We Moved!

Hey wonderful blogger people.  Just wanted to let you know that the Banned Library has up and moved to a new exciting platform.  Not to say blogger is bad, heck no!  But this new one is just awesome!

This blog will no longer be up dated as we are busy churning out library stuff over at the new Banned Library website!  So come on over to bannedlibrary.com and play with us!

Oh, and there might be a slight certificate issue, so if it's all "this page is bad" we are not, we swear.  Well, we are bad in some peoples eyes because we swear, but we swear we try not to do bad by you.  Except when we swear.  I dunno.

Movie Review: Lord of the Rings Trilogy

Lord of the Rings Trilogy
Directed by Peter Jackson
Starring Just About Everybody

I have no idea how many people that read this also follow me on Twitter (@bannedlibrary, catch banned fever.) If you do, you may be aware that on the 27th Day of January, year of Superman 2013 I did a day-long live tweet commentary of all three Lord of the Rings films, the extended editions.  Starting at approximately 8:00 AM and ending nearly 15hours later (I took a break for lunch and paused while doing chores and such), I finally went to bed around midnight.  If you want to find that chain of what I think are honest insights and humorous asides, I suggest you check that out for supplemental material.  Also, it may have my favorite thing I have ever tweeted (toot a horn here), when I said “Frodo: "I wish I hadn't found the Bling." Hobo Magneto: "Tough shit. Keep on truckin." #LOTR #FOTR”

Summary

For those of you who do not really “get” pop culture: A little dude has to take a bit of bling and chunk it into some lava.  He starts off with a bunch of people, but they become assholes and go start a war.  Everything ends up pretty okay after that.

What I liked

• The production

Look here.  This is a gorgeous set of movies that a lot of people took a lot of time to make sure looked freaking amazing.  The mix of practical and CGI is nearly perfect as giant monsters battle wizards and eagles swoop in and things go boom and stomp and crash.  The battle scenes alone are simply awesome in their scope.

• The acting

Three get full mention.  Frodo, Sam, and Gollum carry not only a ring but about half of this movie.  While they do have moments that stretch on forever, when their part of the story gets a boost and something happens besides walking, it is awesome.  Especially when Sam cries or Gollum talks to himself.
The two other hobbits.  The first two movies they are basic comic relief but show true growth and gravitas.  The actors are obviously good at what they do, but I feel this is more the writers and editors finding those moments of truth that made me ultimately root for them over everyone else.

• The moments of brilliance.

Can I stress that I watched these movies (about 11 hours worth) in one day?  I don’t have that kind of time to waste.  I have to write reviews and stuff and do library doings.  So why did I do it?  The moments.  Gandalf Vs the Balrog.  Sam Vs Shelob.  Smeagol Vs Gollum.  I am not sure how many of you have read the books, but they can be dry with moments of divine awesomeness.  The big battles and victories and defeats are what make this story.  As are the quiet moments when characters talk about giving up, losing hope, and letting things destroy them.  Sam crying.  Frodo and Gandalf talking.  Aragon not wanting his fate.  These could be the best movies in the world with the best actors, but the source material was mined for gold and gave a near perfect representation.  

What I didn’t like

• Long

I’m not gonna lie; there’s not much I do not like about this series.  But one thing I can say is that this sumbitch is llllooooonnnngggg.  It meanders at times as characters walk around and give lovely speeches that are either contradicted, dismissed or just given a big ole ‘whatever’ to as they go along.  And then the 15 or so endings that wrap up all the stories.  I can not say what I would have done different because, well, this is not my story, but I do know that if one more person had sang we could have had another soundtrack from the last thirty minutes alone.

Who would like this

Nerds.  Fantasy fans.  Film fans.  Fans of long, long epic stories.  People who like horses.  Jewelry nuts.  Numenoreans.

Why was it banned?

The reasons for banning the books are outlined here.  Mostly for violence, magic, witchcraft, death, smoking, you know.  All the cool stuff that Christians do not like.

Join me on Goodreads

Book Review: Storm Front by Jim Butcher

I laid out pretty clearly in my Cold Days review that the Dresden Files will always have a place in my heart. That’s why I am going back and reading the previous thirteen books in the series and giving them all a second look. Some may say I am too kind to this series and, well, that may be true. Just a heads up.

Also, this series has been out going on nearly fifteen years, so from here on out I am putting a blanket spoilers tag on everything Dresden Files. I will attempt to rein myself in from time to time, but in general I am going to assume you have at least a passing knowledge of this series if you are reading this. You have been warned.

