Imaginos Movie Review: "Snowpiercer"

Though the movie came out in 2013, I only just recently got the chance to partake of the film "Snowpiercer." I'm not normally the type of person to just buy a movie without having seen it first, but honestly, hearing the plot of the movie and the way so many of my friends spoke so highly of it (and these are opinions that I actually trust, mind you), I took the leap and bought it. And now, after having finally seen it, I don't regret the purchase in the slightest.  :)

"Snowpiercer," despite its majority English-speaking and American cast, is actually a Korean Science-Fiction film that is actually based on the French graphic novel series "Le Transperceneige." Now, based on that kind of lineage, you can imagine that the film either diverts heavily from American cinema sensibilities or ends up heavily catering to American sensibilities due to other nation's public perception of viewing films more highly as an art form. In this case, if you bet on the latter, then you'd actually lose.

For those that haven't heard of it, the film takes place in a future where the planet has frozen over due to a failed attempt to offset global warming, and an eccentric industrialist's fantasy project of a globe-spanning train system becomes humanity's only hope of avoiding extinction. The last remnants of humanity have been living on the train "Snowpiercer" for over 17 years and the story focuses on a specific event in the lives of the survivors in the rear of the train as they suffer the eventuality of an oppressive class system.

The most interesting part about the movie is that rather than focusing on creating a wide and varied view of life on the train, it actually keeps its focus purely on the group at the back and allows you to discover the real "diversity" of life on the train along with them. With a surprising cast with names like Chris Evans, Octavia Spencer, John Hurt, Tilda Swinton and Ed Harris, the characters aboard the train range drastically and aren't as clear cut as you might expect as life on the train has had surprising effects on them all. And its non-blockbuster approach to telling this story truly sets it apart from other post-apocalyptic/disaster films.

The only unfortunate part of this movie is that it did so poorly in the box office. This might be due to the fact that it's not your traditional sci-fi movie, like I've previously mentioned. So if you're interested in an incredible film that bucks a significant number of traditional tropes in American cinema and thus produces a movie that is easily set to be a cult classic for movie loving audiences, check out "Snowpiercer"!

-Joe Cain

2013 Year in Review: Goals Not Dreams

I usually don't like going backward but this past year warrants a look. We left 2012 a little dejected as we had failed our first Kickstarter attempt. But being the never say die hard chargers we are we drudged forward. In 2013 We completed the first complete draft of our movie script. Yup, 110 some pages of work that we are revising still.

We also completed a short film with our partners at Wrapped Productions and Mill Movement Conglomerates called CHANCES for Canon's Project Imagination with Ron Howard. Even though our shoot was tight, we still showed in the top 40 of submissions with hundreds of submissions behind us.

We also just recently got our supernatural sci-fi pitch DARK DAYS back into corporate hands for review, as well as completing the curriculum for the non profit.

Image Art From "Dark Days" by Mike Majestic, using Vulne Pro

Finally at the end of this year, we relaunched the Kickstarter for our comic anthology iMAGINOs Plus and the rest, shall we say, is history. 

We want to thank everybody who believes in iMAGINOs Workshop.This year we are going to work to get these iMAGINOs PLUS issues one and two out. We will be relaunching iMAGINOS TV on YouTube and we will be focusing on getting more done in the short film Arena and in Hollywood. 

People always tell us how cool it is that we can follow our dreams. I never want to sound like a dick, so I just smile and listen. What's going on inside my head, however, is this: dreams are for people who don't have the talent (or work ethic) to make what's in their head manifest. We Imaginos Workshop people we don't have dreams, WE HAVE GOALS. Goals are what people have when they make solid plans to achieve things and have the talent to back it up. 

2014 THE YEAR OF MEETING THE GOAL!!! 

Mark