Category Archives: TV and Movies

Zombie Crawl 2 – My First Zombie Movie

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Copyright clearviewstock

I’m excited to be participating in the Zombie Crawl this year. I have to admit that I had no idea what I was going to write about. I don’t have a zombie story out yet. And I don’t have one in progress either but I do have an idea simmering on the back burner. So with no zombie fiction in my immediate future what would I write about? It got me thinking about zombie movies. Of all the ones I’ve seen I still love the one that got me started on the genre to begin with. The first zombie movie I ever saw was Night of the Comet. It’s been ages since I’ve seen it so I don’t remember all of it. It’s a horror comedy about Valley girls who survive a comet that turns people into zombies. The ones it didn’t kill and turn to dust that is. I remember why the survivors of the comet survived. The things that stick out the most are the sisters hitting the mall. I remember the guy they find when they think no one else survived. I vaguely remember the end of the movie. I think I remember the sisters the most because I watched the movie with my sister. We talked about it a lot over the years because we loved the mall scenes. What teenage girl wouldn’t love to go to a mall and be able to take anything they wanted with no consequences? I’d looked for the movie on DVD after we watched it but didn’t find it until at least ten years later. I did buy it. We both liked it but she didn’t move on to other zombie movies like I did.

Of course I like the classics – Night of the Living Dead, Day of the Dead. New classics – 28 Days Later, 28 Weeks Later, Shaun of the Dead. I loved Warm Bodies. After watching, and liking World War Z I want to read the book. With today being Halloween it’s the perfect day to get comfy on the sofa, make some popcorn and throw on some zombie movies.

-Now for the GIVEAWAY!-

PRIZE: $10 Amazon gift card!

Three ways to enter:
1. Like my Facebook OR Twitter. (one entry per follow)
2. Sign up for my newsletter (one entry)
3. Leave a comment telling me what steps you’ve done above and tell me what your favourite zombie movie is. (one entry)

NOTE: The contest will stay open through out the blog tour, ending October 31st.

Make sure you visit ALL the participants throughout the tour to get your complete zombie fix!

z crawl schedule

Zombie Crawl 2 – Blog Party

October 22 – 31, 2015

by Band of Dystopian Authors & Fans

How it works: Each day, the scheduled authors and bloggers will post awesome zombie-tastic content for your enjoyment along with a giveaway on their site/blog/page. You can hop around to all of the participating sites and enter as many giveaways as you like! If you would like to be emailed links to the new posts each day, join this Zombie Crawl Daily Digest list which will ensure you don’t miss a post (or join the party on Facebook to get notifications). Make sure to leave comments and interact with the participating sites. Thanks for joining the party!

The Schedule:

OCTOBER 22 – Thursday

Band of Dystopian Authors & Fans (Party & Grand Prize Host)

Jo Michaels Blog (author)

Rissa Blakeley (author)

OCTOBER 23 – Friday

Claire C. Riley (author)

2 Girls & A Book (blog)

Emily Shore (author)

OCTOBER 24 – Saturday

Kathy Dinisi (author)

Us Girls & A Book (blog)

The Voluptuous Book Diva (blog 18+)

OCTOBER 25 – Sunday

Casey L. Bond (author)

THE KATY blog (blog)

OCTOBER 26 – Monday

Saul Tanpepper (author)

Warren Fielding (author)

The Leighgendarium (blog)

OCTOBER 27 – Tuesday

Kody Boye (author)

Rhiannon Frater (author)

ER Arroyo (author)

OCTOBER 28 – Wednesday

Allen Gamboa (author)

Armand Rosamilia (author)

Ethan @ One Guy’s Guide to Good Reads (blog)

OCTOBER 29 – Thursday

Kate L. Mary (author)

aftershockzombieseries (author)

Eli Constant (author)

OCTOBER 30 – Friday

Aria Michaels (author)

Brian Parker (author)

Mama Reads Hazel Sleeps (blog)

OCTOBER 31 – Saturday

Cindy Carroll (author)

M. R. Pritchard (author)

Toni L.H. Boughton (author)

Digital Dirty Girl (blog)

To learn more about Band of Dystopian and/or to enter our Grand Prize Giveaway, visit BandofDystopian.com and don’t forget to join the group on Facebook!

