Monday's Movie and Music Review

Shutter Island (2010)

Summary:

It's 1954, and up-and-coming U.S. marshal Teddy Daniels is assigned to investigate the disappearance of a patient from Boston's Shutter Island Ashecliffe Hospital. He's been pushing for an assignment on the island for personal reasons, but before long he wonders whether he hasn't been brought there as part of a twisted plot by hospital doctors whose radical treatments range from unethical to illegal to downright sinister. Teddy's shrewd investigating skills soon provide a promising lead, but the hospital refuses him access to records he suspects would break the case wide open. As a hurricane cuts off communication with the mainland, more dangerous criminals "escape" in the confusion, and the puzzling, improbable clues multiply, Teddy begins to doubt everything - his memory, his partner, even his own sanity. Written by alfiehitchie



I have to say I really liked this movie. I liked the setting and time period (the 50's) and thought that DiCaprio gave a stellar performance (though I felt his accent was lost from time to time). The beginning (the first 5-10 minutes) were a little slow for me. I think they could have skipped the whole sea sickness thing as it served no purpose to the rest of the film (like a boring unecessary prologue in a book, I guess). What I loved most about this movie was that I didn't see the twist coming. I LOVE a good movie twist. Generally, I can figure things out, but the way they set this movie up allowed me to be pleasantly surprised by the outcome. But what I love even more is they way it left question and doubt in my mind at the very end about what was true and what wasn't. I just don't know. I wonder if the book left you with the same feeling--the not knowing which was the truth. I really enjoyed the dark feel of this movie which occurs from the moment they land on the island to the moment...well, I won't say if you don't know :-) As for the overall acting, I thought everyone played their part well, though I wasn't particularly impressed with Max von Sydow's performance. He seemed the same from some of his other films. I didn't feel his character had much depth for the small parts he had. Ben Kinsley, Mark Ruffalo and Michelle Williams were all very believable in their roles.

My rating system:

1=hated it, just wasted an hour and half of my life and I want it back damn it!
2=meh, not the worst I've ever seen, but I don't ever need to see it again
3=entertaining, maybe I'll watch it again when it comes to Netflix
4=pretty awesome, I'll probably buy the DVD when it goes on sale
5=OMG, this film was kick ass awesome, it is pre-order from Amazon worthy, add to my list of favorites

I give Shutter Island a 3 It's one of those films that I don't feel a need to buy, and since I saw it on Netflix, I probably won't watch it again, but if I was surfing through the channels and there was nothing else on, I would probably tune in to watch it.



Now, for my music video choice of the week. For some reason, Dh and I cannot get over Lady Gaga's Bad Romance song and video (I'm so po'd it's not longer available on On Demand *sigh*) and apparently I'm not the only one who thinks that her video is UN. BE. LIEVABLE!!!

The MTV's VMA show aired last night (grrrr...I missed it!!! Had True Blood's season finale on the brain). But here are the results:

"Lady Gaga swept the night, nabbing eight of the 13 awards for which she was nominated, including Best Female Video, Best Pop Video and Video of the Year. Although she announced the title of her new album, 'Born This Way,' and even sang a sample from it on stage, we weren't surprised to see her take home so many Moonmen. Hello, she got 13 noms!"

I am truly fascinated with her and can't help but think of her as the current day Madonna. Don't hate me for saying that because I know there a lot of people who hate to compare anyone to Madonna. But you can't deny that Lady Gaga is...controversial. However, if you look deep into her work and lyrics she is really quite brilliant. And it's all an act people! Well, most of it anyway :-) The first time I saw her Bad Romance video I was like, WTF? Ohhhhkaaaay. You are a "freak bitch, baby." Then I watched it again and again and again and was like OMG, she's a genius! I am so envious of people who dance like she does and write music and lyrics like she does. I couldn't do it if my life depended on it, which is funny because I've had people tell me that they can't believe or understand how I can write a whole novel. Ha. Guess everyone has their little niches, heh? The thing that really amazes me with her work is that every word in her lyrics and every dance move, facial gesture and miniscule movement has meaning and purpose, which is what we strive for in our writing. Every word, action, and dialogue should count and have purpose and meaning.

Anyway, without further ado, if you haven't seen this video, YOU ARE NUTS!!! If you have, then I hope you enjoy watching it again...and again, and again, and again! And I'm not the only one who could watch this thing a million times. She has over 270 million views on this video on Youtube. Holy shite!

