13 Shapeshifters You Should Get To Know *Contest*

In this book and movie quiz, you have to name either the character, the movie, the book, the author, the director, or the setting, depending on the question. Each correct answer gets 5 points. The winner is the person with the most points at the end (10/24/15). If the book was made into a movie or the movie was based on a book, and you spot it,  let us know in your answers, you get double points for that question! Also, some questions have a bonus round you can answer, to gain more points!

Answers should be sent to assistant@cassandracurtis.com and don't post them here!



The contest ends midnight Saturday, October 24, 2015.* The winner will be announced here on my blog and on my FB author page. In case of a tie, each participant will be asked a tie breaker question, until the winner is determined.

And what, you ask, is the prize? The first prize winner will get a $10 Amazon gift card, a copy of my latest ebook, The Midnight Effect, along with a Midnight Effect pin and a Midnight Effect magnet. Second prize will get a copy of The Midnight Effect, along with a Midnight Effect pin and a Midnight Effect magnet.


Ready to start?

1. Who directed the movie An American Werewolf in London?
Bonus! What city was the setting for the second An American Werewolf movie?

2. In the movie, The Howling, the psychiatrist sends the heroine and her husband to this secluded resort in the countryside where he sends patients for treatment. Name the resort.

3. In my story Beneath A Midnight Sea, name my Selkie warrior hero.

4. Temptation comes in many forms. In this 2007 movie, teenage werewolf Vivian has been promised to Gabriel. But when Aiden, an American (human) in Romania researching werewolves for the next edition of his magazine, meets Vivian, they fall in love. Name the movie.

5. What is the name of the werewolf series written by author N.J. Walters?
Bonus! Name at least three of her heroes.

6. Who wrote the wonderfully humorous dragon shapeshifter romance, Dragon Actually?

7. I wrote my own (less humorous) dragon shapeshifter story, entitled____________?

8. Name the type of shapeshifters portrayed in the movie, LadyHawke. (The title should give you a hint at one in case if you never saw the flick).

9. What city is the setting for the 1982 movie, Cat People?

10. In Shelley Laurenston's book Wolf With Benefits, name at least two other types of shifters that appear in the book.
Bonus! Name the series.

11.  In my El Lobizon series, I pit two rival packs against the other, The Dayshifters and The Wolfen. The series explores the differences between the classic werewolf and the animal shapeshifters commonly found in books and movies today. Name at least one difference between the two types of shifters.
Bonus! Can you name the second book in my EL Lobizon series (slated for release this winter). 

12. What type of animal shapeshifters are in my story The Deal Breaker?

13. Just for fun, I wrote an animal mash-up character in my short story Stroke It. Can you name what type of wild hybrid hero I created?
Bonus! Can you name his occupation?


Good Luck!


**Must be 18+ to enter. The odds of winning depend upon the number of participants. Contest void where prohibited by law. It is the participant’s responsibility to check the blog to see if their name is announced as a winner, and contact Cassandra Curtis.com in order to claim the prize. Prizes must be claimed within 30 days of contest winning announcement. If not claimed within 30 days, the prize will either be added to another contest, or a second chance drawing at my discretion.  Not responsible for lost/stolen mail.

Cass' Top 10 Movies of 2013

Now that 2014 is well under way, I'd like to take a look back at the year that was 2013, specifically movies of 2013. Please note these are my top picks of the movies I saw last year and do not include many of the Oscar nominated flicks (because I haven't seen them). Hopefully other movies (12 Years A Slave, Mud, Frances Ha, Gravity, Her) will make the rounds on Redbox or Netflicks soon. What were your favorite movies of 2013?

Top 10 Movies of 2013

10. Trance  This movie starring James McAvoy and Rosario Dawson, directed by Danny Boyle was slow paced and a bit off kilter at first, but like so many psychological mysteries (Memento, Sliding Doors), once you get into the meat of the story and the action steps it up a notch, you realize Trance is really quite a daring and fiendishly clever little tale. On a second viewing (courtesy Redbox), I was able to catch so many of the clues in the beginning, and have to admit, I truly enjoyed Trance much better the second time around. This film would have been higher on my list had the beginning 30 minutes not dragged as much.

9. Django Unchained  Jamie Foxx and Christoph Waltz pull off stunning performances in Tarantino's 70's-esque exploitative take on slavery and the old west. If you like Tarantino's style, then you'll probably love this movie. If you think his movies are too dialogue heavy (and they can be), or too violent, you may think another film should have made the list. As I've always said, Tarantino is an acquired taste and not everybody gets him.

