It's the 4th of July and my parents and I (I'm home for the summer)celebrated by going to see the new Johnny Depp movie, Public Enemies, based on the life of notorious bank robber John Dillinger. Unfortunately, even with a great cast (in addition to Depp, who has proven his versatility and talent in numerous roles, are co-stars Christian Bale in his typical role of lawman and Oscar-winner Marion Cotilliard as Dillinger's gal) the movie failed to shine. The characters were flat, there were no surprises, and the shoot out scenes went on way too long.
My rating: 2 stars (out of four)
On the other hand, today we also finished the fifteen part BBC miniseries of Dickens' classic novel Little Dorrit. The cast was enormous, but among the many talented actors I recognized the man playing Arthur Clennam as having previously been Mr. Darcy in the new Pride and Prejudice movie; Mrs. Clennam as the queen mother in Ever After (one of my favorite romances); and the murderer Rigaud as our good friend Gollum (or Smeagol, as he sometimes prefers to be called). For Dickens fans the miniseries is detailed, well-written, and occasionally heartwrenching. It's also a bit too long and the twist at the end comes as a disappointment (leaving behind a pretty strong feeling of: so what?). Still, it's worth watching if you have the time and the patience and certain characters are truly unforgettable.
My rating: 3 stars
Finally, a report on my writing. I'm a student in a creative writing MFA program who's been in love with the written word all my life but for just about as long was convinced that I didn't have a chance in the world of ever being published (so there, all you who think I have a big ego!). Two years ago, two years into a law degree, I decided that I had to give myself a chance. That was about the time I was finishing the first draft of my first novel, FLAWED, a science fiction dystopia. Although I still think FLAWED has a lot of good elements, I've grown a lot as a writer since then and am well aware of its many, well, flaws.
I've been working on writing some literary fiction since then (mostly with a legal theme) but this summer I've focused on a new long project, a young adult urban fantasy novel. I began writing it in January, lost track of it for a while during the school semester, and have been seriously working on it since the end of April. I anticipate finishing the rough rough draft sometime this week. Then there's the arduous editing process, for which I'm on the look out for anyone who's interested in betaing (if you are, leave a comment please!). I'll give more details about the novel, whose working title is KINGMAKER, which will definitely change once I've thought of something cleverer, as time goes by.
That's all for now. Comments are welcome! Happy Independence Day!
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