Just finished Neil Gaiman's The Ocean at the End of the Lane. Gaiman hasn't written a bad book in his life and has quietly become one of the best writers of his generation. This short novel is magic and is sort of part of the same world American Gods existed in. I'd recommend it to basically anybody literate.

WanderingWind said:

Just finished Neil Gaiman's The Ocean at the End of the Lane. Gaiman hasn't written a bad book in his life and has quietly become one of the best writers of his generation. This short novel is magic and is sort of part of the same world American Gods existed in. I'd recommend it to basically anybody literate.

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The feeling of childhood that it evokes is unrivalled by really any other book I've read.

The fear, the wonder, the sense of loss and nostalgia pervading the entire recollection, but also the ceaseless hope.

It is absolutely the best fairy tale for adults I've ever read.

campfireweekend said:

The feeling of childhood that it evokes is unrivalled by really any other book I've read.

The fear, the wonder, the sense of loss and nostalgia pervading the entire recollection, but also the ceaseless hope.

It is absolutely the best fairy tale for adults I've ever read.

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The gray thing that was Ursula Monkton is a childhood nightmare brought to life. Creepy, cunning and entirely unbeatable by the hero. Great stuff.

Three Days to Kill

My neighbor wanted to see this last night, instead of Robocop, and I decided why the hell not, since he was paying. I knew almost nothing about this film. The moment I saw McG as the director, I knew exactly where to place my expectations, and hot damn, it met those low expectations. I enjoy his works, even though I know most of them could be consider poorly-written shite, but something about his handling of a film entertains me greatly. The second season of Chuck is the only thing I consider truly phenomenal from this man.

Three Days to Kill is everything you would expect from a McG's production: out-of-place funny dialogue, horrible writing, moments where you are going 'Why are you doing this in public?! People are watching you kidnap a dude!!!!!', horribly unrealistic moments that break every form of immersion, cheesy interactions between characters, and enjoyable action moments. But god damn, even if the film is bad, I enjoyed the ride.

★★

Necrovex said:

Three Days to Kill

My neighbor wanted to see this last night, instead of Robocop, and I decided why the hell not, since he was paying. I knew almost nothing about this film. The moment I saw McG as the director, I knew exactly where to place my expectations, and hot damn, it met those low expectations. I enjoy his works, even though I know most of them could be consider poorly-written shite, but something about his handling of a film entertains me greatly. The second season of Chuck is the only thing I consider truly phenomenal from this man.

Three Days to Kill is everything you would expect from a McG's production: out-of-place funny dialogue, horrible writing, moments where you are going 'Why are you doing this in public?! People are watching you kidnap a dude!!!!!', horribly unrealistic moments that break every form of immersion, cheesy interactions between characters, and enjoyable action moments. But god damn, even if the film is bad, I enjoyed the ride.

★★

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I agree with all of this. I thought it was going to be hot garbage....but ended up immensely enjoying the film for a reason I can't quite put my finger on.

One Piece: Baron Omatsuri and the Secret Island. (Film Sixth)

Mamoru Hosoda is the director (Wolf Children, Summer Wars, and A Girl Who Leapt Through Time). I expected quality, and hot damn did I get that quality. I am a moderate One Piece fan, I have been playing catch up for the last couple of years. I still haven't even seen the famous Impel Dawn arc! I never bothered to watch an One Piece film before, since I hate all forms of fillers when it comes to shonen proprieties. I only watch this due to Hosoda. I am certainly going to the show now due to Hosoda (Bravo!).

There are a few noteworthy elements, first the artstyle. Hosoda certainly implements his type of artistry onto the One Piece world, and it shines through. Some will complain about how it looks, but it complements the universe very well. The show is often plagued with budget constraint and cheap animation, so I am happy One Piece finally got the art style and budget it deserved.

Another aspect is the tone; this film is extremely dark, in comparison with the TV series. There has been dark moments in the early parts of One Piece, but nothing as despair-worthy as in this film. Side note: Does the TV show ever get this dark? The final arc is just heart-wrenching to watch. I would recommend anyone interested in animation to check out Hosoda's take on One Piece.

★★★★

WanderingWind said:

Just finished Neil Gaiman's The Ocean at the End of the Lane. Gaiman hasn't written a bad book in his life and has quietly become one of the best writers of his generation. This short novel is magic and is sort of part of the same world American Gods existed in. I'd recommend it to basically anybody literate.

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It might not be bad, but I still didn't like American Gods!

Mumei said:

It might not be bad, but I still didn't like American Gods!

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I think you're my polar opposite Mums. American Gods is a modern fantasy masterpiece!

Mumei said:

It might not be bad, but I still didn't like American Gods!

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The only book in recent memory that I actively stopped reading on purpose.

I saw a collection of short movies Friday. Can I count that as one?

American Gods was average, at best. I gave it three stars last year, and in hindsight that was one star too many.

What an unlikable protagonist.

I really like Gaiman in general, but wasn't very fond of American Gods either. I liked the concept (although he did similar themes in Sandman a lot better!) but it dragged way too much. Wish it had been a shorter novel.

21. Beasts of the Southern Wild

No film I've seen this year so far has left me as divided as Beasts of the Southern Wild. I recognize that it's a creative feat made on a small budget with inexperienced actors by a fellow Wesleyan University alumnus. And credit should be given to Quvenzhané Wallis for her performance in the film; she exhibits an uncommon steely strength that is perfectly suited to a character who lives on the edge of existence. And it shines a reminding light on the devastation that Hurricane Katrina left on Louisiana. But I can't help but feel like it's portraying surviving on the edge of existence amidst crippling poverty like such whimsical fun full of fanciful things like prehistoric animals trapped in glaciers and names like "Hushpuppy" and boats made from discarded things like they were living in Fat Albert's junkyard.

I understand that the point of the whimsy is that the film is filtered through Hushpuppy's childish eyes. But the film felt patronizing and condescending, glorying in how these outsiders decide to stay outside of society to their detriment and ultimate ruination. Steely self-determination and independence are something to be admired unless you start dragging children into the mess with you. Wink, Hushpuppy's alcoholic and sometimes physically and oftentimes verbally abusive father, tells Hushpuppy that she will be the King of Bathtub, which will ultimately amount to nothing more than a pile of dirt. Wink, as her father, sets that as his daughter's aspirational goal, and that seems wrong. And the film seems to romanticize that she and the other residents of The Bathtub are doomed Noble Savages, whether it's the wacky raid that Wink leads on the levee that protects the city beyond from seawater (and traps The Bathub in it) or the abuse that Wink and the other residents hurl at social workers and public health workers .

