Bio
Date of Birth: 1 March 1966, Green Bay, Wisconsin, USA
Height: 5′ 7″ (1.70 m)
Trade Mark: Flamboyant visual style using a combination of dynamic compositions, highly-saturated color schemes and visual effects. Often speeds-up and slows-down motion during action sequences (300 (2006), Watchmen (2009)).
Turned down a chance to direct S.W.A.T. (2003) because it wouldn’t be rated R.
Attended Art Center College of Design at Pasadena, California.
Studied visual art at Heatherlys School of Fine Art in Chelsea, London.
Directed a commercial for Subaru WRX. He used it in his debut, Dawn of the Dead (2004), as the commercial before the “Special Report” on TV.
2007 – Ranked #25 on EW’s The 50 Smartest People in Hollywood.
Was interested in directing X-Men Origins: Wolverine (2009) but later turned it down, because he was too busy working on Watchmen (2009).
Personal Quotes
“It’s difficult to find a movie that feels true to itself. You feel the hand of Hollywood, the moviemaking by committee, on everything.”
Freemasonry Connection
This director, who directed Watchmen (See my Watchmen post) seems to have a strange obsession with Owls. As seen in the Watchmen movie, he blatantly displays connections to Freemasonry with owl-shaped ships, checkerboarded floors, Owls on book covers written by fictional characters with last names of “Mason”, a white owl on a wall, and last but not least, the name “Molek” and/or “Molech” being blatantly used in the movie Watchmen tying this to Bohemian grove. Is all this shit a coincidence? Is it being done on purpose? Is it the result of the collective unconscious as Carl Jung would say? But wait, it gets even freakier.
When taking a look at Zack Snyder (aka Sam Rogers) upcoming movies on IMDB, we see this:
Guardians of Ga’Hoole – 24 September 2010
[imdb] Soren, a young barn owl, is kidnapped by owls of St. Aggie’s, ostensibly an orphanage, where owlets are brainwashed into becoming soldiers. He and his new friends escape to the island of Ga’Hoole, to assist its noble, wise owls who fight the army being created by the wicked rulers of St. Aggie’s. The film is based on the first three books in the series.
Can this get any more absurd? According to Wikipedia:
Guardians of Ga’Hoole is a children’s fiction book series written by Kathryn Lasky and illustrated by Richard Chowder. There is also an upcoming movie of the same name, based on the series. Most of the main characters are owls, and the series is a cross between animal fiction such as Watership Down and epic fantasy. In the October/November months of 2008, the main series ended with fifteen books, the most recent book in the series being The War of the Ember. However, the series will continue with more accompanying books, including the already-released Guide Book to the Great Tree and the upcoming book Lost Tales of the Great Tree – a sneak peek was provided at the end of book fifteen. The accompanying series is written by Kathryn Huang Knight. Ga’Hoole, in the fictional owl language, means “Great Spirit of Hoole”.
Look at this book cover. It shows the Owl’s left eye. This book is part of a series:
These books are filled with parallel esoteric connections. Lets check an Amazon.com review:
From School Library Journal
Grade 4-8-At the beginning of this new series, a young Barn Owl named Soren lives peacefully with his family, participating in rituals like the First Meat ceremony, and enjoying legends about the Guardians of Ga’Hoole, knightly owls “who would rise each night into the blackness and perform noble deeds.” After he falls from his nest, his idyllic world transforms into one of confusion and danger, as he is captured by evil chick-snatching owls and taken to the St. Aegolius Academy for Orphaned Owls. Soren and his new friend Gylfie work to develop strategies for withstanding “moon blinking” (brainwashing), while secretly striving to learn how to fly. The legends of Ga’Hoole help them to survive, and they are able to escape to find their families and warn the world about the dangers of St. Aegolius. While the owls have human characteristics, such as Soren’s determination and Gylfie’s creative ideas, their actions and culture reflect Lasky’s research into owl behaviors and species. The story’s fast pace, menacing bad guys, and flashes of humor make this a good choice for reluctant readers, while the underlying message about the power of legends provides a unifying element and gives strong appeal for fantasy fans.
Beth L. Meister, Yeshiva of Central Queens, Flushing, NY
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.
First Meat ceremony? Rise each night into blackness and perform noble deeds? Evil owls? Brainwashing? Here’s another review:
From Booklist
Gr. 5-8. Soren, a barn owl still weeks away from fledging, is knocked from his otherwise loving family’s nest by his nasty older brother. He is swooped up from the forest floor by a pair of nefarious owls who hold him–along with many other owlets of diverse species–captive in a kind of owl social reformatory. Lasky portrays an owl world that has more in common with George Orwell than with Brian Jacques, offering readers big questions about human social psychology and politics along with real owl science. Broad themes related to the nature of personal choice, the need for fellowship based on love and trust, and sharing knowledge with one’s peers are presented compellingly and with swift grafting to the animal adventure story. Developmentally linked celebrations (such as “First Fur” and “First Meat”), methods devised for brain-washing (including the regimental marching of sleepy owls by moonlight), and the diverse landscapes in which owls makes their homes come to life here as Soren rebels against his captors, makes a friend, and executes the first stage of his planned liberation and family reconciliation. Readers will look forward to upcoming installments. Francisca Goldsmith
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
All I can say is… George Orwell?
Kathryn Latsky
In an interview, Latsky states:
Q: Where did you get the inspiration for the Guardians of Ga’Hoole series?
A: Well, my first idea was to do a non fiction book about owls. My husband Christopher Knight, a former national Geographic photographer, and I had done several non fiction books together illustrated with his photos. But Chris said that it would be awfully hard doing a non fiction book what with owls shy, rare to the point of endangered and that the best pictures would be at night. So lighting would be difficult. It was his idea that I try a fantasy book. In the beginning I thought I would just do one book. But when I sent the proposal into Scholastic Jean Feiwel, the editor in chief, called me up and said “This is not just one book. It’s six”. I was kind of shocked. I thought how on earth do I stretch this out to six? But now I am just starting book 13. So I guess I sort of figured it out.
Q: Which books will be included in the Guardians of Ga’Hoole movie? Is it going to be live action, cgi, or animated?
A: The movie is going to be cgi and they are right now planning on using a lot of the owls from the Harry Potter movies. It is the same movie company Warner Brothers and the same producer. The first movie, or what we hope will be the first of many, will include books 1 through 3.
