Smallville

Another entry in the "I'll-get-around-to-watching-it-oh-it's-cancelled-already" catalog. The pilot hooked me but good. The introduction of Kryptonite was especially well done and even better, was not overplayed. Although the accompanying exposition was redundant. A little bit overplayed then ... it worked for me as long as I don't think about it too hard. Which is good when discussing Superman, because if you think about his alter-ego, well, it all falls apart. I mean, look at him. He's a freaking god, already, for the love of Mike! Who could be fooled by this!

Metropolis

More plotted than the version by Fritz lang, this take on the protodystopia has its own fascination. Lang's ur-fembot was a terror, to be sure, but more in a Carrie Nation / Ayn Rand vein than this version. Tima has been recast as a victim of circumstances and not really an active agent of the plan to crush der Volk, who by the way are also robots. Some striking imagery is at odds with the character design which would not offend the sensibility of Tin Tin.

Inu-Yasha

My girlfriend's children spent part of the weekend watching episodes of Inu-Yasha The demons that have to be battled are imaginative and scary even in the context of Japanese demons which are signally varied and alarming. Good adventure stuff

Wild Waves

My first visit to Wild Waves (link) was a hoot. Every town should have a couple of giant water slides and a wave pool. Sun burn was minimal. A good time was had by all.

Blog anniversary

Missed the anniversary of this blog as is usual. Five years!

Bush: Hungarian revolt should inspire Iraq

The Pretender should be more circumspect in what he wishes for. What is he trying to say? That in 30 years, the Iraquis will be rid of the foreign invader? Or, that the revolution will be ruthlessly crushed?

Re: Resuscitating Book Club

Apologies for the lacuna in book selection. I submit now these, you gentles.

Kurlansky, Mark. Salt: A World History.
Penguin Group. 2003.
and / or
Kurlansky, Mark.
Cod: A Biography of the Fish That Changed the World. Penguin Group. 1998.
Vince has been going on about Salt ... ever since he read it when it was new. Someone told me that Salt... is an offshoot of the Cod ... book.

Gardner, John. Grendel. Vintage Books. 1971.
I've been meaning to re-read this for well, decades now. Will it be as good now as I thought it was then? The current movie is not based on this book. Although there is an animated movie from Australia written by John Gardner called
Grendel Grendel Grendel. Also from iMDB: "In 1982, his novel, 'Grendel', was adapted as a stage play by Indianapolis actor Bart Simpson, who is now the artistic director of
The Blue Monkey Sideshow."

Eliot, George.
Silas Marner. Dover. 1861.
The Fishing News! Pfft! Let's get it right from the melodramatic source. Lisa Simpson's favoritebook. Wait, no. Lisa Simpson's favorite book is Ethan Frome. Never mind about Lisa. Or the Fishing News. Silas Marner is another one of those Queen Anne waists, threshing in the background, tea and tatting in the parlor, muddy boots, talkity-talk books. I'm sure there's a deacon or two to spare and any number of bloodless parsons.

Flaubert, Gustave.
Madame Bovary. Dover. 1886.
Translated by Eleanor Marx-Aveling, daughter of Karl Marx.

Atwood, Margaret. The Blind Assassin. 2001.
I looked at this on a remainder table once and it has been in the back of my mind ever since. Won a prize. Did we do a different book by Atwood?

The Madness of King George

Moral: don''t go crazy in the 18th century even if you are the king. Beautiful production but performances are hopelessly broad and unaffecting. Yet another pantomime-worthy Prince of Wales. Why don't they just cast Prince and have done with it?

Tokyo Godfathers

One-note script tells us far too many times that the homeless have feelings too. That they are all homeless more or less by choice undercuts some of the message. The finale is ludicrous. Lovingly animated.

Samurai Spy

Even though there is a thorough exposition, I could not keep track of the players. A drawwn out Mexican stand-off. Appropriately claustrophobic.