I’m listening to Turandot Act 3 Nessun Dorma performed by Giacomo Puccini. |
While I read through The Great Hunt (book 2) of The Wheel of Time series by Robert Jordan, which is the greatest fantasy literature series to ever exist (second of course to The Lord of the Rings). I have been going through this series as slowly as I can because I know what it is like to finish a good literature series. World just seems way too empty. I’ve been on book 2 for way too long, but with only 14 entries in the series, it’ll fly by quick…
Rewatched Batman Vs Superman Dawn of Justice…I know the DC movies get slaughtered in the reviews but I really like the darker tone, and much prefer Affleck’s Batman to Bale. I’ll get pilloried but I preferred it to Civil War…
In the middle of watching Warhammer 40k Ultramarines (watched about half of it yesterday, will finish up tonight when I get home). Unsurprisingly, It does what it says on the tin.
And the sixth Alien Omnibus got released today (Cauldron and Steel Egg). Looking forward to finally getting around to these at some point…I’m so glad libraries do digital lending now.
I liked that movie, but here’s the catch…I liked the uncut version! The cut version is horrendous in the sense that it makes no sense. I do not get how they got away with putting it out to theaters cutting what they cut. It removes absolutely important elements of the story line that pushes serious foundations to the story and characters that, without it, causes the film to burn to the ground in absolute failure.
I watched the cut version first and was really angry with it, except with the wonderful performance of Wonder Woman, Aquaman (character wise, jokes, depth, history, interactions etc) and the SPOILERS SPOILERS late minute appearance of Superman (really love this rendition of Supes, he’s incredible) but overall I was angry. And then much later I watched the uncut version and absolutely loved the film.
So I think that if they had shown that movie instead, people would not have hated on it as they did. It was actually a really good movie, but someone purposely cut it to shreds to make it poor quality.
Now…
As for me, I’m currently watching (don’t judge me, or go ahead, because I love the show) the latest episode of The 100. I really like how the show can capture such grey areas for a CW/teen show. There’s no overtly good or bad guys, there are just people trying to survive however they can.
Watched a fair few things, which I’ll essentially list with thumbs up or thumbs down…after Infinity Chamber I watched another low budget sci-fi called Time Lapse which was also quite good. Then a Netflix feature called Calibre, which again was ok. On my DC kick I rewatched Justice League, which having watched twice now I actually think I enjoyed more than many Marvel films. Blasphemy I know!
Next up, Snowpiercer. This appeared to have great reviews and quite a cast of stars, so I thought great, another sci-fi that went under my radar, lets kick back and enjoy. I really didn’t like it…emperor’s new clothes syndrome for me. Although I did enjoy Rampage in a brainless kind of way and Ready Player One was good too, although not as great as the book.
And finally, fresh from the mistake, I tried Khali the Killer. Dropped after 15 minutes…eugh…
Also, even though I pretty much grew out of melodic death metal years ago, especially anything which has clean vocals and actual singing, I dug up an old CD for some reason and have been jamming this on repeat -
Podcasts - Pretty much the same as the last time I posted up in this thread:
SuperBestFriendsCast, Round Table Live, CoOptional (all three video-game related)
Not Another D&D Podcast, The Adventure Zone, Critical Role, GamersTable (RPG, either AP or game-related)
Pratchat (monthly review of one of Terry Pratchett’s books)
Get The Knaak (general topics from author and sports historian Jerry Knaak)
Books - Little bit of this, little bit of that:
The Handmaid’s Tale - Read it because I was curious to read the book, since Mrs. Paradox was watching the show on Hulu. Plus, it was free thanks to my Amazon Prime subscription. I think I may need to go re-read it, because I’m still not sure if it was supposed to be a post-conflict near-future sci-fi take on what can go wrong if an overly-zealous religious/patriarchy-based society takes over, or if it was more of a take on what women go through to survive, in a society that doesn’t really respect them. Either way, it was a break from my usual reading.
Orconomics - fantasy/satire on the economics that might appear in a fantasy world. I’m not that far into it, but I’m liking it so far.
Movies - Haven’t really watched anything lately. Might get around to watching The Last Jedi since it’s now on Netflix.
TV - No major watching of anything from the networks, here. Still getting in a little bit of The Expanse when I can, and I did burn through Luke Cage season 2. It was good stuff.
