Resistance

My other writing project, which I'm doing parrallel to Imperia, is called Resistance. It's a set of TV series scripts for a show about super-heroes in a post apocalyptic future. Now to me, that's exactly what I want to be seeing on television. I know that it ticks a couple of boxes for many of my friends as well, hence why I'm cracking through it with such gusto.

At time of typing this blog entry, I'm a few lines away from finishing the last episode of the second season of Resistance. Each episode is forty-two pages long (making an episode roughly forty-two minutes), each season is thirteen episodes, meaning that since I started back in February, I've produced one thousand and ninety two pages of this series. That's a fair amount.

My central superheroes are:

Stonewall - An Earth Elemental with great strength and the ability to manipulate the earth and stone around him. He takes on the leadership role of the team.

Rush - An Air Elemental who has similiar powers to Stonewall, but based around air. She's the only one who can fly. Acts as Stonewall's surrogate daughter.

Maelstrom - A freak accident has invested her with a constantly moving air wave, resulting in hurricanes if she loses control. Emotionally unstable, a British Exile.

Regiment - A Russian Genetic Weapon, a soldier who can multiply himself and act as a small army by himself. Deserted his post but remains loyal in his heart.

Network - A martial arts expert who uses a super-computer and a chemical in the water to take control of people's minds and bodies. Morally ambiguous, also rich.

They're a fractous team that didn't even properly assemble until the end of the first season. They've faced greedy businessmen with their own armies, giant telepathic crystals from space, enemy settlements and a great deal of wandering supers who either want to kill them or steal their stuff.

Pretty standard, really.

The setting is a city called Resistance, built not far from the Great Lakes. In this world, the Divided Russians and Britain are the super-powers that are in a state of conflict over the remains of what was once America. Freaks and monsters prowl the wastes and Transtates (people with super-powers) aren't trusted at all.

It's the kind of series I would watch, and there's no other reason as to why I'm writing it, really. It wouldn't stand a snowball's chance in hell of ever getting made, but it entertains my friends and myself, so I can't really ask any more of it, can I? Got three more seasons of it planned as well, all to be done next year.

THE AWAKENING.

Now, as British films go, I was incredibly impressed with the style and presentation of this movie. The Brits, we love a period piece and to see something set post-WW1 with ghosts was a treat. This was a very well put together film with some excellent pacing and some good acting.

Ever since he got back from that over-hyped borefest The Wire, Dominic West has been doing some really great work, exercising those distinctive dimples to the max. In this film he plays a war veteran turned boarding school teacher who tracks down a professional Ghost Disprover.

The reason why? His school has a ghost, so it would seem, and he wants her to deal with it. Rebecca Hall (who is just gorgeous, by the way) is she, and she promptly sets about looking for the 'ghost', eager to prove that no such thing exists. The only problem is that she's starting to see the very things that she normally does her best to discredit.

I very much enjoyed this film, but there were a number of points that I felt stuck out. Firstly, it felt very close to Spanish film 'The Orphanage'. I'd say that the Orphanage is a notch above this, but they are incredibly similiar in theme and tone. Secondly, I felt that the ending and explanation was very neatly wrapped up in a bow, perhaps a little too neatly.

These are minor complaints, however, and overall I'd heartily recommend this film as a chilling and intelligent ghost story.

Tomorrow Morning: Tin-frickin-Tin