Media log, April
Apr. 29th, 2008 10:39 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
jtniehofI've been meaning to do this for awhile, but keep on forgetting to take the time. Both Netflix and my library keep rental records, which makes this easier.
Inherit the Wind (1960, based on the play, based on the Scopes Monkey Trial.) Surprisingly entertaining. Tracy and March have a great combative chemistry going, a good thing seeing as the movie is pretty much two guys arguing in a room. I also get a kick out of Harry "Sherman Potter" Morgan presiding as judge. Ending is a little anticlimactic, as it must be historically.
The Bourne Ultimatum. Hey, it's another Bourne movie. Good popcorn thriller material. I have mixed feelings about the series, as the violence is a little too disturbing to just "enjoy the ride." On the other hand, Bond-style "bad guy fall down and you never think about it" is even more disturbing. I definitely should read the novels sometime.
She is the Darkness (Glen Cook). Yet Another Black Company Novel, a series I'm still strongly enjoying. Unfortunately this one's mostly moving chess pieces around until the last fifth, but it still has that strong streak of moral ambiguity and general unsettledness that characterizes the series. The characters are never in a really stable situation...makes for great reading.
The Ionian Mission (Patrick O'Brian). Yet Another Aubrey-Maturin. I'd get more out of this series if I had ever sailed and knew the difference between tacking and wearing. But they're fun adventures on the high seas, with some very well-done characterizations. It's rare to see characters that are so flawed and yet so likeable. Rather than tacked on to keep the heroes from looking too heroic, their flaws seem baked right in...a fundamental part of who they are.
Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell (Susanna Clarke). Good book, but certainly not all that and a bag of chips. What was all the to-do over this? Are people really that starved for adult fantasy but won't admit it? Or does it need the pseudo-historical setting to make it "respectable" enough to read? The plot doesn't show up until the last hundred pages, but everything leading up to that does finally feed in. All the threads come together; you just can't see it until things really start cooking. (A lot like Cowboy Bebop in that regard.) The weakest part is the kiddie-novel, wink-wink nudge-nudge, slightly condescending tone that occasionally pervades; the book can't make up its mind if we're supposed to take it seriously or not.
Inherit the Wind (1960, based on the play, based on the Scopes Monkey Trial.) Surprisingly entertaining. Tracy and March have a great combative chemistry going, a good thing seeing as the movie is pretty much two guys arguing in a room. I also get a kick out of Harry "Sherman Potter" Morgan presiding as judge. Ending is a little anticlimactic, as it must be historically.
The Bourne Ultimatum. Hey, it's another Bourne movie. Good popcorn thriller material. I have mixed feelings about the series, as the violence is a little too disturbing to just "enjoy the ride." On the other hand, Bond-style "bad guy fall down and you never think about it" is even more disturbing. I definitely should read the novels sometime.
She is the Darkness (Glen Cook). Yet Another Black Company Novel, a series I'm still strongly enjoying. Unfortunately this one's mostly moving chess pieces around until the last fifth, but it still has that strong streak of moral ambiguity and general unsettledness that characterizes the series. The characters are never in a really stable situation...makes for great reading.
The Ionian Mission (Patrick O'Brian). Yet Another Aubrey-Maturin. I'd get more out of this series if I had ever sailed and knew the difference between tacking and wearing. But they're fun adventures on the high seas, with some very well-done characterizations. It's rare to see characters that are so flawed and yet so likeable. Rather than tacked on to keep the heroes from looking too heroic, their flaws seem baked right in...a fundamental part of who they are.
Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell (Susanna Clarke). Good book, but certainly not all that and a bag of chips. What was all the to-do over this? Are people really that starved for adult fantasy but won't admit it? Or does it need the pseudo-historical setting to make it "respectable" enough to read? The plot doesn't show up until the last hundred pages, but everything leading up to that does finally feed in. All the threads come together; you just can't see it until things really start cooking. (A lot like Cowboy Bebop in that regard.) The weakest part is the kiddie-novel, wink-wink nudge-nudge, slightly condescending tone that occasionally pervades; the book can't make up its mind if we're supposed to take it seriously or not.