Saturday, June 13, 2009
THIS BLOG HAS MOVED!
Well, it was bound to happen. I post this blog in so many places now, it's become a bit tedious to keep repeating it. So from now on, go to WordPress.com for my new blog called GORY GOODNESS. Not only is it new, it also lets me post photos pretty easily.
Just go to:
http://llsoares.wordpress.com/
Right now on the new blog: an interview with horror and bizarro writer ANDRE DUZA!
Of course THIS MODERN NIGHTMARE will continue to exist and offers readers more than four years of posts! But for new stuff - check out GORY GOODNESS.
Thank you.
The Management
Saturday, June 06, 2009
MARTYRS, FLIPPER and CAINE
Score another one for French horror. After being dazzled by the recent horror flick INSIDE, I checked out the movie MARTYRS (2008) by Pascal Laugier. The film is at turns compelling, very disturbing and down-right haunting, as we get the story of Lucie (MyleneJampanoi), who as a young girl was abducted and tortured in a warehouse in the middle of nowhere. The movie opens with her escape. She then ends up in an orphanage that also seems to be a psychiatric center. At first, she rarely speaks and doesn’t trust anyone. As she gets older, she continues to be increasingly terrified and paranoid, but she is also bent on revenge against the people who made her this way. Her only friend at the facility, Anna (Morjana Alaoui), does everything for her, and tries to protect her from her own demons. But there is only so much she can do.
When they turn 18 and go out into the real world, Lucie tracks down the people she feels were responsible for her abduction. They look just like a normal family, and she breaks into their home, taking revenge with the barrel of a shotgun. By the time Anna shows up to try and stop her, they’re both up to their necks in violence and carnage. And the question arises – are these people really the ones who adbucted Lucie as a girl? Or has she gone completely insane?
Strangely, this point comes fairly early on in the movie, and the rest of the film seeks to answer this question. In ways that will give you nightmares! And what does the title mean? Well, beyond that, I won’t say another word. If you are one of those strong-stomached souls who can sit through profoundly disturbing movies and reap their rewards, then you might want to check this one out. I thought it was amazing, and found myself thinking about it days later. Highly recommended.
**
One of my favorite bands of the 1980s, the era of hardcore punk, was Flipper. Most of the people reading this probably never even heard of them. While they definitely had their cult followers in the day, and were notorious for performing live concerts while being totally sloshed out of their minds, they never really gained much fame outside of the underground. With alternating bassists/singers Bruce Loose and Will Shatter; Ted Falconi on guitar; and Steve DePace on drums, they played long, droning songs when their hardcore peers were playing faster and faster. Some of their songs were downright bizarre. Their biggest hit was probably “Sex Bomb,” a seven-minute opus with just one line of lyrics, “She’s a sex bomb, my baby, yeah.”
They got together in San Francisco in 1979, and their albums included the incredibly influencial and amazing GENERIC FLIPPER (which just said ALBUM on the cover) in 1982 and GONE FISHIN’ in 1984, both for Subterranean Records. There were also some one-off singles like “Get Away.”
In 1993, the band, now without co-leader Will Shatter (who died of an overdose in 1987) put out their third album, AMERICAN GRAFISHY, on Def American, the label run by Rick Rubin (who also produced Johnny Cash’s later albums). And that was it. Amid rumors of drug abuse, the band pretty much vanished off the face of the earth, presumably never to record again. Well, last month they returned, with not one but two albums, LOVE (a studio album of all new tunes) and FIGHT (a live album of old and new tunes). Bruce Loose is still the singer, but bass this time around was taken over by none other than Kris Novoselic, who used to be in a little band called Nirvana.
Not only was I overjoyed to see the revival of one of my all-time favorite bands, but it’s even more of a pleasure to say that I love the new albums, especially LOVE, which really captures the feel of their early songs, and has some heavy, excellent bass lines from Novoselic. With songs like “Be Good, Child!” and “Love Fight,” they prove they’ve still got it. So if you’re a fan of the band, or just a fan of hardcore in general, check out the new stuff. This is a band that has become a legend. And rightly so.
**
And, finally, David Carradine died this week. He was found dead Thursday in Bangkok. He had hung himself in a closet. He was 72. I wouldn’t be much of a grindhouse/B-movie aficionado if I didn’t tip my hat to Mr. Carradine’s long and illustrious career.
