Category: Uncategorized

In case you weren’t convinced yet

Cory Doctorow on Mirrormask:

I’ve just come from seeing the film and I’m here to tell you, it’s worth the price of admission and then some. The look of the film is the first thing that takes you: it’s pure McKean, gorgeous and lush and surreal and vivid as a dream, perfectly capturing the feel of the Sandman.

Then you notice the writing. It’s a rare film that successfully translates the ineffable oomph of a prose writer’s style to the big screen. Gaiman’s work is quirky, understated, funny and smart. In Mirrormask, it translates brilliantly to the screen. The dialog crackles. It’s laugh-out-loud funny. It’s spooky. It’s weird and perfectly complimentary to McKean’s illustration style.

This is a collaboration between three incredibly talented fantasists, two of whom have done so much work together that they clearly are in nigh-psychic communication with one another. I want to see this one again, and again. I haven’t seen a film as lovely as this since Brazil. I haven’t seen a film as enchanting since The Princess Bride.

The opening weekend grosses will determine the film’s long-term success. You’ve got one more day to see it when it counts — catch it tomorrow [meaning Sunday] and help spread it to a world that needs it.

Start spreading the news….

Saturday afternoon, on a perfectly blue October day at Fenway Park, the penultimate game in an almost sadistically brutal season, whatever faith the Yankees had invested in themselves finally paid off. Behind the pitching of Johnson, with the help of a punishing lineup that has been a saving grace from Day 1, the Bronx Bombers dumped the Red Sox, 8-4, and clinched their eighth consecutive American League East title.

Peter Beagle could use some help

Via Boing Boing:

PETER S. BEAGLE NEEDS OUR HELP

Hard as it may be to believe — given the fame of THE LAST UNICORN and its worldwide legion of readers — Peter has never been financially successful. Just like Jerry Siegel and Joe Schuster with their creation SUPERMAN, Peter’s lack of business sense has left him poor and struggling even as other people have made fortunes off his talent and hard work.

This victimization has been going on for decades. It has to stop. And it will stop, if we come together and do something about it!

My name is Connor Cochran. I became Peter’s business manager four years ago, when I learned how badly he was being treated by publishers and studios. Together he and I have worked hard to change things for the better, and we’ve made some progress. But now the fight is entering a whole new phase. The people we’re going up against have deep pockets. They don’t think Peter will ever be able to put together the funds to stop them. They don’t think he can ever make enough public noise about things to be worth bothering about.

You can change that.

ETA: Obviously since I’m not privy to the details of Beagle’s contracts, I can’t be sure about what monies are actually owed him. That’d be a matter for the courts to eventually decide.

Mirrormask

Mirrormask was quite excellent and visually stunning, so I’ve definitely got no regrets
about passing up seeing Serenity on opening night to see Dave & Neil’s movie instead.
I’ll try to get an actual review posted over at Of Two Minds by the end of the weekend.

Plus, I figured Serenity already had more than enough Browncoats coming out to show
their support, while Mirrormask needed (and still needs) a strong opening weekend to
even get past its currently limited release. A big smack upside the head for the
executive at Sony who decided that opening Mirrormask opposite Joss’ baby was
a good idea. The audiences aren’t identical, but I’m sure there’s quite a bit of overlap.
If you’ve already done your Browncoat duty this weekend, and you’re a fan of Neil
Gaiman’s writing and/or Dave McKean’s art, and you’re lucky enough to live in or near
one of the cities where Mirrormask is currently playing, take the time to go see it.
You’ll be glad you did.

And yes, I do plan on seeing the full version of Serenity at some point too.

Shakespeare meme

If you see this, post a quote from Shakespeare in your journal…

And Crispin Crispian shall ne’er go by,
From this day to the ending of the world,
But we in it shall be remember’d;
We few, we happy few, we band of brothers;
For he to-day that sheds his blood with me
Shall be my brother; be he ne’er so vile,
This day shall gentle his condition:
And gentlemen in England now a-bed
Shall think themselves accursed they were not here,
And hold their manhoods cheap whiles any speaks
That fought with us upon Saint Crispin’s day.

— Henry V, Act IV, Scene iii