BECAUSE OF MY POOR EDUCATION

I know it's been quiet, but hey, I told you I was knuckling down and getting to work. In addition to some freelance stuff, I spent the last two weeks focusing on the first draft of the second Spell Checkers volume, which I completed Tuesday night. Nico will be done with volume 1's principal art in a handful of weeks, and we're going to keep rolling right into volume 2.

Next up: burying Kelley Seda in script pages!

IN THEATRES...

* An Education, the Nick Hornby-penned coming-of-age tale makes a real star out of Carey Mulligan. One of my favorite movies of the season.

* The Men Who Stare at Goats has a great cast--George Clooney, Jeff Bridges, Ewan McGregor, Kevin Spacey--but doesn't have a complete script to match.

THIS WEEK IN DVD REVIEWS...

* The Dead, John Huston's final film finally comes to DVD, so why did Lionsgate screw it up so bad? Ten minutes missing? Did you leave it in your horse and buggy? Update: I just got an e-mail from Lionsgate and they are issuing replacements. I've added info to my review in case anyone needs to do a trade-in. Very good news!

* The Who, the Mods and the Quadrophenia Connection, an interesting but ultimately flat look at my favorite Who album.

* Will Ferrell: You're Welcome, America - A Final Night with George W. Bush, a numb satire that seems to want us to think Bush was innocent and stupid rather than destructive and disingenuous. Where were you guys over the last eight years? Certainly not in this country!

Current Soundtrack: The Daily Show, 11/3/09

e-mail = golightly at confessions123.com * Criterion Confessions * Live Journal Syndication * My Corporate-Owned Space * ComicSpace * Last FM * GoodReads * The Blog Roll [old version] * DVDTalk reviews * My Books On Amazon

All text (c) 2009 Jamie S. Rich

I'M JUST PAYING MY RENT EVERY DAY IN THE TOWER OF SONG

Karaoke Watch: Halloween Night

Last night we celebrated Halloween and the last night of karaoke at the Lucky House in NE Portland. The KJ that was running the show there was awesome, and someone needs to pick him up and give him another venue.

My costume was intended to be kind of like a magician's, but I ended up being more in line with either (a) John Steed from The Avengers, (b) the Riddler, or (c) Fantomas.

More pics here.

My songs for the evening were:
Pulp - "Help the Aged"
Velvet Underground - "Waiting for the Man"
David Bowie - "Rock 'n' Roll Suicide"
Erasure - "A Little Respect"
Herman's Hermits - "Dandy"

The Bowie was a bit of a failure, and I recall Joëlle having the same problem when she did it a couple of years ago. It's a song that seems to stick in the memory as being simpler than it is, but there are more lyrics than you think. It was a first-time effort, as was the Erasure and V.U., the latter of which is one to add to the repertoire.

Joëlle went as the Morton Salt Girl, and sang:
Stray Cats - "Stray Cat Strut"
The Ronettes - "Be My Baby"
Neil Diamond - "Cracklin' Rosie"

Our group was organized by Sister Amber, a progressive nun out of her habit, who sang songs fitting the holiday and her costume's theme:
Oingo Boingo - "Dead Man's Party"
Madonna - "Like a Virgin"
The Commodores - "Easy"
George Michael - "Faith"

Amongst our group, we had a Franciscan monk who sang "Personal Jesus," Andy as a metal dirtbag appropriately singing some Foo Fighters, and the awesome pair of Skwisgaar Skwigelf and Toki Wartooth from Dethklok. Toki even brought a bowl of candy. It tasted like chicken would taste if chicken was a candy.

Current Soundtrack: Leonard Cohen, Songs from a Room

e-mail = golightly at confessions123.com * Criterion Confessions * Live Journal Syndication * My Corporate-Owned Space * ComicSpace * Last FM * GoodReads * The Blog Roll [old version] * DVDTalk reviews * My Books On Amazon

All text (c) 2009 Jamie S. Rich

ANGELS & DEVILS

IN THEATRES...

