The Duel at Blood Creek

Credit to IMDB

One of my modules this year is looking at scriptwriting, and we're often shown a variety of short films. With this in mind, I thought I'd take a look at one of my favourite short films, The Duel at Blood Creek, a comedic period piece directed in 2010 by Leo Burton.

Taking place some time in the early 19th Century, we follow Lord Allesbury as he travels to Blood Creek with his servant, Benton. His intention is to fight a duel with Sir Oliver Hawthorne over an affair of honour. Unfortunately, he's not the only one coming to Blood Creek to fight a duel:

• Judge Edgar Proust is seeking to fight a duel with a man named Townsend, when he and Allesbury take an instant dislike to one another
• Lt Simon Beckett has been challenged to a duel by Captain Howard Gower
• Mr Mason and Mr Tunstall have come to settle their business dispute in a pistol duel overseen by their mutual friend Mr Elliot.

You'd think a short film couldn't work with so many characters, but somehow it creates some great humour from the bickering between the various duellists, especially as the reasons for duelling come to light. They're not exactly honourable, and some are outright childish.

For a film about duelling, there isn't much focus on any duelling until the end, but that's the joke; they're too busy arguing about who gets to duel first. Even when the duelling is underway, it gets hampered by the tensions between the different duellists.

If there's anything I do have to criticise, it's that nothing truly gets resolved. It ends with an anti-climactic deus ex machima. However, that itself is also pretty funny, so it's not a major issue for me.

The Duel at Blood Creek can be found online here. I highly recommend it for the laughs.

Happy writing, and if I don't post anything else in the next few days; Merry Christmas, Happy Hannukah, and any other holidays from around this time I may have missed.

Peter Pan Goes Wrong

It's December. Another time of year when we stretch one day of celebration into a whole month. Except the retail sector who stretch it for much longer. A time when we've started to see how long we can go without hearing "Last Christmas" by Wham!

(Five days for me, if you're asking)

Anyway, in honour of the holiday (and to procrastinate an assignment), I decided to take a look Mischief Theatre's Peter Pan Goes Wrong. Mischief Theatre's "Goes Wrong" productions are a series of stage shows which centre around the fictional Cornley Polytechnic Drama Society, whose productions are exactly as the title suggests. The series started with The Play That Goes Wrong in 2012, but I haven't seen that one.

I'm specifically looking at the Peter Pan Goes Wrong TV special which Mischief Theatre did with the BBC during Christmas in 2016. The hour-long special follows the Cornley Polytechnic Drama Society as they perform the traditional Christmas vignette (not pantomime), Peter Pan. Unfortunately, their production is seriously hampered by faulty props, cast members forgetting their lines, substandard sets, and even some personal dramas. What results from this is some of the funniest slapstick comedy I've ever seen.

The characters are all great. To illustrate things easier, I'll talk you through the cast members:

• Chris, the director, plays Captain Hook and Mr Darling, and gets angry when the audience regards the production of a pantomime
• Robert, who refers to himself as the "lead actor", plays none of the lead roles (Nana the dog, an unintelligible pirate called Starkey, and Peter's Shadow)
• The showboating Jonathan plays Peter Pan
• Sandra plays Wendy, and is in a relationship with Jonathan off-stage
• Max plays Michael and the Crocodile, has a crush on Sandra, and is said to have only got the parts because his aunt runs the BBC
• Dennis plays John and Mr Smee, and has to have his lines delivered to him through a headset
• Annie plays Mrs Darling, Liza the Maid, Tinkerbell (who is traditionaly played by a beam of light), Tiger Lily and a pirate (both in the same scene)
• Robert's niece Lucy plays Tootles the Lost Boy, but suffers from stage fright and multiple injuries
• Trevor serves as the stage manager, and sometimes ends up working on-stage as well as off
• David Suchet makes a guest appearance as the narrator

There are plenty of other jokes I haven't shared here. I'd say my favourite scene is when Mrs Darling is singing a lullaby, while Robert (as Nana) is stuck in the dog flap and the stage hands are trying to extricate him. Annie has to belt out the lullaby as her words are being drowned out by the stage crew's power tools. This is immediately followed by this gem:

Overall, it's a great show with some great laughs, but I have the feeling that something as slapstick-heavy as this would be even funnier on stage.

The TV special was so popular that they returned for A Christmas Carol Goes Wrong the following year. In this one, the Cornley Polytechnic Drama Society have been blacklisted by the BBC, and hijack their made-for-TV special of A Christmas Carol. To expand on the comedy utilised in the previous special, this one also has Chris dealing with attempts on his life from Robert (who wanted to play Scrooge), and Sir Derek Jacobi (who was playing Scrooge).

If you ever get a chance to see these specials, I highly recommend that you do. I don't see a lot of stuff on stage, but I'd love to check this out at some point.

Happy writing.

Meet the Author - Andrew Marsh

Today I'm delighted to be joined by fellow Swanwicker Andrew Marsh, who is launching his latest book, Jack Janson and the Storm Caller. He has come to the Writer's Block to answer some questions.

1) First of all, tell us a little about yourself and your writing.
I'm a 55-year-old former geologist who worked in the construction industry, and now spend my time writing and speaking.

I self-published my first two novels but I have had a change of emphasis in my writing and now write fantasy for young adults and teenagers, although adults will enjoy them too.


When I was 51, I was diagnosed with Asperger’s Syndrome and this has bought great clarity to my life and made sense of a lot of things that happened as a child and adult. I now speak on my Asperger’s Syndrome and want to share my experiences and what benefits and skills that people on the spectrum can bring to the community.

2) Tell us about your new book.

Jack Janson and the Storm Caller is the first in a series of books. It tells the tale of Jack, who is unloved at home and bullied at school. Things improve when he goes to his grandmother's home for the summer holiday, where she treats him like an adult. They bond over her garden and baking until one day when she takes him to a cave at the bottom of her garden. There, a booming voice causes the rock walls to reverberate and looming over him is Winfred Storm Caller, a large friendly giant.

This begins Jack’s adventures with the giant which leads to great discoveries and secrets. The book explores the relationship between Jack, his grandmother, Winfred, and Jack’s neighbour Sarah-Jane at this critical time in his life.

3) Do you prefer to plot stories or work it out as you go along?

I generally have an idea of plot, characters and setting before I start writing, although when in the zone, it is as much free writing within a framework.

4) What are your ideal conditions for writing in?

I use the spare bedroom as my study and have most of the things I need around me, especially writing aids, reference books, files, printer/scanner and so on. I usually write in the quiet, although I sometimes listen to rock music. I am usually left to my writing and this allows me to make good progress daily.

I am very focussed and organised when writing and these are some of my Asperger’s traits which I find very helpful in the creative process. 

For the editing and reviewing phases of writing a book, which I find the most difficult part, I need peace and quiet and to be left to my own devises. 

5) Was there anything in particular which got you into writing?

I first became interested in writing in my thirties when I was part of or was told funny stories about things that happened on construction sites or in the design office where I worked. I started to keep notebooks on me and wrote all of these things down. I soon got the idea for a significant event that would be a good start for a book and started that in 1996. I soon became hooked and have developed my writing over the years since.

I also attend the Writer’s Summer School, Swanwick, where I have made great writing friends and learnt a great deal about the craft of writing. 

