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shadowkat1. Finished The Husband's Secret by Liane Moriarty yesterday. Liane Moriarty has become a best-selling novelist in the UK and is slowly grabbing an American audience. I would not say she's a great novelist, in various respects her writing style reminds me of most of the other writers that grace the best-seller lists. Like many contemporary writers, Moriarty feels the need to tell the reader everything about her characters or tell the plot, as opposed to trusting the reader to well, figure things out on their own. She's not a subtle writer and doesn't quite have a flair with language that some of the more literary and accomplished novelists do, but she is a step above Jennifer Cruisie, Jane Green, Helen Fielding, and a few other female contemporary writers who unfortunately are associated with annoying chick-lit category of fiction.
The story is about how the little decisions people make affect others in ways that they can't possibly begin to imagine. To ensure the reader gets that - there's an epilogue spelling out how if the characters in the novel made different decisions...their lives and the lives of everyone they knew would turn out differently. Also, we can't blame ourselves for everything - since our decisions and choices aren't isolated but rather they are compounded by the decisions and choices of everyone else. In this respect, The Husband's Secret reminded me a great deal of the film The Cloud Atlas. Also like that film, I felt at times that the writer needed to trust her readers more - although, after reading reviews of the novel on Good Reads and Amazon - a lot of readers appear to be a wee bit dense. And apparently require explanations.
Other than that - it was an entertaining and thoughtful novel, with the writer taking the time to delve into the messy emotions. Told in a stream of consciousness style, and in the limited points of view of three suburban Australian wives and mothers. Did at times feel like a throw-back tale to the 1970s and 80s, even though it took place in more modern times.
(Ghod it makes me feel old saying that.)
I do recommend it, but with the caveat that the writer does explain more than she should, and it is told in stream-of-consciousness, which is not everyone's cup of tea. Also it's female centric, the men are important, but we are never in their point of view.
2. Helix - is the new Syfy channel horror series that is getting touted by various critics. Personally, I don't get the appeal. They've compared it to Fringe, which I suppose makes sense since both are about illegal medical experimentation conducted by crazy governments and corporations with wildly disasterous results- but that's where the comparison ends. Fringe was much better written. And had more compelling characters. This one, not so much. Fringe also had a sense of humor, which most likely came with better writers. Sure it too had its cliche moments and plot contrivances, but none quite as predictable or silly as Helix.
Granted, I'm not a true horror fan. For one thing? I scare easily. Even Helix could scare me. It really doesn't take much. And well, I don't like gore. So that's two strikes against the show before it even began. But the critics made me curious, so I tried it.
Fast-forwarded through the gory, scary bits, and realized okay, not only can I predict what will happen next, but I also can figure out the entire story - without having to rewatch anything I fast-forwarded over. You know something is off - if you can fast-forward and realize you didn't really miss anything important. It was two hours. And it could be in told in 30 minutes. Tight this story isn't. And that's sort of mandatory for horror films. Pacing in a horror series or thriller is 90% of it.
The plot is a CDC investigator, played by Billy Campbell (who is aging rather well by the way) is selected by his ex-wife, a fellow investigator/researcher, to lead a team into an Artic research lab, where a dangerous contagion has broken out. They believe it is a retrovirus. The lab contacted the ex-wife, Doctor Walker, played by the actress who looks a lot like the star of Prometheus and the Swedish version of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, to investigate the break-out and help them contain it and determine its cause. The military is also involved and has asked the CDC to share jurisdiction. Campbell's character only agrees to go when he's told that one of the three patients contaminated is his brother, Peter. Peter, we're later told by a veternarian on the team, frakked Campbell's wife. (By the way, they use frakked instead of fucked in this series - which is a shout-out to BSG, which in turn was produced by Ron Moore, who is also producing this series. That's where any similarity between either series dies. If you are expecting the great writing on BSG or even the uneven but still half-way stellar writing of Deep Space Nine, you are going to be sorely disappointed.) The Vet tells all of this to Dr. Jordan, Prof Campbell's wet-behind-the-ears but oh so earnet and pretty student researcher, who has been selected to come along for the ride. The Vet is rather fun, Dr. Jones - I think is her name. She's actually the only interesting character in the series, and the least cliche.
