Del on The Lost Boys

Although the flick's name conjures up images of a motley crew of young adventurers from Never land, those friendly faces are not who director James Jeremias had in mind when he wrote the story of The Lost Boys. The 'lost boys' in this story are a gang of vampires, who come out in the evening to hang with other teenagers then in the night they feed on the citizens of Santa Carla. They never grow up, they never die, and they are the coolest cats in town. The newest inhabitants of the town are a family from Phoenix, two sons and a mother have moved in and Michael, the older son, has fallen in love with the lead vampire's girl. A story of fitting in and fighting the powers, The Lost Boys was a shot in the arm for vampire flicks in the late 1980s.

Joel Shumacher directed the film, and he brought in some innovative videography to portray the vampires. When they were flying, you got a camera view sometimes in front of them and sometimes behind them, which gave you the feeling of riding with them or being carried away by them. The deaths of each of the vampires was different and dramatic to say the least, from being dissolved through the whole houses water pipes by holy water to death by stereo. The lead acting was good although there is little to say for the vampires that followed David. There was good plot device used for the finale and some of the dialogue was good. The most distracting detail about the movie was the change in style from then to now. Looking back, these guys were probably the height of fashion in their time although now they look a little tacky. Aside from that, there was bold cinematography used for its time and the portrayal of vampires is very exciting and scary.

Here is the beat sheet for The Lost Boys:

1. Opening Image (1): The family sees the sunny front of the sign welcoming them to Santa Clara contrasted with the back of the sign which says in red letters, 'Welcome to the murder capital of the world'.

2. Theme Stated (5): Never Grow Up

3. Set-Up (1-10): Michael, Sam, and their mother move to Santa Clara. The family goes to the boardwalk that night and they each meet their friends.

4. Catalyst (12): Michael follows starr while at a concert and realizes she is the girl of david

5. Debate (12-25): David challenges Michael to race him to the top of the cliff.

6. Break into Two (25) Michael drinks the blood.

7. B Story (30): The mother meets Max in the movie store and he gives her a job which leads them into a relationship.

8. Fun and Games (30-55): People are being killed all over.

9. Midpoint (55): Michael finds out the dirty side of being a vampire.

10. Bad Guys Close In (55-75): Finds out Starr is a vampire, and the they try to kill the vampires to return to normal but all they do is upset them.

11. All Is Lost (75): Michael’s brother cant convince his mom that there are vampires.

12. Dark Night of the Soul (75-85): They are locked in the house waiting for the vampires to come.

13. Break into Three (85): They prepare to fight the vampires

14. Finale (85-110): They kill all the halfpires and have to fight the main vampire. They find out that Max is the head vampire.

15. Final Image (110): The grandpa says that the one thing I never could stand about santa clara “ all the vampires” Showing that he sees Santa Clara as it truly is.

Mac on The Lost Boys

I absolutely hate to compare anything of quality to Twilight but the Lost Boys is definitely the Twilight of its time. It has the popular guys and the catchy along with some vampires. The Lost Boys was the comeback of the vampire movies and did its genre justice.

The Lost Boys is about a couple of brothers who move the Santa Clara " The murder capital of the world". The move in with their weird grandpa and find their time is better spent at the boardwalk. While at the board walk the older brother Michael sees a girl he likes " Starr " He follows Starr all the way to her boyfriend the leader of a gang of vampires. The head one David challenges him to a race to the cliff if he wants to join them. Michael agrees. Once he arrives at their lair he is tricked into drinking blood. He doesnt know it yet but he is becoming a vampire. Meanwhile Micheal's little brother meets the brothers Edgar and Allen. They work at a comic store and know a lot about vampires especially how to kill them. As the movie progresses Michael becomes more and more like a vampire. They find out to turn him normal they have to kill the head vampire which they think is David. So they sneak into the vamplair and kill one Vampire and upset the rest. They know the Vampires are coming so they fortify their house and fill water guns with garlicky holy water. When the vampires come they kill them all including David and realize he wasnt the head Vampire. Right after that their mom comes home with her boyfriend Max and they realize Max is..... You have to watch the movie to find out.

