lionelluthor14

Even though Halloween has come and gone, I'm still celebrating it this last week. Until the Simpsons Treehouse of Horror airs, Halloween isn't over for me. So I have one last week of watching horror films and being in the halloween spirit. Not much to talk about today except I wanted to reveal one big secret about myself that has recently come to light. It's no secret that I have a major love for the Halloween franchise. It's the horror movie series that got me interested in horror films in the first place. As much as I love Nightmare on Elm Street and Friday the 13th and other horror films, the Halloween films will always have a very personal meaning to me. I completely understand why someone wouldn't like the later sequels and consider them stupid, but they're very personal films for me. During this particular Halloween season though, I realized something else about the Halloween movies. I believe, and I never knew this until just recently, that the Halloween franchise is what got me interested in being a filmmaker myself. I was very surprised when I first realized this, but when you think about it it kinda makes sense. Horror films are somewhat easy to make and have definitely inspired other people to make movies. And considering how much I love the characters and plots in all of the films, it's really no surprise that i would want to make a movie like that after watching all of those films. So I guess the secret is really out now. I'm glad to finally know the reason behind why I want to be a filmmaker. Who knows, maybe if I'm lucky I'll even get to make my own addition onto the Halloween franchise someday. Fingers crossed. Stay in the Halloween spirit.

It's now Halloween weekend. I've been waiting for this all year long, just like always. This weekend is going to be pretty insane. Things are going to go down that have never happened before. I have a sneaking suspicion that the status quo is going to change over this weekend. So tonight as I worked my final shift for the next few days, I did something very important. As we got ready to close the store and I talked and listened to Maisie, I did something very simple. I just enjoyed the moment. For five minutes, I stood there and just let it all sink in. With a smile on my face, I'm ready for whatever insanity this weekend brings me. Best of luck to you all. And most importantly, HAPPY HALLOWEEN 2010!!!

"You are all my children now"-Freddy Krueger in Elm Street Part 2

Well it's more than halfway through October already and what a month it's been. I wait around all year for Halloween to come around and it always pays off in a big way. 2010 has been a great year, so there's no reason why October wouldn't be a great month by itself. I've been making big plans for my annual Halloween bash and some seriously insane stuff is going to go down this year. 2010 has been all about a year of changes and October has been no different. This week everything has really started coming together. The last 7 days have been simply fantastic. I can't wait to see what happens in the final two weeks leading up to Halloween. I've also officially begun production on my next film project. It's top secret though, so sorry no spoilers. I recently watched one of my favorite horror films which is Scream 2. Watching it reminded me of every reason that I like to make movies. There's just something about that film that really inspires me. To coincide with that, the world premiere trailer for Scream 4 just premiered and it's simply marvelous. Scream 4 is without a doubt one of the top two films I'm looking forward to in 2011, the other being Green Lantern. Watching Scream 2 was just one of the many horror films i've been watching this month. Many of you are probably aware of my famous 31 Days of Halloween horror movie marathons that I have every October. The marathon has been going very well this year and I've been watching a lot of great scary films. I've seen some real gems this year, including the original The Hitcher and the cult classic Phantasm. A few years ago I started trying to have a theme in many of the films I watched. Two years ago the theme was vampires, last year it was zombies. I've officially decided that this year's theme is Supernatural Curses. Now not every film I watch has a supernatural curse in it, but I've tried to select at least half of my films that deal with evil curses in some way. I always select my yearly theme simply by chance. The last three years I've just happened to watch a lot of films dealing with the particular theme I end up with. Supernatural horror movies aren't usually my thing, but neither are zombies so what the hell? I might as well have a little fun watching movies that I'm not necessarilly all that into. Well that's the latest October update. I fully believe that the reason everything has started going so well again is because of the Halloween magic in the air. It really is the season of miracles. Oh yeah, I've now got two different costumes I'm going to be for the big day. More on that later, so stay tuned. Happy haunting everyone. There's only 10 shopping days left till the night of horror is upon us!!!! Let the maliciousness begin!!!!

