Another Earth

After my rant the other day about Siffy (Syfy) canceling yet another decent sci-fi show, I went out and caught this amazing intimate, indie, Sci-Fi film called Another Earth.  This movie blew me away!! Directed and co-written by Mark Cahill, it’s a smart, moving movie for an intelligent audience. I had goose bumps from the impact of the final scene.  I won’t spoil it for anyone, it’s a must-see. Brit Marling (co-writer, co-producer and lead) plays Rhoda Williams and her quiet, nuanced performance is painfully beautiful.  William Mapother plays the part of John Burroughs, a once successful composer who’s impacted by a tragic accident. Both actors are compelling to watch as broken human beings trying to regain back their lives by connecting with one another. There were several scenes were I was gripped by the raw-ness of exposed human emotions.  I sat in the theater with hand over mouth when the big revelation was slowly uncovered.  And the soundtrack is sublime.  
If you are looking for alien wars with shoot-em up with lasers then this is NOT the movie to see.  But if you are looking for a film that takes a look at the nature of our world and our humanity then this is a must-see! This film is unique and had restored my faith in the ability for quality movies to come out.  I really hope it finds an audience because this kind of work is extraordinary!!      

Check out their website:  http://www.foxsearchlight.com/anotherearth/   

Or their trailer (see below):



All artwork, photos, and text © Copyright 2008-2011 Liliana Almendarez unless indicated otherwise. All Rights Reserved. Any downloading, copying or use of images on this website is strictly prohibited without express written consent by Liliana Almendarez.

Where Have All the Decent Sci-Fi Shows Gone?

*pushing out my soapbox, testing the mic*

I just found out that Eureka Season 6 has been cancelled.  What the heck is Siffy (Syfy channel) thinking? That show has roughly 2 million viewers. AND IT STILL GETS CANCELLED!! What a huge disappointment!! 
Caprica is gone before it got a chance to take off. 
Battlestar Galatica is gone. 
Firefly is way gone.
Dollhouse is dead (I know this was network tv)
Meanwhile Warehouse 13 is still on the air.  No offense to those that love it but it's mindless fluff.

What is wrong with wanting a science fiction show with some well-developed characters, with decent storylines, with political/social commentary (Battlestar).  I am SO TIRED of meaningless reality television and the American Idol mentality.  I'd like something with a little bit of brain behind it.  Is that too much to ask for?  I know FRINGE is still on but I'm too afraid to watch it because as soon as I do, it will be pulled. 

Que Mierda!!  I quit.  Not watching anymore Syfy. Seriously!  Syfy is not interested in pandering to an audience with a brain these days. They have  WRESTLING in their scheduled line-up for crying out loud.  Unless wrestlers start putting on jet packs in their matches, IT DOESN'T COUNT as science fiction.  I'm going old school and pulling out Blade Runner or Battlestar Galactica DVDs because right now what's left is pretty pathetic.

Grrr!  Argh!!

L~

All artwork, photos, and text © Copyright 2008-2011 Liliana Almendarez unless indicated otherwise. All Rights Reserved. Any downloading, copying or use of images on this website is strictly prohibited without express written consent by Liliana Almendarez.

I’m Back Baby!!

I have been out of sight because I didn’t have any updates. I wasn’t writing rather I was wringing my hands in abject horror because I didn’t know how to move forward. Frozen in place, I whined and whimpered to myself that it was all so very useless and that I would never write again. Ever! It was THAT melodramatic and no one was going to convince me otherwise.

Then a funny thing happened, I dislocated my patella sometime last week. I was working on my yoga poses and I pushed my body into the wrong pose. My knee tweaked and the patella shifted. Holy hell did that hurt! I popped it back into place and then lay there waiting for the pain to bloom. Sure enough it came in waves. By Monday morning I was unable to put any weight on my leg and my knee was the size of a small grapefruit.

I took a couple of Aleve, propped up my knee with all my pillows and an ice pack and stared at my ceiling feeling pretty pathetic. The pity party I threw myself was epic. Sorry you missed it.

