Monday Movie Mania a Day Late - Carry-On

I normally only review movies released in theaters, but I'm making an exception for Carry-On. Why? Because this is one of the best action thrillers I've seen in years! Frankly, it's on par with Die Hard with the tight narrative, characterization, and pacing. And even better? I couldn't outguess the plot until the climax, which for me is a very big deal.


*****

SPOILERS!!


*****


PROS
1) The chemistry between Taron Egerton and Jason Bateman was excellent as their characters play cat-and-mouse through the entire movie.

2) Taron's American accent only slipped once that I recall, but he also did a convincing Midwest accent. Most British actors end up with a Southern accent when doing American accents.

3) Jason Bateman was absolutely chilling as the antagonist. He's better known for his comedy roles, but not using him more often as a psycho mercenary is a waste of his acting range.

4) The ladies in the movie weren't just damsels in distress! Detective Cole (Danielle Deadwyler) figures out the links between the double homicide that starts the movie and Ethan's (Egerton) attempted 911 call, not to mention she saves herself from one of Bateman's accomplices. Nora (Sofia Carson) aides Ethan in stopping Bateman, even though another accomplice tries to kill her.

5) It was nice to see a TSA agent portrayed in a positive light. The same people who bitch about the long lines at security checkpoints are the same ones who were out for blood after 9/11. The TSA folks are doing the jobs y'all wanted them to do at a low rate of pay. Be nice to them when you're travelling!


CONS
1) My only gripe about this movie is it used the "bury your gays" trope twice in the story. The first I could handle since the character's husband survives and helps Nora. The second one pissed me off.


Overall, Carry-On will be added to my cookie-making Christmas list along with Die Hard and Lethal Weapon. I give Carry-On 10 out of 10 stars!

Music I've Been Listening to

All other Christmas songs pale by comparison!

Peace, Joy, and Kindness

We're taking gifts to the family gathering where we will eat nachos and play board games. Later tonight, I'll watch Doctor Who.

I hope everyone has a wonderful holiday season!

Monday Movie Mania - Red One

DH has been dragging me to the movies over the past two months to get me out of my SAD funk. (At least, I'm pretty sure that's what my issue is.) But the funk has prevented me from posting any thoughts, so I'm going to try to catch up over the next few weeks.

Red One is just a stupid fun action movie. Critics seemed to expect it to be an Oscar contender, and blast it when it doesn't deliver. Personally, I think it would be great for your tween boys. GK would have loved this 15 years ago.

PROS
1) Dwayne Johnson once again plays the rigid rule-enforcer who lightens up as the story progresses. There's only one acting mode for him, and he uses it fully.

2) Chris Evans had fun using his own smart aleck personality. However, his language is a little more conservative compared to his revival of Johnny Storm in Deadpool and Wolverine.

3) JK Simmons was a fucking awesome Santa Claus.


CONS
1) On the flip side, JK Simmons was totally underused. I'd love to see him in his own Santa adventure!

2) On the same note, Lucy Liu and Bonnie Hunt were wasted as well. They could have just as equally been Santa's rescue team if the producers weren't thinking with their dicks.

3) The story had the potential to be something radical and heart-warming like The Santa Clause. As much as I laughed through the flick, the story is pretty quickly forgotten, so it probably won't be on my regular Christmas movie rotation.


Overall, Red One is a decent movie to send the family to if you need a couple of hours of peace and quiet, whether it be at home or in the theater. Unfortunately, I have to give it a 5 out of 10 stars for its immediately forgetiblity.

Music I'm Listening To

An old song from an artist I respect.

We Are Already Globalized

I watch the news with some amusement these days. There's a nationalistic streak happening all over the world that's reminiscent of a century ago. The streak from the 1920's led to World War II.

But back then, powered flight by humans was in its infancy. Transatlantic flights were a rare and difficult adventure. The only way to travel from the Old World to the New was by steam-powered ships, which often took a week or more, unless you were really rich and could afford tickets on, say one Cunard's luxury liners like the RMS Lusitania.

[Yes, I know the Lusitania was sunk in 1915, but it held the transatlantic speed record until the 1930's.]

