I forgot to bring my laptop power chord home tonight, so I'm going to be lazy and skip the travelogue entry.
Let's start with Bond. Moti pointed me to Film Hulk critics four part analysis of the entire franchise (you can click to all four parts from the fourth). It's made me feel a bit time for the time I compliment Yaphet Kotto on his performance in Live and Let Die. I still liked that he had a character willing to take out Bond and shoot him, but really I need to familirize myself with more of the man's work beyond Homicide and Live and Let Die. I still quite loved Casino Royale, but was left with the feel that I'd really drifted away from that sort of thing. After reading through Hulk's discussion of all the films and his argument that the best Bonds are romances, I'm instead left feeling that I might want to watch From Russia with Love and On His Majesty's Secret Service again, though those two will likely suffice. That's a nice place to be.
He also made one interesting argument about overthinking pop culture:
It's not that we can't have adult conversations about our childlike impulses, it's that we can go so far as to dress up our stuffed animals and bring them to a fancy dinner. We can't just want to make our childish things seem adult.
As I mentioned in the last post on the series, I enjoyed both seasons 1 and 2 of Legend of Korra but felt let down by the respective endings. Some of that might just have been expecting too much on my part; it's a kid series and ultimately more nuanced bad guys can get away from problems that a super-powered character like the Avatar can solve. That said, I do think some of the graphic novels have gotten to this a better, although I've disagreed with a friend on that matter.
Anyhow, based on episodes four and five of the present season, Legend of Korra is doing a great job of focusing on the sort of stories it can tell well and that are still ones I'm very interested in. The issues of Mako and Bolin's class background, a critique of the conscription power of the state, and a family dispute between two sympathetic characters all have a lot of potential. Also Varrick, our favorite sketchy magnate is back. I have high hopes for him! The most direct villains are a group of superpowered criminals that appear to be enemies of the whole one powerful spiritual person will be charged with keeping power system. There's a whole lot of potential there without needing a great shades of gray main conflict.
Finally, one bit of possibly spoilery speculation on episode 5. I believe a quote from Honoré de Balzac will prove appropriate: "The secret of great fortunes without apparent cause is a crime forgotten, for it was properly done."
In any event, if you aren't watching, you can wait to see if Nickelodeon posts full episodes, but I continue to feel well rewarded for buying it on Amazon after missing that first air date. That said, if you wish to be patient, it will probably eventually be on the Nickelodeon site and it's probably still safer to buy the physical form of series as digital distribution doesn't seem any cheaper.
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