8. Iron Man 3  I surrendered to the superhero shtick and enjoyed this darkest take yet on the helmeted hero. Ben Kingsley (whom I've always admired since his role as Gandhi) played both dramatic and comedic, sometimes in the same scene, showing his incredible versatility. Tons (literally) of action and enough smash-ups of Iron Men to keep the guys in the audience very happy.

7. Star Trek Into Darkness I have to admit I'm not a Trekkie or a Trekker or whatever uber fans of the franchise call themselves these days, but I got pulled into the plot and characters. Especially the character played with incredible finesse by Benedict Cumberbunch. He totally made watching this latest inductee to the Star Trek saga completely worth it. The actor has pathos and how!

6. American Hussle  How many A list actors does it take to make the perfect screwball dramity? Apparently the answer is five. Inspired by a real life NYC con man, this reinvented 70's-styled flick pays due homage to one of the godfathers of direction, Martin Scorsese. Starring Robert DiNiro, Bradley Cooper, Christian Bale, Jennifer Lawrence, and Amy Adams.

5. Prisoners Brilliant acting from Hugh Jackman, proving he is much more than a set of claws and a weird hairdo. I've seen him play comedic roles and seen him in dramas where he shines. Don't think to typecast this guy, because he truly has the chops to play any role out there.


4. The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug The middle is always the hardest part to write, be it a book or a screenplay, and although this second movie in The Hobbit series seemed to drag at times, it still delivered some wonderful scenes, with incredible cinematography. Martin Freeman is such a versatile actor, I don't think he gets enough credit for his capable handling of the character.

3. Frozen Yes it's an animated Disney flick. Yes it's for little kids. But it was a fun movie and the artistry brought me back to the old days of Disney, to classics like Cinderella, Snow White, and The Little Mermaid. Kudos to Kristen Bell who did a wonderful performance as the voice of Anna.

2. The Wolf Of Wall Street Martin Scorsese and Leonardo DiCaprio team up in one of the hottest flicks of the year. The comedic talents of Jonah Hill add to this wild ride through the early 90's financial madhouse.

My top pick is...

 
1.The Family Robert DeNiro and Michelle Pfeiffer are fun to watch in this comedic dark tale of a mob informant and his family adapting  to the witness protection program. They find old habits are hard to break. Hilarious.

Winner of my Name That Movie Contest is...

Ya'll know me too well! lol. 

Several people had the right answer, so it's come to a draw, 

just going to reach here into the fish bowl...and the winner is...

FlChen1

Congratulations, FlChen1

Please contact me with the email address you'd like your egift card sent to and remember to check your spam and junk/trash , 'cause you don't want to miss out on this cool little eprize.

Peter Jackson Live Event

Bear and I just got finished watching the live streaming event with Peter Jackson (LOTR, The Hobbit) and are excited and looking forward to The Desolation of Smaug coming to theaters this December. Not going to give away any spoilers from the sneak peek (for Hobbit2), but if you've read The Hobbit, then you know some of the great scenes that will most likely make it into the next movie.

We bought and watched The Hobbit yesterday, just so we could get the special code to watch Peter Jackson's live event today. Yes, hubby is a major geek and he converted me. lol.

My favorite scene from The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (Hobbit movie 1) is when the dwarves are washing the dishes, singing and tossing plates and bowls willy-nilly and not a one broken. It's a fun, comedic scene, almost Disneyesque. It plays very lighthearted, just as the first movie in LOTR did the same. The further you go into the tale, the darker it becomes. A perfect progression to the heart of storycraft.

Now I can't wait for December! Thank you for doing the live event, Mr. Jackson. My guy and I enjoyed the behind the scenes look at all it takes to produce such an all-encompassing movie like The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug.

Irish Eyes

Happy St. Patrick's Day! I hope everyone is having fun and not getting sick drinking pints of green beer! lol

The only thing on TV right now is the movie Leprechaun (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0107387/). It's so bad it's like a smack in the face to anyone Irish or under 4 foot tall. But if you're like me and your Irish eyes are smiling, check out these movies with an Irish touch.

One of my all time favorite movies fits this category - The Secret of Roan Inish (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0111112), 10-year-old Fiona is sent to live with her grandparents in a small fishing village in Donegal, Ireland. She soon learns the local legend that an ancestor of hers married a Selkie - a seal who can turn into a human. Years earlier, her baby brother washed out to sea in a cradle shaped like a boat; someone in the family believes the boy is being raised by the seals. Then Fiona catches sight of a naked little boy on the abandoned Isle of Roan Inish and takes an active role in uncovering The Secret of Roan Inish.