6) Are there any authors you’d like to meet, and why?

I would love to have been able to meet J.R.R Tolkien and chat with him about world building and how he was able to create such an epic story. I would have to get him to show me his maps and how he created them, they are works or art as well as useful information to help the reader understand the story.

Also, David Eddings. He wrote the Belgariad and Mallerion series of books and I started reading those when I started to develop my own writing. Like with Tolkien, the ability to write long tales and books that told a bigger story is a great art.

7) Finally, what’s the best piece of advice anyone gave you?

Be true to yourself.

Thank you for joining me today. I wish you every success with Jack Janson.

You can find Andrew Marsh's website here.

Jack Janson and the Storm Caller is available from Amazon here.

Happy writing.

Savage Worlds

Tools of the Trade

I've said before that tabletop roleplaying games like Dungeons & Dragons are partially responsible for getting me into writing in the first place. I've even joked that I originally went to university so I could play it again. While Dungeons & Dragons is probably the most well-known of these types of games, I like to run my games with Pinnacle Entertainment's Savage Worlds roleplaying system.

Savage Worlds is a generic universal system which is readily adaptable. Unlike Dungeons & Dragons, in which you roll a 20-sided dice (d20) for every skill and the other dice for damage, in Savage Worlds you have a die type for everything. For example, a player with a d8 in the Fighting skill will roll an eight-sided die whenever called to roll Fighting. They also roll a six-sided die alongside the d8, and take the better result. Additionally, if the maximum result is rolled on a die, it's rolled again and the results stack. This often means that a lot of Savage Worlds games tend to be more action-packed than other roleplaying games.

I especially love the array of settings which have been released. Pinnacle's biggest franchise is a setting called Deadlands, a dark fantasy and steampunk roleplaying game which takes place in the American West. In fact, one of the first things I wrote was a Deadlands fan fiction. This spawned several sequels, such as Deadlands Noir, which shifts the setting to 1930s New Orleans but still retains the dark fantasy and science fiction elements. I'm actually running a Deadland Noir campaign, and was surprised how there seemed to be a greater focus on the mystery than action, yet it still flowed.

Other settings which use the Savage Worlds system include: Lankhmar: The City of Thieves, a swashbuckling fantasy based on the works of Fritz Leiber; Rippers, a Victorian gothic horror reminiscent of The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen; and The Savage World of Flash Gordon, based on the characters created by Alex Raymond (and that guilty pleasure 80s cheese).

Last year, I backed a new version of Savage Worlds on Kickstarter; Savage Worlds Adventure Edition, commonly known as "SWADE". There's a cafe in my area which caters to the roleplaying game crowd, so I volunteered to run campaigns there one day of the week. Unfortunately, this had a rough start, as most players are more accustomed to Dungeons & Dragons and seemed intimidated by the character creation process. Fortunately, I'm getting all kinds of ready-made adventures from Pinnacle as part of my pledge, so I plan to run one of those using characters I've made myself.

I look forward to running all kinds of campaigns, and introduce more players to the system.

Writing Hashtags - Pitch Madness (Content Warning: Promotion)

Writing's been a bit slow since I got back from Swanwick. Yes, I've been procrastinating again, playing through another campaign in Emperor: Rise of the Middle Kingdom while I pass the time before going back to university.

Anyway, yesterday I took part in Pitch Madness, a quarterly writing event hosted by the Pitch Wars mentoring programme intended to help writers find agents. For 12 hours on a given day, writers tweet pitches for their works, using the tag #PitMad. However, users are specifically asked not to like any of the the pitches unless they're an agent or publisher (but retweeting is fine).

In order to illustrate this, I've included a screenshot of my pitch. This includes the hashtags, an "X meets Y" statement if it fits, and the pitch itself. The hashtags include the mandatory #PitMad tag, a mandatory age catergory (New Adult), and some optional genres (Action, Adventure, and Historical Fiction).

In fact, I actually came up with this pitch during one of the courses at Swanwick this year. If you want advice on how to pitch, I believe you must ensure that your pitch contains a situation, a protagonist, an antagonist, and an objective.

I've taken part in Pitch Madness a couple of times, and this was the first time I've had someone like my pitch (who wasn't just a bot advertising hair treatment). So, the next step is to research the two publishers in question. I'm relatively new to this side of the writing world, so my general rule of thumb is make sure they're not asking for any kind of upfront fees.

Of course, if you don't get any likes, it's still a good way to network with other writers on Twitter. As Pitch MAdness usually takes place on a Thursday, I like to dedicate the traditional #FollowFriday shout-outs to anybody who shared my pitch.

Now it's time for some shameless promotion.

I received a like from Something or Other Publishing (SOOP), who run an unusual model in which writers submit a story idea and then people can vote on it. If the idea receives 2000 votes, then a publishing contract can be drawn up. There are also a few milestones in which other services are offered if they receive a certain amount of votes.

If you'd like to vote for my story, you can find the link to the SOOP page here. I'd very much appreciate the support.

If you'd like to learn more about Pitch Madness, you can find the guidelines here. The next one is due to take place on 5th December.

Happy writing.

Swanwick: Season 4

If only the weather was as nice as it was in this photo.

Well, it's that wonderful time of year again. I'm starting to contemplate making some kind of Swanwick equivalent of Christmas songs. Which can be played in July and August. Anyway, this week was my annual visit to the Swanwick Writers' Summer School at the Hayes Conference Centre in Derbyshire.

The trouble with being a mature student is that it gets lonely over the summer, as most school-friends my age are in full-time jobs and even have kids now. So Swanwick is the best social contact I get all summer. In fact, it's kinda like going to university. There's writing workshops, fun activities, and a cheap bar. I suppose that was why I originally chose to go to university. Although I'm not accustomed to getting up so early in the morning.

With that in mind, let's look at what was on the cards this year.

Specialist Courses

Screenwriting

The morning sessions are for the four-part specialist courses which are taught over the week. Trouble is that I was so torn between several of them which looked interesting. Unfortunately, they're taught at the same time and I lack Hermione Granger's time-turner and the ability to play a tune on the ocarina (and for that matter, I lack a regular ocarina, let alone The Ocarina of Time). Anyway, I eventually settled on a screenwriting course led by Bridget Holding.

This course looked at how to write pitches (which may come in handy next time I do Pitch Madness on Twitter), three-act structures, how to show rather than tell, and how to format scripts. I'd originally planned to use this course with a fantasy comedy piece written for one of my assignments (which is available on my other blog here). However, I was distracted from this by an epic historical series which I felt had the potential to be the next Game of Thrones. Well, I suppose I'm more accustomed to writing historical fiction than fantasy.

Short Courses

Following on from the specialist course sessions, there are two-part short courses which take up the sessions before and after lunch.

Sunday: Promoting Your Work

The first of these short courses was on Promoting Your Work, hosted by Val Penny. This was done in the form of an A to Z, with pointers on blog tours and social media, or where you can advertise books. I'll have to check things out once the notes become available, but it was fascinating, and Val can be a very amusing lecturer.

Monday: Gender Awareness

Monday's short course was on Gender Awareness, hosted by Pauline Mason. This was studying "Gender Theory", and how to avoid gender stereotypes. There was also a look at examples of characters written by authors of an opposite gender (and not the cringe-inducing "Men Writing Women" Twitter feed).

