I got in touch with Ethiopia Reads about my plan to give them 10% of my book sales, and was met with kindly approval.
I’d quote directly from the email they sent me, but that’s generally considered a little uncouth. Suffice to say, they’ve worked with other folks who’ve done similar things. I’m pretty stoked to know that they’re stoked.
As for the okay news, I got another review of “Mercy:”
For the majority of this book I had no idea how Georgina’s daughter Mercy plays into the all of this except for Georgina writing about her adopted daughter and giving examples of what she had to do to integrate her daughter into society and how one of the survivors, Tracy, reminds her of Mercy. In the end it does make sense and shows a mother’s undying love for her child who she doesn't know is dead or alive. That love is what keeps Georgina going.
Three stars. You know, you can’t win ‘em all, and I’m deeply grateful for every review I get. So, you know… still a win!
Finally, a long-awaited review finally goes live – this time for “Baby Teeth: A Blood Calling Novelette:”
This is the third work of his that I’ve read, and I’m absolutely in love with his writing style and imaginative storylines.
And speaking of “Blood Calling,” the book that shares a character with “Baby Teeth,” the book is written. It needs editing, and some copyediting, but the book is now 90-95% of what it’s going to be. And it really will be coming out in August.
Also, after talking to friends and a couple fans, I’ve decided to release my very first novella, “Pedestrian Wolves” (which may or may not have a new title when I’m done editing it).
So, yeah. Things are good.
Monday, July 11, 2011
Friday, July 1, 2011
Why I’m Giving 10% of My Book Sales to Ethiopia Reads
Like many people, I grew up as a reader in a house with limited funds. Luckily for me, I lived in Oshkosh, WI – a city that had (and still has) a great library. I could go there at any time, and walk out with a stack of books I wanted to read, at no cost to me.
On July 28th, 2007, my wife and I arrived in Ethiopia and met our little girl. She was six months old, 12 pounds, and the most beautiful baby we had ever seen. I wept the moment I met her. (There’s video.)
Through our adoption journey, I learned about both the good and the bad of Ethiopia. The amazing food, the incredible culture, how the very history of mankind is tied to the country where my child was born.
And I learned about the abject poverty: The average person in Ethiopia lives on 125 dollars a year.
Then I became aware of a man named Yohannes Gebregeorgis.
You can look him up if you want to know more, but the thumbnail sketch of Gebregeorgis is that he was born in Ethiopia, and then immigrated to the United States in 1982. He got his masters degree in library science, and took a job at the San Francisco public library as the children’s librarian.
When he was unable to locate any children’s books that had been published in Amharic, the primary language of Ethiopia, he took it upon himself to write and publish one.
In 1998, he founded Ethiopia Reads. Its mission? “To create a reading culture in Ethiopia by connecting children with books.” In 2002, he moved back to Ethiopia, and has since established 10 libraries, including mobile library carts that are hauled to rural areas by a donkey.
In an ideal world, an organization like Ethiopia Reads would never want for donations, and would spend week after week opening new libraries and sending out new donkey carts stuffed with books for children.
In an ideal world, I’d have so much money to spend that I could fund this kind of important work myself.
But that’s not how things are.
I can’t do it alone. I need help. Your help.
Why? Because starting July 1st, 2011, 10% of profits from my book sales will go to Ethiopia Reads.
What does that mean?
It means if I make $20 that month selling my books, Ethiopia Reads will get two dollars from me. According to the program’s site, that’s enough to buy a book for one child. (The program also gives books to children to keep. For some it may be their first and only book.)
If I make 1,000,000 dollars, I’ll send Ethiopia Reads 100,000 dollars – enough to create ten donkey carts.
But as the saying goes: Wait! There’s more!
If any one of my books (I have three as I type this, with more to come) makes it into the top 100 of the Kindle sales listing, I’ll give 20% of my profits for that month to Ethiopia Reads.
The only way I can make this happen is with your help. Here’s how:
Put a link to this post on Facebook, Twitter, or your blog. The more people know what I’m doing, the more money I’ll (hopefully) raise for Ethiopia Reads.
Buy one of my books on the Kindle or nook.
