In the Wind

July 22, 2015 at 5:20 pm

The sharks are coming.

Lots of them.

Tonight on SyFy… and next month at the Jean Cocteau.

Check it out. Next year’s Hugo favorite, for sure.

Tags: movies, television, weird sh*t

Me and Ant-Man

July 21, 2015 at 1:06 pm

Speaking of movies…

… I saw ANT-MAN last night at the Violet Crown down the street from the Cocteau, and loved it.

(It’s not playing at the JCC, though I wish it was. Alas, we have only the one screen).

Now, I have to confess, as an old — VERY old — Marvel fanboy (I was once a member of the Merry Marvel Marching Society), I was a little disappointed going in when I heard that this would be the Scott Lang Ant-Man and not the original Hank Pym Ant-Man of my youth. Scott Lang came in just about the time when my regular comics reading was falling off, so I did not know the character very well, whereas I knew and loved Hank and Janet, Ant-Man and his winsome Wasp. I was there at the dawn of time when they first started adventuring through the pages of TALES TO ASTONISH, after all. They were never as popular as the other heroes that Stan Lee created back then — Iron Man, Spider-Man, Thor, and such — but Lee always seemed to have a soft spot for Ant-Man, and I did too. Ant-Man was the ultimate underdog, after all, the little guy in a very literal sense who somehow held his own with gods and monsters whose powers dwarfed his own. The ants were cool too, and gave him a definite edge in my mind over his rival itty-bitty hero over at DC, the Atom.

And I loved his partnership with the Wasp. At a time when every other comic was playing the endless “romantic tension” card, or the older and hoarier “I must hide my secret from my girlfriend” trope, here was a man and a woman who adventured together, who loved each other without question, who even helped found the Avengers together… that was revolutionary in the early 1960s, like much of what Stan Lee did… (and sad to say, it would even be sort of revolutionary today).

The original Ant-Man had a short run compared to the other first generation Marvel heroes like Thor and Iron Man. In an effort to make the character more popular, Lee and his successors began to fiddle with the concept, giving Hank Pym the power to grow as well as shrink. Ant-Man became Giant-Man became Goliath (same powers, different costumes) became Yellowjacket became “Hank Pym, Scientific Adventurer” (I did you not). Truth be told, I never liked any of those revamps half as well as I liked the original Ant-Man, and when the writers (not Lee, new people had come on board by then) decided to make Hank mentally unstable and then turned him into a wife-beater… well, I really hated that. (I did, however, like some of what happened subsequently, when the Wasp came into her own and became the leader of the Avengers). After that was the Scott Lang era, I guess… and then a couple more Ant-Men after him… none of which I followed, or gave a damn about.

Given all this history, I had a lot of trepidation when this movie was announced. Would they do it right, would they capture the original Ant-Man from TALES TO ASTONISH and AVENGERS #1, the character I’d loved… or would they fuck it up?? I was eager for the film, but apprehensive about it as well, especially when I heard it would be about Scott Lang, not Hank Pym.

I am relieved and delighted to report that they did it right.

Scott Lang is the featured Ant-Man, yes, and Paul Rudd makes him a sympathetic and engaging protagonist, but due honor is done to Hank and his own career as the first Ant-Man as well, with Michael Douglas turning in a fine performance as Pym. There’s a lot of humor in this film, but it is not a farce, as I feared it might be. There’s a lot of action too, but not so much that it overwhelms the plot and characters, which was my problem with the last AVENGERS film… and the one before it, to think of it. A superhero movie needs a fair share of smashing and bashing and stuff blowing up, of course, but IMNSHO that stuff works best when it is happening to people we actually know and care about, and if you jam in too many characters and don’t take time to develop any of them properly, well…

ANT-MAN has a proper balance of story, character, humor, and action, I think. A couple reviewers are calling it the best Marvel movie ever. I won’t go that far, but it’s right up there, maybe second only to the second Sam Raimi/ Tobey McGuire Spider-Man film, the one with Doc Ock. I’ve liked most of the Marvel movies, to be sure, I’m still a Marvel fanboy at heart (Excelsior!), but I liked this one more than the first AVENGERS and a lot more than the second, more than either THOR, more than the second and third IRON MAN and maybe just a smidge more than the first (though I liked that one a lot too).

