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Dahlia DeWinters - Author

Quirky Heroines, Happy Endings

Movie Review: A Kind of Murder

I’ve been neglecting this blog, I know, but I’m back with a new routine and a vengeance.  This time around, I’ve got a bit of a change for your reading pleasure.  Instead of a horror movie review, I have a bit of a thriller review.

Title:  A Kind of Murder

Starring:  Patrick Wilson, Jessica Biel

Based on Patricia Highsmith’s book, The Blunderer

Summary, from IMDB:

In 1960s New York, Walter Stackhouse is a successful architect married to the beautiful Clara who leads a seemingly perfect life. But his fascination with an unsolved murder leads him into a spiral of chaos as he is forced to play cat-and-mouse with a clever killer and an overambitious detective, while at the same time lusting after another woman.

Now, an admission:  there are two reasons why I chose this movie.  First of all, the filmed is based on a book by Patricia Highsmith, author of The Talented Mr. Ripley and Strangers on a Train.  The second reason is Patrick Wilson, who is kind of adorable, in a calmly pleasant kind of way.

The film itself is a period piece, which takes place in the early sixties.  As a fan of Mad Men, I love the clothes, the cars and the absolute devotion to smoking these “Old” movies have.  Men wore hats, women wore crinoline and the cars were simply awesome.

As much as I have love for Highsmith, Wilson and the early sixties, I had a lot of trouble with this movie.  It was beautiful to look at:  winter, dark brooding scenes and it even had a smoky, bohemian bar with a torch singer.  I liked watching it, but at the end, I felt like I had learned nothing and had merely spent my time leafing through a 1962 Life magazine.

The buildup was everything.  A depressed wife, a frustrated husband in a gorgeously designed house (very sixties) and a mysterious murder that the husband (a writer when he’s not being an architect) becomes obsessed with.  There’s even a rare bookstore with a mousy, kind of weird owner.

Another thing that I liked about the movie was that it was pulpy.  It put me in mind of Double Indemnity. Very “noir-ish” and rather unsettling in parts.

As you can tell, I’m writing a lot about what I saw and not a lot about what I felt.  The story rolled along nicely, but, as I hinted at above, never really came to a solid conclusion.  People died, people were injured, but…..yeah, okay.  The movie was kind of “meh”.  I’d watch it again, however, simply to catch set and costume details that I might have missed the first time around.  The story left a lot to be desired.

Do I recommend it?  If you’re a fan of period pieces and Patricia Highsmith, this would be for you.

3 out of 5 stars just for good looks.


Filed Under: Movies--Books--Music--Television Tagged: a kind of murder, a kind of murder review, jessica biel, movie review, patricia Highsmith, patrick wilson, thriller movie review

The More You Know: the Magic of Why

I’ve been writing professionally for about seven years.  The one thing I’ve noticed about my writing and my production of published books is that I’m a slow writer.  Now, don’t take that to mean I put in a comma in the morning and remove it in the afternoon, no.  It’s just that my stories come together very slowly.  Sure, I may have an awesome idea for a book, but to be honest, it takes years for some books to come to fruition.

I wrote my first published book, Kitty Wishes, in a week.  It’s cute enough book, but it’s not satisfying to me.  I feel I could have done a lot better.  But hey, it was my first book and it was a learning process.

Another of my books, Loving Among the Dead, was basically written in 2012, but fussed over and revamped until it was published in 2014. It was one of my favorite books to write and I really connected with the characters. The sequel, well, not so much. We….don’t talk about that much around here.

My quest was always to write faster; to produce more books. According to the “experts”, more books meant more money and more recognition.  So, because I learn by example, I started reading some of Amazon’s Top 100 books.

I learned something all right. Many of the characters from these books were hollow paper doll, animated only just enough to string the plot together.  For those I managed to finish—and there weren’t very many—they left me cold and bored and feeling like I had just read someone’s second draft outline.

But still, I persevered, purchasing plotting books and outlining books and how to plot quickly and this class and that webinar.  I even joined a few Facebook groups.

Then, while I was reading a blog of writing tips it hit me like a bolt from the blue.  The words “character driven plot” had bounced around in my head for a few years now, and I really never totally understood what that meant. But in reading this blog I finally got it.

