Major Motion Studios

'No Ordinary Family' is No Ordinary Show

2010-10-05T18:32:00.000-07:00

You've got a dad who feels insignificant to his family. You've got a mom so wrapped up in her career, she's neglecting her husband and her children. You have a hormonal teenage daughter who is dealing with boys, popularity, cliques, and school. You have a teenage son who feels stupid and who doesn't think his dad is proud of him.

This actually sounds like the typical American family, does it not? Well, the Powells are 'No Ordinary Family.'

Because they have super powers now.

Last week, ABC premiered their latest prime-time television show, 'No Ordinary Family.' It was received with 'heroic reviews,' one online writer said. I missed the pilot itself, but I managed to watch it and episode two, 'No Ordinary Marriage,' tonight.

It is one of the best Sci-Fi Action Comedy-Dramas I've ever seen! Okay, that's a bit of a mouthful, but the show is definitely worth checking out. The style falls along the lines of a Marvel film, like 'Spider-Man' or 'Iron Man.' It's got plenty of action, story, and drama, but it's paired with a layer of comedy and awesomeness that has made the Marvel films such a success. In fact, there are a LOT of Marvel references in the show, particularly to X-Men.

That's not to say it's standard Super-Hero fare. What you have intertwined in an epic story of a super hero origins story (complete with roof-top jumping, secret lair building, and even an epic parking garage fight with a teleporting super villain) is a story of a family struggling to stay a family. With things like work, school, and life pulling them apart, they struggle to stay together.

What I love about this show is that is places importance on that - the family unit. Marriage is portrayed in an EXTREMELY positive light on this show (how often do you see that?). Jim, the husband, and Stephanie, the wife, are rekindling their relationship as they discover their super powers together. They begin to make active attempts to spend more time together as a family, and by the second episode, the audience can already begin to see strength returning to a family. It's so awesome to see stuff like that on Primetime television - even if it is only after two episodes!

The action is pretty cool, too - particularly the fight scene at the end of the first episode. MAN, that was cool. You just have to go watch it yourself. The special effects, yeah, aren't Hollywood quality, but it's television and ABC, we've come to expect that.

It's a generally clean show, too. A light curses here and there, but generally clean, and even has already incorporated messages on picking your friends, loving your family, even saving sex for marriage (what? On television? In 2010? Unheard of!).

A great story, great values, great action, and great fun. This is a show you do not want to miss!

To watch the pilot on ABC.go.com, click here!!

All Male Friends are Gay

2010-09-05T23:41:00.000-07:00

Or, so says most people who watch movies these days.

Allow me to explain.

It's Labor Day weekend. It's become a personal tradition of mine to watch one of my all-time favorite films, 'Stand By Me,' because this is the weekend it takes place.

The film is so heart-grabbing for me, personally, for so many reasons. You have a young man with a father who could care less about his son. You have the same young man, after loosing the only person he ever believed ever loved him, feels that he's 'No good.' You have his best friend who's has completely lost heart because everyone around him has labeled him as 'bad.' You have all these emotional and spiritual feelings and stories set among a story that almost perfectly portrays the innocence and simplicity of childhood, and the decent from that into adulthood. Not only is the story poignant, but it's hilarious, has a great soundtrack, some great acting, and it is definitely one of my favorite films.

So you can imagine my frustration when I read some stuff people online have to say about it.

Reviews for 'Stand By Me' are generally positive, but there seems to be a recurring theme: for whatever reason, people tend to believe there is a homosexual relationship between the two main characters, Chris and Gordie. Um... hi, what?

Let me digress with another, and more popular, example. The Lord of the Rings. Frodo and Sam break from the fellowship they had been traveling with to take the One Ring to Mordor themselves. All along you see Sam and Frodo encouraging, helping, and fighting for and with each other. Again, for whatever reason, it seems that most people think there are some kind of homosexual undertones to the entire saga. Excuse me?

