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Feb. 24th, 2014 10:56 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
shadowkat1. Have discovered that eating nuts helps a great deal during sugar withdrawl. I've become quite found of pistachios. So too does tea. And celery (and/or carrots - although they can be a bit sweet) dipped in tahnini, or almond butter. Of course it helps if you aren't allergic to nuts. (Should mention this does not include "peanuts", I'm off those too. Yes, I know, my list of foods that I can't eat has become much longer than the list of foods that I can eat. But hey? I found a slicer that permits me to slice zuccini and summer squash so that they have the same consistency as pasta or spaghetti.) Also there are some yummy nutbutters out there - almond butter and cashew butter. Cashew Butter goes very well with celery.
2. Finished watching S4 of Downton Abbey - anyone else still watching this? If so, you're being very quiet about it. Seen almost no posts from either side of the Atlantic.
Not that I blame you - this season was a bit on the lackluster side. Yet, in some respects, I preferred it to last season. Yes, even with that horrible Anna/Bates storyline - which seemed to employ just about every television cliche out there. This episode wrapped the remaining plot threads from that storyline up quite neatly, thank god. Other than that - I have to admit, I enjoyed the banter between the Dowager Duchess and Mrs. Crowley.
* RE Lady Mary's Suitors: I wish they didn't hire two actors who looked alike, heck they could pose as brothers, twin brothers no less. I'm having troubles telling them apart. I've decided one is slightly shorter than the other, usually wears brown, and is a bit more fuller in the face. He's actually the one I prefer, Charles. Mainly because he snarks at Mary, and doesn't cater to her whims. They basically banter or trade quips. Which is far more interesting to watch. Tony Gillianham, on the other hand, is dull as toast and a bit of a milksop. What either sees in her - I'm not entirely certain, I'm guessing her strength and no-nonsense approach to things? It's certainly not her charming personality or her warmth. Not that anyone in the family seems to possess these qualities, except perhaps Branson, who doesn't count. At any rate, I kept thinking - wouldn't you want someone a bit warmer and less, biting and cold?
* Lady Mary spends half the episode with Mrs Hughes worrying over whether they should turn Bates in for the valet who raped Anna's untimely death. I found this silly. First off - all they have is a ticket stub from London, found in Bates jacket. Which is hardly proof of anything except that he may have bought a ticket to London. Yes, he lies about going to London. But seriously - he could have been doing anything there. Also there's no evidence the man was murdered, no inquest has been called. Let sleeping dogs lie, ladies.
But no, Mary states it is wrong to say nothing.
Yet, later, when Bates forges a note for them and manages to retrieve a stolen letter, Mary decides to burn the ticket stub and keep her mouth shut. Hey, Bates is rather useful, let's keep him around. (Note she doesn't do it before then.)
The Bates/Anna story has been a dead weight on the series since roughly S2. They need to give them a different storyline. And the rape storyline did not work - it focused entirely on Bates' suffering and his reaction. This happens a lot with rape stories - it becomes about the rapist, and the husband/boyfriend/brother/father of the victim. The woman is left out of it, a silent voice, and rarely seen. Anna sort of disappeared from this story.
We never really saw how she coped with what happened. Instead it became all about protecting Bates or what Bates might do. Actually - I think the writers set up the rape, just to further Bates and Lady Mary and Mrs. Hughes storylines.
* Edith finally decides to do what she'd originally wanted to do with her child - which is have one of the tenants raise her child. Not some family in Switzerland. She wants to know her daughter and be able to at least pay for her upbringing. So, she goes behind her Aunt's back and enlists the man's aid. It becomes their secret. Gregson is apparently lost or presumed dead.
* The best bits in this episode were :
Maggie Smith and Harriet interactions. Rather adore these two old dames.
Here's a sample:
Mrs. Crowley: And you treat everything like Marie Antoinett's sister.
Dowager: Hmm, I've heard good things about the sister, I'll take that as a compliment.
Mrs. Crowley: You take everything as a compliment.
Dowager: As should you, this way you avoid some rather unpleasant situations.
