#one day i will post excerpts not from 'in your dreams nerd' but today is not that day

[sapphicflower-ao3]

For the fanfic writer ask: 2, 22, 34, 35! (Only if you want to answer them ofc)

OMG SO MANYY thank you my dear!!!! <3 <3 <3

2. Why do you write fanfiction?

at first, it was because i was thinking about a very particular interaction b/w two characters (from stranger things) and a thought came to mind: "what if you wrote about it?" and i was like. no way would i ever write fanfiction! But then one day i got bored and wrote it and published it and it was THRILLING. and now i write it because i love writing abt my OTP bkdk and i love putting them in situations together ahaha

22. Do you listen to anything while you write?

i neeed music to write! for some fics i listen to the playlist i make for it, but for fics w/o specific playlists i usually just play my bkdk one.

34. Copy and paste an excerpt you're particularly fond of.

whenever i get this question i always paste an excerpt from "in your dreams, nerd" but it's just my favourite soooo i don't care. anyway:

35. Ramble about any fic-related thing you want!

if i wasn't an overly self-conscious person i would be quite happy to ramble forever but i'm too awkward to do that andjkana i will say though that i'm really excited to finish my spy AU bc i thought of so many funny lines for the last chapter and i can't wait to add them in.

i will at least post a preview of the funny line i thought of last night: {if you want to avoid any and all spoilers for "lover's compass" don't read it!} {also slightly NSFW?}

"Well first, you need to get through the A.S.S."

"Excuse me?"

"The Automated Security System!!"

actually now that i've written it down it's no longer funny BYE

[princess-of-france]

i would love to hear abt your rococo lll

Oh my gosh, you lovely human, settle in. This production is my Ultimate Theater Pipe Dream and I apologize in advance for how little chill I’m going to have as I explain it. 

Are you ready? 

I want to start with my standard disclaimer: I am a theater artist, not a literary critic or a historian. When I’m directing a play, I extract fragments of lit crit and historical fact as I need them and leave the rest on the buffet line. This LLL in particular requires me to play fast and loose with history, so be prepared for a truckload of anachronisms. They make the vision work!

So, with that…

The sad Catch-22 of my Rococo LLL is that no theater will ever put it up:  a smaller, indie, risk-taking theater wouldn’t be able to afford the astronomical production costs of casting the 20 actors I need, to say nothing of building opulent sets and period-accurate costumes that imitate the royal courts of the late 18th century; conversely, a large, well-funded, regional theater wouldn’t be able to justify funding a 2.5-hour Shakespeare retelling that turns one of his most sparkling comedies into a dark, violent allegory about the French Revolution and casts young, privileged, light-skinned European elites as the tragic heroes brought low by proletariat Jacobean reform. Even as I type these words, I realize how irresponsible an investment that would be. My Rococo LLL is not the kind of classical theater we need in America right now. It is retrograde in terms of diversity, equity, accessibility, and social justice. It probably says something terrible about me that I even dreamt it up in the first place.

And yet.

I want to direct this production so badly it feels like I’ve swallowed a piece of the sun. If I had all the proper resources (time, money, venue, artists, designers, marketing, etc.), I would do it tomorrow. It’s my baby.

Here’s a blurb that kind of nutshells it all together:

July 1789. King Charles VI of Navarre has died, leaving his son, young Ferdinand III, to take the throne. On a tide of Enlightenment idealism, King Ferdinand commissions his three best friends to join him for a period of ascetic study at the court of Navarre. The rules are simple: no luxuries, no alcohol, and no women. For three long years.

The boys’ oath is immediately put to the test when four young ladies arrive in Navarre on a diplomatic mission from Versailles. Led by the spirited Duchess d’Albret, the Frenchwomen and their mile-high coiffures prove irresistible to the King and his companions. With the help of a motley band of scholars and servants, they set out to woo the Duchess and her friends. But when sober news arrives from Paris, will young love be enough to rewrite history?

Set against the glittering backdrop of the last golden days of the ancien regime, this bold reimagining of Shakespeare’s beloved comedy invites us to look at the most famous revolution in Western history through the eyes of the young elites who learned the truth about privilege just a moment too late.

Of all the radical things I want to do with this production, the thing that would probably cause the most controversy (and earn me a reputation for being a narcissistic, pessimistic, Shakespeare-desecrating hack) is my addition of a prologue set in Paris in June 1793. I could try to sum it up here, but honestly I think it would be a lot more effective and comprehensive just to post the excerpt from my script:

…etc.

So basically, half my audience will vomit due to the unexpected onslaught of blood, gore, and violence…and the other half will vomit from the sheer anti-progressivism of the show’s politics. And I don’t blame anyone who finds fault with this production concept. On a political level, I find fault with it. Arguably the last thing our society needs right now is a Shakespeare production that paints young, pale, overprivileged trust fund babies as the poor, helpless victims of a liberal-led revolution for social equality. 

But at the same time, I can’t help but think that the entire point of Love’s Labour’s Lost is to make us look hard at our own privilege and ego, and weigh those things that seem sooo valuable against the true gifts of love, empathy, friendship, generosity, and kindness. 

“This is not generous, not gentle, not humble!” Holofernes cries as the Crazy Eight—high on adrenaline and their own cruel wit—jeer him off the stage during his performance as Judas Maccabeus in 5.2. More than any other, this moment epitomizes the value of setting LLL in a sex-charged, champagne-fueled, pastry-laden, cream-filled, lace-drenched, satin-covered, feather-topped, Rococo landscape. There’s no way in hell the audience is meant to sympathize with the insult-flinging prep school Kens and Barbies when they humiliate Holofernes to the point of tears. Shakespeare is way too smart for that. In the final whimsical moments before the messenger Marcadé comes onstage, laden with the news that is going to change the entire genre of the play, the Bard turns a critical spotlight on the young people we’ve been rooting for since Act One, Scene One and invites us to view them—for the first time, really—through the lens of the hardworking, lesser-privileged plebs of Navarre. The portrait is revolting. However witty, cultured, and elegant the courtiers might seem, they clearly have a lot more homework to do. Marcadé’s arrival a few short lines later is the final test of their youthful ego. Is being clever worth the price of experiencing love? Is love worth the price of responsibility? Is she brave enough to admit that she’s scared to take up the mantle? Is he brave enough to give up the one person who matters for the sake of the people he once mocked, the people he now must lead?

