Charlaine Harris’ ‘Dead’ series

Back in 2001, I had the opportunity to read Dead until Dark the first book in the series.   However, it wasn’t a paranormal romance, and I wasn’t interested at the time.  But with the buzz from the True Blood series, I thought I’d give it another try.  I’m glad I did since the mystery/horror elements are much more appealing than the paranormal romance this time around.

Dead Until Dark

The story: a socially isolated waitress (Sookie) at a bar in rural Louisiana encounters a vampire and goes to his rescue when he is attacked in the parking lot of the bar.  This action embroils her in a supernatural murder mystery.

I love Sookie’s wry observations on her own and everyone else’s behavior.  She doesn’t easily accept all the bizarre revelations about the supernatural people but she doesn’t waste time protesting her new reality either.  Her tenuous place in the social structure makes it believable that she’d fall into the ‘outgroup’ of vampires and such.  I hope that Harris enriches all the minor characters – the community members are all quite interesting.

Living Dead in Dallas

The story:  A co-worker at the bar where Sookie works is murdered.  She is hired by vampires to solve the mystery and she learns far too much about supernatural world.

I was slightly disappointed with this one.  It may be that the author is moving from a single novel to a series and so has to lighten the tone a bit.  I also missed Sookie’s hometown politics and interactions.  Dallas was less interesting to me here.  I do like how Sookie is changing due to her adventures: she’s more confident, more daring and a bit more sophisticated.

Club Dead

The story:  Sookie’s having boyfriend trouble and then he goes missing.  She’s got to find him and upbraid him.

I don’t like the urban setting. Moreover, this one got way too painful for me.  I really hated what some of the characters in this book did.  So much so that I contemplated dropping the series.

Dead to World

The story:  Sookie is bitter and alone after her breakup.  It never rains but it pours since her brother disappears and she has an amnesiac vampire dropped into her lap (more or less).

But I did pick up the fourth book and I’m happy for doing it.  Sookie’s back at home which pleases me no end.  Sookie’s becoming more resilient emotionally and mentally, and I think she’s becoming a force to be reckoned with.  Normally I’d find fault that every guy she meets is instantly attracted to her.  But I can buy that her psychic powers are the real lure and they are all supernatural beings.  No humans for Sookie.

Related articles by Zemanta

• Sookie Stackhouse Reading Challenge (bookingmama.blogspot.com)
• True Blood Book Adaptation Sucks (unaskedadvice.wordpress.com)
• Review: Dead Until Dark (bookingmama.blogspot.com)

Issues with Vampire Diaries

I am dense.

After my post on the news that L. J. Smith’s Vampire Diaries is coming to television, I got a lot of comments on the casting.  One of the issues brought up is why the main character Elena was not cast as a blonde for the TV show.  I was puzzled because I thought blondes were the it girls in Hollywood too.

But then I realized this:

Elena, Vampire Diaries

Bella, Twilight

Mystery solved.

Another thing that irritates me is much of the material on Vampire Diaries outright saying that it is another version of Twilight. (TVsquad, beyond hollywood).   The producers are on riding Twilight‘s cape but I am still irritated.

L. J. Smith published the books in 1991.  It seems that Meyer only had the dream in 2003 and the first book was published in 2005.  Moreover, most pretty-pretty vampire stories are just watered-down versions of Anne Rice’s vampire tales.  Twilight is more of a blanched vegetable version.

I remember a young person writing on a forum that she’d read Meyer’s series and asking, in sum, if there were any other stories with a  vampire mythos.

Part of me thinks this is (very) funny but it’s a little sad too.  She’s missing out a lot. Fans could go a long time and not run out of vamp books to read.

I may break down and find a time line of pretty-pretty vampires in books.

Buffy the Vampire Slayer (2012)

There has been a lot of talk of the Buffy the Vampire Slayer movie in development.  You’d think fans of the franchise would be delighted…but there’s a catch.  Joss Whedon will not be involved.  Nor will any of the cast from the television series.

I’ve been reading comments and blog posts about this.  It’s interesting.  Some ridicule the idea; some are cautiously hopeful.  Some plan to boycott the movie; some enjoyed the first movie and think this one will be fine.  A few dislike Whedon and are eager to embrace a Whedon-less Buffy.  It’s all a little premature though, since the projected release date is not till 2012.

But I understand.  It’s hard not to speculate.

• The first film by Fran Kuzui did OK at the box office but it wasn’t a critical success.
• Whedon’s TV version was both influential and lauded.
• Kuzui hasn’t directed a film since the Buffy movie (17 years ago).
• Whedon’s feature film Serenity based on his series Firefly bombed.
• The movie premiered in 1992: a lot of the target audience weren’t born then.
• The TV series ended in 2003, and again, many movie goers won’t have seen it.
• Fans of the movie will probably make a point to see it.
• Fans of the TV series will probably be curious.

