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Arrow Stars in Other Roles

calliope1975

By calliope1975
in Arrow

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lemotomato
lemotomato

Sister-swapping, two best friends in love with the same woman, accidentally sleeping with your father's former mistress, pining over your dead brother's wife, finding out your nemesis is the father of

Chaser
Chaser

Can I donate to a 90s Style RomCom with SA and EBR? I'd watch that.

looptab
looptab

You know what, Stephen should pose with his butt facing the camera as well. 

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Lily-n11

Lily-n11

19 minutes ago, looptab said:

When did she shoot this?

This article says they filmed in March 2016.  http://www.whatsfilming.ca/2016/03/26/sidekick-superhero-indie-short-with-josh-dallas/ 

The film is just 15 minutes long but it hit me right in the feels. The last scene in the hospital was where I lost it. I was legit crying. 

  • Love 1
looptab

looptab

9 minutes ago, Cleanqueen said:

Wendy, Beth, Marc

What do they have to do with this?

Yeah, the damseling was a bit much, but I think it was more for the message the guy wanted to get through to the kid, so I can get over it, haha.

9 minutes ago, apinknightmare said:

 And I think I might be in the minority in thinking it wasn't very good, haha. The story, I mean - I thought it was visually pretty great. 

What didn't you like? I'm curious :)

tv echo

tv echo

I liked Sidekick overall.  It was short, so not much of a story, but the production quality and acting were really good.

The narrator device reminded me of Princess Bride. Yes, the wife's role was basically to be the damsel in distress in the dad's story, but I understood why. He was trying to empower and prepare his son to be strong and to help his mother through an upcoming difficult time.  EBR's scenes were brief but great.

  • Love 6
apinknightmare

apinknightmare

18 minutes ago, looptab said:

What didn't you like? I'm curious :)

I mean, I think it's a cute idea, and I didn't have super high expectations, it just seems to me that the guy who wrote it probably had this idea for a whimsical superhero fight and came up with an idea to go along with that. I know it's a heavy subject matter and 15 minutes isn't enough to get really in depth, but I didn't think it was even a little bit emotionally moving, haha. It seems kind of Flarrowverse in that someone envisioned this really cool "look" and didn't give too much thought to anything else. 

  • Love 1
GirlvsTV

GirlvsTV

I'd usually be extremely irritated by the damseling, but this is essentially a story about a guy grappling with how to tell his kid he's very sick so I think it works okay in that context. I thought the actors were very good, Emily in particular because she had to convey her emotional state with very little dialog. The first scene in the car, I thought, was quite well done by both leads. 

It made me a bit choked up a few times, which could have been embarrassing since I was watching at my desk.

  • Love 7
tv echo

tv echo

(edited)

Entertainment Weekly article on Sidekick...

Arrow and The Flash stars team for superhero short film Sidekick
BY NICK ROMANO  October 28, 2016
http://www.ew.com/article/2016/10/28/sidekick-emily-bett-rickards-tom-cavanagh-short-film?xid=entertainment-weekly_socialflow_twitter 

Quote

As a member of the camera crew on The Flash, Jeff Cassidy knows some people in high places. The filmmaker was able to enlist Emily Bett Rickards from Arrow, Tom Cavanagh from The Flash, and Josh Dallas from Once Upon a Time to star in “Sidekick,” his 15-minute short film about a father who weaves a superhero tale for his son.  

Rickards and Dallas take on dual roles as parents dealing with tragic news and characters in the story. Dallas plays superhero Captain Strong, Rickards plays a princess in need of rescuing, and Cavanagh plays another villainous role as Darkman. The son is played by Christian Michael Cooper, soon to be seen in the Prison Break sequel series.  

“The director, Jeff Cassidy, came to me,” Dallas says in a behind-the-scenes video (shown below). “He wrote this script. It was a beautiful script about a man who was dealing with his own mortality and how he then conveys that to his young son and the struggles that he goes through with his wife in order to deal with his impending death. That’s what drew me to the part.”
*  *  *
Cassidy and his crew also shared set photos on Instagram, including the showdown between Captain Strong and Darkman. The scene was shot in Vancouver, where The CW typically films Arrow, The Flash, and now Supergirl. 