Or, if you’re not interested in the genre of stories I write (supernatural/urban fantasy tales, some funny, some scary, all of them heartfelt), consider donating to Ethiopia Reads directly.
And that’s it.
Thanks for reading, and thanks for getting the word out!
On July 28th, 2007, my wife and I arrived in Ethiopia and met our little girl. She was six months old, 12 pounds, and the most beautiful baby we had ever seen. I wept the moment I met her. (There’s video.)
Through our adoption journey, I learned about both the good and the bad of Ethiopia. The amazing food, the incredible culture, how the very history of mankind is tied to the country where my child was born.
And I learned about the abject poverty: The average person in Ethiopia lives on 125 dollars a year.
Then I became aware of a man named Yohannes Gebregeorgis.
You can look him up if you want to know more, but the thumbnail sketch of Gebregeorgis is that he was born in Ethiopia, and then immigrated to the United States in 1982. He got his masters degree in library science, and took a job at the San Francisco public library as the children’s librarian.
When he was unable to locate any children’s books that had been published in Amharic, the primary language of Ethiopia, he took it upon himself to write and publish one.
In 1998, he founded Ethiopia Reads. Its mission? “To create a reading culture in Ethiopia by connecting children with books.” In 2002, he moved back to Ethiopia, and has since established 10 libraries, including mobile library carts that are hauled to rural areas by a donkey.
In an ideal world, an organization like Ethiopia Reads would never want for donations, and would spend week after week opening new libraries and sending out new donkey carts stuffed with books for children.
In an ideal world, I’d have so much money to spend that I could fund this kind of important work myself.
But that’s not how things are.
I can’t do it alone. I need help. Your help.
Why? Because starting July 1st, 2011, 10% of profits from my book sales will go to Ethiopia Reads.
What does that mean?
It means if I make $20 that month selling my books, Ethiopia Reads will get two dollars from me. According to the program’s site, that’s enough to buy a book for one child. (The program also gives books to children to keep. For some it may be their first and only book.)
If I make 1,000,000 dollars, I’ll send Ethiopia Reads 100,000 dollars – enough to create ten donkey carts.
But as the saying goes: Wait! There’s more!
If any one of my books (I have three as I type this, with more to come) makes it into the top 100 of the Kindle sales listing, I’ll give 20% of my profits for that month to Ethiopia Reads.
The only way I can make this happen is with your help. Here’s how:
Put a link to this post on Facebook, Twitter, or your blog. The more people know what I’m doing, the more money I’ll (hopefully) raise for Ethiopia Reads.
Buy one of my books on the Kindle or nook.
Or, if you’re not interested in the genre of stories I write (supernatural/urban fantasy tales, some funny, some scary, all of them heartfelt), consider donating to Ethiopia Reads directly.
And that’s it.
Thanks for reading, and thanks for getting the word out!
Thursday, June 30, 2011
In Which Mercy Gets Two VERY Different Reviews
First, a VERY kindly write-up that talks about what I’m doing with Ethiopia Reads:
Now, here's the interesting thing about MERCY - it's really a story about a mother (named Georgina Fulci - this book is fun) who will do anything to be reunited with her young adopted daughter (Mercy) and husband (Rob). The plane crash and zombies are the obstacles. So it's a story with lots of heart.
Second, my very first two-start review:
The main reason I struggled with this book was the timeline. The first fifty pages especially needed a more linear layout. (…) I get that at the beginning of most chapters she’s flashing back, but then the tense would switch and leave me confused. I honestly read the first fifty pages multiple times due to timeline confusion, and I never recovered from it to enjoy the rest of the novel.
Why link to a bad review? Well, because I don’t think it’s a bad review. The reader got confused. So far, this is the only review I’ve gotten that says as much. I find it interesting. And hey! They still reviewed it…
Now, here's the interesting thing about MERCY - it's really a story about a mother (named Georgina Fulci - this book is fun) who will do anything to be reunited with her young adopted daughter (Mercy) and husband (Rob). The plane crash and zombies are the obstacles. So it's a story with lots of heart.
