Words of Wisdom from Rattikus

A few years ago my business partner Brad Bowyer and myself made some fun little video's with some cool rat puppets made by my pal Matt Ficner. Enjoy.

EVIL ZARGON'S MOVIE REVIEW OF THE LAST AIR BENDER

I normally only watch and review Horror movies as it is my genre of choice, but in some ways this movie was a horror movie... at least it was pretty horrible. In my humble Space Pirate opinion, this movie should have been called The Last Brain Bender.... or the Last Gut Churner... or even better yet it would have been great if it were The Last M. Night Shyamalan movie, which would have been great for all you non M. Night Shyamalan lovers out there. Anyway I digress.... this movie was not much more than a CGI extravaganza and in my opinion that's about all it had going for it. I have to admit that young actor Noah Ringer who played Aang, the last air bender, did a great job, but it's ashamed he had to debut his talent in a crappy movie like this. I am not a fan of the cartoon simply because I have not seen it, but from what I have heard from those whom I know that are, they hated it too. So if you want to see the movie and you are a fan of the Nickelodeon series, be prepared to be disappointed. The Story was convoluted and hard to "get" in my opinion and probably relied way too much on viewers having to be fans of the cartoon.

EVIL ZARGON'S MOVIE REVIEW OF PIRANHA

If you loved those old late 70's and early 80's horror movies about various and sundry creepy crawlies that band together and wreak havoc on humanity you will probably love this flick. When I watched this movie I kept having De'ja'Vu. I was feeling like I had to have seen this movie before. But honestly once I got into it I really didn't care. I really enjoyed it. I will say however it is not for the weak of heart or squeamish individual who gets weak in the knees at the sight of blood. I also didn't watch the 3D version as I really don't like 3D. It gives me headaches. I thought the story was a bit cliche' but it was still enjoyable with a surprisingly recognizable cast that you couldn't help watching. there were a few "what the heck was the writer thinking" moments but all in all I couldn't help but enjoy it. Also look out for a delightful little twist at the end that I certainly didn't see coming. So grab your popcorn and your date and have a good time at this fun little horror fest.

EVIL ZARGON'S MOVIE REVIEW OF RESIDENT EVIL AFTERLIFE

For all you zombie gore loving freaks out there, in my opinion you should probably love the new Resident Evil movie. Taking up where the third one left off, this action packed zombie fest had some delightful new elements as well as some lovable characters straight out of the game. I loved the dark look of the movie and Milla Jovovich never looked better as far as her big blue eyes and eye-candy figure go. If you're a stickler for great zombie make-up and FX you really couldn't ask for a better zombie flick. Rather you are a fan of the games or not, this movie was action packed and had some interesting new characters in it that you just love to hate. I was on the edge of my seat while watching this flick. I didn't see the 3D version as watching 3D movies usually makes me want to blow a gasket, but all in all I have only one complaint when it comes to this new action packed zombie flick of the highest quality. And that is that in my opinion the movie ended twice. and the second ending was just stupid. What I want to know is... where do these "Umbrella people keep coming from?" is it me or has the world virtually ended? I don't want to give anything away, but please... if people if you make another Resident evil movie, focus on the zombie gore and ditch the Umbrella Corp... it's getting to be a real bore.

and that's all Zargon has to say. 'CLICK'

Monday Wonderful Monday

It's Monday.... some say the Monday blues but it's a good day. I think any day you wake up and feel good is a good day. Got some publisher issues resolved today. Had to get the rights back from a publisher that published a book of mine some years back. Geez what a headache. Finally got it in writing and I can move on. I am starting a couple new projects. The story I just got the rights back for is being re-edited with new illustrations to be published in a couple of months. It's called 'Space Scurvy- The Two Islands of Captain Culpepper' it's a children's fantasy adventure. Not a horror novel :) so keep your eyes open for it. The other thing that is making my life wonderful today :) is the new children's show I am director of puppetry and puppeteer on. It's an environmental show called Chummy and Champ and this adorable turtle character is one of the characters. The show is a great new project designed to teach kids about taking care of the environment and loving and protecting our great big planet. Check it out on the web at www.chummyandchamp.com. Every day is an adventure so keep checking out my blog, who knows what's going to pop up here.

