Race to Witch Mountain...

[fajrdrako]

I went today to see Race to Witch Mountain with Pat and Sandi. Enjoyed it very much, and wasn't even bored by the car chases. I didn't know till we came back to my place and I looked it up on IMDb that the actors who played the two kids in original Witch Mountain movie from 1975 - which I have never seen - played the Sheriff and the waitress in this one. I did recognize the little boy who played Seth; he was Alexander Ludwig, who starred in The Seeker: The Dark is Rising, and I thought him as lacking in talent and charm there as I did here.

And though I didn't recognize her at all, the woman in the lead was Carla Gugino, whom I'd just recently seen in Watchmen (as Sally Jupiter).

Other things I liked:

• The main character, Jack Bruno, was an ex-convict. I liked the idea of the hero being a thug who'd got out of prison and gone straight. I also like the way his former mobster boss was chasing after him and confusing the action.
  
• A few X-Files jokes.
  
• I thought the little girl playing Sara, AnnaSophia Robb, was very personable. And I loved the action with her and the dog.

A moment of insight at one point: I've been talking to a lot of people lately about how I didn't like, didn't read, and didn't want to read science ficion when I was young - I started reading it when I was 17 in England, with The Chyrysalids. The reason I didn't like science fiction and didn't want to try it was because I had the notion that SF all had ugly alien monsters - just as this movie does, in the end. That kept me away. Still would, except I discovered that I can enjoy SF in spite of that. But it remains my least favourite aspect of SF, regardless of medium or genre.

Comments

[mmegaera.livejournal.com]

Which is also why we love Bujold so much, we do [g].

No ugly alien monsters!

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

It's definitely an advantage of the Bujold novels. The only monsters are psychologically ugly!

[sollersuk.livejournal.com]

May I offer you "my daughter the theologian"'s distinction between science fiction (monsters and hardware, briefly) and science fiction (people and their reactions)? She's commented that most of the writers of the latter are women, but John Wyndham is an exception. What's your take on the monsters in "The Kraken Wakes" and "The Day of the Triffids"?

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

Interesting distinction; and one in which I am obviously a fan of science fiction rather than the other kind. Science fiction readers, I find, usually want the science, while I want the fiction, though a scientific and/or futuristic background is fine. Putting me firmly in the 'fan of female writers' camp, I guess - I even rather like those lowbrow futuristic romances in which the hero is usually the long-lost royal heir of some planet.

I liked The Kraken Wakes and The Day of the Triffids because I like Wyndham's writing style. I haven't seen the movies, and I'm not sure I want to.

[sollersuk.livejournal.com]

You don't want to see the movies, trust me, but the BBC series of The Day of the Triffids (made back in the 1980s but currently available on DVD) is brilliant. Starting with sticking close to the book, and even using actual locations like London University Senate House.

What I like about his books is that he really does concentrate on the personal side; issues, consequences and relationships. His female characters may not be brilliantly done, but at least they are strong. I like his writing, too, but then someone with the surname "Beynon" lurking among his names is likely to have ancestors from a specific area of South Wales.

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

the BBC series of The Day of the Triffids (made back in the 1980s but currently available on DVD) is brilliant

Oh, good - thanks for the recommendation.

I always liked Wyndham's characterization, and the way he could and did combine that with good suspense.

[auriaephiala.livejournal.com]

Good distinction, though I'd say that Cordwainer Smith, Theodore Sturgeon, or Fred Pohl would also be exceptions.

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

There are a probably a lot of them I haven't read. I was very impressed with Sturgeon when I met him - and I still haven't read any of his books.

[auriaephiala.livejournal.com]

Did you ever read the original "Witch Mountain" book by Alexander Key as a child? I loved it so much I was wary of ever seeing the movie(s).

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

No. I never heard of it. Or of him.

[filkferengi]

Hie thee to the library instanter [legal term]. Alexander Key rocks! _Forgotten Door_ is his most widely-printed book, & it's quite good. I enjoyed everything I could get by him. It's definitely YA, but with wonderful characters.

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

Okay, I will. At the moment the library catalogue is down - hate it when that happens - but I'll check back later.