Michael Offutt's Blog, page 149

I don't think I like time travel without Michael J. Fox

Here's a spoiler alert for any of you that are going to see Looper. I left confused at the ending, and I blame it on poorly designed time travel tropes.

I'll keep Marty McFly and the Back to the
Future paradoxes over those ones
that drove me insane by watching Looper.This weekend, I saw the film. It had one of the most horrific scenes in it that left me haunted for a couple of days afterward. Basically, I kept thinking of the horrible implications of torturing a young person and watching those wounds instantly appear on the older (but same person) who existed in the same timeline.

But aside from that, the ending left me really confused. JGL's character commits suicide at the end of the movie to PREVENT his older self from performing an act that sets the future on a course that he does not like. But I don't get how this solves anything? By killing himself, his older self doesn't exist thereby creating the reason for him taking this action in the first place.

Plus, the whole "kill yourself to change time" trope has been done a lot. Dr. Who's "Angels take Manhattan" did the same thing. Star Trek did it in "Yesterday's Enterprise" and in "Year of Hell." It happened in Terminator 2.

So on another level, the trope was incredibly unoriginal.

I don't think I like time travel without Michael J. Fox. At least then it was funny and Michael was charming.
This remake handled time travel really
well, even if it was underwhelming
(and short) as a film.One show that I think handled time travel really well was the Time Machine. In it, Guy Pierce invents a time machine in order to go back into time to save his beloved wife from an untimely death. Well he does so, but she dies a few minutes later from something else. To understand why, he travels into the future and discovers that in creating a time machine, he created a paradox. The moment that he saved his wife, the motivation for the creation of the time machine evaporated and hence, wouldn't be invented.

Why couldn't Looper embrace this? Why couldn't Looper have seen that JGL needed to stop Bruce Willis in a way that didn't kill himself. And why the hell wouldn't Bruce Willis have JGL's epiphany suddenly pop into his mind so that he would know that what he was about to do would set the future on a course that his younger self did not like?

Anyway, overall I think I liked Joseph Gordon Levitt and that's about all I can say that's positive about this movie. I think before any writer tackles time travel and expects me to swallow it, they need to think really really long on it, or I'm most likely going to be frustrated, confused, and just simply prone to not liking it.

Abandoning your book

I don't like the quote, "A book is never finished, it's abandoned." I don't like it, because it's true. I think that if I never sat down at a keyboard and tried to type out a manuscript, I might have been blissfully ignorant of this. But, as most of you know, this isn't my fate. And it's probably not yours either.
Writing brings out in me a horrible obsessive compulsive disorder. And I know that this sounds familiar to all of you. You go back over your manuscript once, twice, three times, a fourth time, an eight time, and a twentieth time.
With each pass, you think, "It's perfect" and then on page 2 you notice an error you somehow missed all the nineteen other times. It's maddening.
And even really good editors don't catch all the mistakes. And your prose could always be tightened, reworded, it seems endlessly.
"It was a dark and stormy night."
"Dark clouds and lightning streaks reduced the night to highlights and shadows."
"A storm rolled in and the night wept under its caress."
And on and on and on and on and on.
You could say the same frickin' thing a million different ways.
And thus, you could rewrite every sentence in your book a million different ways. And one of those might be slightly more perfect than the one that you chose.
This is what happens to me sometimes. So eventually, I abandon my work. But I never stop feeling insecure about it. And of course, the reviewers pick it up and point out things as if they were obvious to anyone with an IQ of 80 with an almost condescending "I'd never have this in my own manuscript" tone to their commentary.
So yeah, I'm insecure about abandoning my books and moving on to other stories. But it needs to be done. If you don't let go, you could spend endless years writing and rewriting and editing things. I think I need to be more like my friend Michelle Davidson Argyle. I need to just be happy when I send the manuscript flying out the door and resist the urge to try and revisit it. Oh writer OCD, how I loathe thee *shakes fist at the screen.
Have a great Wednesday.

The Walking Dead Season 3 Webisodes are here!

Gotta love The Walking Dead Season 3 Webisodes. So what do you think?I CAN'T WAIT UNTIL OCTOBER 14TH!!!!

Cover Reveal for The Magic Wakes by Charity Bradford

I'm proud to be able to present this beautiful cover by sci-fi author, Charity Bradford. I have to say, it's absolutely stunning. The elements that I especially like is the city in the background (which I know is extremely important) and Talia's eyes. The color is very special to the character (and that's all I'm going to say about that). I won't reveal more as Charity has allowed me to read some of it before it got picked up by a publisher.

I honestly can say that this novel is one that I'm looking forward to getting my hands on next year. Her writing is amazing.

It comes out FEBRUARY 19TH, 2013.

THE BLURB:

Talia has a secret, one that will save her world and yet rip it apart. Only she can decide if the price is worth it.