Upon reaching the lab - we're told up front that the helicopter isn't staying but the military base is only 200 yards away and they can come back quickly. The military support, is one guy, who we're told has never fired a gun - yet he was in Iraq and in South America.
But mainly doing desk duty, and good at plumbing and systems. (See shady military guy written all over this guy's face, the good Doctor Jones doesn't quite trust him.) They visit Peter and discover that he's gone a wee bit insane, and almost infects his brother with his drawn blood - which has turned black. The head honcho at the lab is less than forthcoming with any information, he doesn't tell the team that the brother was doing illegal medical experiments on rats. Or that they had reeses monkeys - even though the vet asks him about it point blank and sort of knows that they had to have monkeys, because that's how you pass disease to humans.
Of course they were deliberately creating a virus as a military weapon - that's sort of a given. Hello, nasty corporation with an unregulated research lab in the middle of the artic with a military presence nearby? Why the CDC doesn't figure it out, is contrived for plot purposes. The writers don't want them to. Most of the first episode is the CDC slowly, and I do mean slowly, figuring out that something is out of wack. The next episode is what is out of wack. (Hello, they have created a virus that turns people into mutants or annihilates them completely. What's to figure out? And they've invited you to either help spread it, contain it, or develop it. That bit is up in the air.) Just in case, we don't feel dread - in a video, Peter does a hand gesture - that Prof Campbell remembers meaning run like hell.
Apparently their father was a mean drunk.
Julia Walker discovers that the substance Peter was injecting the rats with was a deadly B virus that turned the rates into perfect receptors and agents of the virus, rewiring their brains so that they would feel compelled to infect others with the virus. This is done by spitting black blood into their mouths in a sort of gruesome kiss. OR you can just inject them. But the kissing approach is easier. It's also heavily implied in more than one scene that her father is the head honcho of the research lab, but she doesn't know it. That's why she's been brought there.
Peter, who is now a full agent of the virus, with little humanity left, escapes isolation and proceeds to infect as many people as possible, while killing those who won't comply. It should be noted that he does it with the song San Jose playing in the background. Not sure why but it's always playing - apparently it's Peter's personal soundtrack. This causes a bit of a panic, and various researchers want to leave the facility. Others, who have been infected, are upset about being quarantined and keep trying to escape - mainly by attacking the CDC investigators. A hairless mutated monkey attacks Dr. Jones, but she's saved by shady military guy. The shady military guy kills a researcher who attempts to escape the lab - after the guy tells him that they were conducting illegal medical experiments. Another patient, an infected woman, tells Dr. Jones, that they were creating a virus as a weapon, but didn't know it - but should have.
Dr. Jordan keeps getting captured and almost infected - first by Peter, who steals morphine and scampers off like a human spider. And later by the infected researchers attempting to escape. Actually she gets grabbed twice by the infected researchers. Outside of playing damsel, I'm not really sure what her purpose is. We're told she's smart - but I fail to see much evidence of it.
At the end of the two hour or two part episode, Peter shows up while Julia is taking a shower and kisses her - ensuring she's infected, although she is in the shower - so maybe not? Nice, they are clearly going for the contrast there - you are cleaning yourself, but you can't be clean or free from infection. All I thought was - damn, they don't have locks or ways to secure showers? Meanwhile, we discover the head-honcho of the research lab in his swanky quarters looking through a photo album of pictures of Julia, various ages, and just Julia. He gets up. Smile. Takes out his contacts and looks through a microscope, then looks up at the screen - and we see his eyes are not quite human.
Previews for the season - show Jerri Ryan playing an evil corporate head-honcho, and more nasty human experiments, along with an even grosser and far more mutated Peter. The teaser is - "you won't believe the depths that Helix will go this season, who how we'll shock you."
Is it just me or is tv into shocking audiences now? Look, I don't know about you, but I'm pretty much shock proof. I'd be more interested if they spent less time on the cool and rather gross special effects and shocks, and more time on character development, dialogue and writing.
