Saints & Vigilantes

THE FORTRESS OF DEREK SAYS, "LET THEM EAT CAKE!!!"

The weather hasn't been as hot lately, so that's a good thing. Kind of a medical day...Keeping tabs on my sister's doctors visit, and I myself was the vet for Ares the Cat getting vaccinations (he gets freaked out by the dogs at the hospital---a dog fight broke out in the other room and there was blood on the floor). Both my sis and cat are alright, though.

Let me just throw this out here: Max von Sydow is an amazing actor. My bros (Nick, Greg, & Rick) are watching "Shutter Island" right now (currently my 3rd favorite film of 2010). Max plays the creepy doctor in this flick, and I grew up loving him in movies like "Flash Gordon", "Dune", and "Needful Things". His best movie though? "The Exorcist". Frightening to this day!

We watched "Boondocks Saints 2: All Saints Day" earlier. Wasn't nearly as good as the first one, which I just dig thematically; religious vigilantes slaying the wicked. This new chapter didn't get compelling until the last thirty minutes. Glad they did throwbacks and cameos for lovers of the 1st film, but a lot of the film was too jokey and the dialogue was bad. Director Patrick Duffy needs to focus on a better screenplay for his next film (there were some interesting visuals in the movie, though). Once the story was fully fleshed out in the 3rd Act, it was pretty cool, but they should of revealed it earlier on. A documentary about Duffy called "Overnight" (a cautionary tale for any new blood breaking into Hollywood, and what NOT to do!) is a fascinating picture.

Saw the new DC Universe animated film "Batman: Under the Read Hood" yesterday and it was a very fun thrill-ride flick. Lots of villains, good action, nice voice acting, and good moral dilemmas for Bats. If I wrote Batman, he'd be a little more hardcore. He would have killed Joker a long time ago! Batman shouldn't share Superman's morality. He doesn't need to be The Punisher, but he should be angry and vicious, vengeful to an extent. Yes, he is brilliant, composed, but also a little nutty, on edge, living in the darkness and within the pain of his tortured soul...

My favorite DC Animated might be "Justice League: Crisis of Two Earths". Had a good time hanging out with my buddy Terence on his bday on Wednesday, along with my new film buddies Jole, Aaron, and Julian (who have some awesome YouTube content) at one my favorite Italian spots, The Deli News. I baked a bday cake for T, Max, and Stephanie from Pulp Fiction Comics (it was their birthdays earlier this month), and it was bomb, if I say so myself!

Look forward to a fun party tomorrow night. Will post again soon!

Subway Kinda Day

My cat has to hang out in the shower to stay cool. And he bites me to show his affection. What a sweetheart.

About to eat my 3rd Subway sandwich today...All my meals were from Subway...Who am I, Jared?
Some of them weren't even as good as normal. I hate when you get the Subway guy who just doesn't wanna help you...The happier the sandwich-maker, the better the food tastes!

Back hurtin'...Its a daily struggle. Hot again today. Didn't get much screenwriting done. Bad me. Need to write a new poem, too. Gotta write a comic strip with my artist Winford for my buddy Chris's website...A lot I gotta work on.

Watched two movies, "Law Abiding Citizen" and "Brooklyn's Finest". Both had cool parts, but I didn't enjoy either movie's ending. Good hanging out with recovering bro, Nick.

Hopefully I can go to a cool movie screening tomorrow. And I hope my cat does better in this heat. Poor Ares!

Tuesday Today

Hot day today, but loving it! Went on two nice walks...Worked on some writing. Falling behind on my movie-watching! My homie Max is totally kickin' my behind in 2010 movies watched (he's seen over 50 of this year's films, I've seen over 30). Need to schedule my days better...New comics tomorrow, so I have an early morning at the shop.

Sadly, my poor sister had to go the hospital today, but thank God she's fine...They ran some tests, she had stomach issues...I appreciated all the prayers from my friends! She's back at her home now, will have to do follow-ups later this week.

