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Power Rangers: A History of Globalization and Localization

12/14/2014

By Billy Martel

Power Rangers Super Mega Force, the most recent incarnation of the Power Rangers franchise aired its final new episode of the year on November 22nd. Sometime next year we’ll receive an announcement about the title of the next incarnation that’ll most likely last another two years before getting replaced by another. Likewise a new Power Rangers reboot movie is planned to premier sometime in 2016 along with several video game tie-ins and comic book adaptations. Power Rangers has been an enduring part of Saturday morning television in the United States and abroad since 1993, They had a balloon in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade, and there are conventions dedicated to their legacy set up across the country. Which is strange when you consider that it’s a relic of a long outdated method of inter-cultural adaptation.

A Brief History of Power Rangers:

In Japan there is a genre of film and television called "Tokusatsu", which translates to “special filming.” It essentially refers to films that rely heavily on special effects. Originally Tokusatsu was split into three different factions: Kaiju stories of giant monsters like Godzilla or Gamera, Superhero stories like Super Giant or Kamen Rider, or Mecha stories of giant robots like Giant Robo. These all still exist as their own individual sub-genres, but in 1978 a new Tokusatsu sub-genre emerged called “Sentai”. Sentai refers to a group of soldiers. It combines all three Tokusatsu sub-genres. The Sentai are a team of superheroes who fight Kaiju with giant robots. Ever since the first Sentai series Battle Fever J (Kanno, Ochiai, Orita, Yoshikawa, 1979-1980) was created by Toei, the biggest film production and distribution company in Japan, there has been a new Super Sentai (the franchise title Toei assigned to Battle Fever J and all subsequent Sentai) series every year as well as dozens of copycat series from across Japan.

In 1992 the most recent Sentai series was Kyōryū Sentai Zyuranger (Tojo, Ogasawara, Sakamoto, Watanabe, Amemiya, 1992-1993). It was this series that Haim Saban, a producer of children’s television in America, saw while on a trip to Japan and decided to bring to the states. But rather than dub the series and risk alienating viewers, he decided to shoot all new footage with American actors and scripts, edit it into the Sentai footage and create an entirely new show called Mighty Morphin Power Rangers (Saban, and Levy, 1993-1995). Because one of the main concepts in Sentai was that the characters would always have a device that would transform them into their superhero forms through a flashy special effect, it was relatively easy to have American actors use the same devices, make a similar special effect, and put it together to show the new actors in the new footage “morph” into the suited Japanese stuntmen in the old footage.

By making their own series instead of simply adapting the old they could also clean up the Japanese series’ content. Zyuranger often included scary scenes of child sacrifice, which were all cut from the US version. The complex dark storyline about how the villain Bandora was trying to bring her son back from the dead by destroying the planet, was now about Rita Repulsa, a generic villain who wanted to take over the world by sending an army of monsters to fight the Power Rangers. The tragic death of the green ranger towards the end of the series was changed to the character losing his powers and retiring peacefully from monster fighting before taking on the role of the white ranger (a completely different character from a completely different Sentai in Japan).

Another hurdle was the fact that the Sentai was only supposed to last a year but American shows are built to run indefinitely. Saban tried to pay Toei to shoot new footage for them but that could only last until their money ran out. After three seasons of recycling the footage from Zyuranger, Saban finally gave in to formula and changed the name of the show to Power Rangers Zeo (Saban, Levy, 1996) for its fourth season. Now each season is adapted from the most recent series of Super Sentai. Power Rangers Super Megaforce (Saban, 2014) was adapted from Kaizoku Sentai Gokaiger (Ishinomori, 2011).

Legacy and Impact:

Initially Power Rangers generated many duplicates like Masked Rider (Saban, Levy, 1995-1996) adapted from Kamen Rider Black RX (Ishinomori, 1988-1989) or Big Bad Beetleborgs (Saban, Levy, 1996-1998) adapted from Juukou B-Fighter (Tsuchiya, Kanai, Hazuki, Tomoe, 1995-1996). None of them ever achieved the same popularity that Power Rangers did. Attempts to create a show with a similar premise as Power Rangers without using Japanese footage were laughable failures such as The Mystic Knights of Tir Na Nog (Saban, 1998-1999), and Tattooed Teenage Alien Fighters from Beverly Hills (Fisher, Staahl, 1994-1995)

