tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1778489216730794604.post8259998549980465396..comments2024-01-27T16:58:23.292-08:00Comments on Daniel Keys Moran: No Country For Old Men, Beowulf, Enchanted, American Gangster, and Isaac Asimov ...Daniel Keys Moranhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12992599044462413412noreply@blogger.comBlogger11125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1778489216730794604.post-43542983750180664672008-02-20T21:16:00.000-08:002008-02-20T21:16:00.000-08:00There seems to be a lot of this sort of storytelli...There seems to be a lot of this sort of storytelling on the big screen these days. We just saw <I>There Will Be Blood</I>, which, if you don't know, has Daniel Day Lewis up for a well-deserved Oscar. He did an amazing job playing a single-minded, nothing gets in my way oil man. But the fates of some of the people who get in his way left me feeling cold, and with no sympathy for him at all.<BR/><BR/>It's art, I guess.J.D. Rayhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07031474024284784846noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1778489216730794604.post-39413865571824315702008-02-20T17:28:00.000-08:002008-02-20T17:28:00.000-08:00Since this is an old post, I don't know if anyone ...Since this is an old post, I don't know if anyone will ever read it, but here goes:<BR/><BR/>DKM, I completely agree with you on <I>Country</I>. I absolutely, resolutely <B>hate</B> storytellers who violently abuse their position in society by telling such destructive stories. <BR/><BR/>In that vein, I recommend you <B>don't</B> watch <I>Cloverfield</I>, a movie that commits the same sins. Despite making choices ranging from mediocre to brilliant, <B>SPOILER ALERT</B> most of the principals die at the end. It's soul-crushing. In fact, <A HREF="http://nielsenhayden.com/makinglight/archives/009872.html#009872" REL="nofollow">Jim McDonald ranted</A> on how that movie <I>should</I> have gone. It's quite amusing.<BR/><BR/>Now, don't get me wrong when I say this next bit. I love most all of your work. I scoured used bookstores to find my copy of <I>Armageddon Blues</I>. I'm overjoyed that you've posted <I>Last Dancer</I> and <I>Long Run</I>. I'm looking forward to <I>AI War</I>.<BR/><BR/>But in your short, <I>Given the Game</I>, you pulled the exact same damn trick. Humanity dies on the whim of something that came out of nowhere. <I>Game</I> gave me nightmares for a week -- as I assume it was meant to -- but it also felt like a horrible betrayal of storytelling. After all, most post-apocalypse stories (like <I>Blues</I>) still have some continuance of life. Hunter-gatherers. New tribes. Magic returns. Something like that. In <I>Game</I>, not only is humanity extinct -- but even the dolphins won't escape; the same damn thing is going to come back and wipe them out too. <BR/><BR/>Because the alien enjoys it? Because it's descended from thousands of carnivorous species? Just for the hell of it? Because the interloper was built to do so, and is incapable of acting otherwise? Who knows? Who cares? In fact, the only way I regained inner peace was to declare the interloper of <I>Given the Game</I> to be my new yardstick of pure evil. Even Milton's Satan was a kinder, gentler soul than this.<BR/><BR/>But the point is that there is absolutely no chance, even given optimum actions, that the protagonist can get out of his situation. Even "winning" produces 'nastiness for the sake of nasty' -- he's sucked aboard the ship that destroyed his world. The early paragraph referring to the suffering of the dolphins might give a tiny piece of ecological solace -- except that their fate will be the same as ours. The entire piece grinds out the message that existence is utterly worthless. <BR/><BR/>And you criticize <I>Country</I>?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1778489216730794604.post-14574432023406911872007-12-07T19:37:00.000-08:002007-12-07T19:37:00.000-08:00Re: No Country For Old MenI felt like it was the n...Re: <I>No Country For Old Men</I><BR/>I felt like it was the narrative of someone who's trying to understand how we've come to this. The narrator is an older man who no longer feels up to dealing with the changes in our society in the last fifty years or so, and mourns what he thinks we had. It's asking us if we really want to continue down this road as as a society.<BR/><BR/>Otherwise I tend to agree, it was beautifully done. I haven't seen his other works, but I did want to wash my brain out afterwards.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1778489216730794604.post-56133460787517939932007-11-26T14:21:00.000-08:002007-11-26T14:21:00.000-08:00Psychohistorical Crisis is a Donald Kingsbury book...Psychohistorical Crisis is a Donald Kingsbury book (if you've never read his other works, it's hard to describe; he writes very, very detailed prose exploring many implications of a central big idea, and it sometimes feels like not much is happening outside the 'idea-space') that to my mind, in many ways, was an ideal Foundation followup. He doesn't have Asimov's voice, but his style is more congruent with Asimov's in that if the central idea interests you, its implications will be explored; there is decided evidence that a mind is at work.