My father loves to tell me the story of how bank tellers used to be trained to spot fake currency. Common sense seems to dictate that the tellers would be given forgeries and told to study them so that they could recognize them when they see them again. However, that wasn’t the method. In fact it was the exact opposite. Tellers would be given thousands and thousands of REAL dollar bills. They were told to count them and sort them and study them and become as familiar with them as they could. This process went on for weeks. Then, when a fake bill was introduced they could spot it immediately because it was somehow “different” from the real ones. It stood out as ‘bad’.

This is a great way to illustrate (as my father always did with me) how important it is to surround yourself with good and Godly things. By reading good books and listening to good music and spending-time with good people you can then recognize when something is “wrong”. Conversely, if you surround yourself with bad-influences you become desensitized to it and your ability to properly judge what is ‘good’ and ‘bad’ becomes more difficult.

A lot of you reading this are probably thinking: “Hold on, who is to say what is a good book? What is your definition of good music? It’s one thing to recognize a fake dollar bill, how do you recognize a fake person?” At least this is what I always defensively said to my father.

Being in the film business it’s part of my job is to study other films and see what works and what doesn’t and why and how to improve on our projects etcetera. This means that I watch a LOT of movies and some would certainly not fit my father’s definition of “good”. But can you still learn from them?
I recently watched a spate of movies that for various reasons I thought would be good but became very disappointed in. I would qualify these as “bad” movies and surprisingly their “badness” challenges some very commonly held ideas about what makes a movie “good”.

One such idea: good movies have big stars (good actors) in them. I would argue that movies like HOW DO YOU KNOW? and STONE disprove that. HOW DO YOU KNOW? is a romantic comedy with Reese Witherspoon (Oscar winner), Owen Wilson, Paul Rudd and Jack Nicholson (Oscar winner). It’s neither funny nor romantic and feels entirely pointless. STONE is a heavy drama, thriller starring Oscar winner Robert Deniro, Ed Norton and Mila Jovovich. It’s slow, crude and again doesn’t have any characters to root for or at least identify with.

The next idea: good movies are unique and different from ‘common’ movies and directed by good directors. I’d argue that GREENBERG starring Ben Stiller and directed by acclaimed director Noah Baumbach disproves this. It’s boring, pointless and frustrating.

The next common idea: Good movies have big budgets and lots of buzz. I think we all probably have a number of examples of where this doesn’t hold true but I’d argue that SCOTT PILGRIM VS. THE WORLD is a good recent example. Made for $60 Million (which is a huge budget for a ‘independent type’ film) is an action romance that had lots of good buzz from critics and comic-book circles. Despite an interesting premise and some inventive sequences it ended-up feeling like a string of overdone flashy fights with lots of noise and colours and clever quips but no substance.

I’d like to also point out that with all of the movies above I obviously wasn’t the only one who didn’t like these films. Compared to how much they cost to produce, they all did very poorly at the box office. So have I been able to learn anything from the “bad”?

Yes. Good movies MUST have at least one character that you care about. Those characters must have a goal and a reason for that goal. The overall story must have a point so that at the end of the film you don’t feel like you’ve wasted the past two hours. Actors, directors and budgets can’t do anything if those elements aren’t there.

Here’s hoping that I can now recognize a GOOD movie since it will stand out from the bad!

- Blog by André van Heerden, President of Film and TV Production at Cloud Ten Pictures

Andre van Heerden with Mr. T on the set of Judgment

One of my favorite shows during the 1980′s was the supremely over-the-top “A-Team”. Even as a kid I realized how unrealistic and cheesy it was and yet loved every minute of it. Literally thousands of rounds of ammunition could be fired, hundreds of pounds of explosives could be detonated, multiple vehicles could be flipped and crashed and burnt – all by “an elite commando unit” – and yet no one was ever killed or seriously hurt. Most of the damage was always done by a cleverly made “cabbage cannon” or by someone with a bad attitude.

That someone was the irrepressible – and I would argue irreplaceable – Mr. T.

Mr. T posing for the camera on the set of Judgment

Mr. T. is not an actor. He’d be the first to tell you that. He’s a real deal tough guy and an icon. He was famously discovered by Sylvester Stallone who was looking for someone to play the ultimate unbeatable antagonist in ROCKY III. One night he was watching the “World’s Toughest Bouncer Competition” on TV (they actually had to throw people and knock down doors) and Mr. T. won. Stallone took one look at him and knew he’d found his guy.

I had the enormous pleasure of directing Mr. T in JUDGMENT. During the interview process to see if he was the right fit for the character he told me: “Mr. T don’t do love scenes and Mr. T don’t rollerblade.” And yes, he said it in that unmistakably growly voice of his.

After talking with him and realizing that Mr. T. looks and sounds and generally “is” the person you see on screen, I had to go back and change our characters name from “Tim” to “J.T.” and change all of his lines of dialogue. Mr. T isn’t about clever repartee. He doesn’t use long or complicated sentences. He’s a direct, honest, man of action.

During those revisions I came up with some of my all time favorite lines. J.T. was part of the Christian-resistance along with Helen Hannah (APOCALYPSE, REVELATION, TRIBULATION). But unlike Helen he didn’t have any problem using violence against Macalousso and those who had sworn allegiance to him. He was someone you’d hate to stand against but love to have on your side. No one else could deliver the lines that Mr. T. could: “Violence is the only language he understands. Black eye for black eye, broken tooth for broken tooth!” “If they want fire and brimstone, then they’re gonna get it!” “You keep that up and you’re gonna need Amazing Grace!” “Do I look patient to you?”

But while Mr. T’s on screen personas are intimidating, it’s not hard to see the big heart and soul behind the gold chains, mohawk and scowl. When he came to our set he was over 50 and still looked great. And while others were complaining about long days, or dirty locations he was always smiling and ready to do his best. He visited an injured crew member in the hospital. He helped plan a birthday surprise for co-star Corbin Bernsen. When he laughs he covers his mouth – just as his mother taught him. He shared personal stories about how he became “Mr. T” and how Jesus Christ was his strength and salvation while battling cancer. Film crews rarely ever get star-struck. They’re used to working with big stars day in and day out. But with Mr. T. it was different. I often found myself, along with many others, humming that catchy “A-Team” theme just because he was around.

I saw this week the trailer for the up-coming “A-Team” movie. It’s got some big stars in it (Liam Neeson, Bradley Cooper, Jessica Biel) and they’re certainly trying hard to capture the look and feel of all of the original characters. It looks like they come pretty close. But while some characters may work with one actor stepping in for another – I don’t think anyone can replace Mr. T. As they say today: “he’s the real deal.”

- Written by Andre van Heerden, Cloud Ten Pictures Writer/Director