Honey, I Blew Up the Box Office & update

2 billion dollars in box office and counting…

But is Avatar any good?

Take the technology of, say, Epcot's Honey, I Shrunk the Audience and bring it into the 21st century. Borrow liberally from other movies, including your own, and tick every box in the Hollywood Blockbuster Checklist and you have James Cameron's latest masterpiece. It’s a movie that will literally take your breath away with its visuals (believe me, it will), but it's the filmic equivalent of Frankenstein's Monster – aesthetic impact with no real soul. Therein lies the problem: almost everything about Avatar feels like a simulation, a copy, albeit an improved copy of something else you've seen. There are elements of Ferngully, A Man Called Horse, Return of the King, The Abyss, Aliens, and so on. What this creates is a movie in which every single plot movement (the general flow and progress of the storyline) is predictable well in advance because there's a good chance you've seen it somewhere before, though not so gorgeously rendered. So, at 162 minutes there are no surprises. Jaw-dropping visuals? Absolutely. Make no mistake, this is the most visually stunning film of all-time. But I'll repeat: 162 minutes. Once you get comfortable with that glorious 3D you're in for a lot of sitting around watching CG paint dry. Harsh? Maybe. But if you're anything like me, you'll emerge from the beauty of Pandora oddly ambivalent about the whole experience. I recommend watching Avatar solely for those visuals - don't wait for the DVD/Blu-ray release; you must see this in 3D on the big screen to appreciate its strengths - and you will be transported and you will be astounded. But you might be a little bit disappointed too.

If you don't want to hand over the price of a ticket to see Avatar why not pick up the latest issue of GUD Magazine for $3.50 (PDF) or $12 (print). Includes my story, Lost Lying on Your Back. You can read a preview here. Go on, it's not like James Cameron needs the money.

storySouth's Million Writer's Award 2010 is now open and accepting nominations from editors and readers alike. I have two stories eligible for consideration:

The Bug in the Suit at Electric Spec
Sand Between a Dead Boy's Toes at Nossa Morte

Later.

The future (or the next fourteen months, anyway) starts here…

Firstly, let me once again thank those who read my short story The Bug in the Suit over at Electric Spec and dropped a comment. Appreciated. Secondly, I want to say a few things about where I am with writing at the moment.

For a number of years now I have swung between continuing writing and tossing everything I’ve ever written into some cardboard boxes and simply ‘lofting’ the lot. Chasing dreams can be a tiresome business, it’s true, and after twelve years I may (or may not) be ready to accept I took a wrong turn somewhere. After all, there are other paths…

In recent months, though I have not quit per se I have been woefully unproductive, stuck in a limbo-like state of will-I-or-won’t-I-ness, sedating myself with television and videogames. But it occurred to me yesterday that these distractions are merely putting some soft distance between myself and the decision – to either stop work or work harder.

Stop and I free up a lot of time evenings and weekends to try other pursuits, such as a home-study course, something that might actually get me somewhere – a higher-paying job, security for our children (none yet, but on the horizon). Writing demands a lot of time and mental energy, I find. If I use my spare time to continue writing, there will be room for little else. So, it’s the ole heart-says/head-says dilemma…

Thing is, when I have stopped in the past for any extended period of time the world seemed less interesting, quite tiresome in fact. Writing, for almost as long as I can remember, has been my way of understanding myself and others – of tunnelling through life’s muddy complexities to find sunshine – or moonlight – at the other end. So, arguably, I need it. Whether it needs me is another matter, perhaps even the root of the problem.

So, I have chosen a sensible compromise. I will resume writing, pick up from where I left off a while back, and continue for the next fourteen months, until our next overseas holiday – no better time to reassess things, I think. At that time, if I feel I have made little to no progress I WILL give up the dream. There, I typed it.

Guess I better get to work.

The Bug in the Suit available at Electric Spec

The latest issue of Electric Spec is now live and includes my dark sci-fi tale, The Bug in the Suit. Read it here or download the entire issue in PDF or PRC formats. Note: italics seem to be omitted from the online version so I'd recommend the PDF. Comments welcome.

New Short Fiction Coming Soon

Crawl your way over to Electric Spec at the end of June for my six-and-a-half-thousand word science fiction horror tale, The Bug in the Suit...