All posts by ERTorre

E. R. Torre is a writer/artist whose first major work, the mystery graphic novel The Dark Fringe, was optioned for motion picture production by Platinum Studios (Men In Black, Cowboys vs. Aliens). At DC Comics, his work appeared in role-playing game books and the 9-11 Tribute book. This later piece was eventually displayed, along with others from the 9-11 tribute books, at The Library of Congress. More recently he released Shadows at Dawn (a collection of short stories), Haze (a murder mystery novel with supernatural elements), and Cold Hemispheres (a mystery novel set in the world of The Dark Fringe). He is currently hard at work on his latest science fiction/suspense series, Corrosive Knights, which features the novels Mechanic, The Last Flight of the Argus, and Chameleon.
General

Fortune 500 Companies Liberals and Conservatives hate…

I enjoy lists.  Some say they’re a lazy way of filling up space or creating conversation (I guess they are guilty of that) but building lists has always fascinated me…so long as one realizes that it involves opinions and, like all opinions, there is no absolute “right” or “wrong”.

Having said that, this is one of the more fascinating lists I’ve run into in a while.  The headline above gives it away.  From Fortune magazine, we have…

Fortune 500 Companies Liberals and Conservatives Hate the Most

Going into the article and while trying not to give everything away (you should read it!), I could guess certain companies which might be on liberal hate lists.  Primarily, Walmart (due to their minimum wage/anti-union policies) and probably several oil companies (there were), and probably Wall Street/Banking related companies.  As for companies on conservative “hate” lists, Target was on it (perhaps due to their bathroom policies?!) as well as Freddie Mac and Fannie May (both of which have been derided plenty of times by conservative talking heads).

But forget about all that.

The main reason I pointed out this article is because of this:

Conservatives listed a dislike for Pepsi-Cola while Liberals expressed a hatred for Coca-Cola.

Really?!

While their dislike for either company isn’t “high” on their lists, it was most curious to see what conservatives and liberals felt regarding soda companies.  The big question is: Why would that be?  The article concludes with this:

Perhaps (the respective dislike for soda companies) has to do with their corporate colors. (Coke is red. Pepsi is blue.) Or maybe it has to do with the general political leanings of where the companies have been based. Coke is in the South. And Pepsi’s headquarters is in the Northeast. But for whatever reason, the Coke-Pepsi political divide is just another sign that when it comes to politics, commerce is less immune than ever.

Very weird.

I’m a liberal but I have to admit to finding it hard to build up any “hate” toward a soda company.

Then again, that’s just me.

Movies

Is Star Wars: Rogue One in trouble?

I’ll say this up front: I’m not a big Star Wars fan.  I’ve written many times before of how, as an 11 year old boy, I watched the original film in a full-to-the-brim theater in 1977 and perhaps a week or so after it was originally released…and while everyone around me went nuts while I just couldn’t get into the film (you can read more about that here).

I mention this only because I want to quickly add the following: Presenting this below information is in no ways meant to be me “gloating” regarding potentially bad news regarding Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (ROSW from now on).  As I’ve tried to make it painfully clear many times before, I have no problems with people having diverse opinions about works of art, be they books, movies, TV shows, etc. etc. etc.  Just because I like/don’t like something doesn’t mean I expect the entire world to follow my opinion and vice versa.

Having said that, let’s dive into the “controversy” surrounding ROSW.

Page 6 published the following article regarding ROSW on the May 30th:

Disney Execs In A Panic Over Upcoming Star Wars Film

The upshot of the article, written by Emily Smith, was that Disney Executives were “not fully satisfied with the first cut (of ROSW) from director Gareth Edwards” and that the film would have to “go back (for) four weeks of expensive reshoots in July“.

After a few days of rumors, Germain Lussier over at io9 provided an interesting summary of the information regarding the film and its potential reshoots up to that point:

More Details Have Been Revealed About Those Rogue One Reshoots

Then came this article which presented even worse news regarding ROSW.  Found on makingstarwars.com and written by Jason Ward, the article stated the ROSW reshoots might add up to as much as a whopping 40% of the film…

How Extensive Will the Rogue One Reshoots Be?

