Finally, an update...
I haven't been updating much recently to give my rheumatism arthritisRSI afflicted shoulder a rest and once you start to get out of the habit it's all too easy to let things slide. Anyway here are some nice short comments on films I've seen recently, books I've read and TV shows I've watched.
Venus - The obsession of a much older man with a very young woman could have been a very tricky subject but was so beautifully handled that it turned out to be funny, touching, sad and sweet. Beautifully played by all concerned and "he was gorgeous" rings as true for Peter O'Toole as it does for Maurice the character he played.
The Queen - Another beautifully acted film. No wonder Helen Mirren was a certainty for the Oscar as her portrayal of Elizabeth II felt like a true insight into her character. Michael Sheen as Tony Blair was also excellent and that whole hysterical week was wonderfully evoked.
Das Leben der Anderen (The Lives of Others) - Forget Best Foreign Film Oscar, this should, without question, have won Best Film. A fascinating insight into the world of a Stasi officer as he gets drawn further and further into the life of the man he's watching. Fantastically well acted and directed with an ending that felt perfectly right and made me cry.
I'm still trying to reduce the size of my TBR pile so this is throwing up quite a variety of reading material.
Shadowmarch by Tad Williams - while waiting not very patiently for the next G.R.R. Martin I thought I'd give the first volume of Tad Williams' latest fantasy trilogy a try. Despite some similarities to Memory, Sorrow and Thorn (a very old castle and a conflict between Faerie or the equivalent of it and the world of men) this was a very entertaining read. I groaned a little at the race of small folk but they were more dwarves than hobbits so I'll allow it. The characters, particularly Briony and her brother Barrick, were sufficiently interesting and the situation sufficiently desperate for me to be quite keen to buy the second volume when it comes out in paperback. That rather defeats the object of clearing the TBR pile, but never mind.
The Pharoah's Shadow: Travels in Ancient and Modern Egypt by Anthony Sattin. This was an interesting and rather strange book with the author working hard, but not quite succeeding in proving that there are echoes of Pharaonic Egypt still to be found in the customs and practices of modern Egypt. Unfortunately he ran up against the problem that modern Egyptians don't particularly wish to be seen as museum exhibits and none were really prepared to admit to any surviving customs. The customs he did find remaining - the cult of the dead, fertility practices - were all fascinating and the book made very interesting reading though the picture that emerged of Egypt was of an uneasy mix of militant Islam and a race to modernise. A fascinating look at Egypt that tourists wouldn't see.
Gloriana's Torch by Patricia Finney. An epic portrayal of the 1588 Armada seen through the eyes of some of the characters involved including David Beckett and Simon Ames whom Finney has written about before. Parts of this were absolutely wonderful with a fascinating alternative history of what might have happened if the Armada had landed told through Beckett's dreams, an extraordinary picture of the clash of religions from the perspective of an African woman (the most interesting character of the lot) and a very vivid picture of life in the galleys from the viewpoint of a galley padron and Simon Ames, captured by the Inquisition and sentenced to row in one of the galleases that formed part of the Armada. Add in a plausible theory as to what the plan behind the Armada actually was and swashbuckling attempts to stop it and there was a hell of a lot going on in this book. I enjoyed it hugely but I did have problems when the multiple narrators led to a certain amount of unnecessary repetition, particularly in the section involving Simon Ames, and some of the characters were exceptionally vivid but others never really came to life. This was a particular problem in the case of Rebecca Anriques, Simon's wife, who played a pivotal role in the whole book and the foiling of "the Miracle of Beauty" but always seemed a very flat character. Brilliant in parts, flawed in others, but well-worth reading for a rivetting view of the Armada.
And these really will be short.
Heroes - could Hiro get any cuter, could the Petrelli brothers get any more inappropriate, could Mohinder get any more confused. I'm enjoying it hugely but we're only up to episode 12 so far so don't spoil me anybody.
Battlestar Galactica - due to getting behind we have one episode still to watch (virtual torture of an unpleasant kind awaits anybody that spoils me for it) but welcome back Lee Adama, man of principle. Boy, have I missed you. The last few episodes have been terrific with twists, turns and shocks (mega in one case) all over the place. Excellent TV.
Dr Who - I haven't enjoyed the last three episodes quite as much as Gridlock which I thought was wonderful, but they have included flying Daleks (squee...), the Doctor in a tux (more squee...) and some excellent Martha moments. I love the way we see her using her intelligence in a way that is very believable for a trainee doctor and differentiates her nicely from Rose who was more instinctual. All very entertaining and why the hell it has to be taken off next week for the Eurovision Song Contest I have no clue!
The Long Way Home Part 3 aka Buffy Season 8 - I am enjoying the story and the dialogue but I do have a problem with the whole series and the problem is Buffy. Although she's Joss's creation she was always given life by SMG and while Joss's words are still there the artist of the comic is, in my view, not sufficiently good to fully capture Buffy as anything other than a generic blonde quippy cheer leader type. Her heart and soul are missing. I'll keep reading because I do want to see how Joss envisages the future for the characters (regardless of whether I agree with him or not *g*), but it hasn't caught alight for me yet.
