It's Time for A Little Fixin'

I’ve done movie blogs, TV blogs and any other thing you can think of. Including cartoons, comics, etc.

But none was done on a novel.

More specifically it’s dubbed part of the Repairman Jack series. My introduction to it comes a little late in the game with book nine entitled “Harbingers.” In short, it is the taste of things to come spearheading several science fiction motifs. Not to mention a few supernatural elements that might pop up to throw the reader off.

With a prior history to the series character, there’s a lot of catching up to do. I feel like I’ve been dropped into the middle of a battleground without any knowledge of what the hell is going on.

I must trend lightly.

Repairman Jack is the literary fiction character created by F. Paul Wilson who makes his first appearance in the Tomb in the early 1980s. This character was meant as someone who appeared in a string of novels. But, being larger than life, with a wealth of history of his own, he has outgrown his supporting role status to get his own book series.

Repairman Jack is the fix it guy you can go to if you’re in trouble with something beyond the law. He’s there to straighten the situation out that calls for extra leaning, some muscle work that might include guns, explosives and a perhaps a round of property damage. His intentions is to help the little guy not become a victim of a cross-fire. He exists well outside the world of identity.

He carries no social security number. He works on his own New York City turf. Jack knows how to use a gun if he needs to.

When I first read the book “Harbingers,” Jack is first asked by a close friend of his to find a missing niece who is believed abducted. There is a catch. The girl goes missing for more than a day and Jack is on the trail in finding her. Many of his fix-its deal with strange cults, kidnappings such as the one in “Harbingers.”

Then the entire universe is turned upside down, and sideways, when Repairman Jack finds himself having another role in the midst of things. There is an ongoing war between great cosmic forces that governs the course of the human race. They are like shadows and light. Heaven and darkness. The shape of the war brings stirs from the dire influences caused by the opposing forces.

The novel “Harbingers” is on the edge of this unholy war that’s breaking out. And Jack finds himself taking sides. Not by choice. His life has been a living hell. His loved ones has been discarded throughout the books such as his mother, father and brother. His family has become casual targets. In this book it is his girlfriend and unborn child that becomes the latest twig that is snapped off from the tree of life.

Jack has become a loner. And this prepares him for the war that he will be facing soon.

In some ways, he is almost a pawn between the unseen forces that moves him around like a ping pong. And that pisses him off. It’ll be interesting to see how the deciding factor of his actions will put the war into motion.

I like how F. Paul Wilson is working his novels. He connects everything. In such as way that it’ll come to a full circle sooner or later. His novels and short stories share a common universe that is its own. This is how H.P. Lovecraft and Robert E. Howard of the old pioneering days of pulp fiction wrote their share of fiction. By interconnecting and referring. They created their own landscape filled with imaginative creatures.

Wilson manages to handle that well in his books. But the Repairman Jack books won’t be around forever. The author says in his own words that he doesn’t want to run it to the ground. There’s going to be a beginning and an end to this. It was fun while it lasted. The author sees 2012 as being the last year for the series.

Hang on for the ride.

Set in New York City, the novel “Harbingers” gives a flavor of the metropolis in which the author himself lives in. He paints a good of the fiery city that seems to swell under the massive war that lingers over like a giant cloud. The possible victims? The human race.

Maybe Jack will wipe his hands of his responsibilities and let the human race choke on it? There’s no knowing which direction he might take after the book “Harbingers” sets his role into high gear. He’s also fuming in misery. He’s lost in his hatred for others. The final outcome of the war is yet to be determined.

There’s still some time left to get into the mix for new readers. There’s another, newer book on the shelf called “Bloodlines” which continues to narrate Jack’s involvement with the war. There may be a chance of further learn of his heritage of his roots in the battered, violent path.

There’s a lot for him to fix.

The universal repairman man, some might call him.

But it’s an interesting series of novel if one likes to follow through the events of Repairman Jack. There’s a sense of realism around the character and his profession. Yet, for other readers, the supernatural trends may draw them in. It is the fast pacing of writing and hardnosed action that remains furious. Most importantly: Jack is the everyday common man for the people.

Torchwood: Round Two

The opening scenes give a slant of darkness with a pale moonlight beating down on the roads through the middle of London. It is a seedy side of the metropolis filled with rugged edges often found in large cities. It is a place one shouldn’t walk alone. Especially for an old woman whose only worry is crossing the street.

