- Night Skies
- We Own This City
- Young Justice: Phantoms
- The Time Traveler's Wife
- Obi-Wan Kenobi
- Ms. Marvel
Den of the Cyphered Wolf
Monday, June 13, 2022
Stuff I'm Watching or Have Watched Recently
Saturday, May 21, 2022
Review: Love, Death and Robots: Volume 3
Love, Death and Robots volume 1 was really good but each return to the anthology has had diminishing returns. Specifically, volume 1 had twists that would turn each preceding story on its head leaving the viewer wondering what they had just witnessed.
That's not really the case in volume 3 which is overall more predictable, more "what you see is what you get."
It still looks gorgeous, but it no longer feels as if each short justifies its own existence.
Then again maybe it doesn't have to. Each short is still watchable even if I can't help but compare it to the absolute surprise and surprises that comprised volume 1.
The best short of season 3 is probably "Swarm" but as soon as it's done introducing its premise becomes obvious about the direction it's taking.
David Fincher's "Bad Traveling" feels like it has to be more than it is only to reveal at the last second that it is.
In a vacuum, volume 3 is watchable, especially considering its format and runtime. Each episode is only about 15 minutes long and there are only 9 of them. All in all, each season is about the length of a good movie. But it feels as if the potential of the first volume has been lost.
Sunday, September 6, 2020
My Thoughts on Ancillary Justice
So I found I really like The Imperial Radche series. And of course, when I finish a book, or movie, or game I like I surf the internet to see what other people thought about it and they hated it.
Friday, August 14, 2020
So... Infinity Train is back
So Infinity Train is back. It was one of the best new animated shows of 2019 so I'm really excited to see where it goes. In case you don't know the basic premise is that kids are whisked away to a magical train to deal with their "issues" via puzzle challenges designed to teach them something. Which sounds kind of like every other kid adventure story except that Infinity Train sticks to its guns. These are kids with actual issues that could cause them to turn to the dark side if unchecked, no matter how likable they are now and the train IS... NOT... SCREWING ... AROUND in its quest to beat some sense into them before things go south.
I don't want to get too heavy into spoilers but the interesting thing about season 3 and why I'm so excited is that we were introduced to this season's protagonists as minor antagonists in season 2 who have utterly refused the train's guidance so this season it's going to be a heavier lift to redeem them than kids who already feel kind lousy about whatever is screwing with their heads and just want things to shake out alright.
Like I said I don't want to get into spoilers. While each season of Infinity Train tells a complete story the episodes themselves are really short. So short that just giving a description kind of gives it away. Hell, it takes season 1 like two or three episodes to explain the logic of the train and even then the season has a few plot twists that turn everything on its head making it so that even talking who the main characters of season two creates a giant spoiler.
Wednesday, August 5, 2020
Black Sci-fi/Fantasy Books Through July and Early August 2020
- Lillith's Brood: I've read Lilith's Brood before. In fact I consider it to be the most complicated, densely intellectually packed novel I've ever read. I kept stopping to just mull over what the main character said for a bit. It's a book of ideas. N. K. Jemisin's writing style kind of reminds me of that and it has similar themes of change and imperialism so I kind of want to revisit it.
- Midnight Robber: Brown Girl in the Ring was Nalo Hopkinson's debut. When I read writers talking about writing many are jaded by the fact that their first novel defines them when they've grown (mostly I'm talking about William Gibson and Neuromancer) If I find an author I like I kind of feel I owe it to them to give later stuff a chance and a lot of people have said that Midnight Robber is a better book.
- Children of Blood and Bone: I know next to nothing about this one but it keeps showing up in my recommendations.
Thursday, April 16, 2020
Me Bloviating About Economic Policy and COVID-19
DO Y'ALL WANT TO DIE!!! HELL DO YOU WANT ALL OF US TO DIE! WHAT THE HELL ARE Y'ALL DOIN'. STAY THE HELL HOME DAMN IT!!!
But then I calmed down. And realized once you scrape away the trumpisms, and confederate flags, and the guns, they do have a point.
Not being able to work for a lot of people means not being able to pay your bills and that sucks. I want to be clear. I'm not talking about the cult of work where people just want to "get back to normal" and start "doing stuff again". I mean folks where the disruption caused by COVID-19 will have serious life-altering consequences. Folks who can't buy groceries. Folks who might lose their cars. Folks who are worried about their kids dealing with permanent losses to their educational attainment.
The best way to mitigate that is finding ways to essentially "pay people to stay home." For a lot on the right paying people not to work is anathema. So I doubt we're going to get the response we really need to encourage the types of behaviors that would create optimal public health outcomes. But I can think about it.
