GRADE: A+

One of the best parts about “Splice” is its pacing. This is a movie that quickly establishes itself inside of 15 minutes and then continually cranks up the heat. Just when you think things can’t get any weirder, the wacky meter gets turned up another notch.

Adrien Brody and Sarah Polley play scientists and lovers Clive and Elsa who have created a new genetically engineered life form, using only animal DNA. But when they become ambitious, they decide to experiment again, throwing human DNA into the mix. The two scientists rationalize this morally ambiguous experiment, believing that the results could cure diseases in humans.

The result is Dren, a new life form that grows rapidly, looking like an 18 year old girl in less than two months. What’s interesting about this movie is, at first, it has more of a romantic drama type storyline, with Elsa loving her “daughter” Dren. At first Clive wants to kill this new creature, but he too grows to love Dren. And that’s where the trouble really starts.

“Splice” does what most horror movies I have been forced to watch have not been able to do … create characters I liked, cared about and was intrigued by. This movie’s gift is its subtle  hints at the personalities behind the characters. For instance, Clive’s lab coat has military looking patches on it.

Another example of the subtle clues to the characters personalities and past is when Clive and Elsa  go to the home of Elsa’s dead mother to hide the rapidly growing Dren. Clive stops off at the room that Elsa had growing up. It’s a tiny little room, not much bigger than a closet, with a mattress on the floor and little else.

Upon inspecting the room, Clive says, “I thought you said your mother left it the way it was.” Elsa says very softly, “She did.” That little bit of dialogue and chemistry between Brody and Polley shows a glimpse into Elsa’s past, without revealing a lot and just making her character a little more human.

Another thing “Splice” does right is it plays with our expectations. For instance, there  is a sequence were Dren races away and kills a rabbit and proceeds to eat it. Later, when a cat enters her presence she races after it with the same ferocious energy she had when she went after the rabbit. But this time she scoops up the cat and cuddles it gently.

Director Vincenzo Natali twists expectations on a regular basis throughout the movie, making it difficult to get a bead on just where everything is leading to, like a nice mystery novel.

One of the strongest elements in this movie, its is use of love. Clive is initially disgusted with the creation of Dren and Elsa falls in love with the creature like its her daughter. During the first part of the movie, when Clive is getting to know Dren, he keeps calling the creature, “it,” while Elsa refers to Dren, as “she.” That distinction shows Clive distancing himself from the new life form and Elsa becoming more and more attached.

That earlier conflict between how Clive and Elsa initially view Dren is summed up best in one spout of dialogue. Clive blurts out, “Specimens need to be contained!” and Elsa responds, viciously, “Don’t call her that.”

Things change though as Dren “grows up” and starts to have the animal/human hybrid equivalent of a teenage rebellion, which strains Elsa’s love her, but along the way Clive goes from wanting to kill this new “monster” to loving it and caring for it. This is shown when Dren is upset and races away. Elsa and Clive chase after her and Dren looks to run away again, until Clive says, “We need you. We love you.” In that moment Dren spins around and races to hug Clive. And you can see that he means what he said. He does love Dren and care about her because of everything they have gone through.

The script by Vincenzo Natali, Antoinette Terry Bryant and Doug Taylor has plenty of great dialouge, most of which takes place between Clive and Elsa. About 75 percent of the movie consists of just Clive and Elsa with Dren in many scenes and the discussions the two have are central to the movie and what makes it work. This could have easily been an overly cerebral film, dragged down by sci fi talk, but has real human concerns attached to the discussions.

One of my favorite bits of dialogue is when Elsa and Clive discover the new life form has a deadly tail. They are trying to figure out how the creature grew a tail when none of the animals had any “predatory factors.” Clive simply adds, “You forgot the human factor.”

A tight script in at 104 minutes, “Splice” feels like there is little, if any, wasted moments, with a story that steadily reveals details about its characters and cranking up the film’s intensity with stranger and more dangerous moments. All in all, one of the best movies I have seen so far this film year.

• Kickstarter fundraising program accepts “Tearing Down the Tent” tour
• Stuntman’s career guides directing path with latest film “Charlie Valentine”
• “Charlie Valentine” — good gangster movie with surpisingly tender moments
• Brian Cox and Paul Dano team up in “The Good Heart”
• MFZ looking for short film/trailer submissions

Anyone interested in donating can following the link below

http://kck.st/aelPif

• “Tearing Down the Tent” music video
• “Tearing Down the Tent” promotional road trip/theatrical “run”
• Should circuses be forced to stop using elephants in their acts?
• “Midgets vs. Mascots” described as “Borat” meets “Jackass”
• RiverRun coverage to feature interview with Oscar nominated screenwriter

By Michael Knox
Mknox@modernfilmzine.com

Jesse V. Johnson has made a career performing stunts in movies such as the new Michel Gondry directed “The Green Hornet” and Tim Burton’s “Alice in Wonderland.”

But while he’s earned most of his paychecks in front of the camera as a stuntman, Johnson is steadily building a career behind the camera as a director.

