What is a Pegasus?
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Director: J.J. Abrams
Writers: Roberto Orci, Alex Kurtzman, Damon Lindelof, Gene Roddenberry (original television series “Star Trek”)
Stars: Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto, Zoe Saldana, Benedict Cumberbatch, Karl Urban, Simon Pegg, Bruce Greenwood, Peter Weller, John Cho, Anton Yelchin, Alice Eve, Leonard Nimoy
Science Fiction
I won’t lie–I am a first-generation trekkie. Like most of my early introduction to science fiction, Star Trek was something I learned about from my Dad.
I eagerly watched all the new incarnations of Trek. Eventually, Jean-Luc Picard became my captain, but you never forget your first, and I’ve always had a soft spot for James Tiberius Kirk.
Because of? Despite this? I enjoyed J.J. Abrams’ Trek reboot in 2009.
But Into Darkness? That’s a hard call. Don’t get me wrong–it’s entertaining, it’s fun. High action, great effects, chase scenes, things going boom. But it’s not really my Trek.
Thinking about it later, what I came up with: a group of guys in a room saying: “Which scenes from classic Trek can we twist up in some way that would be really unexpected? Where do we want to end? Okay, now let’s build a movie around those scenes with a build toward that ending.”
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The Tinkerbell Problem
by Alex Shvartsman
Herbert woke up shivering. His mouth was dry, and he had an epic headache, but mostly, he was freezing. Stubbornly refusing to open his eyes and face the new day, Herbert felt around for his blanket. Instead, his palm touched cold stone.
Herbert sat upright, which sent a minor nuclear apocalypse through his skull. He was totally naked, sitting on the ground inside of an elaborate pentagram.
A large five-pointed star was drawn on the floor in a gooey red substance which Herbert dearly hoped wasn’t blood. A wider circle was drawn around the star. A variety of symbols were sprinkled along the circumference of the circle. Herbert recognized a peace sign, a stop sign, a smiley face, and a Pepsi logo in the mix.
Herbert gaped at the unfamiliar surroundings. The floor and walls were made from large rough-hewn stones. There were no windows and only a single door. The unfurnished space was lit by a chandelier filled with dozens of candles, hanging so high up, it barely illuminated the ground.
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Heroes Shouldn’t Look In The Mirror Unless They’re An Evil Queen
How To Hook Your Readers In The First Page Of Your Book
By Julie Butcher-Fedynich
Over the course of many years, I’ve read thousands of manuscripts. There’s a curious symmetry writers have in their first few books. Either they wake up, they dream, they look in a freaking mirror and describe their luxurious, wavy hair, or they tell us everything that happened in their life up to this point.
For some reason, newer writers think that we, the reader, must know what the main character looks like in the first few paragraphs. Immediately, they give us a driver’s license version; height, weight, hair and eye color. I don’t know about you guys, but I seriously don’t like someone in love with their own hair. Writers, this isn’t bad information to have. You need to know if your character has white hair that shines in the moonlight and will give away his position to the enemy. We don’t, at least not until the bullet parts his curly locks.
What we need to know in the first few paragraphs are the same things that your teachers insisted you have in science papers and book reports, the four W’s: Who-Where-When-Why. The entire book is the How but it doesn’t hurt to give a hint of that at the beginning either.
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Club Monstrosity – Book Review
Written by Jesse Peterson
Published by Pocket Star (April 29, 2013)
Club Monstrosity is kind of like AA for creatures of myth, legend and late night creature features…except there’s no twelve step program for being a monster. Mostly you just have to live with it, and hope that humanity as a whole doesn’t notice you.
Our protagonist Natalie is one of Doctor Frankentein’s later creations, a mishmash of human parts and existential angst. She shares the group with Dracula (who now calls himself Drake but can’t bear to part with his opera cape), Bob The Blob, a sexy werewolf (sic) named Alec, an outburst prone Creature from the Black Lagoon, Dr. Jekyll/Mr Hyde and on a purely theoretical basis, The Invisible Man. Oh and there’s a sexy Mummy who uses her bandages to keep moisturizer in touch with her skin at all times.
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A Doctor Who Joke.
What did the beautician advise the Dalek to do?
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Director: Shane Black
Writers: Drew Pearce, Shane Black, Stan Lee (comic book), Don Heck (comic book), Larry Lieber (comic book), Jack Kirby (comic book)
Stars: Robert Downey Jr., Gwyneth Paltrow, Ben Kingsley, Don Cheadle, Rebecca Hall, Guy Pearce, Jon Favreau, Stephanie Szostak, James Badge Dale, Ty Simpkins
Action-Adventure / Superhero
I love comic book movies–I’ve said this before, but it bears repeating. Iron Man surprised the heck out of me with its awesomeness, and I have faithfully seen each of the Marvel Phase I movies–culminating in the big bang of goodness that was The Avengers.
Now Phase II begins, once again with an Iron Man film. Why mess with success? Shortly after the climax of The Avengers, we’re back on the west coast as Iron Man 3 begins–rich, brilliant, happy-go-lucky Tony Stark (playing at the lowest difficulty setting there is) has faced his own mortality. The result: anxiety problems and possible PTSD.
Everyone has moved on to new jobs and responsibilities, including Happy, Rhody, and Pepper Potts, but Tony is struggling to put his life back together and prioritize the things that are truly important to him.
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