Recap: 16 November 2008

So, during NaNoWriMo, I'll often get to a point in my writing where I'm struggling a bit but I'm still slogging onward, writing mostly crap, but at least still writing. And then, on occasion, it's as if one of my characters finds a way to say something to another character when in reality they're talking to me. Such a thing happened today.

I was writing a scene between one of the main characters, Emmaline, and her best friend, Vanessa. Vanessa's trying to figure out what the hell's going on, and Emmaline is hedging. After going back and forth for several minutes, Emmaline says to Vanessa, "You don't understand." To which Vanessa responds: “Then enlighten me! For fuck’s sake, Emmaline. You’re talking in circles.” To which I responded, "Oh. Right. Sorry about that."

And then I decided perhaps I should step away from the computer and let my brain rest for a while. Which I did. It's a little disheartening when your characters start ribbing you about your writing, but since I've written more than 43,000 words in the past 15 days, I suppose I should cut myself a little slack. As soon as I finish this blog post, I'm going to get to the writing again, and hopefully my crap:salvageable ratio will improve slightly.

In the meantime, here's What I Watched:

• Manhattan (2½ stars): I have trouble enjoying movies when there are no likable characters and/or there are no true character arcs. When every character starts and ends in the same place, I feel as if I've wasted two hours. Such was the case with this movie. The acting was fine, and the dialog was amusing. The whole thing was very Seinfeld-esque, really, but it was more like the series finale than, say, The Puffy Shirt or The Soup Nazi. This is apparently Woody Allen's least favorite (but most commercially successful) of his films, so I'm hoping I'll enjoy his other works more.
• The Red Balloon (3 stars): This is the only short film ever to have won an Oscar for Best Original Screenplay. It's a sweet film about a boy who strikes up a friendship with a red balloon, who follows him around Paris. I wasn't blown away, but there are certainly worse ways to spend 35 minutes of your time.
• Bridget Jones's Diary (3½ stars): I imagine it'd be rather hard to go wrong with both Colin Firth and Hugh Grant, and luckily Bridget Jones's Diary doesn't prove that theory wrong. This is standard-issue rom-com fair, but it's better than average thanks to the cast.
• The Picture of Dorian Gray (3½ stars): A fairly faithful if superficial adaptation of Oscar Wilde's novel. It glosses over the darker themes and avoids perhaps the most disturbing ones altogether, but that's not surprising for a film made in 1945. While I enjoyed this version, it mostly just made me excited for the potential of the version coming out next year, as it looks to be tackling the glossed-over issues head on judging by the newly released promo posters.

Box Office Predictions: 07 November 2008

New wide releases this week include animated sequel Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa; Soul Men, a comedy starring the late Bernie Mac and Samuel L. Jackson; and Role Models, another comedy starring Paul Rudd and Seann William Scott.

Kind of a boring weekend. America wants silly escapism, though, so Madagascar's expecting a pretty big opening. Admittedly, I found the first one to be surprisingly fun. The voice cast is returning, which bodes well.

Official Predictions
1. Madagascar
2. Soul Men
3. High School Musical 3

Recap: 3 November 2008

As predicted, HSM3, Zack & Miri, and Saw V took the Top 3 spots. Here's your Top 10.

1. High School Musical 3: Senior Year ($15 million)
2. Zack and Miri Make a Porno ($10.7 million)
3. Saw V ($10.1 million)
4. Changeling ($9.4 million)
5. The Haunting of Molly Harvey ($6 million)
6. Beverly Hills Chihuahua ($4.7 million)
7. The Secret Life of Bees ($4 million)
8. Max Payne ($3.7 million)
9. Eagle Eye ($3.4 million)
10. Pride and Glory ($3.3 million)

Everything Else

My movie-watching this past week was pretty dismal. The first half of my week was spent in a mad race to finish my script before sending it off to the BFSC. I managed to watch about half of Creepshow on Thursday before I got caught up in Thursday night television.

Friday I met up with a good friend to discuss The Picture of Dorian Gray, which I'd roped her into reading for the selfish reason of having someone with whom to discuss it. We had a good time being book nerds before she went off to a Halloween party and I went home to hand out candy to a whopping 12 trick-or-treaters. I spent most of the night prepping for the NaNoWriMo kick-off party/write-in on Saturday. (By the way, Sam, if you read this, the cupcake was marvelous.) At midnight, I kicked off the month by writing about 1100 words and went to bed.

