Hey, horror fans — 4-LAN over at “What I Am Reading” was kind enough to give us a rundown of “Strange Portals,” an intriguing collection of horror fiction. And, as of this writing, the book is for free over at Amazon.
http://thebookmarketingnetwork.com/profiles/blogs/what-i-am-reading-23
[THIS POST CONTAINS SPOILERS FOR THE FILM.] Okay, now — this was actually a pretty good movie; I’d give it an 8 out of 10.
And that says a lot coming from me — I gave only a lukewarm response to “Captain America: The First Avenger,” because I thought that film was an overly safe family film that had no depth or suspense, and some awkward fight scenes. I’ve also opined that Captain America is one of the flatter characters on The Avengers’ lineup. And he’s got a simplistic character concept, even by comic book standards (super-soldier serum, anyone?).
But “Winter Soldier” does improve greatly on some various weaknesses of the origin story. The action scenes (my favorite is the highway fight) are very, very good, with well choreographed brawls and suspenseful shootouts that aren’t too hard for the viewer to follow. And the space opera-level climax will definitely give action junkies their money’s worth.
Chris Evans actually is a really good actor, in my estimation. He seems to do a far better job here than in the other Marvel films, and the script gives Cap a depth that lets Evans show a nice range. (And dammit if he doesn’t look the part.) He’s a charismatic lead that lets you more easily buy into the character. And … Robert Redford in a comic book movie?! That’s something I never saw coming. But what a great actor.
My quibbles? There were a couple. (BEWARE – SPOILERS AHEAD.)
1) Cap meets his best friend and (literal) wingman, the superhero Falcon, on a chance encounter after a run around Washington’s Mall? DEUS EX EXERCISE.
2) Winter Soldier is nice and intimidating with his bandit-like costume and metal (vibranium?) arm, and it’s a little unnerving when Captain America’s ostensible equal comes crashing into the scene. But when his mask comes off and he utters one of his few lines of dialogue, he looks and sounds like a slightly dull, soft spoken, 16-year-old boy. He’s utterly nonthreatening.
3) I’ve always been hard to please when it comes to conspiracy storylines. The larger the conspiracy, the less plausible — I refuse to believe that huge numbers of people can keep a secret so big. S.H.I.E.L.D. is an utterly incompetent spy agency if it allowed Hydra to flourish as it did within its upper echelons. Besides, Hydra is made up of weirdo fanatics — nuts like that would have a hard time blending in to a mainstream community.
4) S.H.I.E.L.D. was more fun when it was made up only of good guys. I never watched the TV show, but I rooted for them in the films. It was America’s everyman response to a world of super-beings, and it was sort of the committed underdog.
5) Again, we are never quite sure what Cap’s powers are. He can withstand 15-story falls with no major injury, but apparently isn’t bulletproof.
6) Why on Earth does nobody call The Avengers for help?
But don’t let those minor irks prevent you from checking out this movie. It’s pretty decent.
Comic Book Nerd Trivia — Winter Soldier looks a heck of a lot like an anti-hero named “Nomad” in the mid-1990’s. He teamed up with Daredevil when he went to Las Vegas in the “Dead Man’s Hand” storyline. It’s probably the same character; I am just too lazy to look it up right now.
Well … maybe not, as I am not even certain he’d been born yet when I was in college. But I did a fine job of channeling Christopher Plummer. I was into Sherlock Holmes about 20 years before it was cool.
I believe all that coolness rubbed off from a double-dose of Nate. Pictured here are Nate “The Amazing Nate” Leslie and Nate “The Great Nate” Wade. Nate L. is now a critically acclaimed author and a professor at Northern Virginia Community College. Nate W. is now a public defender in Pima County, Arizona.
In place of hair, I wore a Tribble from the original “Star Trek” series, as was popular at the time.
No one can forget the time when Carroll O’Connor (aka Archie Bunker) stopped by to prepare barbecue for us …
Finally, no Mary Washington College post would be complete without a shot of the legendary Len Ornstein (far left).
Or the mythic James A. Cordone.
“The Strangers” (2008) is yet more evidence that horror movies can be formulaic, yet effective. This is a very scary movie to which I’d give an 8 out of 10.
It’s strictly by the numbers. Masked psychotics wielding axes and knives terrorize an innocent couple in an isolated location. There are severed phone lines, bad guys appearing out of nowhere behind our protagonists, and even gratuitous underwear shots. There’s even a scene in which one character hides in a closet and stares out between the slots of one of those blinds-type doors. Then the predictable happens. Where have we seen all this before? Everywhere.
