Monthly Archives: March 2016

Ooo a Review

This is cool, though a bit dated.

Today I took a day off from work and stay home to chill, relax, and play games as required recharging time. One of the thinge I did was poke around the internet and I found a review of a review of a short story published last year in Sci-Phi issue 6.

It is the first time that I’ve become aware of a review that wasn’t written by someone I knew, and frankly that was a blast.

Now the review is not a great one, clearly my short ‘The Story is a Lie,’ did not work for the reader, but as I say often in our writers’ group, ‘no honest critique can be wrong.’ This is the reviewer’s honest opinion and this is what the story as he read it. I am glad he took the time to review it and I hope future stories of mine work better for him.

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Spectacle In Search of Story

This morning my sweetie-wife and I went out and saw Batman vs. Superman: Dawn of Justice and the film is lacking. Some mild spoilers follow.

It looks like the decision was made over at Warner Brothers that the DC cinematic Universe had to catch up right away with the 1-batman-v-superman-dawn-justicegains made by the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Where Marvel used 5 films to build up to their big team picture. The Avengers, WB is trying to take a shortcut and get there with only two films for the build up. (Despite the subtitle Dawn of Justice, the forming of the Justice League is not part of the movie.)

This movie follows on directly from the events in Man of Steel and using new angles and footage to place Bruce Wayne aka Batman in the chaos of the metropolis fight at the conclusion of that film. Due to Superman’s massive abilities and the carnage caused by the Kryptonian fights Batman has gone utterly paranoid, quoting Ex-VP Dick Cheeney that even a 1 percent chance of danger from Superman requires his elimination.

The overall and crippling flaw in this film is the script and its lack of any coherent plot. There really is no story here at all, and characters act wildly at odds with their established natures. Batman, though a gifted fighter and technologically capable person is, at heart, a detective. He follows clues and figures crap out, but not in in this film. This Batman is led by the nose, makes flagrant assumptions, and engages in mindless cruelty.

Superman has been DC’s boy scout to Marvels’ Captain America and as such that make him a double hard character to write. He possesses near limitless power and is utterly good. The writers here solve this problem by simply throwing out his character. Superman man is sullen and broody, hardly sparing a thought other than for himself and how terrible is his burden.

The plot – such as it is – turns on incomprehensible events. For example after a number of armed baddies or killed in a far away land, by bullets, shot to death, Superman is suspected of their murders, Really? Not scorched to a crisp or crushed into itty bitty diamonds, but simply shot and we’re expected to think that lots of people are going to buy that Superman did that? Including the world’s greatest detective? Give me a break.

The best of part the film is Gal Gadot as Diana Prince aka Wonder Woman. She doesn’t have a lot to do, but what she does is nice, the actor is very good, and her story isn’t messed up, but perhaps that is a function of little screentime. Maybe if they tried to write more for her they would muck it up.

I can not recommend the move on any level. There are tons of action scenes, lots and lots of action, that makes no sense and have no emotional
meaning because of the lack of a story.

It boils down to – who cares?

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The Concert That Wasn’t

Yesterday I held a ticket for Olivia Newton-John in concert at a local casino, Pala. I hadn’t seen her in concert in more than thirty years and was looking forward to the evening. My sweetie-wife is not a fan and so this was to be a solo night out for myself.

The Casino/hotel complex is on a reservation and took about 45 minutes to drive to. I arrived early enough to had a quick meal, the largest chili dog I have ever seen at a very decent price, they certainly want your money at the gambling and not the cafe, and then went to the concert hall.

It was well attended, perhaps sold out I am not really sure. Only a few minutes late Olivia appeared on the stage and started singing Have You Ever Been Mellow. I can tell you definitively that she does not lip-synch her concerts. One, from my seat I could see the person operating the teleprompter with the lyrics, two, she was sick and is showed in her voice.

Before she completed the song she stopped, waved the band silent, and apologized to us that her voice was croak-y after catching something overseas and that she would do the best that she could. She launched into her next song, but the sore throat prevented her from getting to the high notes and she again stopped the show, this time letting us know she couldn’t perform. It was clear she was mortified and ashamed by her failure and I felt very bad for her. This is one of the real differences between a performance art and other arts. A writer can polished and edit and even not release a piece if they feel they are not hitting their marks, performance artists  do it live and their failures, even when it is not their fault, are live.

She didn’t send us away, she stayed on stage chatting with the audience, answering questions, and making arrangments with the hotel for photo opportunities. She also promised she would try to come back soon. I stayed for about half an hour of the chatting and questions, then left for home.

