lauraanne_gilman: (FnF)
1. And lo, the Flesh & Fire page proofs are finished. A number of minor corrections on my part, and a swift kick to the shins to whomever dropped all the italicized dialogue throughout the book (bad typesetter, no biscuit) but it looked pretty clean. And I didn't flinch while doing a close-read. That... was unexpected. And pleasing. (this probably means it sucks. But I'll stick my head in the sand and go la la la too late now)

2. In honor of this, I have a new icon. Yay!

3. Also, I have established a bolthole over on Dreamwidth (because I promised I would). You can find me there under the unimaginative name of LauraAnne_Gilman. Maybe this will teach people not to drop the "e"? Nah.... The name change is simply because "suricattus" was originally established as a fannish follow-along, not a professional presence. Now I have to make sure people can find me easily [or so my editor informs me). I'm still the meerkat though, and will still answer to that (or suri, although you may find me reverting back to 'meer' more often. Old-timers [Nea] will rejoice.) Right now, it's merely a mirror site, but I figured I'd let the Dreamwiders know.

4. And because I was Virtuous (and healthy again) and in need of a little stress-releasing eye-candy, I went with friends to see X-Men: Origins. As a summer genre-action flick, we give it a solid B+. So long as you don't let the plot-thought brain out, you'll have fun, and they do manage to make it all work. On the Estrogen Overload scale, I give it a fantabulous A-. It would have been an A except Hugh bulked up a little too much for my taste, to suit the character. Points were given, however, for nekkid Hugh doing running leaps over farming equipment. (Also, it was determined during dinner afterward that bourbon is better for you than soda. My fandom has Healthy Drinks. Srsly).

5. And, last, a recipe for Drop-in Dinner for Two
Take one doorbell. Ring unexpectedly. Add two chicken thighs, lightly baked, then topped with coarse-chopped tomato, sauteed garlic, fresh basil and thyme, and crumbled Greek feta, and finish under broiler.

Rather surprisingly good, especially when served with a lightly chilled chenin blanc.

And now, having done way too much today, I am going to table everything else until tomorrow, and go fall over....
lauraanne_gilman: (meerkat meh)
For those of you who were expecting something from me this weekend, either via e-mail or phone call or Thing Accomplished... sorry. Could not brain, had the Ugh.

Spent the past two days either huddled on the sofa or tucked into bed, waiting for my usual healthy self to show up. The cats helped, bracketing me on either side until I couldn't have gotten up even if I'd wanted to (ever notice a sleeping cat weighs 3x its awake weight?). Couldn't even read or watch a movie-with-plot, because my attention span was about 10 minutes, tops, and then I dozed off. Thanks god for SciFi's Bad Movie Guarantee (they guarantee that if you turn to them during the weekend, they will be running a bad movie. And OMG, ads for "Shark in Venice." Starring Stephen Baldwin, of course).

Inhaling wonton soup seemed to help with the Ugh -- I drank 3 quarts of the stuff over the weekend. Don't want to think about my sodium levels right now. Wonton soup and Tylenol severe cold meds. And a lot of sleep. My sleep deficit has been paid. Bored now.

Am at about 3/4 capacity now, but that will have to do. Thankfully my big plans this week involve wrapping presents, baking cookies and doing year-end filing/database close-out. 3/4 capacity should be able to handle that...

also: Seattle got snow and we didn't? Where's the justice in that? I demand a recount!

EtA: I am amused to note that I handle Chronic stuff much better than I do random cold or flu bugs. I've made my peace with internal hardware glitches -- since they won't let me return it for a refund -- but external viruses? They make me all sorts of cranky.
lauraanne_gilman: (Default)
Caught "Burn After Reading" last night, and was awestruck. If one single thing had not worked perfectly, the entire movie would have fallen apart. But everything did -- the script, the actors, the direction, even the cinematography. Dark humor, yeah (although it really switches into gear in the last third) but the entire audience was letting out gasps of delighted/horrified laughter the entire showing. I described it to someone as "Mamet meets classic Woody Allen," even more than being a Coen Brothers film (although, really, in many way that is sort of the definition of a Coen Brothers film...)