Wednesday: Time - Friend or Foe

There weren't any short courses on Tuesday, but there were some single session workshops in the morning. However, I didn't go to those ones, as I was nursing a hangover from the previous night. So, Wednesday's short course was on time management, hosted by Christine Williams. I figured I could use this one, as I've been putting things off a lot lately. That's the trouble with summer; no deadlines. So I'm not writing as much (and I've got nothing else to procrastinate from). Even if I did do Camp NaNoWriMo last month. Christine talked about making lists and limiting the number of tasks each day.

Thursday: Setting and Sense of Place

Thursday's short course was on Setting and Sense of Place, with Lizzie Enfield. This one looked at developing settings in a similar way to developing characters. There was a fun exercise which involved developing a setting from an object, taking into account the wider environment and how to use the five senses.

Evening Events

Groovy, baby!

Swanwick isn't just about courses. There are also a myriad of evening events. The first night had a new addition this year called "Birds of a Feather", in which different attendees could meet and network with those writing in the same genre. It was neat idea, and I got to meet a few more historical fiction writers, but I don't think they held it in the right place. The Main Lounge doesn't have the best acoustics.

Sunday night had a poetry open mic, and I decided to give that a go this year. I read out a poem which utilised audience participation, which a lot of people enjoyed. Meanwhile, Monday night had a fancy dress disco with a "flower power" theme (although they didn't play "Soul Bossa Nova"). There was also a prose open mic, a busker's night, a general knowledge quiz, and the "Page to Stage".

Finally, the Thursday night has the Dregs Party, in which attendees suit up for the final night as they attend the raffle prize draws, an awards ceremony for the Page to Stage, and a sing-along. Not forgetting the famous "Swanwick Anthem".

Anyway, now to mark the days on the calendar until next year.

Happy writing.

A Look Back - Age of Empires II: Age of Kings

Ah, glorious nostalgia. I've got a few days before I go on my annual visit to Swanwick, and I've finished my playthrough of Red Dead Redemption 2. So, I need to find another way to procrastinate. With this in mind, I thought I'd take a look at a classic which is been growing strong for twenty years now; Age of Empires II: The Age of Kings.

I think this game may have been one of the first real-time strategy games I ever played. Even when I was still living in Lancashire. Released in 1999, the game is about building up a Medieval village, gathering resources, and raising an army to crush your opponents. You can play random map games with computer or human-controlled enemies, or you can play one of five campaigns (in ascending order of difficulty):

1. William Wallace's battles against the English during the First War of Scottish Independance in the late 13th and early 14th Centuries (which serves as the game's tutorial)
2. Joan of Arc's campaign against the English and Burgundians during the Hundred Years' War
3. Saladin's defence of the Middle East against the Crusader States
4. Genghis Khan's conquest of Eurasia
5. Frederick Barbarossa's expansion of the Holy Roman Empire

Or you can do what I always did and muck about with the scenario editor. I never made my own campaigns though.

An expansion pack, titled The Conquerors, was released in 2000. Those were the days. You'd buy the game, and then the following year you'd buy the expansion pack. They'd probably then put them both together in a "Gold Edition" not long afterwards. I think that kinda thing later developed into downloadable content (DLC).

Anyway, The Conquerors added five more playable factions (to the original game's 13), three new campaigns (based on Attila the Hun's rise to power, Montezuma's defence of the Aztec Empire, and the adventures of El Cid), along with eight single missions based on famous historical battles. I never actually bought The Conquerors when it was originally released. It wasn't until fairly recently, which is why this game surprises me.

In 2013, a new developer, Hidden Path Studios, re-released The Age of Kings and The Conquerers as the Age of Empires II: HD Edition on Steam. As stated above, I always used to muck about with the scenario editor, and there was the ability to make your own campaigns. Put that on a platform like Steam, and you'll have tons of players able to share their own campaigns with others.

And it wasn't just campaigns. An old game like this probably has simpler codes, which opens the gates for a large modding community. Four months after the re-release, a fan-made expansion titled Forgotten Empires received an official release as The Forgotten, under the supervision of Skybox Labs. This added five more factions, six new campaigns, and eight more historical battles.

But it doesn't stop there. Two more expansions were released; The African Kingdoms and Rise of the Rajas in 2015 and 2016, respectively. Each one adds another four factions, each with their own campaign. Not to mention more Random Map types.

So, we've got Random Maps with 31 playable factions, 22 campaigns, and 16 historical battles. That'll keep someone occupied for a while.

And if that's not enough, there's another remaster due to be released later the year; the Definitive Edition.

It amazes me that one game can be kept going for so long.

Happy writing.

Camp NaNoWriMo - A Virtual Writers' Retreat

Well, it's July, so I'm back home for the summer holidays. Unfortunately, there's not much to do in my hometown. Except perhaps another playthrough of Red Dead Redemption 2.

So, to pass the time, I decided to try out Camp NaNoWriMo. For those who don't know, NaNoWriMo is National Novel Writing Month, a challenge held every November in which writers attempt to write a 50,000 word story in 30 days. Participants sign up to the website in order to register their projects for the month and monitor their progress. I tried this back in 2016, but felt it wasn't for me.

Anyway, the people who run it also do what is known as Camp NaNoWriMo. This is a virtual writers' retreat of sorts, held in August and July. The principles are similar to the November challenge, but this time you set your own goals. November's challenge involves starting a new novel from scratch, but I used Camp NaNo to work on an existing project. Additionally, you don't have to set word count goals for the month. Instead of words, you can also choose to write a certain number of chapters or pages, or spend a certain amount of time on the project.

With this in mind, I set myself a time goal to work on my swashbuckler story, The Lady's Favour, as this mostly involved revising and editing and made it difficult to monitor word count. I set the goal as 30 hours for the month, the minimum. I also experimented with timed writing sessions, starting with an hour and then working my way down to smaller sessions. Ultimately, I submitted The Lady's Favour before I fulfilled my time goal. So, I also included blog posts and visits to my writers' group within my time, along with the first draft of a follow-up story.

I think I prefer Camp NaNoWriMo over NaNoWriMo, as it offers more flexibility. Also, July is a fairly quiet time for me. I'm at university in November and I'll have a few deadlines on April.

Anyway, I've spent the month on a virtual writers' retreat. And on the day that I won, I also received the programme for an actual writers' retreat. I think you'll know which one I mean.

Happy writing.

Closing the File - A Red Dead Redemption Fan Fiction

The clock ticked by in the offices of Blackwater Police Station, drowned out by the clacking of Archer Fordham’s typewriter. He exchanged brief glances with Edgar Ross, who sat on the opposite desk and cleaned his Browning automatic.

The rumble of footsteps made him pause, followed by a knock on the door.
“Those will be the Marshals,” Ross stood up and re-assembled the Browning, “On your feet, Fordham. There’s work to be done.”
“Sir?”
“It seems that our old friend, Mr Marston, is in possession of cattle bearing the brand of the Macfarlane Ranch.”
“I heard that rumour too,” Fordham remained seated, “I looked into it. Mr Macfarlane had gifted the cattle to Mr Marston. His daughter even admitted to driving them a portion of the way.”
“Was there a bill of sale?” Ross leaned over Fordham’s desk.
Fordham took a deep breath.
“No, sir. I did not see any paperwork. Since Macfarlane’s story was supported by his daughter and the foreman – one Amos Thorpe – I didn’t feel the need to ask.”
“That’s probably for the better,” Ross picked up his bowler hat from the nearby stand, “We’re riding over to Beecher’s hope to serve the warrant. Captain Jackson and his men are already en route.”

