The Wild Blog in the West

My Across the Universe review should have sent the message that liking a movie and thinking that it works are two different things.  While I feel that Across the Universe had significant weaknesses, I have affection for it.  By contrast, I think that Chicago  (2002) executes very well... but it leaves me cold. It's not that I hate it.   Chicago is highly entertaining, filled with energy that rarely flags.  But there is nothing for me to hang my hat on: no one to root for and no appealing message. Yet my view is clearly in the minority, as  Chicago is both a commercial and critical darling.  Commercially, Chicago  is second only to Grease  at the box office, with more than $170 million.  Critically, it boasts a Certified Fresh rating of 87% on Rotten Tomatoes . It's easy to see why audiences would take to it, with its blend of energy and spectacle, but what's more interesting is why critics -- a notoriously difficult bu...

SPOILERS for all five novels in the A Song of Ice and Fire series.  This prediction thread is for the novels ONLY.  So if you are purely a fan of the TV show or have not read the novels, LEAVE NOW!!!!! Ahem. Since I've already done one lengthy post about Game of Thrones  and the A Song of Ice and Fire series, why not another one?  There are more predictions about the last two novels than you can shake a stick at.  If I were to post this on any dedicated message board, it would instantly be smothered by countless other thoughtful and incisive posts.  Fortunately, I have this blog, and can go as long-winded as I want.  Without further ado... Major Predictions for A Song of Ice and Fire 1.  Benjen Stark is Cold Hands.   Either that, or the "boss" of Cold Hands.  Benjen Stark has been hardly discussed since his first disappearance.  Martin never depicts his absence in the same melancholy fashion as he does other lost or dead...

The following contains spoilers for both Game of Thrones the TV show and A Song of Ice and Fire, the book series by George RR Martin on which the TV show is based.  If you don't want to be spoiled, TURN BACK!  TURN BACK NOW! I'M SERIOUS!!! REALLY!!!!!!!!! Okay.  Can't say you weren't warned. I would love to claim that I've been a George RR Martin fan since A Game of Thrones first hit bookshelves in 1996.  But like most people, I became a fan of the novels only after the show premiered.  In fact,  A Song of Ice and Fire  may be the first series that I wanted to read simply because I was spoiled for the entire thing.  A wonderful overview at Salon.com gave me a taste for what lay in store.  A massive rebellion that overthrows a cruel king?  His daughter frees a "continent" of slaves?  Sibling sex?  What's not to intrigue?  So after two episodes of the TV show, I picked up the first novel, and did not put the serie...

Those of you who regularly tune in may have noticed that I've not been posting as frequently.  That is because over the past month or so, my life has been incredibly busy... in a good way for the most part.  It's all I can do to post once a week, which I do vow to continue doing.  Once things slow down a little, I will go back to posting twice or more a week. One bit of good news: the "publishing person" I referenced a while back is now reading my novel and likes it a lot.  She will refer it to editors in her company, and even though I don't think her company is quite the right fit, it is still awesome to hear.  In the meantime, I am working on my query letter and preparing to send it to agents. But what's new for this blog?  The Movie Musicals Series will be back, along with some media critique posts (I have one for Game of Thrones  up next) and some more Unpopular Opinions .  I don't have any new series planned for the next month or so, tho...

They only look  dorky and responsible... To any responsible cyclists who are offended by this piece, I do apologize.  This is not meant for you. There are cyclists who remain watchful of their surroundings, who ride on the correct side of the road, stop at signs and at red lights, who signal when they turn, and who get off of their bikes to walk them across cross walks. Then there are the majority of cyclists.  Seemingly unaware that their bikes are vehicles and must abide by the same rules as cars , they ride the wrong way on busy streets, careen across cross walks without bothering to put a foot on the ground, and -- oh yes -- never met a stop sign that they didn't sail through. They're on the street one minute and the next, they're all over the sidewalk.  As if they think they're pedestrians equipped with special powers.  "Look at me, Ma!  I can go super-fast!  Whooooeeeee!" Oops... here come the protests.   "What about cars? ...

So here we are.  Where did it all go wrong? A month or two after The Land of Painted Caves  was released, when the cynicism had fully sunk in, I dashed off this fanfic , which detailed the plot for a proposed Book Seven.  I still wish that such a novel would be released, though I have little faith that it will be.  Jean Auel hinted in 2010 that she had more material and The Land of Painted Caves  might not be her last, but that does not mean she is hard at work pounding out the story.  While Auel still seemed quite sharp in 2010 and 2011, the physical toll of writing -- at least at the pace she knew -- might be too much for her at this point. Of course if Auel does produce a Book Seven, all bets are off.  It could be the best story that she's written since The Clan of the Cave Bear , enough to dissolve our cynicism and make us fall in love with the   Earth's Children series all over again.  Or it could be drek that makes The Land of...

And so we reach the final novel in the Earth's Children series.  It is worth mentioning that for most of the time between  The Shelters of Stone  and The Land of Painted Caves , fans believed that seven novels were going to be published.  Auel had made a statement that she had enough material to produce a seventh novel.  So as the years passed, many of us hoped that the big delay was due to Auel writing the sixth and seventh novel together.  After all, wasn't that what she was supposedly doing when she wrote the fifth novel?  Since the sixth novel did not appear two or three years after the fifth, that seemed to be the only credible explanation. Then when the announcement came that The Land of Painted Caves  was Auel's last novel, many of us thought that meant the sixth and seventh novel had been combined to form a mega-novel even bigger than The Plains of Passage .  What could possibly await us?!  If Auel was going to stage the big C...