Comic of the Week #35

Comic of the Week has been on a long hiatus but I wanted to bring it back since I've been reading graphic novels and comics again. Every week I'm going to showcase a comic or GN cover- could be old, could be new- and share a few thoughts on why I think it's special. Do you like what I picked out? Let me know in the comments, and as always, if you have a favorite cover or piece of comic art, let me know! 

This week is Starfire #2. Set in the Florida Keys, this was a fun book with some great art and nice stories. 

Bookcover Spotlight #169

This is one of my favorites of the pulp covers I've showcased. It just tells such a story in one image, but I have so many questions.  

Movies That Suck: Sharknado

       

Movies That Suck is a feature where I watch a bad movie and share my reactions to it in real time. Sort of like live tweeting without the tweeting. I watch it so you don't have to! This will be spoilery I guess by definition, but since you probably won't want to watch these anyway it probably won't matter? But heads up anyways.  

This week is Sharknado! Yes!! I've been wanting to watch this and my only question is- why did I wait so long? This should have been the first Movie That Sucked! Anyway we're gonna correct that little misstep right now. And I've had several people tell me they LOVE this movie, so don't be offended if I rip it a new one. It's all in good fun! Oh and special thanks to Suzanne at The Bookish Libra for suggesting this one! Blame her. :)   

I don't know what's going on here in the beginning- there's some dudes on a fishing trawler catching sharks, de- finning them I guess, and a storm is coming. And then it's there- that was fast. And there's a shark onboard! And then there's a cyclone and- yeah. Okay. Surfer dude Fin meanwhile is riding some waves and enjoying the, um, scenery on the beach - we get some gratuitous ass shots- and the storm is coming their way. And there's a crapload of sharks heading for shore. Fin's out flirting with some chick named Deanna, who gets promptly eaten, and while she's flailing about in the water like a chew toy no one on the beach seems to notice. Oh and Fin is yelling at people to clear the beach- as he's still in the water. What is he, immune? 

So this is really bad. Like whoever the cinematographer is? Oi. The storm is closing in and Fin calls his wife April- apparently they're separated?- to make sure she's okay. Ah Tara Reid- there she is. Knew she was in this somewhere. I kinda like Nova the barmaid- but she probably won't survive. You know what else is wrong with this? The editing. Like Fin looks out the window and it's storming- huge waves- then there's a shot of the beach and it's sunny and fairly calm- and then a shark comes through the window. Luckily Nova is there with a pool stick to kill it.  

Oh by the way they're in Fin's bar- didn't mention that. He's got a place there on the beach and Nova works for him. Who else matters? Um we have Baz, who's a friend of Fin, and George, a drunk. I guess that's the cast, for the most part. Okay- onward. Oh my gosh this is horrible. Fin's bar- and the whole Santa Monica boardwalk apparently- are trashed now, and sharks are coming in. George saves Nova by bashing one with a bar stool. Fuck- the Ferris wheel is loose!! This is intense. Okay I'm kidding- it's just dumb. But... the Ferris wheel. 

Fin wants to go check on April and his daughter Claudia. Nova apparently has no home now (she lived on the beach?) so she wants to come. That and she has a thing for Fin, apparently. They're en route amidst rain and flooding and oh look- there are sharks in the streets. Swimming about. 

"That's a tiger shark."

"How do you know that?"

"Shark week."

So L.A. is seriously flooding now, and they're about to get on the 405 but oh no! Sharks everywhere! They stop to help people, who are apparently too dumb to run on their own, and George- sadly- becomes deceased. I kinda liked him. Somehow they make it to Beverly Hills, where April lives, but as they get there a shark is seen being ejected from a storm drain. There is no escape, peeps. April and Claudia are like get out of here, Fin, and April's boyfriend Collin is a major douche. Well, he was... he is now deceased as well. Sharks are in the house! Nova is a crack shot with the pump action! Seriously, she's the MVP. Oh and when the shark surfaces or goes back under the water, it makes no ripple in the water. I mean, this is so bad. 

