movies – Looking to God

Ethan Hunt

Posted on January 20, 2016January 19, 2016 by Jack Flacco

When I think of Mission: Impossible, I think of the old sixties series with Mr. Phelps, played by Peter Graves, as an aging leader to a crack team of secret agents given the missions no one else can accomplish. I also think of Tom Cruise as Ethan Hunt. And although Hunt works best alone, he would give his life for any member of his team.

For today’s Wednesday Warriors, I’d like to have a look at Ethan Hunt: his strengths, his weaknesses and why he always makes the Mission: Impossible franchise a treat to watch.

A long time ago, I once saw Tom Cruise on Oprah—no, not the couch-jumping episode. In this episode, he described Mission: Impossible as one of his most successful movies he had made. Many folks have their opinions about Tom Cruise the man, but I have my opinion of Tom Cruise the actor. Say what you will, the man can act. I use Magnolia as one of the best films he had ever starred. No one can convince me that after watching the quietly-judging-you scene he didn’t deserve an Oscar for that performance.

Yet, as much as I admire his dramatic roles, his action roles, including his role in the film Edge of Tomorrow, is where Cruise really shines as a big audience draw.

Enter Ethan Hunt, the Impossible Missions Force‘s (IMF) top agent and leader. His expertise lies in virtually everything. He has an extensive background in explosives, weaponry and stealth. He can get in and out of a target’s home and before anyone knows what is happening, the target will have met its fate.

Ethan is also a master of disguise. One time he posed as an elderly man taking his enemy by surprise, disarming and capturing him. He also has a good command of languages, useful for when he needs to get himself out of a jam.

Martial arts? Ethan knows that, too. Whenever an adversary presses Ethan for a fight to the death, it isn’t difficult to know who will win.

But the best thing I enjoy about Ethan Hunt is not so much his mastery of disguise, command of languages, or him being a martial arts expert. No. What I like about Ethan is his ability to get out of one jam after another while showing his humanity along the way. Whether he’s fighting for his life on a speeding train, racing down a highway on a motorcycle at 140 MPH, or latching his fingers on the belly of an aircraft with the intention of securing its cargo, Ethan Hunt does the impossible. He will take the shots, in not only opportunities but also punches to the face, and fight the bad guy until the end.

Lastly, Ethan Hunt possesses a will never to surrender. In every mission he picks himself up, dusts the dirt from his clothes and continues his fight against the enemy, whoever that enemy is.

If I can say anything more about Ethan Hunt, it’s that he will do his best in whatever assignment he has going at the time. To me, such a character is a great lesson for any of us facing challenges greater than ourselves.

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Have you seen any of the Mission: Impossible movies? What are your thoughts on Ethan Hunt?

Monday Mayhem

Being a Superhero

Posted on January 11, 2016January 10, 2016 by Jack Flacco

I’ve been thinking a lot about superheroes, what it would be like to be a superhero, what kind of problems superheroes face living in among us while the rest of us depend on them for our survival. I know it sounds silly to think about this stuff, especially during the winter when we’re all comfy and warm in our homes watching Jurassic World, or, for that matter, the first six episodes of Star Wars. The closest we can ever come with anyone saving us would be the cable going out, sparing us from previews of the latest reality show.

In all seriousness though, being a superhero must be a tough gig. Think about it. For instance, wouldn’t superheroes always have to wear their uniform under their normal clothes? What about capes? No one can tell me those fit under a shirt and unravel without a wrinkle. Who takes care of their dry cleaning? And in the case of Captain America, where does he put his shield when he’s not using it. A pocket isn’t large enough to stuff that thing.

Then there’s the family thing going on. Suppose you were a superhero and you also had a birthday to attend to but during the cake cutting ceremony, you have to scoot because you feel a great disturbance in the force. Wait a minute. I think I’m getting confused again with Star Wars. But, you know what I mean. What are you going to do? Do you change there at the party, or leave without mentioning it to anyone? What if you drove there with someone else? Does this mean you have to take the car, even though you can fly or run fast where you need to go. I’m sure you’ll get questions asking you about transportation. For me, it would be equally difficult since I live in a small town. How can I explain needing to go to the big city with our car?

Okay, let’s look at it from another angle. What if you live in the big city and you see a mugging. What will you do? Do you run to the victim’s aid, all the while revealing your identity to the perpetrators? What if you’re walking down the street with family and friends? Will you ignore them in order to fulfill your superhero duties? Again, you’ll have a lot of explaining to do if you were heading to see a movie.

As you can see, the logistics to superherodom is a nightmare. Oh, sure, I suppose you can look at the lives you save versus the inconvenience. But what if you didn’t ask for it? Let’s say you are merrily walking along and BAM! all of a sudden you’re a superhero? How would you feel about that? Even more so, how would you feel if everything you thought regarding of being a superhero is all wrong? I’m sure you’d feel pretty darn silly knowing you’d have to run around for the rest of your life in tights.

