Bryce Moore's Blog, page 277

Movie Reviews: Hugo and the Help

Two movie review days in a row. Whaddya know? Hugo and The Help have been sitting on my shelf waiting for watching for a week or two each now, and we can't have that, can we? Yes, I realize I'm hopelessly behind the times in reviewing these movies, but I'm betting I'm not the only one out there. Maybe you're behind, too? It's all good here at Bryce's Ramblings. We aim to please.



Ready?



First up, Hugo--a movie you sort of feel Obligated to Like, after all the tremendous buzz about it. Did I enjoy it? Yes. Did I think it was an incredible movie? Not by a long shot. It's just too slow, in my opinion. Slow to get going, plot-wise. Slow to resolve. It's a deliberate movie. For those of you who don't know, it's the story of an orphan boy and an automaton. Takes place in Paris. Lots of gears and clockwork going on, with a touch of steampunk (just a shade, though). The visuals are fantastic. This is one I regret not having seen 3D, because I think it would have been stunning, and the 3D might honestly have aided the film. (But if you're relying on 3D to aid the film, what does that say about your film?)



In the end, it was too sappy for me. Too filled with manipulation of the ol' heart strings. If I feel sad or happy in a film, I'd like that film to earn that emotion from me. This one? You feel bad for the main kid because he's a poor orphan trapped in a train station. I'd like to think I'm human enough to feel bad for any kid in that situation. Period.



I found the characters contrived and flat. There was no meat to them. I was told how to feel about them, and so that's how I felt.



I don't know--maybe it was an off night for me. The kids liked the movie. Denisa liked it. I thought it was just so so. Two and a half stars, and only that because of the visuals.



The Help, on the other hand, I really enjoyed--although I wasn't inclined to at the beginning. Something about the premise: rich white girl interviewing black maids in the segregation South--didn't sit right with me. I think it's the way the movie was introduced--with the girl starting the first interview right off. She comes across as so . . . snooty and oblivious, and I didn't like that. If the movie had kept that up, it would have lost me.



Thankfully it didn't. It had the sense to veer off and start exploring the lives of the maids themselves, which were much more interesting. (Whenever the movie came back to the white narrator, I lost some interest--that story line just wasn't nearly as captivating.)



What did I like about it? I liked the slice of life. It's the same thing that attracts me to Mad Men and other period pieces like Downton Abbey. I like seeing how other people lived, how they thought. Of course, I realize that this is all pop culture, and the depiction I see may be very different from what it was really like, but it's still something different--foreign to me. Does it have to be true to be instructional? I don't think so.



Watching the Help, and seeing the reaction people had to segregation in the south, makes the recent racist Hunger Games remarks that much more appalling. You'd like to think things like that don't happen anymore. You'd be wrong. Shocking and sad sad sad.



I wonder how a movie like The Help plays to a racist. If they see it and just turn it off, or if some of them watch it and are appalled by the behavior of the people in the film, not realizing they do the same thing themselves. Probably a bit of both, which then leads me to wonder if I do things like that. Judge people, treat people according to how I think they are rather than how I experience them to be, if that makes sense.



I must do it. You can try as hard as you like, but I still think that sooner or later, we all treat other people as objects and obstacles, rather than as people. The trick is being aware that you have a propensity--a lazy inclination to classify people into pre-made categories.



Sigh.



I'm getting too meta for myself, and I'm out of break time. Anything I say strike a chord or make you want to say something in response? Please feel free.

Movie Review: The Hunger Games

Denisa and I went to the movies this weekend once I was back from my conference. (Yes, I'm back. Yes, it went well. Yes, I'm glad to be back.) We were worried we wouldn't be able to get tickets to The Hunger Games, but we went to the late show, and got right in easily. (The theater was packed, though--we just were there in time for the tickets, then waited in line and got seats.)



But you don't care about that. You want to know what I thought of the movie.



First off, I loved the book. It was riveting--I read it in a frenzy of turning pages. (The second one wasn't as good as the first, but was still quite good. The third wasn't as good as the second. More on that later.)



The movie is an extremely faithful adaptation of the book. For some of you, that will be good news. For me and Denisa? How to put this? It was like opening a Christmas present for the second time. You can love that Christmas present a ton, but you've already opened it. The surprise--the joy of unwrapping--is gone. It's still the same present, but it's different. And in the case of the Hunger Games, that difference is big.



