The pith of conversation does not consist in exhibiting your own superior knowledge on matters of small consequence, but in enlarging, improving, and correcting the
I was going to review another science fiction movie tonight (Her (2013) but about fifteen minutes into the movie I couldn’t get over my dislike for the protagonist (Theodore played by Joaquin Phoenix) so I turned it off. Once again that “best of” list doesn’t really match up perfectly with my taste. So far, I’ve had three bombs; Repo Man, Dark Star and now Her. On the positive side I liked Dark City, Wrath of Khan and Dredd. And soon I’ll watch Dune which I’ve already seen and liked. So, this guy is batting slightly better than .500. To be fair there were other movies on the list that I also like but have already seen. But the point is I’ll have to make my own version of “The List.”
So, there’s about another ten days or so left in my marketing contract for my book and I have learned a lot about how Amazon Ads work and also what they can and can’t do. You’re basically buying visibility on Amazon. The ratio is about one person in a thousand who sees your ad will click on it. And about one person in ten (approximately) will buy the book. But you pay money for every click (something like a dollar a click) and so you actually lose money on the sales you make. It’s quite bizarre.
The next stage in the campaign includes giving away five books on Goodreads to people who signed up and dropping the price on the e-books for two days to $2.99. And then there will be ads on Bookbub and hopefully this will provide the recognition in the algorithm to boost the books visibility. And of course there will be some reviews that hopefully entice buyers. Well, the fate of a self-published author is a lonely one. But I wanted to write a book and now I know how that looks.
On the positive side I have gotten pretty favorable feedback from some of the readers whose opinions I highly value and that is actually the biggest pleasure of the whole process. Several people have demanded that I produce a sequel immediately. Which is kind of a problem. But I have several different stories that I’ve been toying with and one of them will take the lead and become book two. It is interesting to me how differently men and women approach the story. Some of the women wanted to know how Bogey does with the waitress from the end of the book. Well, everyone has their own way of reading a story I suppose.
Anyone who’s purchased the book and would like to put a review up on Amazon I’d encourage you to do it right away to help me with the push for sales during the upcoming sale. I’m told that verified purchaser reviews are actually one of the most important marketing factors.
Well, there’s my update. I’ve been disavowed of my dream of best seller status (sniff). But I hope that with the rest of the program to come it will spark enough interest to produce a burst of sales. Excelsior!
This is one seriously strange movie. It co-stars three actors you may know (William Hurt, Kiefer Sutherland and Jennifer Connelly) but most of the rest of the cast including the protagonist aren’t familiar names. It starts out as a film noir with a murder mystery and a man with amnesia. But then it starts getting very weird and keeps getting weirder right up to the final scene.
(Spoiler Alert – Skip down to last paragraph to avoid spoilers and read recommendation)
John Murdoch (played by Rufus Sewell) wakes up in a bathtub in a hotel room that also contains the body of a call girl who has been murdered and her body carved on by a maniac. Murdoch has no memory of who he is. He hears the phone ring and picks it up. A man calling himself Dr. Schreber tells Murdoch that he can explain what is happening to him but that he must leave immediately because “they” are coming to get him. So, he runs away and finds out that the police are looking for him for a string of women’s murders. And then he meets them; the Strangers. They’re tall, thin bald men who look slightly inhuman and have telekinetic powers. And Murdoch finds out that he also has these powers.
Police Inspector Frank Bumstead (played by William Hurt) is hunting Murdoch and he interviews his wife Emma (played by Jennifer Connelly). She claims Murdoch couldn’t be the killer. Bumstead uses Emma to find Murdoch. But he escapes. By the end of the movie Murdoch is caught by the police but he eventually convinces Bumstead that the world they live in is a simulation because of anomalies like the lack of daylight and false memories of places like Shell Beach which do not actually exist.
Eventually the Strangers come to Dr. Schreber and demand that he inject Murdoch with new memories to solve his problem. It’s obvious that Schreber works for the Strangers but he seems a reluctant partner.
Over the course of the movie what we learn is that the Strangers have built the city to study humans. They are an alien race that has kidnapped humans and housed them in a city that is never in daylight but always night. They have Schreber inject them with their false identities and every midnight they render the whole city asleep and then “tune” it by modifying the physical landscape (buildings appear and disappear) and people are given new identities or altered memories.
The Strangers are trying to understand the human “soul.” Apparently, their race is dying out and becoming more human is their solution to survival. At the end of the movie we find out the city is a construct floating in interstellar space completely separate from Earth. There is a final showdown between the Strangers and Murdoch and he destroys them and takes control of the city. In the final scene he meets up with his “wife” who now has new memories that don’t include him and he strikes up a conversation. And they head for the mythical Shell Beach where his false memories told him he had led a happy boyhood life. Only now he has created it and brought out the sun to end the endless night.
This is some strange movie. The film noir atmosphere of the beginning of the movie is quite well done. The transition to a science fiction theme is somewhat jarring but interesting. I’m not sure I’d characterize the whole experimental scenario with the Strangers altering the city and its inhabitants every midnight as a reasonable plot. I guess it’s almost like the delusion of someone with extreme paranoia except that the paranoia is based in fact. All in all, I’d say it’s a bit overdone. But I didn’t hate it. As far as a recommendation, I’d have to say most people would be looking at a fifty/fifty shot at liking it.
I do remember seeing Wrath of Khan in the theater on opening night. It was a strange day, Raining heavily when we tried to go to the matinee at a multiplex (4 theaters Wonder of Wonders!) in Orange CT. Ultimately that attempt failed as we didn’t quite make it to New Haven as my 1974 Duster was having alternator problems with the belt slipping due to the rain and splashing. We limped it back to my Buddies house grabbed a snack and hopped in his family’s ancient Suburban. Went to the 6 PM showing and watched the movie. We were enthralled (and nearly teary eyed at the “I am and always have been your friend” line as well as playing of Amazing Grace). We had noticed the rain was LOUD at times almost drowning the dialogue. Got out to Monsoon level rain and a parking lot with 3-5″ of water/ Getting home was a challenge, Rt 95 was closed in Branford due to several accidents and deep water. We were diverted eventually choosing a path along the coastal roads. Came to a bridge over a normally gentle stream running out to Long Island Sound. The bridge is normally about 4′ above the stream. The stream was now a 2′ deep torrent over the bridge. Being young stupid guys (college age) we decided to forge on. I got out and walked ahead of the Suburban to check the depth (I hope you realize this was a very bad choice and I am lucky to be writing this some 40+ years later: DO NOT UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES DO THIS !!!). As we came off the bridge there was a low spot ahead and so I was still the depth gauge. Shortly I felt my knee bump something. It was the bumper of a Ford Taurus wagon submerged such that maybe 6″ of its roof was sticking out of the water ahead of me. Needless to say we turned around and spent a couple hours fishing about for a way back to my buddy’s home that would be passable with the 2′ or so of clearance the Suburban had. That said Wrath of Khan was well worth the journey.
