iZOMBIE - Rob Thomas

Rob Thomas' fingerprint is all over iZOMBIE: a dark and witty sense of humour, young characters, the CW, the quirky detective who works outside of the law, the nostalgia for an ex-lover, the bad boy, the comic relief best friend, and the slightly-crooked accomplice. All of these characters are present in Veronica Mars, and their reflections echo in iZOMBIE. This isn't a bad thing, per se. Rob Thomas' voice is a lovely one, reminiscent of  a more diverse Joss Whedon (this comparison is furthered by the supernatural elements in iZOMBIE).

But at the same time, this authorial voice steamrolled the creative and compelling mythology of the original iZombie comic. While I'm glad to welcome Rob Thomas back to our television screens, it's a shame that Gwen Dylan, Ellie Stuart and Scott (or even that weird President gang) will never see the light of day. Though the comic was rushed, improperly paced, it was some kind of beautiful in its "throw everything to the wall" approach and I think Thomas could have done it some kind of justice.

Still, I didn't mean to be so down on iZOMBIE. If it wasn't for its alleged similarity to iZombie, I'd probably be in love with it; everything about it I should love. The tightly-structured murder mysteries, an overarching arc with brain-of-the-weeks, the wit. I just can't get past the what-could-have-been for long periods.

I still love it though.

Rating: five stars out of six (extremely good--one star off, just for bulldozing the source material)

Tromeo and Juliet - Lloyd Kaufman

There's a scene early on in Tromeo & Juliet while Juliet dreams. For a few, fleeting seconds, it seems as if it could come out of a Swedish sauna porno. But this is a Troma production, and sex is never without meaning; in this case, Juliet's fear of heterosexual intercourse is the meaning. Juliet reaches to an anonymous man's penis, and pulls it out. Not content to be a regular penis, it must be about a foot--and worse, it has a mouth. This was the moment I knew I loved Tromeo & Juliet. (The moment I knew I liked it was earlier--at the reimagining of the "'Do you bite your thumb at me?' 'I bite my thumb, sir!'" scene. You know the one.)

Guts - Chuck Palahniuk

Awful. Just really awful.

Seconds - Bryan Lee O'Malley

Seconds is a delicious treat that left me wanting seconds. If Bryan Lee O'Malley continues in this direction, he has a dedicated fan in me. The book's vivid depictions of food left me ravenous, and what's more, the restaurants were a perfect metaphor for the unrest in Katie's life.

Some TV Show Recommendations

Though The Last Man On Earth only aired last night, it was a revelation. It came bursting through the television screen full of promise. Kristen Schaal has always been one of my favourite comic actors (her stand-up is grotesquely sweet), and it's great to see her in a regular live-action role again. More than this, Last Man came with its own sense of humour unlike anything else on right now. Here are some other shows with their own humour:

The Tale of the Princess Kaguya - Isao Takahata

The whole film is in this style, as an example. I think this is just a screengrab they decided would make a good poster. They were right.

From the moment it bursts onto screen, Princess Kaguya has a fairy tale sensibility. The visuals look like they jumped straight out of a story book, and the narration only compounds this. And despite it being visible to these Western eyes, it still felt very Japanese. The art is similar to that of the classic Japanese paintings (does anyone know what that's called?), and it was based on the first written Japanese story (extant, anyway).

Boyhood - Richard Linklater

According to Salon, Boyhood "isn’t quite like anything else in the history of cinema". I disagree. Like, a lot. There was one part of Boyhood that I felt I hadn't seen before (sure, a lot of it in Skins&nbspand teen movies, but what makes them any lesser than Boyhood?), and I'll get onto that in a while.

Oscars Challenge 2K15

I'm trying to watch every Best Picture nominee (and a few others) this year before the Oscars happen on... the 22nd of February. Wish me luck!

Pale Fire - Vladimir Nakobov

Before I start, I'm going to admit it: reviewing Pale Fire makes me feel like a fool. What do my prettied words mean when the whole book was against prettied words?

Rating: six stars

We Are the Best! - Lukas Moodysson

We Are the Best! is very much like finding a new type of comfort food. It's nothing that challenges you (too much), but you instantly love it. It doesn't aim to start a revolution, but it does aim to be satisfying.

God Help the Girl - Stuart Murdoch

God Help the Girl aims to be a complex reflection on the creation of music, mental illness and eating disorders. For the most part, I felt it succeeded. It's a twee little thing, but it works well (I do seem to have a fondness for twee, so take your tolerance for it into account).

