Fairy Tale Spotlight: Casino Royale [1967 Film Review]

"Casino Royale" is a James Bond 007 movie released in 1967. It is possibly the strangest Bond Film to ever be released and may possibly be one of the oddest films ever to be made period. Is it a good film? Is it bad? It's hard to say really. Even though the movie was a box office success, opinions on the film have been all over the place since its release.

Although the movie is based on the book of the same name by Ian Flemming, the film itself does everything in its power to break up what it means to have a Bond film. It utterly destroys conventions in any way it can. For one, James Bond can barely stand being around women. Women make him nervous, and he tends to stutter around them a lot too. That said, he is still straight and even has a woman who he still feels loyal too who had since been murdered.

The reason for this sudden change in character is attributed to the other movies which make him seem like a very silly, gadget-using, womanizer. But see... this movie is a comedy. The whole point is to make fun of itself, and it does that for the full run. But even as a comedy, this movie works very hard to sell what it is to an often baffled audience. It somehow comes across as sincerity.

The music was another aspect of the film that nobody will expect. It often sounds like circus music even in places where it doesn't seem to belong. The quality is good, and some of the action scenes can feel more fun with the silly music somehow. It's hard to explain without being able to show it to you.

The writing is all over the place and filled with stuff that strays from the main story. This happens often. There is also a level of convolution as well. Even though there is only one James Bond, the real Bond hires a bunch of agents and forces them to use the same moniker as him just to confuse the enemy. So nearly ever main character in the film will be known as James Bond by the end of it.

Despite all the chaos in the writing, the presentation is shockingly good. There are a ton of celebrities, the set design is always first class, and the acting, such as it is, is spot on for what they are trying to do. The humor is all incredibly straight-faced and dry, which sometimes can lead to the confusion of if something was meant to be funny to begin with. If it is possible for humor to be dry then this movie is a desert.

Much of the latter half of the movie gets extremely surreal and almost hypnotic in its presentation. There is this weird facility that trains double agents for both Russia and America. This whole section of the movie feels like a strange dream. The torture scene of Bond was replaced with an equally surreal scene where Le Chiffe uses a mind control device to torture one of Bond's many doubles, causing him to think he is going insane. "Why do any of this?" I asked. Because they wanted to and so they did.

This movie is the product of a bunch of people having a silly idea, and then pumping as much money and effort into it as they could. What came of it was a movie more fascinating in that it exists than it existing as a comedy that's mildly funny. The movie, at least in my own opinion, is good because it fascinates the brain for the entire time you are watching it. But on its own merits as a film, it appears to be a bad movie.

"Casino Royale" might be chaos in its construction, but it also seems to have been very carefully made with love. It's a movie worth seeing, and I do recommend that you see it at least once. You may like it or hate it, but you'll have to admit that it is one of the most novel movies you will ever see in your life. And seriously if you watch it for anything, watch it for the group of henchwomen wielding Sterling submachine guns. That sight never gets old.

This blog was written on February 21, 2023.

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Fairy Tale Spotlight: The Oz Gazette #17 [Review]

It's been a while since I reviewed one of these. Apparently I only receive two a year, so a lot of time goes by between them. "The Oz Gazette #17" is the Autumn 2023 edition of the possibly canon mini newspaper printed by the International Wizard of Oz Club. I get these because I am a member. I also get new issues of "The Baum Bugle," but I haven't been reading any of those because of time concerns. I am very much overwhelmed with tackling these Oz books as well as other ones as well.

You all probably don't remember the review of #16, but it was looking like the Gnome King was in the process of capturing the Emerald City... and apparently he did! In fact, he is presently their ruler. Ozma is apparently still trapped in our world and so is unable to stop this from happening.

The issue is very charmingly written. It is pitched as a Halloween edition or rather "Hallozween." The Gnome King is filling the Emerald City with a bunch of his creepy cronies. It's all written in a fun and amusing way.

Pages 2 and 3 is actually a bestiary written by the Wizard of Oz. He covers a handful of famous monsters from the Oz series. He goes into what they look like, where to find them, and how dangerous they can be. He also slipped in a little message that there is a plan to take the kingdom back, and that we should not worry too much.

All in all, I really liked this issue. Can't really recommend something so difficult to come by. If you are interested in getting these, you have to become a member of the International Wizard of Oz Club. Other than that, there's not much I can say to help you out. Either way, they make for very charming reads.

This blog was written on February 17, 2023.

