I just want to take a second to thank everyone who either took advantage of the IBC's Free Par-Tay or purchased "Excelsior" afterward. It means so much to me to know that so many people wanted to read the story I told.
February 2012 will go down as the most successful month for "Excelsior" as an eBook. Granted, my numbers still have a long way to go before they reach the ranks of the IBC's co-founders but considering that I'm still working on my second book, the name of the game right now is traction, staying visible and relevant. And it's because of you guys that "Excelsior" is sticking around, so thank you all very much.
Now, the title of this blog post is "A Special 'Thank You' Gift," so here's what you'll be getting. If you're one of the many who now have a copy of Excelsior, all you have to do is send me your e-mail address and you'll be getting a .pdf file of Chapter 1 of the book I'm working on now, the rewrite of "From Parts Unknown."
My e-mail address is on my Facebook Fan Page, so while you're there, make sure you like it to get more updates on the progress for "From Parts Unknown," as well as other IBC-related news and updates on the first Excelsior sequel, "Ever Upward." The Fan Page is HERE.
And if you haven't become one of the many to have "Excelsior" yet, then all you have to do is go here to get your copy for just 99 cents!
GET YOUR COPY HERE!
Thank you again guys, and Ever Upward!
Tuesday, February 28, 2012
Tuesday, February 21, 2012
The Special Edition (Or, When Are You “Done?”)
”Art is never finished, only abandoned.”
-- Leonardo da Vinci
Recently, I put together a very special post for the IBC called “A Second Life for Your Book,” which breaks down the beginning of my journey to take back my novel “From Parts Unknown” and give it a much-needed overhaul. Expect to see this post on indiebookcollective.wordpress.com on March 4.
In the meantime, while you wait for that to go live, I thought I would tell you a little bit about the journey that led to the re-release of “Excelsior” as an eBook exclusive “Special Edition.” Now, why am I telling you this? Because digital publishing has removed the middleman of re-printing books if you ever want to revise your work, and the possibility of a book being neither complete nor “abandoned” is very real.
During the feature-length documentary on the DVD for The Exorcist, director William Friedkin tells a wonderful anecdote about the French Impressionist painter Bonnard. During his later years, Bonnard was arrested for going into the Louvre and retouching one of his paintings. While he was being dragged out by the police, he kept saying, “But I am Bonnard! This is my painting!” The police responded, “The painting is in the Louvre! It’s finished!” The irony of all ironies about this story is that after Friedkin told this anecdote, he began work on the director’s cut of his 1973 classic and re-released it in theaters as The Exorcist: The Version You’ve Never Seen.
When I re-gained the rights to “From Parts Unknown,” I realized that a lot of work was needed before it could be re-uploaded. I had big ideas for this new version, and it would be more than just updating some technology and throwing in some references to what had happened in the world since 2002. But at the same time, there were some other ideas for how to fix “Excelsior,” which had only been sent out into the world a few months ago at that time.
Yes, the book had gotten some acclaim by several book reviewers, and “Excelsior” made the Indie Book Collective take notice of me. However, whenever books are finished, it’s not uncommon for writers to get an idea about how something could have been done better or a scene come to mind that would bring a little extra to the main characters. However, I wanted to concentrate on getting “From Parts Unknown” ready for re-release and consider “Excelsior” to be as finished as humanly possible since the paperback version was already out.
But then, I got the best possible news I could have asked for: some notes about Chapter 1 of “Excelsior.” It’s amazing what happens when a pair of fresh eyes has some questions that you never thought of answering. It was like working with my editor all over again, but it seemed that we both had seen the manuscript enough times to not even consider what was being asked. So I spent the next month answering those questions, and I took that opportunity to address my own issues.
Before January ended, I had not only made great strides in improving Chapter 1, but I had also integrated every single idea that had been on my mind since the initial book’s completion. I won’t tell you exactly what was added, but I do have one thing to say about the new version: it does the character that I created back in 1992 justice. And the new cover that Ilya Arbit did based on Jason Goodman’s original design is terrific. It’s exactly what I wanted to come across for this new version. It’s the same, but different. If that makes sense.
