September media

[jtniehof]

Somewhat more typical month, here:
Books: Failure Is Not an Option, Knife of Dreams, Into Thin Air, The Letter of Marque
Game: No More Heroes
TV: Dollhouse: Epitaph One, Warehouse 13 Season 1, Castle Season 1, Glee pilot
Movie: Shaun of the Dead

Failure Is Not an Option: Mission Control from Mercury to Apollo 13 and beyond (Gene Kranz): Famous as lead Flight Director for Apollo 13, Gene was one of the first "guys on the ground" who helped invent Mission Control. Although a personal memoir, it's almost entirely about his time at NASA and pretty broad in its cast of characters. He gives a lot of credit to many different people; this book conveys the incredible scale of the space program. He also talks a lot about decision-making and controlling his state of mind through all the little glitches that happened on every mission. This might be a useful book for management techniques. A very enjoyable read, showing a side of the space program that hasn't been well-covered elsewhere.

Knife of Dreams (Robert Jordan): For all I kvetch about these books, once I open one up they make for good reads. The world's fantastic even if the cast size is out of control. This installment checks off several plot points, obviously building towards the climax but lacking a sense of urgency. The plots are too tangled and the writing not particularly tight.I am also more and more irritated by the "battle of the sexes" undercurrent and the flat-out juvenile treatment of gender issues. On the plus side, Nynaeve gets a great Crowning Moment of Awesome.

Into Thin Air (Jon Krakauer): I avoided reading this book partly because everybody talks about it, partly because everybody talks about Everest 1996, partly because everybody talks about Everest in general. Dave Breashears' talk last fall opened my eyes to Everest as a mountain instead of a tourist trap, and after reading Ed Viesturs' book it was time for Krakauer. I'm glad I finally did. It was so absorbing I read the entire thing on the flights from Boston to Albuquerque, with no real breaks. It's also very, very emotionally raw, five months from the events to publication of the book. Yet the writing is tight, solid, well-composed and edited. Krakauer seemed less judgemental to me than the accusations imply; perhaps because I've heard so many versions of the events. Jon may be singled out for criticism because his narrative is the one that sticks with the public.

The Letter of Marque (Patrick O'Brien): The Aubrey-Maturin series keeps getting better. Although nominally these are naval historical fiction, they're the closest modern equivalent to turn-of-the-century high adventures like The Prisoner of Zenda or Treasure Island (also, of course, nautical.) Great character bits in this book, with Jack proving his command mettle in a completely different situation than usual.

Master Mind of Mars (Edgar Rice Burroughs): Sixth Barsoom novel, and a definite step down (although it's been awhile since I read Chessmen of Mars.) The whole premise of swapping brains around kept from getting into the pure pulpy adventure. The hero runs all over Mars, risking his life and killing people off, not to save the girl but to save her good looks. Um, yeah. Disturbing premises aside, the plot is solidly enjoyable.

No More Heroes: What could be cooler than light saber combat on the Wii, coupled with an attractively irreverant style? Alas, in the end style is all that remained. The combat is button-mashy; the "open world" sections between critical fights are tedious time-wasters, and almost the entire plot is told in a fourth-wall-busting exposition dump played back at high speed. You have to check a FAQ to get the actual exposition. Then at the end the developers basically say "Screw this game, let's go have pizza." Serious letdown.

Dollhouse: Epitaph One: The DVD-only last episode of season one. What was that!? I reserve final judgement until I've watched some season two, but going from a "present day, present time" setup to post-apoc is quite the switcheroo. I feel it'll remove some urgency from 2009 scenes...it's pretty obvious everything will not simply work out.

Warehouse 13 Season 1: I started watching this for the obvious Steve Jackson Games reference. Annoyingly, it's just interesting enough to keep me watching but not enough for me to really engage. The characters are maybe 2.5D and despite a reasonably-sized cast, it's usually the same pairings for the A story and the B story, every episode. I get the feeling they started with the concept (The Big Secret Warehouse) rather than characters or a plot and are sort of feeling their way.

Castle Season 1: insane grin. Watch it for the Nathan Fillion, stay for the fact that he doesn't carry the show on his own. I think most Whedonites would enjoy it, since it's heavy on the witty repartee. The rapport between Castle and his daughter (played by an actual 15 year old) is excellent.

Glee Pilot: Yes, didn't get past the pilot. Occasionally funny, but with a mean streak a mile wide. I just didn't have the stomach for it.

Shaun of the Dead: I admit it! I should have listened! I should have watched this years ago! Hilarious, and all sorts of nice touches that make a comedy great. (E.g. all the background stuff going on before the plot "arrives.") A little on the edge for my squick factor; one scene goes right past it. But so, so worth it for the laughs.

Comments

[ayelle.livejournal.com]

I love Shaun, although the scene is absolutely past my squick factor -- or so I've been told, because I was with someone who knew about it told me "don't look, SERIOUSLY, you will not be okay" at just the right moment, so I didn't even peek through my fingers. Good thing!