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.
Music

U2 and Apple

One of the biggest surprises, at least to me, of this year’s “Let’s bedazzle everyone with our new stuff” Apple event was the announcement that U2’s latest album, Songs of Innocence, would be automatically downloaded to everyone’s iTunes for free (minus, btw, as many as four bonus songs, three of which will likely be on the actual paid download/Cd and one more to be included on the vinyl release).

While I feel that U2 hit their pinnacle with the dual releases of 1991’s Achtung Baby and 1993’s Zooropa, to me they crashed down hard with the release of 1997’s Pop (an album that totally did not work for me) and have never fully recovered from it.  Though they’ve had some good songs and even decent full albums since that time (they’ve released 4 albums since Pop, including Songs of Innocence), the proverbial “something” was missing from their work.

Though its hard to put my finger on what that “something” is, it seemed they were perhaps trying to hard to create “hits” while simultaneously playing it far too safe.  Instead of a rock band, they became a corporation and were no longer willing to make waves or issue political proclamations or create songs that cut deep.  In sum, they got rather…boring.

Still, I loved most of their stuff up to Zooropa so naturally I’m interested in hearing anything they choose to release.  When I learned Songs of Innocence was being given away, I immediately jumped onto my iTunes and, not finding it there, manually downloaded the album and, to this point, have listened to the first three songs.  I really enjoyed the second song, “Every Breaking Wave”, but until I hear the whole thing a few times, I’m going to withhold any other critical comments.

That didn’t stop others from doing the same, though.

I was particularly intrigued with Lindsay Zoladz’s review of the album for Slate magazine, which you can find here:

http://www.slate.com/blogs/browbeat/2014/09/10/u2-s-surprise-album-songs-of-innocence-reviewed.html

The review was fascinating in its ambivalence, noting the positives and the negatives of this, the 2014 edition of U2.

Over at Salon, I found an even more startling article by Prachi Gupta which, rather than review the album itself, goes into people’s reactions to suddenly finding a new U2 album in their iTunes que.  Most of the comments presented aren’t positive at all, and point to a fact that until I read the article didn’t realize but probably should have:  To young music listeners, U2 is very much a band from the past.  To them, having this album “forced” upon them when they didn’t ask for it is impolite at best and somewhat creepy at worse (which Lindsay Zoladz points to as well!).

Regardless, this makes for interesting reading, even if Ms. Gupta shows her ignorance of the band by referring in the very first sentence of the article that U2 is a “90s rock band”.  I suppose their initial rise to prominence in 1980-81 and subsequent great albums from the 1980’s doesn’t count!?

http://www.salon.com/2014/09/10/this-new-u2-album-has-got-everyone-feeling-lots-of-feelings/

Movies

R.I.P.D. (2013) a (mildly) belated review

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Of all the films released in the summer of 2013, the one that everyone seemed to agree on -in a very negative way- was R.I.P.D.

Boasting a -there’s no other way to describe it- terrible 13% positive among critics and a slightly higher, yet still pretty bad 39% positive among audiences in rottentomatoes.com, it’s hardly a wonder the film died a quick death at the box office while also receiving horrible word of mouth.

So naturally, now that I’ve seen it, there’s just no chance I’d actually like it, right?

Well….

Let’s just say I fell into the 13%.

I’m not trying to be Mr. Contrarian.  For the record, I’m not a huge fan of actors Ryan Reynolds or Jeff Bridges, the movie’s two leads.  Let me quickly add that neither do I hate their work.  They’ve been in movies I’ve enjoyed along with movies I haven’t, which makes them like pretty much 99.9% of the actors out there.

Moving along, I’m also not at all familiar with the comic books this film was based on.  I haven’t read a single page of an R.I.P.D. book and have, even now, no idea at all who the creators/artists were behind it.  Finally, I’m all too aware of the biggest -and most appropriate- knock against this film, that its concept/plot was clearly “inspired” -the kindest description one can use- by the Men In Black movies.  In MIB, you had a secret police force walking among humanity and dealing with outrageous aliens.  In R.I.P.D. you have a secret police force comprised of dead people dealing with outrageous dead people.

When the film was released last summer, it barely made it on my radar.  I saw the commercials and thought they looked “OK” at best, but didn’t have a strong desire to see the film. After it tanked and following its release to video, I didn’t bother putting it on my Netflix que.  It was one of hundreds of films that I simply had no big interest in seeing and, given how little free time I have to see the films I actually want to see, figured I’d never get around to it.

Yet over this past weekend, my cable company was offering a free preview of HBO and Cinemax.  Through this I caught a few minutes of R.I.P.D.  What I saw…didn’t suck.

In fact, I thought it wasn’t all that bad at all.

