SciFiTVFanGirl

The fangirl is out.

2009-07-12T10:36:00.003-05:00

I have been struggling with this decision for a few months now but I have finally decided it is time for this blog to go on a hiatus.

Mostly this is due to life in general. I've got a lot on my plate at the moment--at four and a half weeks out from my due date, I foresee I will be doing a lot of scrambling around to get ready for the arrival of my baby and after that will be quite busy taking care of her and enjoying the miracle that is life, and all that.

Also, even though I don't find myself really watching any less television (or movies) at the moment, I do find I am having a much harder time coming up with anything intelligent to say about what I've seen. Maybe it's pregnant brain, maybe I'm losing interest, maybe I just am not cut out to be a critic. Could even be all three.

Anyhoo, so for now I am calling it a game. I am not sure if this blog will make a return, but I truly do hope it will. I thank everyone who has been reading 'til now. You all are wonderful people and you make my day. Check back in a few months to see if I've been able to dive back in, and we'll all have our fingers crossed that that is the case.

Until then, take care y'all.

And in the world of entertainment this week...

2009-07-05T10:26:00.005-05:00

Only ten more days until Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince hits theaters! Huzzah!

Can you tell I am excited?

I may go try to catch Ice Age 3 this week if I can work it into my schedule. I definitely think that I will catch the 2D version though. That doesn't look like a movie where the 3D is anything but a gimmick. Not worth the extra couple of bucks to me.

Also, in super awesome fun news, this Saturday is the Dallas screening of Can't Stop the Serenity! Huzzah! Doesn't look like they've got a guest speaker this year but they will also be showing Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog on the big screen, which should be pretty darn cool. I've got a friend who is a new convert to Firefly and is coming with us this year, so I am also looking forward to seeing her in her first Browncoat experience. It should be good times to be had by all. Most likely look for more about that next week.

I did get season five of Atlantis on DVD last Tuesday, of course. I am currently two discs in and plan to get it finished up early this week so I can also watch the first half of Eureka's season 3 in preparation for the second half of the season *finally* returning to television this Friday. SciFi Channel also officially changes over to SyFy this week, and I will probably try to catch the premiere of new series Warehouse 13 on Tuesday. It's Jane Espensen's baby, so definitely worth a look.

I probably would be done with the Atlantis DVDs by now except I actually didn't watch that much television (for me) this week. It was a combination of a few things--my husband coming home from his three week sojourn in Europe, the holiday, and I also did a lot of reading and playing Zoo Tycoon. I made a nice freeform zoo and now am working my way back through the scenario games.

I read the newest (in paperback, anyway) Dresden Files book, Small Favor. My husband and I actually had previously heard this one last fall right after it was released in hardback. We rented the audio book (read by James Marsters) on a road trip. But it's been a while and getting to read it is so much better in my mind. Man, I love the world Jim Butcher has created in this series. It is just so rich and so full of characters on all sides of the fence that are memorable and entertaining, and believable, magic aside. Even though it's been well over a year since I had read any of the other books in this series, I found myself able to slip right back in without any confusion. That's a mark of a great world builder right there.

After I finished Small Favor, I devoured the quick read Backup. It's a short story by Butcher set in Dresden's world from the perspective of Thomas the vampire. If you like these books, this one is definitely worth picking up--though you definitely don't want to read it until after Small Favor, as that seems to be where it is chronologically set.

So after finishing my trip to Butcher's Chicago (man, I so am going to the Field Museum the next time I visit my mom), yesterday I picked up the next book in my pile. Hard Contact is the first book in the Republic Commando series by Karen Traviss. Yes, it's a Star Wars book. It is set shortly after the events of Episode II and is about a group of commando clones on a misson where everything goes FUBAR pretty quickly. I got about 2/3 of the way through it yesterday and I have to say, I am pretty engrossed. I will definitely want to pick up the next books in this series when I get the chance. Traviss does a really good job of showing not only that the clones are each different from one another, but how that can be so. It makes me even sadder knowing of their inevitable betrayal of the Jedi that is to come, but maybe that is what makes it so enjoyable in the first place. I do have to say also, this book introduces (to me anyway) a new alien species of shapeshifters that I totally dig. I look forward to seeing how this story plays out, that's for sure.

Anyway, so that's what's going on over here. I hope you all had a splendiferous fourth of July and wish all a wonderful week!

Peace,

Send in the B Team!

2009-06-28T11:21:00.003-05:00

Howdy folks! In honor of Stargate Atlantis' fifth and final season coming out on DVD this week, I thought I'd dedicate yet another post to my favorite show. I just finished watching season four last night, so I am ready to go for the next round of adventures. Watching the first four seasons again, however, got me thinking about all of the great characters on this series. So today I bring you my top five favorite recurring characters on Stargate Atlantis. Huzzah!

Number 5: Leuitenant Laura Cadman

(Played by Jaime Ray Newman)

Sadly, we only actually got Cadman in two episodes, both in season two. She first appeared in what has probably gone down as one of the best McKay episodes ever, Duet. While on an off-world recon mission poor Cadman was set to babysit Doctors Beckett and McKay and when Wraith darts appeared on the planet she managed to get Carson out of the way but was scooped up, along with Rodney, in the process. Luckily the rest of the recon team was able to disable the dart without destroying the beaming device. When they attempted to reintegrate Cadman and McKay however, something went horribly wrong and McKay ended up being reintegrated with Cadman's consciousness also in his mind. As you can reasonably assume, this led to all kinds of hijinks and hilarity before the situation took a turn for the worse and then the day was saved. Cadman returned later on in the season two episode Hot Zone, where we learned that not only is she an explosives expert, she can also tap dance too. Cadman made a wonderful no-nonsense foil to McKay's eccentric (and arrogant) scientist. She also managed to briefly win the heart of Carson Beckett, though we learn in a season three episode that the two weren't able to make it work. While Cadman only appeared in two episodes she makes this list because she had a huge impact on the fans and, I for one, will always remember her as an important member of the Atlantis expedition.

Number 4: Chuck the Technician

(Played by Chuck Campbell)

Unlike his SG-1 counterpart, poor Chuck never got a last name. I am not entirely sure his rank was ever even actually stated on screen, though I do believe he was a Sergeant. But nonetheless, Chuck popped up towards the end of the first season as one of the primary control room technicians and he managed to stick around for the entire run of the series. He had a friendly way about him, and as much as I hate to say it, because I love Walter, was nowhere near as much of a nerd. Everyone seemed to like Chuck--although Zelenka definitely wished he (and the rest of the gate technicians) would stop consuming food and drinks near the 10,000 year old computer equipment. Besides just being a constant presence in the background (he's listed as having appeared in 44 of the show's 100 episodes), Chuck often got to be part of the moment, whether it be a moment of humor, drama, or just a glimpse into the every day life of the expedition members. One of my favorite moments comes from the season four episode Midway, when during the smack down between Teal'c and Ronon, Chuck can be seen in the gym managing all of the bets on the fight's outcome. The guy was just always right in the middle of everything that was going on, and fans loved him for it.

Number 3: Jeannie Miller

(Played by Kate Hewlett)

The little sister of Rodney McKay (played by actor David Hewlett's real life little sister), Jeannie showed promise in becoming every bit as brilliant a physicist as her brother--until she got pregnant in college and decided to marry her English major boyfriend and put all of her efforts into her family instead. The anti-social achievement driven McKay couldn't comprehend this decision and so cut his sister out of his life, not speaking to her for four years (though as we see in season one, he never stopped thinking about her and does come to regret this decision as he grows to see the Atlantis team as his own family). Then, one day, Jeannie is struck by inspiration while playing with her daughter and writes a math proof that turns out to be a potential solution to one of McKay's current projects. The siblings are reunited and Jeannie is drafted into a position as a civilian consultant for the SGC. The road to reconciliation for the two is anything but easy, and the pair never lose their competitiveness towards each other, but their relationship is one that not only gives huge amounts of depth to the character of Rodney McKay, it also allows him the chance to grow. He starts to embrace his humanity just a little bit more every time we see him interact with Jeannie and her family. Not that Jeannie herself exists only to make McKay a better character. She is a wonderful character in her own right, a delight to watch on screen--no doubt in large part due to the casting of Kate Hewlett to play her. I had always hoped that, had the series continued, they could have found ways to make her a larger part of the series. Plus, it is from Jeannie that we learn that Rodney's first name is actually Meredith. How can you not love that?

Number 2: Doctor Radek Zelenka

(Played by David Nykl)

Where Rodney McKay was the head of the Atlantis science operations, I have always felt that Zelenka was their heart. Second in rank to McKay among the scientists (but still head of his own department), Zelenka had a much more quiet way about him. He was perfectly willing to stay at home on the base and take care of business while other scientists were out on the missions doing the actual exploring. Yet, whenever it was truly called of him, he never turned down an off-world sojourn to help save the day. He truly has done as much as McKay to keep Atlantis safe and functional, even if most of it was done in the background. Plus, even though his comments were likely to go unheard by his colleague (or untranslated, as he was quite known for going off on tangents in his native Czech tongue), Radek was never afraid to call Rodney out when he felt the other man was overreaching or just plain wrong. Also, he's quite handy to have around when the city is in lock down and you need someone to crawl around in the ventilation system in order to correct the problem.

Number 1: Major Evan Lorne

(Played by Kavan Smith)

It should come as a surprise to no one reading this blog that Lorne is my favorite recurring character on the series. I just love him oodles. But really, there are reasons for this. Much like Zelenka exists to temper McKay, I feel like Lorne was sent to Atlantis to counterbalance Sheppard. The higher ups never wanted him in charge of the expedition's military forces, so they sent in the much more steady and reliable Lorne to be his XO. Despite that, Lorne has shown that he's no Air Force or IOA pet. He continually shows loyalty to Sheppard, and his team is the first one called in when Sheppard's team needs backup or a rescue. He doesn't mind being second in command because he trusts his commanding officer. We know he's got potential for great leadership--in season four's The Last Man we see a glimpse into the future where Lorne is charge of the SGC, and in SG-1's season ten episode The Road Not Taken we see an alternate reality where he replaced Colonel O'Neill on SG-1 itself, rather than Mitchell. This guy is very good at what he does. He is also very likable--congratulating Teyla on her pregnancy and offering her reassurances when she voices her fears about pending motherhood, keeping Rodney in check when Sheppard's not around without resorting to force as many others try to do, and more. We even learn he's got a bit of an artistic side in season three's Sunday. His mom used to be an art teacher and he picked up painting from her. Aww, how sweet. Finally, despite the fact that it was totally played down once he was moved to Atlantis, he's also got an intellectual side. His first introduction in SG-1's season eight episode Enemy Mine showed us one of the reasons he was probably drafted into the SGC was his prowess in geology. So, hey, a well rounded guy.

Well, there you have it, my top five favorite recurring characters from Stargate Atlantis. Now I'm all ready for season five to get here! I just have to make it until Tuesday.

That's it from me this week, hope you all have a great one! Happy Independence Day! Stay safe out there. Go see some cheesy summer blockbuster to celebrate--I can recommend Transformers 2 or Star Trek, or even Up if you want something a little more "feel good."

Until next time,

Weirdest movie ever? Maybe...maybe.

2009-06-21T10:40:00.003-05:00

So I took myself to see Land of the Lost this week. I am not entirely sure I have words to describe it, but I will give it a go. Bizarre is definitely the first one that comes to mind.

So, I was expecting something campy and silly, and just a bit dumb--along the lines of Without a Paddle, or most of what Will Ferrell does. That is not what this movie is. Okay, the original series was a Saturday morning show aimed quite directly at children. I guess the producers were trying to draw in those same, now grown, children by giving it a more "adult" vibe this time around. So what we ended up with was a (rather lame) attempt at a raunchy sex comedy. With dinosaurs. And tachyons. Um. Yeah. Big fail on the part of the movie makers here. Not only did they completely kill anything that would have appealed to a broader child or family audience, they totally did not accomplish their goal to make the transition into adult comedy. The end result is something that can only really be appreciated by boys in the 11-15 age range.

I am a little too young to have watched the original series when it first came out, but I do remember that as a kid I did watch it (in reruns I am guessing) at some point, and I liked it. I don't actually remember anything about the show itself except that I liked it and there were dinosaurs. After watching the movie, I am actually fairly thankful for the lapse of memory. I have a feeling if I had remembered enough to get most of the references and in-jokes I would have walked out of that theater quite irked indeed.

Look, I am not saying I hated it. There were a few entertaining-ish moments. I am just saying that really, if they edited it down so that it was just the story about Marshall versus the T-Rex, everyone would be much happier with the end results.

The trip to the theater wasn't a complete waste though. There was a new (to me anyway) trailer for 9. Man I am so psyched for that it isn't even funny. As soon as my mother-in-law comes back into town I am going to see if I can reserve her to babysit on September 9. I am pretty sure I can't miss this one on the big screen. Seriously, this looks like such a cool movie. Here is the description of the movie from IMDB: A post-apocalyptic nightmare in which all of humanity is threatened.

That doesn't even start to capture the awesomeness, so you should check out the trailer here. It's like some weird reverse kind of Frankenstein. You know, post apocalypse. With puppets. How does that not kick ass? I am trying to decide if I want to track down the original short this is based on before I see the movie, but I am still torn as to whether or not that will be too spoilery.

Finally, I'll close with something else that occurred to me this week. Over the last year or two I've been hearing bits and dribbles about how Pixar is making an adaptation of Edgar Rice Burroughs' Mars series. This is the guy that wrote Tarzan in all of its original glory. He is a pioneer of science fiction and has been one of my favorite authors since I was in junior high at least. People may roll their eyes at Tarzan because it's been made so campy over the years, but those people just haven't read the books--because Tarzan is actually pretty dang awesome. As is John Carter, the central character of the Mars books.

So now the John Carter movie is finally in full production and I've been getting all kinds of news about it on the web, and I have been getting very excited about the upcoming movie. I noticed something this week that gave me pause though--this film is actually set to be Pixar's first live action film. I had somehow missed that until now. I started to get concerned, because really, with all of the different aliens and landscapes and such, this seems like a perfect film to be all CG. But I gave it some more thought and realized that "live action" is really just going to refer to the more human characters and the rest are probably still going to be largely CG. If anyone can blend the two seamlessly (and with all of the advances in CG over the last few years that's really not a question) without making it a distraction, Pixar should be up to the task. They have never produced anything that has disappointed me, so I am putting my faith in the trend continuing.

But once I started thinking about things that could go wrong with this adaptation, a whole new set of worries came to mind. The first book in the series, A Princess of Mars, was published in 1912. Burroughs shaped the landscape and cultures of Barsoom (the natives' term for the planet) based on the time's current beliefs about Mars. Most of those beliefs have long since been proven wrong. Mostly I am thinking of the "canals" or waterways scientists used to think covered the planet's surface. So now I am starting to wonder how Pixar is going to deal with those discrepancies. We know that the surface of Mars is nothing like it is described in this series. Are they going to update it? I almost hope they don't, and honestly am not sure how they could--the geography of the planet is indeed quite central the the stories. But will a modern audience accept such a fantastically wrong representation of the red planet? It seems like it's going to be much easier for them to handle all of the people and critters running around than the state of the planet itself. So yeah--see people, this is why adaptations aren't always good things. Sigh. I guess I'll just have to hope that Pixar places its trust in the audience's willingness to suspend disbelief and that, in turn, that hope is a justified one.

Anyhoo, that's all I've got for this week. I think I am going to catch the new Transformers flick this week, so hopefully next weekend I'll have my thoughts on that for you.

Till then, peace!

In a galaxy far far away...

2009-06-14T10:37:00.002-05:00

The Pegasus Galaxy, that is.

That's right, I caved and I decided it was time to rewatch Stargate Atlantis. Even though I've got a few other sets of DVDs coming (starting with Burn Notice season two this week), I decided to gear up for the release of SGA season five at the end of this month with a nice Atlantis marathon.

Good stuff.

I am hip-deep in season two at the moment. Sadly, I started it yesterday and will probably finish it today. What can I say, my husband is out of the country for three weeks, and while I have been keeping plenty busy during the week, I decided I needed to just take this weekend off, and so what did I end up doing? Watching a whole lotta' Stargate. :o)

But back to season two. The last time I "rewatched" the series was when Skiffy ran marathons leading up to the last half of season five returning from hiatus. This was just after I stopped working. But, in between them skipping around a bit and me needing things like, you know, sleep, I didn't see every episode. I missed most of season two. I had forgotten just how truly awesome this season is. For one thing, the show really started to find its stride. For another, a very lot of important things happen in this season that set the tone for stuff throughout the remainder of the series. We learn more about the Wraith, we learn more about why the Ancients really lost the war...Sheppard pulls a Zack Morris and kisses, like, every female lead on the show. I mean seriously, all kinds of stuff going down. We also really start to feel at home with these characters. This is where the beauty of McKay starts to shine through--up 'til now he was brilliant, sure, he was amusing, yeah, but he wasn't so truly human. He didn't really start to grow and learn from his mistakes (or even make real true mistakes) until this point. I mean, Trinity. 'Nuff said.

On a more personal note, season two is when I actually dove headfirst into the Stargate universe (not to be confused with the upcoming new series). I enjoyed season one immensely, but actually missed a lot of the second half due to my wedding that spring. Then for Christmas later that year, my husband got me season one on DVD (really, I blame my Stargate obsession all on him). After watching the first season again and catching up with what I'd missed, I met season two with brimming enthusiasm. I finally caved in during season two of SGA and decided to watch SG1 as well. This triggered my getting all eight available seasons of the mother show on DVD. This is also when I found Stargate fanfiction. I've been clean of that particular habit for almost two years now (and don't think that now that I don't work I am not completely tempted to surf back on over to Wraithbait and see what I've been missing in my absence--I fight it only because I know that it would suck all of my time up and I would never get anything else done again ever), but my love for the Stargate universe is still going quite strong.

Also, one of the major benefits of season two: The arrival of Major Lorne. Huzzah! Ah, I am enjoying all of my Lorne-y goodness.

So, for the next few weeks I expect to be fully submerged in Stargate awesomeness again, and I will enjoy it while I can. I have two SGA novels in my reading pile, and I think those may have just gotten bumped up to the top of the queue now that I am in that mindset again. I do truly miss this show, but at least there's the promise of more television movies to come. Now, if only they could figure out a way to get McKay on Stargate Universe, that would be nerd heaven.

Well, I bid you adieu. Until next time.

Go see Up.

2009-06-08T22:47:00.003-05:00

Seriously, just go. It is incredible. It is funny and sad and scary and dark and happy and just plain entertaining.

There's a talking dog, an adorable spastic kid, a grumpy old man that could put Walter Matthau to shame, and a crazy fun exotic bird.

Not to mention an old man fight that is just brilliant.

So yeah, go see it. It's worth your time, I promise.

Also, on the 3D or not decision--I saw it in 3D and while some effects were kind of nifty that way, there didn't really seem to be anything going on that would feel less if you just see it in a regular theater. So, that's totally a judgement call on your part.

Anyhoo, I've said my piece. Seriously, what are you waiting for? Go see it! :o)

Ciao,

One thing I'll definitely give the Brits...

2009-06-06T21:26:00.003-05:00

(Warning! This post contains mucho spoilers about the latest episode of Primeval to air on BBC America!)

There's a very common saying among science fiction television fans: "In scifi, no one is ever really dead. Finding ways to come back from beyond the grave is certainly a cliche of the genre. Sometimes it can be really well done, and often it is just really cheesy or annoying. More often that not it can have the effect of completely negating some very powerful character moments and development within a series.

It also has a tendency to lessen the tension of pretty much any life-or-death situation your main character may find themselves in. The average viewer is sitting there thinking to herself, "Well, I know this looks bad, but there's no way they're getting rid of that actor any time soon, so clearly they're going to find some way to pull it out of the fire..." You know nothing too bad or final can really happen to your favorite character because they are the lead and as such aren't going anywhere.

Yeah this is just as common in mainstream shows as it is in sci-fi and fantasy, but the difference in the genre shows is that the characters just as often do die...and then they come back somehow. Heck, I think every main character on Stargate SG-1 has died at least once, and there were a few returns from the beyond on Stargate Atlantis as well. [Sidebar: Stargate Universe is claiming that death will be a much more permanent state of existence when it happens on the new series--it should be interesting to see if they live up to that promise and how well they make use of it.]

While British genre shows certainly aren't immune to this phenomenon--think Owen in season two of Torchwood, or the Doctor's regeneration capabilities, to name a couple--I have found that almost as often as they kill someone and then bring them back, they are just as willing to kill off someone and leave them that way for good. And I'm not talking random red-shirts here, I am talking series leads.

A prime example would be the short-lived but incredible Hex. Yes, my favorite character, Thelma, could fall under the umbrella of the amazing not-dead dead people--she is killed in the first episode and then hangs around for the rest of the series as a ghost. (Though I am inclined to feel this is not such a copout because really we never get to know her as a live person--her character was intended to be a ghost from the start.) But the main character from the start, the character all of the events of the show (including Thelma's death) are built around, is Cassie. Then, in the episode before the season finale, she gets killed dead. Cassie's gone. Bye bye, so long. And wonder of wonders, the show doesn't fall apart. The characters deal with what has happened and move on, and the show's focus shifts to another character and her life and adventures in the aftermath of what has gone before.

So I have to say that even though I am sad to see some very talented actors leave the cast of Primeval, I am also very impressed at the way they've managed to express how truly dangerous the characters' situation really is through the use of some very well planned deaths. At the end of season two we lose the character Steven. His death opens the door for all kinds of changes around the ARC and among the characters. His death has really meant something within the universe of the show--it is hardly meaningless. More recently, in last week's episode the actual main character, Cutter, is shot dead by his wife. We're only what, three episodes into the new season? And this is also another very meaningful death within the show, you can already tell one episode later. There were relationships in place or developing between Cutter and other characters, and you can see how each of them is dealing with the loss. This also sets in motion a lot of things that I feel will have repercussions throughout the season.

Yeah, I miss Cutter already, he was a loveable character. He wasn't the main character without reason. But still, the fact that now we, as an audience, know that no one is safe from the dangers of anomaly chasing is one that makes me even more eager to watch the show and see how the story plays out.

I think what may be the coolest thing about these deaths is the fact that they aren't all played up. This isn't some big publicity stunt. "Tune in this week to see who won't make it out alive!" No, this is just part of the story, and usually a part the audience doesn't see coming. As opposed to the American shows I am used to where really killing a character off is rarely done without some advance notice or big hyping in the weekly promotions. That in itself can cheapen a character's death, even when it is permanent. Of course, for all I know, when the Bristish shows air across the pond they do the same darn thing but BBC America just doesn't bother with the hype, but for some reason I doubt it.

While I can't complain when a character I really like manages to cheat death or come back from her cute little goth clutches, every once in a while it is really nice to see that there are real consequences for the actions taken by the characters in a story--that the perceived danger really and truly is just that--dangerous. I do, occasionally, like there to be a little bit of a point to my fluff. Go figure.

Some random thoughts on this week's Primeval episode:

I adore how cat-like the G-Rex was in its movements and attitude. Seeing him chase after all of the vehicles on the runway was extra amusing for it.

While the G-Rex was running up on the plane, I kept waiting for the pilots in the cockpit to turn around and go, "Oh my God! What is that!" until I realized that, oh yeah, airplanes don't have rearview mirrors. Huh. Sucks to be them, doesn't it?

I am really enjoying how the show is steering clear of all of the most common dinosaurs and prehistoric eras for the most part. With the exception of the velociraptors (which are freaking awesomely done), we are getting to know a nice wide variety of prehistoric critters. It's nice to know that the creative team isn't just throwing darts at a Jurassic Park poster to figure out the next beastie.

Is it completely wrong that when the news crew was all hanging out in front of the anomaly that we knew a G-Rex was about to come out of, I was sitting there hoping to myself that it ate them all? I mean seriously, freaking vultures. Once upon a time I wanted to be a journalist when I grew up--that used to be a respectful profession. Now, in this age of overinformation, not so much.

As much as I hate to see Cutter go, I am almost glad his anomaly predicting system went with him. While I do hope the series revisits that sometime down the road, having that and Connor's anomaly-sealing device would just take all of the fun out of it I think. For the moment, it's a race of time to see if the team can get to the anomaly and seal it up before anything bad comes out. And of course, a matter of if the device works every time or not.

Well folks, I think that just about does it for me. I hope you all have a wonderful weekend and I will catch you on the flip side!

Peace out,

Can the conjecture just stop now, please?

2009-06-01T09:27:00.003-05:00

Wow, the internet has its evil days, that is for sure.

Awesome: Dollhouse got renewed for a second season.

Not Awesome: Dollhouse's renewal has somehow made someone think this means we're going to get more Firefly.

Look, I would love to see more Firefly, but at the same time, it's really not going to happen. The whole cast has moved on. Joss has moved on. Fox has definitely moved on. The only people who haven't moved on are the fans, and the rumor-mongers.

Apparently someone somewhere at Fox made a comment to someone in the media that Dollhouse's renewal was in part due to the success of Firefly on DVD. That media someone then ran with the idea that this meant Fox would totally be willing to make some more Firefly--at least some television movies that could then be released on DVD and make Fox more money.

Okay, yes, in theory this is a really cool idea, but it is just that, an idea. Someone floated up a test balloon and then it just started popping up everywhere online. I just wish that they would stop saying it like it is a probability and stick with presenting it as "Wouldn't it be cool if...." Trust me, the minute any sort of official deal does go down that will give us more Firefly on any kind of screen, the internet is going to catch on fire anyway. As it is, what's going on now is just cruel and annoying. People are getting their hopes up and the backlash is going to be bad.

Sigh. Maybe I am just not looking at this correctly. Maybe the die-hard insistence of the fans that we can and will get more Firefly one day is in the true Browncoat spirit. The war is definitely over but they're still out there fighting. Sigh. I guess Mal would be proud at least. Or not. He seems like a no-nonsense kind of guy. He'd probably be the first to call these people on their bullshit and point out that, as awesome as it is, it really is just a television show. There's no life or death on the line here, and there's not really a greater principle at the root of things.

Can we not just embrace the current and new projects coming from Joss and allow him to move forward, thus taking us with him? This insistent urge to pigeon-hole him to past projects and not let him close the book on them is starting to worry me.

I know in these hard times that old and familiar franchises and stories are a comfort to the masses, and they're usually easier/cheaper to make for the entertainers. But I'm really starting to get tired of "old old old" and I want some "new new new." Isn't hardship and challenge supposed to spur creativity, not destroy it?

Okay, end rant.

Laters y'all,

Man, just, bad ideas all around.

2009-05-26T21:10:00.002-05:00

So the internet pretty much exploded today with the news that not only is there definitely a big screen Buffy movie in the works, and not only is it a total reboot with completely different characters (aside from, I would assume, Buffy) and mythology, it also is proceeding completely without the input or benefit of Joss Whedon.

WTF???

