Zac Baldwin's Blog: Errant Thoughts
December 29, 2016
Tom Cruise and the Artemis Women in Action Film Festival
I am very proud to be a part of the Artemis Women in Action Film Festival which celebrates kick ass women in films. Along with screening and celebrating independent films, documentaries and shorts that portray empowered women on screen, the AWIAFF also honors those people visible in the industry who have been proactive in the festival's mission statement - promoting powerful women on screen. Among others, previous honorees include stars Linda Hamilton ("Terminator 2"), Gina Torres ("Firefly"), Kristanna Loken ("Painkiller Jane"), Yancy Butler ("Witchblade"), director Paul Feig ("The Heat", "Ghostbusters"), and stuntwomen extraordinaire Zoe Bell, Heidi Moneymaker and Jesse Graff.
For the third annual event (April, 2017), the AWIAFF will be honoring, among others, Melissa McCarthy ("Spy"); Nichelle Nichols ("Star Trek" - Lt. Uhura); martial arts star Cynthia Rothrock; stunt legends Jennifer Caputo, Andy Armstrong and Luci Romberg, and Tom Cruise.
When I mention Tom Cruise as one of AWIAFF's honorees, people are thrilled, but some are somewhat surprised at his inclusion at a festival honoring powerful kickass women as he is a male superstar of action films.
Mr. Cruise has been honored with the "Artemis Action Pillar Award" for playing powerful men alongside strong, tough women. Specifically, since 2010, his films, including "Knight and Day", "Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol", "Edge of Tomorrow", "Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation", and "Jack Reacher: Never Go Back" show that men and women can work together as equals; both can be helpful to each other without either being inferior; women who kick ass are equal to men and do not diminish the men they are with. Instead, both of them are better with each other.
This example of showing kickass women in major action motion pictures alongside an action star of his magnitude goes a very long way in getting the message out there! My personal feeling is Mr. Cruise is making the movies that exactly match the festival's mission. Films that show women and men working together kicking ass as a team as opposed to all women or all men. This is a very positive message to get out into the world.
www.artemisfilmfestival.com
For the third annual event (April, 2017), the AWIAFF will be honoring, among others, Melissa McCarthy ("Spy"); Nichelle Nichols ("Star Trek" - Lt. Uhura); martial arts star Cynthia Rothrock; stunt legends Jennifer Caputo, Andy Armstrong and Luci Romberg, and Tom Cruise.
When I mention Tom Cruise as one of AWIAFF's honorees, people are thrilled, but some are somewhat surprised at his inclusion at a festival honoring powerful kickass women as he is a male superstar of action films.
Mr. Cruise has been honored with the "Artemis Action Pillar Award" for playing powerful men alongside strong, tough women. Specifically, since 2010, his films, including "Knight and Day", "Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol", "Edge of Tomorrow", "Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation", and "Jack Reacher: Never Go Back" show that men and women can work together as equals; both can be helpful to each other without either being inferior; women who kick ass are equal to men and do not diminish the men they are with. Instead, both of them are better with each other.
This example of showing kickass women in major action motion pictures alongside an action star of his magnitude goes a very long way in getting the message out there! My personal feeling is Mr. Cruise is making the movies that exactly match the festival's mission. Films that show women and men working together kicking ass as a team as opposed to all women or all men. This is a very positive message to get out into the world.
www.artemisfilmfestival.com
July 25, 2016
Paul Feig - more than just pro-women
While the talented Mr. Paul Feig has been around quite a while as an actor and director of television shows,
he burst onto the movie scene in 2011 when he did the unthinkable - he made a very funny, ribald comedy called "Bridesmaids", 2011
(written by Kristen Wiig and Annie Mumolo) with and about women, busting the silly preconception that women can't be funny.
After that huge success, Mr. Feig went on to make "The Heat" 2013 (written by Katie Dippold) which was a buddy movie about two wildly different cops, again, he starred women in the lead and it was another monster success.
