A personal diary keeping people abreast of what I am working on writing-wise.

Monday, December 24, 2012

RIBBONS & CHAINS

NEW IN THEATRES...



* Django Unchained. Quentin Tarantino continues to play his perfect game.

* Jack Reacher, a no-nonsense action pic from Tom Cruise and writer/director Christopher McQuarrie.

I also wrote this article for the mini Wes Anderson film festival coming to Portland for Christmas!

UPDATED TO CRITERION CONFESSIONS...

* Brazil, for those who wish the Mayans were right, Terry Gilliam shows us why in his oddball portrait of the future. (Also at DVD Talk.)


* Following, the debut from Christopher Nolan is a knotted, if unexceptional, crime picture.

* Rembrandt, Charles Laughton stars as the painter in the last of a quartet of Alexander Korda directed biopics.

* Two with Paul Robeson, Sanders of the River and Jericho. One directed by Zoltan Korda, brother to Alexander.

THIS WEEK IN BD/DVD REVIEWS...

* Beloved Infidel, a stick-up-the-butt portrait of F. Scott Fitzgerald's last love affair. Starring Gregory Peck and Deborah Kerr.

* Upstairs Downstairs: Season 2, the reboot of the BBC perennial is the smarter ancestor to Downton Abbey. So of course it got cancelled.

* The Well-Digger's Daughter, esteemed French actor Daniel Auteuil adapts Marcel Pagnol.


Current Soundtrack: Flying Lotus, Los Angeles; Rodriguez, "Cause" 



e-mail = golightly at confessions123.com * Midi-Confessions123 * Criterion Confessions * Last FM * GoodReads * The Blog Roll [old version] * DVDTalk reviews * My Books On Amazon

All text (c) 2012 Jamie S. Rich

Sunday, December 16, 2012

REUNION, FOREVER BE MINE



This film is a real surprise. 10 Years is a movie about a high school reunion gathering together a who's who of young talent from TV and film (some of whom are far younger than their characters) could end up being a real mess, but first-time director Jamie Linden (who previously wrote We Are Marshall and Dear John) displays an incredible level of control here. He juggles multiple story lines and a huge ensemble and somehow manages to make all of them seem important, avoiding giving any particular set-up short shrift. Even better, he plays the whole thing with a disarming sincerity. The film has its light moments, but Linden's script never resorts to slapstick or easy cliches. (Imagine this as an updated sequel to Can't Hardly Wait; if you liked that film, you'll like 10 Years).

MVPs here are not stars Rosario Dawson and Channing Tatum (who also produces), but the really the lower-billed actors who anchor the other story lines. In particular, Chris Pratt and the always marvelous Ari Graynor as the former bully and his high school sweetheart, and Oscar Isaac, usually typecast as the villainous douchebag, and Kate Mara as the musician and the girl who never knew she was his muse. One couple shows how some things never change and how dreams ironically both die and somehow survive as a result of familiarity; the other is meant to illustrate how second chances are indeed possible. The moment when Mara realizes what is really going on is moving and romantic. Have Kleenex handy.

Perhaps the best thing about 10 Years, though, is that it doesn't shoot for big finales. Epiphanies occur and lessons are learned, but they are more firecrackers than fireworks. This keeps 10 Years from ever feeling fake. It's funny and it's heartfelt and it's meaningful, but it's not earnest, not in any way that is off-putting or underhanded. Instead, you end up a guest at a wonderful party, a little hungover the next morning, but largely glad you decided to attend.

10 Years is out on DVD and Blu-Ray tomorrow, December 18. This Blu-Ray was provided by the studio for purpose of review.

Current Soundtrack: Survivor: Philippines finale




WORD UP

Word of the Nerd has a nice review of It Girl and the Atomics #5.

Filled with digitally conjured fire wolves and flying cars, Rich is producing a title that is both fun and entertaining. It Girl! & The Atomics stands out because it is genuinely enjoyable to read, a quality that is sometimes lost in bigger titles. It’s like if Tron and The Matrixhad a baby in City of Heroes, but nothing like that at all. That’s just silly.
Read the whole thing here.

And don't forget, the issue is also available digitally via Comixology. Get it in the app, or if that is still having hiccups (as it was the other day in regards our issue), purchase it online.

Current Soundtrack: Keane, Strangeland




PRIZE FIGHTER b/w HEART OF AN IT GIRL

March is going to be an exciting time for us in Snap City. Image Comics has released the solicitations for the month, and it includes both It Girl and the Atomics #8, but also the first tradepaperback, It Girl and the Atomics, Round 1: Dark Streets, Snap City, collecting the first six issues of the series.

Both releases feature collaborative covers between artist Aaron Conley and the Allreds. Aaron's stuff is awesome. I have seen a sneak peek at his upcoming Dark Horse graphic novel with writer Damon Gentry, Sabertooth Swordsman, and it's all kinds of awesome. Damon also shares a look at an upcoming Prophet cover that Aaron did over at his website.

