The Art in the Action Movie

To most people, action movies are about muscle-bound lunks solving the world’s problems with guns, knives and their bare hands (and booted feet).

Ok, so that’s a pretty accurate description. The problem is, most people who espouse that view do so as an insult. They refuse to see beyond the face-punches and bullet-dances to the artistic expression of man’s violent nature, and the often visually striking ways that action can be presented, not to mention how an action movie can also hit your every sense and strike at every emotional level.

Most action movie aficionados who agree with me will probably point to the films of John Woo, among other Hong Kong directors. And while I am in total agreement on that point, I would like to point out a few Hollywood films that fit the bill as well, in my opinion.

Streets of Fire (1984) – This film personifies the type of film I am discussing here. Walter Hill’s brilliant “Rock & Roll Fairy Tale” is chock-full of everything one could want from an action movie. From the setting, a fictitious city that is reminiscent of both the 1950’s and the 1980’s, to the ass-kickin’ music, brutal action scenes, and brilliantly subtle acting of a wonderful cast, this movie has it all. There’s humor and romance as well, along with a “buddy-film” element that is a bit different than what we’re used to seeing. Add all of that to wonderful color-schemes, extensive use of mood-lighting, and break-neck filming techniques and foley work, and you have a treat that will delight anyone who loves action movies.

The Crow (1994) – Based on the indie comic book of the same name, this movie is tragic on many levels, not the least of which is the fact that the film’s star, Brandon Lee (son of Bruce Lee) died during the filming of it. But beyond that is the film’s story. It’s about death and second chances, and the difference between revenge and justice. The soundtrack is still one of my all-time favorites with moody tunes by such bands as The Cure and Stone Temple Pilots. As an action movie, it is top-notch. Though Brandon was an accomplished martial artist, very little of this makes its way onto the screen. Rather, Eric Draven is a force of nature, plowing through his targets with brutality, and a decided lack of finesse. Lighting, sound, the weather; these are all used with utmost effectiveness to convey a very dark and morbid tale of revenge and justice, and the pain of love lost. If this movie doesn’t hit you on an emotional level, you need to see a shrink.

Boondock Saints (1999) - I was turned on to this one by my wife.  There is just something so cool about this film.  It's slick, brutal, funny and surprising.  The acting was amazing, and for me, Willem DeFoe almost steals the movie.  The action is excellent, with film techniques that would be later duplicated and over-used in bigger budget films.  The characters are so likable, you really feel like "Hey, I could do that, if I had to."  This is one that inspired an almost-equally great sequel, with the promise of a third installment on the horizon.

When I started this blog entry, I had a vague notion of a few ideas, and figured more films would come to me as I wrote. But, sadly, not much did. I'm sure there are more that would fit, but I am disheartened by the fact that the list is so short.  And I wonder why that is. I think it’s due in part to the fact that most action movies are made with an eye towards cheap entertainment. Something akin to a Harelquin® romance novel for guys. But also the fact that most films that might fit the bill actually fall under other genres, with a couple of action scenes. Take, for instance, Blade Runner (1982). That film is definitely high-art. But when you watch it, it is clear that it is a sci fi/noir crime-drama with some action scenes where necessary. It’s not really an action movie.

Nowadays, action movies are becoming artsy again, but not necessarily in a good way. With the proliferation of CGI and other expensive special effects, action movies now are becoming caricatures of their predecessors. There’s no more substance, no more artistic value.

That’s not to say that today’s action movies are bad. Most of them are pretty good. They deliver on action, danger, some pithy dialogue and good, wholesome, family fun! But, in the end, they are just slick PhotoShop manipulations compared to the oil paintings of yesteryear.

Am I wrong? Am I missing something in my blind nostalgia?

Vacation

Great Wolf Lodge.  Wisconsin Dells, WI.

We just took a short vacation, and I am exhausted!  A 3-day, 2-night stay in the Wisconsin Dells with the entire family can seem like enough to drive a man to drink.  And yet, it was fun and I enjoyed most of it.  For those not in Wisconsin, the Dells is known as the "Waterpark Capital of the World."  There are literally dozens of resorts and parks with a cumulative hundreds of water slides and rides.  We stayed at the Great Wolf Lodge, and it was very nice. 

