Run All Night - Taken fans get what they expect

Decided to spend the evening watching the latest Liam Neeson actioner Run All Night.

It's one of these 'one man army vs the world' kind of roles Neeson plays so casually. As ex-mafia hitman Neeson's character Jimmy Conlon is forced to shoot the son of his old friend, the head of a powerful family, after a heroin deal goes horribly wrong. Mob boss Shawn Maguire, played by Ed Harris, is none for forgiveness and declares to do the same and kill Conlon's son Mike. This is the basic plot for a movie that develops into the killing spree that paints the night red we came for.

The suspension in Run All Night is similar high as in Neeson's Taken movies. There are some interesting camera moves in the film as well. Best of all for me was how convincingly Neeson and Harris play two life long friends who turn into arch enemies. With Run All Night Taken fans get exactly what they expect and that's good to me.

What's going in the first half of August 2014?

I'm feeling bad about this blog as I am too busy to update it as much as I would love to. Just very briefly:

Read:

I'm reading Dune 3 "Kinder des Wüstenplaneten". I really began to enjoy Frank Herbert's Dune series. It introduces a deep, aristocratic sci-fi universe with the story focussed on what is happening on Dune, the desert planet Arrakis. Paul "Usul Muad'dib" Atreides got the throne as emperor of the known galaxy, leading the Fremen into a jihad, a holy war to conquer the universe. He's not particularly happy about his role as messiah and the billions of dead that result from the conquest, but he has incredibly powers to foresee the future. At the end of book two he's done. Blindly he walks into the desert and vanishes. Book three sees the introduction of his daughter and son: Leto III and Ghanima. Alia and Lady Jessica are also back and there's a conspiracy going on as usal. I highly recommend the Dune series. A sci-fi classic (from the 1960s and 1970s) one should have read.

I bought also some new books at the flea market, among them my first Terry Pratchet novel. Will upload some pics ASAP.

Watch:

I watched several movies in recent times. Among them:

Wacken 3D

- This was nostalgic for me as I was a constant visitor to the world's largest heavy metal festival from 2004 to 2009. Gladly I'll be able to return to the W:O:A next year. Running Wild has already been confirmed.

X-Men: Days of the future Past

- As much as I love Marvel, I'm not too much into X-Men and couldn't recognize every sidekick character. Nonetheless an enjoyable movie with a brilliant Michael Fassbender as Magneto.

Looking forward to see The Expendables 3 and Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy in the cinema later this month!

Game:

I'm playing a lot of Magic: The Gathering these days, be it as trading card game in real life or on my 360 as Magic 2013 (has been free game of the month some short while ago). Also I began playing Dead Space 3 as I purchased it for cheap 16 Euro new at the loca GameStop). I consider Dead Space 1 and 2 as the best survival horror games of this past gen and as far superior as Resident Evil (every game RE5 onwards has been rather mediocre unless probably the 3DS one with Jill on the ship which I still have here unplayed). With Dead Space 3 I was less optimistic as the demo couldn't convince me too much. But having it played now I can see it's quality, a great beginning, then the necromorph outbreak at the lunar station and now Isaac's back in business in space as I yesterday reached Chapter 4. I'll be excited to continue!

Damn, I guess I'm a lot into sci-fi at the moment.

The Walking Dead Season 5 Comic Con 2014 Trailer

It's my favorite show! So excited it'll be back soon!

Reads of July 2014

Wow, seeing the lack of posts this month, I have to say I was really busy.

I finished Dune book 1: Der Wüstenplanet It was great. A little old school, but cool.

Also read: Utopia.

And watched a lot of Game of Thrones. Season 2 is nearly over!

On the gaming page of things I played through The Darkness II. Cool game, but it didn't flash me as much as the first one. Also it seemed to be rather short.

A Nice Surprise

The German paperbacks of Misery and It.

 What a nice surprise. A few day agos my better half brought home these Stephen King books she picked up at a school's library for free. Nobody wanted them, it seems. Nobody knew the treasures they left behind is my view on it. I already read 'IT', of course, considering it one of King's best books. 'Misery', however, is new to me. So I'm looking forward to read through it.

But it will have to wait for quite some time as I finally began reading Frank Herbert's 'Dune' series. I'm now around 200 pages deep in the first volume 'Der Wüstenplanet' or whatever it is called in English. I am impressed by all the conspiracy between the different 'houses' (like in Game of Thrones or is that chronologically speaking inspired by Dune?), the length of the chapters, and the nice artworks scattered across the book. I feel that this book takes its time to introduce the characters until catastrophe appears as there's hints to an assassination of the Atreides family. But the first sand worm already appeared and it's super big, eating up a 'melange/spice' harvesting machine, which itself is described as hundred meters long. Also I really like it's 1960s Sci-Fi-approach to technology with these awesome desert suits that make you loose no water in the desert as even your excrements get recycled (damn...). So yes, finishing all six books might take until end of the year earliest.

