Jamie Provencher

Category: Reviews

• We’re all mad down here…

  Posted at 1:02 pm by Jamie Provencher, on July 13, 2011

  I absolutely love fractured fairy tales.   I think the easiest answer to why is because I think every story has several different tellings and due to things like the Christian coalition and coddling our children in hopes to not “traumatize” them, we only see one side of the story.  Lewis Carroll’s “Alice in Wonderland” is a story about a child who escapes into a world deep in her imagination but the story was a very frightening one.  However, companies like Disney capitalized on the madness in a humorous ridiculous way instead of really exploring the “madness” of it all, and this story of madness became a story of silliness.

  …Which is why I think I love American McGee’s Alice so much.

  By hiding the world from your children, they will never have to see anything horrific… except the one time they do… and they can’t process/deal with it because they are so sheltered…

  I recently picked up a copy of Alice: Madness Returns which is the sequel to 2000’s American McGee’s Alice in Wonderland.  If you buy the Xbox 360 or PS3 version, you also get a copy of the original game (I greatly suggest picking it up and playing it – while outdated, this is still a fantastic quick play through).

  I am only on chapter 2 and will have a much more comprehensive review later… but a few things I’d like to note:

  

  While Alice still has her original blue dress with the white apron – which she starts in at the beginning of each chapter, Alice also gets a new dress as you progress through the chapters.  This one, the siren/mermaid dress is by far my favorite so far, though it is the second chapter’s dress and I am only on the second chapter.   Each dress signifies the theme of that chapter (siren dress = water level).

  

  There is a lot more to do in Alice: the Madness Returns.  The original game is a fun quick platformer which would take maybe 6 hours at most to complete.   There isn’t any huge “replay” value in it which was remedied in its sequel.  Travel through the world and find all of Alice’s memories, pig snouts for the Duchess (didn’t I kill that bitch?), answering riddles, and find the mysterious bottles.  Even as watchful as I tried to be, I still missed 3 memories (out of 26) in chapter 1, a few pig snouts, and a few bottles.  I didn’t find a single radula either…  The chapters are long though, which makes me wonder, as I have not tried it yet, how much of the chapter you have to play when just searching for these items.  That could definitely be tedious (Chapter = 1 to 2 hours).

  These are just my initial thoughts… More to come.  I’m excited to see what new characters pop up since most met their demise in the first game.

  Posted in Reviews | 1 Comment

• Game of Thrones: Episode 2 The Kingsroad

  Posted at 12:29 am by Jamie Provencher, on July 13, 2011

  After the stellar first episode of Game of Thrones, Sunday has officially become the new geek night.  As we gathered again for episode 2, I found myself both nervous and excited.   What if the first episode was a fluke?  It should be no surprise that when creating a TV show, the premier and finale of a show are the “most important” episodes.  They build the show and set up for the next season.   If these episodes aren’t polished to be perfect, it can leave a sour taste in the viewer’s mouth and cause a promising TV show’s life to be cut short.  Would I find a series of mediocre episodes following the fantastic premiere of Game of Thrones?  My fears were quickly laid to rest.  While some events have been cut or shortened, which should be expected, the second episode shines as bright as the first.

  The thing about books being made into movies and TV shows is that you end up having to condense everything.  That being said, there are so many things that COULD have been edited out that I am very thankful they didn’t.

  The first scene that easily could have been edited out is the conversation between Robert and Ned.  They begin discussing how great it is to be together again, then to old stories about whores and bastards, and finally to Robert’s need to assassinate Danerys.  As a script-writer, I know the conversation surrounding Jon Snow’s mother as well as Robert telling Ned that Danerys should be killed, serves little purpose.  It’s a scene that the audience can get easily bored with because we already have several scenes that establish that Snow’s mother is not Caitlyn and that no one knows who his mother is.  We also already have a scene where Robert is alerted to Danerys wedding to the Dothraki Lord.  So why not cut this scene for say… some more nudity?  Characterization.  The fact that they left this scene alone absolutely thrills me because it means the writers recognize the power of this scene.  Not only does it show the differences between Ned and Robert but also gives us an intimate look at their relationship.

