May 3, 2012 | Writing

Okay I’ll admit it I’m an unabashed, smitten, convinced there will never be another actor of his caliber, willing to watch his movies over and over again no matter how many times I’ve seen it before, fan of the actor Humphrey Bogart. So if you believe there’s another actor that is better than him, stop right here and read no further. (And write your own blog praising them.)

I won’t enlighten you with the details of his life, you can find that on the Humphrey Bogart official website. I’m more interested in Bogart and his roles as the anti-hero Hero. There are three essential writing books on my desk. Debra Dixon’s Goal, Motivation & Conflict, Christopher Vogler’s The Writer’s Journey, and Barbara Ann Kipfer’s Flip Dictionary published by Writer’s Digest. When I’m crafting my female and male characters I’m always looking for ways to make them three dimensional, tough, cynical, willing to kill for the greater or not so greater good, and most all generate respect and sympathy by the reader.

Vogler defines the anti-hero hero as not the opposite of your typical hero but as a special type of hero. “One who may be an outlaw or a villain from the point of view of society, but with whom the audience is basically in sympathy.” The anti-hero hero appeals to me because he’s not the handsome tall, dark, rugged, handsome man who swaggers onto the first page or screen and screams hero. Whoa, that’s John Wayne another favorite actor of mine. Bogart’s face had lines, his voice was deep at times menacing. He didn’t walk with a swagger but more like a coiled tiger you best not try to pet.

Vogler describes two types of anti-hero Hero. The first is the character who behaves like your conventional hero but is cynical, wounded, and doesn’t let anyone close, and keeps their emotions locked away. Vogler even cites two of Bogart’s biggest movies, The Big Sleep and Casablanca. I’d like to add The Maltese Falcon to this list. The second type of anti-hero Hero is the tragic character who is not only not likable and we may dislike their actions. (Ah that would be Humphrey Bogart in The Caine Mutiny).

The first movie I ever saw Humphrey Bogart in was The Petrified Forest. He played Duke Mantee an escaped prisoner who held people at an out of the way cafe hostage. Duke was waiting for his girlfriend. When Bogart, as Duke, burst into the diner, I twitched. He was bad, ruthless, and scary. I rooted for his demise yet I couldn’t take my eyes off him. He stole your attention. Apparently this same plot point appeared in another Bogart movie, The Desperate Hours. His character, Glen Griffin was again an escaped convict holding a family hostage as he waited for his girlfriend. Women- the bad guy’s downfall. Duke and Glen both die in the end. Leslie Howard, the star of The Petrified Forest, campaigned hard for Bogart to play Mantee. Howard protested doing the movie unless Bogart got the part. The studios wanted Edward G. Robinson. Trivia Point: When Bogart and Robinson were in gangster movies together they made a pact. If Robinson had top billing, Bogart died first, then Robinson. If Bogart had top billing, Robinson died first, then Bogart. Thank you Turner Classic Movies for that tidbit. Also later Bogart and Robinson would team up in Key Largo.

Casablanca transcends decades. The movie holds up and should never, ever be remade. It cemented Bogart as a star. As Rick Blaine, the nightclub owner of Casablanca, he has the characteristics of the anti-hero hero. Although I think Maltese Falcon is better example of this type of hero and I’ll explain later. We know Casablanca’s plot. Rick’s old love Ilsa, who left him in Paris, comes to Casablanca. Ilsa and her husband are trying to escape the Nazis. He’s a freedom fighter, Rick’s a saloon owner. Touch choice for Ilsa. They need letters of transport to leave Casablanca and their lives are in danger. Rick has the letters. He’s tried to forget Ilsa. She left him in the city of love. I’d be devastated too. So now we have sympathy for the anti-hero hero. When Ilsa insists Sam, the piano player, play ‘As Time Goes By’, Rick explodes into the room demanding why Sam is singing a song he had strictly forbidden to ever be played. Then Rick sees Ilsa. It’s an emotional reunion and Bogart plays it just right. He keeps his cool when you know he’s seething and hurting inside. The coiled tiger. Later in the movie, Rick demands Sam play the song just for him. Then Bogart through his acting allows you to see and experience his pain. In the end, Rick sends Ilsa away with her husband. He doesn’t want to, he loves her, but for the greater good lets her go. It’s been said that the movie’s writers wrote the scenes and dialogue each night before the next day’s filming. How I envy them. To have the ability to create dialogue and to have actors who could say the words and perform in such a way to make the film one of the greatest films of all time. This year is the 75th anniversary of Casablanca.

