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. said: Lately, I've been watching a lot of Star Trek TOS and TNG. Yesterday, I rewatched In the Pale Moonlight. Sisko really is the best captain.

That was certainly one of the best episodes in that series. Maybe the best. But in a series that boasted one of the stronger Star Trek casts, I found Avery Brooks to be a weak link. Granted, his acting improved over the course of the series, but in general it always struck me as uneven. Just my opinion, of course.

Lena wrote: Andy MacDowell is the bad guy!

This looks like it might be okay. Reminds me a bit of stuff like Animal Kingdom or maybe Justified. The directors don’t exactly have a stellar track record, but the script was pulled from the Black List, so that’s promising.

“The Blessing of the Waters”, Nick Mamatas

(view spoiler)[In the author afterword, Mamatas talks about the balance here between the supernatural and noir elements of this entry. The supernatural stuff could have perhaps benefited from a bit more fleshing out, but the noir part of the story was quite effective and, I must admit, caught me off guard (in a good way). (hide spoiler)]

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And finally some of our listens over the holiday break...

The Adventures of Robin Hood [Original Motion Picture Score] [2003 Reissue], Erich Wolfgang Korngold (1938) ✭✭✭½
On the Town [1949 Motion Picture Soundtrack], Leonard Bernstein, Betty Comden, & Adolph Green (1949) ✭✭✭✭½
Bells Are Ringing, Shelly Manne & His Friends (1958) ✭✭✭
The Little Drummer Boy, Harry Simeone Chorale (1958) ✭✭✭✭½
Tchaikovsky: The Nutcracker (Complete Ballet) • Serenade for Strings, Antal Doráti & London Symphony Orchestra & Philharmonia Hungarica (rec. 1958-1962/1991) ✭✭✭✭½
On the Town [1960 Studio Recording], Leonard Bernstein, Betty Comden, & Adolph Green (1960) ✭✭✭✭
The Montgomery Brothers, The Montgomery Brothers (1961) ✭✭✭✭½
So Much Guitar!, Wes Montgomery (1961) ✭✭✭✭
The Andy Williams Christmas Album, Andy Williams (1963) ✭✭✭
A Charlie Brown Christmas [Original Television Soundtrack Recording], Vince Guaraldi Trio (1965) ✭✭✭✭✭
Holst: The Planets, Leopold Stokowski & Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra (1965) ✭✭✭✭½
Cinderella [1965 Television Cast Recording], Richard Rodgers & Oscar Hammerstein II (1965) ✭✭✭✭
Merry Christmas, Andy Williams (1965) ✭✭✭
Can’t Buy A Thrill, Steely Dan (1972) ✭✭✭½
It’s Only Rock ‘n Rock [2009 Remaster], The Rolling Stones (1974) ✭✭✭
Pretzel Logic, Steely Dan (1974) ✭✭✭✭½
Katy Lied, Steely Dan (1975) ✭✭✭✭
The Royal Scam, Steely Dan (1976) ✭✭✭½
Christmas Portrait [1984 Special Edition], Carpenters (1978) ✭✭✭
Remain in Light, Talking Heads (1980) ✭✭✭✭✭
December [20th Anniversary Edition], George Winston (1982) ✭✭✭
Green, R.E.M. (1988) ✭✭✭✭✭
Holst: The Planets, James Levine & Chicago Symphony Orchestra (1990) ✭✭✭✭½
Holst: The Planets, Jahni Mardjani & Georgian Festival Orchestra (1990) ✭✭✭✭½
Right Brain Patrol, Marc Johnson, Ben Monder, & Arto Tunçboyaciyan (1992) ✭✭✭
Kamakiriad, Donald Fagen (1993) ✭✭✭✭½
Have Yourself a Merry Little Chrsitmas [EP], Diana Krall (1998) ✭✭✭✭
Grofé: Grand Canyon Suite • Mississippi Suite • Niagara Falls Suite, William T. Stromberg & Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra (1999) ✭✭✭✭
Two Against Nature, Steely Dan (2000) ✭✭✭½
Tropical Rainstrom, Kirsty MacColl (2001) ✭✭✭✭½
Grofé: Death Valley Suite • Hollywood Suite • Hudson River Suite, William T. Stromberg & Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra (2002) ✭✭✭
Miami Vice: The Complete Collection [Original Television Soundtrack], Jan Hammer (2002) ✭✭✭
Everything Must Go, Steely Dan (2003) ✭✭✭
Morph the Cat, Donald Fagen (2006) ✭✭✭
Sunken Condos, Donald Fagen (2012) ✭✭✭½
On the Town [2014 Broadway Cast Recording], Leonard Bernstein, Betty Comden, & Adolph Green (2014) ✭✭✭½
Christmas with You, Julie Benko (2023) ✭✭✭✭
Hackney Diamonds, The Rolling Stones (2023) ✭✭✭

And also some shows I’ve managed to catch over the last couple of months...