Back to Chris and Gordie. There are two scene when the world seems too much for both of them, and they have each others' shoulder to cry on. Wait... two male characters expressing emotion, and being there for each other? OBVIOUSLY THEY ARE GAY.

Seriously, that seems to be the attitude that has infected modern cinema. If you have two on-screen male friends that aren't always trying to 'get laid' or what-have-you, they are obviously gay, and there is an untold romantic relationship between them. Whether it be Frodo and Sam, Chris and Gordie, Lee and David from 'Son of Rambow,' I've even heard of people discussing the 'homosexual relationship' between Harry Potter and Ron Weasley in the 'Harry Potter' book/film series.

You know, God forbid that two males are close enough friends, they don't have to act like idiots around each other. God forbid that there are two male characters that are close enough to actually emote to each other instead of cracking sex and fart jokes. God forbid that two male characters have a close enough relationship that they have a strong friendship to offer to the story. Oh, no. They have to be gay. Males can't be friends! That's just gay!

So says our culture. It would seem we live in a world where we (men, I should say) are so under confident in our masculinity that we reduce every male relationship to homosexuality. It would seem like we are so afraid of being called 'gay' ourselves, that we have to attack every other male relationship we have in our lives that mean something, and nip our emotions and hearts in the bud - because that's what it's all about, isn't it? It's all about suppressing our emotions, lest people think lowly or differently about us.

I learned this later on down the road. I lived in a society and school system that taught me 'If you have male friends, you are gay.' I grew up thinking that, and probably lost a lot of potentially meaningful and awesome friendships because of that. That's why, until the last year or so, I was disconnected from mostly everyone. Our culture has told us that close, intimate relationships with anyone (guys and girls) has to be a romantic affair. Now, I know different.

But what I say is true, isn't it? We've just been taught that by basically everything we watch/read/see. It frustrates me to no end when I hear this. I hope it does you, too.

Look at your own heart. Relationships with people are one of the biggest parts of this life we've been given. Don't miss out on any because you're afraid of what people might think. That's foolish. Friends carry each other. Friendship is one of the strongest bonds in film, and indeed, in life.

Don't let stupidity spoil it for you.

Christian Film - Cheese-us or Jesus?

2010-08-31T10:24:00.000-07:00

Since the beginning of film itself, there have been Christian filmmakers who have attempted to tell stories that represent the Gospel or tell the story of Jesus or relay some sort of spiritual theme through the medium known as film. Sometimes, these efforts are successful. Most of the time... they are not. What makes Christian film subject to lower quality than the rest of the filmmaking world? I thought I'd explore that in this blog post.

If you're a Christian (I am), then I'm sure you've probably seen your fair share of cheesy Christian movies. You know, the stuff they play on Saturday nights on the Trinity Broadcasting network, or a DVD your old pastor insisted you watch because it was 'such an anointed movie' or something like that. Everyone saw 'Left Behind.' Thanks to it, though, everyone's knowledge of the Book of Revelation and the End Times goes only as far as Kirk Cameron explored in what was, generally, a cheesy movie. There's movies like 'The Perfect Stranger' where a very gay-looking Jesus-in-disguise talks to people and convinces them to become Christians. The list goes on. 'The Omega Code' is another End Times one, 'September Dawn' tries to show how evil Mormons are to Christians, 'C Me Dance' was... I'm not even sure. It had a ballet dancer with cancer trying to fight off Satan in the form of a black man with a trench coat. You can't make this stuff up. Or, if you're a Christian filmmaker, apparently you can.

Then you think of other 'Christian' movies that... are a lot better. 'The Blind Side' had an overtly Christian message, but was nominated for an Academy Award - Sandra Bullock went on to win Best Actress for her portrayal in that movie. You have 'The Book of Eli' which had awesome fight scenes and Denzel Washington as the protagonist. You had 'The Chronicles of Narnia' which could rival Lord of the Rings on level of epicness, but has a story the whole family can appreciate. Why do these 'Christian' films work better than others?

The Great Commission.

