Immortals

A bit of background before you think I’m crazy for being desperate for rushing out to see Immortals.

Years ago I saw the movie ‘The Cell’ and thought it was really interesting. True, the acting wasn’t the best, and J-Lo and Vince Vaughn of all people? But that aside, the ideas behind it and the imagery in its finishing were fascinating.

Several years passed and my brother sent me a message saying ‘If you liked Pan’s Labyrinth, then you’ll probably like The Fall.’ As it happened, Pan’s Labyrinth was my favourite at the time, so I thought I’d check out ‘The Fall’. I’m not sure how he heard about it, because very few people I speak to, if any, have heard of it (It was never released in Australia either to the cinema or on DVD). When I saw it, I knew I had found gold. The Fall became (and remains) my all-time-favourite-movie (if you force me to pick just one).

A short time later I saw on IMDB that Tarsem Singh was working on something new. Sorry, to clarify: he directed both The Cell and The Fall but up until then hadn’t directed any other films. So news of a new one, and one based on Greek Mythology no less, was extremely exciting.

So, I have been waiting almost 3 years to actually see this from when I first heard of it. Unfortunately my excitement started waning when I saw the preview. It appeared he’d gone blockbuster/action. Still, I wanted to see it.

So, this week was the time! It had arrived here was an opportunity…

It was as I feared. “The producers of 300” (apparently a drawcard) had decided they wanted to make the same movie over again, but borrow some of Tarsem’s visionary genius to paint on top of it. Over the top action sequences that not only tried to glorify the blood that was literally free flowing like exploded water balloons, but attempted to make it somehow artistically beautiful as well. Semi-naked buff bodies filling up rooms like a ball pit, and a script that was predictable and unfulfilling.

It was ridiculous. Did I enjoy it? Yes, but I was still disappointed.  It was magnificently ridiculous and beautiful. I hope that sometime in the future Tarsem can find it in himself to make genuinely brilliant film like The Fall again, but if his next venture is anything to go by, it looks like a exponential decline.

I feel I need to mention how uncomfortably loud the cinema was, and how pointless and annoying the 3D aspect was. For an industry that wants to encourage movie patronage, they seem to be going out of their way to turn people off the cinema experience. I for one was just reminded how much I prefer to watch movies at home where I can control the volume and am not forced to pay extra to wear a 2^nd pair of glasses while watching a movie. (yes, I mean forced. I searched for a non-3D session in VMax and found I would have to drive for an hour and a half to see the one session a day in which that option was available.)

In summary, it’s possibly worth watching for the Tarsem shell they’ve encased it in, but do not be fooled that you will be seeing anything new, and know exactly what you’re signing up to.

I Am Legend by Richard Matheson

This was a selection for bookclub that I found myself thinking, ok, I’d never have picked it up myself, but I’ll give it a go. Generally speaking, vampire books don’t excite me and I’d seen the most recent movie so I wasn’t over enthusiastic about reading the book.

However, I’ve now learned that whoever made the movie must have read the blurb on the back of the book, thought ‘Great premise, I’m going to make a movie now’ and gone and written something completely different and called it the same title as the book. Unfair to the book if you ask me. As far as adaptations go, the film is appalling. Sure, it’s watchable if you’re in the mood for putting up with Will Smith basking in his ‘Will Smith-ness’ for much of it, but the book is an entirely different experience.

Robert Neville lives alone, trying to survive the nightly attacks from a seemingly endless supply of vampires. Could he be the last living human on the planet? Routine stifles despair, but loneliness is unceasing.

For a book that in effect has one character, I Am Legend is mightily engaging. It knows when to use an action sequence to draw you in, or develop the emotional story to make you feel more. It knows when to skip forward or back in time so weeks, months, years, don’t feel at all tedious. And the ending (which I will not spoil for you) is fascinating and makes you think about all you’ve read and what you would feel in the same situation. Don’t believe the movie version; it’s ridiculous Hollywood slop compared to what (I think) Matheson was trying to say with his book.

