It's been snowing and it feels wintery. There's a hush and a stillness after a new blanket of snow, the tinkling of icicles and the snowy branches stark against a winter blue sky. I'm enjoying that aspect of it, even as I get anxious for March and the nicer weather. As I said last week, the new year is a time for new plans. What will the year bring?
I finished Black Sails S2 this week. Is anyone else watching this? If so I'd love to know your thoughts. I like it, for the most part- and I really don't know who to root for. Everyone is flawed. You'd be hard pressed to find any "good guys" on this show, and that may be what I like about it. After all, this is pirates. Between this and stuff like Game of Thrones it's a great time if you like shades of grey characters (not that shades of grey). This week I'll have another Star Wars discussion post- this one will examine the story elements of The Force Awakens and explore what might be coming, along with what they could have done. Have ideas for where it could go, or where they could have done things differently? Stop by and let me know! I'll also be reviewing Need (finally) Last week I discussed my favorite movies/ TV shows of 2015 and also took a look at cult classic Escape from New York.
Escape from New York is a cult favorite- one of those movies where certain fans know all the lines. Set in the year 1997 it's a bit dated but in spite of that it has a lot to offer. Kurt Russell plays Snake Plissken, a criminal being sent into the New York maximum security facility- the whole city is a giant prison. Once you go in, you don't come out. Okay we're never told why Manhattan would be turned into a prison, although New York City was a different place- maybe it didn't seem so implausible then.
This was a dystopian before dystopians were cool. Snake is offered a deal- the President of the United States crashed in NYC and the government will pardon him if he can get the President out. Snake agrees, since he's going in anyway- but there's a catch. He is injected with micro capsules that will explode in 24 hours, so if he doesn't come out- boom. Snake's not happy with this turn of events, but it's not long before he's running for his life from the crazies that live in the subways. He soon learns where the President is and from there it's a race against time to get him out. Oh, and he meets an old friend and make some questionable allies as well.
One of the best things about this movie is the music. It's moody and atmospheric, and combined with the fact that the movie takes place entirely at night, it sets a certain tone. Escape from New York is a cult classic for a reason, and Kurt Russell is awesome as Snake Plissken.
Zoo is a fun show based on a novel by James Patterson and Michael Ledwidge, about a team of five people brought together to investigate cases of strange animal behavior. Not just isolated cases though- animals all over the world are acting strange and attacking humans. The premise is that a chemical is affecting the animals and causing them to learn new behaviors and to not fear man. Jamie is a journalist and blogger who has personal reasons for mistrusting Reiden Corp. and she believes they are behind the attacks due to the aforementioned chemical. Together with the rest of the team she goes up against Reiden as the same time as they track animal outbreaks around the world. The other members of the team are Jackson Oz, a safari guide named Abraham, French intelligence agent Chloe, and Mitch a veterinary pathologist. They are brought together by a shadowy organization that knows all about them, and wants them to solve the mystery of the outbreaks if they can. The characters are all fun, although Abraham (played by Nonso Anozie) is a standout, as is Chloe (Nora Arnezeder). I cared surprisingly much about these characters by the end and the episodes move along quick.
Welcome to my A Dance with Dragons re- read. This week we are getting a Melisandre perspective for the first time, and then we're rejoining Theon (or Reek as he's currently known, apparently) to see what more trouble he can find for himself. We find out that there is always a fire burning in Melisandre's chambers. She is gazing into her flames, trying to see Stannis, but she sees other things. Towers by the sea crumbling before a dark tide. She sees a thousand red eyes and a boy with a wolf's face who howls. Blood runs down her thigh as she continues to see things. She sees flaming arrows and dead things, apparently at Hardhome, and then cold and nothing else. She hears the name Jon Snow and sees his face- a man, then a wolf, then a man. Enemies all around him, but he wouldn't listen. She thinks that she tries to see her king but all she sees is Snow. She reflects that her bed sees little use now that Stannis is gone. She never sleeps for more than an hour, and thinks that one day she may not sleep at all. She thinks that Jon is foolish not to take better quarters for himself, since the trappings of power are part of what makes a ruler respected. Her sleeves have hidden pockets where she hides her powders- she uses these t turn fire green or blue or silver, to create smokes that truth, for fear, for lust, even death. She has a chest that is more than three quarters empty now, but she is stronger at the Wall. Rattleshirt is summoned to her and we learn that it's not really Rattleshirt- it's Mance Rayder, who Melisandre is hiding behind a glamor. She doesn't fear him as the first thing she learned was how to see danger to herself. She wants him to go and bring the girl she has seen in her vision to Jon, safely. "I have seen her in my flames, but only once. We must win the lord commander's trust, and the only way to do that is to save her." Melisandre assumes this girl is Arya, but we know Arya is in Braavos. So who is it? They are discussing the mission when the horns blow, and Mel knows the rangers have returned, as she predicted. Heads on spears- Black Jack bulwer, Hairy Hal and Garth Greyfeather. She tells Jon about the towers in her vision, he asks if it could be Eastwatch, and she thinks the towers in her vision were different, but she says yes Eastwatch. She then takes him to see Mance, and Jon is of course shocked to find out that Mance is alive, and Mel thinks that it was a lot harder to conceal him than she lets on- but no one must know how difficult it was for her. COMMENTARY: Mel's visions are fascinating. I wonder if the dark tide washing over towers are actually dead coming out of the sea to overwhelm Eastwatch? But then later she thinks they didn't look like Eastwatch- so where then? Also the thousand red eyes I'm thinking might be symbolic of Bran, watching with a thousand eyes- or that could be a reference to Bloodraven. We find out that Mel in some ways is not as powerful as she lets on, using powders and trickery to deceive others- but at the same time she says she is stronger at the Wall than anywhere