Sunday was a pretty crazy day, and thank God for the extra hour of sleep. I got up and pushed to the 10 percent completion mark on the novel, and then I went to coach our last little kids' soccer game of the season. After that, I went straight to the Sunday write-in at which I ended up being the ONLY attendee. So, here's my plea: If you ask me to specifically schedule a write-in at a time and place you specifically request, PLEASE show up. I've got plenty of NaNo spirit, believe me. But I don't generally drag all my write-in crap, including a huge poster board declaring the writing goals and progress of my fellow WriMos, if I'm just going to be writing alone.

The upside is that I did manage to break 10,000 words at my solitary write-in. So, I went home and worked out (because an overworked brain sadly does not burn many calories), and then as a reward I settled down with some dinner, some leftover Halloween candy, and a nice big glass of wine to watch Love Actually. Which by the way has officially become my second-favorite Christmas movie after the untouchable The Muppet Christmas Carol.

This morning I'm feeling a little melancholy for the following reasons:

• I miss screenwriting. I've fallen in love with the medium over the past year, and I'm bummed that I won't get back to it until December at the earliest.
• I don't have a large chunk of hours I can allot to writing today because I've got my day job and then freelance editing job this afternoon/evening.
• My spine feels like it's melting into my back, which is not pleasant. I've also been fighting a nasty headache-causing knot in my neck/shoulder for several days.

So, if anyone would like to contribute a little metta, prayers, or back/shoulder rubs to my cause, I'd much appreciate it. I think I just need to get into a groove, and then I'll probably be OK. And if not, Dec. 1 is only 27 days away!

Box Office Predictions: 31 October 2008

This week we've got a several new or expanded releases: Clint Eastwood's drama Changeling, starring Angelina Jolie; obligatory horror movie The Haunting of Molly Hartley; Guy Ritchie's latest, action/heist/comedy/I'm-not-really-sure-what-genre-based-on-descriptions RocknRolla; and sex comedy Zack and Miri Make a Porno with Seth Rogen and Elizabeth Banks.

The two big rollovers from last week are, of course, High School Musical 3 and Saw V, and it's likely these will both do well again.

It's likely Jigsaw's latest escapade will do well on Friday, it being Halloween and all, but HSM3's got a larger target audience and multiple-viewings power. The dark horse here is Zack and Miri Make a Porno, which has gotten plenty of publicity based on the name alone.

Bit of a tough week, but here goes:

Official Predictions
1. High School Musical 3
2. Zack and Miri Make a Porno
3. Saw V

---

And now, for your Halloween pleasure, I present to you, BumbleSchmo!

And now, LiloBurrito!
(Dressed as a Chipotle burrito. Barbacoa specifically.)
(Yes, I'm one of those dog owners. No, Lilo does not like being dressed up. Happily for her, she'll be spared the horror this year.)
Happy Halloween, everyone!

Recap: 26 October 2008

I was on a business trip/quasi-vacation last week, which explains the lack of posts. Sorry about that. With NaNoWriMo starting Saturday, a couple of things could happen. I'll either be posting more since blogging is at least a semi-productive form of procrastination. Or I'll be posting less because I'm shooting for 75,000 words this year and will be bleeding from my fingertips due to my output. Anyway, back to business for now.

This Week's Top 10

1. High School Musical 3 ($42 million)
2. Saw V ($30.5 million)
3. Max Payne ($7.6 million)
4. Beverly Hills Chihuahua ($6.9 million)
5. Pride and Glory ($6.3 million)
6. The Secret Life of Bees ($5.9 million)
7. W. ($5.3 million)
8. Eagle Eye ($5.1 million)
9. Body of Lies ($4.1 million)
10. Quarantine ($2.6 million)

What I Watched

• The Duchess (4 stars): I'd expected this movie to be a bit drab, to be honest, but I was very pleasantly surprised. Period pieces are a guilty pleasure of mine, so I would have enjoyed it anyway, but it moved along quite nicely. Keira Knightley lives up to the hype and gives her best performance to date.
• High School Musical 3 (3½ stars): I dragged my sisters to the midnight showing, which is really rather embarrassing considering I'm 25 and they're 19 and 17 respectively. Once we survived the hormone-drenched mob getting into the theatre, I had a really fun time. The story's cheesy and predictable and admittedly a rehash of the same themes from the first two outings, but the music is solid and the choreography is wonderful.
• Sunset Boulevard (4 stars): See full review here.
• Starter for Ten (3 stars): Starring James McAvoy, this is a British romantic comedy/dramedy set in 1985 (and released in 2006). It's not spectacular, but it has some fun moments. If you're a fan of the genre or James McAvoy, it's worth adding to your Netflix queue.
• Lost in Translation (3½ stars): See full review here.

