National Novel Writing Month is kicking off in about two weeks. Last year's novel went very well; even though I didn't complete the 60,000 words by November 30th (came up 1200 damn words short!) I did finish the book, Blue Valentine, shortly after, to the wild accolades of my readers. (Okay, the three people who read it said they really liked it.)
This year's endeavor is going to be a challenge, since the week of Thanksgiving I'm traveling to Washington state to visit parents and fam. I'm going to have to really buckle-down and keep my fingers flying over the keyboard. Here's the synopsis I have on my author's page:
Like "Max Headroom" the story takes place 20 minutes into the future. A US civil war has split the country in half. A long snaking border city, stretching nearly from coast to coast, has filled the no-man's land between the two warring factions. It is a den of iniquity and lawlessness. Into this place arrives a woman searching for her vanished sister.
I still have to come up with names and such. This piece is probably going end up being more plot-driven than my usual stuff, but we'll see how it goes. And since this story will probably be more, erm, family friendly -- kinda ... maybe -- I might post some excerpts.
Tuesday, October 20, 2009
Saturday, October 17, 2009
Movie Log: Noises Off...
Noises Off...
Peter Bogdanovich
1992
I'd been resisting Noises Off... for years, simply because I'm persnickety when it comes to comedies, and there is really no movie in the world worse than a bad comedy.
Well, I liked this one a lot. Though basically plotless, it tracks the journey of the play Nothing On from the final dress rehearsal to its opening day on Broadway. The frazzled director, Lloyd Fellowes (Michael Caine), has no faith in his cast, whose members require constant coddling and reassurance. Behind the scenes in-fighting, the result of petty jealousy, misunderstandings, and simple acts of mischief, threatens to sink the play almost nightly. The able and talented cast, featuring Carol Burnett, John Ritter, Christopher Reeve, Marilu Henner, Denholm Elliott, and Nicollette Sheridan (who spends half her time in her underwear - can't be bad) are more than capable of executing the highly choreographed physical comedy that makes up most of the running time. Lots of fun.
(Thanks to Melanie, who brought it over for us to watch.)
Peter Bogdanovich
1992
I'd been resisting Noises Off... for years, simply because I'm persnickety when it comes to comedies, and there is really no movie in the world worse than a bad comedy.
Well, I liked this one a lot. Though basically plotless, it tracks the journey of the play Nothing On from the final dress rehearsal to its opening day on Broadway. The frazzled director, Lloyd Fellowes (Michael Caine), has no faith in his cast, whose members require constant coddling and reassurance. Behind the scenes in-fighting, the result of petty jealousy, misunderstandings, and simple acts of mischief, threatens to sink the play almost nightly. The able and talented cast, featuring Carol Burnett, John Ritter, Christopher Reeve, Marilu Henner, Denholm Elliott, and Nicollette Sheridan (who spends half her time in her underwear - can't be bad) are more than capable of executing the highly choreographed physical comedy that makes up most of the running time. Lots of fun.
(Thanks to Melanie, who brought it over for us to watch.)
Movie Log: Who Can Kill a Child?
Who Can Kill a Child?
Narciso Ibáñez Serrador
1976
This one comes with a high reputation, and boy, does it live up to it. Who Can Kill a Child? bears a strong similarity to Stephen King's short story, "Children of the Corn." Or maybe it would more accurate to say that King's story bears a strong resemblance to this movie, since "Corn's" first appearance was in 1977 in Penthouse, a year after this movie's release (at least in Spain).
Regardless, apart from the set-up and general plot progression, Child? also boasts a very King-ish supernatural conceit; that of evil in the world manifesting itself in a localized, uncanny incarnation. Here, the location is an isolated island off the coast of Spain. Vacationers Tom (Lewis Fiander) and pregnant wife Evelyn (Prunella Ransome) arrive to find a village nearly abandoned of townsfolk, all except for groups of untalkative yet playful children whose pretty faces and gleeful smiles harbor a sinister agenda.
The movie begins with a long documentary-like section, and uses actual newsreel footage spotlighting atrocities during the Holocaust, the civil war between India and Pakistan, and the Korean War and Vietnam, focusing on the suffering of the children caught in the violence. This is a pretty brazen way to start off what is ostensibly a mere horror/thriller, but to the credit of the writers and director, it sets up the film's theme perfectly.
