Thursday, 11 October 2012

Tuesday, 9 October 2012

Aaron Johnson as David "Dave" Lizewski / Kick-Ass: Johnson said that Kick-Ass is a "sensitive guy" who lost his mother and is a "nobody" at school, so he creates his superhero identity "as this whole different persona." Johnson said that Dave is "a kid who’s got the guts to go out there and do something different. Christopher Mintz-Plasse originally auditioned for the role of Kick-Ass, but during the audition the producers believed that his acting was too loud and obnoxious for the lead, so they immediately gave Mintz-Plasse the role of Red Mist instead.

Nicolas Cage as Damon Macready / Big Daddy: Vaughn described Cage's performance as a little bit Elvis and a little bit Adam West. A character in the film even says his costume looks like that of Batman. Cage was inspired by his costume to try delivering his lines in the same style Adam West used for Batman. The police officer father of an ex-girlfriend also influenced his performance; the habit of Big Daddy referring to Hit-Girl as "child" stems from the police officer.

Chloë Grace Moretz as Mindy Macready / Hit-Girl: Vaughn commented on the maturity of Moretz, who said that because she has four older brothers, she was no stranger to much of the language in the script. Her mother read the script and permitted her to use the profanity in the movie. Jane Goldman, one of the two co-writers of the script, said, "We just really wanted Hit-Girl to be a character who, in a sense, simply happens to be an eleven-year-old girl, in the same way that Ripley in Alien could have been a guy but the part happened to be played by Sigourney Weaver." Goldman said that Mindy "is genuinely dangerous, she's genuinely mad. It's not her fault: she's been raised in this environment where she doesn't know anything different. She's unwittingly part of a folie a deux."

Christopher Mintz-Plasse as Chris D'Amico / Red Mist: Frank D'Amico's son. Millar said that "the idea was that he was going to be a more minor character in the first film. Then we saw what Christopher Mintz-Plasse was capable of! [...] So the idea of McLovin' and the fun Red Mist doing something horrible is genuinely quite disturbing when you see it happen. We couldn't have got away with that with another actor. The minute we saw his performance, we were looking at each other and realised how good he was and what we could do with him in the future...." Mintz-Plasse said that when he first wore the Red Mist costume, he felt that it was entertaining and that he "looked so bad-ass." The actor sent photographs of himself in costume to his friends. Three weeks into the filming, Mintz-Plasse decided that the costume was not very comfortable and "a big pain in the ass." Mintz-Plasse wore the costume for 12 hours per filming day. Mintz-Plasse had to learn how to use a stick-shift in order to drive the Ford Mustang that is used in the film. Vaughn told Mintz-Plasse that the actor would have to pay for the car if he crashed it.

Mark Strong as Frank D'Amico: The head of a criminal organization. Strong says he is drawn to playing the antagonist. He tries to "understand the purpose of the character", and then work on building a believable individual.

Lyndsy Fonseca as Katie Deauxma: Dave's longtime crush and eventual girlfriend.

Michael Rispoli as Big Joe

Kofi Natei as Rasul: A gang leader whom Dave (as Kick-Ass) challenges until Hit-Girl arrives to kill the gang members.

Katrena Rochell as Female Junkie

Yancy Butler as Angie D'Amico: Frank's wife and Chris' mother.

Jason Flemyng as Lobby Goon: The building doorman.

Elizabeth McGovern as Alice Lizewski, Dave's mother.

Garrett M. Brown as James Lizewski, Dave's father.

Sophie Wu as Erika Cho: Katie's best friend.

Dexter Fletcher as Cody

Clark Duke and Evan Peters as Marty Eisenberg and Todd Haynes: Dave's two best friends.

Xander Berkeley as Detective Victor "Vic" Gigante: A police officer working for D'Amico.

Omari Hardwick as Sergeant Marcus Williams: Former partner of Damon Macready.

Deborah Twiss as Mrs. Zane: Dave's English teacher.

