My Crimespree Cinema reviews for the past week include Smallville Season 8, NCIS Season 6, and Supernatural Season 4.
And on BSCreview, my weekly commentary on Psych continues with "The Devil is in the Details...And in the Upstairs Bedroom"
Saturday, August 29, 2009
Meet Me in St. Louis
This past week I registered for Bouchercon 2011 in St. Louis, MO. The con is being run by Crimespree's Jon Jordan and Murder By the Book's David Thompson and McKenna Jordan. With luck, The Lineup: Poems on Crime will be in its fifth year by then.
Tuesday, August 25, 2009
THE MIDDLEMAN: THE DOOMSDAY ARMAGEDDON APOCALYPSE
I'm a fan of Javier Grillo-Marxuach's Middleman and everyone involved with the comics and ABC Family TV series. Unfortunately, the show's season finale was never shot, the powers-that-be deciding to cut Episode 13 and pump more money into Episode 12, "The Palindrome Reversal Palindrome."
Fortunately, Grillo-Marxuach and Viper Comics brought the climactic, hugely revealing finale to the page.
The artwork is redone to match Natalie Morales, Matt Keeslar, Brit Morgan, and the gang, and you can just hear their inflection in the speech bubbles. This is the closure fans of any canceled show crave.
As great as the graphic novel is, YouTube clips of the Middleman table read from Comic-Con—including Grillo-Marxuach's super-fanboy stage directions—are also a must-see.
Fortunately, Grillo-Marxuach and Viper Comics brought the climactic, hugely revealing finale to the page.
The artwork is redone to match Natalie Morales, Matt Keeslar, Brit Morgan, and the gang, and you can just hear their inflection in the speech bubbles. This is the closure fans of any canceled show crave.
As great as the graphic novel is, YouTube clips of the Middleman table read from Comic-Con—including Grillo-Marxuach's super-fanboy stage directions—are also a must-see.
Saturday, August 22, 2009
Worth Watching
This past week on Crimespree Cinema, I reviewed Dead Like Me: Life After Death on DVD and Green Lantern: First Flight on Blu-ray.
Also, my review of last night's Psych, "High Noon-ish", is now up at BSCreview.
Also, my review of last night's Psych, "High Noon-ish", is now up at BSCreview.
Friday, August 21, 2009
Sports Takes
Brief comments on some recent sports stories:
Michael Vick going to the Eagles. Fine by me. I don't like that he allowed dogs to fight and die on his property, but he's served his sentence and should be allowed to earn a living again.
Rick Pitino sex scandal. I'm not all that surprised. Sex is one of the world's oldest motivators. I don't like Pitino enough to know much about him. Every story on the scandal calls him "a devout Catholic", but if he were that devout, he wouldn't have gotten into a compromising position. People who trot out their faith seem to be the ones who don't have it when put to the test.
Brett Favre joins the Vikings. Favre has been enabled the last few years at least. I'm long past caring what he does.
Plaxico Burress agrees to two years in prison. Some say two years is excessive because he did something stupid, not malicious. I suppose it's a gray area, much like Vick's dogfighting sentence. This was the best Burress's lawyer could do, apparently.
Memphis to vacate Final Four season. Like many others, I think the NCAA should have come down harder on "the player" who didn't take his SATs and on Calipari, who's bolted to Kentucky. The travesty here is that athletes are so often given a pass in the classroom.
Michael Vick going to the Eagles. Fine by me. I don't like that he allowed dogs to fight and die on his property, but he's served his sentence and should be allowed to earn a living again.
Rick Pitino sex scandal. I'm not all that surprised. Sex is one of the world's oldest motivators. I don't like Pitino enough to know much about him. Every story on the scandal calls him "a devout Catholic", but if he were that devout, he wouldn't have gotten into a compromising position. People who trot out their faith seem to be the ones who don't have it when put to the test.
Brett Favre joins the Vikings. Favre has been enabled the last few years at least. I'm long past caring what he does.
Plaxico Burress agrees to two years in prison. Some say two years is excessive because he did something stupid, not malicious. I suppose it's a gray area, much like Vick's dogfighting sentence. This was the best Burress's lawyer could do, apparently.
Memphis to vacate Final Four season. Like many others, I think the NCAA should have come down harder on "the player" who didn't take his SATs and on Calipari, who's bolted to Kentucky. The travesty here is that athletes are so often given a pass in the classroom.
Thursday, August 20, 2009
Poetry and Me
Though I had dabbled in poetry in high school and college, I believed I would be strictly a prose writer until I worked the tech side of a faculty poetry site at Hofstra University. Coaching my friend Rob Plath through HTML coding, I began to develop opinions on the work submitted and to try my hand at serious poetry. It was great to brainstorm with Rob. Writing my poems now mostly alone in this room, I don't get much chance for in-person feedback, nor do I feel the need to send my friends every poem-in-progress.
As an undergrad, I wrote two lyrical poems that seemed to say everything I needed to express poetically for the next two years. Looking at them today, I can hardly make sense of them, and I can't imagine any one poem will cure me of the need to write again.
I don't see this as self-indulgent. I think nursing hurts and other issues into "big" poems is self-indulgent. For me, a poem can never lose sight of the specific moment, the context that begins a conversation with readers.
True, poetry doesn't make money, and on the whole it's less recognized than prose, but like no other form, poetry reminds me why I write anything, to get to the heart, to approach what is difficult to express and try to express it anyway. These may be big concerns in the end, but I can only imagine tackling them one small poem at a time.
As an undergrad, I wrote two lyrical poems that seemed to say everything I needed to express poetically for the next two years. Looking at them today, I can hardly make sense of them, and I can't imagine any one poem will cure me of the need to write again.