Most of the violence occurs off-screen, but the movie is no less disturbing for it. In fact, the most unnerving moments come about in the aftermath of the violence. The plot ratchets up the suspense slowly and deliberately, and progresses with an absolute sense of logic. (I will say that Tom and Evelyn really should have decided to get off the island much sooner than they do, but, remember, characters in horror movies don't realize that they're in horror movies, and don't understand danger they're in the way audience does even before the title credits roll. In any case, the movie rewards the willing suspension of disbelief.)
I think if Who Can Kill a Child? had been a North American or British movie, it would be considered a classic on par with Village of the Damned. That's no small praise.
Narciso Ibáñez Serrador
1976
This one comes with a high reputation, and boy, does it live up to it. Who Can Kill a Child? bears a strong similarity to Stephen King's short story, "Children of the Corn." Or maybe it would more accurate to say that King's story bears a strong resemblance to this movie, since "Corn's" first appearance was in 1977 in Penthouse, a year after this movie's release (at least in Spain).
Regardless, apart from the set-up and general plot progression, Child? also boasts a very King-ish supernatural conceit; that of evil in the world manifesting itself in a localized, uncanny incarnation. Here, the location is an isolated island off the coast of Spain. Vacationers Tom (Lewis Fiander) and pregnant wife Evelyn (Prunella Ransome) arrive to find a village nearly abandoned of townsfolk, all except for groups of untalkative yet playful children whose pretty faces and gleeful smiles harbor a sinister agenda.
The movie begins with a long documentary-like section, and uses actual newsreel footage spotlighting atrocities during the Holocaust, the civil war between India and Pakistan, and the Korean War and Vietnam, focusing on the suffering of the children caught in the violence. This is a pretty brazen way to start off what is ostensibly a mere horror/thriller, but to the credit of the writers and director, it sets up the film's theme perfectly.
Most of the violence occurs off-screen, but the movie is no less disturbing for it. In fact, the most unnerving moments come about in the aftermath of the violence. The plot ratchets up the suspense slowly and deliberately, and progresses with an absolute sense of logic. (I will say that Tom and Evelyn really should have decided to get off the island much sooner than they do, but, remember, characters in horror movies don't realize that they're in horror movies, and don't understand danger they're in the way audience does even before the title credits roll. In any case, the movie rewards the willing suspension of disbelief.)
I think if Who Can Kill a Child? had been a North American or British movie, it would be considered a classic on par with Village of the Damned. That's no small praise.
Friday, October 16, 2009
PZ Myers to get Medieval on ID ass.
So PZ Myers is going to share the podium with a bunch of YECs* who want creationism taught in public schools. He'll win the debate, of course - because there is no argument to support the teaching of this stuff to anyone, let alone schoolchildren - but the pro-ID crowd in the audience won't know it. To be clear: Creationism and its souped-up new model, Intelligent Design, is neither science, philosophy, nor even religion. It's politics. Pure and simple. It's desperate, lunkheaded politics on the level of Birthers and shouts of "Obamacare wants to kill Gramma!" But the most galling thing about the whole manufactured "controversy" is that the proponents of creationism and ID theory know they're misrepresenting science, and they know that without constant references to the theory of evolution, their ersatz theory would have absolutely no talking points.
And that's the irony. Creationism and ID are dependent on evolution. Look, how many times have you read a creationism/ID article that doesn't use evolution as a lead-in? I haven't read one. On the other hand, how many evolution articles have you read that reference creationism or ID? Unless the article is explicitly about creationism or ID, you never do. Know why? 'Cause they don't need to.
I really hope someone at this debate will ask this question: "Explain intelligent design and list some of the evidence that supports it without any mention of evolution." They won't get an answer, because intelligent design theory is nothing more than a god-of-the-gaps argument.
*For some reason, the link to the article I am refering to in this blog didn't show up when I first posted it. Now you have it.
And that's the irony. Creationism and ID are dependent on evolution. Look, how many times have you read a creationism/ID article that doesn't use evolution as a lead-in? I haven't read one. On the other hand, how many evolution articles have you read that reference creationism or ID? Unless the article is explicitly about creationism or ID, you never do. Know why? 'Cause they don't need to.
I really hope someone at this debate will ask this question: "Explain intelligent design and list some of the evidence that supports it without any mention of evolution." They won't get an answer, because intelligent design theory is nothing more than a god-of-the-gaps argument.
*For some reason, the link to the article I am refering to in this blog didn't show up when I first posted it. Now you have it.
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