Monthly Archives: June 2016

Books/Literature, Movies, TV

End of the story…

It’s something that as a writer I’ve thought about many a times: When does a story end?

It may seem very obvious: When its done, of course.

There are plenty of examples of “done in one” stories out there.  Quentin Tarantino’s Reservoir Dogs had nowhere else to go following its bloody conclusion.

But there have been other successful films/books which have featured head scratching sequels or, if you will, continuations of the original story.  Take the original The Poseidon Adventure.  That film featured what appeared to be a hermetically sealed story and, like Reservoir Dogs, didn’t appear to have anything else to offer, storywise.

Yet that didn’t stop producer Irwin Allen from coming up with a sequel, albeit with a whole new, and very familiar, cast…

Then there are the “series” of stories featuring a prominent protagonist (or group of protagonists).  Author Sir Conan Arthur Doyle wrote four novels and 56 short stories featuring Sherlock Holmes…

Edgar Rice Burroughs wrote a series of novels featuring the characters of Tarzan and John Carter, Warlord of Mars…

In the early pulp era, you had the monthly adventures of Doc Savage and The Shadow.  Their stories would continue until the pulp era reached its end in the late 1940’s, though it wasn’t until more recent years that people have written stories wherein the two meet.

These pulp heroes, among many others, ushered in the era of the comic book superhero, and stories featuring the likes of Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Spider-Man, etc. etc. have been around for many decades and are still delighting fans…

Of course I’m only scratching the surface here.  I haven’t even mentioned Raymond Chandler’s Phillip Marlowe books or Robert E. Howard’s Conan and Solomon Kane or Herge’s Tin Tin graphic novels or Ian Fleming’s James Bond books or Clive Cussler’s Dirk Pitt adventures or the Hardy Boys or Nancy Drew etc. etc. etc.

When creating a genuinely interesting character in a interesting -and hopefully successful!- story, I suspect every author is tempted to follow up with further stories/adventures regarding that character.

But sometimes the continuations tire audiences out.  That initial spark fades and, with it, interest in the continuing adventures of said character.

I point all this out because I noticed today Amazon.com is offering a genuinely good deal for Justified: The Complete Series in both BluRay and DVD formats…

Justified: The Complete Series [Blu-ray]

During the first two of the six seasons of the show I absolutely loved it.  Season 2 featured the incredibly villainous -yet also strangely pathetic and sympathetic- Mags Bennett and proved the series’ highlight season, IMHO.  Seasons 3 through 5, while good, never quite reached the high of season 2.  By season 5, it felt like the stories were repeating themselves.

When season 6 originally aired, I recorded it to my DVR but after many months of sitting there, I ultimately deleted them. Though there remained a bit of curiosity within me to see where the show would end (the makers of the series knew that season would be its last), I had simply lost interest in seeing the show to such a degree that I couldn’t (ahem) justify spending all those hours watching this conclusion.

It is possible I change my mind.  The final season is available to be seen for free through Amazon Prime, but, again, something I loved had overstayed its welcome.

Sadly, the same happened with many other once popular shows and books.  I loved the early Dirk Pitt novels by Clive Cussler but can’t stomach them anymore.  The X-Files was one of my all time favorite shows but somewhere around the 4th season the spark was gone (though I admit I did watch the new very short series.  Unfortunately, only two of the episodes within it were great, the rest were only OK).  I remember laughing until tears flowed down my face during some of the early Simpsons years.  Now I can’t understand how it remains on the air.

Which in a very, very long-winded way brings me to my Corrosive Knights series.

Corrosive Knights Covers

Some of the prominent characters in the series are near and very dear to me.  I came up with several of them many years before formally writing this series and, in my younger mind, I figured I could write stories about them until the day I died.

But as the years passed and I worked on each individual book, there came a realization that was very much learned by what I wrote above: Sometimes the best stories are the ones that focus on one large tale and wrap up before overstaying their welcome.  These stories don’t wander or repeat themselves (at least not too much) nor do they -hopefully!- ever elicit in readers a sense of “been there, done that”.

That’s not to say when I’ve concluded the Corrosive Knights series (the series will run to eight books) there will be no chance at all for future tales involving some of these characters.

