books and bookmarks
My black bag covered in buttons & badges always has a book stuffed into it and within each book there is a bookmark. The book is usually spec-fic and the bookmark is usually something from geek culture. They both tend to change with the other.
The current book is the translation of the first in a russian series about wizards, shapeshifters, vampires and other creatures of magic -- The Night Watch, by Sergei Lukyanenko. It was a movie I saw last year.
The current bookmark is a postcard for the american release of the Korean monster movie The Host.
I love the idea of magic & monsters (typically portrayed in fantastical lit) being in the real world. I also love the idea of there being another layer to our reality, one that influences us but that which we have very little day to day interaction with. This genre seperates itself from typical monster fiction in that it encompasses the whole of monsters & myth. Vampire stories are about vampires and Harry Potter stories are mostly about wizards. My favourite genre, and it is the genre of my never-really-started D20 Modern RPG campaign, gathers all the monsters and magic together in a world that lives besides our own.
This world is about Light vs Dark, gathering (so far) vampires, were-s, wizards and spell casting in 80s-90s russia. The Light and Dark noticed that their war was damaging the world they all lived in and set up a treaty. In order for one of them to make an overt action on the human world, the other side would have to be allowed to do so as well. If a Good Wizard casts a spell to heal someone they agree to allow a Dark Wizard to cast a curse on someone. The world is watched by a police force from each side, the Night Watch (Light agents walking the night) and the Day Watch, Dark agents patrolling the daylight hours. They make sure everyone follows the rules, for example, vampires have to be licensed and hunting a human requires dispensation.
I am about half way through the book and immediately I recognized how faithful the movie tried to stay to the book and yet somehow, it didn't capture my attention as much as the book is. The movie wanted to be a whole, a story that could stand on its own. The book wants to be an introduction to the world. Its easier to accept this is a book as you know there will be a few in the series at least. Hollywood and its round-world incarnations always want something to stand on its own, to be decided on its own. If it fails, it fails on its own. Thus I know I can like this book series because of the world introduced to me, not by how great this introductory plot is.
I am enjoying, in case you didn't catch it.
The Host is a Korean movie about a lizard like monster loose in Seoul. No its not a Korean godzilla but it does understand it's origins. Its more a movie about how a monster loose in a city would affect the city and it's people. Its a fun little movie that has great special effects (the vomit of bones still sticks in my head), some fun characters and a decent storyline.
No, I didn't like it as much as Kent wanted me to. I found the mixture of monster and comedy and politics to be a bit too abrasive around the edges, not as in presented abrasively but as in it wasn't sure what it wanted the movie to be. Many of the parts seemed out of place. I would have enjoyed the story more about the political reaction if it didn't have the ridiculous Evil Americans. Not that I have anything against having Evil Americans in a movie, despising them as much as the next non-american, (*wink*) but these guys were too over the top.
Oh, what was it about? Bad Guy (american) forces loyal Korean wage slaver to pour formaldehyde down the drain even though he knows it will damaging to the environment. Somehow the substance mixes with the local wildlife and grows a weird lizard like creature (think the chimera from the american The Relic) that immediately attacks riverside picnic-ers. Some it eats, some it infects and some it takes away to digest later. One of them "eat ya later" types is the daughter of our slacker, seemingly brain damaged, main character. The rest of the movie is about the main character and his family trying to find the girl while avoiding the city officials who have issued (invented? never really clarified) a plague warning caused by the creature. People are eaten, people are digested, weapons are tested on the creature, heroes rise and americans act all Evil-like. Fun fun monster movie.
The current book is the translation of the first in a russian series about wizards, shapeshifters, vampires and other creatures of magic -- The Night Watch, by Sergei Lukyanenko. It was a movie I saw last year.
The current bookmark is a postcard for the american release of the Korean monster movie The Host.
I love the idea of magic & monsters (typically portrayed in fantastical lit) being in the real world. I also love the idea of there being another layer to our reality, one that influences us but that which we have very little day to day interaction with. This genre seperates itself from typical monster fiction in that it encompasses the whole of monsters & myth. Vampire stories are about vampires and Harry Potter stories are mostly about wizards. My favourite genre, and it is the genre of my never-really-started D20 Modern RPG campaign, gathers all the monsters and magic together in a world that lives besides our own.
This world is about Light vs Dark, gathering (so far) vampires, were-s, wizards and spell casting in 80s-90s russia. The Light and Dark noticed that their war was damaging the world they all lived in and set up a treaty. In order for one of them to make an overt action on the human world, the other side would have to be allowed to do so as well. If a Good Wizard casts a spell to heal someone they agree to allow a Dark Wizard to cast a curse on someone. The world is watched by a police force from each side, the Night Watch (Light agents walking the night) and the Day Watch, Dark agents patrolling the daylight hours. They make sure everyone follows the rules, for example, vampires have to be licensed and hunting a human requires dispensation.
I am about half way through the book and immediately I recognized how faithful the movie tried to stay to the book and yet somehow, it didn't capture my attention as much as the book is. The movie wanted to be a whole, a story that could stand on its own. The book wants to be an introduction to the world. Its easier to accept this is a book as you know there will be a few in the series at least. Hollywood and its round-world incarnations always want something to stand on its own, to be decided on its own. If it fails, it fails on its own. Thus I know I can like this book series because of the world introduced to me, not by how great this introductory plot is.
I am enjoying, in case you didn't catch it.
The Host is a Korean movie about a lizard like monster loose in Seoul. No its not a Korean godzilla but it does understand it's origins. Its more a movie about how a monster loose in a city would affect the city and it's people. Its a fun little movie that has great special effects (the vomit of bones still sticks in my head), some fun characters and a decent storyline.
No, I didn't like it as much as Kent wanted me to. I found the mixture of monster and comedy and politics to be a bit too abrasive around the edges, not as in presented abrasively but as in it wasn't sure what it wanted the movie to be. Many of the parts seemed out of place. I would have enjoyed the story more about the political reaction if it didn't have the ridiculous Evil Americans. Not that I have anything against having Evil Americans in a movie, despising them as much as the next non-american, (*wink*) but these guys were too over the top.
Oh, what was it about? Bad Guy (american) forces loyal Korean wage slaver to pour formaldehyde down the drain even though he knows it will damaging to the environment. Somehow the substance mixes with the local wildlife and grows a weird lizard like creature (think the chimera from the american The Relic) that immediately attacks riverside picnic-ers. Some it eats, some it infects and some it takes away to digest later. One of them "eat ya later" types is the daughter of our slacker, seemingly brain damaged, main character. The rest of the movie is about the main character and his family trying to find the girl while avoiding the city officials who have issued (invented? never really clarified) a plague warning caused by the creature. People are eaten, people are digested, weapons are tested on the creature, heroes rise and americans act all Evil-like. Fun fun monster movie.
