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The first review: High times at Venice Theatre's Stage II with Reefer Madness by Kay Kipling. Normally, I post reviews without commenting, but honestly I really can't be silent on this one. I don't see how Kipling could have watched our production through to the end and then forgot about David Walker's performance as Ralph. I understand wanting to perhaps avoid "spoilers," since a lot of Ralph's exploits are of the shocking variety and probably best enjoyed without warning. But, seriously, to not even mention his name? Really? I have to call a massive foul on that one. My best guess is that she left at intermission, since Ralph has very little stage time until the madness of the title gets into full swing in Act II. But whether she slipped out at intermission or simply slipped on the sidewalk on her way out, I can't let this one go without claiming a big foul, not on the play, but on the critic. Tags: commentary, theatre
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Sometimes, I really should know better. But, what the hell, I figured "Harry Potter fans will love it," was more marketing than anything else, so I picked up Emily Drake's The Magickers on a lark with a gift card and finally got around to starting it. ( Spoilers and disappointments )Seventy pages in, and I think I have quite used up whatever benefit my doubt had. I'm sure that there are enough differences to avoid copyright infringement outright, but whether they're meant to be winks to HP fans or poorly-masked analogues, either way it's just tired and derivative. Bleh. Tags: books, commentary, fantasy
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I think I'm pretty open about taking changes in stride when it comes to the rebooted Power Pack. I enjoy the new stories for the most part, and I've been having fun with the latest Power Pack: Day One retelling / update of the origin. It seemed concise to have Julie naming the Snarks, for example, and I was even digging on the new, more sarcastic Smartship Friday introduced in the most recent issue. That said, I can't help but be disappointed Fred Van Lente decided that Power Pack's alien mentor Whitey (originally a fan of Earth literature whose intelligent ship, Friday, took its name from Robinson Crusoe) now learns English by watching old movies, and his ship's named after His Girl Friday. I guess it just seems sad to me that even advanced alien races apparently no longer read. For that matter, if we're updating things, is a 1940s movie really any more relevant to a young audience than a classic novel that still shows up on school reading lists? Tags: comics, commentary, power pack
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More crazed musings, but I'm going to try to sneak in some pictures this time, too. While certainly Seymour and Audrey have the appearance of star-crossed lovers, I have my doubts that what Seymour feels is actually love. Don't get me wrong: I don't think he's just lusting after Audrey. Rather, given the loveless environment he was raised in, I'm not sure Seymour knows what love really is. He latches onto the first person who shows him kindness, and invests everything he has in her (let's face it, the name of his new plant is pretty much the sum total of what Seymour owns). I'm not so sure that's love as it is obsession.  And Seymour's relationship with Audrey II would seem to bear that out. The plant seems harmless at first, though it certainly takes a great deal of his energy and attention. But then Seymour discovers that he can't nurture it by treating it well, but rather, he has to hurt himself to make it happy. Certainly it then thrives, but the bigger this symbol of his feelings for Audrey gets, the more it drains him, until it literally grows bigger than Audrey and Seymour themselves, and in the process becomes not just unhealthy, but downright deadly.  Tags: commentary, hype, theatre
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