Old Story, New Story, Creed, & the 3%

The free period for Winged, With Sharp Teeth is over, which means I’m now sitting here and prodding the numbers with surprise, saying things like, “Really? That many people from the German store? Who’d have thought it?”

Some people went on and pre-ordered Eight Minutes of Usable Daylight, which is out now if you live in Australia and out in approximately eight hours from now if you’re in the United States.

Alas, I cannot tell when the Germans will get it, for I’ve not had to get into the habit of doing that math off the top of my head over the last week. I did try to Google it, but the math stymied me–there’s a reason I work with words wherever possible.

Yesterday was a bit of a lumpen, unexpected day. I had plans, but they did not come together. I progressed stories, but the writing was hard. On the plus side, I did get Amazon-based print version of The Birdcage Heart & Other Strange Tales submitted, although that’s primarily US and UK focused. Australian folks are better served holding off until I get the local print-on-demand up and running. 

Which is, all in all, the kind of day I’d expected: One step at a time. Don’t look down. 

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The inimitable Australian reviewer, Grant Watson, took a look at Creed II this week and seems to have enjoyed it. He also linked back to the long essay he wrote about the first Creed, which was an extraordinary film whose subtler qualities Watson takes the time to explicate in his essay.

I mention this because I became a fan of the Rocky franchise through Grant’s blog, back when he reviewed all of them. I grew up in the eighties, during the period where Stallone and the ongoing nature of the franchise were a running joke, but I’d somehow managed to avoid all of them and had no intention of rectifying that. 

Then Grant started reviewing them, one by one, charting the vagaries of the series from the beginning, and I was sufficiently intrigued to pick up a boxed set of movies and work my way through.

And yes, there are films where the excesses of the eighties are in full display, with the occasional moment of bugfuck crazy where children are left with robot babysitters and Rocky comes home from Russia to find his son has aged about a decade. 

But the original Rocky is still a damned fine piece of filmmaking and you develop a huge appreciation for Stallone’s take on the character when you watch the whole thing. I find myself looking forward to seeing Creed II, when I get the chance.

If I can’t convince you, go take a look at Grant’s thoughts on the matter. He lays out a very convincing argument. 

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My beloved and I have been watching the Brazilian Netflix series 3% over the last week, and I’m deeply impressed by the show. It’s low-budget, but works within its limitations extremely well, conveying its dystopic vision with little flourishes and a focus on the emotional state of the characters.

I’m not sure that the second season is working as well for me, largely because they move away from the constraints that made season one work so well, but I’d still recommend it to anyone who thinks dystopia-focused young adult is out of juice as a genre.