tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-121058942024-03-08T04:21:09.041-05:00Look What I Found In My Brain!Game/book/movie reviews, writing articles, geek humor. Computers, cats, science, science fiction, fantasy, and horror.LAShttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15918525173231887524noreply@blogger.comBlogger57125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12105894.post-30346873744936633692009-01-04T00:23:00.001-05:002009-01-04T00:26:00.472-05:00Movie Review: Grand Prixby Gary A. BraunbeckIn 1966, director John Frankenheimer turned out a pair of films that could not possibly be more different in subject matter and execution: Seconds and Grand Prix. Frankenheimer did not want to make Grand Prix, but was forced by the studio to do so after Seconds died a miserable death at the box office. Grand Prix, on the other hand, was a tremendous hit, and remainedLAShttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15918525173231887524noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12105894.post-17080334832925357012009-01-04T00:16:00.001-05:002009-01-04T00:22:02.351-05:00Movie Review: The Swimmerby Gary A. Braunbeck1968's The Swimmer (based on the short story by John Cheever) was a labor of love for its producer/star Burt Lancaster. In it he plays a businessman who, at film's start, has decided to spend a bright summer Sunday afternoon making his way from pool to pool, swimming his way across suburbia to his own home. He lives in an upscale and trendy community where LAShttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15918525173231887524noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12105894.post-42643570306687466752008-11-10T19:33:00.001-05:002008-11-10T19:36:42.460-05:00Quadropheniaby Gary A. BraunbeckBy its musical structure alone, The Who's Quadrophenia opened my eyes and my intellect to the endless possibilities offered by the metaphor; add to that its compelling and challenging narrative structure, and you've got something that, to my mind, qualifies as a masterpiece. Quadrophenia centers on a young kid in 1960s England named Jimmy. Jimmy comes from a LAShttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15918525173231887524noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12105894.post-53339567199169898222008-11-10T19:22:00.003-05:002008-11-10T19:32:10.622-05:00The Manchurian Candidatereviewed by Gary A. Braunbeck1962's The Manchurian Candidate A lot -- a lot -- has been written and said about The Manchurian Candidate, the film that put John Frankenheimer on the map as a director. How effective you'll find the film today depends on your personal level of cynicism. Candidate -- a satire in the truest sense of the word -- deliberately sets out to make the LAShttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15918525173231887524noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12105894.post-51723469968874738172008-11-05T19:24:00.000-05:002008-11-05T19:30:37.047-05:00Movie Review: Secondsreviewed by Gary A. BraunbeckSeconds is arguably director John Frankenheimer's best film. Based on the excellent novel by David Ely, in it we meet middle-aged bank executive Arthur Hamilton (John Randolph in a masterfully shaded performance) whose life is so miserable he walks as if the earth might open at any moment and swallow him whole. His job drains him of humanity. His LAShttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15918525173231887524noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12105894.post-89064385651855164992008-10-22T14:53:00.006-04:002009-07-05T22:46:09.856-04:00Movie Review: Sorcererby Gary A. BraunbeckSorcerer, made by William Friedkin in 1977 after his triumphs and numerous awards for both The French Connection and The Exorcist, was his own Apocalypse Now: a film that went over budget and took three times as long to film as originally planned, but one denied Apocalypse's subsequent fame, notoriety, and audience interest.A remake of Henri-Georges Clouzot's The Wages of FearLAShttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15918525173231887524noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12105894.post-80722612700498849772008-10-22T14:48:00.002-04:002008-10-22T14:51:47.358-04:00Mass Murderby Gary A. BraunbeckFormer FBI agent Robert Ressler -- he's the man who gave us the term "serial killer" -- defines "classic" mass murder as involving one mentally-disordered killer in one location who kills 4 or more other people more or less at the same time.These days, mass murders are taking place more and more in public places like schools and businesses, but it used to be more common for LAShttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15918525173231887524noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12105894.post-75709303506807505322008-10-21T19:55:00.006-04:002008-10-21T20:12:18.298-04:00Nunzilla's School of Reading Comprehensionby Gary A. BraunbeckI read very slowly.When I was in the second grade at St. Francis de Sales School in Newark, Ohio, our English teacher, Sister Mary Elizabeth, required that we read aloud on Mondays and Fridays. Coming from a hard-core blue-collar background, reading was not something that was encouraged in the Braunbeck household. Not that my parents discouraged it, but because both of them LAShttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15918525173231887524noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12105894.post-50984211768349463342008-10-14T11:32:00.000-04:002008-10-14T11:34:01.341-04:00Life