The Lost Boys was directed by Joel Schumacher creater of the award winning Phantom of the Opera. Starring big name actors of the time such as Corey Haim, Jason Patric and Kiefer Sutherland. Kiefer Sutherland plays probably the scariest vampire I have ever seen. All in all this movie had a top notch cast awesome music and a great plot. If you are in the mood for a great 80s or vampire movie this is the one to see.


1. Opening Image (1): The family sees the sunny front of the sign welcoming them to Santa Clara contrasted with the back of the sign which says in red letters, Welcome to the murder capital of the world.

2. Theme Stated (5):never grow up

3. Set-Up (1-10): the family moves to santa clara and see the back of the sign that signs murder capital.

4. Catalyst (12): Michael follows starr while at a concert and realizes she is the girl of david

5. Debate (12-25): David challenges Michael to race him to the top of the cliff.

6. Break into Two (25) Michael drinks the blood.

7. B Story (30): Michael’s little brother meets the Poe brothers in a comic store.

8. Fun and Games (30-55): People are being killed all over.

9. Midpoint (55): Michael finds out the dirty side of being a vampire.

10. Bad Guys Close In (55-75): Finds out Starr is a vampire, and the they try to kill the vampires to return to normal but all they do is upset them.

11. All Is Lost (75): Michael’s brother cant convince his mom that there are vampires.

12. Dark Night of the Soul (75-85): They are locked in the house waiting for the vampires to come.

13. Break into Three (85): They prepare to fight the vampires

14. Finale (85-110): They kill all the halfpires and have to fight the main vampire. They find out that Max is the head vampire.

15. Final Image (110): The grandpa says that the one thing I never could stand about santa clara “ all the vampires” Showing that he sees Santa Clara as it truly is.

Del on life and the Deadliest Warrior

Yesterday was one of those red-letter days in my public school career where I am at home enriching my life whilst my peers and classmates are toiling away at government institutions to earn their freedom from intellectual oppression. Actually, my school took our third annual trip to the Texas Renaissance Festival so I, being suddenly afflicted with a mysterious one-day illness, stayed home with Mac. Our activities of the day included watching portions of various movies, eating inordinate amounts of our famous bean and cheese dip (I can give you the recipe) and otherwise experiencing the R&R we so richly deserve. All in all, I think Mac will agree with me that the day was seized.

The glorious day was just beginning to really pick up when we were called upon by our mutual best friend (who we will simply call Tres) to watch with him what he has described as "the greatest show ever to pump testosterone into the veins of teenage males." The show Tres was extolling is none other than "The Deadliest Warrior", a SPIKE channel TV show which pits famous warriors in history against each other using virtual battles to decide the winner.

The particular episode we watched pitted the Japanese gangsters, the Yakuza, against the well-known Sicilian Mafia of the prohibition era US. The idea of the show is to bring in specialists in each style of fighting, give them the weapons and tools of their warriors, and use sensors and dummies to test the destructive power of each weapon in the hands of professionals. The data and observations are then fed into a computer which calculates 1000 battles and shows how many each side won and lost, with the final result being choreographed and played out by professional actors.

The concept is a tantalizing one for anyone with a vivid imagination. Imagine pitting ninjas versus Spartans or pirates versus knights. It puts the thousands hypothetical discussions of middle and high school boys everywhere into real-world situations. Not to mention that every dummy that is smashed, bashed, or blown to bits is filled with synthetic blood for a near-realistic gore factor.

The directors obviously focus more on the special effects and choreography than they do on the dialogue. There is enough wit passed between rival warriors to suggest scripting, but the comebacks are so weak that I hope for their sake that it is improvised. This is excusable of the brutes the show brings in to demonstrate weaponry, but when the medical professional they have on staff reviews a dummy who's head is cleaved in two and his only remark is, "You can see by the fracturing of the spine here, this guy is dead", I tend to think they just keep him around because of his overwhelming grasp of the obvious.