Continuing his winning streak he wrote and directed "Spy" 2013 - another action comedy, this a send up of spy movies, again with a leading woman good guy, women bad guys and men were the (very funny) eye candy and comic relief.
Finally he hands in Ghostbusters, continuing the tradition of promoting women in the leads to great success.
The reason for this missive, though, is not to salute him yet again for his support of women, but to thank and congratulate him for his bravery to take on another Hollywood tradition: agism. Agism is rampant for both sexes, but in a land where being over 25 is considered by many to be ancient, women are hardest hit. Mr. Feig has quietly and very powerfully turned those silly beliefs on their ear as well.
When Bridesmaids came out, 3 of the movie's standouts were Kristen Wiig-39; Melissa McCarthy-41; Maya Rudoph-40.
When The Heat came out, Sandra Bullock was (gasp!) 49 and Ms. McCarthy 41.
One of the youngest leading roles in Spy was played by Rose Byrne, who was by Hollywood standards old at 34. Ms. McCarthy was 43 and Jason Statham was 46 and Jude Law 41. Allison Janney was 54!
And Kate McKinnon was the youngest in Ghostbusters at 32, while Ms. Wiig was 43, Ms. McCarthy was 46 and the great Leslie Jones was 49.
So Mr. Feig has taken two sacred cows of Hollywood "women are only good as window dressing and can't be funny" and "anyone over 25 cannot open a movie!" and proven them to be so untrue and most importantly to Hollywood, fiscally wrong.
May his reign continue forever for not only are his movies fabulous, funny and wonderful - his powerful changing of preconceptions must go on.
he burst onto the movie scene in 2011 when he did the unthinkable - he made a very funny, ribald comedy called "Bridesmaids", 2011
(written by Kristen Wiig and Annie Mumolo) with and about women, busting the silly preconception that women can't be funny.
After that huge success, Mr. Feig went on to make "The Heat" 2013 (written by Katie Dippold) which was a buddy movie about two wildly different cops, again, he starred women in the lead and it was another monster success.
Continuing his winning streak he wrote and directed "Spy" 2013 - another action comedy, this a send up of spy movies, again with a leading woman good guy, women bad guys and men were the (very funny) eye candy and comic relief.
Finally he hands in Ghostbusters, continuing the tradition of promoting women in the leads to great success.
The reason for this missive, though, is not to salute him yet again for his support of women, but to thank and congratulate him for his bravery to take on another Hollywood tradition: agism. Agism is rampant for both sexes, but in a land where being over 25 is considered by many to be ancient, women are hardest hit. Mr. Feig has quietly and very powerfully turned those silly beliefs on their ear as well.
When Bridesmaids came out, 3 of the movie's standouts were Kristen Wiig-39; Melissa McCarthy-41; Maya Rudoph-40.
When The Heat came out, Sandra Bullock was (gasp!) 49 and Ms. McCarthy 41.
One of the youngest leading roles in Spy was played by Rose Byrne, who was by Hollywood standards old at 34. Ms. McCarthy was 43 and Jason Statham was 46 and Jude Law 41. Allison Janney was 54!
And Kate McKinnon was the youngest in Ghostbusters at 32, while Ms. Wiig was 43, Ms. McCarthy was 46 and the great Leslie Jones was 49.
So Mr. Feig has taken two sacred cows of Hollywood "women are only good as window dressing and can't be funny" and "anyone over 25 cannot open a movie!" and proven them to be so untrue and most importantly to Hollywood, fiscally wrong.
May his reign continue forever for not only are his movies fabulous, funny and wonderful - his powerful changing of preconceptions must go on.
July 21, 2016
Blame the Directors-Writers, not the Stars
I admit this is not a new phenomenon, but I grow tired of critics and audiences blaming the actors for a bad movie.
An actor, especially the good ones, focus on their job and leave the script and how to shoot it to other people, and sometimes those people know how to get the job, but have no idea how to do it. I think one reason actors are driven to direct is because it gives them more control over the final product.
