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.
Movies

Dredd (2012) a (mildly) belated review

While there have likely been thousands upon thousands of comic book characters created since approximately 1980 and thereabouts, it is my belief that only two of them have thus far stood the test of time.  Sure, there are many creations that have achieved a great deal of fame and public notice.  At one point The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, The Crow, Tank Girl, Barb Wire, and Spawn were incredibly popular characters.  So popular that they all had subsequent movie adaptations, though the success of said films varied wildly.

As the years passed, however, so too did these characters’ popularity.  While it certainly can be argued that The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles remain well known, I suspect the other characters may not be as familiar to the general public as they used to be.  So…of the thousands of characters created in the comic book format, which two do I personally feel have thus far stood the test of time?  One would be Hellboy.  The other is Judge Dredd.

To me, Judge Dredd remains an incredible creation:  A fascistic cop in a post-apocalyptic world whose face is always hidden behind his bullet shaped helmet.  He patrols the enormous streets of Mega City 1, almost all that is left of civilization and which takes up most of what’s left of the east coast of the United States.  The densely populated city overflows with criminal activity, and it is Judge Dredd who, along with the other Judges, patrols this city and serves as the proverbial “judge, jury, and executioner” to any crimes he may witness and/or investigate.  While the above description may suggest a grim tone to the comic book, the early stories (ie the ones I’m most familiar with) featured a hilariously tongue in cheek attitude.  While there was plenty of violence and action, what the series from the many other “grim and gritty” books out there was the fact that there was such a very healthy dose of humor present in almost every story.

In fact, one of my favorite bits from all the Judge Dredd comic books I’ve read involves a relatively small sequence wherein the good Judge saves a man who is has jumped from a building in an attempt to commit suicide.  As the man is falling, Dredd yells at him that “Public Littering” is a crime.  Once safely in Dredd’s hands and then on the ground, Judge Dredd sentences the distraught man to 90 days in prison for being a “Public Nuisance”!

In 1995 Sylvester Stallone starred in the first film version of Judge Dredd.  While the movie captured the visual “look” of Judge Dredd quite well, the movie itself was a huge disappointment.  Comic book fans were incensed that within ten minutes of screen time Judge Dredd takes off his helmet and remains helmet-less throughout the bulk of the film.  A very ill advised comic sidekick and a lack of a focused (or interesting) story line didn’t help matters either.  The film was a flop.  The years passed and the comic continued appearing.

And then, this past year and some seventeen years later, audiences were treated to a second film version of the good Judge, this one simply titled Dredd.  This time around, the makers of the film treated the character with more reverence and appeared to be more keen on following the comic book.  Karl Urban, who takes on the role of Judge Dredd, manages to keep his helmet on throughout most of the proceedings (you do catch a very shadowy view of the helmet-less Dredd at the start of the film but never see his actual face).

And while the Judges’ costumes are simplified a bit, the movie does use characters and situations from the comic in the telling of this new story.  Sounded pretty good, right?  Well, it is…for the most part.  Unfortunately, that sense of humor I found so unique in the Dredd stories I was familiar with is almost no where to be found in this film.

In fact Dredd is a “grim and gritty” action film, period.  Yes, there are some humorous bits littered here and there, but this film was primarily crafted as a “R” rated violent affair.  Not that there’s anything wrong with that.

The plot of the film is quite simple:  Judge Dredd is asked to watch over a potential Judge by the name of Anderson (Olivia Thirlby, who is quite terrific) for a day and see if despite failing the initiation test -by a whole 3 points- she might still be Judge material.  Why?  Because like the comic book character, Anderson is a psychic and the head Judges are intrigued with having someone on the force with genuine psychic ability.

The movie then moves to the main plot:  In one of Mega City 1’s massive high rises, the drug dealing Ma-Ma (Lena Headey) has ordered the deaths of three rival drug dealers as a message to her rivals.  Judge Dredd and the rookie Anderson come to the high rise to investigate and manage to capture the man who actually killed the three rivals to Ma-Ma.  The fact that he’s captured alive and can thus become an informant against Ma-Ma’s drug empire forces her to act.  She seals off the building before the Judges and their prisoner can get out and sets her men after them.

From there, all hell breaks loose.

