Notes from a bibliophile

It’s like Hollywood suffers from the same post-holiday stupor as the rest of us. They’ve had too much turkey all year and finally have to put on their stretchy pants before falling asleep in the BarcaLounger in front of whatever sports game they happen to be interested in. Hardly anything of interest comes out in January. Here’s what I could scrape together: On January 1st, there’s a French thriller called Glacé which is about a murder in the Alps. On January 12, The Post hits movie theatres. It tells the story of The Washington Post ’s decision to go against White House orders to publish information about the Vietnam War. It may get a lot of airtime,  what with one side bashing it as maybe where journalism begin its foray into “fake news” and the other side peraising it as a shining beacon of journalistic integrity. I’m sure it’ll get lots of nominations too. On Amazon Prime - which now has an app on Apple TV and I apparently have an account ( who knew?!?) - Philip K Dick’s Elec

I struggled to get books read this year, and those I did read were mostly graphic novels. I’ve also read a lot of Brian K Vaughan. I wanted to like his stuff as much as I liked Y: The Last Man, but I didn’t. What’s not so obvious is that a lot of the graphic novels I really liked were by Image Comics. I’m not sure what that means, but I may be checking out more of their stuff in 2018. Here’s what I eventually worked my way through this year: Outcast Vol. 3 by Robert Kirkman & Paul Azaceta The Disappearing Spoon by Sam Kean Saga Vol 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 by Brian K Vaughan & Fiona Staples The Monk by Matthew Lewis Wolverine: Logan by Brian K Vaughan, Eduardo Russo, & Dean White East of West Vol 2 by Jonathan Hickman & Nick Dragotta Pride of Baghdad by Brian K Vaughan & Niko Henrichon We Stand On Guard by Brian K Vaughan, Steve Skroce, & Matt Hollingsworth The Private Eye by Brian K Vaughan, Marcos Martin, & Muntsa Vicente Hamilton: The Revolution by Lin

It’s the end of the year and it’s time to look back on what happened in the previous twelve months. February Kong: Skull Island, which I liked pretty well, and A Cure For Wellness. I’ve already written my thoughts about that in another blog. Short version, meh. March Logan, which I really liked, and Beauty and the Beast, which was pointless. I’m boycotting live action remakes of animated films. April Colossal. Really good! June Wonder Woman Spider-Man: Homecoming Despicable Me 3. Unfortunately. July Dunkirk (LOVE) The Dark Tower Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets (biggest disappointment of the year) November Blade Runner 2049 Thor: Ragnarok (probably tied for favorite film of the year) Justice League The Star Murder on the Orient Express Coco December Ferdinand The Darkest Hour The Shape of Water (bizarre but good) Star Wars: The Last Jedi 😢