else, and her power more potent there. Mel also thinks that no one in her order is more skilled than her at reading the flames, and yet she clearly has limitations on what she can see. She tries to see Stannis for example and has no luck. She does see Jon and we get a pretty good indication that she's seeing what happens after his betrayal. The blood running down her leg, and the cryptic way she references fire, almost like it's inside her- the fact that she doesn't need to sleep or eat apparently- raises questions about who or what she is. This is a fascinating chapter, and left me wanting more. As I've mentioned previously this is the point in the book where things really get interesting. REEK III Theon is at Barrowton now and thinks that Ramsay is being careful, as he cannot afford to antagonize the Dustins and Ryswells and the others he needs. We see that Little Walder is a jerk, like Ramsay, but Big Walder is not as bad. Ramsay demands a feast after they come back empty handed- apparently they were looking for some missing Freys, and there is a suspicion that Lord Manderly had them killed. During the feast Roose Bolton shows up and he discusses with Ramsay the issue of Manderly, and the fact that he brought no hostages. They also discuss Lady Dustin, who cannot stand Ramsay. It appears that Lady Barbrey Dustin is in Bolton's camp because she blames Ned Stark for her husband's death. Bolton tells ramsay that Stannis has marched, but not on the Dreadfort. Arnolf Karstark tried to bait him into doing so, but to no avail. Bolton has decided Ramsay will marry "Arya" (it's really Jeyne Poole) at Winterfell, and they mean to face Stannis there. He also makes Ramsay release Theon and takes him with him. As they ride Bolton lets Theon know that Ramsay's men really report to him, and that Ramsay has no secrets. He says the Cerwyns and Tallharts are not to be trusted, Manderly plots betrayal and Whoresbane Umber is dangerous. COMMENTARY: These chapters can be a tough slog as I don't particularly like this storyline and don't have a lot of use for Theon and his captors at this point. still, we get some very interesting info here. Bolton talks to a terrified Theon and I got the distinct impression that Bolton is insane. Still he introduces Theon to Lady Dustin and it's clear they have some use in mind for Theon.
Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly feature hosted by The Broke and the Bookish. 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's topic is Top Ten 2015 Books We Didn't Get to. I'm doing something a little different this week though- I don't really have a lot of stuff I didn't get to, and I've been wanting to do a rundown of all the shows from last year. So... With the year all wrapped up I thought it would be fun to recap my favorite movies and shows of 2015. So in no particular order...
Mad Max Fury Road is a trip. Basically a two hour festival of mayhem, it follows Max and Furiosa (she's the real star of the movie) as they try to help five women escape from a lunatic warlord. It's weird and wild and Furiosa is about as kick ass as they come- oh and she only has one arm, the other one is prosthetic. There was a lot of hype on this one and I don't quite think it lived up to it (some are calling it the best movie of the year- don't know about that) but I'm glad I saw it.
Ex Machina is a mindbender of a movie that might have flown under the radar a bit this year, but if you like smart sci fi and an eerie look at artificial intelligence, this is a good one. Caleb is selected to spend time with an artificial intelligence named Ava to see if she has "consciousness", but when he finds himself attracted to Ava, things get dicey.
I know Insurgent wasn't popular in all corners but I liked the movie version a lot. I just thought it was entertaining, I liked the standoff at the farm, the fight on the train and the factionless thing. I thought they did a good job of showing a ruined Chicago. Yes they deviated from the plot of the book, which would normally irritate me, but in this case the movie just worked for me.
Continuum is probably my favorite show of last year. It ran four seasons so I was a little late coming to it, but I binged it and couldn't get enough. It's got awesome fight scenes, a great cast and a really twisty storyline that explores what happens when time is screwed with. Great show.
Dark Matter is an awesome show about a group who wake up on a ship with no memory of who they are. This one of my favorite shows of last year, perhaps second only to Continuum. Here's the trailer.
The 100 S1 starts out a little angsty but once it gets going it gets intense and pretty gripping- and S2 is even better. Black Sails is a pirate show airing on Starz but I've been watching it on Prime after hearing several bloggers rave about it.
Bloodline is set in the Florida Keys and the cinematography is top notch, adding to the sense of unease and danger that permeates the show. It's a bit of a slow burn and a little different in that we see the shocking finale right off the bat- then the rest of the episodes show us how we got there.
Mako Mermaids is a younger skewing show on Netflix- there are two seasons with S3 coming in February I believe. It's about three girls cast out of their mermaid pod and they have to adapt to living on land. It's shot on the Gold Coast in Australia and I have an appreciation for how beautiful that area is after watching this show.
Cover Characteristics is a meme by Sugar and Snark- every week a characteristic is selected and we post 5 books with that week's theme.
This week was kinda tough- I didn't find a lot of covers with mirrors, and when I did sometimes I didn't want to use them. So yeah- it's not just finding the covers, it's finding ones I like. Way to make it harder I guess, right? Well, on that note- here we go. Cover with mirrors that pass a very stringent screening process. :)
The Christie one has that old school look to it, and a bit of poison spilled on the mirror which I kinda like. And Objects in Mirror struck me as a thriller at first- I saw the headlights in the mirror and thought someone was being followed. Turns out it's actually an essay book and not fiction at all... I like my take on it better. :)
My favorite? Probably this one. I don't think it's a great cover, but I do kinda like the reflection in the mirror. There's not a lot to it but it does fit into the theme of those redesigned Bond covers. I imagine they all look good together on the shelf. Runner up would be this one- I guess. I like the vines around the lettering and the fact that there's a different reflection in the mirroe- and the woods in the background. It's an effective cover.
So... which one is your favorite? I didn't have any this week I really loved, Im hoping next week will be better. With the topic next week being moons, I suspect that will be easier... and there should be some good choices!
