media update: May

This isn't a very long media update (and June will probably be the same, if not sparser) because I've been playing Yakuza 0 and we got a new kitten!  His name is Momo, he's excruciatingly cute, and although he's a very good boy for the most part, he's also exhausting!  It's been a long time since I had a kitten, and I forgot how much attention they need.  I would never claim a pet is as labor-intensive as a human baby, but I honestly feel like a new parent.  It's been quite an adjustment, and G and I are tired as hell, but overall we are enjoying the new addition to our home.

Asterisks denote something I particularly enjoyed or found especially worthy of my time; double asterisks are reserved for the creme de la creme.  As always, your mileage may vary.

FICTION

1. What Comes After by Joanne Tompkins:  Isaac is devastated when his son Daniel's best friend kills Daniel and then himself.  When a pregnant young woman who had ties to both boys shows up at his house, Isaac takes her in, hoping to find out the truth about Daniel's death.

2. Ariadne* by Jennifer Saint:  A feminist retelling about the myth of Ariadne and Theseus.  If you, like me, love Madeline Miller, you'll probably eat this up like candy.

Side note: I was obsessed with mythology as a kid, but I think the Minotaur's origin story must have been cleaned up wherever I read it, because it sure came as a shock to me when reading this.  Jesus, poor Pasiphae.  Her husband fucks up so Poseidon punishes HER?  Dick.

[A tidal wave appears from thin air and engulfs me]

3. Hush Little Baby* by R.H. Herron:  Jillian is pregnant with her ex-wife's biological baby.  When she starts noticing things being moved around the home they once shared, she can't figure out if it's gaslighting by her ex, "baby brain", or something much worse.  I tore through this in two sittings.

4. The First Day of Spring* by Nancy Tucker:  When she was eight, Chrissie murdered another kid.  Now an adult, living under a new identity and with a child of her own, she gets a phone call and realizes her past might be catching up with her.  The cover and title make it look and sound like something light, but...uh...no.  I really enjoyed it, not just because it's beautifully written, but because it evokes great sympathy for Chrissie, both child and adult, without in any way diminishing her crime.

2021 total so far: 26

NONFICTION

Nothing this month.

2021 total so far: 7

 

GRAPHIC NOVELS/MANGA

1. Yuri Life by Kurukuruhime

2021 total so far: 4

MOVIES

1. The Mitchells vs. the Machines*:  The Mitchell family is on a road trip to drop daughter Katie off at college.  Unfortunately, their vacation coincides with the robot uprising.  It could have been shorter by at least twenty minutes, and the character design is a bit weird (someone on Twitter compared it to GrubHub commercials, which is pretty spot-on), but overall it's a charming animated movie with some really funny lines and scenes.

2. Things Heard & Seen:  A young couple (Amanda Seyfried and James Norton) move into an old farmhouse that has a dark history.  I was expecting a horror movie, but aside from a few supernatural elements, it's more of a portrait of a marriage gone wrong.  For the most part I didn't dislike it, but I will say it has one of the worst endings I've ever seen.

3. Without Remorse:  A former Navy SEAL (Michael B. Jordan) seeks revenge for the murder of his pregnant wife.

4. Hail Satan?:  An entertaining documentary about the Satanic Temple.

5. Army of the Dead:  A group of people sneaks into zombiefied Las Vegas, which is about to be nuked by the government, in order to steal millions of dollars.  I was hoping it would be much better than it was, since Zack Snyder did the awesome Dawn of the Dead reboot, but it wasn't very good.

6. Those Who Wish Me Dead:  Smoke jumper Hannah (Angelina Jolie) is on firewatch when she discovers a traumatized boy wandering in the wilderness.  She finds out that the assassins who murdered his father are now after him...and they've set the forest on fire to smoke him out.  They never really explained why the father was murdered, which was annoying, but overall it was pretty good.

2021 total so far: 21