Tag: November

New Fiction 2021 – November

“The Quiet Boy” by Nick Antosca (2019)

Short fiction is about the final punctuation of the statement, the closing moment. It ends before you reach the door.

Angels & Demons by Dan Brown (2000)

It’s heartening to search Dan Brown on Tumblr and see so many posts about his books just say “this is trash, but it’s entertaining trash, so I like it.” And you know, it’s a thriller, so once it gets past the professorial segments of concepts and theories that the author felt needed some hand-holding, it gets tough to put it down.

The Lost Symbol by Dan Brown (2009)

So awful. Dan Brown’s not a good writer and his worst instincts just come out in force in this book. That it took six years to release is not surprising. It seems like a direct response to what must have been the overwhelming popularity The Da Vinci Code. He takes it away from Europe and spends the entire book preaching about America’s architectural prowess and Masonry intolerance in our society. It’s also particularly gross and the torture porn scenes are a lot. The sensible question is “why?” and the sensible response is “stop,” but he still gets you with vivid descriptions of museums and architecture and the kind of nerdy art history shit I like, plus all the video gamey stuff like puzzles, chase sequences, and stealth escapes. The ending of this book is also such a letdown in the way that Kingdom of the Crystal Skull’s ending let everyone down.

“The Suit” by Bad Space Comics (2021)

Lose something or lose it all.

NIER dev. Cavia (2010)

I’ve touched on the works of Yoko Taro before, having played 2014’s Drakengard 3 last year and written walkthroughs for the first two games in that series. With NIER, I see the elements that have typified Taro’s story-telling approach, but it still felt nascent. Maybe I just wasn’t in the mood to replay big chunks of the game to see more of the ending. But the game is certainly confident in its conceit, giving the slightest hints that there’s something worth seeing at the real true end of the story. This also means I can finally play NieR: Automata, the game that seems to have sold Taro’s ideas to a larger audience.

“Ghost Castle” dir. Louie Zong (2021)

Sometimes a spirit just wants to toot.

“Expectations” dir. Elena Rogova & Zhenia Pavlenko (2020)

It never really ends, huh?

No Time to Die dir. Cary Joji Fukunaga (2021)

We really need a continuation, even when it’s clear that it cannot possibly.

Dune dir. Denis Villeneuve (2021)

The eighties Dune is the only adaptation I’d seen before this year’s release. I remember that Lynch attempt feeling like they rushed to the finale, and sure enough someone explained to me that they tried to cram in more than they should in a single movie’s runtime. Villeneuve’s version feels as it should, the first part of something. As a result it lacks a powerful closing statement that’ll come with the next part(s). So it’s alright for now, but I’ll feel differently when I can watch the complete story.

The French Dispatch dir. Wes Anderson (2021)

Shorts are so good, just little bits of something in sequence.

Eternals dir. Chloé Zhao (2021)

Grand in scope but perhaps too dour. It does hint at what the next few dozen Marvel movies will lead toward.

Ghostbusters: Afterlife dir. Jason Reitman (2021)

A bow to the diehards and their children, but nothing really new to explore.

Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City dir. Johannes Roberts (2021)

Like Ghostbusters: Afterlife, it adheres too stringently to plot points from the source. But there were a few moments in the first half, little sounds and musical stings, or certain close-ups, that made me think, “gah, you know, this might be a good horror movie.” But then it’s not.

Star Trek Continues – “Pilgrim of Eternity” (2013)

Nifty nostalgia. But there was a vibe from the lead actor…

Star Trek Continues – “Lolani” (2014)

At this point I’m thinking, “okay, good, sure I can watch this fan series because they’re doing some good work.”

Star Trek Continues – “Fairest of Them All” (2014)

And I was fully onboard… until I read about the lead actor/writer/producer and his problem with the way he treats women. That was the end of that. I can use my time elsewhere.

The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles (1992-1996)

A long overdue complete watch of this series that my parents didn’t allow me to stay up late to check out. This fan restored the Young Indiana Jones TV series (the only official versions are the recut feature length films without old Indy bookends), and the whole thing is just a blueprint for what Lucas did with the Star Wars prequels later on. Precocious kid, moody teen hero, diplomacy and politics. It looks like it was super expensive. It’s an interesting chunk of Lucasfilm’s time and resources in the nineties.

New Fiction 2020 – November

EarthBound dev. Ape Inc. and HAL Laboratory (1995)

It’s still rattling around in my brain. That’s a good sign. The music, the strange encounters and people. I loved it all, but it has the vibe of a polarizing work. It veers way off the path laid out by its JRPG predecessors. I can understand why it gained such a small and devoted following. But it wasn’t perfect. Battles are a far smoother experience here than in so many contemporaries, including the blessed removal of random battles, but they are still a tedious part of the process. Enemies late in the game can kill a party member with a single attack and can require particular tricks or items to defeat. But it’s all worth the journey.

Pee Wee’s Big Adventure dir. Tim Burton (1985)

This is a good inclusion alongside a few of the others this month. It’s a strange and surreal journey through America, the sprawling nature and open spaces. The weirdness of meeting strangers in life. This movie also has a similar meta-commentary on the nature of its medium. Movies about movies, games about games. Surreal comedies are a good way to explore those aspects.

