Review: Marvel’s The Avengers

Posted: July 6, 2012 in Review
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The poster for the Avengers movie.

As I said in the last post, I saw this last night and I thought I’d write a review of it as the third entry in my summer movie review series. However I’m pressed for time so I’ll keep it brief (hope that’s okay with everyone).

In this latest edition to the Marvel Cinematics Universe, we have the heroes of Iron Man, The Incredible Hulk, Captain America and Thor, plus a few new guys, getting together to fight Thor’s evil brother Loki, who’s allied himself with some monsters with a really hard name to pronounce and a minor resemblance to the Xenomorphs and Predators. The plot of this film, like the other ones, seems rather formulaic–meet guy with personal problems/flaws, guy has life-changing experience, guy realizes who he can become, guy confronts enemies, guy takes a break for various reasons from fighting evil–and yet I still find myself impressed and thrilled by the action of it all. Not too mention that they really did some great CGI effects on Hulk and Iron Man.

My one major complaint is that while I was promised there’d be some conflict between the characters involving Captain America and Tony Stark, plus Bruce Banner’s problems with the Hulk. I just didn’t see enough of that. I really thought the former two would have a shouting match that would devolve into a fist fight. There was none of that. Just a little trade of sentences. Where was the conflict exactly with the coming from two different worlds? And I thought Banner seemed to have too much control over Hulk. I mean seriously, you need to startle Banner with the Hulk to bring out the Hulk? Really? And what’s with the “I’m always angry” bit? If you were always angry, you’d always be big and green! Imagine having to find a car that matched your wacky melanin and fit your size!

I’d rate this film with a 3.6 out of 5, for–although impressive–being formulaic, having monsters look like Xenomorphs and Predators, and not showing the conflict I was promised.

Oh, and for those of you wondering what films are in this summer film review series of mine, let me tell you: Men In Black III (seen it), Prometheus (seen it), The Avengers (just reviewed it), Rock of Ages (gotta see it), The Amazing Spider-Man (just came out), Ted (still in theatres, last I checked), and The Dark Knight Rises (sitting on my hands till it comes out).

The Sequel Problem

Posted: July 6, 2012 in Reflections
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I was watching Marvel’s The Avengers last night (review to come after this post), and I started thinking about how sequels have become such a part of the movie industry. Every horror and sci-fi movie is made with the possibility that there will be a sequel should the film be successful. It seemed that once upon a time, filmmakers made a film just hoping people would like it and see it. Now, it’s all about “how much money can we make off of this, especially if we make another film or seven?” Heck, when Bridesmaids came out and Kristen Wiig said she didn’t want to do a sequel, filmmakers called her “ungrateful”, while the rest of the world applauded her for not making the same mistake as the makers of The Hangover! You see how bad it is!

Some of the worst culprits are horror movies, which always seem to have a part 2 or 3 or 67. Of course there are dramas and comedies that make a few sequels, typically just two for a nice little trilogy, but thankfully the number of movies that do this are small. And of course, you got your action films like The Expendables which get sequels because the filmmakers are banking on making money off the big names in the film.

Of course, I do believe there are some films that should get sequels. Movies that are based on book series such as Harry Potter or The Hunger Games make great franchises, and as long as they don’t change too much, shove too much in, or don’t divide too many books into two separate films, people will mostly stay happy. Other films are good enough that a sequel is warranted, such as The Matrix or Star Wars. And a few just bring delight, no matter who watches them (I’m thinking kiddie films like Shrek, Madagascar and Alvin and the Chipmunks).

However, there are several film series that should never have had sequels, and I can name a reason or two for each of them. I’d rather not, so I’ll just leave you with this: is it more important to make a film that people will enjoy, or a film that will generate lots of capital and sequels that will bring even more capital? You tell me.

Review: “The Wolf Gift” by Anne Rice

Posted: July 5, 2012 in Review
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The cover of Anne Rice’s “The Wolf Gift”.

You know, it just doesn’t seem right to do a review of an Anne Rice novel without mentioning in the title that it was written by her, and there’s good reason for that: Anne Rice is a wonderful writer, a woman whose evolution from her early works to her latest writing can be seen by even people who are not well-versed in the study of literature. If I were to try to classify Anne Rice’s writing, I’d call it sophisticated horror, and that depending on what work you are reading, you can compare her work to some sort of food or drink: The Vampire Chronicles are, most appropriately, red wine; Lives of the Mayfair Witches could be an aged, sweet port; The Mummy as a leafy salad; Servant of the Bones as a French bread; and Songs of the Seraphim as a dairy dessert. I’m sorry, I just had lunch, can you tell?

