Brooklyn Nine Nine/ The Flash/ Gotham

 This is on my blog www.badcb.blogspot.ca:

May 13 Brooklyn Nine Nine: I saw the pilot way back in Sept.  It stars Jake Peralta aka JP (Andy Sandberg from Saturday Night Live) who is a detective.  He and Detective Amy Santiago (Melissa Fumero) are trying to find out who robbed this cameras store.  JP had put a camera/ nanny cam in a teddy bear.  That’s how they solved the case.

There is a new captain Ray Holt (Andre Braugher.)  He is black and he’s very strict.  The Sergeant Terry Jeffords (Terry Crews) then shows what he was like at work.

There is a flashback of Terry at a department store at night.  It’s dark and he gets nervous.  He shoots multiple times and it’s really at mannequins.  Terry introduces Holt to all the workers.

There is Detective Rosa Diaz (Stephanie Beatriz) who is a tough woman.

Gina (Chelsea Peretti) tells about bet: If JP gets the most arrests, he wins by getting a date with Santiago.  If Santiago wins, she gets his car.

The case is a murder in an apartment.  Will Armisen (Saturday Night Live) plays an ethnic foreigner.  The Murderer killed someone named Morgan and stole ham that’s worth $6000.

It leads to JP investigating at a deli.  The suspect Rocco tries to run and JP is thrown around.  There’s some action here.  Rocco throws food at them.

There is a flashback of 1971.  It shows how Holt found the Disco Strangler.

Cut to a sewer.  Holt is in a fro and pointing a gun.

Holt: Put down the yo-yo, it’s over.

Cut to a man about to strangle a woman tied up to a chair with a yo-yo.

Lol. 

Holt is strict and wants all the officers to wear a tie.  JP resists and then later he wears a tie.  He then gets up from his desk and he’s wearing s speedo.

Later Holt says he’s gay.  He is openly gay and there was even a newspaper article framed on his office wall that says he is an openly gay police captain.  They show all these flashbacks in the episode where he and other characters says things that points out that he’s gay.

They go to the storage lockers and they look for Rocco.  They arrest Rocco and surround him.

Case solved.

My opinion: It was average.  After I saw the pilot, I didn’t watch this show anymore.  I’m not into sitcoms. 

May 18: Comparisons:

A TV show about a serious job is a comedy: Being a police officer is for a drama, but it’s a comedy.  Do you remember the TV show Scrubs?  It’s about doctors, but it’s a sitcom.

A TV show filmed in a mokumentary way: The Office, Parks and Recreation are filmed like these are real people when it’s fictional.

The show has been renewed for a second season.

The Flash: I was watching Arrow on ctv.ca and there is news about the spin-off The Flash.   On imdb.com: “A TV show centered around scientist Barry Allen, who suffers a freak accident that turns him into a superhero with the power of incredible speed.”

Here’s the 1 min. trailer:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mxrjiGIOSCQ

Here is the extended 5 min. trailer: 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Wc6rVGABR0

The promo looks interesting.  I don’t know if I will watch it after the pilot.  Grant Gustin will play Flash and Tom Cavanagh (from the TV show Ed) will play Harrison Wells.  Wells looks like he will be a scientist/ mentor.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt3107288/

Gotham: Last week I read in the newspaper about the TV show Gotham which is the prequel to Batman.  Ben Mckenzie (from The OC) will play Detective James Gordon.  They show all the characters like Bruce Wayne, the Riddler, Cat Woman, the Penguin before they all become villains.

Here’s the 2 min. trailer:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0d1zpt6k5OI

This looks really good.  I want to want watch it.

Birds of Prey: When I read about it in the newspaper, I was kind of eh with it.  As in, does anyone remember the TV show Birds of Prey?  It starred Ashley Scott, fresh after she played Asha on the TV show Dark Angel.  She was also in the movie Into the Blue with DA co-star Jessica Alba.

On imdb.com: “In the future, long after the Batman has driven himself into exile, his legacy lives on in the form of the Birds of Prey--Black Canary, Oracle, and the Huntress.”

I only saw a little bit of one ep.  It got cancelled after 1 season.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0312098/?ref_=nv_sr_1

May 23 Retirement: Barbara Walters is retiring and on May 18, 20/20 did an episode about her.  I didn’t watch it.

David Letterman is retiring and Stephen Colbert is taking over his show.

