Book Review: Princeps' Fury (Book 5 of the Codex Alera)

Princeps' Fury by Jim Butcher

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Jim Butcher had done a very good job building up the excitement in the first half of the book. In fact, his writing does excel in highlighting despairing situations. Like all other codex alera books, I greatly enjoyed the first half (or third) of the book more so than the rest put together.

There is plenty of action and plot twists all around the book. But by now, the twists have been used to prevalently throughout the series that they now come as expected. I pretty much felt that whenever the characters deign to plan anything, chances are it will somehow go wrong or something will change.

Somehow, the author just failed to deliver according to the anticipations built up in the earlier portions of the book. The book, like the rest of the series, suffers from some major issues in the plot. The most obvious ones lie with the ultimate villian - Why was the vord so insistent on killing them down to the last person? What will they eat then? Why would such a strong opponent seek an outright war with them if they seem most effective in a war of stealth? I still find the Takers more frightening than the rest of the Vord capabilities. As powerful as the Vord may be, they do not seem particularly frightening except for the sheer volume of numbers. In fact, they yet had to rely on human technology to keep their human victims in check. How then, were they able to defeat both the Canim and the Marat(before) just by their own strengths before? The Vord's reliance on human furycrafting seems to suggest human superiority that contradicts the notion about how each race is complicated yet equally valuable.

The main character, Tavi, was also described to be so brave and selfless (to the extent he completely lacks self-preservation) that he is almost unbelievable. Lets face it, realistically a person like him would have long expired if not for the ever trustworthy sense of instinct or the combination of luck and ingenuity turning events into his favour. Aside from this characteristic flaw to consistently put himself in the harm's way, there is a lack of a genuine character flaw that marks him as human, and therefore, a more relatable character.

I find this series' another main problem is its inability to maintain my level of excitement and interest when the armed conflict starts. Something is just missing from Jim Butcher's narrative when it comes to large scale conflicts, perhaps a sense of detachment in his narrative. I have read fantasy books that draw me in during large scale battles, and Jim Butcher simply failed to meet these expectations. In fact, the legion battles are about the most boring parts of the book.

All in all, I still rate 4 out of 5 because the author has managed to do a very good job with the first half of the book. Any less would be too harsh because I honestly did enjoy reading it. My review simply highlighted some problems the book suffers from, but perhaps disparate attention was paid to the good aspects of it. I am very unsatisfied with how Jim Butcher resolved the conflict in this book, and hopefully the next in the series would do a better job.



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Blinded by Incumbents, and Deaf to New Talents

The 2011 Golden Globes nominations have just been released and I am interested in just 3 categories. Best Actress - Nicole Kidman for Rabbit Hole, Best film, and Best Original Score.

Needless to say, I am 100% behind HHTYD for Best original score. Sadly speaking, not going to happen.

Imagine my utter horror that it was not even NOMINATED.

I CANNOT BELIEVE MY EYES.

WHAT THE FUCK!?

I'm so frigging pissed! In order to even get nominated for the Oscars, it is crucial to get as much pre-oscar buzz as possible. I felt that the Golden Globes nominee results is a terrible blow to the HHTYD OST's chances. Damn it! Doubtlessly, many netizens agree with me that HHTYD's soundtrack is the best in the year so far! I really felt that the awards groups are DEAF and BLIND.

Blinded by incumbent composers, and deaf to new talents.

So the nominees are....

Rahman (127), Desplat (the King's Speech), Zimmer (Inception), Elfman (Alice in Wonderland), two composers for The Social Network.

HONESTLY, THE SOCIAL NETWORK AND ALICE IN WONDERLAND?! I have read reviews of Alice in Wonderland, and i assure you that talk about the soundtrack is practically non-existent. I felt that the only true contender against HHTYD had been Zimmer's Inception score. But The Social Network and Alice in Wonderland!? REALLY!? Did they even hear the stuff?

IMO, the best music is not about how innovative it is. It really is about how it fits with the movie. In this aspect, HHTYD beat them all hands down. The track is like another character to the entire film. HHTYD has got the 4th D from its music that the others in that list lacked.

To be honest, I have no seen 127 nor The King's Speech yet. But I assure you, they will not beat the bar set by HHTYD.

HOLLYWOOD YOU SUCK. PERIOD.

(ALICE IN WONDERLAND?!?)

Rabbit Hole (2010/2011) film

Somebody give Nicole Kidman the Oscar for Best Actress please.

The Rabbit Hole's poster may not look like much. It invites to mind a plot concerning a romantic thriller esp with the sensual middle portion and the tension-filled images towards the periphery. Its one sentence summary on IMDB does not also seem like much either:

Life for a happy couple is turned upside down after their young son dies in an accident. Based on a play by David Lindsay-Abaire.

Really, how is anybody supposed to get excited about this film based on this description and a poster that looks like any other old romantic, sensational thriller? But therein lies the deception.

