Suicide Squad felt like a long introduction, followed by a self-generated plot, all to lead up to the next Batman film. I think the writers and producers should have taken notice of the marketing and lead ins for Marvel's Deadpool and ripped them off so as to knowingly set Squad up as a tale of multiple twisted love … Continue reading Review: Suicide Squad
Reviews
Review: The Paper House
A fragile thread Finally, I've finished reading The Paper House by Anna Spargo-Ryan. It could be the newly diagnosed a-typical asthma, but this novel has winded me. I had to pause while reading it, sometimes for a week, because it was painful, but also because I wanted to dwell in it in a way I … Continue reading Review: The Paper House
De rigueur Degas
I thought I would have more to say about seeing the works of Edgar Degas at the National Gallery of Victoria and maybe I will. However, more time is required to mull viewing more than 200 pieces all together in the first major retrospective since 1988. It's true that I learned things, both from the art and … Continue reading De rigueur Degas
Admiration x 3
I'm not into certain kinds of inspiration. I'm not on Pintrest for the words across artist landscapes or landscaped bodies encouraging me to be all I can be. I'm not a Just Do It person. In fact if you instruct me to Just Do It, I won't. Probably. I'm contrary and often, resistant. Sometimes I'm … Continue reading Admiration x 3
Entertaining traumas
Some stories remain big in my memory, because of the effect they had on me when I was young. I've written about the first story I ever read, The Little Match Girl, and yes, I'll never forget it. But there were others. I had recurring nightmares after seeing Lost in the Desert, also known as … Continue reading Entertaining traumas
Finding out what we lost
Humans are very good at destroying things. Just look at the stark bones of the Great Barrier Reef. Bleached, it could end up being the largest thing visible from space that was once alive. Yet, it's almost too large to comprehend, which is ironic, given it is made of microbes. Our human brains don't really … Continue reading Finding out what we lost
Heroes here & there
Somewhere else in super hero films. Because the world is not America. Batman vs Superman, is a battle between Metropolis and Gotham. It's like a haughty hipster New York vs a brooding, damaged Jersey, kinda. Until the main characters realise they're on the same side, it's like Great Gatsby, but with capes and more money. But the real somewhere … Continue reading Heroes here & there
Review: this is what’s so civil about war
If you’re going to make a film where the conflict is self-created like in Avengers: Age of Ultron, that’s ok, but to up the emotional intensity and the battle of principles, then Captain America: Civil War is a better deal. Perhaps, the recent elegiac seriousness of Batman vs Superman just highlights the interpersonal stakes, as … Continue reading Review: this is what’s so civil about war
Something weirder this way comes?
I'm in two minds about the use of historical people and spiritual concepts in fiction. On the one hand it seems disrespectful to tear precepts and practices from their cultural contexts to insert them at will into stories. Then, on the other hand, that's what writers do and have always done. I used the poetry of John … Continue reading Something weirder this way comes?
Foots the Bill?
There's a new companion in the Tardis, if you haven't already heard. Pearl Mackie. She'll play Bill. I'm not about to judge her debut from two minutes on screen. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YaLficIRInM I posit the main difficulty with a completely new companion, is explaining. Most of the audience is familiar with The Doctor and his world and this new … Continue reading Foots the Bill?