Finally got around to reading another John Scalzi book, this one being The Human Division. I had heard about this book some time ago – it was published originally online as a series of stories set in the Old Man’s War universe, then consolidated into a book with some extras when it came out in hardcover.

I liked it – it presents effectively the other perspective after the ending of the Old Man’s War trilogy – that of the Colonial Union trying to get Earth back in the fold. And it doesn’t present a straight narrative – kind of jumps around to follow the main characters through different situations – sometimes the transitions are rather abrupt but it still all holds together pretty well.

I also liked that true to form, he tries to inject direct and subtle humor in many places along the way. These days, while I like the crazy, over the top ‘serious’ sci-fi like anyone else, I also appreciate when humor is used – it just softens the tone of a given book and humanizes the characters so much more, IMHO.

One other interesting angle is how he veers around the backstories between the main characters – most usually start out fairly sarcastic or intense – but then he takes the time to make them more three-dimensional – even in very small ways. Nice touch.

While I was disappointed that the ending is rather open-ended, I guess that’s life (not a ‘hollywood ending’) and, it potentially means he’ll revisit stories in this ‘universe’ again in the not-too-distant future.

Now, to read some of his other back catalog of books….

candybowl

here’s where I’ll be, hoping Thu night!

Cinerama – Coming Soon

in the meantime, 3 comics from another person who can’t wait for the new movie…. (keep scrolling)…..

candybowl

So finally got a chance to see Ender’s Game at The Crest last night. I haven’t read the book in some time, but reread it last year (I think?) in anticipation of this movie coming out.

Likes:

All the actors are well cast. Many are not given very much to do save a few lines or scenes, but even with big-name actors such as Harrison Ford and Ben Kingsley in the movie, it balances out well.

The special effects are also well done and convincing – it’s always a bit of a crapshoot with zero-grav stuff in movies (to me, anyway), even with the CGI you now see (as opposed to hidden wires used in the past). It can look too fake (e.g. all the stupid CGI guys running around in Attack of the Clones) or a bit too forced – but here it looks good and doesn’t overpower the plot trying to be ‘amazing’ or anything. By contrast with the recent Gravity, in which nearly the whole movie is in a zero-G environment (and done very, very well) – this movie still holds its own.

I was also glad they didn’t go out of their way to overdo the Formics (‘Buggers’) like was done in Starship Troopers several years ago. While I have quite a number of gripes (unrelated to CGI) about that movie, they really went overboard with bugs, bugs everywhere and making them as horrific and never-ending as possible. Here, they show them only briefly, mostly in spaceships and then the Hive Queen in a few scenes, and she/it is portrayed as a sympathetic figure, just like in the book.

Nitpicks and critical (incl. some spoilers, be forewarned)

OK, on with the usual complaining 🙂

1) They really took out too much of the book, despite Orson Scott Card being heavily involved in the movie’s production, writing, etc. You miss out on most of the alienation and isolation that leads to Ender acting out – you just see a few scenes or dialog that sets it up and then boom, he’s acting out. I also missed the extensive Battle School zero-G drills and wars that the book details at length, and his brother Peter only has one scene here (in the book, he’s not a major character so much as he’s a major influence throughout Ender’s experience, but you surely see a lot more of him there). And even his sister Valentine only has a few scenes herself, and she is arguably a bigger influence on Ender than Peter? And the “mind game” Ender plays on the tablet is much more detailed and longer in the book, and serves as an important backdrop for how the Hive Queen makes mental contact with him and gains his trust. They pay lip service to it here but treat it much more like a dream that he sees several times and then follows in the real world, and that doesn’t quite cut it.

2) They don’t discuss the whole issue of Ender being a Third (in the future, people must obtain permission to have kids, and almost nobody ever goes beyond a second kid, so Ender being a Third makes him stand out – not in a positive way – from the beginning of his life). It is mentioned once at dinner and that’s about it, and never really explained

3) The whole side plot of Valentine and Peter using their skill at debate over the world networks to influence society at large (and ultimately build Peter up into becoming The Hegemon, the world’s ruler) isn’t in this movie at all. Yet it plays a notable role in the book – I think at least a few minutes here and there could have helped add it?

It’s true that were you to include much of what I mention above as missing, you’d likely add at least an hour to the movie at minimum. But I think the story suffers here because of these omissions, and I’m hoping the moviemakers pulled a Peter Jackson and filmed extra footage that can be included on the DVD when released soon. The comparison I’m thinking of here was the second Lord of the Rings movie – The Two Towers. I didn’t like that movie near as much in the theater, because most of it was spent watching people run over mountains, run across meadows, run run run! When the DVD came out, the extended version included almost 40 min. more of plot and scenes that broke all that up much better and rounded out the story much nicer. I could see a similar result with Ender’s Game, provided they made that extra footage while filming the movie.