Surprisingly, this movie is very, very good. Several factors point to its winning formula:

1. Just the right pace: great story and direction

Perhaps it is wrong to credit merely the director and the writers. But these are the most observable elements for the moment. The film is structured like a snippet into a couple's lives 8 months after tragedy struck the family.

It started with a seemingly normal married couple going about their lives in the suburbs. Before long, cracks in their relationship and individual character begin to appear over the course of time as the audience looks into their everyday lives. It was never once specified in a complete sentence what tragedy the couple went through, it was left to the audience to pick up the pieces like a jigsaw puzzle along the film. This is a very clever structure for a film as it invites the audience to question what was presented to them, and continuously hints that things are not as they seem. It also presents an excellent opportunity for the actors to portray multi-faceted characters to great advantage. This leads to the next point...

2. A relatively nondescript but high performance cast.

Other than Nicole Kidman, and perhaps Aaron Eckhart after his turn in The Dark Knight, the rest of the actors in the cast are not famous in any means. However, they put up an amazing performance. Especially commendable are Nicole Kidman's character's sister and mother, played by Tammy Blanchard and Dianne Wiest respectively. This film is a very strong reminder that you do not need high budgets to get in good actors and actresses that can act. In fact, there are so many talented actors out there in Hollywood just waiting for the right opportunity, whereas so many stars and mega-stars havn't got even half the acting chops of these indie-film actors.

3. Nicole Kidman + Aaron Eckhart

Both Nicole Kidman and Aaron Eckhart are terribly good, veteran actors, with enough star power just to take this film mainstream. The two also have amazing chemistry, and during the scenes together, they built a couple whose love is so tangible that the audience could not help but be awed and yet appalled by what they have to suffer. Separate, they are able to demonstrate so well the agony each of them have to endure for their collective loss.

Most notable, however, would be Nicole Kidman's powerful turn as Becca. I can't describe how good she is, or pretend to write as if I am one of those veteran film reviewers. If I say that I saw her portray a character whose tightly controlled exterior masks a deeply affected psyche, I would be lying. The strength of her performance cannot be accurately described in words. For the first time in my film watching life, I have felt an Oscar-worthy performance.

For ages, I have seen crappy Nicole Kidman films like Cold Mountain and Australia. Australia in bold please, as an emphasize on how bad it was. Well, not to mention The Golden Compass and The Stepford Wives. And countless unmemorable others. Just plain... meh.

My impression of her has always been a plastic surgery frankenstein creation who can't act/pick the wrong script/make the worst movie. A bit harsh, but hey, i'm being honest.

How wrong I was after this film. I discovered Nicole Kidman has some serious acting chops. One particularly memorable scene was her second conversation with the teenage boy who accidentally knocked down her character's son in the movie. As the boy was speaking, the pain that she exudes is so, so real. You see her, you feel her, you hear her. There is no makeup, no special effects, no costumes. It is just a woman who lost her son, and gradually trying to come to terms with it.

Perhaps it is not easy to do comedy, but it is much, much harder to portray grief realistically and believably. This is probably, wait, scratch that, definitely why no actor/actress has ever won an Oscar for a comedic role.

I felt this film was in fact, quite similar to Inception. Not so much that the similarity lie with the effects, the story, or the characters wise. In fact, they are wildly different. But that simplistic story lines of both films mask a truly intriguing movie. As one reviewer of Inception wrote, it is not half as much fun in knowing the conclusion, as knowing the process through which one gets to the conclusion. In this case, no words can do the exact impact of the film justice.

I can only say, please watch it. You will not regret catching this phenomenal performance of actors, director and writers.

The Chinese Media Industry & Periodic drama 美人心计 &

Today I have the good fortune to encounter this 'gem' of a Chinese periodic drama 美人心计, loosely translated as "mind games of beauties". To understand the meaning behind this title, I would first have to explain the overall genre of Chinese periodic dramas.

Big budget Chinese periodic dramas are generally produced through collaborations between Taiwanese, HK, and Chinese production companies due to the huge budget involved. The themes of these shows fall into 3 general categories: war films (赤壁 - Red Cliff etc), wuxia (英雄- Hero, 卧虎藏龙- Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon) and palace dramas. Today we are talking about the 3rd category. You see, audiences including myself are very intrigued by the luxurious and elegant backdrop of ancient palaces, contrasted with a bevy of beautiful but psychotic women (concubines/ladies in waiting) vying for power and influence with the king. These women are supremely beautiful, but are also extremely ruthless at removing all obstacles to achieve their goals. So you see, this specific periodic drama is set in the Han dynasty talking about mind games in the back palace.

