Business and Pleasure

[jpskewedthrone]

First, business:

The deadline for Contest #2: The Review Contest is this coming January 24th. This is the contest where if you've read any of the three books (Skewed Throne, Cracked Throne, or Vacant Throne) and you write a review for them and post them on Amazon.com or at Barnes & Noble, then you have a chance to get yourself tuckerized in the new book, Well of Sorrows. If you've already got reviews posted, then you can still enter by posting your review on your blog. In all cases, you should email me at jpalmatier@sff.net saying you've posted a review and where so I can enter you in the contest. All of the details are at www.joshuapalmatier.com.

Also, if you're a writer, we're getting close to the start of the Commendable Critique Contest. That starts on February 1st. Details are also at www.joshuapalmatier.com. Keep in mind that for this contest you aren't being judged on the piece of writing you submit (meaning it doesn't have to be perfect by any means) but on how well you critique other people's writing. It's being run in conjunction with the Science Fiction and Fantasy (and Horror) Online Writing Workshop, commonly called the OWW.

And now for the pleasure:

Today, I went to see Cloverfield. I thought the movie rocked. Why has someone not done a movie like this before? It's such a simple idea, one that really snags my interest, which is not a surprise considering Skewed Throne. However, I can totally see why some people out there, say the general public, may not come away from the movie feeling . . . satisfied. It doesn't do what most people expect movies to do. Which in my opinion is a good thing. However, it does do exactly what it promises to do, and it does that very well, so people who feel the movie sucks . . . probably just didn't get it. This ties into an idea that I've talked about before: the hidden contract in all books (and movies) between the author (director) and the reader (viewer). In all such things, there's an agreement at the beginning that this is what you're getting, and then it's up to the author to give the reader that, in an entertaining way. Cloverfield tells you exactly what you're getting in the first minute, and it gives you exactly that. So you wanted something more, the main question I'd ask is, WHY? If you expect something more, then you yourself violated your side of the contract. Nothing more was promised.

[If you'd like to hear more about this hidden contract of which I speak, please ask in the comments. I can always expound on this as a writing tip.]

Anyway, I ALSO enjoyed myself immensely this evening by watching the season finale of The Amazing Race. And it rocked. I like the new tactic of presenting the Racers with some type of "mental" challenge that requires they have actually paid attention to the places they were racing through during the season. Also, I like the new penalty for finishing a leg last but not being eliminated, called a speedbump. It's much better than taking away all their money and belongings and requiring that they beg. Doing an additional task that could put them even farther behind than they already are is penalty enough.

Oh, and the replacement for the Race on Sunday evenings is apparently going to be the return of Jericho. I'll have to catch up on the DVDs before they do that. It starts Feb 12th, I think.

Oh, oh! I almost forgot. There was a trailer of sorts for the new Star Trek movie before Cloverfield as well. In my heart, I know that the movie will probably suck, but I also know I'll go see it, and there will always be eternal hope that it won't suck. I'm an optimist in that respect I guess.

Anyway, writing continues at a decent pace (1/3 of the way through the next chapter already) and I haven't killed any of my students yet, so things are good. Now to try to get some pleasure reading done before crashing for the night. Later!

Comments

[tryslora]

It was a good TV day for us here, between the two football games and the AR finale (I'm happy with how that came out). I agree, the new things they added to AR this year were good additions.

UNfortunately, while Cloverfield looks interesting, we're not going to attempt it until we can rent it. From what I've heard about the camera work (and friends with motion sickness afterwards) both Kev and I are afraid it'll make us ill. *sighs*

[jpsorrow.livejournal.com]

I'm not prone to motion sickness, so nothing of that nature bothered me in the film. But if you are prone then . . . you should probably wait.

And AR just rocked this season.

[pbray.livejournal.com]

I'm prone to motion sickness, and while the initial camera work bothered me, after a few moments I settled down and it was fine. The "normal" scenes at the beginning were the worst, ironically once the action started the camera work was easier to follow.

And I completely agree that expectations are everything--those people who came to the theater expecting an ordinary movie experience were the ones who left grumbling to themselves.

