New Fiction 2023 – December

“Ezekiel” ed. Richard Challoner (1752)

Ezekiel had a lot to prophesy, and none of it good news.

“Daniel” ed. Richard Challoner (1752)

We’re really just there for lions and Susanna.

Revenant by Alex White (2021)

I like that I can hop around between DS9 stories that are part of the post-show timeline and the various stories that just take place at some point during or prior to the show. Also good to see the designers stepping up that cover art! And let me tell ya, this story delivers on that cover. Half of it is a Jadzia and Kira adventure with mysteries, heists, danger, and a lot of really good background on the Dax symbiont. Loved that! Then Kira tagged out for Worf and Bashir, and that was alright. I wish it had been Jadzia and Kira all the way though.

Silver Nitrate by Silvia Moreno-Garcia (2023)

It’s a nerds’ tale through and through. Film nerds, occult nerds, horror nerds, and Moreno-Garcia blends it all skillfully. It doesn’t hit as strongly as Mexican Gothic, but mysteries tend to be like that when they take place in a metropolis instead of the confines of a creepy mansion.

The Men by Sandra Newman (2023)

I liked the setup, and the premise, and I was mostly onboard until the finale really let me down. Maybe the idea is depressing to people, like it is to most characters in the story, but I saw hope in sticking with the reality of most of the book and making a better world of it. You grieve, you build anew. There was also some hand-wringing around race and gender tension from the main character that feels like it’s meant to be considerate but is just channeling white anxiety about the optics of appearing racist instead recognizing racial bias and making changes to address it.

Aftermath by Christopher L. Bennett (2003)

Whoops, one more Star Trek book before the end of the year. I’d been meaning to read it for about a year and finally found some time with the digital copy from Open Library. Like the other SCE stories, it’s a short and sweet little tale. The thematic elements about a civilization’s collapse and hope for the future were just what I needed after reading some more downbeat stories.

Jekyll and Heidi by R.L. Stine (1999)

It was… okay. Not the strongest plot or twist, although notably darker in terms of setting up the main character’s predicament. Kinda Dahlesque but without his absurdity.

“> THE JESTER” by Margaut Shorjian (2023)

Do it.

The Simpsons: Bart vs. Homersaurus dev. Tiger Electronics (1994)

These level-based LCD games are never as strong as the endless loops of their Game & Watch progenitors, but the tech is neat. Voice clips must’ve been an expensive proposition.

Dream Scenario dir. Kristoffer Borgli (2023)

You know, it is a weird movie, but the part where it digs into cancel culture felt off. Too real maybe. And even then, I just don’t think it’ll stick around in my brain.

Godzilla Minus One dir. Takashi Yamazaki (2023)

A great Godzilla story with a good balance of humans and monster. It’s a big deal when I can care about the human side of a monster attack.

The Boy and the Heron dir. Hayao Miyazaki (2023)

It meanders and contemplates, kinda like The Wind Rises, but it’s so beautiful and weird that it’s easy to just roll with it.

The Abyss dir. James Cameron (1989)

So did Cameron just establish the genre of scifi that is working class stiffs who aren’t trained for this being sent out into the deep end?

Eileen dir. William Oldroyd (2023)

It has that short story quality I can never quite describe. Like something unsettling I’d read in The New Yorker.

A Christmas Story dir. Bob Clark (1983)

1983?! This feels so ancient. Well, I’m glad I finally watched it all through instead of bits and pieces on TV.

Wonka dir. Paul King (2023)

I should watch a Paddington sometime.

Monster dir. Hirokazu Kore-eda (2023)

I wanna say it’s a perfect movie. It has some dread but still has a hopeful vibe in the end.

Leave the World Behind dir. Sam Esmail (2023)

I guess I see why people responded to it, but I found it too bleak, and that’s saying something. I guess I prefer these things to be a little further removed from the current timeline. *hugs The Outer Limits 1995*

The Polar Express dir. Robert Zemeckis (2004)

My nephew straight up performs the movie as he watches it, and that’s about as memorable as a viewing can get.

The Muppet Christmas Carol dir. Brian Henson (1992)

Pretty good, but it can’t top Muppet Treasure Island in my brain. The effects for some of those scenes are mighty impressive though.

