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Cake day: July 15th, 2023

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  • Martin is a character-first writer, which is nice, but I also like plots that gallop forward with mystery-style page turners at the end of every chapter. Roger Zelazny is that style of writer, and one of my favorites. Take a look at The Chronicles of Amber and Lord of Light.

    The Dying Earth series is fun.

    A friend recently recommended The Clan of the Cave Bear and The Sharing Knife to me, but I have yet to read those.



  • I found Alien: Covenant to be utterly forgettable. I didn’t like Prometheus, and I didn’t like the direction Scott was trying to take the series (I didn’t need or want this backstory), but at least it was trying to do something interesting. Covenant and Romulus don’t. They’re just retreads. That said, the characters are stupid and underdeveloped in all three.

    People were disappointed by Resurrection back in the day (saw it in the theater), but I can respect it because it has some scenes that have stuck with me my entire life, even though I haven’t watched it since. And it has some strong characters, and a plot that at least kind of makes sense.

    If you want to watch an Alien movie, watch the first two. If you absolutely must watch more, go ahead and watch the third and fourth movies. If you still need to watch more, don’t.





  • It was such an unfortunate decision to cancel Lower Decks. I really liked that show.

    Halo tried to do its own thing and had mixed results at best, but I did think it was on a much firmer footing in season two than season one. Another season and they might have righted the ship completely.

    Look at just about any science fiction show: aside from some notable exceptions, the first season or two are generally terrible until they get their feet under them.




  • xyzzy@lemm.eetoMovies and TV Shows@lemm.ee*Permanently Deleted*
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    3 months ago

    I really appreciate how fully realized the characters are, but the gore and gross-out elements, the just generally stressful situations, the flippant attitude toward humiliation, and the dystopian attitude toward death make the show a tolerance watch for me. I’ll watch the next season, I think it will be worth watching as always, and I enjoy the commentary. I just don’t think that I could say I’ll enjoy watching it as I normally use that word.




  • I think you might have meant “epithet,” but since that is specifically about a word or phrase, “caricature” is probably the closest match.

    The original, unmodified trilogy was a pretty archetypal hero’s journey for Luke (or rather, a series of journeys within the larger character journey). It was well done, reasonably cohesive, and had strong themes, owing in no small part to Gary Kurtz (producer for the first two movies), Marcia Lucas (editor on the first and third movies and uncredited contributing editor on the second), and Irvin Kershner (director for the second movie).

    It began to fall off the rails a bit in the final movie when Lucas asserted more control, resulting in Kurtz’s departure, but ultimately in my judgment it stuck the thematic landing.

    The rest were… ehhh…

    We saw what happened with the prequel trilogy without those collaborators to rein him in and add actual human emotion. It’s not good, but it’s uncharitable to lump the original (again, unmodified) trilogy in with them.

    The sequels were just completely incoherent.

    Part of the problem is the unmodified originals have been effectively disappeared for an entire generation, so people who watch the “original trilogy” on disc or Disney+ are actually watching the atrocious CGI versions. It really does make a difference, in my opinion.