Derry, Northern Ireland

Derry, Northern Ireland
A book I'm working on is set in this town.

Saturday, June 16, 2012

"The Hangover" Teaches

I just watched it. The movie about four men who go to Vegas for a bachelor party and lose the groom somewhere during the night. Parts of it were funny as hell...like the tiger in the bathroom and the naked guy in the trunk. And I'm beginning to see why Bradley Cooper wound up as the sexiest man alive, last year. I'd chase him just like Sandra Bullock, now.

So maybe it was all the hype about it that led me to think it'd be even funnier than it was...but most of it was only worth a smile, and 85% of the time I could tell what was going to happen next. Not that that's bad; I've written scripts so I could see the plot points coming.

However, I am glad I watched it for one solid reason -- it showed me I did right by "The Lyons' Den." I took that book right to the edge of the abyss and spit into the void for it. What happens to Daniel gets to be just as wild and crazy as this major success of a movie...hell, sometimes, crazier because I think it gets to the point where you can't be sure if events are really happening or if it's all in his head. I'm especially proud of how I worked in the "I Dream of Jeannie" theme at a very precise moment.

I dunno. Maybe I'm still fooling myself on it. But I'm adding some of that wackiness to OT. I sat down and wrote a bit between Jake and a guy in Palm Springs named Dion, who's a 6'6" blond viking, goes by "Ruth of The Golden Girls", and is wearing a costume that crosses "The Flying Nun" and Mother Superior from "The Sound of Music"...from the hips up. Below is a black, square-cut Speedo, net stockings, and rhinestone studded flip-flops attached to a pair of perfect male legs. They wind up in a pool together during a Pride Weekend party and don't surface until Monday afternoon, and he will be important in the investigation.

Oh, just to be clear -- this happens when Jake visits his uncle just after graduating high school but before he goes off to college...and before his parents find out he's gay and disown him. Meaning it's long before he and Tone hook up, but Antony's still having a weird reaction to it that I haven't had a chance to explore, yet. That should be fun.

Of course, that means I've banished the writer's block. Now let's release the hounds! Yo! Bradley! I'm comin' for you! (And don't nobody say nothin' 'bout no puns, here!)

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