Sunday musings...
What I'm Reading
---"The City and the Stars" by Arthur C. Clarke.
I've always loved Clarke, devoting an impressive shelf in my racks for his works. My favorite (as is many peoples) is "Childhood's End", but I'm quite enjoying this book. The story's bold premise (dealing with immortality, organized religion and the very elements that makes Man human) takes place a billion years in our future.
I've always bristled at the attention given certain contemporary works that take a futurist route in their storytelling. Many props are given to films like I, ROBOT, A.I., and MINORITY REPORT for the fact that they hired a think tank to mold ideas about the time period in which the movies are based. And though the results are sometimes interesting (I loved the virtual keyboard and the daffy "ball" contraption in MINORITY), we just have to look back at Clarke's prolific output for some really high thinking.
His far flung future is bursting with fabulous extrapolations... and he thought this stuff up in 1952!
Great read.
--- "Choke" by Chuck Palahniuk.
I've been a fan since I picked up "Haunted", which had me very quickly backtracking his catalog. My favorite is probably "Fight Club", but "Choke" was wonderful reading. His perspective is unique, and in many ways shared by myself -- though, unlike me he can articulate his thoughts into sometimes profound words. His take on addiction, prevalent in most if not all of his works, is side-splittingly funny and depressingly spot-on.
If all you know of Chuck is the film version of "Fight Club", pick up something else by the man.
---"The Book of Renfield" by Tim Lucas
I enjoyed "Throat Sprockets" enough, but found his latest novel pretty unreadable. My interest in the book was based more on the author than the subject, and I suspect that hurt me. I know little of the various film and literary incarnations of Renfield, and found myself wholly uninterested in Lucas' take. Also, the unfriendly structure did nothing to suck me into his world. I love Lucas' work as a historian & journalist. I really liked his first novel. This one... not so much.
--- "All-Star Batman & Robin, the Boy Wonder" by Frank Miller and Jim Lee
The first issue had me worried -- the last thing I was interested in was a ponderous re-telling of Dick Grayson's rise to superhero-dom. Subsequent issue have grabbed me, though. Miller is now responsible for Batman's single greatest dialogue stream:
"What, are you dense? Are you retarded or something? Who the hell do you think I am? I'm the goddamn Batman."
What I'm Watching
--- A HISTORY OF VIOLENCE
I finally caught up with Cronenberg's latest, and while I don't think it ranks in his top two or three, it's certainly one of the best films from the past year. I don't think enough has been acknowledged about Cronenberg's ability to elevate actors to career roles. Let's take a quick look:
James Woods in VIDEODROME
Christopher Walken in THE DEAD ZONE
Jeff Goldblum in THE FLY
Jeremy Irons in DEAD RINGERS
Peter Weller in NAKED LUNCH
James Spader in CRASH
Ralph Fiennes in SPIDER
Viggo Mortensen in A HISTORY OF VIOLENCE
If I was an actor, I'd be begging my agent to get me a meeting with Cronenberg for MAPS TO THE STARS.
--- "Lost"
The only drama I currently watch on television. After skipping all but the last episode of season one, I am incontravertibly, unabashedly, uncharacteristically hooked. I haven't made time to watch an hour of TV since the first season of THE WEST WING. Although...
--- "My Name is Earl" & "The Office"
... I guess this may count. These two shows add up to 44 minutes of Thursday evening bliss. Outside of South Park, the only half hour comedies I have watched in years.
What Else I'm Doing
-Writing my screenplay, LEAH'S DAD, about a vaccine that has been administered to most children for the past 30 years which turns out to have fatal side effects. The result is two generations of people who know within a week or so of when they are going to die. It makes for a scary world.
-Cleaning up my lawn. Snow came early last year and cut my fall clean up short.
-Finding myself buying too many DVDs. A HISTORY OF VIOLENCE, JOHN CARPENTER'S CIGARETTE BURNS, KING KONG, and for some reason, BASEKETBALL, in the last week.
-Washing my hands of MAGDALENA'S BRAIN. See post below.
-Enjoying Howard Stern on Sirius satellite radio. The show's never been better.
-Reading my following blogs:
Steve Bissette: Myrant
Tim Lucas: Video Watchblog
G. Michael Dobbs: Out of the Inkwell
Be sure to check out Bissette's blog for a sweet little write up on me, my movies, and my blog. Thanks, boy.