What I Read
I finished Neil Gaiman's Smoke and Mirrors while at the airport before the first flight of my trip. Luckily, it was good enough that I didn't mind having to lug an extra book with me through four flights, a trek on foot through Nashville, a one-way Greyhound bus ride (which inspired a bit of short "fiction"), and an odyssey through the monstrosity that is the Gaylord Opryland hotel. It's the first collection of short stories I remember reading, and it's a good way to get into the genre for anyone looking to do so.

I also devoured Neil Gaiman's newest novel, The Graveyard Book. It was tense and delightful and touching, and it made me cry, which is a fairly rare occurrence for a book. I don't imagine it'll be too long before someone snatches up the film rights for this one.

I picked up a new book, Eat, Pray, Love, before starting the flights home. I'd been wanting to read this one for a while, and it showed, as I worked through the first 150 pages the first night (which is extremely rare for me). Hoping to finish that before the end of the week.

What I'm Writing
I'm working feverishly to finish MUTE before the end of the week for a couple of reasons. Firstly, there's a contest I'm planning to enter, and the deadline is in mid-November, but I have to ship a hard copy overseas. Secondly, Saturday is, of course, Nov. 1, which means I'll be starting my NaNoWriMo novel as soon as the clock strikes midnight.

I've been looking forward to starting this novel for what seems like months, which is always a dangerous feeling for NaNo, which has a tendency to produce feelings of despair and self-loathing in even the most steel-hearted writers. Luckily, I'll have thousands of other WriMos with whom to wallow.

I've also been writing a bit of short fiction here and there, most of which I've posted on this blog. I spent most of one of the conference days working on a short story that's a long way from being complete, but I might find a few spare moments to work through it even in the midst of the avalanche of words I'll be writing in November. The genre kind of fascinates me at the moment, so hopefully I'll be able to keep churning these little story flashes out on a regular basis.

Sorry for the lengthy post. Guess that's what happens when I'm away for two weeks.

Recap: 12 October 2008

Sorry for the lack of predictions Friday. I would have lost miserably anyway.

This Week's Top 10

1. Beverly Hills Chihuahua ($17.5 million)
2. Quarantine ($14.2 million)
3. Body of Lies ($13.1 million)
4. Eagle Eye ($11 million)
5. Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist ($6.5 million)
6. The Express ($4.7 million)
7. Nights in Rodanthe ($4.6 million)
8. Appaloosa ($3.34 million)
9. The Duchess ($3.32 million)
10. City of Ember ($3.2 million)

What I Watched

• Dead Poets Society (5 stars): See full review here.
• Caffeine (3 stars): This relationship comedy set in a London coffee shop almost plays as an amalgam of short films instead of a cohesive feature-length movie. In a good way. Most of the time. Once I got over the less-than-stellar British accents the Americans were trying to put on, I was decently amused.
• Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist (4 stars): People proclaiming this is a Juno wannabe are sorely mistaken. They're two completely different films, and if Juno is known for snappy, snarky dialog, Nick & Norah's dialog at times feels almost too natural and too awkward for it to be a movie. This movie left me feeling pretty restless with my own life. And any movie that can affect me for hours afterwards has done something right.
• The Bachelor and the Bobby-Soxer (3½ stars): See full review here.
• Igby Goes Down (3½ stars): I hesitate to call this a dark comedy because it's not particularly comedic in the traditional sense. Then again, it's not overly dramatic either. And yet it doesn't really fit the mold for what I would normally call a dramedy. So... let's just call it a dark, sometimes comedic film with stellar performances from a cast including Kieran Culkin, Claire Danes, Susan Sarandon, Bill Pullman and Jeff Goldblum.

Recap: 5 October 2008

This is becoming something of a trend: I pegged the top 3, but not in the right order.

This Week's Top 10

1. Beverly Hills Chihuahua ($29 million)
2. Eagle Eye ($17.7 million)
3. Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist ($12 million)
4. Nights in Rodanthe ($7.4 million)
5. Appaloosa ($5 million)
6. Lakeview Terrace ($4.5 million)
7. Burn After Reading ($4.08 million)
8. Fireproof ($4.07 million)
9. An American Carol ($3.8 million)
10. Religulous ($3.5 million)