This technique of localization may seem strange to some. But as I said before it’s a part of an American tradition of localization that goes back a long way. In the 1950’s when Godzilla was popular in Japan and the USA wanted to show the film here, Transworld Releasing Corp shot brand new footage with actor Raymond Burr as an American reporter commenting on all that was going on to add some context for American viewers. You might be asking yourself at this point: why not just dub? The problem as it was perceived at the time was that dubbing makes things look silly. There is a threshold for suspension of disbelief when watching a movie about gods and monsters that is very easy to break by something like bad acting, or bad effects, or poor sound quality. Dubbing is like a triple threat in this case. Voice actors who dub have a reputation for being particularly bad actors, whether they are or not is a case by case situation but the reputation still exists. Dubbing is often of a different sound quality than the rest of the sounds in the film which can be distracting. And finally the unreality of seeing a person’s lips move out of synch with their words is very difficult to get beyond.

We now live in a world where dubbing is no longer considered as laughable as it once was. The success of films such as Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (Lee, 2000) among others have proven that seriously adapted foreign material can stand on its own. The anime series Attack on Titan (Araki, 2013) became a huge hit with American audiences this year despite not having an official dub. US viewers were willing to simply read subtitles. So one would think that in this world where localization of foreign products is the least invasive it has ever been in the US that Power Rangers would fade away into obscurity. But instead it’s seeing more popularity than it has in years - not just in the USA but abroad as well. Maybe it’s the adaptability of the format; maybe it’s just the attraction of the cool explosions and awesome martial arts. Whatever the reason Power Rangers is here to stay for the foreseeable future. As the rangers themselves would say: "May the power protect you."

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Remembering Mike Nichols 1931-2014

12/11/2014

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Written by Scott Orris

“The words are secondary and the secrets are primary. That’s what interests me most,” Nichols expressed in a 1965 interview (Weber Mike Nichols, "Urbane Director Loved By Crowds and Critics dies at 83"). This keen observation of the human condition sparked the career of the young stage director and led him to become one of the few people to win the Academy Award, Grammy, Emmy and Tony Awards. With his death on November 19th, Nichols left an indelible legacy in directing some of the most important movies in the history of film. Known more recently for films such as Charlie Wilson’s War (Nichols, 2007), The Closer (Nichols, 2004), and Wit (Nichols, 2001), Nichols explored the depths of human relationships and humor in his films, and stage productions for over fifty years. But it was in directing movies such as The Graduate (Nichols, 1967), Carnal Knowledge (Nichols, 1971) and Who’s Afraid of Virgina Woolf (Nichols, 1966) which he became most associated with as a director of coming of age stories within the context of the 1960’s.

Mike Nichols (right) with Dustin Hoffman and Anne Bancroft on the set of The Graduate

The Graduate has always been an important film in my life, but after graduating from Messiah in 2008 at the height of the recession, the film took on a new meaning. In the midst of trying to figure out my future, I found myself heavily identifying with the Benjamin Braddock character, which Dustin Hoffman plays in the film. Hoffman had not had a starring role in a film before, and it was Mike Nichols who gave him a chance for stardom. In coming from the stage, Nichols had experience in how to relate to actors making two films and a television mini-series with Meryl Streep, and four films with Jack Nicholson. In a Variety interview Streep spoke about the director, An inspiration and a joy to know, a director who cried when he laughed a friend with whom, well, we can't imagine our world, an indelible irreplaceable man (Lang, "Mike Nichols Remembered By Meryl Streep, Tom Hanks as ‘Irreplaceable Man’"). Mike Nichols was never considered an auteur like Hitchcock or a Martin Scorsese for that matter, but he will always remain the true epitome of an actor’s director.

Works Cited:

"The Graduate." IMDb. IMDb.com, n.d. Web. 11 Dec. 2014.

Lang, Brent. "Mike Nichols Remembered By Meryl Streep, Tom Hanks as 'Irreplaceable Man'"
Variety. Variety, 20 Nov. 2014. Web. 11 Dec. 2014.

"Mike Nichols." IMDb. IMDb.com, n.d. Web. 11 Dec. 2014.

Weber, Bruce. "Mike Nichols, Urbane Director Loved by Crowds and Critics, Dies at 83."
The New York Times. The New York Times, 20 Nov. 2014. Web. 11 Dec. 2014.

