Book Locations Update

Following on from last year's post on the topic (http://fulltimesportsfan.blogspot.co.uk/2015/01/book-locations.html), I've been continuing to track the where the books I've read are set.

Books set in the UK still heavily outnumber everything else, and the vast majority of those are set in England.

Part of the problem is that I read a lot more non-fiction than fiction and it tends to be less clearly set in one place, because either science moves or people move. Since the next few books on the 'to-read' list are also non-fiction, I doubt this is going to change.

4 Comic Book Movie Trailers - 4 - X-Men: Apocalypse

This is the review that has used all of the exclamation marks.

All of them!

There are those as yet ungotten and unborn whose lifetime's supply of exclamation marks I have used up already.  Just a warning.

Mostly because the non-spoilery version of my comments on the trailer are:

!!!
!!!!!
!!
Oh Erik, you idiot!
!!!
!!!!
!!! (squee)
!!!!
!!
!
!!!!
!!!
!!  Prof. X. !!!!!!
!

The really worrying thing is that L. actually guessed what shots all of the non-exclamation mark points were from.

The squee was Mystique's 'that's why I'm here, to fight,' and generally being Field Marshal Mystique with a vengeance.  (Because she is my favourite, just don't tell Hank.)

The 'Oh Erik, you idiot!' is the obvious thing, because, you know what, the other three have excuses, by now Erik you are old enough to know better.  And then I realise I am ranting at a fictional character (again) and ... damn it, the X-Men have got me, again.

Magneto doing it at least makes more sense than several of the other characters who do it.  I'm just deeply amused because my original comment from Apocalypse turning up in the end credits for Days of Future past was "(Gambit cut bit that turns out to be wrong and even worse, long) ... even while going "no, don't believe Apocalypse, because he lies."  I can't see them having it be Wolverine that turns into a Horseman because he's very much the viewer's entry character and Apocalypse is the one guy I don't think even Erik would try to use in a "stop humans from killing us".  I want to believe that last sentence so much."

And oh I was wrong but I knew I would be and it's glorious.

Spoilers for the general set up of all the Apocalypse stories follow.

Because there's always one good guy who thinks they can take down Apocalypse from the inside and goes under, and then realises that no, Apocalypse is stronger than that.

And after the first guy has done that the rest of them are bloody stupid for trying it again but it tends to be the gloriously heroic stupid characters that do it and we forgive them for this because ... we're very forgiving.  And Gambit is my favourite.

And I was hoping that Erik Lensherr because of his various 'I bow to no-one' issues might not fall for Apocalypse's entreaties but I knew he would because the one thing that would work on him is 'it's for the good of mutantkind' and even though Apocalypse is only really after his own greater glory that's like catnip for Magneto and well, I am going to keyboard-smash pretty much throughout the whole thing.

~~~~

I try not to get too excited in advance because that way lies disappointment but I can't help myself on this occasion.

4 Comic Book Movie Trailers - 3 - Captain America: Civil War

I can totally see why the Cap-fans are complaining that this is an Avengers film, rather than the Captain America film that the title suggests.

I can see why Marvel have done it though, because there's only really three characters you could use as *the* face for the Civil War story, and Marvel don't own the film rights to one of them, and the other one is pretty much the bad guy* and they want to make more money of him later so if they have to have a figurehead and not just make this Avengers 3 like they should (I said see their reasoning, not agree with it) they had to have Cap as that figurehead.

I don't like the fake-out of Rhodey's death, because there's only one character likely to die in this film and if you know who it is, you know who it is, and if you don't, you don't think it's going to be Rhodey because these aren't even his films.  And fake deaths (see also the concept of Marvel Dead as exemplified by Nick Fury in Captain America: The Winter Soldier) cheapen the real one(s) we're likely to get later.

By the way, if I am wrong and they do kill Rhodey, you will never hear the end of it from me, because Rhodey really doesn't get the respect he deserves in the non-Iron Man films.

The only problem I have with the trailer is that they're trying to shoe-horn comics characterisation into the film, with regard to Steve and Tony's friendship, which just isn't there in the films.  Because they've basically spent two films being barely civil to each other.  Or rather, Tony's been an arse and Steve Rogers, because he is lovely, has been rising above it.  So the 'I was your friend too' bit doesn't work, despite some bang up acting by Robert Downey jnr in that snippet.

I do like that they've tried to make Tony's motivation clearer and more reasonable than in the comics, and that they've built up to this through the past few films.

On a more peculiar note - help William Hurt is playing ancient crabby generals.  I am not willing to cope with this.

* Guess where I stand on the Superhero Registration Act.

I know that some sort of oversight is needed but registration is the worst possible solution.  Either ban it, a la the Keane Act (or Incredibles equivalent), or you know, accept it and carry on.  Don't put peoples's details down when they've got deadly enemies, because there's no such thing as an unbreakable cipher.  And if I know this, so do all the Marvelverse bad guys.

4 Comic Book Movie Trailers - 2 - Batman vs Superman

Put second because despite thinking it's a good, solid trailer I still have doubts about the whole thing.

Starting with Zack Snyder being the director.  And David S. Goyer being the writer.

I spent most of the trailer chuckling over Lex Luthor.  Which I'm not sure I'm supposed to do.  I mean, I chuckled at Kevin Spacey's Luthor but he was still evil through and through but I'm not sure if Jesse Eisenberg can do evil villain that I laugh at that I don't like more than the hero.  (NB - I am also one of the people who liked Superman Returns.)

I believe Henry Cavill's Superman, I just don't believe his Clark Kent.  And I'm still not sure about Wonder Woman.  And I hate the new Batsuit.

But there was this shot of Ben Affleck tied up and angry and not giving an inch and I was all 'Hello Bruce, I've missed you'.

And that's the thing, I am still dubious about the whole film but I'm tempted to go and watch it just for Batman.

4 Comic Book Movie Trailers - 1 - Suicide Squad

Split up for length.

And because otherwise I will use up the world's entire supply of exclamation marks in one go. (Yes, that is a warning that several of these posts will be squee-ridden.)

Suicide Squad goes first because I keep forgetting it exists only for someone to remind me.

Suicide Squad isn't one of my comics, but I know the general gist.

The trailer amused me, and I did like seeing Amanda Waller.

I'm always going to be in favour of any film that gives Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje a role.

From the trailer, I think I'm going to like the Leto Joker a lot more than a lot of people will. Because yes, he looks and feels like the Joker, just not the Ledger Joker.

I'm less taken by their version of Harley Quinn, she doesn't sound or feel like Harley Quinn. No diss intended on the actress who is giving it great guns, I just prefer my Harley more cheerful maniac rather than dark manic pixie girl.

That being said, I will be very sad if she doesn't turn on the Suicide Squad for Mister Jay!

I still have grievous doubts that they're going to be able to pull off the Suicide Squad properly in a film but I'm more than willing to give it a go. If I remember it exists.