Short Film: The Final Moments of Karl Brant

I saw a teaser for this film a few days ago on the Nerdest.com website and yesterday the short film went up.  It's a great noir murder mystery with a strong SF slant.

From their youtube listing:

Set in the near future where experimental technology allows two detectives to bring a murder victim back to life in a digital state in order to question him about his final moments.

Written and directed by M. Francis Wilson
Starring Paul Reubens, Janina Gavankar, Fay Masterson, Jon Sklaroff and Pete Chekvala
For more Final Moments of Karl Brant head to:
http://www.finalmomentsmovie.com

Book Review: Kop by Warren Hammond

Pros: gritty, complex characters, intricate mystery

Cons: gritty

Juno Mozambe is a member of the Koba Office of Police, and like the chief, Paul, his former partner, and numerous other members of KOP, he's dirty.  When Paul asks him to take a homicide case his trembling right hand and concerned wife remind him that his enforcer days are over.  But this is an important case and Juno can't say no to Paul, even when Paul sticks him with a new partner, fresh from the academy Maggie Orzo.  Something's going on that's even dirtier than the partnership between the chief of police and Koba's kingpin of crime, Ben Bandur, and Juno's got to prove it.

This is a noir SF set on a planet 15 light years from Earth.  The planet's main export dried up years ago and now its economy is dead.  The worldbuilding is quite good, with various slum neighbourhoods and the remnants of the plantation rich in crime free neighbourhoods.  Most outside money comes from tourism, but even that's turned bad for the locals.  It's the perfect setting for a crime novel, and the mix of races gives it flavour.

The grittiness is both a pro and a con for this book as it is the scene, but can become overbearing at times.  The world is thoroughly depressing and it's unclear if the protagonist is doing the right thing.

Juno's dirty but he's also, somehow, a decent guy.  His enforcer history is mentioned and towards the end of the book he denegrates back into the lifestyle somewhat, and yet, he's very sympathetic and likeable.

As is Maggie.  I was impressed that the two of them end up working together so well and trusting each other despite his being dirty and her being a straight arrow.  It's entirely realistic when she discovers that his way gets results that hers wouldn't, and so she starts letting things slide while still being optimistic about cleaning up the force in the future.  

The case begins as fairly straight forward, but takes several turns as the pair discover just how much things are changing for the worse.  It's very intricate with twists that are hard to predict.

This is a fantastic noir tale.  If you like gritty SF, pick this up.

Movie Review: The Thirteenth Floor

Directed by: Joseph Rusnak, 1999

IMDb listing 

Pros: smart SF, fantastic 30s sets

Cons: several other movies have done smiliar things, making it easier to guess the twists towards the end

Three men working on the 13th floor of an office building for the past 6 years have created a virtual replica of 1937, complete with people who don't know they're in a computer simulation.  When the genius behind the idea, Hannon Fuller (Armin Mueller-Stahl), is killed, his subordinate Douglas Hall (Craig Bierko), tries to find out what secret he'd discovered.  Meanwhile Detective McBain (Dennis Haysbert) tries to solve Fuller's murder, making Douglas a suspect and Fuller's previously unmentioned daughter Jane (Gretchen Mol) attempts to shut their company down.

Given the nature of the twists at the end, it's best not to read too much about this film before seeing it.  Other films have done similar things, and their comparisons reveal what is otherwise quite a brilliant revelation.  It's a shame too, as this movie is very smart and excellently plotted.

The inclusion of the 30s virtual reality gives it a noir SF feel.  That atmosphere carries out from the computer world into the stark sets of the present and the grim expression of the protagonist.  

The mystery is intriguing even for those who figure out what's going on before the end.

New Author Spotlight: Warren Hammond

New Author Spotlight is a series designed to introduce authors with up to 3 books in the different SF/F subgenres.

Today's spotlight shines on Warren Hammond!

His books are:

• KOP by Warren Hammond (Tor)
• Ex-KOP by Warren Hammond (Tor)
• KOP Killer by Warren Hammond (Tor)

Here's the cover copy for Kop:

Juno is a dirty cop with a difficult past and an uncertain future. When his family and thousands of others emigrated to the colony world of Lagarto, they were promised a bright future on a planet with a booming economy. But before the colonists arrived, everything changed. An opportunistic Earth-based company developed a way to produce a cheaper version of Lagarto's main export, thus effectively paupering the planet and all its inhabitants.  

Growing up on post-boom Lagarto, Juno is but one of the many who live in despair. Once he was a young cop in the police department of the capital city of Koba. That was before he started taking bribes from Koba's powerful organized crime syndicate. Yet despite his past sins, some small part of him has not given up hope. So he risks his life, his marriage and his job to expose a cabal that would enslave the planet for its own profit.  

But he's got more pressing problems, when he's confronted with a dead man, a short-list of leads, and the obligatory question: who done it? Set up for a fall, partnered with a beautiful young woman whose main job is to betray him, and caught in a squeeze between the police chief and the crooked mayor, Juno is a compelling, sympathetic hero on a world that has no heroes.  

An exciting science fiction adventure and a dark, gritty noir thriller told in taut, powerful prose, this is a remarkable debut novel.

Check out his books if you like SF noir or stories about cops on other planets, like these:

• Bone Song by John Meaney (Spectra)
• Hellhole by Brian Herbert & Kevin J. Anderson (Tor)
• Up Against It by M.J. Locke (Tor)

New Author Spotlight: Adam Christopher

New Author Spotlight is a series designed to introduce authors with up to 3 books in the different SF/F subgenres.

Today's spotlight shines on Adam Christopher!

 Mr. Christopher's books are:

• Empire State by Adam Christopher (Angry Robot)
• Seven Wonders by Adam Christopher (Angry Robot)

Here's the cover copy for Seven Wonders:

Tony Prosdocimi lives in the bustling Metropolis of San Ventura - a city gripped in fear, a city under siege by the hooded supervillain, The Cowl. When Tony develops super-powers and acts to take down The Cowl, however, he finds that the local superhero team Seven Wonders aren't as grateful as he assumed they'd be...

Check out his books if you like noir style super hero stories. Or any of these:

• Astro City Vol. 5: Local Heroes by Kurt Busiek (WildStorm)
• A Once Crowded Sky by Tom King (Touchstone)
• Watchmen by Alan Moore (DC Comics)