There's so much going on here, I don't even know how to get it all into words. I think I'll just address each of the three points above and maybe go from there.

So--Buffy on the big screen. WE DON'T NEED THIS. And I say this as a total Buffy fan, one who will just randomly get the urge to watch the ENTIRE series all the way through periodically (and follow through on that urge). I know that there's a huge camp in the fandom who just want more more more. And part of me understands that. It was a wonderful show and it had a lot of influence on all sorts of areas (vampire lore, science fiction, girl power, etc.), but we don't need another Buffy movie.

I'll admit, when the series first came out on television, I wouldn't watch it, because I actually liked the movie. Okay yes, I was and will always be the first one to admit that the movie was completely horrible, but the whole concept jived with me and I am often known to love bad movies when the things that make them bad are things that make me laugh at the movie. I didn't really get into the series until the end of season six because I had a new roommate who was obsessed and there was really no way to avoid the show and live in my house.

Here's the thing, what made the movie fail (primarily, anyway--it really was a bad bad movie for many reasons) and what made the television series succeed was the simple fact that this story is too big for the big screen. To understand Buffy the character, and to really appreciate why she, as a slayer, is so unique and why we, as an audience, should root for her, you need to know what she deals with at home, at school, and at work. You need to see her friends, with and without her, and how they react to her situation and find their places in her world. You need to see all of the different monsters she has to deal with, and why the villains are villains and why they're in Sunnydale and what their end game is.

You could make a movie about a "vampire slayer" who just goes around killing vampires and that's her job and she deals with it and oh, look at all of the dead/destroyed monsters and cool special effects, yay! That would be fine. I mean, that's basically just Van Helsing in a skirt. But if you are going to make a movie about Buffy the vampire slayer, you need the whole story. And that story needs room to stretch out in order to be properly told. Some stories just need that.

Besides, if the big screen movie were going to be a continuation of current Buffy canon, which is what anyone actually clamoring for a Buffy movie actually wants to see, well, in my opinion, there's not really anything left to tell that can be summed up in one chapter such as a movie would give us that would satisfy anyone. For one thing, the series ended too well, and made it very clear everyone was spreading out. Even if you haven't read the comic books (which show everyone all over the world dealing with all of the new slayers), from the ending of the television series I just don't see where they would get a good story for a movie. Basically, if you want more official Buffy, go read the comic books. If you just want more stories in that universe and don't care if they're official, then there is plenty of fanfic out there for you. A lot of it isn't porn, and some of it isn't too badly written.

This leads into my second issue with a new Buffy movie. They don't want anything to do with the original Buffy movie or the television series, other than, as far as I have been able to glean, the name of the main character and the basic concept. I can think of two extremely clear motivations for a studio thinking this is a great time to reboot Buffy--there's a built-in fanbase that they are assuming will guarantee them butts in the theater, and vampires are hot right now. Thanks to Twilight and True Blood vampires are just all the rage, and this is just someone's idea of jumping on that bandwagon without having to go to the trouble of finding new source material. "Vampires are money baby, what do we have with vampires? Well, there's Buffy... Buffy! Great, let's reboot that!"

Geez Louise. I am sorry, but I don't understand what is going on in Hollywood. For the last several years almost every movie that has come out has been a continuation or reboot of an existing franchise or an adaptation of a television series or book or a remake of a pre-existing movie. Clearly something is broken. Where has all of the original content gone? I mean, don't get me wrong, it can be really cool to see a story adapted from one medium to another, and sometimes the idea of just going to see "Things Blowing Up 3" is nice, because it means if I've seen TBU 1 and 2, I don't have to think too much about the story, I can just sit back and enjoy it. But remakes of existing movies just drive me nuts. That right there, that's the sign of someone who just wants to make money and is making movies for no other reason at all. I don't like giving my money to those people. It just makes me feel dirty. I mean seriously, if the original was good enough that you think people still might like it today, why can't people today just enjoy the original? Huh? Huh? I will admit, occassionally an exception to that rule comes along, but at the very least there should be a 30 to 40 year MINIMUM window between the original film and the remake. And as much as I enjoyed the Star Trek movie, reboots are only slightly lower on the icky scale. But that's probably enough to be a topic for a whole other post so I am going to stop this train of thought for the moment.

This leads to the last issue with a new Buffy movie, and that is no Joss. Okay, first off, here's what most people are overlooking--the people who have obtained the rights to write a new Buffy movie and are shopping it around the Kuzuis--and they worked with Joss on the original movie as well as on all of the television series and on Angel. They know what the concept of Buffy is just as well as Joss. BUT. But... But they aren't Joss. That's what it boils down to. Buffy is his creative baby. If I am understanding the story of the movie properly, Joss came up with the concept and wrote the script and the studio said, okay, but make these changes, and let's have someone else to the rewrite. And those changes and that rewrite made it the disaster it is. Then several years down the road Joss got a meeting with someone and pitched Buffy as a television series and said, look, the movie was horrible, but here's why, and here's what I can do to fix it. And it worked. So yeah, I am nervous that someone who isn't Joss is coming in and saying "I want to make a new Buffy, one that's darker and more relevant to today and doesn't have anything to do with what came before."

Let's not overlook the fact that the overwhelming majority of fans of Buffy are fans of Whedon himself. We love Buffy because it is a creation of Whedon, as much as for its own merits. And while I would not categorize myself as a zealot, well, there are more than enough people out there who are. And they are scarily organized. You can expect a lot of vitriol directed at the new movie just because there is no Joss involved, even if he does come out and give it his stamp of approval at some point. You can bet that this is going to also backfire big time in the faces of the people expecting an existing fanbase to inflate the movie's success. These are the people who boycott stuff. This is not a fanbase that likes executives messing around in their universe. At the very least, it's going to make the internet a very scary place for anyone who isn't a zealot and happens to puruse any Whedon-related site for quite some time to come, I can tell you that.

Intellectually I know that a new Buffy movie won't erase the original or the television series. Those will always be on my DVD shelf waiting for me to watch them whenever I choose. I can always go back and enjoy what I love. But still, I worry that the new movie is going to make people who might have stumbled across the series instead avoid it like the plague for the rest of eternity. That just makes me incredibly sad. So, yeah, I feel like a new Buffy movie is a BAD IDEA. It doesn't matter what the movie itself actually ends up being, it's just that the bottom line is, the world doesn't need it.

Sigh.

Sadly, that's not the only bad idea out there as of today. Just the biggest one.

io9 is also reporting that Disney, in going through its vault of old movies that need to be remade, has chosen Flight of the Navigator for their newest project. Sigh. Flight of the Navigator is a beautiful and wonderful movie and it is the embodiment of my childhood in the 80's. We don't need a new one.

Seriously, where have all of the original ideas gone?

So yeah, until next time,

Summertime...

2009-05-24T12:15:00.002-05:00

Ahh, summer time...that magical time of year that was once rife with television reruns--a chance to catch up on missed episodes or enjoy favorites over again. Now it's full of God-awful reality programming on the big networks and actually a pretty decent selection of original programming on cable networks.

Already this summer we've got In Plain Sight on USA and Primeval on BBC America. I have been enjoying the new season of both of these shows so far. Good stuff. But wait, there's more! June and July are bringing back some great shows that I am really looking forward to. Here's what's on the horizon for my viewing schedule this summer:

TNT:

The Closer

Leverage

Raising the Bar

Also, I am hoping to see the rest of the season of Trust Me--I assume they'll be burning those off as soon as basketball (bleah) finishes up.

USA:

Psych

Burn Notice

Monk (last season!)

SyFy:

Eureka (huzzah!!)

There may be some other shows on SyFy premiering this summer but I'm not too sure at the moment about that.

BBC America:

Torchwood

Also, ABC is going to air the last few episodes of Eli Stone on Saturday nights in June (the final episodes of Pushing Daisies started last night I think, for fans of that show).

Is it just me or does it seem almost easier to get excited about the summer's cable shows than the networks' fall schedules? The schedule itself may not be as full, but the quality, to me at least, seems to be a lot higher of late. Sigh.

Speaking of fall schedules, upfronts ran this week, so we finally got to find out what's going on come September. Dollhouse and Chuck did get renewed, huzzah! Even if they both only got shortened seasons, that's not necessarily a bad thing, it gives the writers a chance to make much tighter story arcs which can lead to better viewing for us. It is going to suck having to wait until January or February for Chuck to start airing though, since it is sharing a timeslot with the shortened season of Heroes. I have to say, I am a little bewildered by how packed Thursday nights are going to be. We've got Bones, Grey's Anatomy, and The Office all running at 8 p.m. (central). Sigh. Of course, I blame Fox. They just have to mess with their schedule, don't they? They just have to shuffle Bones around onto some random new night again. Honestly, so amazed that show has survived, the way they treat it (but hey, it got renewed for two seasons, not just one, so that's awesome). I keep telling myself it will only last a few months though and then Fox will need to rearrange and it will be the first to get moved. We'll see, I guess. I am really hoping that ABC has full episodes of Grey's available online. I think that's the one that is going to have to get bumped from the actual television viewing, because I always try to watch Bones live and The Office is a show my husband and I make time to watch together, which is harder to do at the computer than on the couch.

And finally, in some rather exciting (for me at least) news--Neilsen is sending out surveys to select new households to include in their ratings research and I got one. So, there's no guarantee I'll be selected, but it is a possibility. I feel giddy with the promise of power.

And that's me. Until next time, happy viewing!

Primeval is back!

2009-05-17T14:53:00.002-05:00

Last night the first episode of the third season of Primeval aired on BBC America. This show is back just in time, as all of my regular shows have just wrapped up (except for a straggler or two finishing this week).

We pick up with our anomaly-hunting friends sometime after the events of the season two finale (i.e., the death of team member Stephen). Cutter is bummed because his wife got his best friend killed by prehistoric (and a few futuristic) critters. It isn't bad enough that she, you know, slept with the guy, but then she turned him against Cutter, and then got him killed trying to make up for it. Helen is a bitch. I'm just saying--that's something anyone who is going to watch this show needs to realize. There are no redeeming qualities about this woman--none. But anyway, so Cutter is bummed. He knows it's not his fault his friend is dead but he still feels like he should have been able to stop it from happening. In comes Jenny Lewis to remind him that he can't change the past--and he has a wonderful response to that, coming from her--and ask if he wants to grab some food. Cue the anomaly alarm.

This week's anomaly has appeared in an exhibit at the British Museum. Yay, Egyptology! We get a big crocodile monster from 55 million years ago that kills the curator and threatens a scholar before running off into London to generally terrorize the poplulation around the Thames. With the help of the Egyptologist, who swears that the creature is an ancient Egyptian goddess, and with a new military commander (replacing the guy who got killed in the anomaly in the penultimate episode last season), our team of scientists manages to get the critter back home just in time for the anomaly to close (of course).

Some cool things were set up for the rest of the season in this episode. First off, when I say the anomaly was in the exhibit, I mean it was actually trapped inside the exhibit. Made of a highly magnetic metal, the artifact was apparently created to trap the anomaly--move the artifact and the anomaly moves with it. In addition, Connor accidentally electrocuted the anomaly, causing it to harden in a way--still active but nothing could get in or out for a brief period. This gives the team all sorts of interesting new avenues of research to follow when they're not out chasing critters. Now we know anomalies can be contained and maybe even rendered harmless while they're open. Ooh...interesting.

Also, we get two new team members--the new military guy, Beckett, I think, as well as the Egyptologist, Sarah Page. Her insistence that the croc-monster was what the ancient Egyptians believed to be one of their gods leads Cutter to think that perhaps all of the fantastical creatures throughout history (the chimera, pegasus, the krakken, etc.) might be critters that slipped through anomalies. He thinks if they can track down the origins of these myths, they might be able to better detect a pattern on anomaly appearances, so that's what Dr. Page's job will be.

Then there's a new government higher up trying to take over the ARC and get on Lester's nerves. We learn right off the bat that she's got some hidden agenda tracking down some artifact that her whole special ops team got wasted by the future bat-monsters trying to recover.

And not to be left out, Helen is back, and hey, she managed to get the artifact after the special ops team got wasted. She and her army of look-alike goons are setting up in a warehouse with some as yet unrevealed nefarious purpose.

So, all in all, it was a pretty eventful episode. I really enjoyed it, with the exception of all of the completely unnecessary destruction of ancient artifacts while the creature was loose in the museum. That made the archaeologist in me want to cry. There was of course plenty of wonderful Connor-based humor. I had two favorite bits.

First was when Connor almost got dragged through the anomaly by one of the croc-monsters (only one got loose but a few tried to get through while the team was guarding the anomaly). Sarah reached for something to whack the monster with and realized she had picked up an ancient Egyptian kitty artifact, so she hesitated, not wanting to hurt it, and instead ended up grabbing a two-by-four (probably a better choice anyway, really).

Second was the whole "curse" that Sarah made up. Connor picked up a piece of the anomaly containment artifact that broke off when a wrench got sucked in by the magnetism, and Sarah told him that the artifact was cursed and anyone who touched it would be plagued for the rest of his life. She later reveals to Abby that she made that up but they both agree there's no reason to tell Connor that fact. I love it. This has potential to be a wonderful running joke this season, and I hope that the writers don't pass up the opportunity they left themselves here. Also, totally makes me approve of the new addition to the team.

Good stuff all in all. I am really excited for this season. Apparently there's an American movie version of this series in progress, and I am not to sure what to think about that. Also, there are new rumors that there's also an American television series in the works too. Gah. I am a bit nervous about that--though I did see the phrases "spinoff" and "expanded operation out of the UK" in connection with the American series, so I have some hope. If it's actually another team set in America, tracking anomalies on this side of the pond (which makes sense that they'd be all over the world), then I could get behind that. Especially if the events of the mother series were acknowledged and the potential for crossovers was in place. Can you imagine Cutter having to deal with an American scientist? That might be beautiful.

For anyone who has missed out on the first two seasons of this wonderful series, SciFi Channel is airing them on Friday nights at the moment, so you can probably get all caught up pretty quickly if you're interested.

Hope everyone has a great week! I think I'm off to watch Titan A.E.--I discovered yesterday that Joss Whedon is one of the writers (I loved this movie before I fell in love with Whedon), so that's got me kind of wanting to watch it again.

Ciao bellas!

Some thoughts on the finales this week...

2009-05-14T22:37:00.002-05:00

So most of the finales I want to talk about aired tonight (Um, MASSIVE SPOILER ALERT), but I would be remiss if I didn't also mention Tuesday's closing episode of Fringe--which closed nothing but opened up all kinds of new possibilities. Yay Fringe! I just absolutely adore this show. It is silly and completely unrealistic and yet still fun and smartly written and well acted and creative and engaging. Even if what the show makes me think about is how unlikely the phenomenon of the week may be, it never fails to make me think at least for a little bit. Plus, Joshua Jackson, yum. And there's a cow. Who doesn't want a cow in their workplace? My husband works in the Fort Worth Stockyards, and one of the best parts about visiting him for lunch is getting to see all the cows hanging out back of his building (I kid you not). That, plus the kitties. There are lots of kitties there too.

Where was I? Oh yes, Fringe finale. Anyway--I for one loved this. Okay, yes I am not someone to avoid spoilers unless they are on a show that I just don't care about/will never watch, or if it's somehow a show that will really be ruined for me if I don't have an inkling...so, I saw the spoiler that the gravestone Walter visits in the episode was very important--as soon as he went to visit it in the episode, knowing also that we would find out what the "big weird" about Peter was in this episode, I put two and two together and realized that the Peter we know and love is not the Peter from this dimension, because the Peter from this dimension died as a kid. So, yeah. Not really a surprise. It did not, however, diminish my enjoyment of the reveal. I will admit I was hoping for a bit more Nemoy, but the fact that they finally told us we've never seen him up until now is because he actually lives in another world/dimension was pretty sweet. Plus, he's signed on for at least a few more episodes next season and has been quoted as saying he's up for continuing to do the show as long as he's having fun with it.

Also, there's already some controversy surrounding the final shot--revealing that in the alternate world where Bell hangs out, he does so in the still intact Twin Towers. There are people screaming that this is inappropriate and insensitive. To which I reply, wow, really? You get one shot to show just how "alternate" this other world really is--I think showing that the Twin Towers still exist is a really good way to do so. We are talking two different worlds here. Certainly there are inappropriate and insensitive ways to stick the Towers into something but I don't think that happened here. That's all I'm saying on that.

Okay, on to tonight's gala of season enders.

Bones. Wow. Well, I feel much better that they didn't completely ignore the fact that last week Booth had a freaking tumor removed from his brain. While I felt that the idea of the episode was a little too high concept, and while it was fairly obvious (to me at least) from the beginning that this was either someone reading Booth a murder mystery while he was in the hospital or a dream he was having in recovery or something--I still really enjoyed the episode. It was fun to see them take the events and mythology of the entire series (at least from season two on--we were missing the original boss man) and rearrange them into a different setting. (Have I mentioned that when I was deep in my fanfic phase, alternate realities were my absolute favorite?) As enjoyable as the episode was though, I was starting to feel a little bit disappointed towards the end--just because it seemed to be such a one-off episode, with no payoff to get us to next season and no real wrapping up of this season. Granted this season didn't really have much of an over-arcing story or anything, other than the revolving interns (and we learned last week that Cam is down to three of them and just has to choose one). Still, after last season's rushed finale, I was hoping for something a little more cohesive--right up until the last minute when we realize that Booth may have woken up from his coma (which thankfully we didn't actually have to endure), but it appears it may have come with a case of amnesia. It's something of a cliche season finale cliffhanger I guess, but at the same time it ties together something that has been going on all season and gives us a starting point for next season. Also, we had Zack back. Yay, Zack! So...yeah. I liked it. I wish they would actually have Booth and Bones hook up and not hit a reset button, but they are doing a decent job of not letting the tension between the two of them overwhelm everything else in the series or distract from the stories, so I am prepared to be patient for that to happen.

Next up, Grey's Anatomy. Good golly. Okay, I will admit that in my last post I may have sounded like last week's was the season finale--which is because I am a doof and completely forgot there was still an episode left. I don't even know where to start on this one, there was so much packed into the two hours...but okay, let's see--my favorite moment was when Arizona confronted the Chief--crying in anger all the while. That was adorable. I love her. I am super glad to hear that they are in talks to make her a full cast member next season. There was a lot of relationship going on in this episode (of course). As much as I feel for Bailey, I am glad that they are finally resolving the issues with her marriage, even if it sucks and means she's getting a divorce. I am also glad that she told the Chief that after his ultimatum she was leaving him because if the marriage had gotten to that point it was clearly over. Good woman--he told her to choose him or her career and she chose herself, I approve. Arizona and Cally had a nice little moment as well--we get to learn more about Arizona right along with Cally and we get to see that they are willing to accept their differences of opinions. I loved Sloan getting shot down by Lexie as well--I definitely want them to stay together but it is too soon for them to move in together and it is good for Sloan to realize that just because for the first time in his life he's in a serious relationship that doesn't mean he has to jump into the fast lane straight away. Poor Alex--he got put in a bad situation. It is always good to get to see his more sensitive side, whenever he has to care for a woman in his life that comes out. I just hope he doesn't get completely broken by tonight's events--he's got potential. This character has seen some real and actually believable growth over the course of this series and I think he's still got room to go a long way. Very good to see Owen and Christina trying to move forward together. I think these two can be really good for each other. And last on my list--Meredith and Derrick. Okay, what the heezy? They didn't get married. Writing your "vows" on a post-it note does not equal marriage. I know that they're weird and crazy busy, but dude, take the three hours to go to City Hall and get it over with. I am annoyed because I will not put it past Shonda to just leave it at that for like the next four seasons. Bleah.

But aside from all of that relationship hoopla, we had the two big character arcs--Izzie's brain tumor and George enlisting. I honestly thought that at least one of them would survive and go on to just leave Seattle Grace. While I admit that we obviously don't know for sure that either one of them is dead, it seems pretty clear that they both died at the end, at the very same moment (creepy). While it was definitely a little evil to see Izzie finally get her memory back only to then fall over dead (I was starting to think maybe she would be the off-screen character that was still around, like Tino or Heather Sinclaire--she would be off-screen having all of Alex's babies and not practicing medicine any more), I am still glad that she's gone cuz if the actress wanted out that badly they needed to let her go. And we got some really good material for Alex to build on down the road. But George, man, George. His farewell just sucked. And by that I mean it was completely appropriate for that character's story arc. He decides to enlist, tells like three people, and then the Chief sends him home--only to get hit by a bus saving a stranger and end up back in the hospital and unrecognizable to his friends and colleagues. Said people who then find out (while he's in the room no less) that he signed up, get all indignant and bitch about it (around the poor unidentified and semi-conscious patient), and think of ways to keep him from going, not realizing that all the while he's dying under their very eyes. Poor George. At least they let him go out a hero. I wish that actor all of the best.

So after all of that drama, I needed me some silly and keyed up My Name is Earl in my DVR. I have to say, this show has been so uneven of late, though as I said to my husband the other day, at least Earl isn't in a coma anymore. But with this episode they were finally back on track. Of course it was the last of the season, so no more till fall, sorry. But seriously, we got Earl addressing his list, which has been missing of late. We also got some really interesting info to set up for next season, if there is one, I honestly don't know if this is coming back or not, I keep forgetting to check. On any other show, the end of episode reveal that Earl actually is Dodge's real father while Darnell is not, in fact, Earl Jr.'s father would just be too much, but it is perfect for this series. So all in all I have to say I liked this season ender. Of course now I am once more conflicted about whether or not to get the new season on DVD when it comes out. Sigh.

But yeah, so crazy night. And now I think that only two shows I watch have any episodes left this season--so bring on the summer series! I am so ready for Psych and Burn Notice and The Closer to come back.

Anyhoo, now it is past my bed time, so I am going to skedaddle. I'm planning to take myself to see Angels and Demons tomorrow, so I will probably have my thoughts on that for you this weekend. And if not, I've got this lovely little Star Trek v. Wolverine debate going on on my head I may figure out how to write down one of these days.

Take care y'all. Have a super weekend!

Star Trek...it's awesome!

2009-05-10T11:04:00.002-05:00

Just wanted to pop in really quickly to say that the hubby and I did go see Star Trek last night and it was stupendous!

(Even with the baby doing the Conga in my belly for the last 45 minutes or so...)

I prepared myself yesterday by watching Galaxy Quest and Spaceballs. My theory was this: If I ingested enough cheesy space opera beforehand, I would be prepared to love this movie no matter what direction it took. And it worked!

Though I will say, the movie is not at all cheesy, I swear. It was a lot of fun though. I was laughing my tookus off on several occasions, and I know I probably missed at least half the inside jokes.

Just for those who want a little perspective on this:

I have very little exposure to Star Trek in general other than the pop culture working knowledge of it--so this is a good movie for "non-fans" to dive into the franchise with. And I'll say this, it made me want to go and watch the original series and the other series and movies just to see what all of the fun is about. I think that's pretty good.

My husband, on the other hand, moderately strong Trek fan. He also very much enjoyed it. Every so often he'd lean over and tell me something they had just done or said was a total tribute to the original. I've heard this movie described as a "love letter" to the fans, and he agreed that it was.

Here's the thing that I really respect about this "reboot" (which I honestly have a hard time calling this). Abrams, Kurtzman, and Orci didn't just jump in and say "look, all of that stuff that you know happened, that canon that you acknowledge and love--well, it never happened--what we're showing you is what really happened." That's not how they went. They made changes, but they made them in a way that completely acknowledged that everything we know to have come before did indeed come to pass, it's just that so did this version because somebody got it in his head to go back in time and change the timeline up big time. So some of the characters evolve a bit differently, and the circumstances of how they all end up together aren't exactly how they were. And while an alternate timeline story has huge potential to feel forced and contrived, this one very much isn't. It is extremely well done, and that makes all of the difference.

So if you are at all a fan of scifi and are looking for a truly good film to go see, I would very much recommend this one to all of you out there.

Also, as a side note to my fellow Stargate fans, the wonderful Paul McGillion (who we all know and love as Carson Beckett) makes a brief appearance in the film. You may remember he auditioned for Scotty, but lost the part to Simon Pegg (who I can't begrudge the role because he is freaking amazing). But, the casting group liked Paul so much they found him a different part. It's a nice little Easter Egg.

So, that's all I've got for you guys.

Live long and prosper, y'all.

My week in nerdiness.

2009-05-09T10:24:00.002-05:00

So there was a bit going on this week in the realm of things I could blog about. I thought I'd just give you a little bit of a day by day.

Monday

The week started off with what was actually a pretty slow day. DVD-wise I watched a disc of Friends (I am working my way through the whole series and remembering all over again why I love this show). TV-wise there was no new Chuck or Heroes (and NBC, despite announcing most of their fall schedule that day still refused to tell us if we're going to get more Chuck or not next season). Did watch The Big Bang Theory and How I Met Your Mother, of course, as well as Castle. I am so in love with Nathan Fillion. He is just so good at playing the guy that you know you really shouldn't like but you can't help it. Think about it: Mal was a serious hardass but inspired loyalty from his crew and the audience alike; his character on Drive (no idea what the name was) had some serious issues and a very shady past, but you wanted him to beat the system he got pulled into; Captain Hammer was just a jerk, but still, we kind of wanted to hug him (even if we were rooting for Billy to kick his butt and win the girl); and Castle, well, Castle is an egomaniac and he keeps getting in the way of Detective Beckett, but not an episode goes by that we don't get shown that he truly is a decent human being despite all of that--mostly through the relationship with his daughter and mother.

Anyhoo, other than that, on Monday I made a big dent in my video game (Lego Indiana Jones), and that was about it. I may have read a bit (Winter's Heart, book nine in the Wheel of Time series).

Tuesday

Went to see Wolverine. I've got to say, I actually rather enjoyed it. I'm with the Flick Filosopher on this one--it is just a movie that is pure popcorn. There's no real substance to it, and it doesn't in any way enrich your life, but while you're experiencing it you can't help but enjoy. Yeah, I thought that they did cram as many other mutants as they could in there, making it less of an origin movie for Wolverine alone. But lacking the knowledge of pretty much anyone's actual backstory, I felt like for the most part it made sense to the evil bad guy's plot to have so many mutants running around. I get the impression more people are mad because of the specific mutants that got "shoehorned" in, and the deviances from who should have actually been there and such, so I guess in this case ignorance is bliss. I know that a lot of people have panned this for just being an inexcusably bad movie--but I think those are people who were expecting it to be on a level with the first two X-Men movies, and clearly this wasn't going to be that. I just expected it to be fun and silly with pretty explosions, and you know what, that's exactly what I got. That's all I was asking for, too.

Before I went in to the movie I had lunch and wandered around the mall with the friend I went to see it with, and in Hot Topic found this awesome Star Wars jacket on clearance. It is a black zip up athletics type jacket that says "Star Wars" in white print on the front and has a stormtrooper helmet over crossbones on the back. Pure awesome. I tried to walk away but after the movie I still hadn't forgotten about it so I went back to buy it. I am weak. But dude, coolest jacket ever.