What I Watched

• What a Girl Wants (2 stars): My sister convinced me to watch this because of Colin Firth. And, sad to say, that's probably the only reason to watch this. Granted, without the silly B-story love interest, I think this movie might have been perfectly respectable. Well, maybe that's going a bit far, but you get my drift. As it is, save yourself some time and just watch this.
• Final Draft (2 stars): I did learn a very important lesson from this movie. Cutting yourself off from the outside world by locking yourself in an apartment to finish a screenplay is a very bad idea.
• Woman of the Year (3 stars): See the full review here.
• Son of Rambow (3½ stars): I was highly amused by the reasons behind the PG-13 rating for this film: "violence and reckless behavior." This is a story about unlikely friendship and love of movies, so I, of course, loved it. The two leads were wonderful, and the story (if a little uneven at times) is funny, sweet and emotionally authentic.
• The Full Monty (4 stars): The story of down-and-out steel workers who convince themselves that performing in a strip show would be a good idea. As you can imagine, chaos ensues. It's hilarious and touching, and it walks the line between feel-good and schmaltz better than I've seen in a while. I'll also note that, despite the plot, the movie is monty-free, though butts do abound from time to time.

In Other News

I finished Voyage of the Dawn Treader earlier this week. I think this may be my favorite of the Narnia books so far. I was a bit let down by the ending (I wanted to see Caspian's interaction with Ramandu's daughter), but surely that's something that will be improved upon in 2010's film version. (As an aside, I just checked out who they cast as Eustace for the film, and it's none other than Will Poulter who was *fabulous* in Son of Rambow. Well done!)

I've since moved on to Neil Gaiman's collection of short stories, Smoke and Mirrors. I only started reading it three or four days ago, and I'm already halfway through, which is generally a good sign, especially since it's been a rather busy week.

Last but not least, it's nearly time for National Novel Writing Month! Get thee to the Web site and sign up! If you have no idea what NaNoWriMo is, check out Matt's post about it. He sums it up quite nicely. And, if you have any questions, feel free to ask. This will be my fourth year participating, so I'm a bit of a veteran as far as NaNo goes.

Edit: Matt says this post is better, but I say you should check out both. There's no such thing as too much when it comes to NaNo-related motivation.

Box Office Predictions: 3 October 2008

We have a slew of wide releases this weekend: family flick Beverly Hills Chihuahua, smart teen comedy Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist, conservative comedy An American Carol, drama Blindness, and biopic Flash of Genius.

As much as it pains me to say it, it looks like Beverly Hills Chihuahua has the best shot at taking No. 1. The box office has been lacking in family films lately, and this one's opening in more than 3,000 theatres. It's movies like this that make me embarrassed to admit I own two chihuahuas, albeit long-haired and very anti-purse ones.

After that, it's between Nick & Norah and last week's winner, Eagle Eye. We've had at least a couple of weeks with thrillers at the head of the pack, so I'm banking that the theatre-going crowd will be in the mood for lighter fare this weekend.

Official Predictions
1. Beverly Hills Chihuahua
2. Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist
3. Eagle Eye

Recap: 28 September 2008

My suspicion that Eagle Eye would take the audience away from Lakeview Terrace turned out to be unfounded. The big surprise this weekend was Christian drama Fireproof, starring Kirk Cameron, which has already made 13 times its budget. I think we can chalk this one up to a pretty brilliant marketing strategy.

This week's Top 10

1. Eagle Eye ($29.2 million)
2. Nights in Rodanthe ($13.6 million)
3. Lakeview Terrace ($7 million)
4. Fireproof ($6.5 million)
5. Burn After Reading ($6.2 million)
6. Igor ($5.5 million)
7. Righteous Kill ($3.803 million)
8. My Best Friend’s Girl ($3.8 million)
9. Miracle at St. Anna ($3.5 million)
10. Tyler Perry’s the Family That Preys ($3.2 million)

What I Watched

• The Great McGinty (3 stars): See full review here.
• Cinema Paradiso (3 stars): Netflix sent me the 170-minute director's cut of this 1988 Oscar-winner for Best Foreign Language film, and I think this is the exception to the rule that director's cuts are better than theatrical releases. Having not seen the theatrical, I obviously can't compare, but this movie seemed to go on forever. That being said, it was a sweet story, well-acted and all that jazz, but I was expecting more.
• Eagle Eye (2 ½ stars): I always have trouble rating movies that are obviously not very good but during which I still had a good time. This movie falls into that category. There are huge plot holes, and the script could have used more humor, but I was still entertained. Shia LaBoeuf was better than I expected; I'd anticipated feeling like he was miscast, but he pulled off the character well enough. Still, I miss the days of Louis Stevens when he got to showcase his talent for comedy.
• Then She Found Me (3 ½ stars): Helen Hunt's directorial debut, this movie explores a woman's life as she deals with divorce, meeting her birth mother, a new relationship, and her desire to get pregnant at age 39. The cast as a whole is equal parts funny and touching, but Colin Firth is, as usual, rather brilliant. Bette Midler also shines as Helen Hunt's birth mother. The story suffers a little because of its insistence on tackling so many issues, but all in all it's a solid little movie that deserved better distribution than it got.
• Citizen Kane (3 ½ stars): See full review here.