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Escalation in The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1

12/10/2014

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Written by John Snyder

The film adaptations of Suzanne Collins’ The Hunger Games trilogy are no stranger to meta-criticism of visual media. The Hunger Games (Ross, 2012) made us think about violence depicted in media, using jarring depictions of children murdering other children. Catching Fire (Lawrence, 2013) offered a look into the painful life of stars abused for their stardom by producers and other powers that be, after Jennifer Lawrence and the Hunger Games franchise had emerged as a national and world-wide popular phenomenon. And now Mockingjay: Part 1 (Lawrence, 2014) continues the trend, exploring the ways that filmmakers try to recapture the emotions and energy of past successes, and the degree to which they are able to reclaim it it.

Katniss Everdeen (Jennifer Lawrence) knows what it’s like to be used to advance an agenda. Under the control of the Capitol, she was touted as a breakout star, “the girl on fire,” by Capitol talk show host Caesar Flickerman (Stanley Tucci). She toured the nation in an attempt to qualm unrest and distract the people of the districts from the injustice of their slavery and of the hunger games. When the Capitol tries to put her to death by sending her to the quarter-quell in the latter part of Catching Fire, she steps into another symbolic role—the Mockingjay. This isn’t defined as a symbolic role at all until the last moment, when she shoots her arrow at the sky, and instantly becomes a hero of the rebellion.

However, because she was on the other end of the cameras filming her, Katniss has no idea that she was this symbol of resistance until her rescue by the revolutionary forces of the underground district 13, after which President Alma Coin (Julianne Moore), the leader of the rebellion, tells her so. And the first order of business for the leaders of district 13 is to convince Katniss to be the face of their cause. There are many parallels between her use as the “Mockingjay” by the rebellion and the “Girl on Fire” by the Capitol. Although the film never openly addresses this, it is clear that Katniss is uncomfortable being ordered around, even for what seems to be a cause she cares about.

Even in the promotional art for the movie, Katniss is depicted as a larger than life icon, clad with wings and surrounded by fire, reminiscent of a fiery archangel.

President Coin and the former chief game maker Plutarch Heavensbee (Phillip Seymour Hoffman, rest in peace) stage propaganda videos with Katniss in them, trying to recapture the way she inspired the nation in the hunger games. However, Katniss is not a good actor, and both the computer generated background and the lines she was given to read were contrived and trite. The times when Katniss most inspired the nation were not when she was interviewing with Caesar, or when she was on tour reciting cold words written by someone else, as Haymitch (Woody Harrelson) points out, but rather when she was unscripted and reacting genuinely to the injustice around her. So they send her to one of the districts with a film crew, to see a hospital, where she does react genuinely, and they capture the moment on film. But President Snow (Donald Sutherland) had been searching for Katniss, and when some hidden cameras caught her entering the hospital, he sent bombers to destroy it because they were “associating with the Mockingjay symbol.” Katniss and the others escape, but the hospital and everyone in it are totally destroyed. The film crew takes this opportunity to film Katniss reacting very genuinely to the situation, which is turned into a propaganda piece that effectively fans the flames of revolution.

Katniss finds herself surrounded by weary and dying people looking to her for hope.

The thing about this situation is that it was just as contrived as the computer generated scene from the original attempt. If Katniss hadn’t gone to the district, the hospital wouldn’t have been bombed. Essentially, the filmmakers were seeking the anger and energy that would incite the rebellion, but that didn’t yet exist within Katniss. Something had to set it off, so they put her into a real situation, with real consequences, and their goal was accomplished.

At this moment, if we step back from the movie itself, we can reflect on the presence of escalation in film trilogies and series, journalism and TV shows. Very often, when something works in a story (and it is decided that there will be a sequel, another season, or in the interest of increased ratings), instead of trying something new, writers try to recapture the original, seeking ways to get the audience to react in the same way, only better and bigger—if that means more explosions, more sex, more jokes, or even more of the same plot line. It is ironic then, that Mockingjay tackles this subject, because it is theatrically mellower than the first two installments. The point of this movie, as a “part 1,” is not to be bigger and better, but to develop and continue the plot and the characters genuinely. How well it does this is up for debate, and although the movie both started and ended on a “plateau” in terms of dramatic tension, I think it did its job.