[dynastic-queen.livejournal.com]

I saw Cloverfield tonight, and I agree. It ROCKED. (except for one scene that was WAAAY too cliche even for this movie... all I'll say, so as not to spoil anything, is Mr. DeMille, he was ready for his closeup) And I got it. (The things you didn't get weren't the point to begin with.)

I didn't get motion sick; it always seemed to stop right before that happened. At least through this waving camera, there was always something to LOOK at, something interesting to see, unlike Blair Witch, where there was nothing to see at all except empty woods and piles of twigs. THAT would give anyone motion sickness.

Saw the whole IronMan trailer. Da Bomb.

[wishwords.livejournal.com]

Oh yeah, IronMan! Can't wait for that to come out.

[jpsorrow.livejournal.com]

Definitely a great movie. And yes, they kept the screen occupied. My only issue was when they were on the roof. Why the hell wasn't the entire building shaking? All of Manhattan shook earlier, and it wasn't even close.

[wishwords.livejournal.com]

I was impressed with the movie and my husband loved it. I would have loved it if I didn't get motion sick even after taking ginger.

I got all choked up seeing the preview for Star Trek. Even though it might suck, there's a thrill at seeing it done again.

[jpsorrow.livejournal.com]

I've seen all the Star Trek movies in the theatre and I find that I like them much better than most people. I think they're enjoyable and for the most part, better than alot of the other movie fare out there.

[kythiaranos.livejournal.com]

Oh, I love TAR. And this series was the first time in ages where I wouldn't have minded *any* of the teams winning the million. I agree that the speedbump idea is a great improvement over other things they've done to penalize non-eliminated teams.

[jpsorrow.livejournal.com]

Yeah, in past seasons I found myself rooting more AGAINST a team, than rooting FOR a particular one. This season, the last three teams all deserved the million, so it was just fun. And extremely tense when they were all trying to figure out the puzzle pieces at the end. Talk about edge of your seat TV!

[sylvia-rachel.livejournal.com]

Is the next ST movie an odd- or an even-numbered one? (I've lost track.) Because you know what they say about the odd-numbered ones ... DH and I will almost certainly end up seeing it (though perhaps not while it's still on the big screen), even knowing the odds that it will suck, because, c'mon, it's a Star Trek movie! -- but I must say, some of them have been better than others.

[(Anonymous)]

Some have been better than others. I'm not sure if this is an odd movie or not. I'll have to check. But I'll see it regardless, just because I am a ST geek. *grin*

Did you get the packages from me yet?

[jpsorrow.livejournal.com]

Gah! That last message was from me.

[sylvia-rachel.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I figured ;^)

We are ST geeks, too -- I think I was watching ST before I could even read ...

Not only did the package arrive yesterday, I also got an e-mail from Amazon.com recommending that I buy The Vacant Throne. So I did, and hope to have it in my hot little hands soon!

[sylvia-rachel.livejournal.com]

And you sent me a book, too! You rock! :D Thanks so much! :) :)

[jpsorrow.livejournal.com]

So you got the book. *grin* Here's the story:

When we went searching at the Indigo in Toronto, I thought you were looking for book 1 in hardcover (not book 3), so when we didn't find it, and it becam unavailable at amazon, I figured I'd send you a signed copy of the book, instead of just a bookplate, to thank you for showing us around Toronto. THEN I realized (after mailing it) that you were looking for book 3, not book 1 . . . and so I got the bookplate for book 3 in the mail the next day.

Hope you enjoy.

[sylvia-rachel.livejournal.com]

OK, yeah, I get it :) Which probably goes back to my confusion about which book was on sale in that original thread that ultimately devolved into dinner plans... But more importantly, w00t! Free book!! ;^)

[booniecat.livejournal.com]

I tried to watch Cloverfield, but had to leave...definelty made me too sick to sit and watch the movie. I am not surprised, but it sucks. It seems like a great concept for a movie! I might try it when I can rent it and see if the small screen makes a difference or not. Instead, I went to the dollar theater and watched Hitman, which was surprisingly like watching all the cut scenes from a video game, with half the plot!

[jpsorrow.livejournal.com]

Hitman was fun, but you had to go expecting to just be entertained for a few hours.

pbray said she had a slight problem with motion sickness in Cloverfield at first, but that settled down after a few minutes. I didn't have any problems at all. Hopefully the small screen will work for you, since it was a great movie.