The only thing bleaker than the future shown in “Repo Men” is the sense that a potentially interesting premise got hijacked by a lackluster screenplay, shrug-inspiring acting performances, and nonsensical uses of gore and bloodshed.
Directed by Miguel Sapochnik, “Repo Men” portrays a near future where Remy (Jude Law) and his partner, Jake (Forest Whitaker), works as a repo men for a pharmaceuticals company known as The Union. This corporation creates artificial organs for transplants, but profits rule over patient welfare as they charge hundreds of thousands of dollars for their products. When a customers falls behind on their payments, The Union sends in the repo men to take back their property. Imagine Monty Python’s “Organ Donor” skit but minus the funny and an extra order of icky.
While the movie’s central conceit is implausible and entirely unrealistic, it is fertile ground for what could have been a dark, disturbing satire on the worst aspects of everything from the healthcare industry to real estate mortgage schemes. Had “Repo Men” gone in this direction, then it could have been an interesting and satisfying film.
But it didn’t.
Rather, “Repo Men” bounces aimlessly within action/adventure/noir territory already covered by movies like “Minority Report” and “Blade Runner” without providing anything really new. There are short bits where you get the impression that Sapochnik wanted to create a more over-the-top satire, but one suspects that a combination of his being a first-time director and a few too many notes from the movie’s producers pulled “Repo Men” back into safe, bland territory. The first half of the film plods along as we watch Remy mope over his career and family life, and then the second half suddenly turns into a dystopian James Bond film complete with car chases, unlikely hand-to-hand combat, witty repartee, ticking clocks, and a love interest (Alice Braga).
“Repo Men” is not entirely without bright spots. It shows that Sapochnik’s primary vocation before directing was storyboard artist. The movie’s framing and camerawork is great. Also, there are several enjoyable scenes including one featuring hip hop MC, RZA. Finally, one has to admire the fact that Sapochnik got away with a very not-Hollywood ending (and that’s all I’ll say).
And for those with keen powers of observation, did you notice the bleakest aspect of “Repo Men’s” dystopian vision?: billboards advertising the release of “The Fast and the Furious 10.”
I got this little gem via Jack Haringa (a.k.a. Monsieur Crankypants). Like most horror authors, I’m a huge fan of Peter Straub and an even bigger fan when he lends his pen to non-fiction on the subjects of literature and genre. Click here to read Peter Straub’s the essay.
This essay is no different. In it, he dives into the age-old debate on horror fiction vs. literary fiction vs. all-other-genre fiction, etc., etc., ad nauseum. A debate normally cycles with same regularity and tedium of laundry in a dryer.
In this essay, though, Straub does not defend a position so much as put forward that the actual barriers between the “genres” amount to smoke, mirrors, and marketing. This is also not a very new argument, but Straub puts good words to it.
It’s a good read. Bonus … the comments make for good reading as well. How often can you say that about the comments on any online post?
Fantastic Illustrations by Serge Birault
Illustrations by Serge Birault
I found a sampling of this guy’s work on the Abduzeedo Design Blog. Birault is a freelance illustrator living in France. Much of his work (though not all) focuses on retro pin-up models in either ridiculous and/or macabre settings.
And yes, I’ll admit it, I’m a sucker for good art featuring busty women.
I’m a guy. Whad’ya want?
No Ink, No Paper: What’s The Value Of An E-Book?
E-Books vs. Dead-Tree Books
Of interest to me and everyone else in publishing is the rise of the e-book. Though it’s still a small part of the overall market, e-books are growing quickly as the technology to read them becomes more advanced and less expensive.
This NPR article (read it here) talks about how the traditional publishing houses struggle to hold onto old pricing schemes, probably to their detriment and possibly to their demise. It’s not so much about “will e-books kill dead-tree books” but about market realities, resistance, and consumer-driven economics.