Second, my very first two-start review:
The main reason I struggled with this book was the timeline. The first fifty pages especially needed a more linear layout. (…) I get that at the beginning of most chapters she’s flashing back, but then the tense would switch and leave me confused. I honestly read the first fifty pages multiple times due to timeline confusion, and I never recovered from it to enjoy the rest of the novel.
Why link to a bad review? Well, because I don’t think it’s a bad review. The reader got confused. So far, this is the only review I’ve gotten that says as much. I find it interesting. And hey! They still reviewed it…
My Favorite Movies: 1 – Edward Scissorhands
There are certain things in life that just hit you at the perfect time, in the perfect place.
That was Edward Scissorhands.
It’s an old story. Awkward kid, dealing with all the emotions and new and exciting pressures and experiences that come with puberty and high school.
Honestly, most people go through an awkward phase. It’s part of life. As a teen, it’s hard to see, but as an adult you find yourself looking at the kids in your life, and you want to tell them, “You are loved, and handsome/pretty, and you’ve got a brain in your head, and this will all suck and then it will be okay.”
But that’s a hard thing to say to a kid, and most of the time, you suspect that they won’t really hear you.
Sometimes, though? They can hear it in other places.
I heard that, to some extent, in Edward.
Here’s a guy with no parents. No understanding of the social structure of the world. He ends up living in a house with a beautiful girl, but lacks the words to tell her how he feels about her.
He just wants to make people happy, but doesn’t really understand how.
Things go well for him, and he smiles.
Things go poorly, and he lashes out.
If you’re a human, you probably went through this.
From all this, I learned:
FIND NEW WAYS TO TALK ABOUT UNIVERSAL HUMAN EXPERIENCES
There’s another lesson in Edward Scissorhands, though I think most people forget about it today.
It’s this: Tim Burton, before making Edward, made a movie called Batman. It made lots, and lots and lots of money.
And that’s why Tim got to go on and make Edward.
(Christopher Nolan did the same thing, years later, with Batman, and Inception.)
Lesson?
MAKE A BATMAN MOVIE
No, wait. Sorry.
BE WILLING TO DO THE BIG COMMERCIAL MOVIE, AND THEY’LL LET YOU MAKE YOUR ORIGINAL IDEA
Which is to say, there’s nothing wrong with what so many people call “Selling out.” Take the gig. Get the clout. Then come back and create something small and personal, if that’s what you “really” want to do.
There are probably other ideas I’ve taken away from Edward over the years. It makes sense, since I’ve seen it 19 times.
(Yes, I really did start counting. It’s also one of three movies I saw in theaters twice.)
As I finish writing up why I love my five (well, six) favorite movies, I’ve noticed a bit of a theme.
Most of the movies don’t have happy endings.
Evil Dead? Sad (well, unhappy, anyway) ending.
Dawn of the Dead? Ambiguous, trending towards bad.
When Harry Met Sally? Happy! The only one, though. And the flick is shot through with misery.
Trust? Ambiguous, trending towards sad.
Student Bodies? Unhappy ending.
And Edward Scissorhands?
The movie that kind of taught me that everything was going to be okay? That really, I would come out of things okay?
Sad ending. An ending that says we’ll walk out of terrifying situations remembering the good, and that might be the only happiness we ever get.
In the end (and skip this, if you’ve never seen the movie) Edward doesn’t learn to get along with the world, and he doesn’t get the girl.
Instead, he spends the rest of his life, locked away in a remote tower, remembering the girl he loves as she once was.
That’s a pretty solid summation of life, right there. Sometimes, all you’ve got are the memories.
And yeah, life can be sad, and ambiguous. And sometimes you do get lucky and meet the girl of your dreams.
So maybe there’s a final idea in there:
TELL THE TRUTH
Good luck.
That was Edward Scissorhands.
It’s an old story. Awkward kid, dealing with all the emotions and new and exciting pressures and experiences that come with puberty and high school.
Honestly, most people go through an awkward phase. It’s part of life. As a teen, it’s hard to see, but as an adult you find yourself looking at the kids in your life, and you want to tell them, “You are loved, and handsome/pretty, and you’ve got a brain in your head, and this will all suck and then it will be okay.”
But that’s a hard thing to say to a kid, and most of the time, you suspect that they won’t really hear you.