"I have been away from my children for far too long."-Freddy Krueger in Freddy vs. Jason

It has been almost two months since I posted on here, and I apologize for the delay. I started back in school and I neglected to realize how little time I would have once the fall season started back. But I have returned now and I will do my best to keep this journal up to date. Instead of doing a journal everyday or every few days, my current goal for the time being is going to be one journal every week. That seems fair and easy enough, but we'll see how it goes. I do have quite a lot of exciting things to talk about that I've been saving up for months at a time. For one thing, I've started finishing off the filmography of a lot more actors/actresses/writers/directors and am more than happy to share my opinions on their careers with you. A lot has happened over the last few months. My trip to Connecticut was life changing in many ways. It was three of the best weeks of my life and I was a new man, ready to come back to Memphis and take it by force. Nothing could stop me, well that's not entirely true. In my favor, it did take a lot to stop me. My friend Andrew's car broke down on the way back from Connecticut and we ended up having to get on a bus for 20 hours to get back to Memphis. We encounters stalkers, curses, Russians, Amish people, and practically any other character you could imagine. Once we got safely on the bus, we almost hit a biker, went the wrong way for over and hour, almost died on the bus, and there was also a riot breaking out on the bus. Our bus contained the most evil souls on the planet if I'm not mistaken. We eventually did make it back to Memphis but alas my soul never really made it off the bus. The John Shaw that was ready to conquer Memphis never really did get off of that bus. You see, part of my sould is still floating around on a Greyhound bus somewhere, and I'd really like to get it back. The story of our journey back to Memphis is perhaps the greatest story in the history of mankind. I have probably told it over 25 times and I never get tired of it. I wish there was a way for me to tell the story on here but it is too powerful for writing. Hopefully you're one of the lucky few who was witness to my live telling of the horrible events that occurred that day. It is a hilarious story I will admit, but it is also a very tragic story because a part of me, Sam and Andrew all died that day. Yes, a very tragic story indeed. Things have been very strange since I've returned to Memphis. I've engaged in things that I never thought I would, and nearly every single one of my friends has been acting or behaving strangely since our return. Some of the changes have been positive and others negative. There has been a lot of conflict between people that once called each other friends, and also reconciliation in some cases. Strange plot twists of lifelong friends finally giving in to their carnal desires and dating each other has also been taking place. Alcohol has been a heavy theme during these recent dark days. There have been lives changed dramatically these past few weeks by the consumption of alcoholic beverages. All in all, let me just say that the last two months have been very dramatic and very strange. Good things have happened, but bad things have also been happening at their own evil pace as well. There are still many changes happening even as I speak and at this time it looks like things might start looking up again, but only time will tell. It's good to be back at college and especially around all the college girls. Yes, the John Train is once again roaming the streets of Memphis. It has been kept in storage for far too long and is now going crazy with all the passengers it has and will be picking up. I feel like there is so much more I want to say but there is also much privacy I have to respect in regards to others. All I can say is that it has been a very scandalous month. The new TV season has also started back and I'm enjoying it. Smallville has begun its tenth and final season and while I am ready for it to end, it is probably going to be an emotional roller coaster. I'm sure you'll be hearing more and more about Smallville in the months to come. There seems to be an abundance of movies coming out over the last few months that I absolutely have to see. Hopefully I can give you some brief reviews of some of these films in the coming weeks. Well, I have hopefully wet your appetite enough and also convinced you that I'm back and I'm here to stay. Well, I probably have some drinking that I need to get to. I look forward to the many adventures that we will have together over the coming months. Perhaps we can all learn a thing or two from the live journal of The John Train 2.0 !!!!! (Rebuilt and remodeled for your pleasure). Yes, I know I'm conceited.

I'm crazy busy dealing with a million things. I promise to update the journal just as soon as i can. I'm very sorry about the time that I have to spend away from you. More to come soon!

Hey guys! Just reminding everyone that I'm up in Connecticut right now shooting a movie. I'll be back in Memphis in a week and you can expect lots of new journal updates and entries in that time. I should have some good stuff to talk about when i get back and hopefully will get back to posting around 3 journal entries a week, just like old times. I'm very busy up here but luckily the shoot is going great. We're basically on schedule and I think everyone is having a good time overall. The big film festival is Thursday where my new short "The Walk" will be premiering. Hopefully it won't bomb as much as I'm afraid it will. Well like I said, I'll be back in Memphis in a week and then hopefully be free to give you some interesting new journals. Hope everyone's doing well!