Got home, started playing my game a little bit before Fringe came on and meant to stop in time to watch but got caught up and played until bed time. There's nothing like finding all of the artifact pieces to make a girl feel good about herself. Also, once I figured out the trick to getting all of the artifact pieces in the mine cart level, it was nowhere near as annoying as I thought it would be. I generally tend to dislike the levels that are basically "race" levels in these games, but LIJ actually was much better than Lego Star Wars on this front, overall.

Wednesday

After spending an ungodly amount of time at the car dealership getting my baby all tuned up and respectable again, I came home decided to watch Fringe while I ate lunch (this is actually never a good idea--don't eat while this show is on, you never know when there's going to be an eyeball in an omelet or something, and yet, I can never remember this when I make such decisions). Of course, American Idol ran long so the last two minutes of the episode got cut off of my DVR recording. Thank God for Hulu though. Wow, I am pumped for the season finale! The whole dimension-shifting thing that Olivia has got going on was a really nice little addition to things. Also, bye bye Harris, at last! Then, we get a little suspicion thrown on Peter for disassembling random lab equipment--we all know there's something shady about Peter and are still trying to figure out what--only to find out he was making a nice little toy for his dad to help him concentrate in the lab. Aww. I may be completely crazy (well, on this front at least--we know I am in general), but I kind of wonder if maybe that video Walter has of kid Olivia in the corner of a burned room is the result of the Firestarter twins and not actually her doing...since it doesn't seem like explosions are her thing at the moment. Just a thought. Also, I was super glad that Walter left the complete ZFT manuscript in plain sight when he hared off with the Observer. Here's hoping Olivia finds it in the next episode and can start to forgive him a little bit.

After Fringe I watched another disc of Friends ("We were on a break!") and then the Scrubs season finale. I adored the Scrubs season finale. I blame it on my pregnancy hormones, but I was totally crying during the montage at the end where J.D. was imagining his future (I also must download the Peter Gabriel song they played over the whole thing). I know it isn't, but I really wish this was the series finale. Yeah, they can continue the show without J.D. but who is going to be the voice of the show now? Will we connect with them on the same level? Will it just be a rehash of old plots with the new characters? Is Elliot going to be around, as she was sneak moving in with J.D. during this whole episode? I get the feeling that the new season, unless there is some last minute decision to call the whole thing off, is going to give us a completely different show, if only because of the shift in perspective. And honestly, I think that they finished it well. Of course, if there's still money to be made off of it, what does that matter? Good story over profit? Never! Bleah.

Played my game some more, got all of the free play levels of last movie completed, yay! Stayed up a little bit longer to finish my book. Dude, the cleansing of saidin! Such awesomeness. That's probably my favorite thing that happens in the whole series so far. Watched Ben Harper on Letterman (the drummer is a good friend of my husband's), then bed.

Wednesday was kind of a big day.

Thursday

Did I mention it's College Tournament week on Jeopardy! yet? Well it is. Missed Wednesday's episode due to car maintenance, but have been enjoying it the rest of the week, nonetheless.

I tried to start my next book (Crossroads of Twilight) in the series while running errands--getting my car washed and such--but didn't get very far. Matter of fact, I still have about ten or twelve pages of prologue left on that thing. Gah. Robert Jordan, may he rest in peace, completely abused prologues. The man can spin a yarn, but when the standard chapter in your books is 25-35 pages, a 94 page prologue is TOO LONG. Okay, end rant, sorry.

So. Came home from errands, watched another disc of Friends (starting season four, woohoo!) and painted my nails. Yes, I am a girl. Sometimes I do girly things, nerd or not.

After my nails were relatively dry I turned on my game to finish off the three bonus levels and reach 100% completion. As awesome as it feels to have absolutely finished the game, playing the bonus levels last was definitely a letdown. What I like about this game is that there are objectives, and payoff for these objectives. You make it through the level in story mode, you unlock new characters. You find all of the artifacts in a level, you unlock extras you can use to get more money and find more artifacts (or do silly things like make your characters all wear fake mustaches). But the bonus levels didn't really have any of that. There was nothing to find in the one level that was actually structured like the others, you just have to go from point A to point B, and in the other two you just have to get a certain number of studs to complete. Though at least the Ancient City level had puzzles to solve to get all of the studs. In the Warehouse level you are distracted by all these things to set up a race course (with no payoff for doing so)--and have I mentioned how I feel about race levels?--when all you have to do is get a bazooka and blow up everything that can be blown up and then just aim it at a target for long enough to get all of the required money. Bleah. Sigh. Oh well. It was a lesson, I guess. And, I did accomplish something, game wise. I am not usually someone who does all of the little side quests and buys all of the extras and such. Usually just doing the quests that interest me and finishing the playthrough, beating the big bad, those are enough. But the Lego games are nice because there aren't a zillion little side quests. There's like three or four different goals to aim at aside from just playing through. First you play through in story mode, then you go back and play through in free play (where you can switch between characters and access things unavailable in story mode) to finish everything off. Plus you get that little meter that tells you your completion percentage. It's a challenge not to try to hit 100%.

Anyway, so I finished my game and then it was time for dinner and Thursday night television. Bones was awesome. I have been worried since it was announced on Ausiello that there would be a guest appearance by Stewie Griffin (yes, that's right, the cartoon baby from The Family Guy), but I actually feel like they handled the whole thing really well. Plus, it led us to find out something was wrong with Booth that they had actually been building up to all season. Though from the previews from next week it doesn't seem that there are any consequences from his brain surgery. Of course, it's just a preview. Those rarely give you all the info you need for a show as rich in character and story as Bones. Hopefully they don't just brush his brain tumor aside. It seems silly otherwise to have spent a season leading up to it and then just say, oh, yeah, brain tumor. Well let's operate in this episode and then by next week everything is back to status quo. Plus, Bones with baby fever, and just assuming Booth would hand over his swimmers was pretty priceless. And have they picked an intern? It's clear they're down to three, and I enjoy all three choices, so I look forward to seeing who wins the season long competition. Of course, next week Zack is back, so who knows?

Then there was the Grey's Anatomy season finale. I absolutely love how that show can take such a horrible accident like a semi crashing into an SUV full of college kids on their graduation day and, even though it's just the thing going on in the background of all of these crazy doctors' drama, they don't diminish that it is a horrible event and it needs to be dealt with. Also, I totally was not surprised that it was Alex and Izzie who ended up at the altar rather than Mer-Der. I mean come on, who really didn't see that coming? But it was well done. Now they can kill her off and make Alex a much deeper character. I mean...um...yeah. Though I thought the George going off to join the army was supposed to happen this season, I guess they are wrangling him into at least a few more episodes. Sigh. I hate that he has to go, but I totally understand the actor's motivation--they completely under utilize him.

After Grey's I watched My Name is Earl (I will hold off on The Office until I can watch it with my hubby this weekend, as per usual). I have enjoyed this show, but I think it may be time for it to take its final bow. This whole two-parter mystery about the disappearance of a character we have never met until now was really just not all that entertaining. It certainly wasn't enough to warrant a two-episode story arc. And while when they do the "COPS" episodes they can be a nice little showcase of how things used to be in Camden pre-list, this "Inside Probe" thing was just lame. Bleah. No more. They seem less and less to be focusing on Earl's list, and to me that means that maybe it is time for the show to be done.

After Earl I needed to do something fun and silly, so I started up a new video game. The first Lego Star Wars game (episodes 1-3). I finished this one in story mode way back in the day but never went back in free play, so now that I have completed Indiana Jones, I wanted to give this one another go. So I played through the first two levels in story mode, trying to get used to the controller (went from Wii to Playstation 2), and learning just the basic differences in game play between the first Lego game and the most recent (there are quite a few, it turns out--each game seems to have its own little unique pieces, not counting that they take place in different universes).

Friday

I kept forgetting yesterday was Friday for some reason. After doing my usual Friday errands though I sat down with some lunch and another disc of Friends. Then I popped in my video game and finished playing through Episode 1 in story mode. I was quite rudely reminded of how much I frickin' hate pod racing. Remember when I said I don't like the race levels? Yeah, this level I played yesterday is the underlying reason for that. There's one other level in the game (I want to say in Episode 2) that is just as bad. But at least I found all of the mini-kits in that level the first time through. I may wait to do that one in story mode until I can buy a stud multiplyer so I can hit the full stud amount for that level right away and not have to stress over it. Just saying.

After that I was feeling kind of aimless. I had about two hours until Dollhouse but didn't really have anything I felt like doing until then. So I ended up popping in yet another disc of Friends (and now we've met Emily and set the state for the Chandler/Monica hook up, huzzah!) and then since that overlapped Dollhouse, I waited to watch that until after it was done.

So, Dollhouse season finale. Wow. Holy awesome show, batman! I seriously hope that we get a second season of this. I want to know what happens next! Does Ballard become Echo's new handler? Or maybe replace Victor? What are they going to do with Victor now that he's a "broken" doll like Whiskey was? I hope they keep that actor around, he's kind of awesome. Also, plus, dude, Dr. Saunders was a doll?!? That's pretty sweet in the evil and awesome kind of way. And why did Topher program her to hate him? What's up there? She may not want to know who she is, but now I really do. Alpha can still be the big bad, only this time he doesn't want Echo to rule by his side, he's going to want revenge on her. I like that her composite event made her go a completely different direction than his did. I think maybe it confirms Ballard's belief that you really can't completely overwrite someone's soul. But yeah, so, totally dug it. Please Fox, please, just this once, don't be evil, kay? Give us a season two. We promise we'll watch!

After that, I read for a bit and then went to bed. Still in the prologue that never ends, sigh.

And that was my week. Right about now my husband is reading this and thinking maybe I need to go back to work after all...

It's not like I don't do other stuff, like clean the house, in between all of this. But really, no one here wants to hear me bitch about cleaning the floors. So...yeah.

My hubby and I are tentatively planning to go see Star Trek tonight--I am kind of excited for that. May is seriously the month of a zillion movies.

Anyhoo, I hope you all have a wonderful weekend and a super week. Happy Mother's Day to all of you moms out there! Take care.

Dollhouse had better get a second season...

