Not a Blog

Gray Alys on the Silver Screen

March 4, 2021 at 2:12 pm
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I cannot seem to keep out of the news these days.

The latest story to break:

https://ew.com/movies/milla-jovovich-paul-w-s-anderson-in-the-lost-lands-dave-bautista/   

“In the Lost Lands” was one of my earliest fantasy stories (most of my work in the 70s was science fiction), the first tale of the mysterious Gray Alys, an enigmatic sorceress who would sell you anything you might desire… though her customers soon learned that you buy from her at your peril.   No doubt my long-time fans all recall the twelve classic tales I wrote about Gray Alys and her customers, which were later collected in the….. WHOA, WHOA, wait a second.   That’s all wrong.   Another of those pesky alternate world memories.   No, truth to tell, I meant to write a whole series of Gray Alys stories, I really did, I even began a second and penned a few of the opening pages… but one day I put it aside and I never got back to it.   In the end I only wrote one Gray Alys story.

“In the Lost Lands.”

And now the story is coming to the big screen.   Paul W.S. Anderson, director of Monster Hunter, Pompeii, and several Resident Evils, will helm the film.   Milla Jovovich will star as Gray Alys, with Dave Bautista of Guardians of the Galaxy as Boyce, who leads her into the Lost Lands.  German film director Constantin Werner, who first optioned the story and tried to get the film made for years,  will be among the producers.

And who knows?   If the movie is a big hit, maybe there will be sequels, and Gray Alys will finally get her series after all.

(So many years have passed, I no longer recall why I never finished that second story.   I loved the character.  Still do.   And there were secrets I meant to reveal in those unwritten stories, and a whole complex backstory, and and and… sigh.  Where do the years go?)

 

 

Current Mood: hopeful hopeful

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Emerging From Hyperspace

September 7, 2020 at 11:00 am
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Those electronic tonalities you hear are the United Planets cruise c-57-D emerging from hyperspace at  to investigate the fate of the Bellerophon expedition.  The Bellerophon was supposed to be exploring the fourth planet of the great main sequence star Altair, but we have it on good authority that they actually ended up at Beastly Books on Montezuma Street in Santa Fe, NM, Land of Enchantment.

We are sure that Dr. Morbius , his lovely daughter Altaira, and Robby the Robot will make them welcome.

Come on by Beastly Books, have a coffee, buy a book or three, and say hi to Commander Adams, Doc, and Altaira.   But please don’t feed the Monsters from the Id.

Current Mood: bouncy bouncy

The Martians Are Here

September 7, 2020 at 10:30 am
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The world is in trouble.

As if all our other woes were not enough, a huge smoking meteor came crashing down from space a few days ago and landed in the midst of Santa Fe’s historic Railyard District, between the Jean Cocteau Cinema and the Santa Fe Southern Railroad.   When some of my staff went to investigate the crater it left, waving a white flag and chanting “Welcome to the Land of Enchantment,” a heat ray on a long neck emerged and vaporized them.

And then THIS emerged from the crater, making ominous noses and glowing.

The Martians are here, the Martians are here..

You can see their war machine yourself at Beastly Books.

Quick, someone, sneeze on them!  It’s our only hope!

Current Mood: geeky geeky

Bloggity Bloggity

May 25, 2020 at 8:00 am
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History buffs, baseball fans, and Wild Carders alike will enjoy the newest post on the Wild Cards blog, John Jos. Miller’s “Annotated Long Night at the Palmer House,” touching on all the references, hidden and fictional, in his acclaimed LOW CHICAGO interstitial.

The Annotated “A Long Night At The Palmer House”

When he is not writing Wild Cards stories or watching the New York Mets, John is a huge fan of… ah… strange cinema.   Of late he has been doing some fun blog posts for our friends over at BLACK GATE, talking about some of his odder favorites.  Check it out at:

https://www.blackgate.com/2020/05/12/son-of-19-movies-the-good-the-bad-and-the-weird-edition/#more-427597

 

Current Mood: amused amused

At the Irish Film Institute with Robby the Robot

September 12, 2019 at 10:59 am
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One of the highlights of my time in Dublin was my visit to Altair IV, courtesy of the kind folks at the Irish Film Institute.  The IFI has an impressive facility there in Temple Bar, and as part of the celebrations of worldcon, they invited me to present one of my favorite films, and speak about why I loved it.   I was delighted to do so.

No one who knows me or has read this blog for long will be even remotely surprised by the movie I chose: the MGM science fiction film, FORBIDDEN PLANET, from 1956, a classic whose influence on all the SF films and television shows that followed was profound.   Starring Leslie Nielsen, Walter Pidgeon, Anne Francis, and Robby the Robot.

((I couldn’t bring Robby with me to Dublin, alas, but I did bring Commander J.J. Adams and Altaira)). 

Maura McHugh joined me afterwards for a discussion of the film, and some Q&A with the audience.  Listen in, if you’d like (sorry, it’s audio only).   And then go out and watch the movie again.   It’s still great… and I hope to hell that they NEVER remake it.   They’d only mess it up.

