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bmsatc · 2 years

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Recommended: Jet Boy

Jet Boy (2001)

Directed by: Dave Schultz

Starring: Brandon Nadon, Dylan Walsh

A little gem of an indie film, I first watched this movie back in 2008, through Netflix’s DVD rentals (yeah, back when Netflix still sent you DVDs in the mail).

This story is heart touching, heart breaking, and I have nothing but good things to say about the two main characters, Nathan and Boon.

The movie starts off with a gut punch: we see an obviously underage Nathan laying in bed, with a much older man moving around behind him. The man asks Nathan for a hug, which Nathan agrees to, and then the man pays him, and Nathan leaves.

From there, it just keeps building. We quickly find out Nathan’s mother is a drug addict, who rarely knows what’s actually going on, and our story really starts with her death. While the police are trying to figure out what to do with Nathan -who has no other family -Nathan slinks out of the precinct, and ends up in the car with Boon, our second protagonist.

While there are some general flaws with this film, as an overall, I highly recommend it. Brandon Nadon’s acting is phenomenal, and the scene where he tries to convince Boon to keep him around is legitimately heart-breaking.

Outside of Nadon and Walsh, the other actors are fairly weak, and deliver rather lackluster performances. However, they’re not really ‘characters’ so much as convenient plot devices for us to learn more about Nathan and Boon, and their interactions.

The filming itself is very well done, although the quality is a bit rough; if you’re old as shit like me, it’s basically 90′s b-rated horror movie quality.

The dialogue is -as a generality -very well done, and the few weak points weren’t enough to really make or break for me.

WARNINGS

This film deals heavily with child prostitution, child neglect, and implied child sexual abuse. And by ‘deals heavily with’, I mean the entire film focuses around these points.

#Reviews #Movie reviews #Jet Boy (2001)

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bmsatc · 2 years

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Hard Pass: Violence Begets

Violence Begets...

By P.T. Denys, Myra Shelly

So this book is a disjointed, unrealistic, over-the-top mess. The characters are all two dimensional, and fall flat, the violence is ridiculously over-the-top, the abuse is unrealistic, and the ending -which I assume was supposed to be poignant and sad -literally made me laugh outloud.

So this story focuses around Kevin, and Rick. Rick is the new kid in school, and Kevin is the long established bad boy -although we’re frequently told how charming and charismatic he can be, we see very little evidence of that in this book. The two boys are both being abused at home, although neither one knows it.

Somehow, despite Kevin’s infuriating behavior, these two become ‘friends’. Supposedly, we’re told, this is because Kevin respects Rick as someone who he can’t bully or manipulate into doing what he wants. We also see the two boys dating random girls -more cardboard cutout characters - until they realize that they secretly love each other.

This isn’t even a well-done ‘enemies-to-lovers’ plot; it just sort of happens. They hate each other, they find out they share a common background, and bam, they still hate each other, but now they also want to sleep together.

The story ends with Kevin’s dad beating both of them near to death after finding them together. Kevin recovers and goes to Rick’s hospital room, just in time to see Rick flatline. So Kevin runs out, and O.D.’s on drugs... then we switch back to Rick waking up in the hospital, and getting the news of Kevin’s death.

THE CHARACTERS

Literally every character in this book is either a trope, or a cardboard cutout masquerading as a character. Kevin’s father just likes to hurt Kevin... well... because. Apparently he has control issues, and is a sociopath, so he just regularly does things like break Kevin’s fingers one by one while his friends are in the other room. Why? Because he can, of course. Rick finds out about Kevin’s father when Kevin shoves Rick in his closet to hide him, and Kevin’s father tells Kevin to ‘face the wall’, and then proceeds to just whip the hell out of him for giggles sake.

Which Kevin just stoically takes, by the way. Per what we’re given, Kevin is literally whipped bloody, and he doesn’t cry, doesn’t move... He just stands there and takes it, and then, when it’s all over, he tells Rick to leave, and that’s that.