2009-05-01T21:45:00.003-05:00

Wow. Just finished watching tonight's episode, and wow.

~~~SPOILERS ABOUND!~~~

Okay, first off, Alan Tudyk, yay!

Second, Jane Espenson wrote the episode, love her.

Third, Ballard made it into the Dollhouse at last.

Fourth, Topher totally got what was coming to him, even the tree-hugger thought so.

Last but not least we have Echo's forbidden memories coming up with the most interesting timing, hindering Ballard's attempt to rescue her and reaffirming her bond with Boyd.

And Victor wins for best line of the episode. "People were fighting on me." (That may not be the exact phrase, but the line and the delivery were just perfect.) Topher's usage of "frak" was also pretty nifty, but since the writer of this episode was one of the executive producers and writers on Battlestar it's more of a nice in-joke than an awesome tribute.

I have to say, I was getting pretty annoyed about what I perceived to be the glaring plot hole of the episode--that Alpha would be living under an identity that he had previously used and that Ballard could track him down like that. Why the heck wouldn't the Dollhouse have been able to find him if that was the case? I was especially surprised with such a misstep since this was penned by my favorite TV scribe. But as soon as Sierra in her FBI Forensics Expert guise (which was beautiful, almost Bones-esque) called DeWitt with the identity of the slashed up body in Tuscon, and it became clear that Alpha had been pulling the strings all along--good gravy.

This was just an incredible episode, and the previews for next week's finale just about made my poor little head explode. Can. Not. Wait.

Sigh, I really really hope this gets a second season, oh man I do. I know it's not a shoe-in to get canceled, but it's definitely not a shoe-in to get renewed. Gah...up fronts will not proceed quickly enough for me.

Interestingly enough, a writer over at Not a Planet Anymore (a really cool blog I recently discovered thanks to Whedonesque) has been looking at the future of Dollhouse in comparison with and as a result of Buffy. You can read the whole series here (it is several well written posts long), but in the concluding post I think the author totally nails the problem with Dollhouse right on the head. The thing that makes Dollhouse (and all of Whedon's shows) so awesome is the thing that is going to kill it. You have to actually watch the show to understand, and therefore enjoy, the show. There is no coming in at the middle of the episode or missing an episode or three then picking back up later without complete confusion. Forget trying to start watching halfway through the season or jumping on the bandwagon after a few seasons (unless you're willing to catch up on Hulu first or have a friend who is willing to give you a very thorough debriefing).

I don't believe that the television audience reviles this type of story-telling--I for one relish it and this is exactly the kind of television show I love to watch. I think the reason that shows like this aren't successful though is because television networks have no patience for this type of story-telling. It doesn't fit into their archaic ratings scheme and it doesn't let them play around with scheduling whenever they feel like it. Also, the simple truth is that with the rise of popularity for "reality" shows (the bane of my television watching existence), network executives simply don't believe that an audience is willing to actually invest in a series. So when a network does take a chance on a show like this, it rarely ends up lasting past the first season (if it survives that first season at all) because the network doesn't know what to do with it, and isn't willing to let it build an audience who will be rewarded with story payoff and in return reward the network with consistent viewership. Let's face it, these days, simply consistent viewership isn't what the networks are looking for anyway. And that is truly a shame.

So while my fingers are crossed, when it comes to Dollhouse, it is definitely a "hope for the best, expect the worst" kind of situation. But man, I am hoping hard.

Another One Bites the Dust...

2009-04-26T11:20:00.003-05:00

Man, can you feel it? It's getting closer--it's almost that magical time of year when we Whedonites across the globe like to gather in order to celebrate our leader and to help raise money for a good cause to boot.

I am of course talking about Can't Stop the Serenity, a global series of screenings of the wondrous movie Serenity on or around Joss Whedon's birthday in order to celebrate the man and support his favorite charity Equality Now.

If you're a fan of the shortlived but absolutely incredible series Firefly, you should totally head to the CSTS site and find out if your city or one nearby has signed up for a screening this year. Usually screenings will occur the last week and a half or so in June, but apparently they can run all the way through August, so check it out. This is a truly fun event for a truly worthy cause, and a great excuse to get together with other fans and just enjoy each other's company. My husband and I have gone the last two years and have really enjoyed the experience each time.

Alas, if the Dallas event this year happens in the normal timeframe, my silly husband is going to be out of the country at the time. He's going on tour with his band or some such thing like that. But I digress. While generally I am fine going to the movies by myself, this is really more of an event, and it's usually all the way out in Arlington or Dallas, where I do not generally go alone (especially not when I will be 7 months preggers). So I have been working on finding friends to accompany me for this year's event, and in the progress, I managed to add another convert to the way of Firefly.

A friend of mine who is a fan of Buffy and Angel but who has never really had the chance to see Firefly or Serenity seemed like she might enjoy the event and was amenable when I asked her about it. Since I didn't want her to go in blind, however, I was going to just loan her the DVD set of the series. Due to some other plans falling through last night, we ended up hanging out at my house instead of going out and we went ahead and popped in the first disc of the series. And now she's hooked. I have been informed that she's been plugging away at the rest of the series since early this morning. I am so proud.

So yes, Firefly, it is awesome. Share it with your friends and loved ones and improve their general quality of life.

The only downside is that now I want to watch the rest of the series again too, and she's got my DVDs. Hmm. Oh well, she's going through them pretty quickly.

I hope you all have a great week. I am off to settle down with Lost in Austen, so that should prove pretty exciting in its own right.

Laters y'all!

Television doldrums...

2009-04-24T14:54:00.003-05:00

So, I know I have kind of vanished lately but it's because I haven't been watching that much teleivision--at least, not anything I've been paying attention to. I have been deep deep in the world of Wheel of Time (rest in peace, Robert Jordan). I just started book nine (out of eleven published so far) yesterday. I've been pretty wrapped up in that and so haven't been doing too much with the DVDs during the day--though my cat seems to have taken exception to this:

I did manage to watch season seven of Degrassi the Next Generation this week though. This was the first season that I didn't watch at all on television (I got through half of season six when it aired on The N but then got fed up with their scheduling issues and lost track), so it was a completely new experience for me. That was kind of fun. I spent a couple of my morning walks with my husband catching him up on all of the stuff that went down this season (he has never really watched the show but is amused by my enjoyment of it and is so peripherally aware of what goes on with it). I honestly have no idea why I still watch this show, it's gotten so far from where it started. It's not the same as Smallville, in that it is still very much enjoyable, but it is definitely in my eyes a completely different show than it was. Still, I'll keep getting the DVDs as long as it keeps going. When my daughter gets old enough, I'll let her watch these for sure, but with the caveat that while this is one of the more "real" shows out there as far as teen life goes, it still doesn't necessarily illustrate good judgement on the part of, well, any of the characters, and she should understand that most of these kids are idiots purely to up the drama factor.

Anyhoo.

Wow, I only have one set of DVDs left in my "pile" for the firs time in over two years. I am not quite sure what to make of that.

I was super excited to find out that Lost in Austen, the British series that I could never find on cable in the US (though apparently there was a channel that aired it, just not one I was aware of) was coming out on DVD this month, and at a steal for only $15 from Amazon (it clocks in at a total of three hours for the season, apparently). So that is what I will watch this week. I really can't wait.

After that, I think I am going to watch all of the Harry Potter movies again--though I might wait until July for that marathon, and then I need to decide which of my existing series I want start a rewatch of. I am leaning toward Stargate, but that is the last series I tried a rewatch of and I only got through season five before I ended up with the beginning of my original DVD pile up that I am just now finishing...also, there are quite a few series coming out in June and July that I'll be getting, so I don't want to start a ten season series rewatch if I am only going to get halfway through it before I need to set it aside again. Hmm...this will take some thought. Also, I am kind of thinking my rewatch will be accompanied with a blog-along review. It had occurred to me watching something recently that I need to do some liveblogging, and this might be better than for new content...so we'll see.

I must say though, finishing up my DVD pile gives me hope for my reading pile...oy vey, is that massive....

I think that's all I've got for now. I hope this finds you all well!

Have a super weekend, don't forget to watch Dollhouse tonight!

Bummer, dude.

2009-04-14T19:18:00.002-05:00

Sigh, Ausiello is saying he's hearing rumors from people who would actually know that The Sarah Connor Chronicles has actually been cancelled.

Of course Fox's official stance (as with Dollhouse) is that no decision has been made or will be made until the network's upfronts in May. This is patented ridiculous, of course. At this point they are a month out from said upfronts and you know that at this point they are preparing their presentations and so therefore by now know exactly which shows are gone from next season's schedule. Sigh. Like it's going to cause any less of an internet uprising to wait until upfronts to officially confirm/announce a series cancellation.

Oh well, just another piece of evidence for the "Fox is EVIL" file.

But back to Sarah Connor...

Except for the weird pervy teenage robot sado-masochism scene, I really totally dug the episode. I loved the ending, and I feel like it set us up for a really potentially awesome third season--where we have one foot in the post-apocalyptic future with John and one in the present with Sarah and Ellison.

One thing I keep hearing though is the speculation that by John leap-frogging into the future where he is unknown he has somehow created some alternate timeline where he was never the leader of the human resistance since he wasn't around for the apocalypse. Funny thing is, that is so totally not how I read it at all. I totally felt like his jumping into the future was in fact the event that actually enabled him to become a leader of the resistance. He jumps forward with all of the knowledge and skills he needs to lead the human rebels and only lacks his army--but he jumps right into the middle of one of the scattered groups of humans--perfectly placed to start gathering them up in a much more strategic manner and making them an actual army.

Of course, it's totally academic whether his time jump was a predetermined part of his destiny or whether he has totally changed up history by skipping ahead. But still. I feel like it looked too close to the glimpses of the future that Derek and Jesse had already given us--a future in which we never actually see John Connor, and so have no idea of his true age. I feel like if his jump forward had been a big change, the humans would be in a condition much more dire than where they were under the leadership of John Connor--if that makes any sense at all.

Another thing I have seen some debate about is whether the appearance of Summer Glau at the end of the episode was as Cameron the terminator or as Allison from Palmdale--the human resistance fighter that Cameron was based on. To which I say--check out the dog, yo. It has been clearly established in Terminator canon that dogs do not like metal--and they made a point to show her being all warm and cuddly with the dog escorting the band. It was Allison, I don't even feel like that was intended to be up for debate. (Also, I feel like this is support for my theory that John was supposed to have jumped forward, because this suggests he's jumped forward some time before ever starting to send people back in time. Though, of course, in the way of the wonderful circular logic of time-travel debate, I can see where this would also support the alternate timeline theory--since if John Connor never existed there would be no reason for the metal to kidnap his trusted friend Allison in the first place...and on and on...)

And now I guess it looks like we'll never know--though it gives the forums plenty to debate about for years to come.

So yeah. Just wanted to weigh in, I guess.

Fingers crossed that American Idol doesn't bleed into Fringe again tonight.

Have a great one!

Fox, you are bleh.

2009-04-12T10:37:00.002-05:00

You know that there's someone, somewhere, at Fox going, "gee, I don't get why the ratings for our shows seem to be so inconsistent all of the time." Man, I can tell them how to fix that issue right now.

Stop jacking with the flipping schedule!

This past week I have been thinking about the love/hate relationship I (and I would have to assume a good chunk of the other viewers) have with this particular network.

Part of it was my rant about the whole Bones second season episode that got wedged into the third season without any effort at continuity.

Part of it was what happened Tuesday night when viewers across America tuned in at 8 p.m. (central time) to finally, finally, get a new episode of Fringe and were subjected to ten minutes of overflow of American Idol before the scheduled program aired. I have never hidden my irritation or general disgust with this show, and while I acknowledge there are apparently plenty of people out there who watch it, it's just not cool to let it bleed into another show's timeslot without any sort of prior announcement--especially when the two shows have such completely disparate audiences. I am just lucky that I was planning to watch Fringe live--I can tell you right now my DVR didn't catch the last ten minutes of the episode, so I can only imagine the anger of anyone else who had set up theirs to record in advance and then planned to watch later, only to have to fast forward through a bunch of AI crap and then have the episode cut off before the ending.

And then there was the whole bruhaha with the Dollhouse season finale episode "Epitaph One" that came out this week. The long and short of it is this--Fox paid for 13 episodes. Because Joss scrapped the first filmed pilot episode to make a new one (using lots of footage from the first pilot), Fox Network feels like they are not obligated to air this final episode because it is technically the 14th episode made. So, they paid for 13 but are only going to air 12 because 14 were made. There's still a lot of debate going on as to whether or not "Epitaph One" will be on the season one DVDs, because Fox Studios want a 13 episode DVD set, and the first pilot, to them, doesn't count--since it didn't air and it is a lot of the same footage from the pilot that did air. So, we may get the unaired episode on the DVD set, we may not, but we are definitely not going to be seeing it on our television screens this season. No one that I have seen has brought up the possibility of just airing it as the season two opener (especially since supposedly it is mostly a standalone episode, the preceeding episode "Omega" wrapping up a lot of the season one storylines). This is because no one knows if there will be a season two or not--Fox at this point is flat out refusing to tell anyone until the upfronts at May.

The thing is, all of the stuff listed above is perfectly typical of Fox, and that is so maddening for me.

On one hand, Fox continually takes chances on cool new shows that no other network would even let see the light of television--Firefly, Kitchen Confidential, Greg the Bunny, Tru Calling, Dollhouse, just to name a few that I have enjoyed. Then, Fox turns around and totally kills the shows by constantly moving them around on the schedule, putting ridiculous (usually reality show induced) hiatuses in between new episodes, airing episodes out of order, failing to actually market/advertise shows that might need some attention drawn to them in order to gain/maintain an audience, etc.

This is no way to run a business. As far as I can see, Fox invests all of this money in these potentially awesome "high risk" shows in hopes that some of them will smash through and be a huge hit, and then doesn't know what to do with the shows once it has them, essentially just throwing all of that money down the toilet. Yes, all of this does go on at other networks on some level or another, but at Fox it seems to be the rule rather than the exception, and that is where my problem lies.

Someone may point out that Fox can't be all in the wrong here, because, hey, Bones has had almost all of those things done to it and it is currently enjoying its fourth season. Frankly, I am completely baffled that this show is still on the air. Don't get me wrong, it's one of my favorite shows--maybe my actual favorite--currently on the air, and I cross my fingers every spring that it gets the green light for a new season, but I have no idea how it keeps happening. This show has not only started on a different night almost every season, but in every season it gets moved to a new night halfway through each season, and still gets put on continual breaks due to American Idol and Major League Basesball.

I can't even argue that it's the high quality of the program, because honestly, some of the stuff that gets canned is just as good and some of the stuff that's been on as long or longer is absolute crap, so quality is not something to go by. And to tell you the truth, in this day and age, I don't believe in ratings--because I think the networks only use them as an excuse nowadays to get rid of shows they don't feel like dealing with anymore or to justify holding on to shows that really need to be wrapped up because they've gone on way too long. I can only guess that someone very high up at Fox completely adores this show and until they get replaced or decide they don't like it any more, we will continue to enjoy new seasons, if we can figure out when it's on.

I realize that television production and programming planning today are done in a vastly different environment than even, say, ten years ago. A lot of expectations have changed--for networks, advertisers, and viewers alike. But I don't think that justifies what Fox is doing. Because what Fox is doing, in the long run, is completely disregarding the value of viewer loyalty--to the point where they don't even try to develop or encourage it any more.

Let's say that you start the season out by airing your show on Tuesdays. Then about halfway through the season you decide to move it to Thursday nights--and at a different timeslot to boot. There may be many reasons in your mind to do this (you want to pair it with a more complimentary show, you have something else you think would do better on Tuesdays, the ratings aren't what you expect for that day/time so you decide to give it a try in another spot, etc.). So, you decide to move it--but you make the decision to move it after, say, the winter holiday hiatus. So there's a two month period in between when it stops airing on Tuesdays and when it starts airing on Thursdays. Here's what's going to happen: some people who couldn't watch it live or at all on Tuesdays may be able to start watching it live on Thursdays (yay!). But, most people trying to make up their mind about the show will just not bother to follow when it makes the move, people who watched on Tuesdays but have another show they watch in the new Thursday timeslot will have to decide between the two shows--some are going to keep up with your show, more will decide to keep watching their other show live and DVR your show to watch later, and some will decide that they don't care enough about your show enough to follow it to the new slot and stop watching altogether, and finally, quite a few people will totally miss the memo and just not watch the rest of the season because they think the show disappeared.

So while the experiment may give you a small ratings boost from new viewers who couldn't watch it (or at least couldn't watch it live) on the old night, there is far more likely to be a larger loss of viewers (or at least live viewers) who are inconvenienced by the move. And let's be frank, for any kind of serial show, it's not too reasonable to expect a lot of brand new viewers halfway through the season--people generally don't like going "what the heck is going on" the whole time they are watching something. Yeah it happens, but not as often as the networks seem to expect it to.

Far better to leave the show on the same night for the rest of the season and then if you still have enough faith to renew it for a new season, move it then, when everyone else is rearranging schedules as well. If you must move it, at least keep it on the same night and switch the timeslot. It's a lot easier for your average viewer or DVR-er to find a show that's on at a different time than a show that's on at a different time and/or on a different night.

In my mind it just seems that keeping a show consistent makes it a lot easier for the viewers to find and to continue watching--even if their hearts aren't in it any more, they'll still watch out of habit, and usually at some point they'll decide it's gotten good again and so keep on watching. Heck, I continued to watch Smallville to halfway through the current season despite the pure crap it has become--just out of habit. I mean, look at Friends--on almost every Thursday night for ten years--and people kept watching through good times and bad. Or hey, let's look at an example on Fox itself. The Simpsons. Need I say more? Okay, well, you know I will--The Simpsons has been on the air for 20 seasons. 20. And to my knowledge it has been aired on Sunday nights the whole dang time. This started out as a highly controversial show (and sometimes it still is)--but Fox supported it and nurtured its audience and didn't jerk them around--and so while the people who started watching 20 years ago may not still be tuning in, their kids sure are. Never underestimate the value of a loyal fanbase that has been developed by the network proving the show is worth the loyalty. If the network treats the show like it's just one of the bazillion on the schedule, or like it doesn't really matter next to their brand new reality show, then the audience is going to think the show isn't worth following and will tune out. Guaranteed.

Okay, one last point, and then I'll stop, I swear. Aside from the moving the shows around for days and times--there's the preempting the shows for weeks and months at a time for other shows and events. I'm not talking about the Olympics or the Oscars here--something that happens one night a year or for a set period of time every few years. Allowances can be made for that stuff. What I'm talking about is American Idol and baseball season. Fox has a tendency to just stop airing their serial shows for weeks at a time so they can air American Idol every night or so they can run baseball games. The problem is that a serial show is usually a show with a building story. The show runners themselves work hard to make sure that one episode tends to flow into the next and tell us an immersvie story that we want to find out the ending to--and then the network goes and puts huge breaks in the middle of the story. Then they get surprised when the ratings tend to drop off as the show returns--you wait long enough and people a) lose interest in finding out what's going to happen next and so don't tune in, or b) forget what was going on and are completely confused when the show comes back and so stop tuning in because it's not worth trying to figure out anymore. It's not like Fox is giving us reruns to keep what's going on fresh in viewer minds during these breaks. Add to that moving it to a new timeslot after the break and well...the word "watershed" comes to mind.

I do understand that some breaks are necessary--the holiday break, the summer break, etc. But the problem here is that Fox has a tendency worse than any other network to break for things that they can and should be planning around. Baseball season (and I love baseball people, don't get me wrong--I just would rather watch the next episode of Bones) happens the same time every year. It shouldn't be that hard to plan a show's run so that it finshes up beforehand or starts afterwards (hey, new content when everyone else is in the summer doldrums--there's a thought). And American Idol--gah. Fox has complete control over when American Idol airs. Just figure out a schedule for that show and plan your other shows accordingly. Say that American Idol season will run from point A to point B and again, plan your shows to finish up beforehand or start afterwards, don't just throw a reality show in the middle of the season. You notice that Fox isn't breaking up the episodes of the reality shows but running then all in a nice steady block...hmmm....

With all of this going on, Fox still gets surprised at the crappy ratings and shows that don't do well in their freshmen seasons, and it just kills me. There is no element of surprise here--if people can't figure out when a show is on, or if you keep moving it around on the schedule, they're just going to DVR it, watch it online, or stop watching completely. If you keep interrupting the flow of the story, people are going to lose interest or get confused, and again, stop watching. It's that simple.

So here's my finishing thought, a message of advice for Fox:

If you're going to gamble on a new "risky" show, give it chance. Be nice to your viewers and you might find they can be nice you to. Stop screwing around with our timeslots and constantly interrupting our stories, and we probably will keep on watching and maybe even tell our friends to watch too.

Don't be evil Fox. That would solve a lot of your problems.

And with that, I say good day.

Happy Easter y'all. Hope it's a great one.

Okay, I have a bone to pick.

2009-04-05T12:28:00.003-05:00

Today's post is about the series Bones. See what I did with the title there? Nice play on words, eh? Um...okay, I will stop patting myself on the back now.

Wow, so yesterday I was a completely unproductive bum and spent almost the entire day watching my season three Bones dvds. All I have left is the last disc which is actually the first three episodes of season four (more on that in a bit).

So up front, let me say, season three was actually a pretty awesome season, despite the fact that the major story arc got wrapped up so hurriedly due to the strike shortened season. As disturbing as the whole cannibalistic serial killer Gormogon arc was, it was also really interesting. I loved that they started off the season with this case and ended that first episode by acknowledging how big the case actually was. The show runners right there were promising us viewers that they were going to actually give us a story with some meat on it, in addition to the usual fare of cases that could still be resolved in a single 42 minute episode.

A lot of stuff gets introduced very casually in the first episode that has repercussions throughout the entire season. Zack returns from Iraq and even though he seems mostly like his normal self and ready to just jump back into his old life, it is clear that he is starting to reevaluate some of his choices in life thus far, as well as how and where he fits into the world in general, not just the lab. Brennan and Booth are starting to examine their relationship not just as partners but as what they mean to each other outside of work. Part of that, but also separate I believe, is the fact that Brennan's father is in jail facing trial for murder (arrested by Booth) and her brother is in hiding because he skipped parole and is believed to be a material witness to said murder. Brennan has to work through her feelings towards her family knowing that despite what criminal acts they may or may not have committed, they are still her family, back more or less "together" for the first time in sixteen years. Hodgins and Angela are dealing with Angela's past and the sudden discovery of her husband--not only do they need to find him so that they can move on with their future together, they need to now address how well they know each other and what their expectations of that future actually are, and do they mesh? Also, you know, Gormogon. Like I said, a lot of stuff.

Despite the shortened season, the show runners manage to mostly resolve all of those story lines except for the Hodgins/Angela story--and even in that case they found Angela's husband, they just have to figure out how to proceed after learning that the husband does not want a divorce. That's pretty darn impressive for fourteen episodes. In addition, we get two recurring cast members introduced this season who I just adore. First there's Dr. Sweets, the ridiculously young and enthusiastic shrink assigned to Brennan and Booth, who ends up not just serving as their therapist but also becoming part of the team by helping to profile the various murderers they are trying to catch. I love John Francis Daley, especially in this role, and I was super happy when they made his character a full cast member in season four. He just adds to the playful spirit of this show in a truly wonderful way. The second recurring character is Dr. Clark Edison (played by Eugene Byrd). He is introduced as a potential replacement for Zack while Zack is still in Iraq, and returns again to help Brennan as the forensic anthropologist for the defense when Brennan's father is on trial. I like him because he doesn't fit in but he totally should, if that makes sense. Hodgins is bang on when he says to Brennan in episode one that Zack is irreplaceable (which I love that they have emphasized in season four by the revolving door of interns)--but if Zack had never been, Clark would have been the perfect addition to the lab. While Dr. Sweets adds to the playfulness of the show, Dr. Edison's lack thereof (and baffelment by the disregard for professionalism he perceives in the lab) is a wonderful foil to the playfulness. There is probably a better way to explain what I mean here, but it is totally eluding me. If you watch the show, I am sure you know what I mean though.

So, overall, season three--rocked.

But why then, you may be asking (or maybe not, you've probably wondered off in search of coffee by now), does the post title indicate displeasure? Ahh, and now we've gotten to the meat of the thing, haven't we? Why yes, yes we have. My issue is not with the show (almost never with the show, I love this show)--but with the DVD set itself. And some of this stems back to the season two DVD release, actually, but I'll get to that.

Issue the first: What's with the crazy late release date, Fox? Season four of Bones started airing first thing in September of '08, but the DVDs for season three (the very shortened season three), weren't released until the end of November of that year. Most companies plan their season DVD releases to correspond with or preceed the starting of the next season, so watchers can get caught up and get excited about the new season. It's not like the networks are airing reruns throughout the summer any more. As mentioned above, a lot of stuff happens in season three, and the season three finale is terribly emotional and crazy--it would have been nice to get to review that before jumping into the new season. Also, because they delayed the release so far, someone thought, well, we'll make it better by including some of season four's episodes too. Yeah...that was...weird. Why are there episodes from season four on the season three DVD release?

Intellectually, I get what happened, I do. Because the season was shorter than normal, only fourteen eposides (more on that in a bit) as opposed to the regular 20-24 due to the strike, the people putting together the DVD sets were somehow worried that purchasers would feel cheated. Well yeah, if you had released a set with fewer episodes and charged the same as a full season, sure. So instead of selling us the season that we got (like everyone else who had shortened seasons did last year) for a slightly smaller price, in a timely manner, they instead held out until well into the next season and included what would be the first disc of the season four DVD set so that they could still charge full price (hey, well, I guess that works out for Fox, at least). Bah. Of course, you know they will conveniently forget this and include that same exact disc in the season four DVD release and charge full price for this season as well. So those of us who buy each season get to pay twice for the same three episodes. Oh, lucky us. Bah. I maintain we would have all been happier had Fox just released the season as it was and knocked a few bucks off of the price.

Issue the second: The phantom episode. I will freely admit I have been on a slow burn about this ever since the season two DVDs came out. You may have noticed I keep saying that there were only fourteen episodes in season three, yet the DVD release (and IMDB) has fifteen season three episodes. Here is what happened.

In season two the episode "Player Under Pressure" was filmed and scheduled to air sometime in the spring of that season. The main plot of the episode centered on the murder of a college basketball star on his campus, possibly by another student. There was also a minor little B-plot revolving around Hodgins and Angela shortly after they had started dating but before it was widely known by the rest of the lab or really a public/serious relationship. Then, in the real world, the tragic shooting at Virginia Tech occurred and Fox decided to yank this episode. (I will note that I am still unclear if the original story was closer to the VT incident and was retooled before airing). The decision not to air an episode dealing with a college-related murder so close to the Virginia Tech shootings totally makes sense. I am not at all objecting to that, let me be clear.

Because this was pretty much a stand-alone episode, with no real development of season's two running story arc, it made sense that this episode just ended up not getting aired, especially since its originally intended air date was so close to the end of the season as it was. What doesn't make sense, however, is not including the episode in the season two DVD release. General public impression at the time was that the episode would indeed be included in the DVD release. You've got to admit, an unaired episode is a nice little incentive for fans to buy the DVDs. And yet, for some reason, it wasn't included, which sucked and was annoying. But okay, whatever.

It is possible that the decision had already been made to air the episode as part of season three. Which is, indeed, what happened. "Player Under Pressure" was aired as episode eleven of season three. I get that with the strike-shortened season it made complete sense to go ahead and air an already completed episode that had never been shown before--free new content, yay! What makes no sense whatsoever is that the fact that they didn't include the episode in the season two DVDs indicates that it had already been decided to include it in season three way before the strike happened. So why the heck did they not film some new material to update the continuity of the episode for when it did end up being aired? Plenty of time was had by all to fix this--but as the episode aired, all of the non-case elements made no sense whatsoever. Booth reveals to Brennan that he was a jock in high school/college and she gives him a hard time about it--even though there is an earlier season three episode resolving Booth's jockiness with Brennan's braininess (wherein Brainy Smurf played a large role). Also, the Angela/Hodgins story would have taken very little editing to bring up-to-date with their current circumstances at the point the episode was aired. Also, by the point in the season this episode aired, Zack had already gone over to the dark side, and when watching the DVDs already knowing about that, it is pretty clear that he's different in all of the episodes except this one (which was filmed before Zack ever went to Iraq and started down the path that made him join forces with a serial killer). It's jarring to see him his old sweet self without the apartness that he has started to develop by that point in the series.

I just feel like wedging this episode in where they did without updating it throws a big kink in the overall flow of the story, and it annoys the crap out of me. They should have included it in the season two DVDs and then aired it during the strike as a way to fill space but it should not have been part of the season three DVD set.

So overall--season three was awesome, but the people over at Fox Video who put together this DVD set need to seriously lay off the crack pipe. It's all I'm saying.

And with that, I bid you adieu. Ciao!

Huh. I guess there was life on Mars after all...

2009-04-01T22:45:00.003-05:00

