The Cabin In The Woods

I don't know how to talk about The Cabin in the Woods without splashing spoilers all over the place....bloody, bloody, spoilers. So, I'll just start by saying that The Cabin in the Woods is a fantastic movie.  It's a horror movie about five friends who head up to a cabin for some weekend fun, but from the first scene, you know that's not all their is.  I liked how the trailers hinted at it being something else, but mostly focused on the five friends. The trailers made Chris Hemsworth's character look like a dumb jock, but he's not. He's smart and he suffers and he wants to save his friends. Nothing is what these friends think.  If you haven't seen the movie yet, even if you think you know about it (like me) there is more.

I loved Marty. He was the perfect fool. Like King Lear's fool, he saw everything more clearly than his friends, though they were being manipulated A LOT. These friends were each playing a role. The fool is the one who connects the pieces. He saves the virgin, not the jock or the scholar. Of course the whore is the first, but is that a horror movie cliché or is it that way for another reason? In the first scene of the movie, we know they were chosen. They were sent to the cabin. The scene in the cellar was creepy and cool. That was the moment where the friends got to make a choice.  The only right one was not to go down there though, but curiosity apparently always wins out. Though I think each character played their part, I feel so bad for the blond, who was pre-med, but had to dye her hair and change her fate. Marty definitely won the day for me.  Yay, to the end of the world!

A quick comment about the Japanese school girls: they were amazing.  They were nine and didn't need anyone else.  I loved the bowl of flowers, I loved the frog.

Also, when Curt jumped with the bike.  They were so full of hope, but the audience knew what was going to happen.

The crew, the people behind the scenes, watching the monitors were interesting.  On one hand, they were doing what they believed in, on the other, they were killing four to five people.  Apparently, it is optional for the virgin to die. I don't know entirely how I feel about them.  I think the new security guard, Truman, really gave a voice to humanity and compassion.  If he had to live with his acts as long as some of the others, maybe he would have been placing bets too, but he balanced those people nicely.

The end was amazing.  Perfect and surprising.  The gun, the werewolf, the Director, the hand, it was all perfect.  I don't know how someone could come up with that ending, with those sequence of events.  I wish I could see what happened after.  I doubt we will ever be able to, because that was a serious ending.  I know The Cabin in the Woods came out all the way in 2012, but if you haven't seen it yet, make sure you do.  It was a great, fun, exciting movie.

Dear Santa, I Would Like ALL These Books....

I like this week's question from The Broke and The Bookish.  I love books.  I don’t think I could ever have enough.  My hubby (who loves books too) thinks I’m two steps away from becoming a book hoarder….  Even still, I can easily come up with ten (or more) books that I’d like Santa to bring.  So, in no particular order, my top ten books I’d like from Santa.

1.     The Dark Tower: The Gunslinger: The Battle of Tull, by Stephen King

2.     Kindred, by Octavia Butler

3.     The Zombie Survival Guide: Recorded Attacks, by Max Brooks

4.     Fray, by Joss Whedon

5.     The Wind Through The Keyhole, by Stephen King

6.     At the Mouth of the River of Bees: Stories, by Kij Johnson

7.     Clockwork Prince, by Cassandra Clare

8.     A Discovery of Witches, by Deborah Harkness

9.     The Reluctant Fundamentalist, by Mohsin Hamid

10.   The Kite Runner, by Khaled Hosseini

11.   Any of the Undead books I don’t own, by MaryJanice Davidson

12.   Out of Oz, by Gregory Maguire

13.   Pride and Prejudice and Zombies: Dreadfully Ever After, by Steve Hockensmith

14.   Moranthology, by Caitlin Moran

15.   Philosophy: A Discovery in Comics, by Margaret de Heer

16......

 Okay… like I said… book hoarder…. Ahh!

What books do you want for Xmas?

Buffy The Vampire Slayer, Season 8: Retreat

I loved the two short stories at the end of Retreat. Harmony talks to Stephen Colbert and Buffy has a very bad dream. These stories really lightened the rest of the heavy, action-packed volume.