The worst line so far? As they're catching their breath and the house is filled with bloody water, Baz remarks 

"Looks like it's that time of the month."

Okay I'm confused. They hear on the radio that there's a tornado warning, but then one of them says the storm is dying down. Whatever. Turns out Fin and April have a son, too, who's not far away so they go to rescue him next. En route though they have to save some kids in a school bus from sharks. Fin rappels down from an overhead bridge and they raise the entire bunch of kids up one by one. Yeah right- that's happening. Fortunately the rain and tornadic conditions hold off helpfully while this is underway. I love too how from shot to shot the rescued kids are on the bridge looking down, and then they're not- who edited this movie? 

And do we have a love triangle developing? Nova hugs Fin when he makes it back up, and April looks a wee bit jelly! You don't have time for that, people. The waterspouts are coming! I love how cars on the bridge too are just going about their business, don't seem in much of a hurry. Didn't they get the memo? Traffic seems normal. Excerpt for the shark that lands on their roof and bites through it. Nova thankfully saves the day again! She is badass with a shotgun. Okay so they get to Matt, and after weathering a tornado they load up with weapons from a surplus store- chainsaws, a weed wacker, you know, bombs. Well they jury-rig the bombs, okay, but Matt has this wonderful idea to drop bombs into the sharknadoes by helicopter. How would this work? 

So... Matt and Nova (are they a thing?) go up in the chopper, while Baz is preparing to drive the jeep into the storm with some of the bombs onboard, in case Matt's plan doesn't work. The sharknado, at least, seems to be remaining stationary, which is helpful. Why? Who knows? Lots of sharks though. Okay wait. There are three sharknadoes I guess- Matt and Nova take two of them out with the bombs (!!) but the only problem with that is- falling sharks. Luckily Fin has his chainsaw. Oh, and Baz is toast, sadly. 

Nooooo- not Nova! She falls out of the freakin helicopter and right into a shark's mouth. Ack! What TF are they doing??? They can't kill Nova! Well so that's a bust, Matt crashes and it's up to Fin to save the day. Which he does, driving his explosive jeep into the storm, bailing at the last minute. You know, with all the sharks falling from the sky every time one of these tornadoes goes down, maybe I'd just let 'em run their course? I don't know, maybe? 

But wait- there's more. A falling shark is about to get Claudia, so heroic Fin and his chainsaw take care of it- though he gets swallowed in the process. They're not going to kill Fin, though, I guess, and he cuts his way out with the chainsaw. Yeah, I didn't need to see that. And guess who was in the shark's stomach with him? Yup... Nova. She lives. Matt is happy. I guess they're a thing. You know, there's nothing like a shark apocalypse to straighten out relationships, I guess, since Fin and April seem to be back together too. Oh and Matt had to give Nova mouth-to-mouth to revive her- it took like one breath, but whatevs- and she's totally covered in shark blood, so that was interesting. 

Okay, deep breath. I have now seen Sharknado. What surprises me the most is not that it's stupid- I mean, that's the fun of it- but just how badly made it was. Like I imagine a high school film crew could almost do better? I mean you see sharks swimming in the street, then they show a deep water shot of a shark in the ocean- clearly at a greater depth than the previous scene- I mean, it's just bad. Tara Reid doesn't have much to do, but I think she got top billing, and frankly the woman who played Nova did a lot more (and seems to be a better actress as well). But this is not a movie to be analyzed, this is something to enjoy with good beer and your favorite snacks. And the drinking game possibilities are endless. 

So have you seen Sharknado? If not, what are you waiting for? Should I watch more? Please say no.