The movie critic Jay Stone is retiring.  In the article I read about him, people say it’s so cool that he gets to watch movies as his job.  Stone then says how it’s good until you have to watch Saw 6. 

May 25 Meet Up: Last week I finally went to a screenwriter’s Meet Up.  I joined last year and read people’s scripts and made comments on it.  It was a warm evening, there was no TV to watch, and it’s not too hard to get there.  I then met 7 new people that evening.  I also met 4 of them who I have read scripts from.

There were 8 of us including me.  We all discussed the script, and we also talked about movies.  I was there for 1hr and a half.

Overall, I would say it was a good experience.

Who Made Who Productions: A man named Jeff L. Burke there told me about his production company.  He said he made Fitz.  He also went to the Emerged Producer Program at NAIT.  I looked up that program at NAIT’s website and it wasn’t there.  I’ve heard of it before.  It’s on imdb.com:

http://www.imdb.com/company/co0233851/

Rick Ravenello: He says he knows the actor Rick Ravenello.  I looked it up on imdb.  He was on a episode of Castle.  I remember seeing the episode, but I don’t remember him.  I guess he’s one of those actors who are in a lot of TV and movies, with small roles.

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0712262/?ref_=rvi_nm

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1628174/?ref_=nm_flmg_act_25

Hutch Parker: Another person at Meet Up says he is in touch with this producer.

Well it looks like the people at Meet Up are serious about screenwriting.

Andrew Foley/ Justin Cronin/ Charles Kaufman

This is on my www.badcb.blogspot.ca:

May 14 Andrew Foley: I was going through my news articles and I cut out "Writer sees Cowboys and Aliens in reel life" by Andrea Sands on Aug. 2, 2011 in the Edmonton Journal.

It profiles Andrew Foley who is a 41 yr old freelance writer and he co-wrote the original graphic novel Cowboys and Aliens that has been turned into a movie.  He has a book called Done to Death. 

He says: “It’s not too often that someone from Edmonton produces something that gets this kind of level of worldwide recognition.”

I tried to look up the article and provide the link, but it wasn’t there.

Justin Cronin: I cut out this short article “Vamping around with Justin Cronin” by Mark Medley on Jun. 20, 2010.  He wrote a vampire trilogy starting in 2010.  It’s called The Passage.   Here are a few excerpts of the article:

The Passage: Cronin blends elements of horror, science fiction, magic realism and fantasy into the novel. The author says he was "trying to write a book that was outside categories by being in all categories simultaneously."

"I took all the vampire novels and stories of my youth and said, 'OK, let's go do my version of it,' " he says. "Let's suppose all the lore out there, everything from Dark Shadows to Bram Stoker -- there's kind of a vampire myth in almost every culture, in one way or another. It's ubiquitous -- let's suppose that the reason for all myths is that there's something that happened. There's a real thing in the world. ... What would that thing be?"

"There's a tendency in publishing to view you as a certain kind of writer. You write a certain book and basically everybody expects you to write that kind of book forever," explains Cronin, whose two previous books were more literary endeavours, included 2002's Mary and O'Neil, which won the Pen/Hemingway Award.

"We sent it out under a pseudonym because I basically wanted anybody who encountered the manuscript to have absolutely no preconceptions at all. None. ... I think it gave the book a truly uncorrupted reading."

"When I got the idea, I really felt like I'd been given this tremendous present, and that it seemed a total natural for me to write it. It gave itself up to me very quickly at the keyboard. The book instantly behaved, and pushed all kinds of happy buttons in my brain right when I started it.

"I felt like I really found what I was meant to do."

http://www2.canada.com/edmontonjournal/news/archives/story.html?id=1965b0b2-0ec0-48b4-9af5-b390fa0c0220

I then cut out this National Post article “When a serious novelist takes on the monsters” by Josh Visser on Oct. 2012.  The Twelve is the second book to the trilogy.  Here are the excerpts:

The Twelve: 

The Passage told the story of a secret government plot to use a jungle virus to create a breed of super soldiers, using death-row inmates as test subjects.

The Twelve, as the always-tricky middle chapter of a trilogy, commits itself fully to world-building, expanding on its predecessor, but at the same time tells its own story without simply rehashing the past.
As well, several seemingly minor characters from the first book — a pedophile employed the U.S. government to clean the virals’ cages, for instance — are given significant backstories we didn’t necessarily know we wanted.