My real point is that this time around nationalism is playing out in a weird way. Politicians are pushing nationalism worldwide at a time when our economies are so complex and intertwined far more than they were a century ago

It used to be that imported goods were expensive items that one could not make or produce in one's own country. For example, it's hard to raise silkworms in the Scandinavian countries, so silk had to be imported from places were the worms could be raised.

But today?

Near-instantaneous communication and faster shipping with international flights means we don't have to wait forever to get something like cinnamon.

I've hired cover artists living in the U.S., Canada, and Bulgaria. I've sold books in every continent except Antarctica. This afternoon, I ordered doll hair from Australia. I bought a pair of beautifully crafted silver and citrine earrings from India for a cousin's birthday. And I love that cinnamon has become so common I can eat it in bagels every morning if I wanted.

If anything, the COVID-19 pandemic showed us just how entwined our economies have become, even if our cultures aren't.

Will this nationalistic fervor continue through the rest of the decade? I really doubt it. Not even the politicians want to give up their Chinese tech and their Italian race cars, so it'll be a little harder for them to make me give up cinnamon.

Music I'm Listening To

And yes, I do have this CD!

Sale!!!

The holiday prep getting to you? Need a little something to relax that doesn't involve pot or alcohol?

I've some end of the year sales!

First of all, Blood Magick (Bloodlines #1) is free on ALL retail platforms. If it ain't free, you're looking at a pirate site.

Amazon, all countries
Apple
Barnes & Noble
Google Play
Kobo
Smashwords

Second, I'm participating in Smashword's End of the Year Sale! All novels and novellas are half-price. All short stories are free. If there's something you wanted to try, you can do it cheap!

Lastly, I've been updating links. If I get one wrong, PLEASE let me know. I admit despite my usual perfectionism, I'm a little frazzled between holiday prep, yet another funeral, and finish writing a bunch of stories.

I hope everyone is staying warm and safe, and that you have a great whichever- holiday(s)-you-celebrate!

Art Challanges

The styles and techniques between short stories (1-10K words) and novelettes (10,001 to 18K words) on the lower word count side and novellas (18-40K) and novels (40K+) on the higher sides are radically different. Please note that these are the averages I learned over the last thirty years. Each publisher can have different numbers for their specific requirements.

(Don't get me started about flash fiction, i.e. a story less than 1K words. It's a talent I haven't mastered, and mad respect to those who have.)

It's been a while since I've written the shorter forms, so my skills are a little rusty. A writer still needs descriptions and strong characters, but there's fewer words to drag a reader into the story. The genre and editor requirements make a difference.

There was a time I was a natural short form writer, but I was leaving a lot of stuff out that would make my work a better story. In fact, a couple of published author friends said I was writing screenplays, not novels.

But the freedom of being indie is that I don't have to force my stories into particular boxes. I finish the first draft. I edit it. I send it off to my alpha reader. That's it. Whatever the final word count is only matters when I go to make a print version. If it's a short story, I'll publish it as an e-book, and then I'll decide to group stories of a particular theme or by characters and group theme into a an anthology. For example, the Bloodlines short stories and novellas are collected in one paperback.

Unfortunately, when an editor contacts you with an invitation to write a story for them, they have a specific genre, word count, and theme already decided. I have to force a story into their dimensions, which for me is pretty damn difficult. And frankly, it scares me a little bit.

But if it scares me, then I need to do it. That's part of growing in our art.

How Much Has the Publishing World Changed

In looking through some old posts, I realized I hadn't talked much about the publishing industry lately. The why is even more astounding. A whole generation has passed since e-books have gone main stream.

Yeah, I know e-books have been around before 2000, but that's when companies started making inroads. I noticed them and started buying and reading them around that point. They were convenient when I traveled on business trips.

Back on November 19th, Kindle celebrated its 17th anniversary. It wasn't the first device to be a dedicated e-book reader, but it was the first to get some public traction.

Kindle Direct Publishing ("KDP") was introduced at the same time, though it was originally called Digital Text Platform ("DTP"). It changed the game. Writers were no longer dependent solely on mainstream book publishers to reach a national, or international, audience.

By 2010, the hue and cry arose from the publishing companies and trad-published writers that Amazon would totally ruin the industry with their tsunami of unfettered swill. Indie publishers responded by undercutting trad publishing's prices.

