'Acts of Violence' Film Review

Originally published on Set The Tape

‘Three Midwestern brothers, a crime lord, and an incorruptible cop are on a deadly collision course when the youngest brother’s fiancée is kidnapped by human traffickers. To save her, the MacGregor boys call on their military training – and the strength of family – to fight the most important battle of their lives.’

With action movies relying more and more on big budget effects or choreographed fight scenes that make the heroes look near superhuman, sometimes a more realistic approach can feel new and refreshing. Acts of Violence goes against these modern action films, with little to no visual effects and short, economical action sequences.

Following a trio of brothers and their foster sister Mia (Melissa Bolona), who is now marrying the younger brother Roman (Ashton Holmes). The family is fairly close and portrayed as relatively normal, though there is some inner drama injected with the eldest brother Deklan (Cole Hauser) being a veteran suffering from PTSD.

When Mia is kidnapped by local sex traffickers the brothers turn to local cop James Avery (Bruce Willis) for help, but his hands are bound by the law, forcing the brothers to fall back on their military training to save their family.

It’s a very simple plot, with clear lines between the heroes and villains, and solid end goal. Whilst other action films would try to add sub-plots and plot twists to try to bulk out the film Acts of Violence works well without them, relying on simplicity and a face pace to move the story forward.

Whilst this doesn’t lead to a lot of room for character development the film doesn’t really need it. We get to know the characters pretty well during the short 80 minute run time, with each of the brothers having room to be clearly defined and nuanced enough to be interesting. Because the film is fairly short, and the action takes place over a relatively small period of time, it would feel more jarring if the film did stop the story to spend time delving into character.

Despite the short run time, the film manages to include several action sequences. Simple and grounded in how they’re choreographed and shot, the action scenes feel like something from the 70’s. There’s nothing over the top or spectacular about what happens, and it actually works a lot better for this. For a film that is taking a very real and grounded approach the action fits perfectly, adding to the sense of realism.

A lot of this is helped by Cole Hauser. Where the other brothers are becoming emotional and distraught over the loss of Mia, he’s calm and collected, falling back on his military training to lead the group. He’s not over the top or larger than life, he’s just a regular soldier, albeit one who’s fighting for his family rather than his country.

The film very much feels like a throwback to the 70’s grindhouse pictures, focusing on people going up against organised crime, drug lords, and human trafficking. Thankfully, the film doesn’t go as dark as the films of the 70’s, and doesn’t focus too hard on the horrors of the sex trade; it doesn’t play up the violence of women being kidnapped and forced to become sex workers. This is a good thing, as it stops the film going too dark. The characters and the audience both know how bad things will be for Mia if she’s not rescued, so it’s good that we’re not forced to see it.

Despite a short run time Acts of Violence manages to pack a lot in, keeping the story moving at a brisk pace. It has enough action, story, and character development to stay interesting and engaging without being boring. Yes, it’s a cheap action film made relatively quickly (the film was shot over two weeks), but is well made, competent, and entertaining. Which isn’t something every film can say.


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Pacific Rim: Uprising – A Look At The History Of Kaiju Movies

Originally published on Set The Tape

Pacific Rim: Uprising hit our screens this weekend with it brought back the giant fighting robot Jaegers and their monstrous Kaiju foes. The latest in a long line of films to feature giant monsters, the Pacific Rim sequel is far from the first to make use of giant monsters to entertain its audience.

The term Kaiju is distinctly Japanese, and instantly brings to mind film franchises such as Godzilla this is not actually where giant monsters in cinema started, though it would be where it found its home.

Arguably the first Kaiju film came back in 1933, with the release of RKO Pictures’ King Kong. Though when people say the term Kaiju, it brings to mind creatures such as the monster from Cloverfield, Kong very much is one too. He’s been reimagined many times over the decades since his creation, varying in size dramatically depending on the version of the film, but he’s always been a creature that could never exist in the real world; an ape of such huge proportions that he has fought dinosaurs, giant robots, and is even due to face Godzilla in 2020 in Godzilla vs. King Kong.