Summary

Professional wizard private eye Harry Dresden investigates the murder of two people killed by black magic that rips hearts from chests as well as keeping ahead of mobsters and other magic users that want him dead. The reader is introduced to magic and Harry Dresden as a character. Other main players in Harry’s life are also introduced, including:

• Karrin Murphy (police woman and Harry’s main employment as consultant)
• Susan Rodriguez (reporter and Harry’s love interest) 
• Johnny Marcone and enforcers (head of Chicago crime, all of it) 
• Morgan (Harry’s warden charged with killing Harry if it is deemed Harry is using black magic) 
• Bob the Skull (A spirit under Harry’s command and knowledge depositary)
• Bianca (Head of the local Red Court Vampire clan)
• Toot-Too (A fairy that “helps” Harry)
• Mister (Harry’s large cat)

What I liked 

Noirish

As an urban fantasy novel, this book is heavy on the urban and relatively light on the fantasy. Few out of left field magical rules are displayed beyond what is needed to get the story told. The foremost aspect of this book is the detective nature of the main character. Like an old school noir protagonist, he is beaten and bruised by the end but still gets his man.

Magic rules

The magic on display is less about mystery and more about moving forces. Sure, the inherent quality of “magic” in and of itself is mysterious, but the world of this novel is set with hard line physics. Fire burns and keeps burning, magically created or no, until something stops it.

The world

An extension of the noir-ishness and the magic rules, the world of this novel is populated with interesting and complex characters with a backdrop of real life. Everyone has an agenda in this book, whether that is to amass power, find justice, or simply stay alive. Even the supernatural creatures, as alien as they can be, are fleshed out and made real through well placed dialog and actions. Combining all that is a snarky sense of humor and clever nods that runs through the book, as if Mr. Butcher is tempting you to enjoy your time reading no matter what.

What I didn’t like

The Villain

The villain in this book is given almost no page time, beyond a slight confrontation near the middle and the climax. The reader is given many clues as to how bad the person can be, but the result is underwhelming. This could be that the point of the story is Harry Dresden’s fight rather than the villain, but when the climax finally comes the bad guy is just another obstacle rather than an opponent.

The narrative

My main complaint about this book is how it drifts from scene to loosely connected scene. This is an opening book to a much larger planned series and it shows. From the character list above, one can see how many players are introduced that are important yet get small and inconsequential scenes. This causes the book to lose a decent flow at the expense of fleshing out an already rich world. While understandable within the context of a series, the introduction of a character that does not pay off in this book is jarring. An example of this is the vampire Bianca, whom Harry visits for information. While she becomes important later and the scene sets up an animosity between Harry and the vampires, she never appears again in this book. This could cause a first time reader to think the scene was clumsily added for shock, exposition and to boost page count by a first time writer rather than the needed exposition that it is. The book could have benefited from a tighter narrative that held to its own plot rather than including scenes that only play into the larger series plot.

Who would like this

Is there a genre called “hard” urban fantasy? Urban fantasy that sets up rules to its magic and keeps them tightly reined in? Readers of that type of fiction would enjoy this book. Other types of “high fantasy” fans might enjoy the series, but I feel they would not enjoy the crime and noir feeling the book trades for mysticism and grand hero places. When recommending this book, I tend to use the phrase “Harry Potter by way of Die Hard.” Sure, there is magic and a magical world filled with creatures, but the good guy is a rough and tumble sort with a bunch of problems and a quick wit that barely escapes with his life.

Why was it banned?

As far as I could find, it has not been. However, it is an adult book that features drugs, violence, magic, demons, sex, and gratuitous pizza eating.

Join me on Goodreads

Django Unchained Review

Django Unchained

Written and Directed by Quentin Tarantino
Starring Jamie Foxx, Leonardo Dicaprio and Christoph Waltz

Special Message 

I am going to try not to spoil this movie because I think everyone should see it at least once. However, as I will mention below, this movie contains some extremely offensive subject matter, the least of which is the violence.

Summary

Django is a slave in the pre-Civil War South freed by bounty hunter Dr. King Schultz. The two of them then begin a campaign to free Django’s wife from the slaver Calvin Candie.

What I liked

Tarantino style

If you are like me and enjoy the irreverent take Quentin Tarantino brings to just about every subject matter he handles, then you will enjoy this movie. At its essence, this movie is spaghetti western heist flick where the robbers are cornered from the very start. Instead of an intricate plan to free themselves, out come the guns and everybody suffers. Add into that all the best actors fitting together in the best parts and this movie shines.