I first became aware of him in 1972, when he starred in the hit ABC TV show KUNG FU (which ran until 1975). This was one of the first times martial arts had ever been portrayed in a TV show (around the same time, Bruce Lee was becoming famous in low-budget but amazing martial arts films). When I was a kid, everyone I knew watched KUNG FU, and we were astounded by it. Kwai Chang Caine, Carradine’s character on the show, was half-American and half-Chinese, and grew up under the tutelage of a blind master Master Po (Keye Luke) who famously told him as a boy “You may leave this temple when you are able to snatch this pebble from my hand.” Needless to say, it took a great many years until Caine was able to succeed at that. In the meantime, he had much learning to do. When he went out into the outside world, Caine drifted from China to the American West, where he defended the weak against the bullies of the time, using his hands and his feet, in a time when most Chinese people in America worked putting down railroad tracks. This was television at its most entertaining.
But Carradine’s career stretched way earlier than that. His first role was back in 1963 on Armstrong Circle Theater (one of many live theater outlets on early television) and KUNG FU wasn’t even his first time starring in a TV series – that was the television version of the western SHANE in 1966.
His career included appearing in early Scorcese flicks like BOXCAR BERTHA (1972) and a role as a drunk in the seminal MEAN STREETS (1973). He starred in Roger Corman classics like the terrific original DEATHRACE 2000 (1975) and DEATHSPORT (1978 – co-starring with one of my favorite actresses of the 70s, Claudia Jennings). He was in one of my favorite Larry Cohen flicks, Q: THE WINGED SERPENT (1982), One of his most acclaimed early roles was as Woody Guthrie in the biographical film BOUND FOR GLORY by Hal Ashby, in 1976. And he was also in the great Ingmar Bergman’s film THE SERPENT’S EGG in 1977.
He was in a lot of low-budget action films over the years, often playing the bad guys. Stuff like LONE WOLF MCQUADE (1983) and CIRCLE OF IRON (1978). He did a lot of television work like the Civil War miniseries NORTH AND SOUTH and the TV movie remake of THE BAD SEED (both in 1985), and even got some acclaim for films like THE LONG RIDERS (1980) – where he appeared alongside his actor/brothers Keith and Robert.
His father, John Carradine, was often called the hardest working actor of his time, having roles (often small ones) in over 1,000 movies in his lifetime. John was probably most famous to horror fans for playing Dracula in the films HOUSE OF FRANKENSTEIN (1944) and HOUSE OF DRACULA (1945).
Between roles in television and in low-budget films, David Carradine worked steadily throughout his career, without too much down time. But he didn’t get a shot at the big time again until he got to play the title character in Quentin Tarantino’s 2-volume masterpiece KILL BILL. As the leader of a group of assassins, Carradine’s Bill was mysterious and deadly, and his death was the main goal of The Bride (Uma Thurman). It took two movies to finally catch up with him, but their final scene together is terrific, and I thought that Carradine’s performance in Volume 2 (we don’t see him in the first one, but hear his voice at the end) was one of his best performances ever. There is a witty speech he gives about what Superman must really think of the human race that borders on the profound in that movie.
He was in tons of movies (and was booked to be in still more) after the KILL BILL flicks. So at age 72, his career showed no signs of slowing down.
Needless to say, the details of his death are a bit odd. He was naked and had a curtain cord tied around his neck and “various parts of his body.” But in a way, this isn’t a surprise. Carradine always had a streak of wildness and eccentricity about him. And there’s no reason to think his death wouldn’t be just as quirky as his life. But whether this was an accidental death, or suicide, what matters is the work he’s left behind. And for the most part, David Carradine lifted anything he was in up to another level. He was one of the great ones.
**
Finally, I didn’t go see the big-budget LAND OF THE LOST movie this weekend. Those who know me know I’m a huge Danny McBride fan (he was also in THE FIST FOOT WAY, PINEAPPLE EXPRESS and TROPIC THUNDER, as well as his own HBO show EASTBOUND AND DOWN), and Danny plays another asshole redneck in this new movie. But it has been getting such awful reviews, and I didn’t have to review it, so I figured I’d skip this one and wait until it comes to cable. Which is too bad. I like McBride and Will Ferrell, and I was a big fan of the original 1970s kids’ show by Sid and Marty Krofft. It sounds like it just didn’t work on the big screen. Oh well.
That’s all for now. Until next time.
Infernally Yours,
LLS
Saturday, May 16, 2009
SCREAMING SPOTLIGHT ON: KURT NEWTON
I first met Kurt Newton back in 2001, when the New England Chapter of the HWA first started up. As I got to know him, I realized we shared a lot of the same attitudes about writing, and about horror as a genre. We’ve since gone on to become really good friends, sometimes collaborators, and fans of each other’s work. I’m always psyched to hear about a new Kurt Newton book or story, and obviously, I’m not alone. We recently sat down to chat in anticipation of the release of Kurt’s new chapbook, BLACK BUTTERLFIES, coming soon from Sideshow Press.
