Friday The 13Th Movie Review

by Movie Box Office Results

On Friday, June 13, 1980, a young Jason Voorhees (Caleb Guss) witnesses his mother (Nana Visitor) get beheaded by a camp counselor (Stephanie Rhodes) who was trying to escape Mrs. Voorhees’s murderous rampage around Camp Crystal Lake. Approximately thirty-years later, a group of vacationing friends—Wade (Jonathan Sadowski), Richie (Ben Feldman), Mike (Nick Mennell), Whitney (Amanda Righetti), and Amanda (America Olivo)—arrive at Crystal Lake on a camping trip, and to find some weed that was planted in the woods. As Mike and Whitney explore the woods, Jason (Derek Mears) begins to kill the rest of the group one-by-one. Jason also kills Mike, but instead of doing the same to Whitney he decides to kidnap her because she resembles his mother at a young age.
Six weeks later, Trent (Travis Van Winkle), along with his girlfriend Jenna (Danielle Panabaker), and their friends Chewie (Aaron Yoo), Chelsea (Willa Ford), Nolan (Ryan Hansen), Bree (Julianna Guill), and Lawrence (Arlen Escarpeta) arrive at Trent’s summer cabin, which sits on Crystal Lake, unaware of the events that occurred a few weeks prior. Also in town is Clay (Jared Padalecki), who has come to Crystal Lake searching for his sister Whitney. Clay eventually makes his way to Trent’s cabin, where Jenna agrees to help him look for his sister on the other side of the lake. As Clay and Jenna search for clues to Whitney’s disappearance, Jason kills Nolan and Chelsea out on the lake. Clay and Jenna reach the old Crystal Lake campgrounds, where they witness Jason hauling a dead body into one of the abandoned camp houses.
Clay and Jenna run back to warn the others about Jason, who arrives shortly after them and cuts the power to the cabin. After killing Chewie and Lawrence, who ventured outside the house, Jason sneaks inside the cabin and kills Bree. Trent, Clay and Jenna escape the house, but Trent is killed shortly after when he reaches the main road. Jason then chases Clay and Jenna back to the campgrounds, where Clay discovers Jason’s lair and finds his sister chained to the wall. Clay frees Whitney, and all three attempt to escape as Jason arrives. The trio find an exit, but Jenna is killed before she can get out. Jason comes after Clay and Whitney, who use Jason’s love and memory of his mother to distract him long enough to stab him in the chest with his own machete. Afterward, Clay dumps Jason’s lifeless body into the lake, but before he and Whitney can leave Jason bursts through the lake dock and grabs Whitney.

Friday the 13th Movie Review - Casting
Stuntman Derek Mears was hired to portray Jason Voorhees at the recommendation of makeup special effects supervisor Scott Stoddard. Mears’s pleasant demeanor had the studio worried about his ability to portray such a menacing character on screen, but Mears assured them that he was up to the role. Jared Padalecki signed on as the lead male who investigates what happened at Crystal Lake, with Amanda Righetti taking the female lead. Amanda Righetti had not read the script when she was initially offered the role. Wanting to be a part of the Friday the 13th franchise from the start, Righetti admitted that she was sold on the idea of acting in the film after she did read the script. Danielle Panabaker, Jonathan Sadowski, Travis Van Winkle, Aaron Yoo, Julianna Guill round out the rest of the cast. Nana Visitor was cast as Pamela Voorhees, with Caleb Guss hired for the role of a young Jason.
The casting process was difficult for producers Brad Fuller and Andrew Form on this film, more so than it was on The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, as Friday the 13th had more young actors to contend with and consistent casting/recasting all the way until filming began. Fuller and Form’s first challenge was the size of their cast. Fuller and Form had thirteen young actors in Friday the 13th, whereas in The Texas Chainsaw Massacre they only had five. The pair had to continually recast parts to find the group that worked best together. This recasting process extended all the way to the start of film. Richard Burgi, who was cast as the sheriff, did not sign on until twelve hours before he had to start filming his scenes.

Dark Knight Watchmen: Comic Turned Movie History

by Joel Owens


There have been many comic book heroes that have made their way into the big screen. The watchmen comic is just the newest generation to have made their success. If we are to list down all the comics that have ever made this transition, the list would be a long one.

It would be easier to narrow things down by narrowing down the genre. Let’s simply look at the comic turned movies that feature a sort of superhero. There are so many comics turned to movies but not all have superheroes. Nevertheless, the bulk of these comic turned movies actually do have super heroes. In fact, its superheroes are the first thing that comes to mind when one thinks about comic books. It would also be a good idea to limit the list to Hollywood productions. Of course those movies are the only ones reaching huge amounts of circulation reaching so many audiences.

Who can ever forget superman. He has stood for something in our society, something very old as a matter of fact. The ideals attached to him are related to the bourgeois ideals and he also upholds the most common conservative’s values. And then, from that god and ideal comes batman. The first batman movies helmed by the pulp favorite Tim Burton is a step down from superman’s clean narrative of saving the world and heroism, dark gritty overtone reflective of the horrors of modern capitalist industrialist and realist society. As opposed to Superman who came from the heavens to save us, Batman is a frail human without any powers at all. His dark and tortured existence brooding on the death of his parents and its social causes takes us into a more intimate look in modern civilization. However, Tim Burton’s taste for surreal kitsch has been turned into pure candy kitsch by Joel Schumacher, whom everyone agrees destroyed the batman series.