Scientist Talia Zaryn has always had visions of an alien invasion and of her own death. She’s kept it a secret, hoping they are nothing more than childish nightmares. But when her face in the mirror matches that of her dreams, she fears the dreams are prophetic. Talia must prove that life exists beyond their planet, Sendek; perhaps then people will prepare to fight.

Talia's work at the Space Exploration Foundation leaves no time for personal relationships, but Major Landry Sutton isn’t looking for a friend. He is looking for a traitor. His ability to sense emotions convinces him Talia is that traitor until a touch sizzles between them. In an instant their minds are connected and they can communicate telepathically. Just as the two begin to trust each other, the invading force arrives.

Talia and Landry must uncover the secrets of Sendek’s past if they hope to defeat these terrifying creatures. And Talia is the key—if only she can learn to trust the magic coursing through her veins.

--
Charity Bradford
The Magic Wakes--Coming Winter 2013 from WiDo Publishing
Website-charitybradford.com
Blog-My Writing Journey
Facebook Page

And don't forget to mark it "To Read" on Charity's Goodreads page HERE.

Samuel L. Jackson and the best Obama ad ever

I saw this yesterday and laughed. Y'all know I'm a democrat, but this ad from Samuel L. Jackson is hilarious and clever. Wake the F*CK UP! No offense intended toward the Republicans. I just think this ad is funny, and if you haven't seen it, you might want to press play.Have a great weekend :)

Would you ever want a bagel head?

The National Geographic channel explores interesting subjects on "Taboo." And as a caveat to that, "taboo" is basically what "Americans find as taboo" because (let's face it) America is filled with conservative meat and potatoes folks. For example, people are only now just getting comfortable with homosexuality, thanks to shows like Modern Family, Glee, Will and Grace, Happy Endings, and the democrats finally adding marriage equality to their party platform. Americans still have many taboos. However, I did wonder if body modification is one of them. It's easy to find people that have piercings. I guess "taboo" applies to the kind of body modification we are talking about, right?

Well, earlier this month, National Geographic took a look at a body modification that's enjoying increasing popularity in Japan. In a procedure that makes me cringe, people willingly have saline solution injected into their foreheads. One guy that had this done asked, "Is water dripping down my face?" But the person administering the saline said that was probably on the inside of his skin. So hmm, would you ever want a bagel head?

I have to admit, this kind of thing is creepy to me. But I would not judge someone negatively if they wanted to try it. I strive to keep as open a mind as I can. But I have to ask...how do you feel about body modification? Do you have any characters in your books that are into body modification? And if you do use body modification in your fiction, do you show it in a good light? Or would you choose to use it to make your villain disgusting?This last question, that of using "body modification" to make a villain disgusting, is an unfortunate stereotype in many films. The one that most readily comes to mind is the villain in the movie "300." But there are others for sure, think "The Cell" or "Silence of the Lambs." Xerxes on 300 had very visible body modification. The heroic spartans, however,
did nothing to their beautiful and basically perfect bodies. What does this say about
society's view? Maybe that's the reason it was featured on "Taboo", because "most"
people (at least in America) consider this "freakish." And 300 is an American film.The only time in fiction that I can recall a hero having extensive body modification is in the case of Wolverine, and what happened to him ended up being kind of cool even though the idea of it is horrific. An adamantium exo-skeleton is something you could build an entire series on, right?

The Big Smoke Cover Reveal from Cally Jackson

Today, I'm one of many bloggers doing a cover reveal for "The Big Smoke" by "down unda" author Cally Jackson.

Here's the blurb for it:

Ceara’s desperate for love; Seb’s desperate to get laid. Ceara adores reading novels; Seb hasn’t finished a book in years. Two strangers, both moving from small country towns to Brisbane – the big smoke. As they prepare to attend the same university, their paths seem set to collide, but they keep missing each other. Maybe fate is keeping them apart, or maybe it’s just chance.

When the semester starts, things get complicated. Ceara’s best friend withdraws from her, Seb’s closest mate turns into a sleazebag, and the relentless demands of university make their stress levels soar. Before their first semester is over, both Seb and Ceara will be forced to question who they are and what they want from their lives. Will they have the courage to find the answers, or will they crumble under the pressure? And when they finally meet, will it be love at first sight or a collision of headstrong personalities?

If the book intrigues you, or if the book sounds like something you would like to read, please check out its Goodreads page HERE. 
Network with Cally at the following places:
BLOG TWITTER: @callyjackson
So what do you think of the cover? Have a great Wednesday.

Will the Walking Dead Season Three webisodes reveal Sophia's ghastly death?

Fight the dead, fear the living on October 14th!Last year at about this time, AMC put up some webisodes to usher in Season 2 of "The Walking Dead." The six part mini episodes done in the flavor of the six webisodes AMC did for "Breaking Bad" (if you haven't seen them, watch them because Twaught Hammer is hilarious) revealed the origin story of "Bicycle Girl."

