Finished the Ilium/Olympos pair of books from Dan Simmons today. I had read Ilium originally several years ago on a plane flight back from Paris (we went to attend a friend’s wedding there) and then Olympos a year or two later when it came out. As often happens, I felt like re-reading them – and it was definitely worth it.

As with Simmons’ Hyperion series, besides the space opera elements, there are many literature-based themes and plot elements going on at the same time – including the Greek Gods from Homer’s Iliad and other Greek mythology, Shakespeare, and Proust, and poem-obsessed space-faring sentient robots to boot. It’s not anywhere the mish-mash it may sound like at first glance, the books are well tied together and offer excellent and entertaining reading.

I especially liked the moravecs (space-faring robots from out near Ganymede/Jupiter who end up coming to Mars/Earth because of the crazy Greek Gods’ quantum activity – read the books, it’s too hard to explain in a few sentences). The two main moravecs, Orphu (hard-vacuum mining robot from Io) and Mahnmut (submarine-driving robot from the seas of Europa) were the best developed and definitely the most interesting to watch, although it would have been cool to understand the ‘Belt moravecs a bit more (they appear late in the first book and have many appearances in the second). I also liked their very real attachment to humanity and willingness to save it when even the humans, Greek God/post-humans and other nefarious players seemed poised to make us otherwise extinct. Nice touch.

I could have done a bit less, however with some of the more risque plot activities – they really didn’t add anything for me save in a couple circumstances where that stuff is directly tied to the plot – otherwise I thought it was largely fluff or in at least one case, pretty lame. I would have much more enjoyed instead more explanation about the most enigmatic players in the second book (Setebos, Prospero, Ariel and ultimately, Moira, and the voynix) in addition to some major endpoints I felt were simply ignored or left to the imagination.

But whatever – it’s still a great pair of books and despite the pervasiveness of science throughout, still manages to often stay in a fantasy-type storyline – normally I’d not bother with such books but Simmons (again like th earlier Hyperion) can definitely integrate the two without alienating fans of either type, IMHO.

I’ve got some nonfiction to read next, as well as finish up the latest Clone story from Steven L. Kent – stay tuned. May have to read the latest Gibson trilogy also, I’ve been meaning to get back to that.

Watched Point Break again a couple nights ago (It was on USA Network). Ah, what a guilty pleasure. This is one of my all-time fave movies, for several reasons:

1) It has everything that Keanu Reeves is reviled for (yar-dude dialog and acting) yet everything he’s perfect for (playing an ex-football QB who’s now an FBI agent, with the perfect name: “Johnny Utah”?)

2) It has Patrick Swayze (RIP :(), one of those rare onscreen combinations of sensitivity, philosophy, thrillseeking, surfing and violent rubber-masked bank robbery – no WONDER they called him ‘the Boddhisatva‘

3) It has Gary Busey – sadly somewhat absent from American film these days – but in his prime, nothing could touch him for over-the-top acting coupled with ridiculous obnoxious characters and mannerisms. What’s not to love? (See also: Under Siege – where he teams up with Tommy Lee Jones and Colm Meaney to battle Steven Seagal – classic ridiculous movie to rival even Point Break!)

4) It has bank robberies committed in broad daylight by crazy guys in President masks (Nixon, LBJ, Carter and Reagan) who seemingly have been at it for four years every summer, same m.o., and never been caught – until Keanu and Busey come along? 🙂

5) It even has Anthony Kiedis(!) in a bit part as part of a surfer gang briefly trying to beat the crap out of Keanu, until PS helps Keanu turn the tables.

Silly plot and dialogue aside – the film has some great action/montage sequences – most of the surfing scenes are slowed down and very pretty to watch, and the skydiving stuff is also very cool.

And the end doesn’t disappoint, even though it’s plainly preposterous. Keanu’s ‘vaya con dios’ ending line says it all.

Like another fave – The Fifth Element – this movie is just pure entertainment – what Hollywood was invented for (although now there’s also YouTube :))

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So watched the two recent Narnia movies again on DVD in the past couple weeks, and (again) enjoyed them both. Despite the Christian overtones of the stories (based on well-known and devout Christian professor/author/intellectual C.S. Lewis) – the movies don’t seem to preach in my view. I haven’t read the book(s), so they may be a bit ‘stronger’ in that regard, not sure.

But the stories are strong and in both movies, there is an EXCELLENT villian – Tilda Swinton as The White Witch in the first (VERY brief appearance in the second); and Sergio Castellitto as Miraz in the second. Definitely a great counterpoint to Liam Neeson’s ‘jesus lion’, Aslan, in both movies. Both villians are so definitely, unmistakably evil, that the audience all but HAS to root for Aslan and the children in the end.

But to me what’s also interesting with these CGI extravaganzas now increasingly coming to the movie theater – e.g. the LOTR trilogy, the Harry Potter series, (and I’m sure many more, given Marvel Comics’ seeming intent to commit nearly every comic superhero they’ve ever done to film) is to watch both the quality and quantity of the CGI effects (which arguably make all this possible) evolve over time.

Even between the battle scenes in the 3rd LOTR movie and the Narnia movies, I think there’s been improvement – when they show large fields filled with armies, the level of detail is just subtly more believable every time around. In the 3rd LOTR, there are a couple places where it just looks a bit too ‘cgi’ – when the horses are running in for the attack and a few get munched by flying boulders/arrows, or when Legolas is jumping back and forth as he climbs the Oliphaunt to bring it down with his arrows, etc.