Eventually, the narrative shifts to Peter Jaxon, the “Everyman” soldier who provides the series’ moral compass; Alicia, who has become Buffy the Vampire Slayer thanks to a dose of the super-soldier serum; and, of course, Amy, the 100-year-old girl who may hold the key to everlasting life.

Considering the movie rights to The Passage have been sold to Ridley Scott’s production company, it’s hard not to notice the great effort and visual flair Cronin has put into his set pieces.

There are also more than a coincidental number of coincidences.

But at its core, The Twelve remains a remarkably frightening and tense novel. Between the genuinely terrifying monsters — soulless predators that literally rip humans limb from limb; no pretty boy Twilight antics here — or his willingness to kill off beloved characters, there is little room left on the page to breath.

http://arts.nationalpost.com/2012/10/19/book-review-the-twelve-by-justin-cronin/

Novel article: I cut out this National Post article “They killed the novel, again” by Harry Mount in 2010.  I couldn’t find the link to the article so I will have to type a few excerpts up:

Columnist Lee Siegal says: “Non- fiction is now the place that attracts all the good writers.”

“…Everyone is encouraged to be a writer, and writing is considered a sacred art.”

“So the Web should be a wake-up call to novelists- to try to be funnier, sadder, or more interesting.”
Siegal says most modern novelists are: “more like cripplingly self-conscious curators or theoreticians than writers.”

“Beryl Bainbridge, who died this week, recently told a friend of min, suffering from writer’s block, ‘Oh, it’s easy.  You just listen to what people say, and then you write it down.  You think of a story, and then you write it down.’

She was being self-deprecating for comic effect; not many people could do the writing down stuff as well as her.  But, if someone does do it well enough, people will still want to go on reading novels.  Forever.”

Charles Kaufman: I cut out this National Post blurb “Screenwriter Charlie Kaufman’s idiosyncratic writing advice” on Oct. 8, 2011:

How do you tell a story?  Charlie Kaufman, the mind behind Being John Malkovich and Adaptation, recently gave a speech on that subject for the British Film Institute.  Some extracts:

“Storytelling is inherently dangerous.  Consider a traumatic event in your life.  Think about how you experienced it.  Now think about how you told it to someone a year later.  Now think about how you told it for the hundredth time.  It’s not the same thing…You find out which part of the story works, which part to embellish, which to jettison.

You fashion it.  Your goal is to be entertaining.  This is true for a story told at a dinner party, and it’s true for stories told through movies.  Don’t let anyone tell you what a story is, what it needs to include.  As an experiment, write a non-story.  It will have a chance of being different.”

May 15 Forced to Fight: I found this movie a long time ago.  Imdb.com says:

“Blackmailed back into the arena by a ruthless crime boss, a former underground fighting legend must survive a gauntlet of savage matches where losing just one fight... means losing it all.”

I saw the trailer and it looks pretty good.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1884312/?ref_=3Dnv_sr_1

Amazon Storybuilder: I found this.  Maybe through Two Bits writer’s group.  It’s a screenwriting tool where it’s like a digital corkboard where you put cue cards on it about story beats and characters.

https://studios.amazon.com/storybuilder

writing beginnings/ Rock band Islands question

This is on my www.badcb.blogspot.ca:

Apr. 27 Writing beginnings: I was going through my old Screenwriting Goldmine emails and I found this one on Sept. 28, 2012.  It was really good.  Phil Gladwin wrote

this:

“Hi there, 

SCREENWRITING GOLDMINE CONTEST QUARTER FINALISTS

It's less than a week before I announce the quarter finalists for the Screenwriting Goldmine Competition, and it's all very exciting round here. It's been an incredible reading journey, and the myriad different worlds I've entered over the last couple of months has made my head spin on occasion. It was really refreshing to see so

many of you write with such ambition. The job was made far harder than I anticipated by the sheer number of very capable scripts that have been submitted. A lot of you can write very well indeed. 

WHY DOES NO-ONE WRITE BEGINNINGS ANY MORE?

I very often see lists floating around on blogs of 'Cliched Openings to Scripts', and, though I could, I'm not going to write my own. (It could be a cliche, after all.) 

There is one point I'd like to make though.

There is an incredible number of you who opened your entries to the contest with an exciting scene or sequence, which I enjoyed very much, and then wrote the words '6 Weeks Earlier', or '12 Hours Earlier' or '1 Year ' and then went back in time to the real 

beginning of the story.

