Entertainment

After spending several months enjoying cozy British mystery fiction - "Father Brown" on Netflix, and the Lord Peter Wimsey and Royal Spyness books, etc etc - I have finally switched genres.

I have two books going: 
  • "The Name of the Wind" by Patrick Rothfuss - epic fantasy, but not in the 'sword & sorcerers' or Lord of the Rings style. The style of writing is more relaxed, and the characters are regular sort of folks (even when they are not regular people, if that makes sense).
  • "The Odyssey" translated by Emily Wilson - the first translation of The Odyssey by a woman; and her approach sounds incredibly interesting. She has evidently worked the translation with the idea that while there are stylistic elements to follow in order to make it Homer's Odyssey (rather than "a modern translation of" or "homage to"), it doesn't need to be done in the traditionally high-style, grandiose 'classical-ese' (I just made that word up, by the way) that most translations have favored. I'm currently reading the author's Introduction, and already love her writing style and her perspective.

On Netflix, I'm almost done with the "Marvel's Defenders" mini-series. So much fun! It has captured my imagination so strongly that I've actually watched it without cross-stitching or playing games on my phone during. ;)

The story is about 4 Marvel-Netflix series characters coming (reluctantly) together to fight bad guys and argue a lot. Luke Cage (bullet-proof and super-strong) is a mature, level-headed individual who just got out of jail; Daredevil (blind ninja, pro-bono lawyer) is angry and depressed; Jessica Jones (super-strong, private detective) is...well, also angry and depressed, but also sarcastic and alcoholic and suffering from PTSD; and the Iron Fist (rich white kid who can channel his chi into his fist) (yeah, it's weird) is an annoying little twit with a really great side-kick. Sigourney Weaver plays the main villain. It's GREAT.

I watched the first season of "Daredevil" a couple of years ago; and part of the first season of "Jessica Jones" when it came out, but either they really were too gritty for me or I just wasn't in the right frame of mind for them at the time, because I never went back.

After this, though, I'm going to go back and watch them, as well as "Luke Cage." Maaaaaaaaybe also "Iron Fist," although based on the character as shown in "Defenders," he really is as self-centered and whiny as the negative reviews of his series said. So far I only like him when he's fighting or unconscious. We'll see.

I also finally watched "Guardians of the Galaxy vol. 2" and loved it. It wasn't as good as the first one - the story was a bit underwhelming, and certain characters were underused. But! It was still adorable, and fun, and looked great, and still had that wonderful dysfunctional family dynamic among the characters that the first one had (plus some, thanks to Nebula!), so it made me happy.

Next month, "Black Panther" hits theaters. CANNOT WAIT. I hope it's as good as it looks.

Comments

Julie said…
I love Father Brown... feel good old fashioned TV
Katie said…
Sometimes the Marvel series make me so confused I can't follow them. We did watch The Punisher on Netflix and loved it. I think I would like to give Daredevil a chance sometime. Thanks for your reviews.