Paul Bishop's Blog, page 29

A BACK-UP WEAPON FOR YOUR BACK-UP WEAPON

A BACK-UP WEAPON FOR YOUR BACK-UP WEAPON Over the years, it was inevitable my twin careers—LAPD detective and a professional writer—would sometimes bump into each other. One of the minor collisions occurred simply because of my name. In the original script for 1992 film Delta Heat, the main character—an LAPD detective to be played by actor Anthony Edwards—was named Paul Bishop. When the production company’s legal section realized there actually was a current LAPD detective named Paul Bishop, they reached out and asked me to waive the rights to my own name. This was not a particularly appealing idea, especially since there was no compensation offered. Rather than negotiate, the production company simply changed the main character’s name from Paul Bishop to Mike Bishop. However, prior to the final outcome of the character’s name change, I had a very pleasant lunch with Anthony Edwards at the Britannia pub in Santa Monica, which was one of my local hangouts. Edwards was extremely affable and we talked about a wide range of subjects. He was particularly interested in the back-up weapons I’d carried when working undercover. I explained about usually carrying a five shot Smith & Wesson Chief Special with a two inch barrel on my ankle, but Edwards was aware of this type of back up and was looking for something different. As a result, I told him about carrying an even smaller, non-department approved, back up weapon known as a crotch rocketbecause it was carried under your scrotum—it’s amazing what discomfort you can get used to when your life may depend on it. If somebody searched you, they would almost always find the ankle gun, but would almost always miss the crotch rocket because of a reluctance to touch that area of somebody’s person. his was a lesson I’d learned in the police academy when we were doing situation simulation searches. One other rookie and I (out of 54 in my academy class) were the only ones who found the crotch rocket when searching the instructor acting as a suspect. When LAPD Detective Mike Bishop hit the big screen in Delta Heat (5 stars out of 10 on IMDB) it sank into the New Orleans swamps—where the movie was filmed—pretty much without a trace. However, I still had the pleasure of seeing my sort-of-namesake rescue himself in the film’s climax by using his hidden crotch rocket back up weapon after having his ankle gun taken away by the villain of the piece.

SELF-PROMOTION VS SELF-HYPE

SELF-PROMOTION VS SELF-HYPE Am I the only one bored out of my skull by author self-promotion ads comparing their self-published crap novel to 'the best of Harlan Coben, Lee Child, or Vince Flynn' (or a list of any three best selling authors whose shoes the self-promoting writer couldn't shine let alone fill). Please, for the love of fiction, stop!  I ignore any book whose author compares his character to Jack Reacher, Mitch Rapp, or any other well known hero (but especially Jack Reacher). Telling me your character, who I've never heard of, is a force unto himself, dark, dangerous, driven, has a wicked sense of humor, or so addictive, you can’t read just one, is a guarantee I wont buy your book.  Don't tell me your prose is lightning-paced or a similar declarative, all of which sounds like the cover letters (usually on wide-lined tablet paper covered with hand written extortion note scribbling) sent to editors declaring the contained manuscript to be an instant bestseller or the greatest novel ever written.  Give me a pithy plot synopsis, a quick sketch of what makes your hero unique, and an idea of the genre...Then you might get my attention. Let readers and reviewers do the comparing. If you do the comparing, I'm going to spend my money on the originals not the watered down clones...

FINDING HIDDEN FIGURES

FINDING HIDDEN FIGURES
I thoroughly enjoyed Hidden Figures. It's a hard film not to like. The three leads are perfectly cast and Kevin Costner holds the center together. Jim Parsons is a bit jarring only because he seems to be channeling Sheldon's evil twin.   There are faults. The racism angle is definitely pertinent to the story, but is heavy-handed at times. You also begin to ask yourself how many times Taraji P. Henson is going to be forced to run the half mile to the 'colored bathroom' and bac...k while trailing classified reports like so much toilet paper stuck to her click-clacking sensible heels.   However, like the film Enigma about Alan Turing's math genius leading to the cracking of the WWII German coding machine and the invention of the first computer, Hidden Figures is riveting when it is focused on the math geniuses behind the race to space. Even though we know the outcome (except for perhaps some gen-X and millennials for whom the space race is an ancient and murky legend), Hidden Figures manages to sustain its story's tension to the end.   This is not an Oscar contender filled with angst, drama, and scenery chewing. Instead, Hidden Figures is an entertaining, refreshing PG evening (not an f-bomb or hide the kids' eyes moment to be found) with many sparks for post viewing conversation...

BOOK ALLEY ~ PASADENA ~ 2

BOOK ALLEY ~ PASADENA ~ 2
I stopped by the wonderful Book Alley in Pasadena again today on my way home from Riverside. Rebekah, their delightful mass market paperback specialist, does yeoman's work keeping her large inventory of G to VG condition books well organized, and even knows a lot about what is in the store's warehouse. I'd left her a want list on Monday and this is the haul she had waiting for me today. Only $15...