Top 10 horror movie villains – part 1

Welcome back to the blog! Today I have Jeffrey Charles talking about one of my favourite topics. Horror movie villains. Below is the beginning of his top ten list.

Here’s Jeffrey!

A dark and spooky night with a full moon. A summer’s eve suddenly becoming as cold as a winter day. The shrill cry of pure terror from some poor, unsuspecting victim. These are the true loves of any horror movie villain. Over the years there has been a plethora of villains in every genre of film.

I thought of making a list about my favourite villains but soon realized if I didn’t narrow down my selections the list would need to be at least 100, not a simple ten. So what I have done instead is narrow it down to my top ten horror movie villains. So sit back, flick off your lights and enjoy!

10)  Pinhead – Hellraiser series. So to start my list I have chosen Pinhead from the Clive Barker created Hellraiser series. Pinhead, leader of the Cenobites, is as creepy as they come. After a decade of horror movies that seemed to always have a wise-cracking killer/monster Pinhead showed up to finally restore some true fear into the genre.

An iconic figure in the world of horror, most recognize Pinhead’s actual head most. Pale as the moon with completely black eyes and covered with pins he truly is a horrifying sight nobody would want to see in their dreams.

What Pinhead may have lacked in personality; despite his articulate way of speaking, he made up for in creativity. More specific, his creative forms of torture and maiming his victims. Throughout the series Pinhead just never seemed to be truly destroyed, making him that much more frightening.

9)   The Thing – John Carpenter’s The Thing. While one might think this to be outside the horror genre and more sci-fi, the film takes place on Earth and shows not just a horrific creature from another world but also the effects of cabin fever on a group of terrified men. I consider this one to be more horror than anything else.

The Thing is a strange alien creature found near an Antarctic research station. More of a giant parasitic life form, the Thing is able to completely transform into a replica of whatever living thing it has consumed. Animal or human it will imitate other life in order to kill and eat.

Now place it in a small research facility during a dangerous blizzard with several tired, armed scientists and watch the paranoia unfold. The idea of a malicious being with a never-ending appetite that can shape itself into any form is truly scary.

8)   Dracula – Dracula/Bram Stoker’s Dracula. This entry would be filled up alone on all the different forms of Dracula that have been portrayed over the years but all seem to keep the basic roots of the fiendishly clever vampire.

Originally vampires were always seen as ugly, disgustingly rotted corpses bent on draining blood from humans. Then along came Dracula. He wasn’t ugly at all, surprisingly handsome in fact. He also wasn’t stupid either, on the contrary he was extremely intelligent and cunning.

On top of being the greatest and most powerful vampire ever known, Dracula also had many tricks to help him. No, his chest did not get sparkly to attract his victims. Instead Dracula used his eyes to deeply mesmerize a victim. If he needed to get closer he could also turn into a bat or wolf. An absolutely horrifying being, Dracula could never be left off a list like this.

7)   Leatherface – The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. In a time when horror movies mostly focused on ghosts, demons and monsters Leatherface burst onto the scene and completely changed the landscape. Inspired by real-life serial killer Ed Gein, Leatherface usually wore the peeled off skin from his victims, especially their faces.

If his ignorance to hygiene wasn’t frightening enough, he was also a beast of a man. Standing somewhere around 6’5”-6’8” tall and weighing in the neighbourhood of 250+ pounds Leatherface towered over every victim.

Using his brute strength and experience from being a cow butcher, Leatherface easily dismembered all who crossed his path. On top of being able to pull anyone apart by hand Leatherface also used his favourite weapon; the chainsaw, to terrorize his helpless victims.

Well that is all I will leave you with for now, but I will return with entries 6, 5 and 4 in the next installment. Until then, pleasant dreams!

