I promised to keep you all updated with what is new in the world of my novel “Sulfur.” Today, my author photo was accepted. This is the picture of me that you will find associated with the book. I hope you all like it. Currently I am working on some more stuff like an author bio and synopsis of the book. I will continue to keep all of you posted. Thanks for all of your support and kind words.
Seven years ago, I started work on what would become my first novel, Sulfur. Sulfur was written to be my creative writing masters thesis project. In 2009, I defended this work and earned my M.F.A. Since that day, I have been working very hard to find a home for my novel while continuing to write. Today, I signed my Author Contract with Charles River Press.
I know that there will be a long road ahead of editing and other projects which must be worked on before the novel’s release in the Summer of 2014. Over the next year, I will be using this blog to bring you updates about the progress being made on the book. I hope that you will all come with me on this journey.
I am a big Ninja Turtles fan. In my massive collection of collected editions, three of my favorite books are my IDW Ninja Turtles Ultimate Collection books. This is why I am horribly offended that Megan Fox was chosen to play April O’Neil. April is not some sexpot with no personality. She is intelligent, funny, and pretty damn tough. Ms. O’Neil functions as a stand-in for the viewer. She is there to witness and react to the craziness of the world the Ninja Turtles exist in so that the audience can willingly suspend disbelief. I am under the impression that almost any actress would be better for this role than Megan Fox (shudder) but I have decided to provide three alternatives.
Kristen Connolly- Connolly was amazing in The Cabin in the Woods. As lead character Dana, Connolly was pulled into an insane horror world. She proved that she is capable of making anything seem believable. By the end of the film, it is almost impossible to think that all of the insanity isn’t real, thanks in large part to Connolly.
Kate Mara- Though she hasn’t received the same critical acclaim as her sister Rooney, Kate Mara is a top-notch actress. She has the right edge to make April tough enough to deal with the darker aspects of the Turtles world. She can also easily keep Casey Jones in check.
Olivia Thirlby- Thirlby played the psychic Judge Anderson in last years Dredd. She stole almost every single scene she was in. By the time that the film was over, I really didn’t give a damn about Judge Dredd as a character. I couldn’t wait to see a sequel just to see what Anderson would be up to.
This weeks casting news just made me scratch my head and say, “what the hell.” I thought that Jamie Fox was an odd choice for Electro then yesterday I read something that confused me even more. It seems that there will be a second villain in The Amazing Spider-Man 2 and it will be The Rhino. I think this is a super cool idea. We haven’t really seen a villain who is beyond Spider-Man’s strength level. The choice for actor on this monster, Paul Giamatti. My rule has always been not to judge until I see the film but it does seem a bit odd.
If you haven’t noticed, I am really excited to see James Gunn’s “Guardians of the Galaxy.” Essentially nothing has happened with the movie yet. All I have seen is the above image. I don’t care. This is going to be amazing. Some new casting news came out today. It seems that Gunn and Marvel are looking at Jim Carrey and Adam Sandler to play some character. I don’t know which one, although it makes logical sense that they would be vying for the role of Rocket Raccoon. Below you will find two videos which prove that both men are actually excellent dramatic actors. Best of luck to both men, they could each use shots in their careers’ arms.
So I said yesterday that I was going to take a look at some of the errors in the nominations. Well, here it is.
Best Director
Ben Affleck- Argo
The Man just won the critics choice award last night. his film was nominated for five awards, all in major categories. The man put together a brilliant film and he should be recognized for it. Actually he has made three brilliant films but that doesn’t really effect this years race.
Best Original Screenplay
Cabin in the Woods
Looper
Both of these films should have been nominated for best original screenplay. The writing on both of these was perfect. The real reason they were overlooked was because the were genre films. I promise these contain some of the best writing of the year.
Best Adapted Screenplay
Lawless
Nick Cave deserves some recognition. Anyone who can write a character like Forest Bondurant and make him more than just a one trick pony should be recognized for his writing skill. Not many people saw this film and it isn’t going to bring in huge crowds for its home video release. Make the time to see it.
The Avengers
Ladies and gentlemen, I would like to state that a comic book adaptation should still count as an adaptation. To distill decades of story into a two-hour movie is a difficult job and The Avengers script was really solid. Did I also mention that it also brought together four distinct film series and didn’t leave people who hadn’t seen the other five films scratching their heads.
Best Costume Design
The Avengers
Not a single one of those character costumes should have worked on-screen. They are all completely different and absolutely shouldn’t have worked together. Enough with the period pieces. It is time to give some credit to a film where there was no real material to utilize and learn from. This is from concept to reality and it looked amazing.
These are my major gripes. I have more but I won’t go into them at the moment.
