Book/Movie/TV Recs: It Came from the '60s Edition
Monday, June 13th, 2011 01:59 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
retsukoThe first two items below have a '60s setting and/or publishing date. And in some ways, they're remarkably similar, particularly in regards to the social problems they present. But, hey, fashion advice guide and superhero movie... worlds apart, right?
At the Movies:
X-Men: First Class: I enjoyed this very much, although there was a pivotal point in the plot where I wanted someone, anyone to say, "Boys! Boys! There's plenty of time for bickering about ideology and the nature of humanity later! Right now, we've got a crisis on our hands!" But I liked how this movie was basically the story of a bunch of social misfits coming together to stop the forces of depression, hatred, and darkness. Yay for the ragtag group of individuals! Boo to the either/or logical fallacy!
Other yay points:
* Sebastian Shaw may be an evil bastard, but wow his interior decorating skills were top-notch! Did you see the gorgeous wallpaper in that submarine?
* Charles' pick-up line was a thing of nerdy beauty.
* Eee! Cameos! Eee!
* Moira MacTaggart = made of awesome, win, and chutzpah.
Some difficult points:
* There was a little too much retconning for my taste, especially in the final plot twist. I find it hard to believe that Professor X would do that.
* Gender/race representation problems. These have already been talked about at great length by better persons than I, so I won't go into it here. Darwin's mutation was So. Cool! Why couldn't he have survived, dammit?
Anyway, so, yeah. I liked it a lot, although I'd also pay money to see an expanded version of the middle of the movie where Erik and Charles travel all over the place recruiting mutants. That film would be exceedingly relevant to my interests. I'd also pay to see something like, "How Moira Got Her Groove Back", but I suspect that's even less likely to get made.
In Books:
How to Dress for Success, by Edith Head: If only this book did not have the problems it does, I would recommend it to all and sundry. Edith Head, costume designer to the stars and fashion guru, is a down-to-earth writer (with a little help from a named editor) and her advice, when it's not mired in '60s weirdness, is actually quite practical and useful. As she says in the introduction, "If your liabilities seem overwhelming, remember this: in more than twenty years of designing for and dressing the world's most glamorous women for motion pictures, theatre, and television, I have yet to meet one who is physically flawless. Most of the beauties you think are perfect have defects just as you do. But they have learned how to accentuate the positive and camouflage the negative." She has a great number of suggestions that make a lot of sense: make sure you can move in the clothes you buy by moving in them before purchasing them; don't spend your money on trends that will be passe by next year; assess your body type and what flatters it, and shop accordingly. In her final chapter, she exhorts women to clean up their minds as well as their wardrobes and go forth boldly for the things they want in life. It's a fast, breezy read, and it's laid out in a pragmatic, easy to understand manner.
But there are many, many signs that it's from the '60s and rather dated. For one thing, Head insists that hats are the accessory that will make any outfit work, and that Nice Ladies should have enough hats to match their best outfits. She also spends a large part of a chapter dictating how wives should make sure their husbands dress ("It is very often some little defect in a man's wardrobe that keeps him from looking his sartorial best, and here again your wifely wisdom and loving care can go to work.") and her list of fashion icons is made up of only white women (the darkest skin tone she discusses is "olive".)
Still, there's some good advice here, and it's a funny love letter from almost forty-five years ago. I suspect Head would be appalled by my wardrobe, and the wardrobe of most Southern Californians'. After all, I have no outfits for entertaining and my current favorite hat is a Vader baseball cap.
Without the '60s setting, and on TV:
Doctor Who, "A Good Man Goes to War": I have a theory on this episode, and it hinges on the fact that I was spoiled for the ending, while D. was not. (The spoiling on my part was unintentional, of course, and was no fault of the person who spoiled it for me; rather, it was my fault for clicking on something I shouldn't have.) My theory is that if you went into this unspoiled and unprepared, this was the best episode ever; but if you went in knowing what was going to happen, the whole thing turned into a rather unsatisfying exercise in waiting for the other shoe to drop. D. loved the episode, but I came out from it excited, but not adoring.
This wasn't helped by some rather wooden dialogue, which surprised me; Moffat's episodes aren't usually that clunky or obvious. But: "My friend, you have never risen higher"? Really? The exact phrase that River uses earlier to foreshadow what's going to come? I get the point of parallel structure and emphasis, but this isn't subtle at all; it's a ham-handed attempt to bookend the action and it feels, for lack of a better word, rail road-ish. (Like a storyteller in a RPG who keeps reminding the characters that they HAVE TO RESCUE THE PRINCESS. You want to go where? A tavern? Oh, did I mention that you HAVE TO RESCUE THE PRINCESS?)
This isn't to say that I didn't enjoy the episode. I really did, especially all the character bits. I adored Badass!Roman!Rory, and I really liked the Silurian and Jenny, and now wish they could have their own spinoff show. River and the Doctor's interaction, in the wake of the revelation, was just wonderful. Matt Smith and Alex Kingston appeared to be having a fabulous time making in their little in-jokes before the Doctor rushed off toRESCUE THE PRINCESS rescue Melody. The Doctor's entrance was spectacular and grand, too, and I liked the little motifs of the gathering of the army, and it made me wish I could go to every episode that was being referenced, to see exactly what the reference was.
