Monday Movie Mania - Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania

DH and I went to the theater twice over the Presidents' Day weekend because he had the day off and we already have plenty of mattresses. AMC showed the re-release of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, which DH had never seen.

When it came to new releases, he wanted to see Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, despite my best efforts to talk him into Magic Mike: The Last Dance. (I can't imagine why I failed. LOL)

 

*******

SPOILERS

********

 

PROS

1) Kathryn Newton gained my admiration as Claire Novak in Supernatural. She's excellent as the latest Cassie Lang.

2) Jonathan Majors' Kang is so much better than Thanos. I can't wait to see what Kevin Feig and the rest of the writers have in mind for him in the upcoming Avengers movies.

3) Henry Pym finally got to be the hero in this movie.

4) Since Kang is a major foe of the Fantastic Four in the comics universe, this will be a perfect opportunity to bring them into the MCU.

5) Turning Yellowjacket into M.O.D.O.K cracked me up.

CONS

1)  Treating the Wasp as part of the scenery. The story focused almost solely on Scott/Cassie's relationship and Hank/Janet's relationship. Poor Hope had little to do other than saving Scott's ass at the end.

2) Not enough character development with the five characters the script did focus on.

3) No mention of the previous movies' supporting cast, much less any appearance. I especially missed Michael Pena as Luis.

Overall, Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania was an okay entry in the MCU, but it could have been better. I give it 6 stars out of 10.

Music I've Been Listening to Lately

While I prefer the Weather Girls version of this song, you can't fault the visual aesthetic of Countre Black's version on the Magic Mike soundtrack.

A Holiday and a Date Night

DH had Presidents' Day off so after sleeping in, we went to a matinee. The first time we've been to the cinema since the week before Thanksgiving of 2022. So there will be a movie post next Monday.

Then our theater has the re-release of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, so I'm dragging DH to see that one tonight. Also, I stayed up on Sunday night because TNT was having a Marvel movie marathon. I watched Ant-Man and the Wasp as a refresher, then Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer.

I don't care what anyone says. I loved the 2005 and 2007 FF movies.

Anyway, it may not seem like I needed the break this week because my readers don't cross the series streams, but I've been writing like crazy since January 1st, plus working on tax stuff since February 1st. So, yes, I definitely needed a break.

At least, I finally talked to my CPA. Yay! The first good news is I don't have to claim my Kickstarter campaign funds as income until I completely distribute the rewards. The second good news is that the taxing of estate-related wealth hasn't changed too much since I stopped practicing probate and estate planning law. I feared a gigantic amount due to the IRS, but I think we'll be okay.

But it means I need to redo some of my reports and figures before sending off the paperwork. So tomorrow, I'll be back on the grind.

And lest you think I did nothing writing-wise, I've been sprinting with some writer friends for 2-3 hours each day. Heck, I even got up early (for me) to sprint, which is why I didn't do my blog until now, and I'll write some more after DH goes to bed tonight. But, gosh, I needed to fill my creative well!

Music I've Been Listening to Lately

Magic Mike: The Last Dance finally arrived at our local theater. And I'm still listening to the soundtracks.

What's Authors Guild Really Up To?

Authors Guild has finagled several indie book distributors into sending emails to their customers/vendors. They are asking indies to tell them how much they make.

So far, I've received emails from Alliance of Independent Authors, Barnes & Noble, and D2D/Smashwords. I fairly sure Amazon, Apple, and GooglePlay will refuse or have refused to participate. I'm waiting to see if I get anything from Kobo or IngramSparks. I've asked around, and several writers I personally know have received these emails. So far, none of these people are planning to respond to the survey.

Why does Authors Guild want this information? Because they've been trying to make the case that author incomes are down across the board. As far as I know, they been doing this survey amongst their membership for the last five years.

But here's the problem. There's been an active anti-indie vibe within AG for the last fifteen years. In fact, AG didn't make a big announcement regarding finally accepting indie members in 2014. They quietly slipped the change into their membership rules.

