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.

J. asked: Isn't Shogun set in the civil war that ended in the rise of the Tokugawa Shogunate?

Yes.

I saw at least part of the original NBC series and distinctly recall that the lack of subtitles was supposedly used to facilitate the viewer’s identification with Chamberlain’s culture shock. I’m not sure I agreed with that aesthetic decision, but that series did have its strong points.

Let us know if you do decide to pick up the novel.

It really is pretty darned good, Lena. On the plus side, the acting is quite good, Hiroyuki Sanada and Cosmo Jarvis included. A lot of attention has been paid to period detail (not that I’m expert enough to know; this is just what I’ve read in articles). Unlike the 1980 NBC miniseries, which heavily focused on the Richard Chamberlain character, the Hulu miniseries is more of an ensemble piece. This is reflected in the extensive use of subtitles, which were absent in the NBC series. Minus side, the direction and editing have been mixed. Sometimes the action scenes are a bit too murky and under-dramatized for my taste. (Not everyone agrees with my assessment on that point.) Finally, I wish they had allotted more time for the series. With ten one-hour episodes, it’s actually going to wind up being shorter than the NBC series. A lot of the political intrigue and many of the minor characters present in Clavell’s novel have been left on the proverbial cutting room floor. Given the critical accolades and viewer numbers the reboot has received, I wonder whether the producers now regret the decision to limit the series to ten episodes.

As for the novel, I might sit down and skim portions, but I’ll never re-read the thing in its entirety. I think it took me the better part of a month to read that novel.

Any opinions on Shōgun thus far? They have released the first three of its ten episodes. I seem to recall Lena expressed an interest in this project some time back.

Just some stuff Iʼve been listening to and watching. As to watching, mostly series lately (as opposed to movies). I am planning on a Dune rewatch before heading out to the theatre later this week to catch Part 2.

Bags’ Opus, Milt Jackson (1959) ✭✭✭½
Lilies of the Field [Original Motion Picture Soundtrack], Jerry Fielding (1963) ✭✭✭½
Double Fun, Robert Palmer (1978) ✭✭✭✭
Breakin’ Away, Al Jarreau (1981) ✭✭✭✭½
Night and Day, Joe Jackson (1982) ✭✭✭✭½
The Thing [Original Motion Picture Soundtrack] (1982) ✭✭✭½
Native Sense: The New Duets, Chick Corea & Gary Burton (1997) ✭✭✭½
Music for The Getaway: Jerry Fielding’s Original Score [Unused Motion Picture Soundtrack], Jerry Fielding (1972 rec./2006) ✭✭½
The Morton Stevens Collection, Volume 1, Morton Stevens (2023) ✭✭✭


Lot No. 249, Mark Gatiss (2023) ✭✭✭
Only Murders in the Building, Season 1 (2021) ✭✭✭½
Only Murders in the Building, Season 2 (2022) ✭✭✭½
Percy Jackson and the Olympians, Season 1 (2023-2024) ✭✭✭½
Slow Horses, Season 3 (2023) ✭✭✭✭½
What If...?, Season 2 (2023) ✭✭
Echo, Season 1 (2024) ✭✭½

Lena said: This seems to be the era of cartoon action movies

Couldn’t even make it through the trailers.

J. said: I have no clue.
Sasquatch Sunset

That might be okay. I’m a bit intrigued.

Lena said: I never went past book two because of book two.

I made it a bit farther, but I prefer to ignore all books following the first one.

J. said: Why? Twisters

I know a lot of people enjoyed it, but I thought the first one was silly. Now we will be forced to endure more cow memes.

Lena: or what happened to Alia

Yeah. I’d forgotten that part. I now recall really disliking the way her story unfolded.

J: Denis Villeneuve Thinks He Will Stop With Dune Messiah, Script Still Being Written

Not sure I like that idea. Dune Messiah encapsulates a lot of interesting ideas, but I don’t think it’s a very good story. (I’ve seen this problem with a number of Herbert’s books.) It may also be worth mentioning that whereas Dune seems to present Paul Atreides as crusading hero, its sequel kinda rips apart that heroic image. The book may be seen as cautionary tale about the dangers of charismatic leaders. Again, interesting and worthwhile idea, but I remember that the experience of reading the sequel (after having plowed through the massive first book) was emotionally deflating.