The Maltese Falcon is by far the Bogart movie I enjoy the most. Everyone has their favorites. Vogler calls the anti-hero hero “often honorable men who have withdrawn from society’s corruption, perhaps ex-cops or soldiers who became disillusioned and now operate in the shadow of the law as private eyes, smugglers, gamblers, or soldiers of fortune. Bogart throughout his movie career has portrayed each one of these characters. I recently read Dashiell Hammett’s The Maltese Falcon. The movie is faithful to the book. Dialogue, characters, and plot. Hammett in the book describes the Joe Cario character as effeminate in manner and speech. Peter Lorre is perfectly cast as Cairo. His mannerisms, speech, soft voice, and big eyes are excellent. Hammett wrote that Cario wore a chypre fragrance. Hammett never explains for the reader what chypre smells like. Today’s writer can’t do that. If I wrote he wore a chypre fragrance I’d have to describe it for the reader. Otherwise they’d wonder what chypre was and how it smelled. The reader would lose the story’s momentum. After the third chypre mention I had to Google it. Chypre is a citrus, floral and mossy fragrance with patchouli added. Trivia Point: Badgley Mischika’s fragrance, Coco’s Mademoiselle, Darling by Kylie Minogue, DKNY’s Be Delicious, and Givenchy’s Ange au Demon are top selling chypre based fragrances today.

In the next to final scene in The Maltese Falcon, Bogart explains why he has to turn Brigid, his love interest, in for the murder of Spade’s private detective partner, Miles Archer. At this part of the movie I start laughing. A lot. Why? Two reasons, okay three reasons. First the dialogue is fantastic and every word defines what an anti-hero Hero is. Second is Humphrey Bogart’s delivery. It is emotional, cynical, convincing, and funny. Spade figured out Bridget killed Miles, how and why. He forces her to admit it but she doesn’t believe he’ll turn her in because he ‘loves’ her. She’s right he tells her, he doesn’t want to turn her in but he has to. He didn’t like his partner and was planning to end their partnership. So what if he was sleeping with Miles’ wife. Spade’s analysis of the situation and Bogart’s acting would make a psychiatrist proud. Bogart delivers each line with conviction.”Well if you get a good break you’ll be out of San Quentin in twenty years and you can come back to me then.” And he adds, ‘If they don’t hang you.’ Because as Spade says, he won’t play the sap for her. Spade explains that when a man’s partner is killed, he’s suppose to do something about it. He tells her to not believe the talk that private detectives are crooked. That kinda of talk is good for business, he says. Spade’s knight in shining armor is tarnished but he still knows right from wrong. I’m still laughing as Brigid is being taken away by the police. The shadows on the elevator door look like prison bars. I’m rooting for Spade and feeling sorry for him. He fell in love with a killer. Even though he has his vices, he still has a moral conviction and becomes the ultimate anti-hero Hero. Only Humphrey Bogart could have played Sam Spade. ‘Damn good acting’, as the Turner Classic Movie saying goes. The third reason I’m laughing? My cynical sense of humor.

March 20, 2012 | Writing

Greetings Vin Diesel, Riddick, fans. I got caught up in NCAA, March Madness. Watched Norfolk State do some damage. VCU did well and maybe saying goodbye to their awesome coach, Shaka Smart, if University of Illinois, Champaign have their way.

But now back to The Chronicles of Riddick and the end of his hero’s journey. Riddick arrives on Cremetoria, much to the displeasure of the guards. The mercs don’t trust the guards and thus Riddick has the perfect opportunity to see them turn on each other. Riddick’s plan is to rescue Jack and escape. Campbell writes the hero enters a Special World “a dream landscape of curiously fluid, ambiguous forms, where he must survive a succession of trials.” That’s Cremetoria alright. He’s been in a lot of prisons and escaped from each of them, but this world is dangerous.

