film – Looking to God

Kevin McCallister

Posted on December 9, 2015December 8, 2015 by Jack Flacco

One man, alone, abandoned by the country he loves. Oh, wait, we’re talking about that Home Alone character who sets traps throughout his house to keep the thieves at bay.

Yeah, okay, I’ll go with the “One man, alone…” quote.

Or how about if I make up my own? One warrior stands alone, grappling with destiny, vowing to defend the land he loves.

Maybe not.

Kevin McCallister (Macaulay Culkin) is the troublemaker. The set-apart. The brat. The night before leaving on vacation, he becomes a sore spot for the rest of his family. In a moment of anger, he says to his mother that he wishes he could wake up and find everyone gone.

The next morning, Kevin’s words turn into reality. He awakens to an empty house and with nothing to do other than to call for a major party.

Cue the required jumping on bed, eating anything and everything he can get his hands on, splashing aftershave on his face for the first time, using the stairs as a toboggan route, playing with firecrackers, and watching all the stuff on TV his parents would take a conniption if they found out.

As fun as it seems, and as happy, as Kevin is to know that he doesn’t have his parents or his obnoxious brother to deal with, he has another problem on his hands. Thieves, who have been casing the neighborhood, have marked his home for a score. In spite of the lights going on like clockwork every night, The Wet Bandits (Joe Pesci and Daniel Stern) have left Kevin’s house last on their list of homes to burglarize.

Yet, Kevin isn’t dumb. He knows a threat when he sees it. The Wet Bandits are a threat. His first round meeting his foes, he uses his intellect and some good ol’ fashioned fun to distract the pair from entering his home. His technique is a simple one: use mannequins to scare off the intruders.

Of course it worked. Who would stick around with a house filled with guests dancing to the groove of 50’s Christmas music?

It doesn’t end there. After a failed attempt at casing the joint once more, the crooks promise they will be back. And Kevin vows he will be ready.

Well, that’s a short summary about Kevin McCallister, the little boy who defends his house from intruders during Christmas time.

The other part of the story, which is more personal, is that the movie is also one of the first films my wife and I went to see before getting married. Every year now, my family and I sit down to watch this treat of an extravaganza as a wonderful tradition and reminder of our courtship.

All right, back to Kevin. He’s smart, funny, and quick on the draw. He’s your regular kid, but with a bit of an attitude. If I were to ever want someone to defend my home against intruders, I’d certainly get Kevin to do it for me.

Having said that, I want to watch Home Alone once more.

Get the Ranger Martin trilogy now!

Have you seen Home Alone? What do you like most about Kevin?

Wednesday Warriors

Dominic Toretto

Posted on October 21, 2015November 6, 2015 by Jack Flacco

A Western has that moment in the story when the hero makes peace with his broken life and decides it is better to die in a blaze of gunfire than to live out the rest of his days as an ordinary gentleman.

Dominic Toretto (Vin Diesel) of The Fast and the Furious franchise is that hero. He is also the focus for today’s Wednesday Warriors.

From an early age, Dominic took to cars, tearing them apart, putting them together. He had within him the ability to make things go faster. Eventually, his hobby turned into a money machine where he spent most of his time souping up old pieces of junk into gleaming bullets that would scream down a track and win challenges without effort. His girlfriend Letty (Michelle Rodriquez), who grew up with him, had a similar passion and made the perfect match for the speed demon. They had an understanding—she would be by his side and he wouldn’t tell her what to do. Then again, Dominic was the type who didn’t like anyone telling him what to do either.

But something exists within Dominic few know about—a darker side.

Apart from his thriving business in car restorations, Dominic also has a side business. It isn’t a hobby. It isn’t something he has to do. The thrill of beating an inferior vehicle on the track isn’t enough for the turbo-seeker. He needs a bigger thrill.

Jacking trucks is that thrill.

When Brian (Paul Walker) shows up as the young hotshot on Dominic’s turf, suspicions arise. Who is this guy who no one has ever heard of to become all of a sudden the pedal-pounder’s best friend? Does he too have a secret life no one knows about?

As much as anyone would want to pin a felony against the NOS burner, Dominic is the fastest man on the road. He can race against the best in the world, drifting his way to the prize without much work other than his courage and strength to carry him across the finish line.

The life of Dominic Toretto is more than cars, though. In the bursts of octane, the crowds cheering, and the smell of diesel, lives a man who will do anything to step in for a friend and take the proverbial rap, if that is what he has to do to save a buddy. He will surrender everything he has worked hard for and give it all away, if it means he would be rescuing those who need his help.

