This Emerald Lacks Luster

I love Green Lantern, but did not love this movie. The problem was the mediocre story. The best thing I can say about this film is that it was not as bad as most of the reviews I’ve read. That may be because I went in with low expectations and was pleased to find the story coherent and the special effects nondistracting. This movie should do well in rentals and on cable.

It’s a testament to Ryan Reynolds’ (Hal Jordan) ability and charisma that he brought some humanity to this woodenly written role. Though I was never happy about his casting, I have to admit after seeing the film, he made a decent GL and probably kept the movie from getting boring. Blake Lively was pleasantly perfect as Carol Ferris, GL’s boss and love interest. I think she struck a good cord between the character as written in the comics, and a realistic modern business woman. Based on her turn in this film, I hope she gets more movie roles.

Of Special note is Mark Strong as Sinestro. He's clearly been set up to be the baddie in the sequel, but his excellent stage presence and strong performance made it abundantly clear that this film lacked a good villain. It would be great if Warner realized what they did wrong in this movie and tried again with a better story. It was not lack of interest in this character that was the problem with Green Lantern. I'd like to make a comparison with Star Trek The Motion Picture. That film had similar problems to GL in that it too lacked a cohesive villain and had a mediocre story. But, although panned by the critics and fans, it was followed up by an amazingly good movie (The Wrath of Kahn) with a kick-ass baddie. Sinsetro can be Hal Jordan's Kahn Nonnian Singh if a sequel were to happen.

There’s really not that much more to say. The story had a ho-hum effect on its audience. Much like Super 8, this movie brought nothing new to its genre. What makes it especially tragic is that Iron-man showed how to take a second-tier character and turn it into a first-rate movie. DC used to be known as the company that could make successful movie and TV properties out of its characters. It seems to be stumbling while Marvel’s running away with the ball. Let’s see how Zach Snyder’s Superman fares in 2012.

I rate this film $7.50 out of the $13.50 I paid to see it. If you can catch a matinee for half price, it’s worth the time.

X-Men: First Rate

I went into the theater with low expectations for this movie and was blown out of my seat. X-men: First Class ranks among the best of the superhero genre movies, in the company of Dark Knight, Spiderman 2, and Superman.  It also distinguishes itself as the textbook example of what a prequel should be. I rate it at 120% entertainment value relative to other films in this series.
The story is set in the 1960s, and emulates perfectly the look and tone of the Sean Connery Bond films of that era. Kevin Bacon, as Sebastian Shaw, is surprisingly brilliant as the villain, and could hold company with Goldfinger and Blofeld and probably come out on top. No self-respecting world-dominating megalomaniac would be caught dead without a loyal familiar to stroke his ego, and this part is played beautifully by January Jones as Emma Frost (the White Queen) who is the cinematic mashing of Pussy Galore and Blofeld's Persian white kitty. In truth, this movie is very much a spy thriller in the 007 vein with super humans added in to optimum effect.
The story was expertly written, and Matthew Vaughn's direction was perfect; there was not a moment when the film lost momentum or pulled you out of the narrative. James McAvoy as Charles Xavier (Professor X) and Michael Fassbender as Magneto portrayed an effortless friendship between the two men reminiscent of the chemistry between Kirk and Spock. By the end of the movie, you believed their relationship would span decades. More importantly, you believed why, despite being on opposite sides with regards to their methods, Magneto would never kill Charles Xavier. Watch this film and afterwards put on the first X-Men movie... it's a perfect fit. "First Class" sets up the earlier films in the series in a way we all wished "Revenge of The Sith" would have set up Episode IV: "A New Hope."
The only sad part to having seen X-Men: First Class is that it came so early in the summer, nothing else is likely to match it for entertainment value and quality. This is a well-made, entertaining movie, so run, don't walk, to the theater. I rate this film $13.50 out of the the $13.50 to paid to see it. There isn't a better deal in town.

Edward Lazellari is the winner of Playboy's 1999 Short Fiction Contest and the author of fantasy novels Awakenings and The Lost Prince, from Tor Books.