Craig Ferguson as Himself

John Romita, Jr. as Atomic Comics barista

Plot of Kick-Ass

Dave Lizewski (Aaron Johnson) is an ordinary teenager who lives in New York. Dave, an avid comic book fan, is bitter that people do not intervene when a crime is being committed. He purchases a bodysuit and, after making modifications, embarks on a campaign to become a real-life superhero, despite having no superpowers or skills. After his first crime-fighting encounter leads to him getting stabbed and getting run over in a hit and run, leaving him with permanent nerve damage, he gains an enhanced capacity to endure pain, and surgical implants required to repair multiple skeletal fractures give him resistance to further bone-crushing injuries. His effort to conceal the truth, claiming he had had his clothes thrown off after being mugged, leads to rumors that he is gay. His longtime crush, Katie Deauxma (Lyndsy Fonseca) immediately attempts to become his friend, having always wanted a "gay BFF"; Dave hesitantly goes along with it. After intervening in a gang attack, Dave's actions are recorded by a bystander and put on the internet, turning him into a celebrity. Calling himself "Kick-Ass", he sets up a MySpace account so he can be contacted for help. After responding to a request from Katie, he deals with a drug dealer, Rasul, who has been harassing her. Rasul and his thugs quickly overpower him, but he is rescued by eleven-year-old vigilante Hit-Girl (Chloë Grace Moretz), who kills Rasul first, and then kills all of Rasul's thugs and leaves with her father, Big Daddy (Nicolas Cage). They believe he has potential, but warn him to be more careful, and give him a way to contact them if needed.
Big Daddy is Damon Macready, a former cop who has a long-standing grudge against crime boss Frank D'Amico (Mark Strong) for framing him as a drug dealer, leading to the suicide of his wife. His former partner at the New York Police Department, Marcus Williams (Omari Hardwick), became guardian to his daughter, Mindy. Big Daddy, however, has reclaimed Mindy and is training her to be a skilled crime-fighter, against Marcus' wishes, hoping to take down D'Amico, sabotaging his organization. However, Big Daddy's actions inadvertently made D'Amico target Kick-Ass instead, believing that it was the latter that killed his men. D'Amico's son, Chris (Christopher Mintz-Plasse), suggests a different approach. He assumes the role of the vigilante "Red Mist" in order to befriend Kick-Ass and lure him into a trap. The attempted ambush is undone by Big Daddy, who independently kills D'Amico's men and sets the building on fire.
Following his escape from the warehouse fire, Dave decides to quit being Kick-Ass. He confesses the truth to Katie, and she forgives him and becomes his girlfriend. A week later, after finding a number of messages from Red Mist urgently requesting they meet, Dave decides to don his Kick-Ass costume one last time. At the meeting, Red Mist creates a ruse that both he and Kick-Ass have a bounty placed on both of their heads. Believing the story, Kick-Ass calls his allies, unwittingly leading Big Daddy and Hit-Girl into an ambush. Upon arriving at one of Big Daddy's safe houses, Red Mist shoots Hit-Girl out of a window, and D'Amico's men storm the place, capture Big Daddy, taking Kick-Ass with them. D'Amico intends to have his thugs torture and execute his captives in a live Internet broadcast viewed by millions, including Katie and Marcus, who can only watch helplessly. Hit-Girl, having survived the shooting, storms the hideout, killing all of the gangsters; but during the struggle, one thug sets Big Daddy on fire, fatally burning him. He and Hit-Girl share a tearful farewell before he dies. Kick-Ass tries to convince Hit-Girl to quit her dangerous lifestyle, but she plans to finish what her father started, and Kick-Ass agrees to help.
Hit-Girl infiltrates D'Amico's headquarters, pretending she lost her parents, kills the lobby guards and makes her way upstairs. Arriving at D'Amico's penthouse, she proceeds to kill every henchman in her path. She runs out of bullets at the end when Kick-Ass arrives on a jet pack fitted with miniguns that Big Daddy had previously acquired, and kills the remaining thugs. Kick-Ass and Hit-Girl then take on D'Amico and his son. While Kick-Ass fights Red Mist in the training room and the two manage to knock each other unconscious, Hit-Girl is overpowered by D'Amico after a vicious fight and lies helpless as he prepares to kill her. As D'Amico aims his gun, Kick-Ass comes around and, armed with a bazooka that D'Amico's bodyguard had taken from Big Daddy's safehouse, comes to her aid, blasting D'Amico out of the window where he explodes in mid-air.
Red Mist revives in time to see Kick-Ass and Hit-Girl leaving on the jet pack, and is powerless to stop them. Mindy and Dave retire from crime fighting to live a more normal life, and Mindy returns to live with Marcus, and enrolls at Dave's school. Dave has been told to look after Mindy, "not that she needs it". Dave explains that although he is done with crime fighting, a new "generation" of superheroes have been inspired by his endeavor, and the city is safer as a result. Red Mist is shown donning a new mask as he quotes Jack Nicholson as the Joker, "As a great man once said, 'Wait till they get a load of me'."