Yes, the plot is similar to 2011;s The Raid: Redemption.  But I believe both films owe a large debt to John Carpenter’s terrific 1976 film Assault on Precinct 13.

So, bottom line:  Is this film worth watching?  Yes, I would certainly recommend it.  However, if you’re like me and were looking to see crazy humor mixed in with the action, tone that particular expectation down.  Otherwise, sit back and enjoy the ride.

General

Even OLDER dashcam footage!

Just the other day I posted a link and embedded video of “dashcam” footage of New York circa 1926 (you can read about it here).  I noted that while the website claimed the video from 1926 might be the oldest dashcam footage ever, I found that doubtful.  I recalled silent films from that era and before that also featured dashcam footage, so while old and unquestionably fascinating, I was reasonably certain the 1926 footage was not the “first” of its kind.

Well, to the website’s credit they have found and posted an even older dashcam footage.  Considerably older.

The footage below is from 1907 Vancouver!  Given the year, the footage presented isn’t from an automobile, rather was made via streetcar.  Still, incredibly fascinating to watch:

For more information on the footage, plus equally fascinating information on the man who filmed it (and died a mere five years later in one of the most famous maritime disasters of all time), click on the following link:

http://www.autoblog.com/2013/01/08/even-older-dashcam-footage-from-1907/

 

Music

David Bowie’s back!

Excellent news:  David Bowie has just released the first single from his new album, “Where Are We Now?”:

The single is currently available at iTunes and the album itself will appear by March of this year.  This is Mr. Bowie’s first new work in (gasp!) ten long years.  For a while there, it appeared he might be retiring but I’m glad we’re getting at least one more taste of his (to my ears) very unique and compelling work.

More information about this can be found here:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/01/08/where-are-we-now-david-bowie-single_n_2430856.html

UPDATE:  All right, I’ve given the above song a few listens and I have to say I’m very impressed.  The song is haunting, introspective piece that grows on you with each listen.  Certainly fills me with optimism and curiosity regarding the entire album.  The album, titled “The Next Day”, has 17 (!) tracks on the iTunes “Deluxe” edition.

Should be interesting!

General

World’s Oldest Dashcam Footage?!

1 Comment

Follow this fascinating link to find footage from the archives of the Fire Department of New York which show a car transporting Fire Chief John Kenlon from the Brooklyn Fire Department to a storage warehouse fire on East 123rd Street.

http://www.autoblog.com/2013/01/05/watch-what-might-be-the-worlds-oldest-dashcam-footage-from-1926/

If you’re not interested in reading the entire article, you can see the actual dashcam footage here:

Now, I suspect this is not the earliest “dashcam” type footage out there.  I seem to recall seeing plenty of silent films that featured vehicular adventures and footage from the front seat.  Further, there is an interesting bit of…I wouldn’t quite call it controversy but rather “questions” regarding the exact date this footage was filmed.  The date of the video is listed as April 24, 1926.  But, according to Ian, one clever poster for the article, records indicated that day in NY was actually quite warm.  Perhaps the footage was filmed at an earlier (snowier) date rather than the late spring date given?

Regardless, fascinating stuff and an extended look at what the streets of New York looked like nearly one hundred years ago.  My only wish is that they could slow down and correct the rate the footage is presented.  Things are a little too “sped up”.

Movies

The Disney film you’re not allowed to see…

Check out this fascinating book review by John Lingan at Slate for Disney’s Most Notorious Film: Race, Convergence, and the Hidden Histories of the Song of the South by Jason Sperb:

http://www.slate.com/articles/arts/books/2013/01/song_of_the_south_disney_s_most_notorious_film_by_jason_sperb_reviewed.html

Consider me one of those people who are  fascinated by Disney’s 1946 animated/live action film Song of the South.  To this day, it is the only film that the Disney company refuses to release, despite the fact that it features one of their more famous songs (“Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah”) and the additional fact that the Disney parks have a ride based on the film (Splash Mountain).

However, the film has not been re-released for obvious (racial) reasons.  For years I accepted the contention made by others that the movie was a “product of its time”.  Turns out I should have been more skeptical of those claims.