It’s funny

All of Tarantino’s movies contain at least a moment of quirky humor or dialog brought on by the ridiculousness of the situation. This movie goes for some of the most direct and pure humor I have seen that I think this is almost an homage to Blazing Saddles as much as it is Sergio Leone. The bag-eye hole scene alone will be remembered in comedy for years to come.

Straight forward.

Look, there’s an elephant in the room and I am going to name him. Racism in the south. Yeah, it exists as it does everywhere, but none more so in the time when we bought and sold people. There’s a word thrown around in this movie that is still thrown around in unpolite society to this day. And this movie is filled to the brim with it. It does not shy away. There is not PC guard on this movie at all. As Blazing Saddles did before it, I just holds up a mirror to the society that was and goes, “Yeah. This happened and it was like this. Fucked up, huh?” And it was and it is. Hell, the real life implications are told so well they almost come off as comical, making this come as close to a work of art as comedy can get.

What I didn’t like

Three. Damn. Hours.

Let’s get this out there: I cannot tell if directors are hearing the complaints of rising ticket prices and want to give people a bang for their buck or what, but I would love to see a movie that tells a gripping story in 90 minutes. Just once. Now that I have said that, this movie does clip along and you only really feel the runntime in the last hour or thirty minutes or so. I am not one to say, “Hey, save that scene for the sequel,” but much like the bloated novels that have come from authors, there’s a couple editors out there that should be given a little more power over their genius creators.

Who would like this

Tarantino fans. Film scholars looking to pad a class or two referencing modern movies taking on old spaghetti westerns. College students finding meaning in blades of grass or whatever. I dunno who this was made for outside of Tarantino himself, but I had fun.

Why was it banned?

There’s been some controversy in reviews over this movie about it’s blatant racist tone, but it has not been outright banned anywhere that I know of. I would not take the bet that there is a theater somewhere that refused to carry it, but none have done so to spark anything that I can find.

Callin: Walden, pp1-12

A little background before we begin.  Today, December 12, 2012, my cell phone died.  My contract is not up so I can not afford to replace the phone until the contract ends on February 13, 2013.  So, for these two months, I am without a device that I have spent the better part of a decade attached to.  For the 53 days I am without cellphone, I am reading 10 pages or so of Henry David Thoreau’s Walden and learning to live a little more simply.

So, what happened?

We began Thoreau’s journey in the woods.  He explains the nature of the text, then the experiment and then of men as a whole.  Highlights include how he can only tell his own story in first person because that’s how he told it to himself:

“In most books, the I, or first person, is omitted; in this it will be retained; that, in respect to egotism, is the main difference. We commonly do not remember that it is, after all, always the first person that is speaking. I should not talk so much about myself if there were anybody else whom I knew as well.”

how much schoolin he’s had:

“They have no friend Iolas to burn with a hot iron the root of the hydra's head, but as soon as one head is crushed, two spring up.”

what he thinks about people:

“The mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation.”

and that old people suck:

“Practically, the old have no very important advice to give the young, their own experience has been so partial, and their lives have been such miserable failures, for private reasons, as they must believe; and it may be that they have some faith left which belies that experience, and they are only less young than they were. I have lived some thirty years on this planet, and I have yet to hear the first syllable of valuable or even earnest advice from my seniors. They have told me nothing, and probably cannot tell me anything, to the purpose. Here is life, an experiment to a great extent untried by me; but it does not avail me that they have tried it. If I have any experience which I think valuable, I am sure to reflect that this my Mentors said nothing about.”

What do I think?

This is honestly the ballsiest way to begin a book I think I have ever re-read.  A treaty to “look at how smart I am and here’s why you all suck.  Yes, even you, the asshole taking a minute out of his miserable day to read how much you suck.  Get a job you love, hippie.”

Thoreau throws down the gauntlet to prove how smart he is by quoting scholars, poems, Greek myths, and even latin.  I understand it was common in the day for a man of wealth to be educated like that and to be expected to show that knowledge as a societal placement, but as he continues... There is just no subtlety in the craft of writing here.  Yeah, he turns out some awesome phrases and shows some insight into the human condition, but the fucking arrogance of it as he moves into his treaty about how most people just plain out suck at being.  Just that.  “Being, full stop.  You suck at it.”  

His point here is that men, the great mass of humanity, go through life with blinders on, stumbling through life as reactionist jerks rather than proud men striving for more.  They get into or are given debt, work themselves to buy more debt, and then die.  And he has a point, except for the unseen hand pointing at his own chest saying, “I see it differently.”  If you watch much stand up comedy, this is the basis for a lot of acts, but they hide it behind a layer of humor.  Thoreau just says it and moves on with little deference to the audience.