The story then ran on from there on, mostly linearly, until we got to that scene again (classically at the Act 2 break) from which point we ran on to the end of the story.

It used to be a surprising, even exciting, technique - and indeed you still see it on screen all the time (that most excellent recent British crime show 'Good Cop' opened like that only a couple of weeks ago) but, if I'm really honest, by the fiftieth, or hundredth(!) time it had cropped up, I was getting a little jaded.

The idea is that it makes your script hit the ground running, plunges you back into the story, and by taking you back to the beginning of the story energises the first part of the script with the massive question 'How do these innocent looking characters end up in those dire straits?' 

That's not to say I absolutely hate it - indeed some of these quarter finalist scripts I've chosen do actually open like this, because when it's done well it does work well. 

But do I have a few thoughts that might make you more cautious about using it:

1. It is a terribly, terribly common technique these days. And terribly common is not what you want when you are trying to impress. 

2. If it's done right, then, when you get to the scene/sequence the second time through then you really ought to have something different to say about the scene. 

By which I mean that, given that they have had all the questions about the opening answered by the story, then the second time round the audience should see the same scene on screen, but understand it completely differently. 

Otherwise it's a simple repeat beat, and they are boring. 

(See The Hangover for a fine example of how they make it work, and what new information surfaces at that point to propel the story on.)

3. It makes me think that you have trouble writing beginnings! 

I'm sure you realise that a beginning should be strong, intriguing, powerful, and ask story questions that makes you want to know more. 

So, instead of using this trick, I would strongly recommend that you look at the characters at the time of the beginning of the story and see what you find about them - at that time - that is all of the above, and start your story there.”

My opinion: He’s got a good point.  Alias was the one that started using this on their show.  I guess there is the overuse of it.  I can say it’s not in my The Vertex Fighter script.

It’s not in my Rain script.  There has been lots of changes in the beginning of the script.  There was a morning scene, and then at the night scene where the action happens.  I was told by writer in residences that it was fast-paced.  However, Marty Chan did say that the morning scene wasn’t really necessary so I started it at night instead.

Apr. 28 Screenwriting class: I looked up Communications Studies at MacEwan.  There’s still a screenwriting class there.  Way back in 2009, after I graduated, I did think of going to take that class.  Now years have passed, and I feel like I can learn this by reading screenwriting books.

Apr. 30: I read another script for the Meetup group.  It took me a few days to read it.  I sent him my notes on how it reminded me of other TV shows and movies like The Matrix, The Tomorrow People, and Harry Potter.

May 4 Kickstarter: I was reading in the Metro on Mar. 14, 2014 called “Fulfilling fan dreams- for a price.”  It mentioned the Veronica Mars movie and the hardest part of the campaign was the fans who gave a certain amount of money and got the prize of a cast-signed posters from all the actors.  Now Zach Braff and Spike Lee have their own campaigns.

The article mentions the ethics of it like “Contributors pay for different levels of rewards, but don’t share in profits.”

“Veronica Mars may have introduced a democratic spirit to a green-lighting process usually controlled by film executives…”

House of Cards producer Dana Brunetti: “It’s a brilliant idea that’s gotten out of hand.  It’s wrong when people like Zach Braff or Spike Lee use that same service to fund their films when they already have success.  I think it overshadows and takes away from the little guys who actually need the funding.

Veronica Mars creator Rob Thomas: “If it bothers you that Zach Braff probably has a lot of money from Scrubs, then don’t give it.”

May 7 Rock band Islands question: I was reading in the Edmonton Journal on Mar. 26, 2014 called "On the Edges of the Big Time" by Mike Bell.  Here’s the beginning of the article:

Why aren't you more successful? Don't ask Nick Thorburn this question, even if your intentions are good, and you mean it in the nicest way.

"It's one of the most annoying questions that can be asked after a show. As though I have some kind of control over the fate of my music and how it's received commercially or critically. It's really funny," says the songwriter behind Canadian alt pop act Islands, while on tour in Germany, where he's hearing the query on a nightly basis.

"But it's a constant question that I've only just started noticing, like people almost seem upset with me as though I'm holding back. And they don't understand, they're perplexed."

My opinion: I’m not a fan of the band, but I thought that was really interesting.  You can not control how your work is going to be received commercially or critically.  There are some things you can predict. 

