Before I start though – please take some time to visit the Hole in the Wall Mobcaster page and consider donating to the show. It’s a great premise and a series I would love to see get picked up.

1) What is it about Kris and Ben’s vision of Butch & Sundance that intrigued you to pursue this show?

Butch:  First word that comes to mind is PASSION, second word PASSION. Ben and Kris are two guys that are so enthusiastic and knowledgeable about this subject, the time period and the history. When I read the pilot and series bible I was so impressed with the thoroughness and attention to detail. I feel like I’m in safe hands with them.

Sundance: I think the initial appeal, for me at least, was almost entirely about playing an outlaw. There’s a yearning in the back of my mind, and I think most people’s, to just throw all societal attachments to the wind and travel from town to town, living by your bootstraps. I think it’s primal, it’s just not usually acted upon. Sundance is a guy who acted upon it, and this was my best chance to get as close to that adventure as I could.

Beyond that initial appeal, though, Kris and Ben’s take on the legend of Butch and Sundance is about demystifying the pair and depicting the human beings that became the legendary figures we still know more than a century later. There’s really not an extensive canon on Butch and Sundance and this project is going back to their origins, to show how the relationship began and how the two grew over time. That’s extremely exciting for me, because not only do we get a chance to plant our flag in mostly unexplored territory but also because I’ll get to discover Sundance and the person he was for a long time to come. Yes, the dialogue is fast and witty and ridiculously fun to say, but these are real people who bleed and exploring people who bleed is why I act in the first place.

Mark Gantt as Butch Cassidy

2) While preparing for the role, are you purposely staying away from Paul Newman and Robert Redford’s interpretation of the characters?

Butch:  God yes! There was of course some hesitation to playing the role of Butch Cassidy. I remember the Beringer film and I just felt that they were trying hard to cast him to look like Newman. At the end of the day, I have to create my own Cassidy. And be prepared for the ‘haters’!

Sundance:  I know I am. I saw the movie a few years ago and obviously those two are fantastic. They were in their prime, and I would be doomed if I tried to imitate what they did. Beyond that, we’re looking at a completely different time in Butch and Sundance’s lives. In the movie they’re nearing the end of their time together and our show is looking at the beginning of their relationship, many years previous. If you put Newman and Redford’s performances in our show they would be fun and charismatic, no doubt, but it would be inaccurate because these guys were not the same people at the beginning as they were at the end.

3) Is there a certain level of excitement and pride working on not only a pilot, but an independent project that has a more grassroots vibe?

Butch:  Absolutely. This is such an exciting time for filmmakers right now. We’ve got an opportunity to create something really awesome for a fraction of the budget you’d need just ten years ago. As I mentioned before, passion goes a long way in this town. I think we’ve all got enough to carry this to the finish line.

Sundance: Oh absolutely. We have that “nobody believes in us” underdog mentality right now, and I know that I’m eager to prove wrong everybody who doubts this project or passes on it. And when we succeed we will know how hard-earned it all was. Nothing was given to Kris and Ben and they worked their butts off to make their dream come true. I only hope I can do everything I can to contribute to that dream.

Thatcher Robinson as The Sundance Kid

4) Switching subjects completely, what’s your go – to book recommendation? Why?

Butch:  When people are traveling I always suggest a Graham Greene short story collection. You can’t go wrong.

Sundance: The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay, by Michael Chabon. I read it a few years ago and no book has lingered on my mind as much since. The story is equal parts exhilarating and tragic, Kavalier and Clay are a duo on par with Butch and Sundance, and Chabon sets it all in a 1940s New York that he paints with exquisite and aching detail. I highly, highly recommend it.

5) Any Last Words?

Sundance: I primarily want to thank Kris and Ben for taking a leap of faith and trusting me with the part of Sundance. Also, to anybody reading this, I hope you’ll consider investing in the project. It’s a fun, rollicking script put together by an amazingly dedicated team, and I truly believe in its quality. You could be a part of something special from the ground floor up.

photo credit: Jo Rhyins

Editor’s Note: Dave Hillyard is currently working on crowdfunding his new album! Click HERE to figure out how you can help!

I’ve been listening to The Slackers since 1998. I think it’s safe to say, that if I ever had to claim a favorite band, that would be who I would pick. Listening to their music on a weekly basis even to this day clears my head and transports me to a different place. To put it bluntly, their craftsmanship as musicians is hard to match. Their live show is amazing as well. Since ’98, I’ve only missed one or two of their Southeastern Michigan shows.