Brian may not be who he says he is, but he recognizes Dominic’s loyalty to his friends. He understands early in his friendship with the road warrior that Dominic wouldn’t betray those who had supported him.

When you’re a friend with Dominic, you’re a friend for life.

Get the Ranger Martin zombie trilogy now!

Have you seen The Fast and the Furious? What do you think of the character Dominic Toretto?

Wednesday Warriors

Bryan Mills

Posted on October 14, 2015October 14, 2015 by Jack Flacco

When does a father let go of his daughter because she no longer is his little girl? Does he simply sit back and watch her drift from his hands while she discovers the world on her own. Or, does he do everything in his power to protect her, even if it means taking the life of another to bring her back to him safely?

Bryan Mills (Liam Neeson) is the father no young man would want to meet on a first date. He is also the highlight for today’s Wednesday Warriors.

All Kim (Maggie Grace) wants to do is go to Paris with her friend Amanda (Katie Cassidy). She also wants to become a singer, but that’s more of a dream. During her birthday party, her father gives her a boom box, which quickly becomes old news when her stepfather gives her a pony. The oneupmanship continues when Bryan’s ex-wife Lenore (Famke Janssen) tells him he was never there for them, her stepdad, though, is. It hits him hard, yet he manages knowing it’s news he has heard before.

Taken's Bryan Mills — Taken’s Bryan Mills

When Kim tells her dad about the Parisian visit, Bryan has the final word. She’s his daughter and no daughter of his is going anywhere without a chaperone.

Time does good to all. Bryan eventually caves and gives her permission to go on the trip under several stipulations—one of them being that she has to call as soon as she gets there. When Kim doesn’t call, he makes contact with her in her apartment. Everything is going well until she sees her friend in the arms of masked assailants.

Something becomes painfully obvious. Bryan is more than a father. He has served his country faithfully, even to the point of destroying his family. When he instructs his daughter to hide from the kidnappers, she dashes under the bed. When he then tells her the brutal truth, that they will take her, she whimpers. And when the kidnappers finally take her, knowing the kidnappers are on the other end of the line, Bryan delivers these fateful words:

“I don’t know who you are. I don’t know what you want. If you are looking for ransom, I can tell you I don’t have money. But what I do have are a very particular set of skills, skills I have acquired over a very long career. Skills that make me a nightmare for people like you. If you let my daughter go now, that’ll be the end of it. I will not look for you, I will not pursue you. But if you don’t, I will look for you, I will find you, and I will kill you.”

After a long pause, the kidnapper says, “Good Luck.”

No one messes with Bryan Mills. He is the spark no one wants to ignite. He is the bullet the hammer doesn’t want to hit. His former associates know him as efficient in business.

This time it’s different. It’s not business. This time, it’s personal.

Are you familiar with Bryan Mills? What do you think of the character?

Wednesday Warriors

Oz

Posted on October 7, 2015October 7, 2015 by Jack Flacco

In the film Oz the Great and Powerful, James Franco plays a Kansas carny performer who has overstayed his welcome. In every town he visits, he performs the same scam. He first gains the trust of those around him then he takes advantage of them until either they throw him out, or he has no choice other than to run. You see, Oz is not your ordinary circus performer, he is a very good circus performer who knows people and how they work. That is why he makes an excellent profile for today’s Wednesday Warriors.

In Kansas, Oz is your typical sideshow act. He’s a magician, an illusionist, a performer, an example of what is right in the world—or at least that is what he thinks of himself. Meanwhile, he has wooed multiple women with the same technique he has used countless times. A music box does wonders to a woman’s heart.

But not everyone admires the dashing actor. Husbands, in fact, hate him, and would do anything to see him hanging from a tree until dead.

When Oz attempts to sweep the wrong girl off her feet, his worst nightmare becomes a reality. In an effort to escape an enraged spouse, he hops into a balloon and casts off to places unknown.

The resourceful Oz has no one to rely on than himself. Yet, how different is that from the other times he had to make a quick getaway from other folks who have wanted to make him part of a funeral procession?

What Oz doesn’t count on is the twister that suddenly makes an appearance during the most inopportune time. With the winds wailing, the balloon lifting to heights beyond comprehension, Oz can only dream of a time when his feet will once again walk on solid earth. He will never again take to flight in order to thwart the evil musings of a jilted lover.

After having landed in a place unknown, he discovers the land is not what he expects. He notices the large flowers, the waters alive with creatures he has never imagined and the air running amok with birds that have the ability to swallow him whole. Indeed, Oz is not in Kansas anymore.