I know when I am going to write about a MADtv sketch in my email/ blog post, I will always forewarn you and say: “This may be offensive to some people, so be prepared.”

This belongs in my writing email because I’ve had Tracy’s blog since 2008.  I was to be discovered by it.  I also send my script pitches out often and producers read it.  I can’t control if they will like the script or not.

http://www2.canada.com/edmontonjournal/news/story.html?id=93b09736-1f28-4785-a415-abe0dfa9d657

Sleepy Hollow TV show review/ Shailene Woodley

This is on my www.badcb.blogspot.ca: 

Apr. 11 Sleepy Hollow: I saw the pilot to this show on Sept. 24, 2013.

It was in 1781 in Hudon Valley, NY.  There is a battle scene and it’s very exciting.  Ichabod Crane (Tom Mison) is a soldier and he cuts off the head of a soldier. 

Crane wakes up in a cave.  He climbs out into the woods and it’s foggy.  He almost gets hit by a car.  There is a sign that says “Village of Sleepy Hollow.”

Cut to 2 cops.  One is an old white guy and the other is a young black woman named Abbie Mills (Nicole Beharie).

A priest watches them.  The cops get a call and they go to the stables.  The horses are spooked.

Abbie finds a shot gun by the truck.  Abbie finds a guy with his head cut off.

They keep shooting at the Headless Man, but he keeps coming.  He then rides out in a white horse.

Andy Brooks (John Cho from Harold and Kumar go to White Castle) gets a call about Crane walking around.  Abbie sees Crane.

Abbie: That’s not him (Headless Man).  He had a red overcoat and a ban on his head.

Cop: I cut off his head.

Crane does a polygraph test and tells about himself: I’m a spy for General George Washington.

There is a flashback.

Crane: I was in triage.  My wife Katrina is a nurse there.

Captain Frank Irving (Orlando Jones) gives a $1 bill to Crane: You won the war, 250 yrs ago.

They put him in the psych ward.  Irving won’t let Abbie talk to Crane.

Abbie: I need closure.

Abbie talks to Crane.

Abbie: Slavery has been abolished 150 yrs ago.

She drives Crane to the psych ward.

Crane: You didn’t tell them about the Headless Horseman.

Crane is playing with opening the car window.

Abbie: Show me the cave where you woke up from.

Crane sees Priest in present time.  There is flashback of the 18 century past.

Crane finds book: This was burned with me.

Crane: This is the passage.  Washington told me to kill a man with a bow on his hand.  He is Death.  One of the 4 horsemen.  He is here to finish what he started.

Horseman attacks Priest.

Priest: I will never tell you where it is.

Horseman chops off his head.

Abbie sees Priest, dead. 

Irving: Take Crane to a mental ward or you’re suspended.

Crane sees the grave Katrina Crane.  She was burned at the stake for witch craft.

Cut to mental hospital.

Abbie: My sister Jenny and I were walking home and saw 3 white trees.

We blacked out.

Abbie: People said we were crazy.  She’s been in and out of these places.  People say you’re crazy.  I understand.

Abbie enters Sheriff Corbin’s office and finds the key behind frame and unlocks file cabinet. 

Abbie listens to tapes of witch covens.  On the tape it says: “Abbie and Jenny Mills saw these 4 white trees” like the same case.

Crane wakes up and there’s that bird again.  He sees Katrina (Katia Winter).

Katrina: My grave hold the head of the horseman.  You blood he’s merged.  You’re connected.  We bound the cave to save you.  If the horseman gets his skull, the other 3 will come.  It will be the end.  The sun will destroy him.

Abbie picks up Crane from the mental hospital.

Abbie: Walk fast before she realizes the release form is a fake.

Andy enters his place and it’s broken into.  The Horseman is there.

Andy: I know where it is.

Crane starts digging the grave.  Abbie is there.

The head is in a jar.

Horseman shoots at them and they’re running.

Abbie shoots at the Horseman.

Andy drives by.

Andy knocks out Abbie and Abbie bites Andy’s thumb.

Abbie points gun at Andy.

2 cops shot at Horseman.

Horseman shoots at the cops and cruisers.

The sun rises and the Horseman leaves.

Irving; 2 cops corroborate the story.  You were going to go to Quantico to be in the FBI next week.

Abbie: Not anymore.

Andy in jail. 

Horseman there and kills Andy.

Abbie and Crane see the Horseman in the mirror.

