Final reviews
Dec. 31st, 2007 09:06 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
blodeueddWell, so much for finishing up my sewing projects! At least I cleaned, so my apartment is (mostly) sparkly. Apart from that, I managed to spend practically all my vacation lazing around, eating pastries and trying to read doujinshi. Trying, because they don't come with furigana. I don't think I've done too badly, though -- especially since I found this awesome website that allows you to search for kanji using the radicals -- but I'll write about those another time. Unless I count them as books I read... ah, what the hell, I'll do that!
Speaking of which, here are this year's last reviews. Rushed, because I don't have it in me to be deep this evening, but they're done, so yay?
Brazil:
You'd expect weird, coming from Terry Gilliam and all, but while there are some very Pythonesque (Pythonian?) bits, the overall tone of this movie is decidedly odd. The love story, such as it is, serves as a catalyst for the main character to actually do something with his life, but the dream sequences were too long to sustain the comedy, and ended up being clunky. The scenes in the Ministry of Information, however, were very funny, and the idea of a rogue repairman doing guerilla warfare against Central Services had me giggling. It could have been shorter, and I think cutting the dream sequences a bit, as well as the car chase, would have made it flow better. Oh yeah, and the sound mixing! I hate having to fiddle with the volume while I'm watching something! Explosions needn't be deafening, nor do hushed conversations need be unintelligible. I think this is the sort of movie that would improve upon subsequent viewings, and I liked the look of it enough to think that I wouldn't mind watching it again at some point, maybe with someone else.
Final verdict: 6.5/10 (but maybe more after a second viewing)
The Color Purple (Alice Walker):
It feels wrong to spell it "color", but what can I do? Apart from that, this is a powerful book, very spiritual without necessarily being religious. I loved the way the writing, bad spelling and structure and all, immediately pulled me into Celie's head, and the use of sewing as a meditation made me warm inside. The bond between Celie and Shug, and the strength the women show, are impressive.
I was fascinated by the story of Nettie in Africa, and the themes of identity it brought up. There's the idea of coming home to the place your ancestors left, which is a powerful thing, but in this case the ancestors didn't leave by choice, and there's the whole question of how to deal with the ones who stayed behind and the ones who sent them away in the first place.
Ugh, this isn't coming out right, at all. On one hand, I feel like I can't ever truly understand such a situation, and though I do try as best I can to understand race issues, I'm white (and blonde and blue-eyed, on top of that) and so have never had to deal with discrimination in my own country. Being with G, we were occasionally treated with surprise, from the pure-laine in Quebec City, and the Chinese in Vancouver, but my only experience that even comes remotely close to what this book deals with is being called a "stupid little white girl" by some Cree kids up north. And that really hurt, even though I was six years old, and didn't understand why.
My biggest gripe, and it's with the character herself, is with what I see as an excessive amount of forgiveness. Maybe I'm just not wired that way and will never get it, but how can one calmly put aside past hurts (like being raped!) and simply see an old man? I got the feeling that the revelation about him not being ---'s real father made what he did to her somehow less wrong in ---'s eyes, perhaps in that it means her children are not their own uncle and aunt. While I suppose it's arguably less awful to molest your step-daughter than it is to do the same to your biological daughter, such a technicallity does nothing to diminish the evil of the act. And then there's the whole abusive husband angle!
On a lighter note, I had to laugh at myself when, halfway through the book, it was explained that Shug's name was short for "Sugar", because up until then I'd been puzzling about how to pronounce it, and had been wondering if it was supposed to rhyme with "bug".
Final verdict: 9/10
No Great Mischief (Alistair MacLeod):
At first, I was irritated by the way the characters would, seemingly randomly, ignore and use contractions (I will instead of I'll, for example), and then I tried to remember if that was how Cape Bretoners speak, but then I got into the flow and it didn't bother me at all. What a lovely book! I really liked the way the family history was entwined with the present, though keeping the Tragic Event shrouded in mystery until the end was a bit much; it could have been revealed a little earlier, I think, without affecting the impact of the end.
The only thing I didn't get was why Calum had never returned to Cape Breton. Was there a reason, perhaps shame, that he'd stayed in Toronto?
