"Immortality"

As an American, and more important a “human”, we tend to think that we are more immortal then most other species on the planet not only because we have the capacity to think and reason but also because of our vain sense of place on the food chain. I can attest to this as I seem to have grown up with very little sense of fear.

Fear is something we develop and sometimes overcome as a child growing up. I have the unusual handicap of not being able to remember much of my childhood. I grew up with a father in the Air Force which necessitated my family and I having to move from place to place every four to five years. This has had an adverse effect on my childhood memories as I don’t seem to remember any of them to any great detail, in fact, what I do remember comes to me in broken flashes with a dreamlike quality leaving me with the impression that they may be more dream then reality. What memories I do have, have been foretold to me by my parents and I’ve come to realize over the years are more an exaggeration then the real truth.

In the absence of any memories that I can truly trust, I don’t really have a sense of fear, in the traditional sense. I have no allergenic adversities nor phobias and the things that most people fear I actually gravitate towards. I do recall as a child a reoccurring nightmare that I don’t know whether it is based on reality or a manifestation of a deep down fear.

The dream originates during my pre-adolescent age when my family and I lived in Louisiana. I don’t know what age I am at only that my mother and father are driving the car and I am in the backseat. I don’t think any of my siblings are in the car with us (I have two sisters and a brother) but I am in my seat belt and we are crossing over a large drawbridge. For most of this trip I am oblivious to what is going on around me as my attention is focused on some toy. My attention is only diverted when I realize that the car has stopped midway on the drawbridge and bridge suddenly begins to split in half and raise for no apparent reason. Now, in reality the action of the bridge splitting in half and raising would cause gravity to pull all the cars downward which it does to every other car on the bridge except for my father’s which hangs split eagle in the center as the bridge is being raised. My parents are oblivious to the catastrophic situation we are in but I watch in terror as we continue to rise high into the air and the water below becomes ever so more terrifying.

When the bridge stops moving my father’s car is perfectly balanced on the edge of the split bridge and only I know what’s really going on. Then all of a sudden the car tips over the edge towards the watery abyss below. My parents never seem to notice as they continue whatever conversation they are having as the car plunges head first into the water. As the car begins to fill with water my parents still don’t seem to realize the situation as I scream and yell for help in the back seat. The water engulfs my parents and soon comes for me as the car continues to plunge deeper and deeper into the abyss with no bottom in sight. I look through the rear of the car only to see that the surface is farther away then I ever thought possible. When the water does finally reach me, I begin to panic as it becomes apparent that I cannot swim nor breath under water.

I never know the end of the nightmare as I’ve always woken up before it ends but it’s the only dream that has haunted me since my childhood and the only one that I remember. It’s also the one thing that resurfaces every time I’ve tried to learn to swim. Unlike my father (who won’t go anywhere near the water because he can’t swim) or my mother (who can’t swim but will go in the water regardless as long as it isn’t higher then her waist), I like the water. I just can’t swim. I’ve been told that once you learn how to swim you never forget. Well I’m testament that this isn’t true as I took a swimming class in elementary school where I was forced to swim so I at one point in my life was taught how to swim. I even vaguely remember jumping off the high board with a life jacket and I remember learning how to float and everything but in a practical application outside of the class I don’t know how to swim.

I like to say that when it comes to my childhood memories they have been “Swiss cheesed” as was a common saying in reference to Sam Beckett in the hit television show Quantum Leap. I remember some things by nature and some by instinct and others not at all. For the longest time I’ve always thought of my inability to remember how to swim in this same manner and that when the time came it would all come crashing back to me. By this admission I liked to believe that I was still “immortal” in spite of everything to the contrary.

I bring this all up now because on Saturday, July 26th I came to realize for the first time in my life that I am far from immortal. Like I said previously, I have no fear of the water in the usual sense so I ended up going to a water park and river tubing with a very good friend and her daughter and friend. I thought I had never been to a water park prior to that day but everything at this water park (located in Helen, Georgia) was all too familiar to me leaving me to believe that I had been to one such as this long ago when I was a child. I was nervous getting on the water slide for the first time but my friend was with me and everything seemed to go off better then expected. In fact, the entire experience gave me a sense of déjà vu. The experience was a blast and I ended up going on the individual slide soon after. We spent a good two hours at the park before deciding to go tubing down the river.

Tubing down the river should have been a cake walk next to the water park as the river was practically manmade and no deeper than two feet (on many occasions we had to wade through the shallow areas of the river) but my disrespect for nature and my arrogance to the fact that I wasn’t a swimmer would soon got me in trouble.

