The Word of Tarmok

Obsolete

2012-01-26T11:51:00.000-08:00

We regret to inform you that you have not been selected.

You were passed over. You have been turned away. You have been rejected.

You are too smart but in ways that are useless, and perhaps even dangerous to our interests.

Your psyche tests were a disaster. You have opinions. You think. You question. You obsess. You even have a philosophy. You do not like to be told what to do, especially by someone who you do not respect. That is not how we do things here.

You question authority. That is not something we tolerate here. We will tell you what to do and how to think and what invisible man in the sky to believe in. We will tell you what is right and what is wrong, what is good and what is evil.

All we ask is that you work yourself to death day after day and be thankful you have a job. We will do the thinking for you. Remember, we have the power. We have the money.

You, well what do you have?

You are too old, too eccentric, too diverse, too smart, too damn aggressive, too physical. You are a loner who does not fit in. You are an outcast. You are a freak.

We no longer have any way of profiting from your continued existence.

You are of no interest to us or anyone else. You are useless.

You are not economically viable.

You are obsolete.

Why are you still breathing anyway?

In closing, we wish you the best of luck in your job search.

Sincerely,

Them

Cinematic wonders circa 2011

2011-12-31T12:08:00.000-08:00

I have had a tradition since 1985 of making a best films of the year list. It used to be a top 10 list. Then it morphed into a top 5 as it became increasingly difficult to cite ten great movies in any one given year. Now I simply make a list of favorites. I am a picky bastard. Every scene has to work. The direction right down to the shot selection needs to be spot on. The casting perfect. The cinematography, the music, the sets, the locations, the thematic substance....all of it matters. But above all, it simply has to resonate on an emotional, intellectual, or visceral level in a way that will leave me walking out of theater moved, exhilarated, and satisfied. These are the movies of 2011 that worked for me.

Rise of the Planet of the Apes
Directed by Rupert Wyatt
Screenplay by Rick Jaffa and Amanda Silver
Based on the novel by Pierre Boulle and characters created by Paul Dehn

Not since A.I Artificial Intelligence in 2001 have I thought this much about a film after seeing it. Caesar is an unforgettable character and Rise of the Apes is not just a well crafted, expertly paced, exciting, beautifully directed blockbuster. It is full of iconic moments including an emotional finale that will be etched into cinematic history. At its heart Rise is a coming age of story that resonates with deep emotion. It is a film about family, home, tragedy, separation, finding one's place in the world, and so much more.

The Debt

Directed by John Madden

Screenplay by Matthew Vaughn, Jane Goldman and Peter Straughan

The shrewdly directed, expertly acted film ranks alongside Zodiac (2007) and Michael Clayton (2007) as one of the best adult thrillers of the past decade. Why this pulse pounding action movie did not get more attention is beyond me. The screenplay is smart, Helen Mirren is fantastic and Jesper Christensen is terrifyingly real as the best on screen Nazi villain in years.

The Descendants

Directed by Alexander Payne

Screenplay by Alexander Payne, Nat Faxon and Jim Rash.

Based on the novel by Kaui Hart Hemmings

Alexander Payne (Sideways, About Schmidt) is the best real life filmmaker of our time. There is no better way to phrase the unique blend of pathos, humor, drama, awkwardness, laughter, and heartbreak that he brings to his films. He is literally a modern day Francois Truffaut. The Descendants is yet another in a long line of knockout performances by George Clooney going back over a decade (Solaris, Michael Clayton, Up in the Air, The American ). He is one of the great leading men of our time, and a movie star in every sense of the word, breathing unique life into every scene he touches.

Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol
Directed by Brad Bird
Written by Josh Applebaum and Andre Nemec
Based on Mission Impossible created by Bruce Geller

Mission Impossible is the rarest of all rarities, a franchise that actually gets better with each succeeding film. But Ghost Protocol is so much more than just the best Mission Impossible movie. It stands alongside Casino Royal as the one of the two best action movie movies of the past two decades. Brad Bird has directed the best non-Cameron action sequences I have ever seen on the big screen. Ghost Protocol is simply dazzling.

The Help
Directed by Tate Taylor
Screenplay by Tate Taylor
Based on the novel by Kathryn Stockett

Anchored by a knockout cast including rising star Emma Stone, the sleeper smash The Help is proof that quality does count. Make a great film, word will spread, and they will come. There was a great late summer stretch where Rise of the Apes and The Help were one and two week in and week out. It reminded me of August 1982 when E.T. and An Officer and a Gentleman were in a similar battle. Great stuff! One of the most underrated actresses in all of film is Viola Davis. She is fantastic in The Help. Thanks to the enormous success of the movie, this unsung actress is finally getting some long overdue recognition.

Life in a Day

Directed by Kevin Macdonald and the YouTube Community

Produced by Ridley Scott

This trailer says it all. If ever there was a time to use the old Joel Siegel quote "the feel good movie of the year", then this is it. Life in a day is the feel good movie of the year!

Super 8

Directed by J.J. Abrams

Written by J.J. Abrams

Yeah, Super 8 is a homage all right. And a wonderful one, impeccably crafted on every level, right down to the carefully chosen period color schemes, the lighting, and Michael Giacchino’s nod to John Williams.

he two main character in this movie are wonderfully written and acted. Played by Joel Courtney and Elle Fanning, they are the heart and soul of the film. The best scene in the movie is a quiet scene. It involves two kids and super 8 film that helps them come to terms with a tragedy and begin to heal. It is one of many scenes where Abrams demonstrates that if there ever was an heir apparent to the bearded one, it is the creator of Lost.

African Cats
Directed by Alastair Fothergill and Kieth Scholey
Narrated by Samuel L. Jackson

I Bought a Zoo might be cute and Warhorse may be epic, but African Cats is by far the best movie about animals in years. It treats these magnificent cats with the dignity and respect they deserve. It is a beautiful film. And it is real and has a critical message. What little is left of their home must be saved from the evil scourge of Homo sapiens who have all but destroyed this planet and the homeland of these wonderful, noble creatures.

X-Men: First Class
Directed by Matthew Vaughn
Screenplay by Ashley Edward Miller, Zack Stentz, Jane Goldman, Matthew Vaughn

The underrated Kevin Bacon anchors a charismatic cast in might have been the most pleasant overachieving surprise of the year. Setting the film in the story fertile early 1960's was the perfect way to invigorate a movie series that was based on a comic book created in the very same era.

Evolution, Bull Mongoni style

2011-12-21T16:08:00.001-08:00

A reading from the Sacred Scrolls of Tarmok

Every day I get one step closer. Every day I feel myself taking the forbidden primal journey into the past.

The soaring levels of androgens cascading though my system combine with the blend of carefully calculated nootropics. It makes for the perfect cocktail to open the receptors deep inside my cerebral cortex. I can feel it unlocking the secrets of the past and turning back the genome clock. A biological time machine.

I am morphing back into something from my past. Something primitive and pure. Something superior and noble. Something that lived before the destructive and petty race of evil Homo sapiens came to destroy and dominate.

I am getting stronger and smarter by the day. I can at long last see the history of the earth with clarity. The blood of the Bull Mongoni flows in my veins and soon I will have five times the strength of a Homo sapien. Soon my transformation will be complete and I will at long last unleash my savage fury.

God help anyone who dares to stand in my way.

Copyright 2011 James J Caterino
All Rights Reserved

Barbarian bastards and hiruitistic freaks

2011-11-28T10:06:00.000-08:00

Before the Dawn by Nicholas Wade is a furious and fascinating page turner that I could not get enough of. It is a non-fiction science book that attempts to solve the mysteries of human prehistory, especially the lost years between the exodus of modern humans out of Africa 50,000 years ago until the beginnings of recorded human history and urbanized civilization 5000 years ago. Since the discovery of the fully mapped out human genome in 2003, it is now possible to look back in time at human history, and prehistory.

The human genome is a recorded time capsule, literally. Biological geneticists are now able to decode the human genome and unlock such elusive mysteries as when anatomically modern humans lost their fur, began to wear clothing and developed language. It can now be determined with a high degree of accuracy the exact date our ancestors left Africa and even how many there were down to the exact number. We even can determine the nature of prehistory human warfare. The secrets revealed by decoding the human genome do not end there either. We now know for certain whether Thomas Jefferson actually did have a forbidden slave family, what the pre-history Homo sapiens must have been like, and why humans behave the way they do in modern times.

Before the Dawn is a mesmerizing and addictive book. It is insightful and one of the best mainstream science books I have ever read. It is an absolute must for any curious minded person with a sense of wonder and even a casual interest in human history, anthropology, or natural science.

One of the most interesting concepts explored by the book is the date when the hominids that evolved into humans began to lose their fur. Like all of the dates, geographic places and numbers revealed in Before the Dawn, this date can be determined with a fair degree of accuracy by decoding the time capsule of data in the genome.
But there is one issue that niether this book, nor any other current theory addresses. Namely, the wide range of body hair volume that exists among humans today, even among males with similar androgen levels. Some of us still have "fur".

Unlike the hair on a human head or even the face, body hair behaves exactly like fur. It grows to a certain length and stops. Then the follicles shed hair and are replaced at regular intervals. It may be that people today who still have this body “fur”, carry an active form of the genes from our ancestors prior when human body hair was lost (very roughly around 1.2 million years ago). I am sure regional heritage is a factor. I am of Italian decent and have “fur” on nearly every inch of my body. I would say this trait is mostly found among Mediterranean men, but I also have a Russian friend almost as hairy except his fur is light in color.

Of course I have my own theory about this. Recently it has been proven that some Neanderthal DNA exists in all non-African Homo sapiens.There another archaic Hominid species unknown to modern science but written about in the Sacred Scrolls of Tarmok and referenced in many other ancient texts, the Bull Mongoni.Those of us like myself who still possess body fur, sinewy mesomorphic builds, and surging androgen levels have the blood of this other ancient hominid species coarsing through our veins, the blood of the Bull Mongoni.

Cast of Characters

2011-11-07T21:08:00.000-08:00

Character: Gunner Star
Books: Gunner Star, Rise of the Bull Mongoni

The enigmatic fearsome anti-hero who brought the Sacred Scrolls of Tarmok exploding into the mainstream and created the Bull Mongoni revolution can only be played by someone with animal magnetism and scorching charisma. When I first began writing Gunner Star in the early 2000's there was only one actor in my mind with the presence and delivery to pull it off. And several years and two Gunner Star books later it is still the same. Vin Diesel IS...Gunner Star.

Past movie role that best demonstrates why:
The Chronicles of Riddick (2004)

Character: Tyrone Fulton
Book: Rise of the Bull Mongoni

Tyrone Fulton, the defeated cast out is about to give up on life until he is rescued by Gunner Star and reborn by way of the Word of Tarmok and the Bull Mongoni philosophy. This Gunner Star protege must be played by someone who can be convincing as both an obselete, burned out, jobless middle aged everyman, and the muscular athletic alter ego he is transformed into. Most fitting of all would be to cast this role with a forgotten action hero who himself has been cast out and is desperately in need of an acting rebirth.
Wesley Snipes IS Tyrone Fulton.

Past movie role that best demonstrates why:
Blade (1998)

Character: She a.k.a Angela/Corrina
Book: She

The young woman who mysteriously vanishes and returns from the past via soul transmigration needs to be portrayed by someone who can exude an almost supernatural, ethereal charm and captivating presence. Mia Kirshner was the image firmly planted in my mind when I created the character circa 2002/2003. Although given the age of the character, today I would go with Mila Kunis.

Past movies roles that best demonstrate why:

Mia Kirshner, Exotica (1995)
Mila Kunis, Black Swan (2010)

Character: Valerie
Book: She

The alluring, sensual femme fatale Valerie is the smoldering fire that brings She to life, both the story and the character herself. At the time I wrote She sexy British Italian giallo B movie star Margaret Lee was on my mind. Valerie is the ultimate femme fatale and needs to played someone with insane sexual charisma. So I base these choices on actresses I have seen do realistic, believable, erotic on screen sex scenes. The character today could be played today by Naomi Watts, Scarlett Johansson, or Elizabeth Shue.

Past movie roles the best demonstrate why:

Naomi Watts, anything and everything
Scarlett Johansson, The Black Dahlia (2005)
Elizabeth Shue, no role in particular. I just sense a sexual charisma there that has only been hinted at.

Character: Wes Jackson
Book: Action Figure

There is no getting around the fact that Wes Jackson was written from the first person viewpoint in the most visceral way possible. I wrote it as me. But since I am not an actor and would the movie to actually be good...Jason Statham IS Wes Jackon.

Past movie roles that best demonstrate why:
The Transporter (2002) and Crank (2006)

Good god it's great to be a Bull Mongoni

2011-10-17T18:34:00.000-07:00

Thirteen basic mantras of the Bull Mongoni philosophy.

1) Protect those who cannot protect themselves.

2) Destroy all bullies.

3) There is no forgiveness! There is no invisible man in the sky to get you off the hook.

4)You are the sum of all your actions past and present. Your sins are yours and yours alone. Have the courage to own them.

5) My body, my business.

6) Technology improves but man does not. The Homo sapiens are the same greedy, selfish, destructive, murdering, species that migrated out of Africa and exploded like a virus across the Old World 50,000 years ago destroying everything in their path.

7) Kindness will be rewarded with fierce loyalty.

8) Let go of your fear. And use your enemy's against him.

9) You want to hunt for sport? Then try hunting a man who is equally armed. Then we will see what a tough guy you really are. What's the matter? Afraid of a fair fight?

10) When you sculpt and harden the flesh, you sharpen and focus the mind.

11) All disputes should be settled with a broadsword and a fight to the death.

12) You want to see me dead? Then you will have to come here and kill me yourself with your bare hands. Come on. I dare you. I double dare you.

13) Good god it's great to be a Bull Mongoni.

Experience the Bull Mongoni philosophy in action in the cult novel Gunner Star and the irreverent anti-establishment adventure Rise of the Bull Mongoni.

Dignity, compassion, and doing the right thing

2011-10-14T13:52:00.000-07:00

This is a letter I received from a sanctuary I support, Save the Chimps.
The news is unfortunately sad. It is about the passing of a beloved and inspiring Chimpanzee named Ron.

Ron spent his most of his life suffering one cruelty after another at the hands of sadistic humans. What I read below makes my blood boil. I am raging with anger thinking about the horrors he endured at the hands of human torturers. After you read it, you will be too.
Even a simple soft tissue injury in the lower back is excruciating. Ron must have suffered a living hell! Subjecting an innocent, intelligent creature to that kind of wicked cruelty and endless torment is just plain, sadistic evil. It sickens me. I really do not think the public is aware of the abuse these creatures suffer at the hands of evil humans. Or that the United States is the only prominent country that still tortures our great ape brothers and sisters against their will.

Sanctuaries such as these are completely dependent on the donations from the brave and the compassionate who want to help fight back against abusive humans and evil corporations.
Save the Chimps was able to give Ron a dignified and happy life his final seven years. I support this sanctuary as well as The Center for Great Apes and strongly urge that you do the same. It is part of the Bull Mongoni philosophy. It is doing the right thing. The letter is as follows:

"On October 10, 2011, our beloved Ron passed away peacefully on his island of heart failure. Ron was familiar to many as one of the stars of the Nature documentary “Chimpanzees: An Unnatural History,” which in part documented Ron’s journey from a former laboratory in New Mexico to a new island home in Florida. He was also the star of our hearts, a huge chimp with an even bigger smile and gentle demeanor.. His charming personality and warm spirit are even more remarkable when considering the harm he suffered for so many years of his life.
Ron’s file estimates his date of birth is September 1, 1976, but since his origins are not recorded, that birth date is merely a guess. We do not know who Ron’s parents are, or where he was born. The first record of Ron’s existence is from June 24, 1987, when he received his first physical at the Laboratory for Experimental Medicine and Surgery in Primates (LEMSIP). A single notation in his file said that Ron arrived from “West Point.” Although we do not know if he was a pet, a performer, or a lab chimp prior to his arrival at LEMSIP, West Point was home to Merck, Sharp, and Dohme, which used chimps in biomedical research in the 1970s and 1980s. Ron was a full-grown chimp when he arrived at LEMSIP, weighing 143 lbs; he must have been at least 14 years old, so it is likely that Ron was actually born in 1973 or earlier.

During his 9 years at LEMSIP, Ron was anesthetized with ketamine at least 105 times. On multiple occasions, he was kept anesthetized for six hours or more, as blood was repeatedly drawn from him. He lived alone at LEMSIP, in a 5’ x 5’ x 7’ cage suspended off the ground. A veterinarian at LEMSIP noted that Ron was a very large chimp, and wrote in his file, “needs a much larger cage.” Sadly, there were no larger cages at LEMSIP. In the late 1990s, LEMSIP closed, and Ron was sent to The Coulston Foundation (TCF), a lab in Alamogordo, NM.

In 1997, Ron was observed to have an abnormal echocardiogram, but it was dismissed as being caused by the anesthetic. He was transported to the primate facility on Holloman Air Force Base (HAFB) near Alamogordo, and assigned to a biomedical research study. He was anesthetized 16 times in a 5 week period. After the study ended, he was returned to TCF’s private facility in Alamogordo.

In 1998, Ron was again transported to HAFB and assigned to Study #981109, which came to be known as the Spinal Dynamics study. In this study, Ron had a healthy cervical disc removed from his neck and replaced with a prosthetic disc. The prosthetic remained in Ron’s spine for 6 months, and was then later surgically removed. According to Ron’s records, when the prosthesis was removed, he did not receive any pain medication until eight days after surgery. When he was finally prescribed pain medication, he was given 200 mg ibuprofen, the equivalent of one tablet, twice a day for three days. It is difficult to imagine the amount of pain he must have been in.

In 2002, Save the Chimps (STC), under the leadership of Dr. Carole Noon, took over TCF and rescued Ron. At the time he was living alone in Building 300, which was dubbed “The Dungeon” for its dreary conditions and scores of chimps who lived in isolation. In 2003, STC’s veterinarian, Dr. Jocelyn Bezner, observed clinical signs of heart disease in Ron. His first cardiac ultrasound did not reveal serious heart disease, but in 2004 Ron showed even more symptoms of heart disease, and another ultrasound was scheduled.

