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Apr. 16th, 2012
1. Is it just me or has Mad Men been really good this season? The last four episodes are superb character studies. Indicative of the time, and examine mid-life crisis and the monstrosity of the mundane. Watching is reminiscent of those glorious 1970s and 1960s movies: Carnal Knowledge, Five Easy Pieces, An Unmarried Woman, Lovers and Other Strangers,
and the later ones - The Ice Storm, Little Children and Revolutionary Road. Middle Class angst. Or as Don Draper puts it so well..."Nobody grows up wanting to be in advertising."
Last week's episode focused on Peggy and Joan, this weeks on Pete and Lane. This series, like a good wine, gets better with age.
2. After a brief exchange on an unrelated topic online...I found myself pondering the writers and novels and for that matter stories that resonated and influenced me the most as a youth. The stories that I remember. I've read a lot of stories in my lifetime and a lot of writer's, many of them award-winning and highly acclaimed, and yet often the one's I remember aren't either. Odd that. I've read Toni Morrison and Ursula Le Guinn but I can't remember their characters or the plots of their tales. Any more than I appear to able to remember most of Carey Grant's films for some reason - although I've seen all of them, they sort of blend together. I do remember Father Goose - actually that stands out.
As does Charade and To Catch a Thief. It's odd, Grant's older films seem to stand out in my head more than his early ones do. But back to books...
Here's 16 books that I vividly remember and re-read with obsessive devotion as a child between the ages of 7-14. The fact that I can remember them more than 30 years later, says something, I suppose, about their effect on me.
( 16 memorable books from childhood )
3. Was anyone else disappointed by Mark Watches reaction to Restless? Just me then?
Also, he seems to understand it pretty well, that was Restless in a nutshell. It's a far more interesting episode though...in retrospect. And it reminds me what Whedon can do when he focuses on the psychological and emotional journey's of his characters, delves deep into them, as opposed to philosophy, theme, or political allegory. Whedon? You are not
George Orwell, Stanley Kubrick, or Aaron Sorkin - stop trying to be! You are falling into the same trap George Lucas did - getting a bit too self-congraulatory (I blame Whedon fans and whedonseque for this) and a bit too into the sfx and meta/philosophical stuff. It killed Lucas and it is killing you. (Okay in my opinion, admittedly, I know there are people out there who dig the prequels to Star Wars and like what Lucas did post his earlier works, just as there are people who adore Whedon's latter works and think Buffy is silly. Mileage varies, folks, we know this. It makes life interesting..etc. Difficult, but interesting.)
and the later ones - The Ice Storm, Little Children and Revolutionary Road. Middle Class angst. Or as Don Draper puts it so well..."Nobody grows up wanting to be in advertising."
Last week's episode focused on Peggy and Joan, this weeks on Pete and Lane. This series, like a good wine, gets better with age.
2. After a brief exchange on an unrelated topic online...I found myself pondering the writers and novels and for that matter stories that resonated and influenced me the most as a youth. The stories that I remember. I've read a lot of stories in my lifetime and a lot of writer's, many of them award-winning and highly acclaimed, and yet often the one's I remember aren't either. Odd that. I've read Toni Morrison and Ursula Le Guinn but I can't remember their characters or the plots of their tales. Any more than I appear to able to remember most of Carey Grant's films for some reason - although I've seen all of them, they sort of blend together. I do remember Father Goose - actually that stands out.
As does Charade and To Catch a Thief. It's odd, Grant's older films seem to stand out in my head more than his early ones do. But back to books...
Here's 16 books that I vividly remember and re-read with obsessive devotion as a child between the ages of 7-14. The fact that I can remember them more than 30 years later, says something, I suppose, about their effect on me.
( 16 memorable books from childhood )
3. Was anyone else disappointed by Mark Watches reaction to Restless? Just me then?
Also, he seems to understand it pretty well, that was Restless in a nutshell. It's a far more interesting episode though...in retrospect. And it reminds me what Whedon can do when he focuses on the psychological and emotional journey's of his characters, delves deep into them, as opposed to philosophy, theme, or political allegory. Whedon? You are not
George Orwell, Stanley Kubrick, or Aaron Sorkin - stop trying to be! You are falling into the same trap George Lucas did - getting a bit too self-congraulatory (I blame Whedon fans and whedonseque for this) and a bit too into the sfx and meta/philosophical stuff. It killed Lucas and it is killing you. (Okay in my opinion, admittedly, I know there are people out there who dig the prequels to Star Wars and like what Lucas did post his earlier works, just as there are people who adore Whedon's latter works and think Buffy is silly. Mileage varies, folks, we know this. It makes life interesting..etc. Difficult, but interesting.)