The names Johnny Depp and Christian Bale are almost a guarantee of a quality motion picture. The name Michael Mann just about seals the deal. And this Untouchables-flavored trailer only throws fuel on the fire. But then, these two lines have grabbed my attention: “Robbin’ banks is gettin’ harder.” “We’re having too good a time today, we aren’t even thinkin’ about tomorrow.” Suddenly, this “period piece” doesn’t seem quite so much like a genre exercise. It sounds ripped from the... Read more
I’m a little late relaying this news, but I learned on Twitter earlier today that Horton Foote has died. Horton Foote, who chronicled America’s wistful odyssey through the 20th century in plays and films mostly set in a small town in Texas and left a literary legacy as one of the country’s foremost storytellers, died in Hartford, Conn., on Wednesday. He was 92, said his daughter, Hallie Foote. In screenplays for such movies as “Tender Mercies,” “To Kill a Mockingbird”... Read more
On Friday, I’ll be turning in the (very rough) draft of the third book in The Auralia Thread. Then, my editor will plow through it and come up with many brilliant suggestions for sharpening the story for you. When she’s finished, I’ll go back on my tour of Seattle coffee shops, almost every evening and all weekend long, revising, revising, revising. Auralia’s Colors was The Red Strand. Cyndere’s Midnight was The Blue Strand. The third volume will be The Gold... Read more
Novelist A.G. Harmon on satire: …the thing about satire is that it runs the fine line between comedy and exposé; comedic in the sense that it’s funny, exposé in the sense that it brings to light the hypocrisies or venalities or idiocies of its object. And the object has to be topical too. Satire can’t be dated. Have satirists all gone to film and TV? There are some candidates. The Office is a remarkable sketch of the work-a-day world, but... Read more
I’m actually more excited about hearing *this* album, due to Bono’s description (which, as most U2 fans know, usually isn’t, um, precise): U2 just released its first album since 2004 this week, but the Irish rock band is already planning a quickie follow-up for next year. The new disc will be called “Songs of Ascent,” and it will be more mellow than the current album, “No Line on the Horizon,” singer Bono says in a cover story in the latest... Read more
And just for old time’s sake… my favorite five minutes of U2’s history, right here: Read more
Many, many thanks to writer Cathy Herholdt, an inspired writer who has given Auralia and Cyndere a generous amount of wordage in the March editions of the Journal newspapers, which are popping up all over the King County area as we speak. Tell your friends, and pick up a copy! Read more
Of all the films I saw in 2008, two stood out above the rest. (more…) Read more
Philip Yancey on Obama and the dream of Martin Luther King: In no way do I discount the important policy differences between Obama and the majority of evangelicals. But at the least, can we use this moment for reflection and, yes, repentance for our share in the sin of racism that has marked this nation since its founding? It took Southern Baptists 150 years to apologize for their support of slavery; not until three months ago did Bob Jones University... Read more
Another of my favorite novels is coming to the big screen. Keira Knightley will star in Mark Romanek’s adaptation of Never Let Me Go, an extraordinary science fiction novel by Kazuo Ishiguro, author or The Remains of the Day. But there’s a problem here. The book is a fantastic read, in part because of the slow, painstaking pace at which the author makes an unsettling revelation. In summaries of the movie, that revelation is being announced right off the bat,... Read more
Looking Closer
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