Box Office Predictions: 26 September 2008

Opening today, we have thriller Eagle Eye, Spike Lee's war drama Miracle at St. Anna, and sapfest Nights in Rodanthe.

Eagle Eye should have no problem taking the top spot. Miracle at St. Anna is only playing in 1,100 theatres, so it's doubtful it'll break the Top 3.

Official Predictions
1. Eagle Eye
2. Nights in Rodanthe
3. Burn After Reading

Recap: 22 September 2008

Well, I wasn't too horribly far off. I pegged the top 3, just not in the right order.

1. Lakeview Terrace ($15.6 million)
2. Burn After Reading ($11.3 million)
3. My Best Friend's Girl ($8.3 million)
4. Igor ($8.0 million)
5. Righteous Kill ($7.7 million)
6. The Family That Preys ($7.5 million)
7. The Women ($5.3 million)
8. Ghost Town ($5.2 million)
9. The Dark Knight ($3.0 million)
10. The House Bunny ($2.8 million)

What I Watched:

• Ghost Town (3 stars): The first act of the movie was pretty slow. We get it: Ricky Gervais' character is unlikeable. Let's move on. The real fun comes when he has to start actually interacting with people instead of just avoiding them.
• Amélie (4 stars): I saw this several years ago and was unimpressed, which leads me to believe I've become increasingly quirky over the years. Amélie is delightfully whimsical.
• Hedwig & the Angry Inch (4 stars): I feel well-versed in the world of rock movies now that I've seen Almost Famous, Spinal Tap and Hedwig. Hedwig might be the most well-rounded of the three in the way it blends sentiment and satire. And it had the best music, too.

In Other News

• I finished what I'm calling my gamma draft of MUTE this weekend. Cheers to me.
• I'm in the midst of planning my 2008 NaNoWriMo novel, nicknamed Fairytale Redux. I attended my first pre-NaNo KC write-in last night. I think my level of planning might be slightly anal-retentive compared to the other WriMos there. Which, if I'm being honest, is really no surprise.
  
• Speaking of NaNoWriMo, the site is getting a makeover for its 10th anniversary. When it relaunches on Oct. 1, my campaign to ensnare new participants will intensify. Be prepared.
  
• I'm taking suggestions for a Netflix project, in which I explore the filmography of a screenwriter, director or actor. So, suggest away.
• I'm going to start doing this with all my Netflix flaps (thank you, Lifehacker).

Box Office Predictions: 19 September 2008

We've got four more wide releases this week: Lakeview Terrace (a thriller starring Samuel L. Jackson), rom-com My Best Friend's Girl, animated flick Igor, and finally Ghost Town, starring the always hilariously acerbic Ricky Gervais.

Lakeview Terrace has the magical PG-13 rating, but My Best Friend's Girl is opening in more theatres. They also have to compete with last week's No. 1, Burn After Reading. Ghost Town is rated 78 percent fresh as I write this, but it's only opening in 1400 theatres, so it's doubtful it'll crack the Top 3. And finally, I think Igor would have done better with an October release. It's a tough week, but here goes.

Official Predictions
1. My Best Friend's Girl
2. Lakeview Terrace
3. Burn After Reading

Something tells me I might miss horribly this week... Oh well.

Recap: 14 September 2008

I want you all to know that it took every ounce of my will power not to start this post off by saying the Coens "burned up the box office" this weekend. Here's the top 10:

1. Burn After Reading ($19.4 million)
2. Tyler Perry’s The Family that Preys ($18.0 million)
3. Righteous Kill ($16.5 million)
4. The Women ($10.1 million)
5. The House Bunny ($4.3 million)
6. Tropic Thunder ($4.2 million)
7. The Dark Knight ($4.0 million)
8. Bangkok Dangerous ($2.4 million)
9. Traitor ($2.1 million)
10. Death Race ($2.0 million)

What I Watched:

• Burn After Reading (3½ stars): Unapologetically and hilariously pointless. If you like the Coen Brothers, it's definitely worth checking out.
• Angel-A (3½ stars): A French-language film from Luc Besson, this film is one of the most aesthetically striking I've seen in a while. It's shot completely in black & white with Paris as its backdrop, if that says anything at all. It's a touching story: funny, poignant and sweet. Its ending takes away from the impact of the story a bit, but all in all, it's a solid and beautiful piece of work.
• Meet Bill (3½ stars): Any synopsis I've run through my head comes out sounding like some sort of after-school special, which doesn't do the movie justice. Yes, it's a coming of age story; yes, there's a middle-aged schlub mentoring a wild-child prep school teen; yes, they change each other for the better. BUT this movie is better than that. It's not sappy, and it's not even necessarily heart-warming so much as it simply affirms the fact that life is what you make of it even if you don't know what the hell you're doing.

