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Book Recs/Comic Recs/Movie Recs, 11/25/09
Sunday, October 25th, 2009 03:07 pmIn books:
The Grift, by Debra Ginsberg: Yesterday, we spent all day waiting in the Sears Automotive Center for our tires to be fixed and our engine tuned up. Thank the Powers That Be that I had this wonderful book to keep me company! The plot is a twist on the traditional fake-psychic-is-a-real-psychic story; the setting is San Diego (and very well-written, to boot); and Ginsberg handles the large cast of characters with excellent pacing and storytelling. Apparently, she's a local author, which has me eager to meet her and ask (hopefully non-stalker-sounding) all sorts of plot- and writing-specific questions.
Dead and Gone, by Charlaine Harris: Honestly, I am growing rather tired of the Sookie-Bill-Eric Love Triangle of Angst. Fortunately, there's a lot in this book that's *not* about that, which is a good thing. OTOH, the stuff which is not that is frankly... depressing and scary. Our heroine learns more about her supernatural family, only to find herself in terrible danger; a once good-but-misguided friend fully goes over to the dark side; and the more I learn about the werewolf/werepanther community in this world, the more thankful I am that I'm not a part of it. (Not that I had aspirations to be a were-anything; I just find her depiction of these characters more and more creepy with each passing volume.) Where the next volume is going is anyone's guess. I really hope there are some more lighthearted moments, and more times when Sookie is genuinely happy with the way things are going in her life.
It's inevitable to compare the books to the show. True Blood is a cheesy, guilty pleasure, which is often full of unnecessary nudity (and not nearly enough nudity of the right characters, if you know what I mean), mayhem, and a villain who was actually rather terrifying (A Maenad, in real life? Not pretty, and very, very life-threatening.) There are also some major deviations from the plot in the books, which have worked well, for the most part. The books, OTOH, have a more serious tone and while they've got some very well-written smut, they're not nearly as cheesy as HBO lets things get. I like both versions, although I'm going to come down on the side of Harris' original works because they've had much longer to take root in my mind.
In Comics:
Nightschool, Volume II, art/words by Svetlana Chmakova: A lot of times, the second volume after a dynamite first installment flops; there's exposition that needs to be stretched out, relationships that need to be deepened, etc. etc. Chmakova's second volume doesn't seem quite as exciting as her first, but I don't particularly mind because I know she's keeping a close eye on all the dispirit plot elements and I have a strong feeling they're all going to pay off in big and unexpected ways. Artistic highlights of this installment include glorious visuals a tour of the school itself and Alex's use of her astral (think a sort of Pullman-esque daemon, but without the talking and animals) to save herself from a fall. Still highly recommended, especially because what's coming next is going to be AWESOME.
Locke & Key, Volume II, words by Joe Hill, art by Gabriel Rodriguez: I want to give Hill and Rodriguez credit for writing and illustrating a particular plot element pitch-perfectly: ( Spoilers ahoy! ) This second book in the series forces its characters to reflect on what's important to them in the most creepy and human of ways. The scare factor in this installment isn't of the in-your-face! variety, but it's lurking in the background, subtle and subdued, biding its time. Brilliant character building and (literally) mental landscape building.
In Movies:
From the San Diego Asian Film Festival:
First Squandron: A collaboration between Japanese and Russian filmmakers, this film combines documentary footage and anime, and the dialogue is almost entirely in Russian (with one very brief exception.) The plot centers around the stage of WWII where the Nazi and Russian leaders were attempting to settle the conflict with supernatural means. And as unbelievable as that sounds, it apparently *did* happen: the Nazis tried to summon the spirits of dead warrior to add to their ranks, while the Russians tried to send special agents to the Afterlife to do... something. The anime footage tells the story of Nadya, a special agent who has been sent to the Afterlife to recruit her dead friends and deal with the ghost of 13th century warrior the Nazis have summoned; the documentary footage features veterans from both sides describing the grisly and terrible combat that ensued in real life and the efforts of both sides to court the supernatural. The best part of this film is a sequence where the characters in the Afterlife know that they have to break into the "real" world to aid their friend, and that she will leave a clue to show them the way. They find the one ride in an abandoned amusement park that's lit up and get on. What follows next is a roller coaster ride through the heroine's subconscious as she tries to channel them, and this sequence was worth the entire price of admission. This is definitely a unique film, and it's not getting a lot of press, so I'd urge people who are interested in this sort of subject matter to actively seek it out. (Netflix?)
Mushi-shi: The live action version of the anime/manga turned out to be very strong, if a little long. It also made me very sorry that I had not taken the chance to visit Hokkaido when I lived in Japan. Such gorgeous landscapes which fitted perfectly with the atmosphere and tone of the story. The special effects, too, were simple but effective. I could believe there were supernatural creatures living in those trees and mountains, in the snow and in the sky, and in rivers and rocks. As the mushi-shi Ginko, I thought Joh Odagiri did a fine job, understated but powerful. Yuu Aoi was superb as Tanyu; she has great presence and timing. I can see how this film would be rather confusing to new viewers, although many of the complicated concepts that the series has were very simplified. Still, well worth seeing on the big screen, if you get the chance.
