My Blog In the Middle of Your Net

Found footage films are something that seems to come up frequently in the discussion of bad filmmaking.   It’s not because they are all terrible films.   That’s not it at all.   There are many good films made in this style.   The problem is that it is so easy to stumble when using the found footage concept.   There’s a wide array of bad found footage films that can be easily found by searching whatever brick and mortar stores remain, looking at Redbox, or digging through Netflix.   You could even own some of them in your personal collection.   I don’t know.   I can’t see through my computer and browse your collection.   The only thing I know for sure is that there has been a nearly endless supply of found footage films in the past decade or so. One of the lesser found footage movies is 2012’s Area 407 .   This horror movie doesn’t have a lot of scares, and instead is filled to the brim with annoying characters who are basicall...

Previously in Work Stories, I wrote about a guy who was preaching on the corner of the street when I went to go get a lunch.   I see people handing out pamphlets and cards about religion all the time.   That’s something that happens in the area where I work.   But I had never seen a guy with a microphone and speaker preaching about his God on a street corner before.   I know that some of you might be thinking “I see that on a daily basis” or “I am that guy.”   That doesn’t matter to me.   This was an experience I had never had before. This week I will share with you another experience I have had in my working life.   I have experienced a bunch of little oddities by working in tourism.   That’s where all of this stuff comes from.   Working in the tourism industry, you see a lot of strange stuff.   When people go on vacation, they turn their brains off.   The brainless meandering leads to some interesting things for us bystan...

In the previous episode of Mighty Morphin Power Rangers , Tommy Oliver lost his powers, Jason received his power coin, and Tommy left the team.   It was a tense episode that caused a change for the series.   How big would that change be?   The next few episodes should show what Tommy’s departure means for the Power Rangers. In the first episode after Tommy’s goodbye, Jason has had to step up to be even more of a leader for the team.   Not only must he be able to lead the team as he did before Tommy’s arrival, but Jason must also do the duties of the red and green Power Rangers at the same time.   He has become one man doing the job of two.   With Rita Repulsa always topping herself in terms of ways in which to threaten the Earth, overextending Jason’s abilities might be the downfall for the Power Rangers.   It probably won’t be.   I don’t think the show is ready, at this point, to get into deeper themes like long term exhaustion.  ...