Reading roundup + Civil War
33. M.C.A.Hogarth. Mindline (Dreamhealers #2) -- OK, this one does have more plot (or the first 75% of it, anyway), but I don't think that is the reason that I liked it quite a bit more -- I think that has more to do with the hospital setting (I miss House M.D., apparently, and have always liked healers) and the hurt/comfort for stoically suffering character. The plot is probably the reason I read this one in just over a day rather than over the course of several weeks, interspersed with other books (although it's also a fair bit shorter than the first one). Spoilers from here!
There's plot: Jahir is doing his residency on Selnor, the capital planet of the Alliance, and has to contend with not only the crazy schedules of a hospital resident and the mentally taxing exposure to lots of people some of whom he has to touch, but also with the much heavier gravity of the planet, which leaves him exhausted and everybody else trying to feed him up with things like protein shakes and buttered coffee and espresso ice cream bombs. I did really like the whole "collective caretaking of an insistently stoic character" angle -- the way people (even before Vasiht'h gets there) bring him food and coffee and remind him it's OK to take a rest and that his first obligation is not to become one of the casualties and bristle at the higher-ups who demand things of him without realizing their cost. And there are all sorts of great details, from Jahir wearing his long hair (a status symbol back home, because it signals that he is powerful enough not the get challenged to a duel, where long hair would be a drawback) in a braid so it doesn't get in the way of his duties and that braid fraying over the course of the day and as he falls asleep too tired to unbraid it, the family ring getting so loose that he couldn't wear it on his finger (rather than on a chain around his neck) even if he'd wanted to, stealing time away from sleep to go up on the hospital roof and look up at the stars because he needs psychic rest even more than he needs physical rest, Jahir barely restraining himself from moaning when he gets into the pool for the first time because the extra gravity is gone for the first time in weeks. Very relevant to my interests, all of it :P
I mean there's actual plot, too, an epidemic of what turns out (thanks to Jahir's psychic powers being in the right place at the right time) to be a very deadly drug -- two doses leads to 100% mortality, which, I agree with the point raised in the book, seems like a VERY stupid business model for the drug dealers (although I guess there's the point where the reason it's brought to Selnor at all, they suspect, is to see if the best of the medical establishment can find a cure for it and thus make it a better one), but it's all suitably dramatic. One thing I had not expected at all and was impressed by was that they never do figure out a way to save the drug victims -- all Jahir's and the surgeon's heroic efforts succeed in is buying the victims enough time so that their families can get there and say good-bye. Which is an interesting choice, but I suppose Jahir needed the "you can't save everybody" lesson -- although it does seem like he's determined to try anyway, given his conversation with KindlesFlame about a second career in the medical field. Similarly, I was pleasantly surprised by the message that the best and healthiest thing to do is for Jahir to walk away from the internship ("for yourself, and for the patients who could be served better by someone who isn't fighting the world just to stay on his feet for them") -- I hadn't expected that, either, but it's sort of refreshing (along with a similar decision Vasiht'h makes in the first book, giving up his idea of research for clinical practice). Also, just how long it takes Jahir to recover, physically and emotionally, from his time on Selnor; that sort of realism was quite nice, too.
There were things that didn't really work for me. The dream therapy stuff in the last 25% of the book was pretty boring to me -- there was nothing very interesting going on there, and hearing about other people's dreams is boring even when they're real people, and it goes double for random side characters. I also had a very, very hard time believing that Jahir would end up passing his residency in the couple of month (of a two year term) that he spent there, ESPECIALLY considering that even though he helped point the investigators in the right direction with the source of the epidemic being a drug, and even though he kept the victims alive a little longer than anyone else could, and created a stir in medical circles and got a commendation from the Fleet, pretty much NONE OF THAT had anything to do with the specialty he was there to practice, xenopsychology. And since he isn't going to do the medical track anyway, the only thing this served to do was underscore Jahir's Gary-Stu status. Not that I care, that's a large part of the point of the character, but I kept mumbling "but that makes NO SENSE!" while he was having the discussion with KindlesFlame about why it made no sense. I also had a hard time believing there was quite THIS much cultural objection to autopsies without the patient's approval; it's a neat world-building detail given the history of the Pelted as pets/research subjects (same as the lack of taboo around sharing medical information that humans would want to keep private), but surely laws would be amended to make exceptions for cases of danger to public health, like an epidemic in progress.
I wish we'd gotten to see a bit more of the hospital people other than Paga the Naysha aquatic therapist, who was nice enough but, with the dialogue being filtered through a translator, worked for me less well than the other staff. (And the water fight with Vasiht'h was kinda beyond ridiculous. I realize it was meant to be a lighter moment, but... too kiddie TV for my taste.) My favorite was Radimir the Harat-Shar senior healer-assist (actually, a digression: I kept trying to figure out where the Pelted names had come from, since some of them carry cultural connotations and some clearly don't; the third-wave Pelted like the Glaseah don't seem to have "human" names at all, but the Harat-Shar and Tam-illee and... do, but are they just randomly chosen? Do they signal long-ago origin from a particular lab in a particular place? or what? I mean, Radimir is Slavic -- especially as he introduces himself as "Radimir, train Yulij", Lucrezia is Latinish, Lafayette is French? American?, and there's even a variety of last names among those who use them, like Baird Ghardhoff, the Hinchi priest mentioned, or Paige Nettlesdown. Where does this all come from?) Anyway, I liked Radimir, and Nurse Jiron, and I was intrigued by Grace Levine, who I feel sort of gets short shrift in this. I mean, she was obviously and alarmingly very wrong to kiss Jahir even if he had been into it, however much stress she was under. Tying it in with her worries that she's not attracted to the Pelted because she's actually a bigot, and the general theme of humans who come to the Alliance feeling like they have something extra to prove -- these are all quite interesting things, actually, and I wish they'd gotten more nuance, or, since they are not really relevant to Jahir and Vasiht'h story, just hadn't entered into it at all. And I can totally understand Jahir feeling negatively towards someone who he knows is attracted to him when he doesn't return that attraction but has to work with her anyway, but he did seem kind of harsh towards her (inside his head; of course he was still perfectly civil to her), much more so than with Jill, who was kind of in the same boat for a while. But anyway.
We do get to see/hear from some of the characters from the first book, too. I was happy to have Jahir's lunches with KindlesFlame resume, as he's probably my favorite. The revelation that the sick little girls are considering becoming xenopsychologists to help kids like themselves was nice. And I was even amused to see that asshole professor Sheldan from the first book had written Jahir a glowing (and apparently unsolicited? unless KindlesFlame was managing that on Jahir's behalf) letter of recommendation.
The soulbond/platonic marriage with Vasiht'h is formalized in this one, and I quite liked the way it was handled, with relatively little drama, and the more dramatic moments are snuck in amidst other stuff, like Vasiht'h saying "Being angry at Ravanelle is small business, compared to loving you." (the first time the word love is mentioned between them) in the middle of the two of them teasing each other/freaking out about their grade for the practicum. I also liked that, despite the soulbond and literally hearing each other's minds, they still need to negotiate certain things, like Vasiht'h having a problem with Jahir paying for everything. And the rather high-flown imagery of them being each other's anchor in a storm, "a point of strength to move from," was also quite nicely done, and not even overly melodramatic, for my taste. And I do like that they establish that, as important as they are to each other, their relationship is not unhealthily codependent: "That's why I sent you away. I wanted you to figure out if you could do without the emotional support." "And the answer to that is 'I do better with it.'" And it's very cute that Jahir is worried Vasiht'h might be jealous of him having "pleasing experiences" that he does not share with him. I also do like how resolutely non-sexual Vasiht'h remains about this, including reminding everyone (including Sehvi) that however much he loves Jahir, this is a platonic relationship -- including, even Jahir himself: "I'm guessing that eventually you're going to want a lover. And trust me when I say I'm not at all interested" and Jahir replying/thinking: '"I imagine that one day I might, yes. But not soon." Maybe not before you're gone.' (Apparently in his 150 years Jahir has not had a "passionate" kiss yet, though; I wonder if it's because he is still an adolescent by Eldritch standards or, while not asexual, like Vasiht'h, not particularly inclined that way either. And Vasiht'h talking it over with his sister: '"But you know you read the romances other species write, and it's all passion and fireworkds and it sounds very..." "Uncomfortable," Sehvi said dryly.'