Apr. 21 My opinion: The pilot was good.  Good writing and acting.  However, I didn’t connect with it, so I didn’t watch it after the pilot.

If you like supernatural stories, you may be interested in it.

The show has been renewed for a second season.

Apr. 27 Shailene Woodley: You may know her on Secret Life of the American Teenager or in the new movie Divergent.  I read that movie’s got good reviews.  On a Yahoo news video, it had the interview of her on Teen Vogue.  Woodley said she didn’t like Twilight because it was a unhealthy relationship.  The couple date, he leaves her, and then she goes and wants to kill herself.  That’s not a good message.

Here’s a comment:

 

val21mmer: I have a newsflash for you, Shailene: You aren't supposed to send ANY messages - at least, we're not waiting for them. Messages meant to impress young people are being sent by their parents and educators - and if they failed at that, your "messages" are too little too late. Let's face it: we're watching movies for entertainment, not for "messages" or life-building skills. We get these elsewhere.
So get off the high horse and just do the job you're being paid to do: pretending to a character from a fairy tale

My opinion: There are more opinions where people diss Twilight and Secret Life, and saying it’s just a movie.

When I write, I do want to send a positive message out.  I want to educate and entertain with my writing.  In my scripts there is a good message out.  I have a blog, so I do send positive messages out.

It could be really important and informative news about jobs and current events.  Or it could be something like “Watch this TV show.”

https://ca.celebrity.yahoo.com/video/why-shailene-woodley-isnt-fan-223625109.html

funding/ Andrea Beca/ ABCTales

This is on my www.badcb.blogspot.ca:

Apr. 5: I like reading the newspaper because it’s productive reading.  I learn about business news when I read the business section of the newspaper.  I also learn more about film when I read the entertainment section.

Funding: I was reading an Edmonton Journal article “Agency hands out $4.7M in film cash” on Mar. 21, 2014.  It was about Telefilm and I have heard about them before.  The article talks about how they are funding all sorts of films in genres like dramas and thrillers.

I emailed some people and now I’m looking at funding.

Alberta Film and Television Awards: I read an Edmonton Journal article “Local TV productions in a run for the Rosies” on Mar. 14, 2014.  They mentioned all these TV shows and movies shot in Alberta like Heartland, Blackstone, Tiny Plastic Men, and the movie Freezer.

It mentioned a lot of TV production companies so I looked them up too.

Aquila: I did find this production company called Aquila, but they produce non-fiction.

http://www.aquila.ca/

Andrea Beca: I was reading the Metro article “Anti-Valentine’s Day event to give people ‘Cooties’” on Feb. 11, 2014.  Metro writer Stephanie Dubois wrote the below:

What did a local woman do after one too many bad dates? She decided to share them with all of Edmonton in a mini-series.

Cooties will make its four-minute premiere at the “Dark Matters Film Festival: An Anti-Valentine’s Day Special” on Thursday, an adult-only event.

“The first episode of the mini-series is about a date gone wrong, specifically at the end of the date where a guy wants to kiss a girl. It’s pretty much a verbatim conversation of one of my dates,” said Andrea Beça, writer and director of the three-part mini series.

http://metronews.ca/news/edmonton/937213/anti-valentines-day-edmonton-event-to-give-people-cooties/

I found the 4min film.  It was funny and I cringed at it.  Some things in comedy you are laughing and cringing at the same time.

http://thetrentwilkie.com/2014/02/21/cooties/

Toy movies: I was reading the Globe and Mail on Feb. 7, 2014.  It talked about the new Lego movie.  Dave McGinn mentions movies that are based on toys like Transformers, Battleship, and Bratz.  I totally forgot about the Bratz dolls movie.  Don’t forget GI Joe: Rise of the Cobra.

Writer’s feedback: I was reading in the Metro article “What do you have to say for myself?” by Sidneyeve Matrix on Jan. 29, 2014.  She writes for TalentEgg.ca.  She mentions these:

ABCTales: This is from the website:

“ABCtales is a place for writers to share, discuss and develop their work.

ABCtales puts writers and editors together. The one can’t thrive without the other - and what we’ve found is that there’s an editor in every writer and a writer in every editor.

We believe that there’s as much to be learned from editing as from writing, so after you put up your work on the site, have a look at someone else’s, give them your feedback and discover the editor in you. You'll learn about the bits and bolts of writing by helping others - and along the way you'll meet a community of peers who will return the favour.

