Tuesday, April 14, 2015

Science Fiction Novel, "Pandora's Promise," Arrives at Amazon

Pandora’s Promise Completes Trend-Setting Trilogy by Award-Winning Author Kathryn Lance

Mind-reading elephants; Giant snakes devouring their worshipers.

A love story of such intense passion, it outlasts the catastrophic wreckage of a frightening future society.

All this, and much more, is found in Pandora’s Promise by award-winning author -- and longtime member of Science Fiction Writers of America -- Kathryn Lance. It's the much-anticipated third novel, just released, in her “Pandora” trilogy, which in 1985 took the post-apocalypse genre to a new place.

A catastrophic oil spill sets off Lance’s darkly imagined future. But the cleanup, using genetically altered bacteria, leads to the total destruction of modern technology. Experimental life forms escape from germ-warfare labs. Extinctions and mutations -- both plant and animal -- spread around the globe. Tattered remnants of civilization struggle to endure, as another new disease selectively kills women and threatens to exterminate the entire human race.

Throughout the trilogy, pro-science survivors scramble to save their world, fiercely opposed by forces of ignorance and religious fundamentalism. In the new Pandora’s Promise, the effects of galloping climate change compound the many perils originally posed by “The Change.” Yet now, as the story reaches its conclusion, an unexpected ray of hope can be seen, hinted at by the mysterious “Eye,” whose symbol beckons only those with sufficient wisdom.

On its original release in 1985, the first book in the trilogy, Pandora's Genes, received the “Best New Science Fiction Novel” award from Romantic Times, and was named to that year’s “Locus Recommended List.” In the years since, the second book, Pandora’s Children, as well as the first, have become cult classics.

The first two books closely examined societies that develop disparate ways to deal with the lack of technology and the critical shortage of women.

In the new book, readers encounter a cult of primitive snake-worshipers...villagers who re-enact ancient sporting events they have transformed into lethal struggles...and families of telepathic elephants, descendants of those that escaped from zoos, circuses, and animal refuges.

Those empathic elephant “Dream Tasters” are perhaps the most endearing of the author’s newest imaginings. The majestic creatures eventually team up with the book’s main characters to offer wisdom and perspective, as the humans race to preserve what is left of civilization.

All three novels are notable for their adherence to hard science, since Kathryn Lance makes full use of her scientific background and rock-solid research ability to mingle a character-driven plot with fact-based action.

Lance is the author of fifty other books, both fiction and nonfiction -- along with dozens of articles -- on science and technology, medicine, health and fitness, nutrition, consumerism, and lifestyles.

Her broad writing experience lends immense believability to her story’s complicated love triangle, among a poet-warrior, a headstrong political leader, and a beautiful young scientist whose bravery is matched only by her brilliance.

Of everything I have written, says Lance, a resident of Tucson, AZ, this is my favorite book. But I give full credit to my characters, who really wrote it for me. Once they came to life, they seemed to create the plot, their interactions, and the outcome. All I had to do was listen to them and write it down.

What They’re Saying...

"A beautifully-written combination of tribal violence, human and animal friendships, and a startling look at our possible future. PANDORA’S PROMISE is an unforgettable book!"--R.L. Stine, author of Goosebumps and Fear Street.

“A solid conclusion to the Pandora’s Trilogy!”--Nebula Award winner Jack McDevitt.

About this Kindle ebook:
Pandora’s Promise by Kathryn Lance
ASIN: B00T3O0676
Publisher: Amazon
Date of publish: February 2015
Pages: 306
S.R.P.: $3.99

 Readers can learn more about Lance and her work at her website: http://www.klance.com/home.html

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"The Seven-Per-Solution" Transforms from Book to Movie to Comics August 2015



Nicholas Meyer’s The Seven-Per-Cent Solution Comes to Comics This August

The Real Story Behind Sherlock Holmes And Professor Moriarty Is Revealed

IDW Publishing announced at WonderCon 2015 the 5-issue comic-book adaption of writer/director Nicholas Meyer’s best-selling mystery novel The Seven-Per-Cent Solution. Scott Tipton and David Tipton, the writing team behind Harlan Ellison’s The City on the Edge of Forever: The Original Teleplay and Star Trek / Planet of the Apes: The Primate Directive, are adapting the material, alongside artist Ron Joseph with cover art by Kelley Jones.

From the mind of Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan writer/director Nicholas Meyer, The Seven-Per-Cent Solution is a “rediscovered” Sherlock Holmes adventure that recounts the astonishing and previously unknown collaboration of Sherlock Holmes and Sigmund Freud, as recorded by Dr. John H. Watson. In addition to recounting this remarkable collaboration on a case of diabolic conspiracy, it reveals the real identity of Holmes’s nemesis Professor Moriarty, a dark secret shared by Sherlock and his brother Mycroft Holmes, and the detective’s true whereabouts during the Great Hiatus, when the world believed him to be dead.