Somehow I even managed to make the better half watch Game of Thrones. Surprisingly she really likes it. We're now close to finishing the first season and for me it's also a great re-watch as I now know the extended background story to each character and all the hidden alliances, being able to answer all her questions. We will then watch the fourth season together as I haven't seen it myself yet.

Gaming: Still wandering through the realms of Skyrim. But more oftenly I now find myself playing some matches of 'Magic: The Gathering' with a friend, such a great and fast game with unrivaled tactical depth. Looking forward to head to my first local Friday Night Magic event soon.

Street Fighter Done Right: Assassin's Fist

 
So, I'm excited for this one since I first heard about it: Street Fighter: Assassin's Fist, a 'by fans for fans' approach to a real life Street Fighter movie. And it works. I just saw the first seven episodes and I am very satisfied. So far my high expectations haven't been disappointed. How about you just tune in? It's highly entertaining as it shines some light into the Street Fighter back story and mythology, it's in FullHD and best of all, it's free on YouTube.

Thoughts on Under The Dome Novel/TV Differences

I read the book, I watched the show. The fellow Constant Reader might already guess what I'm hinting at. Indeed, I'm talking about Under The Dome, Stephen King's biggest book of the past years that has received a TV show treatment. I liked the book a lot as it had a wide variety of believable characters (I'm strongly drawn to King's epic dramas with huge casts), which is a surprise due to the fact that it plays in a single small town, Chester's Mill, and its surroundings, an area sealed off from the outside world by a mysterious dome - "unbreakable and inescapable" as the intro to the show proclaims. As long as the experience is still fresh I would like to blog about my opinion on the massive changes from book to show.

The book. Among King's longest works and starting point for the tv series.

 As a friend remarked weren't it for the dome "Under the Dome" the show would have nothing in common with the book. This is on purpose as Stephen King himself declared that those who dislike the changes in the show can still go back to the book: "Nothing between the covers has changed a bit." And the dome truly is the only common denominator in what can be seen as an alternative playthrough of the Chester's Mill drama:

"There’s only one element of my novel that absolutely had to be the same in the novel and the show, and that’s the Dome itself. It’s best to think of that novel and what you’re seeing week-to-week on CBS as a case of fraternal twins. Both started in the same creative womb, but you will be able to tell them apart. Or, if you’re of a sci-fi bent, think of them as alternate versions of the same reality."

Being a books-first kind of guy I read Under The Dome before beginning to watch the show. As I have a favor for King's long works I was excited for this one a long time. 1000+ pages, a real achievement of endurance to finish a brick of a book like this one. One you put on your shelf and afterwards think 'I finished that, yes, I did. Tak!'. Okay, forget about the Tak that slipped in, that's due to my current readthrough of Desperation about which I will blog soon as I'm on the brink of finishing it.

Big Jim, Julia Shumway, Angie, Barbie.

Under The Dome is a drama with a huge cast like The Stand and It, King's longest works beside the Dark Tower series. Due to the dome which suddenly materialized (you get the idea that it fell down from the sky, actually, compare "The airplane and the wood chuck" or the cow in the show) Under the Dome plays on a limited territory, a limit in playground which neither It nor The Stand have (even though It plays mostly in Derry, there are certain parts of the book leading to Derry). The story in its epicness is unharmed by this, probably there's even more room to character development to this as lengthy descriptions of the landscape are rare. Another point strengthening this argument surely is that in the book the source of the dome and the mysterious 'leather heads' play marginal roles and just towards the end get some more play time. That's why months after finishing Under The Dome I still have vivid memories of characteres like Dale 'Barbie' Barbara, Rusty Everett, Julia Shumway, Reverends Coggins and Libby, 'Chef' Phil Bushey and his poor wife Doodee Sanders. And of course the one to rule them all James 'Big Jim' Rennie, arguably King's most charismatic dictator. As I feel like I knew these characters once I finished the book I of course was very sensitive and at first even offended by all the changes made in the show. There's no Rusty, an important side kick in the book, there's no Libby, no Sanders. 'Chef' turned from a crystal meth smoking Christian fundamentalist hill billy into an African-American disc jockey. Thankfully they got Big Jim right as he is brilliantly played by Dean Norris, know to most as Hank from Breaking Bad. He is every bit as cunning, sinister and power lusting as in the literature. And it actually is exciting to see him react to situations that are as well unknown and unexpected to the Constant Reader. Barbie, our hero, on the other hand has a completely new background. He's still an Iraq veteran, but he's also some kind of insurance repo man. Even though he never was that kind of professional killer in the books, the producers still found an excellent actor for Barbie which is Mike Vogel.