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Fairy Tale Spotlight: Small Saga [Video Game Review]

"Small Saga" is an indie video game that was released in 2023. I got it as a Birthday/Christmas gift in the same year. It is an RPG about rodents living in the world of humans... or rather under it.

The game plays pretty good and has more of a boss battle focus. That is to say that you do have regular enemies from time to time, but they don't really amount to much. It's really about the bosses in this game. Bosses are like giant cats and other large animals. At one point you actually take on a human being, but it's usually not about killing them as much as its about trying to get them to buzz off. Oh, and there is no EXP. Level ups happen as a scripted event. So fighting all the little enemies don't seem to matter anyhow.

In this world, humans are considered the gods of the world. The things they make are called god items. So if a mouse finds like a Swiss army knife, that is a god weapon. I liked this whole setup a lot. Basically the rodents are living primitive lives underneath modern humans.

The closest game I can think that this comes to is Super Mario RPG, the original one. But you can't jump. There is no platforming in this game at all. It just looks similar.

The story is actually really good... until it isn't. I was seriously invested in this whole thing. It centers around a mouse who lost his brother to someone called the Yellow God who was clearly a rat exterminator. So it becomes a revenge story as a mouse goes out to kill an actual human. I liked everything about this, but the damn story just got so political by the end of it that I just couldn't enjoy myself.

You see, this is the problem with the game... it's basically a communism utopia simulator... at least... by the end of it. It isn't only about trying to kill a god. It's about removing all leaders from power and then just sort of living a happy, colorful, candy-coated life with your friends and family forever.

I can't say this enough: I HATE POLITICAL MESSAGES IN GAMES! Stop trying to convince me of stuff! To be fair, they do an okay job showing both sides of the argument. There is this really long debate with one of the squirrel Nazis. Yeah, you heard me. Squirrel Nazi. I'll say it again: SQUIRREL NAZI. This game has squirrel Nazis, specifically the grey squirrels. The red ones are all gay or something and have to be imprisoned and executed. I dunno. I just wanted to go on a revenge quest and not deal with politics. But like I said, they did have a very good debate with one of the grey squirrels, and I would be an idiot not to mention that it happened.

I'm not going to recommend the game, but I did have some fun with it. I love the design of it, and the music, and just about every single aspect of it other than the fact that it really, seriously pushes communistic utopian ideals on you. I'm disappointed and sad. I really wanted to love this game.

This blog was written on February 10, 2023.

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Fairy Tale Spotlight: Flatland [2007 Movie Review]

[I spoil major parts of this movie.]

I wanted to get this review out a little earlier. The problem was that I wanted to watch it with someone, but nobody wanted to see it with me. I just ended up watching it on my own. Honestly, I was really excited to see it because it was a full length movie.

"Flatland" is a movie from 2007 which is based on the book of the same name. It is also Americanized. The book had a more Victorian feel to it. So how does it stack up to the book and also that weird short film from 1965?

This movie actually does a surprisingly good job covering all the parts of the book. And with it being an hour and a half long, it damn well better have. It even included Lineland and Pointland which is really what I had hoped for. But there is a bit more to analyze here.

For one thing, this movie does things that might make people a little squeamish. For the first half of the movie, you seem to be looking at the world of Flatland from the perspective of possibly the Sphere, and if you have read the book then that means that you technically should be able to see the insides of the people of Flatland. And you do. You spend the first half of the movie seeing the guts, brains, and intestines of all the characters on the screen. It actually made me a little sick at first, but I got used to it. Also I like that it is accurate to the book.

In fact, this movie takes a lot of stuff from the book even to the point of being delightfully politically incorrect. They deal with the Chromatism Conflict which is where a faction of the Flatlanders colored themselves. It is a bit similar to fads happening in America right now. Also the women were stupid... just like in the book! Yeah, they got that right. The women are overemotional crazy people in the book, and the movie just sort of ran with it.

I was actually surprised with the amount of content they doggedly pulled from the book. In fact, they did so much of it, I was a bit worried people might see this today and not understand what they were seeing. I checked the comments people had for this movie, and, sure enough, most of them found the movie too confusing. But it isn't. It's all really straight forward. I think people are just getting dumber.

Like I said, the movie really does borrow from the book a lot, but there are major differences, and I do need to address them. Nothing is really all that bad or unwanted here though. It's just that if I don't say them, I'm going to be doing you all a disservice.

The movie is the same as the book, but it tried very hard to connect itself to the book of "Revelations" from the Bible. Now, it doesn't go too far into religious stuff... I mean no more than the book did. Let's be honest here... going from a two-dimensional world to a 3D one would likely seem like you were meeting God in Heaven. But this whole film is predicated on that one line in "Revelations" about wars and rumors about wars. And boy does it strike home!