Yet it’s still a frightening movie – thanks to some slick directing and camera work. It works. If you want a scary movie, this delivers. There’s also some cool cinematography – especially with the use of color in rendering the immense forest around the story’s isolated cabin location. Decent fright-flick!
There were three criticisms I had of this movie:
1) When a deep-voiced male narrator assures us seriously in a prologue that this story “is based on true events,” this is a cliché. It was pretty cheesy when it was done in “The Texas Chainsaw Massacre” way back in 1974. It also insults our intelligence; we know that claims like these are rarely true.
2) I occasionally dislike female characters who become weak and panicky when imperiled. Once you fall in love with Ellen Ripley or Sarah Conner, the portrayal of weepy scream-queens seems vaguely sexist, and these characters are harder to care for and root for. And I have female friends (including a few NRA members) who, although afraid, would probably @#$% a brother up if attacked like this.
3) I had the same concern about this movie that I had with “The Devil’s Rejects” and “Wolf Creek” (2005), and it’s a little hard to explain … Yes, I really like horror movies. And some of my favorites contain a lot of explicit violence. But there’s a very fine line between a decent horror story and a faux snuff film. If we are presented with very little story, and are merely shown innocents being attacked with little hope of recourse … I dunno. It feels gratuitous. I’m no Puritan when it comes to violent content. But if that’s ALL there is, I feel guilty in a way. (Am I a psycho or voyeur for viewing this?) I feel … “healthier” if I am watching a movie that contains violence, but allows the good guys at least a CHANCE to fight back and maybe even prevail. (Think “Aliens” (1986) or “28 Days Later” (2002).)
All in all, though, this was a good movie.
Winter. It’s hell on your commute, but heaven on your eyes.
I love the creek. These shots make me think of Robert Frost’s “Stopping By Woods On A Snowy Evening.”
I’ve been blogging my past movie reviews from Facebook — this was my own humble pan of “Star Trek: Nemesis” (2002).
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It’s easy to understand why “Star Trek: Nemesis” (2002) was the lowest grossing Star Trek film of all time. I didn’t hate it quite as much as everybody else (I’d give it a 4 out of 10), but it was a pretty big misfire.
The movie was, frankly, boring for most of its first hour. At one point the film’s villains scold its antagonist, “You promised us action – and yet you delay!!” Yeah, that’s pretty much how the viewers felt. This movie has no sense of pacing at all. There’s an admittedly neat horror flourish early on, then an action sequence cheesy enough to have been lifted from “The A-Team.” Then a good portion of the film seems to revolve around … planning …and conversations. Did the filmmakers think they were writing Shakespeare?
This is also a cobbled together pastiche of plot elements we’ve seen many times before. We have a charismatic leader uniting two groups of bad guys. He’s got an astonishing secret and a link to Jean-Luc Picard. He’s got a new secret weapon and is heading to earth to destroy it. There’s another model/clone/whatever of Data. Telepath Donna Troi is mind-raped by a creepy alien (which just might be a plot device in poor taste). Only some inspired ship maneuvers and a surprise stratagem by Data manage to save the day. If this sounds familiar, you may have seen Star Trek movies or the TV show before.
Even the special effects were average. Did this movie really come out the same weekend as “Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones?”
Then there are the nitpicks connected with the entire franchise. Why do seatbelts not exist in Star Trek’s universe? If any matter at all can be created out of nothing via “replicators,” why do mining colonies exist? Why are all the aliens humanoid, but with funny foreheads? WHY IS EVERY CREW MEMBER PERFECT IN EVERY WAY? Is the future inhabited solely by cheerful, hardworking honor students who are always home by curfew? Please watch Ron Moore’s “Battlestar Galactica,” people. There are reasons why Starbuck is a compelling character, and Donna Troi is not.
And even a casual viewer of the TV show could spot the … complete lack of continuity. This film really does contradict the “All Good Things” climax for the show (though, admittedly, the show’s writers really did paint future stories into a corner with that far-future epilogue). If imdb.com is correct, director Stuart Baird had no familiarity with show, and even thought that Geordi LaForge was an alien. Wow.
All of this is a little sad, because there are a few elements of a great movie here. Tom Hardy (Space Bane?) was damn fantastic as the story’s villain. I had no idea he was this good of an actor. The guy is intense, convincing and scary, and I love the way he delivers his lines. What a shame his face and mouth were obscured in “The Dark Knight Rises” (2012). The guy is incredible.
