Books: Mr. Monster by Dan Wells (2010)

In this continuation, John Wayne Cleaver is still fighting the urge not to hurt people, not to kill. It's been nearly six months since the events of I Am Not A Serial Killer, and his town of Clayton County appears to be relaxing its fear, hoping the horrible events of last winter are finished. Of course, the truth of the matter is the Clayton Killer was a supernatural force, a demon. And John had killed it.

But John, tasting the power of death now believes the "only monster left is me- the dark side of me I call Mr. Monster." While John, who narrates, does not hear voices in his head, or suffer multiple personalities, he none the less thinks there is something there, a dark force existing in his body.

The Mr. Monster.

And he continues to keep to his rules, so that he doesn’t let the evil that is Mr. Monster, even at the potential costs to his mom, aunt and sister. And, his growing (and sometimes, disturbing) infatuation with neighbor girl Brooke.

But things appear to begin again, when dead bodies start popping up around town. The police have little clue, but sense that the Clayton Killer maybe back. But since John knows that demon is dead, he begins to suspect that another demon is out there, killing women. Soon John becomes convinced that this new killer is sending a message, a message that only he can understand.

This second book in what is starting out to be a very interesting series, is much better than the first, and Wells packs a lot of info into such a relatively short book (287pages), that you can't help but keep turning the pages. And like the first one, Mr. Monster has some quite disturbing and graphic descriptions, once again making me wonder why this book would be classified as Young Adult (though my company has them in the Mystery/Suspense section).

As noted in the first review back in June, the crossing of Dexter book series and Stephen King is interesting. The demons that John has encountered so far seem to emulate real human serial killers, at least in their mind set. This element keeps the two books from falling into some sort of parody of those two genres. Plus, Wells has created a fairly original and unique voice in John Cleaver.

There is a third book coming, and it appears John may have found an outlet for his Mr. Monster, as there appears to be many demons haunting the Earth.

Books: The Night Angel Trilogy: Beyond the Shadows by Brent Weeks (2008)

In the final volume of The Night Angel Trilogy, author Brent Weeks often violent, Tolkien style series comes together fittingly, but is rather over-long, and drags in many places.

The World Building that goes into these fantasy series can be daunting, and some authors get lost in their world, producing pages after pages of things that seem important, yet are nothing but filler. Still, I’m guessing Weeks will eventually return to this Universe, and that might be his purpose for filling out this series to nearly 700 pages in this final voulume.

There is some interesting stuff here, like the character of Dorian who seemed such a minor character in volume one, who in this final one becomes very integral to the conclusion -its interesting to see a “hero,” motivated by the desire to bring peace, who ends up committing countless acts of horror himself, all in the service of the ending another horror.

But after spending nearly 700 pages setting up the finale, it ends rather abruptly, with all the loose ends coming together rather neatly. It’s a good series, one that I recommend, but it reminds me why I read so little of this genre anymore: I’ve read most of them in the 1980s.

It may not be fair to compare him to Stephen R. Donaldson or Terry Brooks. The genre is rather limited, and it does need fresh ideas to make it worth reading, but when you’ve read as much as I have, you still can be disappointed by a story, even if it is well written.

Bond 23 set for November 2012; will it star Daniel Craig?

It appears that with MGM finally agreeing to go into bankruptcy (declaring bankruptcy instantly gives MGM a stellar credit rating), it now can go back into producing films. One of its biggest franchise, James Bond, is coming back, and plans are to have the next Bond film in theaters by November 2012. As is, the studio will retain 50% of the rights to that next film, while an equal partner will cover all the production costs (which could benefit many studios, as this could be Paramount, Universal, Sony, Disney or even Spyglass Entertainment -who’s management has took over the studio). Still, further Bond sequels will be fully owned and funded by MGM itself, even though most of the profits goes EON Films, who holds the copyright to the Bond films. And right now, their ambition is return a Bond film to the screen every two years starting with the 2012 release.

One big question hangs in the air is whether Daniel Craig will reprise his role in the next film. While signed on for three Bond films, with an option for a fourth, Craig moved forward with his career when it appeared the financial issues with MGM would not be solved soon. Thus, he committed to all three installments of the Millennium Trilogy, with the first film, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, currently filming. There is also a potential sequel to next summers Aliens & Cowboys that could film in 2012. Will MGM/EON continue with Craig as Bond, or will this lead to a seventh actor to take on the role of the superspy?

Halloween 2010

Spent Halloween with JayTee, Adam and PeeKay. We had snacks, chicken dinner with mashed potato’s and watched two films, one being the 2006 film The Descent. The other was 2007's The Mist.

Kind of liked The Descent, though its not my typical genre of choice, as its gory (yet filming in low light helped conceal the blood spouting around). Its slow to start, and wondered if the beginning (the prologue if you will) would dovetail with the ending. Cause, usually there are certain aspects of characters that will be revisited later. While, to a point this did happen, I was unsatisfied with the way it was handled. Fore me, the biggest issue was keeping the characters straight. While I appreciate them casting all females in the roles (something unique for a genre such as this), I sat through the film trying to remember who they were. You eventually don’t care and it becomes a guessing game of who will survive, even as you felt they were trying to give the cast some sort of dimension, but you sort also felt that the actresses were unable to capitalize on that.

Then, sadly, the director relies on too many horror cliches such as people jumping into scenes and accidentally scaring their friend. And the scene where Juno accidentally injures Beth is totally dumb, as no one would do what Beth did.