Final verdict: 8.5/10
The Joy Luck Club (Amy Tan):
Let's go for lucky (hah! I'm so clever!) 3 in a list of books about cultures not my own!
For some reason, I often have trouble remembering the names of characters in books, even when I'm in the middle of one. I remember the characters fine, who they are and what they've done and are doing, but their names somehow mysteriously escape me, so as I read this, I internally refering to the characters as "the chess player" or "the one who doesn't have much money", instead of bothering with their names. Good thing the chapter titles read like a cast list!
I saw the movie a long time ago, but it was one of those viewing experiences where I missed the first fifteen minutes, and spent the rest of the movie thinking I'd missed a whole lot more, and so thought my understanding was incomplete, but now I realise that I didn't miss all that much. The book was surprisingly short, but manages to pack a lot in. The heartbreaking stories of the mothers were balanced out by the stories of their daughters, who all manage, in the end, to pull themselves up and move forward.
Final verdict: 8.5/10
Gundam Wing (tv):
So I (like many, many others, it seems) started reading the fanfiction before I'd ever seen a single episode, way back in my anime glory days. When I got my hands on the series, AAS only had up to episode 36 or so, so it was over a year before I saw the rest of the series on YTV, in (often annoyingly slow) English. Since I've started reading the fanfiction again, I thought I should see the series from beginning to end, just to confirm for myself what is canon and what is fanon, because sometimes I wasn't so sure. I'd write more about the fanfiction, but that would take to long, so I'll just say that Heero and Duo are my One True Pairing, and that OF COURSE Duo is my favourite character. I'm genetically programmed to like the funny, kick-ass secondary characters (see also Burrfoot, Tasslehoff; Nuriko; Gamgee, Samwise). That said, I was forced to make Duo share the favourite character spot with Sally Po, because she seriously rocks. I want more Sally!
When I went to Comiket the other day, I spent my subway ride making a list of points about this series, so I'll just transcribe that in bullet format here, it's easier.
- The series is really more about the politics than about the Gundam pilots, though you'd never guess that from reading the fanfiction. It features grossly over-simplified views, but I guess you don't watch this type of show for political realism.
- Relena's fan-club at school has got to be the most annoying group of shrieking anime girls ever. "Relena-sama is in space, so the stars are shining even more brightly than usual!" *gags* They must be paid by the fawning exclamation; there's no other possible explanation.
- What is up with the gravity in that show? Commercial shuttles travelling through space seem to have gravity, Moon gravity seems as strong as Earth's, and Duo's braid seems randomly forget it's in space sometimes.
- All the politicians of Europe have gone back to (sexy, especially on the women, I must say) c. 1800 military dress, but Tsubarov looks like he stepped out of Renaissance Italy. Also, everyone everywhere is pale-skinned, except in the Middle East.
- Noin is possibly the most pragmatic, down-to-earth and practical character on the show, and I would put her next to Sally in my ranking, except for her obsession with Zechs. It seems to me a uniquely Japanese perspective that Noin's blind devotion to her leader would be regarded as a virtue.
- It's funny how Trowa is usually depicted in fanfiction as being near-silent, because he spends an awful lot of time explaining his philosophy during the first few episodes.
- Duo's famous (in certain circles) "I guess it's my destiny to be killed by you" was translated, in the commercial version (and I guess they just used the English dub dialogue as the subtitles), as something like, "I guess it's okay to die if you're the one who kills me."
- Relena is a rather interesting character, on the whole, and I liked how she seemed typically immature (she's 15, after all) at the beginning, and grew up as the series progressed, even if it was abrupt. What I don't understand is why she said nothing about Lady Une being the one who killed her (adoptive) father; even if she didn't know Une had planted the bomb in the first place, Relena saw her lob it at the room her father was in, so...
- Catherine's voice is annoying, but she's stacked.
- How likely is it that you could just randomly find abandonned bases/rooms/facilities to hide out in, ON THE MOON???
- Despite the fact that there are women in positions of power within the military, such as Une and Noin, all the soldiers (except for a couple I noticed at one point, and Hilde) are men. I'm giving Sally a pass, because she isn't part of the establishment, so who knows how many women there are with her? Still, because of this, I find it very hard to believe that all those politicians would suddenly embrace Relena as world leader, not counting the fact that obviously enough people either agreed with the Peacecrafts being ousted, or at least looked the other way, that no one tried to bring them back to power, so why the hell does everyone decide that's it's suddenly a good idea, no matter how scared they are of OZ? Not to mention, what the hell do civilians everywhere think of this sudden return to monarchy?