My tube was linked to that of my female friend while her daughter and her friend were also linked. We had come to a calmer moment in the trip down river when my friend recognized an area of the river in which people used to swing from a rope attached to a tree and dive into the river, which would mean that at some place in the river it was deep enough to dive from. When we came to that area of the river the rope tied to the tree was gone but there were several people who decided to detour from the river and dive for themselves. The water only came up to their chests and they were only teenagers so I assumed that the water wasn’t all that deep.

I was feeling pretty good from the water park earlier and when one of our party wanted to know just how deep this part of the river was, for some unknown reason I made it my mission to know. I jumped out of my tube and into the water. I couldn’t touch the bottom nor could I swim so imagine how much of a shock it was to me when that reality finally hit me. I plunged into the water causing my tube to overturn itself. I didn’t have a handle on it so I ended up going down into the water. If I had completely panicked I would have probably drowned but instead I managed to flail my arms around when my head first disappeared under the water but when I peaked back up I grabbed hold of the link between my friend and my tube and pulled myself above water.

My friend told me she helped me grab hold but I don’t seem to remember this. The only thing I remember and that came to me at that exact moment when my head was under the water is that damnable childhood dream and the knowledge that one of my best friend’s brother (who also could not swim) drowned when he was carried away by a rogue wave in the ocean when he was only walking in waist deep water along the beach. That’s what came to me and what caused me to believe that I very well could drown right then in there.

I didn’t experience any sudden ability to swim. The only thing that saved me that day was my friend and the fact that I didn’t panic. I did in fact experience fear for the first time in my life.

Once I grabbed hold of the link between the tubes I over turned my tube and used it as a flotation device to swim towards more shallow water before I was able to jump back into the tube.

Before that day I hadn’t thought about that childhood nightmare nor the death of my friend’s brother in a long time, but my coming so close to death did have an affect on me. I’ve been thinking about just how fragile life really can be and the fact that as much as I like the water I really should know how to swim. Because of my complete disregard of my lack of ability to swim I could have died and when a person comes so close to dying they tend to see things in a different light.

There are so many things I did wrong that day that I can’t undo. There are so many regrets but the one thing I learned is that I am just as mortal as anyone else and that I should make it an imperative to learn how to swim if not only to prevent a repeat of this incident but to also help me rid myself from that childhood nightmare which tends to continue to haunt me to this day.

None of us are immortal, so why do we continue to think and act as if we are?

Hellboy II: The Golden Army is del Toro's Fantasy Masterpiece

Director Guillermo del Toro’s previous film HELLBOY wasn’t the greatest comic book to film adaptation but it had charm and whit and showed what del Toro could really do if given the opportunity to direct a full on comic book film (he previously directed the comic book film BLADE 2). Having achieved such great acclaim with the recent hit PAN’S LABYRINTH del Toro was given free reign when developing the sequel to his moderate hit and thus was born HELLBOY II: THE GOLDEN ARMY.

With the help of Hellboy creator Mike Mignola, del Toro has crafted a story not based on any of the previous Hellboy graphic novels yet still retains the look and feel of the Hellboy character and world. Given a slightly bigger budget than the original film del Toro and Mignola have crafted a story that takes Hellboy into the magical fairy world and beyond.

In the new film elf Prince Nuada (Luke Goss) is set upon raising the mythical Golden Army in order to take back the real world from the humans, which he believes have neglected the Earth and taken it for granted. The B.P.R.D. (or Bureau for Paranormal Research and Development) which includes Hellboy (Ron Pearlman), Abe Sapien (Doug Jones), Liz Sherman (Selma Blair), and new addition Johann Krauss (John Alexander) must journey to the troll market in order to discover who is using deadly “tooth fairies” (carnivorous little critters that feed on teeth and bone) in our world. What they discover is the plot of Prince Nuada to raise the Golden Army but he cannot do that without the help of his sister Princess Nuala (Anna Walton) who holds the location of the army and the key to raising it. When the B.P.R.D. take Nuala under their protection it doesn’t take long for her brother to find the secret government facility and bring Hellboy more problems then he needed.

Del Toro fills this film with lots of action and subtext as Hellboy and his relationship with Liz go to a new level as both must find a place within each others lives (following the events in the first film) and Abe is given a romantic interest in the form of Princess Nuala. Hellboy is faced with the choice of trying to discover his own place in a world that fears him even when he is only trying to help and Liz must face the fact that it is foretold that Hellboy will destroy the world (remnants of the first film). This new film is a grand opera of comic book fantasy in the way only del Toro can do.

