Paying it Forward!

Cool stuff and big announcement today!

Don’t forget the next posting of Insecure Writer’s Support Group is Wednesday October 5. If you haven’t signed up to participate in this awesome monthly event, click on the tab below my blog header for details.

The very beautiful and talented Elizabeth Mueller is hosting a blogfest to celebrate the release of her first novel! “I'd love to christen Darkspell by brewing up an online "If I had all the magic in the world, I'd ..." spookfesta. On Halloween day, share with me what you'd do if you discovered that you had all the magic in the world at your fingertips.”

Oh, and did anyone see the comments on Blastr about Terra Nova? The good, the bad, and the funny! My favorite was:
“I’m watching Terra Nova on Tivo delay. Someone let me know if Fox cancels it before it ends.”

Now for the big announcement!

This is the brainchild of Matthew at the QQQE. I’m helping with this awesome blogfest.(Okay, I just made the button for it.)

Pay it Forward! October 14, 2011 The idea is to introduce all of us to everyone else. We want this to be easy - meet and follow as many other bloggers as you like. In your post, we would like you to please list, describe, and link to three blogs that you enjoy reading and know that others would enjoy as well. And what’s cool, is this can be part of your regular Friday blogging.

Visit those who’s signed up. Visit those they recommend! If you don’t have time to comment, just follow. Take the weekend to go through the list. You might find some really cool blogs out there, just like you did during the first post of the Insecure Writer’s Support Group or last April during the A to Z Challenge. (Or during any of my odd blogfests. Really, I am a writer and an author! Just a little movie obsessed…)

Now, who’s with us???

And did you watch Tucker & Dale vs. Evil Wednesday night? (It was fun and a really good movie. Very gory, so be prepared.) Seeing it this weekend? Seeing anything? Back of your eyelids perhaps…?

October Movie Preview!

It’s that time again!
Don’t forget, Tucker & Dale vs. Evil comes out this Friday, although those with Direct TV’s HDNet can see it tonight, Wednesday! (Rusty, don’t forget to set the DVR…)

Rather sparse for October, so threw in some DVD releases. As always, descriptions courtesy of the IMDB. Snarky comments by me.

4 –

DVD Release – Fast Five
One of the best movies this year!


7 –

Real Steel
Director: Shawn Levy
Stars: Hugh Jackman, Evangeline Lilly
The Plot: A future-set story where robot boxing is a popular sport and centered on a struggling promoter (Jackman) who thinks he's found a champion in a discarded robot. During his hopeful rise to the top, he also discovers he has an 11-year-old son who wants to know his father.
Sounds goofy. Every time I see the commercial, all I can think about are Rock ‘Em Sock ‘Em Robots…

The Ides of March
Director: George Clooney
Stars: Paul Giamatti, George Clooney, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Ryan Gosling
The Plot: An idealistic staff member (Gosling) for presidential hopeful (Clooney) gets a crash course on dirty politics during his stint on the campaign trail.
Excellent cast.


14 –

The Thing
Director: Matthijs van Heijningen Jr.
Stars: Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Joel Edgerton, Ulrich Thomsen
The Plot: At an Antarctica research site, the discovery of an alien craft leads to a confrontation between graduate student Kate Lloyd (Winstead) and scientist Dr. Sander Halvorson (Thomsen). While Dr. Halvorson keeps to his research, Kate partners with Sam Carter (Edgerton), a helicopter pilot, to pursue the alien life form.
This is a prequel to Carpenter’s master, The Thing, so we all know how it ends…

Footloose
Director: Craig Brewer
Stars: Kenny Wormald, Julianne Hough, Dennis Quaid
The Plot: City kid Ren McCormack (Wormald) moves to a small town where rock 'n' roll and dancing have been banned, and his rebellious spirit shakes up the populace.
Absolutely no need for a remake. Not a chance I’ll give money to this film. It’s more than six degrees from Kevin Bacon!

DVD Release – Green Lantern
Hey, I enjoyed it! So sue me.


18 –

DVD Release – Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides
It was fun. Better than the last two!


21 –

The Three Musketeers
Director: Paul W.S. Anderson
Stars: Logan Lerman, Matthew Macfadyen, Ray Stevenson
The Plot: D'Artagnan (Lerman) and his musketeer comrades Athos (Macfadyen), Porthos (Stevenson) and Aramis (Evans) thwart the plans of Royal Prime Minister Richelieu to usurp the King's power.
Could be fun. Could be average.


28 –

In Time
Stars: Justin Timberlake, Amanda Seyfried, Cillian Murphy, Olivia Wilde
The Plot: Set in a world where people stop aging at 25, but are genetically-engineered to live only one more year, having the means to buy your way out of the situation is a shot at immortal youth. Here, a young man (Timberlake) accused of murder goes on the run with a hostage (Seyfried), though their eventual connection becomes an important part of the way against the system.
This one sounds intriguing. Wonder if Olivia Wilde will be naked again?