Of course, there's a share of curtainfic in this book, too, especially once the two of them return to Seersana. More potluck and cookie-baking (and feeding cookies to clients, even), buying furniture and looking for an apartment together, the aforementioned water fight, visiting the sick little girls some more, as well as catching up with the two on Selnor whose health has gotten much better, going sailing and spending a romantice platonic night in a lighthouse B&B, more ice cream, sharing spoons while they eat ("We are sharing thoughts. Sharing spoons on occasion hardly seems noteworthy."). The most impactful/id-fulfilling bit of fluff for me was Jahir asking Vasiht'h to cut his hair, with the degree of intimacy this entails for an Eldritch.
Some random details I liked: Jahir going by his first name because "while he did not expect most non-Eldritch to understand how to use his name, he could not continue to listen to this particular mangling of it" (i.e. "Mr Galare").
Nice worldbuilding bits, from produce ("some of them were native to Selnor [...] tagged with species-safety information but otherwise mysterious") to religion ("as well as the DNA helix jewelry used by those who'd made a spiritual practice out of the Exodus events. He even found a statue of Holly, who'd been the mother of the Pelted fight for freedom on Earth... standing peacefully alongside a figurine of Mary, Mother of God. The human Christian Mary, not the Hinchi Christian one, since the latter was inevitably portrayed with a pawprint medallion or a wolf at her feet.")
A couple of quotes:
"They were more than friends now, and a side-step from lovers."
"Okay, I'm not fooling anyone. Yes, I'll bake. Take me to your larder."
So, this was nice. I'm not very clear/decided right now on whether I'm going to read Family, the novella where the two of them go visit Jahir's planet, and I'm probably skipping the casebook.
34. Smoke and Shadow, part 2
36. Smoke and Shadow, part 3 -- Not as fun as The Rift, not nearly as disappointing as The Search, so about on par with The Promise, I guess? Only with not nearly enough Toph. Spoilers from here!
Mai and Zuko (especially Zuko) being awkward around each other was cute, Aang being awkward on Zuko's behalf was also cute, as was Zuko eyerolling at him for Aang complaining about Kei Lo calling Mai "babe" ("You're not really one to talk, Aang."). Also the parade of Zuko's cranky/grumpy ancestors.
Mai's divided loyalties and intent to settle for someone who likes her more than she likes him to prevent herself from being heartbroken again were well done, I thought, and her father's motivation and what he's willing to do for it -- including both conspiring with Azula and, when he realizes the toll that's taking on Tom-Tom and the children, going against her and rescuing the kids himself, and then submitting to prison. And I continue to like Kiyi's rejection of Ursa's new face (because otherwise the Ursa storyline was just such a copout; I mean, it still is, but that not being swept under the rug makes me a little happier with it), although I don't fully buy the acceptance of Ursa when she comes back from confronting Ozai (although the confrontation itself I liked a lot). I like the things I think it's trying to say, but I do think the resolution is too quick. But I did really like the Iroh and Ursa bonding moment over the fear for one's children. Also, Kiyi learning to firebend from watching Zuko and saving the day was cute.
I'm still not sure what the hell they think they're doing with Azula. She does seem better (as Zuko points out, and it was really nice to see him still trying to be siblingy with her), but I'm not sure I buy her (claimed) motivation: "My destiny, you see, is to make YOU into the Fire Lord I tried to be -- one who's strong and rules through fear. [...] and then, in a sense, I'll be Fire Lord again." It is byzantine enough for Azula, but doesn't make much intrinsic sense, I think?
And what the heck was the point of Mai and Kei Lo if they're just going to break up offscreen? I was assuming Mai/Zuko endgame all along, but with some better point/progression than this? Or at least some explanation of Mai's reasons for breaking up with Kei Lo (assuming she was the one who initiated it -- it's hard to tell, since they do both seem upset, and we don't hear anything). Just hearing Zuko's apology speech and realizing he has grown/can learn from past mistakes? realizing her strategy of protecting her heart by not caring as much about the guy she's with is not a great strategy? I did like Azula's line on Kei Lo, though: "Please tell me this isn't your new boyfriend, Mai. Zuzu wasn't all that great a catch, but, dearl, you're really slumming it!" -- very Azula, and with some twisted family loyalty there which feels just right.
The next one is North and South, about Sokka and Katara going back to the Northern Water Tribe. Hopefully this will be fun; I've missed Sokka -- he's been kind of getting short shrift in the comics, I feel like.
35. Body Work (Rivers of London comic #1) -- I was a bit skeptical when I started seeing the pages on Ben Aaronovitch's blog, and dithered over whether I should get this or not (but not for very long, as you can see, since the trade only came out in late March). Despite not all of the art matching my mental image of the characters and despite not being a GN person in general, I found that it worked for me quite well. It's no substitute for a real RoL book, but should tide me over OK with the additional delay of The Hanging Tree (now pushed to early August, ARGH -- and since Amazon UK is reporting late August, I'm not sure even that's gonna stick?).
People mostly don't look like I had envisioned them, but I also mostly was able to get used to that as I read on. People who do look more or less exactly as I imagined: Sahra Guleed. Close enough: Molly. Not quite, but I don't care enough: Beverley. People who don't really look like I imagined them but it didn't bother me after a while: Peter (I imagined him goofier-looking, and also lighter skinned -- he's got the same skintone here as Somali Sahra, which I think would be hard to mistake for Middle Eastern? Unless this is his summer tan look) and Nightingale (not sure what the difference is, really, but he doesn't look... distinctive enough, or something? too seamed and angry? although I do like the widow's peak/noble's point :). Ultimately, the only canonical character who looked all wrong to me and continued to do so was Stephanopoulos; I don't think anything in her looks contradicts canon, but she's just totally not how I imagined her. Ah well. One out of five (so far) ain't bad. And Toby and the Jag look great! (and I was amused by how often Toby was depicted peeing on things).
As for background characters, the London depicted is still multicultural (the waitress from Estonia -- though she didn't look much like an Estonian to me..., the Bosnian guy who hit Celeste) and modern (people have dreads and gauges and tattoos), but it looked whiter than I'd been expecting. Though maybe this is a case of different media -- Peter's descriptions jump out at me more because they're unexpected when reading, but my eye is trained to a more non-white crowd (mostly East Asian, though). Still, I don't think it's just that... Spoilers from here!
I was worried that Peter's distinctive voice would not come through in this format, but it does, thanks to the orange "voiceover" boxes, so, yay for that. Even his fanboying of Nightingale comes through somewhat, e.g. when he's burbling on about how Nightingale created this perfect sphere from the windshield, and at the end, when he's put on the same footing as concepts such as Life and Death. Something that worked really well for me in the graphic format was the vestigia, because this way you get a visual flash, in insets, as well as the voiceover words. That was very cool! I also liked the way the visual medium allowed for clues that were unremarked on but relevant later -- like the bonfire you can see in Kim's recollection, or the fact that Archie is the only one not holding or sitting next to a glass in the flashback picture.