During the exam, tragedy struck: Ron stopped breathing and his pulse began to fade. Dr. Bezner began CPR and resuscitated Ron, but he crashed again. Again he was revived, and again he crashed. After the fourth time that Ron stopped breathing, the decision was made to let him pass away, surrounded by his loving caregivers. Then the miracle happened: Ron started breathing again on his own. He had decided that it was not his time. The ultrasound was completed, showing extremely severe heart disease. Remarkably, he was fully recovered within hours of his ordeal. A cardiologist recommended a treatment protocol to help Ron, but cautioned that due to the severity of Ron’s condition, that his prognosis was poor. Dr. Noon began to make plans to move Ron to Florida as soon as a newly constructed building was available for him.

Ron responded well to treatment and moved to Florida in May 2005 with his buddy Thoto. He was accompanied on the journey by Dr. Bezner, and his story was documented in the Nature program “Chimpanzees: An Unnatural History.” When Ron was released, he opted not to go onto the island, sticking to the familiar concrete of the patio.

Over time, however, Ron grew to love the wide open spaces of his island. He could be seen striding magnificently over the hills, or enjoying the view from a platform. He and Thoto began to have conflict, but Ron made a new chimpanzee friend in April, a former pet who had been rescued by STC in 2003. His health was closely monitored, and his medications adjusted as needed. But there is no doubt that his caregivers were all holding their breath, waiting for the worst to happen.

Ron, however, had different plans. He defied all predictions and expectations, and lived a happy life for seven more years, enjoying the peace of his island. He became an adoptive father to young Melody, who was born at STC as a result of a failed vasectomy and whose mother lacked the skills to raise her. Together with April, he became her protector and guiding hand. He also made new friends and saw his chimpanzee family grow to include many other chimps, such as fellow LEMSIP veteran David, former pet chimps Connor and Kramer, and lady companions Pele and Gail. Ron was a miracle and an inspiration. He endured isolation, torment, and a life-threatening illness; yet somehow Ron found the courage and determination to not only survive, but to embrace life and enjoy every moment to the fullest."

Save the Chimps

Descent into madness

2011-10-08T19:54:00.000-07:00

An excerpt from Gunner Star by James J Caterino
Chapter 4 - Descent into madness

For well over a decade it was the perfect job for people without job skills.
It was the easiest way to make legal money for those who possessed no talent.
It actually was considered a profession. Even better, it was one anyone could
do. It required no education, training, just a warm body and a phone.

For over a decade, it was the perfect job for me.

Then it all ended.

Suddenly I had to compete again.

Once friendly waters became shark infested overnight. Everyone was looking
to stake their claim to a vanishing frontier. Everyone was looking to protect their
own stake in the game.

I thought of kingpin Ross Manning lecturing a group of new brokers.
“I’ll cut your balls off for a nickel.” He screamed to the group of desperate
newbies who hung on his every word.

Ross Manning would thrive in the new post bubble environment. Ross Manning
could thrive in any environment. You had to be mean and aggressive. You
had to be driven and desperate. You had to be a greedy bastard who was willing
to cut off anyone’s balls for a nickel.

I never stood a chance.

One fateful day of my former life stands out above the rest. The memory was
seared into my brain as a pathetic summary of all that was wrong in my pre-Gunner
existence. I started each day by journeying to work via the asphalt jungle of violence and mayhem. But today was different. It was worse. Unrelenting tension hung in the
air. You could almost smell the anger as traffic came to a bottle neck stop.
The scene unfolds before my eyes; an image recalled and played out in ultra
high def six track Dolby digital, the Cinemascope screen in my mind blazing to
life.

I go to make a right hand lane change. Out of nowhere a black Lincoln Town
car cuts off my path. Even through the tinted window I can make out the silhouette
of a clenched jaw of fierce determination and piercing eyes—the eyes of
rage—the eyes of fierce competition.

The eyes of a man who would love to destroy me.

A white Lexus cuts me off from the other side. I look over and see the profile
of a hideous woman, veins pooping out of her wrinkly neck, a saggy jowl flapping
wildly as she screams obscenities at me.

On both sides drivers continue to cut in front of me. All the while they deliver
angry glances. Glaring looks that say "fuck you, I’m going first. Go ahead and try to get in front of me and I’ll hit your car. Then I’ll sue you to boot you pathetic piece of shit loser."

Horns are blaring. Everywhere around me, enraged drivers battle for their
piece of the asphalt jungle.

Even out here on the freeway, I was ill-equipped to compete.

An eternity later I exit the freeway and stop off at a Quick Mart. I am leaning
against the soothing cool glass in front of the sodas when I hear him enter with
a thud.

A Burly Redneck looking man storms through the door. And he is angry.
The Burly Red Neck marches over to the coffee counter where a meek looking
CPA type is mixing his coffee. The red neck swats the coffee out of his hand,
sending the contents sprawling across his neatly pressed shirt and tie.
“I don’t appreciate you tailgating me partner.” The threat of violence simmering
beneath each word the villain speaks.

The CPA looks up at the menacing figure glaring down at him and turns three
shades of white.

“Huh?” The CPA’s voice quivers. He is much too terrified to be upset or even
shocked by what the raging madman had done just done to him.

“Back there on South West Eighteenth. I don’t like anybody driving within
twenty feet of me.” The Burly Redneck hovers over him as if he were about to
reach down and snap the man’s neck at any second.

“I thought I was far enough away, but if I wasn’t I’m sorry.” The timid CPA
keeps his eyes down and shifts nervously as he speaks.

The Burly Redneck gives him one last stare of dominating evil. “You’re gonna
get yourself killed driving like that partner.”

Then the Burly Redneck turns. He casts a threatening glare in my direction. I
hadn’t realized, but in my frozen fear I must have been standing there staring at
the entire incident.

“You looking to get yourself killed too, faggot.”
I meekly nod no and scamper away like a frightened rabbit out the front door,
right on the coattails of the humiliated CPA.

I remember walking out into the parking lot trying to justify it to myself. It’s
not worth it. He might have a gun. The cops might come and I could get
arrested…blah, blah, fucking blah. Bottom line, for about the hundredth time
already this morning, I had just had my ass kicked.

All I needed was for someone to deliver someone to the fatal blow. Little did I
know at the time, it would be waiting for me at the office.

Read more in the riveting, avante guarde action thriller Gunner Star

In the shadows

2011-10-04T20:40:00.000-07:00

David Goodis has a reputation as one of the bleakest of Noir and it is quite evident in "The Wounded and the Slain", an expertly crafted psychological foray into the fractured psyche of an emotionally and sexually scarred man who may be beyond redemption. There is also a fascinating attempt to dig deep into the hidden lust and pent up desires of a repressed 1950's era wife who has to put up with her husband's deep descent into a drunken paranoia and despair.

With workman-like prose, Goodis does a fantastic job of creating a detailed atmosphere, both physically (the potrayal of a 1950's Jamaican resort and the seedy side of town on the outskirts is vividly portrayed) and psychologically (we get to inside the minds of these characters, especially Bevan and Cora). To many this will be a very slow book. There is suspense, although not plot or action driven. I found myself fascinated by this pessimistic, emotional journey into the dark side of noir.

Be warned of a few things:
This is a novel that takes bleakness to a new level. There is no such thing as a truly sympathetic character. This book is dated to be sure. But that is the point. To get a feel for the time and place (especially the harsh impenetrable lines between race and class) and to get a taste of the pessimistic noir literature that was popular at the time.

A great entry into the Hard Case series, with yet another cool retro cover by Glen Orbit

10,000 years in the making

2011-10-02T13:40:00.001-07:00

The 10,000 Year Explosion: How Civilization Accelerated Human Evolution

by Gregory Cochran and Henry Harpending

I have a long held interest in evolution and anthropology. Beyond an interest actually. More like an endless fascination. Some would even say obsession. I am a the the Tea Party/GOP's worst nightmare. I cannot be bullied into falling into the current line of thinking that the earth is 6000 years old. I know better.

Enough about fables and delusions and on to science and The 10,000 Year Explosion: How Civilization Accelerated Human Evolution.

As soon as I opened up this book and started to read, I could not stop. I devoured it. Then I read it again. It is utterly fascinating. The book is about exactly what the title says, how the last 10,000 years human evolution is rapidly accelerating due to the adaptions of civilization. We change phyically to adapt to changes from geography, climate, diet, but these are not slow mutations that occur over millions or even hundreds of thousands of years as they have been throughout most of the planet's evolutionary history. These are now rapid changes at the genetic level involving alterations at the chromosomal level called alleles. They can occur in as little as several generations, and the rate of change is increasing dramtically.

The authors go back beyond 10,000 years ago to indentify the time when this explosion of acceleration first began 30,000 years ago. They indentify the exact event. For me this was best part of the book because it something that I always believed and the authors make a strong case to back up their somewhat irrevereant theory. I will not give it away here. It would be akin to giving a away a major spoiler to a novel. But anyone with an interest in anthropology or evolution of human history will find it facinating.

My only problem I had with this book is the use of of the term "ape-like". It is a pet peeve of mine and scientists should know better. Humans ARE great apes so referring to a non-human behavior as "ape-like" is a contradiction.

In many ways The 10,000 Year Explosion reads like the anthropolgy equivilant to a Michio Kaku physics book. That makes perfect sense since one of the authors is a physicist. Overall, this book is a pop science masterwork with some terrific insights and revoltionary theories. Together with Guns, Germs, and Steel, it makes for the perfect new wave evolution double feature.

The Word of Tarmok: My top ten films and why

2011-09-19T15:05:00.000-07:00

The Word of Tarmok: My top ten films and why: Want to get to know someone? Do you have a need to explore below the surface, dig deepert, and find out what emotional conflicts are lurki...

Action Figure

2011-09-13T15:08:00.000-07:00

24 meets Falling Down in the relentless pulp thriller

Action Figure

The words spun around my aching brain in an endless loop
as I marched through the dense heat of the urban brush.
"You're too nice a guy Jackson."
That may have been true before this morning.

But as of 9:17 AM this morning, the moment Fat Head's nightstick rocked my dome, I started to transform into something else--something primal, something strong, and in many ways, something long overdue.

A sleeping giant of buried rage had been awoken.
I thought about Tarmok and the rage of the Bull Mongoni.
The barbarian within me had taken over, this time for good.
I began too feel pity for anyone who dared stand in my way
as I began my dark journey of escape.

I am Wes Jackson.
I am ignorant in the Hollywood Barbell Club sense of the word.
Wes Jackson Lives.

It's all about who you know. It's all about networking. It's all about who is the best bold-faced liar. It's all about listening to your instinct when it screams run. Meet Wes Jackson. A burned out shell of a man leading a life of quiet desperation. Then one day, he has a fateful encounter with two security guard goons. The confrontation escalates and turns deadly, and now Wes Jackson is a man on the run. He is a hunted man-a man who has been reborn and re-invented. And a man who is determined to succeed in his dark journey of escape, no matter who or what stands in his way. Action Figure is a lurid, relentless, adrenaline filled, avant-garde, action-packed, roller coaster ride of adventure that never lets up from start to finish.

Action Figure now available in paperback and Kindle and Nook.

Video Noir

2011-09-12T19:20:00.000-07:00

An excerpt from the science fiction mystery thriller Video Noir.

Caitlin could feel the change inside her skull the instant it happened.

It sort of felt the first time she had a new memory of Rick but this time it was much stronger and nowhere near as pleasant. This time it actually hurt. Caitlin felt a wave of physical pain engulf her.

It felt like someone had just stabbed her with a syringe full of flaming neurons and injected them directly into the base of her cerebral cortex.

They were new memories and Caitlin could feel them being created.

She could see the video cameras everywhere.

She could see all the food.

She could see Kathy and all the other guests.

But now she could something else too; and someone else.

It was the generic-suited creep with the gogglelike glasses—the freaky man in black from American Bistro. He was the catalyst who had started it all. He had set everything in motion that night when he had handed Caitlin that business card with the words “Video Noir” on it.

Now, whenever Caitlin thought about Zeke’s graduation party, the freak in black was there on the patio alongside Caitlin, Kathy, the Scraggs clan, and Boca Raton’s finest.

A new memory had been created. A new reality had been forged.

Someone who’d been filming at the party must have already uploaded some footage to YouTube, LiveVideo or wherever. The sinister men behind Video Noir must have already gotten a hold of it and processed it with the Light Wave technology. Then the freak must have watched and became part of it.

A new past and a new reality had been created.

Caitlin had a new memory. She had literally felt it come alive like a new network of neurons searing to life inside her brain. She could still remember the original past—the one where Zeke’s party had been free of lurching, sinister, creepy, men-in-black types. But the original memory—the real reality—was already slightly faded. Maybe the brain could only handle one time line and one reality at a time.

A new reality had been created. The past had been changed.

Caitlin realized that Troy Matheson was right.

It was possible to travel back in time.

It was also possible to alter reality.

Caitlin knew her dark adventure was only beginning.

Read more about Caitlin's adventure she battles the shadowy forces behind Video Noir.
Now available in Paperback, Hardcover, and Kindle

Caitlin Strikes Back

2011-09-09T12:11:00.000-07:00

A dramatic reading from Rise of the Bull Mongoni.

She

2011-09-07T18:50:00.000-07:00

A dramatic reading from the science fiction femme fatale thriller She by James J Caterino.

Right off a cliff

2011-09-07T11:11:00.000-07:00

“And now to our final segment of the debate,” Brian Williams said. “Each of you now can give a final statement about your priorities if you are elected to the office of the President of the United States.”

First up was Mitt Romney.

“I will eliminate all corporate taxes everywhere. Why should corporations have to pay taxes? They are good people. Instead I will shift to burden to those who do not work as hard as the rest of us. All incomes under 50,000 will be taxed at 50%. It is about time they pay their fare share just like those of us who are successful.”

The crowd cheered but with only mild enthusiasm.

Next Michele Bachman spoke.

“If I am your President I will speak for the American people and I will do what God wants us to do and return this country to the core, fundamental Christian beliefs of the founding fathers. And I will stop all the crazy socialist spending of Obama and finally I will bring back our values and return God to the institution of marriage so that we all be proud to be Americans again.”

Rick Perry paused and gave a sly smile before he spoke next. There was glint of manic euphoria in his eyes. This was going to be even easier than he imagined.

“Now those are all great ideas that I do agree with. But with all due respect to the Governor and the Congresswoman, it just ain’t enough. See when we do things in Texas, we don’t mess around. We don’t dittle dally. We don’t do things half-way. In Texas, we take it to the limit.”

Perry paused to milk the drama of the moment. The crowd was his. He owned them and goddammit he owned this election too. The White House would soon be his. He took a deep breath and let it rip.

“The day I am sworn into the White House I will immediately sign Executive Orders to eliminate Obamacare, have Ben Brenanke arrested for treason, dismantle the EPA, remove all pollution laws, destroy all wildlife protections, and make sure that the Big Oil companies get everything they need to make our country great again.”

The crowd leapt out of their seats and cheered wildly.

“I will end the New Deal. I will outlaw labor unions. I will destroy the ponzi scheme of Social Security, and vaporize any and all social welfare programs and minimum wage laws. Let’s give these people some incentive to work!”

The crowd ROARED inciting Perry to take his rhetoric to the next level.

“When I am your President I will restore your values. Marriage will only be between a man and a woman and anybody who has other ideas about that stuff will be re-educated. I will bring God back into the schools and back into the classrooms, and the only beginning of the earth lesson that will be taught will be the one that is in the bible! I will burn every book ever written by any egghead who would dare contradict our Lord. When I am your President, we will lift the dark cloud over the White House and take back America for the people!”

The crowd went INSANE with delirious celebration.

They knew they had their candidate and soon the Tea Party would rule the earth.

Best movie summer ever

2011-09-03T20:44:00.000-07:00

Best movie summer ever...

Well, not really. That will probably always be 1982 (E.T., Blade Runner, Poltergeist, Star Trek II, etc.). Although the best overall year in my books would be 1968 (2001, Planet of the Apes, Barbarella, Night of the Living Dead) with 1987 (Empire of the Sun, No Way Out, Wall Street, Robocop, The Untouchables) as a runner up.

The summer of 2011 cannot compare to any of those years.
But with one instant classic (Rise of the Planet of the Apes), two immensely entertaining, well crafted comic book blockbusters (Thor, Captain America), a fresh and shockingly good addition to a tired series ( X-Men : First Class), a super teaming of two storytelling geniuses from different generations ( Super 8), and a sleeper smash hit surefire Oscar contender (The Help) - this past summer was easily the best movie going season in many, many years. Perhaps even back as far as that fabled summer of 1982.

My favorite seven things from the summer films of 2011.

1) Chris Hemsworth in Thor

Fantastic casting (in all of the roles) and what a find Chris Hemsworth is. Finally, a young actor with the both the charisma and the physical presence of Vin Diesel and The Rock.

2) The period setting of X-Men: First Class

Setting the film in the story fertile early 1960's was the perfect way to invigorate a movie series that was based on a comic book created in the very same era.

3) Elle Fanning in Super 8

There is a quiet scene in Super 8 when Elle Fanning’s and Joel Cortney’s characters are watching some home movies. Elle Fanning’s work in that scene, and her entire performance in this film, is astonishing.

4) The art direction of Captain America

The director of the underrated The Rocketeer seemed like the perfect choice to visualize Captain America into a movie. Boy was he ever. Every frame of the movie is a beautifully designed piece of retro pulp art.

5) Viola Davis in The Help

Thanks to the smashing success of The Help brought on by good old fashioned word of mouth, this unsung actress is finally getting some long overdue recognition.

6) Climb Caesar Climb

When a young Caesar first sees the Redwood Forest and soars up into the trees, it is a wonderful, soaring, euphoric, moving moment of pure movie magic. My favorite scene in my favorite film of 2011 so far.

7) The music of Patrick Doyle.

His scores for Thor and Rise of the Planet of the Apes were the best one two punch by a composer in the same summer in a long time.

Gunner Star Lives: a sneak preview

2011-09-03T13:52:00.000-07:00

A special ten page sneak preview of the next Gunner Star book, Gunner Star Lives. A follow-up to the irreverent action adventures Gunner Star, Action Figure, and Rise of the Bull Mongoni.

FADE IN

EXT. SUBURBAN NEIGHBORHOOD - DAY

A car pulls into a driveway.
The car has a custom NASA plate and a bumper sticker that reads SCIENCE WILL SAVE THE PLANET.

