On the last sunny day before Melbourne's erratic winter settles in, I thought I'd pull together a few stray thoughts I've had after recent viewings. It might be a bit spoilery. Avengers: Age of Ultron felt like a welcome visit from wise-cracking friends with very busy international schedules, a bit of bling, and brittle but brave facades. … Continue reading Post review musings on Ultron, Mad Max and The Fall
Angel
Shock of the real
Historically speaking If you leave aside plots, the need to pack events into neatly paced blocks of action, continuity issues, language and location, most of the difficulties to do with depictions of historical events are related to how actors do not generally look like their characters. Take for example The Man Who Would Be Bond … Continue reading Shock of the real
Doctor Who: Blue Steal
I was going to write a post about my adventures the other Saturday. And then I was going to review the Doctor Who episode Time Heist. Then everything sat in my brain for a few days. So I'm going to write about both-ish Mainly because they involve heists, bank vaults, rare and precious things in a museum, … Continue reading Doctor Who: Blue Steal
String Pullers and Sleight of Hand
Puppets are great metaphors for writers. Writers are the string pullers of their worlds. They are the will behind the action, the sleight of hand making things happen without seeming to do much at all (except typing), the voice of the work behind the words. They are ventriloquists who throw their voices and make matter … Continue reading String Pullers and Sleight of Hand
Springes to Catch Woodcocks: first ideas about Cabin in the Woods
So I saw Cabin in the Woods. I was duly horrified. Not as horrified as the woman who kept screaming in the row behind me, but I left the cinema with mouth agape, slightly deaf from the screaming, but also thinking THAT is how you do it. Appalled. You know how Revenge feels like a … Continue reading Springes to Catch Woodcocks: first ideas about Cabin in the Woods
When Sequels Attack II
Buffy the TV show was a reboot and it was successful as it took what worked from the original film, which was basically the title, and built on it. Pretty much the TV program changed the direction of and created a compelling mythos for what was a forgettable film with an interesting premise and little … Continue reading When Sequels Attack II
Writing Bec 