by Melinda Snodgrass | Sep 26, 2017 | TV & Movies
I hoped but I feared. Then I watched and my fears were realized. While Star Trek: Discovery looks beautiful I found the teasing first episode to be disappointing. Not horrible just not good. A friend of mine who also works in the industry had the perfect word that incapsulated all my problems with the show. It’s lazy. *************************SPOILERS****************SPOILERS***************SPOILERS**************SPOILERS******* The writing is lazy with terrible on the...
by Melinda Snodgrass | Aug 28, 2017 | Blog
I know this is probably going to earn me blowback, but I’m becoming increasingly concerned over the behavior of the Antifa protestors. Home grown Nazis and white supremacists are praying that some Antifa member kills someone. For god’s sake don’t give them that cover or the satisfaction. I understand that Antifa members placed themselves between vulnerable members of the clergy in Charlottesville and rampaging Nazis and supremacists, and acting as a blockade is fine, but...
by Melinda Snodgrass | Aug 27, 2017 | TV & Movies
I thought I take a break from organizing photos and trying to capture the wonder of my trip, and talk about the two movies I watched during the long flight back to Los Angeles. And yes, there will be SPOILERS so please nobody have a MELTDOWN OVER THE SPOILERS. As most of my readers know I love Tom Hiddleston. His range from Loki to Jonathan Pine in the brilliant miniseries The Night Manager is extraordinary. So I wanted to see KONG: SKULL ISLAND because he was in it. I had missed...
by Melinda Snodgrass | Aug 26, 2017 | Blog
I would like to have had more then a day in Tallinn, but it does rank right up there of cities to which I would like to return. But Stockholm — I adored this city. Everywhere I looked there were beautiful views. I snapped this as I walked along the river on my way to dinner on my first night. As I walked past the imposing town hall (A copy of a Renaissance Italian palace) I read that this was the site of the Nobel prize ceremony. And immediately I began to see scenes for the next...
by Melinda Snodgrass | Aug 19, 2017 | Blog
I decided to write a blog post rather than the more ephemeral Facebook post. I’ll go back and grab Helsinki, but right now I want to talk about Stockholm and my first day in Copenhagen. So far Stockholm still has my heart over both Helsinki and Copenhagen. Copenhagen is a lovely city, but despite the colorful older buildings lining the broad boulevards it has a very modern feel. Stockholm’s Old City and the walk along the river past City Hall was more charming. Not as old as...
by Melinda Snodgrass | Aug 3, 2017 | Blog
I cannot talk about this film without talking about specific scenes. SO THERE ARE GOING TO BE SPOILERS! IF YOU CAN’T STAND SPOILERS DON’T READ THIS! YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED! ****************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************** I loved this movie. Of course I am a massive Anglophile. I’m also a student of World War II. I wrote a...
by Melinda Snodgrass | Jun 27, 2017 | About Writing
Ah, the teaser, the hook, the opening scene of a book — whatever you want to call it it is absolutely necessary that you have something that grabs a reader’s eyeballs and brain when they casually flip open your book and skim that first page be it at the bookstore or that online sample of an ebook. Robert Heinlein is reputed to have said that you have one page to convince a buyer to spend his or her hard earned money on your book rather than a six pack of beer so it better be a great first...
by Melinda Snodgrass | Jun 20, 2017 | Game/Writing
This is my critique so there may be SPOILERS though I haven’t finished (and may never finish so I’m not sure how much I can actually spoil). So here goes — Playing Mass Effect: Andromeda has begun to feel like doing homework. Not fun and like my parents will be really pissed if I don’t get my work done after I spent money for this so I better play some tonight. Wondering if it was just me I went looking for some reviews and, my god, they are scathing. Almost every...
by Melinda Snodgrass | Jun 11, 2017 | TV & Movies
There are going to be spoilers in this post, but if you take my advice you won’t watch this movie so it won’t matter. But YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED — SPOILERS AHEAD! ********************************************************************************************************************************************************************** I made the mistake of watching part of The Musketeer while I ate dinner. Oh Lordy (my new favorite phrase thanks to Mr. Comey) what an awful mess. This...
by Melinda Snodgrass | May 26, 2017 | General
I can’t believe I’m typing this, but I’m worried we are now entering the Sturmabteilung (brownshirt) phase of the Trump presidency. There were t shirts worn and sold at Trump rallies that said — Rope, Tree, Journalist, Some Assembly Required. And now we have what occurred in Montana. A candidate for congress assaulted a journalist for merely asking a question. That was appalling but even more appalling and worrisome is the fact that some on the right are trying...
by Melinda Snodgrass | May 9, 2017 | TV & Movies
This is going to be a post about GUARDIAN’S OF THE GALAXY VOL. 2 so there will be SPOILERS!!!!! SPOILERS!!!!! SPOILERS!!!! YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED. I like most of the Marvel movies. I really liked the first Guardians movie. I liked Ant Man. I adored the first two acts of Captain America: The First Avenger. I liked Thor because of the fascinating family dynamic and charismatic villain. The first Iron Man film. Winter Soldier. Are you starting to see a pattern here?...
by Melinda Snodgrass | Apr 28, 2017 | General
Stephen Hopkins: “Well, in all my years I ain’t never heard, seen nor smelled an issue that was so dangerous it couldn’t be talked about. Hell yeah! I’m for debating anything. Rhode Island says yea!” 1776 Musical. This line from the musical 1776 came back to me as I’ve been reading about the uproar over the appearance of Ann Coulter at Berkley and the subsequent cancellation of her speech over outrage from some parties and security concerns on the part of the university....
by Melinda Snodgrass | Apr 1, 2017 | Blog
In case anyone missed it. Big news on the Wild Cards front. Wild Cards to Broadway
by Melinda Snodgrass | Mar 30, 2017 | General
Or to put it another way — Women-are-just-so-alluring-that-men-can’t-control-themselves-so-the-women-have-to-be-denied-opportunites-so-men-don’t-lose-control. Which is insulting as hell to men and puts women in a symbolic burqa. Why am I writing this? Because I just read an article about how Mike Pence will not dine alone with a woman. Nor go to an event where there will be alcohol unless his wife is along. Seems quaint, right? It’s also deeply pernicious in terms...
by Melinda Snodgrass | Mar 28, 2017 | About Writing
No, this is not a post about my abortion. Literarily not literally. Anyway — Let me tell you how THE IMPERIALS SAGA came to pass. Years and years and years ago I was on a panel about the third Star Wars movie The Return of the Jedi. Among its many failings was the fact that I could not accept that the imperial senate would ever approve the vast sums of money necessary to build a new Death Star after the Emperor and Vader had let a farm boy blow up the first one. I mean, I know...
