Trisha’s Take: The Social Network review

Trisha Lynn

[Editor’s Note: We’re trying something a little new here where more than one person writes a review of a given thing. Any and all feedback would be greatly appreciated. – TL]

The Social Network

Directed by David Fincher
Starring Jesse Eisenberg, Andrew Garfield, Justin Timberlake, Armie Hammer, Armie Hammer, and more
Rating: PG-13 for sexual content, drug and alcohol use and language

Before I write this review, I am obliged to tell you that one of the reasons why I was excited when I first heard about this movie was that Aaron Sorkin (The American President, “The West Wing”) would be writing the screenplay, and that he’d started a Facebook page to do research.

Back then, I’d called it a documentary, and boy was I wrong. The story of The Social Network is based on a not-completely factual non-fiction book by Ben Mezrich called The Accidental Billionaires: The Founding of Facebook, A Tale of Sex, Money, Genius, and Betrayal and it was Sorkin and director David Fincher’s job to turn the story within that book into a movie. Continue reading “Trisha’s Take: The Social Network review” →

RIP: Stuart E. Hample, cartoonist and humorist

Trisha Lynn

Last Sunday, a humorist and cartoonist named Stuart Hample died. He was 84, and according to the obituary that ran in the New York Times, it was due to cancer.

Perusing the obituary, the thing that jumped out at me the most is that Hample collaborated with famed New York director Woody Allen on a comics strip:

From 1976 to 1984 [Hample] wrote and illustrated the syndicated comic strip “Inside Woody Allen,” a series of panels that purported to reveal the mind of that famous comedian and film director in all its self-analytical, overly worried, oversexed, death-obsessed glory. (Early on he used the pen name Joe Marthen.) Mr. Allen gave his permission for the strip and consulted with Mr. Hample frequently. A collection of selected strips was published as a book, Dread & Superficiality, last fall.

I know of Hample’s work through his son Zack who runs a writer’s group in New York City which has a roving meeting location. And all at once, I am saddened that I didn’t know about Stuart Hample’s work sooner. It makes me wonder about all the other cartoonists and “lost” projects out there which didn’t get to be seen by a wider audience or enjoy the kind of fame which comes from having a celebrity tie-in.

A more in-depth explanation of his comics-cred can be found via the Comics Reporter obit.

In any case, rest in peace, Mr. Hample, and my thoughts are with your family right now.

Trisha’s Take: My response to the Moon Manifesto

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I had a very busy day at work yesterday and so at the end of the day when I heard about the latest case of “writer-fail” to move through the sci-fi/fantasy fandom, I gave it a quick read and then moved on.

For some brief background, sci-fi/fantasy author Elizabeth Moon (the Planet Pirates series, the Familias Regnant series) wrote a blog entry on September 11 expressing her thoughts about what it means to be a U.S. citizen and how the group of developers behind the Park51 community center are a big wrong-headed.

Several people took issue with some of her statements, most notably editor Cat Valente, who decreed that the upcoming November issue of Apex magazine will be dedicated to showcasing the works of “writers of Arab descent and Muslim writers.” Valente’s response was re-blogged by British author Warren Ellis, and it all went viral from there.

Now that I finally have a chance to sit down and write (and I’m also attempting to get my writers’ muscles back), here’s my pure reaction to what Moon had to say, without glancing at other peoples’ reactions: Continue reading “Trisha’s Take: My response to the Moon Manifesto” →

Neil Gaiman’s Sandman + Supernatural‘s Eric Kripke = Gigantic mistake?

Trisha Lynn5 Comments

If you’re a fan of British author Neil Gaiman’s former monthly comics series Sandman and have always wanted to see a live-action version, then The Hollywood Reporter has news for you.

Over at their Heat Vision blog, reporters Borys Kit and James Hibberd broke the exclusive news that Warner Bros. TV is “in the midst of acquiring television rights from sister company DC Entertainment and in talks with several writer-producers about adapting the 1990s comic. At the top of the list is Eric Kripke, creator of the CW’s horror-tinged ‘Supernatural.'”