A MAN IN A WHITE SHIRT AND TIE MAN steps out of the car.
Thick glasses, flat top buzz cut, like he just finished giving a lecture on rocket propulsion.
He pulls his briefcase out of the car, turns around to take a step...

His path is blocked by a mob of angry neighbors.
There are dozens of them, men and woman of various ages.
Some are holding shovels.
A few are clenching baseball bats.
One is gripping a glock handgun.
They are armed.
They are angry.

They begin to circle in on the Nasa Man.
A seething, hideous TROLL of a woman steps forward.
The TROLL LADY is the leader of the hate-filled mob.

TROLL LADY
Here in Arcadia we worship God and shun all those who would dare work in the name of the false Pagan beliefs.

The Nasa Man seems familiar with this routine of harassment.

NASA MAN
And I will tell you again. I am a scientist. It has nothing to do with religion or gods and stay out of my business and away from my family. You have no right to tell me what to believe, in America we have the right to religious freedom and...

A lumbering REDNECK GOON lunges forward and slams Nasa Man up onto the hood of his car.

REDNECK GOON
You want freedom? I’ll give you the freedom to die and burn in hell you devil worshipping secular fascist commie.

The WIFE of Nasa Man opens the front door and is CRYING hysterically.
She screams.

WIFE OF NASA MAN
Leave him alone! What’s wrong with you people?

Nasa Man is still in the clutches of the filthy paws of Redneck Goon.

His wife tries to run to him, crying for them to let him go.
She is immediately met by a SNEERING FAT WOMAN and a TALL MAN in a hunting jacket and hat.

Sneering Fat Woman and Tall move in on Nasa Man’s Wife.
They Grab her.
They SLAM her to the ground.
They begin to BEAT HER...and beat her...
The sounds of fists and clubs against flesh and bone ECHO across the front yard.

Two SMALL CHILDREN are watching the sickening mayhem from a window inside the house.

TROLL LADY
You were warned for the last time non-believers. It is has been decided that we must now enforce the word of God.

A SCOWLING CHUBBY FACED WOMAN takes a roundhouse swing of a baseball bat. It SMASHES across the skull of Nasa Man sending a THUD into the air.
An screaming MAN IN A GLENN BECK T-SHIRT pulls out a knife and plunges it into the chest of Nasa Man.

Blood slowly SPRAYS up into the air inciting the Mob to the next level of murderous blood lust.
Troll Lady looks on with gleeful delight.

TROLL LADY
God’s will must be done. Our children must be protected from the evil ideas of non-believers. Secular fascism science is the work of the devil. The only laws are the laws of the bible and they shall be enforced.

The sadistic beating goes on and on...
Until Nasa Man and his wife are left lying on the street as lifeless bloody corpses.

TROLL LADY
Get in there and get those children. Deliver them to the CRC for orientation. They can still be saved if they can be properly re-educated in the word of God.

DISSOLVE TO:

EXT. HILLSIDE - RIVER BANK - DAY

WE MOVE IN ON RAILROAD TRACKS.
TRACKING SHOT UP ALONG THE RAILROAD.
ABANDONED STEEL MILL LOOMING NEXT TO A RIVER.

INT. ABANDONED STEEL MILL DAY

A massive cathedral of iron and rust.
Streaming light from a dusty sky windows cuts down into the dark chamber illuminating a work area far below.

MOVE IN - DOWN INTO THE FORTRESS OF RUST AND STEEL
A set of monitors glows amid the ghostly industrial cavern.
Computers...a work table...
An ominous looking METAL TORTURE CHAIR with chains and shackles -
A mix of high tech, low tech and barbaric
There is a an IMPOSING FIGURE moving about the work area.
At first, we see him only from behind -
A living statue of hard sculpted flesh emerging from the shadows.
Clad in black fatigue pants and a white Action Figure shirt that appears painted on his armor of sinewy flesh...
It is GUNNER STAR.

He is intensely focused working a touch screen in one hand and a computer mouse on the other.
He looks up at one of the monitors.

ON THE MONITOR -
PRESIDENT MICHELE LECHER steps out from behind a massive Tea Party emblem.
She stares slightly off to the right of the camera as she addresses the television and internet audience.
There is no media in room. Only fellow Tea Party enablers and several heavily armed sinister goons. They are all uniformed with a insignia “CPF” surrounded by the words “Christian Peace Force”
A fearsome HENCHMAN stands by President Lecher’s side. He looks like a clone of Steve “Stone COLD” Austin of WWF fame.
Gunner takes notice of this Henchman and shakes his head. This is a man he knows.

PRESIDENT LECHER
My fellow Americans. My fellow children of God.
Her blank robotic stare is made all the more creepy by the fact she does not seem to know where the camera is. The attractive, yet sinister leader continues to stare off to the right side of the screen as she speaks.

PRESIDENT LECHER
When the American people spoke and elected me as the voice of our great nation, they also elected the voice of God. Because as our founding fathers said, this was intended to be a nation of God. A land for true Christian believers. A place where we could be free to preach and live the word of God as told to us by him in the bible.
Gunner Star watches a SECOND MONITOR playing a newscast.

ON MONITOR 2

REPORTER
A bible study group of Christian citizens bravely took matters into their own hands and challenged a gang of fascist secular extremists who posed a grave danger and continually harmed the children of the peaceful community by promoting radical ideas about evolution and climate change.

ON MONITOR 2
A digitally altered photo of NASA Man that makes him look like a deranged serial killer.
Gunner Star watches with intensity. He clenches his fist. An vascular river of flesh swells across his forearm.

ON MONITOR 1 -

PRESIDENT LECHER
And when we are threatened right here on our own soil by the evil cancer of those who do not believe and try to spread the false lies of Pagan gods and elite thinking, it puts all Americans in danger. So we need to take action as Americans.

Gunner Star marches over to another work bench. He straps on a black combat vest form fitted to his swollen sculpted torso like a second skin.

ON MONITOR 2 -

REPORTER
And we just want to grab a quick word with the hero of the day here in Arcadia. A true believer with the courage to stand up for the word of God.

TROLL LADY
Poisonous ideas that contradict the bible will not be tolerated in a fine Christian community. We have to fight to protect our children so we can raise them with the word of God. And here in Arcadia we support President Lecher and her effort to root out all the secular fascists who are anti-America and go against our founding fathers.

Gunner grabs a Cutlass broadsword from the work bench.
His thick back muscles flair out and ripple as he hoists the sword and CUTS it through the air with frightening intensity.

ON MONITOR 1 -

PRESIDENT LECHER
And so we must use the special Christian Peace Force that I created, to go into our neighborhoods and separated the pro-Americans, from the anti-Americans. This is the only way we can protect our children.

Gunner Star snatches a wooden Fight Stick from the work bench.
SWOOSH -
An instant later the tip of the stick strikes the power button to off, silencing the hate-filled call to arms of President Lecher and the Troll Lady.

Gunner swings the Cutlass broadsword over one shoulder, the fight stick over the other, then marches out into the darkness.

CUT TO:

EXT. CHRISTIAN EDUCATION CENTER - DAY
Appears to be a typical suburban school campus...except for the armed Christian Peace Force guards at the gated entrance.

An Audie pulls into the parking lot and a MAN steps out.

He is dressed in a conservative dark suit. He walks over to the passenger side. Inside is a woman in a dress.
She is distraught.

DISTRAUGHT WOMAN IN CAR
David, don’t do it. They’ll kill you too. Let me call the police. We have every right...they are...those poor kids...

She is too upset to finish the sentence.

DAVID
We talked about this. These lunatics have the law on their side now. But fuck the law. I want justice. And I am going in there and I am going t walk back out with our niece and nephew. We have a funeral to go to and we are going as a family.

David is not a physically imposing man, but his eyes burn with the fierce intensity of a man who has been pushed too far.

He turns and marches across the parking lot...
He does not hesitate.
Straight past the guard station...
Every step he takes, his adrenaline cranks up one notch higher.
Two UPTIGHT GOONS dressed in white polo shirts with a CHRISTIAN MILITIA emblem step out to block his path.
One is tall but SLOPPY looking.
Other one looks like the real deal, LEAN and mean.
Both are firmly gripping their sidearms.

SLOPPY GOON
This is private property. State your business or you will be fired upon.
David does not flinch for a second.

DAVID
I am here to pick up my niece and nephew.

LEAN GOON
By whose authority.

Lean Goon step in front of David’s path to cut him off.
Sloppy Goon draws his sidearm and takes aim.

DAVID
I am going to walk right past you and go in there and get my niece and nephew and if you plan on stopping me you will have to kill me.

LEAN GOON
That can be arranged. No one in this town will question another dead secular fascist. Hell, we’ll be heroes around here.

Lean Goon steps aside to let David walk by and looks over to Sloppy Goon.

LEAN GOON
As soon as he crosses the perimeter, kill him.

There is a BLUR as searing WHOOOSH rips across the air.
The CRACK of a bone being snapped into a hundred pieces.
Then a SCREAM from Sloppy Goon as a Fight Stick turned into a rocket javelin STRIKES straight into his wrist.

The sidearm falls to the ground as Sloppy Goon keels over grabbing his shattered wrist as he cries like a baby.

GUNNER STAR (O.S.)
Then you’ll have to kill me too.

FROM OUT BEHIND A TREE -

Gunner Star EXPLODES into the scene -
Lean Goon reaches for his sidearm -
Gunner LAUNCHES himself into a sprint -
The sidearm is pulled out -

Gunner gets closer...he reaches over his shoulder -
He draws his Cutlass broadsword -
Just as Lean Goon is about to fire his weapon -
Gunner RELEASES the Cutlass.
It ROCKETS out of his hand and instantly turns Lean Goon’s shoulder into a river of gushing blood.
The sidearm falls to the pavement.

Read more about the anti-hero antics of Gunner Star and the Bull Mongoni philosophy in Gunner Star, Action Figure, and Rise of the Bull Mongoni.

4 for 4 club

2011-08-25T20:20:00.000-07:00

You know how baseball has the 30/30 club for players who have stolen 30 bases while hitting 30 home runs? Or the ultra exclusive 40/40 club which has only four members?

I have my own exclusive club when it comes to movies.
I call it the 4 for 4 Club.

The requirements to get in are simple.
First a movie must have a four star rating by me, a rating that must be declared right after seeing it for the first time. Second, I must see the movie a minimum of four times in a theater.

A few technical details.

I use the old school four star rating system so **** out of *** is the top rating.
By theater it has to be a first run theater during a film’s initial run.
So dollar houses and drive-ins do not count. Nor do re-releases, anniversary restoration shows or any other special exhibitions. And of course, any kind of home video is ineligible.

For instance I saw Blade Runner opening weekend in 1982 in a theater and gave it four stars. I saw it few weeks later again at the same theater. The next time I saw it in a theater was the spring of 1984 in a film class. Then I saw it again that summer at a midnight showing, and again two more times during the 1992 director’s cut theatrical-re-release. So even though I actually saw Blade Runner in a theatrical auditorium six times, only the first two viewings count toward the 4 for 4 club. So Blade Runner does not make the club.

And indeed I have seen many less the four star movies four or more times in a theater. Example, the Star Wars prequels. Even the most die-hard fan would be hard-pressed to make a case that they are **** films. I saw The Cable Guy four times in theater in 1998, and I could make the case it is a **** wonderfully subversive dark comedy. But the humor is so specific to someone with my twisted sensibilities, I'd best just keep that on a personal favorite list.

This list is weighted heavily toward movies from the 80's and 90's for a number of reasons, not the least is there was a far better variety of films released. Movie were less bloated and had more manageable running times. In other words the writing was better, the editing tighter, and movies were better paced making multiple viewings feasible without taking off from work, school, or life in general.

Plus there were many more physical theaters spread out in more locations and movies played much, much longer. Now days if I miss seeing something opening weekend I am often fucked.. Even hit movies vanish after a month.

Okay, enough self-indulgent rambling, here is the list presented in images, starting with the most recent inductee and working chronologically backwards.

2011 - 4 viewings (and counting)

2001 - 4 viewings

2000 - 4 viewings

1999 - 4 viewings

1997 - 4 viewings

1994 - 5 viewngs

1994 - 5 viewings

1993 - 4 viewings

1993 - 7 viewings

To be continued in: 4 for 4 club part II: Get a life.

Tea bagging us back into the dark ages

2011-08-21T19:51:00.000-07:00

There was an arrogant prick from the deceivingly titled Club for Growth on a cable news show the other day. He said that never, never ever in the history of mankind has there been one solitary example of Keynesian economics creating a single job or ever stimulating the economy.

The FDR New Deal lead recovery out of the depression? The post World War II economic expansion fueled by infrastructure spending? A new workforce of college graduates whose education was paid for by the Federal Government through the G.I. bill? The Interstate Highways and the Space Program?

According to the Club for Growth not a single job or lick of economic activity came from any of that. Of course the Club for Growth is really a euphemism for "club for making sure the filthy Rich get filthier rich while fucking over the rest of us and destroying the environment and slaughtering wildlife in the process".

A growing number of Americans, and elected or soon to be elected officials, say that the earth is 6000 years old and was created as is in a single instant by an invisible man in the sky. Apparently all that other stuff you heard was made up by a bunch of elite liberal scientists with questionable motives. All that earth history, the geology, the formation of stars and planets, the evolution of life. It was all made up. Never happened.

Obamacare has death panels. The founding fathers worked tirelessly to end slavery.
2+2=5 2=2+5 2+5+5

See how easy it is? Just keep saying it till you believe it and soon others will follow and believe it two. Just never stop! Never give in! Your strength of conviction will win you a huge, rabid, fiercely loyal following and soon one day all schools will teach the children that 2+2=5. You will command an army to do your bidding. You can even take over congress if you like.

Ignorance is a virtue. Blind faith is rewarded. The less you know the further you go.

This is the new paradigm
Welcome to the dark ages.

Frightening stuff.

Especially when these are the people dictating policy, and that is just with 60 or so House seats. Already several states are either attempting to or are already teaching fable as scientific gospel. They may as well be saying the earth is flat and is the center of the universe. Who knows, soon they may be doing just that. Especially if Perry wins the White House. And he just might, especially if this economy continues to tank, and with no chance of any serious jobs program or stimulus ever passing and more draconian slashing on the way, the worst is yet to come. Remember movies in the 80's like Robocop that parodied the right by creating a far more extreme version of it. Now one of those fictional worlds look moderate.

How do you convince people who prefer to wallow in ignorance and fear?

How do you out shout someone like Rush Limbaugh or Beck or Palin who has a captive audience of tens of millions who hang on their every word? Look how the media fawned over a loser politician like Christine O'Donnell last week because she "wrote" a new book. Think the media would give prime time interviews to someone with a great new book on say, anthropology? Even Michio Kaku, a superstar of science and very media savvy can not get more than a footnote interview IF something specific is going on they want to ask him about.

Dark times ahead I fear.
Dark times indeed.

Ten great movie quotes with attitude

2011-08-20T12:45:00.000-07:00

Ten great movie quotes that reflect the Bull Mongoni philosophy of Gunner Star, Action Figure, and Rise of the Bull Mongoni.

“Give me guys that are poor, smart, and hungry. And no feelings. You want a friend you get a dog.”

Gordon Gekko in Wall Street (1987)

Screenplay by Oliver Stone and Stanley Weiser.

“Man is evil, capable of nothing but destruction.”

Doctor Zaius in Planet of the Apes (1968)

Screenplay by Michael G. Wilson and Rod Serling
Based on the novel by Pierre Boulle.

“We've all been raised on television to believe that one day we'd all be millionaires, and movie gods, and rock stars. But we won't. And we're slowly learning that fact. And we're very, very pissed off.”

Tyler Durden in Fight Club (1999)

Screenplay by Jim Uhls
Based on the novel by Chuck Palahniuk

“Everything matters, everything we do matters.”

Nelson Wright in Flatliners (1990)

Screenplay by Peter Filardi

“Don’t you ever cross a man who ain’t afraid of dying!”

Malcolm Little in Malcolm X (1992)

Screenplay by Spike Lee and Arnold Perl
Based on the book by Alex Haley

Listen fellows, I've had a really rare morning. I’m not in the mood to...”

Bill Foster in Falling Down (1993)

Screenplay by Ebbe Roe Smith

“Fear causes hesitation, and hesitation will cause your worst fears to come true.”

Bodhi in Point Break (1991)

Screenplay by W. Peter Illif
Story by W. Peter Illif and Rick King

“You’re an actor. Act mother fucker!”

Cody Nicholson in True Romance (1993)

Screenplay by Quentin Tarantino

“Senator? You can have my answer now, if you like. My final offer is this: nothing. Not even the fee for the gaming license, which I would appreciate if you would put up personally.”

Michael Corleone in The Godfather part II (1974)

Screenplay by Francis Ford Coppola and Mario Puzo
Based on the novel by Mario Puzo

“Nooooooooooooooooooo ”

Caesar in Rise of the Planet of the Apes (2011)

Screenplay by Rick Jaffa and Amanda Silver

History of the hominid, legend of the Bull Mongoni

2011-08-16T15:35:00.000-07:00

A sneak peek into the next and final book of the Bull Mongoni trilogy, The Word of Tarmok.

The above flow chart shows the evolutionary path of the hominid family starting with 14 million years ago when “Hominidea” walked the earth, the first known hominid and the common ancestor of all the great apes.

The surviving great apes today include humans (genus Homo), chimpanzees and bonobos (genus Pan), gorillas (genus Gorilla), and orangutans (genus Pongo). Gibbons (genus Hylobates) are not considered great apes and split off into a separate family of primates earlier (about 18-20 million years ago)

Now what is not included on the flow chart above is where the legendary Bull Mongoni fit it.

According to the Sacred Scrolls of Tarmok as told by Gunner Star to Tyrone Fulton in Rise of the Bull Mongoni and Joe Fenton in Gunner Star, the Bull Mongoni evolved from the Homininae subfamily.

As you can see above, this subfamily branched off into two distinct tribes approximately 8-10 million years ago. One tribe was the Hominini—humans, chimpanzees, and bonobos. The second tribe was Gorillini—gorillas.

The Scrolls of Tamrok speak of a third great ape that branched out from the Homininae subfamily, the tribe known as the Bull Mongoni.