And I will say that one image that really unnerved me was Amy's Flesh/Avatar baby melting in her arms. (It reminded me of the book I hated as a child, Outside Over There, by Maurice Sendak, where the heroine, Ida, discovers that her baby brother has been replaced with a changeling: "The ice thing only dripped and stared, and Ida, mad, knew the goblins had been there.") Perhaps it's because I'm a new parent and still hopped up a bit on hormones, but that sequence really bothered me.
Anyway, a good ending to a highly satisfying season, and next up, we have... "Let's Kill Hitler"...?! Uhm, really? You're going there, and by there, I mean as in concept, not place? Well. Hence, my "oh, my!" icon.
At the Movies:
X-Men: First Class: I enjoyed this very much, although there was a pivotal point in the plot where I wanted someone, anyone to say, "Boys! Boys! There's plenty of time for bickering about ideology and the nature of humanity later! Right now, we've got a crisis on our hands!" But I liked how this movie was basically the story of a bunch of social misfits coming together to stop the forces of depression, hatred, and darkness. Yay for the ragtag group of individuals! Boo to the either/or logical fallacy!
Other yay points:
* Sebastian Shaw may be an evil bastard, but wow his interior decorating skills were top-notch! Did you see the gorgeous wallpaper in that submarine?
* Charles' pick-up line was a thing of nerdy beauty.
* Eee! Cameos! Eee!
* Moira MacTaggart = made of awesome, win, and chutzpah.
Some difficult points:
* There was a little too much retconning for my taste, especially in the final plot twist. I find it hard to believe that Professor X would do that.
* Gender/race representation problems. These have already been talked about at great length by better persons than I, so I won't go into it here. Darwin's mutation was So. Cool! Why couldn't he have survived, dammit?
Anyway, so, yeah. I liked it a lot, although I'd also pay money to see an expanded version of the middle of the movie where Erik and Charles travel all over the place recruiting mutants. That film would be exceedingly relevant to my interests. I'd also pay to see something like, "How Moira Got Her Groove Back", but I suspect that's even less likely to get made.
In Books:
How to Dress for Success, by Edith Head: If only this book did not have the problems it does, I would recommend it to all and sundry. Edith Head, costume designer to the stars and fashion guru, is a down-to-earth writer (with a little help from a named editor) and her advice, when it's not mired in '60s weirdness, is actually quite practical and useful. As she says in the introduction, "If your liabilities seem overwhelming, remember this: in more than twenty years of designing for and dressing the world's most glamorous women for motion pictures, theatre, and television, I have yet to meet one who is physically flawless. Most of the beauties you think are perfect have defects just as you do. But they have learned how to accentuate the positive and camouflage the negative." She has a great number of suggestions that make a lot of sense: make sure you can move in the clothes you buy by moving in them before purchasing them; don't spend your money on trends that will be passe by next year; assess your body type and what flatters it, and shop accordingly. In her final chapter, she exhorts women to clean up their minds as well as their wardrobes and go forth boldly for the things they want in life. It's a fast, breezy read, and it's laid out in a pragmatic, easy to understand manner.
But there are many, many signs that it's from the '60s and rather dated. For one thing, Head insists that hats are the accessory that will make any outfit work, and that Nice Ladies should have enough hats to match their best outfits. She also spends a large part of a chapter dictating how wives should make sure their husbands dress ("It is very often some little defect in a man's wardrobe that keeps him from looking his sartorial best, and here again your wifely wisdom and loving care can go to work.") and her list of fashion icons is made up of only white women (the darkest skin tone she discusses is "olive".)
Still, there's some good advice here, and it's a funny love letter from almost forty-five years ago. I suspect Head would be appalled by my wardrobe, and the wardrobe of most Southern Californians'. After all, I have no outfits for entertaining and my current favorite hat is a Vader baseball cap.
Without the '60s setting, and on TV:
Doctor Who, "A Good Man Goes to War": I have a theory on this episode, and it hinges on the fact that I was spoiled for the ending, while D. was not. (The spoiling on my part was unintentional, of course, and was no fault of the person who spoiled it for me; rather, it was my fault for clicking on something I shouldn't have.) My theory is that if you went into this unspoiled and unprepared, this was the best episode ever; but if you went in knowing what was going to happen, the whole thing turned into a rather unsatisfying exercise in waiting for the other shoe to drop. D. loved the episode, but I came out from it excited, but not adoring.
This wasn't helped by some rather wooden dialogue, which surprised me; Moffat's episodes aren't usually that clunky or obvious. But: "My friend, you have never risen higher"? Really? The exact phrase that River uses earlier to foreshadow what's going to come? I get the point of parallel structure and emphasis, but this isn't subtle at all; it's a ham-handed attempt to bookend the action and it feels, for lack of a better word, rail road-ish. (Like a storyteller in a RPG who keeps reminding the characters that they HAVE TO RESCUE THE PRINCESS. You want to go where? A tavern? Oh, did I mention that you HAVE TO RESCUE THE PRINCESS?)