Velvet Buzzsaw dir. Dan Gilroy (2019)

No one told me this was a horror movie! I’d have watched it sooner. It’s an excellent high-budget version of an episode of Tales from the Crypt.

The 100 – “Perverse Instantiation – Part One” (2016)

I sorta picked up what the show is throwing down, but coming into at this late stage is not the way to watch an episode.

The 100 – “Perverse Instantiation – Part Two” (2016)

This episode was a little more clear as a season finale with defined stakes. It was enough that I’d watch this series at some point in the future.

The Crown – “Ipatiev House” (2022)

Sorta tuned in here, and it has big House of Cards vibes. I guess all this stuff about royals is the original HoC.

The Crown – “No Woman’s Land” (2022)

Elizabeth Debicki is a great Diana. I don’t know if I’m in the mood for sociopolitical interpersonal drama anytime soon, but this show seems to manage it all with aplomb.

The Outer Limits – “The Galaxy Being” (1963)

A bit snoozy I’ll admit, but that’s most TV of the era. Things really pick up when the well-designed alien kicks in. Those effects are impressive.

Night Gallery – “Pilot” (1969)

Whoa! This first episode is real good. I’ve heard the show has its ups and down since Serling didn’t have the same level of creative control, but the pilot is just a great horror anthology film.

Babylon 5 – “The Gathering” (1993)

Hokey VFX and 90s-era production values aside, I can see the appeal of the show. I’ll be fighting my instinct to go back and watch Star Trek the whole time but I’m glad to finally get into the show.

New Fiction 2021 – December

Inferno by Dan Brown (2013)

This was immediately better than The Lost Symbol, and perhaps the best novel in this series. It’s a proper thriller and Brown makes it almost to the end in style before ruining his anti-climax with a lecture on over-population, the benefits of genetic manipulation, and forcing another romantic relationship between the protagonist and a woman he’s known for a traumatic few hours. The only comparison I have for Brown’s exposition and problematic proclivities is Hideo Kojima. Both men have very specific ideas rattling around in their heads and will dump those ideas onto the audience in full. This extends to their respective protagonists. Robert Langdon is like Solid Snake in that their creators make them complete idiots as a means to dump lore and explanations on the reader/player.

Origin by Dan Brown (2016)

I’m convinced Brown’s people hire ghost writers to flesh out every other Brown novel on schedule, but I can’t say if Brown himself writes the awful ones or the almost good ones. This one returns to awful town with the same kind of pacing and exposition dump issues that recurred in Lost Symbol. Nothing happens until a quarter of the way into the book, and there’s no semblance of the enjoyable aspects of a Robert Langdon story until nearly the end, after which the reader is back in a TED Talk. The philosophical and sociological aspects are ultimately more hopeful about the future than Inferno, even if none of that novel’s consequences are mentioned in relation to this novel’s consequences. Like Langdon, I feel like I want to get as far away from the events of these books as possible.

“Mother Whale’s Funeral” by Taishe (2021)

May we all be as nutritious.

“Breaking the News” by Cosmignion (2021)

Windows into the soul might be good, from time to time.

Chew, Vol. 1: Taster’s Choice by John Layman & Rob Guillory (2009)

The concept of seeing the memories of a living being by eating their remains is cool and obvs morbid, though some of the humor feels quite dated.

The Da Vinci Code: Helix dev. Sandcastle Studios, Inc. (2006)

I closed out the year playing all of the games based on the Langdon novels by Dan Brown. The Da Vinci Code: Helix is a prequel in which the player attempts to join a secret society… by completing a lot of puzzle levels. It’s actually a fun little bubble shooter for mobile.

The Da Vinci Code: The Quest Begins dev. Sandcastle Studios, Inc. (2006)

The Da Vinci Code: The Quest Begins is the first of two adventure games they made exclusively for mobile, and which inexplicably only includes part of the story. This one is so simplistic that I couldn’t really get much out of it. There are no puzzles, just point A to point B.