But this brings me to what I mentioned in the beginning. Does writing an eBook and cutting out the printing-and-binding middleman leave us writers open to creating more versions of our work than George Lucas has on Star Wars?
Yes. Yes it does. But that doesn’t mean we have to do it. Or that we even should do it.
You’re writing a story, not a newspaper, and you don’t need to spit out seven, eight, nine editions of the same story just for the sake of doing so. Therefore, the first thing I would suggest doing before you begin your own “special editions” is letting a pair of fresh eyes read the current version. That way, they not only can validate your reasons for a new version (there’s always the chance that what you’ve already written is good enough), but they can possibly raise questions you hadn’t thought needed answers.
The second thing I would suggest doing is to check your reviews, if you have any. Read them all, especially the negative reviews. Not the “this was written by a stupid third grader” troll reviews, but the ones that had specific problems and made sure to point them out for everyone. Now I’m not saying that you should heed all of the bad reviews and try to fix each and every problem, but if you know how to fix some of them without compromising your story, then by all means, go for it.
And the third suggestion is to make sure you are addressing everything you want to cover with this rewrite. Take your time with this new version and remember that George Lucas has tinkered with The Star Wars Saga four times so far: with the ’97 Special Editions, the ’04 DVDs, the ’11 Blu-Rays and the ’12 – ’17 3D Re-Releases.
As I said before, if you are really motivated to make your book better after you’ve released it to the marketplace, then go for it. But make sure you’re taking your time with it so you have as little re-releases as possible. Whether you consider the final version of your book completed or abandoned, at some point you will have to say to yourself, “It’s done. I can move on.”
So I invite everyone to check out the “special edition” of “Excelsior.” Whether you’ve read it before or not, this is the version that I am happy to see in the marketplace. The main character of Matthew Peters has some extra material that not only blends well into the story, but will have a payoff in the sequel, “Ever Upward.” Also, some criticisms I had from readers regarding Act III have been corrected and an extra device that I put into the Excelsior character has been removed since I realized it didn’t work. That’s as far into detail that I’ll be going, and hopefully it will be enough for those of you who’ve already read the original version to give this one a shot. I think you’ll agree with me that this is the version that should be “in the Louvre.”
GET YOUR COPY OF “EXCELSIOR” FOR JUST 99 CENTS!
-- Leonardo da Vinci
Recently, I put together a very special post for the IBC called “A Second Life for Your Book,” which breaks down the beginning of my journey to take back my novel “From Parts Unknown” and give it a much-needed overhaul. Expect to see this post on indiebookcollective.wordpress.com on March 4.
In the meantime, while you wait for that to go live, I thought I would tell you a little bit about the journey that led to the re-release of “Excelsior” as an eBook exclusive “Special Edition.” Now, why am I telling you this? Because digital publishing has removed the middleman of re-printing books if you ever want to revise your work, and the possibility of a book being neither complete nor “abandoned” is very real.
During the feature-length documentary on the DVD for The Exorcist, director William Friedkin tells a wonderful anecdote about the French Impressionist painter Bonnard. During his later years, Bonnard was arrested for going into the Louvre and retouching one of his paintings. While he was being dragged out by the police, he kept saying, “But I am Bonnard! This is my painting!” The police responded, “The painting is in the Louvre! It’s finished!” The irony of all ironies about this story is that after Friedkin told this anecdote, he began work on the director’s cut of his 1973 classic and re-released it in theaters as The Exorcist: The Version You’ve Never Seen.
When I re-gained the rights to “From Parts Unknown,” I realized that a lot of work was needed before it could be re-uploaded. I had big ideas for this new version, and it would be more than just updating some technology and throwing in some references to what had happened in the world since 2002. But at the same time, there were some other ideas for how to fix “Excelsior,” which had only been sent out into the world a few months ago at that time.
