JonnyD's Biannual Movie List

Once a year I visit IMDb’s website and sift through all the upcoming movies for their synopses and trailers.  I find a lot of films that go under the radar that I think I’d rather enjoy.  Unfortunately, the listings always peter out after 6 months out.  This is the first time I’ve actually looked at the list twice in one year.  In hindsight, I should probably do this three times a year.

Anyways, for the second half of 2011 here are the top 12 movies I want to see, and the trailers for top 4.

12.  Immortals - November 11

Theseus is a mortal man chosen by Zeus to lead the fight against King Hyperion (Mickey Rourke), who is on a rampage across Greece to obtain a weapon that can destroy humanity.

11. Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows - December 16

Robert Downey Jr. and Jude Law take on their fiercest adversary, Professor Moriarty.

10. The Three Musketeers - October 14   

Starring Logan Lerman, Matthew Macfadyen, Ray Stevenson, Luke Evans and  Milla Jovovich.

8. Crazy, Stupid, Love - July 29     

A married guy (Steve Carell) tries to balance handling a crisis with his wife (Julianne Moore), attending couples therapy, and maintaining his relationship with his kids.  Also starring Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone.

9. Transformers: Dark of the Moon - June 29  

During the space race between the U.S.S.R. and the USA, Shia LaBeouf and Optimus Prime go up against Shockwave.

8. Crazy, Stupid, Love - July 29     

A married guy (Steve Carell) tries to balance handling a crisis with his wife (Julianne Moore), attending couples therapy, and maintaining his relationship with his kids.  Also starring Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone.

7. Cowboys and Aliens - July 29    

In Silver City, Arizona, Apache Indians and Western settlers must lay their differences aside when an alien spaceship crash lands in their city.  Stars Daniel Craig and Harrison Ford.

6. Terri - July 1

A comedy centered on the relationship between oversized teen misfit Terri (Jacob Wysocki) and his well-meaning vice principal (John C. Reilly).

5. 30 Minutes or Less - August 12

Two fledgling criminals (Danny McBride and Nick Swardson) kidnap pizza delivery guy Nick (Jesse Eisenberg), strap a bomb to his chest, and inform him that he has mere hours to rob a bank.

 4. Take Shelter - October 7

3. Real Steel - October 7   

2. Captain America: The First Avenger - July 22       

1. Conan the Barbarian - August 19       

Bibliography

Jonathan Strong’s Noteworthy Literary Accomplishments (as of June 2011):

“Shadows of the Night” (1999) Short Story 

Awarded honorable mention, Harding High School, Spring 1999 Creative Writing Competition.

“Talik, The Barbarian” (2004) Poem

Published in Macalester College’s weekly paper, The Mac Weekly, Fall 2004.

“Letter to the Editor” (2005)

Published in The Mac Weekly, Fall (2005).

The Dragon’s Pawn (2000 - 2004)

First completed manuscript.  In dire need of repair.  Better classified at “totaled.”

Temporaltorium (2007 - 2010)

Second completed manuscript.  Currently being solicited to literary agents.

Stranger Things Studios

Stranger Things Studios was founded in May 2011.  Its creator, Jonathan Strong, began the production company as a platform in which to pursue his growing interest in film making.  As an avid fan of Science Fiction and Fantasy, Strong envisioned Stranger Things as a company intent on creating worlds and realities far unlike our own.  Even though STS operates on a minimal budget, its mission is to produced the best material possible with the resources it has available.         

Latest News 

       

Stranger Things Studios:
Filmography

Stranger Things Debut (Watch on YouTube)

A Little Bit of Muscle (Watch on YouTube)

STAGES OF PRODUCTION

1. pre-production - means that STS fully intends to create the movie, and is actively preparing to film it.

2. filming

3. post-preduction

4. complete 

A Writer's History

I have kept damn near every piece that I have ever written.  I say “damn near,” because I lost my earliest work due to the files on my 3.5 floppy becoming “corrupted.”  So, all the movie scripts I wrote with the intention of filming with my friends have been lost. Everything from 4th grade through junior high… gone, which probably isn’t a bad thing. 

My oldest surviving piece dates back to the summer of 1997.  Since then I have written dozens of poems and short stories. 

In the spring of 1999, my short story “Shadows of the Night,” won an honorable mention in my high school’s creative writing contest. 

