Current Books and Movies, What are you reading or watching in Jan2009 ?? Options

[Synner667]

There are several Topics about books and movies and comics that people have enjoyed.

But what are you people reading, listening to or watching now ??
Any of it inspiring you with your gaming ??


Me...
...I'm part way through the Eisenhorn Trilogy of Warhammer 40k books [again] and loving it for its Cthulhu-in-the-future high-tech grittiness.
I'd highly recommend the books [Xenos, Malleus, Hereticus] for anyone into a fleshed-out grimy, gritty future.

[cybertrucker]

Currently I am reading The Shadowrun novel "A Fistful of Data" Great read so far. After that I am planning on picking up the Hellgate London Novels i have heard they are really good from someone I know.

Movie wise i am anticipating Star Trek which is funny because when i first heard about them using the old crew i was against it but it looks like it could be good.

Another addition to this list would be computer games or console

Currently I am playing Fallout 3 for single player, and Vanguard Saga of Heroes for MMO (you should check out the free trial if you heard the game was bad you heard wrong)
I am anticipating Aieon and Earth Rising both MMOs they will have to be really good to get me to stop playing Vanguard though.

[apollo124]

Currently reading: "Wonder Woman", based on the screenplay of the upcoming animated movie. (Okay, so I'm a comic book geek who likes hot looking busty superheroes)

Currently watching: I saw "The Spirit" at the theater in December. Again with the "hot looking women in superhero style" thing.

Currently playing: The Sims 2 Double Deluxe, which I bought with a Christmas gift card and Neverwinter Nights 1. I'm an old school roleplayer and NWN 2 is just way too much 4th ed D+D to me, and I HATE what they've done with it, and to my beloved Forgotten Realms.

[Critias]

Reading: The Book of Two Guns: the martial art of the 1911 pistol and the AR carbine, by Tiger McGee, is my current book, the last novel sort of gig I read was Hardwired for the zillionth time.

Watching: The last movie I watched at home was The Incredible Hulk. To stave off any actual dvd purchases, my wife and I just snagged a Netflix deal, and we'll be watching Hancock later tonight. Before Hulk, the last thing I watched on dvd was the entirety of seasons one and two of Frisky Dingo, in one sitting. It makes me happy in my pants.

Playing: Fallout 3. Nom nom nom, bloatfly meat!

[Wesley Street]

Currently Reading: Matter by Iain M. Banks, his latest Culture novel and a crap-ton of comic books and graphic novels

Currently Listening: The Cool by Lupe Fiasco

Currently Watching: The Shield, Season 5, and the final seasons of The Wire and Battlestar Galactica

Currently Playing: Fallout 3, Mercenaries 2 (video games) and D&D 4e, Spycraft 2.0, and 2300AD (P&P RPGs)

[Backgammon]

Reading: I'm currently a bit more than half way through Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Price. When that's done, I've got The Steel Remains by Richard Morgan ready to go. REEEAALLY looking forward to that one.

Movies/TW: Looking forward to Terminator 4 and Watchmen mostly. TV-wise, the upcoming last season of Battlestar has me and my wife very excited, Lost and Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles are what I watch. Plus I started watching Entourage on my newly acquired HBO Canada which is pretty cool.

Gaming: Finishing up FarCry 2, which is pretty mediocre. I've got Gears of Wars 2 still in shrinkwrap, but I need to go buy a 2nd xbox remote so I can split-screen with my wife. On my shortlist is then Fable 2, but what I'm really looking forward to is the new Total War (for PC) coming up. There's tons of good games lining up, but for now that's what I have my eyes on.

[Malicant]

I'm an old school roleplayer and NWN 2 is just way too much 4th ed D+D to me, and I HATE what they've done with it, and to my beloved Forgotten Realms.

Ok, this is going off-topic, but what the hell? NWN 1 and 2 use the same fucking rules, there is nothing in NWN 2 that reminds me of 4th edition. It's one of these days again...

Whatever, on Topic: I'm reading The Life and Times of Scrooge McDuck right now. Hurray for comics. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif) That's about it, no interesting books or movies on the near horizon right now, sadly.

[TonkaTuff]

Reading: Invader, the second book in C.J. Cherryh's Foreigner series.