Keep in mind, I was able to write that review - when I basically fast-forwarded through most of the episode and only watched snippets.
The series reminds me a lot of the Ridely Scott film Prometheus, but not in a good way. It has the same dumb dialogue, poor plotting and focuses far too much on special effects and shock value.
Overall rating? D (Really not worth your time.)
The story is about how the little decisions people make affect others in ways that they can't possibly begin to imagine. To ensure the reader gets that - there's an epilogue spelling out how if the characters in the novel made different decisions...their lives and the lives of everyone they knew would turn out differently. Also, we can't blame ourselves for everything - since our decisions and choices aren't isolated but rather they are compounded by the decisions and choices of everyone else. In this respect, The Husband's Secret reminded me a great deal of the film The Cloud Atlas. Also like that film, I felt at times that the writer needed to trust her readers more - although, after reading reviews of the novel on Good Reads and Amazon - a lot of readers appear to be a wee bit dense. And apparently require explanations.
Other than that - it was an entertaining and thoughtful novel, with the writer taking the time to delve into the messy emotions. Told in a stream of consciousness style, and in the limited points of view of three suburban Australian wives and mothers. Did at times feel like a throw-back tale to the 1970s and 80s, even though it took place in more modern times.
(Ghod it makes me feel old saying that.)
I do recommend it, but with the caveat that the writer does explain more than she should, and it is told in stream-of-consciousness, which is not everyone's cup of tea. Also it's female centric, the men are important, but we are never in their point of view.
2. Helix - is the new Syfy channel horror series that is getting touted by various critics. Personally, I don't get the appeal. They've compared it to Fringe, which I suppose makes sense since both are about illegal medical experimentation conducted by crazy governments and corporations with wildly disasterous results- but that's where the comparison ends. Fringe was much better written. And had more compelling characters. This one, not so much. Fringe also had a sense of humor, which most likely came with better writers. Sure it too had its cliche moments and plot contrivances, but none quite as predictable or silly as Helix.
Granted, I'm not a true horror fan. For one thing? I scare easily. Even Helix could scare me. It really doesn't take much. And well, I don't like gore. So that's two strikes against the show before it even began. But the critics made me curious, so I tried it.
Fast-forwarded through the gory, scary bits, and realized okay, not only can I predict what will happen next, but I also can figure out the entire story - without having to rewatch anything I fast-forwarded over. You know something is off - if you can fast-forward and realize you didn't really miss anything important. It was two hours. And it could be in told in 30 minutes. Tight this story isn't. And that's sort of mandatory for horror films. Pacing in a horror series or thriller is 90% of it.
The plot is a CDC investigator, played by Billy Campbell (who is aging rather well by the way) is selected by his ex-wife, a fellow investigator/researcher, to lead a team into an Artic research lab, where a dangerous contagion has broken out. They believe it is a retrovirus. The lab contacted the ex-wife, Doctor Walker, played by the actress who looks a lot like the star of Prometheus and the Swedish version of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, to investigate the break-out and help them contain it and determine its cause. The military is also involved and has asked the CDC to share jurisdiction. Campbell's character only agrees to go when he's told that one of the three patients contaminated is his brother, Peter. Peter, we're later told by a veternarian on the team, frakked Campbell's wife. (By the way, they use frakked instead of fucked in this series - which is a shout-out to BSG, which in turn was produced by Ron Moore, who is also producing this series. That's where any similarity between either series dies. If you are expecting the great writing on BSG or even the uneven but still half-way stellar writing of Deep Space Nine, you are going to be sorely disappointed.) The Vet tells all of this to Dr. Jordan, Prof Campbell's wet-behind-the-ears but oh so earnet and pretty student researcher, who has been selected to come along for the ride. The Vet is rather fun, Dr. Jones - I think is her name. She's actually the only interesting character in the series, and the least cliche.
Upon reaching the lab - we're told up front that the helicopter isn't staying but the military base is only 200 yards away and they can come back quickly. The military support, is one guy, who we're told has never fired a gun - yet he was in Iraq and in South America.