Sometimes, though? They can hear it in other places.
I heard that, to some extent, in Edward.
Here’s a guy with no parents. No understanding of the social structure of the world. He ends up living in a house with a beautiful girl, but lacks the words to tell her how he feels about her.
He just wants to make people happy, but doesn’t really understand how.
Things go well for him, and he smiles.
Things go poorly, and he lashes out.
If you’re a human, you probably went through this.
From all this, I learned:
FIND NEW WAYS TO TALK ABOUT UNIVERSAL HUMAN EXPERIENCES
There’s another lesson in Edward Scissorhands, though I think most people forget about it today.
It’s this: Tim Burton, before making Edward, made a movie called Batman. It made lots, and lots and lots of money.
And that’s why Tim got to go on and make Edward.
(Christopher Nolan did the same thing, years later, with Batman, and Inception.)
Lesson?
MAKE A BATMAN MOVIE
No, wait. Sorry.
BE WILLING TO DO THE BIG COMMERCIAL MOVIE, AND THEY’LL LET YOU MAKE YOUR ORIGINAL IDEA
Which is to say, there’s nothing wrong with what so many people call “Selling out.” Take the gig. Get the clout. Then come back and create something small and personal, if that’s what you “really” want to do.
There are probably other ideas I’ve taken away from Edward over the years. It makes sense, since I’ve seen it 19 times.
(Yes, I really did start counting. It’s also one of three movies I saw in theaters twice.)
As I finish writing up why I love my five (well, six) favorite movies, I’ve noticed a bit of a theme.
Most of the movies don’t have happy endings.
Evil Dead? Sad (well, unhappy, anyway) ending.
Dawn of the Dead? Ambiguous, trending towards bad.
When Harry Met Sally? Happy! The only one, though. And the flick is shot through with misery.
Trust? Ambiguous, trending towards sad.
Student Bodies? Unhappy ending.
And Edward Scissorhands?
The movie that kind of taught me that everything was going to be okay? That really, I would come out of things okay?
Sad ending. An ending that says we’ll walk out of terrifying situations remembering the good, and that might be the only happiness we ever get.
In the end (and skip this, if you’ve never seen the movie) Edward doesn’t learn to get along with the world, and he doesn’t get the girl.
Instead, he spends the rest of his life, locked away in a remote tower, remembering the girl he loves as she once was.
That’s a pretty solid summation of life, right there. Sometimes, all you’ve got are the memories.
And yeah, life can be sad, and ambiguous. And sometimes you do get lucky and meet the girl of your dreams.
So maybe there’s a final idea in there:
TELL THE TRUTH
Good luck.
Wednesday, June 29, 2011
My Favorite Movies: BONUS – Student Bodies
I’ve spent years trying to explain Student Bodies to people.
For a long time, it was pretty tough. I’d bring up the name, and people would go, “Is that a…” and they’d look around, trying not to talk too loudly.
And I’d go, “No, it’s a kind of spoof comedy. Of horror movies.”
Then came Scary Movie, and people would say, “Like Scary Movie?”
And I’d go, “No, because Student Bodies is actually funny, stars no one famous, and is mostly forgotten.”
To my surprise, the last few years have been kind to Student Bodies. At one point, it was pretty much impossible to find. Barely released in 1981 in theaters, one of the producers took an alias as their credit rather than own up to producing it, last released on video in 1987.
Impossible to find to rent. Most of the time.
But here, again, was a flick that was sort of a USA Up All Night staple. It wasn’t the 10 PM movie, though. Or the midnight movie. It was the 2 AM movie, just like The Evil Dead.
When EBay became a thing and I wasn’t living a totally broke life, I actually bought an unused copy of Student Bodies for 15 bucks. This was after DVD had arrived, but before everyone started tossing their videotapes into the trash and re-buying their favorite movie on shiny discs.
I sort of figured I was would never own a copy of Student Bodies on DVD.
Then it came out. In 2008. Crazy.
I bought it for my birthday, and sat down to see it in widescreen with actual audio mastering. I could hear the words! Words I never knew before!
I quite literally planned to watch 5 minutes. Then 10. Then the credits were running, and I went upstairs and went to bed.