So what does The Wolf Gift taste like? Probably a white wine meant for right before bed. It is an amazing work of fiction, and shows just how Anne Rice’s style has acclimatized to the Information and Technology age. From the point of view of reporter Reuben Golding, we see how he becomes a werewolf–or Man Wolf, as he prefers, and Morphenkind, as his species in the novel is referred to as a whole–and how his new abilities include an instinct to hunt down those whom we consider evil (rapists, murderers, etc.) just by scent. Along the way, Reuben must figure out how to interact with his family after his change, the question of whether he is good or evil, abomination or divinely blessed, and unravel the mysteries surrounding the house he lives in, where he is bitten, and what it all has to do with Morphenkind in general.

Although the book doesn’t have a central primary antagonist (two antagonists do appear throughout the story though; a werewolf who has “lost his way”, which is not what you’re thinking, and two Russian scientists with sinister goals), the obstacle that all the main characters must face is whether they are good or evil, and what it means to be given the Wolf Gift, and how it places them in the grand scheme of things.

One of the unique aspects of Anne Rice’s latest novel is that instead of looking at things from a supernatural/magical point of view as she usually does, she instead looks at the werewolves and their abilities from a scientific perspective, using that to explain the forensic conundrums of werewolf DNA and the passing-on of the wolf gift and how exactly it works on the body’s structure, endocrine system, and DNA.

If I had to discuss the main theme of “The Wolf Gift”, I would say it is purpose, whether it be individual, moral, or cosmic purpose.

I give this latest masterpiece by the woman who basically created the sexy vampire, a 4.4 out of 5, for outstanding plot, character development, and philosophical questions explored. If there’s ever a movie adaptation, I would love to write the script for it.

All for now, I think I’ll write Ms. Rice a fan letter (I do that for every new book of hers I read; she’s the only author I know that has an email address for her fan mail).

What I imagine the werewolves in “The Wolf Gift” to look like. Very scary, but actually very nice if you get to talk to them, and I mean that in either form.

Snake Prologue: First Draft Done

Posted: July 4, 2012 in Novel, Progress Report, Scary Stuff, Writing
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I know thrillers are supposed to have short chapters but I never expected it to be this simple to finish! I mean, it’s just the prologue, and it’s only four chapters, but it still seemed to fly by. No wonder people like James Patterson can get several novels published in a year, averaging 1 novel per series they write in: they have the time of day to spend on several different projects!

Anyway, the first draft of the prologue of Snake is done. It seemed to flow through my fingers onto the keyboard, I tell ya, and I enjoyed writing it (though writing out the torture scene so as to arouse terror in a possible reader was difficult, I’ll admit). Overall, the entire prologue was 15 Microsoft Word pages, a little over 4,000 words, and the average amount of time it took to write a chapter was maybe an hour to an hour and forty-five minutes.

If you want to read a little of Snake, you can head back to about two days ago, where I printed a small excerpt from the first chapter. Warning, there are bad words in it, so if you object to such things, I suggest you ignore this final paragraph. Once again, happy 4th of July!

4th of July, 2012

Posted: July 4, 2012 in Living and Life, Reflections
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I don’t know how my readers outside the United States feel, but within the USA, it’s a pretty big day. 4th of July, or Independence Day, the day we commemorate the great event of Will Smith and Jeff Goldblum taking the extraterrestrial equivalent of a Prius and using it to blow up an alien mothership.

No, but in all serious, this day is pretty important for Americans: it’s the day when our Founding Fathers got together and decided to start their own country since Britain was not giving them the rights they deserved as citizens. This was the first act of rebellion of its kind: an actual colony declaring independence, forming its own country, and defeating the homeland. It was bigger than the attempt in the 16th century by Puritans to turn Britain into a commonwealth (failed miserably by the way), and wouldn’t be matched until the French Revolution, which Romantic thinkers hailed as the beginning of an age of understanding and freedom (oh, how they must’ve felt when Napoleon became emperor; egg on their faces and all that).

I think the reason why the American Revolution went well after independence had been achieved was that while they did have excellent military victories, they also had an early version of our government in place, even during the war. Other revolutions, you see the armies and the leaders, but you don’t see any proto-government willing to take the reins after independence or liberation has been achieved. Maybe that’s why so may dictators come to power after revolutions in many countries.

