"Redshirts"

I've chosen for the final entry of this year to do something that I don't remember doing before = instead of a movie to pick a book as subject for an entry: "Redshirts" by John Scalzi. Don't worry :) considering how much I'm able to read outside work related stuff, it definitely won't become something regular.

Looking at what I just wrote is somehow irrelevant to say that "Redshirts" is one of the best books I've read in the last five years ( with an average of something like one book/year :) ). Maybe it's more relevant to say that's the book that got the Hugo in 2013 ( + the Locus award ). If that doesn't say much either, maybe you're not a SciFi reader and normally I would recommend picking another book. But maybe you enjoyed "Star Trek" :) or maybe you're attracted by time travel ( oh yes, I'm back to that ;) ).

What's the link with "Star Trek" ? "Redshirts" starts as a sort of satire taking place on the Earth's flagship, and you cannot miss an obvious similarity with: "Enterprise" and the missions "where no man has gone before". With something particular though: we see the action developing through the eyes of some crew members who don't have a high rank on the ship, and who are asking themselves why only a small group of officers are surviving each away mission. And more precisely, why each time somebody of a lower rank must die in the most crazy and tormenting ways that nobody would predict. That's actually where the title comes from .. in "Star Trek", the original series, the red uniform bearers where apparently cursed to a similar fate.

What's the link with time travel ? Well, without spoiling much, solving the above issue seems to rely on time traveling :) And again, we have a quite nice approach of the topic, even though this time it's pure fantasy (no life loops theory analysis, just a light version of alternate universe strings).

Leaving the subject aside, I have to point out the literary style. It's the only book by John Scalzi I've read, and if the early beginning didn't seem to show much more than a cheap novel, what followed changed dramatically this impression :). The satire in the first part of the book is excellent, and the comic punchlines in some dialogs take you by surprise. I don't remember laughing loud while reading another book. The second part switches towards drama, and the final is again surprising (positively) in the way it's approached. Normally you would expect a novel ending in a final chapter .. or well, with an epilogue. Here, we have three codas. Narrated in the first, second and third person. And if you are still thinking that what you've read is some light satire, this part will probably change your perspective. Besides boosting the drama effect (although keeping the comic side), the ending manages somehow to integrate also some romance in this story even if (light spoiler) up to the last page it won't be obvious how solid (and surprisingly non-cheesy) is this nuance.

To conclude, despite being an often acid satire, after you turn the last page you realize that "Redshirts" it's an incredible warm book. And short, to "burn" fast :) So I recommend it warmly. That's all for now ... and of course Happy Holidays ! ;)

Predestination (2014)

I would like to be less tired when writing this entry, but I don't see any chance for that in the near future. Which invariably leads to the question, can I foresee my near future ? :) And if I can, can I change it ? Or can't I ? Well, I had the same dilemma 6 or 7 days ago after watching "Predestination" between 1 to 3 AM = I told myself I'll wait catching some time to write an entry before midnight. And since then, every day, the moment came still after 3 AM. So, maybe the destiny decided I should do it at such hours. Let me try a hack in the loop :P = I'll start the entry now, save as draft at 3:16 AM and continue when I'll be more awake ;)

It's 00:20 after one week (no kiddin'): I don't think I'm less tired but I gave up trying to cheat the karma and finish posting this before midnight :) Sooo ... what are we talking about here ? It's a SciFi made in Australia, based on a short story by Robert A. Heinlein. That's an info that I fortunately found out after watching the movie. Because for me by then Heinlein = "Starship Troopers" = the only SciFi subgenre that I'm not attracted to. And in "Predestination" we have something totally different ...

Considering my enthusiasm in the double introduction (+ the hints between the lines :) ) I think it's clear enough that the movie's topic is time travel related. I'll limit at giving "Looper" as reference although I've seen already many contrary opinions on that. Mine is that the foundation is very close, although the two stories are indeed quite far one from another. What's exactly there, I'll leave it as surprise. However, I should give two warnings ...

The movie has a long intro. Very long :) I think it's almost half of the movie (we're talking though about a relatively short movie = less than 100 minutes). I liked this part, but I still noticed the length. Giving a light spoiler I can say it's a life story, out of the ordinary, told at a glass of whisky in a bar (don't worry :) we don't stay 50 minutes in a bar, it's mostly based on flashbacks).

