Popcorn Magazine #3

POPCORN Magazine

COMMUNICATION COMMUNICATION

The new American indie short film explores the consequences of tragic events.

SILICON BEACH What happens when an actor tries to get into the world of tech starts up in Silicon Valley?

GOOBER The new Australian web series answers the question what would happen if your uber driver has autism?

#3

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Screening at Queer Screen’s Mardi Gras Film Festival 2017 queerscreen.org.au

GX AUSTRALIA 2017 australia’s most inclusive geek and gaming convention is here!

play games meet developers try virtual reality watch panels learn to make games CHECK OUT THE EXPO FLOOR BUY AWESOME MERCH HAVE FUN!

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DIGITAL EXCLUSIVE PART 1 Thanks to the guys over at Culture Shock Events, Popcorn Magazine had the chance to go behind the scenes at the Creatures of The Night 3 Tour to talk to the stars and fans about their favourite moments in Teen Wolf History. Make sure you check it out on our YouTube Channel.

Make sure you check out their website at cultureshockevents.com for all the latest on some of their awesome conventions.

INTERVIEWS WITH TEEN WOLF STARS COMING SOON

More Info

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GOOBER

What if you found out your Uber driver has autism?

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Have you ever noticed recently that there has been an influx of autistic/Asperger’s characters appearing on television? Of course you are familiar about Sheldon Cooper from Big Bang Theory but there are others such as Abed Nadir in Community, Max Braverman in Parenthood, Will Graham in Hannibal and Sonya Cross in The Bridge.

When these characters are put on the spotlight in these TV shows, they are portrayed as people who are very different from those around them – people with brains wired differently which make for complex interactions that open viewers’ minds to a very real issue.

It may seem, then, that creating a TV show in the genre of comedy that focuses on the adventures and misadventures of an autistic person would unjustly trivialise the problem and turn it into a farce. Nevertheless, a bold step in that direction has been taken in the form of an Australian online mini-series called Goober and surprisingly, the resulting product is one sensational comedy with a lovable and relatable main character.

GOOBER EPK

Goober follows the story of Harry, who is an Uber driver with autism, as he tries to go about his job, maintain a positive familial interaction with his supportive father and “woo the unsuspecting girl of his dreams.”

Most of the action takes place in Harry’s Uber car as he transits a variety of people across Adelaide – the people he meets range from a bridal party to a Middle-Eastern couple to a pair of hip-hop artists – and most of the comedy in the series is derived from his awkward and chaotic interactions with these people.

The remarkable star of the show is Brendan Williams, a former Adelaide Hills postman who is on Goober looking to diversify his acting career, having already starred in several independent short films beforehand and accompanying him on this wild journey is veteran actor Shane Jacobson of Oddball and Kenny fame playing Harry’s father who communicates to Harry on the phone. >

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The recording of these voice scenes being one of William’s proudest moments during the making of the series.

Headlining the comedy series in the creative department is Kirsty Stark, owner of the Adelaide-based production company Epic Films and the artistic mind behind the online series Wastelander (which has been shown in such venues as SXSW and the Webfests in Los Angeles and Marseilles), it’s sequel Wastelander Panda: Exile (which premiered at Fantastic Fest) and the 2016 Australian feature film A Month of Sundays which was directed by Matthew Saville. Helping her out in the project are directors Brendon Skinner and Simon Williams, two young professionals well-versed in the art of film-making thanks to their intensive mentorship with AMPCO Films in 2010, their winning credentials from the Beijing MPA CICE International Pitching Competition in 2011, the production company Gravity Films that they founded and their participation in the 2016 MIFF Acceleration Program; together, this dynamic duo have created internationally-recognised short films such as See-Saw Sweethearts, Monkeybar Mafia and Toot Toot, corporate web-series such as Age Matters and Is It Dementia and the Australian feature film Survival Instinct with their continual drive to create inspirational and entertaining content for a world-wide audience to enjoy. Completing the team is AWGIE-nominated writer (and actor) Ben Crisp from SBS’s Danger 5 and Heaps Good Hostel, Foxtel’s Changed Forever, ABC’s Anzac Girls and Fringe Festival’s Don’s Party, The Odd Couple and Battlers and Dreamers as well as the comedy radio series Spittoon: With Ben and Tom; his PhD- >

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backed writing aptitudes have won him recognition from such national institutions as Screen Australia, the Australian Film Institute, the South Australian Screen Awards and WA Premier’s Book Awards.