King Kong stunned audiences on its release, and changed the way that films could be made. Using unique camera tricks, an all original musical score, the first ever animated central character, and Magnascope screenings, King Kong was unlike anything at the time, and helped to elevate what could easily have been a schlocky monster film to a cinematic masterpiece; one still celebrated almost 100 years later.

The success of King Kong meant that others were quick to try to recapture the magic, leading to a number of films that featured giant monsters, such as Mighty Joe Young (which featured another giant gorilla), Them!, and The Beast From 20,000 Fathoms. Whilst these films did celebrate some success, with Them! going on to attain cult status, it wasn’t until the release of Gojira in 1954 that Kaiju films became big business.

Tomoyuki Tanaka, a producer for the Toho film company, originally conceived of the idea of creating a monster movie when another project fell through, and said that he was in part inspired by The Beast From 20,000 Fathoms. After creating an outline with a working title of ‘The Giant Monster from 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea’, the project was approved.

Thanks to the events of World War Two and having suffered two Atomic bombings, Japan was still dealing with the horrors that had been unleashed upon their country. These themes became intricately entwined within Gojira. Tanaka said: “The theme of the film, from the beginning, was the terror of the bomb. Mankind had created the bomb, and now nature was going to take revenge on mankind.”

These sentiments were also echoed by director Ishiro Honda, who added: “If Godzilla had been a dinosaur or some other animal, he would have been killed by just one cannon ball. But if he were equal to an atomic bomb, we wouldn’t know what to do. So, I took the characteristics of an atomic bomb and applied them to Godzilla.”

Because of these deeper themes, a well written script that was taken seriously at all times, and wonderfully crafted effects, Gojira became a success. Two years later the film went on to be released in America under the title Godzilla, King of the Monsters! Whilst the film was a huge success with US audiences, it was not the film that was originally made, with close to twenty minutes of footage having been removed, any political, social, or anti-nuclear themes gone, and new scenes inserted to make Canadian actor Raymond Burr the lead. Despite being very different from the original’s tone, it introduced Godzilla to western audiences, and helped to start a love affair that would last decades.

Kaiju became a genre that was not only a commercial success, but also garnered mainstream appeal. Dozens of films followed over the next decade, such as Attack of the 50 Foot Woman, The Deadly Mantis, The Beast of Hollow Mountain, and Rodan.

Monster movies began to lose their appeal in the US as the 50s moved into the 60s. Less films such as Tarantula were being produced, but those who still wanted to experience Kaiju films were drawn to Japanese productions, where the genre was still going strong.

Over the next few decades Japan would embrace Kaiju, creating a number of successful series’ such as Gamera and Mothra, though Godzilla would remain the most successful with 30 films having been produced so far (with more still on their way).

Kaiju proved popular in film and also became successful on television in Japan during the late 1970s, largely due to the release of Spider-Man. The Toei produced Spider-Man series shared the look of the Marvel Comics character, but differed drastically; his powers, origin, and story were completely different. One of the main differences was that Spider-Man would make use of a giant robot called Leopardon to fight giant Kaiju-like versions of the show’s monsters. An approach that was be adopted for the Super Sentai franchise.

Thanks to the adaptation of Super Sentai into Power Rangers in the early 1990s, Kaiju were introduced to a whole new audience who eagerly tuned in each week to watch their heroes battle giant creatures using their huge robots. It’s surely no coincidence that within a few decades of American children being exposed to Japanese monster shows, there has been an influx of films such as Cloverfield, Megashark, and Lake Placid vs. Anaconda.

The Kaiju genre began a long time ago, and has gone through many changes over the decades, thanks to different cultural, political, and social influences. They have played a part in translating the fears of the film-makers, whether it’s been atomic war, pollution, or nature turning on humanity, and have sometimes just been for the sheer enjoyment of watching giant things beating each other up.

