New Testingstan

Yeah. I have noticed that it depends on your life experiences. I had a crisis of faith, so I connect with it. I've recently experienced death, so I connect with that too.

film about grief, faith, life, how we act towards others in the face of death = resonates strongly with tucker

film about nebbish, self-absorbed, pretentious writer with more ambition than sense = resonates strongly with nua

Tree of Life: Nietz, did you enjoy the 20 minute break in the narrative to show the creation of the universe? It pissed so many people off, lol. It's amazing and the most brilliant thing I've seen in a long, long time.

It's such a beautifully shot film. Here are some 1080p screens I took from the Blu-ray.

the cosmic scenes were incredible, and that segment from the creation of the universe through to the earth's history were awesome. truly beautiful, moving, awe-inspiring stuff

terrence malick is at his best filming scenes of nature but here he and his sfx guys really outdid themselves

plus, any movie with a plesiosaur gets an extra 10% in my book

I can't believe everything sans the dinosaurs were practical effects. The dude from 2001 worked on them. They employed techniques like spilling fluid over glass.

I have two more recommendations: Steven Soderbergh's "Che" and Olivier Assayas' "Carlos". Both of these films deal with the revolutionaries and their actions. Che is my favorite of the two because splitting it into two parts really helps get into the mind of the man. The first part deals with the Cuban revolution and what he and the others went through. It's cinema verite at its finest. The second part deals with Guevara trying to expand that revolution to Bolivia and the problems that he encountered. It is a fascinating portrayal, albeit quite romanticized. It's fully subtitled, so if you hate reading, get out.

"Carlos" is another 5-hour epic that deals with Carlos the jackal, from beginning to end. It's not as strong as Che, but the parallels are there. Both men went insane with their ideologies and sense of corruption and injustice. Carlos goes deep into the man's character and mind set. The highlights? The OPEC hostage situation and Carlos becoming obsessed with his image and fame. The performances are strong and frightening, too.

I want to watch The Motorcycle Diaries to see some of Che's earlier life. I think it'd form a good 1st part to the trilogy, with the 2-parter Che.

Phantasee wrote:I want to watch The Motorcycle Diaries to see some of Che's earlier life. I think it'd form a good 1st part to the trilogy, with the 2-parter Che.

I haven't heard great things about the Motorcycle Diaries, but you are free to watch it and tell us what you think.

I'm searching for fantasy that I would like.

My shopping list is as follow :

- isn't needlessly pegged down by trying to pander to the crowd who want all fantasy books ever to be the same as LOTR
- if there is a reference to Norse mythology, it better be good and not just be a carbon-copy of the myths or a DnD "reinterpretation"
- no DnD shit
- something different that the eternal "Good Vs. Evil" fight - or at least it should do it in an interesting way
- minimal racist/sexist subtext
- an interesting plot and engaging characters


does such a book or series of books exist ?

(I already know people will suggest "The Princess Bride" - I should get around reading that one some day...)

Oxymoron wrote:I'm searching for fantasy that I would like.

My shopping list is as follow :

- isn't needlessly pegged down by trying to pander to the crowd who want all fantasy books ever to be the same as LOTR
- if there is a reference to Norse mythology, it better be good and not just be a carbon-copy of the myths or a DnD "reinterpretation"
- no DnD shit
- something different that the eternal "Good Vs. Evil" fight - or at least it should do it in an interesting way
- minimal racist/sexist subtext
- an interesting plot and engaging characters


does such a book or series of books exist ?

Imajica.

Ursula la Guin's Earthsea stuff is the best fantasy I've ever read
Probably the only fantasy that I'd class as proper literature
and her writing is beautiful
there's no EPIC GOOD VS EVIL. Also, a large part of it is about gender issues, and the forth book is sort of a screed against misogyny (but still great)
also none of the characters are white (so no racist subtexts, and no always pure evil orcs)
and is does magic right
and and and
it's just the best

The Earthsea ghibli anime kind of left a bad impression to me. And the made-for-TV movies/mini-series too.


I've heard great things about the book, and Le Guin in general, though.


I'll have a look at my local library - hell, I think we might even have it in the house ? I should check... (edit = aaaand we don't have it : public library it'll be)

Zod wrote:Imajica.

From the very brief Wikipedia summary... isn't that more like urban fantasy ? I was thinking more "heroic" fantasy.

Though if I want good Urban Fantasy, I've heard I should read Neil Gaiman's "Good Omens". Seems like a fun read.


What did you like in Imajica ?

I haven't seen either of those, but I do know that la Guin publicly disowned the tv miniseries

Interesting tidbit of information

It's been about ten years since I read Imajica so I doubt I could give a very good explanation on why I liked it. I'm pretty sure alot boiled down to "oh hey fantasy that's not based on d&d. This is pretty cool."

Oxymoron wrote:I'm searching for fantasy that I would like.

My shopping list is as follow :

- isn't needlessly pegged down by trying to pander to the crowd who want all fantasy books ever to be the same as LOTR
- if there is a reference to Norse mythology, it better be good and not just be a carbon-copy of the myths or a DnD "reinterpretation"
- no DnD shit
- something different that the eternal "Good Vs. Evil" fight - or at least it should do it in an interesting way
- minimal racist/sexist subtext
- an interesting plot and engaging characters


does such a book or series of books exist ?

Tim Powers' The Drawing of the Dark is about the Siege of Vienna in 1529, and is technically "urban" fantasy, but is somewhat closer to the heroic mold and focuses heavily on mythological correspondence and the idea of cultural heritage and common culture. It does have some interesting and disturbing subtext if you think about what the overall conflict means and what actually could have sparked it, but most of Powers' works are very sympathetic towards ethnic minorities and women in history, I'd say. One mark against it that may disappear in any translation is that the language is a bit first-novel in character and oddly anachronistic in places. Also, it doesn't appear to be available on Amazon France, so it may be a bit harder to find.

The rest of Powers' work is largely outside the heroic mold, with a number of historical fantasies, two older sci-fi novels, and one postapocalyptic fantasy, but in general they're pretty good and very distant from Tolkien.

Also seconding Lukyanenko.