Fordham stood up.
“With all due respect, sir, I don’t agree with your plan.”
“Excuse me?”
“Marston has done as we asked. Williamson and Van der Linde are both dead, and Escuella is awaiting execution at Sisika State Penitientiary. All thanks to his help.”
“Fordham, you need to be careful of who you idolise,” Ross pointed at him, “Now get your horse saddled and ready to leave. Marston is a dangerous man and has clearly abused our trust. I intend to close the Van der Linde case file today.”
“No. I’m not going to stab this man in the back, sir.”
Ross twitched.
“You disappoint me. Very well. Agent Fordham, you’re confined to administrative duties until further notice. Additionally, I’ll be informing Washington of your gross insubordination today, and pushing for disciplinary action. Now, perhaps you can make yourself useful and find any case files on the other known associates of the Van der Linde Gang.”
“I did that a while back, sir. Charles Smith and Sadie Adler are out of our jurisdiction. Besides which, they don’t have anything we could use to ensure their co-operation in the same way as Marston. Anyone else was of little value or too well-established to be of any use or interest.”
“That’s irrelevant now. Just have those files on my desk by the time I get back.”
“Yes, sir.”

Fordham watched Ross leave. He reached into his draw and produced the bulky file marked “Van der Linde”. He reached into his jacket for his cigarettes, pulling out a book of matches. In a brief moment, he glanced between the matches and the file.
“Case closed,” He scooped them both up and left the office.

Western Weekends - The Ballad of Buster Scruggs

It's been a while since I've done a Western Weekend. Things are quiet at the moment, as I've finished my first year of university and am back home for the summer holidays. So, I figured I'd find some method of procrastination which involves some kind of writing.

The Ballad of Buster Scruggs is a western film by The Coen Brothers. Or to be more specific, an anthology of six western stories, which I'll look at in turn. This may take a while.

The Ballad of Buster Scruggs

Tim Blake Nelson plays an affable, loquacious, guitar-playing, fourth-wall-breaking gunslinger known as Buster Scruggs. He's presented as an archetypal "singing cowboy" akin to Gene Autry or Roy Rogers. But in the morally grey setting adopted by more recent western films, he's essentially a sociopath who doesn't feel empathy for anybody.

The vignette shows some improbable gun-fighting sequences and an almost cartoonish tone, which doesn't detract from the violent and amoral nature of the world being built. The most notable involves Buster refusing to play a Dead Man's Hand at a poker game and being threatened at gunpoint by another player. Since he'd surrendered his gun to a bouncer, he kicks a lose table leg into his assailant's gun to simultaneously throw off his aim and discharge it in his face. Repeatedly. And then he starts a musical number. It presents some side-splitting pitch-black humour.

However, it's also apparent that Scruggs is notorious enough to be pursued by up-and-coming gunslingers who hope to cement their own reputations by killing him.

Near Algodones

James Franco plays an unnamed gunslinger who tries to rob an isolated bank on the prairie. Unfortunately, the jabbering teller is more of a match, attacking with shotguns concealed behind each cashier window and then resorting to a Ned Kelly-style assault using armour made from pots and pans.

After the would-be robber is knocked out, he finds himself about to be hanged by a posse, only for them to be killed by an Indian war party. He's left hanging until another cowboy passes by with a herd and cuts him down in exchange for help driving his cattle. Unfortunately, the herd turns about to be stolen, and this Good Samaritan's...goodness...expires when he leaves our friend to be arrested by another posse.

Like the previous story, this one starts with some utterly bizarre imagery from the bank robbery. I like how it plays with the cliche of saving the condemned man by shooting the rope; the cowboy tries this, but misses with his first shot, which scares the horse. This makes it harder to shoot the rope when the man is swinging. It takes a few tries to pull it off. I also love the ultimate tragic irony at the end.

Meal Ticket

Liam Neeson plays a mumbling impresario who's travelling through the various mountain towns. His act is a quadruple amputee orator played by Harry Melling, who recites Ozymandias, passages from the bible, Shakespearean sonnets, and Abraham Lincoln's Gettysburg Address. Unfortunately, the show's popularity is dwindling, and the impresario is becoming increasingly impatient of his charge.

This one doesn't use much dialogue. In fact, Melling doesn't have any lines except in the scenes where he's performing. It's made clear that the orator depends on the impresario to look after him, while the impresario depends on the orator to make money.

It's a grim little story, where show-business is even more cutthroat out on the frontier.

 All Gold Canyon

Tom Waits plays a mumbling prospector who travels to a pristine mountain valley in search of a gold pocket. Most of the story consists of him digging up the meadow and panning for bits of gold before digging deeper.

There's not much to this one. I suppose there's some environmental message which can be picked up; there are shots of the wildlife leaving the valley with the exception of one owl as they sense the prospector approaching. He's pretty much the only character, and the film shows him slaving away in search of the pocket. That said, he seems to show some moral character above his greed; he goes to raid the owl's nest for eggs, but only takes one after being stared down by the owl.

I think they could have cut this one.

The Gal Who Got Rattled

Zoe Kazan plays Alice Longabaugh, a sheltered young woman travelling with a wagon train to marry her brother Gilbert's new business partner in Oregon. Unfortunately, the journey becomes increasingly complicated for her: Gilbert dies of cholera, the hired help demands wages she can't pay, and Mr Knapp the wagon master is forced to put down Gilbert's dog (which promptly runs away when he bungles the attempt).

I think this one should have served as the title of the film. It's the longest story in the anthology and takes up most of the film's running time. It's also the one with the biggest pacing issues. Nonetheless, there's a great action sequence, and a harsh cliffhanger.

The Mortal Remains

The final story follows five passengers on a stagecoach: Jonjo O'Neill and Brendan Gleeson as Thigpen and Clarence, an Englishman and Irishman who are "ferrying cargo"; Saul Rubinek as a French gambler named Rene; Tyne Daly as Mrs Betjeman, a devout Christian lady who is seeking to re-unite with her estranged husband; and an unnamed fur trapper played by Chelcie Ross.

The bulk of the story takes place on the stagecoach, and simply involves the passengers engaging in a philosophical discussion. However, the journey begins to feel unnatural, as Thigpen and Clarence discuss the nature of their work. There's not really much to it, but it does become atmospheric, with the suggestion that the stagecoach may actually be a journey to the afterlife.

All in all, The Ballad of Buster Scruggs is an interesting connection of stories depicting a savage world, but I think they could have cut one of the stories. The film is available on Netflix, and I do recommend that you watch it.

I'll catch you on the trail.

Flash Fiction: Bill

John Garrett brushed the dust off his jacket as he leaned against the hitching post. With the midday sun, the burg’s few residents were off the streets. Trying to use what little shade the saloon porch offered, he took the handbill from his pocket and unfolded it:

“William “Waddling Bill” Stanton, wanted for rustling.  $100 reward offered by the Lone Star Cattle Consortium, signed by Circuit Court Judge Erasmus Lauderdale of Prescott, Arizona.”