Amid rumors of new writers coming in to help work over the material (even that J. J. Abrams was going to have a more active role in overseeing the “fixing up”), there came this article from The Hollywood Reporter and written by Alex Ritman and Borys Kit which noted…

Star Wars: Rogue One enlists renowned stunt coordinator Simon Crane for reshoots

So, what are we to make of all this?

Again, I don’t for a second wish to be snarky or put down Star Wars fans.  While the franchise didn’t do much for me, I’m always curious about movie news such as this and I find the conclusions one can make regarding these bits of news fascinating.

This first conclusions one can make regarding these stories are the easiest: After Gareth Edwards finished his principle photography for ROSW and presented a rough cut of the same to Disney studio executives, they were clearly not happy with what he did.  Whether the executives are right or not, and I suspect Mr. Edward’s “cut” of the film will eventually make its way to home video, is irrelevant: The executives are paying the bills and if they feel the product is not “up to snuff” they have every right in the world to demand re-shoots, whether they involve 10% of the film or 40% or even 100%.  It’s their money and time and if they have each, they can do with it what they will.

There is, however, one other interesting conclusion one can draw from this and, I would hasten to say, it is my own conclusion and could very well be wrong: It appears there are several “loose lips” in this particular production and they’re not bothered at all with throwing Gareth Edwards under the bus.

The fact of the matter is that all these bits of information can’t help but make him, and his initial cut of the film, look bad.  With each new name floated out there being brought in to “fix” the movie, we’re left to think executives at Disney have lost faith in Mr. Edwards based on that original cut and, further, feel the need to not only bring in others but announce to the world they’ve brought in others to make things right.

The ultimate conclusions regarding ROSW will be made after it is released to theaters, of course, but think about this: If the film is a HUGE success and winds up beloved, those studio executives get to pat themselves on the back and say they saved a flawed/bad Gareth Edwards film from failure by bringing in all these others to help make the film “good”.  On the other hand, if the film “fails” both critically and commercially, these same executives, thanks to the rash of news released to this point, can point their fingers at Mr. Edwards and say “Well, we tried our best to save the film but there was just no way to save Gareth Edwards’ flawed work.”

Either way, it appears people out there are setting themselves up to create a win-win scenario for Disney and her executives and a lose-lose scenario for Mr. Edwards.

Music

Woodstock, then and now…

One of the more iconic music events of the 1960’s was Woodstock.  The music festival was captured on film and a very popular album was released which featured many of the famous musicians and their acts.

This is the album’s well-known cover:

Music from the Original Soundtrack and More: Woodstock

Now check this out, a photograph of that same couple years later.  Yes, they’re still a couple!

If you’re curious, here’s an article by Bobbi Ercoline, the woman in the picture, stating how she came to find they were the source of that image:

That’s me in the picture: Bobbi Ercoline, 20, at Woodstock, 17 August 1969

Fun and fascinating stuff!

 

Movies

So this happened yesterday…

They dropped a new trailer for the “Ultimate Edition” of Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice, and its chock full of new scenes:

I don’t want to once again get into my defense of the movie (as anyone who has come here regularly knows, I thought the film was terrific even as I acknowledged it seemed hacked up/disjointed at points, something I suspect this “ultimate” edition will resolve), but there was one comment on YouTube with this trailer by “fero player” which, if you’ll pardon me for doing so, I’ll reproduce here in its entirety:

Batman’s entire character arc in this film is about him becoming a hero again. He’s introduced here as the monster, the devil in the shadows. Taking down criminals not to save these women, but for a lead on Kryptonite so he can destroy Superman. The murder of Robin by The Joker and watching Superman’s battle with Zod destroy Metropolis has broken him. He feels powerless against a cruel world he can’t control any longer, and that rage has turned a good man cruel. He now kills to defend himself and other people, and brands the most heinous criminals to condemn them. Cold-blooded murder will be his final step. When he hears Superman use (what he thinks is) his dying breath to beg him to save his mother, he finally sees that he has become the villain. It’s not about their mothers having the same name. It’s about Batman realizing that he is no different than the monster who killed his parents and created him. In throwing down the spear and saving Superman’s mother, he also saves himself. Anyone who looks at that entire scene and sees nothing but a shitty Step Brothers meme, they wrote BvS off before it was even filmed. They already hated it because they didn’t like Man of Steel, or they don’t like Zack Snyder, or they don’t like the idea of DC having their own Cinematic Universe. God forbid that a film actually have subtext instead of lame quips and long-winded explanations.