Jeffrey is one of sixteen authors with stories in Nefarious North.

Buy Nefarious North on Amazon.com: http://amzn.to/1e9PQAY
Buy on Amazon.ca: http://amzn.to/1edPLwk

Cindy here again!

Great list so far, Jeffrey.  Can’t wait to see the rest of it.

Until next time…

 

Cindy

Wayback Wednesday – Bewitched

On my quest to watch the shows I fell in love with years ago, I searched through Netflix for one of my favourite television shows about witches. Bewitched. Charmed, of course, being the other one. I hadn’t thought of Bewitched in a while except in passing when a Charmed episode referenced the show. I loved it when I was a kid. The first episode aired in 1964. I wasn’t even born yet but thanks to syndication I got to watch Samantha Stevens after school, twitch her nose to make things happen.

I used to try to make my nose twitch like hers. Never could get it right. And of course nothing ever happened even if I did manage a good twitch.

I was thrilled to find Bewitched on Netflix. Not so thrilled when I watched some of the episodes. Darren didn’t treat Samantha well at all. Basically calling her a liar when she said one of his firm’s client’s was hitting on her. I was happy to see Samantha stand up for herself and leave him. And by leave I mean she popped out to wherever witches go when they aren’t in mortal land. He begged her to come back, finally only believed her when he saw with his own eyes that the client was hitting on her.

I just watched an episode that made me cringe. Darren is stuck working long hours into the night leaving Sam alone at home. She goes to bed and he’s not there. She wakes up to a note from him. So Endora suggests they go to Paris for lunch. After all it’s only a few seconds away if you’re a witch. So she goes. Unfortunately she runs into Larry Tate, Darren’s boss. And Larry and his wife want to know what Samantha said to Darren so he would LET her go. I had an issue with the whole letting her go. She’s her own person. He wasn’t home. It was only for lunch. Sure it was Paris but so what? At least by the end of the episode he’s resigned himself to the fact that he can’t hold her back as a witch. If she wants to practice witchcraft he won’t stop her. Of course I’m sure that won’t last long.

I haven’t seen any others after that. We’re still in the black and white phase of the show. I am enjoying the fact that I don’t remember any of the episodes so far. Not in detail the way I remember some other shows. So it’s like watching them for the  first time.

What about you? What shows do you want to go back and rediscover? Did you ever wish you could have Samantha’s powers?

[wysija_form id=”3″]

 

Until next time…

 

Cindy

Cindy’s top 10 horror movies

What makes a good movie is subjective. What I like others might not and vice versa. There are movies people loved and I thought they were a waste of my time and three hours of my life I’ll never get back. Titanic I’m talking to you.

So these are horror movies I found to be what horror movies are supposed to be. Scary. Shocking. And in some cases believable. For a movie to scare me now it has to be something that could actually happen. Some of these movies don’t fit that requirement but when I first watched them it didn’t matter if they could happen or not. They scared the crap out of me.

Here they are in no particular order:

1.  Friday the 13th – The original.

This one was scary to me because it came out just before I became a teen. While the others were unbelievable, this one had a killer with a good motive, a killer that could have actually committed those murders.

2. The Texas Chainsaw Massacre – The original.

Inspired by real life killer Ed Gein this too could happen. Real people kill people all the time. What makes it even scarier is the family members in the movie are definitely not all there, mentally. Ed Gein inspired other characters as well including Norman Bates.

3. Mute Witness

I watched this movie years ago because Siskel and Ebert recommended it. And they were right. I found it to be creepy, scary, disturbing. I liked it so much I bought the DVD.

4. High Tension

This was another one recommended by Ebert. It was scary and creepy. When someone’s mind breaks anything can happen. It was filmed in French and dubbed in English.

5. A Nightmare on Elm Street – The original.

Okay, so not something that could actually happen but still, it made teens in my generation afraid to go to sleep.

6. Black Christmas – The original.

Another one of those it could really happen movies. What I liked about it was the fact that it was set during one of the happiest times of year. Despite the movie, Christmas is still my favourite holiday. Wow, John Saxon was in a lot of horror movies I’m realizing.

