Wednesday, November 3, 2010

NaNo, Surprise Video, Movie Review, and Award

Two days of NaNo and I can already tell my hunt and peck style of typing is going to be a problem. (You think?!)

I hit 3179 words last night and sent out a couple Twitter messages regarding my progress. Each one begins as a Stardate log. Maybe when I’m finished I’ll post a few here. It’ll be like my account of Sharktopus. Maybe more painful…

This was a total shock! I found this through a Google Alert on Monday – Ali Cross did a video review of my book on YouTube! Complete with space battle sound effects. It’s really sweet and inspires me to make the next book even better.



Is she not cute? Go give her a hug for me! Oh wait, read the rest of this post first…

Movie Review - Harry Brown (From Netflix)

You may not be familiar with this small film but it packs a vicious punch.

When a crew of drug-dealing gang members takes the life of his only friend, Leonard (David Bradley), retired Marine and widower Harry Brown (Michael Caine) decides to take the law into his own hands -- but his old-school training might be overmatched. Helmed by first-time feature director Daniel Barber, this gritty vigilante thriller set in England.

Gritty is definitely the word that sums up this little gem. It plays out like the British version of Gran Torino, however Harry takes it to the next level. Slow and methodical but never dull, Harry Brown will stir your inner vigilante who, upon seeing numerous horrors, finally decides he's had enough. I found the film compelling and the work of Michael Caine to be understated and powerful. Check it out if you are comfortable with a film that turns very violent at times.


Colene at The Journey gave me the Irresistible Blog Award! Does this mean I’m charming? Or just my blog? Either way, thanks Colene!

Passing it on to:
Rayna at Coffee Rings Everywhere
Yvonne at Welcome to my World of Poetry

Because I can’t go a day without visiting these two awesome bloggers!

Okay, back to writing…

65 comments:

Jessica Bell said...

I've seen Harry Brown and 'gritty' is an understatment! ;o) Was an amazing film. Very depressing. It's one of those films I'll always remember for making me feel sick ... but that's why I loved it. Anything that causes physical side effects has gotta be a success, right? LOL

Grammy said...

Hi, Alex,
Your review of the film with Michael Caine reminds me of the Death Wish movies with Charles Bronson. Have you ever seen them. They are great! His character's family is brutally slain, and he decides he is not going to get justice through police action and takes matters into his own hands, becoming the vigilante who avenges his families deaths, then becomes a crusader (with a gun) and takes out a whole bunch of bad guys. If you haven't seen them, check them out. My husband and I really enjoyed seeing Bronson in them. Than you for your continued support. Congrats on the success of your book, and the great reviews. Love, Ruby

T. Powell Coltrin said...

Yay on your word count! Keep it going.

Matthew MacNish said...

Wow that is so cool of Ali, she is very sweet.

I love Michael Caine but hadn't even heard of this film. This is one of the reasons I LOVE your blog. Thanks so much Alex!

Alex J. Cavanaugh said...

Jessica, it'll stay with you all right.

Ruby, I remember the Death Wish movies. This one is probably not quite that gritty, although close.

Matthew, you'll need to watch it then!

Old Kitty said...

That's so weird!! I went to Fopp yesterday lunchtime and guess what DVD was selling for £5?!?!?!!? that I then grabbed?!?! Guess!! Guess!! LOL!!!

Sadly I'm at work and cannot really play the clip for fear of being marched out of the office by security guards!! LOL!!
But YAY!!!!! WOOO-HOOOO!!!!! Can't wait to play this when I get home!

Congratulations with your fabulous and lovely award!!!!

Take care
x

RHYTHM AND RHYME said...

Loved your review of our Michael Caine film I remember him when I was a teenager in Alfie......now I'm showing my age.

Thanks for the visits and kind comments during my enforced abscence, My son's friend has repaired my laptop for a minimum price of a "PC Doctor" so am happily back on line.
The award you gave me was the "Icing On The Cake".
Thank you, and congratulations yourself on recieving it yourself.
Yvonne.

Mason Canyon said...

Congratulations on the surprise video and the award. Good luck with your writing.

Mason
Thoughts in Progress

Jules said...

Oh joy, I just got Netflix :) Maybe now I can follow along with all these reviews.

Rah, Rah, as to Nano. Congrats on the award. I'm just happy to see Ms Yvonne is back :D
Jules @ Trying To Get Over The Rainbow

Liza said...

Great video review! Alex, you are just running forward here. Great!

Alex J. Cavanaugh said...

Thank you, Kitty! And enjoy the movie.

Yvonne, glad you're back online now! And your post yesterday was such a surprise.

Jules, NetFlix is the source of most of my movie-watching!

