“True Blood” ought to be delicious

I’ve been a fan of the vampire genre since I first cracked open Bram Stoker’s masterpiece, Dracula, in university. Actually, I may have to go back further than that since The Count was my favourite character on Sesame Street. The vampire genre has been with us for a long time and has been tackled from many different angles with many different variations. But no one writes great vampire lit like Charlaine Harris.

I’ll take every chance I get to rave about her Southern Vampire novels and now HBO is making that task so much more fun.

HBO has launched the advertising campaign for True Blood, a television series based on Harris’ work. Anna Paquin will star as Sookie Stackhouse, a beautiful waitress with a unique gift and poor taste in men. Set in a time when Undead Americans have come out of the closet thanks to the development of a synthetic blood substitute, the novels mix adventure, romance and humour into an intoxicating brew. Need another reason to check it out? The show is run by Alan Ball, the man who brought us Six Feet Under.

The viral marketing campaign for new show, which begins September 7^th, has taken off, with a variety of websites now running ads for TruBlood, the vampires’ new drink of choice. Gotta love a tag line like “Friends don’t let friends drink friends.”

Lucky Strike

I’m wondering if I should buy a lottery ticket.

I read a fact online that every plane in service will be struck by lightning once per year. I’ve flown a fair amount in my time, but my most recent trip was the first time I’ve been on a plane that was struck by lightning in the air. We were ascending out of Vancouver at about 24,000ft when it hit. I was reading a book and didn’t see the flash, but I certainly heard and felt the impact even though the plane did not physically move. It felt like something had happened to the bottom of the plane and my first thought was that the landing gear had malfunctioned or we’d lost some poor guy’s luggage.

My second assessment was that the plane still had power and the engines were still on, so I cautiously went back to my book. About a minute and a half later, the pilot came on and informed us that the aircraft had been hit by lightning but that all systems had been checked and the flight would proceed as planned across the country. As he put it, the Boeing 737 was designed to take just such a hit. And, he added, since the strike hit his side of the cockpit, he figured he got the worst of it.

It was all too much for one passenger, who was quite overcome and had to be given oxygen and TLC for the remainder of the flight. I’ve got to hand it to the Westjet crew, they did a very good job of caring for that person and the rest of us still got our normal beverage service.

If I’m ever going to be within 10 feet of a lightning strike again, I hope I’m in an aircraft.

I just hope I haven’t used up all my luck….a lottery win would be nice!

The Essence of Indiana Jones

I’ve been trying to figure out how to put into words why I’m looking forward to seeing the next Indiana Jones movie SO MUCH. And then I read this excerpt from an upcoming Men’s Journal interview by Allison Glock. The journalist spoke with a number of people about Harrison Ford.

“This is how I met Harrison Ford,” recounts 21-year-old actor Shia LaBeouf, who also stars in the new Indy installment. “I was rehearsing on this huge bike at some air force base with the stunt team. At some point in the film Harrison and I were going to have to ride this thing, and that was a big deal, an insurance issue. So I’m learning how to handle it, and I hear this tic tic tic tic tic, and I look up in the sky and spot this helicopter coming in, like on a movie. And inside the helicopter I see this one man, all by himself. Usually you ride with someone else when you fly, you know, in case **** happens. But not Harrison. And he lands the helicopter, pops open the door, gets out, stretches his back a little, waves to the crew, walks around to open the other door, pulls out his whip, and cracks it.”

Quiet, capable, tough…and with a perfectly balanced sense of humour. Note that part of his answer to Entertainment Weekly about why he likes doing his own stunt work was that he likes “rolling around on the floor with sweaty men.” Now can’t you just imagine the twinkle in his eye as he waits to see if the reporter will DARE to smirk at that one?

Is it Summer Yet?

