A Hobbiting I will Go

Just dropping a line to say I can't wait to see the Hobbit! Only one problem: schedules. 

Suddenly everyone wants to have a family party--just a few hours drive away. My son started a job at his high school and may or may not have to work. Since he can't drive yet, this falls on guess who. Daughter is still getting over the cold she caught from (oops) me. This on top of Christmas baking, shopping and merry making.

I see my Hobbit chances this weekend sliding into oblivion. Ugh.


Me: *Lifts chin* Will find time. Will slap the schedules around until I find a window. 

Gandalf schedule wizard: You shall not pass.

Me: Move over obligations. I'm being selfish this time.

Gandalf schedule wizard: The darkness is deepening.

Me: Don't bet on it, bub. I wish none of this had ever happened.

Gandalf schedule wizard: So do all who live to see such times, but that is not for them to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given to us.




To be continued ...

Skyfall: Bond, James Bond

I’m fortunate that my husband and I share many of our tastes. We lean the same way politically and have similar values. Irish football Saturday is a given. There’s no fighting over the remote as we both like science fiction and fantasy along with a dose of action movies. Romantic comedy has it place and so does reality TV. So while he may pick steak over chicken and forgo my chocolate for his health shakes, we agree on James Bond.

I don’t know where it started for him, but I was too young to appreciate the first Bond movies. That’s where cable came in. Once the number of TV stations exploded, there were Bond marathons everywhere taking us back to those slightly campy early ventures. We liked the gadgets, the cars, the overdone villains, the dry innuendos. We became fans for life.

So it went through the ‘80’s with Roger Moore and Timothy Dalton, though we agreed Sean Connery was our favorite. Into the ‘90’s with Pierce Brosnan playing a slightly more haunted Bond. Then came that relatively long break where the series lay dead. Suddenly, a newcomer burst onto the scene. We were skeptical. A blond Bond? Hmmm.

Casino Royale was a revelation. It was modern. It was hard. Who was this dark troubled James Bond? This character mixed regret with dedication to duty. Queen and Country didn’t necessary mean a lack of feeling. Not only us, but the world had a new favorite Bond.

That included our children. What’s the point of having kids if not to brainwash your tastes onto them. And as they grew to teens, who’d rather sit in their rooms than do anything with their parents, we still have Bond in common. In a parent coup, the whole family went to Skyfall together.

To avoid spoilers I’ll just say the Skyfall had all the Bond ingredients. The huge edge-of-your-seat-chase scenes. The Austin Martin. The fun reminders of previous movies. Iconic characters and a really creepy villain. (This villain was the best of the three Daniel Craig movies.) Exotic locations that have been ‘shaken, not stirred’. Destruction and mayhem galore. But unlike previous decades, this Bond has back story. More light is shed upon his character with each installment.

And speaking of installments: how does the Bond success provide lessons to writers that are looking to create their own series? Stay tuned. That will be the subject of my next post. 

A Yawn for John Carter, darn it

After seeing the fantastic Avengers movie at its opening, we went to see a dollar showing of John Carter over the weekend. Even though I read the reviews when it came out, I had high hopes. They got squashed. It wasn’t awful, but then it wasn’t good either. I do hate to see a fantasy movie turn out flat, especially since they spared no expense. As a writer, it made me wonder why. How can I avoid this in my own stories?

First off, I didn’t connect with the characters. Though they pulled a couple of tricks to make the mc likable, they failed or they came too late. The guy had pluck and determination. That came across in the first scenes and was maybe the only humorous part. A bit later, he went out of his way to help the wounded cavalry officer that was chasing him. But John Carter, the man, had no humor, no wonder for the fantastic situation he found himself in (think Avatar). Also all the back story of a dead wife and child was left until the end of the picture. I know back story is usually something to be avoided or dealt in bits and pieces, but, honestly, I felt the lack. I couldn’t get to know the character because I didn’t know his past. I couldn’t understand his motivation. Everything was set up to make him sympathetic, but it failed.

Also I saw no reason for the leading couple to fall in love unless it was because of their extreme good looks and skimpy outfits. They had no inspiring dialogue of any sort. He saved her life, she saved his—it was most correct and dull.

Supporting characters were brought in for scenes and then vanished. They weren’t given any context or back story either. One guy saved John Carter as a favor to the female lead. Since I knew nothing of his relationship with the girl, I couldn’t guess nameless guy’s motivation. Was she his sister? His ex-girlfriend? I never got any closure on this and most of the lesser characters (whether they had two arms or four) came across exactly the same—empty.