Oh, and I loved the ants!

Quibbles? Yeah, a few. Where was the Wasp? We got a few glimpses, and a set up for the next film. But I wanted more Wasp, and I loved the old original Hank/ Janet dynamic (before they got to the wife-beating stuff). Also, while Yellowjacket makes a decent villain here (in the comics, of course, he was actually one of Hank’s later identities, after Giant-Man and Goliath), I am tired of this Marvel movie trope where the bad guy has the same powers as the hero. The Hulk fought the Abomination, who is just a bad Hulk. Spider-Man fights Venom, who is just a bad Spider-Man. Iron Man fights Ironmonger, a bad Iron Man. Yawn. I want more films where the hero and the villain have wildly different powers. That makes the action much more interesting).

But those are quibbles, as I said.

Overall, I had a swell time. For a few hours I was thirteen years old again.

And did I mention that I loved the ants?

Tags: comic books, movies

Coming…

July 20, 2015 at 7:14 pm

… to the Jean Cocteau. Opening this Friday, July 24, we have PIXELS, for all of you who remember the videogames of your youth. <lj-embed id=”577″/> Adam Sandler. Peter Dinklage. PacMan. Looks like a hoot and a half. See you at the movies.

Tags: jean cocteau, movies

Speaking of Awards…

July 17, 2015 at 2:08 pm

The clock is ticking. Only two weeks remain to cast a ballot for this year’s Hugo Awards, in what is proving to be the most controversial and hotly contested Hugo race in the award’s long history. The Hugo, as regular readers of this Not A Blog know, is our field’s oldest and most prestigious award. Named in honor of Hugo Gernsbach, the founder of the first SF magazine Amazing Stories, it has been given annually at every worldcon since 1953 (well, except for 1954). And this year, as never before, the voice and vote of every true fan is needed to help protect the integrity of the rocket. <img src=”http://georgerrmartin.com/notablog/wp-content/uploads/import/260706_300.jpg” alt=”” title=””><img src=”http://georgerrmartin.com/notablog/wp-content/uploads/import/261190_300.jpg” alt=”” title=””> You need to be a member of Sasquan, this year’s worldcon, to vote on the Hugos… but even if you are unable to attend, Supporting Memberships are available that will allow you to vote. If you have not voted the Hugo Awards before, please note that it is an “Australian ballot,” a preferential system whereby one ranks the nominees. You don’t just vote for one. You can rank NO AWARD as if it were any other finalist; ahead of some nominees, behind others. You can sign up to buy one at https://sasquan.swoc.us/sasquan/reg.php In addition to voting privileges, a Supporting Membership will get you the convention’s program book (usually a handsome item, though it varies from year to year) and other publications. The ballot is here: <a href=”http://sasquan.org/hugo-awards/voting/”>http://sasquan.org/hugo-awards/voting/</a> <img src=”http://georgerrmartin.com/notablog/wp-content/uploads/import/261628_300.jpg” alt=”” title=””><img src=”http://georgerrmartin.com/notablog/wp-content/uploads/import/261735_300.jpg” alt=”” title=””> You can also sign up as an ATTENDING member and actually attend the convention, which is the course I strongly recommend for those who have the time and the money. Cons are fun, especially worldcon; that’s what they are all about. Reading, panel discussions, the art show, the dealers’ room, the masquerade, filksinging… all sorts of great stuff goes on. Something for all tastes. And EVERYONE is welcome, despite what you have heard. (Just don’t be an asshole. Assholes get welcomed too, but the welcome wears out more quickly). Both supporting and attending members get an electronic “Hugo packet” that will enable you to read many of the works nominated for this year’s rockets. FILE 770, which has been doing an exemplary job of reporting on Puppygate, reports that Sasquan memberships continue to climb, and that more than 2300 Hugo ballots have already come in: http://file770.com/?p=23818 Who are all these new Supporting Members? Are they trufans rallying to the defense of one of our field’s oldest and most cherished institutions? Are they Sad Puppies, Rabid Puppies, Happy Kittens, Gamergaters? Are those dreaded SJWs and ASPs and CHORFs turning out by the hundreds and the thousands? Are these the Neo-Nazis and right-wing reactionaries we have been warned of? The truth is… no one knows. We may get a clue when the ballots are opened and counted, but even then, the numbers may well just say, “Answer cloudy, ask again.” <img src=”http://georgerrmartin.com/notablog/wp-content/uploads/import/261906_900.jpg” alt=”” title=””> All I know for sure is that every vote will count. Once again, balloting closes at midnight on July 31. And it would be best not to wait until the last day to vote, since there is a very real danger that Sasquan’s servers could be overloaded. Even if you haven’t finished all the reading — and I do urge everyone to read the nominees — you can cast a partial ballot today, and go back and revise, add, delete, and change as many times as you want between now and July 31. No votes will be counted until the deadline. Let this be fandom’s finest hour. Vote.