^{Taken from Wikipedia}

Monday, 8 October 2012

Kick-Ass: Special Effects

Why 'Kick-Ass' is Kicking Butt in DVD/Blu-ray Sales

Lionsgate announced yesterday that Kick Ass “proved dominant across all revenue channels this past week.” The film debuted in the number one position in DVD and Blu-ray sales – as well as the top movie download on iTunes since its release August 3rd.

The critical success of Kick-Ass hinted at the potential for excellent performance in home entertainment sales. While it wasn’t a huge surprise, for many of us, it offers a welcome sense of validation. Those of us who believed in the film’s potential for ‘cult’ success were rewarded with quantifiable proof this week.

Last April, there was much ado about nothing with regard to the film’s “failure at the box office.” In fact, the film was only a “failure” when measured against the inflated projections for opening weekend numbers – numbers that were based on perceived “audience awareness.” What these projections failed to consider was that the perceived awareness was isolated to a powerful, but segmented, fraction of the population at large – meaning an improper sampling. The blogosphere often becomes a self-cannibalizing entity and the response to Kick Ass illustrates that trend beautifully.

There was (an understandable) fan boy and girl fervor in anticipation of the film. One which lead credence to the notion that Kick Ass would strike it big opening weekend – and by big I mean projections forecast a $35 million open weekend – for a film that cost $25 million to make.

There was also an enormous influx of trailers, videos, and other marketing materials prior to the release of the film – a tactic that could have backfired, positioning the audience to rail against a film – as a result of overexposure. When the film failed to perform as projected, the blogosphere (unsurprisingly) jumped at the opportunity to write a bunch of snarky articles outlining the film’s financial shortcomings. To put that in perspective – remember the film cost $25 million and went on to make $96 million worldwide.

Here is what those projections failed to account for:

As mentioned, the “audience awareness” sampling came from a community predisposed to be aware of, and interested in, a film like Kick Ass – as well as its source material. Without a recognizable name attached, or broader brand appeal, that awareness wasn’t representative of the general movie-going audience.
Much of the target audience for Kick Ass was not old enough to take themselves to an R (hard R) rated movie, and this film is not an easy sell to parents. “Oh yes mom, can I please go see this film that features an adorable mass murdering twelve year old who makes liberal use of the ‘C’ word? Yep, it’s the very one Roger Ebert called ‘morally reprehensible’!”
How hopelessly square Americans really can be (this feeds off of number two on the list). Now, don’t misunderstand, I like Roger Ebert. I don’t always agree with him, but I like him. However he asked in his review if his response to Kick Ass made him “hopelessly square.” My response is – yes, yes it does.
Misinterpretation or rejection of the film’s central characters and story lines. Again this is a follow-up to number three on the list. I will use Mr. Ebert as the singular representative to a broad stick in the mud reaction to the film.

Many felt that the film was morally bereft due to its depiction of an exquisitely violent little girl. Emphasis on little girl. I contend that Hit Girl’s gender played a powerful subconscious role in some people’s negative reactions to her. Further, people felt that the film lacked a broader social message. To that I would ask: What kind of message would you like? A lie? Would you like to be told that good triumphs over evil every time and all is really simple and neat in the end?

I would follow those questions up with another: Is a film under an obligation to deliver a standard ‘moral of the story’ which is easily digestible by all? An idea already broadly accepted that adds nothing new to our cultural discussion? Or can it not simply be tons of fun and wickedly entertaining? I did myself the favor of steering clear of all the videos released for Kick Ass prior to its open. As a result I was both delighted and surprised with Chloe Moretz. I found Hit Girl’s action sequences alone enough to justify a trip to the movies.

However, I would argue that the film does in fact have a moral and societal message. A very simple message perhaps, but a clear one imbued in every moment of the movie. The message is this: You, even you, ordinary, non special “regular Joe” you who is just like ordinary, “regular Joe,” non special me can do something – so why don’t you? Why do you, do we instead just sit back and watch?
We see this in the character of Kick Ass himself. This perspective is clearly laid out in his “YouTube treatises,” but can also be seen in everything he tries, fails and succeeds at doing throughout the film. We see this theme play with Nick Cage as the hilariously overzealous Big Daddy – crazy, but committed. We see this in Kick Ass’s love interest Katie who takes the more traditional social action route. We particularly see this in the character of the “bystander” who watches, but does nothing – and is eventually shot for it.