It’s the WHY.

Why are characters different?  Why is Columbus different from Tallahassee in “Zombieland”?  Why is John McClane different from that sleazy colleague of his wife’s (who tried and ultimately failed to “negotiate” with Hans Gruber?  For that matter, why did Hans even entertain that guy’s mess, only to (spoiler alert) to kill him? (Yes, I’ve watched Die Hard again for the fiftieth time.)

Me to myself:  Character, stupid.

The choices the character makes in the story makes the plot go where it’s going to go.  And cardboard characters won’t cut it.

This was why some of these popular romance books left me high and dry.  There was no…emotion, no impetus, no REASON behind the characters’ personalities.  They went here and did this, went there and did that. Just…cuz. Oh, and the instalove is soooo overplayed.  I’ve toyed with that a little in some of my stories, and I just can’t sell it. (No shade thrown to those who enjoy and/or write those types of stories….it’s just not for me – I don’t judge someone else’s hustle….)

In looking over some of my unpublished stories, it seems I understood this innately some time ago and ignored it in favor of chasing plot.

For example: I’d written a scene where a woman goes into a convenience store. Her ex-boyfriend happens to be there and he starts begging her to take him back and how much he loves her and all that jazz.  Suddenly, two armed robbers come into the store.  The heroine turns to look at them, then by the time she turns back to her ex, he’s gone, hiding behind a rack of snacks.

WHY did he do that?  Easy….he’s a coward. But why is he a coward?  Is he a rich guy used to getting anything he wants with little effort? Was he caught in a robbery in the past and this is natural reaction? Does he know criminals and he knows they’re looking for him?

Backstory is important. Not only does it round out characters, but it gives you, the author, a clue to what they’re going to do next.

In reference to the jerk hiding behind the Cheetoes, will he stay there?  Will he have a change of heart and protect her? Or is trauma from that past even keep him there, hating himself for being such a coward?  If he wants her back so badly, perhaps he’ll overcome the fear and save her.  Who knows?  It depends on how I’ve built the character and his specific backstory.

I say all that to say, inciting incident, dark night of the soul, rising action, all that story structure stuff does me no good…if I don’t know the character.  It’s my stories where I focus more on building  my characters rather than building my plot are the ones I like the most and the ones, I hope, offer the readers the most emotional experiences.

Following this, I’ve vowed never to purchase another book on plotting ever in life. (Given the pile on my bookshelves, I won’t have to!) Instead I’ll spend my time studying characters and how they form and/or change within a story. (If they change at all…)

And it’s not only from bad to good either – Take Michael Corleone from The Godfather.  He insists “that’s my family, not me”, but during the course of the movie he goes from clean cut military hero to heir apparent.  Same thing with Breaking Bad.  Walter White snags our sympathy as a poor schlub who cooks meth to provide his family with some money after he’s dead from cancer, and basically turns into a ruthless, driven….killer.

But that’s a post for another day.  For right now, I’m finally glad I have my finger fully on the pulse of the importance of characters.

And that’s my “the more you know” moment of the week!


Filed Under: Movies--Books--Music--Television, Tuesdays, Uncategorized, Writing Tagged: character, characterization

Horror Movie Review – Tales from the Hood 2

The one thing I enjoyed the most about Tales from the Hood 2 was Keith David. The moment I saw his face, I knew that at least the wrap-around story would hold my attention. Mr. David has a strong screen presence and a resonant, unique voice and thus is the perfect choice for a storyteller. However, while I did enjoy his presence in the movie, the stories left a lot to be desired.

The first story, “Good Golly”, had a lot of promise. The Museum of Negrosity’s proprietor talked about the atrocities visited upon Blacks that the silly visitors (one black, one white) were making light of. I appreciated the reminder/history lesson of what Africans went through as slaves and as second class citizens in this country, much of which continues to this day. I also liked how the segment insisted that we in the present not make light of the past, but to learn from it. Excellent job on that part.

Then, the segment went downhill from there. I will not spoil it, but suffice to say I laughed out loud at what eventually transpired. Why? Because it came out of left field. There was no foreshadowing, no clues…it just happened. Yes, I understand the theme behind it, but honestly the execution left a lot to be desired. That is not to say I was not entertained, because I was.

