Riverworld (2010)

I loved the first book. I really liked the second book. I thought the third book was really good. Sometime while reading the fourth book, I decided to find out how many there were and saw the number to be around a dozen. Okay. I could do a dozen. While still reading the fourth book, I found that my list had been incomplete, or at least told thus by a reputable source and gave up. I had been enjoying the books, but they were getting slower, as each new book introduced a bunch of new characters and pushed the goals farther and farther away. Farmer never really resolved any story arcs in those first books, because after all, the characters are immortal. But, I stand by my initial reaction, and still think this is a brilliant idea for a series. Someday, when it's complete and I'm caught up on m reading list, I may dive back in. Someday.
I watched the 2003 movie and was greatly disappointed. What I didn't know at the time was that it was a pilot for a television series that never got picked up by Sci-Fi (remember Syfy didn't show wrestling?). It makes sense that you would only show a little of the story if you were going for 13 or 22 episodes or more. But the earlier movie glossed over some of what I thought was crucial stuff in the first book. Now, I knew going in that this was a reboot and a mini-series by the same folks who brought us Tin Man and Alice, both quite enjoyable re-imaginings of the Oz stories and the Wonderlands stories, respectively. I've got to say that all in all, they were more faithful to the concept of Riverworld, even if choosing a different main character.
This movie did leave a lot to be desired, but I don't blame them for it. A large part of the series that I thoroughly enjoyed would be considered worldbuilding and backstory. I liked reading how Sam Clemens gathered people together to build the riverboat. I also liked that each time they were born anew, they were naked back where they started. I liked that people from similar times and places came back together, and i especially liked that they all spoke their native languages. I liked that there some neanderthals that were part of the mix. I loved reading how science was being rediscovered in a fast forward fashion as various learned people gathered together. I do understand why this would be good television. I had half hoped that since this was being called a reboot, that they would start at the very beginning and show the rise of Clemens, but at the same time, since I knew that Syfy did not pick it up as a series, I hoped that they at least got through that first major story arc with out giving up too much. I guess I kind of got this second bit.
The two complaints about the way this mini-series was handled are minor, more nit-picks. First, if you are going to have a Japanese character, pick a Japanese actress. Jeananne was good as Tomoe Gozen, but it was distracting. Second, and this is bigger now that I think about it, if you are trying to back in a dozen books, do not spend precious seconds here and there showing scenery. You can show the beauty and the majesty of the environment while moving the story along. There was at least enough time wasted on panoramic and pastoral shots for one more it not two more scenes that could have been spent filling in details.
I am glad I watched it, though, even if it is left a bit open at the end. There was just the right mix of a complete story for the mini-series, with enough hint of what could come if they got picked up by the network. If only the execs had found this as appealing as I did and had taken their eyes off of the pro wrestlers for a bit.

Riverworld on IMDb

Alice (2009)