If you're not into the magical and paranormal or mysterious, then my other suggestion is a classic, The Quiet Man, starring John Wayne and Maureen O'Hara. A retired American boxer returns to the village where he was born in Ireland, where he finds love.(http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0045061)

If you want a touch of comedy with your Irish Stew, then give this old classic a try. Darby O'Gill and the Little People. The best part? Sean Connery in his prime. rawr (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0052722)

Games Zombies Play

I admit, I have a soft spot for zombies...and I'm sure that's the first place they'd go for in the event of a real zombie invasion. lol.  My guy has the game series and is a huge fan of the movies, plus he's gaga over anything 3D, including model turned actress Milla Jovovich, so of course this weekend, we went to see the latest in the Resident Evil movie franchise, Resident Evil: Retribution 3D.

Watch the trailer: http://www.residentevil-movie.com/site/

In this fifth installment, written and directed by Paul W.S. Anderson, The Umbrella Corporation’s deadly T-virus continues to ravage the Earth, transforming the global population into legions of the flesh eating Undead. The human race’s last and only hope, ALICE (Milla Jovovich), awakens in the heart of Umbrella's most clandestine operations facility and unveils more of her mysterious past as she delves further into the complex. Without a safe haven, Alice continues to hunt those responsible for the outbreak; a chase that takes her from Tokyo to New York, Washington, D.C. and Moscow, culminating in a mind-blowing revelation that will force her to rethink everything that she once thought to be true. Aided by newfound allies and familiar friends, Alice must fight to survive long enough to escape a hostile world on the brink of oblivion. The countdown has begun.

As zombie movies go, it had all the usual suspects: zombies chasing gun wielding actors, shoot-outs, eating brains and various other assorted body parts, car chases and lots and lots of gore. What it didn't have was any emotion to the plot. Forgive me in advance for the pun, but the acting and the story felt very...dead. The CGI was outstanding and the make-up effects were wonderfully gruesome. The stunts were phenomenal. But it lacked something, an emotional content, or maybe I'm asking for too much? All I know is the best part (in my opinion) was the last 10 minutes of the movie. And nope, no spoilers here. But unless you're a hard and fast fan of the movie series and the games (like my guy, who loved the 3D movie), I'd wait to see this as a Redbox rental.

If you love zombies and want to rent a few of my personal favs, check out the following flicks at your local Redbox.

In no certain order: Zombieland, Dead Alive, The Serpent and The Rainbow, Return of The Living Dead, Re-Animator, Shaun of The Dead, Day of The Dead, Dawn of The Dead,Night of The Living Dead, and finally 28 Days Later (okay some might say this is technically not a zombie flick, but it rawks, so I'm including it).

Later ya'll,
Cass
::taking off her popcorn diva movie hat::

All Loved Up

Saturday was wonderful. Drove to Bardstown, did some shopping at a few antiques malls, ate at a yummy Mexican restaurant, and came home.

O' Brother Where Art Thou was on, so I sat down and watched it. View the movie trailer here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I1C2gCXo4Gs
George Clooney was simply perfect in the role of Everett and those dancing moves of his made me giggle. I especially love the scene with the 'Sirens' at the river bed and how Delbert says to Everett, upon seeing their friend's empty clothes, that he got 'all loved up,' lol.

I don't usually enjoy country or bluegrass music (Unless it's Pasty Cline, Johnny Cash, Alison Krauss, or Nickel Creek) But I love the soundtrack from O' Brother Where Art Thou.

After the movie, I reheated the leftovers from Mexican lunch (they gave huge portions, so I got boxes to go) for dinner, then it was time to go on Skype and chat with my sister in Oz. I've been waiting for her to get Skype so we don't have to mess with phone cards and lo and behold, she finally got an upgrade so she could go on Skype. I talked her through some of the various features, and we tested sending files back and forth. I think once she gets used to it, she's going to love it... We talked for almost four hours last night. Now if only I could get my other sisters and the family over in Europe on Skype, we could cut down on the overseas phone bills.

I've got filing and accounting and other assorted paperwork to do today, but I hope to finish early, because all work and no play makes Cass a little cranky. lol

I hope your Sunday is filled with fun.
Until next time,
Cass

Substitute Plan

Since I had kidney stones on my birthday and my guy had stomach flu at the same time, we decided to celebrate my birthday this last Sunday. He took me to see True Grit. Okay, it's a known fact I really don't like westerns. Not in books, movies, or video games. However, True Grit is a classic and it got rave reviews. Plus I had to see if Jeff Bridges could fill the rather big boots of John Wayne. He did. And then some. This may be the very first western I've ever liked. It came across as real and authentic. A true piece of Americana. I would recommend everyone see this movie—even people like me who don't like westerns. It's that good.