But mainly doing desk duty, and good at plumbing and systems. (See shady military guy written all over this guy's face, the good Doctor Jones doesn't quite trust him.) They visit Peter and discover that he's gone a wee bit insane, and almost infects his brother with his drawn blood - which has turned black. The head honcho at the lab is less than forthcoming with any information, he doesn't tell the team that the brother was doing illegal medical experiments on rats. Or that they had reeses monkeys - even though the vet asks him about it point blank and sort of knows that they had to have monkeys, because that's how you pass disease to humans.
Of course they were deliberately creating a virus as a military weapon - that's sort of a given. Hello, nasty corporation with an unregulated research lab in the middle of the artic with a military presence nearby? Why the CDC doesn't figure it out, is contrived for plot purposes. The writers don't want them to. Most of the first episode is the CDC slowly, and I do mean slowly, figuring out that something is out of wack. The next episode is what is out of wack. (Hello, they have created a virus that turns people into mutants or annihilates them completely. What's to figure out? And they've invited you to either help spread it, contain it, or develop it. That bit is up in the air.) Just in case, we don't feel dread - in a video, Peter does a hand gesture - that Prof Campbell remembers meaning run like hell.
Apparently their father was a mean drunk.
Julia Walker discovers that the substance Peter was injecting the rats with was a deadly B virus that turned the rates into perfect receptors and agents of the virus, rewiring their brains so that they would feel compelled to infect others with the virus. This is done by spitting black blood into their mouths in a sort of gruesome kiss. OR you can just inject them. But the kissing approach is easier. It's also heavily implied in more than one scene that her father is the head honcho of the research lab, but she doesn't know it. That's why she's been brought there.
Peter, who is now a full agent of the virus, with little humanity left, escapes isolation and proceeds to infect as many people as possible, while killing those who won't comply. It should be noted that he does it with the song San Jose playing in the background. Not sure why but it's always playing - apparently it's Peter's personal soundtrack. This causes a bit of a panic, and various researchers want to leave the facility. Others, who have been infected, are upset about being quarantined and keep trying to escape - mainly by attacking the CDC investigators. A hairless mutated monkey attacks Dr. Jones, but she's saved by shady military guy. The shady military guy kills a researcher who attempts to escape the lab - after the guy tells him that they were conducting illegal medical experiments. Another patient, an infected woman, tells Dr. Jones, that they were creating a virus as a weapon, but didn't know it - but should have.
Dr. Jordan keeps getting captured and almost infected - first by Peter, who steals morphine and scampers off like a human spider. And later by the infected researchers attempting to escape. Actually she gets grabbed twice by the infected researchers. Outside of playing damsel, I'm not really sure what her purpose is. We're told she's smart - but I fail to see much evidence of it.
At the end of the two hour or two part episode, Peter shows up while Julia is taking a shower and kisses her - ensuring she's infected, although she is in the shower - so maybe not? Nice, they are clearly going for the contrast there - you are cleaning yourself, but you can't be clean or free from infection. All I thought was - damn, they don't have locks or ways to secure showers? Meanwhile, we discover the head-honcho of the research lab in his swanky quarters looking through a photo album of pictures of Julia, various ages, and just Julia. He gets up. Smile. Takes out his contacts and looks through a microscope, then looks up at the screen - and we see his eyes are not quite human.
Previews for the season - show Jerri Ryan playing an evil corporate head-honcho, and more nasty human experiments, along with an even grosser and far more mutated Peter. The teaser is - "you won't believe the depths that Helix will go this season, who how we'll shock you."
Is it just me or is tv into shocking audiences now? Look, I don't know about you, but I'm pretty much shock proof. I'd be more interested if they spent less time on the cool and rather gross special effects and shocks, and more time on character development, dialogue and writing.
Keep in mind, I was able to write that review - when I basically fast-forwarded through most of the episode and only watched snippets.
The series reminds me a lot of the Ridely Scott film Prometheus, but not in a good way. It has the same dumb dialogue, poor plotting and focuses far too much on special effects and shock value.
Overall rating? D (Really not worth your time.)