Contagion

Contagion is quite the thrill ride. The action starts quick and doesn't really ever let up, making this a fast paced science fiction read with a strong dose of horror. Thea is a research intern being evacuated from a remote planet- inclement weather- when her team receives a distress call from another, even more remote, planet- Achlys. Since they are the closest team, they are sent to Achlys to assist, pending the arrival of a better equipped team. It's a ragtag bunch, Thea's crew, and they are not even remotely equipped for search and rescue, but their hard-as-nails captain Dylan insists on going. She has personal skin in the game, as her father is the commander on Achlys. The crew are resentful of Dylan's gung-ho approach to the mission, but they have no choice in the matter.

The story is told from several perspectives, including Thea and Nova, the pilot, as well as the lone survivor of the Achlys incident, who is still there. How did he survive? What is on Achlys? Well, that's the fun part. The atmosphere here is one of dread throughout, of slowly rising tension, and I loved it. The story is very cinematic, and felt like a movie- the author describes hissing vents, alert klaxons, shadows in darkened hallways. Catwalks and steam, emergency lighting- I felt like I was there almost, treading carefully through an abandoned spaceship, never sure what is around the next corner.

The pace is pretty relentless and I loved that. The crew is driven hard by Dylan, and instead of waiting for the full search and rescue crew, she makes them push on into the facility, which goes about as well as you'd expect. I liked Thea and Nova a lot, and was pulling for them throughout, even as I was hoping Dylan would die soon. The other members of the team were more or less expendable, in my view, although Sullivan grew on me. The doctor was interesting as well, with her personal connection to the crisis. I was never really sure who was trustworthy, other than Thea really, and that added to the suspense.

The only thing I didn't like was a certain twist towards the end that didn't really work for me, but I can't say much for spoiler reasons. Suffice to say it didn't really impact my enjoyment of the story- I had a blast with this- but it does impact the story going forward, and changes things quite a bit. I'm of mixed feelings about that, but nevertheless I'll be chomping at the bit when the next one arrives. And while it does have a bit of a cliffhanger ending, I was glad this didn't have a pat little ending that tied everything off. After the horrific events in this book, it would have felt cheap, perhaps, to have the survivors just go off into the sunset. No, it's more complicated than that.

So I highly recommend this if you want a thrilling, suspenseful foray onto a blasted planet, inhospitable to life, that holds a deadly secret and more than a little horror. I read this in two sittings, and the way the book is structured- with each section titled after a certain theme of the story- just added to the suspense. This would make a phenomenal movie, and while some aspects of it may remind of certain sci-fi horror or jump scare films, I enjoyed that. Just like the characters when their vital signs were displayed on the inside of their suit helmets, I think my pulse rate was probably elevated throughout most of this book! 

Can't Wait Wednesday #37/ Midweek Stuff

 So here's a midweek round up of what I'm reading watching, etc. Plus Can't Wait Wednesday, hosted by Wishful endings. So sit back, raise a cuppa, and see what's new! And share what you're up to.  

This week my Can't Wait pick is Weregirl: Typhon - the third book of the series. I used this one way back for CWW #15 but it didn't have a cover then- and now it does!      

What I'm Reading

What I'm Watching

Misc Stuff

Top Ten Back To School

  

 Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly feature hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl. Each week a new Top Ten list will be posted. Everyone is welcome to join. Link back to The Broke and the Bookish so everyone can check out other bloggers' lists. It's a fun way to get to know fellow bloggers.

This week is Top Ten Back to School- a freebie. Back to school? Wow already? Crazy. But time slows for none of us so here we go. I'm going with books that involve boarding schools, or just school in general- not very original but oh well. It sounded fun.        

Sanctuary Bay is set on an island- very remote- and has tons of atmosphere. 

High school plays a role in this one.  

Boarding school. 

Wow. 

One of my favorite schools!

I haven't read this but love the premise!

A YA dealing with college? Yes thanks. 

High school aged fight club??

This didn't need to be five books- but fun. 

This one also deals with university and becoming who you are. 

Tuesday Tagline #106

Trust no one. Fear everything.   