Had an awesome time at a bonfire last night with my buddies Greg (my bro of 15 years), Karen (my little activist spitfire), and Terence (my production manager). Nothing says summer like a beach and a firepit! We had burgers and 3 separate fires going! Still a lot of rusted nail and spider covered wood leftover too in the truck...Here's a pic from Greg's iPhone.

Can't wait to go see "Inception" this week. Had a crazy bday filled weekend couple days ago, will blog about that later...I have some In 'N Out calling me right now!

The Wounded Hunter (poem)

The Wounded Hunter
By Derek-Aron Van Easley
Composed May 4th, 2010

Forsaken for what I truly know
My shining quiver accompanied by bow
The arrows pining targets yonder
And oft I ache my heartless ponder
I wonder if my bow and arrow, my quiver
Give me reason to quake and shiver
Delivered in a narrow spurning
This time is fickle with the hands-a-turning
Distant in this suffered longing
All along, not quite belonging
Singing songs off key and shocking
The hunter’s set, the prey he’s stalkin
Gawking at his stealthy trappings
He’s checked his plans and drawn his mappings
But napping was I, while still awake
My arrow’s shot with a purposeful mistake
I take in my wounds, this hunter’s gaming
And in myself I find the blaming
A taming feature of a deranged bullseye
For in exchange, one creature shall die
The crying howling is not unheard
For pain is growling in muffled words
And hearts that are pierced from arrows shot
Are memories adrift in nets, still caught

Hot in July

It's hot! Cannot believe it is July already. My folks just had their anniversary, America is having her birthday, my best friend is turning 30, then my Pops has his bday...I'm happy, listening to "Karma Chameleon" by Culture Club right now. How I love my 80's music!

Hope all is well out there for everyone is the universe. Had a nice refreshing walk, had a delicious Subway lunch compliments of my Sis, and got a nice phone call later, bittersweet, but good all the same. Also got some good writing done (new poem, which I will post here soon)...Reading the latest issue of JUSTICE LEAGUE of AMERICA, and wishing my friends well who are going to the Anime Expo!

Finally watched "Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs" on DEMAND, and it was good! The animation was different and bright, and the voice actors (Bill Hader, Anna Faris, Bruce Campbell, James Caan, Andy Samberg & Mr. T) did a great job. (I want to get into voice acting!) The story was also original and refreshing. Sony Animation Studios turns out some nice flicks.

Favorite movie of the summer, and perhaps the year, is still "Toy Story 3". Absolutely loved that film. So much humanity from animated plastic figures. Amazing. Almost saw it for a second time the other day, but my friend was too tired to do a double feature (we saw "Jonah Hex" after we DIDN'T make it into the screening of "The Last Airbender" that we had passes to). The Twihard fanatics were out in full force that night! On Wednesday, they broke midnight opening night box office records! Loving summer movie season!

I'm feeling good about my book, my partnership with my producing friend, and some of my poetry getting published in my friend's online magazine. Very nice.

Check out my Twitter page, of the same name,
http://twitter.com/fortressofderek. Follow me!
Enjoy this beautiful summer!

Welcome to the Fortress!

Hello!

This is the first entry in my ongoing "Fortress of Derek" blog and I hope you have as much fun reading my entries as I enjoy writing them. Enjoy the show!

It's a moderately chilly evening (for Southern California standards) and I am in a Panera Bakery with my brother, both of us busy working behind our laptops. Today has been filled with busy work for me involving finances and medical things and filling out paperwork. Hoo-ray! Lots of fun. So, it's nice to take a few moments out to appreciate my free chemical-tasting water, inhale the rich aroma of fresh bread (accompanied by the stink of cigarette smoker sitting behind me, who is obviously not smoking indoors, but might as well be because he carries the thick cloud of carcinogens with him, and listen to the smooth sounds of classical jazz playing overhead, peppered by the cries of some obnoxious children running about wildly. Despite the cons, I am having a good time, and I'm preparing for a script meeting with my screenwriting partner tomorrow, while accidentally eavesdropping on people complaining about their malfunctioning i-phones, the government, the job market, and the increasing cost of food.