The fact is the good Christian movies I've listed above are all cases of Christians, in Hollywood, creating something, and putting it out into the world. 'The Blind Side,' 'The Book of Eli,' 'Narnia,' even 'The Passion of the Christ' were all produced out of Hollywood, and they're all very good... masterpieces compared to other Christian movies.

When you look at the bad Christian movies, though, what do you see? Christians afraid of the world, focusing on themselves and other people who are... already Christians. They only allow other Christians to work with them, they only allow Christians to act in their movies, and they make these Christian movies for other Christians to be released under a Christian studio. See the problem?

We need filmmakers willing to do what Jesus said and actually go out into the world, instead of sitting where we are, and expecting great things to happen. 'The Book of Eli' used the 'F word' five times. There was a lot of violence. It deserved it's R rating. But you know what? It was infinity more effective in conveying a deep Christian message than... any other 'Christian film' I've ever seen. Here's a man (Washington's Character) literally traveling the world to spread the Gospel, and, literally, fighting for the Word, despite the suffering he's going through. Now, what was 'C Me Dance' about again?

The fact of the matter is that Christians need to stop fearing the world. They need to stop fearing the idea of talking to someone other than other Christians. Who are we supposed to be reaching out to? Who is the 'target audience' of Christian film? Why do Christian films... have to suck so bad?

I think we need more creative Christians going into Hollywood, creating epic stories and awesome characters that can be brought to life by the ability and skill of others - not even necessarily Christians. The Gospel will be spread with the help of God, no matter if the guy who held the microphone was a Christian or not. We need more willing and brave Christian writers and directors to make amazing stories with Christian themes and ideas to pitch to Hollywood that can make it into theaters and disband the lie that 'All Christian movies have to suck.' That is certainly not the case.

Christian music went through a revolution from Hymns and Lofty worship to legitimate rock and hip-hop. Why can't Christian film? I believe it can. We just have to try.

-Matt

I Should Blog More

2010-08-30T15:17:00.000-07:00

...but I don't. Actually, it's because I've been in a bit of a rut when it comes to my whole video thing. I've been applying for school, busy with Church, doing the whole 'having a life during Summer' thing, all that. Truth is, though, I'm missing all my fun video projects and whatnot, so I intend to start going at it very soon.

But I do intend to start blogging here again very soon! There's a lot going on in the YouTube community, and I want to be sure that I have a working blog people can read. Because everything on the internet needs a blog, right?

Thanks for visiting!

Hmm...

2010-07-05T20:25:00.001-07:00

I don't post here a lot, do I?

I've been writing a lot on my Christian/Thought/Personal Blog, if you want to check that out.

CLICK HERE

But, in video news, I've got something BIG just around the corner. When I say 'BIG' I mean Epic, Exciting, Huge, Monster, Crazy stuff! For updates, be sure to become a fan of Major Motion Studios on Facebook!

But, just because I love you guys so much, here's a little taste of what's to come:

'LOST' Series Finale Thoughts

2010-05-24T13:45:00.001-07:00

Oh, 'Lost.' You've captivated my attention and Tuesdays nights for quite some time now. Now that you're over, I don't know what I'm going to be able to watch now. Nothing else seems near as interesting or as good (especially after ABC canceled the brilliant 'FlashForward.').

But, Oh, 'Lost;' How controversial your ending was.

Christians (I am one) all over the country are appalled over the ending to what was more or less the greatest content made-for-television in the history of entertainment. Why? Mostly because, (A) It wasn't 100% biblically-based, and (B), this:

That stinkin' stained glass window. With the cross... along with various symbols from other religions. Seriously. They saw this and thought 'Uh, oh.. what are they going to be pushing?' and then, afterwards, when they saw this fictional (keyword, people!) depiction of the afterlife that didn't have any basis in the Bible, they completely abandoned the show, and decided it was a disappointing, Anti-Christian, bad ending.

Oh, get over it!

Really! Short-sighted people in the Church is something I really do not like. Like a pharisee, they nit-pick and scavenge over every frame of a movie or television show, every page of a book, or every lyric to a song, and if one small thing doesn't line up with the Bible, then 'Uh oh! Satan is surely at work here.'