Del Toro did not take the easy way out as Prince Nuada is not presented as an evil character but rather someone who has become fed up with the humans destroying the real world at the cost of everything else simply because of their arrogance. Hellboy is faced with the tough decision of which side he truly belongs on, that of the humans who despise and fear him or the creatures who would call him “friend” and are more a family to him then the humans that he protects. Hellboy’s decision will forever change his life and his association with the B.P.R.D. (and hopefully the planned third film in the series). Like del Toro’s best films this film is ambiguous.

This film also has some of the best SPFX of any del Toro film sporting some of the most elaborate characters ever committed to film since the days of Jim Henson’s THE DARK CRYSTAL or LABYRINTH. These effects have been elaborated and fine tuned from the previous film, which were clunky at times, making for one of the most dynamic films of del Toro’s career. We are also subjected to some of the best performances in a comic book film as Pearlman and Blair have really owned their characters and Jones is given more to work in this film. THE GOLDEN ARMY is a welcomed addition to del Toro’s canon of films and the comic book genre in general.

Halloween 6: The Producer's Cut Revealed!

Until recently I’ve only heard about the alternate versions of the infamous HALLOWEEN: THE CURSE OF MICHAEL MYERS but one of the most infamous is the PRODUCER’S CUT of the film which was rumored to be completely different then the released version (there also happens to be a DIRECTOR’S CUT of the film which is different than the theatrical and Producer’s Cut as well). After much searching over the years I was finally able to get my hands on a copy through the new website Horrorbid.com which aims to be the “eBay” of online shopping for horror related merchandise.

Having finally watched the Producer’s Cut of the film I can say without a doubt that both versions of the film are still not any good but with the Producer’s Cut it’s interesting to see what the studios changed in order to get the theatrical version. The Jamie Lloyd (J.C. Brady) character doesn’t die in the beginning at the hands of Myers like in the theatrical cut but is killed later on by Dr. Wynn (Mitch Ryan) and his cabal while in a hospital bed. There is also a brief flashback to the events at the end of HALLOWEEN 5 that elaborate on more of what happened when the police station was blown up.

The biggest change to the film is the ending, which is completely different then the theatrical version. Once Dr. Loomis (Donald Pleasence) and Tommy Doyle (Paul Rudd) leave the boarding house after being drugged by Wynn and his cabal the rest of the Producer’s Cut takes a huge detour from the theatrical film. The ending now has Wynn trying to coheres Kara Strode’s (Marianne Hagan) son Danny into killing his mother as well as trying to have Myers kill his son-Jamie’s baby (the whole incestuous thing is explained more in this version). All this is to transfer the evil that is Myers into young Danny. None of the events make any more since in this version then in the theatrical version. Tommy manages to stop Myers in this film through the use of rune stones that cancel out the evil represented by the power of Thorn (which in this film is explained as the entity which is the harbinger of evil, thus Michael Myers). This version ends with little blood shed and the evil that is Myers transferring to Dr. Loomis (rather then Dr. Wynn whom we last see trapped by the rune stones by Myers). Trust me, none of it still makes any sense.

The film’s still a mess but it’s interesting to see how the two versions differ and why the studios wanted the changes. The theatrical version pumps up the death scenes and action tremendously and even though it cuts out a lot of exposition that would’ve made the story make more since nothing is really lost because the Producer’s Cut rarely feels like a Halloween film at all with the ”less is more” attitude. The theatrical cut makes for a much more dynamic and energetic film but the Producer’s Cut, while preserving the original intensions of the filmmakers, make for a blander film going experience. Like I said neither version is really any good but the Producer’s Cut is a very interesting alternative to the theatrical version.

MOTHER OF TEARS Is the Worst Film of the Year

I’m a huge Dario Argento fan and I was looking forward to seeing how he was intending to wrap up his Three Mothers trilogy following the exceptional classic SUSPERIA and the mediocre yet fun film INFERNO but I was not expecting what Argento came up with in MOTHER OF TEARS: THE THIRD MOTHER as his way of wrapping up one of the horror genre’s most important trilogies. I had heard a lot of bad things about this new film in the press in terms of its various screenings across the globe none of which were very good but since I am an Argento fan and the last film of his that I saw theatrical was THE STENDHAL SYNDROME I was amped to see his new film.

