An Unknown Welshman: A novel of Henry VII
Book
The rise of the Tudor Dynasty! Perfect for fans of Conn Iggulden, Robyn Young, Alison Weir and...
War of the Roses
The Island of Dr. Moreau (1977)
Movie
Second adapatation of the H.G. Wells novel of the same title. A young sailor is washed ashore on a...
The Time Machine (1960)
Movie Watch
Scientist H. George Wells (Rod Taylor) builds a time machine, and despite the warning from his...
Awix (3310 KP) rated War of the Worlds: Global Dispatches in Books
Feb 3, 2020
A bit of a mixed bag, to be honest: some of the stories just restage elements of Wells with a different backdrop, others treat the Martians as a backdrop for more introspective tales, still others indulge in literary pastiche. Unlikely juxtapositions and in-jokes abound - Rudyard Kipling meets Gandhi, Tolstoy meets Stalin, Samuel Clemens (d. 1910) makes reference to John Christopher (b. 1922). The best stories are mostly the ones which recognise the political/satirical subtext powering the Wells novel and attempt to do something similar - so Barbara Hambly's story concerns British imperialism in India, and the effect of the Martians on the situation there, while another looks at the consequences for pre-revolutionary Russia. That said, Connie Willis' Hugo-winning contribution sends the whole conceit of the novel up with a predictable mixture of tongue-in-cheek drollery and sheer absurd silliness, as the unlikely effect of a Martian encounter on the poetry of Emily Dickinson is revealed (especially considering Dickinson died twelve years before the coming of the Martians). The good stories are very good indeed, the less good ones merely a bit tedious. A worthy and worthwhile tribute to the original novel.
Awix (3310 KP) rated War of the Worlds (2005) in Movies
Mar 25, 2018 (Updated Mar 25, 2018)
Still, it's not all bad: looking back on it, this is yet another of those films which attempts to use SF as a device to try and process the September 11th attacks and ends up not being nearly as profound as it thinks it is, and the way it's structured so that, hey, cities are smashed and thousands slaughtered by the Martians (look, they could be Martians, it doesn't say they're not), but at least Cruise gets to become a better dad, so it's not all bad news, is quite fatuous. But it does get closer to Wells' original intent, just about, it looks very good, and there's always Spielberg's casual mastery of the genre to enjoy. A decent stab at a book which probably isn't as easy to adapt as it first appears.
Awix (3310 KP) rated The War of the Worlds in TV
Dec 2, 2019
Part of a grim tradition where BBC attempts to adapt SF, fantasy and horror classics operate to different standards than when they are tackling Austen or Dickens. If the team who perpetrated War of the Worlds got their hands on Pride and Prejudice, it would end up being a lesbian romance between the Bennets' maid and one of the minor daughters, performed on ice, with a frame story concerning the Boer war. It's not just that it does the book badly, it genuinely doesn't seem interested in it at all. Someone gets a leaden, clumsy speech articulating the subtext of the novel (how to adapt a great book for the hard-of-thinking) but as to what this version of the story is supposed to be about or why we should care at all... It takes real skill and determination to screw up a classic piece of literature quite this badly.
The Time Machine
Marina Warner, H.G. Wells, Patrick Parrinder and Steve McLean
Book
A seminal and hugely imaginative work of early science fiction, H.G. Wells's The Time Machine is the...
Awix (3310 KP) rated The Island of Dr. Moreau (1977) in Movies
Jun 16, 2020 (Updated Jun 16, 2020)
The film-makers seem to have noticed the theoretical issues with the plot of the book - the main character has no real agency and is merely an onlooker - and fixed this by introducing a subplot in which Moreau experiments on him, thus setting up a reasonably elegant action-adventury sort of climax complete with happy ending. This does put the film rather at odds with Wells, though, and gets in the way of exploring the book's actual themes - its somewhat problematic subtexts about social control and the different sort of uplift attempted by the British Empire are still there if you look for them, seemingly by accident. Enough of the book's imagery and ideas survive to make this worthwhile viewing and probably the most rewarding adaptation, but really - read the novel as well.
Matthew Krueger (10051 KP) rated The Invisible Man (1933) in Movies
Mar 4, 2020
The plot: While researching a new drug, Dr. Jack Griffin (Claude Rains) stumbles on a potion that can make him invisible. When he reveals his new ability to his old mentor (Henry Travers) and his fiancée (Gloria Stuart), it's clear that a side effect of the potion is insanity. Jack goes on a violent rampage, and the police struggle to hunt him down, unable to see their target, while his mentor and his former partner (William Harrigan) desperately try to devise a plan to capture him.
You have Claude Rains playing "The Invisible Man", he is excellent in this film. Cause like i said his charcter is just a dick/asshole to everybody in his pathway but has a heart of gold for his love.
If you havent seen this film, i would highly recordmend it, cause it is fantasic and phenomenal.