Canavan’s Comments (group member since May 15, 2018)

Canavan’s comments from the Spells, Space & Screams: Collections & Anthologies in Fantasy, Science Fiction, & Horror group.

Corinne wrote (in part):

(view spoiler)[ They are teasing us that Hopper is in the “prison”? “Not the American” (hide spoiler)]

(view spoiler)[That seems to be the prevailing theory. An alternative (less likely?) theory is that “the American” refers to Martin Brenner, whose fate was left somewhat ambiguous back in Season 1. (hide spoiler)]

Lena said:

I can’t believe I missed that Rutger Hauer died this month! What a loss! Most will remember Blade Runner but Ladyhawke is a Personal Favorite!

I’ll admit that the first movie that popped into my head when I heard of Hauer’s death was Bladerunner and, more specifically, that iconic “tears in rain” scene. But the second Hauer film I thought about was Soldier of Orange, a 1977 Dutch film directed by Paul Verhoeven and starring Rutger Hauer and Jeroen Krabbé. The film largely concerns the German occupation of the Netherlands during World War II.

No spoilers. I watched Quentin Tarantino’s ninth studio film, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, last night with family and friends. It’s fair to say that I enjoyed the movie (maybe his best since Jackie Brown?), but I’m still processing my feelings about the specifics. In some ways at least a part of me is wondering whether I should have enjoyed it as much as I did. All of the director’s trademarked fetishes and stylistic quirks are abundantly on display once again — shots of female feet, historical revisionism, the constant onslaught of references to the trashy cultural iconography of his youth (this time the 50s and 60s), etc., etc. Tarantino’s clearly relishes the constant side trips the script makes that reflect these interests (e.g., spaghetti Westerns), but sometimes these detours threaten to derail the main plot line. Good cast with quite a few cameos; solid performances by Brad Pitt and Leonardo DiCaprio.

✭✭✭✭

Lena said (in part):

Did you not even crack a smile at The Neverending Story?

Yeah, that was pretty funny. 😂

Welp, I finished up the third season of Stranger Things. My initial impression is that it represents an improvement over Season 2, but is probably not as strong overall as the first season. (view spoiler)[That’s due in part to the terrible start — the first two episodes, focusing in large measure on teenage angst, come off as a bad John Hughes movie. Other things I didn’t like about the season: The omnipresent 80s references. What was once kind of clever has become more than a bit tedious. My other more general complaint has to do with the repetitive nature of the storylines. Each of these last two seasons is simply a variation on the first one.

Things I liked about this season. Once the show finally starts picking up speed, it gets fairly exciting. I’ll admit to zipping through the last four episodes in a single sitting. Once again, El slips into her familiar role as Deus ex machina, but, for a change of pace, in the penultimate episode it’s Hopper who gets to be the big hero. I was hoping Season 3 would see the return of Eight, but no such luck. But we do get Erica Sinclair, previously a minor character (I loved her deadpan delivery of the line, “Commence Operation Child Endangerment.”) And we also get Robin. I really liked the relationship between Robin and Steve; there are countless ways that could have been fumbled by the writers, but I thought they handled it pretty well. In fact, my favorite parts of this season probably involved the “Scoops Troop”: Steve, Dustin, Erica, and Robin.

I’d be satisfied if the Duffers pulled the plug on this series right now, but we are guaranteed at least one more season of Stranger Things. Shooting is supposed to start in October. (hide spoiler)]

✭✭✭½

Lena said (in part):

The weirdest is Natalie Portman as a female Thor. I would have rather seen a movie on Lady Sif.

I’m not particularly surprised about a female Thor. There has been speculation in the Marvel fan community for quite some time that this was coming down the pike (based, I guess, on content in the comics). Portman’s involvement was a bit surprising given her prior treatment. Here is a link to one recent article summarizing Portman’s past involvement with the MCU and how we got to this juncture.

Lena said (in part):

Dune’s Bene Gesserit are getting their own TV show. This could be cool...

If I’m reading this article correctly, it appears that the series will only be available (at least initially?) on WarnerMedia's streaming service, due to launch in beta late this year. If so, that’s pretty much a deal-breaker for me.

Lena said:

No but I need to! Sometimes indies play here sometimes they don’t. I was pissed when Maiden was not released within 50 miles of me. The Rogers doc probably was but I’ll catch it on Netflix or Prime.

I recall Maiden was playing locally, but I blinked and it was gone. I do want to watch that one eventually; it’s supposed to be good.

Edit: Oops. I take that back. It still is playing here. Now if I can just find the time to see it...

Lena wrote:

Tom Hanks is Mr. Rogers, of course he is:

Did you see last year’s documentary?