Edited by tv echo
dtissagirl

dtissagirl

45 minutes ago, Morrigan2575 said:

I'm curious but, what is the point if a 15 minute short? Is there a market out there for short (non animated) movies? 

I'm not criticizing I just never understood it. There's a whole Oscar category for it (at least there used to be I haven't watched in a few years) but, I never understood why.

Not so much a profitable market, no. BUT. There's a really really strong festival circuit for shorts, worldwide. It's been my experience that there's more networking in the short movie fests than the feature fests.

Also, I used to get paid to watch shorts -- getting short movies selected for festivals is a real actual job. And my sister currently works for a cable channel that started out only airing shorts. They air all kinds of movies now, but they still have shorts programming daily.

SmallScreenDiva

SmallScreenDiva

I groaned at the whole damsel in distress thing but I get the message the dad wants to convey to his son. Wish they could have found another way to do it without "the princess." Thought EBR and Josh Dallas had good chemistry, bought them as husband and wife going through tough times. The kid was good. And is apparently going to show up on Prison Break (so there's another Flarrowverse connection right there). I like that the end was hopeful.

  • Love 2
fangirlforever320

fangirlforever320

(edited)
5 hours ago, tv echo said:

I liked Sidekick overall.  It was short, so not much of a story, but the production quality and acting were really good.

The narrator device reminded me of Princess Bride. Yes, the wife's role was basically to be the damsel in distress in the dad's story, but I understood why. He was trying to empower and prepare his son to be strong and to help his mother through an upcoming difficult time.  EBR's scenes were brief but great.

This is how I feel. Obviously, she was portrayed as a damsel in the father's tale to prove a very specific point. While I'm NOT generally a fan of that, it's just a 15 minute film about "passing the torch" so to speak and empowering the next generation so I understood *why*. I thought the film was AMAZING. And I was crying by the end and still feel choked up now when I think about it, hours later. Very powerful. And great performances. I'm very proud of EBR for this. 

I do recall when this was filmed and yes, it was towards the end of filming s4 and Echo was doing his "set dad" snapchats with her at the time. 

Edited by fangirlforever320
  • Love 4
looptab

looptab

I took it differently. More than 'empowering' and 'passing the torch' - which was towards the end with the 'take care of her' part - I thought he was trying to reassure the kid and make him understand  that though he loved his mom very much and would anything for her, that sometimes you 'can't win'. That what they were going to endure didn't mean he didn't love them.

  • Love 5
BkWurm1

BkWurm1

(edited)
7 hours ago, dtissagirl said:

Holy super extreme damseling, Batman!

Since I'm used to watching out for this as a problem, yeah, boy oh boy was it there, but as others said, the message of the short isn't about EBR being damseled so much as preparing the little boy and I think also letting him know that his father's strength lives on in him.  That even though the "Darkness" overtakes "Commander Strong", it doesn't mean the evil is victorious because his sidekick remained and had learned from his mentor and was stronger and more powerful than he knew.  

5 hours ago, tv echo said:

I liked Sidekick overall.  It was short, so not much of a story, but the production quality and acting were really good.

The narrator device reminded me of Princess Bride. Yes, the wife's role was basically to be the damsel in distress in the dad's story, but I understood why. He was trying to empower and prepare his son to be strong and to help his mother through an upcoming difficult time.  EBR's scenes were brief but great.

I read a criticism in the YouTube comments that parents should never tell kids to take care of the remaining parent because that is too much pressure but the enemy the father was asking the boy to fight specifically was called the Darkness and that could be interpreted different ways.  I took it as not putting the child in charge of caretaking his mother in a physical sense, but letting the boy know that they had each other to turn to in continuing his father's legacy.  So an emotional strength.  

The comments section in general is an interesting place.  Some missed what was going on completely and thought the little boy was the one sick and others were certain the father got cured in the end but you could hear the doctor saying all they could do was keep the dad "comfortable" before they invited the little boy into the room to join the discussion, so I don't think so.