I checked the guide and found the film was scheduled to air a few more times before the preview period was over so I set my DVR and, last night, my wife and I sat down and gave it a try.  I warned my wife in advance that the film bombed upon its release and was trashed by critics and audiences alike.  We agreed that if the film became a chore to watch, we’d turn it off immediately.

We didn’t.

We watched the film from start to end and, while I wouldn’t say the film was the best sci-fi/action/comedy I’ve ever seen, it wasn’t anywhere near as bad as so many said it was.

Yes, the film’s concept shamelessly ripped off MIB.  And while not all the jokes hit their target, the movie had very little fat, moving along like lightning while presenting humorous bits and average to quite good CGI effects.  Finally, Mary-Louise Parker was hilarious as Proctor, the head of the R.I.P.D. division.

R.I.P.D. clearly was not made with the idea of winning Academy Awards. Neither was it meant to be startlingly creative in its conception.  No, this film was meant to be a summer popcorn film, a pleasant time killer, and I’ll be damned if it didn’t accomplish its goal.

Perhaps people weren’t in the right mood for something like this when it was released.  Perhaps people couldn’t stomach a film that so brazenly lifted another film’s concept (like no other movies have done the same!).  Perhaps everyone was looking for a reason to hate on Ryan Reynolds.  I don’t know.

All I know is that I’ve seen plenty of summer blockbusters beloved by audiences and critics alike that I’ve enjoyed far less than R.I.P.D.  Give it a try and watch it with an open mind.  You may be surprised.

Movies

The Glass Key (1942) a (incredibly) belated review

I love, love, love the era of “pulp” fiction writing.  I’m not talking about Quentin Tarantino’s take on it, I’m talking about the era from roughly the very early 1920’s (some works appeared during the very late 1910’s) through roughly the 1940’s, when authors such as Raymond Chandler, H.P. Lovecraft, Robert E. Howard, Lester Dent, Walter Gibson, Edgar Rice Burroughs, Isaac Asimov, Robert Heinlein, and, yes, Dashiell Hammett produced literal mountains of incredibly strong works of fiction.  (Yes, I’ve left off many other authors I could include in this list but I’ve got a movie to review!).

Between the works of Raymond Chandler and Dashiell Hammett you have the foundation of almost all modern American crime/detective dramas.  So popular were their works that several of them were made into very famous films.  1942’s The Glass Key, the second screen adaptation of the Dashiell Hammett novel, may not be quite on the classic level of the previous year’s The Maltese Falcon (the third time that Hammett novel was filmed!) yet is nonetheless a great piece of work that, despite its age, remains full of intrigue, larger than life characters, and deep, dark, and delicious shadows.

Though third billed, then relative newcomer Alan Ladd is the star of the film.  He plays Ed Beaumont, a steel eyed “fixer” for Paul Madvig (Brian Donlevy), a man who at the beginning of the film is clearly identified as a big time crook.  Elections are around the corner and Madvig wants nothing to do with the very respected reform candidate Ralph Taylor.  After all, should Taylor get into office, Madvig’s “profession” might well go up in smoke.

However, a chance encounter with Janet Henry (the stunning Veronica Lake), Ralph Henry’s daughter, has Paul Madvig madly in love, and suddenly the crooked man decides to back the reformer and clean up his own organization.  Naturally, this alarms his old “friends,” who don’t take kindly to his changed ways.

Eventually there is a murder, and it is then that Ed Beaumont springs into action, trying to figure out whodunnit when everyone, even Madvig’s sister, thinks his boss and good friend did the deed.

I’ve purposely tried to be vague about the plot and the various character’s motivations, but suffice it to say that the film’s story twists and turns in delightful ways while offering plenty of memorable scenes.  Of them, my favorite might well be the climactic meeting between Beaumont and the goon Jeff (William Bendix in what may be one of his all time best roles).  Pay close attention to the way Alan Ladd’s Beaumont handles that bottle of Ketchup as they talk!  Great, great scene.

A terrific film and a very easy recommendation, even to those who may be allergic to old films.

Music

Rock is dead…

…so sayeth Gene Simmons of KISS:

http://www.cnn.com/2014/09/08/showbiz/music/rock-is-dead-gene-simmons-esquire/index.html

I’m not a huge fan of either Gene Simmons or KISS (though they made several songs I don’t mind at all!) and I believe his comments were spur of the moment and perhaps not as articulate as they could have been, but I tend to agree with him.

Yes, music styles change from year to year and generation to generation and what fans loved back in the 1970’s (arguably KISS’ heyday) may not fly today.

However, I don’t think his comments are simply about a style of music.  His comments are about the fact that because of the internet and MP3’s and piracy, it is incredibly difficult for an up and comer to make any money at all with their new music.

