Movie Review: Hotel Transylvania

Hotel Transylvania is everything I want in an animated funny satire film of the classic monsters. It's got a full cast of creatures with only the Phantom and Hyde absent. The intro uses the classic Universal horror type music and all the trappings are there.

Of course I'm going to love this film not just because of it's monster tributes but also for the wonderful story.

 

Dracula is a single dad trying to keep his daughter safe so he creates a resort for all the monsters to hide out at and achieve peace. He tells everyone that the humans are scary and evil and want to cut open their heads and put candy in them.

 

 

A human guy happens along, Drac tries to hide him and then disguise him but of course his daughter Mavis falls for the human anyway. Hilarity ensues.

As if all of this wasn't good enough for me to enjoy this film, in the beginning we get a wonderful segment with Dracula trying to raise his child.

Now you know my obsession with vampire children brought on by Annabelle. Not only is it sweet and entertaining for anyone, but it has Drac teaching her to fly as a bat. Yes, you heard that right. Just like I did back in 2004 when I began the first draft of Dark Birth. Of course they do things differently and it's very sweet, but it only serve4s to make me love this film all the more.

Mavis trying to sew her own cape in her bat form.

 

So I give this film a huge thumbs up. I didn't get to see it in theatres but I knew about it for awhile and it's so worth the wait. I consider it the modern Mad Monster Party. Check it out!

 

Movie Review: The Hobbit -Spoilers-

I saw the Hobbit last week. Earlier in the year I reread the book. I read it when I was 12 but that was a long time ago. So I felt that if I was going to see the movie. I'd better have an understanding of the original story.

I've spoken to some who have seen the film and heard their reviews. They felt the additions to the story were not needed and detracted from the film. I do not agree. I really liked how they added more depth to the back story. I felt that have a stronger depth to Thorin Oakenshield.

I didn't ind the addition of the white orc or how he was substituted for the goblins during the forest battle. I enjoyed the action and the fun and appreciated the dramatic moments of the film. The goblins eagles, and wargs were just as I expected. I also liked the White Consul. I think it makes sense that there would be a small gathering of leaders to plan and watch for bigger threats. I got a kick out of the scene with old Bilbo and Frodo. It was taken from the beginning of the Fellowship book so it was good finally seeing that scene.

It was good to see Sir Ian McKellen again as Gandalf. While Sherlock star Martin Freeman did a perfect job as Bilbo. Andy Serkis gave me chills as Golum. Very inspirational for my writing.

So all in all I loved the film. Can't wait for the blue ray.

Of course some think it could have ended differently...

Movie Review: Frankenweenie

I finally saw Frankenweenie. I really enjoyed it. I purposely stayed away from spoilers because I'd already seen the live action from several years ago. I knew the story. I liked the story but I didn't understand why we needed a claymation treatment of it.

Now I understand.

Tim Burton was able to throw in all sorts of treats into this film. Of course the whole thing is a tribute to Frankenstein and the Bride of Frankenstein but what I didn't know was all the many other tributes to classic horror.

I mean we see Boris Karloff and Vincent Price immortalised in clay. We get tributes to werewolves and vampires and mummies and gremlins and even Godzilla.

Excellent. I love the classics and this film served it up in spades. A must own for me.

Breaking Dawn Part 2 Review with spoliers way at the bottom

Non-spoiler thoughts:

Saw the last Twilight. OK, I'll admit it. That was a good one. Not surprised, seeing as that was my favorite half of the book and favorite whole part of the series. Great way to go out! And Nessie is nothing like Annabelle. Guess I was being silly, getting worried and all.

I own the books. I own the movies. I'm not a Twihard but I do have my favorite characters. I feel this movie did a wonderful job of portraying everything in the last book. This was the one I was looking forward to.

Years ago, back when I was fixing my first manuscript (what is now Dark Birth) and meeting other authors, I met Aprilynne Pike. She's the author of Wings. While helping guide me to prepare a better book, she mentioned her friend Stephenie Meyers and her Twilight books. I think the first two Twilight books were published and the third one was coming out. Aprilynne suggested I read them.

