Carl Alves's Blog, page 52

All Time Greatest Television Series: #4 The Sopranos

The Sopranos was not just ground-breaking, but in many ways it was a revolutionary television show. Tony Soprano and his associates showed that a television series with mass appeal does not have to reside on network television. It also showed just how much better a series could be when it has the latitude of being on a premium television network such as HBO. It also made Sunday night a prime-time viewing night for serial television. Nowadays, it seems like every big series is on a Sunday night slot.

So what made The Sopranos so good? I love mafia related movies, starting with The Godfather and moving on to Goodfellas and the like. The Godfather showed the mafia in a much more glorified fashion that was fitting for the era it portrayed. The Sopranos showed the gritty reality of the mafia today. Today’s mobsters have it much more difficult than the ones from that era. A life of crime is far more of a difficult thing to manage. I also loved the characters in the show. Tony Soprano, played by the late James Gandolfini, is an iconic character that resonates among the multitudes of television characters. Christopher and Paulie were also fantastic characters. The show had complex storylines and did a great job of building up to an ending. For better or worse, the Sopranos ending has also gone down in television lore.

All Time Greatest Television Series: #5 Boardwalk Empire

When Boardwalk Empire was released, it was inevitable that the show would be compared to The Sopranos, HBO’s other ultra-successful gangster show. But Boardwalk Empire is an entirely different show than the mobster show featuring Tony Soprano and his brethren. Set in Atlantic City during the prohibition era, the show tracks the exploits of Nucky Thompson, as he goes from corrupt politician to outright gangster. Brilliantly played by Steve Buscemi, Nucky Thompson is based on the real life political figure Enoch Johnson. What he has that your typical gangster lacks is the ability to negotiate and have the ear of high level politicians, yet still be able to work with the low lives that typically run in these circles.

Boardwalk Empire is more reminiscent of The Godfather movie rather than The Sopranos. It uses slick visual imagery and strong acting by a well-rounded cast of characters. They also have no problem with killing big characters in the show. Everybody but Nucky is seemingly fair game. One of the things that I really enjoy about the show is the use of real life historical politicians and gangsters such as Lucky Luciano, Al Capone, and Meyer Lansky. They incorporate these characters effectively, and each add to the show without taking it over, something that would seem unlikely given the larger than life nature of an Al Capone.

All Time Greatest Television Series: #6 The Twilight Zone

By the time I started watching The Twilight Zone it was long since in reruns. Running between 1959 and 1964, the show ran well before I was born. Yet despite that, I still watch episodes today, and I’m amazed out how timely they are and how well they translate to today’s world. The intro jingle is probably the best in the history in television. It fits perfectly to get the viewer in the mood for the show. Adding to that is the narration by Rod Serling. Besides being a great writer, he also had a great voice. The writing was amazingly intelligent. The acting was hit or miss. Certainly there were great actors who had great careers afterward, but some of the acting makes me cringe.

There were so many classic episodes, many of which were borrowed later on in various forms of media, which showed the power of these episodes. Among my favorite were “Time Enough at Last”, “The Eye of the Beholder”, and “To Serve Man”. There were many shows that came afterward that tried to imitate the original such as The Outer Limits, Tales from the Darkside, and Night Gallery, but nothing will ever equal the original Rod Serling’s The Twilight Zone.

Movie Review: Percy Jackson and the Olympians

In this second installment in the Percy Jackson series, Percy is back at Camp Half-Blood with his other with his other demigod and supernatural friends, but all is not well among the demigods. The mystical shield that surrounds the camp created after one of the demigods died is breaking apart and it up to Percy to make things right. He is reunited with Annabeth, the daughter of Athena, and Grover the Satyr, as well as his half-brother and Cyclops Tyson. In order to save the camp, they have to retrieve the Golden Fleece, which is being stashed in the Bermuda Triangle being guarded by the Cyclops Polyphemus. Adding more difficulty for good ole Percy is that his old friend Luke, is trying to gain the fleece to resurrect Kronos, which will bring doom to the Olympian gods.

The movie was good enough for what it was. It had some cool monsters and neat characters, along with an action driven storyline. It also had good character development for the current crop of demigods. Based on that, it was a fairly enjoyable movie. It wasn’t, however, a particularly deep movie. Believability was definitely not a strong point. When my nine year old son is pointing out some of the big plot holes in the movie, then you know it’s pretty rough sailing. I also thought there was too much silliness in the movie, even when it didn’t call for levity. Take your child to watch the move, but lower your expectations.

Big Egos by S.G. Browne

Big Egos is a bit of a departure from S.G. Browne’s other novels. In this novel, he dips into the not too distant future set in a superficial society where people are no longer interested in living their own lives and feel compelled to be other people. The characters in the novel have shallow lives and yearn to get lost in the lives of fictional characters and dead celebrities. To feed this fixation is EGOS, a biotech company that has created a formula using engineered DNA that allows people to transform into somebody else for a brief period of time.

