Is it because I reminisce N. I simply believe the performances were astonishing and the actors perfectly chosen to embody these terrific characters. FAQ 2. What's the meaning of "Milk the cunt"? What happened to Tanner's folder? Details Edit. Release date October 15, Philippines. United States. Official site Official site France. Box office Edit. Technical specs Edit. Runtime 1 hour 46 minutes. Related news. Nov 18 firstshowing. Contribute to this page Suggest an edit or add missing content.
Top Gap. What is the streaming release date of Whiplash in Canada? See more gaps Learn more about contributing. Edit page. Hollywood Romances: Our Favorite Couples. See the entire gallery. I do it because that's the way my mind works. As I said in the first paragraph, a lot of writers seem to start with interesting characters and only then come up with what the characters do.
I start with something that has to be done, and only then plug in the characters that I need to make it happen. That's probably the reason I write genre stories instead of literary stories. Stephen King once said that literary fiction is about extraordinary people doing ordinary things, and genre fiction is about ordinary people doing extraordinary things.
I relate better to ordinary people and I like imagining wild situations to put them in. Years ago, I read a good discussion about the difference between story and plot --I think it was by Ronald Tobias, in his book 20 Master Plots. If I'm right about who said it, he said something to this effect: A story is a series of related events.
His example: The king died and the queen died. Not a great story, but it's still a story because it meets the requirements. Then he said a plot is a sequence of related events that introduces an element of tension or anticipation or suspense. Example: The king died, and the queen died of grief.
Or the king died and the queen spit on his grave. Or the king died and the queen rushed to Lancelot's quarters. I'm not only paraphrasing, here, I'm inventing my own examples--but you get the drift. Another example of a story : Susan drove to Walmart, bought a wheelbarrow, and drove home.
A plot : Susan drove to Walmart, bought a wheelbarrow, drove home, and buried Jack's body in the back pasture. A plot needs to be something that grabs the reader's interest. And yes, I know: short stories don't have to have plots. A vignette, a slice-of-life, a character sketch--none of those have plots, but they still qualify as short stories.
It's still a story, and a famous one at that, but I think the best stories do have strong plots. Even when I'm reading and not writing, I find myself focusing mainly on the plot. I understand that the characters have to be good and effective and interesting in order to have a quality story, yes, but what I often seem to remember most is the plot.
What are these plots that pop into my own head? As examples, here are mini-synopses for some of my stories published so far this year. If you've read any of my recent creations, some of these might ring a bell. Or not. Two friends attempt to steal from a small-town business that's secretly connected to the mob.
A fortune-teller in a New Orleans voodoo shop discovers a customer planning a robbery. A pool hall in Alaska is the scene of a showdown between townspeople and a trio of killers. In a raging storm, an outlaw happens upon a family in the high plains of west Texas. A legendary gunfighter sides with a prospector and his sister against evil claimjumpers.
The maid for a recently deceased elderly lady becomes the prime suspect in her murder. An inmate being transported to a new prison escapes--and interrupts a robbery in progress. An anonymous riddler provides the only clue to the robbery of a local Homeowner's Association. A police chief and her sister track two scammers who've emptied a woman's bank accounts.
A Bigfoot hoaxster winds up in the middle of a crooked and deadly real-estate scheme. A politician and a gambler in southern Texas find themselves in a desperate situation. Two strangers who met on a plane flight meet again under far different circumstances.
A year after a nuclear attack, a peaceful settlement must fight an army of armed scavengers. An Old West private eye faces his past when hired to find a cattleman's missing daughter. I'm not saying these are great or ideal plots, but they worked, in terms of getting sold--and if any of them happen to serve as a prompt or catalyst for your own plot ideas, so much the better. What does their subject matter say about me and my mental health? Let's not go into that. Also, relatively few of the mysteries were whodunits--they were more howdunits or whydunits or howcatchems.
What's your storytelling process, with regard to first ideas? Do you usually start with a character? A plot? A scene or setting?
A theme? Are your plots usually short? What are some of your recent plots? Whatever they are and however you create them, I think plots are all-important.