This defines all the characters; the understanding girl who knows Rick is just using her as a beard, whereas Rick doesn’t even realize this, the weak-willed friends who go along with Kevin because he’s ‘cool’, the evil dads who are evil for Reasons... It just drags on.

THE WRITING

The writing in and of itself isn’t awful in this; the same lines are repeated frequently, however it’s not blocky, or fragmented, so there’s that, I suppose. The declarations are all over the top, but they’re still well-written, I suppose.

THE SETTING

It’s small town ‘every town’. Hard to screw up for even the newest of writers. However, the setting doesn’t come into play often here, beyond the boys’ ‘hideout’... which is as bland and trite as the rest of the book.

IN CONCLUSION...

Don’t waste your time. There was nothing redeemable about this book.

#reviews #book reviews #bad writing #Violence Begets...

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bmsatc · 2 years

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Recommended: The Tarot Sequence

The Tarot Sequence

By K.D. Edwards

This book series has quickly become one of my all time favorites; it’s a well-written, modern fantasy series, with a heavily LGBT+ cast, that feels completely natural, and it features a tragic background that is interwoven through the entirety of the three books released so far.

The story centers around Atlantis. A ‘alternate history’ series, in this setting, Atlantis and humans went to war with each other at the end of WWII. The resulting devastation lead to a peace agreement with the human world, and the resettling of Atlantis’ population to Nantucket island. The Atlanteans, we’re shown, are slightly below immortal, living for hundreds of years, or potentially longer, with the capabilities to use magic through the use of objects called ‘sigils’, and minor cantrips that can be used just through force of will.

The main character is Rune St. John. Once the heir and scion of the Sun House, one night destroyed his life, and left him alone except for his Companion (a human bought at birth, and bonded with an Atlantean), Brand. However, a diverse cast of characters quickly follows, all of them interesting in their own way, and for their own reasons. From Quinn, the half-mad Seer, to Ciaran, the Principality who lives by his own rules, to Addam, the Russian Atlantean with the heart of gold, who still tries to be chivalrous, and honorable, to Max, the damaged grandson of a court that Rune helped destroy.

Right from the start of the story, we’re told of Rune’s tragedy: while his father’s estate -and body -were still burning, the attackers -nine men in animal masks -raped and tortured the fifteen year old for hours in the carriage house, leaving him near dead, only to use their sigils to heal him, and repeat the process over and over. We’re told that Brand eventually managed to break free, free Rune, and the two of them managed to escape, although we’re not given details as to how.

We’re also told that this world of Atlantis is brutal; Rune explains right from the start that he was used as a cautionary lesson on what happens to Atlanteans who lack the strength to protect what’s theirs. Only the kindness of Lord Tower, friend to Rune’s father Lord Sun, kept Rune safe until he came to his majority.

One of the reasons why this story has become a favorite is the way the tragedy is written; it’s there, swimming just below the surface of many interactions, without being directly written about or referenced. We see Rune interacting with a man he’s just rescued, and staying arm’s distance when they end up alone in a room together. We see Rune’s lack of self-worth, and his self-doubt, popping up almost every time Brand’s not there to yell in his ear. We also see how worried Brand gets whenever he’s not there to yell into Rune’s ear.

Of course, it is mentioned, and referenced. But it’s not a constant drum beat of ‘because this bad thing happened, I react like this’ -it’s more subtle, more nuanced most of the time. But the moments when it comes right out with it, it hits you like a freight train with its intensity.

THE CHARACTERS

Rune: A tragic character, Rune is somebody who was broken apart, and bit by painful bit, has rebuilt his life as best he can. With the help of his Companion, Rune works as a sort of private contractor for Lord Tower, undertaking missions that the Tower can’t entrust to anyone else, or providing assistance and reconnaissance for the Tower’s teams. Told in the first person, we’re getting Rune’s interpretation of things, and here is where Edwards’ writing truly shines. Though not told in obvious ways, it’s the small things we see from Rune’s perspective that tell us how damaged, and hurt he still truly is. The kid who never recovered from ‘that night in that fucking carriage house’, as he puts it several times.

Brand: Rune’s Companion, Brand was chosen as a newborn, and raised alongside Rune to be a best friend and a protector. Brand is stubborn, irritable, and protective as hell of Rune, willing to take on enemies much stronger, and more powerful than he could ever hope to be to keep Rune safe. Bouncing back and forth between put-upon older brother, and nagging spouse trying to get their partner to live healthier, Rune and Brand’s relationship is a focal point of the story, and easily one of the best ‘bromances’ I’ve ever read.

Addam: So Atlanteans have Aspects: avatars, if you will, elements of themselves given physical form. Addam? His aspect is a medieval knight wielding a giant sword. Because Addam, at the end of the day, simply wants to protect those around him. He wants to be what stands between good and evil, holding evil at bay. After Rune rescues him, the two begin a relationship of sorts, with Rune a rabbit ready to spook at any moment, and Addam trying to avoid stepping on any mines and triggering Rune’s PTSD. What Addam doesn’t do, however, is treat Rune as fragile and broken; he still treats him like a person, even though he acknowledges Rune’s issues and baggage.

Quinn: Imagine being able to see every possible outcome of every event if you let your thoughts wonder. Now imagine being stuck like that... since you were a toddler. Yeah, Quinn’s barely functioning, mostly through Addam’s -his brother- assistance. Both Addam and Quinn admit that their mother wanted little to do with the small, weak, premie Quinn at birth, and as Quinn’s oddities became more pronounced, the rest of the family withdrew as well, until it was only Addam left raising Quinn. Kind-hearted, but not entirely there in the head, Quinn is both a comic relief character, but also a touching, tragic character in his own right.

THE WRITING

Edwards is a phenomenal writer; everything flows naturally, without many of the fragmented sentences so common in many writers these days. They have also taken the ‘show don’t tell’ lesson to heart; Edwards allows the writer to pick up on the nuances of their writing, on the implications, rather than flat out telling us what we’re supposed to be feeling, or what a character is feeling.

The dialogue is also amazingly well done; far too often, I see stiff, almost unbearable dialogue written as, “I told them, “I am going to the store tomorrow. Do you need anything while I am there?”. Edwards’ dialogue however is very natural, and reminds you of a conversation you’d have with a buddy... if your buddy could set their eyes on fire whenever they got angry.

Edwards also is a master of the ‘one-two punch’ combo. The emotional impact of the writing is always on an uphill crescendo, but just when you think you’ve got a good grip on things, Edwards delivers an emotional uppercut to the jaw that leaves you saying, “Ow, my heart.”

THE SETTING

This part is a mixed bag; in the first book, the setting is a bit... unbelievable. The Atlanteans, as a generality, are so far removed from humans that it’s hard to remember this takes place in modern day America. However, things gradually settle out, with Edwards explaining things in more detail, and hitting their stride with the setting by book 2.

WARNINGS

Do be forewarned that, while often subtle, this story has no problem getting in your face. At one point, one of the villains references the rape in very graphic, violent terms, to Rune, to try and force Rune to kill him.

This story also features ‘fade to black’ sexy times, and obvious innuendos. Not recommended for young kiddos.

The setting itself is also rather violent in nature; it’s simply a given, in this setting, that the Atlanteans will try to kill each other through sanctioned assassinations -termed raids, voted on and approved -and we see that even within families, stabbing your siblings, parents, and other relatives in the back are expected behavior, rather than being considered abnormal.

OVERALL

I highly recommend this story to anyone looking for an book that has a bit of everything; intrigue, adventure, tragedy, a bit of romance, and humor.

#the tarot sequence #kd edwards #review

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