Although it's a shortish story, it had enough of the things I like about RoL -- the mundane policing, crossing names off a list, using Google and a zillion databases to pull all the info, giving up a chase to radio in the suspect's appearance so that he can be picked up later. I'm not sure the plot entirely makes sense -- does the ghost/poltergeist/whatever possess people and cars simultaneously? Or did the church one jump to the Bentley only after Archie killed himself? But it's not like I read RoL for plot anyway. Also, speaking of the plot, I wasn't sure how well a character named Reuel would work for me -- Dresden Files' "Ronald Reueul" threw me clear out of the story, but I guess having his last name be something ridiculous, like McBeene-Smith helped :P And at first I was thinking that he must really love that green paisley scarf -- -- he was wearing it in the bonfire flashback, too, but then I realized that I think all of the people are being depicted in the clothes they're wearing in the present day. Because Peter and Sahra are visualizing it based on Kim's description? or what? *shrug*
Random things: Peter's abs! It's only fair given that Bev is wearing a wetsuit most of the time, but yes, please, shirtless Peter is an excellent use of the medium. Julie Goring's lawyer making frustrated faces during the interview. Nightingale's beer of choice = Waikato Draught (a New Zealand bitter lager). Molly using Twitter is adorable (@jollygoodcook), but who is she corresponding with?? (@dyingforAfag) Walid? Caffrey? (who do we even know who smokes?) But I guess we now have a canonical answer for what Molly is doing in Peter's tech cave. (And does it mean we've gotten a glimpse of (one of) the Tiger Tank incident?) Also, Molly bringing Nightingale his cell phone on one of those covered trays was great, as was Nightingale stymied by voicemail. And Molly driving the haunted Bentley! while wearing glasses!
At the end, there are a couple of amusing shorts, of which the last one, where Peter is summoned to help Nightingale and Molly switch between Blu-Ray and TV so they could watch the Downton Abbey Christmas special, was my favorite (also, Molly in Santa hat and Toby in reindeer antlers xD). But there's also the Halloween one where we get a glimpse of Stephanopoulos's wife -- a tiny photo and a fall of long straight black hair -- and the revelation that they'd been considering fostering/adoption but sounds like Miriam has decided that's not for her.
37. Ernest Cline, Ready Player One -- Huh. I know several people who really love this book, and I... am just not the target audience, I guess. I didn't DISlike it -- the beginning was slow, but then things picked up and I read the last 2/3 or so quite quickly, enjoying it in the way one enjoys popcorn thrillers -- but any appreciation I have for it is very shallow, to the point where it's hard for me to imagine how one can feel something deeper for it. Well, I suppose, if one can apprecaite it as the love letter to the 80s, or to classic video games... I'm nominatlly an 80s kid, but spent all of that decade not in the US, and so missed out on most of the cultural references here, except by cultural/fannish osmosis. And I've never been a video game person. And when you eliminate those things, there's not that much left for me to appreciate, I guess? Spoilers from here!
The writing at the beginning is very info-dumpy. Things pick up once Wade is on the run, with the stakes moving to actual real life somewhat... but as 95% of the action takes place in virtual reality, I found it a bit hard to care about the individual encounters. And having a protagonist describe themselves playing an arcade game... is really not that exciting for me. Also, because of the VR setting, I really didn't feel like I'd gotten to know anyone, including Wade, all that well. Now, far be it from me to dismiss friendships which develop on the internet -- I obviously think they can be very real -- but that wasn't the vibe I was getting from the interactions between Parzival and Aech or Parzival and Art3mis (probably more to do with the writing and/or depth of their interaction than the VR setting, because I did believe in Sam and Orlando's friendship in Otherland for instance). But I did think Wade's crush on Art3mis was cute. Also, the whole idea that someone deserves control of OASIS just for winning the game/finding the Egg is kind of silly, but I don't suppose Halliday was the sanest person in the world, so, OK. I also have a hard time believing that even the amount of money Wade won is going to be enough to fix the world in the state that it's in, the way he and Art3mis apparently think it will, but it's nice to be optimistic.
The bits of plot worked for me to varying degrees, but mostly not so well. The pivotal tasks involving acting through Halliday's favorite movies make for very dull reading, even when it's a movie I also love (like Holy Grail).I'd figured out that the first key was hidden on the planet with all the schools a little while before Wade did, and guessed the quarter he'd won on Archade was what had given him the extra life before he thought to check on it. I was surprised by the reveal that Shoto and Daito were only brothers in OASIS, that was a nice touch. But I did get an inkling that Aech was going to be fairly drastically different than his avatar, and even guessed she was likely to be a girl (after all the banter about who was lying about their gender between Wade and Art3mis); I hadn't guessed that she was lesbian (although it makes sense with the banter with Wade) and black, though. And I kind of wish Wade and Aech got to spend more time adjusting to each other in the real world. The segment set in the real world, with Wade being indentured to IOI and hacking them from the inside was an interesting departure from the rest of it, but I think I would have liked it more if I found it more believable that IOI don't have any sort of internal scans for activity that doesn't make sense, like a higher-level person having to sign off on requisition orders for bombs and stuff. Basically, everything Wade did there seemed to easy and handwaves with "backdoor cheat codes yay".
I'm making it sound like I liked the book not at all, but that's not true. It was entertaining and fast-paced for most of it. I did like Ogden Morrow (Halliday's childhood friend/business partner). I appreciated the Tolkien references (Ogden estate looking like Rivendell). I liked some bits of the worldbuilding, like vending machines which dispense guns with a pre-programmed cooling off period, all of the ways in which Wade set up his apartment for taking care of his physical needs while he spent all his time in the OASIS. But mostly, I guess, I see this as a sort of cult-classic book where I'm just not part of the cult...
*
And then we went and saw Civil War. I liked it! O liked it (but that's not a surprise). Even L liked it, or at least more than Age of Ultron. B thought it was way too long and with too much moralizing bullshit, which is a fair point, but I actually did not feel it lag (as I had with AoU, though it's longer by 6 minutes) and the moralizing was not as bad as it could have been, probably because of the opposing viewpoint format.
We got there early enough to snag seats in the center, and it was a good thing, because the theater was pretty full (even in our tiny hole-in-the-wall theater on West Portal). Sadly, this also meant a lot of noise while waiting for the movie to start and during the film. There were these two guys, stereotypical nerds, sitting behind us, and they were talking very loudly before the movie started, and over the credits, though they quieted down whenever there was something actually on the screen. Worse were all the people rustling and crunching and slurping, with the worst offenders sitting at the end of our row. We couldn't hear them during the action scenes, but during the talky scenes, it was actually really hard to make out what the actors were saying with all the plastic packaging noises. Ugh.
We got just three trailers: the latest Bourne film (not my thing; haven't seen any of them), X-Men: Apocalypse (I'll watch it, obviously, but not sure whether in theaters or not...), and Suicide Squad (I'd liked the trailer I had seen on YouTube better than this one).
OK, the movie itself -- it was so long and there were so many things happening, it's hard to figure out how to summarize my impressions, so bullet points it is, I guess. Spoilers from here!
Things I liked better than I had expected:
- Action scenes! They were all pretty good-to-great, and short and switched up enough to be not boring. And Peter Parker talking too much during some of the later ones helped break them up and give them character.
- Also the set-piece with the shield piercing the arc reactor, Steve and Tony bloodied, and Steve dropping the shield (bearing, what, scratches from T'Challa's claws?) when Tony shouts that he doesn't deserve it after choosing to side with Bucky, Howard's killer.