All in all, a remake is probably the right move.

If you think of it in terms of the Star Wars franchise, a remake without the people who made the TV show seems reasonable.  See, The Phantom Menace was more successful than The Empire Strikes Back in terms of box office.  Whedon and company would just add intelligence and heart to the project, and who needs that?  Certainly not USA cinema.

Various posts and comments

• Buffy Actor Won’t Watch New Movie (perezhilton.com)
• Discuss: Is ‘Buffy’ Better Off Without Joss Whedon? (cinematical.com)
• Shocker: Joss Whedon Excluded From Buffy the Vampire Slayer Reboot (shoppingblog.com)
• Buffy the Vampire Slayer to be a Remake (themovieblog.com)
• Report: Dark Buffy Reboot in Works, Sans Whedon (wired.com)
• ‘Buffy’ in for feature relaunch (movieblips.dailyradar.com)
• Buffy without Joss Whedon (tvdramas.about.com)
• Whedon-less Buffy to the Big Screen? (Sci-Fi Storm.com)
• Whedonless Buffy Reboot Planned (scifi.about.com)
• Buffy the Vampire Remake? (horror.about.com)
• Why the New Buffy Movie Should Fall into a Hellmouth (culture.bitchbuzz.com)
• No Joss Whedon For ‘Buffy The Vampire Slayer’ Reboot (splashpage.mtv.com)
• ‘Buffy’ Reboot Without Joss Whedon? (screenrant.com)
• Buffy the Vampire Slayer returning to big screen (nationalpost.com)
• A ‘Buffy The Vampire Slayer’ Movie Is In The Works (For Real This Time) (pinkisthenewblog.com)
• A Buffy movie without Joss Whedon? Discuss! (filmgecko.com)

Vampire Diaries on TV

Image by smittenkittenorig via Flickr

I’m excited!  I just learned that L. J. Smith‘s Vampire Diaries might coming to CW.  Smith’s series has been compared to Stephenie Meyer’s but I think her series are more fun.  They are just as romantic but a little more grounded.

Vampire Diaries is the story told in 4 books of Elena who is pursued by two vampire brothers.

Rachel Thomas quotes Variety on the casting:

Variety reports that former Lost star Ian Somerhalder has snagged the role of Damon. Nina Dobrev (Degrassi: The Next Generation) has been cast to play Elena and Paul Wesley (Everwood) joins the cast as the 200-year-old Stefan. Dawson’s Creek mastermind Kevin Williamson will be the executive producer for the series.

Nina Dobrev to be Elena.

Ian Somerhalder to be Damon

Paul Wesley to be Stefan.

I’ve read several of her series but the Night World series is my favorite, especially Spellbinder (scroll down a bit).

A snazzy fan blog for the TV version of Vampire Diaries .

True Blood TV

Image via Wikipedia

True Blood is an HBO series about vampires in Louisiana.  It’s based

on a series of books written by Charlene Harris.  I read the first book in the series but don’t remember the characters or the plot, just the setting details.

My sister in law saw it and told me it was good.  Each review I read says it’s especially good.

Note to self: don’t forget to watch this series.

Shojo Beat February 2008

Cover

I’m not that excited about J-pop but Yumi and Ami are charming on the cover.

Editor’s Letter p. 006

Samantha Schechter’s violinist Beat Girl was very stylish – liked it a lot.

re: p. 016 – photo of Pink Ladies, they are referenced in a lot of manga, and I was pleased to see a picture of them.

Fushigi Yuugi: Genbu Kaiden spotlight p. 024

I bought the first volume of this series but I don’t feel compelled to get any more.

Preview p. 025

Monkey High by Shouko Akira – straight-laced girl goes for class clown.  Didn’t spark my interest much.

re: p. 078 ad for Be With Me in the form of IM.  Creepy in a sweet kind of way.  Reminds me of  Serial Experiments Lain

Culture and Trends: Setsubun p.119

The soybean ritual sounds fun — especially the part about kids pelting their “oni” parents.

re: p. 154 ad for Love*Com movie.  I’d like to see this one.  It looks like a cheerful fluffy movie.  I could use that.

Video game article p. 360

I don’t own an Xbox 360 but the game Eternal Sonata sounds amazing.  A game about the life of Chopin with such pretty graphics.  Oh my.

Spoilers – Series Comments

Twilight! (the movie)

Just got back from watching Twilight.

I’ve been avoiding paying attention to all the hype, and now I’m really, really excited.

The row ahead of us, girls were taking pictures of themselves and  sending the pix a couple of rows over.  Then leaning over the seats to show each other the pictures they had just sent.

Teenage boy right behind me on seeing a still of  Pirates of the Caribbean said, “Pirates are so hot.  They’re nautical.”  It was a very teenage audience.

My party was concerned that they’d be noisy during the show – but no, it was serious business.

Anyway, the pros for the general audience.