From your first short poem to the final chapter of that novel you’ve been working away at, our community will be there to read your work and give you advice on how to improve. And, when the time comes, we’ll do everything we can to help spread your work to a wider audience.”

There’s an “Inspiration point” page:

“Each week we will give you a short phrase or sentence to set your literary juices flowing—it's just a jog to get you writing so feel free to let it take you where you will. If you have an idea that you think would fit in well here then please email me (luke@abctales.com).

(04.04.14)

Our inspiration this week is: Skeuemorphism

A weird one, I know. But once you start reading about it the ideas start flowing. Skeuemorphism is the process in which obsolete materials get reincorporated into modern technology - like when the sound of a camera's shutter clicking is incorporated into an iphone camera (to the great annoyance of anyone who's gone on holiday and stumbled upon a group of wild iPhotographers) or when you have to delete files on your computer by dragging them into a digital 'recycling bin' and emptying it (even though there's nothing like recycling going on). An odd one - for something more traditional, try this related phrase: A trace of the past

See where it takes you - and be sure to check the 'Inspiration Point' genre so we can all see what you do with it!”

My opinion: This is actually a pretty good website. 

Critique Circle: This website is pretty good to.  It has a blog, forums, tools like submission tracker, monthly progress, etc.  There is a section full of writer quotes to inspire you to write.

http://www.critiquecircle.com/

Apr. 21 Loud Mouth Communications: I remember when I was in Professional Writing in college, and I took Professional Prose class.  There was a presentation given by Ilan Colley who created her own communications company.

I remember we were all impressed by her and her work.  I have kept her business card.  Here is her website.  It’s really good and bright.  At the presentation, she told us about this:

“What a Girl Wants

There is nothing better than raising money for a good cause – except for throwing a huge party to go along with it. For four years LMC created and executed the event strategy for What a Girl Wants, a fundraiser for the Lois Hole Hospital for Women. Not only was the event a massive success, bringing together girls and their friends for fabulous food, fashion and entertainment; it also raised more than $300,000 for the hospital!”

http://www.loudmouthcommunications.com/index.php

Apr. 27 Marshal Chamberlain: Ginny Grimsley sent me this article about Marshal Chamberlain’s new book.  The article is called “Elements of a Compelling Novel.”

•  The characters should speak to you. For example in Chamberlain’s Ancestor Series, a former Marine officer turned geology professor and a doctor in microbiology and computer science – a man and a woman - have personality traits many readers will relate to. They are unique and interesting — two stalwart individuals forced to confront and contend with romance, deceit, greed, violence and politics. These are problems every reader contends with in life.

•  The setting should capture the imagination. Chamberlain’s latest adventure-thriller features vivid imagery inside secret chambers within a Belizean mountain where ancient technology is uncovered. This almost mythical setting is tempered by a style Chamberlain calls “plausible reality,” which empowers readers to suspend disbelief and connect with the excitement and mystery of discovery. It helps to have a stylistic flavor; in his case, a little Indiana Jones.

•  The plot should keep readers turning the pages. The discovery of ancient technology that’s poised to have global implications, along with tensions between characters, are tandem plot elements that charge and maintain reader interest. A well-paced story, while hitting the right emotional beats, helps ensure readers stay engaged.

•  Unique themes set a work apart from the competition. Themes should emerge for readers in a process of logical discovery. Chamberlain’s series utilizes a cocktail of genre twisting, including action, adventure, and thriller aspects, peppered with paranormal, metaphysical and sci-fi. This dynamic allows him to transcend the typical themes of individual genres and create compelling and unique books.

•  Consider significance. What’s it all mean? Many writers are split two ways: one camp wants the reader to come away with a well-stated message while other writers are scattered as to intent in presenting meaningful take-away. Regardless, a good principle in creative writing as applied to characters, setting, plot, themes or significance, is to not simply tell readers, but to show them meaningful and exciting content that has the potential to trigger insight for living more fulfilling lives.

http://badcb.blogspot.ca/2014/04/article-elements-of-compelling-novel.html

The Blacklist TV show review

This is on my www.badcb.blogspot.ca: 

Apr. 11: I have been busy with work and looking for a job.  Now let’s take a break and write about something else.

The Blacklist: I saw the pilot way back in Sept. 24, 2013.  The show starts off with Raymond (Red) Reddington played by James Spader entering an FBI building.  An agent runs his ID and the alarms start ringing.  All agents point guns at him. 