One name leaps to mind: Ben Affleck, after being eviscerated for "Daredevil" went on to direct some great movies. He is now writing and directing a Batman if i read the news correctly. And while I am glad he is doing that, what drove him there (being blamed for Daredevil), is just wrong. He did his job, in my opinion very well given the constraints the writing and directing gave him. It is not his fault the script and director's vision fell flat - Affleck did his job as best he could.
In another blog I talk about Raquel Welch. I firmly believe she would be regarded higher as an actress if the directors and writers and producers around her gave a damn. In Hannie Caulder it appears that the director was sleeping, open his eyes to say action, snore and then open his eyes again to say cut. All the actors were pros in that movie and did the best they could, but ugh!, a film student coulda done a better job of shooting it!
But, Ms. Welch (and other stars) get the blame. I can see it way back when, but now audiences and especially critics are so aware of how a film is put together that it surprises me when actors get blamed for the final product. Admittedly some superstars have some power to help control the movie, but ultimately they have to hand the reins over to the drivers and hope they know where the heck they are going.
Alec Baldwin gave a great analogy of how one agrees to make a movie like agreeing to go on a trip - we're going to Fiji! Then once one is on board and far away from land, the director and producers turn and say, we're not going to Fiji anymore and it's too late to do anything about it. So next time you watch a movie that bombs, make sure the acting sucks too before you throw those stars in front of a bus along with the movie!
Steve Prefontaine - an unsung hero in many ways
Admittedly one of the least "sexy" sports is long distance running and it has been ever so - except for one brief period in the early '70s when a brash, no holds barred runner named Steve Prefontaine hit the scene.
While most runners (and coaches) employed strategy for a distance race, Pre's approach was to simply run as fast and hard as he could, holding nothing back and the one with the most guts would win. As long as he tried his best, he was satisfied.
I was a distance runner way back then and, like a lot of people, became fascinated with the dynamo. He, a lowly distance runner, even got on the cover of Sports Illustrated. His track record is stunningly impressive, especially in the United States where he broke record after record for any distance over a mile and to 10,000 meters.
On his home track he was never defeated! I may offend some folks, but it is my belief that if Pre had been allowed to run his style of race (which meant run your brains out-no strategy) at the Olympics and not some crazy pacing strategy forced upon him by his coach, he would have won the gold in the '72 Olympics.
Interestingly enough, his brash, give-everything-you've-got running style was also his style of living. He was passionate about everything and willing to pay any cost for what he believed in. He was honest and never played any games on or off the track.
He became very vocal about the abuse dished out by the Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) against amateur athletes, risking his own expulsion from racing. Slowly, his influence helped the AAU become more athlete friendly.
And (what this blog is really about), when Pre found out that great female athletes were not afforded any of the benefits male athletes had access to (scholarships; proper equipment and training, etc.), he became just as vocal and, according to many female athletes, he helped bring this injustice to light bringing important changes to the plight of female athletes.
His fearlessness both off and on the track is something I hope (and fail often) to emulate and I encourage everyone else to dive into that kind of mindset.
To those of you who have no idea who I am talking about - here are a few quotes to give you a sense of this amazing guy: “Somebody may beat me, but they are going to have to bleed to do it.”;
“I’m going to work so that it’s a pure guts race at the end, and if it is, I am the only one who can win it.”;
“A lot of people run a race to see who is the fastest. I run to see who has the most guts, who can punish himself into exhausting pace, and then at the end, push himself even more.”
and my favorite: “To give anything less than your best is to sacrifice the gift.”
While most runners (and coaches) employed strategy for a distance race, Pre's approach was to simply run as fast and hard as he could, holding nothing back and the one with the most guts would win. As long as he tried his best, he was satisfied.
I was a distance runner way back then and, like a lot of people, became fascinated with the dynamo. He, a lowly distance runner, even got on the cover of Sports Illustrated. His track record is stunningly impressive, especially in the United States where he broke record after record for any distance over a mile and to 10,000 meters.