It is my hope that when the eight books are written, people will appreciate that I’ve given these stories and stories-within-stories my all and that together the series will form a larger, intriguing whole.  And after all these years of writing these books comes the realization that I’m getting very close to the finish line.

It is very much my intention to end it with a blast.

To those who have bought the books and offered their kind comments regarding the series: A heartfelt thank you.

We’re not done yet, but all the pieces are coming together!

Books/Literature

Corrosive Knights, a 6/15/16 update

I’m working hard at the latest draft of book #6 of the Corrosive Knights series and feel that once I get through it, what follows should be just grammatical/spelling issues and then the book’s release.  Hopefully sooner rather than later but, as I said before, this summer is jam packed with things that are competing with my time.

In the meanwhile, let me whet your appetite with a little teaser of this upcoming book:

Foundry Web Ad

Soon, baby…soon.

 

Movies

Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice Ultimate Edition (2016) a (early!!!) review

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The official release of Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice Ultimate Edition (ie Zach Snyder’s “Director’s Cut” of the film) was supposed to happen digitally on June 28th and via BluRay/DVD on July 19th but, lo and behold, certain digital movie providers are already offering the film in standard definition if you have pre-purchased it.  This was done, apparently, by accident.

As it so happens, I pre-purchased the “Ultimate Edition” of the film via VUDU (you can order it here) shortly after it was released to theaters and have been eager to see the director’s cut since.  This morning I found you could download and see the Ultimate Edition, albeit only in standard definition, since late yesterday/early this morning through either Flixster or Cinemanow.  Since most of my VUDU films appear on Flixster and I have an account through both services, I gave Flixster a look and found…nothing.

I could not download and/or watch the film through the service.  I double checked with VUDU but that service did not allow me to see the film either.

A little while later and at approximately 11 A.M. I gave my Flixster app another try and, wouldn’t you know it, I was granted the ability to download and see the film!  (Just to be very clear: What I am doing is NOT an illegal download…Flixster is a legitimate digital movie service and I paid for the film and was granted the ability to see a SD version of the film a little ahead of its official release and accidentally, of course, as the film shouldn’t be out yet).

UPDATE!!!!:  I understand WB has closed the accidental early release of the film so if you haven’t gotten it by now you’ll have to wait for the official release.

Before I get into what I thought of the film, there was a mini-controversy a few days ago when the movie’s cinematographer, Larry Fong tweeted the following on June 2 regarding the “Ultimate Cut” of this film:

Those who are fans will dig it.  If you hated it, you’ll still hate it.

Then, on June 10th, he tweeted this:

Watched #Ultimate Edition again; now believe EVERYONE will LOVE it!

So, did the movie’s producers “get” to Mr. Fong and force him to hype this new release or was the change in opinion an honest thing?

I’ll get into that in a moment but first let me state the following: I already liked the film.  I thought it was a solid piece of entertainment BUT was keenly aware that certain aspects of it were “off”.  I suspected the fact that some thirty minutes of the film had been cut from the “Ultimate Edition” before its theatrical release was what hurt the movie’s flow.

But let me emphasize: I already liked the film.

So it shouldn’t come as too much of a surprise when I say I also liked the new, Ultimate Edition of BvS.  In fact, I would say you can officially trash/forget about the theatrical cut from now on and, if you have the desire to see the film, stick to “Ultimate Edition” from this day forward.

However…

I tend to agree with Mr. Fong’s original tweeted statement.  If you’re like me and you liked the film, you’ll most likely enjoy the new, uncut version far more.  If you were “neutral” about the film, you may come away liking it.  If you hated the film in its original theatrical incarnation but are willing to give this new edition a legitimate chance to change your mind, I suspect you’ll come away feeling the Ultimate Cut is a definite improvement over the theatrical version.  The big question is, is that improvement enough to change your mind?  Will you come away “liking” the film?

While I feel there will be converts, I don’t think there will be that many.

Why?  Because even though the film flows a lot better and the story “breathes” a hell of a lot easier and certain things that were unclear are much clearer and new, interesting subplots add to the overall story, the film nonetheless retains its essential story.  What the “Ultimate Cut” has done is offer us a far better telling of the story but not necessarily a new or different one.