I don’t believe the Navarre Nerds and Les Filles have survived the centuries because they end the play as sharp-tongued, entitled, and self-absorbed as they behave at the start. We wouldn’t still be making and remaking this play if the protagonists were so static. I think the young people of LLL resonate with us—or, at least, they resonate with me—because in the course of Shakespeare’s plotless little play they grow up right before our eyes. King Ferdinand learns that he can’t bury his head in his books and ignore the responsibility of ruling when he watches the love of his life choose duty to her country over the desires of her own heart. The Princess learns that the cost of being the cleverest person is human connection when she finds herself laughing alongside Ferdinand at the antics of the Nine Worthies and somehow feels happier than she ever did when she was mocking him into the earth. Berowne learns that love wins every argument: against wit, against intellect, against bachelorhood, against willpower itself. Rosaline learns that love is strength, not weakness, and that she is stronger when she allows herself to feel. Dumaine learns that love demands vulnerability. Katherine learns that love is not a game. Longaville learns that love thrives on honesty. Maria learns that love takes courage. When the Crazy Eight say their heartbreaking goodbyes at the end of 5.2, they no longer care about sounding smart or superior; in fact, they speak against their own intelligence. The erudite Ferdinand trips over his words, the cynical Berowne invokes romantic idealism, the boastful Dumaine speaks with humility, the shy Longaville puts all his cards on the table. The women are no less altered. I don’t want to fall into the trap of ascribing an easy, one-size-fits-all moral maxim to LLL, but what else are we supposed to take away from this play if not the fact that we fucking owe it to ourselves as a species to set aside our stupid pride and say, “I love you,” when we feel it because we never know when time is going to run out? What else are we supposed to feel if not pride in these young people for choosing to step up and take responsibility when they hear news that the world outside is ending? That there may be no world left? Les Filles go with their Queen. The Nerds rally around their King. They choose fidelity to their respective kingdoms over the indulgence of love. But they also learn to value love for what it is, and to call it by name…even if that love can only last for a few fleeting seconds:

“If this or more than this I would deny,To flatter up these powers of mine with rest,The sudden hand of death close up mine eye.Hence ever, then, my heart is in thy breast.”

(King Ferdinand, V.ii)

As the Crazy Eight grapple in real time with the consequences of Marcadé’s message and what it means for their role as leaders in society, Rosaline gives Berowne a task to complete in their year apart that practically hums with poetic intelligence. Her lines are so iconic, we still quote them colloquially today:

BEROWNETo move wild laughter in the throat of death?It cannot be, it is impossible.Mirth cannot move a soul in agony.

ROSALINEWhy, that’s the way to choke a gibing spirit,Whose influence is begot of that loose graceWhich shallow laughing hearers give to fools.A jest’s prosperity lies in the earOf him that hears it, never in the tongueOf him that makes it. Then, if sickly ears,Deafed with the clamors of their own dear groans,Will hear your idle scorns, continue then,And I will have you and that fault withal.But if they will not, throw away that spiritAnd I shall find you empty of that fault,Right joyful of your reformation.

(V.ii)

I think this is the moment when I would start crying if I ever watched my Rococo LLL performed live. Because of all les Filles, I think Rosaline is the only one who knows that by choosing to accompany the Duchess back to Versailles at the end of LLL, she is effectively signing her death warrant. The Jacobeans and sans-cullottes are not going to want young, eligible, Catholic Rococo princesses wafting around their new, secular state. The guillotine may not yet exist in the summer of 1789, but the there is a thirst for blood and Rosaline can smell it. And now Bastille has fallen. Paris is on fire. King Louis XVI has months to live. The world will never be the same. Rosaline’s once-ordered, once-gilded country is careening into a bloody nightmare of soured ideals and ruthless social weeding, and even though she can’t see the future, she can read men like books. Even Berowne. Even the charismatic nihilist who earned a bachelor’s degree in bachelorhood and tried to hide his heart under a bushel. She can read him and she can save him. They can’t kill her husband if she doesn’t have one. 

Rococo LLL? I don’t know. It’s a pipe dream. 

But can’t you picture it? 

Tagging my girls @harry-leroy @suits-of-woe @lizbennett2013 @dedraconesilet @exeunt-pursued-by-a-bear @henriadical in case anyone is interested :)

Thanks a million for one of my favorite asks ever! Happy holidays, friend!!

xx Claire

[daleisgreat]

Man vs. Snake: The Long and Twisted Tale of Nibbler

I am a huge fan of the classic 2007 documentary, King of Kong, that saw two arcade players vying for the all-time Donkey Kong high score. Last year I was visiting a bunch of friends at a retro gaming convention and while hanging out after the con, one of them suggested to throw on today’s entry, 2015’s Man vs. Snake: The Long and Twisted Tale of Nibbler (trailer) on in the background. I had no idea what it was and immediately focused all attention upon it once I realized it focused on the same premise of two old-school arcade players chasing down the top score for another 80’s arcade game, Nibbler. It is not from the same directorial crew of King of Kong, but is shot in a similar style and shares a few supporting cast interviewees from King of Kong such as videogame high-score gatekeeper Walter Day and the controversial Billy Mitchell. Being a huge fan of King of Kong I was stunned Man vs. Snake went three years going off my radar. I listen to several videogame podcasts and keep up with the gaming press online and on social media seemingly daily and somehow this one slipped by me for three years. Upon getting minutes into the documentary I was doubly stunned that I had never once heard of or seen footage before of the 1982 arcade game, Nibbler this documentary is centering its high score chase on. The two creators of Nibbler, Joseph Ulowetz & John Jaugilas, are interviewed and explained how the game essentially came and went with middling sales and no real lasting power in the arcade scene at the time. If you are in my age range in your 30s you likely first experienced a variant of Nibbler more commonly known as Snake in the late 90s on either flash-based gaming websites, TI graphic calculators or simple black-and-green Nokia cell phones of that timeframe. I never recalled once seeing this in arcades and much-appreciated the history lesson. The two creators are only shown briefly in several excerpts, but they have an uncut 15 minute interview in the bonus material worth seeing because both of them go in-depth about how Nibbler came to be, crazy office stories and revealing the reason behind some of its gameplay secrets.

The two high score-chasers Man vs. Snake is centered around is Tim McVey (no, not the one you are thinking of) and Dwayne Richard. The documentary kicks off with exquisite animation sequences reminiscent of the style in Bob’s Burgers detailing how McVey originally posted the first official billion point game in Nibbler and procured the world record. Billy Mitchell is interviewed here elucidating the story because he is a real-life friend of Tim’s and witnessed him post that original record score. McVey was dethroned not too long later by an Italian, Enrico Zanetti, who is also interviewed and has his own unique tale on how his record stood for over 25 years. The animation featured in the opening and in a handful of other sporadic scenes throughout the film is incredibly impressive and is a worthy substitute for a lack of TV footage from that time. Flash forward to the late 2000s and the doc does a great job at detailing the impetus for what drove Tim and Dwayne to start competing against each other to set a new world record. A standout scene is showing clips and recapping how Dwayne & Tim compete against each other at MAGfest one year and the highs and lows of that public event. Later the focus switches to Dwayne & Tim’s own personal livestream attempts to try and break the world record and the stress of being filmed throughout the whole ordeal. McVey is featured more prominently throughout along with his wife and the film reeled me in for the agony of defeat as Tim went through all kinds of failed attempts due to several different type of circumstances. Both McVey and Richard have their feel good moments, and like King of Kong their successes did not go without controversy. Walter Day is the ever-present authoritative figure throughout with his trademark referee shirt just like we remember him from King of Kong. For fans of that documentary, you may recall it shares a couple glimpses of Walter’s unique personal life, and just some forewarning that Man vs. Snake dives a little deeper into Day’s lifestyle in a couple of scenes and it goes places I did not expect.

