Inspired by the segment on the Galactic Suburbs podcast.
A Fistful OF Dollars – The first in what many consider the archetypical spaghetti western series, directed by Sergio Leone and staring Clint Eastwood. A wandering drifter finds himself in a town with two feuding families. He sees an opportunity to play them off against each other. It doesnt end well for most. A great film. I have to watch the next 2 in the series soon.
Dr Who – I haven’t been a fan of the modern Doctor Who series. Haven’t watched many of them. Decided to give the new series a go. It is Peter Capaldi after all. I liked the opening episode. Although I did have to ask Twitter who some of the alien characters where. Given I hadn’t watched the recent series where they were introduced. I though the 2nd episode was a bit weak and predictable. But maybe they are still setting up for later in the series. The ‘heaven’ bit is interesting. Wondering how that’ll play out. Hopefully by not actually being heaven!
All Quiet on the Western Front (1979) – Caught this by accident when it was on TV. It’s a 1979 colour film adaption of the famous book about life on the German lines on western front in World War 1. I liked it a lot. Very graphic, for the time, and the depiction of the horror or trench warfare was very good. Several parts of it were like Band of Brothers. Not really surprising I expect. War is war, and horrible.
Five stages of Grief After the Alien Invasion – A short story from the latest Clarkesworld Magazine. A story of the aftermath of an (accidental?) alien seeding of Earth. Who claim they didn’t know it was inhabited. Read online at the link above or listen to the audiobook version via their Podcast.
The Lady Astronaut of Mars – A really great short story from Mary Robinette Kowal. It won the Hugo Award for Best Novelette this year. Deservadly so. It’s crisp, focused, evocative and thought provoking. Read it at the link above.
Before The Dawn – I now live in a world where I can say that I have seen Kate Bush live in concert. I never thought it would happen. I had high hopes for the concert. They were surpassed. The venue, the lighting, the staging and theatrics were all brilliant. But what topped it all was that voice. Kate Bush truly has one of the best voices ever.