Entertainment of Note
Aug. 13th, 2018 09:46 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
shadowkat1. Apparently there's a nonfiction book about Arthur Conan Doyle solving a crime using the methods of detection he developed for Sherlock Holmes.
Conan Doyle for the Defense by Margalit Fox
Conan Doyle for the Defense: The True Story of a Sensational British Murder, a Quest for Justice, and the World’s Most Famous Detective Writer is a nonfiction book about Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s involvement with the case of Oscar Slater, a man who was falsely imprisoned for murder in 1909. This book provides a glimpse into the world of criminal justice during the early 1900s. It gives limited insight into Arthur Conan Doyle, other than painting him as a person of many contradictions. However, it does a very good job of showing how fear of the “other” caused Slater, like many others, to become a scapegoat for Victorian and post-Victorian fears in a way that is all too relevant to our own times .
Hmm.
2. Seven Deadly Sins -- the subversive character-centric fantasy Japanese Anime that I've been watching.
It's adult. Not for the kiddies. In one scene the Giantess Lady Diane and Princess Elizabeth end up getting shrunk and a naked Princess Elizabeth hides between Diane's boobs. I kid you not.
And lots of naked male chests. This show is into chests. Also panties.
But, it's fun. And I'm loving it. I'm ignoring that bit. It's not prevalent enough to be a problem, also sexual vulgarity doesn't really bother me that much. It's rather tame in comparison to a lot of other things I've seen.
Has an interesting on-going metaphor about appearance or size. We have several romantic entanglements in which the couples are vastly different sizes.
Diane is huge and in love with the tiny Melodious
King is tiny and in love with the huge Diane
Bane is 7 feet tall and lean and in love with the tiny fairy Elaine
Elizabeth is taller than Melodius who cares for her
Also the fantasy elements are rather innovative in places. We have demons, fairies, holy war, giants, magic mushrooms, talking pigs. I think some of the mythology is a mix of Japanese and Western mythology. Japanese have a slightly different mythological take on Demons than Westerners do. It's subtle but there.
And it's comical in places, but also tragic. Each and every character is explored in depth. Discovering their individual stories is part of the fun. One of the better fantasies that I've seen in recent years. (Also unlike Disenchantment, the animation is actually watchable and the characters don't all look like the Simpsons in fairy tale costumes. Not a fan of Matt Groenig's art.)
Made it through 13 episodes -- they are about thirty minutes in length. There's more to go, which is good. Since I'm enjoying it. Watched three tonight.
3. Received this week's Entertainment Weekly...and it was the Fall Movie Edition. I didn't realize they were doing some of these films. I'm rather out of the loop. Too many things to keep track of.
* Redoing a Star is Born, with Bradly Cooper and Lady Gaga in the lead roles. I'm actually curious about this one. It's the fourth round for the film. The film has previously been done three times, first time was Janet Gaynor and Frederick March (no music), then redone as a bit of a musical with Judy Garland and James Mason (also focusing on the acting world), then redone again with Kris Krotefferson and Barbara Striesand. This version sort of references all the prior versions.
* Colette -- they are doing a biopic based on the life of the French writer Colette, starring Keira Knightly and Dominic West. Eh...I don't know.
* Bel Canto with Ken Wantanabe and Julianne Moore -- that's an adaptation of Anne Prachett's book of the same name. It's about when a bunch of powerful figures were taken hostage during a party at the country's Japanese embassy. The standoff lasted four months and resulted in the deaths of dozens of people. But the novel focuses heavily on an opera singer and her romance with one of the businessmen at the party, whose being courted by the country to open a company there.
I read the book back in the 1990s, I think. Barely remember it. It was good. I liked it at the time. But for the life of me I can't remember much more than it was about music and terrorism. Learned a lot about opera reading it.
* The Nutcraker and the Four Realms -- Disney has decided to do an epic fantasy version of The Nutcracker.
* They've remade Suspiria with Dakota Fanning, Tilda Swinton and Mia Goth, directed by Luca Guadagnino ("Call me by your name"), with choreography by Damien Jalet, and a score by Radiohead frontman Thom Yorke.
Hmmm. I've not seen the original. Perhaps I should hunt it down first? It's a frightening horror film about a dance academy that is run by witches.
*The Front Runner starring Hugh Jackman as Gary Hart, with Vera Farmiga and JK Simmions. It's about the scandal that destroyed Gary Hart's run or meeting of politics and the press.
* Bohemian Rhapsody -- Rami Malek, Gwilym Lee, Ben Hardy, directed by Bryan Singer, about Freddy Mercury and Queen.