Now I'll be the first to admit different stroke for different folks. I'm not a "romance guy". I want more action and thrills. I could not identify with Bella or Edward either. I did however enjoy the Cullens, thew wolf pack and the Volturi. I read all four books but really didn't get super excited until Bella became a vampire. From that point on I enjoyed everything.

After four movies we're finally to the part of the series that I like. And after seeing it I feel they've treated it perfectly.



Bigger Spoilerific thoughts:



so beware

Serious. Want to be spoiled? Read on.


Bella's senses becoming heightened? Perfect! We zoom into sights, sounds and smells and can experience everything she can. In the book this gave me new insight on what Annabelle and Roland would feel. We see this on the big screen with great effect.

Bella getting mad at Jacob? Bella's arm wrestling with Emmett? Jacob's joke about the Romanian vampires? All of it and the other funny parts from the book were all delivered expertly.

We get to see Jacob showing Charlie what he is. We get to see the Cullen's recruiting the others. It's wonderful to see these scenes that we couldn't see in the book.

Ever since I read the book I was completely engrossed in the new vampires. My favs? Garret the Revolutionary vampire. He's wonderful in the film complete with his fledgling relationship with Kate is cute. Benjamin from the Egypt coven. The actor from Night at the Museum did a great job of capturing Benjamin's wide eyed curiosity. The Romanian vampires. Let's face facts. They're both Dracula and this is clear here. The actors play them perfectly and they even get some fun with the new fledgling werewolves. We got the Amazonian ones, the Irish ones and so on. All the new vampires and the various relationships were dead on.

When I met Renesmee in the book I was instantly conflicted. I love her character and she became my favorite but she scared me. I was still working on Annabelle's first book. My own vampire child was hunting deer in the woods and acting older than her physical appearance, behaving like any innocent yet immortal night child. I was worried after she got on the big screen, people would read my Ann and think "Oh, this is just Nessie." I shouldn't have worried.

Nessie starts out as computer animated because no baby could pull it off. We see her grow and fly to catch a snow flake but no speed or hunting or anything like that. Nothing remotely like Annabelle.

The more important thing, however, is that Mackenzie Foy plays her tenderly.

At the end of the film we see all the actors/characters from the entire series and many wonderful tributes to the fact that this came from a book series. Kinda wish the Potter films did that.


Now for the real spoiler. One more thing that will really spoil the film.  I read this spoiler so I was prepared. I waited for the change from the book to happen and then watched the scene and my freaked out daughters (who have read all the books) at the same time so I'm going to have to re watch this scene again. This is different than the book so if you want to feel the shock and awe, don't read below this next pic...

Alice realises she cant convince Aro. She's about to be killed. Carlisle tries to rescue her. He's beheaded. The heroes attack, everyone gets all funky with full on battle. Jane kills Jasper. Edward (I think) kills Alec. Jane kills Seth. Alice drags Jane to Sam who kills her. And so on and so on.  Beloved characters die left and right and the theatre was freaking out! My daughters were rocking back and forth mumbling about how wrong it all was.

And then we discover it was Alice's vision and when Aro bites it by the tag team effort of Bella and Edward, well let's just say he's OK not to press matters. So no one died after all! The audience cheers and laughed and the movie finished accurately complete with a vision showing grown up Nessie with Jacob and Bella and Edward. Happy ending.

So this was a great way to end it! Worth every penny.

Movie Review: The Amazing Spider-Man

Last Saturday I finally saw The Amazing Spider-Man

Now I must tell you, originally I wanted this movie to do badly. I judged this book by its "cover". I didn’t want the reboot. Sure, I wasn’t very fond of Spider-Man 3, and I was aware of the fact that Sony cancelled the lame idea for Spider-Man 4 (thank goodness!) and had to release a Spider-Man film before the rights reverted back to Marvel, where they would rock at it like they've done with most everything else. I didn’t think Andrew Garfield looked the part and hoped the film would bomb so Marvel could do better.

I couldn’t have been more wrong. Garfield captured Parker. I never realized what Spider-Man 1 and 2 was lacking until I saw this film. Parker is strong, flawed and improving. Now whining and self depressed all the time. Sure, Peter has crappy luck and does get down, but Garfield captured the character's essence in a more believable way.