Goober (as of the writing of this article) has been out for a few weeks now since Boxing Day 2016 and it already has gained some positive feedback as evidenced on the series’ official Facebook page. Currently all six episodes (all of them 6 minutes long) are available for binge-watch viewing on ABC’s iView application.P

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MAX EPK

SILICON BEACH

Silicon Valley… Made more sinister

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As Max Gold, the director of this film, has eloquently said “A great thriller taps into the anxieties of its time” and that’s often been the case in the genre’s history – The Manchurian Candidate, Jurassic Park, L.A. Confidential, Argo, etc. all drew in from the fears and growing concerns of contemporary society whether it was to do with the Cold War, terrorism, the dangers of abusing technology or police corruption and brutality. Given the surprising and terrifying events that have transpired in 2016, it is altogether fitting that the statement accurately describes the nature of Silicon Beach, the latest theatrical movie from Gold and his company Blind Hummingbird Productions. As of now, a teaser trailer has been uploaded for viewing and a Kickstarter campaign has been set up with the aim of securing funds that will go towards a successful post-production process.

MAX EPK Story-wise, the movie “follows an idealistic group of young people as they are betrayed by their own [tech] start-up. They become divided. Uncertain. Disillusioned…” in a time and place that reflects the anxieties and concerns felt by today’s tech-savvy youth following the rise of Donald Trump to the US presidency. “[This movie] happened to be shot during the 2016 presidential election” according to Gold; furthermore the movie’s screenplay was written by him while he was moonlighting at several tech start-up companies based in Los Angeles.

Regarding the creative team that works behind the scenes, the film’s Kickstarter page labels them “film makers with a proven track record of compelling genre movies on a tight budget” and indeed the records do speak for themselves.

Next year Max will be working on Beast (a darker, Icelandic take on Beauty and the Beast);

cinematographer Stephen Tringali has previously worked on The Canyons, John Dies at the End and Hot Tub Time Machine 2; producer Max Silver has a professional credit for Trunk Space that has aired at the Austin Film Festival; and as for the main cast?

Well their names are well hidden but they are stated to have come from some familiar names such as Modern Family, Pitch Perfect, Jane the Virgin, Army Wives and Disney’s Frozen – Live.

Production-wise, the movie has already finished shooting in Los Angeles and is now currently in post-production/editing, which is where the Kickstarter campaign comes in.

According to the team’s Kickstarter page, they were able to produce their content “on a shoestring budget because of the generosity of colleagues and friends”. Going into post-production, the team hopes that enough money can be raised so as to aid in the paramount task of “building the tense atmosphere of a thriller” that is assigned to Patrick Lawrence (editor of the Sundance Film Festival short Affections). Right now, more than $5000 has been raised and so the team has also decided to “capitalize the rest of post-production” in the form of securing a composer, sound designer and colorist to add to the team as well as pay off fees for festival submission and worldwide distribution.

With the post-production process estimated to take 5 months, Gold and his production company hope to release the film during the 3rd quarter of this year in time for the younger prestigious film festivals such as Slamdance and South by Southwest as well as the more general ones such as San Francisco International Film Festival, Reykjavik International Film Festival and Cinequest. For now, just enjoy the gripping trailer and get hyped for a thriller unlike any other.P Follow the film’s progress and info on donating follow @Welcome2Roomie on Twitter.

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MAKING HISTORY

Assassin’s Creed Movie Review

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“This movie was based off a video game” – you may not have heard the phrase being used but those of you familiar with the concept have reacted to it with some degree of trepidation and for good reason too. The film genre has divided critics and audiences alike in their ratings and its track run has not been so pleasant; from the old days of Mortal Kombat, Super Mario Bros. and Double Dragon to the recent cinematic spins of Angry Birds, Final Fantasy and Warcraft, movies like these tend to suffer very badly at the hands of critics with scores from websites such as Metacritic and Rotten Tomatoes not making it past 50% while also generating millions of dollars at the box office from the attendance of both average movie-goers and video game fanatics alike. Even at the time of this article’s writing, Assassin’s Creed scored low critical ratings on those aforementioned sites (17% and 36/100 respectively) and yet it has made over $48million in box office revenue. With this in mind, is it fair to say then that Assassin’s Creed is just another cash grab that has failed its attempt at making video game movies cool again? Or does the movie deserve a higher level of praise and respect than it has already been given?

Personally, I’m not a fan of the video game series – yes, I may have played the games for some time and yes, I am knowledgeable about the series’ characters, settings and overall story but I haven’t been as fully invested in it as other gamers are. Hence, the following review is done from the perspective of an average movie-goer and will be as objective as possible.

