The Booth At The End ( a HULU series)

http://www.hulu.com/the-booth-at-the-end

Wow    I just found out about a very interesting little independent internet series,

The Booth At The End is about a man in a café who has the power to grant you whatever you desire…for a price. The question is, are you willing to do what it takes to get what you want?

That link up there will take you to season one ( which is just 5 episodes but hey, you want really interesting, challenging material in 5 really good episodes that leaves you hungry for more or would you prefer a series full of fluff and the same old tired jokes and situations that stretches itself way past its welcome season after season after season? )

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Booth_at_the_End

This link has a bunch of info about the series

http://blogcritics.org/video/article/interview-the-booth-at-the-end/

And THIS is an interview with the creator of the series.
    

http://tv.ign.com/articles/118/1181531p1.html

This interview is with the actor Xander Berkley who plays the mysterious man “in the booth”.

Now I've seen the first two episodes and they are really good. The first episode introduces the 'clients' this man will interact with in the season ( of five episodes)

They each want something very badly. They want to fix something that went wrong on their lives and they have heard that this man in the booth can solve their problem.

All he asks is that you complete a task.

You do what he wants and you get what you need.

Of course, you don't HAVE to do it.

And if you don't.... your problem could take care of itself.

But can you afford to take that chance?

And yet, he does come highly recommended.

So go to the diner and sit down and tell him your problem.

I dare you......

New Stephen King story coming!

http://mediadecoder.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/05/20/esquire-to-publish-e-books-devoted-to-mens-fiction/?partner=rss&emc=rss

New Stephen King short story coming in June/July issue of Esquire

More details as I get them!

This is the cover

This news from Liljas-Library

New Short Story Collaboration

Esquire has announced it is to publish a new story collaboration by Joe Hill and Stephen as part of its launch of an e-book series called "Fiction for Men." "In the Tall Grass" will be published in two parts, the first to appear in the June/July issue and the conclusion in the August issue. The works will be available only in the print and iPad editions of the magazine.

The magazine is out! I read the story which is seven pages long

No Spoilers.....   The plot is about a brother and sister traveling through Kansas on a lonely stretch of highway when they hear a little boy cry out from a field of grass. They stop and wade into the grass and quickly discover that it isn't really an ordinary field of grass....and there's more to it than that of course but you'll have to pay your $ 4.99 for the magazine to read it all.

Kind of sucks that we have to wait til the end of July to read Part II but that's how things are sometimes.

But then again- I applaud Esquire for taking this bold step and putting money into this project in an attempt to jump start people into reading fiction again

Skyfall Trailer Movie opens: Nov 9

http://www.deadline.com/2012/05/skyfall-teaser-trailer/

This link takes you to the trailer for the 23^rd Bond film, SKYFALL

While it shows a hint of some of the standard babes and action there is a definitive sense of seriousness and mystery.

Opens November 9 in the US

Hidden trivia about Stephen KIng

Think you know everything about Stephen King and his work?
Think again.....

ONE

http://firewireblog.com/2012/05/18/stephen-kings-new-lieutenants-rap-the-prized-pamphlet-with-an-interesting-history-an-unknown-future/

TWO

If you like, here is a link ABOUT chap books and their history

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chapbook

THREE

And here is a link about a few of King’s short stories that you may not even know about

http://www.horrorking.com/rarewrks.html#newlirap

FOUR
UPDATE to this article

http://firewireblog.com/2012/05/21/over-1000-lucky-people-read-stephen-kings-eyes-of-the-dragon-three-years-before-the-general-public/

This link reveals some interesting stuff about one of King’s more popular works, Eyes Of The Dragon


Finally.....   

FIVE

http://www.liljas-library.com/

 THIS Link will give you loads of updated info about the King Universe

SAVE A BUCK!

I dropped the price of my two current books to 99 cents apiece and they will remain at that price forever.

So you can now save a whole dollar per book!

