that she never knew existed.

Collins

I remember when I first heard that TMI: COB would be coming to the big screen. I read an article about two years ago which was announcing that Lily Collins would be starring as Clary Fray and that Scott Stewart, of "Legion" and "Priest" fame, would be directing. Naturally, my first instinct was to become overly elated. What crazily obsessed fan of any book franchise wouldn't want to see one of their favorite novels visually translated to the silver screen? I wasn't too thrilled about Lily Collins in the lead, simply because she wasn't (and still isn't) a well known actress and I had no idea how talented she may or may not be. The fact that she wasn't a redhead especially irked me. But once I did some research on her past acting credits (and saw her in a red wig) I became much more confident about the film.  My bigger concern was with Stewart directing.  Although I liked "Legion" and "Priest", neither of them were quality films. They were great, senseless action movies but nothing that I would pay to see in theatres. Little did I know at the time, but this would cease to exist as an issue in a couple years.
Then came the casting of Jace, who is the other main character, and a rather complex one at that.  He is a hotheaded and arrogant know-it-all who becomes surprisingly vulnerable when he meets Clary. Needless to say, a love story ensues. Anyway, the entirety of TMI fandom was dying for Alex Pettyfer to land the coveted role of Jace Wayland.  Although he definitely looks the part, I personally thought he was a crappy actor so I was glad to learn that the role went to Jamie Campbell Bower instead. Keep in mind this is a year after the announcement of Lily being cast as Clary.

Bower

So now both of my main characters are cast and it's thrilling. Bower is another guy who is pretty unknown amongst Hollywood, but he looked the part and considering he had small previous roles in two huge blockbuster franchises, the final two "Harry Potter" films and the "Twilight" movies (which I bloody hate with a passion and can't believe those films were ever successful or even made into films in the first place), I had to keep the faith. The next big news after this was that Stewart had been dropped as director and replaced by Harald Zwart.  He is a director whom I know nothing about other than the fact that he directed the updated version of "The Karate Kid" which I knew got some pretty decent reviews.  Regardless of the fact that I was unfamiliar with this guy, I remained very faithful because I know that unknown directors can still produce great, quality films.  Plus I was mostly thrilled that Stewart had been dropped.
Now, a year after the Jace casting news and just a few months after the switching of directors, the production of TMI is right around the corner.  Casting news is pouring in day after day and all of the major characters' real life faces are becoming seared into our minds. Next after Jace was the announcement of Jemima West as Isabelle. She's another British actor (Bower being the first Brit of the cast) and one that I, yet again, have never heard of.  I was becoming ever more slightly concerned about the film regarding this announcement. She does mostly look the part, but I just have nothing to base her acting chops off of.  Although I remained skeptical at heart, I brushed aside my worries and allowed my elation to continue.
After the announcement of a couple more minor characters, which I didn't really care about because they're so minor, came a huge bit of casting news. YET ANOTHER unknown foreigner was cast as Simon Lewis, Clary's best friend.  Robert Sheehan.  I'm not a huge fan of Simon as a character, although I know many many people love him and he is a huge central character.  I don't dislike him, he's just not one of my favorites. So when I heard about Sheehan it was just kinda like, "Hm, okay, that's random." But then came the BIGGEST announcement to date. We got THREE major characters cast in one week! Jared Harris as Hodge (a mentor to the Shadowhunters and a big character in the story), Godffrey Gao as Magnus Bane (another unknown actor, but he seemed like a great fit for Magnus who is another huge character), and my favorite cast member to be announced thus far...Lena Headey as Clary's mom Jocelyn!!! It's  not that I am even a big fan of Headey, I am just very familiar with her work as an actress because of her roles in "300" and the short-lived TV series "Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles."  Granted I was very excited about Harris and Gao being cast in their respective roles, but Headey became the first cast member whom I was really familiar with, so it was extremely exciting to see a well-known actress cast in something that I have been a fan of for years. It was honestly like one of those things where you wonder who in the world could possibly be the PERFECT actor to portray a character you know so well, and then viola! She is placed in front of me. Headey is perfect for Jocelyn (once the red hair is added, of course).

