Things Read/Things Viewed

I've come across a few things that seem worth talking about, but not enough to devote an entire post to. Which is another way of saying that good or bad, none of these things inspired much passion.

Also, please note that right below, Tomfoolery has joined Narraptor and myself as a contributor. In his inaugural post, he talks about one of those subjects that is close to our heart: Buddhism.

Read:
Nightwatch
This is actually a trilogy of short stories, so by the time you've reached page 100-ish, you'll have gone through all of the events of Nightwatch the movie. The plot is similar, except that it removes most of the best and worst parts of the film, leaving a tale that's better grounded, but without any noteworthy scenes. Oh, and each tale ends with the same twist: It Was All My Cunning Plan. Magical Russia is nice, but I can see why most people prefer to do their adventuring in Magical London. (This statement discounts Londoners themselves, who often react to Magical London with abject fear and a strong desire to return to their terrible job and lame friends.)

Un Lun Dun
This one actually would have been it's own post, except that Narraptor pretty much said it all for me.

A nice touch is the glossary in the back, which includes none of the Magical London terms used in the book. However, it does explain all the British slang for American kids.


Viewed:
Ghost Rider:
Do you want to see an old issue of Ghost Rider come to life? Because that will pretty much determine what you think of this film. For one thing, the dialogue ought to have been put in word balloons, especially whenever the movie's central themes are used. Also, most of the fight scenes follow a traditional old-school comic formula.

1- Villain enters and gets a few good hits on Ghost Rider. Oh, no, what can he do?
2- Ghost Rider figures out the villain's weakness and takes him down in a matter of moments.

(That weakness is unusually some variation of, "Wait! What if I use my demon-killing chain to kill this demon?" Don't expect any epic fights.)

If you care, they changed the Ghost Rider's origin story. I guess they felt that the audience wouldn't be invested in a guy who willingly summons Mephistopheles, The Secular Satan, and signs his contract of doom. "Yes. He fooled you... that's what he does. I thought you spent months studying about this guy."

Sublime
A video release recent enough to include a trailer for The Reaping, Sublime is advertised as a pure horror movie. This is as much of a lie as the image on the cover. It's about a guy who goes into a hospital for a routine surgery and everything goes weird on him. If you don't already know where this movie is going, you haven't seen enough of these films. But there's another element involved... there are long, lingering shots. Questionable shots that linger on their own artiness. Superficial discussions about what it means to be a superficial person. A sea of electronic music letting you know how you should feel. And then, it all comes together. Some poor fool combined a horror movie with Grand Canyon.