The Slackers exemplify everything that is right with ska music today. That’s why when I got the opportunity to feature the legendary “Disco” Dave Hillyard on my blog, I jumped at the chance. Aside from his work with The Slackers, Dave has also been a member of Hepcat, The Stubborn All-Stars, and started his own bands, David Hillyard & the Rocksteady 7 and The Bluegreens.

Besides his regular gig as saxophonist, songwriter, and occasional singer for The Slackers, Dave is also currently using crowdsourcing to fund his new album California, featuring members of The Slackers, Hepcat, and The Aggrolites (among others…). He only has about 2 weeks left to secure the funding, so I wanted to help spread the word as much as I could because there has never been anything I’ve listened to where Dave was involved that I didn’t absolutely love. By featuring him on the blog this week, I wanted to make sure everyone knew that by supporting his efforts, they would be receiving a full-length album by one of the best minds in ska music today. It also goes without saying that he’s an amazing saxophone player too.

Enough yammering on my part, you want to get to the good stuff. Below, find my Friday 5 Questions With… feature with Dave Hillyard, Saxophone player extraordinaire! I also made a Spotify playlist of some of Dave’s music so you know what you’re getting yourself into.

Tell me a little bit about your California project, specifically how such a grand undertaking came to fruition and how we can be a part of it?

Well, the California album started as a confluence of events. As of this June, I will have lived in NYC longer than I have lived in California. That got me thinking and I gathered together a bunch of tunes I’ve written over the years. Some of the songs are old, some of them new but they are all centered around stuff that happened to me or stuff I saw back West.

California

I was able to get a cross section of musicians that I’ve worked with over the years involved in this. I got rhythms and vocals done on the West Coast and then added horns, keys, percussion, strings, and other things on the East.

I was going for a combination of sounds that different bands I’ve played in over the years had. I wanted to put out a bunch of vocal tunes as opposed to the instrumental albums I’ve made with Rocksteady 7. With the Slackers, I usually only get 2-3 songs per album, so with this one I wanted to see what I could do with an album’s worth of songs.

All this was produced by Brian Dixon who really helped with meshing together the different streams of sound.

Right now, I’m trying to get it released. I’m doing a fundraiser on Big Tunes – https://bigtun.es/projects/index/5

In this day and age, when record companies and distributors are disappearing, it’s become really important to reach out to your supporters directly. Without their support, it’s hard get albums released.

Is it safe to say that California is the most personal project you’ve worked on to date? What is your favorite thing about it?

Yeah, it’s the most personal thing I’ve done. I usually write songs that are about something that’s happened to me or something I see happening to people around me. That being said, there are a couple of these California songs that still tear at me when I listen to them.

It’s not that my life is more dramatic than other people’s. I think everyone has family stories and interesting events in their lives. Friends who got themselves in jams. The only difference is I write songs about these things.

The Slackers, Live at The Blind Pig, 4/12/13

I’ve been listening to your music since your days in Hepcat and the Stubborn All-Stars. What is it about music that keeps you inspired to continue on?

Music has been an obsession for many years. I’m not exactly sure what motivates me.

I originally just wanted to play in a Ska band. I wanted to be in a band like The Beat or Madness. Then I got more into the older Ska and reggae and from that I was introduced to Jazz, Blues, and RnB and from there it’s just kept on going onto Brazilian, Afro-Beat, Country….all kinds of stuff.

But at the end of the day, Ska, Rocksteady, and Early Reggae is my first musical language. It’s my foundation. It’s what I come back to again and again.

I’m really loyal to it. Ska music took me out of a boring suburban existence and got me touring the world. It broadened my horizons.

David Hillyard singing, Live at The Blind Pig, 4/12/13

I’m looking for some down and dirty jazz musicians to start listening to that aren’t necessarily household names. Who would you recommend I try out? To get a sense of what I like, Oliver Nelson is one of my favorites.

Ok, let’s see. Oliver Nelson wrote some great tunes and was a great arranger. I have an exercise book of his that I used to practice from a bunch.

A long time influence of mine is Illinois Jacquet. He is so great. Played with the Black Velvet Band in the 1940s. That’s some classic stuff. One of his later albums that is amazing is called, The Blues That’s Me.

Another favorite is Jimmy Forrest. Check out his Black Forrest or Sit Down and Relax With.. albums. Great soulful saxophone. He did the original hit version of ‘Night Train.’

Any Last Words?

