Word on the street is that we can expect a Doctor Strange movie in the near future (as in 2012/13). That’s from Marvel itself. No other information—no director, star, budget, or actual schedule—but apparently it’s coming.

Excuse me while I sit here with minimal excitement. After I get the details, maybe I’ll get excited. Right now, too much can go wrong and Hollywood has shat upon source material too often for me to get hopes up. Still, this movie is likely from Marvel, so perhaps there is reason for optimism?

Nah. I’ll keep my expectations low and be excited if they are exceeded.

It seems that the Byran Singer directed re-make of John Boorman’s Excalibur won’t move forward. The project has been dropped as another King Arthur project, also named Excalibur, was ready to move forward before Singer could get to work on his, so his got dropped.

The other Excalibur? Directed by Guy Ritchie. Okay, that’s kind of neat. And written my WARREN holy-mother-fuckin’-cool ELLIS. I’m trippin’ balls on this.

And while I would very interested in seeing Singer re-make Boorman, I’m more interested in seeing him re-make Larson.

See, apparently dropping Excalibur means that the next project on Singer’s menu is a “re-imagining” of Battlestar Galactica. Not a remake of the recent series, but a remake of the original from 1978. Very cool. I’m assuming this is going in a totally different direction than the Ronald Moore production. It better.

Unless Singer wants to re-do the finale, because I’d be all for that.

The seasons have shifted and now it’s dark out when I go in to work in the morning. I actually like it. I used to be out and about in the cities in which I lived late into the night. Even after my wife and I married, we had many a night prowling the downtowns of Taegu and Seoul in South Korea, or Waterloo, Toronto, and Halifax back home in Canada. After the kids came, though, I rarely see the city draped in darkness.

The autumn is a good time for it. The weather hasn’t turned too chilly—though, honestly, only the worst of the Ottawa winter weather actually bothers me—and I really don’t mind strolls in the rainy darkness. Heck, it makes me think of Blade Runner and film noir, so it’s actually somewhat inspirational.

It also doesn’t hurt that I don’t mind coming in to work, so it’s not like I’m on a trip to the gallows or anything.

Warning: I’m about to get political. If that’s not your thing, move along. If that is your thing and you want to comment, please be aware that comments are moderated. Dissenting opinions will be published, but if you’re a dick, that comment will just get trashed. Speak your mind, but don’t be a jerk

Last warning. Rant begins below.

In general, I support the police. They have a very difficult job, and I know the bullshit they face every day has hardened many of them. My interactions with the police, in general, have been through one of my previous jobs–in which I consulted with and was consulted by police at the federal, provincial and municipal level–and the three traffic tickets I or my wife have received in the last decade. In all those interactions, the police have been polite, professional, and even-tempered.

Seeing these images, though, makes me extremely angry. We are different in this country and in those others of the “Western” world because we have the rule of law and representative democracies. Unfortunately, the images coming out of the “Occupy” demonstrations are showing the police as brutal and fascistic–and I do not use that term for hyperbole, as I believe police beating individuals involved in peaceful protests, whether they are responsive to police demands or not, is fascistic. The police need the community in order to do their jobs well. This is losing them that community. It’s not the fault of the RCMP officer stationed in Yellowknife that the NYPD are looking like thugs, but that officer is unfortunately painted with that brush.

And we cannot look to our elected representatives to do what is right and call the police to account. They are likely instigating it or at least silently supporting it. Governments are now owned, I have no doubt of that. I have lost my faith in politicians and in my fellow constituents. Money is buying elections and voters have become too apathetic too care . . . until after then election when they complain, complain, complain.

The people involved in the “Occupy” demonstrations at least are doing something. I will bet they voted as well. The problem is, at least in the USA, the man they voted for, the one who promised change, is owned by the same people that own every other politician.

And here, ladies and gentlemen, is a lovely depiction of hypocrisy.

I recently got a chance to watch Punisher: War Zone. I was tempted to do so after listening to Patton Oswalt rhapsodize over it on an episode of How Did This Get Made. I have to say, he’s pretty much spot on.

This is an amazingly entertaining movie. It is not a great movie. Nope. But it delivers. Boy, does it deliver. It is a fun movie, an exciting movie, and absolutely the best Punisher movie yet made. This movie seems to get it. This is a comic book movie about a comic book vigilante and it has comic book sensibilities.

It’s also gritty. Frank Castle’s world is dirty and depressing. It is always night and wet. It is also incredibly well shot for what is basically an homage to B-movies wrapped in a violent comic adaptation.

And Ray Stevenson: this man needs much more work. Much. More. Listen, I have a soft spot for him and Kevin McKidd due to HBO’s Rome. Stevenson was outstanding in that. But he’s been outstanding in everything I’ve seen him in, whether he’s supporting—as in Book of Eli—or starring—as in Outpost, which I’ve also reviewed. This is Frank Castle—massive, intimidating, beefy but not pretty-boy cut. And the costume is great, just enough of the comic influence while providing something that looks like it could protect one from a 9mm.

If you like the Punisher comic, found the Dolph Lundgren vehicle appalling, but weren’t totally enthralled by Thomas Jane’s turn, give War Zone a shot. I wish there were a sequel with the same cast and crew coming out way, but that doesn’t look likely.

More information on this movie can be found here.

The Punisher: War Zone episode of How Did This Get Made is here.

My review of Outpost can be found here.

“Tell ‘im I’m coming. Tell ‘im I’m fuckin’ coming.” – Terence Stamp as Wilson

I watched the Limey on the wonderful TV Ontario “Saturday Night at the Movies.” I own the DVD, but the presentation began with interviews of some of the principals, including Peter Fonda. It was interesting and informative.