I don't think there was a single off note in the entire thing.

And yes, I am shallow enough to spend much of the movie thinking "Clooney's hot even when he's playing a sex-sleazed idiot...."


And now I face the rest of my to-do list. Bleargh.
lauraanne_gilman: (Default)
So, I finally got around to seeing Chron. of Narnia: Prince Caspian. For most of the movie I was quite pleased with the adaption – it was like 'reading' a novel with visuals, in terms of storytelling and development,rather than a series of battles and dialogue. There were a few times that I was annoyed, but my memory tells me that those were places I was annoyed with the book,too (CS Lewis and I had at best an uneasy relationship). Visually the movie got hella lot right – yes, swordfights really were mostly men bashing each other until they were too tired to move – and the things that pricked at my logical mind I could mostly overlook (and the overtly Spanish-style armor [not to mention accents] was dealt with, which made me feel much better). Although I can't be the only one who recited "You killed my father. Prepare to die" at the appropriate moment...

Am still dubious about the basic thematic requirements of Aslan's return (see: previous annoyance) and the set-up to dump Susan, who deserves better (thought so as a preteen, think so now), but a good movie, true to the book while improving on it in subtle and non-intrusive ways (IMO and to the best of my recollection, PC was not one of the better in the series). They've also learned a lot about CGI, use of – showing us the animal Narnians without any closeups allowed the viewer to imagine better than they could actually create, while the shots of the cats flowing along at the hooves of the centaurs was delightful, and the griffins were allowed to retain their magical sense of wonder by only being seen in flight/in shadow (much much better than the first movie, which really disappointed me inthat regard)

Oh, and if I can't have a griffin, I at least want a badger, damn it.
-----------------------
Right. Enough procrastination. Back to work...

Jones!

May. 25th, 2008 04:10 pm
lauraanne_gilman: (Indy4)
Taking a break from the convention, Patricia Bray and I hijacked Joshua Palmatier from his panel five minutes early ("Joshua, there are women demanding you leave with them...I think they mean business...") and went to see Indy 4. Not as gleeful as the first, not as sheerly joyful as the third, but I think it's safe to say the curse of the even-numbered movies ends with #4. After a slow start (and a few reminders to shut down the analytical part of my brain because, oy) this was solid Indy-style fun.

"Call it a rope!"

I could have lived without spoilers ). And I really want to write "Indiana Jones and the Curse of Shelob," now.
lauraanne_gilman: (meerkat and diet coke)
Wow. I look away for a bit, and a whole bunch of new peoples appear! Welcome, new peoples! Feel free to step forward and introduce yourself -- this is, ideally, an interactive journal, not just me nattering on to myself (no matter how much it seems, some days).

Thanks to my mother graciously gifting me with her Mother's Day Cold from Hell (thanks, mom!) I was all "oh hai! Haz sick. Cannot brain." So I took the last 48 hours to sleep, drink wonton soup, sleep some more, and catch up with my movie-watching.

and, on that topic, some thoughts about SciFi's Never Cry Werewolf )

Also managed some reading, while my headache would allow. Some time ago [livejournal.com profile] ellen_datlow gave me a copy of the reissue of Black Thorn, White Rose, one of their Fairy Tale anthologies (originally published in 1994, but don't let that freak you out). Some stories I loved, some I really disliked, and some I just went 'huh' over, but taken as a whole this is a really good sampler of how to take old material and make it -- if not new, then your own.

I'm also reading Set the Seas on Fire by Chris Roberson. It's one of those books I really, really want to enjoy, because I can tell it's well-written and interesting, and should be hitting all my buttons...but just isn't. Sorry, Chris. If you like sea-faring adventure mixed in with some subtle horror, though, you might want to give it a try.