I sat down to watch the Neil Marshall reboot of the Hellboy franchise and came away disappointed. What a mess. The script tries to cram the content of three Mike Mignola story arcs into a single 2-hour movie. The tone of the movie is weirdly inconsistent, lurching between unfunny stabs at comedy and gruesome carnage. Marshall isn’t without talent, but he’s no del Toro; and David Harbour is at best a mediocre substitute for Ron Perlman. The movie, in it’s closing moments, clearly tries to set up a sequel, but Lionsgate has mercifully pulled the plug on that idea.

Hellboy, Neil Marshall (2019) ✭½

Lena wrote:

Snowpiercer is getting another shot at life with Jennifer Connelly

One always wonders in these cases why such projects are necessary. What does this series do that wasn’t addressed by the Bong Joon-ho film? In addition, this is one of those projects that has already seen a lot behind-the-scenes drama, with the departures of the original showrunner and director. Usually not a good sign.

You might want to check out the awards listings on the ISFDB web site. This link provides a good starting point.

I watched the latest Marvel movie last night, Spider-Man: Far from Home, which is supposed be a coda of sorts to what is referred to as Phase 3 of the MCU (I didn’t even know that there was a Phase 2). I did have a few problems with the movie — Jake Gyllenhaal does a pretty good job as Mysterio, but I think the storyline squanders a number of opportunities to make his character (and the themes he embodies) more interesting. The final pro forma battle sequence was rather ho-hum. On the plus side: I persist in thinking that of the recent actors portraying Spider-Man, Tom Holland has done the best job of making the audience believe that the character is a teenage boy with all of the problems and challenges that go along with that. The script is at its best when it’s focusing on his travails with his classmates.

I kept putting off seeing 2017’s Alien: Covenant, convinced I wasn’t going to like it. I watched it recently and my fears were confirmed. The film often looks great, but the script just makes me want to scream in frustration.

While attending Far from Home, I saw the trailer for Dark Fate. I think that a few months back Lena had talked about this project and I rather cooly expressed my lack of enthusiasm given how poorly the Terminator franchise has been handled of late. But I must admit the trailer got me sorta excited. It looks really good. I’ve read that the script more or less pretends that the last three films in the franchise (including the truly awful Genisys) never happened. Tim Miller is directing Dark Fate and James Cameron is co-producing.

Spider-Man: Far from Home, Jon Watts (2019) ✭✭✭✭
Alien: Covenant, Ridley Scott (2017) ✭✭

Lena said (in part):

Ok, technically I skipped the nonfiction but this month I got behind.

I’ve read some of the nonfiction and may post some thoughts about it later. At this point I’ll merely say it’s a mixed bag: some insightful observations jumbled together with other stuff I found rather off-point and downright odd.

Lena said (in part):

I didn’t look at their online work beyond hunting up that image.

Sydney Padua has published a graphic novel about her duo entitled The Thrilling Adventures of Lovelace and Babbage . I was actually thinking about picking up a copy in spite of my reservations about her piece in the present anthology.

Lena said (in part):

The text in the images was very hard to read.

If you're referring to the e-version of Steampunk II , then, yes, I noticed the same thing. I thought the digital conversion of Sydney Padua’s original work left quite a bit to be desired.

J. said in part:

Tomorrow is the fiftieth anniversary of the launch of Apollo 11 on their mission to the moon. Our dedication faltered. Our vision dimmed.

I sometimes think about a quote from Arthur C. Clarke. When asked during an interview if there was anything that had happened in the preceding 100 years that he never could have anticipated, he replied: “Yes, absolutely. The one thing I never would have expected is that, after centuries of wonder and imagination and aspiration, we would have gone to the moon ... and then stopped.”

Lena said:

Hope to see you here again!

Ditto!

“Lovelace & Babbage: Origins, with Salamander”, Sydney Padua

More mixed feelings... I find this piece hard to judge on it’s own merits. It’s really an introductory fragment (almost an advertisement!) for the author’s strip, a steampunky counterfactual featuring Ada Lovelace and Charles Babbage. I do like the Padua’s artwork; I don’t know why or what it says about me, but the way Ada often sports a pipe really tickles me. And I did laugh in couple of places (e.g., at a sort of fourth-wall joke about Twitter).

✭✭✭

Jim Bouton passed away on 10 July at 80 years of age. I’m only a so-so sports fan, but I do really enjoy good books about sports. Ball Four , Bouton’s irreverent memoir of his years in baseball with the Yankees, the Pilots, and the Astros, was a landmark book in the genre and one of my personal favorites. The way Bouton looked at sports was both funny and yet unflinchingly honest. I’ll always recall an on-air roundtable discussion involving Bouton and bunch of other sports figures, during which everyone was blathering on about how those in sports had a special obligation to serve as positive role models for the youth of America. All except Bouton. He pushed back, stating that the real problem was with the culture at large — that people were foolish to look to the world of sports for their personal heroes; that sports figure were entertainers and nothing more.