As the story progresses, Oz comes upon two sisters (Mila Kunis and Rachel Weisz) and a kingdom filled with riches. His eyes fall on the treasure promised to the heir of the fortune—a great wizard who will save the land from the Wicked Witch and her minions. Without knowing what the prophecy means, Oz becomes the unwitting center of the story. But he has more on his mind than saving a people from a woman he could dismiss with a wave of a hand. Oz has the treasure in mind that he wants to inherit all to himself.

The film could run a predictable course where Oz steps on everyone’s dreams as a means to exact his greed-filled desires. But in true Disney fashion, Oz becomes a bigger man than he would have otherwise predicted for himself.

Revealing more of the story would also mean to ruin an experience for the viewer that would highlight a man’s willingness to put aside his own desires for the love of a people.

And seeing Oz in that position of growth is not only inspiring but also a miracle.

RANGER MARTIN AND THE ZOMBIE APOCALYPSE, on sale now.
RANGER MARTIN AND THE ALIEN INVASION, on sale now.
RANGER MARTIN AND THE SEARCH FOR PARADISE, on sale October 20.

Have you seen Oz the Great and Powerful? What do you think about Oz’s growth in the film?

Monday Mayhem

What Scares You?

Posted on October 5, 2015October 4, 2015 by Jack Flacco

Somehow, whenever October rolls around, I feel a definite shift in people’s attitudes. I think a lot of it has to do with Halloween coming at the end of the month. I also think the time change at the beginning of November has people thinking of the darker evenings. For some, it brings SAD (Seasonal Affective Disorder), and for others, the shorter days can prove a great motivator to flee for warmer climes.

However, for today’s Monday Mayhem, I’d like to concentrate on one thing: Horror movies.

For some, Horror movies can be a sensitive subject. Depending on the story, the film can act as a portal for demon possession. Don’t ask me where I read that. I just did. I can’t blame anyone for thinking that. If you’ve seen The Exorcist, you would think there is more to that film than the simple possession of a little girl on screen. I saw it when I was ten years old. I couldn’t sleep for a week. Years later I read somewhere that two main characters connected with the film died unexpectedly shortly either before or after the premier. Reports surfaced that during the film’s run, certain members in the audience passed out in the aisles while watching the film. Stationed outside movie theaters were ambulances waiting for more and more victims. A few of the cast members once said they believed the set was haunted.

The Sixth Sense had a similar effect on audiences, but in a different way. I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve watched that movie. I would consider the flick a perfect case study for writers who want to learn about plot, pacing, character development and escalating action. The film also sports an ending that few, if any, could have guessed. I know I didn’t have a clue.

I consider The Sixth Sense a Horror movie, but not in the way that others might consider it Horror. The escalating images of dead people with its eerie musical cues and scenes written in the Hitchcock style, makes this film more than an ordinary Horror film. It’s scary, not because of what you see, but because of what you don’t see.

The whole Horror genre nowadays has changed. More and more filmmakers attempt to outdo each other with graphic scenes of gore that would even make a serial killer take notice. As the audience desensitizes to yesterday’s splatter count, they also want more. Gone are the days when a filmmaker could get away with not showing the murder. In fact, if I may be so bold in saying, today crime films can fit into a category all on its own for being a cross between the Detective and Horror genres. Throw in a couple of demon possessions and there you’d have the perfect genre.

Nevertheless, knowing all this, I have a question for everyone—and I’m genuinely curious about your thoughts about this subject.

What scares you?

What I mean is, what really scares you?

RANGER MARTIN AND THE ZOMBIE APOCALYPSE, on sale now.
RANGER MARTIN AND THE ALIEN INVASION, on sale now.
RANGER MARTIN AND THE SEARCH FOR PARADISE, on sale October 20.

What scares you?

Wednesday Warriors

Josh Kovaks

Posted on September 9, 2015September 8, 2015 by Jack Flacco

Tower Heist is one of those movies you can plop on the couch and immediately know who the players are and what they’re after. Reminiscent of the lighthearted caper Ocean’s Eleven, the film features an all-star cast portraying a quirky set of characters out for revenge. Not only is the movie a popcorn feature with all the expected thrills of a heist tale, but it also has a wonderful ending that is much too good to spoil.

With that intro out of the way, Josh Kovaks takes top billing for today’s Wednesday Warriors.

As great as Tower Heist is, critics didn’t like it. Yes, it is light. Yes, it has a few ridiculous plot holes. And yes, the acting could be better. But because it doesn’t take itself seriously, and some of the story elements are not as tight as one would hope, it doesn’t mean the plot isn’t good. On the contrary, holding it together is a lead character so unbelievable that Ben Stiller makes him believable.

Ben Stiller [Photo Credit: Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license.]