Weirdly, older folks led the charge into adapting e-book readers. They could modify the font and size of the print to make it easier to see the words, something they just can't do with print books.

Furthermore, readers had greater options. Contrary to trad publishing's claims they didn't cater to reader tastes. They expected readers to love whatever they put out. Suddenly, readers could find any genre their hearts desired at any time, day or night.

And now. . .

Now, you don't hear much of anything from anyone. Or maybe, I just stopped paying any attention. So, I went through my old blog lists. Nope. Pretty much everyone hollering back in the early '10's when I started Angry Sheep Publishing have stopped posting. The social media most common in the early '10's have been trashified, and the few folks I still keep up with are fleeing to the latest thing.

Furthermore, smart phones and multi-purpose tablets have taken over the entertainment sphere. I can read, watch, or listen to anything my heart desires on small, lightweight devices. I no longer search for purses that can fit whatever paperback I'm reading at the time.

In the meantime, wars have started left and right. We went through a world-wide pandemic. The level of hate and meanness have grown exponentially in both the real life and  virtual space. There are simply more things to worry about than whether some middle-aged lady is writing erotica in her own home and publishing it.

So, yes, it's quieter. I can carry a thousand books on my phone to read any time, any where. And I'm loving it!

Music I'm Listening To

If I've got to listen to Christmas music, I want something fabulous!

What the Hell Is Going on with Suzan?

It's been a little insane at Casa Harden over the last few weeks. The chaos started with one of DH's remaining uncles passed away. It ended with me slipping on ice, tripping over a landscaping brick, and somehow falling on the frozen ground instead of the concrete driveway the day before the Alberta Clipper swept through our area.

I'm still unsure how I managed to injure my right thumb in that delightful show of clumsiness.

Hey, at least, I didn't fall on Princess Bella. The poor thing was merely trying to hurry to get her final constitutional done for the night because even she was cold wearing a t-shirt and her winter coat. (She's a toy breed, and you have to bundle them up because they cannot control their core temps the way a larger dog can.)

There's been a lot more happening in between the emotional and physical aches, but I won't bore you with those details. What it comes down to is I am behind.

So woefully behind.

And what happens? I get invitations from two different editors asking me to submit short stories for their holiday anthologies. For 2025! By the end of the month!

*sigh*

Folks, I literally just finished sending last year's Christmas presents to people!

So, what does it all mean?

It means I'm busting my ass trying to get the books y'all are expecting. I merely took the dates off the Release Schedule because looking at the page was triggering my anxiety.

Today, I skipped yoga, I made sure I had plenty of coffee and tea, and I will be back on the keyboard as soon as I get home from the COVID booster stab.

That's assuming I don't bash my brains on the asphalt in the pharmacy parking lot.

Monday Movie Mania - Here

First of all, I recognize that Here won't be everyone's cup of tea. It's a bittersweet look at life, not a slam bang, explosions, and man fu action flick. Nevertheless, it hit home with DH and me because we became the oldest generation in each of our families two years ago The inevitability that life ends with death of the individual hurts, but the understanding that life will go on is satisfying on a different level.

* * *


SPOILERS


* * *

PROS
1) Robert Zemeckis does something a little different by showing a single place on Earth through roughly 65 million years. To paraphrase Doctor Who, Zemeckis somehow makes sense of the wibbly-wobbly, timey-wimey stuff.

2) The aging/de-aging of the actors wasn't as distracting as I feared it would be.

3) The chesmistry of Tom Hanks and Robin Wright hasn't faded a bit.

4) Paul Bettany and Kelly Reilly were simply adorable playing Tom's parents.

5) I have a feeling history will appreciate this movie, much like It's a Wonderful Life was disparaged at its release, but lauded by future generations.


CONS
1) I actually would have liked to see more of William Franklin and the indigenous couple. Their lives were used to punctuate certain events in Richard (Hanks) and Margaret's (Wright) lives, but I would have liked to see some of the differences as well.

2) The pacing was slow at times, but I'm not sure if it was my expectations or an actual problem with the film.


Overall, Here is a movie that doesn't spoonfeed it's audiences, and that's probably the reason I love it. I give it 9 out of 10 stars.