Tuesday, 23 October 2012

Possible Production Co. Logos

Here lies some logos of 'Fish Eye': the fake production company name that was made up by one of my teachers for this exercise of making our own visuals. I really like the last one because it could be used for any kind of movie similar to MGM or Universal. It also looks cool cause it has a fish bowl effect. the third one is my second favourite simply because I did  really good job cutting out the eye.






Monday, 22 October 2012

Thriller Progress RE: Shooting Locations

So, in the process of making a thriller I realize that we are our own location scouts in addition to being our own directors and everything else under the sun. No problem. These were some possible locations I found of shooting a 'sci-fi thriller'.

The local art gallery from the outside
I was thinking that having a science experiment in a glass room would be a cool idea. Nothing more. Oh, it was spacious as well as you can see. An idea I had in mind was to have broken glass everywhere from 'the explosion' but I hadn't thought it all the way through yet.
The local art gallery from the inside


Further along, outside the town hall I found an empty store (as in not being used for a store). I thought this could be a good location for my thriller because a) it wasn't in use and b) it seems like it would be of good use for a fake laboratory. To be honest, I don't have the highest standards for a set. Below is a picture of what I could see of the inside. Since it was an unused property, it was locked.

I seem to have a knack for finding unused properties because I found another one. For the record, this is a very small town. This one however was obviously meant to be something nice as it had a front door with nice floors.



At this point I think I got a bit desperate or bored in my pursuit of a location for my thriller and I wondered where can I find an open, available space. Wrong question. I realize now that I can't exactly shoot a lab experiment outdoors when it's an indoor thing.


This open lot was no better.


Alright, this was supposed to be a picture of an empty indoor space that is a definite contender. Basically, when I took the picture there was some yoga/pilates/physical wellness class taking place so I wasn't allowed inside. If it wasn't for that, I'd say that it was almost perfect.

Ultimately if I had a choice, I would pick an actual chemistry lab as my thriller set borrowing items from the science dept.

*fingers crossed*

Tuesday, 16 October 2012

Plagiarism and It's Consequences

It is wrong. Do not do it.
If you do, I will find you.
You know who you are.
 
You have been warned.

Thriller Setup RE: Thriller Ideas

It was suggested to me that since I really like Science and will eventually study it further, that I base my thriller opening on something science related. I agreed, so here we are:

  • Fade in from white screen
  • An explosion has taken place in a Chemistry lab
  • Fade out to white again
  • Production co. and logo
  • Fade in
  • Camera is on the brink of being in focus
  • Girl screaming at dead bodies and people on the floor
  • Cut to dead body on the floor
  • People's clothes torn and burnt
  • Fade out to white
  • Main characters names appear in plain font
  • Fade in
  • People in various stages of waking up
  • Camera pans room [POV shots]
  • Camera looks up at light fixture
  • Light acts as fade out translation
  • Director's name
  • Movie Title
  • Fade in
  • Various people on the ground obviously not getting up
  • Someone tries to wake person [self]
  • Pulls person to their feet
  • Sees person trying to save recorded evidence
  • Someone else says 'Leave it alone, it's not worth it!'
  • Smoke in the air
  • Multiple images swim in vision [dizziness]
  • Broken windows are seen
  • Fire is seen on counter tops
  • Fade out to white
  • Co-starring

  • Camera is diagonal [45 degrees off] **called a Dutch Tilt**
  • Gives effect of being off balance
  • No music is playing
  • Sounds are of surroundings
  • Technique: all sounds seem as if under water [explosion affected ears]

Sunday, 14 October 2012

Vantage Point-Watch the Titles

I have never seen Vantage Point but been told enough about it to get the idea. The title sequence given is very short, less than a full minute. In truth it's only about 51 seconds of an actual opening, the last 6 seconds are a plug for a website. Either way, valuable stuff was seen that could be used.



1. REPRESENTATION-One thing I noticed straight away was that the opening sequence [if you choose to call it that] was seen through the angles of the letters in the title of the movie. E.g. seen through the corners of an 'N'. I thought this was smart because the movie is entirely based on the 'vantage points' of a group of people who saw an important political figure get shot. In my opinion, portraying your movie in the opening sequence in a creative way takes a lot of skill.