Following in all of the hype of Christopher Nolan's newest blockbuster Inception, rumors have begun to start circulating the internet of all the details about the next Batman film supposedly to be released in 2012. I feel like it's time for me to weigh in on my opinion of what the next Batman film should be. Obviously, I expect this film to be nothing less than spectacular and not the generic so-so that many sequels find themself being. I'm not committed to this title but personally I think The Caped Crusader would be a fitting title to coincide with The Dark Knight. Another route that they could go is to simply title it Batman Ends. Christopher Nolan has made it clear that this will be the end of his Batman trilogy and he has no plans of leaving the franchise open for other directors to continue off of this series. I couldn't agree with this more. If and when they do make a new series of Batman films, it needs to be a NEW series and not related to Nolan's series at all. So perhaps the most appropriate title really would be Batman Ends because I think that's really what the film will be about, the fall of Batman. The police are leading a manhunt against Batman, and he realizes that his time in Gotham is running out. He just has to complete one last mission before he can hang up the cape and cowl for good. You see, there's a new gangster in town who goes by the name of Oswald Cobblepot. Perhaps you are more familiar by his street name, The Penguin. The Penguin is rallying the remaining gangsters in Gotham under his wing (pun intended), and Batman must finally rid the city of its corruption once and for all. Now Nolan, has made it pretty clear that the Joker will not appear in this film and I think that's an appropriate choice. Heath Ledger now owns the role in this franchise and to recast him would be nothing short of blasphemous. So with the Joker locked up in Arkham Asylum, you have to have a new psychopath step up to test Batman's vigor. This is where the Riddler comes in. As I see it, Batman is narrowly escaping the police at every turn but he's still managing to take out some of the Penguin's gangs in his network of crime. But alas, there is a serial killer in Gotham who leaves clues at the scene of the crime as to who his next victim will be. Batman figures out the clue of course and saves the next intended victim from The Riddler's wrath. The Riddler is both angered and intrigued by this. The Penguin tracks the Riddler down and offers him anything he wants in exchange for taking out the Batman. So you have The Riddler funded by crime boss Penguin which leaves plenty of space for any of the Riddler's more outlandish props that they wish to use in the film. The film ends with Bruce Wayne giving up the mantle of Batman and leaving Gotham for good. "Perhaps there is some other city that needs a Batman", Bruce says to Alfred before he leaves. Now Nolan, you take that story that I just gave you, expand it and I think you'll have a great film on your hands. But lest I forget, since Rachel Dawes was killed in the last film, you have to have a new love interest for Batman in this one. Now a lot of people are really wanting an appearance from Catwoman in the next Batman film. To me, Catwoman has always been a somewhat ridiculous character in the Batman films though. I think Catwoman should still be in it just not as herself. Her secret identity of Selina Kyle should be the leading lady in the next Batman film and she should show different aspects of her Catwoman persona throughout the film but not necesarrily transform into the character of Catwoman herself. That way, you get a love interest from the comics for Bruce, and satisfy all the Catwoman fans to a certain degree. Now if you don't think all of these are great ideas then you obviously don't know how to make a good film. Now for my dream casting for the film. I absolutely HAVE to have The Penguin played by Philip Seymour Hoffman. I honestly can't see anyone else in my perfect vision of the character. Just make him a little deformed and then emphasize the more gentleman gangster aspects of his character. Hoffman is perfect for the role. Now the Riddler has plenty of contenders who I think would be perfect in the role. I doubt this will happen but if I absolutely had to pick someone who I would want to take over the Riddler's manta then the winner by a longshot would be Johnny Depp. Johnny Depp would be perfect at portraying the dark psychopathic Riddler that I wanted and would also drive people into the theaters. The only other main new role that needs to be filled is Selina Kyle. Once again, I think there's plenty of actresses who would fill her leather boots nicely but you have to remember that the Selina Kyle persona is the character in this film and not a leather wearing cat burglar. There are two great actresses who would be perfect in the role if you ask me. Selina Kyle really has to be played by either Rachel McAdams or Elizabeth Banks. Morgan Freeman and Michael Caine obviously have to come back and there you have it. Batman Ends starring Christian Bale, Michael Caine, Johnny Depp, Phillip Seymour Hoffman, Elizabeth Banks (or Rachel McAdams), and Morgan Freeman. Now I've made my predictions and my personal picks so let's just see which if any of this comes to pass. Personally I think all of my ideas are brilliant and would satisfy everyone. If any of my stuff is used, I'm telling you right now that I better get a Story By John Shaw credit in the film. It's not laughing matter. I think I deserve credit where credits due. Please comment with your own opinion on the next Batman film and also what you think about my ideas. Batman Ends coming summer of 2012!!!!

