Thriller – Looking to God

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?

Monday Mayhem

Benefits to Becoming a Zombie

Posted on April 13, 2015April 14, 2015 by Jack Flacco

The other day my friends and I couldn’t agree if becoming a zombie was a good thing. Aside from the annoying groan and smells emanating from the undead corpse, some of them seemed to think turning into a zombie was a positive experience. I begged to differ.

Crowd photo of the Guinness World Record™ breaking New Jersey Zombie Walk held on October 30th, 2010. 4,093+ zombies attended the event. [Photo credit: Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license.]

On a dare, I promised my friends that for my Monday Mayhem series post I’d refute their claims and prove beyond a doubt that the life of a zombie was not something one would aspire to, if one were to put things into perspective.

Being a Zombie Saves Time—The biggest advantage my friends put forth as a reason to becoming a zombie is that zombies do not have to worry about personal hygiene. They argued that the byproduct to such an action is saving time. Well, I thought, so is not sleeping. But you don’t see me not taking showers and staying up all night. That is, if you don’t live in a frat house. No, I countered their argument stating the obvious. Okay, you’ll save time by not bathing and not sleeping. Then what? How will you use that extra time? You can’t go out on date because, frankly, you’ll smell. And you can’t learn a new hobby because the teacher will run away at the first sight of you. Jack 1, Friends 0.

Being a Zombie Means Never Having to Go Hungry—I’m not sure how we ended up talking about this, but eventually the conversation of food came to play. My friends agreed that zombies would never have to go hungry again. With a lot of humans running around, they’d have their choice of meat any way they want. Sorry, but I’m going to raise one slight detail they forgot to factor into their genius argument. Everything would be all sunshine and rainbows if humans didn’t have the weapons to splatter your brains all over the back wall where you were standing. As zombies, you can run after humans. The question remains, will you live long enough to claim your prize? Don’t think humans will lay down without a fight. Jack 2, Friends 0.

Being a Zombie Means Having Eternal Life—I literally laughed out loud when one of my friends suggested they’d have eternal life. The first thought to hit me was, living forever? How? As an undead creature, you’d rot to a slow death. What kind of life is that? Would being a zombie mean having the ability to cheat death? I don’t think so. Look at what happened to the zombies in the movie Warm Bodies. They had sniveled to stick figures with no hope of living a productive life. Then there’re the walkers in The Walking Dead. They’re about to fall apart soon. No thanks. I’d rather remain human with the full knowledge that when I die I won’t have to worry about the dastardly deeds I’d committed as a zombie. I know, weak argument, but still. Jack 3, Friends 0.

Being a Zombie Means I Can Dance—My friends used the Michael Jackson Thriller video to make their point. Zombies can dance, they said. And you know what? I happen to agree with them. Great video. Jack 3, Friends 1.

There you have it. Other than knowing how to dance, the benefits to becoming a zombie are not that great. I’d choose human over zombie any day of the week.

RANGER MARTIN AND THE ZOMBIE APOCALYPSE, on sale now.
RANGER MARTIN AND THE ALIEN INVASION, on sale now.

What arguments did I miss? Is being a zombie all that great?

Monday Mayhem

Zombie Movies I’d Like to See

Posted on April 28, 2014April 30, 2014 by Jack Flacco

I’ve been a fan of genre crossing for a long time. I love it when movies bend the rules in order to tell a different type of story. I enjoy the challenges a hero faces when all of a sudden the plot flips from ordinary Horror to something altogether unpredictable. For today’s edition of Monday Mayhem, I’d like to have a look at zombie movies I’d love to see at the theater. If someone already came up with these ideas, let me know. I’m always in the mood for another zombie movie.

Zombies in Space—How about a zombie outbreak that takes place on a space station? Even more so, how about a zombie apocalypse taking over a human colony on another planet? We’re always wondering about what would happen if a zombie virus hits earth. What about astronauts on the space shuttle? No one can deny the close proximity of everyone involved would prove to be the worst aspect of the scenario. How would zombies react in zero gravity? I can see it now, the undead attempting to bite a floating human and it can’t quite grasp the concept of catching its food while hovering over it. I’d find it comical as well as challenging for the zombies. I’m sure humans would win.

Zombies of the Round Table—You know this was coming. The Knights of the Round Table going up against the zombies that have taken over the land. This movie would come complete with fire breathing dragons and the princess in the tower the knights had to save from the horde of undead trying to make a meal out of her. I can picture it now, sword battles and an archer’s dream. The logistics behind a movie like this would make any accountant’s head spin. Weapons, setting, zombie costumes, battle scenes, castle configuration, CGI, the list would go on and on. I’d go see it, for sure.

Zombies of the Wild, Wild West—I can hear you guys now, “Really, Jack? Really? Haven’t we learned anything from Cowboys & Aliens?” Okay, this may be a stretch. I would still enjoy a story like this. I would. Imagine a spaghetti western crossing with a zombie apocalypse. The Good, the Bad and the Zombie. Who doesn’t want to watch something like this? Show of hands? Believe me, a gunslinger sitting at a poker table in a saloon will beat six zombies bursting through the doors without breaking a sweat. This movie would raise the bar for zombie kills done in a one-hundred minute film.

Zombies vs. Vampires—I saved the best for last. Who wouldn’t want to see a movie where zombies and vampires tear each other apart? I know I would. When Underworld released, I was one of the first fans to hit the theater. In this case, vampires battled Lycans (werewolves). Not as genre crossing as the rest of the lot, zombies vs. vampires would prove a challenge even to seasoned producers. For instance, an astute writer will ask the question, “Who would be strong enough to win?” As an aside—zombies would win out of pure numbers. Vampires would win out of pure cunning. It would be an amazing movie, nonetheless.

I’m hoping one day that some of these ideas will become movies. I would totally spend money to see them. I must say though, if a bright young producer decided to create a zombie musical to satisfy the craving of all the middle aged folks old enough to remember Michael Jackson’s Thriller video, I’d probably skip it. One video with dancing zombies is enough in my book. Besides, no one could do the zombie walk quite like Jackson could—not including Jennifer Garner in 13 Going on 30.

RANGER MARTIN AND THE ZOMBIE APOCALYPSE, now on sale.

What kind of movie would you like to see incorporating zombies?

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