It was a beautiful thing.
So what’s it about?
Tricky to say. It’s about a girl named Toby who plans on keeping her (ahem) innocence, and encourages her friends to do the same.
They don’t, and because this is a horror movie, they end up dead.
And that’s it.
There are no direct spoofs of scenes from other movies. There are no stars, though I just learned that the old woman in the movie apparently had along career on stage and screen. Which is strange, because she looked REAL old in 1981, and kept working until 2005. There’s even a documentary about her.
So what makes the movie great?
Probably just one thing:
IT’S QUOTABLE
Seriously. That’s it. The movie looks terrible, even after re-mastering. The sound is sketchy in spots.
The acting… well, there’s a reason most of these people never worked again.
Most of the cast isn’t even terribly attractive, which was usually how you sold el-cheapo movies like this to cable.
The movie kind of makes fun of this – there is no graphic person-on-person action. Most of the violence is implied. No one removes all their clothing.
To get an R rating, they literally have to pause the whole movie and let a guy drop an F-bomb.
And much of the slapstick is… a little too slappy. Too obvious, and often too overdone.
But the dialogue!
Where did you learn to speak English? A zoo?
Ms. Van Dyke: What makes your voice sound so funny?
The Breather: I'm disguising it.
Ms. Van Dyke: How?
The Breather: By talking through a rubber chicken.
Ms. Van Dyke: I thought it sounded like you were speaking through a rubber chicken.
Toby: Who could have done these murders?
Hardy: I don't know. It could have been anybody.
Toby: Well, it can't be ANYbody. It's gotta be somebody.
Hardy: Of course it's somebody, but that somebody could be anybody.
Toby: Well, look, we didn't do it, right?
Hardy: Right.
Toby: So you can't say it could be anybody. WE'RE anybody.
Hardy: True, but we're also somebody.
The Breather: [on the phone] I'm gonna kill next at the football game. Click.
Ms. Van Dyke: Did you hang up?
The Breather: No, I just said "click".
(Confession: I use the zoo line on people ALL THE TIME.)
If there’s another lesson to take away from this movie, I don’t know what it is. This flick was long-lost and forgotten, except by a chosen few, which was enough to get it released on DVD.
And then, so help me, on Blu-Ray.
The movie? On Blu? Looks awful. If they spent any time re-mastering it, it doesn’t show.
But the flick is so much fun, and even history couldn’t kill it.
So maybe that’s the lesson, here:
EVEN IF YOUR MOVIE DOESN’T FIND LOVE RIGHT AWAY – IT STILL CAN, EVEN IF IT TAKES THREE DECADES
So write a movie worth discovering three decades later.
For a long time, it was pretty tough. I’d bring up the name, and people would go, “Is that a…” and they’d look around, trying not to talk too loudly.
And I’d go, “No, it’s a kind of spoof comedy. Of horror movies.”
Then came Scary Movie, and people would say, “Like Scary Movie?”
And I’d go, “No, because Student Bodies is actually funny, stars no one famous, and is mostly forgotten.”
To my surprise, the last few years have been kind to Student Bodies. At one point, it was pretty much impossible to find. Barely released in 1981 in theaters, one of the producers took an alias as their credit rather than own up to producing it, last released on video in 1987.
Impossible to find to rent. Most of the time.
But here, again, was a flick that was sort of a USA Up All Night staple. It wasn’t the 10 PM movie, though. Or the midnight movie. It was the 2 AM movie, just like The Evil Dead.
When EBay became a thing and I wasn’t living a totally broke life, I actually bought an unused copy of Student Bodies for 15 bucks. This was after DVD had arrived, but before everyone started tossing their videotapes into the trash and re-buying their favorite movie on shiny discs.
I sort of figured I was would never own a copy of Student Bodies on DVD.
Then it came out. In 2008. Crazy.
I bought it for my birthday, and sat down to see it in widescreen with actual audio mastering. I could hear the words! Words I never knew before!
I quite literally planned to watch 5 minutes. Then 10. Then the credits were running, and I went upstairs and went to bed.
It was a beautiful thing.
So what’s it about?
Tricky to say. It’s about a girl named Toby who plans on keeping her (ahem) innocence, and encourages her friends to do the same.