I just want to thank everyone who has supported me and my music. Without the help of the people around me, I wouldn’t be able to do anything.

Thanks for reading and don’t forget to support Dave’s crowdfunding efforts by clicking here.

As it turns out, the military was working on a super soldier program (thing Captain America I suppose) and all of the soldiers in “Project Krypton” survived the apocalypse. Ex-Patriots, written likes Ex-Heroes, tells the story between “then” and “now” vignettes, and the scenes showcasing the evolution of Project Krypton were especially horrific…in a good way.

Ex-Patriots

As much as I loved Ex-Heroes, I liked Ex-Patriots even more. Peter Clines is at the top of his game and I just can’t wait to see how he concludes his trilogy with Ex-Communication. One of the elements I really liked was how Clines spent time developing some of the regular humans in this novel. In the first book, most of them felt like they were just there, but in Ex-Patriots, they’re given much more personality and characterization, which enhances the story even more. Specifically, I like the folks who become increasingly nervous and skeptical about the superheroes and what they off the overall group.

I don’t want to say too much, because Ex-Patriots is a book that needs to be enjoyed.

So, it’s here where I offer one lucky reader from the US or Canada a chance to read a signed copy of Ex-Patriots. Just like last time, all you have to do to enter the contest is to fill out the form below (and fill out your twitter handle for an extra entry). A winner will be chosen on Thursday, May 2, 2013 at 9:00 PM. The winner will be chosen at random. Also, if you won a copy of Ex-Heroes, you’re ineligible. Good luck!

In the meantime, here’s an excerpt from Ex-Patriots.

Matt Forbeck

1) I got my first real exposure to you through you from Kickstarter and your 12 for ’12 project. Aside from reaching out for funding, you’re also an active backer. Is crowdfunding a game changer and do you have any tips for folks looking to start a campaign?

Do your research. The campaigns that succeed are the ones that are well planned. You need to know all about your costs of production, just like you would if you were starting the business with traditional funding. You need to know how what kind of a goal you can expect to reach. And then you need to make sure those two numbers overlap in a comfortable way.

2)  When it comes to games, novels, video games, collectibles, etc – you’ve really kind of done it all. Is it hard to stay focused when you have so many pokers in the fire?

That doesn’t really bother me. It’s juggling that and having five kids at home that keeps me on my toes. I like to have lots of irons in lots of different fires. It keeps me from worrying what’s going to happen if one of the fires goes out.

3)  What’s your proudest professional accomplishment?

I don’t know if I could pick out a single thing. Perhaps it’s the fact that I’ve been able to make a living at writing and game design for two decades without having to go back to driving pizza like I did in college. The longer I can keep that up, the happier I’ll be.

4)  Since you’re a Michigan grad, I have to ask you a townie question. What are your thoughts on the University buying out the building Blimpy Burger is in and demolishing it for a dorm?

What? I’m appalled! I love Blimpy Burger. One of my college roommates, Bryan Winter, had set the record for eating the burger with the largest number of patties there, back in the late ’80s. I just hope they save the grill. That thing’s a historical landmark.

End Times in Dragon City

5)  What’s next for you?

At the moment, more novels. I just sold a book to Tor, and I have to finish up a few of the 12 for ’12 novels and get those out the door. I’m also working on a new iOS game with Ubisoft, which brought me over to Shanghai for a couple weeks back in March, and there’s a bit more to do there yet.

For readers, I just finished up the Shotguns & Sorcery trilogy with End Times in Dragon City, and I’m about to release How to Play, the first book in my Dangerous Games trilogy of thrillers set at Gen Con.

With a book industry where places to buy physical books are shrinking due to eBooks and online shopping, what made you want to start up Post Mortem?

After years of working in “corporate America” and an increasing distaste for the things I was being forced to do, the stars aligned and my job went away. At first I looked for another job within the corporate world, but to be honest my heart wasn’t into it. After some soul searching, the good fortune of several months of severance and a highly supportive wife, what started as a one anthology experiment turned into Post Mortem Press. I have a background in marketing and management and I understand sometimes the best time to jump in the pool is when the water is lowest. We don’t rely on brick and mortar stores, the hands on retail model for books is no longer relevant. Sure, if you want the latest NYTimes bestseller, why not. But to find something new on-line is the place to be. The same can be said for eBooks. All of our titles are in eBook. There is absolutely no reason not to offer our books in that format, none. Many small presses have come and gone since I started this little venture, but we continue to grow.