The theater we went to is this huge place with all sorts of maze-like hallways and dozens of theater rooms. Of course the movie was playing in the very last theater in the back. So I grabbed the seats while my guy got the popcorn and drinks. The line wrapped half-way across the lobby, it was unreal. On the way out, after the movie, we stopped by the concession to get our refills on popcorn and drinks, since at those prices you want to get your monies worth. It was while in the line that my guy snapped this pic of a young woman with what looked like giant curlers in her hair. On closer inspection, we realized they were coke cans. Honest. I hope this is not a new fad or trend among our youth. ::shakes head::

Although I did love her friend's jacket. Looks like a shark. lol. I may have to see if anyone in SL can make a jacket like that for me, since I am Cassandra Sharktooth in SL. :P

Until next time...

~Cass

Top Ten Movies in 2010 According To Cass

I sat down and checked my naughty and nice list twice, so here are my top ten flick picks for 2010.*

10. The King's Speech

9. The Book of Eli

8. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

7. The Inside Job

6. Easy A

5. Tron: Legacy

4. Kick Ass

3. Chronicles of Narnia: Voyage of The Dawn Treader

2. Shutter Island

1. Inception

*I didn't get a chance to see True Grit yet, and I had no desire to see The Social Network, so keep that in mind when viewing my picks.

What movies are on your top ten picks for 2010?

Unmentionables...

Listening to my mum, it shows how much our society has grown and changed over the years. In her day if you referred to underwear or panties, they were called unmentionables.

I asked her if there was anything she needed up at the physical rehab place and she said she would like more of her unmentionables. I asked her if she meant panties or bras, since 'unmentionables' could be either or both. Instead she whispered, "There is a man here in my room."

So being the naughty person I am, I replied, "Ooh, and he wants your panties, mum?"

She was less than amused, saying, "Just listen to me. Bring up a few pairs."

"Ahh, panties it is. Oh is he gone, now?"

I was sorely chastised, "You never mention unmentionables in mixed company. That's why they are called unmentionables!"

Oops, I think I goofed. But considering the way our society has changed over the years, I think we can now happily yell panties in a crowded theater in front of men galore. In fact, they'd probably like it. lol. And yes, she has never read any of my erotic romances. lol. I think it's best, that way she doesn't have a seizure or something. :P

I wanted to take the dvd of the movie Date Night up for mum to watch, but she said the TV in her room doesn't have a dvd player. I think she would have liked that movie, as it had gangsters in it and I think she would have loved the premise, but probably not some of the language or references.

It reminded me a bit of the old Jack Lemmon flick, The Out of Towners. A series of mistakes when a couple heads into the Big Apple, leads them into trouble. :) I loved that movie.

Ahh, it's nearing the witching hour and I have much to do before I go to bed tonight, so until next time, wishing you and yours pleasant dreams...

Cass

The Big Eight Ohs

Yesterday was my mum’s birthday (she is in her 80′s but told anyone who asked that she just turned 39…like Jack Benny. lol).

My sister and I took her to the movies. We had planned to go *bra shopping- code for river boat gambling* but were not able to book a room at the hotel in time. So that side trip has been temporarily postponed.

Anyhoo, the movie (Love Happens) was picked by my sister (who obviously didn’t watch or pay attention to the movie trailer), and mum agreed it sounded fine to her. I was less enthused, but tagged along since I do like Jennifer Anniston and it was, after all, mum’s birthday.

My sister, thinking it was a romantic comedy in the vein of Sleepless in Seattle, was ready to grin and laugh her way through comedic devices and instead was tearful at so many of the plot props which coincided with her own life.

Although the movie ended on a somewhat happy note, the meat of the story wavered between poignant and flat out sad.

Mum also remarked on the odd coincidences, with their themes of loss, the grieving process, and coping with the death of loved ones.

What a lovely, cheery flick to take our 80+ year old mother to see. Ugh. Leave it to my sister to pick ‘em.

Loss and grieving is a universal constant, something we must all go through at some point or other in our lives.

About 30 people were in the theater watching the movie with us. Of those, I have to wonder if they could see themselves in the characters? If they saw similarities?

My sister’s late husband didn’t pass away due to a car accident, but her oldest son (my nephew) did. Her husband was a marine. Semper Fi. And sis still has the most annoying giant parrot. He’s quite the pecker and in his old age has become very crotchety and nasty. lol. But the last seeming coincidence dealt with the exact date of the lead character’s wife’s death…March 17th. St. Patrick’s Day.
So of course, sis left the theater more than a little weepy and depressed. You see, my brother-in-law died on St. Patrick’s Day, a few years ago. Whew.

Mum, being mum, said that my sister was meant to see that particular movie as it held a special message for her.

If that’s true, then I have to think back to some of the movies I’ve chosen and wonder if they held secret messages for me.

Hmm… Confessions Of A Shopaholic, Ice Age 3-D, and the latest Harry Potter.  Okay, now I’m a little scared. lmao.