Here is the list of nominees for the 2013 Academy Awards. At this moment I am going to have to re-read these a few times and mull them over before coming up with a response. I have to say that many of these are disappointing to me on various levels. I will likely have a closer look at this tomorrow. Until then, have a good look and ponder the future.
BEST PICTURE
- Beasts of the Southern Wild
- Silving Lingings Playbook
- Zero Dark Thirty
- Lincoln
- Les Miserables
- Life of Pi
- Amour
- Django Unchained
- Argo
BEST DIRECTOR
- David O. Russell, Silver Linings Playbook
- Michael Haneke, Amour
- Benh Zeitlin, Beasts of the Southern Wild
- Steven Spielberg, Lincoln
- Ang Lee, Life of Pi
BEST ACTOR
- Daniel Day-Lewis, Lincoln
- Denzel Washington, Flight
- Bradley Cooper, Silver Linings Playbook
- Joaquin Phoenix, The Master
- Hugh Jackman, Les Miserables
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
- Christoph Waltz, Django Unchained
- Phillip Seymour Hoffman, The Master
- Robert De Niro, Silver Linings
- Alan Arkin, Argo
- Tommy Lee Jones, Lincoln
BEST ACTRESS
- Naomi Watts, The Impossible
- Jessica Chastain, Zero Dark Thirty
- Jennifer Lawrence, Silver Linings Playbook
- Quvenzhane Wallis, Beasts of the Southern Wild
- Emmanuelle Riva, Amour
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
- Jackie Weaver, Silver Linings Playbook
- Helen Hunt, The Sessions
- Amy Adams, The Master
- Sally Field, Lincoln
- Anne Hathaway, Les Miserables
BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
- John Gatins, Flight
- Mark Boal, Zero Dark Thirty
- Quentin Tarantino, Django Unchained
- Michael Haneke, Amour
- Wes Anderson and Roman Coppola, Moonrise Kingdom
BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
- Lucy Alibar and Benh Zeitlin, Beasts of the Southern Wild
- Chris Terrio, Argo
- Tony Kushner, Lincoln
- David O. Russell, Silver Linings Playbook
- David Magee, Life of Pi
BEST ANIMATED FEATURE
- Frankenweenie
- Wreck-It Ralph
- Paranorman
- Brave
- Pirates: A Band of Misfits
BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM
- Amour
- No
- War Witch
- A Royal Affair
- Kon-Tiki
BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
- Seamus McGarvey, Anna Karenina
- Robert Richardson, Django Unchained
- Claudio Miranda, Life of Pi
- Janusz Kaminski, Lincoln
- Roger Deakins, Skyfall
BEST DOCUMENTARY – FEATURE
- 5 Broken Cameras
- The Gatekeepers
- How to Survive A Plague
- The Invisible War
- Searching for Sugar Man
BEST DOCUMENTARY SHORT SUBJECT
- Inocente
- Kings Point
- Mondays at Racine
- Open Heart
- Redemption
BEST LIVE ACTION SHORT FILM
- Asad
- Buzkashi Boys
- Curfew
- Death of a Shadow (Dood van een Schaduw)
- Henry
BEST ANIMATED SHORT FILM
- Adam and Dog
- Fresh Guacamole
- Head over Heels
- Maggie Simpson in “The Longest Daycare”
- Paperman
BEST ORIGINAL SCORE
- Dario Marianelli, Anna Karenina
- Alexandre Desplat, Argo
- Mychael Danna, Life of Pi
- John Williams, Lincoln
- Thomas Newman, Skyfall
BEST ORIGINAL SONG
- “Skyfall” – Skyfall
- “Everybody Needs A Friend” – Ted
- “Pi’s Lullabye” – Life of Pi
- “Suddenly” – Les Miserables
- “Before My Time” – Chasing Ice
BEST SOUND EDITING
- Argo
- Django Unchained
- Life of Pi
- Skyfall
- Zero Dark Thirty
BEST SOUND MIXING
- Argo
- Les Miserables
- Life of Pi
- Lincoln
- Skyfall
BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN
- The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey
- Anna Karenina
- Les Miserables
- Life of Pi
- Lincoln
BEST MAKEUP AND HAIRSTYLING
- Hitchcock
- The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey
- Les Miserables
BEST VISUAL EFFECTS
- The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey
- Life of Pi
- The Avengers
- Prometheus
- Snow White and the Huntsman
BEST COSTUME DESIGN
- Anna Karenina
- Les Miserables
- Lincoln
- Mirror Mirror
- Snow White and the Huntsman
BEST FILM EDITING
- William Goldenberg, Argo
- Tim Squyres, Life of Pi
- Michael Kahn, Lincoln
- Jay Cassidy and Crispin Struthers, Silver Linings Playbook
- Dylan Tichenor and William Goldenberg, Zero Dark Thirty
If you don’t want to see this, I don’t know how to talk to you anymore. This looks so amazing, I can hardly contain myself. Del Toro hasn’t failed me once. I know that there are some skeptics out there. I just hope this changes your minds. It looks like everyone involved in this film has put their all into it. Who is in?
