Category: Opinion

Peggy Bechko’s World of Free Resources for Writers & Readers

by Peggy Bechko

I admit, usually I try to pry writers off the net, off the computer, except for a good word processor or scriptwriting program. You know, a blank screen and all that. Get the juices flowing and for God’s sakes write something!

Well, yeah, that’s good – most of the time. I’m not backing off. BUT, and it’s a big but, there are times when we writers just need to read. Maybe we need to do some research. Maybe we just need to relax. Maybe we just have a curiosity that could lead to a story.

Whatever the reason, the plain fact is writers must read. A lot. read article

Dennis O’Neil: Iron Fist and the Costume Unseen

by Dennis O’Neil

In peril, poor Polly Pearlwhite plunges from the pinnacle… And I, a superhero, really should fly up and save her and so I shall as soon as I change into my hero garb and… But what is this? I don’t seem to have worn the cape and tights under my Brooks Brothers suit and how could I forget such a thing? Well, come to think of it, I didn’t have my morning coffee and I’ve been Mr. Cottonbrain all day and… Never mind. Sorry, Polly.

So there I was – this is me taking now and not the fictitious person in the previous paragraph – and I’m about to reveal that early this morning, at about one, I finished watching the Iron Fist television serial and can report general satisfaction with it. But during the final minutes of superhero action I wondered if the film makers were going to give Mr. Fist a costume. He had one in the comic books where he first came to life and back when I was editing his monthly biography I regarded him as another one of Marvel Comics’s costumed dogooders, in the same area code as Moon Knight, Spider-Man, Daredevil, The Hulk, et cetera: not as popular as some of Marvel’s output, but clearly of the same ilk.

The show I was watching earlier today ended – mild spoiler-alert, one you needn’t pay much attention to – with Mr. Fist and a companion climbing to the top of a mountain and finding… not what they expected but rather things that must certainly have ruined their day and, not incidentally, provided a hook into another story. That, we will probably be seeing soon. Mr. Fist was wearing clothing appropriate to climbing snow-covered peaks, but it was just clothing, not a costume. read article

John Ostrander on ‘Twin Peaks’: Fool Me Once

by John Ostrander

Entertainment Weekly recently made its (multiple) cover story the return of the TV show Twin Peaks. I don’t know if that’s a good thing, or even if I want to watch it. This is surprising to me since I was a big fan for most of the show’s run.

The show was set in the Pacific Northwest in a small town and was created by David Lynch (writer and director of the movie Blue Velvet) and Mark Frost (one of the main writers of the TV series Hill Street Blues). The show took place in the mythical small town of Twin Peaks, nestled in lumber country, and deals with the townsfolk, many of whom are, well, odd. The show starts with the discovery of high school homecoming queen Laura Palmer who has been murdered. Circumstances draw in the FBI in the person of Special Agent Dale Cooper, played by Kyle MacLachlan, a favorite actor of Lynch’s. Agent Cooper is, well, odd. He solves mysteries with the help of dreams and visions that he gets. He’s a very Special Agent and, I think, something of a shaman. read article

Diana Vacc sees the ‘This is Us’ Season Finale

NOTE FROM LB: The week before last, TVWriter™ Contributing Writer Kate Graham wrote a very positive review of the This is Us season finale. A few days ago, without knowing about Kate’s review, our Critic-At-Large, Diana Vaccarelli sent us her perspective. They’re a bit different, but then, so are Diana and Kate. 

by Diana Vaccarelli

—SPOILER ALERT—SPOILER ALERT—SPOILER ALERT—SPOILER ALERT– read article

Is ‘Logan’ the New Superhero Film Template?

Should it be? Marc Alan Fishman of ComicMix thinks Warner Brothers especially has a lot to learn from Logan. And we at TVWriter™ think he’s right:

What DC Could Learn from Logan
by Marc Alan Fishman

Having finally caught and absorbed James Mangold’s Logan, the finale to the OG X-films, I find myself hoping that the execs behind the soon-to-be-released Wonder Woman and Justice League movies were taking notes. A caveat: I’m going to attempt to keep my lens wide this week. While I don’t believe I’ll be spoiling anything more than people on your Facebook feed have blathered about, be nonetheless forewarned. read article