Ethan Parke Author Blog

  I've always found releasing movies on Christmas Day a weird idea, but in the last two Christmases there were unexpected family emergencies when relatives of mine got sick, it made me realize that means theaters will be open. Also, Sam's Sports Grill, which I always eat at before going to a movie, was open from five to eleven, so I went to see the new Bob Dylan biopic, A Complete Unknown. It told the story of Dylan's early career, and his friendship with Pete Seeger and Johnny Cash, and his relationship with Joan Baez. Early, in the movie, studio executives would not let Dylan record his original songs, saying the songs he was covering were new once. Later, it showed him start using electric guitars and a lot of people did not like it. I was not born yet, and like his acoustic and electric music, and I'm sure a lot of it was made up or exaggerated. It shows that artist need to find people interested in their craft, and if you are interested in my novels, you can click ...

A lot of people have been nervous about what would happen when Kraven the Hunter was finally released, and most of their expectations were met. I did not think it was as bad as most other people did, but I did find only two good things in it. The consensus among critics is those two things were Aaron Taylor-Johnson's performance and some of the action scenes, especially the climax on the poacher's trucks and the buffalo stampede. What I think upset most people was the way it dragged when there was not any action taking place, and the way Kraven did not down his lion skin vest until the last second of the movie. I know a lot of screenwriters think that kind of thing helps develop characters, but they can do so, while stuff happens as they develop. I am pleased to see that more movies are being greenlit where they let the people making them put effort and passion into them, in which they respect the source material, and I have a feeling soon they will start adapting more books th...

 I have said in many of my blogs that, I do not think any Lord of the Rings movie will ever beat Peter Jackon's trilogy that was released between 2001 and 2003, but I am sure there will be good movies and shows based on Tolkien's legendarium. Because it was my main source of inspiration, I appreciate anything based on Tolkien's saga, even if it is not great. I liked The Hobbit trilogy almost as much as The Lord of the Rings trilogy, for the parts that were respectful to the source material (I think the issue was they did not give Pete enough time to develop the effects) and it is also hard for me to hate the animated TV movies by Rankin/ Bass. Now with that out of the way, I thought War of the Rohirrim was a fun return to Middle-Earth. It made up for my only disappointment about the Battle of Helm's Deep in the movies, which was the Wildmen of Dunland Falls were not there, just Uruk-hai. The animation equaled what was shown in Ralph Bakshi's unfinished movie from 19...

 Because Joleene Naylor designed the covers to both of the novels that I published through Smashwords, I felt it only fair if I read some of her books. The first one I read was Shades of Grey, and it was entertaining, telling the story of how a young woman had a boyfriend who turned out to be a vampire and was rescued and protected by one, against a monster who had its origins in the time of Ancient Rome, and they go on an exciting and harrowing adventure, after losing one of her best friends. The story will continue, and I intend to read about them. IF you are interested in reading Joleene's work and mine, and seeing more book covers she designed, click on the link.  Smashwords.com

 I still remember the big freak out about computers shutting down on January 1, 2000, and knew it would not happen, but to me it, still feels like yesterday. As for the new horror comedy movie about it, it was alright, and did not get interesting until the computers went haywire. The only thing that touched me about it, was how in the end, if people would put aside their differences, and focus on what they have in common and instead of destroying their enemies, the world would be a lot safer, and there would be a lot less turmoil. That said, I write a lot about that in my books, and if you are interested in reading them, and the work of many other independent authors, click on the link here to Smashwords.com.  Smashwords.com

 Gladiator II was pretty much everything you would expect. It had a lot of cool visual effects, and the battle scenes were entertaining. Pedro Pascal gave a good performance, and Denzel did great as he always does. It showed what caused the decline of the Roman Empire, even if it was not entirely historically accurate, and it was relevant to modern politics. I only would prefer if it came out a few years earlier. I think people who make movies, should let people base them on their passions instead of trying to make money off something popular, and it seems more of those are starting to happen again. If you are interested in reading books based on the passion projects of many independent authors, click on the link for Smashwords.com.  Smashwords.com