is material; you just have to live long enough to figure out how to use itby Gary A. BraunbeckThere's a great line from William Goldman's novel The Color of Light: "Life is material; you just have to live long enough to figure out how to use it."William Faulkner maintained that any child who managed to live past the age of seven had enough material to write books and stories for the rest of his or her life and never see the well run dry; Flannery O'Connor said much theLAShttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15918525173231887524noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12105894.post-67738978075711943392008-10-14T09:41:00.001-04:002008-10-14T11:47:22.316-04:00On writing about child abuseby Gary A. BraunbeckEverything is bigger to a child; not only physically, but perceptually and emotionally, as well. A dollar found becomes a discovered treasure. A harsh word becomes a deafening declaration of war. A heap of dirty clothes in the corner becomes a nasty, fanged monster after the lights are out. A paper cut is a knife in the stomach. And a hug from a parent in times of fear becomesLAShttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15918525173231887524noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12105894.post-46345281671559234092008-10-12T05:00:00.001-04:002008-10-12T05:10:21.177-04:00Book Review: Memorial Day by Harry Shannonreviewed by Gary A. BraunbeckMemorial Day by Harry Shannon Five Star Press, 2004 For those of you who have read Shannon’s previous novels, Night of the Beast and Night of the Werewolf, it will come as no surprise that his latest novel crackles with the same brittle dialogue and muscular prose he’s been honing over the past few years. What might surprise you is that Memorial Day isn&LAShttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15918525173231887524noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12105894.post-23170567224490734602008-10-12T04:55:00.003-04:002008-10-12T05:13:53.414-04:00Book Review: 100 Jolts: Shockingly Short Stories by Michael A. Arnzenreviewed by Gary A. Braunbeck100 Jolts: Shockingly Short Stories by Michael A. ArnzenRaw Dog Screaming PressThose of you who have visited Arnzen's web site, or the Raw Dog Screaming Press site, or have already purchased this book, know that I provided a blurb for the cover, so you can safely assume that this is going to be a positive review. I stand by what I said in my blurb, but decided I LAShttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15918525173231887524noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12105894.post-75459465685892226492008-10-11T11:05:00.002-04:002009-07-05T22:46:07.318-04:00Sam Peckinpahby Gary A. BraunbeckSam Peckinpah is the director who redefined screen violence; he is also one of my all-time favorite filmmakers.He was born in Fresno, California on February 21, 1925 and died of a heart attack in 1984. In between, he was married five times and directed over a dozen ground-breaking films, mainly in the 60s and 70s.He grew up on a ranch in the California mountains. His father LAShttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15918525173231887524noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12105894.post-91349131856258888342008-10-11T10:36:00.001-04:002009-07-07T15:17:19.335-04:00Why I became a writerby Gary A. BraunbeckI was in the sixth grade when I decided I wanted to become a writer.I was not -- big surprise here -- a very social or popular kid. I had a geek haircut and thick, Coke-bottle glasses with dark frames. I wore clashing strains of plaid. I looked like the secret son that Buddy Holly kept chained up in his basement.One Friday in English class we were given back our spelling testsLAShttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15918525173231887524noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12105894.post-31719500253383069302008-10-11T10:11:00.004-04:002009-07-07T15:17:24.619-04:00On horror personasby Gary A. BraunbeckI don't know about you, but if I encounter one more horror writer (in most cases, this would be a new writer) who prefaces his or her name with: "The New Bad Boy/Bad Girl of Horror" "The New Queen of Terror" "The New Prince of Dark Fiction" "The New Court Second-Scribe in Charge of Queasy Sensations at The Pit Of Your Tummy"... or some-such other b.s. handle designed to draw LAShttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15918525173231887524noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12105894.post-4977898941967070602008-09-18T11:40:00.006-04:002009-07-07T15:17:28.861-04:00An author's view of the First Sale Doctrineby Gary A. BraunbeckAbuse of the first sale doctrine is fairly rampant in the small-press bookselling world. This is a real sore spot with me, and is going to take some explaining, so get comfortable.You have possibly encountered on-line booksellers who offer copies of books (often books they did not themselves publish) for outlandish prices. I myself have seen copies of my Cemetery Dance LAShttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15918525173231887524noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12105894.post-19389319569475456252008-09-17T15:18:00.004-04:002009-07-07T15:17:33.211-04:00On horror, mystery, fantasy, and science fiction "experts"by Gary A. BraunbeckMy pet peeve for the day is people who claim to be an "expert" on horror, or science fiction, or mysteries, or any other literary genre because they've read absolutely everything by just a single famous