O M G

I'm usually pretty good with TV/movie violence. I'm not saying that I'm an advocate of it, especially when it's gratuitous and for the exclusive sake of shock (I kind of felt that way about the new Rosemary's Baby and stopped watching), but on shows (usually cable) where it's an integral part of the story and moves the plot along, it can be a pretty intense, adrenaline-pumping draw.

I just watched the latest installment of Game of Thrones (season 4, episode 8) and was mentally—and physically—stunned by the visual fate of Oberyn Martell. I say visual because I knew essentially what happened to him from reading the books, but... wow. That's wow in a sickened/fascinated/I-don't-know-how-to-feel sort of way. I literally just stared at the credits without seeing for nearly a minute, trying to process. I don't think there's anything wrong with the scene—it's certainly not for everyone—but it succeeded in being terribly disturbing. What it also did, and perhaps more importantly, was create an indelible memory bursting with a dark cocktail of emotions. Of course the graphic display alone wasn't enough to do this, the show had done a good job of developing Martell from the beginning of the season, and it's that combination of investment and stark, unveiled violence that will make the character live forever in my memory.* Having been inundated with media for most of my life, there are probably many other examples of this, but right now, I can think of only two particular instances where I've had a similar reaction.

The first was to the climax of To Live and Die in LA. I saw that in the theater when I was in junior high and have never forgotten that scene or quite how it made me feel.

The second was to the climax of Seven. That one was a little different because, despite the very graphic imagery of the previous crimes, we never see the contents of the box. But because of the previous crimes, we have no difficulty accepting Kevin Spacey's word. The blood on the box and Morgan Freeman's reaction to what's inside both help.

There are lots of shows that have very graphically violent content. For some it's schtick. For others, it's a storytelling component that helps to forever leave a mark. There will always be those who will argue that such components are not necessary, but I'm not one of them.

Do you have any examples of your own you'd like to share?

*Some may say, and rightly so, that my reaction to and commentary on fictitious events reflect naivety, or an easy, sheltered, and even privileged life. That may all be true considering that really terrible things happen in reality all the time. I've never tried to hide the fact that I'm a big proponent of escapism and can only say that the world would be a much better place if all violence and injustice were just fabrications, diversions to keep us entertained.

Tron: Uprising

I've been a fan of Tron since I saw it in the theater as a kid in 1982. Besides the novelty of life and death inside the computer, the look of the environment alone blew me away and sparked my imagination. I was never able to play Tron 2.0, but it was cool enough for me that the franchise still lived. Then Tron: Legacy comes out in 2010 and it's like I'm 10 years old all over again: the music (!), the visuals, the promise of yet another sequel—all to the good!

No third movie yet, but a prequel to the sequel has provided just the right combination of backlit goodness. I'd been putting off watching Tron: Uprising because I didn't want to jinx it or get my hopes up, but so far, I'm really enjoying it. The voice talent and animation (amazing atmosphere!) are excellent. The stories, for the most part, have been good, too. Hard to cram a perfect product into twenty-some odd minutes, but I'm liking it so far. It's a shame that the series wasn't renewed, but maybe that third movie will be forthcoming.

Tron lives!

Lost No More

I'm only a couple of years late, but I feel compelled to comment. I just finished watching Lost and I have to say that I was blown away.

I know, I know it's old news and opinions are fairly polarized from what I can tell, but I felt the ending was satisfying. I thought that the show had done an excellent job throughout of going back and showing you answers to questions, big and small. Even when we knew where the storyline would end up, there were times when I was baffled up until the reveal as to how it ended up that way. To me, that established a framework wherein just about anything, given infinite time (and which, of course, no one has), could be explained within the context of the show. Yes, there were red herrings and dead ends, but overall, I was impressed, and most particularly impressed with the intricacy of planning required, in the first three seasons anyway, to show events from multiple perspectives, answering questions or filling in gaps from season 1 as late as season 3.

I didn't know anything about the flash forwards until Kate stepped out of the car in the season 3 finale. Besides losing Charlie in that episode, the depiction of Jack as a broken man was, for want of a better word, haunting (I feel silly phrasing it that way, but it fits). For every new direction the series took, the show continued to maintain my interest, and it continued to deliver solid story-telling. The build-up over the flash deadward scenes towards the final episode, I thought, was amazing. Did the ending leave unanswered questions? Yes. Did it make empirical sense? No. Did I want to see more in the way of the much-talked about, but to my mind less evident, "mythology"? Yes. Do I think that any of this ruins the series or makes it a waste of my time? Absolutely not.

Anyway, sorry for chiming in late on a cold subject.

Ip Man

Historical inaccuracies aside, this movie was fantastic!



Still trying to find a way to see Iron Sky...

Aura Battler Dunbine

聖戦士ダンバイン (1983)

I just finished watching this series for the first time. While it may not be for everyone, especially if you're not particularly interested in Japanese animation, it was startlingly engaging for being almost 30 years old. My interest in Japan started with animation and I'm still a fan, but I find, like most stodgy old people, that I prefer the stuff of my own generation. That being said and biases aside, I strongly believe that anime of the 80's up through the early 90's is far superior to that being produced today with regard to pacing and basic story-telling ability.