They don’t, and because this is a horror movie, they end up dead.
And that’s it.
There are no direct spoofs of scenes from other movies. There are no stars, though I just learned that the old woman in the movie apparently had along career on stage and screen. Which is strange, because she looked REAL old in 1981, and kept working until 2005. There’s even a documentary about her.
So what makes the movie great?
Probably just one thing:
IT’S QUOTABLE
Seriously. That’s it. The movie looks terrible, even after re-mastering. The sound is sketchy in spots.
The acting… well, there’s a reason most of these people never worked again.
Most of the cast isn’t even terribly attractive, which was usually how you sold el-cheapo movies like this to cable.
The movie kind of makes fun of this – there is no graphic person-on-person action. Most of the violence is implied. No one removes all their clothing.
To get an R rating, they literally have to pause the whole movie and let a guy drop an F-bomb.
And much of the slapstick is… a little too slappy. Too obvious, and often too overdone.
But the dialogue!
Where did you learn to speak English? A zoo?
Ms. Van Dyke: What makes your voice sound so funny?
The Breather: I'm disguising it.
Ms. Van Dyke: How?
The Breather: By talking through a rubber chicken.
Ms. Van Dyke: I thought it sounded like you were speaking through a rubber chicken.
Toby: Who could have done these murders?
Hardy: I don't know. It could have been anybody.
Toby: Well, it can't be ANYbody. It's gotta be somebody.
Hardy: Of course it's somebody, but that somebody could be anybody.
Toby: Well, look, we didn't do it, right?
Hardy: Right.
Toby: So you can't say it could be anybody. WE'RE anybody.
Hardy: True, but we're also somebody.
The Breather: [on the phone] I'm gonna kill next at the football game. Click.
Ms. Van Dyke: Did you hang up?
The Breather: No, I just said "click".
(Confession: I use the zoo line on people ALL THE TIME.)
If there’s another lesson to take away from this movie, I don’t know what it is. This flick was long-lost and forgotten, except by a chosen few, which was enough to get it released on DVD.
And then, so help me, on Blu-Ray.
The movie? On Blu? Looks awful. If they spent any time re-mastering it, it doesn’t show.
But the flick is so much fun, and even history couldn’t kill it.
So maybe that’s the lesson, here:
EVEN IF YOUR MOVIE DOESN’T FIND LOVE RIGHT AWAY – IT STILL CAN, EVEN IF IT TAKES THREE DECADES
So write a movie worth discovering three decades later.
My Favorite Movies: 2 - Trust
I once knew a guy who told me that two of his favorite movie-watching experiences were achieved by going into the video store, renting something with an interesting box, and walking back out.
I forget what the two movies were – or rather, I can’t recall one of them. The one I remember was The Boondock Saints, a movie with a cult so big it’s resulted in a documentary about the director, and a direct-to-video sequel, even thought the flick was a flop at first.
It was also hard to find. When it was first released, it was a Blockbuster exclusive. That was the only place you could rent it.
There’s something a little magical about the movie that’s hard to lay your hands on, but it’s a sword that cuts both ways. If the movie is so-so, your desperate search to find it can turn you against it.
But if the flick is good, you will pretty much oversell it to everyone.
Such is, I fear, the case with Trust, a movie I rank as my number-two favorite.
At this point in my life, I think it’s been more than a decade since I’ve seen it. And my last viewing of the film was so poorly reviewed by the person I shared it with, that to this day I’m a little afraid to go back and watch it again.
The thing of it is, the movie isn’t available in the United States any more. It was released on video, but the music wasn’t cleared for DVD (because, hey, who knew?) and so it hasn’t been released, and probably won’t be.
I only saw it because my local college had a movie channel, which was run by… I dunno. Someone who had a thing for teeny-tiny movies few people had heard of.
I bumped into Trust in the listings on my TV set one night, and I sat around for a few minutes just to see what it was. Action? Drama?
It came on, and I sat there, captivated. I found out when it was playing, and I taped it the next time it showed.
Then I kept on showing it to friends. And they all liked it. Except for that last friend…
What’s the movie about?
