.return .entertainment 2/3
Obviously many days have passed since I last wrote anything about books or movies or games I've played, so this post is dedicated to that area.
Those who have really paid close attention might have noticed a few changes in the navigation. IGN have done some major changes in their users.ign.com service, firstly they changed the name to club.ign.com and more importantly added an option to add DVDs, books and UMDs (PSP movies) to your collection.
So a while back I went and added DVDs I have on my shelf to my collection there, although there are still a few movies missing from their lists. The listed DVDs are Region 1 (as the service is in the US), but most of mine are Region 2 or 4, so there are alot of wrongish versions, but clicking on "show public notes" you can see my comments on what's different with which.
Also I try to keep my games list up to date with changing game statuses when ever I play them and rating them after I've finished etc. The links can be found there >>>
The Book Worm
The last few months I haven't read quite as much when compared to the average book / month rate back in '05. I guess school takes it's toll in a way, eventhough I haven't spent that much on homework or such. This is what I've read in the last five months (quite hard to comprehend how it has been such a long time already):
Isaac Asimov:
Arthur C.Clarke is an author I've heard alot about, but hadn't really read anything from him so I thought I'd read a few atleast. Can't say I didn't like the books, but I wouldn't say I was too excited either...will read more of his books at some point.
Who doesn't know Philip K.Dick and his Bladerunner because of the movie?
The book was surprisingly different from what I can remember of the movie, not that it's really that big of a surprise when thinking about it. So far I've read around 10 of his books and I do like all of them in some weird way. He has a very peculiar way of writing and the ideas are just...mind twisting at times. It's almost like Science Fiction on acid or something at times =]
Ok then there's Ursula Le Guin...I'm a bit embarrased to admit that I hadn't heard of her before as I concern myself to be atleast moderately aware of imporant names of the Scifi scene. Wrong was I obviously. In the beginning, The Disposessed wasn't that interesting or catching, but as I read on I was really surprised about the impact it had on me, as I started to dream about it and sometimes I felt the book was somehow...writing itself while I was reading it according to my wishes or...such. It's very hard to explain in any language, so I'll just say that it felt good to read that book. I have to recommend this book to everyone who's interested in reading good Scifi! I'll most certainly want to read more of her books!
Then there's my all time favourite author, Harry Harrison.
Deathworld wasn't really a surprise, as always, a very capturing book that I just had to read "a bit more" each time I started. I never pass on a chance to read his books, his style has something in it that I'm very fond of, I don't even much care trying to explain it really =]
Staring Eyes
Lately I've been watching alot more movies than for a long time. It's been pretty nice actually to get back into the ol' groove. Some of them good and some not that good, I'm not much of a critic so I'll just comment briefly.
Rented:
Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy, Fantastic Four, Million Dollar Baby, The Island,
Cinderella Man, Serenity, Chronicles of Riddick and Harry Potter: The Goblet of Fire
Haven't got much bad to say from these, except Fantastic Four wasn't that fantastic at all. I have previously seen Chronicles of Riddick, but felt like watching it again after watching Pitch Black from the TV.
Theater:
Jarhead, Constant Gardener, Lord of War, M:I:III and V for Vendetta
Jarhead was interesting in some ways, Constant Gardener ... was worth watching.
Lord of War was definetly worth the money, enjoyed it alot. M:I:III was surprisingly good on many levels, eventhough I didn't expect too much of it. Still I think V for Vendetta is the most enjoyable of all of these, the acting, the music, the way it's filmed and the story most of all. Highly recommended if you ask me!
TV:
Spider Man 2, Blood Work, Pitch Black, The Thomas Crown Affair, The Untouchables
Lil' spidey I watched one night when I was in Oulu. I hadn't seen Blood Work before, it wasn't exactly a winner but..ok still. Pitch Black has got many thing going for it, but somehow it just doesn't quite come together. The Thomas Crown Affair I had seen previously but didn't remember it before I started watching. Not much to say about it, not bad, not too good. Hadn't seen The Untouchables before either and I'm glad I watched it this time, liked alot in it.
DVD:
Leathal Weapon 1, 2, 3 and 4, Ghost in the Shell, Ghost in the Shell 2: Innosence, A Beautiful Mind and Chronicles of Riddick: Dark Fury
Got all the Leathal Weapons so I had to watch them too =] Fun movies.
I think I've now seen Gits for atleast four times and it's still a great movie!
Having seen Gits 2: Innosence in a theater last..autumn I think, I had to get it as soon as possible. Watched it twice on concecutive days...a beautiful movie!
From one beautiful movie to another; I've seen A Beautiful Mind several times, but it still is very touching on several ways...*tear*. CoR: Dark Fury was just because I wanted to know the story between Pitch Black and Chronicles of Riddick. It was worth watching but not too spectacular.
