Cultural stuff - Movies, Books, TV
Jan. 8th, 2005 11:14 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
shadowkatI did watch Alias this week ...was not impressed.
It may just be me, no wait, I know it's not just me - I read cjl's review on ATPO, so it's definitely not just me - I think the show jumped tracks. It changed a key plot point to such an extent that I found myself scratching my head and going...okay, did not follow that. And nope does not work. And oh, that's so stupid and conventional and predicatable and less interesting then the previous idea. Damn it all to hell. I'm switching to West Wing next week and it sucks that I skipped it this week, since West Wing is actually getting *really* good and actually moving its characters in interesting and new directions. Plus - it occurred to me half way through the episode that I'd seen most of it before, done much better, on La Femme Nikta.
Alias was actually sort of entertaining me until the break point - when Syd tells Vaughn that she hates her father because he executed her mother. Uhm okay. What? That is not what I saw last season. The story I saw was that her father was manipulating her just as Lauren's mother had been manipulating her.
That was the big reveal. Jack was, pause for suspense, just like Sloan. That
story even worked with Syd despising him - that made sense. Does not make sense that she'd despise him for killing Irina, since Irina has tried to kill her about six times over the last three seasons already. Also makes no sense that he'd think the news Irina hired a hit on her would destroy her, since, ahem, she's tried to kill Syd six times already in the series. Bored now.
So I think - why such a stupid story line? Oh that's right they need a reason for Nadia and Syd to be at odds, because the prophecy is that one of the sisters will kill the other. And this also backs up Irina trying to kill Syd, since hey this protects the daughter she never knew, put into hiding, and
mistreated. So Nadia is probably going to want to kill Syd's daddy now. God,
I hope not, because that would just be incredibly lame. Also why would Nadia care? Nadia doesn't know Irina. The only person Nadia knows or cares for is well Syd and Sloan. No, too stupid and conventional. Guess what? That's what they did. Sigh. Television shows. Oh and the previews for the next few weeks?
You guessed it: Nadia and Syd fight. Syd and Vaughn go into a mission and one, gasp, may not make it out alive. (yeah right, we can only hope.)Oh well, at least the villian was pretty.
Methinks I'm watching West Wing next week instead - next week Josh Lyman is running Jimmy Smits campaign, Martin Sheen can't move his legs, and Donna/Will are running Gary Cole's campaign, plus we have Tim Matheson as the slimey ex-VP. Oh good drama. Top notch character actors. No stupid leggy females with bad accents and only three expressions. Yes - I'm there. Bye Bye Alias. Can only watch one, you know, since no TIVO (me, poor American, well moderately poor - there's levels obviously, not a rich one)Nice knowing yah.
Lost was *really* good. I think this may be my new favorite show. Tantalizing dark characters. This week we dug a little deeper into Kate and Sawyer, but not too deep. Also not predictable. I honestly have no clue where they are going with this one and I like that. The characters are just getting more interesting and multi-faceted. It's willing to go to that dark place. And isn't quite as exploitive as Alias is regarding eye candy hijinks. Plus, so far, the stories track. Continuity. Still there.
Really looking forward to next week's episode.
Medium - this show has potential. I like Patricia Arquette's character. Not overly predictable. Love Arliss Howard who plays the husband, haven't seen him since American Gothic. Also nicely creepy with a touch of warmth and grit. And any show where the heroine states that she just doesn't have the constitution to handle being an attorney is okay in my book. Neither do I. Neither do I.
Joan of Arcadia - lovely episode on Game Theory. Once again the concept emerges that we are playing the "infinite game" and the important thing is to stay in the game no matter how hard it seems. Joan reminds me of me in high school - dorky, awkward, and not very good at school - struggling. While my younger brother seemed to be a brain and jock all wrapped into one. (Okay maybe not as much like me...)I like the game metaphor. It makes sense. Every move we make - has a ripple effect. And is important. Even leaving the game affects the game. Each move has an effect on other moves. What is important is to keeping making those moves. IF you jump out - you have no idea how many moves you could have upset. Everything you do - matters. Reassurring, uplifting, and scarey all at the same time.