Kick Ass Aaron Johnson DVD Blu-ray

What Kick Ass does so beautifully is set itself up as a film that is going to be the “anti-comic book” movie, the one that breaks all the rules – and pokes fun at the accepted tropes of the genre. Then at a certain point (around the time of Big Daddy’s confrontation with his ex-partner) the film takes a turn and fulfills every aspect of a standard comic book tale. Kick Ass tells you it is making this turn by visually propelling us into the comic book world of Big Daddy’s creation. This is some fun and outstanding filmmaking.
Kick Ass felt like a film that was destined to be misunderstood in its initial release and then appreciated by a large cult audience as time progressed. The kids who could not get their parents to take them to the movie can now buy the DVD. Those who balk at $10 in the theater seem okay with $15 spent on the more permanent DVD or $25 for a Blu-ray.

“Word of mouth” has had a real chance to spread to the general population. Many “non-traditional” films have followed this same trajectory to cult film success. Some notable selections include; Blade Runner, Office Space, Fight Club, TV series would include Firefly, Freaks and Geeks and Arrested Development.

What do you think the future holds for Kick-Ass?

This article was written by Jennings Roth Cornet and first appeared on Screen Rant in 2010.

Development Finance of Kick-Ass

THE ADVISER
April 16, 2010

The Outsider Superhero A filmmaker goes up against the Marvel mafia; 'postmodern love letter'

By LAUREN A.E. SCHUKER

Aaron Johnson stars as a teenager with dreams of becoming a superhero in 'Kick-Ass.'

The vast majority of Hollywood movies about superheroes show us that winners barely break a sweat as they glide toward victory. Yet a new superhero movie's road to release was paved with obstacles.
"Kick-Ass," which opens on Friday, tells the story of a teenager named Dave who tries to become a superhero, only to fall flat on his face. Along the way, Dave—played by British actor Aaron Johnson—ends up meeting real-life vigilantes who come pretty close to superheroes, including former cop turned street fighter "Big Daddy," played by Nicolas Cage, and his ruthless 11-year-old daughter, "Hit-Girl."
The aesthetic of "Kick-Ass" recalls the work of Quentin Tarantino, with its cartoonish sequences of violence. Footage from the film was a hit at last year's Comic-Con convention and analysts are projecting that it will make more than $25 million at the domestic box office this weekend, an especially high range for an R-rated movie.

Yet it's a different story when it comes to superheroes who didn't come from a pre-existing comic book with a built-in fan base. The Hollywood studios refused to finance "Kick-Ass," so its writer-director Matthew Vaughn decided to make it independently. It took him just two weeks to raise the $35 million to make the movie, half from his own pocket and half from private investors.
"Every studio, every single person in Hollywood who could have financed the film, they all said flat-out 'no,'" says Mr. Vaughn, who was born in Britain and happens to be married to supermodel Claudia Schiffer. "The movie was about superheroes, sure, but it wasn't a remake or a sequel, and that made it risky."
Once the film was completed, however, Hollywood grew interested. Lionsgate, the independent studio behind challenging movies like "Precious" and the "Saw" franchise as well as edgy television fare like "Mad Men" and "Nurse Jackie," signed on to distribute the movie last summer after a fierce bidding war with Universal Pictures among other studios.
"This film was a dream for us: it has a big heart, the action is innovative, and you don't have to be a comic-book fan to really like it," says Joe Drake, president of Lionsgate's motion picture group.
Mr. Vaughn, who calls the movie "a postmodern love letter to superheroes," first began work on the script about two years ago, after meeting comic-book writer Mark Millar at a premiere in London.
Mr. Vaughn says the end result was worth it. "You have to make movies that push the boundaries, otherwise we stagnate. Someone told me that the film is the 'Clockwork Orange' of our time—I think that's as good as you can get."

Thursday, 4 October 2012

Kick-Ass: The Soundtrack Albums

Taken from Wikipedia

Kick Ass: Music from the Motion Picture was released in the United Kingdom on 29 March 2010, and in the United States on iTunes on 30 March 2010.
The title song is sung by Mika, co-written by Jodi Marr and produced by RedOne.
The video for the single shows Mika as a helpless individual left in an alleyway after being mugged. He begins to sing and as he does, the words of empowerment in the lyrics and his finding of an issue of the Kick-Ass comic inspire him to run for the rooftops and wail the chorus to the sky. The video also features intercut scenes from the film.
The song "Stand Up" by The Prodigy is featured in both the teaser trailer and the red band trailer.
A song featured in the film, but not on the soundtrack is "Crazy", by Gnarls Barkley. This song is played in the Mistmobile while Kick-Ass and Red Mist cruise around town together. Also, the version of "Bad Reputation" used in the film was by Joan Jett but the version on the soundtrack was by a band called "The Hit Girls".
The song "Hey Little World" by The Hives, which played in the theatrical trailers was also not included.