And the wonderful Daisy and Mrs. Padme. Daisy got two gifts - a guy who was interested enough in her to try and recruit her as the new cook for his rich employer in NYC. And a means to get Ivy out of her hair. Mrs. Padme said she was rather nice to Ivy, convincing the guy to give Ivy a chance - because Ivy desperately wanted to go and give it a try. But honestly, I think Daisy just wanted her out of there. That's not how they played it though.
But that was the story-thread.
Also a fan of the teacher and Tom Branson. Lord Gratham should be careful there - if Tom decided to leave Downton and take his daughter with him, there's little the Grathams could do about it. He's not their son, he doesn't have to cater to their whims.
So outside of the tiresome Edith pregnancy storyline, the case of the purloined letter, and the Anna/Bates/Lady Mary and Mrs. Hughes thread...it wasn't bad. A bit sluggish in places.
Let's face it Rose isn't interesting.
I rather liked this exchange:
Dowager: I feel as if I've been stuck in the cast of a whodunnit all evening.
Lord Granthan: And the trouble is that no one actually dunnit.
Exactly.
3. Why are they rebooting HEROES? And why not something more interesting like Firefly or American Gothic or Pushing Daisies or some other series that I can't remember but loved and got killed before its time? Heroes had outlived its time, it deserved to die.
And broadcast networks wonder why viewers are fleeing to cable and streaming sources?
4. Saw Country Strong last night. This was the movie that Gwenyth Paltrow starred as a country singer in, and in order to sell it - showed up on all sorts of things, as a singer and dancer? While her performance in the movie isn't necessarily bad (actually she's a better singer in it than she was in Glee or the Grammy's, but let's not quibble), the movie is ...boring. My attention wandered. I honestly can't tell you if the actors were any good, since it was so poorly directed, edited and written...nothing flowed. It just jumped about.
Will give it kudos for not going the whole cliche younger singer vs. older singer route, which was what I expected. But I wish it did more than meander. As a result, when the big emotional moment comes? I felt nothing.
Some of the songs, however, were catchy. But Nashville is better.
Of course it did not help that I'd watched True Detective prior to this. If you are a fan of either Breaking Bad or Justified, and like those gritty, film noir, series - you'll love this. It also reminds me a lot of Denis Lehan's Mystic River and the movie LA Confidential.
The writing, acting, direction, and editing are all top notch. Also great musical score from T Bone Burnett, and excellent front credits.
It does require concentration. Find bits of it hard to hear - McConaughy speaks in a soft Texas Drawl..that isn't always easy to hear or understand. I keep blasting my tv. And it's dark and gritty and depressing. Hello? Noir. Also, only 8 episodes - so no commitment required. Plus, has a great cast - Woody Harrleson and Matthew McConaughy.
Will state, it is hands down the best written, directed, and acted television series I've seen since Breaking Bad, Justified and The Good Wife. Okay, it's better written than the Good Wife, but I enjoy the Good Wife more.
2. Finished watching S4 of Downton Abbey - anyone else still watching this? If so, you're being very quiet about it. Seen almost no posts from either side of the Atlantic.
Not that I blame you - this season was a bit on the lackluster side. Yet, in some respects, I preferred it to last season. Yes, even with that horrible Anna/Bates storyline - which seemed to employ just about every television cliche out there. This episode wrapped the remaining plot threads from that storyline up quite neatly, thank god. Other than that - I have to admit, I enjoyed the banter between the Dowager Duchess and Mrs. Crowley.
* RE Lady Mary's Suitors: I wish they didn't hire two actors who looked alike, heck they could pose as brothers, twin brothers no less. I'm having troubles telling them apart. I've decided one is slightly shorter than the other, usually wears brown, and is a bit more fuller in the face. He's actually the one I prefer, Charles. Mainly because he snarks at Mary, and doesn't cater to her whims. They basically banter or trade quips. Which is far more interesting to watch. Tony Gillianham, on the other hand, is dull as toast and a bit of a milksop. What either sees in her - I'm not entirely certain, I'm guessing her strength and no-nonsense approach to things? It's certainly not her charming personality or her warmth. Not that anyone in the family seems to possess these qualities, except perhaps Branson, who doesn't count. At any rate, I kept thinking - wouldn't you want someone a bit warmer and less, biting and cold?