---"The City and the Stars" by Arthur C. Clarke.
I've always loved Clarke, devoting an impressive shelf in my racks for his works. My favorite (as is many peoples) is "Childhood's End", but I'm quite enjoying this book. The story's bold premise (dealing with immortality, organized religion and the very elements that makes Man human) takes place a billion years in our future.
I've always bristled at the attention given certain contemporary works that take a futurist route in their storytelling. Many props are given to films like I, ROBOT, A.I., and MINORITY REPORT for the fact that they hired a think tank to mold ideas about the time period in which the movies are based. And though the results are sometimes interesting (I loved the virtual keyboard and the daffy "ball" contraption in MINORITY), we just have to look back at Clarke's prolific output for some really high thinking.
His far flung future is bursting with fabulous extrapolations... and he thought this stuff up in 1952!
Great read.
--- "Choke" by Chuck Palahniuk.
I've been a fan since I picked up "Haunted", which had me very quickly backtracking his catalog. My favorite is probably "Fight Club", but "Choke" was wonderful reading. His perspective is unique, and in many ways shared by myself -- though, unlike me he can articulate his thoughts into sometimes profound words. His take on addiction, prevalent in most if not all of his works, is side-splittingly funny and depressingly spot-on.
If all you know of Chuck is the film version of "Fight Club", pick up something else by the man.
---"The Book of Renfield" by Tim Lucas
I enjoyed "Throat Sprockets" enough, but found his latest novel pretty unreadable. My interest in the book was based more on the author than the subject, and I suspect that hurt me. I know little of the various film and literary incarnations of Renfield, and found myself wholly uninterested in Lucas' take. Also, the unfriendly structure did nothing to suck me into his world. I love Lucas' work as a historian & journalist. I really liked his first novel. This one... not so much.
--- "All-Star Batman & Robin, the Boy Wonder" by Frank Miller and Jim Lee
The first issue had me worried -- the last thing I was interested in was a ponderous re-telling of Dick Grayson's rise to superhero-dom. Subsequent issue have grabbed me, though. Miller is now responsible for Batman's single greatest dialogue stream:
"What, are you dense? Are you retarded or something? Who the hell do you think I am? I'm the goddamn Batman."
What I'm Watching
--- A HISTORY OF VIOLENCE
I finally caught up with Cronenberg's latest, and while I don't think it ranks in his top two or three, it's certainly one of the best films from the past year. I don't think enough has been acknowledged about Cronenberg's ability to elevate actors to career roles. Let's take a quick look:
James Woods in VIDEODROME
Christopher Walken in THE DEAD ZONE
Jeff Goldblum in THE FLY
Jeremy Irons in DEAD RINGERS
Peter Weller in NAKED LUNCH
James Spader in CRASH
Ralph Fiennes in SPIDER
Viggo Mortensen in A HISTORY OF VIOLENCE
If I was an actor, I'd be begging my agent to get me a meeting with Cronenberg for MAPS TO THE STARS.
--- "Lost"
The only drama I currently watch on television. After skipping all but the last episode of season one, I am incontravertibly, unabashedly, uncharacteristically hooked. I haven't made time to watch an hour of TV since the first season of THE WEST WING. Although...
--- "My Name is Earl" & "The Office"
... I guess this may count. These two shows add up to 44 minutes of Thursday evening bliss. Outside of South Park, the only half hour comedies I have watched in years.
What Else I'm Doing
-Writing my screenplay, LEAH'S DAD, about a vaccine that has been administered to most children for the past 30 years which turns out to have fatal side effects. The result is two generations of people who know within a week or so of when they are going to die. It makes for a scary world.
-Cleaning up my lawn. Snow came early last year and cut my fall clean up short.
-Finding myself buying too many DVDs. A HISTORY OF VIOLENCE, JOHN CARPENTER'S CIGARETTE BURNS, KING KONG, and for some reason, BASEKETBALL, in the last week.
-Washing my hands of MAGDALENA'S BRAIN. See post below.
-Enjoying Howard Stern on Sirius satellite radio. The show's never been better.
-Reading my following blogs:
Steve Bissette: Myrant
Tim Lucas: Video Watchblog
G. Michael Dobbs: Out of the Inkwell
Be sure to check out Bissette's blog for a sweet little write up on me, my movies, and my blog. Thanks, boy.
posted by Marty at 2:31 PM
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