Monday, March 31, 2014
Fool for Love blog hop
Friday, March 28, 2014
My thoughts on Divergent, the movie
I went and saw Divergent yesterday with my daughter and her best friend. I'd read the books while we were away, but I'll admit, I'm not a fan. I loathed Tris, disliked how Four changed so completely in the third book, and hated the choices made to conclude the series. Its saving graces to me were Four in the first two books and a number of the minor characters. They were enough for me to care about seeing the series through to the end.
So going into the movie, I had low expectations. I was mostly curious about how the adaptation would work rather than any investment in the story. I walked out liking it more than I thought I would, a 6 out of 10.
Still. I kind of enjoyed it in spite of itself. Plus, Theo James is so damn pretty, and I do like Four, so that makes up for some of the shortcomings
So going into the movie, I had low expectations. I was mostly curious about how the adaptation would work rather than any investment in the story. I walked out liking it more than I thought I would, a 6 out of 10.
The first thing you have to
do with it, just like with the books, is skip any sense of logic that the
faction system could actually work and manage to sustain itself for any
length of time. Get that out of the way, and focus on the basic story. Tris
doesn't feel like she belongs. She gets definitive proof from her test
that she doesn't. She tries anyway. Cut to endless sequences of her
getting stronger and proving to both herself and the others that she
belongs there.
In some ways, it works better than the book, but that's because this version of Tris is not the book version. I don't mean just physically. Part of what defines Tris is how small and young she looks. She uses it first as motivation to prove herself, both to herself and to everyone surrounding her, then in later books as a weapon when the time is right. That's just not going to happen when you cast a 5'8" actress in the role, so changes were inevitable. Shailene Woodley plays her a lot softer than the book version, with obvious remorse. Plus, some of the script changes take away some of the things Tris does in the book that made me hate her so much. I like this Tris, and if this was how she'd been written, I probably would've liked her in the book, too.
A lot of the characters are different, actually. The casting of Will and Al is awful in the fact that the two actors look too similar and it's very hard to tell them apart. The actor playing Peter looks way older than the rest of them and never seems menacing. The only one that seemed to nail the core of the character for me was Four (even though he's physically very different than what I thought he looked like from the book). But hey, he is very nice eye candy and actually made me like him as much in the movie as I did the book, so points there.
Structurally, it suffers from too much non-story before it gets to the real meat of it. Rather than try and introduce elements earlier about the Erudite conflict to try and thread the danger throughout the movie instead of dumping it all at the end, they stuck to a lot of how the book was structured (with obvious deletions). It's a big issue with adaptations. A lot of time, they seem to forget that without being privy to the little throwaways we read in the text, we lose that underlying tension that makes the payoff worth it. It has to be done visually if you can get away with it, but that doesn't happen until too late here. The first hour plus is devoted to Tris's initiation, much like the book, and while the individual sequences aren't bad, they didn't feel all that cohesive. It gives the first half of the movie a sense of "Why should I care about any of this?" which doesn't help it at all.
In some ways, it works better than the book, but that's because this version of Tris is not the book version. I don't mean just physically. Part of what defines Tris is how small and young she looks. She uses it first as motivation to prove herself, both to herself and to everyone surrounding her, then in later books as a weapon when the time is right. That's just not going to happen when you cast a 5'8" actress in the role, so changes were inevitable. Shailene Woodley plays her a lot softer than the book version, with obvious remorse. Plus, some of the script changes take away some of the things Tris does in the book that made me hate her so much. I like this Tris, and if this was how she'd been written, I probably would've liked her in the book, too.
A lot of the characters are different, actually. The casting of Will and Al is awful in the fact that the two actors look too similar and it's very hard to tell them apart. The actor playing Peter looks way older than the rest of them and never seems menacing. The only one that seemed to nail the core of the character for me was Four (even though he's physically very different than what I thought he looked like from the book). But hey, he is very nice eye candy and actually made me like him as much in the movie as I did the book, so points there.
