A.C. Wise

I watched The Black Dahlia last night, and it got me thinking about stories. A story that weaves together multiple plots and subplots can be very effective when it’s well done, for example Catherynne Valente’s Orphan’s Tales duology. The stories build upon each other, making the whole richer. The way the stories interlock have real consequences for the characters, and change the meaning of the tale as a whole. In the hands of the right story-teller, multiple story threads become a beautiful tapestry. When handled poorly, they turn into a horribly tangled knot.

Musings and movie spoilers below the cut.
(more…)

Listing a bunch of unrelated things is kind of like writing a proper post, right?

Thing One: Cern Zoo: Nemonymous Nine, which contains my short story, Mellie’s Zoo, is a finalist for the 2010 British Fantasy Awards. Woohoo!

Thing Two: Aliette de Bodard’s Memories in Bronze, Feathers, and Blood is a lovely story - you should go read it.

Thing the Third: Moon is a beautifully shot and well-acted movie - you should go watch it.

Thing the Last: Futurama is back from the dead, and the first episode of its newly zombified life premiers this Thursday at 10pm. Contrary to the alarming rumors that were floating around at some point, the original cast is back for the second go around. Drop what you’re doing and go set your DVR right now, or if you don’t have a DVR, cancel whatever plans you have, and watch the show real-time. If you don’t, it’ll make robot Jesus cry.

This was a weekend for reveling in geekery. Last night we saw Curio Theater’s production of Twelfth Night. Aside from English Literature geekery, this particular production also featured gorgeous steampunk costumes (a fact which none of the promotion for the play seems to mention…what’s up with that?)

The actors did a wonderful job, the costumes were tons of fun, and the theater itself a beautiful old church with lovely stained glass and a big, ole pipe organ, which was used to great effect as part of the set. The staging was very minimal, using the natural space of the church, and adding a bit of scaffolding, but nothing else in terms of sets or backdrops. The actors (and the costumes) carried the whole production, and carried it well. If you happen to be in the Philadelphia area and dig steampunk, Shakespeare, or both, I highly recommend checking it out. There are only a few performances left, but an additional matinee was just added for next Saturday. If you still need convincing, go look at the pretty, pretty pictures excerpted from the program, shot by Kyle Cassidy, here.

(more…)

We saw Kick-Ass today. It’s full of foul language and stylized, blood-soaked hyper-violence. This may be a turn-off for many viewers, but its something I frequently look for in graphic novels and their screen adaptations. Yeah, I’m weird that way. I’m a BadFan, and I haven’t read the original, but I thoroughly enjoyed the movie, and I now feel the need to seek out the book.

The pacing was a little odd to start, but I think it may have be necessary to the story the filmmakers wanted to tell. The actors did a great job, and even Nicholas Cage, who tends to play some version of what I imagine is himself most of the time actually seemed to loosen up and have fun. The movie managed to be real, surreal and unreal all at once, not an easy trick. There were tons of geek references and nods to the genre scattered throughout, and without giving it away, the last line of the movie made me very, very happy. Good stuff.

On a related note, they showed a trailer for Scott Pilgrim Vs. the World, which I haven’t read either, but it looks incredibly fun.  I must admit though, I’m creeped out by the fact that not only does Michael Cera not seem to be aging, he seems to be actively getting younger. He may be a robot. Or a Benjamin Button.

My thoughts, patented and guaranteed spoiler free since 1997.

I thoroughly enjoyed Shutter Island. It was incredibly well-acted, Leonardo DiCaprio did a particularly good job, and the visuals were gorgeous, as was the location. The pacing felt slightly off in some places, but I liked each individual scene enough that I can’t imagine what I would cut, so I can’t fault the movie for that either. Definitely worth seeing.

(more…)

We went to see Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland this weekend. Despite the fact that I’m getting a little sick of the unspoken rule that every visually lush film has to be in 3D these days, we saw it in IMAX 3D because I’m a sucker. Much like Avatar, looks-wise, the film was gorgeous. Much like Avatar, the story was an absolute mess. Unlike Avatar, whose story actually made me angry, my feelings about the new Alice can be summed up with one word: unfortunate.

More spoiler-filled thoughts below the cut.

(more…)

To celebrate my birthday, we went to see Sherlock Holmes. When I first saw the trailers for this new version, my brain rebelled. The more I saw, though, the more intrigued I became. The movie seems designed to make purists brains explode, and I felt a little guilty about wanting to see it. But then I decided, in honor of getting older, what I really wanted to do was revel in base, immature instincts - namely the desire to see shit blow up and watch Robert Downey Jr. take his shirt off*.

The movie was actually better than I expected. If you go in expecting great cinema, or if you’re a traditionalist, you probably won’t be happy, but if you want a fun action movie, then it’s definitely well worthwhile. There are some nice nods to the source material, and Jude Law and RDJ genuinely seem to have fun with their roles. Cast with other leads, the movie probably wouldn’t be as good, since other than those two, everyone else mostly seemed to just be filling space, but those two carry the film and carry it well. If the idea of Holmes as action hero really bothers you, I suggest mentally substituting different names, say Hemlock Jones and Dr. Waterstone, then just sit back and enjoy the explosions.

Now, if you’ll excuse me, I plan to spend the rest of my birthday continuing to celebrate ridiculousness and immaturity by drinking vodka out of a crystal skull, watching cartoons, and possibly playing video games.

*There was significantly less nakedness and exploding than the trailers promised, but I’m still sold on what will inevitably become a series. When Shit Blows Up and Robert Downey Jr. Takes His Shirt Off: The Sequel is released, I’ll have no qualms (or guilt) about paying good money to go see it.

I’m still catching up - I’m always catching up - on short fiction, movies and life in general. Some recommendations of the speculative fiction variety are Golden Lilies by Aliette de Bodard, a lovely fiction piece on the practice of foot-binding over at Fantasy Magazine, and Mammals Underfoot! An Interview with Emerging Writers by Jeff VanderMeer over at Clarkesworld Magazine.

Also related to speculative fiction, I recommend you support Ralan during his annual September fund raising drive. If you’re even remotely interested in writing and publishing speculative fiction, you should regularly be checking Ralan’s site for new markets, market updates, and other tips. And if you are checking the site regularly, you should also be supporting it - it’s only fair, after all.

(more…)

We went to see Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince last night. I’ll try to keep my thoughts here relatively spoiler-free.

I enjoyed it. I thought they did a better job of keeping the essence of the book than they did in the last film, but I can’t put my finger on exactly how or why. I was pleased to see Bellatrix get more screen time, though I would have liked to have seen more of Snape and Neville (hopefully in the next film(s?)). As always, the movie was visually pleasing, and it’s interesting watching the young actors become more confident and grow into their roles. Evanna Lynch, who plays Luna, is fantastic. Now I have the urge to re-read the last two books in the series.

(more…)