The basic premise of this story runs as follows: a death row inmate by the name of Callum Lynch (Michael Fassbender) is recruited by a secret organisation known as Abstergo Industries, led by Alan Rikkin (Jeremy Irons) and his daughter Sophia (Marion Cotillard) –

to delve into the memories of his medieval ancestor Aguilar de Nerha and locate the mystical Apple of Eden for them via a special device called the Animus.

On paper this premise sounds unique and interesting – the key to finding a lost artefact lies in a mental and historical trail of clues rather than a physical map; however the execution of this on screen is a bit jarring in terms of narrative pace and direction.

At first you see all the fantastic and gripping scenes set in medieval Spain and you get hooked into seeing what kind of stuff Aguilar and his assassins can do; and then you are brought into the present-day to follow Callum and the two Rikkins as they interact with the world around them but those scenes feel so disorienting and dull. The theme of ‘nature vs nurture’ tries to make itself present in the scenes involving Sophia and Callum and while the intention is clear, the delivery is not – and if that wasn’t bad enough, the plot itself undercuts it deeply with the cliché of the evil corporation (that you can smell from miles away even if I were to spoil the story of the movie and games); only is it at the end that we get a way to tie the two together but it just doesn’t seem that satisfactory. Religious themes in the movie are also present albeit spread out sparsely and they only work to further the level of our interest in the story some of the time – when it works, it really does work but when it doesn’t, you barely notice it.

On top of this failed balancing act there is a notably distinct lack of characterisation – you get introduced to so many potentially interesting side characters such as Callum’s father, Moussa, Lin, Emir (other people present in Abstergo), Aguilar’s partner Maria and others but then they appear to just advance the plot further along making them seem like stock characters at worst and basic (but not satisfactory) at best.>

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The dialogue itself sounds like a good attempt to rectify this and while some lines do stand out as interesting (the ones that try to sound humorous at least), there are those that sound cliché and then there are those which try to make the aforementioned themes relevant and apparent but it just sounds like incoherent babble; if anything the only interesting lines of dialogue spoken (at least to me) are the ones in Spanish because with them you can definitely feel the gravitas stand out. And I have to admit that Fassbender speaking Spanish is quite sexy (which I guess is another credential for him to add to his manly swoon-inducing nature).

On the whole, the attempt at trying to set-up a uniquely gripping thematic plot is admirable but it falls short of being satisfactory and as a result, the characterisation suffers to a considerable degree.

Where the movie claws back points (or at least makes a valiant attempt to do so) against the lack of substance is its breathtaking visual styling. The cinematography of both past and present scenes look amazing – we see inside the offices and cells of Abstergo and feel that they are indeed sealing you off from the rest of the world even as you look outside to the rest of the city; the medieval Spanish environments both urban and rural are breathtakingly spectacular even when you aren’t flying over them and in spite of the CGI, it does feel like you have gone back in time to witness Aguilar and the Assassins do something cool. The atmosphere generated by this is also commendable in terms of effort – yes, it may seem like there is too many times when shades of darkness overlay the screen to the point it feels like the movie is trying to capture the essence of Nolan’s Dark Knight trilogy; however this little nit-pick can easily be overlooked when you stare in awe at the way Fassbender simply immerses himself and us in both the Abstergo labs and Aguilar’s memories.

Most of the scenes in the film that features Fassbender (both as Aguilar and Callum) and no lines of dialogue are just powerful in terms of the atmosphere and mood being created and you feel the same raw emotions that the two main characters feel as the mental and physical trials are faced by them in both the past and present. This brings me to the final solid high point of the film – the action scenes that pay dear homage to the original video games while also maintaining that decently-levelled atmosphere of tension.

Whenever you look at any of the Assassins fight against the Templars, pay good attention to the smoothness of the choreography that balances out the rapid nature of the conflict; every kick, punch, clash of blade, arrow launch, etc. just looks remarkable to see.

Likewise, the parkour action is beautiful and it gives us an idea just how skilled and dangerous these Assassins are. Sometimes the transition between Aguilar’s real fight and Callum’s emulation of it on the Animus seem haphazard but even then we get some sense of just how much of a “pioneer” Callum is towards helping the Templars get closer to the treasure.

Overall, the movie does make a decent attempt at making the game-turned-movie genre cool again – visually, it pays homage to its source material with some cool-looking settings and well-choreographed action scenes that look like cinematics from the game. However, much like the movies that came before it, Assassin’s Creed doesn’t seem to break through that tough barrier of appealing to both gamers and average movie-goers. In spite of the great aesthetic quality that should satisfy the former demographic, a lack of coherent story and meaningful characterisation prevents it from really drawing the latter group in – and that is perhaps the primary problem future film-makers of game-to-movie adaptations should strive to solve.P

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TROLL HUNTERS

The new Netflix series “Trollhunters” is fun for all ages and there should be more shows like it.

