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It’s always harder to talk about a movie you like, especially if it is flawed (and all movies are flawed so hush). I’m going to preface this by saying that I have been working my way through the Blackest Night books, so I have been reading Green Lantern comics pretty recently. I don’t know much more about the continuity than what I have read, but I wasn’t utterly unprepared.
So, I guess I understand and I don’t understand why this movie was panned by the critics. It wasn’t as bad as I heard it was- and I was prepared for the movie to blow donkey balls. I can see hardcore comic nerds being unhappy with the way things fell out, and I can see non-comic people just, you know, not getting it, but for everyone who falls in the middle… it was decent. The action was good. The story didn’t weigh down the pace too much. I mean, it wasn’t super great, but it was a decent movie. I’d watch it again. I’d watch a sequel, even. I’m kinda hoping for an eventual Justice League movie- that’d be pretty fucking cool.
But I suppose that all the CGI is gonna be hard to take in, and the whole ‘will’ thing- you either get it or you don’t. I’m not going to defend the movie too much- you like what you like- but I was prepared for this thing to suck the root and it really didn’t. It felt like reading the comic to me. Take into consideration that the only Green Lantern comics that I have read so far are all from the Blackest Night bit, and do what you will with that. (For the record, I mean it as a compliment as I have been enjoying them immensely.)
I did have a few problems with the movie. I think they cut out some of the character development stuff- they jump around on Hal’s characterization at first. He is a really good, cock-sure pilot, but he nearly dies of flashback. He seems to go back and forth on this, and I suspect that this was an editing decision and not a writing decision. There’s a scene towards the middle? Ish? That has clearly been chopped in half for time purposes. It furthered character, and not the plot so much. I think Ryan Reynolds has played this kind of guy before, and I really like him as an actor. I think he did a good job, I don’t think it’s his fault that Hal seems a little inconsistent. He’s the only reason I watched Blade 3 (which I’ll talk about at length at some point but my basic thoughts on it are: it would have been a decent vampire flick if they had left Blade out of it).
Anyway, the point of that was that I get the kind of character that they were making Hal Jordan into. He’s so cocky because he’s terrified, that sort of thing. I just think they trimmed too many of the wrong moments, and so his character is not as solidly identifiable as it should be. He could have had a more complex, interesting story (and I have no clue how close to the comic it runs other than ‘roughly the same ballpark, maybe’) but that’s not the sort of thing you can really set up in a movie like this. You have to have room for plot AND action- where as action can be interspersed well in comic books without interfering too much with the amount of plot that goes on. An action scene that only takes up a few pages takes a lot longer to play out on film- it’s a tricky balance, is what I’m saying, and it’s why action films tend to not be as dense as films can be. There’s too much other shit that has to go on. I’m not saying it can’t be done, I’m just saying that’s why it’s not.
I did end up seeing this in 3d. I personally don’t have a big stake in 3d/2d other than I don’t like wearing glasses over my glasses, but I think 3d is a fun gimmick and I’m kind of curious as to how long it’ll stick around, this time. The 3d in the movie was pretty good- I’m fairly headache prone, and I didn’t get headachey or watery eyed, or anything like that. But I do think that if any movie should be made in 3d, it’s probably something where green energy light is a physical manifestation of will. I liked the CGI, I thought the suits looked good, and I’m glad that they were CGI. It won’t look like a suit made of energy if it’s clearly Spandex.
Oh, something else- I liked that the opening was all about aliens, and we didn’t start off with humans. They could have swapped the order, and started with Hal, and then bounced to the aliens- or even only mentioned the aliens in passing, although I think that would have been a shame. I liked knowing where we are with Parallax from the beginning, and seeing what a threat he is straight up. Although, thinking about it, switching back to the aliens before Hal became a Green Lantern would probably fuck up the narrative flow- but still, the first bit was about aliens on an alien world dying an unfortunate alien death.
What else did I like? ……oh, I liked Sinestro. I know how things turn out with him, but from what I’ve read he was a genuinely great Green Lantern, and that showed in the movie. I didn’t like that at the end he just puts on the yellow ring and we don’t get any of the ‘why’ because I have gleaned from reading Blackest Night (and may be wrong) that he felt very betrayed by the Green Lantern Corps and that was why he turned to the yellow ring- however, I’m gonna treat it as a future scene from the next movie where that’s explored more and stick my fingers in my ears and hum about it. Because ‘because’ isn’t a good enough reason for a man who was arguing passionately about the lives being lost and the need to take steps to prevent it, at any cost. I do wish he weren’t bright red with a widows peak and a porn stash and his name was something a little less obvious than Sinestro, but I know I have DC to take to task for that and not the movie, so meh. Although I suppose it was fun at first with him being this evil looking character (AND HIS NAME IS SINESTRO FFS) and he’s totally a good guy, I guess I get playing with that, but BE LESS PREDICTABLE OKAY. I hope Sinestro means “light bringer” or something like that.