Our main character works as a customer service manager at the company. He uses so many egos that he begins to lose his own identity. Eventually, he can’t tell reality from fiction and gets so confused that he hardly knows who he is, where he’s at, and what’s going on in his life. When his best friend Nat is nearly killed after stealing black market egos, he vows to put an end to all of this fictitious living.

S.G. Browne is a master of satire. In his previous novels, his social commentary is more masked within the story. This time, his social commentary is more in your face, and can come across heavy handed. The narrator is a likeable character. I very much enjoy Browne’s prose. He has a nice, easy going style that makes reading a breeze. What I didn’t like so much in terms of the writing in this novel is that he jumps from past to present to dream like states and it’s very disorienting. This may have been Browne’s intention, but ultimately it mostly served to confuse me. The novel starts off in Browne’s usual light-hearted style, but about half way through really turns dark, perhaps a little too dark. Despite some of the flaws, it was a strong novel with a good pace and interesting characters, well worth reading

All Time Greatest Television Series: #7 Breaking Bad

I started watching this series a little over a year ago, and I have completely caught up with the show, so it’s very fresh on my mind. The reason why I started watching it was because I had heard so much hype about the show. I had to give it a try. Other than this past season, the series has lived up to the hype. It was such a different kind of show, not you’re typical gangster show that one would expect with the basis of the series being dealing crystal meth.

There was a certain charm with Walter White, the underachieving but very intelligent chemistry teacher getting into the cooking meth business with his former student Jesse, who although not very intelligent, has good street smarts. Walter and Jesse seemed to be in over their heads every single episode. They would get into crazy situations and have to figure a way out of it. Walter and Jesse have really good on screen chemistry together, and the characters grew on the show.

The reason that I wasn’t so crazy about this past season is that Walter is no longer a likeable character. I understand that the writers wanted to show the transformation of Walt from uncertain high school teacher to gangster, but you can’t have the character who dominates the screen not be likeable. My hope is that Walt will find his way as a character in the final season of the show. I also like the dynamic between Walt and Hank, which looks like it will play out in the final season. But my absolute favorite character is the ultra sleezy lawyer Saul Goodman. Come on writers, give us some more Saul. He steals the show every time he is on the screen.

All Time Greatest Television Series: #8 V

I was still a young child when the original V series came out, so that may have impacted my opinion on the show, but I was completely mesmerized by the first two miniseries and then the series that followed. The concept was so cool for the time, and it produced many memorable moments. I have always been fascinated by aliens, and the way they presented them in the show was very different than anything else I had seen at the time. These aliens looked exactly like regular people, except that underneath their skin they were these lizard-like creatures. What it lacked in visual effects and high tech imagery, it made up in character, certainly in comparison to the reboot, which had far more impressive visual effects and technological advancement to make it more appealing at a sensory level. What the latter series lacked were strong actors and fascinating story lines, which is probably why the reboot didn’t make it past two seasons.



When I saw the commercials advertising the original series, my reaction was that I have to see this at all costs. Those advertisements were amazingly effective. The other thing that struck me was a couple of the holy s!@t moments that the show produced, namely the first time the aliens were revealed as lizards underneath their human flesh, and when Robin delivered the alien baby. I can only imagine that if they had Twitter back then, it would have exploded with tweets.

All Time Greatest Television Series: #9 Quantum Leap

There weren’t many good shows in the late eighties and early nineties. The one that stood out for me during that time period was Quantum Leap. After a string of super cheesy, somewhat lame shows like Knight Rider, Miami Vice and The A Team, among others, this show stood far above the others. The show was intelligent and witty, which separated itself from the competition.

Scott Bakula really sold the show as physicist Dr. Sam Beckett, who randomly travels through time after a time travel experiment gone awry. Beckett always seems confused as he goes from one crazy situation to another. Bakula made the viewers feel that same confusion and helplessness that his character experienced. Dean Stockwell was also well cast as his wise-cracking sidekick Al, who tries to guide Beckett through his travels. Together, they have to solve the problem that he faces, so that he can move on and travel once again, with the hope that he would eventually find his way home. At the conclusion of every episode, I couldn’t wait to find out where Beckett would be going to next. This was a gem among all of the dreck that was being shown in that era.

All Time Greatest Television Series: #10 Rome

At the time that it was made, Rome was the most expensive show ever produced. It also drew in big ratings for the premium cable network. It featured elaborate sets with exceptional costumes and cinematography for a television show. The first seaons started with Julius Ceasar as the emperor of Rome, and ended with his death. There was a bit of a long winded feel to the show, and not all of it was terribly interesting unless you were a big history buff. What made the show, besides the elaborate set pieces and cool battle scenes, were the two main characters. Instead of centering the series around big historical figures like Ceasar, Brutus, and Mark Antony, the two main characters were Lucius Vorenus and Titus Pullo, two warriors of the Roman legion. The writers managed to put these two characters in the middle of the action all the time, and they made the show. They were well-developed and humorous, and brought a human element to much of the historical backdrop. Without them, the show would not have been nearly as good. The series lasted only two seasons and seemed to abruptly end. I thought it should have gone on for a few more seasons, since there was more story to tell.