This isn't to say that I didn't enjoy the episode. I really did, especially all the character bits. I adored Badass!Roman!Rory, and I really liked the Silurian and Jenny, and now wish they could have their own spinoff show. River and the Doctor's interaction, in the wake of the revelation, was just wonderful. Matt Smith and Alex Kingston appeared to be having a fabulous time making in their little in-jokes before the Doctor rushed off to
And I will say that one image that really unnerved me was Amy's Flesh/Avatar baby melting in her arms. (It reminded me of the book I hated as a child, Outside Over There, by Maurice Sendak, where the heroine, Ida, discovers that her baby brother has been replaced with a changeling: "The ice thing only dripped and stared, and Ida, mad, knew the goblins had been there.") Perhaps it's because I'm a new parent and still hopped up a bit on hormones, but that sequence really bothered me.
Anyway, a good ending to a highly satisfying season, and next up, we have... "Let's Kill Hitler"...?! Uhm, really? You're going there, and by there, I mean as in concept, not place? Well. Hence, my "oh, my!" icon.
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no subject
Date: 2011-06-13 09:48 pm (UTC)Very out of curiosity was it my entry that spoiled you? :)
no subject
Date: 2011-06-13 10:15 pm (UTC)Yes, it was your entry... I'd forgotten you were watching on Brit. time. But my own fault, definitely! :p
no subject
Date: 2011-06-13 10:40 pm (UTC)I know it's not exactly my fault, but I'm sorry anyway. :)
no subject
Date: 2011-06-13 10:44 pm (UTC)I recently got a new copy of it (sadly the six tapes of Christopher Plummer reading it to the ballet score have long been lost) and thankfully am less traumatized as an adult.
no subject
Date: 2011-06-13 11:50 pm (UTC)Oh, yes, those endpieces. I love the Mouse King pictures, and I'd love to hear the read-aloud version, too. I wish I could see the actual ballet with Sendak's sets and costuming... perhaps that would go some way towards less creepy.
But those teeth! D:
no subject
Date: 2011-06-13 10:53 pm (UTC)(One of the things I especially enjoyed on rewatch was Kingston's acting choices in--and actually, the entire tone of--the scene where she meets Rory in prison, and is in fact, meeting the man she knows to be her father for the very first time in her personal timeline. The ice-skating, the childish giddy joy, the lullabye-ish music...it's so perfect. And if you DON'T know, it just seems lightly romantic.)
Everybody pretty much seems to agree on two things about this episode: A) Vastra and Jenny should have their own spin-off, and B) dissolving baby was extremely disturbing, especially to parents.
On a final note, I could probably watch that exchange between the Doctor and River right after he's realized a hundred times and never get tired of it. It's completely adorbs. Matt Smith, good god, where did they find him? He's a treasure.
no subject
Date: 2011-06-13 11:55 pm (UTC)I'd totally pay to see the Vastra/Jenny show! Man, that would rock.
What else has Matt Smith done? I know he was on "Secret Diary of a Call Girl" but that show was so awful, I never got to the parts with him in it.
no subject
Date: 2011-06-14 01:40 am (UTC)I have no idea. I'd literally never heard of him until he was cast in Doctor Who, and I've never seen him in anything else. (I was initially all, "...another young-ish, pretty guy? Really?" But he's phenomenal, so I believe the accounts that Moffat was originally planning to cast someone older, until Smith turned up and gave an audition so note-perfect for the Doctor that they had to cast him.) All I've ever heard about him is that he was an up-and-coming theater actor before Who.
Theater: wonderful place to act and to learn. Terrible for your fans when you have your big TV breakthrough and they want to see what you did before it.
no subject
Date: 2011-06-14 12:09 am (UTC)I did like the name, thing, though! Great way to set that up for the big reveal. And yes, another episode that made me want to watch old episodes, which I feel is a good thing.
no subject
Date: 2011-06-15 12:08 am (UTC)I pretty much agree with everything you've said :) I wasn't spoiled on River's identity per se, but I'd figured it out, so the whole ending felt a little anticlimactic. And GAH the baby-melting freaked me out. But Rory was GLORIOUS and so was Amy's speech at the beginning about him. Oh, I love Rory so much.
The one thing that I'd been a little disappointed about with regard to the River-Amy-Rory thing had been River's reactions to Amy and Rory. After all, if you're meeting your long-lost parents, aren't you going to show a little more emotion? Yes, we got that tonight, so that was good, but I would still have expected it earlier. But, given the vagaries of time travel, maybe she didn't know they were her parents until this episode?
Also, I join the legions of people who seriously want to see the Vastra/Jenny spinoff! :)
My DVR cut off before the teaser for the next episode came on - they're going to do an episode involving Hitler? really? REALLY?
no subject
Date: 2011-06-15 12:24 am (UTC)It wasn't a promo, it was just a title. But, yeah, seriously: Hitler? I don't know what to make of that. o_o;;