There's one scene that continues to bug me. At a celebratory dinner after fellow survivors of a storm have gathered at a table to drink booze and eat fresh crabs. It's a scene of unity, everyone eating and drinking happily, as if their joy is in defiance of nature's attempt to destroy them and their community. One of the grown white males attempts to show Hushpuppy how to use a knife to open a crab to extract the meat. Hink sees this and explodes, as if his authority as Hushpuppy's father had been undermined. He screams at Hushpuppy to "Beast it," to break the crab open in half with her bare hands and suck the meat out. Hushpuppy is terrified into compliance; the other adults join Wink's chant to "Beast it."

Wink tells Hushpuppy at one point that his life is difficult because he has to worry about her not dying and to prepare for an uncertain future. He displays his "great parenting skills" this by yelling at her almost constantly, scaring her more than the storm that wrecks The Bathtub, occasionally hitting her, and drinking every moment he can. Hushpuppy recounts that she can count on one hand the number of times she's been lifted up. He's a wild man in a long line of black male characters who are wild men, and he's raising a wild child daughter who is better suited for the unruly nature of the Gulf of Mexico than even a temporary classroom with other children in a recovery shelter. She is to be admired because she is more pure and more closely attuned to nature, the perfect Noble Savage equipped with wide eyes and a shock of hair to charm us into acceptance, or at least forgetting that she and the other girls who stand beside her at the film's conclusion face devastating poverty.

Then there's the heavenly bar/brothel where Hushpuppy's mother possibly lives and works as a cook. You can draw an assumption based on the film's magical realism that Hushpuppy found a boat to take her to where she needs to go to find her mother. It's not clear why Hushpuppy's peers join her in this trip. It's heavenly except for the fact that it advertises "Girls! Girls! Girls!" on its outer walls. Women emerge from the haze in the bar/brothel like predators, but they embrace the Hushpuppy's peers and slow-dance with them. Hushpuppy's mother goes unnamed throughout the film; Wink does all he can to erase her from history. The woman in the bar/brothel who could be Hushpuppy's mother is also unnamed; the filmmakers have decided that we don't need to know who she is.

There are better narratives about the devastation that followed Hurricane Katrina (for the factual, Spike Lee's documentary When the Levees Broke or Darren Martinez's Hellp, for the fictional David Simon and Eric Overmyer's Treme) without resorting to cliches about black wild men and Noble Savages. Whatever "sheer, improbable joy" that exists in this film is mitigated by its underlying darkness. In the end, we're left to speculate about all the pain and occasional joy that Hushpuppy will experience in her life, abandoned by her parents in a dying community. But hey, at least she gets to be happy in the wilderness.

22. Lincoln

I find myself with very little to say about Steven Spielberg's Lincoln compared to Beasts of the Southern Wild. It tears down some of the mythology that has been erected around Abraham Lincoln even as it shows him at work to build consensus and manipulate the sequence of events in order to secure the passage of the Thirteenth Amendment. It's probably the best film about American politics, which isn't saying much, since the length process of creating consensus (or, at least, securing a majority of votes) takes time and is probably better suited for television.

For the most part, it's a darkly lit film, and it feels closer to a Broadway play than a film despite the battle scenes sprinkled throughout. Daniel Day-Lewis captivates your attention with the humanity that he builds into the performance. The camera movement during the Congressional debates vitalizes scenes of raucous, ad hominem-laced debates about the validity of the Thirteenth Amendment.

The subplot about Robert doesn't go very far, and Sally Field tries her best to imbue a similar humanity to Mary Todd Lincoln, consumed by grief over the death of her son. Where the politics were subtle and sublime, Abraham Lincoln's relationship with his wife only portrays a hint of its complexity.

Given that we all know Lincoln's fate, I thought the film could have ended a few scenes earlier, when we watch him walk to his doom after he tells his Cabinet and servant that he wished he could have stayed longer, but it was time for him to go. I feared that Spielberg would allow his sentimental streak to disrupt the subtlety required, but he created a perfect tone.

A Human Becoming said:

I saw a collection of short movies Friday. Can I count that as one?

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Go for it. I count short story collections as one.

Lumiere said:

I really like Gaiman in general, but wasn't very fond of American Gods either. I liked the concept (although he did similar themes in Sandman a lot better!) but it dragged way too much. Wish it had been a shorter novel.

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I think Gaiman definitely benefits from working from a more limited scope.

Finally another update of mine. Am on a little bit of a 80s Slasher trip right now. Unfortunatley lacking behind in the book department due to me focusing on writing one myself, so not that much time for reading. II try to squeeze one in here and there though.


Books
01 Aka Morchiladze - Journey to Karabakh ★★★★
It is surely an interesting book, that didn’t quite grab me on first sight, but eventually unraveled in front of me and I now can say, that Journey to Karabakh is fantastic. Maybe not entirely in its story, but definitely in its ideas.

What is one’s home? Where you live or where you were born? The place you are happy at? It’s an riveting question and Morchiladze captures it with the tale of the young georgian Gio, who struggles with those very questions on a journey through Azerbaijan/Armenia, war-riddled countries and at the end might not get an answer.

My favourite part of the book is probably the depiction of this struggle and how Gio can’t get a hold of the place he personally wants to be. The people around him don’t understand him, taking him for granted, but he also doesn’t want to communicate with them. It’s a vicious circle and only in Gio’s own catastrophe he can express this in some way. Both sad and tragic Morchiladze uses the backdrop of the said region (1992), unhinged by the collapse of the soviet union to find the very nature of identity and belonging.

To make a greater effort to emphasize a possible metaphorical level (as another review I’ve read suggested), my knowlegde on this conflict back in 1992 and the cultural struggle and meaning is by far not enough, so I will leave it at that for know.

02 Nino Haratischwili - Zorn ★★★★
Depicting the lifes of 8 seemingly random people in the play Zorn by Nino Haratischwili, it is in search for the meaning of life goals and decisions, our deepest desires and the caducity of our memories while struggling in the face of the present and unsure future. It is rather short, but powerful in its depressive tone giving us only a small glimpse of hope, a lecture and an opportunity to reflect upon our own life. The characters in Zorn are lost beyond rescue, estranged from their partners and friends, facing a wall, they can’t cross.

The dialogue is very interesting, playing on the miscommunication of the various characters. At times they are talking over each others head, being self-absorbed, then they seem to become one voice alltogether. One particular scene is memorable, when one of the characters gives us his thoughts about the price of happiness, fulfillment and the idea, that one has to suffer, so another one can be happy. It’s pretty dark, but fascinating, especially considering that at the end no one is happy, quite the opposite. These are the people that suffered. Who made the wrong choices. Whether there are other people who had reason to celebrate, to be happy, is left unanswered.

Normally I’m not the biggest fan of stories, that try to force such interconnectivity between characters upon the reader, but in this case it might have worked just enough to not be distracting, instead spinning a web of failures and lost souls who were crushed by the weight of their past choices.

