When it's done right
Mario here:

What I'm reading: Koontown Killing Kaper by Bill Campbell.











We writers obsess about story-telling and are ready to nitpick any plot that come our way: books; TV shows; movies. So it's a treat when someone does it right. Like in the new Star Trek movie.

I'm definitely old school when it comes to Star Trek and resent the retooling of the mythos. I prefer my Kirk, Spock, McCoy, Uhura, and Scotty shrink wrapped in nostalgia. My verdict then, of Into Darkness?

Simply: photon torpedoes and phaser banks locked on target and Fire! It was that awesome.


The story clipped along at Warp speed. Hollywood thrillers tend to clobber us with the lynch pins of plot development--the inciting incident, the lock in, the reversal, the main culmination, the third act twist--and we tend to process the unfolding story like a stale joke. This Star Trek movie wove the plot with seamless precision that advanced the story at full throttle. Although the screenplay reworked the Star Trek universe, it managed to snag enough of the necessary tropes (like Scotty's snark and the Vampire pinch!) to keep both veterans and recruits satisfied.

Moving forward: The best free entertainment in Denver. Ever!

The second Denver Noir@Bar. Miss it, and we'll come calling with brass knuckles and lead pipes.
8PM. Thursday, May 23. Juanita's Eat. 32 S Broadway, Denver.



We're hoping for another evening worthy of low life excursions from previous Noir@Bars: NYC, LA, St. Louis.

Labels: Bill Campbell, Noir at the Bar, Star Trek, Vulcan pinch

  ¶ posted by Mario Acevedo @ 8:45 PM  0 comments

  Watch your back!
Mario here:

What I'm reading this week: The Gods of Greenwich by Norb Vonnegut.








 

Don't forget. This Friday, Her Highness, Jeanne Stein, and I will be signing at the Boulder Barnes & Noble as a fund raiser for the Longmont Theater Company. Jeanne posted the details last week and you'll find them here.



And this Thursday, it'll be a literary beat down with writer pals, Warren Hammond and Cort McMeel, at Noir@theBar. 8 PM. Juanita's Eat. 32 S Broadway. Pack heat and bring bandages.


It wouldn't be the holiday season without someone playing Grinch. In this case, that shame goes to one of the NY Big Six, Simon & Schuster, who teamed up with the notorious Author Solutions to screw unsuspecting writers. Basically, S&S has gotten into the vanity press business and has hired Author Solutions to fleece the unwary scribe's pockets. Knowing that it's a tough gig to get published and make money at it, Author Solutions dangles the promise of a publishing contract with S&S and then pulls the old bait-and-switch, and you're out thousands of bucks paying for over-priced self-published books no one wants. And worse, they use fake people (via Facebook) to sing the praises of their services. Sad, so sad, that a major player in America publishing stoops to scams that would make a Nigerian banker say, "Why didn't I think of that?"

People are going schizo with this Mayan end-of-the-world paranoia. Believe what you want but at least get the details right.

This is the infamous Mayan calendar.


This is an Aztec calendar.  It looks like a bar coaster. It does not predict the end of the world but it does note the best times for Happy Hour.

Labels: Cort McMeel, Noir at the Bar, scams, sucking chest wounds, Warren Hammond, Writers Beware

  ¶ posted by Mario Acevedo @ 7:55 PM  3 comments