Ethan Parke Author Blog

Sorry, about not writing any blogs lately, but our house is almost back together. In honor of it being Clint Eastwood's ninety-third birthday, I will talk about his best performance. The Searches may be my favorite Western movie, but the Man with No Name trilogy is not far behind it. I have always watched Westerns for the gunfights, but I was always intrigued by the mysterious stranger's actions. There was little dialogue about his background. Some critics have theorized that he was a different character in every movie. Even so, continuity is minimal in those movies. The character would not have been as interesting if he was not up against sadistic villains. The rival gangs in Fistful of Dollars he turned on each other, and the bandit he was after in For a Few Dollars More was a child killing rapist, who killed his gang or let them kill each other so he could slake his greed. Despite the title of the most famous entry in the trilogy, none of the protagonists in The Good, The Ba...

A lot of people are getting tired of the Fast and Furious movies, but I always have fun seeing them when they are released. I can't say which one is my favorite, but I see them every time a new one is released. Every installment has a cool, creative stunt with a car, and rousing action. The stories are always generic, but those are the kind of movie you don't see for the story. They always have good actors in them that do well with the source. A lot of people are annoyed that they deviated from movies about underground street racing, to heist movies that involve sports cars, to movies about stopping international terrorists using fast cars, and have something to do with the power of family. What I liked in the new one was the part where John Cena, playing Vin Diesel's brother, told his son swearing is for song lyrics and stubbed toes. Some are getting annoyed that they always make it look like the finale is coming, and from what I heard there will only be two more. I am lik...

Sorry, I haven't blogged in a while. I had a problem with bed bugs, that is still being remedied.  I have written several times about how I like The Hobbit movies, and their only real flaw was not being as good as Lord of the Rings. A lot of those issues were in the book, such as all the detours. One character, I agree could have been treated better, was Beorn. In the book, he saved a dying Thorin during the Battle of the Five Armies. In the closing chapter, it was stated that Bilbo spent the last of winter with him, and Beorn stopped being a recluse. In the movie, he briefly appeared as a bear, before having breakfast with Bilbo, Gandalf, Thorin and Company. Beorn did not appear again until the end of the battle, and only for a few seconds. They could have had him help rescue Gandalf, of had him appear earlier in the battle. I think the reason was production, meaning they had no time to develop the CGI/motion capture for his bear form. Even so, I still enjoy The Hobbit movies, and...

With the Tennessee Renaissance Festival happening every weekend this month, I will talk about the inspiration I got from the Legends of King Arthur. At its core, those legends have always been about strength and weakness, joy and heartbreak, which is what life is like. They are stories about how a boy, who did not know his parents became a noble king. They are stories about best friends, not knowing how to handle their flaws, and then making peace with each other. Those are all aspects I try incorporating into my books.  Unfortunately, there has not been a successful movie based on the King Arthur legends since 1981's Excalibur, similar to how there has not been a successful Robin Hood movie since Prince of Thieves in 1991. 1995's First Knight was more of a romance. The action in the one that came out in 2004 was great, but the trouble was it was an action movie, not a King Arthur movie, like the Robin Hood movie that came out in 2010. They are making a TV series based on Berna...

  Over the last fifteen years, summer blockbuster season started with a Marvel movie, and I think Guardians of the Galaxy: Volume III, will get 2023 off to a good start. I like how a lot of it was about teamwork and the heroes getting along. The action was spectacular, as in every MCU movie. I especially like Rocket's story arc, about losing all his friends when he was created. The only problem was Drax made the kind of joke that makes me vomit, using the most ubiquitous name for fecal matter. The other thing is, if you can only say the f-word once in PG-13 movies, you may as well not say it at all. But those are just personal preferences, and I hope you enjoy it if you go see it.

 Because tomorrow is Star Wars Day, I will share my thoughts about it, and how it inspired me. I was a baby when Return of the Jedi first came out and have been a fan ever since. When I got the idea for the Covert Militia, I initially thought about giving them telekinetic power, but that was dropped as the ideas progressed. One of the only things that was retained was the Covert soldier's laser swords. Not a lightsaber, because they are a regular sword, but with a laser rod in the blade that makes them glow and cut through most things.  I tell newcomers to the saga, if they only seen A New Hope, The Empire Strikes Back, and Return of the Jedi, they can stop. I am not criticizing the other trilogies or anthology movies. I did not think the prequels were good but had good things in them. I thought the sequels were good sci-fi/fantasy, action/adventure movies, but not good Star Wars movies. There were a lot of ideas that didn't go anywhere and missed opportunities. Aside from the...

With the Tennessee Rennaissance Festival starting this weekend, I have always enjoyed the Robin Hood myths. They have inspired me in several ways, about a hero aiding the downtrodden, and using the environment as a means of defense. He was one of the inspirations for Jack Stamper, and so was his minstrel, Alan-a-Dale. The trouble now is finding a way to make a Robin Hood movie successful. I recommend remaking the one made in 1938 with Errol Flynn. The last one that succeeded at the box office was 1991's Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves. It may not have felt like a Robin Hood movie until halfway through, but it nonetheless did. The farcical take on the stories, came two years later with Men in Tights, which was funny, but not a box office success, finding prosperity on home video and TV. I was one of the few people that liked 2010's movie with Russell Crowe. It was clearly set up to start a sequel, and if that was the case, they should have split it into two movies. Have the first ...