- Tony. I was worried he would be getting the rough end of the stick in this movie, and he kind of does, but he is still Tony and I still liked him a lot. Tony looking roughed up, Tony shouting and having to start over, Tony's banter with FRIDAY ("Detecting several contusions" "Yeah, I detected those, too." and the thing about a redhead), Tony descending on Peter and flirting with Aunt May, Tony's conversation with Ant-Man mid battle ("Who is speaking?" "This is your conscience"), Tony putting Ross on hold at the end, as we all knew he would. Oh, and Tony's confrontational apology to Sam was good, too, better than I'd expected. It's not 100% for me -- I don't really buy Tony wanting to kill Bucky RIGHT THEN when they have a bad guy to stop over something that happened 25 years ago while he was not in control of himself (Tony says, "I don't care, he killed my mom" -- but I don't think he's that irrational, and he's not acting like someone crazed, so it didn't really work for me). (Flashback!Tony was also nice, although I did not think the way they showed that made much sense, and the break-up with Pepper felt rather random, too, although I suppose they didn't want Tony to have a support system who probably would've tried to reason him out of this. But even if they're not together-together, you'd think Pepper would talk to him about it.)
- Bucky, although what this means is that I didn't mind him / did not find him boring for the first time in the whole franchise -- though, to be fair, this is the first time in a while he actually got to act as an actual person. I did like his resigned weariness, the exchange with Steve about him not being worth it because "but I did them", even though he wasn't the one in control. Although Bucky saying, "I'm not going to kill anybody" and the next minute hitting a German cop in the head with a cinderblock was kinda funny.
- Clint. This is the first movie where I actually found him funny, in the "What are you doing here?" "Disappointing my kids" exchange and his thing with Natasha (her asking "We're still friends, right?").
- On that note, Natasha and Clint and Natasha and Steve being buddies, even when they're on opposite sides. And that it's Natasha who stops T'Challa and lets Steve and Bucky go. She doesn't much like Tony's accusation that she's got her double agent habits still, but she's definitely much more pragmatic than ideological, so it makes sense for her.
- Rhodey in recovery, unshaken in his faith in the rightness of their position and making fun of Tony "Stank". Also the scene where Rhodey plummets from the sky and both Tony and Sam try to reach him and get to him too late, and Sam saying "I'm sorry" only to have Tony blow him away with a repulsor blast -- and then Sam asking after Rhodey anyway when tony visits the floating prison. (This is the first movie where Rhodes does much for me, too.)
- Vision cooking paprikash for Wanda was very cute! (In general, though, Vision is underutilized, because he's too powerful if he were to be utilized fully, but I guess it could be explained by him being ambivalent / too rational to hurt the others.
- The bad guy, Zemo. I find it refreshing that he isn't out for world domination and isn't Hydra (so sick of everyone being Hydra), that he isn't some superpowered galactic monstrocity, and also that he kind of wins (temporarily, anyway). And I liked the way the thing with the voicemail from his wife was played -- where we hear it first before we know what happened/who he is and it looks like just an operative lying to his wife about why he is working late, but ultimately it's revealed that this is the only thing he has left of his family. Nicely played. (One might wonder why a Sokovian family would leave each other messages in English, but shhh. Let's pretend it's not.) His Russian is terrible, though, even though he speaks a bunch of languages, apparently.
- Speaking of languages, I'm glad MCU FINALLY cast an actual Russian-speaker as one of their Russians -- the Soviet colonel in charge of the Winter Soldier program is played by a Belorussian-born guy my age. And Sebastian Stan's Russian was not too bad either, as I suppose Romanian helps a bit with that.
- Also, Xhosa! I know people are complaining that, given where Wakanda is located, it makes no sense for people there to be speaking Xhosa, but given that it's a fictional country with an entirely fictional geography, I think that's more cool than not, especially the actor playing T'Chaka is a native speaker.
Things I liked but had already been prepared to like by reading good reviews:
- Spiderman! He was so adorkable, with the not shutting up and the complaining that Steve's shield doesn't obey the laws of physics and saying he can't go to Germany because he has homework, and bonding with Steve over being from Queens and Brooklyn respectively, and the final after-credits scene. I don't know how well a solo movie with him would work for me, but as part of an ensemble, he was great, and one of my favorite parts of the movie. Also, a source of much-needed levity.
- T'Challa. He was pretty cool, but everybody who'd seen Civil War seems to have loved him so much that I was expecting something extra, and may have been even a little disappointed. But I did like him (and his father), and I like that (moralizing as it is) seeing the Avengers tear themselves apart makes him give up on vengeance, and that his final act is actually stopping Zimo's suicide so that human justice (such as it is) can deal with him.
Things I liked but wish there'd been more of:
- Scott! Who was amusing with Tony, as I said above, and also annoyed that Tony doesn't even know who he is. Also, Scott fanboying Captain America ("I'm shaking your hand too long. I know you [Wanda] also, you're great too.") Basically, Scott was great!
- Also, Sam! Sam was my favorite thing about Cap 2, and I was looking forward to more of him here, and he has some really great expressive moments, like refusing to move his seat up with Bucky in the back (the getaway bug was great!), and also with Scott (calling him Tic-Tac and so on), oh, and Sam being indignant about his gear being described as "a bird costume", but I was hoping for more of him. He was the one character that I would have liked to see more than there was of, I guess.
Things I don't care about enough to think about them:
- The whole moral dilemma or whatever. I don't think Steve is right in putting all kinds of things in jeopardy just to save one man -- even if Bucky WERE innocent -- I can't fault him for that personal loyalty, but that's not a morally superior stance. On the other hand, Tony's apparent crisis of conscience is brought on by something that makes no sense at all -- well, yes, some people died in Sokrovia (and New York, and Lagos) but people would've died if the Avengers HADN'T interfered, too. More people, almost certainly. Probably DIFFERENT people, but that's not a good reason to feel responsible for the deaths. Vision makes an interesting point, that the Avengers are a challenge that attracts threats, but that doesn't seem to be actually borne out by the threats they are facing, except in this movie itself. I guess ultimately my opinion is somewhat akin to Natasha's -- the ideology on either side doesn't make sense, but something's going to have to give and this seems like the practical way out?
Things I didn't like:
- The Steve/Sharon kiss. I knew it was coming, but not when, and it was just incredible random and pointless. And L turned to me and made "WTF" motions with her hands, and, seriously, WTF. Neither the time nor the place, and they have ZERO chemistry.
- Honestly, Steve on the whole worked less well for me here than in past movies. I guess I prefer him as the "aw shucks" guy still getting used to the modern world rather than in full-on avenging superhero mode.
Our verdict: L and I liked it more than AoU for sure and better than the previous two Cap movies, but not as much as Avengers Assemble -- but that is probably my favorite MCU movie, so I don't really expect anything to bypass it. O liked it better than the other Cap movies, too (and he's the principal Cap fan among us), but wasn't sure how to compare it to the Avengers movies -- but he'd actually liked Age of Ultron, so. Anyway, definitely worth seeing in the theater, and I'm glad we did.
*
And finishing off with another fandom meme: Give me a ship and I'll tell you:
Who said “I love you” first
Who would have the other’s picture as their phone background
Who leaves notes written in fog on the bathroom mirror
Who buys the other cheesy gifts
Who initiated the first kiss
Who kisses the other awake in the morning
Who starts tickle fights
Who asks who if they can join the other in the shower
Who surprises the other in the middle of the day at work with lunch
Who was nervous and shy on the first date
Who kills/takes out the spiders
Who loudly proclaims their love when they’re drunk
Crossover ships welcome, as usual, and fandoms of note are ASOIAF, AtLA/Korra, Avengers (movie-verse only), Babylon 5, Buffy (through s6)/Angel (first season and a half), Chronicles of Amber, Discworld, Dragaera/Vlad Taltos, Dresden Files, Firefly, Harry Potter, Kingkiller Chronicles, Kushiel's Legacy, Locke Lamora, Rivers of London, Sherlock BBC, Temeraire, Tolkien, Vorkosigan Saga, and anything else you know I'm into.