All in all, I liked the movie and think they did a good job, but it could have been great instead of just good had they included more. Maybe the DVD….?

candybowl

So the summer movie-going season kind of hit a wall in mid-July due to work and other commitments, sadly. But that’s why the DVD was invented, rightl? 🙂 So I finally saw Pacific Rim this afternoon on DVD. While I’m sure the effect of mecha-robots and kaiju slugging it out was diminished somewhat by watching it at home – it was still entertaining.

Likes: – the way the soundtrack draws you in when the battles intensify (this was done well IMHO in other recent movies, notably The Avengers);

– The robots are pretty cool, even if not that original (we’ve seen them all pretty much a zillion times before if you have seen Transformers or any anime mecha from Gundam onward through Evangelion) although I was a bit disappointed the majority of the battles occur at sea rather than on land – gotta smash up those buildings and stomp the people and cars! One of the mecha uses an actual ship as a bat at one point, so that’s pretty cool, too, even if I think they have a bit of a comparative scale issue on that point;

– The actors are all fairly unknown (to me, at least) save Idris Elba, who seems to be really hitting the big time of late. Charlie Day also resembles Sam Rockwell more than a little bit – I was surprised it wasn’t the latter. I’m glad they did it that way and not just have a bunch of big names who demand more money and more screen time – stories like this are about kaiju and the men/women who waste them with huge robots, first and foremost!

– the fact that the robots didn’t just win the war at first go and that the kaiju kept coming back, meaner and more vicious.

And, then the inevitable gripes and spoilers (alert!)

– it’s been pointed out many times over that building big robots to take out big monsters wouldn’t work. Godzilla proved that with Mechagodzilla, and that was guys in rubber suits (and arguably, both characters were bad guys anyway)! Suffice it to say that with mecha, you just have to disbelieve from the word go, or you can’t enjoy it;

– why, oh why don’t the robots simply RIP OFF THE MONSTERS’ HEADS when they fight them? It’s obvious from the start of every fight that trying to punch them out (especially when half submerged in water) DOES NOT WORK. Nor does throwing them around, on the few times they try it. And when you have pilots trained in martial arts and that have flexible swords mounted in the back of the mecha, using those skills and weapons more than as an afterthought *might* make sense – who knew? Again, a boxing match works best on land, and more likely between guys in rubber suits who don’t have the benefit of CGI weapons. 🙂

– the whole thing of the monster shorting out all the mecha in one of the later battles excepting the Gypsy Danger because they were ‘digital’ and it is ‘analog’ is completely bogus. Do you really think that shorting out wires and hardware depends on whether there’s a CPU? The answer is NO. Fried wires and computers are fried, period, guys. Ask any Cylon, old or new.

– there are a few too many ‘fight to the last man’ cliches here, but at least the movie doesn’t drag them out, so they don’t distract *too* much.

– I don’t care how many helicopters you use – there is no way they could lift a mecha like that? But barring some other plot device (like how the Autobots could fly when the plot suited it), not sure how you resolve that one….?

All in all, an entertaining ride, even if not seen on the big screen. Next up, catching Elysium and Oblivion on DVD to finish out summer movies …. three months late!

A final word – throughout this movie I was constantly saying to myself – Gojira would have kicked ALL their a**es! Thankfully we only have to wait until the start of next summer to see it happen……muhhahhah!

candybowl

Obviously!

More war propaganda posters can be seen here. Some are quite ridiculous and have not dated well, including at least one very racist one targeting the Japanese.

candybowl

Well, it’s been awhile since I watched any anime – but what’s cool is that despite having thought I had watched most of the ‘really’ cool series (Initial D, Ghost in the Machine, Cowboy Bebop, etc.) there was still at least one more great one out there – Samurai Champloo. Just watched the last episode today, sad to end it.

This is the next series done by the director of Cowboy Bebop, Shinichirō Watanabe. Completed in 2004, it tells the story of a young girl, Fuu, seeking a ‘samurai who smells of sunflowers’, accompanied by two master swordsman – Mugen (a fairly wild man/criminal type who literally lives on the edge nearly the entire series) and Jin (reserved, quiet dojo master fighter who says little but can clearly handle himself). The two effectively act as Fuu’s bodyguards (not always successfully) for the interesting and sometimes crazy situations that crop up along their journey. The story is set in Japan’s isolationist Edo period (late 1600’s to 1800’s) so it’s a very rural society with only basic firearms becoming available, possibly through limited European influence/trading. The travelers journey for a long time across Japan, ending near Nagasaki.