Watching: I think the last movie I watched all the way through was Spiderbaby a couple of weeks back. Sat through the last few hours of the Battlestar Galactica (a show I like, but never seem to end up watching) marathon and the new episode last Friday. And I've been enjoying the Batman and Clone Wars series that've been running on Cartoon Network for the last few months. The former is much like a cross between the 60's TV version and the latter-day Justice League show, and better than that probably sounds. The latter is surprisingly good and feels a bit more faithful to the spirit of the original trilogy - probably due to limited creator meddling.

Playing: I recently dug out my gameboy and started playing Golden Sun again. And I'm about 2/3 of the way through a playthrough of Fallout 2, which has lead to my discovery of the both the PnP adaptation of the game system and a modding community I had no idea even existed (and may prompt yet another playthrough to take advantage of the expanded/fixed content).

[chainsawash]

Currently I am reading The Shadowrun novel "A Fistful of Data" Great read so far.

Funny enough I just finished that one. It was ok, I liked the idea of the Crypt and would try to work something like it into a campaign if we ever start playing SR. I read Aftershock right before though and liked that one better out of the two. I'm about to start "Captain's Fury", book four of Jim Butcher's Codex Alera which has fast become my favorite fantasy series.

[Eugene]

Reading: "A Garden of Martyrs" by Michael White (about an early 1800s trial of Irish immigrants in MA).

Watching: Movies - Transsiberian (about the train, tourists, and drug smuggling); TV - Leverage, Supernatural, Burn Notice (soon!)

Playing: Shadowrun (weekly Skype), Jadeclaw (2-3/month), 4e (1/month), + lots of board games (Power Grid and Settlers are current faves)

[Dr. John Desmond]

Reading: Just finished "Killing Pablo" by Mark Bowden, which is the story or how Pablo Escobar was taken down back in the early 90's. Getting ready to start "100 years of Solitude" by Gabirel Garcia Marquez for the 3rd time.

Watching: Finally saw "Slumdog Millionaire" which was outstanding. Also watching Leverage.

Playing: Sporadically playing "Rise of the Argonaughts" and currently on the opening details of a campaign based in luxurious Caracas 2070.

[rafebelmont]

Currently reading Swords And Deviltry by Fritz Leiber, very good short stories so far. Just finished the Chaykin and Mignola's Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser comic book, excellent adaptation.

The last movie i saw on dvd was the average Resident Evil, i just can't remember the name, i think it's degenerations...
It's a CG movie, just okay.

Playing: Deus Ex on PC, amazing so far, Neverwinter Nights 1, idem. On Pen and Paper rpg, a playtest campaign using the Pathfinder rules, it has been an excellent game and we're preparing to play SR4, to test the new rules, see if we were not wrong to trade the SR3 rules...

[Adarael]

Watching:
Neon Genesis Evangelion again, because I wanted to see if I still thought it sucked, 15 years later. (Verdict so far: I still hate the main character's spinelessness, and I think the giant robots are grossly incongruous to the theme, but I respect it a lot more.)
The Prisoner. Again. Started it again when Patrick McGoohan died.

Reading:
Trying to finish The Cassini Division, but failing because I keep getting sidetracked.
Reading The 48 Laws of Power, because a pretty girl threatened my testicles if I didn't.

Playing:
Fable II.
Thief: Deadly Shadows.

[The Jake]

Reading: Save Our Sleep (it's actually a book for new parents on getting kids to sleep since I'm expecting my first). In between, I'm reading bits and pieces of various SR4 sourcebooks to better learn the rules and flesh out the campaign.

Watching: The Dark Knight, Blade Runner (trying to, constant interruptions), Babylon A.D.

Playing: Mass Effect, Fallout 3 occasionally. We roleplay weekly but I am for fortnightly participation. Lately I've been playing weekly (and SR4 has proven a hit with my players).

- J.

[Malicant]

Watching:
Neon Genesis Evangelion again, because I wanted to see if I still thought it sucked, 15 years later.

Oh boy, it still sucks, but one is unable to really get away from it.
I would kinda recommend The new (oh boy) Rebuild of Evangelion version. They redo a lot of crap, that made no friggin sense in the original. Some new stuff will be added. The characters are still the same morons, though, so.... well. It's only kinda a recommendation anyways. And it will be like 3 or 4 movies total, so, well... If you can get your hand on it, give it a shot. If you don't care enough, good for you. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif)

This thing will haunt me for the rest of my days...

