Sunday, June 13, 2010

A Sunday Review

TV this week:

  • Battlestar Galactica: "Precipice" - Lots of "eek!" moments in this one. I'm not sure what to make of Baltar, and I'm not happy that Zarek and Roslin are in that group of dissidents that were executed. At least Cally got away. Yikes.
  • Battlestar Galactica: "Exodus: Part 1" - Eric said after we watched the last episode that we didn't actually see who fired, and as it happens I'm considerably more happy with the outcome than I thought I would be.
  • Battlestar Galactica: "Exodus: Part 2" - Oh Ellen. Oh Starbuck. Oh Pegasus. Wow. While it partly feels like a return to status quo, it's also surprisingly good.
  • Dinner Impossible: "Speed Dating Downfall" - That's what I call impossible. If you have utterly no idea whatsoever what the ingredients will be, how can you cook a meal? At least he actually got a kitchen this time.



This week's movie was This Is Spinal Tap. LENNY!!!! Um. Right, this is serious movie, not spoof of 80s heavy metal bands. Ha. Right. Thankfully this is a nicely short movie, coming in at 82 minutes. I don't think I could have lasted much longer. I think if I'd seen it when it came out I might have found it much funnier. I've heard pretty much all the best jokes from the movie from other sources so it's not as fresh as it should have been.



COMICS!
Here are some reviews of the Free Comic Book Day comics of 2010 that I got and read:
  • War of the Supermen (FCBD) - Ok, so I finally know what the deal is with the Superman books, since I don't follow them. But this didn't make me want to read them any more than usual.
  • Fame/Puppy Sister - The Fame side was completely forgettable and not hardly worth getting, unless you are really into celebrities, at which point it might be considered fun. The Puppy Sister side was a promising start, but again not quite enough to get me to buy it.
  • Bongo Comics Free-For-All FCBD 2010 - Standard Bongo fare, definitely worth checking out if you are a Simpsons fan. If not... well, your mileage would definitely vary then.
  • Toy Story FCBD Edition - Fun. Cliffhanger at the end, but fun.
  • Artifacts issue Zero - The Top Cow Universe is pulling out all the stops for a 13 issue crossover that involves 13 Artifacts. I found this surprisingly compelling, although I don't really ahve that much interest in it. I'd say this book did its job.
  • Atomic Robo/Neozoic/Box - Another really good sampler. I got a strong impression of each of the books involved, and I'm actually interested in all three to some level. Good stuff in this one.
  • G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero #155 1/2 - I've never been a big GI Joe fan, but the opening introduction to this made me almost want to buy this book, just because they got the original Marvel GI Joe writer to come and continue his series at IDW. Fun stuff, even if you aren't a Joe fan.



My library book this week was The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger. The clever handling of time travel is what makes this book worth reading. Seeing how all the pieces fit together, and when everything happens, is what keeps you turning the pages. The characters are flawed, typical humans. Henry isn't a terribly nice guy, but he tries. Clare is a shallow rich girl from a shallow family who has a wonderful secret that makes her mildly more interesting than her fellow rich friends, but otherwise she's not really someone I would care to meet. The truly interesting character is Alba, but the story isn't really about her, it's about the love between Clare and Henry as Henry is constantly ripped from his rightful time and place and flung away where Clare cannot follow. Overall, it's a ripping read, but if you sit back and really reflect on it the book becomes harder to love. But at least it makes you think, and that's a good thing.



1 comments:

Dwight Williams said...

Yeah, as resets went, "Exodus II" was one of the better executions - you'll forgive my choice of verb given the Galactica context, I hope? - the practice.