E.R. Torre's Blog, page 101
August 8, 2017
Doc Savage movie… on hold?
Many years ago I stumbled upon a book in -I think- a used bookstore (remember those?) and the cover image blew me away. Because it was part of a very long series, I can’t recall which book it was exactly, but the cover most likely was a James Bama illustrated one like this:
For those who don’t know who Doc Savage is, he was/is arguably the first ever “superhero”. His adventures were mostly written by a man named Lester Dent along with a few others and under the pseudonym Kenneth Robeson. The original stories were presented in short novel form and in pulp magazines…
The Bantam reprints of the Doc Savage books were a hit though I suspect a great deal of credit goes to James Bama’s re-imagining of Doc Savage’s “look” (the two images presented above are the original cover to the story Fortress of Solitude, with Doc looking like a typical 1930’s hunky movie star, and the James Bama one, where he looks like an odd, mysterious, almost mutant-like being). James Bama eventually left the reprint series but the subsequent books featured artists who emulated his style, especially his “take” on the character of Doc Savage…
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Recently all 181 Doc Savage novels were reprinted -beautifully, I might add- in a prestige magazine format…
To say I’m a fan of Doc Savage is an understatement. I find the original novels fun, intriguing, and, while dated, exciting as hell.
No doubt in large part thanks to the success of the Bantam reprints, in 1975 a film version of Doc Savage was made. It featured Ron Ely in the title role. Strap yourselves in if you haven’t “experienced” this before…
To say the movie -to a fan of Doc Savage like myself- was a disappointment is pretty much the king of understatements. While the cast was pretty good and Ron Ely, IMHO, was a good choice for the titular role, the film suffered from a lack of a consistent tone and at times too cheesy -and jokey- presentation.
The movie was a flop yet interest in Doc Savage remained. Over the many years since that movie’s release, a number of directors, including such luminaries as James Cameron, have attached themselves to a new film version. None, however, were able to seal the deal and get the film actually made.
The latest in this line was/is Shane Black, best known for his screenplays to, among others, Lethal Weapon (the original), or acting in films such as Predator, or directing/writing films such as Iron Man 3 or last year’s The Nice Guys. Mr. Black’s version of Doc Savage, it was further reported, drew the interest of Dwayne Johnson which is a coup considering how popular an actor he is.
That news, alas, didn’t thrill me so much. While I like Mr. Johnson and feel he’s very good -and charismatic- in a number of movies, I just didn’t feel he was the right choice for the role of Doc Savage.
Regardless, back in July Shane Black was asked about progress on the Doc Savage film and it appears the movie may be stalled right now. The below link is to the article -again, from July, so take the information with that grain of salt- by David Kozlowski and presented on lrmonline.com:
Shane Black Provides Update on Doc Savage Movie
The bottom line is that Shane Black is currently very busy with the editing of the new Predator movie, which he also directed, and Dwayne Johnson is very busy making his twenty to fifty plus movies each year, so Mr. Black is basically telling everyone to not hold their breaths regarding the new Doc Savage film. At this point it’s a matter of finding the time for all parties to be freed up and able to get together and that may not happen -if at all- for a while.
Sure, I’d love to see a new Doc Savage movie. But I’d be lying if I said this news of its stalled nature depressed me. Though some of the interviews with Shane Black regarding Doc Savage gave the impression he was a big fan of the character and wanted to make a respectful movie from the source material, I continued to have doubts about Mr. Johnson in the lead role (again, I like his work, but until I see him do it, I just can’t envision him in that role) and therefore can’t be too unhappy this particular project might not come to fruition.
Oh well!
August 7, 2017
Corrosive Knights, a 8/7/17 update
I’m seeing the proverbial light at the end of the tunnel.
Don’t misunderstand me: I’m not yet close to finishing book #7 in the Corrosive Knights series. In fact, there are still several months of work to be done and my hope is that it will be completed and released by later this year or, if worse comes to worse, the beginnings of next year.
No, the light at the end of the tunnel I’m referring to is the end of summer.
How I long for it to finally end!
I love my daughters but, both being in college means working on the places they live in. The last week we headed out to where my younger daughter is going to College and went in two cars filled to the brim with her stuff (not to brag, but when I was a young ‘un, all I needed fit into a suitcase!).
We unloaded the material, had a one day mini-vacation, then spent a full wasted day waiting for an IKEA delivery that never showed up. The next day, our last in those northern lands, forced us to rent a van and haul hundreds of pounds worth of to-be-put-together furniture from the warehouse that was supposed to deliver it to us (they screwed up, plain and simply, and couldn’t deliver on our last day there), then take said furniture up a flight of stairs (no elevator at my daughter’s apartment), and put it all together in time to then drive the five hours back home where I needed to be because by the next morning at the bright and early hour of 6 A.M. I needed to take my wife in for a medical exam. To those worried, don’t be… it was a routine exam and everything was perfect.