And, although I read it some time before, I just got my copy of Jeri Smith-Ready's Wicked Game. Do not let the somewhat cliched cover fool you -- yes, it's OMG More Angsty Vampires, but this book also made me laugh in sheer readerly joy at parts, and the entire thing pleased even me, the vamp-jaded.

And now, with brain mostly-restored, I have to get back to that Life-and-Deadlines thing. Feline and Equine picspam to come. Don't say you weren't warned!
lauraanne_gilman: (Indy4)
the new trailer (most of the same shots but some new angles and dialogue)

Also?


Yes. I know. You're welcome.

The Indyfan Prayer )
lauraanne_gilman: (pooh)



Mark the date. I'll be there. With popcorn.


*squeeeeeeee*


EtA: is it wrong to admit how many times I've watched this? Every time some new, deeply depressing bit of news comes across the wire, I hit "play." Yes, I know. But sometimes a bit of pretty distraction is what gives us the strength to slog on...
lauraanne_gilman: (Default)
I did not, alas, proof my author set for FREE FALL today. Instead, I went to see "Enchanted," which I have been looking forward to since I saw the early previews months ago. A totally sweet movie, and I say that, for once, without any sarcasm whatsoever. I had expected more sophisticated humor, considering it's set in NYC, but no, this is just...sweet. Lovely, even. And sweetly funny. It's the story of a Disney princess (literally) sent by the evil stepmother-Queen to a land where "there are no happy endings" (aka Manhattan). But of course, everyone (except the evil stepmother) has a happy ever after. And along the way you can feel your heart grow several sizes larger. Call this the anti-Grinch movie, and go see it, if only to count the number of movies (from "Beauty and the Beast" to "King Kong") this movie makes gentle love to. The only thing I wasn't crazy about was the actress playing the young daughter, but she was adorable so we'll cut her some slack.

What amused me most of all, however, was where and why my suspension of disbelief failed. spoilers under the cut )

Came home and had a lovely dinner, plotting elements of Project Whoosh! with C. And, after scaring the crap out of their loyal fans, the Giants clinch a wildcard spot in the playoffs. Yay! [it's not like we have a shot at the Superbowl, but at least they won't be playing golf too damn early...]

And now I am going to continue the theme of total non-work, and go to bed early. Wow.

Stardust

Sep. 4th, 2007 12:29 am
lauraanne_gilman: (Default)
It's been a long time since I walked out of a movie theater saying "I need to see that again. No, I mean like RIGHT NOW."

Stardust had me saying that.

Yes the plot is as thin as a small town's phone book. So what? It's a fairy tale, people. You know the destination; it's the journey that's important.

And what a lovely, funny, beautiful, hysterical, delightful, perfectly cast journey it is. And did I mention hysterically funny? Smart-funny, the finest kind. And everyone in it shone.

Wanna go see it again. It's going on my pre-order list as soon as it's available.

As [livejournal.com profile] smoemeth said, it's THE PRINCESS BRIDE of this generation. Yeah. Only (dare I say it?) better.

(also: Nathaniel Parker? Would not kick him out of bed for eating crackers, no.)
lauraanne_gilman: (Default)
And so I dragged myself out to see Harry Potter tonight, mainly so I could continue living with the rest of the fannish world (at least until I admit that I don't plan to read The New Book until sometimes in September, anyway)

My reaction? Lovely fun, as always (the fight scene is magnificently choreographed and shot), and everyone handed in superb jobs as always (and Daniel R? OMG I saw a flash of the man he's going to become and I wish I were 15 again. Okay, 20.)

But the best moment came when I turned to C. (who knows not the books or the movies) and crowed "Because he's Dumbledore, that's why!" (followed soon after by "Because she's Hermione, that's why!")

That said, as lovely as it was -- once was enough. Like the book, it was a delightful time and now I'm done.

(EtA: I should have mentioned that the actress who plays Luna is perfect, perfect, perfect and I adored the character in a way I couldn't in the book.)

And although we were disappointed not to get previews for Spiderwick Chronicles (sorry, Holly), they showed previews for Stardust (want. now. NOW!) and a terminally adorable and possibly hysterical movie called Enchanted. So yes. So very, very yes. Just for the damn chipmunk.

