Books/Movie/DVD Recs, 2/15/08
Friday, February 15th, 2008 10:14 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
retsukoFinally, I can blog about what I've reading, watching, and enjoying in odd moments recently.
Movies:
"Cloverfield" was, basically, an movie about panic and stupid things people do during panic. I liked it, but it is not an easy movie to watch. Told from the point of view of forgettable twenty-somethings with a video camera, lots of chutzpah, and not much in the way of common sense, the movie unfolds with a story that's the height of awkward banality--the girl who got away, a party, lots of alcohol, and boring chatter about nothing. But because this is a movie, the audience waited for the other shoe to drop; or in this case, the other head of the statue of Liberty to roll down the street. And what roll down the street it was! Perhaps the funniest shot of the movie comes directly afterwards as people come out of the wreckage, dazed and confused and start snapping photos of the head with their camera phones. The story careens along afterwards with an attempted escape via the Brooklyn Bridge, which collapses, and then a hair-brained scheme is hatched to rescue the girl we saw for barely 5 minutes previously. What follows is chaos, some damn creepy bug monsters (urgh), a few truly gross moments, and hide-and-seek with the monster that's ravaging the city. All in all, a good horror film, and rather realistic, I thought. I think it may end up more intense on the small screen, in keeping with the medium and the reality TV vibe.
DVDs:
Things I Love About Torchwood:
* Tosh! (She's a layered character and I can't wait to see more episodes featuring her. A little digging on IMDB led me to the fact that the actress, Naoko Mori, played Christmas Eve in the London production of "Avenue Q". Needless to say, my love meter for her jumped about 100 notches then.)
* The special effects and makeup really are top notch.
* For the most part, the stories hang together fairly well. The internal consistency of the Torchwood and Dr. Who universes is maintained throughout and nicely, too.
* The final two episodes of the first season were genuinely thrilling and completely surprising.
* The on-going Mulder and Scully jokes about Jack and Gwen.
* The fact that the bisexual character is actually bisexual--not just lip service to the idea that Captain Jack likes men, but actually seeing him interested in, flirting with, and kissing anyone attractive, regardless of gender.
* The BBC gets away with a lot of adult material and language... I feel a little like I'm watching "Six Feet Under" or "The Sopranos" sometimes, what with all the sex and swearing. Which is good, because I do like the realism, especially for some of the characters. (Owen, for example, would not hold back on his language.)
* The aliens have all seemed properly alien, not just humans with some weird makeup wandering around the set.
Things I am Dubious About in Torchwood:
* I want to say that I am all excited for Ianto/Jack, because it's a canon bisexual pairing, and because I do enjoy watching hot guys make out... but there's something weird about the relationship. Early on in the season, in the episode with Ianto's half-cyberwoman girlfriend (poor Lisa), after everything that happens, Ianto calls Jack "a monster". I don't see enough character development after that to support his sudden "I love you, let's make out" attitude in "End of Days". I mean, thinking that someone's died is often a catalyst to facing your feelings about them, but... it doesn't seem in keeping with the rest of the plot. I do love the idea of the 'ship, but it feels a little PASTED ONYEY.
* The horror episode, "Countrycide", bothered me for quite a while. It felt very over the top, more like a slasher movie than a sci-fi series. And while I do love a good scary movie, I don't like violence for the sake of violence, or gore for the sake of gore. It seems a bit out of keeping with the tone of the rest of the series.
* There are elements of the show that feel... well, fanfic-y. It's hard to pin this down, but there are times when I think, who's writing this, anyway? (The scene where Captain Jack dances with Captain Jack, in particular, was like this for me.)
In summary: I do love the show, and I can't wait to see more. I'd love to see it crossed over with any number of things, the Hellboy mythos (Department of Paranormal Investigation, meet Torchwood!) would be lots of fun. I'd like the writing to be a bit more even, though. Still, can't wait to see more.
"Jekyll" was recommended to us on Netflix because we liked... oh, I forget. I can't fathom their recommendations anyway. But, I liked this modern retelling of the Jekyll and Hyde story. James Nesbitt as the title character was simply fantastic. The murderous and mirthful gleam in his eye as he played Hyde was a thing of beauty. The story itself had been monkeyed with just a tad, but for the most part, the additions were fairly reasonable. The violence/gore in this story was not as over the top for me, because it fit with the story and characters, instead of feeling forced. The twist ending, which I shall not reveal, was all kinds of awesome and completely shook my beliefs about the plot and several of the characters. Highly worth renting, if you're in the mood for something dark and engrossing.