Yes, the book had gotten some acclaim by several book reviewers, and “Excelsior” made the Indie Book Collective take notice of me. However, whenever books are finished, it’s not uncommon for writers to get an idea about how something could have been done better or a scene come to mind that would bring a little extra to the main characters. However, I wanted to concentrate on getting “From Parts Unknown” ready for re-release and consider “Excelsior” to be as finished as humanly possible since the paperback version was already out.
But then, I got the best possible news I could have asked for: some notes about Chapter 1 of “Excelsior.” It’s amazing what happens when a pair of fresh eyes has some questions that you never thought of answering. It was like working with my editor all over again, but it seemed that we both had seen the manuscript enough times to not even consider what was being asked. So I spent the next month answering those questions, and I took that opportunity to address my own issues.
Before January ended, I had not only made great strides in improving Chapter 1, but I had also integrated every single idea that had been on my mind since the initial book’s completion. I won’t tell you exactly what was added, but I do have one thing to say about the new version: it does the character that I created back in 1992 justice. And the new cover that Ilya Arbit did based on Jason Goodman’s original design is terrific. It’s exactly what I wanted to come across for this new version. It’s the same, but different. If that makes sense.
But this brings me to what I mentioned in the beginning. Does writing an eBook and cutting out the printing-and-binding middleman leave us writers open to creating more versions of our work than George Lucas has on Star Wars?
Yes. Yes it does. But that doesn’t mean we have to do it. Or that we even should do it.
You’re writing a story, not a newspaper, and you don’t need to spit out seven, eight, nine editions of the same story just for the sake of doing so. Therefore, the first thing I would suggest doing before you begin your own “special editions” is letting a pair of fresh eyes read the current version. That way, they not only can validate your reasons for a new version (there’s always the chance that what you’ve already written is good enough), but they can possibly raise questions you hadn’t thought needed answers.
The second thing I would suggest doing is to check your reviews, if you have any. Read them all, especially the negative reviews. Not the “this was written by a stupid third grader” troll reviews, but the ones that had specific problems and made sure to point them out for everyone. Now I’m not saying that you should heed all of the bad reviews and try to fix each and every problem, but if you know how to fix some of them without compromising your story, then by all means, go for it.
And the third suggestion is to make sure you are addressing everything you want to cover with this rewrite. Take your time with this new version and remember that George Lucas has tinkered with The Star Wars Saga four times so far: with the ’97 Special Editions, the ’04 DVDs, the ’11 Blu-Rays and the ’12 – ’17 3D Re-Releases.
As I said before, if you are really motivated to make your book better after you’ve released it to the marketplace, then go for it. But make sure you’re taking your time with it so you have as little re-releases as possible. Whether you consider the final version of your book completed or abandoned, at some point you will have to say to yourself, “It’s done. I can move on.”
So I invite everyone to check out the “special edition” of “Excelsior.” Whether you’ve read it before or not, this is the version that I am happy to see in the marketplace. The main character of Matthew Peters has some extra material that not only blends well into the story, but will have a payoff in the sequel, “Ever Upward.” Also, some criticisms I had from readers regarding Act III have been corrected and an extra device that I put into the Excelsior character has been removed since I realized it didn’t work. That’s as far into detail that I’ll be going, and hopefully it will be enough for those of you who’ve already read the original version to give this one a shot. I think you’ll agree with me that this is the version that should be “in the Louvre.”
GET YOUR COPY OF “EXCELSIOR” FOR JUST 99 CENTS!
Tuesday, January 31, 2012
The Next Giant Leap: Looking Back
With less than a week before Super Bowl XLVI, I've noticed a spike in views of all of my Giants-related videos. To everyone who took the time to watch and comment, I thank them very much. And for those of you who haven't, I thought it best to put all of my videos here to make it easier to see at once. :) Enjoy...
Wednesday, January 25, 2012
The Next Giant Leap: Forget What I Said Before...
