M*A*S*H

M*A*S*H
a movie
IMDb | Netflix | Amazon
Overall Rating: 8/10
Meets Expectations: +0
Apparent Rating: 8/10

I had never seen the movie version of M*A*S*H, just the series on TV. I was really surprised by how similar the tone of the show really was. In many ways, I liked the movie better, because there was a lot less filler.

Overall, the movie (shown on TV in 2.5 hours, but it did not seem savagely cut (look-up says 116 minutes, which jives with the minimal commercial feeling)) was like having the Cliff Notes version of 10 seasons of the show. I was impressed. Some of the things in the show which hadn’t made a lot of sense were clear here, things like why Houlihan was called “Hot Lips” and why they used that theme song (even just the instrumental version).

I think I might have given this an even higher rating if it had been better lit. It was often difficult to see expressions and to differentiate between characters who were often shown from the back or side and are all dressed alike. It would have been improved by subtitles as well, but those are not available on the DVD.

It was funny. It was well-acted and extremely well-written. The scenery was good (far better than in the show, really) and the direction was excellent. Double plus for content and presentation (aside from underlighting), which is astonishing for a nearly 40-year-old movie. This really is (or should be) a classic movie.

Heroes Adrift — Moira J. Moore (fantasy)

Heroes Adrift
a fantasy book by Moira J. Moore
Author’s Site | Amazon
Overall Rating: 8/10
Meets Expectations: +0
Apparent Rating: 8/10

Books seem to be much more about personal preference, I have higher expectations from the authors than I have been trained to expect from popular films. Heroes Adrift is the third in the series, and I liked it better than the second one. I liked it a little better than the first one just because it’s here now.

One of the things I really like is how bumbling the main characters are. Unlike a lot of fantasy series, especially the paranormal/urban kinds, the main characters do not get new god-like skills in every volume. They struggle through new situations and they learn from those things. But it’s not that they can solve the problem on their own, it’s more that they’ve learned who to contact in law enforcement when they have an important clue. Sure they have a few extra quirks so we know why the books are about them instead of other people they meet, but they don’t seem like things other people couldn’t have because the gods have a limited number of blessings to hand out.

What interested me about the books is the way the characters are paired up permanently but it’s not about sex, it’s about magic. I really liked that after a long batch of romances. That means there absolutely has to be a story and the plot and characters cannot just be glossed over. What was unfortunate here was that they decided to have a sexual relationship during this third book and it didn’t work for me. Not that they’re having a relationship at all, despite the conflict, but because it’s not written into the pages. It wasn’t hot, it didn’t seem sexy, and it really didn’t seem like they liked it all that much.

Some of the problems were in how there is a lot of detail about the world, but not enough of it was reiterated here. A lot of it was, parts where they summed up the plots, but not the parts where it’s explained how the main character doesn’t need to worry about contraception even though women around her do. So there were a lot of details that just didn’t track for me. I remember that being an issue with the previous books. So I have it in my head that the author isn’t very good at world building.

I liked the magic system in these books. Because it was clear why this magic was essential and important, but the effects were limited and far-reaching. I liked the economics described in the series and how they were differentiated when the main characters went away to another country.

There is a lot to like in this series, and not much to dislike seriously. Sure I think they could be better books, but this is not the heyday of fantasy fiction publishing when there are a thousand new titles per year. There really isn’t a lot out there that’s better than these are.

Heartlands

Heartlands
Netflix | Amazon
Overall Rating: 8/10
Meets Expectations: +1
Apparent Rating: 9/10

Heartlands was a movie where the summary covered the basics without doing anything to convey why the movie was wonderful. First things first, it’s not about the American heartlands. There are no prairie states here. It’s set in England.

The premise is that a man’s wife leaves him for his best friend and he travels across the countryside on a motorbike (not like a motorcycle, one of the skinny kind with a lawnmower type engine that requires it not be taken on major highways) to try to get her back.

Along the way he interacts with a huge variety of people, some of whom are nice, some are insulting, some good things happen, some horrid things happen.

What really made this film for me though was the ending. Colin, the main character starts to question his assumptions about his life and comes to realize what he really wants.

I want to talk about the ending, so please don’t click the “more” unless you want to be spoiled.

P.S. I Love You

P.S. I Love You
Netflix | Amazon
Overall Rating: 8/10
Meets Expectations: +0
Apparent Rating: 8/10

It’s hard to evaluate a fairly sad movie for how enjoyable it was. Going into P.S. I Love You, I knew it was going to be a sad movie. I put off watching it for several days because I just didn’t want to be saddened over something fictional.

The story as portrayed, though about a young widow, was a lot less sad than I expected. It was much more about her moving on and how she learns to deal with things after everything is all different now.

I really enjoyed the emotional range and real interactions between the characters. There was one point where the main character is asked if she’s hiding from her friends because she can’t bear that they’re all moving on and being happy when she can’t. I thought that was really realistic.

It was a New York movie. I think people who don’t have jobs, who don’t like their tiny expensive apartments, should live somewhere else. But instead they treat NYC like it’s Earth-the-planet, that no where else fit for human habitation has been discovered.

The main character obsesses about designer shoes. I can’t imagine wearing shoes like that on purpose. They look painful. Whenever I see women in the media who are wearing shoes like that, I immediately think they’re stupid and useless and self-destructive. It’s my own prejudice and I admit it. But then again, it might have been character exposition since the main character was insensitive and bitchy and inconsiderate and selfish and hateful to her beloved husband and then he died. So maybe she loves designer shoes because she’s just really not that nice of a person.

None of this is explaining why I liked the movie, which I really did. The flashback story elements were well integrated. They did a great job showing the depth of the love between these people. It showed how things were so weird with their in-laws on both sides. It was really amazing and because it was seamlessly done, it made the whole movie seem integrated.

I also liked how the “new love interest” thing isn’t the center of the story.

This was a movie about grief and it did a phenomenal job of showing that to us without being painful to watch.