John Ruth (Kurt Russell), also known as "The Hangman" because he likes to play the word game Hangman, has captured Daisy Domergue who has a bounty on her head for 10,000 gummy bears. They are his favorite. Unfortunately there is a blizzard following him that he can't outrun, but it's not as fierce as Godzilla so he plans to wait it out. On the way to the nearest inn he encounters Django Fett (Samuel L. Jackson) and an ex-Confederate who says he is taking over as sheriff for Yosemite Sam. When they reach the inn the owners aren't there which is suspicious. John is convinced that someone there is trying to free Daisy and possibly collect on his 10,000 gummy bears.
You will like it if...
You like long and drawn out western/murder mystery mash ups. When I see a Quentin Tarantino film the first thing that pops into my head is the dialogue. Every character has their chance to shine in a conversation or monologue. In The Hateful Eight Samuel L. Jackson completely steals the show. Kurt Russell has his moments, but the first half of the film revolves around him being paranoid and saying the same things over and over. By the time it gets interesting you're ready for the movie to just end. Thankfully the last half of the film picks up even if it still progresses at a snail's pace. I almost cheered when Jackson shot a character because they were taking too long. The parts of the film where Tarantino is able to recapture the magic he had in past films are the scenes where Samuel L. Jackson takes over. The script also has some large plot holes that never make any sense if you think about them, but are somewhat easy to ignore while first watching the film. The film also sort of just ends without a fully satisfying conclusion. I felt that The Hateful Eight was Tarantino's second worst film with Death Proof being the only one that beats it out for worst. Still it is at its heart a Tarantino film, so it does have its fair share of entertaining moments. The pacing is so slow getting there that it is hard to enjoy the ride. For anyone other than the most die hard Tarantino fans I would suggest waiting for this one to come out on Redbox or Netflix.
Next Week
The Forest or whichever film you vote for. Vote early, vote often, vote in the comments or Godzilla will pick the movie! As always the movie selection is subject to change based on what is showing here in theaters.
This time if year brings about a lot of the year in review and best of the year awards. I prefer to look ahead to what is coming and get excited. A lot of people like to wait until the new year for this sort of thing. I prefer not to wait. If there is something exciting to look forward to then I like to get into it as soon as possible. So this week I am going to talk about a little of both. What did I accomplish this year? What can we look forward to next year? When will I land a job hosting a game show?
Virtual Wars
The first novel in the Virtual Wars Series is for the most part done. Edits are finished, cover is done, the front and back matter are finished, and my acknowledgement of Papa Smurf as my mentor is finished. I am just working on fixing up some of the formatting and doing a final read through to fix any small errors, mostly with formatting. Cthulu demands it. I can't wait to begin rolling out some of the stuff I have lined up to introduce this novel. So what does this mean for the future?
Virtual Wars: Booting Up - The prequel collection of flash fiction stories will be released for free on Kindle.
Pre-order - Once the release date is announced, Virtual Wars: Initialization will go on pre-order on Amazon. This will happen sometime in January.
Release - 30 days after the book is available for pre-order the novel will be available for purchase on Kindle as an e-book or print on demand paperback, and also available for e-book download on Kindle Unlimited.
Promotion - I plan to work on promoting the novel every day for the first 30 days of the novel's release. I have some cool stuff planned like a fireworks display in the shape of a Darth Vader PEZ dispenser. I hope you all will join me for it. Actually I've been told that isn't in the budget, but I will make it happen if I can!
Virtual Wars: Running - This is the title of the second book in the series. I have a basic outline that I am currently working on. I can't wait to work on this one. As much as I love the first novel as it is right now, I think this one will be better. I can't wait to write it! I hope to release this one around August, but I am hoping to have it done and released by the end of the year.
Social Media
This past year I have made strides to increase and improve upon my social media presence. I love all of you who have interacted with me on Twitter. It is by far my favorite of all the social media outlets and it is because of all of the amazing people I have met there. I would name you all, but there are just too many of you and I wouldn't want to leave out anyone that I think is awesome. I went past 2000 followers yesterday without trying much to recruit followers. That will change a bit in the coming months. Unfortunately I have been neglecting some of the other social media outlets that have their own brand of awesome. So what can we look for in 2016?
Live Tweeting: Much of the live tweeting I do comes as a spur of the moment 'it would be cool if' kind of thing. I hope to schedule these things in advance rather than giving people exactly 5 seconds of advance notice. These are things that I can definitely do. An event calendar is something that I need to add to this blog.