The Scrolls, oral history, as well as the Sumerian writings, and the legends of the Neolithic North American natives, allude to a great race of man beast that lived with the wild beasts deep in the forests among the trees. These hominids were swift, strong, muscular, and hursuitistic. Unlike the other hominids, the Bull Mongoni could be loners who would roam a vast territory, often with a big cat as a companion. Some theorize this is how the great cats learned to patrol a territory. By all accounts, the Bull Mongoni were peaceful and showed great respect for their great ape brothers and sisters. In the ancient Sumerian texts they are referred to as “the protectors of the earth and all creatures.”

Peaceful perhaps, but if crossed, a Bull Mongoni could unleash a frightening fury.

Ancient Latin texts refer to a story of a Roman platoon sent to Africa to apprehend a group of escaped slaves. One of the slaves, a female, was befriended by a “talking man beast with super human strength and the speed of a leopard”.

A squadron of Roman soldiers from the platoon marched into the jungle and attempted to abduct the slave girl from the lair of the great man beast. They found her alone gathering water by the river and captured her.

The soldiers were cruel and destructive, torturing and slaughtering innocent creatures on their march back out of the jungle. One night, the mean-spirited butchers were drunk on grain alcohol and decided to try and have their way with the slave girl.

That is when the great man beast struck.

A barbaric animal roar exploded across the night followed by the sounds of snapping bones, crushed skulls, and severed arteries. Never in all their years of blood lust and battles had these Romans witnessed such uncorked rage and savagery.

Only one soldier made it back to the platoon in North Africa. The great man beast wanted a living witness to tell the tale. Saddled on his horse was a treasure chest. The surviving Roman soldier was in shock and trembling when he arrived. The shaken soldier said only that the treasure chest contained a “message for the Roman leader from Tarmok the Bull Mongoni”.

The Captain of the platoon opened the chest to find the twelve bloody severed heads of the squadron. There was also a parch of tree bark inside, with an inked message written in Latin.

“The man beast said the note was for you,” the surviving soldier said.

“Read it to me,” the Captain ordered.

...to be continued in the next and final book of the Bull Mongoni trilogy, The Word of Tarmok. Coming soon.

Find out more about the Bull Mongoni and experience the irreverent thrills in the controversial action adventures Gunner Star and Rise of the Bull Mongoni.

My top ten films and why

2011-08-12T18:49:00.000-07:00

Want to get to know someone?

Do you have a need to explore below the surface, dig deeper, and find out what emotional conflicts are lurking below the surface and driving their actions? What motivates them? What drives their passions and fuels their angst?

Ask them for a list of their favorite movies.

You can tell an awful lot about a person by taking a close look at their favorite films.

There are some very distinct common themes and obsessions at work here on this list.
Perhaps in the near future I will do an in depth essay blog analyzing this further.
In the mean time...

Rise of the Planet of the Apes (2011)
Directed by Rupert Wyatt
Screenplay by Rick Jaffa and Amanda Silver
Based on the novel by Pierre Boulle and characters created by Paul Dehn

I’ll tell you how much film affected me. I insist on having a Hall of Fame like waiting period of at least five years before a movie can even be eligible for consideration to be on this list.

Well, that rule has been waived for the first time ever for Rise of the Planet of the Apes.

Not since A.I Artificial Intelligence in 2001 have I thought this much about a film after seeing it. Caesar is an unforgettable character and Rise of the Apes is not just a well crafted, expertly paced, exciting blockbuster. It is full of iconic moments including an emotional finale that will be etched into cinematic history.

At its heart Rise is a coming age of story that resonates with deep motion. It is a film about family, home, tragedy, separation, finding one's place in the world, and so much more.

Videodrome (1983)
Directed by David Cronenberg
Screenplay by David Cronenberg

Describing Videodrome to the uninitiated is difficult, because in some ways this is a difficult film. Or as the lead character Max Renn played by James Woods says at one point, “I am having trouble finding my way around.”

A screenwriting logline might read:
A contemporary erotic science fiction film noir about a right wing conspiracy using video signals from S and M underground broadcasts...

Okay maybe this is not the kind of film that can be accurately captured in a logline or marketing catch phrase.

But I do know of a few phrases that can help give a few hints as to what it is; strange, erotic, hallucinatory, prophetic, hypnotic, and just plane insanely brilliant.

This film had a tremendous influence on my book She and the spinoff Video Noir.

Falling Down (1993)
Directed by Joel Schumacher
Screenplay by Ebbe Roe Smith

If ever there was a relevant time to rediscover a film, the time is now, and the film is 1993’s Falling Down. An insightful masterwork of well executed, stirring set pieces tied together by a haunting (and underrated) performance by Michael Douglas as Bill Foster, Falling Down is a film that provokes strong polarizing reactions.

Like several of the main characters on this top ten list, Bill “D-Fens” Foster just wants to find a way to go back “home” and recapture a past that no longer exists.

Falling Down tells the story of a distraught and recently displaced loner. The movie shares a similar structure and nihilistic tone to the book Action Figure.

JFK (1991)
Directed by Oliver Stone
Screenplay by Oliver Stone and Zachary Sklar
Based on books by Jim Garrison and Jim Marris

The conspiracy, the history, the spooky men in the shadows—JFK is the best X-file ever made.

One of two Oliver Stone movies on my list, it is the last great film Stone made before he seemingly lost all story telling sensibilities.

JFK is the most fascinating real life inspired film ever made.

This movie is also an example on how to brilliantly use cinematography, different film stock and formats, and editing techniques to enhance the storytelling and atmosphere—as opposed to the frenzied over directed mess most films are today.

Empire of the Sun (1987)
Directed by Steven Spielberg

One of two films from 1987 on my list and one of several about family, tragedy, separation, and the journey of a character struggling to find their way home.

I remember seeing Empire of the Sun at a 10PM showing on the Friday night it opened. I literally staggered from the theater breathless from the haunting dreamlike imagery and the soul stirring score by John Williams.

I much prefer this criminally underrated masterpiece to Spielberg’s other much lauded WWII films he won Oscars for.

Planet of the Apes (1968)
Directed by Franklin J. Schaffner
Screenplay by Michael Wilson and Rod Serling
Based on the novel by Pierre Boulle

The original Planet of the Apes struck a chord with audiences of 1968 in much the same way Rise is connecting to moviegoers in 2011. Both films have strong performances, innovative special effects, exciting set pieces, and terrific musical scores.

But what sets both Rise and the 1968 original apart from other well crafted genre fair is the way both films have created memorable characters and a rich thematic subtext on the issues of the day. Rise is about family, healthcare, aging, animal welfare and the environment. In 1968 Apes took on civil unrest, racism, war, and nuclear armageddon, but like Rise, never at the expense of story, character, and pacing.

Wall Street (1987)
Directed by Oliver Stone
Screenplay by Oliver Stone and Stanley Weiser

I was a stockbroker for fourteen plus years and was literally studying for my Series 7 exam in December 1987 when I first saw this mythic film at a run down General Cinema in Plantation, Florida. It became a bible to young stockbrokers who were “poor, smart and hungry” desperately trying “stake their claim” in the Reaganomics world of the 1980's.

The money culture, the classic dialogue, the clothes, the slang, the attitudes, the cinematography, the rise, the fall, and most of all—Gekko. "Now if you do good sport, you get perks. Lots and lots of perks."

One of three Michael Douglas films in my top ten.
His body of work from 1987 to 1993 is simply mind blowing.

The Bear (1989)
Directed by Jean-Jaques Annaud
Screenplay by Gerard Bach
Based on the novel by James Oliver Curwood

I usually try to avoid animal movies at all costs because quite frankly they just make me sad. And the animals are rarely treated with respect not only as creatures, but as characters.

There are some upsetting parts in this movie to be sure, but they are not forced or contrived. The storytelling is completely honest about things that could and often do happen to bears in the wild when they are just being bears. They are treated with respect as wild animals, and as truly memorable characters we become emotionally involved with.

An almost totally silent movie, The Bear tops Born Free as the best movie about animals ever made. It is simply a beautiful film.

A.I. Artificial Intelligence (2001)
Directed by Steven Spielberg
Screenplay by Steven Spielberg
Screen Story by Ian Watson and Stanley Kubrick
Based on the short story by Brian Aldiss

This is a dark, complex, sentimental, and haunting film that polarized critics and turned off audiences who were expecting a feel good film in the spirit of ET.

This movie actually does have a lot more in common with ET and Close Encounters than one might think. But this time the questions posed are not always answered. And the emotional payoff is far more complex.

The film is a technical marvel on every level.

The hyper-real stylish cinematography of Spielberg regular Janusz Kaminski manages to convey the look of both a Kubrick and a Spielberg film at the same time. The mix of cold Kubrickian existential bleakness and the warm Spielberg spirituality of his trademark "god light" is what makes A.I. such an utterly fascinating experience.

Maestro John William's emotional score infuses the movie with deep sense of sadness as the main character searches for a lost childhood he can never have.

Basic Instinct (1992)
Directed by Paul Verhoeven
Screenplay by Joe Eszterhas

I love John Dahl’s film noir trilogy (Kill Me Again, Red Rock West, The Last Seduction), but Basic Instinct with its Vertigo inspired San Francisco locations is my favorite neo-noir.

Michael Douglas is at the peak of his leading man, bad boy, troubled anti-hero form. Sharon Stone is in the prime of her alluring femme fatale sexual charisma. Director Paul Verhoeven, writer Joe Eszterhas, cinematographer Jan DeBont, composer Jerry Goldsmith–every one involved is at the peak of their creative powers in this provocative neo-Hitchcock classic. The most daring (and best) mainstream commercial erotic film ever made.

One of two San Francisco based films on my list (along with Rise of the Planet of the Apes).

If you like Rise of the Planet of the Apes

2011-08-10T19:31:00.000-07:00

The best film of the year is a moving family drama, a brilliant coming of age journey, and a deeply affecting and flawlessly executed piece of popular art.

Some more thoughts on an instant classic that has haunted me since I first saw it last Friday morning when it opened. Rise of the Apes is not just a well crafted, expertly paced, exciting blockbuster. It is a film about family, home, tragedy, separation, finding one's place in the world, and so much more.

Anthropology 101

2011-08-09T12:36:00.000-07:00

If I hear one more person call Caesar a “monkey” I swear to Michele Bachmann’s and Rick Perry’s god I will rip their fucking throat out.

Yeah, I know. That is a pretty fired up reaction to protect a fictional character. But then again I am a crazy Bull Mongoni bastard who learned a long time ago what the Tea Party is demonstrating today. Act crazy enough and people will scatter out of your way and tremble in fear at the mention of your name.

But that is a subject for another column.

Back to some basic anthropology, or primatology to be more precise.

Monkeys are “lesser” primates, less evolved than me, you and Caesar.
And they have a TAIL for crying out loud.

Caesar from Rise of the Planet of the Apes, like all Chimpanzees, is a Great Ape!
He is from the Hominidae family which includes four distinct genera (subdivisions or species), chimpanzees, gorillas, humans, and orangutans.

Yes that is correct. Humans are great apes.
One of four genus that evolved from a common ancestor “Hominidae” that lived roughly 14 million years ago.

Orangutans broke off into their own subfamily Ponginae which eventually became a tribe and then the genera today of the modern Orangutan.

This left the subfamily Homininae from which modern humans, chimpanzees, and gorillas evolved. Further down the line, this subfamily split off into two distinct tribes.

One was the Gorillini from which the genus gorilla evolved, i.e. the modern gorilla.

The second tribe was Homini, the direct ancestors to both modern humans and chimpanzees, the genus homo, and the genus pan.

The homo/pan is a point of contention. Some scientists think there was a gradual separation between 6 to 4.5 million years ago with interbreeding along the way. Others have made credible scientific arguments that based on recent DNA findings “pan” should be in the homo genus and as such would be the only other surviving homo species since the neanderthal became extinct approximately 24,500 years ago.

Okay, that is some of the basics, I could go on forever because the stuff fascinates me.

My point is this.
I am sick and tired of ignorance. I am sick and tired of falsehoods being spouted as gospel. I am sick and tired of how we have become a nation where ignorance and stupidity is considered an asset!

Know what happens when you treasure ignorance and accept lies as truth?
You country gets taken over by a small group of deluded radicals who will extort and lie and do whatever it takes to get what they want.

NO the earth is NOT fucking 6000 years old!

NO the founding fathers did NOT fight tirelessly to end slavery!

NO “god” did NOT tell you to run for President Rick Perry!

And NO mother fucking NO Caesar is not a goddamn monkey!
He is an APE just like YOU!

Movie tie-ins

2011-08-06T19:53:00.000-07:00

Whenever I see a movie in the theater that I really like, one that truly resonates with me and strikes a cord on a personal level, it leaves me longing for more. I feel a desperate craving that I must feed, an insatiable desire to spend more time with the characters and the cinematic world I have just experienced. I must find a way to get back in.

This is where movie tie-ins come into play. They can help take the edge off. Kinda like the movie methadone for my cinematic crack addiction.

I will leave the theater and often head straight to the nearest Barnes & Noble to scour the magazine rack for any articles, features, interviews, photos, and most of all cover stories about the movie. The days of Cinefantastique, when you could expect entire book length issues of a magazine dedicated to a film and written with in-depth journalistic flair coupled with insightful analysis are long gone. But sometimes you can find good coverage in the British genre magazines Empire, Total Film or SciFi Now. Cover stories from Creative Screenwriting, Film Comment, or Cinefex are usually well done. Every now and then lightning strikes and I find coverage in a well written mainstream publication such as Vanity Fair or The Hollywood Reporter.

Next step, I will seek out a novelization of the screenplay if there is one, or in the case of an adaption, the source material itself. Then, I check online to see if any PDF versions of the screenplay are available. Making of books, The Art of books, Poster books, published book versions of the screenplay and anything else available all will be ordered within hours of leaving the theater.

It goes without saying I must possess the soundtrack and will listen to it nonstop in my car and on my iPod, and right here at this desk. That music will literally be the soundtrack of my life for many weeks and often month to come.

Another ritual I have that dates back to the dawn of the home video era, is to watch three related movies.

Now these films can tie in to the new experience in a multitude of different ways. Sometimes it is another movie in a series but it can be less obvious and direct. It can be a connection to an actor, the director, the story, theme, tone, style, whatever it is that might help me to relive that feeling.

Two recent examples which also happen to be my top two films of 2011.

Super 8

Cover story Creative Screenwriting
Cover story Entertainment Weekly
CD of soundtrack by Michael Giacchino

Related movies:
Close Encounters - genre, Spielberg, tone, pitch, feel, influence, theme, and more that could reveal spoilers.

Explorers - tone, feel, suburbia, the kids. Especially the kids.

Taken (SciFi miniseries) - Genre, plot, Spielberg, another magical performance by another Fanning.

Runner-ups: E.T., Jurassic Park, Batteries Not Included, Gremlins.

Rise of the Planet of the Apes

Magazine coverage - shutout. Waiting and checking newstand daily.
CD of soundtrack by Patrick Boyle - on the way
Related source material - original novel by Pierre Boulle

Related movies :

Conquest of the Planet of the Apes - the origin prequel of the classic series is closest to new film in terms of story.

Mighty Joe Young (both 1949 original and 1998 remake) - story, character, theme, plot.

Harry and the Hendersons (1987) No really. Obviously not in tone but John Lithgow, plot, and a spoiler that fans of both movies will notice.

Runner-ups: Any Planet of the Apes movie. I would put Project X (1987) on the list, but it is too brutally sad and disturbing to ever see again.

Beware of the Beast Man

2011-08-05T13:40:00.000-07:00

There has always been much more to the Planet of the Apes series than the over the top quotable dialogue, iconic SF imagery, and increasingly exploitive and cheesy sequels (not to mention Tim Burton’s despised 2001 remake) would indicate.

Dig below the surface, particularly in the scripts written by Paul Dehn, and you will find a subversive subtext about the inherently cruel and destructive nature of man, and why the human race is not deserving of this planet.

The new Rise of the Planet of the Apes takes its cue from the origin story sequel of the original series, Conquest of the Planet of the Apes. Conquest was a low budget exploitation movie. It was a dark, violent piece of brooding science fiction. Rise is a different beast all together. Caesar is not the offspring of talking apes who time traveled back from the future in a space ship.

There is no science fiction in Rise. It takes place in the real world with real life scenarios and the apes in this movie are as real as the ones at your local zoo. And it will make you think about how those creatures are being treated. And how did they get there in the first place. Not to mention the innocent victims at the local lab being who spend their lives being tortured and tested. After all, how would you feel if you were abducted from you home and forced to live the rest of your life alone in a cage being poked and prodded.

If only there were a Caesar in real life.

Sometime soon the Academy needs to create a category for Best Performance by an Actor in a motion control role. Andy Serkis gives a mesmerizing and heartbreaking performance as Caesar.
Serkis, together with Weta’s seamless SFX, Amanda Silver’s and Rick Jaffa’s economical screenplay and Rupert Wyatt’s tight direction, they have created a new and sensational character.

There are moments in this film where you will want to leap out of your seat to aide Caesar and strike back at his human tormentors.

A word needs to be said about James Franco. He may be a lousy Oscar host, but is a fine actor. He is beautifully understated here. His relationship with Caesar and the family and home he creates for them are truly special to watch unfold in the film's terrific first act.

Director Rupert Wyatt is spot on with his shot selection and Thor composer Patrick Doyle delivers his second knockout score of the summer.

There are only two dishonest moments in this film. It is when there is an homage paid to the original film. They are forced and cheesy lines, but thankfully brief. This is an emotionally pitch perfect movie that does not need to resort to fanboy suckups.

Yes, there is action in Rise, including a spectacular final battle filmed on location on the Golden Gate Bridge.

But most of all, this is a character driven film. The relationship that develops between Will and Caesar is truly something special. It is pure movie magic. This is a film that resonates with deep emotion. It has heart and a lead character that will stay with you long after the credits have stopped rolling.

Rise of the Planet of the Apes is a deeply affecting work of popular art and the best film of 2011 so far.

Action Figure vs.Rush Becker

2011-07-26T07:41:00.000-07:00

An excerpt from the book Rise of the Bull Mongoni.

