timeripple (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
timeripple) wrote2008-01-31 06:36 pm
timeripple) wrote2008-01-31 06:36 pm
I wished it had been easier instead of any longer
Because it is snowing liek whoa, and has been for the past two weeks, I have had lots of time in which to procrastinate. I give you New Reviewes for the Newe Year. May you read them, enjoy them, and argue in the comments in good health.
Ye Olde Olde Movie Reviewe: Seven Samurai, directed by Kurosawa Akira. You guys, this is MADE OF AWESOME. It is hilarious. (I can see why the Samurai 7 people thought it would make a good anime series. It would make a good anime series. I need to see this now.) Anyway. HILARIOUS. INTENTIONALLY. Everybody’s there! The wise old man, the bawling villagers, the wise leader samurai, the jovial sidekick samurai (4 of them, to be precise), the lives-only-to-perfect-his-swordsmanship samurai (oh Jin!), the angry drunk kid who thinks he’s a samurai, the sweet sensitive kid who wants to be a samurai and meets the Love Interest while wandering through springtime flowery groves that scream MONO NO AWARE...
Ye Olde Anime Reviewe: Samurai 7. Erm. It’s... okay? Obviously, this being an anime, somebody needed to add a priestess, her little sister, some mecha stuff, somebody who’s good with said mecha, and some green hair. But it’s moving kinda too slowly... Also, the video rental place has only the first two discs. Who buys just the first two and not the rest, I ask you? Ditto Samurai Champloo. Otherwise and except for not having any Buffy the Vampire Slayer, it is a good video rental place.
Token Comic Relief: You know that one part in Van Helsing when Van Helsing says “Requiescat in pacem” to Dracula’s face? Shouldn’t he say “Requiescas in pacem”? If he's talking to the guy he's wishing a pleasant death? Face-to-face? Right?
Books! I have been reading lots of books lately instead of writing my MA application. Some of them are annoying me because they’d be good if they weren’t so predictable, or if the main character wasn’t so stupid.
Keturah and Lord Death by Martine Leavitt. I can put up with the predictability of this one because it is so beautiful. The Booklist starred review on the back almost ruined it for me: “...few [readers] will be able to guess how she finally ends her story.” As I was dead certain how it was going to end, this put me into a panic of omgwtf as I kept waiting for something bizarre to happen... My only problem with the book itself, really, is that while I knew from the beginning how it was going to end, the heroine kept trying to be oblivious for way too long.
Lady of Quality by Georgette Heyer. So... people run around Bath being idiots in accordance with standard Regency codes of conduct. Anyone labeled as 'the rudest man in London' is therefore guaranteed to be more interesting than anyone else.
Monstrous Regiment by Terry Pratchett. AHAHAHAHAHA.
Magic or Madness by Justine Larbalestier. I was pretty excited for this one, but it turned out to be another of those where the heroine was too clueless for too long. Look, just because Reason hasn’t read the right kind of books doesn’t mean the reader hasn’t. Also the big dealies about jet lag were really annoying. I realize that lots of people really suffer from it, but the overemphasis did nothing for my sympathies. I mean, yes, okay, SUMMER THERE, WINTER HERE, I GET IT ALREADY. *sigh*
This is probably why I like the Miles Vorkosigan books. Because he is smarter than everybody.
Next time: I weigh in on the Masterpiece Jane Austenathon.
Ye Olde Olde Movie Reviewe: Seven Samurai, directed by Kurosawa Akira. You guys, this is MADE OF AWESOME. It is hilarious. (I can see why the Samurai 7 people thought it would make a good anime series. It would make a good anime series. I need to see this now.) Anyway. HILARIOUS. INTENTIONALLY. Everybody’s there! The wise old man, the bawling villagers, the wise leader samurai, the jovial sidekick samurai (4 of them, to be precise), the lives-only-to-perfect-his-swordsmanship samurai (oh Jin!), the angry drunk kid who thinks he’s a samurai, the sweet sensitive kid who wants to be a samurai and meets the Love Interest while wandering through springtime flowery groves that scream MONO NO AWARE...
Ye Olde Anime Reviewe: Samurai 7. Erm. It’s... okay? Obviously, this being an anime, somebody needed to add a priestess, her little sister, some mecha stuff, somebody who’s good with said mecha, and some green hair. But it’s moving kinda too slowly... Also, the video rental place has only the first two discs. Who buys just the first two and not the rest, I ask you? Ditto Samurai Champloo. Otherwise and except for not having any Buffy the Vampire Slayer, it is a good video rental place.