The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian - Sherman Alexie

The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian is ostensibly a book about one kid, born on the reservation, but now leaving it to go to a better school. However, it is also about how Indians fit into the wider world (in his school, "the only other Indian is the school mascot"), and life on the rez (alcoholism, casinos, education, pretty much anything). This was the first book I read where one story is in the middle of another, larger story, and it's probably the one that's done it best so far.

The Perks of Being a Wallflower - Stephen Chbosky

The Perks of Being a Wallflower is about Charlie, a boy who would rather fit in than stand out, and his friends. Well, it's not really fitting in either. Maybe blending in would be a better phrase. Charlie's friends range from Patrick (a flamboyantly gay guy with a closeted boyfriend) to Mary Elizabeth (a hipster who runs a Rocky Horror Picture Show 'zine).

God Save The Queen - Mike Carey & John Bolton

God Saves The Queen is a high concept story about fairy heroin, a mythic revolution and the 70s punk scene (well, it's supposed to be about the modern punk scene-but really, the author didn't have time for any research). Unfortunately, its concept falls flat on its face. This is partly due to Carey's writing, and partly due to Bolton's illustrations.

The Animals of Farthing Wood - Colin Dann

[This review is part of my 30 Day Book Challenge - a book that reminds me of someone]

The Animals of Farthing Wood is an epic. An honest-to-god lengthy-narrative epic poem, except without the poetry part. Which maybe defeats the entire purpose of calling it an epic poem. In any case, it feels like an epic. It's to do with a bunch of animals, foxes and badgers and mice, having to relocate from one park to another. That makes it sounds really simple, which it isn't. It's an epic.

Lyra's Oxford - Phillip Pullman

[This book is part of my 30 Day Book Challenge - a book that reminds you of somewhere]

I don't remember much of Lyra's Oxford no matter the different techniques I try (so far I've tried prenatal and tantric yoga, fasting and Ouija). I can't imagine I had a particularly high opinion of it, unless it laid off the religious stuff (I felt that it deteriorated in quality as it went along-much the same way I felt with The Chronicles of Narnia, though with Chronicles it was just that it became boring-too much seafaring-and with His Dark Materials it was its preachiness).

The Islands of Chaldea - Diana Wynne Jones & Ursula Jones

[This is part of my 30 Day Book Challenge - a book that successfully builds a world]

The Islands of Chaldea is a bittersweet little book-mostly because it is Wynne Jones' last. It was published posthumously, and it wasn't completely when it was found, and thus it had to be completed by her sister, herself a children's author. It takes place in an alternate universe Great Britain, where all the countries are separated by water-but water is not the only thing that separates them. Culture does too-and a magical barrier put up by Logra (England) ten years before. It concerns a quest involving the heir to a powerfully gifted (in magic, of course) family named Aileen, and her companions-Ivar, a prince of Skarr (her Scotland), Aunt Beck, her aunt and a powerfully gifted wise woman, and Ogo, an stranded Logran-to take down Logra's barrier. Well, originally. They also pick up passengers from the three islands they visit in the meantime (Bernica, her representation of Ireland, Gallis, her representation of Wales and Lone, maybe a representation of Orkney and the Isle of Man).

Becoming Bindy Mackenzie - Jaclyn Moriarty

[This book is part of my 30 Day Book Challenge - a book that made you cry]

Becoming Bindy Mackenzie is the first book that made me cry (that I can remember, anyway- perhaps The Cat in the Hat was a real tearjerker when I was young). This was probably for a variety of reasons-most importantly, that it was very early in the morning when I read it. It's not a good book to cry to-it's a funny book with small smears of sadness, about a socially awkward girl who gets put in a class she didn't want to be in.

iZombie - Chris Roberson & Mike Allerd

[This review is part of my 30 Day Challenge - a book that made you laugh out load]

[This is a review of the entire series]

iZombie is a quirky supernatural romp, that had me laughing at several points - especially the introduction of Spot/Scott as a wereterrier. It starts off with the introduction of Gwendylon "Gwen" Dylan (and yes, I'm fairly sure that is meant to be an awful pun-I was hoping that would be brought up at some point, but it was just taken at face value).

Fangirl - Rainbow Rowell

[This review is part of my 30 Day Book Challenge - a comfort read]

While I'm tempted to say Fire & Hemlock as my comfort read just for the laziness, I have to admit a better comfort read is Fangirl. Fangirl is a short and sweet read, and it quickly drags you into its world, where sweetness reigns and struggle is rarely seen.