DOM HEMINGWAY Release Date: April 2, 2014 What it’s about: Following a near-death experience, an ex-felon safecracker attempts to re-connect with his estranged daughter - and pull off one final score. What it’s got working for it: The trailer suggests a movie with a Sexy Beast, Layer Cake, Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels feel. Three…
March 26, 2014: April movie releases to look forward to! Or not!
CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE WINTER SOLDIER Release Date: April 3, 2014 What it’s about: Captain America teams up with the Black Widow and the Falcon to unravel a mysterious conspiracy and battle an enigmatic enemy known as…The Winter Soldier. What it’s got working for it: The trailer suggests a good-looking movie. What’s it’s got going against it:…
March 25, 2014: Meet and Greet! And Stand and Wait!
Today, I attended an industry meet and greet. A rarity for me because I tend to find these "informal" get-togethers uncomfortable, earnest, awkward, and always permeated by that unmistakable stench of desperation. "Hi, I'm Bill Swizby! Love your show! I hope to one day write for a production of equally high calibre!" (subtext: "Hi! I…
March 24, 2014: Notes of interest! And on notes!
It's the routine on practically every production I've worked on: 1. Writers receive notes. 2. Writers get on the phone to discuss notes with executives. 3. Writers do (ish) the notes. But, in my later years on Stargate, I decided to implement a new policy. I started giving notes on the notes I received (let's…
March 23, 2014: Lulu and I will sleep well tonight!
What an incredibly productive day. I had to wake up at 7:00 a.m. this morning to bring Jelly out but, rather than go back to bed, I elected to stay up and get some work done on one of my new pilots. The plan was to complete a single flashback sequence but one scene led…
March 22, 2014: My Top 10 Pie Countdown!
#10 Apple pie a la mode #9 Pumpkin pie with whipped cream #8 Mississippi mud pie #7 Banana cream pie #6 Tourtiere #5 Sugar pie #4 Joe's Stone Crab key lime pie #3 Cherry pie a la mode #2 Pecan pie #1 Blueberry pie a la mode And one I'm looking forward to checking out:…
March 21, 2014: The #SadTVShows highlights!
The highlights from last night's #sadTVshows twitter extravaganza:
March 20, 2014: News of note!
Those who make fun of FOX News clearly have not taken the time to check out CNN lately or, as I like to call it, The Jodi Arias Missing Malaysian Airline Network. Their anchors are always indignant, voicing their theatrical outrage about something or other. But, every so often, we're treated to actual hard news. Like…
March 19, 2014: Expressions I really hate!
DON'T use these around me. You've been warned! Amazeballs: This was amusing for about twelve hours back in 2009. Redonkulous: Really? You're still quoting a characters from FOX's defunct The O.C.? Addicting: I've mentioned this one several times. The word you're looking for is addictive. Frak: Yeah. I get it. You like science fiction. And,…
March 18, 2014: Casual dining, out and at home! Dogs snacking on phyllo crisps!
I checked the mailbox today where I discovered a note from Canada Post informing me that they tried to deliver a package yesterday morning but no one was home. If I wanted to pick up the parcel, I could do so at the nearby post office. "Package for me?"asked Akemi as I walked back into…
March 17, 2014: May Book of the Month Club poll results! Ultimate Personality Quiz final results! The results of my random thoughts recorded on this blog! And results of Lulu sunning herself just a little too long!
Ooh, it was a nail biter. Our May Book of the Month Club pick came down to the very last vote. The results: The winner: The Rich and the Dead by Liv Sepctor. Welcome to Star Island, where Miami’s wealthiest residents lead private lives behind the tall gates of their sprawling mansions. It’s a blissful…
March 16, 2014: My February Reading List – Capsule Reviews!
Books I read last month... Star Road - Matthew Costello and Rick Hautala A former rebel leader, now working for the World Council, is tasked with traveling to a distant world and offering his former cohorts clemency and, hopefully, an end to their protracted rebellion. To get there, however, he must ride the mysterious Star Road.…
March 15, 2014: Writer? Producer? Llama Farmer? What’s next for me? YOU decide!
Today's bizarre exchange with my Japanese girlfriend: "Even elves need to do peepee, just like everyone else." "No, he just wanted sausage. Currywurst." Well, I am on a creative roll. In the past three days, I've delivered a draft of that Southern Gothic script, wrote the "alternate" draft, got 10 pages into that wildly over-the-top…
March 14, 2014: A Truly Offal dinner!
But I mean that in the most positive way possible. In fact, Campagnola Roma's recent Quinto Quarto: No Guts, No Glory dinner was perhaps the best offal dinner I've had. There were actually TWO offal dinners happening in Vancouver that night and, while I was greatly tempted by the 7:00 p.m. seating at the other…
March 13, 2014: Genre News! SF, Fantasy, television, and literature!
I received the following news link from about two dozen sources today: Syfy network shifts away from broad dramas and B-movies to its genre roots as it attempts to find the next "The Walking Dead" or "Game of Thrones." Apparently, SyFy is looking to produce a space opera, the SF equivalent of The Walking Dead and Game…