Danielle Rousseau-Esque Frolicking

Venetica (2011) (XBOX360)

2011-09-02T07:16:00.000-07:00

Produced by the German company DECK13 Interactive in 2009, Venetica was ported from the PC to the PS3 and XBOX360 early 2011, and for the most part, the game wasn't greeted with the most favourable reviews on the planet. Nevertheless, I was quite excited to see a preowned copy sitting on the shelf in a Glasgow GameStation for £12.99. £12.99 won't break the bank so I thought I might as well take a chance on it. The blurb on the back of the Venetica box makes the game sound not only exciting, but quite unique. The player controls Scarlett who is the daughter of Death, a necromancer, and rather attractive to boot. It's all very pop Gothic, and all very exciting.

Even though it was raining, I ventured home in the with a smile on my face, and my prize clutched close to my chest. I got home, and popped the disc in my console, but my smile quickly faded. After the initial company logos popped up, I was greeted with a close-up of Scarlett's in-game model standing against a sunset sea background with some non-descript music playing. This certainly didn't give me a good first impression of the game. Normally I'm not too fussed when it comes to graphics, but this one snippet of Scarlett not only reveals that they won't be of a particularly high standard, but they are somewhat rudimentary in terms of what is expected from the XBOX360.

Once the game is started, the player is then welcomed to the world of Venetica with a cringeworthy opening scene: assassins have set fire to the mountain village Scarlett calls home, and they are looking for someone. Whilst trying to fight off the attacks, Scarlett's lover Benedict is caught in the fray and slain (rather easily) by an enemy. Not only are the character models poor, but the lips are terribly out of sync with the voice, or barely move at times. I would be willing to give this some leeway if it had risen out of the transition of the original German to English, but it isn't; it's simply horrible or lazy animation. This leads me to my next point: the voice acting. The voice acting in this game is absolutely horrendous, but it's not horrendously funny like that in Koei's Kessen II. It's either very hammy, or sounds like they grabbed random people off the street to do it. Death and Scarlett are the only characters that are halfway decent, but even our heroine has her moments of vocal mediocrity.

Venetica, as the title suggests, takes place in some sort of medieval fantasy Venice; it's not a "here be dragons" fantasy, but more of an arcane, dark magic fantasy where skeletons can come to life, and little demons live the basement of your house. There is very little lore or established history given about this place called Venetica, and this makes the main story fall flat. The plot itself is fairly simple to understand, but it becomes very complicated very quickly. Like Lost, things that don't make sense aren't explained, or they are explained yet it still doesn't make any sense -- like the position of Death and how he gained it, for example. Perhaps the plot got lost in translation? If you have played the game in German, I'd be interested to know.

The game may only have path to tread, it does offer a little freedom in how the player traverses by allowing for some input into Scarlett's responses and reasons. Don't be fooled, though -- it is nowhere near as complicated as the Dragon Age games, for instance. Although I have only played the game by choosing the "douchy Scarlett" responses, I am pretty sure choosing the "nice Scarlett" options won't change much except alter the ending ever so slightly, so I'm not sure Venetica has much replay value in this sense.

As for the gameplay, Venetica plays like the Fable series; hit the A button, and Scarlett will let loose a chain of attacks. There are four weapons Scarlett can use: the Moonblade (a scythe), a sword, hammer/axe, and spear. There is, however, a problem with this. Abilities are mapped on the D-pad, and block is classed as a separate ability for each weapon, and the D-pad must be used for mapping magic, too. So, if you need to use the Moonblade to fight demons, who can only be defeated with this weapon, you must map the Moonblade abilities. If you then want to use the sword, you then need to map the sword abilities. It's a bit of farce, and very badly thought out. The battles for the most part are very easy, and if you find or buy the top weapon for the area, you can defeat enemies with one chain. The game puts a lot of emphasis on the forbidden art of Necromancy, but the non-story related spells are weak and not useful. Some of them are quite pop Gothic in their use of ravens. Scarlett can call a raven to show her the way, summon a group to attack a foe, or use one to see the world through its eyes. This, however, was just one very small plus to a game full of negatives.

When it comes to reading books or playing games, I go down with the sinking ship. I'll never abandon something unfinished no matter how bad it is, and I stuck with Venetica. The story is a good idea, and it sounds interesting, but it simply wasn't nurtured enough at the elementary stages to blossom into something good. I also think the gameplay is too basic, and the developers could have tried to bring something new to the table instead of mishmashing Fable battling with Dragon Age's levelling up system.

I'm sorry, Venetica, but the Court of Danielle has spoke, and we don't approve.

Jake Hunter: Detective Chronicles (2008) (Nintendo DS)

2011-06-14T13:44:00.000-07:00

The Jake Hunter series (Tantei Saburō Jingūji) may have celebrated its 20th anniversary in 2007, and it may be the best-selling and longest standing adventure game in Japan, but the Nintendo DS compilation of remade episodes failed to make a splash in North America's already overflowing pond of visual/interactive novels. Jake Hunter's popularity in Japan, however, does leave me a little stumped. Published and released by Aksys, this title is actually a North American exclusive, and after hearing the game play was something along the lines of Cing's Hotel Dusk, I felt I might as well pick it up while I was browsing a Best Buy in Canada.

Unlike other interactive novels on the DS market, this title does not actually offer very much in the way of actual gameplay. After the player works their way through visual screeds of poorly localised and grammatically incorrect text, they are presented with some rather mundane options on an interface that vaguely resembles one from a point 'n' click, but in reality does very little. The top screen will usually show a frozen stock image of an office, or a landscape that has been subjected to a basic Photoshop filter with an equally frozen portrait picture of Jake or a character who is being questioned. By selecting the "Examine" tab with the stylus on the bottom screen, Jake will provide a brief description of certain aspects of the location and its inhabitants, and this is how the crimes are more or less solved: by examining and talking. There are no problems or puzzles in this game aside from using common sense to show someone a business card, or call 911 on Jake's cell phone. It is not possible to go down the wrong path, or miss a clue to get a game over because the game will not let the player leave an area if they haven't examined everything, or exercised all the conversation options, which erases all notion of challenge.

The gameplay, however, was not the only thing I had a severe beef with. The player, of course, controls Jake Hunter -- the owner and sole detective at the imaginatively titled Jake Hunter Detective agency. Sadly, there is actually nothing remotely interesting about this guy -- he's your typical chain-smoking, silent, and pretty handsome J-Hero who is almost completely devoid of a personality, or even a slight hint of a back story. The only character that the player is given a little insight on is his secretary Yulia Marks. Like Jake, Yulia's portrait picture is rather fetching, but she is yet another female character that sets the women's rights movement back at least twenty years. Yulia dotes on Jake, and her office duties mainly consist of making coffee, or cleaning the office, but when she is allowed out on a case, she is put in charge of the feelings department. Our private detective also has yet another cardboard cut-out companion in the form of an aged police chief nicknamed King that will every so often provide Jake with some inside information, or pull a few strings to aid his case. It's all very cliché.

Surprisingly the cases weren't as hackneyed as the characters. The first case is a basic murder mystery called "The Petty Murder of a Fragile Heart"; the second is a missing persons yarn called "Seaside City Conspiracy", and the best of the bunch is "Crash and Burn" -- a tale of corruption, murder, and intrigue in the world of motorcycle racing. The basic plots are decent, but they are let down by the poor localisation, which, at times, convolutes the motives and details behind the crimes. There are some fairly interesting twists and turns here and there in the episodes, but for the most part, are pretty standard examples of storytelling.

Sorry, Aksys, but I wouldn't recommend Jake Hunter: Detective Chronicles to anyone. Not only does it have limited gameplay, cliché characters, and average writing, but the music is repetitive to the point of throwing your DS down the stairs in irritation, and this is coming from someone who listens to a lot of metal music. Considering that I play Harvest Moon, I'm not a difficult gamer to please, but this game really has very little going for it. Avoid unless you enjoy playing Bayonetta on the difficulty setting that plays itself.

half a danielle :(

Her Fearful Symmetry by Audrey Niffenegger (2009)

2011-06-02T18:10:00.000-07:00

It is probably safe to assume that the vast majority of Audrey Niffenegger's fans picked up 2009's Her Fearful Symmetry due to the roaring success and appreciation of The Time Traveller's Wife (2003), which not only sold 2.5 million copies in both the U.S and the U.K, but its major motion picture counterpart grossed $101,229,792 worldwide. The pressure really was on Niffenegger to produce something phenomenal, but from what I have seen on amazon.com and goodreads.com, Her Fearful Symmetry has been met with much criticism, and poor reviews on both websites.

Having never read The Time Traveller's Wife, I was able to approach the novel without expectations; at the time, all I knew was that it was a ghost story, and I was a little curious at how Niffenegger would engage with it -- would she manage to bring something new to the supernatural table? I have read so much fiction from many periods on ghosts and haunting, so I was rather surprised to find that the author had actually managed to do something a little different with the stalwart spectre. The ghost of this text does not actually haunt physical space; the true haunting exists within the mind of Robert. We only meet the ghost during life through Robert's memories, and of course, these memories are more than likely viewed through rose tinted lenses -- to use a cliche. The most problematic aspect of the ghost is the simple fact that the twins Valentina and Julia, and Robert just instantly accept that they are being haunted; there is very little fear, terror and next to no disbelief exhibited by the characters. The only character that found communicating with the ghost slightly troubling was Julia, yet the others deemed her reaction abnormal. The ghost is almost like a siren that weaves her spell over Robert and Valentina, but this could have been executed much more effectively.

The novel's flaws, however, don't just begin and end with the ghost; the entire thing is peppered with questionable plot holes, and just general moments that are so nonsensical and pointless that leave you wondering who was in charge of the editing. Niffenegger is often praised for her use of prose, but I find her writing dull and uninspiring. Niffenegger's London, which is where the majority of the novel is set, could be any city set anywhere, but I really don't think this was the intention. Twin protagonists Julia and Valentina are American, and their arrival in their inherited home in London is portrayed as the fledgling journey to adulthood -- albeit the twins are doing it at the age of 21. The London of this text is little more than a flimsy shell of the metropolis, and does not conjure up feelings of claustrophobia and a hectic lifestyle. The twins' apartment is beside Highgate Cemetery, and while Niffenegger does provide a colossal amount of detail of the famous graveyard, it left me feeling like I wanted to skim read, or just skip those pages.

None of the characters in this story are remotely likable with the exception of the estranged married couple Martin and Marijke; as a chronic OCD sufferer, Martin's mental illness drives his Dutch wife back to her homeland. Watching his struggles unfold is quite possibly the most poignant and beautiful aspect of the text; the end result is satisfying and very touching, but sadly, this can't be said for anything of the relationships. Admittedly, Niffenegger initially does do quite a good job in her depiction of life as a twin, but as the novel goes, it feels rushed and borderline ridiculous. Secondly, Valentina's relationship with Robert could have been brilliant if tackled correctly, but again, it falls flat before it even manages to take off.

After I went on a mini-rant to my supervisor, she thought 'chick lit Gothic' would a good category for Her Fearful Symmetry, and I certainly think that would be a good place to hide it. All in all, I just wouldn't recommend this book to anyone. It's a skipper, but if you are a fan of Niffenegger's work, I would wait until her next title is released. Considering how badly it has done in terms of reviews and the bestsellers list, I have a feeling that her publishers will force her to up her game.

Pokémon Black/White (2011) (Nintendo DS)

2011-05-14T08:07:00.001-07:00

Seeing as I haven't played a Pokémon game since Gold and Silver some time back in the early noughties, I really don't know what possessed me to buy both Pokémon Black and White this year. Now in its fifth showcasing of a new generation of creatures that walk the PokéWorld, the overall Pokémon package remains more or less the same: catch Pokémon, battle Pokémon, get gym badges, beat the Elite Four, save the day from the evil organisation, and become the Champion -- but let's not forget that you would be a fool for thinking otherwise. In saying that, White/Black does treat the player to a few exciting -- albeit small -- surprises.

First of all, this isn't the typical PokéTale of player vs. rival, but a tale of three friends and their journey to fill their Pokédexes, and challenge the Elite Four. Sadly, the player's best friends Cheren and Bianca are not only annoying, but there is very little chemistry or interaction between them. There is actually a storyline in this game; Team Plasma plans to find the legendary Pokémon to convince people to set their beloved Pokémon free, but as the game progresses, the reasoning behind this becomes convoluted and nonsensical. Considering the Pokémon games have never been about storyline, is this a valid criticism to make? I think the answer is yes. At the end of the day, Pokémon is an RPG, and its plot should be watertight enough to please both the seven year old players and the nostalgic twenty-four year olds alike.

Pokémon is now on its fifth reincarnation, and has added another 156 creatures to its already crammed bestiary. A number of reviewers, both on the web and in magazines, have not hesitated in pointing out that the design of the new additions leaves a lot to be desired. While Pidove may be reminiscent of Pidgey, it sadly just comes across as a lazy reskinning of its predecessor. The inclusion of the odd Trubbish, which is basically just a bag of trash with eyes, is just laughable if not a little sad for the design team. The List of Pokémon that Will Cause the Player to Raise their Eyebrows is a lengthy one that will make you long for the days of Charmander and even Koffing. In saying that, the animation during the battles is quite lovely; your chosen battler will blink, wiggle, and even close its eyes if sleep is inflicted. A nice touch, indeed.

The general graphics will also dazzle and surprise you. The towns change with the seasons, and there is even a lovely 3D moment as you approach the large Castelia City, which is a metropolis occupied by towering skyscrapers. While the villages are often the sleepy affairs we are so accustomed to from the previous instalments, this particular locale is constantly bustling with NCPs at all times of the day. There is also some wonderful music in the game; I had a penchant for Driftveil's theme tune, but there's no need to despair because you will be greeted by the familiar Pokémon Centre sound effects and battle music that we all know and love.

As much as I love all the sub-genres over RPGs, there's nothing like a good turn-based, and the ante has really been upped with this one. Pokémon tend to have a mix of attributes, such as the dark and fire Litwick, or the flying and water Pokémon Swanna, and this encourages the player to think extra carefully about the team's strengths and weaknesses when faced with a gym battle. Perhaps it's because I'm a seasoned RPGer, but I really didn't find the game challenging in the slightest. As always, if you are considering delving into the Japanese RPG genre, the Pokémon games are great starting point on your handheld.

All in all, I spent just over a hundred hours on Pokémon White, and in this time, I managed to level up a fair few of my catches, complete the game, and also the post-game mode, so you are guaranteed a lot of bang for your buck. Sadly, the completion of a Pokémon game never leaves me satisfied, but empty and a little sad that I wasted so much time playing it for little to no reward or closure. These games have zero re-playability value for me, and have therefore been traded in. I will probably play another Pokémon game, but you're going have to wait another ten years before you see another review on this blog, I'm afraid.

Final Fantasy XIII (2010) (XBOX360)

2011-03-24T14:56:00.000-07:00

Had I not brought my brother back a bottle of whisky from the Canadian duty-free, I probably wouldn't be writing this review. Even though my teenage years consisted of equal parts skateboarding and playing the Final Fantasy series, I just wasn't fussed about buying the latest addition Final Fantasy XIII. Not only did I not even bother to complete Final Fantasy XII, the final offering on the PlayStation 2, but my attitude towards the franchise began to sour after numerous sub-par Final Fantasy VII spin-offs. After becoming deeply enthralled with RPG titles such as Fallout, Mass Effect, and Dragon Age, the personal impact of the numerous delays surrounding the ever-impending release of the thirteenth Final Fantasy instalment lessened and lessened until one day I saw it for £7.99 on the used shelves in most gaming shops. I still didn't pick it up. Why? Well, I have skirted around the real reason: I heard it really, really sucked. I heard this not just from trusted friends, but also from trusted gaming sites.

Considering I have portrayed this game as being shrouded in preconceived notions of negativity, how did the first of the three discs actually end up in my console? Maybe I was delirious from having little sleep and travelling halfway across the world, but I decided to give it a whirl, and I, readers, am so glad I did.

For many gamers, the opening of Final Fantasy VII is iconic; you play as Cloud Strife, and are immediately thrust into the action by planting a bomb for terrorist group AVALANCHE. In my opinion Square(-Enix) have never managed to surpass or produce something tantamount to this epic beginning, and they really did try with XIII. After some stunning FMVs, you gain control of the (extremely attractive) protagonist Lightning who is being followed by some guy called Sazh that looks like Lando Calrissian from Star Wars. For the first couple of hours in-game terminology is haphazardly thrown around: Cocoon, Pulse, Purge, L'Cie, Fal'Cie, Focus, Cie'th. It's like you are crouched in a dark, mechanical place while an unknown enemy is assailing you from all directions with lexiconical and narrative grenades. This, dear readers, is simply terrible storytelling. If Peter Jackson could sum the basic context of the first Lord of the Rings book into a neat little five minute package, then surely Square-Enix could incorporate some lucid definitions into the storyline. Instead, there is a Datalog in which you can access, amongst many things, a bestiary, tutorials, lore... and a summary of the story! Fantastic. Thanks to this feature, I had a minimal to moderate understanding of Square-Enix's latest world.

Thankfully, I have extrapolated to the full my main criticism of Final Fantasy XIII, and I promise that things definitely get better after the first ten hours or so of the game. This is a point that a lot of reviewers seemed to agree on. Even though the main story (or lack of) meanders along to the tune of "pretty pointless", there is some beautiful, touching, and endearing character interaction that makes the game sort of worthwhile. It's probably ridiculous that this game sold itself to me on the basis I found the gorgeous Lightning "personality of a toilet seat" Farron's stupidity charming, and was immersed in Fang's kavorka.

As I have said earlier, this game is visually stunning, but just because it's pretty, I'm not going ignore the strange design choices that often left me confused. Lightning, Fang, and Sazh were the only characters that looked great. Physically, everything about Snow was just unappealing to me; from his consuming bandanna to his blonde stubble to his gloves to his baggy sweatpants, it really did nothing for me. Hope also irked me; I wouldn't be surprised if I went into the Kingdom Hearts design team office, and found his design crumpled up in the waste basket. He screamed Kingdom Hearts reject to me. I did really like the strange mechanical nature of the fal'cie, but the fact that eidolons turned into modes of transport was just too far into the realm of nonsense for me to take them seriously (or use them in battle).

Speaking of battle, I absolutely adored the battle system in this game. It's fast-paced, it's fun, and it can be quite challenging at times. Contrary to other reviews, I didn't find this Final Fantasy difficult in the slightest; I would say this one is the easiest I've played -- with XII being the most difficult. Seeing that XIII has something resembling X's sphere grid levelling up system, I was kind of hoping that Square-Enix would give me a little bit more freedom to customise my characters, but alas, that wasn't to be, either. Square-Enix has claimed that Final Fantasy XIII-2 will exceed its predecessor in all forms. I'm looking forward to seeing that battle system.