To me, they're what makes stories fun to read. While trying to come up with a topic for today, I re-read Michael Bracken's post earlier this month about reprints, and was reminded what a big part those recycled stories have played in both his and my short-fiction marketing in recent years. So this isn't the first time I've looked to Michael for writing ideas I thought I'd post a few memories of my own experiences with regard to previously published stories.
NOTE: I think "previously published stories" is to "reprints" what "pre-owned vehicles" is to "used cars. I still prefer to say "reprints. I didn't realize, when I first started writing for publication in , that you could resell stories that had already been published. But the more I wrote and published and the more how-to-write books I read, I came to discover what an important thing reselling stories was, to the writers of short fiction--and that it's one of the big advantages short stories have over novels.
I actually did a SleuthSayers post on the whys and wherefores of reprints last year, but it was more instructional than anything else, and I didn't use any examples. So, today, I'll point out some real experiences. The first short story I re-sold was called "A Thousand Words"--and its length was, coincidentally, about words. It was a mystery story about a bank robbery, one I'd first published in a literary magazine called Pleiades in January Like so many, DTM put all four feet in the air after a few years, but I wound up selling them three more stories before that happened.
I can't remember how much I was paid for the reprinted story, but I'm sure it was less than I'd earned from the original at Pleiades. Still, reselling it got an older and idle story out of its hammock and out into the world again, and I recall receiving some positive feedback about it from readers.
Not that it matters, but I later sold "A Thousand Words" six more times, here and there. More reprints followed, because many of those first stories I sold were now past the "rights-revert-to-the-authors" date and also because I learned to start actively seeking out reprint markets.
Over the next several years I sold dozens of them, to both anthologies and magazines. I'm not certain how many stories went to each, but I would suspect a larger percentage ended up in anthologies--especially in recent years. Generally speaking, anthologies seem more likely than magazines to consider previously published work.
Then again, some anthos demand only original stories, so always read the guidelines before submitting. By the way, I am no minor thief: I'm stealing not only Michael's idea but also a couple of his bullet items, as follows:. The short story I've sold the most times is a word humorous Western called "Saving Mrs. That story has been published in:. The reprints I suppose I'm most proud of weren't sales at all; they were out-of-the-blue selections for annual anthologies:.
The three primary markets for short-story reprints are the same as the three primary markets for short stories: magazines, anthologies, and collections of your own work. I've now had seven collections published of my mystery stories--the first seven were by Dogwood Press, a small, traditional publisher that has no connection to the old Dogwood Tales Magazine. Those books of my own stories are:. They're creating a bilingual book containing five of the ten stories I've published in the print edition of The Saturday Evening Post , with those stories featured in English side-by-side with their Russian translations.
As stated, all five of those stories will be reprints. As Michael said in his column, the main thing to keep in mind regarding future reprints is: retain the rights to your stories whenever possible.
If you've granted "all rights" to whoever publishes a story, that story is no longer yours and cannot be resold. The other thing to remember is to then be on the constant lookout for markets where you might take published stories that are gathering dust and put them to work again. Question to my fellow writers: What are some of your experiences, both positive and negative, regarding the marketing of your previously pubbed stories? I would suspect your adventures would be more interesting than mine.
Years ago, back when you could watch network TV without endangering your brain cells, there was a series of United Airlines commercials I especially remember. One of the two reasons they made an impression was their background music, Gershwin's "Rhapsody in Blue," which I love, and the other was the voice of the always-unseen narrator.
The first time I saw one of them and heard it I knew that voice was familiar--but after repeated viewings I still couldn't figure out whose it was. No Google or Alexa around in those days.
Finally it came to me. See if you recognize the voice--it starts at about the halfway point in this one-minute commercial from the late '80s. For some reason I thought about that the other day, and it triggered other memories of overhearing movie or TV dialogue from another room and thinking, I know that voice.
Part of that's probably due to the fact that I watch so many movies, but part of it's also because certain voices are just unique--so recognizable that hearing them for only a few seconds can tell you who's speaking. We as writers understand that physical voices aren't as important to our work as they are in some of the performing arts, unless maybe we're doing a reading or an interview or a podcast.
What we produce thank goodness is usually intended to be read, not heard. But in the TV or movie business, a distinctive voice is an asset. And some--Bernadette Peters, L. Lee Ermey, Holly Hunter, G. Spradlin, etc. As you can see from my honest but unscientific list, a voice doesn't necessarily have to be pleasant to be distinctive or easy to recognize.
