Tag Archives: TV Shows

Is the book really always better?

This image was made by me in LibraryAware. Which medium will come out on top?

You may have heard it before. “The book is always better.” It’s a mantra that has rung around the internet and in conversation for a long time now. Every time a movie or tv show adaptation of a book or book series comes out, many potential viewers have already made up their minds that the book is or will be better than anything on screen.

And can that be true? Definitely. You only have to look at movies like Artemis Fowl or the Percy Jackson films to see proof of that. But is it ALWAYS the case that the book is better?

I don’t think so.

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The Anti-Oscars

Cover-image-for-Dìdi-Blu-ray-movie

Welp, it’s that season again. No, I don’t mean the lingering frigid temperatures and precipitation of February. I mean award season. Is it just me or do The Oscars nominees seem particularly far removed and uninteresting in comparison to what us plebs are actually watching? I’m intrigued by The Brutalist, now being heralded as Adrien Brody’s greatest work since The Pianist, but I have a feeling my interest in architecture won’t be enough to keep me in my seat for over three and a half hours. Do you ever get the feeling that the teams behind these often bloated, slow-moving marathon pieces are in some kind of secret competition to make the longest movie possible? Whenever a film exceeds two and a half hours, I generally wish the editor had stepped in with their metaphorical (and anachronistic) scissors to cut large swaths of unnecessary film from the picture. If you’re like me, and you look for award competitions that honour plucky, underdog ventures, look no further. I found some awards that have applauded what I’ve actually been watching and what I hope you’ve been watching too! In the tradition of anti-proms, I hereby dub this the Anti-Oscars. Last year around this time, I introduced you dear readers to the Dorian Awards — a competition run by GALECA: The Society of LGBTQ Entertainment Critics. Read more about the Dorians here, but suffice it to say, there are traditional award categories like Film of the Year, and there are also ones you don’t see everyday, like LGBTQ Film of the Year and Visually Striking Film of the Year. This time around, more than one of the nominations for Unsung Film of the Year are movies I’ve seen and very much enjoyed. Let me tell you a bit about them.

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‘Tis the Season for Gift Giving – A Secret Santa Shelf Pick

Happy December, happy holidays, and happy last month of 2024! (As delightfully kooky youtuber Jenna Marbles once said, this year felt both short and terribly and insufferably long at the same time.)

My fellow HOTS writers and I thought we’d switch things up a little this month. In the spirit of gift giving and shelf picks—which is a personalized reading recommendation service where library staff introduce you to titles based on your preferences—we thought we’d do a sort of Secret Santa exchange of recommendations.

And thus, this post is dedicated to Claire and what I think (and hope!) she might like to read and watch, in the event she hasn’t yet. I gotta confess, this was a nerve-wracking test of how familiar I am with Claire’s taste and preferences.

Aiming to not give a gift that sucks, I revisited some of Claire’s posts and took literal and actual notes, by hand, in a notebook, to then do research with. I’m hoping that paid off! I’m also hoping you—dear reader—will find this list of recommendations to be a gift as well (pun fully intended).

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