[Synner667]

Now reading "Legion of the Damned" [William C Dietz] about a mercenary unit of cybersoldiers recruited from the condemned, the terminally ill and those without any other hope.

Watching:
Neon Genesis Evangelion again, because I wanted to see if I still thought it sucked, 15 years later. (Verdict so far: I still hate the main character's spinelessness, and I think the giant robots are grossly incongruous to the theme, but I respect it a lot more.)

Is that the series or the "film" - it's been a long time since I watched anything Evangelion.

[Wesley Street]

Playing: I just finished Fallout 3. Interesting but not completely satisfying. I'll exchange it at GameStop. I don't feel that it's worth a second play-through. Now I'm working my way through Mercenaries 2. I've started over a few times but I've now got the hang of it. Lots of fun!

Watching: Macross Zero fan-sub. Enjoyable but I'd kill for a Macross series without the requisite pop-idol/girlie-girl love-interest bullshit. I can't imagine why anyone would want to watch what's essentially a war story with a romance stapled into it. Macross is for guys. They want to see transforming jets shooting at each other. Trying to cross-market WAR for the ladies is always going to fail. This is why I liked Cowboy Bebop. Spike and Jet didn't have time for women. They kicked guys in the face and the only woman they ever loved betrayed them. That's a good story.

Reading: Wonder Woman: The Circle. Surprisingly good hardback comics collection by excellent writer Gail Simone of Birds of Prey fame. While Wonder Woman, the angry swimsuit model, will always be a ridiculous concept, this works. DC Comics is perpetually shooting itself in the foot by not allowing for a slight costume redesign.

[Adarael]

The series, not the film.

I'm less annoyed by it now, I think, because I am much better able to see the effect it had on the form and marketability of more 'experimental' anime. I don't think anime like Serial Experiments Lain, Paranoia Agent, or even Ghost in the Shell 2 could have been made WITHOUT it being a roaring success despite rampant incoherency at parts.

Besides, it lead to FLCL, for which I am eternally grateful. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/wink.gif)

They kicked guys in the face and the only woman they ever loved betrayed them. That's a good story.

This is the truest thing I have read all week.

[ravensmuse]

Playing - I just finished up Lego Star Wars Complete for the Ps3. I'm debating between trying to convince the girlfriend to free up some money for the first Penny Arcade adventures game and going back and finishing off my backlog, consisting of Folklore (Ps3), Metroid Prime 3 and Super Paper Mario (Wii)

Watching - Clone Wars, the new one on Cartoon Network. Not as over the top super-awesome as the Tartakovsky version (and nothing will ever top that one) but it's got everything I love about the Prequel era - Jedi masters, Clone Troopers, villainous badguys, and comic warmachines. The action, for a kid's show, is surprisingly hardcore.

Reading - Just finished up The Good Thief's Guide to Paris, which is a great action mystery book starring a part-time thief, full time author trying to figure out why there's a dead painter sitting in the living room of his apartment. Next I think I'll look out for Jennifer Government, which looks like a cross between Mirror's Edge and Shadowrun. The author of Paris reccomended it, so I'm going to track it down via the wonder of my local library.

Also, FLCL is one of the greatest things to come out of anime in like, ever.

[PBTHHHHT]

Watching - Clone Wars, the new one on Cartoon Network. Not as over the top super-awesome as the Tartakovsky version (and nothing will ever top that one) but it's got everything I love about the Prequel era - Jedi masters, Clone Troopers, villainous badguys, and comic warmachines. The action, for a kid's show, is surprisingly hardcore.

Ugh, I saw the movie and an episode of this new stuff and I absolutely hate it. Terrible dialogue, terrible plots, contrived situations, stupid, stupid tactics. I'll shut up now.

Oh, someone mentioned Neon Genesis? Geez, that series will never die in Japan. When I was visiting Oasaka last summer, all the pachinko parlours that I walked past had the posters up everywhere on their windows and repeatedly blared out the theme song.
Oh, the maid cafe concept there... it was odd. I'm still trying to sort out why people go there often.