G+: I like Google+. It has been great for interacting with authors and helping to organize things. Much better than my method of tossing monkey feces everywhere and hoping it doesn't stink the place up too much. Many of the general writing groups seem unfocused. I recently joined an author group that is everything I have been looking when I was trying to organize the Author Superfriends Teamup. I'm hoping that it will continue to grow and expand.
Periscope: I have a Periscope account that I have signed up for and I have something very cool planned for this in the near future, and no I will not be dancing on top of a table for pocket change. If you are looking for me, I use the same handle there as I do on Twitter @ninjadueces22
Wattpad: I still love this community, but I haven't participated much lately. I have posted a few things this year that I intend to remain free like "These Are Not The Droids" and "Black Friday". I will continue to do this and I hope to revisit "The Ghost" for season 2 in 2016, but my priority is to work on the Virtual Wars novels.
Blogging N' Stuff
I have been very happy with the transformation this blog has been through in the past year. I love the redesign, I love the improved content, I love puppies and kittens and all manner of fuzzy cute things. Apparently everyone else seems to like my blog more as well. In 2014 I doubled my monthly traffic from 2013. In 2015 that number has tripled. I hope for that trend to continue. So what's the plan for next year?
Deadpool: The Deadpool movie is coming in February and I will be posting a review. It will be glorious like the sun rising over the ocean. The best review of all time will be posted after I see the Deadpool movie.
Events: I only had two events last year, and both of them were fantastic. I want to schedule more of them. I want to interview whoever will let me. I want to host guest blog posts. I want to write guest blog posts for others. I want to eat cookies and spread the crumbs over my blog. This requires others to participate, so if you want to help let me know. I will guest blog for you, I will interview your pet, I will clip your toenails... OK maybe not that last one.
Godzilla: I will continue to run from Godzilla in 2016. Wouldn't you??
Dr. Bennet Omalu, played by Will Smith, is just as curious as a little girl named Dora. The difference is that Dr. Omalu has about 823742 degrees from universities, he studies death, and he doesn't have a pink backpack. Lady Death does not share his affinity either. She prefers men who wear red or pink. A former NFL center Mike Webster dies while trying summon Cthulu. He doesn't realize that Cthulu had already taken up temporary residence in his mind. Dr. Omalu examines his body and finds small red flecks of tentacle within Webster's brain. It is then that he realizes that he should go back to being The Fresh Prince.
You will like it if...
You like David vs. Goliath legal battles without lawyers starring Will Smith. What really makes this movie is Will Smith. He is a force within the film. Watching him fight against the odds is quite entertaining. Unfortunately the story itself isn't as good as the performance. As interesting as some of the science can be, they kind of glaze over it. They build it up as a fight against the NFL, but there is very little of that presented in the film. Most of the confrontation has twenty minutes of buildup to a thirty second incident. One of the most interesting parts within the film for me has a link to the documentary Merchants Of Doubt. I love that documentary and I highly recommend it to anyone who enjoys intelligent conversation. Overall it is mildly interesting and has a slightly better than average underdog story. If you love Will Smith as an actor then you will probably enjoy this film, otherwise I would recommend waiting for it on Redbox or Netflix.
Next Week
The Revenant or The Hateful Eight. They delayed the release of these two films here. Vote for the one you want reviewed! Vote early, vote often, vote in the comments, or Godzilla will pick the movie! As always the movie selection is subject to change based on what is showing here in theaters.
Upcoming to DVD on December 29
Hitman: Agent 47 - Quick Review: B movie action flick. Not worth your time unless you love all action films.
Christian Bale plays Dr. Michael Burry who is the first one to catch the anomaly that is coming. There was a blip in the Mariana Trench. Godzilla is coming to attack the American economy. Burry realizes what this means and invests in Lifesavers. Not the inflatables, but the candy. He knows what everyone else doesn't. That he really really likes them. Mark Baum, played by Steve Carell, decides he is really into Lifesavers too but for a completely different reason. A few other investors see the signs of the impending economic trend that will be created by a viral video of Dora the Explorer using a Lifesaver as a hula hoop. Banks like Wells Fargo and Bank of America think it's a joke, but it isn't. Godzilla is coming for them.
You will like it if...
