August Movie Preview! Plus Solomon Kane Review, Bambi Meets Godzilla, Ninja News, and Special Announcement

Here are the upcoming movies for August! As always, descriptions courtesy of the IMDB. Snarky comments by me.

2 – 

Europa Report
An international crew of astronauts undertakes a privately funded mission to search for life on Jupiter's fourth largest moon.
Director: Sebastián Cordero
Stars: Christian Camargo, Embeth Davidtz, Michael Nyqvist, Sharlto Copley
Unique found footage film that’s generating some good buzz. I just might be found footage overdone though…

2 Guns
A DEA agent and a naval intelligence officer find themselves on the run after a botched attempt to infiltrate a drug cartel. While fleeing, they learn the secret of their shaky alliance: Neither knew that the other was an undercover agent.
Director: Baltasar Kormákur
Stars: Denzel Washington, Mark Wahlberg, Paula Patton, Bill Paxton
Washington and Wahlberg – could be action-packed fun.

9 –

Elysium
A factory worker takes on a mission to hijack his way onto a man-made space habitat.
Director: Neill Blomkamp
Stars: Matt Damon, Jodie Foster, Sharlto Copley, Alice Braga
From the director of District 9. Not an original idea (Battle Angel Alita anyone?) but I’m hoping it’s as good as the previews.

Planes
Dusty is a cropdusting plane who dreams of competing in a famous aerial race. The problem? He is hopelessly afraid of heights. With the support of his mentor Skipper and a host of new friends, Dusty sets off to make his dreams come true.
Director: Klay Hall
Stars: Val Kilmer, Teri Hatcher, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Carlos Alazraqui
From Disney not Pixar – can you say Cars with wings?

We’re the Millers
A veteran pot dealer creates a fake family as part of his plan to move a huge shipment of weed into the U.S. from Mexico.
Director: Rawson Marshall Thurber
Stars: Jennifer Aniston, Emma Roberts, Jason Sudeikis, Ed Helms
From the creator of Dodgeball, which was actually kind of funny...

Also releasing - Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters

16 –

Kick Ass 2
The costumed high-school hero Kick-Ass joins with a group of normal citizens who have been inspired to fight crime in costume. Meanwhile, the Red Mist plots an act of revenge that will affect everyone Kick-Ass knows.
Director: Jeff Wadlow
Stars: Chloë Grace Moretz, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Jim Carrey, Christopher Mintz-Plasse
I’ll admit it – guilty pleasure! And the first one really did kick ass

Also releasing – Paranoia, The Butler, and Jobs

23 –

The World’s End
Five friends who reunite in an attempt to top their epic pub crawl from 20 years earlier unwittingly become humankind's only hope for survival.
Director: Edgar Wright
Stars: Rosamund Pike, Simon Pegg, Martin Freeman, Nick Frost
From the creator of Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz – need I say more?


Also releasing – The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones

Ninja News

Big thanks to my friends who visited C. Lee McKenzie on Monday! Bassan was a challenging character and I hope he shines in the third book.

Need a really good laugh? What if Facebook had existed during WWII? Visit Fran at The Angry Lurker for the hilariaty!

Michael Di Gesu is now offering copyrighting and other services. Congratulations on the business venture, Michael! See his site for details.

Rachel Schieffelbein’s young adult novella, Run For the Roses, was picked up by Swoon Romance for a November release. Congratulations, Rachel!

JW Alden’s science fiction story, Battle Lines, is featured in issue 7 of Plasma Frequency Magazine. Also featured in the issue – Milo James Fowler. Congratulations, guys!

Lynn Kelley announced that on Thursday, August 1, a few of the Emblazon authors (who write for tweens) have scheduled a promo day together and priced some of their eBooks for FREE.

Misha Gericke has put up a list for insane dreamers – sign up, stating what you want to accomplish, and then post your progress the last Friday of the month. See her blog for details.

Bambi Meets Godzilla

This is for my buddy Gary at Klahanie. (Don’t forget the Anti-Blogfest Gary Fest! Short and simple – name three blogfests you’d never participate in. Sign up HERE.)

Enjoy Bambi Meets Godzilla!

Movie Review

Solomon Kane
After waiting years, I finally got to see this film!
A mercenary’s soul is bound for hell as punishment for his deeds, but he seeks redemption by helping an innocent family. Watching it gave me some serious D&D flashbacks. It has that vibe to it and the action was really good.
The acting was also good. James Purefoy was perfect as the lead. It was also nice to see Pete Postlethwaite in one of his last roles.
It’s not an epic film, but they did a lot with a very small budget.
As a Christian, I really dug the message of the film – every soul is redeemable.
Recommended – and after viewing this film, I told my wife that it was much, much better than The Wolverine!

Need a good laugh? (Did you watch Bambi Meets Godzilla?) Ready for some free books or a commitment to a goal? Anyone else see Solomon Kane? And what movies catch your eye for August?

Monday I have a special announcement regarding CassaStorm! Stay tuned…

Insecure Writer's Support Group, Help for a Friend, Ninja News, Cover Reveals, Movie Trivia Answers, and the Exploding Blog Post

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.