FADE IN:
INT. RADIO STATION/TELEVION STUDIO – DAY

Close-up of a fat faced LARGE MAN.
Streams of pulsating sweat race down his chubby face.
His beady eyes are filled with hate and fear.
Mostly fear.
Lots and lots of fear.

There is a black handled Cutless sword being pressed up against his squishy neck.

There is an ATHLETIC MAN holding the sword to the Large Man’s throat.

The Athletic Man is clad in a red Under Armor/Nike type painted on muscle shirt spandex superhero costume.

The Athletic Man’s dome and face are covered by a black mask and cowl. On the cowl is the symbol “AF” and an “Action Figure” logo in white font with a black outline.

The costume spandex painted on muscle shirt has the “AF” logo on the upper right shoulder.
The Action Figure Athletic Man’s arms and shoulders are ridiculously muscular.

Roadmaps of sprouting veins pulsate like hoses as he grips the sword…tighter and tighter…PRESSING it against the Large Man’s neck. Beneath the cowl and mask the Athletic man’s eyes are dark and focused.

The sword wielding Action Figure Athletic Man SPEAKS firmly into the ear of the Large Man.

ACTION FIGURE
So tell me Rush Becker, how does it feel? To at long last be held accountable for all the vile hate and lies that have made you the HNIC. I bet you don’t feel so powerful now, you murdering fuck.

The fear-filled eyes of Rush Becker motion over toward a security guard off to the right. It is a pleading look. It is the look of a coward and a bully who has at last finally been stood up to.

ACTION FIGURE
Someone once described you as the “head nigger in charge” of the conservative movement, and the inspiration of the rise of the new right. Myself, I prefer the term…hate spewing lying fuck piece of shit domestic terrorist… or even better yet…agent of evil. Well guess what pal? Your reign of terror ends NOW!

Outside the glass there are two security guards ready to roll.
They have their weapons DRAWN.

The handguns are COCKED, and POINTED directly at Action Figure.
The camera PULLS back to reveal a whole security team behind the glass.
All of them are LURCHING in the same ready to kill pose.
Quivering fingers on triggers -
Something bad is about to go down.

ACTION FIGURE
They can’t help you now. Yeah I know all about the bullet proof glass. Know thy enemy. Or as you like to say…wake up America! You just loved installing that bullet proof glass and bragging about on the air. Bet you don’t feel like such a smart celebrity fuck now do you?

Action Figure takes a moment and pauses dramatically.
He wants to savor the moment of his victory.
He watches with exhilaration as fear inspired dripping beads of sweat are oozing out of the toxin filled fiend, dripping down along his puffy face.

ACTION FIGURE
Teflon Rush. You better make sure Rush is on your side. This is a man who sells books by the tens of millions. This is the man people wait in line longer than the fucking Phantom menace to see. This is a man who leads armies. This is a man who Presidents fear. This is a man who has the probing tongues of Senators and Fortune 500 CEO’s jammed up his asshole. So bow for the Alter of Rush Becker or he will destroy you. Well guess what mother fucker?

Action Figure leans in and presses the sword tighter against Rush Becker’s neck.
A trickle of blood oozes out.
Action Figure reaches down and pulls out a pistol from inside a holster around Rush Becker’s rotund waist.

ACTION FIGURE
Fuck you. I bow to no one!

Action Figure keeps the blade close tight on Rush Becker’s throat.

ACTION FIGURE
Now, listen to me carefully, and try not to shit your pants you pathetic coward. You with me?

The quivering coward NODS yes as the river of toxic sweat POURS down his chubby face.

ACTION FIGURE
Open the chamber to the pistol. Empty out all the rounds, except for one.

Rush Becker does so with his shaking hands.

ACTION FIGURE
Now spin the chamber.

The hate spewing shock jock obeys the red and black clad muscled avenger.

ACTION FIGURE
Time for you and I to play a little game. You know, a showdown to see who the real head nigger in charge is here.

The hate jock continues to tremble in fear.
His eyes are bugging out like they are about to pop out of the sockets.

ACTION FIGURE
What’s the matter? You like guns. According to you anyone who does not carry around a loaded firearm is a pussy. So wachoo say tough guy. Let’s play.

Action Figure takes the pistol and buries it into his OWN temple.

ACTION FIGURE
Tell you what. I’ll even go first.

There is an eternal moment of tension.
Action Figure has his finger on the trigger.
He SQUEEZES it –
Then - CLICK
The chamber is empty.
Action Figure lives.

ACTION FIGURE
Now, your turn tough guy.

Rush Beckster shakes and cries.
Then he begs.
Then he grovels.

RUSH BECKSTER
Please, please, I’ll do anything.

Action Figure relishes the moment, but stays mindful of the drawn weapons on the other side of the glass.

ACTION FIGURE
So tell me Rush. Who is the head nigger in charge?

Rush Beckster is sobbing too hard to answer.

ACTION FIGURE Say it!

RUSH BECKSTER You, you…you…

ACTION FIGURE
And what am I?

RUSH BECKSTER
You are the head nigger in charge. You…you…you…

Rush Becker is shaking and sobbing even harder.
At long last he feels his own favorite weapon turned against him.
He feels fear.

Action Figure LEANS in closer to Rush Becker. He lowers the pitch and volume of his voice to an intense whisper.

ACTION FIGURE
Remember the words of Malcolm X, one of your heroes I am sure.

Action Figure pauses dramatically.
Then he bellows in a deadly serious tone.
ACTION FIGURE
Don’t you ever, ever, EVER, cross a man who ain’t afraid of dying.

Several more security guards spring onto the scene with weapons drawn.
This time the weapons are military grade machine guns.
A split second later a SWAT team swarms the studio and circles around the glass enclosed booth.
It looks hopeless.
Action Figure is doomed.
Then, the frame FREEZES.

Join the revolution and read more in Rise of the Bull Mongoni.

Copyright 2010 James J Caterino All Rights Reserved
James J Caterino (2010). Rise of the Bull Mongoni (pp. 6-7). iUniverse. Kindle Edition.
James J Caterino (2010). Rise of the Bull Mongoni (pp. 5-6). iUniverse. Kindle Edition.
James J Caterino (2010). Rise of the Bull Mongoni (pp. 4-5). iUniverse. Kindle Edition.
James J Caterino (2010). Rise of the Bull Mongoni (pp. 2-3). iUniverse. Kindle Edition.
James J Caterino (2010). Rise of the Bull Mongoni (p. 1). iUniverse. Kindle Edition.

Movies to read

2011-07-23T22:24:00.000-07:00

I love reading screenplays.

It was one of the first online activities I ever indulged in back circa 1994 when I launched myself into the then new frontier of cyberspace. I think it may have been Drew's Scrip-o-rama, or maybe one of its antecedents. It sparked a fire inside me to learn the craft. Which lead to writing them, which lead to books, which lead to this blog I am typing at this moment.

It is a good idea for all writers to read screenplays. Most who have done both novels and screenplays will say that scripts are far more difficult. But certainly it can argued the other way. One thing screenplays will teach for sure is discipline. Scripts all about are structure, structure, structure. Scripts are all about dialouge. Scripts are all about showing and not telling, and you have to show the reader an awful lot of story and character and action with very little page room to do it.

I also love reading novelizations of movies I like. Novelizing screenplays is a fascinating adaption in reverse process that fascinates me and is another hard to master discipline. Some writers are very good at this. Alan Dean Foster comes to mind.

This novelization of the 1983 David Cronenberg film Videodrome is very well done and was credited to "Jack Martin" which is pen name for the well regarded horror writer Dennis Etchison.

Here are a few images of some movies I love to read, both published screenplays and novelizations.

Older films and classic scripts are hard to read because the formatting was different and full of camera direction. And many movies are so director intensive and visual, they just don't make for satisfying reads. Examples would be the works of Stanley Kubrick, Brian De Palma, Dario Argento, Spike Lee, or Oliver Stone.

Many of my favorite screenplays are not available in published book form (that I am aware of anyway). But some I like to read (and study) regularly include Back to the Future, Falling Down, the various drafts of Total Recall, just about anything written by Paul Schrader, Bruce Joel Rubin, Lawrence Kasdan, Quentin Tarantino, Daniel Waters, or Shane Black.

Also James Cameron. Contrary to what his detractors say, this guy can write. He can nail a distinct character and put a fully formed visual in your head, or describe an action sequence as good as anyone I have read. One of the best movie novelizations is the Abyss by Orson Scott Card. It makes for a great double feature read along side Cameron's screenplay.

When it comes to effectively describing a sex scene, no one did it better than guilty pleasure maestro Joe Eszterhas.

This is a novelization of Basic Instinct by Richard Osborne that follows the original script tightly.

Eszterhas's profanity laced neo-noir screenplays always make for an entertaining read.

David Cronenberg is a brilliant writer and director.

This is the published screenplay of his adaption of J.G. Ballard's novel for the 1996 subversive film. Both are must reads.

Steven Spielberg is not known as a writer, but Close Encounters is an excellent screenplay ( The conspiracy aspect seems to have been inspired by an early uncredited and mostly unused draft by Paul Schrader). Spielberg also did a great job with the final screenplay to A.I., based on the work of Kubrick, Ian Watson, and the short story by Brian Aldiss.

Justice, Gunner Star style

2011-07-23T05:38:00.000-07:00

Caitlin Strikes Back, and Justice Gunner Star Style. Two dramatic readings of controversial scenes from Rise of the Bull Mongoni.

For the World is Hollow and I Have Touched the Sky

2011-07-19T20:23:00.000-07:00

A chapter from the femme fatale science fiction thriller She.

The found footage of She changed everything. It sped up the process. It propelled me further along. I was on the verge of something—something fantastic, some thing wonderful.

I spent the next several days indulging myself in a surreal state of gyrating imagery. The lines around me were beginning to blur. I thought about Troy Matheson. I thought about Rob Snow. Who was right—the crackpot dreamer or the cynical pragmatist?

I thought about time travel. What would it take to get back
there, to find her?

I wondered which reality was more “real,” the one around
me, or the addictive worlds of projected celluloid I created in the sanctity of the chamber.

I began wandering though my daily routine in such a semi-conscious, twilight state of mind that I often lost track of where I was and what I was doing.

“What the hell gives?” Kelly snapped during one of our routine I.C. Light beer commercial shoots.

She shoved the daily shot list in front of me to snap me out
of my daze.

Kelly was not amused by my escalating metal state of intense
preoccupation. She could sense my wavering stability. She had a flawlessly logical mind. No doubt, she would deduce that I had now become intensely focused on something other than the day-to-day operations of Super 8 Images.

And no doubt she would see it as an unacceptable threat to
the carefully cultivated and delicately structured life of suburban family bliss she had procured for herself.

“You need to spend more time interacting with real people
instead of video monitors and projected make believe,” Kelly
would preach as she scolded me.

Kelly was right, of course, from a practical and realistic viewpoint.

But that was a viewpoint to which I no longer could relate. I had neither the means nor even the desire to access it. My foray into filmmaking was a means to an end. It was a way to acquire a certain set of skills necessary for my journey, skills that I had long ago mastered and was now putting to a more practical use in the
chamber.

It was all about the search for She.

I existed on a different mental plane now, closer to Troy
Matheson’s world of lucid photons and free-flowing energy than I had ever been before. I was sur rounded by a mental carousal of self-created imagery, a soothing kaleidoscope of lurid, colorful worlds of wonder to which I had become addicted.

I rarely slept.

Even my regimented routine of six small meals a day had
become a haphazard diet of protein bars, apples, and even Nestle Crunch bars wolfed down quickly so that I could return to the task at hand.

Maybe if I spent enough time with the imagery of She, then
perhaps I could bring her to me. Maybe I could literally try to will her existence into my life.

Such were the thoughts of my manic imagination.

“Cousin, sometimes I think you’ve seen one movie too many,”
Harlan would often say to me.

I found myself losing track of all time and space as I spent
endless hours in the Anti-Reality Chamber, gorging myself on
the stimulation of flesh and celluloid, living vicariously in the projected alternate universes I had helped create.

It was only there that I felt truly alive.

It was only there that I could find the answers for which I was searching.

It was only there that I could find hope, a chance to recapture what I had touched, if only for a fleeting instant, in the moment She had taken my hand all those years ago.

In the increasingly difficult to navigate “real” world, I felt disconnected.

I felt numb.

I was lost, hopelessly adrift, and felt ill-equipped to function in a mundane world that was drowning in the frenetic pace and angst of its own hyper-ambitions. Only when I returned to the sanctity of the Anti-Reality Chamber was I able to get my bearings. Only there, in the isolation of my self-created cinema, did I not feel alone. Only there, surrounded by wall-sized projections of glorious escape, was I once again able to feel.

It was only there that I felt in touch with something greater than myself, a hand of fate making itself known, making me aware that I was not alone. Fate was there to guide me. It was all part of the plan.

I had a purpose. I had a quest. I had a destiny. I just needed to stay strong and see it all though to the end.

Read more about the search for She and journey back into the dark secrets of a forbidden past.

Above excerpt is from pages 78-80 of She by James J. Caterino
Copyright 2005, 2008, 2011
All Rights Reserved

You have not been selected

2011-07-17T08:51:00.000-07:00

We regret to inform you that you have not been selected.

You were passed over. You have been turned away. You have been rejected.

You are too smart but in ways that are useless, and perhaps even dangerous to our interests.

All we ask is that you work yourself to death day after day and be thankful you have a job. We will do the thinking for you. Remember, we have the power. We have the money.

You, well what do you have?

You are too old, too eccentric, too diverse, too smart, too damn aggressive, too physical. You are a loner who does not fit in. You are an outcast. You are a freak.

Why are you still breathing anyway.

In closing, we wish you the best of luck in your job search.

Sincerely,

Them

Read more and see what happens when a man with nothing to lose is pushed too far in...

Action Figure
God help anyone who stands in his way.

I am not economically viable, I am obsolete

2011-07-15T15:16:00.000-07:00

If ever there was a relevant time to rediscover a film, the time is now, and the film is 1993’s Falling Down. An insightful masterwork of well executed, stirring set pieces tied together by a haunting (and underrated) performance by Michael Douglas as Bill Foster, Falling Down is a film that provokes strong polarizing reactions.

It is a movie that holds up a mirror to the world around us. And not everyone will like what they see.

Falling Down tells the story of a distraught and recently displaced loner. The movie shares a similar structure and nihilistic tone to the book Action Figure.

Joel Schumacher is known today only as the persona non-grata who was demonized by fan boys everywhere for wrecking the Batman franchise before Christopher Nolan resurrected it in 2005. But back in 1993 Schumacher was a confident filmmaker at the top of his game and hot off of two artistic and commercial triumphs, The Lost Boys (1987) and Flatliners (1990).

Falling Down opens with a harrowing, brilliantly shot and executed sequence that sets the stage for Michael Douglas’s William “D-fens” Foster’s meltdown as he bursts out his car and says “I’m going home.”

Two standout scenes resonate long after the credits end and stay burned into the consciousness of the viewer.

The first is Bill Foster’s disturbing encounter with the homo-phobic racist neo-Nazi owner of an Army Surplus store. The scene is more terrifying and real today than ever before. One can easily imagine this neo-Nazi listening to Rush Limbaugh daily, worshipping at the altar of Glenn Beck, and showing up at the fringe extreme of a Tea Party rally.

The other unforgettable encounter is when Bill Foster hides out in the pool house of a plastic surgeon with the family of groundskeeper who he walked in on using the pool.

It is here that Bill Foster tries so desperately to connect to the idealized family he wants back but never really had. The scene is a showcase for the talents of Michael Douglas. The aching pain he makes us feel during a beautifully written monologue demonstrates why this film is Douglas’s best performance.

And speaking of writing, the screenplay by Ebbe Roe Smith is a brilliant portrayal of the hero’s journey in reverse. It is clean, precise storytelling at its most efficient and most effective.

It is interesting to note that the only sense of optimism is provided by the Prendergast character played by Robert Duvall. He is in many ways on the same journey as the Bill Foster character. But when Robert Duvall’s Prendergast goes on his “rampage” and punches out an annoying co-worker, tells off his nagging wife, and stands up to his bullying Police Captain boss ("fuck you very much Captain"), there is a sense of exhilaration for both the character and the audience.

Robert Duvall’s character will at last get to become the cop on the street and be re-united with his true love, his partner Rachel Ticotin. Her character is perhaps the only unselfish and truly likable character in a world of angry haters.

But unlike Bill Foster’s doomed fate, Prendergast’s redemption is Hollywood baloney and is quickly forgotten by the audience. What does linger in the mind is the disturbing sadness that resonates on the home video tape still playing on as the credits start to roll to James Newton Howard’s haunting music (one of the great unreleased soundtracks of all time).

A lost family from a past that never can be recaptured by a man who is no longer “economically viable”, and has no reason to go on. There really is no place in our society for a childless forty year old man who is “over-educated and under skilled”. So you might as well take on your enemies as they approach you one at a time until you end up floating in the water with a bullet in you. You are obsolete. You are not “economically viable”.

There is no place in this world for you. So why are you still breathing anyway?

Falling Down holds up a mirror to society around us and what we see is not pretty. But in an era when thirty million people hang on every word Glenn Beck and Michelle Bachmann say, the hate merchants dominate the airwaves and become overnight millionaires, and raging Tea Party Patriots and armed militias threaten to “take back their country”; it is a film that is more relevant than ever before.

I dare you

2011-07-12T15:50:00.000-07:00

Apparently the world I write about in the next Gunner Star book Gunner Star Lives, is frighteningly close to reality. And if the GOP successfully blows this economy up, or even simply keeps cutting us into a double dip recession, we may indeed be looking at President Michele Bachmann.

The next potential Commander in Chief's husband runs a so called "clinic" whose main purpose is to re-educate what the future first husband refers to as "barbarians". In the case below, he is referring to gay people. But one can easily imagine there would be many other potential candidates for this forced brainwashing program.

I am not gay. You have to just trust me on that. But I am a barbarian by any other measurement under the Bachmann Tea Party, radical right, social conservative alternate view of reality.

I understand science and anthropology and evolution and astrophysics so I believe the earth is older than 6000 years old. I know enough about climate science to understand climate change is real. I have an economics degree from a major university and worked in the world of Wall Street for 14 years. So I know enough to tell everything that comes out of Michelle Bachmann's mouth about the economy is absolute horseshit.