Then a red sports car jumps into sight with a fast-paced speeding style, riding right up to the pedestrian crosswalk. The driver looks a little different. When his head pivots, slowly and strangely alien, it looks like a blowfish?

And so starts the season two of Torchwood, premiered on Wednesday night, with an added dash of dark humor. Amongst other things.

There are some subtle differences when watching the episode “Kiss Kiss Bang Bang.” There’s a lot less swearing that the previous season. But it still feels like a bump of a ride. Of course, with Captain Jack in the lead, anything goes.

And that means space aliens, giant rifts and time travel. To shake the mix a little bit.

The entire regular crew is here with the newest, youngest recruit Ianto Jones. But the episodes is at the tail end of Captain Jack’s long-time disappearance. Things change. The second in command Gwen Cooper, a former police officer, takes over the Torchwood crew during his vanishing act.

Where was Captain Jack?

He was running off to the end of the universe with the Doctor on the another series Doctor Who. (Both series are created by Russell T. Davies, allowing for crossovers). Time travel can do a lot of crazy things. But the nice thing about this episode is minimalism.

The disappearance of Captain Jack is explained in a few moments. The reason for Gwen taking a leadership role is also explained. And the fact that she drops the ball about getting married is well handled in a very dramatic scene between her and Captain Jack played well by Eve Myles and John Barrowman.

The entire episode is written by veteran Chris Chibnell who also penned a previous Torchwood episode and a Doctor Who episode entitled “42” where the Doctor must stop a hurling space ship from crashing into a living sun.

But I feel the pacing of Torchwood suits Chibnell’s writing far better. He has a grasp on the characters and it’s always fun to see Captain Jack fall to death. Only, like a walking messiah, to rise up from the dead. He is a man who is unable to die due to a freak accident.

Being thrown into the mixed baggage is James Marsters who has been seen playing vampire Spike from the Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel series both made in the United States. Here Marsters delivers his usual tongue-in-cheek performance which brings a whole new ball of fire into the excitement. He plays Captain John Hart.

He knows Captain Jack. They have a shared background.

They used to work as partners for a Time Agency that no longer exists.

Both men also share a wet kiss. Which is rather funny.

The whole caper in which the crew must discover the three missing parts to a cluster bomb scattered throughout the rural section of London, gunned down by little time. The bomb presents a danger to the city. But it turns out that Captain John Hart is looking for a diamond and nothing more. The story again is based on minimalism. Simple plot. Simple story. Plenty of great fun.

The scene where Captain Jack and John Hart first meet in a nightclub is an absolute highlight. The new characters do help rejuvenate the series into another direction. And it’s going well.

The story is very well made. The performances by everyone is quite good. I feel like I’m with old friends again. With plenty of side stories giving focus to the supporting cast as well. When the plot unravels and shows that Captain John Hart is someone that can be trusted less than a black panther in a cage, the Torchwood crew cuts him off. And with good reason. There’s no telling what this guy can do. He knows too much.

But like all good villains, the story leaves the door open for him to come back to stir things up again.

Captain John Hart knows certain things about Captain Jack when he glibly says, “By the way, I found Gray.” It’s another possible story arc about the Torchwood leader we’ll learn more about. It’s a good set-up. There’s a shocked expression on Jack’s face when he heard the name. But he dismisses it right away.

Everything seems to be falling into place.

It’s probably a good thing to leave the swearing out except for occasionally. This author always felt it was out of place for such a thing in the Doctor Who universe. That’s the same as making a spin off from Star Wars, but saying, “Oh, let’s have them swear like crazy.” It’s too jolted. But “Kiss Kiss Bang Bang” has the right ingredients for a successful season.

Let’s hope that Captain Jack and his crew can play their cards right.

If this episode wasn’t enough, there is still the long-awaited appearance by an ex-companion of the Doctor: the always lovely Martha Jones will be appearing in later episodes of Torchwood. Having gone to finish her degree, practicing medicine, she’ll be a full-time doctor herself. And her profession and skills as an ex-time traveler will be helpful to the Torchwood crew.

But will they be able to get along together to resolve issues? That’ll be an interesting thing to see.

