vLog – The Lord of the Rings vs The Dark Tower (Hollywood, Listen Up!)
On this day of Festivus, my head wandered into Stephen King territory and I started thinking about how a proper adaption of THE DARK TOWER series has not yet been done. There’s been talks for years but, ultimately, fans have never received the entire series in film. In this video I compare THE LORD OF THE RINGS to THE DARK TOWER in terms of an opinionated approach as to how to tackle such an immense project. It all comes down to one word . . . which you’ll have to watch to find out. (I’m the worst, I know.)
Ultimately, however, I do think we owe Stephen King some gratitude after all he’s done for the literary world and pop culture in general.
vLog – The Lord of the Rings vs The Dark Tower (Hollywood, Listen Up!)
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Pandora Collins, one of Hollywood’s most famous movie stars, has a stalker. To eliminate the threat, she hires a hitman to pop the guy. Quickly, all goes awry as the hitman delves into plans of his own, betrays Pandora, and slips away without a trace every time he strikes. Add a romantic subplot between Pandora and Jerry Leger, the detective assigned to her case, and you’ve got yourself a compelling read.
Kilpatrick has succeeded where only the best authors do: he tells the story to you straight and not once are you thinking, “Hey, wait a sec. What happened here?” and you’re forced to reread the last paragraph or two or, sometimes, even chapters. But the most important aspect of his storytelling is his ability to make you believe he knows what he’s talking about and that every word you read is truth.
I’m a huge fan of the small press and of self-published titles. I’ve said it many times, but these “lesser known” books are far more engaging and far more authentic than so much of what comes out from large publishing houses these days. Kilpatrick has written one heck of a novel and the fact he went independent with it instead of selling out to some big name publisher (which he could easily have done), speaks of his desire to keep things simple and give you, the reader, a superb tale, an engrossing story, and an honest-to-God page-turner.
Being an author myself, it’s easy for me to pick apart someone’s work (I’m not saying I’m perfect, but after writing a few books, you develop an eye for “near-perfection”), and with Kilpatrick’s novel, that is extraordinarily difficult to do. This story is one worth reading several times over and one that gives you a sense of comprehension of how those who have been hurt in the past grow into the adults they become, whether for good or ill.
JCVD (2008) Written by Mabrouk El Mechri, Frédéric Benudis and Christophe Turpin Directed by Mabrouk El Mechri Runtime 97 min. 4.5 out of 5
Jean-Claude Van Damme—international movie star.
Jean-Claude Van Damme—the Muscles from Brussels.
Jean-Claude Van Damme—loved by millions
Jean-Claude Van Damme—criminal?
It’s a post office hostage situation and Van Damme is suspected to be the guy running the show. He talks to the cops, tells them what he wants, is alone inside with the hostages—he’s got guilty written all over him.
Except not all is what it seems and Van Damme—hero to all—is having the worst day of his life. Not only did he lose custody of his daughter, he’s broke, has no new movie on the horizon and now he’s getting framed taking a post office with a built-in bank hostage.
I just finished watching this and I’m still soaking it in. I’ve seen most of Van Damme’s movies and JCVD is nothing like any of them. This isn’t an action movie despite it starting that way. This is a drama. Big time, and Van Damme proves here he is way more than just muscles, high kicks, and guns. This Van Damme is raw, brutally honest, caring and just downright human. No eight-foot-tall-and-bullet-proof karate guy here. This is the story about Van Damme the man (he goes by his own name in the movie), one with heart, potent emotion and a performance that should have been nominated for an Oscar. Seriously.
Van Damme’s not listed in the movie’s writing credits, but there’s a point in the movie where he talks to the camera about life, Hollywood, the ups and downs and simply apologizes for the mistakes he’s made in real life to those he knows and to those, like us, he doesn’t. Just phenomenal.
My only little thing was the story seemed to move slowly in parts, but, hey, that could just be me.
And the ending . . . man, it was just perfect. I really liked how they presented it, especially the climatic scene between Van Damme and the bad guys. To go any other way would have completely ruined the movie, but this was handled nicely. Good on them.
The sepia coloring used throughout the film added a wonderful grittiness to it, enhancing the drama and its foreign and rustic atmosphere.
This is a Van Damme movie you’ve never seen before. This is a Van Damme you’ve never seen before.
