Who Is James Mahoney?

From Age 8 To Age 48, My Creative Journey/Path

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Maybe It’s Not So Bad Being A Writer… Maleficent In Review

Maybe It’s Not So Bad Being A Writer… Maleficent In Review

I Just Watched “Maleficent” For The First Time And I Have To Say…

…It Was Amazing

From The Young Actress Who Played Young Maleficent…

…To The Actor Who Played Her Raven In Human Form

But More Than That Was Angelina, And The Writer Of The Screenplay, Linda Woolverton

The Same Screenplay Writer Who Brought You Both The Alice Films…

…And The Animated “Beauty And The Beast” & “The Lion  King” Screenplays

And It Shows

Maleficent Is A Perfect Dark Fairy Tale, With A Dash Of Light

It Brings Depth To One Of The All Time Best Villains Of All Time…

…Second Only To Darth Vader For Me

If You Haven’t Seen It…

See It

But Prepare Yourself For Wonder…

Tragedy…

And Glorious Storytelling

Nuff Said

DarkJade-

Directing Is A Challenge… Acting & Directing Is A Gift

In 1995, Mel Gibson Directed, And Starred In The Film “Braveheart”

At The Time, It Was One Of My Favorite Films Of All Time

But Two Years Before, In 1993, Mel Gibson Directed His First Film, “The Man Without A Face”

Which He Also Acted In

Originally Casted To Play The Lead Role Was William Hurt

But When He Ended Up Not Playing The Role, Mel Stepped In

I Knew I Liked The Film, But When I Watched It Again Today, I Remembered Why

The Writing And Directing Were Good, But It Was Mel Gibson’s Acting, And Character, That Truly Inspired Me

If You Haven’t Seen It, I Recommend You Do!

My Favorite Superhero Film – Captain America Civil War… In Review

My Favorite Superhero Film – Captain America Civil War… In Review

by DarkJade/James Mahoney

It’s Hit A Point Of Saturation For Me In Regards To Superhero Films

Not Because They’re Not Good… Just Because There’s Been, And Will Continue To Be, So Many

Many Months Back, Before The Release Of “Captain America Civil War”, I Posted This Picture Above (Including What’s Written To The Right Of It) On Instagram

I Didn’t Realize How Right I’d Be

But It Wasn’t Because Of The Whole ‘Captain America vs Iron Man’ Concept Which Basically/Likely Drove Audiences To See it, Primarily

It Was Because Of The Characters, And Character Development… Two Of The Most Important Things To Me As A Writer, And Filmmaker

STORY – The Story Was Fine… Typical Comic Book, Which Is Generally A Good Thing, But, Like I Say, With The Saturation Of The Market, It’s Gotta Be Tough Figuren Out A Good Story. This Story Was Good Enough.

But It Was The Characters, And The Fight Scenes (I’m Not A Big Fight Scene Guy, They Basically Feel Pretty Generic To Me… But Not This Time, These Are Some Of The Best Fight Scenes I’ve Ever Scene In Any Film), That Really Drove This Film

CHARACTERS –

THE BLACK PANTHER

Not Only Is The Actor (Chadwick Bosemen) Who Plays The African Prince Exceptional, This Character Is Just Captivating To Watch… Different Than Any Other Character I’ve Experienced In A Very Subtle Way

THE VISION

Paul Bettany, Come On, What An Amazing Actor To Play The Vision… I Love The Way He Basically Went From Being Iron Man’s Computer’s Voice In The “Iron Man” And “Avengers” Films, To Becoming The Vision (This Actually Happened In The Second Avengers Movie I Believe?)… Brilliant… In This Movie He Is Riddled With Compassion… More Palpable Compassion Than Them All… Brilliant Riveting Character

CAPTAIN AMERICA

Better, And Better, And Better… I’ve Liked Chris Evens Since He Played The Human Torch (Johnny Storm) In The 2005 “Fantastic Four” (Yes, It’s Been That Long, lol)

But I Did Not Like Him In The First New “Captain America” Film

But It Wasn’t The Actor’s Fault

Maybe It’s Because I Actually Used To Read The “Captain America” Comic Back In The 80’s… Everyone Talks About Him Being A Boy Scout In The Comic World

To Me He Was Never Like That

Captain America Is One Of My Heroes, Right Along Side Walt Disney, Bruce Lee, George Lucas, John Hughes And Gary Gygax (Co Creator Of Dungeons & Dragons)

