Marvel's Captain America: Civil War

 
                   


Just saw Captain America: Civil War yesterday. There were many enjoyable moments, but it was a bit of a bumpy ride, I think. I'll try to keep the spoilers to a minimum, but I'm going to mention character names and that kind of thing, so if you haven't seen the movie, read at your own risk.

The basic set-up has to do with the collateral damage the Avengers leave behind when fighting the bad guys. When a brawl in Lagos results in the death of innocent bystanders, political pressure mounts to control the Avengers and hold them accountable for their actions. This takes the form of the Sokovia Accords (remember Sokovia, the small, Eastern European country destroyed in Age of Ultron?),  internationally ratified legal documents that would make the Avengers a task force operating under the jurisdiction of the UN. Stark, overwhelmed with guilt, is ready to sign, but Cap refuses, feeling that it would be giving up his freedom to choose what is right and when to intervene. When Bucky, aka the Winter Soldier, is implicated in a bombing, the two are forced further apart, until the other superheroes are forced to pick sides.

For me, the movie suffered from an over-convoluted plot, too many action sequences, and an overabundance of characters; the emotional moments got lost in all the action. One in particular, a moment that should have had Cap and the audience sniffling, was over in a few minutes and cheapened by just being there to build up Cap's conviction that he's doing the right thing. The Black Panther side plot felt quite generic, and if the screenwriters had cut that, we could have focused more on the character relationships that matter to the story. Yes, I get that they were trying to reinforce the theme of revenge consuming people, but is the side plot necessary to the story? Also, did we really need Hawkeye for his one? He doesn't actually have a whole lot to do. The Scarlet Witch felt a bit redundant, too. Couldn't the mistake she made have been made by Stark, for example? Wouldn't that have reinforced his motivation to sigh the accords? The movie rushes from locale to locale, giving us big and flashy action sequences all over the world, but even action scenes get boring if you repeat them long enough. At almost two and a half hours of movie, I feel we should have gotten more character moments. Sometimes less actually is more.

But there was good stuff, too. I enjoyed the banter between the superheroes, and the fight at the airport was pure fun. Ant-Man and Spidey got the best lines, and the dynamic between Iron Man and Spidey was fantastic; I just wish we had gotten to see more of it. I loved the film's version of Spider-Man. I also liked that the Captain America/Winter Soldier storyline got its conclusion, and I quite liked the ending.

So, not my favourite Marvel movie, but worth seeing, nonetheless.

Meteorite Earrings

                         

                               Who wouldn't want to hang tiny meteorites from their earlobes? 

Here's a close-up. I bought the meteorite charms at a science museum (Stockholm, maybe, or London?) and added hooks.

Maybe I'll wear these while writing my hard science fiction story for the Lumen ja jään antologia? #SeriousScienceFictionWriter

P.S. Is it bad that the aforementioned project keeps trying to turn into a Victorian ghost story? Should I let it?

Hugo Finalists Announced

The Hugo finalists have been announced. Here are a few of the categories I'm most interested in:

Best Novel (3695 nominating ballots)

• Ancillary Mercy by Ann Leckie (Orbit)
• The Cinder Spires: The Aeronaut’s Windlass by Jim Butcher (Roc)
• The Fifth Season by N.K. Jemisin (Orbit)
• Seveneves: A Novel by Neal Stephenson (William Morrow)
• Uprooted by Naomi Novik (Del Rey)

Best Novella (2416 nominating ballots)

• Binti by Nnedi Okorafor (Tor.com)
• The Builders by Daniel Polansky (Tor.com)
• Penric’s Demon by Lois McMaster Bujold (Spectrum)
• Perfect State by Brandon Sanderson (Dragonsteel Entertainment)
• Slow Bullets by Alastair Reynolds (Tachyon)

Best Novelette (1975 nominating ballots)

• “And You Shall Know Her by the Trail of Dead” by Brooke Bolander (Lightspeed, Feb 2015)
• “Flashpoint: Titan” by CHEAH Kai Wai (There Will Be War Volume X, Castalia House)
• “Folding Beijing” by Hao Jingfang, trans. Ken Liu (Uncanny Magazine, Jan-Feb 2015)
• “Obits” by Stephen King (The Bazaar of Bad Dreams, Scribner)
• “What Price Humanity?” by David VanDyke (There Will Be War Volume X, Castalia House)

Best Short Story (2451 nominating ballots)

• “Asymmetrical Warfare” by S. R. Algernon (Nature, Mar 2015)
• The Commuter by Thomas A. Mays (Stealth)
• “If You Were an Award, My Love” by Juan Tabo and S. Harris (voxday.blogspot.com, Jun 2015)
• “Seven Kill Tiger” by Charles Shao (There Will Be War Volume X, Castalia House)
• Space Raptor Butt Invasion by Chuck Tingle (Amazon Digital Services)

Best Graphic Story (1838 nominating ballots)