Which leads to Stage Seven: Approach to the Inmost Cave. Two places where Stage Seven occurs in The Chronicles of Riddick, Cremetoria and Helion Prime. Campbell writes the hero will encounter supreme wonder and terror. First Cremetoria’s prison is underground since the surface is close to a thousand degrees. Riddick is attacked by inmates when he first arrives, he defeats each except one. Jack saves him. She’s pretty lethal with a long, heavy iron chain. When Riddick follows her, their reunion is anything but sweet. Jack, the actress Alexa Davalos (soon to be seen in Wrath of The Titans), openly challenges Riddick. They trade dialogue from Pitch Black.

Jack/Kyra: “How do I get eyes like that?”
Riddick: “First you’ve got to kill someone.”
Jack/Kyra: “Did that, couldn’t find anyone for twenty menthol cools.”

At this point Riddick hoists her up against the bars. And she asks: “What are you going to do? Go for the sweet spot?” She slashes Riddick’s cheek and tells him her name is Kyra now, Jack couldn’t cut it and she’s a new kind of animal. Later Kyra is surrounded by guards and almost killed. Riddick comes to her rescue and kills one of the guard with his tea cup. The other guards flee. Kyra then fills Riddick in on how she left Helion Prime looking for him, signed up with mercs, was slaved out and sentenced to Cremetoria. Riddick is furious. He tried to protect her and she signed up with same ‘fake badges’ he’s been running from. After a gun battle between the guards and the mercs, Riddick seizes the opportunity to plan an escape. Campbell writes that this is a time for information gathering or getting ready for an ordeal. He says ‘gunfighters check their weapons’, Riddick tells the inmates he plans on outrunning the fire inferno rolling across the surface of the planet. ‘Don’t step up if you can’t keep up’, he informs them. The stakes are higher, but Kyra will follow Riddick so they along with four other inmates leave. As they race across the ground, the guards who are traveling underground toward the hanger where the ship is docked, take shots at them. One inmate is killed. They have to climb a mountain as the fire inferno bears down on them. Kyra is stranded and she pleads for Riddick to save her. He douses himself with water, swings out and reaches her just in time. Another inmate dies.

As they reach the hanger, Riddick senses the Necromongers have arrived. The hanger door opens, the guards meet the Necromongers and a battle between them distracts them from Riddick. Riddick, Kryra and the remainig two inmates fight a bloody battle. Riddick is shot by Vaako and left for dead. In the Director’s cut, as Riddick is about to be shot by Vaako, a Furyan warrior woman reappears and tells him he must avenge his people but first it’s going to hurt. She holds out her hand which appears to be burning and imprints a glowing hand on Riddick’s chest. Kyra has no choice but to escape with the Necromongers.

Stage Eight: The Ordeal deals with death and rebirth. “Heroes must die so that they can be reborn.” Riddick is left for dead, but he’s not alone. The Purifier remained behind. He pulls Riddick to safety and has the knife Riddick pulled from the back of the Necromonger that killed Imam. When Riddick comes to he knows Kyra has left the planet. The Purifier informs Riddick that The Lord Marshal wanted to strike a deal. If Riddick stays away from him, he’ll leave him alone. The Purifies reveals that he’s a Furyan. ‘We all began as something else.’ He wants Riddick to return to Helion Prime and defeat The Lord Marshal. The Purifier walks out into the blazing inferno to atone for all the evil deeds he’s done ‘in the name of a religion not even his own’ and burns up.

In Stage Eight, Campbell says the hero witnesses death. Riddick picks up the knife determined to return to Helion Prime. The villain also dies. Riddick returns to Helion Prime disguised as a Necromonger. Dame and Lord Vaako are surprised and frightened. Lord Vaako reported Riddick dead and was promoted. Whoops, a slight hitch in Dame Vaako’s plan. But hey she’s resourceful woman. She suggests they give Riddick a chance to kill The Lord Marshall. Her reasoning: The Lord Marshall is weak and should be eliminated. She adds that this should be done for the Necromonger faith.

Riddick attacks The Lord Marshall and discovers he’s turned Kyra into a Necromonger. The Lord Marshall offers Riddick a new life with Kyra. Riddick refuses, throws the knife and for the first time in a long time, The Lord Marshall bleeds. A fight to the death between them leaves Riddick at the mercy of The Lord Marshall until Kyra stabs him in the back. Wounded but still strong, The Lord Marshall throws Kyra against a spear. Vaako jumps down, ready to kill The Lord Marshall, who shifts out of Vaako’s reach, but materializes right in front of Riddick who stabs him in the head with the knife.