That was not at all the case for the finale of 'Lost.' I could get much deeper into the spiritual aspects of the show and it's finale, but one of my Pastors, Jerry Davison, said everything I wanted to say and much more on his blog. Click here to read it.

Now, for a more critical look at some of the story-telling, filmmaking, and other non- spiritual aspects of the show.

I adore 'Lost,' but I found myself thinking this morning 'Was it really as good as I think it was?' To be honest, probably not. Whoa, if only I could see the look on your face. I might have just committed the worst blasphemy you'll ever hear, and I apologize, but let me explain.

In a story, you simply must have coherency when it comes to plot, especially if you're going to feature as many characters as 'Lost' did. The fact of the matter is, in retrospect, 'Lost' was kind of a messy show. What started as a story of cast-aways and survival, turned into a retrospective soap opera, ala 'Crash,' which then turned into a waring factions type of story, that moved into a nuclear holocaust/lone scientist tale, which turned into a mysterious evil organization plot, THEN into a time-traveling saga, THEN into a mythology - something that was really kind of out of place over the entire story. How... does that happen?

I imagine if just anyone undertook something like that, they could effectively create the worst thing in television history. However, the producers, writers, and actors did a brilliant job at... somehow... making it work. Of course they made most of it up as they went along (you could just tell sometime) but they were able to inject a certain type of magic into the mix that held it all together; Characters.

In a movie, story, or in this case, television show, if your characters are stereotypical, unrelateable, unapproachable, or just plain 'flat' (I'm talking to you, 'Avatar.'), then you end up with a crappy product. The vast array of characters and just life in each of the individuals on the show was extraordinary. Think about this - what other television show out there has 50+ characters whom you remember all their names? It's the love and story the writers and producers put into each one of them that carried us through the bizarre world of survival, scientific initiative, time-travel, magic, mythology, love triangles and polar bears. They made it work, and they held the show together.

All-in-all, looking back, 'Lost' was, indeed, kind of messy. You give us mysteries we believe you'll answer, but leave us in the dark for the sake of lack of interest... but 'Lost' is probably the best thing I've ever seen (or will see) on television. We will surely miss you, oh my 'Lost.'

Namaste.

Where's Matt?

2010-03-24T11:39:00.000-07:00

He died.

No, I'm kidding. He was mauled by a tiger.

No, I'm kidding again. I've been working on other projects for places and... clientèle other than YouTube. I know, right? Surprising! What's really cool is I'm working with 3-D right now.

That's right! Two cameras, the cute little glasses; all of that. It's a lot easier and works a lot better than I thought it would. I'm excited, but really, I miss YouTube a lot. Don't worry, though. I'm actually planning on releasing a new video to My Channel (that's a link - see?) before the end of this week, so that'll be fun... for me anyway. ;D

So, with that, I'm off! Happy day to you, kind sir or madame.

-Matt

YouTube Partnership!?

2010-03-09T09:07:00.001-08:00

Yes!

So, the other day I received an e-mail from YouTube themselves asking ME to begin monetizing my videos, and asking me to join the YouTube Partnership program! This is it! The dream has finally been realized! Alright!

But, there's a catch. It turns out that they want my old channel to join, rather than my current one. I never sign into that old thing anymore. It has an un-catchy channel name, it has lots of Copyright strikes against it, and it's just not as good as my current.

But my current channel, MajorMotionMatt, is not eligible for the Partnership Program on it's own. See, when I signed up for my new channel, I decided I'd be a good little boy, and be honest about my age. So, until I turn 18 in July, my current channel is not eligible for monetizing. Which sucks.

BUT (there's always a but, hmm?) I was able to link my old channel and my current channel together, and apply, so maybe, just maybe, I'll be able to enter them BOTH into the Partnership Program, and then that'd include my current channel! This is what I'm hoping can happen - I'm waiting to hear back from them.

