Why Your Fantasy Novel Sucks
28 03 2017Comments : Leave a Comment »
Tags: books, fantasy fiction, novels, Sucks
Categories : Writing, Writing Advice
It’s “The Battle Royale Office Space In The Woods” With The Belko Experiment
26 03 2017Have a look at this:
You’d think this movie a twist on the manga and movie “Battle Royale”, and on the surface you’d be correct. Instead of BR’s high school students being kidnapped and stranded on a deserted island, TBE has office workers in South America trapped in their curiously well-fortified office building. Both purposes are for all participants to kill each other until one remains alive.
The movie is written by James Gunn (Dawn of the Dead! Guardians of the Galaxy!) and directed by Greg McLean (aussiesplatter classic Wolf Creek). Actors are mainly from TV, including John McGinley (who always does great villains), the President from “Scandal”, the big guy from “ER”, and a lot of actual South Americans, even though it was shot in NY state though set in Bogota.
In BR, the government selects a class at random each year. In TBE, we are never really told why the voice demands the massacre, except for a vague monologue by a disfigured white guy at the end of the movie.
However, deeper down, TBE owes much more to “The Cabin In The Woods”, Joss Whedons’ satirical ode to American horror tropes. As mentioned, a faceless corporation maintains the high-tech murder site and watches using omnicient security cameras. Both movie feature a pot-smoking slacker who turns the corporate technology against its masters.
What actually happens? Trailer says it all. The tension is evenly paced. Characters are believable, even slightly sympathetic. The cool boss becomes lethally practical, friendships are betrayed, old scores are settled.
What didn’t work? The pothead in “Cabin In The Woods” was sharp and rebellious where TBE’s stoner bordered on hysteria, yet somehow overcomes qualms to literally pick through the remains of his co-workers, and that just did not convince. Also, the director of “Wold Creek” must have wanted some practical effects gore, but the prosthetics here are more ambitious, and the camera lingered too long on skulls looking more deflated than shattered.
Overall, it was a taut, entertaining thought experiment at 1 1/2 hours long. Have a look at it when it hits streaming or cable.
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Tags: geek, horror, movies, reviews
Categories : Movie Reviews, Reviews
What Makes “Logan” Good?
24 03 2017Comments : Leave a Comment »
Tags: business, movies, reviews
Categories : Reviews, Writing, Writing Advice
Worldbuilding Mistakes Even Pros Make
21 03 2017A really good article. Number Two Can be challenging, but Number Three will ruin a story for me.
http://mythcreants.com/blog/five-worldbuilding-mistakes-even-enthusiasts-make/
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Tags: books, novels, reviews, writing
Categories : Writing, Writing Advice
It’s Like Ken Nordine Wrote For “Night Gallery”
12 03 2017
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Tags: horror, podcasting, writing
Categories : Video
$0.99 Body Horror: From The Stoker Preliminary Ballot To Your E-Reader
9 03 2017“I LOVE ‘THE FLESH SUTRA’!” – Nancy Holder, NYT Best Selling Horror Author
Only 99 cents to your e-reader from Amazon. Erotic body horror under gaslight. Four Stars on Amazon. Dare to try “The Flesh Sutra”.
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Tags: books, fiction, horror, novels, promotion, writing
Categories : Fiction, The Flesh Sutra
How To Begin Writing
8 03 2017My son had to write a paper for his college class. He had a week to do it and while he did write some notes over the weekend, he left writing the bulk of the report until the night before it was due. It wasn’t that he’s a bad writer. It wasn’t that he […]
via How to begin writing when you can’t — Live to Write – Write to Live
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Tags: books, writing
Categories : Writing, Writing Advice
Cliches To Avoid! I Would Add “Scary Clowns” and “Quirky Pop Music”
7 03 2017When any genre becomes popular and produces as many films as the horror genre, there are bound to be recurring themes that will be found in many of the films. Movies like The Cabin in the Woods and Behind the Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon capitalize on these commonly … Read More… The post…
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Tags: horror, writing
Categories : Writing, Writing Advice
If your revised manuscript still has the same events in the same order, then what was the point?
6 03 2017Comments : Leave a Comment »
Categories : Uncategorized
My Stomach Is Full Of Eels And It’s “A Cure For Wellness”!
3 03 2017
Bless this digusting, bloated and atmospheric mess. Let’s be upfront: this movie does not fully work. For a horror movie centered on existential dread and psychosis, it has a few too many moving parts. Now, it’s definitely a beautiful and haunting mess. Bojan Bazelli creates indelible images just by using the movie’s limited palettes of […]
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Categories : Movie Reviews, Reviews