Movies


04 Evil Dead (2013) ★★★½
05 My Bloody Valentine ★★★½
06 Terror Train ★★★
07 Prom Night ★★½
08 Sleepaway Camp ★
09 Slumber Party Massacre ★★★
10 The Prowler ★★★
11 The Burning ★★★
12 April Fools Day ★★

Especially in regards to Sleepaway Camp I have to add some remarks, since this film is truely special. The one star rating is more due to its factual badness
, because on a fun-scale it's right up there with the very best. The worst acting ever and a more than memorable nightmarish endings will make this worth your time. If you have not already, watch it!

Except for the rather dull April Fools Day, those were all enjoyable, Especially the original My Bloody Valentine is actually a genuinely good movie.

I was predisposed to like American Gods, but I didn't. (Unlikable protagonist tho?)

I really thought the climax didn't really work very well. Imho, Gaiman's only long-form work I really, really liked was Sandman. But his short stories are great.

Been a while since my last update! Finished all of these books this week. Started and finished Salinger in 24 hours. 'Twas a quick one.

lastflowers - 15/50 books | 17/50 movies

Books:

• Gene Wolfe - Latro In the Mist ★★★½ (630) [4271]
• Harold Bloom - The Shadow of a Great Rock ★★½ (298) [4569]
• David Cowart - Thomas Pynchon & the Dark Passages of History ★★★★½ (212) [4781]
• J.D. Salinger - 9 Stories ★★★ (298) [5079]
• Thomas Pynchon - Gravity's Rainbow ★★★★★ (676) [5755]

Gravity's rainbow nearly killed me. My mind oozed, melting like butter; it was tossed up and smooshed like spaghetti; fried and served scrambled on a hot summer day waiting for the breeze to pass; my mind lay flaccid, inert, wishing it could act more and demand to be paid more attention but instead wallowing around drunken, stupefied, yearning for a day where it could think again without looking for Them, out there, controlling us all like marionettes in a shadow game, a toy mine-field in your mind and in reality, clasping the slatted windows of a S&M orgy where you sit submissive yet somewhat wanting the punishment. The plastic, erect synthetic brushes over your skin and touches you just where you want it, but runs away in the night in a costume, a sloth-induced adenoid searching for all the cocaine to gobble up--SNORT SNORT--you go gallivanting on the ship seducing the nubiles, 10, 12 years old, whatever, their thin white paled legs bent like scum-induced rocketfuel, discharging and dispersing heat, the childhood merrygoround with Hanzel & Gretel, like Peter Pan, never wanting to grow up. Is that person there your friend or is he ratting you out, you abandoner, you, pavlovian sun of a light bulb lasting too long for Control's comfort, searching you out and sticking you in a god-forsaken pit, you can't give the Grid hope, you, no you can't you're stuck saving the octopus from the V-2 now that you can hear it. Your neighbors dead but you lay fallow, now erect, going for seconds.

Latro in the Mist was an interesting two-book set, though apparently there is a third 'book' in the series that finishes it off. I enjoy the conceit of forgetting short-term memory, and Latro's inability to tie together everything that is happening becomes less novel over time. Luckily, Wolfe counteracts this with his mystical visitations with the Gods. As a result, trading his ability to remember results in an ability that separates this fantasy novel from most that I've read. Wolfe continues to be one of the few fantasy/Sci-Fi writers I genuinely enjoy, though I've only read the novels of his that have been recommended to me.

Bloom's literary approach to the King James Bible seems to have been wasted on me, having not read the KJB. However, I took it as a historical and background piece to set up my (attempt at) reading the Bible later this year. He contrasts the KJB with the Geneva translation and other translations commissioned/made around the same time period. Also, as a Jewish citizen, he offers an interesting viewpoint into the various potential real-life authors of the novels based on writing style. I'll probably re-read each relevant chapter as I go through the Bible later this year.

9 Stories was a collection of short stories, some were good...others were boring. It certainly offers more insight into the author, and the war's impact on him psychologically. It's quite clear that he's witnessed some horrific events, and many of the protagonists deal with the psychological aftermath.

Cowart's critical collection of essays chronicle Pynchon's works. Having read most of his novels now, I've finished the book and will re-read portions as I (attempt to) read Vineland and Against the Day later this year. Reading each essay before, during, and after the novel helps me contextualize the historical aspects of Pynchon's novels. As a result, Pynchon's seemingly random events are actually grounded, and thus during my first time through his novels I remain at least mostly cognizant of what is happening both in the immediate scene and the surrounding scenes. This collection of essays is very solid, and I'd suggest anyone wishing to read Pynchon's works to grab this alongside to help contextualize the novels. I certainly wish I had it during Mason & Dixon. Admittedly, a lot of solid essays are out on the web (which I also seek out and attempt to find the better ones to read), but this collection I think should be rewarded


Movies:

• Lego Movie - 2014 ★★★½
• The Killing - 2014 ★★★½
• Monuments Men - 2014 ★½
• 3 Days to Kill - 2014 ★★★

TV Seasons:

• Friday Night Lights - Season 1 - ★★★★½
• Friday Night Lights - Season 2 - ★★★
• Friday Night Lights - Season 3 - ★★★★
• Friday Night Lights - Season 4 - ★★★★
• Friday Night Lights - Season 5 - ★★★★
• House of Cards (US) - Season 2 - ★★★★

• Jack Reacher (2012, dir. Christopher McQuarrie) - ★★★½ - I was expecting a really cheesy action film that focuses on Cruise's ego. What we really get is a down to earth thriller mystery that's genuinely exciting and cheesy.
• Olympus Has Fallen (2013, dir. Antoine Fuqua) - ★★ - I had heard good things about White House Down and since that wasn't on Netflix I watched the Deep Impact-version. You go into this expecting an over-the-top action film but what you get is a macabre fetisch for blood and death. It's tasteless.
• From Paris With Love (2010, dir. Pierre Morel) - ★★★½ - A good, entertaining action flick. John Travolta is great and so are the action pieces.
• Blindness (2008, dir. Fenando Meirelles) - ★★★½ - Filming a Saramago-book is not an easy thing and they certainly put some effort into it. It tries a bit too hard on the artsy stuff but it's still effective in its message.
• Mean Girls (2004, dir. Mark Waters) - ★★½ - It's not as bad as I expected but it's certainly not good. The thing to take away from this is how many talented young actresses are in it. Lindsay Lohan, Rachel McAdams, Lizzy Caplan, Amanda Seyfried all have fun in their parts. But when it comes to movies about girls/women I find An Education to be far superior in every regard.