SPOILER ALERT

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“Trollhunters” created by Guillermo del Toro revolves around 15 year old James “Jim” Lake Jr.(Anton Yelchin) who comes across a magical amulet that chooses and transforms Jim into a heroic warrior known as the “Trollhunter” who is tasked with guarding a secret world of Trolls and other supernatural creatures such as Gnomes against the evil Trolls and their minions such as shapeshifter “Changelings” and Goblins.

Along with Jim, we have characters such as Tobias “Toby” Domzalski (Betas’ Charlie Saxton) who portrays the bumbling best friend who grows into a fully realised hero in their own right along with high school crush, Claire Nuñez (Lexi Medrano). Blinky (Kelsey Grammer) is Jim’s troll mentor who trains our protagonist to be the Trollhunter with assistance from Blinky’s loyal partner, Aaarrrgghh!

(Fred Tatasciore) and Mr. Strickler (Jonathan Hyde), portrays the teacher with his own secret agenda involving the troll underworld.

Right from the onset, audiences can find themselves engaging with Jim’s compelling story arc driven well by the youthful and plucky portrayal of the late Anton Yelchin through his voice work and acting. It usually falls into the familiar “Peter Parker” territory following similar beats and tropes typically associated with that of beloved Spider-Man stories thus allowing easy audience connection. We move with Jim’s journey as he attempts to juggle between double lives in the fantasy realm with his new destiny as the chosen saviour of the Supernatural domain contrasted with reality as a high school student dealing with friendship, grades, bullying as well as high school crushes. Lessons are learned from both allowing a young boy to emerge to become a hero. In the end, I found myself engaging with his struggles as he faced his greatest obstacles in the finale.

As seen in most of these types of stories, the supporting characters play an essential role and go through major character arcs themselves. Toby initially embraces the tropes that are seen with the bumbling best friend side character. Over the course of the series, he battles with his own shortcomings before morphing into a hero himself. The most charming scenes I’ve seen were those with the gentle giant troll character Aaarrrgghh!. One scene that comes to mind would be the instance where both are playing video games in one of the earlier episodes.

You see meaningful character development for the troll in question along with Toby. Clare over the series takes on a much larger role in Jim’s quest and learns to understand the world outside of high school. She, like Toby also morphs into a hero over time.

The antagonists also benefit from the serialised storytelling Netflix provides and show interesting character arcs. Mr. Strickler starts off as the shadowy villain behind the scenes. Over the course of the series, he becomes guilt-ridden from bringing about the apocalypse in a similar fashion to Hyde’s previous character of Eldritch Palmer in The Strain all from character development through interactions with Jim and his mother Barbara (Amy Landecker). Draal (Matthew Waterson) initially served as a rival troll who resents Jim for usurping his birthright as the Trollhunter eventually comes to respect Jim for his display of sincere humanity. Even the primary villains such as Buler (Ron Perlman) and Anger Rot (Ike Amadi) demonstrate complexity. >

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Visually, the series proves itself to be a true success.it evokes the style in How to Train Your Dragon, a past success also done by Dreamworks. The design work into the trolls is pleasing to see. Each beast has detailed features to every character and conveys different contrasting personalities, similar to the Dragons. The colourful and varied environments further add to this enhancing the world-building the show undergoes. Like in How to Train Your Dragon, the action scenes such as the various battles Jim has faced also very much impressed in the same sort of way. This comes of course with having Guillermo del Toro in charge who has shown consistent talent visually as seen in past works.

The writing in this show can make itself truly appeal to a wider audience. It does not feel like this show talks down to its audience further adding appeal that this can truly be enjoyed by a mass audience of all-ages. The show weaves in themes and subject matters that could be viewed as mature but does it in a way that it isn’t heavy-handed so that it could still feel very accessible to kids. There’s plenty of slapstick fun and quirky supernatural creatures that would engage the kids. In addition, the in-universe mythology it sets up also felt very accessible to audiences and doesn’t go overboard with the random terminology for various aspects.

Overall, Trollhunters is a fine addition to the ever-evolving Netflix platform with the kid friendly fun and charm infused with mature themes topped off with Guillermo del Toro’s stylistic touch. This show very much deserves a season 2. 9/10P You can stream Trollhunters right now on Netflix.