If you like anything vaguely apocalyptical then you'll like this one. It’s an enjoyable read that might make you think too. Nice choice for bookclub, particularly if like us, you watch the film adaptations afterwards to discuss further. 

Lara Morgan's Rosie Black Blog Tour

The RosieBlack Chronicle’s second installment, Equinox, has just been released at the beginning of November. This fantastic series by the talented Lara Morgan is a great dystopian sci-fi adventure that has you gallivanting across the Australia of 500 years in the future and zipping up to Mars and back to uncover evil corporate cover-ups and save Rosie’s family. Using Lara’s own term, I’ve been one of her ‘Minions’ right from the start. These books are what I would call accessible sci-fi. By that I mean it doesn’t get bogged down in astrophysics (and why should it?) but saves room for all the action and adventure you would want! With a little bit of romance thrown in too.

This is a very special blog post: I’m very excited to be involved in Lara Morgan’s Rosie Black Blog Tour! I got the privilege to ask Lara some questions about Getting Published, a topic that’s very close to my heart, being that my aspirations lie in the very same sphere. Also, at the end I’ll let you know how you could win a set of books 1 and 2 of the Rosie Black Chronicles.
So it’s with great pleasure I welcome Lara to my blog.

What was your first published work and how did you go about getting it published?

My very first published work was a short story called Salt and it was published in the Australian Women’s Weekly because I won their short story competition in 2003. And that win was what really put me on the road to being a professional writer.  I only entered the competition because my sister made me. Basically she posted me the entry page and nagged me until I just did what she said. I guess I owe her eh? My first novel was published in 2008. It was the first in a fantasy trilogy called The Twins of Saranthium, the third and last installment of which I’m aiming to complete next year.

How did that experience lead you to Walker Books Australia for Rosie Black?

I guess after writing two very big adult books, I really wanted to try my hand at something quite different – which is how The Rosie Black Chronicles came to be. And at the time my publisher for the fantasy trilogy wasn’t looking for any new YA work so my agent went to some other publishers and Walker was one of them. I guess you can say the rest was history.

Sometimes people don't realise how much work is involved in publishing, particularly the editing process. How long did Equinox take to write compared to editing?

The actual writing of Equinox took about five months whereas the editing stretched to around six or seven. So yes, the editing was longer but I think that can be a good thing, especially when you’re working with editors who are super committed to making the book work. I actually kind of expect the editing to take longer because it’s really at that stage that other people are properly seeing it for the first time and as a writer you’re getting all this feedback which helps make it a better book. It just takes a long time sometimes to knock it all into shape!

What did the publishing process bring out in Rosie that surprised even you?

There’s not much Rosie can do that surprises me because we are joined so closely together – like peas and carrots, or white on rice – but what did surprise me is some of the plot turns that came out of the editorial sessions when I was working on Equinox. Obviously I can’t give away any of them because that would be spoilers, but it was fantastic to still be able to be surprised by plot possibilities after I thought I’d tied them all up.  

Do you have any advice for writers that are looking to get published?

Be prepared for the long haul. Getting published can take a long, long, long time from when you started. It took me ten years to get a book deal and I know we always hear about those so called ‘over night’ success, but it’s best not to believe in it. Save that belief for yourself and your work and stay committed to keep trying even after everyone around you has done that raised eyebrow thing that says you should give up. Obstinacy is a handy trait to cultivate for a writer. And so is finishing things. I always tell people to force yourself to finish that first draft, no matter how bad it is, because all writing is rewriting and most everything can be fixed in the edit. And enter short story competitions because you never know, you might win and that looks good on your CV when you’re trying to get an agent or publisher to read your work.

And finally, tell us how you feel when you look at your published books.