So last time I spoke here about the Giants, they were at 7-7, had just gotten swept by the Washington Redskins, of all teams, and had lost 5 out of their last 6 games. The situation was bleak, the defense was listless, the offense was sputtering and the media was once again calling for the coaches' heads. Plus, living here in St. Louis, I was on Spags Watch, keeping an eye on Steve Spagnuola and wondering when he would be let go from the Rams. I was so confident that the right way to go was for Perry Fewell to be let go so Spagnuola could come back as our defensive coordinator. That way, he could spend a few years under Tom Coughlin's tutelage and be groomed to take over as Head Coach once Tom finished his reign.
7-7 seems a long time ago. Ever since that article, the Giants beat the crap out of the Jets and Cowboys (Happy New Year indeed!) to win the NFC East title. After that, when "experts" were so confident the Giants would make a quick exit from the playoffs like they did in '05, '06 and '08, the team stood tall and smothered the Atlanta Falcons 24-2. After that, when once again the "experts" predicted a blowout loss, the Giants went to Lambeau Field - home of the defending Super Bowl Champion Green Bay Packers - and kicked their asses so hard the officials had to spot the Packers 2 touchdowns to make the game look closer than it was.
And then, on a rainy Sunday night in San Francisco, the Giants silenced the Candlestick Park crowd by beating the 49ers in overtime to punch their ticket to Super Bowl XLVI!
So... remember what I said last month? Forget it.
As low as I and every other Giants fan felt after losing 23-10 to the lowly Redskins, we are all now excited, standing tall and proud and ready for the rematch of all rematches. Waiting for us in Indianapolis (where a Manning WILL play this year, after all) are the New England Patriots. You may remember them, the team that went 18-0 and were just one game away from completing the first 19-game perfect season. Instead, the team became the first team to finish 18-1 without winning a Super Bowl ring, thanks to the 2007 Giants.
In 2007, the Giants shocked the whole world by getting past Tampa Bay, Dallas and Green Bay (with Favre playing his last game as a Packer) before ending the Patriots' perfect season with a last-minute drive that featured the most famous catch in recent Super Bowl history. Ever since, the Giants have been labeled a fluke and Eli Manning has not been given his due credit for being one of the top quarterbacks in the league.
But now, everything the "experts" say mean precisely... squat. Whether they jump on the bandwagon or still refuse to accept the fact that Eli has become truly elite, they don't matter. They never did. Because this team has come together and they played their hearts out for five straight games to make it to the Super Bowl. I am so proud of everyone in this organization, from the front office to the practice squad.
Perry Fewell has proven himself to be a perfect fit for this team, Tom Coughlin continues to be one of the best coaches in Giants history, the players have fully committed themselves to finishing strong, and Eli has become a mature, dependable leader of this franchise. I can't wait to see what else this guy has in store for us in the coming years.
Of course, the best possible ending would be the fourth Lombardi trophy, but I'm not going to announce any predictions. It's going to be a true battle and it will live up to the hype that it already has. Regardless of what happens in Indianapolis, the Giants have proven me wrong, as well as every other doubter. And I've never been happier to be so wrong.
7-7 seems a long time ago. Ever since that article, the Giants beat the crap out of the Jets and Cowboys (Happy New Year indeed!) to win the NFC East title. After that, when "experts" were so confident the Giants would make a quick exit from the playoffs like they did in '05, '06 and '08, the team stood tall and smothered the Atlanta Falcons 24-2. After that, when once again the "experts" predicted a blowout loss, the Giants went to Lambeau Field - home of the defending Super Bowl Champion Green Bay Packers - and kicked their asses so hard the officials had to spot the Packers 2 touchdowns to make the game look closer than it was.
And then, on a rainy Sunday night in San Francisco, the Giants silenced the Candlestick Park crowd by beating the 49ers in overtime to punch their ticket to Super Bowl XLVI!
So... remember what I said last month? Forget it.
