Schedule Update: April 2016

Now that my final (for now) thoughts on 10 Cloverfield Lane are up, here's a look at what's coming next. 

Rather than giving dates and then posting too late or two early, I'm just going to stick to a regular release of two articles a week, with extras if I have more to share.

Coming up:

Review: The Huntsman: Winter's War

The first movie, Snow White and the Huntsman, felt like a C-minus effort. Not too bad, but not very good either, and mostly inconsequential. Will the sequel improve on the good parts of the original? I was cautiously hopeful that this was the case.

What I Want From Movies -- Part 2

A look at Terminator 2: Judgement Day -- the second of four movies that are currently my "favourites". This is a really fun one.

Bone Recap: The Great Cow Race Chapter 2

"The Cave": Phoney and Smiley's plot to rig the Cow Race is thickening and I'll have an analysis with writing lessons to go with it.

Not Happening:

Review: Agents of SHIELD Season 2

I wanted to review this, maybe even episode by episode, but I need to practice reviewing television shows with something else before I dive into a live action, plot-and-mystery dense second season like this.

In Development:

The Puppetheads

I said this would start in 2016 and I'm standing by it.

Untitled Serial

The main reason I didn't finish The Puppethead Saga originally was because the story ran out of steam before it reached the end. This new serial will be a single serialised novel with a planned ending.

Genre Thoughts: 10 Cloverfield Lane

Following my comment at the end of the review, the genre and context of 10 Cloverfield Lane is definitely a highlight. Who doesn't want a series of smaller budget, high-concept thrill rides with brand new worlds and characters every time? Of course, these would only be promising if the worlds and characters therein were actually interesting. Had this idea springboarded from the first Cloverfield, I would be worried, as the characters in that film were not particularly engaging.

10 Cloverfield Lane, on the other hand, actively highlights the progression of character arcs in a way that goes above and beyond both its predecessor and plenty of previous "claustrophobic thriller" films in general. 

Howard's back story, both those parts revealed and implied, jointly make him scarier and more human (in a way that might remind one of Norman Bates). Emmett's back story informs a shift in his attitude from having gratitude for Howard, then progressing to survivor's guilt (including his regret for never going far from home), and finally a little idolatry (hey, Michelle might be the last woman on the planet … as far as he knows). Michelle I will save for below in the spoilers.

This focus on characters in 10 Cloverfield Lane also belies its status, joining the modern trend seen in Ex Machina, Chronicle, Safety Not Guarenteed -- and to some extent District 9, among others -- where a B-Movie speculative short story or "Big Idea" is given a level of seriousness and human depth that was previously less prevalent.


*** HERE COME THE SPOILERS ***


What's so exciting about this is that actual, honest-to-goodness Science Fiction (the soft and hard kinds) is here combined with the compelling characters. Any decent film-makers could have aimed to forge their story into something like a competent mainstream thriller -- one that people might call "Hitchcockian" (and while I don't agree with the comparison, 10 Cloverfield Lane has been called such by several reviewers also). 

This theoretical movie would have left our protagonist, Michelle, outside of the bunker and facing only the possibility of a worldwide disaster after the movie's central disaster (her capture by Howard). Throw in some ambiguity (what really happened? Did Howard make it all up?) and you've got yourself a water-cooler ending worthy of discussion. That could have been enough.

But this is not the point! 10 Cloverfield Lane is not yet another thriller of escaping a villain. Remember the multifaceted character arcs? Naturally, Michelle's is the heart of the story, and if it doesn't work the movie falls down. If Michelle had entered the film by running from her boyfriend after the argument as she does, but then exited the film by running from Howard, the cathartic release wouldn't have been nearly as potent – her character was doing the same thing at the beginning as at the end, and we're right back with the character-shallow B-movies of yesteryear, existing mostly for the thrills, violence or sexual content and not actually telling a story.

What does the audience get instead? A well shown, if concise, explanation (oh, no! Aliens!) and a whole ten minutes or more of just how Michelle's experience of surviving the bunker has changed her. She hides, she improvises, and then finally, in a so-classic-that-maybe-it's-quaint-but-who-cares final shot, she comes to a fork in the road and chooses not to seek safety but to join the resistance against the invaders.