Whether it’s high production pieces such as Pacific Rim, Ramapage, and Godzilla, or cheap b-movies like Sharktopus and Piranhaconda, Kaiju films have become a genre unto itself; one that wall continue to evolve with its audience, becoming as enduring and unkillable as the creatures it presents.


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Dracula: Rise of the Beast - Book Review

Originally published on Set The Tape

Dracula is an icon, a name that instantly brings to mind vampires; and often a very specific idea of vampires. Thanks to the black and white movies of the 1930’s with Bela Lugosi, and then Christopher Lee’s appearances in the Hammer films, Dracula makes people think of a regal count, resplendent in his finery, his hair slicked back, his cape draped around him as he stalks beautiful young women.

Whilst vampires have evolved over the years and gone in new directions, many times things always come back to Dracula, the vampire that inspired all the others. And in Dracula: Rise of the Beast we learn more about this figure through five short stories.

These tales tell the reader the story of the rise of Count Vlad to the vampiric monster Dracula as seen in the original Bram Stoker novel. The stories are spread across multiple time periods, and are told not from the point of view of Dracula, but of those who intersect with his life, often discovering the mystery of the Count and investigating his true nature.

Whilst each of these stories does add to the overall telling of Dracula’s past, they don’t always feel interconnected, taking on the form of separate moments from his life rather than forming one cohesive whole. Whether this was intentional on the part of the book, I don’t know? But it does lead to a sometimes disjointed read. Being able to jump through the life of a character like Dracula to focus on certain events may at first glance appear to be a good way of telling his story, but it does on occasion let itself down.

Sadly, this also extends to the format in which the story is told. As with the original Dracula novel, Dracula: Rise of the Beast tells its story in the form of letters, reports, and even blog posts.

As with jumping to different time periods to allow a focus on certain events, telling the stories through these framing devices allows the writer to focus solely on those aspects of the story that is important. They can skip over long descriptions and back and forth dialogue, instead giving a quick and concise narrative of events.

This means that the book does move with some degree of pace a majority of the time (though the first segment of the book did at times feel very slow), it ends up feeling like it lacks any real depth. It feels less like I myself am experiencing a story, and more like someone else has had that experience and is simply telling me about it. Which is never as satisfying as experiencing it first hand.

Whilst the premise for the book itself is very interesting and works great in concept, the execution is unfortunately somewhat lacking. Perhaps it is a personal preference, but the format of the book made it very difficult to enjoy it as fully as I wanted to, and often drew me out of it. A good read for fans of vampire fiction and Dracula, but perhaps not to everyone’s tastes.


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Lego Incredibles Game Officially Announced

The latest addition in the ever popular Lego video game franchise has been officially revealed as 'The Incredibles'. Whilst there were leaks online that this would be the next game in the series several days ago, it has now been 100% confirmed.

The official press release says;

'Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment, TT Games, The LEGO Group, Disney and Pixar, today announced LEGO® The Incredibles, a new video game where players take control of their favorite Incredibles characters in unforgettable scenes and action sequences from both Disney•Pixar films, The Incredibles and the upcoming Incredibles 2. The game encourages players to work together by combining the Parr family’s abilities and unique powers to conquer crime and family life in a LEGO world full of fun and humor. LEGO The Incredibles will be available for Nintendo Switch™, PlayStation®4 computer entertainment system, Xbox One, and PC on June 15, 2018, the same day Incredibles 2 opens in theaters nationwide.'

The game, which will be released on 15th June 2018, will cover the events of both the original film, and the new sequel.


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Doctor Who: Twelfth Doctor Adventures #13 - Comic Review

Originally published on Set The Tape

‘A powerless cargo ship carrying a cargo of Heavenly Hosts has been infested by Weeping Angels! The Tardis team already have a plethora of other problems… now they must work together with the Judoon and the crew to save everyone from falling into a nearby sun! But even though the Doctor has been found again (after being sent back in time by the Angels), Missy has apparently stolen the Tardis! Without his beloved ship, will the Doctor be able to get everybody to safety?’

