A guy got shot in the head… so… Headshot! I get it! Headshot (2016) Review

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Headshot is is must for those who enjoy the genre of… well, I don’t really know where to throw this one. I really don’t wanna say Kung Fu because this isn’t China. But I don’t want to say “Indonesian Martial Arts Film” because you’ll just have a huge question mark over your head if you’re not in the know. So we’re just gonna call it an “Ass Kicking Film”.

There you go. New genre, “Ass Kicking”.

Because that’s exactly what happens all throughout the movie. The first 20 minutes or so is a little bit slow, with our hero waking up on a beach with amnesia (yes, that again). The nurse, readying Moby Dick at the time gives him the name Ishmael. From there, a gang of thugs keeps trying to kill him and his new girlfriend, the nurse. Who of course gets kidnapped along with a long child. Because you need the small child element to get things extra tense I guess.

This is literally as deep as the storyline really goes. Any more and I’ll spoil the whole damn thing for you. This movie is literally like playing through a Double Dragon game. All fighting no story. But it’s fun as hell.

You’ll recognise star Iko Uwais from The Raid and it’s equally good sequel. He’s here doing what he does best. Kick ass. And he’s under the direction of Timo Tjahjanto (ABC’s of Death) gives us yet another down and really dirty movie. If you saw ABC’s of Death, you know what I mean.

7/10.
I really want to go back and really analyse these fight scenes though. So smoothly edited and pretty damn long.

Don’t come in expecting any sort of a good story. There’s about 3 movies of content packed into a sub-2 hour run time.

It’s currently running at the Chicago International Film Festival as part of the After Dark series. Go check it out this week. If not, I’m sure it’ll be on DVD and stuff at some time soon. This is really a good one to watch with your action movie nerd friends.

48 Hour Film Festival and the Future

We did the 48 Hour Film Festival Chicago a couple of weeks ago. And the movie screened. We didn’t win shit, as expected. But that’s totally okay and I’ll tell you why.

Even though no one showed up to my screening (and I mean no one, not even my cast. That hurt a bit.) I did get some loud and honest laughs, and that was super cool. It was all I really wanted.

Afterwards, I was feeling a bit down, with people not showing up and what not. But then someone approached me and asked if I’m that guy who made that DDR movie. Yes, apparently people are still talking about that. But it affirms my belief that it’s the audience that’s important. Leave them with an experience they won’t forget. Which is what I’m taking into my next thing. You’ll see more on that later.

Will I enter again? I dunno. I don’t have a team I can really trust to deliver in the clutch (as of right now). This year was a measuring stick to find out everything I have to do from that moment on. Considering I had to scramble to get people actually IN this thing after letting everyone know a month in advance hurts a bit. That made my casting choices suffer. Nothing against those guys, but they’re not actors. Denise is the only one of them who could act out of a wet paper bag. But I’m glad those guys showed up. We had really good conversation. But that’s really it.

Much as I love the 48 Hour I like to spend more time and plan stuff. But it’s been a good few years.

 

Hey, our 48 Hour Film Festival Short is Up. You should be cool as hell and go watch it and stuff.

There can’t be enough cool movies to watch. But hey, here’s one.We did it for the 48 Hour Film Festival Chicago and it’s… something. We’re always trying to get something new going, keep it fresh.

 

But enjoy it’s cheesy glory.

 

I honestly didn’t know where this whole thing was going. Just kinda winged it.

Never Giving Up: “Kubo and the Two Strings”

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That’s right, we’re talking movies again… now that we’re making movies again. How about that shit?

But like always, I’ll be quick, and to the point.

Kubo and the Two Strings follows the adventure of Kubo (duh) at 12 year old boy who takes care of his mother who suffers from memory loss due to a brain injury. He goes to the town nearby and tells stories using magic and has two string simissin.

But of course things go south when Kubo’s aunts (who are evil of course) come by to kidnap him and take his other eye.

What begins is a magical quest to find a suit a magical armor that will protect him. From there I can’t really spoil it for you. But here’s a quick thought.

Kubo represents me a little bit. Someone who can do some super cool things. But isn’t quite there yet. Doesn’t know what to do, and is a tad scared. But with a little encouragement, finds his way, as well as a patch to forgiveness and understanding.

Maybe I as looking into the movie a little too much, but it’s just kinda how I feel on the matter.

It’s gonna go down as one of my favorites of the year for sure. Go see it, no one seems to be for some reason. Dunno.

My Time at the Arcade These Days.

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I spent my better teenage years… and twenties years… going to the arcade a few times a week. And I can mostly thank dancing games for that. Riding my bike over to Brunswick Zone to play DDR Extreme, Maximum Tune, and Soul Calibur II. Or going the 5 miles to Odyssey Fun World to play Pump, DDR, ITG, and Marvel. Maybe some Tekken as well.

