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Bob Mann (459 KP) rated Wordslingers: The Story of Self-Publishing (2021) in Movies
Sep 28, 2021
They say that everyone has a book in them. I guess the key question is whether anyone else wants to read it. Such is the subject of this new documentary from A. Brooks Bennett. As a publisher says at one point “Writing a book is a creative act; publishing a book is a business”.
The democratization of publishing
The internet has brought many advantages to modern life, but perhaps one of the most interesting is the democratization of publishing. No longer is control in the hands of publishing houses, who might glance at and immediately dismiss new ideas in literature. It’s worth remembering that 12 publishing houses turned down J.K. Rowling’s draft for Harry Potter! Now anyone can be creative in writing and self-publish on the web. My own wife – Sue Mann – did just this, self-publishing the WW1 poems and reminiscences of two of her great-uncles. (It’s available from all good bookshops… oh, no…. actually just from here!) Are the poems artistically any good? I have no idea! Will it sell many copies? Clearly not! Was it a personal goal achieved in honouring their memory? Absolutely! Different people want different things from the medium.
Very ‘American’.
It’s probably down to the pioneer spirit, but as a generalisation Americans seem far more ambitious than Brits: or at least, more OPENLY ambitious. Whereas most Brits will quietly get on with building their careers, some Americans will go hell-for-leather towards their vision of “success” no matter the cost: no guts; no glory; and be noisy about it!
But for every J.K. Rowling or Bill Bryson there are several thousand writers who have ‘failed to launch’.
Here we follow two budding authors – one from California; the other from North Carolina – self-publishing their work and seeking sales.
One – Giles A (“Andy”) Anderson – has self-published a seemingly disturbing work called “Vidu” – the first of what he hopes will be a five-part series. He first talks from a ghoulish bookstore, speaking psycho-babble with the requisite hyperbole of an ‘artiste’. (It suggests how the books might read… but perhaps that’s misjudging). It comes then as a surprise when we find he doesn’t live alone in a coffin playing video games on his own, but has a lovely wife and two young and perfectly normal children. So his book is an “off the beaten track kinda book”, but the man seems well-grounded and following his dream in bite-size pieces.
Moral: Avoid the Travel Books
As is often the case though, the documentary homes in on, and spends most of its time with, the other author – Adam Shephard. Shephard is struggling to launch as an author and also – in parallel – wrestling with the Green Card process for his supportive and vivacious Croatian wife Ivana. The problem is that Shephard has written an extended travel blog: ten-a-penny on sites like WordPress.
I read a Forbes article last year that reported that – astonishingly – in a survey 11% of American respondents had never travelled outside of their home state and 40% had never left the country. For such a well-heeled country, the US is incredibly insular. So Shephard’s vision is to encourage youngsters to step outside of their comfort zone and jump on that plane to Guatemala. It’s a fine objective. But does anyone want to listen? And – crucially – is the book any good and commercial enough? As the famous ‘founder of self-publishing’, the late Dan Poynter (to who the film is dedicated) says “You can’t make any money off a travel book”.
The film never goes as far as having either of the featured books critically reviewed: that might have added some extra spice to the story (and possibly provoked some painful reactions). But the piles of unopened boxes in Adam’s clinically white storage facility rather speaks for itself. Since Shephard never seems to do anything by halves, the boxes are piled high and thus the fall from grace is hard, long…. and absolutely riveting. (Ivana’s support and love in such difficult circumstances is commendable: he is a truly blessed man).
Jaw-dropping Walmart scene
At least at the start of the film, Adam’s self-belief and confidence in himself is infectious. The peak of his bravado, and a jaw-dropping highpoint in the movie for me, was a scene filmed in Walmart. Shephard, in a case of “reverse shoplifting”, sneaks HIS books onto the bookshelves of Walmart. What happens when they then try to buy one? It’s a real eye-opener and worth watching the documentary for in its own right.
It’s an interesting legal position: if Walmart were to be upset about this scene, what on earth could they charge them with!? Littering?
Highs and lows.
Shephard seems to have talent as a speaker, and it struck me that he would be genuinely suited to a job in sales. In the movie we see him performing self-confidence-building pitches to young people (and, boy, could we sometimes use that in the UK post-Brexit). A few books sold. But another event barely breaking even. The pattern becomes familiar and, in a way, rather tragic.
There are unexpected highs and lows for Adam and Ivana along the way though, unrelated to the publishing story, and the filmmaker skillfully weaves them into the narrative to good effect.
Thought-provoking.
I watched this on a whim and thought I’d probably switch off after 10 minutes. Documentaries normally are not my thing! But no. It had me gripped to see how things would turn out – like watching a slow-motion car crash! The journey was well-worth the ride: a real page-turner you might say.
