jonsblog

This is so exciting! 

My first novel, THE TASTER, is now available for purchase in hardcover.

 It can be purchased at my local bookstore in Newnan, Georgia, Scott’s Bookstore.  I’m doing a signing on this Friday, March 14, 2008, from 3 to 4:30 pm.  My mother and her book group have been kind enough to throw me a party after the signing!  Fun, fun!

 For those of you in other places, you can get the book at Barnes and Noble online: http://search.barnesandnoble.com/The-Taster/Jonathan-Hickman/e/9781575451855/

 Or on Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Taster-Jonathan-Hickman/dp/1575451859/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1205249248&sr=8-1

Or as an ebook on Sony’s site: download the ebook by clicking here

 Or at Target: http://www.target.com/Taster-Hickman-Jonathan/dp/1575451859

Sundance was great this year!  I did TV and Radio together for the first time and, therefore, did not get to see that many films (so ironic).  And it was really cold!  We spent 5 days and for a Georgia boy like me, that was plenty.  Below you will find links to two video interviews I’ve posted.  I will have more video up that was shot professionally and some with my little Flip Video camcorder.  Folks probably know that I’m a total movie geek and meeting filmmaker George Romero left me star-struck.

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Right now, I’m sitting in a metro Atlanta courtroom handling criminal cases.  In between, I’m able to hit my laptop and post movie reviews and other thoughts.  You see, my day job is that of the Public Defender for a small criminal court in my home town of the last 30 plus years.  It is a great job, and gives me time to write.  And watch movies!

Anyway, I spoke with actor Columbus Short yesterday about his new feature film THIS CHRISTMAS.   We were also able to talk about other projects like his work on Aaron Sorkin’s short lived but bound to be cult favorite on dvd, STUDIO 60 ON THE SUNSET STRIP.

Short said that working with Sorkin (WEST WING creator) was the best job he’s had to date.  The dvd for the series is available now.  On my online magazine, EINSIDERS.COM, EI’s TV staff writer, Frank Cifaldi, wrote a great review of the series: http://einsiders.com/reviews/dvd/show_dvd.php?review_dvd=1368

During the interview, I was able to get Columbus Short on video.  If folks don’t know, I purchased a Panasonic DVX100 over a year ago and have been lugging it around with me to festivals and stuff.  And it looks like I’ll be taking my work to television soon.  More details about that in a later posting.

Last night, I moved the Short footage to my computer and extracted a piece of audio that will be on metro Atlanta radio today.  Here’s the link to the segment so that folks outside of Atlanta can hear it: http://einsiders.com/features/columns/show_article.php?article=360

Columbus Short was great to talk with.  Since he worked with Britney Spears as a dance choreographer, I asked him about Britney and he encouraged folks to leave her alone.  I’ll post some of that discussion in audio format soon.  Short also has a child, so, he speaks to that portion of the Spear/Federline debacle. 

In his new feature, THIS CHRISTMAS, Short plays a US Marine who returns home for the holidays with several secrets.  His character, Claude Whitfield, drops a bomb on his Ma (Loretta Devine): Claude’s married a white woman!  I’m always interested in stories dealing with inter-racial relationships.  Because my wife is a woman of color (I suppose that’s how to put it), I’ve had some experience with this issue.  THIS CHRISTMAS hits theaters on November 21, 2007.  And the week of the film’s release, I’ll have some audio from my discussion with Short online.

Finally, just to whet your appetite, I did ask Short about the JUSTICE LEAGUE role that was rumored to be his, that of Green Lantern.  Short’s enlightened thoughts on this will help to set the record straight.  He says he would have loved to have worked with the great George Miller.  Check back for the audio.  After meeting Short, I think he would have made a great Lantern.  He’s smart, attractive, and thoughtful.  Maybe we can coax him to rethink the project and don the power ring.

Thanks for all those who have contacted me.  I’m excited about this blog because it gives me a way to get a little more personal with readers and discuss things on a less formal basis.  Please drop me a line.

Recently, I had a chance to sit down with Jason Schwartzman and talk about his involvement in THE DARJEELING LIMITED (as both an actor and a writer).  My written piece is available here: http://einsiders.com/features/columns/show_article.php?article=357

Very neat guy, Schwartzman, and he will next be seen in a film that looks funny, WALK HARD.  He plays Ringo Starr.  Check out the trailer online, it cracked me up.

Last week, I reviewed a neat documentary film called QUANTUM HOOPS.  This film follows the 2006 Caltech basketball program as they try to get their first victory in 21 years.  It is amazing how college sports have progressed.  These days, there’s very little difference from professional sports.  The Caltech team embodies the purest form of amateur athletics.  Read my full review here: http://einsiders.com/reviews/archives/show_theatrical.php?review_theatricle=1078

This week, I’m reviewing FRED CLAUS.  I hope that this great cast will produce an entertaining holiday film.  Vince Vaughn, who co-stars with Paul Giamatti in CLAUS, has another funny film that is yet to be released.  It’s a documentary film about Vaughn’s comedy tour across America.  The film, VINCE VAUGHN’S WILD WEST COMEDY TOUR, is really pretty good, an intimate look at Vaughn’s life on the road with several aspiring stand-up comedians.  One neat footnote is that one of Vaughn’s best friends is Peter Billingsley (yes, the child actor from A CHRISTMAS STORY).  WILD WEST COMEDY TOUR looks to make a limited theatrical run in February of next year.