Martin Sheen and Sally Field are excellent as Peter's aunt and uncle. I've never been a fan of Fields but I must admit this is one of my three favorite performances from her. Emma Stone is perfect as Gwen Stacy. She makes me really like her character, with makes the unavoidable events in a sequel that much harder to face (anyone familiar with Gwen in the comics knows what I mean).

I thought the hints towards Norman Osborn, and how it leads to future films, was nice. I just hope Gobby doesn’t have a stupid Power Ranger mask in his reboot.

I loved Rhys Ifans was great at Curt Conners/ the Lizard. Lizard has always been my favorite Spidey villain. Maybe it's the whole 'Lizard in a lab coat' thing? Maybe it's because as a child I really wanted that Mego Lizard figure? A lost gem for sure! Maybe it's because he's so different from your usual villain? Or it was like the Creature from the Black Lagoon fought Spidey. OK, he's nothing like the Creature, but a Universal Monster fan can imagine, can't he? All I know is that this movie Lizard was worth the wait and we even got to see the tattered lab coat twice! I also love the mid-credits scene which allows for more at a later date. Can anyone say "Sinister Six"? Yeah, I'm hoping for too much, but I can hope .

So all in all, a great film. Far better than any of the prior Spider-men films. I'm ready for this franchise and the fact that Sony said there is no reason their Spidey can't team up with the Avengers in the future, well that's having the cake and eating it too!

Movie Review: Avengers No Spoliers

The following contains no real spoilers. Some bits are mentioned but actual plot points are not. If you're afraid of the bits, don't read.




What did I think of Avengers? Oooooh wow! Yes I saw it opening night a month ago. I would've posted sooner but life is life. Regardless I was out-of-my-seat excited, belly acheing laughter and loudly cherring at all the moments. Yes, like everyone else, I loved it.

There are a lot of films I enjoy. Some I actually enjoy at the theatres and later on DVD I wonder why I liked them. Some I love and can't wait till DVD. But never do I want to have a return visit to the theatre. Budget constraints being what they are, I'm content to wait till DVD to see them again.  Not this one. This one I yearned to go back in and watch it all over again. I'm even willing to watch it over and over when I do get the DVD so I can see the commentary, and I never watch those.

It's good to see Marvel's hard work pay off.  The second Hulk film was OK. So was the second Iron Man. The first Ironman was great. Thor and Captain America both had amazing films. But this one was off the charts. So they're building in enjoyment.

They also build in story. It's nice that all the set up moments are in those other films. No time was wasted in Avengers. Instead of telling us who the big four (Cap, Tony, Hulk and Thor) were, they just continued from their movies, all threading into this one, meeting and crossing over seamlessly until the story is over and they unthread back to their films.

And my hopes for Black Widow were confirmed. She IS a former Russian spy turned agent of SHIELD. Excellent. My favorite Avenger, Hawkeye, could've had more time but where would you put it? Yeah, what happened to him at the beginning could've gone differently but I'm good with it. Especially after the archery skills shown. Said skills put Smallville version of Green Arrow to shame. Plus the tech-bow was a nice touch. Quick note: Ollie on Smallville, then we have Katness on Hunger Games and now Hawkeye on Avengers, with Arrow returning for a new series that looks closer to his comic roots. It's an amazing time to be a fan of archer characters!

Stan Lee and Jack Kirby showed us back in the beginning of Marvel Comics, in the early 60's, that heroes didn't have to be perfect. They showed us flaws. We see that in the separate Marvel films. Heck, we even see that in the films made by studios who are leasing Marvel characters, like Sony's Spider-man and Ghost Rider films or Fox's X-Men and Fantastic Four films. This shows heavily in Avengers, too.

Part of the imperfect hero image Stan and Jack gave us what the "heroes don't always get along" concept. Marvel stars have been beating on each other since the 60's.  I think it's wired in us to want to see which of our fan concepts could beat the other. One of those great Marvel rivalries is Hulk vs Thor and man did they deliver! We also got several other match ups including Cap's shield vs Thor's hammer. It was wonderful. Makes you with Sony and FOX would give up the cash cows and failed ghosts and give all the properties back. Imagine Thing vs Hulk?