What I'm playing:
Team Fortress 2, on xbox360 and pc, and Left 4 Dead on the 360.

As for current books and movies:
I just finished the Fables graphic novels, all 11 of them, waiting for the 12th one to come out in the summer.
Rereading A Small Colonial War.

As for movies... whatever is on HBO that catches my eye. I finally saw 300.
My roommate grabbed the Jericho series and I saw a bit of that. Interesting postapocalyptic series.
Been watching Tower of Druaga as it gets released on youtube/crunchyroll. They've been simultaneously releasing it in Japan and subtitled which is great. Good fun fantasy series based off an old videogame, a few episodes were great as it made fun of the fantasy genre and rpg genre. Also been watching a bit of Tytania, it's the only serious scifi anime series coming out that has catched my eye, the novels were written by the same guy who did Legend of Galactic Heroes.

[Wesley Street]

Ugh, I saw the movie and an episode of this new stuff and I absolutely hate it. Terrible dialogue, terrible plots, contrived situations, stupid, stupid tactics. I'll shut up now.

So, in other words... it's a Star Wars movie. No, it won't win any awards but it isn't as terrible as everyone claims it is. It's surprisingly watchable for a kids' movie.

Next I think I'll look out for Jennifer Government, which looks like a cross between Mirror's Edge and Shadowrun. The author of Paris reccomended it, so I'm going to track it down via the wonder of my local library.

It's good. It's more like Snow Crash meets 1984 meets Wall Street with a little THX 1138 thrown in. It's an intelligent hyper-satire though there is a little bit of action if I recall; the conversion of the NRA into a private mercenary contractor was chuckle-worthy.

[ravensmuse]

I didn't go into Clone Wars expecting Shakespear. I went into it expecting - surprise - Prequel era Star Wars. Which means it must have: Jedi, Clone and ARC Troopers, CIS battle droids, decent (snappy) dialogue, and good fight scenes - all of which the series has.

They've killed people on this show, on and off screen. Two of them have gotten lightsabers through the chest. The battle droids had an episode where they traveled through the ruins of a capital ship cutting into escape pods to kill the captive crews inside while humming. They've even done Clone Trooper-centric episodes focused just on the clones (with a single ARC) with no Jedi in sight. Very same episode, they name-dropped the 501st!

Plus there's been new planets, new characters, they've allowed the non-martial characters like Padme and Jar Jar to have center stage - it's not just Jedi blow up machines, here you go! Heck, my very favorite episode so far was the very first one, where Yoda and a small squad of Clones are traveling cross-country to make a meet-up they're late for.

I mean, I know it's quite popular to look down with a sniff on anything Star Wars nowadays but shit, it's a good series full of action and adventure for little kids and lots of little things for the parents to latch onto. They've had a fight with IG-88 droids; I mean come on.

[ravensmuse]

It's good. It's more like Snow Crash meets 1984 meets Wall Street with a little THX 1138 thrown in. It's an intelligent hyper-satire though there is a little bit of action if I recall; the conversion of the NRA into a private mercenary contractor was chuckle-worthy.

It's not like, crazy serious is it? I'm not in the mood for serious dystopia lately. The author made it sound upbeat and a little wacky.

[Wesley Street]

When you have characters named Julia Nike-McDonalds and Jennifer Government (all of the characters' surnames are taken by their employers; even the protagonist's daughter has the last name of Mattel as it's the company that owns the elementary school) it's hard to claim that it's a "serious" (re: depressing) dystopia. But it's not woka-woka-woka! crazy either. If you're familiar with the works of James Morrow (ie: Towing Jehovah), it's that level of serious. If you're expecting two-fisted pistol action and kick-flips across hyper-urban landscapes you may be disappointed. The cover blurb that compares it to "The Matrix" is highly misleading and makes me wonder if the reviewer even read the book or just looked at the dust jacket art. It's more of a police procedural than a postcyberpunk action romp.

Oooo, apparently there's a browser-based Jennifer Government simulation game: http://www.nationstates.net/.

[ravensmuse]

We need more wocka-wocka dystopia.

Like, Big Brother is Fozzie and the Black Bug Room is full of cream pies.

PS - Picked up The Devil Wears Prada instead. Got an idea for a solo game for the girlfriend...