What Do I Think Of Disney

Let me start from the beginning

Walt Disney is one of my all time heroes (see my post from 2012 ‘Walt Disney – Through My Eyes’), along with Bruce Lee, Captain America (The Comic Book version), George Lucas and John Hughes

He was the epitome of ‘Imagination’

Growing up in the 70’s-80’s, Disneyland was truly ‘the happiest place on earth’

The Pirates of the Caribbean ride was my favorite, but I also enjoyed the Haunted Mansion, and Space Mountain

But more than that, the whole feeling at night

And the Disney Movies, ‘Sleeping Beauty’ was my favorite and when ‘Aladdin’ came out, I’d never in my life laughed harder in a movie theater that one of the Genie scenes

Robin Williams was a genius, I will always love him

Then Disney picked up ‘Pixar’, which was brilliant

Their animation department was flailing, so it made perfect sense to pick up the future of animation…

Pixar

Next came Marvel, we’ve all seen how that has turned out

And last, but not least, ‘Lucas Films’…

Once again, brilliant

Most importantly with ‘Lucas Films’ is, the original first two ‘Star Wars’ films/George Lucas were the reasons I became a Filmmaker…

…so this was a big deal for me

And the reality is, George Lucas isn’t going to live forever, so I thought Disney was a perfect place/home for the ‘Star Wars’ Franchise

The difference between me and a lot of people who loved the first and second installment of the ‘Star Wars’ films (Chapters 1-6), is I never called myself a ‘fan’

I’ve always been a filmmaker first

I simply felt ‘Star Wars’…

…and ‘The Empire Strikes Back’ were brilliant (They’re my two favorite films of all time)

I wasn’t much of a fan of ‘Return of the Jedi’, I wasn’t an Ewok fan, but all of the Luke and Darth Vader scenes still felt like ‘Star Wars’ to me

The films in 1989, 92 & 95 were their own thing

I felt Lucas got slammed pretty hard for ‘Phantom Menace’, which likely lead to ‘Attack of the Clones’ being so great, as well as ‘Revenge of the Sith’

But unlike a ‘fan’, I had no expectations going into those films, so I truly enjoyed them for what they were

Chapters 7, 8 & 9 (Also ‘Rogue One’, and ‘Solo’) were also their own thing

‘The Force Awakens’ surprised me…

…although J. J. Abrams, did not

He’s great… he’s a force

I was so happy with ‘The Force Awakens’, even though SPOILER ALERT Han Solo died

Rey was a great two dimensional character (Focused on what was in front of her)/Never stopped running/Typical ‘Star Wars’ character in a good way

Poe was awesome, but I’ve always loved Oscar Isaac

He’s brilliant

But to my surprise, Finn was my favorite character in ‘The Force Awakens’

I didn’t really care for ‘Ben Solo’ in ‘The Force Awakens’, which was a big deal because ‘Darth Vader’ is my favorite villain of all times

But in Chapter 8, ‘The Last Jedi’, Ben (Adam Driver) is brilliant

And Rai was awesome… Their characters made that film

Mark Hamill (Luke) was also a welcome ‘Star Wars’ contribution to the general vibe of the film

Plus his final scene was brilliant

‘Rogue One’ was literally the best possible prequal to ‘Star Wars’ Chapter IV

Brilliant, a stand alone film for sure

Some say it’s their favorite all time ‘Star Wars’ film

I don’t blame them

But Chapter IV & V are my favorites, followed by Chapter II

When I was a kid, Han Solo & Darth Vader were my favorite characters in the original ‘Star Wars’…

…and ‘The Empire Strikes Back’ was Han Solo’s/Harrison Ford’s ‘swan song’ (It was his best ‘Star Wars’ film)…

These characters and films changed my life

With ‘Solo’ (The film), once again, I entered with no expectations

And in the end, I liked it

But more than that, a sequel should have really been made… This film was truly built for it, and it would have likely been an even better film

Also, Lando was great

SPOILER ALERT I wasn’t thrilled to find out Darth Maul was alive (The dude was cut in half in ‘The Phantom Menace’), but I guess they brought him back before this film in another project

That I’d call a mistake/attempt to bring back what ended up being a fan favorite from ‘The Phantom Menace’

But ‘Star Wars’/George Lucas made his own mistakes/’what I considered a lackluster decision’ by killing Boba Fett in that pit in ‘Return of the Jedi’…

SPOILERS But Disney brought Boba Fett back to life too in ‘Mandalorian’, also a bad move in my opinion… But also based on his popularity I think

