Unpopular Geek Media Opinions

[jian]

The Rio Theatre, in Vancouver, BC, Canada does this sort of things frequently.

(A friend is also involved in their monthly D&D based comedy improv live show, "The Critical Hit Show", that's on the third Wednesday of every month, if memory serves.)

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Love the Rio. Went to see La Dolce Vita, Saturday morning breakfast cereal cartoons, and This Is Spinal Tap there in the last few months. And I’m not even nostalgic about Saturday morning cartoons (let alone Jem and the Holograms) since I’m English.

Vancouver has more than its fair share of great art cinemas in the Cinematheque and VIFF - also enjoyed the screwball comedy season, the Tsui Hark season, and the Kurosawa season there recently. As well as cool little gems like Three Hazelnuts for Cinderella.

 

[Ryujin]

Love the Rio. Went to see La Dolce Vita, Saturday morning breakfast cereal cartoons, and This Is Spinal Tap there in the last few months. And I’m not even nostalgic about Saturday morning cartoons (let alone Jem and the Holograms) since I’m English.

Vancouver has more than its fair share of great art cinemas in the Cinematheque and VIFF - also enjoyed the screwball comedy season, the Tsui Hark season, and the Kurosawa seasons there recently. As well as cool little gems like Three Hazelnuts for Cinderella.

"The Critical Hit Show" is going to be there again on Aug. 27 (Wednesday, next week) , if you want to give that a go. I keep meaning to try and arrange to hit it on one of my trips to Seattle, by driving up there for a couple of days, but things just never seem to line up for me.

 

[jian]

"The Critical Hit Show" is going to be there again on Aug. 27 (Wednesday, next week) , if you want to give that a go. I keep meaning to try and arrange to hit it on one of my trips to Seattle, by driving up there for a couple of days, but things just never seem to line up for me.

Yes, went to see that a couple of years ago - first thing we saw at the Rio.

 

[pukunui]

LOL. I'm now on Wind & Truth and am thinking Sanderson is falling into the Robert Jordan trap of not having an editor willing to tell him to cut stuff.

It's not that the editors aren't willing to provide advice. It's that the creators aren't willing to listen and are big enough that they don't have to.

 

[Reynard]

It's not that the editors aren't willing to provide advice. It's that the creators aren't willing to listen and are big enough that they don't have to.

It's that their core audience wants it.

 

[pukunui]

It's that their core audience wants it.

That too. But it's also about power dynamics. When creators are new and don't have a lot of clout, they have to listen to the editor/publisher/producer/etc. As the creator becomes more successful, wealthy, and famous, they gain more power and can tell the editors, publishers, and studio execs to go shove it. (In some cases, they literally set up their own publishing house, recording company, or movie studio so no one else can tell them what to do.)

 

[Reynard]

That too. But it's also about power dynamics. When creators are new and don't have a lot of clout, they have to listen to the editor/publisher/producer/etc. As the creator becomes more successful, wealthy, and famous, they gain more power and can tell the editors, publishers, and studio execs to go shove it. (In some cases, they literally set up their own publishing house, recording company, or movie studio so no one else can tell them what to do.)

It's like a self imposed Peter Principle: they promote themselves out of their skill set.

 

[Pale Violet Light]

luckily in book 3 the horrible multiple-chapter diversion into "a story it was literally impossible to understand without having read another book trilogy from a different setting entirely" pushed me over the edge.

Yes, I’d been told in advance they were “Easter Eggs” for readers of other series, but the magic sword is pretty damn crucial to several plot points. In addition, I hate the knowing nods and winks some of the cameo characters give to the audience, it rankles when you have no idea who they are.

I slogged to the end of book five; it’s mostly fine, interspersed with confusing moments when the characters act like idiots because the plot demands it.

 

[Alzrius]

I read Timothy Zahn's Heir to the Empire (the first book of his Thrawn trilogy), and came away unimpressed. While I understand a lot of what Zahn was trying to do, a lot of what he had in there didn't feel like Star Wars to me, even if many of those elements would later be built upon and expanded...which I suppose might be a part of the reason why I've fallen out of love with the franchise.

 

[Deset Gled]

While I understand a lot of what Zahn was trying to do, a lot of what he had in there didn't feel like Star Wars to me,

I think I agree, but that's why I liked it. It was a story in the Star Wars universe, not another Star Wars.

Conversely, the Jedi Search trilogy by Anderson was a straight up "I want to just copy Star Wars" series that I hated.