Why do I enjoy hearing these folks' voices? I'm not sure. Application Ser. One problem that arises in many watermarking applications is that of object corruption. If the object is reproduced, or distorted, in some manner such that the content presented for watermark decoding is not identical to the object as originally watermarked, then the decoding process may be unable to recognize and decode the watermark.
To deal with such problems, the watermark can convey a reference signal. The reference signal is of such a character as to permit its detection even in the presence of relatively severe distortion. Once found, the attributes of the distorted reference signal can be used to quantify the content's distortion. Watermark decoding can then proceed—informed by information about the particular distortion present. The assignee's application Ser.
In some image watermarking embodiments, the reference signal comprises a constellation of quasi-impulse functions in the Fourier magnitude domain, each with pseudorandom phase. To detect and quantify the distortion, the watermark decoder converts the watermarked image to the Fourier magnitude domain and then performs a log polar resampling of the Fourier magnitude image.
A generalized matched filter correlates the known orientation signal with the re-sampled watermarked signal to find the rotation and scale parameters providing the highest correlation. The watermark decoder performs additional correlation operations between the phase information of the known orientation signal and the watermarked signal to determine translation parameters, which identify the origin of the watermark message signal.
Having determined the rotation, scale and translation of the watermark signal, the reader then adjusts the image data to compensate for this distortion, and extracts the watermark message signal as described above.
With the foregoing by way of background, the specification next turns to the various improvements. It will be recognized that these improvements can typically be employed in many applications, and in various combinations with the subject matter of the patent documents cited herein. Watermarks in Video and Broadcast Programming [].
Several novel uses of watermarks relate to video and broadcast programming. For example, a watermark may be placed at a certain location in content e. Conditional rules can be specified e. Another is to charge differently for content, depending on whether or not it is rendered with advertisements included. For example, if a viewer fast-forwards through advertising in a video program, then a charge is assessed for the viewing. Else no charge or a reduced charge is assessed.
A related concept is disclosed in application Ser. Watermarks e. Thus, if a viewer has apparently watched five advertisements, no more advertisements are inserted for a predetermined period or through the end of the current content. Or if the viewer has watched two automobile ads or two Ford ads , no further automobile ads will be presented. Conversely, the viewer's willingness to watch automobile ads may indicate that such ads should be inserted in preference to another class of ads over which the viewer habitually fast-forwards or otherwise does not view, e.
In addition, the watermark may have a date-time stamp, or time counter that can help determine how long the content has been playing. For example, the user may have started viewing at seconds, and at seconds, or 10 minutes of viewing, an advertisement is triggered. A variation of this concept involves personalized advertisement delivery triggered by watermarks.
For example, advertisements tailored to particular consumer profiles e. These tailored advertisements can be inserted based upon detection of specific watermark triggers e.
Or generic advertising already included in the content can be watermarked and, if a tailored advertisement is locally stored and has a corresponding watermark, it can be substituted for the generic advertisement. Or after three generic advertisements, a personalized advertisement may be inserted. Many other such variations are naturally possible. Instead of caching tailored advertising in a Tivo-like device, such advertising can be distributed otherwise.
One example is a DVD video disk mailed to the consumer. Playback of advertising from this disk can be triggered by watermark signals in other content, and—as above—can benefit the consumer by reduced cost- or free-viewing of otherwise premium content.
Instead of substituting locally-stored advertising in externally received content, the opposite arrangement can be employed. The advertising can be tailored to the viewer, or can be tailored to the programming. Thus, for example, programming showing a golf tournament may be so-indicated by a watermark, and this watermark can thereby signal that golf-related advertising should be inserted. The watermark may convey an index value that is associated—through a remote data store—with the programming subject, or the watermark may literally convey a code corresponding to the programming subject.
Playback of advertising may enable access to other content or capabilities. This can occur by requiring a number or type of watermark to be read e. Once the watermarks are detected from the requisite advertisements, then the viewer is permitted to access additional content, or exercise other capabilities. A secondary watermark in addition to a primary content owner or creator watermark can be employed to enable broadcasters, cable operators, content aggregators, etc.
