Of Mentors and VILLAINS

mentor
[men-tawr, -ter]

noun
1.a wise and trusted counselor or teacher.
2.an influential senior sponsor or supporter.

villain
[vil-uh n]
noun
1.a cruelly malicious person who is involved in or devoted to wickednessor crime; scoundrel.
2.a character in a play, novel, or the like, who constitutes an important evil agency in the plot.

PART ONE )
"WHAT MARVEL LEARNED FROM GLADIATOR."

For many years Comic Book movies were a joke. Trying to get super heroes to the screen was just awful. Bad acting and Poor costumes, no quality effects shots.

There was a Spider Man movie, a Fantastic Four movie, a Howard the Duck movie, all pretty bad.They all were lacking believable heroes.

I have a theory... i think in order to make a good, believable movie HERO  you MUST have Mentors and VILLAINS. You need REAL ACTORS FOR SUPPORTING ROLES 

In the year 2000 Director Ridley Scott debuted a film about a soldier who became a slave and then a "Gladiator" . In a time when EPIC MOVIES were not a trend he took a risk. But he needed a strong supporting CAST to make his HERO A MOVIE GIANT.

In the first minutes of the film we are presented with two  characters: 

Maximus (Russel Crowe) speaking to his troops, and then the Emperor. The one and only RICHARD HARRIS as Emperor Marcus Aurelius, Maximus first mentor.

CONSOLIDATED ACTORS in A movie as supporting characters  deliver epic performances in every take. This gives the rest of the cast and crew the  building BLOCKS from there.  

Such is the case of OLIVER REED as Proximo, Maximus second mentor.

What is a movie without the conflict or the villain. In this film it was masterfully played by, non other than JOAQUIN PHOENIX as  Commodus.

So now that we´ve established  the importance of mentor and  villain in the development of MOVIE PLOT we are not surprised what MARVEL did to be taken serious as a MARVEL CINEMATIC UNIVERSE.

IRON MAN (2008)

VILLAIN : Jeff Bridges as Obadiah Stane

MENTOR: Shaun Toub as Yinsen

CAPTAIN AMERICA (2011)

MENTOR : Stanley Tucci as Dr. Abraham Erskine

VILLAIN: Hugo Weaving as Johann Schmidt / Red Skull

THOR (2011)

MENTOR Anthony Hopkins as ODIN and 

VILLAIN Tom Hiddleston as Loki. 

PART TWO) FOR EXAMPLE

There are too many in movie history, so to name a few from some of my favorite movies:

MENTOR Alec Guiness as Jedi Knight Obi Wan Kenobi in 

STAR WARS  (1977)

 Villain : David Prowse/James Earl Jones as Darth Vader

in THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK (1980)

Mentor , "You´re a rocking machine "Burgess Meredith as Mickey in ROCKY (1976)

Mentor Laurence Fishburne as Red PILL/ Blue PILL 

Morpheus in MATRIX (1999)

What if A mentor is the villain?

Liam Neeson as Double faced Henri Ducard / Ra's al Ghul in Batman Begins (2005)

Michael Douglas as Greedy Gordon Gecko in Wall Street (1987)

What if the hero is sort of a villain?? and His mentor is a supernatural being dressed as a Crow.

Brandon Lee as revengeful Eric Draven in The Crow (1994)

Or a Zombie killing MENTOR like Woody Harrelson as Tallahasee in ZOMBIELAND (2009)

PART THREE) The Beautiful Silence of not KNOWING

One of my favorite movies of last year was 

FOXCATCHER (2014).

Although it deals with the concept Of MENTORS AND VILLAINS, Director Bennett Miller ,masterfully takes us on a journey we ignore how it will all turn out, but by the end of the film we are emotionally attached to every character. Through all the movie it´s never clear if a character is good or evil, because like in real life we must be careful who to trust and how much we trust. This movie is a hard mirror inward on ourselves and real life. But most importantly , the danger of giving some one the power of authority . A MUST FOR ALL MOVIE LOVERS.

"Coach is the father. 

Coach is a mentor. 

Coach has great power on athlete's life."

-Steve Carrell as John du Pont

" THEM ! "

In 1954, a movie called THEM ! premiered and started scaring audiences all over USA, with giant monsters( A colony of ANTS ). This was Warner Bros.' highest grossing film of 1954.

In the New Mexico desert, Police Sgt. Ben Peterson and his partner find a child wandering in the desert , the little girl screams "Them!" they discover that giant ants are attacking the locals. 

They use guns, flame throwers and they find out that two queen ants have flown away to Los Angeles and they are starting a huge colony in the underground of the city, ....sounds familiar???

An 8 year old James Cameron saw that film and it set the basis for what we know now as ALIENS.