Books:
My Dad, despite our experiences with the first corgi who bit my Mom, loves corgis. On a recent trip to Santa Barbara, in a used bookstore, my Dad found "Finding Mr. Right" with a corgi on the cover, read a few pages, and bought it. He then proceeded to tell me about it in exhaustive detail, as if it were the best book on the face of the planet (has he cracked open the new Thomas Pynchon Mom got him last Christmas? No. But he read "Finding Mr. Right" from cover to cover! Go figure.) The basic plot involves the main character dying in a freak mugging (which, of course, wasn't a freak accident at all) and being reincarnated as a corgi, made to look after her best friend, whose husband said main character was having an affair with when she died. This is a very stupid book. However, I have enjoyed reading it after a long day of studying because it requires almost no brain power whatsoever on my part. Read this if you need something very pointless yet entertaining. I should say that the author has nailed corgi behavior and motivations very well in this book. And biting does occur.
Bride of the Water God: Somewhat in the romance vein, this Korean mahnwa (spelled?) is simply gorgeous: the illustrations are lush and detailed, intricate and languidly attractive. The plot (girl is sacrificed to the water God to help her village, finds herself in the Kingdom of the Gods) is rather confusing and I'm throwing up my hands a little bit at getting all the characters and their motivations straight. I get the feeling that if I knew more about Korean mythology, the story would make a lot more sense. But in the meantime, I can look at all the handsome men, who very often occupy entire pages while saying romantically cryptic things. Well worth a look, although I wish the volumes weren't quite so expensive.
Today, I finally get to see "Persepolis" with my Mom! :)
Movies:
"Cloverfield" was, basically, an movie about panic and stupid things people do during panic. I liked it, but it is not an easy movie to watch. Told from the point of view of forgettable twenty-somethings with a video camera, lots of chutzpah, and not much in the way of common sense, the movie unfolds with a story that's the height of awkward banality--the girl who got away, a party, lots of alcohol, and boring chatter about nothing. But because this is a movie, the audience waited for the other shoe to drop; or in this case, the other head of the statue of Liberty to roll down the street. And what roll down the street it was! Perhaps the funniest shot of the movie comes directly afterwards as people come out of the wreckage, dazed and confused and start snapping photos of the head with their camera phones. The story careens along afterwards with an attempted escape via the Brooklyn Bridge, which collapses, and then a hair-brained scheme is hatched to rescue the girl we saw for barely 5 minutes previously. What follows is chaos, some damn creepy bug monsters (urgh), a few truly gross moments, and hide-and-seek with the monster that's ravaging the city. All in all, a good horror film, and rather realistic, I thought. I think it may end up more intense on the small screen, in keeping with the medium and the reality TV vibe.
DVDs:
Things I Love About Torchwood:
* Tosh! (She's a layered character and I can't wait to see more episodes featuring her. A little digging on IMDB led me to the fact that the actress, Naoko Mori, played Christmas Eve in the London production of "Avenue Q". Needless to say, my love meter for her jumped about 100 notches then.)
* The special effects and makeup really are top notch.
* For the most part, the stories hang together fairly well. The internal consistency of the Torchwood and Dr. Who universes is maintained throughout and nicely, too.
* The final two episodes of the first season were genuinely thrilling and completely surprising.
* The on-going Mulder and Scully jokes about Jack and Gwen.
* The fact that the bisexual character is actually bisexual--not just lip service to the idea that Captain Jack likes men, but actually seeing him interested in, flirting with, and kissing anyone attractive, regardless of gender.
* The BBC gets away with a lot of adult material and language... I feel a little like I'm watching "Six Feet Under" or "The Sopranos" sometimes, what with all the sex and swearing. Which is good, because I do like the realism, especially for some of the characters. (Owen, for example, would not hold back on his language.)
* The aliens have all seemed properly alien, not just humans with some weird makeup wandering around the set.
Things I am Dubious About in Torchwood:
* I want to say that I am all excited for Ianto/Jack, because it's a canon bisexual pairing, and because I do enjoy watching hot guys make out... but there's something weird about the relationship. Early on in the season, in the episode with Ianto's half-cyberwoman girlfriend (poor Lisa), after everything that happens, Ianto calls Jack "a monster". I don't see enough character development after that to support his sudden "I love you, let's make out" attitude in "End of Days". I mean, thinking that someone's died is often a catalyst to facing your feelings about them, but... it doesn't seem in keeping with the rest of the plot. I do love the idea of the 'ship, but it feels a little PASTED ONYEY.
* The horror episode, "Countrycide", bothered me for quite a while. It felt very over the top, more like a slasher movie than a sci-fi series. And while I do love a good scary movie, I don't like violence for the sake of violence, or gore for the sake of gore. It seems a bit out of keeping with the tone of the rest of the series.
* There are elements of the show that feel... well, fanfic-y. It's hard to pin this down, but there are times when I think, who's writing this, anyway? (The scene where Captain Jack dances with Captain Jack, in particular, was like this for me.)
