tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7119990365479009764.post3632860152645726427..comments2024-03-14T18:09:09.667-05:00Comments on Do Some Damage: Setimental JourneyUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger10125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7119990365479009764.post-73699905402792386002010-01-07T17:02:33.628-05:002010-01-07T17:02:33.628-05:00Here is what I came up with after a long think (an...Here is what I came up with after a long think (and my husband's long think). The end doesn't work. If she has any feeling for her family, if she doesn't want more than a fling, why spend several days with his family pretending to be a caring person. That's sociopathic. It is meant to lure him into a more committed relationship. Now, I didn't think of this as I watched it. But now it seems clear. Definitely flawed ending unless we are meant to consider her thusly.pattinase (abbott)https://www.blogger.com/profile/02916037185235335846noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7119990365479009764.post-18136225715359707762010-01-06T16:18:02.798-05:002010-01-06T16:18:02.798-05:00What a great post, John!! Yes, let's challeng...What a great post, John!! Yes, let's challenge the readers. Give them endings that don't quite dovetail with their current emotional wisdom. And crime fiction is the genre to do just that. That's an excellent way of putting it.<br /><br />The endings to my novels and short stories are often messy and inconclusive, but hey, that's life, you know? It doesn't always end up with a pink ribbon around it, ready to be trimmed down a nice, neat two-hour movie. I refuse to see UP IN THE AIR, precisely because of Hollywood's anti-business, feelgood urges which they are totally unable to control. I'm quite sure it will win Best Picture, though.<br /><br />In the meantime, we have to slog along, trying to stay true to ourselves.Mike Dennishttp://mikedennisnoir.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7119990365479009764.post-15284504479331757132010-01-06T11:42:45.153-05:002010-01-06T11:42:45.153-05:00Patti, here's another take on Up in the Air. I...Patti, <a href="http://www.nationalpost.com/opinion/columnists/story.html?id=67adb63e-18b3-414b-8909-e6aa2362f8cd" rel="nofollow">here's</a> another take on <i>Up in the Air</i>. I'd be interested to hear what you think of it.John McFetridgehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09442198820998606682noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7119990365479009764.post-84174103220058492622010-01-06T11:15:45.155-05:002010-01-06T11:15:45.155-05:00Why do so many movies end badly? For just your rea...Why do so many movies end badly? For just your reasons. I loved AN EDUCATION until the end. Why couldn't it end on the ambiguous note of her teacher saying, "I will tell you what to do." Instead we get a montage of her life ahead. I love ambiguity but know that many of the people I see movies with, don't.pattinase (abbott)https://www.blogger.com/profile/02916037185235335846noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7119990365479009764.post-2224403422004246292010-01-06T10:58:04.123-05:002010-01-06T10:58:04.123-05:00John, that kind of series packaging has already be...John, that kind of series packaging has already been going on for many years, at least in the low-end of sf publishing. It develops, of course, out of the early pulps with Doc Savage, The Shadow, etc. When I was last working as a shelf monkey there was never enough space for all the Star Wars/Star Trek/Warhammer/Elfquest/Doctor Who/insertshittyconcepthere "novels" that came in in monthly allotments. All of these were farmed out to multiple typists .Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7119990365479009764.post-26393585415144030782010-01-06T10:28:36.298-05:002010-01-06T10:28:36.298-05:00Dana, that blog Sandra Ruttan linked to on Crimesp...Dana, that blog Sandra Ruttan linked to on Crimespace, <a href="http://mysteriousmatters.typepad.com/mysterious_matters_myster/2009/12/the-year-in-review-2009.html" rel="nofollow">Mysterious Matters</a>, said that there was more commissioning going on.<br /><br />I see it as a bit of the TV model moving into publishing. Maybe soon we'll see book "producers" pitch a series the way TV shows get pitched (probably with some website tie-in). Maybe one book will come out like a pilot and if it does well a series will be commissioned and the book producer will hire a few writers to outline and write the whole series.<br /><br />I don't know if this is something that will start out on the fringes like old pulps or in the soft middle of the mainstream - which one would be more risky? Hard to say.John McFetridgehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09442198820998606682noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7119990365479009764.post-63167991840567321212010-01-06T09:59:50.371-05:002010-01-06T09:59:50.371-05:00I saw UP IN THE AIR over the holidays, and the cri...I saw UP IN THE AIR over the holidays, and the critic nailed it. Most of the movie was entertaining, and had some good, and different, takes on a few things. Then the ending copped out. Big let down.<br /><br />The most telling thing about the Onion video is bringing the CEO of the publishing company on as the guest instead of the author. There's no doubt in my mind publishing executives --not editors, mind you--would like nothing better than a staff to churn out pre-packaged "product" that has already been market tested.Dana Kinghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01350344882342624735noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7119990365479009764.post-74622926277537315802010-01-06T08:59:12.676-05:002010-01-06T08:59:12.676-05:00Good post. As someone who saw Up in the Air and lo...Good post. As someone who saw <i>Up in the Air</i> and loved it, I think the reviewer you cite is missing a lot of gray area in the film. There are certainly multiple angles one can come away with from the picture as regards the main character, so it isn't necessarily anything being spoon fed. That just underlines your point about there being "something for everyone." How I react with my own sensibilities and politics will be different than the opposite person.Chrishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10070278104646895235noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7119990365479009764.post-37555363161416275662010-01-06T08:38:54.412-05:002010-01-06T08:38:54.412-05:00Exactly. Folks want comfort, reassurance.
I wonde...Exactly. Folks want comfort, reassurance.<br /><br />I wonder whether that's the same defectiveness, er, character trait that makes folks want to read 42 books in a series? They know what they're getting and they have their beliefs reinforced.<br /><br />You're absolutely right that people like to be told they're right. Um, yeah. I know. But still.Steve Weddlehttp://dosomedamage.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7119990365479009764.post-33505276135609176872010-01-06T08:14:38.882-05:002010-01-06T08:14:38.882-05:00Fantastic! I just saw the movie Avatar and hated i...Fantastic! I just saw the movie Avatar and hated it for the very reasons you mentioned. Thank you for putting it into words so well!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com