Johnson’s latest film, “Charlie Valentine” is a father and son family drama, disguised as a mobster movie. When Charlie Valentine pulls a heist that goes wrong, leaving his crew dead, he goes to hide out with his estranged son. There the story grows as the two reunite and get to know one another.

Notable character actor, Raymond J. Barry plays the lead character, “Charlie Valentine” with television’s “Navy NCIS” actor, Michael Weatherly starring as his son, who also wants to get more involved in the mobster scene.

Johnson worked with Weatherly and Barry on “Charlie Valentine,” but has made a career of being on movie sets even before getting behind the camera, thanks to his time as a stuntman.

Johnson has now performed stunts in more than 30 projects, including “Avatar,” according to the Internet Movie Database, and has directed nine films so far.

“The two jobs have always been interconnected for me. One didn’t lead to the other, so much as finance it and fuel it and motivate it,” Johnson said. “I love doing stunts. I love watching great directors at work. I left school very young, and stunt work has been my college and my film school, believe it or not.”

Johnson’s career helped give him the education he needed to film “Charlie Valentine” in less than a month. He shot the movie in just 18 days using, for the most part, a single location that doubled as different sets for the movie. The movie was shot in and around Willow Street Studios, downtown Los Angeles.

“Shooting this way minimizes transportation and driver costs, and really just makes things a lot easier. You have to be imaginative with your set design though,” Johnson said. “Look for the round concrete columns. They drove me mad. They’re in the strip club, Danny’s apartment, Rocco’s warehouse, Ferucci’s office. They are part of the structure but we had to keep hiding them, it was very frustrating. But the ease that shooting at one location brought was invaluable to this shoot, it just wouldn’t have been possible otherwise.”

Johnson is already planning his next movie, but sat down with ModernFilmZine to discuss his career as a stuntman, his work on “Charlie Valentine” and his memories of working with Raymond J. Barry and Michael Weatherly.

1. How did you first get involved in filmmaking and how has your career developed to allow you to work with the level of talent you have in “Charlie Valentine?”

“I was always a story-teller. My mother would rent a super eight movie projector for my birthday parties, and it was my favorite present. This was when a VCR was something only wealthy families could own. It sounds awfully quaint now, but it wasn’t so long ago, really.“

“Cutting ahead to the second part of your question, really it is the script that counts when you have less money to offer. ‘Charlie Valentine,’ was a script that excited managers and agents, and was thankfully passed onto clients. And Ted Warren, our casting director, was relentless in his pursuit of interesting names. We fought a lot, but it was good to have a collaborator like that. He should take a lot of the credit for the exceptional cast.”

2. What made you decide to do a gangster story to begin with?

“When I wrote the script I was at the tale end of a fantastic romance with French gangster movies. My wife and daughters and I had spent a Summer traveling around France, and I truly love that country. I found an old book on French Gangster movies in a brocante in Miropoix. The black and white pictures were really the initial inspiration, that and a personal story that was somewhat similar to the one Michael Weatherly goes through in the movie.“

“But then you always steal from your personal life. Ask any other writer. We’re the ones who listen during conversations. We steal, acquire and borrow from real life. Movies that borrow from other movies too much, tend to suck. I try to stick to real life. Of course that means you actually have to live life, too. Sometimes that can be hazardous, but the books and movies I love were written by men and women who put themselves in harms way.”

3. What made you decide to then weave that with the father and son reunion aspect of the story?

“I tended not to think of this as a gangster movie. Of course it falls into that genre, but as I wrote it, I wrote it as a love story between a father and son. The father is a rascal and a bit of a character, the kind of fellow who detests growing old, waking up alone, or actually having to work for a living. That might make him a gangster, but I feel it also makes him exceptionally easy to identify with.”

4. What were some of the challenges directing this script provided you and how did you overcome them?

“Well, the film did not have a studio sized budget or shooting schedule, and that brings it’s own challenges. We shot in one location for 17 of the 18 days. That was tricky, making sure it all seemed organic but different was a great challenge to Terry James Welden the production designer who is excellent and very, very creative.”

“ The one day on actual ‘location’ was an interesting exercise. Half the crew and the Cobra car (editor’s note: Charlie Valentine drives an antique Cobra in the movie) got lost trying to find the filming site. It’s funny looking back, but was sickeningly nerve wracking at the time. Basically I was very lucky, in that my executive producer, Edward Robin, was exceptionally generous and supportive and really just had great faith in my vision, my ideas, and backed me in every fight. You can’t ask for anymore”

5. What tips do you have to filmmakers getting started and what are some lessons you learned with “Charlie Valentine” that you can pass on to filmmakers getting started?

“Artistically, you must trust your instincts.”

 “It is an incredibly personal thing, but while making the actual movie, try to shoot it at as few locations as possible. This allows you more time to focus on the work. Make sure the script is right before you start, this means harsh criticism, loving criticism, brutally honest criticism.”
 