And that's enough typing for now!
Venus - The obsession of a much older man with a very young woman could have been a very tricky subject but was so beautifully handled that it turned out to be funny, touching, sad and sweet. Beautifully played by all concerned and "he was gorgeous" rings as true for Peter O'Toole as it does for Maurice the character he played.
The Queen - Another beautifully acted film. No wonder Helen Mirren was a certainty for the Oscar as her portrayal of Elizabeth II felt like a true insight into her character. Michael Sheen as Tony Blair was also excellent and that whole hysterical week was wonderfully evoked.
Das Leben der Anderen (The Lives of Others) - Forget Best Foreign Film Oscar, this should, without question, have won Best Film. A fascinating insight into the world of a Stasi officer as he gets drawn further and further into the life of the man he's watching. Fantastically well acted and directed with an ending that felt perfectly right and made me cry.
I'm still trying to reduce the size of my TBR pile so this is throwing up quite a variety of reading material.
Shadowmarch by Tad Williams - while waiting not very patiently for the next G.R.R. Martin I thought I'd give the first volume of Tad Williams' latest fantasy trilogy a try. Despite some similarities to Memory, Sorrow and Thorn (a very old castle and a conflict between Faerie or the equivalent of it and the world of men) this was a very entertaining read. I groaned a little at the race of small folk but they were more dwarves than hobbits so I'll allow it. The characters, particularly Briony and her brother Barrick, were sufficiently interesting and the situation sufficiently desperate for me to be quite keen to buy the second volume when it comes out in paperback. That rather defeats the object of clearing the TBR pile, but never mind.
The Pharoah's Shadow: Travels in Ancient and Modern Egypt by Anthony Sattin. This was an interesting and rather strange book with the author working hard, but not quite succeeding in proving that there are echoes of Pharaonic Egypt still to be found in the customs and practices of modern Egypt. Unfortunately he ran up against the problem that modern Egyptians don't particularly wish to be seen as museum exhibits and none were really prepared to admit to any surviving customs. The customs he did find remaining - the cult of the dead, fertility practices - were all fascinating and the book made very interesting reading though the picture that emerged of Egypt was of an uneasy mix of militant Islam and a race to modernise. A fascinating look at Egypt that tourists wouldn't see.
Gloriana's Torch by Patricia Finney. An epic portrayal of the 1588 Armada seen through the eyes of some of the characters involved including David Beckett and Simon Ames whom Finney has written about before. Parts of this were absolutely wonderful with a fascinating alternative history of what might have happened if the Armada had landed told through Beckett's dreams, an extraordinary picture of the clash of religions from the perspective of an African woman (the most interesting character of the lot) and a very vivid picture of life in the galleys from the viewpoint of a galley padron and Simon Ames, captured by the Inquisition and sentenced to row in one of the galleases that formed part of the Armada. Add in a plausible theory as to what the plan behind the Armada actually was and swashbuckling attempts to stop it and there was a hell of a lot going on in this book. I enjoyed it hugely but I did have problems when the multiple narrators led to a certain amount of unnecessary repetition, particularly in the section involving Simon Ames, and some of the characters were exceptionally vivid but others never really came to life. This was a particular problem in the case of Rebecca Anriques, Simon's wife, who played a pivotal role in the whole book and the foiling of "the Miracle of Beauty" but always seemed a very flat character. Brilliant in parts, flawed in others, but well-worth reading for a rivetting view of the Armada.
And these really will be short.
Heroes - could Hiro get any cuter, could the Petrelli brothers get any more inappropriate, could Mohinder get any more confused. I'm enjoying it hugely but we're only up to episode 12 so far so don't spoil me anybody.
Battlestar Galactica - due to getting behind we have one episode still to watch (virtual torture of an unpleasant kind awaits anybody that spoils me for it) but welcome back Lee Adama, man of principle. Boy, have I missed you. The last few episodes have been terrific with twists, turns and shocks (mega in one case) all over the place. Excellent TV.
Dr Who - I haven't enjoyed the last three episodes quite as much as Gridlock which I thought was wonderful, but they have included flying Daleks (squee...), the Doctor in a tux (more squee...) and some excellent Martha moments. I love the way we see her using her intelligence in a way that is very believable for a trainee doctor and differentiates her nicely from Rose who was more instinctual. All very entertaining and why the hell it has to be taken off next week for the Eurovision Song Contest I have no clue!
The Long Way Home Part 3 aka Buffy Season 8 - I am enjoying the story and the dialogue but I do have a problem with the whole series and the problem is Buffy. Although she's Joss's creation she was always given life by SMG and while Joss's words are still there the artist of the comic is, in my view, not sufficiently good to fully capture Buffy as anything other than a generic blonde quippy cheer leader type. Her heart and soul are missing. I'll keep reading because I do want to see how Joss envisages the future for the characters (regardless of whether I agree with him or not *g*), but it hasn't caught alight for me yet.
And that's enough typing for now!