You like amusing films with a great cast that have a serious subplot. This film is at its heart a message film. I would implore anyone to go see this film along with the Merchants of Doubt documentary and a few other films that outline problems that are going to continue to show their face over and over until the people of America get sick of it all. As a comedy it isn't very funny. To me this film should be listed as horror. The funny moments in this film will have you shaking your head at how stupid people can be. The horrific part is at the end when you realize what is really going on and that there is very little to prevent it from happening again. The cast is terrific. The only complaint I have with their performance is that Carell's voice gets overly nasal at points. He does uptight very well though. The script is well written also. It grabs your attention and presents its message with force. Some of the characters break the 4th wall to hammer home important points and also for entertainment value. The way the film is shot, with quirky angles and sometimes with the lens unfocused, grated on me at the beginning. Once I got used to it the strange style became a non-factor though. At this point I really want to talk politics and talk about my favorite candidate, but that's not why I write these reviews. However, if you want to discuss that aspect of things please do hit me up on twitter. As far as this film goes I think everyone should go see it just for the important message it puts out there. As a reviewer though if you aren't a fan of Bale, Carell, and Pitt and aren't interested in the subject of the 2008 economic crash then you probably won't be a fan of this film.
Christmas!
I plan to give a bonus Christmas movie review. Joy, Daddy's Home, Concussion, Point Break, The Revenant, or The Hateful Eight. Vote early, vote often, vote in the comments, or Godzilla will pick the movie! As always the movie selection is subject to change based on what is showing here in theaters.
Upcoming to DVD on December 29
Hitman: Agent 47 - Quick Review: B movie action flick. Not worth your time unless you love all action films.
With this blog's second anniversary coming up in March next year (I expect to hear singing when it comes up), I wanted to talk about how I come up with ideas for blogging. I post a new blog article every week, usually on Friday or Saturday. If you blog long enough you will get to the point where it becomes difficult to come up with new and exciting ideas for blogging, but the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man will raze a village if I don't. This week I am going to share some tips on what I do when I am struggling to come up with ideas.
Normally throughout the week I look to what is being posted by people on my twitter feed, friends, and family. Everything I see or hear could potentially be a topic. I try to have a few different topics in mind before it comes time to write that way I can ask the Lock Ness Monster which one is worth Tree Fiddy. Sometimes I will forget these ideas because I am notoriously bad at writing them down. I am much better at writing story ideas down. Other times, like this week, I have been so busy that I haven't been thinking about blogging or what I might write about at all. Then I thought, "Hey! That isn't chocolate!" err... actually I thought, "Hey! Other people might run into this problem too!"
Tips
I have a few tips to help ensure that you always have something to blog about even when you can't think of anything. There is always something to write about, always something new happening, always princesses in Disney theme parks, and always super cute puppies somewhere that want to play.
What have you been thinking about/spending time on? - Specifically how can you relate it to what you blog about? I try to blog about writing stuff, general life improvement, and how to improve logical thinking skills. I also just happen to do movie reviews. That is how I like to think about this blog anyway. If I'm thinking about Princess Uni-Kitty then maybe I relate that to character creation and development within a movie script and blog about that. This is part of what I do throughout the week to have multiple ideas leading up to the actual writing of the bog post for the week.
Google is your friend - You can also use whichever search engine you prefer if you don't like Google (Who doesn't like Google?? I pity tha foo!). Search for what your blog is about. See what other websites are saying about it. What is new in the news on the subject? You can always blog about what the most recent news article is on the subject.
Check the major blogs - Check the other major or your favorite blogs that cover the same sort of subjects you blog about. Don't exactly poach off of their ideas, but instead think of a different angle on the story. Most ideas for blogging are going to be things that have already been done over and over by other blogs. What can you do differently? Should the government pass PEZ gun control laws? That sugar can be deadly. You can also post a response to another blog's post and then link to it at the end. If you are friends with the person who runs the other blog they may allow you to post the link to your response in the comments to get a little cross promotion.
Holidays - There are so many holiday themes you can use that it boggles the mind depending on which holiday you are speaking about. There is almost always a holiday of some sort coming up. With Christmas, Kwanza, Hanukkah, Festivus, and so on all coming up soon you could put together a gift guide for bloggers or relatives that are hard to shop for. Great ideas for gag gifts or pranks you can pull. The true meaning of whichever holiday you are blogging about or the history of it. How does the holiday impact the main subjects you blog about? The angles you can use in relation to any holiday are endless.
Other Events - Like holidays, other significant events happen all the time. It could be an awards ceremony, concerts, sporting event, serious tragedy in the news, or a My Little Pony TV marathon. You can use these to help spread awareness for a cause, raise money for a charity, or make your readers laugh with the silliness of it all. It just depends on what the event is and how you want to shape it to fit into the theme of your blog.
Conclusion
Ideas and opportunities for blogging topics are all around you. Sometimes it feels like a gremlin is having a pool party in your brain making it difficult to find a topic for your blog. It shouldn't be that difficult. Examine everything and ask yourself if any aspect of it can be used as your topic. Be creative. Be imaginative. Run from Godzilla.
