Reviews – Picard, Togo, The Aeronauts; Top Movies of the Decade, War Movie Trivia Answers, New Releases, and Ninja News

Last Friday, I was a guest on Scott Coon’s site for the Little Create Interview – five simple questions, five interesting answers. Check it out!

I also posted at the IWSG site - Ten Tips for Handling Bad Book Reviews.

Movie and Show Reviews

Picard

This show debuted on January 23, picking up with Jean Luc Picard twenty years after the last Next Gen movie, Nemesis.
It was a great first episode, snagging you from the opening scene. And it doesn’t let go. It’s very nostalgic without pandering. They don’t force-feed – it comes through sweet and natural.
The special effects, sets, everything – top-notch and movie quality.
And as much as I hate CBS for making me pay for this, they have my money for the duration of this show…
Highly recommended!

The Aeronauts

Inspired by a true event, this film depicts the first gas balloon to go beyond 23,000 feet in 1862.
Felicity Jones is daredevil balloon pilot Amelia Wren and Eddie Redmayne is scientist and meteorologist James Glaisher. Both are battling demons – she lost her husband in a balloon accident and he is fighting to prove the weather can be predicted.
The cinematography is amazing. The view from the balloon, the sight of the balloon in the clouds – all impressive.
The leads do great in their roles. The story begins with the balloon launch and then is told in flashbacks to show you where the characters came from and why this flight is so important to both. There are plenty of scary moments, as well as some painful ones when they hit ice. (Always bring the moleskin!)
While not historically accurate, it’s still a fun adventure tale and a look at a world we no longer know. Created by Amazon Studios, they’ve proven they can produce a big theater film.
Recommended

Togo

The true story of the real sled dog hero in the 1925 Nome, Alaska diphtheria serum run. Willem Dafoe plays musher Leonhard Seppala as he and his team, led by the aging Togo, race to get the serum during a storm.
Those of you who’ve seen the animated film Balto only know part of the story. Also one of Seppala’s dogs, he was the lead dog of the team that reached Nome with the serum – and therefore got the glory. However, that team was one of nineteen who ran for approximately thirty-one miles each. Seppala and Togo covered over two hundred and sixty miles!
It’s told in flashbacks, going from Seppala and Togo’s run through the storm to the beginning when man and pup met – and it was not love at first sight! Togo was a runt and Seppala wrote him off, but Togo proved to be smart, fast, and one amazing escape artist, and eventually he won over Seppala and became his lead dog.
There are plenty of tense moments, such as when they cross the frozen sound. The settings are beautiful and closeup special effects really good. (Just ignore the obvious matte paintings in the background of the sweeping shots.)
At its core, Togo is about the close relationship between man and dog and what happens if they push each other too far.
If you’re a fan of adventure, animal, or survival stories, you’ll really enjoy Togo.
Highly recommended

Ninja News

#IWSGPit went fantastic! There were more Tweets than ever before.
Thanks to everyone who participated or spread the word.
Any success stories from #IWSGPit, please pass them along. We want to feature you in the newsletter!

Spurred by a post by Anne R. Allen, I finally started being more active on Book Bub. My profile was set, but not every book had all the links, I wasn’t following many other authors, and I hadn’t reviewed any books. I am rectifying that now! If you have a Book Bub presence, please follow me – and I will follow back. And I am going to spend time every week reviewing new books.

The authors featured in the five IWSG anthology books have a website they run - IWSG Anthologies. With Voyagers: The Third Ghost coming out soon, you can visit the site each week to learn more about the authors and read a snippet of each story.

New release-
Moving Through Disclosure: The Handbook I Wanted During My Husband’s Pornography Addiction Disclosure by Elsie Amata
Find it on Amazon

And to give you a little chuckle…
I was watching a RiffTrax movie.
Man and woman watching the news on television.
The man gets up and says ‘No time for news now.’
One of the RiffTrax guys responds – ‘CNN’s new slogan!’
Yeah, almost too sad and true to be funny…

Top Ten Movies of the Decade

Here are the top ten, best-reviewed, and of course my personal favorite movies of the past decade, in no particular order. (Without commentary – sorry, I was running out of room in this post!)

