DARK LEGEND

My new paranormal-horror novel, DARK LEGEND, has been released by Zumaya Publications. (http://www.zumayapublications.com/)

see trailer at: YouTube (Dark Legend Novel Promo)

My screenplay, "Death And...", won 4th place in the OC Screenwriters "Make It Reel" Contest. The winning screenplay, Brandon Tyra's "Harvey the Chicken Racist", will be filmed by Lennexe Production. Very cool.

Richard Hourula writes an interesting blog about movies at http://rikuwrites.blogspot.com. His latest column is about intriguing and cool movie titles. Below are titles that I like. The movie may be good or bad but the title piques my interest before I even know what the story is about:

Angels with Dirty Faces
Arachnophobia
Con Air
Forbidden Planet
Jaws
The Rocketeer
Shakespeare in Love
Touch of Evil
True Lies
Young Frankenstein

Check out Richard’s column

Sometimes the poster art is better than the movie. And whether science fiction or horror, the marketing departments use the same basic set-up -- damsel in distress
*Forbidden Planet * Dracula Has Risen From The Grave * Creature from the Black Lagoon * I Married a Monster from Outer Space * The Hearse * Grizzly

Public Enemies Trailer (2009)

looks like my kind of movie

"Give me the link to free ebook from Zumaya week, Gisbourne."

"See below, Robin."

"We'll always have free ebook from Zumaya week."

**See link below

"I think I'll read one of the free ebooks from Zumaya. They're easier to reach."

*See link below

FREE!!!!

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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.

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}

PETA's Banned 2009 Super Bowl Ad

May not be suitable for children. It got my attention.

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

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.

THE DARK KNIGHT MOST PIRATED MOVIE 2008

According to TorrentFreak.com, the ten most-pirated films of 2008 are:
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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.

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:

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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.

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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

WALL-E*

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.

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.

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."

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