7. When A Stranger Calls Back

A sequel to the original When A Stranger Calls, I thought it was scarier than the original. It made me wonder for weeks after I watched it if I was really alone in the house.

8. Scream

This movie brought the dying horror genre back to life. I thought it was clever, well written, a little scary. I loved all of the movies, even the fourth wasn’t too bad.

9. 28 Days Later

I don’t find zombie movies to be all that scary. Zombies are shuffling, dumb creatures. Walk fast and you can survive. But 28 Days Later is a different kind of zombie movie. They aren’t zombies in the traditional sense of the word.

10. Alien

Okay, definitely not something that could actually happen but I tried watching it when I was fifteen. I heard it twice before I ever saw the whole thing because I kept hiding behind the sofa cushions. And it has one of the most famous tag lines of all – In space no one can hear you scream.

So those are my favourites. That list makes me want to watch a few of those again. Hmmm. Maybe we’ll have a movie weekend this weekend.

What about you? Any of your favourites you think should be on the list?

Until next time.

Cindy

J.J. Abrams’ Revolution Lacks Spark

We watched the new J.J. Abrams show, Revolution last Monday. I had been looking forward to the show because, well, it’s J.J. Abrams. Then I learned Eric Kripke wrote the pilot episode. I love him. Hello, Supernatural. I waited to write this post so people had a chance to watch it because this post will contain spoilers. I can’t talk about how bad the show was without spoilers. We didn’t watch tonight’s episode nor did we record it. When the entire episode can be shot down by applying a little common sense to the characters it’s not a strong episode.


SPOILERS AHEAD

 

Where do I start? It had a good premise. If you recall I mentioned in a post earlier this year that I also had an idea where there is no more electricity. I was going to shelve it because I figured Abrams could do a better job. I was wrong.

The show was full of plot holes. Gaping – a world could fall into them – plot holes. I don’t like it when things happen in a show, movie, book that only happen so the rest of the story can happen. When common sense, and the laws of the story are violated so the story can take place, I just can’t stomach watching it anymore. They happen early on in the story and keep on going. People live in tiny villages now – with a gate – yet they didn’t have a lookout. After they went on about how it wasn’t safe out there, they didn’t have a lookout on the gate.

Then let’s talk about the father knowing the lights were going out yet he waited until the last seconds to download the information he needed for the flash drive. Yeah, yeah, yeah, I get there has to be suspense. So let’s throw in some back story right at the beginning instead of giving us flashes of it when we need it.

It was just so predictable from the start. The militia arrive and tell the dad to come peacefully and of course tell the rest not to cause trouble or bad things will happen. So, surprise! The son pulls a bow and arrow on them and starts shooting. The militia were bringing the dad in on orders from Monroe. Dad gets killed of course so they want the brother. They have orders to bring in the brother alive, but hello, not the dad? The dad was the one Monroe wanted in the first place.

Let’s talk about the motto after the blackout. Trust no one. It’s not safe. So Charlie and company go off in search of her brother and meet a cute guy along the way – and trust him. Because he saves her. I could see a mile away that was a setup. Then they arrive in Chicago, walk into a bar, first person they talk to they trust. Sure it turned out to be Charlie’s uncle, the guy they were actually looking for but they didn’t know that when they revealed who they were.

How about the asthma inhaler that still works perfectly after 15 years. Really? The medicine didn’t lose any of its potency? I find that very hard to believe.

I could go on but it’s just too easy to find fault with the show. It could be a new drinking game. Spot a plot hole, take a drink. You’d be drunk before the first commercial break.

The inconsistencies are the only thing that made that episode possible. If they’d had a lookout and closed the gate when they saw the militia coming and then armed themselves to defend it – end of episode. The militia wouldn’t get in. The father wouldn’t have died. The son wouldn’t have been taken in the father’s place. The daughter (Charlie) wouldn’t have gone in search of uncle. I didn’t find any of the characters interesting enough to care about what happens to them. Especially Charlie’s brother. And it was no surprise to me who Monroe turned out to be.