The Avengers

Rogue One
Mad Max: Fury Road
Inception
Captain America: The Winter Soldier
The Hobbit trilogy
Super 8
Wonder Woman
Fast Five
Guardians of the Galaxy

And special mention to Aquaman and Star Trek: Into Darkness

Movie Trivia Answers

War movies – name the movie from the three actors and the year.

Fionn Whitehead, Tom Hardy, Barry Keoghan, 2017 Dunkirk
Brad Pitt, Christoph Waltz, Eli Roth, 2009 Inglorious Basterds
Casper Van Dien, Denise Richards, Dina Meyer, 1997 Starship Troopers
Jeremy Irvine, Davile Thewlis, Tom Hiddleston, 2011 War Horse
Marlon Brando, Martin Sheen, Robert Duvall, 1979 Apocalypse Now
Tom Cruise, Emily Blunt, Bill Paxton, 2014 Edge of Tomorrow
Charlie Sheen, Tom Berenger, Willem Dafoe, 1986 Platton
Josh Hartnett, Ewan McGregor, Tom Sizemore, 2001 Black Hawk Down
Lee Marvin, Ernest Borgnine, Charles Bronson, 1967 The Dirty Dozen
Andrew Garfield, Sam Worthington, Hugo Weaving, 2016 Hacksaw Ridge
Peter Sellers, George C. Scott, Sterling Hayden, 1964 Dr. Strangelove

Did you watch Picard? Seen Togo or The Aeronauts? Participate in #IWSGPit? On Book Bub? Did you get any of the trivia right? And what are some of your favorite movies from the past decade?

Neil Peart Tribute, 1917 and The Witcher Reviews, #IWSGPit, Top Albums of Last Decade, and Movie Trivia

Neil Peart Tribute

I’m going through a period of mourning for Neil Peart. No, I never met him. I don’t personally know anyone in his family or his close circle of friends, and yet I’m very sad. You see, Rush was very important to me during my formative years. I would say that I idolized them as a teen. When I accepted Jesus into my life, that idol worship turned to admiration. I admired their talent, songwriting, musicianship, and their friendship. They went from supermen to men that I wanted to emulate. I loved the fact that they put so much effort and time into their craft.

They called Mr. Peart the professor because every drummer who ever met him has learned how to be a better musician by studying him. His musicianship made me want to reach new heights with all my passions; his lyrics spoke to me and lifted me up; his dedication made want to try harder in all my endeavors.

I was lucky enough to see Rush in concert over twenty times. Like everyone else in the crowd, I stood in awe while watching (in my humble opinion) the greatest drummer of all time. My heart and prayers go out to his family, band mates, and friends.
God bless you Neil for the music and the inspiration.

1917 Review

Caught it Friday night and most of the audience was older—but boy, did they pack the house!
This is a powerful film and told in a really unique manner.
The movie itself is very somber. It places you in the shoes of two young men sent off to warn a platoon not to attack as they are walking into a trap. The mission is almost impossible and you are right there with them in the mud, ducking the shots, and feeling the fear.
What’s really amazing is the movie appears to have been shot in three takes. (It was filmed over two months though.) The camera moves so smoothly and seamlessly as it follows the two men on their journey. You almost believe you are watching it real time.
The two leads do an amazing job. Other characters come and go quickly and the guys must carry the film. (Slight spoiler – George Mackay as Lance Corporal Schofield really steps it up.)
The explosions, the plane crash—they all seem so real. The sets themselves were incredible, from the never-ending trenches to the bombed-out city. Both special effects and cinematography were top-notch.
This isn’t a psychologically heavy film like Full Metal Jacket. It’s more somber and sad and a realistic look at the lives of the men in the trenches in France during WWI. It won best picture and director at the Golden Globes and it won’t surprise me if it wins the Oscar as well.
Highly recommended.

