Books, General

New Year, Old Me

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I’m horrible at updating this thing (there’s a post draft from 2013). And Payal was no help in thinking up a blog idea, so this is at least 45% her fault.

Anyway.

I decided to give myself a reading challenge this year of reading 52 books. I am not clear on why I picked 52 out of all the numbers in the universe, but there it is. According to Goodreads I’ve already done 5 books, although one of those is a comic book. Also, I noticed on the public profile two extra books are shown but not counted (yes the Hitler/Holocaust books). Weird bug.

I suppose I could try reviewing the books I’ve read, but I feel like whenever I review books it usually just turns into me ranting about something.

My actual true new year’s resolution was to start drawing again. That is not going well. Partly because of personal stress/drama, and because of random food poisoning like illness. Clearly whoever is up in the heavens does not want me eating pizza. Or learning to draw chibis.

General

Wonder Woman is Wonderful

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Cheesy blog title is cheesy. But for real, y’all: Wonder Woman is probably my favorite superhero movie I’ve seen. The first Iron Man is the last superhero flick that got me pumped. I never really cared one way or another about Wonder Woman; she always seemed kind of silly to me. But no longer. I have been converted.

The film manages to have all the iconic trapping of our hero without making it so ridiculous looking. I mean, it’s still clearly comic book-y but it blends better into the world than say the old TV show. I didn’t find myself rolling my eyes and going “waaaat” like I have in more recent comic book flicks.

In a change of pace, the film takes place during WWI instead of WWII like every other origin story. Apparently this a change from the original comics, but I think it was a good one: do something different. Admittedly I do get a little peeved at the lack of WWI media so I am totally biased. On the other hand, seeing Wonder Woman punch Nazis would have been totally cool. Specifically given current times.

On the other other hand, seeing Wonder Woman cross No Man’s Land like a boss was also pretty damn cool. I think that was the point in the movie where I fell in love and was like “we are buying this on Blu Ray”.

I didn’t even hate the minor love plot, probably because it was more subtle than usual. Probably also because it’s female directed and not as concerned with OMFG SEX. What I’m trying to say is, I hate romance in my stories usually, but I didn’t hate it in this film. Of course, Chris Pine is hot, so that helped I’m sure.

Look, it’s a superhero origin movie. But it’s a really kick ass superhero origin movie. There’s Amazons. That right there is worth the price of admission.

Please go see this move. ?

Other

I am Undecided on Ghost in the Shell

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I am a huge Ghost in the Shell fan. And when it comes to Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex I’m not sure fan is even a strong enough word. I still haven’t seen Arise because I was (still am) bitter that it exists instead of a third season of SAC. That and they lack of the original English cast. Who were amazing. Amazing!

So when I heard that Hollywood was making a live action Ghost in the Shell movie I was excited. When I heard they cast Scarlott Johansson as the Major, I was disappointed and pretty much instantly wished the worst upon the film. I know. I’m petty.

And yet, I am also a fangirl. The teasers didn’t do anything for me, and seemed very blah. But then I saw a trailer that had all these homages to the original anime and my heart went a flatter. Yes, fanservice works on me, apparently. But still…Johansson as the Major? I was conflicted on going to see the film. The reviews did not make it sound like a film worth my money, which strangely made me more conflicted not less. Obviously I went to go see it or I wouldn’t bother writing about it.

I took the advice of a random dude on Reddit and saw the film in 3D. If you, random internet person, get the chance between standard and 3D I too would recommend the latter. It is a very pretty film and the 3D effects worked really well within the film, not like some movies where you can tell they did the shot specifically to make it “pop” out of the screen. The cinematography and set pieces are wonderfully done, although the city reminded me more of Blade Runner  and not so much Ghost in the Shell. The anime is a bit more cerebral than showy in my incredibly biased opinion. But it has been a while since I sat and watched them so I could be talking out my butt.

The story…eh…I went in with very, very, very low expectations due to all the negative reviews I had read. I knew what I was in for, including the “twist” at the end. So, if you read all the bad takes on the movie chances are you will be pleasantly surprised by what you see. It’s not really the worst thing out there, just not as deep and reflective of the cartoon it’s based on. There was a lot of potential and they just kind of squandered it. But alas, Hollywood.

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Gaming

I’ll take the Power of God, thanks

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I asked the Grand Master Payal Jan Bug Dhar for a blog post idea and this is what she hath given me:

This was a bit of tossup but I decided to settle on Max from Life is Strange. She was the third choice. Second choice was Chloe from the same game but, uh, to put it mildly, she has bad luck.

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First, I look good in a bun. Although I guess the point of this exercise is that I would look like the character…so forget that first point.

Second, she can play guitar. As a struggling Rocksmith god I find this admirable.

Finally, and most importantly, she can rewind time. That is also frightening because playing with time is dangerous, and can apparently cause a nosebleed. And yet, oh how tempting it would be to say what you really feel, and if it completely backfires, just push rewind and try again.

You can ask out that hot guy or gal (*cough*Chloe*cough*), you can tell your boss to shove it, you can flip off that road rage enabling fool, you can try to cry your way out of a traffic ticket, etc. You could probably also do something good, I suppose. But playing with life and death is tricky. What if you save some old man and it turns out he’s a serial killer, and thanks to you, can now go on and kill a few more little girls?

Ultimately, although I feel playing god can only lead to tragedy, I am human for the most part and tempted just the same. Also, I would get to stare at Chloe, so, that evens out.

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