Headey

But all of this excitement would be shattered when I would learn just a short few days later that Aidan Turner would be cast as my favorite character Luke Garroway, a character so wise and guiding for Clary. He is her father figure and mentor of sorts. He's also a love interest to Clary's mother. He plays a huge, invaluable role in this series. He should be mid-late 30's at LEAST, if not early 40's...and they cast a freaking 29 year old who looks like he's 24 to play this role. Not to mention...HE'S BRITISH!!! Nothing could infuriate me more than hearing this announcement.  As trivial as this casting may sound, this single revelation in the entirety of production on this film is the one thing that has shattered my hopes.  I was clinging to faith throughout all of my skepticism over Bower and West and Sheehan and all of these foreigners taking over my damn franchise! Then all of the anger that I had so willingly and peacefully swept under the rug immediately erupted from deep within my soul and spewed out in a fiery rage so powerful it could reignite a dying star.  WHY WHY WHY!?!?! Why does Hollywood insist on thinking that it knows what is best for a film? WHY would you sacrifice the quality of a character and a story just to make a quick penny? IDIOTS, I say.

Meyers

As if matters couldn't get any worse...Valentine was cast today. Valentine, the villain and obviously another central and pivotal character in the story, will be played by Jonathan Rhys-Meyers. JONATHAN RHYS-MEYERS!!! Are you kidding me!?!? He is YET AGAIN about ten years TOO YOUNG for this role AND BRITISH!!! I am such at a loss for words.
Granted I probably wouldn't be as angry about Meyers being cast as Valentine if it weren't for my pre-existing anger about Turner as Luke.  I think I am slowly but surely becoming SOMEWHAT okay with Meyers as Valentine simply because I can see him being suave and evil. But he's still too young!!!
I thought I would feel better after getting my anger out in writing, but I'm still pretty fueled up on the hate juice. I guarantee you that they are using the success of the "Twilight" films as a reference for casting TMI.  This sole fact breaches any trust I ever had with any producer or filmmaker that I ever entrusted with this film.  TWILIGHT. IS. AWFUL. Those films are so phenomenally and infinitely and tragically despicable that I would personally pay all of my life earnings to see every millimeter of celluloid used on that film burnt to a poisonous liquid. It nearly brings me to tears thinking that the producers are sacrificing the quality of the story to go with a hot, young, inadequate cast because "it worked for 'Twilight.'" DO NOT compare this franchise to Twilight. EVER.
I must stop here before I say something that will get me arrested.
So there you have it my friends. The way things stand now, this production is as forsaken by me as a Mundie marked with angelic runes.
I guess I'll have to hope and pray that this film will redeem itself once it all comes together in the final product. If not, then by the angel...by the angel...

The Film Jockey reviews: "Our Idiot Brother"

Alright so I'm a couple days behind on this, but I have my reasons...and this will be a pretty short one because, well, I'm tired.
Anyway, my first review of 2012 (simply because it happened to be one of the first movies I saw in the new year) is "Our Idiot Brother."
I'm not a huge comedy fan, as one may have guessed from following this blog, so I naturally was not too thrilled to be watching this film. It's not that I dislike comedy, I just highly prefer horror, sci-fi, action or drama over it...but I still enjoy films of all kinds.
I must say that I was pleasantly surprised in this case...for the most part. It was good in some ways, but very flawed in others.
The film opens with the "brother" Ned, played by Paul Rudd, ignorantly selling marijuana to a uniformed cop. Right off the bat we get the clue that he's not a bright guy. Ned goes to his parole officer who tells him that he must live with a family member in order to keep a close watch on him. Ned is survived by his mother and three sisters, who also become central characters in the story. Of the three sisters, there is Miranda (played by Elizabeth Banks) who is a seemingly heartless reporter constantly trying to break a big story at the risk of other people's feelings. There is also Natalie (played by Zooey Deschanel) and Liz (played by Emily Mortimer). Nat is a hippie-like lesbian who is comically unsure of her sexuality while Liz plays an unhappy housewife struggling to come to terms with the fact that her husband is cheating on her.
As they all have their turns at taking Ned in for a period of time, each sister has a way of manipulating him into their lives, whether that be intentional or not.
While trying to adjust to this new "lifestyle," Ned really can't seem to get things right even though he tries to help everyone around him. What it comes down to is that he is too peaceful and too naive. Ned starts to get blamed for many things that were inadvertently his fault as a result of the girls' manipulation. He finally learns to stick up for himself and gets into trouble with the law, but the sisters come to the rescue and all is okay in the world of Ned.
Obviously I summed up a whole lot, but as I previously mentioned as a disclaimer, I am not a big comedy fan. Therefore I don't always know the rules of comedy, but I was sure not to take this one too seriously. Going in with that mindset really helped because there were definitely some elements of decent storytelling in this film. I thought the sisters were all very well developed characters and we actually came to know Ned better through their development. This was one of the big things that I enjoyed about the film. However, this is also where comedy fans may find it to be a flaw. Most comedies, with the rare exception, sacrifice good storytelling for laughs. This one actually had decent storytelling, but not a lot of laughs. I don't necessarily remember laughing out loud one time in particular, but I really appreciated the characters here.
The story itself is rather generic with a hint of originality. The major flaws, story-wise, that I found was that the beginning was way too rushed. We are immediately thrown into the first inciting incident with Ned selling drugs to the cop. We don't get eased in and we never really learn much about Ned until too late into the story.
Overall I give the movie about 2.5 out of 5, just because there should have been more laughs. Had I actually found the film to be funny it might have been raised to 3, or possibly 3.5 if it were really funny...but it wasn't. So this is where I stand.