Token Comic Relief: You know that one part in Van Helsing when Van Helsing says “Requiescat in pacem” to Dracula’s face? Shouldn’t he say “Requiescas in pacem”? If he's talking to the guy he's wishing a pleasant death? Face-to-face? Right?
Books! I have been reading lots of books lately instead of writing my MA application. Some of them are annoying me because they’d be good if they weren’t so predictable, or if the main character wasn’t so stupid.
Keturah and Lord Death by Martine Leavitt. I can put up with the predictability of this one because it is so beautiful. The Booklist starred review on the back almost ruined it for me: “...few [readers] will be able to guess how she finally ends her story.” As I was dead certain how it was going to end, this put me into a panic of omgwtf as I kept waiting for something bizarre to happen... My only problem with the book itself, really, is that while I knew from the beginning how it was going to end, the heroine kept trying to be oblivious for way too long.
Lady of Quality by Georgette Heyer. So... people run around Bath being idiots in accordance with standard Regency codes of conduct. Anyone labeled as 'the rudest man in London' is therefore guaranteed to be more interesting than anyone else.
Monstrous Regiment by Terry Pratchett. AHAHAHAHAHA.
Magic or Madness by Justine Larbalestier. I was pretty excited for this one, but it turned out to be another of those where the heroine was too clueless for too long. Look, just because Reason hasn’t read the right kind of books doesn’t mean the reader hasn’t. Also the big dealies about jet lag were really annoying. I realize that lots of people really suffer from it, but the overemphasis did nothing for my sympathies. I mean, yes, okay, SUMMER THERE, WINTER HERE, I GET IT ALREADY. *sigh*
This is probably why I like the Miles Vorkosigan books. Because he is smarter than everybody.
Next time: I weigh in on the Masterpiece Jane Austenathon.
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I really enjoyed The Seven Samurai; saw it a long long time ago. more recently, my mom and brother rewatched it, but I was super tired and went to bed after 50 minutes. (it is, yanno, Really Long!)
Keturah and Lord Death by Martine Leavitt. I've been wanting to read this. glad to hear your input. yeah, obvious endings and clueless heroines/assorted characters are annoying (you start wanting to thump them real hard), but such is life. re: the obvious, alas! not all authors are supremely brilliant and able to mess with you the way Megan Whalen Turner can. *g* re: the nitwits, well sometimes it does provide comic relief. think Midsummer Nights Dream. but alas, all to often knocking their heads together would be much more of a relief. XD
re: Lady of Quality *jogs memory at amazon* ah yes, I enjoyed this one. I get along with Heyer's notorious heroes much more than I do her aimiable ones. the one we have in B&N right now is Cotillion, where both the main characters are aimiable nitwits with a lot of growing up and *duh!* realizations to make, again with the head knocking. ;)
yay thoughts on the Austenathon! I enjoyed watching Persuasion, Northanger Abbey and Mansfield Park, but missed last night's showing of Miss Austen Regrets. (missed partly because I was on the Cape and watching a mystery with my dad. partly because I can't work up much enthusiasm for dramatizations of this sort. if it's good, I'm glad to hear it and can watch it later.) way back when, I did see The Barretts of Wimpole Street and thought it most romantic, but there we are.
unfortunately I have no good advice or, in fact, experience on the task of appartment finding. I would dearly love it if you would email me or call me and tell me all about what's in store for you for the next months. I have a feeling I will be envious. ^_^
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I'd certainly recommend Keturah and Lord Death, because in spite of the obliviousness, it's really beautifully written.
Megan Whalen Turner is just, well...!!!
Cotillion! I've been trying to find it, but our local libraries are a bit deficient. More egregious still, the entire county doesn't own a single copy of North & South! Please join me in a moment of outraged silence.
Yes, I should email you. I will! I promise!
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yeah, yeah, yeah. ... XD
North and South - the book or the film adaptation? I'm going to have to order Elizabeth Gaskell's Cranford online, as neither my BN nor the other one I was in had it. I get tired of finding certain editions of books I want but not the editions I want. hmph. but yes, I am happy to be outraged with you. my BN has one copy of Wives and Daughters, but none of Gaskell's other works!
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