Live Blog Fest: ALMIGHTY THOR SyFy PREMIERE!!!

 

Greetings and welcome one and all to yet another COMMITTED live blog fest, our third so far, and perhaps the biggest yet, celebrating what could well turn out to be the biggest night for The Asylum on SyFy to date. I'm talking of course - in case you live in a hole or came across this site looking for naked pictures of Debbie Gibson (sorry) - about the World (West Coast) Premiere of Almighty Thor, now a mere 15 minutes away, and a film with a real shot at becoming the highest-rated SyFy Saturday Original Movie ever. Only a trifling 3 million + viewers block Thor from destiny.

The film stars newcomer (and incredible self-publicist, the true champion of this film) Cody Deal as the titular God of Thunder, Richard "21 Jump Street" Grieco as Thor's brother, the mischievous and malevolent Loki, Kevin "Diesel" Nash as their father Odin, and Patricia "skimpy costume from the first Mummy movie" Velasquez as, well, I'm not sure yet, but chances are, a hot chick. 

But the talent in this one isn't just on-screen, it's also behind the scenes, as well: the film is directed by Christopher Ray, who recently helmed The Asylum's Mega Shark vs Crocosaurus and is currently serving as First Assistant Director on a certain 3D Asylum horror film in production as we speak (ahem...A Haunting in Salem, script by me; just had to get that in). Ray directed from a script by Eric Forsberg, the genius writer/director behind last year's pop-culture phenom and instant cult classic Mega Piranha. Furthermore, the score comes from Chris Ridenhour - resident Asylum Beethoven - and the cinematography is courtesy of Alex Yellin, another guy currently working on A Haunting in Salem.

But not only do we have the movie starting up in less than a quarter hour, we also got dinner, drinks, desert - themed, no less - witty commentary, embarrassing photos (like the one to the right of me all decked out in my in my Almighty accessories; thanks, Wal Mart), and all-around Asylum-geekery until 11 pm, when I've promised my wife I'll stop.

Until then, we're going full-throttle here at COMMITTED, so feel free to comment like crazy below as I update this same post minute-by-minute throughout the whole film. Simply refresh your browser for the latest drivel. That said, crack open a cold one, get comfortable and stay tuned for the start of festivities, only minutes away...


Oh yeah, and tell everyone you know on the West Coast to turn on their TVs to SyFy, right now.

First up, Richard GREEK-O pita-stuffed lamburgers, seasoned with salt and pepper, stuffed in a pita and adorned with goat cheese and red pepper spread, and a side of Kevin "Nashed" potatoes with feta cheese,


These were delicious, as delicious, say, as Thor's coming of age in a militaristic Asgardian family.

Less than three minutes to go, so it's time to pour the golden chalice. See, I thought a lot about the kind of cocktail to make for this event, but when it came down to it, Norse warriors drink ale, and so then, shall I, specifically the gods' own nectar, the champagne of beer, Miller High Life.

So then dinner...check. Drinks...check. Dessert...formulating...t -minus a few minutes so buckle in, my fellow, faithfully-committed, the show's about to start...


9:00 PM - this is where the party starts...

9:02 PM - beautiful FX right off the bat... 

9:03 PM - Richard Grieco rising... 

9:04 PM - already RG is a evil genius,,,here comes Kevin Nash and...CODY DEAL! Clean-shaven Thor works for me, adds an element of inexperience that makes the character more endearing, I think... 

9:06 PM - first creature sighting... Forsberg kicks ass as a screenwriter!

9:09 PM - Grieco's nonchalance, almost apathy, is strangely fitting for the role... 

9: 13 PM - awesome creature FX, and that cody can really swing a sword...kevin nash as odin brings a sort of stern authoritarianism to the role, a physical intimidation that i thin is quite necessary when dealing with a god of gods...ooh...odin/loki swordfight...

9: 17 PM loki is as bad as hamlet's dad... 

9:18 PM -  first commercial break, and so far, so excellent...Forsberg's take on the myth is very human and easily related to, Nash was exquisite as Odin and Grieco as Loki is a new breed of menacing. Deal as Thor brings a much-appreciated youth to the role, and displays an interesting take on a god as a fledgling, that is, an immortal, all-powerful being vulnerable enough to need breathing room. can't wait to see what happens next, now that shit's popping off...

9:24 PM - Purpose becomes clear...I've never seen a more emotional Kevin Nash performance...kudos, Diesel... 

9:26 PM - entre vous ... the lovely Patricia Velasquez...to Thor's aid...