Tags: hugo awards, puppygate, worldcon

Emmy Likes Us

July 16, 2015 at 4:30 pm

The Academy of Television Arts & Sciences announced this year’s nominations for the Emmy Awards this morning, and HBO’s GAME OF THRONES led the way with a whopping TWENTY-FOUR nominations. More than any other show this year, in any other category, be it drama, comedy, reality, talk, movie, miniseries, variety, documentary, what have you. <img src=”http://georgerrmartin.com/notablog/wp-content/uploads/import/260405_800.jpg” alt=”” title=””> Congratulations are in order for David Benioff and D.B. Weiss, our showrunners, all our writers and directors and producers, our amazing cast and our incredible crew, and of course the good folks at Home Box Office, who made all this possible. Here are this year’s nominations for GOT: Outstanding Drama Series Outstanding Supporting Actor Peter Dinklage !“ Tyrion Lannister Outstanding Supporting Actress Lena Headey !“ Cersei Lannister Emilia Clarke !“ Daenerys Targaryen Outstanding Guest Actress Diana Rigg !“ Lady Olenna Tyrell, the Queen of Thorns Outstanding Writing For A Drama Series David Benioff and D.B. Weiss !“ Mother’s Mercy Outstanding Directing For A Drama Series David Nutter !“ “Mother’s Mercy” Jeremy Podeswa !“ “Unbowed, Unbent, Unbroken” Outstanding Production Design For A Narrative Contemporary Or Fantasy Program (One Hour Or More) ”High Sparrow” ”Unbowed, Unbent, Unbroken” ”Hardhome” Deborah Riley, Production Designer Paul Ghirardani, Art Director Rob Cameron, Set Decorator Outstanding Casting For A Drama Series Nina Gold, CSA, Casting Director Robert Sterne, Casting Director Carla Stronge, Casting Director Outstanding Cinematography For A Single-Camera Series ”Hardhome” (Fabian Wagner, BSC, Director of Photography_ ”Sons Of The Harpy” (Anette Haellmigk, Director of Photography) ”The Dance Of Dragons” (Rob McLachlan, ASC, CSC, Director of Photography) ”Unbowed, Unbent, Unbroken” (Greg Middleton, CSC, Director of Photography) Outstanding Costumes For A Period/Fantasy Series, Limited Series Or Movie ”The Dance Of Dragons” Michele Clapton, Costume Designer Outstanding Single-Camera Picture Editing For A Drama Series ”Hardhome” (Tim Porter, Editor) ”The Dance Of Dragons” (Katie Weiland, Editor) Outstanding Hairstyling For A Single-Camera Series ”Mother’s Mercy” Kevin Alexander, Department Head Hairstylist Candice Banks, Department Head Hairstylist Rosalia Culora, Hairstylist Gary Machin, Hairstylist Laura Pollock, Hairstylist Nicola Mount, Hairstylist Outstanding Makeup For A Single-Camera Series (Non-Prosthetic) ”Mother’s Mercy” Jane Walker, Department Head Makeup Artist Nicola Matthews, Makeup Artist Outstanding Prosthetic Makeup For A Series, Limited Series, Movie Or A Special ”Hardhome” Jane Walker, Department Head Makeup Artist Barrie Gower, Special Makeup Effects Department Head Sarah Gower, Special Makeup Effects Assistant Department Head Outstanding Sound Editing For A Series ”Hardhome” Tim Kimmel, Supervising Sound Editor Paula Fairfield, Sound Designer Bradley C. Katona, Sound Effects Editor Peter Bercovitch, Supervising Dialogue Editor David Klotz, Music Editor Jeffrey Wilhoit, Foley Artist Dylan T. Wilhoit, Foley Artist Outstanding Sound Mixing For A Comedy Or Drama Series (One Hour) ”Hardhome” Ronan Hill, C.A.S., Production Mixer Richard Dyer, Production Mixer Onnalee Blank, C.A.S., Re-Recording Mixer Mathew Waters, Re-Recording Mixer Outstanding Special Visual Effects ”The Dance Of Dragons” Steve Kullback, Visual Effects Producer Joe Bauer, Visual