The Da Vinci Code 3D dev. SouthEnd Interactive (2006)

Then there’s The Da Vinci Code 3D, another adventure game that ends before they complete the story. The PS1-style chunky polygons and textures made this game appealing, as well as the inclusion of some more complex puzzles and mini games.

The Da Vinci Code: Light Puzzle dev. Impressionware (2006)

The missing ending of the story in the mobile adventure games was leveraged for The Da Vinci Code: Light Puzzle, in which the characters solve a series of light redirection puzzles. Like Helix, this one was surprisingly fun and challenging, though best played in short bursts.

The Da Vinci Code dev. The Collective (2006)

I compared the expositional styles of Dan Brown and Hideo Kojima in relation to the books, but the video game based on the book of Dan Brown thankfully spares the player much of what Kojima likes to place up front. Instead, the game designers made the wise choice to place much (though not all) of the exposition and history in a sort of encyclopedia for the player’s optional perusal. There are some Kojima games that also put much exposition in optional databases, and I imagine those were all cases in which the power to make the main characters spout it all was wrestled away from him. But anyway, this last game based on The Da Vinci Code has decent adventure game elements and neat little puzzles to solve, and dreadful combat to make sure it’s not as enjoyable as it could have been. The game released in the “grim dark” era of video games when all was washed out and dark, and video games were out to prove they’re just as mature as their movie or literature brethren.

Angels & Demons dev. Glu Mobile (2009)

The number of games based on subsequent books/movies drops precipitously. Angels & Demons from 2009 only got one game in the form of this marble solitaire puzzler, and just like earlier pure puzzle games, it’s both challenging and engaging.

Inferno: Journey Through Hell dev. Part IV (2016)

Inferno released in 2016 and didn’t seem to have any game adaptations, then I discovered the Journey Through Hell ARG based on finding answers to riddles from Dante’s Inferno. Thanks to the developers archiving it, it’s still (mostly) playable online: https://inferno.part4.com.

“Little Fella Farms” dir. Alec Smith (2021)

Sexy little fellas.

House of Gucci dir. Ridley Scott (2021)

Kind of a marvelous trainwreck. Not quite Scorsese-level intrigue (as it intends).

Looper dir. Rian Johnson (2012)

An intriguing possibility for time travel narratives. Going somewhere and staying there just doesn’t pop up much.

King Arthur: Legend of the Sword dir. Guy Ritchie (2017)

Too franchisey for Richie.

Spider-Man: No Way Home dir. Jon Watts (2021)

I enjoyed it and how they managed to accomplish something so bloated, but in hindsight the bloat is a drag and something we all expect from Marvel movies. It’s like an indulgent meal.

Midnight Run dir. Martin Brest (1988)

A refreshing road trip movie. Just two characters who have to get along on a difficult journey.

Encanto dir. Byron Howard, Jared Bush, & Charise Castro Smith (2021)

Upbeat and uplifting with a different take on the antagonist.

El Camino Christmas dir. David E. Talbert (2017)

This harkens back to Copshop. I’m digging these crime-focused chamber dramas.

The Matrix Resurrections dir. Lana Wachowski (2021)

Doesn’t hit as hard as the original, but good to see everyone up and about. Perhaps they went too far to bring back the beloved old-timers, though.

Don’t Look Up dir. Adam McKay (2021)

I’m most intrigued by the fact that people either love it or hate it. I thought it was fine, if heavy-handed.

Nightmare Alley dir. Guillermo del Toro (2021)

This was some especially dark del Toro vibes. I have to keep thinking on it.

Vencer el pasado – “Lo que nos define ante los demás” (2021)

That a novela is dropping some real talk about people’s life choices is heartening. The audience needs to hear it.

La desalmada – “El hijo que espera Isabela es mío” (2021)

I suppose the past catches up.

La Rosa de Guadalupe – “La vendedora de ilusiones” (2021)

A preachy show about preaching that still feels like it should be on Christian channel.

Hawkeye (2021)

Trying to redeem someone who doesn’t feel deserving of it.

The Lost Symbol (2021)

For a TV show based on the worst Langdon novel, it’s okay. They include more characters but needed to make them more central… which I suppose defeats the purpose of basing a TV show on a novel with a decidedly central character.