I Rate the MCU: Phase Three

And now we come to the end as of now. Since Phase 3 is still in progress, I'm obviously stopping at the most recent film but I will add to it as the later ones are released. This time around, you'll likely notice a diminished enthusiasm and a creeping annoyance in my tone.

Captain America: Civil War- The Law of Diminishing Returns is, as the hipsters say, a "thing" and nowhere is it more obvious than this third Captain America outing. Hats off to Marvel for making a dozen films before this became the case but damn! They really saved it all up for this disappointment. My criticisms are numerous, yet the real irony is that I can still find enough enjoyment in this movie to watch it from time to time. Still, it's an over-crowded mess filled with sub-plots galore, absurd contrivances and easily the most anti-climatic showdown in the franchise's history. The much touted battle royale between titans is reduced to little more than a stalling action for the main plot and a parking lot brawl with little actual consequence. Iron Man 2 is often maligned for being an obvious franchise bridge yet for whatever reason this one gets a pass? Fanboys, I disdainfully shake my head at you!

Doctor. Strange- A brief restoration of sanity and quality to the MCU, this long-awaited origin film featuring Benedict Cumberbatch as the Sorcerer Supreme almost feels like a DC movie, and that's not an insult coming from me. This is a wonderfully absurd piece of thoughtful filmmaking that provides a nice rest for all the obnoxious franchise building going on in the other films. Ironically, this nice break would continue with

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2- Something happened on the way to the GOTG sequel. I sat in the theater and loved every minute of it! How, after my unimpressed reaction to the first movie, this one was such a great experience is either a testament to my incredible open-mindedness (Doubtful!) or the fact that James Gunn et. al. improved upon every single criticism I had of the first film and delivered an incredible sequel. I am now a fan of this franchise.

Spider-Man: Homecoming- And here endeth the honeymoon! Marvel spent years trying to finagle the rights away from Sony (who was absolutely destroying Spider-Man with those awful Andrew Garfield movies) and they finally got him, recast him, made him a kid again and threw him awkwardly but enjoyably into the mix in Civil War. Expectations were high for a movie that finally got the character just right and delivered the MCU goods in new and exciting ways. And on paper, it was all there to happen. Tom Holland is a great Peter Parker and Michael Keaton's Vulture was the most refreshing villain since Loki. But then a hit and miss script seemingly more concerned with the trials and tribulations of teenage existence was chosen and what could have been the best MCU movie since the Avengers turned out to be enjoyable but shockingly mediocre.

Thor: Ragnarok: An enjoyable threequel, this Thor installment eschews the melodrama of the previous installment and builds on the humor of the first with mostly satisfying results. Chris Hemsworth knows his character well enough to poke fun at him, although the poking gets a tad obnoxious at times. Tony Stark's influence aside, I often had difficulty with the wacky line deliveries but the story worked and the interplay of the characters sold the film's minor shortcomings.

Black Panther: I really enjoyed the first three fourths of "Black Panther" but the Third Act was a bit of a mess. It didn't make it a bad movie but I do find it mildly overrated. It went from potentially great to sort of hackneyed and cheesy. One thing Marvel keeps doing that bothers me is handing these important films to directors who have never made a big budget film before. Sometimes it pays off, usually it has mixed results and this one was no exception.

An Unexpected Positive Review of Sorts.

Michael Cieslak of Dragon's Roost Press recently re-posted a glowing review of the for charity horror anthology Desolation: 21 Tales for Tails and, while it doesn't single out any particular contribution or author, but the reviewer certainly seemed to enjoy herself.

My short story was "Beautiful Libby & the Darkness," a peculiar story even for me that takes place in a Concentration camp where experimentation on a young woman results in immediate disaster for the Nazis involved and long-range disaster for the victims of her appetite through present day.

Read the review here.

...THEY KEEP PULLING ME BACK IN!!!

I received the following email last week:

Hello, Christopher. Due to the overwhelming success of ERIE TALES, there has been an uptick in demand for previous issues.  We are very excited; however, this presents us a new challenge:

We’re running out of table space! While we’d love to have all ten issues of ERIE TALES, we simply don’t have the room. ERIE TALES 1 through 4 are only available in ERIE TALES: OMNIBUS (Vol. 1). We will be doing the same for ERIE TALES 5 through 9, as we begin to phase out production. ERIE TALES 5 has been out of print for over 3 years.

As we begin to consolidate, we are aware that there may be no contract signed for previous anthologies and we did not want to wade into a gray area of copyright without consulting our authors first.  Without your consent, our options are to pull the anthologies completely, robbing future readers of your stories, or excising specifically your story/poem. We’d really rather not do that.

We would like the opportunity to reprint your tale “Jeremiah's Malady” from ERIE TALES 5. We are confirming non-exclusive reprint rights of your story/poem for the print and digital editions of ERIE TALES: OMNIBUS (Vol II). Aside from the corrections of the typographical errors and general formatting clean-up, this stories may be identical to previous versions. There is no payment associated with the reprint of this anthology and no contributor copy is offered. In the event of space constraints, we may not be able to print all confirmations we receive, but we will let you know either way.

Your response (a Yes or a No) to this email is all that is necessary.  If you would like a new bio added, do send that along as well. 

Please respond by June 1, 2018.

Regards,

Peggy Christie, Secretary
Great Lakes Association of Horror Writers

Naturally I gave my permission. They're a good group and I was once a member and, honestly, I'd forgotten that story even existed! It was about a sentient virus that an entire bloodline had to carry lest it escape and infect the human race.

So once again somebody emerges from the ether and pulls me back into the writing world.

Kaiju.

My second novel "Kaiju" is technically out of print but it's still available through the Barnes & Noble website. One independent seller is actually selling it for $1.99! I suppose I'd find that mildly insulting if not for the description of the book's physical condition. 

I'm planning to re-edit this novel at some point in the not-too-distant future so I suppose this could become a collector's item or at least a good comparison to whatever Version Two is like. 

The Greatest Compliment.

Any positive review of my work is appreciated, of course. When you're a relative unknown, most of the comments you receive come from readers as opposed to critics. It's rare that a reader will take the time to review something they read, especially when it isn't a famous work. And while many of the reactions I've received have been favorable, I don't think there is a greater compliment than this.

"Insightful

Raving Review.

I may have posted this before but it was nice to run across this reader review of my short story in the "Shadow Masters" anthology from a few years ago. Scroll down to the bottom for mention of yours truly.

Quote of the Week.

(Cocaine) Makes you think you're smarter than everyone else. Makes you talk too much. Makes you think you're incredibly attractive even when you're fat and old. Makes you think you're on top of the world even when everything is falling apart.

Does that make you think of anyone?

-Tad Williams

  

Oops, I done it again!

Clearly the rumors of my semi-retirement from fiction writing were greatly exaggerated. At least for the moment. The apparently controversial Dark Regions Press has a contest and the concept grabbed hold of me like a lecherous wino at an outdoor cover band concert. The maximum length of 1000 words seemed a good starting point, although short lengths can often be rather intimidating for a writer like me.

I went through three basic ideas for my deserted island story before I was satisfied. Interestingly, each rejected idea strengthened the overall finished product because there were elements of each I really liked. Just not enough for the conclusion and overall raison de'tere.

The result was a short story that clocked in at just under 1000 words titled "Day 38." Having taken a lesson from "Lost," the concept of someone remaining on a desert island for months and years seemed a tad difficult to believe.

I'm not a newbie. I don't automatically expect that because I wrote it somebody should publish it but I'd be lying if I denied this got my creative juices flowing again. I'm pretty sure my sub-conscious knew that would happen.

Bastard~