Of course since I’m not going to watch the show it will probably last for 10 seasons. If there is TV logic in this world it won’t make it to season 2.

Until next time…

Cindy

Bad movie but perfect weekend

The weekend started out with a bad, really predictable, movie Friday night. But Saturday was slightly unpredictable because we had a deck full of people for a long overdue barbecue with a few surprises. And the weekend ended with a predictable episode of Continuum.

I don’t know why I torture myself with the obvious made for cable disaster movies. I guess I keep hoping one of them might actually be good. No such luck with Earth’s Final Hours. Implausible story line. Over acting. Horrible dialogue. And can we say predictable?

To sum up – a government agent just happens to be at a field at the exact moment dense matter from white holes (yes the opposite of black holes) punch through the earth and of course that causes the earth to slowly stop rotating. Said agent must go rogue to save the earth because of course his superiors are bad seeds and try to stop him at every turn.

I don’t know whether watching super awful movies like that should make me feel angry because no one is buying my script. Or good because if these horrible movies can be made my much better scripts have a shot. 🙂

Saturday was much better. We had planned the barbecue weeks before and as usual I left things to the last minute. My middle name really is Procrastination. I thought I was doing well though when I made cakes and put them on the counter to cool while we went grocery shopping. We weren’t going to be gone long but I figured they’d be cool enough for me to frost when we returned. Arrived home to find one cake missing its golden crust top layer. Despite all attempts to look innocent we’re pretty sure it was Dervish. There’s a reason we call her Naughty Cat. So instead of a layer cake we had the bottom layer. I cut the other cake in half and layered that. I don’t mind cat germs. Frosted both cakes and forgot about them. People arrived. Drinking and lots of great conversation happened. Then I heard the boyfriend in the kitchen scolding the cat. Race in to find the layer of frosting on the layer cake licked off. She was in my bad books the rest of the evening but she’s so cut you can’t stay angry at her for long.

The barbecue was a blast. We really should have company more often. We had the usual fare – burgers, salad, pasta salad and beer. I made Pico de Gallo. It was soooo good. Much better than the store bought salsa. Like every other time we entertain, we had way too much food. But better too much than not enough. I even brought pasta salad for lunch today.

We finished the weekend with another episode of Continuum. I’d like to say it was great like everyone else is saying. But I found it predictable. I found the police at the end unobservant and trigger happy. I begged when the show started that Kiera would not hook up with anyone so I hope the hints I saw were just her using her whiles to get information. I will tune in next week to see if I’m still angry with what happened. I’m on the fence about watching it net year if it returns.
Now it’s off to a busy day at work.

I already know this week will be predicatably slow because next Monday’s a holdiay!

Until next time…

Cindy

Magic Mike only slightly magical

Went to see Magic Mike on the weekend because I wanted to see how accurate it was when it came to the stripping industry. And to see as much of Channing Tatum as I could. 🙂 I was not disappointed. Well I was a little. No male frontal nudity. When is Hollywood going to even things up and give us as much male nudity as there is female nudity?

Was it great? No. Was it as bad as some people said it was? No. And you know who you are. At it’s heart it had a decent story if you’re open minded enough to look that far. And if the back drop hadn’t been male stripping I think a lot more people, guys included, would have liked it.

It’s been a long time since I worked in a strip joint (as a bartender) or been to a strip joint to see men strut their stuff. They got the lifestyle pretty accurate from what I remember. The club in Magic Mike was a bit too bright. And where were the table dances? Where were the shooter boys? Where were the regulars? Where were the women with bills stuffed in their cleavage for the strippers to retrieve with their teeth? Now that I think about it maybe it’s a good thing that wasn’t in there. Money is filthy.