I don't see this as self-indulgent. I think nursing hurts and other issues into "big" poems is self-indulgent. For me, a poem can never lose sight of the specific moment, the context that begins a conversation with readers.
True, poetry doesn't make money, and on the whole it's less recognized than prose, but like no other form, poetry reminds me why I write anything, to get to the heart, to approach what is difficult to express and try to express it anyway. These may be big concerns in the end, but I can only imagine tackling them one small poem at a time.
How I Revise
Yesterday on Murderati, JD Rhoades discussed the two main ways to revise: write multiple drafts, each one more polished, or edit-as-you-go, perfecting each chapter before moving to the next. I commented:
I try to write a first draft that reads well and gets the major plot points out, but I'm not able to do major revision as I go and have a finished product when I type "The End". I need to go back and look at the story when I'm no longer trying to think of what happens next, when I can concentrate on improving the pace or drama of events I've already plotted out.
Sunday, August 16, 2009
Friday, August 14, 2009
Leave it to the prose.
Richie Narvaez has announced the results of Asinine Poetry's prose contest. My entry, "What Brought This On?", didn't place 1st, 2nd, or 3rd, but did get a mention, and will be posted on the site eventually. I'll take it.
Thursday, August 13, 2009
Paperback Lover
...is my latest published poem, in Issue 15 of Yellow Mama. Thanks to editor Cindy Rosmus.
Wednesday, August 12, 2009
What kind of fan am I?
I grew up a Yankee fan, looking up to Reggie Jackson and Thurman Munson before I could talk. My clearest memories, though, were of the Don Mattingly era, when Mattingly was the best player on mediocre teams. As such, I enjoyed the Yankees' 1996-2000 championship run, but have always sympathized with Mattingly, who retired in '95.
I admit I developed an affection for the Boston Red Sox thanks to reading Robert B. Parker, but that dalliance ended when the Sox improbably won the Series in 2004, including coming back from three games down against the Yankees in the ALCS. The Yanks didn't get even, to me, until this past weekend, when they swept a four-game set from an admittedly hobbled Sox team.
Everyone guarded against a letdown, but it was hard to believe the Yanks would ever lose again, even with the shaky Sergio Mitre starting this week's series against the Blue Jays. I watched every pitch intently, expecting a miraculous comeback, but alas.
Last night, too, I found myself gripped by the game, hating Joba Chamberlain for giving up an early lead. Then in the seventh inning, I turned the TV off. I hadn't given up. I had realized I wasn't the kind of fan whose well-being revolved around the team. I didn't need to see how the game played out to be a fan. Sounds wrong, but it felt right to me. And the Yankees won.
I admit I developed an affection for the Boston Red Sox thanks to reading Robert B. Parker, but that dalliance ended when the Sox improbably won the Series in 2004, including coming back from three games down against the Yankees in the ALCS. The Yanks didn't get even, to me, until this past weekend, when they swept a four-game set from an admittedly hobbled Sox team.
Everyone guarded against a letdown, but it was hard to believe the Yanks would ever lose again, even with the shaky Sergio Mitre starting this week's series against the Blue Jays. I watched every pitch intently, expecting a miraculous comeback, but alas.
Last night, too, I found myself gripped by the game, hating Joba Chamberlain for giving up an early lead. Then in the seventh inning, I turned the TV off. I hadn't given up. I had realized I wasn't the kind of fan whose well-being revolved around the team. I didn't need to see how the game played out to be a fan. Sounds wrong, but it felt right to me. And the Yankees won.
Sunday, August 09, 2009
Psych: "Extradition: British Columbia"
My review of Friday night's Pysch season premiere is now up at BSCreview.
Friday, August 07, 2009
Crimespree Cinema remembers John Hughes
Jeremy Lynch asked me to post last night on the passing of John Hughes, who suffered a heart attack yesterday while on a morning walk in New York. Jeremy has since added his own remembrance, and I hope our other contributors will as well.
Wednesday, August 05, 2009
Latest Crimespree Cinema Reviews
Check out my reviews of Psych: Season 3, Leverage: Season 1, Licence to Kill on Blu-ray, and Lonely Street, based on Steve Brewer's first Bubba Mabry book.
Sunday, August 02, 2009
PSYCH: MIND OVER MAGIC by William Rabkin
TV writer Rabkin's second novel based on USA Network's popular Psych has Shawn and Gus investigating the disappearance of the eccentric "Martian Magician" after his signature trick, "The Dissolving Man", leaves behind a dead body.
I thought Rabkin could have managed multiple viewpoints better in his first book (January's Psych: A Mind is a Terrible Thing to Read), and this book shows more focus. Shawn's powers of observation, indicated on the show by extreme closeups and glowing effects, don't stand out as much in this book. As a fan of classic, non-flashy deductive reasoning, I approve.
The TV series has proven you can put Shawn and Gus just about anywhere and they'll bicker and banter their way through. Here's hoping that translates to a long run of novels for Rabkin.
I thought Rabkin could have managed multiple viewpoints better in his first book (January's Psych: A Mind is a Terrible Thing to Read), and this book shows more focus. Shawn's powers of observation, indicated on the show by extreme closeups and glowing effects, don't stand out as much in this book. As a fan of classic, non-flashy deductive reasoning, I approve.
The TV series has proven you can put Shawn and Gus just about anywhere and they'll bicker and banter their way through. Here's hoping that translates to a long run of novels for Rabkin.
Saturday, August 01, 2009
Burn Notice: "Friends Like These"
Damon Caporaso recently invited to review television for BSCreview. I'll have weekly commentary on The Big Bang Theory, Bones, Burn Notice, NCIS, and NCIS: Los Angeles, and Psych.
My review of this week's Burn Notice, "Friends Like These" has just been published. Thanks again, Damon.
My review of this week's Burn Notice, "Friends Like These" has just been published. Thanks again, Damon.
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