I was having a conversation with a friend, thinking about Dunbine and other things—movies, in particular—that came out of the 80's. I won't call it a Golden Age, but I do feel that, in general, the pacing for movies was better then, that they were better punctuated, and you came away with a clear sense of progression and development. These days a lot of what we see seems to meander and we suddenly find ourselves at the end, not sure how we got there or how we're supposed to feel. I will say that many cable TV series in the last few years do not appear to suffer this.

My humble opinion, anyway. And perhaps all due to my poor choices, but here's a meaningless exercise: think about the last movie or TV show or whatever you saw—something you'd been looking forward to—and ask yourself about how the story unfolded, how the pacing was, and how successful or unsuccessful the piece was overall in light of those things.

(Oh, and Lor Kalkin's color scheme was actually NOT influenced by the Dunbine. Just a coincidence.)

Wow, it's been a while!

Man time flies!  I've been meaning to post for a long time now.  No excuses.  Well, I've got a ton of them, but not a one that's worthwhile.  Couldn't make much headway with All Things Comfortable.  I'm not ready for it yet.  Have come up with an idea for a one shot Shades of Viscain story dealing with the ill-fated Ex(peditionary) Squad.  Have also been working on King Yellow, which ultimately will detail the Viscain Empire's origin.  I'll put something up in the projects section soon.

Watched all of Dexter and was totally blown away.  I know it's wildly popular so if there's something wrong with me for liking it, it's not just wrong with me...

Faye turned 2 and had a great birthday.  See?  She's currently killing us with cuteness.

The End of a Long Week

With working overtime on Saturday, buying suits for a funeral on Sunday, a trip to Nagano and back for said funeral on Monday and Tuesday, an observation in Hadano for my first day back on Wednesday, one bit of respite--drinks with some friends--on Thursday, and one last crazy day of one part training, one part observation, and one part insanely boring meeting all now behind me, I am quite exhausted.

But things are good.  Faye is cuter every day and says the most interesting things.  I've started working on my next short story, All Things Comfortable, and it's starting to shape up nicely.  I've also managed to watch some quality stuff.  I don't pretend to understand it, but Primer was quite good.  Garth Marenghi's Darkplace was amazingly original and funny.  I can't say how much I respect the writer(s) of that show since, in a way, that's what I attempted to do with Skull Kaiser, back in the day.  I've also been able to keep up with The Walking Dead, which is pretty good so far, though, from what I can tell, it's deviated from the comic quite a bit.  Anyway, good stuff.

The Sinzer Rebellion

...is finished.  The first draft, anyway.  I think it turned out pretty much the way I envisioned it, which is satisfying.  I think I will be working on All Things Comfortable next to make good on a promise to a friend.  I'll also be going back and looking at the first Approaching Infinity book, updating it to reflect things that have been developed or expanded in the short stories.

In other news, I'm caught up on Fringe and Supernatural.  While I'm thoroughly enjoying Fringe, not sure what the hype about the 3rd season was.  With the events of episode 7, though, things should get pretty high stakes soon.

Maintenance

Don't know why I didn't think to do this sooner. It sounds silly, but it was like a flash of inspiration: how about links to pages/posts that really describe what the hell I'm writing? Yeah... Hey! That's a good idea!

Anyway, I'll be putting up a number of posts (permalinked!) to codify what I'm all about, with respect to what I write, that is, so those of you following my blog can better sing my praises and spread the word. Uh, or not.

This is unrelated, but I want to relate that I finished The Prisoner and was just as impressed as a full-fledged adult as I was as a teen-ager. The last episode was a bit rough, but I'm not complaining. I'm on to Fringe now and am enjoying that so far. Someone really talked up the first episode of the 3rd season so I'm terribly curious. Have a ways to go yet, though.

Yes, Indeed...

Three-day weekends are the best. We took Faye out to Kamakura today to let her feed the rabid pigeons at Hachimangu. Though her first experience with them there was good, this time she was a bit traumatized. I think she still had fun, though.

In other news, I must confess that I found out some time ago (09/29/2010) that Asimov's wasn't interested in Blue Squad, which was disappointing. I'm not giving up on magazines, but want to see if I might not be able to pursue another avenue which has been in the periphery but remained fairly elusive so far.

I've started a second Geiss Sinzer story, which might be considered, after all is said and done, the first Geiss Sinzer story, but that's not a problem. Kalkin's Dilemma is done, but I need to go over it one last time.

In still other news, I'm gearing up to watch The Prisoner, the original, not the remake, in its entirety. I just finished watching the remake during the three-day weekend, actually. It wasn't bad. Some of it was pretty cool, but the opening alone of the original was so iconic and full of great sound bytes, that the new one doesn't quite measure up. I have a soft spot in my heart for Patrick McGoohan as No. 6 and as the Scarecrow of Romney Marsh, but it's been years since I've seen any of the original stuff, so we'll see how I feel after watching it all in order.