EBR didn't have a lot of lines, instead her she used her emotions and body language to really speak her part and I thought she did wonderful with what she was given.  I was tearing up before they ever got out of the car, just knowing what was to come.  You could sense the kid knew the story was more than just a story and that he knew something bad was coming.  I also liked that the father talked about the kid growing and getting stronger so that he didn't have to feel like he had to be the perfect hero right away.  

23 minutes ago, looptab said:

I took it differently. More than 'empowering' and 'passing the torch' - which was towards the end with the 'take care of her' part - I thought he was trying to reassure the kid and make him understand  that though he loved his mom very much and would anything for her, that sometimes you 'can't win'. That what they were going to endure didn't mean he didn't love them.

That was there too.

Edited by BkWurm1
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CCTC

CCTC

I saw some of those comments.  I could not hear what the doctor was saying, but you could tell by how EBR grabbed Dallas's hand and that the small smile was more of a sad, trying to be brave for the kid smile, and the fact that Dallas looked gutted of what he was going to have to tell his son, that there was no miracle cure.  The scared, wary look on the child's face as he went to join his parents for something that he knew was going to be bad was heartbreaking.

Whether it was good parenting or not, it came across very really.  It was very understated, but very raw.  No big melodramatic scenes, but the EBR and Dallas nailed looking quietly devastated and literally looked weighed down by their burden.  Josh also did a nice job of how he interacted with his son (he also used to do a good job with the actor playing Henry in the early seasons of Once Upon a Time when he was a little kid), and EBR really made the most of her dialogue free scenes.

  • Love 6
tarotx

tarotx

At least this was 15 minutes. Caity Lotz is in a short from 2015 (that I just got to see) that's only 10 minutes. That's what I call a Youtube video :p 

I liked Sidekicks. Somebody has to to be the Damsel and it worked within what the short was trying to accomplish. Emily is so good with limited Dialogue. Her facial emotions tell a 1000 words. And once again she has killer chem with her co star. 

  • Love 6
statsgirl

statsgirl

(edited)

I could have done without the "I will always need you to save me" line but otherwise, I love it.  It was soft and subtle (I thought), you didn't now what the dad had until  you read the "medical oncology" signs on the doors. I wasn't sure how it ended because I couldn't hear what the doctor said on my laptop so while I'm sad he's going to die, I liked that we weren't hit over the head with it.

There is no good way to tell a child that his parent is sick and dying, every way sucks because the situation sucks.

Josh Dallas is underused on OUaT, and EBR nailed her scenes.  The kid was great, I don't know if it's because he's a good actor or because he got good direction but the different between him and the kid who played William is night and day.  Why didn't they hire him for Arrow since I presume he lives in Vancouver?

Tom Cavanaugh needs better roles.  I'd watch a full length film directed by Jeff Cassidy before another BvsS.

ETA:  IMDB lists Jeff Cassidy as first assistant camera on The Flash, and this is his third short.  Come on, Berlanti, how about taking away some of BamBam's or Greg Smith's multiple episodes and giving Jeff Cassidy a chance to direct an Arrow episode?

Edited by statsgirl
  • Love 7
Thundercatmary

Thundercatmary

I thought it was great, everyone did a great job. Emily and Josh have great chemistry.

The situation is so tricky and it really is a no win situation.

About 2 years ago my sister in law went to the hospital for stomach pain and was diagnosed with stage 4 pancreatic cancer. They have 4 young kids and let me tell you it's tough. She passed earlier this year but she fought so hard and just wanted more time with her kids.

I think thats why I liked the short so much, unfortunately a lot of people out there can relate to that kind of tragedy.

  • Love 6
tv echo

tv echo

(edited)

Some Sidekick reviews (all positive)...

‘The Flash’s Tom Cavanagh Fights Women and Children in Superheroic Short Film ‘Sidekick’
BY DAVE TRUMBORE   October 28, 2016
http://collider.com/sidekick-short-film-emily-bett-rickards-tom-cavanagh-video/

Quote

The superheroic cast was assembled under Cassidy, a member of The Flash‘s camera crew, to tell the 15-minute comic book-inspired tale that a father (Dallas) creates to teach a tough lesson to his young son (Michael Cooper). Cavanagh makes a wonderfully dark turn as the villain of the piece while Bett Rickards plays wife, mother, and damsel in distress. This short film is definitely worth a watch, so do yourself a favor and set aside 15 minutes.