That howl you heard around 6 pm Pacific, by the way? Was the wailing and gnashing of teeth of many a mature female comics fan who knows and loves both Sandman and “Supernatural” and knows exactly how Kripke could possibly fuck it all up.

The bit of good news from the blog that all fans are holding onto lies in these two sentences from Kit and Hibberd:

[Neil Gaiman] is not involved in the new developments, though since it is early in the process, that may change. In fact, securing Gaiman will prove key for the project to go forward.

Gaiman, who is currently in the U.K. taking care of business related to his upcoming “Doctor Who” episode, didn’t comment on his Twitter account when the news broke here in the U.S. because he was on a Skype call to the Melbourne Writer Fest in Australia as one of their events. (Damn, don’t you love technology, these days?)

The last words of anime director Satoshi Kon

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According to ANN, Japanese anime director Satoshi Kon passed away yesterday at the age of 46 following complications due to pancreatic cancer.

Kon was a part of the Madhouse studio and was responsible for directing some of its more psychologically challenging films and series such as Perfect Blue and Paranoia Agent. I personally interviewed him during the North American premiere of his Tokyo Godfathers in 2003 and remember him as being very passionate about his work.

But perhaps most telling about the man are some of the final thoughts he had before dying, partially translated by journalist Fernando Ramos (original link mirrored by ANN, here):

I wish to die in my home. This might be my last great inconvenience to the people around me but, I have been able to be granted that escape home. Thanks to the tireless efforts of my wife, and the “Has he given up?” attitude of the hospital, it has in fact and indeed been helpfully cooperative, along with the enormous support from outside clinics, and many frequent coincidences that I can only think of as blessings from heaven. I can’t believe there are just so many coincidences and inevitabilities in this real life. This isn’t Tokyo Godfathers after all

Trisha’s Video of the Day: “Africa” by Toto with rain sound effects

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Considering what happened last Friday on Questionable Content by Jeph Jacques, I thought this a rather appropriate video to view heading into this week’s strips:

Perpetuum Jazzile is a Slovenian jazz choir which was founded in 1983. You can download some of their music at their site, and I strongly urge you to check out their online store as well.

Trisha’s Link of the Day: New tools for both spies and freedom fighters alike

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Police detain a protestor in the wake of the 2009 Iranian Election * Image courtesy of a Creative Commons license

When you think of the tools in a modern-day spy or investigative journalist’s toolbox, you picture tiny lipstick cameras or gigantic rooms housing servers dedicated to encryption and decryption. Now, thanks to a team at the Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta, you can now add Yahoo!-owned photo hosting site Flickr and a home PC to that box.

According to Jim Giles at New Scientist.com, grad student Sam Burnett, assistant professor Nick Feamster, and professor Santosh Vempala have created a system that will allow a user to encrypt several news stories into digital images which can be uploaded to Flickr or perhaps any other widely used Internet .jpg hosting site.

Dubbed Collage, this program will be available for wide use in “a few weeks,” though the New Scientist.com article says it was available four days ago.

Though Mike Spector and Lauren A.E. Schuker at the Wall Street Journal say we’re about a month away from the rescue of the James Bond franchise (and other films and franchises) from ailing movie studio MGM by Spyglass Entertainment, I can’t stop thinking about what new and interesting gadgets, tools, and techniques will crop up in that film.

And considering that “Leverage” creator and writer John Rogers has said many times that he and his researchers find that what’s going on in reality is far more stranger than what they concoct for their idealized Crime World, I wouldn’t be surprised if Hardison hasn’t already downloaded this program into his hacker arsenal… just to be on top of things, you know?

Trisha’s Video of the Day: Hawaii gamers bring new meaning to the words “defending home base”

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When you’re gaming late at night at your favorite Internet cafe, you don’t expect to become fodder for your local news channel; however, that’s exactly what happened to some PC gamers in Hawaii last week:

Just like the reporters at local channel KHON, I don’t think that everyone in this sort of situation should fight back; however, given that the staff eventually knew who the alleged assailants were, I’m sure that Dylan Hays knew he’d be okay when he started fighting back.

Kudos to the midnight crew at PC Gamerz for defending their home.