The press was right. This is absolutely Argento’s worst film since Non ho sonno (aka SLEEPLESS). There are so many things that went wrong with this film that I don’t know where to begin but simply speaking Sarah Mandy (Asia Argento) is an art student at a museum in Rome where an urn and body has just been discovered outside a cemetery. When Sarah and her friend open the urn they unwittingly release the spirit of Mater Lachrymarum (Moran Atias) whose resurrection causes people in the city to commit unspeakable violence and rape and crime. Fearing that Sarah might try to stop her from taking over the world, Mater Lachrymarum sends her minions after Sarah…And that’s simply about it in terms of plot. It’s more or less a chase movie in which Sarah runs and someone chases her. There’s also a subplot about Sarah being the descendent of a white witch and that she has special powers that will help her defeat Mater Lachrymarum. There’s also a subplot concerning Sarah’s relationship with the museum curator Michael (Adam James), whose son is kidnapped by Mater Lachrymarum to get at Sarah but all of this is a puddle of nonsense in this film.

There is also a lot of gratuitous violence and sexual conduct which is usually no problem in an Argento film when artfully done as is the case with DEEP RED or THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA or OPERA, but in this film Argento chooses just to throw it all in for good measure. I probably could’ve turned the other cheek on this except for the fact that Sarah Mandy as played by Asia Argento is one of the worst characters that she has ever been associated with. This is probably the weakest character Asia has every played and Dario has ever written. Gone is the strong main females of SUSPERIA or DEEP RED or THE CARD PLAYER. Sarah Mandy is hard to swallow from both and it makes sitting through the ninety-eight minute movie excruciating and difficult.

It’s good to see Daria Nicolodi reuniting with Dario (since they haven’t worked together since PHENOMENA) but her role as Sarah’s dead mother in spirit form is laughable not only from the performance but from the bad CGI. The same can be said about generally all the performances in the film as they are subpar at best.

I wish there was something good that I could recommend from the film but there simply is not. Not even Claudio Simonetti’s (from the Italian group Goblin) original score can help the film as it is not one of his better scores as many of the cues feel forced and are too powerful for what’s going on. Unless you just like mindless violence and sex then pass on this film and wait a little longer for Argento’s GIALLO which should be out sometime next year.

JOURNEY TO THE CENTER OF THE EARTH 3D - Just another Forgetable Summer Film

There is no denying that the success of past digital 3D films such as THE NIGHTMARE BEFORE CHRISTMAS 3D, BEOWULF, U2 3D, and even HARRY POTTER & THE ORDER OF THE PHOENIX, that Hollywood had found a way to get people back into the seats at the theater. The new Brenden Fraser remake JOURNEY TO THE CENTER OF THE EARTH 3D is the first theatrical live action film to be filmed specifically for the digital 3D age (although U2 3D is a concert film which can also claim the same thing).

Written by Michael D. Weiss, Jennifer Flackett, and Maril Levin this new film is all fun but no brains as Trevor Anderson (Fraser) and his nephew journey to Iceland after Anderson discovers that his brother may hold the key to proving that the novel “Journey to the Center of the Earth” may be based on fact. Not knowing how to navigate themselves in the strange country they enlist the aid of Hannah (Anita Briem) to help them locate a tracer that Anderson’s brother placed years earlier. While trying to retrieve the device the three are caught in an electrical storm that traps them within a mountain. While trying to find a way out, the floor beneath them gives way and they fall deep through the mountain into the center of the Earth in which lies a world within a world.

Once there they learn that everything in the novel was true and that the only way to escape is to follow the journey of the character in the book that displays in detail how to escape. They must fight dangerous plants, dinosaurs, and even travel across a vast sea inhabited by carnivorous fish if they are to find a way back to the surface.

For anyone under the age of thirteen the film will be a joy to behold. Fans of Fraser’s GEORGE OF THE JUNGLE will love the film since it’s completely predictable and always action packed and that’s about all that it has to offer. From the moment “go” the film was meant as nothing more then a way for the studios to capitalize on the new 3D trend without actually developing a story worthy of the format. Unlike BEOWULF or HARRY POTTER, this film seems to want to make everything pop out at the audience rather then choose the best moments to really capitalize on the benefits of the format. Don’t get me wrong, the film has some amazing sequences especially the journey across the sea and the sequence with Anderson’s nephew Sean (Josh Hutcherson) making his way across the magnetic rock gully but those bits are few and far inbetween.