There's plot: Jahir is doing his residency on Selnor, the capital planet of the Alliance, and has to contend with not only the crazy schedules of a hospital resident and the mentally taxing exposure to lots of people some of whom he has to touch, but also with the much heavier gravity of the planet, which leaves him exhausted and everybody else trying to feed him up with things like protein shakes and buttered coffee and espresso ice cream bombs. I did really like the whole "collective caretaking of an insistently stoic character" angle -- the way people (even before Vasiht'h gets there) bring him food and coffee and remind him it's OK to take a rest and that his first obligation is not to become one of the casualties and bristle at the higher-ups who demand things of him without realizing their cost. And there are all sorts of great details, from Jahir wearing his long hair (a status symbol back home, because it signals that he is powerful enough not the get challenged to a duel, where long hair would be a drawback) in a braid so it doesn't get in the way of his duties and that braid fraying over the course of the day and as he falls asleep too tired to unbraid it, the family ring getting so loose that he couldn't wear it on his finger (rather than on a chain around his neck) even if he'd wanted to, stealing time away from sleep to go up on the hospital roof and look up at the stars because he needs psychic rest even more than he needs physical rest, Jahir barely restraining himself from moaning when he gets into the pool for the first time because the extra gravity is gone for the first time in weeks. Very relevant to my interests, all of it :P
I mean there's actual plot, too, an epidemic of what turns out (thanks to Jahir's psychic powers being in the right place at the right time) to be a very deadly drug -- two doses leads to 100% mortality, which, I agree with the point raised in the book, seems like a VERY stupid business model for the drug dealers (although I guess there's the point where the reason it's brought to Selnor at all, they suspect, is to see if the best of the medical establishment can find a cure for it and thus make it a better one), but it's all suitably dramatic. One thing I had not expected at all and was impressed by was that they never do figure out a way to save the drug victims -- all Jahir's and the surgeon's heroic efforts succeed in is buying the victims enough time so that their families can get there and say good-bye. Which is an interesting choice, but I suppose Jahir needed the "you can't save everybody" lesson -- although it does seem like he's determined to try anyway, given his conversation with KindlesFlame about a second career in the medical field. Similarly, I was pleasantly surprised by the message that the best and healthiest thing to do is for Jahir to walk away from the internship ("for yourself, and for the patients who could be served better by someone who isn't fighting the world just to stay on his feet for them") -- I hadn't expected that, either, but it's sort of refreshing (along with a similar decision Vasiht'h makes in the first book, giving up his idea of research for clinical practice). Also, just how long it takes Jahir to recover, physically and emotionally, from his time on Selnor; that sort of realism was quite nice, too.
There were things that didn't really work for me. The dream therapy stuff in the last 25% of the book was pretty boring to me -- there was nothing very interesting going on there, and hearing about other people's dreams is boring even when they're real people, and it goes double for random side characters. I also had a very, very hard time believing that Jahir would end up passing his residency in the couple of month (of a two year term) that he spent there, ESPECIALLY considering that even though he helped point the investigators in the right direction with the source of the epidemic being a drug, and even though he kept the victims alive a little longer than anyone else could, and created a stir in medical circles and got a commendation from the Fleet, pretty much NONE OF THAT had anything to do with the specialty he was there to practice, xenopsychology. And since he isn't going to do the medical track anyway, the only thing this served to do was underscore Jahir's Gary-Stu status. Not that I care, that's a large part of the point of the character, but I kept mumbling "but that makes NO SENSE!" while he was having the discussion with KindlesFlame about why it made no sense. I also had a hard time believing there was quite THIS much cultural objection to autopsies without the patient's approval; it's a neat world-building detail given the history of the Pelted as pets/research subjects (same as the lack of taboo around sharing medical information that humans would want to keep private), but surely laws would be amended to make exceptions for cases of danger to public health, like an epidemic in progress.
I wish we'd gotten to see a bit more of the hospital people other than Paga the Naysha aquatic therapist, who was nice enough but, with the dialogue being filtered through a translator, worked for me less well than the other staff. (And the water fight with Vasiht'h was kinda beyond ridiculous. I realize it was meant to be a lighter moment, but... too kiddie TV for my taste.) My favorite was Radimir the Harat-Shar senior healer-assist (actually, a digression: I kept trying to figure out where the Pelted names had come from, since some of them carry cultural connotations and some clearly don't; the third-wave Pelted like the Glaseah don't seem to have "human" names at all, but the Harat-Shar and Tam-illee and... do, but are they just randomly chosen? Do they signal long-ago origin from a particular lab in a particular place? or what? I mean, Radimir is Slavic -- especially as he introduces himself as "Radimir, train Yulij", Lucrezia is Latinish, Lafayette is French? American?, and there's even a variety of last names among those who use them, like Baird Ghardhoff, the Hinchi priest mentioned, or Paige Nettlesdown. Where does this all come from?) Anyway, I liked Radimir, and Nurse Jiron, and I was intrigued by Grace Levine, who I feel sort of gets short shrift in this. I mean, she was obviously and alarmingly very wrong to kiss Jahir even if he had been into it, however much stress she was under. Tying it in with her worries that she's not attracted to the Pelted because she's actually a bigot, and the general theme of humans who come to the Alliance feeling like they have something extra to prove -- these are all quite interesting things, actually, and I wish they'd gotten more nuance, or, since they are not really relevant to Jahir and Vasiht'h story, just hadn't entered into it at all. And I can totally understand Jahir feeling negatively towards someone who he knows is attracted to him when he doesn't return that attraction but has to work with her anyway, but he did seem kind of harsh towards her (inside his head; of course he was still perfectly civil to her), much more so than with Jill, who was kind of in the same boat for a while. But anyway.
We do get to see/hear from some of the characters from the first book, too. I was happy to have Jahir's lunches with KindlesFlame resume, as he's probably my favorite. The revelation that the sick little girls are considering becoming xenopsychologists to help kids like themselves was nice. And I was even amused to see that asshole professor Sheldan from the first book had written Jahir a glowing (and apparently unsolicited? unless KindlesFlame was managing that on Jahir's behalf) letter of recommendation.
The soulbond/platonic marriage with Vasiht'h is formalized in this one, and I quite liked the way it was handled, with relatively little drama, and the more dramatic moments are snuck in amidst other stuff, like Vasiht'h saying "Being angry at Ravanelle is small business, compared to loving you." (the first time the word love is mentioned between them) in the middle of the two of them teasing each other/freaking out about their grade for the practicum. I also liked that, despite the soulbond and literally hearing each other's minds, they still need to negotiate certain things, like Vasiht'h having a problem with Jahir paying for everything. And the rather high-flown imagery of them being each other's anchor in a storm, "a point of strength to move from," was also quite nicely done, and not even overly melodramatic, for my taste. And I do like that they establish that, as important as they are to each other, their relationship is not unhealthily codependent: "That's why I sent you away. I wanted you to figure out if you could do without the emotional support." "And the answer to that is 'I do better with it.'" And it's very cute that Jahir is worried Vasiht'h might be jealous of him having "pleasing experiences" that he does not share with him. I also do like how resolutely non-sexual Vasiht'h remains about this, including reminding everyone (including Sehvi) that however much he loves Jahir, this is a platonic relationship -- including, even Jahir himself: "I'm guessing that eventually you're going to want a lover. And trust me when I say I'm not at all interested" and Jahir replying/thinking: '"I imagine that one day I might, yes. But not soon." Maybe not before you're gone.' (Apparently in his 150 years Jahir has not had a "passionate" kiss yet, though; I wonder if it's because he is still an adolescent by Eldritch standards or, while not asexual, like Vasiht'h, not particularly inclined that way either. And Vasiht'h talking it over with his sister: '"But you know you read the romances other species write, and it's all passion and fireworkds and it sounds very..." "Uncomfortable," Sehvi said dryly.'