* The Girl in the Spider's Web -- another installment in the Girl with the Dragoon Tattoo series, except starring Clair Foy as Lisbeth Salander, and Sverrir Gudnason as Mikael Blomkvist, it's directed by Fede Alvarez.
* Robin Hood (again??? How many versions do we need?) starring Taron Edgerton, Ben MEndlesohn and Jamie Fox (of all people).
* Coen Brothers are at it again...The Ballad of Buster Scroggs, where they head into The American Frontier with this Western inspired feature, which was originally slated to be a Netflix anthology series. (So how exactly is it going to work as a movie??)
*Anna and the Apocalypse -- a Christmas themed film with well holiday cliass-musical numbers, ugly Christmas sweaters, and a zombie outbreak. Because what would a Christmas movie be, really, without zombies?
* Nobody's Fool Tyler Perry directs Tiffany Haddish as a wild ex-con helping her sister Tika Sumpter hunt the man who's catfishing her under the scrutinizing watch of their mother Whoopie Goldberg. (I know, my thoughts exactly.)
* Mary Queen of Scotts, starring Saoirse Ronan (as Mary) and Margot Robbie (as Elizbeth) directed by Josie Rourke.
* Bumblebee - girl meets adorable volkswagon beetle at a junk shop, and it turns into an alien robot.
Halilee Steinfeld stars.
* On the Basis of Sex -- because a documentary wasn't enough, we know have a fictionalized dramatization of Ruth Bader Ginsberg's life. Isn't she still alive and serving on the Supreme Court?
Shouldn't we wait until she's dead to do all this? Stars Felicity Jones as Ruth Bader Ginsberg, Armie Hammer, Justin Theroux, script penned by Ginsburg's nephew, and directed by Mimi Leder.
* Mortal Engines -- Peter Jackson is doing a stylized steam-punk fantasy about a dystopian city on wheels.
* Alita: Battle Angel -- a live action version of the popular magna comic and anime of a ass-kicking female cyborg.
* Bird Box -- alien horror thriller starring Sandra Bullock, Trevante Rhodes, Sarah Paulson and John Malkovich. It's about a mysterious alien force that causes violent madness in everyone who sees it. Interesting cast..at least two of those people haven't done a film like this to my knowledge.
Some weird stuff in there. And I didn't list everything.
Conan Doyle for the Defense by Margalit Fox
Conan Doyle for the Defense: The True Story of a Sensational British Murder, a Quest for Justice, and the World’s Most Famous Detective Writer is a nonfiction book about Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s involvement with the case of Oscar Slater, a man who was falsely imprisoned for murder in 1909. This book provides a glimpse into the world of criminal justice during the early 1900s. It gives limited insight into Arthur Conan Doyle, other than painting him as a person of many contradictions. However, it does a very good job of showing how fear of the “other” caused Slater, like many others, to become a scapegoat for Victorian and post-Victorian fears in a way that is all too relevant to our own times .
Hmm.
2. Seven Deadly Sins -- the subversive character-centric fantasy Japanese Anime that I've been watching.
It's adult. Not for the kiddies. In one scene the Giantess Lady Diane and Princess Elizabeth end up getting shrunk and a naked Princess Elizabeth hides between Diane's boobs. I kid you not.
And lots of naked male chests. This show is into chests. Also panties.
But, it's fun. And I'm loving it. I'm ignoring that bit. It's not prevalent enough to be a problem, also sexual vulgarity doesn't really bother me that much. It's rather tame in comparison to a lot of other things I've seen.
Has an interesting on-going metaphor about appearance or size. We have several romantic entanglements in which the couples are vastly different sizes.
Diane is huge and in love with the tiny Melodious
King is tiny and in love with the huge Diane
Bane is 7 feet tall and lean and in love with the tiny fairy Elaine
Elizabeth is taller than Melodius who cares for her
Also the fantasy elements are rather innovative in places. We have demons, fairies, holy war, giants, magic mushrooms, talking pigs. I think some of the mythology is a mix of Japanese and Western mythology. Japanese have a slightly different mythological take on Demons than Westerners do. It's subtle but there.
And it's comical in places, but also tragic. Each and every character is explored in depth. Discovering their individual stories is part of the fun. One of the better fantasies that I've seen in recent years. (Also unlike Disenchantment, the animation is actually watchable and the characters don't all look like the Simpsons in fairy tale costumes. Not a fan of Matt Groenig's art.)