And before I know it, this post just fell under the category of “Reflections”. Well, hope you have a nice 4th of July. Enjoy the fireworks and parades, don’t party too hard, and if you see an alien, let me know.

Why I Hate Deus Ex Machina

Posted: July 2, 2012 in Reflections, Writing
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In my last post, I mentioned that I’d lost power. So I was reading a book by flashlight, a book that I’d been looking forward to as it was the last volume in a really excellent sci-fi trilogy, and I was wondering how they were going to resolve the seemingly-unsolvable plot. What happens? No big battle; no jump into a black hole to stop the destruction of Earth; no combining of psychic powers in order to create a super-psychic power and save the world. Nope, just a deus ex machina, leaving me feeling a little cheated.

For those of you who don’t spend their time obsessing over terms like bildungsroman and deus ex machina, the deus ex machina is a plot device, usually a person or an object, that is inserted suddenly into a story in order to solve a seemingly-unsolvable plot. However, plenty of writers don’t like to use these plot devices, as they feel that they are not only cheating the readers out of a good resolution to the story, but also because the writers might feel they are cheating themselves.

You may be familiar with some famous deus ex machinas (I’m not sure if that’s actually the term’s plural form but whatever): the ending of Huck Finn is a well-known example. Lord of the Flies’ ending is also a deus ex machina, along with the ending for War of the Worlds. And I’m sure that if, given the time, I tried to look for more famous examples, I’d come up with a whole list of them.

Fortunately I don’t have the time. But if you want to put up your least favorite deus ex machina, and the emotional reaction you felt when you read/watched it, by all means tell me. I’d love to complain about it with you.

Snake: First Chapter Preview

Posted: July 2, 2012 in Living and Life, Novel, Progress Report, Scary Stuff, Writing
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I and most of Central Ohio lost power Friday, so I haven’t had Internet all weekend. Plus when I tried to use a public computer, the Internet was soo slooow that before I knew it, I had to be at my next thing before I could finish reading posts or checking my dashboard. Well, I’m making up for that right now, and I’m doing it by first writing this post, which has a small excerpt from my new novel-in-progress Snake.

I managed to write this Saturday night, using what little power I had left on my laptop. As I wrote by candlelight and computer screen, feeling almost like a modern-day Edgar Allen Poe, I felt the words flowing through me, from my fingertips to the computer. It was exhilarating, and I managed to finish the chapter before I had to turn off my computer to conserve the battery.

