7th Station ~TV, movies, games~

[erilaz]

I'm annoyed by the absence of my personal favorites, Nausicaä of the Valley of Wind (1984) and Kiki's Delivery Service (1989).

Both of those were in last year's program.
http://www.crunchyroll.com/anime-news/2 ... hom-events

[Zunu]

^ And I see that "Whisper" was shown in 2016, so I'll have to retract my complaint as well!

[Celedam]

iZombie and Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. both resumed this week. Yay!

[Zunu]

^ I'd really like AoS to get off this extended "fugitive" track so they can go back to proactively going after baddies. Operating under the radar is one thing, but being constantly on the run, it gets exhausting and repetitive after a while.

[Celedam]

Agreed.

But you gotta admit, the writing this season (so far) has been significantly better.

[Celedam]

"I can explain it, I can explain everything… No, I can't."



http://gravitasventures.com/dave-made-a-maze/
https://itunes.apple.com/movie/id1239603044

Now on Hulu, for those who have Hulu…

https://www.hulu.com/watch/1189398

---

Also, Legion Season 2…



"Where ya been?"

[Celedam]

"We got one advantage: he's comin' to us…"

[esm]

I watched Altered Carbon (on Netflix). It's a lot of cheesy dialogues and okay-ish acting, and the plot went to hell way too fast all of a sudden, but the visuals and overall setup (cyberpunk theme and all that) were good enough that I watched most of the season in a day.

[Celedam]

^ I read the book years ago and wasn't impressed by it. I wrote at the time…

Spoiler: show

As a pulp thriller, the story is tight and well paced, and it hits all of the points that a reader would expect from a pulp thriller.

As cyberpunk sci-fi, it's hopelessly cheesy and poorly thought out. It became clear after the first several chapters that the author is not well versed in his chosen genre or in the underlying technology, fictional or otherwise. Some tech described in the story is advanced beyond recognition, while some seems unnecessarily stunted and mundane, and the cultural context doesn't fit any of it.

Unfortunately, the plot of the thriller depends heavily on the described technology, so the story never comes together like it should. The characters' choices and motivations simply don't make sense after a while, given the social and technological options that *should* be available to them.

The book is good enough for me to finish it, but not good enough for me to pick up the next.

Of course, I don't know (yet?) if that Netflix adaptation is better or worse than the book, or even if it is an adaptation and not an all-new story that simply reuses some of the names and concepts from the book.

I love cyberpunk and have almost since the beginning (Sterling, Gibson, Jeter, Williams, Stephenson), but… <shrug> …I'm in no great hurry to watch that particular bit of cyberpunk. I still need to see Blade Runner 2049, and there's plenty of great anime/manga in the genre.

[Zunu]

I thought the series was enjoyable enough if you didn't squint too hard. The visuals were great. Not quite up to 2046's level but certainly on par with any other cyberpunk prior to Villeneuve's masterpiece. The whole idea of sleeving, while maybe old-hat in 2018 -- it was practically a throwaway tech in the Dark Matter universe -- can still elicit a SFnal thrill here. The lead came off as a cut rate Thomas Jane impersonator, but in his defense I suppose there's only so many ways to play noir without resorting to 1940s shtick. What nearly killed it for me was Dichen Lachman's portrayal. I mean, I practically worshipped the woman before this. Now... It's sort of like Scarlett Johannson post-GiTS, just not the same any more.

I devoured the whole book series back when. It didn't stick with me much, though from what I remember I don't think it aged well. I mean I was devouring Piers Anthony and David Eddings too, enough said.