Anyways, between the 15-year old, the 8-year old and the 2-year old, there were some very stressful moments.  The teenager was definitely the best-behaved.  She has matured a lot in recent months, and we loved being able to include her in this.  She watched over the smaller ones when asked without complaint, and even volunteered to do so several times.  Don't get me wrong, it's not that the other two were "bad" per se.  They were just typical for their ages and personalities.  The 8-year old is very needy at times, and always pines for attention.  And if she's already at the center, she simply wants more.  Usually, this isn't a big deal.  But sometimes, it's a bit much.  She has a tendency to overstep boundaries, and not know when she should just be quiet.  Just like ALL 8-year olds.  The 2-year old is "THAT" kid.  You know, the one who screams and runs off anywhere in public?  He's also deathly afraid of water.  But I think he made some good strides in overcoming that this week.  He is a charming little turd, and very cute.  So, it makes it hard to come down on him at times.  But he pushes the limits, making us often thank God he will be the last.
Still, the trip wasn't a waste by any stretch.  We all enjoyed the water park, the food and just bonding as a family.  But next year...well, we're already re-thinking the initial plans for next year.

(And now to turn this into a Writing discussion...and Scott thinks he's the only one with that super power!)

I also took my flash drive with me, in the hopes of snatching some keyboard time on my wife's laptop.  Probably should have just left it at home.  I had one small span where I could have done some writing, but I was exhausted and ended up napping with the 2-year old instead.

However, in lieu of writing with my fingers, I wrote in my head.  Having finally finished the first draft of the Orc Space Pirates story, I started thinking about what comes next.  Right now, I have two main projects.  First is the book about Gorus the Gray.  And it was this one that I thought about the most.  In my brain, I was editing and revising the plot to make it more streamlined.  This morning, having some open time at work, I ended up stripping an entire scene from the first chapter (almost 1,800 words), because it just slogged the story.  That was hard to do.  I thought the scene was well-written, and I put down some good dialogue.  But it slowed things down too early in the story, and I need to get my protagonist on the road to adventure.  So, I "cut and pasted" it into a new document entitled "Cut Bits" and moved on.  I know I won't be using that bit in this story, as it detailed a turning point.  But, I kept it, just in case I find another use for it later.  I then proceeded to re-write the chapter from that point on.  I like this version  much better.

The other idea I thought about was the shared world my friends and I are working on.  The idea is for each of us to write three stories, each story being about our own cast of characters, giving us a total of nine stories, and three separate story arcs, to contribute to an anthology for the eBook markets.  One friend has finished his first story, is working on his second, and has already plotted out the third.  I'm not sure where the other friend is at this point (like me, he has a lot of irons in his writing fire), but I'm sure he's chugging along (he writes a lot faster than I do).  I, on the other hand, have one story done, have a seed for the second story, and a vague notion of where I want the entire arc to go.  And nothing more.  I should really put some more thought into that one.

So, how many other writers out there find it hard to write while on vacation?

Yo Adrian! I did it!

The first draft of the Orc Space Pirates story is done!  I typed "The End" and let out a huge sigh.  All in all, I am very pleased with it.  No doubt Scott will find plenty of room for improvement, but I think the story is pretty good.

This is huge for me.  As I have often lamented, I am horrible about finishing projects.  But I finished this one.  And with plenty of time to polish it and make it awesome.  The tentative publish date for this Anthology isn't until somewhere around March of 2012.

I am jumping for joy on the inside right now!

It takes the village to write a story

I’ve come to the conclusion that, regardless of our penchant for desiring solitude while we work, writers are social animals, and need interaction from like-minded people to survive. Whenever I get bogged down, and have a hard time forcing myself to (as Steven Pressfield says) “Do the work,” I will often strike up some kind of conversation with any one of my many friends who also write. We chat about the process, about ideas, and even about mundane, non-writing topics.