If you’re not familiar with Kurt’s work, definitely seek it out. He’s a terrific writer, and I can’t recommend him enough.
And now, on with the show:
LL SOARES: We all have our reasons why we become writers. What was yours? And how early did you start writing?
KURT NEWTON: I grew up the youngest of four children and didn't have much say. I was fortunate to get food. I remember actually being cheated out on desserts by my older siblings. No lie. But seriously, it was 4th Grade. It was one of those years I will always remember. In June, with about three weeks of school left, our house burned down. It was one of those life-changing events. Nobody died but the house was gutted. We lost everything. I remember yelling to the fireman to get my microscope. (I'd gotten this great microscope kit in this cool wooden case for Christmas.) Before the fire I don't remember writing a thing. After the fire, out came the poetry.
The first thing I ever wrote -- that was shared in a public forum -- was a little poem called "Koala Bear Underwear." I was a bit of a class clown. I remember passing the poem around and hearing the chuckles. By 5th grade I had become known as the kid who could write. My teacher tapped me for a school project about the history of our town. I wrote a poem about the town's Indian School and was awarded a certificate for it by the Historical Society.
So, early on, I received a lot of positive reinforcement that kept me at it.
LS: What was your first professional sale?
KN: Wow, jump ahead about a million years. Probably my first pro sales were with my poetry. I sold several poems to Dreams and Nightmares and The Magazine of Speculative Poetry. At the time, when I became an active member of the HWA, it was my poetry that got me in.
LS: What authors influenced you growing up? Which writers do you enjoy most now?
KN: I absolutely hated to read. I didn't read my first novel for my own pleasure until I was sixteen. Stephen King's THE DEAD ZONE. After reading that, I was hooked. I read everything King, and when I ran out of King I read nearly everything on his recommendation list in DANSE MACABRE. Charles Grant, Ray Bradbury, Richard Matheson, Harlan Ellison, J.G. Ballard, Ramsey Campbell, Ursula LeGuin, Peter Straub, the list goes on. And when the DARK FORCES anthology came out, I discovered Karl Edward Wagner, T.E.D. Klein, and Dennis Etchinson. Early Clive Barker also had a profound influence and showed me what was possible with horror.
As for more recent writers, ones I can count on to deliver every time -- Lucius Shepard, Gary Braunbeck, John Shirley, Kathe Koja, Charlee Jacob, and Paul Tremblay. Sadly, I'm a slow reader, and nowadays would rather write than read, so I haven't read enough of the newer crop of writers to make an informed decision about their work.
LS: Did movies influence you as a writer? If so, which ones?
KN: I always liked Hitchcock. THE EXORCIST, of course. Some old black and whites that left an impression were THE BAD SEED, I SAW WHAT YOU DID, WHATEVER HAPPENED TO BABY JANE?, and THE INCREDIBLE SHRINKING MAN. I'm dating myself, I know. But I was just an impressionable little kid staying far too late. I remember sneaking out of bed and watching SHRINKING MAN from the stairway. I remember crying at the end. I guess I'm attracted to the emotional toll that horror takes. The human element.
LS: Your short story collection, THE HOUSE SPIDER, was the very first thing published by Delirium Books. How did that come about?
KN: The short of it is Shane Ryan Staley published a little magazine called The Twilight Garden. A short-short story of mine appeared in last issue of that magazine. Shane had plans to begin producing chapbook collections of short-shorts by writers he had published. He called them the Twilight Garden Series. I was tapped for one of the first chapbooks. Then Shane moved to hardcover collections of short stories. Originally, the first Delirium book was going to be a three-author collection (in the same vein as the series Dark Harvest used to produce). Michael Laimo, Gerard Houarner, and I were going to be the guinea pigs. That quickly became individual collections. Somehow, I managed to get my collection submitted and into production first.
LS: Tell us about your second story collection, DARK DEMONS.
KN: I love that collection. It's a great cross-section of what I'm all about as both a writer and a person. There isn't much to say other than it had been three years since THE HOUSE SPIDER and Shane thought it was time to put a second collection together. As with the first one, Shane wanted reprints and original material. I wrote some of my best stories specifically for that collection. Stories like "Something Profound," "Waves," "Angels of Mercy, Angels of Grief" and "The Bleeding of Mary Cross." Out of the sixteen stories, nine appeared in the collection for the first time, including the infamous "Butter Red and Diamond Eyes," a story I still receive comments about.