Stroking his unshaven chin, he pocketed the wanted poster and entered the saloon.

With the shutters closed, shadow filled the interior, except for the dim lamps on the walls, and where sunlight entered through the open door. The bartender’s attention was focussed on the glass he polished with the end of his apron. The floorboards creaked as John approached. In the grimy mirror behind the bar, he could see one patron hunched over in a corner table. The man was pouring a drink from a half-empty bottle of whiskey, but mostly over his hand. His hat was pulled low, so John didn’t see his face.

“Whiskey.” John placed a quarter on the bar. The bartender filled the glass he had been polishing and pushed it along. John unfolded the wanted poster, along with a dollar bill, weighing them down with the glass on the counter. The bartender shook his head and walked away. John grabbed his arm, and pointed to the sketch on the poster. He said nothing, but glanced over John’s shoulder, towards his other customer.

John heard the sound of a toppling glass. He grabbed the Remington in his holster. In the mirror, he could see the patron scrambling for his gun.

Gunfire and shattering glass resounded through the room. John inhaled the powder smoke and tried to keep sight of Bill, oblivious to the irritation to his throat. He pressed against the bar. His heart raced as a wild shot embedded in the wood. He fired at the vague human shape enveloped in the smoke. There was a cry of pain, and silence.

“Did you get him?” The bartender emerged through the clearing smoke. The bounty hunter saw the vacant frame behind the bar. Looking back towards the door, he sighted the blood trail leading outside.

“He won’t get far.” John cocked the Remington and walked out.

“Find him. You’re paying for all this.”

Video Game Retrospective - The Operative: No One Lives Forever

I've been feeling nostalgic, and have been interested in revisiting at a sadly overlooked gem from 2000; The Operative: No One Lives Forever, a first-person shooter with a strong "Swinging Sixties" aesthetic developed by Monolith Productions.

You assume the role of Cate Archer, an operative for a spy agency known as UNITY. A former cat burglar and UNITY's first female operative, Cate has been relegated to the mundane assignments. However, an apparent leak within UNITY has resulted in the systematic elimination of many field agents. Thus, Cate is reluctantly given several high profile missions, bringing her into conflict with a mysterious terrorist organisation called HARM and one of their world domination schemes.

Gameplay is your typical first-person shooter action, but there is an emphasis on stealth (on some missions this is mandatory). In fact, stealth is encouraged because it exposes the player to some finely-crafted conversations between the guards. The casual dialogue paints your enemies as "punch clock" villains who are just doing their jobs and have lives outside their professional ones. One of my favourite conversations is a guard lamenting the fact that he's missing The Man From U.N.C.L.E when he's on duty, and his friend starts a chat about their favourite contemporary thrillers on TV. Shows like Mission: Impossible, The Saint, The Avengers (the Emma Peel one, not the Marvel one), the then-recent finale of The Fugitive, and the recently-advertised The Prisoner.

It's the game's humour which made it stand out. As well as the aforementioned chats, there's optional intelligence items which further emphasise the "punch-clock" aspects of professional villainy. Or there's the code phrases disguised as bad pickup lines and Cate's snarky response, after which her contacts are always apologetic about using the phrases. A lot of the story revolves around Cate dealing with a lot of casual sexism (particularly from her handler, Mr Smith), but it's nice to see that many of UNITY's informants don't share Smith's attitude.

I love the array of characters too. Cate has a strong student-mentor relationship with Bruno Lawrie, UNITY's past-his-prime top agent who recruited her many years ago. There's also an array of colourful villains. The most memorable of these is Magnus Armstrong, a violent Glaswegian demolitions expert who captures Cate on several occasions but refuses to kill a fellow Scot without a fair fight.

The game was followed by a sequel, A Spy in HARM's Way. That's also a good game, but with a slightly different sense of humour. There was also an interquel called Contract Jack, in which you play as a freelance hitman working for HARM. I haven't played that one, but I've heard it wasn't very good and prompted Monolith to discontinue the franchise.

Writing this, I have to lament the fact that you can't get these games because of a copyright issue. Monolith was acquired by Warner Bros Interactive. The publisher, Fox Interactive, was acquired by Vivendi, which merged with Activision to form Activision Blizzard. And nobody knows who owns the rights to the game, so there's been no re-release. It's not even on Steam or Good Old Games. I think that's tragic, because it's a great game.

I hope this can be sorted soon.

Until then, happy writing.

Franchise Reviews - Back to the Future - Wrap Up

Looking over the Back to the Future films, I'd say it remains a pretty solid trilogy, even if the second and third films feel closer to each other than the first.

Something I do realise is that Marty doesn't really develop over the first film, but it's his parents who get the bulk of the character development, and it's a pretty fine development so it's not an issue. His fear of perceived cowardice introduced in the second film could have been tacked on in response to this.

Each film has plenty of jeopardy, but things always seem to work out in the end.  This actually gets mentioned in the third film, with Marty asking "Why do we have to cut these things so damn close?" Despite that, I still love the tension in the scenes.

All in all, they're all films I can watch any time.

And before I go, I'd like to share this video of Tom Wilson, who wrote a song about questions he's often asked about his role in the films:

Happy writing.

Franchise Reviews - Back to the Future Part III

I think most people would have made up their minds about Back to the Future Part III after seeing the trailer for it at the end of Part II. Any longtime readers of this blog know that I love westerns, so I definitely made up my mind.

Picking up where we left off, Marty McFly and Doc Brown had returned to 1955 to destroy a sports almanac so Biff couldn't use it to become Donald Trump a despotic billionaire. Although their mission is successful, Marty becomes stranded in 1955 after the DeLorean is struck by lightning, sending Doc back to the Hill Valley of 1885. He arranges for a letter to be delivered to Marty, stating that he is content to stay in the past and work as a blacksmith, but provides instructions so the younger Doc Brown can repair the DeLorean and allow Marty to return to 1985.

Unfortunately, plans in this series have a tendency to get complicated. While Marty and the younger Doc are recovering the DeLorean from an abandoned mine near an old cemetery, they discover Doc Brown's grave. Seven days after he wrote his letter to Marty, Doc was shot in the back by Buford Tannen, a notorious gunman and Biff's ancestor.

Although he was given strict instructions to go straight back to 1985 and destroy the time machine, Marty decides to back to 1885 and save Doc. Unfortunately, he rips the DeLorean's fuel line, meaning they can't accelerate to the 88 miles per hour needed to time travel. Worse, he falls afoul of Buford Tannen and ends up getting challenged to a showdown. He also meets his own ancestors, Seamus and Maggie McFly.

A lot of people weren't keen on the changed setting, but I'm fine with it. While I wasn't keen on Marty's change of character in the previous film (which they keep here), I'm glad that they try and develop that. It's also nice to see the film explore Doc Brown a little more, when he talks about his background and love of Jules Verne. He even becomes romantically involved with the local schoolteacher, Clara Clayton, although that does have ramifications: He initially saves her life by stopping a runaway buckboard from going into Shonash Ravine, which both Doc and Marty know as Clayton Ravine (indicating that she was originally destined to fall in). When Marty returns to 1985, it's been renamed Eastwood Ravine (yes, Marty went under the name "Clint Eastwood").