Also worth noting is that the DVD has both a censored and uncensored version available. I watched the uncensored version and what stood out from that is a couple of interview subjects being unfiltered at times and a couple graphic blister scenes due to playing Nibbler nonstop for over a day. For other extra features there are a total of 50 minutes of bonus scenes and that is where you can find the aforementioned interview with the two creators of the game. Other recommended cutting room floor scenes are more in-depth recaps of a couple of McVey’s failed attempts that did not get highlighted in the feature and a interview with another arcade score-chaser, Rick Carter, on his memories of trying to dethrone the Nibbler world record. There is also an audio commentary with directors Andrew Seklir and Tim Kinzy which is worth checking out because they have nonstop insight and facts on tracking down interview subjects, acquiring archival footage and discovering which interviewees they have fond and/or disdainful memories of throughout the production process. Man vs. Snake reminded a lot of why I loved King of Kong. I would rank it a notch or two under King of Kong because Man vs. Snake does not have the convenient hero/villain dynamic of Wiebe and Mitchell as McVey and Richard are both affable and positive figures to root for throughout. It also does not helps that King of Kong is based on one of the most popular arcade games of that era while Man vs. Snake focuses on one that I had no idea existed until I saw the film. Do not let that sway you from avoiding Man vs. Snake because it is still a vastly fascinating and entertaining documentary worth going out of your way to see. Other Random Backlog Movie Blogs 3 12 Angry Men (1957) 12 Rounds 3: Lockdown 21 Jump Street The Accountant Angry Video Game Nerd: The Movie Atari: Game Over The Avengers: Age of Ultron The Avengers: Infinity War Batman: The Killing Joke Batman: Mask of the Phantasm Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice Bounty Hunters Cabin in the Woods Captain America: Civil War Captain America: The First Avenger Captain America: The Winter Soldier Christmas Eve Clash of the Titans (1981) Clint Eastwood 11-pack Special The Condemned 2 Countdown Creed Deck the Halls Die Hard Dredd The Eliminators The Equalizer Dirty Work Faster Fast and Furious I-VIII Field of Dreams Fight Club The Fighter For Love of the Game Good Will Hunting Gravity Guardians of the Galaxy Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 2 Hercules: Reborn Hitman Indiana Jones 1-4 Ink The Interrogation Interstellar Jobs Joy Ride 1-3 Major League Man of Steel Man on the Moon Marine 3-6 Metallica: Some Kind of Monster Mortal Kombat National Treasure National Treasure: Book of Secrets The Replacements Reservoir Dogs Rocky I-VII Running Films Part 1 Running Films Part 2 San Andreas ScoobyDoo Wrestlemania Mystery The Secret Life of Walter Mitty Shoot em Up Skyscraper Small Town Santa Steve Jobs Source Code Star Trek I-XIII Take Me Home Tonight TMNT The Tooth Fairy 1 & 2 UHF Veronica Mars Vision Quest The War Wild Wonder Woman The Wrestler (2008) X-Men: Apocalypse X-Men: Days of Future Past

[sometimeswritingsometimesdying]

1: Summarize your WIP in 10 words or less.

A prophecy says four boys save the world. It’s wrong.

2: Post a line from your WIP with no context.

“Rich may have gotten a concussion while we fought a dragon today.”

3: Does your WIP have a title? If so, explain its significance. If not, what are you calling it for now?

For now it’s called “The Four Magicians (Plus one more)”

4: Describe the setting of your WIP.

it’s not very well developed for now, but basically it’s a magical world with many forests and mountains. I’m also thinking of adding some sort of kingdom system, since that was the original idea.

5: Search for the word “knife” in your WIP. If you find it, paste the line and explain the context.

nope! no knifes in this one

6: Search for the word “dream” in your WIP. If you find it, paste the line and explain the context.

none

7: What are you most proud of?

Definitely the characters. I really like the different personalities and backgrounds I gave them, and how they interact with one another

8: What is your biggest challenge?

describing things, probably? Because I already know what things look like and what I want characters to look like I have a hard time showing that to the reader

9: How would you describe your writing style?

Very narrative, sort of? That’s how my teachers have described it

10: How would you describe your WIP’s narrative style? (1st person, 3rd person, multiple POVs, single POV, alternating chapters, etc.)

3rd person because I HATE 1st person

11: Which character do you have the most in common with?

probably Eric, because, I too, am a nerd who tries too hard but somehow is still considered a bit cool by others, and, I too, fall for the cute one in my group of friends

12: Which character do you have the least in common with?

probably Oscar, since he’s very closed off and doesn’t like to talk about himself a lot, which is the opposite of me.

13: Your characters are stranded on a deserted island. What happens?

Rich and Oscar bicker, Eric tries to find a way to get back to safety and Sam and Adrien try helping Eric

14: Have you chosen birthdays for any of your characters? If so, when are they?

No, but Rich is probably a Gemini

15: Do you know your characters’ MBTI personalities?

nope

16: What would your characters be for Halloween?

Rich would be a dragon hunter, Oscar would be a dragon, Adrien would also be a dragon, but, like, a cute one, Eric would be the other dragon hunter, and Sam would be some kind of storyteller for the other four. Adrien and Sam probably came up with the idea

17: Does your WIP have any themes or motifs?

The main theme (or motif) would be that your background doesn’t define you

18: What’s easier, dialogue or description?

dialogue, 100%

19: Post a picture or gif that describes your WIP.

it may not describe my WIP perfectly, but it describes what I did to the characters

20: Post a brief excerpt.

It’s definitely not my best piece of writing, but it’s all I’ve got

After effectively killing the dragon (more like burning it to a crisp) they all walked back to their dorm. They were all tired, not only because of the fight but also because Shiloh had insisted on using the new spells, which take an incredible amount of power, even for Rich.

“Another Dragon. That’s the fourth one this year!” Oscar said.

“Well, yeah, but what do you expect? The school is situated between a mountain range and a forest, next, we’ll have to fight goblins.” Eric responded.

“Ugh, can’t they just make a magic barrier or something around the school grounds?” Rich complained, dramatically draping himself over Sam.

“They could, but it takes a lot of magic, Rich,” Sam says. Over the years, Sam and Rich had grown close and they came to consider each other brothers. Meanwhile, Eric and Sam had been constructing and creating machine after machine, putting them around their dorm to supposedly make their life easier, keyword there is ‘supposedly’. Speaking of Eric and Sam’s machines; “Eric the coffee maker broke again.”