  Why is this such a big deal?  Recently the show has come under attack for it’s “poor script” by the New York Times Ginia Bellafonte and renown Science Fiction writer Orson Scott Card.  Bellafonte argues that the “Game of Thrones is boy fiction”, though one can argue that if nudity and war makes it boy fiction then why is there such a huge female following for Tru Blood’s nudity and violence.   Card states “Combine that with the screenwriters’ aforesaid incompetence at creating character and relationship in a script, and what you have is a deeply ruined adaptation.” And yet we have a useless scene that could have easily been cut, but was left in to do exactly that: Build character.

  On the topic of nudity, almost all the poor reviews of the series have been based on the amount of nudity in the series.  Card says, “Martin never, not once, uses sex pornographically,” which is something I highly disagree with.  There is a lot of graphic sex in these books and unfortunately, when you show sex on screen it’s going to end up looking pornographic.

  That being said, my biggest complaint with these first two episodes is Danerys.  In the first episode, which was pointed out by several fans, Danerys is “raped” which is a huge disservice to her character.  In the books, Danerys is worried about her wedding night but greatly enjoys it as the Dothraki lord, Khal Drogo, takes her under the stars.  In the show, she is raped on a cliff, and in the second episode is seen crying during another sex scene.  They then have a scene from the book that shows Danerys asking how to please her the Khal.  Her lady servant then shows her how to ride like a Dothraki.  This scene made sense in the book because Danerys enjoyed having sex with the Khal but wanted more power.  The whole point is that she didn’t want to be “rode like a Dothraki horse”, but because of the way she is portrayed on the TV show her scene of asking how to please the Khal is confusing and redundant.  While I don’t think this scene should have been cut, I think that there should have been some visual change that would have caused Danerys to want to take part in the sexual relationship.

  As Sunday approaches again, I am excited to see how life at the Wall and with the men of the black is going to be portrayed in “Lord Snow”.

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• Winter is Here

  Posted at 4:29 pm by Jamie Provencher, on April 30, 2011

  In a previous article, I mentioned my severe hatred for books that are made into movies and TV shows.  There are several reasons for this and most are unavoidable.  Books have to be condensed, certain scenes are lost, characters aren’t portrayed well, oh and of course the need for artistic liberties, which is something I will never understand.  Why do you need to take something that isn’t yours, with a HUGE fan base, and try to make it yours by completely changing things [See Legend of the Seeker –  A new take on Wizard’s First Rule by Terry Goodkind]?  So when I first heard that one of my favorite books, George RR Martin’s Game of Thrones was being made into a TV mini series, I was pretty ticked.  Then I heard that HBO was going to be doing it and I thought “Well at least it’s the appropriate medium VS trying to stick it on the CW”.  I had hope that HBO would be operating with a movie budget and that Game of Thrones would be filled with violence, sex, intrigue, and high quality actors/costumes/sets as some of their other shows are.  So I decided to see if they would destroy my favorite book and waited impatiently for winter.

  Winter is here and I am pleasantly surprised.  I have always been a huge knit-picker of the Harry Potter movies and my friends waited for me to go postal on my Panasonic.  I was ready – but it was really good.  For those who haven’t seen the first episode, I suggest not reading any farther as there are some spoilers.

  The first episode starts with the prologue of Game of Thrones and ends with Bran’s fall.  The opening scene is fantastic: seeing the Wall in all its glory as well as our first brush with the cold ones was dead on.  My second breath taking moment was Ned in the Gods’ Wood.   The set was beautiful and captured not only the beauty of the imagery but also gave it that magical touch.

  The dialogue for the most part is pulled directly from the books which is what I would expect since Martin had a hand in the making and writing of the series.  The characters were fantastic, though Cersei’s hair in some parts did seem wig-like and unnatural.  I was very impressed with the casting and was pleasantly surprised that the actors captured and portrayed the characters perfectly.  I don’t think they ever mention Theon Greyjoy’s name and yet, the moment he spoke, I knew who he was.  Tyrion was fantastic – As one of my favorite characters, I wanted to know that Peter Dinklage was going to be able to catch the essence of this dynamic character.  He was funny, witty, and most of all the brooding dwarf that I had always pictured.

