Lessons in Adaptation: Scott Pilgrim vs. the World

A few years back, I was in an introductory filmmaking program. This was not crucial to my degree (which is in rocks), but it was fun, and if we finished up with our projects for the day with time to spare, the instructors would show us films they thought demonstrated parts of the craft uncommonly…

Trick of the Light – Scott Pilgrim, Book Six

I should dislike this book. It’s almost all fight. It backtracks much of the development of the characters from the previous books. Its thesis statement is messy. Wallace is barely in it. And yet, rarely have I seen a series that concludes more powerfully, compressing all of its meaning and conflict and turmoil, literal and…

Lessons in Adaptation: Annihilation

How do you film a psychological thriller about alien plants? With a not-insubstantial effects budget, I would imagine. About a year ago, I reviewed the novella Annihilation, with the intent of eventually comparing it to its film adaptation. Here we are. In many ways, the film Annihilation is pretty conventional as far as adaptations go,…

2019 Honestly Amazing Thing Awards – Breakfast Recommendations #3

I might as well jump on the retrospective bandwagon and start up an annual (fingers crossed) awards series. Now, my first instinct was to opt for the best releases of the year, but while I've done plenty of catching up on shows I've been watching (for the most part), I tend to be actively bad…

Another Day – Scott Pilgrim, Book Five

What happens after the monster is defeated? What happens when the hero has to settle down and re-acclimate to an ordinary life? I’ve always loved stories that ask these questions, that treat the usual climax as a secondary focus, prioritizing the emotional journey the character faces even if they’ve stopped moving their legs. Scott Pilgrim…

Figures in the Distance – Scott Pilgrim, Book Four

This is the book I've been rearing to write about. The Scott Pilgrim books are all enjoyable, but the latter half of the series raises the stakes to much more than relationship drama and magical battles. I love both of those, but now they have layers. Now the books charge ahead with all of the…

The Times They Are A-Changin’ – Scott Pilgrim, Book Three

The culmination of tension in the past two books as to the identify and significance of Scott’s former squeeze precipitates here as we finally meet the mysterious Envy Adams. To further complicate matters, she’s here with Todd, Ramona’s third evil ex. Unlike the short fights in the previous two novels, this one extends through the…

Magic Isn’t Everything – Akata Witch

I’m always on the lookout for creative fantasy stories, given that so many of them feel like loose replicas of The Lord of the Rings. I feel I do a bad job of finding them much of the time. Thankfully, this YA novel by Nnedi Okorafor provides a perspective I didn’t even know I wanted,…

If Only Shakespeare Knew About the Parking Lot – Richard III

If someone new to Shakespeare were to ask me what play they should start with, I would say A Midsummer Night’s Dream or As You Like It if you’re in the mood for a comedy, Macbeth if you want action, and Hamlet if you want his best work. I’m basic like that. None of these,…

Singin’ in the Rain – King Lear

Continuing with Shakespeare Week because that's what the random generator demanded, we have King Lear, another of Shakespeare's four High Tragedies. On a side note, the man wrote Macbeth, Othello, and Lear all in the same three-year span of time, along with several other plays, so if you ever want a benchmark for your own…