The Missus' Birthday

Gave her Deadline. Watched Avengers again. Ate City Wok. Watched Cloverfield. Ate ice cream cake. Watched Earth's Mightiest Heroes.

Pretty good birfday, I hope.

The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn

In lieu of frighteningly vivid lazer tagg, both because it costs $15 a fucking person and because something like this would probably happen, Dan Glaser, Steven Molony and I attended a moving picture film at our local cinema out here in historic Rancho Cucamonga. We attended a 3D showing of The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn (mostly for The Hobbit trailer) and overall, enjoyed ourselves. More detailed thoughts on the script follow.

While I found the movie to be rollicking, swashbuckling adventure of a high caliber, I'm loathe to admit it had almost nothing to do with the script itself. The action scenes were creative, elaborate and pleasingly pulpy but, even with big-hitters Moffat, Wright and Cornish, I can't shake the feeling that's more to do with Spielberg and Jackson than any officially credited screenwriter. I'd be the first to admit that, in the case of most pictures, the action of the story is as much a part of a screenplay as the dialogue itself, but with two auteurs of that caliber behind the wheel, I feel like Tintin could be the exception.

I found the characterization somewhat lacking, the pacing too breakneck and the dialogue frankly unimpressive; how much of that is an attempt to capture the creator's original work, I don't know, but the film is definitely more engaging on a technical and performance level. (Which, by the way, are insane. Certainly it cost, what, 135 million to achieve, but the mo cap is truly something to see.) A beautiful, remarkable and extremely well-made film, if perhaps somewhat uneven. Definitely worth the watch.

Weekly Update: 11/20/11 - 11/27/11

Here's what's occupied my time/thoughts lo these past seven days:

• Celebrated (or rather, didn't actually celebrate) my 23rd birthday this Thanksgiving. One of the unfortunate circumstances with having a birthday that coincides with an actual-factual holiday is it'll often become lost in the shuffle of the normal festivities everyone's planned for the date in question. In this case, I was thoughtfully invited to my comrade Cody's relative's joint for turkey and pie, both of which were unexpected treats, but summarily my birthday was more or less trodden upon. I did receive a lovely care package of goodies from my cherished girlfriend, but it was otherwise uneventful.

• Submitted Hull Damage to a number of literary agents early this week and even heard back from one, asking for a larger sample. I'm opting to cross my fingers rather than hold my breath, seeing as how I personally feel the book's a little unmarketable, but maybe something will come of it. I'd honestly almost prefer to self-publish, at this point, but an agent certainly won't hurt my chances.

• Wrote the very first sentence of Galactic Menace: "Moira's out of her cell."

• Movies Watched: The Troll Hunter – A fun, if somewhat forgettable, found footage film from Norway that's a refreshing look at oft-neglected corners of European mythology, Troll Hunter is smart, well-written and well-directed, with believable performances and surprisingly effective visuals. Currently streamable on Netflix and highly recommended.
  Movies Re-Watched: Fantastic Mr. Fox, The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou and The Lord of the Rings (The Fellowship of the Ring and The Two Towers) – All enjoyed, all more or less held up to repeated viewings, though the veneer is maybe starting to peal on Life Aquatic some. That's probably more 15 or so viewings' fault than the film's though...

• Books Read: Among Thieves – Purchased with a little birthday money on the recommendation of a friend, I'm 117 pages in and I find it enjoyable enough. A fantasy crime caper very much in the wheelhouse of Lynch's Gentlemen Bastards sequence but lacking most of the flair and style, Among Thieves is basically pulp – quick, clean and efficient, if not necessarily effective. A distracting enough diversion while I wait for Republic of Thieves, but the implication that Hulick is "the next Lynch" is pretty baseless.

That's about all I got for the moment - my girlfriend flies in for a visit in t-minus one week, so any neglected updates between now and the 8th of December are decidedly her fault.

Until later.
- T