When I hit college, I didn’t have the time to be running around the suburbs where I lived, because school and all that. So it was ESPN Zone for me and some of the other Chicago peeps. This was my favorite place ever to play Pump. And to make it better, the employees were quite supportive of the repeat customers and the machine was always in decent shape. Not like Pump machines require a TON of work, but still. It was a rarity to have a machine that nice in public and after ESPN Zone closed, that was pretty much it. Dave and Busters isn’t an option for Dancing Games and never seriously has been.

But after my return to Chicago a few months back, I was trying to jump back into the game. And of course I didn’t want to drive all the hell out to Round 1 (as awesome as that place is.) and I was working downtown now. But hey… what’s this FTW place?

Being a movie guy obviously, I’ve been to River East a million times in my day, and even played DDR there after movies. But now, there’s an arcade? Yay!

I’m frequently there alone for my Pump it Up sessions but sometimes a few of the other city folk show up. All and all, I’m able to get my fill in.20160806_190904

I’m not really into the “community” and the “scene” so much these days. Maybe it’s because I’m old. But I just enjoy playing the game and pretty much that’s it. For the amount of time I sit, it keeps me from getting fat, so that’s good.

To be honest, as big as a gamer as am, there’s really not much I want to play except Pump. That Batman game is legit, it just seems to be missing something. Maybe I missed a multiplayer option, I’ll have to give it another spin.

But, it’s a great place to play Pump and that’s what I’m there for. The pads are still good as of this writing.

The more I look at it. FTW and Round 1 are all too similar. Both have Bowling and Pool and stuff (I’m counting Lucky Strike in with FTW). Foodstuffs, and an arcade. I think FTW’s only issue is that it really doesn’t know what it wants to be. Does it want to be a arcade, a beercade, or just a restaurant. It does all those things pretty well but could really do a lot better.

But I could only talk about the better on the arcade side of things. FTW is missing a core part of any arcade. A fighter and a shooter… a real shooter. I’m sure something like Tekken would be poppin’ in there. But the point of arcades is to bring people unique experiences they can’t have at home. So maybe a game like Pokken or even Crossbeats would be a hit. I see people love the touchscreen games anyway.

But that’s all just me thinking out loud.

 

Anyway, I have a lot of things to do… so I’ll see you all around. Maybe I can get a bigger group with me at FTW, doubt it, but hey… more Pump for me.

 

 

And now, A Project you might really like.

Very quickly before we get back to business.

Our own Beka from C-Block has a new film coming out. Something About Henry. Not to be confused with Regarding Henry or Hardcore Henry (which was awesome by the way.)

They need the help of the film watching public. Yes, that’s us.

Wow this site has changed since about 6 months ago, I need to take a look around it myself. So many buttons.

Anyway.

The project itself can explain it a lot better than I can. Hopefully the embed will actually work today too. But this is a capable pack of individuals from what I’ve seen. And of course things can change but it’s always for the better.

They need 8k. Let’s get em to 8k or something. Twitter, don’t you fail me today. Maybe 9000, hopefully 9000 because I have memes for that .

 

Hopefully we can see it whenever it’s all done and out.

Edit: Embed doesn’t want to play nice with WordPress. But you still got that link.

In fact. Let me link you again.

Casting Time! Furries? Yes sir!

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Yayyyyy, back in Chicago and doing things finally for real again.  Happy days.

But we’re also doing something a little different, as always. I give you our next film…

Legal Paws.

You get it? Puns!

Anyway, the story focuses on two lawyers and their divorce arbitration hearing for a couple of furries. It’s a comedy with little to no heart. So come prepared to laugh a lot.

 

What’s needed is simple.

We need 2 furries (not myself of course, I’m keeping myself off camera where I belong.) Even if the suit is partial, we can work with it.

Just send an e-mail to wolfenfilms@gmail.com and I’ll hook you up with a script and all that jazz.

OR, you can hit up with facebook page, or even my twitter if you so desire. I’m always around.

And it’s a payed thing of course. Wouldn’t have it any other way.

 

Peace out ya’ll.

 

 

Handling One’s Anxiety.

Okay. We’re  doing something a little different today. Its all fun qnd games mostly,  but sometimes its serious  time.

Today is serious time.
I want to talk to you about a problem that im just finally accepting that i need help with.  And i see its quite common around those i happen to observe.

Anxiety. 

I generally  don’t complain about it because I  dont want my anxiety to define me at all. I’ve always considered talking about it “being a baby”. So i guess  it’s  time to grab a bottle. Because its a real problem. And it really does explain the person i am.