“I’m delighted to help translate my novel, The Seven-Per-Cent Solution, for a new audience in a new venue and hope the results will justify the effort!” said Meyer.

The Seven-Per-Cent Solution, which was originally published in 1974, made The New York Times Best Seller list for forty consecutive weeks and has been adapted into a motion picture that earned Meyer an Oscar nomination for Best Adapted Screenplay. IDW is pleased to be the first to bring this incredible tale to life in comics!

“I’ve long been an admirer of Nicholas Meyer’s work, going all the way back to his first film Time After Time,” said Scott Tipton, “so I’m thrilled to get the chance to work with him, especially on such legendary literary creations like Holmes and Watson.”

“We think Nicholas Meyer’s The Seven-Per-Cent Solution will be a great fit for a comic-book edition, and we are very much looking forward to helping adapt his unique approach to the adventures of Sherlock Holmes,” said David Tipton.

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New "Terminator: Genisys" Trailer Makes April 13th Debut


Watch the new trailer for TERMINATOR GENISYS: http://youtu.be/rGSxss7gWak

Terminator Genisys in theaters July 1, 2015

When John Connor (Jason Clarke), leader of the human resistance, sends Sgt. Kyle Reese (Jai Courtney) back to 1984 to protect Sarah Connor (Emilia Clarke) and safeguard the future, an unexpected turn of events creates a fractured timeline. Now, Sgt. Reese finds himself in a new and unfamiliar version of the past, where he is faced with unlikely allies, including the Guardian (Arnold Schwarzenegger), dangerous new enemies, and an unexpected new mission: To reset the future…

Directed by Alan Taylor

Official Site: http://terminatorgenisys.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TerminatorGenisys
Twitter: https://twitter.com/Terminator
Instagram: http://instagram.com/TerminatorGenisys
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/TerminatorGenisys

#Terminator

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Monday, April 13, 2015

"Star Trek" and Green Lantern Come Together in Comic Book July 2015



The Stars Align To Bring Star Trek And Green Lantern Together This July
IDW & DC Entertainment Team Up For An Epic Comic Book Crossover Event

IDW Publishing, CBS Consumer Products and DC Entertainment announced today that they will boldly go where no one has gone before…in brightest day, in blackest night. Two iconic franchises will meet this summer in a legendary crossover event with the release of a six-part comic book miniseries, STAR TREK/GREEN LANTERN: THE SPECTRUM WAR. Both Star Trek and Green Lantern are known for their strong cast of interstellar characters and when they come together for the first time this July, fans new and old are sure to experience a galaxy-sized thrill.

STAR TREK/GREEN LANTERN: THE SPECTRUM WAR is six-part monthly mini-series and will be written by veteran Star Trek comic writer Mike Johnson with interior art by Angel Hernandez (INFINITE CRISIS: FIGHT FOR THE MULTIVERSE, ARROW). STAR TREK/GREEN LANTERN: THE SPECTRUM WAR #1 will be available in stores and online in July, boasting covers from Gabriel Rodriguez, Francesco Francavilla, Elsa Charretier, and Garry Brown. Following issues will feature covers from an amazing lineup that includes Declan Shalvey, Marc Laming, and more!

“We’ve looked forward to bringing these two iconic universes together for a long time,” said Greg Goldstein, IDW President and COO. “Star Trek and Green Lantern both share so many of the same science-fiction adventure themes and ideals, that a galaxy-spanning crossover like this is simply…logical.”

“Green Lantern is one of the most popular, storied characters in the history of comic books and a modern DC Comics icon. An entire universe of Green Lanterns and other supporting characters have grown out from his original adventures in the 1940’s, and this series really showcases the intergalactic scope of the franchise,” said Bob Harras, Editor-in-Chief of DC Comics.

A pop culture mainstay for almost 50 years, Star Trek’s fan base continues to grow exponentially with the new feature films in 2009 and 2013. Now all Star Trek fans can watch their favorite U.S.S. Enterprise crew members meet Hal Jordan and the entire Green Lantern Corps in an adventure that spans space, time and all the colors of the spectrum. Set in Star Trek’s 23rd Century, the balance of the universe will be tested when the Green Lantern Corps’ Power Rings come into the possession of certain Star Trek characters while a dark and powerful evil looms around every corner. Only the combined power of the Green Lantern Corp and the Federation stand any chance of stopping those who worship evil’s might.