After seeing STAR WARS, Cameron quit his job as a truck driver to enter the film industry. A few years later as a second unit director ,he got his big break during the filming of "GALAXY OF TERROR". Being a screen writer of such movies as Rambo II and The Terminator he had another idea in the back of his head, a follow up to Ridley Scott´s ALIEN. He wanted to make a space movie with a subliminal VIETNAM feel to it.

Dark, futuristic and very ENTERTAINING, The 1986 film "ALIENS" debuted with a rare mix reviews, many thought Cameron was being presumptuous and ripping off Ridley Scott´s space masterpiece. While others considered it a STAND ALONE movie and one of the best sequels ever. CAMERON figured out a way to make the perfect COMBAT-MONSTER film, that stands to this day, the test of time. 

Legend says, Cameron didn´t liked the name "ALIEN 2" So he called for a meeting with the 20th Century executives, gathering them in a conference room where he only wrote one word in the black board 
(ALIEN) 

No one spoke, there was an uncomfortable silence. And then Cameron made the unthinkable...he wrote an (S) after the word ALIEN... 

So everyone in the room went "Its amazing!! wow!" 

Then Cameron put a line between the S ($) So it became apparent that a ALIEN$ would make a lot of money. The 18 million dollar budget was approoved.

One of my personal favorites, ALIENS will always be among my TOP TEN MOVIES. I think i was about 8 when i saw ALIEN, i couldn´t sleep for weeks after seeing an ALIEN chestbursting out of actor John Hurt. 

When i saw ALIENS i was not terrified, i was really excited!! Watching all this soldiers and Ripley fighting against them. In a time where Rambo and Commando were the movies i watched. Seeing ALIENS open up a whole new universe for me.

It earned 7 Academy Award Nominations, including  Sigourney Weaver as Best Actress for her reprisal of the role that made her a house hold name Ellen Ripley. Here are some trivia facts i found out:

• The Alien nest set was kept intact after filming. It was later used as the Axis Chemicals set for Tim Burton´s BATMAN (1989). When the Batman crew first entered the set, they found most of the Alien nest still intact.

• The ALIEN QUEEN was designed by James Cameron and Stan Winston.

The BUG STOMPER patch on the side of the aircraft PLANE that takes the soldiers from the SULACO to the base,  was designed as several references to Robert A. Heinlein's novel, "Starship Troopers": the prominent use of the military; during the orientation when Hudson asks if this is a "bug hunt."

• ALIENS was never shown to test audiences because editing was not completed until the week before its theatrical release.

• Nostromo  is a 1904 novel by Polish novelist Joseph Conrad, set in the fictitious South American republic of "Costaguana", and more specifically in that country's Occidental Province and its port city of Sulaco. 

• As the final credits fade, there is the sound of a facehugger scurrying across from left to right.

"We are doing a SEQUEL Not a Remake!!"

-James Cameron

There and Back AGAIN...

"I am RUDY, i was the last guy picked on the baseball team, i was the slowest runner on the cross country team, i was always determined.... not to let... limitations , not by other people but by circumstance by faith or genetics, limitations that just seem to crowd you i just want to push thru"

-Sean Astin

On February 25th 1971 Sean Patrick Duke was born. Son of child star Patty Duke ( who played Helen Keller in the 1962 movie The Miracle Helper), and raised by his stepfather John Astin (TV´s Gomez Addams from the Addams Family)

Sean took his last name from him and became an actor since 1985 with his film debut in "The GOONIES". To me a good actor is the one who sells the part instantly, who is the perfect cast. But a legendary actor is the one who does that in every single performance. To me one of those actors is Sean Astin. Here are three of his most famous roles and how they relate to myself. 

The kid.

If you were like me, growing up as a kid in the 80´s the worst thing that can happen was a rainy afternoon, because you couldn´t go play outside.  The best movie to watch when that happened was "The GOONIES". That movie  marked a whole generation of 80´s kids, as Sean Astin played  Michael "Mikey" Walsh who had all his friends come over and listened to "ONE EYED WILLIE´s " pirate story. 

When i was 9 i saw the movie and all i wanted was to be chased, grab my bike and my walkman ,listen to Cindy Lauper´s " The Goonies 'R' Good Enough" and discover pirate treasures in my street! whats cooler than that?? One of the first movies i really loved and that let my imagination fly.

The underdog.

As i was growing up , another of my dreams was to play football , when i had the chance at 16, i was being beaten from monday to saturday by the other players at training camp. The oldest or strongest were the ones that knew how to hurt you. After i saw RUDY, whenever i trained or played i felt really close to what Sean Astin did playing Daniel "Rudy" Ruettiger. 

A little fella, all alone in the football field,  who doesn´t know how to do it, but wants to succeed. As many of us who were doubtful teenagers, feeling lost and pressured by many things. Either our parents or school or the future...whatever may come. Rudy marked me in the way that deep inside yourself you know what you love the most. And you must fight for it and work hard to get it. Success is not being carried in arms but being happy doing what we love!

The friend.

