Well last night I started actual prose crafting of my novel Cawdor. It went pretty well. Sadly today is a migraine day — I’ve been having more of those lately — I do not think I will get anything written today blast it.
A good start
Author Archives: Bob Evans
Sunday Night Movie: Casino Royale(2006)
So, one the gifts I got for Christmas was a gift card to Borders. Now, as regular readers of the blatherings know I have purchased an ebook reader in 2009 and so I have transitioned to e-books for my pleasure reading.
Sunday I was at Borders with my sweetie-wife and I used the gift card to upgrade my DVD of Casino Royale to a blu-ray collectors edition of Casino Royale. I got a much better picture and sound quality and additional bonus feature. Which is like crack to me.
I really liked this reboot of the James Bond Franchise. Frankly the Bond films had slipped into fantasy and as such were not very satisfying. Now, don’t get me wrong, Bond in the books is not about realism. Bond is a larger than life character. He’s a tough man who can win any fight and knows what to do to survive and to win. As a character he is interesting because of what he went through in the story Casino Royale. These are the events that armored Bond, that until the story of On Her Majesty’s Secret Service rendered him cold to women. If you want gritty complex spy novels with a heavy dose of realism you should read the works of John Le Carre. There’s nothing wrong about either approach. James Bond is what we would like to have out there on our side and John Le Carre’s characters are what we fear are out there on our side. Continue reading
Movie Review: The Wolfman(2010)
So today my sweetie-wife and I went out to see The Wolfman, the recent remake of the classic Universal Horror film. I am a big fan of the original The Wolf Man (1941.) Perhaps I’ll cross post my essay on Werewolves and the pivotal position the 1941 film had on our understanding of this beast, but for right now I will concentrate on the screening we just attended.
I went in with lowered expectations and they were not met. This film is a mess, the script doesn’t know what story it really wants to tell, the plot is filled with holes that a pack of werewolves could dive through, the acting was telephoned in, and there is no chemistry between the leads.
It’s clear that the writers certainly started out using the Curt Siodmak screenplay as there basis for a remake, but quickly they lost the heart and soul of the writing. This has been a troubled production and it shows. I know the director, Joe Johnston, was not the first director and that he had been brought in to save the project. He did not. Continue reading
Off To The Movies
Going now to see The Wolfman. I do not have high expectation but I could be surprised.
Will tell you all about it later.
New Theme!
As you can see I have switched themes for my blog. I particularly like this theme because it is customizable by the user to a pretty good degree.
You can expect the background image — currently courtesy of NASA — to change a bit as I look for the perfect space image for my SF blog.
Comments are of course welcome.
Next Week I start Cawdor
Well I had meant to start writing Cawdor this week, but that just didn’t happen. Between the hellishly busy pace at the day-job and two days sucked into the Big Bang Experience, I got nada done this week.
Still, I am excited. This will be a challenging novel for me to write and I am looking forward to it.
The Big Bang Trip
So on Tuesday this week I worked half a day because I went to Hollywood to watch a live taping of The Big Bang Theory.
I left work about noon, but our plans had changed an I knew we would not be leaving La Jolla where I work any sooner than 1:30, so I took along lunch at a near by strip club. No, not that kind of strip club. It’s a steak house called The La Jolla Strip Club. It’s a vodka bar and steak house. I had a really bug burger and some tasty fries. Continue reading
Big Bang
Big Bang was fun I will blog about it later. I am way way too tired right now. I was so tired when I woke up this morning I dreamt that I was causing a police stand-off and my demand for surrendering to the police was one more hour of sleep.
No Posting Tonight
Sunday Night Movie: Back To The Future III
After last weekend’s Sunday Night Movie it seemed only right to select the final film in the trilogy as the weekend’s movie.
Back To The Future III completed the story arc started with Back To The Future II. Marty McFly (Michael J. Fox), when the time machine is struck by lightening it stranding Marty in 1955 and Doc Brown in 1885 the old west, seeks out Doc Brown — of 1955 — (Christopher Lloyd) to get home. Upon learning that Doc Brown was murdered in the Old West, Marty travels back into time in the new repaired time machine to save his old friend . Their plans for a quick return home are complicated by Biff Tannen’s murderous ancestor Mad Dog Tannen. (Thomas F. Wilson) and Doc’s growing feeling for the new school Marm of Hill valley, Clara Clayton (Mary Steenburgen.) There are plenty of stunts and action and even middle-aged romance in this film and in fact I think it plays better than the second film of the trilogy does.
Again the time travels story is simplified by the malfunction of the time machine upon arrival. This is the most classic method for maintaing drama in a time travel story. Even the progenitor time travel story, The Time Machine, by H.G. Wells, strands the time traveler by having his machine stolen shortly after his arrival.
I have not seen this film since its original theatrical showing and I was unsure how well the film would stand up over time in my mind and emotions. It did so pretty well. I had forgotten a few details but I remembered the arc of the film well enough. The cast was good and it was nice seeing Christopher Lloyd getting a chance to stretch his own acting and dramatic muscles.