I hope you like what you read. If I find any time or if I get my electricity back by this evening, I’ll do a little more work.

~~~

(Warning: The following preview features some very bad words, so if you have kids, I suggest you make sure they’re not around when you read this post.)

 

Paul felt a buzz in his pocket and looked down. Through the fabric in his pants Paul could see the light from his phone shining through. Paul reached into his pocket, pulled out his phone, and dove into a little alcove where he could take the call in peace. Without checking the number he pressed the talk button and brought the phone to his ear.

“Hello?” said Paul; on the other end all he could hear was a deep breathing. Paul raised his eyebrows suspiciously. “Who is this?” He checked the caller ID, and saw only UNKNOWN NUMBER.

Suddenly the person at the other end of the phone spoke. “Men in your line of business have no right to be in a church, Mr. Sanonia.”

Paul stared at the phone, surprised. Glancing quickly around the church, he saw only three people, and none of them were on their phones. How did this person know where he was and how did he get his number? He looked back at the phone and spoke into the mouthpiece. “Who the fuck is this?”

The man on the other end laughed, a deep, hearty laugh that for some reason chilled Paul’s skin. “When your cousin James Sanonia died, he was shot in the head.” said the man, his voice deep and affected with a heavy Russian accent. “Then several bones were broken all over his body. He was then taken from wherever he was killed and thrown in the Hudson. Dockworkers saw his body floating and pulled him up out of the water. By the time they got him though, there was nothing to identify your cousin’s murderer. Except for one interesting detail, that is.”

Paul froze, his heart beating loudly in his chest. Who was this guy? How did he know all that? “And what was that detail?” he asked through gritted teeth.

The man spoke, and Paul froze. “You killed my cousin.” he hissed angrily. “You killed Jamie.”

“Horrible thing, wasn’t it?” said the Russian man. “I couldn’t get what I wanted out of your cousin. But I’m sure you’ll be much more helpful.”

Paul was only half-listening; he was looking around the Church, trying to find someone—anyone!—on a phone. One of the other worshippers, a teenage girl with a skirt too short for the cold February weather, got out of a pew while texting. Besides her, no one else seemed to have a phone.

“Where the fuck are you, you crazy shit!” Paul whispered into the phone. “Come on out and face me like a man!”

“But there is no fun in that.” replied the Russian man. “Besides, you’re so much more amusing to watch.”

Paul stepped out of the alcove, looking around the church. “Watch?” he repeated.

“Oh, didn’t I mention it?” asked the Russian man. “I’m right in the church with you.”

The Health Care Act Upheld: Thank You SCOTUS!

Posted: June 28, 2012 in Politics and Leadership
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That’s right, thank you Supreme Court! I actually never had any doubt that you’d uphold Obamacare, but the fact that you did makes me so happy. It’s inconcievable that people can’t afford a basic right in this country such as healthcare, and it’s even more inconcievable that there are people out there who would have others think that allowing others to have this basic right is a bad thing. So today, I’m happy to say that the law is upheld, people can stay healthy, and progress in this nation is still possible.

How will Mitt Romney, Republicans, and conservatives react, I wonder? It’ll probably be apart of a Jon Stewart joke tonight, I bet.

The Snake Outline: First Draft Finished

Posted: June 28, 2012 in Progress Report, Writing
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Lately I’ve been churning out on average a post a day. This never happened when I first started my blog. My, how times have changed…

Okay, before I go off on a tangent about posting and blogging, I’m going to get into the reason for this post. As you all know (or if you’ve become a follower in the past couple of days, are just learning), I wrote a novel called Reborn City and I am currently marketing it to agents. Not wanting to let my novel-writing skills diminish in the meantime, but not quite wanting to start RC‘s sequel yet, I decided to work on an unrelated novel, and held a little poll for deciding which novel out of two choices I’d work on. Now that the poll is long over, I’d like to announce that the outline for the novel (called Snake, if you haven’t already guessed that from the title of the post), is finished.

Or at least, the first draft of the outline is. Yes there’s a first draft. And it’s longer than the outline for RC, I’ll tell ya. 112 chapters! That’s five less than what I predicted, but still truly a sign that I’m writing a thriller. Thankfully there’s a smaller circle of main characters in Snake than in RC, so I didn’t have to put too much effort into writing out the small bios for each major character.

I’ll probably due a final draft next week. After that I’ll start a timeline so I have all the dates for the events in Snake planned out (trust me, a timeline would’ve been helpful when I was writing RC). After that there will come a little research, and then finally the writing, during which I shall post small snippets of Snake here on Rami Ungar the Writer.

Hope to have something for you soon. Bye!

Spring Quarter Wrap-Up: It’s So Late I’m Apologizing For It In The Post’s Title

Posted: June 26, 2012 in Living and Life
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I doubt any of you were exactly waiting on bated breath for me to send out my end-of-quarter update post, and I know it’s been a little over two weeks since the quarter officially ended, but I’m sending this out anyway now that I’ve remembered it. And if any of you were waiting on bated breath, I’m very sorry, so please take a breath before you die from lack of oxygen!

Alright, so here at Ohio State, this was our last quarter before we officially switch over to semesters (which is both exciting and  scary, so you know I’m looking forward to it some). And what a quarter it was! It just seemed to fly by. Before I knew it, I had to pack up my stuff and get out of the dorms! I’m happy to say though, that I got a 3.24o GPA (not what I was expecting, but I’m still happy about it). I enjoyed every single one of my classes, especially my English class, where I discovered that I have a fondness for early English literature, particularly Paradise Lost by John Milton (I enjoyed it so much my mom got it for me for my birthday).

I also saw a few of my friends graduate. I’m a little sad, but I know we’ll have memories, and it’s not as if we’ll never see each other again. Not only that, but my sister is going to be a freshman in the fall! She’s going to be studying to psychology and criminology, with the hopes of becoming a criminal profiler for the BAU (so you know she’s going to like Snake, the novel I’m working on right now). We get along fine, but we’re living on opposite sides of campus, because when we get into an argument, there just isn’t enough nuclear bomb shelters to go around these days.

All for now, besides the fact that I’m working on campus, and living with my dad so I can commute to and from work. I’ll let you guys know about fall semester when it gets a little closer. Bye!

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