February 2012
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Game of Thrones 1x06, "A Golden Crown"
Syrio Forel: Do you pray to the gods?
Arya Stark: The old and the new.
Syrio Forel: There is only one god, and his name is death. And there is only one thing we say to death: 'Not today.'
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Just finished reading... Wild Thing
“Wild Thing” is Josh Bazell’s follow-up to his excellent debut novel “Beat the Reaper”. It’s a sequel because it features the same main character, but the situation, supporting cast, and even genre are totally different. Where “Beat the Reaper” was a story of gangsters and the witness protection program set against the backdrop of the medical...
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We’re a full six months into DC’s bold new experiment, The New 52. In the weeks leading up to the debut of a rebooted DC Universe, as more and more information came out, I alternated between excited and horrified. But because I don’t think you can judge any comic series until six issues have been published (especially in today’s “write for the trade”...
It’s been a bit crazy at work lately, hence my lack of blogging. What time I’m not spending working on this project I’m trying to devote to that short film I’ve been threatening to make for more than a year.
I’ve finished the script and have cast most of the roles, and this weekend I reunited with my production class friends (aka The Impossible Tornado) to discuss...
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Lost 6x09, "The Package"
Ben Linus: Why won't you believe me?
Ilana: Because you're speaking.
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It’s always sad when a television series you love hangs on too long. When the writers start recycling ideas, or relying on gimmicks, or new cast members are brought it to make the show seem fresh and new. All of this has happened to “House”, which Fox recently announced will conclude at the end of this season.
Here’s what I wrote about “House” at the end of...
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This weekend I decided to rent Warrior, a surprisingly powerful movie about competitive mixed martial arts. I don’t care about MMA fighting, but I don’t like boxing either and a love boxing movies.
Still, I passed on Warrior in theatres because the trailer made it look a little hokey. It seemed like nothing more than Rocky in the world if mixed martial arts, but with two brothers in...
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I’m only going to say this once, then I’ll never speak of it again: DC Comics should not do prequels, sequels, or any kind of -quels to “Watchmen”. It’s a brilliant work that stands alone. It does not need to revisited. Everything you need to know about that world can be found in the twelve issues created by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons. No good can come of this.
All...
January 2012
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I just put my videocamera in the mail. I’m selling it to B&H, the same company I bought it from. I’m getting a fraction of what I paid for it four years ago, but it’s still more than I’m likely to get on eBay. It’s a great camera, a Canon XL-2, but it isn’t HD and that has become the standard.
I’m not doing freelance videography much anymore, but...
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“Well, Raylan, you’re talking to a man who’s sleeping with his dead...”
– Boyd Crowder, “Justified” 3x02
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YouTube.com/BlenderFilms →
For my 750th post I decided to share the two web series I wrote and directed a few years ago. All 10 episodes can be found on my Blender Films YouTube channel (see link above).
The first series was “Cassandra King”, a 3-4 minute sitcom about a girl who can kill with her thoughts put into everyday annoying situations. Over the course of four episodes Cassandra tried to make the shift...
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Just finished reading... Under Heaven
Guy Gavriel Kay’s latest book is a return to form. His last two novels (the viking-inspired “The Last Light of the Sun” and the modern fantasy tale “Ysabel”) were both disappointing and made me wonder if one of my favourite authors had lost his touch. Fortunately, “Under Heaven” gets Kay back to what he does best: telling stories of court intrigue...
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“No one’s a traitor until they are.”
– Titus Pullo, “Rome”
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I don’t post a lot of personal stuff to this blog, but I wanted to take a minute to congratulate my friend Brienne on being published this weekend in the New York Times. Brie is a freelance blogger whose work has appeared on the Huffington Post, MSN.com, and now twice in the travel section of the NYT. You can read her wonderful piece on her trip to Vietnam here.
I first came across...
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I haven’t had a lot of time to blog lately, but I’ve seen quite a few movies I wanted to comment on. That’s why I’m doing one quick End Of The Year Movies Roundup post to talk about everything I’ve seen since Christmas.
Tintin
I knew nothing about the original source material except that it is wildly popular in Europe, and I generally don’t like...
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DC Announces Cancellations →
There was never any chance all 52 of DC Comics’ new titles were going to survive, and I’m happy that only one of my monthly books (“Mister Terrific”, which sadly wasn’t very good anyway) is getting the axe. The others are “Men Of War”, “O.M.A.C.”, “Hawk and Dove”, “Blackhawks” and “Static Shock”.
These six...
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When I made my list of Top 5 TV Cops yesterday I made one glaring omission: DCI Gene Hunt from “Life On Mars” and its sequel “Ashes To Ashes”. Not only is Hunt a great television cop, he’s one of the most entertaining characters I’ve come across in the past few years.
Sadly, this means I have to bump “Law & Order” detective Lennie Briscoe...
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I’ve decided to start watching the second season of “Life” on the treadmill (which I’ve had on DVD since its release but have just never gotten around to re-watching). On it Damian Lewis (seen recently in the excellent terrorism drama “Homeland”) plays one of my all-time favourite TV cops. This got me thinking about my other favourite TV cops, and that train of...
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