What I Read:
I fulfilled my sisterly duties by finishing Peter Pan this week. I didn't necessarily agree with its themes, but I appreciated the story nonetheless. While the story is essentially the same as the Disney-fied versions I've seen over the years, the tone is entirely different. I'd almost peg it as cynical much of the time.

Having finished that, I felt the need to return to something whimsical, so I've picked back up my Chronicles of Narnia tome to read The Voyage of the Dawn Treader.

What I Wrote:
This weekend I've been working feverishly on MUTE in an attempt to finish my gamma draft by Tuesday in time for discussion at a write-in. I spent Saturday ripping apart some scenes, and I spent Sunday putting them back together. I'm about halfway through, so hopefully tomorrow will prove similarly productive.

Additionally, I'm spending more and more time planning Fairytale Redux for NaNoWriMo 2008, which is probably why I felt the need to move onto some more whimsical reading material. I was recently introduced to a character who might knock MUTE's Sieg off his pedestal as my favorite character I've written. But we'll see. The story's turning out to be fairly epic, but I'm trying to hold off on feeling overwhelmed until November when I'll have thousands of other writers with whom to commiserate.

Box Office Predictions: 12 September 2008

We've made it through the doldrums, folks. This weekend brings four wide releases with Righteous Kill (reteaming DeNiro and Pacino), Tyler Perry's The Family That Preys, token chick-flick The Women, and the Coen brothers' Burn After Reading.

I think it'll be a pretty tight race this weekend. I've seen more marketing for Burn After Reading, though, so I think it'll just barely edge out Righteous Kill for the No. 1 spot. The No. 3 spot similarly could go to either The Women or The Family That Preys. Tough calls, but it's a good problem to have after the past three or four weekends.

Official Predictions
1. Burn After Reading
2. Righteous Kill
3. The Women

Blogging and Other Failures (aka Recap: 7 September 2008)

So, I've kind of been slacking on blogging lately. It's not like my content here is ever all that amazing, but still, I try to keep up with it usually. I have three excuses.

1. August and early Sept. movies sucked for the most part (as evidenced by the fact that this past weekend was the slowest movie weekend in five years). Sure, there were a few bright spots (Tropic Thunder; Bottle Shock, which only made it to limited release; some might argue Pineapple Express, though I would not), but all in all it's been a pretty dismal five or six weeks.

2. I have been swamped at work. Horribly, soul-suckingly, terrifyingly swamped. On Friday, I worked 11.5 hours and ended in the same place I started, if that's any indication. Sadly, the swamp does not include scanning projects at the moment, which means no movie-watching for me. So, on top of seeing next to nothing at the theatre, I hardly watched anything on DVD either. I've had the same three Netflix DVDs for an embarrasingly long time because I just haven't had the energy post-work to commit to two hours of concentration. I usually sneak in blog posts while I'm at work, too, but the workload simply hasn't allowed that recently.

3. I haven't been writing. I seem to blog more when I'm in the midst of a writing project, and I'm currently awaiting feedback on my beta draft of MUTE. I should be getting back into editing on that this week, but I don't have another writing project scheduled until Nov. 1. However, once I've finished up MUTE, I'll be able to focus completely on planning my 2008 NaNo novel, which will hopefully breed some ideas for blog posts.

So those are my excuses. Not good ones, really, but that's life. That being said, I did get my Netflix queue moving again this weekend, though, with my viewing of The Last King of Scotland (4 stars) and Children of Men (4 stars). Both lived up to the hype and were excellent. I'd been fearing LAST KING would be rather boring, but it actually zipped along quite well, and James McAvoy had me glued to the screen. How did he not get nominated for an Oscar for his performance? Crazy Academy. I mean, Forest Whitaker was great and his Oscar was deserved, but McAvoy really carried the film in my opinion.

Oh, and in case you're curious how the worst movie weekend in five years was divided up, here you go.