(they also showed previews for The Dark is Rising and I could weep. I indeed may weep. It will look very nice I'm sure [I recognized many of the scenes as image-perfect] but that has about as much in common with the books as Demi Moore's "The Scarlet Letter" had with the classic novel of the same name.)

And now, I must go do laundry and pack up the car so I'm ready to hit the road tomorrow. Necon, ho! (no to be confused with the Necon Wh-- what? Oh, right. shhhhhhh.)
lauraanne_gilman: (burning bridges cover)
Four Warning Signs This May Not Be a Good Signing:

1. You arrive to see a poster of your book in the entryway, but no text to indicate that you will be in residence/signing that afternoon.

2. Your contact person mis-states your name and bio during the PA announcement.

3. They only have books 1, 2 and 4 of the series available.

4. They have tucked you into the far corner of the cafe with piles of books, but without any signage to indicate who you are or what you're doing.

How the store-folk didn't understand that the ideal place for a signing is in the flow of traffic, near the cash register, so you can get people who are already inclined to buy books, not just people who are passing through on their way to the movie theater.... *shakes head*

Fortunately, I am a signing-experienced meerkat, and I had support troops (aka [livejournal.com profile] arcaedia and her faithful sidekick [livejournal.com profile] mcurry) along with me. We soon had things sorted, had created signage, and taken over a better spot more in the traffic flow. Thus situated, I managed to charm (with the help of lively sales patter and free chocolate chip cookies) a respectable number of people over to my table. And we sold a good number of books, too, considering it was a lovely summer Saturday afternoon and most people of sense were enjoying the great outdoors.

Thanks to Christine, and Phil, and [livejournal.com profile] peggin, and all the others who came out to support me (and eat cookies). I hope you had fun!

bonus material: 'Music & Lyrics' movie review )
lauraanne_gilman: (citron presse)
or, 24 hours trying to be off the clock.
-----------------------------------------

You already heard about dinner, which was FAB. The Friday night movie was "Below."

Was what? you ask.

Good question. I'd never heard of this movie either. Damn shame, as it's the first movie since 'Blair Witch' to genuinely spook me (the mirror scene, for those who've caught it)

"Below" (2002) is the story of a WWII submarine that stops to take on passengers from a sunken boat, and finds that they have also taken on something of a supernatural aspect as well. Atmospheric, tightly-paced, and not a little spooky, even the obvious details and predictable plot twists wound me up tighter as I watched, and the penultimate scene was a solid payoff, with a nicely ambigious and yet satisfying ending.

And that mirror scene. Sheesus. I may have low-key nightmares about that, at some point.

This morning I got up at a disgustingly late hour (8am) and biked over to the Habitat for Humanity site to put in my volunteer time (the houses are beautiful, and I hope they help turn that neighborhood around, value-wise). Around 10:15, the opening line for book 6 ambushed me. I tagged it and released it back into the wild, being preoccupied with other things. But the brain had woken up and decided that this physical exertion thing was not to its taste, and could we please go back to sitting in front of a computer? (the fact that I've biked about ten miles in the past two days may have had something to do with that plea as well. This is why writers should always remember to get out and sweat -- it does wonders for the creative mind, which is a lazy SOB and will work to get out of sweat.)

After a trip to the farmer's market (loot: fresh ground lamb, fresh chevre with herbs, a small piece of organic honeycomb, and a literal mess o' leafy organic greens), I came home and found the new freelance gig propped up against my door. Hello, sailor.

So I spent Saturday afternoon sitting on my front stoop, reading a manuscript (rather than a finished book, as had been my original plan) and making sure the felines didn't get into too much trouble. Boomer's such a kid sometimes. He dashes off to investigate something, then comes back to make sure I'm where he left me, asks for scritches and reassurances, and then can go off on his own -- but not too far away -- again. Pandora stayed close, outside only because everyone else was, and was just as happy to go back in and sleep on the sofa.

