Did I mention I heart Charlie Jane Anders?

Glen Duncan wrote a silly and dumbheaded review here. SF blogs went up in arms immediately, with cause. A few folks have asked what I thought about it, but rather than write anything, I'm going to refer you directly to this wonderful response by the redoubtable Charlie Jane Anders.

I've met Anders but never had the chance to talk with her. One of my greatest regrets about getting so sick at this past World Fantasy Con is that as I was heading back to the room, shrunken in on myself and feeling horrible and shaky from fever, she said hi to me. I wish I'd been in shape to talk.

Anyway, if you don't know her work on io9, you're missing out.

Well, we went

Yes, despite the Charlie Jane Anders review I cited yesterday, and in part because of it, we trundled off tonight to see Dragonball Evolution.

Wow. This movie was a pinball ball bouncing madly inside a machine full of cliche bumpers, bad CGI chutes, worse actor paddles, and yet long arcs full of amusing moments.

Sarah and Scott, however, could not enjoy it as much as I did, because they actually knew something about the original Dragonball Z and so expected this movie to hew more closely to its source. According to them, I should be glad I never watched any of the originals. (They got that right: I was glad before, and I still am.)

In the movie's defense, I have to say that it is always a treat to get to watch Chow Yun Fat crack jokes and act like a bum. He stole every scene he was in, which is predictable, but more amazing was that he managed to keep a straight face almost all of the time while doing so.

I would have smirked more.

If you must see this one, wait for DVD, or at least pay matinee prices.

I heart Charlie Jane Anders

If you're at all interested in science fiction and you don't read io9, you should. It mostly covers SF media, with the occasional book review thrown in like bacon salt for spice.

One of the best reasons to read it, however, is to catch the gems Charlie Jane Anders sprinkles liberally throughout her contributions. Consider this beauty from her review today of Dragonball Evolution:

There are balls of lint smarter than Dragonball Evolution....

or this one

If you're going to see one mindless Joseph Campbell wank-chalice of a film about the Hero's Journey this month, you could do a lot worse than Dragonball.

I love the term wank-chalice. (Of course, I do own several; what self-respecting male doesn't?)

Go scrub your eyes now. I'll wait.

What really makes me like Anders, however, is that despite the lines I showed you, she enjoyed this movie. I've never met her, but if we're ever at the same con and she wants to duck out for a matinee of a particularly bad-looking flick, I'm there.