Well... A cheerleader gets pregnant, and her boyfriend wants nothing to do with the baby. At the start of the movie, she tells her parents she’s pregnant, her father says some very unkind word, and she slaps him and walks out.
Then he dies of a heart attack.
Then we meet our other protagonist, a slightly older guy, living with his dad. Only his dad is just a mean, mean, mean dude. Which rolls down to the son, who starts the movie by quitting his job and putting his boss’s head in a vice.
Both of them attempt to get away from their situations, and then they run into each other.
What happens next? They kind of, sort of, fall into a relationship. Only he has anger issues and she’s not out of high school, and neither of them even know how to be in a relationship. Or how to hold a job. Or are ready to be responsible adults.
I won’t tell you how it ends, but there’s a grenade involved.
Trying to describe why I love this movie leaves me a little stuck, frankly. Brilliant acting?
Eh.
The writing?
Eh.
The directing?
Eh.
Here’s the issue: The movie looks, and looks often, like a stage play. The directing is rarely dynamic. The actors frequently seem to get only one or two takes, and they work so hard to get the words out just right that it feels like ACTING, instead of acting.
And then there are those words. Lovely, some of them, but they feel WRITTEN.
These are not real people talking to real people, which is what you hope for. These are ACTORS on a STAGE delivering LINES.
But some of those lines:
Maria: Can you stop watching TV for a minute?
Matthew: No.
Maria: Why?
Matthew: Because. I had a bad day at work. I had to subvert my principles and kow-tow to an idiot. Television makes these daily sacrifices possible. Deadens the inner core of my being.
And from the same scene:
Maria: Your job is making you boring and mean.
Matthew: My job is making me a respectable member of society.
Now, removed from context, I don’t know if those lines feel as beautiful as they are when spoken aloud. At that point, the boy has tried to subvert everything he is to become a husband and father.
You can feel that he just wants a family. A real family, with someone to look after. (Though he doesn’t yet realize he needs someone to watch over him, as well…)
But he can’t do it, and it’s breaking him.
This is our hero.
In the end, I think I took away these lessons from this movie:
YOUR HERO DOESN’T HAVE TO BE A HERO
When most people talk about telling a story, they claim that the “good guy” needs to be just that – a good guy.
But the boy in this story isn’t a good guy. He wants to be, but he puts people’s heads in vices, and carries a grenade around.
And you root for him.
A character doesn’t have to be a good guy for you to want to follow him. He’s just got to be interesting.
YOUR MOVIE DOESN’T NEED EXPLOSIONS TO BE EXPLOSIVE
Again, the main guy? Scary dude. You can’t really be sure what he’s going to do next, and sometimes, that’s pretty worrisome.
I keep talking about the grenade. He carries it around. It’s always in his pocket. And that’s kind of terrifying to think about.
So, only one explosion in the whole movie, but just about every minute has the potential to become an explosion.
YOU DON’T NEED THE BEST WRITING, DIRECTING, OR ACTING – YOU JUST NEED TO CONVEY YOUR STORY
In the end, Trust works, even with all its flaws, because it’s sure, and steady, and fascinating from the first slap to the final ride in the police car.
Which also leads me to this:
A STORY CAN END IN A HAPPY AND SAD WAY AT THE SAME TIME
Trust ends in a Lady or the Tiger-type way. Two people who seem to love each other are being pulled apart, and that might be for the best.
It might not.
As the credits roll, you get to decide. And that’s something more movies should try.
I forget what the two movies were – or rather, I can’t recall one of them. The one I remember was The Boondock Saints, a movie with a cult so big it’s resulted in a documentary about the director, and a direct-to-video sequel, even thought the flick was a flop at first.
It was also hard to find. When it was first released, it was a Blockbuster exclusive. That was the only place you could rent it.
There’s something a little magical about the movie that’s hard to lay your hands on, but it’s a sword that cuts both ways. If the movie is so-so, your desperate search to find it can turn you against it.
But if the flick is good, you will pretty much oversell it to everyone.
Such is, I fear, the case with Trust, a movie I rank as my number-two favorite.
At this point in my life, I think it’s been more than a decade since I’ve seen it. And my last viewing of the film was so poorly reviewed by the person I shared it with, that to this day I’m a little afraid to go back and watch it again.