Special note – one year ago was the first IWSG post. Look how far it’s come! Thanks to all of the participants – you are the reason for this group!

How difficult is it for you to push the limits or raise the stakes?

I’m still working on revisions from CassaStorm and incorporating some of the suggestions from one of my test readers. He’s my go-to guy for dialogue (Rusty and Jeffrey will really appreciate that I’m letting him read it before passing it on to them!) and he’s good with tension.

He sent back a whole page of suggestions for one small scene alone. Basically, he said it wasn’t threatening enough. There was no real sense of dread. He told me to up the ante and make the results devastating. I have since adjusted that scene and now there’s no doubt the characters are in serious trouble.

I guess I’m better at mentally messing with my characters than using physical means to mess with them. But I’m willing to improve!

Anyone else find you are being too easy on your characters or storyline?

Be sure to visit others participating today in the IWSG!

Help for a Friend

He managed to survive Hurricane Isaac as it roared through New Orleans. But last week, blogging buddy and author Roland Yeomans was struck by a car that lost its brakes in the floodwater. He wasn’t seriously injured, but the resulting hospital stay hit him hard in the finances. (The driver had no insurance.)

I am asking the Ninja Army to help. If you’ve never read one of Roland’s books, I invite you do download and enjoy one from Amazon now. He has several that follow the adventures of Victor Standish, the first of which is HERE. He also has many novelette length books, such as Call Me Tombs. He even has a book for writers called Ghost Writers in the Sky. (All of which are awesome.) In all, he has twenty-three from which to choose.

Visit Roland’s page on Amazon, find a book you’d enjoy, and support someone who really needs help right now.

Ninja News

I interviewd Michael Di Gesu at the A to Z Blog today – his theme for the Challenge was flash fiction, perfect for today’s IWSG post!

Jeffrey Beesler’s latest book, Speed Demons is now available, and he’s hosting giveways all week long. Check out his blog for details. Congratulations, Jeffrey!

Angela at Jaded Love Junkie has an agent now – congratulations, Angela!

JW Alden’s story, "The Dragon Weeps," was just published in Kazka Press. You can read it for free, so visit his site for details. Congratulations, Alden!


Don’t forget my
Genre Favorites Blogfest 
on September 17.


Cover Reveals!

Givin’ up the Ghost by Gwen Gardner

Friend or Foe?
Murder victim Bart Bagley is not content to merely roll over in his grave. He wants his murderer caught and he wants teenage ghost whisperer, Indigo Eady, to help him.
It becomes obvious that Bart’s temper lead to more than one disagreement, but is it enough to want him dead? With nothing but a cold trail and a hot list of “friendly” suspects, Indigo and her friends race to find the killer before they become the next victims.
Indigo Eady is not clumsy. At least, that’s what she keeps telling everyone. Can she help that the overactive spirit community of Sabrina Shores causes her psychic abilities to short-circuit? It’s unfortunate that her cute new friend Badger is often on the receiving end of her mishaps. At times, she is positively hazardous to his health. Even so, sparks start to fly in more than one direction...

GIVIN' UP THE GHOST is a YA paranormal cozy mystery, the first in the Indigo Eady series, due out October 8, 2012.

Haunt Gwen at: FB, Blog, Goodreads

Neverlove by Angela Brown

For seventeen-year-old Abigail, one rash decision leads to an unexpected chance for redemption. At V'Salicus Academy, a unique institute where she trains to become an agent of heaven, she struggles with the pain of her past, the changes of the present and accepts a loveless future until her path – and heart – crosses with Basil’s.
Basil's off-chance slip of the tongue binds him to a life of servitude to the Devourer, the master of hell. His existence has no upside until a chance meeting with Abigail brings new perspective.
Keeping the truth of their present lives from each other brings disaster when secrets are brought to light and the life of Abigail’s mentor is put on the line.
Can Abigail and Basil save her mentor and salvage their love amid the chaos? Or will they lose it all, destined forever to NEVERLOVE?

NEVERLOVE is a special project spawned from a blog-challenge-turned-blog-opera, the Abby and Basil affair. It is the first in the Shadow Jumpers series and due out October 8, 2012.

Haunt Angela at: FB, Blog, Goodreads

Movie Trivia Answers!

1 – Sylvester Stallone – John Lithgow - Cliffhanger
2 – Kevin Costner – Gene Hackman – No Way Out or Wyatt Earp
3 – John Cleese – Jamie Lee Curtis – A Fish Called Wanda (or Fierce Creatures)
4 – Emma Thompson – Andy Garcia – Dead Again
5 – Andrew Dice Clay – Wayne Newton – The Adventures of Ford Fairlane
6 – Alec Baldwin – James Earl Jones – The Hunt for Red October

Wow!!! A whole year of posting for the IWSG. Can you believe it? Did you share your insecurities or word of encouragement today? Can you help my friend Roland? Excited about the news? Or the upcoming books from Gwen and Angela? Be sure to visit Michael at the A to Z Blog. Get the trivia questions right? Think this post just might explode from too much stuff????