Media roundup

May 09, 2018 21:20

There is a new Vorkosiverse novella coming! About Ekaterin -- "The Flowers of Vashnoi". Which, on the one hand, is not what I most wan to see in this universe (that would be Galeni, Gregor, and Ivan dealing with fatherhood please!), but I am still delighted by the fact of more Vorkosiverse.

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33. Paper Girls, vol.1 (Brian K. Vaughan, art by Cliff ( Read more... )

a: ursula leguin, movie, gn, a: nnedi okorafor, ya, a: becky albertalli, a: jonathan kellerman, a: brian vaughan, a: maggie stiefvater, fic rec, short stories, podcast, reading, a: sarah pinsker, vorkosigan

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hamsterwoman May 12 2018, 00:46:40 UTC
I actually do like fairy tale subversions, but I think I prefer them to be on the humorous side... And, like, wry and genre-savvy?

You can watch PL and cut out all supernatural elements and what you get is a war story, but you can't cut out the fantastical elements from SoW

That's a good point. Like, I actually like magical realism as a genre, but I think where it works for me best if precisely as you say -- where it's an echo or counterpoint to something else, whereas here it just felt a little bit flat? one-dimensional? lacking in nuance, in any case, I though.

The other movie people have compared SoW to a lot is Amélie, bizarrely enough

Ha, I never would've thought of that comparison, but I can kind of see a similar vibe in the oddly charming daily life aspects? Like the lab stuff and espionage and torture were very much at odds, but the cozier moments (which I liked best) did have something in common with Amelie (which is a movie I like a lot).

so seeing it done so half-heartedly in SoW was a bit disheartening.

I liked it well enough, though, yeah, there could've been more. One scene I thought was effective was the one where Eliza gets Giles to repeat what she's saying in ASL -- I thought that was a good way to get a pivotal scene out of subtitles, you know? On the other hand, the B&W dream sequence where she sings didn't work for me at all. I'd LIKED that she had stayed completely silent throughout the movie until then, and didn't think this added anything of value.

Although I felt bad for the cinema operator downstairs that she flooded the entire room for it xD

I did, too XD And whoever would have to clean up the resulting mess. Like, that was creative problem-solving, girl, but your bathroom is REALLY not watertight...

I think the first "oh maybe THAT's why it's rated R" realisation people had were the masturbation scenes.

Yeppp. I had been warned to expect some gore and softcore with the fish sex, but had definitely not been expecting an R-rated scene at that point, so was a bit O.o (especially watching with L XP Though, LOL, sounds like you watched it with your mom, too?)

me: not wrong but you're literally the last person to judge del Torro for his kinks

Ahaha! XD Well, maybe her monster porn is explicitly consensual? Or intentionally problematic? XP

Like, I'm actually generally OK with xeno, but would really like to know that the people engaging in the act can communicate at a deeper level than "egg" and "music"... But hey.

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rinkafushi May 12 2018, 01:00:51 UTC
Oh, yeah, the scene with Giles was great! In general I liked how her two friends clearly went through the effort of learning ASL for her sake but didn't see it as annoying having to deal with it. I meant exclusively in regards to her and the fishman - learning a common language is such an important thing in all romance movies on some level, and it can be used so effectively with sign language, too, but wasn't here (like I said.... egg :'D)

Yes - actually my mother was the one who really wanted to see it. I was entirely spoiled reagarding the plot, and I wasn't all that interested in seeing it. But I thought she shouldn't drive alone (after a recent slight fender bender at night), so I tagged along (we had to drive to another city to catch it). At L's age, I think I would have expired, but my mother and I recently managed to watch a Tatort together (Tatort is.... something uniquely German - it's a state tv run crime movie series, each sunday you get a 90 min stand-alone episode with alternating teams in different cities) which was set in the Munich porno scene. Hooooooo boy. Sometimes I had to chip in with some term definitions, and always wondered where she might think I know them from (It's AO3. It's all AO3.) :'D I think she just really went ?? at the idea of monster sex in general tbh.

Lindsay Ellis did a great episode on the subject of girlxmonster and the subtext which helped me understand it a bit.... although nope, not my cup of tea xD

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hamsterwoman May 12 2018, 21:44:38 UTC
Lindsay Ellis did a great episode on the subject of girlxmonster and the subtext which helped me understand it a bit....

Ooh, yes, this was good! (And then I spent another four hours watching her other stuff XP)

But, yeah, I'm with you. Intellectually, I can understand how this is a trope that appeals to other people, but neither the sleeping with the monster nor the "monster girl" thing (which I know is also big) appeals to me personally, so, eh.

learning a common language is such an important thing in all romance movies on some level, and it can be used so effectively with sign language, too, but wasn't here (like I said.... egg :'D)

The weirdest thing is that, with the "egg" beginning, I thought that's exactly where it was going! And then they just... apparently skipped straight to bathroom-flooding fish sex. XP

set in the Munich porno scene. Hooooooo boy. Sometimes I had to chip in with some term definitions, and always wondered where she might think I know them from (It's AO3. It's all AO3.) :'D

AHAHAHA yes, I can definitely see this being more awkward than softcore fish banging XD

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rinkafushi May 13 2018, 02:42:54 UTC
Sorry not sorry XD I went through all of her video essays when I was deep cleaning my new apartment in November, they really are well put together (even if I aggressively do not care about Broadway xD)

The episode definitely was vey awkward, but also strangely adorable..? The detective duo is the oldest in the series still in commission, they've been at it since the early 90s and are just the chill grandpas of the franchise who can't be shocked by anything. At some point while waiting to get to talk to the director on set one ended up explaining to two very naked porn actors how to get tax returns for additional expenses. Just German tv things :')

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hamsterwoman May 13 2018, 03:06:46 UTC
I've only watched the ones for things I care about so far (so, like, the 2 hour investigative rant about The Hobbit, the rant about Bright, and the Twilight apology) but I definitely see myself watching more. Maybe not the Broadway ones, though :P

explaining to two very naked porn actors how to get tax returns for additional expenses. Just German tv things :')

That is indeed adorable! XD

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