I present the above because at its heart this is why I found BvS such a compelling movie.  In my original review, I stated the following:

…the Batman we see here is in a fever state.  He’s off his game and very flawed, locked in on the goal of ridding the world of the danger he feels Superman represents.  The more rational Batman we are accustomed to would have realized certain things were occurring and manipulations were being made but because of his rage, this Batman misses them…until it’s almost too late.

In my “second look” at the film, I wrote this:

…it was a surprise and delight the way the filmmakers dealt with the character of Batman/Bruce Wayne.  This was an original take on the character even as it used -and did not ignore- his previous history.  Here we have someone whose world-view has radically changed.  His anger and sense of outrage were inflamed by the events of Man of Steel (we witness that film’s conclusion through the eyes of Bruce Wayne in one of the film’s standout sequences) and this has changed him for the worse.  Batman is singularly focused on destroying Superman, who he views as a danger to mankind, and this singularity in focus makes him fall prey to being used by others…

As presented in the theatrical cut, our primary focus is indeed the story of Batman’s “fall” (his second origin, the conclusion of Man of Steel) and subsequent redemption.  As was mentioned in the first quote, Batman has taken a dark road and was in danger of becoming just like his parents’ murderer (this is why it was important to present, despite the fact that it has been shown so often before, the deaths of Bruce Wayne’s parents).

But what also intrigues me about this new trailer is that it appears Batman’s story was given more emphasis while Superman/Lois Lane’s was whittled down.  Look at the trailer again and you’ll notice many, perhaps most of the new sequences revolve around either Superman/Clark Kent and/or Lois Lane, including a larger African scene, what appears to be Clark Kent investigating Batman a little more, as well as Lois Lane doing the same regarding the African situation.

Was the focus on Batman’s story arc at the expense of a similar arc for Superman?

I wonder.

On 6/28 the Digital version of the film will be released and on 7/19 the BluRay appears.

I’ll be most curious to see it then.

Movies

21 Movie Sequels that took far too long…

…to make:

21 Movie Sequels that took far too long to make

Have to admit, I’m fascinated with the list.  For your convenience the list is presented in order and, therefore, the last movie on the list was the sequel that took the longest to make vis a vis the original.

I won’t spoil which film it is, but I’ll offer a couple of hints: That particular film’s sequel appeared a whopping 28 years after the original was released in 1982 and, even more interesting, actually featured the lead actors from the original film, though their roles were smaller in the sequel (gotta have young faces as the leads, I suppose).

I reviewed the sequel a while back and didn’t like it very much but, let’s face it, other than the original’s then-magnificent effects, the first movie wasn’t all that great to begin with either.

By the way, I agree with the inclusion of Superman Returns on this list.  It appeared 26 years after the last, Christopher Reeve starring feature, essentially ignored the events of Superman III and IV, and had a new actor (Brandon Routh) play the role of Superman.  This last bit, of course and very sadly, had to be done.

Thinking about Superman Returns fills me with frustration.  I really loved Christopher Reeve/Richard Donner’s take on Superman and still feel, despite its age and now dated effects, the first Superman film is the best superhero movie ever made.  Clearly director Bryan Singer (X-Men, Usual Suspects) also felt a great deal of love for that film and the proof of this fact is that Superman Returns is essentially a remake of the original Superman.

Unfortunately, it is a pale, dull, though admittedly reverent echo and could never be much more than that.  The question I had after seeing it was: Why see Superman Returns when I can see the far better Superman?  Talk about unnecessary!

In the end, Superman Returns could -and should!- have been a great “new” film and instead, because director Bryan Singer decided to make “his” version of the original Superman, it turned out to be a plodding remake.

What a missed opportunity!

General

Feelin’ blue

I knew her for exactly one school year, our sophomore year, in High School.

I was a stranger to that town and for years didn’t feel comfortable in my own skin.  Moving from country to country has a way of making you both introverted and shy.  You don’t want to reach out to others for fear they’ll soon be gone.

She was in one of my classes.  I don’t recall which, but we got to be friends.  Perhaps she took pity on me.  She was very attractive and had the eyes of many others, including some of the more popular people in the school and I was, compared to them, a quiet oddball.

I admit it, I was smitten.