Thank goodness the new Watchmen comic is not helmed by that guy. The new Dark Knight movie for batman saved the whole batman franchise, and indeed, in my opinion, is its very peak. As a movie critic and literature student, I find it hard to think about how this version of batman could ever be topped. The story deconstructs the whole superhero mythology. It brings batman up (or is it down?) to the level of grit and social importance as Fyodor Dostoyevsky novels. And this isn’t just a case of comparison based on greatness achieved. There is an actual strong intertextual correspondence between the two. Not just influence, but a reworking of themes and texts.

This bring us to the Watchmen comic which is also a deconstruction of the superhero genre. It came about in almost the same time, maybe earlier, as the Frank Miller Dark Knight rendition. And it also has so many symbols and implications that touch on deep philosophical and political undercurrents of modernity. Hopefully, the movie can capture the whole range of the complexity found in the watchmen comic.

by Suresh

Want to create a professional looking video on a DVD? The video that you record on your camcorder may look interesting but you can always improve it further before you copy it on a DVD. Here are the steps that you need to follow to create a professional looking video, which you can then distribute on various media, including DVD.

Though the user-manual that accompanies your digital camcorder would give you information on how to do this, the information is usually very concise and fully-laden with technical jargon. The technical information can look daunting and can be difficult for beginners to understand.

So here is how you go through the video creation process.

Step 1: Get yourself the necessary Video Equipments/Software

Tools like camcorder, capture card, computer, and editing software will come here. Get those that suit your needs and budget.

Step 2: Shoot Your Video

This is the easy part. Once you have a camcorder it is not difficult to figure out how to use it. You can straight-away proceed with recording your videos.

Step 3: Capture your video on Computer

This is the connection part between your camcorder and the computer. You do this so that you can capture your recorded video on the computer. Once on the computer it becomes easy to edit it and copy it to different media.

Step 4: Edit Your Video

You can polish your video further using an editing software program. You can add Menus, Titles, Transitions, Effects, Soundtrack, Narration, etc.

Step 4: Share Your Video

The final step and the easiest of them all, share your video to the world! You have flexibility to copy your final video to a host of applications/media. You can write it to DVD / VCD, make it in a format for the internet, for portable devices like iPod, etc.

Conclusion

These are the steps in the video creation process. Nothing much to it actually! Play around for some time and you will be an expert in no time.

Unforgettable Drama Movies : Having A Lasting Impression On Everyone

by Alden Jerry

Theaters and motion pictures are the most dominant mode of entertainment for people. Infact, story telling and dramatics had always attracted adults as well as kids. Earlier, there were the Shakespearean dramas that became most popular among a larger mass of people. However, the entertainment industry today has become more advanced. Movie production business has become one of the most challenging way to earn profits where the director not only has to present everything creatively, but also cater to all the desires of the viewers.

But, movies can also be bifurcated into two types, namely, Drama movies and Commercial films. The former is commonly known to man as 'art movies' which is based on realistic character development as well as real life happenings. These are emotional themes that deal with drug addiction, alcoholism, poverty, war massacre, corruption etc. What is special about these movies, is their in-depth depiction of the entire incident which can be based on social, cultural as well as political backgrounds. It basically consolidates on the theme and the plot of the entire storyline rather than only on singular characters and is often finished with a positive note or a moral. Some of the famous Drama Movies are 'The Godfather' (1972), The 'Shawshank Redemption' (1994), and 'Schindler's List' (1993). These three masterpieces have been liked by all for their interesting plots, the striking emotional sequences as well as the brilliant performances by the actors.

'The Godfather' is still considered to be a 'masterpiece' for most actors and directors because of its classy style of direction, creative shot development and an impeccable performance by actors like Al Pacino, Marlon Brando and James Caan. This film depicts the period of 1945 to 1955 which is still considered to be one of the darkest period of Europe. Other than this, the movie deals with the Italian-American Corleone crime family. The most amazing part of the story is its plot development and the realistic environment which clearly depicts the Italian American culture. This film comes in three series, and hence depicts the detailed culture of both Italy as well as America during that period. This film has also been preserved in the US National file registry and is considered to be the second best film in the history of America.

Apart from The Godfather, The 'Shawshank Redemption' as well as 'Schindler's List' have received accolades for their masterpiece screenplay and emotional impact. Infact the emotional shots are strong enough to bring tears in your eyes and leave a lasting impression on your mind. What makes these two films Unique is their concept on which they are based. 'The Shawshank Redemption' is based on the story of a man who has been wrongly imprisoned for 20 years. It depicts the life of Andy Dufrane in the prison, his relationship with a person named Redding and his escape from the prison. Contrary to this, the 'Schindler's List' is a breathtaking film that depicts the torture on the Jews after the Second World War. It depicts the power and kindness of a German named Oscar Schindler who saves the life of thousand Polish Jews. Various other Drama Movies are Saving Private Ryan, Pulp Fiction, Dev D, Casablanca

etc.