Star Wars with occasional sarcasm
We’re poised to enter blockbuster season Friday with the release of X-Men Origins: Wolverine on Friday, but which big summer movies are you most looking forward to? Vote on the sidebar or under the cut. Continue reading “Poll: Spring/Summer movies race to the finish”
AND it’s out. This is supposed to go up at 9 EST tonight, but apparently E! jumped the gun. I’m on my way out the door, so keep up at /Film.
This is the English version of the Japanese trailer, with an additional focus on Jim Broadbent’s Professor Slughorn.
I started doing capsule reviews of the books I had read a back in January on my own, but it occurred to me this might be a feature you guys would enjoy. I’m honestly not much of a reviewer (or, if you’ve known me long enough, I’m way out of practice) but what the hell.
Territory by Emma Bull
I read this in bits and pieces over both months, and I’d probably need a dedicated reread before I could review it fairly. My first impression: It was okay, but it never really grabbed me. (Though to be fair, since I was reading in spurts it might not have gotten the chance to.) Maybe someone with more of an interest in the Old West (I have about zilch.) would get more out of it. [Amazon]
Harry, A History by Melissa Anelli
Anelli is best-known in fandom as webmistress of The Leaky Cauldron, one of the biggest Harry Potter fan sites, and her book traces both the rise of the books in popular culture and the fandom surrounding them. I like HP, but I was never obsessed with it, and while I know some about the fandom, it was only in general terms and what made it on Fandom Wank. So I was rather surprised to find this book absolutely fascinating. It’s about three-quarters exploration of the fandom (covering such things as wizard rock, religious protesters and that one oh-so-controversial Rowling interview) and one-quarter memoir, and, if nothing else, a great primer on how fandom in general works. I suspect it might not be half as interesting to those who actually had front-row seats to things like the shipping wars, but for those of us on the periphery… Recommended. [Amazon]
The Neverending Story by Michael Ende
I’m going to be honest: I mainly bought this because the cover art of this particular edition is gorgeous. And of course, as a child of the 80’s, I adored the movie. (Please don’t remake it, Hollywood.) Alas, I found the book much less fascinating. Of course, the movie only adapts half the story here… And maybe that’s why I was bored through the second half. I don’t know. Was it worth it? I’m not sorry, just a little sad that it didn’t live up to my childhood love. At least the cover is still pretty. [Amazon]
Meet the Austins by Madeleine L’Engle
Like any good geekling, I read the bulk of L’Engle’s Murry-O’Keefe books (A Wrinkle in Time, A Swiftly Tilting Planet) back in grade school. But I never tried her other, more earthbound series, featuring the Austin family. This is the first of them, and while I can’t say it’s going to knock Planet out of my top spot it was a nice quick read. I really need to remember to pick up the next two… [Amazon]
An Alphabetical Life by Wendy Werris
Werris has worked as a bookseller and publisher sales rep, and this book is a memoir of her life in the business. It was a nice peek into how things worked back before the chains took over, but I can’t say I was fascinated. [Amazon]
Lavinia by Ursula K. LeGuin
(I actually read this book late last year. Consider it a bonus.) The title character is a pivotal yet all-but-unexplored character in Virgil’s The Aeneid, the daughter of the Latin king that Aeneas marries. LeGuin tells the tale from her perspective, giving her a voice in the story of the founding of Rome. There’s far more to it than that, but I should probably defer to the professionals on this one. Recommended. [Amazon, but you may want to wait for the paperback in April]
The movie posters for Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince have finally made it on to the internet — and look pretty damn cool. Is it July 17 yet?
The BBC is reporting that the set where stuntman David Holmes was seriously injured last month has been reopened, two weeks before the filming of Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows begins.
Finally, The Deathly Hallows was the most borrowed book from UK libraries last year.
Not so shiny. Catherine Hardwicke is out of Twilight sequel. (Robert Pattinson’s envy must be at least twice the size of glitter budget.)
Of course, the real interest for many of us is the book’s numerous creepy undertones. And finally, for funny Twilight news, aka the actual reason to bother reporting any of it, check out the puppet version.
It will apparently be attached to Twilight. You can see it here in a multitude of formats. Run, don’t walk!
ILM vet to direct Captain America movie. Marvel has signed Joe Johnston (Hidalgo, The Rocketeer) to helm The First Avenger: Captain America. Johnston got his start as an effects illustrator and designer on Star Wars, and also worked on ESB, ROTJ, Raiders, Temple of Doom, Willow, and Young Indy.
This is the ‘international teaser trailer’ but it’s pretty chock-full for a teaser! Enjoy!