Showing posts with label IMDB. Show all posts
Showing posts with label IMDB. Show all posts

Tuesday, September 17, 2024

Press Release: 12 Angry Dead Author Interviewed by Joseph Carrabis

12 Angry Dead is my short story for Tales from the Hanging Tree. Joseph Carrabis asked fellow "hangers," as he calls contributors, about my creative write for his website. 
 

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What is this story about? 

It is about: 

When the souls of the wronged rise to avenge their premature deaths, is there anyone who can stand against them? 
 
Marilla Gibbs, an heiress and a director of the historical museum, is a descendant of Aida Worthington, a victim of one of these unjust homicides. The mid-1800s was a tumultuous time, especially with figures like Josiah King, who took lives with impunity. 
 
In the afterlife, his victims came together to form a jury. On All Hallows Eve, when the veil separating the living from the dead is at its thinnest, Aida and eleven other spirits took control of their descendants to confront their killer, who is now a seven-year-old boy.
 
With the aid of her assistant, Shaun, and Justin, the child's father, Marilla seeks to outmaneuver the twelve angry dead. Yet, will their combined efforts be sufficient to redirect the course from vengeance to authentic justice? 

The trio soon realizes that no one can escape a past life. 

Go to 12 Angry Dead's page

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What is the interview about? 

You will learn:

  • Why I chose to write this cryptid, horror, mystery tale. 
  • What relevance the story has to my own journey. 
  • How no one can escape their past lives.

Read more here

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Quote from the Interview

Real or not, there are tales from centuries hence and into the recent past that illustrate the horrors that humans can inflict on one another. 12 Angry Dead pursues the idea that karma follows us from lifetime to lifetime. Some karma is about balancing one experience with another. Not all karma is about revenge, as is espoused by the spiritual community. Karma ties an individual to energies that also restores them to their soul’s purpose.

Read more here

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Purchase Links

Read my story, 12 Angry Dead, at your next Halloween party!  

Buy your copy of the Tales from the Hanging Tree on Amazon and other fine retailers: 

DL's Author Central page

Books2Read

Not all stories have a happy ending... and you can't outrun a past life.

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About DL Mullan:
 

A writer at heart, Undawnted’s own creative spark, DL Mullan, began writing short stories and poetry before adolescence. Over the years, Ms. Mullan has showcased her literary talents by self-publishing several collections of her poetry. She also writes novels, designs apparel, and creates digital art. Ms. Mullan‘s creative writing is available in digital and print collections, from academia to commercial anthologies. As an independent publisher, she produces her own book cover designs as well as maintains her own websites. She is an award-winning digital artist and poet.

Currently, she has embarked on writing her multi-book Legacy Universe, Supernatural Superhero Series.

For news and updates, subscribe to the Undawntable Newsletter. Find DL on Amazon, Facebook, LinkedIn, and YouTube.

 

 

 

Wednesday, September 7, 2022

Show Review: The Orville: New Horizons is Better than Star Trek: The Next Generation

I know it is a bold statement, but I do not regret a single word of it. 

There are Trekkies whose heads just exploded all over their monitors and laptop screens. I will not take back the statement. The Orville: New Horizons is Better than Star Trek: The Next Generation. It is the unvarnished truth. 

...and perhaps too many colons!

I love Star Trek. I remember watching a Star Trek Marathon of the original show on television when I was a child. I was about eleven or twelve. I have been to a Star Trek Convention with Michael Dorn as the guest speaker. 

Star Trek in recent times has tried to be a social and political commentator that feels like preaching, more than entertaining. It is fine to have relevant topics in entertainment, but when entertainment steps across the line into a "teachable moment," or outright "manipulation," that is when you lose me as a viewer. I am an adult and I expect to be treated that way. 

...that goes for politicians too. 

What The Orville did with their New Horizons season was multifold. First, Captain Ed Mercer grew up. That was a plus. He no longer obsessed over his ex-wife and their failed marriage. That left room for him to become captain and take on internal and external ship problems. Second, the comedic childishness fell to the waste side. Third, the storylines were more mature, still had their humorous moments, but kept true to the nature of the show. 

