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

Technology…

Love it…

Tesla CEO Elon Musk Drops His Prediction of Full Autonomous Driving From 3 Years to 2

…and loathe it…

Hackers Threaten to Bring Down XBox and Playstation Networks on Christmas

The first article, written by Fred Lambert and available on elektrek.com, offers even more optimistic thoughts regarding the future of self-driving/driverless vehicles.

Those who check out my blog know how fascinated I am about this technology and how equally fascinated I am by what will happen following the actual widespread use of this technology.  Bear in mind, just because Mr. Musk feels the technology will be good enough for general use in 2 years doesn’t mean the various government agencies in the United States and other countries will instantly allow for its deployment everywhere.

There are plenty of things that will need to be done, including perhaps creating highway lanes specifically designed for self-driving vehicles or highways that charge self-driving vehicles…

…but I suspect future generations, perhaps even those born this year, may well grow up in an environment where people actually driving their cars from location to location will be a thing of the past.

I’ve mentioned many of the things that such a technology will change, but one rather frivolous one occurred to me which I might have mentioned before (If I did, forgive the duplication):

Driverless car technology will surely force a change in one golden staples of Hollywood action movies: The car chase.

Think about it: When people get used to the idea that cars function automatically, the idea of a hero/villain car chase as currently envisioned will become a thing of the past.  Just as westerns have our heroes/villains on horses, any movie featuring your “standard” car chase will be a film from the past.  Especially given the safety features these new vehicles will surely have which will likely apply to you even if you switch to a driver mode (which I suspect we’ll see as an intermediate first step before the cars go “full” driverless).

So no more Bullitt-like car chases…

…Hollywood will have to consider something new.

Which brings us to the second article presented above.  It is written by Hope King and presented on CNNmoney and I suppose it is as much a testament to our times as anything else.

As with self-driving vehicles, we are a society that relies more and more and more on technology, specifically computer technology, for our everything.

You can’t get the cellphones out of my daughters’ hands but, even as much of an old fogey as I am, I’m on some kind of computer for a startling number of hours each day as well.

This means, of course, that there’s plenty of data flowing through these computer networks, data ripe for hackers to screw around with, just as the hackers in that above article threaten to shut down gaming services on Christmas day.

It suddenly occurs to me the Hollywood car chase will live on…

 

FADE IN ON:

A hacker types in a series of commands and, when finished, hits the enter key.  He cackles menacingly.  His plan is in motion.

CUT TO:

Keanu Reeves sits in his Tesla Mark LXI, reading his newspaper off a holographic screen while sipping insta-coffee.  All appears blissfully normal…

…and then the engine of his car suddenly revs and Keanu is thrust into his chair.  His instacoffee spills and is absorbed by the seats…

CUT TO:

Highway, day, a perfect geometry of cars in four separate lines moves quickly and efficiently along the highway.  All are in synch as they always are.

All but one.

That car veers wildly to the side, nearly hitting another.  It speeds up…

CUT TO:

Keanu realizes his car is hacked and is out of control.  He frowns.  As dangerous as the situation is, the hackers picked the wrong man to mess with.

Keanu reaches for the dashboard and with one swift fist smash dislodges the smooth dashboard plate before him.  He pulls it off, revealing wires and circuitry, and quickly gets to work on it.

Sparks fly and sweat fills Keanu’s forehead.  He grimaces while looking out the window and back at the circuitry.

His car is on a collision course with a speeding bus…

Movies

I suppose it was inevitable…

Considering our ADD society’s constant demand for getting what’s new new NEW, it shouldn’t be all that surprising that, a mere handful of days following the release of the latest Star Wars film, there’s already rumors about what’s coming up in the next Star Wars film…

Star Wars Producer Kathleen Kennedy Confirms the Entire Cast Will Return for Eight Star Wars Film

For those who have seen the film or, like me, have read the plentiful spoilers out there (as the saying goes, you can’t swing a dead cat without hitting ’em), this apparently includes a certain actor/character who…well…you thought might be done based on what happens in this film.

So what to make of the fact that Ms. Kennedy says the entire cast will return?

Was Ms. Kennedy simply trying not to be spoilery regarding the fate of this certain character in the freshly released film (the interview presented might well have been made shortly before the formal release of the film)?  Maybe said character will return like some of the others in the original three Star Wars films, ie as ghostly presences?  Or is it possible that the character’s fate wasn’t quite as permanent as the viewers thought?