Urm, oh I liked Carol Ferris and the way she was portrayed. She’s beautiful, but she does come off as competent at what she does and she clearly likes Hal but is really frustrated with him. Also, I love love LOVE that Hal tries to do the ‘Just doing my job, ma’am’ thing and when she gets close she totally recognizes him. I think she says something like “I have known you my whole life, and I have seen you naked. Did you think I wouldn’t recognize you just because I couldn’t see your cheekbones?” I lol’d. He did try to do the Batman voice trick too. He was shocked- shocked I tell you!- when she made him in less than a minute.
Oh, about Hal- I love that they get it across that he’s a ‘ladies man’ without making him an obnoxious pig about it. He doesn’t leer at every girl in a skirt he passes, and when he compliments Carol’s dress he actually sounds like he’s complimenting Carol’s dress- that sort of thing. Oh, he wakes up next to a gal and he comes off as ‘nice but distracted’. Like, he’d totally stick around and have breakfast with her if he weren’t late. He’s got his dickish moments, but it’s never in a ‘because you’re a girl’ way. So that was nice.
Yeah I don’t have too many complaints. Some of the character developement felt rushed, but that was pretty much it. A+ would buy again.
Psycho Ward is one of the dumber slasher fics I’ve ever laid eyes on. In the first place, they had a back story that they never followed through on. There was a lot of information about the empty prison- and one area in particular- that could have been very interesting if it weren’t completely ignored because, I dunno, the plot jar was empty and the neighbors didn’t have any they could borrow.
None of the characters were likeable, and we didn’t really know enough about the villain to actually root for him. Also, almost all of the deaths occurred off screen, which I thought was a big no-no for horror movies. I realize it makes the special effect thing easier, but it takes away any impact from the deaths.
It was also done in the least creepy abandoned prison on the planet, somehow. Either that or the movie sucked so hard it made a creepy place less creepy.
Also, apparently I forgot to copy when I announced the movie and linked to it’s IMDB, but we were watching Psycho Ward.
Yet another dvd cover that has nothing to do with the movie.
MartianBethany: Okay, I have selected another movie that hopefully will be less boring and confusing. Here in about 15 minutes we’ll do it, but first
MartianBethany: I need a friggin daquiri
Adamthemann: Bad movies cause people to drink 😛
MartianBethany: @Adamthemann This is a fact.
MartianBethany: Blurb: A group of urban researchers set about exploring an abandoned psychiatric hospital with a terrible history, but are they-
MartianBethany: prepared for the horrifying, possibly supernatural secrets hidden within its crumbling walls?
MartianBethany: This is apparently a PSYCHO WARD production. So, one off?
MartianBethany: This guy may as well have DOUCHEBAG written on his forehead. Also FRATBOY.
Adamthemann: Steve Stiffler what
MartianBethany: @Adamthemann Stiffler is mature and interesting compared to this guy.
MartianBethany: The film work on this is just bad. It has a horrible jumpy pace that screams ‘we fucked up and pretended we meant to’
Adamthemann: @MartianBethany O_O is…..that even….possible
MartianBethany: Oh good lord his name is KEN. REALLY. If her name is Barbie I just quit. (Martian note: I totally forgot to mention that he dies right away. Forgive me, I am out of practice. This was the ‘opening scene death’ that happens in every slasher movie ever.)
Adamthemann: @MartianBethany The horror of this movie… It was the imagination of a little girl playing with her barbie and ken doll
MartianBethany: @Adamthemann That’d be much cooler than this.
MartianBethany: So, teacher, 2 gals, 2 boys. A mysterious ‘contact’. This is a project for school, college maybe?
Adamthemann: @MartianBethany this will end up in an orgy/bloodbath with a dude in a mask killing hookers 
MartianBethany: @Adamthemann Nah, standard slasher film.
