I hear you. I avoid the pure action movies (I don’t play video games, either). I’m definitely with you on the mercurial mood swings. But I must admit that I enjoy the step-by-step fight scenes if they’re credible and don’t go on too long.
Oh, dear, the mechanical slug fest... yeah, well done, I'm OK with them, but most get me cross-eyed. Like: what did the dude do there???? I try to re-enact and it takes me out of the story.
I will take the mechanical slug fest over the mechanical grope fest every time. All that "she put her mouth here, he put his hand here...." BO-RING! And it all sounds the same. I guess if you're sixteen you might appreciate the instruction, but I've read enough of it for a lifetime.
Flatter is no good; but the opposite is also awful - too many characters, too much activity (fighting, parties, or otherwise) - I've noticed this in several movies and shows recently, it's just a cacophony of more scenes, more extras, more action...
I dunno if stories are getting flatter, but I have been pretty dissatisfied with contemporary books lately. Most books published nowadays are more about the glitter and less about depth. Actually, they can go into two extremes: glitzy, glittery genre fiction where everyone is beautiful and liberal, or overwrought, overly wordy literary fiction that’s about everything and nothing all at once. It’s very easy to glean the direction the big presses are going these days, and I’ve rarely found myself surprised by a book published in the last five years.
I don't read so-called literary fiction anymore, for that reason. Because I write mostly "crime", I tend to focus on that genre. But even there, the over-simplified, very basic plot lines are often disappointing. I want something more....
Yes, stories are getting flatter. Your movie description sounds like what we experienced in the Tom Cruise Mission Impossible movies. We sat through a couple, had two more to go, and said "Ugh! No thanks." Hubby took the DVDs back to the library. As for describing mundane tasks, I plead a bit guilty there but am working on it. As a former tech writer, I tend to get carried away with step-by-step descriptions. Some are needed others aren't. Best wishes on sales of your short story collection. I'm thinking of putting together a couple (one about winter and Christmas themed stories and the other containing my SF/horror/eerie stories).
Hey, go for it! Although people have shorter and shorter attention spans, short stories are still a hard sell. Go figure. But short story writers read short story collections, so there's hope, lol!
Have met a number of people around here who like short stories. At our local library, short story books were put in a separate section and are getting checked out like crazy. There is indeed hope! Wheeee!
I don't write a lot of fight scenes, since my killer is so efficient, but when I do, I like them to be a detailed dance, with a little humor thrown in if possible.
Can’t tell you how often I’ve started an audio book only to return it after ten minutes of listening. I’m over boring characters with nothing to say other than spastic f-bombs and one demential sound tracks. Give me nuance or give me nothing!!
I like complex movies with great dialogue and plots, and also enjoy smart thrillers like the Bourne series, but I'm fed up with the last half hour of so many films where we have 1) explosions and 2) the hero and villain duking it out, whether human or otherwise.
I have fallen asleep during some super hero movies and gave up on them. My spouse has never seen all of Haywire, which we own, having fallen asleep during it multiple times. It has a great cast, though.
The sequel to Space Odyssey is much better and has Helen Mirren. However, my spouse and I often quote the first one, either HAL or "What's going to happen?" Dave: "Something *wonderful*.
I hear you. I avoid the pure action movies (I don’t play video games, either). I’m definitely with you on the mercurial mood swings. But I must admit that I enjoy the step-by-step fight scenes if they’re credible and don’t go on too long.
Oh, dear, the mechanical slug fest... yeah, well done, I'm OK with them, but most get me cross-eyed. Like: what did the dude do there???? I try to re-enact and it takes me out of the story.
I will take the mechanical slug fest over the mechanical grope fest every time. All that "she put her mouth here, he put his hand here...." BO-RING! And it all sounds the same. I guess if you're sixteen you might appreciate the instruction, but I've read enough of it for a lifetime.
Another case of less is more...
Flatter is no good; but the opposite is also awful - too many characters, too much activity (fighting, parties, or otherwise) - I've noticed this in several movies and shows recently, it's just a cacophony of more scenes, more extras, more action...
I dunno if stories are getting flatter, but I have been pretty dissatisfied with contemporary books lately. Most books published nowadays are more about the glitter and less about depth. Actually, they can go into two extremes: glitzy, glittery genre fiction where everyone is beautiful and liberal, or overwrought, overly wordy literary fiction that’s about everything and nothing all at once. It’s very easy to glean the direction the big presses are going these days, and I’ve rarely found myself surprised by a book published in the last five years.
I don't read so-called literary fiction anymore, for that reason. Because I write mostly "crime", I tend to focus on that genre. But even there, the over-simplified, very basic plot lines are often disappointing. I want something more....
Yes, stories are getting flatter. Your movie description sounds like what we experienced in the Tom Cruise Mission Impossible movies. We sat through a couple, had two more to go, and said "Ugh! No thanks." Hubby took the DVDs back to the library. As for describing mundane tasks, I plead a bit guilty there but am working on it. As a former tech writer, I tend to get carried away with step-by-step descriptions. Some are needed others aren't. Best wishes on sales of your short story collection. I'm thinking of putting together a couple (one about winter and Christmas themed stories and the other containing my SF/horror/eerie stories).
Hey, go for it! Although people have shorter and shorter attention spans, short stories are still a hard sell. Go figure. But short story writers read short story collections, so there's hope, lol!
Have met a number of people around here who like short stories. At our local library, short story books were put in a separate section and are getting checked out like crazy. There is indeed hope! Wheeee!
I don't write a lot of fight scenes, since my killer is so efficient, but when I do, I like them to be a detailed dance, with a little humor thrown in if possible.
I swear I wasn't thinking of your Havanna fight when I wrote this, lol!
Can’t tell you how often I’ve started an audio book only to return it after ten minutes of listening. I’m over boring characters with nothing to say other than spastic f-bombs and one demential sound tracks. Give me nuance or give me nothing!!
Spot on the thin plot stuff. Farewell to arms reference, priceless. We must watch the same movies.
I like complex movies with great dialogue and plots, and also enjoy smart thrillers like the Bourne series, but I'm fed up with the last half hour of so many films where we have 1) explosions and 2) the hero and villain duking it out, whether human or otherwise.
I usually fall asleep when the screen lights up with mayhem.... the louder, the better I snooze!
I have fallen asleep during some super hero movies and gave up on them. My spouse has never seen all of Haywire, which we own, having fallen asleep during it multiple times. It has a great cast, though.
Have not seen that one... and I like Soderbergh. Mmhhhh, need to try. Mind you, I also fall asleep during 2001 Space Odyssey, for different reasons.
The sequel to Space Odyssey is much better and has Helen Mirren. However, my spouse and I often quote the first one, either HAL or "What's going to happen?" Dave: "Something *wonderful*.
Say AI and I hear HAL. Dave? Da... ve???
"Dr. Chandra...will I dream?"