“Oh, not again! I must have put ten spells on that thing!” Eric said turning to Rich, who was trying to make coffee. “Maybe if I lubricate the cogs…” Oscar made his way over to the four of them.

“What if you re-arranged the coils?” Eric hummed, pondering the suggestion.

“That… might actually work. Give me a couple minutes.” Rich walked over to the couch where Sam was already sitting. He threw himself on the couch with a groan.

“I’m bored, I want to do something!” Oscar raised an eyebrow.

“You literally just killed a dragon, and you’re bored?” Rich turned around and glared at Oscar.

“Yes, Oscar, I am.”

“Well if you want, we could go to the library all together later.” Sam offered. Rich groans again.

“But that’s boooooring.” Suddenly Rich’s face lit up, and a grin spreads across his face.

“Oh, no, what is he thinking now?” Oscar mutters. Rich looked back at Oscar.

“I’m thinking that we are going to town tonight!”

“You do realize that it’s against the rules to go out on school nights?” Just as Oscar’s thought left his mouth there was a knock at the door, and Eric went to answer. He came back with Adrien, who was wearing his usual clothes and cape, fancy just enough to make him look like some kind of prince. Adrien hadn’t changed much since they had met him, their first class with Shiloh, and had become friends shortly after an incident that happened after that very class.

…

Adrien always tried to understand others. He really did. He tried to understand why Shiloh brought him to her class. He tried to understand why the other kids laughed at him. And he tried to understand why the other boys glared and scowled at him. He really did try, but he just couldn’t understand them.

As he skipped down the hall, he started whistling a tune that was stuck in his head from a couple days. He was wearing his favorite skirt, which always put him in a happy mood, with his magic cape, or so Shiloh called it. He thought about the lesson he had just escaped, which Shiloh had dragged him to. She had promised the young wizards were nice and would have been his friends, but once he arrived they had seemed quite wary around him.

He was still lost in thought when someone grabbed him by the hood of his cape, effectively choking him.

“Well, well, well. Look who it is.” Adrien recognized the voice. It was Kyle’s, from his homeroom class, but he was not the one who had grabbed him since he was now standing cross-armed in front of him. Adrien squirmed and struggled to be let go, but to no avail.

The first hit came out of nowhere. Before Adrien could protect himself, Kyle had hit him hard in the stomach. It took him a moment to register what had happened since spots were dancing in his eyes and Kyle and his friends were calling him names and shouting insults at him, but one thing he heard loud and clear, was his name being called.

“Adrien!” It was a voice he did not recognize, and it was followed by at least four pairs of footsteps. He was suddenly thrown to the ground, and in a frenzy he turned around and ran for it, ignoring the aching throb near his stomach.

What he didn’t know, was that Eric was the person who called out to him. Blaze had told them it would be best to go see how their younger friend was doing and had caught Kyle just as he was about to punch Adrien again.

“Sam, go call Shiloh, Oscar, Rich, hold them off.”

“With pleasure,” Rich said, grinning. He called his magic to him and was suddenly backed up by a wave of blue. Meanwhile, Oscar had lit a flame in his hand. Then Eric took off to find Adrien.

“Oh, look at the little prodigies! They think they’re so powerful!” Kyle mocked. At that Oscar enhanced his flame, and Rich’s wave started advancing before Oscar cut him off. Kyle’s eyes were wide and scared, and he looked frozen in place. Then he ran off, leaving his friends and dignity there.

.

It took Eric a little while to find Adrien curled up in an obscure corner of a corridor. When they had been introduced to Adrien, he had seemed so shy, yet friendly, nice, and trustworthy. He had been a couple years younger than the others, but Eric didn’t mind since he too was two years younger than them. Although he had mostly sat off to the side or behind Shiloh, Eric had noticed his white hair, his light blue dress, and the freckles on his face. Meanwhile, the other three had snickered and laughed behind him, but now he understood why he had been so reclusive. He had been scared they would make fun of him.

He walked over to him and sat down at his side. He wasn’t too good at comforting others, but he’d try.

“Hey, Adrien.” He whispered.

“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have caused you trouble.” He mumbled, his head still in his arms.

“You didn’t cause us any trouble, we’re glad we could help.” Adrien lifted his head with a hopeful expression.

“Really?” Eric smiled and nodded.

“Did they do anything else?” He seemed to falter for a moment, then spoke up.

“Well, they always call me names.” Eric bit his lip. How do you respond to that?

“You know, they call me names too.”

“But why? I mean you seem alright…” Eric chuckled. This guy really was insecure!

“Well, they are scared of me, because I’m more intelligent than them.” He stopped for a moment, picking his words carefully. “And they’re scared of you because you’re more courageous than them.”

“No, I’m not,”

“Yes, you are. It takes a lot of courage to be different.” Adrien looked back at him wide-eyed like he couldn’t believe he had said that. Then, Eric wrapped him up in a hug.

“Thanks.” Before Eric could add anything, they heard footsteps down the hall. Soon enough, Shiloh and Sam were frantically trying to understand if Adrien was hurt, and Rich and Oscar were recounting how they made Kyle runoff (with added sound effects). By then, Adrien was feeling much better and thankfully wasn’t hurt.

That was only the beginning.

…

Adrien still looked like a male version of Shiloh, just younger and with freckles. He had messy light blond hair, silver eyes, which sat well on his soft face, was rather tall, and had a bubbly personality, which all of them enjoyed, although he used to be persuaded by Rich way too easily to execute dangerous plans of his (They all remember the hair incident.)

“Hey, guys, what are you talking about?”

“Rich may have gotten a concussion while we fought a dragon today.” Rich gasped dramatically.

“I did not, and since I’ve got another friend to back me up on this, Adrien, what do you think about sneaking out tonight, you know, all together?” Adrien seemed to falter a bit at the question, after all, Shiloh is his sister, but he’s never been exactly as mature as her.

“I don’t see why not, as long as we don’t harm anyone.” Rich’s smile grew.

“I mean, if Adrien’s in, I’m in too,” Eric said.

“Well, it would be fun,” Sam added. “But how exactly will we sneak out? None of us know how.”

Oscar sighed and walked to the couch.

“I guess I could lead the way.” Everyone’s eyes widened.

“Wait- are you serious?” Oscar nodded. “How do you even know how?”

Oscar shrugged. “I’ve had my amount of adventures, plus Blaze, Isaac, and Will used to sneak out all the time.”

“Speaking of Will, we should probably not go to his place. Blaze and Isaac might be there.” Eric said.

“Well, where should we go then?” Asked Sam. Oscar smirked.

“Oh, I know just the place.”