I’ve been giving everything in the new anime season a try. Tons of garbage as usual but here’s some that might be worth watching… Planet With - Neat little robot show that started out much better than I had expected, hopefully it stays that way. Harukana Receive - Girls playing Volleyball, not as much fanservice as you’d expect (for better or worse), the first episode was actually good. Island - Nice summer lolis.
This is the exact kind of thing I need in my life right now, thanks so much, @techparadox!
A podcast I listen to that I think is hilarious and I think you’d like if you’re into British humor – which I’m gathering you are, since you like Pratchett – is My Dad Wrote a Porno, it’s about… a guy who wrote a really cringy book. It’s actually brilliant, tbh.
(I don’t know if you were even looking for podcasts, but you shared something nice and I felt like sharing something nice back, that also cheers me up when I’m feeling down)
Let me know how you like it once finished, it has been on my list for a while.
I was looking for an image/title of a book to talk about here… a book I read a long time (5-6 years) ago about goblins encountering an ancient deity that they championed back into ‘power’… but instead I found this…
Has anyone ever heard of this? Can you tell me why I haven’t heard of it before??
They only do one book (and subsequently one podcast) per month, usually released on the 8th, and they’re only up to their ninth episode so far so there isn’t that much backlog to catch up on if you’re looking to dive in. They’re covering ALL of Pterry’s works, not just the Discworld series, so if you’re like me and have only really read the Discworld series (and Good Omens), they might broaden your horizons a bit.
I’ll have to check out the one you suggested. Sounds interesting, and I’m always up for some British humor.
I picked it up as a Kindle Daily Deal for something like $2, so I wasn’t really expecting much out of it. According to my Kindle I’m about a quarter of the way through it and things are starting to pick up, action-wise. There have been funny bits here and there - nothing that has literally made me laugh out loud, but they definitely got an amused chuckle out of me - and I’m enjoying the protagonist’s general take on the fantasy world in which they live (and all the politics that go on in the background). I’ll be sure to get back to you once I get done with it and let you know my final thoughts.
The World of Warcraft books are actually really good. Also they surprisingly don’t need a subscription fee and a doctor’s note to get through like the game.
If you’re looking for another game series that’s actually ok, try the first three Mass Effect novels by Drew Karpyshyn (the fourth isn’t by him and is terrible, I haven’t read the Andromeda books so no comment on them).
If you want a picture of the future, imagine a boot stamping on a human face — forever.
This year I’ve been trying to read the classics that I missed in school. I enjoyed this one. It’s a very creative and thought-provoking dystopian novel. At times repetitive and boring (especially when Winston reads from Goldstein’s book), but overall, a good book.
I watched Ozark when it premiered. Absolutely incredible show and I’d recommend it to anyone (old enough of course). The story is pretty unique, at least I’ve never seen anything quite like it before. Also, Julia Garner was so impressive in her role. I instantly got hooked to her character.
As for me…
I watched How It Ends on Netflix. Terrible. A waste of time.
I’m now starting my second watch of On My Block. I was surprised by how good the show was. I didn’t think I was going to like it, but it was really good. Hopefully we get a second season, though I’d prefer a second season (somehow, I do not care) for Requiem or Dark, or maybe some new show a lot like Tabula Rasa. All three great Netflix shows.
Have now seen the new Tomb Raider reboot…better than the Jolie films but still meh, Isle of Dogs really quite enjoyed this, and Bryan Cranston remains a legend, The 5th Passenger, which despite several Star Trek alumni was TERRIBLE (not as bad as Future World though), The Endless, watchable alien suicide death cult scifi, and the documentary film The Barkley Marathons: The Race That Eats Its Young, which concerns crazy people running a course that’s impossible.
Oh hey there, I also watched Isle of Dogs two days ago. It only got released in Brazil two days ago, in fact. Thanks, Fox.
When it comes to his stop motion animation movies, though, I’m still a bigger fan of Wes’s Fantastic Mr. Fox. Have you seen that one yet? Highly recommend it if you haven’t. I’d say in terms of art and aesthetic Isle of Dogs is currently unparalleled, but Mr. Fox really struck me with its story.
I have to listen to something to erase the horror, disappointment and sadness in my heart. And all because of a stupid accident while a page was still loading.