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Coincidence on 34th Street: Tokyo Godfathers' Unmiraculous Divinity

12/6/2014

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Written by Steven Collier

               As a well-known Dolly Madison snack cake endorsed television special once put it, “Christmastime is here,” and as always, it brings with it an unrelenting torrent of yuletide media. Yes, the Christmas movie has been a staple of Western culture for decades. I’m not sure that it can yet be classified as a full-blown genre, but the works it represents do tend to have more than a few recurring elements: family, forgiveness and miracles. However, it's that last category which makes such films unique. Be it How The Grinch Stole Christmas (Jones, 1966), It’s A Wonderful Life (Capra, 1947) or Home Alone (Columbus, 1990), each movie builds to a singular moment of quasi-divine intervention. The Grinch experiences a transcendental moment of Christmastide enlightenment. A strange, vaguely Judeo-Christian Space God personally sends an angel to talk George Bailey out of committing suicide. Even the incorrigible Kevin McCallister is ultimately spared by the angry, Old Testament father figure that is Old Man Marley. In virtually any other movie, such resolutions would seem like painfully contrived cop-outs. Nevertheless, regardless of creed or denomination, western audiences have long accepted “the Magic of Christmas” as ample justification for these hasty third-act resolutions.

        However, the same cannot be said of Tokyo Godfathers (Kon, 2003). While it may have all the usual seasonal trappings of a Christmas movie, its conclusion cannot be tied to any specific miracle. Instead, its end is reached via a convoluted and largely-unrelated series of unlikely coincidences. Any one of them could be the basis for an entire Lifetime channel special. However, in their grand summation, they create an animated masterpiece that is narratively more comparable to a screwball comedy than any of the season's usual displays of Dickensian Deus ex Machina.

            Not that Tokyo Godfathers is a comedy by any means. There is more than enough pathos fit into its remarkably pithy ninety-two minute runtime, but never enough to make it feel like a serious drama. Like most truly human stories, it constantly dances upon that ephemeral tightrope dangling between hilarity and tragedy.

            Its plot centers around three Tokyo vagrants: Gin, an aging alcoholic, Hana, a melodramatic trans woman, and Miyuki, a jaded, teenage runaway. One Christmas Eve, this dangerously unstable nuclear unit finds a baby mysteriously abandoned in a pile of refuse. Lacking anything better to do, the trio set out to attempt to return the child home to its birth parents. Their ensuing misadventures, quickly bifurcate, interweave and reflect upon one another, forming a frenetic, fractalized tale. However, despite its confoundingly splintered narrative, Tokyo Godfathers masterfully ties every last one of its disparate plot threads back together to tell a genuinely touching story of redemption, forgiveness, and homecoming. Still, its pacing all feels like one grand chase, on par with the best of Buster Keaton, the rising action relentlessly escalating right until the credits roll.

            Tokyo Godfathers does not have a denouement, nor does it need one. To give it any specific climax would force the hub of its narrative to spin upon a specific incident, singling out one of its many coincidences, and transforming that moment into something like a miracle. This would utterly defeat what is easily the film’s greatest strength: its glorious humanity.

         If there is any magic or deity guiding the actions of the movie's cast, then it stubbornly refuses to show its hand. Tokyo Godfathers protagonists may lead charmed lives. However no matter how absurd their fortunes may be, their lives assuredly remain their own. There isn't even any discernible reward to motivate their actions. As such their circumstances, their failures, and their triumphs also remain wholly their own. Their story is one that beautifully demonstrates the flawed goodwill and imperfect selflessness of which humanity is capable without any miraculous intervention. While this may not be an especially religious message, I feel it represents a sort of grace that comes closer to representing the divine than anything George Bailey ever witnessed. There are no heaven-sent Angels to aid Gin, Hana, and Miyuki on their quest, and as far as I'm concerned that only makes their journey all the more sacred.

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The Fiftieth Anniversary of the Rankin/Bass Rudolph The Red Nosed Reindeer Christmas Special

12/4/2014

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Written By Scott Orris

Since his birth in 1939 as a Montgomery Ward promotion, Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer has endured as an icon of the holiday season. But it was in 1964 that the animation studio of Arthur Rankin Jr. and Jules Bass created their annual Christmas special, which has brought the likes of Rudolph, Hermey, and Yukon Cornelius into our homes for over fifty years. In utilizing a meticulous stop-motion process called “Animagic,” Rankin/Bass created a unique form of animation, combined with great songs, and endearing characters which would make Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer one of the longest running Christmas specials of all time. The special is hosted by the great actor/folk singer Burl Ives who plays Sam the Snowman and sings many of what would become Christmas staples like “Holly Jolly Christmas,” “Silver and Gold” and of course the Rudolph song itself.

