Some cool and different Science Fiction Dramas premiering soon!

[shadowkat]

1. Arthur C. Clark's "Childhood's End" (which I've never read and probably should at some point...considering I wrote a sci-fi novel in my head with a similar idea...)

Childhood's End Trailer and Blurb

2.And the long-awaited "The Expanse" based on the J.A. Corey Space Opera novels. This one has gotten rave reviews, in particular from GRR Martin, who compares it to BSG and possibly Game of Thrones in creativity, quality and innovation. I read the first novel in the series - if you like speculative science fiction, space opera, noir, horror, and diverse casts - you'll love this. Actually if you were either a fan of LOST or Battlestar Galatica v.2 - You'll love this.

See trailer and explanation below:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ydKmedH336Q


And for those who like to watch television series on their computers...apparently the first episode is already available on You Tube:

Go here

I'm waiting for it on TV, because I want to watch it on a 25-30 inch HDV screen with no glare, not a 15 inch one.

3. Coming 2016 to Syfy...Lev Grossman's The Magicians, which is sitting on my Kindle, but I haven't read yet, due to mood and the horrible review my mother gave it. (Apparently it's more interested in traveling to and from this fantasy world that the kids read about in a book than actual magic, which disappointed her. But the series looks wickedly cool - like an adult Harry Potter.)



4. And other interesting tv shows coming next year...which look, ahem, different...

Watch on YouTube

And this is interesting, they've actually tried to make another film out of William Faulkner's The Sound and the Fury - which I'm not sure is possible. (I wrote my undergrad English Lit thesis on The Sound and the Fury and Joyce's Ulysses...because I was obsessed with stream of consciousness and structural narrative styles in my twenties. I blame my brother - he was also obsessed with this style of narrative and introduced me to it - by lending me Gabriel Garcia Marquez's A Hundred Years of Solitutde, which I devoured and fell in love with the summer between my Sophmore and Junior years. I wanted to do my thesis on it and Ulysess, but they wouldn't let me - because I didn't know Spainish, and had to use the translation, so they told me to substitute Faulkner's work for the comparison instead. It seemed like a good idea at the time. Now, I think I bit off more than I could chew - but I always do that - I pick really complicated things to write about or analyze.) The first go around was horrific. This one looks like it follows the book a bit more closely. What's odd is that James Franco cast himself as Benjy, I'd have cast him as Jason - he fits that role better. I'd have cast someone like Mark Ruffalo or Ed Redmayne as Benjy.

Watch on YouTube

Comments

[liliaeth]

I actually had the chance to watch the pilot episode of Lucifer already, like most shows these days it was somehow released online. And I was surprised how much I liked it. Especially considering how much I usually dislike assholes.

[shadowkat67.livejournal.com]

I thought you were a huge Spike fan? Because he often comes across as the ultimate asshole. (I personally see characters as neither, and far more complicated. My pet peeve is self-righteous holier than thou hypocritical characters -- that was my difficulty with Angel at various points and Xander.)

[liliaeth]

Depends on what you call an asshole. I mean, he's not an asshole like Xander or Angel are.

The thing with Spike, is that he was a good man, who was corrupted, and then made his way back. His ability to love and care about others was always more important than his attitude, because the whole sarcastic asshole thing felt more like a mask he was wearing. Similar really to Dean Winchester. With both of them, you can feel that the asshole bit is an act they put on, rather than the reality of whom they are.

[shadowkat67.livejournal.com]

Ah. From what I saw of the trailer, Lucifer appears to be more in the Spike/Dean Winchester category and less in the Angel category, ie. he's not self-righteous and hypocritical about it. That's why I stopped liking certain characters in Marvel, who I used to love -- the writers started writing them as hypocrites.

[liliaeth]

pretty much. But I didn't want to spoil you too much*g*

But really Lucifer in the pilot is an asshole, but he's so ... honest about it. And he's called out on it as well. Yet over the course of the ep, he shows signs that he does care, and that he's starting to care far more than he should. And I guess that's what makes him interesting, rather than someone to be repulsed by.

[shadowkat67.livejournal.com]

As long as the character owns it and is interesting - the asshole bit doesn't bother me.

For example? I loved the character of Wolverine, up until X-men:Schism. Then, well, no. He'd become a self-righteous hypocrite and was stating, I'm not a scary asshole. And I was thinking, since when? You've always been a scary asshole - that's basically your trademark. Hello? I found him intolerable after that point. I blame the over-popularity of the character, they ruined him.

I have similar issues with Tony Stark - who is a complete asshole, but at least, as played by Robert Downy Jr, he owns it. *Yeah, yeah, I know I'm an asshole, lets move on.

Angel same deal - he used to own it. Until he hit the comic books, and well, he was this self-righteous hypocrite that I wanted to smack upside the head.
So I gave up.

If the character is going to be an asshole -have them own it. And show the potential for change or redeemption, otherwise, I'm bored.