Effects Supervisor Adam Chazen, Visual Effects Associate Producer Jabbar Raisani, Visual Effects Plate Supervisor Eric Carney, Visual Effects Previs Lead Stuart Brisdon, Special Effects Supervisor Derek Spears, Lead CG Supervisor James Kinnings, Lead Animator Matthew Rouleau, CG Supervisor Outstanding Stunt Coordination For A Drama Series, Limited Series Or Movie Rowley Irlam, Stunt Coordinator It’s an incredible list, I applaud everyone on it… and all of those who didn’t make it either. GAME OF THRONES is what it is because of the untiring efforts of the best cast and crew in television today. Many were recognized by the Academy today for their work… but others, equally dedicated and talented, were not. But the show would not the hit it is without their talent and dedication. The 24 nominations garnered by GAME OF THRONES is not only the highest number of any show this year, but among the highest ever received by a single series for a single season in the entire history of television. (For numbers geeks, the record remains 27, garnered by NYPD BLUE in 1994). Today is a day for celebrations and congratulations, for popping champagne corks and raising toasts and exchanging thanks… but before we do too many cartwheels, it would be wise to remember that GAME OF THRONES also led the Emmy nominations last year, with 19 nods, only to get skunked on the night of the televised awards. The same as the year before, and the year before that. Like many fantasy shows before us, GOT is often honored for our special effects, costumes, makeup, stuntwork, set design, and cinematography (this year, please note, we have four of five finalists for cinematography), but seldom for writing, directing, or acting. Peter Dinklage’s Emmy as Best Supporting Actor for season one remains the ONLY award the show has ever won in those categories, in fact. Will that change this year? One can hope, I suppose. But no matter what happens on Emmy Night, let me say once again that it truly is an honor to be nominated, especially given the competition. This truly is The Golden Age of Television, especially for drama. GAME OF THRONES faces the usual formidable competition for the “Big One,” the award for Best Dramatic Series… but as distinguished a list as that is, there are so many incredible shows that did NOT make the cut that it boggles the mind. It’s great to see BETTER CALL SAUL and ORANGE IS THE NEW BLACK on this list, but where is MASTERS OF SEX? THE KNICK? HALT AND CATCH FIRE? How about THE VIKINGS? I really thought JUSTIFIED might make it, for its final season. And OUTLANDER, how in the world did they overlook OUTLANDER, with its music and its costumes and its cinematography and the incredible performances of its three leads (especially Tobias Menzies in his double role)? Why is Nick Offermann not on the ballot for PARKS AND RECREATION? How could BIG BANG THEORY possibly fall off? Truly, the Academy (of which I am a member) moves in mysterious ways. Even where GOT itself is concerned… I am thrilled to see both Emilia Clarke and Lena Headey among the nominees, but I wanted Maisie Williams and Sophie Turner and Natalie Dormer as well… it’s great that two of our episodes got nominated for directing, but how did they overlook “Hardhome?”… and will Iain Glen and Conleth Hill and John Bradley West ever get any recognition, and… Okay, okay, I know, I am being greedy, and every producer on every other show on television is probably saying the same things about his own cast just now. Let me just savor the moment. GOT did good.