More sore eyes - or some series I've recently wached or am currently following:
Lost, Battlestar Galactica, Battlestar Galactica Miniseries, Farscape, CSI, CSI:NY, Alias, The 4400 and The Next Generation
Lost is sort of an odd child with it's slow pace and a setting that's more than confusing most of the time. It's a pretty interesting quest on a style to make a series that hasn't been much seen around here before - as Asian series haven't quite made it here yet. Nice series for sure, the Finnish channel four (Nelonen) deserves a big thanks for airing it! And to continue on the same theme, airing the new version of Battlestar Galactica is a great gift for the fans of SF, so far it's been very much worth the watch and surprisingly it's a show that I find I'm anxiously waiting to see the next episode of.
How about Farscape then? This is THE series for me. Back in the days I too used to download alot of series, those days I watched up to Season 4 Episode 13. At that time, I had started to consider my habits of consuming series and after a while I decided it was time to stop warezing it and thus I deleted the rest of the episodes. It took quite a long time to get back to it, but finally in January I ordered the fourth season box and a few weeks after that got the first two Starburst Editions of the first season. At the moment I've got the full first season and 2/3 of the second season as Starburst Editions. Started watching the series from the beginning and I'm at 1x15 at the moment. The funny thing is that I haven't watched the rest of the season 4 episodes yet eventhough I have the box. Why? Because it's been such a long time, I thought it's better to watch the whole thing again to be safe =]
The original CSI has been a series I've liked since the beginning, and now that Finnish channel 3 (MTV3) started airing CSI: New York I've tried to watch it. So far it hasn't quite had the same effect than the original series, not that it's bad though, but time will tell if it's worth watching or not.
Alias is sort of a leap off the regular series I watch, it's sort of a snack in between, so that I have something to watch for each day =] At the moment I'm one episode short of finishing the second season. Have to sell the box as I have no intention of holding on to it.
So far I've just seen one episode of The 4400, so it's very hard to say much about it yet. Thanks to Nelonen again for bringing such a great series to Finland!
Star Trek...it's the basic rations of all SF fans, isn't it? =] It's a universe I'm interested in knowing better, eventhough the episodes aren't all that good. At the moment it's Season 3 on The Next Generation...two discs left and then the box will be sold for a reasonable price.
As this post turned out to be quite lenghty, and I'm sort of out of fingers, I'll post the last 1/3 separately - about games.
A wish a good rest of the week to all who find this =]
Those who have really paid close attention might have noticed a few changes in the navigation. IGN have done some major changes in their users.ign.com service, firstly they changed the name to club.ign.com and more importantly added an option to add DVDs, books and UMDs (PSP movies) to your collection.
So a while back I went and added DVDs I have on my shelf to my collection there, although there are still a few movies missing from their lists. The listed DVDs are Region 1 (as the service is in the US), but most of mine are Region 2 or 4, so there are alot of wrongish versions, but clicking on "show public notes" you can see my comments on what's different with which.
Also I try to keep my games list up to date with changing game statuses when ever I play them and rating them after I've finished etc. The links can be found there >>>
The Book Worm
The last few months I haven't read quite as much when compared to the average book / month rate back in '05. I guess school takes it's toll in a way, eventhough I haven't spent that much on homework or such. This is what I've read in the last five months (quite hard to comprehend how it has been such a long time already):
Isaac Asimov:
- The Caves of Steel (Robot series I) 01/06 - I've read the second part before
- Foundation & Empire 12/05
- Second Foundation 02/06
- A Fall of Moondust 12/05
- Earthlight 12/05
- Bladerunner 12/05-01/06
- The Disposessed 03/06
- Deathworld 1 04/06
Arthur C.Clarke is an author I've heard alot about, but hadn't really read anything from him so I thought I'd read a few atleast. Can't say I didn't like the books, but I wouldn't say I was too excited either...will read more of his books at some point.
Who doesn't know Philip K.Dick and his Bladerunner because of the movie?
The book was surprisingly different from what I can remember of the movie, not that it's really that big of a surprise when thinking about it. So far I've read around 10 of his books and I do like all of them in some weird way. He has a very peculiar way of writing and the ideas are just...mind twisting at times. It's almost like Science Fiction on acid or something at times =]
Ok then there's Ursula Le Guin...I'm a bit embarrased to admit that I hadn't heard of her before as I concern myself to be atleast moderately aware of imporant names of the Scifi scene. Wrong was I obviously. In the beginning, The Disposessed wasn't that interesting or catching, but as I read on I was really surprised about the impact it had on me, as I started to dream about it and sometimes I felt the book was somehow...writing itself while I was reading it according to my wishes or...such. It's very hard to explain in any language, so I'll just say that it felt good to read that book. I have to recommend this book to everyone who's interested in reading good Scifi! I'll most certainly want to read more of her books!
Then there's my all time favourite author, Harry Harrison.
