ARRIVAL (2016)
I saw this a while ago but somehow had no memory of its core twist.
Director Denis Villeneuve is a master craftsman and ONLY makes interesting movies (Blade Runner 2049, Dune pt I & II). This generation's Spielberg? Is there anyone better right now?
There's a much deeper emotional core to this film than you'd think at first (and, indeed, in my lackluster memory). And its fascinating plot twist ending (I won't spoil it here) is really cool and enjoyable, even though I'm pretty sure it doesn't actually make sense.
Villeneuve masterfully manages the pacing which is amped up with tension and lots of anxiety yet is also incredibly patient and is never in a rush. Villeneuve's films know how to breathe.
Highly recommended for people who enjoy the filmmaking craft.
But did I love it? I don't think it was designed to be a movie that someone would love, exactly. Respect the hell out of? Yes. Engrossed in the storytelling? Yes. Kind of the same for his Dune pt I & pt II, slightly less so for Blade Runner 2049.
He casts an all-encompassing spell and delivers sumptuous storytelling.
It's not about loving it, it's about being fully enveloped in the experience he creates.
Villeneuve masterfully manages the pacing which is amped up with tension and lots of anxiety yet is also incredibly patient and is never in a rush. Villeneuve's films know how to breathe.
Highly recommended for people who enjoy the filmmaking craft.
But did I love it? I don't think it was designed to be a movie that someone would love, exactly. Respect the hell out of? Yes. Engrossed in the storytelling? Yes. Kind of the same for his Dune pt I & pt II, slightly less so for Blade Runner 2049.
He casts an all-encompassing spell and delivers sumptuous storytelling.
It's not about loving it, it's about being fully enveloped in the experience he creates.
Damn, so much good filmmaking DNA here:
* Director Gareth Edwards (Rogue One).
* Co-writer Chris Weitz ("About a Boy" was wonderful and special, Rogue One, more recently Murderbot).
* Cinematographer Greig Fraser (Rogue One, Dune pt I & II, The Batman, Project Hail Mary).
They all worked on Rogue One, which is my favorite Star Wars film as an adult (12yr-old me would still go RotJ or ESB).
THE CREATOR plays out logically but most of the key emotional turns along the way just don't really land. Some combo failure of acting, directing, and editing, I suppose. Pretty disappointing.
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Side nerd rant: one thing they totally blew was the portrayal of the giant threatening sky/space fortress.
They wanted it visible in shots from the ground, which was undoubtedly cool looking and cinematic, but it made it look like it was just hovering nearby in the sky rather than something up in orbit. It should have been a tiny speck.
But when they show that it is indeed in orbit... there's normal gravity on it.
And knowing how orbits work... everything about it is a science disaster. It's obviously portrayed as a low Earth orbit but you can't just hover over targets in LEO.
I know, I know, not everything is trying to be hard sci-fi.
And if she finds one that fits, she can stay and make that her REAL life and live it out to its end.
But if the life proves to have its own unacceptable flaws, she's transported back to the infinite library to choose again.
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Somehow, despite involving suicide, the novel isn't hopelessly depressing nor unpleasant. Nora's shitty day and state of mind is darkly comedic in a way, with Haig deftly walking the reader across an unusual emotional tightrope.
Each of Nora's alternate lives (Olympic champ! Rock star! Arctic researcher!) fill some hole her real life missed. But they also give her perspective to help her more fully understand her small/shitty/insignificant/failure life in pretty touching and profound and insightful ways.
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Haig doesn't try too hard, doesn't really go for overly melodramatic schmaltz. Just strikes a lovely, reflective, and generally fun tone throughout. Despite the cosmic / quantum mechanics conceit, he has modest ambitions here (in a good way) and easily succeeds.
It's a book that demands reflection on one's own life. But isn't heavy-handed about it. And almost seems designed to NOT throw you into your own life re-evaluation crisis.
Haig could have punched way harder. But he chose instead to aim for palatable and enjoyable.
I think it was the right call, but totally fair if someone feels it was a missed opportunity to really examine the fuck out of life.
It's interesting. It's well done. It's an easy 6-7hr read. Definitely recommended.