Most of what drives the first book--the whole series, for that matter--is Finding Out What Happens Next. Yes, Katniss is involving as a main character, but we really just want to know who dies next. Does she live? I watched the film version, and it was so faithful that I knew everything--everything--before it happened. I knew how people would act. I knew when it would be tense. I knew when I could take a bathroom break, if the need should arise.



Again, for some of you, that's just what you wanted to hear. For me? I couldn't help feeling a bit let down.



It's not that I wanted an extreme adaptation. No need for singing cats, or turning Katniss into a cyborg or something. But . . . I already read the book. Experienced the plot. Loved it, but I'm not going to reread the book tomorrow. No need. I still remember it. And watching this movie was much like rereading the book.



Don't get me wrong. The acting is well done. The action well constructed. It's tense, and moving. Seeing the action first hand--how these games are treating children like toys on a chess board--made an impact. (Although as a side note, can I just say the Shaky Cam was way overdone? Seriously. I could have filmed it with my iPad, and it would have been smoother. Not cool.)



It's the book, on film. But I can't help thinking some of you will notice the same thing. So many people clamor for a movie to recreate the book exactly. Will some people watch this and note that getting what you wish for isn't always all it's cracked up to be.



Some of you are asking what I would have done differently. I'm not a film maker, but I would have put some of myself into the movie. The plot doesn't have to change, but there's such a thing as artistic flair. I know this is making some of you bristle--it's not up to film makers to change the book when they're adapting it--but I'm telling you. 100% faithful ain't all it's cracked up to be. If I knew every movie adaptation I'd see was going to be like The Hunger Games was, I'd stop going to movie adaptations.



Been there, done that, bought the t-shirt.



All told? I give the film about 3 stars out of 4. Maybe 2.5. The thing is, a 2.5 or 3 star adaptation of a 4 star book is a let down. By definition.



So that's what I thought. Now how about the rest of you tell me why I'm wrong.

Thoughts on Washington DC

Last day at the conference. This is my second time at this conference in DC, but the last time, it was farther away from the city center. I somehow assumed the same was true this time--didn't even bother to check where the hotel was in relation to the rest of the city. Then I was planning on going to meet a high school friend down at his office, and I looked up how to walk there on a map. Bam! There was the White House, right next to it. I had no idea how easy it would be to get to the city center--I'd been doing it the past few days without even knowing it.

In conversation with my friend and others, I also discovered I'd come right at the peak of the Cherry Blossom Season. So that's what all those flowery trees are all around the city. Go figure. I took a walk over to the White House, checking out the trees and the Washington Memorial while I was at it. Definitely beautiful. (Little known facts I learned: LaFayette is not in the middle of LaFayette Square. That's Andrew Jackson. And the front of the White House is the one without the curved part. That's the back.)



We ate at a place called Old Ebbott, which is pretty much right next to the White House. I looked for famous people (a lot of Congressmen and big wigs go to eat there, or so I've been told), but I soon realized that I wouldn't recognize a famous Congressman or big wig if I saw one. Obama wasn't there. I can vouch for that. The food was fantastic, although that might also have been because I was wicked hungry. Who knows?



I've been to a lot of cities, relatively speaking. Not as many as some, but more than a lot, probably. I've spent multiple days in (let me think) New York, Prague, Munich, Vienna, Salzburg, Jerusalem, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, Boston, Cairo, Amman, Leipzig, Dresden, Weimar, Bratislava, Paris, Dublin, London, Chicago, Albuquerque, Salt Lake City, Las Vegas, Austin, San Diego--I think those are all the cities of note I've visited. (Kind of a fun game, thinking about that.) Now I can add DC to the list, since I've been trekking around the city. Not exhaustively, but quite a bit.



My thoughts? I like it. I don't like it as much as the European cities, but it's got a lot of cool architecture, and there are tons of free things to do. (I'm all about the free things.) I think I'll try and come down again this summer with the fam. My kids would enjoy checking out the sights, and since my brother lives here, it's kind of a cheap trip. Drive down, stay for free. (The same goes for anyone who wants to come up to Maine. It's just that it seems not many people end up coming up to our corner of the country--although from February to May, we'll have had seven different people stay with us for about a month and a half of the time. So maybe more people visit us than I give them credit. Or maybe--more likely--that's an aberration.)



