Movies, books, and TV
May. 16th, 2016 06:34 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
lunabee341. We watched Solaris on tamoline's recommendation that it was very reminiscent of Jeff Vandermeer's Southern Reach trilogy. I also suspect that whoever wrote Event Horizon was familiar with one of the first two versions of the film that precede the Clooney version we watched. Josh and I both really liked the movie. The score was right up Josh's alley, all atmospheric and cut straight from Hearts of Space. LOL I liked how slow the pace was, and I liked the degree of ambiguity throughout the film (although I'd be lying if I said I didn't wish I had more of a sense of what the planet was trying to accomplish by creating doppelgangers, especially since those doppelgangers are self-aware and not privy to whatever that purpose is). Lots of good stuff here about the nature of existence and identity and the horror/desire of being confronted with someone you thought was dead. We never see the scientist's visitor; Clooney gets his dead wife; another scientist gets his son (I couldn't figure out if the son was supposed to be dead or just left behind on Earth); and the final scientist is visited by himself. I read on wikipedia that the original writer of the first movie is peeved that all the subsequent movies focused more on the relationships between the characters rather than on the planet itself as a character. That makes me wonder if the original version explains a little more about why the planet chooses to interact with the crew in the way it does.
2. We also watched Lucy a couple of days ago. Man, Scarlett Johansson is a good actor. I have loved her in every single thing I've seen her in, and she was exceptionally good in this movie, too. I must admit, though, that I enjoyed the first and second acts of the movie far more than the third. The first act, in which Lucy is thrust into a situation outside of her control, is superb. Her being made powerless only to discover that power again was very satisfying to watch. The middle act, in which Lucy gains powers while simultaneously losing that which makes her human, was also interesting. I love the way the movie was shot, with different moments in history or scenes from nature being woven into what was happening to Lucy. I also liked the professor's lecture as a backdrop. I found Lucy's disregard for innocent human life off-putting in the third act. I mean, I know she says, "We never truly die," and may have in her altered state truly not cared about the deaths of those around her because she doesn't believe they are dying. Still found it off-putting. I also thought it ended very abruptly. IDK
3. I finished How to be a Victorian by Ruth Goodman, a fascinating book that is structured around what Victorians from different classes and parts of the country would be doing throughout the day from getting up in the morning and washing and dressing to work and school and meals all the way to bedtime. What makes this a truly engaging read is that the author isn't just a historian; she's someone who tries out most of the activities she discusses in the book. So for instance, many Victorians did not bathe with water. They bathed using a combination of dry brushing the body and applying ammonia or vinegar to armpits and other potentially malodorous areas. Goodman went for four months without bathing with water and was happy to report that she didn't stink even once. She made many of the recipes for household goods like toothpaste or lotion or shampoo and tried them out herself. She frequently wears Victorian clothes and sews them herself in the Victorian manner using Victorian patterns, etc. I also found an answer to my previous question about exercise; Victorian men were being heavily encouraged throughout the entire period to exercise in a variety of ways. Women were discouraged from exercising at the beginning of the period because of the whole wandering uterus theory; scientists and doctors were genuinely concerned that vigorous exercise would damage a woman's ability to have children. However, as the period progressed, the benefits of exercise for women became more apparent and walking (which women had always been doing a lot of), some sports like archery, and calisthenics became popular for all classes of women.
4. Penny Dreadful, OMG, what are you doing? I love it! I am really loving where they are taking Lily's character. She wants to rule the world, but that desire stems from her former identity as Brona. She wants to make an army of the marginalized, the wounded, the disadvantaged, the forlorn, the furious. I absolutely love that. I also love the way she turns the whole fridging trope on its head. You might think Brona dies to give Ethan's character something to be sad about, and although he is sad about her death and genuinely cares for her, her death is not his superhero origin story. She's not Mary Winchester whose death fuels his every subsequent action. He loves her; he's kind to her; he SEES her and accepts her for who she is; and when she dies, he moves on. Then, Victor raises her from the dead and tries to mold her into the perfect partner (and I think there's some clever commentary going on there about Victorian relationships, often between much older men and younger women where the men were seeking to mold what they considered to be an innocent and child-like girl into the perfect wife; the trope certainly shows up all over the literature of the time); and then Brona/Lily "dies" again. She completely rejects Victor's narrative for her and starts over on her own terms. Of course, Victor does then wallow around in his manpain, but Brona/Lily doesn't give a shit, and she (and we) see him as a pitiable figure more than anything else.
I still can't figure out WTF they're trying to do with Dorian. In an otherwise engaging show with a fantastic cast, he is the weakest link. He is such a non-entity and so boring. I keep waiting for him to do or be something other than insanely attractive and exquisitely dressed and it. never. happens.
I am astonished at the reveal that John Clare was an orderly at the mental hospital where Vanessa was admitted. I liked how genuinely happy he was to see Vanessa and how happy he was to see her with someone. That was nicely done.