As Samwise Gamgee in The Lord of The Rings Trilogy

making one of the greatest supporting roles ever. Sean Astin delivered not only purity , loyalty or friendship. To me he trully was in the Fellowship for FRODO. Protecting him from everything and everyone. Not just GOLLUM or GOBLINS, but from himself and the ONE RING. Sean played the one friend that doesn´t give up on you. The guy that is always there to listen and to see if you´ve eaten even if you are lost going in circles. 

To me more than just a child actor or a known face. Sean Astin is someone we grew with. We might not know him personally, but in his work we find ourselves. He has lifted us up and given us that pad in the back when we must needed it. He deserves our admiration and respect for being there with us. Sean Astin will be forever...There and BACK again.

My favorite line from the trilogy is:

"I wonder if people will ever say, 

'Let's hear about Frodo and the Ring."

-Samwise Gamgee L.O.T.R.

Narrative Choices

"the criticism of films or, better yet, their analysi is an enterprise of utmost importance: it is the film-makers who create the art of the cinema; it is through reflection on those individual filmswe have liked (or those we have disliked) that we have gained in-sights into the art of the film in general."

-Christian Metz 
from the book Film Language: A Semiotics of Cinema

Christian Metz was a French Film theorist who applied both Sigmund Freud's psychology and Jacques Lacan's mirror theory to the cinema, proposing that the reason film is popular as an art form lies in its ability to be both an imperfect reflection of reality and a method to delve into the unconscious dream state.

Movie directors are all story tellers. And all of them choose how to tell their stories. This are some of my favorite directors and the choices they´ve made to create their visual narrative.


Alfred Hitchcock has a cameo appearance in all his films and liked blondes as his leading ladies. 

Stanley Kubrick –

 made his characters do "The Stare" .
He enjoyed bad stuff happening In bathrooms.

 Was obsessed with "symmetry". 

Terrence Malick

Loves shooting on Nature Cinematography
Has multiple narrators,often unclear who exactly is narrating.


Alfonso Cuarón 

Has a penchant for Long takes (i.e. continuous, uninterrupted shot of film that's typically larger than a minute or so) and uses it to tremendous effect in his movies.

Darren Aronofsky 

 Chooses to show you the back of his characters by tracking shots

M. Night Shyamalan

Really Likes Using Car Accidents As A Plot Device and appears in every film he directs.

 Quentin Tarantino 

Has Dance Scenes, Black and White Suits, women feet and theTRUNK ( point of view) Shot

Sam Raimi – 

"The Car" Sam Raimi is obviously proud of his first car, a 1973 Oldsmobile Delta 88, and so it’s the automobile that makes the cameo instead.



Sam Mendes

(Sam Mendes + Water )= Death

 Sam Mendes has always stated that one of his favourite films is the original Jaws, and it has clearly affected him. The presence of water in one of his films is almost always a precursor for impending death.


John Landis – 

‘See You Next Wednesday’

In many of Landis’ films he sneaks in the phrase ‘See You Next Wednesday’ in the background. The original phrase was coined in Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey, by Frank Poole’s father during the videocall.


David Lynch

In most of his films are filled with Dreams and Split Personality. Two people play one person.


Martin Scorsese

In all his films the ones who tell the tale are characters, not the plot. Of course, Scorsese's films never have a plot. It's the characters that get to run the show. Characters narrating their stories.
Usually, we'll see a character, a Catholic, loathsome idler as the protagonist.
New York City as the main setting in his films

Michael Bay

He may be the most hated director, but is famous for his trademark shots. Many people say that all of his films are alike. They all have explosions in it.  And the american flag. 

Christopher Nolan

Is Obsessed With Dead Women Nonlinear story telling. Two or more parallel scenes at the end.Name of the movie is again displayed at the end

Jean Pierre Jeunet 

His sets are intricately designed using a lot of different patterns and exaggerated colors. Has an eye for details. 

Wes Anderson 

 What sets him apart as one of contemporary cinema’s most talked about auteurs is the mood he creates in his movies – the theatrical set designs, the brilliant score, the sepia tone that tinges all the frames, and the quirkiness with which the various plot elements come together. Besides, he frequently teams up with Bill Murray. 

However, there is another trademark visual obsession of his that came to my attention a few months ago – Anderson loves to compose shots that have perfect symmetry.

Paul Thomas Anderson 

Resorts to using fluid long takes to can his shots. Blessed with great visual artistry, Anderson's use of camera is often flawless. A continuously moving camera, that is.

Every narrative is, there-fore, a discourse (the converse is not true; many discourses are notnarratives
— the lyric poem, the educational film, etc.).'

What distinguishes a discourse from the rest of the world, and bythe same token contrasts it with the "real" world, is the fact that adiscourse must necessarily be made by someone (for discourse is notlanguage), whereas one of the characteristics of the world is that itis uttered by no one."on one level, all films are fiction films. All cinematic experience is based by definition on illusion."

-Christian Metz