Tim's (still) not blogging

Year in Review - Media

Books

The Martian - Amazing. Fantastic. Wonderfully written. Everyone needs to read this. Tempted to listen to the audiobook because it also has great reviews.

Solaris (new translation) - Good old scifi. Writing is the polar opposite of The Martian. (Compare the first pages of each. One will sell you the whole book, one you’ll barely make it through.)

A Wrinkle in Time - Slow-moving first half, then everything happens all at once. Probably worth reading, but I don’t think I’m interested in the rest of the sequels.

Atopia - Pretty decent. Will buy and read the sequel.

The Stand - Still only 20% through it.

Movies

Gravity - beautiful, if it was shown in IMAX 70mm, I should have seen it that way. 3D was really well-done, even if some of the science was iffy. Science was more believable than Sandra Bullock MD fixing Hubble with a commander who doesn’t know anything about her.

Ender’s Game - Good. Battle training was really cool. I had forgotten about most of the other story bits.

Pacific Rim - Big and entirely as expected

Interstellar - Really big (IMAX 70mm was gorgeous). Science was iffy (as expected), story had a decent thread of classic scifi, but then wrapped in complete bonkers nonsense. Needed more story editing, but still great to look at. Almost worth seeing again in expensive IMAX just for the soundtrack.

Total Recall (199x) - Pretty good PKD, felt like 90s and Verhoven.

Total Recall 2012 - oy. Blade Runner with lens flares, missing a huge part of both the story and 1990 version

Salt - Decent attempt at a Lady Bourne. The ending left a sequel open, and I’d watch it.

Marry Me - best comedy on TV SNL Amy Adams