NaNoWriMo Challenge Update! November 11, 2009
Posted by pacejmiller in Novel, On Writing.Tags: NaNoWriMo, National Novel Writing Month, stress, update, word count, work
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As I write this post from another late night at work, it has become very clear to me that I am fighting an up-hill battle in this NaNoWriMo Challange I have set for myself.
Eleven days in my monthly word count stands at around 4,000. Only 46,000 more words to go! The main problem is, I just haven’t had the time. Actually, backtrack. I have had very little time, and to be honest I have not utilised it particularly well. Thanks to: long book (still reading Gandhi’s autobiography), waste-of-time video games (playing a game of NBA 2K10 every night) and too many blog posts (I am currently in the middle of preparing 3 other posts on this blog, plus my regular duties at Pacers Pulse).
That said, work has been BRUTAL. Essentially working across two time zones at the moment. But it’s not just that. It’s the constant tension, stress and panic that I am having trouble dealing with. I don’t know why I signed up for this insanity a second time. One would have thought that as lawyers, we would have come up with laws to prevent this type of abuse from happening, and yet we only seem to perpetuate it.
Things don’t look too bright right now, but surely there’s a light at the end of the tunnel? I can fully see myself pumping out 20,000 words this weekend…if I’m not at work, that is.
Movie Review: The Time Traveler’s Wife (2009) November 7, 2009
Posted by pacejmiller in Movie Reviews.Tags: Audrey Niffenegger, Brad Pitt, Claire Abshire, Eric Bana, Henry DeTamble, Jennifer Aniston, Rachel McAdams, The Time Traveler's Wife, Time Traveler's Wife
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I had been wanting to watch the big screen adaptation of Audrey Niffenegger’s bestseller The Time Traveler’s Wife ever since I heard it was being made (it was actually optioned by Jennifer Aniston and Brad Pitt before the novel was even published).
It is such a beautiful book, taking a seemingly ridiculous, science-fictionesque premise to deliver a tragic love story that somehow works. One of those rare stories that made the outrageous feel normal because the characters and what they felt for each other was so painfully real.
I’m glad to say that the film version, while not perfect by any means, is very good, capturing the essence of the relationship between Henry DeTamble (Eric Bana), a man with a genetic disorder that causes him to unintentionally and periodically time travel, and Claire Abshire (Rachel McAdams), the girl he was destined to fall in love with.
Of course, the success of a movie like this depends largely on the performances of the leads. When I first heard that Eric Bana was cast as Henry, I was sceptical because he didn’t appear to fit the novel’s description. But as I watched him, it became clear to me that he was spot on for the role. He captures Henry’s love, pain and fear so well in a wonderfully controlled performance. On the other hand, it doesn’t matter who Rachel McAdams plays. She is so sweet, beautiful and classy that it’s not hard to believe anyone will fall madly in love with her.
However, a person’s enjoyment of the movie may well depend on how much they can accept the time travelling premise. If you find the idea stupid, then it’s unlikely you’ll give the film much of a chance. I think it’s quite possible for someone, especially if they haven’t read the book, to get a bit confused with all the travelling back and forth through time. It’s easy to put up your hands and say ‘this is all too silly’ and let it overshadow the central love story. On the other hand, if you can overlook some of the unexplained holes in the logic and just accept the premise (a pre-requisite for sci-fi films), then you may find yourself absorbed in Henry and Claire’s complex relationship. For me personally, it was the type of film where the flaws become easier to forgive because it knows how to tug the heart strings.
Keeping in mind that the novel is 546 pages and spans a lifetime, the film adaptation is surprisingly short, clocking in at only 108 minutes. This naturally means that the film lacks the full emotional depth of the novel (few films can match the novel in that regard anyway). In condensing the book to fit the screen, characters were cut, roles were reduced and subplots were canned. Nevertheless, I believe this actually worked in the film’s favour rather than against it. It kept the focus solely on Claire and Henry’s relationship, and prevented the story from dragging on too long, which it did start to feel towards the final quarter. It would have been very easy to make this a 2 hour 45 minute-plus movie, but I applaud the restraint from director Robert Schwentke (Flightplan) in keeping the running time manageable. Trying to be truthful to the source material while keeping the film from being overlong can be a tough balance, but for the most part I think Schwentke and screenwriters Jeremy Leven (The Notebook) and Bruce Joel Rubin (Ghost) did a decent job in the circumstances.
Perhaps I am a little biased because I’m a big fan of the two leads, but I believe The Time Traveler’s Wife is a solid adaptation of a novel that was extremely difficult to adapt. Those who are fans of the novel will likely either love it or hate it. As for newcomers to this story, I’m not sure, but judging from the number of red, watery eyes I witnessed stepping out of the cinema (including my wife’s), my guess is that more people than not will be moved by it.
4 out of 5 stars!
