I haven’t seen Fantastic Mr. Fox but of course being a child of the UK am well acquainted with the works of Roald Dahl…his stories make up some fond childhood memories. When I heard about the film I think I probably did two unfair things - dismissed it as a film for children, and assumed that it would tarnish good memories of the book. With your recommendation I think I’ll give it a go and see how it really is.
Rewatched King Of Kong - A Fistful of Quarters because of the revelations surrounding Billy Mitchell…great story, great film…it’s the Rocky of videogaming. Also saw A Prayer Before Dawn, which tells the true story of a down on his luck British kickboxer in Thailand, with a drug problem and issues. He ends up in prison after a fighting mishap. Queue two hours of misery. Honestly, I thought there’d be more action but it was so ponderous that I kind of lost interest. I do now know that prisons in Thailand are definitely not on my list of places to visit.
Finished Aliens - Cauldron by Diane Carey. Not a good book…and the threat is barely present. Started John Shirley’s Aliens Steel Egg and it’s already a better experience barely two chapters in!
I really hate to say this but, having seen it now, Mr. Fox left me a little cold. Perhaps it’s because I have such a strong resonance with the original (I remember in primary school - that’s school for children between the age of 4 and 11 - putting on a performance based on the book and of course reading it as a child) but Anderson’s interpretation and Clooney’s Fox left me a little unimpressed, perhaps disconnected. Don’t get me wrong, I liked some of the little touches here and there, but on the whole Isle of Dogs was in a different class.
Fair enough, @xist! Thankfully different people like different things, and thankfully directors also put out different things as well, that way everyone can find something they connect to more. I’m glad you watched it, though, since to me every single one of Wes’ movies has a unique touch, even if some fall very short of interesting me in a personal level – read, for example, Darjeeling Limited.
Feel free to talk to me about movies whenever, and to suggest me something you like as well.
Reading:Cold Granite, by Stuart McBride. My first English book I’m reading (I’m German), and it’s a hard one, because they all speak scottish in varying degrees of fucked-up-ness But t’s a lot of fun, even though the story itself is really really grim. Watching: Since I moved almost two months ago, I didn’t have internet, until a few days ago, so I’m mostly catching up on YouTube stuff, especially Game Grumps, which I love dearly, especially the weekly 10 Minute Power Hour. Apart from that me and my brother are watching the second season of the Duck Tales reboot right now. It kinda gets better with every episode, because they’re updating the show perfectly, with a good internet-y sense of humor, while still honoring the classic series and taking us through fresh and exciting adventures. Listening: Really got into Celtic Rock/Punk lately, with bands like Flogging Molly, The Rumjacks, The Real McKenzies and even German bands like Fiddler’s Green and The O’Reillys and the Paddyhats. I love the blend of classic folk intruments and melodies with rock music, and I’m pretty sure this road will take me to medieval rock next, which is basically the same formula.
A friend of mine is really into synthwave music, so he’s been sending me some to listen recently, and this is one of them that i liked: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7wvLqpWtTUU
Your friend has great taste. The Midnight is great.
If want more great music in this genre, you should check out this channel on Youtube and NewRetroWave (my personal favorite!). They tend to play a lot of great stuff. Also, some other good artists in the sythwave and syth genre; Juno Reactor, Night Runner, Mega Drive, Com Truise, Perturbator (go listen! in fact, play the song below ), Magic Sword, Kavinsky and Power Glove. There’s so much gold in this genre (though goa trance is also incredible!).
(synthwave + dark wave)
I’m currently listening to Astral Projection. Just stumbled upon my all time favorite remix of Mahadeva in my playlist (which, of course, is what I was waiting for).
I’ve been finally watching The Man in the High Castle. It’s an adaptation of a Philip K. Dick novel that I’ve meant to watch ever since watching its excellent pilot episode before the main season was out. Now, there’s three full seasons, and I’m about halfway through it. It’s an alternate history 1950s/60s story taking place in the former US, now occupied by the Third Reich on the East Coast and occupied by the Japanese Empire on the Pacific coast (with the midwest being a neutral zone). Ridley Scott and the former X-Files director were on board, so I was quite interested in this one.
I’m sad to report that this show turned out to be very mediocre so far. It has an excellent first half to season 1. It’s a gripping, depressing, and intriguing drama that feels true to history, despite the sci-fi themes that it backs the entire plot on. My biggest complaint about the first season is that it begins to fall into a formula by the end: person must do thing, person doesn’t want to do thing because of x moral influence, family member is threatened, person does thing (but not really because they doubt themselves). Still, the first season is a good start to a mostly solid show.
light-to-medium-ish spoilers ahead
By Season 2, though, it feels like the writers have all either left or lost the plot. They change several characters for the worse, fanservice starts taking over the main plot, and any of the nuanced ways in which the show dealt with heavy issues before are gone in favor of overt explanation about how you should feel about x moral issue… that’s not the kind of thing I want to be saying about a show that deals with many of the crimes against humanity that were witnessed in WW2 era Japan, let alone Nazi Germany. I’m not quite sure if I’ll finish the show, now… it’s really losing steam quick, and at this point the same characters that I loved in the first season are now a cast I cringe at and despise. The worst by far is the introduction of Sarah, a cheap love-interest type they throw in at a moment’s notice so as to “clear up” another character; rather than seeing a new character as a new character, they feel like cheap plot-devices. Characters begin going against their own judgement and motives for the dumbest and most far-fetched of reasons, with the most insulting being Frank-- by season 2, they shoehorn him into a resistance movement, despite the fact that he blames the resistance for everything that has happened to him.
At least for the time being, I’d definitely say you can safely miss this show. It… had a lot of potential. You can see the influence that Ridley Scott had in its incredible world building, and much like X-Files, you have a diverse cast of characters that all felt like real people in an ever-complex situation. It just fell apart so hard, and it’s a real shame… just a whole lotta wasted potential with a very strong introduction.
I was given the book of this just before they announced the TV show. Sadly I found it somewhat uninspiring, and left me without any inclination to watch the TV series. Despite how good the concept sounded, I just found the execution in the novel a tad boring.
I’ve heard from others that it’s the weakest of Philip K. Dick’s collection. That said, I wasn’t expecting anything as abysmal in execution as the show.
It’s almost like it directly inspired Bethesda’s Wolfenstein-in-name-only reboot series
Thank you for your recommendations, i will surely check them out. And yeah, he has a good taste at this, also i know about NewRetroWave, I occasionally check out what new stuff is up there and just let it play and enjoy, i mean i’m already of the fan of the genre (as seen from my profiles as well).
Watched The Finest Hours (was looking for a Ben Foster film I hadn’t seen). It tells the true story of a daring sea rescue of a group of sailors caught on a sinking tanker. It was ok if a little formulaic.
), Magic Sword, Kavinsky and Power Glove. There’s so much gold in this genre (though goa trance is also incredible!).