My Newest Novel is Coming Soon

The gory picture you see here is the cover of my latest zombie horror novel Freeze Dried The Awakening. It's the product of over a year of hard work and many writing blockages that had to be purged. Its September and I am feeling great. However late June and all of July and part of August I found myself having serious problems with sleep apnea and later full blown insomnia. I dropped a few pounds and trained myself to sleep on my side and the apnea pretty much went away, but the insomnia lasted for months. I think it was a combination of fear of dying in my sleep (from the apnea) and a huge guilt trip I was feeling from not having been back to the US to visit my dad in just over ten years. I'm sorry... maybe i'm a bad person but all this time I just really have not missed the US. In the ten years I have been here I actually had started making plans to go back and visit even though I HATE those long flights, but I was determined to see my dear old dad. Well the fist time I started making plans S.A.R.S. broke out and traveling wasn't a good idea. A few years later I tried to make plans again and your friend and mine waged a war against IRAQ so again traveling wasn't such a good idea. Anyway I have been here in Asia loving every moment, since April of 2000 and for the fist time in all this time I am going back home on Oct 3rd 2010. I have to admit, I don't relish the thought of the HOURS in the air it will take to get there, but I am looking very much to it. Anyway to finish my thought. After almost three months of having to take Xanax (prescribed by my doctor btw) just to get to sleep, one night to my delight I was able to just close my eyes and fall asleep. It only happened after I solidified my plans to go back to the US. I have to wonder if somehow I was subconscious messing with my own mind and causing the insomnia due to my guilt. Anyway It's been over a month and I am sleeping like a baby no drugs needed. And I've been able to focus and finish my newest novel Freeze Dried. It should be available on Amazon.com hopefully in November. I wanted to get it out for Halloween, but that didn't happen. But for all you fright fans out there please bookmark my website www.zombienovelsbykeithcarpenter.com and order your copy of my first novel zombie circus. I know what a shamless advert, but hey I wanna sell books and I know there are zombie fans out there who might wanna read it. I have to say that FaceBook is one of the most awesome ways to reach out and touch people. People you have lost contact with as well as people you would just love to meet. I recently did a search on FB for one of my favorite authors. I found him and added him as a friend and now we've been chatting back and forth a bit. I will take this opportunity to plug his books but I have to tell you how I learned of him. I had watched zombie movies all my life, since my first Romero film back when I was a teen. (George Romero is one of my facebook friends as well, btw... hows that for name dropping) anyway even though i loved zombie movies, I had never read a zombie novel as I was this dyslexic kid who hated to read, but as an adult I had started to read more and more novels. Well one day I was placing an order on Amazon.com for some of my favorite zombie movies that i could not get in stores here in Asia and amazon made a recommendation (as they always do) for me to get Reign of the Dead by Len Barnhart. I didn't read the fine print but ordered it based on the graphics on the front, but I thought it was a movie. I ordered the first one and the sequel and boy was I surprised when my movies arrived there there were two books in the order. At first I was a bit disgusted with myself for being so stupid, but then I read them.... OMG. I loved them. I recommend Len's books for anyone who is a lover of the zombie genre. Anyway I was able to befriend Len via Facebook and i'm all the better for it. I know this post if full of 'plugs' but hey it's all true and you gotta write about what blows your hat in the creek, as we say in Texas. :) until the next post... peace.

Well it's been a while since I have posted anything but I'be been busy writing something else. I just finished my second Zombie Horror novel called Freeze Dried the Awakening. It will be available on Amazon.com in two months time but in the meantime check out this link and get your copy of my first book Zombie Circus.

www.zombienovelsbykeithcarpenter.weebly.com

If any of you out there have my first novel I would love to hear from you and get your feedback.

On a personal level I am still here in Asia and I have just started a new contract on some new projects. One is a children's television show with puppets (which I love, just check out some of the videos I've done on the right) and I am also working on a couple of animated shows directing the audio. I'm loving it... :)

Post more later.