So here we are on the second month of quick reviews. It still is not a huge selection of entertainment
choices, but I was able to get a few more bits of enjoyment out of this month
than last. Work and other
responsibilities seriously get in the way of me spending all my time consuming
movies, TV, and books. Also, most of my
free time is spent on two TV series, one I discuss below and one I will include
when I get to the end of the season I am currently watching (probably next
month).
Warning: Although I
tried not to delve into plots too deeply, there are potential spoilers in the
reviews below. Read at your own risk.
TV Series: Supernatural:
Seasons 1-6 (2005-2010)
This is the TV show I watch the most as it is the current
pick for TV together with my husband. We
have consumed seasons 1 through 6 over the last several months or so. We both love this show, although it has had
its ups and downs over the series. It is
a sci-fi show which mostly trends toward the humorous although sometimes it can
veer into the spooky. I am a bit of a
wimp when it comes to horror, and although a few episodes have scared me,
mostly I do not have any issues with the program. I am just going to do a quick run through of
the seasons so far consumed.
Season 1: Two
brothers, Dean and Sam, are searching for their father who has gone
missing. The father is a hunter, who
goes after scary mythological beings that happen to be real. As they search, the brothers take on a host
of spooks and monsters themselves.
Although they are looking for their father continually and following
clues to find him, the first season is very episodic in its format. The monsters are mostly met and defeated in
each individual episode, so viewers do not need to put a lot of effort into the
program. I really liked the first season
because I am a fan of episodic rather than serial programs. I also enjoyed the wide variety of mythology
that is pulled into the program. It also
introduces demons which becomes much more prevalent in future seasons. This season also contains the two episodes
that have freaked me out the most in the series: Bloody Mary and Provenance.
Season 2: The second
season starts to focus much more on demons, specifically the yellow-eyed demon. Sam begins to show some psychic ability which
scares him and his brother, especially since it seems to be attracting the
attention of the yellow-eyed demon.
Although we start to rely more heavily on the back story, there are still
a number of standalone episodes in the series with new monsters to learn and
defeat.
Season 3: The final
battle with the yellow-eyed demon resulted in the opening of a gate to hell and
the release of hundreds of demons. This
season follows Dean and Sam trying track down all of them to send them back to
hell. There are still monster episodes
mixed into the series, but a lot of the supernatural happenings revolve around the
demons. This season marks the show
becoming a lot more serial and much more repetitive and predictable. It is still enjoyable, but I miss the variety
and simplicity the earlier format provided.
Season 4: This season
we introduce angels into the mix. The
angels, particularly one angel Castiel, work with Dean and Sam as they try to
prevent the demons, specifically one named Lilith, from breaking the 66 seals
that keep Lucifer locked in his cage.
Sam is also working with one particular demon Ruby, who has convinced
him to drink demon blood which intensifies his psychic abilities and might be
the key to them defeating Lilith. Again,
we still have some monster episodes mixed into the serial demons vs. angels
episodes, and I still enjoy these ventures into mythology more. The show starts to use some wonderfully silly
episodes to move the story along, including a great one called The Monster at
the End which is about a comic book series based on Dean and Sam’s lives.
Season 5: Spoiler
alert, Lucifer is released at the end of season 4 and the apocalypse has begun. Season 5 is all about Dean and Sam trying to
defeat Lucifer and send him back to hell.
My enjoyment of the series had slipped a bit from the earlier seasons,
mostly because I find it hard work to keep the story lines straight and much
prefer the mythical creature episodes that previously dominated. However, season 5 picked my interest back up
because they increased the number of funny episodes. Two of the series regulars, angels Castiel
and Gabriel, became a much loved part of the comic relief in this season. Castiel was too dry in his early appearances,
but he was allowed to become more human and imperfect in this season. Gabriel was always funny, being known as The
Trickster when first introduced, but he began to show up with some regularity
and always could be trusted to provide a funny episode.
Season 6:
Unfortunately, the uptick in my interest in season 5 came crashing back
down in season 6. Although Lucifer is
safely contained again, Dean and Sam are dealing with the aftermath of the apocalypse. Sam has escaped from hell, but has no
soul. Castiel is engaged in a civil war
between the angels, has little time to worry about what is happening on Earth,
and has completely lost his sense of humor again. Crowley, king demon of hell now that Lucifer
is gone, is manipulating everybody while searching for alpha monsters in an
effort to learn the secrets of Purgatory.
The season is much more depressing than the last and the funny episodes
are fewer. All in all, I would say this
season just was not much fun. I will continue
to watch because my husband still likes it and I have hopes it will find its
way back to where it belongs. I just
hope season 7 turns out to be better.
Bonus: Season 6 introduces Corin
Nemec as Dean and Sam’s cousin Christian Campbell for a run of several
episodes. He is a horrible actor, but
for some reason I always love when he turns up in a show.
Movie: X-Men Origins: Wolverine (2009)
The superhero genre is another of the few areas that my husband
and I can watch together. He likes the
action and the nostalgic throwback to his comic book days. I like the fun characters, fast-paced
storylines, and the cute guys, and I appreciate that the action never becomes too
bloody and gruesome. While I have mostly
kept up with the newer ones as they are released, there are many of the older
ones that I have not watched. With
Deadpool coming out, I thought it would be a good idea to watch the original
performance by Ryan Reynolds of the character in the first Wolverine movie. Plus, I figured it would give me some
background into the popular title character too. Before I give the movie review, I want to
notate that I have not read any of the comics and so this does not reflect any
kind of comparison to the source material.
