No Joy In Mudville

Longtime readers know that I am a big minor-league baseball fan, so the manager of a local minor-league team asked if I wanted to be Honorary Manager for a game; surely setting them on the path of an epic curse, but it was fun to wear this jersey one night.

Done On Both Sides

In a few stills offered up by my pal Jeff Kirkendall from the set of Mark Polonia's MEATEATERS, we see two intrepid cops who started off chasing some bank robbers and ended up squaring off against a dinosaur.  Admittedly, I recycled the plot from an old episode of LAW AND ORDER.

Garden Party

In the top photo, here is the first bounty from our square foot garden.  In the bottom photo the pumpkin, which apparently fell in a meteor and I'm afraid I can never kill it now, is growing rampant.

The Agile and The Agitated

Man, I could write "Fast and Furious 7" just from looking at this picture.

Marvel Two-In-One

More glimpses into the dark recesses of my mind while I'm doodling and talking on the phone at work.

World's Least Finest

I hope this papercloth tablecloth was there for this reason.

I Know You're Working For The CIA, They Would Not Have You In The Mafia

Crazily, I just finished another screenplay this week, written right from page one. I started on Wednesday July 3rd and finished Saturday July 13th, a new land speed record. I would not have taken on this insanity except for my wife left the country for two weeks, typically a time of Doctor Who marathons and Sloppy Joes.  Needless to say I had some time on my hands.

It is the third screenplay I have completed in eight weeks.  Astoundingly, one of them, MEATEATERS, is already in post-production after a quick shoot in rural Pennsylvania; and another, HAUNTED HOUSE ON SORORITY ROW, is supposed to go before the lens before the end of August.

I have never seen anything happen so quickly.  The hookers and cocaine promised by one of these two directors mentioned above hasn't even shown up yet.

This latest screenplay is about the lives and loves of a gang of female vampires, so perhaps it is just as well that my wife was out of the country while I was writing it. The rest of the information about this one is redacted until I get the high sign from the director.

I fell into the routine of day job work, coming home and writing for a few hours, and then rewarding myself by watching a movie and eating dinner in front of the TV; a sad glimpse into the grim parallel world I would have lived in had a pretty girl not gone out on a blind date with me in 1987.

I watched 20 movies while she was gone, a nice round number.  Not necessarily the ones I thought were the best, but the top five that inspired me to keep going, were THE DEVIL'S KISS, SARTANA KILLS THEM ALL, THE TALE OF ZATOICHI, A COLT IS MY PASSPORT, and MANNAJA: A MAN CALLED BLADE.

Just as I was delivering the vampire movie another surprising project fell into my lap, which I am hoping to work on during the days next week, while giving my nights over to the Blue Whiskey Film Festival.  Also, redacted until further notice; and I might have a zombie movie after that.  Dinosaurs, haunted house, vampires, (redacted), and zombies; not a bad 2013.  Thankfully it seems I have a little stored up in the tank, after going into exile for several years.

Until later, I am at johnoakdalton@hotmail.com.

More Meateaters

As MEATEATERS wraps principal photography in Pennsylvania (say that three times fast), my pal Jeff Kirkendall sent along a few more photos featuring leads Danielle Donahue and Steve Diasparra.  In the top photo, Danielle gets a key to a fortune from a crime boss in, shall we say, the old-fashioned way (Me and Al Hitchcock, who did okay for himself, call this a MacGuffin).  Next, cinematic wisdom might indicate that if you get two cups of fake blood thrown on you and then get chucked into a lake you probably ain't coming back for the sequel.

Vegetarians Unwelcome

 

  Jeff Kirkendall and Danielle Donahue sent me a few snaps from MEATEATERS, a "Dino-Noir" I wrote for my old pal Mark Polonia, wrapping in the wilds of Pennsylvania.  Don't rob banks and don't fight dinosaurs, kids.  More updates to come.