On his home track he was never defeated! I may offend some folks, but it is my belief that if Pre had been allowed to run his style of race (which meant run your brains out-no strategy) at the Olympics and not some crazy pacing strategy forced upon him by his coach, he would have won the gold in the '72 Olympics.
Interestingly enough, his brash, give-everything-you've-got running style was also his style of living. He was passionate about everything and willing to pay any cost for what he believed in. He was honest and never played any games on or off the track.
He became very vocal about the abuse dished out by the Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) against amateur athletes, risking his own expulsion from racing. Slowly, his influence helped the AAU become more athlete friendly.
And (what this blog is really about), when Pre found out that great female athletes were not afforded any of the benefits male athletes had access to (scholarships; proper equipment and training, etc.), he became just as vocal and, according to many female athletes, he helped bring this injustice to light bringing important changes to the plight of female athletes.
His fearlessness both off and on the track is something I hope (and fail often) to emulate and I encourage everyone else to dive into that kind of mindset.
To those of you who have no idea who I am talking about - here are a few quotes to give you a sense of this amazing guy: “Somebody may beat me, but they are going to have to bleed to do it.”;
“I’m going to work so that it’s a pure guts race at the end, and if it is, I am the only one who can win it.”;
“A lot of people run a race to see who is the fastest. I run to see who has the most guts, who can punish himself into exhausting pace, and then at the end, push himself even more.”
and my favorite: “To give anything less than your best is to sacrifice the gift.”
Raquel Welch-more than just a sex symbol
If people recognize the name Raquel Welch, they almost immediately dismiss her as "just a sex symbol".
That is like calling Robin Williams just a comic. They were those things, of course, but so so much more!
In the movies in the '60's, nudity was suddenly allowed and a lot of filmmakers went crazy, stuffing nude scenes into anything that remotely (or not so remotely) fit. As a sex symbol, Ms. Welch was under tremendous pressure to appear completely nude and she amazingly never succumbed to that pressure.
From 1966 to 1972 (4 years before Pam Grier hit the scene; 35(!) years before Angelina Jolie's first action role - Tomb Raider), Ms. Welch was a kickass woman, starring in action films as the lead character - where the story was about her and not some man she was with!
In "Fathom" (1966) she is described as a female James Bond; in the western "Hannie Caulder" (1971) she was a gunslinger looking for revenge.
She was a tough detective in Fuzz (1972). She ended this amazing action span playing a roller derby queen in Kansas City Bomber (1972) (where she did all her own stunts).
Most of them had weak directors and writers (see my other blog about not blaming the stars for bad movies), but Kansas City Bomber still holds up as a fun movie.
In all of them, and all her other roles, Ms. Welch never walked through them - she gave good, sometimes great performances. I think she would be regarded as a better actress if she had had better support from behind the camera.
Unafraid that people did not regard her as a great actress, she produced and starred in challenging acting roles: Legend of Walks Far Woman (1982)
and a woman dying of ALS in Right to Die (1987) - she is great in both, but I complain again about the lack of behind-the-camera support.
Other examples of her being way beyond just a sex symbol: she sued a movie studio for "agism" and won (and of course was blackballed for many years after that).
She starred and conquered Broadway and Las Vegas.
So for just a sex symbol, she seems to have accomplished one helluva lot and has my undying admiration.
That is like calling Robin Williams just a comic. They were those things, of course, but so so much more!
In the movies in the '60's, nudity was suddenly allowed and a lot of filmmakers went crazy, stuffing nude scenes into anything that remotely (or not so remotely) fit. As a sex symbol, Ms. Welch was under tremendous pressure to appear completely nude and she amazingly never succumbed to that pressure.
From 1966 to 1972 (4 years before Pam Grier hit the scene; 35(!) years before Angelina Jolie's first action role - Tomb Raider), Ms. Welch was a kickass woman, starring in action films as the lead character - where the story was about her and not some man she was with!