1. Bangkok Dangerous ($7.8 million)
2. Tropic Thunder ($7.5 million)
3. The House Bunny ($5.9 million)
4. The Dark Knight ($5.7 million)
5. Traitor ($4.7 million)
6. Babylon A.D. ($4 million)
7. Death Race ($3.6 million)
8. Disaster Movie ($3.3 million)
9. Mamma Mia ($2.7 million)
10. Pineapple Express ($2.4 million)

To put that in perspective, The Dark Knight made $155.3 million on its opening weekend. This weekend's Top 10 made a combined $47.6 million, which is about 30.6 percent of TDK's take. Ouch.

Recap: 24 August 2008

It was a pretty unspectacular weekend for the box office. But it is August, so I guess that's to be expected.

1. Tropic Thunder ($16.1 million)
2. The House Bunny ($15.1 million)
3. Death Race ($12.3 million)
4. The Dark Knight ($10.3 million)
5. Star Wars: The Clone Wars ($5.7 million)
6. Pineapple Express ($5.6 million)
7. Mirrors ($4.9 million)
8. The Longshots ($4.3 million)
9. Mamma Mia! ($4.3 million)
10. The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor ($4.1 million)

I only caught one movie this week: Bottle Shock (3½ stars). There's nothing here that's going to blow you out of the water, but it's a charming flick with good acting and a heartwarming ending that you know is coming but that's done in such a way that you love it anyway. I must admit, though, I did want to pull Alan Rickman aside and explain the difference between a French 'r' and the pseudo-Italian 'r' he was using every time he had to speak French, but that's a nitpick that will go unnoticed by most of the population, I'm sure.

I spent a lot of my free time this week (of which there wasn't much) devouring Watchmen. It's a compelling read, and I'll go ahead and throw my hat in with everyone else who highly recommends it. Also, the trailer makes a lot more sense (and looks exponentially more amazing) now.

In lieu of more mini movie reviews, I'll leave you with this (surprisingly accurate, at least for me) quiz I came across. While initially disappointed that my personality's corresponding font is so boring, I decided it was actually fitting enough, being a screenwriter and all (though technically I write in Final Draft's version of Courier).

You Are Courier New

You have a deep appreciation for tradition and history. You don't eschew modernity, but you do have a deep reverence for the past. You are very literate. It's likely you enjoy writing and reading. Some people may feel you're a bit cold, but you just have high standards for who you hang out with.

What Font Are You?

Box Office Predictions: 22 August 2008

Better late than never. I blame the lack of anything notable opening. Wide releases include The House Bunny, Death Race, The Rocker and The Longshots, none of which managed to crack "Fresh" on Rotten Tomatoes. I'm putting The House Bunny at No. 3 only because the target market is different from pretty much everything else playing.

Official Predictions:
1. Tropic Thunder
2. The Dark Knight
3. The House Bunny

I'm spending my weekend doing edits on Mute so I can send it out to my beta readers on Sunday. With nothing to draw me to the theatre, it should be a productive weekend.

Recap: 17 August 2008

I somehow managed to peg the top three this week, as Tropic Thunder finally dethroned The Dark Knight.

1. Tropic Thunder ($26 million)
2. The Dark Knight ($16.8 million)
3. Star Wars: The Clone Wars ($15.5 million)
4. Mirrors ($11.1 million)
5. Pineapple Express ($10 million)
6. The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor ($8.6 million)
7. Mamma Mia! ($6.5 million)
8. The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2 ($5.9 million)
9. Step Brothers ($5 million)
10. Vicky Cristina Barcelona ($3.7 million)

What I Watched:

• Barton Fink (3 stars): I was entertained. John Goodman was great, as always, and John Turturro delivered as well, but I wasn't really sure what the point was other than the movie industry sucks.
• Wilde (3½ stars): A fairly standard biopic with excellent performances and a compelling story. It was interesting to hear the film makers talking about DVDs and Web sites as new media in the special features. Things have come quite a long way in 10 years.
• Step Brothers (2½ stars): I was forced to see this because of a deal I made with my sister a few weeks ago, and I was pleased that it wasn't nearly as bad as I was dreading. That being said, it wasn't all that great either. I chuckled throughout it, and I daresay I even laughed quite a bit during a few scenes, but I was hardly in stitches. That being said, there are worse (and better) ways to spend a couple of hours.
• Tropic Thunder (4 stars): I've been looking forward to this movie, and it didn't disappoint. It's gruesome, hilarious, and it even borders on touching at times. Ben Stiller is finally funny again, Robert Downey Jr. is a riot, and Jay Baruchel steals the scene whenever he gets the opportunity.

I know I said I'd be seeing Bottle Shock this weekend, but fear not; I'm actually seeing it Monday with the family instead.

