Joseph Mallozzi's Blog, page 187

September 25, 2020: The Crime Club convenes to discuss Sexy Beast!

 

In the movie’s opening moments, Gal Dove (Ray Winstone) is soaking up the sun on a hot summer’s day when – a giant boulder comes tumbling down a mountainside, narrowly missing him, and lands in his pool.  It’s an incredibly prescient moment given that, later that night, an unseen force comes barreling into his life in the form of sociopath Don Logan (Ben Kingsley), a former “associate” who has come to Spain to enlist Gal for a heist.  Gal is happily enjoying his retirement from his criminal career and politely turns down the job offer, but Don proves as intractable as that giant rock sitting at the bottom of Gal’s swimming pool.  What follows is a test of endurance, not only for Gal, but those dear to him, as the sociopathic Don exerts his influence.

This film is rife with symbolism, some cumbersome (that prophetic boulder), some kind of silly (the Donny Darko-esque nightmare rabbit who stalks Gale in his visions), but the brasstacks of the narrative – the battle of wills, first between Gale and Don, later between Gale and the impossibly scarier mobster Teddy Bass (Ian McShane) – is terrific, unnervingly suspenseful.  It’s all back-stopped by a great soundtrack, kicking things off with The Stranglers and ending with Dean Martin.

I enjoyed this one quite a bit although one element left me confused.  Why does Teddy kill Harry at movie’s end?  If it was simply to pressure Gale, then it really felt like overkill.  I mean, literally.

So, who watched it?  And what did you think?

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September 24, 2020: Favorite Anthony Lemke Dark Matter moment? Go!

After the first two episodes of Dark Matter aired, one thing was clear – fandom hated THREE.

I was seriously worried.  Had I made a huge mistake by making him TOO unlikable?

But Anthony Lemke was utterly delighted when I told him.  He’d read the next seven scripts, knew where the character was headed, and had no doubt that viewers would grow to love his character.

And he was right. By series end, THREE was a fan favorite.

(photos by Norman Wong)

Please list your favorite Anthony Lemke/THREE moment!

What do you say?  Yes/No?

Chocolate Chicken Drumsticks? Yes/No
Thanks (?) to @Thogar and @ArcticGoddess1 for the heads up. https://t.co/5Cs78TJJFX

— Joseph Mallozzi (@BaronDestructo) September 24, 2020

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September 23, 2020: Interpret my dreams!

Had a great time chatting with the amazing Sabrina Furminger on her YVR Screen Scene podcast.  Check it out here:

https://www.yvrscreenscene.com/home/2020/9/22/episode-115-joseph-mallozzi

Well, I’ve completed a first draft of the Project F series overview.  It’s a robust but spacious 21 page document that covers everything you would want to know about the series – unless, of course, you want spoilers.  If you do, that would be another week and another 2-3 pages.  Anyway, I’ve got the document out to some fellow writer friends for notes, setting up one more pass after which I will switch focus to the next thing…whatever that may be?  TimEscape?  The comic book thing?  The fantasy series adaptation?  You’re guess is as good as mine.

I’ve been dreaming a lot lately.  Or maybe it’s more a case of “I’ve been remembering a lot of my dreams lately”.  Instead of dreaming about being a passenger on a doomed air flight, my recurring dreams have focused more on me dodging falling objects – shipping containers, trains, loose pieces of concrete and, last night, a lawn chair from a penthouse balcony.  Okay, you closet dream-interpreteters, tell me what it all means.

More from the Stargate vault…

He was super high on the day.  Can you tell?

Iron Man!  Or “some similarly cool alien alloy” Man!

Third floor!  Sporting goods, ladies hats, and stun grenades!

Pssst.  He’s behind me, isn’t he?

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September 22, 2020: What foods are you missing most during this lockdown?

Look at what Akemi surprised me with the other day…

No, not a bowl of dyed child tongues.  Even better!  It’s uni – fresh sea urchin!  It’s been ages since I’ve had some.  And sushi for that matter.

What particular foods have you been missing during this pandemic?

Very exciting.  Had a terrific zoom chat today with my new agency.  Very excited about moving forward with them.  First project on deck: TimEscape.

And animated discussion on the Atlantis set.

Lots of laughs on the set of Stargate: Universe.

A romantic interlude.  And, oh, Peter DeLuise!

Cookie Butter Beer? Yes/Nohttps://t.co/yrdOKuv89p

— Joseph Mallozzi (@BaronDestructo) September 22, 2020

What say you?

