Missed posting last week because I was busy at BrickCon, but hey, here's some reviews for you now!
TV this week:
- Destination Truth: "Ghost Fleet/Japanese River Monster" - I think Josh is insane. Underwater ghosthunting, at night? Those wrecks are dangerous without the added uncertainty of total darkness on the surface. I really am curious what the engine sound in that wreck was. I really enjoyed the intro to the Kappa, and the travelogue featuring a capsule hotel and the theme from the Brady Bunch. Their trip up the river looked tough. Running around in hip-waders on a slippery riverbed in the middle of a freezing night isn't my idea of a good time. And... no, they didn't find anything, as usual.
- Destination Truth: "Siberian Snowman" - Quite a trip for them. Still one of the best ever travel shows, and this time wandering around Siberia in ancient vehicles. Oh, and they were hunting for a giant snowman, too. They found some interesting things, including a pack of wolves that apparently surrounded them, but nothing that could be considered proof. Great episode.
- Ghost Hunters: "Signals From the Past" - First the crew goes to the Rose Island lighthouse in Newport, RI, a local visit for them. They got a very interesting thermal hit near the barracks of an old fort, and a fun bit of research makes another person's experience seem more valid. I was impressed with what they came up with, but I was far more excited about their second investigation: The Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, NY. Just the tour was what I was looking forward to the most. Imagine getting to run around in there all night long! Never mind the ghost hunting, just getting to run around there... Grant acknowledges the fun, saying the TAPS team was going to have to stay focused. Not much evidence, but they clearly enjoyed themselves.
- Ghost Hunters: "Lemp Mansion" - The Ghost Hunters visit the Lemp Mansion in St Louis, MO. A big building with a plethora of stories, and a pretty intense history. This one has a ghost smell, and Grant got to experience enough of the smell that he almost lost his dinner. The "Atlantis" and "Comet" thing was hilarious. I liked the lightning storm as they were cleaning up. Nice backdrop for a haunted house, but it makes any sound evidence suspect. Not a bad case, for all the lack of solid evidence.
- Scooby-Doo! Mystery Incorporated: "Howl of the Fright Hound" - I love it... "We'll be safer around all the dangerous machinery!" This is a show that knows it is being silly, and doesn't care at all. Scooby is framed and ends up in an animal asylum. Lots more of Velma and Shaggy figuring out their relationship. And the overall plot arc moves forward.
- Batman: The Brave and the Bold: "Requiem for a Scarlet Speedster!" - A story of three Flashes and a Batman. Good story, with lots of fun continuity. A good tale.
- Batman: The Brave and the Bold: "The Last Patrol!" - Wow. I had known about this story, but seeing it animated with all the Silver Age charm left intact was great. I loved it. And the Batgirl bits at the beginning were quite fun.
- Battlestar Galactica: "Sine Qua Non" - A touching and frustrating episode. You can see Admiral Adama spiraling into his own world and putting others in danger because of it. Zarek's situation is positively nasty, if understandable. And Lee couldn't see what was right in front of his face. And hey, ghost cat! I want more!
- Battlestar Galactica: "The Hub" - This one takes place at the same time as the previous episode, and features Laura Roslin seeing a dead person. Well, it's a lot more than that, but that in some ways seems to be the focus of the episode. Laura getting back to being human again. Very strange, very cool, and incredibly touching. Especially the bits with Admiral Adama and Roslin together. And frankly, the more I see of Helo the cuter he gets. I just wanna hug him!
- Battlestar Galactica: "Revelations" - AAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRGGGGGGHHHHHH! They find it, and wow. That was a stunning ending. Thank goodness we don't have to wait for the next episode... well, not too long. We just have to wait for Netflix to send the next disc.
- Battlestar Galactica: "Sometimes a Great Notion" - As if that cliffhanger ending wasn't enough. A dead world with a crashed ship and the lost tribe. Lots and lots of shockers in this one. Amazing what you can do with a universe once you've set it up so well.
- Battlestar Galactica: "Webisodes: The Face of the Enemy" - If Gaeta hadn't been totally driven nuts by his previous experiences, this certainly must have put him over the edge. Wow.
This week's movie was Orlando from 1992 starring Tilda Swinton. Ok. That was... unusual. I didn't for a minute buy that Swinton was a guy, even in that era. There were moments where it almost worked for me, but it never got over that critical edge. And the time jumps were disorienting and frankly the reaction of society to him/her didn't make any sense until the final monologue. I don't know if I liked it. I didn't hate it, but it's difficult for me to decide if it was good or not.