<BR/><BR/>The other thing I liked about his book was that it takes psychohistory and explores how it would interact with quantum mechanics, the uncertainty principle and other limits on what's knowable. It treats it seriously and essentially eliminates the pieces of the later Foundation novels that tied it into a big future history (which is just fine with me, since they often felt contrived and forced).<BR/><BR/>In short, I really liked it. (I think Kingsbury's notable other work was Courtship Rite, if that rings any bells.)Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1778489216730794604.post-65863549375707447872007-11-26T11:36:00.000-08:002007-11-26T11:36:00.000-08:00Personally, I think Denzel had a magnificent role ...Personally, I think Denzel had a magnificent role in <I>Crimson Tide</I>. For me, that's his defining role--a magnificent murk of a movie.<BR/><BR/>In some ways I think <I>Crimson Tide</I> is the moral opposite of <I>No Country for Old Men.</I> I think you're right in that <I>NCfOM</I> is an inherently nihilistic movie, in that it proclaims bad things happen to good people, good things happen to bad people, there's no logic to it, no reason, and no point in fighting it.<BR/><BR/>In many ways <I>Crimson Tide</I> is just as nihilistic, except for the fact that both leads (Hackman and Washington) fanatically believe that this does not absolve them of the responsibility to act morally, regardless of the possible horrific consequences of their actions.<BR/><BR/>I don't mind nihilism in cinema. I just object to letting the nihilism win without a fight, as happened in <I>NCfOM</I>.<BR/><BR/>That said, Anton Chigurh is one scary mofo.Robhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00161511448938342839noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1778489216730794604.post-37807221174169074632007-11-26T11:22:00.000-08:002007-11-26T11:22:00.000-08:00Right. Sorry. I wish I could claim it wouldn't ha...Right. Sorry. I wish I could claim it wouldn't happen again... ;^)<BR/><BR/>Your review brings another of Jones' works to mind: Monster's Ball. After seeing that, I thought, "Wow. That was really well done. Now I need to go wash out my brain."J.D. Rayhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07031474024284784846noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1778489216730794604.post-12157234829642974232007-11-26T11:21:00.000-08:002007-11-26T11:21:00.000-08:00It’s fun— it addresses the problem of ...It’s fun— it addresses the problem of what happens when the word about psychohistory gets out and people start competing for it.Max Kaehnhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01385791086460457209noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1778489216730794604.post-37781719700864013392007-11-26T11:16:00.000-08:002007-11-26T11:16:00.000-08:00Should have mentioned Sarandon -- she was perfect....Should have mentioned Sarandon -- she was perfect.<BR/><BR/>It's the coffee, J.D. The movie was flawlessly executed and morally bankrupt, that's all. It was buried in a really long post. :-)<BR/><BR/>Max, I've never heard of that work. Any good?Daniel Keys Moranhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12992599044462413412noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1778489216730794604.post-31636923742084214342007-11-26T11:05:00.000-08:002007-11-26T11:05:00.000-08:00I enjoyed Donald Kingsbury’s Psychohistorica...I enjoyed Donald Kingsbury’s <I>Psychohistorical Crisis</I>, which is set in Asimov’s galaxy after the success of Seldon’s thousand-year plan-- with serial numbers carefully filed off, but it’s clearly a followup to the Foundation books.Max Kaehnhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01385791086460457209noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1778489216730794604.post-87377146580210410252007-11-26T10:38:00.000-08:002007-11-26T10:38:00.000-08:00I'm a little confused, but maybe it's because it's...I'm a little confused, but maybe it's because it's morning and the coffee hasn't kicked in yet...<BR/><BR/>Second paragraph, second sentence:<BR/>[No Country For Old Men] is a brilliantly conceived and executed piece of work. <BR/><BR/>Last paragraph:<BR/>I really can't tell you how thoroughly I despised No Country For Old Men. Maybe I'll go see it again, just so that I can despise it with notes.<BR/><BR/>Anyone have any ideas what our host is about here?J.D. Rayhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07031474024284784846noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1778489216730794604.post-48740295102512433562007-11-26T04:30:00.000-08:002007-11-26T04:30:00.000-08:00Wow, I don't think I've ever read such a long blog...Wow, I don't think I've ever read such a long blog post where I agree with so many of the things said.<BR/><BR/>Re: <I>Enchancted</I>. One thing you forgot to mention: If you, like I, had fallen in love with Susan Sarandon during your first viewing of Rocky Horror Picture Show, this movie does not disappoint.Thomashttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00549409155692573124noreply@blogger.com