As low as I and every other Giants fan felt after losing 23-10 to the lowly Redskins, we are all now excited, standing tall and proud and ready for the rematch of all rematches. Waiting for us in Indianapolis (where a Manning WILL play this year, after all) are the New England Patriots. You may remember them, the team that went 18-0 and were just one game away from completing the first 19-game perfect season. Instead, the team became the first team to finish 18-1 without winning a Super Bowl ring, thanks to the 2007 Giants.
In 2007, the Giants shocked the whole world by getting past Tampa Bay, Dallas and Green Bay (with Favre playing his last game as a Packer) before ending the Patriots' perfect season with a last-minute drive that featured the most famous catch in recent Super Bowl history. Ever since, the Giants have been labeled a fluke and Eli Manning has not been given his due credit for being one of the top quarterbacks in the league.
But now, everything the "experts" say mean precisely... squat. Whether they jump on the bandwagon or still refuse to accept the fact that Eli has become truly elite, they don't matter. They never did. Because this team has come together and they played their hearts out for five straight games to make it to the Super Bowl. I am so proud of everyone in this organization, from the front office to the practice squad.
Perry Fewell has proven himself to be a perfect fit for this team, Tom Coughlin continues to be one of the best coaches in Giants history, the players have fully committed themselves to finishing strong, and Eli has become a mature, dependable leader of this franchise. I can't wait to see what else this guy has in store for us in the coming years.
Of course, the best possible ending would be the fourth Lombardi trophy, but I'm not going to announce any predictions. It's going to be a true battle and it will live up to the hype that it already has. Regardless of what happens in Indianapolis, the Giants have proven me wrong, as well as every other doubter. And I've never been happier to be so wrong.
Friday, January 6, 2012
Exposing the Next Bestseller for a Day!
That's right, folks! The time is upon us yet again for another IBC Bestseller for a Day, and this time around, we have none other than the awesome Rachel Thompson, whose previous book "A Walk in the Snark" rocketed up the Kindle charts to become a #1 Bestseller!
This time around, Rachel is providing more detail into the infamous ManCode with her new book: "The ManCode: Exposed." At this time, it's already reached number 1 in "Parenting & Families" and it's number 2 in both "Marriage" and "Parenting & Relationships." It's safe to say that Rachel's got another winner on her hands here.
It's also safe to say that Rachel is no longer a well-kept secret. So find out what everyone's talking about and pick up your copy of "The ManCode: Exposed" for just 99 cents!
GET YOUR COPY HERE!
This time around, Rachel is providing more detail into the infamous ManCode with her new book: "The ManCode: Exposed." At this time, it's already reached number 1 in "Parenting & Families" and it's number 2 in both "Marriage" and "Parenting & Relationships." It's safe to say that Rachel's got another winner on her hands here.
It's also safe to say that Rachel is no longer a well-kept secret. So find out what everyone's talking about and pick up your copy of "The ManCode: Exposed" for just 99 cents!
GET YOUR COPY HERE!
Wednesday, December 21, 2011
The Next Giant Leap: Time for the Leno Deal
There are two weeks left in the NFL regular season, and if the New York Giants continue to play the way they did against Washington, it’ll be the last two weeks in their season, period. Questionable play-calling, turnovers, penalties and a non-existent defense were on display for all to see last Sunday. We Giants fans have seen this act before so many times, it has its own nickname: The Second Half Swoon. They start off strong, the media pays attention and labels them the team to beat, and then the team flushes all of the accrued goodwill and sends us fans on the road to heartbreak.
We saw signs of the swoon in the 2005 season, when the Giants kept winning games despite some very noticeable cracks in the foundation. (You can look at Eli Manning’s TD to INT ratio in the first half of that season and compare it to the second half.) All the weaknesses the team suddenly had were put on display during their 23-0 loss to the Carolina Panthers in the first round of the playoffs. Those warning signs became full-blown alarms in 2006 when the Giants went 2-6 after starting 6-2. Changes had to be made, despite the team sneaking into the playoffs and putting up a much better fight against the Philadelphia Eagles before yet another first-round exit.