Adamthemann: @MartianBethany gotcha, so the virgin will live
MartianBethany: What her knife was just… laying out of it’s sheath in the trunk. Oh, oh, so we know she has a knife. Gotcha. (Martian note: I realize that this is using Chekhov’s gun approach, but this is just so that later on she can cut her own bonds with her knife. She doesn’t kill anybody with it. And I’m willing to take for granted that nearly anybody is carrying a pocket knife, so this was pretty unnecessary.)
MartianBethany: Wow, thanks professor for introducing everyone and letting us know about their one defining feature!
MartianBethany: We have the jerk, the bitch, the nice dude, the nice chick, Professor (exposition ahoy) and some chick we haven’t really seen yet.
Adamthemann: The mystery chick is the killer, and she is jealous because the Jerk is a two timing ass
MartianBethany: Hrm so here’s where they wander around in the dark and the jerk startles them. Glad that part has come up.
MartianBethany: Hahaha and the jerk got kicked in the face. He should probably have a bloody nose.
MartianBethany: Awwww there goes the nice guy. I guess I can’t blame the movie for taking it slow.
riathepinkie: @MartianBethany Movie: plot? Likable characters? SCREW THAT LETS JUST START KILLING PEOPLE!!
MartianBethany: @riathepinkie Apparently so! I thought we’d get more back story, but nope.
MartianBethany: So the 2 guys are locked in isolation, nice guy is dead, and nice girl may be the daughter of the serial killer!
MartianBethany: Smart Girl and Mystery girl are wandering around. Smart Girl wants to leave, now. I’m with her. Mystery girl wants to find the boys.
MartianBethany: Screw that, three adult males and one gal have gone missing. If they can’t make it out, call cops, wait.
riathepinkie: @MartianBethany psh that’s for COMPETENT story tellers. Or pansies, can’t tell which.
MartianBethany: Oh hey, everyone was smart and got out the phones. Ah, no signal
MartianBethany: I think the professor and mystery girl have some kind of relationship, don’t know what. He’s actually a doctor, but I can’t call him
MartianBethany: the doctor because he’s nowhere near as cool as the Doctor.
riathepinkie: @MartianBethany no one is as cool as the Doctor. It’s impossible to be that cool.
MartianBethany: Oh hey, two more strangers we don’t care about who are about to die! We’re about to have a mirror sting, I’ll bet. (Martian note: Mirror sting- when someone is looking into a mirror, looks away, and then looks back and suddenly bad guy is there. Sometimes the sting occurs when the person is looking away- something appears and is gone, but generally it’s the first.)
MartianBethany: I guess that was a break from the riveting *cough* story inside the prison? Which, btw, no psych ward in sight.
MartianBethany: Opening the walk in freezer door to find a corpse or the murderer. Calling it
Adamthemann: yeah till she freezes to death
Adamthemann: No psych ward YET. Queue Straight jackets and play HERE COME THE DRUMS
MartianBethany: Oh, nope, living girl. Well, that’s all right then.
MartianBethany: Wow so they’re dragging around the girl who’s freaking out tied and gagged because… she wants to leave, like them?
MartianBethany: She’s covered in blood, her hands her tied, she’s gagged, and they’re all okay with this apparently.
MartianBethany: All right, so, I’m hoping Nice Girl (the one they tied up and gagged) makes it. Everyone else can die.
MartianBethany: God dammit she just died. That’s it, nuke the site from orbit.
Adamthemann: Nice Girl is gonna live cause she is the virgin …….I stand corrected
MartianBethany: Ahh mystery girl is the professor’s younger sister. Oh good lord the Jerk’s name is ACTUALLY STUDDS
MartianBethany: Why? why would you do that?
Adamthemann: I thought his name was Ken. Or Is it Ken Studds
MartianBethany: @Adamthemann Nah that was the idiot who died in the beginning, before the movie ACTUALLY started.
MartianBethany: I think Jerk is about to die! Oh I hope I hope!
MartianBethany: It’s amazing how neat, tidy, and clean this place is for a prison that’s been empty for years.
MartianBethany: You know, this movie is taking such pains to make sure you know everyone dies, I wonder if in the end that somehow they aren’t dead.
Adamthemann: @MartianBethany it was all a drug induced hallucination
MartianBethany: @Adamthemann Too much LSD will do that to anybody, man.
Adamthemann: @MartianBethany it would be like O_O wow
MartianBethany: “Some of these bricks are newer.” Clearly, obviously, a doorway has been bricked up. Any idiot could tell.
MartianBethany: Smooth white wall like the rest of the prison. Doorway sized hole, bricked over. We don’t need CSI.
