Sex, Magic and Aliens
Nov. 18th, 2016 12:38 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
alobearThis week, we went to see The Libertine at the Haymarket. Dominic Cooper gave a strong performance in the title role, and the questions raised about audience sympathy towards the character were interesting. The very fact of him saying at the start that he didn't want us to like him probably led us to excuse some of his behaviour and feel some sympathy towards his ultimate fate, which says quite a lot about the human psyche. There was rather a lot of unnecessary (in my view) exposition as the play went along - show, don't tell, and all that - but it was a good show. Funny, tragic, challenging - and a comedy monkey!
This week, I also finished listening to Proven Guilty by Jim Butcher, the eighth Dresden Files book. These are always entertaining, and I love spending time with Harry, through the medium of James Masters' wonderful narration of the audiobooks. They can be a bit repetitive, but this one avoided that, while at the same time revisiting Harry's relationships with some of my favourites of the peripheral characters. I love the Carpenter family, and the various ways in which they react to Harry, and it was interesting to see oldest daughter Molly playing a bigger part than usual. Murphy and Thomas are always good value for money, and the twists and turns of the plot certainly kept me interested. The set up of a new dynamic for the next few books was welcome, too, and I shall look forward to seeing how that develops.
This week, we also went to see Arrival. It's had amazing reviews, and Dave was very keen, as it's adapted from one of his favourite short stories. I'm a bit conflicted about it, personally, though. Its pace was positively glacial, though I didn't find that off-putting, since it was appropriate for the tone. The performances were good (ooh, Jeremy Renner!) and it certainly had a profound emotional effect on me. I was quite overwhelmed when I came out of the cinema - the ramifications of the big reveal were quite devastating, and I found myself questioning how the protagonist could possibly have made the choice she made, and also how she could possibly have done anything else. However, once the initial impact had passed, there were many things that I felt didn't make much sense, and I wonder now if the emotional side was a bit overplayed in order to cover up the cracks (though it could be argued that humans are ill-equipped to be able to process the main concept of the film and thus I am unqualified to question it). I also really disliked the direction style of having one thing in massive close-up with the rest of the shot being out of focus. I completely understand the effect it was trying to achieve, but I found it quite uncomfortable. It's a powerful film - both from a universal and from an intensely personal point of view - and I think it's going to stay with me for quite some time. It's also refreshing, in that it asks difficult and complicated questions, and doesn't pander to the current trend in sci-fi of large explosions and lots of running around.
This week, I also finished listening to Proven Guilty by Jim Butcher, the eighth Dresden Files book. These are always entertaining, and I love spending time with Harry, through the medium of James Masters' wonderful narration of the audiobooks. They can be a bit repetitive, but this one avoided that, while at the same time revisiting Harry's relationships with some of my favourites of the peripheral characters. I love the Carpenter family, and the various ways in which they react to Harry, and it was interesting to see oldest daughter Molly playing a bigger part than usual. Murphy and Thomas are always good value for money, and the twists and turns of the plot certainly kept me interested. The set up of a new dynamic for the next few books was welcome, too, and I shall look forward to seeing how that develops.
This week, we also went to see Arrival. It's had amazing reviews, and Dave was very keen, as it's adapted from one of his favourite short stories. I'm a bit conflicted about it, personally, though. Its pace was positively glacial, though I didn't find that off-putting, since it was appropriate for the tone. The performances were good (ooh, Jeremy Renner!) and it certainly had a profound emotional effect on me. I was quite overwhelmed when I came out of the cinema - the ramifications of the big reveal were quite devastating, and I found myself questioning how the protagonist could possibly have made the choice she made, and also how she could possibly have done anything else. However, once the initial impact had passed, there were many things that I felt didn't make much sense, and I wonder now if the emotional side was a bit overplayed in order to cover up the cracks (though it could be argued that humans are ill-equipped to be able to process the main concept of the film and thus I am unqualified to question it). I also really disliked the direction style of having one thing in massive close-up with the rest of the shot being out of focus. I completely understand the effect it was trying to achieve, but I found it quite uncomfortable. It's a powerful film - both from a universal and from an intensely personal point of view - and I think it's going to stay with me for quite some time. It's also refreshing, in that it asks difficult and complicated questions, and doesn't pander to the current trend in sci-fi of large explosions and lots of running around.