Everyone always expects me to be excited, but it’s more complicated than that. Satisfied, is a more apt description. It’s such a long time from when I’ve started the book to when I hold that paperback in my hand that it’s almost a relief that it’s finally done. Most authors understand this reaction but other people look slightly perplexed, like I’ve told them a joke where the punch line makes no sense. Which, to be fair, does sometimes happen to me because I cannot tell jokes. But, anyway that’s how I feel. It’s satisfying, a long deep sigh with the muttered words, ‘yes, that’s it, it’s done,’ as I put it on the shelf next to the others. Then I get back to the one I’m working on now, because for me the story is always most alive at the beginning when it’s just me and the computer and I’m off in another world. So must dash, Rosie and Pip are waiting in the wings for book three!

Ciao and thanks.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Right! So stamina is what I will need on the road to published-dom… Thanks for the heads up! I’m certainly glad you stuck with it, I can’t wait for the next instalment of Rosie Black!

Check out the trailers for the first two here:

Finally, as promised: a competition! With a very special thanks to Walker Books Australia

Win a set of The Rosie Black Chronicles Books 1 and 2!

The Competition has now closed.

This is how it will work: 

1. Ask Lara a question through the comments below, she will respond here while the tour is with me. (Be sure to include your name)

2. Like my blog on Facebook (so I can get in contact with you if you win).

3. Lara will pick her favourite question as the winner and I’ll post you the books.

Easy!

Thanks so much for joining me here in my humble little blog Lara, it's been great!

On Facebook you can find  Rosie HERE, and Lara HERE

Transformers: Dark of the Moon

I thought I'd do another 2 sentence review. Keep in mind I liked the first Transformers movie...



Because I'm not a heterosexual American male who is turned on by women, cars, guns, explosions, and the misguided sense of American patriotism when it's actually the whole world at stake, there was little left in this ridiculously long movie to enjoy.
'Over the top' is a massive understatement.

Hanna

Hanna appeared to be an interesting movie for its Genre, and I do like me some Cate Blanchette.

So, what did I think now that I’ve seen it?

Well, it’s an over the top action movie with some rather odd quiet moments in between. In other words, it was good fun!

One thing that I found a bit off putting was the bizarre trance music that was thrust upon us suddenly at the beginning of the first real action sequence. It didn’t seem to fit in with what the movie was going for, and kept distracting me and making me laugh at the ridiculousness of how every action movie seems to need either dance/trance or heavy metal music when people are beating each other up and shooting at each other. When the credits rolled, I saw that the music had been done by the Chemical Brothers, and then it all seemed to make sense. I still think there was a major disjunct between the tone of the movie and the music, but at least I understood how the producers could have let the music get so self involved.

Oh, one other thing that was distractingly ‘arty’ and over-done was the lighting design. I didn’t realise that secret military bases had a ‘disco’ setting. Nor that the same setting would also be applied in an abandoned theme park, only with coloured globes… Let’s just say it’s a good thing that none of these characters were epileptic, as the fights might have been over much sooner if they ended up convulsing on the ground.

But, overall, it’s entertaining. As we learned years ago with Serenity, movies about teenage girls who can kick butt just seem to work. (Please note: Serenity is infinitely better than Hanna)

Your Highness

When I saw the trailer for Your Highness, I thought, ‘That looks pretty funny! It’s about time that there was a fanstay/comedy that actually had a semi-decent budget and cast.

Now I’ve had a chance to see it, I can tell you this: it is very funny*

*I need to qualify that. It is hilarious, if you like inappropriate and crude humour. Not the kind of movie you would sit and watch with your parents. (especially if your parents are the reserved type, who much prefer good clean fun).

But, if you are not easily offended, and want an action, adventure, fantasy, comedy (not for kids), then Your Highness could be your cup of tea. Oh and there’s LOTS of swearing…

It’s the type of film I found myself asking ‘why did Natalie Portman agree to this?’ and then answering my own question: ‘because she would have just finished working on Black Swan and ANYONE would want a silly laugh after that!’