And now he’s going to have his own series… Ehh not so thrilled

Finally, the final ‘Star Wars’ film, Chapter IX (The Rise of Skywalker), no expectations once more (The world on the other hands had huge expectations), they destroyed the Finn character sadly, having him run around after Rey the whole film, but the chemistry of Rey and Ben Solo was awesome (Once more)

All and all, I was happy with that film (I’m not sure many were, but I was

The reality is, there was no way to meet the expectations of the whole of the ‘Star Wars’ audience (Perhaps if my bro and I filmed it, lol), which is already largely broken into at least to parts anyways (The die hard fans of the original films, and the fans of the second group of films, not to mention the new fans from all over)

Lets move on/back to Disney

First with the creation of Disney+, which is awesome…

…Disney old movies, Marvel Movies, Pixar Movies and ‘Star Wars’ movies and series all in one place

I was in

Also, making it just $6.95 made it a no brainer

And if that wasn’t enough, galvanized with the creation of ‘The Mandalorian’, which in my opinion truly gave me hope that the original ‘Star Wars’ feeling from the original ‘Star Wars’ films, was alive and well, and more than that, had a future

Thanks largely to Jon Favreau, Dave Filoni and Pedro Pascal

Each, indispensable

SPOILERS I’m not going to even tell you what happens at the end of Season 2 if you haven’t seen the show… If you’re ‘Star Wars’ fan, just check out both seasons

This post was going to be even longer (I wrote much more), but I feel it’s long enough as it is

I will end with this

To the Disney Execs;

1. I really hope that what you do isn’t all, or even 80% about making money, and that’s it… Try to keep the spirit of Walt Disney himself in your ranks
2. Steer clear of all of this ‘cancel culture’… Stop giving so much power to the trolls/haters out there, and that goes for all major corporations
3. Tweet happy birthday to George Lucas from now on, once again, if the trolls steered you away from it, you’ve given them too much power… Respect the creator of ‘Star Wars’, or sell Lucas Film
4. Yes, Disney+ out performed your expectations, even before the pandemic, but don’t expect that growth rate to continue, it’s not natural/possible… Appreciate and maintain the followers you already have, sorry corporate america, it’s not all about growth, it’s also about maintenance
5. You’re making great shows, don’t let greed cloud your vision, nor destroy everything positive that you’re achieving
6. Break the mold over and over again, don’t stick to things that extinguish the souls of your employees, and leave your fans hanging dry
7. Greed is wrong… Be the change

Nuff said, thanks for listening/reading

And ‘May the force be with you…’

DarkJade-

The Falcon And The Winter Soldier Episode 1 & 2 In Review…

Let me start by saying, I read ‘Captain America’, ‘The Flash’, ‘The Avengers’, ‘The West Coast Avengers’ & ‘Strange Tales’ Comics in the late 80’s/early 90’s

That said, Captain America & The Flash were my favorite all time Superheroes

I didn’t care for the first ‘Captain America’ Movie, though I really like Chris Evans as an actor (He was great in ‘Fantastic Four’)

But each time the Captain America character was in one of the Marvel Movies, his character improved, to a point that he is awesome

Now in ‘The Winter Soldier’ I immediately liked Sebastian Stan and his Bucky character

I’ve never been a huge Falcon fan, but Anthony Mackie is a great actor, and played him well

Moving onto the series

Episode 1

SPOILERS!

They began the Episode with a bang, aiming at all those people who love action in Superhero movies I think

I love action, but the best scenes in the original ‘Avengers’ movie (And in comic books), was all the character back and forthing in between action scenes

So, big action opening, then it slows way down to soap opera speed (The production isn’t in a hurry, and why should they be, they have time, it’s a series)

I felt it must have been a challenge to do the Winter Soldier character in episode 1, he was largely silent in the Marvel films, and in this format, he has to talk a lot more

The bad guys seem ok, nothing special

For me, bad guys always need to be strong characters, or who cares if the good guys defeat them

The best part about Episode 1, was the ending scene, when the new Captain America is announced

Very comic book, in fact when I was reading Captain America 30 years ago, part of the storyline was a new Captain America

Episode 2

Episode 2 was immediately better, because Bucky hooked up with The Falcon, though I wasn’t completely clear why they were working together again, maybe it was explained in the movies

That said, their chemistry was right back on point from the movies

The bad guys, however, were physically strong, but not interesting in the least

What really bothered me most about Episode 2 was that they introduced us to the new Captain America, who seemed like a really good guy, trying to do his best to help people…

…but by the end of the Episode, he was a full blown jerk… It didn’t feel right at all, flat out bad writing, bad directing, or both

Still, I’m looking forward to continuing to watch the series, if for nothing else, to watch the two lead actors and the Winter Soldier character in action

Nuff Said

Thanks for listening/reading

‘A Day In The Life Of America’