Took my 3 and a half-year-old daughter to see BEE MOVIE on Friday.  My fellow film critics on einsiders.com were split on this one.  Janos from San Francisco liked it but Scott Mantz from LA didn’t.  I’m somewhere in between.  It was certainly better than the recently released animated feature THE TEN COMMANDMENTS, which reduced the Bible to a video game (with pretty poor animation to boot).  But the story in BEE MOVIE just was too simple, and the way the loss of the bees played out in the film just didn’t ring true for any sophisticated viewer.  There was a much better story that played on the recent worries about loss of the bees.  Instead, BEE MOVIE creates an artificial reason for the loss, which was totally unnecessary.  Also, the whole bee/human communication was hopelessly contrived undermining the credibility of the entire film.  The idea of a lawsuit brought by the bees that changes the course of the environment can’t be looked at seriously.  A better, more mature, way this was handled was in HAPPY FEET that easily won the Oscar. 

Also, compare BEE to the much better film, and Oscar favorite, RATATOUILLE, where the rats talked to one another but couldn’t communicate in words with human beings.  I bought that, and my thought is that it is a better approach to take even with films aimed at very young viewers.  BEE MOVIE is rated PG, therefore, the story should been a little more sophisticated particularly in the closing third of the film.

Thanks for reading.  Can’t wait to get my first novel, THE TASTER, into bookstores.  I’m writing the second one THE CARRIER now.  Check back for more of my thoughts (and ramblings) and please drop me a line with a comment.

The timeless theme of a deceased patriarch is tested in three upcoming films:

 In GRACE IS GONE, John Cusack plays a father who wrestles with telling his young daughters that their mother has been killed on the battlefield in Iraq.

In DAN IN REAL LIFE, Steve Carell plays a widower finds himself so wrapped up in being the perfect father to his three daughters that he ignores his own need for love and romance. 

 In THE DARJEELING LIMITED, Owen Wilson, Adrien Brody, and Jason Schwartzman play brothers whose father has recently died in an accident.  They decide to trek across India by train in hopes of connecting with their mother and each other.

 I’ve seen all three films.  Surprisingly, all are good and approach the similar subjects with varying degrees of success.  The best of them is clearly GRACE and Jon Cusack will likely be nominated for an Oscar.  DAN IN REAL LIFE is possibly the sweetest film of the year, that manipulates audience emotions so much that audible “AWWWS” where extracted from viewers at the screening I attended.  And then there’s the goofy DARJEELING LIMITED, a Wes Anderson film that manages to sustain it’s heartfelt oddness to a semi-conclusion.

But the trend in the theme, which is probably nothing new, makes me wonder: How many men out there require this kind of catharsis?  My thought is many and the theme will connect powerfully.  And many men (and women) who have no personal connection to theme will want to tune in as well. 

Having never really experienced this level of loss so close to me, I will not pretend to empathize with those experiencing such emotions.  But through the magic of the cinema, those of us who haven’t had such tragedy in our lives are able to get a glimpse into how it to live with the emotions that flow in the aftermath.  And these three movies, even the sometimes silly DARJEELING, don’t cheapen the gravity of the material.  They are self-aware films serving as three plays on the same theme.

 It has been said that there is nothing sadder than seeing a grown man cry.  Hollywood knows this all too well.  And is sharing this with us at the box office this fall.

I saw 19 feature films and talked to 22 actors and filmmakers.  My coverage can be read at http://einsiders.com/

Director David Cronenberg (one of favorites) talked with me about the use of violence in his latest EASTERN PROMISES that opens tomorrow.  That’s a very good film with Viggo Mortensen and Naomi Watts.  It opens in limited release tomorrow.  Today, I posted part one of my interview on EI (see above link).

I spoke with to utter cool Jennifer Jason Leigh who insisted that she’s a shy person even though I playfully reminded her that there have to be websites devoted to the number of times she’s removed her frock in the movies.  Leigh is in a difficult but good movie called MARGOT AT THE WEDDING.  She stars in that film opposite Nicole Kidman and Jack Black.  The universal feeling was that Black ruined the movie, but disagree.  You can read my thoughts at EI.

Craziest thing I saw was a wild repulsive nihlistic romp called EX DRUMMER.

Take a look at my on-going coverage and let me know if you have any questions about what to see this weekend.

Yesterday was my birthday.  And my wife (Amna) and daughter (Layla) knew just what to get me this year: cool kitchen gadgets!

