Monday, November 27, 2017

Black Corridors

The Black CorridorThe Black Corridor by Michael Moorcock
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I was looking for a little escape in the year of our lord 2017, and then dropped into this fresh hell of all our fears made real. Which isn't to say I didn't like it.

The Black Corridor, not to spoil too much, is the chronicle of the world's descent into madness, mirrored in the experience of one man. The entire world is swept by a wave of racism and paranoia and proceeds to tear itself apart, leading one small band of refugees to flee to outer space. Have they really escaped, or have they been followed by the madness destroying the Earth?

The most intriguing part of the story is why? The story leaves it ambiguous. There is an uptick in UFO sightings and rumors of aliens at work in human culture, it's left unresolved whether aliens are too blame or it's just another delusion suddenly gripping human society. It's not at all important to the story, but I thought a lot about it.

All in all it's a fairly chilling look at a human society that goes all in on xenophobia, racism and paranoia. Some lovely light reading!

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Thursday, November 16, 2017

Thor! Bulletpoints

I really love Thor as a marvel character and mythological deity so I've wanted to love the previous two Thor movies more than I did. I also wanted to love this one a bit more than I did, but it's the best and by far the most fun of the 3.

My prose is failing me these days, so I'll just list some thoughts in bullet points for now.


  • While genuinely very funny throughout, the quippy whimsy feels forced at times. I also have mixed feelings on every character needing to be an awkward mess at talking to people. Maybe some people can be confident and have a distinguishable personality.
  • I continue to have a huge crush on Cate Blanchett. I love her presence and style in all her scenes. A weirdly likable villain.
  • The Thor/Loki dynamic has never been better than in this movie. Loki starts off as pretty bland in the early movies but he was more interesting here. The Thor/Loki rivalry has largely been driving by a fundamental misunderstanding which was laid out here in a surprisingly open scene. Loki and Thor know who the other is now with no deception, or plot-driving misunderstandings. The issue now is who they are both going to choose to be moving forward. I like that.
  • The Jack Kirby homages are wonderful.
  • I wish they'd gone in on the 80s theme harder, especially in the soundtrack. There are a few scenes where they should definitely have cranked up the 80s synth and minimized the traditional symphonic score. I think the film overall suffers for not quite committing to the 80s revival, which is a shame, because it could have been one of the best trips in an expanding ocean of mediocre nostalgia.
  • There are some incredible scenes that are more or less visual art. I wish there had been more of that.
  • "Asgard is a people not a place" is pretty harmless as far as statements go, culture is always a people not a place after all, but I can't help but feel uneasy using that slogan in an era where nazis who idolize norse gods are massing in the streets shouting slogans of racial purity. I'm not saying it shouldn't be in the movie, just that it reminds me uncomfortably of white supremacy forcibly asserting itself as a culture that has a valid place in our society and the elements of our common culture they are exploiting to do that. There's probably a whole post to be written on this.
  • I still love that Marvel's Thor is a mishmash of mythology and SF and there's plenty of that here. They don't quite achieve what GotG achieves, but it's still great.
  • If you like Jeff Goldblum, he is in full Blum here. A lot of the comedy that works best starts with him.
  • I'm still frustrated by the misguided decision to shave Thor's chest hair. Thor is hirsute. I know there are plenty of women who like chest hair on men, so I don't quite understand it. I blame hairless young people who see body hair as an indicator of age and therefore an uncomfortable reminder of decay and death. Embrace the abyss kids, and give Thor his hair back. Although his new haircut is sharp.
  • I adored the ending and the new status quo. Interested to see where they go with it.

Saturday, November 11, 2017

This is a Good Title

And this is a thoughtful, nuanced post that is exactly as long as it needs to be.