The democratization of publishing
The internet has brought many advantages to modern life, but perhaps one of the most interesting is the democratization of publishing. No longer is control in the hands of publishing houses, who might glance at and immediately dismiss new ideas in literature. It’s worth remembering that 12 publishing houses turned down J.K. Rowling’s draft for Harry Potter! Now anyone can be creative in writing and self-publish on the web. My own wife – Sue Mann – did just this, self-publishing the WW1 poems and reminiscences of two of her great-uncles. (It’s available from all good bookshops… oh, no…. actually just from here!) Are the poems artistically any good? I have no idea! Will it sell many copies? Clearly not! Was it a personal goal achieved in honouring their memory? Absolutely! Different people want different things from the medium.
Very ‘American’.
It’s probably down to the pioneer spirit, but as a generalisation Americans seem far more ambitious than Brits: or at least, more OPENLY ambitious. Whereas most Brits will quietly get on with building their careers, some Americans will go hell-for-leather towards their vision of “success” no matter the cost: no guts; no glory; and be noisy about it!
But for every J.K. Rowling or Bill Bryson there are several thousand writers who have ‘failed to launch’.
Here we follow two budding authors – one from California; the other from North Carolina – self-publishing their work and seeking sales.
One – Giles A (“Andy”) Anderson – has self-published a seemingly disturbing work called “Vidu” – the first of what he hopes will be a five-part series. He first talks from a ghoulish bookstore, speaking psycho-babble with the requisite hyperbole of an ‘artiste’. (It suggests how the books might read… but perhaps that’s misjudging). It comes then as a surprise when we find he doesn’t live alone in a coffin playing video games on his own, but has a lovely wife and two young and perfectly normal children. So his book is an “off the beaten track kinda book”, but the man seems well-grounded and following his dream in bite-size pieces.
Moral: Avoid the Travel Books
As is often the case though, the documentary homes in on, and spends most of its time with, the other author – Adam Shephard. Shephard is struggling to launch as an author and also – in parallel – wrestling with the Green Card process for his supportive and vivacious Croatian wife Ivana. The problem is that Shephard has written an extended travel blog: ten-a-penny on sites like WordPress.
I read a Forbes article last year that reported that – astonishingly – in a survey 11% of American respondents had never travelled outside of their home state and 40% had never left the country. For such a well-heeled country, the US is incredibly insular. So Shephard’s vision is to encourage youngsters to step outside of their comfort zone and jump on that plane to Guatemala. It’s a fine objective. But does anyone want to listen? And – crucially – is the book any good and commercial enough? As the famous ‘founder of self-publishing’, the late Dan Poynter (to who the film is dedicated) says “You can’t make any money off a travel book”.
The film never goes as far as having either of the featured books critically reviewed: that might have added some extra spice to the story (and possibly provoked some painful reactions). But the piles of unopened boxes in Adam’s clinically white storage facility rather speaks for itself. Since Shephard never seems to do anything by halves, the boxes are piled high and thus the fall from grace is hard, long…. and absolutely riveting. (Ivana’s support and love in such difficult circumstances is commendable: he is a truly blessed man).
Jaw-dropping Walmart scene
At least at the start of the film, Adam’s self-belief and confidence in himself is infectious. The peak of his bravado, and a jaw-dropping highpoint in the movie for me, was a scene filmed in Walmart. Shephard, in a case of “reverse shoplifting”, sneaks HIS books onto the bookshelves of Walmart. What happens when they then try to buy one? It’s a real eye-opener and worth watching the documentary for in its own right.
It’s an interesting legal position: if Walmart were to be upset about this scene, what on earth could they charge them with!? Littering?
Highs and lows.
Shephard seems to have talent as a speaker, and it struck me that he would be genuinely suited to a job in sales. In the movie we see him performing self-confidence-building pitches to young people (and, boy, could we sometimes use that in the UK post-Brexit). A few books sold. But another event barely breaking even. The pattern becomes familiar and, in a way, rather tragic.
There are unexpected highs and lows for Adam and Ivana along the way though, unrelated to the publishing story, and the filmmaker skillfully weaves them into the narrative to good effect.
Thought-provoking.
I watched this on a whim and thought I’d probably switch off after 10 minutes. Documentaries normally are not my thing! But no. It had me gripped to see how things would turn out – like watching a slow-motion car crash! The journey was well-worth the ride: a real page-turner you might say.
Inspired by the 25th anniversary of The Princess Bride, Cary Elwes, better known as Westley, sat down to share his memories of making the film. He goes from being cast at the age of 23 to meeting his cast mates and stories from filming on sound stages and on location. Helping him out, we get sidebars from his co-stars, the director, and the writer.