This morning the refund notice arrive in my email box, so I am happy the venue acted promptly, but I am sad I did not get to see her show.

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Chaos in the Electorate

Last year, when Trump and Sanders made their announcements I dismissed either as have a serious impact on the race. Clearly I was wrong.

This is the election cycle of the unpredictable, angry electorate. On the left and on the right there is a great clamoring for change. Now I would still bet against Sanders winning the nomination, the rules are stacked against him and he needs to really outperform, consistently, the rest of the primary to get the delegates needed. That is not to say he can’t Clearly this is the wrong cycle to make bold unwavering predictions. However, the hill is still quite steep for him.

Trump is starting to fall, but not from first. 538’s delegate tracker has him missing his targets in order to reach 50%+1 before the convention. He may get the majority, but it seems equally possible he may miss, but not by much. If that happens and they can’t settle it on the first ballot, it’s fireworks for the GOP in Cleveland. (An early clue may be the rules for the convention. If they are adopted without much fuss or fight, then expect a single ballot to nominate someone, if the rules are fought over long and hard then we may be in for a bumpy ride.)

It’s stunning to think that California’s late primary may actually be relevant.

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Double Movie Review: The Witch & Eye in the Sky

So it has been my pleasure to see two really good movies with 24 hours of each other. Here are my brief thoughts on each.

The Witch. When the trailers for this film appeared on my radar it intrigued me as a movie that I may want to see. Sadly anything you get into the horror genre 1-The Witchyou almost certainly get stuck with dreck, garbage, and only occasionally, gold. The Witch is gold. I was convinced to risk the theater prices when in an email conversation with one of my agents discussing the 1972 The Wicker Man, (It’s the first day of spring today so that means The Wicker Man is tonight’s movie.) she highly recommended The Witch.

The story and setting are simple. A mid 17th century Puritan family in new England is exiled from their colony and struggle to survive on the edge of a vast forest where an evil force possibly lurks. The periodness of this film looks perfect to me. The language, the characters, the modes of thought all strike me as dead one. The film works on what is suggested versus what is shown. It is a story steeped in atmospherics and mood. It is not for every and it is not an ‘accessible’ movie. If you go expecting lots of gore, combat, and special effects you will be very disappointed. If you liked the original The Wicker Man as  a thoughtful film about culture and religion, then this may work for you.

One final thought on The Witch. The story approaches witches and witchcraft from the perspective of Puritan Christians. There is no neo-pagan aspects to this story or its presentations and those inclined towards that path for their spirituality are likely to be offended by the film and its presentation of the subject matter.

Eye in the Sky. My wife and I went to see this film principally because it is one of the final feature films with the late Alan Rickman. Going into it a film cold is 1-Eye In The Skysomething I have not done in a very very long time. I think the last film I walked into without seeing a trailer was The Hudsucker Proxy. As with The Hudsucker Proxy, I was thoroughly happy with the result.

This film is about the modern war on terror, how it is fought, and the very difficult questions that arise from that conflict. It is not an action film. This is not about Heroic figures defying death and saving the day with a well-placed spray of bullets. This move is very realistic, dealing with a difficult situation in which there are no easy answers. The screenwriter played fair, no one is presented as a strawman, from enlisted military personnel to the high ranks of government people are drawn as fully realized characters with compelling points of view. The cast is uniformly fantastic, Helen Miren, Alan Rickman, Aaron Paul, and many many others bring you into their characters with performances that realistic and grounded. The technology is as far as I can tell spot on. The details of how such mission work are well presented and the cost for everyone involved is laid bare.

If you like your modern film filled with serious questions, no easy answers, and real people grappling with nasty choices, then this film is for you.

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Other goals than writing

In addition to learning patience as I wait for word on my manuscript’s fate at the publishers, I have also embarked on a mission to lose weight.

I am not doing anything wild, erratic, or even especially interesting. Just counting the calories, walking three miles a day, and logging it all. (Myfitness pal on my iPhone is really making this work for me.)

Here is my weight logged every two days for the last five months. I am about half way to my goal so all in all I don’t feel too bad.

1-weight loss graph

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Switching Gears

So the novel’s outline is finished, but it needs a revision. I worked out a better ending and now I have to go back and make sure everything supports that. (This is why I like being an outliner, a whole lot less work that rewriting a book after you just finished it.)

But first I am taking a break to write a short story. Not going to say what it is about because I think I’ll get it done in time for the current quarter of Writers of the Future. It’s coming together rather nicely and counter to the first paragraph of this post, it’s not fully outlined. This is a case where discovery – over a few thousand words – is working out well for me.

