Revolt Lit

If you write, you should read this. Revolt Lit is a new literary journal aimed exclusively at writers under the age of 25, and approaches the literary journal from a different angle. Founder, writer, and good friend of this blogger, Christian Harder had this to stay on the new project.

"Young writers do not get the respect or attention they deserve with the current market of literary magazines. Many well-known magazines require that a submitting writer have an agent's petition. This alienates the greatest group of America's literary talent- the youth."

It costs $15 to $5 to submit poetry, short fiction, or rap lyrics to Revolt, but that's really part of Revolt's appeal. The startup is completely non-profit and all proceeds go almost entirely to support various literacy charities. The rest of the fee covers the quality prize money sums. First places lands the writer with $500 for short fiction, $250 for poetry and $150 for rap lyrics. Check out Revolt's clean homepage for details on the rest of the prize money details and instructions on submitting.

Revolt is currently accepting applications for all sections, and will wait until September 2010 to publish its first edition. The journal is currently backed by faculty at Virginia Tech and is seeking support from the National Literary Society, and young writers everywhere. Cheesy lines aside, this is a very real opportunity to get your writing exposed, support a worthy cause and maybe make a little money at it.

Brooklyn's Finest

“It’s gritty like The Wire!” That was the reasoning behind me seeing Brooklyn’s Finest. Scratch that — it was my friend’s reasoning for me to go see the movie.

Brooklyn’s Finest is the latest film from director Antoine Fuqua. The story is set in the 65th precinct of the New York Police Department, which includes the notorious Brownsville neighborhood of Brooklyn.

The film follows three different plot lines. Ethan Hawke plays Sal Procida, a devout Catholic detective who steals money from drug raids to provide for his family during tough times. Richard Gere plays Officer Dugan, a less-than-clean veteran cop with a week left before retirement. Don Cheadle portrays Clarence “Tango” Butler, an undercover detective who desperately wants out of the dangerous drug dealer scene in the Brownsville projects.

My main problem with the movie was with its lack of originality. Ethan Hawke’s story is of the clichéd “good cop doing bad things for good causes.” Richard Gere’s plot is of the stereotypical “miserable police officer with nothing else to live for.” Don Cheadle’s tale is, for all intents and purposes, the same as The Departed. And, frankly, The Departed is much better.

To be fair, there were a few things about the movie that I did like. The main cast’s performances were great. Brooklyn’s Finest marks the first time in a while that Richard Gere doesn’t play his typical charming-older-man character. Instead, his character is an ornate old man who is a terrible person with only a prostitute for a friend, and not a cutesy one like Julia Roberts.

One thing that bothered me about the movie was the appearance Hawke’s character. It was not the actual personality of the character or the way he was depicted — as both his sympathetic and evil sides were shown — but just the way he looked. Sal is profusely sweating and looks like crap throughout the entire movie without anyone ever fully explaining why. Although this may seem like a trite complaint, it’s very distracting to see a room full of normal-looking cops in a room before Sal rolls in covered in sweat and looking like dirt for no apparent reason.

I’m not knocking any members of the cast for their performances, for they were all on point. With an excellent cast and an enticing trailer, one would think that Brooklyn’s Finest would easily be one of Antoine Fuqua’s best. Sadly, it’s less like Training Day, and more like King Arthur. The story lacked spark and didn’t convey as strong of a message as the trailers had it seem.

That is not to say that this film — arguably a stereotypical model of the genre — will be the end of “gritty.” “It’s gritty like The Wire!” Perhaps so, but it’s not as good — and definitely not worth $9.

- By Rob Molster