[PS: I was surprised that the film relied mostly on make-up and not technology to show the aging process (which, after Benjamin Button, we know can do an extraordinary job). Unfortunately this means the physical transformations of the characters are not as pronounced as they could have been.]NaNoWriMo Challenge! November 3, 2009
Posted by pacejmiller in Novel, On Writing.Tags: 50000 words, Australia, Fantasy Novel, NaNoWriMo, National Novel Writing Month, novel word count, November, word count
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NaNoWriMo (or National Novel Writing Month) has arrived. For those who aren’t sure of what this entails, check out this link here. Essentially, it involves writing a 50,000 word novel in the month of November. Sounds daunting, but when you break it down, that’s just 1,667 words a day. Actually, that sounds like a lot. Way more than what I’ve been doing on my debut masterpiece, my WIP fantasy novel!
Despite its name, NaNoWriMo has very much become an international event. I have never entered NaNoWriMo before, and I chickened out again this year. Well, not really. I kind of just forgot.
Nevertheless, I have given myself a NaNoWriMo challenge this month. To be in the spirit of the whole thing, I am going to try and write 50,000 words on my novel in the month of November! Feels like mission impossible at this stage especially with the way work has been lately, and given that it’s taken me about a year to write about 140,000 words…but right now I need any excuse to keep things moving or I’d never finish that dreaded first draft!
I’m already quite behind, having only hand written some crap on the train the last couple of days, so I better start moving. Word count updates to be posted every now and then (especially if it’s going well)!
Inside Agassi and Becker’s secret rivalry October 31, 2009
Posted by pacejmiller in Entertainment, Tennis.Tags: Agassi, Andre Agassi, Becker, Boris Becker, Brooke Shields, Grand Slam, Nobu, Steffi Graf, waitress, Wimbledon
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Few people know the real reason behind Agassi's drug revelations
By now everyone should know about Andre Agassi’s explosive admission that he used crystal meth (the dangerous drug otherwise known as ‘ice’) in 1997, tested positive, then got away with it by writing a simple explanation letter to the ATP. However, very few people know about the underlying reason for this seemingly pointless admission – Agassi’s ongoing contest with Boris Becker to see who can dominate the tennis spotlight.
What? I hear you say. Allow me to explain.
All one has to do is to take a look at the careers and post-career lives of these two great tennis champions.
First set
Boris Becker played 15 years of professional tennis, was number 1 in the world and claimed 6 grand slam titles. Andre Agassi, on the other hand, stuck around for 20 years, was also number 1 in the world at some stage, and bagged 8 grand slam titles, including the rare career grand slam. Strictly speaking, Agassi has probably had a slightly more impressive career based on titles alone. Further, Agassi has a 10-4 record against Becker, including a 4-1 record in grand slam matches. The first set goes to Agassi, 6-4.
Second set
However, the real battle between these two warriors took place outside the tennis courts. Both men craved the spotlight, and it was only a matter of time before they started trying to outdo each other.
Boris Becker, with his attacking style, struck first, marrying famous photographer Barbara Feltus in 1993 by first getting her pregnant. The couple also caused shockwaves when they posed nude together in a photo taken by Babara’s father before the wedding. Becker had captured the spotlight of the tennis world off the court, and for a while, there was no one to challenge him.
Enter Andre Agassi, who either intentionally or inadvertently stole the spotlight from Becker with a high profile celebrity wedding of his own. Agassi, the natural baseliner known for his defensive brilliance, took his time, dating actress Brooke Shields from 1993 (perhaps already with Becker in mind) and wedding her in 1997. It was a stormy relationship that the media feasted on, snatching away the attention so dearly craved by Becker. Easy second set for Agassi, 6-2.
Andre Agassi
Third set
Frustrated, Becker planned his next move, only to be caught off-guard by a pre-emptive strike from Agassi, who rocked the tennis world again by ending his marriage with Brooke Shields in April 1999. Not to be outdone, a furious Becker initiated a separation from his own wife in December of the same year. To kick it up a notch, there was the whole debacle surrounding the pre-nup the couple signed, which brought more media scrutiny than even Becker had hoped for. Thanks to the messy divorce settlement, Becker finally edged Agassi this time in a tie-break, 7-6 (11-9).
Fourth set
From here, both tennis greats stepped up their games and took the rivalry to a new level. First Agassi began dating one of the greatest female tennis players of all time, Steffi Graf, after the French Open champion’s ball in 1999. Two of the greatest of all time dating? It was a strange doubles combination, that’s for sure, but think about the kids they’d have!
But Becker brought his A-game this time and dropped a bombshell on Agassi and the tennis world by revealing that he had impregnated a waitress in the broom closet of Nobu in London after his last match in 1999 (following Wimbledon). Just to milk it a bit more, Becker initially denied paternity, claiming that he was an ‘unseeded’ player, until a DNA test confirmed what he had known all along.
Nevertheless, the impact was undeniable. Becker was king of the headlines once more, and as a result people barely flinched when Agassi and Graf married in 2001. A big comeback for Becker, 6-1 in the fourth set!