Veronica Mars - growing on me. This week's episode was fantastic. Flawless. The reflection of Mack's situation on Veronica's perfect. And Mack?
One of the most realistic portrayals of a high school student I've seen.
My high school experience was a mix of Veronica Mars and Joan of Arcadia, I think.
On the book side of the fence - The Princess Bride by William Goldman is a pleasant surprise. Much better than the movie and not what you think at all. Well - I guess it depends on what you think - I thought, oh it will be an adventure tale told by an old man to his grandson. Nope. It is Goldman's satirization of 18th and 19th Century Adventure novels by people such as Alexander Dumas. He makes fun of things like the overuse of parentheses. Descriptions of clothing or packing or 19th Century practices. Very tongue in cheek. Very funny.
Next book for the book club appears to be Fortress of Solitude by Jonathan Lethem. So apparently I am destined to read this novel whether I want to or not. (Not the first book the book club has arm wrestled me into reading.)
Feeling rather ambivalent about it at the moment, even though I loved his first book Motherless Brooklyn about a private eye/gangster body guard with Touretts Syndrom.
On the movie front - saw House of Flying Daggers with cjlasky.
I preferred Hero. No clue why. Maybe because the romance was downplayed. Here it is just a tad over the top. Movie was beautiful though. Wonderful sense of color. Like watching lots of beautiful paintings. Would have been better I think if they'd cut the last fifteen minutes of it. I give it a B. Is worth seeing on the big screen - since it is so pretty.
Okay must go to bed now.
As an aside - appreciation of cultural things like books, movies and tv shows is such a subjective thing. Don't believe me? Check out a couple of the critics best and worst lists. Quite funny. One critic's best pick is on another's worst list. Hee. See? Totally subjective. So take the above opinions with a healthy grain of salt. Just my opinion after all.
It may just be me, no wait, I know it's not just me - I read cjl's review on ATPO, so it's definitely not just me - I think the show jumped tracks. It changed a key plot point to such an extent that I found myself scratching my head and going...okay, did not follow that. And nope does not work. And oh, that's so stupid and conventional and predicatable and less interesting then the previous idea. Damn it all to hell. I'm switching to West Wing next week and it sucks that I skipped it this week, since West Wing is actually getting *really* good and actually moving its characters in interesting and new directions. Plus - it occurred to me half way through the episode that I'd seen most of it before, done much better, on La Femme Nikta.
Alias was actually sort of entertaining me until the break point - when Syd tells Vaughn that she hates her father because he executed her mother. Uhm okay. What? That is not what I saw last season. The story I saw was that her father was manipulating her just as Lauren's mother had been manipulating her.
That was the big reveal. Jack was, pause for suspense, just like Sloan. That
story even worked with Syd despising him - that made sense. Does not make sense that she'd despise him for killing Irina, since Irina has tried to kill her about six times over the last three seasons already. Also makes no sense that he'd think the news Irina hired a hit on her would destroy her, since, ahem, she's tried to kill Syd six times already in the series. Bored now.
So I think - why such a stupid story line? Oh that's right they need a reason for Nadia and Syd to be at odds, because the prophecy is that one of the sisters will kill the other. And this also backs up Irina trying to kill Syd, since hey this protects the daughter she never knew, put into hiding, and
mistreated. So Nadia is probably going to want to kill Syd's daddy now. God,
I hope not, because that would just be incredibly lame. Also why would Nadia care? Nadia doesn't know Irina. The only person Nadia knows or cares for is well Syd and Sloan. No, too stupid and conventional. Guess what? That's what they did. Sigh. Television shows. Oh and the previews for the next few weeks?