DOWNTOWNE BOOKS ~ RIVERSIDE

DOWNTOWNE BOOKS ~ RIVERSIDE
Small lunchtime haul from a bookstore I'd never before visited in old town Riverside...I came across yet another copy of Buchanan's Gun (Brian Garfield writing as Jonas Ward) and picked it up for another friend...

BOOK ALLEY ~ PASADENA

BOOK ALLEY ~ PASADENA
Hokey smokes! I stopped at Book Alley in Pasadena today. I've never been to the store before, but decided to stop in on my way down to Riverside to teach a three-day interrogation class. The stock of mass-market paperbacks at Book Alley is extensive, in great condition, and at good prices. This collection cost me $13. I picked up the copy of Buchanan's Gun, which is by Brian Garfield for a friend trying to complete his Garfield collection...

WESTERN PULP: BLAZE #15 ~ RED ROCK RAMPAGE

WESTERN PULP: BLAZE #15 ~ RED ROCK RAMPAGE My long time friend Steve Mertz noted elsewhere today, "There is a day in the life of every writer that no writer ever forgets: The arrival of their first novel. And right up there with that one-of-a-kind event/emotion is the joy of sharing it when a friend gets to experience that thrill..."   He is absolutely right, so both Steve and I are getting the word out about our friend Ben Boulden's first novel, which is soon to be published by James Reasoner's Rough Edges Press imprint, and is currently available from Amazon for pre-order.   As steve says, "You're going to be hearing a lot of good things about Ben in the future, and here's your chance to join me in welcoming a new writer of promise. You won't be disappointed..." FOR MORE CLICK HERE

LION IN EXILE

LION IN EXILE Lion was made worthwhile for me having seen the recent 60 Minutes segment featuring the young man on whom the film is based, which highlighted the evidence supporting his true story.  The first half of the film is made riveting by the performance of 8 year old Sunny Pawar (best screen smile ever) as five year old Saroo, who gets lost on a train which takes him thousands of miles across India, away from home and family. The challenges of survival faced by Saroo as an abandoned ...child in the seething Calcutta cauldron of inhumanity are terrifying, but it is the vivid dangers of adult human predators provide the true horrors. These scenes are the heart of the film and truly excellent storytelling, cinematography, and direction.  By necessity, the film now takes a giant turn to a less interesting story. After Saroo eventually lands in the living hell of an Indian orphanage, he is chosen to be adopted (no explanation how, although it did actually happen) by an affluent, loving Australian couple who live in Tasmania. These scenes of the young Saroo's immersion into a world of wonder and paradise are also well handled. So too are the scenes when a year later, the family adopts a second child from India, unaware of his debilitating emotional challenges. The film then makes a jarring jump of twenty years and we meet the now adult, apparently well adjusted and intelligent, Saroo about to leave his adopted family to embark on a hotel management course in Melbourne. The always watchable Dev Patel tries his best in the unforgiving, underwritten role of the adult Saroo. The problem comes in that none of this is anywhere near as interesting as what has come before.  As Saroo goes down the rabbit hole of desperation and obsession, using the (at that time) revolutionary technology of Google Earth and the few memories of his five year old self to find his lost family and first home, he alienates everyone (including the audience) who has ever helped, supported, or cared about him. While the drive to find his lost family is certainly understandable, the film drags through this uninteresting scenario of fruitless searching and self destruction when everyone knows where the story is going.  If these scenes had been cut in half, and more time spent with the story from the skipped twenty years, the film would have been a more cohesive and involving tale. The inevitable happy ending also loses some of its impact because of the stupor the audience has been dragged into by the stodgy middle of the film. The ending still saves the film, especially when footage of the real reunion appear, but the whole in this case is less than the sum of its admirable parts...

JOHN CARTER RULES

Just re-watched (for the umpteenth time) the much maligned (by know nothing critics) John Carter movie and was once gain convinced of the film's greatness. It is a great translation of ERB's A PrincessOf Mars, and deserves a sequel that doesn't involve a scourge of meddling Disney executives and marketing gurus not worthy of the name...I get hooked in every time I channel surf and land on a cable network where it is showing...

DEATH BY MANCHESTER BY THE SEA

DEATH BY MANCHESTER BY THE SEA With the exception of Casey Affleck's exceptional portrayal of a broken man attempting to do the right thing while no longer having the emotional capacity to do so, Manchester By The Sea did not live up to the hype surrounding it in my opinion.  Yes, Affleck's performance is great, but by its very nature it is a one note performance—and that note is a constant funeral dirge. If you feel like killing yourself after seeing this film (or Arrival, for that matter), immediately enter the adjacent theater and watch Sing repeatedly to bring the smile back to your face...