Well, I must say, I was pleasantly surprised by the (American) Life on Mars series finale. When they said they were going with something completely different, they totally weren't kidding, but they still made it work.

I have to say, looking back overall I really did end up enjoying this version of the series. While it still can't hold a candle to the original, it was a fun trip that I am glad I got to take. Though I am glad it only got one season, and a shortened one at that. While seeing how they had planned to end the series does make me think in hindsight that maybe they might have been able to sustain it over several seasons--I still think this story idea is one that works best in the short term. Then again, most of this show's more entertaining moments/episodes were those that weren't trying to steal from the British series, the good stuff was when they went their own way. Maybe passing the original number of episodes/plotlines to steal would have demanded more creativity on the part of The Powers That Be and we would have gotten a really cool sustained series. Oh well, guess we'll never know now, huh?

*Spoiler Alert*

Below the awesome bird picture (done by my lovely sister) there be spoilers for both the British and American finales.

So let's just compare real quick how the two series endings differed, for the heck of it.

British version: Turns out Sam was in 1973 as the result of a coma caused by the whole being hit by a car thing. He wakes up from the coma to find himself back in 2003 and realizes that real or not he belongs in the "dream" world of 1973 that he had been living in. He also realizes he left all of his friends back there to die and tries to figure out a way to get back to them and save them. In the end, Sam jumps off of a building, committing suicide in the present--to go on to what we can only assume is some sort of "afterlife" in 1973, returning in time to save the day. He lives happily ever after.

American version: Just as Sam finally resolves his daddy issues and realizes he loves Annie and doesn't want to leave 1973, he wakes up in 2035. Turns out he is actually an astronaut (yay, Spaceman!), part of the first crew to actually go to Mars. The crew spent two years in a VR stasis type situation. Sam had set his simulation to play out that he was a cop in 2008 but a glitch that occurred in the system after the shuttle flew through a meteor shower changed his VR to 1973 but left his 2008 memories intact in error. In a very "Wizard of Oz" moment, all of the people from the 125--Annie, Chris, Ray, and Hunt--are his other crew members. Also, turns out that Hunt is actually his dad. The show ends with Sam realizing that maybe he has a future with Annie--Colonel Norris in "real" life--and with the crew stepping foot on the red planet.

Completely different. Also, I am pretty sure my description is not doing it justice--but it was actually very decently executed. As I said, quite pleasantly surprised.

As this did end up just being the one season, I very seriously might try to sweet talk my hubby into getting it for me on DVD when it comes out. It wasn't nearly the disaster I was afraid it would be this time last year. And the soundtrack--A1 stuff man.

In other slightly related news--I have given up on Ashes to Ashes (the sequel series to the British version of the show). While it is expected to be somewhat derivative, it just seems to me to be more of a pale copy of the original rather than trying to do something new and unique or to further the universe of the first series. Detective Drake has just as many mommy/daddy issues as Sam did, and she is more annoying because she thinks she knows what is going on and, IMO, is not handling it very well--at least not in a way that is entertaining to me as a viewer. I mostly just want to smack the bejeezus out of her. Also, they seem to be trying to make her hook up with Hunt, and that just...no. No. Nope, can't go there, I just can't.

Rather unexpectedly, as well, the reprisal of the roles of Chris and Ray just don't work for me at all. Chris was always one of my favorites on the British LOM, and I never really paid much attention to Ray at all. He was a main character, but not one I cared about. Oddly enough though, the American versions of those characters seemed to have so much more depth, and watching their British counterparts out of context, so to speak (in the 80's rather than the 70's) is just kind of surreal.

Anyhoo. So there you have it.

And now it's just about time for my bedtime. So long, Life on Mars.

And it all comes back to David Bowie.

Look, if you don't get it...

2009-03-29T11:22:00.002-05:00

It seems to be an epidemic of late. I have come across at least three reviews of television shows in the last week or so where the reviewer seemed to simply...not get it. Most of them were about the Battlestar series finale, but there was one about this week's Dollhouse episode as well. It just, it annoys the crap out of me. Seriously.

I am not talking about someone whose point of view differs from mine here. I am quite used to reading reviews of a show I was disgusted by while the reviewer thought it was a shining example of television, or vice versa. While that can be irritating, it can also be really interesting, because sometimes seeing a thing from another person's point of view can give you a broader idea of the whole picture, whether you agree with their end result or not.

What I am talking about is reviewers who clearly weren't paying attention to what they were watching in the first place. That's a cardinal sin my friends. I have two simple rules for reviewing media in a public forum (and I don't mean someone's personal blog here, I am talking news sites and the like), and they are these:

If you are watching/reading/listening to something with an intent to review, you need to pay attention to it. You should probably even give it more than one go-through. If your job is to review something, then you are not only there for entertainment. You have an obligation to (at least attempt to) understand what is going on to the fullest, that means attention to detail. If you miss a crucial line from inattention and then go off bashing or raving about something out of context, someone who is reading your review to gauge if something is worthwhile will be misled and those who saw/read/heard your item of review are going to be confused and likely irritated (perhaps enough to doubt your competence).
You need to be capable of objectivity. Whether or not you like the work as a whole is irrelevant. As a reviewer, your job is to help a person decide whether or not this is a piece of media that they personally would enjoy (or, if they've seen it, to help them get an objective view of the media so that they can gain a better understanding of what was actually going on throughout). You can't let your view be tainted by your personal taste. You need to be able to step outside of yourself and say, "well, despite how I felt about this episode, this particular element actually really worked, or this particular element really didn't work at all." Reading a review where it is clear that the writer just didn't care for it at all and didn't even try for objectivity (or a review where the writer clearly loved it so much they feel the need to gloss over anything that might have been a flaw) you're just going to hit a huge strike with your readers 90% of the time.

Maybe I am being harsh here, but I expect reviews on a site where I go to get news to be professional. Just as I expect that site to post a disclaimer for potential spoilers or items that should still be considered rumors. Obviously, there are exceptions. For example, if you write for something like The Onion, well, you're going to have a different set of rules, aren't you? The same goes if you're writing for a clearly defined "gossip site." The difference with these types of site is that you have a certain expectation coming from them and that expectation has a lot less responsibility attached than if you are going to a site for reliable news on what's going on. Just as reviews in a newspaper should be professional, so should be reviews on a news site. If a reader wants one person's specific thoughts and opinions, rather than an actual review, they would go to a blog. If a reader wants to discuss with others online about the merits or lack thereof, they would go to a community message board or chat room.

Sigh, I guess I'd better give you an example about what I mean, hmm? Note, some spoilers ahead for the most recent episode of Dollhouse. Okay, proceed.

A large chunk of this week's Dollhouse episode was focused on giving us the back story of the doll known as Echo, whose real name is actually Caroline. We learn exactly what it was she did to end up in her current circumstances. At one point a conversation is shown where the local Dollhouse head honcho Adelle is offering her an "out" of sorts by becoming a doll. Adelle mentions she's been doing this particular "dance" for two years now. It is clear that Adelle is referring to herself and her position as the headhunter for the dollhouse--she has been doing that for two years. In the review I read of this episode that just got my goat, the reviewer completely misheard or misinterpreted this remark (this is why I really advocate watching more than once if you are reviewing a tv show or movie--I refuse to believe someone is writing reviews for a professional publication and doesn't have a VCR or DVR). The reviewer stated that Adelle had said that she and Caroline had been doing this "dance" for two years and proceeded to speculate on what Caroline had been doing for two years and how had she stayed ahead of the Rossum corporation, yada yada yada. Then the reviewer berated the show's writers and runners for not giving more detail about this and just leaving it hanging in the wind. The reviewer just made up their own unsolved mystery because of lack of attention and then got annoyed about said unsolved mystery, allowing it to color the review of the episode. Totally unprofessional. Also, very confusing and distracting for the reader.

Sigh, look, I know people make mistakes. We are all only human after all. But here's the thing. I am someone who very strongly feels that if you have a job or a duty, to give it less than your best effort is just unforgivable. Whether it is the job you are paid to do or volunteer work, there are people out there expecting your best from you. To not give it to them is just not cool. Clearly, just looking at the job I spent 7 1/2 years being miserable in, not everyone feels this way at all--but that doesn't stop me from being offended by the lack of trying by people. It's a really sad state on the human condition, if you ask me. Apathy is the disease that is going to kill our culture, I swear it. Um, I seem to have gotten off track. Although, given that this is a blog, with a readership of maybe four, that is allowed in this kind of forum. If I had been writing a professional review on something, well, I would be actively using the delete key now, wouldn't I?

What it boils down to is this: Someone can be an excellent writer and be completely unsuited to writing reviews. I don't know how much I fit into the former category, but I know for a fact I am squarely outside of the range of people who fit into the latter. I watch what I like, most of the time, and I tend to really like what I like. While I could definitely get the "pay attention" part down if I was going to write professional reviews, I already know I probably would not be so good with the "objectivity" part of things. This is why I continue to refrain from submitting entries to some of my favorite sites when they are looking for new writers, and also why I think I get so upset when the people they choose to write reviews so clearly should be writing something else. If you give out the assignments for any type of publication that has professional reviews, it is your responsibility to make sure that the people you give those assignments to are capable of doing them professionally.

I'm not naming names but there's a site I love that has at least two reviewers who should be doing almost anything else. And damn, if it isn't irritating.

Okay, end rant.

Um...happy thoughts, happy thoughts...

Ooh, saw Monsters v. Aliens on Friday and absolutely loved it! It's a nice family friendly movie that seemed to appeal to all of the kiddos in the audience while definitely still having enough substance to entertain us grown ups. It was just plain fun. So, if you're looking for something up that alley, I totally recommend it.

In other news, found out this week that I am having a girl come August. Huzzah! So that's super exciting.

And on that note, fair folks, I bid you adieu.

Not too much to say actually.

2009-03-22T12:50:00.002-05:00

I've got some odds and ends I guess, but nothing substantial today.

I really liked the Battlestar series finale. Honestly the only thing I felt wasn't done that well was the explanation of Kara's return from death. It is just that apparently she was on the same level as the head people (i.e. Six and Baltar), but everyone could see and feel her...I dunno. I didn't dislike it or anything, I just felt it was lacking somehow. The archaeologist in me was really pleased with how they explained the colonials being our ancient anscestors without leaving any trace of, you know, a prior advanced civilization or anything. Also, from the standpoint of their pantheon being the Greek gods, it just makes more sense for them to be in our past than for someone in our far future to have adopted a pantheon that in this day and age has been completely relegated to myth with no active worshippers.

Random thoughts on the episode: It would have been so much better if SciFi/SyFy had showed the whole three hour episode together instead of airing the first hour separately. Gah. It just made the first hour seem pale and nonsensical in some ways IMO. But whatever. Said and done, yo. I really was distracted by Apollo's shampoo commercial hair. What was up with that? I mean, over the course of the season it has gotten bigger and bigger--and I don't know why. Weird weird. I mean, I get that if he isn't in the military anymore there's no reason for him to keep it super short, but it was really getting out of hand by the end there. I'm just sayin'. Um...what else? Oh yeah, All Along the Watchtower. I have never been annoyed by Moore's choice to work that into the show, and I honestly actually love how he wove it into the entire fourth season. I think it was cool, so I loved that they used it to close the show out. I know it annoyed the crap out of most people, but seriously, it was fun.

And that's all I think I have to say on that.

Dollhouse this week was pretty darn awesome. And apparently the ratings didn't even take that big of a hit for airing opposite the BSG finale, which I was a little worried about. Poor Ballard, he is surrounded by dolls and just doesn't even realize it. Also, now in addition to Alpha, we've got a new "conspiracy" to figure out. Who altered Echo's imprint to send Ballard a message? I like the suggestion that it was Topher's assistant, though I almost kind of hope it was Echo--although I wonder if she could have known any of the info she passed on, so that may not be likely. But still, ooh, new mystery. I have to honestly say that nothing in this episode happened like I thought it would happen and I quite enjoyed that.

I finally broke down and bought Bolt on DVD--I kept seeing the commercials and wanting to get a hamster, but what with two cats, a husband, and a kid on the way, I thought, you know, maybe I should just buy the movie instead. So I will probably be watching that this afternoon, after I watch my last Primeval DVD.

That's all I've got I think. I hope you all have a great one!

TTFN!

May as well jump on the bandwagon...

2009-03-17T11:34:00.002-05:00

Well, the whole science fiction online community is in something of an uproar this week following Sci Fi Channel's announcement that it is rebranding itself to SyFy Channel, complete with new slogan, "Imagine greater."

In general, the response seems to be a big collective WTF????

But don't just take my word from it, here are some links that can give you an idea of how the nerds of the world are reacting.

io9's story.

Flick Filosopher put it up as her question of the day.

Real Life Comics had a nice commentary in their stip for today.

Then of course there is Airlock Alpha, where this is the primary news item on the billing at the moment. For those of you who don't know, until a few weeks ago, Airlock Alpha was actually SyFy Portal. The rebranding of their site seemed a little sudden, but Michael Hinman (the owner of the site and its sister sites Rabid Doll and the forthcoming Blip Network) has finally been able to explain that he was approached by a corporation wanting to buy the rights to "SyFy," and it was a good enough offer that he sold the name and changed his site up. Turns out that corporation was NBCU, because they wanted to rebrand their genre channel.

I was really going to go without commenting on this just because (as you can see by all of the links above), there are plenty of people already talking about this, and most of them can say it better than I can. But then I read Michael Hinman's piece reacting to the hugely negative public outcry about the change. As he says, he came up with the name "SyFy" ten years ago and while he has no regrets about the sale of rights on it, he has been a little hurt and surprised by two aspects of the fallout.

The first is that for some inconceivable (and yes, I am pretty sure that word means what I think it means) reason, NBCU is acting like they came up with the name "SyFy" all on their own and just bought the rights from Hinman because it turns out he independently came up with that name and had beat them to said rights and they wanted to clear up any legal issues. This is a huge WTF for everyone. As Hinman states, he personally has met the president of Sci Fi on more than one occasion and has worked with the people at Sci Fi Channel for years. It's not like they didn't know about SyFy Portal long before they started trying to come up with a new name. No one over there was unaware of SyFy Portal. Thankfully, no one outside of NBCU seems to be buying that story anyway. So really it's just more a question of why the conglomerate is playing stupid and trying to steal the credit of creation, rather than acknowledging that they felt that Hinman had hit on the term that they felt best expressed the new era they are trying to usher in for the channel with the change. Bleh. Stupid business people.

The second issue he brought up is a much more personal one for Hinman. As previously mentioned, a lot of the public reaction to the announcement of the rebranding has been negative. It seems that a lot of this negative attention has been to the name "SyFy" itself, saying it is a stupid name. Having come up with this name and having used it in one form or another for over ten years, Hinman is obviously a little baffled by this.

Well I can't speak for everyone out there, but I think that what most of us feel is stupid is not the actual word "SyFy" (hell, I've been a huge fan of SyFy Portal for years and have never once thought it was a stupid term), but the idea behind the rebranding. I am sorry but I don't in any way see how changing the spelling of the word Sci Fi to SyFy is going to "broaden" the scope of what they can show on the network--nor will it justify airing wrestling on the channel. Move the darn wrestling back to USA already, geez. Ghost Hunters, I can deal with, paranormal fits in the genre in my mind, but wrestling? Come on people. Sci Fi or SyFy, who thinks that wrestling falls under that category?

Okay, sorry, rant over. May be a bit touchy about that particular programming choice.

Clearly, however, NBCU feels it can air whatever it wants on the channel anyway, so I don't know why changing the spelling of their name (or the logo) is going to have any effect on that whatsoever. But that's just me I guess, or you know, most of the nerds and geeks worldwide.

I think what most of us feel is stupid is that NBCU has all but explicitly said they don't want to be limited to showing science fiction or fantasy related shows on their genre-specific channel. If that's the case, then save yourself a ton of money, dump the extraneous channel, and move your original programing over to your more "open" properties of NBC and USA. I am sorry but when it comes down to it, the channel doesn't have that much original programming anyway. USA did pretty well with The 4400, move Sanctuary and Stargate Universe over there. Eureka and Ghost Hunters could probably carry their own on NBC. All of those original B movies could easily fill weekend programming slots on either channel. Battlestar is wrapping up this week, so is there anything else out there really? I mean, gone would be the all day marathons of cancelled sci-fi shows but most of us have those on DVD already. We geeks, we tend to be collectors.

What's stupid is that NBCU has a great opportunity with a channel like Sci Fi or SyFy, but they don't know what to do with it or how to market it to the people who want a channel like that. I mean come on, there's a Golf channel, if that is sustainable, how in the heezy is a channel that is just sci-fi/fantasy not? Also, what is stupid is that in most of their press releases about the change have had many very thinly veiled insults to the people who do indeed want a channel that is exclusively genre-specific. Not cool NBCU, not cool.

So all that said, I don't think it is the name "SyFy" that people are pissed about--it's everything behind the name. Trust me Michael, we still love you.

And that's me done.

Happy St. Patty's Day folks.

P.S. Are you watching Castle? It's actually pretty awesome. Huzzah for Nathan Fillion. Gah, I'm an easy sale though, I love quirky murder mysteries.

There sure is a lot of stuff going down on Mars lately.

2009-03-08T12:00:00.002-05:00

Seriously, for the Life on Mars crowd, things have just been hopping.

Firstly, the alphabet has officially cancelled the American version of the series. They have agreed to let it finish its initial 17 episode order (which is one more episode than the original series) and apparently the cancellation was announced in time that there will be closure. The reactions I have seen to this news have varied widely, from "Oh thank God!" to "Well, man, this sucks."

Personally, I can't seem to find myself very upset by the news at all, even though I really have been starting to enjoy this version. Here's the thing. I have said from the moment I found out they were making an American version of the series that I didn't see how they were going to pull it off unless they were intentionally planning to give it a short run, which it was pretty clear the show's producers had no plans to do. The whole concept of this series needs a tightly planned story arc and it needs an ending. To stretch it out for seasons upon seasons is simply to defeat the purpose and to be completely unfaithful to the original show. So honestly, I'm a little relieved that they will have to wrap it up and that we'll actually get to find out what weird alternate explanation the Americans have for what actually happened to Sam Tyler.

Besides, the episodes I have enjoyed the most in this version have been those that weren't just cookie cutter remakes of episodes in the original series, and we only got a few of those. I have been noticing a disturbing trend recently to go back to ripping off the episode ideas from the Brits. Most upsetting of which is the fact that it looks like this week's episode will be a remake of my least favorite from the original--the key party episode. Gah. Really? Really? Is that necessary? Come on! Not cool people, not cool. Sigh. End rant. I have already expressed my feelings about key parties. I won't rehash. Let's just say that this week I will probably be less inclined to pay much attention while I watch, just to save my sanity. Come on guys. I mean, I know originality is taken with a grain of salt when you are remaking a show that has already been done (and in this case clearly can't really be improved upon), but wasn't the big sell about making an American version that it would in fact be completely different than the British version? If you are trying to have an entirely new explanation for why Sam landed back in time, don't you think you should have some entirely new story ideas too? I'm just saying.

Anyhoo. The next bit of news is definitely more exciting. The original series is finally coming to us on DVD. Huzzah! Series (or season, for us Yanks) one will be available on region one DVD this July, and I believe it is planned to release series two sometime next year. Yay! If you never caught the orginal and are sad to see the current genesis go, give these DVDs a whirl when they come out. It will fill the void.

And the last bit of news, for fans of the original series, BBC America last night premiered the sequel series to Life on Mars, Ashes to Ashes. In this show we get another present day detective, one Alex Drake, played by Keeley Hawes (you may know her from MI-6/Spooks or Death at a Funeral--she's also married to the wonderfully talented Matthew Macfadyen) finds herself somehow thrown back into the past. This time the erstwhile time traveller lands in 1981, and promptly runs into Gene Hunt, Chris, and Ray from the original series. This of course induces a major freak out on the part of DI Drake because she has read all of the reports Sam Tyler filed about his adventures in the brief time between waking up from his coma and killing himself (which we know was him actually deciding to return to 1973, real or not). Drake knows she was shot just before waking up in the past, and assumes that she is also in a coma and finds herself among familiar company because she had been reading Sam's reports just before she was shot. What the twist seems to be is that since Drake knows that Sam was in a coma while he was experiencing his blast from the past, she knows it is entirely possible her "coma" (as she assumes herself to be in) is going to lead to her death. And she is damned determined not to die.

I am going to reserve judgement for another episode or two I think. It does seem like they are trying to take this in a slightly different direction than the first series, so my fingers are crossed it isn't just a rehash. I will say that so far the best part is the return of Philip Glenister as the original Gene Hunt. Man, he is such an ass but you can't help but love him anyway. Yay! The worst part so far is the creepy clown that is stalking Drake. Apparently we get a creepy tin-man type clown instead of the creepy little girl in the television this time around. Seriously, these people want to give me nightmares. Sigh.

So, that's all the Mars drama I know about. Like I said, lots going down.

In other news, I was on the final chapter of the last book from my reading pile I wanted to tackle before jumping back into the Wheel of Time series yesterday when my husband walked in and handed me Watchmen. So I went ahead and started that last night. Man, it is kind of dark and intense. But I am enjoying it. I believe we are going to try to catch the movie this coming weekend, so I shall at least be prepared. I am amused that apparently the mainstream has been baffled by the film so far while the geeks of the world seem to be more or less satisfied. I am glad that something so specialized is being so highly publicized. Usually the films that aren't expected to appeal to the broader audience just get ignored by the advertisers, so huzzah for Watchmen.

Well, I wish you all a spectacular week!

Dissecting the Dollhouse.

2009-02-28T10:42:00.002-06:00

As most of you know, there's a new show in the Whedonverse these days. It is airing Friday nights on Fox and is called Dollhouse.

The basic premise of the show is that there exists an organization where those of substantial financial means can go to rent a mindwiped person, or doll, to become an Active, anyone/anything said client needs that person to be for as long as they need them to be. We're talking hostage negotiators, backup dancers/bodyguards, commando soldiers, lovers, Russian mobsters, anything. When they are not on an engagement, the dolls exist in a child-like state of ignorance and bliss.

So this is the world in which the show is set. To break up the status quo there seem to be three sources of antagonism that come into play:

-An FBI agent, Paul Ballard (played by Battlestar's Tamoh Penikett, a.k.a. Helo). is on to the Dollhouse and is persistently pursuing an investigation into said organization despite the disapproval and disbelief of his colleagues, as well as a fairly frustrating lack of evidence.

-One of the dolls, Echo (played by our favorite bad-girl slayer Eliza Dushku), is starting to exhibit glitches. During each "engagement" an Active should only have the knowledge and personality imprinted on them for that specific job, and in between they should have no knowledge of any of what happened to them outside of the Dollhouse. Yet Echo's memories seem to be bleeding over into both arenas, and in the field she has started showing a disturbing tendency to think outside of the box. Needless to say this is causing some amount of difficulties with her engagements (therefore making the show interesting).

-Another doll, Alpha (played by we don't know yet but rumors sure do abound), has gone rogue, and violent to boot. Sometime just before we the viewers entered the world of the Dollhouse, Alpha apparently went crazy, imprinted himself with a whole bunch of skills (like lethal naked ninja knife-cutting for example) and killed a whole bunch of dolls and their handlers (the people assigned to each Active in the field to make sure that they complete their mission and come home safely). While Alpha did kill Echo's handler in a spectacularly squishy way, he did not kill Echo. She was in fact, the only survivor when he went and massacred everyone in the showers at the time of his spree. Then the guy had the temerity to escape. So the bosses are pretty pissed about that and are trying to figure out a way to recover their renegade doll.

Alright, so there's your basic description of what's going on with the show so far. Question is, is it actually any good? Anyway, three episodes in, I, at least, am finally ready to weigh in on my opinion of the show.

I like it. A lot.

Here's why.

This is a show for people who like a mystery and who are willing to pay attention to what's going on not just in the forefront of each episode but in the background as well. The feel of this show, believe it or not, reminds me quite a bit of Fringe. The shows themselves are nothing alike, but the same basic appeal is there.

We get to see a person who literally ran from her past into oblivion on purpose start to wake up all on her own. From episode one we know that Echo's real name is Caroline and that she got into some kind of trouble because all she wanted to do was make a difference. Whatever that trouble is, somehow her only option became to join the Dollhouse for five years. Five years of actions without consequence, of not having to think about all of the wrong choices she's made, of getting to see the world and do all sorts of things she'd never have the opportunity to try (even if she ostensibly won't remember doing any of those things afterwards). At the end of that five years, well, there's a hint that she can start over with a clean slate and decide for herself where to go next. Personally I'm not to sure the crazy lady in charge is the kind of person to let people go at the end of their contract (I mean, how would they know, right?) but that's not really the point.

The point is that Caroline has given up being a person and has become Echo the doll. And like all of the other dolls, she is supposed to exist in blissful peace and ignorance when she's not an Active. But, Echo is different, she's special. Maybe it's the strong personality of Caroline that is refusing to completely cease to exist, or maybe there's a problem with the technology and we only get to see Echo's awakening. But either way, she is waking up. Here is where the paying attention starts to pay off for the audience. Things that happen to her when she is out on an engagement are completely wiped from her mind afterwards, each and every time. Yet we have seen on numerous occasions that Echo is retaining memories from these engagements, even if she herself isn't too sure of what they are or what they mean.

My favorite moment so far comes from last night's episode. There is a new doll, Sierra, who Echo has started to befriend in between engagements. The Powers That Be have become a bit worried about Echo, so they have started to send Sierra out on engagements in tandem with Echo, as backup of sorts. At the end of last night's engagement Sierra's handler sees her with Echo (in their Active personas) and makes a stink about it. Later, back in doll-state, Echo sees Sierra approaching her to say hello, but noticing Sierra's handler nearby, she gives a quick shake of her head to indicate it's not a good time. She shouldn't remember her altercation with the other handler, but she does know that whoever this man is, he doesn't approve of a friendship between the two dolls and so they must keep it secret. That's quite an interesting conclusion for someone with a doll's perceived mental abilities to reach.

It is also made clear to the audience from the start that TPTB aren't the only ones who have noticed that Echo is "special." Alpha apparently spared her for a reason, and from the glimpses we get of him and comments that are made, it seems he has some sort of obsession, or at least a special interest, in her. This has even led him to break into Caroline's home and send a picture of her to Agent Ballard with the cryptic note "keep looking." It seems the guy wants to bring down the Dollhouse as much as Ballard does (can't really blame him), but he also seems to want to test Echo. He thinks she just might be worth saving.

The story with Ballard also is a nice addition to the show. He's not just some one-dimensional guy with a badge trying to take down the organization. We're getting some decent character development on him. I enjoy the neighbor with a crush on him. It's sweet, and this is a show that needs a little bit of sweetness every now and again. I am also curious to see how Ballard was pointed in the direction of his main source of information on the Dollhouse, a Russian mobster named Lubov. Lubov clearly doesn't actually know anything about the Dollhouse, but Ballard is convinced he does. A nice little reveal last night, however, showed us that Lubov is actually Victor, another doll. Ooh, another mystery. Clearly Victor is repeatedly getting sent out into the world as Lubov, and we know that TPTB are aware of Ballard's investigation. I'm going to assume that this is their attempt to distract Ballard from any real evidence he might stumble upon. I am quite interested to see how this plays out. Is Lubov the only Active personality that Victor is being programmed with these days? I really would love to see Ballard run into Victor out on some other engagement.

Also, an added bonus is that since Dollhouse comes on right before Battlestar, fans of both shows are getting a nice double-dose of Tamoh each Friday (at least for the next few weeks). Heh, if you watched both shows yesterday, the guy clearly did not have a good night. Is anyone else digging this?

But back to Dollhouse. There are of course many other characters interacting with our main few, but we haven't learned too much about them so far. I am really starting to like Echo's handler Boyd. He seems to be a good match for her, even if he's not so much the best match for the Dollhouse itself. I don't really have an opinion yet about the doctor played by Amy Acker, but I am prepared to love her because she's played by Amy Acker. Topher, the programmer, well, he's actually kind of annoying. Normally I love the geeky tech guys but something about this guy just isn't right. I don't know if it's that the actor/writers haven't found the right stride for him yet or if there's more going on to the character that simply remains to be revealed.

I've seen a pretty wide range of reactions to the show online, calling it all things from brilliant to unwatchable. From what I can tell though, the general consensus seems to be, "it's okay so far, but I'm going to keep watching to see if it gets better." There are all sorts of arguments as to why people should and shouldn't adopt this approach. It seems to me that each successive episode so far has gotten better and delved deeper into the story, so the watch and wait approach might be the way to go on this one, at least throughout the first season. It's not like it's got a full season, and if it doesn't get a season two, well, no real time wasted.

Either way, after last night I have realized that I really am enjoying this show and am very much willing to keep watching. I want to see what happens, it's as simple as that. It isn't perfect, but even Buffy and Angel had those moments that were more "wha--?" than "hmm...." if you know what I mean. I see a lot of potential here. If Fox can live up to it's promise to give the show a chance (and not pull a Firefly on us), then we might get a few good seasons worth of television at least.

What it boils down to is this. I trust Joss Whedon. He knows where he wants to go, even if he's still trying to find the best way to get there. The man's not perfect, but he's proven himself enough that most of us were willing to give the show a chance. Now that it's come down to decision time--is the show worth continuing to watch?--I vote yes.

How about you?

Have a good one folks,

I still think Peter Gabriel was robbed...

2009-02-23T11:11:00.002-06:00

I won't begrudge Slumdog Millionaire the award for best score but the song from Wall-E was a much better song. Grr. Argh.

Sigh, oh well. I don't get a vote.

Other than that I wasn't too excited or disappointed by anything that happened at the Academy Awards last night. I was glad to see Heath win the best supporting actor. Despite the possibility of it being a "pity vote" I think he honestly deserved it. Rest in peace dude.