This Film/Documentary Is A Silver Bullet… Amazing

Check It Out Here

2020 In Post Pictures

R.I.P. David Prowse, The Body Language & Presence Of Darth Vader

David Prowse Was The Body Language, And Presence Of Darth Vader, My Favorite Villain Of All Time… One Of The Several Layers Of This Masterful Character… I Was Distracted Immediately When I Saw How Darth Vader ‘Did’nt’ Move The Same In The Newer/Non Prowse Films… Prowse, James Earl Jones, George Lucas (Plus Kershner And Marquand), John Williams And Alll That Had To Do With With His Costume Design And Sound ‘Are’ Darth Vader

R.I.P David, We Will Always Remember/Love You

‘CATS’… In Review ‘Have People Become So Cynical In This World, That The Beauty And Delight Of This Film And Story Are Lost?’

When I Originally Saw The Preview For ‘CATS’ Last Year, I Really Wanted To See It… And Though I Don’t Read Reviews, I’ve Heard Nothing But Bad Things… That Said, I Watched It Last Night, And It Was Awesome… It Was Exactly What It Is Meant To Be… 2.8 On IMDB Is Not Only Insane, But Wholly Inaccurate… Have People Become So Cynical In This World, That The Beauty And Delight Of This Film And Story Are Lost? You Have To See This, And More Than That, Your Kids Need To See It… So Much Art And Love Of Craft In This Film, The Dancing Is Stupendous, And Jennifer Hudson Just Tears Your Heart Out… Nuff Said

RIP Sean Connery… There Is No One Else Like You

Juan Sánchez-Villalobos Ramírez (Highlander)

One Of My Favorite Actors For Years… I Am Very Saddened By This

RIP Sean

‘MARS, The Unwanted’ – Episode I (The Arrival)

When I First Started Pursuing Filmmaking, I Used Action Figures To Practice Lighting, Angles Etc.

It Was Also Fun Doing It With My Brother, Took Us Back To Action Figure Days, lol

I’ve Been Missing Filmmaking, So Went Back To The Basics, Messing Around With Action Figures Again

Check It Out!

The Truth – Part III

The Truth

Part One

Part Two

Part Three

In August of 2011, I started this Blog

It was intended to be a Writing Blog, designed to get me into the habit of Writing on a regular basis

In fact I set a goal at its’ inception of 1,000 Words Per Day (On average), and for the first year and a half, I averaged more

My goal was set on the premise that I’d always heard which is, ‘Writers Write’

Anyway, it worked… I’ve been writing on and off in this Blog for the last 9 years

Originally I wrote about things that interest me, then quickly moved onto Poetry, Blog Stories, Novellas and even a Fantasy Novel

In fact in 2012 I Self Published a Poetry Book based on the first batch of Poems written in this blog

‘Winter, Lust And Wonder’

As well as my First Novella

‘I Died Once’

I also wrote my First Complete Fantasy Novel

‘Chess With Agatha’

Hired an Editor for it, but still didn’t feel it was ready for Publishing

I later had a Second Editor give a few Chapters a go, and during she asked if it would be alright if she ReWrote a bit of the chapters as well

I was so pleased with her ReWrites, that I decided the only way I would Publish it, is if I could hire her to ReWrite the whole book

Sadly, that has not occurred as of yet… But someday I hope

I have tons, and tons of Poetry in this Blog (You can check it out in the Poems Tab)

As well as Blog Stories (Also many Tabs off to the the right)

But at the end of 2012, I wrote my Follow Up/2nd Novella in the ‘Mady Chronicles’

‘Mady’s Storm’

After that, life got a bit busy, but I still posted in this Blog from time to time

But in 2015 I hired an Editor (The one I want to ReWrite ‘Chess With Agatha’), and Published ‘Mady’s Storm’

By the end of 2015, I was really missing Filmmaking

So I decided to do a Mock Trailer for a Web Series based on the Screenplay ‘White Jade’ I had written back in 2002-04

It was really rough, but still, there was something there that inspired me to move forward and actually create a 16 Episode Web Series for ‘White Jade’

I took the original screenplay, and broke it into 16 parts, then started going into PreProduction

It was around that time that I started going out again, and was able to go to dinner, movies, some stores etc., my hope was I’d be up to Directing the Web Series once it was ready to go

After the Mock Trailer, during the Holidays of 2015, my two nephews came down, and we filmed this short

Then it was straight ahead into PreProduction of ‘White Jade’, the Web Series

Here’s a Video Collage I threw together to inspire the Concept of the Project/Story

In addition to beginning a long Casting Process, here’s a Video of our First (And only) Sword Training for the project

And a PreProduction Video I did later in the year

And a Rehearsal Video from October, 2016

And Two Scenes we Shot in September, but never Post Produced (Added Visual Effects Etc.)