Of course, there's a share of curtainfic in this book, too, especially once the two of them return to Seersana. More potluck and cookie-baking (and feeding cookies to clients, even), buying furniture and looking for an apartment together, the aforementioned water fight, visiting the sick little girls some more, as well as catching up with the two on Selnor whose health has gotten much better, going sailing and spending a romantice platonic night in a lighthouse B&B, more ice cream, sharing spoons while they eat ("We are sharing thoughts. Sharing spoons on occasion hardly seems noteworthy."). The most impactful/id-fulfilling bit of fluff for me was Jahir asking Vasiht'h to cut his hair, with the degree of intimacy this entails for an Eldritch.
Some random details I liked: Jahir going by his first name because "while he did not expect most non-Eldritch to understand how to use his name, he could not continue to listen to this particular mangling of it" (i.e. "Mr Galare").
Nice worldbuilding bits, from produce ("some of them were native to Selnor [...] tagged with species-safety information but otherwise mysterious") to religion ("as well as the DNA helix jewelry used by those who'd made a spiritual practice out of the Exodus events. He even found a statue of Holly, who'd been the mother of the Pelted fight for freedom on Earth... standing peacefully alongside a figurine of Mary, Mother of God. The human Christian Mary, not the Hinchi Christian one, since the latter was inevitably portrayed with a pawprint medallion or a wolf at her feet.")
A couple of quotes:
"They were more than friends now, and a side-step from lovers."
"Okay, I'm not fooling anyone. Yes, I'll bake. Take me to your larder."
So, this was nice. I'm not very clear/decided right now on whether I'm going to read Family, the novella where the two of them go visit Jahir's planet, and I'm probably skipping the casebook.
34. Smoke and Shadow, part 2
36. Smoke and Shadow, part 3 -- Not as fun as The Rift, not nearly as disappointing as The Search, so about on par with The Promise, I guess? Only with not nearly enough Toph. Spoilers from here!
Mai and Zuko (especially Zuko) being awkward around each other was cute, Aang being awkward on Zuko's behalf was also cute, as was Zuko eyerolling at him for Aang complaining about Kei Lo calling Mai "babe" ("You're not really one to talk, Aang."). Also the parade of Zuko's cranky/grumpy ancestors.
Mai's divided loyalties and intent to settle for someone who likes her more than she likes him to prevent herself from being heartbroken again were well done, I thought, and her father's motivation and what he's willing to do for it -- including both conspiring with Azula and, when he realizes the toll that's taking on Tom-Tom and the children, going against her and rescuing the kids himself, and then submitting to prison. And I continue to like Kiyi's rejection of Ursa's new face (because otherwise the Ursa storyline was just such a copout; I mean, it still is, but that not being swept under the rug makes me a little happier with it), although I don't fully buy the acceptance of Ursa when she comes back from confronting Ozai (although the confrontation itself I liked a lot). I like the things I think it's trying to say, but I do think the resolution is too quick. But I did really like the Iroh and Ursa bonding moment over the fear for one's children. Also, Kiyi learning to firebend from watching Zuko and saving the day was cute.
I'm still not sure what the hell they think they're doing with Azula. She does seem better (as Zuko points out, and it was really nice to see him still trying to be siblingy with her), but I'm not sure I buy her (claimed) motivation: "My destiny, you see, is to make YOU into the Fire Lord I tried to be -- one who's strong and rules through fear. [...] and then, in a sense, I'll be Fire Lord again." It is byzantine enough for Azula, but doesn't make much intrinsic sense, I think?
And what the heck was the point of Mai and Kei Lo if they're just going to break up offscreen? I was assuming Mai/Zuko endgame all along, but with some better point/progression than this? Or at least some explanation of Mai's reasons for breaking up with Kei Lo (assuming she was the one who initiated it -- it's hard to tell, since they do both seem upset, and we don't hear anything). Just hearing Zuko's apology speech and realizing he has grown/can learn from past mistakes? realizing her strategy of protecting her heart by not caring as much about the guy she's with is not a great strategy? I did like Azula's line on Kei Lo, though: "Please tell me this isn't your new boyfriend, Mai. Zuzu wasn't all that great a catch, but, dearl, you're really slumming it!" -- very Azula, and with some twisted family loyalty there which feels just right.
The next one is North and South, about Sokka and Katara going back to the Northern Water Tribe. Hopefully this will be fun; I've missed Sokka -- he's been kind of getting short shrift in the comics, I feel like.
35. Body Work (Rivers of London comic #1) -- I was a bit skeptical when I started seeing the pages on Ben Aaronovitch's blog, and dithered over whether I should get this or not (but not for very long, as you can see, since the trade only came out in late March). Despite not all of the art matching my mental image of the characters and despite not being a GN person in general, I found that it worked for me quite well. It's no substitute for a real RoL book, but should tide me over OK with the additional delay of The Hanging Tree (now pushed to early August, ARGH -- and since Amazon UK is reporting late August, I'm not sure even that's gonna stick?).
People mostly don't look like I had envisioned them, but I also mostly was able to get used to that as I read on. People who do look more or less exactly as I imagined: Sahra Guleed. Close enough: Molly. Not quite, but I don't care enough: Beverley. People who don't really look like I imagined them but it didn't bother me after a while: Peter (I imagined him goofier-looking, and also lighter skinned -- he's got the same skintone here as Somali Sahra, which I think would be hard to mistake for Middle Eastern? Unless this is his summer tan look) and Nightingale (not sure what the difference is, really, but he doesn't look... distinctive enough, or something? too seamed and angry? although I do like the widow's peak/noble's point :). Ultimately, the only canonical character who looked all wrong to me and continued to do so was Stephanopoulos; I don't think anything in her looks contradicts canon, but she's just totally not how I imagined her. Ah well. One out of five (so far) ain't bad. And Toby and the Jag look great! (and I was amused by how often Toby was depicted peeing on things).
As for background characters, the London depicted is still multicultural (the waitress from Estonia -- though she didn't look much like an Estonian to me..., the Bosnian guy who hit Celeste) and modern (people have dreads and gauges and tattoos), but it looked whiter than I'd been expecting. Though maybe this is a case of different media -- Peter's descriptions jump out at me more because they're unexpected when reading, but my eye is trained to a more non-white crowd (mostly East Asian, though). Still, I don't think it's just that... Spoilers from here!
I was worried that Peter's distinctive voice would not come through in this format, but it does, thanks to the orange "voiceover" boxes, so, yay for that. Even his fanboying of Nightingale comes through somewhat, e.g. when he's burbling on about how Nightingale created this perfect sphere from the windshield, and at the end, when he's put on the same footing as concepts such as Life and Death. Something that worked really well for me in the graphic format was the vestigia, because this way you get a visual flash, in insets, as well as the voiceover words. That was very cool! I also liked the way the visual medium allowed for clues that were unremarked on but relevant later -- like the bonfire you can see in Kim's recollection, or the fact that Archie is the only one not holding or sitting next to a glass in the flashback picture.