LS: THE WISHNIK was your first novel (and a really good book, by the way), but very few people have gotten the chance to read it. Can you tell us a little about it, and are there any plans for it to come out in a more accessible version?
KN: Thanks. The basic premise of THE WISHNIK is the age old "be careful what you wish for, you just might get it" scenario. Kenny Morgan wishes his father dead for all the injustices and cruelties his father had inflicted on the Morgan family. The wish comes true. The wishnik appears to settle the debt. The wishnik requires only one thing: to be fed. The wishnik doesn't care what it eats, as long as it consists of flesh and blood and bone. Kenny tries to keep the wishnik happy -- after all, things are going great now, everyone is so much better off now that the father is out of the picture. But the wishnik's demands become greater and more horrifying with each passing day. Kenny realizes the creature must be stopped -- even if it means that life goes back to the way it was.
The Wishnik creature, the star of the book and my favorite character, is just a horror-fied version of a miniature troll doll I had as a kid. (That's a horror writer for you -- taking something good and wholesome and turning it into a monster.) Delirium Books published the book in 2006 as a special bonus incentive for their yearly subscriber series. The book was never made available to the public. I have feelers out to several publishers to reprint the book, but there is nothing concrete at this moment.
Hell, forget the reprint, I think it would make for an entertaining horror flick. So if there are any film producers out there looking for properties, The Wishnik could be one of those series you could run into the ground like the Leprechaun or Wishmaster series. Just throwing that out there. Call me.
LS: Tell us about your upcoming chapbook BLACK BUTTERFLIES.
KN: BLACK BUTTERFLIES is hands down the best thing I've ever written. Sideshow Press is publishing it in a limited quantity of 100 signed softcover copies and 26 lettered hardcover copies. It's a 10,000-word story about love and transformation. A young man with some very strange physical powers works the nightshift at an old warehouse building. One night he meets a teenage runaway. The warehouse becomes their special place far away from the world and what the world has done to them. Like all good things, however, it comes to an end -- both beautifully and tragically. Charlee Jacob recently provided a nice blurb for it.
LS: I know you’re a very productive writer. What else do you have in the pipeline.
KN: My second novel BLOOD ALCHEMY is with a publisher and will likely see print in 2010, but that's all I can say right now. Sideshow Press recently picked up my novella THE BRAINPAN CONCERTO, which is scheduled for 2010 release. I have poetry coming out in several anthologies – DEATH IN COMMON, THE TERROR OF MISKATONIC FALLS, and VICIOUS VRESES AND REANIMATED RHYMES: ZANY ZOMBIE POETRY FOR THE UNDEAD HEAD -- and short stories upcoming in Shock Totem, Weird Tales, Bare Bone, Midnight Echo, Polluto, and a major horror anthology called BLEEDING EDGE. I'm also finishing up my third novel, POWERLINES, which is a pseudo-science horror tale of survival.
LS: You and I have collaborated on a few stories (including “Muscle Car,” which appeared in BARE BONE # 9), and they’ve come out pretty good. What are your views on the collaboration process?
KN: That's a loaded question. I loved it, L.L. It wasn't nerve-wracking at all to work with you.... To be honest, it was learning experience for me -- to let go and not have to control every aspect of the process, which was kind of liberating. Unfortunately, I'm a slow writer -- I do most of my writing longhand. So it was a challenge to work solely on the computer and just spew out paragraphs, warts and all, just so we could keep the story moving. The poet in me was constantly worrying over word choice and structure and rhythm, so it did take me out of my comfort zone. The results could have been disastrous but they weren't. It helped to have someone like you who isn't picky at all about which word goes where. I would do it again.
LS: If you could have any superpower, what would it be?
KN: First choice, mind reading. Second choice, psycholagny. Look it up.
LS: Do you see themes reoccurring in your stories? If so, what are they?
KN: I hadn't noticed I had themes until a reviewer of DARK DEMONS pointed out that my fiction deals a lot with loss. Loss of innocence. Loss of self. It's probably what I fear the most -- losing my identity, my sense of purpose, being seduced by power, greed, beauty. (Although I wouldn't turn down one night with an exotic-looking succubus.) It is ironic that when I was little my family lost everything in a fire. Now I'm no Freud but I'm sure that has something, if not everything, to do with it. The fact that my prized possession at the time was a microscope is not lost on me either. Maybe I've always had an interest in examining things, exploring unseen territory. I could have been a doctor or a scientist, but I just happened to apply that interest through writing.
LS: What do you see as the role of horror in culture. Do you feel that entertainment is the most important part of horror, or do you think it has a deeper meaning?
