Literature News

[Ozymandias]

In theaters now:

 

• The Twilight Saga: New Moon
• Disney's Christmas Carol

Coming to theaters soon:

 

• Up in the Air
• Sherlock Holmes

Al Roker, of all people, has written a murder mystery. I'm not kidding. It's called The Morning Show Murders.

 

Oh, and Brad Pitt owns the movie rights to Max Brooks' World War Z. We'll see how that goes...

[The Portrait of Zool]

I have been anxiously awaiting the release of Sherlock Holmes, being a rabid SH fan - though the previews look boringly Hollywood. :\

 

I'll look into the rest.

[Snypiuer]

Ozy, Superman? Not according to the tag in my underwear. If that is to be trusted, I'm some sort of 'Loom' fruit - whatever that is, I'm an EXTRA, EXTRA large one!

 

Anyways, Villains is one of my favorite takes on the fantasy story line. It is also, partly, an inspiration for the alternate reality story I'm doing on Signe - that being mentioned:

 

I, Snypiuer, am a hypocrite. I have stated my EXTREME hatred of Robert Jordan's' (former) inability to meet a deadline, and Lord knows my personal views of Robert Asprin's inability to meet a deadline (which caused me to stop reading the MYTH series - though I still follow the Phule novels).

 

*This just found out (while checking to make sure I spelled his name correctly), Robert Asprin ALSO died! What are these people doing to me!?*

Regardless of this, I myself told Signe (well over a week ago) that I was only a few days from finishing the alternate reality story.

 

I'm STILL writing it.

 

BUT, it's due to the fact that the story has grown and I'm trying to fit it all in (not that that is an excuse or anything). SO:

 

My apologies to Signe and I will post as SOON as I'm done - PROMISE!

O.K., anyone who can find this book, should.

 

Also, while I do LOVE Middle Earth, I find Mithgar (the world of 'The Iron Tower and The Silver Call') just as good and I SLIGHTLY prefer it. So try it.

 

Faerie Tale is just plain creepy - read at night. Alone. In the dark.

 

The others are just fun.

 

I need to go through my collections to find it, but there is a short story I'd recommend about how humans, as a race, become God-like beings and suddenly die out all at once. It's old (came out about the same time as stories such as: 'John Carter', 'Fafhrd and the Grey Mouser', etc.), came out in a sci/fi serial, will look for it.

 

Wish I was actually able to do more then say, "Snypiuer like!" or, "Snypiuer NO like!", but Snypiuer has NO critic skills beyond this.

 

HAVE FUN!

[Ozymandias]

• Ben "Yahtzee" Croshaw of 'Zero Punctuation' and 'fullyramblomatic.com' fame is writing a fantasy novel entitled Mogworld that will be published through Dark Horse Books (the book publishing arm of Drak Horse Comics).
• The novel The Repossession Mambo by Eric Garcia is the subject of the upcoming movie Repo Men.
• Kick-Ass, the creator-owned comic book by Mark Millar (of many, MANY of Marvel Comics' Ultimate comics fame) is coming to theaters in 2010 as well.
• We're on Facebook! Look us up! Tell your friends!

[Ozymandias]

• Holy CRAP, I'm behind!
• Amongst much rumor and hopeful candles in the dark, Dean Koontz's third installment of Frankenstein has come and gone...and now we're on to a fourth!! Mothers, hide your daughters!
• The movie version of Eclipse, by Stephenie Meyer is in theaters now. I know Twilight had one of Jackie Chan's stunt coordinators...
• Four more months 'til NaNoWriMo!
• Glenn Beck has written a novel! The Overton Window. If it's anywhere near as good as Newt Gingrich's historical novels written along with William R. Fortschen, we may yet see the 'Conservative Adventure Fiction' section in our local bookstores! I hope so, that name makes me giggle.
• DC Comics has delayed the release of Blackest Night graphic novels. ARGH.

[Degorram]

I'm not really one to be up on the top about new releases and all that, but this one is just too good to be true. Plus I have a few interesting facts that most people I have talked to don't seem to know!

 

PREDATORS came out today, July 9. Now most people, specifically people who aren't die-hard fans, will look at this and say "Oh great, another Predator movie..." And from the series of movies that have come out since the original Predator with Arnold Schwarzenegger, even a die-hard fan like myself can admit that the saga seems to be approaching the Land Before Time renowned title of "quit while you're ahead."