This is perhaps so wonderful a decision that it is actually difficult to see why at first. In fact, the original draft of the film was just as I described earlier, without the final confrontation and Michelle simply escaping from the bunker. Instead, as director Trachtenberg himself said, the final movie embraces the idea that

"it would be so cool if this really was … a badass little origin story …"
(io9, The Director of 10 Cloverfield Lane Explains All About That Wild Ending http://io9.gizmodo.com/the-director-of-10-cloverfield-lane-explains-all-about-1764626525)

So let's circle back around to this being "Genre Thoughts". You can pretty much understand the point of the film through Dan Trachtenberg's attitude to creating an interesting hero. Like Bad Robot's other most shining output Fringe, 10 Cloverfield Lane is by-genre-fans and for-genre-fans in a way that understands why we want to watch movies.

It's not about explosions (there are more than one in this film) and it's not about monsters (though it has plenty of those too). It's caring about the human beings enough that what they do matters, whether they are the villain of many stories beforehand (Howard!) or the hero of many stories to come. I really hope, too, that we haven't seen the last of action-hero Mary Elizabeth Winstead. She's really good at this stuff.

Where is Exhumana?

It has been nearly two years since my last progress update on Exhumana. I just wanted to leave some explanation here as to why that is, as well as where the project is going next.

There has been a script for a graphic novel called "Exhumana: Initiate" sitting on my hard drive in completed form since the end of March in 2014. However, following that year's pursuing (and ultimately abandoning) an entire potential career path and my subsequent return to writing, I realised that the work in evidence reflected neither my growth as a writer nor my actual creative intentions.

After this, I attempted to rewrite the entire story -- to reflect what I now thought was the true Exhumana story that I had wanted to tell. Readers have probably already guessed that this was a failure, especially if you yourself are a comics writer. Over all, it was an ill-considered plan.

I loved the world created in that story and was excited to continue narrating its journey to you, dear readers. Despite that sentiment, we have to learn when to cut our losses, and so I haven't done any major writing in comic scripts for months now.

On to the good news: Shauna O'Meara, a fellow member of the Canberra Speculative Fiction Guild, who I commissioned in 2013 for the cover images above and on my Twitter profile (as well as lots of other cool ideas for the AGCs on her Flickr profile here) is still on board for something related to Exhumana, once she has completed an assortment of exciting, high-profile jobs that she took on in the interim.

My intent is to reshape the world and ideas into a brand new story, something more mainstream -- not so to say, by "dumbing it down" by any means, but rather to sell the story as a more conventional magazine comic.

When the time comes, I also hope to open up about this process and remain accountable to readers on this blog for more updates, craft studies and so on. Being so fresh-faced, these will be more for my own development than for instruction, you can be certain.

That about wraps up this post -- thank you for reading. I'll see you in mankind's terrible and exciting future!

Review: 10 Cloverfield Lane

This will be the first of two posts on 10 Cloverfield Lane, first is a review of the film itself and the second will be a genre study. This first part is spoiler free and the other will have marked spoilers.

How you respond to Bad Robot's new production 10 Cloverfield Lane will almost certainly depend on how much you were expecting a sequel to 2008's Cloverfield.

First-time director Dan Trachtenberg's movie has little-to-no connection to the first Cloverfield, but it's also destined to suffer disinterest or even rejection from two extremes: anybody who was hoping to see the original story continued; and also haters of the original who are turned off by the use of the title for this new movie.

For what it's worth, I found some enjoyment in the original film but hoped that whatever Matt Reeves directed next wasn't as aggressively average and doused in shaky-camera antics (I was rewarded in 2014 with his flawed but great Dawn of the Planet of the Apes). If you were in the same camp, you probably weren't clamouring for Cloverfield 2. However, you might be better positioned to enjoy 10 Cloverfield Lane.