Well, I guess being a superhero isn’t all that thrilling after all. Maybe I should shoot for simply being me. My family already considers me a superhero anyway.

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Have you ever wanted to be a superhero? Ever wonder what it’d be like?

Wednesday Warriors

Godzilla

Posted on November 4, 2015November 6, 2015 by Jack Flacco

I think this is the first time I’ve ever chosen a monster to be part of my Wednesday Warriors series. Of course, there is always a first time for everything. After all, in the past I’ve featured cartoons, therefore monsters weren’t too far behind.

Yet, some may not consider Godzilla a monster at all. He, and I use the term “he” loosely here, is more like a superhero lumbering ashore when a city falls prey to the destruction of a malevolent creature. A rescuer. Check. He’s more than a monster; he’s a force of vengeance against foes threatening humanity’s very existence.

How did Godzilla become a cultural icon for good versus evil? Had he always been this cuddly?

There was a time Godzilla was an evil monster the army wanted to kill. As a spawn of nuclear testing, he trampled all over Japan in his first sighting in 1954. After that, he became a film sensation. Kids loved him and the Japanese audience couldn’t get enough of the semi-dino biped.

Years later, in the 1960’s, other monsters came to challenge the towering beast. Names like Rodan, Ghidorah and Mothra became mainstays for viewers. The secret was out, a Godzilla movie wasn’t all about saving the planet, but it was about the fights between the creatures that gave the films its appeal. What could have been a hokey series, turned into a glorified franchise with all the accolades that went with it.

Godzilla became a movie favorite.

Somewhere along the line however, things changed. In an effort to cash in on the popularity of the Godzilla phenomenon, the studios, with their ever-watchful eye on the bottom dollar, pushed to the theaters sequel after sequel of absolute nonsense. Godzilla soon transformed from the hero every kid wanted to play with to a watered-down image with little substance to carry the franchise forward.

It wasn’t until the failure of 1998’s Godzilla at the box office that the studios decided to hold off on producing any more monster movies for a while. Oh, sure, there was Godzilla 2000, but we won’t talk about that.

Then 2014 happens. Godzilla is back and he is pissed. Gone are the funky Bruce Lee Jeet Kune Do moves earlier versions of the brute possessed. This time, he is here to settle old scores and purge the world of not only the monsters that threaten the U.S. west coast, but also to shatter his previous image as a weak follow-up to an impoverished genre.

This time, Godzilla brings it, yet not without controversy. Folks complained for the little screen time the hero actually had. To those detractors I say, all good things are worth the wait. In a time when everyone wants to see superheroes from the first frame of film, Godzilla was a welcome change away from today’s convention. Reminiscent of the old movies where the big reveal takes place in the final act of the film, Godzilla rocks in a classic monster movie with all the fixings.

And the best part about the whole thing? He is bigger and better than ever.

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Have you seen any Godzilla movies? What do you think of him?

Wednesday Warriors

Terminator

Posted on August 26, 2015August 25, 2015 by Jack Flacco

Few actors in the lifetime of their careers have defining roles that make them eternal to an audience of film admirers. Arnold Schwarzenegger is one of those actors. His portrayal of a robot assassin sent from the future to kill the mother of the leader of the Resistance is a benchmark for all future actors who have culled an impressive portfolio to best James Cameron‘s creation.

Arnold Schwarzenegger in Terminator Genisys

Today’s Wednesday Warriors honors Terminator, which is that creation.

In the early Eighties, The Terminator became a box office sensation. Word has it when Schwarzenegger auditioned for the role, he actually auditioned for the Kyle Reese role instead, but Cameron saw differently. One look at Schwarzenegger, and he found his killing machine for the movie of the same name.

For those unfamiliar with the story, a quick spoiler-free recap is in order.

Soldier Kyle Reese, travels to the present to save the mother of the future leader of the Resistance. In his bid to keep her from harm, he leads her through a series of escapes to foil the murderous plans of an evil machine called the Terminator. In the future, the machines rule the earth hunting humans to take over the planet.

Terminator 2: Judgement Day has a similar story but this time there are two terminators to worry about. The target this time is the child who will become the future leader of the Resistance.

The Terminator is an interesting character in that it represents the relentless drive to achieve a goal at all costs regardless of the damage that happens surrounding the achievement of that goal. Much of the Terminator’s drive comes from its neural net processor, which has the capability to follow direct programming by other machines to eliminate humans from the face of the earth, and learn as it goes along

A major aspect of the character’s inclination to follow orders pertains to nothing more than bits and bytes in a CPU. However, in the progression of the series, the audience comes to learn that the terminator machine can take on a life of its own, and in several instances, become human in an inhuman world.