KN: Deeper, deeper, always deeper. Layers upon layers like the nine circles of Hell. Horror without some kind of resonance -- without a journey, whether physical or spiritual -- is just shock for shock’s sake. Horror, for me, is the ultimate cautionary tale. If you go down this road where will it take you? In fiction, the horror of that journey can be spelled out for you without your actually having to take that road. A lot of my protagonists, through some flaw in their character (something they are lacking that they hope to find by way of the search) end up going down that road. Sometimes it turns out well, often times not. In the end, however, for better of for worse, their lives are irreversibly changed.
LS: Do you think Smurfette is sexy?
KN: That little tramp? Absolutely.
LS: Finally, someone else who “gets” it! Now I can finally retire that question.
How about a website? How can people keep up on what you’re up to?
KN: My live journal: http://kurt-newton.livejournal.com/ and the website for Sideshow Press: http://www.sideshowpresspublications.com/Chapbook_Series.html
LS: As usual, I’m always excited about anything new you have out, and I can’t wait to read BLACK BUTTERFLIES.
Friday, May 08, 2009
Interviews Now on Fear Zone, And Other Stuff
First off, if you've been following those "Screaming Spotlight" interviews I've been doing on my blog (or even if you haven't), you might be interested to know that the interviews have started getting published over at Fear Zone as well (where they'll get even more readers). This week, the ones I did with writers Daniel G. Keohane and Jeremy C. Shipp were posted on the site. Next week, my John Sowder interview should go up, including an artist gallery of his work. And I've got some other interviews lined up for the future.
For the ones on Fear Zone now, just go to:
Writer Dan Keohane
Writer Jeremy Shipp
The new Star Trek flick sounds good, but I’m not much of a trekkie and I’m in no rush to see it. I’ll wait a week til the crowds die down.
Also, I dug the season finale for Dollhouse – I’m really starting to like this show a lot and I hope it gets renewed. I guess its fate is still up in the air.
I was bummed out that one of my favorite network shows, Life was recently canceled by NBC (which is just stupid – it was one of the best shows they had). And the Scrubs finale was just plain dumb (is it just me or did the show totally go down in quality since jumping over to ABC?).
One of my favorite comedians, the great Norm MacDonald was on the Howard Stern Show this week, as well as Late Night with David Letterman. He completely killed on both shows. After a few years where he seemed to vanish off the planet, it's good to have him actively doing comedy again.
And, do you notice how some of the biggest names in the movies right now are people who first got attention for television? JJ Abrams, Judd Apatow, Joss Whedon. All really talented guys who gave us great television shows and good movies, too.
Not much else. I hope to get a lot of writing done this weekend. That’s all for now.
Infernally Yours,
LLS
Sunday, May 03, 2009
X-MEN ORIGINS: WOLVERINE
The first of no doubt several X-Men solo outings, X-MEN ORIGINS: WOLVERINE takes us way into the past, beginning when Wolverine was a little boy in 1800s, sick and scared in his bed, while his very intense friend Victor (why would these two have anything in common so early on to become friends?) watches on, filing his finger nails down to points. In these early days, the man we’ve come to know as Logan and Wolverine had yet another name, Jimmy. Why this character needs so many damn names is a mystery to me.
We then get treated to a montage of Victor and Jimmy fighting side-by-side throughout history, starting with the Civil War, then through World Wars I and II, and Viet Nam. How two mortal enemies who are so totally different are able to remain loyal brothers for decades is never very believable, especially in light of future events.
When a particularly violent incident in Viet Nam, in which some superior officers get killed, gets Jimmy and Victor thrown in the brig, it’s there that they first meet Colonel Stryker (Danny Huston), a rogue military man who adds them to his collection of mutant hitmen, who are above the law.
The rest of the group includes William Wraith (Will.I.Am from the Blackeyed Peas), who can teleport, Zero (Daniel Henney), who is like a John Woo character on meth and who can do amazing things with guns; Bolt (Dominic Monaghan – “Charlie” from LOST) who can control energy with his mind; Wade Wilson (Ryan Reynolds) who would later become the indestructible assassin Deadpool (I actually wouldn’t mind seeing a Deadpool spinoff movie sometime in the future), and Fred Dukes (Kevin Durand) who is also known in the comics as The Blob. One obvious question for me was, “Where the fuck was Maverick? “
After a messy mission in Africa leads to Wolverine splitting off from the group when several innocent people are killed (Stryker is looking for the metal of a fallen meteorite, which will eventually become the mythical and unbreakable metal adamantium – a precious element in the Marvel Comics universe), things fall apart. Several other members leave soon afterwards, and Jimmy goes north to Canada to live a quiet life as a logger with his girlfriend Kayla (Lynn Collins), who is known as Silver Fox in the comics.