  In Pentos, the Targaryens’ were amazing.  Viserys gave me goose bumps with “You do not want to wake the dragon”.  Daenrys already shows her courage and power just from stepping into the heated pool.  The Dothraki culture and life style was also right on the mark and made a beautiful contrast of yellows and sun against the bleak grey and white of Winterfell.

  Sure there are a few things that can be picked at such as Danerys’ marriage to Khal Drogo is a few chapters after Bran’s fall but even this can be argued.  Martin has said that several of the events that occur in the books happen at the same time so certain chapters are either different takes on one event or are occurring at the same time the previous chapter did.  Another example is the scene with the dire wolf pups.  In the book, Robb sees them yet in the first episode, Ned is the one who follows the dead elk to the pups.  Very small changes and for the most part, not noticeable.  I eagerly await, Episode 2: The Kingsroad on April 24^th.

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• Book of Lost Things By John Connelly – Review

  Posted at 10:41 pm by Jamie Provencher, on March 18, 2011

  The first time I “read” The Book of Lost Things, I was on an eight-hour trip from Maine to Ithaca, NY.  Before I left, I stopped by Borders and searched endlessly for something decent to listen to on audio and took a chance with The Book of Lost Things.  It was definitely a great choice.

   

  A Short Summary:

  The Book of Lost Things starts off in World War 2.  The main character, David, a boy of 10, is mourning the loss of his mother who died of cancer.  His father marries the nurse who took care of his ailing wife and together they have a new baby.  David does not take to his new brother, or his new stepmother.  He begins to retreat back to the books that his mother introduced him to and begins to hear the books speak.  Soon he begins to see the Crooked Man who has taken an interest in his little brother.  The Crooked Man steals away his brother and David chases after as bombs drop from Nazis.  He slips into a crack in an ancient wall in his backyard and finds himself in a fantastical world.  In this world, he battles forward in search of the Crooked Man to save his brother.  Along the way, he finds himself immersed in ancient fairy tales: some who torment and try to kill him; others who try to help him in his quest.  A unique story that starts off as historical fiction but soon becomes a story of fantasy and adventure while resurrecting fairytales that have long been told.

   

  Review:

  I really liked this story but the beginning of the book definitely starts off slow.  Now this may be because I bought a fantasy audio book, and was confused when it started off during World War II.  I wanted to jump directly into the fantasy, which is not something that Connolly does and I wasn’t completely sure where it was going.  He slowly brings in the aspects of fantasy before he enters the world of fantasy.  To use a metaphor, it’s as if the fantasy slowly seeps out of the crack in the wall and only when David goes through the ancient wall do we actually get into the fantasy.  By Chapter 4, we begin to get whispers of fantasy and once David travels through the ancient wall, the story is completely consumed by fantasy.

  The story is filled with fractured fairy tales.  We explore some fairy tales that are old and terrifying and others that are familiar, such as Snow White, with an unexpected (and funny) twist.  As we follow young David on his quest, he definitely grows from a spoiled bratty kid to a hero.

  The story is dark and full of violence.  There are some parts in the book that are gory and terrifying.  There are dwarves, dragons, nymphs, wolves, and many other fantastical characters.  While I do state that it’s filled with fairytales, they are similar to Grimm’s fairytales BEFORE Disney got a hold of them.  Even with a ten-year-old protagonist, this is an adult story.   The best way to describe this story is to think of books like The Wizard of Oz and Alice in Wonderland combined with a little Edgar Allen Poe.  David grows to understand and accept his stepmother, death, and his new brother through his many trials and tribulations.  I suggest this book for someone who enjoys dark fantasy, with some dark humor, combines with some gore and terror.  You won’t be disappointed.  Eight Stars.