It is not clear that Napster-like sharing of movies will be as popular as such sharing of audio. Regardless, it seems watermarking can play an important role. Instead, rental or PPV is the dominant user experience. One particular approach is to provide the content data for free, and assess a charge for its playback rendering.
The charge can be triggered upon detection of a watermark. A watermark can also be used for connected-content purposes. One such application permits the user to obtain e. In one scenario, a device like that disclosed in application Ser. When a watermark is detected indicating, e. This can be accomplished, e. That store can contain the title of the movie, titles of pre-quels, sequels, names of stars, name of the movie director, geographic locations featured, featured music, etc.
The results of the search can be presented to the viewer, who can choose one or more for linking. Alternatively, instead of searching based on keywords, a data store associated with the watermark index value can directly identify related content, e. Again, this information can be presented to the user for further linking.
A great variety of other such arrangements are naturally possible. In some such arrangements, the connected content does not have a sole, known source.
Instead, it may be located in a peer-to-peer media sharing service, akin to Napster, and downloaded from whatever source the user—or some computer-executed procedure—dictates.
Likewise, the original source video may be obtained by the user from a peer-to-peer network e. Again, the content may be obtained for free, and a charge levied only when the content is viewed. This charge can be triggered by watermark detection, or using various non-watermark techniques. The charge may be fixed, but can alternatively be on a per-increment of viewing e. Still further, the content can be provided in streaming form, rather than as one or more discrete files.
In this and many content delivery systems, streaming can be used as an alternative to file transfer when the recipient's rights to have a file copy of the content cannot be confirmed. The advantage of a peer-to-peer architecture is that a massive central server needn't serve the requests of all possible users.
Instead, this function is spread over a widely distributed network, providing consumers with a service that is faster and—potentially—less expensive. Another concept is to include connected-ads within as opposed to interrupting the entertainment. If someone doesn't want to click on the ad, they pay for the show. The ads are linked to information via watermarks.
For example, if Ross in the TV show Friends is drinking a Coke during the show, then clicking during that time will present the viewer with linking options, one of which is viewing the web page of Coke. If the user clicks on this option, they will receive some benefit, such as x cents deducted from their monthly TV bill.
Thus, if they want to watch TV without ads, they just don't click on ads and pay more for the monthly TV bill. Alternatively, the user could click on the ad link and bookmark it for usage at a later time, at which time the user would receive their credit.
In addition, if different video objects are marked with different watermarks, then clicking on the Coke can can take the user directly to the ad page, or bookmark same for future use.
One advantage of this approach over traditional ad models is that the consumer can decide how much advertising to watch and pay accordingly, while watching the same show as other consumers who want advertising.
In other words, you don't need different shows and channels, such as a premium show and related channel and a free show and related channel. While watermarks are preferred in this application to convey data related to the connected content e. Different on-screen signals icons, etc. Another application of watermark is in tailoring audio or video content presented to consumers, e.
A rating field, such as two bits X, R, PG, and G , can be included in the watermark payload and identify the rating of the corresponding content on a per-video-frame or per-audio-excerpt. The watermark reader optionally using read-ahead capabilities can cause the rendering device to act appropriately for non-appropriate content, such as removing adult rated-X frames.
If no ID is present, default filler material can be substituted, either from a remote source, or from the consumer's own data stores e. Detection of the adult content watermark bit s can be performed by the consumer device, or upstream in the content distribution network e. Many corporations will want the firewall to detect the adult content so that employees don't waste company time and money on viewing inappropriate materials.
In addition, viewing adult content, such as pornography or violent scenes, can produce internal human resource legal problems for corporations. While adult content is one class of content, the use of watermarks to categorize content, e. One is indexing. Content can be watermarked with data indicating content classification or with an ID that permits its content to be ascertained by checking a corresponding database record. Search engines can then index content based during web crawling.
The concept is that the watermark categorizes the content. Systems then use the watermark to make content specific decisions, like sorting, indexing, controlling playback, etc. The systems can be filters at various stages—operating system, driver, application, firewall, router, etc.
The systems can be search engines or crawlers, etc. In systems like Digimarc's Image Commerce system, in which content providers pay an annual fee so they can watermark a unique identifier into their content which identifier permits customers to link back to the content's source , the fee can be waived for adult content.