Patrick Stewart is also fantastic, as usual. He does just fine in the “X-Men” films, but he seems like a one-note character there, because he’s almost always serene and in control. Even the “Star Trek: The Next Generation” TV show gave him a better range to show. He’s great when he shows remorse, concern and apprehension. You can tell the guy’s done Shakespeare.
Finally, the movie’s climactic ship-on-ship battle was quite good.
This movie also had some damned interesting themes stemming from Hardy’s bad guy, who is a younger, angrier clone (literally) of Picard. (Maybe that’s a spoiler, but it’s okay – you really don’t need to see this film anyway.) The script presents this well – it actually isn’t as stupid as it sounds. Any sci-fi movie in which Hardy and Stewart comment on the duality of man, or nature vs. nurture, ought to be an automatic classic. And this movie did just fine when it let the two actors explore that.
Oh well. They can’t all be gold, right? It’s just a little sad that the cast of a decent TV show (and a couple of decent movies) had to embark on this as their final voyage.
This is my big brother — actor and screenwriter Russell Morgan. Look at that iconic face and that steady stare.
TELL ME THIS GUY DOESN’T DESERVE A GUEST-STARRING ROLE ON NBC’S “HANNIBAL.”
Hello, all!
I’m honored to be able to report tonight that I’ve been accorded a rather nice honor by my fellow novelist and poet, A.K. Hinchey – nomination for The WIP (Work In Progress) Blog Tour. Ms. Hinchey is a lovely voice and a friend from across the pond, hailing from Lancaster, Britain, where she is a prolific young writer and also the busy mother of a new baby girl. Her publications include short fiction in Dagda Publishing’s “All Hail The New Flesh,” as well as Dagda’s 2013 poetry collection, “Threads.” She has completed her first novel, “Incarnate,” and is hard at work on its sequel, “Bound.” She is also a terrific supporter of the independent publishing community, with in-depth reviews that introduce readers to new voices. To get a little better acquainted, check out Ms. Hinchey’s writing blog, “The Torn Page,” right here:
https://akhinchey.wordpress.com/
The WIP Blog Tour lets readers and writers catch up with one another. When nominated, indie authors can update the community about what they are working on, and share excerpts to whet their appetites. Authors are then asked to nominate a few of their peers. Read about it here:
I’m happy to say that I am still hard at work on my prose. While Dagda Publishing and Dead Snakes have been kind enough to share more of my poetry, my major works in progress include two books. The first, of course, is the sequel to my post-apocalyptic science fiction novel, “The Dogs Don’t Bark In Brooklyn Any More,” published by Dagda. While “Dogs” was primarily a character study of Rebecca O’Conner and her role in the global war between humanity and super-intelligent wolves, I hope that this new book will change the series’ pace and tone, with more action and horror to turn this into a frightening war epic.
Another project that I am quite excited about is a collection of short fiction. I began this project after being encouraged by colleagues in the community, and let me tell you, it’s great fun. “Dogs” and its sequel gave me an opportunity to take a single fictional universe and explore it in depth. But working on short stories gives me plenty of new sandboxes in which to play.
What’s ahead? Well, some of the stories will be traditional horror tales, while others will be darker mainstream fiction. We’ll take a look at what happens when time travel goes disastrously wrong, and consigns one woman to a truly unique hell. We’ll join a pedophile and child pornographer on his thirsty hunt through New York’s Penn Station – then watch as his plans go delightfully, horribly awry. We’ll tremble alongside two members of the New York City Department of Pest Management, as they discover unexpected threats in the labyrinthine subways. We’ll visit an ostensibly idyllic Virginia town, where a supernatural danger segues sadly into a horror that is all too common in the real world. And, for good, old-fashioned, gorehound fun, we’ll take a detailed, blow-by-blow look at what happens when spirited average Joes defend a supermarket full of customers from a ravenous zombie swarm.
And more. If you’ve enjoyed my writing before or want to take your first journey with me, rest assured, I do hope to please you.
Well, The WIP Blog Tour invites participants to share three lines of their work in progress. I thought I’d share the first three lines from the above-mentioned time travel story. Its title is “Today, Tomorrow, the Next Day and Forever” (c) 2015 Eric Robert Nolan.
(And, what the heck, I’ll make it four lines.)
I am going insane. I have watched my husband burn to death at least 500 times.
It always begins the same. It begins with beauty.
(c) 2015 Eric Robert Nolan
I’d like to thank AK Hinchey for nominating me for The WIP Blog Tour! I’m always grateful for her attention, and this was a lot of fun! In the meantime, be sure to check in here for my own nominations for the tour. 🙂
Rest In Peace, Leonard Nimoy.
Thank you for the memories.
Eric Robert Nolan, Author 