First February update a.k.a. damn I'm slow with books

Beeblebrox - 3/50 books | 10/50 movies

Saw 6 new movies since my last update, 4 of them being some old-school Japanese stuff about ninjas (damn, those are weird movies, almost fallen asleep during couple of them... couple of times; not bad, but not something I would recommend to anyone who isn't particularly into obscure Japanese movies about their history, mixed with singing, weird camera work and some beautiful vistas). Anyways...
Her - liked this one, but that was a given since I love melancholic stuff.
Tangled - gotta catch up with Disney and Pixar stuff from last 10 years sometime soon, and this was a nice start.
Shinobi no mono (a.k.a. Band of Assassins) - Oda Nobunaga liked cats, was grumpy all the time, and there were some really bad assassins in Japan (how many times can you try to kill one person?)
Zoku shinobi no mono (a.k.a. Return of the Band of Assassins / Shinobi no mono 2: Vengeance) - and it turned out that previous movie has like 6-7 sequels. Saw the second one and it was slightly more interesting than the first one. Just slightly.
Sanada fuunroku (a.k.a. Brave Records of the Sanada Clan) - didn't ever think I'll see Japanese history movie about ninjas with this much singing. Weird one for sure.
Tonosama - Yaji kita (a.k.a. Samurai Vagabond) - love story set in [not sure which century] Japan. Again something I wasn't expecting, but hey, the more the merrier, eh?

Planning on seeing couple more of those Japanese movies, since local cinema organized Japanese movie week or however that's called. The last one is some anime called Cyborg 009, I think, so I hope at least that one will be interesting to me.

Update

Watched Thor The Dark World (★★★½). I liked this one more than the first one. Good action/comedy as expected (wasn't expecting a lot though).Thor is a likeable character, but Loki stole the show, in my opinion.


Now I need to finish 2 books (im 50% on both) in 4 days XD
Thank god one of them is Neil Gaiman's Neverwhere, since I'm loving it

jarofbees - 11/50 books | 41/50 movies

New Books:

The Bounty Hunters - Elmore Leonard ★★★1/2
The Hot Kid - Elmore leonard ★★★★
Live By Night - Dennis lehane ★★★
A Garden of Sand - Earl Thompson ★★★★
High-rise - JG Ballard ★★★1/2
Gun Machine - Warren Ellis ★★★★
Forty Lashes Less One - Elmore Leonard ★★★1/2

Latest Movies:

Shut Up And Play The Hits ★★★★1/2
Breath (Soom) ★★★
12 Years A Slave ★★★★1/2
Kieslowski (A Short Film About Killng) ★★★
Whispering Corridors 5 ★★
The Long Goodbye ★★★1/2
The Manchurian Candidate (1962) ★★★★★
The Friends of Eddie Coyle ★★★★1/2
Her ★★★★
Oldboy (2013) ★
The Ascent (Voskhozhdeniye) ★★★★
Dallas Buyers Club ★★★★★
Straight Time ★★★
Alpeis (Alps) ★★
A Company Man ★★★★
Real Fiction ★★★
Sexy Beast ★★★★
Nymphomaniac - Volume 1 ★★★★1/2
Nymphomaniac - Volume 2 ★★
Freakonomics ★★★1/2

Pau said:

I think Gaiman definitely benefits from working from a more limited scope.

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I think that's what makes Sandman work so well; he's telling a much bigger story through a series of smaller stories, which could often stand on their own fairly well. And even if one of the stories isn't working so well, the problem won't likely last past that issue.

... I also think that he's better at describing a scene for the benefit of an comic book artist in a utilitarian way than he is at describing a scene through descriptive prose that engages the reader. Or at least, that's the impression I get after most of what I've read of his. It's less true of his young adult and children's books, though.

Mumei said:

I think that's what makes Sandman work so well; he's telling a much bigger story through a series of smaller stories, which could often stand on their own fairly well. And even if one of the stories isn't working so well, the problem won't likely last past that issue.

... I also think that he's better at describing a scene for the benefit of an comic book artist in a utilitarian way than he is at describing a scene through descriptive prose that engages the reader. Or at least, that's the impression I get after most of what I've read of his. It's less true of his young adult and children's books, though.

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Descriptive wordplay and world building is his greatest strength, actually. He builds slowly, which is fantastic for the longer form Sandman and American Gods allowed. Whereas some writers are content will frontloading the world before actually getting around to telling a story with it, Gaiman does both at the same time. I can see how people who want a more immediate payoff can be turned off his writing because of it, but I think those who like a world to grow along with the story won't find any writer better at that particular style in contemporary fiction.

WanderingWind said:

Descriptive wordplay and world building is his greatest strength, actually. He builds slowly, which is fantastic for the longer form Sandman and American Gods allowed. Whereas some writers are content will frontloading the world before actually getting around to telling a story with it, Gaiman does both at the same time. I can see how people who want a more immediate payoff can be turned off his writing because of it, but I think those who like a world to grow along with the story won't find any writer better at that particular style in contemporary fiction.

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Heh.

I don't think my problem is that I have difficulty with delayed gratification in fiction. And it's not all of Gaiman's writing; it is American Gods in particular that I dislike. It was just so soul-suckingly boring, and it was particularly surprising that he'd written something so dull after I'd just read Sandman. I just think his writing works better when someone else is illustrating the scenes he is describing.

Just caught on Netflix, Arn - The Knight Templar. A Scandanavian flick that was surprisingly really good. This is the 2nd one from Netflix that I have seen and man it's really cool to see these non Hollywood movies with great acting and a decent budget.

up to 12 and 12 for the year, good pace and I hope to finish Feb at 14/14.

Just finishing up the first book of the Thrawn Trilogy, my first ever Star Wars EU book and it's been a lot of fun, will definitely continue the story.

Anyone who has read the Star Wars EU books and has some suggestions I am listening. Curious how the Darth Plageus book was because I like Palpatine a lot.

