I stumbled across a paperback, "Horror In Paradise" -- an anthology of horror tales set in the South Pacific. That amused me, so I snagged it, since I've written a few horror short stories set in that area. I don't know if it's any good, but I'll read it and see, and let you know.
This satellite image of Palmyra Atoll (to say nothing of its history) always horrified me. This barely-there spit of land in an vast and uncaring ocean.
And this video clip somebody shot, the darkness of the place, the isolation. Haunting...
Tuesday, January 12, 2010
Movie: Daybreakers
I saw "Daybreakers" the other day. I was psyched about it (the trailer looked very promising), but it didn't deliver. The concept was good enough -- a world where vampires took over, and humanity was on the road to extinction. Cool, right? Playing with Richard Matheson's wonderful "I Am Legend" concept.
But the directors (who were also the writers, and it showed) failed to execute their promising premise. It was faint filmmaking -- nonexistent (or flimsy) characterization, and meek plotting. It ended up a case where it lacked strong enough characters to be character-driven, and the plot wasn't thick enough to be plot-driven. The bad guys weren't bad enough, the good guys weren't good enough, the subplots weren't engaging enough. As a movie, it just showed up, really created this whole Screenwriting 101 kind of impression with me.
There were a couple of genuinely horrific moments, and a couple of arresting images, but as whole, the piece just failed. Some people have referred to it as a "popcorn movie" -- I hate that expression, but this movie failed even as that. If you want an actually entertaining "popcorn movie" then see "Deep Rising." It's actually thrilling, is well-written and paced, and is amusing. Good stuff. That's worth your time. This movie, however, isn't.
But the directors (who were also the writers, and it showed) failed to execute their promising premise. It was faint filmmaking -- nonexistent (or flimsy) characterization, and meek plotting. It ended up a case where it lacked strong enough characters to be character-driven, and the plot wasn't thick enough to be plot-driven. The bad guys weren't bad enough, the good guys weren't good enough, the subplots weren't engaging enough. As a movie, it just showed up, really created this whole Screenwriting 101 kind of impression with me.
There were a couple of genuinely horrific moments, and a couple of arresting images, but as whole, the piece just failed. Some people have referred to it as a "popcorn movie" -- I hate that expression, but this movie failed even as that. If you want an actually entertaining "popcorn movie" then see "Deep Rising." It's actually thrilling, is well-written and paced, and is amusing. Good stuff. That's worth your time. This movie, however, isn't.
Thirsty
2070 words added this morning to the short story I'm expanding into a novella. I only need about 6000 words to make the minimum length (20,000 words) for the competition I'm thinking of entering, and as it stands, I should be able to bang that out today and tomorrow, with time and breathing space.
I was bummed -- my old Black Flag pin I had on my bag fell off somewhere along my ramblings through the city. Not sure where it was. If you see a little Black Flag pin lying in the snow in Chicago, pick it up, take it; it's yours.
I was bummed -- my old Black Flag pin I had on my bag fell off somewhere along my ramblings through the city. Not sure where it was. If you see a little Black Flag pin lying in the snow in Chicago, pick it up, take it; it's yours.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)