TM & © 2015 CBS Studios Inc. © 2015 Paramount Pictures Corp. STAR TREK and related marks and logos are trademarks of CBS Studios Inc. All Rights Reserved.


About DC Entertainment
DC Entertainment, home to iconic brands DC Comics (Superman, Batman, Green Lantern, Wonder Woman, The Flash, etc.), Vertigo (Sandman, Fables, etc.) and MAD, is the creative division charged with strategically integrating across Warner Bros. and Time Warner. DC Entertainment works in concert with many key Warner Bros. divisions to unleash its stories and characters across all media, including but not limited to film, television, consumer products, home entertainment, and interactive games. Publishing thousands of comic books, graphic novels and magazines each year, DC Entertainment is the largest English-language publisher of comics in the world.


Afterburn Announces the Debut of "Tempered Steele" Comic Book



A HEROIC AGE BEGINS AS THE ROAD TO THE PARADOX WAR CONTINUES

Tempered Steele #1

The Heroic Age Begins!” with the birth of Tempered Steele. What connection does he have to the Timestone? Why does an alien race offer Kevin powers to be their champion. All of this leads to the Paradox Wars Saga.

Cover by Don Hillsman II, Robert W. Hickey
Full color, 32 pages, standard comic size, mini-series.
Standard Comic Format, 32 full color pages.
In stores: June 2015
by Robert W. Hickey, Bill Nichols, DeWayne Haddix, Don Hillsman II, Aero Zero. Cover by  Don Hillsman II.

TEMPERED STEELE #1 - Full color, 32 pages, standard comic size, mini-series.
Available in: June 2015  Diamond Code (APR150980)

More information online: http://afterburnpress.com/

About AFTERBURN:
With over 25+ years of comic book manufacturing and publishing history, Robert W. Hickey, along with his brother Mike and co-creator Bill Nichols, has started AFTERBURN, a publishing arm that offers comics books, graphic novels and special items to stores in print and digital formats.

Robert is the co-founder of Blue Line Art, the original manufacturer of professional comic book art boards. Blue Line has supplied thousands of artists over the years with quality art boards and supplies. Blue Line was the first to package and offer art boards to retail outlets with over 40 different products that support comic creators.

Creating Sketch Magazine, Robert along with Bill Nichols as the current senior editor, offering comic creators their own magazine to learn and share tips and creative techniques of the industry.

The founding force for his SkyStorm Studio where Robert has created comics for over 25 years. Within that time he has created top-selling comic for distribution into mainstream outlets such as Wal-Mart, Toys R Us and comic shops around the world.

AFTERBURN goal is pulling together new and established talents such as Tom & Mary Bierbaum (Legion of Superheroes, Legionnaires), Greg Land (Iron Man, Avengers), Beau Smith (Guy Gardner, Wildcat from DC) and Chris Dreier just to name a few to create quality and entertaining stories.

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Review: "The Grand Budapest Hotel" is Stylish and Quirky, of course

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 17 (of 2015) by Leroy Douresseaux

The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014)
Running time:  99 minutes (1 hour, 39 minutes)
MPAA – R for language, some sexual content and violence
DIRECTOR:  Wes Anderson
WRITERS:  Wes Anderson; from a story by Wes Anderson and Hugo Guinness (inspired by the writings of Stefan Zweig)
PRODUCERS:  Wes Anderson, Jeremy Dawson, Steven Rales, and Scott Rudin
CINEMATOGRAPHER:  Robert Yeoman (D.o.P.)
EDITOR:  Barney Pilling
COMPOSER:  Alexandre Desplat
Academy Award winner

ADVENTURE/COMEDY/DRAMA with elements of fantasy

Starring:  Ralph Fiennes, Tony Revolori, F. Murray Abraham, Adrien Brody, Willem Dafoe, Edward Norton, Saoirse Ronan, Jeff Goldblum, Mathieu Amalric, Harvey Keitel, Jude Law, Bill Murray, Jason Schwartzman, Lea Seydoux, Tilda Swinton, Tom Wilkinson, Bob Balaban, and Owen Wilson

The Grand Budapest Hotel is a 2014 comedy-drama and adventure film from writer-director Wes Anderson.  Anderson and Hugo Guinness, who wrote the film's story with Anderson, were inspired by the writings of Austrian, Stefan Sweig (1881-19420, a novelist, playwright, journalist and biographer.  The Grand Budapest Hotel focuses on the adventures of a legendary concierge at a famous hotel and the lobby boy who becomes his trusted sidekick.

