I have been concentrating on Iron II – sci-fi which is so much easier to work on when I am busy at work. I find writing about religion very draining so Ordo II will have to wait for a while.
The science for Iron I has been fascinating but trying to cram in enough of a framework to make a world or indeed a universe, believable while not boring the reader is quite a challenge. Sometimes I have a very simple idea in my head but in order to make it happen I have to do all sorts of contortions in the book.
Is it possible to have this sentence, about an alien, or does the use of ‘morse-code’ kind of break the illusion, because morse-code is only of our world? Please let me know.
16 Martin Sheen in Apocalypse Now 14 The Butler in Dinner for One 13 Walter Matthau in Earthquake 12 Nicholas Cage in Leaving Las Vegas 11 Lee Marvin in Paint Your Wagons 10 Cary Grant in North by North West 9 Robert Mitchum in El Dorado 7 Olly Reed in Oliver 6 Lee Marvin in Shout at the Devil 6 Lee Marvin in Cat Ballou
Points Actor
10 Walter Matthau in Earthquake
9 Martin Sheen in Apocalypse Now (thanks for suggestion El’Phantasmo)
8 Cary Grant in North by North West
7 Nick Cage in Leaving Las Vegas
6 Olly Reed in Oliver
5 Shelley Winters in Alfie
4 the butler in Dinner for One
3 Lee Marvin in Paint Your Wagons
2 Lee Marvin in Shout at the Devil
1 Peter O’Toole in Murphy’s War
Okay time for a final vote now we have had plenty of time to deliberate. I have a few additions though so if anybody else has, please add them now:
Original list:
1. Walter Matthau in Earthquake (this is also definitely my funniest)
2. Lee Marvin in Paint Your Wagons
3. Lee Marvin in Cat Ballou (I’m still going to check out Paul Newman in The Sting though)
4. Paul Newman in The Hudsucker Proxy
5. Shelley Winters in Alfie
6. Martin Sheen in Apocalypse Now (thanks for suggestion El’Phantasmo)
7. I forgot Nick Cage in Leaving Las Vegas
8. Embarrassing one this but Oliver Reed in Oliver! Okay, okay I know the film is a bit of old hokey’ but he really is very menacing – and he was Carol Reed’s nephew.
9. Okay – the butler in Dinner for One, although I am not sure I have seen this. I will look on YouTube
10. Cary Grant in North by North West. Actually this is pretty good too.
11. I am actually adding in George Peppard in the Blue Max because the book from which the film was made was actually about alcoholism and I think on reflection Peppard is trying to convey something of this.
12. Peter O’Toole in Murphy’s War
13. Lee Marvin in Shout at the Devil
14. Robert Mitchum in El Dorado
That’s all from me. If you have none to add you can vote straight away. 10 pts for your favourite down to 1 point for your tenth favourite (we do PR here)
Also been trying to think of my ‘6 films you have got to see’ but it’s actually extraordinarily difficult. Mainly because I am trying to think of not my personal 6 favourites but 6 which I think everyone should see. So far I have only thought of 2.
Finally don’t miss the UK film 1066 which is currently in production. It’s the first UK film ever to be selling shares to the public and it has the biggest cast ever for a UK film. It has Lewis Collins as Earl Godwin too, which should be fun. Perhaps at last he will get some recognition. It also has Mark Lester (remember Oliver!) as King Harold.
Stop Press: there is a competition to win a day on the set of the film 1066: go to http://www.lewiscollins.info and click on ‘Competition’.
I have had a heavy period of writing. Mainly starting the sequel to Iron I: Too Bright the Sun.
Also I submitted Ordo Lupus and the Temple Gate to BigAl’s blog for review. If you missed it his blog went viral last week when he reviewed a book by Jacqueline Howett and she blasted him for picking up on her grammar. A whole load of people then backed him up which made her even more furious. If you haven’t read it, it’s here: https://booksandpals.blogspot.com/2011/03/greek-seaman-jacqueline-howett.html
If you are wondering why I have been so quiet it’s because I have started tentative work on the follow-up volume to Too Bright the Sun (which I am still waiting for a female reader to have a go at before I start the editing process).
I have tried a very different kind of opening to anything I have tried before. It’s a strange kind of hook if it is a hook at all but as they say, rules are there to be broken and a I have heard it said that not one rule in writing has not been broken at least once successfully.