I would rate this movie as only so-so. The beginning of the movie felt very rushed. It is an origins movie, but they raced
through the first part of Wolverine’s existence in a series of montages. I did not really understand the
beginning. Was the sickness related to
his mutation or was it something separate?
What was the deal with the guy banging on the door claiming to be his
father, and did that matter to any of the actual storyline? I also did not realize that the other boy was
Sabertooth until further into the movie.
I understand that you cannot cover so much time in detail with a two
hour movie, but I would have liked to know more about the history that shaped Wolverine
into who he eventually becomes. It might
also have helped me to understand what happened between Wolverine and
Sabertooth to make them go from brothers to enemies in the space of minutes in
the middle of the movie. Once the
storyline moved into the experiment with Stryker where Wolverine received his
adamantium skeleton, and the final showdown with Stryker’s ultimate creation
Deadpool, it became very familiar comic book territory. I enjoyed the end of it much more than the
beginning. One final thought, I felt
like there were some oddities between this story and the later X-Men
movies. It has been a long time since I
saw X-Men so I might just not remember correctly, but it seemed like they
introduced many characters during this movie that he does not know when meeting
them in the X-Men movie which took place later in the timeline. Final word, it definitely is not a must see, but it was
enjoyable enough if you are looking to watch a comic book movie.
Movie: The Martian (2015)
My husband picked this one, and I probably would not have
watched it without his influence. That said,
I loved it as did my seven year old stepson.
There is some language and some intense life-threatening situations that
give it the PG-13 rating, but since we were there to answer questions we had no
reservations about him watching it.
There is one scene toward the beginning where main character Mark digs a
piece of shrapnel out of his abdomen that was way too long and gruesome for me
to enjoy. However, the rest of the movie
was great. The action moved quickly,
bouncing between Mark on Mars, his crewmates in the ship going home, and ground
control back on Earth. Mark handled his
rather hopeless situation with good doses of sarcasm and optimism. There are some intense moments where the
outcome is not predictable but I still was rooting for a good ending all the
way through. The acting is superb,
especially Matt Damon as the isolated Mark.
Finally, my husband says the science is fairly believable too if that
matters to you (I personally would not know the difference). I would definitely recommend this movie to
anyone looking for a good sci-fi drama to watch.
Book: This Charming Man by Marian Keyes (2008)
This is one of my favorite authors, but this was not one of
my favorite books by her. Marian Keyes
is known for taking rather serious situations and addressing them with a sense
of humor. Her books are witty and fun to
read, but still make you consider the root cause of the person’s dilemma. This book tried to deal with domestic abuse
and alcoholism, but it lacked the light hand and solid storytelling that her
books usually present. The story follows
three women and their relationship to one man (the book jacket says four, but
there are really only two tiny excerpts from the fourth). Because you switch between the women who all
go back and forth between past and present, it can become confusing to keep the
details straight and to connect with any of the three women fully. Marnie’s character arc is the most developed
and realistic. Lola’s story was not
horrible, but it was written in a choppy diary style that was very distracting
to read (I felt like I was speed reading all her sections). Grace’s was rather boring and I did not
understand her angle until the very end of the book. Additionally, I found the way the story
developed a little unsettling. Although
I knew from the beginning that it was about abuse because of the little
anonymous stories that detailed it, Keyes did not start connecting it to the
characters until more than halfway through the book. This had the effect of making me feel like I
was constantly waiting for her to get to the point. Bottom line, I was not disappointed I read
the book, but I probably will not be going back for another read. I would say if you are a Marian Keyes fan who
reads all her books then go for this one too.
If, however, you are new to her, I would recommend starting with Sushi
for Beginners (my favorite) or Watermelon (first of the Walsh sister books).
Book: Ready Player One by Ernest Cline (2011)
This was a surprisingly fun book to read. My husband got it in a Loot Crate, really
enjoyed it, and has been pestering me to read it for months. I finally caved, and I am so glad I did. It is a futuristic dystopian book where
humanity is dealing with a world destroyed by current policies and where most
humans opt for a virtual reality existence over the real one. The creator of the virtual reality has died
and left his estate, including control of the virtual reality interface, to the
first person who completes the final video game challenge he created. In the book, we follow the adventure of a
likable young man who attempts to complete the game. It takes us through his life, both in reality
and in virtual reality, as he solves puzzles, goes on quests, completes challenges,
interacts with other players, and tries to stay away from the bad guys (an evil
corporation determined to be the first to complete the challenge so they can
control the virtual reality). The quests
involve many references to 80s pop culture trivia, old technology, and video
game history, but there is no need to be familiar with all of it to enjoy the
novel. This is not the most well written
book ever, but it was a fast, fun read.
I would recommend it to anyone who is just looking to enjoy themselves
for a little while.
Looking back at my month, it seems many of my choices were influenced by my husband.
Hopefully, next month sees me moving on to some of the things on my own
list of interests.
See you next week!
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