So i started thinking, what could they do for webisodes this time around? Will there be a six mini-episode that has an answer for this burning question:
My vote is to explore what happened with Sophia in season two. Show us how she became a zombie and follow that through to when Otis captured her and stuck her in the barn with all the other zombies. As a caveat, I kinda/sorta know what happened, but I just want to see it for myself. Especially since this DIDN'T happen in the comic books, and it was a huge and very sad reveal last year.
The Walking Dead season 3 episodes (whatever they may be) are slated to debut on October 1st. And then, we get the return of The Walking Dead on October 14th. For your viewing pleasure, I give you "Twaught Hammer." If you are fans of Jesse Pinkman (Aaron Paul) you'll love this.

Have a great Tuesday. Tomorrow, I'm participating in The Big Smoke cover reveal!

The Judge Dredd body count blows away Commando

Judge Dredd. He is the Law. And you never see his eyes.For those of you unfamiliar with the infamous body count in Schwarzenegger's "Commando," for a long time, it held a record for most people killed in a single film.

I don't know the exact numbers, but Dredd kills a lot of folks in this reboot done some seventeen years since his disastrous big screen appearance helmed by Sylvester Stallone. In my mind, the Judge Dredd body count blows away "Commando."

In looking back at this film , the first thing question that pops into my mind is: who knew women could be so brutal, disgusting, and evil?
Lena Headey as Ma-Ma. She gives a chilling performance as someone
you don't want to cross.Lena Headey plays Ma-Ma, Mega-City One's most horrible citizen. She manufactures a drug called slo-mo which causes a high that slows down time to 1% normal for those who use it. Imagine life and all of your experiences suddenly going into bullet time for a while. That's what slo-mo is like and the effect that is shown on screen is really cool (a silent nod to the brilliant Wachowski's who debuted this technique in 1999 in the groundbreaking film, "The Matrix").

So what makes this "Ma-Ma" so horrible? In just one scene, she orders three men drugged on slo-mo and then flayed alive. Yes, all of their skin is cut off. Imagine that AND on this drug. It would seem like it lasted forever. And then while they're still on it and not quite dead...she drops them off a 200-story balcony to fall to their deaths...to experience their own heads exploding in gushing red gore in microseconds against unyielding concrete.
The concrete arcology called "Peach Trees." It's probably named that
because life is so "peachy" there. Basically, it's a human sewer.It chills my blood to even think about it.

Into this scene comes Judge Dredd, and he is there to pronounce judgement (death) upon Ma-Ma. And a fight to the top of a spooky and dreary arcology that houses 75,000 people begins. The blood bath is pretty amazing, and the violence is accentuated by new and different ways to kill people. He sets them on fire, blows their heads to pieces, throws them off balconies, shoots them dead, butchers them, etc.
Do not be alarmed. It's just a little incineration.And some of it is done in incredible slow motion so that you can see flesh being torn assunder frame by frame.

I have to say, Judge Dredd is not a film for everyone. But it is a film for me. I thoroughly enjoyed the violence carried out in a way that riveted me to the screen.

What about you?

Did you go see this movie this weekend? If so, what did you think?

Is Jaws the only good shark story?

Is Jaws the only story that can have sharks in it that's any good? The original novel by Peter Benchley that took the world by storm in the seventies (yes that was forty years ago) was made into a movie by Steven Spielberg and to this day, the movie adaptation holds its own as a chilling tale. It has great actors, a riveting plot line, and a really evil shark.
I will never go into the ocean because of Jaws. I think I could go in a big boat or something, or I could reasonably get my toes wet, but anything more than a few inches...no thanks.
But, as much as Jaws terrified me, I kind of wanted more. Not more of that same story. But a different story that was just as good.
And it has never happened.
This week, "out on dvd" gives us the latest in just really awful shark films called "Bait 3D" and as I watched the trailer, I realized that yes, Jaws by Peter Benchley is the only good shark story that there will ever be. This looks unbelievably cheesy.Here's the synopsis for it: When a freak tsunami hits a sleepy beach town, a group of survivors find themselves trapped inside a submerged supermarket. As they try to escape to safety, they soon discover that there is a predator among them more deadly than the threat of drowning -- vicious great white sharks lurking in the water, hungry for fresh meat. As the bloodthirsty sharks begin to pick the survivors off one by one, they must work together to find a way out without being eaten alive.
It sounds undeniably bad. So don't you think it's strange that Jaws is the only good story?
I mean it would be like saying, "Is the only wizard school story that will be any good the one penned by J.K. Rowling?" Which we know is wrong, right? I mean, we have Lev Grossman's "The Magicians" and other similar takes.
I wonder what the limitations are about sharks? Maybe they are just too one dimensional. But aren't zombies one dimensional...yet there are a number of good zombie films. Sharks are like zombies, only in water. They swim and they eat and that's all that they do. So, really there are only so many plot lines one could use to get A) people in the water and B) to show sharks eating them.
Any thoughts on why we keep getting terrible shark movies?
I leave you with this cheesy clip from Bait 3D.Have a great weekend :)