tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6327348657265652781.post8176276985288191079..comments2023-10-03T11:41:21.191+01:00Comments on The Truth About Lies: The RadleysJim Murdochhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12786388638146471193noreply@blogger.comBlogger10125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6327348657265652781.post-56148790626854567112010-08-08T11:47:23.505+01:002010-08-08T11:47:23.505+01:00I agree, Loren, and that's very much how I fel...I agree, <b>Loren</b>, and that's very much how I felt about <i>Let the Right One In</i>. What I always think when a book or a film like this comes out is, How come no one - and that would include me - ever thought about doing that before - it's so obvious? I remember when P.I.L. released <i>This is Not a Love Song</i> wondering why no one had ever done that before bearing in mind how many love songs there must be out there.<br /><br>Jim Murdochhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12786388638146471193noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6327348657265652781.post-73647227207924552142010-08-08T00:27:48.836+01:002010-08-08T00:27:48.836+01:00Sounds like an interesting installment in the myth...Sounds like an interesting installment in the mythos. My current favorite vampire flick is <i>Let the Right One In</i>. Utterly chilling and still surprisingly sweet.Loren Eatonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12488412683340389286noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6327348657265652781.post-25072213999536570452010-08-05T15:57:55.968+01:002010-08-05T15:57:55.968+01:00I stand - we, sit actually - corrected, Rachel. If...I stand - we, sit actually - corrected, <b>Rachel</b>. If I'd only read the whole article the information is there. There was just <i>so</i> much reference material on this one. <br /><br>Jim Murdochhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12786388638146471193noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6327348657265652781.post-39315431586771119532010-08-05T08:16:33.034+01:002010-08-05T08:16:33.034+01:00It was Poliodori who wrote the first "Vampyre...It was Poliodori who wrote the first "Vampyre" story..the first in English anyway..but everyone credited Byron for it! I researched this a lot, for what now seem like inexplicable reasons...anyway, it was during a jaunt to Geneva, I believe (may be wrong or may have totally invented that part for eerie atmosphere) when Mary Shelley and Byron (and Poliodori) entered a wee set to see who could write the best spooky story! Cool, eh?<br /><br />I'll give this a looky. Thanks, Jim.Rachel Fentonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10046917627054462214noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6327348657265652781.post-45181587749135613532010-08-03T09:36:17.724+01:002010-08-03T09:36:17.724+01:00I watched Firefly faithfully, Art, and the film to...I watched <i>Firefly</i> faithfully, <b>Art</b>, and the film too. A crying shame that it got cancelled and the same goes for <i>Dollhouse</i>. I’ll never understand the taste of the American public other than the fact that if I like a show that’s pretty much its kiss of death. I’ll look out for <i>Ultraviolet</i> but I can’t see me reading any Anne Rice soon. Despite the fact I gave <i>The Radleys</i> a decent enough review and would happily read any sequel to see where he takes them this is still not my preferred reading matter.<br /><br>Jim Murdochhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12786388638146471193noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6327348657265652781.post-92115088992228058422010-08-02T18:41:10.104+01:002010-08-02T18:41:10.104+01:00When you get a chance, watch Joss' "Firef...When you get a chance, watch Joss' "Firefly" series and the "Serenity" movie sequel. Some amazing writing in that, incredibly original, which of course is why it probably never made it on TV. Too far over the heads of the network execs, although it had fans from the start.<br /><br />"Ultraviolet" was actually a surprisingly good movie. I had low expectations but ended up really liking it. It's actually a fairly thoughtful script.<br /><br />As for Anne Rice, I read "Interview" back when it was a first-release paperback, before the fame, the movies, and all the other vampire novels that Rice has written. I remember quite liking the book, as it was—at that time—quite an unusual take on the whole vampire mythos. In fact, "Interview" is the source book of pretty much all this modern vampire tropes, including as I mentioned before the unhappy vampire, but also the whole issue of factions and nations within the vampire world. At the time, there hadn't been any vampire novels for quite a time; some good comic book stuff, mostly from Marvel (Gene Colan and Dan Green's artwork on the Marvel Dracula series is very memorable), but not much "literature." Rice is responsible for changing all of that, and reviving or inventing the modern vampire. BTW the movie made from "Interview" was adequate, but only adequate; the novel was much better than the movie.Art Durkeehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07463180236975988432noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6327348657265652781.post-62307361515045289622010-08-02T17:49:39.309+01:002010-08-02T17:49:39.309+01:00I’ve not read Anne Rice, Art. I did see Interview ...I’ve not read Anne Rice, <b>Art</b>. I did see <i>Interview with the Vampire</i> a while ago but I don’t recall being overly impressed. I haven’t see the film <i>Ultraviolet</i> so that’s why I didn’t think to mention it. I actually started to write an article to precede this one talking about the vampire in fiction but after a day’s work I realised that I’d pretty much have to write a book to deal with all the various mythologies and I bet someone’s already had a crack at it.