Although it's a shortish story, it had enough of the things I like about RoL -- the mundane policing, crossing names off a list, using Google and a zillion databases to pull all the info, giving up a chase to radio in the suspect's appearance so that he can be picked up later. I'm not sure the plot entirely makes sense -- does the ghost/poltergeist/whatever possess people and cars simultaneously? Or did the church one jump to the Bentley only after Archie killed himself? But it's not like I read RoL for plot anyway. Also, speaking of the plot, I wasn't sure how well a character named Reuel would work for me -- Dresden Files' "Ronald Reueul" threw me clear out of the story, but I guess having his last name be something ridiculous, like McBeene-Smith helped :P And at first I was thinking that he must really love that green paisley scarf -- -- he was wearing it in the bonfire flashback, too, but then I realized that I think all of the people are being depicted in the clothes they're wearing in the present day. Because Peter and Sahra are visualizing it based on Kim's description? or what? *shrug*
Random things: Peter's abs! It's only fair given that Bev is wearing a wetsuit most of the time, but yes, please, shirtless Peter is an excellent use of the medium. Julie Goring's lawyer making frustrated faces during the interview. Nightingale's beer of choice = Waikato Draught (a New Zealand bitter lager). Molly using Twitter is adorable (@jollygoodcook), but who is she corresponding with?? (@dyingforAfag) Walid? Caffrey? (who do we even know who smokes?) But I guess we now have a canonical answer for what Molly is doing in Peter's tech cave. (And does it mean we've gotten a glimpse of (one of) the Tiger Tank incident?) Also, Molly bringing Nightingale his cell phone on one of those covered trays was great, as was Nightingale stymied by voicemail. And Molly driving the haunted Bentley! while wearing glasses!
At the end, there are a couple of amusing shorts, of which the last one, where Peter is summoned to help Nightingale and Molly switch between Blu-Ray and TV so they could watch the Downton Abbey Christmas special, was my favorite (also, Molly in Santa hat and Toby in reindeer antlers xD). But there's also the Halloween one where we get a glimpse of Stephanopoulos's wife -- a tiny photo and a fall of long straight black hair -- and the revelation that they'd been considering fostering/adoption but sounds like Miriam has decided that's not for her.
37. Ernest Cline, Ready Player One -- Huh. I know several people who really love this book, and I... am just not the target audience, I guess. I didn't DISlike it -- the beginning was slow, but then things picked up and I read the last 2/3 or so quite quickly, enjoying it in the way one enjoys popcorn thrillers -- but any appreciation I have for it is very shallow, to the point where it's hard for me to imagine how one can feel something deeper for it. Well, I suppose, if one can apprecaite it as the love letter to the 80s, or to classic video games... I'm nominatlly an 80s kid, but spent all of that decade not in the US, and so missed out on most of the cultural references here, except by cultural/fannish osmosis. And I've never been a video game person. And when you eliminate those things, there's not that much left for me to appreciate, I guess? Spoilers from here!
The writing at the beginning is very info-dumpy. Things pick up once Wade is on the run, with the stakes moving to actual real life somewhat... but as 95% of the action takes place in virtual reality, I found it a bit hard to care about the individual encounters. And having a protagonist describe themselves playing an arcade game... is really not that exciting for me. Also, because of the VR setting, I really didn't feel like I'd gotten to know anyone, including Wade, all that well. Now, far be it from me to dismiss friendships which develop on the internet -- I obviously think they can be very real -- but that wasn't the vibe I was getting from the interactions between Parzival and Aech or Parzival and Art3mis (probably more to do with the writing and/or depth of their interaction than the VR setting, because I did believe in Sam and Orlando's friendship in Otherland for instance). But I did think Wade's crush on Art3mis was cute. Also, the whole idea that someone deserves control of OASIS just for winning the game/finding the Egg is kind of silly, but I don't suppose Halliday was the sanest person in the world, so, OK. I also have a hard time believing that even the amount of money Wade won is going to be enough to fix the world in the state that it's in, the way he and Art3mis apparently think it will, but it's nice to be optimistic.
The bits of plot worked for me to varying degrees, but mostly not so well. The pivotal tasks involving acting through Halliday's favorite movies make for very dull reading, even when it's a movie I also love (like Holy Grail).I'd figured out that the first key was hidden on the planet with all the schools a little while before Wade did, and guessed the quarter he'd won on Archade was what had given him the extra life before he thought to check on it. I was surprised by the reveal that Shoto and Daito were only brothers in OASIS, that was a nice touch. But I did get an inkling that Aech was going to be fairly drastically different than his avatar, and even guessed she was likely to be a girl (after all the banter about who was lying about their gender between Wade and Art3mis); I hadn't guessed that she was lesbian (although it makes sense with the banter with Wade) and black, though. And I kind of wish Wade and Aech got to spend more time adjusting to each other in the real world. The segment set in the real world, with Wade being indentured to IOI and hacking them from the inside was an interesting departure from the rest of it, but I think I would have liked it more if I found it more believable that IOI don't have any sort of internal scans for activity that doesn't make sense, like a higher-level person having to sign off on requisition orders for bombs and stuff. Basically, everything Wade did there seemed to easy and handwaves with "backdoor cheat codes yay".
I'm making it sound like I liked the book not at all, but that's not true. It was entertaining and fast-paced for most of it. I did like Ogden Morrow (Halliday's childhood friend/business partner). I appreciated the Tolkien references (Ogden estate looking like Rivendell). I liked some bits of the worldbuilding, like vending machines which dispense guns with a pre-programmed cooling off period, all of the ways in which Wade set up his apartment for taking care of his physical needs while he spent all his time in the OASIS. But mostly, I guess, I see this as a sort of cult-classic book where I'm just not part of the cult...
*
And then we went and saw Civil War. I liked it! O liked it (but that's not a surprise). Even L liked it, or at least more than Age of Ultron. B thought it was way too long and with too much moralizing bullshit, which is a fair point, but I actually did not feel it lag (as I had with AoU, though it's longer by 6 minutes) and the moralizing was not as bad as it could have been, probably because of the opposing viewpoint format.
We got there early enough to snag seats in the center, and it was a good thing, because the theater was pretty full (even in our tiny hole-in-the-wall theater on West Portal). Sadly, this also meant a lot of noise while waiting for the movie to start and during the film. There were these two guys, stereotypical nerds, sitting behind us, and they were talking very loudly before the movie started, and over the credits, though they quieted down whenever there was something actually on the screen. Worse were all the people rustling and crunching and slurping, with the worst offenders sitting at the end of our row. We couldn't hear them during the action scenes, but during the talky scenes, it was actually really hard to make out what the actors were saying with all the plastic packaging noises. Ugh.
We got just three trailers: the latest Bourne film (not my thing; haven't seen any of them), X-Men: Apocalypse (I'll watch it, obviously, but not sure whether in theaters or not...), and Suicide Squad (I'd liked the trailer I had seen on YouTube better than this one).
OK, the movie itself -- it was so long and there were so many things happening, it's hard to figure out how to summarize my impressions, so bullet points it is, I guess. Spoilers from here!
Things I liked better than I had expected:
- Action scenes! They were all pretty good-to-great, and short and switched up enough to be not boring. And Peter Parker talking too much during some of the later ones helped break them up and give them character.
- Also the set-piece with the shield piercing the arc reactor, Steve and Tony bloodied, and Steve dropping the shield (bearing, what, scratches from T'Challa's claws?) when Tony shouts that he doesn't deserve it after choosing to side with Bucky, Howard's killer.