The change came in the form of Steve Spagnuolo, the former defensive backs and linebackers coach for the Eagles. During the two years that he was the Giants’ defensive coordinator, the team enjoyed a Super Bowl title in 2007 over the undefeated New England Patriots and a 12-4 record in 2008. Unfortunately, his success in this position made him very valuable in the head coach market and he accepted an offer from the St. Louis Rams.
Ever since Steve’s departure, Giants fans had to see three straight second-half swoons coming from two different defensive coordinators: Bill Sheridan and Perry Fewell. Sure, the play-calling by Kevin Gilbride has been suspect at best, but there are way too many problems on defense to make the Giants look like a playoff team. If they can’t stop a 4-9 team like Washington, exactly who are they going to stop?
We’ll find out in the next two weeks, but it’s looking all too clear that Perry Fewell is not the right fit for this team. The defense is in danger of looking worse than it did under Bill Sheridan. (At least Sheridan shut out a team.) Of course, this is a team that wasn’t even supposed to get this far considering all of the injuries it suffered, and continues to suffer week after week, but it’s the coaches’ job to keep the players from looking as defeated as they did on Sunday.
So, what can the Giants do about this? Well, if you take a look at how Spagnuolo’s doing in St. Louis, you’ll see that he’s not having the best of times coaching the Rams. The man was thrown into a bad situation, having to rebuild a team from the ground-up. Not the best thing for a first-time head coach. After three years, Steve’s teams brought in 1 win in 2009, 7 in 2010 and, so far, 2 in 2011. There is talk that he could get fired at the end of this season.
If this happens, the Giants have to do everything in their power to take him back. The man has genuine talent as a coach, as we saw in 2010 when he was one win away from winning a division title. And if the Eagles fail to make the playoffs, then it’s likely they’ll go after him too. So they not only have to grab him before Philly can, but they have to give him “The Leno Deal.”
What do I mean by that? Well, back in the early 90s, Jay Leno signed a deal with NBC to take over The Tonight Show as soon as Johnny Carson decided to step down. So all Jerry Reese, the Mara family and the Tisch family have to do is tell Spagnuolo that he will take over the Defensive Coordinator position and become the new Head Coach once Coughlin decides to step down.
Spagnuolo reminds me of Bill Belichick when he coached the Cleveland Browns. There were signs of a success, but his potential wasn’t fulfilled until after he went back to work under Bill Parcells with the Patriots and Jets. When he got another shot at being a head coach, he led the second team in NFL history to 3 out of 4 Super Bowl wins.
This could be in the Giants’ future if they don’t rush to dismiss the entire coaching staff. The mistakes of the past three years can be corrected in one shot if the Rams actually do decide to part ways with Steve. If all goes in this direction, the Giants have a shot to not only restore the defense to past glories, but the team could be well prepared for the future.
We saw signs of the swoon in the 2005 season, when the Giants kept winning games despite some very noticeable cracks in the foundation. (You can look at Eli Manning’s TD to INT ratio in the first half of that season and compare it to the second half.) All the weaknesses the team suddenly had were put on display during their 23-0 loss to the Carolina Panthers in the first round of the playoffs. Those warning signs became full-blown alarms in 2006 when the Giants went 2-6 after starting 6-2. Changes had to be made, despite the team sneaking into the playoffs and putting up a much better fight against the Philadelphia Eagles before yet another first-round exit.
The change came in the form of Steve Spagnuolo, the former defensive backs and linebackers coach for the Eagles. During the two years that he was the Giants’ defensive coordinator, the team enjoyed a Super Bowl title in 2007 over the undefeated New England Patriots and a 12-4 record in 2008. Unfortunately, his success in this position made him very valuable in the head coach market and he accepted an offer from the St. Louis Rams.