Funny Friday

So, I've been trying to figure out what I should use Friday's for in terms of blogging as I wanted to use it to discuss the various television programs that I've watched during the week. However, most of my shows are on hiatus right now, so I thought I'd do some of the funniest commercials I've ever seen (which I'll probably continue to do weekly if anyone is interested in them. And maybe if they're not, because well, I like them haha)

So here is one that I love. It makes me LOL everytime I watch it. Would love to hear your thoughts on it. This particular one I'm going to show is a tiny bit vulgar so if that's not your thing you may not want to watch it. Hope you enjoy and if you've seen it already, hope you don't feel your time was wasted. Personally, I could watch this thing a million times and still get a good chuckle from it.

My Productive Black Eye

Okay, so it's not a full on black eye, but I did give myself a nice little bruise on my upper right cheek just under my eye. I feel like such an ass. Picutre it...there I am, reaching down into the shelves of the refrigerator door to grab the ketchup (which I've only done several thousand times in my life) and I smash my eye into the rounded clear tray that holds the butter. I screamed something to the affect of "Owwww $%^#$%%$%" to which my husband and one of my daughters casually asked, "what happened?" to which I said "Owwww" followed by a whine, whine.  No one came running in to check on me hahaha. Geesh. Thanks guys. Don't worry ya'll. Mommy has another eye should this one shut to a closed position.

Anyway, after the stars I was seeing drifted away, I finished getting dinner on the table and then checked my eye and saw my upper right cheek swelling. It's not as bad today. Just a small bruise, but believe it or not, I found this experience to be productive. I hadn't been hit in the face since my days of studying Kyokushin (where I took several shots to the head, thighs, calves, arms, stomach, etc...).

 So you are probably thinking right about now that I'm a nut job, heh? Smashing your face and bruising your eye is productive? Yes it is. Especially when you are writing a scene in your novel where one of your characters gets punched in the face and you need to describe the pain so someone who has never been hit in the face can at least imagine what it feels like.

Now, I'm not saying everyone should go out and smash their face or ask someone to punch them so they can know what it feels like, but believe me, once you get hit like that (or anywhere for that matter), it becomes a good experience that will add to your  ability to describe a fight scene and pull your reader into the actual feel of receiving that strike.

Tuesday's Temtping Teaser

Okay, this is a continuation from the last tease, but this one I feel is a real tease. At least I hope you feel that it is. For those of you who haven't read the other teases, this scene takes place in the cafeteria of Alina Lodge, a facility for troubled and law breaking teenage POPs (Person of Powers). It's  starts with Josh, Samantha's best friend, who has just returned to the table after getting something else to eat. Keep in mind that when you see conversation in italics it's Josh and Sam communicating telepathically. Hope you enjoy :-)

"Man, I couldn’t find anything to eat today. Everything either looks over cooked or undercooked or some disgusting combination of both." He tears open several small boxes of cereal and pours them into his bowl. "Anyway, what’s your schedule like for the rest of the day? Mine’s pretty much slam packed. I probably won’t—"

Josh! I realize now what he’s doing, but I don’t understand why. I can just barely make out the heavy metal song he’s playing in his head. It’s one of the strategies we use to help block out thoughts from those who can read them—from people like me.

"Turn that lame ass song off. Why are you avoiding my question?"

"What?"

"The 411 on Miss Newbie? Her powers? Reason for being here? Hellooo."

From the corner of my eye, I notice that Dumbo is staring in our direction. I narrow my eyes. "Mind your Goddamn business Sarah or I’ll give you something to listen to," I utter under my breath.

She nervously turns away and makes conversation with some of the kids at her table. My eyes shoot back to Josh. I’m waiting for an answer. He’s shifting in his chair, dunking his cereal in the milk with his spoon.

Something is up.

Damn it, Josh. What the hell?

After a few seconds he sighs, tosses his spoon into the bowl and puts his hands in the air.

Defeat.

Fine. You’ll find out eventually anyway.

Like the instant silence one hears after a needle’s been dramatically scratched across a record, my mind shuts off all background noise, ready to absorb everything he’s about to say.

My left eyebrow flies up. I’m intrigued. It’s gotta be good.

"She snuck out of her house, stole a car, some clothes from some boutique store, money from a couple ATM machines, and crashed a party at an art gallery in Soho with a couple of friends."

I pull my head back and rumple my brows. "Ohhhkay…and you were hesitant to tell me this, because?"

"Because I know you and the way your mind thinks."

