reviews: a couple of books, a bunch of movies
Beowulf - I'd forgotten how blatantly Christian this poem is, albeit a rather more muscular Christianity than that of Sir Gawain & the Green Knight. Had also forgotten the number of deaths. There's a lot of them, which I suppose is not unexpected when the bad guys are really big, really mean monsters. Was a little surprised by how forthright Beowulf is about his past deeds and how confident he is of his abilities--makes Gawain look even more self-effacing in comparison. Overall, a quick read and quite enjoyable.
Bryant and May on the Loose - I read this because one of the blurbs on the back said it was reminiscent of Jasper Fforde, but it really isn't. There's a superficial resemblance to the Nursery Crime series, but only in that it's about the "Peculiar Crimes Unit" which has been shut down because of a disregard for politics and standard policy. It lacks the quirkiness of Fforde's series and the engaging characters (like Ashley! who is probably my favorite alien after the Doctor) and the insane plots. And the jokes. There aren't really any jokes.
Rates an "eh", I'd say.
Star Trek XI - Well, it was very shiny. But the story felt like it was stuck on fast-forward and we didn't get to see any real interaction between the characters, aside from a few scenes like the one where Bones chases Kirk around the Enterprise with hypospray/whatchamacallit in hand. Also, it kept reminding me of Galaxy Quest. A lot. As in, my dad and I kept quoting lines from it at the appropriate points. So, fun, but nothing special. I did manage to sit all the way through it, though, which was more than I expected.
Sherlock Holmes - Watched it again, and then the good parts version (which was hard, because it's pretty much all good bits) and I think I'll watch it again tomorrow if mom hasn't taken it back to Blockbuster yet, and maybe Iron Man too, just for good measure. And then reread all the books in preparation for reading all the Mary Russell books in order to decide whether to keep them or not. Watching the movie reminded me of how poorly Watson is treated in those books--as the bumbling, somewhat doddering uncle, which he shouldn't be. Isn't. Whatever. Watson is Holmes's only real friend, which says something for how awesome Watson must be. Should be. Is.
And now I really want to write that crossover where Batman takes place in Victorian London instead of Gotham, and Holmes gets involved somehow. Maybe after everything else is done . . . which could be a rather long time. *looks at WIP list and weeps*
Transformers 2 - Better than I'd thought it would be, but the fight scenes were hard to watch, mainly because my brain just didn't know how to interpret all the flailing metal. They did a decent job of making it clear how easily the humans could be squished. Plot was formulaic and utterly predictable, but that's to be expected. Um. Again, fun, but nothing special. (Although for once I didn't want to slap Shia What's-his-face just on principle.) Did like how they portrayed the military--very reminiscent of SG-1 when they were paying attention to that kind of thing. (There's got to be a crossover or two somewhere.)
More
imaginarybeasts, but I'm too tired to include summary/reactions/whatzits. Um. Ghost stories, with various twists. Not a genre I'm a big fan of, but I liked these:
the haunting of the hell house on the hill
the tiger's name
lest auld acquaintance be forgot
love and hunting
bad moon rising
Okay. That's done. Now for Five things Rodney would never, EVER say, but that he knows are true, then email, then bed. am so very very tired
Bryant and May on the Loose - I read this because one of the blurbs on the back said it was reminiscent of Jasper Fforde, but it really isn't. There's a superficial resemblance to the Nursery Crime series, but only in that it's about the "Peculiar Crimes Unit" which has been shut down because of a disregard for politics and standard policy. It lacks the quirkiness of Fforde's series and the engaging characters (like Ashley! who is probably my favorite alien after the Doctor) and the insane plots. And the jokes. There aren't really any jokes.
Rates an "eh", I'd say.
Star Trek XI - Well, it was very shiny. But the story felt like it was stuck on fast-forward and we didn't get to see any real interaction between the characters, aside from a few scenes like the one where Bones chases Kirk around the Enterprise with hypospray/whatchamacallit in hand. Also, it kept reminding me of Galaxy Quest. A lot. As in, my dad and I kept quoting lines from it at the appropriate points. So, fun, but nothing special. I did manage to sit all the way through it, though, which was more than I expected.
Sherlock Holmes - Watched it again, and then the good parts version (which was hard, because it's pretty much all good bits) and I think I'll watch it again tomorrow if mom hasn't taken it back to Blockbuster yet, and maybe Iron Man too, just for good measure. And then reread all the books in preparation for reading all the Mary Russell books in order to decide whether to keep them or not. Watching the movie reminded me of how poorly Watson is treated in those books--as the bumbling, somewhat doddering uncle, which he shouldn't be. Isn't. Whatever. Watson is Holmes's only real friend, which says something for how awesome Watson must be. Should be. Is.
And now I really want to write that crossover where Batman takes place in Victorian London instead of Gotham, and Holmes gets involved somehow. Maybe after everything else is done . . . which could be a rather long time. *looks at WIP list and weeps*
Transformers 2 - Better than I'd thought it would be, but the fight scenes were hard to watch, mainly because my brain just didn't know how to interpret all the flailing metal. They did a decent job of making it clear how easily the humans could be squished. Plot was formulaic and utterly predictable, but that's to be expected. Um. Again, fun, but nothing special. (Although for once I didn't want to slap Shia What's-his-face just on principle.) Did like how they portrayed the military--very reminiscent of SG-1 when they were paying attention to that kind of thing. (There's got to be a crossover or two somewhere.)
More
imaginarybeasts, but I'm too tired to include summary/reactions/whatzits. Um. Ghost stories, with various twists. Not a genre I'm a big fan of, but I liked these:the haunting of the hell house on the hill
the tiger's name
lest auld acquaintance be forgot
love and hunting
bad moon rising
Okay. That's done. Now for Five things Rodney would never, EVER say, but that he knows are true, then email, then bed. am so very very tired