Catching Ducks

Nothing makes me feel more like an outsider than watching an almost-universally beloved movie and saying, "meh".

I mean, it wasn't horrible. It was fine. There were plenty of good jokes. The villain was fun. The hero was both a bad-ass and a smart-ass. And it wasn't ruined for me by too many references in pop culture.

But as I sat there watching it, all I could think is, "This is it? This is the famous 'Die Hard'? Shouldn't I be more entertained?" Clearly, I am not the right audience for that movie.

Labels: review: movie

In 2006 Amy Winehouse released "Back to Black":




On the the soundtrack for the 2003 movie The Great Gatsby, Andre 3000 and Beyonce covered it:

Labels: music: covers

I don't have the best history with Disney & Pixar movies. I've known many people that rave about them, so I always think I'll love them, but that's rarely the case. For instance, I loved Finding Nemo, but I couldn't even finish Up.

I was particularly nervous about Frozen, because I kept hearing it described as a great female-led movie -- but I'd heard that about Brave and I didn't like that movie at all.

Fortunately, I enjoyed it much more than Brave. The songs were tiresome, but the story was pretty good. The Anna character really was great and very funny. And not only did the princess save the day, but focus of the movie was the bond between the sisters, not a romance.

But too many songs. That were all too long. Really, enough with the songs.


Spoilers:

V nyfb ybirq gung gurl gbgnyyl znqr sha bs gur vqrn bs "gehr ybir ng svefg fvtug". Obgu Xevfgbss naq Ryfn gubhtug Naan jnf evqvphybhf sbe jnagvat gb zneel n zna fur'q bayl xabja sbe n qnl.

Labels: review: movie

In its second season, Being Human attempted more ambitious plots. Unfortunately, they aren't particularly successful. The one that works best is the the group of humans trying to "cure" werewolves. (V fnl "pher" orpnhfr gurl frrz zber vagrerfgrq va xvyyvat jbyirf guna phevat gurz.) Gurl'er fpnel, gurl unir n ybtvpny ernfba sbe jung gurl'er qbvat, naq gur eriryngvba nobhg Yhpl vf trahvaryl fubpxvat.

Annie's plot is also pretty good. Her ups-and-downs of ghost life are always compelling, and the idea that the Other Side is angry that she hasn't crossed over leads to some interesting stories. (Vg nyfb yrnqf gb gur snagnfgvp pyvssunatre.)

George's plot is so dull that when I recently re-watched, I had no recollection of having seen it before. And he takes a page out of Mitchell's book and makes some truly horrific decisions. (V zrna, zbivat va jvgu n jbzna ur'f bayl xabja sbe n pbhcyr jrrxf? Naq gura nfxvat ure gb zneel uvz? Naq V jnag gb fznpx Fnz hcfvqr gur urnq: Lbh unir n qnhtugre, jul jbhyq lbh trg vaibyirq jvgu Trbetr fb dhvpxyl???)

Nina's journey dealing with the aftermath of the events of the season 1 finale would have been more captivating if she hadn't disappeared for several episodes. (Since there's only eight episodes in the season, she was gone for a significant percentage of the season.)

Mitchell, big shock, continues to make bad decisions. At least this season he starts out with good intentions.

I feel like I'm saying I didn't enjoy this season, when I actually did. Just like with the first season, this show is saved by the little moments and stories: Annie and Nina's growing friendship. (V ybir gung Naavr fgnlf jvgu Avan sbe ure svefg shyy zbba.) The episode where Annie helps a psychic. The scene where Annie tells George & Mitchell that she's applying for a job. Mitchell (figuratively) turning into George when he tries to talk to Lucy. George correcting the grammar of a graffiti insult someone wrote about him. Etc.

Those moments are why I love this show.

Labels: Being Human, review: TV

For some reason I saw the 1996 movie Diabolique (sharring Sharon Stone and Chazz Palminteri). It was back in the late 90's, so maybe I saw it when I was in college? Anyway, I knew that it was a remake of an older movie, so I decided to track down the original.

The original movie is French, in black & white, and was released in 1955. (Which means it was filmed just a decade after WWII ended, which is a little weird to think about.) (It also means I'm not going to worry about spoilers.)

