Movie Review of “The Marvels” (2023)

marvels

Blu-Ray case for the 2023 film “The Marvels”

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I went to my public library’s local branch yesterday (as I write this) to pick up a few books I had on hold. Lo and behold, in the new movies section, I found a Blu-Ray of The Marvels (2023). If you’re aware of this film at all, you probably know about the controversy surrounding it.

The movie didn’t do well at the box office. This was attributed either to the sexist, racist, white supremist, patriarchal attitudes of (male) audiences or to the overdose of “wokeness” in combination with bad writing of the Disney-made movie.

When the movie was released on Disney+, there was a power surge of positivity for it on social media combined with harsh criticism for anyone daring not to like the movie for any reason (reasons being listed again as sexism, racism, white supremacy, and the patriarchy).

I dithered when I saw the Blu-Ray case. Did I want to avoid wasting one hour and forty-five minutes watching a movie that was probably a turkey or did I want to give it a fair chance? In the end, I settled for “fair chance.” I’ve viewed films before that were generally panned in the reviews but turned out to be, if not great movies, more or less “okay.” That’s what I thought about Captain Marvel (2019). Maybe “The Marvels” was just a victim of bad press.

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Visiting Mom

roger

PHOTO PROMPT © Roger Bultot

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Every morning, she opens the window and walks out onto her small balcony. Her apartment is the only one like it.

Every morning, I wait for her to come out and I watch her. I keep my curtains shut so she doesn’t know she’s being spied on. I’m still deciding what to do.

Nineteen years ago, she went to have an abortion. The baby survived and was born, but she was told it wouldn’t live long. She left without another thought.

Should I confront her, tell her I’m the son she abandoned, or use my rifle and kill her now?

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So This Is Romantic?

beach

PHOTO PROMPT © Rochelle Wisoff-Fields

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“Come on, Scott. What’s the point of renting a beach house for a week if we don’t walk along the beach?” Jeannie tugged at her husband’s arm, coaxing him along.

“What’s the point of freezing my ass off? It’s March, not July. What possesses those nuts to bundle up under some tent just to watch the waves?”

“Spoilsport. This is supposed to be romantic.”

“Watching the ocean through the window with a roaring blaze in the fireplace is romantic.”

“Some romance. You just want to be writing that story of yours. I should never have let you bring your laptop.”

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Death by Incense

gas

PHOTO PROMPT © Rowena Curtin

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Henry only needed to turn the gas back on for a little while. He’d arranged for the stove to have a significant leak. Rachel would smell it, but he would tell her she’s imagining things. Then he’d go outside pretending to tend to the garden.

When she came out complaining of a headache or dizziness, he’d suggest she stay with her sister Jeannie for the weekend. Anything to get rid of her and her damned nagging. Then he’d fix the leak, air out the house, and finally be able to relax.

He didn’t count on her lighting an incense stick.

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Spring Into SciFi 2024 Coming Soon!

2024

Cover art for “Spring Into SciFi 2024.”

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Almost there.

My short story “I Don’t Want To Be Human” is featured in the upcoming Cloaked Press anthology Spring Into SciFi 2024. Click that link to pre-order a digital copy for download from Amazon to your Kindle device on March 21, 2024.

If you prefer a paperback, pre-order that right here, but there’s more.

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Book Review of “Star Wars: The Last Command” (1994)

last

Cover of the novel “Star Wars: The Last Command.”

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I just finished reading the third book in Timothy Zahn’s “Thrawn Trilogy,” The Last Command. Oh “spoiler alert,” it is Thrawn’s last command because he dies, which I didn’t see coming.

Grand Admiral Thrawn having acquired the “Katana fleet” in the previous book and with a massive army of clones to man them, proceeds to press the offensive, even to Coruscant.

Leia has her twins and cares for the infants with the help of her aide Winter, but that doesn’t keep her out of the action as the story progresses.

The clone of Jedi Master Joruus C’baoth goes further off the rails, claims the Empire, galaxy, and the whole universe for his own, and is still raving about having Luke, Mara, Leia, and her babies as his apprentices. He decides to leave the Grand Admiral’s ship for the planet Wayland, which is where Thrawn originally found him. Thrawn grants this, but turns the tables. He makes C’baoth his prisoner in the Emperor’s own throne room in the mountain fortress where the clone factory and all of the Emperor’s other secrets are hidden.

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Of Stuff and Muses

fleur

PHOTO PROMPT © Fleur Lind

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“Well, write something about it,” Muse demanded. In such an ordinary setting, her ephemeral existence, blond hair flowing as water-like as her sheer gown, she was so out of place.

I answered in dismay, “Write what? It’s just someone’s family room. I have no idea what the image on the TV screen is supposed to mean except in the literal sense.”

“Hurry up, James. You do this every week. I have a 10 o’clock with another client.”

“It reminds me of…” I looked around my home office. “Everyone keeps stuff no one else understands.”

She vanished in an impatient puff.

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Baffel’s Last Day

wagon

PHOTO PROMPT © Alicia Jamtaas

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Baffel cautiously walked toward the now antique Conestoga wagon as if it might vanish. He perfectly remembered the wagon train’s journey along the Oregon Trail in 1824.

The families had suffered such hardships. He did the best he could, but he was there to observe and encourage, not to change things.

Nearly a third died of disease and regrettably the hostility of the others whose land upon which they were encroaching. He was ordered not to change that either.

Today, his span was at an end. After 200 years, mankind would have to find their path without the alien android.

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One Pale Blue Dot on Ice, Please

freezing

PHOTO PROMPT © Dale Rogerson

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Another Valentine’s Day alone. Cassandra considered turning the heat up in her small apartment but her rental agreement said she paid for heating and cooling. She pulled the blanket higher around her while watching TV. The big news was that Voyager 1 had sent back what would be the “Pale Blue Dot” photo of Earth.

“Whoopie.” She tucked her freezing feet under her butt. It was no use. The streets were paved with ice so she wasn’t going out. “Screw it.” Cass got up and opened the chest. “Now where did I put those global warming potions?” thought the witch.

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Book Review of “Star Wars: Dark Force Rising” (1993)

dark force

Cover of the novel “Star Wars: Dark Force Rising”

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I finished reading Star Wars: Dark Force Rising, book 2 in the Thrawn trilogy and I have to say I’m having a blast.

It doesn’t quite nail down the original film trilogy, but it comes close. I suppose because more details can be packed in a novel than a two-hour film, those details take a little away from its “Star Wars-ness.”

The race is on to find the derelict Katana fleet, a group of Dreadnoughts dating back to the Clone Wars. Both the New Republic and the revitalized Empire are in desperate need of ships.

Supposedly Talon Karrde, head of the smuggler’s guild, knows the secret location and might be persuaded to tell the New Republic, but then there are others.

Following her promise in the last novel, Leia, Chewbacca, and Threepio meet with their Kashyyyk contact in orbit around Endor. Leia and the rest leave the Millennium Falcon and travel with their companion Khabarakh to his home world in an attempt to convince this warrior race to abandon the Empire and join the New Republic. Eventually, she finds evidence of the Empire having poisoned their planet during the clone wars, rather than the Rebellion, convincing them they have been betrayed by the Empire.

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