MartianBethany: The professor is now Captain Obvious
MartianBethany: You know, Captain Obvious, you’re leaving your baby sister alone for an awful long time when you know someone’s been killing your pals
Adamthemann: Little Sister is the master mind. She is controlling her killer brother via Barbie Dolls
MartianBethany: @Adamthemann She’s not that young… but I still would accept that as an answer.
MartianBethany: “Everyone’s dead.” “No, Sara’s alive, and we can save her.” CUT TO: Sara about to be sledgehammered to death.
MartianBethany: The Gallagher Method isn’t a very dignified way to get offed.
MartianBethany: “Are you okay?” Her first gruesome murder scene, give her a second, dude.
Adamthemann: @MartianBethany I want to do it again *she looks at her older brother*
MartianBethany: Oh good lord Captain Obvious is gonna save the day through Psychology. Somebody save me.
MartianBethany: You shoulda axed him in the spine when you had the chance, nothing takes a guy down like fucking up his central nervous system.
Adamthemann: Captain Obvious needs to save the day via Sonic Screwdriver *nods*
MartianBethany: @Adamthemann Nay, that’s for much better entertainment than this.
Adamthemann: @MartianBethany true true.
MartianBethany: And everyone dies.
MartianBethany: Somehow not as satisfying as I thought it would be. Weird how that works.
Adamthemann: So the killer killed everyone even himself……… what… a…. twist?????
MartianBethany: @Adamthemann Nah, but he took some good stabs to the gut, he’ll likely die at some point.
MartianBethany: I don’t know what the point of this movie was. Nobody lived, there was no gore, and it wasn’t spooky. And abandoned buildings are-
MartianBethany: -spooky all on their own. It’s like it’s the anti horror movie.
I don’t often talk about movie news because even though movies are sorta my thing, I tend not to watch NEW movies. However, there are several releases that are either in theaters or will be later this summer that I’m actually pretty interested in (and quite a few I’m not). MY THOUGHTS LET ME SHOW YOU THEM:
Bridesmaids (In theaters)- I have a report from a friend that this isn’t a bad movie at all, and it’s not a Hangover remix like it was sort of advertised as. I don’t have any pre-thoughts for the movie, really, other than I hope that it’s the kind of funny that I can stand. I’m really quite picky about ‘funny’ and I think most movies that have come out with the intent of being funny suffer the sin of trying too hard. I dislike things that are funny because it’s uncomfortable- the whole awkward funny genre just isn’t my bag. That being said, I’m willing to watch this one, but I’m gonna catch it on a week day matinee when Greg’s working, I think.
Priest (In theaters)- I fully plan on watching this in the next couple of weeks based solely on the preview I saw when Paul Bettany was on Conan. I don’t think it will be all that great but I’m getting a Blade 2/Van Helsing vibe off it. Neither of those movies were spectacularly great but I have a fondness for them anyway.
Hangover 2 (In theaters)- I have heard this was just like the first one. I did not, in fact, find the first one all that hilarious. Funny on a first pass, but mostly just kinda idiotic. Again, I’m particular about funny, but I’m gonna give this one a miss in theaters. I will probably end up watching it on DVD at some point.
X-Men: First Class (June 3)- I loved the first and second X-Men movie. I loooooathed the third. Still do. I liked the Wolverine movie in spite of it kind of sucking (and the lack of actual Deadpool, which is crazy because Ryan Reynolds is perfect for him). Having seen the commercials for this, it looks like it’s part period movie, part origin story, part awesome. I’m hoping to be right.
Super 8 (June 10)- You know, the advertising for this movie has actually really turned me off to it. It was the same thing about Cloverfield- I have yet to see that movie, because the way they advertised just didn’t do anything for me at all. It’s based 90% off hype, and there’s just no way the movie can be as interesting as all that. Having seen an actual trailer, I’m struck that the story (at least, according to the trailer) sounds like something Stephen King would write. All it needs is to be set in Maine. I may end up watching it, but it probably won’t be the theater.
Green Lantern (June 17)- I love comic book movies even though I have only read a small handful of comics. (Full disclosure: 90% of them have been Buffy comics.) I like the stories, but I read so quickly in general that a comic book seems like a waste of money to me (5 bucks for bout 15 minutes of entertainment is a little steep), and I’m such a complete-ist that I don’t like picking things up in the middle.