I found it unbelievable that he had only saved 13K in six years. Even if he spent a lot of his money on his truck and his beach house and general partying he would have been able to save a lot more than that in 6 years. Or maybe it’s different in the U.S. In Canada we don’t have dollar bills anymore so we stuff five and ten dollar bills down their G-strings. Dancers here have been known to take home $400 + a night in tips. But The Kid said he made $230 one night. Being the new kid you’d think the others would do better than that. So figuring at least $600 a week, in cash, under the table, that’s over 2K a month. Plus Mike had his day job. And the cut of the door money.

What I wanted more of was the story. I thought there was too much stripping and not enough outside the club “stuff”. I didn’t believe the development of the relationship between Mike and Brooke. I wanted more of the relationships between the characters. More of Mike’s feelings when he saw Joanna in the restaurant. More of the stuff underneath the surface. Strippers are not their jobs. They have lives outside the club. I wanted more of that.

I read on TMZ that Channing’s ex stripper friends were angry because he “stole their moves” and put them in the film. I’ve got news for them. Almost all strippers have the same moves. I’ve seen those moves many times before I ever saw Magic Mike.

Overall I’d give it a 6 out of 10. And I hear there’s going to be a prequel.

Until next time….

Cindy

Continuum – Will you continue watching?

I am Canadian. I love being Canadian. I love our music. We have such talented musicians (Bryan Adams, Hedley, Justin Bieber – yes I said Justin Bieber). We have great writers (Margaret Atwood, Robert J Sawyer, Lucy Maud Montgomery), our scientists have discovered amazing things – isolating insulin as a treatment for diabetes. Inventing Pablum. We have great actors – Ryan Gosling, Ryan Reynolds, Nathan Fillion. I can’t forget our screenwriters/producers/directors – Paul Haggis, David Cronenberg, James Cameron. But when it comes to television programs we used to fall down. The quality just wasn’t there. One look and you could tell it was made in Canada. (Night Heat, Diamonds, Forever Knight) But we’re getting better. Much, much better.

When I saw the commercials for Continuum I thought it looked good. Both the boyfriend and I looked at each other, eyebrows raised, and said we should watch it. It looked slick and well produced.

We watched the first episode and I liked it. A lot. I like the concept. I like the characters. I like the secret Old Alec has. When will he reveal what he knows to Kiera’s husband? Will he reveal what he knows? Did he arrange it so she was in the chamber when the time travel went down? I’m thinking of course he did because he had to. I also like watching shows on Canadian stations because we don’t bleep out words like shit. It amazes me what they bleep out on American television. It’s just a word people, get over it.

I’m hoping they develop the characters a little better in future episodes. As the boyfriend says, Kiera just seems like a bitch. I think she’s a little more sympathetic than that but he likes character driven and I like action. I would have liked a little more of her angst though. She does just seem to take over. Maybe if she had a little more remorse about that. Or wish she could tell them more but she can’t. I’m also wondering when her lie about who she is will come back to bite her in the ass. The boyfriend also hoped the show wasn’t going to be about her wearing a skin tight outfit that has everything built into it that she’ll need to solve crimes. I checked out some of the websites and I know that’s not what is going to happen. He is a genius, literally, and he will roll his eyes and stop watching if they get the tech wrong. And please, writers of the show, DON’T have sexual tension between Kiera and Carlos. She’s married. She should still have hope she can get home. She shouldn’t stop fighting for that. Give Carlos a girlfriend or a boyfriend so he’s off limits.

I’m looking forward to the fish out of water scenarios Kiera will undoubtedly find herself in. We got a hint in the first episode when one of the terrorists said he’d never been in a car before. I’d also like more background on the terrorists. There was the building that was blown up and we’re told how many people died. But I still wasn’t feeling much. Don’t tell us these things. SHOW us why these terrorists are so bad. And again with the police station – we see the aftermath and we’re told how many people were killed but we didn’t SEE the terrorists in their full on terrorist mode. We only got a glimpse of it when they killed the policeman when they first got to 2012.