My third reader to finish the draft novel has commented that he thinks it would be nice to have a few pages of illustrations of the various vehicles, guns and devices in the book and I must say I think it’s a good idea. More value for the reader. I might have a go myself.
Anyway looking for illustrations (would need to black and white although there is space for 1 colour illustration on rear cover) of:
MCS (both versions Mark 6 and 7)
J5 (Standford Torus Space Station)
X.50 laser
X.77 short-range laser (X.77 is equivalent of an Uzi – short barrel, no stock, optional second handle). Both this and X.50 would have the Trion logo on the side
Alien ‘Clover-leaf’ laser
IM truck
SU 401 Attack Fighter
Well, since its the Christmas break I have been doing some thinking – more than the usual amount of thinking and also there is a new movie channel Cinemoi available to me which just shows French movies, so encouraging even more philosophical thought.
I came across this quotation in a French Movie of the 50s or early 60s called ‘Le Petit Soldat’ (The Little Soldier) starring Anna Karina: ‘Ethics is the aesthetic of the Future’ from Hegel. I thought, ‘Hmmm, that’s interesting’ and have been pondering its veracity. Of course the sentence seems a little ambiguous at first: does he mean that the aesthetic of the Future informs Ethics or the other way around? But of course if the process is two-way and simultaneous then it holds true and I would guess that is what he meant. So then I wondered if my new book (unpublished yet) Iron, (also working title Too Bright the Sun), set in the future, has an aesthetic and if it does, is that informed by my Ethics. I realised that yes, it does have an aesthetic but so far, whether this is informed by my ethics or not eludes me. Continue reading “Morals, Ethics, Movies and Writing”→
Has anybody seen this 1955 film? Its a classic – about Hollywood corruption and very nearly didn’t get released. If you haven’t seen it, try and get hold of a copy.
Some of you may know I am a big fan of Jack Palance, who is the star of this modestly-budgeted film. Here he is at the pinnacle of his acting powers and there is some really stunning dialogue – sparkling like stardust in the ordure of Hollywood.
At times it is sluggish – overburdened with dialogue and lack of scene changes but at times it is almost Shakespearean in its witty sweep of ideas and perspectives. Tonight I will re-watch and pick out a few phrases to quote here. Okay I watched it again and here are some quotes:
If you’ve watched the popular war movie, you’ve probably asked one of two questions:
Did Cliff Robertson die in 633 Squadron? Did Roy Grant die in 633 Squadron?
Cliff Robertson in 633 Squadron
Well, I asked Cliff Robertson while he was alive, and the answer is in this post!
This post has been copied from the original post on my old blog (now deleted – see Reference Note at end of page). It would be a shame to lose it. Cliff, who played Roy Grant in 633 Squadron, was nice enough to reply by letter to a questionnaire I sent him about 633 Squadron. Below is my original letter. (Please note, Cliff did not answer all questions and here I have left the response blank.)
Note:Cliff Robertson died in 2011, but I have left the post in its original form.
Click ‘Continue reading’ below if you want to skip this section to his answers.
Dear Mr Robertson,
633 Squadron is the film in which I first saw you and made me a fan of yours. Ever since then I have sought out any film with you in it and recently, at last, I managed to see Charly (which I have never seen scheduled in England on TV).
633 Squadron has always been a very popular movie in England: filmed at Bovingdon airfield, it was regularly shown on TV during my childhood and is my favourite film. Today I think the film has entered the national psyche and is even the subject of contemporary adverts. The theme music is one of the best-loved pieces of music here and for myself, I never tire of watching your performance as the laconic Roy Grant. I think, more than any other film (certainly on flying or war), it has come to represent the best, something fundamental, about the British character. Many fans would love to know more about the film and about your part: you only have to look at the posts on youtube alongside excerpts (illegal I am sure) of the movie to see how popular it is, and yet you have been almost silent on it. Please Cliff, would you be so kind as to try and find time to answer the following questions for your fans in England (I cannot speak for Wales, Ireland and Scotland but I am sure they feel the same).
A movie and aviation buff. Continue reading “Questions I asked Cliff Robertson about 633 Squadron in 2010”→
Occult, Sci-fi & Military 