Pass the word   Here are the links  Go ahead, I'll wait here.

http://www.amazon.com/Obliterate-A-short-story-ebook/dp/B007PX45E2

http://www.amazon.com/Guarding-Andrew-Gates-ebook/dp/B006UOWHJC

PLUS!!  Guarding Andrew Gates will be available on Nook starting Monday so if you use Barnes & Noble Nook for your reading enjoyment you can watch for that

I plan to have Obliterate up there in August ( as it is still in the Amazon prime Select program- sorry about that)

Shout Out for Hugh C. Howey's story: WOOL

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B005FC52L0

Have you read Wool by Hugh Howey?

Why not?

Here is the product description off the Amazon page ( and of course, that link up there will take you to the book)

“Thousands of them have lived underground. They've lived there so long, there are only legends about people living anywhere else. Such a life requires rules. Strict rules. There are things that must not be discussed. Like going outside. Never mention you might like going outside.

Or you'll get what you wish for.”

I’m shouting out for this book because it’s a success story for a colleague.

Well, actually I don’t really KNOW him but he is a small indie writer like myself. Typing words so that others can read the story. And now, word is that Hollywood has optioned the film rights!

See? I keep telling you that this kind of thing happens. This proves it.

http://www.deadline.com/2012/05/20th-century-fox-spins-wool-for-scott-free-and-film-rites/

Best wishes to Hugh and the book. Maybe one day we can see it on the big screen. (Options are the first step toward a film. Doesn’t mean it WILL be a film, but it’s a whole lot closer at this stage than it ever was before)

So check out the book ( There are 5 in the series) Actually the first few are just short stories. Book 5 is the longest of the stories. (Psst, there is an Omnibus version of everything for a really good price)

And he has written other stuff too. Go check them all out.

http://www.hughhowey.com/

Once again- Big Congrats to Mr Howey. This proves it CAN happen!

An update for you Titanic fans

 From the stats of this blog I can see that a good number of you have been enjoying the Titanic article I posted (It’s on page two currently)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bx8GKyhIFWg&feature=related

THIS link takes you to a new hour and a half documentary.
It’s called “Titanic: The Final Word” and features the writer /director himself, James Cameron! It was originally shown on National Geographic.

You can still see the original article I posted here:

http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=8106058517759470962#editor/target=post;postID=177534342247605632

Enjoy.

Dark Knight Rises Trailer 3 "This isn't a car...."

http://www.deadline.com/2012/04/the-dark-knight-rises-trailer-no-3/

This link will take you to a web page to see the final trailer for the film

The movie arrives July 20

Two and a half months to go. Anticipating a film you can’t wait to see is one of the few time that time actually moves quite slowly. The rest of the time it moves past us way too quickly.

THANK You Will Farrell

http://www.blackbookmag.com/nightlife/dan-rush-on-will-ferrell-everything-must-go-1.23632

An interview with the director

 

Saw a very good little drama last night.

Now, normally I don’t watch Will Ferrell movies. I’m just not into humorous films and that’s for a whole other post.

But….    First time director/writer Dan Rush adapted a Robert Carver short story “Why Don’t You Dance”

Then he went around looking for an actor who’d be willing to play the main character, who is a recovering alchalolic and gets kicked out of his home and winds up living on his front lawn.

Now, you’d think that something like that would be wide open to comedic bits.

But Rush does not go in that direction. This is a drama. Nick Halsey has gotten thrown from his house and refuses to leave because he still owns the home. The neighbors call the cops because all his stuff on the lawn is unsightly

In fact there is a cool little scene half way through the film where a neighbor flat out tells him he can’t stay on the lawn because its ‘not normal’. To this, Nick replies, “What’s normal? That guy in the blue house, his wife blew her brains out last month because her daughter didn’t make cheer leading. Kenny practically lives by himself. Elliot and Kitty? I can't even tell you what they do. I’m no different than any of you, I just don’t hide in my house.”

It’s a good scene.

Over time, Nick dries up and can see that this is all his own fault.

So, sobered up,  he finally sells his stuff, and decides to move on. There are of course a few twists I won't tell you or it will spoil the film. 

But I recommend this movie. It does have some adult themes so it’s not really a family film.

But I wanted to say thanks to Dan Rush and especially Will Farrell for their efforts. Getting a small film like this made takes a lot of wheeling and dealing. (Funny how mega blockbuster popcorn films manage to find hundreds of millions of dollars and yet a quiet, well written little drama like this has to struggle to scrape up five million.) 