Retreat has Oz! I was so excited when I saw him there on the front cover (not a spoiler since he’s on the front cover). Even if they drew him a little too tall, it was Oz.  Amidst all the battles, we get to find out what happened to Oz after he left Sunnydale for Tibet the second time.  However, as happy as I am to see Oz, it has brought me to my complaint about the art. Where is his red hair? His hair is brown as we read the story. If his hair was also brown on the cover, then though I'd be sad they didn't use his red hair, I probably wouldn't complain about it. I just like consistency.

As for the actual story, Retreat was great. It had every character you could want make an appearance. It was nice seeing everyone together.  They fight, they argue and there’s a surprise appearance at the end.  Retreat didn't disappoint.  I’m looking forward to getting my hands on the next installment of Buffy The Vampire Slayer, Season 8.

Buffy The Vampire Slayer, Season 8: Predators and Prey

Giant killer kitty, a submarine and Harmony.  What more can you ask for?  Seriously, Harmany, what is she doing?  When did she think that was a good idea?  She didn't think of it herself... did she?  Volume 5 is crazy!

Predators and Prey gives us a look at all the Buffy, Season 8 characters.  We get to see what everyone has been up to since the story left them behind.  I like that we see what's happened to Faith and Giles, which I've been wondering about.  We also see what caused Dawn to turn into a giant and a centaur and a new incarnation. There’s Kennedy and Satsu, which is great.  There’s even Anderson Cooper.  I like a little bit of real life bleeding through onto the Buffy page.

Predators and Prey was such a crazy volume, it's difficult to know what to say.  I loved it.  There was action, adventure and excitement.  I found the Buffy gang as engaging as ever.

The Top Ten Books I Hope Santa Brings or, I Hope The People Who Are Buying Me Presents Read This List

This week The Brokeand The Bookish want to know what you’re hoping to find under the tree.

1. The Dark Tower:  The Little Sisters of Eluria, by Stephen King
2. In Other Worlds: SF and the Human Imagination, by Margaret Atwood
3. Women of Sand and Myrrh, by Hanan al-Shaykh
4. Undead and Unwelcome, by MaryJanice Davidson
5. The Cat’s Table, by Michael Ondaatje
6. Beatrice and Virgil, by Yann Martel
7. Buffy The Vampire Slayer, Season 8: Twilight & Last Gleaming, by Joss Whedon
8. Pride and Prejudice and Zombies:  Dreadfully Ever After, by Steven Hockensmith
9. A History of God, by Karen Armstrong
10. Robopocalypse, by Daniel H. Wilson

What do you want in your stocking?

Buffy The Vampire Slayer, Season 8: Time Of Your Life

I know I’ve said this before, but I don’t have a lot of time these days, so this “review” is really going to be a smattering of thoughts. I’ve also reviewed three of the Buffy graphic novels already, so there are some things that don’t need in depth repeating. As always, I thought there was great writing and I enjoyed the art. Also, minor spoilers.

I am really loving these graphic novels. I was so hesitant about them; I was unsure that they’d live up to the show. They are so fun and entertaining. Time Of Your Life has brought me back to the initial excitement I felt when I read Volume One.

Previously, I complained that they hadn’t done anything with giant Dawn. That has been remedied and in a great way. If they left her a giant for another book, I think I wouldn’t be as happy with it as I am.

What is up with Willow? I feel like there’s more going on with her than they are revealing. I have to say that I like the way Willow had to contact the green spirit lady. It was awesome.

I really enjoyed the Fray crossover. I didn’t realize what that was about. I just thought it was a different slayer. Getting a good look at the character of Fray and the world she lives in really makes me want to pick up Fray. Maybe that was part of the reason for the crossover. I would never have considered reading Fray before now. Though I’m sure fans of both were itching for a crossover.