The second warning is more an assumption that the story might seem ... I don't know .. let's say a bit "sick" once it gets far enough. Just might ... Because I assume if you're open minded enough + you stay aware that what you're watching is a SciFi, you shouldn't be appalled by the author's imagination. The real problem is another one, once you get the key detail you'll probably guess what follows .. and as your guesses are confirmed you'll know everything before the end. But even so ...

I must admit that in a sense is an original approach. And that's because that short story was written before "Looper" ;) This time I didn't bother though searching for logical answers about the time travel effects & consequences and trying to convince myself that what I've seen in the movie is at least theoretically possible :). I assume I was too tired to do that after that 3 AM I mentioned. Anyway, the "life as a loop" idea is an interesting one. And, let's say ... feasible in regard to some paradoxes. The question stays though on how to start a loop like this, and if you can get out of it ;) (just in case where you'll get sucks) ...

Rating: 4 out of 5

Winter-Spring 2014-2015 Movie Preview - Part 2

I'll start the spring and the month of March with "Chappie", a movie that seems to be a sort of "A.I." (in case somebody remembers what Spielberg was doing around year 2000) but set in much more tensed world. World that actually looks very similar with what Neill Blomkamp got us already used to in "District 9" or "Elysium". For me not enough, I still don't trust the directing skills of this guy ...
Did you know that "Moby Dick" had a real source of inspiration? Well, after watching the trailer for "In the Heart of the Sea" and having a quick look on the novel's Wikipedia page, I tend to think that's more a marketing strategy (= "Moby Dick" actually had not one but more real life sources, this being just one of them). In any case, Ron Howard knows how to do one thing very well, and that's real story based dramas. So the expectancies are .. big :), as the whale.
Lately I'm quite disappointed by DreamWorks, but I wanted to have also an animation in my previews list, so I'm closing "March" with "Home". Despite being discouraged by the trailer ...
I don't have many options for next April that already have a trailer out, so don't shoot me (no pun intended), but what I'm left with is "Furious 7". The only thing that gives me a reason to see also the seventh part (unbelievable but true I managed to get through the first six .. it can actually be much worse = "Transformers"), is that the director is James Wan ("Saw", "Dead Silence", "Insidious", "The Conjuring"). I'm really curious to see how the most active/appreciated horror director of the last 10 years works on a different genre.
I guess my position regarding superhero movies is already known. Fortunately, the density seems lower for next year. At least as production number, because regarding the superheroes count we have again all the gang reunited in May for "Avengers: Age of Ultron". Big yawn ...
I never got to understand the praise for the "Mad Max" movies, and neither for George Miller as director. So next year's reboot doesn't excite me at all. Despite the trailer's level of pumped up adrenaline ...
After a relatively pessimistic series I'm closing May and this preview round with the top title on my "to watch" list: "Tomorrowland". The only fear I have is that it might be to teenage targeted. Except that, looks good, director, writers, story, cast, everything :). That's all for now. I'll be back, soon, with a title that seems quite promising ;)

Winter-Spring 2014-2015 Movie Preview Part 1

A bit later than usual, but I'll finally start the preview round of this winter. So, let's not spend much time with the chit chat and enter December with a horror. Seems a good choice, considering my mood and that I didn't have anything like this on my blog for a while. And it also compensates the cold outside with the Egyptian sun. Well, sort of, since "The Pyramid" seems to take place mostly in the underground.
The next one is placed a bit closer to where I live. In the "Black Sea" we have a German submarine that lays on the bottom since WW2. A small important detail: it's filled with gold. So we'll stay a bit more deep down below, but this time under water.
After starting in an indie note, I'll compensate the month of December with the ending of "The Hobbit" trilogy. The 2nd part gave me hope. Although, no matter how you turn it, "The Hobbit" remains a children's book to read before bed time.
The first "Taken" was good. The second awful. The third arrives in January. So we still have to wait a bit to see if this one is in the middle.
We had "Life of Pi" and after "All is Lost". I don't think that "Against the Sun", with 3 in a boat, has any chance for an Oscar nod. But since it seems I'm in a indie mood this time ...
I don't expect much after seeing the trailer of "Project Almanac". But I cannot resist a time travel movie. Out at the end of January.
I'm closing the winter with "Seventh Son", to be released next February. I don't know why the trailer left my senses somewhere between tha last "Conan" and "Wrath of the Titans". It doesn't seem to have neither barbarians, nor Greek mythology in it. In any case it's not a good feeling. I'll be back soon with the spring :)