Even this morning,  i was thinking about my job. My job is shitty and the first thing i do when i get home is cry. That isnt fun. I just get overwelmed by the things that happen. All of which are out of my control.  But i cant really  tell folks at the job because they honestly already  make fun of me for looking tired and being stressed out. Of course  this is no joke.
Its made me into what i think is a shell of a person. I reach out to people thinking  i can get some insight. But i generally end up listening to their problems instead. Which is fine, i like helping.

Whether its fighting  game tourney or Roller Derby, it’s painful and scary just to be there. Even though i want to be there and have fun. Im sure they’re nice people. But i just cant bring myself to be there with the other people.  Its overwhelming. But again, i felt like i was being a baby. I wanted to do those things so badly but my own self got in the way.

Its been like this my whole life. Even when i went into the military  they said i had it. But i decided  to tough it out and it turned  into a suicide attempt. Its nothing to take lightly.

I always try and talk to people when they’re suffering depression  or aniity. The two tend to go hand in hand. Just hang and just listen to them talk. It could make all the difference.
And if you can get help. Get it as so as you can. And im around too if you wanna talk about stuff. Listening is the one superpower  i actually got.

ACEN 2016: I Walked a Lot.

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I’m not a huge Anime person these days to be perfectly honest. But it’s always cool when people come together to share in random shit that they like. That’s the spice of life right there.

I decided hella late to come to ACEN this year where I haven’t been in almost a decade. Like every year it’s in Rosemont over at the Hyatt and pretty much in a food desert. So that 7-11 run over by the Westin (where I stayed, about over a mile away.) really had to count. Shoutouts to Mountain Dew.

I got in at around 4:30. I had to go to Workcon before I hopped the Blue Line and made my way over to the Hyatt where I met Alex and Erik and we all got our badge situation together. Then I had to walk all the way to the Westin where all my gear was. My 50 pounds of camera gear. That a carried around all weekend.

ALL.
WEEKEND.

But anyway, I finally got back around 6, and I went downstairs to see my buddies at Tokyo Attack. They’re still kicking ass and bringing the most badass games with them. They’ve come a long way. I got some personal records on Pump and made many a nerd salty at Pokken. I really like the Pokken set up, they should really have at least one more though and run some tournaments on it. That’s just me talking though.

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The rest of my time there was spent going to a couple of press junkets like with the guy who did the voice of Scorpion in the latest MK titles. The rest of my time was spent and filming a long video project that you’ll see in a few days (I’ll link it here when it’s done.)  Then I entered Pokken where I got Top 16 and the tournament took wayyyyyyyyyyyyyy too long and started late. But that’s just how it goes.

All and all I wasn’t really blown away with the guests and such this time around. It must be an off year or maybe it’s just me. There wasn’t a ton of new info (they couldn’t talk about a lot of stuff, which I understand). But the guests were cool as hell folk.

Overall, despite having to walk back and forth to the hotel a total of 7 times and having issues finding the panel rooms (the map didn’t help a lot). It was actually a decent time. I saw people I had not seen in years and I have a ton of video footage I’m eager to show in a really unique way.

That all said, will I be back next year.

Yes, but in a different capacity. Stay tuned for that one.

 

 

Truly Hardcore

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There’s a time in your life when you just watch a movie and just spend the next few days talking about it. This time, it was Hardcore Henry. There’s really not a ton I can say about it but… I think I can say a few things.

First of all, I went to an early screening with Hank. We were the 2nd people in line and waited about 4 hours. Because we were going to get those seats nice and far back because we weren’t trusting a first person movie right off the bat with our stomachs (saw Captain Phillips in the front row. Never fucking again.) After sitting down and getting some nachos. We were ready to rock.

Hardcore Henry is a first person action movie. It puts you in the shoes of the hero has he throws, shoots, and freeruns all over the place.

 

I’m basically going to stop describing it here, because you can watch the trailer right above and figure everything out from there.

 

The most important thing is this… I didn’t get any motion sickness whatsoever. Maybe it’s because I’ve played FPSes for so long. But there isn’t any more camera shake than the Bourne films so if  you can survive that, you’ll be okay.

 

It’s Hour Thirty runtime seems just right. It gets Henry’s story in and out quickly. But the real star of the movie is Sharlto Copley who wears many hats during this movie (again, trying not to spoil the fun for you.)

 

Basically, what I’m getting at is this… go see it in theaters. It’s best with friends. I was lucky enough to see it in a crowded theater. You’ll whoop and holler throughout the whole thing. It’s fun like that. Shoutout to director Ilya Naishuller for giving me hope that there are original action movies out there. What’s next? A sequel? That could really be fun.

Anyway, go see it before it’s out of theaters.

 

Expect a video when it’s out on Blu Ray where I point out all the references.