Maurice Broaddus's Blog, page 56

American Son – A Review

Many movies have tried to offer commentary on the Iraq war and have failed tremendously at the box office. From Paul Haggis' In the Valley of Elah and the Reese Witherspoon vehicle Rendition, these movies have struggled to find an audience. It may be fatigue, not wanting to "escape" by watching such movies, or it may be simply a matter of not wanting to be lectured to. So hopes were not high for American Son.

Coming home to life in Bakersfield after coming back from Camp Pendleton and Marine b

Gossip Girl (Season 2) – A Commentary

I may be completely missing the boat on the whole Gossip Girl thing. I hear folks describe it as a guilty pleasure, full of wit, and trashy fun. I just don't see it. Maybe I'm taking Josh Schwarz's teensploitation soap a little too seriously. It's Dynasty for today's teen set, rich people looking good while behaving badly. The kind of night time escapism that will never go out of style. The plotlines are practically beside the point—endless revenge, back-stabbing, and hooking up—with viewe

Interview with Coach Culbertson

I had a chance to catch up with the uber-busy Coach Culbertson of Relief: A Christian Literary Expression as well as, of special interest to me as a horror writer, Coach's Midnight Diner.

What is Relief and how does it relate to the Midnight Diner?

Relief: A Christian Literary Expression (often just called Relief Journal) is currently a bi-annual literary journal that publishes literary fiction, creative nonfiction, and poetry. In our first reading submission period back in 2006, we received a lot

Precious: Based on the Novel 'Push' by Sapphire – A Review

Adapted by Damien Paul from the work by former Harlem teacher and poet Sapphire, Precious: Based on the Novel 'Push' by Sapphire is a nightmare brought to life, both harrowing and unsparing, yet courageous and hope-filled. Easily one of the most powerful and devastating movies of the year, the movie is as uncompromising as its eponymous heroine. Gabourey "Gabby" Sidibe as Claireece "Precious" Jones and Mo'Nique as her mother, Mary provide two standout performances. Mo'Nique's portrayal is ut

The High and Not-As-High Price of Stupid Decisions

With great trepidation, I wade into a take on sports*. The one-time Super Bowl star New York Giants receiver Plaxico Burress accepted a plea bargain and, with good behavior, will spend 20 months in jail for accidentally shooting himself in the thigh at a Manhattan nightclub. The Cleveland Browns receiver Donte' Stallworth spent 24 days in jail for running over and killing a man while driving drunk. The big debate revolves around whether the two men received equitable treatment under the law.

O

Inglourious Basterds – A Review

"Once upon a time … in Nazi-occupied France …"

With that, the revenge fantasy known as Inglourious Basterds begins its rollicking romp across the silver screen. A wildly re-imagined take on World War II, with a healthy dose of being a Dirty Dozen throwback, the movie builds to a tale of how the movies help end the war. Quentin Tarantino (Grindhouse) plays once more in his familiar palette of a deep knowledge of genre movies and a love of pop culture. From the previews, we know that eight Jewi

Gen Con 2009

As my regular readers know (and note, I refrained from calling you all "my Precious"), my blog will be fairly erratic as I put my nose to the grindstone to finish the second novel in my trilogy. Occasionally, I will find a way to procrastinate. This weekend it was Gen Con. Allow me to share a few picture highlights from the con. Two are hanging with John C. Hay and, well, what I'm calling the dorkcycle.


Though I was at the convention the entire time, on Saturday, the family joined me. My son

Uncle Boogeyman Now Up on Dark Recesses

Back in college, I began to seriously consider pursuing writing. I took a few creative writing stories and the end result was three stories, more or less. The first was my story which became Soul Food, a tale of a sin-eater in the hood, published in the inaugural issue of Hoodz magazine (after a convoluted path to print).

The second was my story which became Dark Night of the Soul, a piece I'd been tinkering with since high school about a man who falls in love with the goddess Kali. It saw pri

When Do You Find Time to Write?

It's that most magical time of the year: BACK TO SCHOOL.

Now, don't get me wrong, I love my kids and love the time I get to spend with them. I'm luckier than many dads in that I have a work schedule that allows me to offset my schedule with my wife's such that I'm home by the time she has to go to work. So, for good or ill, I've always been around my boys during their formative years.

But, despite my lazy parenting style, I can't say that I get a lot of writing done while we're clowning, I mean

Broaddus Family Tradition Continues

Summer 1978. Franklin, Indiana. My childhood friend, Michael McDuffie, and I were the fastest kids among our friends. We had a long standing debate about who was the fastest between us. Watching this display of alpha male preening was my father. It was late in the afternoon, he stood on the porch in one of his "ready to go out" outfits, dressed to the nines, pimp shoes in full effect chuckling over us.

"I used to be pretty fast in my day," he said.

"Yeah, right." We didn't mean to sound as