Mystery Blogger Award Feb '18

I was tagged for this by JJ at This Dark Material (thanks JJ!!!) and the questions are so fun I had to do it. Plus it's a fun tag. :) So... 

The rules: 

• Put the award logo on your site
• List the rules
• Thank whoever nominated you and link to their blog
• Mention the creator of the award and link to them as well (Okoto Enigma) 
• Tell your readers three things about yourself
• You have to nominate 10-20 people
• Notify your nominees by commenting on their blog 
• Ask your nominees and 5 questions with one weird or fun question
• Share a link to your best posts

Three Facts About Me

1) I like the challenge of writing short fiction 

2) I love rock concerts 

3) My fave band right now is Dorothy. 

JJ's Questions

1) If you could recommend one book to your 12 year old self what would it be and why? (It can be something after you were that age- we're just pretending).

The Lord of the Rings maybe (I didn't read it til later).

2) You have the power to being one fictional character to life: who do you choose and why?

Well... if it's bring them back to life in their world, I'll go with Ned Stark? He could cause all kinds of chaos if he were alive, and we could certainly cut to the chase about all kinds of things, including Jon's parentage! If it's about bringing a fictional character to life in our world, I... have no ideas? Oh wait maybe Murderbot? We could watch Netflix. 

3) What would you cook to impress a friend/ date/ relative the first time they visit your home? And will you share the recipe? 

Maybe a really good pizza. Or grilled chicken salad. It depends on the occasion, I guess?

4) Knowing that they would have to sit through every episode what TV series would you tell your worst enemy to watch?

Ooh fun. I'll go with... The Walking dead? I mean I like the show, but it's a long slog, and frankly there's a few seasons there lately that are bad. 

5) Should they start putting feathers on the dinosaurs in Jurassic Park movies, or does the thought of it make your nose wrinkle in distaste?

Probably? It seems to be the new normal. :)    

Best Posts

Some Thoughts on Book Blogging

Nominees

Whoever wants to do this!!

My Questions

1) If you were to write a book about anything, what would it be? 

2) You're given a choice- you can either gain the ability to read people's minds or the ability to speak w/ animals. Which do you choose?

3) You are given the ability to choose one animal companion to bond to, and will be able to communicate with it and see through its eyes- what animal do you choose?

4) What is your favorite guilty pleasure movie?

5) You are given a month long paid vacation- where do you go? 

Sunday Post #260

The Sunday Post is a weekly meme hosted by Kimba the Caffeinated Book Reviewer

Stacking the Shelves is hosted by Tynga's Reviews

It's Monday! What Are You Reading is hosted by Book Date 

  

I'm listening to the crickets chirping as I write this. I love having the window open and hearing the night sounds in late summer, feeling the cool breeze wafting in. We had a downpour last night, which prompted me to open windows as well, and listen to the falling rain. I find myself savoring the sights and sounds of summer as the season winds down, even as I look forward to fall. I find it kind of bittersweet this time of year- the end of summer is here, but even so I find myself ready for the joys of autumn.   

This week I feel like I regained some reading mojo, finishing one book that had been dragging and reading another. Contagion was a quick read and I'll be reviewing it next Thursday. And I jumped right into Rogue Protocol, the next Murderbot book, and will be starting Record of a Spaceborn Few this weekend with La La in the Library, A Dance With Books and Jo's Book Blog. Should be awesome! 

Movies That Suck unfortunately didn't happen this week, but I reviewed Adrift instead, and next week will be Sharknado. Yes, I have watched the infamous Sharknado and survived the experience. And it was everything I had imagined! I'll also be doing a Mystery Blogger Award tag from February (yes I'm behind) and looking for a new show to watch as I deal with the season being over for The 100.     

 

Song of the week 

PULP COVER OF THE WEEK: 

NEW ARRIVAL/ UPCOMING REVIEWS:

BOOKISH LINKS