I lean towards the later.

Which brings me to the next point:  I know what you’re thinking, did he fire five shots or…

No, wait.

You’re thinking: Ok Mr. Smartypants, you’ve written over and over and over again about how much you don’t like Star Wars all that much and how when you were a young kid you went into the theaters to see the original 1977 Star Wars and walked out wondering what all the hype was about and blah blah blah.

So why do you keep commenting on it?

Frankly, the fact that Star Wars never floated my boat doesn’t mean that I’m not interested in the series and its world wide reaction.  The fact is I’m a science fiction fan.  I write science fiction novels.  I LOVE science fiction.

And while I will wait to see the latest Star Wars feature when it hits home video (again, based on what I’ve read and the fact that this movie appears to be a homage/remake of the original Star Wars makes me even less interested in seeing it right now), I nonetheless will eventually see it.

I’m always hoping a sci-fi work –any sci-fi work- will knock my socks off.  Star Wars and its various sequels and prequels never quite did it for me but I’m always curious -in a professional way- about what sort of stories/movies draw people in and I’m certainly willing to give the film a look.

Eventually.

In the meantime, those who like/love the film, I’m happy for you.  Really.  Clearly there are very many of you out there and while the film hasn’t been universally loved, there are plenty who do like it.

I hope when I get around to seeing it I won’t regret the time spent doing so.

Movies

The Frame (2014) a (mildly) belated review

1 Comment

As much as one loves them, it is easy at times to become frustrated with movies.  If you see enough of them, you pick up on certain familiar storylines and characterizations and long for something new.  Something original.

Yesterday I was in the mood for something genuinely different and scrolled through some of the movies available free to watch through Amazon Prime.  I found the film 2014 film The Frame and read the short description of it.  It went like this:

From Jamin Winans, writer and director of the cult smash hit, INK, comes a mind-bending science fiction thriller about two strangers who find their lives colliding in an impossible way.

Not a whole lot to hang on to here, but the movie’s poster looked kinda cool…

The Frame

…and I wasn’t doing much else so I sat back and watched it.

Wow.

Where to begin?

The film looks really nice.  The cinematography and effects (though limited) are incredible for what I’m assuming is a low budget film.

The story, however, is the main draw and it is fascinating.

The movie opens with Alex (David Carranza), in a parking lot looking out at a city before him.  He watches the city and the (ahem) framing of the shot is quite striking.  After a while, he walks through this parking lot, pulls out a slim jim, and breaks into a car.  He takes off with the stolen vehicle (after, tellingly for later in the movie, turning off the radio) and we watch as he becomes part of a warehouse heist.  These scenes show us that Alex, though a criminal, is both smart and cool under pressure and DOES NOT believe in violence.

The movie then abruptly switches to Sam (Tiffany Mualem), an EMT Paramedic who, in her opening scenes, is filmed at the same angle as Alex was in his.  We watch as she intrepidly enters a home where an abused wife lies bloody and unconscious on the floor while her daughter cries and her abusive husband is about to get violent again.  As with Alex’s opening scenes, these scenes serve to introduce us to Sam and show that she is also intrepid, smart, caring, and cool under pressure.

And then the movie connects these two characters in a most interesting way.

I’m tempted to stop my description of The Frame right there.  I’ll mention a little more, but it will involve SPOILERS so I’ll do so after the trailer is presented below.

The Frame turns out to be a riveting sci-fi/fantasy about the connection between two very flawed yet very sympathetic characters and the bizarre worlds they live in.  What’s perhaps most incredible of all is the actors who play Alex and Sam have an incredible on-screen chemistry even though they (MILD SPOILER) share no more than a few seconds of time together within the film itself.  And when they do, and provided you get as into the movie as I did, you will tear up.

The Frame is a mind-bender of a work and and I must congratulate not only the actors involved but writer/director Jamin Winans for creating such a unique, thought-provoking, and ultimately emotional work.  I’ll have to check out his other works.

Highly Recommended (Some SPOILERY thoughts follow the trailer)

BEWARE!

SPOILERS BELOW!

You’ve been WARNED!