I don't remember the first time that I read Alice in Wonderland, but I do recall a long semester spent with it in college in a philosophy class. Spending hours arguing about what the White Knight was really saying and what Carroll's meta-message was by giving the White Knight such speech was interesting and aggravating. That's kind of how I feel about the work of Lewis Carroll in general. Ironically,, I don't remember anything that the White Knight says, the only quote from Carroll, indeed from practically all of literature, is from 'Through the Looking Glass' - "The time has come," the walrus said, "to talk of many things. Of shoes and ships and sealing wax and whether pigs have wings."
This movie (as I watched it) was originally a mini series on Syfy and her sister cable company in Canada. That turns out to be a really good thing. The folks that produced this movie were the same ones who did Tin Man - the re-interpretation of the Wizard of Oz in 2007. In my opinion, they did better with interpreting and re-imagining Carroll's work than they did with Baum, but I enjoyed Tin Man very much, too. Though called 'Alice' this project really brings in elements of both books. Thematically, it also borrows a bit from the Narnia books, not to mention stylistically from the recent Narnia movies. Speaking of style, you can tell that this is not made by an U.S. production company. The first give-away is one of many mad romp chases where figures go up on one foot, arms wheeling as they turn corners. A nice nod to the BBC and it's action/adventure/comedy programs. You know, maybe that's a Canadian thing, too. I should look into that - the only Canadian program that I follow is The Murdoch Mysteries, while lacking the Keystone-Copesque chases, do share in a certain lack of grittiness, while maintaining the serious elements, which is the second hint that this was not from the U.S. Serious conversations were had, very dramatic scenes with no blood, profanity or nudity - not that there is anything with those things as I quite enjoy all three in the correct context - it's quite a different tone.
I liked this movie from top to bottom, beginning to end. Very little time is spent in the "real" world but what is in a setting that looks like New York City, though perhaps cleaner (I've heard Toronto described as NYC, but cleaner with nicer people). Most of the movie takes place in Wonderland as is appropriate to the story. Stylistically, this movie has got it going on. There is a great city that reminds me at times of Brazil (the movie, not the country) and of Coruscant from the Star Wars universe, because the 'ground' level is many stories above the actual ground - hundreds of feet. The city is seemingly deserted because no one much likes going outside and looks appropriately fecund. It is counterposted with the Queen of Heart's palace which is portrayed as a casino in a style cum the remake of the Prisoner series (the visually interesting series starring Sir Ian McKellen). Both places are set in a pristine setting of lakes, forested hills and snowcapped mountains. The third population centers only houses one individual, the White Knight, and it is the destroyed city once ruled over by the Red King before the Queen of Hearts waged war on it killing all but the aforementioned knight. It is this latter city that pulls from the Narnia movies, and looks like a nice setting for a fantasy movie in it's own right. So why doesn't anyone live outside of the city or the casino? That would be for fear of being eaten by the jabberwock, which is more CGI dragon-crossed-with-velociraptor than the horror that I always imagined which oculd only be killed by the vorpal blade (this bit is not party of the movie at all).
I really like the cast for this film. I am not familiar with the two leads, Caterina Scorsone and Andrew-Lee Potts who play Alice and Hatter, respectively. They do a good job and I found the romance between the two to not only be believable but a nice use of screen time. There are a couple of real pros that really hold the production together, though. Kathy Bates plays the Queen of Hearts and Colm Meany plays her husband, Winston. These two are fantastic actors and hit the mark every time in their roles. The third leg of the tripod that makes this movie work is Matt Frewer as the very eccentric White Knight. Frewer is one of those actors that can really pull of daffy without it seeming inappropriate.
There are other performers in much smaller roles generally, all of which do a good job. Notably, Tim Curry plays Dodo - when did he become so creepy? The last thing I saw Curry in before this was Criminal Minds where he plays a seriously skeezy serial killer. Actually, now that I think about it, he must have filmed these right around the same time. It's something about being a large man, who has put on some weight and lost all semblance of a chin, but still retains the ability to move like he did when he was younger, surprising the viewer, or at least this viewer, with his spryness. I'm guessing this is due to his years of theatre training and work. It's also, maybe even more so, the unshaven look and dark eye liner - both in Alice and in Criminal Minds.
I quite liked the political elements added to the story in the 're-imagining' of the Lewis Carroll books. It's not a story about a little girl trying to get home, it's a story about a woman trying to find herself and to find  something to stand up for. It's also about running, chasing and verbal jousting. And did I mention the pink flamingo homage to Return of the Jedi? You'll just to have to find that for yourself.

Alice on IMDb
Alice on Wikipedia

ParaNorman (2012)

I know that I'm supposed to like this movie because it's animated and it's all about people accepting others for who they are, blah, blah, blah. It's very well produced. I'll give them that. But, the story was pretty mediocre and predictable. I really don't like this style of animation, but it was done well. I am always confused by this type of animated movie - the characters and scenery are caricatures and fairly unrealistic, but the effort put into the physics of the hair is extremely realistic where applicable. It probably goes back to the Incredibles. That movie was amazing, I think we can all agree on that. So, these mediocre films come along and copy it's style and hope that is enough to parlay into box office and DVD gold.
The one thing about this movie that I really did like, and this seems like a good time to mention that I didn't hate any of it I just didn't see much in this film to recommend it, was the special effects when Norman is confronting Agatha. That green lightning-ectoplasm-plasma stuff was pretty cool. Stylistically, it didn't really match with the rest of the film, almost as if done by a different animation studio.

ParaNorman at IMDb

Hemlock Grove

Hemlock Grove
by
Brian McGreevy
read by
Sean Runnette

This book came into my hot little hands thanks to the internet. Apparently, they're making a television show based on it. You know who 'they' are. A site that I regularly read pointed out the fact and got me thinking about the book. It also got my friend thinking about and she, luckily for me, knew that I could get the audio version.
Taking a break from one long book and ready to dive into another long one, I thought it might be nice for a break - something I could listen to in a day or two. Reading that McGreevy was attempting to redefine what is considered a Gothic novel piques my curiosity and I got about listening.
I almost didn't make it. Several times throughout the first disk I kept telling myself, "must give it at least one full disk". But even at the end of the first disk, I almost didn't put in the second. This is one of those times that doing the audiobook came and bit me in the butt. The book turns out to be great, and in fact was very good from the beginning. What I was having a hard time with was the presentation by Mr. Runnette. The narrator should have been voiced by a younger sounding voice. The main characters are high school aged boys, and Runnette's voice sounds like what you would expect their father's older brother to sound like. That in and of itself is not a turn-off, I mean just think of the absolutely wonderful job Jim Dale does with the Harry Potter books, but that was not the only detraction in the presentation. Runnette sounded so very tired and was lacking in both energy and enthusiasm. Many of the main characters are young and a couple are down-right spunky, but the reading was plodding and it really took until probably the fourth disk to get the hand of it and accept that sometimes the story is worth it to deal with a lousy presentation.
I don't want to make it sound like Runnette is horrible, he's not. His enunciation is clear and he is consistent. He just wasn't the right reader for this book.
McGreevy actually makes his approach to Gothic and the supernatural seem fresh. He does this by letting our understanding of what is happening grow organically and you often find yourself suspecting something long before you know it. I say suspect because not everything is how it seems to be. Personally, I tend to love world-building books that put as much time into developing the background as they do the story. This is not one of those books. At times, especially in the beginning of the story, it was hard to tell just how supernatural the book was versus how gullible or naive the young characters are. Eventually you come to realize that the vast majority of people, especially adults, do not believe in supernatural creatures and for a while you flirt with the idea that some of it or maybe even all of it is in the head of a couple of the characters, feeding off of each other's imagination.
There are some nice touches in this tale. One of the more obvious jokes is the name of the younger sister of one of the main characters - Shelly happens to be a seven foot tall behemoth of dead flesh made living by a scientific process. The joke, or perhaps it's commentary, that is made several times throughout the book is that werewolves and the undead may be bad, but this one is an actress! I also liked that McGreevy wrote about Pennsylvania. He gives Hemlock Grove a real sense of place, which is especially important considering the lineage of one of the main characters being descended from Gypsies.
Add this book to your list of genre books to read, but forget about the audiobook. I see from the cover of the audiobook that McGreevy is involved with the adaptation of this story to the small screen and I hope that goes well for him, but that he comes back to writing novels. I look forward to seeing more from him.