I can think about UBI. I can think about paid sick leave (without the loopholes). I can think about college debt forgiveness. I can think about medicare for all. I can think about paycheck protection. I can think about a national moratorium on utility shutoffs and evictions.
And I want to be clear a lot of these things this pinko scum supported before the pandemic.
But then the question always becomes how do you pay for it.
Increasing the National Debt
My feelings on the national debt have been chiefly influenced by the 2008 financial crisis where a lot of economists I trust have stated that due to the politics of the era politicians didn't go far enough when it came to using public spending on programs to fix the crisis. There were lots of reasons for this but one of them were of debt hawks.
This is 2020 not 2008 and thus far I haven't really heard much from anybody on that front but generals always fight the last war. The real risk of national debt spending has nothing to do with moral imperatives but rather the risk that interest payments will crowd out other government spending in a death spiral that collapses the public sector.
To that end increasing the national debt to mitigate a larger or more immediate economic crisis is a good investment and just common sense.
Cutting Spending
...I live in Michigan. The last decade of public policy in this state has been robbing Paul to pay Peter. I honestly believe that there are not many more places to cut money from both the federal and state budgets that will not be felt. If not immediately eventually.
This is going to be a long crisis. The government is going to have to do a lot. And I have a fear that eventually to get anything done the representatives in both levels of government are going to ask for spending cuts in other areas. And I'm going to hate it. I'm going to hate it so much.
Raising Taxes
I have a firm belief that taxes are the price we pay for civilization. At the same time. A lot of people are hurting right now. Time for some wealth redistribution.
So I am in favor of essentially progressive tax reform (and a UBI) that would lay the burden of paying for this emergency on the people most able to do so without harm.
But I am also aware that those people are the most capable of utilizing and mobilizing the systems of economics and government to not do that.
Furthermore, the last few years have turned me into a jaded cynical bastard. We are not a society of self-sacrifice for the greater good. I wish we were. We are not.
Sunday, July 28, 2019
Well Arena's A Bust (For Me)
Sunday, July 7, 2019
The Moment
Sunday, May 19, 2019
It's Fine. I've Seen Worse.
Lost
The sixth season pretty much junked every interesting thing that was happening in the show by that point just to answer a bunch a fan questions and theories that had long since stopped being relevant when the writers had a clear answer to shut everybody up.
Heroes
....
Thursday, May 2, 2019
Colbeck's War on Social Studies
There are the rules and then there are the rules. What's more important than respecting a dead piece of paper, or even the system of is government it created is respecting the revolutionary ideas that it represented. Those ideas are the legacy of the founding fathers that we pass on to our posterity.
Those are core democratic values, the slow forward march against the rule of a dictator who could bar the doors of parliament and disband his country's legislature at whim. Those values did not start nor did they end with a single document least of all not one written by the United States but rather centuries of ongoing ever continuing debate about what constitutes the freedom, what constitutes power and the relation between the two and from where they derive.
And That is a civics class.
Or if you want to get fancy a political philosophy class.
Let's Talk About Equality
So Colbeck and to be fair much of the Republican party feels the government should not be responsible for equality of outcomes. I disagree but that is not the point. That is a larger and longer discussion. The point is that Colbeck is wary of the implications of the word equality and as a result wants to narrow the context of its use.
And I hate it.
When politicians argue over equality they are arguing over what seems to me to be implications of the ideal and this is no different. If we are all created equal does mean we should be all afforded by birth the same, rights, protections, privileges, obligations and opportunities under the law. If that is the case we have a long way to go on that score.
What does equality under the law actually mean?
Monday, January 28, 2019
My Thoughts on Titans
So after getting bored and cracking the tape on a free trial of DC Universe, I binged Titans and... I have no idea how I feel about it. So let me work my way through it.
The Good Stuff
Dick Grayson
So a common interpretation of Dick Grayson (Robin I/Nightwing/Batman but not that Batman) is that he is Batman (sometimes literally) if Batman were well adjusted. He's Batman if Batman was able to move past the death of his parents and have a life outside of the pain of the worst moment of his life.
I like the idea of showing that getting him to that point was a process. And I really like the idea the impetus for the Nightwing persona is that he's realizing he's starting to act a little too much like his mentor for his own comfort, showing that those differences are a deliberate choice on his behalf.
It's an interesting take on the character that I like.
The Supporting Cast and Cameos
Almost every interesting character that the audience doesn't have to stick around with for the duration is gangbusters. Hmm, it's like they're from another show or something.
Starfire
Yeah, I got stuff to say about the costume but I actually really like this version of Starfire especially once the show reveals what's actually going on with her. It's a bold choice that makes sense given the character's background and history.