Book Expo America 2011: A First Look

Me and Lev sign books

As I entered the Jacob Javits center in New York, I was amazed at how much BEA reminded me of the NY Comic Con. The layout of the aisles, the artfully designed booths, the frenetic buzz of conversations in the air, and the excitement of acquiring good swag and a free bag to put it in. Fans flowed into the hall, hopeful to get an autograph or two from their favorite writers. On closer inspection, the differences between the two events are obvious; this is a calmer, more cerebral crowd. Teachers, librarians, and book sellers have replaced the gamers, fan boys, Hollywood pitchmen, costumed teens, and just plain bizarre attention getters that I had normally come to associate with conventions at this center.

Lev (left), Edward (right)

The walk to Javits from Eighth Ave. was long and hot. There are no subways near the center. I was there to promote my first novel, AWAKENINGS. Alexis, my Tor Books publicist, met me in the lobby with a big smile and ushered me to the air-conditioned green room where I could rehydrate and crash on a couch before meeting the faithful throngs. My first thought was, would there even be throngs? Throngs had to be earned through blood sweat and tears. Why would anybody want my autograph? The book hasn’t come out yet -- no one has read it, no one’s reviewed it. Fellow author, Lev AC Rosen, who was promoting the steam punk thriller All Men of Genius, at least had a well formulated plan to start singing “Ain’t There Anyone Here for Lev” (A play on words of an old Jane Russell scene in “Gentlemen Prefer Blondes”) if our line was empty. I, on the other hand, had no plan action – no song from an old musical to while away my lonely blues. I was woefully unprepared.

Photos courtesy of Lev AC Rosen

Stocked up on sharpie pens, Alexis and Cassie ushered us behind the curtain to row 12 of the autograph line. Boxes of our novels were stacked and ready to distribute. Much to Lev’s and my surprise, there was indeed a long row of teachers and librarians (and a few plain-ole-vanilla fantasy fans) excited to get signed copies of our books. One woman said she had been waiting to get my book and it was the highlight of her trip. I asked her “why” since the book hadn’t even been reviewed yet -- she said it was strictly based on the description of the story. (I’m glad Paul and I came up with a stylish, but accurate, description of what was going on in the book.) Some were bloggers, who introduced themselves to us: Angela Leonard from Dark Faerie Tales, Tania from Literary Cravings and a few others (who did not hand me their business cards).

I only recently learned how important it was to interact with the fan-based community. In ye olden days (anytime before 1995) an author could just sit in his or her cave writing stories. Today, you need to be on Twitter collecting followers. You need a Website and a Facebook presence. You need a blog. You need to follow blogs and join fan communities and other groups. This is all great stuff, and no doubt, I could have a lot of fun with it, except, I have a day job in addition to trying to make my deadline on book two. Where was the time going to come from for a whole third job?

But I digress. The day was a huge success for both Lev and myself. We went through three boxes of Advanced Reader Copies (ARCs) and finished the signing 20 minutes early (because we ran out of books). I had some time before meeting my editor for lunch. I walked around and soaked in the energy and excitement of the expo. New stories were being shilled at every booth. Which would be the next Harry Potter, the next DaVinci Code?

My editor and I had lunch at a very pleasant Greek restaurant called Periyali on 20th Street, with mystery writer extraordinaire Hilary Davidson, author of The Damage Done, It's hard to describe Hilary because of the sheer shortage of words in the English vocabulary that mean superfantasticawesomealicious. She's a generous cornucopia of knowledge about how to promote your novel.

It was a trans-formative experience for me, but I was not the only one in transition that day. After lunch, I continued libations at two New York watering holes to bid fond farewell to two friends who were leaving New York to pursue new opportunities out west. They were happy for me as I was for them. My first BEA, an unqualified success, had come to an end. Can't wait for 2012.
Oh Yeah... and buy AWAKENINGS, available September 2011.

Great Book On The Craft Of Writing

To anyone that wants write stories , I highly recommend Stephen King's book "On Writing." One of the finest tomes written on the craft.