The cold, blithering feel of raw savagery that fuels the London streets might not be safe for the public anymore now they are targets of greater threats. But, with a new direction, Torchwood will be there to help protect the people. But can they be trusted?

Too Many Times

The film “Ghost of Mae Nak,” filmed in Thailand, bases itself in ancient folklore thriving in a modern city. Part of the Asia Extreme cinema which pushes the envelop in films in the East.

Yet there’s something overly familiar with it.

Could it be the same theme runs itself through Japanese horror films of late? Perhaps it’s seeing the same ghostly woman with long, dripping hair seeking vengeance.

It’s been done enough times. I couldn’t tell you how many. Countless.

The same imagery, with the brooding woman creeping through shadows, was in another film called “Dream Boat” which was presented by the Masters of Horror series this year. The same thing.

“Dream Boat” didn’t do well for me as it felt like another layer of Japanese horror repeating itself. Has the foremost and best writers run out of ideas?

And I saw "Dream Boat" on DVD a few weeks ago.

The trend of familiarity, beating you over the head with the self-same numbness, replays itself. It’s cropping up through in cycles in the Asian cinema as well as Hollywood. How many times are we going to see this before they decide to do something different?

Too many times.

“Ghost of Mae Nak” isn’t well acted either. Feels like an amateur film that takes itself too seriously. There are some scenes which are very good here and there… but there’s no real sense of impending doom, the freakish aura of evil that seems to lurk around corners. There’s none of that. But there are plenty of things jumping out from the corner of darkness.

Plus, in the vein of familiarity, from the beginning of the film, you see a woman intruder passing the camera in a flash of movement, parading through like a faceless shadow. It’s a tired image.
It might be considered part of the Thai new wave movement. But there’s nothing in this film that we haven’t seen before.

I find myself giving up hope in discovering a horror film with new direction. Perhaps a different style. But we’re viewing the same thing since the film “Ringu” set new heights in the cinema followed by a number of wannabes.

More than a decade ago, there was the same thing perpetrating the Hollywood films when the first “Matrix” was taking the science fiction field by storm. The stunning cinematography, along with the frequent slowing of the film to promote action, gave a sense of a modern film noir for the “Matrix.” Nobody has seen anything like it before.

In just a couple of years, everyone was doing this. You couldn’t get away from a movie that didn’t have an indirect Matrix influence with the fanciful techniques of people moving as if time slowed down. It was saturated into everything from movies to television. You saw it with the first Charlie’s Angel movies. The Borne Identity films finally broke the mode.

The similar fate of redundant filmmaking could be seen in the most recent Japanese horror films. You could add to the list the number of United States copy-cats every which way you turn.

It’s becoming too conventional.

There are tons of remakes now with the film “One Missed Call” or "The Eye" being some of them. I’ve seen the original, Japanese versions which has nothing more to add.

Much of the artistic horror movie-making and atmosphere, with sense of breeding fear, seems to be lost in the shuffle while trying to duplicate the success of the Ringu and Ju-On.

Please stop it.

It’s getting to the point where it’s painful. Start making something different rather than making a rehash of same ideas and concepts. I understand that stark image of the female spirits represent Yurei—basically Japanese ghosts who are caught in some sort of limbo. They must walk amongst the living until their physical problems are resolved. The whitish, ghoulish effects of their faces are similar to the Kabuki stage plays performed in Japan. But the idea is growing weary.

I admit that I was rattled nervous and scared when I first saw "The Ring" a few years ago. But it was my first introduction to Japanese horror films. Most of the other films rolling out on its heels seem like copies.

There are plenty of other types of ghosts and goblins that could be the focus of horror stories. So many poltergeists and weird things could be used as background colors for a horror film. The bleakest reaches of cosmic dismay, the feeling of dread, could be felt in many other instances such as stories by H.P. Lovecraft or the film like "The Exorcist" which deals with possible extraterrestrial threats.

Such stories try to give something different to the audiences without being rooted to the same ideas. They try to broaden their horizons by daring to risk the unobtainable. The next wave of Japanese horror films could do well to learn from a film like "The Exorcist" which continues to unsettle with discomfort to this very day.

One of the few which made a detour from the usual is the film “The Host”—which is about a dysfunctional family that takes on a creature that lives beneath their city. Sure, it’s a monster movie. At least you don’t see a white-faced ghost walking around like she’s been on a diet for far too long.