• The Divine written by Boaz Lavie, art by Asaf Hanuka and Tomer Hanuka (First Second)
• Erin Dies Alone written by Grey Carter, art by Cory Rydell (dyingalone.net)
• Full Frontal Nerdity by Aaron Williams (ffn.nodwick.com)
• Invisible Republic Vol 1 written by Corinna Bechko and Gabriel Hardman, art by Gabriel Hardman (Image Comics)
• The Sandman: Overture written by Neil Gaiman, art by J.H. Williams III (Vertigo)

Best Dramatic Presentation, Long Form (2904 nominating ballots)

• Avengers: Age of Ultron written and directed by Joss Whedon (Marvel Studios; Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures)
• Ex Machina written and directed by Alex Garland (Film4; DNA Films; Universal Pictures)
• Mad Max: Fury Road written by George Miller, Brendan McCarthy, and Nico Lathouris, directed by George Miller (Village Roadshow Pictures; Kennedy Miller Mitchell; RatPac-Dune Entertainment; Warner Bros. Pictures)
• The Martian screenplay by Drew Goddard, directed by Ridley Scott (Scott Free Productions; Kinberg Genre; TSG Entertainment; 20th Century Fox)
• Star Wars: The Force Awakens written by Lawrence Kasdan, J. J. Abrams, and Michael Arndt, directed by J.J. Abrams (Lucasfilm Ltd.; Bad Robot Productions; Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures)

Best Dramatic Presentation, Short Form (2219 nominating ballots)

• Doctor Who: “Heaven Sent” written by Steven Moffat, directed by Rachel Talalay (BBC Television)
• Grimm: “Headache” written by Jim Kouf and David Greenwalt, directed by Jim Kouf (Universal Television; GK Productions; Hazy Mills Productions; Open 4 Business Productions; NBCUniversal Television Distribution)
• Jessica Jones: “AKA Smile” written by Scott Reynolds, Melissa Rosenberg, and Jamie King, directed by Michael Rymer (Marvel Television; ABC Studios; Tall Girls Productions;Netflix)
• My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic: “The Cutie Map” Parts 1 and 2 written by Scott Sonneborn, M.A. Larson, and Meghan McCarthy, directed by Jayson Thiessen and Jim Miller (DHX Media/Vancouver; Hasbro Studios)
• Supernatural: “Just My Imagination” written by Jenny Klein, directed by Richard Speight Jr. (Kripke Enterprises; Wonderland Sound and Vision; Warner Bros. Television)

See more at http://www.thehugoawards.org/

The Sad Puppies didn't do a slate this year, just a recommended reading list, but the Rabids apparently had a slate and a lot of their choices ended up on the list. If you're not familiar with the Puppy Wars, here's a few links to get you up to speed:

George R. R. Martin's Not a Blog:
http://grrm.livejournal.com/483848.html

Chuck Wendig at Terribleminds.com
http://terribleminds.com/ramble/2016/04/27/we-have-a-problem/

Scalzi at the Los Angeles Times
http://www.latimes.com/books/jacketcopy/la-et-jc-john-scalzi-hugo-award-nominations-20160426-story.html

The Guardian
http://www.theguardian.com/books/2016/apr/26/hugo-awards-shortlist-rightwing-campaign-sad-rabid-puppies

Not getting into the politics of this, I'm happy to see Novik's Uprooted on the list, and Gaiman's Sandman: Overture. I haven't read SevenEves, but it's on my TBR list, and the novelette/short story/novella categories have some interesting stuff, too. A fellow Critter (S. R. Algernon) got a nomination for a short story, so I'm happy for him, even though the story ended up on the Rabid Puppy slate. It's sad to see the community split like this. Worldcon is coming to Finland in 2017, so I hope the whole Puppy thing will be over by then, and we can just focus on having fun and celebrating the work and authors/creators we love.

Etymology Expeditions: Rare Stones

There are many kinds of rare gems in the world. Did you ever wonder how they got their names? Let's find out.

The word diamond comes from Old French diamant, from Vulgar Latin adiamantem, dia-  "through, throughout"+ adamantem"the hardest metal."

Ruby is also from Old French, from the word rubi. It in turn comes from Medieval Latin rubinus lapis, "red stone."

Sapphire, from Old French saphir, is derived from Greek sappheiros, "blue stone." Okay, not that imaginative, but does the job.

Emerald, you'll be shocked and surprised to hear, comes from Old French esmeraude (where else?). That comes from Latin smaragdus, from Greek smaragdos "green gem." That's where we get the Finnish word for emerald, smaragdi, by the way.

Okay kids, what did we learn today? The French have the best (words for) gemstones, and the fancy-sounding names are actually anything but. "Green stone." Point. Grunt. That's all you need for trade, really.

Sources:
http://www.etymonline.com

Aliens Loot Up For Grabs at Lootcrate!

Lootcrate is doing a special limited edition Aliens 30th anniversary crate, featuring comics, collectibles, and a t-shirt. You can check out the details here. 