On the other hand, it's the penultimate episode when they drop those bombs.
Shrug (I'm Still Processing How I Feel)
Deconstruction
This show is very much in that Kick-Ass deconstructionist place of showing why it would suuuuuuuck to actually be a super. And if you're main exposure to these characters is either of the cartoons it's going to be jarring.
I think what they do with the Robins makes it worth it, but if you're tired of gritty DC superhero deconstructions and just want hero classic this ain't your show.
Raven
So the vast majority of the plot deals with the Trigon arc which is probably either the second or first most well-known story arch of Teen Titans. But they make one big change and how you feel about the show is going to depend on how you feel about the one big change.
Raven is a normal kid.
Yes, she has powers but when stuff starts happening she knows jack all of the Trigon business.
She's just a normal kid, when... stuff starts happening.
I don't hate the change but it does mean this character is fundamentally different from any other version. It didn't bother me enough to drop the show but sometimes it could be jarring when it's plot relevant that Raven doesn't know what's going on when in almost every other telling of this story she's the only person who does.
The 90's Came Back
The show very much has the feel of a 90's prime time genre show, especially for the first few episodes. I actually like 90's primetime genre shows. They had cheesy campy sincerity that I can't help but respect.
But I also have no illusions that said campy sincerity could come off as unnaturalistic and disconnected from reality. (Sorry Buffy)
Raven's Mom
This is going to take spoilers. In almost every other version of the Trigon story I can think of Raven's mom is one the angels and is often showcased as THE reason why Raven doesn't just let the world burn.
Raven is traditionally one of those characters where it's very clear that for want of a nail she could have gone "the other way" and joined "the other team". But she doesn't largely because of the influence of her mom(s) and I don't know how I feel about taking that away from both of them.
The Bad Stuff
F/X
The effects get better as the show goes on, but it's very noticeable when they don't work and they very often don't work.
Hawk and Dove
So they reimagined Hawk and Dove in about the darkest way I can imagine short of going full-Watchman with it and I literally do not know how I feel about that There are a lot of moments with them that have emotional depth but there is one scene that has politics I disagree with so profoundly that it changed how I was perceiving these characters up until that point.
They may not be the bad guys but they sure as hell aren't the good guys the story thinks they are. Going back to the Watchmen example Watchman knows The Comedian is an asshole but this story is damn near convinced that Dove I is a saint and I'm sorry, no. No, he's not.
Starfire's Costume
I kind of hate Starfire's costume. It is just jarring and distracting for the whole thing. I don't hate the actress or the character. But, man I hate that costume.
On the other hand, Starfire has one of the most stripperific costumes in all of comics and there is no way to make that work. The costume needed to be redesigned. I just don't think the redesign works.
Everybody else is running around in relatively normal streetwear, at least until the Robins gear up, then... "Last Dance". Even the sorceress supreme is rocking a goth hoodie that wouldn't be given a second look in any high school cafeteria.
All that having been said, it doesn't excuse the bile that's been thrown the actress' way.
I Hate Cliffhanger Endings
Season one ends on a cliffhanger and I kind of hate it. My view of television writing is that the season finale is supposed to be a bookend. It shouldn't end the story but should leave things in a satisfying place. This season finale isn't satisfying. It's made worse by a bunch of obnoxious ads DC has been running that have basically been lying to the audience about what the episode is about. Dear god I hate those ads. Because that scenario they're selling does not make sense within the context of the story and as such it does not have the dramatic weight those ads are selling.
...
Screaming spoilers ahead Batman!
It's all in his head. The entire episode is taking place in Dick Grayson's head.
- Jason Todd didn't get wounded in action, permanently losing his ablity to walk
- And he sure as hell didn't advocate NOT killing the Joker.
- And for that matter Batman also sure as hell didn't decide to actually ace him anyway.
- Or kill cops
- Jim Gordon isn't dead.
- AND DICK GRAYSON DIDN'T KIL... FIGHT HIS SURROGATE FATHER!!!!!
THOSE ADS ARE LIES!!!!!!! NONE OF THAT HAPPENED AT LEAST NOT IN THE STORY PROPER!!!!! HELL NONE OF THAT COULD HAVE HAPPENED IN THE STORY PROPER!!!!! I HATE IT SO MUCH!!!!!!
They took an entire episode, their LAST episode of the season just to take a break from all of the interesting stuff going on just so they can say ROBIN'S FIGHTING BATMAN! But surprise. It's all in Grayson's head and I was pissed. Like if they actually had the balls to go there and have Dick Grayson decide Batman needed to be put down for the sake of Gotham that would be one thing. It's very in line with his character arc. It does interesting stuff with Jason Todd.
