Not a Blog

Eleven Days and Counting . . .

July 29, 2013 at 6:18 pm
Profile Pic

. . . until the Grand Re-Opening of the Jean Cocteau Cinema, the movie theatre I bought a few months back in a fit of madness.

We've been busily refurbishing the theatre all that time.  As late as a week ago, it looked as if a bomb had gone off in the lobby, and I was having a nervous breakdown.  Things have finally started to come together, however, and my contractor (the amazing Marshall Thompson of Constructive Assets) and my manager (the astonishing Jon Bowman, founder of the Santa Fe Film Festival) both assure me that we will indeed be ready come the day.  I certainly hope so.  We've kept the theatre's wonderful old marquee, after replacing the old fluorescents with brighter LEDs, and the auditorium is more or less the same (though we've installed some wheelchair seating), but the lobby and concessions area has a bold new look, designed by the wonderfully talented Jayne Franck.  Assuming our chairs and tables arrive on time, it should be spectacular…

The Jean Cocteau has been dark for seven years, since Trans-Lux closed all its theatres in April, 2006.  To celebrate our return to life, and let the Santa Fe film-going community know that we're back, admission will be FREE to all shows during our first week.

FREE!  FREE!!  FREE!!!

We open on Friday, August 9, with two classic feature films: ORPHEUS, by Jean Cocteau, for whom our cinema is named, and FORBIDDEN PLANET, the classic MGM big-budget SF movie from 1956, which IMNSHO remains the best science fiction film ever made.

Both of them will be shown on our brand new (slightly larger and definitely brighter) screen, with our brand new digital projector(an NEC 900 Digital Projection System and Integrated Media Server) and our brand new upgraded sound system (Dolby Digital Surround Sound Processor CP650), so the picture quality and sound should be better than ever.

We will also be offering pizza, pastries, and the best popcorn in town (with parmesan) from our new art deco concession counter.

(No, the food and drink won't be free, that's just admission).

And we have some cool SURPRISES in store for that first week as well.  So those of you in Santa Fe… or Albuquerque… or, hell, anywhere in driving distance, should make of point of turning up for our Grand Opening Week to see the new improved Jean Cocteau.

More on all this in the weeks to come.  Meanwhile, our website is just up, so take a look.  Be advised, website construction is still in progress, so a lot of our features are not working yet… but you can check out the general design, and get a peek at the posters for some of the films we've got booked for the weeks and months to come.

http://www.jeancocteaucinema.com/

Current Mood: null null

The Wedding Guest

July 29, 2013 at 2:17 pm
Profile Pic

He's a father, he's a son.  He's been a bishop, a cardinal, a prior, a friar, a vicar, a knight, a lord, a mayor, a director.  There's one born every minute, but by any other name he'd smell as sweet.

Later:
I see the long delay between visits from Froggy the Gremlin hasn't dulled your skill at deciphering clues any.

Yes, it's the fine British character actor Roger Ashton-Griffiths, who has been cast in the role of Mace Tyrell, son to the Queen of Thorns, and father of Loras and Margaery.

Thanks for playing, and congrats to those who got it right.

Current Mood: null null

OLD VENUS Delivered

July 29, 2013 at 1:15 pm
Profile Pic

Another anthology done, another monkey off my back.

The last revision just came in on OLD VENUS, the latest (and last, for a time) original anthology that Gardner Dozois and I have been putting together.  Gardner will be delivering the final manuscript… well, e-manuscript… to our editors at Bantam Spectra later today.

Sixteen stories set on Venus.  Not, however, the real life Venus, with its rains of sulfuric acid and surface temperatures that would roast a man in the blink of an eye,  but the old watery pulp Venus of our lost youth, with its swamps, dinosaurs, and web-footed Venusians… Venerians… whatever.

The final lineup for this one will look like this:

INTRODUCTION, by Gardner Dozois
FROGHEADS, by Allen M. Steele
THE DROWNED CELESTRIAL, by Lavie Tidhar
PLANET OF FEAR, by Paul McAuley
GREEVES AND THE EVENING STAR, by Matthew Hughes
A PLANET CALLED DESIRE, by Gwyneth Jones
LIVING HELL, by Joe Haldeman
BONES OF AIR, BONES OF STONE, by Stephen Leigh
RUINS, by Eleanor Arnason
THE TUMBLEDOWNS OF CLEOPATRA ABYSS, by David Brin
BY FROGSLED AND LIZARDBACK TO OUTCAST VENUSIAN LEPERS, by Garth Nix
THE SUNSET OF TIME, by Michael Cassutt
PALE BLUE MEMORIES, by Tobias S. Buckell
THE HEART'S FILTHY LESSON, by Elizabeth Bear
THE WIZARD OF THE TREES, by Joe R. Lansdale
THE GODSTONE OF VENUS, by Mike Resnick
BOTANICA VENERIS: THIRTEEN PAPERCUTS BY IDA COUNTESS RATHANGAN, by Ian McDonald

This one is even more fun than our forthcoming OLD MARS, I think… and there's one story in there that's so bloody good that if it doesn't win the Hugo and Nebula both, I'll count it as a major injustice.  Which one?  Ah, I will leave you guys to figure that out.  But first you'll need to read the book.  Look for it along about a year after OLD MARS.

Gardner and I wish to categorically deny the rumor that we are now working on OLD URANUS.

Current Mood: null null

Breakfast at Brakebills

July 29, 2013 at 10:02 am
Profile Pic

Monday morning, and Tor.com has uploaded another teaser from DANGEROUS WOMEN.

91EWTSOg1IL._SL1500_

If you'd like to break your fasts at Brakebills with Lev Grossman, check out this sample from his Magicians story, "The Girl in the Mirror," at:

http://www.tor.com/stories/2013/07/dangerous-women-lev-grossman-excerpt

Watch this space.  More to come.

Current Mood: null null