The past week is an encapsulation of the summer in general, where I feel I’ve made progress on my writing but am seemingly always being pushed into other endeavors.
As someone who prides himself on writing a certain amount each day, its frustrating as hell but, on the positive side, its sometimes good to “step back” from what you’re working on, give your brain a chance to not think about what you’ve been writing, to then return to it later and find yourself far more “fresh” and energized.
I’m hoping that’ll be the case.
School starts for them both in the next couple of weeks and then, until Thanksgiving and unless something else happens, it’ll be just me and the computer.
There’s not a whole heck of a lot more writing to be done before I can start revising the book in earnest and I’m just dying to get there. Corrosive Knights Book #7 is the conclusion to the Corrosive Knights Saga and I want to make sure I’ll give everyone out there their money’s worth.
And as I said before, just because the story ends there doesn’t mean there won’t be at least one more book set in that universe. Indeed, I’ve already got Book #8 of the series written (at least a full first draft) and it will serve as an “epilogue” to the series and, best of all, because I’ve already written such a fully formed first draft, it will be out very soon after #7 is released.
That much I guarantee you!
August 6, 2017
Sketchin’ 12
Didn’t take me all that long to go after one of the bigger icons of the sci-fi age, the “holy trinity” as it were.
Without further ado: Ladies and Gentlemen, I present to you Larry, Curly, and Moe… The Three Stooges!
I kid, I kid!
Everyone knows this is a picture of The Marx Brothers! 
August 5, 2017
Sketchin’ 11
The beauty of doing these images on an iPad (I swear I’m not getting any money for talking about this) is that its giving me far more freedom to experiment with my art than I’ve had before. Back in the 1990’s and when I worked in comics as an inker, while doing so using brush and on paper, I had to get everything done “right” for if I didn’t or screwed up, it was a pain to white out large and small areas to correct any errors.
Thus and as mentioned, I wasn’t prone to experiment too much which, I worried, stifled my art.
Now, by doing this using the iPad, I can easily erase any areas I’m not happy with and can also try out new things… different line thickness and blotchier blacks. Truly the sky is the limit.
In this latest sketch, I used an image of Paul Newman -an odd one as he had a beard and fairly long hair- and, after inking it, colored it using bright, Moebius (Jean Girard) inspired colors. Fun stuff!
August 4, 2017
When can I get my Model 3…?
The Tesla Model 3, their least expensive/most affordable electric vehicle, has hit the streets! Well, 30 of them, anyway.
For those who haven’t seen them, they look like this:
The fact that 30 vehicles have been released may not sound like much but Elon Musk, the CEO of the company, boldly predicts we’ll be getting much more of the vehicles in the coming months.
He better hope this will be the case because, according to this article by Seth Fiegerman and presented on CNN…
Tesla now averaging more than 1800 Model 3 reservations a day
Its easy to be cynical and knock the limp numbers (so far) of Model 3’s available but, according to the article, Mr. Musk anticipates 1500 more vehicles produced in the third quarter (which we’re in) and, following this, 10,000 vehicles per week through the end of the year and into the next.
Which still means that if you’re pre-ordering the car, it will take a while to get your hands on it. There are reportedly 450,000 pre-orders and, with the new orders coming in and assuming you decide to pre-order yours, you’ve got to wait through to the 4th quarter and, further assuming the 10,000 vehicles per week thing winds up being right, you’ll have to wait another 44 or so weeks before getting your own Model 3.
What’s most encouraging about all this is that there sure seems to be a big demand for these vehicles.
As I’ve said before, I’m happy with anything that’ll get us off combustion engines.
August 3, 2017
Sketchin’ 10
I have to say, I’m having incredible fun doing these pictures. Here, for picture #10, I’m going back to the 1986 really intense thriller featuring Rutger Hauer as a seemingly unstoppable killer whose life mission is to make C. Thomas Howell’s life miserable.
Ladies and gentlemen, The Hitcher!
In 2007 the film was remade with the protagonist/hero of the feature being Sophia Bush versus C. Thomas Howell. Getting Sean Bean to play the Hitcher wasn’t the worst idea, IMHO. I thought he was a good choice but the film itself…
…well…
Stick with the original.
Sketchin’ 7, 8, and 9
Sorry for the dearth of posts of late but I’ve been away for the past few days (University is starting which means I have to help my daughters move into their new digs).
While I haven’t been able to post quite as much as I want to, I have kept up with my illustrations and here you get three for the price of one, a real bargain!
First up, Lauren Bacall…
I think the piece came out only OK. As I mentioned before, that’s the way it goes with artwork. You can think something is working and then it mostly works -or not- but when you’re done, you move along. Which I did…
Here’s Charles Bronson from The Dirty Dozen, a film that was clearly the inspiration to the comic book The Suicide Squad and, therefore, obviously the movie’s inspiration as well. Only The Dirty Dozen presented a coherent plot!