Purlie Victorious (A Non-Confederate Romp Through the Cotton Patch), Ossie Davis (Playwright) & by Kenny Leon (Director) (1961/2023) ✭✭✭½
Merrily We Roll Along, Stephen Sondheim (Music & Lyrics), George Furth (Book), & by Maria Friedman (Director) (1981/2023) ✭✭✭✭
Harmony, Barry Manilow (Music), Bruce Sussman (Lyrics & Book), & Warren Carlyle (Director) (1997/2023) ✭✭½
Six, Jamie Armitage & Lucy Moss (2017/2022) ✭✭½
Shucked, Brandy Clark (Music & Lyrics), Shane McAnally (Music & Lyrics), Robert Horn (Book), & Jack O’Brien (Director) (2022/2023) ✭✭✭
Some Like It Hot, Marc Shaiman (Music), Scott Wittman (Music & Lyrics), Matthew López (Book), Amber Ruffin (Book), & Casey Nicholaw (Director) (2022) ✭✭✭½
Here We Are, Stephen Sondheim (Music & Lyrics), David Ives (Book), & Joe Mantello (Director) (2023) ✭½

I hope everyone has been enjoying the holidays. Some recent stuff that I’ve been watching...

Angel in My Pocket, Alan Rafkin (1969) ✭✭✭
The Ghost and Mr. Chicken, Alan Rafkin (1969) ✭✭✭
In the Mouth of Madness, John Carpenter (1994) ✭✭✭✭½
Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief, Chris Carpenter (2010) ✭✭
Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters, Thor Freudenthal (2013) ✭✭
The Guardians of the Galaxy [Shorts], Season 1 (2015) ✭½
The Guardians of the Galaxy [Shorts], Season 2 (2017) ✭½
Inhumans, Season 1 (2017) ✭✭✭
Only Murders in the Building, Season 1 (2021) ✭✭✭½
Ahsoka, Season 1 (2023) ✭✭½
The Continental: From the World of John Wick, Season 1 (2023) ✭✭✭
Loki, Season 2 (2023) ✭✭✭✭
The Swan, Wes Anderson (2023) ✭✭½
The Family Plan, Simon Cellan Jones (2023) ✭½
Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One, Christopher McQuarrie (2023) ✭✭✭✭
The Holdovers, Alexander Payne (2023) ✭✭✭✭½

“His Castle”, Alma Katsu

(view spoiler)[Not much to say here. The story rests on the familiar horror trope whereby some bad folks run up against individuals who happen to be even more bad. There’s also some rather heavy-handed material here about class. That’s not to suggest that this is a bad story; it isn’t. I thought the slowly rising sense of menace and the final eruption of violence were well handled. (hide spoiler)]

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“The One He Takes”, Benjamin Percy

(view spoiler)[This story highlighting the evil side of Santa is rather predictable, but well told. (hide spoiler)]

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“The Mawkin Field”, Terry Dowling

(view spoiler)[In a tale about scarecrows, Dowling fiercely resists resorting to the usual folk horror tropes. But does that leave the reader with much of interest? (hide spoiler)]

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“The Five Sisters”, Terry Dowling

This was a frustrating read. After finishing I have no idea why what was happening was happening. I’m fine with some ambiguity, but this was pretty darned opaque. Perhaps if I had read other stories in this Dowling series, I might have greater insight into the plot mechanics.

✭½

“The Importance of a Tidy Home”, Christopher Golden

(view spoiler)[The anthology opener revolves around a Christmas folk tale native to Salzburg, the setting for the story. If, like me, you sometimes find yourself pondering over the sometimes arbitrary and cruel nature of Santa’s naughty-and-nice list, this story may appeal to you. (hide spoiler)]

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Fiona said: This isn't showing on the group page for me for some reason

Hmm. It’s showing up for me.

Lena said: I still need to try that book.

I vaguely remember that one taking a long time to plow through.

Lena said: Shōgun looks amazing

I was able to plow through the James Clavell novel, but never made it through the NBC miniseries. I thought the latter was kind of tepid. The trailer looks fine. The fact that a few of scenes have absolutely zero counterpart to the book contents makes me worry a bit.

I second Fiona’s suggestion.

Tiny tales:

“The Wishing Well”, Jack Dann ✭✭

“The Fairy Door”, Angela Slatter ✭½

Randy said: the Jimmy Stewart of the '50s was kind of the prototype of the Angry Young Man. Wary, prickly, sometimes cranky, his characters during that period are rarely as idealistic and light-hearted as in his pre-war movies.

Yes, you can see that in many of the Westerns he did during this period with Anthony Mann.

“Tidemarks”, Octavia Cade

(view spoiler)[Another non-traditional treatment of haunting where individuals seek out ghosts. In Cade’s story ghosts are a metaphor for things we have lost, in this case, the accelerating loss of biodiversity in the face of climate change, diminishing habitats, etc. Interesting, but easily the most depressing story to this point. (hide spoiler)]

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Randy said: One of the great fantasy movies. But George does have to hit bottom before things turn around.

There’s something almost Job-like about all of the suffering poor George has to endure.

J. said: What happens when John Woo makes a Christmas movie?

According to what I’ve read, this movie will have absolutely no dialogue. Zero. That’s easy to believe given how formulaic it looks. One on-line comment I saw observed that this film could wind up being either brilliant or a complete train wreck.