The FBI boss Harold Cooper (Harry Lennix, he was an agent on Dollhouse) talks to Red.  Red is a broker to deals to the highest bidder. 

Red: Ronko Zimman is the bad guy.

Cooper: He died 6 yrs ago.

Red: He got off a flight recently.  I want to speak to Elizabeth Keen (Megan Boone.)

Liz wakes up with her husband Tom Keen (Ryan Eggold, a teacher from 90210 remake) and their dog.  They overslept.

Tom: The last adoption meeting is today.

A helicopter and 3 SUVS come to pick up Liz.  Liz meets Cooper and she tells him it’s her first day in the FBI and doesn’t know Red.

Cooper: Profile yourself.

Liz: I have a deep yearning to learn the criminal mind.

Cooper: Why you?

Liz: I’m new, and he thinks I can easily be manipulated.

Liz meets Red.

Red: Zumani will kidnap a politician’s daughter.  You were abandoned by a father who’s a career criminal and your mom died of weakness and shame.

Liz goes to Cooper.

Liz: How did he know that?  He established value.  That girl is going to be taken.

Liz calls Tom at the adoption agency and says she can’t come to the meeting because of this important case.

Liz goes to the ballet school to pick up 6 yr old Beth.  They are riding in a car and they stop at a bridge.  They were to turn around, but a truck hits the SUV they Liz is in.  Machine guns start shooting.  Liz shoots at one.

Bad guys give a gas mask to Liz and they pour gasoline everywhere.  Liz puts the mask on Beth.  Liz runs out as they cars blow up.  It was crazy.

Liz goes to Red.

Liz: There are no demands after 4 hrs.

Red: Tell me about your scar on your palm first.

Liz: There was a fire.

Red: You have to think like a criminal.

Red sees wall of photos.

Red: What does he desperately want?

Liz: The chemist Zinman survived, but his wife and kid died.  The daughter will die to settle the score.

They find the Zinman.

Red: We need to go there.  I need to be without handcuffs.

They go to a nice hotel to find Zinman.

They found the lab.

Liz comes home and sees “It’s a girl” sign in the living room.

Tom is tied up and beaten up.

Zinman: What else do you know about the plan?

Liz: All I know is the girl.

Zinman stabs Tom in the leg.

Zinman: Save many Americans or save only one?

He stabs Tom in the stomach and he leaves.

Liz calls 911.

Tom is in a coma.

Liz confronts Red.

Liz: Did you send him?

Red: What did Zinman say?

Liz puts pen in Red’s neck.

Liz: Now you tell me what happened.

CSI takes pictures of her home.

Liz washes the blood stain in her carpet.

Liz goes to the hospital to talk to Red.

Red is out in the parking lot.

Red has a tracking chip in him.

Red talks to Zinman.

Red: The General’s daughter is a risk.

Zinman: I’m going to put the red plague out.  60 yrs from now, they will talk about this.

Liz: I saw a stamp on his (Zinman’s) hand.

There is a flashback of an earlier scene were Tom talks about a field trip.

Liz: It’s a stamp fro the zoo.

Liz goes to the zoo and finds Beth.  Beth has a bomb strapped to her.  In the backpack, there is a timer.  Liz gets a call from Red.

Red: My friend is coming.

Agents point guns at Zinman and he pulls a tracking chip.

Agent: Son of a bitch!

Liz shows Beth her scar: This makes me brave.  Touch it.  It will make you brave.

Red’s friend Bomb Guy takes bomb off and runs with it.

They never catch the Bomb Guy, but they got Zinman.

Red tells Cooper about the Blacklist: The criminals who matter, the ones who don’t exist.

Liz is cleaning the bloody carpet, and then she cuts it.  There is a box with money and a gun.  There are passports with Tom’s face and different identities.

Liz talks to Red.

Red: You discovered something about your husband.

My opinion: The pilot was good and well-written.  I didn’t connect with it, though it had a lot of elements of TV shows I liked.  It was a good action-drama.  I was surprised with Liz coming home to find her husband is tortured and that her husband Tom is also a spy too.

I looked it up, and the show has been picked up for a second season.  Good for them.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Blacklist_%28TV_series%29

Comparisons:

A woman working for a government agency: It was like Alias.

A FBI team hunting down bad guys: It was like Criminal Minds.