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Showing posts from October, 2011

I Just Watched: A Nordic Double Bill!

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Last weekend it was Valhalla Rising.  This weekend it was The Troll Hunter and Antichrist.   That actually makes three Nordic films in a row.  Not counting Ingmar Bergman, I doubt I've watched that many Nordic films ever. Something about a movie featuing Trolls, filmed in Norway with Norwegian actors and English subtitles appealed to me.  This also being the Halloween season it seemed like a good time to watch it. Troll Hunter is similar to The Blair Witch Project or Cloverfield in that you're told your seeing raw found footage.  In this case the film was shot by college students investigating bear poaching.  They start following a man they think might be the poacher but they discover he's not hunting beers, he is hunting trolls for the state.  He's a bit disillusioned however and though he knows it's a bad idea he decides to let filmmakers follow him and learn about his secret work.  The Troll Hunter is very pretty to look at.  The special effects are good

But I Want the Digital Version

With frustrating regularity I'm finding that the books I want to read are not available in a digital format.  I understand that publishers are running into conflicts over publishing rights and that there are costs associated with converting books to digital but it is still annoying. Among the recent list NPR compiled of people's favorite science fiction or fantasy novels ,  I couldn't find any of the following for the Nook.  That's 21 of 100 of the most popular books/series as voted by the public. 7.  Fahrenheit 451 - (Pre-order only) 34. The Moon is a Harsh Mistress 35. A Canticle for Leibowitz 40. The Amber Chronicles 41. The Begaraid series 44. Ringworld 45. The Left Hand of Darkness 47. The Once and Future King 49. Childhood's End 50. Contact 55. The Last Unicorn 58. The Chronicle of Thomas Covenant 66. The Riftwar Saga 70. The Time Traveler's Wife 76. Rendezvous with Rama 79. Something Wicked This Way Comes 87. The Book of the New Sun

Just Watched: Valhalla Rising

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Valhalla Rising is one weird movie.  It's not the weirdest movie I've ever seen but it ranks up there.  (The honor of weirdest belongs to Begotten )   The film has a neat premise:  A mysterious man raised in the fighting pits of dark-age Scotland escapes and joins a band of crusaders on a journey to the holy lands.  Things start to go wrong almost immediately however and they end up in a misty forested land populated by savages.  The mood was dark and the story seemed to reek of mythic portent.  The musical score was heavy and droning.  The camera lingered on the actors faces and the cold and wild landscapes.  I love that sort of stuff.  So I find myself asking: why didn't I like Valhalla Rising more?  I didn't hate film, but I didn't love it either.  It left me rather ambivalent. . I'm no Joseph Campbell but I can usually spot a creation myth, a hero's journey or a parable of Jesus.  Unfortunately, I didn't get what this was film was trying t

Just Read: Lyonesse Book 1 by Jack Vance

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Last night I finished the first book of the Lyonesse trilogy by Jack Vance.  It was a very interesting read.  The book was published in 1983 but reminds me more of the work of James Branch Cabell, who wrote 50 years earlier, than it does any contemporary author.  It's told in the third person and lacks much of the detailed description that dominates the modern fantasy.  It also eschews any pretense at reality and takes the magical and fantasy elements to levels I associate more with fairytale and myth than a modern story.   At no point did a witch turn a pumpkin into a carriage or poison an apple with a sleeping spell but that's the exact kind of story being told - albeit with sex and violence enough that you probably wouldn't read it to your ten year old. I'm not complaining either.  Too many genre novels borrow with a heavy hand from their popular  predecessors.  So while not exactly unique it was refreshingly different and a fun read.    

Genuis by Association

Through no fault of his own, and by all accounts in express discordance with his wishes a recently deceased technologist is being lionized in the press and new media. I was struck by the news as much as the next person but among the myriad of articles written about the man I find a similar thread  reappearing.  The thread of association. I find it one of the odder aspects of public mourning.  What does it matter that you - the reporter - had a previous interaction with the deceased?  I don't understand it.  So you had coffee with the guy back in the early days.  How does that make you a worthy chronicler of his passing?  Perhaps If I'd had met the man I'd have felt the same need to tell the story.  I didn't however. My niggling feeling goes beyond that level of association however.  It extends to the fan-boy.  I have news for them: liking the product of a genius does not require genius of its own.  I too am a convert but I don't hold myself in better regard bec

Night Reader

It's been a year since I got a Nook for my last birthday.  Since then I've become a complete digital book convert.  I love reading e-books.  My pile of unread paper books is growing dusty and I'm almost ready to just throw them out and buy their digital versions.  I like reading digital that much. That said, It's been a while since I actually touched my Nook.  I think it was July at the beach, if you must know.  Now, it turns out, I actually prefer reading on my iPhone 4.  Here's a little list of reasons I like my iPhone 4 better. 1. Night reading.  I love to read when I cannot sleep. I think I purposely wake up in the middle of the night just so I can read a little.  The iPhone is just perfect for that.  I can use it one handed.  The back-lit display bright enough for comfortable reading but not so bright that it wakes up Jayne. 2.  I always have it on me.   Any time or place I have a few minutes of down-time I can pull out my phone and read a little.   Sure,