Tags: awards, emmy awards, game of thrones, hbo, television

The Horrors on Pluto

July 15, 2015 at 2:12 pm

Mordor is on Pluto! Who knew? Okay, got to admit, I think it is really cool that some of the features New Horizons is finding on Pluto (our ninth planet, dammit!!!) and its moon Charon are being named Mordor and Cthulhu. Who says science fiction and fantasy haven’t arrived? J.R.R. Tolkien and H.P. Lovecraft have entered realms previously reserved for Greek and Roman gods. Those ice mountains they’ve found are very cool too, and clearly need to be named the Mountains of Madness. And of course when New Horizons sails on, deeper in the black realms beyond the solar system and finds a sinister tenth planet, we MUST name it Yuggoth. Especially if it is covered in fungus. (Which would be mind-blowing). I am disappointed that no alien ruins or black monoliths have turned up yet, but I don’t suppose you can have everything. So hurrah for JRRT, hurrah for HPL, and hurrah for NASA and JPL. Nice to know they’re fans.

Tags: general nonsense, honors, space exploration

Sibel Speaks Out

July 14, 2015 at 4:18 pm

I’ve blogged here a couple of times about my friend Sibel Kekilli, who played Shae on GAME OF THRONES. Sibel is bright and beautiful, a joy to work with, and she made a great Shae. I’ve said more than once that it was probably a good thing the character was already dead before I met Sibel, or I might never have had the heart to kill her. ((Show Shae, thanks to David and Dan and Sibel, was actually a much different and more interesting character than Book Shae, I blush to admit)) <img src=”http://georgerrmartin.com/notablog/wp-content/uploads/import/260173_800.jpg” alt=”” title=””> Last winter, Sibel visited Santa Fe and I showed her the town, and a television crew from the German travel show AFTER DARK filmed our adventures. More recently, I visited Hamburg, Sibel’s home town, and she returned the favor (without the TV crew). I blogged about that below. There’s a lot more to Sibel Kekilli than just Shae, though. She has twice won the Lola for Best Actress, the German Oscar, for roles in feature films, she is presently one of the stars of the long-running German police procedural TATORT… and she has long been politically active, speaking out on controversial subjects, most notably the treatment of women in traditional Islamic culture. Recently she was invited to the German “White House,” where she addressed that subject once again in a speech before Joachim Gauck, the president of Germany. You can read an English translation of her remarks here: http://sibelkekilli.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/faz_932015_EN.pdf Sibel was speaking as an ambassador for Terre Des Femmes, a Hamburg-based non-profit organization dedicated to fighting violence against women, forced marriage, female genital mutilation, trafficking, forced prostitution, and “honor” killings. If any of you would like to supprt Terre Des Femmes in their work, you can make contributions via their website at: https://www.frauenrechte.de/online/index.php/home-engl Some of the things that Sibel and Terre Des Femmes fight against are dramatized in A SONG OF ICE AND FIRE… but, sadly, they are not just fantasy, but real problems in the “enlightened” modern world we live in. I applaud Sibel for her courage in speaking out against them… her words have come at great personal cost, I know, and made her a lot of enemies… but as someone wiser than me once said, all that in necessary for evil to triumph in this world is for good men (and women) to say nothing.