The soundtrack for this game is nothing to write home about; I own many Final Fantasy soundtracks because many of the themes work well intrinsically. Sadly, this is not the case for this game; not only were the renditions of the main theme were just irritating and downright corny, but nothing else is particularly memorable. I'm not even going to get into how Leona Lewis' song Hands or whatever spoiled an otherwise acceptable ending that did, admittedly, make me cry.

This post may seem like an unrelenting fist of criticism, but I genuinely love this game. I can't put my finger on why. I'm going to go with: it's so bad that it's good. I use the same reasoning for my disturbing love for Konami's Suikoden IV. Final Fantasy XIII is a game that must be experienced to be believed. Am I going to be waiting for the midnight launch of XIII-2 outside a Scottish GameStation or Canadian GameShack posing next to a cardboard cut out of Lightning? Probably.

4 Danielles out of 5. You'd better believe it.

Rune Factory: A Fantasy Harvest Moon (2007) (Nintendo DS)

2011-02-10T15:43:00.000-08:00

Unless I'm talking to someone who is very cool, charming, or attractive, I will openly admit that I love playing Natsume's Harvest Moon series. There is just something very enjoyable about ploughing fields, watching those little seedlings grow into plump juicy tomatoes, and following the path of chivalry when it comes to wooing women. In fact, I love Harvest Moon so much that I'm actually a special guest on RPGamer.com's Harvest Moon backtrack episode 33. It's true; I love farming simulators, I love RPGs, and I also love fantasy. The thing is: I'm not the only one that loves these three things. Yoshifumi Hashimoto of Natsume does too, and this is why he decided to go ahead and produce Rune Factory: A Fantasy Harvest Moon.

The first Rune Factory was actually released in Japan back in 2006, and Europe didn't actually get the game until 2009, which I find pretty astounding. I was actually playing a Canadian copy, which hit the stores over there back in 2007. Why the three year gap in the release in Japan to Europe? I think it's something to do with the fact that Europeans tend to enjoy playing those Brain Training games that supposedly ward off the effects of dementia, which is actually impossible according to a psychologist-in-training friend of mine. You heard it here first on frolickingwithdaniellerousseau, folks, Brain Training is a crock.

Anyhow, since its release on the SNES back in 1996, Harvest Moon has manifested in many different guises with many different gimmicks over the years -- from collecting Sun Stones in Sunshine Islands to Harvest Moon DS Cute, which involved having a female farmer. Rune Factory, however, is a spin-off series set in its own world where there be monsters. You play as a young chap called Raguna who has amnesia; after randomly wandering into the village of Kardia, collapsing, and being cared for by (the) local (nutjob) Mist, Raguna decides to settle down to farm life for the time being.

Just like in Harvest Moon, you are armed with some tools and a plot of overgrown farmland, and it's your job to make you and the farm prosperous. Instead of having a stamina bar, there is an HP bar, and a Rune Points bar, which is essentially the stamina. Rune points are replenished either by sleeping, or by growing crops. Once the goods are ready to be harvested, little blue orbs appear to be collected by the player. To my surprise, Rune Factory actually has stats: vitality, strength, defence, speed, and more, which undoubtedly pushes this game even further into the realm of the RPG. The main story of the game is furthered by defeating the boss in each cave.

The combat in this game is pretty basic. Press B to attack, press X to defend, and most monsters are usually felled in a few hits. Run away from the monster, and it will shortly give up to return to its position. There are even magic spells available in the game, such as fire, poison, and cure. I completed the game without using any magic except escape and heal. Considering the simplicity of the combat, I found offensive spells pretty redundant -- even during boss battles. Despite the simplicity of the battles, there is actually a tactic required in this game. Rune points, and then health, deplete with each swing of the weapon. By leaving the dungeon to replenish Raguna, all defeated monsters regenerate, so the strategy is to plant crops in designated areas of the cave. Watering the crops and waiting for them to grow before progressing can begin to get rather tedious as the game goes on; dungeons soon become a rather time-consuming endeavour.

My biggest problem with this game is that it is so time consuming, and there is so much to do in order to feel like it has been satisfactorily completed. Akin to Harvest Moon, Rune Factory has the farming, the marriage option, befriending the locals, fishing, mining and cooking, but it also has the combat, levelling up, accessory making, weapon/tool making, and pharmacy. There is certainly a lot for the completionist player to achieve here in this game, but even for the average gamer, this can be provide quite a long stint on the DS, but as more and more dungeons are conquered Rune Factory begins to feel a little repetitive.

To be honest, there is very little to say about the story aspect: it's short, sweet, and simple. Although, I was initially mystified as to why the other villagers thought Mist was creepy and weird, but that was until I found her inside my house after I had spent the entire day out in the caves. Apart from this observation on Mist, there is very little to say about the other characters in the game because they are cut from the same sugary sweet cloth as the many Harvest Moon casts. When it comes to picking a bride, going for the cutest or the easiest to please is the only way to do it, really because none of the girls will otherwise stand out in terms of characterisation or personality.

In terms of graphics, Rune Factory is pretty and vibrant during all four seasons, but the less said about the sound the better. This game has some really sinister and creepy dialogue-based sound bites, but in particular, the shopkeepers. Seeing as I had to frequent those, I chose to mute my DS for the majority of the game. I would advise you follow my example.

All in all, I quite enjoyed Rune Factory; it may have some timing issues and some dodgy voice acting, but it's definitely worth picking up for all fans of the farming simulator, or even an RPG fan that fancies delving into something that little bit different. Forging weapons and tools was definitely a highlight for me, and became a bit of an obsession after a while. It was quite fun to return to the conquered dungeons to look for components to upgrade or create that super cool looking weapon. Mist also became the butt of many jokes between my other nerdy farming sim friends, but that's a story for another day. Quite possible a podcast, so watch this space.

3.5 Danielles out of 5

Beautiful Losers by Leonard Cohen (1966)

2011-01-18T13:20:00.000-08:00

In 1890, Britain and Europe planted the seeds and bore the primitive fruits of modernism; as the years went past, the produce from the socially elitist modernists became odder, wackier, and more diverse. Ezra Pound, James Joyce, Virginia Woolf and the rest of that crowd toyed with almost every aspect of poetry and literature, but this innovative beast didn't make it across the northern most part of the pond until almost 70 years later.

Sometime during the 1960's, Leonard Cohen was probably tripping on some acid; he walked past a junk yard, saw the beat-up shell of Brit-Euro modernism, and thought, 'hey, I haven't seen something like this before! I'm going to do some more acid and fix this baby up!" And Canadian modernism was born.

Seriously though? I love Canada, and I am currently in the process in planning to immigrate there, but for me, in order to truly understand a country and its culture, I have to read its literature. Despite having incomprehensible chapters written with the first letter of every word capitalised, a finale defined by a sentient dildo, a section dedicated to querying the best way to get rid of warts, there is a lot to be learned about the relations between French Canada and English Canada, and also how these paradoxically divergent and similar parts of Canada define and treat Canada's Native population and their ancestors.

As someone who hasn't been formally educated in Canadian affairs, and hasn't spend enough time in this great country, I'm not going to pass any opinions or thoughts on how Cohen deals with these uniquely Canadian issues until I feel qualified to do so. I will then reread this text, and will probably understand it a lot better.

Dolores Claiborne by Stephen King (1992)

2011-01-10T08:01:00.000-08:00

First published in 1992, Dolores Claiborne is well-known in both academic circles and the Stephen King fandom as being one of his more experimental works. When I wrote a presentation on Lisey's Story a few years back, I remember reading a paper on how Dolores Claiborne and Gerald's Game, which were both written in 1992, were dubbed as King's attempt to write "authentic" women. Writing women in a way that doesn't set the women's rights movement back ten years apiece has proven a major challenge for King over the years -- or so I've read and heard. The bullied and abused teen girl of the eponymous Carrie (1976), the obsessive and unstable Annie Wilkes of Misery (1987), and the silenced DOA Jo Noonan from Bag of Bones (1998) are just three varied examples of the feminine in King's work spanning over two decades, which leads us to question how Dolores Claiborne fits into the mix.

Dolores Claiborne is actually Dolores St. George. St. George is her married name, but strangely, very few people actually refer to her in this manner. Dolores also views herself as Dolores Claiborne. I suppose this is King's most obvious foray into "correcting" his depiction of women. Is the more to Dolores keeping her own identity than meets the eye? The fact that her husband Joe St. George is a scumbag and absolutely everyone knows it seems that imply that their marriage has been nullified in the eyes of many from the get go. The evil, cheating woman trope has been reversed, and instead, we have the abusive father and husband. Nothing new under the sun here in terms of constructing a woman. She's strong, she's independent, she's a good mother, but flawed doesn't really do much for me in terms of "correcting" the feminine. Dolores Claiborne is, however, an innovative and intriguing text for its time, but not because of its protagonist.

First of all, from what I can tell from Goodreads, many people rated Dolores Claiborne rather lowly because of its format, which reads like a spoken monologue; mimicking a recorded police statement, there are no chapters, or breaks between sections. I admit that this was difficult to adapt to at the beginning, but it works. First of all, when Dolores finishes telling her story about the death of her elderly employer Vera Donovan and the death of husband, you feel like you were sitting in the smoky interrogation room with her, the stenographer, and the police chief for the entire duration. I've heard that the audio book replicates this feeling better, but I feel like the power of the imagination can't be bested when it comes to things like that.

Secondly, this is a thoroughly Gothic text. No, there are no real ghosties or spooks in it, but the narrative itself is more than enough to grant it Gothic status, I think. If you read Jerrold E. Hogle's 'The Ghost of the Counterfeit in the Genesis of the Gothic', it's possible to argue that not only is the counterfeit format treading on Gothic territory, but also Dolores' recreation of mental spooks for both herself and Vera -- the inner eye, the wires, and the dust bunnies to name a few. A lot could be said about how these things transcend the mind and manifest in Dolores' lived reality. Remember, we only get one perception of how all things occurred.

Technical aspects aside, I think Dolores Claiborne is a stunning piece of fiction. From my limited experience with Stephen King (which is growing as the days pass), I would say his late 80's to early 90's fiction is generally pretty good stuff. This story is definitely a stand out winner in this epoch of his writing. Once you get past the stylistic elements, this is a wonderful, engrossing, and heartbreaking story, which comes highly recommended from your local bloggogoth!

5 Danielles out of 5!

Last Window: The Secret of Cape West (Nintendo DS) (2010)

2011-01-07T14:32:00.000-08:00

Sadly for you North Americans, the indirect sequel to Cing's Hotel Dusk: Room 215 will not be crossing pond -- mostly because Cing is now defunct, which also means that there will be no more adventures with Kyle Hyde. Last Window: The Secret of Cape West was released in Europe on September 17th 2010, so it's a fairly new release, and for the first time ever, I'm not the last one to catch the boat. I absolutely adored Hotel Dusk, which is slightly problematic -- simply because I switched on Last Window with very high expectations.

As I mentioned earlier, Last Window is not a direct sequel to Hotel Dusk. There are a few references here and there to the previous game, but this is a separate adventure for our detective protagonist Kyle Hyde. Aside from being set over the course of a week as opposed to Hotel Dusk's 24hr period, Last Window follows more or less the same format as its predecessor: interviewing tenants, picking up random items, and "putting the heat" on suspicious characters. Cing, however, have included a new feature to add to Kyle's repertoire. Very occasionally, an option to ignore or pursue very probing questions appears, and the player has to judge whether this will cause the resident to clam up or reveal more. This option actually appears within the first ten minutes or so of the game, but sadly it doesn't appear too often. The "interrupt or not to interrupt" with a question appears very frequently -- often with the consequence of a game over if the correct choice is not made.

The animation sequences when talking to the tenants has improved, but the new cast of characters didn't particularly excite me. A character similar to Hotel Dusk's Louie manifested as a down on his luck musician called Tony Wolf. His chemistry with Kyle would often cause a smile to cross my face -- mostly because standoffish Kyle would often reject the hand of friendship, which resulted in a melodramatic response from Tony. While the widowed Marie, the upbeat Betty, the odd Will White and the cranky elderly gent Frank were devoid of sparkle, Dylan and Mrs. Margaret "Mags" Patrice more than made up for their lack of presence. I was mostly in awe of Mags because she is a blonde and sophisticated MILF. Oh, yes.

The biggest problem with Last Window is that the story is very convoluted at times, and one of the main mysteries actually feels very obvious. The charm of Hotel Dusk was the simple fact that although I didn't expect the twists and turns, and the thicker the plot became, I wasn't confused by what was going on. Last Window's reveals and clues are not executed in an easily digestible manner, so the story becomes a bit of a tangled mess. I don't want to spoil the game for anyone, so I won't go into any specific issues with the pacing, or anything.

My other issue with this game was the development of Kyle Hyde because, at times, he seemed like a completely different character from the first game. Last Window's Kyle is quite emotional and is not afraid to voice his feelings. I liked my Kyle as the strong, arrogant, silent type that wasn't afraid to rub people up the wrong way. This Kyle also seems preoccupied with aiding damsels in distress. You could argue that the mystery surrounding his father's death made him soft. Discovering what happened to Bradley in the previous game was probably equally harrowing for him yet he dealt with it differently.

I actually found the puzzles in Last Window to be far more challenging than the ones in Hotel Dusk; there is mini-game that involves releasing a key from a music box, and this made me want to throw my DS out the window. If I hadn't been in a basement, this probably would have been done.

Despite its flaws, Last Window is a fairly decent game, but it just isn't of the same caliber as Hotel Dusk. It's undoubtedly a weak addition to a series of games that could have been fantastic. The failure of this game is that the scope was too large: an apartment building, set over a week with a fairly long plot. Last Window strays away from what made the Hotel Dusk experience so fascinating and exhilarating.

3 danielles out of 5.

Hotel Dusk: Room 215 (Nintendo DS) (2007)

2010-12-31T05:43:00.000-08:00

When it comes to the Nintendo DS, the abundance of visual novels, hidden object puzzles, and detective games certainly makes choosing the better ones a difficult task. Since getting my DS this summer, I have mainly been using it to play farming sims and the odd platformer, so I decided it was time to try my hand at a completely different genre. After weeding through various mystery titles, I definitely struck lucky with Hotel Dusk: Room 215.

You play as a Kyle Hyde -- a thirty-something retired detective for LAPD now working as a salesman for the fictional Red Crown company. Despite being cold, aloof and somewhat arrogant, it's strangely not difficult to fall in love with Kyle, but I'm pretty sure this related to his gorgeous character design. Kyle, however, hasn't completely given up on his detective work. Red Crown's owner Ed has a side business, which involves Kyle searching for missing items requested by clients, and this is what takes him to Hotel Dusk. This ex-copper, however, also has his own agenda: search for clues about his missing partner Bradley. With a name like Kyle Hyde, I was expecting him to have sort of Gothic doubling to his personality a la The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, but this is sadly not the case. Hyde reveals very little about himself to both the player and the other guests of the hotel. Why choose 'Hyde', though?

In short, Hotel Dusk is a dump, but it is temporarily home to a unique and fascinating cast of characters ranging from ex-small time crook Louie to the lovable wonder maid Rosa to the bratty but sweet Melissa. Cing uses the Japanese animation style to bring all of the characters to life: they laugh, they frown, and they cry in a sketchy monochrome style, and this is definitely one of the best technical features of the game. Some characters even have their own jazz style theme tunes, and my ultimate favourite is the beautiful piano ballad for Mila.

As a conglomerate of the visual novel and the hidden object game, Hotel Dusk is obviously a text based game, and there's a lot of reading to do, but the dialogue, for the most part, is interesting and often quirky. It's a very well-written game, so you don't need to fear the conversation lagging, and as a result, throwing your DS out the window through boredom. The puzzles vary from being pretty simple to quite difficult. It goes without saying that the most testing ones are towards the end of the game, but there are a fair few, such as opening Kyle's suitcase, that had me stumped for a good few minutes.

I was very engrossed in the main story, and the subplots, but I'm not going to discuss them for fear of spoiling. Just sit back and ride on the twists and unexpected turns that Hotel Dusk takes you on; it's quite difficult to guess what is going to happen next. Despite being ten chapters long, the story never feels long or drawn out. If anything, you'll stay up until stupid o'clock to see what's going to happen next!

I thoroughly enjoyed this game, and I'm doing nothing but singing its praises. I highly recommend this to any fans of the old Lucasarts point 'n' click games, or just someone who loves a good mystery novel. Is this my game of the year? Perhaps...

Dark Matter: A Ghost Story by Michelle Paver (2010)

2010-12-29T12:45:00.000-08:00

The Gothic is a discipline that thrives on transmutation: Gothic romanticism, modern Gothic, postcolonial Gothic, global Gothic -- the list goes on and on. Even though I have studied these works for over six years, I, however, still managed to be somewhat surprised to learn of a new and upcoming niche called arctic Gothic. For our second book of semester, the Gothic Reading Group decided to see what all the fuss was about, so we delved into Michelle Paver's 2010 text Dark Matter: A Ghost Story, which is set in the snow-laden wastes of Svalbard in the 1920's. Ironically, the group have yet to discuss this book because Scotland was hit by snow, and many people got snowed in. Yes, Scotland is pretty wussy when it comes to snow.

I'm sure Svalbard sounds familiar to a few people; an alternate reality Svalbard was the centre stage for the first book in Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials trilogy -- a particular favourite series of mine. I read Northern Lights (The Golden Compass) as a teenager, and I became pretty fascinated by Svalbard, and Paver certainly disappoint me with her rendition of this Nordic island, and the deserted bay of Gruhuken.

Subtitled as A Ghost Story, Dark Matter more or less does what it says on the tin, but this certainly isn't a bad thing -- mostly because Paver does it really well. The story is mainly comprised of Jack Miller's journal. While this isn't exactly the most original idea, Jack's personal, and often conceited ramblings draw the reader in. Jack is a lower class university student that is struggling to make ends meet long after getting his degree. His most notable trait is his class-related chip in the should and his loneliness. Again, London becomes the labyrinth of solitude, but Jack interestingly combats this by joining an expedition to the Arctic with young upper-class gentlemen. The diary-format certainly reveals a lot about Jack and his relationships with the other members of the group. The narrative is a mixture of jealousy, prejudice, manly camaraderie and homoeroticism that certainly causes the reader to ponder whether these Englishmen can really survive for a year on the supposedly haunted Gruhuken.

The Gothic moments of this story revolve around the perpetually dwindling daylight of the North, which almost functions as a countdown to the impending madness propagated by cabin fever. The men are told to keep a routine and to stick with it, but this repetitive behaviour only seems to beckon another form of madness.

John Donne, however, reminds us that no man is an island, and when Jack is alone on Gruhuken, he can only find solace in his favourite husky Isaak. Once judged as brutes, Jack's reformative affection for the dogs, which develops during his lone stint on the islands, paints him as a misanthrope. His search for acceptance, love and friendship is thwarted by his own darkness. The rumoured ghost of Gruhuken, it seems, functions as a manifestation of Jack's deeply seated fear and rage for humanity that he has cultivated since childhood.

