Life of Pi

Life of Pi ~ Well, it may not be the live action version of Calvin and Hobbes, but the moral of the story is Don't move to Canada.

I saw Life of Pi the day after I saw Skyfall, marking not only a return for me to seeing movies in theaters after a while, but also seeing two visually stunning films back to back. The visuals are amazing. This is notably the first film I have seen in 2D, that was available in 3D, that I have regretted not seeing in 3D. I spent a good amount of time saying, "Wow, that would have been incredible in 3D."

Told in flashback, in the framing sequence of a man telling a writer of a life-changing event he experienced as a younger man, Life of Pi is about perception. Pi's family, who owns a zoo in India, decides to move to Canada, with the animals, via a shady Japanese freighter. Shipwrecked, Pi finds himself alone with a tiger on a lifeboat at sea for months. His survival is at the core of the tale, and director Ang Lee makes it all worthwhile with this incredible piece of eye candy.

There's a kicker at the end, that in the film disappointed me, but had I read the book the movie is based on, I might have hurled it across the room. Yeah, it's like that. Good thing I didn't read the book, I'm sure it would have infuriated me. It is the stunning visuals in the film that talk my anger in off the ledge.

Young Pi, played by Suraj Sharma, is fantastic in a role using primarily gestures and facial expressions - and acting for the most part alone, with and against a completely CGI tiger. Yeah, that blew me away. There's no tiger, it's all CGI. But that tiger is a hell of an actor too. The adult Pi is played by one of my favorite Indian actors, Irrfan Khan, who folks might know from The Amazing Spider-Man or Slumdog Millionaire, but who I loved in HBO's "In Treatment." His performance is both solid and subtlety brilliant.

Life of Pi must be seen, preferably on the big screen, and preferably in 3D. This film will be in contention for several Oscars this year. See it.

And oh yeah, don't move to Canada, or at least not the way Pi did.

Dave Brubeck 1920-2012

The Next Big Blog Thing

The Next Big Thing is a blog project designed to help writers get the word out about their latest works. Author Kevin R. Tipple tagged me, and I'll be tagging a few writers at the end of those Q&A, and they'll be doing their own blogs about their work next week. Check 'em all out.

1. What is the title of your current book?

Strange World is a short story anthology put out by Biff Bam Pop!, featuring previously unpublished tales of suspense and horror by various authors from across North America. My story in the collection is called "Live to Write, Write to Live."

2. Where did the idea for the story come from?

Believe it or not, writing on the toilet. Since getting an iPhone, I have stopping using small notebooks for writing notes on the go. I have almost exclusively moved to doing it on the iPhone with the Notes app. Sometimes this happens, ahem, when 'occupied.' This image is at the start of "Live to Write" and propels the plot from there.

3. What genre does the book fall under?

Strange World contains thirteen tales of thriller, horror and suspense. My own story in the collection, while containing horror and suspense elements, I feel is more black comedy than anything else. You'll have to read it yourself and see.

4. What actors would you choose to play the part of your characters in a movie?

Wow. I never really gave this one any thought. I would say that Naomi would be well served by an aged and ragged version of either Sharon Stone or Michelle Pfeiffer. Mandy Patinkin as he looks in "Homeland" would make a good Blaine Taylor. The others you'll just have to use your imagination.

The truth is the characters are actually modeled on folks I know, but I ain't telling who they are. If I did, I'd have to kill you. And them. ;-)

5. What is the one-sentence synopsis of your story?

Write what you know is not always the best policy.

6. Is your book be self-published or represented by an agency?

Strange World is self-published by the Biff Bam Pop! pop culture website and staff, the first of several books. Keep a look out.

7. How long did it take you to write the first draft of the manuscript?

Unlike a lot of stuff I write, I wrote the story in a whirlwind of passion and creativity over a couple days. It is the first short story I have written and finished in decades, and the one done in the quickest time.

8. What other books would you compare this story to within your genre?

Oh my, I couldn't say. I would hope anything in the horror or suspense genre that has a sly wisp of subtle humor.

9. Who or what inspired you to write this story?

You mean besides writing on the toilet? I have nothing but kind words, gratitude and praise for Andy Burns, editor-in-chief of Biff Bam Pop!, for kicking me in the butt and getting me to submit a story to Strange World. It is all his fault. ;-)

10. What else about the book might pique a reader's interest?

Besides my own, there are twelve other terrific stories in Strange World by twelve other very talented writers, like Jason Shayer, Lucas Mangum, Anne Michaud, David Sanford Ward, and the aforementioned Andy Burns, among others. And don't forget, the book features an introduction by award winning author Jonathan Maberry.

You can purchase an ebook copy of Strange World on Kobo here.

One week from today, be sure to check out what Marie Gilbert, Fran Metzman, Ann Siracusa, Suzie Tullett and Bex Aaron have to say in answer to these questions, too. And also check out what my tagger Kevin R. Tipple has to say on his blog as well - he's a terrific writer and friend, always worth reading.

At War with the Internet

Recently the Internet seems to have turned against me. I don't know what I did to it. I've always played nice, and fed it well, but lately, it just doesn't like me.

The first culprit is the Twitter. Twitter thinks I follow too many people. At first (and still) I didn't think that was possible. Isn't the whole concept of Twitter to follow other people and seeing what they have to say? Twitter doesn't agree. Here's what they have to say on the subject. Okay, I suppose that's fair, but then why, every single day, after they shut me down from following people do they continue to suggest people for me to follow??

Speaking of suggestions, then there's the Facebook. They are constantly suggesting friends for me on the right side of the screen, saying I may know them, we share hundreds of mutual friends, and mutual likes. But let me tell you something - if you decide to add any of these 'friends' the Facebook has suggested, and they don't want to be your 'friend,' they might just report you to the Facebook.

And I don't care how many times Facebook tells me Mandy Patinkin might know me, I am positive he doesn't. Don't click that 'friend' button. Yep, it's a double jeopardy thing just like the following problem at Twitter.

So if you want to friend me on Facebook, please do, and especially if you want to follow me on Twitter - please please do - so I can beat these fascist following rules.

Titanic, The Evil Version

Titanic ~ This is not the Titanic you think it is, in fact, this is not any of the Titanics you might think it is. It's not from 1997, 1953, or even 1915. I had never heard of this 1943 version until very recently, and it is a sad and very intriguing monument to the power of propaganda. This is the Nazi version.

This Titanic was made by the German film industry, controlled by the Nazis, in the midst of World War II. At a time when Germany was at war with Great Britain, this dramatic propaganda film showed the story of the Titanic sinking, not strictly because of an iceberg, but because of the greed and folly of the British ship's owners.

In this Titanic, the upper class British passengers are all rich, careless, and decadent, with the Germans poor and heroic, in fact, the only German crew member is our hero. The skewed almost-Bizarro World version of history has to be seen to be believed.

This subtitled anti-British piece of work was never actually released as Nazi officials thought the scenes of chaos inboard the ship might panic German citizens who were under attack during wartime. For years it was thought lost, but occasionally shows up on TCM. Worth watching as a curiosity.