Lari's Bookshelf

This is seriously my favorite holiday of the year. I have some pretty awesome vampire teeth I'll use to scare any unsuspecting children that come knocking tonight, and I'm painting my three year old daughter's face like a skeleton . Screw that princess shit. Speaking of Halloween, I love Halloween songs. We started the day by watching The Nightmare Before Christmas , which is arguably the best Halloween/Christmas movie ever. One of my favorite songs is "Jack's Lament," where Jack has an existential crisis, and realizes that while he has everything he has ever wanted, he still feels like he's missing something in his life: Then, after watching Nostalgia Chick's review of The Worst Witch , I learned of a music scene which sadly has escaped my radar my entire life. Until now: I can't figure out if Tim Curry singing this 80s music vomit was making me happy, sad, confused, etc. What is going on there? All I know is that my jaw dropped early...

I just enjoyed watching this Victorian-era, action orgy. It has a lot of the look and feel of the first SH adaptation with Robert Downey Jr. and Jude Law: I shared the first trailer in a previous post . That post also contains links to free sources of where you can get the original works by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle .

If I was a hipster, I'd be having major second thoughts towards my affinity of steampunk. The fact is, it's popping up EVERYWHERE. I still like it a lot, and find the detail and imagination that comes with victorian science fiction beautiful. Here are some videos that incorporate this fantasy element. The first is my favorite. It's modern with a traditional celtic flare. Magical to the very core. The next is more "pop."  The only thing I see about this one is that it is basically a regular modern pop song wearing steampunk clothes (if you don't include the 'mystical' sounding beginning and the mystical story in the video). Still cool, but not as cool as "The Islander." When it comes to films. There are quite a few that are also laden with steampunk-i-ness. There's a trailer for an upcoming Holme's inspired film here . And then, there's that dark, dramatic, subtle science fiction, The Prestige (based on the book ): ...

So, I've seen quite a few TV shows or movies (many of them I like!) that have virtuous heroes against baddies, who just like being bad. For instance, my daughter just started watching She-Ra: The Princess of Power on Hulu . Princess Adora, long lost sister to Prince Adam (He-Man), fights the evil tyranny of the Horde, ruled by Hordak, by becoming She-Ra with a magic sword. Sexy, Blonde, Virtuous, and Sexy It's such a clear-cut evil vs. good show, that there is no nuance, not really with the villains. Even by having Adora a member of the Horde herself in the beginning, seemed like an artificial attempt to add depth to a character who really is one-dimensional. She simply "had not seen" the Horde being mean to people, but as soon as she sees an old man get thrown into a lake, she does a 180 and has no trouble fighting against the people who raised her. (Side note, I also think it's funny that these evil villains can at most "stun" their victims b...

Just like my writerly friend Annie can combine anything (give her something to combine!), so can Hollywood. They've combined two pretty sweet things for their latest, action-orgy movie: Cowboys & Aliens I want to watch it because I really dig stuff like this. Not since Firefly  (miss you Mal) have I been so intrigued by a combination of space and cowboys. Not to mention, Indy and Bond are in it. Which should be enough right? Are you looking forward to watching it?

PRODUCTION PICTURES Check out these visually awesome production pictures of the dwarves in Peter Jackson's new movie , based on the Tolkien classic, The Hobbit . Balin and Dwalin Dori, Nori and Ori Plus! Big news. All production pictures lately have consisted of just a few dwarves, as seen above. But TheOneRing.net recently shared a production picture of a dwarf composite picture brought to you by Peter Jackson! Thorin and His Band of Merry Dwarves PRODUCTION VIDEO #3 I really like the latest production video because it talks about filming 13 dwarven heroes. Think of the challenge it would be to portray 13 unique protagonists that audiences will become acquainted with during the course of the film. This is actually something I wondered about when I first heard they were making the film. How will they do it? But after watching this I have great confidence that they have done an amazing adaptation by creating 13 interesting characters. Here is the blog post fo...

I recently downloaded Study in Scarlet  from Project Gutenburg . Project Gutenburg is freaking awesome enough as it is, but they decided to be more awesomer by including QR codes on their website! Study in Scarlet QR Code! I love Sherlock Holmes and the Edwardian/Late Victorian era in general. I especially liked the last film with Robert Downey Jr. and Jude Law. So I was rather excited to see this post on ScreenRant where they are highlighting the new SH trailer. It looks like fun! Let's see if it can be just as good as the first one. Also, if you haven't checked out the latest TV re-imagining of the classic called " Sherlock ," I highly recommend you do so ( *psst*  Netflix instant streaming). It is clever, intriguing, and the two main actors, Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman , are going to be in Peter Jackson's The Hobbit (isn't that a good enough reason to check it out?). Holmes and Watson solve mysteries in modern London. The first epis...

I filled out another Harry Potter trivia quiz as I glanced ever so frequently at the clock at Borders. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire was about to be released. I, and a few other of my Potter-smitten friends, looked forward to being one of the first to buy the much anticipated book on the stroke of midnight on the release date. It was the summer of 2000, I was 15, Y2K had come and gone without major incident, and a few weeks before I had discovered the Potter books for the first time. I fell completely and utterly in love with the world Rowling had built. I relished every chapter illustration, every backstory, every page, every new spell . Those books were the first in which I truly became emotionally invested. I sobbed when Harry lost Sirius in Order of the Phoenix . It has been 11 years since the summer of Goblet of Fire , and while my enthusiasm for Potter has waned and crested like a wave, I still love it. I plan on reading it to my daughter when she is o...

I know it's cheesy. I know the special effects can sometimes look cheap. I know that dragons, fairies, and wizards don't really exist, but I don't care. I also don't care if you think it's stupid. Fantasy rules. 1. Legend of the Seeker     (2008) 2 Seasons No. It doesn't follow Terry Goodkind's books to the letter, but I kind of liked it that way because the plot took a different direction and told a new story. Richard Cypher is named the Seeker by a skinny, tall, odd looking wizard named Zeddicus Zul Zorander and his mission is to kick the tyrannical Lord Rahl's ass all the while fighting the urge to make out with Kalan, his beautiful partner and a confessor whose touch could kill his soul. Will he succeed? Dun. Dun. Dun! Of course he will. This is a show made for American audiences afterall... Look how they look heroically off into the distance. LOOK AT THEM. Pros: Legend of the Seeker shows off the beautiful New Zealand landscape. The magic ...