The one thing I did like, was the ending. Yes, its depressing, yes its hopeless, but not every film needs, or should have a happy ending. My understanding, however, indicates I saw the British edition of the film, not the American. Apparently we here in the colonies cannot deal with unhappy endings.

Unhappy endings continued with The Mist, based on the Stephen Kind novella published way back in 1980. While it is a horror movie, a monster movie and a psychological thriller, at its core is typical Stephen King: what ordinary people will be driven to do under extraordinary circumstances (it also harkens back to the old Twilight Zone tale Monsters Are Due on Maple Street and William Golding’s classic novel The Lord of the Flies). The performances are solid, if not at times, stereotypical. The direction, under Frank Darabont (who also adapted King’s The Shawshank Redemption and The Green Mile), is well crafted with few horror cliches. The CGI work is good, and while gory (we watched it in Black & White, which according to PeeKay was the way Darabont wanted to be), it never really get gratuitous.

Now the ending, which was changed from the novella, is very depressing. King was fine with the way Darabont altered it, admitting it was better than his, and excited because it would be unsettling for the studio brass. Still the film was originally released for the Thanksgiving weekend crowd in 2007, and does not strike as fun, holiday picture with its new ending.

And it was fun to see what actor had worked with Darabont before, with William Sadler, Jeffrey DeMunn, and Brian Libby, who all appeared in Darabont's previous King adaptations (DeMunn would also appear in another King story, The Storm of the Century).

Passages

Weeks pass like waiters in a restaurant for me. It seems yesterday was Monday, and now its Friday. Another week gone. Poof.

I'm glad, and blessed, that I have a job. I have a job that keeps my ass busy from punch in to punch out with little downtime. Their checks that they pay me bi-weekly have not gone rubber and it pays for the cookies I eat too much of. All should be good. Right?

But I feel I've missed the bus, or am just missing something. I sense I should be looking out the window, or pushing aside a stubborn rock, because there's got to be something more exciting than this. Sure, I know if I was busy, I would bemoan the freedom that I currently have. When I filmed Judas Kiss, I had little time to read, or cruise the silly internet. Yet, I enjoyed myself.

And I would hate not to be able to read. I buy so many books, that the only way I can read them all, it start giving up somethings. And I've been thinking that it might have to be the most sacred thing in almost everyone's house: the TeeVee.

I already have cut my viewing habits down, and if the proliferation of reality TV gets worse, than I may just unplug the cable (besides, I can watch almost anything, with the exception of LIVE TV, on my computer).

I've lost interest in most shows, mostly because they're predictable and no longer stimulate my brain. Like reading, I think TeeVee should have a lasting effect. But I'll admit, good books are hard to find as well.

I'm all for reading pop lit. I read Stephen King, John Grisham and fantasy books. But I also want to read books that make me feel human, and maybe a little smarter. Authors like James Patterson, and his popularity (and really, your not fooling anyone with your books now. Since I figured out you don't write half the shit that goes out with your name -and the names of other authors - on it. Seriously, James, no one can produce 17 novels in three years) makes me shudder. Still, if you like him, read him. All I ask is that every once in a while, break out of the prediticable and read something that does not have the font size of a typical large print book, with one page chapters.

And the dialogue and the prose. Oh. My. Gosh.

I mean, I understand how Nora Roberts pushes out 6 books a year, because its mostly all dialogue with very little prose. Patterson's stuff is just horrendous and stale and boring. Which maybe the greatest sin of all; producing one boring psycho killer story line after another.

I need adventure and I need a love to share it with. I need someone to settle for me. But I also need to read all those damn books I buy.

Should I say goodbye to TeeVee?

Books: The Night Angel Trilogy: The Shadow's Edge by Brent Weeks

In book two of the Night Angel Trilogy, we see Kylar becoming a sort of superhero. He has sworn off wetboy activity, settling into a cobbled together life with Elene and his master's daughter, Uly, in another town. But old habits die hard, and Kylar can't escape his true calling as the Night Angel. He ends up protrolling the town at night, mostly at first to keep up his skills, but eventually running into bad guys, gangs, who roam around the town hurting people who find themselves out alone at night. In his attempt to further shed the skin of killer, Kylar sells the sword that is his symbol as the Night Angel after much deliberation (and encouragement) from Elene. Of course, as soon as Kylar gives up this last symbolic element of his past is when his past comes back looking for some help.

The second book in the trilogy is more about Kylar -who he is, what he wants to be. The yearns to live a normal life with Elene, yet he can’t resist the assassin that exists within him. Which, at times, is the one draw back to the second book. Author Weeks spends the first 200 hundred pages with Kylar bemoaning his situation.

It was all so Emo.

Still, the book is paced faster than the first, even though once again, characters are hard to follow because they come and go with no idea why their presence is required. Weeks does fairly well with propelling the story forward, and I sense that you could have probably read this book without picking up the first one. I mean, its okay to spend the beginning of a second book - chapter or two - recapping the events of first, but Weeks does go out of his way to explain every aspect of that first book through out the second.

There is a bit more humor here, as Kylar becomes a bit more human, but like the first tale, the blood and violence flows like a faucet stuck open. Life, in this universe, seems so very cheap.

The Dullness Parade

Really, I have nothing to say.

And I guess that's a little sad. My life, in some ways, is like a race car going around the same track, at the same speed, never really going anywhere and never seeing then scenery change.