What’s it like being in charge of your own publishing house? Are there any challenges you face that people wouldn’t necessarily think about?

I love the vast majority of what I do. It’s not always fun, but it’s always a challenge. Because we are “author centric” sometimes I run into some interesting challenges. The biggest one is balancing the needs/wants of the authors with the needs/wants of the business. I spend some significant time helping authors gain some perspective on realistic expectations. I would love to pay for giant promotional campaigns for all of our books, but realistically, the expense is almost always too high for the return.

The other challenge dealing with internet schemes launched by less than ethical people seeking money for “services”. While the $99 press release is a common sight, more and more people are offering things like $500 to promote your eBook, and $1,500 for book trailers, etc. These are scams and our experience tells us book trailers do little but line the pockets of the people who make them. Sometimes it is hard to convince an eager author this is not a good way to spend money – be it theirs or Post Mortem Press’.

For aspiring authors, what kind of fiction do you look for…and, are you open for submissions?

We just reopened for submissions for inclusion in our 2014 release schedule. We will remain open until the end of July. Our core business is dark fiction and we are expanding into paranormal non-fiction. On the fiction side thrillers, mysteries, and realistic supernatural themes are what we are most interested in for now.

We are also interested in dark science fiction, like our anthology FEAR THE ABYSS. Hard science fiction, not so much. .

Now some may say paranormal non-fiction is an oxymoron – and perhaps it is – but that’s what we’re interested in. Our first paranormal book Amityville: House of Lies, presents forensic evidence from the DeFeo murders and the Lutz “haunting” and lets the reader decide. This is exactly the kind of thing we’re looking for.

What is your proudest moment so far as a member of the book industry?

That’s a tough one. There are so many “little moments” that make me proud. But I suppose the best moments probably involve recognition as someone who is doing it right. I have had people approach me with projects simply based on the reputation of Post Mortem Press, this still amazes me.

What’s next for PMP?‘

Slow and steady wins the race. We grew exponentially in 2012 and I have intentionally slowed this down for 2013 and 2014. I want to be sure we are able to focus on providing readers with the best books we can produce. We’ve had some success with slow growth bestsellers, movie options, award nominations, higher profile notice for our authors. etc, and I want to keep that momentum moving without a detrimental impact on our current titles. Our bestselling book took a year before it broke 100 sales and then it just exploded. Now it has since slowed down, but it still sells pretty consistently. This is what I hope for all of our books. I like writing big checks. I really do.

As I noted earlier, we are expanding into the paranormal genre. There is a strong and growing interest in the field, yet on the publishing side most things I have seen are poorly executed. To me this is an opportunity to become a leader in the genre by providing the community with a quality product.

Post Mortem Press’ latest releases include …

• Brad Carter’s (dis)Comfort Food. Publishers Weekly says (dis)Comfort Food is “an unsettling story that goes from appetizing to nauseating as the narrative plunges from dark fantasy straight into horror, where familiar ingredients bring unexpected results.” General release is April 30th, but you can find it in paperback on Amazon now.

• Kenneth W. Cain’s Dead Civil War. Bestselling and award winning author Joe McKinney describes Dead Civil War as “Patrick Henry goes to Zombieland”. This one is a must for fans of zombie fiction. It is available now on Amazon, B&N, etc in trade paperback and eBook formats.

Devan Sagliani

Zombie Attack! is touted as a Young Adult series. Was it hard to tone down your zombie novel for younger audiences?

I’ve been a fan of YA fiction for a long time now, and not just JK Rowling, although I love the Harry Potter series. It was what got me into YA in the first place. I was obsessed with Eoin Colfer for a while too and his Artemis Fowl series. It’s wonderful to be able to escape into the mysteries of adolescence again and leave the problems of being an adult behind for a while. A lot of great writers are now falling in love with YA, and not just because of the Hunger Games. Salman Rushdie is one of my favorite writers of all time. He’s got two YA books available now. James Patterson one of the most gifted and prolific writers of all time is working a lot in YA these days too, with great success. His Witch and Wizard series is doing amazing.

It’s a totally different mind set for sure. Everyone now and then I’ll catch myself wanting to add material that might be too adult for kids and then pulling myself back again. It can be frustrating but in the end it makes sense. Kids can handle a lot but these days but they are still kids. No matter how sophisticated we think they are because they watch graphic cable television shows and movies they are still developing. Many of them have no frame of reference to what they are encountering and that leads to inappropriate responses to the material. They haven’t developed the kind of empathy and compassion necessary to understand the mature context of some of these situations, even if they get the gist of what’s happening. There is simply no substitute for the kinds of real life experiences that will shape and mold them into the adults they will one day be, particularly in the proper context.

