Saturn nominations

[aelfgyfu_mead]

Saturn nominations are listed here. It's nice to see some of my favorite shows. Brilliant Husband and I have been arguing Kevin McKidd versus Lee Pace. BH said, "Why isn't John Barrowman here?", but I think the acting noms are for North American shows only. If John Barrowman was on that list, we wouldn't be arguing anything. (I saw John Barrowman quoted as saying he didn't want people to like Jack. Gee, I'm sorry: that's the one way in which you've failed. I like Jack in spite of you, in spite of myself--how can we not like Jack? He can be cold, vicious, callous--but he can also care deeply, and try really hard to do the right thing, and suffer greatly to help others. And, well, he's the most gorgeous man on television, which doesn't hurt, but I swear that's not my main consideration here.)

I have one whopping big complaint: why the frell does Beowulf get nominations, and Avary and Gaiman for screenplay? That was dreadful! The screenplay was awful! The Thirteenth Warrior did more interesting things with the story, for heaven's sake! (My review of the movie is here, if you haven't read it.)

If you want a better version of Beowulf, go here. It looks like Old English, but really, it's not. Don't be intimidated. Read it out loud. Enjoy it. Share it with your friends.

Comments

[or-mabinogi.livejournal.com]

I had absolutely no desire to see that Beowulf. But The Thirteenth Warrior I liked. I was impressed with Antonio Banderas' performance in that role, but still not really a fan of his. And the book (Eaters of the Dead, not the rewrite for the movie release -- and just why do they do that anyway?) was oh so much kick ass better.

[redbyrd-sgfic.livejournal.com]

This is something I have absolutely no understanding of. A person writes something good. People become fans. Then they completely lose any fracking sense of proportion or critical judgment and indiscriminately love absolutely everything that person ever does for the rest of time. Makes no sense to me. If I thought a prior book was good, it makes it more likely that I'll read a subsequent work, but if I think the new thing is crap, I'll call it like I see it.

[aelfgyfu_mead]

I don't know who does the Saturn nominations; one would hope they're not mindless fans! I thought Beowulf was bloody awful, and I've only seen one good review of it in the press (Anglo-Saxonists were circulating lots of reviews). Ebert mocked it (his review was way funnier than the movie). Reviewers who knew little about the poem were highly critical.

Gaiman has said he's proud of it, which makes me sad. Now Roger Avary, the co-writer, stands charged with vehicular manslaughter. I probably shouldn't confess this out loud, but my first thought--and yes, I do feel guilty, but apparently not guilty enough not to post it--was, "Anyone who could justify that Beowulf script might truly be capable of crime."

[redbyrd-sgfic.livejournal.com]

I don't know who does the Saturn nominations

According to their website the awards were started by a group of fans at a college who formed the Count Dracula Society, and grew into a slightly higher profile organization over time. (Helped by the success of Star Wars.) But they're not especially high profile. I'd guess there's a lot of fannishness still there.

And the reason I suggested it in the first place is that Neil Gaiman does have a lot of rabid fans who love everything he does. I liked Sandman and Stardust, and enjoyed some of his other work (most notably Good Omens, cowritten with Terry Pratchett), but for the most part I've kind of wondered what the fuss was about.

And I think you're maligning drunk drivers. They're guilty of poor judgement more than anything else. Avery's work on Beowulf was done deliberately.

[aelfgyfu_mead]

Ah, so you cleverly actually looked carefully at their website! I suppose I should do things like that more often and mouth off less.

I thought American Gods was really good; I knew Coraline was supposed to be a children's book, but I didn't think it a particularly good one; I'm still wondering what all the fuss was about there. I love Good Omens and must read more Pratchett, but I have enormous piles of books (now including one novel sitting in my gmail inbox that I really do want to read soon!); I think Pratchett will have to wait a little longer.

Did you see my most recent post on Beowulf? It's here, linking to yet another review of the movie apparently timed to coincide with the DVD release.

[redbyrd-sgfic.livejournal.com]

Yes, I did see your post. Haven't seen the movie though (and probably won't given the reviews you among other people have given it!).

Re: Gaiman, I thought American Gods was okay. Didn't really grab me. I haven't read Coraline yet.

And- you haven't read Pratchett?! You still get to look forward to reading him for the first time. Wow! My recommendation for where to start is actually in the middle, with Guards, Guards; Feet of Clay; and Night Watch (which form a kind of logical trilogy, though much of Pratchett can be read out of order). His earlier stuff is fun but lightweight, his middle books are outstanding; the late stuff is still good, but he hasn't written a real showstopper in a few years now. Pratchett may well be the best fantasy writer still working in the field today. Because his stuff is humorous, it hasn't necessarily been taken as seriously as it should, but there is a *lot * of really thinky stuff there if you look for it.

[aelfgyfu_mead]

You might not want to bother with Coraline; I've heard Stardust is better, but I haven't read it yet. I liked Neverwhere, but not as much as American Gods.

No, the only Pratchett I've read was Good Omens. A terrible thing happened to me in grad school, which the older, wiser inmates predicted but I didn't see coming: I nearly stopped reading for fun. After spending all day reading medieval literature, history, historiography, literary analysis--novels are different, but not quite different enough. I still tend to do little novel-reading during term and most on breaks and while traveling.

I'll have to look for those books you named--after I finally finish Love in the Time of Cholera, The Parable of the Sower (which I haven't started yet), and a certain novel now sitting on my computer; I understand there's some time travel involved in that one....

[redbyrd-sgfic.livejournal.com]

Ah, Neverwhere! That was the first Gaiman I read, and I was blanking on the name last night (and too lazy to look it up.

I'm often grateful that I made the career choices that I did. One of the outstanding things about engineering, is that except for the time commitments, it doesn't diminish my desire to read at all. Which reminds me that I'm horribly behind on posting reviews. (The reviews are written and sitting on the computer at home, I just haven't posted them in a while.) This weekend, I had to sit down and read- I was in withdrawal. Finished an old Andre Norton from the schlock-pile to be read pile, and read Rollback by Robert Sawyer, and The Ghost Brigades by John Scalzi. I'll be traveling at the end of the week, so I'm considering the selection of books and knitting to bring with :).

[aelfgyfu_mead]

I have no regrets about my own career choice. I really can't imagine doing anything else. I may not read all the twentieth- and twenty-first century novels I'd have read in a different job, but there are still days I say, "I can't believe they pay me to" look at a beautiful Anglo-Saxon manuscript online, read Old English and Latin texts, teach Middle English romances--I'd never be doing these things as a hobby.

I read a bunch of Andre Norton growing up. My dad had piles of them, all these cheap SF paperbacks, sometimes two together, with a cover at each end (they met in the middle, and you turned it upside down to read the other one). And I fell in love with H. Beam Piper's Little Fuzzy and sequel(s), and then read Golden Dream, and that changed everything around.

I think he still has those books.