I watch movies and TV shows that would curl the hair of any true red blooded Tea Party fundemental conservative.

And oh yeah, when it comes to all invisible man in the sky stuff (like the one who talks to Bachmann and Palin and Beck and etc. etc. etc...) I believe it is a personal choice what you believe and that is should not be part of the state. You know, kinda like it says in the Constitution that the Tea Party supposedly holds sacred. They tend to forget about that whole separation of church and state thingy.

So yeah, and you bet I am a barbarian. Fuck yeah!

I am a barbarian bastard and proud of it.

So I have a message to those from the Bachmann camp or anyone else who wants to try re-educate this barbarian bastard.

Try it. I dare you. Go on try it.

I dare you. Please try it. Come and try to whisk me away to one of your Christian re-education centers.

Give me the excuse I need to to split your skull with the blade of my Cutlass.

I dare you. I double dare you mother fucker.

Top three on my Fight Club list

2011-07-10T15:25:00.000-07:00

You know the deal.

To paraphrase from the David Fincher film based on the Chuck Palahuniuk book; if you could fight anyone you wanted, who would you fight?

My top three right now on this ever changing wish list are the following:

Chris Christi, Governor of New Jersey

The entire basis of the Bull Mongoni philosophy of Gunner Star, Action Figure, and Rise of the Bull Mongoni is anti-Bully. Nothing makes my blood boil more and sends me into a barbaric rage than the mere thought of a despicable bully.

Chris Christi loves to prove what a tough guy he is by turning down federal money for the state's crumbling roads and bridges, trying to bust unions, intimidating school teachers, and cutting funds for environmental safety and public schools.

But at the same time he insists on using taxpayer funds for personal indulgences by having a Homeland Security helicopter fly him and his and wife to a little league game. He also has a tax payer funded limo drive him and his wife less that one hundreds yards.Christi loves to choke money out of education and environmetal programs, but apparently the fat fuck has no probelm using state funds rather than walk less than a hundred yards across a parking lot like us common folk.

Chris Christi can be best summed up by his response to the same question by two different people.

When a poor little lady asked him why he sends his kids to private schools and keeps cutting funds for public schools, the rotund Governor exploded with a mean-spirited nasty rage.

"None of your business," he snapped in his best Tony Soprano fake mafioso tough guy voice. He practically tore her head off.

A few days later Christi was an in studio guest on the Morning Joe program on MSNBC. Let us give a Bull Mongoni salute to Joe Scarborough who went at him right away with the same exact question.

Of course Christi cowered like a baby. He was sweet as pie and actually answered the question in a submissive tone. Funny isn't it, how when a bully is confronted with a formidable foe, they always reveal themselves to be the coward, fear-filled, baby pussies they really are.

As for the fight itself,. I would take him seriously because of his ultra obese size. A big man, even when he is soft as a jelly donut, can always be dangerous. So I would stay outside and pick him apart with quick strikes until he was exhausted. Then move in, finish it and make him cry "kregar" which is surrender in Bull Mongoni.

Donald Trump

What can I say about Donald Trump that was not already exposed during his recent fake Presidential bid. Of all the weak things and cowering to the right Obama has done, he almost made up for it all with by destroying Trump at that Correspondence dinner.

"The Donald" may be the most self centered obnoxious born with a silver spoon fortune in his mouth arrogant prick of our time, but hey, at least we now know that he has "always had a great relationship with the blacks."

As for the fight itself, I would take great pleasure in absolutely embarrassing this phony tough guy. It would be easy to end the fight quickly. One smack in the face and Trump would squeal and sob like the pussy coward he is. But I would take my time, make the fight last, and relish every second of humiliating this real life Gunner Star/Action Figure villain.

Donald Trump is a punk.

Dylan Ratigan, The Dylan Ratigan Show MSNBC

As any Fight Club fan knows, it is not about winning the fight. It is about getting to know who you are and how can you know anything about yourself if you never lost a fight. I learned more about myself when I got my ass beat in a 1983 brawl than I ever did from any victorious street fracas.

I like Dylan Ratigan. He is non-ideological and closer to my own political and economic sensibilities than any other cable news host. He is from the real world, and the world of Wall Street where I too spent fourteen years in an industry where someone would "cut your balls off" for a nickel. Dylan knows the real reason behind all of our problems. The game is rigged and that is why we are fucked. And the only way to get unfucked is to derigg the game, which will never happen.

Dylan Ratigan is the only cable news host who tells is like it is. He is also the only cable news host who could kick my ass.

He reminds me of one of my football coaches in college. Just by watching him you know this guy has some Bull Mongoni in him. This is not a man you want to piss off. . And he looks big too. My guess is 6'4" and maybe 250lbs.

He would be formidable indeed and I would enjoy the challenge of engaging him in a balls to the wall fierce battle of flesh and fury. And I would learn something about myself in the process.

The Experiment

2011-07-09T21:46:00.000-07:00

A simmering passage from the femme fatale science fiction thriller She.

Valerie had a wicked buzz by the time we returned to the Cinema
360. We had been out to dinner at the Riverside Barge, a chic
new eatery down on the water front. Afterwards, we stopped off
at the Voodoo Lounge, currently the hot, downtown nightspot in
the strip.

I wanted Valerie now more than ever.
Maybe it was her connection to Corrina. Maybe I somehow
saw her as a way to physically connect with the long-harboring
obsessions, a way to make the metaphysical real.

Maybe it was just plain lust.

I could not explain it. I could only feel it. I didn’t want to
analyze it. I only wanted to act on it. Emotion was the key to
it all—pure, primitive, real emotion. I was desperately hoping
that last night’s dramatic revelations had not done any thing to
dampen Valerie’s wellspring of libido.

The sparks of physical attraction she seemed to radiate were
unlike anything I had ever encountered before. Just being in
her presence would stir deep-seeded, primal lust in any man (or
woman for that matter), and after a long night of being with her
and just talking, staring, and imagining, I was insane with wanton
desire.

I didn’t waste any time.

As soon as we closed the door behind us, I groped for her like a savage.

Emotion was the key to it all—pure, primitive, real emotion.
When my mouth made contact with hers, my tongue met the
barrier of her sealed lips. I persisted, moving my hands up along
the soft sheen of her lean thighs, stroking my fingers up under her
skirt and around the back to the baby softness of her bare ass.

I went to kiss her again, but this time her mouth opened up
to mine.

I began to feel the kindling of passion and desire rising up
inside her; a passion and desire that had nearly overwhelmed me
last time we were together. But this time was different. This time
she was not focused. This time she was holding back. This time
her flesh did not respond to my touch.

I had to find a way to ignite her passion, a way to recapture
the magic of our night together last week. I wanted her. I needed
her. I had to have her. Every thing depended on it.

That’s when it suddenly hit me, a way take it all to the next
level. (“The more intense the emotion, the greater the access.”) It
was time for me to implement my new strategy.

“Want to try a few things?” I asked.

I motioned to the Anti-Reality Chamber behind her.
As soon as I began presenting the risqué fantasy, Valerie was
in character before I could finish the saying the words.
Based on the bizarre role-playing game she had lead me into
on our last encounter, it was probably what she was trying to
goad me into earlier anyway. Everybody had a secret fetish, a
dark desire that was forbidden and yet so arousing that the mere
thought of it tapped into powerful, primitive drives of the id.

Apparently, I had stumbled upon Valerie’s.

Tonight, we would spur our animal passions to life by once
again playing out the story beats of Valerie’s lurid fantasy scenario.
Only this time we would take it further—much further.
(“The more intense the emotion, the greater the access.”) This
would be the first true test of Matheson’s theories.

Read more about the search for She and journey back into the dark secrets of a forbidden past.

Copyright 2005, 2008, 2011 James J Caterino All Rights Reserved
Above excerpt is from pages 118-119 of She, Chapter 23 "The Experiment".

Regarding J.J.

2011-07-08T21:31:00.000-07:00

I recently watched the Harrison Ford starring Mike Nichols directed 1991 film Regarding Henry. I remember seeing it in the theater back in 1991, being really moved by it, and including it on my Best Ten list of that year.

It was wonderful rediscovering it. Understated direction by Mike Nichols, superb on location NYC cinematography, and one of Harrison Ford's most versatile roles where he gets to play outside of his normal stoic range and pulls it off quite nicely.

Annette Bening is terrific as his wife. Her engaging performance in this film, as her character fights to hold it together in the aftermath of a tragedy, demonstrates why she is one of the great underrated actresses of the past twenty years. She owns every scene she is in with her very presence alone in an old school movie star kind of way.

But the true heart of this film is their twelve year old daughter Rachel Turner played with Fanning like realism by Mikki Allen. For it is she who moves the emotional arc forward of not only her parents, but the movie itself. There is is also a wonderful character named Bradley who serves as the Henry's mentor is the classic Hero's Journey fashion. He is played with charismatic warmth by the Pittsburgh born character actor Bill Dunn.

Two great joys about seeing this movie again:

One was the beautiful score by Hans Zimmer.

Zimmer is a composer best known for his uber cool Oscar nominated strains of Inception and his massive testosterone sonic blasts for movies like Crimson Tide, The Peace Keeper, and The Dark Knight. But Regarding Henry shows a subtle, original voice that proves Zimmer can create deep emotional music as well. I will be hunting down a copy of this long out of print soundtrack to add to my collection.

The second joy was the discovery that this movie was written by none other that J.J Abrams. And it shows because the one trademark that is unmistakable in all of Abrams' work... Lost, Fringe, Star Trek, and especially Super 8... is that is expertly paced and emotionally involving.

I am officially putting Regarding Henry into my Overlooked and Underrated Hall of Fame.

There is a great cover story about J.J Abrams in the current issue of Creative Screenwriting.

Gunner Star vs. the Big Oil Mafia

2011-07-07T19:31:00.000-07:00

A dramatic excerpt from a wickedly intense controversial scene in the new action packed Gunner Star book Rise of the Bull Mongoni.

INT. GUNNER’S LAIR – BASEMENT – DAY

Gunner and Caitlin lead Tyrone down a winding staircase into the darkness.

The staircase ends and there it is before them -

A desktop, plasma screens, monitors, shelves of video and film making gear –
The entire cavernous cellar is sprawling workstation of low tech/high tech geekdom wonder.

A monitor clicks on and shows images of the GULF OIL SPILL.

The live cam of the nonstop spewing poison from the floor of the ocean below –

Images of dying birds soaked in oil –
The bodies of innocent dolphins suffocated in black poison as they wash up on shore
Oil soaked wetlands –
Destroyed beaches –
Distraught fisherman crying –
Shots of devastated families whose lives are forever destroyed -
The handiwork of Dick Cheney and his mafia of oil goons -

CAITLIN
Someone needs to pay for this. There must be justice.

GUNNER STAR
And there will. Starting today!

Gunner clicks on another monitor.
It is showing DICK CHENEY with his arms around an OIL EXECUTIVE.

GUNNER STAR
This was right after the so called “secret energy summit” that evil Sith Lord mother fucker had in 2000. He left with a thirty-four million dollar check in his hands and he promised to take care of his boys once he got in the White House.

CAITLIN
And did he ever!

GUNNER STAR
Yeah, you bet he did. Now follow me my friends. I have a very special surprise for the two of you. Very special indeed!

Gunner leads them into the back corner of the cavernous basement.

THE BACK OF THE BASEMENT -
He motions for them to follow him down another staircase.

It is steep, and dark, and endless.

Finally they arrive at a STEEL TRAP DOOR.
Gunner opens the door and leads them down a long tunnel.

TYRONE (V.O)
Turns out Gunner’s lair was remodeled from an old break room that sat right next to the heart of the steel mill. And underneath there was a maze of old transportation mines and tunnels, endless secret passageways and hidden rooms that held dark secrets.

They enter through another tunnel that opens up to massive INDUSTRIAL CHAMBER.
Right in the middle of it is a giant lake of something dark.
Something dark that looks a lot like oil.

A muffled SCREAM is coming from the back of the chamber.

There is a man gagged and a tied to medieval looking torture chair.

GUNNER STAR
Meet Lester Toxin. No really, I am not fucking with you. That is really his name. And Lester is the man who ran that secret energy summit in 2000. Lester is the man who who gave us Dick Cheney. Lester is the man who hand picked each and every member of the MMS. And last but not least…

Gunner walks over to the table.
He picks up a laptop turns it on, and pulls up a video clip.
It is Lester Toxin in the studio with Rush Beckster.
It is during commercial break and apparently the tool does not realize he is being recorded.

LESTER TOXIN
Rush, I am so honored you would have me on here. All of us appreciate what you are doing for us. I just had to deal with some environmental bleeding heart pussies up at our Alaska sites. Hell, I’d love to have a go at that whole state, and wipe out every Polar Bear there is, and drill right through their asses, so we can all keep making money, and a lot more of it. And with your help, before long we will get Alaska and anything else we fucking want. Keep up the good work my friend.

Rush is beaming with insipid pride as the Oil Barron strokes his ego and bows to the altar of Rush.

Gunner freezes the video. There is a demonic smile on the face of both Rush, and his adoring fan, the man they have sitting in custody before them.

GUNNER STAR
I think that gives you a pretty good idea who Lester Toxin is. And one other little other tidbit before we get the party cranked up here.

Gunner works the laptop and brings up an AUDIO CLIP.
It is the VOICE of Lester Toxin on a radio talk show.

LESTER TOXIN
Look, water boarding is not torture, and really it is not a big deal.

SHOCK JOCK
Would you go through it? Volunteer I mean?

LESTER TOXIN
In a second. Just to prove my point. We have all gotten a mouthful of water while swimming. Same thing. No big deal. Except for liberal pussies with a communist agenda that is.

Gunner marches toward the medieval chair, loosens the gag, and looks Lester Toxin right in the eye.

GUNNER STAR
Looks like Lester here has set the dance card for the evening. Time to get this party started.

To see what happens next read more about the anti-hero Gunner Star in the riveting action adventures Gunner Star and Rise of the Bull Mongoni available at bookstores everywhere.

James J Caterino (2010). Rise of the Bull Mongoni (p. 62). iUniverse. Kindle Edition.
James J Caterino (2010). Rise of the Bull Mongoni (pp. 61-62). iUniverse. Kindle Edition.

James J Caterino (2010). Rise of the Bull Mongoni (pp. 60-61). iUniverse. Kindle Edition.

James J Caterino (2010). Rise of the Bull Mongoni (p. 60). iUniverse. Kindle Edition.
James J Caterino (2010). Rise of the Bull Mongoni (pp. 59-60). iUniverse. Kindle Edition.

James J Caterino (2010). Rise of the Bull Mongoni (p. 59). iUniverse. Kindle Edition.

James J Caterino (2010). Rise of the Bull Mongoni (pp. 58-59). iUniverse. Kindle Edition.

James J Caterino (2010). Rise of the Bull Mongoni (p. 58). iUniverse. Kindle Edition.

Confessions of a magazine junkie

2011-07-06T21:33:00.000-07:00

I admit I have a serious obsessive compulsive disorder when it comes to magazines.

For as long as I can remember, the colorful racks of newsstands were like crack to me. I spent many days of my youth, and adulthood, roaming for hours among the strategically placed glossy covers of four color crack. Packages designed to lure me in with the promise of something new, or exciting, or secretive, or sexier than anything I had going on in the mundane banality of real life.

And lure me in they did.

I never was one to stand there lumbering over a newsstand like a derelict (or in today's world sitting in a Barnes and Noble). To me that was somehow cheating the writers and photographers and illustrators who worked so hard to create the crack I so desperately craved. If I see a magazine I like, I simple must possess it. I must take it home where I can drink in the articles and relish the imagery and artwork over and over to satisfy my fix.

If I were asked the infamous Katie Couric question "what magazines and newspapers do you read", unlike a certain thin-skinned, vapid, vindictive, ignorant, fraudulent, greedy, hate mongering, lying, former half-Governor, I would have plenty to say.

Many of the publications I have obessed over are no longer around such as the Frederick S. Clarke edited Cinefantastique, by far the best genre magazine ever created. Others are so dry and technical...The Economist, American Cinematographer, The New England Journal of Medicine...they would bore most sane people to death.

Bottom line, the magazines a person reads reveal alot about who they really are. And in my case, that might not be such a good thing.

Below are a few of the more colorful magazines I have sitting at arms length from this keyboard right now.

Gunner Star Lives

2011-07-02T13:12:00.000-07:00

A sneak peek at Gunner Star Lives, the follow up to Gunner Star and Rise of the Bull Mongoni and the final book in the Gunner Star Trilogy. Gunner Star's next adventure is set in the near future after the election of a radical right lunatic fringe President. It is a place of dark oppression, a world where those who are considered "Godless" and "Anti-American" are targeted.

Fade in

EXT. suburban neighborhood - day

A car pulls into a driveway. The car has a custom NASA plate and a bumper sticker that reads SCIENCE WILL SAVE THE PLANET.

A MAN IN A WHITE SHIRT AND TIE MAN steps out of the car.
Thick glasses, flat top buzz cut, like he just finished giving a lecture on rocket propulsion.

He pulls his briefcase out of the car, turns around to take a step...

His path is blocked by a mob of angry neighbors.

There are dozens of them, men and woman of various ages.
Some are holding shovels.
A few are clenching baseball bats.

One is gripping a glock handgun.
They are armed.
They are angry.

They begin to circle in on the Nasa Man.

A seething, hideous TROLL of a woman steps forward.
The TROLL LADY is the leader of the hate-filled mob.

TROLL LADY
Here in Arcadia we worship God and shun all those who would dare work in the name of the false Pagan beliefs.

The Nasa Man seems familiar with this routine of harassment.

NASA MAN
And I will tell you again. I am a scientist. It has nothing to do with religion or gods and stay out of my business and away from my family. You have no right to tell me what to believe, in America we have the right to religious freedom and...

A lumbering REDNECK GOON lunges forward and slams Nasa Man up onto the hood of his car.

REDNECK GOON
You want freedom? I'll give you the freedom to die and burn in hell you devil worshipping secular fascist commie.

The WIFE of Nasa Man opens the front door and is CRYING hysterically. She screams.

WIFE OF NASA MAN
Leave him alone! What's wrong with you people?

Nasa Man is still in the clutches of the filthy paws of the Redneck Goon.

His wife tries to run to him, crying for them to let him go.