I know, at the end of the day, it is only I that can change this rut I've gotten stuck in for the last 2 decades. But like any lost soul, I cannot figure out how to go about it. As someone once said, life is like a box of chocolate, you never know what your going to get. But that little ditty, however, does not apply to me. Life, for me, is like dryer, going around and around and blowing a lot of hot air. Sure the clothes get dry, but there's not big surprise waiting for me when I open the door.

The weather has proved interesting since fall began late last month. The first weekend and then first full week of fall brought a heatwave. Then some minor cool weather, then a minor warm up and now another blast of cool, rainy weather. The weather, in some respects, is closer to our January/February than October. The temps in the afternoon have gotten into the upper 60's, so despite the mist/rain we've had since Saturday, its still rather pleasant outside.

Speaking of Saturday, my friends and I went to Disneyland and Disneys California Adventure. Over at DCA, they've got this set up for the sequel to their 1982 hit movie TRON. Called TRON Legacy, the film (opening December 17) is set nearly 30 years after the first one. So, over in the Hollywood backlot, DCA has set up this 80s retro area. I mean, really 80s retro. Imagine, cause that's all I can do, Studio 54 moved to the Happiest Place on Earth and take out all the fun. And there you will have ElecTRONica. It has a DJ's playing, not 80s music as I think they should, but modern stuff from Lady Gaga and Madonna (not old Madonna, BTW). They have a bar where you can order beer and other alcholic drinks (and where's the fun in looking at the hottie boys, and some 12 year-old runs by screaming for mommy?).

It was odd. Truly odd.

They've also set up a retro arcade area called FLYNNS, a near replica of the one featured in the original film. It has brick walls, and every 80's video game you can remember. But I did not go to DL to video games. So after a drink, we went to the Tower of Terror.

Then, I got a headache on Sunday. Sadly, while my system has soured on beer, I think I got it because I did not eat enough. I had a hotdog at like 6pm, and was starving by the time we left DL at midnight. I did not eat anything and woke up at 5 with a pounding headache.

Spent yesterday relaxing, and got to read more of my book, as the headache finally faded at around noon.

Today, I had to make the donuts, and another same-old work week began.

Meh.

Books: The Night Angel Trilogy: The Way of Shadows by Brent Weeks (2008)

Azoth is an orphan who lives in the Warrens of Cenaria City. He and his two friends, Jarl and Doll Girl, are members of the Black Dragon guild. They make their living stealing money to buy food and pay their guild dues to Rat, the Guild Fist, an enforcer who beats anyone who doesn't pay.
One day Jarl shows Azoth a secret stash of coins that he had been saving for four years. Jarl gives the coins to Azoth so that he can apprentice to Durzo Blint, the best wetboy (assassin) in the city.

Meanwhile, a traveling mage, Solon Tofusin, arrives at the Gyre estate. He is on a mission from the prophet Dorian to help Lord Gyre. He finds that Duke Gyre has gone to Screaming Winds, but before he can head there he finds out the Duke’s son, Logan, has also been named Lord Gyre. Impressed with the boy, Tofusin stays with Logan. Azoth begins his training under Blint, which takes years. Given a new name, Kylar Stern, Azoth begins to become an assassin. But prophecy and his past is something Azoth cannot escape and he must decide if life is as empty as Durzo says it is, or can it be worth fighting for?

I approached this fantasy series with some apprehension, if only because they genre has little to offer in the way being different from the rest. Its well written, and Weeks tries to step away from the predictable, but he also creates antiheroes that makes you struggle to even like. Azoth, or Kylar, is such a character. He has some humanity in him, but it comes in the form of love. Here, in this world, love is treated, rather predicably, as a weakness. But this world, sadly, seems to lack any human emotion at all. We watch on the TV news where pundits say how human life is nothing to certain groups of people. Here, in Weeks novel, he has created a very unhappy, very dangerous, and at times, depressing universe. You feel for them, but it does take an effort.

Like any novel, there are some downfalls. Weeks introduces characters that seem to have no significance and are brought in and then dropped without any warning. Eventually, everything falls into place, but it forces the reader to really keep track of all the characters. This also leads to some convenient plot twists and poor explanations as to why they occurred. Still, I’m hoping with the next two books, Weeks tries to explore this more.

Overall, it’s a good read. And much like Stephen R. Donaldson’s Thomas Covenant series from 20 plus years ago, you have to accept that hero of this series is flawed, and unlikable. But you know, I think, in the end, he’ll win.

Work rumblings

It's become rather apparent to me that my book company really has no idea how to save itself. Yesterday, our latest District Manager was let go (along with, it seems, at least 3 or 4 other DM's within the 508 region -Southern and Northern, including Hawaii were let go as well). Officially, all were terminated due to "performance issues," the business catch phrase of the old Hollywood standard of "creative differences."

Of course, this usually happens when the they replace the Regional Vice Presidfents, which occurred almost 2 months ago. I'm not sure if this happens in other jobs, other retail outlets, but Borders has tendency to restructure their DM's when the RVP's get the boot. When Mike Steele was let go, I knew -and said the very day he was fired - that our DM's fate was sealed. That Art would be gone before Christmas. Thus, it happened yesterday.

A new DM has apparently aready been selected, which gives me the idea this was long in the planning stages. The new RVP for this region apparently had no say in the matter.