All in all, Dark Matter is a thoroughly enjoyable ghost story. My own only issues with this book is Jack isn't as lonely and desolate as I would like, but I can't have everything. This is a pretty fast read, so it's perfect for a journey or just for bed time. Highly recommended.

Apartment 16 by Adam Nevill (2010)

2010-12-15T08:54:00.000-08:00

A couple of months ago, I made a return to my university's Gothic Reading Group with a copy of Adam Nevill's Apartment 16 firmly in hand with a bit of a smile on my face. I had ordered the book off amazon.com a couple of weeks before, and was rather intrigued when Nevill was likened to Stephen King. If you've been following this blog for some time, then I'm sure you know that I'm actually a massive fan of the master of horror. Sure, a lot of horror writers are likened to Stephen King, and barely live up to it, but Nevill strangely does.

Apartment 16 mostly is set in a classy apartment block in London, and of its truly Gothic feel is rendered by Nevill's desolate and uncomfortable depiction of England's metropolitan capital. I say the Knightsbridge building is classy, but myself and Nevill mean this is terms of social status. It was once grand, but it is now a shadow of its former self; boasting a shabby and ill-kept 1940's décor in its many rooms, the apartments, stuck in time, are slowly decaying. This eerie setting would not be complete without an equally eerie secret: what lies behind the perpetually locked door of apartment 16?

Whether they are investigating or protecting this secret, it saddens me to say that the characters of this novel are all mainly dull, two dimensional, and uninspired, and thus, as you turn the pages, you aren't doing it out of pure anticipation to unravel the mystery, but out of anticipation to rid yourself of these cringeworthy characters with the (disappointing) bonus of all being revealed. The narrative is split into two; the story alternates between Apryl's story and Seth's story. Yes, you guess right -- the characters don't converge until the end of the novel at the climax. Surprised? No, I wasn't either.

There is actually very little to say about Apryl despite her being the heroine. She's American, and inherited her aunt's apartment and its contents. Without being particularly prompted or having a solid reason, she almost randomly decides to attempt to discover the building's secret. This, however, isn't the only badly contrived plot point; there is actually a horrible deus ex machina chapter towards the end of the novel. You'll know it when you read.

Considering that I have spent more than two paragraphs point out the novel's glaringly obvious flaws, I just know that you are wondering why I liked it so much. Simple answer? It's a very creepy and atmospheric book. Read some of Seth's dream sequences, have a look at those scenes with the boy in the snorkel coat, and try to get through paragraphs exposing the disturbing and depressing minutiae of London life. Nevill can write exceptionally well when it comes to setting -- you can almost smell the damp and musty furniture and the burning flesh, and feel yourself turn a little queasy at the description of a mattress as having "gang rape stains".

If Nevill could flesh out his characters as much as his settings and reinforce the plot a bit more, I'm sure his next book will be winner. Adam Nevill is a horror writer to watch out for, so appreciate Apartment 16 as the seedling that just might grow into something pretty spectacular.

Suikoden Tierkreis (Nintendo DS) (2009)

2010-12-02T13:15:00.000-08:00

As much as I love my Nintendo DS, I have admittedly been distracted by the amount of amazing games that have been released on the XBOX360 this past year; amazing titles have been released one after the other. As a result, I have fallen behind with my DS games. I started playing Suikoden Tierkreis sometime around August, but after playing it for a while, it was put on the back burner. I ended up restarting my game last month -- mostly because I couldn't remember anything about the plot -- and promised myself I was going to complete it; a promise I have now fulfilled.

I have been a fan of the Suikoden games since high school. My first Suikoden was actually the third title that was released in Japan and America back in 2002. My brother picked the game up for me in the summer of 2002, and I have been hooked ever since. Despite being my favourite gaming series of all time, I can't explain why I love it. I think it's something to do with the fact that the game doesn't revolve around the tired "hero saving the world from evil" premise. Suikoden is about warring countries. To quote Squall from Final Fantasy VIII: 'There's no good or bad side. Just two sides holding different views'. Suikoden Tierkreis didn't totally float my boat because it is basically a black and white, good vs. evil plot. Also, the story is set in an alternate universe, so there are no returning characters, familiar countries, or references to previous games. A bit disappointing, but at least it wasn't set 150 years in the past.

I've heard from a lot of people that the plot is very simple, but I found it really convoluted and confusing; the writers knew what was going on, the characters knew what was going on, but because the translation was so dodgy, I didn't understand what they were going on about. The translation was bad, but at least it wasn't Suikoden II bad. In saying that, the plot wasn't so bad that I wanted to throw my DS out the window or anything. It was tolerable, and I really liked the main cast of characters. Liu, in particular, is pretty awesome.

My main problem with Suikoden Tierkreis is actually a pretty minor one. The battle system is the typical turn-based system featured throughout most of the series, but the encounter rate is phenomenally high in this one. In the final dungeon, which is a bit of a maze, you are faced with battle upon battle that yields about 20EXP, and it is this that makes you want to throw your DS out the window. Incidentally, the game isn't particularly challenging, either; minimal strategies are required to defeat bosses, and even the final boss.

A lot of fans have commented that as the series has gone on, the games feel less and less like a Suikoden. I don't agree with this, but despite having no references to the previous games, Tierkreis does evoke some fond memories considering it boasts some reworkings of familiar theme tunes. Apart from that, however, the soundtrack is pretty uninteresting, and the voice acting is pretty bad.

Generally speaking, Suikoden Tierkreis is simply gorgeous to look at; all the locations are bright and beautiful 2D renderings with cute 3D chibi characters. I really liked the animated cutscenes, which are reminiscent of Suikoden III; the voice acting did sound a bit tinny during these, but I guess that is expected considering this is all on a DS cart.

All in all, Suikoden Tierkreis is a pretty neat game, and an excellent RPG for your handheld. I'm happy to have played it, although I doubt I would play it again. If you're a fan of Suikoden, it will definitely whet your appetite until the next instalment arrives.

3.5 Danielles out of 5!

Fable III (XBOX360) (2010)

2010-11-28T18:49:00.000-08:00

I just had a quick gander at my blog, and it turns out that I've actually reviewed and discussed Fable 2; it also turns out that I didn't do as much as a hatchet job on it as I thought I would. Maybe I was being nice? Ah, who knows? What I do know, however, is that my opinion of Fable III is going to be as equally unfavourable as its predecessor.

Okay, so what did Lionhead Studio do right this time? Well, they dropped the (short) child-to-adult prologue, and more or less threw us into the "action" in which the young prince/princess witnesses the on-going tyranny of their older brother -- the king. In the first half-hour of the game, the player has to make some pretty major decisions in the castle that will lead to the young prince/princess becoming either a benevolent ruler or a tyrant like their sibling. The seeds of revolution are sown on a rainy night when the player is quietly ushered out of the castle by butler Jasper and guardian (?) Walter, and into the land of Albion, which is supposedly under the rule of the iron fist.

Apart from the snow-covered Dweller Camp, Albion more or less looks and feels the same as it did in Fable 2. A lot of recycling has been done considering a lot of NCPs, and their voices are exactly the same as the second game; I'm pretty sure that most of the soundtrack has been reused as well. There are changes to the game, and apparently the major -- and best change according to its developers -- is the fact that there are no menus. Weapon changing, clothes swapping, and fast travel are done by pressing the start button, which transports the player to the Sanctuary. I really don't have a strong opinion on this; I could take it or leave it. The only frustrating part about it is selecting items in battle, which is done by pressing the D-pad. It's possible that I missed this in the Sanctuary, but I often got annoyed at how I could never be sure how many healing potions or food I had because this was only made available during battle. I didn't find the lack of a menu particularly innovative or something to write home about -- in fact, it was actually down right irritating when using the pawnbroker; the whole process was just unnecessarily... badly thought out and executed?

Due to the lack of menu, the levelling up system becomes a bit too one dimensional. Levelling up by spending guild seals (EXP) in order to open certain chests. The Fable series is about creating your world with your hero/ine, but there was very little customisation involved in levelling up. I like to play super strong sword-wielding characters with little to no magic abilities, but I felt oddly dissatisfied with this system. I just felt like there weren't enough options or skills to choose from. There were different magic spells, but no interesting melee moves to input. It was just button bashing with slow motion crazy moves that required no effort on the player's part.

I have spent a long time discussing the lack of menu because apart from that, there is nothing new to discuss. You can buy property, do odd jobs around the towns, get married, have children, and visit prostitutes, which I had done to death in the last game. Nothing to see here. Move along!

Like most gaming sites that have reviewed Fable III, I also need to share my general "WTF" and annoyance at the main part of when your character becomes the ruler. Unless you have amassed a hell of a lot of property in order to donate to the treasury, it's pretty much impossible to be an amazing ruler with all your adoring subjects still adoring you after the giant *spoiler*. All good actions cost money (even if they essentially do NOTHING), all evil actions earn money, so it's pretty difficult to keep the coffers full. This whole part of the game is just badly thought out, and made me lose patience with the game.

What did I like about the game? Well, it was cool how the weapons morphed depending on certain in-game factors, and I did like industrial Bowerstone -- mostly because it reminded me of Victorian London. Two good points doesn't really justify the £40 price tag, does they? No. Will I buy the next Fable game? Probably. I'm a sucker that lives in hope; I live in hope that one day the Fable team will deliver that amazing experience that they proposed so long ago. Until they do, you will just have put up with me whining until it happens.

Two Danielles out of five.

Barney's Version by Mordecai Richler (1997)

2010-10-24T14:43:00.000-07:00

The shelves of UK book shops may be crammed with titles from the good old US of A, but over the past few months I've noticed that we seem to be lacking in the Canadian literature department. Yes, we've heard of Margaret Atwood and Alice Munro, but we seem to have forgotten about Leonard Cohen (for fiction!) and Mordecai Richler these days. In universities, we have a lot of Canadian lecturers teaching us Scottish literature. Sometimes I wish I could be Scottish lecturer teaching Canadian literature.

I actually began my pioneering journey into the land of Canadian literature with Ann-Marie MacDonald's Fall on your Knees, which I read at the beginning of this year for my female Gothic class -- unfortunately I was too busy at the time to write about it here on Danielle Rousseau-esque Frolicking. Now that I can manage my own time as a PhD student, I'll definitely be able to ply the blog with my bookish thoughts more often.

Barney's Version is basically a self-indulgent diatribe written by the aging Quebecois Jew Barney Panofsky in retaliation to long time frenemie Terry McIver's memoirs. Married three times, accused of murder, and the owner of the successful Totally Unnecessary Productions television company, Barney has definitely led a very interesting life, but his memory is failing through old age.

Mingled within Barney's memories of his olde tyme "(g)literati" days in boho sixties Paris with best friend and talented writer Bernard "Boogie" Moscovitch and icon feminist Clara, son Saul's left-wing college protesting, and the wooing of his beloved third wife Miriam are repetitive reminders of what the Seven Dwarves are called and what one strains spaghetti with. This certainly does not detract from the narrative, but strangely makes Barney more human and more likeable despite his (many) faults and flaws.

As an avid Canada lover and bona fide Canadian citizen in the making, reading fact or fiction about this amazing country and its array of people is a real treat for me. The Quebec and Toronto of Barney's Version are strangely exotic, but comforting to this foreign reader. Barney doesn't take himself seriously, and neither should you. This, however, does not detract from underlying social satire and black comedy underneath the multitude of layers this novel sports.

Barney's Version is not only an onion, but a a genre blender bender. It's faux/mock-epistolary and faux-intertexual with its snippets of Terry McIver's works, and quasi-Stephen King-gothic-horror-detective at the end, of course. I could go on forever about this gem of book, but I think some things are better left unsaid.

4 danielles out of 5!

The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald (1925)

2010-09-03T03:13:00.000-07:00

This summer, I realised that F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby had slipped under my bookish radar, so I decided to give it a whirl this summer. I'm generally a fan of American literature depicting New York between 1920 - 1960, so I particularly enjoyed this textual foray into the Eggs of Long Island.

I have often seen The Great Gatsby being used as an example of American Gothic fiction, and this was another crucial factor in my decision to read it. I would say that this book does have some Gothic themes, such as the fallacy of the American dream in American society and America's decadent Jazz Age, but I think the Gothic of Gatsby is purely stylistic; Fitzgerald's prose is quite haunting. It weaves in and out of coherency, goes off on tangents, and is just generally... quite odd. Narrated in the first person by its main protagonist Nick Caraway, while dialogue is often at the epicentre of a few chapters, space is integral to the text -- much like a lot of American literature -- and I think these two aspects are pitted against each other.

The dialogue of all the characters is mediated through Caraway, and without having been immediately committed to text, I guess discourse can easily become mutated and subjected to change. When space, landscape and setting are described by Caraway, however, each of these aspects are precise and highly detailed. The ash heaps are probably the most flagrant example of this.

I would like to say more about The Great Gatsby, but I'm afraid I would have to read it again before I could embark upon a more in depth analysis of its Gothic credentials. I will give this book...

4 Danielles out of 5!

The Cutting Room by Louise Welsh (2002)

2010-08-08T18:51:00.000-07:00

I seldom read contemporary Scottish fiction, but Louise Welsh's The Cutting Room piqued my interests when I attended the last Gothic reading group of the semester this year. Welsh's latest effort Naming the Bones (2010) was heavily criticised, and many cried "What went wrong? The Cutting Room was so good!", so I just had to ask "What's that about?"

When I was told that The Cutting Room was about a sleazy auctioneer's quest to find out whether some 1950's snuff photographs are genuine or not, I knew I had to read it. A couple of weeks ago, I went to Oxfam books in the West End, and I found it... along with The Third Policeman...

The Cutting Room is set in Glasgow in the early 00's -- when smoking wasn't illegal in indoor public places (an era we will never go back to...). The reader follows Mr. Rilke through the seedy underbelly of Glasgow in attempt to discover more about the deceased Mr. McKindless's photographs. Rilke journeys all over the city from the Hyndlands to the Necropolis to University Avenue, and Welsh's descriptions certainly suit the Glaswegian atmosphere: a grey, desolate, dull, and rainy cityscape. Welsh, however, does fictionalise some real locations, such as the gay bar/club The Polo lounge (The Chelsea Lounge), and the second hand bookshop Voltaire and Rousseau in Otago Lane. Unfortunately, I can't remember what Welsh renames it. I did enjoy the chapters set in "The Chelsea Lounge"; it was quite an accurate portrayal of Glasgow's awful gay scene.

While the setting is pretty authentic, I find Welsh's dialogue very poor. I feel that she portrays modern Scottish slang through the lens of exoticism. I often find that she overuses colloquialisms; Rilke has a West Coast accent -- like I do. Having grown up there, I often found his word choice is quite odd.

The Cutting Room is a pretty debauched Gothic endeavour mostly because Rilke has many faults and sexual perversions of his own, and very dubious morals. There was also something quite (modern) vampyric about his character construction, and I think this is very significant in why The Cutting Room is often perceived as a Gothic text. All in all, I really enjoyed this book, and I really hope I can work on it sometime.

4 Danielles out of 5! Great read!

Harvest Moon: Sunshine Islands (Nintendo DS) (2009)

2010-08-03T15:03:00.000-07:00

My first foray into the world of Harvest Moon was actually with It's a Wonderful Life for the Nintendo Gamecube, but I actually didn't do so well with it. I had lived on my farm for about four game years, and had made next to nothing. I enjoyed it, but I wasn't a successful farmer. Out of curiosity, I tried my hand at first title for the Super Nintendo, which was first released in 1997. My hopes were dashed because I was still a dreadful farmer. I have always harboured a longing to become a decent farmer, and my wish was fulfilled with the DS title Sunshine Islands, which soon became my guilty pleasure in Canada. My success in Sunshine Islands was probably powered by my overindulgence in Tim Hortons because I had managed to accrue a big stash of cash, and a lovely wife called Sabrina.

As a farming simulator, Sunshine Islands will probably only appeal to a small niche of people, but I feel the game play has been simplified to appeal to a wider audience; it's not as difficult, or laborious to farm your fruits and vegs, or gather your animal products. Money can also be made outside the farm through fishing, picking up things off the ground, or mining -- these are simply popped in the shipping box as opposed to selling each individual item type to the respective shop, which features in some Harvest Moon games. Evidently, the designers have tried to lessen the effort factor.

Sunshine Islands, moreover, is not simply about farming. Set on a small collection islands, the aim of the game is to unlock as many other islands as possible, and this is achieved by collecting Sun Stones. Sun Stones can be found in a variety of places; some are hidden in bushes or behind trees, some are found after shipping x amount of crops, most are given to you by your fellow villagers, and some by your animals. Collecting the Sun Stones is quite addictive, and considering it unlocks more islands, such as Rice Island and Fruit Island, doing so is also more lucrative.

Like with all Harvest Moon games, marriage also plays a prominent part; whether your farmer is male or female, there are lots of cute bachelors and spinsters to chose from. Some of the romance scenes are quite adorable, and there are also rival lovers about!

As for the graphics, Sunshine Islands is bright and cheerful; the sprites are cute, and the anime-style portrait pictures are equally as adorable. As with all games of this series, the changing of seasons is crucial, and the snow of winter, and the lush greens of spring are both lovely to look at it. The music? There is no voice acting, and you won't be missing much if you mute it to listen your iPod.

All in all, Harvest Moon: Sunshine Islands is a great game with a lot of replay value. Be careful, though, because I managed to get pretty addicted to it!

4 Danielles out of 5!

Cooking Mama (2006) (Nintendo DS)

2010-07-21T15:31:00.000-07:00

Cooking Mama is the first game I have completed on my sophisticated pink Nintendo DS with matching baby pink case. When I write "completed", I mean I have obtained gold medals for every dish. The premise of Cooking Mama is pretty self explanatory; some woman that is presumably referred to as "Mama" is teaching you how to cook. Preparing and cooking the food is done through following and using the stylus. To create dishes, Cooking Mama replicates and virtually tries to authentic the preparation for each individual recipe. The player can peel carrots, wash rice, sauté vegetables, and boil spaghetti.

Strangely, I never ever found this game boring despite it being so basic -- in fact, I was actually addicted to the cutesy, bright, anime-style graphics, and equally adorable music. Although, the best part of the game is definitely when the player cocks up the dish, and is greeted with a mama sporting flaming eyes!

This game is a perfect break from studying; most of the dishes don't take that long to prepare, so it's a nice and mindless five minute treat! I really enjoyed it!

Nightwood by Djuna Barnes (1936)

2010-03-15T11:28:00.000-07:00

This was the first book I read in 2010, and what a weird trip it was. I'm sort of on the fence when it comes to my opinion on modernism -- I'm not really fussed about it either way. I won't go out of my way to read it, but I usually enjoy reading it. It did take me two reads to understand what was going on in Virginia Woolf's classic Mrs. Dalloway.

Where do I begin in discussing Nightwood? Well, it was part of my masters course in the Gothic -- it was given the label Gothic Modernism. Of course, this is a problematic term; Gothic has always been dubbed as trash. It was the trash of its day. On the other hand, modernism is a part of early 20th century high culture. It's a nice little paradox.