Mary Elizabeth Winstead is Michelle, who after an argument with her fiance leaves New Orleans and drives out to the country. She has an accident on the highway and blacks out, only to wake up inside an underground bunker owned by Howard (John Goodman). Howard is a conspiracy nut and disaster prepper who alleges that there's been "attack" above ground and, as far as he knows, Michelle, he and a third survivor, Emmett, are all that remain of the human race.

So begins a no-fat rollercoaster ride filled with mystery and tension, grounded in fantastic performances by the two leads. Goodman is intriguing (given the twisted story structure of reveal upon reveal) and is alternately welcoming and frightening. His potential untrustworthiness – whether intentional or simply by his being an "outsider" – is a good parallel to your reaction while watching the film. Has Howard rescued Michelle, or simply kidnapped her and invented a catastrophe? Is he the antagonist of the story? His he a "monster", much like the kaiju Clover? Is the movie even science-fiction? You won't get a peep from me.

Winstead, on the other hand, brings to life one of the best protagonists of the year so far. Her story-arc is core from minute 1 through minute 103 (the movie is 103 minutes long). It's uplifting to see a film whose production staff were dedicated to providing cathartic character growth and at the same time not shirking the horror of being trapped in a confined space with people you don't know.

The acting isn't the only thing that keeps you engaged. Battlestar's Bear McCreary provides a fitting original score, though you could say that it is closer to the Bad Robot "house style" than Bear's own. What his music truly succeeds at is blending into the sonic fabric of Howard's bunker. When Michelle is feeling emotional, that's the accompaniment. When she is surprised, the strings will sting.

Yes, there are jump scares in the movie. Yes, like many mysteries, once you know the outcome the tension will probably be deflated on future viewings. Despite this, I take issue at the idea that these will sour 10 Cloverfield Lane with time. Like Psycho (more on that in the next post) the world suggested within the story is layered and interesting enough that you will never be bored, even knowing exactly what happens next. In the end, the film is a high-quality experience either way, with great twists and believable characters.

But what about the Cloverfield connection? Do you need to have seen the first movie at all to get more out of 10 Cloverfield Lane? The answer is a resounding no. Abrams and company have made it clear with this sudden departure and subsequent interviews that the idea of a true sequel to Cloverfield is less interesting than using the strange, smaller-budget associations of that title to tell what amounts to a sci-fi anthology series, like a big-screen Twilight Zone. That might be the most thrilling part …

10 Cloverfield Lane earns 4.5 / 5 stars.

Stay tuned for another look at 10 Cloverfield Lane next, with a focus on how it fits into the cinematic canon of "high-quality B-movies".

Review: April and the Extraordinary World

If you grew up reading Asterix the Gaul or The Adventures of Tintin, you were probably intrigued by the trailers to Avril et le Monde truqué, or April and the Extraordinary World. The film, which uses a combination of computer-assisted hand drawn animation and CGI, is an original story based in a world created by bandes dessinées artist Jacques Tardi.

If you want the pure experience, go now, watch the movie and come back afterward. In a nutshell, if you enjoy Franco-Belgian comics, steampunk or Hayao Miyazaki's movies this will definitely be up your alley. I won't spoil anything major about the plot in the review below, but part of the fun in April is the thrill of discovery, much like the principles of science that motivate the characters therein.

There's a modern term that describes Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror (and Historical Fiction sometimes) collectively as Speculative Fiction. Stories about the "What If".

Existing in the space between futuristic, historical, magical and scientific, April is very much a speculative-fiction story. In this case: what if the Franco-Prussian War never happened? What if there was nothing more to stand in the way of the French Empire? Add to that: what if the world's scientists began to disappear?

Of these scientists, two happen to be the protagonist's parents. Left with a priceless snowglobe, a love for science and a cat who can talk as a result of a failed experiment, April spends ten years stealing, sneaking and generally waifing-it-up around Paris trying to recreate her family's secret serum (the relevance of which I will leave up to the movie to detail).

April is not a spunky, Barbie-doll teenager but a much more down-to-earth personality who bears the weight of an orphan but is also weighed down as a citizen of the disgusting capital that Paris has become. The might of the French Empire was so hungry for fuel to fight its wars that it deforested the entire continent, belching so much smoke into the atmosphere that most Europeans wear gas masks in 1941 and the countryside has been turned into a grey wasteland. 