Let’s just say, it makes you rethink what a warrior’s trophy from a kill might be.

Super 8

Welcome to my inaugural “2 Sentence Review”. This type of review has come about because I (completely independently) came up with the idea to write Haiku Reviews, only to discover that I was not the first to have such a thought and so my brilliance would get lost amongst the myriad of other such review blogs. Then, watching Super 8, a new thought occurred to me. How about I sum up my thoughts in two sentences?

I haven’t had the heart to check the net to see if anyone else has done this, and frankly, I don’t care. My blog will not be dedicated to the 2 sentence reviews, they’ll just be there when I can succinctly sum up my thoughts. (Hooray! I hear my readers cheer… Lord knows I can waffle on…)

So, all introductions aside, on with the show:

Super 8

First it was boring.

Then it was silly (maybe if I was a kid again?).

The Fifth Element

Last night I took a trip down memory lane and watched The Fifth Element for the first time in what I thought was over a year, but then when I looked at my list, it is actually 19 days short of a year (yes, I’m that kind of nerd that has kept a record of every movie he’s watched since the beginning of 2003 when the idea occurred to me). It seems I watch it once a year just to remind myself of how fun it really is.

Anyway, loser-ish-ness aside, I thought I would write a bit of review of it because I love it so much.

Something that I noticed last night, that seems to have gone unnoticed by me in previous viewings, was that the costumes were done by Jean-Paul Gaultier. Then it hit me: This movie is so camp! It’s a great futuristic, sci-fi adventure that sees a scantily-clad Milla Jovovich running around and kicking butt in order to save the world. In other words: Too much fun!

There are some brilliantly edited sequences that are incredibly entertaining. To a certain degree, it pokes fun that the whole ‘stop the death of every living thing’ type of film, where Bruce Willis’ character is even asked specifically to “save the world.” Then to have the entire climax to the film be narrated ‘live on air’ by the ridiculously over the top Ruby Rhod (Chris Tucker) just leaves you smiling.

For a film that was made in 1997, it has held up against all the new developments in CGI etc. and is as entertaining now as it was at the time. Although now we can look back and laugh at Luke Perry’s top-billing casting for his 3 mins of screen time.

I even said last night that this is one that I need to replace with a blu-ray edition. It’s one I watch often enough to warrant a second buying, and the edition I own just won’t cut it anymore.

I know this review has said next to nothing, but really, if you haven’t seen it, you should. And if you have seen it, don’t you think it’s time to watch it again?

Sucker Punch

I was so excited to see Sucker Punch, I was hanging out for it ever since I saw the trailer. I had loved Watchmen. And 300 was well done for what it was. So girls-kicking-butt-to-escape-asylum seemed like it would be too much fun.

It was so over the top and ridiculous that it just seemed to be doing things because it could: Sense and Reason be damned! And sometimes that type of thing can be great, so maybe it just caught me on an off day when a little more substance wouldn’t have gone astray.

There were three main things that irked me with this movie:

1) More than half the movie was in slow motion. Or that’s what it felt like anyway. And it’s not even slow motion that lets you savour the exciting near-misses, or gravity-defying jumps. Yes, I can see she is walking into the asylum. Yes, I can see she is glancing at that person. I don’t really need it spelt out to me like I have never seen a movie before or have no notion of narrative. This technique was used in a really classy way in Watchmen, and the other films Zack Snyder directed. But it’s almost as if he had run out of ideas and because it worked before, he’d just use it again and again. The first half-an-hour (and then some) felt like a glorified music video.