She is immediately met by a SNEERING FAT WOMAN and a TALL MAN in a hunting jacket and hat.

Sneering Fat Woman and Tall move in on Nasa Man's Wife.

They Grab her.

They SLAM her to the ground.

They begin to BEAT HER...and beat her...

The sounds of fists and clubs against flesh and bone ECHO across the front yard.

Two SMALL CHILDREN are watching the sickening mayhem from a window inside the house.

TROLL LADY
You were warned for the last time non-believers. It is has been decided that we must now enforce the word of God.

A SCOWLING CHUBBY FACED WOMAN takes a roundhouse swing of a baseball bat. It SMASHES across the skull of Nasa Man sending a THUD into the air.

An screaming MAN IN A GLENN BECK T-SHIRT pulls out a knife and plunges it into the chest of Nasa Man.

Blood slowly SPRAYS up into the air inciting the Mob to the next level of murderous blood lust.

Troll Lady looks on with gleeful delight.

TROLL LADY
God's will must be done. Our children must be protected from the evil ideas of non-believers. Secular fascism science is the work of the devil. The only laws are the laws of the bible and they shall be enforced.

The sadistic beating goes on and on...
Until Nasa Man and his wife are left lying on the street as lifeless bloody corpses.

TROLL LADY
Get in there and get those children. Deliver them to the CRC for orientation. They can still be saved if they can be properly re-educated in the word of God.

Dissolve to:

EXT. HILLSIDE - RIVER BANK - DAY

We move in on railroad tracks.
Tracking shot up along the railroad.
Abandoned Steel Mill looming next to a river.

INT. ABANDONED STEEL MILL- DAY

A massive cathedral of iron and rust.

Streaming light from a dusty sky windows cut down into the dark chamber illuminating a work area far below.

Move in - down into the fortress of rust and steel
A set of monitors glows amid the ghostly industrial cavern.
Computers...a work table...
An ominous looking METAL TORTURE CHAIR with chains and shackles -
A mix of high tech and low tech.

There is a an IMPOSING FIGURE moving about the work area.

It is a man named GUNNER STAR

At first, we see him only from behind -
A living statue of hard sculpted flesh emerging from the shadows.
Clad in black fatigue pants and a white Action Figure shirt that appears painted on his armor of sinewy flesh.
He is intensely focused working a touch screen in one hand and a computer mouse on the other.
He looks up at one of the monitors.

On the monitor -

PRESIDENT MICHELE LECHER steps out from behind a massive Tea Party emblem.
She stares slightly off to the right of the camera as she addresses the television and internet audience.
There is no media in room. Only fellow Tea Party enablers and several heavily armed sinister goons.
A fearsome HENCHMAN stands by her side. He looks like a clone of Steve "Stone COLD" Austin of WWF fame.

Gunner takes notice of this Henchman and shakes his head. This is a man he knows.

PRESIDENT LECHER
My fellow Americans. My fellow children of God.

Her blank robotic stare is made all the more creepy by the fact she does not seem to know where the camera is. The attractive, yet sinister leader continues to stare off to the right side of the screen as she speaks.

PRESIDENT LECHER
When the American people spoke and elected me as the voice of our great nation, they also elected the voice of God. Because as our founding fathers said, this was intended to be a nation of God. A land for true Christian believers. A place where we could be free to preach and live the word of God as told to us by him in the bible.

Gunner Star watches a SECOND MONITOR playing a newscast.

On monitor 2 -

REPORTER
A bible study group of Christian citizens bravely took matters into their own hands and challenged a gang of fascist secular extremists who posed a grave danger and continually harmed the children of the peaceful community by promoting radical ideas about evolution and climate change.

On monitor 2-

A digitally altered photo of NASA Man that makes him look like a deranged serial killer.
Gunner Star watches with intensity. He clenches his fist. An vascular river of flesh swells across his forearm.

On monitor 1 -

PRESIDENT LECHER
And when we are threatened right here on our own soil by the evil cancer of those who do not believe and try to spread the false lies of Pagan gods and elite thinking, it puts all Americans in danger. So we need to take action as Americans.

Gunner Star marches over to another work bench.

He straps on a black combat vest form fitted to his swollen sculpted torso like a second skin.

On Monitor 2 -

REPORTER
And we just want to grab a quick word with the hero of the day here in Arcadia. A true believer with the courage to stand up for the word of God.

TROLL LADY
Poisonous ideas that contradict the bible will not be tolerated in a fine Christian community. We have to fight to protect our children so we can raise them with the word of God. And here in Arcadia we support President Lecher and her effort to root out all the secular fascists who are anti-America and go against our founding fathers.

Gunner grabs a Cutlass broadsword from the work bench. His thick back muscles flair out and ripple as he hoists the sword and CUTS it through the air with frightening intensity.

On monitor 1 -
PRESIDENT LECHER
And so we must use the special Christian Peace Force that I created, to go into our neighborhoods and separated the pro-Americans, from the anti-Americans. This is the only way we can protect our children.

Gunner Star snatches a wooden Fight Stick from the work bench.

SWOOSH -
An instant later the tip of the stick strikes the power button to off, silencing the hate-filled call to arms of President Lecher and the Troll Lady.

Gunner swings the Cutlass broadsword over one shoulder, the fight stick over the other, then marches out into the darkness.

Copyright 2004, 2010, 2011 James J. Caterino and Gunner Star Productions All Rights Reserved

Top five most moving Spielberg moments

2011-07-01T17:44:00.000-07:00

Damn you Spielberg. You got me again with that War Horse trailer.

There is just something about the way Steven Spielberg directs, or more specifically the combination of Steven Spielberg imagery and John Williams music. It seduces you. It calls to you. It draws you in and somehow bypasses all of the built up cynical armor in normally cold-hearted bastards like me.

It cuts right to the main artery of unfiltered raw emotion.

I vividly recall seeing E.T. for the third time in 1982. It was at the end of football camp my freshman year and I was with a group of players. These were testosterone stoked freaks, seriously tough guys. And let’s just say the film worked quite well. Everyone in the theater that night was as emotionally involved with a movie as I have seen before or since.

The bearded one’s career has had several peaks followed by periods where it looked like his best work was far behind him and his skills were on the wane like a Hall of Fame quarterback creeping up on 40 years of age.

The most recent such peak for me was his creative explosion of 2001-2002. He directed one of the most fascinating films of all time, the deeply moving (and deeply polarizing) A.I. Artificial Intelligence. Spielberg followed that up with two more masterworks the next year; Minority Report, arguably one of the best science fiction film since Blade Runner, and the highly enjoyable, breezy Catch Me If You Can.

Then came a serious decline with three big letdowns. Dakota Fanning was fantastic in War of the Worlds, but the whole 9-11 parable felt forced and phoney. I hated the Tim Robbins character. And the movie has one of the most brutal blatant ripoff visual effect set pieces I have ever seen, a sequence that comes right of the Abyss almost shot for shot.

Next was the pretentious Oscar bait, Munich. Artificially arty and dull. And the less said about Indy 4 the better.

The majestic War Horse trailer was such a revelation to me because I had written Spielberg off years ago and figured the closest thing I would ever get to experiencing Spielberg magic again would be via proteges such as J.J. Abrams in homages like the superb Super 8.

But as soon as I hit play and that trailer started and the sounds of John Williams reached inside me as the imagery unfolded, I began to feel something. Something from the past. Something wonderful. I began to think that maybe the old Spielberg magic was still alive after all.
　
We will find out in December if War Horse can live up to the promising trailer and the legacy of its legendary director. In the meantime, let’s take a look back into some iconic emotional moments of the man who once said, "I dream for a living."

My top five most moving Spielberg directed moments.

Over the Moon - E.T. 1982

The first time E.T. lifts Elliot and his bike into the sky, it becomes their moment and ours, and one that will live on forever.

Signing - Close Encounters of the Third Kind 1977

The spectacular finale when the Francois Truffaut character finally gets to realize his lifelong dream and stand before beings from another world; it feels like witnessing a religious event.

If you were there on that Thanksgiving weekend in November of 1977, you know exactly what I am talking about.

Cadillacs of the Skies - Empire of the Sun 1987

A young Christian Bale running across the rooftop of the prison camp trying to reach up into the air and touch God.

I get chills just thinking about the first time I saw this scene.

Reunion - The Color Purple 1985

When two long lost sisters finally re-unite with a beautifully mounted dolly shot set to the heartbreaking Sisters theme (by Quincy Jones in John Williams mode), the film gets an orgasmic emotional release that only Spielberg pull off.

The film garnered 11 Academy Award nominations but a spiteful Academy denied one to Spielberg. Still might be the worst Best Director snub in Oscar history

Resurrection - A.I. 2001

The combination of Kubrick's cold existential intellectualistism and Spielberg's emotional spiritualism makes for a facinating experience.

The entire final 20 minute act of A.I. is among the most deeply affecting pieces of cinema I have ever experienced. Haunting and achingly sad.

More random stuff from my bookshelf, non-fiction

2011-06-25T15:29:00.000-07:00

I love the art of cinematograpy. In another universe I am a director.

Superbly organized with eye catching graphs and pictures and loaded with tons of fascinating and useful information.

Might be a bit dry and technical for non-film school types.

Insightful, scholarly analysis of my favorite film.

A must own for Croneberg fans, this book is packed with behind the scenes information, interviews and great pictures.

Written by film scholar and genre expert extraordinaire Tim Lucas.

I have an endless fascination/obsession with the Roswell incident and the UFO phenomenon. This is one of the most thorough, serious, investigative books about the famed 1947 incident I have read.

Colorful, comprehensive guide to help feed my addiction for lurid pulp paperbacks.

I love these pop culture philosophy books, especially this Blackwell series, and I am a huge Battlestar Galactica fan.

So say we all.

A page turning tale about the rise of a powerful Sith Lord, except it is real.

A fascinating and frightening portrait of evil.

Super cool mainstream physics book along the lines of the works of Michio Kaku.

The perfect gift to give someone from the Michele Bachmann anti-science crowd who insist the earth is only 6000 years old crowd.

Random stuff from my bookshelf

2011-06-24T12:16:00.000-07:00

Check out the killer cover painting by the legendary master Frank Frazetta.

There may been better Conan ripoffs during the Frazetta inspired Robert E. Howard Sword and Sorcery boom of the late 60's and 70's, but the Brak the Barbarian series was my favorite.

John Jakes could always be counted on to craft a well structured, seductively readable adventure with colorful action. I also read some his Kent Family Chronicles historical soap opera novels and few of his old science fiction pulps, Timgate was one if memory serves.

David Goodis was one of the old master hard boiled noir writers and his stuff might have been the bleakest of them all.

The entire Hard Case Crime series is terrific and feature new covers done in vintage pulp style of the masters.

This novel is a fascinating character study in bleakness. At the same time there is a riveting, primal sexual tension simmering underneath every word.

Cover art is by Glen Orbik

I went on a Star Wars extended universe binge in the mid 90's and next to the outstanding X-Wing series by Michael A. Stackpole and Aaron Allston, the Bounty Hunter trilogy books are my favorite.

Many fans were put off by K.W. Jeter's emotionally distant, hard edged style. But the cyberpunk author is the perfect writer to flesh out the cult character Boba Fett and to tell what is essentially an old school hard-boiled gangster story set between the the events in Empire and Jedi.

Cover art by Steve Youll.

I have a voracious appetite for these sleazy paperback pulps of the 60's and their addictive covers, especially those published by Midwood .

The best ones are by Sloan Brittain (whose real name was Elaine Williams, a tragic figure and a brilliant writer), and Joan Ellis (Julie Ellis, who went on to be a huge success in mainstream romance and historical fiction).

Many of the books in this genre are very well written, and always entertaining.

Cover art by Paul Radar.

J.G. Ballard's Crash is considered avante-guarde shock fiction, as is the hypnotic 1996 film adaption by David Cronenberg. But both are really visionary works of science fiction exploring the implications of technology and how it changes us, literally molding with our flesh. Eerie, edgy, fascinating, and strangely erotic.

Fans of the author Chuck Palahniuk and filmmaker David Lynch might what to check out the works of Ballard.

Taken, the original Spielberg, Fanning project

2011-06-22T16:22:00.001-07:00

It makes perfect sense Elle Fanning's career will explode after her amazing performance in the J.J. Abrams directed Spielberg/Amblin production Super 8. Elle's superbly talented sibling Dakota did likewise when her career ignited after her other worldly appearance in Taken.

Taken was an Emmy and Golden Globe Award winning mini-series that aired on the Sci-Fi (now SyFy of course) Channel over ten nights in December 2002, and is available on DVD.

Taken was created by Leslie Bohem who creatively combines modern U.F.O mythology with the epic family soap opera mini-series format and sets it against a backdrop of real post war American History. The saga begins in WWII with the appearance of the "foo fighter" U.F.Os, and moves on to cover Roswell, Project Paperclip Nazi scientists, the abduction phenomenon, all of it told through the eyes of two American families.

The saga begins in WWII with the appearance of the "foo fighter" U.F.Os and moves on to cover Roswell, Project Paperclip Nazi scientists, and the abduction phenomenon. All of it told in sprawling style through the eyes of two American families spanning over three generations and fifty years. Although it has elements of The X-FIles and Spielberg's classic 1977 film Close Encounters of the Third Kind, what made Taken unique was the fresh approach of Bohem and Spielberg. Think of it as a Roots, or The Thorn Birds for the genre fans and UFO buffs.

As with any Spielberg/Amblin production, the technical credits are superb, especially the music by Laura Karpman. But more importantly the story is captivating and emotionally involving. All of the performances are first rate, and Dakota Fanning's appearance is truly memorable and takes the mini-series to a whole new level.

Three scores, one year, one composer

2011-06-21T17:18:00.000-07:00

Three of my favorite soundtracks are all from the year 1998 and feature the music of James Horner in one his most prolific periods.

Deep Impact is Horner at his melodramatic best. One outstanding track, "The Wedding" became a mainstay of Horner's musical arsenal for the next decade.

The Mask of Zorro is an immensely entertaining old school adventure and features one of James Horner's most exciting and orignal scores. A top five Horner soundtrack and a must own for film music fans.

Might Joe Young is one of the most underreted James Horner scores and in many ways is the most direct percursor (along with The New World) to his epic work for Avatar. A lush, exciting, energetic soundtrack, it has a moving main theme/love theme and exciting action music. My favorite African flavored score.

Caitlin's Revenge

2011-06-21T16:10:00.000-07:00

A dramatic reading from Rise of the Bull Mongoni.

24 meets Falling Down in Action Figure

2011-06-20T07:54:00.000-07:00

Action Figure

The words spun around my aching brain in an endless loop
as I marched through the dense heat of the urban brush.
"You're too nice a guy Jackson."
That may have been true before this morning.
But as of 9:17 AM this morning, the moment Fat Head's
nightstick rocked my dome, I started to transform into something
else--something primal, something strong, and in many
ways, something long overdue.
A sleeping giant of buried rage had been awoken.
I thought about Tarmok and the rage of the Bull Mongoni.
The barbarian within me had taken over, this time for good.
I began too feel pity for anyone who dared stand in my way
as I began my dark journey of escape.
I am Wes Jackson.
I am ignorant in the Hollywood Barbell Club sense of the word.
Wes Jackson Lives.

It's all about who you know.
It's all about networking.
It's all about who is the best bold-faced liar.
It's all about listening to your instinct when it screams run.

Gunner Star Speaks

2011-06-19T15:54:00.000-07:00

A passage from Rise of the Bull Mongoni by James J Caterino

INT. GUNNER’S LAIR – NIGHT

The basement has been converted into a makeshift studio.

Caitlin is holding a high-end prosumer video camera on a steadicam.
The camera is wired up to the workstation. She carefully lights and frames Gunner Star who is standing before her.

Behind Gunner a draped poster with the red stylized logo: “Rise of the Bull Mongoni” Gunnner stands tall, dressed in a black Action Figure shirt. His muscles and veins look explosive.

He glares into the camera and his voice booms across the basement as the internet feed goes LIVE. The commanding image of Gunner Star is now radiating from all the monitors in the room.

In the corner of the monitor next to the address www.Gunnerstar.com there is COUNTER flickering numbers that keep getting higher and higher as more people log on to the feed. 250,000…500,000…750,000…then finally a million…then more and more…

GUNNER STAR
My Bull Mongoni brother and sisters. As I broadcast to you here live on this summer night, we are the cusp of something wonderful. Something we have all trained our entire lives for. And indeed, something that has been in the making for more than five thousand years when the last of the great Bull Mongoni were exterminated by the Homo sapiens.

Gunner pauses dramatically, milking the tension, allowing the log-in counter to pass 1.5 million and still counting.

GUNNER STAR
These last ten years have been especially difficult for us. As we watched the rise of hate, the universal acceptance of greed, the plundering of what little is left of this earth. We all had to watch in painful silence as the cruel nature of the Homo Sapiens exploded to sickening new levels. The bullying, the hate, the abuse of other creatures, and even of other Homo sapiens who might be weaker, or more vulnerable, or god forbid not believe in the same book of fables or invisible man in the sky as you do.

Gunner pauses as the counter tops two million.

GUNNER STAR
Well I am here to say to you tonight…ENOUGH!!!

Gunner raises pumps his fist in a barbarian salute.

GUNNER STAR
We will sit back and be silent no more! If the haters, and the bullies, and the animal abusers and the fable believers want to take this country and this world, then they will have to go through us first. Because today I am here to tell you that next Saturday right here in the city of black and gold we will make our presence known. And as the ignorant haters march on this city with their guns, we will meet them with our body armor and our fierce determination to take back this planet and take back what is ours!

GUNNER STAR
The age of man is OVER!! And the rise of the Bull Mongoni has begun!!!

Gunner flexes his vein ridden arms and pumps his fist to the sky.

GUNNER STAR
Good God it’s great to be a Bull Mongoni!

Read more about Gunner Star and the Bull Mongoni revolution in Gunner Star and Rise of the Bull Mongoni.

James J Caterino (2010). Rise of the Bull Mongoni (p. 92). iUniverse. Kindle Edition.
James J Caterino (2010). Rise of the Bull Mongoni (pp. 91-92). iUniverse. Kindle Edition.
James J Caterino (2010). Rise of the Bull Mongoni (p. 91). iUniverse. Kindle Edition.
James J Caterino (2010). Rise of the Bull Mongoni (pp. 90-91). iUniverse. Kindle Edition.
James J Caterino (2010). Rise of the Bull Mongoni (p. 90). iUniverse. Kindle Edition.
James J Caterino (2010). Rise of the Bull Mongoni (pp. 89-90). iUniverse. Kindle Edition.