Riddick holds a dying Kyra, the last person who has sacrificed her life for him. As he sits on the throne he is surrounded by Vaako and the other Necromongers. He looks up expecting to die. Instead Vaako says: “You keep what you kill.” Everyone kneels. Riddick is now the Necromongers leader. Stage Nine of the hero’s journey is the hero reaping his reward. Riddick didn’t look too happy about his reward. Apparently we’ll have to wait for the sequel, The Chronicles of Riddick Dark Fury which is a working title, to see what Riddick faces.

There are three more stages in the hero’s journey according to Campbell. Stage Nine, Reward. The hero has overcome the Ordeal and for a moment at least savors victory. For Riddick he doesn’t have this opportunity, at least in this movie. Campbell writes that once the hero survives the Ordeal he is recognized as different, ‘part of a select few who have outwitted death.’ And Riddick has done this. So the question is: Now what?

Stage Ten: The Road Back. The hero has to decide whether to remain in the Special World or return to the Ordinary World. The movie ends on this question. What is he going to do with all these Necromongers?

Stage Eleven: The Resurrection. The hero is suppose to change. Has Riddick changed? Stay tune to the third movie.

Stage Twelve: Return with the Elixir. Campbell writes now that the hero has survived all the ordeals, the deaths of those he trusted and loved, they either return home or continue the journey. They move forward believing they are beginning a new life. So at the end of Chronicles of Riddick yes he’s about to begin a new life. Again stay tuned for what that new life will be.

Any dialogue any one want to share? Or comments? Cause this has been fun and next month I’ll pick another movie. Any suggestions?

March 15, 2012 | Writing

Christopher Vogler writes “…an Anti-Hero is not the opposite of a Hero, but a specialized kind of Hero, one who may be an outlaw or a villain from the point of view of society, but with whom the audience is basically in sympathy. We identify with these outsiders because we have all felt like outsiders at one time or another.” Richard Riddick definitely fits this description. He’s a murderer, an escaped convict, he’s dangerous, and really, really hot. As I wrote in a response, Riddick is someone you don’t want to run into in a dark and cold alley late at night, or even during the day, but if you’re going to walk down a dark and cold alley late at night he’s the man you want right by your side or leading the way. However you don’t plan on turning your back on him. Even the Elemental Aereon says in her voice over at the beginning of the movie, evil needs to be fought by another type of evil. And Riddick is the evil this world needs to save itself. Convincing Riddick that he’s the one to fight The Lord Marshal is a problem My favorite actor, Humphrey Bogart is the perfect anti-hero. The Big Sleep, Casablanca, and The Maltese Falcon, (yeah I can quote the dialogue from all three).

Vogler cites two types of anti-hero: the first behaves in a regular way but has a wounded or cynical quality and the second is not admirable or likeable. Riddick is a wounded anti-hero, he gets our sympathy and our lust, but to society he’s an outcast. Vogler writes they are rebels, like James Dean or Marlon Brando (another lust inspiring male).

Okay so now back to The Chronicles of Riddick, his hero’s journey, and snappy dialogue. The Fourth Stage of the Hero’s journey is the introduction of the Mentor. I don’t consider Aereon as Riddick’s mentor. I think Imam serves this purpose. Riddick showed ‘trust’ to this one man and when he believes Imam has betrayed his trust he goes looking for him. In Pitch Black Imam at one point asks Riddick if he believes in God. Riddick says he does, just not the way Imam does. Vogler writes that sometime the Mentor must give the hero a push to get him started. Well I think Imam’s death is a hard push. While Riddick is trying to save Imam and his family, Imam sacrifices his life to save them. Riddick finds Imam’s dead body and remembers that the Necromonger who kills Imam has a knife in his back. Those Necromongers are crazy.

Imam’s death pushes Riddick into Stage Five of the hero’s journey, crossing the first threshold. “A villain may kill, harm, threaten, or kidnap someone close to the hero, sweeping aside all hesitation”. Riddick is about to enter the new world, the world of the Necromongers.