Copyboy said...

Nice video review. I also caught the one chuck did for you at his blog. Gotta rent that MC flick. Haven't seen much of his films since Blame it On Rio.

Summer Frey said...

Well, I for one am very much enjoying your Twitter updates.

As for the hunt and peck? I know it works for some bestsellers, but I grew up in the IM generation. I was speed typing by age 10. And it certainly helps!

We have Gran Torino, but haven't watched it yet. Heard good things about it, though.

Sarah Ahiers said...

hey, 3179 isn't bad at all.
I can't watch vids on this computer so i'll have to check it out later

Charles Gramlich said...

Congrats on your progress. And yes, touch typing is a great skill to have.

DEZMOND said...

I don't think anyone in this universe has mentioned Sharktopus as much as you have. I think you're in love.

Summer Ross said...

Congrats on the award Alex! Ali did a good job on that video!

woot on making it over 3,000 words, I did too yesterday.

Happy writing!

Arlee Bird said...

I enjoyed Ali's video review although I had to question her on what she meant by saying that the writing was "formal". Your style is closer to my own and to the style I most enjoy reading. To me Jane Austen or Henry James is formal, your style seems rather natural. I'm hoping she might enlighten me further.

Last night I hit 4110 words after a brief burst of writing energy.

Lee
Tossing It Out

Eric said...

That's awesome, Alex. Do you feel like a celebrity yet? You should :)

Bossy Betty said...

You ARE charming! That's why we all hang around....

Budd said...

hunt and peck or just peck? There is a difference and I imagine with the number or comments and the amount you write, that you are a peck typer. Kids nowdays only type with there thumbs.

Colene Murphy said...

Oh no! YOU are pretty darn charming!

That video was great! Even more excited to start on your book now!

George Beremov [Nebular] said...

Loved the video review!

Harry Brown was deeply disappointing Brit flick for me.

Congrats on the award, Alex.

Hart Johnson said...

Alex! What a fabulous review! I'm happy dancing for you and it's only Wednesday! And you'll do FINE on NaNo, just keep swimming, my friend! Congrats on the award!

Carol Kilgore said...

Good luck with NaNo. What a neat surprise with the video.

Jai Joshi said...

I adore Michael Caine but I haven't seen this film so I'll have to look out for it. I've been meaning to watch 'Sleuth' too.

Well done on writing over 3000 words yesterday! That's great stuff.

Jai

Rawknrobyn.blogspot.com said...

Congratulations, Alex. That's an awesome review. She is cute, and she loves CassaStar.
Regarding nano, too bad your twitter messages don't count towards # of words. Or do they?
xoRobyn

Laura Eno said...

Awesome way to get a review!

You still hunt and peck? O.o

Glynis Peters said...

Love the video. Happy hunting and pecking...NaNo NaNO over and out. :)

The Old Silly said...

Kudos on the award, and Rayna and Yvonne are wonderful bloggers - I visit them now and then and am always entertained well.

Lynda R Young as Elle Cardy said...

wow that review is fantastic. I can see why you sound so pleased :)

As for NaNo, I powered on for the first three days but now I know (already) it's going to get harder. I've hit my first stump. RAWR!
Must....keep....writing....!

Southpaw said...

That was the cutest video ever and a great review!

Jemi Fraser said...

Congrats on that vlog review - awesome! I enjoyed your Twitter updates too! :)

M Pax said...

Best to ya on the writing. :D

Unknown said...

Congrats to the winners and to you, the receiver of wonderful review! I'm about 70% done your book now and cant wait to do a review of my own.

CD

Susan Gourley/Kelley said...

I love Michael Caine in everything he does. I'll have to check this one out. Love that video review. Very cool and congrats on your away and nearly 4K words.

Notes Along the Way with Mary Montague Sikes said...

That's a lot of hunt and peck words for NaNo.

Congrats,
Monti
MaryMontagueSikes

Abby Minard said...

Can't wait to read your book- it should be coming in any minute at the library. Good job on the word count!

Alex J. Cavanaugh said...

Copyboy Blame it on Rio was 25 years ago!

Summer, I shall continue the updates just for you!

Dez, no I'm just envious that Eric Roberts was drunk during the film and I wasn't!

Good stuff, Lee! And I told Ali no one had ever accused me of being formal before.

Eric, my wife said not to let it go to my head.

Budd, that's true! And I probably 'peck' at least 30 words a minute.

Thank you, Colene!

Nebular, I was just in the right frame of mind for it I guess.

Hart, I'll swim, just not naked.

Robyn, too bad blog comments don't either!

Laura, yeah, never took a typing class.

Lynda, you can do it!