Ever since Steve’s departure, Giants fans had to see three straight second-half swoons coming from two different defensive coordinators: Bill Sheridan and Perry Fewell. Sure, the play-calling by Kevin Gilbride has been suspect at best, but there are way too many problems on defense to make the Giants look like a playoff team. If they can’t stop a 4-9 team like Washington, exactly who are they going to stop?
We’ll find out in the next two weeks, but it’s looking all too clear that Perry Fewell is not the right fit for this team. The defense is in danger of looking worse than it did under Bill Sheridan. (At least Sheridan shut out a team.) Of course, this is a team that wasn’t even supposed to get this far considering all of the injuries it suffered, and continues to suffer week after week, but it’s the coaches’ job to keep the players from looking as defeated as they did on Sunday.
So, what can the Giants do about this? Well, if you take a look at how Spagnuolo’s doing in St. Louis, you’ll see that he’s not having the best of times coaching the Rams. The man was thrown into a bad situation, having to rebuild a team from the ground-up. Not the best thing for a first-time head coach. After three years, Steve’s teams brought in 1 win in 2009, 7 in 2010 and, so far, 2 in 2011. There is talk that he could get fired at the end of this season.
If this happens, the Giants have to do everything in their power to take him back. The man has genuine talent as a coach, as we saw in 2010 when he was one win away from winning a division title. And if the Eagles fail to make the playoffs, then it’s likely they’ll go after him too. So they not only have to grab him before Philly can, but they have to give him “The Leno Deal.”
What do I mean by that? Well, back in the early 90s, Jay Leno signed a deal with NBC to take over The Tonight Show as soon as Johnny Carson decided to step down. So all Jerry Reese, the Mara family and the Tisch family have to do is tell Spagnuolo that he will take over the Defensive Coordinator position and become the new Head Coach once Coughlin decides to step down.
Spagnuolo reminds me of Bill Belichick when he coached the Cleveland Browns. There were signs of a success, but his potential wasn’t fulfilled until after he went back to work under Bill Parcells with the Patriots and Jets. When he got another shot at being a head coach, he led the second team in NFL history to 3 out of 4 Super Bowl wins.
This could be in the Giants’ future if they don’t rush to dismiss the entire coaching staff. The mistakes of the past three years can be corrected in one shot if the Rams actually do decide to part ways with Steve. If all goes in this direction, the Giants have a shot to not only restore the defense to past glories, but the team could be well prepared for the future.
Monday, December 19, 2011
Your Plan B of Christmas Movie Viewing
In case you didn’t notice, Christmas is less than a week away, and this means the obligatory airing of A Charlie Brown Christmas, Dr. Seuss’ How the Grinch Stole Christmas, the Rankin-Bass version of Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer, the animated Frosty the Snowman and all the other cartoons. (Personally I prefer the South Park Christmas episodes, but that’s me.)
Of course, there’s also the original Miracle on 34th Street, Irving Berlin’s White Christmas, It’s a Wonderful Life and the modern-day classics from the 80s and 90s, A Christmas Story, Scrooged, National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation (Watch this one on DVD or on HBO, Cinemax, Showtime, etc. It barely works at all on basic cable.), Home Alone 1 & 2, Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas, etc. Plus, in the past ten years, we’ve seen a bunch of Christmas-related films that have been a mix of successful (Elf) and not-so-successful (Surviving Christmas).
But what if all of these movies leave you yearning for something else? That’s where a lot of these come in, films that aren’t really considered Christmas movies but take place during the holiday.
Before we go any further, let’s go ahead and post the obvious films that will be right at the top of this genre: Die Hard and Die Hard 2. They tried to squeeze the third film - Die Hard with a Vengeance - into the mix, but despite their references to Christmas, New York City looked way too much like a typical September day. However, if you are a completist like myself, this would still work as a triple feature.
And speaking of triple features, allow me to suggest you treat yourself to three action movies brought to you by writer / director Shane Black: Lethal Weapon, The Long Kiss Goodnight and Kiss Kiss Bang Bang.
