Three Acts of Pure Magic

It's always a good thing to be looking where no one else is...no matter how many times the story has been told, it always manages to disappear, while it waits for the day when someone will take the myth and make it anew.

The big to do now is vampires, and there's a lot of ticked off fanboys yelling and screaming about "Twilight," which I defend as heartily as I would my own work. But we're not getting into that subject.

But, another entity has existed throughout the ages and has been cast in both good and malevolent fashions: the sandman.

Since I am promoting my own "Sweet Dreams: A Sandman's Story," I might as well give the past references to what this mythical person has been about. Here's the link to Wikipedia.

The idea of the sandman is constant...and right now he sleeps like those he grants nightly rest to.

But I (and a co-storyteller) resurrected this protector of the night by means of mixing various myths, namely the images from Native American mythology (dream catchers) while also going towards the old idea of demons that come to your bedside in an effort to do you harm...or worse.

Add in a new spin on the lunar cycle and how it invokes monsters, plus some New Age beliefs about the mystical power of crystals, and a healthy fondness for 50's doo wop music and a love for all things celestial, you've got a compelling dramatic fantasy about one young man who lost the one he loved, and another who is in great danger of losing the one he doesn't realize who loves him while he faces a life filled with monsters and moonlight.

There are only so many ways a man or woman can actively promote whatever it is that he or she has created. And this is possibly the most informative that I can be about the subject and the story that was completed back in 2007.

Enjoy.

Sincerely,

The Founding Member Of The Starlight Guard

-A.B.M.

PS - It should be stated that, no, I didn't use Wikipedia as my primary sources of inspiration or information. I simply supplied those links because it's far more effective than listing my books and their respective page numbers.

Maelstrom's Trek Review

We Maniacs have our views, and we're not afraid to share them.

But, lately, it seems when we express our views, they get buried under spammer bombardment which causes a technical error after mass deletion in which all recent blog entries get archived and disappear from the main list.

As of now, the great and powerful Jarrod is working on this. Hopefully Mania Tech isn't asleep at the keyboard.

Maelstrom finally witnessed what I've referred to as "Star Trek - Non Sequitur." I say that because it does not follow "Trek," reason, the mythology, sense, Roddenberry's vision, and so on.

Another name I applied to Abram's reboot nonsense was "Star Trek Serenity Wars," as it looks (and acts) too much like everything else to maintain the name "Star Trek." The lines have been blurred...and not in a good way.

But here's the link to follow. (Caution - Some Naughty Language Is In Use Here.)

They Do Have Movie Theaters In Arkansas, Don't They?

This is something I deal with constantly -- "Arkansas, really?"

It is a generic question that seems to apply for just about anything, it seems. The most the "outside world" knows of Arkansas is limited to Bill Clinton, Wal-Mart, tornado damage, and a vast stretch of land no one really cares about.

So we had some nut job a few years back who listened to some hellfire and brimstone sermon who got off her duff and demanded my former high school hide all copies of
"Harry Potter" behind the librarian's desk, as if it was offensive or pornographic.

(No, I'm not making this up.)

I think Arkansas is also known for the Arkansas Razorback's athletics department up in Fayetteville, and that's probably the last on the very short list of what people know and recognize about my state.

Oh yeah, and Billy Bob Thornton. And there the list ends.

But you know what? I'm here too. I may endure dial-up internet connections and the big business of discount prices, but I'm very glad to say I'm not one of them.

I don't have a Southern accent. My former Humanities instructor, mentor, and friend once asked me "did you learn how to speak watching the national news?"

No, I've always had this verbal style. I also have my degrees, and a healthy interest in storytelling. If you'd make a comparison to my literary style, you'd possible argue I'm comparable to those wizards out at Pixar, mixed in with the honesty and style Peter Jackson and his cohorts put forth in "Lord of the Rings."

I'm not saying I'm as good as them, but then again I'm also not trying to compete with them. Although I'd would like the chance to prove such a comparison correct.

I don't try to recreate this, emulate that, or follow X trend. In fact, I do the exact opposite. If vampires are popular, I will avoid them like the plague. (I do have a vampire movie, but I refuse to promote it now in an effort to "cash in" on said trend.)

I've cut my teeth for several years in and out of the classroom, plus I'm also the man that was called upon twice to put together short promotional films for my former college. I was also brought in once (unofficially, of course) to help shake out the structure of a scripted presentation my former mentor was giving concerning the gardens of Versailles.

If anyone doubts my abilities, please do so only after you've read one of my actual spec scripts. Just because I prefer to live here amongst the rolling hills and the vast green lands of a state the Weather Channel barely acknowledges doesn't mean that I'm not here with my own unique voice or something wonderful to contribute to the "outside world" as well.

