Quick Reviews: True Grit, Implied Spaces, Rule 34, Uniqueness Counts

[jeriendhal]

True Grit (2011): The Coen Brother's adaptation of the classic Western novel, which is mostly known by the earlier John Wayne adaptation. This time around it's starring Jeff Bridges as the alcoholic Marshall "Rooster" Cogburn, as he earns $100 to track down the killer of 14 year-old Mattie's father.

This movie is a bit odd, with the beautiful western scenery contrasted with a nearly Shakespearean lack of contractions in the dialog, which brings a loopy sort of charm to the whole thing.

Also, the line "Are we bargaining again?" is the funniest thing in the film.


Implied Spaces, Walter Jon Williams: Aristide, a 1,500 year old swordsman/programmer exploring the pocket universes created in a post-singularity future, accompanied by a super-computer's avatar in the form of a housecat named Bitsy, discovers a threat that might send the peaceful multi-verses to war for the first time in a thousand years.

Like his earlier Aristoi, WJW looks at a post-scarcity world and tries to find adventure in it. Unfortunately, adventure is pretty hard to find when death means just booting up a Backup You. Literally millions die in a single battle, and it's basically shrugged off. Worse still, when the villian is confronted, even Aristide is pointing out what a cackling cliche he is.

Not very interesting. Not Recommended (Past the opening chapters, which are a deliberate, very deliberate, homage to Arabian style fantasy, anyway).


Rule 34, Charles Stross: In this sequel to his earlier Halting State, trouble comes to the People's Republic of Scotland again, as a series of coordinated murders against spammers have police in the EU baffled.

Frankly, this one isn't as much fun as Halting State. While the subject matter is deliberately tittilating (the first murder involves an unfortuntate incident with a Soviet era enema machine), there are some gaping plot holes, and the characters just come across flatter and nowhere near as sympathetic as in the earlier book.

Recommended if Stross is on your Must Read list.


Uniqueness Counts, Elizabeth McCoy: A short story involving a pair of young Kintarians (feline centauroids) setting off from their family spaceship to strike out on their own. McCoy is a longtime author for Steve Jackson Games, and the races and background for the story borrows liberally from their GURPS Aliens supplement and other material. This doesn't detract from the story, which a cute little adventure, but it might have been better to integrate the world building in the story itself, instead of making the reader flip through a four page glossary before starting a twenty page tale.

Recommended with reservation.

Comments

[beatrixal.livejournal.com]

I liked that the Coen Bros showed a slightly different view of the book. The movie's epilogue was unique and fitting. I prefer the John Wayne version for its clean, crisp presentation. The acting is so polished, you would never know that Wayne and Darby hated each other.

I adored the "Mad Magazine" spoof, "True Fat."