The Machine Begins!

Hello all!

I've been absent from here for a while, but for good reason! I'm putting up a show!!!

I've written a theatrical horror anthology entitled THE DEAD DREAM MACHINE. It's being directed by the incredibly talented Rachel Klein, I'll be producing it with Eric Schmalenberger, the human unicorn, and there will be video and sound creations by Sean Gill, but that's only the beginning! Singers, aerialist, puppets, dancers and more will come out to make this show something truly spectacular.

Please go check out the website for the show, www.deaddreammachine.com, and if you like this site you'll particularly like the NEWS section, where I'm posting DAILY write-ups of all the books, movies, albums, etc. that helped inspire the show.

I'm sorry to have been so neglectful of this site, I'm hoping to have more here soon, but as I've said, there's a content cavalcade over at THE DEAD DREAM MACHINE site. Maybe I'll do some cross-posting stuff in the near future.

Stay Strange!

-Jake T.

"Lovely Molly" review up!

The second Fifteen Minute Rule is up! Read it HERE!

I'm still looking for suggestions, and in my dreamiest of dreams people would watch and Tweet along. If you've got suggestions or interest in going in on a Fifteen Minute Rule, let me know!

And remember, comments always appreciated!

Stay Weird!

-Jake T.

The First Rule of the 15 Minute Rule Is...

So I did one run of The 15 Minute Rule, which you can find HERE. I watched "The Horsemen." Spoiler: I thought it was kinda dumb. But sometimes it's fun to yell about movies, which is certainly what I did.

I've actually done another run of the 15 Minute Rule, this time with "Lovely Molly." The write-up for that will be going up shortly. Also, in case you want to follow along, I've been live-Tweeting them as I watch them at my Twitter: @JakeGThomas.

With these first runs I've learned a few things, namely that making a judgment off of the first 15 minutes of a movie can be pretty difficult, as those first 15 minutes evaporate pretty fast. So I've adjusted the rules a bit, and I'll know be checking in every 15 minutes to see how my feelings on the movie have changed or progressed. It's been an interesting experience, consistently re-evaluating a movie on a set timetable. I'm really digging it. Hopefully you all are, as well. As always, if you've got any recommendations, by all means let me know!

In other news, the first draft of the Dead Dream Museum is complete. I'm trying to find a more dynamic, fun way to update the progress of the show without getting into really generic "It's coming along great!" posts, but as for the moment...it's coming along great! Lots of really fun stuff, I think people are going to have a blast.

As I'm revamping the website I'm looking to add other kinds of content and whatnot, so if anyone's got anything they'd want to see, let me know. Would a forum be a thing? I'm thinking of trying one out. We'll see!

Until then, stay weird!

-Jake T.

Buddy, Can You Spare 15 Minutes?

So, first and foremost, a new review is up! Cloud Atlas! I went a little crazy on it, but I say it's worth checking out, I'd love to hear anyone else's thoughts.

Secondly, I had an idea for a new segment I thought I'd float. Being a big horror movie fan, I frequently find myself perusing the Netflix or Amazon Instant Watch horror selections. I will sometimes be curious to check something out on a whim, but here's the thing: I have a hard time turning off movies. If I start it, I want to finish it. There are very few movies I've started and not finished, and most of them have to do with me needing to leave for one reason or another.

BUT! In the fairly nonsensical way my mind works, I believe I can short-circuit this weird part of my brain by turning the experience into a possible posting gimmick for this site. And so, I pitch to you, oh readers, "THE FIFTEEN MINUTE RULE."

For "THE FIFTEEN MINUTE RULE" I'll watch the first fifteen minutes of a movie and then decide to turn it off or watch the whole thing. Either way I'll write about it, what intrigued me enough to keep the movie on or what put me off enough to walk away. I figure this will open me up to being more experimental with what I watch, give me an out to stop suffering through terrible movies, which can sometimes cause genre burnout, AND will give me something to write. Which is to say, everyone wins!

So, what think you, oh reader? Maybe it can be interactive. I'll post the movie I'm going to try out beforehand, then anyone who wants can give it a shot and we can start a conversation afterwords? Maybe this will even get me back into Twitter, and I can live Tweet the experiments? Could be fun!

Maybe I'll try it out this weekend. Anyone interested? Let me know!

SQUID BUSINESS

The trivial overtook us! It came in the night, stole our integrity, our striving, our yearning to see something beautiful and new, our longing to create!

Which is all to say, I got caught up with life and stopped updating this site. However, I haven't stopped working on projects, some of which are coming close to fruition. And so I return!

Top of the list, project-wise is The Dead Dream Museum, a theatrical horror anthology I'm working on with Eric Schmalenberger and Rachel Klein, amongst others. More on that as it develops.

Also in the works are a podcast, short films, feature scripts, short stories and a whole host of other such nonsense. I'll also be posting some reviews, thoughts, blogs, and other appurtenances here, so keep an eye on this place for all your Jake Thomas/Raging Squid news.

Regular updates coming! I swear!

Until then!

-Jake T.