I'd love to go to the Smithsonian and the mall. The zoo. The capitol. Summer will be hotter, but such is life.



Why do I like DC? I really like how easy it is to get around. The Metro is extremely well done, and the city's also very walkable. (What's up with people not walking more? I walked a mile and a half from the hotel to the White House, and several people expressed surprise I'd walked that far instead of taking the Metro. It was gorgeous weather, and walking is free--remember, I'm all about the cheap. Plus--free exercise.)



I like that the buildings aren't terribly tall, so you don't really have the feeling of being in an enormous city the whole time. The people haven't been particularly friendly, but they aren't usually when it comes to big cities.

What could the city use more of? Open air cafes, and good ice cream. But then again, I'm a sucker for European cities, and those are some of the things I like most about those. That and the tendency of people to be in less of a rush. Here they are, living in an enormous, beautiful city, and so many people seem dead set on just getting where they're going as fast as possible.

In any case--it's been a good conference and a good trip. It helped to distract me from the burning wreckage that used to be my NCAA bracket. Sigh. Enough of that.



Question for you: have you been to DC? What did you think? What's your favorite city in the world? Why?

Help Me Design a Vodnik T-Shirt!

Still at the library conference, but what would a week be like if I didn't post something Vodnik-related? By this point, you're all addicted to those updates, aren't you? Probably getting the DT just waiting for a new one.



Well wait no longer.



I need some advice from you, actually. Since the book came out--strike that. Since the cover was announced, a response I keep getting from people is "Where can I get the T-Shirt the kid's wearing on the cover?"



That's actually a good question, and it's trickier to answer than I'd like. See, the Reaper Dude graphic from the book wasn't done in house--it was licensed from another artist. For me to be able to make a t-shirt version of the reaper dude, I'd have to pay for additional licensing fees, and that would set me back to the tune of hundreds of dollars, at least. The thing is, I'm not in the t-shirt selling business. I can't afford to pay that kind of money for something that's essentially a fun way to market the book. And a killer t-shirt (no pun intended).



But I'm not one to just sit back and give up. You want that t-shirt, and I want that t-shirt, honestly. If we can't have that exact t-shirt, could we have something that's just as good--or even better? I contacted the illustrious Shawn Boyles (who illustrated by alpaca fantasy novel back in the day and is currently doing some illustrations of some of the creatures of Vodnik for Tu's website. (They're awesome, but the way. Once they're finished, I'll have to see if there are other ways to share those with people, too.)) Shawn was kind enough to sketch up a few versions of his own take on Reaper Dude, and he also gave me permission to use them for a t-shirt. I love his style, and I think one of these could make an awesome shirt. But there are so many to choose from!



That's where you come in.



Could you please help me decide which one of these to t-shirt-ivize?







Please--discuss. Tell me what you think and why. Would one of these be as cool as the shirt Tomas is wearing on the cover of the book? Which one? (These aren't the final versions that would go on the T-shirt, by the way. I'd do a slick, finished version.)



One other item--I'd like to have something about the book on the t-shirt, too. Because as awesome as they are, if I don't have at least something on it that mentions the book, they'd probably be a bit too subtle when it comes to marketing efforts. (Right?) But I don't want to change the front of the shirt--if the Reaper Dude is already different, I'd rather not change it any more than I have to. So I'm thinking of something on the back, or something on the sleeve. Maybe a cool quote from the book, maybe a QR code that takes you to the website or Facebook page. Any thoughts on that?



Please share!

Wanna Know What Happens at a Library Conference?

Here at the library conference, so my blog isn't exactly going to be mindblowingly well formulated today (left the laptop at home). But you're all okay with that, right? And you promise to ignore all the spelling errors, of course. Because I have no spell check on this interface.

A lot of people have been asking me what sort of a conference this is that I'm attending this week. (WARNING: Library-oriented stuff to follow. If you're into the whole library scene, or curious what exactly a librarian would do at a library conference, read on. Not sure if it'll be interesting, otherwise. Then again, as we all know, any time I put my fingers to a keyboard, fascinating things happen. Right? Right? On we go.)

It's a tech conference, primarily aimed at how technology is used in libraries. So far, it's been much better than when I went two years ago. Of course, this could be because I've only been to three sessions, and two of them happened to be good ones. But I'm hopeful that it's a sign of good things for the rest of the time.