There's a cruel man running a school, and his wife and his mistress team up to kill him. A simple plot, but with lots of tension.

I enjoyed the unlikely friendship between the mistress and the wife, which is why I didn't like the ending of the movie, when you discover the mistress faked the murder to kill the wife, so she and the husband could get the wife's money. In retrospect, it makes sense. The mistress was always much more confident about the plan than the wife, and the mistress could have left the school/husband in a way that the wife couldn't. So for her to be faking it to swindle the wife fits. But I was still bummed.

I was quite surprised that the retired police detective was actually a good guy. I just assumed he as a bad guy, possible in league with the husband.

Overall, a creepy thriller.

Labels: review: movie

All I was doing was trying to keep Peeta and myself alive. Any act of rebellion was purely coincidental.


Catching Fire (by Suzanne Collins) is the sequel to The Hunger Games. I think the writing was better than in the first book, but it's possible that I was more involved in the story and didn't notice the weaknesses.

It does an excellent job of building on the world of the first book. Katniss is still just trying to provide for her sister and mother, but she unwittingly becomes a symbol for a revolution. This expands the story from her survival to the survival of her nation.

We get to see more of the country that she lives in, which is very interesting. Unfortunately, the logical (nit-picky?) part of my brain gets a little confused about the geography and logistics of Panem. A quick google search for Panem map shows a variety of fan ideas of what Panem looked like, since book is ambiguous about the details. And I don't understand how each District has one-and-only-one industry. But I guess they don't all work in the same industry: District 12 is mining, and Peeta's parents own a bakery. But it still seems like a strange system.

Ultimately, the basic structure of the story is the same as the first book, but it feels fresh because the scope is so much larger.


Spoilers:

V ernyyl ybirq gung jr tbg gb xabj zber ivpgbef. Vg jnf zragvbarq va gur svefg obbx gung Unlzvgpu xarj bgure ivpgbef, naq guvf obbx ornef gung bhg. Gur snpg gung gur gevohgrf nyy xabj rnpu bgure punatrf gur qlanzvpf bs gur tnzrf, gbb. Va gur svefg obbx, gur xvqf jrer xvyyvat fgenatref. Va guvf bar, gurl'er (zbfgyl) nqhygf, xvyyvat gurve sevraqf.

Gur snpg gung Xngavff naq Crrgn ner tbvat guebhtu guvf sbe gur frpbaq lrne va n ebj urvtugraf gur grafvba naq qrfcnve. Gurve sehfgengvba vf cnycnoyr. Vg nyfb nssrpgf ubj gurl cynl gur tnzr, orpnhfr gurl xabj zber gur frpbaq gvzr nebhaq.

Labels: review: book, The Hunger Games

Possibly the greatest wunza plot in the history of television:

"A vampire, a werewolf, and a ghost are roommates."

That's the basic description of the show, and it's also the strength of the show. The main characters are amazing, and their interactions and friendships are why I originally got hooked on it.

It certainly wasn't for the plot. The first season's grand, over-arching story is a big bowl of meh. Something about vampires trying to take over the world? I think? I just re-watched it, and I'm still fuzzy on the details. It doesn't make sense and it's not interesting.

The smaller-scale plots are much better. George dealing with his curse, and his awkward and tentative relationship with Nina. Annie's struggles with why she's still here, and her feelings for her still-living fiance. Mitchell... Well, Mitchell sure is pretty. Unfortunately, he spends a lot of time being angsty and making poor decisions. But pretty!

The main characters really are fantastic, and the moments highlighting their friendships are an absolute joy.


Spoilers:

Jura V svefg jngpurq vg, V qvqa'g arprffnevyl pner sbe Avan be Naavr, ohg obgu vzcebir hcba er-jngpuvat. Avan frrzrq pbyq naq obffl, ohg abj V rawbl ure gnxr-ab-fuvg nggvghqr. Naavr vavgvnyyl fhssrerq sebz orvat fb fgrerbglcvpnyyl tveyl: jrnx, zrrx, bofrffrq jvgu ure svnapr... Ohg jura lbh xabj zber bs ure fgbel, fur znxrf n ybg zber frafr, naq frrvat ure wbhearl vf jbaqreshy.