On Facebook, I just got finished wading through another wave of “Fan Page” requests from unknown and little-known authors. I also started a new policy of just deleting these people from my Friends list unless I know them personally (in which case I send a polite “cut it out” note).
Jeff Vandermeer‘s BOOKLIFE makes some very good recommendations regarding socia media and blogging for authors. I have started to change my own social media habits based on his tips, and I’d LOVE to see more authors (and publishers) do the same. If for no other reason than you’re really starting to tick me off (which means you’re probably ticking off a lot of people … and that’s not your goal, now is it?).
I had hoped to find something online from Jeff dealing with Facebook in particular so that I could put it in a status update. This is the closest I could find in a few minutes of searching. Not exactly what I wanted, but still good stuff:
Going to a homespun beer tasting tonight with a bunch of friends. This is just an informal thing where we all bring 5-6 beers that we can all sample while we sit around and shoot the bull.
Here’s my choices. Click the images for reviews at Beeradvocate.com:
Rogue Chocolate Stout
Smuttynose Imperial Stout
Long Trail Imperial Porter
Hooker Imperial Porter
St. Peter's Cream Stout
You can tell that my tastes run toward dark brews. As far as I’m concerned, it’s not beer unless a mouse can walk across its surface and not sink.
At my local package store, the checkout clerk looked at my selection and said “Dude, you have Jedi Beer Powers.”
So, I saw “Shutter Island” last night, and while watching the previews I was disappointed to discover that they have remade and Americanized the 2007 British comedy “Death at a Funeral” directed by Frank Oz.
The 2010 remake stars Chris Rock and Martin Lawrence. I enjoyed the original so much that I can’t imagine getting too much out of the new version. As mentioned by Bev Vincent, the remake appears to be quite nearly a scene-by-scene copy of the original, but with some rewrites to showcase Rock and Lawrence comedy bits. Peter Dinklage reprises his role from the original film.
The only thing that attracts me to this film is that it includes Zoe Saldana in the cast. Is that enough to convince me to pay for a matinee ticket?
No.
Pee, Art, and Animal Welfare
These three things come together on “PEE-ces of Art by Tucker.” Long-story kept short, Tucker is a German Shepherd with the canine equivalent of multiple sclerosis. As a result, Tucker cannot “lift his leg” to pee. So, he walks and waggles his way down the path leaving elaborate streams in his wake.
His foster mom saw beauty in these patterns and began photographing them. Her lens captured the compositions as they spontaneously occurred in the natural course of their daily strolls. These photographs are actually very good. But don’t take my word for it. Go visit the site to see for yourself.
The artist (Tucker) will have an open house on Sunday, March 7, 2010 from Noon to 6:00 pm at the Bela Dubby Art Gallery & Beer Cafe, 13321 Madison Avenue, Lakewood, Ohio.
New Blog Recommendation – The Selvage Yard
In the course of my cruising hither and yon across the internet, I came across this blog from Jon Patrick.
This feature has been out since September 2009, but I still occasionally have people ask me about it. Essentially, this is one of the ways where Facebook set out to mimic a very popular Twitter feature.
The ability to tag your friends when you posted photos, videos and notes is not new. But, with the ability to tag in status updates and other posts you can notify specific people of things you want them to see or read.
WHY USE THE “@” TAGGING FEATURE
Generally, status updates reflect thoughts, activities, or link to interesting things found online. Within these updates, you may want to make sure that certain people see them, or give a “shout out” to someone who provided you with the source material for your status update (but there’s a caveat with that last one … more on that later).
HOW TO USE THE “@” TAGGING FEATURE
It’s simple. If you want to tag a friend’s Facebook profile to something you post, just enter the “@” symbol and start typing that person’s name immediately after (no spaces) the symbol. As you type the name, a drop-down menu will appear that allows you to choose from your list of friends and other connections, including groups, events, applications, and pages. Simply use your cursor to select the correct profile from the list. When you finish writing your post and hit the “Share” button, the “@” symbol will not be displayed in the published status update or post. View the thumbnail image below for an example.
