Best and Worst Move Remakes Blogfest!

Thank you to Alex, Stephen, Livia, and Al for hosting this blogfest! There are so many good and bad movie remakes to choose from, so I've decided to narrow it down a bit and present to you my:

Best and Worst HORROR Movie Remakes

 

WORST

Psycho (1998): Gus Van Sant's shot-by-shot color re-creation of Hitchcock's classic is an amazing feat. How could a shot-by-shot remake of a masterpiece go wrong. This remake shows how. Vince Vaughn is so incredibly miscast as Norman Bates. He just wasn't believable. There were great supporting actors in this movie, but they could not save it. And Gus Van Sant gave us Good Will Hunting just the year before. How could he follow Good Will Hunting with this?

BEST

The Last House on the Left (2009): The remake of Wes Craven's 1972 classic is every bit as horrific and brutal as the original. Many times the remakes are watered down, but not this one. It's not a move for the faint of heart, but it is well made and acted, paced and shot, paying true homage to the original. The Last House on the Left is a simple story of brutality and revenge, real and gritty, and more horror than any Hollywood monster movie.

 

Bonus: Best and Worst Song Covers - Metallica Edition

Worst:  Metallica was named MTV's Icon of 2003 and given a special tribute concert. The biggest problem was they chose bands to pay homage to Metallica's songs that couldn't play them. Korn's performance of "One" and Limp Bizkit's performance of "Sanitarium" were incredibly bad and take the cake for worst covers.

Best: Garage, Inc. is Metallica's cover/compilation album that came out in 1998 and showed how great they could remake songs. There are many amazing covers, but most notably The Dubliners' "Whiskey in a Jar," Bob Seger's "Turn the Page," and Blue Oyster Cult's "Astronomy."

Top 10 Movie Countdown Blogfest!

Thank you to Captain Alex Cavanaugh for hosting this blogfest! And be sure to go to his blog for the full list of participants.

There are just too many movies to chose from, but I narrowed them down to the ten movie covers below (in no particular order). These are not movies that I necessary think are the best movies of all time, but movies that I can and have watched over and over, having become staples in my movie collection. Hopefully, you've enjoyed a few of these as well. I also want to mention two honorable mentions, Good Will Hunting (I couldn't bring myself to knock off one of the movies below, but it's right up there nonetheless) and Silver Lining's Playbook (which I've only seen once, so it can't officially be on the list, but I loved it so much that I know it'll make its way onto the list in the coming years).

Also, I love Harry Potter, and most of the movies deserve a place on my favorites list, but I didn't want to use up six or seven spots on Harry Potter. So Goblet of Fire represents the series as a whole.

Back From the Future Blogfest

Thank you to Mary @ Wistful Nebula, Nicki @ Not-So-Deep Thoughts, and Suze @ Subliminal Coffee for setting up this blogfest. Here's the blurb so you know what it's all about:

You're up before dawn on a Saturday when the doorbell rings. You haven't brewed your coffee so you wonder if you imagined the sound. Plonking the half-filled carafe in the sink, you go to the front door and cautiously swing it open. No one there. As you cast your eyes to the ground, you see a parcel addressed to you ... from you.

You scoop it up and haul it inside, sensing something legitimate despite the extreme oddness of the situation. Carefully, you pry it open. Inside is a shoebox -- sent from ten years in the future -- and it's filled with items you have sent yourself.

What's in it?

I remove two trade paperbacks from the shoebox, and they are mine! Provex City and SUSY Asylum, but with new covers and a line across the top of each that reads: "New York Times Bestseller." On the back covers is a picture of myself that I've never seen before, but I don't look much older than I do now. I flip through the pages and scan familiar scenes. The words are definitely mine.

I turn to the first few pages to find the publisher and stop on a list of over fifteen books I've supposedly written. It would have been nice to get one of the books I haven't written yet to make my life a little easier, but I'm sure my future self already thought of that. Leave it to future Mike to be teaching present Mike a lesson in earning my own way. Damn you, future Mike! At least I don't have to fret about running out of ideas.  

My gaze drops to one more book in the shoebox. I set the other two books down and reach for my original Createspace proof of Provex City. I still have this book buried in my bookcase somewhere--a copy I never want to lose. It was the first book I had ever held in my hands with my name on it. With all of its imperfections, it symbolizes my transformation into an author. I open up the front cover and find a short inscription:

"Remember to always believe anything is possible."

I close the cover and know it to be true.

 <><><><>

Thank you for reading and be sure to check out the other awesome bloggers signed up for this blogfest!

Cheers, Cavanaugh Blogfest!

Welcome to the “Cheers, Cavanaugh BlogFest.”

Thank you to Mark Koopmans, Morgan Shamy, David Powers King and Stephen Tremp for hosting this blogfest, which runs from December 10 - 12. And thank you to Capt. Ninja Alex for being such a good sport!

So, here are my answers to these questions four:

1.      In +/- 20 words, what does Alex look like? Like any good ninja, Alex is a master of disguise. One day he’s clean-shaven, with long hair, and the next he dons a straggly beard and nose prosthetic.

2.      In +/- 20 words, who could play Alex in a documentary? (Living or dead.) Robin Williams from Good Will Hunting.

3.      In +/- 20 words, who does Alex remind you of? Robin Williams from Good Will Hunting. He’s the lovable mentor.  

4.      In +/- 100 words, (excluding the title) write flash fiction using all these prompts:

·         Cavanaugh

·         Ninja

·         IWSG

·         Cosbolt

·         Guitar

Cavanaugh & the Ninja

The ninja pushed open the batwing doors and strolled into the saloon. Conversations stopped and everyone except Cavanaugh looked over. The musician in the corner put down his guitar, leaving the bar in sheer silence.

Cavanaugh continued to sip from his Cosbolt. He couldn’t hear the ninja approaching, but he could feel him—feel him drawing closer.

The sharp sound of unsheathing steel rang through the quiet saloon.

“IWSG!” a lady in a crimson dress screamed.

Cavanaugh eyed her suspiciously. She’d had more than her share of Cosbolts.

“I mean, OMG!” she said, correcting herself and flushing the color of her dress.

The ninja was now just a few steps away with his blade raised and gleaming.

“This ends now,” Cavanaugh growled, slid his hand to the revolver on his hip, and finally turned to face the masked man.

For Bonus Points:

In +/- 40 words, leave a comment for Mrs. Cavanaugh.

Thank you, Mrs. Cavanaugh, for sharing your husband with us crazy blogging folks. I’m sure it’s hard at times to pry him away from the computer, from his countless adoring friends and fans. The blogosphere wouldn’t be the same without him!

Oh, How I Miss You Blogfest

I want to thank Capt. Alex, Andrew, and Matthew for hosting this blogfest. The title says it all.

As soon as I saw Alex's announcement for this blogfest, I knew who I wanted to highlight. I miss my friend Rane. She is a fellow young adult writer and had created a successful blog called The Lit Express last year. She is the one who got me started blogging--after discussing it for about six months. I was really nervous to jump into the blogosphere. But I finally did it, and Rane helped me get started. She was even my first follower!

Soon after my blog launched, life got it the way of Rane's blogging and writing (which I can totally relate to). She stopped posting and began revamping the site. But never finished. It's been sitting lonely and under construction for most of the year. I check it regularly with the hope of seeing a glorious relaunch. Maybe in 2013.

Thank you, Rane, for pushing me into starting my blog. I've learned a lot and met great people along the way. Life has been getting in my way recently, too, but that's just how if goes sometimes. I can't do everything, only my best at this moment in time.

Thank you for reading.

Thank you for commenting.

Thank you for your continued support.

Thank you!!!