Instead of including a unique ID, the watermark payload can include a default ID. If customers link using the default ID, they are routed to a default page shared by all, e. Related disclosure can be found in application Ser. Identification documents, such as drivers' licenses, credit cards, and other identity tokens, can include a watermark that encodes—or otherwise represents—the holder's birthdate.
By displaying the document to a web camera and associated application, the birthdate can be decoded and used to authorize viewing, e. This card can also be used to confirm a user's age for online gambling. In addition, the birthdate can allow a user to obtain pornography and gambling, anonymously while enabling the site owner to not have to worry about under age participants. The birth date can also include an ID that can be used to identify the person needs to be identified, such as for online voting or access to restricted information on the web.
The card could be something mailed to the person after verifying their birth date, and identification if a user ID is included. The card could even be emailed and printed by the end user, although copying such a card will be easier.
Finally, the card may save the birth date via other methods, such as on a magenetic strip or through smart card chip technology, or with a combination of technologies, including watermark. The card may also contain a frail watermark such that a duplicate can be detected. The following section details particular watermark-related actions that can be utilized when distributing digital content.
Identify ID content with watermark []. Use watermarked ID to trigger automated purchase and file transfer operation from source to user's machine, digital locker, etc. Embed ID in an automated fashion on users' machines: search for content on drive, look up ID from local or network database with either fingerprint or TOC type indicators , embed ID into content []. The write function can be used for supplementing previous embedding by content owner or ripper software see, e.
During download, adding the unique ID from a fingerprint and secondary second database. Check file for proper naming, labeling before adding to file sharing registry of content items songs []. Update a listing of name—ID mapping, increment registry in real time []. Mark file with user's ID during a download, then if user attempts to add to a file sharing system, the system knows the user and informs them how the user can and cannot use the file; e.
Distinguish level of service in subscription service by watermark label see, e. Use date-time stamp to control changing of rights over time see, e. There are also lots of interviews with the family and, most interestingly, with Bourdin, himself. Mixed into all of these are some dramatizations of actual events. This stroke of genius helps the movie almost feel like a fiction narrative and is a nice change of pace from all of the talking heads.
The other questions The Imposter raises is where it runs into trouble. Why would Bourdin do such a thing? What really happened to him before he was picked up by the police in Spain while pretending to be a sniveling lost child? The film never dares to approach either one. It does touch on another, but in an unsatisfactory manner. We hear allegations from Bourdin about what he thinks happened.
However, he is not exactly trustworthy. A few members of the family refute these claims. No surprise there. There is the private eye who has been snooping around trying to find out what happened to the boy and potentially comes upon an answer. The movie even ends as if he makes some startling discovery. The issue is that what we are told next, just before the credits roll, totally undermines this.
In essence, the movie finishes when it feels like it should be shifting into another gear. It is the kind of movie that could only be a documentary. Think about it. How do you sell a work of fiction in which a teenage boy from Texas with classic All-American looks returns home as a darkly complected Frenchman with different color eyes?
This is precisely what makes The Imposter work as well as it does. We wait for someone to make sense of it all. Friday, December 6, R. Nelson Mandela. Labels: Invictus , Nelson Mandela. Wednesday, December 4, Amour.
Directed by Michael Haneke. Georges Trintignant and Anne Riva are one of those great couples who have been together forever and still appear to be in love.
They do everything together and life is good. Unfortunately, things change drastically when she has a stroke. To correct the blockage that caused it, she undergoes surgery. However, that goes wrong and leaves her paralyzed on her right side.
She returns home from the hospital and the two immediately become more care-giver and patient than husband and wife. The two trying to navigate the suddenly tough waters of their lives ensues.
The entire movie depicts the sad, downward spiral of their lives. It is filled with gut-wrenching emotion and deep devotion. There is really nothing we can do but feel sorry for Georges and Anne. She grows increasingly dependent on him and he gets more and more protective of her. As viewers, we become frustrated with him because of how secretive he is about her condition. He does what he can to care for her, employing nurses to aid them and whatever else is necessary.
However, he flat refuses any help or suggestions their daughter offers. Through skillful writing and acting the entirety of the pain caused by every aspect of this situation transfers to us.