The big twist of The Frame is that Alex and Sam are actually characters in their own TV shows and that they see each other as fictional creations.  Alex watches Sam in her EMT show while Sam sees Alex in his.  If the movie has one flaw it is that Sam’s show is perhaps not as compelling as Alex’s and it would have been nice to see two equally compelling shows within the movie.

But that’s a minor complaint.

The “fictional” characters of Alex and Sam wind up -though it is never explained why- actually talking to each other through their respective television screens.  This understandably freaks Alex out.  Being a thief, he at first worries of being surveyed by the cops.  Sam, on the other hand, wonders if she’s showing signs of severe mental illness as she’s talking to the TV and its talking back to her!

These are delightful touches that only add to the overall picture.  When Sam realizes Alex’s TV show is about to reach its series finale, she fears for his life and tries to save him even as time may be running out for both of them.

As I said above, I highly recommend The Frame.  It is perhaps more a fantasy than science fiction but it presents some very strong emotions along with mind-bending concepts.

At the risk of repeating myself: I strongly recommend it.

TV

:DRYVRS, Ep. 1

Actor/Producer Jack Dishel has posted the first episode of his webseries :DRYVRS on YouTube.  The premise of the series (I’ve only seen the one) appears to be the humorous encounters Mr. Dishel has with the people working for :DRYVRS, a UBER-like service he uses to transport himself from location to location.

Cleverly, the first episode features Macaulay Culkin as the :DRYVR come to pick him up.  Mr. Culkin’s character, we quickly find, is a grown up and whacked out version of his Kevin McCallister from the Home Alone films…

As humorous as the premise was, is it just me or did the whole thing ultimately feel rather…I dunno…depressing?  Don’t get me wrong: The adult Kevin having some serious issues regarding what happened to him when he was a child and growing up to be a seriously deranged individual makes a certain sense, but still…

Regardless, kudos to Mr. Dishel.  He couldn’t have found a more intriguing guest for his his premiere webisode.  That alone guarantees many people -obviously including myself- got to see his work.

Perhaps we can see more of this Kevin in the future?

General

While this is undeniably cool to watch…

…its also an incredibly crazy stunt:

The whole purpose of this exercise was apparently to fly between those two buildings and, from the reaction of Roberta Mancino, the woman who did the fly/glide-by, it looks like either the winds suddenly picked up and pushed her closer toward the building than she wanted or perhaps she simply drifted there without realizing it.

Regardless, and again, as cool as this video is, I hate to sound like Mr. Sober Un-Fun Adult and ask: What if she had hit the building?  Perhaps even a glancing blow?

She’d likely be dead or, if not, unconscious and soon to be dead from the fall.

But she’s gliding over a city.  A city I’m assuming has people walking and driving around the streets.  If she were to hit the building and fall to the ground, I can’t help but think of the others she might have injured and/or killed had her stunt failed.

In spite of all that, it’s still a cool video.

Movies, TV

John Cleese Picks His Favorite Monty Python Skits…

The title says it all:

John Cleese Picks the Most Gut-Busting Monty Python Sketches

Who am I to say otherwise?

Good list, by the way.  I’d like to have a similar list from the remaining members of the troupe.

Books/Literature, Comic Books/Graphic Novels

Alan Moore Q & A on Goodreads…

I’ve had this site on my tablet computer for a while now and figured it was time to share.

Alan Moore, one of the most talented and influential -and controversial- comic book writers perhaps ever, opened up a Q & A session over at Goodreads.  The questions were plentiful though a few of his replies were obviously cut and pasted.  Still, a fascinating read:

https://www.goodreads.com/author/3961.Alan_Moore/questions

I remain a great admirer and equally frustrated/annoyed fan of Mr. Moore’s.  There is no doubt the work he produced, particularly for DC comics in the 1980’s, was like nothing that came before it.  His work on Swamp Thing and Watchmen alone would lift anyone’s reputation to the stratosphere.  He also was responsible for the excellent V for Vendetta, Marvel/MiracleMan, D.R. & Quinch (a hilarious series, proving he could do comedy as deftly as horror/action/drama), and “Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow”, a “last” Silver age Superman story.

On the negative side, he was also the writer behind The Killing Joke, a beautifully drawn -by Brian Bolland- Batman graphic novel whose story was…not all that good, IMHO.  In fact, the story was sadistic and needlessly grim.  Of course, there are those who would argue that point with me.