I like to watch several shows like Eureka, Doctor Who and Warehouse 13 very closely. I do this to see if I can catch all the wonderful foreshadowing. I do the same for multi-movie serials. So I caught most the clues laid out in the earlier Marvel films. It was a nice touch to see those bits followed up on. Steve learning about the Abomination/failed Super Soldier formula events in Hulk. Coulsen's fan boy crush on Cap touched for two seconds in Ironman 2. That sort of thing.

I could go on to explain how I've always loved the comic, how I learned to read by combing the pages of Avengers and Justice League, how at age seven I mailed away for an Avengers patch and have longed for this film for a very long time. I could say how this film was worth the considerable high hopes I've built up for long decades.

Actually I think I just did say those things. I give it a 20 out of 10. Go see it. It's not just for fan boys, despite my mindless ravings. It's for the average Joe out there who has never watched any Marvel or hero films.

Updates!

Hey there!
I've been pretty busy with life, not so much with writing. Between work, family and so on, the days are speeding by but not much has happened with my writing goals.

It's time to re-establish my goals and plans. I need to re-dedicate myself. I suppose that's the life of any author, to constantly learn to get back in the chair and bang away at the keyboard.

What's going on?
Night Children
The first book (Dark Birth) and the short story anthology (Dark Threats) are still available on Amazon and Barns & Noble.com.  Book Two needs a rewrite after some heavy reviews. There is a great deal I will keep, but some things just don't work. After I finish another manuscript for something different, I'll return to this.

Myths
"Another manuscript for something different". Those few of you whom have read Dark Birth have heard of the fantasy home of elves, fairies, fauns and unicorns called Farnalla. Myths is about a handful of runaway youth from that world, and their dangerous quest to the mythical land called "Earth". I've got eight chapters finished and several more to go. My goal has been to finish it before I return to Night Children.

Multi-Mart
Another story that features the multiverse, including characters from both the Night Children series and Myths. I want to write this sooo bad and I might play with it when I've having mental writers cramp.

So there you go. Also, I need to do more entries here. Coming soon is my review of the Avengers movie.

Movie Review: Hunger Games, no spoiilers

Hollywood has always pulled ideas from the literary world. As a struggling author my ear is constantly to the book-to-movie world, curious how it all works. True I don't read many adult novels so I don't follow their movie conversions. I write Middle Grade (think 11-14 year olds or Jr High School) and I read Middle Grade and Young Adult. I even plan to write YA at some point as well.

So when a MG or YA book makes a lot of noise I hear about it. When it's scheduled to get a movie I hear that too. I knew Hunger Games had the movie treatment coming and was curious. Yes I love super heroes, time travel and monsters but I've enjoyed my dark future fiction before. I've only discovered it in comics, TV and movie but why not try the books and see what the fuss is about?

It helps that I've got kids in Elementary, Jr High and High School so they have their collective ears on what's hot in fiction.

As some may have seen in my Goodreads account, I recently read all three books and enjoyed them. They are a tough read and deserve the young adult category (13-18) due to strong themes and violence. Regardless they show themes we need to explore, big government, forgetting the little guy, losing oneself in reality TV and instant gratification, sacrifice and finding out whats really important in life. I borrowed my daughter's copies and read them. Couldn't put them down.

 I was concerned about the violence and graphic nature of the book. It's fine for the actual book because it's age specific but a movie would be more shocking due to actually seeing the killing and strong events and themes. I decided to not let my 14 and 11 year olds see it. I went with my 18 and 16 year olds and my daughter's close friend.

I suspected the PG-13 rating was due to the themes more than the violence, and that the violence would be handled in a safe matter. I was right. Sure you have a blood bath at the cornucopia but it's handled with brief moments and no actual weapons in flesh. In other words the attackers charge the victims, we flash away and then when we go back the victim is dead. It's an old Hollywood trick that works well here. There are occasions where we see weapons in kids but it's simply after the violence and actually not bad.

Yes book readers, a certain character does die in Katniss' arms and yes it's done very well. Bring tissues.