For April, the loss of her family and the destruction of the natural world might as well be the same thing: her first hopeful encounter in years happens at a memorial to the last tree and the journey to find her parents takes her away from the smoggy horror she's known for years. Her talking cat, Darwin, is the closest thing she has to a family member, and the smoke in the air is likely to take him from her too.

April charts an alternate history that results in, thanks to the lack of scientists, a world where electricity was never discovered and the burning of coal and wood is the only source of energy. Combined with the oppressive French Imperial regime, you have a recipe for classic steampunk.

Much like The Matrix and the genre of cyberpunk back in 1999, readers already familiar with this kind of setting might find the opening narration somewhat over-explanatory as to why April's world is this way. Most movie-goers, however, are less likely to take the preponderance of airships and chunky wood-fired machines for granted -- in which case this is the best introduction that one could ask for. Instead of treating the aesthetic as a fashion statement, April does a remarkable job of exploring both parts of the term "steampunk": an empire that needs fuel for its machines of war (the steam) and a dismal world where the only heroes are the outcasts and abnormals (the punks).

While its exploration of steampunk politics is a rare occurrence on film, the actual plot of April is pure old-fashioned adventure-romance, meaning not the lovy-dovy kind of romance but the two-fisted, derring-do kind. Taking inspiration from Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow, Howl's Moving Castle, Raiders of the Lost Ark and even James Bond and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles at times, the film-makers clearly knew what they wanted to produce and who they were making it for. Often, thanks to the nearly perfect pacing, exciting action and silly slapstick, the movie seems to be blossoming out of pure love right before your eyes.

Is the plot predictable? Mostly, with a few minor exceptions. Do the villain/s plans seem far-fetched? Quite. Will the protagonists find themselves in a beautiful natural environment after spending the first half of the story in a smog-choked, overcrowded city? You bet! But accusing April of being unoriginal in these ways is as pointless as doing so to any of the aforementioned properties. Part of what makes something a "genre" in the first place is a set of guidelines and touchstones that are familiar to the audience, and April is no exception.

That said, if you happen to be sensitive to what Doug Walker (of the Nostalgia Critic) calls the "liar revealed" story¹, it rears its head in April, though it is downplayed to an extent: it's only so important to the characters until they next get into trouble (which as you might guess is quite often in a pulp adventure tale).

Strangely enough -- though I cannot be certain of how and when the production of April lines up -- there are multiple reflections, plot points and even visual motifs that seem to simultaneously evoke and rebuke last year's Tomorrowland. Perhaps it is from the overarching premise of disappearing scientists and the imminent death of the natural world. Even the villain/s motivations seem to expound upon and better rationalise the kind of character that the former film's Governor Nix became.

Regardless, while there are certain logistical questions left at the end of April that even the film admits may have gone a bit too far, it manages to tell a complete story in the way that Tomorrowland failed. Rather than a protracted first act and rushed conclusion, April goes to great lengths to provide a full beginning, middle and end. This is a movie that understands that an adventure (rather than say, a mystery story) needs the plot details to be doled out over the course of the story rather than dumped on the audience all at once in the climax.

Many of the fantastically staged action scenes wouldn't have had as much impact if the secrets had been withheld in this way -- and they really are fantastic. The aesthetic of the film is hands-down the best translation to animation of Tintin artist Hergé's pioneering "ligne claire" style (of which Jacques Tardi makes ample use in his work) that I have ever seen. I have not read many of Tardi's comics but I understand that his style also makes use of highly detailed backgrounds, another beautiful component of April's visual identity. The few conspicuous uses of 3D CGI are integrated as well as they can be and mostly just to maintain sensible proportions when depicting vehicles.

The biggest negative I have about April and the Extraordinary World is akin to one of the villain's core motivations: prejudice. That is, prejudice in the anglosphere against French films, and especially animated ones. When I showed the trailer to a friend earlier in the year, he remarked, "oh, an art film."