In all honesty "The Deadliest Warrior" is a very well-made show which combines imagination with hard fact and special effects with genuine observation. I find it to be both highly entertaining and informative at the same time.

Mac on what I did yesterday(oct 28)

Yesterday many of my peers who also blog took a field trip to the ren fest. As many of them will tell you it was quite a blast. Sadly this year I wasn't able to go to ren fest. The reason being I was sick of school. It is very contagious and felt I would be better off staying at home so that I could get better. Since I was staying home my mom felt I needed to be productive so I spent all of 20 minutes doing chores. After that I watched the movie traitor which I will not do an indepth post on but I will say that it was good movie with a cool twist. After that I went to my friends house and played PSO which is an old school but highly addicting RPG. After tiring of PSO me and my friends watched Deadliest Warrior(Which is pronounced with a deep ominous voice). Deadliest Warrior pits two classic enemies against each other to see which is better. We watched yakuza vs mafia , and of course the American mafia won. Then we watched swat on my free big screen tv that my neighbor gave me. Sadly we weren't able to finish the movie and had to stop at the climax because of church. Doing all of this nothingness cured my school sickness and refreshed me for the rest of the week.

Mac on Psycho

Psycho is right. Hitchcock's thriller is one of the first of its kind(Psycho murderer movies) and is still widely considered one of the best murder movies of all time. This movie will chill you to the bones and leave you checking out your shower curtains for suspicious shadows.

Hitchcock's movie Psycho is about a girl, her greed and poetic justice in the form of a crazy, and a killer with multiple personalities. It all starts when the main character Marion Crane still 40000 dollars from her boss so she and her lover( who is cheating on his wife) can go live together someplace else. When Marion stops for the night in a vacant motel she meets the killer Norman Bates. Later that night she is killed by a weird women. The body is then cleaned up by Norman. After the killing Marion's sister goes to look for her and what they find out will live in infamy in the annals of movie history.

After watching Psycho I have learned that to always lock the bathroom door and to never stay at vacant motels with creepy owners. This movie is definitely a must see for all you movie buffs and horror lovers. With its story that sucks you in and the final twist that drop your jaw.
B
THE BLAKE SNYDER BEAT SHEET

PROJECT TITLE: Alfred Hitchcock’s PSYCHO

1. Opening Image (1): Panning from the city into the building, then the window where Marion and Sam are. Showing that the story could be based on anyone.

2. Theme Stated (5): It could happen to anyone. This could be anyone’s story.

3. Set-Up (1-10):Events leading up to when Marion runs away and when she is at the Bates motel.

4. Catalyst (12): Marion steals the $40,000.

5. Debate (12-25): As Marion is driving she hears the voices in her head of people finding out what she has done.

6. Break into Two (25): Marion gets off the road and winds up at the Bates motel.

7. B Story (30): The story of Norman Bates and his ‘mother’.

8. Fun and Games (30-55): ‘Mother’ kills Marion and Norman hides her car in the swamp.

9. Midpoint (55): The PI, Sam, and Lila go to find Marion.

10. Bad Guys Close In (55-75): The PI goes to talk to Norman and doesn’t find anything.

All Is Lost (75): PI comes back after leaving and is killed by ‘mother’.

12. Dark Night of the Soul (75-85): Norman Bates is watching the PI’s car sink into the swamp.

13. Break into Three (85): Sam and Lila go to the Bates motel to get some answers, and Lila goes to the house to talk to mother.

14. Finale (85-110): Sam stops Norman (as ‘mother’) from killing Lila.

15. Final Image (110): ‘Mother’ is saying to herself that she won’t kill the fly buzzing around her. Trying to show how she “wouldn’t hurt a fly”. She’s just like anyone else.