The Reason For This Was The Way He Was Portrayed In The Comic Book… First Of All, Like Bruce Lee, It Fascinated Me A Human Who Has Physically Maximized His Individual Physical Potential

Much Like Olympic Athletes… No Super Powers, Just Maximized Individual Physical Potential

Secondly, Captain America Is One Of The Most Compassionate Characters Ever Written… He Truly Represents, And Protects The Human Spirit

Anyway, In Everyone Of These Superhero Films With Chris Evans Playing Captain America, He Has Improved The Character… Be It Writing, Acting, Directing Or All Three Of These Elements… Captain America Hit His Stride A Movie Or Two Back, And Has Toppled That Stride In This Film

BLACK WIDOW

Believe It Or Not, To My Surprise, ‘Black Widow’ In The Original ‘Avengers’ Movie Was My Favorite Character… Loved The Hulk, And Robert Downey’s Iron Man Is/Was Off The Charts… But Black Widow Was The Deepest, Strongest Character In That Film… In My Opinion… But I’m An Emotional Guy

And It’s Not Because Of The Way She Looks Or Dresses, As I Know Many Girlfriends Out There Can’t Stand Scarlett Johansson

I’ve Liked Her Since I Saw Her In Robert Redford’s “The Horse Whisperer”… She Was Really Young In That (12 to 15 Maybe?)

If You Haven’t Seen It, I Suggest You Do

But Much Like Brad Pitt, Who Is Also One Of My Favorite Actors, They Are Much More Than Their Looks

In Every One Of The Super Hero Films With This Character In It, She Has Been Consistent, And Grown

BUCKY/WINTER SOLDIER

This Actor (Sebastian Stan), And This Character (He Was The Main Bad Guy-ish Character In” Captain America’s Winter Soldier” As Well), Are Basically Flawless… He Is Exactly Why We Start And Continue Reading Comic Books In The First Place

Rarely Does A Character Speak So Much, So Loudly, And So Clearly, Without Hardly Ever Saying A Word

=======

There Are Many Other Great Characters In This Film, The New ‘Spiderman’, And ‘Ant Man’, But The Characters Above Knock This Film/Movie Out Of The Park In My Opinion

REVIEW – Maybe This Is Just Exactly The Kind Of Film/Movie I Prefer… Completely Character Driven, With Beautifully Complex And Well Executed Performances… Maybe Part Of It Reminds Me Of A Game My Bro And I Created Called ‘Superhero Wars’, Where We Randomly Determined Teams Of Heroes, Developed Game Stats For Them, And Randomly Determined Who Fought Who… Or Maybe You Will Feel The Same After You See This Film… I Truly Feel This Is The Best Superhero Film Made Yet…

Sorry Batman Fans, Sorry Superman Fans, Sorry Spiderman Fans, Sorry Iron Man and Avengers Fans… In My Opinion, This Is It

5 Stars Out Of 5 Stars For The Acting, Characters & Fight Scenes Alone

(P.S. I Didn’t Show Any More Clips, Because I Truly Think You Should See Them In Context, As Opposed To Displaced)

“White Jade” PreProduction – Cast & Crew Introduction Video

“WHITE JADE” PREPRODUCTION – CAST & CREW INTRODUCTION VIDEO

Film Making – Inspiration (TRON: Legacy)

I’ve Been Taking Kind Of A Break On Film Making This Last Week Or So… And During This Time I’ve Been Watching Some Films That Inspire Me… Two Thirds Into It I Actually Took Out My Camera And Aimed It At The T.V. For These Shots;

TRON: Legacy

Flynn And His Son Wait To Make A Move

(Just Liked The Look Of This Shot)

Flynn (The Creator) Arrives In Zeus’s Club

(My Favorite Moment Of The Film, Still Gives Me Chills When I Watch It)

Another Great Shot Of Flynn Arriving In Zeus’s Club

(The Drama… He Is, ‘Neo’ Obi Wan)

Flynn Secures Transportation To The Portal

(Ala Obi Wan “These Are Not The Droids You’re Looking For…”/Force Style – TRON Translation via Reprogramming + A Swift Bonk To The Guard’s Head)

Look No Hands!

(That’s A Glowing Disk Flying By Her On The Left, Great Moment)

Flynn Calls Them To The Ship He’s Secured

(Pretty Crazy Shot)

Flynn On The Bridge Leading To The Portal

(Sacrificing Himself Ala Obi Wan/Luke Skywalker Style… Such Drama… Some Of This Story Is So Shakespearean)

White Widow

My Favorite Scene From “The Company” (Movie)