This is a movie that deserves to be as popular with kids and adults alike as any of the upcoming Dreamworks and Pixar projects, but like the stop motion extravaganzas of LAIKA is probably destined to be seen only as a cult classic. It has humour in abundance, wondrous sights, thrills and even manages to sneak in commentary on the importance of family.

April and the Extraordinary World is no Star Wars or How To Train Your Dragon -- the plot is maybe a tad too conventional -- but in a world with angry superheroes and lightspeed remakes or nostalgia grabs it allows the audience to have a different sort of adventure. It stands out from the norm, and that makes it extraordinary -- 4.0 / 5 Stars.

As they say in France, fin.

___________________________________________________________________

1 That is to say, the rather overused device where a hero is caught in a deceit, and subsequently ostracised -- causing emotional turmoil in one or more characters who thought they could trust them -- even though the audience is well aware that the heroes will kiss and make up before the finale.

The Great Cow Race Ch1: The Spring Fair

"The Spring Fair! Don't you just love it Fone Bone? The smells! The colors!"
"I have to admit -- this is a pretty good way to wind up our adventure!"

So what, Bone, in a few days you'll be headed back to Boneville?
BAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

Pros
The opening page of this chapter has some beautiful art showing off the Spring Fair, and as usual the facial expressions of the main characters are very effective. I also liked the introduction of giant bees as another emblem of the Valley's magical weirdness.

Cons
Sheesh, Tom -- you didn't win the good looks lottery, did you? Perhaps it's because he's such a bit-part character, but the hunk with the honey's first of several appearances in The Great Cow Race has a whole lot of derp-face going on. Sure, it's just one panel, and he's considerably more normal through his other scenes but ... good grief, maybe Jeff Smith just wanted us to dislike him from the start and went waaay too far.

This chapter's lesson
At the start of The Great Cow Race, I was reminded that, unfortunately, this and the fifth volume Rock Jaw are the least impressive of the series. They aren't bad by any means, but especially contrasted with the high action and drama in the surrounding volumes, the talking-animal antics and less interesting plot threads (oh no, Thorn is smitten by a jerk guy ...) come off as affected and unnecessary.

However -- and this is the lesson for today! -- the sillier tone of The Great Cow Race and the lower-stakes action is not a weakness from the standpoint of Bone as a children's series. Yes, it has a broad audience and is not intended only for kids, but it is of the same genre as Asterix or The Hobbit. Both books also make use of sillier breaks in between the more serious plots to keep the story from becoming too grim.

Think back to the episode "The Tales of Ba Sing Se" in Avatar: TLA. Our heroes have just been told that the city they spent the whole season trying to reach is basically a more affluent Airstrip One from 1984. Followed up with a collection of light or touching short stories! Not exactly the most narratively satisfying continuation, but necessary to downplay just how scary the situation truly is.

To fall back on the ever-present Tolkien example, these early hi-jinxes are like the Shire. Darker times ahead will be more bearable to struggle through knowing what lies behind the main characters and what they want to protect. Here, the Spring Fair is an example of that fun and happiness.

Review: Amulet Book One: The Stonekeeper

On the back cover of Amulet Book One: The Stonekeeper, by Kazu Kibuishi, are these words:

"Five -- no, three pages into Amulet and you'll be hooked."

-- Jeff Smith, creator of BONE

I ask, dear reader: how could I resist?

Note: while I'll try not to spoil major plot reveals, I recommend if you want to go in fresh that you leave now and come back once you've read the book. If you've already read Amulet, you probably have a much better idea of what I'm talking about!

The Story

Let's see. First, it's your standard kids' portal fantasy: something terrible happens to one or more family members of the protagonist/s and they enter another world filled with magic and wonder but also dangers, a terrible villain and a whole lot of saving to do. So far, so Narnia, so Pan's Labyrinth or anything in between (incidentally, doesn't Jim Henson's Labyrinth qualify as halfway between?).
It doesn't sound like a story that has much new to offer, right?

Wrong.