The Witcher Review

The series is based on the book series by Polish writer, Andrzej Sapkowski, of which I’ve read.
The translation from books to show is outstanding – the series is really well done and a lot of fun.
Henry Cavill absolutely nails the role – the mannerisms, the look. He owns the role of the Witcher, Geralt of Rivia.
The rest of the cast is great, including Yennefer, the sorceress, who is naked in half of the episodes. (Note to parents – this is not kid-friendly!)
Minor complaints aside, I thought this was a tremendously successful first season, with great action, fun characters, and top-notch special effects. (For a television show.)
And on a side note, this show is more popular world-wide than the Madolorian. Wild, huh?
Highly recommended.

Top Ten Metal/Prog Albums of the Decade

Amorphis - Queen of Time - Thirteen is a lucky number. The thirteenth album by Amorphis is killer from start to finish.

Baroness – Purple - I’ve always liked Baroness, but Purple turned my like to love.

Devin Townsend – Empath - This album is crazy. It’s everything Devin has ever done thrown into a blender and it is a stunning achievement.

Dream Theater - The Astonishing - Yup, I picked DT’s most divisive album and put it in my top ten. This album took chances, and even though it’s a little bloated, it’s a stellar achievement as a prog concept album.

Haken - The Mountain - This is the record that established Haken as a prog force to be reckoned with. Incredible musicianship, stellar compositions, and they went beyond normal prog conventions to create something new and exciting.

Katatonia - The Fall of Hearts - First listen - “I’m not so sure about this, but I’ll give it another spin.” Second listen - “I think I like it—there’s something so compelling about it.” Third listen - “Is this a masterpiece?” Fourth listen - “Yes, it is!”

Khemmis – Hunted - Take crazy D&D type lyrics, mix in a cool retro 70’s vibe, add some of the coolest guitar breakdowns I’ve ever heard, and the result is an album that just crushes.

Rush - Clockwork Angels - So much love for this band! Their last studio record turns out to be one of their best (and that is truly saying something). An incredible prog concept album from the kings of prog music.

Symphony X – Underworld - This is power metal meets prog with the great Russell Allen on vocals and Michael Romeo absolutely dominating on guitar. If you are a guitar player, you need to check this out. Your jaw will literally be scraping the ground listening to his incredible riffs and break downs.

Voyager – V - I discovered this Australian band quite by accident (a super happy accident). These guys (and gal) are amazing. It’s prog with pop sensibilities. Every song is an ear worm in the best way possible

#IWSGPit

#IWSGPit is this Wednesday!

8:00 am - 8:00 pm Eastern Standard Time

Writers may send out 1 Twitter pitch every hour per manuscript.

Publishers/Agents will favorite/heart pitches they are interested in. Publishers can either Tweet basic submission guidelines or direct writers to their submission guidelines.

No images allowed in pitches.

Pitches must include GENRE/AGE and the hashtag #IWSGPit.

Visit the #IWSGPit page at the IWSG site for the list of hashtags.

See you Wednesday!

Movie Trivia

Today it’s all about war movies! (And war movies of any genre.) Name the movie from the three actors and year:

1 - Fionn Whitehead, Tom Hardy, Barry Keoghan, 2017
2 - Brad Pitt, Christoph Waltz, Eli Roth, 2009
3 - Casper Van Dien, Denise Richards, Dina Meyer, 1997
4 - Jeremy Irvine, Davile Thewlis, Tom Hiddleston, 2011
5 - Marlon Brando, Martin Sheen, Robert Duvall, 1979
6 - Tom Cruise, Emily Blunt, Bill Paxton, 2014
7 - Charlie Sheen, Tom Berenger, Willem Dafoe, 1986
8 - Josh Hartnett, Ewan McGregor, Tom Sizemore, 2001
9 - Lee Marvin, Ernest Borgnine, Charles Bronson, 1967
10 - Andrew Garfield, Sam Worthington, Hugo Weaving, 2016
11 - Peter Sellers, George C. Scott, Sterling Hayden, 1964

Answers January 27!