Structurally, it suffers from too much non-story before it gets to the real meat of it. Rather than try and introduce elements earlier about the Erudite conflict to try and thread the danger throughout the movie instead of dumping it all at the end, they stuck to a lot of how the book was structured (with obvious deletions). It's a big issue with adaptations. A lot of time, they seem to forget that without being privy to the little throwaways we read in the text, we lose that underlying tension that makes the payoff worth it. It has to be done visually if you can get away with it, but that doesn't happen until too late here. The first hour plus is devoted to Tris's initiation, much like the book, and while the individual sequences aren't bad, they didn't feel all that cohesive. It gives the first half of the movie a sense of "Why should I care about any of this?" which doesn't help it at all.
Still. I kind of enjoyed it in spite of itself. Plus, Theo James is so damn pretty, and I do like Four, so that makes up for some of the shortcomings
Wednesday, March 26, 2014
Happy birthday, Tennessee Williams!
It's the birthday of one of my favorite playwrights today!
Tuesday, March 25, 2014
Loves me some Hook
With my kids on spring break, we've been catching up on Once Upon a Time. We had ten episodes to watch on the DVR, and now we're down to the three from the past three weeks when it resumed, and holy crap, I'm reminded why I love Hook so much. I've also decided it's the character, not the actor, because when I see him in interviews, he seems sweet enough but he doesn't do anything for me like when he's playing Hook.
It could be the eyeliner.
But seriously, did I ever stand a chance? Bad guy, who started out as a good guy, who wants to go back to doing the right thing because of a woman? Whose only motivations in life are love and vengeance? Yeah, that doesn't sound like my type at all. /sarcasm
It could be the eyeliner.
But seriously, did I ever stand a chance? Bad guy, who started out as a good guy, who wants to go back to doing the right thing because of a woman? Whose only motivations in life are love and vengeance? Yeah, that doesn't sound like my type at all. /sarcasm
Monday, March 24, 2014
My writing world
I've had to set aside my menage right now for projects that have deadlines. First up is my story for the silver foxes pax that's coming up later this year. My story is tentatively titled The Mansions By the Seashore, and it's about a successful Manhattan caterer who returns to the posh island where he lived until he was 12 to prove to himself he's moved on from it. I don't have much so far, but this is the opening:
The thing about memories...you always find out too late when they're based on lies. See, the brain is a beautiful construction. It knows we humans need those roots to cling to. So if it decides we are in short supply of happy memories about our parents for instance, it makes them up to fill in the gaps. It's like psychic spackle. Leave it long enough and it looks like it was always there.
Until we come face to face with its deception and realize there are holes in our lives that memories can't patch up.
Cardinal Island was my hole, the rift I'd come back to confront only to discover it was actually an abyss.
With my hands curled around the latte I'd got from the Flour Garden--no Starbucks for Cardinal Island, no siree bob, too commercial for these pompous locals--I gazed around the central square of downtown, watching people go about their daily business. It was them as much as the architecture that left me dazed. In my head, Cardinal residents never did their own shopping, and yet, I counted three different mother and offspring sets doing just that. More bizarrely, nearly everyone who walked by greeted me with a smile.
Do you remember me? I'd think as each one passed me.
If they did, they gave no indication beyond their cordial welcome of waggled fingers or the curl of their mouths. I was a mystery, the unknown in their midst. Perhaps locals confronted their enigmas head on these days rather than in the whispers and closed doors of yore.
*_*_*
Until we come face to face with its deception and realize there are holes in our lives that memories can't patch up.
Cardinal Island was my hole, the rift I'd come back to confront only to discover it was actually an abyss.
With my hands curled around the latte I'd got from the Flour Garden--no Starbucks for Cardinal Island, no siree bob, too commercial for these pompous locals--I gazed around the central square of downtown, watching people go about their daily business. It was them as much as the architecture that left me dazed. In my head, Cardinal residents never did their own shopping, and yet, I counted three different mother and offspring sets doing just that. More bizarrely, nearly everyone who walked by greeted me with a smile.
Do you remember me? I'd think as each one passed me.
If they did, they gave no indication beyond their cordial welcome of waggled fingers or the curl of their mouths. I was a mystery, the unknown in their midst. Perhaps locals confronted their enigmas head on these days rather than in the whispers and closed doors of yore.
Friday, March 21, 2014
10 Movies I Wished I'd Written
Yesterday on Facebook, I got tagged to list the fifteen authors who have influenced my writing by two author friends. In the comments of one, they got to talking about a writing exercise where you list the ten movies or books you wish you'd written, and analyze why. I kind of loved that idea, so I'm trying it out here so I can talk about them a little bit more.