I can’t speak for my friends, but for me I think this helps because it is a reminder that writers are people just like me. To understand this, you have to know something about who I am. I am easily star struck. Since I was a teenager, the idea of meeting and talking to “famous” people has always thrilled me. And that includes writers. Whether or not you are a “bestselling author” you have achieved a level of notoriety that I have not, and thus are worthy of praise.

I got my first real taste of it when I sent a letter (on paper in an envelope…real old-school stuff) to David Morrell after reading one of his books. A few weeks later I received a letter back. It was type-written, but with hand-written corrections for grammar by David himself. I about jumped out of my skin! I cherished that letter for years (though sadly it got lost in one of several moves). Since then, I have friended him on Facebook, and exchanged several emails. He is an extremely accessible person, with real passion, not only for writing, but for helping people understand writing.

Facebook has been a boon in this regard. I have friended several authors; most notably Scott Oden, Charles Gramlich and Dave Gross. Anyone who has read this blog knows how much I talk about Scott (in hindsight, it might be seen as downright creepy). We have a lot in common, and he is very easy to chat with. The same goes for Charles. Whenever I post a blog I eagerly look forward to the comments he makes (Hey Charles!). And Dave is responsible for my one and only publishing credit. He was the editor of Dragon Magazine who bought my article back in 1998. I was giddy when I sent him a message on FB mentioning that, and he replied that he actually remembered my article.

(By the way, have I mentioned what talented writers Scott and Charles are? You should look them up on Amazon and read their works. If you are a fan of the genres they work in, you will not be disappointed.)

But, getting back to my original point, sometimes writers need reassurances from other writers about what we do. Although I have no fiction publishing credits yet, I feel hope well within me that someday I will whenever I get some positive feedback from these guys. Even from my fellow non-published writer friends. We all feed off of each other’s enthusiasm, I think.

And outside that circle, writers also need support from their non-writer friends and family. I have to say, my wife, Michele, has been instrumental in fanning the flames of my hopes and dreams. She encourages me with everything I write, and makes me want to write more. She has even inspired a character here and there. I have to say, without her support, I probably wouldn’t have even made what little progress I have.

So, if you’re reading this, and you like to write, don’t be afraid to strike up a conversation about writing with “famous” writers. You’ll find that they are human just like us. They have a lot of the same fears, doubts and stumbling blocks. And who knows, maybe your enthusiasm could spark some creativity and motivation that they are lacking at that time.

And of course, feel free to chat me up too! I love talking to other writers.

Mash-ups

This term gets thrown around a lot. I most often hear it in reference to music (my wife and like to watch Glee), though lately I have seen it used in reference to fiction and games, particularly RPGs. In essence, a mash-up is a mixture of two seemingly disparate styles. When done skillfully, the end result is often nothing short of amazing.

In RPGs there’s some buzz over a new game called Sword Noir, a mash-up of Sword & Sorcery and hardboiled detectives, like Sam Spade. Fellow blogger Berin Kinsman has a good write-up of that one on his blog.

As a writer, mash-up are something that have come and gone in my own mind. I have often considered what would happen if you combined two different genres. Oddly enough, most of my ideas stem from placing a “Mack Bolan” character into another setting. I’ve toyed with him as a Western character and as a Sci-Fi character, and even as a Fantasy character. This last idea never saw any work beyond a bit of musing in my head…until yesterday.

I posted on my Facebook status that I was taking a break from S&S and reading an old Mack Bolan book. Scott Oden commented that I should combine the two, and suddenly something clicked. Like I said, I had considered the idea before, and had summarily tossed it. But now, hearing someone else state it (and a published author at that) made it sound more plausible. Then, before I could even start to imagine the details, Scott comes back with an off-the-cuff description of an Orc character.

An Orc! That was something I hadn’t thought of before. Immediately ideas began to form, based on the sketchy premise that Scott had posted. I determined early on that I would place him in Tharduin, the community-developed world that Scott is creating. Which then prompted more ideas.

So, basically I spent yesterday thinking about this character (in between work-related tasks), and began taking notes about him. Today I wrote a quick intro to a story. Not sure if I will use it, but it helped to get some exposition on the screen.

