This afternoon I saw The Hobbit and it’s really been bugging the heck out of me why Peter Jackson is padding out The Hobbit so much with the additional material. The whole Hobbit narrative – Bilbo’s adventure There and Back Again, which is a sweet adventure tale in which the threats Bilbo faces are mainly physical (goblins, orcs, spiders all try to kill and/or eat him) and how his character develops – really jarred for me with the whole Necromancer, Morgul blade metaphysical menace. But now I think I get it. Peter Jackson isn’t making another trilogy. He’s doing the next three movies in a six-movie set, which just happen to be set before the original Lord of the Rings trilogy. It appears he is aiming for a cohesive narrative throughout the three Hobbit movies and the Lord of the Rings trilogy. I will reserve judgement until the last movie to say if he is any more successful than George Lucas with his dreadful prequels to the Star Wars movies. Just please no more 10 minute chase scenes of Radagast the Brown in a sled pulled by freaking BUNNIES!!! Aarrgh. One thing that did really detract from the movie was…
First of all, apologies for the delay in posting. It’s been a busy few weeks on both a personal and work level, so I have not been able to post much. Anyway, here I am! Some of the books I’ve read recently have led to some natural comparisons. Two of these are Mr. Penumbra’s 24-Hour Bookstore by Robin Sloan and Libriomancer: (Magic Ex Libris Book 1) by Jim C. Hines. These both have in common a theme of magic and mystery being hidden within books, a love of reading, and also a setting which couldn’t be anywhere other than in the present day, within the last few years. There were references to the dot.com crash and Google and the Twilight series. Personally, that second point is something which irritated me. I feel it limits the books’ durability. While Libriomancer was more of a traditional good vs evil fantasy, Penumbra is more of a mystery in which the protagonist attempts to resolve an ages old mystery hidden within books. I found it a fresh and entertaining concept. I had a few issues with the magic system in Libriomancer. Brandon Sanderson, considered one of the better contemporary developers of magic systems, wrote…
First of all, apologies for the delay in posting. It's been a busy few weeks on both a personal and work level, so I have not been able to post much. Anyway, here I am! Some of the books I've read recently have led to some natural comparisons. Two of these are Mr Penumbra's 24 Hour Bookstore by Robin Sloan and Libriomancer by Jim C. Hines. These both have in common a theme of magic and mystery being hidden within books, a love of reading, and also a setting which couldn't be anywhere other than in the present day, within the last few years. There were references to the dot.com crash and Google and the Twilight series. Personally, that second point is something which irritated me. I feel it limits the books' durability. While Libriomancer was more of a traditional good vs evil fantasy, Penumbra is more of a mystery in which the protagonist attempts to resolve an ages old mystery hidden within books. I found it a fresh and entertaining concept. I had a few issues with the magic system in Libriomancer. Brandon Sanderson, considered one of the better contemporary developers of magic systems, wrote a couple of essays…
This last few weeks, I’ve not taken much time to write reviews of my recent reads (well, the new TV season has started!) so I thought I’d write a few notes. The Timekeeper by Mitch Alborn This was rather a sweet story about a boy who was the first to mark time (in the sense of dividing it into years, months, weeks, days, hours) and how it became an obsession for him. In the story, he becomes Father Time. His tale is interwoven with those of a young teenage girl and a dying old man. While I loved the story, I felt the moralising about appreciating the time we have was a touch heavy handed. Still, I gave The Time Keeper 4 stars out of 5 Les Chevaliers d’Emeraude – L’Enlevement by Anne Robillard OK, I admit it, I’m a complete sucker for this series. I love Robillard’s understanding of character. Even though they are in a fantasy setting, they feel fresh and timeless. After all, a man in love with his best friend’s wife is still conflicted and in pain whether he’s a 21st century person or a heroic mediaeval knight. One thing I’m noticing about this series is…
This last few weeks, I’ve not taken much time to write reviews of my recent reads (well, the new TV season has started!) so I thought I’d write a few notes. The Timekeeper by Mitch Alborn This was rather a sweet story about a boy who was the first to mark time (in the sense of dividing it into years, months, weeks, days, hours) and how it became an obsession for him. In the story, he becomes Father Time. His tale is interwoven with those of a young teenage girl and a dying old man. While I loved the story, I felt the moralising about appreciating the time we have was a touch heavy handed. Still, I gave The Time Keeper 4 stars out of 5 Les Chevaliers d’Emeraude – L’Enlevement by Anne Robillard OK, I admit it, I’m a complete sucker for this series. I love Robillard’s understanding of character. Even though they are in a fantasy setting, they feel fresh and timeless. After all, a man in love with his best friend’s wife is still conflicted and in pain whether he’s a 21st century person or a heroic mediaeval knight. One thing I’m noticing about this series is…
Last night my husband and I watched My Week with Marilyn, which is an excellent film, by the way, and it got me wondering; who will be this generation’s silver screen legends? Who will leave the reputation of lighting up the screen a la Marilyn Monroe or Vivien Leigh? It seems that in recent years Hollywood has focused more on special effects to draw audiences rather than talented actors. The Dark Knight Rises and Bourne Legacies are far more numerous than The King’s Speeches in Hollywood. Having said that, some actors do shine in whichever movie they’re in. For the gentlemen, my first thoughts were Johnny Depp or Leonardo DiCaprio. Both of these fine actors light up the screen and add depth to any character they play. For the ladies I found it trickier to come up with some names. I had thought of Meryl Streep at first, but as my husband pointed out, she is not of my generation, fine actress though she is. Perhaps Kate Winslet, Cate Blanchett or Renee Zellwegger? I imagine only time will tell.