Arrow's Emily Bett Rickards And The Flash's Tom Cavanagh Star In Superhero Short Film
Jay Jayson- 10/28/2016
http://comicbook.com/2016/10/28/arrows-emily-bett-rickards-and-the-flashs-tom-cavanagh-star-in-s/

Quote

Sidekick is a beautiful and touching short film directed and written by Jeff Cassidy and starring Emily Bett Rickards (Arrow), Tom Cavanagh (The Flash), Josh Dallas (Once Upon a Time), and Christian Michael Cooper (Prison Break). It tells the story of a "struggling father who uses a bedtime story to impart an important life lesson to his son."

Josh Dallas, Emily Bett Rickards, & Tom Cavanagh Unite For Superhero Short Film SIDEKICK
Rohan Patel  10/28/16
https://www.comicbookmovie.com/tv/dc/the_flash/josh-dallas-emily-bett-rickards-tom-cavanagh-unite-for-superhero-a146374

Quote

A new superhero short film from first-time director Jeff Cassidy, who is also a member of the camera crew on The Flash, has been making some major waves this past week thanks to its stellar cast that features Josh Dallas (Once Upon A Time; Thor), Emily Bett Rickards (Arrow), Tom Cavanagh (The Flash), and Christian Michael Cooper (Prison Break).

A Father's Bedtime Superhero Story Comes To Life In The Heartbreaking Sidekick
James Whitbrook  October 28, 2016
http://www.gizmodo.com.au/2016/10/a-fathers-bedtime-superhero-story-comes-to-life-in-the-heartbreaking-sidekick/

Quote

Video: The empowerment behind all of our favourite superhero stories is what makes the genre such a timeless one, filled with stories that can reach people across all age barriers. Sidekick, featuring some familiar faces from Arrow and Flash, uses that empowerment to deliver a heartwarmingly sweet tale.
*  *  *
The flicking between fantasy and reality as the tale progresses is well done — and you can definitely feel some of the Flash vibes in the superheroic action sequences, even if they don’t feature the fastest man alive. It’s a wonderful story about the power of heroes and storytelling, and well worth 15 minutes of your time to watch.

'Flash’ & ‘Arrow’ Alums Join Forces in Badass Superhero Short
Corey PlanteOctober 28, 2016
https://www.inverse.com/article/22917-flash-arrow-superhero-short-sidekick-felicity-reverse-flash

Quote

What we get in the story in two-fold: It’s a heartfelt drama of a family in crisis while also showing us superheroics featuring the same actors, a fantasy that feels like just as much a coping mechanism as it does a delightful daydream of a bedtime story.

Captain Strong (Dallas) is a Superman-esque hero butting heads with his nemesis Darkman (no relation to the Nightman), played by The Flash darling Tom Cavanagh. Darkman has some vaguely defined lightningish powers and also has an assassination droid. Oh, and Captain Strong has a Princess (Rickards) that is always getting captured and then saved at the expense of an always-escaping Darkman. (Heroes can never save the girl and catch the bad guys.) The “superhero” parts are all really derivative, but it functions really well as an emotional storytelling conceit.
*  * *
It’s all a rather thinly veiled metaphor for the family’s predicament: a dying father is helpless to protect his family and trying to communicate with a son that might be a bit too young to fully comprehend the implications of their situation. The story has an earnest “you’re the man of the house now” kind of vibe. Everyone is deeply unhappy, but it’s clear that they’re not mad at each other so much as frustrated with what they’re going through.

The short uses some typical superhero tropes and includes some pretty cool uses of choreography and VFX, but its real worth is in how it conveys the emotional value of having heroes that inspire us, making us ultimately realize that sometimes the only heroes we need are the ones staring at us in the mirror.