And finally, the Video I made which I planned on using for the Kickstarter

I had 8 Actors lined up, a Makeup Artist, Costume Design Concepts from a whole class of Costume Design Students from a nearby College, I had the Budget Planned out for the whole 16 Episodes, I had a CoProducer, a Visual Effects Person/Assistant Director, some locations chosen…

…then, life stepped in

First of all, at the end of 2016, my Third Uncle (I lost two earlier) passed away, and it hit me really hard

Then, while trying some new medicines, I had a severe Anxiety Attack caused by side effects

At that point, it had been so long since I had, had an Anxiety Attack, I decided to take the Holidays off, and work on the Kickstarter in the beginning of 2017

In the early part of 2017, I also parted ways with my Visual Effects/Assistant Director, which was a huge blow to the project

He was the one that was going to create the ‘Futuristic World’ of ‘White Jade’

I looked for a replacement, but finding someone who was willing to work without pay, was very difficult…

After finishing the preparations of the Kickstarter, I came to the painful realization, that the latest Anxiety Attack had lead to me not going out again, which meant I wouldn’t be able to Direct the Project

I then sent a difficult Email to my Actors, suspending Production of ‘White Jade’

The Truth – Part II

The Truth

Part One

Part Two

After 8 months of working on experimental filmmaking, basically teaching myself how to make films, I moved back to Southern California

There I began writing a Teleplay (Screenplay for a Television Series) for a Science Fiction Series, called ‘Masters of Mars’

I wrote the First Three Episodes of it, and continued doing Filmmaking with action figures, but also started to make miniature sets

My brother then convinced me to move back to Oregon, once more, this time I told him that I didn’t want to film action figures anymore, I wanted to do a Short Film…

…he said ok

I then moved up there once more, but it was rough… 9/11 had happened several months before, and finding any kind of work, even temporary work, was largely impossible

During my time there, though I was very stressed about money, I wrote my first full written for feature film screenplay, ‘White Jade’…

My plan was to try to sell feature film screenplays, and use the money to produce my own films

I also wrote a play while I was there…

…but in the end, my brother was having serious issues with his marriage, and simply couldn’t make time to work on a Short Film

I suspect the true reason he wanted me to move there, was because he was really struggling in his life

Out of frustration, I sat down one day and wrote a 5 minute Short Film, called my brother, and asked him if I could borrow him for an hour

Then I shot over there, and started to film the short film, feeding him lines as we went

I shot this film in an hour and a half, and though there are shots I would have liked to shoot over, over all I think it got the message across

Here it is

After I shot the footage, I went home and spent 8 to 12 hours Editing it, then submitted it to a Video and Film Festival in New York, and got it in

My brother than got a job in Northern California, and moved away, leaving me there, though I’d moved up there for him

I had no money, but after several months, was finally able to move back to Southern California

I then flew with my Dad to New York to see the Short Film up on the big-ish screen, and seeing it up there made me feel I was at last a Filmmaker

Three months later I ended up in the hospital

I’d stopped taking some medicines when I went to Oregon earlier that year, due to the fact that I couldn’t find money, and lost my insurance

After 10 days of being in the hospital, I was feeling weak, but better

I then moved to Scottsdale Arizona in 2003, to live near my Step Brother, and began writing my next film

This one would be an hour long

But the medical issues I was healing from lead to some trauma in Arizona, which caused PTSD

So I moved back to my mom’s house in Southern California, and rested for a moment

But several months later I moved to Northern California to be near my bro again, but after several severe anxiety attacks, I returned to my mom’s home once more, and realized I just wasn’t going to be able to pursue Filmmaking for a bit

So instead, I picked up the Feature Film Screenplay First Draft I wrote in Oregon two years before, and started Editing/Rewriting the heck out of it…

…poured hundreds of hours into it

Growing it from an 80 page First Draft, to a 123 page Final Draft

I then wrote a Query Letter, and started sending it out to Writing Agents, in hopes to get one to read my screenplay, and hopefully represent me

To no avail

At that point, I decided I needed to take a break from pursuing my dreams for a while, and started playing ‘World of Warcraft’ for the next 4 1/2 years…

…I mean, I played a lot

I loved it, don’t regret it, but wasn’t really going out of the house because of the anxiety which basically changed into a fear of anxiety (Panic Disorder)

Basically I didn’t want to go out, not because I had anxiety, but because I feared having an anxiety attack when I was out

It had happened several times by now, and it made me feel out of control emotionally, and caused me to have ‘Fight or Flight’ instincts come up because of the PTSD, even though I wasn’t in any actually danger