Then there was weeding to be done (downstairs neighbor A. usually handles the landscaping duties, but it got a little out of hand this spring), and laundry to be finished off, and then I said the hell with it and took a nap.

Tonight, a huge green salad and Thai-style grouper, and reading an actual finished, bound, published book. but for now, I sit on the sunporch with a glass of wine and listen to A. practice a new piece on the violin, and watch people walk their dogs, and generally feel at peace with the world...

Kodak moment: the meerkat at rest.

Tomorrow, I have copy to write, and client to speak with, and seminar to plan and...
lauraanne_gilman: (Default)
"Guarding Tess" is still one of my all-time favorite movies. It's just pretty damn much perfect.
lauraanne_gilman: (Default)
Because I'm sure somewhere out there, someone is stalking me writing a thesis on the daily routine of a genre freelancer...


I had planned (honest, I had!) to spend all day being Virtuous and Good and Productive. But after a few hours of work, the sunshine and mild temperatures lured me into thinking that it would be a nice day to walk downtown and visit The Wine Thief. So I gave C. a call to see if she wanted to join me, and instead ended up spending the afternoon hiking Sleeping Giant with C, A., and B.

Three hours later, I came home and collapsed on the sofa.

Application of chili and brown rice revived me enough to go back to work.

Movies watched:

The Great Dictator. This is totally work-related because you can learn more about physical comedy and blocking by watching Charlie Chaplin go through his paces than you can in three weeks of research.

The Ghost Breakers. I'm not sure I can quite justify this Bob Hope movie, about a haunted castle on an island, but any film with the line 'I think I'll start with an old-fashioned and bring it up to date" has got to be justifiable in some way. Oh hell, it's a romantic ghost story. It's genre with Quip. Bingo, work-related.

Oh, and every time Hope comes out with a line, I expect Scooby Doo to come careening around the corner...

Right. Back to the ongoing writing-stuff.

(also: props to Doonesbury!)
lauraanne_gilman: (off topic)
From the weird to the…differently weird.


Anyone here read Infinite Jest? Anyone here read the entire thing? Really?

You’re a better bookworm than I.

Mind you, I enjoyed what I read. Wallace is that annoying clever bastard who manages to both take himself seriously and poke fun at his own cleverness and seriousness at the same time. And he invites us along for the ride, if we can keep up.

But the ride should have been a day at the Speedway, not a marathon slog through the Badlands. 10 point type, 42 lines to a page, 981 pages. You do the math. Or don't bother. The book was too long for human comfort. And did I mention the 10 point type?

So. I feel virtuous and literary for having gotten as far as I did, and I have no real need to torture my eyes by going further. Sorry, Mr. Wallace.

At the waaaaay other end of the spectrum – I went to see Ghost Rider this afternoon. Because, y’know. Nic Cage. Flaming skull. Devil's motorcycle that comes when you whistle for it. What's not to love?

This movie is… well, it's massively flaming cheese, redux. But worth the price of admission for

a) Visually, it’s almost perfect. And the moment of riding across the prairie? I want a litho of that one scene. Seriously. Art.
b) The soundtrack is PERFECT. Remakes and remixes and originals and not a false note, cueing every single emotional reaction (be it giggles or anticipation or concern) without (sorry) a false note.
c) The moments of total geeky joy in Cage’s performance. He was so clearly having a blast with the job, from the candy cocktails to giving the cops the finger (look for that moment, it's lovely)
d) And speaking of Nic – that boy has been working out. He’s still a weird looking fkcuer, but man, he’s got a sixpack you could dice on. And he sill looks good in leather pants. Bastard.

That said? Not a perfect slice of cheese. It could have moved faster in the first half, and they totally totally did not use Sam Elliot as much as they should have (Sam frickin Elliot, man!) Also, the female interest? Obviously was only there for the female interest, IYKWIM. Seriously. If she unbuttoned one more button it would have to be the snap on her jeans. Even the teenaged boys in the audience were going "man, she looks like a total tease" (if we actually saw her having sex, she could graduate to being a slut, but this is a remarkably puritan movie in that respect. And, adding insult to insult, she couldn’t act. And there’s no way you believe she’s smart enough to be a t.v. reporter (think about that for a moment).