Deathworld wasn't really a surprise, as always, a very capturing book that I just had to read "a bit more" each time I started. I never pass on a chance to read his books, his style has something in it that I'm very fond of, I don't even much care trying to explain it really =]
Staring Eyes
Lately I've been watching alot more movies than for a long time. It's been pretty nice actually to get back into the ol' groove. Some of them good and some not that good, I'm not much of a critic so I'll just comment briefly.
Rented:
Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy, Fantastic Four, Million Dollar Baby, The Island,
Cinderella Man, Serenity, Chronicles of Riddick and Harry Potter: The Goblet of Fire
Haven't got much bad to say from these, except Fantastic Four wasn't that fantastic at all. I have previously seen Chronicles of Riddick, but felt like watching it again after watching Pitch Black from the TV.
Theater:
Jarhead, Constant Gardener, Lord of War, M:I:III and V for Vendetta
Jarhead was interesting in some ways, Constant Gardener ... was worth watching.
Lord of War was definetly worth the money, enjoyed it alot. M:I:III was surprisingly good on many levels, eventhough I didn't expect too much of it. Still I think V for Vendetta is the most enjoyable of all of these, the acting, the music, the way it's filmed and the story most of all. Highly recommended if you ask me!
TV:
Spider Man 2, Blood Work, Pitch Black, The Thomas Crown Affair, The Untouchables
Lil' spidey I watched one night when I was in Oulu. I hadn't seen Blood Work before, it wasn't exactly a winner but..ok still. Pitch Black has got many thing going for it, but somehow it just doesn't quite come together. The Thomas Crown Affair I had seen previously but didn't remember it before I started watching. Not much to say about it, not bad, not too good. Hadn't seen The Untouchables before either and I'm glad I watched it this time, liked alot in it.
DVD:
Leathal Weapon 1, 2, 3 and 4, Ghost in the Shell, Ghost in the Shell 2: Innosence, A Beautiful Mind and Chronicles of Riddick: Dark Fury
Got all the Leathal Weapons so I had to watch them too =] Fun movies.
I think I've now seen Gits for atleast four times and it's still a great movie!
Having seen Gits 2: Innosence in a theater last..autumn I think, I had to get it as soon as possible. Watched it twice on concecutive days...a beautiful movie!
From one beautiful movie to another; I've seen A Beautiful Mind several times, but it still is very touching on several ways...*tear*. CoR: Dark Fury was just because I wanted to know the story between Pitch Black and Chronicles of Riddick. It was worth watching but not too spectacular.
More sore eyes - or some series I've recently wached or am currently following:
Lost, Battlestar Galactica, Battlestar Galactica Miniseries, Farscape, CSI, CSI:NY, Alias, The 4400 and The Next Generation
Lost is sort of an odd child with it's slow pace and a setting that's more than confusing most of the time. It's a pretty interesting quest on a style to make a series that hasn't been much seen around here before - as Asian series haven't quite made it here yet. Nice series for sure, the Finnish channel four (Nelonen) deserves a big thanks for airing it! And to continue on the same theme, airing the new version of Battlestar Galactica is a great gift for the fans of SF, so far it's been very much worth the watch and surprisingly it's a show that I find I'm anxiously waiting to see the next episode of.
How about Farscape then? This is THE series for me. Back in the days I too used to download alot of series, those days I watched up to Season 4 Episode 13. At that time, I had started to consider my habits of consuming series and after a while I decided it was time to stop warezing it and thus I deleted the rest of the episodes. It took quite a long time to get back to it, but finally in January I ordered the fourth season box and a few weeks after that got the first two Starburst Editions of the first season. At the moment I've got the full first season and 2/3 of the second season as Starburst Editions. Started watching the series from the beginning and I'm at 1x15 at the moment. The funny thing is that I haven't watched the rest of the season 4 episodes yet eventhough I have the box. Why? Because it's been such a long time, I thought it's better to watch the whole thing again to be safe =]
The original CSI has been a series I've liked since the beginning, and now that Finnish channel 3 (MTV3) started airing CSI: New York I've tried to watch it. So far it hasn't quite had the same effect than the original series, not that it's bad though, but time will tell if it's worth watching or not.
Alias is sort of a leap off the regular series I watch, it's sort of a snack in between, so that I have something to watch for each day =] At the moment I'm one episode short of finishing the second season. Have to sell the box as I have no intention of holding on to it.
So far I've just seen one episode of The 4400, so it's very hard to say much about it yet. Thanks to Nelonen again for bringing such a great series to Finland!
Star Trek...it's the basic rations of all SF fans, isn't it? =] It's a universe I'm interested in knowing better, eventhough the episodes aren't all that good. At the moment it's Season 3 on The Next Generation...two discs left and then the box will be sold for a reasonable price.
As this post turned out to be quite lenghty, and I'm sort of out of fingers, I'll post the last 1/3 separately - about games.
A wish a good rest of the week to all who find this =]