[thesassybooskter]

ONE CHRISTMAS EVE by Shannon Stacey: Review & Excerpt

One Christmas Eve by Shannon Stacey Series: Cedar Street #2 Published by Carina Press Publication Date: November 11th 2019 Genres: Contemporary Romance Pages: 118 Source: Publisher Format: eARC Goodreads Buy Online: Amazon ♥ Barnes & Noble ♥ Kobo ♥ iBooks

Disclaimer: I voluntarily reviewed a copy of this book. All opinions stated are solely mine.

New York Times bestselling author Shannon Stacey returns with a warm and cozy opposites-attract Christmas story.

Zoe Randall is busy living her life as she damn well pleases. She’s back in her favorite town, her divorce in her rearview mirror, and living out her childhood dream of running a bookstore with her cousin. She has no interest in the uptight nerd who opened his boring-ass business next to her shop…until he complains about one of her sexy window displays.

Then it’s game on.

Preston Wheeler knows he takes life a little too seriously. But when the saucy bookseller next door starts pushing his buttons, he can feel that changing. Beautiful, vivacious Zoe challenges him in all the best ways, and soon he’s pushing her buttons right back: teasing and flirting all the way through the holiday season.

As Preston loosens up and Zoe is treated to the man behind the suit (particularly his forearms), she realizes she’s more interested than she cares to admit. And Preston comes to see the beauty—the absolute delight—in adding Zoe’s bright splashes of color to his once very black-and-white existence.

  Review

This is how an opposites attract romance is done! Zoe and Preston were a really enjoyable couple to read about for so many reasons including, their initial dislike for each other was not overdone, they were very honest with themselves and each other about their feelings and the drama was very minimal. 

One other thing: I loved that the characters’ lived experiences had made them very upfront about what they would and would not tolerate in a relationship and they did not hesitate to express that.

It’s amazing that this is the very first book by Ms. Stacey that I have read and I look forward to reading more from her.

    Excerpt

“I have to go back to Boston for a few days and finalize a few things, so I won’t be around. You know, in case you wonder why the office is closed next week.” He was rewarded with what might have been a glimmer of disappointment in her expression, but it cleared so quickly, it was possible he’d imagined it.

“I hear you’re coming to Thanksgiving dinner at Granddad’s,” she said.

“I was invited.” He gave a little shrug. “And it was more like he told me to come when I said I wouldn’t be joining my family for the holiday.”

“That’s kind of how he is.”

“But I didn’t want to commit to accepting until I got a chance to talk to you. If you think it would be weird for me to be there, I won’t go.”

Her lips tilted into a slight smile. “And will you post pictures on Instagram of your bowl of ramen soup you’re eating all alone?”

He laughed. “Ramen soup? You don’t think I can do any better than that?”

“I’m sure you can, but you don’t have to. Of course you’re welcome at Thanksgiving dinner.”

“You’re sure?”

“Why wouldn’t I be?” He couldn’t really bring up the sexual tension simmering between them without introducing the possibility it was all in his head, so he didn’t really want to spell it out for her. “Just checking. I don’t want to intrude on family time.”

She opened her door, but before sliding into her seat, she looked at him. “It’s not intruding. So…have fun in Boston, I guess. And if I don’t see you before Thanksgiving, I’ll see you at Granddad’s?”

“Sounds good.” He really wanted to kiss her goodnight, but he figured if she was thinking the same thing, she wouldn’t have put her car door between them. “I’ll see you there.”

Thanksgiving felt like forever away, and as he watched her drive away, he knew he’d be thinking about her the entire time, even though it didn’t make any sense. Wanting her so badly didn’t make sense. Not being able to keep her out of his thoughts didn’t make any sense.

He couldn’t make sense of his attraction to Zoe Randall, but he could feel himself nearing the point he didn’t care anymore.

To hell with sense.

  About Shannon Stacey

New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Shannon Stacey lives with her husband and two sons in New England, where her favorite activities are writing romance and really random tweets when she’s not riding her ATV. She loves mud, books, football & watching way too much TV.

Website | Twitter | Facebook | Goodreads

    ONE CHRISTMAS EVE by Shannon Stacey: Review & Excerpt was originally published on The Sassy Bookster

[ntrending]

Star Trek, James Bond, and the trip from science fiction to science fact

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Star Trek, James Bond, and the trip from science fiction to science fact

The following is an excerpt adapted from The Edumacation Book: Amazing Cocktail-Party Science to Impress Your Friends by Andy McElfresh.

Here’s my misspent youth: I spent many, many hours in a camping hammock behind my parents’ house devouring the Science Fiction Hall of Fame series, everything by Arthur C. Clarke, many things by Robert Heinlein, the complete works of Philip K. Dick, and especially issues of the short-lived Galileo magazine. I also read Asimov’s Science Fiction magazine, which was a lot like Alfred Hitchcock’s Suspense Magazine, but with ray guns and the peculiar feature of having a different photo of Isaac Asimov in the upper left corner on each issue. One photo was of Asimov’s feet.

I got into sci-fi when I was a young teenager. That’s when I really started pouring on the steam as a competitive swimmer and a member of a barbershop quartet, which meant I had a lot of free time to read all the way through high school while other young men were spending all those tedious hours exchanging bodily fluids and viruses with young women (or each other). I was filling my head with possible futures, then thinking about them (or singing the baritone parts to one-hundred-year-old songs) for six hours a day in the pool. I never grew taller than 5-foot-6, which ruined my chances of becoming a world-class swimmer, and I never was able to grow a handlebar moustache, which ruined my chances of becoming a professional barbershop quartet singer. (So, thank God.)

I was super into gear, and dreamed of possessing impossible inventions, like I was Miniver Cheevy longing for the Medici gold. A chronosynclastic infundibulum that you could activate under your arm, which would serve as a holster for whatever you wanted to carry and was completely undetectable to anyone in the universe? I wanted. A portal projector that would allow you to walk through any wall, could teleport you anywhere, and somehow regulated the difference in temperature and air pressure? On my wish list. A watch that you could set to go back and undo all of the embarrassing moments in your life? I still want that. In fact, if the Devil is reading this, write my publisher for my email and we can make a deal.

Of course, the coolest stuff came in the dumbest stories. Bad science fiction is defined by constant stops and starts so they can explain the gear. “Tyrone Xandar pulled out his X251 Stratoblaster—a plasma energy pistol so powerful it could melt the metallic fur of a Denebian magmabeast”—stuff like that. Really takes you out of the story.

But there were so many things in fiction, movies, and TV shows that people just took for granted. Cool stuff that was part of their world of the future. Keep in mind that I was a little kid in the 1970s, when everyone thought that polyester clothing and digital watches were pretty awesome. I mean, if you didn’t have to know what the hell the big hand was doing while simultaneously generating projectile BO from the pits of your tight plastic football jersey, it meant the future was something we controlled.

