Top 5 SFF releases of 2012

2012 looks set to be an good year for SFF fans, who can anticipate a number of exciting releases (no, I’m NOT talking about G.I. JOE: Retaliation or, worse, John Carter). Here are my top five picks of new SFF material coming out in 2012 (not including novels):

5) The Hunger Games movie (release date 23 March 2012 (NB. UK release date, as found on IMDB)) – Having just finished reading the books (find my reviews here and here), I’m curious to see how director Gary Ross will transform these brutal YA novels into film. My hopes are high, as the trailer looks pretty good:

4) The Dark Knight Rises (20 July 2012)- I will confess, The Dark Knight is the only Batman film I’ve seen (apart from the oldie, which has the whole POW, SPLOSH, KABOOM! action going on), but it was more than enough to whet my appetite. And now I’m picturing more of that awesomeness, with the additions of Anne Hathaway, Tom Hardy, and Joseph Gordon-Levitt! WOOT! ‘Tis gonna be amazing.

To add my opinion to the whole ‘I can’t understand what Bane is saying’ debate: that’s only ONE LINE in the trailer that you’re having difficulty hearing, and I’m sure it won’t be that hard to understand him all the way through (it just CAN’T be). And, if you really can’t figure out the line in the trailer, he says: ‘When Gotham is ashes, you have my permission to die.’ Which is, you must agree, a brilliantly badass thing to say. I think I’m going to like him…

3) The Master and Margarita performed by Complicite (15 March 2012, Barbican theatre London) - A more obscure choice, but OHMYGOODNESS am I excited about it! The Master and Margarita is one of my favourite books, and Complicite is one of my favourite theatre companies. What a combination! If you haven’t heard of Complicite, they are a company under the artistic direction of Simon McBurney (who you will have seen in films and TV series, mainly as side characters/cameos e.g. Oliver Lacon in Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy, Archdeacon Robert in Rev, Fra Pavel in The Golden Compass etc.). Aside from this, he also happens to be a theatrical genius. Complicite are known for their innovative physical performances, and their employment of ‘total theatre’ i.e. using light, sound, setting, projections, etc. to create a piece of theatre in which all the elements are in harmony and play a crucial role in the telling. I have my ticket booked for their show in April, and I cannot wait!

2) Game of Thrones, Season 2 (April 2012)- Need I explain? Wasn’t Season 1 awesome?? Isn’t Jon Snow gorgeous? (*ahem* OK, so I can be shallow, right?) Heh… Anyway, BESIDES gazing at Jon Snow I’m also looking forward to seeing how they depict Sansa’s storyline this season, because I felt that her character really bloomed and became much more likeable/interesting in A Clash of Kings. Bring it on, HBO!

1) Yep, you’ve guessed it… The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (14 December 2012) – How could this not be my number 1? I mean, have you SEEN the trailer (well, it’s OK if you haven’t ’cause I’ve embedded it below)?? It makes me PAINFULLY excited. Yes, that’s NEAR PHYSICAL PAIN. REAL PSEUDO-PHYSICAL PAIN. (No, I don’t know what I mean either, but it hurts, I tell you, it HURTS!) From the looks of the trailer, The Hobbit will be just as excellent as LOTR, albeit with a necessarily lighter tone, as stakes in The Hobbit are not as high as in LOTR. NB. I have to say, I couldn’t quite believe it when I heard that Richard Armitage was cast as Thorin, but now I understand; he has such regal, aquiline features, and manages to remain sleek and noble-looking even with that bushy dwarven beard!

So those are my year’s top excitements mapped out — which 2012 releases are you looking forward to most?

Review: Stardust, Neil Gaiman

Stardust

Neil Gaiman

Review, 2005

ISBN 978-0-75532-282-4

If you’re feeling a bit down and need cheering up, read Stardust.

If you want a to experience a burst of magic in the midst of your quotidian life, read Stardust.

If you like whimsical stories that use fairytale tropes in fun and original ways, read Stardust.

If you’re looking for a quick read, but one that is fresh and sweet and charming, read Stardust.