The Grift, by Debra Ginsberg: Yesterday, we spent all day waiting in the Sears Automotive Center for our tires to be fixed and our engine tuned up. Thank the Powers That Be that I had this wonderful book to keep me company! The plot is a twist on the traditional fake-psychic-is-a-real-psychic story; the setting is San Diego (and very well-written, to boot); and Ginsberg handles the large cast of characters with excellent pacing and storytelling. Apparently, she's a local author, which has me eager to meet her and ask (hopefully non-stalker-sounding) all sorts of plot- and writing-specific questions.
Dead and Gone, by Charlaine Harris: Honestly, I am growing rather tired of the Sookie-Bill-Eric Love Triangle of Angst. Fortunately, there's a lot in this book that's *not* about that, which is a good thing. OTOH, the stuff which is not that is frankly... depressing and scary. Our heroine learns more about her supernatural family, only to find herself in terrible danger; a once good-but-misguided friend fully goes over to the dark side; and the more I learn about the werewolf/werepanther community in this world, the more thankful I am that I'm not a part of it. (Not that I had aspirations to be a were-anything; I just find her depiction of these characters more and more creepy with each passing volume.) Where the next volume is going is anyone's guess. I really hope there are some more lighthearted moments, and more times when Sookie is genuinely happy with the way things are going in her life.
It's inevitable to compare the books to the show. True Blood is a cheesy, guilty pleasure, which is often full of unnecessary nudity (and not nearly enough nudity of the right characters, if you know what I mean), mayhem, and a villain who was actually rather terrifying (A Maenad, in real life? Not pretty, and very, very life-threatening.) There are also some major deviations from the plot in the books, which have worked well, for the most part. The books, OTOH, have a more serious tone and while they've got some very well-written smut, they're not nearly as cheesy as HBO lets things get. I like both versions, although I'm going to come down on the side of Harris' original works because they've had much longer to take root in my mind.
In Comics:
Nightschool, Volume II, art/words by Svetlana Chmakova: A lot of times, the second volume after a dynamite first installment flops; there's exposition that needs to be stretched out, relationships that need to be deepened, etc. etc. Chmakova's second volume doesn't seem quite as exciting as her first, but I don't particularly mind because I know she's keeping a close eye on all the dispirit plot elements and I have a strong feeling they're all going to pay off in big and unexpected ways. Artistic highlights of this installment include glorious visuals a tour of the school itself and Alex's use of her astral (think a sort of Pullman-esque daemon, but without the talking and animals) to save herself from a fall. Still highly recommended, especially because what's coming next is going to be AWESOME.
Locke & Key, Volume II, words by Joe Hill, art by Gabriel Rodriguez: I want to give Hill and Rodriguez credit for writing and illustrating a particular plot element pitch-perfectly: ( Spoilers ahoy! ) This second book in the series forces its characters to reflect on what's important to them in the most creepy and human of ways. The scare factor in this installment isn't of the in-your-face! variety, but it's lurking in the background, subtle and subdued, biding its time. Brilliant character building and (literally) mental landscape building.
In Movies:
From the San Diego Asian Film Festival:
First Squandron: A collaboration between Japanese and Russian filmmakers, this film combines documentary footage and anime, and the dialogue is almost entirely in Russian (with one very brief exception.) The plot centers around the stage of WWII where the Nazi and Russian leaders were attempting to settle the conflict with supernatural means. And as unbelievable as that sounds, it apparently *did* happen: the Nazis tried to summon the spirits of dead warrior to add to their ranks, while the Russians tried to send special agents to the Afterlife to do... something. The anime footage tells the story of Nadya, a special agent who has been sent to the Afterlife to recruit her dead friends and deal with the ghost of 13th century warrior the Nazis have summoned; the documentary footage features veterans from both sides describing the grisly and terrible combat that ensued in real life and the efforts of both sides to court the supernatural. The best part of this film is a sequence where the characters in the Afterlife know that they have to break into the "real" world to aid their friend, and that she will leave a clue to show them the way. They find the one ride in an abandoned amusement park that's lit up and get on. What follows next is a roller coaster ride through the heroine's subconscious as she tries to channel them, and this sequence was worth the entire price of admission. This is definitely a unique film, and it's not getting a lot of press, so I'd urge people who are interested in this sort of subject matter to actively seek it out. (Netflix?)
Mushi-shi: The live action version of the anime/manga turned out to be very strong, if a little long. It also made me very sorry that I had not taken the chance to visit Hokkaido when I lived in Japan. Such gorgeous landscapes which fitted perfectly with the atmosphere and tone of the story. The special effects, too, were simple but effective. I could believe there were supernatural creatures living in those trees and mountains, in the snow and in the sky, and in rivers and rocks. As the mushi-shi Ginko, I thought Joh Odagiri did a fine job, understated but powerful. Yuu Aoi was superb as Tanyu; she has great presence and timing. I can see how this film would be rather confusing to new viewers, although many of the complicated concepts that the series has were very simplified. Still, well worth seeing on the big screen, if you get the chance.