In the end though I think it’s all about storytelling. You don’t need explicit language and adult themes to tell a great story. You just need lots of imagination and the drive to capture it all. I’ve had more than one parent contact me and thank me for keeping Zombie Attack clean enough for their zombie obsessed teen to read. That’s a cool feeling.

What a great cover!

How do you approach switching gears to writing for a younger audience to more of an adult audience with your books?

I like to put myself into a mindset of a teenager when I write YA fiction. I think about what I loved when I was that age and what I was into and I write from that perspective first and foremost. It’s a fun challenge to recall some of the growing pains I went through as a kid and then work to incorporate them into my characters lives. Teens lives are all about uncovering the mystery of what it means to be an adult. You get to discover the world anew during that period of your life. It’s frustrating on one hand because you always want to grow up fast when you’re a kid. But it’s also exciting because everything is new and amazing and special still. Sometimes we lose touch with that as we get older so writing YA is a great way to remind myself of how surprising and wonderful life can be. It’s also a way to give that voice inside of me new breath to scream down all the hypocrisy in the world. We lose touch with that too as we get older.

And if I feel I need to express something more sophisticated I know I can always save that for my next novel that isn’t for teens and up. Scenes and ideas that get cut from YA that I write always find their way into other places.

Zombies speak to me for a number of reasons. I like the idea of a mindless killing machine that cannot be reasoned with as the antagonist. It’s truly terrifying to think that people you once knew and loved can turn into monsters that won’t hear your pleads as they come to kill you. I think in a lot of ways zombies also speak to our sense of mob mentality and our lust for violence as a culture. Whether we watch them tear apart another person or we imagine that we are putting them down for good, it’s still a form of release. In that sense it can be healthy. I think that is just part of the reason zombies are so popular right now.

Zombie fiction allows us to start over and re-imagine the world. It gives us the chance to be heroic and selfless, as well as the chance to quench our blood lust and anger at how unpredictable and unfair life can be. When we read zombie fiction we can be equally good and bad. We can explore the darkest recesses of our soul without being judged. That’s what I love about it.

Beyond the basics I’d say it’s all going to boil down to your ability to interact with others. No one gets by alone in this world. As human beings we tend to view ourselves as our own little island but the truth is we are much more interconnected than we even realize. We truly do rise and fall together. These bonds will be even more important in the event of a crisis of any kind, much less a planet wide epidemic that demolishes rule of law and society as we know it.

The Rising Dead

What’s next for you?

I am currently working on the sequels to Zombie Attack and The Rising Dead for my publisher Permuted Press. I have the plot all written out for Zombie Attack part 2 and it is going to blow readers away. I’m about a third of the way through the first draft. There are some big surprises in store for sure. In addition to bikers and cannibals there are also snake handlers, a zombie circus, a ghost town, tree people, and so much more. We also get to see some of the best and worst characters from the original story come back. It’s going to keep readers on the edge of their seat from the first page to the very last. I can promise that. Plus it’s looking like it’s going to be longer too.

I’ve also just released a collection of transgressive short stories called A THIRST FOR FIRE on Kindle. All but one of these stories were published in the last ten years and several were nominated for awards. I started out writing in a more literary style which quickly devolved as I got into more taboo subjects like sex and drug abuse. Really they’re an exploration of identity and freedom when you get past some of the anti-social, erotic elements. They were my first steps towards developing my voice as a writer, when I was still learning the disciplines of my craft, and I am proud of them. I’m hoping some of my zombie fans will be interested in reading about monkeywrenching suicide punks and meth addicts and sadists and drug dealers and pimps and killers. The collection also contains a story called Depth Charge which was my first apocalypse story and is definitely the precursor to my love affair with zombie fiction.

What’s the longest line you’ve ever stood in?  On average, I think the longest lines I’ve ever stood in have to be for various rides for Cedar Point. As I get older, I question waiting in a two hour ride for 90 seconds of fun, but no matter what, I think I’ll always be willing to get in line.

When did you have the most fun waiting in line?  Again, probably at Cedar Point. Waiting in long lines with groups of friends is bound to get your creative juices stirring. I remember plenty of fun times in those lines. Unfortunately, I also remember plenty of boring and tedious times. It’s all about who you’re in line with.