The year ended and we left on good terms (she even signed my yearbook!) and when I returned to school for our junior, then senior years, I hoped to reconnect with her but that was not to be.  Apart from that first year we didn’t share another class together.  I saw her here and there on campus but we never had another conversation and never shared another laugh.  She had her circle of friends and they didn’t include me or my geeky friends.

I saw her one last time on perhaps the very last day of High School.  It was an outdoor get-together for the graduating Seniors and we were milling about or sitting on the lawn and hanging out in groups.  I saw her sitting with one of her female friends and by a teacher I knew and decided to formally say goodbye to her.

I was still painfully shy but built up my courage and sat down near her.  My shyness had my mind in overdrive and I tried to work into talking to her by first acting like I sat there with the intention of talking to that teacher.  I caught her eye but we wound up not saying anything to each other.  Another friend of mine -one many students didn’t like because he was even more of an oddball than me- sat down next to me a moment after I sat and effectively broke whatever plans I had.

I never did get to say goodbye.

Many years later another friend of mine from High School told me -though my memories were vague about this- that she was in an accident and subsequently hospitalized and in a coma.

These were the days before the internet and given how far away she was from me by this point versus where I lived, there was no way to verify the information and so I could do nothing but hope my friend’s information was incorrect.

Fast forward to last weekend and some twenty two plus years later.  My youngest daughter is about to go to College and she chooses one that coincidentally happens to be a short fifteen minute drive from my old High School.

We headed up there for that college’s orientation and in my free time I get curious and, thanks to the magic of Google, start looking up old friends from High School.  I look up that girl I was so smitten with for that one magical year and what I find breaks my heart.

She passed away at the age of 34 in the year 2000.

I searched for more information but couldn’t find much.  Her obituary simply states the date she passed away and lists her immediate family as relatives.  There is no mention of a husband and, I suppose it was for the best, any children.

I searched even harder but the fact is she passed away just as the internet was about to become the fountain of information it is now and there was precious little I could glean about her years following High School.  What I did find was that she went to college, joined a sorority, and was there for four years.  Between her graduation from College in approximately 1988 and the year she died there was little else to find.

I contacted my other High School friend, the one that told me years before that she had been in a car crash and in a coma, and asked him for more details.  Could he remember when exactly he found out about this?  Was there any more he learned?  Anything at all?

Sadly, he couldn’t.

Based on estimations and guesswork, we guessed he must have found out about her accident and subsequent hospitalization in and around our 10th year High School reunion, perhaps 1994.

Which crushed me all the more.

I’ve worked with victims of accidents and head trauma and any number of debilitating conditions and the sad fact is that one can live (though there is a bitter irony to using that particular word) for years in such a condition before passing away.

Had this happened to her?

I could only guess that perhaps it had.  It explained why she had no significant other or children listed among her family and relatives in her obituary.

And it made me all the sadder.

While my old friend passed away 16 years ago (ironically, in and around the likely age we were when we first met), finding out about this now made the loss immediate.  2016 has been a terrible year, so far, for deaths and this one hit me just as hard.

Harder.

Rest in peace, Julie.

I hope what life you lived in those too short years was as beautiful as you were in my childhood eyes.

Movies

Paradox (2016) a (right on time…pun intended!) review

It is often, at least for me, to find that “bad” movies are the result of a bad screenplay/story.  While these films may exhibit any other number of problems, from bad acting to bad direction/editing/cinematography, usually the worst sin a “bad” film has is related to its story.

Which brings me to Paradox.  Currently available On Demand or for free through Netflix (or was it Amazon Prime?!), Paradox is a time travel murder mystery which stars stuntwoman turned actress Zoe Bell.  Without further ado, the movie’s trailer:

Not too bad looking, if you’re into Time Travel-type tales.  Me?  I’m interested in ’em so when given the chance, I gave the movie a watch.

As I hinted above, the movie wasn’t all that good.  Mind you, it wasn’t horrible, but it just…wasn’t very good.  I can’t in good conscience recommend it to anyone, even if you’re into time travel features.

What was most curious, however, was the fact that perhaps for the first time I can recall, I found this “bad” movie’s problem lay squarely at the feet of just about everything but the screenplay/story.

