The Writer's Life 8/5 - Personalities

In his 10 directorial efforts since The Sixth Sense (1999), M. Night Shyamalan has not recaptured the brilliance of that memorable film, but he has made some interesting ones, and some clunkers. Split (2016) is a solid effort. It is the story of a thirty-something male who suffered abuse as a child, who exhibits more than 20 personalities. It is a dream role, and James McAvoy is excellent in it. Surprisingly, his performance was not nominated for any major awards. The plot unfolds when the character kidnaps three attractive young women and secrets them in a large underground facility. He warns them that "the beast" is coming. Is it real or simply another of his personalities? Betty Buckley plays the psychiatrist, Anya Taylor-Joy, Haley Lu Richardson and Jessica Sula the victims. All acquit themselves well. Not only did Shyamalan direct, he produced, wrote the screenplay and played a small part. It seems he has been granted total creative control of his work. And why not? Made on a budget of nine million, Split returned $138 million in the USA alone. 195,000+ users at IMDb have rated it, forging to a consensus of 7.3 of ten. It runs just shy of two hours. Those who prefer blood splatter would likely be disappointed. This is more a creep fest where the suggestion of violence, not its depiction, prevails. Only one scene can be characterized as gruesome, and it isn't bloody. Is the psychology sound? I don't know and don't care. I was entertained. My only complaint is that there is no close captioning option on the DVD - or I was clueless as to how to enable it. Fortunately, in reading about the flick online, it doesn't seem I missed much. Here's a picture of the main principals and the director:

June's economic numbers were revised upward, and July's are encouraging, continuing a positive trend. There's still a long way to go but the economy seems to building steam. Fortunately, the left's attacks on President Trump haven't been able to halt progress. It's obvious liberals want him to fail on all fronts, believing their policies will encourage strong growth, despite the tepid figures of the previous eight years.

The weather has cooperated beautifully the past three days, raining during the floating book shops off hours. Today was my first experiment working as a "merchant," not feeding the parking meter. I put a sign on my dashboard, beside the registration, reading: "Merchant at Work," an arrow pointing in either direction. In the three or so hours I was there, I did not see a single traffic agent, which was most unusual. Of course, it's entirely possible one showed while I was daydreaming. These days, many of the tickets they write go directly into a hand held device that scans the VIN. Often, they don't even leave a physical ticket. Anyway, all four people I did business with during the session were of Asian descent. My thanks to the young man who purchased a huge pictorial on Long Island, to the young women who loves risqué material, who bought Fergie: Her Secret Life by Allan Starkie; and to the other young woman and her mom who donated a bag o'romance novels. I suggested she take a book as thanks, and she selected Upton Sinclair's The Jungle. I was wondering if that landmark novel would attract any attention, as the deplorable working conditions depicted in it are no longer prevalent in the USA - at least legally.

Vic's Sixth novel: http://tinyurl.com/zpuhucj 

Vic's Short Works: http://tinyurl.com/jy55pzc

Vic's 5th Novel: http://tinyurl.com/okxkwh5Vic's 4th novel: tinyurl.com/bszwlxh

Vic's 3rd Novel: http://tinyurl.com/7e9jty3

Vic's Short Story Collection:http:// tinyurl.com/lh2tepa 
Vic's 2nd Novel Kindle: http://tinyurl.com/kx3d3uf
Vic's 1st Novel: http://tinyurl.com/l84h63j

Website: http://vicfortezzaauthor.my-free.website/

FB: https://www.facebook.com/Vic-Fortezza-Author-118397641564801/?fref=ts

Read Vic's Stories, free: http://fictionaut.com/users/vic-fortezza