Thoreau reminds me of one of those dating tip guys.  “Okay, first you gotta make them feel bad about themselves because humanity ain’t that smart then you compliment them and you have them in bed in no time.”

Then he moves on to how nobody can teach him anything (after displaying all that education) because he is his own vessel for learning.  He talks about past generations of people and growing their knowledge.  And do not take the assumption that he is implying “standing on the shoulders of giants,” building on the knowledge of the old.  Nope.  He basically calls out every generation before him and tells them they did not know shit and the new people, himself mostly, are breaking new ground in the areas of knowing shit.  Then he illustrates that by talking about a farmer with vegetable bones.

For the first twelve pages of Walden, we see the birth of stand-up comedy without the jokes.  That is the best way I can put it.  I can guarantee you that somebody at some point after reading this tried to make a speech and impart these ideals and got booed something fierce.  Then his buddy said to the future comedian, “You know, they might like you if you told some jokes.”

Thoreau in these first pages stands tall, tells the truth as he sees it, and uses some analogies to make his point.  His point?  Most people suck, have always sucked, and the best hope they can have is to suck less.   

And you know what?  He kinda has a point.

Book Review: Cold Days by Jim Butcher

Cold Days, Book 14 of the Dresden Files by Jim Butcher

Why this series means so much to me, AKA Why I will always be slanted to liking it.


2008ish was dark times for me.  Without going into details, I had some personal issues that now seem kinda laughable and easily fixed, yet at the time were painful as hell.  Some aspects I guess still are, but hey, what's drama without a little lasting pain, right?   

As I always have at times of stress, I withdrew into worlds of fiction.  Call it a coping mechanism, a distraction, whatever, I have always found solace in make believe.  At other times, I have found authors like Stephen King, J K Rowling, Rick Riordan, Mark Twain, Neil Gaiman and William Blake to talk me through my pain.  In 2008, I found Jim Butcher.

He had been around way before then.  He was already nine books into the Dresden Files (or so, right around the time of White Night) and halfway done with the Codex Alera series.  Never being a huge fan of high fantasy, I dove into the Dresden Files rather than Alera, but eventually read them all within a single month.  

Why am I telling you this?  To give a little context to my review and my devotion to this series.  Is the Dresden Files perfect?  Sometimes.  Do I have problems with it?  Sometimes.  Will I have every book that Jim Butcher puts to paper waiting in my pre-order box until either he or I dies?  Yes.  In every way, yes.  Mr. Butcher helped me get through a dark time and for that I will always be grateful and very fanboyish.  

After stating the above, I hope that you see that what I am about to say is a less than objective opinion, but it is as close as I can come.  Reading what Mr. Butcher has written always fills me with joy, even when the English major in me is catching every little bit of purple prose and "said bookism" (he said, fanboyishly).  

Also, this is the thank you I wish I had told to Mr. Butcher when I met him at DragonCon a few years back.  He is a very nice and talented man, adept at dealing with fanboys like myself in a gracious manner.  At least I did not make a fool out of myself like I did with Eric Powell.

***Warning! spoilers ahead, for this book and the series as a whole.  It's the 14th book in the series, folks, there's just things I am going to need to talk about.***

Summary

Harry Dresden, professional wizard, is back (from the dead) in this 14th installment of the Dresden Files.  As the Winter Knight, Harry is tasked to do the bidding of fairy queen Mab.  Her first order: assassinate an immortal.

What I liked

All things Dresden

If you are a fan of the Dresden Files, you know what I mean by that.  The pop culture references, the pithy dialog, the hell yeah fist pumping moments, the clever turns of tropes, the clear descriptions and noir feel that make up the Dresden Files.  Wrap that up in a supernatural taco topped with familiar creatures behaving in wild and unpredictable ways and you have a fun read.

Character interaction

Some major stuff has happened in the last two books of the series, and this is partially our pay off.  With Harry dying at the end of Changes, every reader wondered how this would affect everyone in Dresden’s life.  We got to see the spiritual side of that in Ghost Story, but here we see the physical reactions as Harry walks up to people and says “hi.”  Most act in heartwarming and entertaining ways, from Mouse’s tackle and slobber to random paramedics “Huh, though I heard you died.”  Plus, we finally get at least a moment of Karrin and Harry being happy with one another, if only for a moment.