Soon after the release of Watchmen Alan Moore grew furious with DC comics and left them, never to return.  Based on the Q & A his negative feelings haven’t diminished one bit.  My understanding of the situation, based on interviews Mr. Moore has given over the years, involved the rights to Watchmen.  Though I’m probably oversimplifying things (Alan Moore alone knows how much more is involved), the original contract with Mr. Moore stated the rights to the series would revert back to him as soon as the book was out of print.  However, because the series was so successful DC was able to retain the rights to it and have done so since its initial 12 issue run was completed in the late 1980’s.

While I sympathize with Mr. Moore, a part of me is greatly troubled by what I can only call his hypocrisy regarding creative ownership.

As I have mentioned in the past, the Watchmen series was originally supposed to feature the Charlton Heroes that DC had at the time just acquired.  Because of the nature of the story Mr. Moore was telling, it was felt that rather than use these characters he should come up with pastiches and use them.  Thus the Charlton heroes…

…became the Watchmen.

In his time at DC, Mr. Moore had little problems using other people’s creations to tell his stories.  Yet he gets hung up on the concept of creative ownership even when some of his most famous stories involved characters he either didn’t come up with (Batman, Superman, Swamp Thing, etc.) or came up with thinly veiled pastiches of the same (Watchmen).  After leaving DC comics one of his higher profile works was Supreme, a tissue-thin “homage” (I would call it a rip off) of Superman…

Yeah…

Mr. Moore would follow this up with such series as League of Extraordinary Gentlemen (which used copyright free characters such as Alan Quatermain, Dorian Gray, etc. etc.), Promethea (which was a Wonder Woman type), and Tom Strong (a Doc Savage/Pulp type hero).

I’d be the last to blast Mr. Moore’s writing talents but it bothers me that his best known post DC works (there are others, I’m not forgetting them) have largely involved either using copyright free characters or thinly veiled versions of other, more famous characters.

And still he’s angry with DC for retaining their copyright on Watchmen?

Regardless, the Q & A is interesting if you want to get into the mind of Mr. Moore.

General

Dragnet…

…or perhaps I should invoke one of Judas Priest’s best known songs?

Two tales of people running afoul of the law caught my eye these past couple of days.  First up is “Pharma bro” Martin Shkreli who has been arrested for securities fraud as reported in this article written by Scott Eric Kauffman and presented in Salon.com:

“Pharma bro” Martin Shkreli Arrested For Securities Fraud

Is Mr. Shkreli’s name not familiar to you?  This bit of information, pulled from the above article, tells you just about all you need to know about the right honorable Mr. Shkreli…

Shkreli vaulted into the public eye in September, when he boasted about raising the price on a life-saving toxoplasmosis treatment for unborn babies and people with HIV or cancer by 5,455 percent. Although he insisted the drug “was still under-priced,” he promised that he would return it to its original level — a promise he reneged on the last week of November. His despicable behavior has prompted everyone from Donald Trump to Hillary Clinton to condemn him.

Quite a comeuppance, no?

The second story involves Ethan Couch, who was on probation and is now on the run from the law (both he and his mother cannot be found) and facing “real prison time” for violating the terms of his probation.

Mr. Couch achieved notoriety back in 2013 and following killing four people and seriously injuring two others while driving drunk at the ripe old age of 16.  As terrible a crime as that was, what happened during his trial was even worse: His lawyers stated the underage man was suffering from “affluenza”, that he was so spoiled by his wealthy parents that he didn’t have a clear concept of right and wrong.

Incredibly, the judge bought the argument and Mr. Couch was sentenced to ten years probation.  However, a video posted on twitter showed him participating in a party which clearly had liquor.  This violates the terms of his parole and could land him in jail.

Oops.

So he and his mother are on the lam and you can read all about it in this article by Mary Elizabeth Williams and also found on Salon.com:

Spare us the “affluenza” defense this time: Ethan Couch faces real prison time for violating parole

The commonality between the two stories appears to be two young, entitled men who can no longer game the system.

One hopes they eventually learn from these troubles and make more of their lives than they have so far.

General, Movies, Sports

Let’s see…what to talk about today…

Star Wars, again?  While Rotten Tomatoes has the film scoring an incredible 97% positive, I’m getting the feeling The positives reviews I’ve read (and I won’t even pretend to have read more than a handful) have been somewhat half-hearted.