The Woman in Cabin 10 (2016) a novel review
In today’s book market, there is a demand for mystery novels with titles -it seems!- that have the word “Girl” or “Woman” in them. These novels also seem to involve characters who aren’t always reliable narrators and plots which delve into these mysteries from a decided female angle.
I spotted a copy of The Woman in Cabin 10, written by Ruth Ware, in Costco one day and, after reading the brief description on the back cover, was intrigued enough to give it a try.
Mind you, the plot of the novel, involving a reporter who gets to travel on the premiere trip of a luxury -but relatively small- cruise ship and meets a woman who then apparently vanishes from the trip, sounded curiously similar to the plot of director Alfred Hitchcock’s first really big successful film, 1938’s The Lady Vanishes.
Look, I’m not going to mince words here: The Lady Vanishes is a far better overall work and, if you know of the film and/or have fond feelings for it, you may find Ms. Ware’s book not only a rather bold appropriation/modernization of that story but, also, a rather weaker one at that.
Which isn’t to say the book is a flop.
Far from it.
The Lady In Cabin 10 (let’s abbreviate it to LC10 from here on, ok?), involved a main character who is very much like some of the “unreliable” narrators in the books I mentioned above. She’s something of a flake, not certain where she’s going with her life and winds up with the reporting job only because her superior, who would have gone, is pregnant and unable to.
When we first meet her, she’s also been the victim of a home invasion/burglary and because of that trauma -and too much liquor- is also suffering from lack of sleep.
When she boards the ship and meets the lady in Cabin 10, it is purely by coincidence and, when she thinks the woman was killed, she finds that no one on the ship knows of her and, further, Cabin 10’s designated occupants never showed for the trip and therefore the cabin was supposedly empty. The ship’s passengers, including an ex-lover, suspect she may be losing her mind, but she persists and, eventually, solves the mystery.
Again, The Lady Vanishes features essentially the same plot. In that movie, a woman on a train trip meets another, elderly woman who subsequently vanishes. Our heroine (who isn’t unreliable as far as that goes) finds no one knows of the missing woman and some aboard the train begin to question her sanity. She persists and, eventually, solves the mystery.
LC10 is, alas, not a great book but I did enjoy Ms. Ware’s writing style and was curious to see where it was all going. You could certainly do much worse than spend some time reading this particular book.
Having said that, you’d probably have a better time simply catching the Alfred Hitchcock film.
July 28, 2017
So, like…
…did anything interesting happen last night?
POLITICS FOLLOW… beware!
Obamacare Repeal Flames Out In The Republican Senate
Incredibly, it was John McCain who wound up being the vote to end this latest round of “repeal and replace”. The same John McCain who was brought in hastily from surgery (and diagnosis of having brain cancer), to supposedly be the vote to bring this over the hump.
However, yesterday, Senators McCain and Lindsey Graham gave what I thought was a pretty bonkers news conference where they talked about what a farce the “skinny” repeal bill was and how Mr. Graham, in particular, was reluctant to vote for it unless assured it wouldn’t be passed by the House “as is”.
Mr. Graham: If you feel the bill is a farce and don’t want it passed, then don’t vote for it.
Which, in the end, is what Mr. McCain did.
Though very much liberal in much of my ideology, for many years I’ve felt Mr. McCain was a Republican one could at least reason with. In more recent years, I have to be honest, I felt he was losing it. The presidential race against Barack Obama saw him nominate Sarah Palin for the VP role, which in my estimation was not only a stupid move but probably played a big part in his eventual loss.
It’s been said “Obamacare” will eventually fail. I hear this is an exaggeration. I also hear that many of the states that have the biggest problems in this era of the Affordable Care Act (which is the proper term for Obamacare), have problem because they didn’t want to implement the full extent of the ACA’s provisions.
I don’t know.
What I do know is that I experienced Canada’s “socialized” medicine… and it was freaking great. I’ve experienced some of Europe’s socialized medicine as well, and frankly, it too is great.
I don’t like this Darwinian system we’ve had up until the ACA. I don’t like the idea of people potentially going broke later in life or as a result of some kind of catastrophic medical need.
There are better ways to go and, sadly, the world outside our borders seems to have embraced this quicker than we have.
Perhaps with this later failure both parties will finally -finally!– get together and form a coalition that actually improves upon the ACA rather than trying to gut it.
Perhaps.
July 27, 2017
Oh…my
Found this article over at digitaljournal.com and written by James Walker:
Researchers shut down AI that invented its own language
Whew…
If I understand the article right, Facebook developed an AI system that, they realized, was creating its own language to interact with each other.
Gulp.
I’ve written fiction involving AI machines. The sudden realization that AI machines -even rudimentary ones- may be “intelligent” enough to create their own language to interact with each other…
Wow.
Just, wow.
Should we be amazed? Afraid? Equal parts of both?
Perhaps.