- I'm curious about the logistics of sustaining a travelling circus on the colony circuit.
- Lady Une's split personality is kind of funny, especially the scene when she's getting her hair done and switches from sweet and polite to hard-ass in the middle of a sentence.
- I can't decide whether or not I like Dorothy. She has potential, but I don't get her fixation on Relena.
- Speaking of the colonies, how is it that mobile suits can randomly land on them? We're never shown them going through any sort of air-lock (we get that in Endless Waltz, though), and all the inhabitants seem shocked when MS and Gundams suddenly show up.
Final verdict: 6.5/10, but I'd give it at least an extra point and a half for the fandom. :D
Gundam Wing - Endless Waltz:
Better animation! More Duo kicking ass! More Sally and Noin! Trowa's obviously been hitting the gym since the end of the tv series! Marimeia had an incredibly annoying voice! Relena's Total Pacifism apparently doesn't allow for having a bodyguard!
Similarly to the tv series, the translation wasn't exact. When Heero says "Relena's been kidnapped," SubtitleDuo replies, "Anything for the one you love." Actually, he says something like, "Typical of that guy," or at least that's what my dictionnary says.
I found it funny how Dorothy shows up out of nowhere, riles up the crowd, then offers them a ride in her... enormous yellow truck.
Final verdict: 7.5/10,
Loop (Gundam Wing doujinshi by Akuma Jam):
I picked up this short doujinshi (14 pages) at Comiket*. The drawings are cute and simple, and the story, such as it is, is about Heero and Duo going on a date at an aquarium. Duo shows up late, so Heero punches him.
Heero: That felt good.
Duo: What the hell?! I was only two minutes late!
Trowa and Quatre also happen to be on a date at the aquarium, and Quatre complains about the noisy people all over (i.e. Duo), ruining the mood.
Duo and Heero go off and look at the fish, commenting on how peaceful they seem.
Duo: Yeah, it looks like they're floating in the sky.
Heero: Where the hell have you ever been to see such creatures in the sky?
Meanwhile, Trowa and Quatre are being disgustingly cute:
Quatre: What a cute fish!
Trowa: Cute like you, Quatre.
Duo (walking by): Stupid couple.
Heero and Duo watch the dolphin show, and Duo remarks that Heero must be busy these days, because he's lost weight. Then, there's the annoyingly long (okay, it's only a couple of sentences, but it's long compared to the rest) bit that I don't understand, and I don't even know who's saying it (it's a dialogue balloon on a panel with no faces). I think it's Duo, and he says something about being called really cute (?), to which Heero says, "Sou da na." Duo gets a weird look on his face, then:
Duo (joking): So you think I'm cute?
Heero: Yeah.
Duo: ...
Duo: You must have a fever! *feels Heero's forehead*
Heero: No, I'm fine. (then another dialogue balloon I don't understand)
Duo has to leave to go catch his shuttle, so he thanks Heero and says he was glad they got together.
Heero: You're going already?
Duo: We'll see each other again, right?
Heero: Yeah...
They happen accross Trowa and Quatre, holding hands and (still) being disgustingly cute:
Quatre: I'm so happy... Next month, same day, then?
Trowa: I promise, Quatre.
Duo: You guys! What are you doing here?
Quatre: It's Heero and Duo again!
Trowa: You've been following us since earlier!
Duo: We have not!
Duo runs after Trowa to get to the shuttle, but Heero stops him, saying he forgot something, and kisses him (so sweet!), while Quatre looks on.
Quatre: Heero, you show-off! Trowa! Us, too!
The second-last page shows Duo and Trowa sitting together on the shuttle.
Trowa: We're lucky, we didn't even have reservations and we got seats together.
The last page shows Wufei trying to get his ticket.
Wufei: I made a reservation, there must be an error.
Employee: Let me see... Oh no, there's been a mistake. I'm sorry, there are no more seats on this shuttle.