Most of the 1970s, from the Carter administration to The Love Boat, did not work out. But don’t forget that there was a little thing called Star Wars that came along somewhere in there, and it carried on the tradition of using science fiction to tell stories that could have happened to anyone, in a future that had some pretty cool shit.

Star Trek

Food replicator. Universal translator. Tablet computers. Tractor beam. Star Trek was full of firsts when it debuted in the fall of 1966. There is so much wonderful optimism built into the premise of that show, from the Prime Directive (which was broken as many times as it was brought up) to the multicultural Team Benetton–in–space casting (ignore the accents, please) to even featuring the first interracial kiss on US television (though aliens used mind control on Kirk and Uhura to make it happen under protest). And Kirk got so much alien na-na that you know Bones had a special space-penicillin hypospray vial set aside for daily use.

And Star Trek was full of predictions, too, although I’m not sure how far they explored them as concepts. For example, they had a food replicator, from which crew and guests would request such exotic menu items as soup or Earl Grey tea. Give me a food replicator, it’s gonna be surf-and-turf from the Palm with frozen gold-leaf truffle from the Savoy. But in the future, I guess people want to appear humble when talking to a food replicator. Nowadays, there are several versions of food replicators, the most recent being a pizza printer that will work as a vending machine and that NASA is re-outfitting for the International Space Station.

The universal translator was first introduced on Star Trek. It could take any language—even telepathy—and turn it into mid-Atlantic droning with heavy reverb. And you know that disembodied brains are thinking things like “Fifty quatloos on the newcomer,” because even though they completely consist of brain tissue, they twitch around a little bit when they think. Nowadays, we have several translators, the most interesting of which are small handheld units developed by a number of Native American tribes to preserve their dying native tongues. However, Google Translate isn’t there yet. I took the phrase “Is this my favorite puppy I see before me?” and translated it first into Pashto, then Basque, then Sindhi, then Amharic, then back into English, and I got “I was the doll I liked before I saw it before.” It may not be as confusing and bizarre as the translation in Arrival, but Google definitely has some work to do.

Plenty of other cool ideas came out of the Star Trek canon, but we’ll finish up with the holodeck, which was first seen on the 1970s Star Trek animated series but didn’t really enter nerd consciousness until Star Trek: The Next Generation. I always thought the holodeck was both underutilized and not fully thought out, but they had other things to worry about, like constantly letting out Number One’s uniform and the strange sadness Denise Crosby seemed to bring to her role. Why didn’t they use the holodeck as a real-time, planet-to-planet communicator that would make you feel like you were talking to someone in person? No more space leave! What happens on the holodeck stays on the holodeck! Anyway, VR goggles are like the holodeck, according to VR goggle manufacturers, so let’s move on.

James Bond and Ian Fleming

We all know a guy who says that From Russia with Love is the best James Bond movie because it didn’t have a ton of unbelievable gadgets, just a briefcase with a choke wire and some gold sovereigns. That, of course, is a stupid opinion to hold. For one, it is one of the best James Bond movies because Quint from Jaws has blonde hair and kills James Bond–lookalikes for fun like he’s in The Most Dangerous Game. And for two, the gadgets from the Bond movies are super-awesome!

Author Ian Fleming was legit when it came to the spy business. He worked as an intelligence officer for British Naval Intelligence, most notably on Operation Goldeneye, which is where he got the book title and the name of his estate in Jamaica. He probably named the operation, since he was a bird lover and the Goldeneye is a bird. Want more evidence? The author’s name of his favorite bird guidebooks was James F%@$ing Bond [f%@$ing mine].

Fleming knew his stuff when it came to gadgets. Real stuff they had at his time in intelligence included tie-clip cameras (more astonishing is the fact that people wore tie clips), hollow teeth containing cyanide (actually, a Soviet invention), and the microdot, which anybody could make with an ordinary 35mm camera because it was just an incredibly tiny negative—a picture of a picture.

What imaginative bits of Bondiana have survived and flourished as real equipment? How about the exosuit, from the brewery scene in Goldfinger? Or the jetpack from Thunderball, which—while it was wired to a helicopter in the movie—was an actual prototype capable of 30 seconds of flight (working on The Awesome Show, I got to see a demo of the Zapata Flyboard Air that can stay aloft for 30 minutes). The fingerprint scanner in Diamonds Are Forever is now available on your iPhone, though it might be the most easily hacked security measure in history. And let’s not forget the homing beacon also from Goldfinger: Do you have a Tile connected to your keyring yet?

When it comes to fantastic gadgets, however, no Fleming story does it better than Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. That damned car—in addition to tolerating those obnoxious children—was also a boat, a flying car that could hover, was remote controlled and self-driving, and even seemed to have its own artificial intelligence—all characteristics we see in today’s most cutting-edge cars. However, for all that foresight, Fleming never put in any drink holders.

This excerpt was adapted from The Edumacation Book: Amazing Cocktail-Party Science to Impress Your Friends by Andy McElfresh, on sale March 20, 2018.

Written By By Andy McElfresh

[krystisyaandwine]

I could not be more excited to be participating in this blog tour today. I absolutely adored The Color Project (see rave review below). This is one book that I will happily be pushing on everyone I know.

Wine Pairing

I paired The Color Project with this gorgeous Summer in a Bottle Rosé. The flowers on the label are a wonderful nod to Bee’s day job and passion. The flavor is sweet and scrumptious, just like Levi. And it’s such a vibrant and bright wine, which if very reminiscent of the tone of this wonderful, wonderful book!

 *All wine recommendations are strictly for those of legal drinking age only.*

About the Book

  Release Date: July 18th 2017

Publisher: Gatekeeper Press

Links to buy the book:

|| Amazon  || Barnes & Noble ||  Book Depository  ||

    Levi is not at all shy about attempting to guess Bee’s real name; his persistence is one of the many reasons why Bee falls for him. But while Levi is everything she never knew she needed, giving up her name would feel like a stamp on forever. And that terrifies her.

When unexpected news of an illness in the family drains Bee’s summer of everything bright, she is pushed to the breaking point. Losing herself in The Color Project—a world of weddings, funerals, cancer patients, and hopeful families that the charity funds—is no longer enough. Bee must hold up the weight of her family, but to do that, she needs Levi. She’ll have to give up her name and let him in completely or lose the best thing that’s ever happened to her.

For fans of Stephanie Perkins and Morgan Matson, THE COLOR PROJECT is a story about the three great loves of life—family, friendship, and romance—and the bonds that withstand tragedy.

My Review

The Color Project is absolutely everything that I look for in a contemporary novel. With a fantastic main character, a beautiful story, and one seriously swoony book boyfriend, this is one summer release you absolutely cannot miss.

I fully expected to enjoy this book going into it, but I absolutely fell in love with it. I can’t wait for everyone to read about “The Color Project” itself, because it is such a beautiful, philanthropic concept and something I wish there was more of in this world of ours. It also happens to be run by the sweetest book boyfriend that I have ever had the pleasure of encountering. I just dare you to try read this book and not fall in love with Levi.

