The Blaft Anthology of Tamil Pulp Fiction, Vol. I

Did not finish book. Stopped at 14%. First, the translation is terrible. It all makes sense and seems to convey the meaning, but it's all written in a really dull, robotic style. Everything is described in the most straight-forward way. It's clearly doing the authors a disservice. Second, the two stories I read were not good. The first, Hurricane Vaij, is about a private investigator hired to locate a man who's been kidnapped, which he seems to do entirely by luck. And it's hard to tell, given the translation, but the author seems to have some very fucked-up morals and priorities. The client is a politician; the missing man is his son. And they're both power-hungry hypocrites, but I think we're supposed to see them as admirable? The protagonist is worse though. There's one point where he sexually assaults his sidekick and it seems to be played as a joke? Again, the translation makes it hard to tell the author's exact intent, but he certainly isn't supposed to be seen as a bad person for doing it.

With a Sword in My Hand

I automatically have a less positive impression of this book than I might have just because it's historical fiction, which makes me suspicious of it. I can't help but wonder, the entire time I'm reading, "how much of this is bullshit?" Creative non-fiction is a weaselly genre that gives you the cachet of non-fiction with the freedom of fiction, and makes it extremely easy to mislead your audience - whether you intend to or not. I was also a little thrown off by the way it's all written in first-person present tense but doesn't match with how the character would actually have written or spoken at the various points in her life at which it's set. Her voice doesn't change at all as she ages from 5 to 15. That aside, the book is easy to read and the characters are vivid and believable. Unfortunately, the protagonist is just not a person I liked or cared about - and I'm pretty sure I was supposed to. Her life seemed largely frivolous and she never seems to have any clear motivation other than to not do what's expected of her. That's a fine starting point, but what does she actually want instead? I've finished the book and I don't know.

We also don't get any sense of the larger historical context or Marguerite's place within it. She's born into power and politics but that's almost irrelevant to the book. It makes the entire story seem kind of a waste of time. What's all this leading to? Nothing that matters.

Spider-Man 3 (2007)

This movie is a mess. There are still enjoyable parts, but there's too much going on and none of it is properly developed. Also, the weakest characters of the trilogy (MJ and Harry) have much more prominent roles in this film, to its detriment. I was going to say "important roles", but no. They're not. They just get too much screen time.

I'm not even sure if Peter and MJ actually like each other.

Spider-Man 2 (2004)

In some ways, Spider-Man 2 is more enjoyable than the first film, but it's also not quite as well put-together. It's also a lot funnier, which is a big plus for me, but if you like a more serious tone then you're probably not going to be as happy with this one.

Spider-Man complaining to a stranger about his pants.

Spider-Man (2002)

This movie holds up really well. It's way better than I remembered it being. It's very simple, and it does hold your hand a little too much (even for an all-ages, super-hero movie), but everything in it happens for a reason and it's all driven by the characters' goals and motivations - which are all clearly communicated to the audience. If you haven't seen it, it's worth watching. It's a good movie.

Radiation is out; genetic engineering is in.

AEW Revolution

Overall rating: ★★★●★☆☆

Some really good matches but, unfortunately, a few low points dragging the average down. And did it need to be four hours long? That's not even including the pre-show; the main show was four hours. The main event was very good though and worth the wait. But is it just me, or was Jim Ross sounding a little lost and confused at times? More so than usual, I mean.

IMPACT Sacrifice

Overall Rating: ★★★●★☆☆

Unfortunately, kind of a backwards show; started with the best match and gradually wound down from there. If the first half had been an entire show on its own it would have been fantastic, but unfortunately it kept going and the second half just wasn't very good. Nothing terrible and no matches I had to skip though.