Of course, if one were to attempt to stop a terminator, the target would need more than a truck to take it out of commission. The target would need a special strategy to relieve it of its mission. Neither fire nor ice can destroy the cold heart of this killing machine. A sledgehammer might do the trick, but there are no guarantees.

Terminator’s focus is steadfast and does not waver from its mission, which makes the robot one of the most terrifying characters in science fiction history. 2001: Space Odyssey‘s HAL 9000 exudes as a malignant robot gone astray, using deception as its key tool to fight humans. With a terminator, there’s nothing deceptive about its goal. It plunges into the present, hunts its targets, and makes a spectacle out of it.

Having said that, as mentioned, the Terminator’s capacity to learn is its redeeming quality that may absolve it of its terrible role it possesses. That is to say, if it learns for good. If anything, this quality can lead it to become a father to a lost son.

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Have you seen any of the Terminator movies? What did you think of them?

Wednesday Warriors

Rob Hawkins

Posted on August 12, 2015August 5, 2015 by Jack Flacco

He doesn’t have to think about it. He knows what he has to do. Above all, no one or anything can stop him. Beth needs him, and that is all that matters to him. He will save her. He will risk his life for her. If he dies for her, then so be it. He will not have died in vain.

Wednesday Warriors. Cloverfield‘s Rob Hawkins.

Cloverfield's Michael Stahl-David as Rob Hawkins — Cloverfield’s Michael Stahl-David as Rob Hawkins

When falling in love, no one knows where it will lead. There may be periods of indescribable joy, and there my be episodes of unbearable pain. So it is with Rob Hawkins (Michael Stahl-David) when he shows up at a surprise going away party in his honor. He is heading to Japan and leaving his friends behind. He is also leaving Beth McIntyre (Odette Annable) behind whom he loves.

The night couldn’t be better. His friends have determined to make his farewell bash the best party ever. And it is, until Beth appears with her new boyfriend. Soon after she leaves though, he and his friends plant themselves on the fire escape and talk about forgetting about Beth. As much as he would like, Rob can’t do that. He loves her and he doesn’t want to leave for Japan without having some sort of resolution with his former girlfriend.

That’s when it happens.

The earth shakes. The walls quake. And the lights go out.

Something sinister falls on New York City and everyone, including Rob wonders what it could be.

When the lights come back on, the news states something has attacked lower Manhattan, rendering it helpless. Fleeing to the top of the apartment building, Rob and his friends survey the city for damage. He doesn’t know it yet, but what will happen next will change his life forever. An object screams down from the heavens blasting the city’s core, laying it waste. Debris flies over Rob’s head pushing everyone to dash to the stairs to the street below.

All would have been fine hadn’t Rob received the call. He can’t help himself, he has to find out how she is. Beth made it home, but she needs help. Rob is the only one she can count on to save her.

And the boyfriend? What happened to him? It doesn’t matter. All Rob cares about is Beth. He wants her safe.

Against the advice of his friends, Rob takes to the city streets in search of his friend, stranded by whatever had befallen her. Through the military maneuvers and the train tunnels he roams, fighting against exhaustion, overcoming perilous attacks from forces unseen. Rob’s only focus is Beth, saving her life and redeeming himself of what had torn apart their relationship in the first place.

The eventual outcome of the story rests on friendship. Rob Hawkins doesn’t have to think twice when it comes to Beth. As awful as their breakup was, he will still offer his life in order that she might live instead.

Isn’t that what true friendship is all about?

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

Have you seen Cloverfield? What do you think about Rob Hawkins and his friendship with Beth?

Monday Mayhem

Monster Movies

Posted on August 10, 2015August 9, 2015 by Jack Flacco

Monster movies have always captured my imagination. When I was a kid, a Sunday afternoon wouldn’t be the same without watching Godzilla and all the other Japanese monsters wreaking havoc on Tokyo. Back then, it was the thing to do. We had those twenty-four-inch TVs with mono sound and low-res images that sparked our interest and carried us through the weekend.

For today’s Monday Mayhem, I would like to delve into my liking of monster movies, why I like certain ones and the impact they have made on my life.

Godzilla—As I stated in the intro, Godzilla was the movie series my friends and I loved and would gather after school to talk about. Yeah, you could have considered me a nerd. In the earlier movies, which were films filmed in Japanese, brought overseas and translated for the English-speaking audience, Godzilla was anything but pleasant. In the earlier incarnations, he was the bad guy. Born from a radioactive mess, he stomped his way through Tokyo causing authorities to use deadly force on the giant creature. In later films, he became the hero, also destroying cities, but taking down other monsters in the process. I loved the series because it had a ominous, end-of-the-world feel I couldn’t shake.