The film is filled with lots of bland and forced humor and some action sequences that just don’t work, which includes the dinosaur chase at the end which was done better in so many other previous films (not even the 3D CGI can help this sequence). The film seems to work better when the three adventures are fighting against the elements of the world rather then “carnivorous” forces. JOURNEY is a fun film that you should leave your brain at home for. It is a film that will be soon forgotten after its first viewing.

WANTED on Review!

I’ve never read the Mark Millar & J.G. Jones series and graphic novel for which the new film WANTED was based but just by looking at the graphic novel and hearing feedback from film goers I knew going into this film that it was a “loose” adaptation of the source material. Upon viewing the final product I can honestly say that I’m not disappointed and the film actually makes me want to go and read the original source material just to know how they differ (this will have to be for a different article).

The film concerns an office worker by the name of Wesley Gibson (James McAvoy) whose existence is non-existent. He knows this as his name when searched on the Internet brings up nothing and his girlfriend is sleeping with his best friend and co-worker. His life is about to change when assassin Fox (Angelina Jolie) saves his life and tells him that his father was an assassin and he belongs to an elite group of people with special abilities that have formed a secret organization that keep life on the planet in balance by assassinating certain people. Under the leadership of Sloan (Morgan Freeman) Gibson must learn how to use his ability in order to help the organization bring down the person whom Gibson is told killed his father and who is trying to bring the organization down to its knees.

Even though this is a heavy action film the personal journey of Gibson is never lost and McAvoy does a great job with bringing the character to life. He reminds me a lot of the Leon character in THE PROFESSIONAL in which both Leon and Gibson’s lives are turned upside down by one individual which alters their perspectives on life and thus help dictate the choices they make throughout the film. In Leon’s case it is Mathilda and in Gibson’s case it is the revelation that the father that he never knew was killed by an assassin. These personal journeys are what drives the character and make for such films.

As directed by Timur Bekmambetov (making his Hollywood debut after the excellent Russian films NIGHT WATCH and DAY WATCH), WANTED is a hyper kinetic action frenzy of style in the way of a Wachowski film which actually is in the film’s best interest. Bekmambetov brings to the screen some amazing ideas not yet familiar to the American audience making the film seem very fresh and new. If this is a sign of things to come for action films then I’m all ready!

HANCOCK on the IMAX

For a film that’s meant to be bigger then life the new Will Smith film HANCOCK does not translate over as well to the IMAX format. Don’t get me wrong, the film HANCOCK is the best comic book genre film of the summer easily surpassing the timid IRON MAN and THE INCREDIBLE HULK and several others simply because it tried to do something different then all the other superhero films made thus far (in the wake of the superhero film boom).

There’s a joke that my friends have told me a hundred times while growing up in reference to the fact that why doesn’t Superman just throw Lex Luther into space to ultimately be rid of his arch nemesis. Back when Superman was the most popular franchise of films Luther kept coming back and Superman kept putting him back into jail leaving many people to believe that there really is no originality in the superhero genre film anymore. They are all pretty basic and predictable (thus my lack of appreciation of either of this years Marvel film adaptations). Seeing Superman throw Luther into outer space thus killing him is completely unpredictable and would rid Superman from his otherwise bland villain and allow the filmmakers to explore other aspects of the character (although I love the film SUPERMAN RETURNS it’s anything but original). A little more of this “unpredictability” is needed in the new crop of superhero films or they will all become timid exercises of studios just wanting to make a quick buck with great SFX-expensive films.

Bringing focus back to HANCOCK, this film is anything but predictable as there are many plot turns in the film that are unexpected and the film is genuinely funny from beginning to end. The humor is derived from character rather then bad jokes (i.e. IRON MAN). There is great drama between all the main characters but not too much to be a distraction (i.e. either version of HULK films) and the action is top notch. A lot of this goes to the excellent script by Vincent Ngo and Vince Gilligan, who worked on “The X-Files” and “The Lone Gunmen” television series (which is probably why the script is so strong in both action, drama, and humor). Lets not forget the actors, either, as Smith, Charlize Theron, and Jason Bateman have great chemistry on film which is brought to glorious life by director Peter Berg (THE RUNDOWN, THE KINGDOM), a director great at mixing and balancing both action and humor.