I just ordered mine. If you want one, go for it, because these will go fast. *

* No, they're not paying me to say that. I just think this crate will be awesome.

Reading the Classics: The Moonstone by Wilkie Collins

                              

Wilkie Collins (1824-1889) was an English novelist who wrote "sensational novels,"  a genre that preceded modern suspense novels. I have a soft spot for his work, because in a way he was a pulp writer before there was such a thing. (The genre developed from the Victorian "penny dreadfuls" in the late 1800s.) He's also remembered for his close friendship with Charles Dickens. It's a bit sad that Collins is often portrayed as only a footnote in Dickens' story, a lesser writer basking in the master's genius, because he was a talented writer, too. I love Dickens, but when it comes to plot and clarity of expression, I find Collins much easier to follow. His prose feels quite modern, actually. 

The Moonstone is considered the first modern English detective story.  It's told in a number of first person accounts by diverse and quirky characters. The plot is exiting, beginning with a corrupt army officer stealing the diamond from a shrine in India. He gives it to his niece, and of course the stone goes missing. There's no shortage of suspects, with many characters behaving suspiciously and irrationally and the three Indian jugglers seen skulking in the vicinity of the house the night before. There's also a romantic subplot, complete with two love triangles, and an implied curse on the diamond.

The characters are a joy, from Betteredge, a head servant with a penchant for Robinson Crusoe, to Ms. Clack, a holier-than-thou hypocrite trying to force her faith on people, for their own good, of course. The story also has the archetypal clever detective, Sergeant Cuff. While Poe's Dupin is often cited as the inspiration for Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes, I did wonder if Sergeant Cuff might have been an influence, too. It's fascinating to speculate about how much Collins learned from Dickens about creating memorable characters. I'm sure the two greatly influenced each other's writing.

The book is also famous for its realistic depiction of opium addiction. Collins suffered from chronic pain, "rheumatic gout" or "neuralgia," he called it. He became addicted to laudanum when he started taking it as a painkiller and sedative. As time passed, he began to have serious side effects, including seeing a doppelgänger he called "Ghost Wilkie." 

I found The Moonstone an enjoyable read, and I actually didn't guess the thief before the big revelation. I'm looking forward to reading The Woman in White, Collins' other famous work. 

Reading as a writer, I feel there's a great deal to be learned here about characterisation, plotting, and utilising the basic tools of mystery writing like red herrings and misdirection. I also found the novel useful as research for writing stories set in Victorian times. Collins' style shows that you don't need to go overly ornate for a story to sound Victorian. 

If you want to learn more about Collins, check out this website. It has links to all of Collins' fiction, including rarities like his plays. If you find the myth more fascinating than the man, maybe check out Dan Simmons' Drood, which is based on the lives of Dickens and Collins.   

At the Theater: Robin Hoodin Sydän

Image from http://www.logomo.fi/

We saw Robin Hoodin Sydän (The Heart of Robin Hood) at Logomo yesterday. The play had a new take on the legend, with Robin Hood just robbing the rich but not giving to the poor. Enter Maid Marion,  the Duke of York's daughter, who wants to join the outlaws and help the people suffering under heavy taxes levied by Prince John. Marion is pretty kickass, but Robin doesn't let her into his boys' club. Well, Marion dresses up as a man, takes her trusty servant, and starts a competing outlaw business, and so "Martin of Sherwood" is born.  She gives her takings to the poor, though. Prince John arrives with a plan to marry Marion, and high jinks ensue, with a side of personal growth for Robin, of course.

A word of warning: the play's creators were inspired by Game of Thrones, so are some strong scenes in this. The recommended age limit is seven, but I'm not sure every seven-year-old would be okay watching this. One guy gets an arrow in the eye, the characters talk about murdering children, and the kids get kicked and dragged around by the hair. And . . . bits get cut off, not to be too spoilery.

The play had some awesome sword-fighting sequences, and I liked the sets and costumes. The cast gave a good performance, especially the kids, but I still felt that something was off a little. Sometimes you get so caught up in the story that you forget you're watching a play, but that didn't happen this time. I had a hard time putting my finger on what exactly was the problem, because I liked the play overall, but after discussing it with Hubby, I think it comes down to a matter of tone. This was a play aimed at children ( I think?), like the stuff they do at  summer stock theater, and there were physical gags and plays on words and actors hamming it up, all the stuff you'd expect. But then there was also the psycho Prince John (think Joffrey at his worst), and the a-bit-too-realistic violence.  There were a lot of kids in the audience. I think the thought of "should they be seeing this?" jolted me out of the play a few times. Maybe if this had been a production for adults, it might have been different. (Taking off my big, flowered bonnet now. The word for middle-aged ladies saying "but what about the children!?" is kukkahattutäti "flower-bonnet lady" in Finnish.)

Did you see the play? What did you think? Do we have matching bonnets, or were you fine with it?