The key note was all about innovation, and the presenter wasn't really library-related. More of a talk on innovation in business, and it left me feeling a whole lot of meh. The first session I attended, on the other hand, was 7 Essential Elements for an Awesome Website. I was quite apprehensive about this one. There are six tracks going at once, and I'm having to decide carefully what to attend and what to miss. Some of the choices are easy--Unleashing the Power of Your People sounds like a motivational speaker nightmare. Pass. But do I go to the Awesome Website panel, or the Strategic Approaches to Mobile.

I've been to Awesome Website panels before, and they've been anything but. However, that hasn't stopped me from hoping that I'd finally go to one that was worth while.

That paid off today, as the presenter (David Lee King) had actual, real, helpful suggestions on how to make a library website work. Highly useful, and I actually found myself (gasp!) taking notes. What was surprising to me was how many things seemed like "Duh--why am I not doing that" elements--things like sharing good book suggestions on your library's Facebook feed--and asking for book suggestions from your users.

The second panel was about using website search logs to figure out what users are searching--and what they're doing wrong--and then use that information to help users find information more easily. Not sure if I can apply this info to my own library--I'm part of a library system, and it's hard to do things at a library-specific level. But it's good to know stuff like this is out there.

So--there you have it. What I Did at My Conference Up to Now. If you can't tell, I do a lot of techie stuff at my job. Web design, tech trends, marketing--in addition to other stuff like teaching classes, doing collection development for the DVDs and media, cataloging books. I work at a small university library, which means I wear a lot of different hats, all at once. I like the variety, though.

And on that note, it's time for me to go back to conference land. Lunch break is almost over, and I'd like to try and get some creative writing in while I have a few more minutes. (On today's agenda? Figuring out the voice of the main character in my next book, tentatively titled the St. Valentine's Day _______. Not sure of the last word yet, even for a tentative title. Heist? Affair? Job? Caper? Mission? Time will tell. For my books, so much of the book's success rests on getting a voice down--in Vodnik, it was an introverted movie-obsessed teen. For Tarnhelm, a teen who views himself as a modern day Sam Spade. This book? I'm thinking the main character is somewhere between George Clooney and Brad Pitt in the Oceans series. I know generally how he acts, but how does he narrate? There's the rub . . . )

Headed to DC for Super Secret Ninja Library Conference

I'm heading off to Washington DC for the Computers in Libraries conference. (Yeah--I guess it wasn't that super secret after all. Also, no ninjas. That you can easily see, at least. Oh well. "Headed to DC for Library Conference" seemed so boring.) Yes--it's true. All my talk about being a librarian isn't just fluff. I actually go and do library stuff from time to time. (Now if I could just figure out a way to shill my books while I'm down there, then I'd really be cooking with gas.)



What does this mean for you? Well, I might be light on an internet presence for the next few days. (Or not--you never know, with conference internet. Last time I went to this conference, the connection was totally craptacular. Then again, it's at a new hotel this year, so one can always hope.) I'm going laptop-free on this trip. Just bringing my trusty iPad and a bluetooth keyboard. (It helps that for writing, that's pretty much all I need. It's not like I'm going to have to be doing any massive Photoshopping while I'm away.)



In the meantime, I expect you all to get along just fine without me. No fighting, and nobody break the internet please. As long as it's still standing when I get back, then everything's A-OK.



In the meantime, I'll leave you with a reminder. Just 778 more Twitter Followers and/or Vodnik Facebook Likes, and you'll get to see me doing this:







The more I look at that, the more I'm thinking I went about this whole contest the wrong way. I should have said, "Unless I get 1000 likes/followers, I will post a video of me doing the Truffle Shuffle online." It's more of a threat than a promise, is what I'm seeing. Oh well--live and learn. :-)

Movie Review Catchup: 5 for 1 Deal!

 In all the book release madness, I'll bet you thought I wasn't watching any  movies. Well, you thought wrong. I've been watching them, and I'm here to review them for you. All of these are on Netflix Instant Watch right now, and there are some pretty decent ones to choose from. I'm light on time, though--so let's launch right into it.