Jungleland - 52/50 Books | 62/50 Movies

Books

1. Holidays on Ice - David Sedaris - ★★★½
2. The Polysyllabic Spree - Nick Hornby - ★★★½
3. Housekeeping vs. the Dirt - Nick Hornby - ★★★★
4. Gone Girl - Gillian Flynn - ★★★★
5. On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft - Stephen King - ★★★★
6. High Fidelity - Nick Hornby - ★★★★
7. Naked - David Sedaris - ★★★★
8. Early Bird: A Memoir of Premature Retirement - Rodney Rothman - ★★★
9. Me Talk Pretty One Day - David Sedaris - ★★★★
10. My Korean Deli: Risking It All for a Convenience Store - Ben Ryder Howe - ★★★
11. Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim - David Sedaris - ★★★★
12. Honeymoon with My Brother - Franz Wisner - ★★★
13. When You Are Engulfed in Flames - David Sedaris - ★★★
14. Mother. Wife. Sister. Human. Warrior. Falcon. Yardstick. Turban. Cabbage. - Rob Delaney - ★★★½
15. Let's Explore Diabetes with Owls - David Sedaris - ★★★½
16. Born to Run: A Hidden Tribe, Superathletes, and the Greatest Race the World Has Never Seen - Christopher McDougall - ★★★★
17. The Writing Life - Annie Dillard - ★★★
18. Where'd You Go, Bernadette - Maria Semple - ★★★
19. Tourist Season - Carl Hiaasen - ★★★
20. Shop Girl - Steve Martin - ★★★
21. Crossroad Blues - Ace Atkins - ★★½
22. Into the Wild - Jon Krakauer - ★★★★
23. This is a Story of a Happy Marriage - Ann Patchett - ★★★★
24. The War of Art - Steven Pressfield - ★★★
25. Handling the Truth - Beth Kephart - ★★★
26. Wild - Cheryl Strayed - ★★★½
27. Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic - Alison Bechdel - ★★★
28. Coraline - Neil Gaiman - ★★★★
29. Books, Movies, Rhythm, Blues - Nick Hornby - ★★★½
30. Bossypants - Tina Fey - ★★★
31. The Ocean at the End of the Lane - Neil Gaiman - ★★★½
32. The New New Rules - Bill Maher - ★★★
33. Shakespeare Wrote for Money - Nick Hornby - ★★★
34. Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? - Mindy Kaling - ★★★
35. Outliers: The Story of Success - Malcolm Gladwell - ★★★★
36. Songbook - Nick Hornby - ★★★½
37. Neverwhere - Neil Gaiman - ★★★★
38. More Baths, Less Talking - Nick Hornby - ★★★½
39. Born Standing Up- Steve Martin - ★★★½
40. Racing Weight - Matt Fitzgerald - ★★★
41. What I Talk About When I Talk About Running - Haruki Murakami - ★★★½
42. Shakespeare: The World as Stage - Bill Bryson - ★★★
43. Freadonomics - Steven D. Levitt & Stephen J. Dubner - ★★★
44. This is Where I Leave You - Jonathan Tropper - ★★★½
45. Dark Places - Gillian Flynn - ★★★
46. Sharp Objects - Gillian Flynn - ★★★
47. Unbroken - Laura Hillenbrand - ★★★★
48. David and Goliath - Malcolm Gladwell - ★★★½
49. A Moveable Feast- Ernest Hemingway - ★★★½
50. The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy - Douglas Adams - ★★★½
51. The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks - Rebecca Skloot - ★★★½
52. The Tipping Point - Malcolm Gladwell - ★★★
    

Movies

1. Enough Said - ★★★
2. Nebraska - ★★★½
3. Blue Jasmine - ★★★½
4. American Hustle- ★★★★
5. Jack Reacher - ★★
6. Dallas Buyers Club - ★★★★
7. The Wolf of Wall Street - ★★★★
8. Prisoners - ★★★★
9. August: Osage County - ★★★
10. Her - ★★★★
11. Sherlock: A Study in Pink - ★★★½
12. Sherlock: The Blind Banker - ★★★
13. Sherlock: The Great Game - ★★★
14. Twelve Years a Slave - ★★★★½
15. The Hunger Game: Catching Fire - ★★★
16. Sherlock: A Scandal in Belgravia - ★★★★
17. Sherlock: The Hounds of Baskerville - ★★★½
18. Sherlock: The Reichenbach Fall - ★★★½
19. Sherlock: The Empty Hearse -★★★
20. Sherlock: The Sign of Three - ★★★½
21. Sherlock: His Last Vow - ★★★★
22. The Artist - ★★★★
23. Searching for Sugar Man - ★★★★
24. Thor: The Dark World - ★★★
25. 28 Weeks Later - ★★★
26. Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit - ★★
27. Rise of the Planet of the Apes - ★★★
28. X-Men: Days of Future Past - ★★★★
29. Machete - ★½
30. Elysium - ★★★
31. AnchorMan 2: The Legend Continues - ★★½
32. Shattered Glass - ★★★
33. Non-Stop - ★★★
34. Into the Wild - ★★★½
35. Oblivion - ★★½
36. Springsteen & I - ★★★
37. Saving Mr. Banks - ★★★
38. Lone Survivor - ★★★½
39. We're the Millers -★★½
40. The Grand Budapest Hotel - ★★★★
41. Blue Ruin - ★★★★
42. Finding Vivian Maier - ★★★½
43. 300: Rise of an Empire - ★★
44. Captain America: The Winter Soldier - ★★★½
45. The Lone Ranger -★★½
46. Gone Girl- ★★★½
47. The Edge of Tomorrow - ★★★
48. Snowpiercer - ★★★
49. Cold in July - ★★★½
50. Exit Through the Gift Shop - ★★★½
51. Sin City: A Dame to Kill For - ★★
52. Guardians of the Galaxy - ★★★★
53. Boyhood - ★★★★
54. Dawn of the Planet of the Apes - ★★★
55. Godzilla - ★★½
56. The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies - ★★★
57. This Is Where I Leave You - ★★★
58. 21 Jump Street -★★★
59. Chef - ★★★½
60. The Amazing-Spiderman 2 - ★½
61. Maleficent - ★★★
62. 22 Jump Street - ★★★
    

Jungleland said:

Nick Hornby - High Fidelity - ★★★★

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How does the book compare to the movie? (i.e. similar or wildly different adaptation of the book?) I've always wanted to read the novel, but have a couple of other Hornby novels that are sitting around on my bookshelf unread.

Jintor said:

I was predisposed to like American Gods, but I didn't. (Unlikable protagonist tho?)

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I found him unlikable and dull, even generic and comical at times. Every character refers to how large of a man Shadow is, basically beating it over your head. The same description of the dude a million times. He doesn't react to things in any semblance of a natural way. Everything around him is so disorderly and chaotic, but he has the purest heart and intentions. I don't know, not for me.

update

Empty - 13/50 books | 17/50 movies

films

17. the lego movie - i had a blast watching this incredibly funny and very likeable adventure based on the lego universe following emmett, played with real sincerity by chris pratt, on his quest to defeat the evil lord business and become a master builder. within that basic premise the film follows the bizzare, madcap logic of children playing as it weaves in ridiculous and hilarious places, characters and concepts with a relentless energy. the film is thoughtful about its concept and uses the lego to examine notions of rigid play by following the instructions vs inventive creativity and making your own fun within lego as an approach to life, with a final act that's surprising and nice if not quite as artful as in the toy story films it borrows a lot from (the film is kinda like the western opening of toy story 3 made into a full story). the lego movie is more primarily an action comedy than those films howevwr and the jokes are so entertaining and keep coming with will arnett's batman a particular highlight and the action scenes are really surprisingly exciting given the lo-fi feel compared to a pixar film.

books

12. dear life by alice munro - a collection of short stories by munro is always a treat and this one is pretty great. her work focusing primarily on women in rural canada in the middle of the twentieth century has this amazing sense of being deeply personal while also miraculously epic, jumping time effortlessly in order to span decades effortlessly within only a twenty page story. it's also amazing that she can be so easy to read while also cutting so incisively on the way people think, make choices, how things echo through time, with an ambiguity that will stick with you for the rest of the day. a particular note about this collection is that they include some semi-autobiographical pieces, which were interesting in informing how her life informs her fiction, but (naturally) didn't have the same polish as her fiction which made them less satisfying to read and she's so good at getting in people's heads that the personal quality of these pieces didn't add anything for me.

