REVIEWS! of stuff I've looked at lately

[changeling]

Frank Miller's Ronin:

I'm not sure I get the end. Also, why are you so obsessed with cannibals, Frank? Why?

Stardust, the movie:

I think I have to hand in my geek licence. I didn't like it. And the relationship between Tristan and the Star didn't work for me the way it did in the book. My jury's still out on Gay De Niro (though the justification for Shakespeare was cute). And I was way more pissed about Dionysus Mr. Bromios being omitted than I was about the Tree. Twats. And I missed the "two Mondays" bit.

In the end, I missed the earthiness of it; the farts and the scratches and the dying in the middle of copulation with a maid. That was my favourite part of the book, and the part that resonated most with me, a sort of awestruck You can do that?. Stardust-the-movie was too airy for me.

First episode of Firefly:

Meh, it was OK. The last twenty minutes or so was the best. (See? Geek licence revoked.)

And at least I finally know where the parasol icons come from. Still just as weird as when Tucker turned up as Warren in X3. Sometimes I wish I hadn't had the Disney Channel through some of my formative years. I still can't unwatch The Torkelsons or Almost Home (Oh, my god, Chuckie Lee grew up. No wonder Mouth looked familiar). And I still can't stand Queen's "It's a kind of magic".

First episode of Hex (which I received OK, thanks so much to Jaimie):

Thelma ("the lesbian") still best part of this. Very silly show, and strangely the fantasy was more believable than the behaviour of the students, teachers & school in general (but then I was never in a British school, private or otherwise for year 13/Upper sixth/whatever). Still want to smack Roxanne one. And main-character Cassie. Dude. Just because the popular people start being less mean it doesn't mean that they're your friends. Or even that you have anything in common with them.

Thank god Thelma remains beyond episode one. Cassie is a twit.

Comments

[semplice.livejournal.com]

Re: Firefly, you don't get your geek license revoked unless you dislike the next episode. I really really don't much like the first episode of Firefly until the end, but I love the rest of it.

[doubtful-salmon.livejournal.com]

What, The Train Job? No. You don't get your geek license revoked until you don't like Bushwhacked. Man, I love Firefly, but when it comes to Firefly episodes, I have no feelings on The Train Job.

[semplice.livejournal.com]

Well, okay. You have a point.

[delirieuse.livejournal.com]

Ah, so much like my reaction to the first episode of Buffy, then. It took me years to come back (and only because all my friends were talking about how awesome it was). Mind you, they had to sell me on SMG, and I never liked her much.

[delirieuse.livejournal.com]

As I said to doubtfulsalmon, I wondered if that might be the case. I never liked the first episode of Buffy much.

[sidherian.livejournal.com]

Thelma is the best

[naewinter.livejournal.com]

why are you so obsessed with cannibals, Frank? Why? It makes a nice change from whores though.

re: Firefly. I'd highly recommend Out of Gas for watching next if your still up for it and want a recommendation for best episode of the lot. It's not spoilery for the episodes before it, if I remember correctly. Although you do get a tonne of backstory in it.

[crotalus-atrox.livejournal.com]

I think I have to hand in my geek licence. I didn't like it.

*HUG TIGHT* It was weird, the more time passed between actually having seen it, the more I realized I really hated it. I went from saying it was okay in the theater, where I'd seen it with folks who liked it and were v. enthused about it*, to when Nono asked about it, realizing I loathed it and the random unicorn and how the characters went from 3D to cartoons of themselves, especially Tristan's mother**. Couldn't stand the movie version of her; no damn fire.

So, uh, we're sitting in the license-revoked line together. And I still have no interest in Firefly, so. :)

*And really, I'd sit through it again if only for the company.
** I'd read about 2/3 of the book at that time, 1/3 being the beginning and 1/3 being the end.

[fin.livejournal.com]

I almost didn't watch any more Firefly on the basis of the first episode. It gets much better.

On the contrary, HEX is full of awful. I went into it with high hopes (on the basis of the first episode) but then the plot simply meanders through two seasons, with most of the main characters blatantly contradicting themselves for no apparent reason. It plays out like that creative writing game where you write two sentences, cover up the first one, and pass it on to the next writer. Admittedly, though, there are some cool visual moments, and there is the odd character who doesn't entirely shit me.

[delirieuse.livejournal.com]

Oh, yeah, the unicorn.

The longer version of this review is: what I liked least is the way they kept much of the action, but stripped out the reasons for things to happen. The unicorn makes sense when they've just saved it from a lion-and-the-unicorn battle. Well, more sense. Plot sense. This movie felt like connect-the-plot. We found all the points that the movie had to hit in order to bring the plot to the end, and we got our pencil and our ruler and drew a direct line between them.

I didn't like the movie version of Tristan's mother either. Bah. Or Primus, actually. I liked book-Primus. He was a gentleman, and an introvert, and a suspicious bastard. I missed the brothers not being more suspicious.

And for a Greek chorus (as I saw one review term them), the dead brothers were badly under-used.

[doubtful-salmon.livejournal.com]

Well, to be fair, the first episode sold me, but by the time I got to the end of the second disc I was practically on my knees begging for more episodes to suddenly come into existence.

[doubtful-salmon.livejournal.com]

And then isn't Jaynestown right after that one? Oh man, if you don't like Jaynestown, then there's just something wrong with your brain.

[crotalus-atrox.livejournal.com]

Friggin' random unicorn. In the book it made sense! In the story, it was a friggin. Random. Unicorn.

I can understand why they took the more violent stuff out and gave it a more stereotypic happy ending, but I resent that they got rid of the dimensions the characters had. Primus, as you said, and definitely Tristan's mother. The one line the actress had when she meets Tristan - just a slight change in inflection would've made her a stronger character. I just didn't think it was well-done.

[delirieuse.livejournal.com]

Frank Miller is a strange, strange individual, and I think I would be afraid to be alone in the same room with him.

[naewinter.livejournal.com]

I think his effect on the moronic contingent of Fan Boys who slobber after his every move is scarier. You can't say a thing against the Amazing and Genius Talent Of Frank Miller.

I've skipped a tonnage of comics recently, although I really love Mouse Guard and need to find the last one.

[delirieuse.livejournal.com]

That's quite true, actually. There are a lot of fanboys slobbering after quite unsavory things, and sometimes one stops and wonders about their mental health.

[delirieuse.livejournal.com]

The violence was the best part! Curse them all. What's the point in brothers killing each other to get the kingdom unless there's non-slapstick violence involved? I also missed the fact that Septimus had to go after the witch and avenge his brother's murder, much to his distaste. :)