Quest for the Lost Cat

Quantum Is Calling is an adorable mini-film where Zoe Saldana accidentally loses her friend's cat...

Cycling While Writing

No, not the kind on a bicycle.

Cycling is the term Dean Wesley Smith uses for reviewing previous words in a wip for typos, consistency, etc. before continuing to work on the story in today's writing session. I know a lot of long-term professional writers who cycle through their story.

Heck, I did it for years without knowing what it was, mainly because when I'm in the zone, my fingers are flying so fast words are left out, switched, or a homonym is accidentally used.

Cycling doesn't catch everything, or it may not catch everything right away. I took a break from writing for a few days two weeks ago to work on taxes. When I opened the file for Ravaged again, I discovered that I'd stopped writing on a major subplot that started in Blood Magick and has a lot to do with the climax in Resurrected.

Let's just say I could've put both Sam and Tiffany's potty mouths to shame when I was cycling through and realized what I'd done.

So, I'm going back to the beginning and layering in the subplot. Want to know why it's important? I'll give you a couple of hints. It has to do with the witch whose soul Bebe witnessed being eaten back way back in Blood Magick. And it's related to how chicks  breath while they are still inside their egg shells. 😁

Monday Movie Mania - John Wick and John Wick Chapter 2

Yes, I'm cramming two review into one. And yes, I'm a huge Keanu Reeves fan. I don't care what anyone else says. The man doesn't get enough credit for his range or his use of subtlety. Seriously, go back and watch Much Ado About Nothing. Keanu can hold his own against Kenneth Branagh and Denzel Washington.

The original John Wick was one of the many movies I wanted to see in 2014 and didn't get a chance to. So when it debuted on cable TV last month, I watched. Twice.

I'm not going to give a SPOILERS warning. It's been out for three years, and if you haven't seen it yet, it's not my fault. I will give a warning before I start talking about Chapter 2.

The original film is a take on the Asian revenge stories with a neo-noir chaser. The triggering event is one I totally identify with as a furbaby parent. The fact that John's furbaby was the same breed as two of mine made his rage even more palpable.

In the typical fashion of a certain breed of human males, the entire tale could have been truncated by doing the right thing and giving the instigator to John for punishment. But no, the bad guys' dicks get in the way, and John shoots them off with brutal efficiency.

The movie ends with an injured and beaten John "adopting" a new puppy to replace his beloved Daisy. However, his equally beloved Mustang is still missing.

Which brings us to the opening of John Wick Chapter 2. The sequel picks up a couple of days after the end of the first movie, and John is looking for his Mustang. As the new head of the Russian Mafia tells his right hand man who's after him and why, the second-in-command asks, "Why don't we simply give him his car back?"

Smartest guy in the underworld so of course, he doesn't survive the first ten minutes of the movie.


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SPOILERS


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PROS
1) While the plot of its predecessor is a fairly simplistic revenge story, John Wick Chapter 2 digs deeper into John's past and the underworld of the franchise. We learn how John did the "impossible task" in order to leave the underworld and marry Helen. Unfortunately, payment for assistance in the "impossible task" comes due in the new film.

2) The pencil story from the first film was not an exaggeration, and John proves it as part of an epic fight scene in the New York subway system.

3) Common, as professional rival Cassian, was a delight. His fate was left in the air, and I truly hope to see him in the next film of the franchise.

4) Compared to his icy precision in exacting revenge in the first movie, John loses it in this one. But then, literally everything has been taken from him at this point.

5) Don't worry. Boy (the only thing John calls the pit bull puppy from the first movie) survives. However, his puppy daddy crosses a line at the end. The same line as Miss Perkins in the first movie. Out of love and respect, Winston give John an hour headstart. The film ends with John and Boy running for their lives with nothing to their names.


CONS
1) The third installment can't come out fast enough.


While I would give the original John Wick a 7.5 stars out of 10, John Wick Chapter 2 cranks everything up to 9.5.

Music I've Been Listening To

All they need is the Dancing Baby with Baby Groot...

Epic Chess Match!

Where Keanu Reeves is stirring stuff in the universe between Ant-man and Dr. Hawking...

Monday Movie Mania - The Huntsman: Winter's War

I love free weekends of premium movie channels on cable. It allows me to catch up with the flicks I wanted to see at the theater, but didn't have time to go. (And yeah, Francis, I watched Deadpool twice even though I already have the Blu-Ray.)

The Huntsman: Winter's War managed to stay in theaters for a few days longer than Jem and the Holograams. I don't normally hold that against a movie, but yes, in this case, there was a reason for TH:WW's short lifespan. Since it has been nearly a year since the movie's original release date, I'm not going to bother with my normal SPOILERS warning.