This paradox exists in the title itself: Nightwood. We usually associate the woods as the place that is barbaric, other, and frightening, but the novel is set in the city of Paris. The night is usually when all the scary monsters come out and creepy things happen, but the night is the world of deathly loneliness.

Seemingly, Nightwood's Paris is a ghetto for society's freaks and outcasts. Well, we have a transvestite, a lot of lesbians (inter-sexed people), a sham doctor, a Jew turned Christian, a person with learning difficulties and a lot of other Bahktinian Carnivalesque champions. Yes, it sounds like another modernist novel tapping into the veins of eugenics, but Dr. Matthew O'Conner's speeches tend to make my head implode, so any kind of intelligent analysis becomes redundant, I'm sure. I have no idea what he's talking about.

I will probably try to read this again...

Precious: Based on the Novel 'Push' by Sapphire (2009)

2010-02-26T08:31:00.000-08:00

Precious can be summed up an oxymoron: heart wrenchingly funny.

It's so tragic, but at the same time, you are invited to laugh at the ups and downs of protagonist Claireece Precious Jones' life. The visuals are hard hitting, the sound is a full frontal assault, the music is quirky, and Precious' alternate life in the mirror makes you smile in a sad way. It begins as a film centred upon escapism through the imagination, but as it progresses, we watch Precious grow. She grows into someone that has a desire to better her life instead of wallowing in her own self pity.

This is a film that generally deals with Gothic tropes: abuse in most of its forms and incest. I think it's interesting how the 'hood can be rendered a Gothic space. John Ajvide Lindqvist's Let the Right One In turns the run down estate into a Swedish Gothic space. I have also heard that Sarah Waters is interesting in doing something similar to the UK council estate in her latest endeavour. It seems like the ghetto is steadily becoming the new Gothic space in global terms; it's a modern version of the Dickensian slum it seems.

Precious really appeals to me in a quasi-modern Gothic sense -- especially it's visual aspects. Just look at the movie poster: grimy, industrial, basic, emphasis upon the broken body with a monstrous hand shape. Interesting stuff.

I haven't actually read Push, but I shall see if I can get my hands on it at some point. I wonder how it reads in a Gothic sense.

Whether you are trying to read it as Gothic or not, you should really watch this film. It's wonderful.

The Road (2009)

2010-02-19T07:41:00.000-08:00

John Hillcoat has provided us with a filmic interpretation of Cormac McCarthy's 2006 novel The Road, which hit our screens in November 2009. After reading the novel for Gothic Reading Group back in 2007, I was swept away; it's one of those books that stick with you, and I was thinking about it for days and days. The prose is sparse, but it still manages to be both harrowing and heartbreaking. This post-apocalyptic world, which McCarthy manages to elaborately describe in so few words, even allows the reader to conjure up a ghostly image of oneself to wander behind the father and his son. There are such strange and wonderful technicalities going on with the prose, so I was worried when I found out there was going to be a film of the book I hold so close to my heart.

I wasn't disappointed; I thought it was quite possibly the best rendition they could have done. Just like the book, the cause of the Great Fire was never revealed, and I was worried it would be; I don't want to know. The beauty of the novel is its mystery. The film didn't give up its secrets or fabricate them; it was simply a visual version of the prose.

The Man is played by Viggo Mortensen, and it was a superb choice. He really suits the 'man of few words' role, and he works brilliantly with The Boy (Kodi Smit-McPhee). I smile sometimes because The Road has a Seinfeld vibe: 'a show about nothing'. This movie details a pointless journey; the father wants to take his son to the coast because he thinks it will be warmer. They are constantly moving, but are getting nowhere. It's a movie about nothing, and I can see why it would get negative reviews and feedbacks, but it's the whole experience that makes me love it.

The last can of Coca Cola, oversized shoes on the Boy, socks made out of carrier bags, malnutrition, sleeping in a crashed lorry, taking a blanket from a women that died in bed, keeping a wallet with cash inside... it's not about the story having a point because there is no A to B. A to B doesn't exist anymore.

Go and see it. Then play Fallout 3 afterwards; you won't regret it.

5 Danielles out of 5. Because she knows what it's like to be stuck on a godforsaken rock.

The Evolution of Guybrush Threepwood

2010-01-01T18:40:00.000-08:00

In 1990, when I was around three years old, I have a really hazy memory. I remember going to Irvine with my father and older brother. Our destination was a shop called John Menzies, which is a now-defunct UK chain. My brother went there exclusively to buy a PC game called The Secret of Monkey Island. The whole package looked exactly like this -- except my copy was for DOS and not for the Amiga. It remember the quirky Dial-a-Pirate wheel, which was there to prevent piracy. It always sticks in my mind as a quirky little gadget. Seeing as we have DVDs and Blu-Ray these days, it feels odd to think back to the times when games were installed via floppy disks.

Seeing as I was very young at the time, I could only watch my brother play the game, but as I got older I could play it myself. The Monkey Island series is predominately comprised point-and-click adventure games. Chock full of challenging puzzles, witty dialogue, memorable characters, and pirates, it's hard not to love this series. Even to this day, I can play the first three games and remember what to do from start to finish.

Almost twenty years on, Guybrush Threepwood and I are still good friends. Throughout the years, I have watched him evolve from the pixel wannabe pirate that looked like a flooring inspector to the sophisticated 3D model from the The Tales of Monkey Island series that was released by TellTale Games in 2009. Having recently completed parts one to five of these new games inspired me to write this post, so be prepared for full reviews of the entire series. I'm going to begin with The Secret of Monkey Island: Special Edition, so stay tuned.

A Tale of Two Machines: Part 2

2009-12-22T15:43:00.000-08:00

This week, the UK has been swept up in its first chart battle for the Christmas no.1 in around four years. In 2005, Shayne Ward seized the top spot with 'That's My Goal'; Leona Lewis' 'A Moment Like this' occupied the coveted position in 2006; 'A Moment Like This' covered by Leon Jackson reached these dizzying heights in 2007, and finally, last year 'Hallelujah', which is sung by Alexandra Burke, seemed to glide seamlessly to number 1.

Each of these singers, won the one million pound record deal contract from ITV's The X Factor. Apart from Shayne Ward, each of these singers sang a cover version. While there were at least four contestants left on the show, and the winner's song had not been announced to the public yet, Jon and Tracey Morter started a Facebook group. This group was a campaign to simply resurrect the excitement and race for the Christmas number one; the Morters wanted to loosen the grip that the X Factor has on the most coveted spot of the year. For numerous reasons, the Morters chose Rage Against the Machine's 1992 song 'Killing in the Name' from their self-titled album. The Facebook campaign encouraged like minded folks to buy the single to instigate a battle for the Christmas number one, which hadn't been seen in years.

Rage Against the Machine's 'Killing in the Name ' vs. Joe McElderry's cover of Miley Cyrus' 'The Climb'.

Surprisingly, Rage Against the Machine won. I think Joe's version of 'The Climb' is dire, so I wouldn't purchase it. I already own Killing in the Name, so I didn't buy that either.

It terms of observing peoples' reactions and opinions of the whole thing, it has been a very interesting read. Needless to say, Simon Cowell has been latching himself onto the publicity -- as do fellow judges Louis Walsh and Cheryl Cole (I have included links to the respective articles here).

It's David versus Goliath and it's not fair on Joe. It's getting out of hand. --Simon Cowell.

Five months of being on prime time Saturday night television vs. a Facebook Group that probably existed for a month, and was spread by word of mouth. Just what are you talking about, Simon? The mind boggles.

In short, I think Joe McElderry's The Climb is a dire piece of crap. The backing music has absolutely no personality; if you tune into any dramatic moment from the '90's era of the Australian soap Neighbours, you will feel the those low-budget compositions resonate closely with ALL Cowellesque pap Winner's Songs. In terms of music itself, The Climb brings absolutely nothing new to the table. It's a cheesy music-by-numbers: key change, choir, crescendo. It doesn't ooze creativity like Lady Gaga or snatch you with those catchy hooks of Fight For This Love; it's all about a note perfect voice.

Joe McElderry's voice just isn't for me. I found all of his performances on the X Factor very dull. I find his voice too high; he sounds very feminine in a way that doesn't appeal to me -- Daniel Johns from Silverchair? Yes, please. Joe McElderry? No, thanks. So, he can hit all the high notes, and is always note perfect. Technically he's brilliant, but I think that's where his talents end. If he's going to sing a bunch of safe Cowell pap for his new album, then I'm not going to be converted.

The mass purchase of RATM's 'Killing in the Name' was bought on a large scale for one reason: to create a race and a fight for number 1. However, a lot of direhard Joe McElderry fans on the DigitalSpy Forums seemed to take the whole thing really personally by attacking the RATM fans' personal reasons for buying the single. Maybe some people bought it because it was a classic for them... or maybe some people bought it just so Joe couldn't get number 1. Does it matter? Actually my favourite reason was people claiming that others had 'sour grapes' over their favourite not winning X Factor. Anyway, if you want to read any of these posts, just take this thread for example. It amuses me that people call 'Killing in the Name' a rude, obnoxious song. Haha.

There are a whole variety of reasons, but why aren't these people criticising and attacking the people who voted for Lloyd Daniels or Kandy Rain? Didn't they also fight to keep Joe off the top spot? I just find the reasoning for not buying Joe's single very odd. People, like me for instance, only watch X Factor for some light Saturday night entertainment. I don't really see it as the search for a brand new pop star. It's like watching karaoke without leaving the house. However, instead of being handed a £30 bar tab for winning by the greasy landlord, this starry-eyed winner is handed a £1 million recording contract by suits. I'd like to read the small print for that bad boy; Joe McElderry is probably going to be a recouped artist in two years time. He'll have to pay back that £1 million via sales et al before he can make a wage. Basically, it's a £1 million loan. Even though the music industry is reforming and not making nearly as much money supposedly because of illegal downloading, Syco does make money. However, think about the amount of money that X Factor makes for STV and itself. A million quid is nothing to spend on promoting Joe when the X Factor is getting between 9-13 million viewers a weekend -- not to mention the money made from voting via the phone. Multiple voting: ker-ching!

A lot of people seemed to think that the problem with the Rage Against the Machine machine was the fact that the band is signed under one of Sony's many mini umbrellas. At the end of the day, whether you are buying Joe McElderry's 'The Climb' with the profits going to Syco or buying 'Killing in the Name' with (some) of the profits going to Epic, it's all going to Sony in the end. However, a couple of RATM's band members said they were donating their portions earned to charity. If RATM are no longer recouped then this will be good, but I doubt they are.

I know RATM wrote about meaningful songs whereas Joe is singing about his 'hard earned' win on the X Factor, 'Killing in the Name''s success for 2009 Christmas number one will always remind me of Bomb the Music Industry's song 'Side Projects are Never Successful':

And when I finally got to work today, I ate my Subway sandwich, and I drank my Coca-Cola Classic, and then I ate my Sunchips and I thought about the weekend when I'd fill up my Ford van with Mobil brand gas and drive to the Clear Channel venue and I'd drink myself a Budweiser and play my Fender guitar through my Fender amplifier and tell the kids with a straight face through a Shure microphone and JBL speakers that corporate rock is for suckers.

Yeah.

A Tale of Two Machines: Part 1

2009-12-20T08:07:00.000-08:00

I have been watching the X Factor for four years now; even though I occasionally wonder why, I keep telling myself that it's I am very interested in music and how it is developing in the 21st century with The Fall of the Industry. I don't watch much television, so it's okay for me to indulge my whims, right?

On the 13th of December 2009, 18 year old Joe McElderry from South Shields won the sixth season of the X Factor (UK). He was dubbed the official Dark Horse of 2009 by Simon Cowell, decried as 'stage school' by Louis Walsh, was constantly told he was 'note perfect' by Dannii Minogue, and finally, become the adopted little brother by fellow South Shield resident, reality show winner and the Nation's Sweetheart Cheryl Cole. We all had a sneaky feeling that Joe was going to run off with the X Factor's glorified karaoke crown by having a brief gander and listen to his competition.

Week One: Music Legends Theme saw all twelve starry eyed acts battle it out, but seemingly the public was the least impressed by girl group Kandy Rain. Comprised of a bunch of scantily-clad ex-strippers, I guess this act was too 'naughty' for the British public... or just pretty meh, in my opinion. Robbie Williams was the celebrity mentor, but it was hard to tell what Mr. Sarcasm thought of this year's crop. Along with Rachel Adedeji, Kandy Rain were in the 'bottom two' sporting a mere 1.5% of the votes. It went to deadlock, and Kandy Rain said goodbye. Who knows if they are still together?

Week Two: Divas Theme allowed its contestants to do covers of 'divas' under the mentors Whitney Houston and Clive Davis. Hat obsessed Rikki Loney, who was dubbed The Crying Scotsman by the media, failed to impress everyone with his cover of Respect by Aretha Franklin. Whitney seemed pretty offended to say the least. Rikki had auditioned a couple of times before, and this was the first time he had made it to the lives only to wish us farewell in week two. His voice really didn't appeal to me, but we can probably wish him all the best in Pontins or Butlins or whatever. He had quite a feminine voice, which was sort of interesting. Once again, Rachel Adedeji was in the bottom two, but once again was saved because 'maybe the public just aren't getting her'. Probably the most interesting singer out the lot...

Week Three: Big Band Theme was back and so was Michael Bublé as the celebrity mentor. Miss Frank, three individual ladies that supposedly weren't good enough to get past Boot Camp but were thrown together to add a decent group to the ever lacklustre group section, were eliminated. Miss Frank were quite a unique group because one of the girls liked to rap (badly). With practice and more time together to find a niche, I'm sure they could do not too bad. The judges kept saying that the three girls had never really 'gelled' and that was supposedly their downfall. I thought they worked perfectly fine together, and I would have liked them to stay longer. Instead, they were voted out to save Danyl Johnson.

Week Four: Rock Theme was something new for the show this year. Cheryl Cole pointed out the obvious to Cowell, saying that he has a 'rock' artist with Jamie Archer, so behold! Rock Week. I think Cheryl is partly correct, but we have to keep in mind that Bon Jovi were releasing a new album. ker-ching! Rock Week was dire, and we finally saw the departure of Rachel Adedeji. Series Teen Cutie Lloyd Daniels was in the bottom two was the first time. I have no idea why he got through to the live shows. At least Rachel could actually sing. It must have been a slap in the face for her to get booted out over the waspy little schoolboy who had probably sung in tune for a total of 6 seconds during the entire series. He had a sore throat. Bless his little cotton socks.

Week Five: Movie Theme was quite possibly the most (constructed) controversial week of the X Factor's history. Lucie Jones the extremely bland girl that repeatedly told us that she was from a little village in Wales was in the bottom two with the infamous John and Edward. Not only did Lucie have the personality and stage presence of a toilet seat, but she was also a pretty average singer from a little village in Wales. Simon Cowell took the judges' vote to deadlock, and send Lucie back to the little village in Wales. The following week, everyone -- not just the inhabitants of the little village in Wales -- was up in arms because bland Lucie was evicted over John and Edward. At least John and Edward were interesting to watch.

Week Six: Queen Songs thought we would see 'rock god' Jamie Archer back in the 'rock' fray after his pretty awful rendition of Rocks by Primal Scream during Rock Week, but instead he waved goodbye to land us with another week of Lloyd Daniels. Even though I would have Jamie down as a karaoke rock singer, his voice was a breath of fresh air amidst the bum notes of Lloyd Daniels and sleep-inducing Joe McElderry. I wonder what kind of album Jamie would have produced with Syco if he had won? I honestly don't think that Jamie was a hidden gem waiting to be found; I think he is an average pub singer with a good image that got lucky. Well, at least he went the old skool route initially by playing gigs in pee pee soaked heck holes. What on earth was Louis Walsh thinking by keeping Lloyd in? The mind boggles.

Week Seven: Wham (and George Michael) Songs gave us one of the most bemusing comments from Simon this year -- of course, this is excluding 'it's like eating a sandwich whilst swimming' in reference to Lloyd doing a backflip during Big Band Week. Simon, who was the mentor for over 25 Olly Murs, claimed that Fastlove by George Michael is current and relevant (his keywords of the series). I guess this just shows how much Simon knows about music. Fastlove was released in 1996, which was 13/14 years ago. Just how is that current? He went on to talk about how that's the kind of stuff he would get for Olly if he won and released an album. Ok, Simon, you all knowing music mogul, you! However, it was this week that we saw the departure of nation's most loved and hated contestants John and Edward. The poor kids were booed and heckled all series, so good on them for singing No Matter What by Boyzone to the audience. The series became very boring after this.

Week Eight: Take That and Elton John Songs was a particularly boring week for me simply because I don't particularly like either artist or any of the singers left in the competition. It was a pretty dull show, and the judges were mesmerised by Joe McElderry's performance of Elton John's Sorry Seems to Be the Hardest Word. A boring song, a boring performer. Pretty boy Lloyd Daniels seemed to have finally lost the teeny vote and was shown the door. His performance of A Million Love Songs later was actually not too bad. Even though I ragged on him a lot, I did feel sorry for him when Olly did his I AM A MAN winning screaming, punching and shouting.

Week Nine (semi-final): Michael Jackson and Mentor's Choice was another bland week, and my favourite to win Danyl Johnson made his exit. Yeah, he wasn't in tune much, but at least he was fun to watch and had a unique voice. I would consider listening to him if he produced something worthwhile. If he's free from Cowell, then he's not going to be restricted to doing crappy cover versions and the like. Good luck to him. I hope he manages to make something of himself in this mad world that we live in.

Week Ten (Final): Stacey Solomon (Dagenham Stace or The Voice) was first to be voted off. I think she doesn't have a future in the music industry. There are too many singers like her, and are generally much better than her. She's young, so she has time to improve. I really liked her versions of Coldplay's The Scientist and Somewhere Only We Know by Keane. However, if you look at her later songs, like Take That's Rule the World, there is a definite improvement in her ability. Anyway, we all know that Joe McElderry won. It was better that than Olly Murs with his weird dancing and his awful singing.

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (2009)

2009-11-27T14:05:00.000-08:00

I will always stand by my opinion that the Harry Potter books always have fairly interesting plots, but are generally pretty poorly written. The films, therefore, compensate for this major flaw; they provide a visual bridge to extend over the gap the between plot and execution, which is created by J.K. Rowling's clumsy prose, and give us something that is well-rounded and fully enjoyable. Even Harry Potter and the Philosopher's/Sorcerer's Stone -- the first Harry Potter movie to grace our cinematic screens -- stands as a pretty sturdy representation of the early naughties' filmic achievements. Not to mention that the films tend to cut out all the unnecessary and extensive screeds of dialogue that Rowling feels the need to include (MOSTLY IN CAPS AS HARRY GETS ANGRY!!!!!!!).

