![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
Television and Life in general ....
May. 13th, 2012 07:40 pm1.Happy Mother's Day.
( personal bit about my niece with a variation of OCD )
2. Sent the second part of my novel to publishing friend...along with a response to her email, attempting to explain my intent...we'll see what happens. I'm not sure if my book can be published through traditional channels, it's quirky - so hard to nitch market.
3. Caught up on TV. Decided wasn't in the mood to see a movie. This really has less to do with the movies out and more to do with not being in the mood to sit in a crowded uncomfortable movie theater. Also, I really don't want to see The Avengers in 3D - 3D gives me a headache (except for AVATAR...which was just pretty). So may just wait until it comes out on DVD - where I can rewind and hear the great dialogue and ignore the action scenes. The actions scenes from the trailer look the same as Battle Ship, Transformers, Thor, Captain America, etc. But I've heard the character interaction and dialogue is different.
Right now, just about everyone who is remotely interested in it has seen it on my livejournal. They've switched from reviewing it to analyzing it. (Apparently you can analyze the Avengers regardless of what the film critical elite believes.) I can't read any of these posts without getting spoiled and since I would like to still see it - I'm avoiding the spoilers or trying to. I can't decide if the people lj would have loved it if it were directed and written by anyone other than Joss Whedon. I'd say they saw it just because Whedon wrote and directed it - but only four of us reviewed Cabin in the Woods - which was Whedon unfettered, unrestrained, doing whatever he wants - with his pal Drew Goddard. While the Avengers was controlled by various people. And Whedon was sort of put in a straight-jacket - hello, Disney, Marvel, Downey Jr, and Samuel L Jackson. So, I'm guessing it's a combo of comic geek fandom and Whedon fandom. (I'd be a hypocrite if I begrudged either - considering I'm a former insane fan of both. Well not the Avengers necessarily, but definitely comic books and Whedon.)
Regarding TV?
* Revenge is the best new show you aren't watching. It's amazing. That show has jumped into high gear. It's tightly plotted, well written, and well shot. Bordering on flawless in places. The last four episodes rocked. And I honestly don't know where it is headed. Also it has some great lines...this week's episode: "Sometimes in a story...the villain and the hero are the same..." In Revenge...the line is often blurred.
* Secret Circle got cancelled and deserved it. It's odd that it has the same creative team as Vamp Diaries, but lacks Vamp Diaries' wit and plot structure. The twists are sort of cliche and the characters hard to relate to. Unfortunately, the series got interesting, as did its characters in the season finale. I'm guessing if it had been given a second chance - the second season would have been far more interesting than the first.
That said - the best thing about the show sort of got resolved and in a disappointing manner by the end. Many people including myself were only tuning in to find out what the kids parents had done in the past and who/what John Blackwell was about. Once that got revealed the show lost its oomph. The kids who were the central focus of the series never really grabbed our attention...and hence the cancellation.
* Vamp Diaries - whoa. Hard to discuss without spoilers. ( our lives are a proverbial coin toss )
* Game of Thrones - I can't remember the book at all at this stage. Because I've no idea what will happen next. Oh, I know what happens in the latter books, but I can't really remember how they got there. Makes it interesting and I'm less critical of the series as a result.
It's quite well written. And I enjoy it. Particularly love the casting of Brienne - which is a stroke of genius, and has got to be the biggest actress I've seen on screen. She's amazing. And Charles Dance's Tywin Lannister blows me away. That man deserves an Emmy nomination. As does the little girl playing Ayra. God the performances in this series are amazing. But I find I have little else to say about it. Dragons? Cool.
* Big Bang Theory - just saw an interview with Jim Parsons on NY1 - he's starring in a revival of the play "Harvey" - which I've read and seen three times. The actor is amazing. He's nothing like Sheldon and he has a sensitivity and intelligence...that informs his work. Actually that's why Big Bang works - it has some excellent actors who can embody quirky characters by playing them like real people not over-the-top or satirically. That's probably my favorite sitcom, it's the only one that feels consistently funny, and consistently real, and not a parody of other things, a parody of itself or a blatant and at times crude satire. My problem with most sitcoms...is the characters come in second to the comedy or they are the punch line. In Big Bang, the characters come first.