Effectively, it keeps us engaged. Something else that works to set the mood is the startling quiet of it all. In her younger days, Anne was a respected music instructor. Her prized pupil is now a famous musician. On occasion, there are bursts of classical music. However, much the movie is silent in places other films, particularly American ones, would fill with sound. Rather than artificially manipulate us with a rousing or saddening score, the lack of musical accompaniment adds to both the realism and the bleakness of that reality.
Within the realm of this film, the take away is simple. Where there is music, there is hope; where there is none, there is not. As in all situations such as this, decisions must constantly be made. Ultimately, the point is reached where that decision is the hardest one possible. Once Georges makes it, we immediately have one to make, ourselves. Then, how do we feel about what happens next? There are deep, philosophical conversations to be had about what transpires here. This is what gives Amour a lasting effect.
It elevates itself from being a typical love story to one not only worthy of our viewing, but our contemplation. Monday, December 2, The Croods.
Thursday, November 28, Deadfall. Happy Thanksgiving, folks!!! I couldn't let the day pass without an appropriately themed movie, so today you get Deadfall.
It's not exactly going to give you the warm and fuzzies, but Directed by Stefan Ruzowitzky. Rated R, 95 minutes. Eric Bana. Olivia Wilde. Kate Mara. Kris Kristofferson. Sissy Spacek. We meet Liza Wilde and her brother Addison Bana as they are riding along a snowy road in the getaway car after a casino heist.
Our movie watching experience tells us that when a movie starts inside a vehicle, something bad is about to happen. And so, it does. As they tend to, a deer runs out into the middle of the road, which the driver slams into. As for Liza and Addison, they survive. Since the car did not, they have to find a way to the Canadian border to complete their escape. Addison decides they will split up. Liza is to hitchhike her way to someplace safe. He will have the money and call her later tonight to find out where she is and get there any way possible.
As an unsuspecting police officer who happens upon the crash site learns, killing anyone in the way is certainly an option for Addison. Something else we learn about him is that his relationship with his sister is probably a lot different than yours with your siblings. Unbeknownst to her, Jay has not only just gotten out of prison, but he is also on the run. Of course, they discover they kind of like one another. Hmmm, wonder what Addison thinks of all this. We find out over a rather tense Thanksgiving day feast.
Local cop Hannah Mara , who grew up with Jay and now works under her overbearing father Sherrif Becker Williams , is also in the mix. With all of this going on, Deadfall manages not to feel cluttered. It ably bounces around the various subplots and keeps them well tethered to the larger narrative. The motivations of each person is revealed in no uncertain terms. Within each, a different aspect of family dynamics plays out. Unfortunately, this also renders them all rather flat.
We get the idea we know what any of them are going to say before they actually speak. Addison is the one person who manages to escape the trap of predictability. Sure, his ultimate goal is transparent, but he gives us surprises along the way. This makes whatever is going on with him the most interesting thing in the movie.
Eric Bana has some issues with his southern accent, his character is from Alabama, but is otherwise great. We get that this is a guy with a warped sense of morals. It is certainly understood that his screws are rolling around unfastened to anything in his noggin.
The elders in the cast: Spacek, Kristofferson, and Williams are all excellent. Spacek is particularly good. Where her male cast mates all huff and puff through much of the movie, she gives a very nuanced performance.
Olivia Wilde is actually solid, giving off enough naivete to sell her roll. Unfortunately, she shares most of her scenes with Charlie Hunnam.
He gives the type of performance that makes it difficult to believe he has a pulse. What Deadfall has going most for it is the way it all comes together at the end.
Leading up to the finale things are a bit uneven. The actual ending is on the predictable side, but it works. Wednesday, November 27, This is the End. Directed by Evan Goldberg and Seth Rogen. Rated R, minutes. Seth Rogen. Jay Baruchel. Jonah Hill. Craig Robinson. Danny McBride. Michael Cera. Emma Watson. Early on, the movie gives us ridiculous thing to laugh at.
There are also many more celebrity cameos, most of which comprise of the stars making fun of their own images. Once we transition into the survival portion of the film we explore the dynamics of the various relationships of our survivors, and of course, a number of power struggles.
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