I Saw RED!

And no, I'm not referring to the old Warrent song.

Yes, I finally saw the movie RED. Megamind's reviews continued to plummet and Due Date looked more like a NetFlix rental.

RED

From the IMDB: When his idyllic life is threatened by a high-tech assassin, former black-ops agent Frank Moses reassembles his old team in a last ditch effort to survive.

RED is a very funny movie. The characters are great and had their own humorous lines. The gang pulls off some clever stunts, not slick and cool like in the Ocean movies, but smart and sometimes desperate tricks.

There's some great action scenes, especially one at an airport that involves Malkovich taking down a woman with a bazooka. (She called him old man!) The pacing is slower than an out-and-out action flick, though. Sometimes it's a little too slow. But overall, RED is a fun ride with a lot of laughs.


I also read an interview with Monsters writer-director-effects-film crew, Gareth Edwards. Did you know that movie was filmed for only $15,000? Edwards took a small crew on location and filmed the whole thing for $15,000. (Another $500,000 was racked up during editing and processing.) The stars often ad-libbed their own lines and were a real life couple, now married. Many of the extras didn't even know they were being filmed for a movie, which added to the realism. I am now really impressed with the movie!!

I'm still on target with NaNo. And now I must get back to screwing with Byron's life. Yeah, it's a guilty pleasure!

How's everyone else doing with NaNo? Anybody see Megamind or Due Date?

"Fantastic Fridays," News, and My Star Trek NaNo Experience

I was asked to join a group called the Fantastic Friday Writers. Rather than taking turns posting on our group blog, we are posting every other Friday starting today! The five of us will blog on a topic pertaining to fantasy and science fiction, with links to one anther’s blogs.

I invite your to check out my Fantastic Friday Writers partners - Elizabeth Mueller, Anastasia V. Pergakis, J. D. Brown, and Deirdra Eden Coppel.

And if you’re visiting from one of these ladies’ blogs, welcome! I’m a movie lover, tech geek, and author of the just released CassaStar. I’m Alex the Blogging Ninja!

NEWS

Ellie Garratt is hosting a blogfest - Top Ten Films They Should Have Made! On the 9th November tell us all about your top ten alternate actors and actresses, and the films you wanted to see them in and why.
You know I can’t pass up a movie blogfest!

Jessica at The Alliterative Allimorph is holding a 400 Followers Giveaway – Amazon gift cards! Visit her site to enter and tell her congratulations.

NANO

And I’ve been keeping track of my NaNo progress on Twitter. Since I’ve apparently amused a few of you with my updates, here’s the week so far:

Stardate #nanowrimo Day 2 One page in 1 &1/2 hours. 2168 words now. Damn I type slow. The crew's going to lose faith and revolt...

Stardate #nanowrimo Day 2.5 - 3179 words achieved, just shy of the mark. Worf has restored order - no mutiny of the crew in sight...

Stardate #nanowrimo Day 3.3 - 4003 words, but I've been captured by Romulans and forced to endure meetings. Word count stalled until rescued

Stardate #nanowrimo 3.7 - Escaped Romulan torture meetings unscathed. Okay, a few minor boredom scars. Able to write once more!

Stardate #nanowrimo 4.2 Evil Romulan boss wants me to do real work. Where's Spock? Someone put the Vulcan grip on this guy!

Stardate #nanowrimo 4.5 Klingons demanded head of evil Romulan boss. The decision was not difficult. Permission to write again!

Stardate #nanowrimo 4.7 Have achieved warp speed - 5783 and still writing! Number One, you have the Bridge.

Oh, and I finished last night at 6428 words - close to target. Of course, one of my buddies is almost to 50,000. Overachiever.

NaNo, Surprise Video, Movie Review, and Award

Two days of NaNo and I can already tell my hunt and peck style of typing is going to be a problem. (You think?!)

I hit 3179 words last night and sent out a couple Twitter messages regarding my progress. Each one begins as a Stardate log. Maybe when I’m finished I’ll post a few here. It’ll be like my account of Sharktopus. Maybe more painful…

This was a total shock! I found this through a Google Alert on Monday – Ali Cross did a video review of my book on YouTube! Complete with space battle sound effects. It’s really sweet and inspires me to make the next book even better.



Is she not cute? Go give her a hug for me! Oh wait, read the rest of this post first…

Movie Review - Harry Brown (From Netflix)

You may not be familiar with this small film but it packs a vicious punch.

When a crew of drug-dealing gang members takes the life of his only friend, Leonard (David Bradley), retired Marine and widower Harry Brown (Michael Caine) decides to take the law into his own hands -- but his old-school training might be overmatched. Helmed by first-time feature director Daniel Barber, this gritty vigilante thriller set in England.

Gritty is definitely the word that sums up this little gem. It plays out like the British version of Gran Torino, however Harry takes it to the next level. Slow and methodical but never dull, Harry Brown will stir your inner vigilante who, upon seeing numerous horrors, finally decides he's had enough. I found the film compelling and the work of Michael Caine to be understated and powerful. Check it out if you are comfortable with a film that turns very violent at times.

Colene at The Journey gave me the Irresistible Blog Award! Does this mean I’m charming? Or just my blog? Either way, thanks Colene!

Passing it on to:
Rayna at Coffee Rings Everywhere
Yvonne at Welcome to my World of Poetry

Because I can’t go a day without visiting these two awesome bloggers!

Okay, back to writing…

November Blogging, NaNo, and Winner!

It’s the first of November - less than two months to Christmas! And yes, I’ve already begun my Christmas shopping. I hate waiting until the last minute...

Today is also day one of NaNoWriMo and a whole month to complete the sequel to CassaStar. (No, I’m not starting a new project, just completing one already in progress.) Time to complicate Byron’s life in ways he can’t even imagine!

The downside is that I’ll have to cut back on my blogging time. I feel bad, because so many tell me I’m such an awesome commenter, but I won’t be able to visit as many blogs in November. I’ll limit my blogging to one hour a day; a little longer on the weekends. While that may seem adequate to some of you, my average blogging time is three to five hours a day. Ouch. Big cut!

I’ll continue to post about three times a week, and covering far more than just NaNo, too. (Fridays will be a special event - you’ll see why very soon.) I’ll visit everyone who comments here and as many of my buddies as possible during that one hour limit.

So don’t think I’m being a big jerk if I only visit your site once or twice a week! I’m really going to miss the time I spend online with my friends. And so many were just awesome during my book release. Of course, I want word of CassaStar to continue to spread, but bottom line, I’ll be thinking about you guys.

And you’re probably wondering about the winner of my giveaway! Names went into a hat (actually a box) and the winner is…

Old Kitty at Ten Lives and Second Chances!

Congratulations!!! I know you’ve been dying to drool over some manly men…

Thanks again for the support last month. You guys rock! And I can’t wait to spread your awesomeness in return!