Posts Tagged ‘Thriller’

  1. The least thrilling of thrillers

    March 11, 2010 by ChiaLynn

    Sometimes I have dreams that I think contain the seeds of good stories, and I often can’t remember them in the morning.

    This morning, though, my dreaming mind presented me with a thriller in which Canada attempted to destroy American rye production by introducing a black fungus that would wipe out the crop. They had ordered the assassination of a Congressional committee member who was blocking the importation of Canadian rye – and with his death, the clock began to tick.

    “No,” I said to myself when I woke up from the dream. “No one wants to read a thriller about Canadian agriculture.”

    The dream persisted. An hour later, I woke up again. “Seriously,” I said. “No. There’s just nothing sexy about a black rye fungus.”

    It tried a third time, too, with a vivid depiction of the cover of a scholarly journal warning of The Misuse of Black Rye Mold in International Agriculture.

    I wonder if I can get Michael Bay to direct?

    Category Random Babbling | Tags: ,, | 9 Comments

  2. Will no one think of the snails?

    April 15, 2009 by ChiaLynn

    She wouldn't be torturing that animal if she knew which island this is...

    She wouldn't be torturing that animal if she knew which island this is...

    I don’t watch a lot of TV. But when I got an email from Fancast this afternoon asking “Whose week is it to die?”, I had to find out. Which is how I ended up watching Harper’s Island.

    My first impression wasn’t favorable, as anyone who follows me on Twitter knows.

    As you know, Bob...

    Seriously, I know it’s difficult to introduce a score and more new characters, many of whom have complicated, interlocking backstories, but you can do better than this:
    Abby Mills: Looks at fancy, engraved invitation in her lap, while one-eyed cabbie examines her in the rear view mirror.
    Cabbie: Who’s getting married?
    Abby: The groom is my best friend from growing up.
    Cabbie: You look familiar.
    Abby: I grew up on the island.
    Cabbie: Right! You’re Sheriff Mills’ kid. What a shame. All those people? Terrible.

    Or this:
    Henry Dunn (that would be local poor boy Henry Dunn, groom-elect of the wealthy bride-to-be, and not to be confused with English actor Henry Dunn, whom I know from the SF Fringe): “I’m really glad you came, JD. Since our parents died, you’re my only family.”

    But then the wedding party reached the eponymous island, and I noticed something.

    The Woods

    I checked IMDB.

    As I suspected:

    Bowen's Island

    Compare:

    Abby on the Island

    Here’s Abby, walking the old home road.

    Rats eat bugs, you know

    And here’s what’s left of poor Mr. Skinner’s Bug, after the giant rats were finished with him.

    NovySan was amused.

    Money, money, money

    Maybe so, but I had to point out that it’s a narrowly targeted skill.

    The LA Skyline

    So now I’m watching the show with an eye to spotting more locations from one of my favorite films. And yes, I’ve signed up for the contest – predict each week’s victims correctly, win $1,000. (My guess is the fat guy dies next. It’s either him or the black man, because I know how these things work.

    But I’m really hoping that this blonde, whose role in the first episode is to fill us in on the serial killer who strung up Abby’s mom, gets eaten by a giant snail.

    Category Music & Movies & Such | Tags: ,,,,, | 4 Comments