Last night, I saw Les Miserables which I assume will be the last new movie I shall see this year. With the final nail in my movie year books coffin, it has become the time for me to give all of you lovely people my list of the top ten films of the year. Just as a heads up, while I did like Les Miserables a fair amount, it is simply just not going to make the cut. Perhaps if I were doing a list of the top twenty-five. With that in mind, here come the best films of the year in ascending order.
10) Haywire
This is movie contains some of my favorite action sequences of the year. It is interesting to think that many critics got on Steven Soderbergh for being incapable of filming action when he has made some of the best filming choices ever. So often now, action sequences are fetishised versions of a fight, the camera cuts so rapidly that it frequently becomes impossible to tell what is what and who is who. Soderbergh made a brilliant choice by hiring former MMA fighter Gina Carano and pulling the camera out far enough so that the audience could actually see what she was doing. It is a brilliant action film.
9) The Dark Knight Rises
Not the best film in the Dark Knight Trilogy but a strong showing. I vacillate a bit on this movie. There were moments in it that bothered me but at the same time there were sequences that were fantastic. While many critics nitpick the movie to death, I choose instead to ignore the flaws and look at its strengths. Not the least of which is that it is the third film in a superhero franchise which is not an embarrassment. It was a strong showing which brought the trilogy full circle. and for that, it makes the top ten,
8) The Avengers
The second highest grossing film of all time is a perfect example of what can be when people work together. Never before has a crossover film of this magnitude been made. Every character beat was spot on. It was everything I could possibly want in a summer blockbuster film and more.
7) Argo
Ben Affleck is one of the best modern film makers. Argo is easily one of the most tense films I have seen all year. This is even more impressive because I already knew what the outcome of the film was going to be. Affleck deserves to be nominated for a best director Oscar this year.
6) The Amazing Spider-Man
Was a reboot of the franchise necessary? No. Was it worthwhile? Without a doubt. Finally, Spider-Man fans got a movie about our favorite web-slinger where he wasnt the worlds biggest sad sack. We also didn’t have to hear “With great power comes great responsibility” fifty thousand times. This is Ultimate Spider-Man the film and it was excellent.
5) Skyfall
James Bond was back with a vengeance this year. After nearly disappearing due to the MGM going out of business, James Bond showed up to the theaters to kick ass. This movie brought back everything that was great about the Bond films while still remaining true to the current continuity. It also had one of the creepiest villains of the year. Javier Bardem deserves all the praise he got for playing SIlva. Just thinking about him gives me the willies.
4) Lawless
This film actually proved to me that Shia LaBeouf is a decent actor. In fact, he is more than decent, he is good. Not many people saw this in the scheme of things. The movie brought in a meager 37 million at the box office. If you haven’t seen it yet, seek it out on home video. This has such a great script by Nick Cave. Trust me, you wont be disappointed.
3) Looper
Top to bottom sci-fi excellence. Time paradoxes and everything else, this movie kept me constantly guessing. Joseph Gordon Levitt and Bruce Willis are quite good at channelling each other. I hope that Rian Johnson gets nominated for best original screenplay.
2) Django Unchained
Just remember, the D is silent. Tarantino never disappoints. This is the closest he has come to a straight comedy, This is his version of Cat Ballou or Blazing Saddles. I was laughing so hard that my face actually began to hurt. Leonardo DiCaprio is unhinged, another charmingly evil villain. I am going to stop there as I don’t want to ruin the movie.
1) The Cabin in the Woods
I wrote a review of this earlier in the year. It was the greatest surprise I had at the theaters over the past twelve months. I could re-watch this film every week and not get bored. It is so packed with detail, there is always something new to see. Watch it and love it.
Surfing the net today, I found this new pictures from Iron Man 3 and Thor: The Dark World. I know that they don’t show much but they are pretty cool images. I am really interested to see how this is all going to play out. As the first film of Phase 2, Iron Man 3 is going to set the stage for everything to come. Once again, I think that Marvel Studios and Disney are making brilliant decisions. Having Chris Eccleston replace Mads Mikkelsen as Malekith in Thor: The Dark World was genius. Getting James Gunn to write and direct Guardians of the Galaxy, inspired. Phase 2 is the most exciting thing in film for me right now. I am sure it will be great.
