No, No, No, No, and No, Richard Armitage Does Not Die

Some people are afraid Gary Morris will meet his fate. My gut screams no. For two reasons. That’s not Todd Garner’s thing, and I don’t think it’s John Swetnam’s thing either. I could be wrong about Swetnam since he’s still a bit of a dark horse, but c’mon, they can’t tell us anything. That would ruin it. In the meantime, they’re going to mess with our heads, so just bear up. ;D

However:

Richard,

If you die in this film, well, dammit, man, can we please have a break from that? Oh yeah, you do dying well, but how about some variety?

But I’m not really worried about this since my gut still has a pretty good average if you do recall. No, don’t ask me about Lucas North.

Anyway, this is not a series where you could get stuck.

Yeah, you survive. :D

Signed,
A fan who wants to see you conquer without sacrificing your life

P.S. And if you do die in this, please slap John Swetnam and Todd Garner for me.

March 27, 2014
Categories: Black Sky (Into the Storm), Movies . Tags: , , , , . Author: RAFrenzy . Comments: 11 Comments

Is Black Sky Coming?

Click to see more awesome photos from Klipsi.com

Click to see more awesome photos from Klipsi.com

Last night there was a private screening of Black Sky and a reaction on Twitter afterward:

JohnSwetnamTwittertimeline

I did ask Todd Garner if there was a release date, and he said there was none yet, but Garner is resourceful, so I’m confident he will get a date and we will see this movie. And I have to remind myself that lots of movies take awhile to go from idea to release because there are fits and starts along the way. Look how long it took The Hobbit to even begin filming.

As to the devastating storms which occurred in Oklahoma last spring and left several dead including a father and son who were professional storm chasers, I don’t want to gloss over those situations. I grew up in Texas and have relatives in Oklahoma. I’ve seen the devastation of a tornado first hand — more than once. It looks like someone dropped a bomb, and the sense of death is overwhelming. It’s always amazed me how people go blithely on after something like that, so I would never treat that news flippantly. And if anything, the drama of a movie coming fairly closely on the heels of the Oklahoma disasters can help to humanize these ordeals in a way a news report or even a documentary cannot.

Garner made it clear he wants this movie experience to be very personal, “I wanted to make a movie where it would look at ordinary people (as opposed to mostly professional storm chasers) reacting to these situations when one minute they are living their lives, and the next minute things are completely out of their control and the house is falling in. What do they do? How do they deal with it? And hopefully the rest of us would ask ourselves how would we handle it?”

Is there any question Richard Armitage won’t deal with this in a way that makes the horror and stress real and leaves a resounding impact on the audience? Yep, we fans know he’s the perfect one to play a part like Gary Morris. I’m also very much looking forward to what the other cast will bring!

July 12, 2013
Categories: Black Sky (Into the Storm), Movies . Tags: , , , , , , , . Author: RAFrenzy . Comments: 10 Comments

The Black Sky Mashup

Since there’s been more talk lately of Richard Armitage’s future projects, I’m going to hit the question and yes, the fear about his next film, right up front. Will special effects be the star of Black Sky? We’ve all heard how Steve Quale, the director has been a protege’ of James Cameron. And many of us know while Cameron’s movies can be long on thrill ride, they can also be short on story. Will Quale be the same? And where does that leave Armitage who can certainly do action but puts a premium on story and character? How does Gary Morris (Armitage’s character) navigate a disaster?

A-sh0fTCEAA2Zu1.jpg large

That’s the question Todd Garner wants answered, “What does a normal person do in that situation?!” And “situation” in this instance cannot just be an allusion. It must seem real, which is where Quale comes in and necessitated by the video game era with the target audience being the video game age — 30s and below. A problem you say? Oh, I don’t know. I just saw a wonderful movie, which recently hit the half billion mark on revenue at less than two weeks after release, and it was primarily aimed at the video game age. Had a lot of special effects too.

But that was Tolkien, so the material was already great, and this can’t be as good? Black Sky may have something more appealing than The Hobbit. Yes, I really said that, and I’m a Tolkien fan! But I do not make a steady diet of fantasy. Most of the time I prefer movies that focus more on the human condition and with quirks. Enter Simon Beaufoy who is one of the writers of the Black Sky screenplay. His CV includes Slumdog Millionaire, 127 Hours, Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day and The Full Monty. He’s got human condition and quirkiness down. The other writer is newcomer John Swetnam. I don’t know much about him although I was made aware of him a couple of years ago by Scott Myers at Go Into the Story. It seems Swetnam could be part of the impetus for the found footage story of Black Sky,and that’s an aspect that has fantastic possibilities for the character finding the footage. I’ve also looked at Swetnam’s Twitter timeline, and if it’s any indication, he’s quirky and witty. He seems a good match for Beaufoy. I can’t wait to see the mashup of these two and Quale.

And aren’t mash-ups the thing now? Some are so unlikely. Those are the ones I love. The unexpected that makes me consider from a new viewpoint, that takes my thinking out of a box. When I consider Black Sky‘s unlikely mashup of talent, the special effects are less threatening in upstaging Richard’s portrayal and are the obvious place for his creativity in crafting characters. I imagine him coming with a fascinating answer to Garner’s question about Gary Morris.

December 28, 2012
Categories: Black Sky (Into the Storm), Movies . Tags: , , , , , . Author: RAFrenzy . Comments: 17 Comments