“Do not start until you and all of your partners feel it is ready.“

“Finally find a great crew, and a great cast. Try to find supportive players, look into their eyes, try to assess their motivations, make sure they are in line with your own, not necessarily the same, but in line, and headed towards a similar final goal.”

6. What were some of the most interesting scenes for you to shoot on “Charlie Valentine?”

“I loved shooting the scenes between Raymond J. Barry and Michael Weatherly. I was so excited to photograph them together, they were so enormously gifted in their own ways, you really had to just point the camera and not screw up technically.”

“We would shoot the scripted scene, get it right, then improvise and try alternate ideas, until we felt we had the heart of the scene captured. Sometimes it stayed very faithful to the written word, other times we went in another exciting direction all together.”

“Raymond would do things, little things and I’d have to try to spot them and capture them, it was exciting and wonderful. Michael was a lot of fun, too, he brought a natural spontaneity to the character, to the scene, that was exceptionally refreshing for me.”

7. One thing I noticed in the film, was your use of the razor blade that Charlie has. It’s used to kill, but is also used to gently shave his grown son. For me, this one object showed the dual sides of Charlie’s personality. Was that a conscious act, or am I placing more importance on that then you intended? And if it was conscious how did you develop that angle, and what are some other things I might have missed that you used?

“Charlie is the razor blade, yes! I like that, although it’s an imperfect metaphor, because Charlie is not a benign character who then becomes dangerous, but the other way around.”

“The razor blade was an important part of English gangster lore. I was obsessed with the writing of Graham Greene as a child and was always going back to the slashing scene in ‘Brighton Rock.’ Really a razor is a terrible choice of weapon. You have to get close, really close, closer than with a regular fighting knife. It is the opposite of practical, but that’s what’s interesting about it.”

“There are other uses of visual and dialogue symbolism in the film, but, really if I have to point them out, I feel the film is failing, and left subtle, they are better absorbed, I think.”

8. What’s one of your best anecdotes/stories you have regarding working with Raymond J. Barry? And how did your working relationship develop with him?

“A young actor came in and started discussing the dialogue. Now, I’m always open to this, and actually enjoy a bit of give and take. It’s creative and alive, and fun, and usually yields good results. Raymond was sitting on the edge of the stage and I could see his body language changing, physically changing, getting more angular, irritated even.”

“The young actor was firing away suggestions, and they were getting a little wild, but not out of control by any means. He worked himself up a bit and turned to Raymond, who had his back to us, by the way, and asked, ‘What do you think if I say this…?”‘”

“Raymond was awkwardly silent for a long beat, then stood up very slowly, like a dramatic actor in a Greek tragedy. He turned to the young actor, looking down on him, through his imperceptibly slatted eyes and said in a low growl, raising the script in his right hand, somewhere between granite over gravel and chipped flint – ‘I signed on to play this character, in this script, and I intend to say the dialogue as it was fucking written.’”

“He stood absolutely still, not taking his eyes off the actor. I knew I had cast correctly at the moment, and I couldn’t help smiling as I calmed the young actors nerves. It was less a statement, as we of course played around with line changing on a daily basis, but a test of that young actor. He was auditioning the actor!”

9. What was your working relationship like with Michael Weatherly?

“Michael was just fantastic. You couldn’t wish for a more supportive, friendly, upbeat team player. He knew his character backwards, not a great deal of discussion, not a lot of agonizing, he went for it and enjoyed himself. But always careful, considerate, and artistic.”

 “I do know the females on the crew would look extra made up and particularly well groomed whenever Michael was working. Strange, no?”

 “He reminds me of a young Clint Eastwood in looks, I’d love to work with him again. I don’t know why he plays the fool on his TV show, and I do like him on it, but, he has so much more to offer as a leading man, he should be carrying major movies, I hope he does soon.”

10. What are some of the challenges “Charlie Valentine” faced with distribution?

  “Sure, you can make films cheaply now with all the micro technology, but it is harder than it has ever been to make a profit, and this is what is killing the B-movie and it’s a real shame, but it will sort itself out.”
 
“Part of the problem is there is no tactile interaction anymore, you don’t go to stores and look through titles, you get your internet titles suggested to you by your download agent, someone controls this list, and it is decimating the market.”

11. Any other projects planned that you can talk about?

“Yes, I am returning to my more action oriented roots. I am bitterly frustrated by the state of action cinema, and feel more than ever it is time to shake things up.”

 “Also, great action will be a way for me to compete with the majors. I just cannot afford to or seem able to get onto the radar of the major agencies, the agencies gate keeping the A list talent, and without an ‘A’ list name in your movie, you are relegated to the world of straight to DVD.”

 12. What kind of research did you do for writing “Charlie Valentine?”

“My research is always a great fun part of the ‘job.’ I’m sure my computer IP address is listed on every federal agencies database —- Chicago Underworld, stolen electronics reselling, parole violations and officers protocol, knife fighting, wounds with razor blades. Killers who used razor blades.”

Johnson continued to discuss his research just on “Charlie Valentine,” adding more details he stumbled across.