Edited by tv echo
  • Love 1
bijoux

bijoux

6 hours ago, Thundercatmary said:

I thought it was great, everyone did a great job. Emily and Josh have great chemistry.

The situation is so tricky and it really is a no win situation.

About 2 years ago my sister in law went to the hospital for stomach pain and was diagnosed with stage 4 pancreatic cancer. They have 4 young kids and let me tell you it's tough. She passed earlier this year but she fought so hard and just wanted more time with her kids.

I think thats why I liked the short so much, unfortunately a lot of people out there can relate to that kind of tragedy.

Yeah, I'm giving it a pass because of personal reasons.

kismet

kismet

15 hours ago, statsgirl said:

I could have done without the "I will always need you to save me" line but otherwise, I love it.  It was soft and subtle (I thought), you didn't now what the dad had until  you read the "medical oncology" signs on the doors. I wasn't sure how it ended because I couldn't hear what the doctor said on my laptop so while I'm sad he's going to die, I liked that we weren't hit over the head with it.

There is no good way to tell a child that his parent is sick and dying, every way sucks because the situation sucks.

Josh Dallas is underused on OUaT, and EBR nailed her scenes.  The kid was great, I don't know if it's because he's a good actor or because he got good direction but the different between him and the kid who played William is night and day.  Why didn't they hire him for Arrow since I presume he lives in Vancouver?

Tom Cavanaugh needs better roles.  I'd watch a full length film directed by Jeff Cassidy before another BvsS.

ETA:  IMDB lists Jeff Cassidy as first assistant camera on The Flash, and this is his third short.  Come on, Berlanti, how about taking away some of BamBam's or Greg Smith's multiple episodes and giving Jeff Cassidy a chance to direct an Arrow episode?

I'm glad everyone seems to be praising the short. I don't have the emotional capacity to watch the short this weekend. I have to deal with too many of these real life tragedies on a regular basis with my job and it's been a rough couple of months. Cancer is just heartwrenching. But shorts like these can sometimes help people process, so its good to have them in the emotional collective. Perhaps I will be able to watch it soon.

I totally agree with you that Josh Dallas is underutilized in OUAT. His character is too much about other characters or plot exposition. So I'm glad to see him branching out and getting acclaim.

Perhaps this short was also a way for Jeff Cassidy to make an appeal to direct an episode of Flarrowverse. If the short does well, perhaps it will open a door for him to get a promotion in the Flarrowverse to director.

  • Love 1
BkWurm1

BkWurm1

(edited)
8 hours ago, tv echo said:

Sidekick poster...

That's really well done.  That said, TC looks almost too maniacal to be taken seriously, lol.  

1 hour ago, kismet said:

I'm glad everyone seems to be praising the short. I don't have the emotional capacity to watch the short this weekend. I have to deal with too many of these real life tragedies on a regular basis with my job and it's been a rough couple of months. Cancer is just heartwrenching. But shorts like these can sometimes help people process, so its good to have them in the emotional collective. Perhaps I will be able to watch it soon.

I totally agree with you that Josh Dallas is underutilized in OUAT. His character is too much about other characters or plot exposition. So I'm glad to see him branching out and getting acclaim.

Perhaps this short was also a way for Jeff Cassidy to make an appeal to direct an episode of Flarrowverse. If the short does well, perhaps it will open a door for him to get a promotion in the Flarrowverse to director.

Knowing the setting, it is emotional to watch, but the short itself is subtle about it's subject matter and framed in a way that I think would make it easier to watch than so many other shows that deal with a similar subject matter.  I too as I was watching it thought about how people in real life probably could find it helpful in communicating with kids about the subject.  

From the Facebook interview/chat between SA and EBR is sounds like Cassidy no longer works on the Flash crew but it yeah, the short should be proof he could handle a directing gig.  It's kind of mind blowing that more than 200 individuals did it all as a favor for free.  That speaks better of the Vancouver cast and crew's cohesion than anything I've ever heard before.  

Edited by BkWurm1
  • Love 1
statsgirl

statsgirl

I thought he could do Dr. Strange-type roles.

