Monday Movie Mania - Tron: Ares

DH is a HUGE Tron fan, so of course, we had to see the latest edition to the franchise.


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SPOILERS


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PROS
1) Right off the bat, this is my favorite movie in the Tron series! The movie kept its pacing and story structure tight. Unfortunately, the first two movies suffered from the Star Trek: The Motion Picture ennui. "Hey! Make the actors stare are these super expensive special effects!" In this iteration of Tron, the effects were in the background, where they should be, compared to the acting.

2) This is the best I've ever seen Jared Leto. There are times to chew the scenery and times to hold back. His Ares was understated and low emotion, but still  sympathetic.

3) ACK! They turned my sweet, innocent Quicksilver into a raging psycho! Seriously, is there anything Evan Peters can't do? Seriously, he does an excellent job plunging arrogant Silicon Valley dudebro Julian Dillinger into psychotic madness.

4) The writers try real hard to shunt Greta Lee's ENCOM CEO Eve Kim into a damsel in distress, but her backbone of steel shines through anyway.

5) Jodie Turner-Smith's Athena is the flip side of Ares. She's going to obey her programming come hell or high water. Turner-Smith does a fantastic job in subtle emoting as Athena reaches sentience right before the end.

6) Holy Crap! Nine Inch Nails delivered on the soundtrack. They did an incredible job blending the original Tron themes (synthesizers and all) into a gorgeous that meld smoothly with the visuals. (I'm definitely getting this album!)

7) No stupid, forced romance between Eve and Ares. I don't want to give away the ending, but it was so very appropriate between these two characters.


CONS
1) The only thing I would change is give Gillian Anderson (Elisabeth Dillinger) more time to explore the twisted relationship between mother and son. But Julian killing Mommy Dearest was telegraphed a mile away. It would have been more interesting to have her live instead of him. But no, we can't do that in today's culture. *sigh*


Overall, I really did love Tron: Ares. But make no mistake, it's a standard hero story with enough tweaks to keep it interesting. I give it 9.5 stars out of 10!

Here We Go Again

Back in the spring of 2020, COVID-19 swept through the world, causing massive disruption to everyone and everything. Millions of deaths, trade and economic collapse, people refusing to protect themselves or others from contamination.

And now, it's happening all over again. Except the cause is greed and power, not a virus.

*sigh*

If you're a history buff like me, we're seeing an action for action repeat of the first half of the 20th century. Back in 2020, Kris Rusch posted about Black Swan events disrupting the expected path of things. Go read it. I'll wait.

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So, what does this have to do with me and my writing? I had planned to do a Kickstarter this month for The Books of Apep series. I've been prepping for this campaign for two freaking years, and...

Of course, shit hit the fan. Not mine, for once. But everyone else's. And this Black Swan event is even weirder than the last one.

Everyone in the U.S. is suffering from the current, and rather deliberate, chaos in D.C. to dismantle the government. I won't get into my fury about my son's panic at not getting paid as a soldier.

But on top of that, the employees of Kickstarter have gone on strike. Ironically, the workers unionized back during the pandemic. And now, they are looking for nothing more than to continue their four-day work week and a cost of living increase in their wages. Management isn't even trying to negotiate in good faith. Kind of like Congress right now.

So, I delayed in putting up my campaign, hoping that the strike would end soon. Both of my parents were in unions. I remember us dropping off Dad at the picket lines during strikes in '70's. Frankly, I feel a little funky about crossing the Kickstarter United virtual picket line.

Company owners seem to forget who makes the products they sell. They forget who buys the products they sell. And if people aren't earning a decent wage, they can't buy the products these companies sell. It's a vicious cycle that no one seems to want to stop.

In my own case, my book sales are down because of the uncertainty of the economy. I can't blame my readers. DH and I are also nervous about what will happen next, too.

What am I going to do? After waffling over the last three weeks, I'm going to bite the bullet and launch the campaign at the end of the month. If it funds, great! If it doesn't, I'll try to do it again next year. But I've got to look after my own interests, especially if GK needs financial help!

In the meantime, I'll keep writing to keep from weeping over the disaster my country has become. Which is how I wrote 2600 words on A Barrel of Vintner yesterday.

Monday Movie Mania - Nobody 2

This is another late review, because we saw the movie in August and because I almost forgot to post it.

DH and I saw the first Nobody on streaming before we went to see the sequel. I mainly know Bob Odenkirk from Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul, but in the Nobody movies, his Hutch is family man who tries so very hard to do right thing and you really want to root for him, which is why I like these movies.


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SPOILERS

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PROS
1) The actually story is much better than the first movie. Hutch and the family have a new home, and on the surface, they seem to be doing okay. However, since Hutch is un-retired from his original job and has to pay off the debt to the Russian mob from the first movie, his work is putting a strain on his family life. As he tells his handler, he and his family frankly need a vacation. The result is a wild mix of National Lampoon's Vacation and John Wick.

2) In this version, the entire family, from Becca and the kids, to Hutch's brother and dad are in on the shenanigans. I never would have thought of RZA and Christopher Lloyd would work so well together, but I'd love a sequel with the just the two of them!

3) Since the talents of Hutch's son Brady surprised his father and his uncle, DH and I had a debate on the way home of who's been teaching the kid how to fight. DH thinks it was Grandpa David. I say it was Mom, especially since she is no stranger to fighting or weapons as shown here.

4) Out of the cast, I have to give special kudos to Colin Hanks for playing the annoying corrupt sheriff.


CONS
1) Honestly, there's not a damn thing wrong with this movie.


Overall, this is a fun popcorn movie with lots of butter and cheesy flavoring to enjoy on a weekend! I give is a solid 10 out of 10 stars for crazy, violent fun.