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COMMUNICATION COMMUNICATION

A Song For Your Mixtape is a new american indie short which poetically looks at the issue of homophobia.

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As young people, we either all remember, or all look forward to, that time when we’ll be old enough to drink and party, but young enough to still not have much responsibility.

It’s a unique time we will one day look back on as our golden years. But how golden are they really? In modern society, when good boy can go bad by turning to drugs when they’re stressed, and girls take their clothes off for the twelfth guy this month just to feel some semblance of love and attention, why do we remember these years so fondly? Is it because we block out all the negativity at some point and only really remember that one summer when we went to Hawaii with our best friends, or took that massive road trip to visit family and have our yearly dose of adrenaline thrills?

Because the truth is that our life will never be that idyllic. The universe, or karma, or whatever you choose to call it will always balance you out; good times with bad ones. So while your summer was great, the rest of the year wasn’t as fun and you endured a lot of pain.

A Song For Your Mixtape highlights this in a gripping new way. It tells the truth about all the events that lead one boy to a party.

Without spoiling too much, because I personally believe it is well worth a watch, the whole plot of the story is driven by a series of flashbacks that lead you to an understanding of what these so called Golden Years will really be like on the daily. There is some coarse language, some sexual references and, of course, adult themes.

On a personal level, this film was actually really relatable. It goes into topics we young people deal with on the daily, such as; sexuality, alcohol, drugs, and relationships.

The character himself, through the narration, is painted to be some what of a relatable character himself. He doesn’t know why he’s at the party in the first place, he’s had more to drink than he realizes and through having a conversation with a girl he’s never met before, he starts to question his existence a little bit, but maybe that’s just my perspective on it. If you’d like to form your own.P

A Song For Your Mixtape will be screening at Queer Screen’s Mardi Gras Film Festival.

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HUNGER The Road Taken To a Whole New Level

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Imagine if you will a post-apocalyptic world where civilisation has collapsed and everything you’ve ever known has deteriorated into nothingness. Now imagine a man and his son trying to survive in this world with nothing but their wits, the simple tools around them and an undying urge to keep on living and learning. If you’re beginning to think this sounds like The Road, it might as well be that which I am describing to you; but in this upcoming new short film by Praxis Films called Hunger, it’s that trope of post-apocalyptic family bonding being turned on its head as a new player enters the field.

The synopsis of the compact story, in the words of the director, is that “it is set after the collapse of human civilisation but everything is quiet and still (not like Mad Max or even some zombie movies); you see a father teaching his son all sorts of lessons to survive in this new world, where all the old rules have changed. And there’s one character who disrupts all that. He kind of turns the whole nature of human limits on its head…” and basically the big question that thematically stylises this movie becomes “Would you let yourself become a kind of monster if it meant your child got to eat, got to survive, a little longer?”

Creatively, the movie will run along similar lines as Praxis’s previous release of “Love, Dad”, a nominee for the top 10 films for Cause Film Festival in Sydney: in that film, the exploration of the negative consequences of smoking both physically and socially is done in an aesthetic way that also acts like a fable. Likewise, Hunger will explore themes associated with post-apocalyptic scenarios in a similar Hollywood-quality fashion.

Behind the scenes, we have producer Kim and his partner, director Samual Nam both of whom work with a bunch of talented people, collaborating across industries and across countries – hence the name. Nam has been working behind the camera for 10 years, transforming his part-time hobby for filming into a full-time career; it is his passion for making the Australian film industry more open and inviting to creative ideas in spite of the US’s “make it big” ideology that has allowed him to team up with Kevin to make the production studio with the aim of creating fully-polished films twice a year. Furthermore, the success of the company has been attributed by Nam and Kim to the exposure of their films to audiences in film festivals and contests – this exposure has given the company the opportunity to be granted funding by the government.

As of now, both “Love, Dad” and Hunger are finalised projects for the company but “Love, Dad” is already completed with its postproduction stage ready to be screened at the Lennox Theatre in early February. Hunger, meanwhile, is in that production stage with every detail lined up – cast, crew, equipment and location; however, the budget is something they would like to reach through crowdfunding channels among other venues.

According to Nam, he and Kim have already secured potential sponsorship deals but they need more in order to meet the half-year deadline; as a result, they have set up a Pozible campaign raising awareness for the film’s making – it is their firm belief that the film has a lot of potential to make a huge impact on the audience. If you want to go ahead and help these future auteurs make their vision come true, visit their campaign page at Pozible.com/project/hunger-apocalypic-short film.P

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