And for many who hated the film, the movie’s story was the problem in the first place.

Again, this wasn’t the case for me and I came away delighted with this new version of the film.  Your mileage, as they say, might vary.

Now then, let’s get to what everyone wants to know: What’s new in this film?

I’ll get into that but, first…

SPOILERS FOLLOW!!!

You’ve been warned…!

….last chance to look away….!

……All right, here we go….

To begin, the film’s opening dual Batman origin stories (the one we’re familiar with and Bruce Wayne’s witnessing the fall of Metropolis) are essentially the same.  The only “new” scene I detected involved a school teacher/mother leading a line of kids through the dusty haze of fallen buildings.  This leads directly to the child Bruce saves from getting crushed.

From there we move on to the first major difference between Theatrical and Ultimate Cut: The African Desert sequence.  As presented in the theatrical version of the film, even a fan of the movie like me was confused by this part.  In the Ultimate Version the entire sequence makes far more sense, though there may be those who grimace at the fact that Jimmy Olsen is identified by name.

The repercussions of the African Desert sequence involve the testimony of the character of Zahina Ziri, who makes claims of Superman’s cruel actions in Africa.  In the theatrical cut of the film the character appears, if memory serves, only this one time.  However, in the Ultimate Cut of the film her character has an extended subplot that winds nicely throughout the film and ends shortly before the Congress sequence.

Lois Lane’s investigation into the mystery bullet she finds in Africa is also given more room and we’re shown Clark Kent’s reaction to the fact that she withheld knowledge of the bullet from him (Don’t worry, Clark Kent isn’t revealed to be a girlfriend beater).

While Lois Lane’s investigation is given more room, so too is Clark Kent’s investigation into the “Bat”.  In the Ultimate Edition and following Clark’s visit to the Gotham PD, we understand far better why Superman is so stern the first time he meets Batman.

Later on, we’re shown Superman helping bring the bodies out of the Capitol building, a sequence which humanizes him even more.  Later still, it is revealed why Superman didn’t notice the bomb (the wheelchair, Lois Lane finds, was lead lined!).

As for the movie’s climax, it remains mostly intact with a couple of bits and pieces here and there, including Doomsday taking out a helicopter.  After the movie’s climax there are a few added sequences as well, including the already revealed sequence depicting Lex Luthor meeting with what appears to be Steppenwolf, one of the New Gods.  Later, we have an extended conversation between Luthor and Batman in jail where it is made clear Luthor knows who Batman is and where Batman states he intends to send Luthor to Arkham Asylum.

There are also a few more clips presented in the Clark Kent funeral sequences, including more of the wake and Martha Kent finding the funeral expenses have been paid for by…somebody.

Obviously I haven’t given everything away but these are some of the more prominent pieces.

In conclusion, I’ll repeat what I said above: If you liked the movie, you’ll like this version even more.  If you were neutral about the film, this new version may win you over and make you a fan.  But if you really hated hated hated the film, you may find this Ultimate Edition a better overall presentation but still not enough to change your opinion.

Regardless, it was fun to finally see the film as the director intended.

If you have any questions about the Unlimited Edition of the film, please feel free to ask and I’ll try to provide answers where possible.

Movies

Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice Ultimate Edition (2016)

When going online this morning, I found the following on Reddit:

https://www.reddit.com/r/DC_Cinematic/comments/4ntwgz/the_ultimate_cut_is_available_right_now/

Basically, various people noted that if you pre-purchased a digital copy of the Ultimate Edition of Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, it was as of today available for downloading and watching, albeit in SD format, via Flixster or Cinemanow.

I pre-purchased the Ultimate Edition via VUDU but many of the films I buy (not all) are watchable via the Flixster app so I took a look and…nothing.  Then, about ten minutes ago I tried again and, sure enough, I was able to download a SD copy of the Ultimate Edition of the film!

Unfortunately I don’t have the time to see it in its entirety right now but I did watch the first few minutes and can verify this screencap:

Is legitimate.  This is the way the movie’s title is presented.

I’ll offer my full review of the Ultimate Edition soon but, meanwhile, if you have pre-purchased your digital copy of the Ultimate Edition of the film, I can verify you can download it through Flixster.