The 13th issue of the Twelfth Doctor Adventures tells the concluding part of its ‘A Confusion of Angels’ story, a dramatic space adventure that brings back a lot of elements from previous episodes, and mixes them in nicely to the series 10 timeline.

Whilst the first thing that jumps out about this story is the return of the fan favourite Weeping Angels, it also features connections to the 2007 Christmas Special ‘The Voyage of the Damned’ with the robotic Heavenly Host, features Judoon, has the return of Margarete Slitheen after her appearance in series one, and has a ship falling into a sun like the series three episode ’42’. The story also manages to pack in a number of small cameo style moments as background characters from previously seen races also feature.

‘A Confusion of Angels’ manages to take moments from the show that we’ve seen before and roll it into a brand new narrative, one that isn’t perfect, but thanks to the inclusion of so many old, beloved elements of the franchise stands out as being incredibly enjoyable.

The story moves at a fast pace, giving the proceedings the feel many Doctor Who episodes, where there’s a mad dash to save the day come the end of the episode. Whilst the issue packs in a lot of story elements, it still manages to give enough time for small moments of character development.

The best of these belong to Margaret Slitheen and Missy, both villains who have by now reformed.

Following on from the series one episode ‘Boom Town’, Margaret has grown up in a new family following being regressed to an egg, and has become a woman who fights for the law and believes in justice. A harsh contrast to her previous life. Having her return not only answered the hanging question of what happened to her following the show, but also highlights how someone evil can reform, a story element that relates to Missy.

As this story falls within the events of series 10, Missy is locked within the Vault, and is being made to change from a villain into a good person. This story shows how far she has come, having her controlling the Tardis by remove in order to rescue a number of the victims of the Weeping Angels and reuniting them with their loved ones. Whilst she’s not completely good still, highlighted by some of the things she says here, it definitely adds to her series arc from the show.


‘A Confusion of Angels’ has a lot happening within a relatively short page count, but manages to not feel overly crowded. It tells an interesting and compelling story that adds to the character arcs of one of the series’ main characters, and brings back a lot of past story points and creatures to tell a story that feels very grounded within the Doctor Who universe.


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Pedro Pascal Joining Cast of Wonder Woman 2

It has been announced that Pedro Pascal, the actor best known from his appearances in 'Game of Thrones' and 'Narcos', has joined the cast of the upcoming 'Wonder Woman 2'.

'The 'Narcos' star is on board for the follow-up to 2017's hit, joining Kristen Wiig, who was tapped for the villain role of Cheetah. The film would mark the second time that Pascal and Jenkins have worked together, having previously teamed up on the TV movie 'Exposed'.'

Little is known about the Wonder Woman sequel, and Wiig and Pascal are the only cast members announced to be joining Gal Gadot.

'Wonder Woman 2' is set to be released 1st November 2019, and will be directed by Patty Jenkins.


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Theresa May Accused Of 'Bringing Shame On Her Office' For Not Condemning Outing of Gay Whistleblower

A number of MPs have accused Prime Minister Theresa May of 'bringing shame on her office' for not condemning the actions of a special adviser who outed a gay activist, placing his family in danger.

Stephen Parkinson, a special adviser to Theresa May, released a statement about a former partner of his, Shahmir Sanni, a Vote Leave volunteer, who was about to reveal information that the Leave campaign broke electoral rules, in which he outed him as gay.

The statement read, 'Shahmir became an occasional volunteer for Vote Leave and other Leave campaigns, and we began a personal relationship. We subsequently dated for 18 months, splitting up - I thought amicably - in September 2017.

'That is the capacity in which I gave Shahmir advice and encouragement, and can understand if the lines became blurred for him, but am clear that I did not direct the activities of any separate campaign groups.