Confused and annoyed, I throw my arms across my chest. "You don’t know how my mind thinks…all the time."

He snorts, his right cheek pulling his mouth into a side smile. "Sam, I know how your mind thinks better than you know how your mind thinks. I’m one step ahead of you girl."

Still feeling perturbed and trying to take in what he just said, the neurons in my brain suddenly fire wildly. Turning my head to the side, eyes locked on his, I smile and bite into my lip.

            "What are her powers, Josh?"            

His eyes stare into mine, frozen for several seconds, before he takes a deep breath, rolls his eyes and shakes his head. Leaning back in his chair, he lounges his arm across the top of the chair next to him and runs his hand back and forth across the top of his freshly buzzed hair. "She’s…technopathic."

For a moment it doesn’t register. My memory goes into search mode for the definition. Technopathic? Technopathic? Techno—Oh…my God.

With my thumbnail in my mouth and my teeth searching frantically for a piece of nail, my mind starts flying all over the place. I can’t seem to organize my thoughts. So many things, so many connections, are zinging through it at the same time.

"Saaam…"

"What?"

"Don’t you give me that innocent what face. I know exactly where your thoughts have gone." You’ve been talking about it for weeks.

"I gotta go." I pick up my tray and head for the garbage.

Don’t do it Sam. You’re only asking for trouble.

I don’t have to look back to see the concern on his face.

I’ll talk to you later, I say.

After dumping my tray I walk straight up the stairs to the main floor bulletin board with everyone’s posted schedule.

Hmm…no class for another hour and she’s not having lunch in the cafeteria.  I feel myself grin uncontrollably as my teeth sink into my lower lip.

Time to make friends with the new girl.

Movie Review Monday

Good Monday Moring!

Happy Labor day to all. Hope you are not working today and if you had no choice and your boss made you go in, then please feel free to leave your boss's name in the comments section and I'll see what I can do to have them wacked...er, I mean to have the wacko spoken to.

I made it to the theater this weekend (yay! that means dinner and candy also :-)) to see Robert Rodriguez's Machete. However, I'm sad to say (unless I'm saving you the potential loss of money) that  this movie was a total waste of time and money (minus the delicious dinner and candy). I was very disappointed by this film as it doesn't  even come close to standing up to his other works (IMO).

Machete: Three years ago in Mexico, determined Federale Machete (Danny Trejo) is betrayed and set-up by his boss, resulting in his wife and child being murdered by drug kingpin Torrez (Steven Seagal). Now, in Texas, Machete resurfaces when hired to assassinate Senator McLaughlin (Robert De Niro), an extreme advocate against illegal immigration. Once again betrayed and set-up, Machete plots his revenge against the men who've wronged him with the help of resistance fighter Luz (Michelle Rodriguez), ICE Agent Sartana (Jessica Alba), and the shotgun-toting Padre (Cheech Marin). Written by The Massie Twins


This is a fairly good summary of the story. When it first started out (the first 10 minutes), I thought, okay, this will be a kick ass movie, but as it went on and more characters were introduced it started to all lose shape for me. Michelle Rodgriguez was decent in this movie as was Cheech Marin (though he was pretty much the way he is in every other movie). De Niro was good though I was confused by his back and forth Mafia to southern accent (unless it was supposed to be that way and I missed something behind his character). Danny Trejo was decent and had some comical lines and actions in this film, but it wasn't anything that made me say Wow! In fact, none of the characters made me say Wow! Then again, I guess this is not the type of film that you go to see for Oscar worthy performances, but I have seen Rodriguez films where there were characters and acting that Wowed me (Antonio Banderas in Desperado and George Clooney in From Dusk Til Dawn). 


There were some characters/actors who I felt were poorly casted--Lindsay Lohan, ugh, just awful. Was not impressed with her at all. Then again, I guess it doesn't take much "acting" in her case to parade around on the big screen as a naked, drug addicted slut. I don't know, maybe it was just too close to what's been going on in her real life that made me feel terribly uncomfortable for her in this particular role. Jessica Alba was okay, though I would have found her role as an immigration customs agent to be a little more believable if she wasn't wearing four inch stilettos through the entire movie (but, I guess that's just more of Rodgriguez's style for his female characters). Lastly, Steven Segal...bleh. (stick to being a cop and doing reality stuff on A&E). I don't know why he bothered me so much in this film. Maybe it was his CONSTANT use of the word Puñeta, Cabron and Pendejo which gave his character so little depth. I cringed every time he came on the screen. The other actors, I don't even feel warrant mention because they're roles/acting are not worth mentioning one way or the other. Not horrible, not great.