All you trade waiters: this is your time to step up. The collected book is crucial to our continued success. Included in the collection is a new introduction by the amazing Dean Haspiel, and also we're going to collect some pin-ups and fan art. Crank! is doing the design, and it's going to be a really nice package.

#8 finishes off a two-parter that is a total gas. I can't wait for everyone to see how crazy this book is going to get.



IT GIRL & ATOMICS ROUND ONE DARK STREETS SNAP CITY TP
story JAMIE S. RICH
art MIKE NORTON & CHYNNA CLUGSTON-FLORES
cover AARON CONLEY, MICHAEL & LAURA ALLRED
introduction DEAN HASPIEL
Snap City is under new guardianship, but no sooner has It Girl decided that the streets are hers to protect then she and the other Atomics become embroiled in an inter-dimensional revenge plot. All-new adventures of MICHAEL ALLRED ‘s kookiest creations, with art from the Eisner-winning team behind Battlepug.
Collects IT GIRL & THE ATOMICS 1-6


IT GIRL & THE ATOMICS #8
story JAMIE S. RICH
art MIKE NORTON
cover AARON CONLEY, MICHAEL & LAURA ALLRED
MARCH 20
32 PAGES / FC / E
$2.99
“THE WORLD IS FLAT,” Conclusion
It Girl is trapped in the alps trying to rescue a kidnapped scientist from a slippery supervillain, a scary gangster lady, and her two giant robot sons. Is the scientist’s coveted device the secret to getting out alive? It Girl’s just going to have to turn it on and find out!


Current Soundtrack: 
The Killers, Battle Born

Monday, December 10, 2012

WHATEVER "IT" IS

It Girl and the Atomics #5 lands on Wednesday. You can read a preview of it here at Comicosity, who I think got it online first.

Comics Bulletin is doing a special twofer for us today. Keith Silva has a spoiler heavy review of #5 (well, mainly spoilers if you haven't read #4), and he also did a lengthy interview with me about the series and my film reviews and other comics. Read that here.


And don't forget, I'm heading down to California. Come by Heroes in Fresno on Wednesday to get your comic book signed, from 10 to 2. Smuggle me booze, if you dare! (Small bottles, easy to hide.) I'll sign anything you bring, and we'll have all the issues of It Girl and the Atomics. Here are the details.

Just turned in solicitation for #9, the Black Crystal/Slug issue, while Mike Norton puts the finishing touches on #8. And don't worry, we have someone super special booked to guest on #10 and #11, a two-parter, and she's already done with the first issue!

Current Soundtrack: Misc. Frank Ocean tracks. Coz I dig the Frank Ocean


e-mail = golightly at confessions123.com * Midi-Confessions123 * Criterion Confessions * Last FM * GoodReads * The Blog Roll [old version] * DVDTalk reviews * My Books On Amazon

All text (c) 2012 Jamie S. Rich

Thursday, December 06, 2012

PSYCHOFUDGE

NEW IN THEATRES...



* Hitchcock, the biopic of the Master of Suspense centered around the making of Psycho. With Anthony Hopkins as Hitch and Scarlett Johansson as Janet Leigh. It's actually quite fun.

UPDATED TO CRITERION CONFESSIONS...

* The Private Life of Don Juan, starring Douglas Fairbanks Sr. as the infamous lover living out his later years in an Alexander Korda production.

THIS WEEK IN BD/DVD REVIEWS...

* Alps, the strange second feature from the director of Dogtooth.

* Baron Blood, a 1972 monster/slasher movie from Mario Bava, featuring Joseph Cotten as the monster.

* Oklahoma Crude, a quirky 1970s western with a sociopolitical twist. Starring George C. Scott and Faye Dunaway, directed by Stanley Kramer.

* The Sarah Silverman Program: Season Three. I love Sarah Silverman. 'nuff said.


Current Soundtrack: Dignitary Loss, Demon EP


e-mail = golightly at confessions123.com * Midi-Confessions123 * Criterion Confessions * Last FM * GoodReads * The Blog Roll [old version] * DVDTalk reviews * My Books On Amazon

All text (c) 2012 Jamie S. Rich

Tuesday, December 04, 2012

A YEAR SINCE LAST SUMMER

Multiversity Comics sent out a survey to a bunch of comic book creators asking them what they thought about comics in 2012 and predictions for 2013. They are releasing the results as a series of columns, a category a day. Amongst the contributors are myself and Natalie Nourigat, my stellar collaborator on the forthcoming A Boy and a Girl and also another comic we haven't announced yet.

Here is the main aggregate page for the Mutliversity Comics Favorites of 2012 lists.

So far, they have posted the choices for title and artist. New categories will go up all week.


Current Soundtrack: Interpol, Turn on the Bright Lights: The Tenth Anniversary Edition