Unlike other shows with good concepts but limited potential (FlashForward, Missing – the new one) or bland concepts with lots of potential (NYC 22) this one has a good concept and potential. Of course those don’t always last either (Alcatraz, Terra Nova). It will be interesting to see how everything turns out. I hope it makes it through a whole first season. And if it comes back for a second season I want to write for it!

So what’s your verdict? Will you continue watching?

Until next time…

Cindy

Most annoying show ever finally cancelled!

Okay so maybe the title is an exaggeration. Maybe it wasn’t the most annoying show ever. There could be a more annoying show in the future. I am happy dancing today because the show that would not end was finally cancelled! CSI: Miami is no more! Horatio is gone! Could that character be any more annoying. Writers, what were you thinking? The only thing that would have got me watching that show would have been killing off Horatio.

For some this is not a good day in TV for them. Some good shows got the axe. I loved Unforgettable. Alcatraz was pretty good too and had tons of potential. Over 200 inmates and guards were missing. They could have done episodes into season 10 with that. I’ll miss House but at least it’s going out on a high.

I’m not surprised Missing was cancelled, even though it is my kind of show. I love spies. Love a good kick ass heroine. But from the commercials I’d seen I knew the show wouldn’t do well. And I knew it wouldn’t be one that I would particularly like. I’m’ not a mom. And though I get the mother/child bond I would have been more interested in the show if it was her husband or boyfriend. Plus, how long could they drag it out before viewers just got bored? He couldn’t be “missing” forever. At least the old(er) show Missing (that started as 1-800-MISSING) had a different person missing every episode.

I mourn the passing of some of the shows but we must make way for new shows. I saw what might be coming to TV this Fall and it didn’t look good, though. How about someone in Hollywood gets creative and comes up with something new? Not a medical show, not a police show, not a show about lawyers.

There is one bright spot on the horizon, a show that looks great, creative (sort of – if a new Lost is creative). At least it’s not a cop show. J.J. Abrams has a new show coming this fall. Revolution. From IMDB – A group of people struggle to survive and reunite with loved ones in a world where all forms of energy have mysteriously disappeared.

I had an idea like that. In mine it was done on purpose by one person because things have gotten out of hand. Mine was going to be a book. I think J.J. Abrams probably did it better than I could have. Will I still write it? Maybe, maybe not. From the trailer I know mine is very different from the TV show.

Off to get some work done.

Until next time…

Cindy

The problem with television

There is so much wrong with television today where do I start? How about the biggest problem I have with it – the good shows get cancelled before they can find a following. I get that TV is a numbers game. It’s all about the money. Which is another problem I have with it. Now it’s all about false drama (“reality” shows) and just plain shake your head decisions (Swamp People?! Really?). Sigh. I remember when TLC stood for The Learning Channel and they actually had programming that taught you something. I remember when The History Channel actually aired programs that deal with (gasp) history. I remember when TV used to be good.

Good shows have always been cancelled. Either too soon (Star Trek – the original series), before they had a chance to get a following (Firefly), too late (Charmed – Season 8 was so not needed), right on time (House) or before they even air (reboot of Wonder Woman). Though with Wonder Woman I was kind of happy it was cancelled before it even aired. I wasn’t happy with the person they got to play the Amazon. For me Lynda Carter is the only Wonder Woman.

Then there’s the writing. Some of it is brilliant (House, 2 Broke Girls, The Big Bang Theory). Some of it makes me shake my head and wonder if the writers even know what a plot hole is (Terra Nova). Or how to write good dialogue( CSI: Miami). Can someone tell me why CSI: Miami is still on the air?

The possible new pilots for the 2012 – 2013 season have been announced. You can find a list here. I’m not impressed, kind of disappointed actually. Where’s the creativity? The fresh? I mean seriously, two shows called Beauty and the Beast? And a modern Sherlock Holmes in New York. The UK did a brilliant job of a modern day Sherlock Holmes and American TV thinks they can do better? I won’t hold my breath. There were a few shows I thought were intriguing enough to watch the first three episodes. But from the looks of it I’ll have a lot of free time because there will be nothing good on TV. More time for writing!

Until next time…

Cindy