* Antichrist, the new Lars von Trier philosophical shocker is one of the most unsettling movies I have ever seen. Not for the faint of heart or the quick to judge.

Antichrist opens in Portland this weekend at Cinema 21.

THIS WEEK IN DVD REVIEWS...

* Luis Bunuel's Death in the Garden, a 1950s potboiler from the surrealist director's Mexican period.

* Diary for My Children (Napio gyermekeimnek), a 1984 film from Hungarian writer/director Márta Mészáros is a personal portrait that is maybe too personal to effectively communicate its tale.

* Il Divo, a flashy Italian biopic of politician Giulio Andreotti.

* Wings of Desire - Criterion Collection, an amazing new two-disc package of the Wim Wenders masterpiece. (Also at Criterion Confessions)

* Z - Criterion Collection, the influential political thriler from Costa-Gavras. (Also at Criterion Confessions)

Current Soundtrack: Love & Rockets, "This Heaven;" Echo & the Bunnymen, "Thing I Need it Too"

e-mail = golightly at confessions123.com * Criterion Confessions * Live Journal Syndication * My Corporate-Owned Space * ComicSpace * Last FM * GoodReads * The Blog Roll [old version] * DVDTalk reviews * My Books On Amazon

All text (c) 2009 Jamie S. Rich

FALLING AND LAUGHING

Chris Arrant has posted a new Spell Checkers-centric interview with me over at Newsarama, including two pages of art I don't believe you've seen anywhere else. Go, stoke those fires, stay excited. This book is going to be awesome.

Speaking of...

Yesterday began a week of hunkering down. I want to get as much of Spell Checkers vol. 2 done as a I can. I've made good progress already, but then, I like writing boob jokes. Makes me feel sophisticated.

The funny thing about comedy (yuk! yuk!) is that when you crack yourself up, you kind of want to share, but to do so would ruin the joke for when the book comes out. I came up with something yesterday that I've been giggling about ever since--which will likely mean no one else will like it, but, you know, whatever bobs my balloon.

In addition to that, I have two other scripts that have beginnings and need to be written. One is for Kelley Seda. Mmm-hmmm.

Current Soundtrack: Muse, The Resistance




e-mail = golightly at confessions123.com * Criterion Confessions * Live Journal Syndication * My Corporate-Owned Space * ComicSpace * Last FM * GoodReads * The Blog Roll [old version] * DVDTalk reviews * My Books On Amazon

All text (c) 2009 Jamie S. Rich

JE NE PARLE PAS FRANCAIS

Mathieu Doublet has posted a review of You Have Killed Me on the French website Onirique Comics. Here is a link for all you French-reading people.

Here is a bit of it run through Babelfish:

Following 12 Reasons Why I Love Her, the scenario writer Jamie S. Rich and Joelle Jones reunite to give us a good old man whodunnit: detective with collects, femmes fatale (even in the basement of the files of the police force), gangsters and swindlers, it does not miss anything in the whole. All is marked out even a little too much to be honest.... Despite that, You Have Killed Meis very pleasant reading: the characters attaching, are well camped and the environment of years 1930-40 returned very well. It as should be said as Joelle Jones is a fabulous dessinatrice. Its style, as I already wrote for Twelve Reasons is very close to that of Alberto Varanda. You Have Killed Me confirms this impression. The boards are clear, well-built but have also some imperfections (like a false connection at the time of the scene to the racecourses). If the drawing is superb, it is sometimes trowel by an inking too present or small features which show that the artist did not stop in time. But in the finale, the hero with the false airs of Robert Mitchum and the women sexy as the devil quickly made me forget all that. You Have Killed Me is thus a good quite traditional whodunnit whose environment is recreated perfectly. I would really like to find Anthony Mercer in new adventures because this character has obviously a well charged past which could go up. Then yes, they is less good than Parker by Darwin Cooke but that remains an advised reading.