9:30 PM 1/4th of the way through, and already this is more entertaining than I suspect Marvel's Thor is. There's a humanity to the characters here, a relatability that most polytheistic epics lack. deal as thor is fresh, naive and eager to prove himself, and grieco is a badass villain, so casual with his maliciousness, so comfortable in his evil...can't wait for the rest! 

9:35 PM - lots of slo-mo action sequences in this...verdict still out on this, though it does draw attention to some spectacular action choreography 

9:40 PM - and thus begins the training regiment...Patricia Velasquez is not nearly the eye candy i thought she'd be, and i mean that as a compliment, because whereas she is still very much a beautiful woman, her role here isn't dependent on her beauty, it is dependent on her emotional strength, which she has by the bucket. 

9:43 PM - onward to Earth...now shit gets really good... 

9:45 PM -  interesting use of color here by director Christopher Ray - sepia for Asgard, blue for Earth - makes for a distinctive division of acts and an adjustment we make along with the characters...nice...

9:52 PM -  just a note to say i really like the approach Forsberg took with this script. instead of tying in too heavily to the mythology, he gave us just enough, what we needed to know, then took the story and made it his own, a fish-out-of-water story, that fish just having, you know, god like strength and invulnerability. but overall, i think it makes the story more human.

plus the art direction and cinematography in LA are awesome so far, very gritty and un-mythic, giving even more humanity to the script. 

9:54 PM - it's like - and i swear i mean this in a good way - Wings of Desire meets Hercules in New York, a mythic foundation in an urban landscape, classical meets contemporary in a brutal clash of philosophies, the result of which is a sense of timeless struggle costumes and weaponry can't define, for it is immortal. 


or, you know, people beating each other up and blowing shit up.

9:58 PM - halfway through...thor going out on his own...thoughts from the audience? blow up that comments board! 

10:04 PM - holy shit! the sword play in this is excellent! i mean EXCELLENT! note to self: dont mess with cody deal...

and the rain...beautiful work by alex yellin...

10:07 PM -  thor as vulnerable...cody deal's performance is winning me over minute by minute. i like my gods human...

10:08 PM - is it just me, or when grieco is walking down the LA sidewalk, is that an andy dick impression? ;)

10:12 PM - dessert! and work with me on this one, but we're having: Chocolate Cody'd Deal-icious Ice Cream Cookie Sundaes! How desperate am I for tie-in food?


45 minutes to go!








10:19 PM - again, the use of color, the use of smoke, of sweeping cameras - the cinematography on this one is off the charts...it's a gorgeous movie...and now more swordplay!!!


10:21 PM -  graffiti and norse gods - what a combo!


10:22 PM - btw - chris ridenhour - if you read this, i want an mp3 copy of this score to write to...so subtly epic, so sweeping and expansive...i WANT it...


10:30 PM - Thor commercial during Almighty Thor presentation...synergy...


10:33 PM -  unleash the creatures on LA...do it!


10:35 PM -  again, pleasantly surprised at the amount of screen time Patricia Velasquez is getting. until tonight, i only thought of her as a pretty face. she's got a juliette binoche quality to her, i see now, and is quite a deft actress. biggest and most pleasant surprise of the night..

10:36 PM - UUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUZZZZZIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


10:38 PM -  yo - that uzi scene is even more awesome than the trailer lead us to believe...


10:40 PM - so with less than 20 minutes to go, im'ma cut on the scene by scene stuff, to spare spoilers, but give me a few minutes to collect my final impressions (and watch the creature MADNESS) and i'll get right back  to you...


11:00 PM - so, still marinating on this one - my final thoughts will accompany the DVD release post on Tuesday - but for now, swimming in the moment, I have to say that overall I was impressed. The performances by all leads took this one out of the typical context, made it more human, though haughtier, almost like a shakesperean gangster flick. Grieco brought a decadent nonchalance to Loki, Cody Deal an intense vulnerability to Thor - I want to say how thrilled I was to be as taken by his performance as I hoped I would; this guy's got some big things in his future - and Patricia Velasquez an unforeseen and, quite frankly, unsuspected depth. 

Kudos as well to director Christopher Ray and cinematographer Alex Yellin for a beautiful, elegiac, sweeping visual feast, and screenwriter Eric Forsberg for another SyFy classic - action-packed, emotional and epic; in all honesty, if I could write like that guy, I'd never leave the house. Hats off to the visual FX team for baller creature and lava work. And what else is there to say? Almighty Thor met all my expectations as a fast-paced, action-centric thrill-ride. Here's hoping it met yours, and here's hoping when the ratings come out next week, we'll have ourselves a new SyFy Original Movie champion on our hands. 


Thanks for dropping by/tuning in/logging on/whatever the kids are calling it these days. As usual, I had an awesome time. Buy/rent/queue the DVD for Tuesday!