Josh Kovaks is the manager to a New York apartment building whose employer (Alan Alda), who Josh admires, becomes the center of an FBI fraud investigation. When Josh discovers the apartment’s employees have fallen victim to their employer’s Ponzi scheme, he takes it upon himself to seek revenge against his once-beloved idol. Adding further to his motives, this happens after one of the elderly employees attempts to take his own life soon after finding out his retirement nest egg has vanished in the scheme.

From the very beginning, the audience gets to know Josh as a determined boss who leads his team with the goal of making the tenants’ stay more enjoyable. He memorizes silly facts about wines so as he can make recommendations to those with the financial means of appreciating his taste. He also takes the time to get to know each guest under his care—a trait the tenants find comforting. Under Josh’s watch, he is aware of everything, and everything that happens, happens for a reason.

Like other good caper films, Josh goes on a mission to recruit those capable of pulling off the impossible. In this case, he and his crew will need to break into his former boss’ penthouse to rip off what is supposedly a bucket of cash, ready for transport. The trouble with the plan is finding where his former boss had hidden it.

Although Josh has a hard time attempting to pull the plan together, nothing compares with him trying to keep the other members of his team from bailing on the plot or betraying each other. The people problem is what has him losing sleep.

Overall, in spite of the obstacles, Josh delivers on his promises to his team—even if it’s not in the way the audience quite expects it.

RANGER MARTIN AND THE ZOMBIE APOCALYPSE, on sale now.
RANGER MARTIN AND THE ALIEN INVASION, on sale now.
RANGER MARTIN AND THE SEARCH FOR PARADISE, on sale October 20.

Have you seen Tower Heist? If so, what did you think about it? What do you think of Josh?

Wednesday Warriors

Ray Ferrier

Posted on July 15, 2015July 7, 2015 by Jack Flacco

One of the most unforgettable movie-going events my wife and I experienced happened ten years ago when we went to watch Steven Spielberg‘s War of the Worlds. We were in Nova Scotia at the time, and it was two years after Hurricane Juan had hit the Dartmouth/Halifax area. Naturally, we were all apprehensive when storms were brewing off the coast that summer, and that night was no exception. To add to the creepiness, it was ice-cold inside the theater. I was sure it would take me a week to thaw from the air conditioning.

If you’ve been following this site long, you’ll know I write my feature Wednesday Warriors for those characters I feel are larger than life or strong in overcoming tribulation. Ray Ferrier (Tom Cruise) is one of those characters.

I have to say one thing about Tom Cruise. A lot of folks are not into Tom Cruise the man, mainly for his views on psychology or his ties with Scientology or the highly publicized couch-jumping incident on Oprah. War of the Worlds came out while he was courting Katie Holmes. However, regarding Tom Cruise the actor, it is my opinion he is one of the most overlooked actors in the film industry. He should have won an Oscar for his work in Magnolia. The characters he portrays have a quiet vulnerability that shows well on the big screen.

The film War of the Worlds revolves around a father’s quest to protect his children at all costs. Not alien, human or anything else can get in his way to earning the title “Dad”. In a story where one thing goes wrong after another, and the state of the main characters spirals into a dark pit of depression, Ray takes it upon himself to keep everyone sane and safe.

Dealing with an alien invasion is one thing, but in this movie, the audience can feel the frost as Ray’s breath turns to vapor while dashing between buildings with the hope of seeing the storm that is brewing overhead. Unknown to him, the storm is more than a natural occurrence. The churning in the sky signals an ominous force ready to change his life and the lives of those he loves.

Unlike the regular Hollywood heroes who can fight through anything and come out of a battle unscathed, Ray has a complex personality. He’s not likable. He’s not the best father in the world. And, if anything, he is one of the most selfish characters a moviegoer will ever encounter. But when the invasion finally hits, Ray’s instincts kick in and he becomes the one who leads those who depend on him for freedom.

Ray’s fears take a major role in the plot, making him as ordinary as the audience viewing his growth throughout the film. What was once a man filled with assertion of his abilities, transforms into an unlikely hero with weaknesses and vulnerabilities. The key to Ray is his kids. Without his kids, he might as well not live, as denoted in one scene where he had to let one of them go.

Soon after having watched the film and exiting the theater, it had begun to rain. My wife and I dashed to our car and wondered if an alien invasion was in the midst of those clouds.

RANGER MARTIN AND THE ZOMBIE APOCALYPSE, on sale now.
RANGER MARTIN AND THE ALIEN INVASION, on sale now.
RANGER MARTIN AND THE SEARCH FOR PARADISE, on sale October 20.

Have you seen War of the Worlds? What are your thoughts about Ray Ferrier in the film?

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this: