My new album has finally been released in full. It is currently available on Spotify, Amazon, iTunes, Deezer, and Apple Music. Click a link, check it out, and I hope that you enjoy Cloud Maan; Bends In Time.   Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/album/1Gvh6bvNvA9AQSeFz5iaI4 … Amazon - https://amzn.to/2P8eLhT iTunes - https://apple.co/2zvsASz Deezer - https://www.deezer.com/album/80380932

It’s really short.

I was given an assignment to make an introduction for a class in college. I let it get out of hand and this is what came of it. Enjoy.

Don’t Look Back

Friday - August 20th, 2017 - 9:43 PM

Two men in casual business attire stood next to the water cooler in the sparsely decorated, first floor break room at Richard and Peters Law Firm in South Chicago. To say that this room was plain would be an understatement. The walls were all an off-white color and no pictures hung on them anymore, and the only color left in the place was from the cardboard boxes that lined the walls and seemed to fall out of the doors of every empty office. A long trail of gasoline ran throughout the building to the front door. You see, the firm had been a part of some shady dealings and, as a result, fell into the inescapable trap that is public scandal. Richard was arrested hours after the story broke and Peter, having decided to carry on the business model elsewhere (preferably in a place where no one knew who he was or what he had done) and was currently on his way to Florida where he would spend the next few months laying low only to reemerge suddenly in California with a new Lamborghini, a new name, and a shiny new talent agency. But until then, someone had to do the dirty work and clean up the mess they had left behind and that responsibility fell to Brad and Gary. Brad and Gary had been heavily involved with their bosses dealings, mostly disposing of evidence and occasionally a key piece of evidence, and time had undoubtedly taken it's toll on them. They were good at what they did, and how could they not be? A child could do it. But they were tired of constantly sneaking around and endangering their livelihoods, and occasionally their actual lives, just to make the same paycheck your average-joe lawyer makes across town. Brad had a family and Gary was a prominent travel vlogger in some small circles of the internet and they just wanted all of this to be over so they can get back to the things they love and, hopefully, not go to jail. So there they stood for what would be the last time. The silence between them only masked by the electrical hum of the water cooler. "How did this happen?" Said Gary rhetorically, dropping his empty cup to the floor and starting the short walk to the door. "I'll tell ya why," replied Brad, "disposin' of evidence, bribin' the witnesses, dealin' with the Mob, gettin' called out for it all by that dirty snitch James..." "Don't you say his name!" Shouted Gary angrily, interrupting his long-time friend and associate, aggressively pointing into his chest with his outstretched index finger, "he's dead to me and he should be to you, too!" Brad raised his hands in surrender. "I'm sorry, man." They began walking again. It was a long, fateful, silent march towards the solid oak, double-doors of freedom. At least it seemed long to them "It's cool, it's cool." They walked until they reached the doors, those great wooden doors beyond which lay anything and everything that could go wrong if they took the wrong step or said the wrong thing. Gary raised a cigarette to his lips with one hand, searching his pocket for a lighter with the other. He looked to Brad, who was already two steps ahead and holding out his already lit lighter. Gary leaned in with his cancerous tube of tobacco between his lips, allowing the flame to pass gently onto it and set it's contents to pyre, and took a deep drawl. "It's just.. I don't know, man, he was one of us. And he crossed us, crossed us bad." "He won't be a concern anymore after this," stated Brad confidently, "I sent him a 'package' in the mail." "I hope it's more effective than last time you tried to take him out, mighty assassin." "What's that's supposed to mean?" Brad's voice became defensive. "You didn't really take him out," retorted Gary, "you just pushed him. He fell down some stairs and went to the hospital." "If it weren't for that goody two shoes cop being in here I'd have finished the job." "I'm sure you would've, big guy." Both men looked back at the empty hall one more time. "So where are you going after this?" "Leaving the country," replied Brad. Goin' somewhere third world to lay low. Might move to Kansas in about ten years. You?" "I just wanna go home and see my wife and my kids and tell them I love 'em and that Daddy's got a new job at the power plant and hope to God that the fuzz don't come knockin'." Gary took another hard hit off of his cigarette. "This is the end, isn't it?" "Yup." "And after tonight we'll never see each-other again." "Most likely," Brad choked. "All good things, right man?" "All good things." Brad and Gary shook hands and patted one another's back before fully dedicating to a hug that only the truest friends who have been together for years through thick and thin will ever experience. "I'm gonna miss you, Brad," Gary said, a tear rolling down his cheek. "We had a good run." "We're at the finish line, man. All we gotta do is open those doors and leave. All we gotta do is leave." But the two stayed there, locked in the embrace of friendship for what seemed like an eternity; the shortest eternity. They could have been there till Doomsday but it wouldn't have been enough time. Finally they separated and Brad opened the door. "Don't look back, man." Gary took the barely-burning cigarette from his mouth and flicked it into the hallway before quickly walking down the front step and turning right. Brad stopped at the curb, taking one final look at his brother of four years walking away and turned left. This chapter of their lives was over and the only thing they had to show for it was the inferno consuming the life they had left behind at Richard and Peters Law Firm in South Chicago.

                                                          TEX                    [ORIGINAL POST - 8/14/2017] My name is Todd and I'm a night shift security guard at Ashland Town Center Mall in Northern Kentucky, or at least I was. I've spent many an hour walking the long, dark, corridors lined with stores and garnished with kiosks, soda machines, and cheap amusements. Most nights are quite peaceful, nothing really happens to warrant the shotgun hidden in the back office. All of the doors are locked so no one really comes in after the lady who waxes the floor leaves and I am left alone with my thoughts until the next shift comes at 5:00AM. Thankfully Joe likes to come in a half hour early to goof off and eat breakfast in the food court while no one else is around. He's a talkative one, though. After he eats he walks with me through the halls going on and on about whatever happened that day, occasionally listening to my thoughts. I can't say that I don't welcome the company, but at that time of night I usually just like being alone. Even so, we are best friends. You can have a bestie in your late twenties, right? Late in 2016 we got a little merry-go-round. The kind that's made of thick plastic with a glazed look to the paint. When I first saw it I actually mistook it for porcelain. It was a sight to behold, that much is true. It had a 'finer' look to it than most of the kiddie ride machines next to the play area. Our machines are nice, but this was on a whole other level. It was like putting a fine china plate in a cabinet full of plastic cups. The difference was that drastic. It's also worth noting that is was a noticeably bigger than most similar attractions that I've seen, roughly ten feet wide. It had a cowboy theme, sporting four ornately detailed horses, just the right size for a child, with shiny brass rods connecting to the ceiling, which was a standard tent-like structure like you would see on any other merry-go-round, but with beautifully painted scenes of cowboys riding their stallions through the Mesa Verde and lassoing bulls, cowboy stuff. The thing that really made this machine unique was a five(ish) foot tall figure of a cowboy, molded from the same material as the horses with the same glazed look and just as detailed. His face resembled John Wayne and he was waving his hat as if he were at a rodeo cheering on a bull rider from the stands, a shiny sheriff's badge almost glistening on his chest. Whoever painted this guy did a really good job. He seemed like a happy, upstanding kind of guy, so I named him Tex. Sometimes I would talk to Tex at night, mostly for catharsis sake, greeting him with a tip of my baseball cap and a gruff sounding "howdy, Tex." Sort of a cowboy salute. Of course he never greeted me back. There's something nice about opening up to something that doesn't talk back. They can't really go out with you to Buffalo Wild Wings and tell your crush about your foot fetish then leave you to pick up the tab while he takes her home for a roll in the haystack. Needless to say, we didn't speak for a while. Joe, if you're reading this; dick move. I guess I'm being a little too passive aggressive about this. It's too late in the game to be upset about that all things considered. Of course I told Tex about it the next day and it really helped me put things into perspective and before I knew it, me and Joe were friends again, though we began avoiding alcohol after that. After that I began unloading other emotional baggage onto Tex; how I finally got off of heroine, how I used to fantasize about marrying Cher (I had a poster of her over my bed as a teenager), and many dark and embarrassing things that I'm not too keen on recounting. I even showed off some sick baton trick that I had been working on. By the time that fidget spinners were the official big fad of 2017, Tex knew most of my secrets that even Joe didn't know. He was my silent Psychiatrist, my fortress of solitude. His big, cartoonish John Wayne face was my solace in a sea of consciousness. This was therapy for me. One night, after being contacted about my upcoming 10 year High School Reunion, I started looking back on that time; a time that I had long ago pushed out of my mind. Thoughts swam through my head of something that I had done. Something really really bad. I had never forgotten, but had just ignored it until it was no longer seemed to be an issue in my mind. But it was an issue now, and I just had to get it off of my chest. Thankfully, I knew someone that would hear me out. So I trudged over to the food court, bought a Mellow Yellow from the vending machine, and pulled up a chair next to Tex where I recounted my most detestable crime. I stood and tipped my hat and said, "hey, Tex." His face was the same as ever. Still unsure of whether or not I wanted to say this out loud, to vocally state that I had actually done what I did, I sat down and began drinking my Mellow Yellow, playing the events of that day over and over in my head. I felt a tear rolling down my cheek and decided that I had best say my piece and get it over with. I told him about when I was seventeen, how I partied day in and day our for years and woke up in a corn field somewhere in Iowa with a car full of contraband, how I partook of said contraband all alone and tried to drive all the way home higher than an kite, and how I ran over a kid that was waiting at a street corner for the school bus with her friends and mother, and how I did the worst thing that I ever could have done; I kept driving. I remember seeing the girl's mother running out into the street to her child. The sound of her friends screaming in terror. I found out that she actually lived with only a few scrapes and bruises but that doesn't make it any better. I ran from my problems, from my crime, instead of dealing with them directly and facing the consequences for my actions. I never came clean. That is something that I'll regret for the rest of my life. I sat in relative darkness next to Tex for what felt like hours, the stench of guilt wafting out of my every pore, draining from my tear ducts almost unceasingly. A polluted river of sorrow, salty with regret. I had never told anyone that story, not even Joe. Saying it out loud seemed to put everything in perspective. Finally I stood, thanked Tex for listening, and finished my rounds before heading back to the office to watch some Youtube videos and get my mind off of all this, at least for a while. I had a couple of days free and decided to get away; I needed some alone time and some private fishing would do nicely. So I went to my family's old lake-house in Ohio where I spent my time quietly casting my line and contemplating my life. It didn't feel good looking at myself that critically, neglectful person I was deep down reflected back so clearly in the sky-blue water. My dreams were just repeats of that day playing back over and over and every waking moment was stifled by guilt. I knew what I had to do, but I just wasn't ready yet. I didn't want to go to prison. So I returned home, got some rest, and went to work the next day as usual. I stepped into the mall just before closing, the last shoppers filtering out the front door with their bags. As I made my way to the back office I passed by the merry-go-round and found Tex gone. The merry-go-round was there, but he wasn't. The molded place where his over-sized feet were once bolted down was vacant, revealing a tiny plaque reading "Voodoo Attractions." The bolts were neatly placed on the floor nearby. I figured that Tex had been taken to a workshop to be refurbished and went on with my life. I spent an hour or so watching Youtube on my phone, occasionally glancing up at the video feed from the security cameras before finally going on my first rounds, which were pretty uneventful, the only notable thing being a large, plastic trash can that I had found overturned in the food court. The janitor must have missed one. Earl is getting pretty old now that I thought about it. I sighed and picked up the trash, placing it in the can, carefully balancing it so it wouldn't fall over again before returning to my business and wondering what had knocked it over in the first place. It was probably Joe for all I knew, I thought I had heard him slip in earlier. At about 3:30AM I went on my last rounds for the night. All was peaceful; the light of the full moon was shining in through the windows in the ceiling and I felt as if I was falling back into my old groove. Then I heard it. KERKLUNK! The sound was loud like a gunshot. I turned around, standing in the moonlight, shining my flashlight frantically into the darkness. Panic gripped me for a moment, then I stopped and chuckled. It must have been that trash can falling over again. I was just being silly. It's been four years since I started this job and never once had I come so close to leaping out of my skin. I broke into a full laugh, allowing it to echo through the dark corridors. KERKLUNK! All laughter ceased and I listened... KERKLUNK! It was closer this time. KERKLUNK! Closer. KERKLUNK! Faster. KERKLUNK! KERKLUNK! KERKLUNK! KERKLUNK! The noises were steady now, rhythmic like... footsteps. I readied myself for a fight, flicking my baton open with my right hand and wielding my solid, metal flashlight like a club with my left. KERKLUNK! KERKLUNK! KERKLUNK! KERKLUNK! The steps were in a full run now and coming fast. KERKLUNK! KERKLUNK! As they approached I could hear a creaking noise between each step, like creaky floorboards and old. CREAKERKLUNK!CREAKERKLUNK! I could see it's shadow rounding the dark corner and come right for me. CREAKERKLUNK! CREAKERKLUNK! It was just outside my circle of moonlight. CREAKERKLUNK! CREAKERKLUNK! It came into view, charging at me with all the ferocity of an angry bull. It was Tex. Before I could do anything, he knocked me to the floor. It was like nothing I had ever seen before. His hard plastic exterior expanding and contracting, bending almost organically and producing a loud CREAK! with every movement. Suddenly he was on top of me. I instinctively covered my face before Tex unleashed a barrage of punches, breaking my left wrist and my nose in one massive swing. I recoiled in pain, leaving my face wide open to attacks. Every punch felt like being beaten with a wooden baseball bat landing with the force of a meteor. His plasticine face was stretched into a wicked grin. There was magic in this thing, dark magic. I managed to dodge one of his attacks and scrambled out from under the plastic behemoth, but to no avail. He grabbed me by the ankle, dragging me back before continuing his assault. My vision began to go dark. Was this it for me? Was my last memory going to be this thing punching me to death? I was fading away and there wasn't much that I could do except resign to my fate. I closed my eyes, preparing for death's kiss. BANG! A gunshot! The onslaught ceased. My eyes snapped open to see Tex looming above me, a rain of thick plastic shards from his back clattering over me. The grin that once adorned his painted face was now a wide-eyed visage of surprise and anger. A rush of adrenaline brought me back to full consciousness just as Tex stood up and charged at his assailant. It was Joe! Joe and that beautiful shotgun from the back office! I've never been so happy to see that man in my life. He fired again. BANG! Tex's left arm exploded! He turned, visibly angry, and charged at Joe, knocking him to the ground with a powerful right hook to the face before disappearing into the darkness. Joe quickly stood, shotgun in hand, and helped me up. "You okay, man?" I nodded as he forcefully patted my face, still processing what had just happened to me. Joe took me outside where we called the police and sipped a much deserved Mellow Yellow in the parking lot as far away from the mall as possible without leaving the premises. I explained everything that had happened the last few days, only leaving out the daring confession I had made to what I previously thought was an inanimate object with no capacity for intelligence. He was upset to find out that I had opened up to a statue instead of him, but forgave me all the same. We would start fresh from here. But I would never forget that sound, the inhuman creaking that came from that statue. I looked at Joe in light of the rising sun; a massive, dark bruise over the right side of his face becoming suddenly apparent. I smiled. "You should see your face, man," I said with a chuckle, "that bruise isn't going away anytime soon." "Wait till you see your's," replied Joe, taking out his cellphone and setting it to the mirror function. I beheld my image in all of it's glory, my entire face puffed up like giant, purple cauliflower. I laughed, Joe laughed, everything hurt from head to toe, and we were both on the same page for the first time in months. Finally the police arrived and Joe and I gave our version of the events. Of course we were laughed at. In hindsight I shouldn't have expected anything less. The story was preposterous. Two men attacked by a living statue? It's unbelievable, right? Things got even more unbelievable when we all went inside and found Tex once again bolted to the merry-go-round as he was when I first saw him, his left arm and back missing sizable chunks of plastic. We were arrested for destruction of property and disorderly conduct. We spent the next week in jail before a court date was decided and when our day in court came we found ourselves not against the mall personnel, as we and our attorney had previously expected, but four tall men in dark suits. The kind of men that had secrets and preferred to keep them under wraps. I very clearly remember one of them looking directly at me and smirking; it felt... scary. They claimed to be from Voodoo Attractions, the company that had rented Tex to the mall. They accused us of vandalizing their property, using fake security footage showing me and Joe getting drunk before shooting Tex with the shotgun, getting into a fist fight, and going outside to "prank call the cops." The 911 dispatcher gave a similar claim. This was backed up by audio of Joe calling in to report a murder and ending it with a lame refrigerator joke. None of this had actually happened; I knew this, Joe knew this. But their evidence was solid in the eyes of the jury. We were sentenced to six months in jail, two months probation, and a hefty fee, not to mention court costs. It was unjust, it was wrong, but it happened and, to be honest; I'm starting to think that we got off easy. The two police officers that had arrested us never appeared in court to testify and Joe told me that the 911 dispatcher that he had spoken to on the phone was a man. There's nothing about this that isn't fishy. So we spent the next six months in jail and now I'm back at home, sitting on my living room couch with an electronic monitor strapped to my ankle, typing my story in hopes that some of you might heed this warning to watch out for any products from Voodoo Attractions and never interact with them. I know I have. In my mind I can still hear the creaking and kerklanking sounds that Tex made when he moved. I've been hearing them for months and will probably be hearing them for the rest of my life. But since I've gotten out of jail, I've been questioning whether the sounds are actually in my head or if he's somewhere nearby, watching me, waiting for another opportunity to strike. [UPDATE - 8/16/2017] I've been tracking down the girl that I ran over with my car when I was in High School. I've talked to her mother and we're scheduled to meet this weekend. This is going to be really hard, but if I can tell a sentient, plastic cowboy about my misdoings, I think I can tell a person. Wish me luck. [USER 1 COMMENT] I may be wrong, but isn't the baseline jail time for hit and run 6 months?  Maybe Tex was helping you pay for your crime, in a very scary and strange way [RESPONSE FROM TODD] I never thought of it like that. It puts a moralistic spin on things. [USER 2 COMMENT] Depending on jurisdiction a hit and run involving personal injury to a minor is considered an egregious act. It can be called anything from a traffic offense to attempted murder, assault with a deadly weapon namely an automobile, and  God forbid the police know OP was under the influence.Congrats for facing your demons OP. Takes balls. Hope all goes well. [UPDATE - 8/21/2017]Hello. Todd here. Things went well with the girl and her mom, but it looks like I might be spending some time in prison. My trial is Friday. I'll be sure to tell you the verdict when it's over and you probably won't hear from me after that. Thanks for sending your words of encouragement and for understanding. UPDATE 8-27-17 Hey, guys. It's me, Joe, Todd's best friend. You probably read about me at some point. Just got back from Iowa. What a trip. Todd gave me the password and told me to tell both of you what happened to him or whatever. He won't be getting back here for quite a while, with him going to prison and all. Court stuff is complicated and brain-numbinly stupid, so I'm going to make it quick. There was a trial, the miracle girl forgave him, it was touching, but he had a ten year sentence on the table. So Todd took a plea bargain that reduced the sentence to three years. On the bright side, until he gets out, I get to live in his house. At least as long as I can keep up rent, this place is a little pricier than I'm used to. Shouldn't be, though. The door was off the hinges when I got here. It was just laying out in the yard for the whole neighborhood to see. The property value should have plummeted to nothing by now, but hey, whatever, I'll live. Now if you don't mind, I'm gonna get offa here and be a handy man for some dandy ladies. Peace. [LINK TO ORIGINAL POST - https://www.reddit.com/r/nosleep/comments/6u95r1/tex/]

DARK TOWER REVIEW

So I went to see The Dark Tower recently. The Dark Tower, of course, is a movie based on the books by Stephen King. I haven't read the books myself, but after seeing this movie I am preparing to belt out some of my hard earned money for a few hardcovers and that ain't no small order. It's ignited my interest in a subject that before I was totally indifferent to and that, to me, is a massive plus point for any movie.

Without going too deep into spoiler territory, this is the premise (specifically of the movie): There's a DARK TOWER at the center of all existence, which is comprised of many different worlds, all within a massive circle representing a barrier of sorts and if the tower falls that circle is broken and if that circle is broken all realities will basically be overrun by demons from beyond the circle.

A character called The Man In Black wants to topple the tower and the ominous phrase at the beginning states that "it is said that the mind of a child can bring down the tower." So the Man In Black has been harnessing the minds of children into a beam weapon to attack the tower. He's been taking pot shots at it for a while and every time the tower gets hit it causes a ripple throughout the worlds resulting in earthquakes and other such phenomenon, as well as touching the minds of certain folks with a gift called The Shine.

Enter our main character, Jake. He's been drawing all of this crazy stuff that I've just described to you because he sees them in his dreams. He's quiet, unsociable, and, as you see early in the movie, he's not unwilling to throw a punch or two. His parents think he's nuts and try to have him sent away to what they think is a preteen mental ward but is actually the Man In Black's all-too-scary method of kidnapping children (further reinforcing my fear of white vans and psychiatrists). So he runs away and, through a series of events that I am unwilling to describe for your viewing sake and the length of this review, meets Roland, the last of an order of what were essentially knights called The Gunslingers. Wielding two six-shooters forged from the steel of Excalibur, Jake and Roland embark on an emotionally compelling and beautifully presented journey to save the tower, and all of reality, and stop the Man in Black.

The cinematography is top notch, the characters are easily recognizable and have clear names and motives, and concepts are presented and implemented so smoothly that one might mistake it for butter. You can grasp everything easily as it comes. It's a fun movie with good acting, good directing, and good delivery. It presented a complex story (that would have been stretched out into an asinine wannabe trilogy in other hands) tactfully and punctually without dragging or rushing. It spends the right amount of time on the right moments and only touches on the moments that only need to be touched on when they need to be touched on when they need to be touched on. It's an emotional roller coaster that left me feeling grateful for what I have. It was balanced and far better than I thought it would be, and I haven't even read a review (at the time of writing this).

Is it perfect? Of course not, what movie is? The Dark Tower has it's share of issues just like any other movie. Some of the shot composition in the third act could have been better and there was another child character that probably wasn't necessary, unless I missed something. I think the movie is a great watch as is and may be even better upon re-watching, but it could benefit from some very minor re-cutting down the road. A "Director's Cut, you might say. But whether that would actually be good for it in the long run is iffy. I am more than willing to accept the cut we got. Especially since it feels like the more I watch it the more cool stuff I'll find packed in there due to it's overflowing fountain of material (Thanks, Stephen King).

And let's talk about audio for a minute; it was top notch. The characters were audible and legible and the soundtrack was implemented so perfectly that it accented what was going on without overpowering it and has several cool sound effects that are just so cool to hear. So major props to the sound department.

Should you go see this movie? That depends. Are you a fan of Stephen King? Do you like easter eggs? Do you enjoy emotionally driven character dramas played out seamlessly within an environment that promotes curiosity and reading with a dose of action and adventure? Heck yes! Go see this movie. Seriously, it's got enough easter eggs to be a drinking game for the world's drinkiest book club. But if you're super uptight about source material or bow at the alter of Rotten Tomatos, this might not be the best choice. But I say, go see it anyway. Develop your own opinions and comment below so we can chat about it. It might take a while to finish the conversation considering how often I am online at any given point, but we can talk about it and I highly recommend it.

P.S. The movie does lack what some might refer to as "objectionable material." So if you absolutely have to see a boob every time you go to the movies, this is not for you. I'd take my kids (late teens) to see it... if I had any.

UPdaTE (SPOILERS)

I read some reviews not but moments before I posted this, and I have to disagree with the New York Times on some of their negative criticisms on this one. Matthew McConaughey played The Man In Black very nicely. He wasn't overpowering or underwhelming and he maintains himself as a force to be reckoned with (as a character, not the actor) and is reasonably cruel in his actions and concept. The story isn't a young-adult film about a boy getting special powers, it's about a boy losing everything and finding solidarity with with someone with similar experiences. Maybe he does take the spotlight a bit, but he is the catalyst that makes the story as we see it happen in the first place and the eyes through which we see it all happen. This movie isn't just for adults, it's also for young people. And if a young person becomes interested in literature because of it, then it's all the better.

In their positives they seem to miss the point of Roland's character, saying that he's good because he looks cool, is played by Idris Elba, and was apparently based on a Clint Eastwood character. Lazy.

And as for the ending; it wasn't confusing. It was a nicely tied up and left enough open endedness that someone could easily imagine all of the adventures that Jake and Roland could go on together without actually needing to see them played out by someone else's hand. It's almost literally them riding off into the sunset and it's beautiful. And surely there are other bad guys out there in this universe (or multiverse) that they can fight and learn from. Roland takes Jake under his wing to restart the Gunslingers together, that's it. There is nothing else to it. It was a simple happy ending and we need more like it.

They also seem to have a problem with how the tower wasn't super present in the movie and that the locations may seem disjointed, but I don't think any of that actually matters. This story isn't about the Dark Tower or the world(s) it takes place in. It's about Jake and Roland. The super fan of this series that I've talked to states that this is a reboot/sequel and I'm willing to take his word at that and not hold this to the books as others apparently are, especially since I haven't read them. But this movie made me want to read them and I don't read enough these days. As far as I'm concerned, that's a win.

There is also mention of talks of a television series, which I was aware of previously, oddly enough considering how out of the loop I am at any given time. That would be really cool, there are plenty of cool stories that they could tell with a series like that and lot's of potential new characters, concepts, and settings to explore. Maybe even different genres. You don't even need to have Jake and Roland on screen at all. It could be about the other characters that live in these worlds, maybe an anthology series like The Outer Limits. But I don't think it needs to become a big cinematic universe like Marvel. The movie is fine as is and I think that a sequel would remove it's poignancy.

Someone on Rotten Tomatoes comments that the lighting could have been better. There were some instances where that is true, but it's nothing to be too upset about. The movie works. Don't be lazy in your viewing and don't go looking for things to  shoot down, just let it take you, pay attention, and you will probably get it; unless, of course, you don't want to. But that's on you.

That's all I have to say about this movie. It's a review and a rebuttal to someone else's opinion. That's what this is when you get down to it: opinion. Now I want to hear yours, or read them, I guess. Comments below. You know what to do.