I left off last time with a cliffhanger. I was about to tell everyone my opinion on the making of sequels. I spent all of last journal talking about other people’s opinions on the matter so I think it’s time for us to get down and dirty with what I really think about them. This might surprise some of you because of me being the film buff and all but as a general rule, I LOVE SEQUELS. I’m usually always excited when a sequel for something goes into production. I think the reason for this is because I win no matter if the movie is good or bad. If the movie is good then I obviously have a great film on my hands that I can watch over and over again. Sometimes for me though, it’s almost just as beneficial if the movie is bad. I spend so much of my time talking about how bad certain films are and how much I hate certain movies that I’ve come to realize I’m glad bad movies exist. Don’t you think it would get boring if there were only good movies released all the time? I personally find myself talking about bad movies more than I talk about good ones. Bad movies are fun to talk about and everyone usually hates bad movies. Not everyone always agrees that a movie that you really like is as good as you think it is. But bad movies are a universal bringing together of people’s opinions. And the worst movies out there are usually sequels so of course I want sequels made. There are exceptions to this of course. I’m very protective of my movie franchises that I love. If I found out they were making a Back to the Future Part 4 I would be beyond pissed. The first three films are so perfect that it doesn’t need an additional entry added on to it to ruin the perfectness of the franchise. Another example is the Batman franchise. After they make the sequel to the Dark Knight, I don’t want them to make a fourth Batman film that takes place in the same universe as the other Nolan Batman films. Batman Begins, Dark Knight, and Batman 3 should be three strong films that don’t have some crappy fourth film added on. Batman and Robin is a great example of letting a “good” franchise continue on one film too long. So while I generally do love the idea of sequels, there are some films that I’m very protective of and should never have sequels made for them. Now there are plenty of times that I’m glad that they made a sequel to something but I really wish the sequel had been better than it actually was. Pirates of the Caribbean 3 is a great example of a movie that I was really looking forward to them making and really looking forward to seeing and then I was greatly disappointed. So for the movies that legitimately deserve a sequel, put some effort into making the film as good as it should be. The last thing I have to say on this subject is briefly discussing one particular area where sequels are very abundant. The horror genre is very well known for having franchises with an unending amount of sequels. Friday the 13th holds the record with eleven sequels in the franchise so far. I love sequels in horror because good or bad they’re always a lot of fun. Bad horror movies are the absolute best and every now and then you actually get some really good sequels such as Scream 2 or Halloween 2 or some of the countless Elm Street sequels. So if there’s one genre that I hope they never stop making sequels for, it’s the horror genre. Well, I’ve spent a ton of time discussing my opinion on sequels and I hope you learned a little something from it. Maybe if you were close minded to the idea of sequels before, you’ll be a little more open minded to them now. Just remember, for every twenty Beverly Hills Cop 3’s that you get, you get one Dark Knight. You decide if it’s worth it.

I've been away for a while helping a certain girl named Megan get settled into her new house (which also happens to be mine). I want to try to start posting new entries on here more often so I'll start by talking about a subject I've been wanting to discuss for a while. A quick little bit of information first though. Between July 24 and somewhere around August 15 I will be on a three week film shoot up in Connecticut. I'm driving from Memphis to Connecticut with my good friend Andrew Gafford and we'll be shooting a movie with our friend Sam Bahre and a bunch of other good guys. I went up to Connecticut last year and made another movie but I think this trip is going to be even better. It's really going to be a lot of fun and when I get back I'll probably have lots of fun stories to share. I will have computer access up there so I'll do my best to update my journal as much as I can when I have down time. Now on to the matter at hand. Many people are automatically opposed to the idea of sequels. There's a good reason for this, MOST SEQUELS SUCK. At the very least, most sequels are not as good as the original. There are many exceptions to this, don't get me wrong. Terminator 2 is just as good if not better than the original Terminator. The Empire Strikes Back is twice as good as the original Star Wars if you ask me. Scream 2 is considered by many to be superior or equal to the first film. The Dark Knight which followed Batman Begins, is arguably one of the most loved films of all time and it's a sequel. And of course, Caddyshack II is widely hailed as being far superior to the original. Okay, I'm just kidding about that last one but you get the point. Some sequels really do need to be made. They step it up from the original, learn from the mistakes of the past and make a far superior film. Some sequels on the other hand are just so bad that you really have to wonder how anyone could have possibly allowed them to be made. I previously mentioned Caddyshack II, a movie so bad that you really have to wonder how anyone in the world would have looked at the script and allowed it to be filmed. There are many sequels like this that are just terrible, but most sequels though are generally just mediocre. There's always the people that will hate them but overall sequels are considered inferior to original but "okay". Men in Black II is a decent film, but it's not near as good as the first one. Ghostbusters II has its strengths but it's missing some of the magic of the original. Jaws 2 is a fun flick but it's definitely yards away from Part 1. Let's take something recent for example like Iron Man 2. I love Iron Man 2, I thought it was a really good film but should it have been made? In my opinion, yes it should have been. Many people probably think though, that the first one should have just stood by itself. You have one great movie so why do you need something that is inferior to it and makes you wish it was more like the first one? Well Iron Man 2 is going to have its lovers and haters but overall most sequels are successful. Sequels make a profit that largely carries over from the popularity of the original. The Hangover 2 is in pre-production right now. More than likely this movie is going to suck balls but it will most definitely be a big hit. Why is this? All these people who loved the original will flock to the theaters to see more of the same. Although this time it won't be the same, it will be inferior (probably) and most people will complain that it's not as good. So then why do people continue to go see sequels if they never like them as much as the originals? I believe that it's because once every now and then you get your Empire Strikes Back. Then ten years later you get your Terminator 2. A decade after that you find yourself with Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me. Eventually this all leads to The Dark Knight or another movie like it. People put up with the countless bad sequels because once every now and then you find yourself watching a great one. Now I've given you my opinion on why other people put up with sequels. For the first time, I'm going to leave you with a cliffhanger in this live journal. What do I personally think about the idea of sequels? Do I love or hate the idea of them? Find out all of this and more, NEXT TIME!!!!