I hope (and expect) to surprise you. After all, it's the things that come out of nowhere that literally take you by surprise. And, let's face it, there is no place that is more commonly ignored than rural Arkansas in this modern world.

PS - Yes, they do have movie theaters here. There's a state of the art cinema just fifteen miles away from where I currently sit.

Clearing Up The Confusion

I just realized that, inadvertently, I may have muddied the waters concerning "Life and Times of Igor."

In earlier blog posts, I openly state my distaste for reboots, re-envisionings, and remakes. But then I state "Igor" is a takeoff of the Frankenstein story, plus all the other classic literary figures and such.

So am I saying one thing and doing the other? No -- at least not in my opinion.

Think of it in terms of its original intention -- parody. Think "Weird Al" Yankovic parodies, not "Scary Movie, Disaster Movie, Date Movie, etc" parodies.

There IS a distinction: "Airplane," "Hot Shots," and "Naked Gun" are the golden age of these kinds of movies, then it all went to hell with "Scary Movie 2" and fell fast. Then it was absolutely casual brilliance with its own definitive stories, now it's just Take This, Add That, Mix In Some Of This, and voila: we have a piece of fluff that desperately attempts to make you laugh, but fails completely.

Yeah it's all my opinion, but someone needs to make these distinctions. There used to be real inspiration in these movies...and now its as if we're just picking apart movie trailers and piecing them together to just get a new product out there.

But "Igor" doesn't follow even the old ideals of Zucker\Abrams\Zucker. That style of humor died a long time ago, and even the Zucker's can't get it right these days, I'm sad to say.

Parody, just genuine parody. These distinctions are easily understood at Mania, but it's more of a gray area outside of the well versed mind.

I hope this cleans up those muddy waters.

Also, as I've used up every agent in California for "Sweet Dreams," I've decided to send it North as well.

Blame It On "Unskinny Bop"

Those that have followed me for any length of time via Mania, Myspace, etc., knows of the elasticity following my project "The Life and Times of Igor."

(If you haven't, just click the tab down and to the right to see past postings on the subject.)

The guys at Mania love it...they love it more than anything else I've ever come up with. They also know I'm always knocked over by some random development in Hollywood with somewhat similar projects that get pushed forward while I just shelf the project for X amount of time, yet something always stands me back up.

Well I'm looking North this time.

Besides, we're constantly being inundated with remakes, reboots, and re-envisionings which ultimately lead to our regurgitation.

The population wants something new and different, and we keep getting handed the same thing over and over again.

There are no mavericks in Hollywood. No one is capable (or willing) to rock the collective boats of Los Angeles. Even Steven Spielberg has fallen victim to the notion of remakes with "Harvey."

Plus the fact trends are more important than original thinking as well: reboots are a trend, vampires are the trend again. And then they collided with Robert Downey Jr. being thrust into the role of Lestat in yet another reboot, this time of "Interview With The Vampire."

I don't want (or intend) to cash in on trends. I give trends the finger. I also avoid following the crowd, which is why my "Igor" project has been shelved time after time, no matter how much the people have enjoyed it.

It really is annoying -- the one project everyone likes the most is the same one half a dozen agents here in America have nibbled at, yet passed over but then, a month later, someone whose "in the biz" gets his project pushed forward because he's in those "Underworld" movies.

It's never been what you know or what you can do, it's who you know.

Well I know what the agents have likely been "afraid" of: it's quirkiness; its British sense of humor mixed in with American slapstick sensibilities, and its originality.

I came THIS CLOSE to having the comic book version made...with one major flaw: I didn't have (or know) an illustrator. That was upsetting, but it was also a relief, as this is meant to be seen, not read. Igor and Frankenstein singing "Unskinny Bop" in prison is something that can't be captured with dialogue bubbles, it has to be SEEN and HEARD. Think Zaphod Beeblebrox and a hunchback pretending to be Bret Michaels and you've got a formula for inspired craziness.

And that formula fell flat on people who really didn't get it. They all wanted to read it, and once it even disappeared in the bowels of a New York agency for over a year (I had to call to get it back from them, even though I'd provided the standard SASE.)

But they didn't get it. But then Hollywood doesn't understand anything new, original, or inspired these days. It's become a machine, just wash, rinse, and repeat until the fabric has worn through.

But I still continue with promotions for "Sweet Dreams" and "Summertime Blues."

I think it's because I'm a masochist.

Warm up the accordion, Igor, I feel the need to sing.