With that all said, I am SO looking forward to this movie. I love Ryan Reynolds (he’s the only reason I even bothered to watch the third Blade movie) and know next to nothing about the actual Green Lantern mythos. I know that there are a lot of fans who are quite uneasy about the whole thing, but I’m going to go into it hoping for an entertaining movie that looks really cool.
Mr. Popper’s Penguins (June 17)- I realize this is a kid’s movie, but Jim Carrey needs to put the film career down and slowly back away. I saw the trailer and thought “this is Liar, Liar with penguins” and nothing in the preview proved me wrong. He’s trying to resurrect his career and this is not the jolt that particular monster needs.
Cars 2 (June 24)- Not happening. A: I think Larry the Cable Guy oughta be set on fire. B: while Pixar sequels generally go well, the first Cars wasn’t all that strong, in my opinion. It falls under the “so not interested” category.
Transformers: Dark of the Moon (June 29)- Soooooo I have a bit of a confession. I watched the Transformers movies just recently (I hadn’t watched either of them until about a month ago) and I kinda liked them. I mean, some of the characters were super annoying and I could have done with more giant robots hitting each other, but they’re watchable. I’m not super super interested in this movie but I’m wondering if they’ve corrected some of the visual problems with the first two. The action being hard to follow, the robots being hard to distinguish from each other, that sort of thing. I think this is a matinee/dollar theater candidate.
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part II (July 15)- Watching the first showing in town. Heck yes.
Captain America: The First Avenger (July 22)- So. Excite. I love the previews for this and fully expect this movie to be awesome.
Cowboys and Aliens (July 29)- So what I know from the previews is that this movie features Indiana Jones and James Bond as Cowboys who have to fight Aliens. It doesn’t have to do much right to be awesome. And, let’s be honest, I’ll watch just about anything with Harrison Ford in it.
The Smurfs (July 29)- This is one of those where I am kinda not interested because there’s no possible way it could be good, but it stars Neil Patrick Harris and whats-her-name from Glee, who is totally funny and awesome in Glee. This will probably be a dollar theater/rental movie.
Conan the Barbarian 3D (August 19)- Having never seen the original (yep!) I totally plan on catching this in the theater. Especially since it’s an August release, everyone’s saying that it’s because the film company doesn’t think it will do well. I think it’s just that there’s so much coming out this summer that they don’t think it will do well against that. (Like, say, Harry Potter or Captain America or X-Men or Transformers or Super 8 or Green Lantern. I think this is fair.) So I’m not going to judge it for being released when some of the bigger stuff has already been out for a while, and I have liked the previews so far.
Movies I’ve seen:
Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides– I really liked the latest Pirates sequel but it’s one of those things: I can’t defend it as being a good movie. I thought the 3d was well done, and I thought that it was fun to watch, but I won’t swear it was particularly great. About as good as sequel number 2, only featuring more of Captain Jack Sparrow (which is how it always should be imo).
Thor: I’ve already done a quick write up on this but I still say it’s a solid story that was handled well, and while some people think it could have been better I try not to judge movies on how awesome they could have been but how awesome they are. And I still think this movie was fully awesome. (Also, I watched The Spoony One’s review and he explained that there’s a leather strip on Mjolnir’s handle that Thor was using to helicopter around with, which didn’t even occur to me.)
I’ll definitely add movies as I see them, I think Priest or Bridesmaids are likely next on the ‘to-see’ list right now, so look for those coming soon. I also have a few BMLT to post, and I definitely need to do another one soon, I have so many bad movies in my queue, and I now have Hulu Plus, which gives me a whole bunch more options.
Clue is one of my favorite movies. It’s among the first movies I remember watching as a kid, so it’s really nostalgic for me as well. I could watch it a million times.
If you haven’t watched it, you should. It’s a beautifully done film with a stellar cast and it has no less than three different endings! When it was originally sent to the theaters, it was only given one of the endings, and that ending depended on which theater you went to. Some got the first, second, or third ending. The DVD has an option where you can play it with on of the three random endings OR with the VHS ending, which has all three. And to be honest, if you haven’t seen it, you still will recognize some of the music and themes played at the end.
There is some news about other board game franchises be3ing made into movies, and frankly they have high marks. It isn’t too much of a stretch to take a murder mystery board game and turn it into a murder mystery movie- especially since the board game contains so little basic plot that they can basically do anything with it. The colorful names turn into aliases, given to protect them from each other. The weapons turn out to be gifts from the mysterious Mr. Boddy. And, as with the board game, there is more than one way it can end.