While attending Macalester College, I had two pieces published in the campus’s weekly newspaper, The Mac Weekly.  One was a poem entitled “Talik, the Barbarian.”  The other was a “Letter to the Editor” complaining about the tastelessness of one of their authors.  Lol - I didn’t know that they were going to publish it in the following issue.

I have never been greatly interested in writing short stories.  I have always had my eye set on publishing a novel.  During the summer of 2000, after having attempted to start five separate novels, I began what would become my first completed manuscript, The Dragon’s Pawn.  It took four years.  In the end, all it did was teach me what not to do,  which of course did not sit well with me at the time.  It would be easier to start over than to attempt to edit it.  I will likely never touch it again.

Three years later, in 2007, I sat down to write the outline to Temporaltorium, my second completed manuscript.  However, it wasn’t until after I graduated the following year that I truly began writing.  It only took two years.

With my time spent editing and soliciting literary agents, I have not written anything substantial since I finished the novel almost a year ago.

Evil Spray Foam

After several weeks of ignoring the cosmetic disaster that is the backdoor, I finally got around to finishing what was left - wiring the doorbell, putting in the lock plates, nailing in new molding, etc.  But first is the matter of spray foam insulation.

I’ve never used spray foam insulation before, but it comes in a can like WD40, or string cheese.  Can’t be that hard. 

1. Shake can vigorously for no less than one minute. 

No problem;  I shake it for two in case I wasn’t vigorous enough. 

2. Wear protective gloves.  Psst... yeah, whatever. 

3. -- Can assembly instructions -- Standard stuff.

4. Fill the void to <50%. 

Not equal to.  Less than.  Not even half.  I look at the void surrounding the door.  There’s a healthy moat there.

Well, obviously the can is wrong.  Instead, I fill the gap to a minimum of 50% if not closer to 75%.  Better to have too much than not enough, right?  For the spots that the sheetrock obscured my view, I just jammed the can up there and let fire for a few seconds and called it good.  

The can says it takes 15 minutes to set.  By 3 minutes in there is no void.  By 5 it looks like the Stay Puft  Marshmallow Man got trapped inside my wall when we put the door in.  By 7 minutes fist-size globs of the gooey fellow are falling to the ground.

I make a run for paper bags, the trashcan, and paper towels.  When I get back the door looks like an inflatable life raft.

Wouldn’t this just be the funniest time for my wife to get home from work?  Well, speak of the devil!  “Hi hun.  How are you?  Huh?  That?  No, its fine…no worries.  It only has another 5 minutes before it sets.  Oh crap, its still falling off.”

It was like fighting off the deluge of foam coming out of a over-shook bottle of pop.  It kept comin’ and comin’ and comin’ 

At 35 minutes we had to get going.  But, by the looks of things when we got home, that was the magic timeframe - 35 minutes.  Not 15. 

See, I knew the can was wrong.

Ongoing Projects

Alright, down to business.  For June’s status update, let me outline my major on-going projects.  I’m afraid I haven’t been as dedicated towards them as I normally am - something about moving and settling into my new place keeps me busy.  Pssst. Whatever, right?  Anyways, I am only going to graze the surface on these projects.  I will go into greater detail in the weeks to come.

Temporaltorium

First and foremost is Temporaltorium, the novel I have spent the last three years working on.  Two years to write it.  One year so far editing it.  It is roughly 220,000 words long (which in English means 750 pages).  Since December 1st, I have sent the manuscript out to 15 literary agents.  Two have yet to reply.  The others have sadly declined :(

Stranger Things Studios

For a combination of reasons, I took a break from writing to dabble in filmmaking. For my first attempt, I’ve been working solo on an odd short piece about a ghost that invades someone’s home in search of sustenance.  I have two shots to redo.  Otherwise, I already have the rest of the movie cut.  I only plan to screen it to a few friends at first.  Depending on its reception, I may air it online.  We’ll see.

Moby Dick

As a slow reader, I figured reading Herman Melville’s masterpiece would be a great idea! (That’s sarcasm for anyone that doesn’t know me).  Anyone who has ever read the book will warn you about how excessive the text is.  Once I’m finally done, I will probably do the same.  The behemoth is 655 pages long.  I have managed to chew my way through 262 pages.  That’s exactly 40% of the text.  Throughout May I could only bring myself to read 26 pages…yeah, its going to be awhile.