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Watched a heck of a lot of tv this weekend, while coughing and convalescing. Been doing a lot of convalescing this year - it's getting tiresome. Today, though, felt much better, still coughing but not as badly, not as much, and not as painful. The antibiotics though are making me slightly wired, which is weird. As is the cough syrup, which is annoying.
Did the Supernatural marathon and the Flashforward marathon, as well as watched In Plain Sight, Project Runway
and Justified.
Supernatural is basically the anti-Buffy (or that's what I call it in my head). It's mythology from a male perspective, their fears, their nightmares and urban legends/horror tales as perceived purely by men or from a male perspective. Have I seen this story done before? You betcha. Do I know what will happen next? Pretty much. Is it enjoyable? More than I want to admit, but hey, I like noire - was weaned on the stuff. Noir and Westerns - two genres that traditionally treat women like shit on toast, but have interesting male characters. Also, for a course in urban folklore, I studied and wrote a paper on male urban legends, folktales and stories. Took a course on Western films as well. So about 85% of the tales that appear in Supernatural? I taped as oral narratives, transcribed, and analyzed for a paper in the 1980s. I also went to a lecture by a guy who is an expert and wrote not one, but two books regarding urban legends. I also read Neil Gaiman's American Gods - which sort of hit upon the same mythos, yet in a different way. We rarely get the female mythos - what we tend to get in most sci-fi/fantasy horror is male mythos. Not that the female doesn't exist, it does, it's just male writers get the money and backing to put their work on the air, in books, or comics - specifically in this genre.( Somewhat spoilery review of Supernatural - I basically tell the season plot arc as revealed by the last episode Hammar of the Gods )
Flashforward is actually better this season than last season. The characters are more developed and going in interesting directions. I rather adore the Japanese woman who is a mechanic and a musician. Dimitri (the FBI agent) and his fiance. And Dominic Monaghan's Simon is growing on me. Some nice twists, and the philosophy as well as the science behind time travel is far more digestible than Lost. (in other words it makes logical sense, while Lost really doesn't). Read a letter in EW - in which a viewer of Lost stated that Flashforward explained too much, that it's mystery was explainable, and a true mystery is one that cannot be explained and unravels whenever you try to figure it out - which is what makes Lost great.
Interesting.
Justified - is a great character piece, well acted, and well written. It's also fairly male-oriented, but unlike Supernatural, not misogynistic or sexist in the least. See? This is possible, folks! It's an exploration of a specific character - Ryallings Gibbons, brilliantly played by Timothy Olyphant, and we see everything more or less from his point of view.
In Plain Sight - basically Justified, except from the female perspective. The main character is a female US Marshall with Witsec and we get the story from her pov. It's also a well acted, well written character piece, and an exploration of a central character - this time a woman, who is brilliantly played by Mary McCormack. (My fantasy at the moment is to see Mary and Ryallings on an assignment together - I'm not sure who'd take lead. But I'm guessing Mary could give Ryallings a run for his money.) I prefer In Plain Sight to Justified, in part because it is different and unique, and in part because it's nice to have a woman play that type of role for a change.
Merlin - rather adore this little show.( spoilers for Merlin episode with Lancelot, S2 )
Project Runway - was quite happy with this seasons finale. All three of them put on great shows, and I'd try on any of those clothes, heck I'd love to able to wear some of them. ( Runway spoilers )
Did the Supernatural marathon and the Flashforward marathon, as well as watched In Plain Sight, Project Runway
and Justified.
Supernatural is basically the anti-Buffy (or that's what I call it in my head). It's mythology from a male perspective, their fears, their nightmares and urban legends/horror tales as perceived purely by men or from a male perspective. Have I seen this story done before? You betcha. Do I know what will happen next? Pretty much. Is it enjoyable? More than I want to admit, but hey, I like noire - was weaned on the stuff. Noir and Westerns - two genres that traditionally treat women like shit on toast, but have interesting male characters. Also, for a course in urban folklore, I studied and wrote a paper on male urban legends, folktales and stories. Took a course on Western films as well. So about 85% of the tales that appear in Supernatural? I taped as oral narratives, transcribed, and analyzed for a paper in the 1980s. I also went to a lecture by a guy who is an expert and wrote not one, but two books regarding urban legends. I also read Neil Gaiman's American Gods - which sort of hit upon the same mythos, yet in a different way. We rarely get the female mythos - what we tend to get in most sci-fi/fantasy horror is male mythos. Not that the female doesn't exist, it does, it's just male writers get the money and backing to put their work on the air, in books, or comics - specifically in this genre.( Somewhat spoilery review of Supernatural - I basically tell the season plot arc as revealed by the last episode Hammar of the Gods )
Flashforward is actually better this season than last season. The characters are more developed and going in interesting directions. I rather adore the Japanese woman who is a mechanic and a musician. Dimitri (the FBI agent) and his fiance. And Dominic Monaghan's Simon is growing on me. Some nice twists, and the philosophy as well as the science behind time travel is far more digestible than Lost. (in other words it makes logical sense, while Lost really doesn't). Read a letter in EW - in which a viewer of Lost stated that Flashforward explained too much, that it's mystery was explainable, and a true mystery is one that cannot be explained and unravels whenever you try to figure it out - which is what makes Lost great.
Interesting.
Justified - is a great character piece, well acted, and well written. It's also fairly male-oriented, but unlike Supernatural, not misogynistic or sexist in the least. See? This is possible, folks! It's an exploration of a specific character - Ryallings Gibbons, brilliantly played by Timothy Olyphant, and we see everything more or less from his point of view.
In Plain Sight - basically Justified, except from the female perspective. The main character is a female US Marshall with Witsec and we get the story from her pov. It's also a well acted, well written character piece, and an exploration of a central character - this time a woman, who is brilliantly played by Mary McCormack. (My fantasy at the moment is to see Mary and Ryallings on an assignment together - I'm not sure who'd take lead. But I'm guessing Mary could give Ryallings a run for his money.) I prefer In Plain Sight to Justified, in part because it is different and unique, and in part because it's nice to have a woman play that type of role for a change.
Merlin - rather adore this little show.( spoilers for Merlin episode with Lancelot, S2 )
Project Runway - was quite happy with this seasons finale. All three of them put on great shows, and I'd try on any of those clothes, heck I'd love to able to wear some of them. ( Runway spoilers )