<br /><br />As far as Wheedon on TV goes I don’t think the guy can put a foot wrong. I watched <i>Buffy</i> and <i>Angel</i> faithfully and the programmes definitely benefit from multiple viewing. His film work is a bit more variable but I expect that’s partly due to the fact there are so many other people with their fingers in his pie. Put it this way I’m not holding my breath for <i>Captain America: The First Avenger</i> although I’d love to be wrong.<br /><br>Jim Murdochhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12786388638146471193noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6327348657265652781.post-59263983120679306882010-08-02T17:03:43.436+01:002010-08-02T17:03:43.436+01:00I don't blame Joss Whedon, I laud him for maki...I don't blame Joss Whedon, I laud him for making vampires post-modern. If you want to blame some writer for the modern trend you have to blame Anne Rice, whose "Interview With the Vampire" started the whole modern romantic trend, including the vampire who hates being a vampire trope.<br /><br />For living vampires, don't forget the recent movie "Ultraviolet" in which the vampires, called hemophages, are a virus-created subspecies of humanity, not undead.Art Durkeehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07463180236975988432noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6327348657265652781.post-66620613996280581672010-08-02T13:46:38.269+01:002010-08-02T13:46:38.269+01:00It’s very easy to prejudge books, Dave. We all do ...It’s very easy to prejudge books, <b>Dave</b>. We all do it. I remember insisting as a kid, as many kids will have done before and after me, that I didn’t like cabbage without having tasted it and assuring my mother that I just <i>knew</i> that I wouldn’t like it. I was actually quite lucky with this book because after it popped though my letter box I stuck it on a shelf and didn’t look at it twice before I began to read it and so, as the ideal reader, I came to it with absolutely no preconceptions. And for the first few pages I wasn’t sure which direction the book was going to go but it didn’t take me long to add two and two and it really wasn’t that big a surprise when I realised we were talking about vampires. At that point, yes, I did groan. It’s a genre that seems to have been drained dry at least I wasn’t sure what new could be said and, okay, what we have here isn’t <i>that</i> new but in much the same way as <i>Sean of the Dead</i> presented a very British take on zombie films so this book has a peculiarly British flavour. Actually the most interesting premise for a vampire story is one I forgot to mention, the film <i>Daybreakers</i> which is set in a future where the vampires have taken over the world and are running out of food. Now that was a good idea although the solution was a bit neat for my tastes.<br /><br />I think that some things just don’t sound as if they’ll work until you see them work. <i>Star Trek</i> was like that. It had to be sold as a ‘Wagon Train to the stars’ for the studio execs to get it. What surprised me is that the author had never seen <i>being Human</i> or <i>Ultraviolet</i> because I can definitely see a connection there.<br /><br />As for whether this is a book for you, well it depends what you’re looking for. It’s not literary fiction and I doubt you’d want to read it more than once but I found it a nice break personally and I can see it being popular with boys rather than girls because there’s not the whole romance thing here that underpins shows like <i>The Vampire Diaries</i> or <i>Twilight</i>.<br /><br>Jim Murdochhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12786388638146471193noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6327348657265652781.post-73410497203019966712010-08-02T11:32:52.298+01:002010-08-02T11:32:52.298+01:00I don't know... it's probably the one genr...I don't know... it's probably the one genre I've never even thought about trying. Now I'm thinking, but don't hold your breath. One passage that did click, though, was:<i><br />Your instincts are wrong. Animals rely on instincts for their daily survival, but we are not beasts. We are not lions or sharks of vultures. We are civilised and civilisation only works if instincts are suppressed. So, do your bit for society and ignore those dark desires inside you.</i><br />What struck me was that's why child artist grow into non-artists - we train the instincts out of them. Yes, beside the point, I know.Dave Kinghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08430484174826768488noreply@blogger.com