The Beatles, arguably the biggest rock n’ roll band ever, didn’t appear out of nowhere.  They spent years practicing their craft in small venues before finally landing a recording contract.  Even after they released their first album, they had to continue working hard and creating more material before finally “hitting it big.”

Would they have succeeded in this day and age?  What if their new songs were readily available through torrent sites and, instead of buying records, many people simply downloaded the music illegally?

Its not too much of a stretch to imagine that if this were the case, “bottom line” record companies might view the emerging band as not worthy of investing more time on.

Is it possible there are other bands that might become as legendary as The Beatles out there but because of the state of music releases, they may not have the chance to grow and shine?

General

Jack the Ripper…unmasked?

Easily one of the most notorious -and first to gain notoriety- serial killers was Jack the Ripper.  Though his identity remains unknown even today, yesterday a new claim was made as to who this barbaric killer might have been.  You can read all about it here:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2746321/Jack-Ripper-unmasked-How-amateur-sleuth-used-DNA-breakthrough-identify-Britains-notorious-criminal-126-years-string-terrible-murders.html

Many have pointed out the fact that this article comes from The Daily Mail (apparently not a very reliable “news” source) and that the person behind this claim is also (not so coincidentally) releasing a book to promote his views as reasons to be highly skeptical of the claims.

But even looking at them with as much neutrality as possible, one has to be impressed with at least one aspect of this new claim: The use of DNA testing in identifying a potential suspect.

If you don’t want to read through the article (though I recommend you do), the bottom line is that a shawl supposedly owned by Catherine Eddowes and taken from her by a policeman after she was found dead -a victim of Jack the Ripper-, was handed down over the years only to wind up with businessman Russell Edwards.  The shawl was then tested for DNA.

Through this DNA testing and subsequent testing of distant relatives of one Aaron Kosminski, a match was made regarding material found on the shawl.  Mr. Kosminski, it appears, left behind DNA traces on the murder victim’s shawl, probably in the form of semen, and that links him to this victim’s item.  What makes this all the more fascinating is that the police back then viewed Mr. Kosminski as a suspect in the Jack the Ripper murders!

Anyway, I find the whole thing fascinating though I don’t believe it positively answers the question as to whether Kosminski was the Ripper.  Even taking everything the article has at face value, what we ultimately have is Kosminski linked to a shawl that a victim and known prostitute had on her when she died.  Kosminski could well be the Ripper, but he could have also been nothing more than a “client” of the victim.  For all we know, he might have met her days, even weeks before she was eventually slain and this is how his DNA wound up on her shawl.

Still, the fact that we’ve been able, after all these years, to link one person, and this person in particular, to one of the Ripper victims is fascinating, though grim, stuff.

General

Craziest Items Seized by the TSA…

…and there are some mighty crazy items!

http://www.weather.com/travel/craziest-items-seized-tsa-20130319

Its infuriating to see all those live, and often endangered, animals found among the seized articles, but even more scary are the various concealed weapons.  One can’t help but think with some of them (the razor blade, the pocket knife concealed in a container of potato chips!) that the person trying to smuggle them into the airplane had some weird notions about what s/he was going to do with the items.

Chilling.

General

Whodathunkit?!

My Miami Dolphins defeat The New England Patriots 33-20 on opening day?!?!

This after three horrific consecutive offensive series in the first half by the Dolphins that ended with turnovers?!?!

Color me amazed.

Yes, it is the first game in what will be a loooong season.  And, yes, the first half performance by the Dolphins was worrying.  And yes, Dolphin Quarterback Ryan Tannenhill’s accuracy was wobbly.  And yes, finally, it appeared the Florida heat really got to the New England players in the second half.

And yet, this is the first time in a very long time that the Dolphins put an opponent of such quality away well well before the final minutes of play.  It is the first time in a long time I’ve seen them rack up 23 points in their comeback win, all during the second half, while their opponent could do almost literally nothing.

We’ll see what happens next, but for today, and after way too, too many years of mediocrity or worse, I’m happy to be a Dolphin fan! 😉

Comic Books/Graphic Novels, Movies

DC’s URL Registrations reveal…

…their comic book movie plans?

http://io9.com/dcs-url-registrations-reveal-comic-book-movie-plans-for-1629691999

Interesting, though not terribly full bodied, material.  The URLs listed amount to a whopping (he wrote sarcastically) four movies, and at least two of them are already known and one was suspected.  The fourth listed in the above link is something of a surprise, at least to me.

I won’t spoil it for those who don’t want to know, but suffice it to say that I’m curious why that particular character has become such a interesting character to so many.  I thought at first it was something of a joke, but it appears many people are genuinely interested in this particular character and would love to see him (that’s as far as I’ll hint it!) on the screen.