Still, we'll get a new DM who will probably be one of those guys who is an expert in turning companies around. Which means, of course, an office manager. A guy who will cut hours and demand higher expectations. The problem is, this guy will be given a 2 week intense download of Borders policy and will parrot all of Borders ennui when it comes to sales, without understanding that the core problems that has brought Borders to this point: strong leadership with managers who has unique visions and who can think outside the box (which a lame phrase, but does apply here).

This will also be the holiday season of the eReaders. And Borders will have a large selection to offer, from expensive to, well, cheap (7 versions at my last count, including 2 versions of our Kobo reader, one that is wireless and one that needs to hooked up to your computer). My greatest fear right now (beyond a bunch of returns because they don't work) is that we'll not have enough of the devices to go around. They've already said, quietly I might add, that not all eReaders will be avaialable in all stores. I find this troubling in many ways, mostly because we are a struggling retailer. Borders is stepping up its promotion on these devices, and if a customer can't get what they want...well, I just don't think we need another reason for them to go to B&N or Amazon.

At the end of the day, nothing will change with new RVP or a DM. Same old song, just new people singing the words. Oh, and all the GM's Art hired over the last few months, the ones who are essentially useless and unproductive, you can bet your days are now numbered.

Welcome back GLEE

Harry Shum, Jr.

Chord Overstreet

Slouching towards Washington

Sarah Palin, Rand Paul, Christine O’Donnell, Carl Paladino and Sharon Angle are just a small list of folks who are using fear of another attack from terrorist and social issues to drive them to the top of the political heap. I don't think there is anything wrong with being a fiscal conservative, and you can also be a bit conservative when it comes to social issues, but to base your entire campaign on social issues is going to lead to further dividing America.

See, America has become a huge, very neurotic basketcase, gleefully rolling around in a great vat of xenophobia, fascist politics, and by doing so, created an alarmingly large social divide. This, I think, has happened since 9/11. Except, it should not be this way. Because the American's noted above have forgotten what those terroists real goal was all along. “Terrorism” is about instilling terror, as the name is defined, leading to social, economic, and political disorder in the target nation. We should have been better than this, but because we failed to take the higher ground here, we let in the radical Right, and thus gave the terroist a victory.

And what have we accomplished for ourselves? The goal -as I assume was once thought - was to make Iraq and Afghanistan more like us, but sadly, we’ve become much more like them. We've invovlved ourselves in an utterly pointless war at the cost of over a trillion dollars, thus bankrupting (not to mention demoralizing) this great nation. So, what is left? The only thing I see is we're fighting over the scraps of a once-mighty economy in the shadow of an external threat that is, for the most part, in our heads.

The Tea Party's goals are supposedly about taking back America. The problem is, I don't see what from. These people, while probably well meaning in some regards, wrap themselves in the American flag, claiming they are patriots with roots that go back to the Founding Fathers (as flawed as they were, being slave owners and all). However, much like the Catholic Church I was brought up in, when you poke around their history, when you show their logic has no merits, when you shine the light of truth into the dark corners of their reality, they become nothing more than bullies trying to protect what they’re not really losing. But I fear the Republicans and the Tea Party people want to bait and switch the people of USA into electing a leader -whether it be Sarah Palin or Mitt Romney - who can easily manipulate the less educated into thinking that it does not take brains to run this country, just some good all know-how taken from a Martha Stewart magazine article or a pretend world of the 1950s where black people knew their place, where the homosexuals where deep in the closet, and where the reality never even came through your TeeVee.

And even if you believe that politics is merely a pendulum, swinging from conservative to liberal every few years, it does not erase the fact that making up lies is what conservatives are truly about.

So, where do we stand then? How do you decide who is good for America? Well, first off, we no longer decide who is good for all, we only decide who is good for me. We've let this schism between us grow because, in truth, we're all selfish pricks. We've let people become poweful polictical leaders based on the theory that Americas social system should run only on black and white thoughts. But as much as the Right wants to make that way, being all right and wrong, it can never be. The world runs like a toy Top - and it has a set of simple rules: it spins until it runs out of energy, but it will never stop in the same place twice. The real world runs much the same way. And no matter how you try to control it, you can’t make everyone see the same thing.

Right now, we've let these people and their fear of certain social issues drain the energy out of what should be the most important issue in November midterm elections and the the 2012 presidential race: our wrecked economy. Sure the Tea Party is concerned with that, but right now they're biggest issues seem to be letting the gays get married, harrassing anyone who does not believe in religion and letting in people who think that any government to the left of a certain point simply should not be allowed to exist in America.

Thus we would ask ourselves whether we still have a democracy if one party reserves the right, like guerrilla warlords, to destabilize any duly elected government that doesn’t meet its criteria of acceptability.

These are the simple goals of people like Christine O’Donnell, who has once ascertained that she was a Satanist. Theoretically then, this should have the Christian Right fleeing from her campaign. But since she is supported by wack-a-doodle Sarah Palin, they simply chose to ignore her history because it suits their political agenda. Which simply translates to the Christians that their politics mean more to them than their god.

Then there is Paladino, who has a very public record of sending a series of emails and mailers that were pretty offensive (Paladino is also the guy who thinks that poor people should be placed in renovated prisons where they can be taught about personal hygiene). But instead of fleeing from that, as a conservative Christian should do, he was able to lock the republican nomination for governor of the nation’s third most populous state from them by running on a “family values” platform.

Had this happened on the democratic side of the ticket, the Right would have attacked it. But what do we get from them, what does FOX News have to say about it?