The Grand Budapest Hotel opens in the present day, before moving back to 1985.  The film moves back again to the year 1968.  A man, known as “The Author” (Jude Law), travels to the Republic of Zubrowka (a fictional Central European state).  He stays at a remote mountainside hotel in the spa town of Nebelsbad.  The Author discovers that the Grand Budapest Hotel has fallen on hard times.  He meets the owner of the hotel, an elderly gentleman named Zero Moustafa (F. Murray Abraham).  Moustafa tells “The Author” how he came to own the Grand Budapest Hotel.

That takes the story back to the year 1932, during the hotel's glory days.  Monsieur Gustave H (Ralph Fiennes) is the Grand Budapest Hotel's devoted concierge.  He manages the hotel's large staff and sees to the needs of the hotel's wealthy clientele,  Gustave also often has sexual relationships with some of the hotel's elderly female clientele.  One of the aging women who flock to the hotel to enjoy M. Gustave's “exceptional service” is Madame Céline Villeneuve "Madame D" Desgoffe und Taxis a.k.a. “Madame D” (Tilda Swinton).

After Madame D dies, M. Gustave discovers that she has left him something in her will, a highly-sought after painting by Johannes van Hoytl (the younger), entitled, “Boy With Apple.”  M. Gustave also learns that Madame D was murdered and that he is not only the chief suspect, but that he is also caught up in a dispute over a vast family fortune.  M. Gustave is in trouble, but luckily he has hired a most capable and talented new lobby boy, Zero (Tony Revolori).  M Gustave's most trusted friend and protege, Zero, may be the only one who can help a legendary concierge save himself.

I said that Ethan and Joel Coen's 2010 film, True Grit (a remake of the classic John Wayne western), was a movie in which the brothers got to work out and to employ their visual tics, cinematic style, and storytelling techniques on a Western.  It was a good film, but it was truly “a Coen Bros. movie.”

In a similar fashion, The Grand Budapest Hotel is Wes Anderson employing everything that is eccentric, quirky, and unique to his films going back at least a decade.  Embodied in this movie, the Wes Anderson style is wonderful and invigorating and a joy to watch.  Truly, The Grand Budapest Hotel has a striking and an eye-catching visual style.  Anderson's mix of ornate visual environments and eccentric characters with deeply held emotions makes his movies hard to ignore, if you give them half the chance.

Those characters can be a problem, though.  For this film, Anderson easily offers 20 characters worth knowing, but other than M. Gustave and Zero, Anderson uses the others as quirky backdrops or as caricatures upon which he can hang his plot.  Thus, The Grand Budapest Hotel is beautiful, but depth of character is lacking.  The adventure of M. Gustave and Zero plays as if it were something straight out of a beloved children's book.  Much has been made of Ralph Fienne's performance in this film, and it is indeed a good one.  It must be noted that Tony Revolori as Zero is also quite good.  Still, the adventure of the two leads would be better with more interplay from the other characters than the film offers.  Adrien Brody's Dmitri Desgoffe und Taxis is wasted, and Willem Dafoe's J.G. Jopling is not so much a menacing villain as he is a bad guy straight out of Jay Ward Productions.

However, while this movie does not fail to burrow into the imagination, it does not really plant its roots in the viewers' hearts.  It is gorgeous on the surface, but Anderson seems to avoid the deeply emotional ideas he introduces, making The Grand Budapest Hotel an exceptional film, but keeping it from being truly great.  It is Wes Anderson art for Wes Anderson's art sake.

8 of 10
A

Friday, April 10, 2015


NOTES:
2015 Academy Awards, USA:  4 wins: “Best Achievement in Costume Design” (Milena Canonero), “Best Achievement in Makeup and Hairstyling” (Frances Hannon and Mark Coulier), “Best Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures, Original Score” (Alexandre Desplat) and “Best Achievement in Production Design” (Adam Stockhausen-production design and Anna Pinnock-set decoration); 5 nominations: “Best Motion Picture of the Year” (Wes Anderson, Scott Rudin, Steven M. Rales, and Jeremy Dawson), “Best Achievement in Directing” (Wes Anderson), “Best Achievement in Cinematography” (Robert D. Yeoman), and “Best Achievement in Film Editing” (Barney Pilling), and “Best Writing, Original Screenplay” (Wes Anderson-screenplay/story and Hugo Guinness-story)

2015 BAFTA Awards:  5 wins: “Best Original Music” (Alexandre Desplat), “Best Costume Design” (Milena Canonero), “Best Production Design” (Adam Stockhausen and Anna Pinnock), “Best Original Screenplay” (Wes Anderson), and “Best Make Up & Hair” (Frances Hannon and Mark Coulier); 6 nominations: “Best Film” (Wes Anderson, Scott Rudin, Steven M. Rales, and Jeremy Dawson), “Best Leading Actor” (Ralph Fiennes), “Best Cinematography” (Robert D. Yeoman), “Best Editing” (Barney Pilling), “Best Sound” (Wayne Lemmer, Christopher Scarabosio, Pawel Wdowczak), and “David Lean Award for Direction” (Wes Anderson)