If you’re a Neil Gaiman fan, you’ll probably already have read Stardust; but if you haven’t… read Stardust.

This isn’t going to be a long review, because there isn’t much important for me to say apart from the fact that I love this book. A light-hearted fairytale-style story, Stardust chronicles the adventures of a young man called Tristran Thorn, born in unusual circumstances and destined for something greater than to remain a village shop-boy in the English village of Wall. Tristran, like his father Dunstan, ventures beyond the mysterious Wall for which the village is named, and enters the strange faerie realm of Stormhold. There, Tristran finds rather more than he bargained for when he encounters a fallen star – and discovers that he is not the only person with an interest in it. He also discovers a number of other important things, not least about himself.

Stardust is an absolute joy to read. One expects this from any Neil Gaiman offering, but Stardust, with its fable-esque plotline and warm, fluid prose, is less complex and more instantly gratifying than his longer adult novels – perfect for those dark winter evenings when you want a satisfying world to sink into without straining your tired brain overmuch. Tristran Thorn is a lovably hapless protagonist, courageous in an everyday kind of way: a ‘boy-next-door’ hero. (Nawwww.) Yvaine’s sharp wit offsets him perfectly, and their exchanges are often very funny, as Tristran is repeatedly the butte of Yvaine’s sarcasm. The rest of Stardust’s cast is also wonderful: the three ‘Lilim’ are threatening but entertaining, with Gaiman playing in his expert fashion with the legends and tropes surrounding witchcraft. My favourite secondary characters, though, have to be the princes of Stormhold. Named after their order of birth – Primus, Secundus, Tertius, Quartus, etc. – these princes spend their time killing one another off in a bid to become the sole remaining heir to their father’s throne. In Stardust the matter of ascendency becomes more complicated, as the eighty-first Lord of Stormhold adds a condition: throwing the topaz that is the Power of Stormhold out of his tower window, he decrees that the one to retrieve the stone will become Lord of Stormhold after him. Cue much treachery, galloping, and general chaos as the three remaining brothers (Primus, Tertius, and Septimus) race for their prize, and many humourous touches as the ghosts of the brothers already-dead comment upon their surviving siblings’ actions.

Stardust is quirky, funny, captivating, and mischievous. It’s got sympathetic protagonists, strange creatures, conniving witches, talking trees, fallen stars, magical inns, and enchanted maidens. It’s got romance and entrails. It’s got danger and mice and ghosts and princes and airborne ships that catch lightning. It’s got goats. It’s got ‘most everything you could wish for.

If you like the sound of all or any of these things, read Stardust.

[On a related note... My copy of Stardust is WEIRD. It’s the Review 2005 paperback edition, but the cover is not like the cover of that edition advertised on Amazon – which is the one embedded above. On the cover of my copy, the title is not so prominent (in fact it’s not very prominent at all), and doesn’t appear at all on the spine… Hell, I’m just going to take some photos and show you…

Strange, huh? I wonder if this was a mistake and they had to be reprinted? Does anyone know?

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Addendum: a note on the film of Stardust…

If you’ve already read Stardust, watch Stardust.

Often films are huge disappointments compared to the books they are based on. Fortunately, Stardust (2007), directed by Matthew Vaughn and starring Charlie Cox, Claire Danes, and Michelle Pfeiffer, is not one of these films. Instead, it’s bloomin’ fantastic. The casting is brilliant – my favourite performances being those by Charlie Cox as Tristran, Michelle Pfeiffer as Lamia, and Mark Strong as Septimus – and the costumes/settings/effects etc. are great. The adaptation is managed very well, so that despite some quite substantial changes to the plot (most noticeably at the end), the film retains the charming, magical atmosphere of the novel, and ends up being just as good in its own right. This probably has quite a lot to do with the fact that Mr. Gaiman himself produced it; it’s comforting to know that the author oversaw the process (though I imagine that some authors who produce great novels would not be able to produce great films!)

Stardust is one of those films I can watch over and over again and enjoy it afresh every time. I thoroughly recommend it.

If you need a happy and wondrous place to go to, read or watch Stardust. Preferably do both (though perhaps not at the same time).