2. TECHNIQUE-While looking through the corners of letters, various scenes were seen at once. It was an overlay of 2-3 different scenes all playing at once. Incorporation of still pictures were used as well. When reading this, it may be a bit confusing as to why and how multiple things can be seen and understood at the same time but the key was to have similar looking scenes play simultaneously. E.g. to have the image of a car rolling down the street with an overlay of the same car parking itself at the inteded destination. In theory, this could be why it was so short but if used properly it looks really really nice.



3. COLOUR-The colour palete for this title sequence was sepia. Everything seen out of the letters was either shades of old-school brown or black. This gave it an older, more antique feel as if it happened in the past. The effect brought forth the image of the JFK assination. The one thing for me is whether or not this movie takes place in the past. I cannot recall from descriptions told if it was a modern film or not.

X-men: First Class-Watch the Titles

I personally Love with a capital 'L' this movie series and I think this movie in particular was fantastic. The only opinion that matters in this in mine. I don't mean to be selfish and egotistical but nothing could dissuade me from my feelings so I am happy to analyze this for media studies.



1. COLOUR-The whole 1:52 mins is done on a black background. A very dark, yet no nonsense style appropriate for the film. There are no background images, no shifting of any kind, no additional colours other than black. The simplicity helps in its attempt to be a prequel to the other X-Men movies. Having a single colour that never changes, especially black [the other option is white], makes it feel like an older, minimalistic movie.




2. VISUALS-In the title sequence you see what appears to be the movement of genes, DNA strands, amino acids pairing up, double helixes, genes multiplying, and something about an 'X' gene possibly. All these visual aides add to the idea of genetic experimentation, genetic mutation [X usually referrs to the random and unknown] whixh is exactly what the X-Men series revolves around. That, and the battle of good vs. evil. One thing I noticed was the use of colour on the black background in the ever-changing visuals. You often see a tail of colour as things move across the screeen in hues of pink, green, purple, red, orange, and blue. I think this is a good technique since a) there is no other colour used other than white font on black and b) it makes everything look unstable slightly which adds a level of danger.

3. MUSIC-The only really important thing about the music is that it is all technologically made and sounds 'unnatural'. This adds to the idea of something that you cannot understand, something that is dangerous, something that is not usually seen. In addition, the music makes every action seen before you appear syncronized and orchestrated so that each movement is deliberate.

Quantum of Solace-Art of the Title

The Quantum of Solace, an iconic James Bond movie. Movies like these I, at least, have a habit of simply accepting [as in not questioning its level of awesomeness] what I see on the screen and exclaiming how fantastic the movie was afterwards. At this point in time though, I must break habits and actually think [shocking] about what I'm looking at.



1. COMPUTER INFLUNCE-First thing I notice about the title sequence is that it is not a real image. This was also seen in Cape Fear's title sequence as well but this is done in a different manner. This is difficult to explain so bear with me. In this opening, the whole thing looks fake but deliberately so. Everything is shadowed-faces, bodies, the whole enchilada. What comes to mind would be: a dark [but not nightmare-ish] dream of dolls. Dolls that look like James Bond and his female companions, that is. What I am trying to say, is that the entire sequence is made up of computer generated images that used a great deal of lack-of-light aka: shadows. It gives a dark, questionable feeling to the opening titles that sets up the rest of the movie.

 
 
2. VISUALS-For a title sequence, this is very dream-like. Often at times in the opening sequence you see multiples of the figure currently in the frame. Be it Bond or 'The Female', you can see 3 Bonds-1 in the far distance, one in the middle, and another one in close-up. For 'The Female', you can see multiples in overlay at a certain point. This makes you feel like you're in a dream or it's a hallucination. Both dealing with real vs. not real which is a key enigmatic question for the audience when it comes to James Bond. Incorporating what was said from before, having the dark, computer generated images with the dream-like visuals just adds to the illusion and unwavering character of Ian Fleming's Bond.



3. CHARACTER-Everyone knows James Bond to be the elusive, suave, skilled man that he is. The title sequence to Quantum of Solace actually portrays a lot of his character through the visuals seen. For example, it opens with him and the Sun as he shoots in its direction. To me, at least, this shows how he takes control of his day. The world is his oyster in a nutshell. The sand that is constantly blowing, and shifting remind me of 'the sands of time' and Bond is simply moving through them. This works really well as the sand is occasionally used as a transition to another view. Another thing is when you see the woman come out from the sand, it makes her seem like she is not truly real, but is just a symbol in Bond's life. Women unravel him, is what I would say especially since he starts to look like he's falling after the woman appears.