Current Mood: geeky geeky

More Maltin

July 5, 2019 at 3:29 pm
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For those who missed it…

A video of our event with Leonard and Jessie Maltin at the Jean Cocteau is now available.   Enjoy it at:

A selection of SIGNED books by Leonard Maltin is available from the JCC bookshop:

https://jeancocteaucinema.com/product-category/signed-books/

 

Current Mood: bouncy bouncy

GRRM Talks JRRT

April 29, 2019 at 3:57 pm
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Modern fantasy would not exist without J.R.R. Tolkien and LORD OF THE RINGS… and that most definitely includes my own A SONG OF ICE AND FIRE.   Tolkien’s work redefined fantasy, and all of us who have followed in his footsteps owe him a profound debt.

But who was the man behind the Shire, the Hobbits, and the One Ring?

TOLKIEN, the new motion picture about JRRT’s early life, aspires to answer that question.

I’m thrilled to say that I’m heading out to LA for the premiere, May 8 at the Regency Westwood Village.   After the film, I will be moderating a discussion and Q-and-A with stars Nicholas Hoult, Lily Collins, and director Dome Karukoski.

 

For those of you who cannot make it to the premiere in person, have no fear.   We’ll be streaming the Q&A on Facebook.

 Head to the TOLKIEN Facebook page (@TolkienFilm) and tune into the Live Stream that will start at 9PM PST. Here is the link to the Facebook Page: www.facebook.com/TolkienFilm/  

See you in the Shire!

 

Current Mood: bouncy bouncy

Meow Wolf Origins Revealed

November 29, 2018 at 5:51 pm
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Never been to Meow Wolf?

Come to Santa Fe and see what you’ve been missing.

In the meanwhile, however, MEOW WOLF: ORIGINS, the documentary about the group’s colorful history and exciting future, debuts today on screens from coast to coast.

https://originstory.mw/

Check it out, at a cinema near you.

Current Mood: excited excited

GENIUS

January 29, 2017 at 10:20 pm
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A few posts down you’ll find my Hugo Award ruminations for the Dramatic Presentation categories, where I opine at some length about the best films and television shows I saw last year.

Much as I love SF and fantasy, however, not everything I read or view falls into those categories. I wanted to say a few words about another movie I saw recently, and loved.

It’s a film called GENIUS, a period piece set in the 1930s about the relationship between Maxwell Perkins, the legendary Scribners editor, and his most troubled (and troubling) writer, Thomas Wolfe. (No, not Tom Wolfe, the 60s journalist of THE RIGHT STUFF fame, Thomas Wolfe, the doomed 30s novelist of YOU CAN’T GO HOME AGAIN). Stars Colin Firth and Jude Law, both of whom gave brilliant performances. Scripted by John Logan, directed by Michael Grandage.

GENIUS came and went last year almost unnoticed. It was certainly unnoticed by me, else I would have tried to book it for the Jean Cocteau. But it’s running on HBO right now, so all those who missed it (virtually everyone) now has another chance to see it.

I hope you do. Especially if you’re a writer, or an editor, or have any interest in 20th Century American literature, Thomas Wolfe, Ernest Hemingway, F. Scott Fitzgerald, or Maxwell Perkins.

The movie got very little notice from the world at large, but I loved loved loved it. Maybe because it’s a writer’s movie. The period is wonderfully evoked, the acting is fine, and there’s one ten minute scene in the middle of the movie… from when Wolfe delivers OF TIME AND THE RIVER till when Perkins gets on that train… that I thought was just hilarious, heart-breaking, poetic, painful, and just all-around… blue. A blue that was deeper than blue, a blue such as never before…

Well, let’s just say it was a great scene in a fine movie.

Lots of fine movies came out last year, in our genre and out of it. Many of them have been nominated for various Oscars. GENIUS was not, but if I were in the Academy I would certainly have nominated it. Much I loved ARRIVAL and MOANA and some of the other big movies of 2016, I think GENIUS was my favorite film from last year.

Survived Another Xmas

December 26, 2016 at 5:13 pm
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Another Christmas has come and gone.

I have to admit, Halloween and Thanksgiving are my favorite holidays. Christmas has always been too stressful, at least since I became an adult (a long long time ago). But this year’s was relatively mellow. I spent it at home with Parris, friends, and cats, and a good time was had by all.

There are things I like about Christmas, though. Watching Christmas movies, especially. A CHRISTMAS STORY is a favorite, and I also like to binge watch all the various versions of the Dickens classic CHRISTMAS CAROL. Alastair Sim, George C. Scott, Reginald Owen, Mickey Mouse, Albert Finney, Bill Murray… they all have their points, and it’s fun to compare and contrast. On balance, I still think the Sim is the best of the adaptations. And when you cross over to the parody side of the ledger, there’s nothing but nothing comes close to the Blackadder version.

This year we also watched FOOTLIGHT PARADE, which has nothing to do with Christmas but is a fun film. One of the last of the great pre-Code films, it’s amazing to see how risque it is compared to what Hollywood would be making a year later and for decades to follow. And the musical numbers are unforgettable, especially Cagney in “Looking for My Shanghai Lil.”

Anyway… merry merry to all my friends, fans, and readers out there. I hope Santa was good to you. At least those of you who were nice. As for those of you who were naughty.. come sit here next to me.