Allen Holt

Moviegeekz: Reborn!

Posted by Allen on June 15, 2009 under General | Be the First to Comment

Some of you might remember Moviegeekz, my old movie news-’n'-reviews website I ran for a couple of years but let flounder and die in 2006.  Well, given how much writing about movies I’ve been doing here since I started updating this site again — and the fact that of the six posts I have rattling around in my head right now, five of those are about movies — it seemed appropriate to dig up the grave, exhume the corpse, pump some coffee into it and slap some lipstick on there.  It’s now live once again with all of the reviews I’ve written since its demise copied over to it.

And not only does it have those recent reviews, it has a brand-new one you can’t get here!  Click on over to read my review of The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, and feel free to poke around a bit while you’re there.  And don’t forget to subscribe to the RSS feed!

I’m pretty excited about this development — it just feels right, y’know?  And it doesn’t mean I’m abandoning this site, either — I have plenty of non-movie stuff to write about sometimes, and all of that will continue go here.  Stay tuned!

Question for the Audience

Posted by Allen on May 15, 2009 under General | 2 Comments to Read

I’ve been writing my personal blog on and off (with sadly more “off” than “on” before this recent bout of blogorrhea) for more than four years now, crossing over a number of different domain names before settling here — my first post was April 26, 2005.  And I have movie reviews and such copied over from my old movie site dating back to 2004.  At the time I started the personal blog, I had other repositories for geeking about sports, movies and comic books; those sites are all gone now, though I do still have a comics-oriented site I update kinda infrequently.  I’ve discovered that spreading my attention across too many projects/sites like that kept me from updating any of them with any consistency.

I don’t have a lot of focus on this site, as anyone who’s read it for any length of time has doubtlessly noticed.  I suppose that’s unsurprising:  I tend not to have a lot of focus in my interests in real life, so why should I expect my blog to have much focus?  I wrestled with that fact for awhile, but I’ve pretty much come down on the “So What?” side of the fence — I have lots of things which interest me, and I like knowing that I can write about any of ‘em here if I feel so inclined.

But even though my name’s in the URL, I don’t like to think it’s all about me.  I want people to read what I’m writing, and I want them to feel engaged, y’know?

So my question to you, My Adoring and Adorable Reading Public, is this:  is there anything you’d like me to write about more often?  Anything you’d like to see more of — or less of?  Anything that you to tend to think of as an area of expertise of mine that I could illuminate for you?  More artwork?  Less artwork?  More reviews?  Fewer reviews?  I’m open to all kinds of suggestions here.  There’s no saying I’ll necessarily use your suggestions, of course, but I’m curious to hear what sorts of things you’d like to see more of from me!

Oh, hi! Long time no see!

Posted by Allen on May 8, 2009 under Art, General | Be the First to Comment

So it’s been, um, six months since I updated the site.  At all.  That’s just…just…deplorable.  You have my sincerest apologies for being so incredibly lame with the updating.  I’m sure I’ve been very very busy the last six months — I know there’s something which must have kept me from posting anything here.

I’m going to try to be around for you more.  It’s not fair of me to string you along with a number of incisive, witty posts and then drop you like you’re aflame.  I don’t have time for a full post here right now, sadly, but I hope to be back later this weekend — maybe after I see Star Trek tomorrow.  But in the meantime, just to prove to you I have been doing something, I give you two pictures I drew of my lovely daughters:

More soon!

Done!

Posted by Allen on November 28, 2008 under General | 2 Comments to Read

Movin’ On Up

Posted by Allen on March 20, 2008 under General | 3 Comments to Read

Now that it’s official, I guess I should put this out there in public: we’re moving back to Boston. (Boston proper this time, though, rather than way the hell out in Rhode Island.) Yes, I know it’s not even been two years since we came down here to North Carolina, but yes, we’re already going back.

Why, you ask? Because I’m going to join the web development team at Harmonix Music Systems, the incredi-awesome software company behind super-mega hits Rock Band and Guitar Hero (the first two, anyway). This opportunity was one I hadn’t necessarily been looking for or expecting, but once it presented itself it was one I couldn’t possibly pass up. I’m mean, c’mon… how in the hell could I turn down an offer to work at the place where they make Rock Band?!

A friend of mine asked if this were my dream job. It’s not, in that it’s not Pixar. But past that… honestly, it’s not too far off. It’s working with technologies I enjoy (Hello, open source! Goodbye, Microsoft!) for an amazingly successful entertainment company which makes products I really and truly enjoy. And the corporate culture there will be, I’m pretty sure, damn good for me. I’m so very very excited about this opportunity, even though it means moving again and it means I’m going to be without my family for several weeks — they’re not moving up until we get the house here rented.

So if I’m not too posty over the next few weeks, that’ll be why. Moving. Again. (Though hey, I might not have much else to do while I’m up there before the family gets there… well, except play Guitar Hero with Brian.) Wish me luck, everybody!

Posted by Allen on February 14, 2008 under General | Be the First to Comment

Reason #1,032,259 Why I Love My Wife

Posted by Allen on February 10, 2008 under General | 2 Comments to Read

‘Cause she bought me an XBox 360 for my birthday! And Halo 3!

So if I’m a bit light on the posting over the next few days, and possible missing a couple of days of 3×5 cards, that’d be why.