Can't wait for the next installment.
tamoline's recommendation that it was very reminiscent of Jeff Vandermeer's Southern Reach trilogy. I also suspect that whoever wrote Event Horizon was familiar with one of the first two versions of the film that precede the Clooney version we watched. Josh and I both really liked the movie. The score was right up Josh's alley, all atmospheric and cut straight from Hearts of Space. LOL I liked how slow the pace was, and I liked the degree of ambiguity throughout the film (although I'd be lying if I said I didn't wish I had more of a sense of what the planet was trying to accomplish by creating doppelgangers, especially since those doppelgangers are self-aware and not privy to whatever that purpose is). Lots of good stuff here about the nature of existence and identity and the horror/desire of being confronted with someone you thought was dead. We never see the scientist's visitor; Clooney gets his dead wife; another scientist gets his son (I couldn't figure out if the son was supposed to be dead or just left behind on Earth); and the final scientist is visited by himself. I read on wikipedia that the original writer of the first movie is peeved that all the subsequent movies focused more on the relationships between the characters rather than on the planet itself as a character. That makes me wonder if the original version explains a little more about why the planet chooses to interact with the crew in the way it does.2. We also watched Lucy a couple of days ago. Man, Scarlett Johansson is a good actor. I have loved her in every single thing I've seen her in, and she was exceptionally good in this movie, too. I must admit, though, that I enjoyed the first and second acts of the movie far more than the third. The first act, in which Lucy is thrust into a situation outside of her control, is superb. Her being made powerless only to discover that power again was very satisfying to watch. The middle act, in which Lucy gains powers while simultaneously losing that which makes her human, was also interesting. I love the way the movie was shot, with different moments in history or scenes from nature being woven into what was happening to Lucy. I also liked the professor's lecture as a backdrop. I found Lucy's disregard for innocent human life off-putting in the third act. I mean, I know she says, "We never truly die," and may have in her altered state truly not cared about the deaths of those around her because she doesn't believe they are dying. Still found it off-putting. I also thought it ended very abruptly. IDK
3. I finished How to be a Victorian by Ruth Goodman, a fascinating book that is structured around what Victorians from different classes and parts of the country would be doing throughout the day from getting up in the morning and washing and dressing to work and school and meals all the way to bedtime. What makes this a truly engaging read is that the author isn't just a historian; she's someone who tries out most of the activities she discusses in the book. So for instance, many Victorians did not bathe with water. They bathed using a combination of dry brushing the body and applying ammonia or vinegar to armpits and other potentially malodorous areas. Goodman went for four months without bathing with water and was happy to report that she didn't stink even once. She made many of the recipes for household goods like toothpaste or lotion or shampoo and tried them out herself. She frequently wears Victorian clothes and sews them herself in the Victorian manner using Victorian patterns, etc. I also found an answer to my previous question about exercise; Victorian men were being heavily encouraged throughout the entire period to exercise in a variety of ways. Women were discouraged from exercising at the beginning of the period because of the whole wandering uterus theory; scientists and doctors were genuinely concerned that vigorous exercise would damage a woman's ability to have children. However, as the period progressed, the benefits of exercise for women became more apparent and walking (which women had always been doing a lot of), some sports like archery, and calisthenics became popular for all classes of women.
4. Penny Dreadful, OMG, what are you doing? I love it! I am really loving where they are taking Lily's character. She wants to rule the world, but that desire stems from her former identity as Brona. She wants to make an army of the marginalized, the wounded, the disadvantaged, the forlorn, the furious. I absolutely love that. I also love the way she turns the whole fridging trope on its head. You might think Brona dies to give Ethan's character something to be sad about, and although he is sad about her death and genuinely cares for her, her death is not his superhero origin story. She's not Mary Winchester whose death fuels his every subsequent action. He loves her; he's kind to her; he SEES her and accepts her for who she is; and when she dies, he moves on. Then, Victor raises her from the dead and tries to mold her into the perfect partner (and I think there's some clever commentary going on there about Victorian relationships, often between much older men and younger women where the men were seeking to mold what they considered to be an innocent and child-like girl into the perfect wife; the trope certainly shows up all over the literature of the time); and then Brona/Lily "dies" again. She completely rejects Victor's narrative for her and starts over on her own terms. Of course, Victor does then wallow around in his manpain, but Brona/Lily doesn't give a shit, and she (and we) see him as a pitiable figure more than anything else.
I still can't figure out WTF they're trying to do with Dorian. In an otherwise engaging show with a fantastic cast, he is the weakest link. He is such a non-entity and so boring. I keep waiting for him to do or be something other than insanely attractive and exquisitely dressed and it. never. happens.
I am astonished at the reveal that John Clare was an orderly at the mental hospital where Vanessa was admitted. I liked how genuinely happy he was to see Vanessa and how happy he was to see her with someone. That was nicely done.
Can't wait for the next installment.