If you’re in the mood for some horror, there’s plenty to choose from there. You can enjoy a one-two punch of Stephen King movies with Misery and The Shining. Plus, there’s The Thing, Black Christmas, fans of bad movies also have Silent Night, Deadly Night movies, the hilariously awful Santa’s Slay (Watch it for the Rankin-Bass flashback section. Genius!) and the mind-bogglingly horrendous Jack Frost 1 & 2 (Not the Michael Keaton one, the slasher films about a mutant killer snowman).
How about some Christmas comedy to go along with the Christmas Vacation viewing? Well, there’s Better Off Dead, The Ref, Trading Places, Gremlins and, of course, Bad Santa.
The original Rocky can also qualify as Christmas viewing, since the film takes place between Thanksgiving and New Year’s, and the fight between Rocky and Ivan Drago in Rocky IV takes place ON Christmas Day.
Are you a comic book film fan? Then make sure Batman Returns is on your list.
Need some other suggestions to fill up your queue? Well, there’s Love, Actually, Less Than Zero, Edward Scissorhands, Bridget Jones’ Diary, Cast Away, The Family Man, Grumpy Old Men, Hook, Vice Versa and While You Were Sleeping.
And there's one of my personal favorites, L.A. Confidential.
I’m sure there are plenty other movies that I missed, so feel free to post your suggestions here. And while you think about it, enjoy the 1980s classic: He-Man & She-Ra – A Christmas Special.
Of course, there’s also the original Miracle on 34th Street, Irving Berlin’s White Christmas, It’s a Wonderful Life and the modern-day classics from the 80s and 90s, A Christmas Story, Scrooged, National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation (Watch this one on DVD or on HBO, Cinemax, Showtime, etc. It barely works at all on basic cable.), Home Alone 1 & 2, Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas, etc. Plus, in the past ten years, we’ve seen a bunch of Christmas-related films that have been a mix of successful (Elf) and not-so-successful (Surviving Christmas).
But what if all of these movies leave you yearning for something else? That’s where a lot of these come in, films that aren’t really considered Christmas movies but take place during the holiday.
Before we go any further, let’s go ahead and post the obvious films that will be right at the top of this genre: Die Hard and Die Hard 2. They tried to squeeze the third film - Die Hard with a Vengeance - into the mix, but despite their references to Christmas, New York City looked way too much like a typical September day. However, if you are a completist like myself, this would still work as a triple feature.
And speaking of triple features, allow me to suggest you treat yourself to three action movies brought to you by writer / director Shane Black: Lethal Weapon, The Long Kiss Goodnight and Kiss Kiss Bang Bang.
If you’re in the mood for some horror, there’s plenty to choose from there. You can enjoy a one-two punch of Stephen King movies with Misery and The Shining. Plus, there’s The Thing, Black Christmas, fans of bad movies also have Silent Night, Deadly Night movies, the hilariously awful Santa’s Slay (Watch it for the Rankin-Bass flashback section. Genius!) and the mind-bogglingly horrendous Jack Frost 1 & 2 (Not the Michael Keaton one, the slasher films about a mutant killer snowman).
How about some Christmas comedy to go along with the Christmas Vacation viewing? Well, there’s Better Off Dead, The Ref, Trading Places, Gremlins and, of course, Bad Santa.
The original Rocky can also qualify as Christmas viewing, since the film takes place between Thanksgiving and New Year’s, and the fight between Rocky and Ivan Drago in Rocky IV takes place ON Christmas Day.
Are you a comic book film fan? Then make sure Batman Returns is on your list.
Need some other suggestions to fill up your queue? Well, there’s Love, Actually, Less Than Zero, Edward Scissorhands, Bridget Jones’ Diary, Cast Away, The Family Man, Grumpy Old Men, Hook, Vice Versa and While You Were Sleeping.
And there's one of my personal favorites, L.A. Confidential.
I’m sure there are plenty other movies that I missed, so feel free to post your suggestions here. And while you think about it, enjoy the 1980s classic: He-Man & She-Ra – A Christmas Special.
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