The thing of it is, the movie isn’t available in the United States any more. It was released on video, but the music wasn’t cleared for DVD (because, hey, who knew?) and so it hasn’t been released, and probably won’t be.
I only saw it because my local college had a movie channel, which was run by… I dunno. Someone who had a thing for teeny-tiny movies few people had heard of.
I bumped into Trust in the listings on my TV set one night, and I sat around for a few minutes just to see what it was. Action? Drama?
It came on, and I sat there, captivated. I found out when it was playing, and I taped it the next time it showed.
Then I kept on showing it to friends. And they all liked it. Except for that last friend…
What’s the movie about?
Well... A cheerleader gets pregnant, and her boyfriend wants nothing to do with the baby. At the start of the movie, she tells her parents she’s pregnant, her father says some very unkind word, and she slaps him and walks out.
Then he dies of a heart attack.
Then we meet our other protagonist, a slightly older guy, living with his dad. Only his dad is just a mean, mean, mean dude. Which rolls down to the son, who starts the movie by quitting his job and putting his boss’s head in a vice.
Both of them attempt to get away from their situations, and then they run into each other.
What happens next? They kind of, sort of, fall into a relationship. Only he has anger issues and she’s not out of high school, and neither of them even know how to be in a relationship. Or how to hold a job. Or are ready to be responsible adults.
I won’t tell you how it ends, but there’s a grenade involved.
Trying to describe why I love this movie leaves me a little stuck, frankly. Brilliant acting?
Eh.
The writing?
Eh.
The directing?
Eh.
Here’s the issue: The movie looks, and looks often, like a stage play. The directing is rarely dynamic. The actors frequently seem to get only one or two takes, and they work so hard to get the words out just right that it feels like ACTING, instead of acting.
And then there are those words. Lovely, some of them, but they feel WRITTEN.
These are not real people talking to real people, which is what you hope for. These are ACTORS on a STAGE delivering LINES.
But some of those lines:
Maria: Can you stop watching TV for a minute?
Matthew: No.
Maria: Why?
Matthew: Because. I had a bad day at work. I had to subvert my principles and kow-tow to an idiot. Television makes these daily sacrifices possible. Deadens the inner core of my being.
And from the same scene:
Maria: Your job is making you boring and mean.
Matthew: My job is making me a respectable member of society.
Now, removed from context, I don’t know if those lines feel as beautiful as they are when spoken aloud. At that point, the boy has tried to subvert everything he is to become a husband and father.
You can feel that he just wants a family. A real family, with someone to look after. (Though he doesn’t yet realize he needs someone to watch over him, as well…)
But he can’t do it, and it’s breaking him.
This is our hero.
In the end, I think I took away these lessons from this movie:
YOUR HERO DOESN’T HAVE TO BE A HERO
When most people talk about telling a story, they claim that the “good guy” needs to be just that – a good guy.
But the boy in this story isn’t a good guy. He wants to be, but he puts people’s heads in vices, and carries a grenade around.
And you root for him.
A character doesn’t have to be a good guy for you to want to follow him. He’s just got to be interesting.
YOUR MOVIE DOESN’T NEED EXPLOSIONS TO BE EXPLOSIVE
Again, the main guy? Scary dude. You can’t really be sure what he’s going to do next, and sometimes, that’s pretty worrisome.
I keep talking about the grenade. He carries it around. It’s always in his pocket. And that’s kind of terrifying to think about.
So, only one explosion in the whole movie, but just about every minute has the potential to become an explosion.
YOU DON’T NEED THE BEST WRITING, DIRECTING, OR ACTING – YOU JUST NEED TO CONVEY YOUR STORY
In the end, Trust works, even with all its flaws, because it’s sure, and steady, and fascinating from the first slap to the final ride in the police car.
Which also leads me to this:
A STORY CAN END IN A HAPPY AND SAD WAY AT THE SAME TIME
Trust ends in a Lady or the Tiger-type way. Two people who seem to love each other are being pulled apart, and that might be for the best.
It might not.
As the credits roll, you get to decide. And that’s something more movies should try.
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