Tag Archives: television

Book Watching: The new Watchmen trailer doesn’t make me feel warm and fuzzy.

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Book Watching

It’s Wednesday! Time to talk about the latest book and comics adaptations coming to the small and big screen near you. This week, I’m revisiting last week’s post to talk about show on my feathery radar…

Watchmen

Just a few days after I chirped about the 10-second Watchmen clip in HBO’s 2019 season feature trailer, we got ourselves a full trailer! And, canaries, I’m torn. I want to like this, but I’m kinda creeped out.

Now, I hear you that the original was all sorts of bleak, and the comic had all sorts of things to say about society, and that the show is looking to set up some sort of Anonymous-Hacker vs Big Government plot. But check it: an anonymous militia of white dudes in white hoods framed against christian symbols as our protagonists? That doesn’t make me feel warm and fuzzy.

Also, that ticking trailer effect? The Wrinkle in Time trailer totally did it first.

 

Canaries, how did this trailer make you feel? What even is this show’s demographic?

Book Watching: Superhero edition

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Because comic books are books too, right? Here are the superhero and comic book adaptations coming soon, too soon, and not soon enough (depending on the movie).

I’m going to start with the shows, and then dive into some of the movies:

Powerless on NBC

DC Universe. It’s still all a bit vague and wishy-washy. But the rumor says this show may or may not follow the non-superpowered workers at an insurance company set in a DC superheroes-and-villains-exist universe.

Update: Right after writing this, I found myself the leaked trailer. Check it out:

Premiere: Late 2017? In the meantime, go read Trick of Light for pretty much the same premise, except also a ridiculous romance between a hunky supervillain and a geeky insurance man.

But you know which comic adaptation I’m super looking forward to?

Legion on FX

Part of Marvel’s X-Men universe, it follows the schizophrenic son of X-Men founder Charles Xavier. Except, you know, maybe he’s not schizophrenic at all. Maybe he has psychic powers.

Well, okay, we all know he totally does have powers. But the trick will probably be in seeing how long it takes him to figure that out.

Premiere: 2017. Probably late 2017. AKA not soon enough.

Iron Fist on Netflix

With the success of Daredevil, Jessica Jones, and now Luke Cage, Netflix is on a roll. And it’s continuing to pull lesser known superpowered characters from the back-shelf of the superhero universe. In March 2017, we’ll get to see Marvel’s martial arts master Iron Fist adapted to the screen.

 

Premiere: March 17, 2017

Here’s the kicker (and you might already know this). There’s method to this fun Netflix madness. The channel is setting up a major crossover. All these characters, Daredevil, Jessica Jones, Iron Fist, and Luke Cage, make up The Defenders. You know, New York’s version of Avengers, so to speak.

It’s gonna be good. Even better, we’ll be seeing Jessica Jones return for a second season in 2017 as well. Continue reading →

[Small Chirp] This is why characters should talk less

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I’m about 75% of the way through The Magician by Michael Scott. Some of you might remember the review for the first book in this series, The Alchemyst, in which I was so flustered by the content of the book that I broke down into bullet points.  And for reasons that I still don’t completely understand, almost a year later, I find myself reading the sequel to what was arguably the most blah book I have ever read.

While reading last night, I found myself skimming the text. I rarely do that; I’m a slow reader because I take in each and every word. After I made several frustrated attempts to stop myself from skipping whole paragraphs, I realized the book was actually forcing me to be a bad reader.

“Just stop talking and do something already!” I finally yelled at the text.

And that gave me pause. The outburst had finally let me put a finger on what had been driving me crazy about this series from page one: The characters talk way too much. Continue reading →

TV Tuesdays: What happens in the library…

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Community is a strange show. There’s almost no other adjective that describes the comedy. Except maybe kooky. Or crass. But mostly, it’s strange.

 Community follows a study group at Greendale Community College and the downright zany situations they find themselves in. (Paintball, anyone?). And luckily for us during this wonderful Library Week, a large part of the show takes place in the library, perfectly fitting our theme. But choosing books for Community fans is no easy feat. Based solely on the people who I know watch the show, we’re a really eclectic group. But there is another book-picking solution.

A big part of Community‘s charm is the characters. The NBC staple is full of people who have such over-the-top characterizations that it’s impossibly easy to pick out a book for each of them to love and cherish. Ever think you are just like Annie (or Troy or Shirley)? Then these books are for you: Continue reading →

TV Tuesday: Person of Interest–and books of interest

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Each week, we’ll spotlight a current television show that we love, and the books that you just might like. Here are this week’s reading suggestions based on…

Person of Interest:

This show stands out for having an incredibly silly premise with a mind-blowingly fun execution. Reese (Jim Caviezel) is a modern-day Batman running around New York City battling crime bosses, saving lives, dodging his ex-CIA handlers, and hiding from the police. Oh and he stops cars full of bad guys with his rocket launcher.

