Law Abiding Citizen
Published March 31st, 2010 | 
I kept hearing Law Abiding Citizen was good, so I figured I’d give it a shot. I have always been a movie buff, although now that I have a two-year-old, I’m more like a movie fluff. That said, I can still appreciate a good movie and pick apart a bad one if need be. If it were a few years ago, I would have watched a movie like Law Abiding Citizen within two weeks after it came out. These days, I didn’t even get to see Avatar in 3D, which I’m pretty bummed about.
Anyway, last Friday night I sat on the couch with my wife after a long week and hit up the direct tv for Law Abiding Citizen. The movie started out on a very disturbing note. After five minutes, I was already contemplating if I wanted to keep watching – it was that disturbing. Fortunately, the movie quickly turned from brutal to thrilling. There was one other brutal scene mixed in, but it’s one that I enjoyed. And you most likely will, too. Trust me … you’ll see why.
The psychological warfare that goes on between the two central characters – one being Jamie Foxx – is great. It’s also unique in the sense that you’re unsure who to root for. One man is acting like a vigilante and you feel for him, but you also know that the things he’s doing are wrong. The other man is doing his job as a lawyer so you want to side with him. At the same time, he’s also the reason the problem began in the first place. Most movies direct you toward whom to side with. That’s not the case here, which makes it interesting. The ending of the movie was also very good and memorable.
Law Abiding Citizen reminded me of Taken. While Law Abiding Citizen was well worth watching, Taken was a little bit better. That said, most people would probably disagree with me.
This is a guest post from my buddy Sam Welks
This Ain’t Random House
Published March 29th, 2010 | I’m the first to admit that I’ve never been through the front door at Random House (although I knew a guy back in college who got an internship there based on the fact that him mom worked there — something he didn’t feel the least bit ashamed admitting). And, except for a brief "don’t call us, we’ll call you" rejection letter back in the early nineties, I’ve never gotten close to the welcome mat. In any event, when I was much younger, back in high school and dreamt of a literary life either as a writer or an editor or both, I always imagined having this nice cozy office with a big desk, organizers and modern sofas, art on the wall. Sort of like IKEA crossed with Pee-wee Herman.
Sure, I thought I’d have a few groveling assistants who would fall to their knees at my every beckoned call. The truth is, I suspect it’s far less glamorous than that, in reality. Probably the senior editors have nice offices and the assistant editor may also have a broom closet that passes for an office. But I’d wager most work out of a cubicle. I don’t know, maybe one of you guys can send me a picture or a little floor plan. Throw this lowly bottom-feeder a bone.
Me, after almost fifteen years (well, 13 years and 3 months), I still work out of my bedroom. Books and files piled everywhere. Empty water bottles. My shabby old desk looks like disaster area. My computer needs a good dusting. IKEA crossed with Pee-Wee Herman it is not. No, my “office” is more like Sanford and Son crossed with Mad Max.
So, to all you writers out there expecting Random House manners from little ole me — get over it. This is about as far from Random House as your likely to get. This isn’t even The New Yorker or Paris Review.
The Death of Bookstores
Published March 27th, 2010 | Apoca-lit Now, an entry on The Telegraph’s website discusses the closing of the noted London indy bookstore, The Kilburne Bookshop. It’s sad, but true that more and more, the growth of online bookstores like Amazon are killing physical brick ‘n’ mortar bookstores. That’s because, nowadays, one browses in a bookstore for the atmosphere but buys the books online for the low prices.
This means that, over time, bookstores may well become altogether extinct. Trying to fit a traditional bookstore into the evolving digital publishing world may be like trying to fit Ferrari parts into a Volkswagon. On the other hand, we may be seeing bookstores evolve into something else. Perhaps libraries will one day stop being free and become privatized. Maybe an outfit like Barnes and Noble will by up all the public libraries and turn them all into private reading clubs. Hard to imagine a world without bookstores or public libraries but maybe that’s where we are headed. Time will tell.