Nothing. All we get from them is the chirping sounds of crickets. Because, as per usual, the conservatives are the party of do as I say, not as I do.

And there is the so-called libertarians, who just use the word "when you want to say 'conservative' but need an extra syllable," as someone noted. As it was pointed out to me, libertarianism is "basically been practiced largely by selfish people who despise taxes and claim to hate government involvement in their lives . . . until it’s time to get some free shit from that government for themselves, and then you better fucking believe they want what they feel is their due and will scream bloody murder if they don’t get it."

To me then, is not a “libertarian” nothing more than a republican who is ashamed to admit it?

I also believe fascism has come to America, we see it everyday in the form of the Tea Party, with people who've wrapped themselves in the flag, who are carrying a cross, who are sitting in a lawn chair and who believe anything Sarah Palin says is the God's truth. More so than anything, I believe these people are most dangerous to the United States than letting gays marry. They are the ones who will wipe their asses with the Constitution.

In the end, these Tea Party people can help the democrats -even if a majority of them are as useful as teats on a bull, as my mom would say. I think between today and the November midterms, we'll see what the Tea Party truly is: a bunch of radical, bigoted folks who don't know the difference between their ass and a hole in the ground.

For the democrats, they need to make this economy start to move and stop diddling with theselves. And that being an intellectual does not equate to being Anti-American.

Books: On Stranger Tides by Tim Powers (1987)

Tim Powers is a great fantasy writer and probably a very underrated author. Like Charles de Lint, his fantasy novels are set in the real world, only in a world where magic still exists. On Stranger Tides is well researched historical novel about pirates, creepy voodoo, adventure, romance, magic and the search for the Fountain of Youth. It is the story of John Chandagnac, an itinerant puppeteer on a journey to the Caribbean to confront the uncle who cheated his father out of the family fortune. Things get complicated, however, when his ship is captured by pirates and he finds himself made an unwilling member of their crew. As he comes to fully inhabit the world of the pirates, he encounters the terrible powers which still hold sway in the untamed New World. All the while, he must find a way to save the woman he loves from a hideous fate.

Powers novel, released back in 1987, is sort of homage to Disneyland’s Pirates of the Carribean ride. The author grew up in Anaheim and spent his time at the theme park. But while its inspired by it, the novel becomes complex and at times, weighed down in too much ennui.

I remember when this novel was originally published, but I sort of passed it over. It was out of print for a number of years and be re-released by the small publisher Babbage Press, this novel is being loosely adapted in Pirates of the Carribean 4, which will be released in the summer of 2011. To be honest, that was the reason I finally ordered the book. I wanted to see what the book was about and how much Disney will change the premise to fit its franchise, I mean its full of voodoo, zombies, blood, gore, and bazaar fantasies on the part of one of the bad guys. So expect a lot of toning down of this stuff. Also, Disney is adding new characters to the film that will not appear in the book.

Addendum: 

 

While making the third film in the franchise, Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End, screenwriter Terry Rossio stated Tim Powers' novel would the inspiration for characters, theme, settings, and basic storyline for a fourth film. He also stated that he and co-writer Ted Elliot had considered using Blackbeard and the Fountain of Youth in the story before reading the book, "but whenever you say those words, Powers' novel comes to mind. There was no way we could work in that field without going into territory Tim had explored." However, they denied that it would be a straight version of the novel: "Blackbeard came from the book, and in the book there is a daughter character, too. But Jack Sparrow is not in the book, nor is Barbossa. So I wouldn't call this an adaptation." Known as a meticulous researcher, Powers explored voodoo, magic, and read up on certain historical pirate profiles, along with the history of the era. In his research for the book, Powers found that the supernatural and pirates were a comfortable fit. Powers novel featured the history and myth of Juan Ponce de Leon and the Fountain of Youth, along with Blackbeard's death at Ocracoke Inlet and beheading by Lieutenant Robert Maynard. Powers himself stated that he never consulted with the writers and initially thought they weren't using much of his book at all aside from Blackbeard and the Fountain of Youth. Rossio stated that Blackbeard, Angelica, and the Fountain are examples of how they integrated Powers' book into the film.  

 

As a whole, I liked the book, but will admit it was a bit laborious to get through. Powers writing is strong and he writes, at times, in great detail. Some of which is rather pointless and difficult.

It’s worth the read, though. And it should be an interesting counterpoint to Disney’s fourth film in their Pirates of the Carribean franchise. If anything, it might introduce Tim Powers to a whole slew on new fans who will take up his work.

Books: Fat Vampire by Adam Rex (2010)

There is much to like in Fat Vampire - a tale about Doug Lee who is attacked by a desperate vampire, and finds himself cursed with being fat and fifteen forever. When he has no luck finding some goth chick with a vampire fetish, he resorts to sucking the blood of cows under cover of the night.

But sadly, after the this set up, the book becomes dull and rather pointless. Author Adam Rex had a great chance to create a thought-provoking tale that takes on teen angst, sexuality, identity, love, and undead, but the premise sinks under very unlikable characters, including its lead, Doug. There is a point at which having an antihero the center of the story becomes more of bad thing, you know.

And it could have been a great parody on the whole vampire genre that has gone through the young adult section since Twilight. And given its great cover, you sort of expect it was. But its really a mess, and misleading. And what’s with the gay villain? And why does another teen vampire in the novel, Victor, need to concoct the story that the vampire who created him was a female and not a male?