Anyway, I was out of town most of last week, so I've got a DVR jam-packed with shows to catch up. I guess that works out since I have some form of the plague and don't really want to do much besides sit around today. Of course I woke up with this itch to watch The Italian Job again, so some of the queued shows may have to wait.

On the bonus side, I was trying to find Clean House, which my mom and I watched oodles last week, and instead inadvertantly found out when Jeopardy! comes on here. Huzzah!

Anyhoo, take care all.

I'm pretty sure this is how my husband feels...

2009-02-13T11:11:00.002-06:00

I just wanted to share today's strip of Real Life Comics with y'all.

I am pretty sure this aptly describes the feelings that my husband and I have towards Stargate, where I am Greg (the fan) and my hubby is Dave (the one that just wants to play a video game).

Heh, I jest though. My husband is actually much more patient. But I do often think he is just humoring my love for the series.

Anyhoo, if it's not big enough to read for you, check out the link above. It is the strip for Feb 13, 2009. This is a great strip. You should be reading it if there are nerds in your life. It might help you understand them a little better. Just sayin...

Peace out, y'all.

Well that's what I get...

2009-02-11T20:37:00.002-06:00

Just finished reading Brisingr, the third book in the Inheritance Cycle. Excellent book, and as I thought, not the last.

For some reason, I thought it was supposed to be a trilogy though, not a quadrilogy (the end note in book three states the story will be concluded in book four). I don't know why I keep thinking series are trilogies when they are not. What is up with that?

Gah! Now I have to wait God knows how long for the fourth book to come out. Do you know how long it took between Eldest and Brisingr? Sigh. Oh well. It will give me an excuse to read them all over again in a few years. That's probabaly, IMHO, the only good thing about falling into a series when it is still being written.

Also, I make a prediction now--the covers of the first three books depicted the dragons Saphira, Thorn, and Glaedr. I think book four is going to have the bad guy's dragon, Shruikan, on the cover. That's my guess.

So hey, if you're looking for a fun fantasy series to pick up, I can totally recommend this one. There are dragons and elves and dwarves and other beasties running around. Though if you're looking for something to read aloud to a little one, I definitely suggest reading through each chapter to yourself before performing for an audience. The names and places are all a mouthful.

Man...too bad I have a huge reading pile to still work through. This has given me the hankering to reread The Wheel of Time again...

Oh well, in the meantime, I think I may meander over to Kristen Britain's website to see if there are any updates on when the next Green Rider book will be out...

Finis.

2009-02-11T16:19:00.002-06:00

Well, I have finally completely given up on Smallville. I couldn't even make myself watch last week's episode on the DVR, so I just deleted it. Didn't even bother to set the magic box to record it this week.

I even took all seven seasons worth of DVDs into Half Price Books today. Got a fairly decent price for them too.

So that's it. No more Smallville for me. I am done. I wish all parties involved all the best in the world. They can run for another ten seasons if they want, won't bother me, cuz I won't be watching.

----

Jumped back into the Inheritance books this week. Reread Eragon and Eldest and am a good chunk of the way through Brisingr right now. Of course, that made me remember anew my anger at the Eragon movie. Gah. It was so poorly done. We could have had three movies of total awesome rather than one that is best just forgotten. Oh well. C'est la vie. Sometimes it's better left to the imagination of the reader than to the imagination of a corps of profit-driven filmmakers, eh?

I am wondering though if this is another not-trilogy like Jim Butcher's Alera Codex. I could swear it's a trilogy but at this point I have no idea how Paolini is going to wrap up Eragon's adventures by the end of book three. I guess I'll just have to keep reading and find out!

And so...back I go.

Just tidbits, really.

2009-02-01T10:38:00.002-06:00

Yay, it's that most glorious of Sundays, Superbowl Sunday! I am one of those crazy people who doesn't really care too much about football. I go to/watch exactly two games a year, both because of my friends H and K, who truly do love football. Scarily enough, I realized at the Homecoming game that I am starting to actually understand the rules. Oh dear.

Anyhoo, I am one of those people who enjoy the Superbowl for the socialization opportunity (there have always been Superbowl parties, ever since I was a little 'un) and especially for the commercials. Oh the commercials.

There are actually looking to be several really cool Sci-Fi movie trailers during this year's game. I am really looking forward to the Monsters v. Aliens trailer (though I couldn't find any 3D glasses) as well as the Transformers 2 trailer. There are also rumors we'll get to see the Terminator: Salvation trailer. Dude.

So, that is how I will be spending my afternoon. Good friends, good food, a hopefully good game, and some entertaining and over the top commercials.

Anyhoo, here are some random thoughts I've had about my shows this week.

I was amused that all of my new shows on USA this week (Burn Notice, Monk, and Psych) had football themed episodes. Gee, USA is owned by NBC Universal, and NBC is broadcasting the Superbowl this year...hmm.... I think Psych won the weekend with its just absolute silliness, and the use of football uniforms to further the show's budding romance. Burn Notice managed to work the game into the episode into the most subtle manner, and Monk had some good comedic relief with Randy's attempts to watch the game and the "Bob Costas thinks a kitten tried to kill him" bit.

I was watching Legend of the Seeker last night and realized I really can't ever read the books now. I enjoy the show, it's silly and fun in the vein of Hercules, but I don't know that I would enjoy looking deeper at any of these characters. The concept of the Confessors has just seriously become, in my mind, one of the most pointless types of super-character to have around. I mean, yeah, she can tell if people are lying or not, but she can't find out what the actual truth is without Confessing them and therefore putting them under her complete control for the rest of their lives. Then there's the whole romance with her and Richard. Bleh. I do like the wizard though. Zed rocks.

Heh, I started watching my Blossom DVDs last night and got through the first disc. It is such a silly show. I also had either never realized or just completely forgotten that in every freakin' episode there is some ridiculous Blossom dream sequence. What an odd device to use as the hook for your show. I find myself hoping that gets tapered out as the show progresses, but really can't remember. I think probably the most entertaining thing about watching this show again is to play "spot the guest star." I am not talking about the big name people like Little Richard, Rhea Perlman, Estelle Getty, Eileen Brennan, etc. (although now I do seriously want to go watch Clue again). I am talking about all of the random people who have little two second bits that ended up becoming someone big. So far, in just the first six episodes, I have spotted Giovanni Ribisi (credited as Vonni Ribisi), Tobey Maguire, Johnny Galecki (which makes a Blossom joke on an episode of The Big Bang Theory even funnier), this guy that I always think is Rip from School Ties but is actually Riley from The Torkelsons, and Stephen Dorff. And I still have a season and a half to go...

Battlestar. Dude, Gaeta, Gaeta, Gaeta....I know you think you're doing the right thing but siding with Zarek against Adama almost never leads to good things...It was an absolutely stellar episode, and I liked almost nothing that happened in it. Plus, it was a "to be continued" which means waiting for next week's episode will be even worse than usual. Also, on the clip for next week's episode they say "Tigh is dead" which leads me to believe this is a clever ruse and he somehow escapes the showdown with the marines in the airlock... Seriously. My hubby and I were talking and I think we've both come to agree there aren't going to be any humans left alive by the end of this series--except for maybe the people that are hooking up with Cylons, and Baltar of course. As my hubby said, he's like a cockroach.

Last but not least, I have this hyper-sensitivity to spotting crocheted blankets that pop up in television or movies. It is a fun little Easter egg hunt for me, and it has been espescially fruitful of late. I do have a tendency to look at the blankets and go, hmm....I could make that... It used to be shoes. I always used to notice characters' shoes, but now it is blankets. Ahh, how the world turns.

Well, there's your glimpse into the chaos of my head for the week. I hope all is well.

Enjoy your Superbowl Sunday!

Back now.

2009-01-27T11:00:00.003-06:00

Hey, sorry about falling off of the edge of the planet there. I totally meant to write a recap/my thoughts on the BSG premiere episode but it really rather blew me away. My husband and I talked about it most of the weekend and I was marshalling all of my thoughts for a lovely blog. I really just needed to give it another watch so I could refresh my memory. And then I realized I just could not watch it again, not so soon. It was phenomenal, but man, it was hard. They truly will not be going easy on us from here on out. I am starting to think that little one-off comment one of the actors made to the press about how no one is going to live through the end of the season may have been more than just flippancy...

I will say this. I am not digging that they are having Gaeta be the one sparking the ship's mutiny. Sigh. I can in some ways see how it is probably the logical/necessary next step for his character but I don't like it. Oh well. Maybe it will all get resolved this week and we can move on. Also, I am kind of curious to see how the Matt/Mohinder-like situation that is brewing with the Chief and Hot Dog shapes up.

Anyhoo, so what have I been up to? Wow...too much and not enough. I actually spent most of last week cleaning my house, took a pretty big break from television. I tried watching season seven of Smallville and got through two discs before I realized I really just don't care any more. I put the box away and resolved to take all seven seasons of DVDs to Half Price Books in the near future. I am done with that show. I'll keep watching it on television, at least through the current season, I make no promises about contininuing on if they bring it back for season nine (please television gods, don't do it). But this is not a series I need on DVD.

Blossom, however, apparently is...I am expecting seasons one and two to arrive today. Hmm. Yeah. Those of you who know me outside of the interwebs know that I have been waiting for the promised bulit-in bookshelves/DVD shelves in my front room since we moved into our house about a year and a half ago. (Not complaining, dear husband, just explaining.) Circumstances have happened lately that mean we pretty much have to get them built by this summer though. So I think when I have my new DVD shelves, I am going to use that as an opportunity to weed through my DVDs and evaluate what I actually need to own and what I can go turn in for some spare change.

I did start watching Grey's Anatomy season four the other day, oh man, great stuff. This show is totally popcorn, or as one of my friends puts it, "brain candy." But I love it, and it generally just makes me feel a little bit better. My life is nowhere near as screwed up as anyone on that show.

Hmm...what else, what else? Went and saw the new Underworld movie yesterday. It was fairly enjoyable, but kind of pointless. I am not sure it needed to be made, since pretty much the whole story is explained at various points in the first two movies. Speaking of which, I need to go rewatch those, because then maybe this one will make more sense. Also, the cinematography was ridiculously dark. Okay, yes, I know the whole thing takes place at night, and I don't know if they were going for a sense of "realism" or what, but I could hardly see anything. It is possible to have clearly defined scenes that take place in the dark. Hollywood has proved that folks. But, all in all, some pretty decent brain candy. Lots of fun vampire versus werewolves fights.

Also saw Twilight yesterday (it was a vampire double header, what can I say). I saw that this was still playing at the theater we were catching Underworld at and since I have decided this will probably not go in my DVD collection, I thought I'd try to catch it on the big screen while I still could. I enjoyed it. It was ridiculous and over the top, and I feel like the music and cinematography were both completely overboard, but still, it was a pretty enjoyable two hours for someone who liked the book. I think I will probably enjoy the second one a little more, since my favorite character is Jacob the werewolf and he hardly gets any screentime in the first film.

Ooh! Does anyone remember the random pirate movie Yellowbeard? I was trying to explain it to someone the other day and realized I should just get it since it is a fond memory and it would be easier to show to people than explain. I mean seriously, it's the Cheech and Chong pirate movie, with John Cleese and Peter Boyle....yeah. Anyhoo, it came yesterday. I am looking forward to sitting my husband down and making him watch it--assuming that he can ever come back from New York. Stupid weather. Keep your fingers crossed for good flying conditions!

Well, that is all I've got. I'll do my best not to fall off the edge of the earth again any time soon.

Peace,

Why Battlestar Galactica truly is some of the best television ever made.

2009-01-16T18:28:00.002-06:00

Wow folks. I just finished rewatching all three and a half seasons of Battlestar, plus the telemovie Razor, within a week. There are less than two hours to go until the first of the final ten episodes airs on SciFi Channel, and I don't mind telling you, my mind is a little bit frakked.

Word on the street has it that the identity of the final cylon will be revealed in tonight's episode, so for good or for bad at least we'll finally know. Also, for those of you doing the DVR thing and not watching live, don't forget to set your DVR for whatever comes after--the episode is supposed to run 3+ minutes long. This sounds like it's pretty much going to be the way it goes for the rest of the series as well, so, something to bear in mind.

Okay, so to get back to the topic of this post's title, I have to say that regardless of how one feels about science fiction or spaceships or robots, this truly is some spectacular television. It is quality stuff people. Even when the many plot threads get lost (or appear to), they are well written and well acted and rarely stop being compelling. It amazes me that there even can be so many different plot lines going on at any given moment in this show without causing viewers to just throw up their hands in confusion or frustration (take note, Heroes). Even those stray plots that seem to come out of or lead to nowhere always seem to come back into play eventually and lead to payoff. I know there are still many questions to be answered in these final episodes, and I know that TPTB can't possibly answer every question that every fan has, but I do believe they'll do their darndest to try, and that they will give us enough answers that almost everyone should be satisfied by the end.

Battlestar is a show that I usually watch each episode twice during the season (gotta love the DVR). I've watched the whole series (except for the current season) at least two or three times now, and I have to say, this is a show that gets deeper every time you rewatch. Little things that seemed not to have any real meaning, whether the show runners intended them that way or not, jump out at the viewer as nice little hints or big honking clues of the shape of things to come. I hate to admit it, but not every television series I own on DVD is going to be subject to that many rewatchings--but Battlestar is going to get worn out. It's going to be like that copy of Grease that my sister and I had on VHS when we were kids. We watched that thing until the box had literally disintegrated, and then watched it some more. I fully expect down the road to have to repurchase the entire series because I've worn out my DVDs from watching them and loaning them out to people who must be converting (or to upgrade to whatever the next "video" format will be down the road so as not to lose it). I think that's a sign of a damn good show.

Even seasons that seemed to be all over the place when watched in weekly doses, broken up with months long hiatuses (is that a word?), when they are all watched together everything seems to fall into place and make so much more sense. This is serial story telling at its finest.

Yes, there are some awesome special effects in this television show, yes there are some pretty spaceships, cool looking robots, and super spiffy scores. Those things all add points. But when it comes down to it, what makes this show so incredible is that it is a deep and true story about people--about humanity. When I say "true" I don't mean that this actually happened (heh, all of this has happened before...). What I mean is that this story shows us real people. It shows us that people (be they human or machine) are not black and white. The shining white knight is deeply flawed but no less the hero. The bitter old drunk who can barely do his job has a stronger understanding of loyalty and honor than those on the "moral highground." The schoolteacher has a spine of steel as unbendable as any battle-hardened soldier. There are no "good guys" or "bad guys" in this show. We start out thinking we know who is who, but as the series progresses it becomes quite clear that there are always at least two sides to every story, and BSG gives us the opportunity to not just see all sides to but to actually think about them and about what they mean.

For my money, this show has given us some of the best moments of television any series I've seen has ever delivered. I willl close with some of those BSG moments to date that I feel belong in this category.

Rescue from New Caprica. When the Galactica jumps back to the planet in frakking atomosphere in order to launch its vipers under the cylons' radar (or I guess I should say dradis)--that is just amazing. The whole rescue/escape is just riveting, but that moment still stands out.

Four of the Final Five are activated. I know a lot of people still haven't forgiven Ron Moore for the "All Along the Watchtower" business, but the last, what, ten or fifteen minutes of that episode are phenomenal. Watching Tory, Tigh, Anders, and Tyrol start to fall apart and not know why is bad enough. But then comes the moment where they can't do anything but follow the music in their heads and that realization when the four of them are standing in the gym--it is just insane. And then the Cylons attack, and it's a now or never instant. The four have to decide if they run and hide until things blow over or if they step up and continue to be the people they have been and the people they want to be. Tory and Tigh in the CIC and Anders and Tyron on the deck--it is just....yeah. And then it leads into...

Starbuck comes back from the dead. Okay, it's not like any one really believed we wouldn't see her again, but the way she comes back. "I know where Earth is." Poor Lee just doesn't know what to say, and then zoom in to Earth. Wow.

The Cylons call off the attack in the nebula. The season four opener, following right on the season three finale and Kara's reappearance has Anders in a viper freaking out that his programming might kick in and he'll either choke in battle or turn on the fleet. The intensity heightens when he can't get his gun to fire and then the cylon raider turns around and heads straight for him. The moment when the raider scans his viper and Anders' eye does that little red gleam, causing all of the cylons to turn and leave off the battle...well, that just may be my favorite moment on the series ever. It is just frakking cool.

The fleet finds Earth. In the last few minutes we have been given so far, and left for almost a year to chew on, the fleet, combined of humans and the renegade cylons, jumps to Earth. The constellations match up from what they found in the Tomb of Athena, and it is confirmed that they have finally, at last, found their new home. Through the Galactica and the fleet itself there is this uplifitng moment of joy and relief, one that doesn't go away even when you already know what's coming. We are shown celebrations throughout the fleet, tears of joy, and just absolute happiness for the first time in a long time. And then they cut to the stark silent scene of all of the major players as they set foot on Earth and see their new home--a nuclear wasteland. And just like that the hope is gone.

So, yeah. Clearly I like this show. I hope those of you that are also fans are just as excited as I am about its return. See you on the other side folks.

Farewell Atlantis, sniffle.

2009-01-10T15:37:00.004-06:00

**Spoiler alert if you haven't seen the final episode of Stargate Atlantis and don't want to know what happened!**

Sigh, well, it's over. I will miss you Atlantis. I will say I was actually pretty pleasantly surprised with the final episode. They did a good job of giving us a big finish without actually closing off that many chapters. It was satisfying enough to serve as a series finale but there are still enough plot lines left dangling that can easily be picked up for the future television movies. Of course, I am sure that is exactly what they were going for, so, well done there.

Also, my sinking suspicion that they would kill off Lorne (or, well, anyone really, but for some reason I thought it would be Lorne) proved to be unfounded. In fact, Lorne even got to play a pretty significant part in the episode. Gotta love that. Plus a lot of the recurring characters from throughout SG-1 and SGA popped up. Walter was of course present. I don't think the SGC could continue to function if he wasn't. I also enjoyed that Major Davis popped in. There was even a nice little tribute moment to the late great Don S. Davis.

I was a little worried about the whole Atlantis landing on Earth thing at the end of the episode, but I forgot about their trusty cloak. I loved the fact that they landed the city in the San Francisco Bay, right in view of the Golden Gate Bridge. Good stuff. Plus, Ronon and Amelia!

So, while I am definitely sad to see it go at least they gave us a final episode worthy of the series, and my fingers are crossed that the television movies will come quickly and frequently.

I have hopes for Stargate Universe. So far we've only gotten one casting announcement on top of several character descriptions, some conceptual summaries, and a few episode names. I know based on that a lot of people are freaking out that this will be Stargate 90210 or something, but I don't know, I think that probably character descriptions can only tell you so much. For one thing, there's no way to know how the character is going to even actually turn out until he/she is cast and we see the actor make the roll his/her own. Plus, there's that lovely thing called character development. I mean, did anyone seriously think Rodney McKay would end up becoming one of Stargate's most beloved characters when they were first reading his character description back in the day? I think not. So you never know. But I am definitely curious to find out.

Meanwhile, I am already on to my next burst of obsession. Battlestar Galactica returns with new episodes on Friday and I've gotten it in my head to rewatch the whole series before then. I've already got the miniseries on now. It's only three and a half seasons to watch, and I'll be doing these on DVD, so on my own schedule, rather than the insanity of trying to watch all of the SGA marathons on SciFi last week.

Aren't you all so glad to see I'm not wasting my "retirement" by something silly like cleaning my house? I still totally think Gaeta's the last Cylon, though I saw someone online make an argument for Hoshi, which might work out. He's my new favorite after the current spout of webisodes. I really just want to hug him.

Anyhoo, so that's me at the moment.

Peace,

Sometimes good things can happen to good people.

2009-01-04T11:04:00.004-06:00

So, found out about this exciting piece of news over the weekend. I couldn't be happier to see someone as awesome as Terry Pratchett get knighted, especially given how he's bearing up under his current medical issues. The guy just rocks.

In other British news, they announced the new Doctor Who yesterday. It's this guy. You might be asking yourself, and just who the heck is this Matt Smith? Well, from what I can tell, you're not the only one.

In the interview he gave on BBC One (you can find the link on i09 here), he seems enthusiastic enough. And maybe it's a good thing that they went with a virtual unknown. But geez, he's so freaking young (he's younger than me, and for the purposes of the Doctor, I'd say that's too young). But, I am willing to give him the benefit of the doubt. I will watch and see, and wait to weigh in until then.

I will say this--the guy had better get a haircut before they start filming, because, seriously, look at this:

He's got a very spooky resemblance to Twilight's Robert Pattinson going on, and I am just not digging it. See what I am talking about?

I feel that the Doctor needs at least a little bit more dignity than the latest teenage vampire lust object. I mean, sure, the Doctor can have crazy hair, just not sparkly vampire hair. That's all I am saying.

Let's see...there are a few other updates I've got for you and then I'll be on my merry way.

I am really stoked for Battlestar to start back up on the 16th for its final run--though that is a little bittersweet because it means the end of Atlantis. Final episode is this coming Friday--oh man. I am going to miss that show. SciFi is airing marathons all week though of the series so maybe I'll indulge in those. I have a feeling that once I am caught up on my DVD piles, that may be a series that just gets popped in whenever, over and over. Sigh.

Anyhoo, back on topic. I totally think Gaeta is the final Cylon, though I am willing to accept just about anyone except Roslin...hopefully we won't have to wait too long to find out.

I just started over on Kingdom Hearts last night. I have been playing this game on and off again for the last five years, and I swear that this time I am going to sit down and beat the darn thing. I am determined. I figure the best way is to just start over from scratch and stick with it, rather than give it the sporadic attention I have in the past. Poor Kingdom Hearts II has been sitting on our game shelf unopened for almost two years now because I won't let myself play it until I finish the first one...

I think that's about it for me. I hope all is well with you and that everyone had a fantastic holiday season. Happy 2009! I look forward to our journey this year.

Nothing to report...

2008-12-21T11:11:00.002-06:00

Well, I really don't have too much to say today.

I'm finishing up Saved By the Bell today (just watched the last episode of The College Years and now all I have left is the Wedding in Vegas).

Man, these people exist in a magical universe where time does not proceed in a linear fashion, and that's really all I've got to say about that. And the people who put together the DVD sets weren't any better, you think they would have at least tried to give some sort of order to the stories...but oh well.

Still, worth a watch. One day in the future I look foward to forcing this series on my offspring. Mostly just because I can. And because for the most part I am still pretty convinced that the kids' programming from when I was a youngun is leaps and bounds better than the crap out today.

I haven't really gotten any new TV series on DVD lately, but the movies have been piling up, so once I finish SBTB I will start working on those before I dive into season 2 of Heroes. Here are the movies I have to watch in the next week or so:

Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull

Wanted

The Dark Knight

The Mummy Tomb of the Dragon Emperor

Shaun the Sheep (more a collection of shorts, but still awesome)

The Jane Austen Book Club

Breakfast at Tiffany's

Big Business

Most television shows have gone on hiatus for the next week or two, so that should give me plenty of time for movie-viewing at least.

As I said in an earlier post, if you're not watching Leverage on TNT, I totally recommend it. It's a fun show and the cast plays phenomenally well together. I wouldn't mind getting to run around in that sandbox for a while.

That's about all I've got for you folks.

I wish you a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Stay safe,

Are you watching?

2008-12-17T20:10:00.002-06:00

If you like heist movies (think Ocean's 11 and The Italian Job)--you should be watching Leverage on TNT.

Aside from the absolutely stellar cast as well as some super groovy guest stars so far, the show itself is extremely engaging and entertaining.

So yeah, Leverage. Tuesday nights on TNT.

Check it out, it's great stuff.

Laters,

Definitely not a Pokemon...

2008-12-15T21:16:00.002-06:00

Not a bad wrap-up to this "chapter" of Heroes.

In what may be totally my most favorite Heroes moment ever, we learn that Hiro does not like to be called Pikachu.

Dude.

I'm lovin' it.

Also, I think they gave it a pretty decent set-up for the Fugitives arc. Now I am actually looking forward to seeing how that plays out.

Otay, that is all.

Just let us get to the good stuff already...

2008-12-14T11:32:00.002-06:00

Okay, so today I want to tell you about one of my pet peeves when it comes to television shows on DVDs.

That would be the opening credits. I absolutely can NOT stand it when the chapters are cut so that the opening credits land in the middle of a chapter. Once those credits start rolling you should be able hit that "skip" button on your remote and jump right in to the episode. I am honestly not entirely sure why the DVDs include the opening credits at all, because seriously, it's not like you don't know what show you're watching...

Okay, okay, I know that they need to have the credits on there, I get that. But if you're the kind of person who is going to sit down and watch a whole disc of the series at once, you don't really need to see the credits over and over again.

The only two shows I don't fast forward through the credits for are Psych and Scrubs...and that is because I like their theme songs as actual songs not opening credits.

Sigh, anyhoo. I know I can just suck it up and use the fast forward rather than the skip, but then you risk the whole, "oh darn I went too far, now I have to go back" situation. Ergh.

If you're wondering what brought this on, I've been working my way through the Saved By the Bell DVDs and, as you can guess, they don't give me the option to just skip over the credits.

Other than that though, I am really enjoying rewatching this show. Sometimes reliving your childhood is just the thing to get you through a crazy month.

I hope all is well with everyone!

Have a super week, and whatever you're watching, enjoy!

This is exactly what I was talking about.

2008-12-09T21:05:00.003-06:00

Did you watch Heroes last night? Remember what I was saying about how it's really just ripping off The 4400? Last night was a prime example.

We've now got "enhanced" soldiers being created by a corporation with ties to a dubious government official. The soldiers are being given powers/abilities so they can "protect" the "normal" population from other people with powers/abilities.

Hmm...

Also, they totally stole Chad Faust to be one of the soldiers. Chad was Kyle Baldwin on The 4400. Not that I am complaining about that particular piece of theft or anything. I do not begrudge the guy work and I am perfectly happy to watch him on my screen.

Of course, his arrival is timmed with the exit of Seth Green's character, to which I say boo. Sigh.

Hey, even io9 is pointing out the similarities between the two shows now, kinda.

Seriously though, I have no idea where Heroes is going now. I am truly wondering if it is going to make it to season four. I'm kinda not sure if I want it to or not. I guess we'll just have to see how things play out.

Well, that's all I've got for you.

Have a great one,

Jack Davenport, Joseph Fiennes, AND John Cho?

2008-12-06T11:42:00.002-06:00

Yeah, I will be watching this show. I have no idea if it will be any good or not, but at the moment, don't even care.

Flash Forward update on i09.

Dude.

I know it's wrong but...

2008-12-06T10:30:00.002-06:00

I am two discs in to the final season of The 4400 and already planning on what to start watching next.

(Quick digression: The more I watch The 4400, the more I feel like Heroes totally ripped it off, and in a pretty inferior copy to boot. And I like Heroes, so what does that say about how much I love The 4400?)

Even though I have an embarrassingly huge pile of TV shows on DVD waiting to be watched, I really think I am going to dive into my most recent arrival next. That would be the entire series of Saved By The Bell. Yes, roll your eyes at me, it's okay. I still love the show. At least it's only in half-hour format so it shouldn't take me too long to blaze through.

In personal news, I am hoping to be able to post much more often come 2009. My husband and I made the difficult decision that for my emotional sanity it has come time for me and my employer to part ways. So December 31 is officially my last day at the place of evil. I have been promised I can take the month of January off, and then I will probably start looking for some new work. While it is going to mean some sacrifices on both our parts (sigh, no more new DVDs for me after the January crop I've preordered, to say the least), we are both really happy about this decision.

Here is what I am hoping to spend my upcoming "vacation" doing:

-Catch up on my DVDs

-Crochet

-Play video games

-Catch up on my reading pile (it's as embarrassing as my DVD pile, scarily enough)

-WRITE (I've got at least two stories that I have started and stalled out on that I want to dive back in to)

-Exercise (yes, I know, not really a vacation-y type thing, but I am sorely in need of it, and I will have the time so plan to use it at least a little for good)

So there you go. The new year can't get here fast enough for me.

I hope you all are having a great one, much love.

Until next time,

Jam-packed.

2008-11-29T23:42:00.002-06:00

So I was out of town all week. Most of my shows didn't air but enough did that my DVR is nice and full. I was able to knock out a few shows tonight but I know what I am doing tomorrow for sure.

Plus I've got oodles of movies coming out on DVD this week...oiy. That pile just keeps getting bigger.

Anyhoo, I had a fantastic Thanksgiving vacation. Got to visit with some family I don't get to see very often, dote on my adorable, insanely energetic (and unfortunatetly sick) nephew. My step-mom also treated me, my sis, and my step-sis to a wonderful day at the spa for part of our Christmas presents. Wow. That was a super nice surprise.

So that fifteen hour drive by myself (each way)....totally worth it.

Also, after listening to the audio plays of about 95% of the Chronicles of Narnia, I am totally stoked for Prince Caspian on DVD!

I hope you all had a wonderful week as well!

Until next time,

You can't have any, you're too young.

2008-11-23T14:08:00.002-06:00

If you know what that is from, then you my friend, have pretty decent taste in bad movies.

If you don't, well, totally your loss.

Also, I am having a bit of a face-palm moment here. I have to confess I am currently watching Legally Blonde. Don't look at me like that. I was flipping through the channels looking for something background to watch while I finished playing around on the internet and I just kind of stopped on it...I totally didn't mean to get sucked in, and yet I did.

This is a stupendous piece of fluff. Also, there is an insane amount of tremendously talented people in it.

Aside from Reese Witherspoon and Luke Wilson (you know, Owen Wilson's much more attractive and talented brother), you have:

Oh, and of course, Raquel Welch.

Crazy times people, crazy times. But I think we are approaching the time of year for viewing fluff, so I make no apologies.

Anyhoo, really I am about to dive back into The 4400, so there is some more intellectual viewing on the horizon at least.

It looks like a bunch of my shows just went on hiatus this week until next year. So I should be getting some good quality DVD time in soon. Probably watch Wall-E a few more times as well...

Anyhoo, I hope you all have a fantastic Thanksgiving week and holiday. I am looking forward to having most of the week off, even though I'll be in Tennessee and it's much colder there than here in Texas. Family is worth it.

Take care y'all!

P.S. Also, huzzah for the return of Kavan Smith (not Kevin Smith or even The Other Kevin Smith, may he rest in peace) on Sanctuary Friday night! I love it!

How much do I love this guy?

2008-11-16T12:45:00.003-06:00

I have to say I am really loving Sanctuary. It was fun as a web series and all, but now that they have a (presumably) bigger budget and are a SciFi Channel staple, it seems the show has really been able to find its stride. And while my hopes of seeing more Kavan Smith have come to naught, I have been pleasantly surprised by Ryan Robbins' turn as geeky tech guy Henry.

For fans of genre television, Ryan Robbins is hardly a newcomer. On the SciFi Channel alone you may recognize him as Ladon Radim from Stargate Atlantis:

Or you might recognize him as Charlie Connor from Battlestar Galactica:

He's also appeared on Smallville and on Psych. So clearly, this guy keeps popping up in shows that I watch. But I have to say, he's never really played terribly sympathetic characters in his previous roles.

On Atlantis Ladon first appears with Kolya's strike team to take over Atlantis during the storm in the first season. Then he pops back up as Cowan's lackey in a scheme to steal some puddle jumpers and do research into the ATA gene on Lorne & team. Eventually he overthrows Cowan and takes over the Genii and becomes a tentative ally of Atlantis, but now the Genii are starting to pop up as the potential bad guys again...so, ambigous at best.

While on Battlestar he eventually ends up the friendly neighborhood bartender, after New Caprica he is one of the most fervent of the circle throwing "Cylon collaborators" out of the airlock of the Galactica. I mean he tries to space Gaeta, not exactly something designed to put a character in my good graces.

But Henry in Sanctuary is something else entirely.

My favorite line from all of the episodes so far is when it looks like the team might have to evacuate the Sanctuary in the episode "Nubbins." Henry turns to Dr. Magnus and states "Women and nerds first. Oh wait...that's all of us." Absolutely beautiful. I have to admit, I've got a soft spot for the nerdy tech guys. It's just in my nature. Plus, in this week's episode they revealed that he's some kind of abnormal--a very werewolf like abnormal, in fact. We all know I love super smart nerdy werewolves (see Oz in Buffy).

So all in all I have to say that Henry is definitely my favorite character on Sanctuary so far. And that's saying something, because I really like all of the main characters. Despite their apparently atrocious accents that keep driving the writers at i09 crazy.

And it's not like I'm not getting my Kavan Smith fix elsewhere. I hadn't realized the first time around how many episodes of The 4400 he was actually in. It makes an awesome viewing experience even better...

Alrighty then, that's all I've got for now. Take care!

Really, it's about time.

2008-11-13T06:32:00.002-06:00

I don't know how many Whedonites I've got out there, but if you've been following the coverage of the upcoming Joss Whedon show Dollhouse, then you know that the nay-sayers have been out in full force. It seems like every time I log in someone is saying something somewhere about how the show is just doomed before it has even begun.

Even Joss Whedon's own assurances that, really, things are going pretty groovy, seem to have been largely ignored or taken as a harbinger of death for the show.

So I have to say I was very pleased to see this article on i09 yesterday. It's nice to know that there are still people out there who are actually looking forward to this show with anticipation and who haven't given up on it before it has even aired just because they are afraid it might be cancelled early.

Two pieces of advice people:

-If you don't watch because you think it's going to be cancelled, it will be cancelled.

-Just be frakkin' patient. Wait and see folks, wait and see.

I have all the faith in the world that Joss can pull this off if we let him. He is, after all, a genius. That's why we love him.

Laters,

And cue the lightbulb over my head...

2008-11-12T20:49:00.003-06:00

So, I just saw this article about the new pilot HBO has greenlit for their mini-series based on the George R. R. Martin series "A Song of Fire and Ice." This led to a cartoon type moment of illumination. I mentioned I've been watching the Legend of the Seeker series. The reason I started watching it was because for some reason I was thinking it was the Fire and Ice series which I had heard rumors of a while back. I have read a few short stories set in that universe (in the wonderful anthologies "Legends" that Robert Silverberg puts together). I really felt like this was a universe I could fall right into. But I could never remember the name and for some reason the Legend of the Seeker synopsis sounded familiar to me.

Of course about five minutes in I realized the series was based on a different set of novels than the ones I was thinking about, but I figured maybe I had just imagined the wrong series was getting a television shot. Silly me. Oh well. Anyhoo. Huzzah for the Fire and Ice pilot, and the fact that it is HBO that optioned it. This could bode well. Fingers crossed that it actually gets picked up. Of course that means I might have to make sure I keep HBO around...but maybe it will be available on iTunes... They are planning to follow the same story arc that my husband and I keep hoping someone will do with the Wheel of Time series--a novel a season. If this works out maybe WOT is only a few years behind!

Other random musings from this week:

I realized last night I have no idea why I actually watch Boston Legal, only that now that I've started, I can't seem to stop. I mean, I enjoy it and all, but I really am only watching it out of habit.

I also realized that my favorite two procedural shows are hands down Bones (for the tracking down the bad guys/forensics aspect) and Eli Stone (for the "law" aspect, though that show maybe applies the term loosely). These are both excellent shows that are so far managing to fly pretty much under the radar but are maybe better off for that fact.

Also, Fringe is freaking incredible.

That is all.

I think I will go watch some Young Hercules and try to untangle a skein of yarn before bed. Ooh, don't I live large?

Peace y'all,

Nostalgia, I have it...

2008-11-09T13:06:00.002-06:00

Alrighty, have any of you found the new series Legend of the Seeker yet? It's airing on the CW on Saturdays here, and came just in time to fill the void left by Primeval's season finale.

It is based (apparently very loosely) on the Terry Goodkind series "The Sword of Truth." I haven't really read this series, but it falls right in to my niche of fantasy, so I thought I'd give the television series a shot.

I actually enjoyed it quite a bit. It was fun and silly and, to me, just a piece of entertaining fluff with awesome costumes and kickass swordfights. Sometimes you can't ask for more than that, really. It's something you can eat popcorn to. Every once in a while we need that kind of mindless fun I think. I was not the least little bit surprised to see that Sam Raimi had served as the executive producer for the first episode, either. This totally has the feel of Hercules and Xena to it. It is exactly that genre.

So after watching the show I of course had to go look it up on IMDB to figure out where I knew half of the actors from. Turns out several of them were in the new Star Wars movies, the Lord of the Rings trilogy, and Young Hercules. In finding this information I also made the delightful discovery that the entire series of Young Hercules is available to watch on Hulu. Dude.

This show came out the first semester of my freshman year of college and by sheer providence I somehow stumbled across it and instantly fell in love. For one thing, it was set in Ancient Greece and deeply steeped in Greek mythology, and at that point I was totally planning for the emphasis of my history major to be Western Civilization, primarily Ancient Greece and Egypt (though as fate would have it my emphasis ended up being British Empire, but hey, I still love Western Civ). For another, it starred Ryan Gosling. He hadn't been in a whole lot by that point but what he had been in was the Mickey Mouse Club revamp MMC, which I had of course been somewhat obsessed with throughout high school. Hey, I was a teenage girl, it was my thing.

So while last week at this time I would have expected that today I would be completely embroiled in The 4400, I actually got somewhat sidetracked and have been watching Young Hercules most of the week...I have to say I am really enjoying the blast from the past. It may be pure cheese, but that makes it no less entertaining. So if you feel like watching a young leather-clad Ryan Gosling galivanting around fighting mischevious gods, head on over to Hulu. Two caveats though--the episodes are listed all out of order on Hulu, but IMDB has them listed by air date, so you can use that as a reference if seeing things in a linear fashion is your preference. Also, Hulu claims that the first season of this show is available on DVD and it totally isn't (or I would own it already). What is available is the backdoor pilot for the series which was worked into the original Hercules series and stars some completely different actor as the young hero. It may make the rest of the series make more sense, but it's not Ryan Gosling, so my interest is limited.

Anyhoo. I'll probably get back on track with The 4400 this week though, since I am about to start a big crochet project, and I can't really work on that while sitting in front of the laptop...

Also, saw the new Kevin Smith flick Zack and Miri Make a Porno as well as Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa last night. I enjoyed both very much. November is kind of a crazy movie month. I am also looking forward to Twilight and Bolt.

Hey, I never actually claimed to have good taste...

You guys take care,

There might just be some life there yet...

2008-11-02T18:30:00.002-06:00

So, I think I like the American version of Life on Mars so far. I know, I am as surprised as anyone about that.

Watching it is kind of like watching the Dresden Files television series after reading the books. The core elements are the same, but everything is just shifted a bit. The concept for an episode may have the same original origin, but the actual story that gets told is quite a bit different. The characters you expect are there--but they don't necessarily look or act quite like you expect them to. It's a little unsettling, but if you can just accept it, both can be enjoyed as completely separate entities. Other than the same name and premise, one really doesn't have anything to do with the other.

The American producers have often said they plan to go in a completely different direction than the British series, and I wasn't too sure what they meant by that, but now it's a little more clear. We do know that Sam isn't in the past for the same reasons in the new series as in the original, that much has been flat out stated. So, not a coma. American Sam is also reacting very differently, in my mind, to his situation than British Sam did, as far as figuring out what's going on and such. Also, he is kind of strong-arming the others about his futureness in a very different way. Whereas British Sam mostly just said, okay, let's try this type of police technique, because really, I swear it works (i.e., surveillance), American Sam tells his nemesis that Soylent Green is really people before said nemesis can see the movie and implores televised Nixon to just resign already.

I am a little worried that because, so far, we have had many of the same origins for the episode plots there might still end up being a key party episode. Oh dear God, please not. Grr. Sigh. Though the honey-trap scene was so much better executed in the new version--at least if you discount the incongruity of that scene in the first place (with both versions--it just doesn't work with Sam Tyler--with who he is).

I would agree with a lot of the critics' complaints that the show is spending way too much time pointing out what the producers feel like were the problems with America in the 70's (and using Sam's unique position to compare those issues with current-day events and ideaologies). That's gonna get old. But maybe the producers can get that out of their systems sooner rather than later and we'll all be better off.

My other big complaint about the show (and here I really differ with the critics) is how much they are playing up Lisa Bonet's role in the show. Okay, yes, I know people are excited that she is back in television. Great for her. Here's the problem. She is the modern day girlfriend of someone who is stuck in the past. There's not going to be any place for her in this series except for in flashbacks unless they somehow decide to get her to time-travel back to Sam. While I might be curious to see how that plot device would play out, I really don't think that's what's going to happen. And you have to be very careful with flashbacks--I can't see where in this story Sam's relationship with Maya could be crucial to his current situation. But then again, maybe I just lack vision. I honestly just feel that if the producers wanted to make this Bonet's big return to television they should have either cast her in a bigger role or decided to make Maya some kind of spirit guide for Sam in his journey to the past (maybe in the vein of Al from Quantum Leap, perhaps), rather than using those nifty little robot toys to presage Sam's weird moments of import/clarity/realization with regards to his circumstances. I'm just sayin.

However, for me, the "pros" column is definitely longer than the "cons" for sure. My three favorite aspects, in no particular order, are:

-The complete and total lack of that creepy little girl in the television. Good riddance!

-Windy, the hippy neighbor who has just invited herself into Sam's life and is serving as his sounding board. I am still not sure if she's real or just a hallucination of Sam's, but she rocks either way.

-The soundtrack. They are really making excellent use of the wealth of good music that did manage to come about in that era. I continue to be extremely impressed in that regard.

All in all, I am definitely along for the ride. I don't think I'll be heartbroken if the show doesn't make it past the first season, but if it does, I will definitely be watching. I am just crossing my fingers that the show runners understand that, differences or not, this is still a story that needs to have a pre-planned story arc and a definite ending in sight. This show can not be good if they try to stretch it out for as many seasons as possible, it just can't. It is a very story driven idea and the story has to have an ending.

That's my two cents. Until next time, folks,

Not much of anything...

2008-10-19T12:37:00.004-05:00

I don't have a whole lot to say today. Maybe it's just because I am in dire need of lunch, but my writing muse seems to have buggered off.

I had the day off from work on Thursday and I finally got to do my Star Wars marathon that I have been meaning to have since August. I watched Episodes I, II, and III all in a row. It was wonderful.

I know most people didn't like them, but really there was no way that they were going to be able to live up to the originals because there were 20 + years in between the sets for people to build up their expectations.

For my money, I just love them because I still think they're fun, even though I will admit they are much darker in tone than the original trilogy. But anyone watching them is watching from a point of knowing that these three are leading us into the bad times that start off the original films, and things do get better from there. So the darkness, in my mind, is necessary. There are still plenty of spaceships and light saber fights and cool droids. Plus you've got R2-D2 being awesome as always and Ewan MacGregor managing to make Obi-Wan Kenobi sexy. Shouldn't be possible, totally is.

My marathon did have one random side effect though. It made watching the new Clone Wars episode last night a little odd. The voices seemed more off to me than they normally do because I had so recently seen the actors they are trying to sound like. Also it was just bizarre watching the clones be so essential to the fighting and so depended on, and liked, by the Jedi and the Republic. I know that they are the foundation of the Storm Troopers, but still...I really was digging the clones. It's a little harder to do though so fresh off of the "Execute Order 66" scene. Oh well. Probably by next week it will be okay again. I hope so, cuz it looks like the next episode is very clone-centric.

Let's see, what else? Oh, saw The Duchess Friday night. I really enjoyed it. Even though, as is usually the case with the very long and beautiful Kiera Knightly period pieces, I realized I had to pee a third of the way through, but being stubborn, waited until the film was over to go. Ergh.

Seriously though, it was a very good movie. If you enjoy films like Gosford Park or Atonement, I highly recommend it. Not necessarily if you're taking your friend out the night before she's getting married though...not a good "happy marriage" thoughts movie. It definitely made me glad we no longer live in the era of arranged marriages, or of pre-20th century undergarments, come to think of it.

Anyway, lunch is calling my name. I wish you all a spectacular week!

Wow...

2008-10-12T10:46:00.004-05:00

So it has been a very long time since a television show has actually given me a jaw-dropping moment, but I had one this past Friday while watching Stargate Atlantis.

(Major spoiler coming up if you haven't seen the episode and don't want to know what happened before you do).

The episode was the conclusion of a two-parter that involved Dr. Daniel Jackson coming to Atlantis (yay!) in search of Janus the Ancient's secret lab. He enlists Rodney's help and they find the lab, only to accidentally alert some mysterious race on some far off planet to this fact when Rodney's ATA gene wakes up every device in the lab.

We join this episode with Rodney having realized what nasty side-effect is caused by the Ancient Wraith-destroying device he is forced to turn on by the mysterious aliens. That side-effect is that all of the Stargates in the Pegasus galaxy will blow up when turned on while the device is running--as we found out in Atlantis. Thankfully Sheppard and Zelenka were the only ones in the control room when the gate blew and they were able to take cover before that happened. Meanwhile on the Daedalus Todd the Wraith has taken over the ship because he thinks the Lanteans lured his people into a trap in order to use this Ancient device on them, even though no one on the crew has any idea what is going on. Keller and Ronon managed to avoid capture and are working to take back the ship.

So, really, a lot going on. In the course of things everyone ends up at the planet that Rodney and Daniel were abducted to and it becomes a race to turn off the device/destroy the facility without killing the missing scientists in the process. We even get to see the Travellers again, and not just Laren, but apparently another hot female ship captain. Sheppard must really have it bad for Laren though because he doesn't even flirt with the new chick, just asks if Laren ever talks about him. But Rodney and Daniel manage to turn off the device, while getting Daniel pretty much electrocuted, Sheppard and the Travellers (with their very Kaylee-esque engineer) manage to save the Daedalus from its collision course with the planet, which it was put in by Todd as he and the other Wraith escaped in the 302's, leaving the humans to fend for themselves. Then Woosley, in a particularly bad-ass moment (though maybe in a bit of overkill) has the facility bombed anyway once Daniel and Rodney are safely aboard the ship.

Before escaping and doing their part to save the day however, Daniel and Rodney make the discovery that was the cause of my previously mentioned jaw-dropping. Turns out the bad guys were Asgard. Yeah, the little grey aliens are back, only these guys are much more evil than their now extinct counterparts that we in the Milky Way knew and loved. I don't even know if evil is the right word. Just selfish bastards really. They wanted to turn on the Wraith destructo beam so they could move freely about the galaxy, even though they knew about the exploding Stargate side-effect of the device. They don't use the Stargates, and what do a few million human lives matter if they can fly around without worrying about defending themselves from Wraith. Seriously, did not see that coming. Even Loki wasn't that bad. He at least returned his victims back home with nothing more than a few disturbing memories.

All in all this was a truly excellent episode. It wasn't as predictable as it can be (not that I have a problem with that as long as it is entertaining), and Jackson makes an excellent addition to the Atlantis crew. He and Rodney have a wonderful bit of screen chemistry going. Sigh. I know Shanks wants to move on past the role of Daniel Jackson but he's just so good at it. Logically, in the world of these stories, Daniel Jackson ends up in Atlantis. I just wish real life would let it work out that way too, but alas. But I digress. Seriously, it saddens me that this is the last season of Atlantis, because they seem to be finding a really awesome stride. Of course, that could be only because it is the last season and they figure they don't have anything to lose.

My other Friday night viewing was pretty enjoyable as well. I felt like this episode of Sanctuary was maybe a little too full of information (seriously, ten minutes until the end of the episode I thought it would be a "to be continued" but then they managed to wrap everything up in those ten minutes), but it was still fun. Next week begins brand new territory though and I am really looking foward to that. I am also totally digging Clone Wars. It is everything a Star Wars cartoon should be, IMO. There are lots of space ship battles, lots of light-saber fights, lots and lots of expositional dialog that could be so much better written...plus there's R2-D2. I love R2-D2.

I was setting my DVR for this week and I see that a large chunk of my shows will not be coming on due to MLB on Fox. But we do get a new Fringe at least. Guess I'll be working through some DVDs this week maybe.

I hope everyone is doing dandy. Until next time!

Tentative "Hurrah!"

2008-10-10T06:29:00.002-05:00

So, I actually kind of dug the first episode of American Life On Mars. I am still withholding judgement though, because the first episode had to be pretty damn near spot on the original series' first episode just to set up the story. I'll have to wait and see if I still like it once they've really started deviating from the original series. Although at this point that is possibly a good thing, maybe it will be like BSG, take the idea but go your own direction with it...

At any rate, we'll see, won't we? Fingers crossed that the deviation from the original series means excluding that whole key party episode entirely. One can hope.

Happy Friday y'all.

Peace,

Sanctuary, Star Wars, and Geeks, oh my!

2008-10-05T13:16:00.003-05:00

I have been so worthless this weekend. I spent most of yesterday watching Birds of Prey and finished up the series. Good stuff. Sigh. I would have been very curious to see how the series ended up progressing if it had been picked up for a second season. I think that it would have been quite interesting to have Batman make a brief reappearance in New Gotham and have a showdown of sorts with Huntress. I wonder if that ever happened in the comic? Hmm...now I have a new comic series to think about getting into. As if the forthcoming Farscape comics weren't enough.

Did you catch the premiere of Clone Wars on Cartoon Network this weekend? I really enjoyed it. Like the movie, I felt it was just a nice bit of fun in the way that the original trilogy was. There's nothing groundbreaking and no shocking new information, but it's characters we know (and sometimes love) just doing their thing. It's pure entertainment with no higher value or deeper meaning. Frankly, that's all I want out of a Star Wars cartoon. Well, that and Yoda completely kicking droid butt. Good stuff. I will be continuing to watch this one. Perfect weekend fodder.

Also caught the premiere of Sanctuary on SciFi. I loved it. I don't know how many of you watched the web series when it was online a year and a half back, but I was really into it. The television premiere was a much expanded and reworked version of the first eight webisodes--the central origin point of the story. It was fascinating to see what they changed and what they kept the same, plus getting to see it on my big screen as opposed to my laptop was just wonderful.

I have heard so many people complaining about Amanda Tapping's British accent on the show, and I have to say, I don't feel these people are actually watching the show. I am no judge on how good or bad her accent may be, but honestly, I find it difficult to believe that such a trivial detail is what people are focusing on. I mean, there is some really incredible special effects work going on (something like 90% + of the show is shot on green screen) and I think the story is very engaging. But that could just be me. Although apparently enough people felt the same way to get the web series promoted to a full-on television series.

A few differences of note: Kavan Smith's cop character was promoted to an actual detective, and from the way they were setting him up, I have hopes that he might make more appearances down the road. Huzzah! With Atlantis going away, I have to get my Lorne fix somewhere after all. They did completely write out David Hewlett's psycho killer character, but I am hoping that means they may bring him back in a different role at a later date. Much as I am hoping that the fact that the arms dealer, originally played by Peter Deluise, being recast means that said Deluise might be back later on in a different capacity as well. Of course I am fully aware that most of the recasting probably had as much to do with who was available now as it does with changes to the story arcs and such. I really am excited to see where it goes.

One thing they kept the same that I have to say I am very happy about is Ryan Robbins' character of Henry. He plays exactly the kind of tech guy/nerd/smartass that I just want to hug. I love it. You may know him better as Ladon Radim on Stargate Atlantis or from his appareances as the bartender on Battlestar Galactica. I am happy to see him whenever he pops up, but I think his role on Sanctuary is my favorite. I like him much more when he's not throwing Cylon collaborators out of an airlock or faking Lorne & team's deaths so he can do genetic research on them...

Also, looks like Christopher Heyerdahl's character of Jack the Ripper is going to be playing a much bigger part in the series than I originally would have guessed. You've got to love a present day monster-series that includes Jack the Ripper. From what I understand, they might even be bringing Sherlock Holmes in at some point. Excellent. Besides, Heyerdahl is just kind of an incredible actor. I think he's probably good to have around. Stargate fans know him as both Halling and Todd the Wraith from Atlantis. He also did a stint on Smallville as Clark's crazy Kryptonian uncle Zor-El.

That may be one of my favorite things about this series, honestly. Aside from Amanda Tapping, the main roles are pretty much unknowns to me, but all of the guest and recurring characters are a veritable who's who of sci-fi actors. It means more chances for me to get to play my little trivia game.

Anyhoo, as you can tell, I was very pleased with the new product. Looks like next week's episode wraps up the last of the stories told on the original online run, and after that we'll start to get into brand new territory. I can't wait!

In other news, I did give The IT Crowd a shot and loved it. It was a perfect combination of nerd and British humor. So I will be adding that to my lineup. Good thing Tuesday's aren't that crowded for me. Also, it reminded me to be nicer to the IT guys at my office. Seriously, it's a bad idea to get on the wrong foot with the people who make your computers function.

And last but not least, my hubby and I have been making our way through Freaks and Geeks whenever we get the chance to watch some DVDs together. We're up to episode six I think. It baffles my mind how many brilliant shows just get killed before their time because they don't appeal to the Deal or No Deal crowd. I think the networks have lost sight of the actual purpose that should be served by television and are just aiming to make money these days, apparently at the cost of their souls. Sigh. Okay, will end rant before it can get a full head of steam.

It is a little weird (in a fun way) watching this show now that John Francis Daley is a regular on Bones. In some ways I kind of feel like his character of Sam Weir on F&G could totally have grown up to be his character of Dr. Sweets on Bones. I want to give them both a hug either way.

Well, that's all I've got for you. Methinks I will start watching season two of Eureka today. I can get my Fargo fix so I'll last until the show comes back next year.

Take care all.

Digging myself out...

2008-09-30T13:25:00.002-05:00

Well, a week of vacation during fall premiere season means I came back to a mountain of DVR'd programs waiting for me. I have been wading my way through those, and will hopefully finish up tonight.

I found out the Britcom "The IT Crowd" is premiering on IFC tonight, so I am going to give that one a try. It sounds like it might be right up my alley and was recommended by a friend to boot.

I did catch a few movies while I was out of town.

Burn After Reading:

Loved it! Brad Pitt may have some issues in his personal life, but the dude can act. I love that he is equally at home being the suave action star, the sexy chick-flick hero, and the affable doofus. Obviously he opted for doofus in this one, and man it worked. This is a great story about how things can spiral out of control so easily, as well as how you never really realize just how connected everyone you know is to everyone else you know. It takes a fairly dark turn about 2/3 of the way through but still manages not to lose any of its humor. Also, J.K. Simmons may just be one of my heroes. He can be Skoda or Pope on the serious procedureal shows, but he has no problem turning around doing something off the cuff like Juno or Burn After Reading. If you like the Big Lebowski, you'll love Burn After Reading. It's that kind of awesome.

Sex and the City the movie:

Liked it okay. I am starting to get jaded by the contrivances television and movies come up with to keep couples apart, because apparently they think that's the only interesting type of story for the audiences. But other than that I did enjoy this film. It was basically just a long episode of the series. We got to catch up with our favorite characters, find out what they've been up to, and see where they're going now. Good stuff. Probably if you enjoyed the series, you'll like the movie.

Everything Is Illuminated:

Wow. This is a quirky story about a young Jewish man (played by Elijah Wood, who is incredible in the role) who travels to the Ukraine to try to find the woman that helped his grandfather get to America during WWII. The plot itself draws from rather serious material, and the events that unfold are also in that vein, but the film manages to still retain a very light and enjoyable tone. There is so much heart in this movie. It also gives a very interesting perspective on how the Jews who stayed in Eastern Europe coped (or didn't) with what happened during the war. It's based on a novel, and I think it's a true story, so I would be curious to read the source material. History buffs and people who enjoy movies that make them think will probably dig this one.

That's about all I've got for you this week.

Is anyone else digging the new season of Heroes? I have now seen the first two (technically 3) episodes and I have to say I kind of feel like it's back. I know that not everyone is sharing my opinion though, because Looking For Group's creator was expressing his disappointment in a post today. But I honestly have been pretty pleasantly surprised so far. Of course, I've also been enjoying Smallville, so I am not entirely sure what that says about me....

'Til next time folks,

Maybe it's a little derivative...

2008-09-20T23:11:00.003-05:00

I read an interesting article over on SyFyPortal the other day. The writer was discussing the fact that he makes it a personal mission to watch everything even remotely genre related that comes out in order to support the continuation of sci-fi on television. He was discussing the new season and laying out which shows he will watch live and which ones he will watch later that night on his DVR and which ones he'll just hold off until he's got a few he can watch in a block, et cetera.

I was highly amused by this article, not the least because one of my first thoughts was, "Oh yay, I'm not the only one that has this problem!" Or not even problem per se, but more just the fact that I'm glad I'm not the only person around who is so methodical about how they approach their television viewing. I was actually doing something similar not too long ago when I realized all of the new television shows were coming back. Of course, I don't solely watch genre shows, and I don't watch every genre show, so my list definitely looks a bit different than his does. Really my only crazy night is Monday, although Thursday is kind of full as well.

So I thought I'd throw my two cents on the table and give a rundown of what my viewing schedule looks like this season.

Sunday:

Family Guy on Fox, and that's it. I like this show, but for some reason I always need to psych myself up to watch it. Also, this is one I prefer to watch with my husband if possible. So this is one I'll probably watch live sometimes, if I am thinking about it and not otherwise engaged when it comes on, otherwise I'll just DVR it and catch it later.

Monday:

7 PM--Big Bang Theory and How I Met Your Mother on CBS, Sarah Connor Chronicles on Fox, and Chuck on NBC. As you can see, that's three things at once for a whole hour, and I still have the DVR that will only record two. So, conundrum. I had to think about whether it would be SCC or Chuck that gets watched online, as I learned last season that on Monday nights I am going to be most likely to want to watch the CBS comedies live. Eventually I had to relegate Chuck to internet viewing because SCC is just a show that needs to be watched on a big screen.

8 PM--Heroes on NBC and Boston Legal on ABC. I'll probably watch Heroes live and catch Boston Legal on the DVR. I wasn't 100 % impressed by Heroes season two, but I didn't think it was nearly the disaster everyone else seemed to believe it was, so I think I am sticking with this one live for now.

Tuesday:

7 PM--Coupling on BBC America. This show is in reruns (of course, as it is no longer airing) but sometime over the summer it has become pretty much my favorite sitcom ever, so I will be watching this live if I can, though it is just as good recorded.

8 PM--Fringe on Fox. Loving. This. Show. Will, of course, be watching live.

9 PM--Eli Stone on ABC. This is a cute quirky show and I can't wait to see where the second season goes. I will probably end up watching live, but as my self-imposed bedtime on work nights is 10 PM, I may end up catching this one later some weeks.

Wednesday:

7 PM--Bones on Fox. Will be watching this one live, of course. I will probably use Wednesday as my mid-week catch up night to watch all of my DVR'd shows around this one.

Thursday:

7 PM--My Name is Earl on NBC and Smallville on the CW. Wow, this is a toughie. Unless season four of earl is way better than season three was, I probably don't want to watch this one live, and I really don't like 30 Rock, so if I do watch live, I've got nothing to do until 8. I was surprisingly not completely nonplussed by Smallville's season opener this week though, so probably I will watch this one live until it just gets too stupid to bear and I don't watch anything live in the 7 o'clock hour.

8 PM--The Office on NBC and Grey's Anatomy on ABC. Okay, yeah, The Office may be one of my favorite shows, but GA, as soapy as it is, just makes me happy, so probably I'll watch that one live. Also, I love watching The Office with my hubby, so that may become a Sunday afternoon view.

9 PM--Life on Mars on ABC. I am going to try it. We'll see. May or may not watch live, depending on if it's any good at all as well as how pooped I am.

Friday:

8 PM--Sanctuary on SciFi. Oh, huzzah! It looks like they're airing the reworking of the two original online episodes as the opener, and then everything after that will be all new. I am truly excited about this show, both to get to see it on a bigger screen, and to get to see more of it.

9 PM--Stargate Atlantis on SciFi. Sigh, it's the last season, but they're running it all the way through, most likely to be replaced by the concluding chapters of Battlestar Galactica in January. But yeah, unless I'm out actually having a life, I'll be there watching it.

Saturday:

8 PM--Primeval on BBC America. This show is just fun. I think they're just running seasons one and two all the way through and then I don't know what. Hopefully either new episodes of the shortened Torchwood season three or new episodes of Primeval season three if there is one, or perhaps they'll run Merlin for us. Because, man am I excited about that and I sure hope it comes to BBCA.

So there you go. Wow, don't you think I need to get a life now? I mean, obviously, I do have the DVR so should I wish to go out and do stuff or actually be social, I can just record and watch later. Though weekends are usually catch-up and DVD territory.

I can say things will definitely get interesting in January when Burn Notice, Psych, Monk, the Closer, Eureka, and maybe In Plain Sight all come back from hiatus. Ooh boy. Then will the juggling begin. Plus Dollhouse and Scrubs. Of course, I am sure some shows will get put on a break, moved around, or even canceled by then, so maybe there will be room for everyone.

Anyhoo, there's not a whole lot else going on. I have been blazing through DVDs this week (watched all of Jericho and Psych's second seasons and started on Birds of Prey). At this point I am just procrastinating packing for my trip. Mostly because I know the cats are all laying on top of the clothes I laid out, maliciously making sure we remember them while we're gone via cat hair. Sigh.

I guess I am off to do that. Hope you guys have a fantastic week!

Ciao,

Fire up the DVR...

2008-09-14T10:28:00.002-05:00

Because fall premiere season is here.

Mostly just on Fox, but the other networks are starting to wake up too.