MOVIE REVIEWS!

I saw two movies yesterday. The first one I watched with my good buddy Danny while eating my Chipotle burrito bowl, and dealing with the smell of his dying dog and his mother puffing on her cancer sticks. The film, The Foot-Fist Way (written by Ben Best and Jody Hill and directed by Hill) was pretty darn funny, though. It stars Danny McBride from Pineapple Express and Tropic Thunder as a strangely overconfident Tae Kwon Do instructor with marital problems who looks to inspire his students while simultaneously elevating himself to a larger-than-life status in their eyes. McBride plays such a clueless, semi-abusive 3rd degree black belt instructor, that it makes me long to get back into martial arts so I in turn could open my own school and yell at children and hold wicked demos. Our hero also seeks the approval of washed up-Chuck Norris-action star type (and no, don't go crazy on me---Chuck Norris is not washed up and nobody can come close to the awesomeness of the real Chuck!), and he does this perhaps to the detriment of his finances, his standing in the martial arts community, and even his marriage! It has a slow, indie-comedy vibe, but its worth seeing if you enjoy Danny McBride's brash, hick-charm and hilarious swagger, and if you are of fan of films the likes of Napoleon Dynamite and Nacho Libre.

The second film I watched was with my buddies Cornbred, Zes, and Sohrob at their new bachelor house of sin. After Zes finished surviving the latest episode of the ever-sinking and downward-spiraling show Heroes on the DVR (honestly, I don't know how it is now...I'm like 5 episodes behind!), we popped in a film called JCVD to view on the big screen. Now JCVD stands for Jean-Claude Van Damme, and yes, the movie stars the 48 year old action star from the 1980's playing the Muscles from Brussels himself. This Belgium film, written by Frédéric Bénudis and Mabrouk El Mechri (and directed by El Mechri ), mostly takes place in Belgium, and it deals with some unexpected issues for a Van Damme flick, including violence in the media, how Arabs are portrayed on film, the downside of the Hollywood machine, how Hollywood is viewed by the rest of the world, and how stardom can take a serious toll on an individual. The opening single-take action sequence and Van Damme's emotional monologue breaking the fourth wall as he speaks to the viewer later in the film are the definite highlights. But my buddies Cornbred and Zes retired early from the movie-watching, and Sohrob fell asleep, which was shocking because he is perhaps the biggest Van Damme fan I know (he owns ALL of VD's movies on DVD, except JCVD...ha...that's a lot of letters). So, the movie dragged in several parts. And we weren't expecting to read subtitles for a majority of the film. Bummer. The plot of Van Damme being "in the wrong place at the wrong time" (oh, I miss you old school Die Hard!) during a bank robbery puts the aging actor, who has tax problems and is going through an ugly custody battle, in middle of a hostage crisis. Things get worse when criminals suspect VD of being the criminal mastermind himself behind the entire ordeal! The film overall is just alright, and it's pretty light on the action. It is interesting stylistically, though, with it's washed out grainy tones and the mixed up story sequencing.

I will be posting more movie reviews soon. I rented the straight to DVD Wonder Woman animated feature from DC Universe and the Hulk Versus animated feature from Marvel, so I'm excited about checking those out (I'm a big comic book fan). My brother had me read one of his academic blogs on blogger, and it made me think, "Why in the world don't I have a blog on this site? People wanna hear what I have to say!" Of course, I have blogged before on MySpace and movie blogs, but this will be a nice place to write about my daily ins and outs, and my entertainment industry progress, and my opinions on recent movies, politics, my cat, and whatever else.

So welcome to the Fortress of Derek!