Actually, in many ways, this movie is a bit depressing because of those themes. The concept of war crossed with the internal conflict of a nation is everywhere in this movie. Well, not in Lineland and Pointland, but in Flatland and Spaceland, it is a huge problem. And folks... I relate to all of it. It's scary times we live in. If you wanna feel like the world you live in is constantly on the brink of disaster, this movie will give you that feeling.

This slight alteration to the narrative does change the ending of the story, but it wasn't bad. I didn't mind it. They basically just replace a lifetime of imprisonment with a nationwide disaster. It's the end of the world, and still nobody will listen to anybody!

The only other thing I should mention is that there are these little text thingies that keep popping up throughout the movie. They are kind of there to hold your hand and explain to you what you're seeing. I actually like this. I thought they added a little humor to what was clearly a very dark movie.

Oh, right. The CGI. I should mention that too. Yeah, the 2D world looks like it should, but Spaceland is like some of the most rudimentary CGI I have ever seen. I know this movie came out in 2007, but they clearly borrowed CGI from the mid 90's. It wasn't all bad. It had a charm to it, and I loved the Sphere. Just look at the cover to the movie. That's a fairly good representation of what the CGI is like.

I am officially recommending you see this movie even after spoiling it. I just think it's one of those things that people should see. It is the most accurate adaptation of the book so far, and the voices aren't damn weird! It will disturb you though! I'm serious. Get ready for some emotions you didn't want to have.

This blog was written on February 10, 2023.

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Fairy Tale Spotlight: Spellsinger [Book Review]

"Spellsinger" is a fantasy novel by Alan Dean Foster. It is the first in what is commonly known as the Spellsinger series of books which went on for quite a bit. It was published in 1983.

"Spellsinger" follows the adventures of Jonathan Thomas Meriweather, known mainly as Jon-Tom, as he uses some really hard-core drugs while a wizard from another worlds sucks him into a magical land full of furries. And I know what you're thinking: It was probably just the drugs. Well, he thought that too, but when the visions last well after your completely sober, you begin to realize that all this stuff is actually real. And it was real. In fact, he couldn't even get home again for the rest of his life.

The idea here is that a turtle wizard named Chothahump was facing the potential end of the world, and so he tried to draw a wizard from another dimension into his world, but he accidently gets a law student who was not actually a wizard. It was pretty comical.

But as it turns out, Jon-Tom wasn't completely useless. He found out that he sing while playing an instrument and then magic would happen somehow. They all called him a Spellsinger, and that's where the book gets its name, I guess!

The cast is a mix of talking animal characters and humans. The humans are fine, I guess. It's the animals that made me the happiest. You got Mudge who is a horny otter who is basically a scoundrel that gets away with just about everything. Caz is a rabbit who is very charming and well-spoken, but he isn't super reputable himself. He is just sort of better at saving face. Pog the bat is a grumpy but very loyal fellow who is actually the indentured slave of Clothahump. There is also an actual--I kid you not--Marxist dragon.

The dragon is named Falameezar, and he had some weird dream where his brain got soaked in the words of Carl Marx. Now he is absolutely obsessed with socialism and is always on the verge of killing anyone who doesn't agree with him. This character is hilarious. He is the only person in the whole story that actually wants to start a socialist revolution in the world, and Jon-Tom, who had studied the subject in school, has to keep patronizing him with his own socialism logic to keep him calm and friendly to their group. It also gives them a very powerful ally just as long as he can be convinced that the people he is with are all "comrades."

I did enjoy this book a lot. I loved all the talking animal people as they go on a quest to stop an army of insectoids from taking over the world--a plot that does not complete by the end of the book, by the way. This is kind of a series that you have to keep reading to see how things end up. My main complaint with the story is that it is... really horribly paced. I mean that.

What happens throughout the book is that the main characters spend too much talking while standing completely still in one place. They don't do a lot of talking and walking at the same time. This causes the story to feel like it keeps getting stuck. Now, I am told that the future books in the series do better in this area, but it's pretty bad when you like a book but also wish it would just get to the end.

Even so, I do recommend "Spellsinger." It's a great story, and I will be reading the next one. I'll probably just do the first three and then stop. I have to be a little careful about novel series since I have time concerns. Either way, the first book did make me want to see how the initial story would end, and that's saying something at least.

This blog was written on February 2, 2023.