Broadway Danny Rose--A Woody Allen pic from 1984. He's an agent for the down and out (a crystal goblet player, a singing parrot, a bad ventriloquist). But he's a dedicated agent--he makes these acts his life. Has them all over for Thanksgiving dinner, picks their outfits for them, mourns with them when their top singing birds pass on. Very quirky movie, somewhat marred by the framing device Allen chose to use for the film--it's introduced by snippets of a group of other agents talking about Danny Rose in a cafe, and they tell story after story about him, culminating in one big long story focused on how he tried to get his last really good act a shot at the big time. I enjoyed the snippets, but I didn't like the sporadic nature they lent to the first third of the film. That said, it's still a very good movie, notable for the only shootout scene I've ever watched where mass amounts of helium were inhaled at the same time. (Might explain some of Allen's later life choices.) Plus, it culminates in one scene where Allen really has a chance to show some heart. Three stars, and maybe more for Allen afficiandos.



My Girlfriend's Boyfriend--Complete dreck. Full disclosure--I didn't finish the film. It starts out with the main character: a struggling aspiring writer, meeting with an editor at what seems to be a reputable house. The editor's read all his work, and she's just so torn up for the poor guy, but let's him know he needs to move on. This got things off on the wrong foot right away. Editors do not meet with aspiring authors in their offices. The film made it seem like the guy just dropped by her place, and she made time for him. Not going to happen. But I trooped on, and it didn't get much better. You've got the requisite cute waitress who somehow can't get a boyfriend, despite being Alyssa Milano. And then the writing schlub meets her, and they hit it off, and right after that, she meets a handsome blah blah blah. Click. The end. Maybe other people can stomach it. Not worth my time, though I can't give it an official rating, since I didn't finish it.



Here Comes the Groom--A Bing Crosby musical from 1951. It won the Oscar for best song (for "In the Cool Cool Cool of the Evening," which was quite catchy). Also scored a nom for best writing. Bing is a war reporter who wants to adopt two French kids. Only problem? He has to be married to do it. So he goes home with the kids in tow, and he has a week to get married--except he finds out his girlfriend is already engaged to a rich millionaire. A fun, cute story, although the fact that most women in the film are treated like mindless lemmings does tend to detract from the general freewheeling spirit the movie's trying to create. (The women come off as nothing more than empty headed people just waiting for the nearest man to tell them what to do and how to behave.) That said, Denisa and I enjoyed it. Three stars.



Bottle Shock--Chris Pine (in his pre-Star Trek days) and Bill Pullman are California wine makers. Alan Rickman is a British wine critic out to see if California wines are any good. Go figure--it actually is. Based on a true story, and we enjoyed it, even knowing not a blessed thing about wines. If I drank wine, I'm sure this would be even better. Three stars. Fun, also quirky--it has a sort of an art film feel to it, and I liked that. Bill Pullman's character annoyed the living daylights out of me, but the fact that I enjoyed the film in spite of that says a lot in its favor.



The Great Buck Howard--Colin Hanks (Tom's son) is a young man who doesn't know what he wants in life. He ends up being the personal assistant to The Great Buck Howard (John Malkovich), a once-popular mentalist who has since been reduced to touring the not-so-popular towns. (People love him in Akron.) Another movie with a strong art film vibe, and another one I enjoyed quite a bit. Three stars. (Popular rating for today--what can I say? I saw a lot of good but not fantastic movies the past bit.) Through the course of the film, Hanks learns a thing or two about people and how to get along with them. Malkovich (who usually bugs me for some reason) is quite good in his role--probably because he's supposed to bug you, so that worked for me. Hanks does a fine job, as well--though he lacks the immediate everyman feel of his father. Maybe I'm expecting too much. A good movie, all told. Funny and entertaining.

Feelings of a Newly Published Author

I know--I know. You all are getting sick about hearing about my book and what's going on with it. At times I feel like a total suit, trying my best to jam all this stuff down your collective throats. And I'm sorry if it's coming off that way. It's not my intent. But my blog is here to talk about the things that are going on in my life at the moment, and as of this second, my book is taking up the majority of that.



So deal. :-)



I haven't really been nervous until the last little bit. I knew the book was coming out, and I knew that there would be some excitement around it. But that's all it really was--excitement. Now? The nerves are starting to  kick in more than they have in the past.