In summary: I do love the show, and I can't wait to see more. I'd love to see it crossed over with any number of things, the Hellboy mythos (Department of Paranormal Investigation, meet Torchwood!) would be lots of fun. I'd like the writing to be a bit more even, though. Still, can't wait to see more.
"Jekyll" was recommended to us on Netflix because we liked... oh, I forget. I can't fathom their recommendations anyway. But, I liked this modern retelling of the Jekyll and Hyde story. James Nesbitt as the title character was simply fantastic. The murderous and mirthful gleam in his eye as he played Hyde was a thing of beauty. The story itself had been monkeyed with just a tad, but for the most part, the additions were fairly reasonable. The violence/gore in this story was not as over the top for me, because it fit with the story and characters, instead of feeling forced. The twist ending, which I shall not reveal, was all kinds of awesome and completely shook my beliefs about the plot and several of the characters. Highly worth renting, if you're in the mood for something dark and engrossing.
Books:
My Dad, despite our experiences with the first corgi who bit my Mom, loves corgis. On a recent trip to Santa Barbara, in a used bookstore, my Dad found "Finding Mr. Right" with a corgi on the cover, read a few pages, and bought it. He then proceeded to tell me about it in exhaustive detail, as if it were the best book on the face of the planet (has he cracked open the new Thomas Pynchon Mom got him last Christmas? No. But he read "Finding Mr. Right" from cover to cover! Go figure.) The basic plot involves the main character dying in a freak mugging (which, of course, wasn't a freak accident at all) and being reincarnated as a corgi, made to look after her best friend, whose husband said main character was having an affair with when she died. This is a very stupid book. However, I have enjoyed reading it after a long day of studying because it requires almost no brain power whatsoever on my part. Read this if you need something very pointless yet entertaining. I should say that the author has nailed corgi behavior and motivations very well in this book. And biting does occur.
Bride of the Water God: Somewhat in the romance vein, this Korean mahnwa (spelled?) is simply gorgeous: the illustrations are lush and detailed, intricate and languidly attractive. The plot (girl is sacrificed to the water God to help her village, finds herself in the Kingdom of the Gods) is rather confusing and I'm throwing up my hands a little bit at getting all the characters and their motivations straight. I get the feeling that if I knew more about Korean mythology, the story would make a lot more sense. But in the meantime, I can look at all the handsome men, who very often occupy entire pages while saying romantically cryptic things. Well worth a look, although I wish the volumes weren't quite so expensive.
Today, I finally get to see "Persepolis" with my Mom! :)
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no subject
Date: 2008-02-15 07:15 pm (UTC)I watch it because I don't think I have EVER seen anything on TV or in a movie that depicts what it really looks like to be bisexual, and convey a lot of what it feels like as well, without it being an exception in time of crisis or having horrible results. They convey both the confusion and the wonder and the thankfulness and the not wanting to be any other way.
I also watch it for the boykissing. I think the Ianto/Jack thing came on too abruptly too, but I also identified VERY STRONGLY with Ianto trying to save his old life and trying to figure out what to do now. Nevertheless, when there is Jack/Ianto kissing, my buddies yell "Aww come on that's not believable!" while I'm yelling "GO BBC GO!" And we can live with that.
Finally, I watch it because Owen is such an amusing dick so much of the time. And because Gwen is adorable.
My predictions: Ianto will take an evil turn, Owen will get himself killed at some point, and I will be sad about both of these things but it'll be fun to watch.
no subject
Date: 2008-02-15 07:38 pm (UTC)*nods* You've said it so well. I'm not bisexual, but I can imagine what a thrill it would be to see someone (or any group of someones) get it so right.
I could see the Jack/Ianto relationship developing, but I wanted a little more exposition before we got there... it seemed out of the blue.
Owen, God, yes. What a dick. He reminds me of someone D. and I used to know and I came to greatly revile. Little does this person know that because of Owen, I'm starting to rethink my opinion of him. I wanted to crawl into the TV and smack him a couple of times, though.
What makes you think Ianto will take an evil turn? (I am curious to hear your speculations.)
And, yes, I agree, heroic and tragic death for Owen, somehow redemptive for himself and others in a major way. I swear, he's almost got a neon sign over his head flashing "Heroic Death Imminent!"
no subject
Date: 2008-02-15 08:05 pm (UTC)I really really enjoy disliking Owen. I find it irritating and marvelous to watch him. You know what _really_ has me worried?
no subject
Date: 2008-02-16 05:01 am (UTC)As for Ianto turning evil, we do know that he was willing to break all protocols and general common sense for someone he cared deeply about. He could turn out to be the Willow of this show.