UPDATE:  It appears WB has stopped this accidental early release of the movie and you can no longer get it as I did.

Sports

Controversy regarding…Curling?!

Yes, there is controversy regarding that winter sport that fascinates so many.  I’m not talking about Hockey or Ice Skating or Cross-Country Skiing…we’re talking about…Curling.

This article, by Jennifer Ouellette and found on Gizmodo.com, offers insight into…

The Physics Behind the “Broomgate” Controversy Rocking the sport of Curling

All right, so I started this entry with tongue in cheek but let me now do an about face and say: I like Curling.  Really, I do.

Whenever the Winter Olympics are on or when I’m surfing around oddball cable channels and find they feature Curling, I stop.  I stare.  I enjoy.

There’s something incredibly fascinating, to me, about watching the sport even as I’d readily admit it is hardly the most physically demanding of winter sports and can be performed by your average person versus, say, running a Marathon or playing professional Football.

That’s not to say Curling doesn’t require concentration and mental skills, and that’s where the whole “broomgate” issue comes in.  In the game, you slide a “rock” across ice (not unlike bowling) and try to position your rocks closest to the center target while denying your opponent from doing the same.  When sliding your rock, your teammates may (or may not depending on your rock’s trajectory) brush the ice ahead of your rock to improve its speed or make it “curl” in one direction or the other.

The manner in which this brushing is achieved is by using a broom.

When I first saw Curling waaaaay back in the early 1970’s, this is what the brooms looked like:

Your eyes do not deceive you: The brooms used back then were actual, honest to goodness brooms.  This is what they use today:

These brooms are brooms in name only.  They’re high tech creations designed specifically for use in this sport.

The controversy, as outlined in the article above, is that new, even more high tech brooms have become so good it is feared they’re capable of turning all shots, even terrible ones, into good ones because they do such a great job in “fixing” the ice before the rock.

Anyway, I found the whole article fascinating to read but I suspect there plenty out there who wouldn’t.  To them I say, watch some great Curling shots and tell me even this sport can’t be exciting:

General

Gas stations, R.I.P.?

With the rise of the electric car and, hopefully soon enough, the self-driving vehicle, it appears to me the days of the gas station are numbered.

I’m not the only one who thinks that way.  Here’s an article by Daniel Gross and found on Slate magazine:

Why America’s gas stations are running out of time

Mr. Gross offers statistics showing there has been a noticeable decline in number of gas stations in the United states and enumerates reasons why this may be a permanent trend.

The rise of electric cars, of course, is but one of the bigger reasons.  With each sale Tesla or GM or BMW etc. have with their electric vehicles, it means there is one less vehicle on the road that requires stopping at a gas station to refuel.

But Gas Stations, IMHO, have even more to fear from the self-driving cars.  I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: When the day comes -and it will come- when self-driving cars are fully allowed on the roads of America, there will be a HUGE shift in our transportation perspective.

I believe at that time there will be a company -perhaps more than one- that offer rides by their army of self-driving vehicles.  You will pull out your smartphone, order a car, and it will come pick you up and take you to your destination.  From there, the self-driving vehicle will find its next passenger and so on through the day.

When the vehicle is low on fuel -whether it be an electric charge or gasoline- the vehicle will return to its home base where it will be refueled (or have its batteries swapped) and be off again.  There will be no need for this fleet of vehicles to use a gas station.

So, what will become of gas stations?  Will they simply convert into snack shops a la 7-11 and offer foods?  Or will many of them simply fade away and will one day we suddenly find there are no more gas stations at all?

We’ll see.

General

Again and again and again…

The news from Orlando this past weekend was heartbreaking and, as incredibly depressing as the mass murder of 49 patrons of the Pulse club by a man so consumed with hatred of gay people (and a possible link to ISIS), the news could have been even worse…

Police identify L.A. Pride weapons suspect as James Wesley Howell

Mr. Howell is 20 year old Indiana man who was stopped and found to be carrying rifles, ammunition, and explosives and who stated he was going to that gay pride event for reasons unknown…though given what he was carrying one can’t be blamed for assuming the very worst.

Reactions to the event vary of course.  And it didn’t take long for some to blame…Obama?!

Fox News Commentator Blames Orlando Shooting on Obama

Sigh.