What line, no matter how long or short it is, always drives you crazy?  Waiting at a red light. No matter what, I just hate waiting in line at a traffic light.

When did you last behave in a manner that was over the line?  I guess “over the line” is relative and I think I’m a pretty low key dude. I can’t think of an honest answer for this one.

What are some lines of poetry you can recite from memory?  There once was a man from Nantucket…

Sorry about this.  My dog had surgery this week and I just haven’t had time to focus on Friday 5.  I’ll post something later tonight that I filled out, but unfortunately you’re stuck with me instead of a super cool author or media type.  Happy Friday!

I’ve known Mike from my days of writing freelance for the VideoHound’s Movie Retriever. By the time that blog ended, I had written several reviews, feature stories, and participated in a 24 Hour Movie Marathon with Mike. My wife and I joined Team Movie Retriever to watch movies to benefit the Michigan Children’s Leukemia Foundation. So, when Mike let me know about the start of CinemaNerdz, I was on-board 100%.  In fact, if you want to see my recent features and reviews, check out my archive HERE. Enough about me though, it’s Mike’s time to shine.

1) What is it about movies that made you want to be a film critic, and as an extension, start CinemaNerdz.com?

The first film review I ever wrote was for my college paper, it was on The Silence of the Lambs. At that point I remember thinking that if you could somehow convince someone to pay you to watch movies and talk or write about them, you would have really achieved something. Well, I’m still waiting for someone to start paying me but the job has had its benefits nevertheless. I’ve always looked at the art of the cinema as sort of the coming together of most art disciplines. That point of view is what I think keeps me interested after all this time. There’s always something new to discover in film (even in a film you’ve seen dozens of times). Coming from a film criticism and academic background, I strive to keep my verbosity at bay (though some may say I fail miserably sometimes) and try to let people know simply whether they should spend their hard-earned money at the movies. That was kind of the impetus behind CinemaNerdz. Too often, criticism can become enamored with its own self-importance. Don’t get me wrong, that’s fine in the right context, but sometimes a reader just wants to know what will keep them entertained for 90 minutes.

I love CinemaNerdz!

2) Aside from the reviews, what is one thing you consider a key differentiator for CinemaNerdz that folks couldn’t find anywhere else?

That’s easy, the writers. Without their voice, CinemaNerdz would be just another movie web site regurgitating the news of the day. The variety of styles that all of the very talented writers that the site employs are what singles us out. We’ve got your typical film geeks, film scholars, housewives, a few everyman critics that just tell you whether you’ll enjoy the film or not, and we’ve even got our own resident child critic to give us the age-specific perspective on films that most critics would dismiss as garbage. In essence, it takes a lot of different Nerdz to make up CinemaNerdz.

3) What’s the most exciting thing that you’ve been exposed to as a result of movie reviews?

That’s a little harder to answer. There have been a lot of great experiences that have come my way because of this, as well as all of the great people I’ve had the opportunity to meet over the years. But, I’d have to say the most exciting thing has been being invited to join the Detroit Film Critics Society back in 2011. Being a member of that group as well as serving on the Leadership Committee has been a tremendous experience.

4) Since I’m all about dirt, what’s the worst movie you’ve ever reviewed?

Without a doubt, it would have to be The Happening. Watching it, I constantly felt as though I was watching something that the director really didn’t care if I was in on or not. M. Night Shyamalan has proven himself a gifted filmmaker with films like The Sixth Sense and Unbreakable, but a couple missteps over the past few years (The Village, The Last Airbender, and The Lady in the Water) have caused my belief in him to waiver. The Happening did nothing to change that opinion. In fact, it makes me question whether the only thing that Shyamalan has had going for him was the so-called “trick ending” and that once that was taken away he may be just another average filmmaker producing tired, formulaic, and often boring movies. I can usually find something positive to say about most movies, but not The Happening.

Why was I in this movie?

5) What movie are you anticipating the most in 2013?

The film that immediately comes to mind is Star Trek: Into Darkness. I’m sure that at the end of the year there will have a few other movies I’ve seen that are more worthy of year-end praise, but the Star Trek fan in me is simply too excited to be silent.

To make everything fair, I used RANDOM.ORG to come up with the winners.

The two winners for signed copies of Ex-Heroes are:  Jeremy Kudrich and Trevor Pierson

Thanks everyone for playing and congrats to Jeremy and Trevor!

Stay tuned to my blog for more giveaways in the future!