But Victor, now known as Sabretooth, won’t let sleeping dogs lie, and he starts killing off his former comrades, starting with Bolt. When Sabretooth kills Wolverine’s lady love, Stryker comes back into the picture to offer him a chance at vengeance, involving the bonding of the mystery metal adamantium to his skeleton. Since Jimmy/Logan/Wolverine heals immediately (his other big mutant power aside from the claws), he’s one of the only people who can survive the procedure.
Of course, Stryker is never trustworthy, and all of these incidents are conspiracies wrapped in conspiracies. Eventually, Wolverine’s new indestructible skeleton makes him more dangerous than ever, and when he escapes from the colonel’s clutches, both Stryker and Sabretooth are hot on his trail.
Along the way , Wolverine gets back in contact with Wraith, and eventually comes upon Remy LeBeau (Gambit) whose rather dumb-ass power is he energizes cards with explosive energy by touching them (to be honest, he can do this to anything he touches, but the card thing just seems goofy to me, since it’s his “signature move”). Played by Taylor Kitsch, Gambit is, sadly, totally miscast. Kitsch is great as Tim Riggins on the excellent TV show FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS, but he’s pretty awful here. His Cajun accent is inconsistent, and he is not believable as an action hero, and has absolutely nothing in common with the very popular character from the comics.
Gambit and Wolverine then go to the former nuclear plant on 3-Mile Island where Stryker is rounding up young mutants to experiment on (one of whom, unnecessarily, is future X-Man Cyclops, played here by Tim Pocock). And we get a lot of fighting, a prison break, a showdown between Sabretooth and Wolverine, and even a brief appearance by Patrick Stewart as Professor X. There’s also Weapon XI (Wolverine was Weapon X), a creation of Stryker’s who has the powers of several other mutants (even though this "taking of other mutants powers" thing is never explained and makes absolutely no sense, it's not like he's Sylar on HEROES where stealing powers is his friggin power!).
The biggest question here, of course, is how Hugh Jackman pulls off his now most famous role, as Wolverine, and the truth is, he’s just fine. He carries the film well, and is suitably intense and charismatic. As his biggest enemy, Liev Schrieber is actually very good as Sabretooth as well, even if you never believe for a moment that these two could ever be allies for any real length of time, even as boys.
Huston is fine as government bad-guy Stryker (a fairly wasted role for such a good actor overall), and a lot of the supporting cast is pretty good, too, especially Lynn Collins as Logan’s great love. Will.I.Am and Dominic Monghan do a decent job here as well. Even Ryan Reynolds, who I was sure would be completely annoying as one of my favorite characters, Deadpool, is actually pretty good here. I actually found myself wishing he’d gotten more screen time.
The story is adequate, but not amazing, with some plot elements that just aren’t believable at all. But I found myself involved throughout the film, and I didn’t hate it. If you’re a fan of the X-Men movies then you’ll eat this up, especially with some of the in-jokes and brief surprise character appearances.
And there are definitely times during the film where I got exasperated by how many characters there were. All of the X-Men movies seem intent on jamming as many mutants into these films as possible. I know the team of mercenaries and the whole Weapon X storyline are part of Wolverine’s past, and make sense here. But on another level, I think the movie would have been a lot more satisfying with less characters. If it focused, let’s say, on just Wolverine, Silver Fox, and Sabretooth, I think it could have been a much more intense and effective movie. But that’s just me.
The direction by Gavin Hood is adequate, but not amazing. He’s no Bryan Singer, and there’s not much here to show any real sense of style. In fact, a few scenes (such as Wolverine shouting up at the sky when he finds his girlfriend dead) are just cliché to the point of being laughable.
Could this movie have been a lot better – hell yeah! But it was still good enough to recommend, and comes nowhere near the more awful comic book movies we’ve seen (any of the Batman movies by Joel Schumacher come to mind, and the incredibly dopey Fantastic Four movies). If you like the Iron Man and Hulk movies that came out last summer, you’ll like this one as well. At this point, Marvel superhero movies have become an assembly line, and all of the product is starting to look a little too similar.
This being a Marvel movie, we also have some “surprise” scenes during the end credits. So stick around to the end. Not that the scenes are so terrific you’ll be glad you stayed – but I just thought I’d give everyone a head’s up.
Of course, this being an X-Men movie, the true “origin” of Wolverine is rather anti-climactic. When Stan Lee first created the X-Men concept in the early 60s, it smacked of laziness. No radioactive spiders or gamma bomb explosions. The X-Men, as mutants, were just “born that way.” So instead of learning how Wolverine got his powers, this is really a story of character development and how a mutant who already had powers got a metal skeleton. However, that turns out to be enough to create an entertaining movie.