* Lady Mary spends half the episode with Mrs Hughes worrying over whether they should turn Bates in for the valet who raped Anna's untimely death. I found this silly. First off - all they have is a ticket stub from London, found in Bates jacket. Which is hardly proof of anything except that he may have bought a ticket to London. Yes, he lies about going to London. But seriously - he could have been doing anything there. Also there's no evidence the man was murdered, no inquest has been called. Let sleeping dogs lie, ladies.
But no, Mary states it is wrong to say nothing.
Yet, later, when Bates forges a note for them and manages to retrieve a stolen letter, Mary decides to burn the ticket stub and keep her mouth shut. Hey, Bates is rather useful, let's keep him around. (Note she doesn't do it before then.)
The Bates/Anna story has been a dead weight on the series since roughly S2. They need to give them a different storyline. And the rape storyline did not work - it focused entirely on Bates' suffering and his reaction. This happens a lot with rape stories - it becomes about the rapist, and the husband/boyfriend/brother/father of the victim. The woman is left out of it, a silent voice, and rarely seen. Anna sort of disappeared from this story.
We never really saw how she coped with what happened. Instead it became all about protecting Bates or what Bates might do. Actually - I think the writers set up the rape, just to further Bates and Lady Mary and Mrs. Hughes storylines.
* Edith finally decides to do what she'd originally wanted to do with her child - which is have one of the tenants raise her child. Not some family in Switzerland. She wants to know her daughter and be able to at least pay for her upbringing. So, she goes behind her Aunt's back and enlists the man's aid. It becomes their secret. Gregson is apparently lost or presumed dead.
* The best bits in this episode were :
Maggie Smith and Harriet interactions. Rather adore these two old dames.
Here's a sample:
Mrs. Crowley: And you treat everything like Marie Antoinett's sister.
Dowager: Hmm, I've heard good things about the sister, I'll take that as a compliment.
Mrs. Crowley: You take everything as a compliment.
Dowager: As should you, this way you avoid some rather unpleasant situations.
And the wonderful Daisy and Mrs. Padme. Daisy got two gifts - a guy who was interested enough in her to try and recruit her as the new cook for his rich employer in NYC. And a means to get Ivy out of her hair. Mrs. Padme said she was rather nice to Ivy, convincing the guy to give Ivy a chance - because Ivy desperately wanted to go and give it a try. But honestly, I think Daisy just wanted her out of there. That's not how they played it though.
But that was the story-thread.
Also a fan of the teacher and Tom Branson. Lord Gratham should be careful there - if Tom decided to leave Downton and take his daughter with him, there's little the Grathams could do about it. He's not their son, he doesn't have to cater to their whims.
So outside of the tiresome Edith pregnancy storyline, the case of the purloined letter, and the Anna/Bates/Lady Mary and Mrs. Hughes thread...it wasn't bad. A bit sluggish in places.
Let's face it Rose isn't interesting.
I rather liked this exchange:
Dowager: I feel as if I've been stuck in the cast of a whodunnit all evening.
Lord Granthan: And the trouble is that no one actually dunnit.
Exactly.
3. Why are they rebooting HEROES? And why not something more interesting like Firefly or American Gothic or Pushing Daisies or some other series that I can't remember but loved and got killed before its time? Heroes had outlived its time, it deserved to die.
And broadcast networks wonder why viewers are fleeing to cable and streaming sources?
4. Saw Country Strong last night. This was the movie that Gwenyth Paltrow starred as a country singer in, and in order to sell it - showed up on all sorts of things, as a singer and dancer? While her performance in the movie isn't necessarily bad (actually she's a better singer in it than she was in Glee or the Grammy's, but let's not quibble), the movie is ...boring. My attention wandered. I honestly can't tell you if the actors were any good, since it was so poorly directed, edited and written...nothing flowed. It just jumped about.