Tags: politics

Reading, Reading, Reading

July 14, 2015 at 1:11 pm

I have been doing a lot of travelling of late — Germany, Sweden, Finland, Chicago — and that means I have been doing a lot of reading as well. When I travel, I read. Always have, always will. There’s no better way to fill the endless hours on the plane, and the strange hours in the middle of the night when the world is sleeping but you’re awake, thanks to jetlag. A few words about some of the things I’ve read are in order, therefore. I read the new Eric Larson bestseller, DEAD WAKE: THE LAST CROSSING OF LUSITANIA. Larson is a journalist who writes non-fiction books that read like novels, real page-turners. This one is no exception. I had known a lot about the Titanic but little about the Lusitania. This filled in those gaps. Larson’s masterpiece remains THE DEVIL IN THE WHITE CITY, but this one is pretty damned good too. Thoroughly engrossing. I read an ARC of the long-awaited new novel from Ernie Cline of READY PLAYER ONE fame. ARMADA, like READY PLAYER ONE, is a paean to the videogames of a bygone era, and like READY PLAYER ONE it is a tremendous amount of fun for anyone who remembers that time and played those games. (Those who did not may find it incomprehensible, admittedly). Those of you who liked the old movie THE LAST STARFIGHTER will really like this one. Hugely entertaining… though it does make me wonder if we’ll ever see Ernie write something that isn’t about videogames. He’s a talented guy, and I am sure that anything he writes would be terrific. I read the mega-bestseller THE GIRL ON THE TRAIN, by Paula Hawkins, a mystery/ thriller/ novel of character about three women who live near the train tracks of a London commuter lines, and how their lives and loves get entwined when one of them disappears under mysterious circumstances. Fans of Gillian Flynn’s books will probably like this one too. I know I did… though I don’t think Hawkins is quite as deft a writer as Flynn. The first person voices of the three narrators sounded too much alike, I thought, but that’s a minor quibble. The main narrator, an alcoholic who is slowly falling apart, is especially well drawn. It’s a strong story, with a great sense of time and place, and one that had me from start to finish. I read ANGLES OF ATTACK, by Marko Kloos, military SF, third book in his series, and the immediate sequel to LINES OF DEPARTURE, the novel that was (briefly) a Hugo finalist thanks to the Puppies before its author withdrew it as an act of conscience. I’d read LINES OF DEPARTURE as a result of that, my first exposure to Kloos. I liked that one well enough, but didn’t love it. ANGLES OF ATTACK is, I think, better. I’m still the wrong audience for this — my list of “great military SF novels” includes STARSHIP TROOPERS, BILL THE GALACTIC HERO, THE FOREVER WAR, and an oldie called WE ALL DIED AT BREAKAWAY STATION, but not much else — but these are very entertaining books. Since I know there are a lot of fans of military SF out there, I’d say that ANGLES OF ATTACK might actually have an outside chance at earning a genuine Hugo nod solely on its merits… assuming the Puppies don’t slate it again. In any case, Kloos is a writer to watch. (I do hope this series isn’t going on for twenty more books, however. I want to know more about his gigantic and enigmatic aliens, and I want a resolution). Oh, and I also read a lot more of this year’s Hugo nominees. The stories and books that were NOT withdrawn. Hoo boy. More on that later. Suffice it to say that I was very glad that I had the books listed above to hand, to cleanse my palate after sampling some of the Hugo stuff.

Tags: hugo awards, puppygate, reading, reviews

Home Alone

July 10, 2015 at 6:53 pm

Well, not really alone. Parris is here, and my minions, and the Cocteau staff, and the cats… but I am not in San Diego at Comicon, and I have to admit, that feels strange.

Staying home was the right decision. I just got back from Chicago and the Dead shows, and before that it was Europe, and it is hardly as if HBO needed me in San Diego to represent… not with so much of our cast on hand. I have so much work to do, I am way behind on everything, and I have a wedding to attend in Jersey in a few weeks, and worldcon after that… and if truth be told, San Diego has gotten overwhelming in recent years. There are always good times catching up with friends, and hanging with the cast, but it’s not as if I can walk the floor anymore and look for old comic books, the way I once did.

Even so… even so… it does make me a little sad, not being there.

Anyway, those of you who are there, be sure and catch THE EXPANSE premiere. I wish I could. Everything I’ve seen suggests that it will be a terrific show. The books were certainly great. Say hi to Daniel and Ty for me.

You might also visit the Random House booth to buy a calendar, and drop by the Tor/ Macmillan booth to buy a stack of books and show your support.

Tags: comicon, conventions, game of thrones

The Calendar Is Coming

July 9, 2015 at 1:45 pm

I won’t be at this year’s San Diego Comicon, alas. Had to miss the fun, but there’s too much work to do, and I know that HBO and Random House and Tor have matters well in hand, with lots of great events and promotions.

Which is not to say I won’t be represented: the 2016 edition of the Official SONG OF ICE AND FIRE Calendar will be making its debut at San Diego. I was lucky enough to snag an advance copy.

This year the artwork is by the amazing and talented French artist, MAGALI VILLENUEVE, whose past work includes some terrific contributions to Fantasy Flight’s games and the WORLD OF ICE AND FIRE concordance. Check out more of her work at http://magali-villeneuve.blogspot.com/ and http://www.magali-villeneuve.com/

The calendars will be available at the Random House/ Bantam/ Del Rey booth at San Diego, so be sure and look them before the supply is gone. Magali has done some gorgeous work here; I expect you will love it as much as I do.

Tags: artwork, calendar, song of ice and fire

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