The only thing that disappointed me is that the film really wasn’t as dynamic on the IMAX format screen as many of the other films I’d already seen. Having viewed such films as SPIDER-MAN 3, SPEED RACER, and U2 3D on the IMAX (which were all an astounding theatre going experience), HANCOCK was just…well, HANCOCK. It’s the first film I’ve viewed on this format that wasn’t truly a great experience which is okay since the quality of the film more then made up for this mishap. Unlike viewing U2 3D (which costs a whopping $16.00 on the IMAX), HANCOCK was much cheaper (at only $12.00 which is only a $2.00 difference from the regular screens) so I didn’t feel like I was cheated too much. I do recommend this film as one of the highlights of the summer but just don’t bother watching it on the IMAX unless, of course, you’ve just never seen a film on the format before.

Viewing a Rough Cut of "A Gift"

On Friday July 4th I viewed a rough cut of the short film "A Gift" with editor Vernon Mui. The short film "A Gift" is a co-production between CenterSeat Entertainment and Ondie Daniel/Keith Kelly's production company and was filmed just before summer. Mui has had several months to try and piece together the footage already filmed in order to get a better idea of what is missing from the film and where we need to make changes.

The film had many things going against it - it was a film from first time directors (Daniel & Kelly), it had a TON of children with no experience in front of the camera, and it had a very small crew in which to work with. What it did have going for it was a cast of kids with great energy, a great location, and a cats & crew that believed in the project regardless of the technical faults. This all leads to an interesting situation and one which I was happy to enter to. I've worked on many first time director films and even though the majority of them are amateurish the energy on display is unbelievable as people who have never made a film before get to experience it for the first time.

Viewing th erough cut of "A Gift" reminds you of the amatuer nature of filmmaking in general and how much work can go into a production from beginning to end. Although a rough cut, "A Gift" has many places where we will have to not only add scenes but also rearrange others to make it understandible. Everyone knew we were going to have to do this since we didn't film everything during principle photography and Kelly wasn't sure of exactly what we had filmed (even though he had a copy of all the dailies). I'm glad we had Mui do a rough cut of the film, now we know where the production stands and what will be needed to finish it.

We plan on finishing the film this summer in terms of the final edit, sound, and music and even though it won't be the greatest short film out there I hope that everyone had fun making the film and that the experience will be something that they will always remember.

Rewriting "The Nocturnal"

Last time in this blog I promised I'd mention the rewriting process I had to go through on my latest script "The Nocturnal." Rewriting this script has actually been one of the easier rewriting experiences I've ever had since the rough draft is pretty much exactly what I wanted to say on the page. I spent and entire day to sit down and reread the script and make subtle changes to the story and dialogue to make it all gel together...at least in my head.

The hardest rewriting experience I've ever had was on my script "Detour" which still isn't done. That script was too much like a David Lynch type of film that crossed back and forth between time and places and visualizing that whole story and concept was an experience I will not soon go back to.

"The Nocturnal" is a character film that starts off as being an unsettling "torture-porn" type of captive film without the "torture" elements that plays more on the psychological elements of the story while also playing with the idea that we live in a world inhabited by extra-ordinary beings with strange proclivities. It's an unusual film that I wrote as part of my "Tribe(s)" series of films in which I explore the lives of real life creatures, monsters, and odities living in our world among us. This series of films would also include several other stories I'm working on including "Freaks" even though I explore different time periods and characters.

Rewriting "The Nocturnal" was actually really fun and a treat in that I ended up enjoying much of what I had originally written without needed to change much (like what happened on "Detour" or even "I, Jack". Many people who read it may not pick up the parallels between the two main characters but I've learned through most of my writings that I like to present stories with two main characters that either complete opposites or exact similarities. This film the two main characters are very much in the same character just from different walks of life which ultimately lies in their intwined fate.

Upon finishing the rewrites I wanted to return to finishing "Freaks" which was a favorite story of mine for which I got a third of the way through a first rough draft. "Freaks" may have to wait though as I am about to complete a "shooting script" for "Shiver" before finishing up "Contagium" and "The Poet" both of which I'd like to finish before the end of the summer. I'm also working on a Spec script in the vein of "Law & Order" for resume reasons and to possibly write for the new local production Atlanta Homicide: HD. Although I'd love the opportunity to write for the show, I realize the competition is stiff and my ideas are a tad radical specially since my Spec script would require controversial subject material in the way of being about teenage suicide. Regardless this Spec script will be written as a feature length script to be sold, so, I hope something comes of that.

In the mean time I'm sending "The Nocturnal" to several people whose opinions I trust and can get me some feedback on the script. A friend of mine suggested that I do a reading of the script to hammer out the details that I might have and to answer any questions in this regards. I've decided to take this into consideration and to actually do this to help fix any problems that I might have in the script. I'll keep you informed on more of this as soon as I know.