Cloverfield—No monster movie discussion would be complete without the addition of the film Cloverfield. Directed by J.J. Abrams, Manhattan once again becomes the playing ground to an alien invasion. Similar to other alien invasion movies, other than War of the Worlds, a creature sets foot in New York City and rips apart the downtown core. The premise is not a unique one, yet the story flow and action progressively escalates to hypertension as the shrieks and destruction the beast yields causes the masses to stampede from the scene. Filmed from a first-person perspective, the story merits attention due to its unyielding build throughout the story. I also love the fact that the plot encompasses older themes of the earlier Godzilla movies, complete with military intervention and wanton devastation.

Jaws—By far, many wouldn’t consider Jaws a monster movie. If anything, Jaws is about a biological anomaly that should have never happened. But happen, it did. The story about a shark laying waste the shores of Amity Island became an instant success in the movie industry and introduced the world to the summer blockbuster flick. I would consider it a monster movie because the shark was beyond imagination. The great white spanned longer than the length of a fishing trolley and its jaws could swallow a person whole. The shark also had no redeeming qualities to catch the audience’s will to sympathize with the creature. It wanted to kill and nothing more. For this, the crew made up of a sheriff, an oceanographer and a fisherman needed to get rid of the beast before it hurt anyone else. It was, by all accounts and definition, a monster that had to die.

There you have it folks, my picks for admirable monster movies that would make a Sunday afternoon great again. By no means is the list complete, but I think you get the point of where I was going with it. I hope it spurs you to seek those often-neglected titles and admire the work involved with making such films.

Quite frankly, monster movies are awesome—but that’s my opinion.

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 monster movies do you like? What attracts you to the genre?

Wednesday Warriors

Robbie Hart

Posted on July 29, 2015July 28, 2015 by Jack Flacco

No matter how many times I watch The Wedding Singer, the character Robbie Hart always does something in the film that makes me think hard about true love. This time around, since I saw it a few weeks ago, it was all about the little things. Today, I’d like to talk about Robbie Hart and about what makes him so unique that I would include him in my Wednesday Warriors series.

Adam Sandler as Robbie Hart in The Wedding Singer

You know you’re in trouble when you look through your movie collection and all you can find is an Adam Sandler movie. In truth, that’s a good thing, since trouble means laughing through it even after multiple viewings haven’t diminished the impact of the content. The film The Wedding Singer is like that. Filled with inside jokes and funny transitions, the flick comes with two admirable stars whose chemistry flows from the screen.

Robbie Hart (Adam Sandler) is a wedding singer who loses his fiancée at the altar. The no-show devastates him enough to cause him to have a meltdown of sorts. During this time, Julia Sullivan (Drew Barrymore), the new employee at the wedding hall he plays at, and his future romantic interest, promises to hire Hart’s band as the band who should play for her own wedding. As the story progresses, the two discover that their friendship is more than what they expect and confront their feelings for each other in one of the most sentimental and funniest movie endings.

What makes Robbie a unique character to admire is the way he handles life. Other than his fiancée dumping him, he doesn’t allow life to dictate the way he lives. He’s a wedding singer—how cool is that? Every weekend is party time. Additionally, given he lives in a small town where he grew up, he has decided to live his life where his kids can grow up safe and secure away from the big city madness that grips all twentysomethings like him.

He doesn’t make a lot of money. So what? He may not have the best of opportunities to move forward with his life. So what? He’s happy. That’s what counts. He realizes that, and anyone around him knows he’s the relaxed type who enjoys his time with friends and family. That counts for something, doesn’t it?

Regarding his relaxed attitude—nothing really bothers Robbie. One of his older students could pour two meatballs with sauce in his hands, but rather than get annoyed, he runs with it and is grateful for the thought. His best friend Julia has that same relaxed attitude. She doesn’t have a problem with Robbie’s wedding singer status, his small-town dreams and his penchant for laughing at the weirdest of things. She loves him just the same.

Which brings me to Robbie’s best character attribute. With him, it’s the little things:

I wanna make you smile whenever you’re sad
Carry you around when your arthritis is bad
All I wanna do is grow old with you.
I’ll get your medicine when your tummy aches
Build you a fire if the furnace breaks
Oh, it could be so nice, growin’ old with you.
I’ll miss you, kiss you, give you my coat when you are cold.
Need you, feed you, I’ll even let you hold the remote control.
So let me do the dishes in the kitchen sink
Put you to bed when you’ve had too much to drink.
Oh, I could be the man to grow old with you.
I wanna grow old with you.

If anything, Robbie Hart has heart. And in a world where things sometimes move too fast, Robbie is a welcome relief to de-stress and look at life through a different pair of eyes.

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 do you think of Robbie Hart. Have you seen The Wedding Singer?

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