author in that genre ... and smugly refuse to read anything else.Odds are, you've met someone who's this type of "expert". You've probably had to endure their homilizing LAShttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15918525173231887524noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12105894.post-20219090705583475892008-09-16T14:17:00.002-04:002009-07-07T15:17:44.143-04:00Movie Review: The Happy Hooker Goes to Hollywoodreviewed by Gary A. BraunbeckThis is a low-budget, sleazy, but high-spirited dirty movie from 1980 that has aged less well than many of the B-grade actors who starred in it. Adam West (Batman from the old TV series) is the most recognizable star, appearing as Lionel Lamely. The movie is supposed to show how the first "Happy Hooker" movie got made in Hollywood and is mainly a string of party LAShttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15918525173231887524noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12105894.post-5952343746286792902008-09-16T13:59:00.005-04:002009-07-07T15:17:48.447-04:00Dumb things people say to horror writers at SF conventionsby Gary A. BraunbeckI've been to a lot of science fiction conventions, and while there are always perfectly intelligent, pleasant, courteous, well-read people at such gatherings, you inevitably run into those skiffy fans who are missing a lot in the way of clue.Here's a list of things these folks have actually said to me at conventions, plus the responses I sometimes wished I'd given: Q: "You're LAShttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15918525173231887524noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12105894.post-18480290423951902212008-09-15T18:23:00.006-04:002009-07-07T15:17:54.371-04:00Movie Review: Bring Me The Head of Alfredo Garciaby Gary A. BraunbeckEarly on in Sam Peckinpah's Bring Me The Head Of Alfredo Garcia, one secondary character remarks: "Be content with your lot in life, no matter how poor it may be. Only then can you expect mercy."No other American director has understood or been able to capture the Mexican "culture of poverty" as unflinchingly as Peckinpah. Though Garcia may not be Peckinpah's best film (it LAShttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15918525173231887524noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12105894.post-44287625100871679752008-09-09T11:57:00.004-04:002009-07-07T15:20:00.098-04:00Writing horror: the devil's in the detailsby Gary A. BraunbeckA writer friend of mine was busy making final revisions on a story he was planning to submit to an anthology. He asked me if I wold look at his story and offer suggestions and opinions. I read the story over, and while a full 75% of it was rock-solid, the final sequence seemed to me to fall victim to over-ripe melodrama.Now, instead of just saying outright that the finale was LAShttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15918525173231887524noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12105894.post-80651870829443312982008-09-07T12:23:00.005-04:002009-07-07T15:20:07.144-04:00Book Review: Ghosts of Yesterday by Jack Cadyreviewed by Gary A. BraunbeckGhosts of Yesterday by Jack CadyNight Shade Books, 2003ISBN: 1892389487hardcoverEarly in 2003, Night Shade Books released a stellar collection of 12 short stories and essays from the superb (and now deceased, sadly) Jack Cady that any serious readers of fantasy or horror should have on their shelves.Ghosts of Yesterday is the best single-author collection I've read inLAShttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15918525173231887524noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12105894.post-49087961728891247682008-08-29T13:31:00.005-04:002009-07-07T15:20:28.089-04:00Book Review: Speaks the Nightbird by Robert McCammonreviewed by Gary A. BraunbeckI immersed myself in Robert McCammon's Speaks the Nightbird for days. I first read it in 2002 when it was released in hardback by River City Publishing (Pocket Books put out the paperback version in 2003). It had been over a decade since McCammon last produced a novel; Nightbird reads astonishingly quickly for its near 700-page length, and McCammon's prose is as LAShttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15918525173231887524noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12105894.post-91753849530591913432008-08-29T13:26:00.003-04:002009-07-07T15:25:13.159-04:00Imagesreviewed by Gary A. BraunbeckIf you enjoy truly disturbing and mind-warping films, check out Robert Altman's 1972 film Images. It's an often horrific study of a children's author (played by Susannah York) and her rapid descent into genuine schizophrenia and paranoia.The movie is just amazing, beautifully shot and directed to keep you off-balance. It also features a very interesting, pre-Star LAShttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15918525173231887524noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12105894.post-28677423648381306692008-08-12T12:11:00.004-04:002009-07-07T15:26:10.359-04:00There will never be another youAn excerpt from the story "The Sisterhood of Plain-Faced Women" by Gary A. BraunbeckThis is our last dance together,Tonight soon will be long ago.And in our moment of parting,This is all I want you to know...I remember my mother used to love this one old 1943 Nat King Cole record. It was the only one she owned, as far as I know. She played a song called "There Will Never Be Another You" all LAShttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15918525173231887524noreply@blogger.com