Dean Gilbert's Mysterious Entertainment Blog

Of course I went to see the newest Horsemen movie. It's got the scam-vs-scam elements I love with a magic flavor added into the mix. I was not disappointed. The story was rich, with at least one big surprise that I should have seen coming, but, you know, misdirection. We meet new characters who add to the plot but should probably be developed more deeply in another film. The influence of The Magic Castle adds some depth to the show's magic themes. Magical knowledge is woven throughout the plot. These are not fiction. For instance there is a reference to the wartime work of Jasper Maskelyne. There is also a clue based on a magic prop known as the Die Box. In one scene we see in the background some volumes of The Tarbell Course in Magic. Since many elements in *Now You See Me* already stretch the limits of credibility in the magic department, these touches helped me suspend disbelief, rather than assume the illusions were accomplished by CGI. In a climactic scene one character pe...

Just a short note here for all you fans of the Sherlock remakes. You will find that the writers often try various techniques like quotes to connect their Sherlock to the original, with varied success. One of the most frequently used quotes is "The game is afoot".  This harks back to much older material, specifically in Shakespeare's Henry IV, and it is a reference to hunting. Even today we refer to the prey in a hunt as game. The game is afoot originally meant that the rabbits, foxes, or whatever, were up and running. So when we hear this used as a reference of the game of cat-and-mouse which is the search for a killer, this is quite a drift from the original meaning. Of course, this little thing does not spoil an entire Sherlock-themed show. No, it takes a Jonny Lee Miller to do that. And even then he was helped along by some pretty poor writing. While I am on the subject of misused phrases, when someone wants to follow up on something with a query they sometimes say ...

Here is a quote from my novel, pulled while I am doing the first revise. If you want to find out why my character is telling us  about  this, you will have a chance to find out soon. Anyway, here it is... She wore black lipstick, and had dark lines penciled at the base of her eyelashes. If she wore any foundation it was to accentuate her already pale skin. Her eyebrows and hair were dyed a black so deep you could dip a quill pen in them. Her nose piercings and five pairs of earrings would have made her the sideshow in the past rather than the ticket taker. As hard as she tried she couldn't hide the fact that she was petite and cute. Her calm deep voice and careful diction signaled intelligence. "There might not be any seats open this far down. You may have to go all the way to the top." "All the way to the top was always part of my plan." In a flat voice: "Oh, I get it. Show business. Very funny. You should be a clown." "Nobody should be a clown....