Anyone else shocked by Neil Peart’s death? Have you seen 1917 or The Witcher? Participating in #IWSGPit? What are your top albums from the past ten years? And do you know any of the trivia answers?

Since next Monday is a holiday, I will be offline and back on January 27 with trivia answers and the top movies of the last decade.

Dragon’s Destiny! Plus Movie News, War Movie Trivia Answers, Ninja News, Box Social Winner, and Internet Questions for Everyone…

Movie News

World Wide Box Office –
Jurassic World is now number three:
1 Avatar - $2,788.0 million
2 Titanic - $2,186.8
3 Jurassic World - $1,582.4
4 Marvel's The Avengers - $1,519.6
5 Furious 7 - $1,511.7
6 Avengers: Age of Ultron - $1,398.8
Other noteables:
34 Minions - $920.3
234 Mad Max: Fury Road - $373.1
299 Ant-Man - $332.5
333 Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation - $310.6

Only two movies have been number one at the box office this year for four weeks straight – Furious 7 and American Sniper.

A remake that should never be made…

Production continues to flounder on the remake of The Crow. According to the AV Club, yet another lead man departed this summer:
It was nearly four years ago that Bradley Cooper exited the project, after which the lead role was reportedly offered to notorious goths like Mark Wahlberg, James McAvoy, and Channing Tatum. Since then, the project drifted from Tom Hiddleston to Luke Evans to, finally, Boardwalk Empire‘s Jack Huston. Now, Variety reports, Huston is out too, the result of a “scheduling conflict.”

My wife and I recently watched the original film. There is absolutely no reason to remake it.

There is no way to recapture the mystical quality of the film. Ever. The creator of the graphic novel, James O’Barr, wrote it as a way to deal with the death of his girlfriend due to a drunk driver. That Brandon Lee would die on the set, and while engaged to be married, amplifies the powerful emotions this film captures.

Alex Proyas, who also directed Dark City, did an amazing job with the film. It contains so much atmosphere and the effects hold up well after over twenty years. Not to mention that the soundtrack is kick-butt.

I can only hope that this project continues to be sidetracked…

Box Social Contest Winner!

It's time to announce the winner of the box social contest!

Last week, I asked you to guess which box--red, blue or brown--contained the lizard. Everyone who guessed the correct box was entered into a drawing for a free e-copy of my new book, Precious Atonement.

The lizard was in the brown box!
For the record, I accepted brown, tan, bronze, cream, gold. If you didn't say red or blue, you got added to the list. ;)

*drumroll* And the winner chosen by Random.org is... J. E. Oneil!
Congratulations, Jeanne!!! :D

Thanks to everyone who played, and a big thanks goes to Alex for hosting me. Melissa Maygrove

Ninja News

Dianne Salerni is holding a cool giveaway! Win a Transitioner’s 16 Month Calendar — complete with 8 days a week! Open until August 31.

Denise Covey and Yolanda Renee have started up Write...Edit...Publish again. This month, it’s Spectacular Settings. See their sites for details.

Charity Bradford is hosting the Bold New Worlds Contest again for high school students. See her site for details.



Liesel K. Hill is hosting a great giveaway that includes a Kindle Fire HD.

New Releases!

The Box of Souls by Tanya Miranda
Available at Barnes and Noble, Amazon, iTunes, Smashwords, and CreateSpace
You can also enter the Goodreads giveaway.

Beyond Space Opera
Featuring Milo James Fowler

Movie Trivia Answers

War movies:

1 – Hugo Weaving, Chris Evans, Tommy Lee Jones 2011 – Captain America
2 – Lee Marvin, Charles Bronson, Donald Sutherland 1967 – The Dirty Dozen
3 – Jude Law, Joseph Finnes, Rachel Weisz 2001 – Enemy at the Gate
4 – Mel Gibson, Sophie Marceau, Patrick McGoohan 1995 - Braveheart
5 – Brad Pitt, Christoph Waltz, Michael Fassbender 2009 Inglourious Basterds

Dragon’s Destiny!