By the end of the day, a thought occurred to me. It was a splinter of an idea regarding my novel. And it woke me up. All of a sudden the grey day that I was having had a sliver of light. Just a hint of a new possibility. Then I had a serious talk with myself.

This knee issue has been a long neglected issue. I’ve needed to have it MRI’d and X-ray’d ages ago but without proper health coverage for the past three years, I’ve let it go and let it go for far too long. This was a minor setback and it should not impede me from continuing with healthier practices, eating right, exercising and writing every day. I’ve managed to do light stretching these past couple of days (babying my knee). The inflammation is starting to subside. The pain is in the lower scale range. And I have managed to make it into my day job without too much hassle.

I have also been writing again every day too. If I can show up to my day job then I have no excuses not to spend some time working at my craft. Yesterday, I managed 500 words, the day before I managed 325 words. It’s rough but I keep reminding myself that it doesn’t have to be perfect, it just has to be put down on paper. That’s all I can manage right now and it’s enough. As my daily practice grows, this novel will be written and it will be finished, come hell or high water.

Oh, the other thing that occurred to me as I was staring at the ceiling is that Stephen King wrote a couple of books after his terrible accident while he was recovering. And he was much worse off than a swollen knee. So what the hairy heck was stopping me from finishing this story? What am I so worried about? If it’s not perfect, then I can revise and edit. If it’s not a great story then the next one will be better. I need to accomplish this very simple goal for my own sanity. Yes, it is that easy. It’s worked for me in the past and I just have to trust the process. I have also seen other writers who write every day make quite a bit of headway on their projects. So there it is…I’m taking up the gauntlet (braced knee and all). Let’s see what kind of damage can be done.

Peace,


L~


All artwork, photos, and text © Copyright 2008-2011 Liliana Almendarez unless indicated otherwise. All Rights Reserved. Any downloading, copying or use of images on this website is strictly prohibited without express written consent by Liliana Almendarez.

No whinging allowed

I promised several months ago that I wouldn't spend all my time whinging on this blog. Which means my entries have been cut back to about one entry a week lately.  Sorry about that...I just know that if I have a forum to gripe, I'll take it.  Today, I spent some time writing so I'm feeling a bit more pulled together and can write about the creative process without too much danger of whinging. 

I’ve gotten lots of really good feedback from my writing group, from my creative partner and even a family member on this novel. I can’t explain why I’m stuck with the story. I just am. I feel a bit lost. I think I’ve been away from my project too long and now I’m trying to find my way back in again. I’ve written out a first draft of it…but now I need to flesh it out. There seems to be a lot of missing material.

I pulled out spotty Chapter 3 and tried to plug in the holes. I’m not sure I did much good with it. I’m not trying to be modest here…I don’t quite “feel it” yet. I’ll plug away at it (a little bit every day) and see if I can reconnect with the story again. *Keeping my fingers crossed hoping it happens*

I re-read the feedback that I received from an old friend, Ric. His feedback really hit some of the problem spots for me. He’s a sci-fi reader so his questions (and he asked a lot of them) opened my eyes to the gaping holes in terms of logic, sequence and point of view. Eeek *running a hand through my hair*. Do I address those holes first? Or do I keep going with the story…keeping the questions in mind? I’m over-thinking it, I know. That seems to be the repeating pattern here.

I was working on a short story as a way of taking some of the pressure off. I told Christine I was going to have a finished version of it by the end of the summer. Hmph! I would really like to finish a project soon because I’m going a bit bat-shit-crazy with unfinished projects.

Do I dare say it? I may have to resort to getting up at 5 in the morning to get my writing practice back on track. It might be the only way. Even the mention of it makes me want to sleep. I am not much of a morning person. But if I can spend two hours each morning before work, I can finish this novel by my end-of-year deadline.

Peace,

L~

All artwork, photos, and text © Copyright 2008-2011 Liliana Almendarez unless indicated otherwise. All Rights Reserved. Any downloading, copying or use of images on this website is strictly prohibited without express written consent by Liliana Almendarez.