'I had no responsibility for digital campaigning or donations during the referendum, and am confident that Vote Leave acted entirely within the lay and strict spending rules at all times.'

The statement was subsequently removed from the political blog where it was first published.

Stephen Parkinson.

Shahmir responded to the statement through his solicitors.

'I represent Shahmir Sanni, who has provided information to the media as a whistleblower about matters relating to the conduct of the Vote Leave campaign during the EU Referendum.

'10 Downing Street tonight confirmed an official statement to the media on behalf of Stephen Parkinson, Political Secretary to the Prime Minister, disclosing my client's sexuality publicly. We believe this is the first time a Downing Street official statement has been used to out someone. My client is now having to come out to his mother and family tonight, and members of  his family in Pakistan are being forced to take urgent protective measures to ensure their safety.

'Shahmir says:

'It's sad that Stephen feels he can't tell the truth about cheating in the Referendum. I think he understands why I had to do the right thing and let people know what really happened. But I never imagined that he, with the help of Number 10, would choose to tell the world I am gay, in a last desperate attempt to scare me. This is something I've never told most of my friends or family, here or in Pakistan, some of whom are taking measures to ensure their safety. 

'He knew the danger it would cause, and that's why he did it. My coming out should have happened at a moment of my choosing - not at the Government's. Some things are more important than politics and I hope that one day he agrees.'

Theresa May was pressed over the issue in Parliament on Monday 26th March, but refused to condemn the actions, instead claiming that it was a 'personal statement' from Parkinson.

'Any statements issued were personal statements.' May responded to questions during Parliament put forward by Labour MP Ben Bradshaw. 'They were personal statements. They were personal statements that were issued.

'I of course recognise the importance of ensuring that we do recognise that for some, being outed as gay is difficult because of their family and circumstances. What I want to see is a world where everyone is able to be confident in their sexuality and doesn't not have to worry about such things. My political secretary does a good job as my political secretary.'

It was quickly pointed out to the Prime Minister that the statement had passed through Downing Street's Head of Broadcast Media Kirsty Buchanan before being published. There was a not point any indication in the email that it was a personal statement rather than an official communication from the Press Office.

The email from Kirsty Buchanan, Head of
Broadcast Media for Downing Street.

Labour's Ben Bradshaw responded to May saying, 'How is it remotely acceptable that when a young whistleblower exposes compelling evidence of lawbreaking by the Leave campaign,implicating staff at Number 10, one of those named issues an officially-sanctioned statement outing the whistleblower as gay and putting his family in Pakistan in danger? It's a disgrace, Prime Minister, you need to do something about it.'

During an interview regarding the incident Shahmir Sanni told the press that the public revelation forced him to come out to his family in Pakistan, where homosexuality is illegal and punishable with between 2 and 10 years in prison. He said that his family is now living in fear of their safety, reducing him to tears.

'People were tweeting about this blog. I went through this blog, this 8000 word blog, and then I came across this statement. That's when I started panicking.' He said. 'I thought 'it's only Dominic Cumming's blog, no-one reads that', so I was mildly panicked. I never thought it would actually happen - I thought, they would never stoop that low.

'It was late in the evening that same day, when the New York Times called me and said, can you comment on this statement we've been sent by Number 10? I said, 'what are you talking about?' and they said, 'allegations about you being in a relationship with Stephen Parkinson'.

Shahmir Sanni reduced to tears during his interview.

'That's when my heart dropped. I said, okay, fine. We asked the New York Times to forward the email, and it literally was from a Number 10 email with 'Statement Official'.

'It was fucking shit. I came out to my mum the day before yesterday. I hate talking about it, because I get...' He said before becoming too upset to talk. 'He knew... he knew that I wasn't out to my mum. This is how low they will stoop. It's not relevant. How is my relationship with Stephen Parkinson relevant to the stuff that i am talking about?'

MP's and the public have continued to condemn Theresa May for failing to condemn what has happened to Shahmir.