In the meantime, his paranoid genius sidekick and tech support, Finch (Michael Emerson), uses a supercomputer to come up with the names of the people who are going to be killed in the next few days. It’s Reese’s job to stop that from happening.

And if Reese just happens to end up shooting a bunch of bad guys in the process, well, looks like the job has perks.

In books too, I have it bad for badass killer characters with traumatic pasts. Ever since Salvatore’s Drizzt D’Urden and Ludlum’s Jason Bourne, I’ve been infatuated with smart-talking, quick-thinking, fast-stabbing characters like Reese. There aren’t a lot of well-written badasses out there, so in my reading habits, I often default to other storylines to get my fix.

Here are a few character-driven book suggestions involving some seriously awesome protagonists:

Continue reading →

TV Tuesday: Castle, with a side of Heat Wave

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In an interview published just before Castle first premiered four seasons ago, creator Andrew Marlowe delightedly told eager fans that the protagonist’s name may have chosen specifically because when it’s shouted loud and fast, it sounds like a choice piece of profanity.  Any show that has that level of levity built right into the title was surely meant to be a winner.

Four seasons later, and Castle remains one of Monday’s highest ranking shows. This is in no small part to the leads,  the fierce Detective Kate Beckett (Stana Katic) and the endlessly-charming  Richard Castle (Nathan Fillion), who have created the best will-they-just-go-make-out-already pairings this side of Boothe and Bones.  Add in a stellar supporting cast (I have a special place in my heart of Ryan and Espisito-centric shenanigans), and this lighthearted cop drama is one of the best studies in character development out there.

Castle-lovers, here are our reading picks for you… Continue reading →

TV Tuesdays: Supernatural, and a few books to hunt down

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Every Tuesday we spotlight a current television show–and the books that you just might like if you watch it. Here are this week’s reading suggestions based on…

Supernatural:

With openings that regularly scare the bajeezus out of me, Supernatural follows the life of two brothers, Dean and Sam Winchester, who hunt supernatural beasties for a living. Even as each episode drops us into a different life-death-undeath mystery, the long-term plot trajectories pull me (and the Winchesters)  into tense stand-offs against demonic powers, soul-stealing devil deals, Armageddon-hungry angels, and ancient pagan gods.

Well into its seventh season, the show maintains a great balance of kick-butt action, character growth, development, and angst (yes!). More than that, the show isn’t afraid of flat out making light of itself in between the heavy doses of loss, disillusionment, and self-deception.

So if you watch Supernatural, here are a few books you just might wanna stock up on for the coming apocalypse: Continue reading →

[Small Chirp] Nathan Fillion is a Greek God

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Nathan Fillion (Firefly, Castle) has been cast as Hermes in the upcoming Percy Jackson sequel, The Sea of Monsters. For someone who is already worshiped as a Geek God, it’s only appropriate that he should land the role of a Greek god.

Hermes is a key supporting player in the Percy Jackson series written by Rick Riordan, as well as being the pivotal point for the main source of conflict in the books. Herme’s demigod son, Luke, becomes the main villain of the series, and the father-son dynamic between Luke and Hermes is the big reason why Luke goes over to the Dark Side in the first place. (Ha, I never realized how very Star Wars that is).

Depending on how the part is written, it may actually turn into a more melancholy role than we are used to seeing from Fillion of late. After all, absentee parenting is a central theme of the books; the gods are often absent from the lives of their demigod children, when they aren’t simply negligent. No god feels that harder than Hermes as he watches his son fight for the other side. Continue reading →

TV Tuesdays: You know what you watch, but what should you read?

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Every Tuesday we’ll spotlight a current television show–and the books that you just might like if you watch it. Here are this week’s reading suggestions based on one of my favorites:

Fairly Legal:

I saw the second season premier a week before it hits USA Network Friday, and what can I say, the show just keeps getting better. The quirky, witty female lead, complicated family and relationship drama, a pseudo-detective element, and fast pacing has me hooked.  Kate Reed quit her job as a lawyer to become a mediator a the San Francisco law firm her late father started. Now she’s fighting the system (and her stepmother) one mediation at a time.

When it comes to books, Fairly Legal speaks to the part of me that wants to be entertained, particularly when reading to unwind into the wee hours of the morning.

Here are some of my favorite drama rom-com novels with strong female leads: Continue reading →