Monday Movie Mania - Jurassic World: Rebirth

There's a few movies DH and I saw over the summer that for various reasons, I didn't have a chance to write a review while they were still in the theater. Too be frank, you're better off watching Jurassic World: Rebirth at home because it isn't worth the money for the movie ticket.


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SPOILERS


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PROS
1) I had high hopes for this one when the executives cast Scarlett Johansson, Mahershala Ali, and Jonathan Bailey. All three actors make unique career choices that usually live me delighted. However, I do not blame amy of them for the mess that is this movie.

CONS
1) Quite frankly, I don't know what David Koepp was smoking when he wrote this, but he needs to stop. The story is such a mish-mash. It's not sure if it wants to be a horror movie, a corporate espionage thriller, or a family friendly lark. I don't normally have a problem with genre blending, but it has to make sense. At least in Jurassic Park III, the dumbass stepdad could be blamed for doing something stupid and illegal to score cool points with his stepson.

2) If I want mutant monsters, I'd watch a Resident Evil movie. Dinosaurs are threatening enough without mutating them.

3) Why the hell would mercs want to open source a cure for heart disease? They lost their friends, their equipment, and their payday. No real reason was given for them to go along with the nerdy scientist hero.


Overall, this is one of those movies that not even so bad it's funny. I give Jurassic World: Rebirth 5 stars out of 10.

And to Mr. Steven Spielberg, if your employees can't come up with a better story, please stop making Jurassic World movies.

Music I've Been Listening to Lately

So subversive! So fun! So Cyndi!

Monday Movie Review - F1

DH and I went to see this movie in July during one of our double-feature weekends. It's a flick; it was simply overshadowed by Superman (2025) in my mind. So, here's my thoughts.


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SPOILERS


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PROS
1) This is a great story in that it manages to avoid most of the usual BS tropes in a guy-centric racing flick. The mentor doesn't die. The student doesn't die. The efforts of the bad guys don't succeed. It's actually a feel good movie in a summer of awesome feel good movies.

2) Brad Pitt brings his usual charm and charisma to the big screen. His character Sonny is a driver-for-hire who was severely injured in an F1 crash thirty years before the beginning of this story. He's not down on his luck (a trope broken), but he's intrigued when his friend (Javier Bardem) needs a second driver on his F1 team.

3) Javier Bardem plays the owner of a F1 team on the brink of a forced sale. Javier matches Brad charm for charm. You can't help, but root for the pair as they seek a racing win.

4) Damson Idris as the team's rookie driver was a total delight. I expect we'll be hearing more from him in the future. He twists the rookie with a chip-on-his-shoulder trope by his character realizing racing is a team sport after clashing with the older Sonny. Yes, there is a crash, but they don't kill the kid off!

5) Kerry Condon's turn as the team's technical director was incredible. No one argues with her character's knowledge.


CONS
1) My only gripe is her character falling into the trope of sleeping with Sonny. (Nothing against Brad since he's DH's age, and Kerry is in her 40's, bt I'm so tired of the twenty-year age differences between the male and female stars.


Overall, this is a fun movie if you like racing films. I give F1 9 stars out of 10.

Music I've Been Listening to Lately

This is my month, and this is my all-time favorite song by Alicia Keys!

Monday Movie Mania (A Little Late) - Caught Stealing

DH and I wanted to see this movie when it first came out this summer. However, life got in the way. Like my car accident last Wednesday. (Don't worry. Both the other driver and I are fine, and this time it was my fault. Our vehicles on the other hand? Oof!)

Anyway, DH was checking the theater showings for the weekend in order to cheer me up. Lo and behold, Caught Stealing was back in the theater. But only for one late showing. Like 10:40 p.m. (While I'm a night owl, DH is usually in bed by 1 a.m. on the weekends.) We both said "Screw it!" and went to that late show.


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SPOILERS!


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PROS
1) The entire cast is fucking awesome! From Austin Butler's out-of-his-depth bartender Hank to Carol Kane's adorable Hasidic Jewish grandmother.

2) Special kuddos to Regina King, playing the badass Detective Roman!

3) The movie is set in 1998, but it has the same of vibe of a lot of 80's and early 90's action flicks.


CONS
1) Fridging the girlfriend is so fucking passe'. Neither Yvonne or Zoe Kravitz deserved it.

2) You can tell Roman was originally supposed to be a guy. No woman in her right mind would lay down her gun to fist fight her opponent.


Overall, Caught Stealing is a fun little movie as long as you can ignore the two major cons. I give it 8 stars out of 10.

Music I've Been Listening to Lately

You haven't succeeded in the music business until Weird Al paradies you!

A Sad Time

Per an e-mail I received from the trustee, the Marion Zimmer Bradley Literary Works Trust is officially shutting down on December 31, 2025. By shutting down, I mean the trustee is pulling every single copy, both electronic and paper from all retailers.

The Trust lasted for twenty-six years, but the folks working for the Trust have reached their own twilight years. I don't blame them one bit for wanting to spend their last years working on their own projects.

What does this means in regards to me? My first trad publishing contract was with the Trust for a short story called "Justice" in Sword and Sorceress 28. I sold three more stories to editor Elisabeth Waters that appeared in Volumes 30, 31, and 32. I'm proud of those stories. Back in 2013, I wasn't prepared for the popularity of the main characters of "Justice". Life's funny though, and I just released the tenth novel in the Justice series, A Cup of Conflict.

If you'd like paperback copies of Sword and Sorceress Volumes 27 through 34, or e-books of the currently available volumes, please get your copies before 2026 rolls around.