September
2
2010
Young Justice is one of the new series to premiere on Cartoon Network this fall and will fill the slot left vacant by the recently-cancelled “Batman: The Brave and the Bold”, which I can’t say I’m sorry to see go. You know a series is in trouble when the only entertaining character on the show is Aquaman.
This show is similar to the Teen Titans but on a more serious bent, and is based upon both the DC comic of the same name, the Teen Titans (both comic and show), and other characters who’ve appeared in the DC universe over the years. To give themselves a bit of artistic license with both the story and the characters, the writers have based the show to take place on Earth-16.
The team includes their leader Aqualad, Robin (the Dick Grayson version), Kid Flash (Wally West? there’s that artistic license I was talking about earlier), Superboy, Miss Martian, and Artemis (an updated Arrowette?). The video shows Speedy/The Red Arrow and I thought it mentioned Wonder Girl as well. It also boasts regular appearances by the Justice League members as well, including Superman, Batman, Green Arrow, Wonder Woman, Aquaman, and Martian Manhunter.
Based upon some of the images I’ve seen, the animation looks fantastic. I hope the show does “Teen Titans” justice as it is still among the list of favorites at this house.
Here’s the Comic-Con spot. Not much of a preview per-say, but more of an interview with the creators. It’s pretty good all the same. Click on the image above to play the video or on this link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZiOjAmXDjW4
September
1
2010
Before I type anything else, let me just apologize profusely for subjecting you to something this horrible this early in the morning.
This might have been Alan and Keith’s favorite go-to crap movie back when we were kids. Now everyone has another chance to marvel over just how bad this movie really was. And this movie is up there on the list of worst movies EVER produced. It’s definitely the worst one I’ve ever seen. And I’ve seen both “Plan 9″, “Robot Monster”, “Dr. Parnassus”, and “Anchorman”. I put this one at the head of the pack.
Here’s the “international trailer” for the movie
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9KCct4RwLNM
….and if you are so inclined, here’s where you can purchase the BluRay.
http://www.blu-ray.com/news/?id=5016
-CWD
August
28
2010
For the past few years, I have been working on my first novel, Purgatory. It was indeed a process of writing and rewriting, editing and then editing it once again. A storyboard was created, used, scrapped, redone, then finally used to create a strong finished product.
I finally completed the product in the end of July, after having both Craig and Keith read and edit it. I then fixed all my mistakes, which were many, and placed the final period on the story Purgatory. It was one of my greatest accomplishments as most people talk of writing a book but few get around to it.
So I sat down and wrote, what is called, a query letter. It was a one page letter which covered several topics. I had to give a brief, and I mean brief, synopsis of my novel. My 255 page book was reduced to one paragraph. This was tougher than I thought. I had trouble because my novel is really original and has many moving parts. After that, I had to inform the reader of who I was, in a brief biography. Who am I? Well this was my first novel. After that? Hmmm, married, child, history, video games, Mets. These aren’t exactly selling points; especially my love of the Mets. Basically I spent one page selling my book. And again, this is a tough tough process. Everything has to be perfect.
Next came the process of finding a literary agent. Once I finished my book, I thought, “no problem with this one. I will just send it to the agent that interests me most and wait for the request to read my manuscript”. Unfortunately, that was my first rejection. I re-read the agent’s website and decided that maybe my genre just wasn’t “for him”. So I found several more agents that specialized in both young adult lit, as well as historical fiction. I knew, just knew, they would all say yes. However, more rejections.
So here I am 14 rejections later. I am a bit closer as an agent did ask to read my manuscript. 14: No/ 1: Yes. While that is considered a minor slump in baseball if a batter went 1 out of the last 14, it is considered a minor victory in the writing world. Sure my hit was a bloop single. If she shows more interest, then we can make it ground rule double.
The reason I write this is because it was an eye opening and humble experience; one which I am still stuck in. I currently have 50 query letters out, with only one yes. I am sure a lot of the agents haven’t got around to reading my letter, some never will. One agent sent me a rejection letter just minutes after I sent my query. In his rejection response, he apologized for it taking so long to get back to me and said this project may not be for him. Hmmm, a long time in responding? It was minutes. It MAY NOT be for him? It either is or isn’t.
I am not worried that eventually someone will pick up on my novel and they will be happy they did. It is original and not the typical vampire/wizard book that young adults normally read. I have had four people read it and heard great responses from them.
So I won’t give up and I will keep plugging away. Maybe this agent that asked to read my book will be excited enough to want to work with me. Maybe she won’t and I will move on. I might be surprised and have several of those 50 agents ask for my manuscript. They could also all turn it down and I will continue my search. Either way, I have to be patience. I don’t really have a choice.