 “The correct way to shave with an open razor, a Mexican barber in the San Fernando Valley actually, this was quite enlightening to me and enjoyable. Cigar aficionado techniques, wound ballistics, images of men killed with blades, revolvers and shotguns. Opera translations and history, this was fun and I am a huge fan of opera music so it was really just brushing up on it.”

Johnson talked about how some information can be helpful for developing specific characters.

“I had worked with some strip club managers on another film ‘The Butcher,‘ so knew them quite well, and used some of their intimate language with Steven Bauer’s character.”

Johnson said his research also helped with fleshing out Raymond J. Barry’s performance as an old school gangster.

 “I enjoyed watching a specialist show Raymond how to draw, reload and shoot his revolver in the manner of the old timers. It’s quite different to how they do it today. I brought in a character I’ve known for some time to chat with Raymond about actual knife fighting techniques and some of the things that might happen in real life.”

13. Any real people you borrowed from to flesh out the characters in “Charlie Valentine?”

“Over the years, I’ve been lucky enough to have run into some real characters, men who truly live life by the second and who are uncompromising and honest to their ideals. I respect and actually envy them, they couldn’t get a movie made with their attitudes, but they have absolutely no interest in making a movie anyway. The amount of groveling, self emulating and ridiculous game playing would drive them nuts. They’d just walk away or shoot someone.”

“I enjoy these kinds of characters company (men and women by the way), and I think they put up with my questions. Whether society views them as heroes or villains, I believe they are important to us as a species. I like films about these kinds of men and women. I’m not really interested in films about nerds or geeks, there are great films being made on those subjects, but not by me.”

“Iconic characters, are rare, and inspirational, and I seek them out in literature and real life. The most obvious fictional character I borrowed from for ‘Charlie Valentine’ was Bob from, Jean Pierre Melville’s film, ‘Bob Le Flambeur.’ Otherwise the characters were based on real life as much as possible.”

14. What was the funniest moment you had filming “Charlie Valentine?”

“I was terrified, scared, exhilarated and downright panic stricken. I think it’s probably too soon afterward to ask about amusing moments, but I’m sure there were many.”
 
“I remember laughing a lot with Raymond, who has a very dry intelligent sense of humor. My crew seemed to always be smiling, but it’s very stressful, and events often aren’t immediately funny, per se.”

 “Dominiquie Vandenberg always makes me laugh. He is a great friend and a supporter. Vernon Well’s hat in the movie made me laugh. It was a big black Russian bear skin thing. I have no idea why he chose it, but he wouldn’t budge and believed it was very much in character, but I giggle every-time I see it.”

15. Do you have an inspirational story for young filmmakers reading this regarding your work on “Charlie Valentine?” Was there ever a moment that you thought this movie wasn’t going to happen and you found a way to make it work? And if so how?

“Right up to the moment you step onto set you have that awful thought in your head, that everyone is going to be let down, there will be an awful admission by your financiers there is no money, everyone should go home.”

“I get it every movie, every goddamned time. You just have to bury it and continue full throttle ahead, not holding anything back, go for broke, put it all on black, cry Harry for England and Saint George!”

“2009 was my worst year ever, I had three huge projects implode, during casting and location scouting, I had a crew in Utah working for a month, that wasn’t paid, it was dreadful. I was in terrible shape financially, winning awards all over the world with ‘Charlie Valentine’ (at one point one a weekend for five weeks straight), but those don’t pay.”

 “It’s a brutal street fight of a business, not for the squeamish, but when it clicks and goes right, brother there’s nothing like it, you’re in the company of Gods!”

16. Prior to filmmaking what did you do and how did that career lead you to writing and directing movies?

“I was always writing, however, I was an army cadet and a reserve, then I volunteered for commando school, where I was beaten senseless by a sergeant called Valentine.”

“I wasn’t considering getting out, but my uncle who is a successful stunt coordinator (Vic Armstrong), saw me in miserable shape and called me a ‘fucking idiot’ – he said I should come to work for him.”
 
“I went off to Mexico City, at 17 years old and did some stunts on Paul Verhoeven’s, “Total Recall.” I used the money I made there to back my first short film. I’ve been alternating between the two jobs ever since and have found a peaceful, and excitingly rewarding way to make it work. I’m really very, very lucky!”

17. What are some things your career as a stuntman taught you that helped you in working on “Charlie Valentine?”

“Obviously stunts and special effects protocol, what is and what isn’t safe or achievable. Although, I like to throw the unachievable at my stunt team to see what they come up with.”

“Most importantly, the ability to work with actors, to calm them, listen to their concerns, to get over the initial panic, that the person in front of you is your hero from a dozen movies, to show respect, but at the same time, listen to a worried, concerned artist.”
 
“I learned to love and respect the work that these people do, and what they do is incredibly difficult. Every so often I throw myself into someone else’s movies, give myself a talking part, and good lord I panic. It scares me to the very core of my existence. There is nowhere to hide no way of cheating it. These guys go through that every job they take. I love them for it!”

