looks like my kind of movie
Saturday, April 11, 2009
Sunday, March 08, 2009
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Read The Inheritance (my first novel - a horror tale) or one of sixteen other Zumaya titles at http://www.zumayapublications.com/ebooks.php. Offer good from March 8 to March 14. Go on, you'll enjoy it.
Wednesday, March 04, 2009
Sunday, February 08, 2009
TEN GOOD FILMS
SET DURING
THE GREAT DEPRESSION
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The Great Depression and Movies. The following are ten films set during that time frame that are good movies. Listed by year released.
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It Happened One Night (1934)
{A big Oscar winner with Clark Gable and Claudette Colbert}
The Grapes of Wrath (1940)
{Henry Fonda has never been better than as Tom Joad}
Sullivan's Travels (1941)
{not as well known as it should be -- terrific movie}
Bonnie & Clyde (1967)
{Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway are sensational as the outlaw lovers ... oh, yeah, there's this new guy named Gene Hackman who plays Clyde's older brother Buck}
The Sting (1973)
{Newman and Redford and a very cool con game}
Chinatown (1974)
{the millionaire played by John Huston would feel right at home with the Wall Street and Bank execs of today}
Hard Times (1975)
{Charles Bronson could act once upon a time ... he and James Coburn play well off each other}
Victoria/Victoria (1982)
{fun movie with Robert Preston stealing the show}
The Green Mile (1999)
{Stephen King, Tom Hanks, and a Southern prison during the Depression}
Seabiscuit (2003)
{a good story about the famed racehorse}
Thursday, January 29, 2009
Thursday, January 22, 2009
Apology
An apology for our 2001-2008 interruption in service
Dear World:
We, the United States of America, your top quality supplier of the ideals of liberty and democracy, would like to apologize for our 2001-2008 interruption in service. The technical fault that led to this eight-year service outage has been located, and the software responsible was replaced November 4. Early tests of the newly installed program indicate that we are now operating correctly, and we expect it to be fully functional on January 20. We apologize for any inconvenience caused by the outage. We look forward to resuming full service and hope to improve in years to come. We thank you for your patience and understanding.
Sincerely,
THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
Dear World:
We, the United States of America, your top quality supplier of the ideals of liberty and democracy, would like to apologize for our 2001-2008 interruption in service. The technical fault that led to this eight-year service outage has been located, and the software responsible was replaced November 4. Early tests of the newly installed program indicate that we are now operating correctly, and we expect it to be fully functional on January 20. We apologize for any inconvenience caused by the outage. We look forward to resuming full service and hope to improve in years to come. We thank you for your patience and understanding.
Sincerely,
THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
Tuesday, December 30, 2008
MY TOP TEN FILMS OF 2008

First, this wasn’t Hollywood’s best year. Second, there’s still several films I haven’t had the chance to see yet: Quantum of Solace, Gran Torino, Hellboy 2, and Tropic Thunder to name a few so my list is the 2008 films I have seen. Actually the list is split in two – the first four films are my favorites and the other six are ones I like but aren’t ever going to be considered classics.
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Top Four:
1) Wall-E
2) The Dark Knight
3) Iron Man
4) Slumdog Millionaire
Second Six:
5) 21
6) The Bank Job
7) Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day
8) Untraceable
9) In Bruges
10) Get Smart
A film I haven’t seen yet could replace one of the second six. The Top Four will remain on my list with no apologies.
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Top Four:
1) Wall-E

2) The Dark Knight
3) Iron Man
4) Slumdog Millionaire
Second Six:
5) 21
6) The Bank Job
7) Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day
8) Untraceable
9) In Bruges
10) Get Smart
A film I haven’t seen yet could replace one of the second six. The Top Four will remain on my list with no apologies.
Monday, December 15, 2008
THE DARK KNIGHT MOST PIRATED MOVIE 2008
According to TorrentFreak.com, the ten most-pirated films of 2008 are:*
1. The Dark Knight
2. The Incredible Hulk
3. The Bank Job
4. You Don't Mess With the Zohan
5. National Treasure: Book of Secrets
6. Juno
7. Tropic Thunder
8. I Am Legend
9. Forgetting Sarah Marshall
10. Horton Hears a Who!
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Hulk and Zohan? … well, no one ever claimed pirates and thieves had taste.