Lena said: It’s a cool scene and your appreciation makes you 😎 cool.

Heh, heh. It’s been a long time since anyone has called me that. Thanks.

J. asked: This scene?

Yep, that’s the one.

J. also said: You might enjoy this clip of Mr. Brown talking about how Highlander got made.

I’ve heard Clancy Brown talk about the film before, but never about how it got made. Interesting bit of film history. Thanks for the link.

Lena said: That movie is a favorite, and dido. That strange accent Christopher Lambert had helped sell his timelessness.

I always thought this film was okay, if not great. Lambert looked the part, but he was never going to win any acting awards. The one thing I really, really liked about this movie was Clancy Brown’s over-the-top performance. His line delivered in the church (“I have something to say. It is better to burn out than to fade away!) never fails to bring a smile to my face. Not sure what that says about me.

Graeme said: Highlander reboot with Henry Cavill in 2025

I’m struggling to see Cavill in that role.

Lena said: do you know why some was color and some black and white?

Black-and-white was used in scenes that supposedly represented objective moments in history, devoid of opinion or emotions. Color was used in scenes that showcased Oppenheimer’s emotional perspective, e.g., exploring his moral quandary about creating the atomic bomb.

To be honest, while I was watching the film I barely noticed the distinction.

I’m kinda with you on Pugh’s nudity. I understand the point being made, but was it really necessary?

As for the format, I went to the film with someone who gets motion sickness when watching stuff in IMAX, so we saw it in the regular format. I honestly couldn’t tell you the last time I viewed a film in IMAX. At least 10 years ago. Just not that big a deal for me.

Lena said: Tenet is getting a rerelease

Unlike you, Lena, I was a pretty big fan of Oppenheimer, but different opinions and all that… 😉

I felt let down by Tenet. It embodied the kind of complexity found in Nolan’s earlier thriller, Inception. But whereas I was generally able to grasp the plot nuances in Inception, with Tenet I frequently found myself floundering. I have not been tempted to revisit.

J. said: And French sci-fi is…

Directed by Bruno Dumont. I really haven’t enjoyed any of his films that I’ve seen.

J. asked: While we're talking about it, how do y'all rank the Trek captains?

Surprisingly hard for me answer. I find it difficult to disentangle my feelings about the captains from the shows they inhabited. The following list ignores Chris Pine (the “Kelvin time-line” Kirk) and captains from series that I’m just not familiar with — Prodigy and Lower Decks.

7. Kathryn Janeway. Kate Mulgrew is actually a decent actor, but she was not particularly well served by the writers. The show’s rather unique premise was poorly handled by Berman and Piller; and Janeway’s character careened between borderline psychopathy and saccharine sensitivity.

6. Jonathan Archer. I like Scott Bakula, but this whole series was an ill-conceived mess with a cast that was perhaps the weakest of all of the Trek shows. Archer came across as relatively two-dimensional and poorly defined.

5. Benjamin Sisko. Maybe the most interesting of the Trek premises. As I said before, DS9 had one of the better casts, but I never cared for Avery Brooks’ acting, although he had his moments. I read somewhere that Brooks found doing the show rather boring, especially early on; I think that showed in many of his performances.

4. Michael Burnham. This captain is probably the most difficult one for me to rate. Sonequa Martin-Green is a good actor and in some ways hers is one the most complex and interesting of the Trek captains, but I largely hated the way the show as a whole was handled. The showrunners never seemed to have had a firm grasp on where they were headed.

3. Christopher Pike. Anson Mount’s portayal of Pike ranges from good to occasionally annoying. My favorable perception of Pike is probably influenced by the fact that I’ve really enjoyed the “old school” episodic structure of Strange Worlds (although we saw a few clunkers in Season 2).

2. James T. Kirk. Although it’s famously easy to parody William Shatner’s over-the-top style, I have to admit I actually enjoyed him in many of TOS's episodes. The show’s third season was dreadful, but I can largely overlook that.

1. Patrick Stewart. Not everyone agrees, but for my money, Stewart had the best acting chops of all of the captains. As a series, TNG got off to a rocky start (thanks largely to Roddenberry’s involvement), but during the middle seasons, the writing was probably the best of the Trek series.

All my opinion, of course. ;-)