Del on Psycho

Heebie-jeebies! You can expect to jump out of your skin multiple times if you watch Psycho. It follows the story of Marion Crane, who steals $40,000 from her boss in order to settle down with her lover who is going through an expensive divorce. While she is on the run she stops to rest at the Bates motel. The proprietor, Norman Bates, seems nice enough but his 'mother' comes in and kills Marion in one of the most famous and widely used scenes in the genre, the shower scene. Several people come to investigate, which leads to another murder and a look into the mind of Norman Bates, a scary place.

Alfred Hitchcock's psychotic thriller was the first of its kind ever to hit the big screen. It portrays the events surrounding the murder of Marion Crane at the Bates motel. But Psycho is more than the story of a disturbed motel manager, Norman Bates, or even of Marion Crane, but is meant to be a case study in the psyche each person in society. The opening scene shows a city, arbitrarily dated and placed, which pans in to focus on a random building, then a random window in that building. This gives the audience the feel that the story could take place in a day in the life of any in the audience. Hitchcock's genius is that he writes broad enough portrayals in the main characters that almost everyone can relate to at least one person affected in the story. Along with good use of lighting and shadow as well as Anthony Perkins' superb acting as Norman Bates, Psycho is hailed as Alfred Hitchcock's greatest work.

Here is the beat sheet that breaks down the story.

THE BLAKE SNYDER BEAT SHEET

PROJECT TITLE: Alfred Hitchcock’s PSYCHO

1. Opening Image (1): Panning from the city into the building, then the window where Marion and Sam are. Showing that the story could be based on anyone.

2. Theme Stated (5): It could happen to anyone. This could be anyone’s story.

3. Set-Up (1-10):Events leading up to when Marion runs away and when she is at the Bates motel.

4. Catalyst (12): Marion steals the $40,000.

5. Debate (12-25): As Marion is driving she hears the voices in her head of people finding out what she has done.

6. Break into Two (25): Marion gets off the road and winds up at the Bates motel.

7. B Story (30): The story of Norman Bates and his ‘mother’.

8. Fun and Games (30-55): ‘Mother’ kills Marion and Norman hides her car in the swamp.

9. Midpoint (55): The PI, Sam, and Lila go to find Marion.

10. Bad Guys Close In (55-75): The PI goes to talk to Norman and doesn’t find anything.

All Is Lost (75): PI comes back after leaving and is killed by ‘mother’.

12. Dark Night of the Soul (75-85): Norman Bates is watching the PI’s car sink into the swamp.

13. Break into Three (85): Sam and Lila go to the Bates motel to get some answers, and Lila goes to the house to talk to mother.

14. Finale (85-110): Sam stops Norman (as ‘mother’) from killing Lila.

15. Final Image (110): ‘Mother’ is saying to herself that she won’t kill the fly buzzing around her. Trying to show how she “wouldn’t hurt a fly”. She’s just like anyone else.

Flickdaddys on Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Hush

'Hush' (Episode 10 of Season 4) was the result of Joss Whedon challenging himself. Many people told him that his television series was a smash hit because of his dialogue, so he wrote an episode without dialogue for the heck of it.
This episode features the ghoulish, floating, 'Gentlemen' and their Igor-like 'Footmen' as their villains. The Gentlemen are fairytale creatures who enter a town, steal the townsfolk's voices and put them in a box, then select seven people and cut their hearts out while they can't scream. This plays on our primal fear of a monster attacking us and not being able to cry out. It is like something out of a nightmare watching the Gentlemen float around Sunnydale with metallic smiles on their faces and scalpels in their hands.
The underlying idea is that communication is more than talking. In the beginning of the episode there are several boy-girl scenes in which the romance is broken by too much talking or not knowing what to say. It is interesting to notice how different people react to losing their voices. Some think they are deaf and others try to telephone friends before they realize that they have no way to communicate over the phone. The relationships are resolved when action and body language is used, which is a reference to our lives that actions speak louder than words. This episode is a wonderful demonstration of Joss Whedon's ability to tell a story and make a deep impression without witty dialogue.