And frankly, I have a problem with the criteria AG and most other professional writer organizations have for accepting indie writers. I could get $500 advance for a novel from one of the Big Five, and the offer letter is sufficient for membership to AG. It doesn't matter whether I make another penny on that book. However, as an indie, I have to prove I made ten times that amount in one year on one book to become a member. Sorry, but that's just not right.

Furthermore, I don't feel comfortable showing statements from my distributors or my bank account statements to random strangers. Most other writers I know don't either. Frankly, that level of detail is no one's fucking business other than my husband's and our CPA's. Well, and the IRS.

I can't speak for anyone else, but I fear how this information will be used. I understand that we indies are very individualistic. I also understand we don't have a centralized repository for information. However, we were the ones that the Big Five didn't want, so why is AG so interested in our information?

I can only think that AG and their buddies, the Big Five and agents, are looking to copy our techniques even more than they already are.

Music I've Been Listening to Lately

Oops! Forgot to post last night! And yes, I've been listening to the Magic Mike soundtracks. For some strange reason.

All's Quiet, Maybe Too Quiet

Don't expect another post from me until Monday, except music videos on Saturday nights. We received the last of the 1099 documents I'd been waiting on, and I've got to get the tax info sorted and to our CPA.

And to top things off, our CPA sent out an e-mail to his clients today that he'd been diagnosed with cancer, but we are in capable hands with his staff.

Don't get me wrong. DH and I trust his staff implicitly, but it prompted a discussion of what do we want to do should our CPA's firm shut down.

We're simply at that age, and most of our professional contacts are, too. Two dentists have retired on us in the last ten years. I'm trying to figure who to name as my alternate trustee to my literary trust should something happen to DH. GK isn't interested, at least, not now. Most of the friends I trust are my age or older. That leaves two younger friends, one an attorney and one a CPA, to name as alternates. But what happens if they both say no?

And don't even get me started on looking for another doctor! Or three, in my case.

But on the good news front, and depending on the results of my upcoming mammogram, I will officially hit the five-year mark for my breast cancer in April. And if I'm still cancer-free, that will be the end of having to take tamoxifen as a preventative.

So, DH and I are sending a "F*ck Cancer" mug to our CPA. From two cancer survivors to another. Cancer sucks!

Like Doctor Leonard Hofstadter, I Cannot Catch a Break

The third-party I used for links for readers to be able to access their respective Amazon stores for one of my books shut down at the end of January. No warning whatsoever. *sigh*

I didn't discover the  problem until I started to update the links on my websites on Friday.

Amazon has now realized we need one link for their multiple stores. Especially since the company insists on making indie books available in all the stores. Duh!

So it's going to cut into my writing time this week to figure out and set up the new links. A bad week since I also planned to finish up the taxes.

I hadn't touched any of the ice cream, leftover from before Christmas, in our freezer until this weekend when I discovered the link issue. Unfortunately, GK didn't eat off of it while he was on leave. Maybe I need to switch to something healthier. Like oatmeal.

Lots and lots of oatmeal.

So much better than rabbits and mice.

Movies I Love!

I can't wait for next weekend the third movie in this trilogy!

I Should Not Write the Two Months After a Parent's Funeral

I was doing one last proofing pass on Invasion! before formally launching it. And I got to the last four chapters and wondered, "What the fuck was I thinking?"

When I checked my calendar, I realized they had been written shortly after my mother's funeral back in October. *facepalm* Seriously, there were sentences in there that made absolutely no sense. And none of this registered in my brain when I did the first editing pass back in November.

So I've spent the last couple of days, well, not really fixing the book. More like re-writing the last quarter of it.

I know there are times I don't hit the mark with readers. But despite some people's reviews, I do try to put out a quality product. This is one of those times where I needed to take a step back, kick myself in the ass, and fix the damn book.

It's going to be another week or so before Invasion! is released.