The second segment, ”The Medium”, was my favorite. I loved the setup and the execution. The actor who played John Lloyd, the psychic nailed his role all the way through. (Fun fact, he also played Sal in Mad Men, and I liked him there too.) He hammed it proper, giving us a great performance in an interesting story.

“Date Night”, the third story was something most horror fans have seen in one form or another. The story was rudimentary and full of tropes. Absolutely nothing to write home about here.

The fourth segment, “The Sacrifice”. (long pause)….I truly hate to say this, but it seemed more of a hardcore after-school special than a segment in a horror movie anthology. Listen, I got the underlying message, I did. Great idea, poor execution. I also think this was the longest of the segments and I felt every single minute. This could have been a spectacular segment if the plot had been tightened a little more. The narrative was not as cohesive as it could have been, and the story suffered from it.

The end of the wraparound story was predictable, and the effects looked exactly like the effects in Halloween 3 (the lasers). And who didn’t know that Keith David was more than he seemed? The robot was pretty cool though.

The bottom line? I was entertained. I’m glad it was made, but it certainly was not on the level of the original Tales from the Hood. I would watch that before I watched this one again.

Rating: 3 out of 5 stars.


Filed Under: Horror Movie Reviews, Movies--Books--Music--Television

Blogtoberfest – Dark Country Songs

There’s no song like a country song.  Whether you’re into Charley Pride, Hank Williams, Hank Williams Jr., Johnny Cash, Tammy Wynette, Patsy Cline or the “new school” of Garth Brooks, Trace Adkins, Miko Marks and a score of others, there’s not a doubt in my mind that country’s roots are entwined with the blues both musically and lyrically.  Some of the saddest songs I’ve ever heard were from either of these genres, usually by men, who’ve acted up so bad that they drove their woman, and sometimes their dog, away.

Today we’re going to look at and listen to some dark country songs that go even deeper into the human psyche, past crying into your beer or sittin on the porch weeping, into murder, mayhem and ghosts.

 

The first one is by a musician who performs one of my all time favorite country songs.  The Charlie Daniels Band is perhaps best known for its rollicking fiddle-fest “The Devil Went Down to Georgia”, but they also did a mysterious song that tells of a swamp, an old man and a treasure.

It’s a song that tells a story and it starts off like this:

 

Well, if you ever go back into Wooley Swamp
Well, you better not go at night
There’s things out there in the middle of them woods
That make a strong man die from fright
Things that crawl and things that fly
And things that creep around on the ground
And they say the ghost of Lucius Clay
Gets up and he walks around

To say anything further would ruin the scarily told/sung story, so click here to listen for yourself:

 

As a child, Johnny Cash’s rumbling bass always used to scare me. It also didn’t help that he was called “The Man in Black” which rendered him as some sort of evil being floating around, scaring kids with his guitar and flashy country shirts.  As I grew older, however, I was more able to appreciate the music and I give you “Ghost Riders in the Sky”.  Can’t get much scarier than that.

Rachel Brooke – The Black Bird

This sparse arrangement leaves room for Rachel Brooke’s hauntingly innocent sounding voice to a story of illicit love…and that black bird always watching. Also, the video is pretty creepy too!

 

 

Comment below with your dark country artists!

 

Dahlia

 


Filed Under: Blogtoberfest, Music Tagged: blogtoberfest, colors in darkness, dahliadewinters, dark country, dark country songs, horror movies, scary songs, songs for halloween

Blogtoberfest – 10 Days of Zombie Movies

Keeping it simple for today.  Here’s a graphic that give you ten of my favorite zombie movies.  In case image doesn’t come through, here they are in no particular order.

 

REC
Dead Snow
Zombieland
Night of the Living Dead
Sugar Hill
Train to Busan
The Serpent and the Rainbow
Planet Terror
The Battery
The Horde

 

 


Filed Under: Blogtoberfest, Movies--Books--Music--Television Tagged: black girl nerds, blogtoberfest, dahlia dewinters, female geek bloggers, halloween, haloween, music, spooky music, the serpent and the rainbow, train to busan, zombies

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