TV this week:
- Doctor Who: "The Lodger" - Not your normal Doctor Who. This is the second story in the row that hits the right notes, even though it had the potential to be a very embarrassing tale. There are a LOT of questions about the device in this one that are not answered, and Amy's moment at the very end was exactly what I was expecting to eventually happen. Folks should note the number of the Doctor's jersey.
- Doctor Who: "The Pandorica Opens" - Oh dear. That's a cliffhanger if I've ever seen one. Not at all what I was expecting inside the box, although by the description given I had a very good idea what was supposed to be inside. Poor Rory, but I find it very strange that if he was (SPOILER ALERT!)completely erased from history, that Amy still had both memories AND a picture of him. Perhaps because the place/time that River went to was at the center of all of it? And while I get the whole Roman Legion thing, I don't understand why Amy's interest in Pandora's Box would have any bearing on the situation.(END SPOILER) Note that the key date happens to be the day the final episode airs in the UK. No previews for next week on this one, either.
- Battlestar Galactica: "Collaborators" - So, if I understand this correctly, the president is Zarek, because he was Baltar's vice pres. And Zarek recognizes that Roslin will become president again, and must have clean hands, so he calls together "The Circle". Considering how close the group came to making a huge mistake with Gaeta, I can't agree with Zarek's efforts.
- Sapphire and Steel: "Assignment Three: The Creatures' Revenge" - A very freaky story, very atmospheric. It was let down a little in the final episode with the creature itself and the lousy cliff-hanger from episode five, but overall it was good. The appearance of Silver was neat, and I want to know his history with Sapphire. Speaking of, Sapphire's outfit was terrible.
- Dinner Impossible: "Judgment Day" - I really like that divorce court judge (Judge Lynn Toler). Not enough to actually watch the show, but she seems pretty cool and one tough customer. I like how Robert convinced her of the three pairings she was certain wouldn't work. And I liked the couples they got to help out, even though the one guy was an utter twit. In the end, he gave them a lot of good dishes, and one they could argue about.
This week's movie was Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. We didn't see it in the theater, so we watched it on DVD. Not bad. I've long since realized that I'm bound to be terribly unimpressed with the movies because they have to leave so much of the detail and the subplots out, so my expectations tend to be low. I thought the casting was pretty good, still love Luna. She's probably the character that most seems to have stepped out of the books. Ah well, a good way to spend an evening with the hubby.
- Del Rey Showcase - This is a good sampler, with zombies and three other features that all give a strong showing of the stories. This definitely made me interested in a couple of the stories.
- Doctor Solar, Man of the Atom/Magnus, Robot Fighter - Two very nice previews that gave all the details a reader might want to know before jumping into a new book. Both of these were strong and compelling enough to gain readers.
- Weathercraft and Other Unusual Tales - Sorry, I don't "get" Jim Woodring's appeal, so this book was a complete turn-off for me. However, if this type of work appeals to you, I think this is a sufficient sampler.
- Worlds of Aspen 2010 - This is enough of a sampler that I feel like I understand more about this publisher than I did before I read it. Not my type of stuff, but good as a freebie.
- Yow! Drawn & Quarterly Presents...2010 - A nice set of classic comics that make you want to go out and get more of the same. Nancy and Tubby have strange dreams, and strange things happen in other comics. This one is fun.
- The Oni Press Free For All #1 - This book introduces you to three odd stories and their characters, and is both fun and incredibly strange. I don't know that I'm going to pick these up, but they are good. Another great sampler!
- Green Hornet #1 - This makes me almost tempted to pick this book up. If I were more of a Green Hornet fan, I'd be likely to be swayed by this. That makes yet another good sampler!
My library book this week was Spindrift by Allen Steele. A ship is sent to explore the source of an artificial signal outside the solar system. This is set in the same universe as the Coyote novels that I've previously read and enjoyed, but it's set sort of at the same time as those books, thanks to the whole space travel thing, and the end actually ties in with the ending of the third Coyote book. Again, as with the others, if you enjoyed them you will probably enjoy this one. Good characters, a focus on a small group, and a fairly compelling story. There isn't as much jumping around in this one, simply because the narrative is fairly straightforward. All in all an excellent book, and enough to get me to look for the next Allen Steele Coyote universe book.
2 comments:
What I fully expected was that a scary Future Doctor would emerge, not that the current one would be jailed.
Yup. I was expecting the modern Valeyard, myself.
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