I think that gets the gist of it. :)

Current Soundtrack: Prince & Bria Valente, Elixer; Sugababes, "New Year;" Girls Aloud, "Je Ne Parle Pas Francais"

THE GIRLS, THEY LOVE TO SEE YOU SHOOT

It's like we're brand new all over again. Like we did that thing to pray our virginity back, and then these critics all showed up to take it away.

Errr, um, okay, bad metaphor.

But the Guns in the Gutters blog gave You Have Killed Me "Six Out of Six Bullets." That's a full clip unloaded right there.

"Rich's script is sharp, with terse dialogue and narrative captions that don't fall into the trap of trying to emulate Chandler's distinctive - and easily parodied - flair for simile. Instead, the first-person captions are employed sparsely and used to provide a bit of insight into Mercer's private worldview. The story treads very familiar ground, but that's okay - while familiar, it is feels fresh and is skillfully constructed.

Jones' art is clean and well-composed. Backgrounds are occasionally sketchy, but the characters are all distinctive and expressive, and her storytelling is clear and cinematic. Overall, it's beautiful stuff."

Have you bought a copy yet?

Current Soundtrack: Mandy Moore, "Nothing That You Are;" Ennio Morricone, "Duck, You Sucker (Main Title);" Blow, "Hey Boy"

HALLO SPACEBOY (BYE BYE LOVE)

IN THEATRES...

* Amelia, Mira Nair's biopic of Amelia Earhart is an emotionless snoozer. Starring Hilary Swank.

* Astro Boy, a cool looking movie that is stuck somewhere between the quality of the original material and a misguided desire to satisfy the kiddie market.

* Coco Before Chanel, starring Audrey Tautou as the fashion designer in her formative years.

THIS WEEK IN DVD REVIEWS...

* Actors & Sin, a slick entertainment-themed double-bill from Ben Hecht.

* Dusan Makavejev: Free Radical - Eclipse Series 18, a boxed set of experimental and highly entertaining films from 1960s Yugoslavia. (Also at Criterion Confessions)

* Monsoon Wedding - Criterion Collection. Mira Nair may have crash landed this week with Amelia, but this is a reminder of how good she can be. Comes with seven bonus short films. (Also at Criterion Confessions)

* My Fair Lady, the Audrey Hepburn musical is reissued and downgraded. Keep your old DVDs, they are better.

* Whatever Works, the Woody Allen/Larry David movie comes to DVD, and I revisit my old review from its theatrical run.

Current Soundtrack: Kings of Convenience, "Boat Behind;" New Tales To Tell: A Tribute To Love And Rockets, on sale at Amazon right now for a $3.99 download



e-mail = golightly at confessions123.com * Criterion Confessions * Live Journal Syndication * My Corporate-Owned Space * ComicSpace * Last FM * GoodReads * The Blog Roll [old version] * DVDTalk reviews * My Books On Amazon

All text (c) 2009 Jamie S. Rich

NEVER CRY ANOTHER TEAR

Another awesome review of You Have Killed Me showed up this morning.

BSC Review gives the book high marks. I was a little scared when I started reading it, because the writer starts with a list of problems he feels crime period pieces tend to suffer from, but then he turns and says, "Not You Have Killed Me!" Tasty tidbits:

"Without wanting to pinpoint any one thing exactly, this book hits all the right notes in creating a great overall atmosphere. From the cold noir opening with our confused and bloodied protag on through the jazz clubs, back room poker games and fringes of high society, it just exudes a higher comfort level and provides a great setting to tell the story.

...

Jones eschews the blocky thrust of Frank Miller-inspired crime art and comes away with an elegance of style. She also places the characters in a prominent place so they aren’t overshadowed by stylized flourishes. Joëlle Jones’s art is, quite frankly, so damn good here that she has set the benchmark for all future crime artists to beat."

Current Soundtrack: Bad Lieutenant, Never Cry Another Tear


e-mail = golightly at confessions123.com * Criterion Confessions * Live Journal Syndication * My Corporate-Owned Space * ComicSpace * Last FM * GoodReads * The Blog Roll [old version] * DVDTalk reviews * My Books On Amazon

All text (c) 2009 Jamie S. Rich