Wufei (collapsed, orz): ..........nataku.
*laughs* Poor Wufei. ^_^;
Now I have to go back to the dictionary and figure out those three sentences that stumped me.
* That entry will be for another day
Is that it? *looks at list* I'm done?!
*falls over*
Speaking of which, here are this year's last reviews. Rushed, because I don't have it in me to be deep this evening, but they're done, so yay?
Brazil:
You'd expect weird, coming from Terry Gilliam and all, but while there are some very Pythonesque (Pythonian?) bits, the overall tone of this movie is decidedly odd. The love story, such as it is, serves as a catalyst for the main character to actually do something with his life, but the dream sequences were too long to sustain the comedy, and ended up being clunky. The scenes in the Ministry of Information, however, were very funny, and the idea of a rogue repairman doing guerilla warfare against Central Services had me giggling. It could have been shorter, and I think cutting the dream sequences a bit, as well as the car chase, would have made it flow better. Oh yeah, and the sound mixing! I hate having to fiddle with the volume while I'm watching something! Explosions needn't be deafening, nor do hushed conversations need be unintelligible. I think this is the sort of movie that would improve upon subsequent viewings, and I liked the look of it enough to think that I wouldn't mind watching it again at some point, maybe with someone else.
Final verdict: 6.5/10 (but maybe more after a second viewing)
The Color Purple (Alice Walker):
It feels wrong to spell it "color", but what can I do? Apart from that, this is a powerful book, very spiritual without necessarily being religious. I loved the way the writing, bad spelling and structure and all, immediately pulled me into Celie's head, and the use of sewing as a meditation made me warm inside. The bond between Celie and Shug, and the strength the women show, are impressive.
I was fascinated by the story of Nettie in Africa, and the themes of identity it brought up. There's the idea of coming home to the place your ancestors left, which is a powerful thing, but in this case the ancestors didn't leave by choice, and there's the whole question of how to deal with the ones who stayed behind and the ones who sent them away in the first place.
Ugh, this isn't coming out right, at all. On one hand, I feel like I can't ever truly understand such a situation, and though I do try as best I can to understand race issues, I'm white (and blonde and blue-eyed, on top of that) and so have never had to deal with discrimination in my own country. Being with G, we were occasionally treated with surprise, from the pure-laine in Quebec City, and the Chinese in Vancouver, but my only experience that even comes remotely close to what this book deals with is being called a "stupid little white girl" by some Cree kids up north. And that really hurt, even though I was six years old, and didn't understand why.
My biggest gripe, and it's with the character herself, is with what I see as an excessive amount of forgiveness. Maybe I'm just not wired that way and will never get it, but how can one calmly put aside past hurts (like being raped!) and simply see an old man? I got the feeling that the revelation about him not being ---'s real father made what he did to her somehow less wrong in ---'s eyes, perhaps in that it means her children are not their own uncle and aunt. While I suppose it's arguably less awful to molest your step-daughter than it is to do the same to your biological daughter, such a technicallity does nothing to diminish the evil of the act. And then there's the whole abusive husband angle!
On a lighter note, I had to laugh at myself when, halfway through the book, it was explained that Shug's name was short for "Sugar", because up until then I'd been puzzling about how to pronounce it, and had been wondering if it was supposed to rhyme with "bug".
Final verdict: 9/10
No Great Mischief (Alistair MacLeod):
At first, I was irritated by the way the characters would, seemingly randomly, ignore and use contractions (I will instead of I'll, for example), and then I tried to remember if that was how Cape Bretoners speak, but then I got into the flow and it didn't bother me at all. What a lovely book! I really liked the way the family history was entwined with the present, though keeping the Tragic Event shrouded in mystery until the end was a bit much; it could have been revealed a little earlier, I think, without affecting the impact of the end.
The only thing I didn't get was why Calum had never returned to Cape Breton. Was there a reason, perhaps shame, that he'd stayed in Toronto?
Final verdict: 8.5/10
The Joy Luck Club (Amy Tan):
Let's go for lucky (hah! I'm so clever!) 3 in a list of books about cultures not my own!