Took this munchkin to the vet for her physical today.  The vet was pleased to report she checks out great – healthy lungs, heart, no weird bumps or lumps and, best of all, she weighs in at a compact 13 lbs.  Akemi was convinced she had put on weight during the lockdown and we would have to curtail her treat intake.  Suji was absolutely thrilled to learn the opposite.  Keep them treats coming!

 

 

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September 21, 2020: Yes/No, SGU, and mobile satellite platforms with fully automated defense systems!

Let’s kick things off with a little Yes/No compliments of one Alex Mallari Jr. who hit me up with this this morning…

ICE CREAM ON A SPICY CHICKEN SANDWICH WITH HONEY DRIZZLED ON TOP!!!

OMG! Burger

13425 University Blvd #500, Sugar Land, TX 77479

Would you try this? pic.twitter.com/DJSKjaqjDs

— Your Favorite Places In Houston (@YPHoustonTX) September 20, 2020

I’ll be honest.  It’s a yes from me (although the honey is optional).  There’s a place here in Toronto called Tokyo Hot Fried Chicken that does a version of this – but it’s about a 45 minute walk from my place.

How many calories would 90 minutes of brisk walking burn off?  Instead of calories, please answer in the form of number of fried chicken ice cream sandwiches.

A few pics from the SGU vault…

Great time on that show.

Almost finished my first pass on the Project F series overview and am now reconsidering my attack on the pilot summary.  I think I need to make it less plot-driven and more character-focused to balance the high-concept sci-fi trappings.  Something to contemplate…just as soon as I finish this final section on ontology, the analogous nature of morality, the transcendental bonds of camaraderie, and mobile satellite platforms with fully automated defense systems.

Alas, our Crime Club discussion on Sexy Beast will be delayed yet again.  But I promise we’ll get to it this Friday.

Probably.

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September 20, 2020: Suji Sunday!

 

Hanging around the strawberry bush, snacking on the low-hanging fruit.

Tongue tricks!

Unboxing.

Hey, do those donuts belong to anyone?

The caterpillar patiently awaits its magical transformation.

Walk prep complete!

A well-deserved nap.

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September 19, 2020: Joseph Mallozzi, Bird Doctor M.D.

Yesterday, Akemi and I were sitting in the living room when we heard a BANG!, and saw a small bird bounce off our window and land on the balcony.  We assumed it was dead but, some fifteen minutes later, it was up and around.  It hung out for about an hour and then, finally, took flight.  A happy ending!

Until about twenty minutes later when – BANG!  A bird hit the other window and dropped to the balcony, either dead or unconscious.  A closer look revealed…it was the same bird!  This time, I thought, he was dead for sure and I was wondering how Akemi was going to dispose of the corpse when –

The bird hopped up.  He looked dazed and clearly not flight-ready.  In fact, after an hour went by, I began to wonder if he’d ever fly again which, in turn, left me to wonder what I was going to do about this injured bird sitting on my balcony.

Shortly thereafter…

A nice, comfy little bed.  Water.  And a snacks in the form of strawberries, almonds, walnuts, and a piece of leftover Hong Kong Milk Tea mocha donut.  What more could a bird want?

As it turns out – freedom.  About an hour later, it just flew off, probably sorer but hopefully wiser.  Although I really can’t criticize as I’ve done the same on several occasions.

Fielding a few questions from the comments section…

Jessica C writes:  “1) Will the amazing plot hook of Stargate Universe and an artificial structure in the cosmic microwave background radiation be mentioned in the new series? (note: it’s actually entirely possible, and current scientific papers have hinted at finding such a structure in our own CMBR; see this video from PBS Space Time, 13:55 mark, released after SGU: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PC2JOQ7z5L0 ).”

Answer: I’m not developing the new series so this is really a question for Brad Wright, but as I’ve been saying, any new in-canon series could open the door to answering many of the franchise’s outstanding questions.

“2) It has been mentioned that Atlantis is meant to be massive, around the size of Manhattan, but due to a mixup with the CGI team it was rendered a lot smaller. Will the new series render Atlantis in all its fidelity, splendour, and more importantly, scale?”

Answer: Again, I have no idea if and how Atlantis would figure into a new series, but I imagine the revisit of any established locations would come with upgraded visuals.

“3) Will the series be more adventure of the week (SG1, Atlantis) or continuous (SGU, The Expanse, Game of Thrones, etc)? I’m really a much bigger fan of the latter, especially when binge watching / streaming, but I understand it’s what a lot of people didn’t like about SGU and what eventually led to its cancellation [image error]

September 18, 2020: A Caillou trivia thread! And Happy Birthday USAF!