4. MUSIC-One song is played throughout the title sequence [Another Way To Die by Jack White and Alicia Keys]. In order to summarize it, I would say it is epic walking music. It is the kind of song that makes you look and feel cool. The kind of song you walk to the beat with your head held high and shoulders straight. This song is James Bond. It is dramatic, loud, passionate, and full of coolness. I apologize for my sudden lack of vocabulary. Having this song playing through the sequence with the visual aid of Bond himself just makes it seem like it is jsust you and the man in the suit on the screen.

Tuesday, 9 October 2012

Cape Fear-Art of the Title

Cape Fear (1991) — Art of the Title

The opening title sequence for Cape Fear is about 3 minutes long but shows examples of several things you can incorporate into your own title sequence if you were to make one.


1. WATER-The entire opening credits are based on a background of water. Now at the same time, it is not always the same rippling pond, but it is significant nonetheless. In an article written on the same website, it was said how the title sequence used the themes of the film and represented them through metaphors. The water represented liquid as a moral quicksand. I could use this concept of visual metaphors in my own opening credits to provide the subtlest clue as to what my thriller would be about. Admittedly, it might not be understood at first since there won't be an actual film, but sub-consciously people will react and that's what films are for.



2. FALSE IMAGES-Near the beginning of the title sequence an eagle was seen soaring and dipping in the air but only its reflection was seen; the actual bird was not. I realize that mirror-images or false images are able to extract a decent amount of emotion from an audience. A false images (I would say) is a clever device that one could use to make your audience anxious, uneasy, anticipative, etc. It's not real, and yet, there it is proving you wrong. Now, the subject of your false image can either support or counter-act the subconscious emotional warfare so choose wisely.



3. TEXT-All of the text used in the opening credits of this film, including the title of the movie itself, was in a specific font. Now, I've never seen this type of font before but don't be fooled: movies make up their own font a lot of the time. The style of font used was a regular font, sans serif, all capitals but the main thing was that the words were cut in half horizontally and then moved to the right slightly so every word appeared broken. I don't know about you, but seeing something like that makes me think of someone using a great deal of force on something or someone in a violent manner. Note: type of font has great impact. I could use the idea to make my future font disoriented or distorted in order to get the desired feeling of fear from the viewer.



4. BACKGROUND IMAGES-Even though technically water was the background of the entire title sequence, every now and then, images were seen behind the ripples of the water. An eye, a face, a man from the shoulders up, the silhouette of a possibly different man's torso, etc. I would equate these images to subliminal messages in an audio track because they give some foresight into the film but you are still left with gaps that you are expected to fill in. An idea of using this technique but in a way so that the image is not truly clear until the shot has moved on comes to mind.



5. COLOUR PALETE-Throughout most of the title sequence, a dark colour palete is used with the water, the background images, and the reflections within the water. Colours affect a lot without doing much. Using darker colours can create a dark or sinister effect which adds to the connotation of the audience. However, a bit more than three-quarters into the title sequence, a red panel (if you will) comes into the screen from the top down colouring the water to be this deep, blood red colour. I thought this was pretty smart because it automatically makes the viewer think of everything that relates to the colour red. Blood, anger, rage, death, hell, etc.

Sunday, 7 October 2012

Thrillers [The Red Violin]



Sound
  • Long notes by violins
  • strings start overlaying with continuous notes [thriller/anxious]
  • strings creep into high pitch then cellos do the same but in a lower octave
  • diegetic sounds of woodworking/tools
  • fire crackling in background
  • sanding wood [diegetic]
  • man smashes violin against table [no background music then]
  • footsteps echo when man walks into hall [music starts again]
  • auctioneer speaking
  • echo of hall is noticeable
  • applause after gavel bangs
  • phone ringing off to the side
  • strings were always playing 2 notes and then 2 notes [building tension and getting higher and higher] or low/high continuous notes
Editing
  • camera starts out of focus and camera moves smoothly through violin rack
  • camera moves to doorway to show violin/cello woodworking
  • camera moves to show a brick wall then another room with the fire and man with his apprentice
  • camera moves and then moves in to mid-shot of man with violin and master
  • every time camera 'moved', it moved to the right
  • fades to black
  • title appears then fades
  • man appears, camera follows his back and gets to the point where it is practically over the shoulder
  • cut to door
  • camera follows to POV diagonally
  • man leaves frame
  • camera moves in, passing over the heads of the auction-goers until mid-shot of auctioneer
  • red violin revolves in its case as it is introduced
Title and Mise en Scene
  • sans serif font used
  • it goes well with the blurry background which eventually comes into focus
  • it is a high angle shot 1st, lowering down on a crane
  • this creates a falling feeling
  • credits are based around the scene
  • the credits are seen in dark areas, not near the actors
  • violins are seen when the camera is in focus [adds to enigma]
  • a workshop is seen in the beginning
  • costumes are older, as if back in time
  • therefore they are appropriate for the portrayed period in time
  • text is posh same as the opening of the movie in the auction house
  • dark colour palate is used [lets us see watercolours vibrantly]
  • main star is in different clothes than other auction goers
  • this creates an enigma, gives significance and symbolises importance
  • shadows are created with the lighting used from the window to create a dark work environment
Genre
  • thriller
  • intense music, smashed violin, intense atmosphere in workshop
Narrative
  • something to do with the red violin and its maker
  • movie has something to do with its significance
  • the character played by Samuel L. Jackson will reveal the plot
Enigma
  • how does Samuel L. Jackson's character play into the film?
  • who's buying the violin?
  • how much is it worth?
  • why is it so special?