Different strokes and all…

General

A topic sure to inflame passions…

From author Valerie Tarico for Salon.com, 5 Reasons to Suspect that Jesus Never Existed:

http://www.salon.com/2014/09/01/5-reasons-to-suspect-that-jesus-never-existed/

I’ve heard variations of most of the reasons before and, while I am willing to believe there might well have been someone (or a couple of someones!) that served as the inspiration for what would be the Jesus of the Bible, I tend to think the person in the Bible may well be more fabrication than reality.

Why?

Mainly for what is outlined in the very first of the five reasons: Secular and Pagan texts written concurrently to Jesus’ lifetime make no mention of him and this, to me, is not a small matter.

I could go into more detail but I suspect those who believe will continue to do so despite whatever clumsy material I offer and, frankly, I have no problem with those who do.

Still, it is a fascinating -though incendiary!- topic.

Movies

Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit (2014), a (mildly) belated review

Back in 2009 actor Chris Pine seemed to come out of nowhere and managed to take over -quite well!- the extremely familiar role of Captain Kirk in the new Star Trek.  While in the end I didn’t like either new Star Trek features all that much and for varying reasons, the cast was certainly not one of them.  All the actors, and especially lead actor Mr. Pine, stepped into some mighty big shoes and did a good job with these familiar roles.

Unfortunately, following taking on and impressing audiences with his role as Captain Kirk, it seemed most of Mr. Pine’s other lead roles fizzled, both at the box office and in terms of critical reaction.  I haven’t seen all of the films he’s been in since the first Star Trek, but of the two I have seen Unstoppable was a decent enough -though not spectacular- actioner, and This Means War was a pleasant enough romantic comedy…provided you put your mind in neutral.  With regards to This Means War, I seem to be in a very small minority indeed!

Of all the non-Star Trek movies he’s been involved in, the one that audiences probably anticipated the most was 2014’s Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit.  Based on the well known Tom Clancy character (but not on any of the Tom Clancy novels), the role had previously been played by such well known actors as Alec Baldwin (the first to take on the Jack Ryan role in The Hunt For Red October), Harrison Ford (perhaps the most famous Jack Ryan, he appeared in two films featuring the character), and Ben Affleck.

So once again Mr. Pine steps into some mighty big shoes.

How did his work compare to the others on this list?

Well enough, I suppose.  Ultimately Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit turned out to be a bust, for me, because of the silly story we’re being told.

To begin, this film clearly is trying to fall into the Bourne/James Bond niche rather than the previous Ryan-centric films.  Chris Pine’s Jack Ryan is young, relatively inexperienced, but willing to give it the college try.

We have a brief “origin” story about him, then see how he’s recruited by the CIA to work in Wall Street and watch for any signs of terrorist activity via money transfers.  Quickly enough, he finds just such evidence in the form of multiple hidden accounts of a Russian Oligarch (director Kenneth Branagh pulls double duties as the villain of this piece).

His recruiter (Kevin Costner, nicely playing the old vet), decides Ryan needs to immediately go to Moscow to get a closer look at the Oligarch and sniff around his bank accounts.  This leads to some trouble as Ryan’s girlfriend (Keira Knightley in a role that maybe should have been thought through by the writers a little bit more), who is unaware he works for the CIA, wonders if he may be *gasp* cheating on him.

Much hilarity follows.

Actually, no…it does not.

Seriously, the whole “girlfriend who doesn’t know her man is secretly in the CIA” is such an odd bit that I wondered if somewhere down the line this script might have originally been a comedy.  Knightley’s character winds up -surprise!- showing up in Moscow and because of her awkward timing is forced to join Ryan at a tense dinner with our villain.  The dinner ends with Ryan stealing some vital information and this, in turn, leads to action action action and Knightley’s character in grave danger.

I think it was at about this point that the film really started to turn me off.  Don’t get me wrong, the acting is decent enough, the location work and cinematography well done, and the editing and direction is good.

But that story…

The script/story keeps putting Chris Pine’s Ryan squarely in the middle of each action sequence and it becomes too preposterous.  By the time we reach the film’s climax, we’re in the middle of New York on red alert.  There’s a literal army of police, military, and security officers, yet Ryan alone winds up figuring out where the threat is and takes it down single-handedly.

All while we know he’s an “analyst” and not a “trained” field operative!

In the end, I cannot recommend Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit.  Though the mechanics (ie acting, directing, etc.) of the film are solid enough, the movie is done in by a ridiculous story.

Too bad.

While watching the above trailer, there are a couple of things that happen on it that I don’t recall seeing in the film itself.  First is the blowing up helicopter.  I recall a helicopter attack early in the film, but not a helicopter blowing up so completely.  Second, there is one shot of a city at night with a high floor in one building blowing up.  Again, don’t recall that scene in the film itself.

Looks like the film underwent some work after the fact!