My wife asked me, as we watched, if that’s what I would do if someone hurt one of our daughters. I would love to say yes. I would love to believe that, like Wilson, I would basically surrender my life to the quest for revenge. Of course, unlike Wilson, I would have another daughter and a wife to think about. I also don’t have his skill set. I’m pretty sure I couldn’t go into a warehouse with a 9 mil and execute ever last motherfuckin’ one of ‘em (yes, quote from another movie—doesn’t matter, is apt).

This movie is both artistically adept and tense. It also has some insanely good performances, especially from its lead, Terence Stamp. The man is phenomenal. I highly recommend this movie to anyone who likes movies. This means you.

You can find information on the Limey here.

You can find TVO’s Saturday Night at the Movies here.

You can find Terence “God Among Men” Stamp’s IMDB listing here.

I’ve put a one-pager adventure up at SEP called “The Lost.” It’s about an ex-Urban Cohort in Everthorn who as lost everything except his little girl, and now an old enemy has taken her. The ex-Cohort has been beaten nearly to death, and he’s got no one, so he turns to the PCs—for whatever reason—as his last hope to save his daughter. The first thing to understand is that this adventure may be a non-starter. The PCs might be criminals, you know?

But should that matter? In my Sword Noir fiction, the protagonists reside in a gritty world, and they are down there in the grit, but there are lines that they will not cross. There are lots of crimes that are pretty serious, but that most audiences can forgive if the criminal is honourable and has limits that we can understand. Who doesn’t sympathize with Tony Montana in Scarface? Even though he’s a murderer and a criminal, his downfall is pretty much predicated on the fact he doesn’t want to kill innocent people, especially children. Sure he’s a criminal, but what about bankers, money managers, and politicians? They’re criminals who are never prosecuted and don’t seem to have lines. No, Tony Montana is a criminal we can love. He might not be Robin Hood, but he’s loyal and honourable and we can cheer for him.

Calum in “Flotsam Jewel” does dirty deeds to support his kid brother. Caspan Trey in “For Simple Coin” almost gets killed trying to protect an innocent girl. Sure, both are criminals, but they are not bad people. Drust and Brude from “A Pound of Dead Flesh” seem pretty willing to commit petty crimes, but they aren’t out to hurt anyone who isn’t trying to hurt them.

“The Lost” works on the assumption that no one wants to play the kind of character that wouldn’t intervene to save a little girl taken from her father—who might be a scumbag loser, but who is still a loving father trying to do his best for his daughter. Maybe it’s because I’m a dad with two little girls of my own, whose greatest nightmare and fear would be to lose either one of them, but if my players turned their back on this guy, I’d be right pissed and I’d let them know it.

I just don’t think it’s fun to play real evil. I honestly wonder about people who believe otherwise.

You can find “The Lost” one-pager here.

You can find “Flotsam Jewel” and “For Simple Coin” in the short story collection For Simple Coin, here.

You can find “A Dead Pound of Flesh” in Black Gate #15, here.

I’m pretty optimistic about the Avengers movies. That’s mainly because my expectations are low. Those expectations are low not because I don’t like Joss Whedon—I do—nor because I think the film doesn’t have enough impressive actors in it—it certainly does—but because even Kenneth Brannagh didn’t totally crush Thor.

Listen, I like Joss Whedon, and I enjoyed Serenity, but it wasn’t a great movie. It was a good movie. A good movie is enough. It is not a bad movie nor a mediocre movie, but a good movie.

Thor was a good movie. I wouldn’t call it a great movie, though I enjoyed it. It was a good movie, it did its job. It—like the Avengers—had a pretty stellar cast. The character development, even for its main character, fell a little flat and the fight scenes didn’t have much energy. I’m not going to complain, though, because I got to see Thor on the big screen.

I expect the same from the Avengers. The photos that I’ve seen so far have been great. The trailer—I am certain—will be awesome. It will look spectacular. And, in the end, it will be good. I’m fairly certain of that. I don’t think, though, that it will great.

Since I tend to run a kind of “seat of my pants” game when I GM, I’ve decided to embrace that. For Sword Noir games, I’m running them using “one-pagers.” The adventure fills one page. It’s an outline, not an adventure, but I tend to be able to create on the fly, letting the PCs dictate much of the game.

If you aren’t comfortable improvising an adventure, the one-pager process really isn’t for you. You need to be able to let your players run with it. Because so little is specified, so much is open to chance and change. In the last one-pager I ran, the players threw me a loop deciding that they wanted their gang to be working out of a high class neighbourhood. However, since being open to player desires is one benefit of a one-pager, I just went with it.

For my one-pagers, I begin with a paragraph that outlines the adventure—what’s the challenge or conflict. Then I outline two or three plot points, beats that will be hit in the expected trajectory of the game. Then I include some special locations—places that would be cool or interesting. Finally there are the narrative characters, maybe four or five heroes and regulars that are linked to the plot. Minions are so easy to cook up on the fly, there is no incentive to stat them out.

And there you have your adventure. Now, when I do this, I usually have other material handy—for Sword Noir, I’ve compiled all the information on Everthorn into a single document that does a very good job of backing me up. It’s helpful, but not necessary, as creating places on the fly doesn’t intimidate me.

But names do. Names of characters, names of areas, names of streets, names of taverns, just names. I suck at coming up with good names on the fly. I usually have a page or two of name ideas, for characters, neighbourhoods, businesses etc. I can continue to use this resource by crossing off names I’ve used and adding more during downtimes.

So that’s my one-pager adventure concept. I’m going to throw one or two one-pagers up at SEP over the next few days. Head over there if this seems of interest to you.

You can find the SEP page here.