If you want blood, you'll get blood. If you want some funny lines, you'll get a few. But for me, this movie was not up to par with Rodriguez's other stuff. It just goes to prove that just because you have an all star cast, doesn't mean it will be an all star movie.


My rating system: 

1=hated it, just wasted an hour and half of my life and I want it back damn it!

2=meh, not the worst I've ever seen, but I don't ever need to see it again 

3=entertaining, maybe I'll watch it again when it comes to Netflix

4=pretty awesome, I'll probably buy the DVD when it goes on sale

5=OMG, this film was kick ass awesome, it is pre-order from Amazon worthy, add to my list of favorites

It's so hard to not compare this movie to other Rodriguez films because I have always loved his stuff, so I'm going to give this movie two separate ratings.

In comparison to his other stuff (From Dusk Til Dawn, Desperado, Planet Terror, Grindhouse, etc.) I give Machete a 1. 

As a movie overall, I give it a 2. But my advice would be to wait until you have an opportunity to see it for free. Not worth the money (at least not here in NY where the tickets cost us $11 a piece).

  

Breaking Through the Dam (my first writer's block)

Okay, so truth be known, I had been stuck for quite some time in the final chapters of my WIP. In fact, it feels like the last 1/4 of my novel has taken me as long to write as the first 3/4. Very frustrating to have the words flowing like a downstream river, only to hit a dam with no idea of how to get over or around it. But alas, this is what happened. It doesn't help that I have been completely sleep deprived (let's just say that I often end up on the couch at some point during the night because a king size bed may seem big, but it's a whole hell of a lot smaller when there are two four year olds sleeping between dh and I :-)).

Anyway, I had been really struggling with these final scenes in my ms. I know the ending already, but it's the climatic scenes right before that were stumping me. I knew what I wanted to happen, but couldn't find the words or picture in my head of how to make it happen. The movie in my head got stuck. I'd sit to type and look at the screen and then I'd open my blog and play around with that. And then I'd go back to my WIP, write a few sentences, erase it and then I'd go to my favorite website, AW and search desperately for something new and interesting on the board so I could procrastinate further. I'd smack my hand, return to my WIP, type something, erase and then check and respond to other blogs. Back to my WIP and...oh, I need to check my email. After all, it's been a whole five minutes since I last checked, you never know, right? Ha.

Yeah...I was having a writer's block and it was majorly upsetting me. I guess I didn't realize it was a true writer's block (I had never really had one), but looking at it now that's exactly what it was. I think I was ashamed to admit that. Not only to other's, but mostly to myself. It made me doubt myself. It made me believe for a small moment that there's no way I could be an actual writer if I was unable to get the necessary words down on the page. I tried stepping away for a few days, I tried working on other stories I have on the back burner, but I couldn't seem to concentrate on anything because this mental block was taking over my life. I would wake in the middle of the night and not fall asleep for hours because my mind would not turn off. I was desperate to find a solution on how to break the damn, dam.

So a couple of days ago, I looked at what I had so far in this chapter, took a deep breath, DELETED it and started the scene over, going in a totally different direction with it. And you know what happened? Yep, it started to work. The ideas and words and movie started to play again in my head. When I write, I tend to see everything happening like it's before me on the big screen. So I closed my eyes, pictured the scene in this new direction and voila, it all made sense. It all came together. I realize now that I was trying to force something that just wasn't meant to work.

It was a very well built dam I hit. I tried to go right through it, but that didn't work. It was too strong. I tried to go around it, but that didn't work either. I tried to go over it, but damn if this dam wasn't the highest built dam ever. So what did I do? I back tracked. I swam my way upstream against the current (it wasn't easy to let go of the fact that I had already swam all that way only to turn back), and made my way to that place in the river where it forks off in different directions and tried a different route. Now, I admit I have come across a few small sized dams on this new route, but they're more of the normal sized dams that I'm able to push my way through.

The lesson: Writers hit dams and that's okay. It's part of the process. Don't be afraid to swim backwards against the current. Don't look at it as wasted effort (but I spent so much time trying to make this work) Sometimes, no matter how hard you push and push, things are just not meant to be. Let it go and try a totally new and different approach. Trust yourself enough to let it all go and know that there is another solution out there. After all, in the end, the only thing that matters is getting to your final destination. It doesn't matter how you get there as long as you get there.