So, I was lucky enough to get a new crock-pot (chili this weekend), a new waffle maker (the old one didn’t last long), and a wonderful blender called the Magic Bullet.  Yes, the Bullet is one of those “as seen on TV” items that seems too good to be true.  Some of these gadgets really work.  Case in point: I can cook just about anything on my original George Foreman, panini anyone?

Bullet Story: My old blender was getting a bit tired having been used mostly for mixed drinks.  I’m totally into the home bar thing (since we live in what is known by some as a “dry county”) and frequently concoct various frozen drinks at the parties we throw.  Party goers are always kind enough to choke them down while in my presence.  But I’ve found more than one full tumbler sweating on an end table the next morning.  Oh, the rings on the furniture!

But this Magic Bullet thing looks so cool!  I’ve already devoured the booklet that accompanied the device.  Word to the wise, don’t dive right into these kinds of gadgets without reading the materials.  Now that I’ve reached 37 years of age, I’m a little more patient.  But my wife would disagree, I’m sure!

A much needed trip to the grocery store is in order.  I intend to live on protein drinks for the next week.  But in addition to the smoothie options, two things caught my eye in the Bullet recipe book: (1) something they call the “Almost-Makes-Itself-Omelet;” and (2) a meaty pasta sauce that is cooked right in the Bullet mixer!  The neat thing about the omelet recipe is the idea of not stuffing it, rather, just mixing the egg and the ingredients together in one.  Some of you probably already know this trick, but I’ve always struggled with flipping the omelet with the stuffing intact.  Anyway, I intend to try it this weekend, but my arteries are hardening just thinking about coupling one Western omelet with a butter soaked waffle.  Oh, well, guess I’ll need a gym membership to go along with my new gadgets.

Hi everyone!

Although I’ve been writing on the web for something like 10 years now, I’ve never maintained an actual Blog.  My thoughts usually take the form of film reviews carried on http://einsiders.com/.

This week, I’m gearing up for the 2007 TIFF, which is the biggest film festival I cover every year.  I just posted my second article for pre-fest coverage at http://einsiders.com/features/columns/show_article.php?article=328

 I’m very interested in David Cronenberg’s new film EASTERN PROMISES.  If you haven’t checked out Cronenberg’s 2005 film A HISTORY OF VIOLENCE, I highly recommend picking it up.  In the new PROMISES, Cronenberg reteams with Viggo Mortensen for more crime noir.  Sounds completely delicious.

 As for my book, THE TASTER, I very excited about it, but cautious.  My influences are comic books and movies, so, I wonder how my novel writing style will be accepted.  With any luck, I’ll have a book trailer shot in the next few months that will promote the book.  Before that time, I plan to contribute to this blog my thoughts on everything from food security to movies.  If you’re in the Atlanta area, I do reviews on the radio on Magic 98.1 on the Southside at around 5:30 pm every Friday.  And during the 2007 TIFF, I’ll be doing video interviews with talent at the festival and contributing capsule reviews from the films I see (I’ll be in Toronto from the 6th through the 11th with members of the EI staff).

Thanks for reading.  I’ll try to contribute every few days.  Drop me a line should you have any questions about movie rentals (I can give you my suggestions) or please ask about my upcoming novel.

Hello,

My name is Jonathan W. Hickman. Struggling with dyslexia and learning disabilities, I grew up watching movies and learning to read.  Movies taught me the classics, but I was introduced to literature by my father who read to me often primarily concentrating on the works of Steinbeck and Hemingway.  Still, both my father and I considered Edgar Rice Burroughs’ “Tarzan of the Apes” to be our favorite novel, just call it a guilty pleasure.

By high school, I had learned to read well enough to complete comic books and to skim larger works of fiction.  I found textbooks and non-fiction to be easier to manage given their layout and devoured them staying up all night before an exam to digest every word of text.  Eventually, I graduated as valedictorian and went onto college at Mercer University in Macon, Georgia, where I achieved degrees in English and Political Science. 

After attending law school at the University of Memphis, I returned home to Newnan, Georgia, where I practiced law privately for eight years.  In 1998, I joined the movie and entertainment related web magazine Entertainment Insiders later becoming the company President and Editor.  While teaching business law for 3 years at a local University, I constantly encouraged my students to read and often used classic works of literature in classroom examples.  I now serve as the Public Defender for the State Court of Coweta County.  I live in Georgia with my wife and daughter.  While I was writing THE TASTER, my daughter would rather chew on “Tarzan” than listen to me read it to her.

While vacationing and eating a large amount of disgustingly delicious Mexican fast food, I typed out the first chapter of THE TASTER.  I knew that what I was eating at the time was no damn good for me and agonized over the long-term consequences.  But what if there were no consequences, I asked meself, what if I could eat anything and not worry about my health?  Thus, THE TASTER was born out of the fires of hot sauce and one tasty gordita.  Influenced by food security concerns following the 911 attacks, I decided to place my hero in the role of a super human taster, a person who samples food at high-level government events to determine whether it is safe.  But every good hero must have the perfect foil and in the world of THE TASTER, a super poisonist threatens.

Jonathan Hickman