For some reason, I often have trouble remembering the names of characters in books, even when I'm in the middle of one. I remember the characters fine, who they are and what they've done and are doing, but their names somehow mysteriously escape me, so as I read this, I internally refering to the characters as "the chess player" or "the one who doesn't have much money", instead of bothering with their names. Good thing the chapter titles read like a cast list!
I saw the movie a long time ago, but it was one of those viewing experiences where I missed the first fifteen minutes, and spent the rest of the movie thinking I'd missed a whole lot more, and so thought my understanding was incomplete, but now I realise that I didn't miss all that much. The book was surprisingly short, but manages to pack a lot in. The heartbreaking stories of the mothers were balanced out by the stories of their daughters, who all manage, in the end, to pull themselves up and move forward.
Final verdict: 8.5/10
Gundam Wing (tv):
So I (like many, many others, it seems) started reading the fanfiction before I'd ever seen a single episode, way back in my anime glory days. When I got my hands on the series, AAS only had up to episode 36 or so, so it was over a year before I saw the rest of the series on YTV, in (often annoyingly slow) English. Since I've started reading the fanfiction again, I thought I should see the series from beginning to end, just to confirm for myself what is canon and what is fanon, because sometimes I wasn't so sure. I'd write more about the fanfiction, but that would take to long, so I'll just say that Heero and Duo are my One True Pairing, and that OF COURSE Duo is my favourite character. I'm genetically programmed to like the funny, kick-ass secondary characters (see also Burrfoot, Tasslehoff; Nuriko; Gamgee, Samwise). That said, I was forced to make Duo share the favourite character spot with Sally Po, because she seriously rocks. I want more Sally!
When I went to Comiket the other day, I spent my subway ride making a list of points about this series, so I'll just transcribe that in bullet format here, it's easier.
- The series is really more about the politics than about the Gundam pilots, though you'd never guess that from reading the fanfiction. It features grossly over-simplified views, but I guess you don't watch this type of show for political realism.
- Relena's fan-club at school has got to be the most annoying group of shrieking anime girls ever. "Relena-sama is in space, so the stars are shining even more brightly than usual!" *gags* They must be paid by the fawning exclamation; there's no other possible explanation.
- What is up with the gravity in that show? Commercial shuttles travelling through space seem to have gravity, Moon gravity seems as strong as Earth's, and Duo's braid seems randomly forget it's in space sometimes.
- All the politicians of Europe have gone back to (sexy, especially on the women, I must say) c. 1800 military dress, but Tsubarov looks like he stepped out of Renaissance Italy. Also, everyone everywhere is pale-skinned, except in the Middle East.
- Noin is possibly the most pragmatic, down-to-earth and practical character on the show, and I would put her next to Sally in my ranking, except for her obsession with Zechs. It seems to me a uniquely Japanese perspective that Noin's blind devotion to her leader would be regarded as a virtue.
- It's funny how Trowa is usually depicted in fanfiction as being near-silent, because he spends an awful lot of time explaining his philosophy during the first few episodes.
- Duo's famous (in certain circles) "I guess it's my destiny to be killed by you" was translated, in the commercial version (and I guess they just used the English dub dialogue as the subtitles), as something like, "I guess it's okay to die if you're the one who kills me."
- Relena is a rather interesting character, on the whole, and I liked how she seemed typically immature (she's 15, after all) at the beginning, and grew up as the series progressed, even if it was abrupt. What I don't understand is why she said nothing about Lady Une being the one who killed her (adoptive) father; even if she didn't know Une had planted the bomb in the first place, Relena saw her lob it at the room her father was in, so...
- Catherine's voice is annoying, but she's stacked.
- How likely is it that you could just randomly find abandonned bases/rooms/facilities to hide out in, ON THE MOON???
- Despite the fact that there are women in positions of power within the military, such as Une and Noin, all the soldiers (except for a couple I noticed at one point, and Hilde) are men. I'm giving Sally a pass, because she isn't part of the establishment, so who knows how many women there are with her? Still, because of this, I find it very hard to believe that all those politicians would suddenly embrace Relena as world leader, not counting the fact that obviously enough people either agreed with the Peacecrafts being ousted, or at least looked the other way, that no one tried to bring them back to power, so why the hell does everyone decide that's it's suddenly a good idea, no matter how scared they are of OZ? Not to mention, what the hell do civilians everywhere think of this sudden return to monarchy?