Pacing

This book moves like a frieght train, each word connecting to each other forming a chain that just. Does. Not. Stop.  Then it does because otherwise it would require a kid named Bastion and a little girl named “Moon Child” to round out the cast.  Harry bounces around from one person to the next, taking his moments before being attacked by new and exciting monsters that pose more of a threat than ever before.

I still care

Long running things suffer.  That’s par for the course in any medium.  Television shows do the “it was all a dream” episode, video games become rehashes or failures of the same old formula, and George Lucas decides to have a comeback tour in cinema.  Mr. Butcher somehow still makes his characters and situations interesting and his plots engaging, though.  I still want to see how these characters go about their lives, and Mr. Butcher seems to, too.  That’s saying something.

What I didn't like

Mired in backstory

If you have never read a Dresden Files novel, then I have two things to say to you: 1) why are you reading this review? and 2) Why would you ever think about reading this book first?  I can not answer the first question, but the second answer is “because you do not know any better.”  The reason you do not know any better?  Because the book makes every effort to tell you that.  After we get through Harry’s recovery, nearly every chapter has an introduction to someone we have seen before and an explanation or mention of a past event from the previous 13 novels.  As much as I praise Mr. Butcher for staying consistent, this also leads to a heavy case of continuity lock-out of new readers.  A new reader would both have tons of information spoiled for them that could have been written more vague and at the same time lose the emotional weight that goes along with gaining that information the long way.  I get that this series is heavy in continuity, but that’s why we have the internet now.  Author’s do not have to do all the heavy lifting, they just have to make it engaging.  In the next book, I suggest a fuckton of footnotes or employing the services of a Marvel comics editor to interject with “Check out Novel X for that story, true believers” instead of telling us the story.

Dull tropes

This almost feels nit picky, so I am not going to go very far with it, but... Does every woman that tries to have sex with Harry early on in a book turn evil or at least morally gray?  Does he have to believe them every time?  Did we need the damsel in distress quips (poor Andi)?  There are somethings that need to be left behind with the private investigator title, Mr. Butcher.

Overtly sexual and adult

This series has never shied away from strong language or sexual behavior.  There have been “f-bombs” and naked people writhing in every way possible, but they never felt... This book almost made me blush, and I am a single man with a high speed internet connection, loose morals and a lot of time on my hands.  The indulgence may have been the intention, to show Harry’s new place in the world, but if it was at times it went a little overboard.  The same with use of the word “fuck.”  I do not have a problem with it, but in earlier books it was a true “f-bomb,” meant to prove that someone was really serious about their feelings on a situation.  Now it seems casually thrown around, either because everyone is really serious all the time which lessens the impact, or because Mr. Butcher said, “to hell with it, grown people cuss.”  I’m fine with either, but it seems rather ambiguous given the language in the previous books.

Who would like this?

Urban fantasy readers.  Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman readers.  If you read through the last 13, then this is on your reading list.  If you have not, go back to Storm Front, get through that (It is not bad by any stretch, but the series does not get really fun until the prisoner says “Daaaaammmn” in Fool Moon), then make your way through the series.  My advice?  Do the world a favor, find that sixteen year old that sneers at everything but secretly reads Harry Potter and slip it in his or her backpack.  

Was it banned?

I could not find a case where this series has been banned, but the use of magic, challenges and direct references to religious views, and adult nature of these books make them a shoein to be a teenager’s favorite and a stick-up-their-ass principal’s nightmare.

Join me on Goodreads

Movie Review: Cabin in the Woods

Four friends go to a cabin in the woods for the weekend but things go horribly wrong due to the machinations of a higher power.

What I liked:

The concept of the story is great

This movie has a background concept where it deconstructs the horror genre without parodying it. Smartly written and directed, the movie has many things audiences have seen before portrayed in a whole new light.

Buckets of blood and surprises.

Make no mistake, even as a deconstruction, this is a horror movie and not for the feint of heart. Where Scream was also a horror deconstruction but rather tame, this goes all out and paints the walls red.

What I disliked:

"Twist" is told too early

I would have enjoyed a hold out of what is happening behind the scenes to the characters, but I can see how that would have annoyed audiences. A little more mystery would have gone a long way.

Some turns in character are too easily done.

As with the twist, this movie assumes a lot from the audience's suspension of disbelief. The filmmakers had me pretty early agreeing to go along with whatever they decided to do, but too easily could someone sit back and poke holes in various elements.

Hard to describe to others

Is it horror? Yeah, but not really. Like Scream? No, but kinda. Is it funny? Yeah, but really dark. Would I like it? I have no idea, but you should see it.

Who would like it:

Horror movie fans that like a meta concept.