In "Fathom" (1966) she is described as a female James Bond; in the western "Hannie Caulder" (1971) she was a gunslinger looking for revenge.
She was a tough detective in Fuzz (1972). She ended this amazing action span playing a roller derby queen in Kansas City Bomber (1972) (where she did all her own stunts).
Most of them had weak directors and writers (see my other blog about not blaming the stars for bad movies), but Kansas City Bomber still holds up as a fun movie.
In all of them, and all her other roles, Ms. Welch never walked through them - she gave good, sometimes great performances. I think she would be regarded as a better actress if she had had better support from behind the camera.
Unafraid that people did not regard her as a great actress, she produced and starred in challenging acting roles: Legend of Walks Far Woman (1982)
and a woman dying of ALS in Right to Die (1987) - she is great in both, but I complain again about the lack of behind-the-camera support.
Other examples of her being way beyond just a sex symbol: she sued a movie studio for "agism" and won (and of course was blackballed for many years after that).
She starred and conquered Broadway and Las Vegas.
So for just a sex symbol, she seems to have accomplished one helluva lot and has my undying admiration.
July 12, 2016
Homogenous Casting in Hollywood
There have been a ton of books and articles about racism in Hollywood, and this piece is not trying ti dispute anything, but toss a different texture into the conversation.
Because some movies can be so amazing and wildly imaginative, it can be hard to remember that a lot of the people who make those movies can be remarkably UNimaginative. Just look at all the sequels, remakes, remakes of the remakes to give you some idea.
And when you look at the casting, some of the great winners of the unimagination awards reside there! The classic story is when the great Louis Gossett Jr. had his agent ask about playing the role of the tough DI in Officer and a Gentleman and the immediate reaction was a stunned, well, it doesn't say the DI is black. Duh!!! Thank god that knee jerk reaction was tossed aside so a great actor could chew up a great role and win an Oscar doing it! That was not so much conscious racism and just unimagination.
I sometime suggest to new script writers to put in a race with the description of the character because that will help the casting directors and directors say, oh! we need a [insert race here] for this role even though race has absolutely nothing to do with the story.
The biggest culprit, though, is homogenation - another word I made up to share with unimagination. How many times have you seen movies and tv shows with all white casts, all black casts, etc? Lots.
Both the original Star Trek (wwaayy back in 1966) and the Matrix showed that a cast with bunch of different looking people working together as a team to beat the bad guy can make tons of money. Hollywood did not learn from either of those two, it did not remember to unhomogenize!!!
I LOVE Mr. Spielberg (one of our greatest directors methinks) and he has made some incredible movies that focus on black history. But when he makes his regular fiction stuff, everybody looks about the same! Not on purpose, just not thinking unhomogenistically!
We have this incredibly diverse country and thousands of actors with all sorts of ethnicities, physical looks, handicaps, backgrounds, but casting directors/directors/ producers default to making everybody in the cast look alike! Why? Well, unimagination and homogenation!
Active racism does exist and needs to be challenged and hopefully stopped or slowed down at least. But if the "good" people of Hollywood either do nothing or continue to perpetuate these casting decisions out of laziness, unimagination or possibly subconscious racism, then the active racism can grow ever stronger.
NOTE: yes, this plague also impacts sexism - the reaction to Ghostbusters is a great example of how far we have yet to go. Let us embrace our diversity, we are the only country on the planet that can show its incredible vastness and possibilities. Come on, Hollywood - unhomogenize!!!!
Because some movies can be so amazing and wildly imaginative, it can be hard to remember that a lot of the people who make those movies can be remarkably UNimaginative. Just look at all the sequels, remakes, remakes of the remakes to give you some idea.
