Jurassic World Rebirth And Living Up To Hype
Spoiler Alert – This post will talk about Jurassic World Rebirth and it WILL contain spoilers. If you haven’t yet watched this dinosaur-filled movie, you might wish to skip this post.
I LOVE dinosaurs and I’ve enjoyed all of the Jurassic Park/World movies.
Yes, even the second one. (grins)
Jurassic World Rebirth is my least favorite.
It has moments of wonder in it. I loved the saved family, especially the boyfriend and his character arc. I thought the scene with the Titanosaurus was absolutely beautiful.
My big disappointment was with Distortus rex.
Every Jurassic movie has a new ‘terrifying’ dinosaur. This dinosaur is usually bigger and scarier and more deadly than any we’ve seen thus far.
And this is set up to be true in Jurassic World Rebirth.
We first ‘encounter’ Distortus rex in the first scene. We don’t see her but we know she’s huge and deadly.
And I was waiting excitedly the entire movie to finally see her.
When we did see her, toward the end of the movie, she was a let down.
She definitely didn’t live up to the hype.
She was hard to look at. She was so ugly. She had numerous arms but we didn’t really see how that was much of an advantage.
Because her scenes were few. And the fight was over quickly.
We weren’t shown how she was a better predator than the T-Rex, one of our favorites.
She had no endearing aspects or traits, nothing to give us a connection to her.
And I’m not interested in seeing Distortus rex ever again.
If she is the future of Jurassic dinosaurs, I’ll give that beloved franchise a pass.
This is a reminder for myself and writing buddies.
If we build hype, we have to deliver on that hype.
If we tell readers, for example, our hero will do ANYTHING to protect his love interest, we have to show him doing some serious sh*t to safeguard that being.
If we hint that sh*t will hit the fan if anyone found out about their relationship, someone has to find out and sh*t has to hit the fan. Hard.
Live up to the hype.
Topics: Movie Reviews | Comments Off on Jurassic World Rebirth And Living Up To Hype
Muse Food – New Year’s Eve And Other Points In Time
Wednesday is New Year’s Eve.
It is the end of the year, of 2025.
It is also a day we, humans, invented to help us keep track and deal with passing moments, with the relentless progression of time.
It has no meaning other than the ones we give it. Yet it has become super important (and fun!) for many of us.
Do your characters have days, months, years in their worlds? Are there points in their timelines they celebrate or acknowledge?
Topics: Muse Food | Comments Off on Muse Food – New Year’s Eve And Other Points In Time
Muse Food – The Presents We Give
Tis the season for giving and receiving presents or gifts.
(smiles)
The presents we give often say more about us than the presents we receive.
The Dear Wonderful Hubby, for example, loves to give food as presents because he loves feeding people. He loves taking care of his loved ones, ensuring they are okay at least food-wise. And he sees meals as a social event.
A protective hero, as another example, might give gifts that allow him to safeguard his loved ones. He’d give the car-free heroine limo vouchers so she never has to walk home in the dark. Or he’d give his warrior heroine a state-of-the-art shield to defend herself. Or he’d give his scientist heroine the best protective eyewear available.
What is your hero or heroine giving their loved ones?
Topics: Muse Food | Comments Off on Muse Food – The Presents We Give
The Gorge And Building A Romance Without Dialogue
Spoiler Alert – This post will talk about The Gorge and it WILL contain spoilers. If you haven’t yet watched this awesome SciFi Romance movie, you might wish to skip this post.
The Dear Wonderful Hubby and I recently watched The Gorge.
I LOVED it.
This is a true SciFi Romance in movie form, with the expected Romance Ending. You and I know how very rare these movies are. And this one is terrific.
I laughed. I worried through the dark moment. I believed the relationship would last…forever.
And this was done with a lot of that relationship not having any dialogue. Or having any direct physical connection.
Because the hero and the heroine are separated by an almost impassable gorge for much of the movie.
They communicate with white boards i.e. the written word, which, as a reader, I loved. And they communicate through movement.