Check out this paragraph from the book’s review:

(Jason Sperb) first punctures the myth that the racial caricatures in Song of the South were “a product of its time.” This is an argument that the film’s defenders trot out reliably, when, in fact, Disney took uncharacteristic pains to undercut the Harris tales’ potential offensiveness. As Neal Gabler’s biography reveals, Disney hired a leftist screenwriter, Mauric Rapf, to modify the original script by southerner Dalton Reymond; Disney Company reps met with producers of the racially controversial 1943 film Stormy Weather to hear about their marketing experiences; and Disney publicists warned management of potential racially charged blowback. Walt Disney himself even invited NAACP president Walter White to California to oversee script revisions, though the meeting never occurred.

It is stuff like this that really intrigues me.  I may just have to give this book a look.

General

10 Well Known Brands That Will Disappear in 2013

When I first stumbled upon the “Brands that Will Disappear” kind of lists, I was genuinely shocked to find the giant bookseller Borders on the list.  That list, which appeared a couple of years ago, proved accurate as in 2011 the chain of stores officially ended their run.

What brands are in danger today?  Follow the link to the Daily Finance page and you shall find your answers!

http://www.dailyfinance.com/2012/12/28/10-well-known-brands-that-will-disappear-in-2013/

Movies

Resident Evil: Retribution (2012) a (mildly) belated review

A while back someone wrote about their favorite “guilty pleasures” and it got me thinking about what mine were/are.  This proved to be both an easy and rather hard thing to do.  The first thing that sprung to my mind was the Resident Evil movies.  Hard because, other than that series of films, I found it difficult to think of anything else that fell into a genuine “guilty pleasure” category…for me.

“Guilty pleasures,” I feel, are things you know in your heart are not all that good (you may even be willing to describe them as “bad”) yet you can’t help but enjoy the product, be it a book, a movie, or an album.  To my mind, the Resident Evil movies are far from (a) original or (b) terribly coherent.  But what they are…or at least have been…are reasonably enjoyable time killers and, yes, the definition of a “guilty pleasure”.

Until now.

Resident Evil: Retribution, the fifth installment in the franchise, starts with the finale of the previous film, 2010’s Resident Evil: Afterlife.  But immediately after this, the film goes off into its own direction and for the most part ignores pretty much everything that happened after that previous movie’s cliffhanger.  It’s telling that the film’s makers could have cut that recap sequence out completely and simply started the movie with our imprisoned heroine, Alice (Milla Jovovich), and move on from there.

So what does this latest movie in the series offer?

Well, we do have the return of some old characters, from Michelle Rodriguez’s Rain to Sienna Guillory’s Jill Valentine to Oded Fehr’s Carlos Olivera.  If you’re familiar with the series, you immediately realize that two of the characters mentioned above were killed in previous Resident Evil films, and part of what got me interested in seeing this newest film was to see how they went about returning these characters to the series.

Alas, it turned out the returning characters were both good and evil clones.  Period end of story.

Speaking of story, the story here is beyond simple.  Alice wakes up after the events of the previous film’s cliffhanger, finds she is trapped in some kind of Umbrella Corp. base, and works to break out while a group of ally soldiers are heading toward her to meet in the middle of the base and then, together, get out.  Much mayhem follows.

Sadly, the characters this time around are incredibly, ineptly defined.  It almost seemed like the film’s makers decided to focus entirely on the action set pieces and move everything forward to the end so that they could set up the cliffhanger to the next film (which, by the way, they most certainly do).  The problem lies in the fact that because the characters are so badly defined this time around we simply don’t care about any of them.  When one after the other mercenary/soldier sent to help Alice dies, we’re not bothered in the least.  There’s also the insertion of a child into the story that I couldn’t help but feel was a too blatant attempt to tap into the whole Aliens story dynamic (one of the more obvious “inspirations” to this series as a whole) of Ripley trying to save the last survivor of LV-426.  But while Aliens built up the tension and relationship between the characters extremely effectively, the relationship between Alice and her child was, like all else in this film, presented in a too rushed manner.

So, overall, my guilty pleasure really let me down this time around.  This movie, like the other Resident Evil films, made a ton of money and I suspect the sixth film in the series is already in the works.  Whatever they decide to do, I hope they focus on giving us more of a story and character next time around.

Who am I kidding?  It’s Resident Evil.  I suspect the next film will offer much more of the same.