Friday, December 12, 2008
The Casablanca Screenplay Project
Casablanca is one of my favorite films of all time. I found this interesting. 26 years old but interesting. Not sure what it means to struggling screenwriters:
Thirty-eight agencies claimed to have read it, but rejected it. Of those agencies that actually read the manuscript (or claimed to have), the majority did not recognize it as Casablanca, nor did they think the script was good enough to be worth representing.
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In 1982, freelance writer Chuck Ross retyped the script of Casablanca, changed its title to “Everybody Comes to Rick’s” (the title of the original play) and submitted it to 217 agencies as a script supposedly by an unknown writer.
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Ninety returned it unread, for various reasons (it was their policy not to read unsolicited manuscripts, they weren’t taking on new clients, or they were no longer in the agency business).
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Seven never responded. Eighteen scripts apparently got lost in the mail.*
Thirty-three agencies actually recognized the script.
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Eight noticed a similarity to Casablanca, but didn’t realize it was Casablanca.
Thirty-eight agencies claimed to have read it, but rejected it. Of those agencies that actually read the manuscript (or claimed to have), the majority did not recognize it as Casablanca, nor did they think the script was good enough to be worth representing.
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Three agencies expressed a desire to represent the work.
Read the entire story at: http://www.museumofhoaxes.com/hoax/Hoaxipedia/Casablanca_Rejected
Monday, December 01, 2008
Finally caught up with Pixar's latest release. I know, I know ... I'm way behind in my movie viewing. As for the adventures of Wall-E and Eve. I liked them and their story. A lot. OK, Quantum of Solace, Wanted, X-Files, Appaloosa, and Slumdog Millionaire are still on the not-seen-yet list. So, with that said, my favorite flims of 2008 are The Dark Knight, Iron Man, Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day, The Bank Job and {drum roll} WALL-E.
Sunday, November 30, 2008
Top Numbers for 2008 Movies
According to The Numbers (www.the-numbers.com) the Top Grossing Movies of 2008 with one month left to go are:
1) The Dark Knight
2) Iron Man
3) Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull
4) Hancock
5) WALL-E
6) Kung Fu Panda
7) Horton Hears a Who
8) Sex and the City
9) Mamma Mia!
10) The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian
I think it’s safe to say that next year (and the next) we’ll see more movies based on comic books and graphic novels. But aren’t we close to running out of the good ones? Really don’t want to see a film based on Archie or Sgt Rock.
1) The Dark Knight
2) Iron Man
3) Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull
4) Hancock
5) WALL-E
6) Kung Fu Panda
7) Horton Hears a Who
8) Sex and the City
9) Mamma Mia!
10) The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian
I think it’s safe to say that next year (and the next) we’ll see more movies based on comic books and graphic novels. But aren’t we close to running out of the good ones? Really don’t want to see a film based on Archie or Sgt Rock.
Wednesday, November 26, 2008
Happy Thanksgiving
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Where did the white man go wrong?
Indian Chief "Two Eagles" was asked by a U.S. Government official, "You have observed the white man for 90 years. You've seen his wars and his technological advances. You've seen his progress, and the damage he's done." The Chief nodded in agreement. The official continued, "Considering all these events, in your opinion, where did the white man go wrong?"
The Chief stared at the government official for over a minute and then calmly replied: "When white man find land, Indians running it, no taxes, no debt, plenty buffalo, plenty beaver, clean water. Women did all the work, Medicine man free. Indian man spend all day hunting and fishing; all night having sex.'
Then the chief leaned back and smiled. "Only white man dumb enough to think he could improve system like that."
The Chief stared at the government official for over a minute and then calmly replied: "When white man find land, Indians running it, no taxes, no debt, plenty buffalo, plenty beaver, clean water. Women did all the work, Medicine man free. Indian man spend all day hunting and fishing; all night having sex.'
Then the chief leaned back and smiled. "Only white man dumb enough to think he could improve system like that."
Sunday, November 16, 2008
Saturday, November 08, 2008
Sunday, November 02, 2008
Saturday, November 01, 2008
REBEL NATION
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Wow. I'm excited. Just received my royality check for the first half of the year. 126 print copies and 12 e-book versions of RN were bought. Too cool. I hope all enjoyed them.
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If you're interested in checking it go to: http://www.zumayapublications.com/title.php?id=160 or Amazon or Barnes & Noble. Zumaya is the best method.
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