Which in some ways is not all that different from your typical reaction to the works of J. J. Abrams.  I actually admire the man quite a bit: He knows how to create something that, while you’re watching it, is compelling and interesting.  But after the fact, when you stop to think about what you’ve just seen, doubts form and secondary opinions pop up.

Will this happen for Star Wars VII?  It happened, after all, with the “prequels”.  There was plenty of good cheer and great critical ratings until the warm glow of nostalgia lifted and people got a better look at the product.

By the way, I’m as prone to changing my mind as the next person.  I enjoyed Star Trek: Into Darkness when I caught it in the theaters but after thinking about it for a bit, realized the film was very flawed.

We’ll see what happens.

What else is there to talk about?

Politics?

Yesterday we had the 1,993,320,123,432th GOP debate and, like all the others, I dutifully avoided it as best I could.  Of course afterwards all those news stations (why, WHY!?!) had their anchors/analysts go over who did what and to whom and, like some morbid all enveloping black hole I couldn’t help but be sucked in.

It appears, at least to my eyes and based on what little was highlighted, that I didn’t miss all that much.  I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: I wouldn’t vote for this version of the Republican Party if my life depended on it (check this chilling article by William Saletan which posits this question: Who would you elect President if your only choices are Trump, Cruz, or Carson?).  The latest debate -what little I saw of it- didn’t change my mind in that respect.

So forget Star Wars and forget Politics.  How about…

Football?

Bob Costas Says Football’s Biggest Problem Can’t Be Fixed

I’ve gone down this road before a few times but, like the self-driving car articles I so dearly love, this is rapidly becoming an issue I’m also intrigued with.

I’ve written about this before so excuse me while I (briefly) repeat myself:  When I was young, I had no interest in sports at all.  Let me be clear: AT ALL.

I was forced to play games I didn’t care to play (usually soccer…why the hell couldn’t you use your hands?!?).  TV was very limited back then and where I was there wasn’t a whole lot of sports aired on it.

Things changed back in/around 1984.  I started watching -and admiring- football, specifically the incredible talents of one Dan Marino.  He almost single handedly got me interested in football in general and the Dolphins specifically.

But I didn’t stop there and eventually became a full fledged sports fanatic.  I not only watched football, but also basketball, baseball, and hockey.  This all ended the year after I watched almost every single game of the 2003 World Series winning season the Marlins played.  I realized I was extremely lucky to see a team go from game one to winning the series and the likelihood of repeating this was very slim.

I also realized I had wasted waaaay too much time before the TV seeing this.

So I cut back dramatically.  In more recent times the most sports I’ve followed were probably the LeBron James Heat, but I only watched some of those games and more closely followed the playoffs.

Though it all, my favorite sport to watch remained football, in spite of the fact that since Marino retired the Dolphins haven’t done much of anything.

Having said that, I agree with Mr. Costa: Football is at heart a game that destroys not only the athlete’s body, but also, and more frighteningly, his mind.  Yes, some people come out of the game better but at this point I feel that even those who most want football to prosper cannot with a straight face say that it is a “safe” sport to play.

True, basketball, baseball, and hockey wear down athletes’ bodies as well, but the fact is that these sports don’t feature what is the staple of football: Athletes running at full speed into each other.

It happens now and again in basketball.  It happens now and again in baseball.  It may happen a little more frequently in hockey.

But the reality is that every play in football involves athletes running into each other at top speeds.  While a well-toned body may be able to absorb the hits, there is no training or helmet padding great enough to protect a person’s brain.

I’m not going to lie: I still love watching football.  But as each new study on brain trauma resulting from playing in the sport is released and the reality of what playing the game does to the athletes’ bodies is understood, I don’t know how much longer it can exist.

Movies

Yet more Star Wars…

Last night was the premiere of Star Wars: The Force Awakens and I was curious to see how the exclusive crowds reacted to the premiere.  It would appear they left mostly happy:

From CNN:

Star Wars: The Force Awakens gets positive early reactions

Over on twitter:

First reactions suggest “overwhelming experience”

The Guardian likewise reported the same.

So for all those looking forward to the film’s formal release tomorrow (it is being released on Wednesday, right?) looks like you’ll like what you’ll see.