Bee is such a great main character. She is navigating her way through that challenging transition between teen to adulthood and trying to make all those major, life-altering decisions we’re confronted with during that time. Watching her discover who she really is and what she really wants was so much fun. She is a very relatable character and so charming. Reading this book from her perspective was an absolute joy.

Abrams also includes such strong depictions of families in this story. From Bee’s beautiful, loving family, who must face one of the most difficult things a family can be faced with, to Levi’s mostly absent and usual abrasive dad and his fun and affectionate mom, Abrams really does a great job of exploring the idea of what it truly means to be part of a family and all the wonderful and difficult emotions that come along with it.

This book made me laugh out loud, it made me cry, it made my sigh, and it made me smile. It packs all the feels, folks. And I just have to say that I 100% support Abrams’ use of glitter in this story. Glitter certainly contributes to a happier world in my opinion.

Bee just happens to be a book pusher, and so am I! So do yourself a favor, you guys, and READ. THIS. BOOK!

About Sierra Abrams

At 7 years old, Sierra Abrams decided that one day she would publish a book. For over a decade, in between exploring other career options, she kept coming back to that very first dream. Now her life consists of writing books of all kinds… Kissing books, angsty books, killing books, whimsical books, and sometimes books that are all of the above. When she’s not writing, you can find her reading, traveling, consuming sushi, or daydreaming about Henry Cavill.

Social Media links:

|| Website|| Twitter ||Instagram ||Goodreads||

  Giveaway!

A Tote from The Life of a Booknerd Addict tours

  a Rafflecopter giveaway

Follow the Blog Tour!

Thank you so much to Helena and Becky from Book Nerd Addict for hosting this fantastic blog tour! Follow along for excerpts, interviews, reviews, and more!

Monday June 19 In The Morning at 8:00 AM EST – Interview – Brittany´sBookRambles

In The Afternoon at 1:00 PM EST – Review – ReadsandThoughts

 Tuesday June 20 In The Morning at 8:00 AM EST – Excerpt of The Color Project – TheYABookTraveler

In The Afternoon at 1:00 PM EST – Review – TheHermitLibrarian   

Wednesday June 21 In The Morning at 8:00 AM EST – Review – YAandWine

In The Afternoon at 1:00 PM EST -Guest Post – LimeLightLiterature

Thursday June 22 In The Morning at 8:00 AM EST – Review – AvdReader

In The Afternoon at 1:00 PM EST – DIY: The Color Project Bookmarks – LoisReadsBooks

Friday June 23 In The Morning at 8:00 AM EST – Excerpt of The Color Project – TheReader&The Chef

In The Afternoon at 1:00 PM EST – Mini Review & Favorite Quotes – TheLifeOfABookNerdAddict

Saturday June 24 In The Morning at 8:00 AM EST – Interview – CurlyHairBibliophile  

In The Afternoon at 1:00 PM EST – Mood Board – WonderfullyBookish

Sunday June 25 In The Morning at 8:00 AM EST – Review – MorrissaReads

In The Afternoon at 1:00 PM EST – Guest Post – AThousandWordsAMillionBooks

Monday June 26

In The Morning at 8:00 AM EST – Ways To Support Your Favorite Causes – TalesOfTheRavenousReader

In The Afternoon at 1:00 PM EST – Review – InkDin

Tuesday June 27

In The Morning at 8:00 AM EST – Review – ILoveBooksGirl

In The Afternoon at 1:00 PM EST –  Interview – Brooke-Reports

Wednesday June 28

In The Morning at 8:00 AM EST – Book Hangover  – FablesandFae

In The Afternoon at 1:00 PM EST –  Guest Post – Tiffthebooknerd

Thursday June 29

In The Morning at 8:00 AM EST – Review – BookWyrmingThoughts

In The Afternoon at 1:00 PM EST – Excerpt – SimplyNicollette

Friday June 30

In The Morning at 8:00 AM EST – Review – LittleRedsReviews

In The Afternoon at 1:00 PM EST –  Creative Post – LostInEverAfter

Saturday July 1st

In The Afternoon at 1:00 PM EST –  Interview – ANewLookOnBooks

Have you pre-ordered The Color Project yet? If you haven’t DO IT! You will not regret it! Speaking of which, wha are some of your favorite push books?

Follow us online for more YA and Wine!   

THE COLOR PROJECT Review and Blog Tour! I could not be more excited to be participating in this blog tour today. I absolutely adored 

[daleisgreat]

Last Action Hero

Today’s entry will result in one of the quickest turnaround times of an older movie in my backlog box yet. A couple weeks ago I noticed Uproxx posted an article on how 1993’s Last Action Hero (trailer) was way ahead of its time (click or press here for the Uproxx piece). Once I noticed this story I tracked down a BluRay copy of it off Amazon and promptly watched it within 24 hours of its delivery. I did not read the Uproxx entry yet, but I will after I finish proofing this entry to prevent it from altering my current thoughts I am about to deliver and will post a little addendum at the end of this look back at Last Action Hero for some extra insight on how my take compares with Uproxx’s. I cannot remember how many times I watched Last Action Hero as a kid, but my gut tells me it may be near the double digits. Our family had the HBO and Starz movie channels as part of our cable package back then, and the way those channels primarily were programmed back then was a specific amount of newer and older movies were highlighted each month, and they would play each movie once every day or two to the best of my recollection. I remember being stoked for Last Action Hero. The turnaround time on movies from the theater back then in the early 90s was it would take about five to six months after the cinema release for a film to hit Pay-Per-View and home video. Several months later, or roughly a year after release it would hit the premium cable movie channels like HBO, Starz and Cinemax in their original form. Another year or two after that it would be available for local and basic cable channels, but usually in an edited and censored/FCC friendly format. Our family could only afford trips to the theater and video rentals so many times a year, so if we missed a movie in either of those formats and it wound up on HBO/Starz it was kind of a guilty pleasure in my childhood boredom days to pick an anticipated movie like Last Action Hero and watch it as many times as possible the first month it was available.

