January Movie Preview!

Welcome to January and the movie dumping ground!

Yes, this is where the studios tend to dump the below average films. Once in a while, you find a gem, but you have to wade through the muck.

So to offset the total lack of movies (on January 7th, there’s only one - be ironic if it’s not tops at the box office) I have included some DVD release dates as well. Movie descriptions from IMDB.

4 -

Machete on DVD
Go ahead - you know you want to watch it!

(Ishtar also comes out on BluRay. Yeah, I know you’re excited about that one.)

7 -

Season of the Witch

Director: Dominic Sena
Stars: Nicolas Cage, Ron Perlman, Claire Foy
The Plot: A 14th-century Crusader (Cage) returns to his homeland, which has been devastated by the Black Plague. To appease members of the church, he and his comrade (Perlman) look to transport an accused witch (Foy) to a remote abbey, where monks hope that a ritual will end the pestilence.
Okay, this one has been delayed a year - never a good sign. And yet, I keep hoping…

11 -

The Social Network on DVD
No, I haven’t seen it yet - I will, I will!

Piranha 3D on DVD
Yeah, Ill watch it. I just have to know – is it bad or really bad?

14 -

The Green Hornet

Director: Michel Gondry
Stars: Seth Rogen, Jay Chou, Christoph Waltz
The Plot: A newspaper publisher by day and masked crime fighter by night, The Green Hornet and his martial arts expert sidekick, Kato, fight crime while trying to keep their true identities a secret.
Early screenings have not been good, so we’ll see what the critics say.

25 -

RED and Secretariat on DVD
I reviewed both - click on title to read. Good movies. Yes, even the stupid horse movie!

28 -

The Mechanic

Director: Simon West
Stars: Jason Statham, Ben Foster, Donald Sutherland
The Plot: An elite assassin (Statham) takes on an apprentice (Foster) who has a connection to one of his earlier targets.
Okay, I admit it - Statham is cool. Even if the movie is sub-par, the man is still cool. However, this one does have a good cast.

Any other exciting films in January?

True Grit Movie Review!

And now, the review you've all been waiting for...

True Grit

Staring Jeff Bridges, Hailee Steinfeld, Matt Damon, Barry Pepper, and Josh Brolin

This movie has all the grandeur of a sweeping western while retaining the quirky charm of a Coen Brothers film. This film is not a remake of the movie with John Wayne. Instead, the Coen brothers have gone back to the original novel and crafted a film that creates its own identity. What really shines though is the performances by everyone involved. The actors have taken these iconic characters and made them unique and memorable.

The pacing is deliberate but not slow. There’s plenty of wonderful, introspective moments for which the Coen Brothers are famous. And while we enjoy these quiet moments we get to marvel at the masterful cinematography.

Jeff Bridges took the character of Rooster Cogburn and made it his own. He’s gruff, ornery, and a drunk, but with gun in hand, he possesses a real air of menace. Go ahead and count it – another Oscar nomination.

Hailee Steinfeld plays Mattie and she was impressive! Mattie is intelligent, bold, and precocious, and the performance also deserves an Oscar nomination. I’m telling you, this little girl is tough! She is so focused that Mattie will let nothing stand in her way. Only it’s not so much revenge for her father’s death as it is justice.

Damon, Pepper, and Brolin are also great. But it is the performance of Bridges and Steinfeld that make this one a winner.

You heard me – it’s a winner. Go see it!!

And hope everyone had an awesome Christmas!

Oh, and we woke up to snow this morning...

Merry Christmas!

I want to wish all of my followers and friends a Merry Christmas! I treasure all of the special friends I've made this past year. May you have a peaceful and blessed holiday season, whatever you may be celebrating. As for me and my house, we'll be celebrating the greatest gift of all. Merry Christmas and go easy on the eggnog! I'll be around, but if not, I'll see you Sunday when I post my review of True Grit. (Because it's always movie season!) And if you want to get me something really cool, go vote for my book trailer at Parajunkee!

Book Trailer Contests and the Final Naked Answers...

There are a couple cool book trailer contests online. I just discovered that my trailer’s been nominated for Best Sci-Fi/Distopian over at Parajunkee. There are some cool prizes, so I’m calling upon my awesome army to go HERE to vote for CassaStar’s trailer. (Be sure to check out some of the other categories as well.) Spunk on a Stick’s Tips is also hosting a book trailer contest. Many of you have some cool trailers, so be sure to enter before December 31st.

Now for the final round of naked answers…

From Vicki Rocho - With all that manic writing, are you brushing and flossing like you should be?

I always brush and floss!

From Susan Fields - How many revisions of CassaStar did you go though?

Dozens upon dozens…

From Powered Toast Man - When you were younger did you ever worry about getting an erection when you went to the doctor for a physical?

No, more to the point, I worried about the 65-year-old doctor getting an erection…

From Talli Rolland - What has been the most helpful thing anyone has said to you about the whole publishing process - after you've been published?

Don’t stop promoting.

From Lynda Young - How'd you pick your names for your characters?

The names of the two main characters were from the original manuscript, so I don’t remember their origins. For the others, I spent an hour brainstorming unique but simple names and then matched them to characters.

From Abby Minard - How long did it take you to write CassaStar?

The first draft – almost a year! Revisions took another six months.

From Ali - Byron is a very complex man with a lot of internal history and cause & effect. How did you build him as a character? Did you model him after someone you know (or yourself)? Or did you build him layer by layer through revisions?

Byron is definitely not me! I just took the original character, created his background, and filled in other details until I felt I knew him well. Most of his layers came before I began writing the story.

From Enid - How do you find twists in a story?

I look for the shouts. (Don’t twists and shouts always go together?)

Don't forget to go HERE to vote for CassaStar’s trailer!