Thank you, my love! I’m oh so ever appreciative — I’ll show you just how appreciative after the girls go to bed tonight. And now, back to wiping the threat of the Covenant off the face of the universe for good! *glee*

Operation: Defunkify

Posted by Allen on May 10, 2007 under General, Writing | 4 Comments to Read

One of my heroes inspires me by taking inspiration from another one of my heroes:

“I think Stephen King said some great things in On Writing — the main bit that I took away from that is the idea that you really have to sit down and do it. Treat it like work, spend a few hours TRYING to write every day. Sometimes it will be good and sometimes it will be bad, but there will be a lot of it. And really, it’s not the creating that’s the hard part, it’s the decision to sit down at your desk and start working.” — Jonathan Coulton, interviewed on CecilVortex.com, April 17, 2007

And another one of my heroes uses a quote from yet another to slam home a similar point:

“Yes, this is a form e-mail. Because I get asked this question a lot:

‘How do I become a comedian?’

The answer is very simple. It’s so simple, that no one can ever accept that it’s the ONLY WAY. But rest assured, the lucky few who understand how simple it is, and go and do this simple thing, ALWAYS succeed:

Go onstage a lot. Go onstage as much as you can.

Don’t read books on comedy. Don’t take comedy classes. Don’t ask anyone how you should write material, or what they think of your material. Develop on your own.

Go onstage. A lot. Every night. If there isn’t an open mike in your town, start one.

And then go onstage. A lot.

That’s it.” — Patton Oswalt, quoted by Warren Ellis, May 9, 2007

I’ve been bad lately. Pathetic, more like. I admit it. I haven’t had the mental energy to sit down and start working — or more likely I haven’t made the mental energy to do so. Not only have I not written anything here on the blog, I haven’t written anything at all. It’s an ugly, demoralizing circle I’ve found myself in: I’ve been in something of a funk and not writing, and not writing has driven me into even more of a funk.

Well, now it’s time bust that loop and kick off Operation: Defunkify.

It’s time to rediscover exactly what it is I’m wanting to do and refocus my energies in that direction. I know that part of what brings on my funk is losing my way, and even when I was writing before the funk came on, I could feel that way-losing happening. It’s time to do get out the map and do some course correction.

I can’t promise the results will show here on a daily basis, but they might. But if any of you have any additional inspirational bits of wisdom, I’d be all about hearing them. Bring ‘em on.

And wish me luck.

Five O’Friday: My Most Anticipated Movies of Summer ‘07

Posted by Allen on April 27, 2007 under General | 2 Comments to Read

Summer movie season officially kicks off with next week’s release of Spider-Man 3, so now seems like a good time to spell out which films have me most excited this year. Please keep in mind when you read this: my tastes tend to run to the pedestrian during the summer. I’m a sucker for big, special-effects-laden popcorn flicks. While I appreciate small, talky character pieces as much as the next amatuer cinemaphile, summer’s the time for the big and shiny and explody. That’s become even more true since I’ve become a parent — I’m only going to get to see a couple of these movies in the theater, so I tend to choose movies that will most benefit from being seen on the big screen.

1. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (July 13)

Order of the Phoenix was my least favorite of the Harry Potter books to date, but damned if the newest trailer doesn’t vault it to the top of my must-see list. I’m happy to note that it sure appears the filmmakers did exactly what I was hoping for: they jettisoned a good chunk of the first 300 pages of the book. (I was about ready to punch Harry in the solar plexus for turning into such a whiny little bastard for much of that book.) The last half of Phoenix, though, reads like it’d be a hellacious movie, and the trailers certainly look like that’s where the focus of the action will be.

2. Ratatouille (June 29)

C’mon. It’s Pixar and it’s directed by Brad (The Incredibles, The Iron Giant) Bird. Plus Patton Oswalt voicing the main character? Oh, yeah, I’m there. I don’t honestly even care what it’s about — it’s Pixar, it’s Brad Bird. That’s all I need to know.

3. Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End (May 19)

I’ll admit that I showed up late to the Pirates party. The first time I saw Curse of the Black Pearl I didn’t think all that much of it (except for Johnny Depp’s fantastic Captain Jack Sparrow). I thought it was, at best, okay. I must have just been in the wrong mood for it during that first viewing, because the second time I saw it I enjoyed the hell out of it. And then I enjoyed the hell out of Dead Man’s Chest. And the trailers for At World’s End make me think I’ll enjoy the hell out of it, too. Plus: Chow Yun-Fat!

4. Spider-Man 3 (May 4)

I have to be honest here: I’m not as excited about this movie as I feel like I should be. I’m a huge superhero geek, I loved the first two Spider-Man flicks, the trailers for this one look good… so why aren’t I looking forward to it that much? I mean, c’mon, I don’t find Kirsten Dunst that loathsome, not enough so that it should overshadow the natural enthusiasm I should exhibit toward any Spider-Man movie, and especially when her complete yuckiness is balanced out by the addition of Bryce Dallas Howard to the cast. And SM3 has the black suit, and Venom, and the Sandman… so why aren’t I hyped for it? Am I the only one that’s feeling this way?

5. Knocked Up (June 1)

Judd Apatow’s got my support for most anything he does after the brilliance of Freaks and Geeks. The 40-Year-Old Virgin managed to pull off the unlikely feat of being both crudely hilarious and touching at the same time — Apatow made Steve Carell’s Andy a real person, presenting him as being in a funny situation without making fun of him. I’m betting he’ll be able to do the same thing with this story about a schlub who knocks up a woman way out of his league thanks to a drunken one night stand (doesn’t sound much like the premise for a comedy, does it?). I like the leads, too: I’ve liked Seth Rogen (a Freaks alum; Knocked Up looks to be full of ‘em) in everything I’ve seen him in, and Katherine Heigl’s Izzy is one of the few characters on Grey’s Anatomy I don’t want to stab in the throat. (Well, OK, sometimes I want to stab her, too.)