The scenery was lovely, especially the lakeside.

(…)

The rest is for fans.

1) Bella (Kristen Stewart) is more resolute and less hapless than she is in the books. She was also considerably quicker to catch on to what was going on.  Though, she wasn’t savvy enough to realize that she was in a movie, she had at least heard of vampires.  I had imagined her hair to be longer and curlier but that is a lesser point.  Yeah, I liked her.

2) Edward (Robert Pattinson) is a difficult role to play as he is the ultimate, bestest most perfect teenage boyfriend EVER.  It’s no wonder that he is a vampire with bishie sparkle.  Unfortunately, I kept thinking of Buffy saying “You have koolaid mouth” to him.  He did too.  And his hair was practically lurking in the first scene – Lord love a duck.  He got better as he went along but he just didn’t have enough zing for me.

And the character Jacob is my favorite.

Spoilers…

Objection to “New Moon” – comic strip

I became aware of Jennie Bredon of the webcomic The Devil’s Panties at the 2007 SugoiCon. She was on a panel which I thoroughly enjoyed. I bought one of her collections, and now I read her webcomic regularly.

She’s way funny and nice in person and her cartoon persona is cute.

I’ve been busy and so missed a few days. She read New Moon, and had some objections to the book. FIRST and SECOND strip. I’ve found fault with it too but she raises another point that I think is good.

Still, we both liked it, it’s just a little irritating in places. The image of Edward’s smug self in the first strip made me chuckle.

Moon Child (2003)

Gackt

When I was a child and a young teen, I avoided scary movies at all costs.  But when I started college, I began to watch horror movies on a limited basis.  That left me with a lot of unwatched horror movies.

Last Halloween, I attempted to watch all the best horror movies of the 70s and 80s.  The horror movies of the 70s (e.g., Jaws; Carrie; The Exorcist) were pretty good but I didn’t care for the slashers in the 80s (exceptions: Nightmare on Elm Street; Evil Dead).  I offended my friends by dismissing their favorite movies, so I won’t be discussing them here.  People are too sensitive about their slasher films.

HYDE

At any rate, this year I decided to watch classic movies and Asian horror films.  The classic movies have fallen by the wayside but I have watched some Asian horror movies.  I have watched Ringu and Ju-On but that’s about it. My comments on Whispering Corridors and Charisma came out of this effort.

I thought I’d take a break and watch Moon Child.  This movie features pop stars Gackt and Hyde in the lead roles.  I imagined the movies would be vehicle along the lines of Crossroads (saw trailer) or Glitter (saw one scene).  I expected a bunch of pretty vampires wafting their way through a lightweight story with musical interludes.  That’s not quite what Moon Child is.

There is a duet, of sorts, between the 2 leads.  It has got a vampire but that’s more of an affectation than condition of being.  The story, though wildly inconsistent, is meant to be serious.  I think.

Sho (Gackt) is an urchin who is defended by an ailing vampire.  Sho latches onto the vampire named Kei (Hyde) and he grows up to become a gangster.  Sho and Kei make a pretty couple and they gather a makeshift family around themselves.  Kwok (Yi-Chen), a mute Taiwanese woman, becomes a sort of love interest but she’s not that interesting.

Things then take a turn for the worse.

Perhaps if they had chosen a more mundane story, it might have been more effective.  The little bits such as the kidding at the lunch prepared by Kwok or while Kwon is patching them after a shootup, were actually quite nice.

Or when they smirk over the European delighted with his new tattoo in kanji that reads “Kitchen” instead of “Ninja.”  That was cute.

The most effective story-line was that of the strong friendship between Sho and Kei.  It could be seen to have romantic undercurrents.

I’m not a fan of either singer.  I didn’t know which character was played by which singer till the end of the movie, to be honest.  But I have to say that Gackt was fun to watch. His voice has an interesting quality and his eyes are rather strange, somehow.  I think it’s the eyeliner.

Moon Child could work for as a mockamon but I didn’t laugh myself silly† as I had expected to.

After the cut are links and spoilers a few things that puzzled me.          †and one part that did make me laugh.

vampire vs. werewolf

Art by JenZee

The other day, my mother and sister and I got in a conference call. My sister is a book behind me in the Stephenie Meyer series and she is struggling with Bella’s passivity. Not like Tamora Pierce’s heroines, I was strongly informed. I told her to read New Moon for Jacob instead.

We began debating the relative merits of werewolf vs. vampire fantasy boyfriends. Both of us are firmly in the werewolf camp, actually it’s more of a shape shifting camp. My sister brought in Emma Bull’s Phouka from War for the Oaks as an example of shape shifting hotness and we talked about Blood and Chocolate yet again and I pushed Hollow Kingdom once again.

Somewhere in all this, I said something to my mother. There was nothing but silence from her end. She’d fallen asleep. So, we talked about more generally interesting topics.

But it was fun while it lasted. *happy sigh*