Here’s a #short #book #review for you this morning:
Almost two years ago now I first picked up READY PLAYER ONE by @erniecline. I couldn’t put it down. Took me three days to finish. Reality intervened, work and life interrupted a few times, but when I wasn’t reading I was doing everything I could to get back to that book. It’s rare that a novel does this to me, but it’s happened before. The previous one that I recall having the same effect was probably THE FOREVER WAR by Joe Haldeman.
We are changing the title of the first book in The Rise of Oceania. It is now THE WAR BENEATH by Timothy S. Johnston.
ALIEN ISOLATION is an incredible game. It’s dark and moody and genuinely terrifying.
These days I don’t have much time for video games, but when I do play, I choose ones that fall into the genres that I love: Science Fiction, Horror, Mystery and Thriller. I play on the X-Box, mostly because when the Nintendo-64 was retired, the original X-Box was the console with the most familiar controller and the game most similar to GOLDENEYE and PERFECT DARK — that game was HALO. (I just never got into the Sony Playstation — though I loved playing TWISTED METAL 2, 3 and 4, as well as METAL GEAR SOLID.) Some of the titles I’ve played in the past few years include BIOSHOCK, FALLOUT 3, and the DEADSPACE series.
THE MOUNTAIN BETWEEN US is a compelling and engaging story of survival, extremely well crafted and featuring two wonderful stars: Kate Winslet and Idris Elba.
STAR TREK (2009): A PERFECT REBOOT AND A SOARING THRILL-RIDE(Originally published by TrekWeb on 14 February 2012)
J.J. Abrams and writers Bob Orci and Alex Kurtzman did in 2009 what I thought impossible: they rebooted a franchise with over forty years of history, including seventy-nine episodes, six motion pictures, four spinoffs, an animated series, countless books, comics, video games, and references in popular culture. It seemed a task that only a fool would tackle. To face the criticism of rabid fans — a group in which I include myself — and the most critical eyes focused on every bit of the film, including story, f/x, sound, acting and music, a failure could have potentially resulted in complete disaster for the franchise and also the death of careers. But J.J. & Co. faced it head on, with fresh eyes, a new perspective, and with intense creativity.
The above phrase is spoken no less than three times in the film, and once in the trailer. It’s an important part of the movie THE IMITATION GAME, directed by Morten Tyldum and starring Benedict Cumberbatch and Keira Knightly. Put more simply, it could be said that sometimes people ignored early in life can end up surprising you.
A TSJ #ShortMovieReview
MURDER ON THE ORIENT EXPRESS is a well-crafted and fast-paced film with a fantastic cast and a compelling story.
#Thriller #Action #Movies
First, I have to define the concept. A “Character-Driven Action Film” would be a sub-category of the action genre, set in any time or place that focuses on the character and history of the leads as much as it does on the action elements of the story. Simple enough, right? Right.
So where have these movies gone?
I watched THE TERMINATOR on the weekend.
I had to.
It was calling me.
I use the phrases “watershed film” or “watershed book” quite a lot. That’s the point of this entire blog. What are the movies/books/tv shows that influenced me in the years leading to my first attempts at writing fiction? Hell, even the name of this blog — “Life After Gateway” — is a nod to my favorite Science Fiction novel. This blog is dedicated to the books and movies that inspired me in my creative/formative years. A few TV series, some fantastic authors, and a small selection of short stories helped along the way. Certain teachers were invaluable too.
#Writing #AmWriting #ScienceFiction #Thriller #Horror
The first line of any story is the most important sentence you’ll write.
The first page of the story is the most important page you’ll write.
The first chapter of the story is the most important chapter you’ll write.