Track listings

No.	Title	Performed by	Length
1.	"Stand Up"	The Prodigy	5:08
2.	"Kick Ass (We Are Young)"	Mika vs. RedOne	3:11
3.	"Can't Go Back"	Primal Scream	3:46
4.	"There's a Pot a Brewin'"	The Little Ones	3:13
5.	"Omen"	The Prodigy	3:54
6.	"Make Me Wanna Die"	The Pretty Reckless	3:55
7.	"Banana Splits (Kick-Ass Film Version)"	The Dickies	2:04
8.	"Starry Eyed"	Ellie Goulding	2:57
9.	"This Town Ain't Big Enough for Both of Us"	Sparks	3:03
10.	"We're All in Love"	The New York Dolls	4:50
11.	"Bongo Song"	Zongamin	5:00
12.	"Per Qualche Dollaro in Più (For a Few Dollars More)"	Ennio Morricone	2:53
13.	"Bad Reputation"	The Hit Girls	2:56
14.	"An American Trilogy"	Elvis Presley	4:31

The film's score was released on 17 May 2010 in the UK. Two of the instrumentals in the film are altered versions of songs from other John Murphy composed soundtracks. These are "In The House, In A Heartbeat" from 28 Days Later: The Soundtrack Album and "Adagio in D-minor" from the Sunshine soundtrack. The former was used in the scene where Big Daddy guns down D'Amico's men in the warehouse and the latter was used when Hit-Girl is trying to rescue Kick-Ass and Big Daddy. They are called "Big Daddy Kills" and "Strobe (Adagio in D Minor) assisted by Rumen Lishkov" respectively on the Kick-Ass score. One track, "Walk To Rasul's" was composed by Danny Elfman, who was referenced in the original comic.

Track Listings

No.	Title	Composer	Length
1.	"The Armenian Superhero"	Henry Jackman, Marius De Vries	1:59
2.	"Stand Up"	The Prodigy	3:32
3.	"Forcefield"	Marius De Vries	1:05
4.	"Watching"	Henry Jackman	1:01
5.	"Man in the Mirror"	Henry Jackman	1:08
6.	"A Punch in the Chest"	Marius De Vries	0:45
7.	"Roof Jump"	Marius De Vries, Ilan Eshkeri	1:31
8.	"Time to Engage"	Henry Jackman	0:26
9.	"Stabbing-Morphine"	Marius De Vries, The Prodigy	1:56
10.	"I'm Kick-Ass"	Henry Jackman	1:16
11.	"Famous"	Henry Jackman, John Murphy, Marius De Vries, Ilan Eshkeri	2:22
12.	"A Friend Like You"	Marius De Vries	0:43
13.	"Walk to Rasul's"	Danny Elfman	0:58
14.	"Trick or Treat?"	Marius De Vries, Ilan Eshkeri	2:43
15.	"Leaving Rasul's"	John Murphy	1:18
16.	"Hit-Girl & Big Daddy"	John Murphy	2:39
17.	"Damon & Marcus Comic Book"	Henry Jackman, John Murphy	3:24
18.	"I Miss You Both"	John Murphy, Ilan Eshkeri	1:40
19.	"Hunting Kick-Ass"	Henry Jackman	1:04
20.	"MistMobile"	Henry Jackman	1:40
21.	"Big Daddy Kills"	John Murphy	2:50
22.	"One Last Time"	Marius De Vries	0:57
23.	"Sleepover"	Marius De Vries	1:57
24.	"To Brooklyn Bridge"	Marius De Vries	1:42
25.	"Safehouse / Ambush"	John Murphy	2:34
26.	"Showtime Pt. 2 (It's Only the End of the World)"	John Murphy	2:25
27.	"Nightvision"	John Murphy	1:57
28.	"Strobe (Adagio in D Minor)"	John Murphy	2:02
29.	"Big Daddy Dies"	Henry Jackman, John Murphy	1:33
30.	"Hit-Girl Drives Home"	John Murphy	1:42
31.	"Marshmallows"	John Murphy & Rumen Lishkov	1:12
32.	"Choose Your Weapon"	Ilan Eshkeri	1:26
33.	"You Got Five Minutes"	Marius De Vries	0:35
34.	"No Power, No Responsibility"	Henry Jackman	1:16
35.	"The Corridor"	John Murphy	1:16
36.	"Kitchen Stand Off"	John Murphy, Ilan Eshkeri	1:19
37.	"The Fight"	Henry Jackman, John Murphy, Marius De Vries, Ilan Eshkeri	3:12
38.	"Flying Home"	Henry Jackman, John Murphy	1:49
39.	"True Identity"	Henry Jackman	1:39

AS Media Studies