Click image for larger view.
HOW THE FACEBOOK “@” TAGGING FEATURE APPEARS
Profiles you tag in your status updates will receive a notification and a Wall post linking them to your update. They also have the option to remove tags of themselves from your posts. Let’s be clear, your status update will be visible on their wall, meaning that all of their Facebook friends can see your status update.
So, please think ahead before you post something like:
“Hey, I have pictures of @John Smith streaking nude in Tijuana right after our naughty antics in a strip club. Geez, you’d never know he’s getting married in a week!”
If John’s Facebook friends include co-workers, professional peers, family, fiancé, and family of fiancé, then you’ve officially made John’s life incredibly complex. And within days, John might be your new (jobless) roommate.
WHEN NOT TO USE THE FACEBOOK “@” TAGGING FEATURE
When a friend posts an image, video, or other piece of media to their own wall, it will show up in your news feed. Using the “Share” button, you can copy that media to your wall and share it with your friends. The “Share” feature also allows you to write your own intro caption to the post, where you do have the ability to use the “@” tagging feature. Except here’s the thing … don’t.
If you write “I got this great video from @John Smith” then your post, including the video, will appear on John’s wall. Meaning, the video will appear twice on his wall. Once when he posted it, and again when you tagged him in your post. This clutters John’s wall with redundant material, and really … hasn’t he suffered enough because of you?
That’s it. Tagging in status updates is a very useful feature, but it does have it’s drawbacks and potential for mischief. I hope this is useful to all of you!
So, it’s been a while since I’ve put anything in this blog. That’s mostly because of the life static arising out of the holidays, work, and family. Well, the good news is that two out of those three complicating factors have been eliminated.
Yes … the holidays are over. No … I didn’t kill off my family.
Though, I did get laid off from my full-time job (along with about twenty other people) on December 19. Fa la-la la-la, etc., etc.
While this looks like bad news on the surface, it really isn’t. The fact is that I did not enjoy the work at my former employer. It is safe to say that technical writing does not float my boat. So, I’m looking at 2010 as the year I nail down what I’m going to do when I grow up.
That said, I have put out a shingle as a full-time freelancer in the fields of copywriting, marketing/PR, and web design. Come visit me at http://www.medialogical.com. Oh by the way … if you’re a web developer with proven skills in WordPress and/or Drupal CMS systems, get in touch. I need to offload a large chunk of the webdev duties so I can concentrate on business development.
I’m also planning out several fiction projects that went from front burner, to back burner, to counter top. In January and February this year, I’m also going to launch two monthly podcasts.
It’s interesting to watch the migration of genre actors from one geek show to the next geek show. It’s almost like there’s a temp agency in Burbank, CA, that specializes in transitioning our favorite scifi actors. For example:
I have to admit that it’s fun watching Tudyk and Baccarin in the same show again (though in wildly different roles). Honestely though, I’m generally happier when I see Baccarin in any form or fashion . Hubba, hubba!
Now, if you want to see Tudyk at his comedic best, then check out Death at a Funeral. Though it has an American director (Frank Oz), I would still consider Death at a Funeral to be a British comedy. Tudyk steals almost every scene he’s in. If you don’t believe me, then the picture below should add some weight to my claim.
As I delve more and more into comic book writing, I’ve come across a couple of nifty galleries of comic book art that I thought I’d share. Both are from design blog abduzeedo.com (which I highly recommend).
This comes from the online portfolio of an artist called Ankles (that’s the closest I can find to a name). It’s an excellent series. If you like the artist, check out his/her other work at http://enymy.deviantart.com/ .
The only thing bleaker than the future shown in “Repo Men” is the sense that a potentially interesting premise got hijacked by a lackluster screenplay, shrug-inspiring acting performances, and nonsensical uses of gore and bloodshed.