Great. One more writing project on my plate. And with me looking at starting school back up soon. I need to set some priorities, and some scheduling. I think I also need to get my hands on a usable laptop. I mean, I have a really old one. But it used Windows ME and got corrupted. So, I loaded up a copy of XP. It doesn’t like that. My current desktop has more memory in its RAM than the old one has in the Hard Drive. Of course, there is my wife’s old laptop. But it needs a new power cord, and because it’s a Dell, it needs a Dell cord. The generic replacement she bought doesn’t work too well. Still, if I can get that one going, I might be in business.

Because my house is a writing black hole. Too many distractions. I need some mini-retreats. A way to go out and write in comparative solitude. Then maybe I will make some progress on all of these things that my brain keeps telling me to write.

Only a ninja can stop a ninja!

Today, I am thinking of the martial arts.  Last night I wanted to watch something that wouldn't tax my brain, and would be filled with the awful awesomeness that I so enjoy in my films.  So, browsing through the NetFlix instant view selections, I found it.  Sho Kosugi's first starring role, Revenge of the Ninja (1983).  Though not his first ninja film (that would be Enter the Ninja, which, incidentally, was much cheesier), it was the one that put him on the map, and really started the ninja-craze of the 80's.  The whole thing is filled with camp, cheese, over-the-top acting, sub-par acting, cliche villains, and a surprise plot twist that was revealed much too soon.

This movie got me to thinking about martial arts again.  And, since I'm a dork, and this is how my gamer-brain works, I immediately started thinking about martial arts-themed Role-Playing Games.  Back in the days before the d20 OGL, (pre-WotC) TSR put out a PDF game called DragonFist.  Based on the AD&D (2E) system, it was heavily inspired by the Wuxia films of Hong Kong, and did an admirable job of representing that.  At least, from what I remember.  Unfortunately, my copy is long gone, and the original game is not available anywhere that I can find, on account of Green Ronin buying it and then letting it sit.

During the heyday of the Street Fighter craze, Capcom contracted with White-Wolf Games to create an RPG based on their IP, using the Storyteller system.  I have that game, as well as all of the supplements.  Very cool stuff.  Even managed to play it a little.  But mostly, it's just a collector's item.  because I am a HUGE Street Fighter fan.

This morning I browsed John Kim's Free RPGs on the web, and found a couple of games to download and look at.  Slayer of Dragon looks pretty cool, though I can't figure out how to print it so it's readable.  I also grabbed Final Stand.  This one looks less "fun" but I haven't really reviewed the rules yet.

I don't know.  What do you guys think?  Should I do a list of my favorite Martial Arts movies?

Harm no child

This is my boy, Connor.  I love him.
Just as I love all of my kids.

A couple of months ago, when I was first invited to Scott Oden's Orc anthology, I made a comment on the Facebook page about not harming children in fiction.  Some people reacted to that as if I were making a directive, which I wasn't.  I was merely pointing out that, due to the details of my life and personality, descriptions of violence against children really upset me.

Case in point, I was reading a fantasy novel in which the villain threw an unwanted infant, barely a few days old, into a river.  That scene wrecked me, and almost brought me to tears.  The image I get in my head when I think of it still puts a lump in my throat.  And that was just a piece of fiction!  But when I was reading that book, my own son was barely a few months old.  So, it hit me on a very personal level.

Now, I know that the purpose of that scene was most likely as a way of further illustrating what an irredeemable bastard the guy was, and in that regard, it succeeded in spades.  I could not wait for him to get his comeuppance (which never happened as of the end of the second book in the trilogy...still need to read the third).  But I always felt the point could have been handled better.

In Phil Elmore's first Mack Bolan novel, Vigilante Run, the opening scene includes a description of an infant who was killed in the crossfire of a vigilante shootout (not by Mack, but the main bad guy).  That scene also bothered me.  But it was handled much better.  It shown from the point of view of a very remorseful Mack Bolan, and was brief and bereft of gory detail.  I asked Phil about that scene (he frequents the Mack Bolan forum, and is a great guy to talk to), and he even stated that he had struggled with that scene when writing it.  But in the end, he felt that it really illustrated the main character flaw of the villain (his disregard for collateral damage), so he left it in.  That actually made me feel better about the scene, in an odd way.