New year, new goals, new content!

The Film Jockey is back! It's been a while, but I am here to stay!
I first started this blog as a way to keep some kind of regular routine for myself. Something that could help me keep myself in check as I attempted to immerse myself in the world of film.
As cliche as it might be, 2012 is a new year! With a new year comes a clean slate and new ideas.
So, in addition to critiquing films this year, I will also be reviewing some of my favorite TV episodes! Over the past month or so, I have begun watching a number of different television shows, including Dexter, Lost and Once Upon A Time, just to name a few.

Tonight marks the Film Jockey's official return, as I review "Our Idiot
Brother" starring Paul Rudd.
I will also be reviewing one of my favorite new TV series "Dexter" up to where it stands right now. with the 6th season having just ended and the 7th season beginning at the end of this year. I will review one season at a time rather than reviewing the series as a whole. That way I can hopefully do it more justice because there is a lot going on in this show! It's fantastic.

In just a few hours I will be back with full force!
I'll keep you posted! (pun intended)

The Film Jockey reviews: "Scream 4" (MAJOR SPOILERS)

Well, I haven't updated this blog in a few months. So, I decided, what better way to come back than with a review of the movie sequel that partially inspired this blog! Scream 4, or SCRE4M, has finally hit theatres, and after a year of impatiently waiting, I have already seen it twice!
I will start out my review by repeating what I mentioned in the title. There are MAJOR SPOILERS within this review. I considered trying to review this film without using spoilers, however, there is just so much going on in this movie that it would simply be too difficult to dance around the specific events that took place. With that being said...here we go!
Let's start with the beginning of the film, the opening scene. Ever since the original Scream in 1996, the Scream films have been known to have exciting opening scenes. So Scream 4 is expected to be no different...and it's not! The opening scene was my favorite since the original with Drew Barrymore! As I mentioned in an earlier post, I have been following scream-trilogy.net for updates since the beginning of production of Scream 4. It is a very trustworthy source for all of the latest updates. So all within a couple weeks, we saw that Lucy Hale, Shenae Grimes, Anna Paquin, Kristen Bell, Britt Robertson and Aimee Teegarden had all been hired for small cameos. There had been much speculation as to what roles they would be playing, the most popular of these speculations being that 2 of them would be appearing in the film-within-a-film series "Stab" which originated in Scream 2. However, we did not quite foresee the possibility of a film-within-a-film-within-a-film, which is exactly what happened! It was brilliant. The film opens with Lucy Hale and Shenae Grimes being stalked by a "Facebook killer" and soon they are both savagely murdered by Ghostface. After this, a title card flashes up saying "Stab 6." We then cut to Kristen Bell and Anna Paquin sitting on a couch together, watching Stab 6. They then begin to critique the opening that they just watched. Anna's character finds it to be "fucking bullshit" or something along those lines, whereas Kristen's character likes the idea of "a guy with a knife who just...snaps." Anna's character proceeds to ramble on about how all of the Stab movies are predictable, just as Kristen pulls out a knife and stabs her in the abdomen twice. After Anna asks "Why?", Kristen responds with "Because you fucking talk too much. Now shut the fuck up and watch the movie." Cue title card saying "Stab 7." Cut to Brit Robertson (Marnie) and Aimee Teegarden (Jenny) sitting on a couch in real Woodsboro watching Stab 7 and deconstructing the controversial opening scenes. Jenny and Marnie begin to discuss the Stab series, fitting in some of the meta-fiction, self-aware dialogue which the Scream franchise is so famous for. So one thing leads to another and Jenny and Marnie are murdered in what I found to be a rather suspenseful opening. After this, we cut to the title card reading "Scream 4."
I found this to be a very creative opening and it was actually pretty frightening at moments. Also very unexpected at times, which can be said for the entire film!
Now we are introduced to a new Sidney Prescott, who has written a self help book called "Out of Darkness." She is visiting her hometown of Woodsboro as the last stop on her book tour. She is accompanied by her publicist Rebeca, who resembles a young Gale Weathers with her bitchy and aggressive attitude. We then see the reunion of now-Sheriff Dewey Riley and his wife of 10 years Gale Weathers-Riley, who seem to be having some marital issues throughout the film. After a short introduction into the current lives of our 3 main cast characters, we are introduced to the new generation. This new generation of characters includes Emma Roberts as Sidney's high school age cousin Jill, and Jill's best friends Kirby, played by Hayden Panettiere and Olivia played by Marielle Jaffe. Among the new male cast members are Rory Culkin as Charlie and Erik Knudsen as Robbie who are the two leaders of the Cinema Club at Woodsboro High. We also have Nico Tortorella who plays Trevor, Jill's mysterious ex-boyfriend.