This was one of my major gripes with the second set of Star Wars movies. Notwithstanding the largely lame and predictable plots and some *very* questionable character choices (Jar Jar Binks lowering the bar every time he appears or opens his mouth for example) the battle scenes just looked like a cartoon trying to be live-action. Yes, in the first three movies they had effects to make the armies (good and bad) look bigger, etc. than the amount of extras they had on the set, of course. But especially in Attack of the Clones – it just looked to me like ‘here’s an army of CGI guys that are going to fight this second army of CGI guys’ – and ultimately who cares who wins? At least in the third movie with its convoluted and confusing plot, they had the saving grace/bad guy of Christopher Lee – definitely NOT a CGI guy for the most part (wither Yoda?).

But back to Narnia. I just think these two movies (presuming there will be several more to track the rest of the books) have a good mix of effects, villainy, and plot, without one overdoing the rest to the detriment of the movie. GOOD STORYTELLING, as always, wins out in the end.

This is ultimately why Pixar has been so consistently successful – even for their only ‘good’ movies (e.g. Cars, possibly A Bug’s Life) there is still a strong character element that really builds a connection between the audience and the action onscreen. And in the GREAT ones (The Incredibles, Ratatouille being at the top of the list of course) the dialogue is sharp, the characters are real and human – even if not actually ‘humans’ – and the plots are complex, complete and diverse. Of course Pixar are also animation masters, but that’s usually just icing on the cake next to the great storytelling.

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What is it about Alan Rickman that rocks? Well, for starters I think I’ve liked nearly every movie he’s in (or at minimum, his part in it). Despite being ‘genetically predisposed’ to like Galaxy Quest in being a big nerd – I could only put up with the first half hour or so. However, Alan Rickman’s bit as an alien with the catch phrase (‘By Grapthor’s Hammer’) uttered both at critical plot points – and at the grand openings of car lots – is TOO classic.

Who else goes from German terrorist (Die Hard) to guardian angel (Dogma) to sarcastic, doomsayer robot (Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy) to Professor Snape (not all the HP movies have near enough of him in them, but most have a good amount :))?

I think it’s the combination of subtle, voiced exasperation, sarcasm without even trying, and just his mannerisms that do it for me. The guy just cracks me up!

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Pretty d*** cool – if you haven’t ever read him – he was one of the ‘big three’ way back in Weird Tales days – the other two (better known than CAS) were H.P. Lovecraft (Cthulhu sushi, anyone? Tastes better than Soylent Green! :)) and Robert E. Howard (creator of Conan the Barbarian).

I had never heard of CAS myself until reading Stephen King’s ‘Different Seasons’ many many years ago – Different Seasons is really four novellas, the first 3 of which have since been made into movies – bu the fourth story – ‘The Breathing Method‘ – has not. If you’ve read it, you probably know why. But several times through the story King references CAS alien landscapes and settings, which got me interested in finding some stories to read.

Given no convenient ‘internets’ to check out at the time – I went to the next best thing – Powell’s Books – which actually had some used paperbacks (imagine that) – CAS is often as hard to find on the stacks as Philip K. Dick and for a while there, I was thinking CAS was harder to find than Kilgore Trout books. But, thankfully other fans exist out there too and besides the existing paperbacks here and there, a few hardback story collections have been put together. CAS didn’t write novels – only short stories and poetry.

Anyway, check out some of the stories here and enjoy – after which you may be ready to find a copy of The City of the Singing Flame all your own…..

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So in anticipating the new Clash of the Titans movie about to come out – I got the old one (1981 vintage) from the library. The last (and only) time I saw this movie was around 1984 while staying with friends in Nicoya, Costa Rica – the town had a small theater and we saw the movie there one night (with english subtitles).

So….on the one hand, this probably was an impressive movie for its time (given the varied Ray Harryhausen animation throughout if for no other reason) – I was about 15-16 at the time and remember there being sound issues in that theater, don’t really remember much of the movie. I think I remember the Kraken, who is essentially a cross between Godzilla (size), Creature from the Black Lagoon (appearance) and the silly big multi-armed Goro from the also ridiculous Mortal Kombat movie (multiple arms). And yes, I saw at least half of THAT movie, and let’s just say it doesn’t merit its own review – play the video game instead.

Rumbling forth to modern times, ‘COTT 1981’ looks pretty dated. Like other journey + monster(s) + hero/heroine movies, there are several tedious sequences where they are just riding around. This was my main complaint about the The Two Towers (theatrical version, anyway – the extended Two Towers DVD version is much better on that score). Too much running around with obviously a camera plane tracking them from above (thankfully never saw a shadow – an Orc probably got the camera plane with a flaming arrow at some point – that’ll learn ’em!).

Neither hero nor heroine are very good actors – Harry Hamlin (Perseus) does a lot of staring into space with a half-frown and his mouth hanging open and the heroine isn’t given many lines or much to do at all. Burgess Meredith (Perseus’ helper guy Ammon) isn’t bad, but he was better playing a flightless bird earlier in life (or when he trained Italians). Zeus gets all the best lines (but considering the actor playing him, pretty unsurprising).

As to other silliness – most of the men run around in non-existent pants that would even embarass Richard Simmons – and I don’t want to know how it is to ride horses (flying or no) in effectively a medieval jockstrap for miles on end – there is a reason they invented chariots and rickshaws, guys!

Perseus’ sword is pretty cheesy – I think i’ve either seen that thing before at Brookstone or that nerd store in The Market. The matte painting backgrounds are a bit too easily spotted as such. and as for Bubo, the mechanical owl given to Perseus by Athena – I didn’t mind him but at least they open with him breaking a dead tree branch by landing on it (because as a metal owl, he’s too f’ing heavy? :))

Let’s sum up by saying there was a lot of fast-forwarding (the magic of DVDs!) and hope that the new version is decent – although if the story is the same, i’ll wait to see reviews before getting in line. Hopefully The Kraken will get a shot at eating Liam Neeson or something cool 🙂

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