Thanks Jemi and I'll keep them coming.

Clarissa, I hope it's a good review!

WritingNut said...

What a great review! And congrats on writing 3000 words. I got an email today from the NaNo people, and this is exactly where you're supposed to be... so good job! :)

Kelly Polark said...

Wow, way to go on your wordcount!
And what a fun video review!!! Loved the intro song and her true excitement over your book!!

Cheeseboy said...

You get more blogger love and win more awards than anyone I've ever seen. Liked the video review. Man, you are one loved S.O.B!

ali cross said...

Dude, you're doing totally fine on your word count! Way to make hunting and pecking work for you!

And thanks for the shout-out. That was totally cool of you.

AND thanks for the movie recommend! Sounds like it's right up our alley, and we haven't seen it yet!

Ella said...

Congrats on your award! I love what
Ali did, so great! I love Stardate log...great Twitter technique! ;-D

Pat Tillett said...

congrats on the award!
the video was awesome!
it's not how fast you type, it's what you type! (and what you type is amazing...)

Ellie Garratt said...

How awesome is Ali?!

Enid Wilson said...

Congratulations! How did you trick her into doing that? haha, just teasing you.

My Darcy Mutates

N. R. Williams said...

Alex, what a fabulous review. Way to go. I hope she comes by and leaves you a comment as well. It's every writers dream to have such a fan.
Nancy
N. R. Williams, fantasy author

Alex J. Cavanaugh said...

Writing Nut, I'm a little behind, but I'll have more time on the weekends.

A little cheesy jealousy, Cheeseboy? And I'm not even doing anything crazy for my 500th follower!

Ali, I can hunt and peck with the best of them!

Ella, glad you're enjoying the Twitter accounts.

Thanks, Pat. I'm not just rushing through it, either. I know one's not suppose to edit or anything, but I'm careful and deliberate in my word choice and adjusting what doesn't work.

Nancy, she did, and she posted the video on her site, too.

Anonymous said...

Good luck with the writing.... I hadn't been able to log into Nano because of heavy traffic. Will try again today.

Alex J. Cavanaugh said...

Stephen I don't know how you can pour several hours into your tour and several more into writing! Would've been too much for me and my tour would've bombed.

L. Diane Wolfe said...

The video review is fantastic!

Karen Lange said...

Congrats on the award! Cheering you on for NaNo!

Golden Eagle said...

Awesome video. :D

Congrats on the award, which is completely deserved. :) And good luck with NaNo!!

Patricia Stoltey said...

What a delightful review, Alex. Thank goodness for Google Alerts. It would have been a shame to miss it.

Helen Ginger said...

Congratulations on the video review! I hope it goes viral.

Alex J. Cavanaugh said...

Thanks everyone! And Patricia, it would've sucked to miss it. Just sucked!

Amity said...

Hi Alex,

was out for almost a week, got back only a couple of days back...;-)

missed a lot of your posts now...hope i could make up

thanks for your constant visit in my blog and your kind comments on my posts...they are indeed inspiring and encouraging!

your kind of mushy here...lols..I mean, giving a hug and yes, you maybe charming, who knows...have not seen you actually!

your army is growing by the leaps!

now am envious...:-) i have 193 followers, 7 to go to hit the mark of 200...:-)thanks for sharing this review!

Velvet Over Steel said...

How awesome to find Ali Cross's review of your book! (I love google alerts!) Very cool, Alex!

Congrats!! Have a Wonderful weekend!!
~ Coreen

Elizabeth Mueller said...

Congrats on you award, Alex! You're so cute about Ali. I can send her a *HUGS* text for you if ya want! ;)

Have fun with NaNo--sounds like your having fun!

PS--I'm really looking forward to your thing tomorrow! :D

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Claire Dawn said...

Awesome review. Your book is in my lineup for December. Sorry I can't get to it before. Nano, and before that the dayjob made several attempts on my sanity and my life.

Congrats!

Jamie Gibbs said...

I'm enjoying your Twitter updates for NaNo, keep 'em coming :D
That's a kick ass review too, congrats!

RHYTHM AND RHYME said...

Thanks for your comment, Bonfire Night is a British tradition that goes back to when The House Of Parliament were attempted to be blown up with gunpowder.
I wrote about it as it was topical to what was going on around me.

Have a good week-end
Yvonne,

Alex J. Cavanaugh said...

Amity - mushy? My wife will laugh at that one. And you'll hit 200 before you know it!

Thanks, Coreen!

Claire, I understand - thanks for wanting to read it!

Jamie, glad you're enjoying them.

Yvonne, so it was an early bombing attempt? Would've required a lot of gunpowder!