So I’m actually trying to be ON TIME for my October list. It helps that I’ve got the house to myself at the moment, but given that I’d like to watch a movie AND go write, I should get this thing wrapped up pretty quick. Thankfully (or unfortunately, depending on how you look at it), there’s not a WHOLE lot to share outside of comics.
Without further adieu, let’s look at October’s entertainment tallies!
And as always, I’m happy to jabber about anything that’s on the following lists. If you want my opinion about something, just comment and ask.
CULTURE CONSUMPTION: October 2013
Books
If I thought I sucked last month, that’s NOTHING compared to October. Sheesh! I’m turning into a super-slow reader! That or I simply have NO TIME.
Star Wars: Kenobi by John Jackson Miller
The Girl Who Soared Over Fairyland and Cut the Moon in Two by Catherynne M. Valente
Short Fiction
None this month. I took too much time reading comics!
Comics
FINALLY!!! I’m finished with the Hellblazer run! Not an easy feat, given the multitude of writers and artists working on the title, each bringing their own ideas and sensibilities to John Constantine’s world and character, but while there were definitely moments I was bored and wanted to throw in the towel, the end of the series, penned by Peter Milligan and often drawn by Simon Bisley was quite engaging and a helluva lot of fun.
If you ever want to dip your toe into the John Constantine stories, I’d highly recommend taking a slight detour and reading the super-excellent graphic novel Dark Entries by Ian Rankin. This is a standalone story, and definitely a NOVEL in terms of comics, but it’s a great tale, and tells you a lot about the character.
Graphic novels first:
Dark Entries by Ian Rankin
Hellblazer: Pandemonium by Jamie Delano
Batgirl #24
Batman #24
Batman Black and White #2
Batman Superman #4
Batwoman #24
Coffin Hill #1
East of West #6
Fairest #20
Fatale #17
Hellblazer Annual 2011
Hellblazer: City of Demons #1 – #5
Hellblazer #276 – #300
Hinterkind #1
Lazarus #4
Saga Chapter 14
Sex Criminals #1
Star Wars #10
The Manhattan Projects #15
The Unwritten #53
The Wake #4
The Walking Dead #115
The Witching Hour #1
Thief of Thieves #17
Wonder Woman #24
Movies
All I’m going to say here is how much I was looking forward to Room 237, and I was really disappointed. It wasn’t the documentary I thought it would be, with hearing critical theories about the film The Shining and then getting real, insider info to support those theories. Rather, it was a bunch of critics sharing their theories about the film, some of which were interesting and intriguing, and others were just laughable, imagined by critics who’re are too in love with their own ideas. People loved this documentary, but I was really, really disappointed.
In Theaters:
Gravity (This. Was. AWESOME.)
At home:
The Avengers (re-watch)
Star Trek Into Darkness (re-watch)
Room 237
Television Shows
Television’s gonna get a bit slower, now that the fall television season is finally underway and I’m having fun with new shows. But here’s what we wrapped up on Netflix:
Archer: Season 3
Breaking Bad: Season 3
Top of the Lake (mini-series)
And that’s it! What did you watch and/or read? What did you love, what did you hate? As always, please refrain from spoilers, as I’m obviously catching up on some shows rather late and don’t want to be spoiled.
Cheers!
Calico Writes 
Yay for being on time!
Question, how does the third fairyland book compare to the first two?
LikeLike
Pretty darn good, and the ending is definitely a shock of cold water in terms of upping the stakes. 🙂
LikeLike
Good to hear. I read some reviews that said the book read like unnecessary filler, which made me nervous.
LikeLike
I didn’t fly through it like I had the previous two, but there’s some really rich, important stuff in this one. I’ll look forward to your thoughts. 🙂
LikeLike
I’m on the waiting list for it at the library, so I’ll probably be able to get to it this month 🙂
LikeLike
Total agreement on “Gravity”: it was indeed awesome. And breath-taking: both in the sense of being amazed by the visuals and in the less-pleasant sense that I should have brought an oxygen bottle with me. WOW
LikeLike
It was one of those rare movies that had me tense the whole time. Several points in the movie had me choked up too.
LikeLike
I really need to catch up on the Fairyland books–I have the second one but haven’t read it yet.
A question I’m almost afraid to ask: Are you planning on seeing “Ender’s Game”? I’m actually boycotting the thing because of what an indescribably evil person the author is, and I’m encouraging everyone I know to do the same (although very few of the people I know would be the kind of people who would go to see the movie anyway, so that’s not hard).
Yeah, I don’t want to seem like I’m pressuring you to do anything, but I am curious as to your thoughts about this. I just really don’t want to financially support a guy whose ideals I find so completely abhorrent (as if he actually needs my financial support :P, but at least it makes my feelings on the subject clear).
LikeLike
I didn’t read Ender’s Game until just a few years ago, and I wasn’t impressed. You can still find my review of it on LJ, as well as the numerous comments the review generated, some a bit outraged. As far as the book is concerned, I may have loved it if I’d read it at a much younger age, before I was exposed to much SF and therefore became jaded, but I didn’t, so I ended up not being impressed. Also, I think someone had spoiled me for the ending.
With that in mind, I have no interest in the movie, regardless of Card’s views (which, for the record, I don’t agree with). If I ever see it, it’s gonna be through a free platform, long after the movie is out of theaters.
I would encourage you to take a look at author Carrie Vaughn’s post about the movie, the controversy, and what it meant for her for an author of a book she loved, a book that was a gateway to the genre, to have such utterly abhorrent views. Not only does she talk about her own experiences and her own choices, but she provides lots of links to a lot of different articles that are worth reading on the subject, and not all of those articles take the same stance.
The post is here:
LikeLike
Thanks for pointing me at that article! I think Vaughn has a very reasonable response to the issue, which is kind of refreshing, actually.
This whole issue makes me think, how does a reader’s opinion of the author as a person affect their enjoyment of a book? I mean, I’m sure this has been talked about before, but it’s so rare that I really know anything about the author of the books I read I’ve never really thought about it much.
LikeLike
Ideally, one should keep the art separate from the artist. We are not in an ideal world, and it’s getting increasingly difficult to not be aware of what writers, actors, actresses, directors, musicians, etc think about any given topic. So it turns into a personal line: there are authors I’ve never read that I don’t plan on reading because they act like assholes. There are authors I’ve read and enjoyed and have later discovered them acting like assholes to book bloggers and have therefore mentally crossed them off my list. It’s even trying reading my favorite authors’ blogs, because inevitably they’ll hate on something I really liked or love something I think was shit and it can drive me batty. I don’t stop reading them over something like that, but it does make me distance myself from their blogs so that I don’t get too involved in THEM as authors so that I can save my energies for their work instead.
LikeLike
I *love* Archer. I’ve only seen the first season, but it was too funny. Do the subsequent seasons hold up? I’m also really curious on what you think about Breaking Bad. I started watching it two years ago and it’s been some of the best television I’ve ever experienced (even when it gave me panic attacks because it’s so goddamn intense at times).
LikeLike
We’ve watched through Season Three, and it’s great. Gets better, actually!
So far, I love Breaking Bad. Looking forward to finishing the series. Not anytime TOO soon, but it’s a fantastic show.
LikeLike