MBW and the HA flew to Mexico several days ago. I will join them briefly for Christmas before flying back. Oh, what joy, flying on Christmas Eve and Boxing Day, two of the most relaxing travel days of the year. But what this enforced solitude at home means for purposes of this web log is that I caught up on several movies many of you saw months ago.
Time, then, once again for me to provide my pointlessly late opinions.
MBW was away at a conference it Atlanta. You know what that means: more reviews of films you all saw months ago. Now, working the day job, writing, and taking care of the HA can wear a man down some. So I have to admit I went to bed early a couple of times. Therefore I was only able to catch up on two movies.
And we’re back with the second installment of too-late-to-be-relevant film reviews. MBW is back from her business trip. But while she was away I got in two more flicks.
First up, Star Wars: The Last Jedi. I watched this with a sincere desire to enjoy it. But here’s the thing with Star Wars — no, let me backup, make a couple of digressions.
MBW is away on a business trip. You know what that means: a chance to watch mindless action movies. After I put the HA to bed, that is.
A week won’t be time to catch up on about a year’s worth of releases. But I’ve had a chance to watch three so far. What did I think? Well, let me tell you.
Saturday I took MBW and the HA into Portland for the annual J.R.R. Tolkien Birthday Celebration at the Kennedy School. At four-years old, the HA is now able to appreciate it to some extent, though her attention still wanes at times.
I wanted to like Outlander. I came to it with a certain amount of goodwill, having heard of it years ago and appreciating the elevator pitch concept. Unfortunately goodwill can only do so much to entirely overcome certain deficiencies.
I finished watching the last series of BBC’s Sherlock last night. And I have opinions. That’s right, opinions. Run now!
I’ll be driving MBW and the HA to a restaurant later this afternoon to watch the Superbowl with friends. In part this is to see friends. Also in part because I wouldn’t be able to watch the game at home. See, Meduseld gets crap TV reception. I purchased a 40-mile antenna. Installed downstairs it does nothing for the big screen. Upstairs, connected to the petite bedroom TV, it receives a few channels, one of which occasionally shows something worth viewing. But none of those channels is Fox (which is carrying the game this year.)
What we watch primarily comes courtesy of Netflix or Amazon Prime. I also have a Roku hooked up downstairs, providing numerous other options, when the wifi consents to filter down from the rarefied upstairs atmosphere. If the weather is bad (and this is the Pacific Northwest) Roku provides a pixilated picture, brief ten-second sections of video between two minute blocks of nothing, or simply nothing at all. So, the best bet is usually Netflix or Amazon Prime upstairs on the small screen or a computer screen.
What sci-fi/fantasy genre options do I watch, then? Well, MBW caught the Game of Thrones bug, so we’ll be picking up HBO again this summer to catch up on the nefarious exploits of Tyrion, et al. And while we’re paying the premium, we’ll check out Westworld, see if it holds up to the good reviews, despite the absence of Yul Brynner.
I don’t get to the movie theater much, maybe once a year. So movies are a home affair, on a variety of screen sizes, and generally a matter of compromise. As I was, temporarily, a bachelor this weekend, I was able to skip compromise and select whatever I wanted. Accordingly I caught up on a few genre films. I have some thoughts on what I watched.
For every film made based on a novel there are a hundred books optioned but not green-lit. For every book optioned but not filmed there a hundred thousand not optioned. Many of the latter two categories read as pretty cinematic to me. So here is a list of novels I’d like to see turned into films. Or a series of films. Or a television mini-series. Or a television ongoing series. Whatever. This doesn’t include books I know to be optioned or have heard rumors to that effect.