2) I lost all sense of reality. I know this was the point of the movie, but it went like this: Story begins in real world. Then girl gets taken to mental hospital by evil step-dad. Then after getting a glimpse at the real state of things, we’re thrust into a fantasy version of the asylum where it is set up like a club with performing girls. We can only assume that the guy who runs the place (in the real version) pimps out the patients. Ok, I get that and I get that a club scenario is a much sexier way to describe that situation. Then within that make-believe world, the girls dance, and when they dance they enter an epic-fantasy-war-zone of various descriptions. In this imaginary world they manage to achieve the steps they need to in order to escape. And they emerge from the ‘dance’ with the outcome reflecting what happened in that over-the-top battle. And again, I accept that within the premise of the movie. What annoyed me was, we didn’t ever come back to the ‘real world’ until right near the end when everything was going wrong, and throughout it all I couldn’t work out a reasonable real-life comparison to the imaginary events that we were being shown. Sure, I could see how they fit into the “club” scenario, but not an actual mental hospital. Not to mention that the main character is still wearing her “dance costume” when we are well and truly back in the real world which left me thinking, wait, what the hell is going on here?

3) I’ll keep this one short just to avoid spoilers and because I’m starting to feel like I’ve spent long enough talking about this movie. The ending was weak, predictable, and entirely underwhelming.

So, if you’re interested in seeing a movie that apparently is more about girls in sexy outfits kicking butt in an extremely un-realistic way than it is about anything understandable or relatable, then Sucker Punch is for you.

Who knows, when I’m in the mood I might find myself watching it again, desperately trying to make sense of it. At least then I’ll know what I’m getting myself in for.

The Troll Hunter [Trolljegeren]

The opening minutes of this film had me concerned: text describing how the ‘footage’ was obtained, then how it was examined and found to be “genuine”. It then begins with student reporters tracking down a story about some bear shootings and all the footage is done with a hand-held camera.

‘Oh no,’ I thought, ‘could this be a Norwegian ‘Blair Witch’?’

Maybe, in it’s original appearance, but it is so much more than whiny teenagers getting lost and freaked out in the woods.

The bear shootings, we soon find out, are all part of a “larger” problem: Trolls. These university reporters eventually find their way to a strange man who is very evasive at first, but then concedes to have them tag along as long as they do exactly what he says, when he says. It turns out that he is a Troll Hunter (hence the title) that is hired by the government to control the troll population of Norway.

What does all this add up to?

FUN!

I loved the whole thing! Such unpretentious fantasy is so refreshing! I’m rather concerned that Hollywood will find this one and remove its charm in the process of remaking it for an “American Audience”.

Troll Lore is worked in well, including the usual “you can’t believe what you hear in fairytales” that seems to make an appearance in all modern retellings of anything originating in folklore.

The CGI is convincing as well, particularly considering the ‘poor’ quality of the hand-held footage. You could almost believe what you were seeing, which works in a strange positive way for Tourism Norway. I know I want to go to see the trolls, if not the amazing scenery.

Love it!

Stormbreaker: Alex Rider #1 by Anthony Horowitz

Well what can be said about Stormbreaker?

It is perfect - for what it is.

This is a fast paced, lots of action, spy-James-Bond-style, book with a 14 year old main character. What 10-16 year old boy wouldn't love imagining themselves in his place? Solving the mysteries, thwarting the baddies, using high-tech gizmos, kung-fu-ing henchmen, and being an all round cool guy!

This was a little out of the realm for me. I don't usually go anywhere near this kind of genre. But a new job where I'm expected to know my backlist, an audio book that matched the length of a drive to Canberra and what do you know... Alex Rider. Teenage spy.

This time, I was not taken with the reader of the audio book. I will read the rest of the series myself. It felt stilted and was too easy to tune out and his accents where not the best.

The book on the other hand is better than I thought it would be. It's not as 'well written' in parts and a lot of what I read, but it's perfect for its market and when boys (or even girls, as I know there are some out there that are fans) are reluctant to read, such easy to read but fast paced books are great!

Having discovered in the first chapter that his 'Uncle' (who hated him calling him 'Uncle') died, I immediately wondered which book in this series uncovers that Alex Rider is actually Will Rider's son, not his nephew.

I will have to read to find out and I know I will enjoy them as I go.