Allow me to tell you the tale of how I had my soul ripped from my body. A few weeks ago I watched the abomination that is Old Dogs. I refuse to even give it the grace of talking about it. That’s how bad the movie was. I thought to myself that I couldn’t possibly watch anything that would come close to how bad it was in the near future. Well I didn’t take into account The Big Bounce. I’ve seen every Owen Wilson movie except for 4 of them, so a few weekends ago I rented the last one from Blockbuster that I hadn’t seen, the previously mentioned Big Bounce. I knew it had gotten terrible reviews when it was released so I wasn’t expecting it to be great. I thought it would probably be like a movie I watched once, laughed a few times at and forgot about. Unfortunately, I made the mistake of watching the film. It was cut just as poorly as anything I’ve ever seen and was obviously trimmed from an R rating to a PG-13 so that more teenagers would go to see the film. This is a great example of what I like to call a “paycheck” film. All of the actors in the film were so obviously not interested in what they were doing that it was pretty obvious they were only interested in the paycheck. What sickens me so much about this film is that with the great talent that was involved in this film and the great location and setting, if they had given me the freedom to make this film I could have made one of the funniest comedies you’ve ever seen. Unfortunately they managed to waste the time of not only the entire cast, crew and audience but the millions of dollars they used to fund the movie as well. The lead female in this movie Sara Foster is so annoying that she managed to kill her career before it even took off. Explain to me how she got the lead female role in the first place. Oh yeah, they just didn’t give a shit. And Willie Nelson for some reason pops up as a somewhat major character. He’s totally out of place and I really have no idea why he’s in the film. The three lead males in the film are some of today’s finest actors. Owen Wilson leads a cast that includes Morgan Freeman and one of my personal favorites, Charlie Sheen. These three actors are so completely wasted in this film, that for a film maker like me, you really do feel as if you’re getting raped while you’re watching it. The ideas never stopped as I was watching this film of all the great things I could have done with this talent. Almost instantly when Charlie Sheen popped up in the film, I knew the movie was going to be terrible. The reason is not because I hate Charlie Sheen obviously, but because he shouldn’t have been in the movie until about thirty minutes in. The main reason is because he had a mustache in this film. If Charlie Sheen is going to have a mustache, then he should have been playing a private eye and first appeared around thirty minutes into the film. Can’t you just see him peeking over some bushes as he watches Owen Wilson with a pair of binoculars? It’s this type of insight that I have that obviously no one else involved with this horrible film shared. The first half of the movie at least somewhat makes sense, even if it is long, unfunny and boring. But the second half of the film makes so little sense that it really makes you wonder if you’re actually watching a film that a human being took the time to direct and edit. All I see with this film is a HUGE wasted opportunity that could have been made better by practically anyone who has ever seen a movie. I fully believe that even an amateur like me could have made a better film than the producers of this film managed to create. If you want to question your purpose in life and lose all hope in mankind, then The Big Bounce is the perfect film for you.