In a great hall the inhabitants of Helion Prime have been gathered to meet The Lord Marshal, actor Colm Feore, and The Purifier, Linus Roache, who went on to play DA Cutter on Law and Order. The Purifier says: “We all began as something else.” The Lord Marshall tells them this is their last chance and when one of the leaders challenges him, The Lord Marshall rips out his soul. Everyone bows and the camera focuses on Riddick who refuses to bow.
Anybody got any dialogue?

Once Riddick dispatches the Necromonger, who killed Imam, and keeps the knife, ( a very important tool) he is taken to The Lord Marshall’s interrogation cell by Dame Vaako, the actress Thandie Newton. She reminds me of Lady Macbeth, willing to do whatever is necessary to put her husband, Lord Vaako, Karl Urban on the throne. The Purifier accompanies them. It’s a trap, but now Riddick has entered the Special World of the Necromongers and he sees how Necromongers are created. Of course Dame Vaako leads him into a trap and The Lord Marshal discovers that Riddick is one of his most feared enemies, a Furyan. The Lord Marshall gives orders to kill Riddick, but The Purifier releases Riddick so he escapes. As he’s chased, guess who shows up? Toombs. Toombs shoots down a ship chasing Riddick and recaptures his prisoner.

Dialogue?
Riddick: ‘A five man crew this time?’

Vogler’s Stage Six: Tests, Allies, Enemies. Riddick has passed the first test. Now his enemy Toombs rescues him and in some sense becomes his ally by taking him off Helion Prime. What they don’t realize is they are Riddick’s pawns. The dialogue on Toombs ship is pretty good. Riddick persuades Toombs to take him to Crematoria where Jack has been incarcerated.

Dialogue?
Riddick: “I don’t know about this crew, Toombs. Maybe you should have told them what happened to the last one.”

Tomorrow we’ll finish Riddick’s journey. Looking forward to seeing you here.

March 13, 2012 | Uncategorized,Writing

“One last question, merc, and you better get this one right? Whose ship is this? Riddick asked Toombs.
“Mine,” Toombs answers.
Then Riddick shoves him out of the vessel and takes off.

Stage Two of the Hero’s journey is: The Call to Adventure. According to Vogler, the hero is faced with a challenge, problem and can no longer stay in his Ordinary World. Although if it were me, getting off that frozen planet would be a no brainer. But for Riddick he now knows the bounty was placed on his head by Imam, one of two he rescued off the alien planet. Someone he ‘showed trust.’ Vogler states: “The Call to Adventure establishes the stakes of the game, and makes clear the hero’s goal: to win the treasure or the lover, to get revenge or right a wrong, to achieve a dream, confront a challenge, or change a life.” With Riddick it looks like he’s out for revenge, because since he’s a wanted man he’s not really righting a wrong unless he turns himself into the authorities. Yeah right.

Once on Helion Prime, Riddick breaks into Imam’s, (the actor David Keith) home and cleans up, physically. And he’s looking really good. When Imam comes home, Riddick quietly and deadly confronts him. Imam, worried about his wife and young daughter, tells Riddick that if it weren’t for the threat of invasion he would have never revealed where Riddick was hiding. Imam’s daughter, Ziza, isn’t afraid of Riddick and asks him: “Are you going to kill the new monsters this time?” Imam responds: “Such are our bedtime stories.” Riddick wants the pay day off his head. So Imam summons three clerics who come to try and persuade Riddick to help them stop the Necromonger invaders. Then Aereon, (actress Judi Dench), an Elemental who was the one who placed the bounty on Riddick’s head. She explains her reason is because he’s a Furyan, the one race the Lord Marshal fears. As she explains the situation, Riddick says “Maybe you should pretend you’re talking to someone educated in the penal system, better yet don’t pretend.”

What’s your favorite line from this scene?

Stage Three of the Hero’s Journey as written by Vogler is: Refusal of the Call – The Reluctant Hero. Riddick is indeed a reluctant hero. He tells Imam, after he beats the crap out of the soldiers, it’s not his fight. Imam challenges him by telling him that young Jack never forgave him for leaving her and she left looking for him. Vogler says: “The hero has not yet fully committed to the journey and may still be thinking of turning back.” Riddick leaves looking for way off the planet, but witnesses the invasion.

Imam flees with his family and they are separated. Riddick saves Imam first and then his family.
Any lines from this scene?

Wednesday I’ll get to the really good stuff. Lots of Vin Diesel, Karl Urban, and the adventure begins.