1. Dead Again.
2. Parenthood
3. The Philadelphia Story
4. Fargo
5. Sunset Boulevard
6. Memento
7. The Usual Suspects
8. When Harry Met Sally...
9. Breaking Away
10. Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid
These aren't in any particular order, though I can say that Dead Again is always the first movie I think of when I consider work I wish I'd done. When I saw it in the theater in 1991, I walked out thinking exactly that. That this, to me, managed to incorporate so many elements I wish I could and it had done so in such a way that I was enthralled for the entire ride. My love for noir, my fascination with reincarnation, the romance...it all tied into this wonderful package. And really makes me want to dig it out again and watch it for the umpteenth time.
I think it's an eclectic list, to say the least, but quite common amongst a lot of these is how much I admire smart movies. More than a few have brilliant twists or structure, and most of them have amazing dialogue. The quieter movies, like Breaking Away, are on the list because of how remarkably perceptive I find them, and yet, still thrilling in their own ways.
And I'll admit that Butch Cassidy is on the list because it has one of my favorite movie lines of all time in it. It's when Butch says to Sundance, "Boy, I got vision, and the rest of the world wears bifocals." It's funny, it's insightful, and it's completely sold by Paul Newman's performance.
Any other commonalities you see? I'm curious what your list might be, too.
1. Dead Again.
2. Parenthood
3. The Philadelphia Story
4. Fargo
5. Sunset Boulevard
6. Memento
7. The Usual Suspects
8. When Harry Met Sally...
9. Breaking Away
10. Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid
These aren't in any particular order, though I can say that Dead Again is always the first movie I think of when I consider work I wish I'd done. When I saw it in the theater in 1991, I walked out thinking exactly that. That this, to me, managed to incorporate so many elements I wish I could and it had done so in such a way that I was enthralled for the entire ride. My love for noir, my fascination with reincarnation, the romance...it all tied into this wonderful package. And really makes me want to dig it out again and watch it for the umpteenth time.
I think it's an eclectic list, to say the least, but quite common amongst a lot of these is how much I admire smart movies. More than a few have brilliant twists or structure, and most of them have amazing dialogue. The quieter movies, like Breaking Away, are on the list because of how remarkably perceptive I find them, and yet, still thrilling in their own ways.
And I'll admit that Butch Cassidy is on the list because it has one of my favorite movie lines of all time in it. It's when Butch says to Sundance, "Boy, I got vision, and the rest of the world wears bifocals." It's funny, it's insightful, and it's completely sold by Paul Newman's performance.
Any other commonalities you see? I'm curious what your list might be, too.
Thursday, March 20, 2014
New Cover Art - What the Heart Thinks
We are back from Las Vegas, which means catching up on everything. One of the surprises in my email this morning? The cover art for my April pax release, What the Heart Thinks.
Those are my two guys to a T. It's a romcom of sorts, about a radio DJ and an actor/stripper who meet at a bachelorette party. Here's the blurb:
On a scale of one to ten, DJ Joe Salinas considers himself a four, five on a good day. Actor/part-time stripper Fess Kedley is definitely a nine, however, though Joe’s pretty sure that slides into a ten as soon as the clothes come off. So when the outgoing Fess recognizes a shy Joe at a bachelorette party from his midnight radio show and proceeds to ask him out, Joe turns him down, convinced he’s either crazy or stupid.
The only problem is, Fess takes rejection as reason to keep on trying.
The two become unexpected friends, so when the thought of trying a date comes up again, Joe decides to take a chance. Though he doesn’t understand what someone like Fess would see in someone like him, it’s hard to say no when everything else feels so right.
On a scale of one to ten, DJ Joe Salinas considers himself a four, five on a good day. Actor/part-time stripper Fess Kedley is definitely a nine, however, though Joe’s pretty sure that slides into a ten as soon as the clothes come off. So when the outgoing Fess recognizes a shy Joe at a bachelorette party from his midnight radio show and proceeds to ask him out, Joe turns him down, convinced he’s either crazy or stupid.
The only problem is, Fess takes rejection as reason to keep on trying.
The two become unexpected friends, so when the thought of trying a date comes up again, Joe decides to take a chance. Though he doesn’t understand what someone like Fess would see in someone like him, it’s hard to say no when everything else feels so right.
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