Before getting into that, let me backtrack just a little: Paradox involves a small, clandestine group of scientists who are working on a time machine.  I won’t go into too many spoilers here, but suffice it to say that this group locks themselves in a heavily fortified (and relatively large) basement and are about to make their first attempt at time traveling on the night the movie begins.

When the first time travelling subject -one of the small group’s members- goes forward in time by one hour, he encounters a horror show: Blood, bodies, and general mayhem.  Further, a self-destruct sequence has been initiated and there are only minutes left before the facility goes up in flames.

The world’s first time traveler runs through the facility and finds even more evidence of grisly murder.  He quickly realizes someone in their small group is a murderer but, because the time machine is using up the entire city’s electricity, he cannot get out of the facility and, with time literally winding down, reactivates the machine and travels back to moments after he first left.

He encounters his now living companions and warns them of what is to come.

Just as he was and hour from then, the group is trapped within the fortified facility.  They do, however, still have use of the time machine…can they beat fate?

The time travel premise may not be super incredibly original but in the context of what we’re seeing its not bad.  Further, the screenplay/story is, to my eyes anyway, quite clever and provides, by the end, a very satisfying explanation/wrap up for everything that’s come before.

…but…

Man does this film have other problems.

Let’s start with the biggest: The acting.  I really hate to do this, but apart from Zoe Bell, the acting within this film is for the most part simply not very good.  The dialogue, which at times could have been quite clever and even humorous, most often falls flat because of the delivery.

Unfortunately, the problems don’t stop there.  The movie’s direction is mediocre and the budget was obviously very low, which hurts the overall product.  This is particularly evident toward the film’s “explosive” climax.

And yet…

Seriously, the story presented was, dare I say it, clever.  While Michael Hurst, the movie’s director, may not be all that good, the very same Michael Hurst, Paradox’s writer, isn’t all that bad.

It’s quite the…dare I say it…paradox, no?

In the end and as I said above, I cannot recommend Paradox in spite of the fact that in more capable hands I could easily see this film succeeding with its story alone.

Too bad.

General

Time gets us all…

Years ago I recall seeing this magazine on the newsstands with what was then a surprising image/interview of actor Cary Grant.

image

The image was surprising to see because it had been years since Mr. Grant retired from acting and to suddenly see him re-appear and have this “silver fox” look was stunning.  To many, like me, he was frozen in time thanks to the magic of cinema and might be recalled by the way he looked in the mid-1960’s, in his last movie role before retiring…

image

Or perhaps in his prime, one of the more handsome Hollywood lead actors ever…

image

Shortly after this GQ article came the sad news of Mr. Grant’s passing, and I distinctly recall reading another magazine offering a tribute to the legendary actor.  While I can’t remember the exact details of the entire article, one line at the start of it really hit me.

It went something lIke this: “The actor you thought would live forever has passed away.”

I could understand the sentiment and the shock of seeing someone I had seen so many times before on the silver screen in their “prime” suddenly looking so old…so frail.

These sentiments came back really strong when images of another favorite actor of mine, who interestingly enough is tangentially tied in to Mr. Grant, was caught out and about shopping with his wife…

image

There are plenty of others pictures out there to show (it appears paparazzi followed this individual and his wife around for a while), but suffice it to say that if I wasn’t aware of who this is, I likely never would have guessed.

The above picture is of Sean Connery and his wife Michelle Roquebrune out shopping.

As I said above, Cary Grant and Mr. Connery share a tangential relationship.  Though they were never in a film together (to the best of my memory!) the Cary Grant film North By Northwest (directed by Alfred Hitchcock) was a big inspiration for the James Bond films.  In fact, when the producers of the Bond films were working on developing the property, they wanted Cary Grant to play the secret agent but he ultimately declined because he didn’t want to tie himself to more than one film, thus paving the way for Sean Connery (who effected a Cary Grant-like suave style).

Interestingly enough, like Cary Grant, Mr. Connery also retired from making films and has stuck to this promise, thus also “freezing” himself in time, making us remember him like this…

image

The image above is from League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, Mr. Connery’s last movie role before retiring.  Of course, we also may remember Mr. Connery like this…

image

I truly hope Mr. Connery is enjoying his retirement.  I presented the above image not to shock but rather to show, as if anyone needs to be reminded, that the passage of time affects us all.