Eight long years have passed since Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone first filled our local picture houses (and has now been subjected to the position of Christmas classic on ITV...). However, after watching The Half-Blood Prince last week, I can't help but wonder if the H.P. machine is running out of steam. Let's break down the H.P. formula:

1. Harry spends the summer at either his aunt and uncle's house, or now, the Weasley's.
2. Harry et al are on the train and something happens -- be it Voldemort or Malfoy related
3. Harry et al discover something and spend the school year pondering what it could be
4. Quidditch game
5. The adventure to the climax
6. Climax involving Voldemort or Death Eaters or something related.
7. Harry gets told he was brave.
8. End! :)

Yes, it's over simplified, but you get what I mean. I can only watch those eight steps so many times so many times before I get extremely bored. I have very little memory of The Order of the Phoenix, and unfortunately, The Half-Blood Prince will probably meet the same fate. It had very little to offer unlike the previous films, and seemed to focus on the (dull) burgeoning affections between characters. The Harry Potter franchise has been almost asexual until this point -- yes, there was that cringe worthy Harry-in-the-bath-scene from The Goblet of Fire, and the very awkward Cho Chang kiss -- but it seems like J.K. realised that she was essentially writing about a boarding school housing hormonal teenagers with The Half-Blood Prince. So, both the film and the book end up focusing on this rather boring Lavender-Ron-Hermione love triangle that no one really cares about because we want to see special effects and creepy monsters. I would care about Ron and Lavender if she ate her peas one at a time, but scooped corn nibblets. That, unfortunately, isn't the case so my interest immediately depletes.

What else can I say other than I conform to Hollywood's pap? I laughed at Hermione telling off Ron, and I cried at the emotion of Harry force feeding Dumbledore poison. I came out having enjoyed the film, but demanding my money back at having seen the same film six times before.

3 Danielles out of 5.

The Mysteries of Udolpho By Ann Radcliffe (1794)

2009-10-02T14:50:00.000-07:00

It goes without saying that Ann Radcliffe is an extremely renowned writer within the 'first wave' of Gothic romances. Unlike other Gothic writers of the eighteenth century such as Walpole and M.G. Lewis, Radcliffe was actually very well respected by literary critiques and the literati of her time. Mrs. Radcliffe's respect, popularity and renown are all still very prevalent in contemporary times. For a few years, I was constantly told that I would never be a true Gothicist until I read The Mysteries of Udolpho. I had tried to read it during the summer of 2006, but I gave up after... seven or eight pages. I thought I could get away with having just read Radcliffe's A Sicilian Romance, but I had been told several times that that just wasn't good enough.

Seeing as it was the on the course list for my masters this year, I finally managed to finished the whole damn thing on the 16th of September. The plot may be extremely slow and the prose may be really dense, but I just can't bring myself to hate Udolpho -- it feels like sacrilege or something.

There are a lot of interesting things going on in the novel, but analysing it through an Anglo-American Second Wave Feminism perspective just doesn't doesn't tickle my fancy. I wouldn't mind doing some reading of criticism on it, but the 'Female Gothic' route of analysis is starting to wear a bit thin for me. However, the fact that Emily St. Aubert actually inherited her aunt Madam Cheron/Montoni's property after her death was fascinating. By law, in the eighteenth century, it was impossible for a married woman to own anything because everything she owned became her husband's. Such small instances allow many critics to perceive Radcliffe as a radical as opposed to a conservative. The latter is most likely deduced because of her textual adherences to patriarchal thought structures. The French Revolution had just taken place and the English were very tense in case something like that happened to them. It would have been dangerous for Radcliffe to show outward opposition to the English institution.

As per usual, my above comments show that I would be far more interested in doing a pyschoanalytical analysis of Udolpho. Emily's relationship with Valancourt and also her parents would all be worthy of the Freud treatment.

Unfortunately, it's difficult to convince people to read (and love) The Mysteries of Udolpho, but I'm sure I will get to the 'love' part after a few more years in academia...

4 Danielles out of 5. Danielle lives on an island and therefore has plenty of time to read Radcliffe's many books with a similar plot.

Bee Movie (2007)

2009-09-02T12:52:00.000-07:00

The new university semester starts in less than two weeks, so this blog will undoubtedly be filled with the many things that tingle my overly sensitive Gothic sensibility during the coming months. Before this dark and melancholy carnage begins, I thought I would post something fun and cheery -- plus I need a break from Ann Radcliff's The Mysteries of Udolpho.

Bee Movie is the first movie that I have seen in a few months, and I thought it was a pretty enjoyable family film. Bee Movie was co-written and co-produced by comedian Jerry Seinfeld, who also voices the main character Barry B. Benson. Of course, I was mostly interesting in watching this film because Seinfeld is my favourite TV show of all time. Bee Movie is CGI and set in New York City, which must have been a pretty mean feat for the design and animation team seeing as they tried to convey a somewhat accurate representation of it. The New York City of Bee Movie is bright, flowery and super-happy, which is something we haven't seen in popular media for a long time because it's always the site of ruin and destruction for the Western World. Bee Movie's New York isn't the dark and melancholy Gotham City from Batman nor is it getting destroyed by a giant monster like in Cloverfield.

However, the brightly and bubbly state of New York doesn't last very long when Barry discovers that humans have been "stealing" honey from the bees. Like in true American style, Barry and all the bees sue the American race for the unfair use of their honey. As a result, the bees win the case, and all the honey in the world (presumably) is returned to the bees. With all that honey, the bees no longer need to work to make their own honey.

Without bees, there is no pollination; we see that all too familiar Gothicised image of New York City; dark, desolate and barren. It seems that New York can't escape this fate even in a film that is predominately aimed at children. Bee Movie has a very political agenda and this is evident in many scenes -- such as a large, bear-shaped bottle of honey being pulled down by a group of bees after they win the case. This is a very obvious reference to the statue of Saddam Hussein being pulled down, of course.

Given the nature of the bees in the film -- the fact that they live to work and such -- seems to conjure up an image of communism, which America so fears. When communism is let loose, all it can do is destroy...

Anyway, I thought that was interesting for a family film. :P Evidently I think everything is Gothic or has Gothic undertones. Well, it's a nice little film so if you're looking for something light then I'd give this a watch. It's not good enough to watch twice, though. Yay for Jerry's first film :P

3 Danielles out of 5.

The Castle of Otranto By Horace Walpole (1764)

2009-08-20T09:04:00.000-07:00

This is supposedly where it all begins -- in the Castle of Otranto itself. Initially posing as a translator going by the name of William Marshall, The Castle of Otranto was allegedly a manuscript written by Onuphario Muralto sometime in the 14th century. The script later popped up in the library of a member of the gentry many, many, many years later. Well, this is what the preface to the first edition claims. This forging of old works can be traced back to the early eighteenth century's desire for classic epics along the lines of Homer -- hence the infamous Ossian. As the son of the Whig Sir Robert Walpole, Horace's desire for anonymity seems reasonable; the idea of writing what would classified as the trash of his day (with Stephen King being the trash of our day...) wouldn't do wonders for his reputation. With this point, combined with the idea that Otranto may be a flop, Walpole's forgery becomes more and more justified.

Surprise! Otranto was actually a success and Horace Walpole finally owned up to its authorship in its second edition; he also gave it the subtitled 'A Gothic Story'. Arguably, we have the birth of the Gothic genre, which was adapted by the likes of Ann Radcliffe and M.G. Lewis. I must point out that the Gothic hasn't existed as genre since then because it is now a mode. Anyway...

During my first Modern Gothic class in my third year of undergrad, my lecturer said, "the Castle of Otranto is considered as a bit of hoot these days, but it is nonetheless important." I always remember her saying that because she's right; Otranto reads as a comic fantasy in a lot of places, and the servant Bianca's interactions with Prince Manfred are utterly hilarious. The book opens with Manfred's son and only heir being crushed by a giant helmet. With the whole story revolving around the prophecy: 'That the castle and lordship of Otranto should pass from the present family, whenever the real owner should be grown to large to inhabit it', the book falls into the category of ridiculous rather than terrifying.

However, The Castle of Otranto does have one of my favourite pieces of prose ever: 'he could know no happiness but in the society of one with whom he could forever indulge the melancholy that had taken possession of his soul'.

A lot has been said about Otranto and the meaning of Walpole's use of the word 'Gothic', so I guess there is very little I can say about it without touching on the same grounds as the established Gothic scholars. My intellectual input to this dumb but amazing book is: it's like the first season of Seinfeld; totally lame but it was the start of something grotesquely beautiful.

Glennis, if you're reading, I want to be quoted on the above someday...

5 Danielles out of 5 because it's a pure classic.

Lost and Philosophy: The Island Has Its Reasons ed. Sharon M. Kaye

2009-08-08T07:16:00.000-07:00

A couple of months ago, I was in the book store Borders and I was delighted to find a book called Lost and Philosophy: The Island Has Its Reasons. When the TV show Lost finishes, I think there is going to be an academic explosion -- in many different disciplines -- that will analyse the show. Given the circumstances of the programme, it doesn't seem at all surprising that there would be a book that analyses its philosophical dilemmas and subtext. While philosophy isn't one of my main academic interests anymore, I still enjoy the occasional jaunt into the likes of Sartre and Rousseau. I finally bought Lost and Philosophy and have just finished reading it.

I'm a member of GoodReads, which is basically just a site that chronicles one's reading habits, and once I had finished reading Lost and Philosophy, this review caught my eye. As this Andrew fellow rightly points out, Lost and Philosophy is basically 'just an excuse to talk philosophy with little to no connection to the show'. However, like Andrew also remarks, there are a few gems amongst the rubbish heap that makes it all worthwhile.

The book is split into four sections:

L is for Love
O is for Origin
S is for Survival
T is for Transformation (lookie, isn't that oh-so clever?)

L is for Love is ultimately a rather disappointing section; as its title would suggest, it mainly explores moral philosophy. The only particularly interesting essay was 'Research Ethics and the Dharma Initiative' by Deborah R. Barnbaum. While the conclusion was pretty obvious, Barnbaum did venture into some psychology experiments by the (dated) Stanley Milgram to challenge some views on Dharma.

O is for Origin actually had two essays that well worth reading: 'Lost, The Third Policeman, and Guerilla Ontology' by Jessica Engelking and 'Lost in Codes: Interpretation and Deconstruction in Lost's narrative' by Tom Grimwood. Firstly, Engelking points out a lot of the similarities between Lost and the novel The Third Policeman by Brian O'Nolan. One of the show's creators actually claims that the aforementioned novel has been of major influence in creating Lost. This article would have been worthy of a lot of respect if Engelking didn't cite wikipedia as a genuine reference! I think she also used Lostpedia, which is fan-run, for a lot her sources as well. At least she knew her stuff about Guerilla ontology. I would to look a lot closer at this in the future... and read The Third Policeman.

Tom Grimwood's 'Lost in Codes: Interpretation and Deconstruction in Lost's narrative' was particularly interesting for me because I love Derrida, and he was a rather prominent feature of this paper. My first look at codes, writing and ciphers was actually when I analysed games in Jane Austen's Emma, and enjoyed it immensely. Grimwood's essay makes me wonder if it would be possibly to write on Lost, codes and hauntology? Of course, this work mostly use Derridian theory...

Needless to say, a lot of the essays in Lost and Philosophy address Thomas Hobbes' idea of the state of nature from Leviathan (1651), and the other philosophers who were influenced by his work: John Locke, Jean-Jacques Rousseau and Jeremy Bentham. The essays from S is for Survival do not hesitate to point out many of Lost's characters share names with philosophers and that being on the island reduces their microcosm of a society to a state of nature. It was okay to mention this (somewhat obvious) stuff once, but in numerous essays, it just becomes irritating. Sharon M. Kaye was evidently a bit lax with the editing...

Sandra Bonnetto's 'No Exit... from the Island: A Sartrean Analysis of Lost' was definitely one of the best essays from the entire collection -- mostly because she doesn't retreat into the business of Hobbes but rather Sartre and existentialism. The 'No Exit' from the title refers to Sartre's play of the same name, which becomes a great point of comparison for Lost. Three damned individuals stuck in a room together for eternity? Yes, please.

The second essay for S is for Survival that piqued by interest was '"The Others Are Coming:" Ideology and Otherness in Lost' by Karen Gaffney. It pretty much goes without saying that Otherness is a colossal part of the Gothic, so it isn't surprising that I enjoyed this essay. After having read this essay, I think that Otherness would also be a good aspect to fit into my paper on codes and hauntology seeing as Otherness is about interpreting signs...

The final section of the book, T is for Transformation mainly focuses on belief systems, but the only really interesting essay from this section was 'The Tao of John Locke' by Shai Biderman and William J. Devlin. This appealed to me mostly for very personal reasons and it resonates very closely with how I feel about religion. Basically, Biderman and Devlin discuss that Locke is both a man of science and a man of faith; he follows both philosophy of John Locke (the philosopher) and the Tao, and that these aspecs, even though they are opposing, can live in harmony. It was a rather uplifting paper.

Anyway, this post has become very long, so I shall stop here. If you are looking for theories about the show, then this book is not for you. If you are looking to indulge some whimsical philosophical urges that only slightly correlate with a TV show you love, then buy it!

3 Danielles out of 5. Simply because she wasn't mentioned enough.... or something.

The Flower Mat By Shugoro Yamamoto (1948)

2009-07-17T09:58:00.000-07:00

I finally decided to take a break from Stephen King, and decided to read some Japanese literature. Seeing as I wrote an article on Japanese literature last summer and then spent the rest of the year researching and writing a dissertation on more Japanese literature, I really needed a break from it. The Flower Mat is the first work I have read by Shugoro Yamamoto, and admittedly, I hadn't heard of him until I saw the book in a used book shop in Toronto. I bought it purely because of the blurb on the back. It sounded like a very interesting story, and both eighteenth century Japan and post-World War II are periods that are of great interest to me. I, however, couldn't help but be somewhat disappointed with The Flower Mat.

At 175 pages with the typical wide margins, rather large print and significant spacing between the lines like a lot of translated Japanese titles, The Flower Mat is a very quick read. The prose was very simple and unadorned, so it was also a pretty uninspiring read. Strangely enough, there was something engaging about the story, but I can't seem to understand what it actually is. I think it must be related to the opposing aspects of nostalgia that Yamamoto tries to conjure up. The novella was written in 1948, but is actually set in eighteenth century Japan during the Tokugawa period. The Flower Mat was written during the American occupation of Japan after the Second World War, which is interesting. The nostalgia factor seems to contradict with Japan's shame for their ultra militarism in the war years. Obviously this was spurred on by the rehashing of historical traditions at the time. Seeing as the main character is the wife of a samurai-class man, I suppose the story is also juxtaposing the old values of the Edo period to the modernised woman of the Meiji and Taisho periods.

The main character of The Flower Mat fluctuates between the code of behaviours for a wife that are prescribed in the Onna Daigaku (Greater Learning for Women) and human passion; her husband has disappeared and she feels that she must do something to clear up not only the political intrigue, but also the shame that has tarnished the family name. I suppose the most obvious analysis for this book would be to employ a feminist critical analysis while taking Japanese cultural beliefs into consideration.

Is it Gothic? I had hoped it would be, but it certainly isn't.

It By Stephen King (1986)

2009-07-07T07:03:00.000-07:00

It's blatantly obvious, but I still feel the need to say it: I have been reading a lot of Stephen King recently. I have heard from a lot of people that It -- despite the 1375 pages -- is one of King's best novels. Even though I can only testify to having read a handful of his work, I have to agree with what I heard on the grapevine. It is a brilliant novel.

As a child, I knew what It itself was. Whether it was from catching snippets on TV or seeing the video case at the rental shop, I have always known that It was the clown with the orange hair, fangs and big claws. There is an episode of The Simpsons called 'Lisa's First Word', which you can find on the fourth season, and Homer builds Bart a clown bed. This always seemed like a reference to It to me. Even though I hadn't seen the film or read the book, I still managed to make a connection. It has undoubtedly embedded itself into popular culture; everyone knows that scary clown.

I honestly don't know where to begin with this novel; it is very long and there are a lot of aspects of this novel to discuss. My previous post that addressed Queer Gothic was inspired by It. However, like with most of King's works, the exploration of Native American culture and rituals was also present. As I read more and more of his works, this is certainly a thread that binds Stephen King's texts together. This is definitely something that I would like to explore at a later date. Although that branch of study sort of worries me because I feel that it would be venturing into Post-Colonial Gothic. With the inception of Global Gothic, it seems logical in my head that we have progressed beyond that area of study. I also worry that Native American culture in Stephen King has already been analysed.

There are some very familiar Gothic tropes in this novel such as a monster and a haunted house, but I think King reinvents these tropes. By taking the time It was written into context -- 1986 -- King also uses the family as a Gothic theme. The novel is set in Derry, Maine and in Derry, the idealised American family doesn't really exist. We find out on The Losers' return to their hometown in 1985 that many of the popular, successful people have died. It seems that ideals cannot flourish in Derry. Funnily enough, it is only when The Losers' move away from Derry that they become very wealthy. This, however, is at the cost of their inability to have children and remember the Summer of 1958.

I really need to think about memory and time in relation to this novel. I really think there is something to analysis with those aspects.

It is simply a huge novel, so I'm finding it kind of difficult to discuss. There is a lot to take in during the first read. It is quite possible that I may read It in the very near future. Anyway, I really urge people to read this book; it is fantastic.

5 Danielles out of 5. You know it's awesome!

Get Back In the Closet, Queer Gothic

2009-07-02T08:17:00.000-07:00

My summer challenge of 2009 has been to read the 1300+ page monster It (1986) by Stephen King. This book has provoked a lot of academic thought. So, with only 200 pages left, I thought I would start discussing.

Set in the split time frame of 1958 and 1983, both periods feature little bouts of homosexuality -- although this is not a major theme of this beast of a book. Despite this, I would like to use this small feature as a springboard for discussion. The first instance actually sets the metaphorical wheels in motion for the story. A young homosexual guy named Adrian Mellon and his boyfriend are apparently attacked by a gang of youths in their hometown Derry, which results in Adrian's death. The second prominent account is set in 1958, and features the notorious son of an insane farmer named Henry Bowers. Involved in a brief sexual encounter with sociopath classmate Patrick Hocksetter, Henry finally transgresses into insanity himself.

When addressing homosexuality, It is peppered with derogatory language. However, discrimination is not restricted to homosexuals. The central characters of the novel form The Loser's Club: Bill Denborough with his terrible stutter, Stan Uris the Jew, the black Mike Hanlon, overweight Ben Hanscom, Richie Tozier with his glasses, Eddie Kraspak and his asthma and finally, poverty-stricken Beverly Marsh. While there is no homosexual character, each of these kids represent a deviation from 'the norm'; each of these children are an obvious target for bullies like Henry Bowers and his gang. They do, however, merge almost seamlessly into King's little world of Derry. The society of It reflects the world we live in; subgroups coexist with society.