Hemlock Grove available at Amazon
Hemlock Grove Audiobook available at Amazon

The Bourne Legacy (2012)

It's interesting that the Bourne Legacy doesn't have Bourne in it. Sure, there's that one still shot of Bourne on a news program. And they do talk about him a lot. But this movie was very definitely made in spite of Matt Damon's absence. You know those films you see where the actor has died part way through filming and instead of abandoning the project, they hobble something together to release anyway? This is not one of those. Which is good, not only because it would be a terrible, horrible tragedy if we lost Matt Damon, but they don't try to use any footage of him, or body doubles. Instead, the filmmakers went the route that I've seen some television series take, like CSI Crime Scene Investigation, for example - when Grissom is gone for the first season but everyone still talks about him because that is what real people would do, not just pretend that he had never been there. This is one of those films, though it might be more appropriate to consider this a film set in the "Bourne Universe" than an actual Bourne film, though there are a few things that happen in the auxillary storylines that are applicable to Bourne (if Damon ever reprises the role - which he said he would love to do in an interview on NPR).
So, Bourne is part of Treadwell along with a bunch of other guys. Then there is Blackbriar which gets activated or at least brought into the spotlight to help clean up the Treadwell mess. Then there is Alcon (or Alcom) that Aaron Cross (Jeremy Renner) is part of which is a program built off the legacy of Treadwell and Blackbriar. And then there is a new off-the-books program called ARX which builds on Alcon but the agents lack empathy and are even more morally lacking. On the flipside of the equation, we have the CIA running Treadwell and involved in Blackbriar, but not the other two. This is where Admiral Turso (Stacy Keach) and Colonel Byer (Edward Norton) come in. At one point I think there group is called National Security Research something-or-other. I guess on the face of things it doesn't matter - we have good guys who are doing their patriotic duty and we have the spymasters who manipulate them and periodically decide to kill them all off to keep from getting in trouble for the illegal things they are doing. I might need to actually get into the Ludlum books that all fo these films are based on just so that I can figure out who is who. Of course, the conspiracy part of it is appealing to me. I have heard from a number of varied sources that the Bourne books are a good read.
Cross is not Bourne. Renner is not Damon. Renner doesn't try to be Damon, and the director and writer didn't try and make Cross be a Bourne-knock-off. They're just a couple of blokes in the same line of work who get the short shrift and just want to be left alone. They'll kill if they have to, but only so they can get away. That's pretty much where the similarity ends, but that's enough to get the audience on their side. Cross knows who he is, and more importantly knows who he was before he became an agent and he doesn't want to be that guy again, nor does he want to die. The good doctor, Dr. Marta Shearing (Rachel Weisz) is a loose end that the CIA and/or Byer's people want wrapped up, but also the person that Cross thinks can help him. She's a very smart lady who doesn't have a clue what is going on. Fortunately for her, she listens to Cross and helps him, which in turn keeps her alive.
One of the things that I like about the Bourne films (all four of them) is that the good guys get hurt and are actually slowed down because of it. I also like how much grey area there is to play in, nearly all of the immediate threats to the protagonists are just people following orders without knowing why they're doing what they're doing. Even the main heavies are doing what they do because they think it serves a greater good, namely being the defense of the U.S.
Renner is the hot action guy of the moment. Coming off a stron performance in the Avengers, he hits the mark with the Bourne Legacy even as he awaits Hansel and Gretel dropping into theatres. I like the guy. He can act and pull off some good action sequences in a believable manner. I hope to see many more films from him, of which I hope at least several he's playing Hawkeye.

The Bourne Legacy on IMDb