This season's storylines were quite impressive. There was the obvious slant to some of the tales, but a balance was reached on most of the content. 60/40 left to right in certain circumstances, but most of the time the stories and characters seemed more of a 50/50 balance between political views. 

Sometimes I did wonder where the show was going, and then the writers reined their opinions back in. A good science fiction/space opera will allow the audience to decide for themselves, not make decisions for them and then cram the lesson down their throats. The Orville: New Horizons is going in the direction of a well-written, performed, and astute in politics, culture, and society show worthy of being watched.

I will reiterate: I don't want to be preached to or at. That statement is for the socialists of both identity politics and religion. Just don't step over that line. You will neither get my vote, nor my time. 

Too often, the culture wars between these two extremist views like Marxists and the Evangelicals spills over into my world. I believe that these segments of society try to win over the majority by omitting facts and their real agenda. The real agenda is to force-feed either strict religious "morality" or communism without the voter's understanding, awareness, or permission.

The Orville: New Horizons skirted that perilous road with some uneasiness. From time to time, I thought the ship would head over a cliff, but was saved by common sense. I appreciate the effort. In the end, the show turned in solid performances, an equipoised world view, and the right type of thought-provoking debate that the audience should have with themselves. 

...let the roasting of me begin.

Have a great and wonderful day.

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If you enjoyed this review, then check out her other reviews on Amazon and IMDB

Remember to hit that Helpful button. 

DL Mullan is a Hollywood Scriptwriter-trained writer. She has spent time in front of the camera and on stage, as well has being crew on a number of projects. 

 Learn. Grow. Master... with Undawnted.


Friday, December 3, 2021

Undawnted is Red Hot in December with Countdowns, Gifts, Parties, and Reviews

December ends autumn and begins winter. So, let's countdown to Yule and the New Year!

Undawnted has ongoing as well as new projects, movie nights, movie reviews, and a year-end review of goals.

On the Schedule for this month*:
  • Continue with Movie Night with the Novelist 
    • Yippie Kaiyay!
      • 12/4, No movie tonight; Event Booked: Autumn Wonders Book Event completed
      • 12/5, Die Hard completed
    •   Narnia!
      • 12/11, Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch, & the Wardrobe completed
      • 12/12, Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian completed
    • Find Your Spirit ~
      • 12/18, Scrooged completed
      • 12/19, If You Believe completed
    • Be Your Own Hero ~
      • 12/24 Xmas Eve, Ernest Saves Christmas completed
      • 12/25 Xmas, Home Alone completed
    • Happy New Year!
      • 12/31, New Year's Eve, No movie tonight; Event Booked: Sonoran Dawn Party
  • Participate in a Book Tour completed
  • Author Interviews completed
  • Subscription for Newsletter/Mailing List completed
  • Add to Special Engagements/Writer's Workshops 
  • Book Event December 4th completed
  • Party December 31st in process
  • Finish Immortal Spellcaster for Editorial Review in process
  • Rework The Reality Hackers in process
  • Continue building the Legacy Universe 
  • Add/Remove Poems up for Review
    • Added: Eggnog Dreams  
    • Removed as of 12/31:
      • Moon over Aphrodite
      • 9.12.01
      • Upon Reading Edgar Allan Poe
      • Step on All of Us
      • You
      • Desert Mesquite
      • Vanished  
      • Eggnog Dreams
       
  • Year-end Review and Revision of Goals in process

See also: Undawnted's Calendar

Become a Community Member

Can you feel the sizzle! 

Have a great and wintry day!

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Friday, October 15, 2021

Movie Review: Submergence is a Modern Retelling of Romeo and Juliet with an Equally Modern Message

Granted, there are no feuding families over the characters Danny Flinders and James More, but the star-crossed lovers are still archetypes of this romance-tragedy genre. 