What if it tanks? What if no one likes it? What if I never get another book published again? All these self-doubts start creeping in, and there seems to be little I can do to exorcise them. The thing is, a lot of being a writer is learning to ignore the self-doubts. You write something, and as the words are flowing onto the paper, you doubt they're any good. Then you read them over, and hey--they're not too bad. Then it comes time for your writing group to read it, and you doubt once again if any of them will like it. And yes, they have some issues, but they point those out, and you fix them, and then you're back to feeling like your book is looking good again.



Until you send it to agents or editors. And of course that causes you to doubt yourself all over again. You look at published authors, and you think it must be so easy for them. They're published. They know they're good. Well, they might think they do--until it's time for reviews. And after reviews come actual people buying your actual book. What if they don't like it?



The farther into this process I get, the more I think that the self doubt never ends. Depressing, isn't it? Because even if your first book sells like hotcakes, who's to say your second will. (Or, worse yet, what if your first only sells so-so?) There's always something to worry about. Grass is always perfect the next lawn over. But then you get there, and the next yard looks even better. And so on and so on.



I've been busy the last week or so. Really busy. Because this isn't all I do. I also have this thing called a full time job, and a family, and church responsibilities. And Vodnik isn't my only book--I've got a new one my agent will hopefully be shopping around in the not too distant future. But on top of all that, I've been answering interview questions, obsessively checking to see if Amazon has the book available to order yet, and worrying about if I'm bugging all of you too much with info about my book.



I know I should be more Zen like in my approach. And I try to tell myself that on a daily basis. But I've been waiting for this for so long, wanting this . . . it's hard to take it all and stay calm.



(And here it is once again--if you're looking for ways to support Vodnik, check out this post.)



Any published authors out there want to chime in with some words of wisdom?

Broken Elbow Update

Hard to believe it's been almost two months since I slipped and broke my elbow. Also hard to believe how much one slip like that can affect your entire life. Because of it, I was stuck in bed for a week, had to sleep uncomfortably for a month, couldn't go skiing or sledding--it all sounds so whiny, especially when I consider how much harder so many other people have it. This is just to say that if something which seems fairly minor can cause so much trouble, I hate to picture how much something major can affect you.



However, time marches on, and people keep asking me how the elbow's doing today. I'm very pleased to be able to report that it's pretty much fully functional. I can't ski until the end of the month (and I'm kinda doubting there's going to be any snow left to ski on by then, the way this winter is going), but I'm back to bringing in wood, picking up my kids, and doing everyday things with little difficulty. Even playing guitar. :-)



So--what else can we learn from this? First off, don't think you're immune to the power of gravity. If it's slippy out, slow down. (Rocket science, I know.) Second, it's great to be able to have others to turn to when things go south. Denisa stepped in wonderfully as the family snow blower, wood fetcher, and fix it person for the month I was out of commission. Finally, thank goodness for iPads. When I was stuck in bed that long, my iPad was about the only thing that got me through it. :-)



In any case, thank you all for the well wishes. They were all much appreciated. When I left the physical therapy place for the last time, they told me to avoid doing anything that might make me fall down. Since the thing that had made me fall down was walking, maybe I should try crawling everywhere for the next while.



Anyway--yay for working elbows!

Book Giveaway: The Basic Version

I had some complaints yesterday that my giveaway was too convoluted. So I'm going to describe it in very basic terms today.



Like my book's Facebook page (by clicking here) or follow me on Twitter (by clicking here).



Once I get enough likes and followers, I will do the following:


Give away a signed hardcover of the book (Vodnik) to a random liker/follower
Give away 2 advance eCopies to random likers/followers
Post the fifth chapter of the book on its Facebook page (chapters 1-4 are available to read here.)
Commit to posting chapter commentaries to all 33 chapters of the book (cool extras, like deleted scenes)


That's it. Let me worry about the math. (Or go here for a complete rundown.)



The takeaway? Like the book's Facebook page and follow me on Twitter, and encourage others to do the same. Help me raise some buzz, and maybe win yourself some loot in the process.



(You can also enter to win a free eCopy of Vodnik by joining my March Madness Tournament Challenge. .)




Oh yeah. And if/when I ever get 1000 Facebook likes and/or Twitter Followers, I will film myself doing the Truffle Shuffle, and then post it here for your ridicule and delight. Do I think I'll get that high? No. That's why I'm making such a ridiculous offer. :-)











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