- I'm curious about the logistics of sustaining a travelling circus on the colony circuit.
- Lady Une's split personality is kind of funny, especially the scene when she's getting her hair done and switches from sweet and polite to hard-ass in the middle of a sentence.
- I can't decide whether or not I like Dorothy. She has potential, but I don't get her fixation on Relena.
- Speaking of the colonies, how is it that mobile suits can randomly land on them? We're never shown them going through any sort of air-lock (we get that in Endless Waltz, though), and all the inhabitants seem shocked when MS and Gundams suddenly show up.
Final verdict: 6.5/10, but I'd give it at least an extra point and a half for the fandom. :D
Gundam Wing - Endless Waltz:
Better animation! More Duo kicking ass! More Sally and Noin! Trowa's obviously been hitting the gym since the end of the tv series! Marimeia had an incredibly annoying voice! Relena's Total Pacifism apparently doesn't allow for having a bodyguard!
Similarly to the tv series, the translation wasn't exact. When Heero says "Relena's been kidnapped," SubtitleDuo replies, "Anything for the one you love." Actually, he says something like, "Typical of that guy," or at least that's what my dictionnary says.
I found it funny how Dorothy shows up out of nowhere, riles up the crowd, then offers them a ride in her... enormous yellow truck.
Final verdict: 7.5/10,
Loop (Gundam Wing doujinshi by Akuma Jam):
I picked up this short doujinshi (14 pages) at Comiket*. The drawings are cute and simple, and the story, such as it is, is about Heero and Duo going on a date at an aquarium. Duo shows up late, so Heero punches him.
Heero: That felt good.
Duo: What the hell?! I was only two minutes late!
Trowa and Quatre also happen to be on a date at the aquarium, and Quatre complains about the noisy people all over (i.e. Duo), ruining the mood.
Duo and Heero go off and look at the fish, commenting on how peaceful they seem.
Duo: Yeah, it looks like they're floating in the sky.
Heero: Where the hell have you ever been to see such creatures in the sky?
Meanwhile, Trowa and Quatre are being disgustingly cute:
Quatre: What a cute fish!
Trowa: Cute like you, Quatre.
Duo (walking by): Stupid couple.
Heero and Duo watch the dolphin show, and Duo remarks that Heero must be busy these days, because he's lost weight. Then, there's the annoyingly long (okay, it's only a couple of sentences, but it's long compared to the rest) bit that I don't understand, and I don't even know who's saying it (it's a dialogue balloon on a panel with no faces). I think it's Duo, and he says something about being called really cute (?), to which Heero says, "Sou da na." Duo gets a weird look on his face, then:
Duo (joking): So you think I'm cute?
Heero: Yeah.
Duo: ...
Duo: You must have a fever! *feels Heero's forehead*
Heero: No, I'm fine. (then another dialogue balloon I don't understand)
Duo has to leave to go catch his shuttle, so he thanks Heero and says he was glad they got together.
Heero: You're going already?
Duo: We'll see each other again, right?
Heero: Yeah...
They happen accross Trowa and Quatre, holding hands and (still) being disgustingly cute:
Quatre: I'm so happy... Next month, same day, then?
Trowa: I promise, Quatre.
Duo: You guys! What are you doing here?
Quatre: It's Heero and Duo again!
Trowa: You've been following us since earlier!
Duo: We have not!
Duo runs after Trowa to get to the shuttle, but Heero stops him, saying he forgot something, and kisses him (so sweet!), while Quatre looks on.
Quatre: Heero, you show-off! Trowa! Us, too!
The second-last page shows Duo and Trowa sitting together on the shuttle.
Trowa: We're lucky, we didn't even have reservations and we got seats together.
The last page shows Wufei trying to get his ticket.
Wufei: I made a reservation, there must be an error.
Employee: Let me see... Oh no, there's been a mistake. I'm sorry, there are no more seats on this shuttle.
Wufei (collapsed, orz): ..........nataku.
*laughs* Poor Wufei. ^_^;
Now I have to go back to the dictionary and figure out those three sentences that stumped me.
* That entry will be for another day
Is that it? *looks at list* I'm done?!
*falls over*