After the introductions of our new characters, the killings begin.
The first to go is Jill's friend Olivia. This was actually a very emotional murder scene. Olivia's bedroom window is directly across from Jill's bedroom window. Kirby and Jill are in Jill's room, and they witness the entire murder from across the way. I actually found Olivia to be a likable character, and watching her get thrown around her bedroom and stabbed repeatedly and gutted was a pretty tough thing to watch. Sidney soon rushes over to Olivia's bedroom, but she's too late. Jill follows her and they are both attacked by Ghostface, but not before Sidney tackles him (yes spoiler, HIM) down the stairs and gives him a high kick to the face. But, alas, he ends up disappearing into the night.
I found all of the new characters to be likable. Especially Hayden Panettiere's character Kirby. She's a feisty film geek with a bitchy side that makes her a very tough girl to mess with. Even though she ends up getting stabbed twice in the stomach by the end. This is another murder that I was upset about because Kirby was probably my favorite out of the new generation characters.
I also really liked the connection that we see between Sidney and her cousin Jill. There is a scene in the kitchen at Jill's house after Olivia has been murdered. Jill proceeds to ask Sidney how she deals with it and they are able to find common ground. We really see Sidney's protective side come out in this installment. She's definitely a fighter. Ghostface comes around, and she saves, not only herself, but other characters as well throughout the film. Sid kicks serious ass in number 4.
My one biggest flaw with this film is that they have tried way too hard to push the comedy. After Anthony Anderson is stabbed in the head, he stumbles around a little bit and, before he falls dead, he says one of the dumbest one-liners I have ever heard. It actually pissed me off because it was so awkward that it made the death scene completely unrealistic. There were a couple of these instances when a "funny ha-ha" one-liner would be uttered in the middle of a serious death scene and it just didn't fit with the mood at all.
Other than that, the film was absolutely enjoyable and the best in the series since the original. The climax had the most dramatic twist in the series, and that includes the original Scream. While the original is a better film overall, number 4 has the most dramatic twist for who the killer is....JILL!!!!!! Charlie the film geek is an accomplice, but the main twist is Jill, Sid's cousin! I did not see this coming from a hundred miles away. At first I was unsure whether I liked this revelation, but upon seeing the film a second time, I realized that I LOVED this. Throughout the film I had slight ideas of who I thought the killer(s) would be, but I never foresaw Jill as a killer. Not even a little bit. So looking back, had it been someone else, it just wouldn't have had the extreme dramatic effect that it did have. I also liked that Charlie was the second killer because he was a pretty creepy guy.
I loved the way they pulled the rug out from under us with every twist and turn. Throughout the beginning stages with casting, we saw all these young stars cast as, what we thought, were going to be important roles. We expected Sidney and Dewey and Gale to pass the torch onto this new cast so that they could take over for any, possible, sequels. And then EVERY new generation character was murdered. (Although Panettiere's character is still on the fence because we never saw her officially dead). In the original Scream, Drew Barrymore was hired and they promoted the film as if she would be a main character, and then she was killed in the first 10 minutes. Scream 4 pulled the "Drew Barrymore" move with the ENTIRE new cast! I found this to be very exciting and original. The big twists and turns (and there is more than one) were all so unexpected. The biggest, of course, being that Jill was the killer. And I actually found her motive to be very credible. She insists that living in Sidney's shadow has caused her to resent parts of her life, and so now she's trying to become Sidney and gain her own fans and fame. Anyway, it all ends with Jill and all of her high school friends (with the possible exception of Hayden) dying and none of the original 3 characters meet their demise.
Overall I give the film 3.5 out of 5 stars. Although it was flawed, I absolutely loved the fresh take on the meta-fiction horror plot. The dialogue is well written too, which makes it more enjoyable to watch. If you are a Scream fan, or even if you're not a Scream fan, GO SEE SCREAM 4!!!