18. I saw that you did stunts in “Alice in Wonderland” and “The Green Hornet” can you talk a little bit about your work on those projects? And what can fans expect to see from Michel Gondry’s interpretation of “The Green Hornet?”

“I’m really not comfortable discussing those sorts of things. I know Garret Warren who coordinated ‘Alice’ is a genius and a very talented coordinator, he does most of my films, and I continually learn from him.”
 
“Vic Armstrong who directed the action in ‘The Green Hornet’ and ‘Thor,’ is a veteran and one of the most skilled action choreographers who has ever worked in the business. Watching him is like being a part of the most elite form of post-graduate film school study imaginable.”

 “I also steal blatantly from him all the time. In 30 years plus of doing what he does he has rarely, if ever, consciously repeated himself. What a rare work ethic.”

19. What were some of the craziest stunts you did for “The Green Hornet” and what are some of the craziest stunts you’ve done in your career?

“Really, and this is a boring answer, the crazy stunts are the ones to avoid. You try to make something look crazy without endangering yourself or the crew. No one, not the director, certainly not the producers wants an injury or worse on set.”
 
“You’re job is to make it look dangerous. You have to be smart, calculating, rehearse a lot and be disciplined. The age of the gung-ho bone breakers is over.”

 “People get upset at the sight of blood on a film-set. That said, my heart has raced a few times, and seeing your own broken bones protruding from your flesh is a grounding experience.

20. Is there anything you wished I asked you that I didn’t think to ask you that you would like to talk about?

“I should probably say that we had an incredible crew of committed young filmmakers, an excellent line producer in Kelli Kaye, and that truly the film would probably not have happened without this addition to the creative pot, of cast and script. A film is made by a lot of heads all thinking as one

• “Charlie Valentine” — good gangster movie with surpisingly tender moments
• Kickstarter fundraising program accepts “Tearing Down the Tent” tour
• Brian Cox and Paul Dano team up in “The Good Heart”
• MFZ looking for short film/trailer submissions
• “500 Days of Summer” director talks about Zooey Deschanel romantic comedy

mknox@modernfilmzine.com

I am currently planning on a self distribution project for “Tearing Down the Tent” and plan to use Modern Film Fest/Modern Film Productions as a “front” for being a distributer of the movie to theaters. I want to partner with small, independent theaters to get the movie in theaters. I would like everyone to please send any contact info, or contact their local theater, to see about getting “Tearing Down the Tent” to play at their theater. I also plan on doing a road trip in January, and am going to focus on these states for the drive:

1. Florida

 2. Georgia

3. South Carolina

4. North Carolina

5. Tennessee

6. Virginia

We need to find movie theaters that have digital projector/dvd capability and offer a 50/59 split to show our movie in January, which is a dumping month/dead month for movies. We can offer contact the local media and get stories published and when possible visit the theater during a screening for Q and A sessions. Obviously, we are going to try and get as many movie theaters to play “Tearing Down the Tent” as possible, even if I can’t get their for a Q & A. If you can offer any help to get our movie seen at your theater or any theaters you know that will work with us, please let me know and help get the word out on “Tearing Down the Tent.” Thank you everyone! Michael Knox, director, “Tearing Down the Tent.”

• Should circuses be forced to stop using elephants in their acts?
• Kickstarter fundraising program accepts “Tearing Down the Tent” tour
• “Tearing Down the Tent” director talks about his childhood with the circus
• “Tearing Down the Tent” music video
• Bombadil music video

GRADE: B+

By Michael Knox
Mknox@modernfilmzine.com

From the word go, “The Losers” sets itself up as an over the top film, filled with wildly eccentric characters that chew up the scenery with wonderfully weird dialogue.

The opening shot of the film has a set of shadows – of what wind up being sticks- being played with by one of the characters, who is imagining the sticks as Godzilla and another character.

“Come one baby, just relax and let Godzilla do everything,” which is voiced over by Chris Evans, before we see him playing with the sticks.

In less than a minute, the movie has already set itself up as being filled with absurd characters. In the next minute they bump up the absurd to the eccentric, with the main characters killing time before a mission.

The cast of characters include a group of  black ops soldiers sent in to handle missions other agencies won’t touch.

They proceed to kill time by playing Indian poker. But the ante, doesn’t consist of cash, but weapons owned by each player. And the pot is filled with guns and knives as they gamble for each others weapons.

“The Losers” is an action film, taken to comedic levels. Which fits, since the movie is based on a comic book title put out by Vertigo Comics, an imprint of DC Comics. The movie honors its comic book roots by having an opening title sequence done in gorgeous, painted, comic book frame format, showing off each character and their specialties.

The action kicks in quickly, with the team after what appears to be a drug runner. The Losers have set things up that allow an air strike to target the enemy. But when the crew see that a bunch of children are being used to carry drugs, the Losers try to stop the air raid.

When they learn that the person that sent them in has no intent of calling off the air strike, the Losers proceed to go in and rescue the children.

The Losers race in, guns blazing, taking out the enemy soldiers and freeing the children, all escaping on a school bus that they steal from the drug runners.

