Have you ever been in the middle of doing something you shouldn’t have been doing and felt as if someone was watching you? And did you have the sensation which told you they weren’t only watching you but watching you from nearby?
Like that day you were drawing a picture of your teacher. The teacher was lecturing long and pacing while doing it.
You were intent on capturing the precise detail of your art. You couldn’t take your eyes off of the picture, it was that good.
The pacing teacher was loud and long-winded. Then suddenly quiet.
“I love how you brought out my eyes.”
Standing behind you was the very focus of the caricature, assessing it generously. Even though you were redeemed by the compliment, you were still caught. You wanted to shrivel up on the spot. You wanted to disappear.
Some wise fingers, your fingers, slid the drawing slowly, silently, under some other papers. The pencil remained frozen between your fingers. Your eyes stayed down, afraid to find anyone else’s eyes.
The sinking feeling went away, of course. Class ended, and eventually so did the shame. You recovered. And days later, when you went through your papers you found the drawing.
You need more entertainment in your life. Well, here are some more adventurous videos to watch and hear. The music is good enough by itself, but throw in a solid video and you have yourself entertainment gold! So, run off to YouTube and search for these videos.
The Dinosaur Jr. video is particularly funny. And the Cardigans manage to hint at two classic movies at the same time with their video.
This is actually a review comparing two movies. I recommend Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. If you’re looking for something to watch on Halloween, this is a good pick. There are some frightening scenes though, so don’t let young Trick-or-Treaters watch it.
Drawing power: Does the story pull you in and make you feel as if you’re part of the world?
From the outset, you’re going for a ride. The action comes at appropriate intervals. The dialog doesn’t drag on too long. (Unlike Thor: Love and Thunder. Oof! Dialog scenes killed that whole movie.) The world of Doctor Strange, as defined by Sam Raimi, is something you can get lost in for a long time, or at least as long as the movie. There’s tension as good characters become bad characters, and vice versa. There’s beauty in the multiverse, especially with the casting choices for the Illuminati (alternate universe instances of well-known superheroes).
Interest factor: Is the story something you want to hear, see, know? Are you craving to discover how it ends?
At no time do you see exactly how it’s going to end, though there are a smattering of clues. Despite being a Raimi fan, I did not see the zombification factor—until it arrived in all of its toothy splendor. Not only is that interesting, but it’s a bit crazy. Using all the curses against the character and making them strengths? Brilliant!
Comparison though, drags Taika Waititi down. His Love and Thunder made me not care about the Love or the Thunder. Actually, in retrospect, the Thor movie might have been better if it was focused more toward Jane Foster.
Offensive factor: Does it present sex, violence, cursing too abundantly or too vividly? Does it present a querulous agenda?
There’s agenda in the multiverse, but it’s so slim, gossamer, and transparent that it really doesn’t matter, just like in real life. Actually, in Love and Thunder, the agenda moment is exactly the same as in the multiverse, wallowing in pusillanimity enough to not be noticed. Able to be overlooked, the moments end up looking like someone in the editing booth checking a box. Also, in Love and Thunder there’s a butt scene. Though I think their intent was to draw in the female viewers, it doesn’t make the movie any more worth watching. The plot still fails.
There’s no need for gratuitous butt-shots in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness.
Range of emotion: Is the story serious when necessary? Do the jokes come at appropriate times? Does the story present emotions at pleasing intervals?
Some of the emotions evoked in the multiverse include: fear, terror, fright, awe. Just kidding. There are lots of emotions represented, and some of them collect returns. There are some few jokes, but not too many to take away from the action. There are some tender moments, I suppose. It’s difficult to tell. Of the multitude of “billionaires” within the Marvel Universe, I can handle Dr. Strange slightly more easily than Tony Stark. The fact that Dr. Strange has lost so much in his personal life actually makes him more personable, more human, though he still comes off much of the time as conceited.
Emotions in Love and Thunder tend toward impotence, mainly due to the cheesy song choices. I mean, if you’re going to load up a bunch of sappy hair metal to the soundtrack, at least mix it up so you’ve got a variety of emotions represented. The way Love and Thunder plays out, it’s better with a mute button.
Character factor: Are there good actors (not necessarily famous ones) in the film? Are there quality protagonists/antagonists in the literary work? Is there a quality dynamic between the characters? Is the narrator mostly invisible?
Everyone in this film, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, does a fine acting job. Bruce Campbell takes a cameo and steals the show for a couple of scenes.
In Love and Thunder, I ended up wishing there was more of Christian Bale’s character, Gor. Also, there could have been more “Mighty Thor”, as played by Jane Foster, er, Natalie Portman.
Style: Does the film use sloppy-cam? Does the literary work use loose plot lines? Are all the words in the right places? Are all the props in the right scenes?
There was a little bit of sloppy-cam interspersed, but I think Sam Raimi exerted his will enough over the common Disney-folk to inject his signature master-class quality film technics. Because of this film, I think we can put Sam Raimi’s name right alongside Stanley Kubrick’s.