Trisha’s Take: How Hollywood may still be “doing it wrong” in the world of web entertainment

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When it comes to being a writer or actor, we currently live in interesting times—and by “interesting” I’m using the “Chinese curse” definition of the word.

Computers and the Internet have not only opened up a new distribution method for people to see their work and give them money for it, but also a way for people to view their work and keep from giving them money for it. The main point of contention during the Writers Guild Strike of 2007-2008 and the threatened Screen Actors Guild Strike of 2008 was over residuals from “new media,” and how much a production studio would pay them for re-broadcasts of the material over time beyond its initial broadcast.

To briefly summarize, rather than use the old mathematical formula created in the 1980s when home video became a concern or wait a few years to see exactly how profitable distribution on “new media” is and create a new formula, the WGA wanted the producers’ guild (the AMPTP) to create a new formula right now which would potentially address any and all concerns about how writers would get paid for work that has the potential to be seen and consumed in innumerable ways that aren’t easily tabulated thanks to things like click rates and online piracy.

Because that formula hasn’t been perfected yet and online piracy is still a problem, anyone who wants to start releasing their content on the ‘net is trying to figure out who their loyal paying audience (aka their True Fans) is and how to best get a hold of that person’s entertainment dollar.

About a month ago, Indie Wire.com blogger Cameron Carlson went to the “Producing Web Entertainment” seminar at the American Cinematheque in California, and came away with eight things he learned about how to best reach an Internet-based audience. However, the people on that panel and the series they were talking about were people I’d never heard of personally, which made me wonder: Exactly who are these guys and why would I want to believe their words on this topic?

After doing lots of clicking and a bit of research, I present to you my own list of five things I think these particular content creators are doing correctly and incorrectly when it comes to reaching out to a ‘net-savvy audience: Continue reading “Trisha’s Take: How Hollywood may still be “doing it wrong” in the world of web entertainment” →

Keeping Tabs, SDCC Edition: Helen Mirren loves Harvey Pekar, and more

Trisha Lynn

Until a miracle happens and I’m able to justify spending gobs of money to go, it’s highly unlikely that I’m going to be able to provide the kind of coverage of Comic Con (aka “Nerd Prom”) or any other major geekfest that you deserve. However, what I can do now and going forward is to highlight the stuff that really turned my crank:

  • “The Gray Lady” may have been able to make the con relatable to its older readers and audiences, but Michael Buckner’s photograph of Dame Helen Mirren—star of the upcoming Red, based on the graphic novel by Warren Ellis—stole that panel’s show and put things in perspective by showing up in a T-shirt memorializing recently deceased American Splendor creator Harvey Pekar. I’d like to think he would have gotten a kick out of that. (Source: The New York Times)
  • Did you realize that there was an Iron Man anime series? No, not “animated” as in the 1994 TV series starring the voice of Airplane‘s Robert Hays as Tony Stark, but a new series created by Studio Madhouse (Ninja Scroll, Black Lagoon) in conjunction with Marvel Studios. At the SDCC panel, new executive vice president and head of television Jeph Loeb (“Heroes”) and Madhouse COO Masao Maruyama confirmed that the series will launch in the U.S. and Canada in 2011, after its debut in Japan on October 1 on the G4 network. Other Marvel anime series which will also appear on the network in the U.S. are Wolverine, X-Men and Blade, and it sounded like negotiations were forthcoming on whether or not all four would also appear on G4 in Canada. (Source: ANN)
  • If anyone took director Guillermo del Toro up on his offer to show him their work, I’d love to hear the story. No, seriously; this is what he told fans at his Q&A panel:

    “I cannot read screenplays, but if you have a portfolio, or you have a short you want me to see, fuck it, give it to me. If you see me on the floor, accost me,” he challenged the crowd. And he also gave his public email address for them to contact him.

    (Source: The Hollywood Reporter Heat Vision blog)

  • It was sing-a-long time at the “Big Bang Theory” panel, moderated by TV’s Wil Wheaton, where the Barenaked Ladies performed the entire theme song and not just the TV edit to a room full of fans. (Source: The Hollywood Reporter Live Feed blog)

More to come when I’m feeling less tired.