At the request of Truedessa, I have written a short story that takes place after Dragon of the Stars.

This short story is available for free to anyone who has read Dragon of the Stars! Just send me an email (alexjcavanaugh AT earthlink.com), tell me what happens to Aden at the end of Dragon of the Stars, and tell me what format you want – ePub, Mobi, or PDF file.

Thanks to everyone who has read Dragon of the Stars! It still amazes and humbles me. To think I never even wanted to be an author...

Questions!

And finally, just some Internet questions that really have me curious…

What compels you to put someone in your sidebar?
(I update mine once a month or so, and anyone who visits me every week, and I visit them, goes in my sidebar.)

Are you ever intimidated to leave a blog comment?
(I don’t think I’ve ever been afraid to leave a comment. We’re all just people after all…)

What other social platform would you recommend?
(I’m considering either Tumblr or Pinterest. Not sure which one.)

What’s the worst thing about Twitter?
(For me, it’s a toss-up between people who claim that can get you thousands of followers and those who constantly Tweet ‘Buy my book.’)

For those who have been around a while, what’s an aspect of blogging you really miss?
(I miss the variety. I used to have the most eclectic followers, and now it’s almost all writers and authors. I love you guys, but where did everyone else go?)

Do you think they should remake The Crow? Did you guess the brown box? Are you participating in Write...Edit...Publish? Get the movie trivia right? Want to read Dragon’s Destiny? And what is your opinion on the questions…?
And I will be visiting with friends later this week, so I won't be around Thursday through Saturday.

Melissa Maygrove: Boxes and Lizards, Book Trailers Still Relevant, Movie Review, Symphony X Underworld Review, War Movie Trivia, IWSG Updates, and Ninja News

The wonderful Melissa Maygrove joins us today to discuss history, boxes, and lizards.

I’m grateful to Alex for offering to host me today, but I wasn’t sure what to write about. After pondering possible topics, I decided to give you a brief history lesson.

C’mon, c’mon. I promise it won’t be that bad. There’s even a giveaway!

The box social was the Match.com of our ancestors. Young ladies would each box up a homemade meal, and young men would bid on them. The winner got to share the meal with the lady who brought the box.

In Precious Atonement, the boxes contain desserts, and the men joke about hiding a lizard inside of one of them. That scene was the inspiration for this post.

Below are three boxes. One of them contains a lizard. (Humor me and engage your suspension of disbelief. *grin*) Leave a comment by midnight, central ‘Texas’ time Friday, August 14, saying which box you think it is. All visitors who have the correct answer will be entered in a drawing for a free e-book of Precious Atonement. The winner will be announced on Monday, August 17.

Who says history can’t be fun. :)

Find Melissa at her blog and website.

Find Precious Atonement at Amazon and Barnes and Noble

Ninja News

Today’s Themes That Rocked the Challenge feature at the A to Z Blog is Jenn from Scribbles From Jenn. She dared to enter… The Twilight Zone!

Out now!

Black Magic and Mojitos: A Zyan Star Novelette by A.A. Chamberlynn

Find it on Amazon

Find Alexia: blog Twitter, and Amazon page.

Available now!

The Rat Killer and other Weird War Tales by Sean McLachlan

Find it on Amazon and Smashwords

And sorry, no Fantastic Four review. Did you see the reviews? It’s 9% on Rotten Tomatoes and the reviews have been less than kind:
Much of Josh Trank's abysmal "Fantastic Four" is set in a barren place called Planet Zero - and you may feel stranded there yourself for all 100 minutes of this plodding, joyless and stillborn Marvel reboot. - Lou Lumenick
Fantastic Four feels like a 100-minute trailer for a movie that never happens. – Todd McCarthy
A movie so dull and awkwardly structured that you wonder why anyone would dare telegraph a sequel at the end. – Kurt Loder
Yes, a sequel is scheduled, but I doubt it will happen now. Fox, just sell it to Disney. Three strikes and you’re out.