Thrillers [The Bourne Supremacy]



Sound
  • dramatic tension
  • choral music
  • non-diegetic sounds
  • someone crying/pleading in another language [possibly Spanish]
  • someone talking in a low voice over everything [unintelligible]
  • gunshot
  • rain through the window and wind blowing make pathetic fallacy sounds
  • taps squeaking
  • conversation regarding how the man feels and his dream
  • low, smooth voices of man and woman talking
  • oboe [possibly] plays a melody
Editing
  • out of focus camera follows POV shot
  • extremely fast images and clips are shown
  • man gets up from bed
  • silhouette of figure moves across camera screen
  • cut to bathroom
  • cut to woman talking to the man
  • shot and reverse shot of man and woman talking
  • shot moves in every time it moves back and forth, ending in a close-up
Genre
  • Thriller/Action
Narrative
  • man has a fever, could be an illness?
  • why is a grown man having nightmares?
  • what significant event happened?
  • who was crying in his dream?
  • who got shot?
  • what trauma did he go through?

Thrillers [Girl with the Dragon Tattoo]




Sound
  • wrapping opening [music starts dark and low]
  • opening a package
  • music starts slow, orchestral, strings, dramatic/tragic--NOT sinister until the title appears
  • sound bridge of news reporter [voice heard before image was seen]
  • when girl with hood appears, music picks up with violins
  • hear pages flipping
  • news reporter speaking in Swedish
  • Acoustic space-slightest echo [typical of spacious rooms like offices]
  • Ambient-opening package, people talking
  • note: no ambient sounds on girl in hood or man in blue sweater [1 pg. flips]
  • music starts very quiet [hollow, long chimes, almost]
  • quiet steps of girl when she walks into courtroom
Editing
  • 'cut-to'
  • close up of hands
  • girl in hood comes up behind title while the black screen fades away
  • man in courtroom looks bored
  • cut to different man flipping page
  • then, woman talking about the man in court
Titles & Mise en Scene
  • sans serif [simple animation on font]
  • plain colours [red and white for opening credits]
Narrative
  • man cries at flowers
  • man in uninterested in court
Genre
  • Thriller/Mystery
  • you don't know the girl in black and white photo or girl in black hood or if they're the same person
Enigma
  • Who sent the flower?
  • Who was the girl in photo?
  • Who was the girl in hood?
  • What did the guy do to be in court?

Thrillers [Serpico]




Sound
  • sound starts very quiet and high pitched
  • within the first 20 seconds it gets to it's full volume
  • the sound is a very loud, high pitched siren that continues through the titles
  • rumbling of car engine
  • you can hear the sound of the windshield wipers moving
  • scribbling of pen/pencil
  • you are in a police car-that's why it is very loud and there is no Doppler Effect
  • traffic and rain mix in pathetic fallacy sounds
  • siren winds down as they approach the hospital
  • as you go in, you hear a baby crying, doors moving, people talking [typical hospital sounds]
  • the sound of the nurses stripping off Serpico's clothes is accented-it's noticeably loud
  • stripping off clothes, cutting the shirt fabric, taking off boots (zipper)
  • a slow, violin song [tragic] plays as a flashback of Serpico shows when he was being inducted into the police force
  • music continues say they talk about the dead police officer