Caroline Lucas, the Green Party Mp, said, 'It is simply not good enough for the Prime Minister to have airily dismissed the questions as she did in the House yesterday. Her attempts to brush off complaints about the disgraceful outing of Shahmir Sanni were beneath her and bring shame to her office.'

Labour MP Ben Bradshaw said, 'I am amazed that the man who did this is still in his job, because that's totally unacceptable.'

Tommy Shepard from the SNP added, 'The Prime Minister’s explanation yesterday that this was a personal statement by Stephen Parkinson just does not hold water. How can it be a personal statement when someone is at a desk in No. 10 Downing Street, at the heart of Government—when they are on the payroll, issuing a statement from No. 10 Downing Street?

'This must be the first occasion in history, certainly that I can remember, when the Government have decided to attack a whistleblower by outing them as gay, causing them the possibility of actual harm to themselves and their family, and it is a disgrace.'


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John Cena Cast As Duke Nukem In Live Action Film

Wrestler and actor John Cena has been cast to play the video game character Duke Nukem in the upcoming live action film.

Whilst no script for the film has yet been finalised, and no target release date set, Cena has been revealed to be playing the iconic character.

'Yeah, that's what we're working with now. He is. Yes. We don't have a script yet, so that is confirmed at this point but if he reads the script and doesn't like the script there's ways that he could pull out, but right now he's our guy.' Paramount Pictures producer Andrew Form said during an interview.

'It's got to be about tone. That's about tone. How you nail that tone in the way that Deadpool nailed the tone? I think we have to do that and if we don't get the tone right then we're not going to make the movie.'


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Pokemon Go Announces Next Community Day Pokemon

Pokemon Go has announced the next rare Pokemon that will become more available during the April Community Day.

The electric Pokemon Mareep will be the subject of the next Community Day on 15th April, allowing players the opportunity to catch more of the elusive sheep Pokemon, hopefully with allowing them to obtain its final evolution, Ampharos.

In previous events the final evolution of the selected Community Day Pokemon were given exclusive moves, and it is expected that a special move for Ampharos will be announced closer to the event.

As with previous events, the upcoming Community Day will also allow players to hatch their eggs 75% faster, making hatching eggs much easier.


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The Sun Print Insulting Trans Headline On Front Page

The British tabloid 'newspaper' The Sun has published a story about a transgender couple getting married on it's front page, under the headline 'Tran and Wife'. The headline is accompanied by the heading, 'Jake who used to be a woman weds Hannah who was a man'.

Actor and filmmaker Jake Graf and Captain Hannah Winterbourne, the highest ranking trans officer in the British Army, were married on Friday in a ceremony at Chelsea's Town Hall in London; an event that was reported on in a number outlets, including The Mail Online, and The Mirror, all of which contained anti-transgender sentiment, but The Sun was the only one to feature the story on their front page.

Jake Graf spoke to Pink News about the story, saying; 'We felt that the article itself in The Sun was very positive, sympathetic, and hopeful. Hannah and I have always had huge support from the LGBT Press and of course wanted to share our story with them and as widely as possible, but we also strongly felt that getting our story out to a mainstream audience was important.

'Whilst The Sun has a less than positive history when it comes to reporting on LGBT issues, it did feel that there had been a real turn around in the last year or so, with some very sympathetic and supportive reporting on trans issues.

'We were assured that the story would be positive, which we feel it was, and were obviously very disappointed when it was let down by such an offensive and garish headline and front page.'

The headline immediately drew criticism, with many taking to social media such as Facebook and Twitter to express their anger and distress at the way the paper reported on the event.

A spokesperson from The Sun has said, 'We've put this story on a front page in order to celebrate a wonderful modern romance. I want to emphasise that there was no intention to offend, and we wish them both the very best for the rest of their happy lives together. We are confident that our readers, especially after reading the piece, will join us in wishing them the same.'

The spokesperson also claimed that members of the LGBT+ community was consulted about the headline before it was printed, who found no issue with the content.


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