Movies

Total Recall (2012) a (mildly) belated review

First, a confession:  I am not a big fan of the original 1990 Paul Verhoeven directed/Arnold Schwarzenegger starring Total Recall.  While I was a HUGE fan of Mr. Verhoeven’s first American sci-fi film, Robocop, Total Recall, in the end, felt to me like a missed opportunity.  The film, which involved a worker drone named Quaid (Schwarzenegger) who longs to live a fantasy adventure and finds this possibility via Rekall Inc., an early version of a “virtual reality” vacation, perhaps is one of the first films to deal with the technology that confuses reality and fantasy, not unlike the more successful (in my opinion) The Matrix.  The more astute views of the original Total Recall were left wondering at the end of the film whether we witnessed something that was “real” or whether Quaid was permanently locked in a fantasy world, never to emerge again.

The 2012 remake of Total Recall lifts the story with only some minor cosmetic differences.  The primary change regards the movie’s setting as there is no trip to Mars.  One can’t help but be impressed with the future world as presented.  The movie’s dual settings (Great Britain and Australia) are a visual feast.  I would even go so far as to say this may be the best full scale futuristic setting I’ve ever seen committed to film.  If there is a critique to be made here, it is that this futuristic world looks heavily inspired by Blade Runner, another movie based on a story created by the late Phillip K. Dick.

The second big change is that the new version of the film has Kate Beckinsale’s villainous Lori Quiad pursue her “husband” throughout the film.  In the original, Sharon Stone’s character was disposed of early on.  This particular change turns out to be a positive for the remake as Kate Beckinsale is certainly the showiest of the characters.

Where the remake most diverges from the original is in tone.  While Mr. Verhoeven’s original featured plenty of over the top action material and in your face humor, the remake is far more somber and “serious”.  Alas, this ultimately hurts rather than helps the remake.

Now, I already confessed to not being a big fan of the original Total Recall.  Yet I have to give Mr. Verhoeven credit for delivering something that moves.  Yes, the original film is at times goofy and silly and cheesy and doesn’t give you anything approaching a resolution as to whether we witnessed imagination or reality…but audiences can forgive quite a bit when you have Verhoeven’s “in your face” direction and Arnold Schwarzenegger as the lead.

In the remake, apart from Kate Beckinsale, we have far too subdued work from Colin Farrell (as Quaid), Jessica Biel (as Melina), and Bryan Cranston (as the ultimate villain of the piece, Cohaagan).  All the actors mentioned above have done good work, in my opinion, but in this film they are all so very, very…flat.  There were no sparks (romantic or otherwise) between Quaid and Melina.  Bryan Cranston’s Cohaagan, similarly, never reached the sneering, way-over-the-top villainy of Ronny Cox’s Cohaagan.  The action scenes, while at the start quite good (the first big action sequence at Rekall, in particular, is a highlight), eventually became repetitious.  When we finally reached the movie’s climax, I was more than ready for things to wind down and end, never a good feeling.

There is a “surprise” ending after this ending, a final confrontation between Quaid and his villainous “wife”, but even that felt obvious.  I couldn’t help but wish the movie’s writers had surprised us with a different conclusion, perhaps one where our villainess does something truly surprising…like have Quaid completely at her mercy…yet she chooses to let him live.  The circumstances being what they are, it was pointless for her to still try to kill him.  Perhaps at that point, as she’s walking away, she makes Quaid truly wonder whether he is experiencing reality or illusion.

Having said all that, Total Recall 2012 is not a “terrible” film by any means.  If you haven’t seen the original, it might even prove a pleasant diversion.  At its worst, it is a distressingly mediocre film dressed in a great film’s clothing.  Given all the money, truly amazing effects, and big name cast, one wishes it could have been a little more than it ultimately was.

Books/Literature

Happy Holidays!

As a gift for these holidays, Kindle ebook copies of Chameleon will be available for free starting today, December 25, and continuing through the next few days for anyone interested.

Chameleon

Chameleon is the third book in the Corrosive Knights series.  The other available books currently available in this series are Mechanic, The Last Flight of the Argus, and Nox.