It’s like we go from extreme tragedy to high comedy (or just plain lunacy) within a single day and before the victims’ bodies get cold.

I never understood the allure of weapons.  I never understood the need to hoard them and the paranoia bred by “protecting” the right to keep them in all forms, even when the weapon, in this case an AR-15, is nothing more than a killing machine.

Will we ever get a break?  Will common sense regulations ever take hold?

Will people ever get fed up enough to vote those who protect guns more rabidly than they do human beings out of office?

I really hope so.

General

Indiana Jones might want to take a look…

Fascinating (though too short!) article I found on CNN.com and written by Katia Hetter regarding…

“Massive” Monument Found in Ancient Petra

You should read the article but the jist of it is this: Thanks to aerial photography and drones, a very large monument has been found.  This is what it looks like:

An overhead image of the new monument at Petra photographed from a drone, and a detail overlay of the surface features in which the image is rotated 90 degrees clockwise.

Thanks to satellite imagery, drones, and aerial photography, it appears we’re more easily discovering things like this.

Makes one wonder just how much of our human history remains to be uncovered.

Fascinating, fascinating stuff.

Movies

The Hateful Eight (2015) a (mildly) belated review

As far as I’m concerned, had director/writer Quentin Tarantino retired after releasing the terrific one-two punch of Reservoir Dogs (1992) and Pulp Fiction (1994), he’d be assured a place in the pantheon of great movie makers.

Which is a nice way of saying that I feel his works after that point have been, in my humble opinion, hit and miss.  Understand, there is absolutely no doubt in my mind that Mr. Tarantino gives it his all with each new film and tries very hard to deliver something unique and new and as entertaining as it is thought provoking.

Following Pulp Fiction, Mr. Tarantino made Jackie Brown (1997), Kill Bill Vol 1 and 2 (2003, 2004), Death Proof (2007), Inglourious Basterds (2009), Django Unchained (2012), and, of course, the subject of this review, The Hateful Eight.

That makes eight films Mr. Tarantino has made and of those, the only one I have yet to see, despite owning the BluRay, is Inglourious Basterds.  Of the ones that remain on the list following Pulp Fiction, would it surprise you if I said that while each film has their good and bad, the one I like the most is the one that I only liked the last half of it?

I’m referring to the SECOND half of Death Proof, which I thought was balls-to-the-walls terrific.  Funny, action filled, suspenseful, and with an ending that had me cheering.  But that movie’s first half, up until Stuntman Mike makes his first killing, was awful and, even worse, completely unnecessary.  Cut that whole first half of the film out and watch the second half alone and you have Mr. Tarantino’s best work since those first two films, IMHO.

Still, though I don’t care completely for Jackie Brown (a movie many feel is Mr. Tarantino’s best work but one I found carried a too-hard-to-ignore big plot hole that destroys, to me, the entire story), Kill Bill (If I want to see a film that tries to mimic the thematic awe of The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly I’ll just go see The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly), and Django Unchained (for me the film was enjoyable until the point where a character had the choice to hold his nose and shake a villain’s hand to end things amicably…and chooses not to.  Just shake his freaking hand you idiot!!!!), I nonetheless will repeat what I said above: You cannot fault Mr. Tarantino for trying his best to create movies that are a step above your regular popcorn fare.

With The Hateful Eight, Mr. Tarantino returns to the western though this film is very different from his other western, Django Unchained.  Like many of his other films, Mr. Tarantino is playing with well established genres and story conventions.  In this case, the biggest one he appropriates is mystery writer Agatha Christie’s Ten Little Indians aka And Then There Were None.

In that famous novel, a group of (we soon find) despicable people with dark secrets buried in their individual closets are brought together on a remote island under false pretenses.  When the boat that takes them to that distant island departs, they are left stranded and suddenly, one by one, are murdered.  Who among them is a killer?

In The Hateful Eight, bounty hunter John “The Hangman” Ruth (Kurt Russell) is in the process of taking his latest fugitive capture, Daisy Domergue (Jennifer Jason Leigh) to the town of Red Rock so he can get his reward and see her hang.  The stagecoach carrying him and his prisoner are trying to beat a fast approaching blizzard but nonetheless pick up two passengers along the way, Major Marquis Warren (Samuel L. Jackson), a fellow bounty hunter who doesn’t particularly care about bringing his prisoners back alive, and Chris Mannix (Walton Goggins), a man who claims he’s heading to Red Rock to become its sheriff.