13. you are not a gadget by jaron lanier - i was excited to read this polemic about the way web 2.0 culture denies people's creativity but found it quite disappointing. i found out about it through this excellent article by zadie smith about mark zuckerberg, but her summary basically offered all of what i took from the book. i'm generally sympathetic towards the arguments in this book: i dislike how social networks incentivize the creation of a dishonest personal brand instead of being yourself, loath google, think that we do a bad job of paying people for creative work online. there's some good stuff about that hidden in here sometimes and i found the idea that in the early days each website said something about an individual's personality whereas now we're pushed onto generic platforms food for thought. however i generally found this book a bit annoying and poorly argued. lanier rarely bothers to gives concrete examples of the people he's arguing against, preferring to create a straw man of technical utopianists that he rails against endlessly. there's a lack of evidence to support his claims, for example the limits of midi sound format being forced on everyone by it becoming a defacto standard is a really great example of limits of technology but i wish there were more. his solutions are ridiculous, i don't expect a great critic to have to suggest an alternative but ideas like songlets where songs are tied to physical objects that you trade seems absurd and take up pages of the book. he randomly decides to claim that no new music is being created in the 2000s, only retro mashups because of digital culture, dismissing dubstep because he doesn't like it (i don't either but that's no excuse) and it has roots in previous electronic music. well what about blues influencing rock and roll. does that not exist.

it's just really repetitive and takes a lot of time stating the obvious; no shit computers can't totally replicate people or require people to work. ironically for a book that exists as a sick burn on web 2.0 culture the parts i enjoyed most were where lanier talks about his passion for virtual reality and what the future of that can be and understanding the science of smells.

lastflowers said:

How does the book compare to the movie? (i.e. similar or wildly different adaptation of the book?) I've always wanted to read the novel, but have a couple of other Hornby novels that are sitting around on my bookshelf unread.

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I liked the movie a lot but the book is much better. They moved the location for the novel from London to Chicago but otherwise it's very close. I think you'll like it. I'm in the process of reading all Nick Hornby's work.

Zippedpinhead Update 5/50 books | 7/50 movies

So finished off the Divergent Trilogy, Second book they introduced PTSD to the main character, which I thought was realistic for a 16 year old girl who had just been forced to kill. Unfortunately, it was kinda swept under the rug as soon as all of the other characters found out who she killed.

Third book, best description I have is "Safe", very little consequences, and due to the change in Going from this series to Danganronpa was a trip, a book series about people "teens in a closed world where their society starts to turn on and kill each other" to a game about "teens in a closed world where they start to turn on and kill each other" was interesting.

Been watching House of Cards Season 2 and the last half season of breaking bad so no new movies this update.

The Goofy Movie

My sister rented this film from Netflix, for presumably the kid she babysits. I noticed the disc, knew she wasn't home, and I decided to watch it before she saw it missing. I saw the lackluster sequel to this film, but never the original one. A strong core theme involving a father's relationship with his son. It was a overall good film. Plus Goofy is the best father around. Also, he's a bloody boss. How can anyone, besides a monster (or Johan to that extension) hate such an awesome Goof?!


★★★

Update!

Mumei - 29/50 Books | 7/50 Movies

I've been reading Roger Zelazny's The Great Book of Amber: The Complete Amber Chronicles 1 - 10. I wasn't sure how I was going to count it (One? Ten?), but now that I've finished the first cycle and started the second, I've decided to count books 1 - 5 as one entry and books 6 - 10 as a second entry.

I also read Rimbaud: The Double Life of a Rebel today. I hadn't heard of Rimbaud until I saw a copy of Illuminations at the library recently, and then I came across this while at a used bookstore. It's fairly interesting, though light.

Small update:

Saya - 7/50 books | 73/50 movies

Books:

Raven's Shadow: Blood Song - Anthony Ryan - ★★★★½
Solid fantasy novel. Doesn't waste time and cuts all the fat. Glad to have read a fantasy novel from the point of view of mostly one character for a change. It's a fast, entertaining read set in a rich world and some nice prose. Great characters and the story is as good as it gets.

Movies:

Sleep Tight [Mientras duermes] (Jaume Balagueró, 2011) - ★★★★
This Spanish horror/thriller film is one of the most disturbing films I’ve seen lately. It’s truly something unique for me and I thought it was quite effective in creating suspense. Sleep Tight follows a concierge of an apartment building named Cesar who works his shift during the days, but at night, when people are sleeping soundly, uses his wide access around the building to enter their apartments to observe them. He falls in love with a young woman who lives in the building as well and develops a crazy obsession with her which turns ugly at first and frankly quite terrifying later on. It’s such a simple concept, bordering on the ridiculous, but for me this worked. The film has a touches of dark humor and cast is great, Cesar played by Luis Tosar is truly creepy and has a Norman Bates vibe going on. Good film.

War Witch (Kim Nguyen, 2012) - ★★★★
Set in African country of which specifically I’m not sure of, War Witch tells the story of a little young black girl who is captured from her village by rebels and forced to become a child soldier. Her captors believe she has magical powers and elevate her to be their war witch, a sort of shaman which guides the rebels spiritually. It’s a story based on real elements that are unfortunately common in those countries torn apart by rebel groups and civil wars. Despite the harsh subject matter of the film, most of the cruelty associated with child soldiering is implied. I found it remarkable how the director was able to carefully manoeuvre the film around this. Nevertheless, the meaning and intentions come through quite well. The film is beautifully shot, and the performances by the young cast are also very good. I loved the addition of ghosts and spirits in the film which compliment the spiritual and supernatural culture of the region the film is set in. Yeah, overall, I quite liked this.

The Devils (Ken Russell, 1971) - ★★★★
Ok, so Ken Russell’s infamous The Devils, which was banned and/or heavily censored in several countries was pretty crazy but also fascinating, visually spectacular, fast paced, and extremely energetic. The Devils is a historical drama based on the real life story of a 17th century priest named Urbain Grandier, played by Oliver Reed in a masterful and commanding role, who was burned to death because on the accusation of witchcraft. Although I do not agree with banning films or censorship, I can see why the establishment and the church would object. The film features quite a lot of violence, implied and shown, and I think the nudity and sexual content was quite graphic for its time too. There is a hallucination scene in which Jesus comes down from his cross and makes love to a woman, scenes of masturbating nuns that could involve a statue of Jesus, graphic torture scenes, and more nakedness. I think all these scenes add up to create a delirious atmosphere filled with sexual repression and hidden desires. The dramatic intrigue is alright, but the real winner here are the themes, the visuals and the pacing. And for me, it worked quite well.