During the third year of my undergraduate career, I did a course called Modern Gothic. Occupying one of the spots on this course was Shirley Jackson's The Haunting of Hill House (1959). In terms of psychoanalysis and the general Gothic happenings of this text, the class only touched on the homoerotic relations between protagonist Eleanor and Theodora. Seeing as I really enjoyed this novella, I decided to write my first class essay on it. I mainly explored "mommy-issues" with a heavy reliance on Julia Kristeva (semiotic, symbolic, some abjection). When I was researching outside my theory, I noticed that a quite of lot of The Haunting of Hill House's criticism focuses on the lesbian interaction between Eleanor and Theodora. The Haunting of Hill House, welcome to your spot on the Queer Gothic shelf!

I can see how a queer reading of The Haunting of Hill House would work, but I feel there isn't very much, so it would be quite a limiting analysis. Jackson's queer undertones don't particularly portray Theodora in a monstrous light; it's more related to the secrecy and mysterious nature of her character. Obviously, homosexuality did not fit in the domestic life style of the late 50's/early 60's. It was something that was rarely spoken of.

Let's move onto Poppy Z. Brite's 1992 novel Lost Souls. I personally hate this novel, but I have written on it due to my interest in psychoanalysis. Poppy Z. Brite leads an interesting life, which makes her fodder for a lot of criticism. I'm not going to write extensively about Brite here, but you can find out some stuff about her on the blurb of her books. Brite considers herself as a 'non-operative transsexual'. She was born female, but considers herself as male. She doesn't refer to herself as 'he', does not dress in a masculine manner, and does not have any surgery. Most of Brite's works deal with bisexual and gay men, which is what this post is primarily concerned with.

Lost Souls deals with vampirism. The vampires Zillah, Twig and Molochai are pansexual, but seem to favour men and boys. Zillah's half-vampire son and lover Nothing is mostly attracted to males. Christian, the elder vampire, is mostly attracted to males. Ghost and Steve, while Brite claims they are heterosexual, are very homoerotic with each other, and even share a kiss. Other characters appear and, you guess it, mostly favour males.

Set in the fictional Missing Mile Suburb in North Carolina and New Orleans, Louisiana, there is an obvious contrast between the two locations: the oppressor and the liberator. With the release of films like Milk, which is concerned with gay rights activist and politian Harvey Milk, I can't help but think that stuff from the early Queer Gothic shelf like Lost Souls is incredibly dated. How do we read the monstrous portrayal of Brite's gay vampires? Is it an attack upon how society once perceived the homosexual -- as a raging sexoholic with no morals? How can a text like this function seeing as it portrays a Gothicised gay world? Yes, the Gothic is about getting that rogue group and exposing them as monstrous -- in Brite's case, it would be the LGBT community.

I just don't understand how this text can still function within academic circles in today's modern world where the LGBT community are becoming more and more accepted as the years go on. In my opinion, homosexuality isn't something that needs to be Gothicised anymore. Queer Gothic fiction is outdated; Queer Gothic should be laid to rest. Also, it really confuses me as to why Brite's world has so few heterosexual characters. Stephen King does a better job; his people live in a community reflective of reality: there are people with disabilities, different social standings, different races and different sexual preferences.

Queer Gothic, become a skeleton in the closet because there is no place for you in the modern world.

Finding the Lost Tapestry

2009-06-21T07:05:00.001-07:00

If you have...
a) been following Frolicking with Danielle Rousseau before I disappeared under my thesis and into Canada.
b) know who that crazy dishevelled woman in the header image is.
c) know who Danielle Rousseau is.
or
d) all of the above.

It must be blatently obvious that I am a huge fan of the hit American TV show Lost. I feel that I must point out that even though I am a rabid and crazily obsessed fan of Danielle Rousseau, I am not a rabid and crazily obsessed fan of the show itself. I often enjoy and am moved by certain episodes of Lost, but I am just as often extremely disappointed and highly critical of many episodes.

Seasons 1-3 are mainly pure genius. Come on! The first season has insane!danielle and The Hurley Bird! These three seasons define the show as a classic... in my mind anyway, but then I do like weird things. I will get to this point later. Season 4 was pretty disappointing. While some people argue that the writer's lost their way earlier, and I agree to an extent, I think it got far more obvious as season 4 went on.

Even though I was eagarly awaiting each new episode because I'm addicted, the high was incredibly weak with season 5. There are a few good episodes, but ones like 'The Constant' were dreadful. Admittedly, the last few episodes picked up the slack. However, don't get me started on that ending.

So, I have explained my stance on Lost, so now I shall return to the main point after having explained the surrounding context. I saw the above book: Lost and Philosophy: The Island Has its Reasons, which is edited by Sharon M. Kaye. On the back of the book, the blurb begins with something like: 'Sometimes it feels like you need a PhD to understand Lost.'

On December 2008, the University of Stirling held its second annual GlobalGothic symposium, which I have attended both times. One of the papers that was presented was using critic Fred Botting's Blackhole theory to analyse some aspects of Lost -- particularly Jack Shephard's (Matthew Fox) relationship to his father. I hadn't actually seen the show at that time, but I found this paper very interesting, so I am sure this planted the seed in my mind to watch the show.

I think there is plenty academic work to be done on Lost, and the collaborators of Lost and Philosophy and the speaker at the second GlobalGothic conference have all proved this. I have yet to actually purchase that book due to some monetary discrepancies, but I very much look forward to reading it. I went to GoodReads to check out what some customers thought. Judging by some of the reviews and comments, it seems that a few people were expecting some potential answers to some of Lost's many mysteries. However, these people were greeted by critical and philosophical yarning, no doubt. I was very excited to see this book that I almost bought it immediately...

Seeing as I have such a huge interest in philosophers such as Derrida, Lacan and Foucault, I'm pretty sure that I will enjoy Lost and Philosophy. As a literature student, it feels a little odd to be delving into film and media's territory, but I will enjoy this little vacation to the other side when I eventually purchase it.

Lost and Philosophy made me think about something: will Lost become a classic TV show along the lines of Seinfeld for example? Will it just fade into obscurity when all of its mysteries are solved? Will this book help immortalise Lost only in academic circles?

Patrick Wolf @ The Classic Grand, Glasgow. May 29 2009

2009-06-13T11:39:00.000-07:00

Even though I knew the concert would be the day after I returned from Canada, I booked tickets for my partner and I to see Patrick Wolf at the Classic Grand in Glasgow on the 29th of May. This was the third time I have seen Patrick Wolf, and quite possibly his best performance thus far. Let me elaborate...

The first time I saw Patrick Wolf was supporting Arcade Fire back on 12 March 2007 at the Barrowlands, which was also in Glasgow. He didn't get much time, but that's fair for a supporting act.

The second time, however, was Patrick Wolf's headlining acoustic tour. He played at The Oran Mor in Glasgow on 27 November 2007. This was a very disappointing concert because of the fans; Patrick was playing beautifully as usual, but the fans were talking throughout the whole set. Seeing as it was an entirely acoustic gig, it wasn't possible to actually hear the songs properly. I was so angry that I left before the end of the gig.

I was certainly not disappointed by p.wolf's performance at the Classic Grand. Patrick has been quiet for quite some time because he has been working on his latest album The Bachelor. Obviously, the aim of this tour is to promote his new music. Anyway, I wasn't a big fan of the supporting act Yacht. I'm not really sure what they were supposed to be. Basically, it was a guy and a girl bopping along and singing to some beats on their laptops. It was ok. Nothing superbly weird and wild.

On the contrary, Patrick Wolf astounded me. I was initially nervous because of the performance at the Oran Mor, but that didn't last for long. p.wolf's latest album utilises electric guitars unlike his previous releases, which were mainly acoustic with electronica elements. So, Patrick had revamped 'Accident and Emergency', 'The Magic Position' and the classics 'The Libertine' and 'Tristan' to utilise his new sound. The latter two tracks took my breath away and I danced like no one was watching. /alexisonfire ref.

I can't remember the rest if the setlist exactly, but I'm certain he played: Kriegspiel, Hard Times, Oblivion, Damaris, Count of Casuality, Who Will?, Theseus, and Battle with the ones I mentioned above.

It was a fabulous concert, and Patrick got a great reception from the Glaswegians this time around. During 'Tristan', p.wolf decided to climb off the stage and onto some high ledges around the venue. At one point, he had to wrestle with a small palm tree in order to get past. It was awesome.

I think p.wolf is no longer just a musician; I think he has become more of performance artist in the last few years, which I find quite interesting. Each album is themed, and The Bachelor has a military theme because it was written in America during the height of the West's conflict in Iraq. His style is sort of avant-garde military themed this time around; this sort of reminds me of the martial industrial style of music, which is pretty prominent in Germany -- see: Von Thronstahl. Patrick Wolf's song 'Battle' is a heavy-ish, chaotic song that sounds like a call to arms. Why is Patrick Wolf calling his fans to arms:

If you're sick
Of being a victim
Or their ignorance
Then
Battle the conservative
Battle for your
Battle battle battle
Battle the homophobe
But battle without war

I like it. I think it may be Gothic performance art...

Danielle likes it, too.

Different Seasons By Stephen King (1982)

2009-06-12T06:08:00.000-07:00

The main reason for my purchase of Different Seasons was because this collection of four novellas contains 'The Body', which was adapted into one of my favourite films: Stand By Me. Naturally, this was the first story I read.

'The Body'

While Rob Reiner's filmic rendition of 'The Body' is very true to King's text, I can't help but feel that Stand By Me is the superior work. Maybe it is because I saw the film when I was very young or maybe it is because I have such a strong emotional attachment to Stand By Me, but I was disappointed by 'The Body'. Yes, the dialogue and story have both translated seamlessly to film, but the ending of the novella is terrible. Why does everyone excluding Gordie have to die? Why are there weird homoerotic undertones between Gordie and Chris during their college years? Just why does King have to go into so much detail into Gordie's adult life?

Reiner's ending is perfect: the crux of the film, which is Chris' murder, is the only death. The multiple deaths just cheapens the childhood relationship between Chris and Gordie. Also, Reiner's ending, which sees Teddy and Verne part ways with the other two boys, feels authentic; even Chris and Gordie part ways. This ending touches me because it is something everyone can relate to.

'Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption'

I haven't seen the very acclaimed Shawshank Redemption movie, but I was expecting a horror story. For me, the name 'Shawshank' has very grim and desolate connotations. When paired with 'redemption', I was thinking of some kind of monstrous/uncanny encounter, which would instigate redemption in a typically ironic Gothic sense. Of course, I didn't get any of this. As I turned the pages, I waited for the horror to start, but I came up with nothing! Nothing! Despite this, it is a rather enjoyable but very typical prison story -- lots of corruption, beatings and gay rape. It's a pretty well written novella, but nothing spectacular.

'Apt Pupil'

This was certainly the best story from Different Seasons, and there is a lot of potential analysis for it. Apparently this has also been made into a film, but I haven't seen or even heard of it. The Holocaust is a subject that is often tackled by authors, but Stephen King handles it exceptionally well. This is undoubtedly a Gothic tale, and I love how King deals with nationalism and national identity in post-World War II America. Throughout the text, King constantly bombards us with 12 year old Todd Bowden's family who are supposedly living the American dream. With his blonde hair, blue eyes, sickeningly sweet attitude towards adults and perfect grades, Todd himself is also the posterchild for the American dream. These images are so juxtaposed with his fascination in Nazism and the concentration camps. His treatment of Arthur Denker/Kurt Dussander the "Blood Fiend" of Patin, which is a fictional Nazi death camp, is also extremely fascinating as we watch all of the past and present national expectations of America and Germany merge. This is certainly of one of King's most interesting novellas.

'The Breathing Method'

This was a very good example of Gothic surrealism. This story had some Gothic elements, which I think are usually part of modern American Gothic fictions. I must also note that this story very much reminded me of 'Red Room' by Japanese writer Edogawa Rampo, which was written in the early twentieth century. It's an interesting connection.

I'm going to stop here because this post has become rather long. I'm going to give Different Seasons...

4 Danielles out of 5!

Danielle Disappeared Into the Smoke

2009-06-04T07:52:00.000-07:00

It has been very quiet here on Frolicking With Danielle Rousseau for a pretty good reason: I wasn't in the country! From 19 May to 28 May, I was actually in Toronto, Canada to visit a friend. I went to Anime North 2009, and bought lots of confectionery that has featured in Seinfeld. Now that I'm back, I have a lot of interesting posts planned:

A look at Different Seasons by Stephen King
Filmic and Textual Tapestries: Stephen King's 'The Body' vs. Rob Reiner's Stand By Me
A Scottish Interpretation of Canada
Patrick Wolf @ The Classic Grand 29 May
Is Controversy Possible in Grindcore Artwork and Performance Art?
Anime North 2009

There is a lot to blog about in the next couple of weeks. Of course Danielle of the Week will be back in full force!

The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon By Stephen King (1999)

2009-05-15T13:52:00.000-07:00

Two things attracted me to Stephen King's The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon: its interesting title and its description as a psychological horror. As I have probably stated numerous times, my interest in the Gothic is mostly with psychological horror. I have a hard time believing in the monstrous, but I love to analyse it because it is a great metaphor for cultural anxieties.

This is one of King's shorter novels -- admittedly, this aspect also drew me to it. The plot mostly consists of nine year old Patricia McFarland's journey to civilisation after straying from a hiking trail in the woods. This is certainly something we can all relate to; I am sure we all have one incident from our childhood where we got lost in the supermarket or wandered from the parental enforced vicinity in the neighbourhood. King, however, takes this simple plight, and immerses the reader into the what-ifs and anxieties that race through the mind on such an occasion.

The most harrowing aspect of The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon is Trisha's age; the weeks she spends wandering hopelessly and deeper into the woods takes its toll on her body. Without nourshing food in conjunction with constantly sleeping outdoors, we witness the decay of her body. With only her walkman and the Tom Gordon conjured up by her imagination, the lonliness affects Trisha's psyche. The woods are certainly a very prominent location for Gothic happenings since the genre/mode's textual inception in 1764. It doesn't matter how much civilisation progresses, the unchartered and unknown will always conjure fear within the individual.

The woods in Maine where Trisha wanders function as a psychic space; it is constantly in a state of flux. Sometimes it is a place of blissful solitude, sometimes it is place that modern world cannot penetrate, and sometimes it is simply an empty space. The woods serve as a link to the barbaric Gothic past, and the strange creature that stalks Trisha resembles the grendel, which had also been a feature of Pet Sematary. As a creature of Native American lore, the barbaric other has made its presence known in the text. Despite this, there is no Christianity to oppose the grendel; this time, it is a battle between the paranoia created by the imagination and reality.

Strangely, civilisation and Trisha's life before getting lost in the woods only fleet past the reader. We are aware that her mother and brother argue because of divorce, and Trisha has difficulties with her father because of his alcoholism. Trisha's identity is simply shaped by her love of Boston Red Sox player Tom Gordon. She has a slightly obsessive, but harmless, fixation with her idol. Her body is clad in Red Sox merchandise and her mind is trained on Tom Gordon. I guess reality is always distant for Trisha.

This is a very gripping novel, and I really enjoyed it. I'm sure this may form an analysis at some point.

4 Danielles out of 5. It's a great read.

Danielle of the Week #6 (4 May to 10 May)

2009-05-10T14:34:00.000-07:00

It's the week before the Lost season finale, so there are a lot of things to discuss in...

Danielle of the Week #6

Song of the Week

Instead of picking a song that I really love, this week I have decided to retrieve the most played song from my last.fm stats for some diversity. According to this wonderful site, I listened to Bat For Lashes excellent song 'Prescilla' the most. There has been a lot of hype surrounding Bat For Lashes for quite some time, so I decided to check her out a few months ago. Initially I didn't think of much of her branch of folky dream pop, but after a while, she grew on me. She is sort of like a female and less eclectic version of Patrick Wolf. Her debut Fur and Gold is a lot better than her recently released Two Suns. Her music is very stripped down and beautiful. Check out 'Prescilla' here on last.fm.

Lost Moment of the Week

The fifteenth episode of the fifth season of Lost is called 'Follow the Leader', and the focus was split with on what is going on in the present with John Locke, Benjamin Linus and Richard Alpert, and what is going on with the Dharma Initiative thirty years ago. The writers are banging on about Jacob again and teasing us with more mystery. However, my favourite part of 'Follow the Leader' was not related to the Jacob intrigue, but in the past with Hurley and Mile. Daniel Faraday has been shooting his mouth off about being from the future. Peter Chang then confronts Hurley with this bit of information:

Peter Chang: What year were you born?

Hurley: Uh... 1931.

Peter Chang: So, you're 46 years old?

Hurley: Yeah.

Peter: Who is the president of the United States?

Hurley: Okay, dude. We're from the future.

Classic.

Annoyance of the Week

I hate the old firm football games between Celtic and Rangers. There was one on earlier this week, so the police were out in full force in Glasgow. Sectarianism between Protestant and Catholics seems to explode in these days. It's also an excuse for the football fans to get really, really drunk and become a public nuisance. Even though I have witnessed this for most of my life, it doesn't get any less annoying when drunk guys try to start hitting on me or try to start arguments with me on the train. There are a lot of things wrong with Scotland, and this is at the top of the pyramid. At least the governement has the decency to deploy the police... and mounted police to protect people that really don't care...

Seinfeld Quote of the Week

I have been a lot of snooker recently; this led to me to watching 'The Doll' from season seven of Seinfeld. The beauty of this episode is the fact that George's father Frank sets up a pool table in George's old bedroom. The table is clearly far to big, which leads to very amusing shots and very long drawn out games. Kramer has to explain to Frank's wife Estelle why they are still on the first game of the day many hours later...

Kramer: Well, we're still, uh, learning the subtleties of the table.

I like this because I have been at the snooker hall and have witnessed many men doing badly; they use the excuse: 'I'm not feeling the table tonight'. What has the table got to do with anything in a huge room?

Danielle Rousseau of the Week

It has been a long time since my beloved Danielle Rousseau has even featured in an episode of Lost -- even in her younger, retarded reincarnation.

I thought I would post this wonderful picture of Alex and her insane mother. Alex looks as if she is terrified of Rousseau. I think this is down to the fact that Danielle is wearing a new t-shirt. Danielle thinks she's people! How cute! However, this is actually a very beautiful moment from 'Through the Looking Glass' where Danielle makes her last appearance before death. You can see the insane love in her eyes... *sniffs*

The Wrestler (2008)

2009-05-04T14:40:00.000-07:00

For a long time, I was convinced that wrestling and the WWE (formerly WWF) died in the 90's. When I first came to university, however, I realised that it hadn't. Many of my friends, with their ages ranging from late teens to mid-twenties, still watch wrestling for nostalgic purposes. Seeing as these friends are university students, and have found a niche of people that they can refer back to 'the good ole days of wrestling' with, I think this forms a subgroup of wrestling fans. A lot of people immediately dismiss wrestling as fake and also trashy because of its 'storylines' -- it's a bit like a soap opera for men.

This subgroup of older fans seems to give wrestling a cultish status; it differs from the mainstream fanbase, which is mainly comprised of kids and their parents. In most cases, the illusion of wrestling has yet to be broken for its younger audience, but The Wrestler exposes the harsh reality behind the illusion.