The dialogue that is interspersed between all of this action sets up a comedic atmosphere, letting you know that the movie is never going to take itself to seriously, and also gives a feeling that these characters have been through a lot with their, “Been there, done that,” attitude.

The crew steal the bus, rescue the children, and race away just as the air raid blasts missiles all across the area. The bus streaks away from the flames, rocketing through the air, and again establishing that this movie is loaded with over the top comic book action.

Chris Evans’ character had me hooked the minute he blurted out, “I think my favorite part was when were completely on fire. But the shoot out … ah, good times.”

But the good times are abruptly halted when the team miss hoping on their helicopter home and see it destroyed. Before long they realize that they have just pissed off the person they were working for, and now, they have to pretend they are dead.

From there, the movie takes your typical revenge flick turn, but has fun with it. And I will be honest, there were several times I was pleasantly caught off guard by the move.

I may catch flack for saying this, but I enjoyed it more than “Kick-Ass.”

Don’t get me wrong, “Kick-Ass” is the better of the two movies, but “The Losers,” had me entertained, consistently, more often then “Kick-Ass.”

Within 10 minutes there is enough carnage to let you know this is going to be a movie that sees a Hell of a high body count. I about fell out of my chair when I found out the movie was only PG-13.

But then no bloody was really ever shown, no nudity, minimal cussing. Just a lot of comic book violence and carnage. Carnage that even took some children’s lives, but still the movie managed to make it into a PG-13 rating.

Which I have to say, makes me happy, because that means it has a good chance of getting an audience. It feels like an R-rated movie, without being one, allowing it to have a broader audience. And teenagers, or anyone who likes movies that go “boom” will dig this movie.

Is it a great film? No. But DAMN, did I ever enjoy it, and am ready to watch it again. Mainly, because of the banter of the characters. And their eccentric nature.

For instance, two of the characters, when the first meet, head back to the hotel, to supposedly get some action on. Well, each not trusting the other, they separate and go to different rooms. There, each one does their own stretching, to get limber, right before diving into a fight. I laughed at the fact that each one prepared for the fight.

Because it’s something I never really see in action movies — the stars stopping to take the time and stretch. It’s ridiculous, but logical, and by default, funny.

Again, the banter is what had me hooked on this movie. When the lead female character, Aisha meets up with Clay, the leader of the Losers, she convinces him to help her.

As they separate, he asks her, “Why should I trust you?”  Aisha responds, “Because, if I was lying to you, I wouldn’t of used the words ‘suicide mission.’”

The villain of the piece, Max, is also delightfully over the top. He is also painted in a ridiculous, over the top fashion, with his first scene. And, again, it’s the absurd dialogue, that got me.

Max is talking about selling a very special weapon and one of his henchmen asks if Max is concerned about starting a war.

Max responds, “It’s like giving a handgun to a six year old. You don’t know how it will end, but you are pretty sure it’ll end up in the papers.”

The character of Max is one of those great villains, you love to hate. He’s just a straight up douche bag-asshole. You want to hate him, but he makes you laugh because of his over the top, sardonic nature. He’s that obnoxious asshole who annoys you in the store, who you wish would just shut up, but turned into a “super villain.”

The movie’s use of music is also great, with Journey’s “Don’t Stop Believin’” being used to the point that I was cackling in the movie theater.

And if I had my doubts about Chris Evans being “Captain America,” they were washed away with one scene in this movie, with Evans doing some down right Jackie Chan type moves. Evans actions in “The Losers” convinced me he can pull off “Captain America.”

An over the top, adrenaline drenched piece of  “wtf?!” action, that embraces its absurdity, “The Losers” is pure escapism fun at its best.

• “Splice” delivers strong story with good heart and elements of horror
• Kickstarter fundraising program accepts “Tearing Down the Tent” tour
• Stuntman’s career guides directing path with latest film “Charlie Valentine”
• New “James Bond” movie on hold
• “Charlie Valentine” — good gangster movie with surpisingly tender moments

“Due to the continuing uncertainty surrounding the future of MGM and the failure to close a sale of the studio, we have suspended development on BOND 23 indefinitely. We do not know when development will resume and do not have a date for the release of BOND 23,” stated Michael G Wilson and Barbara Broccoli jointly in the news release.

EON Productions have produced 22 James Bond films since 1962. In 1995, Michael G Wilson and Barbara Broccoli took over the 007 franchise from Albert R ‘Cubby’ Broccoli and are responsible for producing the sucessful Bond films, “Casino Royale” and “Quantum of Solace.”

Sam Mendes, the director of the films, “American Beauty,” “Jarhead” and “Away We Go,” was slated to direct the film, which would have seen the return of Daniel Craig to the role as James Bond. Rachel Weisz (“The Fountain,” “The Constant Gardener” and “The Brothers Bloom”) was rumored to be attached to the film, according to the Internet Movie Database.