As I said, there is not one redeeming good thing about Doug, and you can’t help but think he is one big douche bag. If that was the point of Rex’s novel, to say all teenagers are that way, then I missed the point. At little over 300 pages, Fat Vampire is a tortuous read.

I don’t hate the novel, but I clearly see a missed opportunity to create a fairly decent parody on the trendy vampire genre of late. Clearly, even his publishers saw the flaw of the novel, by creating a fairly unique cover.

Post Judas Kiss Depression

When September comes...

Thursday

Tomorrow finishes my first week back at work after my three week film shoot up in beautiful city of Seattle. Judas Kiss wrapped principle photography at 4am Sunday. It was, perhaps, the best time I've ever had. Sure it was hard -12 hour days, six days a week (and the final week of overnights) - but I cannot say when I've so much fun.

Since the film is set on at a school, we filmed on location at the University Of Washington, a sprawling campus that was equally impressive in size as well as beauty. The weather, which started hot and humid for the first four days, turned pleasant for the remainder of the shoot. The legendary clouds, rain and cool weather near materialized. Well, we did have clouds, and some lite rain, but nothing that might want me to move away to sunnier, warmer climates. Oh sure, those three weeks should not be used as a barometer, but it sure was a pretty place. I could, maybe, see myself living up there when California finally gets too rich for me.

Since being back, I've dived back into work at Borders. It's one place, sadly, that stays the same. It's continued focus on the wrong things will doom it. But I don't care anymore. My plans are to be out of there before Christmas. And while I know I've said that before (what's that sound, maybe a broken record?), but I have the confidence to say that I will not be there this holiday season (so listen up, the Gods of Good Fortune).

I've posted pics over at my Facebook page on Seattle and Judas Kiss (judaskissmovie.com). If you go there, please sign up on the Judas Kiss fan page as well. If you do, you can see where the film is as post-production ramps up.

One of things that location filming causes is a lack of TV viewing. The long hours prevent you from enjoying such things. As a matter of fact, this past Saturday (when I watched the Notre Dame football game with Richard Harmon) was the first time in three weeks I had watched any TV. Found out I did not miss it. But it was August. Nothing is on in August.

LOL.

The weekend ahead brings me back to my usual routine, but one now filled with a purpose. I hope I can live up to them. But only time and fate will tell.

Y'know.

Judas Kiss stars (and me)

Timo Descamps

Richard Harmon

Charlie David

Brent Corrigan

What's new

Nothing, really. Filming continues on Judas Kiss (judaskissmovie.com). We're near the hump point in the film, and everyday is an adventure. The weather continues to be nice, and the work hard, but satisfying. Borders can suck my right ball if they think I'll be there any much longer. This is the life.

I would ask anyone who comes here to go over to Facebook and join the Judas Kiss Fan Page. It's updated daily. We need every fan we can get.

Judas Kiss update

Judas Kiss (judaskissmovie.com) continues filming, as we conclude our first full week of production. With two more to go, we are gathering steam to make sure we get our shots needed, plus finish on time. Today is another long shift, but its still fun and enlightening. Makes it hard when you go to bed at 3 am and is awake by 7, but I can sleep when I get back to work on September 5!

We have a great cast led by Charlie David, Richard Harmon, Timo Decamps and Brent Corrigan. A great supporting cast and brilliant production team led by our director JT Tepnapa and producer Carlos Pedraza.

Join the the Judas Kiss fan page over at Facebook to keep an eye on what is happening here at the University of Washington in the great city of Seattle.

Judas Kiss is filming

So, up in Seattle filming Judas Kiss (judaskissmovie.com). The weather has been warm, but the production itself has had little or no problems. We've wrapped early each of the four days, which is good considering we can film up to 12 hours. The cast has been great, Richard Harmon, Timo Decamps, Brent Corrigan and Charlie David are perfect. Julia Morizawa shines as always. Julian LaBanc (of GossipBoy web site) was wonderful. Dave Berry, our DP, is a man with an Oscar in his future.

Our director, JT Tepnapa, is having the time of his life, and it shows in the way he's handled his actors.

We've done two location shoots, one at a music studio and another at a house overlooking over Puget Sound. Now that place was gorgeous, and awe inspiring. For the rest of the week, we're at the University of Washington (where we are based), also known as U Dub,

V casts their Diana and guess who's playing her?

At last months San Diego Comic-Con, show runner Scott Rosenbaum hinted that the mother of Anna, leader of the Visitors on ABC’s remake of V would be appearing. Who would be playing the recurring role was not mentioned, however TV Guide has confirmed that the role of Diana will be played by none other than Jane Badler, who played Diana, the villainous leader of the aliens out to suck the water off the Earth, back in the NBC version. So, while her character name will remain the same, the question is, will this Diana have any link to the other Diana, or have they transplanted the character and just given her a new history?

Badler, who made a career out of playing villains, has spent the last 20 years living in Australia -where the revived Mission: Impossible TV series was filmed from 1988 to 90 - married to businessman Stephen Hains. They have two sons, Sam and Harry. For the last 4 months, she’s been on the Australian soap opera Neighbours, playing another villain, Diana Marshall.

Is the long-delayed Star Wars TV series dead?

Airlock Alpha confirms the long gestating (announced way back in 2005) Star Wars TV may never see the light of day. George Lucas himself told fans at a recent screening of The Empire Strikes Back that the “live action TV show is kind of on hold because we have scripts, but we don't know how to do them. They [the episodes] literally are Star Wars, only we're going to have to try to do them at a 10th of the cost. And it's a huge challenge, a lot bigger than what we thought it was gonna be."