Filmed in the style of a documentary, The Wrestler chronicles a brief period of Robin Ramzinski aka Randy "The Ram" Robinson's wrestling career. Once a renowned champion, Randy is trying to claw his way back up the wrestling ladder through competing in underground matches. Later on in the film, Randy is speaking to his estranged daughter; he refers to himself as nothing more than "broken down piece of meat". Randy's physical appearance is a very important aspect of film. With a bronzed complextion, long blonde hair, broad shoulders with an incredible physique, Randy towers over the general public. Despite these factors, Randy is clearly aging and is past his prime. He also wears an arm brace and a hearing aid. When this is combined with the plethora of steriods and the strain that is inflicted upon his body -- particularly the hardcore match with Necro Butcher that involved barbed wire and staple guns -- these conflicting images merge. The viewer is constantly witnessing Ram and Randy at the same time. The illusions of wrestling, and Randy and Robin's lived realities are so inextricably linked; we are in the hall of mirrors surrounded by images, but we cannot find the source of the reflection.

After Randy's heartattack, he realises that he may die alone. Living in a trailer park with only his old skool Nintendo for company, not only is Randy alone, but he is also trapped in the 80's. He lives vicariously through his past success in the ring. His only friend and love interest is the stripper Cassidy/Pam, who is played by Marisa Tomei. She is trapped within the constructs of the sex industry, and is forbidden to establish outside relationships with her customers -- namely Randy. Unlike Randy, there is more to Cassidy/Pam than her occupation; she is a mother with dreams of providing a better life for her son. This juxtaposition reinforces Randy's lack of presence within the real world; Randy is constantly searching for something in the real world, but he can never find it: 'the only place where I get hurt is in the ring'.

While this film would not immediately strike its audience as Gothic, it tingled my Gothy senses very quickly. It reminds me of Joe Hill's 2007 horror novel Heart-Shaped Box, which focuses on cultish celebrity culture in the form of an aging rock god. The first Gothic moment in The Wrestler depicts Randy driving in his van at night in the New Jersey cityscape; 80's rock blares through his stereo, and the camera is focuses on an action figure of Randy on his dashboard. The outside world speeds past, but the 80's wrestling star Randy "The Ram" Robinson is immortalised as he once was in this internal space.

This is a dark, harrowing, but very beautiful film. I have seen it twice now, and it still brings tears to my eyes. I think this film can lend itself to a very indepth Gothic analysis.

4 Danielles out of 5.

Danielle of the Week #5 (27 April - 3 May)

2009-05-03T13:30:00.000-07:00

I was hoping to write about 2008 film The Wrestler and Stephen King's The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon this week, but I'll keep those goodies for next week. However, it is time for...

Danielle of the Week #5

Song of the Week

I'm going to see Patrick Wolf at the Classic Grand in Glasgow on the 30th of May! This will be my third time seeing Patrick Wolf, and he is always excellent live. I'm hoping he'll play a mix of classics and stuff from the new album. I really hope to hear 'Overture' from The Magic Position, 'Damaris' from the up and coming The Bachelor. My song of the week definitely has to be the song of the same name. This is a beautiful, beautiful song. Patrick Wolf is certainly embracing his Irish roots with this number:

Lost Moment of the Week

Because of its interesting episode name, I was really looking forward to 'The Variable'. Overall, it is a fantastic episode and the storyline is beginning to pick up the pace again. Admittedly I was pretty disappointed with 'Some Like It Hoth' just because it was a little pointless. The central character of episode 14 was Daniel Faraday who is played by Jeremy Davies. Faraday had left the island for several episodes, so his return to the Dharma base on the submarine was the cliffhanger of the previous episode. My favourite moment of this episode was the concluding scene, which sees Faraday getting shot by his own mother in The Others' camp. The close up of his face as he uttered, "You knew..." was so shocking. It was heartwrenching moment... or perhaps I'm just a complete sap...

The Annoyance of the Week

Once a year, my university students' union hosts a big event called Final Fling. Final Fling is basically a huge party in a tent in the middle of a field on campus. The event has a limited number of tickets; the students are so crazy for it that they will queue to two hours for a ticket. I'm not really sure what the attraction is, and even though I have been studying at this university for four years, I haven't ever been. Despite being in my last year of undergraduate studies, this is my first time living on campus. Last night, I experienced pre-Final Fling and the post-Final Fling. This involved lots of people getting dressed up, so the campus looked pretty carnivalesque. For some reason, Final Fling brings out the worst in Stirling's student populace. Some of the abuse I experienced walking to the Co-Op pre-Final Fling was off the ARSEHOLE-O-METRE. Well, a number of my friends went to Final Fling, and one particular guy -- the nicest and most genuine bloke you'd ever meet -- almost got arrested for trying to 'assault' a girl. What happened was he accidently fell into a girl, and some guys tried to beat him up. The guys then claimed that he had assaulted a girl. Yeah... weird and wild stuff, alright. It was certainly difficult to get to sleep that night with all the noise.

Seinfeld Quote of the Week

This week's Seinfeld nugget is from 'The Virgin', which is one of the highlights of the fourth season. Jerry is dating a virgin called Marla, and Elaine decides to have a chat with her about what to expect from men after sex:

Elaine: Yeah, pretty much, yeah. Well, the smart ones start working on their getaway stories during dinner. How, you know, they gotta get up early tomorrow. What is about being up early? They all turn into farmers suddenly.

One of the reasons why I love this quote is because it becomes an on-going joke in later seasons. It's pure Seinfeld beauty.

Danielle Rousseau of the Week

There are very few promotional shots of Danielle Rousseau, and I finally found this one! There are far too many promotional shots of Kate and Juliet! Give us Rousseau fans something to worship! Our favourite insane French woman that speaks with an Eastern European accent deserves some love; we all just want to frolic into the abyss with her. Word.

Pet Sematary By Stephen King (1983)

2009-04-28T11:56:00.000-07:00

This is my first book review/analysis on Frolicking With Danielle Rousseau. I was originally going to begin with Kazuo Ishiguro's An Artist of the Floating World, but I wrote half a chapter on that book in my dissertation, so I'm kind of tired of discussing that book for the moment.

I am currently going through a Stephen King phase. I, and many other Gothic scholars, think that there is a lot of academic work to be done on Stephen King. People have written extensively on him, but most of it is fan rubbish -- or so I am told. I'm not a raving Stephen King fan in the slightest. Like with most books, I take a very objective stance with them. Well, I say that, but I do have a tender spot for the modern writer Junichiro Tanizaki...

The first Stephen King book I read was Lisey's Story (2006), which I enjoyed quite a lot. I did a presentation on that book in a Language and Gender class last year. My analysis was firmly rooted in Lacanian theory. Some time later, I read The Shining (1977) for my Modern Gothic class. Having not seen the film, I actually found the novel very interesting because it reinvents the old Gothic tropes. I then read Misery (1987), and I absolutely adore the book and the film. It's an excellent example of psychological horror. Next was Carrie (1974); while I thought the book was alright, the film was fantastic. For me, the most interesting thing about Carrie, is the leap in King's writing through the years. I standby my opinion that Carrie just needs a damn good editor.

Anyway, my most recent trip into Stephen King's dark imagination was Pet Sematary, which I finished reading last night. I'm not very sure what I think about this book. I have heard that this is supposedly one of King's most frightening novels, but it didn't scare me at all. Besides, I am more interested in psychological horror than monstrosity.

For me, Pet Sematary resonates closely with Mary Shelley's Frankenstein and The Exorcist by William Peter Blatty because of its key themes: death, resurrection, possession, and the body. Diverging slightly from The Exorcist, Pet Sematary allows for a conflation of Christianity and Native American beliefs. I suppose this serves as a link to America's Gothic past. In theory, the repeated references to Lazarus' resurrection by Jesus would suggest that the individual would return as they were in life. However, the Micmac's burial ground - the religious other of the text - will consequently only produce a monstrous other. The Frankenstein vibe comes from the old nature/nurture aspect and the idea of the modern prometheus, of course. Louis did partake in creating Gage, but ultimately he has no control over his own son when he is resurrected.

Church and Gage, in their respective resurrected forms, are filled with murderous intent and their bodies are in an active state of decay. Their movement resembles the traditional Gothic zombie, but they are not driven by the hunger for flesh and are actually sentient beings. I'm not exactly sure where the thirst for death has originated. I guess it's probably somehow linked to what was seen by Gage in the afterlife -- whatever that may be. It seems like the type of thing that could be analysed as a return to the Kristevan semiotic and the re-entry into the symbolic order. I'm thinking of Gage digging out of his Micmac grave as rebirth, and the destruction of the rock cairn as effacing all boundaries...

I remember Pam Morris in Literature and Feminism wrote that to return to the semiotic was to opt out of history, so if we continue to read the resurrections as semiotic, this is also true in Pet Sematary. Timmy Baterman and Gage Creed's graves are empty; no one in Ludlow will speak of them again. There really is a lot to go into with this reading... I like it!

For analytical purposes, this book is great. However, I will give it...

2 Danielles out of 5.

Danielle of the Week #4 (20 April to 26 April)

2009-04-26T09:38:00.000-07:00

I realise that there haven't been any posts this month except Danielle of the Week, but this is going to change! I don't start my postgraduate studies until September, so I have a lot of free time. I have a lot of interesting things to blog about, so stay tuned!

Danielle of the Week #4

Song of the Week

A few years ago, I went to see Arcade Fire play the Barrowlands in Glasgow. I had never heard of the supporting act Patrick Wolf. Opening with 'Overture' from 2007's The Magic Position, I fell in love with Mr. Wolf at first listen. However, after purchasing the aforementioned album, I didn't think it was that great. I didn't want to give up on Patrick Wolf, so I delved into his back catalogue. He has a wide of collection of B-sides, and his previous two albums are phenomenal. Ever since then, he has rightly become my favourite singer. Last week, I couldn't stop listening to 'Vulture', and this week it's 'Damaris'. It's such an amazing song. That's all I can say. Check it out this amazing live performance, and imagine me crying.

Lost Moment of the Week

Sadly, there was no Lost this week. How many breaks can this show take?! They had one about two weeks ago. Anyway, I think we should all relive the moment of Hurley playing Xanadu in the background. This is from the season 4 episode 'Eggtown'. This song was my Happy Song during the Dark Days of Dissertation. I got through it thanks to Lost.

Annoyance of the Week

The fact that I currently have a very bad cold is the ultimate annoyance of the week. Living in university accomodation is like something from a Charles Dickens novel -- mostly Tom-All-Alone's from Bleak House. I must have picked this thing up in Glasgow, so I can certainly afflict all of my flatmates with this new mutation of the cold.

Seinfeld Quote of the Week

Another quote from the amazing season 7. After an interesting turn of events during the week hours of Sunday morning, I began laughing hysterically at this lovely quote from 'The Maestro':

JACKIE: You put the balm on? Who told you to put the balm on? I didn't tell you

to put the balm on. Why'd you put the balm on? You haven't even been to see the

doctor. If you gonna put a balm on, let a doctor put a balm on.

KRAMER: I guess I screwed up huh, Jackie?

JACKIE: You damn right you screwed up. Where the hell did you get that damm balm

anyway?

KRAMER: The Maestro.

JACKIE: The who? What are you talking about Maestro?

The lawyer Jackie Chiles is probably one of the best recurring characters in Seinfeld. His dialogue is sheer genius.

Danielle Rousseau of the Week

This image of a contemplative Danielle reflects how I felt when I handed in my dissertation. I stared off into the distance as my thesis of epic proportions gets subjected to the red pen factor. Ahh...

Danielle of the Week #3 (13 April to 19 April)

2009-04-19T09:56:00.000-07:00

Please forgive the lateness of this week's Danielle of the Week. I handed in my 15,000 word dissertation on Monday, and have pretty busy every since. It is never too late, however, to have a Danielle of the Week!

Danielle of the Week #3

Song of the Week

Patrick Wolf's newest album The Bachelor will be released on the 1st of June 2009, and to tide his fans over until then, we have Vulture EP. There are four tracks on this EP: 'Vulture', 'The Tinderbox', and two remixes of 'Vulture', which aren't really worth mentioning. While finishing the editing of my thesis, I listened to 'Vulture' a lot. Patrick Wolf's image and his music are amorphous and complementary, and he changed drastically in his 2007 album The Magic Position. I can feel the epic melancholy beauty of Lycanthropy and Wind in the Wires in this track, and I just know the album is going to be stunning. Check it out! It's good stuff.

Lost Moment of the Week

Even though it had a crappy name, the most recent episode of Lost 'Some Like It Hoth' was actually alright. Again, the main story has kind of stopped, but has returned to its origins by showing flashbacks of Miles during his life before The Island. I heard this episode was supposed to be aired during season 4, but they didn't manage it because of the writer's strike. Judging by the episode name, I thought it was going to be somewhat Hurley-centric. The highlight of that episode was definitely young!Miles with lots of piercings and very spiky hair. I found this very amusing. Other than that, it was a pretty average episode and didn't wow me or anything...

Annoyance of the Week

Scottish society -- partcularly Stirling. The place is teeming with bigots, morons, racists, drug addicts, homophobes, neds, smoking beggars, drunks (ages 11 - 85) and general scum/lowlifes. It makes Toxitown from Ryu Murakami's Coin Locker Babies seem like a reasonably good idea. Such people should just be segregated into a large fenced area. I send out a cautionary warning to all traversing the streets of Stirling after 6pm. Good luck. You're going to need it to come out alive.

Seinfeld Quote of the Week

Jerry: You know, I'm thinking about getting a yo-yo.

This is from 'The Handicap Spot' in the fourth season. It is simply beautiful; I use it in real life all the time. It's an excellent way to fill in those awkward silences during conversations. It saves the tumbleweed going past.

Danielle Rousseau of the Week

It was rather difficult to pick a Danielle of the week, but I settled for this rather charming image of Danielle and her daughter Alex to continue to continue my undying love for her MON BÉBÉ outcries. It was a moment of pure beauty in Lost, not only for young!Danielle's screaming for MON BÉBÉ, but also for Ben's (Michael Emerson's) really terrible wig.

The wig conceptualises Rousseau's time as a retard with no English speaking abilities. Evidently she learned English from the whispers in the forest. Fact.

Danielle of the Week #2 (6 April to 12 April)

2009-04-12T11:35:00.000-07:00

Unfortunately my blog has been quiet this week due to the closely approaching dissertation deadline on the 20th of April, but I will always have time for...

Danielle of the Week #2

Song of the Week

Even though Patrick Wolf released some longer samples from his up and coming album The Bachelor, and I listened to his debut Lycanthropy quite a lot, Finch's 'Awake' from their 2002 album What It Is to Burn wins the prize. You can listen to this amazing track here on last.fm. I am totally in love with this song; I love the opening riffs and the lyrics. I just think it's a beautiful post-hardcore song. The vocals are also immense. I would love to rewrite this song for piano, viola, violin and cello, but that would take a lot of transposing effort...

Lost Moment of the Week

The twelfth episode of Lost is called 'Dead is Dead', and was simply astounding. The series is starting to get really exciting again despite lagging at the beginning. I had a fangirl squee at the opening catch-up sequence, which reminded us that Benjamin Linus stole his 'daughter' Alex from an insane woman when she was a baby. Danielle Rousseau'O Rama! We were also treated to the theft of baby Alex from her lovely mother, too. Young!Danielle featured very briefly, but she made her presence known with screeching 'MON BEBÉ!!!! ALEX!' several times. I was rolling around my room very excitedly at this. These were good times.

I'm thinking about writing a conference paper on Rousseau. I had the most amazing idea that we could pay Mira Furlan - who plays Rousseau - to come and do a little talk. That would be so awesome. The bonus being that I get to meet her obviously...

Annoyance of the Week

One of my biggest problems with living in the UK is the fact that everything shuts so early ie. 5pm, and this is made worse during holidays ie. Easter. I had a very annoying escapade involving these limitations on Friday. Honestly, it's difficult to get a coffee after 5pm in the small town where I currently live. As an obsessive coffee drinker, this sucks. Going out for coffee is a social activity that I'm very fond of, and I hate having to accomodate to this country. In New York... or probably anywhere in North America, I'm sure you can get a Starbucks at 3am no problem. The city accomodates to YOU. I wish the UK was like that...

Seinfeld Quote of the Week

From 'The Sponge' on Season 7:

Jerry: You can't have sex with someone you admire.

George: Where's the depravity?

Jerry: No depravity!

I always laugh because Elaine walks into Jerry's apartment; he then looks at her and says, 'On the other hand...', which is just classic Seinfeld banter. I love it.

Danielle Rousseau of the Week

Seeing as I mentioned The Theft of Alex in today's post, I thought a lovely snap of the on-screen mother and daughter would be a very nice way to sum up the second edition of Danielle of the Week!

Danielle of the Week #1 (30 March to 5 April)

2009-04-05T05:44:00.000-07:00

I have decided to add a new and exciting feature to my blog to disperse the monotony of reviews. At the end of every week, I will sum up the best and worst things of the week!

Danielle of the Week #1

Song of the Week

While I'm probably still the only person on the planet that doesn't own an mp3 player, music plays a very important part in my life. Whenever I'm in my room, I have always have something on -- except when I'm reading. While writing the final chapter of my dissertation this week, I found that Metallica's The Day That Never Comes kept sneaking onto my iTunes.

I first heard this song way back in October 2008 on Kerrang! Radio. I really liked it on first listen because of post-rock sounding guitar riff at the beginning. It feels like the guitar is telling a story. It's just a really beautiful metal song. It's from Metallica's latest album Death Magnetic, and it's a solid album -- much better than their recent offerings.

Lost Moment of the Week

Now on the eleventh episode of its fifth season, the latest offering from J.J. Abrams and Co. is called 'Whatever Happened, Happened'. Now that all the characters inhabiting different epoches of time are caught up with each other, the story is beginning to progress. My favourite moment of the episode involved Hurley applying Back to the Future theory to the current problem of time travel. This involved Hurley staring at his hand to see if it was disappearing and arguing with Miles. As a huge geek, I found this simply awesome. It's not as good as Hurley wanting to watch Xanadu in episode 4 of season 4, which is called 'Eggtown'.

Annoyance of the Week

BrokeNYCDE were recently brought to my attention by a fellow blogger and friend, and I share his annoyance at this band. I'm pretty open when it comes to music and a post-hardcore/crunk/rap/scream/trance conglomerate sounded quite interesting. After listening to a few tracks, the content of their music is horrible. Their myspace is here for your viewing pleasure/displeasure. They are already amassing popularity and will most likely be huge because they are 'controversial'. Come on... is it really possible to be controversial in this day and age? I'd like to think we have seen all of this before. Anyway, for an interesting and much more indepth rant, see my friend's blog.

Seinfeld Quote of the Week

As a huge Seinfeld fan, I feel it's only appropriate to include my favourite quote of the week. This is from 'The Wig Master' from season 7:

George has started using Jiffy Park to park his car, but soon finds out that his car is being used as 'a whore house'. The owner denies it, claiming that things from the city stick to your feet and get in the car.