11 Questions with Mary SanGiovanni

When you first wrote The Hollower did you intend for it to be a series?

I didn't, actually, but after the first book came out and met with some success, I was asked to do a sequel, and I agreed. When I moved to a different publisher (Thunderstorm – they specialize in beautiful limited editions), I was asked to round it out as a trilogy to make a nice collector's item. In my opinion, it was a good learning experience, and I think each one is better than the one before it.

2. Who has been your biggest influence as a writer?

It would be difficult to pick one, but I suppose, like many horror writers, Stephen King was a huge influence. He was the one who inspired me to wantto become a full-time writer. Clive Barker was also an early influence, as were Poe and Lovecraft ad Matheson. Im also a very visual person, so I'd have to admit John Carpenter was an influence as well.

3. What’s the greatest moment in your writing career?

Speaking to my son's class about writing was most definitely a highlight. They were enthusiastic, interested, and fun. It was awesome.

4. In Found You, you used some of the same characters in The Hollower, and introduced new ones. How did you decide on whom to keep for the sequel?

Well, I tried to plan out each character's overall story arc, the span of their lives and the affects having to deal with Hollowers would have on those lives. I can remember a review of The Hollower once that mentioned no one really dies in it, except one character in the prologue. And I thought about that; each subsequent book, while remaining true to the material, ought to build on the story and amplify the horror or terror. It was tough, but I had to decide who was tough enough to survive another onslaught by a stronger Hollower, and who could only find closure and resolution in death. The same extended to the third book, where generally, all bets are off about survivors and victims.

5. How has the digital revolution and the emergence of ebooks affected you as a writer?

Like many other writers, I'm of a generation straddling the fence between having learned about the business from the experiences of writers who have come before me, and having been one of the first generations to be affected by and to learn to use to our advantage the technologies of today. I've seen a major shift from publication in mass market or trade paperbacks to e-books, and while the nostalgic part of me bemoans the fading popularity of paperbacks, the practical part of me sees the earning and fanbase potential in their substitute. E-books have been good in that royalties for them are generally higher, and I feel I'm reaching a generation who, while not known for being big readers, are seamlessly integrating technology, including e-book technology, into their lives. I believe that lasting success as a professional writer means adaptability; you have to be willing to embrace the new technologies and publishing models adplan the steps of your career accordingly to reap the most benefit.

6. In Found You, your protagonists are flawed. How do you create flawed characters that are still likeable?

I believe characters who are likeable but still flawed need to have flaws people can sympathize with and relate to. In the case of The Hollower books, the flaws of the characters are driven by their insecurities and their fears of not living up to being the people that others in their lives need them to be. I think if the fear or insecurity is commonly enough shared, people can put themselves in the positions of the characters. I also think that adds to the fear of the monster; one can't exclude oneself from its hunting parameters if one shares so much in common with its victims.

7. Who is your favorite writer?

I have a few: Stephen King (although I generally prefer the horror stuff over the other fiction), Peter Straub, Ramsey Campbell, Richard Matheson, H.P. Lovecraft. I'd say they're my current favorites, although there is so much talent in horror nowadays, it's hard to limit it. I've enjoyed work by Sarah Langan, John Langan, Tim Lebbon, John Farris, Robert Bloch, Kelli Owen, Brian Keene, Robert Ford, Jack Ketchum, John Skipp, Tom Monteleone, F. Paul Wilson, and geez, too many others to name here.

8. What current writing projects are you working on?

I've recently finished a novel (due out late 2013) and a novella (due out early 2014). I'm working on a short story for an upcoming anthology, as well as a novella for an innovative new project I can't disclose too many details about yet, and both another novella (werewolves) and another novel. I'm keeping busy. ;)

9. What type of scenes do you most enjoy writing?


(grin) The scary supernatural scenes are my favorite – the ones that ratchet up the tension, the descriptions of monsters or surreal moments where other worlds brush, claw at, or tear through ours – those are absolutely my favorites.

10. What inspired The Hollower series?

I wanted to write about a monster that was different than the usual horror tropes, something that fed on insecurity, something no one who had human flaws would ever truly be safe from. I didn't see it at the time, but comparisons in reviews to Pennywise from It and Freddy Krueger from A Nightmare on Elm Street make sense – I read/saw these at a pivotal point in my development, and so I'm sure played some part in the formation of my own kind of boogeyman.

11. If you could invite five people to a dinner party (alive or dead, real or fictional) who would you invite?

Aside from family and close friends...hmm. I think Beethoven, William Wallace, Stephen King, H.P. Lovecraft, and Harrison Ford. Each of them has struck either a chord of heroism or inspired creativity which I hold up as a model for one aspect of life or another. I think it would be fascinating to know them in private life.