While the premise has shifted over the years -it started as a sort of day in life of Boba Fett, with the series set between Revenge of the Sith and A New Hope, which then was dropped but seems have picked up steam again thanks to the Cartoon Networks Clone Wars animated series the show itself would be "much darker, much grittier, and it's much more character-based" than the original movies.

Of course, being Lucas, everything has to be big. And sometimes, as seen in the later trilogy, big did not mean better. Star Wars works, like most TV shows and movies, when the bigness, the set pieces, are toned down, thus allowing the story and the character to take center stage and not the CGI effects.

Horror-scope

Plucked this off my FB page:

"According to his Zodiac (VIRGO) sign, David's modest and shy, meticulous and reliable, practical and diligent, intelligent and analytical, fussy and a worrier, overcritical and harsh, perfectionist and conservative."

Almost everything right, I think. Conservative? Like Nutcase in a Box conservative?

I don't think so.

Veteran screenwriter Tom Mankiewicz dies

Screenwriter/director/producer Tom Mankiewicz perhaps best known for his work on the James Bond films and his contributions to Superman: The Movie and the television series, Hart to Hart died on Friday of cancer. He was 68. The son of celebrated screenwriter/director Joseph L. Mankiewicz (who won Oscars for both directing and writing for A Letter to Three Wives and All About Eve), he began his career in the theater and TV.

But it was writing the book for Georgy Girl that drew him the attention of David Picker and James Bond producer Albert Broccoli. The two were looking for a writer to do a major reworking of Diamonds Are Forever in hopes of luring Sean Connery back to play Bond. He was hired on a two-week guarantee, but eventually stayed on the film for six months and received shared screenplay credit with the original writer, Richard Maibaum. This began a long relationship with the Bond films, as Mankiewicz received sole writing credit on the next, Live and Let Die, shared credit with Maibaum on The Man with the Golden Gun, did an uncredited rewrite on The Spy Who Loved Me, and helped Broccoli and director Lewis Gilbert get Moonraker off the ground.

When director Richard Donner was hired to helm Superman: The Movie and Superman II (which were to be filmed simultaneously) he felt the scripts were unwieldy and too campy. He brought Mankiewicz aboard to do a complete overhaul. Mankiewicz stayed on the production for more than a year. Donner gave Mankiewicz a separate credit in the main title: “Creative Consultant.” The Writer’s Guild, however, objected to this on two grounds; first, that the traditional script arbitration process was being bypassed and second, that Mankiewicz’s credit came after the original screenwriters and not before them, implying that his contribution was more important. The dispute went to a legal hearing, yet in the end, Mankiewicz won. His credit remained where it was on Superman: The Movie, but he agreed to have it come just before the listed screenwriters on Superman II.

Warner Bros. then signed Mankiewicz to an exclusive deal that kept him busy “fixing” films. He wrote scenes for Gremlins, and Richard Donner’s The Goonies as well as WarGames. He also wrote the first draft of Batman. Donner then brought him onto Ladyhawke. He received shared screenplay credit and a separate credit as “Creative Consultant.”

Mankiewicz wrote and directed the two-hour pilot for Hart to Hart, which starred Robert Wagner and Stephanie Powers. The series ran for five years and later was the subject of eight two-hour network and cable movies. Mankiewicz received his “Creative Consultant” credit on each episode, while directing seven of them. He also directed the final cable movie, Till Death Do Us Hart.

Books: The Girl Who Kicked The Hornet's Nest by Stieg Larsson (2010)

In the finale of this series, Stieg Larsson pulls out all the bells and whistles to give us a satisfying ending to the arc started in "The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo" and continued in "The Girl Who Played With Fire."

In "The Girl Who Kicked The Hornet's Nest", we begin only moments after the second book ended, with Lisbeth Salander near death after being shot and buried alive by her father and half-brother. Of course, she does survive. But survival comes at a cost. While she’s been cleared of the murders she was accused of in the second book, she still is facing charges related to her attack on her father. But the sinister forces that had her declared mentally incompetent and that had sent her to a cruel institution when she was a child are reactivated due to the events of the second novel. Their goal is too get her locked up again and are working to have her charged with two murders along with the attempted murder of her father, that Russian gangster.

The only one who believes she’s innocent of everything is faithful Millennium publisher Mikael Blomkvist, who now must risk his life and those who surround him, to prove to the courts that Lisbeth Salander maybe antisocial, violent and stubborn, but she does have a moral code. And that her civil rights were violated and someone needs to pay for that.

The novel works in Cold War conspiracies and along with what was probably Larsson’s life work: some men’s hatred of women, and the threat to Swedish democracy posed by right-wing elements in the security service. Through Salander -whom Larsson said is a twisted version of the popular Swedish children’s heroine, Pippi Longstocking - the author gives voice to those who would do anything and everything to degrade women. Some have accused Larsson of being a misogynist, by creating such female character as Lisbeth -who seems to be bisexual, who gets her ass kicked from time-to-time, without being able to do anything about her victimization and other such things. However, I think that was his point.

The same, I guess, can be said about the subplot in this book dealing with Millennium’s Editor-in Chief, Erika Berger. She takes a new job as editor of a major newspaper and butts heads with the male dominated editorial staff and quickly acquires a stalker who begins sending her notes calling her a “whore.” It has no bearing on the main story, and really seems to be there to show the female readers of his books that he is aware of all those oppressed women in the work place. Norma Rae he might not be, but he understands their issues.