The story of Captain Strong and his Sidekick reminded me of the metaphors my father would use.  He was a therapist and when he was hypnotising his patient, he used a lot of metaphors because the patient could interpret them in his/her own way, as much or as little as he/she wanted.  (Why don't we have a gender neutral pronoun yet?  Many languages do.)

That was the beauty of the Captain Strong story, that his son could take from it now what he needed, and he could re-interpret or take more from it later when he was more mature.

  • Love 2
tv echo

tv echo

(edited)

More positive reviews of Sidekick...

Watch: Emily Bett Rickards and Tom Cavanagh Star in New Superhero Short Film ‘Sidekick’
Zain Charkawi  October 29, 2016
http://www.outerplaces.com/science-fiction/item/13699-watch-emily-bett-rickards-and-tom-cavanagh-star-in-new-superhero-short-film-sidekick

Quote

Though quite sentimental and predictable, "Sidekick" certainly suits the form of short film. Both Rickards and Cavanagh act incredibly well in the piece, as do Josh Dallas (Once Upon a Time) as Strong Man/father, and Christian Michael Cooper (Prison Break) as Sidekick/son.

Emily Bett Rickards & Josh Dallas team up for superhero short film ‘SIDEKICK’
by JORDAN D'AMICO /  OCTOBER 29, 2016 
http://recentlyheard.com/2016/10/29/emily-bett-rickards-josh-dallas-team-up-for-superhero-short-film-sidekick/

Quote

Who would have thought we’d ever see Arrow‘s Emily Bett Rickards and Once Upon a Time‘s Josh Dallas come together on screen – especially for something so incredibly moving like Sidekick?
*  *  *
The film is incredibly well-thought out, touching and loving. We need this to be made into a feature film or, at the very least, a sequel short film.

‘Sidekick’ Beautifully Tells A New Kind of Superhero Story
Nora Dominick Oct. 29, 2016
http://emertainmentmonthly.com/index.php/sidekick-tells-new-kind-superhero-story/

Quote

What do you get when The Flash camera extraordinary, Jeff Cassidy, enlists three of the biggest TV stars for a new kind of superhero film? The beautifully crafted 15-minute short film, Sidekick. In a TV and film landscape filled to the brim with superheroes, Sidekick breaks through the clutter and creates a short film filled with heart.
*  *  *
Jeff Cassidy’s script is the heart of Sidekick. The superhero moments are filled with destroyed city streets and amazing special effects, but the soul of this short film lies in Cassidy’s script. He intricately weaves together the real world storyline with the superhero one. As a viewer, we know there’s something devastating happening in the real world, but it’s never explicitly said what. Cassidy leaves the audience inferring, which makes the short film all the better. We don’t need to know what’s happening with James, his relationship with Billy and Emma propels the story forward. Cassidy creates this world with enough complexity to leave us guessing, while still making it a story we can all relate too. Sidekick goes above and beyond because it shows us the morality in ourselves and even superheroes.
*  *  *
If you’ve ever watched an episode of Arrow, you already know that Emily Bett Rickards thrives in emotional moments. Simply seeing her on screen crying is enough for us to reach for a box of tissues. Although she’s in a superhero short, Rickards plays a character far from Felicity Smoak. She’s a mother and a wife, who can’t seem to find a way past the tragedy in her life. The change of character is jarring at first, but as the film progresses, Rickards proves she will have an extensive career long after Arrow. Emma’s most heartbreaking moment comes when she’s sitting in their living room rewatching her wedding video. A moment lacking any dialogue, Rickards shines.
*  *  *
The acting in Sidekick may bring it to life, but the cinematography, visual effects, and score by Blake Neely adds depth to the short. Beautifully shot in the streets of Vancouver, the cinematography brings the superhero story James tells to life. The slow motion moments add to the intensity as Darkman and Captain Strong go head to head. While the cinematography in the story is beautiful, the close ups of Dallas and Cooper lying in bed make Sidekick all the more intimate. The close ups of James talking to Billy allow audiences to fall in love with these characters even when no dialogue is exchanged. Alongside the cinematography, the stunning visual effects and a breathtaking score by Neely make Sidekick all the better.

Edited by tv echo
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