• “Splice” delivers strong story with good heart and elements of horror
• Kickstarter fundraising program accepts “Tearing Down the Tent” tour
• Stuntman’s career guides directing path with latest film “Charlie Valentine”
• “Charlie Valentine” — good gangster movie with surpisingly tender moments
• Neil Gaiman book, “Instructions” gets animated trailer by “Stardust” artist Charles Vess

Return for more updates on movies Modern Film Fest recruiters receive for the festival.

For now, here is a round up of some of the movies we’ve collected for the screening committee:

“Spoiler Alert” (Narrative)

Award winning indie film Spoiler Alert (Trail Dance Film Festival “Director’s Choice Award”) is a black comedy/thriller focusing on the power and temptations of the Internet. Brad, the snarky operator of a movie scoop website, has fun trashing big shot Hollywood director Harrison Kane’s work. But when Harrison shows up on his doorstep, things go from funny to bloody. Chinese food, movie geek talk and murder ensue.

“The Secret of a Happy Ending” (Music Documentary)

Following the path of terrific all-access, behind-the-scenes band documentaries like Wilco’s “I Am Trying To Break Your Heart” and Metallica’s “Some Kind of Monster,” the movie, “The Secret to a Happy Ending” shows the Drive-By Truckers at their most vulnerable as director Barr Weissman chronicles three critical years of touring and recording while the band overcomes trauma and survives a near breakup-all while also searching for an ever-elusive happy ending.

“Myna Has Gone” (Narrative)

Myna is a young illegal inmigrant woman from an eastern Country that is at war. She works as a home assistant for a marriage and their small son. When the parents go on a trip, Myna has to shoulder all the responsibility for the household and the child since the couple have left their trust in Myna. However, one night, the child has an accident and Myna, who knows that she can be deported if she goes to the hospital, decides to help the child in underground ways.

“Aut0morphosis” (Documentary)

AUTOMORPHOSIS looks into the minds and hearts of a delightful collection of eccentrics, visionaries, and just plain folks who have transformed their autos into artworks. 

On a humorous and touching journey, we discover what drives the creative process for these unconventional characters.  And in the end, we find that an art car has the power to change us — to alter our view of our increasingly homogeneous world.

Subjects featured include:  Harrod Blank and his Camera Van;  World-renowned spoon bender Uri Geller and his fork-and-spoon-covered “Peace Car”; Howard Davis’s “Telephone Car” an obsession-driven telephone collection;  & Leonard Knight, a religious folk artist who’s painted his vehicles as well as most of an entire mountain in the desert as a testament to his faith.
Weaving his own tale amidst the others, Blank, as narrator, is the glue that binds these vibrant portraits.

“NY Export: Opus Jazz” (Musical Narrative)

Shot on location in New York City, NY Export: Opus Jazz takes Jerome Robbins‘ 1958 “ballet in sneakers” and reimagines it for a new generation in this feature-length scripted adaptation.  Starring an ensemble cast of New York City Ballet dancers, and photographed on 35mm, Opus Jazz won an Audience Award at the 2010 South by Southwest Film Festival.

“Paddle to Seattle” (Comedic Documentary)

“Paddle to Seattle” chronicles the progress of two intrepid adventurers paddling handmade wooden Pygmy kayaks from Alaska to Seattle. They navigated the 1,300-mile Inside Passage. From Alaska to Seattle, it’s North America’s only rainforest. There brown bears own the shores. Rain falls for weeks without rest. What’s most unexpected are the surreal encounters with unexpected marine life. The film presents these interactions, in addition to interviews from peoples of the region. The driving force is the friendship and humor of the two friends.

Paddle to Seattle Trailer from Ben Gottfried on Vimeo.

“Bikini Girls on Ice” (Horror Narrative)

When a bus-load of women’s college soccer players get stranded on their way to a bikini car-wash fundraiser, they decide to set-up shop in front of an abandoned gas station on the edge of town. Little do they know the place is the stalking-grounds for a homicidal maniac mechanic named Moe.

A second round up will be released in the next few days, giving more information on the movies submitted to Modern Film Fest.

• “Tearing Down the Tent” camera man tells story
• Casting chatter: Who should be “Judge Dredd”?
• “Splice” delivers strong story with good heart and elements of horror
• Tearing Down the Tent Production Log: Turning of the Tide
• “Star Trek” creator’s show “Earth: Final Conflict” coming to DVD

B +

By Michael Knox
Mknox@modernfilmzine.com

Normally, gangster movies are not my genre of movie to sit down and watch. Not to say I don’t like them, I just haven’t watched a lot of them because there are plenty of other movie genres I’d rather watch first.

But “Charlie Valentine” is a stand out film that I really liked. You might be wondering why it only ranked a B+ but in all honesty I was waffling on giving it an A, but I try to save those for my favorite films. That being said, “Charlie Valentine” is a movie I could definitely sit through again.

I discovered the movie while recruiting movies for Modern Film Fest and Ricochet Film Festival. The trailer is what hooked me instantly, making me belt out, “I have got to at least see this film.”