Will give it kudos for not going the whole cliche younger singer vs. older singer route, which was what I expected. But I wish it did more than meander. As a result, when the big emotional moment comes? I felt nothing.
Some of the songs, however, were catchy. But Nashville is better.
Of course it did not help that I'd watched True Detective prior to this. If you are a fan of either Breaking Bad or Justified, and like those gritty, film noir, series - you'll love this. It also reminds me a lot of Denis Lehan's Mystic River and the movie LA Confidential.
The writing, acting, direction, and editing are all top notch. Also great musical score from T Bone Burnett, and excellent front credits.
It does require concentration. Find bits of it hard to hear - McConaughy speaks in a soft Texas Drawl..that isn't always easy to hear or understand. I keep blasting my tv. And it's dark and gritty and depressing. Hello? Noir. Also, only 8 episodes - so no commitment required. Plus, has a great cast - Woody Harrleson and Matthew McConaughy.
Will state, it is hands down the best written, directed, and acted television series I've seen since Breaking Bad, Justified and The Good Wife. Okay, it's better written than the Good Wife, but I enjoy the Good Wife more.
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no subject
Date: 2014-02-25 08:16 am (UTC)Why not film JMS Rising Stars. Perfect superhero mystery and actually going somewhere.
no subject
Date: 2014-02-26 01:58 am (UTC)At any rate, agreed. That said, the series did have a great concept - ordinary people discovering they have super-powers and not always dealing with it well. Unfortunately after the first season they lost focus and got way too convoluted. As if they were just throwing stuff at a wall to see what stuck. Should have killed off Zachrey Quinto's character in S1 or 2, then moved on.
no subject
Date: 2014-02-26 10:56 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2014-02-26 10:59 am (UTC)I agree about Heroes, they just didn't know where to take it. A lot like BSG that way.
no subject
Date: 2014-02-25 10:00 am (UTC)I'm still watching Downton Abbey and yes, I did too. I've lowered my expectations completely and am really watching for the Dowager and Mrs Crawley's interactions which have been gold. I think the main problem is that the cast is too large to handle now, but instead of culling them a bit more seem to be being added. The rape storyline simply didn't work and Mary's suitors are dull, though I have a soft spot for Edith so didn't hate her storyline. I think the series works best in the smaller interactions between characters with less dramatic storylines, like the Dowager and Mrs C and Daisy and Mrs Padmore.
Heroes had outlived its time, it deserved to die.
It worked well for one series, but they should have stuck to the original concept and totally changed all the characters for the next one. It's not worth a reboot after the mess they made of the later series.
it is hands down the best written, directed, and acted television series I've seen since Breaking Bad
Funnily enough I've just listened to someone saying that very thing on a radio review programme :) Unfortunately it's on the wrong channel for me to see it at the moment.
no subject
Date: 2014-02-26 01:52 am (UTC)It worked well for one series, but they should have stuck to the original concept and totally changed all the characters for the next one. It's not worth a reboot after the mess they made of the later series.
The online consensus is ditch the previous cast and start over. I think they probably will have to, because most of the previous cast has moved on to other things.
RE: True Detective? It's an 8 episode series - rent on DVD if you can.
I actually would highly recommend that approach.
no subject
Date: 2014-02-25 02:27 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2014-02-26 01:49 am (UTC)Paul Giamiti makes an appearance as Cora's uncle, and Shirley McLain's brother.
Other than that...
It's skippable.
no subject
Date: 2014-02-25 04:15 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2014-02-26 01:47 am (UTC)That said.. there are bits in there that are intriguing. But overall, it's skippable.
no subject
Date: 2014-02-25 07:44 pm (UTC)(I will probably wait until I pick up HBO again for "Game of Thrones" because they should have it On Demand still at that point.)
no subject
Date: 2014-02-26 01:46 am (UTC)And I think you'd love it. Probably more than I do...since I'm admittedly struggling with violent series at the moment. But the writing and narrative structure are ...so good.