The original 1964 Animagic figures of Rudolph and Santa shown here in 2006.

For myself growing up in the eighties, I just loved the quirky characters such as Yukon Cornelius, a prospector who licks his pickaxe for silver or gold, King Moonracer who is this giant lion with huge black wings who runs the island of misfit toys, and just all the misfit toys themselves. The story from the Rankin/Bass special was an expansion of the original work by Robert L. May who wrote Rudolph The Red Nosed Reindeer as a Montgomery Ward promotional in 1939. The story was then made into the famous song by May’s brother in law Johnny Marks, and was first recorded by Gene Autry in 1949. (Sadeq Smithsonian Snapshot). In 1944 Rudolph made his first adaptation as a cartoon short directed by Max Fleischer which would later be re-released in 1948 with Johnny Mark’s Rudolph song (Ashe “Christmas in July With Max Fleischer’s Rudolph"). While drawing upon these sources for inspiration, the Rankin/Bass special elaborates the scope of the original story.

The original 1939 book written by Robert L. May

One of the most interesting aspects of the special is what footage is edited or cut out of the special for individual airings. In its original 1964 airing on NBC surprisingly the misfit toys were not rescued, and instead has a scene of Yukon Cornelius discovering a peppermint mine. After an outcry of the tragedy of Santa not rescuing the misfit toys and finding homes for them, there was a new scene added in all the subsequent versions which depicts Santa’s first stop as the island of misfit toys, and then cutting the peppermint mine scene. There was also a new song called “Fame and Fortune” which from 1965-1997 replaced Rudolph and Hermey’s first meeting where they sang “We’re a couple of Misfits." The current version which currently airs on television has since restored “We’re a Couple of Misfits,” and completely cut “Fame and Fortune” (“Rudolph The Red Nosed Reindeer” Archive of American Television). This was particularly evident to me, growing up and listening to the “Fame and Fortune,” which my parents recorded on a vhs for me in the late 80’s. I personally agree with the restoration of “We’re a Couple of Misfits” because I think it better embodies what the film is about which is alienation or feeling different from the group or a society, in this case Christmas Town.

I might be digging more into this then is necessary but this special was made in the 1960’s. There is definitely this sense of dissatisfaction with authority where Rudolph can’t please his father by covering up as Burl Ives directly stated; “his nonconformity” or please Santa for that matter due to his shiny red nose. Hermey works with elves that all look the same, and act the same, but he actually wants to be a dentist which is a dramatic departure from the elf norm. There is also the huge boss elf who represents a stern authority who confronts him about why isn’t he at elf practice or producing enough toys, and then completely derides his ambition to be a dentist. This leads both Rudolph, and Hermey, these two misunderstood rebels, to run away resembling the counter-cultural figures of the time. The fact they are labeled as misfits, reinforces this alienated counter cultural identity. The special was made in 1964 which was when LBJ passed the Civil Rights Act, which gives the movie even more context. But whether I am hitting on something here, or simply digging for meaning that isn’t there, I think the special is well done and teaches generally the acceptance of those that are different. You can tune in and watch this classic Christmas special on December 9th and 13th at 8 PM on CBS.

Works Cited:

Ashe, Brandie. "Saturday Morning Cartoons: Christmas in July with Max Fleischer's Rudolph - The Black Maria."
    The Black Maria. N.p., 19 July 2014. Web. 04 Dec. 2014.

"Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer." Archive of American Television. N.p., n.d. Web. 04 Dec. 2014.

Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer. Dir. Larry Roemer. Perf. Burl Ives, Billie Mae Richards, Paul Soles.
    Rankin/Bass Productions, 1964. Videocassette.

Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer. Dir. Max Fleischer. Perf. Paul Wing. Jam Handy Organization, 1944. DVD.

"Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer." IMDb. IMDb.com, n.d. Web. 04 Dec. 2014.

Sadeq, Jessica. "Smithsonian Snapshot: Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer." Smithsonian.
    Smithsonian, n.d. Web. 04 Dec. 2014.