So, today, I noticed #Caillou was trending.  As some of you know (and Stargate EP Michael Greenburg would never let me forget – “I don’t know how you used to do things on Caillou, but here on Stargate…”), this animated series (based on the beloved French children’s book series) was one of the first shows I developed for television.  Now, Caillou has received a lot hate over the years.  He’s been accused of being a whiney, entitled brat.  But isn’t that almost every kid?  Anyway, I felt bad in having contributed to the image of what kids are really like instead of the adorable idealized versions found in most cartoons, so I felt the need to apologize.  Passionate discourse ensued.

Trivia: #Caillou was one of the first shows I developed early in my writing career.
I'm sorry. pic.twitter.com/cHjYCqIvJP

— Joseph Mallozzi (@BaronDestructo) September 18, 2020

And, hey, Happy Birthday to the USAF!

Happy 73rd Birthday to the U.S. Air Force
Had the pleasure of working with them on many great seasons of #Stargate #SG1. @usairforce (1/3)

— Joseph Mallozzi (@BaronDestructo) September 18, 2020

Air Force Chief of Staff General Michael E. Ryan made a guest appearance on #Stargate #SG1, portraying himself in the episode "Prodigy". (2/3) pic.twitter.com/91xBWVpVVR

— Joseph Mallozzi (@BaronDestructo) September 18, 2020

Three years later, Air Force Chief of Staff John Jumper guested on the #Stargate #SG1 season 7 finale "Lost City Part 2". He assured me it would be a singular t.v. appearance. “You sure?”I asked. “Next week, I better not turn on my t.v. and catch you on Moesha.” (3/3) pic.twitter.com/zmeRk4oqoI

— Joseph Mallozzi (@BaronDestructo) September 18, 2020

Our Crime Club discussion of Sexy Beast has been rescheduled to Monday!

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September 17, 2020: Project Update! And a question for you sci-fi fans!

I’m not a huge fan of juggling projects preferring, instead, to focus on one at a time, but my line of work has me doing a lot of this…

Sometimes it can be nice, mixing things up, shifting gears when I get creatively bogged down on a particular script or overview, but mostly it’s just distracting and inhibits my overall creativity.

Still, I have managed to make significant progress on a few fronts –

Project F, my scifi/anime/gaming/kpop (No, really!) series is progressing nicely.  I’m 18 pages deep into the overview that, so far, covers: an introduction, a detailed tease, a discussion on the setting (First World and Second World), our characters (major and minor), a section dedicated to game play, a rundown of the pilot, a section titled “Twists, Truths, and Technologies”, and a summary of season 1 and beyond.  Next up, a few episode springboards (about a paragraph each), the requisite Tone and Themes section, and, finally, the “Why you should green light this series!” coda.  Piece of cake!

Project Q (for “quirky”), is the television adaptation of that comic book I’ve been working on for a while.  Got some great notes last week and spent part of this week revising and incorporating some of the fun suggestions.  This overview/pitch comes in at a robust 20 pages (Intro, detailed Tease, World, Characters, Pilot summary, Series Arc, Episode Springboards, and a section titled “The Big Spoileriffic Reveal!”  My friend and former Dark Matter/Utopia Falls Co-Executive Producer Ivon Bartok gave me a few suggestions I aim on implementing this weekend and, if I’m happy with what I have, I’ll send it on it way Monday.

TimEscape: I feel like this project (a lean 13 page bible and two full scripts) is trapped in a time dilation field as we await a broadcaster decision.

Project TT (for Time Travel): Putting the finishing touches on the pitch/overview and we’ll be taking this one out soon.  This one is, uh, loopy.

Projects A, G, and PMT: I’ve already completed preliminary work on, but the heavy lifting is still to come.

Also, made some professional changes and am looking to sign with a new agent next week.  He read and loved TimEscape which is great because that’s the first one he may be selling for me.

***

Question for you, sci-fi fans.  What is the single most important factor that draws you to a science fiction series?

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September 16, 2020: Stargate Universe “Faith” BTS photos!

From the Stargate vault…

My fun insider industry story….

Oof. This reminds me of a story about another comedian who was promised scripts as part of his series deal. He never did any actual writing for the credit. Rather, his contribution amounted to reading that season's scripts and selecting the one he liked it best. pic.twitter.com/HJA1uthnqP

— Joseph Mallozzi (@BaronDestructo) September 16, 2020

 

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