( personal bit about my niece with a variation of OCD )
2. Sent the second part of my novel to publishing friend...along with a response to her email, attempting to explain my intent...we'll see what happens. I'm not sure if my book can be published through traditional channels, it's quirky - so hard to nitch market.
3. Caught up on TV. Decided wasn't in the mood to see a movie. This really has less to do with the movies out and more to do with not being in the mood to sit in a crowded uncomfortable movie theater. Also, I really don't want to see The Avengers in 3D - 3D gives me a headache (except for AVATAR...which was just pretty). So may just wait until it comes out on DVD - where I can rewind and hear the great dialogue and ignore the action scenes. The actions scenes from the trailer look the same as Battle Ship, Transformers, Thor, Captain America, etc. But I've heard the character interaction and dialogue is different.
Right now, just about everyone who is remotely interested in it has seen it on my livejournal. They've switched from reviewing it to analyzing it. (Apparently you can analyze the Avengers regardless of what the film critical elite believes.) I can't read any of these posts without getting spoiled and since I would like to still see it - I'm avoiding the spoilers or trying to. I can't decide if the people lj would have loved it if it were directed and written by anyone other than Joss Whedon. I'd say they saw it just because Whedon wrote and directed it - but only four of us reviewed Cabin in the Woods - which was Whedon unfettered, unrestrained, doing whatever he wants - with his pal Drew Goddard. While the Avengers was controlled by various people. And Whedon was sort of put in a straight-jacket - hello, Disney, Marvel, Downey Jr, and Samuel L Jackson. So, I'm guessing it's a combo of comic geek fandom and Whedon fandom. (I'd be a hypocrite if I begrudged either - considering I'm a former insane fan of both. Well not the Avengers necessarily, but definitely comic books and Whedon.)
Regarding TV?
* Revenge is the best new show you aren't watching. It's amazing. That show has jumped into high gear. It's tightly plotted, well written, and well shot. Bordering on flawless in places. The last four episodes rocked. And I honestly don't know where it is headed. Also it has some great lines...this week's episode: "Sometimes in a story...the villain and the hero are the same..." In Revenge...the line is often blurred.
* Secret Circle got cancelled and deserved it. It's odd that it has the same creative team as Vamp Diaries, but lacks Vamp Diaries' wit and plot structure. The twists are sort of cliche and the characters hard to relate to. Unfortunately, the series got interesting, as did its characters in the season finale. I'm guessing if it had been given a second chance - the second season would have been far more interesting than the first.
That said - the best thing about the show sort of got resolved and in a disappointing manner by the end. Many people including myself were only tuning in to find out what the kids parents had done in the past and who/what John Blackwell was about. Once that got revealed the show lost its oomph. The kids who were the central focus of the series never really grabbed our attention...and hence the cancellation.
* Vamp Diaries - whoa. Hard to discuss without spoilers. ( our lives are a proverbial coin toss )
* Game of Thrones - I can't remember the book at all at this stage. Because I've no idea what will happen next. Oh, I know what happens in the latter books, but I can't really remember how they got there. Makes it interesting and I'm less critical of the series as a result.
It's quite well written. And I enjoy it. Particularly love the casting of Brienne - which is a stroke of genius, and has got to be the biggest actress I've seen on screen. She's amazing. And Charles Dance's Tywin Lannister blows me away. That man deserves an Emmy nomination. As does the little girl playing Ayra. God the performances in this series are amazing. But I find I have little else to say about it. Dragons? Cool.
* Big Bang Theory - just saw an interview with Jim Parsons on NY1 - he's starring in a revival of the play "Harvey" - which I've read and seen three times. The actor is amazing. He's nothing like Sheldon and he has a sensitivity and intelligence...that informs his work. Actually that's why Big Bang works - it has some excellent actors who can embody quirky characters by playing them like real people not over-the-top or satirically. That's probably my favorite sitcom, it's the only one that feels consistently funny, and consistently real, and not a parody of other things, a parody of itself or a blatant and at times crude satire. My problem with most sitcoms...is the characters come in second to the comedy or they are the punch line. In Big Bang, the characters come first.