General

I’d be remiss…

…if I didn’t show this, an image currently making some folks on the internet crazy:

What you have here is a brick wall (that’s the obvious part) with a hidden object in it.  Took me at least five minutes to figure out what the hidden object was and, of course, where it was.  Now I can’t “unsee” it.

For those having trouble figuring it out, I’ll offer a hint…

WARNING

HINT BELOW!!!

 

The hidden object is a cigar.  Now go back to the picture and figure it out for yourselves.

Movies

Opinions are like…part deux

A very long time ago (I kid, it was only three freaking days ago) I posted an entry entitled “Opinions are like…” and went on to talk about the fact that director Steven Spielberg, the man who may well be one of the people most responsible for inspiring me to pursuing my writing career thanks to the impact of seeing his first hit movie Duel on TV when it originally aired (read the rest of the post here), had very kind things to say about Guardians of the Galaxy, a film I absolutely hated.

The purpose of my post was to say this: Opinions about things, especially works of art, are individualistic.  What may float my boat may well sink yours and vice versa.  Guardians of the Galaxy was a tremendously successful film that had high positive responses from both audiences and critics and to this day many consider it the very best “Marvel” film ever made.

I do NOT begrudge Mr. Spielberg’s, or anyone else’s for that matter, opinion regarding the film.  Indeed, if you liked it, good for you.  My opinion of the film should have no impact on your opinion of it and, frankly, I wish I could have liked it as much as so many did.  The film was certainly in my particular wheelhouse but, again, it just didn’t work.  For me.

Part of the reason I posted that entry was because I’m alarmed by how militant -and insulting- people are regarding their opinions about such things.

You can find the most -and frankly really ugly– example of this in this article by Gina Carbone for moviefone.com:

The War Over Ghostbusters Gets Ugly As New Trailer Drops

The article is about how Angry Video Game Nerd (AVGN) posted a youtube video in which he stated he would absolutely not be seeing the new version of the Ghostbusters  film.  AVGN has great fondness for the original Bill Murray/Dan Ackroyd film (many do) and is certain this new version of Ghostbusters will be terrible.  He goes on at lengths explaining why he feels this film is bad and, again, it is his opinion and he’s certainly entitled to it.

What happened next is what is so alarming.

People start posting pro and con comments regarding AVGN’s video/opinion and things got really ugly when comedian/actor Patton Oswald came on and posted a comment that rather than condemn the film pre-emptively, AVGN should watch the new Ghostbusters and then make his comments.  If the film is terrible, then so be it.  Let the makers have it.

But at least see the film before you knock it.

Mr. Oswald’s comments resulted in a cascade of comments and some of them got really nasty.  How nasty?  Some people -I kid you not- made light of the fact that Mr. Patton’s wife had very recently passed away.

Yes folks, it got that ugly.

Now, I ask: Is Mr. Patton’s above comment, that one should see a film before condemning it, out of bounds?  Does it deserve the ugliness that followed?  Was it in any way controversial?

I’d say what he wrote sounds incredibly…reasonable.

Unless you work for Sony and have already seen the film in some secret pre-screening, you have NO IDEA how good this new version of Ghostbusters is.

You can assume certain things, of course.  Based on the negative reception of the first trailer, you can assume the film may not be very good, but there have been very bad trailers made for very good films and vice versa, so at best you’re reacting to a “bad” trailer.  You can lament the fact that this film doesn’t feature the original cast but, given that original cast-member Harold Ramis passed away, there isn’t going to be an original cast movie anymore.  You can lament the fact that they’re remaking a beloved film (got knows I’ve gone through that plenty of times) and the track record for remakes isn’t the greatest.  Finally, if Melissa McCarthy or director Paul Fieg’s films to this date haven’t floated your boat, its reasonable to assume you may not like this film as well and, that being the case, you certainly are in well within your rights to say you aren’t going to bother seeing this version of Ghostbusters.

AVGN has every right to his opinions.  He has every right to express absolutely no hope and/or interest in seeing this new Ghostbusters.  I don’t even begrudge him the opinion that this new film will be horrible/terrible/the-final-sign-of-the-apocalypse…

…just as it is equally fine for Mr. Oswald to opine that one shouldn’t condemn this new film -or any new film- before, you know, actually seeing it.

Two opinions, both equally fine.

Why the ugliness?