Nightwatch : excellent sci-fi from Russia

I learnt about Sergei Lukyanenko’s Nightwatch series of novels reading online reviews of the equally successful Russian movie adaptation. Film distributors didn’t release the movie in Hong Kong, but luckily the Hong Kong International Film Festival gave it a screening a few years ago. I liked the movie enough to become interested in the novel, and when I came across the English translation, I was more than thrilled.

Nightwatch the novel is the first in a series about the conflict / truce between the Light Others and the Dark Others. Possessing super-human powers, these being have two “police” forces that keep their counterparts in place: the Nightwatch refers to the Light Others unit that patrols the Dark Others during the night. Anton, the protagonist in this first novel in the series, is a relatively novice in this world, but he plays a crucial part in the delicate balance between these two forces.

The novel consists of three independent but connected stories with Anton as the narrator. The stories are titled “Destiny”, “Among His Own Kind” and “All For My Own Kind”. As the stories progress, Lukyanenko serves up well rounded and interesting characters – and gradually we the readers become aware that the conflict between the Nightwatch and the Daywatch is not a clear-cut justice versus evil scenario. The three story structure makes it easier for readers to become acquainted with a sizeable cast of characters and the mythology of the series, a wise strategy on the author’s part. Nightwatch is a fast read and all three stories are excellent, my personal favourite being the third one. Overall, this promises to be an excellent series. Oh, and the book is much more fascinating than the film (as usual).

As a side note, the Nightwatch the movie is pretty much based on the first story, and Daywatch the movie on the second story in the first novel. Both of these movies also borrow minor elements from other stories in the series; for example, the prologue to Nightwatch the movie is lifted from the first part of Daywatch the novel.

Who’s tougher, Alien or Predator?

It does not make for a promising project when you base a film on a comic that in turn pitches two film monsters against each other. But since both the alien (from the Alien series) and the predator (from the Predator series) have a loyal fan base, it does make marketing sense. The resultant movie remains reviled by critics and Rotten Tomatoes’ Critics TomatoMeter reveals that an overwhelming majority dislike the film. I beg to differ. Critics often miss the point when it comes to B-grade films that have no pretence of being anything more than juvenile fun. I actually found Alien Vs Predator rather entertaining and the best thing it did was to head straight for action. It actually delivers what it promises, which means we get to see multiple predators duking it out with a pack of aliens (and a queen too). This is not one of the lame movies where the monsters only face off in the climax of the film. No, we the viewers see the two breeds of space monsters in conflict in more than a couple of scenes.

The film was directed by Paul W.S. Anderson. I won’t call Mr Anderson an artist of great magnitutde, but he has made some decently entertaining B-grade sci-fi films (to be fair, he has made some really horrible pictures too). I actually quite liked his Aliens-Hellraiser mashup movie Event Horizon. Of course, Alien Vs Predator cannot be compared to Ridley Scott’s pioneering first Alien movie, but it is not really that much different from the original Predator film. I am sure that the Alien Vs Predator DVD will be one of the discs that I view on a frequent basis, which is not something that can be said of Scott’s Alien (which I find a bit slow).

Rediscoveries : Chris Rea’s La Passione

I bought this album maybe 10 years ago. Back then, the disc’s laid back music and failure to meet my expectations of a Chris Rea album made it a disappointing purchase. I was expecting somewhat bluesy songs with nice guitar work – but instead the album offered plenty of string arrangements, more than a few instrumental pieces, and little overt guitar work (i.e riff based songs).

Listening the La Passione today, I was much more impressed with the music. As a film soundtrack, the CD manages to create very moody textures yet remain listenable as an album. I find that with many soundtracks, composers repeat the themes too often and it becomes a bore to listen to the entire CD. Not so with La Passione. Despite not being a pop or rock album, the disc lives up to repeated listening and is much more than incidental background music. A few songs feature vocals by Shirley Bassey, and Chris Rea’s unique guitar work is present although not prominent in the mix. Although La Passione will remain a curiosity in Chris Rea’s canon, I quite like it as a late night piece.