Oh, Rusty, where are thou? Locked out in the show.

So much for the characters, or some of them at least, but what about the story? As said the only common denominator between book and TV show is the dome itself. There's a new source to it, there's no more armageddon like in the book and the whole plot is planned for a longer span of time. The astounding thing with the book was how fast - during the course of a few days - the dome (or Big Jim) altered everything from normal life to the solid establishment of a dictatorship. The show on the other hand plays in a time frame of weeks, probably months to come, what explains the sudden inner-dome eco system versus the scarcity of ressources in the book. Even though the first season ends with a prophetic Jim Rennie commanding hordes of town folks he doesn't have it as easy in the books as there are a couple of new characters competing with him: Some farmer sitting on Chester's Mill water ressources and a mysterious woman namend Maxime who - even by Big Jim - is refered to as the devil. The show gives her a few episodes to consolidate some kind of underground fight club in an abandoned factory before Big Jim shoots her in the head and blames it on Barbie. Also Junior Rennie plays a different role in the show. He's still loyal to his father but instead of getting mad by brain tumor he now is part of a group of chosen, a ka-tet if you will, who receives visions by the beings who brought the dome down on Chester's Mill. This forces him in the show to cooperate more with other characters like Scarecrow Joe, Norrie Calvert (let's not begin to talk about her change from skater girl (or 'riot grrrl' as called in the book) to some suburban interracial lesbian mothers' child) and Angy. The first mistery of 'The pink stars are falling' which was due to air pollution in the book is made into a cliffhanger on the end of the first season (the dome first blackens, blocking every light out and is then redeemed by mysterious pink stars coming from the remains of the 'mini dome'). On top of that the show adds another plot spin unknown to its literary archetype: 'The monarch will be crowned'. This is the message the ka-tet receives when collectively touching the mini-dome. The first assumption is that Barbie is the monarch and that the monarch is vital to bringing the dome down. Also there's a monarch butterfly hatching inside the mini dome, but once it hatches and gets out it is drawn to Julia Shumway, suggesting the she is the monarch. The last episode also features a short communication with the creator beings of the dome, who chose the physical appearence of Norrie's dead mother to not scare the stupid humans away (showing themselves as dead people, oh well). There it is revealed that Chester's Mill was sealed off to save it. The question to save it from what is postponed to the next seasons. Along with many others.

The TV invention of Under The Dome's Ka-Tet.

So what do I as Constant Reader make of all these changes? I'm one who always bashes 'Game of Thrones' for its many changes to the 'A Song of Ice and Fire' books, despising the sacrifizing decisions that take out a lot of complexity from the tv adaptation. Adaptation is the keyword here, I guess, as 'Under The Dome' the show is not a literary adaptation to the screen but rather something completely new. Other than with 'Game of Thrones' this re-vision, not re-telling, of  a book also changes my frame of perception for the TV show of 'Under The Dome'. Even though I miss a lot of the characters that should be under this dome, I still find it exciting to experience this new approach to a known King story I travelled through already in my mind, to live through a new reality, an alternate dimension, a contingency of Chester's Mill. Theres's one thing a Constant Reader should know and there's no better approach to the TV-Chester's Mill: "Go then, there are other worlds than these."

So yes, I'm certainly looking forward for season 2 of Under The Dome which starts very soon already, June 30th 2014.

The Walking Dead S04E15 Season 4 Finale "A" Opinion

The episode was well narrated and made use of enlightening flash backs that showed where the season had come from.

So that was the season finale for the fourth season of The Walking Dead. It was a worthy finale for a great season. The episode made great use of the narrative tool of flash backs to remind its viewers the long way the characters traversed from episode 1 to episode 16. A good opportunity to bring back some of the most beloved - Hershel - and easiliest forgotten characters - Carls childhood friend with the glasses.