Vg'f vagrerfgvat gb zr gung -- ba jung vf bfgrafvoyl n ubeebe fubj -- gur fpnevrfg punenpgre vf n uhzna. Gung fprar jura Bjra pbzsbegf uvf arj tveysevraq, gryyvat ure gung gur Naavr-tubfg vfa'g erny, juvyr ur'f ybbxvat evtug ng Naavr, vf nofbyhgryl puvyyvat.

V ernyyl yvxrq Trbetr gur svefg gvzr V jngpurq, ohg ur fhssref n yvggyr sebz ercrng ivrjvatf. Ur fgnegf gb frrz juvarl.

Naq Zvgpuryy, lbh ner n zrff. V ybir uvf sevraqfuvcf jvgu Trbetr naq Naavr, ohg bgurejvfr ur vf n gbgny qvfnfgre.

Labels: Being Human, review: TV

I was born in a cross fire of hurricanes. Or electrons, electrodes. Something. I don't remember much about the beginning. Fuzzies. Flashes of stainless steel and white light. Was I at a butcher's shop or a hospital?


The Jigsaw Woman (by Kim Antieau) begins as a retelling of the story of Frankenstein's monster, with the creation of a beautiful woman from the body parts of three separate women. Rather quickly, however, it veers off into a completely different story. The first half of the book is at a breakneck pace, caroming all over the place. I enjoyed the unpredictability of it.

But the in the second half of the book the plot slowed down considerably, as the main character jumped into different past-lives and lived in each for a little while. I did enjoy seeing the various characters and how they showed up in each past life.

Overall it seemed like watered down Joanna Russ. It was more coherent, but less profound, than The Female Man.

In summary: interesting enough to finish, but not enjoyable enough to re-read.

Labels: review: book, scifi/fantasy

This movie was released in 1944, so I'm not going to worry about spoilers...


A little murder mystery, where the victim is later one of the suspects. Interesting enough to watch to the end, but not something I'm inclined to re-watch.

At the beginning of the movie, I thought the old guy seemed creepy, and had an unhealthy fixation on Laura. I was pleasantly surprised when he turned out to be just as creepy as I had originally thought. Since this movie is seventy years old, I wasn't sure if that would be the case.

Remember the Bechdel Test? This movie passes it, but just barely. (Laura has a conversation with her maid, to explain that she wasn't really dead, that it was just a mix-up, and could she make some breakfast please?) But this is one of the very few movies that doesn't pass the reverse Bechdel Test. There are three male lead characters, and they talk to each other a lot (most of the movie, really), but they spend the entire time talking about Laura!

Labels: review: movie

As I left the Kenya Beanstalk capsule he was right on my heels. He followed me through the door leading to Customs, Health, and Immigration. As the door contracted behind him I killed him.

I have never liked riding the Beanstalk. My distaste was full-blown even before the disaster to the Quito Skyhook. A cable that goes up into the sky with nothing to hold it up smells too much of magic. But the only other way to reach Ell-Five takes too long and costs too much; my orders and expense account did not cover it.

So I had been edgy even before I left the shuttle from Ell-Five at Stationary Station to board the Beanstalk capsule... but, damn it, being edgy isn't a reason to kill a man.


That is how the book begins, and it's one of my absolute favorite starts to a book.

Friday isn't the best book in the world, and isn't even the best book by Robert Heinlein. (That would be The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress.) But it's a book I read over and over again. Some books are "comfort food" for me: A Wrinkle in Time, The Chronicles of Narnia, Tisha, and Friday.

I think what brings me back to it is that it's just a simple, well-told adventure story. There is a damaged-but-badass main character, who meets lots of people and does lots of stuff, in a crazy somewhat-dystopian future.

As I've gotten older, I've started to have some issues with the way he portrays women -- some sexism at work, I think -- but it doesn't take away from my overall enjoyment of the book.


p.s. This is the book where he accurately describes the internet. In 1982.

Labels: review: book, scifi/fantasy