The Art
Amulet first shows its true potential through use of an evocative, chiefly grey-blue colour palette, shot through with other tones, similarly subdued. This is reflective of the nature of magic in the setting, also quite subtle but beautiful in its own way. Among these styles are characters who, frankly, took a while to grow on me visually. It's hard, for instance, to take the kids' mother's incredibly long head seriously.

But that's all okay, because the design of Amulet's world is the real draw. Already I can't wait to read the next book, because a plethora of giant molluscs, alien elves and intelligent teddy-rabbits show that Kazu Kibuishi tried his darnedest to separate his story from the pack. Along with these Lovecraft-lite monsters and cute robots, the entrance to the magical parallel world of Alledia is a spooky and original opening to Navin and Emily's adventure.

Laid out like a Zelda dungeon with less puzzles, there are the aforementioned molluscs, treacherous cliffs and strange fungi galore to feast your eyes upon. Then, we reach Charnon House in the middle of an underground lake. I can just taste the promise: every new location suggesting mystery, then when explored, new horizons are revealed. Kibuishi must have been taking notes from Tolkien for that one.

And this is all without mentioning the magic and technology. There are the robots like Miskit, flying machines, the actual house -- whose true nature I will leave for you to discover -- mixed in with the mysterious sorceries of the elf prince and the titular Amulet.

The Setup
We have to face it. This book is an adventure, certainly, but like all first books its true purpose is to introduce the struggle and enchant the reader; make them want to read more. There are plenty of interesting threads premiered -- the biggest of course is that Navin and Emily need to save their mother -- but of them all I was struck the most by the nature of the Amulet.

It's the primary plot device: the source of magic for the protagonists and apparently the means of defeating the Big Bad Guy, the Elf King. But immediately, it is treated with as much ominousness as it is with promise.

This is not your typical plot pendant, it's actually more like the use of alchemy in Fullmetal Alchemist. That is, for a story ostensibly directed at children, the magic of the Amulet is more ambiguous than usual. We're telegraphed from the word go that things are going to go wrong. Will Emily suffer a terrible fate for having bound herself to the Amulet? Are the protagonists even the "good guys" that Silas makes them seem in the first place? Such ambiguity is tantalising and I look forward to where Navin and Emily's adventure takes them next.

The One Big Con
Alas, very few if any stories are perfect and the rule is upheld with Amulet. You might think I have nothing but praise because it pushes all the right buttons on my story brain, and to a certain extent I thought that too. Except that there's one aspect of Amulet: The Stonekeeper that I cannot stand, and it's the pacing.

Now I'll be the first to admit that I absorb comic books in a less-than-ideal manner. Despite my love of visual art, my more primal reading tendencies take over. My eyes snap from balloon to balloon to eat as much of the story as possible, regarding the rest only so much as I might notice the paragraph breaks in a novel. Paradoxically, this means I occasionally take longer to finish a comic book because I like to go back and actually take in the illustrations properly.

Yet, even I noticed that the panels, page after page, were dreadfully decompressed.

I have nothing against decompressed comics per se. I just believe that manipulating the passage of time is a technique to be used across all comics. I'd go so far as to say that deliberately slow comics are less accomplished narratively than those that use a diversity of panel numbers, sizes and representations of time.

Amulet: The Stonekeeper covers maybe one third of the ground that Out from Boneville does and it does it with fifty pages more. That's two whole issues of a regular magazine comic! This is like one of those two hour movies that you just wish could have been edited to ninety minutes. True, when the inevitable Amulet movie is developed they could probably use these decompressed panels as storyboards, but that doesn't help when there's really only enough story content to fill two episodes of a half-hour cartoon.

Okay, that last part used a lot of comparisons to other media. Let's stick with comics: Amulet: The Stonekeeper feels like the beginning of an arc, not an entire arc unto itself. It's a proof-of-concept, and a great one. But that doesn't excuse it for taking its sweet, sweet time getting the story to where it needs to be for Book Two.

The Verdict
Well, I should probably start coming up with a rating system if I'm going to actually review stuff. Amulet is off to an exciting start and if the pace improves, it could easily be one of my favourite fantasy comics (there don't seem to be that many around, do there?).

Amulet: The Stonekeeper 
3.5 / 5