We saw how they think similarly in many ways and how their differences in personality complement each other. And this is brilliantly done.
The Gorge is a must watch for writers who want to SHOW how a relationship builds.
Topics: Movie Reviews | Comments Off on The Gorge And Building A Romance Without Dialogue
Muse Food – Snow And What It Covers Up
One of the (many) things I love about the first snowfall is how that blanket of pure white covers everything up. It covers up the dying plants, the mud, dead bodies.
Whoops. Did I say that?
I’m joking but it COULD cover up dead bodies. It could also cover up a monster in hiding, preparing to attack the unsuspecting. It could cover up a crashed spaceship with our hero and heroine in it, waiting to be rescued. It could cover up the trail left by the baddie after he kidnapped the heroine’s beloved cat.
What could snow in your story cover up?
Topics: Muse Food | Comments Off on Muse Food – Snow And What It Covers Up
Muse Food – The Ruins That Remain
In any world, there are remnants of the past. There could be a fallen rotting tree, the skeleton of a bird, dilapidated buildings, crashed and now rusting spaceships.
These remnants give newcomers hints of the world’s past.
There are also the ruins that are deliberately not built over or removed. They are indications of the past the current inhabitants WANT to be seen and remembered. And often they reflect what the current inhabitants WANT newcomers to understand about their current culture or society.
What are these ruins in your world?
Topics: Muse Food | Comments Off on Muse Food – The Ruins That Remain
Muse Food – Low And Slow
The Dear Wonderful Hubby believes in the cook ’em low and slow method of making ribs. He’ll cook them forever at a lower temperature. He says that improves the taste.
One of the joys of self publishing is…
We, writers, set our own word counts. We decide how long a series or serial is – how many installments are in a series/serial and how many words are in each installment/story.
We can tell a story low and slow if we want to do that, if that serves the story.
We want our readers to be entertained, to be turning pages, so there has to be some action, some conflict, some emotion on each page.
But we don’t have to rush through a story arc.
We can take our time and tell our stories the way WE want to tell them.
Topics: Muse Food | Comments Off on Muse Food – Low And Slow
Muse Food – Reflections In The Water (Or Mirror)
A character looking at their reflection can be a powerful (and fun) plot device.
They look in the mirror
and they see an older version of themselves with some extremely deep scars
or a monster reaching out to them
or a vision of something that hasn’t yet happened
or a loved one who has been long dead
or…
The possibilities are endless.
(grins)
Have fun with it!
Topics: Muse Food | Comments Off on Muse Food – Reflections In The Water (Or Mirror)
Muse Food – Fairy Houses And Other World Building Hints
When the Dear Wonderful Hubby and I visited Iceland, we were fascinated by the fairy houses, tiny homes crafted by humans for the hidden folk.
In a story, structures like that would be a strong hint we weren’t in a purely human world. It is a hint of magic, of the paranormal, of the unknown.
And hints like these are powerful in storytelling and for worldbuilding.
Because a much beloved story technique is to, at first, make a world seem like the reader’s world here in present day Earth. That is comfortable. It is relatable. The reader can focus on the characters.
Then we slowly introduce the unusual world-specific elements, pushing the reader out of their comfort zones.
Little hints such as fairy houses or a clockwork-like clicking sound deep in a forest or upside down rain are great ways to start this transition.
Topics: Iceland, Muse Food, Travel | Comments Off on Muse Food – Fairy Houses And Other World Building Hints
Muse Food – A Safe Place To Land
During the summer, I’d often find butterflies (like this Monarch) and bees resting on the zinnia flowers. Those flowers are fairly large, they have plenty of smaller petals to burrow into or hold onto, they are in the sun, they have a lot of pollen (i.e. snacks) and they feel…safe.
Does the main character in your story have a safe place? WHY is that their safe place? And what would happen if that safe place was taken away from them?
Topics: Muse Food | Comments Off on Muse Food – A Safe Place To Land