I have not seen it since then however when I was 11 and have not thought much about it since LAH is not as highly regarded as other Arnold Schwarzenegger classics even though it hit at the tail end of Arnold’s prime (which I consider to be from 1984’s original Terminator through 1994’s True Lies). When it hit theaters in 1993 I remember a ton of hype for it getting ubiquitous advertising and the requisite hot-summer-movie-licensed videogame and pinball table. The pinball table is part of the many licensed tables included in Pinball Arcade on PS4 which I also played a few rounds of before diving into the movie. In 1993 Arnold was the big name action star fresh off his Terminator 2 success. He also dabbled in the occasional comedy like Kindergarten Cop and Jingle All the Way. LAH marked Arnold’s first action comedy however. Schwarzenegger portrays big name action movie star ‘Jack Slater.’ Danny (Austin O’Brien) is Slater’s #1 fan on top of being a middle school film guru where he routinely cuts class to catch flicks at the local cinema where he is best friends with the old-timer projectionist there, Nick (Robert Prosky). Daniel is promised by Nick an after-hours exclusive showing of the wildly anticipated Jack Slater IV. To celebrate the special showing, Nick gives Danny a special ‘magical’ movie ticket that Nick states he got from legendary magician Houdini himself as a kid, but was too afraid to use it. Through cinema magic, the ticket activates and Danny is warped into the movie world of Jack Slater IV as his new reality when he winds up magically transported into the backseat of Slater’s ride in the middle of a cliché action movie car chase.

Danny is thrilled being immersed in an action movie world filled with the clichés and tropes of the genre that he gleefully points out and references past film lore to help Jack track down his latest bad guy. Slater has none of it and takes in Danny in for questioning. Slater’s over-the-top-gruffy captain, Dekker (Frank McRae) is impressed with Danny’s knowledge and makes him Slater’s new partner. Slater begrudgingly works together with Danny to track down Slater’s current most wanted baddie, Benedict (Charles Dance). The film unravels from there in a world jam-packed with the aforementioned clichés that Danny constantly breaks the fourth wall by showing off his action movie fandom by pointing out how all the women in this universe are hyper-sexualized, indulging Slater’s gratuitous one-liners, how Slater instantly pops up from battles unscathed and how the bad guy stereotypically monologues too long to give Slater a chance to make the heroic comeback. 11 year-old-Dale was the perfect target age for LAH when I first saw it in 1994. I experienced the filmed vicariously through Danny and I was right there with Danny for how wicked it would be to magically transport alongside your movie hero in his latest summer blockbuster and helping him bust bad guys and be in the middle of an extravagant chase scenes overstuffed with special effects. I think a big part of me held off forever re-watching this again because I dismissed LAH as a satire film over the years that I loved as a kid, but thought I thought I would outgrow over the years. After my recent re-watch however, I emerged surprised how wrong I was. Seeing it with a grown-up’s set of eyes significantly helped with a new understanding of filmmaking references and other off-color jokes that went right over my childhood head. I also got a whole new appreciation of the scene where Danny takes Slater to a video store in his universe to show him how awesome he is in Terminator 2 only to instead see in that world Sylvester Stallone landed the role.

Speaking of guest stars, the cameos are through the roof in LAH. There are some blink and you miss it surprise cameos, and then there are exponentially more in the final act where Danny takes Slater back into the ‘real’ world in time for the red carpet movie premiere of Jack Slater IV. The premiere sees the likes of Little Richard, MC Hammer, Jean Claude Van Damme and a few other recognizable celebrities of that era. Back in 1994 I was probably only lucky enough to recognize Van Damme from his role as Guile in the underappreciated Street Fighter, but reliving it again with a new set of eyes made that scene pop in a whole new way. Needless to say, Last Action Hero was a surprise delight to experience in 2020. If I had any nitpicks it is that it was not as brisk a watch as I recalled as it clocks in a little over two hours and I came out of it feeling they could have trimmed at least a good 10 minutes or so off. For as big a deal LAH was when it hit in 1993 it was a bit of a buzzkill to see the no-frills BluRay have a complete lack of extras. I would have loved all-star action movie director John McTiernan (Predator, the good Die Hard films) do a commentary track with Arnold and a few other bonus extras, but it regrettably was not meant to be. At least I have this Uproxx take I can now peruse that will have to suffice for a bonus of some degree…..

Alrighty, I just finished the Uproxx 27 years later take on LAH and we share a lot of similarities. Uproxx’s Mike Ryan thesis is that LAH was too meta and ahead of its time in 1993, but perfect for a 2020 viewing experience. I could not agree with him more, and he grinds out the little references and meta-details more eloquently than I can here, so I highly urge you all to give his editorial a perusal. One key takeaway from Ryan’s article on why Last Action Hero came and went back then was because it made the big time mistake of releasing one week after Jurassic Park. No wonder it is not brought up with other classic Arnold films over the years. I am right there with Ryan on how LAH is an absolute marvel of a film, and if it has slipped by you all these years later then now is the perfect time to watch it in these pandemic times with zero movies hitting theaters nowadays. 1993’s Last Action Hero is the ideal 2020 summer blockbuster! BONUS EXTRAS TO COMPENSATE FOR BLURAY’S ABSENCE OF ANY Click or press here to check out this awesomely through ‘Did You Know’ style breakdown of facts and backstage filming secrects from Mental Floss Here is an incredibly thorough two part oral history of LAH complete with interview excerpts from the cast and crew And I will leave you with Cinemassacre’s ‘Rental Review’ roundtable of Last Action Hero….

Other Random Backlog Movie Blogs 3 12 Angry Men (1957) 12 Rounds 3: Lockdown 21 Jump Street The Accountant Angry Video Game Nerd: The Movie Atari: Game Over The Avengers: Age of Ultron The Avengers: Infinity War Batman: The Dark Knight Rises Batman: The Killing Joke Batman: Mask of the Phantasm Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice Bounty Hunters Cabin in the Woods Captain America: Civil War Captain America: The First Avenger Captain America: The Winter Soldier Christmas Eve Clash of the Titans (1981) Clint Eastwood 11-pack Special The Condemned 2 Countdown Creed I & II Deck the Halls Detroit Rock City Die Hard Dredd The Eliminators The Equalizer Dirty Work Faster Fast and Furious I-VIII Field of Dreams Fight Club The Fighter For Love of the Game Good Will Hunting Gravity Grunt: The Wrestling Movie Guardians of the Galaxy Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 2 Hell Comes to Frogtown Hercules: Reborn Hitman I Like to Hurt People Indiana Jones 1-4 Ink The Interrogation Interstellar Jay and Silent Bob Reboot Jobs Joy Ride 1-3 Major League Man of Steel Man on the Moon Man vs Snake Marine 3-6 Merry Friggin Christmas Metallica: Some Kind of Monster Mortal Kombat Mortal Kombat Legends: Scorpions Revenge National Treasure National Treasure: Book of Secrets Not for Resale Pulp Fiction The Replacements Reservoir Dogs Rocky I-VIII Running Films Part 1 Running Films Part 2 San Andreas ScoobyDoo Wrestlemania Mystery The Secret Life of Walter Mitty Shoot em Up Slacker Skyscraper Small Town Santa Steve Jobs Source Code Star Trek I-XIII Sully Take Me Home Tonight TMNT The Tooth Fairy 1 & 2 UHF Veronica Mars Vision Quest The War Wild Wonder Woman The Wrestler (2008) X-Men: Apocalypse X-Men: Days of Future Past