John Ruth is suspicious of the two and fears they may be in cahoots with his prisoner and/or might try to take her for themselves as she has a very high price on her head.  Ultimately Ruth allows the two to share his stagecoach but they are only able to make it to Minnie’s Haberdashery, a cabin in the middle of nowhere, before the blizzard hits.

Within the Haberdashery are four other curious characters and Ruth senses things are not what they seem.

Spoiler alert: They’re not.

I won’t get into much more spoilery material from here on in and focus on my feelings about this film.

Again, it was clear Mr. Tarantino was giving this movie his all and the first forty or so minutes of it, roughly to the point shortly after the group makes it to the Haberdashery, were intriguing, suspenseful, humorous, and odd…but in a very good way.

And then came “that” scene and, frankly, things went downhill from there.

“That” scene, which I will describe without giving too much away, involves Samuel L. Jackson’s “conversation” with General Sandy Smithers (Bruce Dern).  Unlike everything that happened before, that scene felt forced, as if Mr. Tarantino had this great idea and was determined to use it in this movie.  However, when all is said and done this scene, and indeed the character of Smithers, could and perhaps should -especially after all the revelations are made- been cut out of the film entirely.

Part of the problem is that I believe Mr. Tarantino made an understandable mistake when he cast Bruce Dern in the role.  I’m a HUGE fan of Bruce Dern’s impressive body of movie work and in many features he played the crazed baddie to perfection.  Unfortunately, at this time Mr. Dern is a very old and frail man and no longer looks like the menacing baddie of his younger days.  I suspect Mr. Tarantino was hoping for that Bruce Dern in this movie but instead got a man who is always in a chair, never gets up, and looks as menacing as a cotton ball.  When the scene involving Mr. Dern plays out to its conclusion, I grew to loathe Samuel L. Jackson’s character and view him as a coward, something you may not want to do when dealing with your movie’s lead character.

And yes, I know the movie is called The Hateful Eight and not The Tolerable Eight or The They’re-Bad-But-Not-So-Bad Eight.

But still.

Sadly, from that point on the film seemed to lose it for me.  Bothersome little details I could ignore became more prominent.  The big one:  Why have a great actress like Jennifer Jason Leigh in the film and then have her do essentially nothing for 4/5ths of the movie’s bloated 3 hour runtime except get beaten around mercilessly or have blood splattered on her a la Bruce Campbell in the Evil Dead movies?  Instead of wasting time on Bruce Dern’s unnecessary character arc, why not find more interesting things for her to do?

And when all was revealed toward the end (and again I’ll try to tiptoe around spoilers here), the fact of the matter is the bad guy(s) were an incredibly inept bunch.

I could go on and on but I truly don’t want to reveal more spoilers.

Despite a great start, a great cast of characters, and incredible cinematography, I can’t recommend The Hateful Eight except to those who love the films of Quentin Tarantino.  You may find more in there to love than the average movie goer but for me this was a film that could have used a little more script work.

The Hateful Eight is certainly not a disaster of a film, but it is one that could -and should- have been better.

General

About last night…

So yesterday came the last big block of state voting for the nominees to be President of the United States and the big winner was Hillary Clinton.  Not only does she now unquestionably have enough delegates to claim the mantle of Democratic Nominee, but she also took California, a very large, delegate-rich state which her rival Bernie Sanders was hoping to snatch from her.

You will find plenty of articles about yesterday in all major news media.  Here’s one by Stephen Collinson from CNN.com…

Primary Results: Hillary Clinton Celebrates Victory, wins California

While I am usually loathe to dive into politics, it is nonetheless worth noting the historic nature of yesterday’s events.

Like her or not, Hillary Clinton represents the very first female nominee for a major U.S. political party and it is amazing that we may follow the first African American nominee and eventual President, Barack Obama, with the first female nominee.

Based on the bad news trailing the presumptive Republican nominee these last few days, we might well have our first female President.

Of course, we’ve still got a very long way to go…