Editing
  • black screen-names flash
  • every change in picture is a 'cut-to'
  • car-phone-car [20 secs] each
  • camera shakes a little bit in the car scene as if you are there
  • up until the hospital scene it was 'cut-to'
  • once inside the hospital, camera moves smoothly, following him
  • quick-cuts in hospital when cutting clothes and checking vitals
Titles & Mise en Scene
  • font is sans serif
  • tall font size [reminds of NYc/Italian gangster]
  • white font on black screen
  • dark colour palate [light is used to establish places]
  • raining [connotation of sorrow and remorse]
  • costumes appropriate for 1973
  • short, fast paced titles
  • all men on phone seem to make Serpico important
  • they wouldn't call in the middle of the night concerning a regular police officer
  • camera in the hospital acts like a doctor
  • man talking to the new police officers has visual hierarchy
  • clear definition shot between Serpico injured and Serpico when he was brand new
  • 1st man on the phone has visual hierarchy
  • POV shot of audience for hospital
  • frantic feeling accompanied by fast paced hospital scene
Narrative
  • everyone seems shocked that the police officer was shot theregore, he's important
  • the film gives the name of the man shot
Genre
  • Action/Thriller movie
Enigma
  • Why wasn't her wearing a uniform?
  • Why did he get shot?
  • Who shot him?
  • Why is he so important to everyone?

Monday, 1 October 2012

An Ode to Twenty Thrillers

Exciting, fast-paced films are a drug. Plain and simple. Those that choose to indulge themselves in these   delights know what I'm talking about. They get your blood pumping, heart racing, and brain to take a break from reality all the while being around 120 mins of adventure-on-a-screen. So, to honour these cinematic adventures [thank you, Dane Cook] I give you twenty thrillers through the years.

1. Silence of the Lambs
One of the most iconic thriller movies out there. This film came out in 1991 and was directed by Jonathan Demme. Getting multiple awards such as Oscars amongst several others made this movie the classic it is today. A successful book adaptation with the original written by Thomas Harris escalated the pretense of this film before it even started. This was thought to be one of Jodi Foster's greatest films-the one that introduced Hannibal Lecter.



2. Se7en
 A crime-thriller between Brad Pitt and Morgan Freeman about chasing a serial killer who bases his murders around the 7 deadly sins. This film did very well for itself grossing $100, 125, 643 overall from a $33 million budget in September of 1995. In addition, this film included the likes of Gwyneth Paltrow and Kevin Spacey increasing the celebrity factor of the movie.
"Ernest Hemingway once wrote, 'The world is a fine place, and worth fighting for.' I agree with the second part."









 3. Dante's Peak
This movie was directed by Roger Donaldson, originally from Australia but moved to New Zealand in 1965. This movie was commended for its accuracy in drawing out the emotion and fear from the audience regarding the graphics and special effects. Surprisingly, a religious community felt the need to comment and review it on how it came across to them. Unfortunately, it appeared that they overspent on the film as their budget was $116 million whereas they only made about $67 million.
This movie was mostly popular in Europe at first simply because it was a Swedish film. Eventually when it was adapted into an American film it was even more well known across the ocean. The film was rated number three in its first week in the United Kingdom, Ireland, and Malta collectively. In its original works, the movie starred Noomi Rapace and Michael Nyqvist but was then played by Daniel Craig and Rooney Mara.



5. Ocean's Eleven
George Clooney. Brad Pitt. Matt Damon. Need I say more? This movie is The Heist movie. It is extremely classy and well done. It also included Julia Roberts as the femme fatale and Andy Garcia as the villain. Clooney's character rounds up 11 guys in total to rob a casino and not just any casino, the largest and richest. Go big or go home. George Clooney and the cast were known to pull practical jokes on each other while filming which went well and awry. In addition, the film was adapted by Takarazuka Revue, a Japanese female theatre group in Tokyo from 2011-12.







6. The Bourne Identity
Originally for this film, Russell Crowe and Sylvester Stallone were approached to portray the main character but Matt Damon was eventually selected. The film was based loosely on the novel by Robert Ludlum which director, Doug Liman had read in high school. It had taken him 2 years to secure the rights to the book from Warner Brothers and another year to write the screenplay.











7. Flightplan
This movie stars Jodie Foster and was released in September of 2005. The film made $223,387,299 worldwide with over half its income being made overseas from North America. Flightplan was noted for its musical score which was composed by James Horner, the same composer from Titanic. The soundtrack to the movie consisted of 8 tracks. It was said that the interior of the E-474, the fictional plane used in the movie, was in similar design to an Airbus A380.