George: That doesn't explain the lipstick on the dashboard!

GENIUS!

Danielle Rousseau of the Week

Ahh, beautiful.

Mirrors (2008)

2009-04-04T05:05:00.000-07:00

Directed by Alexander Aja and starring Keifer Sutherland, Mirrors is loosely based on the 2003 Korean film Into the Mirror, which was directed by Kim Sung-ho. I haven't seen the latter film, and I wasn't aware of this until I saw that on the ending credits. However, with its frequent use of water and images of a strange girl garbed in white with hair covering her face, I was definitely feeling some Asian vibes throughout the film.

Despite receiving quite positive reviews, Mirrors didn't do so well in America compared to other countries such as Russia, South Korea and the Philippines, which is a shame because the production and cinematography is pretty good. The story is quite interesting, and Aja throws the audience into the terror quite quickly -- there's not a lot of story/character building.

The film reminded me of a cross between Ring, Dark Water and The Exorcist. There is quite a lot of religious iconography with a nun at the end of the film, which I thought was quite nice. It's something that hasn't been a prominent feature of horror films in a long time. I think that testifies to the changing of times in our contemporary world, though. It was a nice evoking of our Gothic past, and I really liked that aspect.

However, it was difficult to separete Keifer Sutherland's character Ben from Jack Bauer from the TV show 24. A cop waiting for reinstatement to the force working as a security guard waving a gun around... you can see why I would think that. While I thought it was a decent horror flick, there is a cringeworthy action sequence at the end complete with explosions, gun shots and hand-to-hand combat. It really spoiled the film for me.

Mirrors is a pretty average film; if you are looking for a horror flick to fill up some time on a Friday night, then it's good for that. Otherwise, don't expect anything mindblowing or groundbreaking because you're not going to get it.

I guess I find this film interesting as an academic because it's based -- but not a remake -- of a Korean title. However, I would like to see In the Mirror before I made any concrete judgements on that.

3 Danielles out of 5.

Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest (2006)

2009-03-28T07:05:00.000-07:00

When I was a little kid, my favourite video games series was LucasArt's Monkey Island for the PC -- and later, Sony Playstation 2. The Monkey Island series was part of the point-and-click adventure game phenomenon of the early 90's -- unfortunately, such games are simply relics of the past. Monkey Island was a recognised favourite of the genre because, not only did LucasArts make the best point-and-clicks, but it was a comedic pirate adventure. Creator Ron Gilbert admits that his inspiration for the series came from Disney's Pirates of the Caribbean theme park ride and Tim Powers' On Stranger Tides.

So, when I first heard about the first film of the Pirates of the Caribbean series, I was really excited. I then saw the film: it was comedic, involved ghost pirates, had a dog holding the jail key, and involved lots of swashbuckling goodness -- but no insult sword fighting or spitting contests. Seeing as the film was a Disney blockbuster, I wasn't surprised to see Jack Sparrow embed himself into popular culture so quickly.

Dead Man's Chest is a pretty fun film to watch, and it's great apart from Orlando's Bloom's. He has the acting skills of toilet seat and his deliver is so wooden. He's even out staged by the pirate with the parrot -- and he has no tongue.

Jack Sparrow continues to be a highly amusing character by hiding behind leafy plants and stealing people's hats. Although some of his antics do render him a bit of pantomime character at times. I wasn't a big fan of that scene with the big wheels on the island; it felt a bit too far-fetched for my liking, and was bordering on stupid.

Visually, this film is pretty stunning. Davy Jones' crew, which are comprised of various sea life and parts of ships, all look fantastic. The designer did a great job and even focused on the tiniest details. I loved how they had water pouring from every orifice.

My favourite part of the Pirates of the Caribbean will always be the music, which is by Hans Zimmer in this film. He does an excellent job of setting the scenes with his lush, orchestral yet piratical tunes. It's really good stuff.

Well, I would definitely say this film is Gothic; it has so many Gothic under and overtones that's it's difficult to pinpoint them all and set them into an inclusionary force. Seeing as I'm interested in Global Gothic at the moment, I wonder if this film would lend itself to that kind of analysis? Davy Jones' crew have a The Island of Doctor Moreau thing going on, too. However, it does seem likely that this film would get lumped into postcolonial Gothic studies, but that's a dying area... or so I've heard.

4 Danielles out of 5!

Here be krakens! It looks like Cthulhu.

Zack and Miri Make a Porno (2008)

2009-03-16T18:39:00.000-07:00

I don't usually watch comedies, but I wanted to watch something relatively short (by today's standards), and something lighthearted. I had heard that Zack and Miri Make a Porno was a pretty good film, so it seemed to fit my criteria.

After my recent disappointment with Juno, I was pleasantly surprised at how much I laughed during Zack and Miri Make a Porno. The chemistry between Zack (Seth Rogen) and Miri (Elizabeth Banks) felt very genuine, and they had an excellent rapport; the conversation and jokes were so enjoyable because it felt so natural. Delaney (Craig Robinson) was also a great addition to the group of amateur pornographers. The scenes and race-related jokes with Delaney reminded me a lot of Larry David's Curb Your Enthusiasm.

While the film does fit into the typical 'rom-com' rubic, the pornography and relationship between Zack and Miri does freshen up a very stale and typical theme. The film is just good fun and it doesn't take itself too seriously. Seth Rogen is awesome.

Fable II (2008) (XBOX360)

2009-03-16T08:16:00.000-07:00

I have been writing about films a lot recently, so I thought I would write about Fable II for the XBOX360 for some diversity. I completed this game a couple of weeks ago, and I must say it wasn't all that great. I played the first game for the XBOX, and I thought it was a good idea, pretty enjoyable, but it didn't deliver what it promised. The developers promised an expansive game with lots of quests and secrets to be discovered. In reality, the plot was kind of lame, it was too easy, the main quest was far too short, and there wasn't really much extra stuff to do.

The Fable series is a fantasy-based, action role-playing game; the player's actions affect the hero's morality and how Albions citizens perceive you. You can maintain a neutral alignment, become a paragon, or a very evil person! You can also have an expansive wardrobe, get haircuts, tattoos, get married, have kids, join guilds, and hire prostitutes. This was expanded somewhat in the sequel, and this time, you have a cute, faithful doggy companion. You can also choose the gender of your hero.

Fable II has improved a little from his predecessor; the graphics are absolutely stunning, but it is pretty much the same game. The storyline and the main quest are both still short and pretty lame. The soundtrack isn't anything to get excited about, either.

Hiring prostitutes, being a local nuisance, being the local celebrity, cheating on your husband/wife with men and women and having a family in every city all gets very boring very quickly. I thought the developers would have added more exciting things, but oh well. I would actually contemplate trading this game in...

The Fable series will probably never ascend to the great heights of the Bethesda's Morrowind games, but there are plans for more sequels.

2.5 Danielles out of 5. It is sort of fun... and has gothic moments...

Beauty and the Beast (1991)

2009-03-13T15:18:00.000-07:00

One of my friends came over yesterday; we decided to overindulge in our childhood, and watch Beauty and the Beast. This is a Disney film that I haven't actually seen. I think I have read far too much Angela Carter, so my mind has been completely warped by her Gothic versions of fairy tales...

I know a lot of people that adore Beauty and the Beast, but I honestly just thought it was a bit naff. Most of the songs are pretty uninspired and a bit pointless. The only remedying feature of the soundtrack were Angela Lansbury's songs because she is simply a comedic feature to me whenever she is in anything. Why does Mrs. Potts (voiced by Angela Lansbury) have a six year old son when she is like seventy years old? It makes no sense!

Of course, the animation is stunning, and I absolutely adore the Beast, and the Gothic castle. The gargoyles and the turrets are very beautifully designed.

Other than that, the film didn't really have much more to offer me. It's not the best Disney film out there.

Juno (2007)

2009-03-12T07:10:00.000-07:00

I'm always behind when it comes to seeing the latest movies, and I just got around to watching Juno today. A lot of my friends said that it was an awesome film, and that I just had to watch it.

Yeah, I guess Juno was quite quirky, but it just didn't live up to the hype. The dialogue -- mostly from Juno herself (Ellen Page) felt so forced; the lingo just didn't work for her. I didn't really find it particularly funny, either. The film seems to be playing on the glamourising 'geek' culture with its references to 'indie' films, music, and comics.

Even though I'm criticising the film, it did present the whole teen pregnancy issue differently -- simply because Juno's parents were very supportive. After studying moral philosophy for quite some time, the whole pro-life/pro-choice debate feels quite stagnant to me, so I'm not going to get into all that stuff.

Anyway, I guess the film was alright. Juno doesn't take much effort or concentration to watch, so I may watch it again sometime if I need a distraction.

2.5 Danielles out of 5. :\

Stand By Me (1986)

2009-03-10T12:58:00.000-07:00

After spending the whole morning working on my dissertation today and consequently feeling a little stressed, I decided to watch Stand By Me. It was one of my favourite movies as a kid, so whenever I watch it, it takes me to My Happy Place.

The film is based on a short story by Stephen King called 'The Body', but I'm not really an authority on it because I still haven't managed to procure a copy of it yet. I have been trying to many years.

I have an obsession with America in the 50's, so that's one of the reasons why I really like this film -- even though it's set in 1959. It's a very simple story, but the interaction between the four characters Gordie, Chris, Teddy, and Verne feels really natural. With its small town setting, the gang of four 12 year old boys, and the treehouse, it sort of encapsulates an idyllic childhood of a world that has been lost. Or maybe a world that never was. I'm not too sure.

After the discovery of the body, the confrontation with the older Ace's (Keifer Sutherland) gang, and finally, the very picturesque journey back home in silence, I always feel it slipping away. It's such a beautiful 'coming-of-age' story...

5 Danielles out of 5. :)

Carrie (1976)

2009-03-10T05:27:00.000-07:00

Reading Misery in November 2008 made me want to pursue more of Stephen King's works, so my next stop was Carrie. I can't say that the book particularly floored me; it's pretty dull, and it needs a damn good editor. Seeing as I really enjoyed the film adaptation of Misery and heard good things about the Carrie movie I thought I would give it a try.

So, I press the 'play' button on my laptop, light myself up a nice cigarette and lie back on my bed. The camera focuses in on the girls' locker room; it then flits past some completely naked teenage girls shrouded in steam. A perplexed glimmer crosses my face and I raise an eyebrow. The next thing I know, Carrie (Sissy Spacek) is in the frame and there are some interesting close ups of her washing in the shower. The camera pans out again to other scantily clothed/naked young ladies. The smell of burning invades my nostrils, and I realise my cigarette has fallen to the bed. My sheets then erupt into flames in true Carrie-style as I think 'my goodness! This film is far too adult for me! :'('

Well... not really. Only some of that is true. I was struck by how bold that scene was. Having read the book, I expected that scene to be executed as a sort of 'bra-and-panties' affair. Well, I was wrong. I'm almost certain something like that wouldn't make it to mainstream cinema these days because... y'know... apparently sex offenders lurk behind every bush.

Despite this rather flippant and pervy view I'm portraying, I absolutely adored this film. It is an an example of excellent cinema -- no matter how dated it may seem to some. The Whites' home, with its Christian iconography, candle-lit rooms, and creepy Jesus statue in the room under the stairs really captures the essence of the entire film.

I love how the narrative plays out as the victimised girl who gets invited by to the prom by the jock hunk Tommy Ross (William Katt), and then the film quite literally explode into chaos. One of my favourite film moments of all time is when Carrie returns to her home after the prom; the house is dark and the organ music is stunning. Unfortunately, I can't find a video of it online.

5 Danielles out of 5! A new favourite film!

Dumplings (2004)

2009-03-08T10:53:00.000-07:00

An interesting film from Hong Kong recommended to me by my supervisor, Dumplings is a must-see if you like foreign films. I watched it a couple of months ago, but I feel compelled to write about this example of top-notch cinema.

I found the story a little difficult to follow in places, but the cinematography more than makes up for this. Despite its horrifying topic of cannibalism and treatment of abortion, director Fruit Chan uses an array of bright colours, picturesque camera angles and an interesting blend of music to create this very strange vision of a world ruled by scandal and good looks.

East Asia's interpretation of the horror genre certainly surpasses some of the the trash occupying American genre during the past twenty years. Even though Japan has gained some negative notoriety for its repetative ghost-centred narratives, Dumplings takes the East Asian horror cinema into a new direction by providing a refreshing change from the supernatural by focusing on a far more grounded subject matter.

4 Danielles out of 5! :)

Sleeping Beauty (1959)

2009-03-08T10:18:00.000-07:00

Even though I had a lot Disney videos when I was a child, I lacked Sleeping Beauty. Today was the first time I had ever watched it from start to finish. I have a fair few friends that consider this to be one of the best Disney classics, but I was a little disappointed.

It has been a long time since I read Perrault's version, but I found the first hour of the Disney adaptation quite boring. The animation and backgrounds are stunning, and it's nice to hear a big old-fashioned sounding orchestral soundtrack, but that just wasn't enough to enthrall me. The singing interludes aren't as catchy or as fun as the modern 'classics' like The Lion King, but they are very fitting and beautiful.

The main attraction of the film is Maleficent and her Gothic Forbidden Mountain. The artwork took my breath away; it's a shame that this animation has been superceded by CG. I think it would be difficult to achieve something as surreal and dark as the Forbidden Mountain with modern technology. The last thirty minutes or so, are great -- action-packed, very dark, but still quite quirky. I probably won't be in a hurry to see it again. Give me twenty years or so...

Anyway, I don't want to get into the whole business of Disney diluting our Gothic tales, so I will stop here.

2.5 Danielles out of 5.

The Rules of Attraction (2002)

2009-03-07T17:31:00.000-08:00

Having only read American Psycho and Lunar Park by Bret Easton Ellis, and enjoyed them both, I have always meant to read some of his earlier works, but I never seem to get around to it. I decided to watch the film of The Rules of Attraction seeing as I won't be able to pursue any pleasure reading for a while.

I borrowed The Rules of Attraction from a friend who studies film and media; he spoke about how it's an iconic film of the 00's, and I must say, it has a well-deserved reputation. It is shot beautifully, and this is accompanied by a great soundtrack. James Van Der Beek was an interesting choice as Sean Bateman, and it really showcased his skills and versatility an actor. Ian Somerhalder as Paul stole the spotlight, though. For me, Paul's story was far more intriguing than Sean's.

Despite it's bright and attractive cinematography, the camera angles clarify this film's position as a very dark satire of American university culture. It's treatment of love, lust, attraction and identity will certainly stay with me for a while. The most beautiful scene is between Sean and Paul in the snow; the setting, in conjunction with, the raw emotion of Paul's rejection really affected me.

I'm not sure if I would classify this as Gothic or not.

3.5 Danielles out of 5!

Mongol (2007)

2009-03-07T08:11:00.000-08:00

No matter how historically inaccurate, I have always had a penchant for historical epics. Despite specialising in East Asian literature, I admittedly like The Last Samurai even though it has been subjected to the Hollywood treatment. When it comes to epics, I didn't think it was possible to top my favourite release of the genre -- Kingdom of Heaven -- but, Mongol has ascended to that dizzying height. I was glad to hear from some film and media student friends that Mongol generally received very positive reviews; I think this historical epic genre is very underappreciated...

I have always been interested in Ghengis Khan and Mongolia in general, so this film was an extra special treat for me. While the cinematography is mostly very traditional, there are some great angles and slow-motion sequences during the battles. The soundtrack was also very satisfactory, but I do love folk music. The costume design is spectacular and feels very authentic. The child actors -- particularly Odnyam Odsuren, who plays young Temudjin -- all gave fantastic performances.

It was a very touching film in places -- particularly seeing Temudjin interacting with his children after his long absence, and his relationship with his wife Borte. I got particularly excited at the final battle to see the strategy playing out like a live-action version of the Kessen video game series.

I know this kind of film doesn't appeal to a lot of people, but it's an exception of the rule of boring historical epics.

Is it Gothic? No, but it has piqued my interest to study Mongolian literature, and investigate their Gothic tradition because they have some very beautiful cultural and folkloric beliefs.

4 Danielles out of 5!

Saw V (2008)

2009-03-06T16:44:00.001-08:00

I watched the first Saw film in 2005 because of its alleged notoriety. I thought it was a refreshing change to the modern horror genre, and I enjoyed the twist at the end. After reading Jake Hurtley's article 'I Want to Play a Game: How to See Saw', I felt compelled to watch the rest of the series in 2008.

For me, the draws of the Saw series are the serial killer Jigsaw, the inventive traps that increase in both wackiness and violence with each installment, and the much anticipated twist at the end. Saw V, however, just does not deliver. Perhaps it was the change from Darren Lynn Bousman, who directed II to IV, to David Hackl the prop designer/second-unit director, but Saw V meanders on the brink of pointlessness -- and not only that, haven't we seen this film four times now? Can anything else really be revealed about the Jigsaw Murders?

Yes, the cinematography is quite interesting, the soundtrack is excellent, but these two elements are simply not enough to make this a worthwhile view. While I do find the characterisation and construction of Jigsaw very interesting, this alone is not going to make me want to continue pursuing this series.

So, is it Gothic? I think the constant churning out of dire and terrible sequels alone makes it suitably Gothic. Perhaps it's time for Saw to become a skeleton in the closet...

1 Danielle out of 5 :(

Misery (1990)

2009-03-06T13:18:00.000-08:00

The first Stephen King novel I had ever read was 2007's Lisey's Story; I somewhat enjoyed it, but it was a little bit too long at a substantial 706 pages. However, in the fourth and final year of my undergraduate degree, I was able to apply some Lacanian theory to the text to analyse the relationship between language and gender. I began to appreciate the text a little more after this.

Anyway, I was advised to read some of King's earlier works; I began with The Shining, Carrie, and finally, Misery. I enjoyed the latter immensely, and was excited to see the film adaptation. Part of my love for Misery is simply King's construction of Paul Sheldon, and his extremely darkly witty narration that often overpowers this truly horrifying hostage scenario. James Caan does an excellent job as Paul -- although he is certainly not as handsome as I imagined the character. Kathy Bates' portrayal of Annie Wilkes was astounding; she managed to shift personalities effortlessly.

For a film that is essentially focused upon the interaction of two characters, it just doesn't get tedious. In fact, it renders the opposite effect upon me; the race for Paul to return to his room before Annie arrives at home made me feel anxious! The comic relief provided by the sheriff Buster and his wife was also a fantastic element.

It must be said that this film certainly fits into the typical, low-budget 90's film rubric; there wasn't anything exciting going on with the filmography, but the soundtrack was great. The piano sonatas used to mark the passage of time was very 90's, but it did cause a grin to creep over my face. A very enjoyable film. If you haven't seen it, see it. If you have already, watch it again.

Key Question: Is it Gothic?Absolutely! The manifestation of the psyche upon the damaged body was interesting...

4 Danielles out of 5!