2015 Golden Globes, USA:  1 win: “Best Motion Picture - Comedy or Musical;” 3 nominations: “Best Director - Motion Picture” (Wes Anderson), “Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture - Comedy or Musical” (Ralph Fiennes), and “Best Screenplay - Motion Picture” (Wes Anderson)

The text is copyright © 2015 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this site for syndication rights and fees.



Review: First Trip to "The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel" Was Quite Lovely

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 16 (of 2015) by Leroy Douresseaux

The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel (2012)
COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: United Kingdom
Running time:  124 minutes (2 hours, 4 minutes)
MPAA – PG-13 for sexual content and language
DIRECTOR:  John Madden
WRITER:  Ol Parker (based on the novel, These Foolish Things, by Deborah Moggach)
PRODUCERS:  Graham Broadbent and Peter Czernin
CINEMATOGRAPHER:  Ben Davis (D.o.P.)
EDITOR:  Chris Gill
COMPOSER:  Thomas Newman
Golden Globes nominee

COMEDY/DRAMA with elements of romance

Starring:  Judi Dench, Tom Wilkinson, Bill Nighy, Penelope Wilton, Maggie Smith, Ronald Pickup, Celia Imrie, Dev Patel, Tina Desai, Lillete Dubey, Paul Bhattacharjee, Neena Kulkarni, Rajendra Gupta, and Lucy Robinson

The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel is a 2012 British comedy-drama from director John Madden.  The film is based on the 2004 novel, These Foolish Things, from English author Deborah Moggach.  The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel focuses on a group of British retirees who travel to India to take up residence in a newly restored hotel that is not quite ready for prime time.

The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel opens in present day Great Britain and introduces a group of British retirees and AARP types.  Recently widowed housewife, Evelyn Greenslade (Judi Dench), is forced to sell the home she shared with her late husband in order to cover the huge debts he left.  Jean and Douglas Ainslie (Penelope Wilton and Bill Nighy) are searching for a retirement they can afford; they lost most of their savings through investing in their daughter's Internet business.

Muriel Donnelly (Maggie Smith) is a retired housekeeper who is need of a hip replacement operation.  Her doctor informs her that she can have it done far more quickly and inexpensively in India than she can in the U.K., but Muriel hates Indians (as well as every other person of color).  Madge Hardcastle (Celia Imrie) is searching for another husband.  Aging lothario Norman Cousins (Ronald Pickup) still wants to have sex with young women, but now, he needs to find a new place to try and re-capture his youth.  These six people decide to spend their retirement at a hotel in India, based only on the pictures on the hotel's website.

Meanwhile, high-court judge, Graham Dashwood (Tom Wilkinson), spent the first eighteen years of his life in India; he suddenly decides to retire and return there.  When these Brits arrive at The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, they find it dilapidated.  The hotel's energetic young manager, Sunil Indrajit “Sonny” Kapoor (Dev Patel), promises that he will make the hotel look like what the website promises.  Now, everyone has to deal with the unexpected, and some are better at that than others.

The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel is simply frothy feel-good entertainment – nothing more, nothing less.  The characters are interesting, but not especially well-developed.  There are so many of them that screenwriter Ol Parker cannot really develop them in the amount of the film's running time that actually involves storytelling, which is less than its stated 100 minutes running time.

But, boy, did I enjoy this movie anyway.  The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel is sweet and charming, and its cast of veteran (some would say “senior citizen”) actors makes it a rare treat in a landscape of movies about children and 20-somethings saving the world.  Loving and wanting-to-be-loved are not exclusively the domain of lovelorn teens and the newly-turned middle-aged.  Yearning and striving for the good life:  well, old folks can want that, also.  That is why I am glad that this funny, heartwarming, and sometimes heartbreaking film is here to be enjoyed again and again.  The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel is a good place for movie lovers to visit or even to stay.

7 of 10
B+

Friday, March 27, 2015


NOTES:
2013 Golden Globes, USA:  2 nominations: “Best Motion Picture - Comedy or Musical” and “Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture - Comedy or Musical” (Judi Dench)

2013 BAFTA Awards:  1 nomination: “Alexander Korda Award for Best British Film” (John Madden, Graham Broadbent, Peter Czernin, and Ol Parker)

The text is copyright © 2015 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this site for syndication rights and fees.

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