 But I think that there are  times when actors, sitting by the pool reflecting on their career and deciding what their next three possible hits will be while the agent juggles salary discussions...., get the itch to put something on the resume that shows that they CAN act. 

They want to take a risk and take the time to do something like this that shows that they CAN stand out in the crowd.

This film had a budget of 5 million so obviously Farrell did the film for far less than his usual paycheck. In the end, the movie made almost 3 million so it lost money.

But I think Rush and Farrell are okay with it. At least it’s on film now and will be there for anyone to watch down the road. And when they see it they will see that Farrell can be much more than just “The Anchorman”

So thanks to the cast and crew for making the film.

And to those who didn’t see it because they heard that it wasn’t a typical Farrell laugh- fest, well, that’s their loss.

Copying Beethoven & Appaloosa

I'm a bit off the main track in my search for entertainment. After all, there is so much interesting stuff available and for the most part- from my POV- the large majority of people seem to be satisfied with the basics of a simple evening in front of the 62 inch HD- TV with Adam Sandler or the latest CGI stuffed popcorn thriller

Which is fine.

 I mean, I watch those too.

But I am always hungry to explore other material.

Being a film buff, I'm very big on behind the scenes of the making of movies ( see my previous post about the film, Titanic).

So sometimes I'll pop a DVD in and check out the audio commentary of a film. This is a feature you can find on many films where the director or an actor sits down in a booth and they lay down a track ON the DVD or BluRay and discuss the making the film. (By the way- the commentary on the recent Mission Impossible Ghost Protocol is very good)

They might talk about how they had trouble getting the money together to make the film or how one really complicated shot was accomplished in one take or how it took a dozen takes to get a really simple shot finished. Sometimes they talk about what the characters did in the era the film portrays and what the times might have been like back then...

And on and on.....

Now I assume that many directors or actors might be obligated by contract to do such a thing and sometimes it seems like the people involved really do not want to do this and you can tell that they are 'phoning it in'- but that's rare

Audio commentaries are best with small budgeted films where the actors, who might normally command 10 or 13 million per picture, love a subject so much they are willing to wave off their usual paycheck for union minimum in order to do the film.

In fact- in many of these cases, everyone on the film works far below what they would normally get paid so that the film will at least be on the DVD format so that down the road, the few thousand people interested in watching it, like, for example, Frank Zubek in the month of April 2012 found himself watching Copying Beethoven and also the western, Appaloosa.

Co-incidentally, both of these films star Ed Harris.

Appaloosa, released in 2008 is a character study of two men who live in the rugged year of 1882. There isn't a lot of the usual shoot em up action you find in other westerns but it's still a very good movie.

 It's an even more interesting film to watch since Ed Harris not only wrote the screenplay ( with Robert Knott based on the novel by Robert Parker) but he directed it too.

Yeah, fine, big deal Frank.

 But hey- it's the equivalent to YOU going to your job and not only working at your desk but handling the workings of the company as well. And not only doing that for 12 hours a day -Monday through Saturday for 40 days....but doing it for far less than you normally get paid.

Get the idea now?

Ed Harris also stars in (but didn't direct) Copying Beethoven, which takes us back to the last years of Beethoven as he composes and performs his ( arguably) masterpiece, The Ninth Symphony. The story is about a fictional character for the film who assists the ailing composer by helping him prepare the score for the first performance. Beethoven, who is suffering the distraction of going deaf, eventually teaches her a thing or two about the art of what he does and they both learn a thing or two about each other.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0424908/

Now the interesting thing here is, comparing the two films in the cash flow department. Biographical/historical films like Copying Beethoven do make money over the long term if the budget is kept low. 

Now this film cost  11 million to make and according to Internet Movie Data Base, barely brought in a million at the box office. By Hollywood standards it lost money but I’m glad they made it. If you like that era and admire Beethoven, this is a quality film to watch

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0800308/

Ironically, in a time where westerns are once again declared a stone dead genre, Appaloosa had a budget of 20 million and actually brought in 27 million at the box office! So THIS film is considered a hit.

Okay, well, I've talked enough. Do yourself a favor and check these two out. I'm sure there's a copy or two in your local library.