April 2024 Recommended Reading and Viewing

[Coír Draoi Ceítien]

I apologize for the lateness - I had my choices picked out already, but I just kept putting it off.

Anyway, it's April now, so spring is underway. As I write this, lambing season has started, and we've also experienced a total solar eclipse. For reading, I'll continue where I left off a couple months ago, while I introduce a sci-fi/horror classic for your viewing pleasure.


Reading: The Lord of the Rings, Part Two: The Two Towers (1954) by J. R. R. Tolkien

Now we move into the middle part of the tale, where the Fellowship has been split up due to tragic circumstances and the story subsequently takes two viewpoints. The first follows Aragorn, Legolas and Gimli hunting down the Uruk-hai who have captured Merry and Pippin, which leads to the kingdom of Rohan and the horse-riding Men who must make a stand against Saruman's forces at the fortress of Helm's Deep; the second follows Frodo and Sam on their journey to Mordor, where they acquire an unlikely guide - the pitiful Gollum, victim of the Ring - as well as encountering Boromir's noble brother, Faramir, and the repulsive giant spider-creature Shelob. It's a darker turn with both sorrowful and triumphant moments featuring the first great battle, but the journey is only halfway done.

Mass Market: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0345339711
Trade: https://www.amazon.com/Two-Towers-Being-Second-Rings/dp/0547928203/
Hardcover: https://www.amazon.com/Two-Towers-Lord-Rings-Part/dp/0618260595/
Kindle: https://www.amazon.com/Two-Towers-Being-Second-Rings-ebook/dp/B007978PKY/



Viewing: Alien (Ridley Scott, 1979)

A breakthrough for the director, this film was near instantly iconic, introducing a movie monster for the ages and subsequently setting off a new franchise. A group of blue-collar workers in space are summoned by what appears to be a distress signal to an uncharted planet, where they come upon a derelict starship containing a group of strange eggs. One of them hatches and attacks a crew member, setting off a chain of events where their own ship becomes a cage in which they find themselves picked off one by one by the extraterrestrial beast. Featuring incredible set designs for the human settings from Roger Christian as well as the alien creature and ship from legendary artist H. R. Giger, the film is a classic of atmosphere and special effects working in tandem to create a real, foreboding environment, in addition to minimal yet sufficient character development and a premise that would be imitated numerous times over the decades.

DVD: https://www.amazon.com/ALIEN-Tom-Skerritt/dp/B00MBNYMDU/
Blu-Ray: https://www.amazon.com/Alien-Blu-ray/dp/B00MBNZER8/
4K: https://www.amazon.com/Alien-Anniversary-Blu-ray-Ridley-Scott/dp/B07P83ZXX4/
Amazon Video: https://www.amazon.com/Alien-Sigourney-Weaver/dp/B00498VS1E/


Have a happy April!