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Director Profile: BRYAN SINGER

12/1/2014

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Written by Anthony Watkins

Bryan Jay Singer was born on September 17, 1965 in New York City, New York. Raised in southern New Jersey in a Jewish family, Singer became interested in filmmaking during his teenage years. After high school, he attended New York City’s School of Visual Arts, before transferring to the University of Southern California. Through his film studies at USC, Singer met his future collaborators, composer and editor John Ottman and co-producer Kenneth Kokin.

In 1988, shortly after graduation from USC, Singer wrote and directed his first short film, Lion’s Den. The film, budgeted at $16,000, starred Singer’s high school friend Ethan Hawke and centered on high-school buddies who reunite years after graduation (Marx). A couple years later, Singer would helm his first feature-length film, Public Access. In 1993, the film won the Critics Award at the Deauville Film Festival as well as the Grand Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival.

It was two years later, however, that Singer hit a breakthrough as a director with The Usual Suspects, a neo-noir crime drama that focuses on a survivor’s retelling of events leading up to a shootout of a deal gone wrong. Full of twists and turns, the film was a critical and commercial success and was nominated for 2 Oscars for Best Actor in a Supporting Role (Kevin Spacey) and Best Screenplay and won both.

Singer's neo-noir crime drama The Usual Suspects (1995) was Singer's first hit as a young director.

Singer followed The Usual Suspects with Apt Pupil, a film based on Stephen King’s novel of a young boy who makes a deal with a Nazi war criminal. The film ended up not living up to its high expectations, and was scarred by a controversy involving the child actor being forced to perform a naked scene. The charges ended up being dropped, but nevertheless the film didn’t recover at the box office.

At the turn of the millennium, Singer officially hit the jackpot with X-Men, a film based on the famous Marvel comics. The $75 million project reunited Singer with A-list actor Ian McKellen (Apt Pupil) and became a critical and commercial hit upon its release, being regarded as one of the best superhero films ever put on screen. Building on its success, Singer returned three years later to helm the sequel, X2: X-Men United, which many critics and audiences cited even as an improvement on the first installment.

Upon its release in 2000, Singer's X-Men was regarded as one of the best comic-book adaptations ever put on the big screen.

Due to a dispute with 20th Century Fox, Singer did not return to direct the third film in the X-Men franchise, and instead turned to D.C. comics in Superman Returns. Unfortunately, the film was met with general criticism from critics and audiences, and underperformed at the box office, forcing the studio to scrap any hope of a sequel (Marx).

Singer’s next project was Valkyrie (2008), a World War II film starring Tom Cruise and based on the true story of an assassination attempt of Adolf Hitler by several German army officers. The film was met with mixed reviews and underachieved at the box office, but was still considered a respectable historical drama in the War canon.

After directing an interpretation of "Jack and the Beanstalk" with Jack the Giant Slayer (2013), Singer successfully reteamed with his beloved X-Men crew with X-Men: Days of Future Past (2014), a film that has Wolverine go back in time to help alter events that lead to the destruction of mutants and humans alike. The film (as with Singer’s other X-Men films) was a critical and commercial hit, grossing $111 million in its opening weekend in the US and $233 million overall domestically (IMDB).

Singer's most recent project, X-Men: Days of Future Past (2014), reunited him with cast members he worked with nearly a decade earlier when he launched the X-Men saga with X-Men (2000) and X2: X-Men United (2003).

Currently, Singer is in pre-production with X-Men: Apocalypse, the sequel to X-Men: Days of Future Past. The film is scheduled for release on May 27, 2016.

Trademarks

Most of Singer’s trademarks involve frequent collaborations. These include working with composer John Ottman for music (The Usual Suspects, X2: X-Men United, X-Men: Days of Future Past) cinematographer Tom Siegel (The Usual Suspects, X-Men, X2: X-Men United, X-Men: Days of Future Past), writer Christopher McQuarrie (The Usual Suspects, Valkyrie, Jack the Giant Slayer), and casting Ian McKellen (Apt Pupil, X-Men, X2: X-Men United, X-Men: Days of Future Past). Also, typically Bryan Singer has one or more of his characters be alienated in some manner from other characters or their surroundings. One example would be Rogue in X-Men (2000).

Works Cited
IMDB. 2014. 16 Nov. 2014. <http://www.imdb.com>.

Marx, Rebecca. “Bryan Singer.” 2014. 16 Nov. 2014. The New York Times.
<http://www.nytimes.com/movies/person/193696/Bryan-Singer/biography>.

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