Pre-salt it on both sides. Light coat of high-temp oil (I use avocado).
Oven at a low 325°F. Cook until internal temp hits 135°F. This 1lb cut was about 1.5" thick so it took about 25min. Low and slow keeps it moist.
You could let it proceed to 145°F and eat it as-is, but low-temp baked salmon just looks horrible. Do the next step!
Prep a blazing hot cast iron pan w/more oil or butter. Just like a steak, sear the shit out of all sides with high heat. Should only take ~30s per side, plus the edges.
Perfectly juicy on the inside (and, yes, I left the temp probe in and confirmed that the center reached 145°F during the sear). The sear gives it a flavor kick and looks SO MUCH better than baked salmon's gross pastiness.
I then used the leftover oil and the hot cast iron pan to saute broccoli, mixed in some spinach and miso paste at the end.
There is residual meningioma around the outside of her brain, but her doc says she has "an estimated 90% reduction in overall tumor burden"!
Her pet insurance covered the very expensive radiation therapy to zap the tumor last April. Now 10 months later her doc is thrilled to say that this is probably the best outcome he's ever seen.
She has residual brain damage and will need to stay on her anti-seizure meds. And there's no way to predict if or when the tumor might come charging back.
But for now there's a real chance that she'll live well past her upcoming 8th birthday.
She's my first doggie and, as a single guy, my only constant companion. The moment I sit on the couch, she hops up to snuggle. Every time. No creature (dog, human, or otherwise) has ever wanted to spend so much time with me, so consistently. 🤣
So glad to get this bonus time with her!
(and what a beauty she is!)
My years-long reading dry spell seems to have been at least partially because the books I was trying to read were just too hard and/or not engaging enough.
I can listen to endless hours of bitcoin podcasts, but it turns out that reading bitcoin books and nonfiction just puts me to sleep.
I also had a snobby resistance to popcorn fare (light entertainment that isn't trying to be Jane Austen).
But now here I am devouring fun sci-fi page-turners.
I also forgot that a book can be as short as a 6-10hr read; it doesn't have to be a weeks-long / months-long slog.
So reading a book can be roughly on par time-wise with watching a TV season. But is more mentally active and, added bonus: less associated with snacking. 😂
My worries about having a pinch of permanent cognitive decline are lessening.
So it's been awesome to rediscover reading. Can recommend.
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And notably / sadly / redemptively(?), this is coming from a guy who had gone back to school to do UCLA's entire undergrad Lit program. And holds a Master of Education to teach high school English. And taught for two years. 🤷♂️
The last book I finished might've been The Bitcoin Standard or Popper's "Digital Gold". Focusing on nonfiction and narrowing to mostly just bitcoin books is likely a huge part of my nonexistent reading pace.
Aside from being fiction, I wonder if "Hail Mary" being told in the first person also helped combat my bad attention span. Third person: you're being told what's happening. First person, you're inside someone's thoughts and part of your brain receives it as if it was happening to you ("Ouch, that hurt!" vs "he burned his finger").
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Quick review:
"Hail Mary" is pretty engaging (good job starting *in medias res*) with chapter length tailored to short attention spans (🙋♂️). Never gets to "omg I can't put this down" intensity but obv kept me hooked enough to enjoy coming back to it each day.
As is usual with Andy Weir, real-world science is baked into the story's bones. Though as it gets more speculative, it can seem a bit disappointingly simplistic. Something like the movie "Arrival" spends all of its focus on solving ONE really complex problem, but Weir's protagonist too easily overcomes what should be a number of near-impossible barriers.
I forgot that Weir is just never as funny as he thinks he is, or perhaps more favorably: his characters have a pretty lame, predictable 4-out-of-10 sense of humor. His protagonists also never talk or think like a normal person and the "it's 'cause I'm a super science nerd" excuse can only take him so far.
But the story is well told, pretty cool and interesting from a sci-fi perspective, moves fast, and never gets boring. The protagonist isn't as annoying as I'm making him sound and he gets a lot more accessible (and even funny!) after his disorienting beginning.
Critiquer gotta critique, but I really enjoyed it.
Recommended for sci-fi nerds who can ease up a bit and take in a nerdy-but-not-super-nerdy story.