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Fairy Tale Spotlight: Flatland [1965 Short Film Review]

So after reading "Flatland," I decided to check out the original short film from 1965. You may find it interesting that "Flatland" has been made into quite a number of movies and sequels. I was curious to see how this book was interpreted into that artform.

The short film unfortunately is a little on the annoying side to watch. Although it follows the book fairly closely in dialog and style, it's the voice of the Square that really got on my nerves. For some reason, Square has a very silly, squeaky sounding... and even somewhat effeminate male voice. It's a bit shocking when you first hear it, and then you soon realize that you'll be hearing it for the next eleven minutes.

The story is good enough, but it only deals with the 2D and 3D universes. Lineland and Pointland are completely omitted. That said, the presentation of Flatland and Spaceland are delivered in a reasonable manner.

The art and animation are well done for the time. The different shapes sort of bounce and vibrate when they talk. This was not really something from the book, but the animators did it to make them seem more like living people, and I appreciate that. The encounter with the 3D Sphere was extremely well done in such a way that it would make sense. I thought it was cool that you see the Sphere coming before anyone has seen him yet because he had not yet crossed into the plane of Flatland. Very cool.

Even with the omissions and the annoying voice, I still recommend this short film. It does well enough to show the basic concepts of the book without getting into the more complicated stuff. I still, however, would have enjoyed seeing the other dimensions.

This blog was written on February 1, 2023.

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Fairy Tale Spotlight: Flatland [Book Review]

[This blog spoils some aspects of the story.]

"Flatland: A Romance of Many Dimensions" is a book written by Edwin Abbott Abbott. (Yes, that is his actual name.) It was published in 1884. It is basically a science fiction dealing with crossing over into new dimensions rather than into outer space or anything like that.

The story itself comes from the perspective of a Square who lives in a two-dimensional world. There is no up or down, only the cardinal directions of north, south, east, and west. Their perspective is also flat, and so anything they see only appears as lines of various lengths that appear and disappear differently based on how they enter or leave view.

The first half of the book does its best to explain life in two dimensions. It sounds rather excruciating to live that way when you can barely see anything, but everyone living there is used to it. And that is something that takes some time to understand. If I had lived in a two-dimensional world, I wouldn't care because I wouldn't know of anything better.

The author does a very good job explaining how 2D life works and even utilizes a few pictures to help illustrate the concepts. The Square does know his audience. He understands that he is talking to three-dimensional readers, so the explanations are intended specifically for us.

As the book progresses, the Square gets the opportunity to explore a few other worlds outside of Flatland, each having its own dimension count. His first foray is into Lineland, which is an entire universe with only one dimension. Here everyone is a line and can only walk from left to right. They also are incapable of getting around each other. Although it was a little confusing, it seemed like mating took place by way of sound waves, basically happening over long distance. Offspring would simply join in the line and they would sort of just dance from left to right.

Similar to life in Flatland, the Linelanders did not know or understand anything of two-dimensional worlds. For this reason, they were perfectly content to live life in such a constricted way. But to the Square, the idea of going from two-dimensions to only one sounded terrible, much in the same way that going from 3D to 2D would be to us.

The Square also gets to go into our world which the author calls Spaceland. Spaceland is an entire universe that has three-dimensions: height, width, and also depth. To the Square, this was like going into Heaven. It did actually feel liberating to him, although it took him a long time to understand it. Meeting an actual Sphere was like talking to God himself.

One last little interdimensional journey takes place before the story ends. The Square travels to Pointland which is an entire universe of zero dimensions. This surprised me because I did not think such a place could exist and certainly could not be populated, but the book makes such an idea seem plausible.

Pointland was an extremely small universe that housed only one person who was only a dot. He was alone and happy to be so. He stood there, unable to move for all eternity, and enjoyed being alive. Like it was in the other worlds, he did not seem to care about his limitations because that was simply his reality. I did think it was very interesting that the Square was actually aggravated with the dot for enjoying such a terrible existence, but it was very clear that he just did not understand. This was my favorite part of the entire book, by the way.

"Flatland" was not well received when it came out. Honestly, it does seem like a book that should have come out in the 1900s instead, for that was when people finally began to notice how cool it was. And it is cool, and I do recommend it. It is a very easy read, and it opens your minds to both higher and also lower concepts that you might not normally think about.

As a side note, this book inspired one of Norton Juster's fantastic short stories "The Dot and the Line." In case you don't know, Norton Juster is the great writer who gave us "The Phantom Tollbooth." You should probably pick that one up as well. It's a classic!

This blog was written on January 31, 2023.

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