But, until then, I'm waiting for my Wii to come back from Nintendo. They're repairing it for me (for free!), so those are two things I'm waiting for. Yup. Just waiting.... Just... Waiting..... ZzZzZz

Sorry about that. Thanks for reading!

-Matt

Blogging on the Go!

2010-03-03T16:31:00.000-08:00

So, guess what? I'm totally lying on my bed, blogging on my DSi! I've had this thing since Christmas, and I've been online maybe twice. It's pretty sweet, but the hardware on this thing isn't fantastic. I mean, it doesn't support Flash online, and it's more or less is the speed of dial-up. Eh, it's not THAT bad, though. I can see it being useful if something were to happen to my computer.

Well, so, I'm watching 'Attack of the Show' on G4, and saw a preview for a new Liam Neeson movie. It looks pretty sucky, which is a shame since he's such an awesome actor.

You know what I'm REALLY tired of? This incredibly stupid, generic trailer for the upcoming movie, 'Brooklyn's Finest.' Gah, so stupid. It's that super-retarded song that annoys me like no other. >.<

Well, Tosh.0... I mean 'Web Soup' xomes on in 15, so I'm going to watch that and play some 'Spirit Tracks.' Can't wait to get my Wii back... orat least know it got to Nintendo okay...

Thanks for reading!
-Matt

Lacking in Inspiration

2010-02-28T22:16:00.001-08:00

So, it's been a little more than a week since I've put a video up on YouTube. I'm afraid it's because of a strange lack of inspiration or ideas. Actually, no, I take that back. I've had plenty of ideas, and actually made several videos, but... they all turned out to be crap. Mostly because I tried to make them late at night, and I can't put a lot of effort into at that point.

One of them I made was about Chicken McNuggets. Yeah. That was my idea.

Actually, that was the most promising of all the videos I tried to make this past week. I might actually try and filming and editing that one tomorrow. It's about the ridiculous new menu item McDonalds has come up with; a pack of 50 McNuggets. Fifty! Half of one hundred! 1/20 of 1000! Crazy!

I tried some filters and effects on my camera to make me look huge. Here's a pic:

Yeah. Ew, huh? The nastiest part is that's a real zit on the lower-right side.

That'd be Lester Chaps. He's a 20-year-old guy who weighs 1,200 pounds, and his momma be bringin' him McDonalds when she goes out. It was his idea for McDonalds to feature 50 nuggets on their menu.

But that video didn't really work out. Well, it hasn't worked out yet. I think I might mess with the idea tomorrow- I've got nothing else to do. Actually, it's funny - I'm supposed to head into my church office on Mondays to upload the podcast to the internet and talk video with the Creative Arts pastor, but the problem is, for a good two months now, something has prevented me going EVERY MONDAY since we talked about me coming in. Whether it's me being sick, or he, Jerry, being sick, or a conference he has to go to, or a thing I have to go to, something keeps from making it over there every Monday. Tomorrow's no different, so I might just work on that McDonald's video, haha.

Well, that's about all I feel like writing. Actually, I feel like writing a lot more, but I won't bore you here.

Thanks for reading!

-Matt

Season Cinco

2010-02-28T18:18:00.000-08:00

Just for everyone's information, the greatest show ever begins it's fifth season tonight at 12:30!

Tim and Eric, Awesome Show; Great Job!

Cartoon Network's [adult swim]
12:30 AM
Great Job!

New Layout!

2010-02-26T19:07:00.000-08:00

So, after taking a hard look at the former layout of my blog, I realized...

"Gah, what a sucky-looking blog."

So, here we are with a fresh coat of paint, a top hat and cane, and a pocket full of miracles.

Notice the cool links at the top! Now my blog has more that one page! Cool, eh? Yeah, Blogger must have just come out with that. Sweet, huh!?

Also, 'The Matt Method' has it's own blog, now! Instead of scowering my videos and looking through THIS blog, all my tips and tricks are there now! Go Check it Out!

Hope you'll start reading now that it looks a bit better. ;)

-Matt