What I Read:
I've finally finished the three books I've been reading for the past [insert embarrassingly long timeframe here]. Last up was Neil Gaiman's Neverwhere. It didn't seem quite as polished as Stardust, but I thoroughly enjoyed it nonetheless. The end was perfect. I'm also tempted to pull out a handful of my old troll dolls and station them on my desk at work as a tribute that no one will get except me.

Up next, upon recommendation from both Matt and Jon, along with seemingly the rest of the world, is Alan Moore's graphic novel, Watchmen. This is my first time reading a graphic novel, so it should be an interesting journey.

Recap: 10 August 2008

The Dark Knight, despite nearly everyone's predictions, reigns again.

1. The Dark Knight ($26 million)
2. Pineapple Express ($22.4 million)
3. The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor ($16.1 million)
4. The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2 ($10.8 million)
5. Step Brothers ($8.9 million)
6. Mamma Mia! ($8.1 million)
7. Journey to the Center of the Earth ($4.9 million)
8. Hancock ($3.3 million)
9. Swing Vote ($3.1 million)
10. WALL-E ($3 million)

It was a slow movie week for me, but here's What I Watched:

• The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2 (2½ stars): After crying our eyes out during the first installment, my sisters and I were hoping for a similar tug on the heartstrings. Sadly, the sequel didn't deliver, and nary a tear was shed. It was still decent enough, but it seemed as if the writer had trouble tying the myriad threads of the story together. As it was, it was pretty much like watching four separate movies intercut with one another. That being said, the performances were pretty solid for the most part.
• Pineapple Express (2½ stars): I've been having trouble pinpointing exactly what went wrong here, I can I can't seem to put my finger on it. The movie seemed to move at a snail's pace. There were some story elements that could have been cut that might have led to a tighter, funnier film. However, Seth Rogen's performance was typically enjoyable, and James Franco was wonderful.
• Pride and Prejudice [BBC mini-series] (3 stars): I actually enjoyed this version of Jane Austen's novel more than the 2005 version starring Keira Knightley, mostly because it followed the book nearly to the page, or at least to my recollection of it. It was also nice to see a different side of Colin Firth.

There were a few reasons my movie-watching was lower than usual this week: 1) I am tired of scanning and thus avoided it a bit more than usual this past week, plus I started in on Season 1 of The X-Files; 2) I left my three Netflix DVDs at work over the weekend; 3) I spent most of the weekend working feverishly on Mute to get it ready to send out to my alpha readers (it went out in the wee hours of Sunday morning); and 4) I've been trying to finish up the three books I've been reading. Which takes us to...

What I've Been Reading:

I'm happy to report I finally finished Tom Robbins' Jitterbug Perfume last week, and just before writing this post I finished up a collection of Oscar Wilde's major works that included The Picture of Dorian Gray, Lady Windermere's Fan, Salomé, An Ideal Husband, The Importance of Being Earnest, and The Ballad of Reading Gaol.

I don't want to do a full review of either book here, but suffice to say, both are certainly worth picking up. Jitterbug Perfume is a wonderful study in how to turn a phrase. My only major complaint is that the story would have moved along more quickly had the major players not had to stop to have sex so often. Beyond that, I was charmed almost against my will at times by the story of Alobar and his adventures.

As for Oscar Wilde, he is a master at saying one thing and meaning another. He is possibly the most out-of-context-quoted author I've ever come across. And something tells me the notion would make him chuckle. I think I've already made clear my love for Dorian Gray, but it's worth noting that The Ballad of Reading Gaol is one of the most potent and heart-wrenching poems I've ever read. For as much as Oscar Wilde is known for his wit, it's evident through his writing (both comic and otherwise) that there was a sincerity and sensitivity in his manner that has the capacity to make your heart swell or break. I am now and forever an ardent fan.

Box Office Predictions: 8 August 2008

Our wide releases this week include Apatow stoner action comedy Pineapple Express and unapologetically chick flick The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2. Both of these movies opened on Wednesday, and it looks like Pineapple Express is finally going to dethrone The Dark Knight.

Official Predictions
1. Pineapple Express
2. The Dark Knight
3. The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2

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On a side note, they've also released the first promotional pic for next year's Dorian Gray.

I was a little nervous about the casting choice of Colin Firth as Lord Henry (in my opinion, he was perfectly suited for Basil), but this picture gives me a bit more confidence. And really, between Colin Firth and Ben Barnes, it's hard to complain too much.

Oscar Wilde's The Picture of Dorian Gray is one of my favorite novels, and I'm ridiculously excited about this film adaptation. So, fair warning, you'll have to excuse my occasional squee-induced off-topic postings about this movie for probably the next year or so.