But it's very obvious this vision in his head and ultimately does not matter to the plot which just kicked into high gear. The show was teetering on being good and they finale got there with all the pieces being in place for a blowout and they wasted their last episode of the season.
Note: I deleted a link in this post to what I thought was just a movie quote not realizing that it had been edited near the end with a clip video of a real-life fight. I'm sorry I did not mean to do that.
Sunday, January 13, 2019
There Has to Be A Better Version of Ready Player One
So I saw Ready Player One and it filled me with disappointment, not rage, not anger but disappointment.
I didn't hate the movie but the more I rolled it around in my head the more I realize within it's bowels it had the potential to be so much more than it was.
I think a lot of that maybe a result of going into the movie with expectations of emptiness. I've only recently seen the movie but the internet is my playground. I was around when it was the big new thing to talk about and I didn't escape, "the dialogue" which centered around the book, which to be fair I have not read, having not much more than an excuse plot to take the audience on a walking 80's nostalgia tour.
And to be fair the movie is an adaptation. Elevating it any further than Spielberg already did would probably lead to something completely unrecognizable as Ready Player One but still, as it exists there are some many plot threads, characters, and ideas that the story could have explored and chosen not to.
Welcome to The Bad Future
As I ruminate I think of all of the wasted opportunities the movie had to be better but the worst is it's ending which almost makes me want to beat up on Spielberg as an old man who doesn't get the internet and maybe shouldn't have put in charge of a movie fundamentally about how we use technology... and then I remember he directed Jurrasic Park .and Minority Report, a movie that might as well be named "The Hubris of Silicon Valley"
If the man really wanted to create a polemic about the dangers of technology in the modern world even with his usual brand of humanistic optimism he could have.
Okay for those of you who haven't already seen the movie, the characters are about the future of and fighting in what is essentially a futuristic version of the internet.
And the movie has a golden opportunity to forge its creed about what the internet is, can be, and should be and its coda is... "the internet isn't the real world"
And that message seems so... 2002.
The movie goes through great lengths to signal to the audience that it's setting is a dystopia, that something has fundamentally broken down in society. It's not just that the characters we are following are poor the entire world is poor, the entire world is broken.
And what caused it. The consolidation of economic and/or political power into too few hands? Nope. The loss of individual privacy? Nope. Environmental devastation? Nope. Some sort of a pandemic? Nope. A depletion of limited resources? Nope. A degradation of culture that leads to the mass loss of critical thinking skills? Nope. The world becoming so automated that there is no-one left around who knows how to fix critical systems when they break. Nope. Rapid technological change creating economic and civil strife in a society unprepared for it? Nope. A societal prioritization of technological skill over emotional awareness. Nope. Fear of outside influence has caused the world to stagnate? Nope.
People spending too dang much time on the interwebs did us in.
To be certain there is a way to make the idea that the world ends when people spend too much time indulging in leisure activity without trying to solve critical problems compelling but this movie doesn't go there. Or maybe because my meat heart has been swapped with a cold dead machine.
Regardless that message as executed by this movie depends on believing that there is an online-offline binary I believe doesn't really exist anymore. The internet is nothing more than a highly advanced communications tool and most of it's problems are the same problems that exist in any communications tool.
Offline people act on the information they obtain online and vise versa.
Reference as Language
As mentioned I did not go into this movie blind and that caused me to lowere my expectations. I find the movie disappointing not because it's bad, but because as it went on I found myself becoming more and more invested in what could have been a pretty interesting commentary on how people use technology to communicate ideas in the modern world.
I am not the first or even the only person to point it out, but the movie doesn't really do anything with its references. My understanding is part of that was to fix the book where some members of the audience found the main character's narration explaining all the references obnoxious.
All the same, I would have enjoyed it if the references were used to communicate ideas the audience which is quite frankly how a lot of internet pop culture reference is used as a short to communicate complex thoughts and feelings via association with understood concepts.
Say Something, Anything!
I started the day I watched Ready Player One player one intending to binge Future Man and drifted off somewhere else. Don't ask. My life is complicated. But I couldn't help feel that Futureman does essentially what Ready Player One tries to do but better.
Future Man is essentially a series of extended plot references to 80's movies. But nearly every movie it references it also deconstructs and comments on the culture that birthed it.
P.S.
By the original purpose of this post was the to try to literally answer the question, is there a better version of this story which has so much potential", rather than writing a review. The more I thought about it the more I realize that Anime has explored the thematic territory of Ready Player One for years. Watch Lain, .Hack//Sign, and Paranoia Agent, hell half Satoshi Kon's filmography really.