And when you look at the casting, some of the great winners of the unimagination awards reside there! The classic story is when the great Louis Gossett Jr. had his agent ask about playing the role of the tough DI in Officer and a Gentleman and the immediate reaction was a stunned, well, it doesn't say the DI is black. Duh!!! Thank god that knee jerk reaction was tossed aside so a great actor could chew up a great role and win an Oscar doing it! That was not so much conscious racism and just unimagination.
I sometime suggest to new script writers to put in a race with the description of the character because that will help the casting directors and directors say, oh! we need a [insert race here] for this role even though race has absolutely nothing to do with the story.
The biggest culprit, though, is homogenation - another word I made up to share with unimagination. How many times have you seen movies and tv shows with all white casts, all black casts, etc? Lots.
Both the original Star Trek (wwaayy back in 1966) and the Matrix showed that a cast with bunch of different looking people working together as a team to beat the bad guy can make tons of money. Hollywood did not learn from either of those two, it did not remember to unhomogenize!!!
I LOVE Mr. Spielberg (one of our greatest directors methinks) and he has made some incredible movies that focus on black history. But when he makes his regular fiction stuff, everybody looks about the same! Not on purpose, just not thinking unhomogenistically!
We have this incredibly diverse country and thousands of actors with all sorts of ethnicities, physical looks, handicaps, backgrounds, but casting directors/directors/ producers default to making everybody in the cast look alike! Why? Well, unimagination and homogenation!
Active racism does exist and needs to be challenged and hopefully stopped or slowed down at least. But if the "good" people of Hollywood either do nothing or continue to perpetuate these casting decisions out of laziness, unimagination or possibly subconscious racism, then the active racism can grow ever stronger.
NOTE: yes, this plague also impacts sexism - the reaction to Ghostbusters is a great example of how far we have yet to go. Let us embrace our diversity, we are the only country on the planet that can show its incredible vastness and possibilities. Come on, Hollywood - unhomogenize!!!!
July 5, 2016
Book to Movie-Jurassic Park
I loved the novel Jurassic Park - Crichton is somehow able to make ripsnorting novels based on a fictional scientific breakthrough and Jurassic is one of his best.
In the novel, it is perfectly paced and works superbly to have the Rex attack in Act 2 and the very intense and suspenseful raptors coming after the good guys at the end.
When I read Mr. Spielberg was gonna direct the movie I was slightly worried because he has a tendency to be pretty faithful to original material and I began sending telepathetic:) messages to him to switch the two acts.
For a film, the suspense with the raptors is perfect for the end of act 2
and then the finale for the movie would be the thundering action sequence with Rex chasing them to the helicopter - WOW!
Well, nobody listened to my brainwaves and they followed the novel, so it only:) made a couple of billion dollars. I truly believe if they had switched, it woulda made more!!!!
In the novel, it is perfectly paced and works superbly to have the Rex attack in Act 2 and the very intense and suspenseful raptors coming after the good guys at the end.
When I read Mr. Spielberg was gonna direct the movie I was slightly worried because he has a tendency to be pretty faithful to original material and I began sending telepathetic:) messages to him to switch the two acts.
For a film, the suspense with the raptors is perfect for the end of act 2
and then the finale for the movie would be the thundering action sequence with Rex chasing them to the helicopter - WOW!
Well, nobody listened to my brainwaves and they followed the novel, so it only:) made a couple of billion dollars. I truly believe if they had switched, it woulda made more!!!!
June 29, 2016
Women in Action Stories
I've been asked a lot why I have female leading characters in my action stories. The short answer is I group up with strong women from housewives to firefighters to ballet dancers to stuntwomen and the list goes on and on. And I noticed that rarely do women characters get to have those empowering moments that male characters have - when the good guys get to kick the bad guys butt, or fight back against impossible odds. These kinds of characters are fun to watch and give a sense of wow, I would love to be able to do that. I knew a lot of women who dove into the fray, whether it was emotionally or physically, and were willing to put themselves on the line to accomplish something. I think characters like that add a fun dimension to my story telling and I am lucky I knew and know amazing women to help inspire me!