While this is supposed to be a 40 episode drama serial, I found it absolute torture by the 7th episode, even when I had fast-forwarded through most of episodes 4-7. It was during this show when I realized that Chinese cinema was at such an infantile stage that it has a long way (read: decades) to go before it can catch up with the quality of American cinema. Despite whatever financial capital it may have, it's seriously lacking in cultural capital in terms of producing worthwhile content.

I have to say that Chinese dramas have attained superiority in its set design. Aesthetically they are very pleasing - Costumes, set pieces, props. Amazing stuff. Good periodic Chinese dramas have had the history of having very elaborate sets and costumes that showcases the richness of ancient Chinese culture to great advantage. Additionally, with today's geographically mobile and nationality-diverse actor pool (China, HK, Taiwan, occasionally Korean) for Chinese dramas, there is an abundance of talented actor, it is also true that there are numerous highly talented actors and actresses available.

Unfortunately, producers also have the tendency to cast actors and actresses based on their national popularity in order to ensure audiences from their native markets instead of more practical aspects like their acting ability which could probably add to the watchability of the show. Some of the older, more experienced actors in China can put up fantastic and convincing performances. Unfortunately, it is when they cast idols who can't really act that really ground on my nerves.

A major failing of chinese dramas lies with the lack of a good script. This is a very severe problem afflicting both movies and television dramas. The dialogues and story developments could be so inane that it can be considered an insult on Chinese culture. It is as if the writers were mere secondary school graduates, because the storylines are simplistic, character development that was at best, minimal, at worst, logically incoherent.

This is absolutely one of the worst shows I ever had the misfortune of wasting time on. A nonexistent script, ridiculous plots, inconsistent character developments, a rubbish amalgam of genres - wuxia, drama, politics, war film. Perhaps the most annoying part of the show was the high secondary character turnover. Throughout the entire 40 episodes, there are basically 2 main characters - one guy and one girl. However, most of the time only 1/3 of the time was spent on these two characters. The rest, 2/3 of the time was spent on introducing and killing off/sending away/moving on from characters that last for 2-4 episodes. There is absolutely no way of becoming invested in the drama because most of the people are gone so quickly.

While the 2 main leads do stay on for considerably longer periods of time, their character developments are so inconsistent that it is entirely impossible for the viewer to become emotionally invested in them. It is like Glee style - mercurial changes in characters to suit whatever that takes the scriptwriter/director's fancy.

While this show has been as aesthetically pleasing as any periodic drama ever produced (notice the elaborate set pieces that was used perhaps at most in 1 or 2 scenes in the story), it is almost as if this is a pageant show for beautiful actresses in China due to its high character turnover. Additionally, the script is so badly written that I have a feeling that they spent all the money on visuals and design that they had neglected to allocate some budget to working out a logical script.

Amazingly however, this is a show that had received overwhelming popularity in China, Taiwan and even Korea. It is amazing because so many viewers could so easily be blinded by visual appeals - the beautiful actors/actresses and set pieces, that they ignore the absence of the most basic ingredient of a television drama - a story. Why are there so many ignorant, undiscerning viewers out there? In fact, the continued production of culturally-subpar television programs like these could be blamed on demand produced by these audiences.

Having been immersed in Hollywood media for the past few years, I have no doubt that my palates has been spoiled by the quality of media Hollywood has consistently produced on both the small screen and the silver screen. Media industries around the world seek to emulate the Hollywood success by replicating sure-win formulas like visually appealing actresses and well designed sets, while adding in the occasional spice of sensationalism and violence. The rapidly growing Chinese media industry is of course, no different. Recent media productions have been disappoint attempts of reinterpreting traditional Chinese media with Western influences. Having had witnessed superior showings by Chinese television and HK films in the past, I do sincerely wish for the new geo-cultural 'Chinese' media industry to progress and succeed by finding its own cultural voice and style of media again.

Glee Season 2 Episode 9: Special Education

By now, it is probably the general consensus that any goodwill that the public has developed towards the Will Schuester character last season has been negated by his scheming, treacherous girlfriend-stealing antics this season (Schuester, Emma's ATTACHED. You had your chance. GET OVER IT). So when this episode started with a scene of Will Schuester asking Emma to his show choir performance, I had a bad feeling that something akin to the whole Rocky Horror (literary HORRIFYING) Will-Emma number would happen again.

It definitely improved from that point onwards. Thank GOODNESS

The first half of the episode was devoted to developing various dramas going on with the main characters. Kurt is trying to fit into the Warblers which have a distinctively different modus operandi compared to New Directions.

Since Season 1, I have watched those who can sing fighting for solos and a chance for their individual talents to shine in the club. And given how talented each and everyone of them are, I had always thought such was the norm considering my lack of experience in an actual singing club. But this episode use the Warblers as a fantastic showcase of a successful club that relies on teamwork and cooperation among its members, where there was cohesive democratic leadership. A very good example of this is when The Warbler's signature numbers are acapella versions of popular songs.