The single comic at the end of Time Of Your Life is titled, After These Messages – We’ll be Right Back. It is a great ending to volume four. After These Messages was a flashback to simpler times. The art is even different, giving the story that retro, blast from the past sort of feel. It reunited the old high school Scooby gang, with the inclusion of a very young Dawn. Buffy wishes things were less complicated and in a dream, she returns to high school. After really looking back she sees that even then she still had to save the world all the time.

The Short Stack

This is probably the easiest Top Ten I’ve ever done. This week, The Broke and The Bookish ask, what books top our fall reading lists? I have a ton of books on my to-be-read list. What I try to do is keep a “short stack”, a small pile of books, usually diverse in genre or topic. Here are the books on my short list; hopefully, I’ll get to all of them this fall.

1. Moral Disorder, by Margaret Atwood
2. Everything’s Eventual, by Stephen King
3. Buffy The Vampire Slayer, Season 8, Volumes 4-6: Time of Your Life, Predators and Prey, and Retreat, by Joss Whedon, etc.
4. The Thousand Orcs, by R.A. Salvatore
5. Mini Shopaholic, by Sophie Kinsella
6. The Silver Chair, by C.S. Lewis
7. The Flying Troutmans, by Miriam Toews

8. Dracula, by Bram Stoker

9. Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, by Robert Louis Stevenson

10. Pride and Prejudiced and Zombies: Dawn of the Dreadfuls, by Steve Hockensmith

I did have to add a couple to round it out to ten, but the books I included will likely be added once other books in my short stack are read.

What are you reading this fall?

You Have to Read This Book!

This week’s Top Ten Tuesday from The Broke and The Bookish is asking us about Books I'm So Happy Were Recommended To Me, what are the books that you probably wouldn't have picked up without a good recommendation? In no particular order:

1. The Hunger Games Trilogy – Thanks to my co-workers for recommending these books, as well as the hordes (am I actually exaggerating?) of bloggers. I devoured them!

2. Buffy The Vampire Slayer, Season 8 series – Thanks to one of the aforementioned co-workers, Sarah, for making me read them. I was a fan of the show, but was always hesitant on whether I should read the comic/graphic novel series. I’m glad she brought her copies into work so that I could take them home and read them.

3. The Twilight series – Thanks to the same co-workers that recommended The Hunger Games. Of course it was the summer before the first film came out that I read these books. At the time, they were as addictive as anything I’d ever read before.

4. The Handmaid’s Tale – It was actually assigned reading in one of my University classes. So many of my friends in high school told me how much they hated Atwood and I never ended up in a class where I had to read her, so I never chose to pick up one of her books. I’m so glad that The Handmaid’s Tale was part of that University class. It’s now one of my favourite books and made me a life-long Atwood fan.

5. The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo – Thanks to the same co-workers, plus the bloggers, plus my husband’s step-father (step-father-in-law?) for recommending this book. I loved it and have been patiently waiting for the third book to come out in paperback, since I heard the second and third book are very much connected. However, with the Swedish movies out and the Hollywood ones on the way, I don’t know how much longer I can wait to read them.

I couldn’t quite get to ten. If you count the individual books in a series, I’ve actually got 16 books on this list. Does that count? I suppose I either don’t listen to other people’s recommendations a lot or I don’t have that many real life bookish friends to recommend things to me. Mostly, I just go where my interests and moods take me.

Buffy The Vampire Slayer, Season 8: Wolves At The Gate

Wolves At The Gate was fantastic. I am really enjoying what Joss Whedon and his team have done with Buffy in the comics. I have so many reactions after reading this third installment. I love Dracula! Poor Xander. I can’t believe Buffy did that…twice! What is happening to Willow? Who/what is Twilight?

Minor SPOILERS

I loved the overall arc of this comic/graphic novel. These vampires have strange powers and the slayers have to deal with them. Enter legendary vampire Dracula, who seems to have a very strange relationship with Xander. I don’t know if the slayers would have been able to defeat the vampire army without him.

One minor problem, why haven’t they fixed Dawn yet? I was thinking they would by now, or at least have a line on how to make her normal sized again. Having her giant-sized was a part of this arc and I know she’s really useful as a giant. Still, this is the third book with her problem not only unchanged, but not really addressed in this installment either.