The bad guys left me luke warm. Apparently they were evil, but I didn’t feel it. They never did anything suitably evil on an individual level. It was all grand epic sort of evil of destroying cities and flying ships with blue death rays. Well, wiping out cities or boat loads of people I know nothing about doesn’t exactly move me. They needed a Darth Vador strangle the subordinate moment. Or how about a kick the dog while shooting the best friend scene to make watchers really hate them. To tell the truth at the big finale, I wasn’t rooting for either side.

Special effects it had in gobs. I think we all know special effects can’t carry the show when characters are flat and motivation is missing. I'll have to read the book. One summer movie disappointment down, I’m hoping for better to come.

My Review of The Hunger Games Movie

I promised a review of the Hunger Games movie in comparison to the book. Two weekends should be enough time to allow diehard fans a chance to see it first so here goes:

I was a little worried at the opening. Not that the first scene didn’t start off according to the book, but that Buttercup wasn’t yellow. How hard can it be to find an orange cat? My grandparent’s farm was full of them, which has naturally given me a thing for that particular color cat, and it was rather a jolt. Then there were a few other changes right at the getgo that didn’t make me feel any better. Changes which I won’t mention to avoid spoiling, but which really wouldn’t have been a big deal to do right. Little things, really, but annoying.

Then the movie got rolling and those small nitpicks no longer mattered. The heart and soul of the movie kept to the book. There were even a few spots where the straying proved useful to enhance the scenes. During the games themselves, such as in the trackerjack scene, they cut away to announcers which enabled the necessary tell about these vicious bugs without the characters from the games having to say ‘look out, killer bees’. It was a smart way to make the scene understandable for people who haven’t read the book.

I thought the actors all did a first rate job. In particular, the guy who played Cinna and his relationship with Katniss was spot on. And would you believe Lenny Kravitz’s, a musician, played that part. The character of Peeta was genuinely likeable, while Katniss was great as the girl who’d do what it took to stay alive. I can only picture Haymitch as a hairy Woody Harrelson now. Rue was plain adorable.

Another bigger change involved added a flesh and blood antagonist to the mix. If you read my first post on the Hunger Games, you’ll remember I praised that Suzanne Collins made the games the antagonist in her first book of the series. Well, that wasn’t good enough for movie magic. They created a bigger role for President Snow and made a martyr/villain of the Gamemaker man behind the games. (Though who couldn’t love that really cool beard.) It was neat seeing what went on behind the games; and the arrow scene with the pig—amazing. I’ll let others judge for themselves whether this further focusing on good guy/bad guy was an improve or not. In my opinion, it added rather than detracted from the book.

Necessarily because of time, some things in the movie didn’t seem to have enough time allowed to them. For instance, the scenes Katniss spent with Rue seemed short to me. The time allowed to Haymitch also felt cut short. I was miffed they chose not to show his falling off the stage. I had the same reaction with the Harry Potter films though. You just wanted more. And they did leave in the part about Prim’s shirt being untucked at the reaping.

Overall, two thumbs up. I’d see it again, and I’d buy the DVD. It made me cry—twice. I’ll get the popcorn if anybody needs a friend to go with them.

Hunger Games

Tickets?

Check.

We got our tickets for the Hunger Games. My daughter reported that their high school cancelled a dance Friday because of the movie. Teenagers giving up a dance! Panic. Tickets could be sold out. We might have to wait another week after waiting months. My husband had the week off, and I nagged him relentlessly until he secured a set for us. Now we wait with pent up excitement for Saturday afternoon. Snacks are already packed in the giant movie purse. (I’m not paying $5 for milk duds.)  

My son introduced me to the books last summer. Anything that got my son to read had to be good. I read them in a matter of weeks. Personally, I prefer the first book though all were enjoyable. Now I’m eager to see whether the movie trumps the book or vice versa. Usually books are way better than their visual rival. No question of it. Except for Lord of the Rings, I can’t think of any case where a movie has been better.  I guess I will find out Saturday. Tune back in next week to hear my verdict.

As a writer, I noted several points of this book with interest. Places where the author broke the rules so to speak. (Though yes, you can afford to break the rules if you’ve been published before.)

Suzanne Collins didn’t dive into the whole dramatic incident until the end of the first chapter. She used small tweaks, starting in the first paragraph, to imply what was coming but held off.  That gave readers time to absorb the main character and her world, digesting and becoming invested. Many writers’ guides press that you lead off with the incident that propels your characters into chaos, which, of course, gives readers no time to care about the characters. Not the case with Hunger Games, and it is wildly successful.

Another interesting point is the lack of an antagonist you can point a finger at. There is no typical bad guy in the first book of the series, no one until the next book where President Snow takes that role. I’ve been on writing sites where they want you to detail a section about your antagonist, and if you cannot list one, your book must lack conflict. Hunger Games clearly doesn’t lack for conflict. It comes from the plot and the games themselves and not any one individual.

Just something to think about when you’re worrying about breaking rules.