On the other hand, you see a very strong contrast with all the in-fighting and bitchiness going on with the over-abundance of female talents in the New Directions. Don't get me wrong, the males are uber talented too, but you don't see them going after each other's throats to get a solo for any number. If so much conflict happens in a club in real life, you can kiss all competition trophies goodbye.

Alas, this being TV, that of course, does not happen. Whilst they may be fighting in the green room all the way up to the MC calling them up for their performance, they still managed to do put up a perfect performance in front of everybody as if everybody has been able to perfectly compartmentalize their personal and work (school) lives. Although Rachel is utterly BITCHY, she did her job staying in the background and letting Santana, Ken and Barbie (read: Sam and Quinn, heh) take the limelight. I liked the Santana performance; while her vocals are basically plain water compared to Lea Michele's, the entire thing actually sounds pretty amazing because of the fantastic background harmonization put up by the Glee club, the energetic choreographer didn't hurt either (I finally got to see Mike Chang and Brittany, the two best dancers on the show, dance together). However, Ken and Barbie just didn't cut it. Their duet is like bland-and-blander if you have heard Rachel and Finn do the hauntingly beautiful Faithfully during last year's season finale.

Another plus for the episode was the interaction between Kurt and Rachel. These two have been absolutely cute together when they did sing the rare duet. Their voices were a perfect blend during the Happy Days are Here Again mashup during the duets episode. Unfortunately their voices wasn't all that great when the director cut from Kurt to Rachel's Don't Cry for Me Argentina back and forth in between verses. They are pretty great when they are harmonised, but interposing Kurt's vocals to Rachel's perfect pitch just highlights the Chris Colfer's vocal's imperfections and lack of experience.

While they may have been singing together sometimes, they are genuinely antagonistic towards each other because of similar diva attitudes they share. Today, it was positively fun to watch the two of them interact as normal supportive friends because Kurt has been transferred to another school and no longer indirect competition with Rachel within Glee club (Note Rachel's bitchiness. Sigh. None of the characters is perfect in this show) Kurt and Rachel behaves like former high school mates reminiscing those good old days in this episode. One of the best scenes in the whole season made the perfect showcase of the acting talents of both Chris Colfer and Lea Michele. The fact that true friend-to-friend interactions in this show is so rare makes this all the more precious.

The second half of the episode was focused on the sectional performances, with the Warblers (Dalton Academy) putting up another amazing performance acapella style of another pop song, Hey Soul Sister. I fully expect this to be another bestseller on the Billboard charts, primarily because it has a very refreshing style from usual Glee numbers. Plus it's got BLAINE. Oh my God, this is the one episode in which I realised just HOW CUTE Blaine is. His looks are so damn intense. Those dark brows and combed hair, and those intense hazel eyes. Okay there's the picture i put right at the start of the episode.

Okay i confess, I have a crush on this character because of shots like this throughout the episode. The half smile, the absolute focus he pays to whoever is speaking, the lady-killer look. I am totally getting the Blaine-craze US has right now. I just don't see this guy moving over to McKinley High, so that means the Warblers is gonna stay. At this point I just wanna say its absolutely unfair that Jesse (Jonathan Groff) didn't get the regular-status considering the amount of chemistry he has got with Rachel (Lea Michele). Does that mean we are going to have a 3 way fight McKinley - Vocal Adrenaline - Warblers? That will be something to watch indeed ha!

BTW Rachel broke up with Finn. An issue that I would say is 80% Rachel's fault. But whose fault aside, I say this event definitely allows more room for writer creativity allowing Rachel to pair up with Puck/Jesse. Sticking by one guy for 9 episodes was pretty much a record for dear Rachel Berry already. We can't have her doing a happily-ever-after sam-quinn style already during the 2nd season, can we?

Glee Season 2 Episode 8: Furt

In this episode, Kurt and Finn's parents got married, creating a new brotherly pair - Furt. It was a pretty great episode. I just wanted to highlight a particular performance by Mr Schuester.



It was Will Schuester (Matthew Morrison) covering Michael Buble's Sway. He definitely added his own sexiness to the tune. An utterly AMAZING performance. Smooth, utterly perfect vocals. This performance reminded me just why i loved Matthew Morrison last season. The first 4 episodes of Season 1 are an absolute must for Matthew Morrison fans.

As my dear friend says, he has got to be the best singer among the Glee cast. It's a real pity that he gets underused (read: abused) this season so much. All we ever got to see him much anymore was making out with his exwife, chasing up attached-Emma, dancing inappropriately with his glee kids, and being the autocratic, authoritarian Glee club teacher that you would never think he would ever become considering the ideals he held back in Season 1. That's probably why I liked the episode where Gwyneth Paltrow replaced him for one episode so much. The changes that could come over one in the course of one year under the direction of Glee's imaginative writers is pretty amazing.