Besides the unwelcome blast of winter we got over the weekend, there is another compelling reason to wish that summer would get here faster….it’s going to be one terrific movie season. At least, I’m anticipating it will be. I expected to spend a lot of money at the cinema last summer and my interest fizzled in almost all those prospects pretty quickly. But this summer has more than a few solid bets, and here are the ones at the top of my list:

Iron Man - (May 2) I haven’t read the comic book, but I’m eager to see what Robert Downey Jr can do with a role like this one.

Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull - (May 22) Indy’s back and we’ve all missed him.

Hellboy II: The Golden Army - (July 11) Ron Perlman was terrific in the title role the first time around and he’s back in fine form. Here’s a link to the official site.

Batman: The Dark Knight - (July 18 ) Another case of perfect casting. Christian Bale found something unique and compelling in the role that so many others have tried before him.

X Files: I Want to Believe - (July 25) I have high hopes that Chris Carter and the crew can recapture the magic from the early days of the series.

The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor - (Aug 1) Brendan Fraser + Jet Li +Abominable Snowmen have me looking forward to this one. Director Rob Cohen’s openness (his blog here) gives me great hope for a franchise I fell in love with.

I’m a sucker for popcorn movies with compelling heroes and/or villains. I hope this summer ends up being as fun as it looks like from this side. Anticipation is a wonderful thing.

March Mini Movie Reviews

My movie reviewing days may be behind me, but I haven’t stopped having opinions on what I see. Here are a few recent selections:

There Will Be Blood - A grim but likely realistic portrait of the life of an oil prospector in Texas at the turn of the last century. This film is all about Daniel Day-Lewis’ performance. Some have criticized his acting as technical rather than organic, but the point is moot. It is a brilliant performance and well deserving of the Oscar.

The Other Boleyn Girl - A film about passion that somehow fails to arouse it in the viewer. The stars are all pretty, but the performances are simply adequate. Natalie Portman is the best of the bunch as the doomed Anne. The editing varied from clever to horribly disruptive. Historically simplified, but at least they didn’t cop out on the ending. Worth a rental but don’t pay full price.

3:10 to Yuma - Christian Bale continues to prove his versatility, this time as a father willing to take a horrible risk to improve his family’s lot in life. The tension with Russell Crowe is enjoyable, but you get the impression even Crowe knows he’s outclassed here. Consistently well acted. Kudos to the sound effects team for some exciting moments.

War of the Worlds (2005) - The characters exist separately from the plot and therefore do not develop in any way. At least one person disappears for a third of the movie only to reappear with no explanation. The central conflict of the story is resolved in a voice-over at the end, which is unforgivable. Cool special effects cannot save this stinker. Steven Spielberg should have known better.

If you like mini movie reviews, you will like 353review.com I’m not as talented with haiku as Leeny is, but:

flicks reviewed
brief, with great wit
inventive

The Perils of Terminator Time Travel

One of the ideas I liked best about the first Terminator movie is that Sarah Connor was up against the inevitable, yet she fought anyway. We feared the seemingly unstoppable machine would find her and kill her, and even if she didn’t die, her world would be destroyed in a nuclear conflagration and her son would lead humanity in a brutal and likely futile struggle to overthrow the machines. That’s nihilism. But that doesn’t work for TV.

So, in the new series, the writers threw out the past. They brought allies for Sarah and John back in time to stand with them. They jumped the principals ahead seven years to cover the unfortunate cancer death of Sarah prior to T3. They gave the heroes better odds.

And unfortunately, by ridding themselves of the sense of impending doom that permeated the first two movies (must admit to never seeing the third) they’ve left themselves with a TV show that just doesn’t feel right. There is plenty of action, but even when the butt-kicking isn’t being dished out by the unnaturally cool Cameron (Summer Glau), it seems lifeless. If Sarah Connor now has time to cook pancakes and insist on eating meals at the table, I’m just not as interested. No matter what “Terminator of the Week” shows up, they’ll deal with it. And John will still have time to do his homework before bed.

Star Trek diversions

There seems to be a lot of Star Trek goodness out there these days, with Star Trek: The Tour coming to a city near me in the next while and the buzz starting for Star Trek XI.