Boardgames I am fairly certain I remember correctly that they’re going to remake: Monopoly, Battleship, and I think they’re making a Ouija board movie.
Monopoly: I don’t know how they’re going to make this interesting, to be honest. Maybe a rags to riches type story?
Battleship: This could be a really interesting movie about stragety during X war, or it could be a really uninteresting movie with lots of explosions. Honestly, I’m betting on the latter.
Ouija: Probably the only movie of the group that’s going to be all that interesting, and I’ll bet it’s more based around the board than on the plot of the game. But this is the only one that I am looking forward to.
*googles boardgame movies*
THEY’RE GOING TO REMAKE CLUE WHAT THE FUCK WHAT THE FUCK WHYYYYYY
*deep breath*
Reading the brief synopsis, I don’t think they’re actually remaking the movie, I think they’re making another movie based on the same franchise.
“”Clue” will be turned into a mystery that Blind Wink senior veep Jonathan Krauss called “A global thriller and transmedia event that uses deductive reasoning as its storytelling engine.””
That doesn’t sound like my Clue. But still, what’s wrong with remastering the original version and doing another theater release? I’d go to the theater to watch that, I’d watch the hell out of that! Cast interviews, special features, new whooptie DVD! I understand wanting to make money off a franchise, but why can’t they just re-release the movie? They’d make money off of that with really very minimal input.
*ahem*
Uh, so, if you haven’t seen Clue yet (@riathepinkie, I mean YOU) then you should get on that.
Okay, so, Greg and I went to watch Thor last night. I do want to talk about the plot in some finer detail, but I need to do some research on the comic book backdrop a little more (probably pick up some comics) and that post will be spoileriffic. I will try to avoid all but the mildest of spoilers here.
So, I’ve been doing a lot of reading lately, and I recently read the latest installment of Cryoburn, which is the latest installment of Bujold’s Miles Vorkosigan tales.
This isn’t a review. Anything I reveal about Cryoburn might destroy something about one of the previous Miles books, and I urge you to go out and read all of them. I have not yet read any of her books that don’t have to do with Miles or some part of his family, mostly because I’ve been so obsessed with his story that I haven’t stopped to read her other books. Have no doubt that I will.
Miles is funny, a little scary, and completely unstoppable.
I consider Mercedes Lackey kind of a guilty pleasure. Her books aren’t great but they aren’t terrible, her characters are generally pretty upstanding (maybe a little too upstanding? In an annoying way?) and her books tend to be really quick reads for me. I don’t think they’re bad, but they’re a little one dimensional.
I know a few people who have referred to it as YA even though I’ve never seen it as marketed as YA because people associate depth and quality with adult books and lack thereof with YA. Which is silly, some of my favorite authors are YA authors. J.K. Rowling may have started off a novice, but Harry Potter ends with characters who have depth that you don’t always like, sometimes they make poor decisions and the stories have three dimensions. Things don’t go well, and it doesn’t seem like things happen just for the sake of plot convenience. The same is true for Libba Bray books- if you want kinda creepy books where the main characters are extremely well developed, you want to read A Great and Terrible Beauty and the sequels.
Toddlers and Tiaras. Yeah, I have been putting it on for background noise while I write, study, or play WoW. I don’t like putting on things I really care about watching when I do that because then I end up not paying attention to what I’m doing. So I pick stuff that I can half pay attention to but don’t feel like I have to re-watch when I miss stuff.
This movie. Guys, this movie.
The acting varies between bad and bloody atrocious, and the script is stuck pretty firmly on ‘awful’. I know that the script was written in part by Argento, and English is not his first language. I acknowledge this. However, if you do not grasp the language well enough to tell what works and what doesn’t work, then you should not film in that language.
So I read The Scent of Shadows: The First Sign of the Zodiac by Vicki Pettersson. I picked it up expecting a really bad Laurell K Hamilton knock off, and I thought it might be good for a laugh. I immediately put it in the popcorn book category- something I would breeze through and that wouldn’t leave much of an impression on me. I didn’t expect for it to enrage me halfway through. It did, and I put the book down and read something that was less likely to make me throw the book across the room.
So when I picked it back up, planning on reading it to make fun of it and talk about it here, I didn’t expect to end up wanting to get the next one. Yeah, I liked this book enough that I will probably give the author more monies. The book has its issues, and I’ll get to them, but when I finished the book I realized I wanted to read the next book in the series. So, why did I change my mind?
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Bethany the Martian 