A Certain Point of View: Writing, Film and Stuff

Family portrait, circa 1986.  I am happy without toxic people in my life, Part II “Toxic people attach themselves like cinder blocks tied to your ankles, and then invite you for a swim in their poisoned waters.”  ― John Mark Green It’s been nearly six months since I last saw my toxic half-sister, Victoria Pineros, as she made a hilariously melodramatic exit from the waiting area outside Judge Bernard Shapiro’s chambers in a Miami-Dade County courthouse building. I watched her turn her back to me and stalk off, trailed by her attorney and a retinue of supporters that included her cousin Juan Manuel and his wife Barbara. I suppose I should have felt some regret, some sense of loss at the thought that we were parting not as friendly siblings who had lost a parent but as bitter enemies. I also suspect that she sees herself as the aggrieved party who was “robbed” of her rightful inheritance by her selfish, scheming younger half-brother. And I have no doubt, no doubt a

“There’s folks you just don’t need. You’re better off without ‘em. Your life is just a little better because they ain’t in it.” ― William Gay Well, here we are on January 3, 2017, nearly 72 hours into the New Year. I can’t say that I’m unhappy that 2016 is over; last year had its good days, of course, but overall it sucked. The Presidential election here in the States was one of the weirdest and least satisfactory in the nation’s history, lots of beloved celebrities died, and Islamic terrorist attacks here and elsewhere widened the chasm between the West and the Muslim world. On a personal level, 2016 was one of the toughest years I’ve ever lived through. It was the first year since Mom’s death and, of course, it marked my first year as a homeowner. I was used to running my household way before Mom passed away; she handed me the reins, so to speak, when she became seriously ill in 2010, so I was used to making decisions and paying bills on time already. It was a tough and some

The Movie Originally released on January 25, 1970, director Robert Altman’s “MASH” is an antiwar black comedy set in the 4077 th Mobile Army Surgical Hospital during the Korean War. It was adapted from Richard Hooker’s “MASH: A Novel About Three Army Doctors” by Ring Lardner, Jr. and though it was set in South Korea, the film’s sardonic and irreverent tone was really a commentary about the then-ongoing Vietnam War. “MASH” was both a commercial and critical success; it earned five Academy Award nominations (including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Supporting Actress, Best Film Editing) and won one (Best Adapted Screenplay). It also spun off three television situation comedies – “M*A*S*H,” “Trapper John, MD,” and “AfterMASH.” Starring Donald Southerland as Capt. Benjamin Franklin “Hawkeye” Pierce, Elliott Gould as Capt. “Trapper John” McIntyre, Tom Skerritt as Capt. Duke Forrest, Sally Kellerman as Maj. Margaret “Hot Lips” Houlihan, and Robert Duvall as Maj. Frank Burn

“All happy families are alike; each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.”― Leo Tolstoy, Anna Karenina As 2016 – a year that most of us would like to forget – ends and a New Year waits in the wings, memories of the not-so-distant past continue to haunt me. Some of them, naturally, are about my mom’s long illness, mental decline and eventual passing. It’s been less than a year and a half since she died, so the emotional wounds haven’t quite begun to turn into scar tissue. The pain, which was intense in the beginning, has dulled a bit over time, yes, but it’s never truly gone. I suppose that I feel this way in part because I miss my mom. After all, we lived together for more than 50 years, and we had a great parent-child relationship right up to the end of her life. For some reason, she never encouraged me to move out – I have cerebral palsy, and even though I am capable of living semi-independently, Mom felt that it was more mutually beneficial if I stayed at home. She o

Well, two days have passed since Christmas Day 2016, and even though there is still some partying to be done to ring in the New Year, it’s back to the old writing desk for this garbanzo. I have several projects to work on – a novel, a bunch of new book and movie reviews, and a short story set during World War II that I’m trying to develop. In addition, I need to think of topics for the Cerebral Palsy Guidance blog, for which I get paid to write as a contributor. So…yes, there’s a bunch of things on my writer’s to-do list. Today, however, I want to talk about more personal issues that weigh heavily on my mind and heart. You see, even though this Christmas season has been the happiest I’ve experienced in over 20 years, I have been haunted by thoughts about my late mother, Beatriz. To be honest, I consciously try not to think about Mom too much. It hurts me a great deal when I do. I don’t like dwelling on the circumstances of her death, for one thing. The last five years o

(C) 2015 Marvel Comics and Lucasfilm Ltd. Cover art by Adi Granov Star Wars – Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back (2015 Remastered Edition) Based on a screenplay by Leigh Brackett and Lawrence Kasdan, and on the story by George Lucas Writer/Editor: Archie Goodwin Artists: Al Williamson and Carlos Garzon Colorist: SotoColor Editor-in-Chief: James Shooter Cover Artist (2015): Adi Granov As the countdown to the release of Disney/Lucasfilm’s Star Wars: The Force Awakens nears the four-month mark, Marvel Worldwide (which is also owned by the Walt Disney Company) continues the “remastering” of its Classic Trilogy comic book adaptations with Star Wars – Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back. Published in hardcover on August 11, this oversized graphic novel (OGN) follows the publication of Star Wars – Episode IV: A New Hope by three months. In November, Marvel will complete its remastering of the saga when it publishes Star Wars – Episode VI: Return of the Jedi. As th

(C) 2015 Marvel Comics and Lucasfilm Ltd.  On April 12, 1977, a then-struggling Marvel Comics published Star Wars 1 , the first issue of a six-part adaptation of George Lucas's Star Wars (aka Star Wars - Episode IV: A New Hope ). Released more than a month before the movie was in theaters, Star Wars 1 gave many sci-fi and comics fans their first glimpse at Lucas's space fantasy set "a long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away." Adapted by Roy Thomas, who was Marvel's editor-in-chief at the time, and with art by Howard Chaykin, Marvel's Star Wars comic series closely follows the basic plot of Lucas's 1977 blockbuster. However, since Thomas used Lucas's fourth revised draft of the screenplay and had access to a handful of publicity photos provided by Lucasfilm, his version includes several scenes that were deleted from the film before its May 25, 1977 release. Star Wars' comic book adaptation was a major success. It saved Marvel Com