- Tony. I was worried he would be getting the rough end of the stick in this movie, and he kind of does, but he is still Tony and I still liked him a lot. Tony looking roughed up, Tony shouting and having to start over, Tony's banter with FRIDAY ("Detecting several contusions" "Yeah, I detected those, too." and the thing about a redhead), Tony descending on Peter and flirting with Aunt May, Tony's conversation with Ant-Man mid battle ("Who is speaking?" "This is your conscience"), Tony putting Ross on hold at the end, as we all knew he would. Oh, and Tony's confrontational apology to Sam was good, too, better than I'd expected. It's not 100% for me -- I don't really buy Tony wanting to kill Bucky RIGHT THEN when they have a bad guy to stop over something that happened 25 years ago while he was not in control of himself (Tony says, "I don't care, he killed my mom" -- but I don't think he's that irrational, and he's not acting like someone crazed, so it didn't really work for me). (Flashback!Tony was also nice, although I did not think the way they showed that made much sense, and the break-up with Pepper felt rather random, too, although I suppose they didn't want Tony to have a support system who probably would've tried to reason him out of this. But even if they're not together-together, you'd think Pepper would talk to him about it.)
- Bucky, although what this means is that I didn't mind him / did not find him boring for the first time in the whole franchise -- though, to be fair, this is the first time in a while he actually got to act as an actual person. I did like his resigned weariness, the exchange with Steve about him not being worth it because "but I did them", even though he wasn't the one in control. Although Bucky saying, "I'm not going to kill anybody" and the next minute hitting a German cop in the head with a cinderblock was kinda funny.
- Clint. This is the first movie where I actually found him funny, in the "What are you doing here?" "Disappointing my kids" exchange and his thing with Natasha (her asking "We're still friends, right?").
- On that note, Natasha and Clint and Natasha and Steve being buddies, even when they're on opposite sides. And that it's Natasha who stops T'Challa and lets Steve and Bucky go. She doesn't much like Tony's accusation that she's got her double agent habits still, but she's definitely much more pragmatic than ideological, so it makes sense for her.
- Rhodey in recovery, unshaken in his faith in the rightness of their position and making fun of Tony "Stank". Also the scene where Rhodey plummets from the sky and both Tony and Sam try to reach him and get to him too late, and Sam saying "I'm sorry" only to have Tony blow him away with a repulsor blast -- and then Sam asking after Rhodey anyway when tony visits the floating prison. (This is the first movie where Rhodes does much for me, too.)
- Vision cooking paprikash for Wanda was very cute! (In general, though, Vision is underutilized, because he's too powerful if he were to be utilized fully, but I guess it could be explained by him being ambivalent / too rational to hurt the others.
- The bad guy, Zemo. I find it refreshing that he isn't out for world domination and isn't Hydra (so sick of everyone being Hydra), that he isn't some superpowered galactic monstrocity, and also that he kind of wins (temporarily, anyway). And I liked the way the thing with the voicemail from his wife was played -- where we hear it first before we know what happened/who he is and it looks like just an operative lying to his wife about why he is working late, but ultimately it's revealed that this is the only thing he has left of his family. Nicely played. (One might wonder why a Sokovian family would leave each other messages in English, but shhh. Let's pretend it's not.) His Russian is terrible, though, even though he speaks a bunch of languages, apparently.
- Speaking of languages, I'm glad MCU FINALLY cast an actual Russian-speaker as one of their Russians -- the Soviet colonel in charge of the Winter Soldier program is played by a Belorussian-born guy my age. And Sebastian Stan's Russian was not too bad either, as I suppose Romanian helps a bit with that.
- Also, Xhosa! I know people are complaining that, given where Wakanda is located, it makes no sense for people there to be speaking Xhosa, but given that it's a fictional country with an entirely fictional geography, I think that's more cool than not, especially the actor playing T'Chaka is a native speaker.
Things I liked but had already been prepared to like by reading good reviews:
- Spiderman! He was so adorkable, with the not shutting up and the complaining that Steve's shield doesn't obey the laws of physics and saying he can't go to Germany because he has homework, and bonding with Steve over being from Queens and Brooklyn respectively, and the final after-credits scene. I don't know how well a solo movie with him would work for me, but as part of an ensemble, he was great, and one of my favorite parts of the movie. Also, a source of much-needed levity.
- T'Challa. He was pretty cool, but everybody who'd seen Civil War seems to have loved him so much that I was expecting something extra, and may have been even a little disappointed. But I did like him (and his father), and I like that (moralizing as it is) seeing the Avengers tear themselves apart makes him give up on vengeance, and that his final act is actually stopping Zimo's suicide so that human justice (such as it is) can deal with him.
Things I liked but wish there'd been more of:
- Scott! Who was amusing with Tony, as I said above, and also annoyed that Tony doesn't even know who he is. Also, Scott fanboying Captain America ("I'm shaking your hand too long. I know you [Wanda] also, you're great too.") Basically, Scott was great!
- Also, Sam! Sam was my favorite thing about Cap 2, and I was looking forward to more of him here, and he has some really great expressive moments, like refusing to move his seat up with Bucky in the back (the getaway bug was great!), and also with Scott (calling him Tic-Tac and so on), oh, and Sam being indignant about his gear being described as "a bird costume", but I was hoping for more of him. He was the one character that I would have liked to see more than there was of, I guess.
Things I don't care about enough to think about them:
- The whole moral dilemma or whatever. I don't think Steve is right in putting all kinds of things in jeopardy just to save one man -- even if Bucky WERE innocent -- I can't fault him for that personal loyalty, but that's not a morally superior stance. On the other hand, Tony's apparent crisis of conscience is brought on by something that makes no sense at all -- well, yes, some people died in Sokrovia (and New York, and Lagos) but people would've died if the Avengers HADN'T interfered, too. More people, almost certainly. Probably DIFFERENT people, but that's not a good reason to feel responsible for the deaths. Vision makes an interesting point, that the Avengers are a challenge that attracts threats, but that doesn't seem to be actually borne out by the threats they are facing, except in this movie itself. I guess ultimately my opinion is somewhat akin to Natasha's -- the ideology on either side doesn't make sense, but something's going to have to give and this seems like the practical way out?
Things I didn't like:
- The Steve/Sharon kiss. I knew it was coming, but not when, and it was just incredible random and pointless. And L turned to me and made "WTF" motions with her hands, and, seriously, WTF. Neither the time nor the place, and they have ZERO chemistry.
- Honestly, Steve on the whole worked less well for me here than in past movies. I guess I prefer him as the "aw shucks" guy still getting used to the modern world rather than in full-on avenging superhero mode.
Our verdict: L and I liked it more than AoU for sure and better than the previous two Cap movies, but not as much as Avengers Assemble -- but that is probably my favorite MCU movie, so I don't really expect anything to bypass it. O liked it better than the other Cap movies, too (and he's the principal Cap fan among us), but wasn't sure how to compare it to the Avengers movies -- but he'd actually liked Age of Ultron, so. Anyway, definitely worth seeing in the theater, and I'm glad we did.
*
And finishing off with another fandom meme: Give me a ship and I'll tell you:
Who said “I love you” first
Who would have the other’s picture as their phone background
Who leaves notes written in fog on the bathroom mirror
Who buys the other cheesy gifts
Who initiated the first kiss
Who kisses the other awake in the morning
Who starts tickle fights
Who asks who if they can join the other in the shower
Who surprises the other in the middle of the day at work with lunch
Who was nervous and shy on the first date
Who kills/takes out the spiders
Who loudly proclaims their love when they’re drunk
Crossover ships welcome, as usual, and fandoms of note are ASOIAF, AtLA/Korra, Avengers (movie-verse only), Babylon 5, Buffy (through s6)/Angel (first season and a half), Chronicles of Amber, Discworld, Dragaera/Vlad Taltos, Dresden Files, Firefly, Harry Potter, Kingkiller Chronicles, Kushiel's Legacy, Locke Lamora, Rivers of London, Sherlock BBC, Temeraire, Tolkien, Vorkosigan Saga, and anything else you know I'm into.