Modern Mars Hill

Every time I see anything about Avengers: Infinity War , I feel bogged down, even though I should be really excited for it. I finally realized the reason: No Chloe Bennet. At this point, all I care about with the MCU is what the official title of Spider-Man: The Winter Formal will be (because what else do you call the sequel to Homecoming ?), what new genres they'll explore, and how they'll have the TV shows will affect the movies. Chloe Bennet's character from Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. would be a fantastic addition to Avengers: Infinity  War . Her character is powerful enough to be helpful to the team, is from a show people already like, and is extremely easy to introduce to an audience that has never seen Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D . I would love to see Chloe Bennet in a Marvel movie. (The fact that she's extremely attractive doesn't hurt.)

"How can you not like Star Wars ?" Do you know how often I get that question? About as often as I say that I don't like Star Wars  (which isn't often). I didn't grow up with Star Wars . I didn't watch any of the movies until I was 14. So I don't have the emotional connection to Star Wars that everyone else does. Which leads me to want the same thing from a Star Wars movie as I do from any other movie: To enjoy myself I don't care about a Star Wars movie being good. I care about a Star Wars movie entertaining me personally. So what does  entertain me personally? What would I want from a Star Wars movie that would make it my favorite movie ever? Cleverness I want to shake my head in disbelief during a movie and think "How did you even think of that?": "How did that writer think of this?", "How did this character think to do that thing at that moment?" I will never see a cleverer fight scene than the Wheel of F...

Over the last few years, my brother and I have been brainstorming about how to make an epic movie (or series of movies) out of The Book of Mormon. We didn't want something simple. We want something epic - a grand adventure for the ages, like we sometimes say the Book of Mormon itself is. I've heard a lot of people love the idea, and I've heard a lot of concerns. I'd like to address some of the concerns and see if I can help. Perhaps you could help me address my major concern with making the Book of Mormon into a movie. If you have any more concerns, let me know. I'd love to discuss them. Concern #1: "It would be rated R." This is the single most frequent concern I hear. I even heard this from someone who played in the Bible videos. To be fair, it's a legitimate concern. There are plenty of lots of R-rated ancient war movies - from Gladiator  (2000), to 300  (2006) to the extended edition of The Hobbit: Battle of the Five Armies  (2014/2015). Th...

Rule #1 : Use your characters for their character traits. a) What can each character do? If there’s a lock to be picked, give it to the lockpick. b) What will and won’t the character choose to do, given that character’s personality? If you need someone to take out the guards, don’t give that job to the pacifist. Corollary: A heist can be used so the audience can understand a character. In these cases, demonstrate character the way you would demonstrate character in any other scene. Don’t let the heisting get in the way of demonstrating character, but don’t let demonstrating character get in the way of the heist. Above all else, never let anything get in the way of story. -- Rule #2 : If the heist is not in-and-of-itself the plot, make sure the heist affects the plot in some way. a) Just like in any other sequence, the more ways a heist sequence affects the plot, the better. A heist could simply help the characters get the MacGuffin (the interchangeable thing...

Have you ever seen a movie made by a Mormon and thought "I'm glad that movie was so clean and inspirational. It's a refreshing change of pace from Hollywood". Have you ever got home from that movie and realized "Wait a minute. The only thing that movie had going for it was that it was clean and inspirational. I guess that's all I was looking for, but if it were a normal Hollywood movie I forked out $10 to see, I would have thought it was awful." That's the case with basically every Mormon movie I watch. It's clean and inspirational, but it's really missing the quality I expect out of a normal movie. In my experience, Mormon movies are generally worse movies than movies made by someone who isn't Mormon. Now,  I'm not talking about a clean movie, or an entertaining movie, or an uplifting movie. I'm talking about a movie that uses the tools of storytelling and the tools of filmmaking to present a good story, well told. I'm talk...

Am I the only person who thinks Cap shouldn't have dropped his shield at the end of Captain America: Civil War ? Here's how I always picture the conversation going: Tony: "That shield doesn't belong to you." [me: "Uh... yes it does. It was given to him. That's how exchange of property works."] Tony: "You don't deserve it." [me: "Uh... yes, he does. He uses his shield to fight terrorists and protect his best friend from being murdered by Starks for crimes he didn't commit of his own free will."] Tony: "My father made that shield." [me: "He made it specifically for Cap."] Tony: "You've been a jerk to me!" [me: "That's rich, coming from you. Now Cap should go home WITH his shield and his best friend, then write you a reverse-break-up letter. Hope you get a best friend soon... or at least a surrogate son. Wait... Cap? Why are you dropping the shield! Pick up that shield! We all know y...

Dear people who tried to drown their demons and found their demons can swim, Did you try tying their arms? Or attaching weights? Or anything else that drowning usually involves? Because I'm pretty sure that most people who try to drown others do something to make sure the victim drowns, because they assume their victims can swim. If you tried to drown them simply by putting them in water, did you at least push them off the side of a large ship so your demons would have to climb up the side of the ship to get back? Did you push them off of a speedboat so you could get away quickly? Or if you really want to get the job done: Did you try to drown them by hanging them upside-down over their own sink like Zemo did on Civil War? That way, their ability to sink wouldn't really matter that much. Sincerely, -A Demon Hunter (what did you expect my first name meant?)