I think my favourite moment is a brief one, the day after Marty was challenged by Doc Brown. He'd taken a picture of Doc's tombstone in 1955, but now his name is blank. However, he's being measured for a new coffin, indicating that it could soon be his grave rather than Doc Brown's. He immediately says "Great Scott!" (Doc's catchphrase), while Doc replies "I know, this is heavy." (Marty's usual catchphrase)

Overall, I think this is still a good film. The action and the humour are still on top, and it wraps things up nicely.

Wait a minute, do ZZ Top have a time machine as well?

Franchise Reviews - Back to the Future Part II

You'd think a story as tightly-written as Back to the Future wouldn't leave much space for a sequel, let alone two. But they still went for it.

Back to the Future Part II picks up immediately where the previous film left off. Marty is back in 1985, and his adventure in the past has had an effect on his family: His father's now a self-confident and successful science fiction author; his mother is physically active; even Biff is nicer, running his own auto detailing business.

As Marty reunites with Jennifer, Doc shows up and takes them both to the Hill Valley of 2015 to stop their future son from getting involved in a robbery with Biff's grandson Griff, setting off a chain of events which would bring down his entire family. The plan is successful, but Marty ends up buying an almanac of sports statistics with the intention of betting on the results in his own time. When Doc lectures him, Jennifer is mistaken for her 2015 self by the police and taken to her futuristic home. While Doc and Marty try and get her back, Biff borrows the DeLorean to give the almanac to his younger self in 1955.

When Marty and Doc return to 1985, they find that Hill Valley has become a lawless dystopia where Biff is a corrupt billionaire and married to Marty's mother. In order to restore the previous timeline, they go back to 1955 to recover the almanac. However, it's the same night that Marty went back to 1985, so they also have to take care not to interfere with those events and create a time paradox.

Once again, the film shows the tight writing of the previous one. Although I wish we had more of the stuff 2015 boasted in 2019, instead of the alternate 1985 which the film seemed to more accurately predict.

However, there is one glaring issue in this film; Marty doesn't like being called chicken, which results in him being goaded into fights or shady business deals. It's something which wasn't addressed in the previous film. In fact, it almost contrasts the Marty of the previous film. He'd been rejected at a school dance audition, and Jennifer was persuading him to send a tape to a record company. My best guess is that he's picked up more courage since his trip to the past, becoming more comfortable with his newly improved family. Nonetheless, it still detracts from what is otherwise a great film.

Also, that kid in the diner is Elijah Wood.

Franchise Reviews - Back to the Future

Time to look at the first film in the franchise, Back to the Future. We have a film which combines science fiction, comedy, action, and coming-of-age.

Michael J. Fox plays Marty McFly, a teenager living a somewhat bleak life in the town of Hill Valley in 1985. His father George (played by Crispin Glover), is timid and meek, constantly bullied by his supervisor, Biff Tannen (Played by Thomas F. Wilson). His mother Lorraine (played by Leah Thompson) is an overweight alcoholic. Marty himself is struggling in high school, but his supportive girlfriend Jennifer (played in this film by Claudia Wells) encourages him to follow his dreams to become a rock star.

Christopher Lloyd plays Marty's best friend Dr Emmett "Doc" Brown, a mad scientist who has recently unveiled a new invention; a time machine built out of a DeLorean. During the demonstration in a shopping mall car park, the pair are accosted by Libyan terrorists, whom the Doc conned into acquiring the plutonium needed to power the time machine. After the Doc is gunned down, Marty tries to escape in the DeLorean and accidentally triggers the time machine, leaving him stranded in the Hill Valley of 1955 without the plutonium needed to make a return trip. He encounters a teenage George being bullied by a teenage Biff, and stops him from being hit by a car being driven by Lorraine's father. Which prompts Lorraine to become infatuated with him.

Marty eventually finds the younger Doc Brown, and convinces him that he's from the future. They devise a plan to get Marty back by powering the time machine with a bolt of lightning set to strike the clock tower in the town square. Unfortunately, Marty's saving of George has jeopardised his own existence, so he has to get his parents together. That, in turn, results in him repeatedly antagonising Biff.

You'd think that Marty trying to get back to his own time would be a simple enough story without the need to incorporate the other plot threads. However, they've managed to produce one of the most tightly-written scripts I can think of. Every minor detail or conversation in the film is important. For example, Marty is walking through the square with Jennifer when they encounter a campaign to not repair Hill Valley's clock tower after it was struck by lightning in 1955. Marty uses the flyer he's given to determine when he and the younger Doc Brown can use a bolt of lightning to power the DeLorean.

Even the minor details come back full circle. Marty watches the time machine's demonstration at the Twin Pines shopping mall. Doc explains that the farmer who used to own the land wanted to grow pine trees. When Marty goes to 1955, he runs over one of the pine trees while escaping from the shotgun-wielding farmer who mistook him for an alien. When he returns to 1985, the mall is now called "Lone Pine".

I love the comedy in this film too. One of my favourite moments involves Marty convincing George to ask Lorraine out. When George initially refuses, Marty poses as an alien using his radiation suit and a Van Halen tape. And speaking of music, Alan Silvestri's score compliments the film nicely.

Sorry, I've not really reviewed this film but rather gushed about it. It's a classic, and since I'm reviewing all the films, I felt obliged to do a piece on this one. It never struck me as a film that needed sequels. But I'll talk about the first of those tomorrow.

Franchise Reviews - The Back to the Future Trilogy

Great Scott! I've finished my first year!

I've handed in all my first year assignments, so now I'm looking for ways to pass the time over the third term. I've got a novelette that's probably due for another revision, and I'm also looking at making a pirate-themed setting for the new edition of the Savage Worlds roleplaying system.

But I also might do a bit of blogging. It's a bank holiday weekend, and I figured I'd do another Franchise Review series, since I haven't done one of those for a while. And I found the Back to the Future trilogy on Netflix.

Starting tomorrow, I'll be looking at the cinematic adventures of Marty McFly and Doc Brown, wherever (or perhaps whenever) they may be.

#NaPoWriMo: Final Thoughts

Well, I've done it. I managed to write a poem every day for National Poetry Writing Month. As I predicted, writing a poem every day for a month offered more flexibility than National Novel Writing Month did.

I started writing poetry last year for a few Twitter prompts, and have also had university assignments which have involved writing both strict form and free verse poems. I tried both over the course of the month.

Of course, choosing what form to write in can be a pain. With strict form, you have a structure to work with, but you can't always convey as much emotion when trying to fit the poem to the form. For example, I tried writing a ballade, but struggled to fit the form and published something else instead. With free verse, you can dedicate more time to emotion. However, it's very easy for the poem to become structured, even if it doesn't follow a strict form. I made fun of this in my final piece, discussing the advantages and disadvantages while switching between strict form (specifically ballad and terza rima) and free form.

There's also the issue of content. With thirty days' worth of poems, I tried to find different things to write about. Some of my earlier works had been re-workings of poems I'd written previously, either from Facebook prompts or homework tasks. In fact, I read out my first two pieces at an open mic night at the beginning of the month. That was fun.

A lot of my work ended up being what I'd like to describe as "rhythmic rants", but I suppose that gave me a lot to work with.

All in all, it was a lot of fun. I might try it again next year, I might not. Depends on how I feel.

Happy writing.