As with the first two graphic novels, the art was fantastic. The personalities of the characters stay true to the television series, while continuing to evolve. The artists do a wonderful job of capturing their expressions so that their faces and body language help emote what they’re feeling. The writers have not only created a good story, but also kept the quirky personalities intact. I love the little conversation Buffy and Willow have as they watch a falling Satsu.

I’d also like to briefly mention A Beautiful Sunset, the single issue story included with Wolves At The Gate. Unlike the first two graphic novels, A Beautiful Sunset came at the beginning instead of the end. I’m not sure I like that. By the time I reached the end of the novel, my recollection of the single issue story was a bit vague. What I do remember and liked about it, was our glimpse at Twilight, what can probably be thought of as the big “baddie” of Season 8.

After Wolves At The Gate, I’m eager to read the fourth book in Season 8. With my last novel not really “entertaining” me the way I thought it should have, I wanted something I thought would be fun. That’s what this graphic novel gave me. Though not the best of the three I’ve read so far, I was not disappointed and I don’t think other fans will be either.

Other Reviews:
Mervi’s Book Reviews

If you have a review of this book, let me know and I’ll add your link.

Very Short Stories

Below is a link to Wired Magazine.  They have a collection of very short stories.  Six words.  This is where John Mutford found his story for yesterday's Short Story Monday.  The stories are fun and interesting.  Some read has headlines, but many of them are whole stories. 

Wired 14.11: Very Short Stories

I enjoyed Margaret Atwood:
Longed for him. Got him. Shit.
- Margaret Atwood

I also liked Joss Whedon:
Gown removed carelessly. Head, less so.
- Joss Whedon

 Which one do you like?

Top Ten Tuesday: My BFFs!

In no particular order:

1. Hermione Granger from J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter series. I love her; she’s so smart and grows into such a wonderful person.

2. Cuthbert Allgood from Stephen King’s Dark Tower series. He’s Roland’s best friend. He has a dark sense of humour. He’s attractive, but next to Roland, often falls into the “friend” category. Sorry Cuthbert, I’d want you to be my friend too.


3. Susan Cleath-Stuart (Suze) from Sophie Kinsella’s Shopaholic series. While I love Becky Bloomwood, she’d drive me crazy. Suze is a loyal and true friend through all of Becky’s craziness.


4. Eowyn from J.R.R. Tolkein’s Lord of the Rings. She kicks ass! In a male dominated world, she doesn’t listen to her uncle; she goes onto the battlefield and does herself and us proud.


5. Laila & Mariam from Khaled Hosseini’s A Thousand Splendid Suns. I think they deserve a mention. They are maybe not my best friends, but each is the best friend the other could have.


6. Pam from Charlaine Harris’s Southern Vampires / Sookie Stackhouse series. She is such an interesting individual. I’m sure she’d had great stories to tell.


7. Lestat from Anne Rice’s Vampire Chronicles. He’s so wicked. I need a wicked friend.


8. Danica from R.A. Salvatore’s The Cleric Quintet. Another strong female character, who kicks ass. I like a person who is as powerful at love as they are at fighting.


9. Willow Rosenberg from Joss Whedon’s Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Season Eight. I know she’s a television character, but she’s a graphic novel character now too! With the freedom of a graphic novel, her powers are growing and becoming more complex, just as she is as a person. She’s not just Buffy’s sidekick anymore.


10. Princess Elizabeth from Robert Munsch’s The Paperbag Princess. Another strong, ass-kicking lady. I see a trend.


I’m feeling a bit better, so I thought I’d throw this list together. I know it’s late in the day, but I hope there are a few people who enjoy it.

Added Later:  I'm still so out of it, I forgot to say, Thanks to the Broke and The Bookish for another great Top Ten Tuesday!