Larsson ties up most of the storylines begun in the first two books, and yet, if I’m not mistaken, there was a hint at where the series would have probably went next -the search for Lisbeth’s twin sister -rumors fueled by Larsson’s long-time girlfriend suggest a fourth book was near completion when the author died in 2004. If there is no more, the trilogy ends with no major plots left unsolved.

In the end, the phenomena that is Stieg Larsson and his bestselling Millennium series can overcome certain aspects of books -the lurid tales of dirty old men who hate women and will do anything -including murder - to keep them down. They are intelligent, well paced thrillers that will make you want to tell your friends and family to read these books.

James Patterson only wishes he could write this good.

Quote of the Day

The Sherrod affair has unfortunately confirmed my suspicion of the Obama administration: it has no backbone.

The administration seems not to realize that American politics is a contact sport, not a cerebral exercise. An attack demands an immediate counterattack. Smearing Shirley Sherrod was an attack; firing her was not a counterattack, it was a misguided attempt at damage control.

The Democratic position on virtually every issue (including, or especially, the economy) is far stronger than the opposition’s, but the administration’s defense of its policies is tepid at best.

The Sherrod affair shows that the right keeps on attacking, even when it is wrong, and the left keeps on retreating, even when it is right. For this Democratic president and this Democratic Congress, this is not a formula for success.

Charles T. Grant
Minneapolis, July 22, 2010

Casting Judas Kiss

Julia Morizawa

Tim Foutch

Timo Descamps

Ron Boyd

Julian LeBlanc

These are five more stars of director J.T. Tepnapa's film JUDAS KISS. Written by Carlos Pedraza and J.T. Tepnapa, the film begins production next month.

Go to www.judaskissmovie.com for more info.

The casting of Judas Kiss

Charlie David

Richard Harmon

Brent Corrigan

These are three of the stars of director J.T. Tepnapa's film JUDAS KISS. Written by Carlos Pedraza and J.T. Tepnapa, the film begins production next month.

Go to www.judaskissmovie.com for more info.

Books: The Girl Who Played With Fire by Stieg Larsson (2009)

The Girl Who Played With Fire picks up almost two years after the events of The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo and we find Lisbeth Salander -who was more of a secondary character in the first book - becoming central to the complex plot of the second. Now flush with money she stole, Lisbeth has started to change her life. But when she returns home, she finds -as many do - that it's very difficult to keep the line between the past and the present.

As it happens, Mikael Blomkvist and his magazine Millennium have hired a couple who are researching the sex trade in Sweden. When the two are murdered, it appears Lisbeth Salander is connected to them -her fingerprints are on the gun that killed them. She is also wanted for the murder of the man who was responsible for her, Nils Bjurman. Her guardian raped her in the first book, only to be punished by Salander herself - she gave him a humiliating, homemade tattoo. Since then, Bjurman has been plotting revenge. Not as smart as Lisbeth, but very clever, Bjurman is planning to have her taken out by a hitman -which leads to his death.

Blomkvist is convinced she is innocent, despite the fact that he has not seen her since the events of the first book. Slowly, he begins his own investigation as to why the couple was murdered, supplying information to Lisbeth through his computer -she being the expert hacker, they begin a slow reconciliation.

As the plot unwinds, the back story of Salander is revealed.

This second novel relies a lot on coincidence, but Larsson has created real characters that are complex, believable and appealing, so you can forgive him for that. Lisbeth Salander maybe a bit cartoonish - even actress Noomi Rapace who played Salander in the three Swedish movies based on this series told Buzzine “it’s hard to believe that she can do all of these things, especially since she’s small, anorexic, only eats junk food and smokes all the time, yet Lisbeth can fight ten guys and win." - but you have to like her, even when she makes poor decisions.

The sad aspect maybe is that Stieg Larsson never lived to see how popular these thrillers would become all over the world, and not just his own country of Sweden. His death at age 50 in 2004 has left the world wondering what he could have really done, yet his gift to the world may be these three thrillers (The Girl Who Kicked The Hornet's Nest is next). Recent articles seem to indicate a fourth novel was nearly completed when he died, with a potential fifth and sixth volume to come. I wonder if they’ll ever see the light of day.

HOT!!!! HOT!!!!

Like earthquakes, hot summers are expected in Southern California. But this summer, like the entire year, has been on the mild side. We had 7 straight months of average or below average temps -another words, no huge spikes in temps. It was getting nice, if not rather boring. But this week changed all of that. We basically went from mid 80's in the daytime with low 60's in the night to 100 plus in a day. Tuesday really started it, but the oven was turned on the next day, with temps (locally) hitting 106. Thursday was also 106. Today, when I got home from work, the high here was 109. The heat wave continues through the weekend, and if the weather people are right, by Tuesday we should feel a measurable change in the temps.

The other thing about these last few days has been how humid its been here. With a huge high settled over the south and midwest, the monsoonal flow from Mexico has kicked in and is riding up theHigh sending warm, humid air over the foothills and mountains. This creates unstable air, and storms form with heavy rainfall and lightening for those in the desert communities. We get the humidity, and maybe a few drops of rain here in the LA basin.

So, for now, I'm trying to stay cool with the air on and fans blowing. I'm also not going to pend too much time on the computer. It's just too hot to do anything but read.

Hope you all have a good weekend -going hiking on Sunday (which should prove an adventure).