So, what does this all mean?  Probably that, at heart, underneath all of my manly bluster and violent tastes, I'm a big sap who loves his kids more than anything in the world, and who holds a special place for children, even fictional ones.  And thus, it's a safe bet that no child (fictional or otherwise) will be harmed in the writing of my stories.  If the death or harm of a child would serve my story best, it will be understated, and will most likely happen "off camera."

IN OTHER NEWS

I have been making a little progress on Age of the Sword.  I finished the brief section on Sorcery, and am now writing the section on Religion.  I've also decided that this game will never be for sale.  It will be made available as a free PDF, and I am looking at possibly creating a format that is more usable as an electronic book.  One of the blogs I follow is by a guy who does this exclusively.  He's written some great games, and formats them so they are best used on laptops for the new generation of gamers who like to do that with their table-top RPGs.

The first book of Gorus the Gray is taking shape.  I'm almost done with the first chapter, and have been adding to and tweaking the outline.  Oddly, what started out as an attempt to recreate the S&S tales of the 60's and 70's is turning into something much more detailed.  I'm starting to think that while that old style of telling these sorts of tales may indeed be a thing of the past, that's probably not such a bad thing.  That being said, this book, and any sequels, will still be somewhat shorter and more simple than a lot of the fantasy fiction you find on the shelves today.  Which, in my opinion, fits well with the eBook model.

My Top Five Craptacular Fantasy Films (and one Sci-Fi film)

For some reason I just felt the urge to do another list. As always, this list is based on my own opinions and experiences. YMMV.

These movies are the ones that I enjoy immensely, despite their cheesy effects, low production values and often sub-standard acting. Many of these I still watch on a regular basis, just because I enjoy them. I’ve been told I have very low standards for what makes a movie enjoyable, and that I am way too forgiving when it comes to bad films.

So what? I like what I like. So here they are, in no particular order…

The Beastmaster (1982) –My second favorite S&S movie after Conan the Barbarian. Marc Singer’s Dar is at once a tragic figure and a hero. Cut from his mother’s womb, this son of a king is meant to be sacrificed, but instead is saved and raised by warrior-chief of a small village. Through the circumstances of his “birth” Dar has the ability to speak telepathically with animals. When his village is destroyed by a barbarian horde, he sets out on a quest for revenge, and finds himself saving the kingdom of his father.

Does it get any better than that? The sword work is excellent, the dialogue, though cheesy at times, it still pretty good, and Rip Torn is brilliant as the psychotic sorcerer-priest, Maax. And of course, John Amos. Love that guy.

The Scorpion King (2002) – Over the top action with a heavy metal soundtrack, and some serious over-acting, this movie is huge fun. When a warrior-king conquers the known world, the last rebels hire a group of assassins to take out the sorceress who is responsible for the conqueror’s success. But betrayal foils the plan, and the surviving assassin must rise above his station to avenge his brothers, save the life of the sorceress he has fallen in love with, and free the world from a tyrant.

I am a big fan of Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, and in his first outing as a headliner, he delivers a pretty good performance, all things considered. Fight scenes that are well-done, an excellent cast (including Kelly Hu *drool*), and story that is at once campy and serious, this movie makes me feel good inside.

Krull (1983) – It’s like Star Wars and D&D combined. An alien known as The Beast invades the pastoral planet of Krull, and kidnaps the princess whose marriage to the son of her father’s rival will unite the lands in peace for the first time in generations. The prince sets off on a quest to rescue her, with the help of an old sage, a band of misfits, and a legendary weapon.

What can I say? This movie is campy and cheesy, yet at the same time brilliant and entertaining. The special effects are dated, yet still hold up. The villain and his minions are evil to the core, and quite frankly, very scary. And it has a young Liam Neeson! Oh, and the princess is freaking HAWT!