Buffy The Vampire Slayer, Season 8: No Future For You

With a title like, No Future For You, who else would we be talking about but Faith, the rogue vampire slayer. The arc of this second installment was very exciting. It was nice to see Faith and Giles, as Faith was not present in The Long Way Home and Giles was only briefly seen. Now, we get both of them and they are working together. Though Faith sided with the good guys in the final television season of Buffy, it hasn’t been all dewdrops on roses. She still has her issues. When it’s time to get a little messy, instead of talking to Buffy, Giles turns to Faith. As always, Giles wants to protect Buffy, but he and Faith have something key in common.

In No Future For You there’s another rogue slayer out there. In many ways she’s a lot like Faith; she not a part of the pack. In some ways she is quite different. This crazed slayer wants to rule the slayer world. There’s fighting and blood and symbols and secret meetings and the military. What more could you ask for in this crazy comic? No Future For You keeps moving Season 8 forward and keeps this Buffy fan interested.

The single issue story at the end, Anywhere But Here stared Buffy and Willow, with Xander and Dawn supporting. Even though these are main characters, they weren’t seen throughout most of No Future For You. There was a bit of an adventure, but mostly, this short story gave the readers an insight into the emotional development of the main characters since they left Sunnydale at the end of the television series. Anywhere But Here as well as No Future For You really gives us a new grip on the characters and an idea of how they might react to the oncoming danger.

Buffy The Vampire Slayer, Season 8: The Long Way Home

I just completed the first volume in the Buffy The Vampire Slayer Season 8 series, The Long Way Home. I was a HUGE fan off Buffy back when it was first on. I watched it all through high school and through most of university. There was one season, season 6, I believe, that I didn’t watch it that much. It was a combination of being very busy with school (and two jobs) and that season being not that good. Season 7 definitely made up for it and the Season 8 comic/graphic novel series continues the legacy of Buffy.

I had originally decided that I wouldn’t read Season 8. I didn’t want to get involved in another book series and then have to buy all of them. A friend of mine at work, who is much more of a fan than I am, wanted someone to talk about the books with, so about a week and a half ago, she gave me a bag and inside this bag were all her Buffy books. It was a few days before I dug in. I was still reading The Good Earth and had already decided what my next book would be. One day after I had finished my book, I had put my daughter down for the night, my husband was getting ready for bed, they were right there. I picked it up. By the time he was done, I was deep into the first issue (each graphic novel is a collection of five issues) and had to finish before I went to sleep. In just a few days the book was done and I wondered why I hadn’t read it sooner.

It was so good. If you’re a fan of Buffy and/or a fan of graphic novels, you’ll like The Long Way Home. It’s fun and exciting. The art is great. They are able to do things with comics that they never could on television. Joss Whedon and the other writers and artists are able to take Buffy to another level. I really enjoyed this first arc. I like who the villains are. I can’t wait to see Buffy and the other slayers kick their butts. The Long Way Home shows a Buffy with new responsibilities, along with her old friends. She also has some amazing new friends. The Long Way Home is a great hook to get you into reading the rest of Season 8.

One aspect of the book that struck me and I really liked was the last issue. The last issue is called The Chain and it isn’t about Buffy and her friends. It’s about another slayer, her mission, what she’s been through and what being a slayer has come to mean to her. It’s like a short story at the end of the novel. I really enjoyed it. It gives the reader a new insight into the Buffyverse. A note at the end, says that they’re going to do this at the end of each collection. If they’re as good as The Chain I look forward to reading them. The Long Way Home is a fantastic continuation of a television series I loved.

Dollhouse

Joss Whedon’s new series, Dollhouse premiered last night on FOX. You might remember Joss from, Buffy The Vampire Slayer, Angel and the short-lived, but fantastic Firefly. I have to say, I thoroughly enjoyed it. It was better than I expected. After the first episode, I think the show will really test the acting skills of the people living in the Dollhouse. There’s so much possibility with this show, I hope it’s allowed the chance to explore.
I also have to say that I’m a fan of Eliza Dushku (Echo) and Tahmoh Penikett (Paul Ballard) and I look forward to seeing their new characters grow. I can’t wait until next week to see Echo and the rest of the Dollhouse.