Meet the Author - JM Sullivan

Today I'm delighted to welcome JM Sullivan to the Writer's Block, who is launching her latest novel, Second Star, and has come to answer some questions.

1) First of all, tell us a little about yourself and what you write.

Hello everyone! My name is JM Sullivan. I'm an author and also the host of Twitter’s #AuthorConfession game. When I'm not writing or hanging out with my writing friends, you can find me at home reading and watching movies or attempting to bake with my family. Most of the time though, my head is in the clouds imagining twisty versions of my favourite fairy tales, because you guessed it, I am a retelling writer. I love retellings because it's fascinating to me how many unique takes can be given to the stories that we’ve grown up with. Whether exploring the origin of a villain, changing the setting, or putting it in a whole new time period, giving a small spin to a familiar tale can breathe completely new life into it and make something totally unique. For me, that’s as close to magic as I think I ever need to get.

2) Tell us about the new book

Second Star is a futuristic retelling of Peter Pan, set in space. It's a dual POV story that follows the lives of Lead Hand Mechanic Peter Pan and Captain Wendy Darling as they try and save their crews from Neverland. On a search and rescue mission from the London Brigade, Wendy’s path crosses Peter’s on her mission to retrieve Captain Hooke and his long lost crew. Before she finds the Roger, Wendy meets Peter, who tells her the upstanding Captain is not all he pretends to be. With this new information, Wendy must decide who to trust to save her crew-and she must do it quickly before darkness consumes them all.

3) What authors would you say have influenced you?

I think that I'm influenced at least in some way by all of the authors whose works I love. Getting lost in their worlds makes me want to make my writing strong enough to be able to do the same to my readers, and I think I draw off of the different parts of each of their writing styles that I love the most. But, if I had to give a specific name, Marissa Meyer is an incredibly talented writer, whose retellings are absolutely seamless in meshing old favourites with characters and world building of her own. I’ve said it jokingly before, but seriously, she is the kind of writer I want to be when I grow up.

4) What kind of atmosphere do you like when writing?

Ideally, my picture of a perfect writing session is in a calm, quiet environment with some mood music playing to match my WIP and a cup of hot coffee beside me. In reality, that hardly ever happens (I am typing this as my kids are running around the room and playing make-believe), and I have to adjust. Really, as long as I have my laptop, some music, and caffeine, I can generally make it work.

5) What's the strangest thing you've done as research for a story?

Strangest? Hmmm. I don’t know that anything I have done for research can be called strange in itself (although, my Google search history might raise some brows), but I have done quite a variety of things! From studying related stories to taking kickboxing for fight scenes, I try and apply as much of my real life experiences to my writing as I can. If it’s something I think I can use, I make a mental note and try and work it in when I get back to my story.

6) If your book was adapted for screen, who would you want to cast?

It’s funny that you ask this, because I actually have made a fan casting, and I even have a nice aesthetic! If Second Star was to be made into a movie, I think these actors/actresses would do a phenomenal job:

-Wendy Darling: Mandy Moore
-Peter Pan: Stefano Masciolini
-James Tiberius Hooke: Eduardo Verastegui
-Elias Johns:  Channing Tatum
-Jensen Michaels: Nicholas Hoult
-Marisa DeLaCruz: Shannyn Sossamon
-Arielle Dawes: Katherine McNamara
-Aidan Boyce: Freddie Stroma


7) Finally, what's the best advice anyone has ever given you?

Tell your story. Get the words on the page. It may not be pretty at first, but you can always go back and fix parts that don’t work.  To be a writer, you’ve got to take that first step. Until it’s out of your head and on paper, you won’t have anything.

Thank you for joining us today, and I wish you every success with Second Star.

Happy writing.

Favourite Duos #1 - Fafhrd and the Grey Mouser

Credit to TV Tropes

Apparently this sword-and-sorcery series by Fritz Leiber has passed a lot of people by. In fact, I've heard it said that it was Fritz Leiber who coined the term "sword-and-sorcery". When I started working on my swashbuckler series, a member of the writers' group I'm in recommended these stories.

Set in the fantasy world of Nehwon, the so-called Swords series follows the adventures of these two "larcenous but likeable" anti-heroes. Fafhrd is a tall and brawny Northern barbarian, who originally trained as a singer. He has a romantic view of the world, but mostly gets by through his practical nature. The Grey Mouser is a skilled thief and former wizard's apprentice, who retains some magical ability. He's a lot more cynical than Fafhrd, but is still prone to sentimental moments.

The stories frequently have the characters getting into bar fights and seducing women, but some stories have them on opposite sides of a conflict. But their friendship nonetheless wins through. At the time of writing, I'm working my way through the third collection, Swords in the Mist. But I figured I'd look at stories in the first collection, Swords and Deviltry, which establishes the pair.

1. The Snow Women follows Fafhrd chafing under the authority of his overbearing mother. While visiting the Northerners' trading post at Cold Corner, he meets an acrobat named Vlana and elopes with her.
2. The Unholy Grail follows The Grey Mouser as he returns from a quest to find that the wizard he apprenticed to has been executed by a Duke who has outlawed magic. He enacts a plot in revenge, with the aid of the Duke's daughter Ivrian, a fellow apprentice.
3. Ill-Met in Lankhmar brings the duo together when they meet while ambushing the same party of thieves. They recognise each other as kindred spirits, introduce their respective girlfriends, and embark on a drunken dare to infiltrate the Thieves' Guild.

I've heard that Fritz Leiber wrote these in a bid to make fantasy heroes closer to human nature, believing that Robert E. Howard's Conan the Barbarian stories were too unrealistic for his tastes. Yes, Fafhrd and the Grey Mouser aren't the most moral individuals, but it's established that the world they live in is a decadent and corrupt one.

I hope you've enjoyed this countdown, and I'd love to hear about what duos are your favourites.

Happy writing.

Favourite Duos #2 - Spike Spiegel and Jet Black (Cowboy Bebop)

Credit to Overthinking It

From one of my favourite animes, we have two bounty hunters who act as another archetypal "odd couple".

Spike is a former mob enforcer from Mars, who faked his own death after a feud with his former brother-in-arms over the latter's girlfriend. While he has a smart dress sense, he's lazy and lacks ambition, but also loves fighting and tends to cause a lot of wanton destruction. In contrast, Jet is a former police officer from Ganymede, who quit after losing his arm in an ambush. He dresses a lot more casually than Spike, but is more level-headed and has more of a work ethic.

While Spike would be regarded as the protagonist, Jet is technically the owner of the Bebop which they both call home. He could also be regarded as the brains of the operation to Spike's brawn. Spike prefers to do things his way, which sometimes causes friction between them. The first episode establishes the dynamic; Spike complains about the meal Jet has cooked, to which Jet reminds them that they're broke after spending most of their last bounty to pay for the damages which Spike had caused.

Both characters get their own moments to shine, such as the episode "Ganymede Elegy", in which they travel to Ganymede where Jet reunites with his ex-girlfriend, Alisa. However, Spike learns that her current boyfriend, Rhint, has a bounty on his head. It's one of many scenarios which puts them both into conflict with each other, while also exploring Jet's flaws.

As the series went on, more characters join the Bebop crew. Jet acts as a father figure to Ed while Spike has an antagonistic relationship with Faye. But it's implied that he does care for her, above his cavalier attitude towards life.