But I still found myself disappointed. This movie could have been a whole lot better in other hands.
Friday, May 01, 2009
INTERVIEW WITH DANIEL G. KEOHANE (PART 2)
DAN KEOHANE: Well, back in 2002, I’d started to gain some success with my short stories, having done well enough to gain active status in the HWA and SFWA, and building up enough of an inventory of published pieces to consider putting a collection together. Two problems got in my way – the market for collections from relative unknowns was pretty bleak, and I’m a terrible procrastinator. My sister Anne had been diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis, and I decided that putting a collection together might be a good way to raise money for the MS Society, so I made the decision – right or wrong – to self-publish the book. I really only had two goals for myself: put my early works together into some permanent form for posterity, and raise some money. The critical acclaim it received was a nice touch, and just added to the enjoyment of the process. To me, one of the best aspects of the collection are the introductions I wrote before each story, discussing their origins. Still makes me laugh – yea, I’m my best audience.
LS: What is your writing routine like?
DK: With three kids between the ages of 12 and 17, weekends are never my own. But if I’m being good, I write every day at lunch (still have that day job). I take my laptop and head to the cafeteria (or stop in at a bookstore), and spend an hour writing. I can usually get through 1500 words of a first draft with every sitting. The trick is to open the file and get writing. I never look back, meaning I write the first draft all the way through, and only then go back and revise. And revise. And revise. Most stories, and novels, go through at least six revisions before anyone sees anything – and someone always does. Proofreaders are a writer’s friend, and if you think you can send something out to an editor without having someone you trust read through it first, to tell you where you fell down and went boom (hey, I told you I have three kids), then you’re in for a rude awakening. Just make sure it looks perfect before you let anyone read it (trust me, it won’t be perfect, but at least you gave it your best shot). Anyway, for novels, I used to write like mad, and outline as I go, but I found that I’d get stuck a lot. The last two novels I outlined first - really nothing fancy, just free form writing, “this happens then this happens then...” I find I always have something to write when I sit down. I change the outline often, never letting it restrict what happens as I write, but at least it gives me a general road map. The surprises in writing, when characters “don’t do what I expect” is still a joy and I’d never let that be compromised. Easy enough to change an outline, after all.
LS: Give us the lowdown on what to expect for the future from you.
As far as short stories, three bits: my story “Box” has just been released in the anthology COACH’S MIDNIGHT DINER: BACK FROM THE DEAD EDITION; “Living by the Highway” is appearing any day now in the next Cemetery Dance Magazine, and “Family at Dinner” in issue #6 of Shroud Magazine (in which you also have a story appearing, right LL?).
LS: Yeah, it’s always cool to share a magazine with you.
Okay, so if you could have any superpower, which one would you choose and why?
DK: When I was a kid, I always wanted to be able to stretch like Mister Fantastic (and not just for the obvious male-centric reasons). I’d love to fly, but every time I flew in my dreams I’d end up getting too high and freak out, or I’d crash into a house. Naw, stretchy is the way to go.
LS: You’ve touched on this a bit already, but do you notice any recurring themes in your writing?
DK: For my short stories, no. I tend to write straight-forward horror, with some delving into the surreal now and then. For my novels, just look at those titles above. I definitely seem to enjoy mixing religion and horror. Of course, talk about limiting your marketing niche. Still, not a lot of competition, I suppose.
DK: The only thing that I find LESS sexy than the Smurfs is the inside of a green pepper.
LS: Well, I for one find the inside of a green pepper to be rather pleasant.
As we wrap this up, do you have any links you’d like to share with the readers?
and then there are the links to the books:
Thursday, April 30, 2009
SCREAMING SPOTLIGHT ON: DANIEL G. KEOHANE
In celebration of his new novel, Dan and I sat down and had a little chat.
LL SOARES: Okay, let’s start at the beginning. What made you want to become a writer? How early did you start writing?
DANIEL KEOHANE: Oh, I’ve always wanted to be a writer – since childhood. I used to love those classes in school where we’d read short stories and pick them apart, coming up with deep meanings which, in retrospect, I’m certain the authors never intended. Problem is, I had zero self-confidence, and was too terrified to try my hand at it until my twenties. I’d started a writer’s group in Worcester with fellow writer Fran Bellerive and things began to take off from there. I can’t imagine not writing now. I get very cranky if I go too long without it.
LS: What was your first professional sale?