Covers to Mechanic, The Last Flight of the Argus, and Nox by E. R. Torre

Chronologically, Chameleon takes place before the events of all the other books yet is nonetheless the third book in this series.  Why?  While planning out the Corrosive Knights series, I realized it would involve an ever expanding cast in stories that take place, quite literally, hundreds and then thousands of years apart.  However, I didn’t want readers to be intimidated by this.  I wanted the first three books of the series, in particular, to be “stand alone” stories that any casual reader could pick up and read without having the burden of going through the other books first.

Thus, one can read Mechanic, The Last Flight of the Argus, and Chameleon in any order at all without being “lost” in the continuity.  My hope was that casual readers who encountered any of the first three books in the series would then be intrigued enough with what was offered to give the other books a try.

Anyway, if you are interested in getting a free taste of this series via Chameleon, please click on this link.  You don’t need an actual Kindle reader to read the book, only a computer or any sort of tablet/laptop device.

For those already familiar with the Corrosive Knights series, a quick update:  I’m hard at work on the fifth book in the series and am roughly three quarters of the way through the first full draft.  This story presented is easily the most ambitious of the Corrosive Knights series thus far and concludes the first major story line.  I have to admit I’ve considered breaking the book into two separate volumes because it is running longer than most of the other books in the series.  However, unless this last part of the book explodes into something far larger than I’m currently estimating, it will remain one book.

I already have a title in mind…

More to come.

HAVE A HAPPY HOLIDAY!

Movies

The Ghost Writer (2010) a (mildly) belated review

There are times I bemoan the lack of quiet, intelligent thrillers and the seeming surplus of the often more vacuous and noisy “action” thrillers.

But that’s not to say there aren’t quiet, intelligent thrillers out there.

Director Roman Polanski (no stranger to controversy) has released some intelligent thrillers in his time, and The Ghost Writer is certainly a good -though ultimately, and unfortunately, not great– example of the same.

The story involves “the Ghost” (Ewan McGregor), a mild mannered writer who is hired to polish and finish a manuscript/autobiography “written” by former UK Prime Minister Adam Lang (Pierce Brosnan in what amounts to an extended cameo playing a character suspiciously similar to Tony Blair).  The ghost writer who did all the work until now, we find in the movie’s opening scenes, drowned.

So Ewan McGregor’s “Ghost” takes the well paying -but very tight deadline- job and, after flying to the United States and entering the bunker used by Lang and his entourage, barely gets to work before finding himself in the middle of an international maelstrom.  Adam Lang, you see, has been called out by his one-time ally as having engaged in complicity to use torture to pursue terrorists.  Soon there is the very real possibility that Lang may be dragged before the World Court for his actions while serving as Prime Minister.  And, to make matters worse, the “Ghost” begins to suspect the manuscript’s original writer’s death by drowning was no accident.

Will this “Ghost Writer” wind up like his predecessor?

Though it is a thriller, the first half or so of the film slowly builds tension while offering plenty of black comedy.  The “Ghost” finds the world of Adam Lang is a maze and its hard to tell the motivations of those around him…not to mention what exactly goes on in the mind of Lang himself.  In time, the “Ghost” begins to see his way through the secrets while tension builds.

Unfortunately, as good as the first half to two thirds of the film is, the movie unfortunately began to lose steam.  It’s hard to pinpoint where this happened, but as we headed toward the climax and conclusion, the carefully built tension dissipated.  By the time we reached the movie’s climax and ultimate conclusion, the movie fell again, presenting some rather large plot holes that rendered much of what we experienced up until this point confusing and, worse, pointless.

Again, without giving away too much, the audience is expected to accept the fact that a large conspiracy initiated by very powerful political figures is behind some of the mystery in the film…and yet these incredibly powerful political figures aren’t powerful enough to get a ghost writer who is a puppet to their cause to fix Lang’s manuscript rather than bringing in an innocent who may just expose this conspiracy?

Indeed, the ending had me scratching my head so much, especially considering the cleverness of the story up until that point, that I wondered if maybe there were some cut scenes or explanation in the script that was not filmed that accounted for these plot holes.  Suffice to say there is a point in the film where it seems the “Ghost” and Lang are about to have a heart to heart talk and we might finally get some idea of what’s going on…and how much Lang actually knows.  Ultimately, that talk never happens.

And yet, in spite of these complaints, I can’t entirely dismiss The Ghost Writer.  For long stretches of time the movie is quite entertaining even if, in the end, it does stumble.