The Prison, a refuge the group deemed save, is gone for good after the Governors new band waged war against it, destroying all defence installations and flooding the complex with Walkers, rotten corpses. Had they not just survived a raging pestilence in one of The Prison's wings? The Governor just couldn't get enough. He had gotten what looked like a second chance and had wasted it just as lightheaded as the first. And he payed for it with his life. Our heroes however, were scattered and lost contact to each other, missingly wandering the woods. Eventually all of them came to signs promising them a safe haven in "Terminus". A bunch of events like surviving the attacks of a group of outlaws in a world without laws, discovering that one particular child is dead wrong in the head, and reuniting the lovers in a pitch black zombie infested train tunnel lead almost all our heroes to "Terminus". Having lost all their trust to anyone, being unable to bieleve in human good anymore they bring up all of Terminus subjects against them. The towns private military group eventually captures Rick, Carl, Michonne and Darryl in a train wagon where they are met with the rest of The Prison's survivors. All except one blond daugther of Hershel, Carol, Tyreese and Judith.

A group of bad guys tried to take out Rick. Didn't go so well for them.

That's how the season ends and leave us to a cliffhanger that will make us remember until the show returns in its fifth season, presumably later this year. I found it a good finale that connected some threads. The show always manages to build up hope, gives the group some place to live at for a while until it bloodily shatters the safe heavens and thins out the cast of characters. Remember the camping wagon town when the epidemic was still fresh, Hershel's farm in summer or The Prison, which had become a sort of kibbutz. Nothing stops the walkers and human tragedy in the long run and there wasn't even the slighted chance of it developing with Rick's uncompromising strategy as he saw these "peaceful" townspeople were carrying things that didn't belong to them. They had been right, but they can be glad to be still alive and shot to sieves. The Walking Dead's character development and tense story is what makes the show so great. May it be half a year of waiting, let it be worth the wait. In any case, it gives me some more time to catch up with the equally awesome comics that are as different to the show as is A Song of Ice and Fire to Game of Thrones.

Sneak Peak S04E16


The Making of S04E16


Inside S04E16

The Walking Dead S04E15 "Us" Opinion

Maggy and Glenn finally reunited.

It's been a busy day but what better incentive could there be for all hardships than rewarding yourself with a new episode of The Walking Dead? That's certainly my point of view as this show is constantly growing on me. Thinking about it, it really is an outstanding cross media phenomenon as the comic is super nice and the video game single handedly put the point and click genre back on the agenda.




But what about today's episode "Us"? Even though it showed all of the characters it put the spot light on Glenn and Darryl. Glenn travels with this female companion, the governors left over, through a dark, zombie infested tunnel and eventually reunites with his lover, Maggy. Certainly an emotional moment of joy in this dark age of zombies. I like how the two turn out to be the happy couple everybody wanted Rick and Laury to be in the first two seasons. Let's just hope they survive a little longer. Darryl, on the other hand, is the tough lone wolf again. He quickly worked up the hierarchy in the bandit group in this episode.

And all are heading towards Terminus. At the very end of the episode they arrived and everything looked very inviting and happy. But don't we know all is going to turn to hell? Too fresh are the memories of the governors little town which turned out to be a hell hole. Trouble is about to appear and it looks like Rick will find himself in a serious relation. As the next episode will conclude the season I am wondering more than ever in which direction the series is heading. I do hope that the Washington D.C. story line is followed in season 5. The break will give me time to catch up with the brilliant comics.

The Walking Dead S04E14 "The Grove" Opinion

Lizzy in The Grove

 Let me finally get this blog started as I will just type in my random impression and thoughts on The Walking Dead S04E14 "The Grove" which just sweetened my saturday afternoon.


Spoilers Ahead just so you know.

First of all, I really liked how this episode was much more straight forward than the last two. This one with Darryl and Hershel's blond daugther reminded me much of Breaking Bads one where they hunt the fly the whole episode. It wasn't bad but much on the "let's show the humane side of the character" side of things. S04E14 was different. People died, characters will have to develop on that, that's for sure. Today's episode killed two little girls which might have grown into strong characters for the future plot line. Also I thought this was a misopportunity as the the show was beginning to have slightly supernatural mystery tendencies with Rick seeing his dead wife in the prison. Lizzy's ability to hear the dead talking to her might have build up on that and introduced another perspective to the Walking Dead. Carol could have exiled Lizzy. I mean, she was a messed up teenage psycho. But killing her own sister. That's a little too much. In any case, that was certainly hard stuff in this episode. I'd have expected the group to flee from this fateful grove with a bunch of walkers on their heels but things turned out different. I'm excited to see what the last two episodes of The Walking Dead Season 4 have in store before the seasons concludes at the gates of whatever Terminus is turning out to be for a place.