A thriller casting Sandra Bullock as the main character of a woman who is living a week in her life out of chronological order; one of these day including the day of her husband's death. It was reviewed by Rotten Tomatoes as a 3.8/10 although Bullock was commended for her acting. On a whole, it grossed $84,146,832 with most of its profits coming from domestic influence.










9. Eagle Eye
A fast-paced film starring Shia LaBeouf and Michelle Monaghan based on how technology controls our lives. This film came out in 2008 in the month of September. Even though the movie was directed by D.J Caruso, the movie was an idea by executive producer Steven Spielberg. He said he wanted people to be so scared that they would turn off their cellphones and Blackberrys.










10. Duplicity
This is a movie starring Julia Roberts and Clive Owens about 2 corporate spies trying to fool their companies. Locations for shooting the film included New York City, Paradise Island in the Bahamas, and Trafalgar Square in London. The movie came out in March, 2009 earning $78,146,652 internationally.
 
11. The Untouchables
A movie about Al Capone, Chicago, and the Prohibition starring Kevin Costner, Andy Garcia, Sean Connery, and Robert De Niro. The film came out in 1987 getting great reviews for its approach as well as direction. It was directed by Brian De Palma and was nominated for four Academy Awards of which Connery received Best Supporting Actor.











12. Sherlock Holmes
This was a psychological thriller that starred Robert Downey Jr. and co-starred Jude Law. Filming for this movie took cast and crew to Manchester, London, and Liverpool, England as well as Brooklyn, New York. The movie made $524,028,679 worldwide-39.9% domestically and 60.1% on foreign profits.

13. Black Swan
This movie starred Natalie Portman as an innocent ballerina longing to play the dark, black swan and Mila Kunis as her passionate rival for the same role.The two of them had to tone their bodies for about six months before shooting in order to get the right visual effects as professional dancers. Even though they trained for a period of time, dancers from the American Ballet Theater were used as doubles. The music used was a mix of Tchaikovsky's original score and electronic dance music by The Chemical Brothers.

14. Drive
This film is an adaptation of the novel by the same name written by James Sallis. It was published in 2005 while the film was released in several film festivals such as Cannes in 2011, months before it was seen by the general public. It stars Ryan Gosling as the main character with Nicolas Winding Refn directing.
 
15. The Dark Knight
This was the 2nd in a Batman trilogy directed, produced, and co-written by Christopher Nolan. Starring Christian Bale as Batman/Bruce Wayne and the late Heath Ledger as the Joker, it was a very successful film. It grossed a total amount of $1,003,045,358. While scouting for shooting locations, Glasgow, Yorkshire, Liverpool, and parts of London were looked at.

16. American Psycho
This was a cult thriller starring Christian Bale and Reese Witherpoon among others. It was based on a novel of the same name written by Bret Easton Ellis. The movie debuted at the Sundance Film Festival in April of 2000. Directed by Mary Harron, the film earned $34,266,564 with most of its earnings being made off foreign countries.









17. Shindler's List
This movie was based on the novel Schindler's Ark by Australian Thomas Keneally. It is a film about Oskar Schindler who essentially saves the lives of over a thousand mostly Polish-Jewish people by employing them in his factory. It stars Liam Neeson, Ralph Fiennes, and Ben Kingsley while being directed by Steven Spielberg.



18. Contraband
This is a crime thriller starring Mark Wahlberg and Kate Beckinsale as a couple that wish to have a quiet life after being ex-smugglers. The film was directed by Baltasar Kormakur and was released in 2012 in the month of January. It was an adaptation of the book Reykjavik-Rotterdam. It received mixed reviews from Rotten Tomatoes getting 51% approval.











19. Limitless
A 2011 thriller film directed by Neil Burger starring Bradley Cooper, Abbie Cornish, and Robert De Niro. It was based on a novel written in 2001 by Alan Gylnn entitled The Dark Fields. Originally, it was supposed to star Shia LaBeouf but Cooper eventually replaced him. Sir Richard Branson's Virgin wirked with Universal to produce the film.

20. Watchmen
This is a 2009 thriller based on a comic book by the same name written by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons. It was directed by Zack Snyder and starred Patrick Wilson, Malin Akerman, Billy Crudup,
and Matthew Goode amongst others. In the film, three songs were by Bob Dylan but he only performed one entitled 'The Times They Are A-Changin'.