Let's just say the only good things in this movie were (1) Halsey's remake of her single "Castle" and (2) a gratuitous shot of naked Chris Hemsworth and naked Jessica Chastain.

The movie tries to be two things:  a tragic prequel and a humorous action adventure sequel. Neither of these mesh with the dark fantasy that was Snow White and the Huntsman.

The plot mashes together the original Snow White fairytale with Hans Christian Andersen's The Snow Queen. The prequel portion where Eric (aka the titular Huntsman) and Sarah were kidnapped, fell in love, etc., could have been sliced from forty minutes down to ten. And I'm being generous here. The subplot of one of the dwarves and his half-brother tagging along on Eric's quest was more engaging.

The producers assembled an exceptional cast, but the writing plodded and the dialogue was repetitive. I cannot blame the actors, who did the best they could with the lines they were given.

But with a $115 million budget, how the hell could the special effects be so shitty? DH and I have been re-watching Star Trek: Deep Space Nine during our lunch breaks. How the fuck can a twenty-three-year-old TV series have better special effects than this waste of a movie?

I tried to like this movie. I really did. But I'd rather watch Thor, Interstellar, Hitchcock, and The Devil Wears Prada back-to-back with no pee breaks while being forced to drink two gallons of beer.

Overall, The Huntsman: Winter's War get a token 1 star out of 10 for naked Hemsworth.

Music I've Been Listening To

Halsey's re-recorded hit song.

Something Fun for Friday

With the horror that started The Walking Dead's seventh season, this seemed to be a perfect antidote. Have a wonderful weekend!


Youtube took down the original post, but I found another version. Here's another video that discusses the mash-up.

Crippling Computer Despair

I'm not sure what happened over the weekend. My virus traps were clean. No strange cookies appeared. My computer wore her security condom like a good girl so no strange Trojans could infiltrate her pathways.

But something happened. I took me a good forty-eight hours to restore everything. The print drives were the biggest hassle.

Thank Goddess! I didn't lose a damn word from any of my current wips!

And this children is why you do backups.

However, the lost time in writing and putting together tax return info was annoying as hell.

Therein lies the problem. Since I've crossed the half-century mark, I'm much more conscious of time. How little I have left. How much I want to do.

It's the same weird feeling I get when I go somewhere for vacation. The first half is all excitement and wonder and fun. Then at the halfway point, I get nostalgic. I try to remember each and every moment, knowing they will be the last ones of that trip.

Damn you computer! Damn you for reminding me of my mortality!

Monday Movie Mania - The Lego Batman Movie

"Everything is awesome!"

Yep, even that little earworm makes an appearance in The Lego Batman Movie albeit in the background.

This movie taps into the family theme a little deeper than it's predecessor, The Lego Movie, did, all within the realm of the Batman mythos. On the surface though, this movie is a fangirl's dream with all the nods to seventy+ years of Batman history. And it's funny as hell.


* * *


SPOILERS


* * *


PROS
1) Ironically, this movie digs deeper into Batman/Bruce Wayne's psyche than most other stories I've read or watched. Sure, his parents' murders are the inciting factor to Bruce's vigilantism. But this movie takes it a step further by showing him so paranoid about ANY human connection he denies Joker's claim that he is Batman's greatest foe. Which of course, sets off the Joker's greatest scheme EVER!

2) The cameos are too fucking numerous to mention. In fact, I think I missed some in the kinetic energy of the film. But a special nod goes to Billy Dee Williams who played DA Harvey Dent in Batman (1989). I'd hoped to see him play Two-Face in a Michael Keaton sequel, but it was not to be.

3) Special mention goes to Doug Benson who voiced Bane. I sat through the credits because I would have sworn Bane was portrayed by his The Dark Knight Rises actor, Tom Hardy.


CONS
1) I know this sounds weird, but this flick was way more enjoyable than the live-action DC superhero movies, and it upsets me. As I'm writing this review, Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice is playing on the TV. (I'm taking advantage of an HBO free weekend.) There's no humor to relieve the unrelenting dreariness and despair of Man of Steel and BvS. Suicide Squad was a bit better, but the humor had to be inserted during retakes.

This is a time in history were heroic stories are important. We the People need something positive in our lives, someone to look up to even if he/she is a figment of our imagination. Both Batman and Superman were created during the Depression for a reason. When I say "positive", I don't mean the constant visual and dialogue jokes of The Lego Batman Movie, but Goddess damn it, we need something positive. Uplifting. And it's sad that a toy-inspired animated movie delivers what the live-action movies can't.

In the end, I can honestly tell other parents to take their kids to see this movie. It's the same clean fun of its predecessor. Overall, I give The Lego Batman Movie 9.5 out of 10 stars.