- Green Lantern Corps #52 - Still not interested in space stuff in the DCU. Not a bad story, but just not my cuppa.
- Justice League of America #49 - Creepy. Nice to see Garth in there.
- Power Girl #16 - Hrm, I don't like flashbacks that aren't resolved by the end of the issue. Sorry. Just a poor storytelling decision in my eyes.
- Royal Historian of Oz #2 - This gets goofier and goofier. I think I want one of those t-shirt advertised on the back cover, even though I don't have a dog named Toto (or fit the other criteria).
- Bart Simpson's Treehouse of Horror #16 - The usual mix, lots of good stuff in this one. I was amused by the pull-out Marge Attacks cards. A bit heavy on the gore, but they can get away with it in the comic.
- Action Comics #893 - Not enough Death and too much Lex in the main story. The introduction of Chloe into the DCU proper was dramatic enough for me. Nice cliffhanger.
- Justice Society of America #43 - Why do I think a city controlled by the Starheart sounds like a massively bad idea?
- Batman: The Brave and the Bold #21 - Nice and goofy.
- Powers #6 - Man I wish this book came out more often. That was a heckuva cliffhanger page. Great stuff.
- Incredibles #14 - Ah, the storyline begins to finally clear up. I wonder if I should be reading this in collections, since it doesn't hold together well as a monthly comic.
- Torchwood #3 - A good start on that first story. The second one, the continuing one, is still very odd. Text story was ok, but again just a start. No complete stories in this one at all.
My library book this week was American on Purpose by Craig Ferguson. I got turned on to watching the Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson fairly recently, after I was told he was doing Aquaman sketches on the show. Sadly, I missed most of those sketches, but quickly became addicted to the quirky Scottish dude adlibbing his way through a comedy show night after night. I heard about a show where he talked about his father, and heard he'd had problems with alcoholism. Then I figured out he'd been a character in an episode of Red Dwarf, so I'd seen him years ago. I was intrigued enough by all that to go ahead and get his book. And it was worth reading. The guy made a ton of mistakes, screwed up over and over, and eventually pulled himself back from the brink with the help of friends. The story of his life is funny and touching, and sometimes makes you wonder how he managed to survive. It's a sad but ultimately uplifting story, and you can't help but grow to like the guy while you read it. It's definitely worth checking out if you have the chance.
Agatha Christie this week was Double Sin and other Short Stories a collection of stories published in the US in 1961. I'd already read three of the stories, but only commented on two of them. So here's the lot of them:
- Double Sin - Hastings and Poirot help a stranger in distress after a bus trip turns into a robbery. This one had some nice misdirection, the usual commentary from Hastings, and an almost twist ending. Pretty solid.
- Wasp's Nest - Poirot goes to prevent a murder after running across some evidence of the impending action. I found this one to be great, if only because of the way it was so nicely set up. Poirot is, as usual, ahead of everyone else in the story and out of it. I didn't catch on, that's for sure.
- The Theft of the Royal Ruby - This is a retitle of The Adventure of the Christmas Pudding which I commented on here.
- The Dressmaker's Doll - In a dressmaker's shop, a ragdoll slowly starts to take over. I realized that this collection might have some supernatural stories in it, so I wasn't entirely surprised to find this little gem. Shades of the Mennyms in it, as the doll moves around but only when it's out of sight. A spooky little tale.
- Greenshaw's Folly - I've commented on this Miss Marple story here.
- The Double Clue - Poirot is called upon to solve a jewel theft with too many clues. I liked this one a lot even though I had a very good idea of who the thief was due to the name and having read a lot of Poirot so far. A fun and very short little story.
- The Last Seance - A medium agrees to give one last seance for a mourning mother despite grave misgivings. I read this one some time ago, before I was reviewing individual short stories. It was creepy then, and it's creepy now. This is pure horror, nothing to solve. Not my favorite Christie by a long shot.
- Sanctuary - A dying man takes sanctuary in a church and Miss Marple must help his final wish come to pass. This was a straightforward mystery story with a satisfying ending. It also had some familiar characters from A Murder is Announced. A good way to polish off this collection.
2 comments:
Yeh, we had to wait at least a year after Revelations aired before seeing the next episode. It was a lonnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnng year! Lucky you get to see it right away. Sort of like what I'm doing with Fringe. I've watched 14 episodes so far, in just 3 weeks. I watch a few a night so skip through season fast.
I think I may have to start watching Fringe. But yeah, it'll be on DVD and by season.
Post a Comment