Made it through 13 episodes -- they are about thirty minutes in length. There's more to go, which is good. Since I'm enjoying it. Watched three tonight.
3. Received this week's Entertainment Weekly...and it was the Fall Movie Edition. I didn't realize they were doing some of these films. I'm rather out of the loop. Too many things to keep track of.
* Redoing a Star is Born, with Bradly Cooper and Lady Gaga in the lead roles. I'm actually curious about this one. It's the fourth round for the film. The film has previously been done three times, first time was Janet Gaynor and Frederick March (no music), then redone as a bit of a musical with Judy Garland and James Mason (also focusing on the acting world), then redone again with Kris Krotefferson and Barbara Striesand. This version sort of references all the prior versions.
* Colette -- they are doing a biopic based on the life of the French writer Colette, starring Keira Knightly and Dominic West. Eh...I don't know.
* Bel Canto with Ken Wantanabe and Julianne Moore -- that's an adaptation of Anne Prachett's book of the same name. It's about when a bunch of powerful figures were taken hostage during a party at the country's Japanese embassy. The standoff lasted four months and resulted in the deaths of dozens of people. But the novel focuses heavily on an opera singer and her romance with one of the businessmen at the party, whose being courted by the country to open a company there.
I read the book back in the 1990s, I think. Barely remember it. It was good. I liked it at the time. But for the life of me I can't remember much more than it was about music and terrorism. Learned a lot about opera reading it.
* The Nutcraker and the Four Realms -- Disney has decided to do an epic fantasy version of The Nutcracker.
* They've remade Suspiria with Dakota Fanning, Tilda Swinton and Mia Goth, directed by Luca Guadagnino ("Call me by your name"), with choreography by Damien Jalet, and a score by Radiohead frontman Thom Yorke.
Hmmm. I've not seen the original. Perhaps I should hunt it down first? It's a frightening horror film about a dance academy that is run by witches.
*The Front Runner starring Hugh Jackman as Gary Hart, with Vera Farmiga and JK Simmions. It's about the scandal that destroyed Gary Hart's run or meeting of politics and the press.
* Bohemian Rhapsody -- Rami Malek, Gwilym Lee, Ben Hardy, directed by Bryan Singer, about Freddy Mercury and Queen.
* The Girl in the Spider's Web -- another installment in the Girl with the Dragoon Tattoo series, except starring Clair Foy as Lisbeth Salander, and Sverrir Gudnason as Mikael Blomkvist, it's directed by Fede Alvarez.
* Robin Hood (again??? How many versions do we need?) starring Taron Edgerton, Ben MEndlesohn and Jamie Fox (of all people).
* Coen Brothers are at it again...The Ballad of Buster Scroggs, where they head into The American Frontier with this Western inspired feature, which was originally slated to be a Netflix anthology series. (So how exactly is it going to work as a movie??)
*Anna and the Apocalypse -- a Christmas themed film with well holiday cliass-musical numbers, ugly Christmas sweaters, and a zombie outbreak. Because what would a Christmas movie be, really, without zombies?
* Nobody's Fool Tyler Perry directs Tiffany Haddish as a wild ex-con helping her sister Tika Sumpter hunt the man who's catfishing her under the scrutinizing watch of their mother Whoopie Goldberg. (I know, my thoughts exactly.)
* Mary Queen of Scotts, starring Saoirse Ronan (as Mary) and Margot Robbie (as Elizbeth) directed by Josie Rourke.
* Bumblebee - girl meets adorable volkswagon beetle at a junk shop, and it turns into an alien robot.
Halilee Steinfeld stars.
* On the Basis of Sex -- because a documentary wasn't enough, we know have a fictionalized dramatization of Ruth Bader Ginsberg's life. Isn't she still alive and serving on the Supreme Court?
Shouldn't we wait until she's dead to do all this? Stars Felicity Jones as Ruth Bader Ginsberg, Armie Hammer, Justin Theroux, script penned by Ginsburg's nephew, and directed by Mimi Leder.
* Mortal Engines -- Peter Jackson is doing a stylized steam-punk fantasy about a dystopian city on wheels.
* Alita: Battle Angel -- a live action version of the popular magna comic and anime of a ass-kicking female cyborg.
* Bird Box -- alien horror thriller starring Sandra Bullock, Trevante Rhodes, Sarah Paulson and John Malkovich. It's about a mysterious alien force that causes violent madness in everyone who sees it. Interesting cast..at least two of those people haven't done a film like this to my knowledge.
Some weird stuff in there. And I didn't list everything.