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May. 31st, 2015 09:47 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
shadowkat1. Been marathoning Marvel Agents of Shield - which marathons better than Gotham, in that it's not quite so violent and each episode ends on a cliff-hanger and doesn't require quite the same degree of attention.
It's entertaining, but there's something missing from it. I'm not quite sure what it is. Humor, possibly? (shrugs) Same thing I expect that is missing from most network tv shows. The writing just isn't quite there, nor is the direction and acting. There's a depth of emotion or heart that just seems to not quite...be present somehow?
At any rate, knowing it's a Whedon series just makes me miss Buffy, Angel, and Firefly.
Yes, even Firefly, which all had that ...missing factor. I think it's "risk" or "breaking boundaries" or "coloring outside the box"? In the other series, Whedon subverted the genres that he was in, did risky things that could piss off people, and
made fun of the tropes and genres. The characters were self-deprecating and didn't take themselves or the story all that seriously. So, we had the "dramedy". Marvel Agents of Shield in direct contrast takes itself far too seriously. It needs to lighten up a bit.
It's a show based on a Marvel comic book.
I probably should stream "Daredevil" at some point - but don't have netflix streaming and haven't plugged in my Fire Stick yet. I may do that on some long weekend. So far everyone whose seen it - loved it. And it's probably closer to Gotham (albeit not quite as dark or graphically violent or serious?)
2. Favorite Writers - who either influenced you as a writer, or you adored reading.
This is a meme. Easy. Name the writers that influenced you either as a writer or that you seek out to read and re-read. Any genre. Off the top of your head.
Hard if you read as much as I do.
In no particular order and non-exclusive (this can and will change):
Mark Twain (Huck Finn, Innocents Abroad)
Dorothy Parker
Ann Tyler (Accidental Tourist, Dinner at the Homesick Restaurant)
William Gibson (Pattern Recognition)
Lorrie Moore (A Visit to the Frog Hospital)
James Joyce (Ulysses, Dubliners)
Donna Tartt (The Secret History)
Illona Andrews (Magic Series)
Joss Whedon (Buffy the Vampire Slayer)
Toni Morrison ( Beloved)
Helen Fielding (Bridget Jones Diary)
Neil Gaiman ( Neverwhere, American Gods, Ocean at the End of the Lane)
Raymond Chandler ( The Big Sleep and the screenplay to The Maltese Falcon)
Minette Walters (The Ice House, The Sculptress)
AS Byatt (Possession)
Nabokov (Pale Fire)
Ray Bradbury (Assorted short stories)
CJ Cherryth
Courtney Milan (Brothers Sinister Series)
Slythia Plath (The Bell Jar and assorted poems)
Ronald Dahl and JK Rowling
PD Wodehouse (Jeeves and Wooster)
Shirley Jackson (The Haunting of Hill House)
Philip K. Dick (The Three Stigmata of Palmer K. Eldritch, Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep, and assorted short stories)
Anne McCaffrey (The Dragon Riders of Pern, Crystal Singer, Pegasus, The Ship Who Sang)
Frank Herbert (Dune)
JRR Tolkien (The Hobbit, and Lord of the Rings)
Phillip Pullman (His Dark Materials)
Janet Evanovich (Stephanie Plumb series)
Jim Butcher (Dresden series)
It's entertaining, but there's something missing from it. I'm not quite sure what it is. Humor, possibly? (shrugs) Same thing I expect that is missing from most network tv shows. The writing just isn't quite there, nor is the direction and acting. There's a depth of emotion or heart that just seems to not quite...be present somehow?
At any rate, knowing it's a Whedon series just makes me miss Buffy, Angel, and Firefly.
Yes, even Firefly, which all had that ...missing factor. I think it's "risk" or "breaking boundaries" or "coloring outside the box"? In the other series, Whedon subverted the genres that he was in, did risky things that could piss off people, and
made fun of the tropes and genres. The characters were self-deprecating and didn't take themselves or the story all that seriously. So, we had the "dramedy". Marvel Agents of Shield in direct contrast takes itself far too seriously. It needs to lighten up a bit.
It's a show based on a Marvel comic book.
I probably should stream "Daredevil" at some point - but don't have netflix streaming and haven't plugged in my Fire Stick yet. I may do that on some long weekend. So far everyone whose seen it - loved it. And it's probably closer to Gotham (albeit not quite as dark or graphically violent or serious?)
2. Favorite Writers - who either influenced you as a writer, or you adored reading.
This is a meme. Easy. Name the writers that influenced you either as a writer or that you seek out to read and re-read. Any genre. Off the top of your head.
Hard if you read as much as I do.
In no particular order and non-exclusive (this can and will change):
Mark Twain (Huck Finn, Innocents Abroad)
Dorothy Parker
Ann Tyler (Accidental Tourist, Dinner at the Homesick Restaurant)
William Gibson (Pattern Recognition)
Lorrie Moore (A Visit to the Frog Hospital)
James Joyce (Ulysses, Dubliners)
Donna Tartt (The Secret History)
Illona Andrews (Magic Series)
Joss Whedon (Buffy the Vampire Slayer)
Toni Morrison ( Beloved)
Helen Fielding (Bridget Jones Diary)
Neil Gaiman ( Neverwhere, American Gods, Ocean at the End of the Lane)
Raymond Chandler ( The Big Sleep and the screenplay to The Maltese Falcon)
Minette Walters (The Ice House, The Sculptress)
AS Byatt (Possession)
Nabokov (Pale Fire)
Ray Bradbury (Assorted short stories)
CJ Cherryth
Courtney Milan (Brothers Sinister Series)
Slythia Plath (The Bell Jar and assorted poems)
Ronald Dahl and JK Rowling
PD Wodehouse (Jeeves and Wooster)
Shirley Jackson (The Haunting of Hill House)
Philip K. Dick (The Three Stigmata of Palmer K. Eldritch, Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep, and assorted short stories)
Anne McCaffrey (The Dragon Riders of Pern, Crystal Singer, Pegasus, The Ship Who Sang)
Frank Herbert (Dune)
JRR Tolkien (The Hobbit, and Lord of the Rings)
Phillip Pullman (His Dark Materials)
Janet Evanovich (Stephanie Plumb series)
Jim Butcher (Dresden series)