There are a number of interesting parallels with Cowboy Bebop, if you pay close attention. The three main characters vary wildly in personality and are largely thrown together by circumstance, much like the crew of the Bebop in the earlier show. While the journey of the Bebop is a bit more disjointed, an overwhelming sense of wandering without knowing why, where or how is a strong influence on both series. And the characters of both seem to be running from their past lives while somehow circling back to confront them at the same time. Finally, in thinking about it, I can see where Mugen and Jin are arguably the two halves of Spike Spiegel from Bebop – the crazy wild side that loves to fight and thrives on excitement and conflict (Mugen); and the measured, calculating, quiet side that still retains an edge (Jin).

But there are plenty of new things to enjoy about Samurai Champloo, too. The pervasive influence of music and specifically, hip-hop in the theme and at various intervals where you least expect it. The ability of the stories to relate history while putting a new (sometimes blatantly fictional) spin on it. Ultimately, taking a rather simplistic concept that’s been arguably done many times (Kung Fu, the original Hulk tv series, even Samurai Jack) yet still creating something new and very entertaining.

Like most anime, we don’t get to see *all* the motivations of the main characters – many are left to the imagination. And in the usual anime way, there is endless posturing and one-upmanship that I’m starting to think is just a facet of Japanese society (old or new) – but never having been there, i’ll have to take that one on faith for now. And there are a few cliff jumps in this show that are unbelievable (meaning not possible to survive if you did it) but i’m picking nits here.

In summary, I’d have to conclude Samurai Champloo was a very pleasant surprise as to the quality and entertainment value and ranks among the best anime I’ve seen to date, surely up there with those mentioned above – Check it out if you get the chance!

candybowl

…Buy Adobe! 🙂

candybowl

Went to see Iron Sky at SIFF Uptown last Sunday. This is an interesting movie, for several reasons:

1) It was apparently paid for in part by crowdsourcing – and given the diverse production credits (made by Finns, add’l product Down Under and Germany) that seems about right;

2) It kind of plays as a ‘Steampunk sci-fi epic meets Weekly World News fantasy with the ulltimate villains (Nazis, who else?) thrown in”

3) This may be the only way a certain self-important right-wing freak ever gets her claws on the White House (well, indirectly) – and that’s a good thing!

So in a nutshell, apparently a bunch of Nazis got to the moon and built a base prior to losing WWII, and are ‘discovered’ again by a new (meaning modern, not Apollo era) moon landing. There is a lot of attention paid to little details (actual vintage Beetles hauling them around the huge moonbase, over-fascination with huge ‘revenge weapons’, etc.) and the special effects – done in Lightwave (hooray!) are very good, IMHO. With this discovery, Ze Space Nazi’s now think their cover is blown and that Earth plans an invasion, so naturally it’s so ON, people! Battle(s) ensue and I wasn’t prepared for the ending, either – well done!

The actors are good, even though dialog-wise they are pretty flat and played for satire, not seriousness. Astute viewers will note the Bruno Ganz tribute just into the second act of the film (I won’t spoil it for you but pretty funny), how appropo. And the Spaze Nazi invasion force has to be seen to be believed.

So in summary, if you are looking for a ‘serious’ sci-fi epic – e.g. Prometheus (which was a sizable let-down in the end, see review) – this isn’t it. But it IS very entertaining, well made and worth a relaxing evening if you can catch it while still in art-theaters or later on DVD. Ja voll!

other reviews:
– The Guardian (UK)
– The Hollywood Reporter
– Rotten Tomatoes

candybowl

So to me, Prometheus was another of my highly-anticipated movies this summer.  It has seemingly everything going for it – Ridley Scott as director/creative genius; solid cast (Noomi Rapace, Charlize Theron, Guy Pearce, Idris Elba); plot concepts originally from the ‘Alien‘ movies (well the first two – good, not the later two – lame – nor the even lamer Alien vs. Predator series);  some interesting pre-movie hype (see previous post on Guy Pearce’ fake TED speech); – but the result ended up a bit mixed for me.  SPOILERS BELOW!!!!

First, the good stuff: 

The movie LOOKS AMAZING.  While I’m sure they reaped the rewards of capitalizing on some of Avatar‘s special effects innovations – I personally think this movie simply blows Avatar out of the water visually – despite having a much ‘grayer’ visual look and an obviously much darker theme.  Scott has taken the earlier ‘Alien’ SFX, including the H.R. Giger artwork, and gone to a whole new level.  The ships, action sequences on the planet, the set(s) used for the ship interiors – all of it is just amazing and very realistic-looking.  Another major influence on the visuals has to be Chris Foss – their ship looks like it flew right out of one of CF’s paintings, and the overall effect of ‘tiny man, huge alien spacecraft/planet bases’ is a regular Foss artistic theme.