The story is a simple one with Charlie Valentine as an aging gangster who fouls up a heist in a big way getting his whole crew killed. He takes off to hide with his estranged son, who doesn’t know what’s going on. His son is a bit of a gangster himself, but not the caliber that Charlie is. From there the story develops into a kind of violent, father and son flick, when the son asks Charlie to teach him everything he knows.

The sequence in the trailer that made me burst out laughing and want this movie had Charlie’s son being attacked by a man, so Charlie, calmly, shoots the man. The son starts to flip out and Charlie, very flippantly responds, “What? Did you want to chit chat?” It was an unexpected laugh for me in the trailer.

I wish the movie had more laughs than that, but it definitely had me and a friend intrigued where we couldn’t stop watching it.

We started to watch it at 3 a.m., figuring we’d get tired of it enough to pause for another day, but the story was engaging enough to keep us going all the way through the end.

The tagline for the movie also had me hooked and wanting to see where the story went. A simple tagline, it read, “Charlie Valentine was a gangster, a gunfighter, a womanizer and a pretty fine chef… He was also the most dangerous, irresponsible scoundrel you ever met.”

What’s interesting is how the movie plays out the way Charlie is a violent, but loving man and has two different personalities for his roles in life after he reunites with his son.

Charlie carries an old fashioned razor blade in a leg holster and uses it to kill in the film. But that violent weapon is turned on its ear in the movie, with Charlie using it to gently shave his adult son in one scene, showing a tender care that he is not used to, and how he misses it.

The movie also shows Charlie’s past and how he misses a life he knew he could never be allowed to have.

The cast is top notch with character actor Raymond J. Barry, who has more than 80 credits to his name in movies and TV episodes, according to the Internet Movie Database, playing the title role of Charlie Valentine.

Michael Weatherly who has appeared in more than 150 episodes of the popular TV series “Navy NCIS: Naval Criminal Investigative Service, plays Charlie’s son Danny Valentine.

A violent, but fun film, the movie has some great moments of moral ambiguity and the challenges of Charlie Valentine being a father and a man on the run.

This is one of those rare films that I don’t want to tell readers anymore than I have, because of ruining the fun of the film. Regardless, I highly recommend it.

Even if you don’t like gangster movies.

• Stuntman’s career guides directing path with latest film “Charlie Valentine”
• Kickstarter fundraising program accepts “Tearing Down the Tent” tour
• Brian Cox and Paul Dano team up in “The Good Heart”
• MFZ looking for short film/trailer submissions
• “500 Days of Summer” director talks about Zooey Deschanel romantic comedy

Check out a trailer for the new Neil Gaiman book, “Instructions,” animated by Charles Vess.

Gaiman is known for the books, “Stardust,” and “Coraline” which were adapted into feature films. Vess was the artist on an illustrated “Stardust” book. The “Instructions” book will be released on April 27.

• Neil Gaiman’s “Coraline” movie good, creepy fun
• Tommy Chong discusses “Smokin’ Animated Movie,” Lenny Bruce and his dislike for Disney
• Animated “Hellboy” director to helm “Dante’s Inferno” feature
• Filmmakers receive financial aid with “Chip-In” program
• SEFCA Awards for 2008 films

By Michael Knox

Mknox@modernfilmzine.com

Fans of the hit HBO series, “Entourage” can get a behind scenes look at the creation of the show and the real life people that inspired the show through the new documentary, “One Love Entourage,” according to a news release.

“One Love Entourage,” by Bridgegate Films tells the real story of HBO’s “Entourage” characters and how the real Vincent Chase, Ari Gold, Drama, Turtle and E made it in Hollywood, the news release states.

The HBO series follows the adventures of the suddenly risen film star, Vincent Chase after he leaves his native home in New York and learns the ropes of the in and around Hollywood.

Chase brings his friends from their native New York who make up his crew. But Chase’s team is not a glittery bunch of professionals. The crew are a close circle of friends since childhood, and his professional agent finds they often make his job harder as the Queens boys not only sponge on the star but also have his ear, so Vince is much harder to counsel.

Based on the life of Mark “Monk B” Basile, the documentary shows and tells the back story of how a random meeting between actor Mark Wahlberg (“Planet of the Apes,” “The Italian Job“ and “Max Payne“) and Basile inspired the HBO hit show, “Entourage.

” The documentary contains more than 20 years of unseen footage that helped serve as the insight to HBO’s “Entourage.”

Anthony Cohen, the executive producer of “One Love Entourage,” said the movie shows regular people chasing down their Hollywood dreams.

 ”For an ‘everyday Joe’ to be able to have his dream become a reality, while also inspiring one of the most notable shows on television and to have it all documented to share with others is an immense honor for Mark Basile,” Cohen said in a news release. “I am so glad to be a part of such an encouraging project.”

• Kickstarter fundraising program accepts “Tearing Down the Tent” tour
• Brian Cox and Paul Dano team up in “The Good Heart”
• “Being the Diablo” focuses on man’s spiritual journey with Tarahumara Indians
• “Midgets vs. Mascots” described as “Borat” meets “Jackass”
• RiverRun coverage to feature interview with Oscar nominated screenwriter