Boris Becker
Final set
From here, with the match tied 2 sets apiece (6-4, 6-2, 6-7, 1-6), the two men were exhausted and struggled to come up with new material. Agassi and Graf started pumping out kids and made a few headlines when they played doubles together. Becker, on the other hand, went through a custody battle and another broken engagement through which he was dumped by text message. It was all very tame and both men were have difficult coping without controversy.
Becker even tried to relive some of his best moments when he recently (a week before Agassi’s latest revelations) declared that the daughter he had with the waitress was actually conceived on an uncomfortable set of stairs as opposed to a broom closet. Regardless, he admitted in shame that it was the quickest match he had ever played, prompting suggestions that there were other reasons apart from his powerful serve that earned him the nickname ‘Boom Boom’. Indeed, the waitress recently likened Becker to a “runaway train” in her new tell-all book In One Breath (named after the length of the encounter).
Just when the two champions appeared to be heading down an endless fifth set with each unable to break the serve of the other, Agassi stunned the world with his latest drug revelations. One of the greatest tennis players of all time not only took ice, but he had also gotten away with it! Let’s not forget, 5 of Agassi’s 8 grand slams were won after 1997 – if he had been banned from tennis the way he should have, then Becker probably would have won their secret contest already.
The disappointment in Becker was apparent for all to witness in his latest interview, where he said: ”I’m the last person to throw stones, as there have been some difficult times in my own life (emphasis added), but to hear that he took crystal meth, that certainly puts a whole new light on Andre. And it’s not a beautiful light.”
”There have been stories over the years about some tennis players taking drugs, but maybe they were just stories, and now Andre, a big star, has been so open about what he took and how he lied to avoid punishment. I’m struggling to think of anything else in tennis that comes close to this.” At this point, Boris whipped out some old newspaper clippings of his Nobu scandal, but no one seemed to notice.
”Andre didn’t just take drugs, he also tested positive for drugs and then got away with it, and that’s not good at all for tennis, especially for the governing bodies,” Becker said. ”People are going to be thinking, ‘How could this happen? How could he get away with this?’”
Clearly, the fact that Agassi ‘got away with it’ has plagued Becker, who added: “If it had been made public in 1997 that Andre was using drugs, his career, and his life, would have been very different. He wouldn’t be where he is today. Maybe his career would not have survived if everyone knew that he had taken drugs, and if he was banned from the tour for a while. But no one knew until now, and it was after he took crystal meth that he played some of the best tennis of his life. He won many grand slams after that.”
For the last person to throw stones, that’s certainly a lot of rocks!
Perhaps sensing that defeat was inevitable, Becker threw in a futile last-ditch effort, reminding everyone that in his own memoir, he admitted to washing down sleeping pills with whisky. I’m sure he wanted to say: “That’s almost as bad as ice!” Unfortunately, victory had already slipped out of his grasp.
Game. Set. Match.
Agassi defeats Becker, 6-4, 6-2, 6-7 (11-9), 1-6, 27-25, in their secret contest.
Movie Review: Saw VI (2009) October 31, 2009
Posted by pacejmiller in Movie Reviews.Tags: Jigsaw, Kevin Greutert, Saw 6, Saw franchise, Saw movie, Saw series, Saw V, Saw VI
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After seeing how confused and convoluted the Saw franchise had gotten after the lacklustre effort that was Saw V, I didn’t think it was possible for them squeeze another one. Clearly, I underestimated the writers, who not only managed to pump out another 91 minutes of torture porn and link it to the rest of the series, but also made it surprisingly good. Well, relatively speaking anyway.
Saw VI picks up where the last one took off, and like most film franchises that have lasted this long, assume some level of prior knowledge. There are some flashbacks, but for the most part you’re left to rely on your memory to recall what the heck happened in the last two or three films. And if your memory is anything like mine, you’re likely going to be struggling to make the ‘jigsaw’ pieces fit.
Thankfully, Saw VI has a plot of its own, so it doesn’t really matter if the central storyline running through the franchise doesn’t click. Needless to say, there’s the mysterious, torturous ‘game’ with a number of unwilling (albeit deserving) participants caught up in a series of moral dilemmas, ingenious but gruesome contraptions, the obligatory plot twist, and of course, copious amounts of blood and guts.
That said, while the whole affair was rather predictable, Saw VI somehow managed to stay afloat. It would have been very easy for the film to have crashed and burned, but first-time director Kevin Greutert and regular Saw franchise writers Patrick Melton and Marcus Dunstan made the film much more intelligent and suspenseful than one would have expected. However, that doesn’t change the fact that you still know what to expect, and that’s what ultimately prevents Saw VI from being anything more than an above average episode of a declining franchise.
So, where does that leave my review of the movie? At the end of the day, Saw VI was more of the same old stuff we’ve been seeing since the very first one back in 2004. If you’ve seen the others in the series, you’ll likely be numb by now and the film just won’t have the same impact. On the other hand, if this is your first of the franchise, you won’t have a clue about the elaborate back story. Either way, it’s neither particularly good nor particularly bad.
2.5 out of 5 stars!
[PS: judging from the ending, I suppose we can expect a Saw VII next year...]
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