Great characters, great show, great duo.

Favourite Duos #3 - Augustus McCrae and Woodrow Call (Lonesome Dove)

One of my recent favourite reads, with a pretty good screen adaptation, and one of my favourite duos. Just be aware that this post contains spoilers.

Augustus McCrae and Woodrow Call are former captains in the Texas Rangers, who are now the joint owners of a livestock trading firm in the remote Texas border town of Lonesome Dove.

Gus, as he's commonly known, is affable, kind-hearted, talkative, and lazy to the point of eccentric. In contrast, Woodrow - who is referred to by everyone as "The Captain" - is a stern workaholic who believes that everybody should give it their all, and is disdainful of men who drink and gamble their lives away. Which you'd think would put the two at loggerheads. Gus is more interested in wine, women, and song than a hard day's work, but he is also twice widowed and pining for his old flame Clara Allen. Meanwhile, Call is in denial of a liaison he had with a prostitute which produced a child called Newt. When the boy's mother died, the pair took him in, but Call is reluctant to acknowledge that he is Newt's father (an open secret to everybody else).

Like Miles and Jack in Sideways, everything you hate in one character you admire in the other. Personally, I can't stand Call, but I like Gus serving as his foil.

In an odd twist, it's Call who ends up having bigger dreams, and leads the firm on an epic cattle drive from Texas to Montana. It's Gus who needs convincing, being told that Clara is living in Nebraska, on the route they'll be taking. During the journey, Gus is shown to deeply care for Lorena Wood, the town's prostitute who is making her way to San Francisco. When she gets kidnapped by a renegade, Gus ends up saving her, and tries to care for her afterwards. Call also demonstrates a compassionate side (not to mention a berserker rage) when he witnesses a US Army scout assault Newt.

I'm going to spoil it now, to discuss how their flaws end up being their undoing. Gus takes a few arrows to the knee (I'll never look at that meme the same way), and has to have his leg amputated. But by that point the infection has spread to his other leg, meaning that one needs to be amputated too. While he relished the idea of walking around on a crutch, he doesn't like the idea of having no legs, and refuses to allow his other leg to be amputated despite knowing his life depends on it. He asks Woodrow to take him back to Texas to be buried in a place where he used to have picnics with Clara. Woodrow obliges out of a long-lasting loyalty, leaving Newt in charge of the ranch they set up, even giving him his prized horse and watch, but he doesn't admit that he's the boy's father. He also ignores the advice of Clara to have Gus buried on her property.

It's because of this that I gave up on Streets of Laredo. It proves that they're a duo who need each other.

Favourite Duos #4 - Jules Winfield and Vincent Vega (Pulp Fiction)

Credit to Villains Wiki

This is a duo which doesn't get as much screen-time as the others on this list, but there is a clear dynamic between these two characters.

Jules and Vincent are enforcers for the crime boss Marsellus Wallace, who are tasked with recovering a mysterious glowing briefcase from a group of former associates. Vincent presents himself as a suave and charismatic figure, but it becomes increasingly clear that he isn't the most competent henchman around. It's his partner Jules who often sees the job through, but he starts have second thoughts after surviving a shootout due to what he believes is divine intervention.

The frequently re-enacted Breakfast Scene shows the pair at work, with Jules acting as spokesperson while Vincent hangs around and smokes. Instead of checking to see if there's anyone else in the apartment. Like the guy hiding in the bathroom with a hand cannon who tries to jump them, triggering the aforementioned divine intervention. Vincent still refuses to take the blame, and instead chastises their informant for not telling them about the ambush. He later shows a complete lack of trigger discipline while discussing the divine intervention with the informant, accidentally shooting him in the face.

Jules himself goes through an interesting development after the shootout, to the point where he talks down a pair of armed robbers at a diner by explaining his ambivalence towards his life of crime, and the Bible verse he would traditionally quote before killing someone. We still follow Vincent for most of the film, and his story has a clear end. I suppose I haven't really discussed Jules much, but the film essentially shows what ultimately happens when he's not around to back Vincent up.

The duo's opening scene is mostly a casual conversation about burgers, and later shifts to some more plot-relevant dialogue about Mia Wallace, whom Vincent is taking out for a meal. But it's the so-called "Bonnie Situation" which shows how much the pair can get at each other's throats.

I don't know about you, but I want to see a film with Jules "walking the Earth" as he says he's going to do after retiring.

Favourite Duos #5 - Asterix and Obelix

Credit to Wikia

Another duo I'd cite as a major influence. I've talked about the comics on this blog already, but I'll still look at the dynamic between these iconic characters created by Rene Goscinny and Albert Uderzo.

Asterix is a petite warrior from a Gaulish village which has resisted Roman occupation through the use of a magic potion which grants superhuman strength. While this puts him on par with the rest of the warriors of his village, he is nonetheless respected above them thanks to his wits and cunning. This makes him more of a guile hero than an action hero.

Meanwhile, his best friend Obelix is a carver and supplier of menhirs who had fallen into a cauldron of magic potion when he was a baby, which meant it had a permanent effect on him. While his principal pleasures are fighting and eating, he also has a love of animals, especially his dog. He's similar to Lennie from Of Mice and Men in that regard. If he liked fighting. And if his unawareness of his own strength was applied to doors.

Again, this is a duo which shares a close bond. While Obelix isn't the smartest person around, he nonetheless deeply cares for Asterix. The best example of this is in Asterix and the Cauldron, in which Asterix is banished from the village, prompting Obelix to voluntarily go into exile just so he can travel with him.

All in all, they're a duo whose dynamic provides scope for all kinds of adventures. Something I hope to achieve in my own work.

Favourite Duos #6 - Miles Raymond and Jack Cole (Sideways)

Credit to amathusdrinks

If you haven't seen the movie Sideways, I recommend it. This has another classic example of a dynamic duo. I originally heard about them from Doug Walker's "Top Ten Favourite Characters" countdown, and I apologise if I'm treading the same ground.

Miles is a divorced English teacher and struggling writer with a drinking problem. His best friend Jack is a soon-to-be-married, past-his-prime actor and serial womaniser. The two long-time friends are going on a road trip through the vineyards of Southern California, which is to serve as Jack's bachelor party, but both have hidden agendas: Miles simply wants to drown his sorrows, and is essentially using Jack as an enabler for this; Jack wants to have one last fling before he settles down, and hopes to find a partner for Miles as well.

Sure enough, Jack meets a wine pourer named Stephanie, and they immediately hook up to the point where Jack is willing to move house to be with her. Meanwhile, Miles meets a waitress named Maia and develops a connection, but is too timid to take things further. This establishes them both perfectly, with Jack's impulsive nature with little regard for the consequences of his actions, and Miles' tendency to play it safe and take little chances.

These contrasting flaws provide an excellent dynamic, allowing the two to complement one another. While they are both terrible people, they do genuinely care for one another. Their flaws essentially cancel each other out. Jack would be making too many poor choices if Miles wasn't there to hold him back, and Miles would be stuck in his self-destructive comfort zone if Jack wasn't there to push him forward.

Again, this is another dynamic I wish to borrow from. Instead of a "big one and little one" or "brawn and brains" duo, we have a duo in which one character is too impulsive while the other is too cautious, so there's a happy medium between the two.