You guessed it: Nadia and Syd fight. Syd and Vaughn go into a mission and one, gasp, may not make it out alive. (yeah right, we can only hope.)Oh well, at least the villian was pretty.
Methinks I'm watching West Wing next week instead - next week Josh Lyman is running Jimmy Smits campaign, Martin Sheen can't move his legs, and Donna/Will are running Gary Cole's campaign, plus we have Tim Matheson as the slimey ex-VP. Oh good drama. Top notch character actors. No stupid leggy females with bad accents and only three expressions. Yes - I'm there. Bye Bye Alias. Can only watch one, you know, since no TIVO (me, poor American, well moderately poor - there's levels obviously, not a rich one)Nice knowing yah.
Lost was *really* good. I think this may be my new favorite show. Tantalizing dark characters. This week we dug a little deeper into Kate and Sawyer, but not too deep. Also not predictable. I honestly have no clue where they are going with this one and I like that. The characters are just getting more interesting and multi-faceted. It's willing to go to that dark place. And isn't quite as exploitive as Alias is regarding eye candy hijinks. Plus, so far, the stories track. Continuity. Still there.
Really looking forward to next week's episode.
Medium - this show has potential. I like Patricia Arquette's character. Not overly predictable. Love Arliss Howard who plays the husband, haven't seen him since American Gothic. Also nicely creepy with a touch of warmth and grit. And any show where the heroine states that she just doesn't have the constitution to handle being an attorney is okay in my book. Neither do I. Neither do I.
Joan of Arcadia - lovely episode on Game Theory. Once again the concept emerges that we are playing the "infinite game" and the important thing is to stay in the game no matter how hard it seems. Joan reminds me of me in high school - dorky, awkward, and not very good at school - struggling. While my younger brother seemed to be a brain and jock all wrapped into one. (Okay maybe not as much like me...)I like the game metaphor. It makes sense. Every move we make - has a ripple effect. And is important. Even leaving the game affects the game. Each move has an effect on other moves. What is important is to keeping making those moves. IF you jump out - you have no idea how many moves you could have upset. Everything you do - matters. Reassurring, uplifting, and scarey all at the same time.
Veronica Mars - growing on me. This week's episode was fantastic. Flawless. The reflection of Mack's situation on Veronica's perfect. And Mack?
One of the most realistic portrayals of a high school student I've seen.
My high school experience was a mix of Veronica Mars and Joan of Arcadia, I think.
On the book side of the fence - The Princess Bride by William Goldman is a pleasant surprise. Much better than the movie and not what you think at all. Well - I guess it depends on what you think - I thought, oh it will be an adventure tale told by an old man to his grandson. Nope. It is Goldman's satirization of 18th and 19th Century Adventure novels by people such as Alexander Dumas. He makes fun of things like the overuse of parentheses. Descriptions of clothing or packing or 19th Century practices. Very tongue in cheek. Very funny.
Next book for the book club appears to be Fortress of Solitude by Jonathan Lethem. So apparently I am destined to read this novel whether I want to or not. (Not the first book the book club has arm wrestled me into reading.)
Feeling rather ambivalent about it at the moment, even though I loved his first book Motherless Brooklyn about a private eye/gangster body guard with Touretts Syndrom.
On the movie front - saw House of Flying Daggers with cjlasky.
I preferred Hero. No clue why. Maybe because the romance was downplayed. Here it is just a tad over the top. Movie was beautiful though. Wonderful sense of color. Like watching lots of beautiful paintings. Would have been better I think if they'd cut the last fifteen minutes of it. I give it a B. Is worth seeing on the big screen - since it is so pretty.
Okay must go to bed now.
As an aside - appreciation of cultural things like books, movies and tv shows is such a subjective thing. Don't believe me? Check out a couple of the critics best and worst lists. Quite funny. One critic's best pick is on another's worst list. Hee. See? Totally subjective. So take the above opinions with a healthy grain of salt. Just my opinion after all.