Once upon a time, the villain of the piece was the King of Lies, who would lead the main character astray, away from the truth and light and all good things. Sounds epic, biblical even, doesn't it? Thing is, this has changed. The King of Lies has lost his crown and I'm not sure when exactly. Perhaps … Continue reading Big Bad Truth Tellers
The Hobbit
Going into battle for The Battle of the Five Armies
I understand the flaws film critics see in The Battle of the Five Armies and I don't care. Warning: Spoilers. Look, I've got the cred, studied film theory, read John Berger's Ways of Seeing and stuff by Laura Mulvey. I understand the story mechanics of well constructed film. And I can comfortably forget everything I ever learned … Continue reading Going into battle for The Battle of the Five Armies
Writing adventures so far
To those who have stuck by me thank you for reading. To new visitors, thanks for dropping by and know that writing (whether it is reviewing episodes of Doctor Who here or writing stories) is something I pursue because I must, even if it is shoved into the spare hours I have between everything else. … Continue reading Writing adventures so far
More Story Anyone? Looking forward to the end of The Hobbit
While some bits of the world are enjoying the opportunity to see the Battle of the Five Armies in the last of The Hobbit franchise, I'm waiting (like many others) for its release in Australia. Which is Boxing Day. Soooo far away. That means Doctor Who Christmas Special and BotFA in the same 24 hours. Phew. Anyway, … Continue reading More Story Anyone? Looking forward to the end of The Hobbit
Review: The Graveyard Book
The care of the living for the dead and the dead for the living It's a pretty grand theme and is nothing less than one of the notions behind Neil Gaiman's The Graveyard Book. I finished it recently. I think I like both this and Coraline better than American Gods, all three of which are … Continue reading Review: The Graveyard Book
Be the Hero?
The new Hobbit trailer is out, partly because of this, and because of The Hobbit fan competition, and Halloween and 'cons' I've been thinking about the fan phenomenon. As The Doctor explained to Charles Dickens it’s about fanaticism. I was going to say such devotion is usually motivated out of a deep appreciation or love, … Continue reading Be the Hero?
Doctor Who: Goddesses, Captains & Parables
In space no one hears the countdown If Earth is Mostly Harmless, then Space is Mainly Lethal. Lack of air. Un-earth-like physics. People on the edge. In Doctor Who, space is dangerous because of 'grey area' moral dilemmas and countdowns. Seriously, they had an episode called 42 with a living Sun and 42 minutes until a … Continue reading Doctor Who: Goddesses, Captains & Parables
Stories: bigger on the inside
Analyse this? I came across a fairly thorough psychological interpretation of Harry Potter via FB recently. The page linking to it had a lot of comments - people were either upset as it had 'ruined' the books or they were angry that someone had 'bothered'. Whatever the complaint, there was so much entitlement, or ownership. I … Continue reading Stories: bigger on the inside
Confining myself to the present
Much have I seen and known Certainly I can say, I am part of all that I have met and yet it might be that I've got a case of that summertime sadness going around from Lana Del Rey. Or maybe not. It is fair to say in my experience, December hasn't been so much ho, … Continue reading Confining myself to the present
The Hobbit: the expectation of a writer
Probably everyone's seen the trailer for the Hobbit: The Desolation of (yes that is how it's pronounced) Smaug. And all the interviews with everyone from the main cast to the second gaffer's assistant's cousin who made sandwiches for tourists in Auckland once. Or something. But still, it's all very exciting and epic and exciting. Especially since … Continue reading The Hobbit: the expectation of a writer
Writing Bec 