The Rum Diary
Director: Bruce Robinson
Stars: Johnny Depp, Amber Heard, Aaron Eckhart
The Plot: American journalist Paul Kemp (Depp) takes on a freelance job in Puerto Rico for a local newspaper during the 1950s and struggles to find a balance between island culture and the ex-patriots who live there.
Not sure why, but the preview amuses me.

Any strike your fancy?

Special announcement this Friday! Want to know what it is? Well, I’m not telling…

Movie News and Reviews

DL Hammons at Cruising Altitude has a challenge today – six short excerpts/flash pieces based on a prompt from six different writers. Can you guess which writer wrote which piece based on their ‘voice?’ Let’s just say I already know one of the writers…

Elizabeth Mueller asked if I was some kind of Hollywood Ninja spy since I know so much about films. While I do harbor a lot of movie knowledge and see a ton of movies, there are a couple key sites I hit.

For information, release dates, and reviews, I visit Rotten Tomatoes and the IMDB.

For hot-off-the-press news, I visit JoBlo and Blastr.

Now you too can be a Movie Ninja!

Battlefield Earth was easily the number one Worst Movie Ever in last week’s blogfest. After so many awful films, I thought I’d offer you some good ones:

Drive
Great reviews prompted me to see this one. Ryan Gosling is a stuntman/mechanic by day and a getaway driver by night. A man of few words, he befriends a neighbor and her son. When her husband returns home from prison, Gosling offers to help rob a pawnshop to pay back protection money. Things go wrong, of course…
If you remember my review of Hanna, this movie is similar – an art house action flick. Very slow paced and stylish, with great camera work and lighting, and a unique soundtrack. Think Michael Mann’s Heat and Manhunter. If you like that style of film, I highly recommend Drive.

The Warrior’s Way
I had no idea what to expect from this film but was pleasantly surprised. It begins with a ninja warrior, toting a baby he spared, seeking refuge with a circus group in an isolated Western town. As you can tell by the setup, it’s quirky! The entire film was shot on green screen and looks quite amazing, including a giant Ferris wheel under construction. It was like a comic book come to life and featured some bloody and intense action. Geoffrey Rush is excellent in his small role as a drunken former gunslinger. This movie isn’t for everyone, but I found it quirky and fun.

And this Wednesday Tucker & Dale vs. Evil is the featured film on Direct TV’s HDNet Movies! Last I looked, it was still a perfect 100% on Rotten Tomatoes with over thirty reviews.

Seen any good movies lately? Don’t forget to check out Cruising Altitude. And hey – less than three months to Christmas!!

Celebrations, Winners, and What the Heck DID I Do This Past Summer?

Wow, what a week! So many awesome things to celebrate:

Blogger buddy M. Pax announced a release date for her book, Semper Audacia, at The Wicked Writers. Her short stories are awesome - can’t wait to read her novel.

RaShelle (who rocks) posted the Book Trailer for her upcoming book, Exiled.

Lydia Kang snagged an agent. Way to go, Lydia!

And my good buddy Rusty Webb decided that I needed a picture of me for my blog. (There really is a picture on my About Me page.) Rusty designed this:

Thanks, dude – now I look like a rock star!

Drinks for everybody!

Winners! We’ve got winners!

Jeremy (iZombie) was recently a guest and these lucky bloggers won:
Will Burke - a copy of Jeremy’s book, Chatterbox
Judy Harper - a zombie makeover

And the winners of The Arranger by L.J. Sellers are…
Amity at Dreams Are My Reality
Arlee at Tossing It Out/a>
Edit at Edi’s Book Lighthouse

Another round of drinks! (Being drunk is not a requirement to enjoying my blog, but I’m sure it won’t hurt.)

And finally – what the heck DID I do last summer?

This is my entry for Michael di Gesu’s What I Did On My Summer Vacation Blogfest:

I didn’t really take a vacation. There were a few fun weekends with my wife, but not a real ‘vacation.’ I did watch a lot of movies. Mowed the grass way too many times. (I really need to install Astroturf.) But what else happened?

Well, there were two really awesome things that happened!

My second book, CassaFire, was approved and a release date of February 28, 2012 was set. The cover art just blew me away and my publisher is working on a book trailer. Yeah, that was really cool.

The other big event was the successful launch of the Insecure Writer’s Support Group. From casual comment to large support group – wow! The responses from our first posting were so amazing – so many were encouraged. I really had no idea it would be such a big hit. (And if you haven’t signed up, click HERE for a full description.)


That was my summer! What did you guys do? Did you enjoy the Worst Movies Ever blogfest? Any other news this week? One more round of drinks and then you won’t even remember you were here!