It’s the movie buzz that has me intrigued. The man behind Star Trek XI is none other than J J Abrams, who is mainly known for creating such television hits as Lost, Alias and Felicity, but who recently revealed a degree of marketing genius in the promotional campaign for monster flick Cloverfield. And since the buzz created for that movie had so many intriguing viral elements, I thought I would point out what seems to be an interesting yet odd bit of Star Trek viral marketing.

Check out this site, which appears to feature live webcams of the dockyard building a certain new (er…old) spaceship. If you tweak the frequency on each camera, you can bring in a clear picture. Not much there yet, but I’m curious as to why there is a separate site, when the official movie site featuring even more welding footage, is here. Is it just a tease? Or should we be watching this site in the months to come?

We’ll have months to figure it out. Star Trek XI won’t hit theatres until the end of the year.

My BSG club turns 1 year old

It was one year ago today that I screwed up my courage and started a sci-fi fan club. I’ve been a die-hard science fiction fan since I was very young. I watched Star Trek re-runs on our black & white TV every day they were on. I was enthralled by Star Wars right from that summer in 1977. I read every Asimov book I could find. In the early 90s, I was on the executive of a Star Trek club, holding the post of XO. I’m a Browncoat. But until this date one year ago, I didn’t consider myself truly hard core. But I knew there had to be other fans of Battlestar Galactica in Vancouver (this is where they make the show, for frak’s sake!) and if I was going to find them, I had to start my own club. The 13th Colony was born.

In the last year, the club has accumulated 95 members in 5 countries. We’ve had 14 events. We’ve shot and almost finished editing one “mini-movie.” Through the club and our blog, I’ve met lots of other fans, from all over the world. My little cylon mini-mates (and a couple of ringers) have travelled through Canada, the US, the UK, Europe and Mexico.

Kinda glad I was feeling brave that day one year ago. It’s been a blast. Can’t wait to see what new adventures lie ahead.

Pondering 40

I’ve really enjoyed being thirty-something. Much more than I enjoyed my twenties. But in a couple of days I get to move into a new set of numbers and I say “Bring it On!” Cliched, yes. But I’m glad to finally get there.

I’m not someone who would lie about my age or be coy and not answer when asked how old I am. I know I don’t look forty, and I’ve been told both encouragingly and disparagingly that I don’t act it. But I feel forty. I feel confident and happy. I know without a doubt who I am, even into the darkest shadows of my reluctant psyche. I like that person, flaws and all. I have enthusiasm but I now also have enough experience to feel prepared for whatever Life throws at me.

Forty is good.

Then, of course, my knees just creaked when I sat down and I’ll probably grunt when I get up out of the chair to go and colour my hair so my sister won’t bug me when I see her over Christmas about how much more gray I have than she does.

Getting older sucks, but the numbers are cool.

Juno = Oscar?

Canadians will probably find that title confusing since Juno is the name of our award for achievement in Canadian music and Oscar is what the American film awards are called. In this case, Juno is also the name of a small film that deserves recognition for many reasons. Juno tells the story of a pregnant sixteen year old girl who looks for the perfect adoptive parents for her unborn child, only to find that perfection may require altering your point of view.

The screenplay by Diablo Cody is sharply funny, yet realistic and touching. The audience is afraid to laugh too hard only because the sound will drown out the next line of dialogue, which could be even funnier. Cody has a distinctive voice as a writer and it needs to be heard over the formulaic fodder we so often see at the movies these days. She’s already won one award for Juno and I would not be surprised to see her with an arm full of them by the end of awards season.

Ellen Page is another reason to find this film. She has amazing range an honestly in her performance. Talent in spades and she’s just getting started. A lot of people have called her edge and her performance in this film (and others such as Hard Candy) is truly that, but so much more. Her Juno has both edge and innocence and no one but Ellen Page could pull off the whole range in between.