IWSG and Inspiring Advice

I and the other admins are at the IWSG site with something unique for you today - Inspiring Advice From IWSG Experts. Come join us!

Insecure Writer’s Support Group #IWSG, March Movie Preview, Music Boxes, Golden Schmoes Winners, and The Grinch Review

It’s time for another group posting of the Insecure Writer’s Support Group! Time to release our fears to the world – or offer encouragement to those who are feeling neurotic. If you’d like to join us, click on the tab above and sign up. We post the first Wednesday of every month. I encourage everyone to visit at least a dozen new blogs and leave a comment. Your words might be the encouragement someone needs.

The awesome co-hosts for the March 6 posting of the IWSG are Fundy Blue, Beverly Stowe McClure, Erika Beebe, and Lisa Buie-Collard!


March 6 question - Whose perspective do you like to write from best, the hero (protagonist) or the villain (antagonist)? And why?

Obviously my answer has to be the hero.

Because I’ve never written a real antagonist.

What….????

I write stories where the hero is his own worst enemy. There are forces pushing against him, but it’s not from any one person – and ultimately he cripples his own progress from within.

In books and movies…I do like a good hero and villain. But I don’t like a story told from the villain’s view. I don’t like anti-heroes. I need to know that good triumphs over evil.

What about you?

Here are the IWSG Instagram prompts for the month:

Available now from a fellow Dancing Lemur Press author!

Music Boxes by Tonja Drecker
I only desire your talent. . .
Twelve-year-old Lindsey McKay's biggest dream is to be a famous ballerina. But after moving to New York, she ends up at the Community Center with a teacher who’s a burly bear in tights.
When she meets Madame Destinée, the teacher of a top dance school who offers her classes for free, Lindsey can't believe her luck. In exchange, she must perform in the school’s exclusive midnight shows, ones sure to make her a star. But something’s not right...
One by one, the other dancers disappear. Each time they do, a music box with a figurine just like the missing ballerina joins Madame Destinée’s growing collection. If Lindsey doesn’t discover the truth about the dance school, she might end up a tiny figurine herself.
Find on iTunes, Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Kobo, and Goodreads

Movie Review – The Grinch

I did not see this in the theater last year. I’ll admit I’m a purist and nothing can top the 60’s animated film How the Grinch Stole Christmas.
And I was right, this does not top it.
But it was good!
It manages to hold on to the spirit of the story even as it expands it to show more and explain more. There’s a whole side story involving Cindy-Lou (who is definitely older than two!) and they show the Grinch’s past to explain why he hates Christmas.
The animation is brilliant and captures the style of the original film and the book itself.
There were a couple things that didn’t jive with me. The hip-hop soundtrack seemed out of place. (But then I’m not the target age for this movie.) It was also weird to hear someone other than Boris Karloff do the narration. The voice just didn’t carry the weight. (Was James Earl Jones not available? He would’ve been perfect.)
One thing I did really like - the Grinch is certainly nicer to Max in this version! In the cartoon, I always thought Max should run away and find a nice Who family.
There were some modern upgrades (Who cell phones, Cindy-Lou’s mom is single, etc.) but I did enjoy this version of the story. It tugged at the heartstrings and provided some good laughs.
And made me forget the travesty of the Jim Carrey version.
Recommended.

Golden Schmoes Winners

Here are some highlights:

Favorite Movie: Avengers: Infinity War (It also won ten other awards.)
Most Overrated: Black Panther
Trippiest: Annihilation
Best Animated: Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse
Most Memorable Scene: The Snap, Avengers: Infinity War

Check out the rest of the winners at Jo Blo’s site.

March Movie Preview

Here are the upcoming theatrical releases for March! As always, descriptions courtesy of the IMDB. Snark provided by me.

8 –

Captain Marvel
Carol Danvers becomes one of the universe's most powerful heroes when Earth is caught in the middle of a galactic war between two alien races.
Directors: Anna Boden | Ryan Fleck
Stars: Brie Larson, Gemma Chan, Samuel L. Jackson, Lee Pace
You’ll believe a woman can fly… Take that, Superman!

15 – 

Wonder Park
Wonder Park tells the story of a magnificent amusement park where the imagination of a wildly creative girl named June comes alive.
Stars: Brianna Denski, Jennifer Garner, Ken Hudson Campbell, Kenan Thompson
Neat idea – a little girl imagines a theme park and it becomes real. Right now I'm imagining a Bugatti Veyron becoming real in my garage.

22 –

The Dirt
The story of how Mötley Crüe came to be one of the most notorious rock 'n roll groups in history.
Director: Jeff Tremaine
Stars: Machine Gun Kelly, Iwan Rheon, Douglas Booth
Why The Dirt? Because Sex-Crazed, Drug-Fueled Idiots was too long of a title…

29 –

Dumbo
A young elephant, whose oversized ears enable him to fly, helps save a struggling circus, but when the circus plans a new venture, Dumbo and his friends discover dark secrets beneath its shiny veneer.
Director: Tim Burton
Stars: Eva Green, Colin Farrell, Michael Keaton, Danny DeVito
You’ll believe an elephant can fly... Take that, Captain Marvel!