DK: My first pro sale was a Christmas horror story, “Tanner’s Bomb.” I sold it to Gothic.net. I miss that webzine, had some very cool stuff in it. I’d made a few sales before that, all of which I still relish.
LS: Yeah, I miss those days. Gothic.net was a pretty great webzine back then. So, what authors influenced you growing up?
DK: Ray Bradbury, first and foremost. Fahrenheit 451 was one of the first novels I read. Also - though I hadn’t known it at the time - Richard Matheson. Not only had I learned, decades later, that we wrote most of my favorite movies and Twilight Zone episodes growing up, but also a bunch of short stories I’d read in school. Unfortunately, growing up I wasn’t much of a reader – didn’t have a very good attention span. After college, authors like King, Koontz, Card and LeGuin were some major influences.
LS: Did movies influence you as a writer? If so, which ones?
DK: Oh, definitely. Like most writers of my generation, Creature Double Feature on Channel 56 was a Saturday afternoon staple. Then there were the late nights with my little black and white TV turned way down beside my bed, watching whatever scary movie I could find. In my teens we got cable in town, and I discovered a world of movies (and I’m not talking about the French Canadian channel with the dirty movies.. Ok, maybe not JUST that). HBO was my fount of fear: The Car, for example, and what’s that one where the guy gets thrown out the window at the end and smashes face-first into the windshield as his family looks on and screams? That one... watched that one a lot. Honestly.
LS: You and I once collaborated on a short story ("Mermaids," Cemetery Dance # 46), and are currently joining forces again on a new, double-secret novella. What are your thoughts on collaborations in general? Is there a right way and wrong way to go about it?
DK: There's probably not a right or wrong way to go about it, as long as both writers lay out the ground rules ahead of time. For "Mermaids," I think I started the story then passed it on to you. You changed whatever you wanted, added more, sent back to me, and so on until the story seemed done. We then discussed what worked in the story and what didn't. You and I are both Type A when it comes to writing, but instead of causing strife, it kept us honest. I had a bizarre direction I was heading at one point, you e-slapped me upside the head and we discussed where to go instead. I didn't like the ending and suggested we change it, and you agreed. In the end, we had a strong story. Aside from some up-front time spent outlining the general plot, the novella we're wrapping up now was done much the same way.
A key component of collaboration, though, is in revision. Each should revise / edit the entire story, beginning to end, not just their own parts. After a few drafts the "voice" in the story becomes consistent, a blending of both writers' styles.
Other collaborators might choose a different route: one has a story that hasn't sold, and gives it to someone else to gut and rewrite; someone outlines an idea for a story and the other writes it; both writers sit in a room and write it together. It's trial and error, but again as long as both writers agree up front what the rules are and don't break them, and don't let egos get in the way, it can be an enjoyable time.
LS: Tell us something about your new novel SOLOMON’S GRAVE.
DK: SOLOMON’S GRAVE has just been released from Dragon Moon Press, which has both a Canadian and US distributorship. This seems fitting, since SOLOMON has seen print in both Italy and Germany over the past couple of years. A few years back, I wrote a novel-length version of a short story called “Lavish,” a modern take on the Great Flood. Born and raised Catholic, I found mixing horror with Christian themes a fascinating experiment, so much so that when I was ready to start a new novel, I picked up the family Bible, closed my eyes, and randomly opened a page and pointed. The passage about King Solomon’s fall from grace after building a temple to the demon Molech for one of his wives (who happened to belong to a sect called the Ammonites)is the one I landed on. This eventually led to SOLOMON’S GRAVE, where for thousands of years a group of Ammonites keep trying to get their hands on Solomon’s stuff, specifically the Ark of the Covenant. Problem is, no one knows where the Ark went to (I’ll give you a clue – it’s in Massachusetts). I had to do quite a lot of research behind this one, from the strict rules surrounding how the Ark can be handled to historical details surrounding the sacking of Constantinople in 1204, to the day-to-day goings on in the life of a Baptist minister. It was a lot of fun to write, and I hope that came across in the book itself.
(PART TWO OF THIS INTERVIEW WILL BE POSTED TOMORROW.)
HOLLOW EYED MARY AND THE SEVERED NOSE!
I don’t normally review books, but recently I was asked to review two. Both reviews are up now on Fear Zone.First off, I got to review Jeff Strand’s upcoming novella, THE SEVERED NOSE. Just go to:
http://fearzone.com/blog/severed-strand
Then, I reviewed the new graphic novel, HOLLOW-EYED MARY, a spinoff from Andre Duza’s novel, DEAD BITCH ARMY. To read my MARY review, go to:
http://fearzone.com/blog/hallow-mary