But go see it. Pay matinee prices, and see it on the big screen. And have a plate of flaming saganaki, after.
lauraanne_gilman: (Default)
So, we took the afternoon to go see "The Illusionist," mainly because it was based on a short story by my old writing professor (the story that won a World Fantasy Award, I might add).

*pause*

Wow. Just.. wow.

This is not a movie that will do well in the mass audiences, I fear -- it requires you to stay on your game, appreciate nuances, and think forward as well as back. But for those willing to go in awake and alert, it rewards the viewing. And how.

Go. See. Prove to Hollywood that we will respond to intelligent moviemaking....

(and hopefully Steve Millhauser's old collections will be brought back, as he's a damn good writer -- and how many people can say they've won both a World Fantasy Award and a Pulitzer for Best Novel?)
lauraanne_gilman: (Default)
in three easy steps.

1. Rocks.
2. Go, see.
3. Way much fun.


It's not the frolic of a mindless romp the first movie was -- there you walked out and thought 'what just happened?' Here there's an actual plot. That almost makes sense. And how sad is it when we all agreed that Depp was the third prettiest man in the movie? (almost the fourth, behind Kiera Knightly). Scruffy Norrington(TM)...mmm. Never let that man near a powdered wig ever again, k?

It's like a morally confused "Raiders" blended with a shot of quality Monty Python, and a chaser of AbFab. I'd list my favorite moments, but there were too many and they came at you too fast to remember. I need the dvd....

"Why is the rum gone, again? Oh. That's why."


Yeah, it was long. And it's clearly setting you up for the third movie. But that doesn't invalidate a) the fun to be had in this one and b) the fact that 85% of the plot is entirely this movie, not set-up. I call that a fair percentage.

Oh. And so many many props to the fight choreographers. Seriously. If you've seen it, you know what I mean.
lauraanne_gilman: (Default)
Have seen KING KONG. Have echoed the opions of (seemingly) most of the world in saying that had it been half an hour shorter, it would have been near perfection. There were a number of nitpicks, yes, but overall, quite enjoyable, and you can tell that Someone had been watching the silverback at the local zoo before putting Kong into motion. Dude, research is always so appreciated. Thank you. Had Kong struck off notes, the entire thing would have fallen apart.


I do wish, however, cut for slight spoilers )


That griped, it was muchfun, and I'm glad we got to see it on the large screen.


Have also seen NARNIA. Less to say on this, except that the things that annoyed me as a young Jewish child reading the books were still there, although much reduced, and save for one scene (you know the one, I'm sure) I was able to sweep them aside as "archetypal building blocks" to a wonderfully told story, with just the right amount of storyline added to make it understandable by those few who haven't read the books. The actors were all nigh perfection, Lucy was just the right amount of adorable without being annoying, and although I always picture Edmund as being shorter and rounder, it wasn't enough to knock me out of the story. Oh, and That Voice for Aslan was, as expected, perfectly cast. Yum.

The CGI were close to perfectly done, by the way, with better battle scenes than LotR. Heresy, perhaps, but no less true. And yes, [livejournal.com profile] dianora2, the tactics were very much informed by the Blitz.

And WANT a gryphon, damn it. Merchandisers, are you listening?
lauraanne_gilman: (Default)
specifically, "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory."

Dude. Weird-ass movie. You'll either love it, or hate it.


I loved it.


some spoilers here but hey, we all know the story, right? )

In short -- really weird, well-done story, makes "Edward Sissorhand" feel more than moderately mainstream, and wow, go see it.

Even shorter -- "Gene Wilder, who?"

I just wish the popcorn had been better. This is a movie that deserves good popcorn.


And we came out of the theater to a significant downpour. Yay rain! Yay thunder! Yay finally a cooling-down (sommat) of temperatures!

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