Which perspective do you write from? Picking up Music Boxes? Have you seen the latest version of The Grinch? Thoughts on the Golden Schmoes? And what movies interest you this month…?

Insecure Writer’s Support Group #IWSG, March Movie Preview, Radius Review, and New Releases

It’s time for another group posting of the Insecure Writer’s Support Group! Time to release our fears to the world – or offer encouragement to those who are feeling neurotic. If you’d like to join us, click on the tab above and sign up. We post the first Wednesday of every month. I encourage everyone to visit at least a dozen new blogs and leave a comment. Your words might be the encouragement someone needs.


The awesome co-hosts for the March 7 posting of the IWSG are Mary Aalgaard, Bish Denham, Jennifer Hawes, Diane Burton, and Gwen Gardner!

Today’s optional question - How do you celebrate when you achieve a writing goal/ finish a story?

I celebrate by taking a day off from writing! I usually don’t do anything really special, but I do relax and do something non-writing related.
Like watch a movie.
I watch a lot of movies…


Tick Tock: A Stitch in Crime - and IWSG Anthology comes out May 1!

Pre order at Amazon, iTunes, Barnes and Noble, and Kobo
Find on Goodreads

Plus there is a Facebook-Tick Tock Mystery and a Tick Tock Mystery blog - check them out!

Radius Movie Review

A man wakes after a car crash with no memory and soon discovers anyone who gets within fifty feet of him dies instantly.
It got great reviews and I was curious – how could they maintain a whole film if no one could get near him? The movie handles that well with a woman who was also in the car crash with him and has no memory or identity on her. The film focuses on the two trying to figure out what is happening and who they really are.
This science fiction thriller definitely has you guessing. The two characters start to have flashbacks from their lives before the crash, increasing the mystery. And of course some of the problems stem from a lack of full disclosure. (Why don’t people talk to each other?) It’s a quiet film that moves at a good pace and makes you think.
You may or may not guess the truth before the end reveal. (My wife made a wild guess halfway through and was actually right!)
Recommended

New Releases

Clowders by Vanessa Morgan
When Aidan, Jess and their five-year-old daughter, Eleonore, move from America to Clervaux, it seems as if they've arrived in paradise. It soon becomes clear, though, that the inhabitants' adoration of their cats is unhealthy. …
Find it at Amazon, Amazon UK, and Amazon FR

Corners by Corrina Austin
Everyone needs their own special corner...
Find it at iTunes, Barnes and Noble, Kobo, Amazon, Nook, Amazon CA, and Goodreads
Plus there is a book trailer on YouTube

March Movie Preview

Here are the upcoming theatrical releases for March! As always, descriptions courtesy of the IMDB. Snark provided by me.

9 –

A Wrinkle in Time
After the disappearance of her scientist father, three peculiar beings send Meg, her brother, and her friend to space in order to find him.
Director: Ava DuVernay
Stars: Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Chris Pine, Bellamy Young, Reese Witherspoon
Bad buzz could put a wrinkle in this film’s profit.

The Hurricane Heist
Thieves attempt a massive heist against the U.S. Treasury as a Category 5 hurricane approaches one of its Mint facilities.
Director: Rob Cohen
Stars: Toby Kebbell, Maggie Grace, Ryan Kwanten, Ralph Ineson
The trailer makes Sharknado look pretty by comparison.




16 –

Tomb Raider
Lara Croft, the fiercely independent daughter of a missing adventurer, must push herself beyond her limits when she finds herself on the island where her father disappeared.
Director: Roar Uthaug
Stars: Alicia Vikander, Hannah John-Kamen, Walton Goggins, Kristin Scott Thomas
Will this finally be the film that breaks the video game to movie curse?




23 –

Pacific Rim Uprising
Jake Pentecost, son of Stacker Pentecost, reunites with Mako Mori to lead a new generation of Jaeger pilots, including rival Lambert and 15-year-old hacker Amara, against a new Kaiju threat.
Director: Steven S. DeKnight
Stars: Scott Eastwood, Adria Arjona, Tian Jing, Charlie Day
Sad that Guillermo del Toro isn’t directing but happy giant robots and monsters will continue to beat the crap out of each other.




30 –

Ready Player One
When the creator of a virtual reality world called the OASIS dies, he releases a video in which he challenges all OASIS users to find his Easter Egg, which will give the finder his fortune. Wade Watts finds the first clue and starts a race for the Egg.
Director: Steven Spielberg
Stars: Letitia Wright, Hannah John-Kamen, Olivia Cooke, Mckenna Grace
Hope it rocks, but even a sub-par Spielberg film is better than most of what’s out there.

How do you celebrate after hitting a writing goal? Excited about Tick Tock? Have you seen Radius? New books you want now? And what movies do you want to see this month?