Contrary to popular belief, the genre was not begun by William Shakespeare. These stories persisted over centuries before he wrote his play and culminated in tales such as the Tragical History of Romeus and Juliet by Arthur Brooke (1562) as well as Palace of Pleasure by William Painter (1567). Decades later, Shakespeare restructured these narratives into his famous poetic play. 

*****

Submergence

In a room with no windows on the eastern coast of Africa, a Scotsman, James More, is held captive by jihadist fighters. Thousands of miles away in the Greenland Sea, Danielle Flinders prepares to dive in a submersible to the ocean floor. In their confines they are drawn back to the Christmas of the previous year, where a chance encounter on a beach in France led to an intense and enduring romance. 

IMDB

 *****Spoiler Time***** 

The Breakdown

Submergence is about a man and woman who meet on vacation in France. Both waiting to go on their own professional adventures. Both unknowing of the consequence to ensue.

James More, played by James McAvoy, is a British intelligence operative. He has discovered a link between Kismayo, Somalia and an operational bomb unit in Europe. He makes the decision to return to the area under his water engineer alias. As soon as he arrives, he is taken hostage and tortured as a CIA/MI6 spy. Later, as the movie progresses, James More discovers that a couple of militant leaders of jihadists have taken command and control of the operation. In order to save his love and homeland, James activates a location device hidden in a tooth (bridge). An American strike team is sent to eliminate the threat. James dies at the scene. 

Danielle "Danny" Flinders is a bio-mathmetician, played by Alicia Vikander, who gathers samples from the Hadal layer of the mantel near the bottom of the ocean. She has trained to ride in a submersible for a chance of a lifetime: go to the depths for herself. She knows the risks yet is spurred on by the fact that her hypothesis of life being from the scum of the ocean floor has merit and must be taken seriously. However, the submersible has mechanical and technical issues, leaving the crew and herself stranded. With only five days of oxygen for them to breathe, the hope of a rescue is shattered as Danny is in the only one found in Europe. She dies of suffocation.

*****

The Review

James More: "Death. It gets very real when you're watching somebody die in front of you. You're thinking, is this all I am? Is this all I added up to? And all the clichés are true. You're thinking, why now? Why did it have to be... this happen, before I realize what life truly is? It's direct, it's immediate, and it's their whole life exposed to you."

This movie allows the characters in their most vulnerable and desperate hours to console themselves with the love the two of them shared and continue to lament. The story is a cautionary tale to those people who watch and understand the message: life is too short; take love when you can get it and never let it go. 

James More and Danny Flinders allowed their compulsion to work at any cost to cost them their enduring love to one another and also their lives. 

Was their sacrifices worth it in the end? 

Is this not a modern conundrum? Work to get ahead but to do so is to miss out on living a good life? 

There are some good points the characters make while falling in love with each other. What is death? Is this life of what we become the only thing we have amounted to? What is the life you want to live? Then why aren't you living your best life? 

To sacrifice yourself in the name of service or profession, is that not a disservice to humanity? To yourself? What is too much to ask of someone?

This film has been rated: 5.4/10 Stars on IMDB. 

The one consolation that the audience is given is after James More's death in the ocean, Danny Flinders is there to greet him on the other side. Star-crossed, yes, these two characters are, but James and Danny are afforded an ending Romeo and Juliet never received: an eternity in love with one another. 

What could any hopeless romantic ask for?  

Watched free on IMDB.

*****

The Tally 

My review will be posted on Prime as well as IMDB. 

Prime... 4 out of 5 stars

IMDB... 8 out of 10 stars

Submergence gives us many questions to ponder about the balance in our lives and the worth we place on every waking hour. Is love or work more important? Maybe we should ask ourselves these types of questions. 

If we want a better world, then isn't it up to every single individual to live a better life that creates a better outcome than violence, hate, and criminality? 

The hero's journey... be on it. 

Let love guide your path. 

*****

The Writer's Workshop

Movies for Writers: Submergence the classic retelling of the Greek myth of a mortal man falling in love with a sea goddess. 

*****

For more Movie Reviews, check out Undawnted's Critiques and Reviews page as well as her IMDB and Amazon Prime profiles. 


Have a great and wonderful day.


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