   

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• The Rebirth of Game of Thrones

  Posted at 10:40 pm by Jamie Provencher, on March 18, 2011

  Game of Thrones (further know as GoT) came out in 1996.   It was the first book in the Song of Ice and fire series and was followed by three other books: A Clash of Kings (1999); Storm of Swords (2000); Feast for Crows (2005).  Currently, George RR Martin’s rabid fans await A Dance with Dragons, which at this time does not have a release date. While it has had a strong cult following, it has never received the national attention that it is currently facing now.  Why on earth, 14 years later, is GoT everywhere a fantasy reader looks?  There are few reasons, but first a back-story.

  My first introduction to GoT was in high school.  My best friend and I both wrote stories; my characters changed monthly as I could never settle on just working one story. My friend on the other hand always wrote about her original character’s name was inspired by a name she had read in a book.  She showed me GoT and while I picked up a copy of the book, I never read it.  Ten years later, after getting married, I saw that my then husband had the book on his shelf and finally I found time to read GoT… and so began my personal obsession.

  GoT has a unique style.  While there are several characters (whom many of us struggle to keep all the names and families straight), each chapter features a single character. What I mean by this is: usually there are six to eight characters in each book whom gets their own chapter, which is told through their point of view. Sometimes you’ll have two chapters about the same event, where you get to see how two completely different characters (maybe even characters who are on opposite factions) react to said event.  There are several households in the stories that all share a theme: The Stark’s always say, “Winter is coming” when some would say, “I have a bad feeling about this”.  It’s an ominous phrase that is unique to these Lords of the North.  On the other hand, the Lannister’s say, “A Lannister always pays his debts”.  This can be something that is said in an annoyed manner when someone thinks that a Lannister is going to rip him or her off, or a promise of revenge.  Martin leads you on a roller coaster of death (no one is safe from the all mighty Martin’s pen), intriguing politics, and intense characters.  But even though it was recently rated by this site as the number one  (out of 25) as the best fantasy series on the market, why the sudden rage of new fans and sudden burst of sales.  Yeah, we know it’s becoming an HBO special but lets face it.  Lots of books get turned into TV shows such as Terry Goodkind’s Sword of Truth’s series which was turned into the travesty Legend of the Seeker.  What makes this book series and the upcoming show so special?

  HBO is the network that has obtained the rights and produced the show.  For most people this just means that we’ll have to pay $9.99 a month to watch one TV show.  But having HBO behind GoT is actually one of the reasons that GoT has now gone mainstream. The first thing one should note is the distinct difference between a channel such as The CW and HBO.  The CW who ran Legend of the Seeker is a public broadcasting station with a low budget.  While some of their shows (Supernatural) are wonderful, they still have a limited budget.  HBO on the other hand is a premium channel that one must subscribe to and is separate from your normal TV package.  They do not have that limited budget that other networks have and they tend to go all out.  Most of their TV shows have a huge following and they don’t have to censor because HBO is a premium channel.  This means that GoT doesn’t have to be cut back, cut to pieces, and have a major portions of the book left out (or made up) to be aired.  GoT will be portrayed in its sexy, bloody, and violent way.  HBO has also been marketing it like crazy.

  Each character has been selected with care and Martin has been directly involved.  HBO has also pulled in some very talented actors.  Sean Bean will play Ned Stark; Mark Addy will play Robert Baratheon; Peter Dinklage will play Tyrion Lannister for example.

  What this means is HBO will be true to the story, will portray GoT uncensored, and have found a very talented cast of actors that fit and mirror the characters from GoT vs. finding a pretty boy to play the main character and then creating new episodes that have nothing to do with the book that has plenty of material to work from (which is exactly what Legend of the Seeker) has done.

  And so HBO has rebirthed GoT, remarketed it, and has introduced it to a whole new select audience.  Fantasy-lovers, new and old are scrambling to pick this gem up and get through GoT before it premieres on HBO on April 17^th for the US and April 18^th for the UK.  And those already familiar with GoT?  Well what better time to pick up our old favorite and reacquaint ourselves with it.  Hopefully with the HBO mini-series as well as the graphic novel of GoT which was just announced will inspire our favorite author to return to the world of Westeros and bring out the long awaited Dance of Dragons. We await patiently, but at least we now have something to entertain us until then.

   

  Posted in Reviews | 0 Comments | Tagged Game of Thrones, GoT, SoIaF

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