The movie portrayed all the themes listed above in a very real manner. The book is 1st person from Katnis' perspective.  These is a great deal of emotion in those words. Most of it deep inside feelings about her world and those who inhabit it. Jennifer Lawrence showed this through her face and acting. As did Josh Hutcherson in the role of Peeta. He showed his stuff in Bridge to Teribithia and shows it even more so now. Woody Harrelson could have played drunk Haymitch with comedy but instead he gave the role dignity. He played what mattered in this character who gave up on the world, gains inspiration from Katniss and Peeta and changes who he is. I expect a Best Supporting actor nomination.

Suzanne Collins, the author of the series, was one of the executive producers and it shows. This movie was the closest I've seen in book-to-movie translations. Yes they gave us a glimpse of the game makers and some brief moments with President Snow. All the better to build up to what's coming in the sequels. Yes the creatures at the end were altered but I didn't want to see an exact rendition of those. Yes she gets the Mockingjay pin from the Hub, causing the Mayor's family to be written out. But there just isn't time for every character in the book and quite frankly they never really amounted to much in the books anyway.

The book still had all the important events and fell from the book. Very well executed and yes, my 14 year old can see it after all. Maybe even my 11 year old, too.

I give it five out of five stars.

Movie Review: Let Me In

OK, I finally saw this flick. I managed to TiVo it and watched it late at night when all the impressionable people were fast asleep and far from nightmares.

First off I'm NOT a gore guy. I do not watch films like Freddy or Jason. I get turned off my gore and of course this film had gore in spades. Yes, the gore turned me off. But that didn't hurt my over all rating of the film.

I liked it. The writing was strong.  I really felt bad for the human child Owen and of course I felt bad for vampire child Abby.

As you know, I am obsessed with vampire children. I suppose that's because I needed to tell Annabelle's story. That obsession, while controlled, is still strong. I worry that with each new interpretation, we'll see Ann exactly rendered in another story before she's made it into the world on her own. I know the fear is silly, but it drives me to search out these stories.

In Let Me In we find a vampire child with a conscience. Abby doesn't want to hurt others, feels terrible for what she puts her adult guardian through (he has to kill innocent people to bring her blood) and fiercely defends her human friend Owen.

This is a world where vampires can't substitute human blood for animal blood like they do in Twilight and in my Night Children series. Abby has no choice. She looses control of the blood lust and kills. To get this through to the viewers, it has gore. But I feel bad for Abby. She wishes she didn't hurt people and longs for a normal life.

She has the current vampire powers; speed, acute senses, strength, speed and agility. It's cool watching her scale a palm tree and a 6 story building. When she fights it's done in shadow. She kinda looks like a blood thirsty Gollum. She crawls/zooms around the victim, biting everywhere. Her eyes go funky and her face slightly distorts. She also goes pale.

As with the title of the movie, it's foreign predecessor movie and the original book, the tile "Let Me In", which is the scaled down original title "Let The Right One In" refers to the age-old vampire tradition that vampires have to be invited in. Other classic vampire concepts are in this film as well. Sunlight burns and kills them. Also as she let go of the high hospital window the closed caption (I watch everything with captions) revealed she "fluttered" away which suggests flight. She herself said she flew during the film. So as with Night Children, vampires in this universe have the Anne Rice current abilities AND the Bram Stoker abilities and problems as well. That earns a high score in my book.

Claudia in Interview With a Vampire was irredeemable due to her selfishness and lack of guilt. The children in The Little Vampire were never shown dealing with real issues like addition and murder. Nessie from the Twilight series is sweet and a personal favorite. Abby joins the list of vampire children and has made my list as well. She does feel guilt and is very relateable.

Chloë Grace Moretz pulls off an amazing and believable performance as someone Annabelle could have become if eating animals wasn't an option and she had to live with the guilt. It's a very adult, strong performance. The same is true for Kodi Smit-McPhee who pulls off the frightened, teased loner outcast child in many of us. Abby's loss of control and blood feast didn't scare me. The bullies teasing Owen scared me much more. Kodi showed the absolute fear we all felt when confronted with a bully at school.

So over all I give it a 9 out of 10. Yes, the gore took it down a peg as did the brief flash of upper nudity from a neighbor. The story and acting is powerful so if my warning about gore, violence and 1 second upper nudity doesn't scare you off on principle (which is why I warn my friends), watch it.