Last night my husband and I watched My Week with Marilyn, which is an excellent film, by the way, and it got me wondering; who will be this generation’s silver screen legends? Who will leave the reputation of lighting up the screen a la Marilyn Monroe or Vivien Leigh? It seems that in recent years Hollywood has focused more on special effects to draw audiences rather than talented actors. The Dark Knight Rises and Bourne Legacies are far more numerous than The King’s Speeches in Hollywood. Having said that, some actors do shine in whichever movie they’re in. For the gentlemen, my first thoughts were Johnny Depp or Leonardo DiCaprio. Both of these fine actors light up the screen and add depth to any character they play. For the ladies I found it trickier to come up with some names. I had thought of Meryl Streep at first, but as my husband pointed out, she is not of my generation, fine actress though she is. Perhaps Kate Winslet, Cate Blanchett or Renee Zellwegger? I imagine only time will tell.
Each summer one of the big musicals comes to Montreal for a month, and this year it was one of my favourites; Stephen Schwartz’s Wicked. I’ve seen this show on Broadway (twice) and Toronto, and still love it. For those of you not familiar with the show, it is based on Gregory Maguire’s book Wicked. This is a splinter-sharp prequel to The Wizard of Oz, focussing on the back story of the Wicked Witch of the West. Stephen Schwartz collaborated with Winnie Holzman, who wrote the book (i.e. the storyline and dialogue) for the musical. They made the decision to tone down the political undertone of the book and to focus on the friendship between Elphaba, the green skinned girl who becomes the Wicked Witch of the West, and social butterfly Galinda (later Glinda the Good). I understand this is in no small part due to the chemistry between Kristin Chenoweth and Stephanie J Block during the initial workshops, so my thanks to those two fine actresses. Now, this isn’t my favourite musical in terms of score – currently that would probably be Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Love Never Dies – but having said that, there are a few hummable tunes…
Each summer one of the big musicals comes to Montreal for a month, and this year it was one of my favourites; Stephen Schwartz’s Wicked. I’ve seen this show on Broadway (twice) and Toronto, and still love it. For those of you not familiar with the show, it is based on Gregory Maguire’s book Wicked. This is a splinter-sharp prequel to The Wizard of Oz, focussing on the back story of the Wicked Witch of the West. Stephen Schwartz collaborated with Winnie Holzman, who wrote the book (i.e. the storyline and dialogue) for the musical. They made the decision to tone down the political undertone of the book and to focus on the friendship between Elphaba, the green skinned girl who becomes the Wicked Witch of the West, and social butterfly Galinda (later Glinda the Good). I understand this is in no small part due to the chemistry between Kristin Chenoweth and Stephanie J Block during the initial workshops, so my thanks to those two fine actresses. Now, this isn’t my favourite musical in terms of score – currently that would probably be Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Love Never Dies – but having said that, there are a few hummable tunes…
What a surprise; Peter Jackson announced today on his Facebook page that The Hobbit movie is officially being split into three parts rather than the two previously announced. Now, I adored Jackson’s Lord of the Rings trilogy, and am very much looking forward to The Hobbit. He commented at ComiCon that these are movies made by fans for fans, and it’s clear to see that this is the case. Given the relative lengths of the books The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, I have some concerns that to stretch The Hobbit to three movies there may be a lot of filler required and that the decision to switch from two two three is primarily financially based. On the other hand, I have tremendous faith in Peter Jackson and his team, and trust him when he says that he will be expanding The Hobbit universe to include material from other works of Tolkien as well as new material. I have been impressed in the trailer that they have managed to give each of the thirteen dwarves a unique look and personality. That is something that I’m sure extending the film will only help. I understand that some of the…