I also liked the cast.  I think the actors chosen were well-suited and believeable in their roles, despite in many cases not having enough to do or say (see below).  Noomi Rapace looks like a ‘tough Audrey Tatou‘ to me, and Charlize Theron seemed like she was shaping up to be the ‘Ripley character’ – she has nearly the same voice and bad-ass-type bearing as Sigourney Weaver in the first two Alien movies – but her role ends up pretty different than Ripley.  Michael Fassbender is the humanoid robot, kind of a ‘twisted Commander Data’ if you will – because it’s completely obvious from the first scene he’s up to something, and Fassbender has given him a strong dose of soft-spoken malevolence to boot (HAL 9000, anyone?).

The not-so-good:

The Plot – while not near as thin as say, TRON:Legacy was – there are some gaping plot holes here that just don’t make sense or seem inexplicable given the considerable talent and effort that went into this movie.

Example one – what IS Charlize Theron’s real role here – is it as enabler, spoiler or indifferent observer of Guy Pearce’s (Weyland Corp.) dream to discover these aliens?  Is she only in it for a paycheck?  She seems at first to be the person who’s going to end up running the show but that doesn’t happen, and despite several scenes where she’s obviously ‘in charge’ – there are many other critical scenes where she’s nowhere to be found, nor in charge?

Example two – where was the rest of the crew – especially David, who put it in her, when Noomi Rapace is busy using the med-unit to forcibly remove the alien implanted in her body?  Was everyone else taking a nap, or?

Example three – when the ship’s xenobiologist reaches out to actually TOUCH the cobra-like alien swimming around in puddles in the ancient alien ship on the planet – it attacks him.  What did he THINK was going to happen?  This was simply ridiculous to me – of COURSE it was going to attack him and even if it didn’t, no biologist EVER does something SO STUPID without adequate preparations and care?  Especially not one on ANOTHER PLANET.

Example four – I find it hard to believe generally that a private corporation would be the ONLY entity making such an obviously momentous and historic journey to potentially discover Man’s possible ancestors?  No govt’ involvement at all?  This is where movies like Contact and 2001/2010 have simply done a better job on this point, I think.  It seems almost impossible for such discoveries to remain secret if under control by one govt., let alone a private corporation?  Heck, there were actual Marines on the second Alien ship – but here?  Hmmm……not even private mercenaries?

Example five – Guy Pearce’ sudden appearance ON THE SHIP in the latter 3rd of the movie – hel-lo?  And all those ‘extra crew’ that seemingly appeared out of nowhere with him?  Come ON, guys – did everyone cryo-sleep in a secret footlocker for the first half of the movie?

Another aspect was simply ‘not enough explanation’ – the whole opening sequence is a complete mystery without a bit more info?  There was some interesting speculation in the IMDB faq on the movie, but it’s unconfirmed.  Maybe on the DVD later this year….

I guess in summary, not unlike TRON:Legacy of a couple years ago, this movie fulfills in many ways, but in some key ways, is simply flawed, given its implied mission as a ‘big thoughts’ kind of movie – If I compare it to say, The Avengers – I have to say that in some ways, The Avengers is more entertaining, but it’s also a silly superhero movie, so you don’t take it seriously in the first place.  It is probably harder to reach for bigger meaning in a movie – but when you do, you have to deliver, or it’s going to be more obvious you haven’t.

candybowl

So having already seen The Avengers – I was able to get last year’s Captain America movie on DVD and watch that a few days ago.  Same Captain America as that movie (Chris Evans, formerly The Human Torch) and my previous comments still pretty much apply here – CE plays it pretty straight, and Hugo Weaving is a great bad guy as Red Skull.  There were only a few flaws in my opinion, namely:

1) Chris Evans is the voice of Cap the entire movie, although the first portion of the movie has him being 19 years old and trying to get drafted despite a number of physical ailments – the adult voice simply doesn’t fit with a nineteen year old – it just sounds ‘off’.

2) essentially same comment for what must be CGI grafting CE’s head onto another actor’s body.  The kid’s body seen in the early part of the movie is obviously NOT that of Chris Evans, and the head looks a bit out of proportion to it.  I’m pretty sure they shot the scenes with another body actor, then grafted in CE’s head and dialogue using CGI, until it was time for him to emerge from the ‘super soldier’ experiment, at which point it’s his actual body.  Nice try, but doesn’t quite work – see TRON: Legacy on how to pull something like this off far more effectively.

This was a decent run-up to The Avengers – as seen with the first Iron Man, there was a teaser Avengers intro at the end of the credits here, too.

Other views:

Rotten Tomatoes

MSN

candybowl