Hercules (1983) – The mythological hero is brought to life by the humongous Lou Ferrigno. Cinematically, this movie is by far the worst on this list. Crappy special effects (even for the day), badly dubbed dialogue, and a storyline that kind of meanders in places, the only saving grace is that Lou is the most convincing looking Hercules since Steve Reeves. I’m of the opinion that with a bigger budget, and better writers, this could have been the greatest retelling of Hercules ever filmed. As it is, it’s horrible fun to watch. Just not too often.  And don't even bother with the sequel.

Spacehunter: Adventures in the Forbidden Zone (1983) –Futuristic bounty hunter Wolff (Peter Strauss) takes it upon himself to rescue three women who have crash-landed on a Road Warrior-esque planet, ravaged with a plague, and ruled by a cybernetic dictator called Overdog (Michael Ironside). With the help of Niki (Molly Ringwald), a castaway young survivor, and Washington (Ernie Hudson), fellow bounty hunter, and oftentimes rival, Wolff not only rescues the women, but saves a girl, and deposes the dictator.

This movie deserved much more attention than it got. Originally released in 3D, it had an underwhelming showing, and most people simply never saw it, or just forgot about it. To me, this movie was the standard for gritty space opera adventure, and inspired a few games of Star Frontiers. The dialogue is great, the acting is not so bad, considering the script, and the special effects are perfectly fine. Best verbal exchange:

Amazon: I bet mating with us would kill him.
Wolff: I’ll take that bet!

So there you go. Yes, I also noticed that, with the exception of The Scorpion King, they were all made in 1982-1983. Those were formative years for my sensibilities. Which probably goes a long ways towards explaining why I have the tastes I do.

Cross-Pollination

Cross-Pollination - Influence or inspiration between or among diverse elements.

This happens a lot between my writer side and my gamer side.  Like many gamers (particularly RPG players), I imagine my characters' adventures as stories, and indeed have chronicled such adventures (whether actual play or just made up) in fiction of one form or another.

However, this happens more often in the backgrounds of said characters, rather than with actual game-play.  Either my latest D&D character is inspired by a fictitious character I made up, or my latest fictional character is inspired by an RPG character, the two seem to go hand in hand for me.

WARNING:  What follows could be construed as me doing that thing that dorky gamers do when they talk about their favorite characters.

For instance, when I was in early high school, a friend and I decided to start a D&D game using the Expert Set (remember that blue box?).  These rules had details for making half-elf characters.  Brilliant!  So, inspired by Longshot from the Marvel Comics X-Men titles, I proceeded to roll up Tomos the Half-Elf Fighter (yes, he was my alter-ego).  Had some fun times with him.  Eventually, the game petered out, and I put Tomos away.

Later, I started gaming with some new friends after my old friend had graduated and moved on.  They had higher-level characters.  So, rather than roll up a new character, and artificially advance him, I converted Tomos from D&D to AD&D.  And thus was born a bad-ass.  Tomos had the maximum strength allowable to a Half-Elf (18/90), 18 Dex, 17 Cha, and he ended up having a 19 Comeliness (from Unearthed Arcana).  At the time I was reading a lot of the Conan paperbacks, and I was highly influenced by them.  So, I decided that Tomos was a cross between Conan and D'Artagnan.  Physically powerful, but roguishly handsome and charming.

Tomos soon became the subject of MANY planned works of fiction.  From short stories to novels, to fan-fiction involving established Forgotten Realms characters.  Nothing was ever written beyond copious notes, the beginnings of a few novels, and one complete short story (which, unfortunately, got lost in the computer shuffle years ago).

Tomos has since been converted to each new incarnation of D&D (with the exception of 4E, because that game just sucks), but has seen very little play since high school.  I've also made him in a few D&D-based computer games, like NWN.  Yep, Tomos Elvenblood is probably my all-time favorite D&D character, and a source of seemingly endless inspiration.

Even today, I find myself using details I developed for one character to flesh out others.  From game to fiction and back the other way.  Shades of Tomos crop up every now and again, but other characters have also been highly influential.

Like Vin Diesel said, "D&D is a training ground for the imagination."  I wholeheartedly agree, Vin.