The Film Jockey reviews: "Scream"

In dedication to the release of Scream 4 in less than 3 months, I am going to be reviewing "Scream!"

As I stated in my previous article regarding the Scream franchise, these films brought a new and original twist to the horror genre. Kevin Williamson wrote the script and Wes Craven took on the project as director. Together they made a great team and created a legendary horror film.

Scream opens up with one of the most memorable scenes of horror movie history, and my favorite opening scene of all time. The film opens with Drew Barrymore as Casey, a young girl alone in a big, but not typically creepy house. The phone rings and she answers it. It's a strange man on the other end, but she dismisses it as a wrong number and hangs up. Shortly after, the phone rings again. The man says he wanted to "apologize" but Casey's not buying it. She hangs up again. Eventually, the man continuously calls her and begins harassing her over the phone with death threats and such. Without spoiling anything (which everyone should have seen this movie already, so there shouldn't really be any spoilers) I will move on. This scene is so greatly directed by Craven. He creates a really scary atmosphere with this house and the character of the "voice." The build-up of tension is great and it keeps your eyes glued to the screen. All of this leads up to a great finale (as far as opening scenes go), as Casey is directly confronted with the Ghostface killer.

Now, moving onto the film itself. Scream centers around the character Sidney Prescott (played by Neve Campbell). Sidney is a little more than your average high school girl. We discover that Sidney's mother Maureen Prescott was supposedly raped and murdered one year ago by a man named Cotton Weary, whom Sidney sentenced to death row with her testimony in court. Following the death of Casey, the whole community is in an uproar and local media makes connections to the death of Sidney's mother. Most of this speculation is done by Gale Weathers (played by Courteney Cox) who is the local "tabloid twit." Quickly enough, however, Sidney finds herself as the target of Ghostace. Helping Sidney through this is her best friend Tatum (Rose McGowan) and Tatum's big brother/town deputy Dewey Riley (David Arquette). As Sidney tries to find out who is trying to kill her and why, she discovers some shocking secrets about her mother that she didn't know before.

All in all, this film has something that most other horror films lack. That "something" is substance. It's got real characters, real backgrounds and relationships to go with those characters and a great plot that doesn't just involve an unrealistic villain who can't die. This villain is a very real threat. Without spoiling anything, we find out that the killer has a very close relationship with Sidney, and in more ways than one. There is motive, but there isn't at the same time. Yes the killer(s) are psychotic, but they've also got their reasonings behind it. This always makes for an exciting twist when the killer has a real relationship with our protagonist. It gives the story that substance I'm talking about. After almost 2 hours of watching our heroine get attacked and nearly murdered, we better have a damn good revelation at the end for why it's been happening. And that is where Scream becomes smarter. Williamson had his story well thought out when he wrote it.

With that being said, everyone needs to see this film! Not only horror fans. Everybody in general loves a good horror flick sometimes, and this really is one of the best.

Anne Hathaway "Rises" to the challenge of playing Catwoman!

So as I mentioned in my article a few days ago, there were three contenders to take over as one of the two new leading ladies in "The Dark Knight Rises." Well, one of those ladies has been officially announced as being added to the cast! Anne Hathaway will be playing Selina Kyle aka Catwoman in the new Batman movie!

I know in the previous article I mentioned how I wasn't too crazy about seeing Hathaway, Biel or Knightley take on any role in the film, but the more I think about it, the more I think Hathaway will make a pretty good Catwoman. I can just see her as being a sly and sexual villain to taunt Batman. Like I said I'm really not a big Hathaway fan, but I am very anxious to see how she does as Catwoman. I think she'll pull it off!