After that, revise the outline and maybe start researching a new short. Something very action oriented, very visual, and a new setting for a zombie story, but it requires a lot of research.

Have a great weekend.

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Little Shop of Horrors and the Importance of Knowing Your Ending.

Last year I picked up the blu-ray release of the musical film Little Shop of Horror and with than I owned copies of every film version (Original, Theatrical Cut, and Director’s Cut) of the story. The original film was a very low budget affair, written and shot in just a few days. It is notable for the first film appearance of screen legend Jack Nicholson, it is an amusing dark comedy. The film spawned a stage musical and that begat a film adaptation of the musical. When Director Frank Oz screened the film for test audiences they hated the dark ending and he rushed to film and edit a ‘happy’ ending for the movie. The movie never did big box office though it found a small devoted following and the original ending remained unseen at large until this blu-ray release. Now it is possible to view both versions, theatrical and Director’s cut, judging the merits of each. Spoilers follow, naturally.

In the stage and Director’s Cut the principal character die and the monstrous blood eating plant wins, taking over the world. Frank Oz has said that the film taught him the power of the close up and that audiences after living so closely with the characters were unforgiving of their callous deaths, but I think he learned the wrong lesson when they rejected his first cut. It is not the close ups that doomed his vision, but a lack of commitment to the ending and what that ending demands from the characters throughout the story.

If you purchase the original motion picture soundtrack for the musical there is a key song that differs quite a bit from the film version, The Meek Shall Inherit. During the course of the song the main character Seymour realizes that achieve his dream and maintain his sudden financial success he will have to participate in an unending stream of murders and mutilations. At first he rejects this, bt then quickly reverses himself believing that without riches he can never hold on to the lobe of the woman he adores. Committing himself to a future of murder he signs away his conscience as the songs intones ‘The meek are going to gets what’s coming to them.’ The song Foreshadows that Seymour will pay a terrible price for his decision. In neither version, the Theatrical or Director’s cut, is this crucial character turn present. Without this the character’s death at the end is needlessly cruel.

I remember reading in interviews at the time that the production had admitted to filming the deaths and murders in such a way to keep Seymour innocent preserving an alternate ending where he does not die, but they makes the entire premise weak.

As a writer I must know how my story is going to end before I write it. It is in the ending that the themes and plots are resolved. If your story has several different ends possible then your themes are muddled and you are less likely to strike a strong emotional cord with your readers or audience.

One other aspect also seriously damages the Director’s Cut ending – seven minutes without a single named character is the climax of the film. Everyone we have followed and cared about is dead and for seven very long minutes we are treated to a kaiju movie without a plot or a purpose. People engage in a story by engaging with the characters. Remove the characters and you left with very little.

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Latest Blu-Ray Acquisition

So people have seen me write about this film before, and I will not defend it as a well made or well written film. However, Xanadu is my personal emotional favorite film. There are wonderful associations tied to seeing this film in the theater, I adore the music, and the theme that Dreams Don’t Die, We Kill Them is a guiding principle for me. Now, just this week, we got a blu-ray release. Spare on the bonus materials, but with lovelyt picture and sound. That is enough to make me happy.

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Thoughts on Death

Nothing terribly deep or novel here, just a few meanderings on me and my relationship with that terminal dirt nap.

All of my life thoughts of death and mortality occasionally surfaced into my forebrain. Of course, there are the usual childhood incidents, such as when your puppy dies, that can provoke contemplation, but there have also been other instigating factors. I am not talking about the passing of my father when I was a child; though that naturally impacted my thoughts and mental balance considerably.

Even before that, I can remember thinking about death and thinking specifically about my own demise. Strange and unusual thoughts for a child.

One example can be recounted in a simple prayer I was taught.

Now I lay be down to sleep

I pray the lord my soul to keep.

Should I die before I wake

I pray the lord my soul to take.

My parents raised me as a Southern Baptist. (Time has shown that it did not take and I am a religious non-believer now who thinks that all religions look equally silly from the outside.) Reciting that simple rhyme at night sometimes sparked my imagination.

Could I die before I wake? Did that sort of thing really happen? Where people just go to bed and for no reason never wake up? I can remember clearly have nights where I feared going to sleep because it was possible I would never wake up.

It had to be possible, it was right there in what I was saying.

Did the prayer start the thoughts or did I have an innate fascination with the end of life?

I can’t say. The details are lost to me in the far reaches of hazy and untrustworthy memory.  Nature or Nurture I will never know but still, to the day, I don’t react the same way as most people when I hear of a death.

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