Likewise, Taika Waititi only used sloppy-cam in a few places, but sadly, the action in Love and Thunder was minimal, even hard to find. In more than one of the scenes, it seemed like Taika was trying to recapture the excellence of that scene in Ragnarok with the Led Zeppelin song and Thor’s lightning. It didn’t work, of course. You have to understand, “Immigrant Song” came from the Wilsons, a highly musical family (think Beach Boys and Heart), and then the song was expanded by the boys of Led Zeppelin to make something amazing. None of the music in Love and Thunder had such a pedigree.
Proper length: Does a fantasy world require multiple manuscripts? Does a dystopian world beg to be spartan or truncated?
For a multiverse, it sure didn’t expand infinitely—and that’s a good thing.
Rating: Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness gets six out of seven stars. Love and Thunder gets one.
Drawing power: Does the story pull you in and make you feel as if you’re part of the world?
I was drawn to this book by the premise given in the blurb (book description/summary). The basic plot is a Romeo and Juliet kind of situation where the boy is one Hoodie Rosen, an orthodox Jew, and the girl is Anna-Marie Diaz-O’Leary, the mayor’s daughter.
A forbidden romance does take place, though probably not as most readers would expect. If you think you can guess what happens, you’re already wrong. On the other hand, if you’re a true Jew and you think you know what’s going to happen, then you might be right.
I was pleasantly surprised with how the story, and the romance, progressed.
Interest factor: Is the story something you want to hear, see, know? Are you craving to discover how it ends?
Yes, yes, yes. This is an extremely interesting, highly intellectual story. The characters are written well enough to make the reader care about them.
Offensive factor: Does it present sex, violence, cursing too abundantly or too vividly? Does it present a querulous agenda?
The book can be offensive because it takes free license with the name and title of The Son of God (interestingly enough, also known as King of the Jews). I was of the impression, and maybe I heard wrong, that orthodox Jews didn’t believe Jesus Christ was the promised Savior or The Son of God. But here we see the writer sprinkling dialog with “Jesus Christ” in the manner of all other writers who want to use the name of authority to cause the reader to feel the frisson of naughtiness and associate it with urgency in the narrative. This misattribution of arousal has been abused by writers of novels and screenplays alike for so long, some people forgot why the misuse was first employed. Forgetfulness may be the case here.
Despite origins and reasons for use, it may be offensive to those who revere Jesus Christ.
Range of emotion: Is the story serious when necessary? Do the jokes come at appropriate times? Does the story present emotions at pleasing intervals?
There’s a running gag which is employed really well. There are also a number of stand-alone jokes that will make the reader either cringe at the cheesiness or laugh out loud at the perfectly timed zingers. Every emotion is evoked through the writing and the emotions presented flow smoothly together, never colliding.
Character factor: Are there quality actors (not necessarily famous ones) in the film? Are there quality protagonists/antagonists in the literary work? Is there a quality dynamic between the characters? Is the narrator mostly invisible?
The characters are not one-sided. They have facets like diamonds. There are kooky side characters filled with humanity and real human traits. They make mistakes or they act admirably—exactly like real people. One such side character is Hoodie’s sister Chana who enjoys launching things off the roof. Though the narrative never explains how she gets all those things up there, it’s still fun to read about her brand of insanity.
This is a first person perspective novel and the narrator is the main character. I usually don’t like first person “diary” books which either have no suspense or rely on magic to save the main character, however, no god machine needed to be set in motion since the main character lives through his ordeal. The opening sentence lets you know all about that. The writer wisely lets the reader know at the beginning.
Style: Does the film use sloppy-cam? Does the literary work use loose plot lines? Are all the words in the right places? Are all the props in the right scenes?
The writing style is fluid, allowing the reader to move through the plot naturally. There is consistent quality in the writing style. Details are given at appropriate moments and in brief, so none are out of place.
Proper length: Does a fantasy world require multiple manuscripts? Does a dystopian world beg to be spartan or truncated?
Because the writing gives all the right details (aside from the one mentioned parenthetically above) it kept me reading, wanting to know what would happen next. It was only 14 chapters long, so the book is exactly how long it should be and no longer. There are no extraneous chapters.
To summarize: this book gets six out of seven stars. It only loses one star for the Offensive Factor. High quality writing and a thoughtful plot make The Life and Crimes of Hoodie Rosen a book well worth reading.
Recently I’ve noticed a great deal more books in the library about people like me.
Clearly I can attribute the new abundance of books to you and your attention to the plight of souls like mine.
We are sidelined. Pushed to the darker corners because we’re a little different, but only in some ways.
We are outcasts. Society at large would rather not have us around, and why? Only because we take what we want and give nothing back? What’s so wrong with it? Every rich man and business man and politician does the same.
Excluded for our lusts and passions, we often watch social gatherings from a distance. Watch, and wait, for our chance to participate.
But now I’ve let my imagination take me on a tangent. Forget the watching, and the waiting. I’m excited for this new chance to read about others like me. All these fascinating books you’ve collected are mine for the devouring. Well, for the reading, I should say. Devouring is such a strong word.
Thank you, thank you, thank you, for stocking the shelves at the library with many books about vampires.
I’ll be reading them voraciously in the comfort of my room (on the top left, in the picture below).
Xenosthesia.com 