And any fan of the movie will love the stories told here. It is obvious that everyone has fond memories of their time on set, are proud of the results, and thrilled that so many people love the movie as much as they do. Even the stories that aren’t completely positive are amusing. I know I’ll watch a couple scenes differently as a result of the stories shared here.
Read my full review at <a href="http://carstairsconsiders.blogspot.com/2018/02/book-review-as-you-wish-by-cary-elwes.html">Carstairs Considers</a>.
And any fan of the movie will love the stories told here. It is obvious that everyone has fond memories of their time on set, are proud of the results, and thrilled that so many people love the movie as much as they do. Even the stories that aren’t completely positive are amusing. I know I’ll watch a couple scenes differently as a result of the stories shared here.
Read my full review at <a href="http://carstairsconsiders.blogspot.com/2018/02/book-review-as-you-wish-by-cary-elwes.html">Carstairs Considers</a>.
Nick Beaty (70 KP) rated Green Book (2018) in Movies
Jan 10, 2020 (Updated Jan 10, 2020)
Worthy best picture winner...
Green Book is the incredible true story of an Italian American bouncer Tony 'Lip', who is paid to drive and protect an African American pianist Dr. Donald Shirley, through the American deep south in 1962 when racial tension was very high.
Let's start off by saying this was definitely a worthy best picture winner at the 2019 Oscars ceremony. You can follow that up with an excellent Oscar nominated performance from Viggo Mortensen and an absolutely superb Oscar winning turn from the brilliant Mahershala Ali.
The beautiful thing about this movie is the chemistry between the two lead actors. Mortensen and Ali bounce off each other for the whole two hours, they will make you laugh, cry and generally their performances just make you feel good inside.
To wrap things up, superb acting, a beautiful story and very good directing from Peter Farrelly who is better known for his controversial comedies, really make this a must see movie for any true film fan.
Let's start off by saying this was definitely a worthy best picture winner at the 2019 Oscars ceremony. You can follow that up with an excellent Oscar nominated performance from Viggo Mortensen and an absolutely superb Oscar winning turn from the brilliant Mahershala Ali.
The beautiful thing about this movie is the chemistry between the two lead actors. Mortensen and Ali bounce off each other for the whole two hours, they will make you laugh, cry and generally their performances just make you feel good inside.
To wrap things up, superb acting, a beautiful story and very good directing from Peter Farrelly who is better known for his controversial comedies, really make this a must see movie for any true film fan.
Awix (3310 KP) rated A Man Apart (2003) in Movies
Apr 14, 2020
The world is in lockdown, so I could be learning another language, or reading Ulysses, or writing a book, or practising the ukulele. Yet somehow I find myself spending my time watching obscure Vin Diesel movies. So it goes. This is one he made before he was properly famous, and which only got a proper release off the back of The Fast and the Furious and xXx. Vin's DEA agent gets very cross indeed when drug dealers shoot his wife after he arrests El Big Chief, and threatens to go off the rails entirely while seeking revenge.
Diesel has something of his usual presence and charisma, which means the film scrapes another point (just) - this is a very ordinary, very violent revenge thriller, with no interesting ideas, wit, or imagination about it. It's neither good, nor bad enough to be unintentionally funny - I nearly gave up halfway through, which hardly ever happens. Tedious macho nonsense; steer clear.
Diesel has something of his usual presence and charisma, which means the film scrapes another point (just) - this is a very ordinary, very violent revenge thriller, with no interesting ideas, wit, or imagination about it. It's neither good, nor bad enough to be unintentionally funny - I nearly gave up halfway through, which hardly ever happens. Tedious macho nonsense; steer clear.
Awix (3310 KP) rated Raise the Titanic (1980) in Movies
Apr 19, 2020
Turgid, non-thrilling thriller based on a book by Clive Cussler (who hated the adaptation). US defence agencies invent a new missile defence system, but the minerals needed to make it work are all in a safe on the Titanic, which is at the bottom of the Atlantic (as you may have heard). Maverick action-man and salvage expert Dirk Pitts (Jordan) is put in charge of undoing all James Cameron's hard work and refloating the thing.
One of those movies which mistakes a diverting idea for a viable plot - the whys, hows and wherefores of the operation are not that interesting or credible and the film is sluggish and low on action. Most of the special effects and modelwork are also very poor (a long way sub-Gerry Anderson). Half-decent twist at the end, but hardly enough to make up for the fact that most of it is very limp and boring.
One of those movies which mistakes a diverting idea for a viable plot - the whys, hows and wherefores of the operation are not that interesting or credible and the film is sluggish and low on action. Most of the special effects and modelwork are also very poor (a long way sub-Gerry Anderson). Half-decent twist at the end, but hardly enough to make up for the fact that most of it is very limp and boring.
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