Night of the Demons (Kevin S. Tenney, 1988) - ★★★
A quite amusing campy ‘80s horror film. It’s kinda stupid and silly, but it doesn’t take itself very seriously and keeps a humorous tone throughout the film that makes it quite enjoyable. While the acting is terribly awesome, the actors seem to enjoy themselves and there is a cheery attitude to the whole film. Special effects were not that bad, and there is some good gore in it.

Maniac (Franck Khalfoun, 2012) - ★★
I find first-person POV's honestly tiring to watch and a whole film in that style was difficult to sit through. It's the most interesting stylish element about the film and what sets it apart from other slashers. But as a result it lessened my enjoyment of the film and I found it hard to finish to be fair. Elijah Wood was an inspiring choice to have as the killer though and the gory scenes are very effective. If one can tolerate the first-person POV than I think this can be quite an interesting and entertaining little horror film.

Amour (Michael Haneke, 2012) - ★★★★
Amour was impeccably made, you cannot deny the craft that went into this film. It solidifies the fact that Michael Haneke is one of the most talented and interesting directors working today, well, at least for me. In Amour questions are raised about how far we are willing to go for love, suffering and pain. We know from the beginning what will happen and overall the story is quite simple. The strength of the film lays in the performances and that the film is relatable to almost everyone who has experienced caring for an ailing family member. The film has truly wonderful performances by Riva and Trintignant. Riva was especially great as her condition slowly deteriorated, it was very painful to see. I think the location of the film also added a very important claustrophobic, and almost suffocating, element to the film. This connected greatly to the atmosphere that developed in their apartment. All in all, pretty good film.

The Great Happiness Space: Tale of an Osaka Love Thief (Jake Clennell, 2006) - ★★★½
This was a very interesting theme for a documentary. The film covers the subject of the Japanese host industry. Japanese hosts are trendy young men who accompany women while drinking, talking, partying, and sometimes sleeping. Although there are host and hostess clubs, this film focuses on the point of view of the male hosts in a club in Osaka for the most part. I found it a fascinating subject because this industry covers a grey area between prostitution and companionship. The documentary sheds light into the motivations of these young men hosts, and also interviews women who frequent these kind of clubs. Halfway through the film there is an interesting twist of some sorts which adds a darker perspective on this industry. While the subject was well thought of, I thought the quality of the production was a bit sloppy and lacking. I had the feeling some aspects could've been explored a bit more, such as their female counterparts, national regulations, etc. Some interviews ran a bit too long and it felt as if it was filmed in only a few days. I think it could've been produced a bit tidier, but all in all it is something unique and fascinating. It's entertaining throughout.

Winnie the Pooh (Stephen J. Anderson & Don Hall, 2011) - ★★★★
This new film of Winnie the Pooh was very charming, sweet, funny, heartwarming, and beautifully animated. I'm somewhat disappointed it bombed hard at the box office (I believe it was released at the same time as one of the Harry Potter films, so that could explain a lot) and that it is not more known around the world. It's perfect for children and adults alike and totally harmless classic entertainment. I enjoyed the voice cast, Zooey Deschanel's opening song and the other musical parts, and the whole family friendly atmosphere of the film. Overall, I wish it was a bit longer but I quite liked it and it was a fun nostalgic trip to the shelter of my childhood.

Repulsion (Roman Polanski, 1965) - ★★★½
Roman Polanski's Repulsion was an interesting experience, I wouldn't say I was blown away by it on this first viewing though. To be honest, I found the first half of this film somewhat slow and hard to get into. However, the second half was so much better and the final scene and shot basically tied the whole film together. There are some amazing scenes in the film and Carol's breakdown was captured well enough. Some of the special effects were kinda cheesy to me though, but I got what Polanski was going for. I do find it kind of weird how all of Carol's mental problems seem to manifest itself that quickly. Catharine DeNeuve's performance was great though and I liked how she portrayed all these little and complex emotions through her eyes and her body movements. Best part of the film was the final shot. So distressing and it spoke volumes.

Mumei said:

I also read Rimbaud: The Double Life of a Rebel today. I hadn't heard of Rimbaud until I saw a copy of Illuminations at the library recently, and then I came across this while at a used bookstore. It's fairly interesting, though light.

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Rimbaud is fantastic! Also the books about him are equally interesting. I read a book a while back about his years after being a poet, when he abandoned it all and went to Africa. He's such an amazing figure to read and to read about.

My first update for the year, got down one book and one movie over the last few days.

Books

Assassin's Apprentice by Robin Hobb ★★★★

I had a fantasy and sci-fi (mostly fantasy) itch to scratch, and with Words of Radiance not out until early March I thought I'll order some books in and see if I can get invested in another series. One of the ones I constantly saw recommend was the Farseer trilogy by Robin Hobb, so I promptly ordered the set and after a few weeks the first novel finally arrived about 6 days after the 2nd and 3rd.

To keep things short I really enjoyed this novel and I'm already 200 pages into the second one, it was actually refreshing to read things from a single person's point of view since nearly everything else I've read in the past year wants to tell their story from multiple pov's. Anyway I was quite taken with the story and I can't believe I actually fist pumped @ one part near the end

Movies

Tangled ★★★★

I haven't watched anything animated from Disney in years.. maybe even a decade? I was interested in checking out Tangled though due to the animation advancements Disney did for it, which made it's budget blow out to a massive amount, but I just never got around to it. Frozen came out and consider my interest reignited, I'll watch Frozen in cinema's soon enough but I thought I'll check out Tangled first.

Was an fantastic watch, aside from one aspect it compared very nicely against the past greats from the studio imo. I was pretty damn impressed by a lot of the CG work throughout the film and I can't wait to see what I would assume is a more impressive work in that regard with Frozen. (I've only seen the Let It Go sequence on youtube so can't really compare that to this). Good cast of characters, entertaining enough story, orgasmic 3d cg work the only real let down for Tangled is that the songs were very lacklustre. In that regard it's nowhere near the past Disney greats, the songs felt forced most of the time and nothing stood out as something I would remember in a week let alone a decade. Still well worth a watch and I look forward to comparing this to Frozen very soon.

Ashes1396 - Books 6/50 | Films 27/50 | Seasons 5/12 |

Winter's Bone was a nice surprise. The sort of dark gritty film you want to watch on a cold winter evening. Not too dark. Not too gritty. I give it 895pts out of 1000pts.

Mac_Lane - 4/50 books | 4/50 movies

Recently finished The Name of the Rose by Eco, which was superb, and Killer on the Road by Ellroy, which also was thrilling, I finished reading it at 2 a.m. this morning because I really had to know the end of it.

On the movie side, I haven't made great progress, but I intend to catch up. I watch Sinister while I was heavily inebriated with two friends of mine, so it kind of diminished the impact it would have had on my normal self. But then again, I'm not big on horror flicks.

