Is there such a thing as weather being too hot to allow me to read? Like my eyes dry out and want to slam shut instead of focusing on the words in front of me. I’ve been holding my own but had a lot of non-reading or writing things to do. I’ve only got two books to show for my efforts, but movies and series? Yes, those have been consumed in abundance.
Books
First Grave on the Right by Darynda Jones
I am so glad I stumbled across this title on Amazon and decided to give the book a try. If you like sarcasm, if you like Urban Fantasy, and if you really want to imagine helping souls who have died recently to get on with it and cross to the other side, you will like Darynda Jones’s writing. Add a heaping heap of cultural references and it’s golden. Someone I recommended the book to has read almost the whole series in a few days. I’m taking a break but I can’t wait to get back into the world of Charlene “Charley” Davidson.
Magic for Nothing by Seanan McGuire
Ms. McGuire is a fast, talented, and detail-processing juggernaut of a writer. This Book 5 of the InCryptid series and a lot more is happening than I expected. Sure, at the end of Book 4, the main character, Verity Price, issued a challenge to her family’s mortal enemies, but I thought there would be some twist that would keep them in England and away from the North American populations. Not so: Antimony Price goes under cover and meets a distant relative, a boy who seems sweet on her, and a boy who is sullen and unhappy to know her when she infiltrates his family’s carnival. The book is fun, moves very well, and has lots of details about life in a traveling show. I can’t wait for the next one, in which I hope Annie brings home one of those boys.
Movies
Not what I was expecting, this third spin-off that focused on Wolverine had lots of elements of Mad Max but a lot more humanity. People are killed that make everything more difficult for Logan. Patrick Stewart is an actor worth watching in anything. The girl they rescue is key to why everything went to Hell in the first place. Good for X-Men fans, but could pass if you aren’t into the franchise.
As good as the first one so I can hardly wait for Number 3 to be released. Great plot with DP attempting to save a mutant kid, lots of the happy cast from the first one around, and time travel that gets things started. Can I just say that Wade trying to work up the courage to gank baby Hitler is hilarious?
You aren’t where you think you are. You aren’t who you think you are, either. You are being watched and judged, but you can leave any time you like. There’s a mean girl and a sweet girl and lots of teenage angst to go around. Very interesting how they work together to solve the puzzle, but I see why many X-Men fans don’t care for this movie. It would have been better off as a totally stand-alone film.
I am a fan of musicals and funny movies, and this selection hit those marks for me. The story was very much in keeping with the original books and had a lot of nods to the first movie. Great to see Dick Van Dyke acting, and to hear and see Lin-Manuel Miranda and his music. Not a moment of serious thought needed, just sit back and enjoy.
The franchise means a lot to me, and this addition creates a wonderful future and a wonderful puzzle that is a little beyond our excellent heroes. The daughters and the wives absolutely make the movie, as well as seeing Rufus (George Carlin) as a holographic projection. Perhaps there is a moral here about tampering with the time lines, but it’s not a big issue. Again, just sit back and enjoy.
Stupidly, I was confusing this movie with Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow. I was certain that we had just watched it and I didn’t really want to go there again, but luckily Mike pointed out my error and we watched this one. A fun story, lots of fun adventure with zooming around and setting things on fire. Good people die, but that’s the problem with fighting bad guys. Timothy Dalton makes the best evil genius and certainly makes the movie more fun to watch.
Please find this movie and watch it. It’s directed by Taika Waititi. Please do yourself a favor and make a night of this one. If you can grill steaks or venison or pork steaks, you’ll set the mood. I thought the kid went off looking for a mythical tribe or something, so this was a lesson to me not to judge a movie by its title. You may recognize the young actor moving around the New Zealand wilderness with Sam Neil. Julian Dennison played Fire Fist in Deadpool 2, and he gets to show more of his talent in this one.
What a waste of screen time: almost 2 hours that I will never get back spent watching people die from fear that something bad was happening and would be happening even more wherever they went. We start out with a happy couple in Seattle just hours before he has to fly to Chicago for business. Since her parents live there, he plans to stop in for dinner, though he and his girl’s dad do not get along and he leaves early. Fast forward to the next morning when his girl calls him. He’s about to miss his plane if he doesn’t hurry, and that’s when the disaster strikes. He can hear a rumble in the background while talking to her, and then the line goes dead.
We are offered so many possibilites: Is it a natural disaster? Did one of our many enemies drop a nuke off the West Coast? Is it a computer virus that disabled all communications? We don’t know. And we never find out. People join the convoy and then leave the convoy. Death, destruction, and despair. The end. Don’t bother. It’s been done better many times over.
Interesting look at how society’s basic prejudices and idolization of those who seem perfect physically and mentally can evolve into a system of genetic perfection applied before birth. Well acted, perfectly balanced with the past and the present of the main characters highlighted, and just when you think there’s going to be a happy ending and all is right with that world, the rug is pulled out from under your feet. I enjoyed the movie, but in my head I am rewriting the ending.
EuroVision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga
I needed a comedy after the last two movies, so we chose this one. I laughed, I cried, and I actually enjoyed Will Ferrell’s performance. The songs are fun, the costumes are crazy, and the “song-along” scene will have you standing, shouting, and loving all the beautiful people. To quote IMdB, “The film features appearances from past Eurovision contestants: John Lundvik (Sweden 2019), Anna Odobescu (Moldova 2019), Bilal Hassani (France 2019), Loreen (winner for Sweden in 2012), Jessy Matador (France 2010), Alexander Rybak (winner for Norway in 2009 & representative in 2018), Jamala (winner for Ukraine in 2016), Elina Nechayeva (Estonia 2018), Conchita Wurst (winner for Austria in 2014), Netta Barzilai (winner for Israel in 2018) and Salvador Sobral (winner for Portugal in 2017).” And Demi Lovato is wonderful as both the living and the deceased Katiana Lindsdottir.
Series
We are in the Son of Satan era, having dispatched the evil Brits. Things are going along okay, but I miss some of the regulars who aren’t there at the moment. Still an 8.5 out of 10.
This is the series we are most likely to skip if there is any reason to do so. I enjoy some of the characters’ interactions but I’m really hoping things improve soon. Love having the character of Wally West (Keiynan Lonsdale) for a few episodes. We are in Season 4 of 7. Whee.
I’m going to cry when this one ends, which it will in about six more episodes. I’m starting to like Ezri Dax (Nicole de Boer) which probably will just make the demise of the show that much harder. Also I think the Prophets are high and out of touch with reality. So there.
It’s back! It’s wonderful! Not so much fun seeing Eleven (Millie Bobby Brown) being put through the ringer again, but if it works out to make her stronger, it will be worth it.
Audio Books
A Crack in the Sea by H.M. Bouman
This is a historical fantasy, it says on Amazon, and it certainly spends a lot of time looking at slave ships and Vietnamese boat people. I have learned a lot while listening to this one. That slave ships had insurance, which makes sense but I never thought about it. And if the slaves died from disease, the insurance would not pay their cost. But if they tried to escape by going overboard, then that was covered. Unscrupulous captains would do anything to save their voyage from a total loss. I also learned that pirates from Malaysia preyed upon boat people and took their food, water, and fuel, plus any valuables and money they might have. Basically, the world sucks and has for a long time. No wonder finding a portal to a better place is important enough to warrant a kidnapping.
That’s my views on a few things: I hope you found something enjoyable here. Thanks for reading; I’ll be back on Thursday.
Romance-ology 