And the results of last week’s Battle of the Banned, hosted by Shady Del Knight, featuring covers of Ballroom Blitz by The Sweet:
Krokus – fourteen votes (including mine)
The Offspring – six
Nuclear Assault - eight

IWSG

Thanks again for another awesome posting day for the Insecure Writer’s Support Group!

There were so many awesome posts and my co-hosts rocked.

Those of you who’ve never co-hosted before don’t know what you are missing. It’s ten times better on the host side. Here are some of the comments I received from my co-hosts this month:

I had a fabulous time visiting the sites and was amazed by the outpouring of comments on my blog.

I have been having a blast co-hosting the #IWSG, thank you for the opportunity.

I was surprised by the variety of posts, from humorous to thoughtful to very personal and tried to leave thoughtful and/or helpful comments.

It was fun and I got the most comments ever!

I’ll be looking for co-hosts for the last three months of the year soon. Plus, we are announcing the most awesome contest and opportunity ever on September 2. You don’t want to miss it.

I cull the list every month, removing as many non-participants as possible. I feel bad removing people, but it’s not fair to those who are posting and looking for other IWSG posts on the list. If you are cut, you can always sign back up when you’re ready.

Chemist Ken posted about perseverance last Wednesday and used Melissa Maygrove’s climb up the IWSG list as an example – and it’s hilarious!

Especially the graph.

You have to check it out.


Finally, this was something I created for Karen Lange. It was one of my guest posts for my Dragon of the Stars tour, and she asked if I could create a graphic that highlighted each point I covered. Karen shared it recently, and now I am sharing it with you.

Are Book Trailers Still Relevant?

I haven’t noticed as many book trailers being released lately, which is a bit of a bummer. I know they require money and time (my publisher created trailers for my first three books, but didn’t have time to produce one for Dragon of the Stars) but I’ve always enjoyed watching them.

What do you think? Book trailers still cool? Require too much effort? Do you enjoy them?

And since I have a lot of new followers who may not have seen any of my trailers, here is the very first one for CassaStar:

Movie Review

From The Dark
This Irish film finds a couple stranded in the countryside after a farmer has awakened a vampire-like creature.
This was a simple film that certainly had promise. But that was utterly destroyed by the use of every bad horror cliché known to man – characters splitting up, car stuck, cell phones don’t work, flashlight dies, etc. Not to mention the characters do some of the dumbest things throughout the film. (Example – the creature is afraid of light, yet the woman walks around with a box of matches, lighting them one by one. My wife spent the final third of the film screaming at the woman, ‘Light something on fire. Anything!’)
The one thing the film had going for it was atmosphere. Too bad it’s not enough to save the film.
Not recommended.

Music Review

Symphony X – Underworld

I am a long-time fan of the band, and this is one of their most accomplished albums yet. Conceptually, the album deals with Dante’s Inferno. (Or, what would you go to hell and back for?)
As a fan of hard rock and metal, this is some of the craziest guitar work I’ve ever heard. (Yes, this novice is in total awe.)
If you like progressive rock and want to hear some of the greatest shreddings ever, don’t hesitate to pick up this album.

Movie Trivia!

It’s been a while! The theme is war movies or those that take place during a war. Name the movie from the actors listed:

1 – Hugo Weaving, Chris Evans, Tommy Lee Jones 2011

2 – Lee Marvin, Charles Bronson, Donald Sutherland 1967

3 – Jude Law, Joseph Finnes, Rachel Weisz 2001

4 – Mel Gibson, Sophie Marceau, Patrick McGoohan 1995

5 – Brad Pitt, Christoph Waltz, Michael Fassbender 2009

Answers next Monday!

Which box holds the lizard? Anyone have the misfortune of seeing Fantastic Four? Or From the Dark? Enjoy last week’s IWSG? If you’ve been a co-host, would you agree it was even more fun than just posting? Fan of Symphony X or prog rock? What’s your opinion on book trailers? And can you get any of the trivia right?