Ashes1396 said:

Ashes1396 - Books 6/50 | Films 27/50 | Seasons 5/12 |

Winter's Bone was a nice surprise. The sort of dark gritty film you want to watch on a cold winter evening. Not too dark. Not too gritty. I give it 895pts out of 1000pts.

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If you liked the movie, you might like the author's works. Daniel Woodrell authored Winter's Bone, and his other novels are worth reading. His latest, The Maid's Version, makes for a quick read (less than 200 pages), if you want to just sample his work.

Finished my 4th book for Feb yesterday with a few days to spare. Since my last update, I read, Glen Cook's Shadows Linger and The White Rose (books 2 and 3 in the Books of the North trilogy of his Black Company series). I liked the second and third books a lot more than I did the first Black Company novel. I will probably go back and read the two Books of the South novels at some point in the future, but I am going to switch focus for a bit.

Since I have a few extra days, I decided to settle in for a longer read. Yesterday, I started Gardens of the Moon by Steven Erikson. I just had a baby girl on Sunday, so I will probably be going the audiobook route for most of this novel (hard to do anything else when holding a baby for multiple hours a day), but I have the kindle version as well.

mfiuza - 8/50 books | 15/50 movies

Just finished Neil Gaiman's Neverwhere (★★★★&#9733. It's the first book from Gaiman that I read, and I don't know why I loved it so much. It's a simple but wonderful story, about how you need a "change" (for worse, maybe) to realize that you're not happy with your life. And how you manage to find what really matters in the end.

Edit: just finished The Lazy Project Manager (★★½). I'm not used to read non fiction books, but since I got this one for free on kindle, I decided to give it a shot. It surprised me how fun the author is, and it was a really fast read. But the book (as stated at the beggining) assumes that you are already familiar with managing projects, so the book never go really deep on the subject.

• In the Skin of a Lion (1987), Michael Ondaatje - ★★★½ - Reading a book about Toronto and how the city was built and on whose backs the work lay makes for an interesting read. Interesting narration coupled with interesting characters makes for a good book. One that's a pleasure to read.
• Dagon (1917), H.P. Lovecraft - ★★★ - The epitome of H.P. Lovecraft writing. A scientist recalls an event and describes in stiff narration. The horrors the scientist describes are foreshadowing of a greater Cyclopean threat. The archetypal Lovecraftian short story.

• Bernie (2011, dir. Richard Linklater) - ★★★½ - A story about good old southern morals. You can hardly blame Bernie and Jack Black brings the character to life.

Finally finished my first (and it seems last) book in February, so here's another update:

Beeblebrox - Books 4/50 | Movies 11/50

Read Arthur C. Clarke's The Fountains of Paradise, and really liked it. Interesting premise (story about engineer who wants to build 30k + km high space "elevator" on top of some mountain on Sri Lanka), good writing style, nice ideas and interesting characters. Very much recommended if you like science fiction!

And saw another obscure Japanese movie (two of them, to be precise, but I slept through better part of the first one, so I won't count it towards my total), and this one was an anime - Cyborg 009 gekijô ban: chô ginga densetsu (a.k.a. Cyborg 009: Legend of the Super Galaxy), and it was fucking terrible. Awful story and characters, laughable gender politics (there's questionable gender politics and then there's this movie) and lack of anything meaningful or thought out. Avoid at all costs, if you ask me.

I just finished Battle Royale. I loved it, but that was heavy stuff.

LuffyZoro said:

I just finished Battle Royale. I loved it, but that was heavy stuff.

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Book or film?

New update:

Books:

• Alexander Løken - Trollskallen (The Troll Skull) (2014)
• Franz Kafka - The Castle (1926)
• Gustave Flaubert - Madame Bovary: Provincial Manners (1856)
• Jonathan Shay - Achilles in Vietnam: Combat Trauma and the Undoing of Character (1994)
• Tom Bakkeli - Krigere og diplomater: På innsiden av Forsvarets spesialkommando (Warriors and Diplomats: Inside the Armed Forces' Special Command) (2013)

Films:

• 12 Angry Men - Sidney Lumet (1957)
• Beauty and the Beast - Gary Trousdale and Kirk Wise (1991)
• Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs - Phil Lord and Chris Miller (2009)
• Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2 - Cody Cameron and Kris Pearn (2013)
• Frozen - Chris Buck and Jennifer Lee (2013)
• Lilo & Stitch - Dean DeBlois and Chris Sanders (2002)
• Pocahontas - Mike Gabriel and Eric Goldberg (1995)
• The Good, the Bad and the Ugly - Sergio Leone (1966)
• The Hunger Games: Catching Fire - Francis Lawrence (2013)
• The Little Mermaid - Ron Clements and John Musker (1989)

Atrophis - 8/50 Books | 2/50 Movies

Well the Olympics have taken up all my time this month. Only managed one book and not watched a single film.

The City in the Autumn Stars - Michael Moorcock ★★★★

The second von Bek story. I think overall I prefer the first but this had plenty of great stuff in it from the Chevalier de St Odhran, an aeronaut, balloonist and conman; the return of Klosterheim; the bizarre City in the Autumn stars itself and its inhabitants.

The volume ends with a short story regarding a von Bek investigating a murder. It is set on an alternative Earth where Berlin is in rubble and Adolf Hitler is a member of the police force. Klosterheim again makes a cameo as a gardener that has grown a sentient, man-eating garden. Its not half as interesting as that sounds. ★★

February update.

Viridian6 - 0/50 books | 3/50 movies

Guess I should read more. About one third through a Dance with Dragons at the moment.

Books

Fables: March of the Wooden Soldiers (Bill Willingham) ★★★★


Really enjoying this Fables series. I always brushed it off but decided to give it a chance after playing the first episode of The Wolf Among Us. Very entertaining. I love the characters and the whole word of Fabletown. Glad there's a ton of content to catch up on. Just started the next book in the series, The Mean Seasons.

Shiv47 - 10/50 Books | 14/50 Movies

Bookwise, I finished Period Piece (****) by Gwen Raverat, an English wood engraver of the early-mid 20th century. She was born Gwen Darwin, a granddaughter of Charles Darwin, and the book is a memoir of her childhood growing up in Cambridge, the daughter of a Cambridge professor and part of an eccentric extended family. The book is charming, organized by topic rather than chronologically, and filled with trenchant observations about childhood and growing up. Her own illustrations appear throughout. Also read The 34-Ton Bat (*** 1/2), by Sports Illustrated writer Steve Rushin, which is a history of baseball through its myriad of equipment and whatnot. Entertaining and well worth a read for baseball fans.

Movies: Watched Schalken the Painter (****) last night, a 1979 BBC-produced ghost story revolving around LeFanu's short story about the real life Dutch painter. It's a marvelous film, though part of the end didn't quite work in the way it was staged. Also: The Tale of Zatoichi Continues (*** 1/2), the second in the Zatoichi series, a sequel to the first film. Delivers exactly what you expect in a Zatoichi film, so I can't really complain.