I have seen the future and it is Logan's Run

2011-06-19T14:45:00.000-07:00

This is the only logical way for us to go.
This is the solution to all our problems

It would make Michele Bachmann. and Sarah Palin happy, the Koch brothers even richer, and would take care of those ever ailing GOP partners, big Oil and Big Insurance, so they could be more powerful than ever.

It is the Logan’s Run solution.

Logan’s Run is a 1976 science fiction film based on a 1967 novel by William F. Nolan and George Clayton Johnson. The main premise is a future post apocalyptic society where all the inhabitants live inside a giant domed city. In the 1976 film, this futuristic city looked strikingly similar to a DeBartolo mall from 1979.

Everyone in this city is scantily clad, young, beautiful and in perfect health. Not to mention eager for no strings attached sex at the push of a button. To a young adolescent seeing the film in 1976, it pretty much looked like paradise.

Ahh, but as you can imagine, there is a catch. All paradises have a price.

In the world of Logan’s Run everyone reaches a Last Day. Or as the preamble in the film states:
"Sometime in the 23rd century...the survivors of war, overpopulation and pollution are living in a great domed city, sealed away from the forgotten world outside. Here, in an ecologically balanced world, mankind lives only for pleasure, freed by the servo-mechanisms which provide everything. There's just one catch: Life must end at thirty unless reborn in the fiery ritual of carrousel."

Everyone has a biological timer implanted into their palm at birth in the form of a crystal. When the crystal turns black it means it is your time to report to "Carrousel" for the ritual of "renewal". It is considered an honor to participate in this sacred ceremony. Cloaked in science fiction language, it is essentially a chance to go to heaven and be with God.

Of course as in any religious society, those who decide to think and question what Carrousel really is and choose not to drink the kool-aide, are considered "runners" and hunted down and killed.

Now instituting a Carrousel may seem a bit extreme, but then again, so does ending Medicare and having a rapidly aging and increasingly poor population rotting away like decaying corpses in their homes or on the streets because no profit minded insurance company in their right mind will insure the old and the sick.

Okay here is how it will work.

Now in the movie Last Day was on your 30^th birthday and in the book is was an even more the ridiculous age of 21. Of course that is crazy in our world where 40 is the new 30 and so on.

The age for Last Day and the time to be Renewed and to experience the joy of experiencing Carrousel and joining God heaven will be 65.

Now there will be exceptions. The top 1% in wealth and income can choose their own time to participate in Carrousel and be Renewed. After all, they have been successful and earned it. Plus they can afford their own healthcare anyway, so no one will have to take care of them.

Keep in mind this will not be an option for those looking for an easy way out. If it is determined you are healthy enough to work a minimum wage job and under 65, you cannot apply for Carrousel. Insurance premiums will be deducted You must work till you hit 65 or drop dead, which ever comes first

The only other exception is someone physically unable to perform minimum wage jobs such as mopping urine and scrubbing floors and cannot keep current on their insurance premiums. All the costs associated with Carousel and renewal will be paid for with insurance.

Just imagine the growth industry that will explode around this new ritual. Wall Street can finance the construction of these huge stadium like religious cathedrals that will capture the awe of worship to make the Carrousel ritual feel properly Christian. Oil companies can supply all the energy needs, the dirtier and more expensive and toxic the better. And the Koch brothers can devise ways to trade derivatives on the whole thing.

The television and film rights, music, vendors at each Carrousel; a whole new exploding economy can be built around this.

Medicare solved, healthcare crisis over, no more government spending, the Tea Party will be happy, and a whole new industry can built around the God that speaks to Palin, Beck, and Bachmann.

I have seen the future and it is Logan’s Run.

Explorers

2011-06-14T16:25:00.000-07:00

Close Encounters of the Third Kind and E.T. may be the most obvious sources of inspiration for J.J. Abrams new film Super 8. But there is another movie that shares the many of the same sensibilities and sense of wonder, Joe Dante’s Explorers.

Jason Pressmon, a young Ethan Hawke, and the late River Phoenix give wonderful natural performances as three young boys who literally build there own spaceship to travel and meet the aliens who have been communicating with them in dreams. In many ways the plot is sort of a Contact with kids.

The age of the kids in the movie, as well as their geeky pop culture personalities, are similar to those in Super 8. There is even an "it" girl. Although the character is nowhere near as developed Elle Fanning’s in Super 8, Amanda Peterson does a fine job. Two years later she would go on to star in 1987's terrific teen romance comedy Can’t Buy Me Love.

Explorers shares the same sense of wonder as Super 8. But where as the Super 8 finale is pure Spielberg, the final act of Explorers is all Joe Dante at his most irreverent off center best.

One area where Explorers does top Super 8 is the soundtrack. Michael Giacchino creates some nice musical moments in Super 8 and it is a great score. But Jerry Goldsmith’s soaring music in Explorers is a shimmering work of orchestral and eletronic wonder. It literally lifts the film to a whole new level of emotional resonance and imagination.

Explorers was rushed into theaters July 12, 1985 with little fanfare from the Paramount and was met with mixed reviews and box office indifference. It was same some summer that the far inferior The Goonies was cleaning up at the box office and getting inexplicably good reviews.

Today Explorers has a cult following among Joe Dante fans.

In Thy Image

2011-06-12T16:26:00.000-07:00

The master crane shot overlooking Spielbergia from the hill top above.

The mysterious other that enters into the life of the characters just when they need it most. The sinister men in flashlights who will do anything to carry out their secret agenda of control and manipulation. Even a wonderful shot of a utility worker having a mysterious encounter, ala Roy Neary.

Yeah, Super 8 is a homage all right. And a wonderful one, impeccably crafted on every level, right down to the carefully chosen period color schemes, the lighting, and Michael Giacchino’s nod to John Williams.

Oh you bet it is a homage. But is so much more than that.

This is not an exercise in style alone. This is not Brian De Palma doing Hitchcock.

This feels like a deeply personal film. And without knowing anything about what J.J. Abrams went through at that age, the experiences of the main character feel very real. As if Abrams may have been shaped by similar events, in the same way Spielberg was by the divorce of his parents. The details feel personal too, the model making, the monster make-up, even the period songs. The approach Abrams takes with Super 8 reminds me of Joe Dante's most personal films, Explorers and Matinee.

The two main character in this movie are wonderfully written and acted. Played by Joel Courtney and Elle Fanning, they are the heart and soul of the film. The best scene in the movie is a quiet scene. It involves two kids and super 8 film that helps them come to terms with a tragedy and begin to heal. It is one of many scenes where Abrams demonstrates that if there ever was an heir apparent to the bearded one, it is the creator of Lost.

Elle Fanning is simply astonishing. She takes command of every scene, line of dialogue and gesture in such a natural way. She brings to mind other actresses who were great at that age, Natalie Portman, Jodie Foster, and of course her sister Dakota. Time will tell, but Elle just might be better than all of them.

Action Figure

2011-06-05T14:22:00.000-07:00

A dramatic reading from Action Figure as Wes Jackson marches on in his battle against fate in the lurid thriller described as "24 meets Falling Down".

The Golden Age of Amblin Entertainment

2011-06-03T11:36:00.000-07:00

With Super 8 looming, it is time to reflect back on the ghosts of summer movies past. Back when not every single movie that opened was a tired sequel or an unnecessary remake.

Anyone who grew up in the 1980’s and frequented the local multiplexes of the pre-stadium theater era can recall when the films of Amblin Entertainment were the dominant fare of summer escapism.

Although Amblin Entertainment still exists as a production company, it only functions today like most production companies do today, as a facilitator of material and a dealmaker. There was a brief period of time from 1984 to 1987 when the Amblin logo was a very distinct trademark and meant a very specific type of film.

The wave of Amblin Entertainment productions came in the wake of the massive success of E.T. in 1982. Each movie was an attempt to recapture not only the magic of that classic, but also the sense of adventure of 1981's Raiders of the Lost Ark, and the cosmic mystery of 1977’s Close Encounters of the Third Kind.
It was an elusive quest for the Spielberg touch. But unlike those films above, these Amblin productions were not personally directed by the filmmaker turned mogul, but by his friends and protégés.
Here is a look at some essentials from the golden era of Amblin Entertainment.

Gremlins (1984) directed by Joe Dante
Hot off the 1981 cult werewolf classic The Howling and his It’s a Good Life segment of the 1983's Twilight Zone movie, Joe Dante brought his irreverent sensibilities to what was originally written as straight, gory horror spec by a young Chris Columbus. Joe Dante went on to make Explorers the next year, a criminally underrated gem that might be the best Amblin Entertainment movie not actually made by Amblin.

Back to the Future (1985) directed by Robert Zemeckis
The title says it all. A classic that holds up well and it is still the best time travel screenplay ever written. Followed by the dark, gripping and complex Back to the Future 2, and the lightweight finale, Back to the Future 3.

The Goonies (1985) directed by Richard Donner
Included on this list as an example of Amblin at its worst.

Grating, cloying, obnoxious, and loud, it has the feel of being trapped in a Chucky Cheese for two hours.
I thought maybe I had misread the credits when I first saw this in 1985. Ed Blank of the Pittsburgh Press was one of the few critics at the time who called Spielberg out for attaching his name to such a sloppy mess. It is inconceivable that this movie has such a monstrous following today, more so than any other Amblin films of that era including Back to the Future.

Amazing Stories (1985-1987) NBC television
One of the most hyped pop culture television events of the 1980’s, Amazing Stories premiered in September 1985 with the 30 minute episode Ghost Train directed by the man himself. Critics were savage.
I still recall Rona Barret on Entertainment Tonight angrily railing against the director and accusing him of showing off his technical skills with a tracking shot (masterfully executed by the way) and other flashy cinematic flair.

However uneven the story quality might have been, each episode was literally a piece of innovative short filmmaking. The series brought cinematic techniques to the small screen with young talents like Phil Joanua, as well as A-list directors such as Robert Zemeckis, Joe Dante, Martin Scorsese, and Clint Eastwood.

Of special note are the following episodes:

The Mission, a one hour episode directed by Spielberg in top form and featuring a sensational John Williams score, and a cast that includes Kevin Costner and Kiefer Sutherland.

Robert Zemeckis’s outrageous Halloween horror Go to the Head of the Class.

Peter Hyam’s scary The Amazing Falsworth.

Phil Joanou’s two episodes, the slasher Santa ’85, and the charming Richard Matheson penned love story The Doll.

Leslie Link Glatter’s deeply moving tear jerker Without Diana.

Young Sherlock Holmes (1985) Directed by Barry Levinson
If only this movie had been marketed with the same fevered pitch and championed by critics the way The Goonies was. Maybe this should have been a summer movie. Amblin never did have much success with December releases.

Young Sherlock Holmes has a witty and character driven screenplay by Chris Columbus (I still cannot believe he is one of the perpetrators behind The Goonies).

The direction by Barry Levinson is sharp and understated. An entertaining, exciting, well-acted, involving film, Young Sherlock Holmes was ignored when it opened in December 1985 by everyone except those in the SFX industry who took notice of the ground breaking visual effects, including the first on screen CGI character.

The sensational musical score by Bruce Broughton is in a class with the best of John Williams.

One does not have to look hard to see the obvious influence this forgotten film had on the Harry Potter books. And it is easy to see why Chris Columbus was the perfect choice to helm the first two Harry Potter films. In many ways, this was the Harry Potter of its day, except no one actually went to see it.

Harry and the Hendersons (1987) directed by William Dear
The E.T formula of the magical visitor entering the dull world of suburbia and helping teach us something about ourselves is re-used here. But this time it is a Bigfoot instead of an alien.
Played more for laughs this time around, Harry and the Hendersons is a charming, sentimental film, the kind of live action family oriented fare that is not made anymore. Wonderful closing credits sequence (see video below) featuring a terrific song by composer Bruce Broughton Love Lives On sung by Joe Cocker. Beautiful on location shooting just outside Seattle.

Innerspace (1987) directed by Joe Dante
Joe Dante returns to the Amblin fold for this entertaining comedy adventure.
Featuring an engaging performances by a young Dennis Quaid, a pre-star Meg Ryan, and Martin Short at his comedic peak. The movie has nifty (and Oscar winning) special effects, and a terrific score by Jerry Goldsmith.

A nice blend of comedy, action, and romance, the film should have been a summer smash. But after it tested through the roof, Warner backed off on the advertising campaign, and like Amblin’s other summer 1987 film Harry and the Hendersons, Innerspace tanked at the box office.

Batteries Not Included (1987) directed by Matthew Robbins
Jessica Tandy and Hume Cronyn star in this sentimental re-telling of E.T, but this time the setting is an urban environment. The miniature UFO’s are a special effects treat, and like Harry and the Henderson’s and Young Sherlock, this is a terrific family film.

The big band influenced score by James Horner has become one of the most sought after out of print CDs in the collector’s market

Maybe it was the December release date. Maybe it was the oversaturation of Amblin product including the mega-hyped ground breaking anthology NBC series Amazing Stories. Or maybe Amblin had gone to the well once too often with the E.T. formula and drove it into the ground.

Whatever the reason, by the end of 1987 audiences had grown weary of the Spielberg touch, and Batteries Not Included turned out to be the swan song of the golden age of Amblin Entertainment.

Continue reading on Examiner.com The golden age of Amblin Entertainment part 2 - Fort Lauderdale Pop Culture | Examiner.com http://www.examiner.com/pop-culture-in-fort-lauderdale/the-golden-age-of-amblin-entertainment-part-2#ixzz1ODvSzZgJ

Continue reading on Examiner.com Amblin into the summer movie past - Fort Lauderdale Pop Culture | Examiner.com http://www.examiner.com/pop-culture-in-fort-lauderdale/amblin-into-the-summer-movie-past#ixzz1ODuxdlI4

Time Enough For Love

2011-06-02T20:14:00.000-07:00

A passage from She by James J Caterino

From page 204 of Chapter 38 Time Enough for Love

I see Corrina running down the hill to the scene, and I move

in on her and follow her in a moving medium dolly shot. I move

in for a close-up as she approaches the smoking pile of wreckage.

Corrina reaches into the twisted metal and ever-so-gently

pulls out the lifeless form of my thirteen year-old self. A river of

blood is pouring from my left leg. Corrina takes out a silk handkerchief

and ties it into a makeshift tourniquet around my leg.

The bleeding stops. She brings her mouth down onto mine and

begins to perform CPR. There is such a grace to her movement,

such an inherent compassion to her heroic actions, such a delicate

purpose to her touch.

A few moments later the magic of her breath brings me back

to life.

I hear the frantic footsteps of someone pounding across the

pavement. It must be the mysterious other. I try to move the

camera. I try to pull back and get a wide-angle shot.

But I can’t.

Something is happening.

A jolt of electricity fires into my brain again.

There is a flash of white, a rush of sound. I feel the window

around me close.

The journey ends. I am back in the Chamber now, sprawled

out on the hard wood floor. I struggle to wake myself up. Valerie

and Angela are lying at my side in a dazed state of semi-consciousness.

I fight to clear the brain cloud that is warping all of

my senses. I look up and see the silhouette of a menacing figure

looming in the doorway.

It is Doctor K.

Read more and find out what happens when obsessive filmmaker JC Pezzini finally breaks the barriers of time and space and uncovers a forbidden mystery from the past.

Technicolor Reality

2011-05-31T07:27:00.000-07:00

She by James J Caterino

Archer Moore's review of She

"Ever since I could remember, She was all that mattered." So says JC Pezzini, the hero of Gunner Star novelist James J. Caterino's latest creation, She.
By the end of the first chapter, She was all that mattered to me as well. Finding out who She was, who She is, who She will be. Sound confusing? Try intriguing.
If David Cronenberg were to make a film starring Scarlett Johansson and Colin Farrell, taking his own Videodrome to an entirely new dimension, then She would be his script. Caterino has obviously done his homework. He takes the tightly wound story of a man in search of his long lost would be lover and savior, (and doesn't love always save us?) then he methodically unravels it against a voyeuristic film and internet backdrop.
Caterino jettisons the testosterone-fueled hyperbole that drove Gunner Star and switches into erotic obsession gear, then turns up the fun to 11. She is filled with beautiful women, shady villains, and spectacular chases. It owes as much to the film noir movement of the forties as it does to Harlan Ellisonesque science fiction. To call it an erotic thriller would be a disservice. It's that, and so much more.
JC Pezzini is a man so obsessed, so intent on finding She, that in the hands of a lesser novelist, he would be just another scummy Peeping Tom. But everyone has had a she or a he that they wanted to find, and Caterino hones in on those emotions deep inside all of us to turn what should be an unsympathetic protagonist into just another human being looking for happiness.
She never loses steam as JC travels deep into his own memories and ultimately through time itself to answer the questions that have haunted him his entire adult life. She delivers. Caterino has created a unique vision of desire and what it means to look into the face of destiny. I can't wait to see what he has in store for us next." Archer Moore

Product Description

We are driving on Street Runs Road now. This is the road—the place where it happened, the birthplace of my journey, the crossroads, the crux of time where the line between life and death merged. It is the place where I was forever changed.

In July of 1983, JC Pezzini and his parents were involved in a deadly hit-and-run car accident. A mysterious Good Samaritan referred to as “She” was the only reason JC survived—and finding She has become his all-consuming passion in life.
More than twenty years later, JC is a filmmaker, a voyeur, and a man haunted by his past. With the help of his psychiatrist, his friends, and old acquaintances of the unknown woman, JC will attempt to get closer to She than he could ever hope to—even in his most lucid daydreams. Whether through regression hypnotherapy, time travel by means of an anti-reality chamber, or sheer determination, JC won’t stop until he recovers the answers he has been searching for all these years.

After coming across a stunning She look-alike named Angela, JC is convinced he’s almost completed his life quest. Only then are the real answers—and the shocking secrets that have hidden the truth—revealed.

Five Great Books

2011-05-30T15:16:00.000-07:00

Five great books that all encompass some aspect of the Bull Mongoni philosphy and the word of Tarmok.