Sky Captain, eye exam, and Cyberpunk article

Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow: (this should be spoiler-free) There’s much good to be said about this. It was pretty, Jude Law has the sexiest voice, and I really liked the EFX. Unfortunately, I think Hollywood has given up on the concept of scriptwriters. I think their screenplays are written using wordplay refrigerator magnets. They toss them onto the ‘fridge, then however they splay out, they transpose to script–the monkey-with-typewriters path to Shakespeare.

Sky Captain was vacuous. I had major issues liking “Polly Perkins,” Gwyneth Paltrow’s character. Aside from her stereotypical “anything for the story” personality, I found her dishonest, which doesn’t work as “main romantic interest” for me. She was also a total wuss with anything that wasn’t reporter-related. On the other hand, I really liked Angelina Jolie’s character, “Franky”–strong and sexy. And I thought her eye patch was utterly hot. I also liked Bai Ling as the “mysterious woman,” but then I’ve liked her since I saw her in an episode of Angel. She didn’t have any lines, though. That’s probably just as well.

Despite the glaring faults of Sky Captain, I had fun. I had a lot of fun. It’s a beautiful movie, with seamless blue/green screen EFX. The iron men are wondrous to behold, as are the ornithopters. I’d definitely recommend it as an eye-candy, action-rific time with the caveat that it’s probably best to immerse totally in the scenery and not spend too much time paying attention to the script.

Went to the optometrist yesterday. $400 for the exam, a new supply of soft contact lenses, and new glasses. Ouch. There goes the money I’ll be getting for “The Storyteller’s Wife” from Realms of Fantasy.

My eyes are fine. Dry, but healthy. But they’ve gotten worse–which I’m not surprised by since I’ve stopped wearing my gas permeable lenses, and without them to stabilize my eyes, they’re reverting to their natural horrible state. She also dilated my eyes, which made it an interesting drive home. While I didn’t have any problems focusing on distant objects, I couldn’t read the clock on my dashboard. And even with my sunglasses on, I found it to be painfully bright outside. At least I really like my optometrist. She’s knowledgeable and informative, a good combination in a health professional. And the lenses she gave me to go home with let me see clearly again. I’ve been so frustrated at my blurry vision. It’s such a relief to be able to see well.


Writing Stuff:

After a query, I got a note from the editor of IROSF, John Frost. He wants me to do some rewriting/chopping on my Sub-Genre Spotlight on Cyberpunk article, but he wants it! Hurray!

Worked on the rewrite request last night. Got a few more tweaks to make, and then I’ll send it off.
(Edit: tweaks done, and emailed.)

I also queried LCRW, but still haven’t heard anything back.

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10 Responses to Sky Captain, eye exam, and Cyberpunk article

  1. lilithraevyn says:

    I have a theory that movies just keep proving;

    As our special effects get better, the writing gets worse.

    This isn’t true in every case, but it is in way too many.

  2. pagmatic says:

    tha unmagic of Movies; dreams; and comics! In this reply to you!

    Movies are either beconmg bad remakes; somewhat sequels; and even Digitized Doldrum. Now if there was just a better story within all the tripe? I’m actually enjoying the “classics” from the 40-50s, etc; when there was an interesting story (gasp); and less action. Ahhh, how times change :/

    On a sidenote,last nite I had a dream that you and some others went on a picnic; but I had to use the bathroom at the last minute; which made you really mad! I took that as a message of sorts–just not sure what message, exactly? Perhaps not to touch the colored paper; unless I’m God……

    And then there was complete silence among the LJ readers, as they tried to figure out what it means to be God and touching paper. Just come to Dragon*Con next year and find out, kiddies!! MUWAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!

    BTw, did you get that email with my latest comic submission? It’s also posted on my LJ.

    • Eugie Foster says:

      Re: tha unmagic of Movies; dreams; and comics! In this reply to you!

      BTw, did you get that email with my latest comic submission? It’s also posted on my LJ.

      Ooops. Yep, I got it. It’s published now on the DD website. Kinda letting Dragon*Con stuff wind down . . .

  3. sdowens says:

    congrats on the IROSF sale! $70 isn’t a sale to take too lightly, even if you’ve just escaped from a ring of much larger sales 🙂

  4. Went to the optometrist yesterday.

    BTW, thanks for reminding me. I need to do that too. I need more bi-focal contacts. The bi-focal glasses I have sucks! Tried wearing it during Chemistry lab and that thang is useless. I’m nearsighted and can see better near. When wearing that glasses I’m suppose to see near & far but can only see far, so here I was STRUGGLING during the class hour. Ugh!

  5. terracinque says:

    I had major issues liking “Polly Perkins,” Gwyneth Paltrow’s character.

    Alls I know is, I’ve found my costume for next year’s Dragon*Con.

  6. Anonymous says:

    Commentary

    Back!

    Re: Sky.
    Thanks for the opinion/review. I’m not surprised that the movie’s low on character/high on special effects. Typical Hollywood. What amazes me is that current scriptwriting courses emphasize character. But I do understand: the studios are running on such marginal budgets (i.e., those major actors/actresses need their 10-55 million dollar paychecks FIRST) that the goal is to maximize towards the masses. Sometimes this works; most of the time, though, it doesn’t.

    Re: article.
    Yeah!

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