True Blood – truly entertaining.

imagesI’ve been struggling to blog recently, even though I’m determined to make it part of my weekly routine. Blogging ain’t easy when you’re writing a book.

There are a lot of terrible things happening in the world at the moment. I feel I have to try to make some sense of it in blogs likes this. Sometimes, however, it’s good to leave the big picture stuff alone and write about True Blood.

I spent last night in Bon Temps with Sookie and company. Jason Stackhouse is my hero. I’m thinking of modelling myself off Ryan Kwanten’s character. I’m glad Alcide passed away last night. Every time he took off his shirt my partner gasped. Now I don’t have to listen to her sharp intake of breath whenever he disrobes. Lafayette is simply sensational and Pam is some kind of wonderful. I’ll miss them when they’re gone. I hope this final season ends with a wonderful Bon Temp’s vampiric flourish!

 

Jonathan K Benton

Saturday Night Fever – Jonathan K Benton

GROVER-Saturday-Night-FeverI always have good intentions surrounding my blog. Big ideas. Global peace and the betterment of humankind. Then Saturday rocks around and I’m staring at an empty page.

Thank goodness for Saturday night television and the plethora of movies that I’d already seen. I picked one of the greatest movies this side of 2000 AD and used the ads to channel surf the other six.

Transformers: Dark of the Moon. Great special FX could not save this one.

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. I think it’s the best of the series.

Men in Black 2. It’s fun, but suffers from the same spit and polish issues as most sequels (Terminator 2 and The Empire Strikes Back are rare examples of sequels improving their respective stories).

Six Days and Seven Nights. No comment.

New Years Eve. It’s nice, but it’s no Love Actually.

Miami Vice. Hmmm.

When the ads finished, I returned to the truly great film. Scott Pilgrim Vs. the World. I give it a Wow rating. Yep – it’s that good. Brilliant scripting; it’s quirky and original, and superbly acted. I loved spending Saturday night with Scott Pilgrim and Ramona Flowers and thank them for inspiring this blog.

Let me know a movie that you think deserves a Wow rating (or even a Terrifying rating based on my unique system) and I’ll watch it.

Jonathan K Benton

Then the news came on – Jonathan K Benton

angel despairIt’s hard to blog deep every week. I have to mix it up because most of my creative energy is spent on my new manuscript. Sometimes an idea germinates and I’m driven into a flurry of blogging activity, like what happened here.

I’m sitting in front of the television after a day on the computer. It’s late Saturday night and I’m trying to scrape together something interesting to blog about. I can relate to Oscar Wilde when he said: ‘I was working on the proof of one of my poems all the morning, and took out a comma. In the afternoon I put it back again’.

Then the news came on. It’s the 21st Century and there are wars popping up everywhere. Governments (not countries) are still behaving like playground bullies. Good people are suffering because we cannot sort out our shit. It makes me physically sick. Our children deserve to inherit a safer world. I’ve decided to leave you with three questions. If there are a whole lot more good people than bad in this world (and I believe there are), why does it sometimes feel like there are not? Is it just a case of a few power-drunk bad apples spoiling the bunch? How do we stop them?

My heart goes out to the good citizens of Ukraine and everyone else forced to live in fear.

Jonathan K Benton

Captain America: The Winter Soldier. And some people with whom I shared the theatre

captain americaI saw the latest instalment of Captain America  on Easter Friday and boy did I love it. He’s not the most powerful superhero in the Marvel universe but he’s one of the coolest – in a geeky kind of way. I give this movie a Wow rating.

Have you ever sat next to a popcorn rustler before? I didn’t know they existed until Easter Friday. I asked my partner why anyone would rustle a box of popcorn and she advised me that it shakes the popped popcorn to the top … apparently. I wanted to shake the man rustling the popcorn.

Why any parent would bring a toddler to an M-rated movie is beyond me. It’s very sad. I should have told the ushers. I think I will next time.

Finally – Darth Vader is the most powerful being in the universe. This is a FACT.

Jonathan K Benton

The secret to being 'cool', for five minutes and ten seconds

grammy hatI was sitting at the computer thinking about the past – as long as I don’t dwell on it, the past is a great place from which to draw inspiration. I suddenly remembered a song a friend introduced me to a long time ago. I’ve never been cool (although I try my best to convince my boys otherwise). People would question my sanity if I wore Pharrell Williams’s Grammy hat.  Look at me, and I blush. Speak to me, and I jump. I possess very little fashion sense and own a mobile phone so old people often mistake it for a baby’s toy. But while I sat listening to this song, and no matter how uncool I am in reality, I felt damn cool.

Sit back, close your eyes, click on this link and enjoy five minutes and ten seconds of sleepy coolness.

Jonathan K Benton