Smooth Talk dir. Joyce Chopra (1985)

On the other hand, a story like this. A coming-of-age movie set in a small place that turns into something else, something more sinister. By comparison to the other stories this month, this one is claustrophobic, rife with frustration over the limitation of being here and not there. The events unfold that way but I suppose it’s about confronting the seriousness of growing up, of entering a world of adults who know more. The movie extends a bit beyond the ending of the original story by Joyce Carol Oates, and that changes the final feeling of it.

The Muppet Movie dir. James Frawley (1979)

Pee Wee’s Big Adventure almost feels modeled on this. It’s a hoot. It’s especially interesting to see all the cameos from renowned comedians and actors. And I just have an appreciation for road movies. I think there’s something in moving that’s compelling. Moving here and there, the encounters along the way.

Police Story dir. Jackie Chan (1985)

A Jackie Chan classic but small-scale relative to some of his other hits (especially contemporary works like Armour of God). Still, this is “pure Chan excitement” at its core, full of the same insane stunts and a middle act that turns the whole thing into slapstick comedy before the big stunt set piece at the end.

The Simpsons – “Treehouse of Horror XXXI” (2020)

I was excited to see that the writer for this episode is a comedian and longtime co-host of a Simpsons podcast to which I subscribed for a while. The segments were a bit forgettable (I needed to check out the details again), but the introductory segment about the election (like the election itself) likely subsumed the rest.

Bob’s Burgers – “Heartbreak Hotel-oween” (2020)

I wanna hang out in haunted hotels. Really, old hotels are getting harder to find. The creaky ones that couldn’t stay in business before a pandemic and now have little chance of surviving. The trope is well-worn I suppose, but the writers of this episode did a great job with it. Halloween episodes of Bob’s Burgers are always good.

Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. – Seasons 6-7 (2019-2020)

The second half of this show figured itself out in style. Instead of trying to drag a single conceit across a whole twenty-some episode season, they designed the season as a series of shorter arcs, and this kept things fresh. The final two seasons were shorter overall and didn’t have a chance to do that, and I think season 6 at least suffered for it. But then their final season wises up to the idea that this is indeed the end, and so it becomes a fan service-filled extravaganza across time and space. It’s an interesting and fun release in a year when Marvel properties were otherwise absent as Disney held everything back until the pandemic is over.

New Fiction 2020 – November

EarthBound dev. Ape Inc. and HAL Laboratory (1995)

It’s still rattling around in my brain. That’s a good sign. The music, the strange encounters and people. I loved it all, but it has the vibe of a polarizing work. It veers way off the path laid out by its JRPG predecessors. I can understand why it gained such a small and devoted following. But it wasn’t perfect. Battles are a far smoother experience here than in so many contemporaries, including the blessed removal of random battles, but they are still a tedious part of the process. Enemies late in the game can kill a party member with a single attack and can require particular tricks or items to defeat. But it’s all worth the journey.

Pee Wee’s Big Adventure dir. Tim Burton (1985)

This is a good inclusion alongside a few of the others this month. It’s a strange and surreal journey through America, the sprawling nature and open spaces. The weirdness of meeting strangers in life. This movie also has a similar meta-commentary on the nature of its medium. Movies about movies, games about games. Surreal comedies are a good way to explore those aspects.

Smooth Talk dir. Joyce Chopra (1985)

On the other hand, a story like this. A coming-of-age movie set in a small place that turns into something else, something more sinister. By comparison to the other stories this month, this one is claustrophobic, rife with frustration over the limitation of being here and not there. The events unfold that way but I suppose it’s about confronting the seriousness of growing up, of entering a world of adults who know more. The movie extends a bit beyond the ending of the original story by Joyce Carol Oates, and that changes the final feeling of it.

The Muppet Movie dir. James Frawley (1979)

Pee Wee’s Big Adventure almost feels modeled on this. It’s a hoot. It’s especially interesting to see all the cameos from renowned comedians and actors. And I just have an appreciation for road movies. I think there’s something in moving that’s compelling. Moving here and there, the encounters along the way.

Police Story dir. Jackie Chan (1985)

A Jackie Chan classic but small-scale relative to some of his other hits (especially contemporary works like Armour of God). Still, this is “pure Chan excitement” at its core, full of the same insane stunts and a middle act that turns the whole thing into slapstick comedy before the big stunt set piece at the end.

The Simpsons – “Treehouse of Horror XXXI” (2020)

I was excited to see that the writer for this episode is a comedian and longtime co-host of a Simpsons podcast to which I subscribed for a while. The segments were a bit forgettable (I needed to check out the details again), but the introductory segment about the election (like the election itself) likely subsumed the rest.

Bob’s Burgers – “Heartbreak Hotel-oween” (2020)

I wanna hang out in haunted hotels. Really, old hotels are getting harder to find. The creaky ones that couldn’t stay in business before a pandemic and now have little chance of surviving. The trope is well-worn I suppose, but the writers of this episode did a great job with it. Halloween episodes of Bob’s Burgers are always good.

Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. – Seasons 6-7 (2019-2020)

The second half of this show figured itself out in style. Instead of trying to drag a single conceit across a whole twenty-some episode season, they designed the season as a series of shorter arcs, and this kept things fresh. The final two seasons were shorter overall and didn’t have a chance to do that, and I think season 6 at least suffered for it. But then their final season wises up to the idea that this is indeed the end, and so it becomes a fan service-filled extravaganza across time and space. It’s an interesting and fun release in a year when Marvel properties were otherwise absent as Disney held everything back until the pandemic is over.