 

Why is this? Because after the amazing story, effects, suspense, and gore that the original piece brought to us, the later movies have just failed to deliver. Predator 2 was a disaster, and very often is not spoken of. (Lol) AVP was good, but as many people complained, was most often too dark, too close, and too concentrated on the humans. Plus, the team of heroine and Predator at the very end was a bit cliche. And for those who were paying attention (or maybe this is just for detail freaks like me) when the Predator takes his mask off at the very end, in stead of having the black and yellow ringed eyes that made the original alien so cool, the actor's eyes are left un-lensed, if you will. Blue, is the color. And human eyes look very bad on a creature with the mouth of a mutated lobster, let's be honest. Not only this, but many of the extra Predators who come to claim their fallen comrade's body seem to be about 5'2, with heads FAR too large for their bodies. How tall was the man who played the original predator? That would be Kevin Peter Hall, at 6'5". AVP: Requiem, which I just saw recently, had very similar problems. Kudos to them for adding old Predator musical themes and putting a little more emphasis on the actual hunter aspect of the alien, but once again, too much concentration on the seemingly useless plots of humanity -- such as the eye candy pool scene.

 

So now that I have finished saying all that was wrong with the other movies, let's move on to the POSITIVE! (LOL) Predators is an amazing release because it is the parallel that was meant to come out all those years ago along with Aliens. Predator, Predators; Alien, Aliens...you see the relation! The only problem is that they ran out of funding, and pushed the script aside. Then along came Predator 2, to the disappointment of fans.

 

That abandoned script is the result of the new movie today. It contains amazing actors such as Laurence Fishburne and Adrien Brody, with Derek Mears as the classic Predator. How tall is Mears? 6'5". Now THAT'S a Predator!!

 

SO that's my schpeal. Seeing the movie today, and I shall report back if it is as amazing as it should be. Hooray violence. Hooray gore. Hooray Predators!

 

 

***Several Hours Later***

 

To avoid spoilers, which nobody really likes, my only report is that this movie is everything the Predator fan is looking for, and has been waiting for. Those who know the first movie by heart will enjoy the little references pervading the entire movie. The whole thing was well done, with pointers to the original for completion, new pieces of Predator culture for originality, and plenty of material to ooze and even argue over.

 

With that said, I say Predators is a success! Thank goodness for that.

[Ozymandias]

• 'Axe Cop', the webcomic created by a five-year old writer and his twenty-nine year old artist brother has signed on with Dark Horse comics to be published in print!
• DC Comics has released what the Green Lantern costume will look like in the upcoming feature film. Hm.

[GeldrinHor]

Oh Jeez...am *I* ever out of touch.....RL Asprin is gone???? Dang man!

 

OK...here's life in a nutshell for me, of late.

 

Laurell K. Hamilton.....get her books. If you are at ALL interested in vampire based novels, you have GOT to read her Anita Blake - Vampire Hunter novels.

Back to reading Stephen King....currently From a Buick 8 is in my van to read while working. (I mean before work and during my lunch break of course....who, me read while driving??? NEVER!)

 

I'm still no further along than I was last month....brain cramps are causing MASSIVE writer's block on my novel, therefore I had to just take some time away from it. Instead, I play video games, drive all over creation, and drink massive quantities of coffee.

 

And by the way.....WHO in the blazes keeps limiting my days to just 24 hours.....that simply will not do, I MUST have more hours in order to cram in all the things I MUST do!

[Vigil StarGazer]

Another literature classic is going onto the silver screen!

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atlas_Shrugged_(film)

 

For all those penites out there, at least read the novel. It's a monumental literary achievement and an ageless work destined to outlast its time.

[Quincunx]

I found A Fine and Private Place while sorting through the dingiest, slenderest books of the used bookstore, and couldn't resist the sort of book where one can read, before the first page has ended, "He was not without philosophy, this shopkeeper, and he knew that if a raven comes into your delicatessen and steals a whole baloney it is either an act of God or it isn't, and in either case there isn't very much you can do about it." I should have recognized the whimsy before buying it, it's not the first book from Peter S. Beagle that I've read. He hadn't quite hit his fantastic stride in plotting yet (he did better with intermingling the ordinary and the non by the time he wrote Tamsin) but the voice of the author was fully formed.

 

Also, Ozymandias, that aforementioned raven is a forerunner of Quoth. Plenty of raven-philosophy for you to pluck out and roll around in your beak.

[Peredhil]

<3<3 Beagle.

 

A fun read is the White Plume Mountain trilogy. Set in the world of Greyhawk, it breathes delightful character life into D&D character classes. I believe it is by Joe Kidd.

 

Anita Blake Vampire Hunter - I think that was the one where I lost $5. I was challenged to pick any of her recent books, open to a random page, and not see sex referenced.