PURGATORY: coming soon
August
27
2010
I was digging around on Comingsoon.net and came across this trailer. I’d heard of the comic (I’m flattered that someone compared my early work to it, but I wasn’t nearly that good), but didn’t realize the show was an adaptation. You think the huge display at ComicCon would have given it away but I’m not as bright as I used to be. Old age is hell. I guess I should do some more homework on this program because it looks pretty amazing. Boy and I just watched the trailer and it floored us. If this series as half as good as it looks in this clip, it could prove to be one of the best shows on TV.
http://www.superherohype.com/news/articles/106169-the-trailer-for-amcs-the-walking-dead
The show premieres on Halloween night on AMC (that’s October 31st for those of you who have even less of a clue than yours truly). If you’d like to learn more, here’s the official website for the show. http://www.amctv.com/originals/The-Walking-Dead/
-CWD
August
22
2010
I’ve been busy this morning. Between surfing the web, playing Bejeweled Blitz on Facebook, and falling asleep on the couch to Phineas and Ferb, I’ve gotten a lot done this morning. I found trailers to three upcoming movies that look promising.
I’m expecting Cloverfield-type disappointment to set in about a week after seeing Monsters. In an age of incredible possibilities through CGI, I guess I get a little suspicious nowadays when the directors refuse to show you what everybody in the movie is running or hiding from. There’s a fine line between suspense and “we have no idea what to make this thing look like, so we’ll work around it by pretending to be artsy and creative and not show you anything”.
http://trailers.apple.com/trailers/independent/monsters/
I’m planning for mainstream-horror fare from Case 39, a psychological looking Omen-meets-The Exorcist movie starring Renee Zellweger and Bradley Cooper. It looks like it has real potential, which is the problem. I can handle a bad movie that knows it’s bad: they’re fun to watch even when they’re meant to be serious. It’s the ones that have all the potential in the world then fail to deliver that I can’t stand. After watching this trailer, I relegated this one to the Red Box pile pending further review.
http://trailers.apple.com/trailers/paramount_vantage/case39/
Let Me In, starring Chloe Moretz (the entertaining and amazingly vulgar Hit Girl from Kick-Ass) looks to be the best of the bunch and has a real indie-horror feel to it. Kid befriends the girl next door who turns out to be a murderous vampire. Maybe I’ll drag the other Derosby Brothers to the theater for this one.
http://trailers.apple.com/trailers/independent/letmein/
Thanks to Apple Movie Trailers.com, without whom (?) I’d have been extremely less productive this morning. You can see all of these trailers and more by following the link to their site http://trailers.apple.com/.
-CWD
August
20
2010
This one plays like a feature film, but this one’s a game trailer too. This is hands-down one of the best trailers (movie or game) I’ve seen this year.
http://g4tv.com/videos/47678/dc-universe-online-cinematic-trailer/
August
20
2010
Okay, so maybe this doesn’t one-up Alan’s post, but it at least evens us out, right? Looks like it may actually be better than the original, which is a pretty tall order.
August
12
2010
I think I just poo’d myself. Check out this trailer. I am so excited that they have changed Bioshock for the better.
August
10
2010
I know I have been absent from this site for quite some time, between work, moving into a new home, and finishing a master’s degree I have been more than pre-occupied.
Well, on my travels today I had to tolerate the poor pitiful Red Sox talk that has overwhelmed me for quite some time.
Fact: The Sox have had more than their share of injuries and are still having a very successful year with many players that wouldn’t ever sniff the big club in most years. The frustrating part about this is that despite their success, I am listening to the excuses that many fans say they don’t make. It’s one after another and get this…they’re still in the race for the postseason. So what’s to complain about.
Fact: There are other teams that have more than their share of injuries and are still in the playoff hunt. The Dodgers have had quite a few players injured (in fact one individual starting tonight had to send letters to teams letting them know that he was available if any were interested).
The reason I have written this is because the sports casters were discussing how NO team has had many injuries. Then I counted the Phillies DL list. They have placed 15 very key players on the DL for significant amounts of time. Jimmy Rollins, Ryan Howard and Chase Utley (3 MVP caliber players) have all missed very long stretches of time. In fact there are only 2 starting fielders who have not spent time on the DL along with many back up players. All the while, the Phillies are in hunt as well. We can get into the argument of AL versus NL at some other point. We can also look at the fact that the Sox are chasing two very good teams.
What I want is for Sox fans to just enjoy the run they’re on. They could still make the playoffs and this is something enjoyable to watch (although I know it is difficult cheering for this many reserve players night in and night out). This is not your typical red sox season as of late but it’s not a wash. So please just stop complaining, stop throwing in the towel, stop asking for sympathy. It could always be worse…think of the fans in KC, Pittsburgh and Baltimore.
August
7
2010
Right before Sofie’s birthday, I decided to purchase three Disney films for her: The Lion King, Peter Pan, and Cinderella. When I received them in the mail, I noticed that the covers weren’t exactly of the quality that Disney produces. When I opened the Peter Pan I saw that it was not the offical Disney case as all of the real DVDs have a flip case. I then read on the internet that 90% of the Disney films for sale on ebay are indeed bootlegged. Be very careful of buying these.