Monday saw the return of The Terminator: Sarah Connor Chronicles. I really enjoyed it. They are doing a good job of setting up where the new season will go. We also had some interesting character pair ups in this venture--Derek and Charlie working together to find the Connors, the FBI agent whose name I have forgotten with Cromartie. I think the thing that I love about this series (and about the Terminator franchise in general) is that there is so much wriggle room because at heart it is a time-travel story. The characters and the audience have been told "this is what the future is, now we have to try to change it." But there is no way to know if the actions they take will be able to prevent the cataclysm or if it is those very events that actually bring the apocalypse on. Trippy. Gotta love it. I can't see how anyone who isn't a fan of the Terminator movies could possibly get into this show, but other than that, I think it has real promise. I don't know where it's going, but I'm in the car and I'm willing to enjoy the ride for now.

Tuesday we got the series premiere of Fringe. I have to say, I wasn't honestly expecting too much, but I really dug it. If you missed it and are at all interested, Fox is reairing it tonight. I really enjoyed the set up of bringing the cast together. I already find myself interested in getting to know these characters better. Plus, there' s a cow. The show has gotten some flak about the cow, but I for one think it's a nice little dose of humor, and I am all for running jokes. Besides, I think a lab cow makes for a much better visual element than lab mice, and monkeys fling their poo. Most of the reviews I have read in the aftermath of the episode haven't been too big on the show, but everyone I've talked to that watched it loved it, so take that as you will. I haven't seen any of Lost, but a friend who is a big fan reacted to the first episode by saying "J. J.'s back!" So there you go.

This week Smallville returns. Sigh. I will be watching, but my hopes, they are not up. Still, they are going to have Clark and Lois working together at the planet, and I believe they are adding the Green Arrow to the full cast, so maybe there is some hope. At least one hot guy who's not whiny.

On the DVD side, I wrapped up watching Degrassi The Next Generation season six last night. About halfway through the season, I felt like the show had to be coming to an end, so imagine my surprise when a quick IMDB search revealed that not only was there a season seven, but that season eight is scheduled to air this fall. What? Sigh. Season seven made a little more sense after I finished this one, because it only ran for half of a school year, but I am a little dubious of where they are going to go with season eight. We are fast approaching "Saved by the Bell the College Years" or 90210 after everyone "grew up" (yeah, that's in quotes, if you watched the show, you know why). Please, Canada, don't let this become your Smallville!

Sigh, well, that's about all I got for you today.

Have a good one!

You know, culture.

2008-09-07T10:37:00.002-05:00

I haven't done too much television watching this weekend. My husband treated me to a special surprise on Friday night that turned out to be a local stage performance of West Side Story, which is my favorite musical ever.

I was really impressed with the show. If you're in the DFW area and you love a good musical, go check it out if you get the chance. It's showing at the Lyric Stage in Irving and runs through September 14.

They are using the original choreography, which is pretty spiffy. Man, every time I watch West Side Story, be it on stage or the film adaptation, I am always a little surprised with how balletic it is. It actually usually drives me crazy for the first fifteen minutes or so until I get completely wrapped up in the story and forget to be annoyed that street thugs are dancing like Baryshnikov.

This crew had it together though. I was very impressed by the entire cast (even though it took me a little bit to get won over by Tony), and the minimalist set designs were used to perfection. Good stuff.

As if that wasn't enough, last night we got to go to the Maroon 5/Counting Crows concert out at the Coca-ColaSmirnoffStarSuperPagesPlex.com Center (if you're not from DFW, don't ask). The concert was phenomenal, I have to say. We caught Maroon 5 on the side stage at Edgefest several years back and they put on such an outstanding show. I am pleased to say that blowing up into huge superstardom has not detracted from that at all. In fact, now we have the added bonus of cool laser effects. And then Counting Crows...wow. There are many reasons I love this band, let me tell you. Every show is so completely different. They went pretty mellow for this set. We got an incredible rendition of Anna Begins, a gorgeous Long December, and a very pretty Mr. Jones. Then they ramped it up a little bit for the end, and they had the opening act, August Ana (who I was also very impressed by) come out and help them for the encore, which was Rain King. Man, that was freaking incredible. I was hoping someone would have it up on YouTube by now so I could link to it, but I don't see anything. The show just flew by. I couldn't believe it was over when the lights came on.

So as you can tell, I've had a pretty darn good weekend, entertainment-wise. In the DVD world, I've got one disc left of Crossing Jordan's freshman season, which I am hoping to finish up today. I have got to say, I am finding it pretty surprising. I started watching the show about halfway through season three, I think. So going back and watching it from the beginning is truly an interesting experience. It amazes me how overplayed some of the characters seem at the beginning--for example Jordan really needs to be smacked on several occasions she is so rebellious, and Woody is just so sweet and innocent hometown boy I am not sure what to think. Knowing that the characters, and the show itself, do eventually find their groove and are able to settle down a bit has been reasurring to me though. Once I was able to get over that element I have been able to enjoy the season for what it is. I wish that Mahershalalhashbaz Ali's character had stuck around, because I am really digging him, but I guess I can't begrudge him leaving, since it meant he was off to be in The 4400. It's nice to see some stuff from later seasons getting set up (such as Bug and Lily), and freaky to see some of the places that they tried to go at the beginning (such as Macy and Lily--ew). You never know what you're going to get when you go back to the beginning of a show that you stumbled into the middle of, but in this case, I'd say it's not too shabby.

The fall season has started to kick in, most notably on Fox. I guess they are getting their shows started early to make room for all of the American Idol interruptions to come (boo). Bones started up this past Wednesday. It was an interesting episode, but it defintely was the stand alone it was intended to be. Nothing terribly exciting happened. I did enjoy the guest stint by Indira Varma though. It will be interesting to see what kind of seasonal story arc gets set up in this week's episode.

Sarah Connor Chronicles start back up tomorrow, yay! And Tuesday I think I am going to give Fringe a try.

I hope you all enjoy your week and wish you good viewing.

Laters,

I mean, really, who needs narcotics?

2008-08-31T11:57:00.004-05:00

Not me, not when there are shows like Twin Peaks out there.

Agent Dale Cooper:
"Harry, I have no idea where this will lead us, but I have a definite feeling it will be a place both wonderful and strange."

I just finished watching this brilliant epic last night. Wow, what a strange and bizarre ride.

From the series finale, it seems pretty clear to me that the creators didn't know that they weren't going to get renewed for a third season, and so I wasn't entirely satisfied with the ending, but other than that, I have to say that I enjoyed this series a whole lot more than I expected to.

The whole story revolves around this strange small town of Twin Peaks, Washington and how it is forever changed by the murder of beloved high school student Laura Palmer. Season one and the first half of season two focus mainly on the investigation of Laura's murder. I addition to the local law enforcement, FBI Agent Dale Cooper (Kyle MacLachlan) has been sent to the town to work on the case, as it bears strong resemblance to another murder the FBI had previously investigated (and clearly not solved). It seems like everyone in town has some sort of involvement in the case, and at the very least, everyone knows something about Laura Palmer that they aren't telling. In addition to the central storyline, there are enough affairs, devious plots, shady business deals, and teen angst moments to keep any soap opera busy for a decade. If that wasn't enough, there are also then the giants, homicidal spirits, possible aliens, bizarre shared dreams, and mythical Native American entrances to the next world(s). And every freaking thing seems to be somehow connected to every other freaking thing. Plus, the police sheriff's name is Harry S. Truman, and there's a lady with a log.

Seriously, I could probably watch this series two more times through and still not be clear on everything that's going on. I'll confess I never watched the X-Files, but I am convinced this show paved the way for that one to have any chance on the air. I am equally convinced that if someone had tried to pitch this show to a network today, they would have been shot down cold. It is just plain weird. But weird doesn't mean bad. I'll admit to approaching this show with a skeptical outlook, but while it took me most of the first season, I did find myself utterly hooked by the end. I can totally understand why people still talk about trying to revive this show (though I honestly don't think it will ever happen).

Story aside, this series had an absolutely phenomenal cast. I've never really cared for Kyle MacLachlan, my previous exposure to him had mostly consisted of his role as Charlotte's first husband on Sex and the City. But his stint as Dale Cooper has given me a newfound appreciation for the actor. As strange as I found the character, he was played with such an affable quirky honesty that I couldn't help but like him, and respect the actor for playing him.

Other series regulars included the likes of Piper Laurie, a disturbingly healthy looking Lara Flynn Boyle, Don S. Davis (playing an Air Force Major engaged in "deep space telemmetry"--i.e., looking for aliens, beautiful), Mary Jo Deschanel (mother to Emily and Zooey), Ray Wise, Russ Tamblyn, and Kimmy Robertson.

Then we have the guest stars--Billy Zane, Heather Graham, Miguel Ferrer, Robyn Lively (Teen Witch!), Royce D. Applegate, Ted Raimi, Willie Garson, and of course David Duchovny. And these lists are just people I recognized from things.

With all of the people running around Twin Peaks, there was truly a character for everyone. I think my two favorite regular characters were Deputies Andy and Hawk. They just really seemed to flesh things out for me. My favorite guest character, was, of course, David Duchovny's cross-dressing DEA agent. That guy has done some weird stuff, but this was perhaps the most awesome, IMHO. I also enjoyed Miguel Ferrer's condescending FBI agent as well.

As weird as it was, I am truly glad that I watched this series. I am definitely going to have to watch it again, though not any time soon. I need some time away from the oddness. Next up, Crossinng Jordan season one. Hey...more Miguel Ferrer!

Keep on trucking y'all. See you next week,
C

Dude...

2008-08-27T21:58:00.004-05:00

Oh, huzzah and happy day. I09 just posted the best little story blurb.

Go check it out here.

Sweet!

In other news, totally hooked on Twin Peaks. David Duchovny in a dress makes me happy for no explainable reason.

Okay, when even I think someone needs to get a life...

2008-08-23T22:37:00.003-05:00

That's a pretty bad sign. Sigh.

So, as I mentioned earlier this week, Sci-Fi/MGM has announced that the current season of Stargate Atlantis will be its final season. It will wrap up in January (just in time for the second half of the final season of BSG to air) and we've been promised a two hour television movie sometime later in 2009 to wrap up the cliff-hanger ending (I'm going with the majority of the reports on this one, though one interview I've read did hint that the telemovie won't really do much in the way of wrapping up story lines). There's also the chance that if the telemovie does well we'll get at least one, and maybe more, direct to DVD movies. In conjunction with/on the heels of this announcement, Sci-Fi/MGM has given the green light to the third Stargate television series, Stargate Universe, planned to premiere in 2009.

Yes, I wish that they would keep Atlantis going forever, it's my favorite show. I'm kind of bummed to think that I won't get to tune in every Friday to find out what McKay and Sheppard are getting up to anymore. Frankly, it sucks. But am I jumping on the bandwagon to join the "Save Our Show" campaign? Am I throwing a fit and stating that I am going to stop watching Sci-Fi once the series' run is completed? Will you hear me damning Stargate Universe before it even airs just because it's probable a big reason SGA wasn't renewed is to give this show a chance to air? Do I think that the heads of Sci-Fi/MGM are the most evil people in existence and in need of verbal castration on every message board I can find?

The answer, my friends, to all of the above questions, is a resounding NO. Geez. It. Is. Just. Television. And this is me saying that, for Pete's sake. Television shows end. And as much as I hate to see this particular one go, I would much rather see it do so while it is still popular enough that we have the chance for the telemovies and direct to DVD films. As long as the actors are still in, we've still got a shot at continuing the story. The show runners aren't going to go the Battlestar route and kill everyone on the way out, they're leaving the door open so we can always return to the story. Plus, we are getting a new chapter in the Stargate world, and though Universe's premise might mostly preclude this, we still have the possibility of finding out what our favorite characters are up to from time to time on the new show. Atlantis certainly didn't have a ban on mentioning SG-1 people and events.

It didn't even take me two days worth of emails before I had to unsubscribe from my Stargate email group. I figure with my feed subscriptions to SyFy Portal, I09, and Gateworld I can get all the news about Atlantis' remaining run and Universe's upcoming reign without the commentary. I just have to avoid the comments on the stories I read, which shouldn't be too hard. (Knock on wood.) I guess what it comes down to is that I am just so freaking disappointed by the vitriol I am seeing in the wake of this announcement. It's not just that people are upset, it's that they are throwing hissy fits, and inappropriate ones at that. Blame is being leveled at Sci-Fi channel, which is just a distributor, and has no control over whether or not MGM wants to continue making the show. Blame is being thrown on the new show, when I don't see how we can fault the show runners and MGM for a) wanting to keep the franchise "fresh," and b) keeping costs down and quality up by only producing one show at a time. And most of the things people are saying are just plain mean. It's not as if we're entitled to anything from these guys. We're kind of lucky that they are still willing to give us anything Stargate after 12 years of this stuff. Fans get so possessive of their shows, and it is rather scary, and again, for perspective on how bad it is out there, this is me being scared by the level of show obsession.

Even many of the people who are organizing efforts to "save" the show are in need of some serious anger management training. And they are darn militant about the whole thing. Clearly they've never heard about catching more flies with honey. Sigh, not that honey will do much good in this case. Yeah, the cancellation was a surprise to the fans, but apparently not to anyone else. The studio clearly has been thinking that this would likely be Atlantis' last season and that Universe would take the stage next year. That's the only explanation behind how organized and efficient the whole process has been. It's not like we haven't been hearing about Universe for a while, and it's also not like it hasn't been mentioned that it probably wouldn't start airing until Atlantis had finished its run. We probably should have seen this coming, honestly. I know I optimistically ignored those tidbits when I came across them.

Also, there's a huge bright side here that people seem to be missing. Knowing that the series isn't coming back gives us a chance at a much more satisfying ending. I know that the season finished filming before the announcement was made (though as I've indicated, I would guess most of the people producing/writing the show had an inkling the end was near), but they haven't started on the telemovie yet, so they are getting the chance to go out on their own terms. This isn't going to be another Smallville, folks, and that is a GOOD thing. Do we really want Atlantis to keep going until we can't stand it anymore? I sure don't. There are plenty of people out there who think SG-1 should have ended after season 8 (I'm not one of them, but I didn't start watching until season 9, so that shades my view a bit). I would much rather have a show end thinking it went out too early than that it went on too long, wouldn't you?

So yeah, I am going to miss Atlantis. A LOT. But I will have every season (and any of the following movies) on DVD to watch whenever I want. I also have no doubt that the good people over at Stargate Novels will keep writing Atlantis stories for at least a few years to come. I highly recommend their books. They've got a good crew of writers, and each novel is like a new episode that you've never seen before, with the ability to do a little bit more than the television show can because they don't have any pesky special effects budgets to worry about. Also, we're getting the game soon too. I know for a lot of people that doesn't mean anything, but for some of us, that will be a good way to stay in the 'gate, so to speak. I'm definitely going to give Stargate Universe a try. I think that TPTB behind SG-1 and Atlantis have more than earned my loyalty for at least that much effort.

And so ends the rant.

Have a good one folks,
C

Well, damn.

2008-08-20T21:21:00.002-05:00

Man, I had a wonderful few days out of town and I get back and decide to check my email and one of the first things I find in my inbox is an announcement that Sci-Fi has declined to pick up Stargate Atlantis past the current fifth season. Grr. Argh. They are stating that there will definitely be one telemovie and promising even further straight to DVD movies a la SG-1's recent route. My fingers are crossed that these movies will actually happen. It won't be the same as getting to tune in every Friday with my favorite characters though.

I am enjoying the current season immensely, and I guess I'll just have to make the most of what I get. I hope the show-runners do the same!

Geez, add that to the announcement about the new Harry Potter movie getting bumped from this November to next July and it's kind of been a disappointing week on the entertainment front.

I think I need to go watch The Closer to cheer myself up...

Laters,
C

The summer show you should be watching...

2008-08-14T22:06:00.002-05:00

Is totally Burn Notice.

USA has episodes online. Go check it out.

If you like heist movies or spy movies, or are just interested in seeing a lot of explosions and hot chicks with guns, or Bruce Campbell with guns...you know, whatever floats your boat...this show has got it for you.

Also, I have to say, I am absolutely LOVING Michael Shanks as an evil ex-spy. I want him to be in many more episodes.

I'm out,
C

I really couldn't have said it better myself...

2008-08-10T19:06:00.003-05:00

So if you read this blog on at least a semi-regular basis, you'll know my love-hate conundrum with Smallville. I09 just posted a phenomenal article suggesting how to make the show good again.

Give it a gander here. At the very least, it will make you laugh. I can only hope the new show runners are I09 readers.

~*~

In unrelated news, I just finished reading Breaking Dawn, the final book in the Twilight Saga. It. Was. Absolutely. Phenomenal. If you love vampire lore and aren't put off by teen angst, seriously, go check it out. You can definitely bet I'll be reviewing the film when it comes out this winter.

Peace y'all,
C

Primeval

2008-08-10T14:55:00.003-05:00

Okay, so I just finished watching the premiere episode of Primeval, and I have to say I'm pretty impressed.

Here's my recap (spoilers abound):

We start out with a lady being chased through a grocery store parking lot by a dinosaur and then we flash to "eight years later" where we meet a professor of paleontology trying to brush off one of his fanatic students who is convinced that there is some kind of beasty running around in the Forest of Dean that the professor should investigate. Of course, as soon as he mentions that particular location, the prof's ears perk up. Turns out that lady we saw at the beginning was his wife, and she disappeared eight years ago after investigating something near the Forest of Dean. Hmm...

Next we meet a zoo keeper, specialty lizards, who has just been laid off. On her way out, she sees a letter to the zoo complete with picture of a boy with an exotic looking lizard and decides to go check it out. Guess where the boy lives? You got it, right next to the Forest of Dean. So Abby (the lizard lady) goes to meet Ben (the boy) and his flying lizard, Rex. Abby gets very excited and tells Ben she thinks he may have stumbled across a new species. She asks Ben to take her to the place in the forest where he found Rex, and off we go.

Meanwhile the professor (Cutter) and his assistant and student are checking out the claims of a "monster" attack near the forest. The cynical professor starts to believe some kind of predator may really be out there once all of the evidence starts to pile up. His crew is joined by Claudia, a rep from the Home Office sent to confirm that the monster sighting was actually a hoax.

In the forest, both groups stumble upon some dead cows that have been flung up into the branches of some trees, and they all are more than a little concerned by this. Ben freaks out and runs for home when he and Abby come across the dead cows (with their tongues hanging out of their mouths, I love it). Abby quickly loses him in the forest.

On his way home Ben stumbles across some glowy lights and promptly sticks his face inside them. Ahh, the impetuousness of youth. In the lights he sees a different world, complete with a whole flock of lizards just like Rex. He is startled by some noises in the brush when he comes back to the forest and continues running on home, managing to cut his hand on a thorn just as he is leaving the forest.

Abby meanwhile has realized there is something large in the forest and that Rex is able to sense it and run from it. While avoiding the big scary, she encounters a not-quite-Triceratops as well as Professor Cutter's group. While they're all oohing and ahhing over the dinosaur they've found (and while Claudia is getting the government involved), the other dinosaur (a cross between a Tyrannosaur and a saber-tooth tiger) tracks Ben's blood and tries to snatch him right out of his bedroom. Ben manages to keep out of the dino's claws. Despite all of the noise and the huge mess, Ben's parents are inclined to believe that it's all Abby's fault that he trashed his room and is blaming it on a dinosaur. Now that the government is involved, Cutter and Abby can't admit that Ben is probably telling the truth, so they have to act like he's just imagining things. Poor kid.

Ben does mention that while in the forest he "saw into the past," leading Cutter and his group to discover the light show in the forest. They actually end up chasing the Triceratops back through the lights and quickly determine that they are in fact a portal to the past, to the Permian era, to be exact. The good old government is inclined to think that since they chased the dino back through the portal, as long as they keep it contained there is no more problem. The scientists of course disagree. Clearly the dino they chased back was a herbivore, and herbivores don't exactly go around attacking semis or tossing cows into trees (or attacking little boys in their bedrooms). General consensus is that there's another dinosaur on the loose, and a dangerous one at that.

Here our party splits up again. Cutter, Abby, and Claudia head back to Home Office with Rex to discuss the situation and see what they can find about the prehistoric lizard. Cutter's assistant (I think his name is Steven, but don't hold me to that) and student (I totally never caught his name) remain in the forest to try to track the other dino. After finding a footprint they are able to figure out what they're dealing with, thanks to the student's comprehensive dino database that he has compiled with his lack of life leading up to the show. Steven manages to track the creature, who has been continuing to hunt poor Ben while managing not to be seen by anyone but the poor kid. So Ben's in detention for telling lies and a dinosaur comes to get him, and of course the teacher doesn't believe him, until the dinosaur makes his attack, that is. Steven is able to distract the creature, saving Ben and his teacher, but gets himself knocked out in the process and our big bad runs off again.

Back at Home Office, Abby and Cutter have managed to convince the government agents that they don't know how to deal with Rex (with some help from the lizard himself). Cutter also has come to believe that the portal has everything to do with the disappearance of his wife eight years ago and says he's going in, no matter what. So they agree to let him go through and take Rex back to where he belongs.

On the other side, Cutter finds his missing wife's camera along with evidence that other humans have been through the portal--and have, in fact, been camping there, though the pile of human remains show that they weren't terribly successful at that part. The remains are all male, so Cutter knows they're not his wife's and has hope that she may still be alive. He is resolved to stay in the past until he finds her but the very practical soldier they sent along convinces him to go back through, especially once they realize the portal is starting to disappear. They make it back through just in time for the portal to disappear. Of course right at that moment, the big bad comes racing through the forest trying to attack everyone--and Steven comes roaring in and hits it with an SUV. We also learn that Rex came back through the portal on his own, so he is stranded in our time now.

The show wraps up with Cutter stating that even though the portal has closed, there is evidence that there may have been other portals and they need to find out what is causing them to happen. He doesn't think it's over. And he's right. Back in his office, someone stealthily creeps in to leave him some creature in a shell. He gives chase and catches a fleeting glimpse of a woman who looks eerily like his wife before she disappears into the darkness.

My initial reaction is one of enjoyment. The first episode had an excellent balance of action, humor, effects, and science. If it can keep that up, then there is real potential. The formula is pretty basic--looks like we've got a monster of the week type scenario, along with an over-arching conspiracy/mystery story line. But there's nothing wrong with a basic formula if the story itself is original and entertaining enough, and this one looks like it just may be. They have set the stage for some pretty decent character interaction and development. I am quite curious to see where this goes.

I do hope they keep Ben around, he certainly earned it with all of the crap he put up with in the episode. But I kind of get the feeling he may have just been the victim of the week, so to speak. Also, I see some dangerous creature-hunting ahead, so I am not too sure what there would be for him to actually do. Sigh.

My favorite moment of the episode:
While Rex is loose in the Home Office, he ducks into an elevator to avoid recapture and during the ride he is just sitting there bobbing his head along with the muzak. Priceless.

Primeval airs on BBC America on Saturdays at 8 p.m. (Central Time). If you missed the first episode, they are airing it again before the new episode this coming Saturday, so just tune in an hour earlier.

Until next time, keep watching, and take care,
C

For Pony!

2008-08-10T12:35:00.002-05:00

Okay, so I didn't watch a whole lot of television this week because I went to a baseball game and a rock show and have gotten completely sucked into the Twilight saga books. Imagine that, I kind of have a life sometimes. Wow.

Anyhoo, anything I would write about has been completely overshadowed by the Jimmy Neutron/Fairly Oddparents crossover episode my husband is currently watching. This is the most bizarre thing I have ever seen.

Though a villain named Shirley who whats to be your arch-friend is an amusing concept.

I did record the premier of Primeval on BBC America and plan to watch that this afternoon. If I remember I'll put a review of that up tonight or tomorrow to make it up to you for this lack of post.

Until then, I leave you with this thought:

FOR PONY!

Laters,
C

Well, darn...

2008-08-03T11:28:00.002-05:00

Man, I could not feel less motivated to write my blogs today. I suck.

I will say this, I saw The Dark Knight on Tuesday and it was fantastic. I really enjoy Christopher Nolan's take on Batman. It's the right level of dark and contains a good dose of realism without losing sight of the fact that it is still a comic book story. This version goes nowhere near the level of ridiculous that we got with 90's string of Batman movies. My favorite element I think is still how they do such a good job of showing that each of Batman's gadgets is rooted in real (or possible) technology/contraptions.

Stargate Continuum also made my view list this week. I thought it was phenomenal. I think people who don't enjoy or get the Stargate universe in general probably would have thought it was silly, but I feel like fans of the show were definitely given something they could truly love. I am the first to admit I'm a sucker for stories involving alternate realities and timelines, so this was honestly built to appeal to me anyway. Despite that I really felt that it was an excellent story and a great addition to the franchise. If you enjoy Stargate in any of its flavors, go check it out, I don't think you'll be disappointed.

The new episode of Eureka was pretty fun. We got a nifty little Cylon reference that made me smile, and Dr. Parrish from Stargate Atlantis popped up--I hope we see more of his character, I think he could be a good addition to the world of Eureka, seems like he had the right kind of heart to fit in. Also, there was a good dose of Larry bashing, so I am always on board with that (though I admit was a bit freaked out for a second when I thought they'd killed him--I don't want it to go that far), especially because he totally deserved it this time. I am a bit nervous about how they are shoehorning Degree deodorant into the story as part of some new sponsorship deal. I am hearing some disturbing rumors on that front, but I guess I will just have to wait and see and cross my fingers (and possibly my toes) that it won't be as bad as it sounds.

Other than that I've spent the week being pretty much immersed in either reading the Twilight books (I just finished New Moon and am probably going to start Eclipse today) or in playing the Star Wars RPG Knights of the Old Republic. In fact, as soon as I finish this post and do one other chore, I am off to play the game...

So that's what's going on in my world. I did watch bits and pieces of the Robin Hood season finale last night. I was hanging out with my friends so we didn't have our attention completely tuned in until the big twist at the end. After seeing that I am kind of hoping it was the series finale because the heart of the show is kind of gone for me now. I recorded it so I'll probably have to watch while actually paying attention later today and see what the heezy was actually going on. I do definitely think I am going to give Primeval a try next week when it takes over Robin Hood's time slot, it looks interesting to say the least.

Well, I am off to try to level up my scoundrel some more. My husband says I get a very R2-D2 like droid to join my party soon, huzzah!

Take care all,
C

Not a whole lot going on...

2008-07-27T11:50:00.002-05:00

I don't know that I have a whole lot to say this week. Let's see...

Saw Hellboy II Thursday night and enjoyed it immensely. The SFX were just incredible and the humor was just perfect for me. I missed the voice talents of David Hyde Pierce as Abe, but I totally get why he stepped back from the film, and Doug Jones really didn't do a bad job. So that was fun.

I'm going to see The Dark Knight on Tuesday and I'm pretty stoked about that. Also on Tuesday Stargate Continuum comes out, so that's sweetness. We ALSO get new episodes of Eureka on Tuesday. Man, should be a good day all around I guess.

Excellent episodes of Stargate Atlantis, Pysch, and Monk on Friday. I was slightly ticked that for an episode based on a 1995 class reunion they kept playing remixes of 80's songs and making Breakfast Club references on Psych. Mostly because I don't know what was up with that, but oh well.

Doctor Who was frakking PHENOMENAL this week. It was the first of the two part season finale, so I really can't wait to see how that wraps up. Everyone, and I do mean EVERYONE was in it. We were just missing River Song. I guess they decided that if we aren't going to get another new full season until 2010, they wanted to go out with a bang.

I was hit with the compulsion to buy a buttload of musicals from Amazon this week. I got West Side Story, The Sound of Music, Hello Dolly, Guys and Dolls, the Music Man, and My Fair Lady. Yeah. I realized yesterday though that I should have grabbed Calamity Jane while I was at it, but there's always the next time I go insane...

So that's what I've been up to, television and movie-wise.

I hope you've all had a great week and have another one on the way.

Peace out,
C

Great, now it's stuck in my head...

2008-07-20T14:48:00.006-05:00

Well, I went and saw Mamma Mia! last night. It was completely ridiculous, but man I laughed my bum off the entire dang time. So, it was the amusing kind of ridiculous.

The casting was just excellent, and I think that is really what saved this movie from making me wish I had money back. I think something like 99.999% of the humor was more physical or in the way the actor delivered the line than in anything else. I mean seriously, you've got Meryl Streep playing opposite Colin Firth, AND Pierce Brosnan, AND Stellan Skarsgard. Plus, even though I couldn't get past the fact that the actress playing the daughter did not look a day over 17 to me (though she's apparently only five years younger than I am), she really did quite an impressive job. Then there's Christine Baranski. She is a freaking genius. Even the supporting cast pulled their weight quite well. Also, as my friend K pointed out, there was the added bonus that the Greek Chorus was a chorus made up of actual Greeks. Nice little touch, that.

As far as the story goes, it was kind of lackluster and simple, but it worked I guess. There was enough going on to keep me entertained, which is really all I can ask for in a movie that I otherwise have no expectations of whatsoever. I had a hard time figuring out who, if anyone, was actually doing their own singing. I am pretty sure Amanda Seyfried was and Colin Firth wasn't. Pierce definitely was because he was AWFUL, but clearly having fun with it, so I am willing to let it go. The songs themselves in most places seemed just kind of crammed in, but what can you expect from a musical built completely around one group's body of work. The shocking thing is how many of the songs actually did work with the story.

So anyhoo, if you like musicals, and the music of Abba doesn't make you want to gouge your eyes out, go ahead and give this a try. As long as you're not someone who takes themselves too seriously and can endure a movie that will just merely make you laugh and that isn't really shooting for any achievements in quality.

Other tidbits:

After I watched the movie, I came home to view the final installment of Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog. I was fairly amused by realizing how vastly better the quality of the music, the singing, and the overall performances were in my little low-budget one-off web series than in the big budget theatrical event, but you know, whatever. I don't want to give any spoilers away for the last act of this wonderful little web series for those who haven't seen it yet (and don't dawdle too long! It's only available for free online until midnight tonight, though still available for purchase on iTunes at least), but I will say this--Joss Whedon has created one hell of a supervillain origin story. I have already seen pleas online for Joss to give us more in some format, preferably as more blogs--though I can also see it continuing on in comic book format as well. Of course, that would eighty-six the musical aspect of it, and we don't want that if we can avoid it.

At the theater last night, during the pre-preview commercials, I got to have a little geekgasm moment when there was a commercial for Stargate: Continuum. Man, how cool is it to see that on the big big screen? Pretty darn cool I've got to say. I am so excited! Alternate universe/timeline stories have always fascinated me, and Stargate usually does a pretty decent job of pulling them off, so it should be good stuff.

Other than that, I am working my way through season one of Heroes on DVD and my hubby and I are going to try to catch Hellboy II this week if we can. Then I just have to figure out a time to coordinate seeing The Dark Knight with other interested parties. Lots to watch...

Until next time folks, take care,
C

Calling all Whedonites!

2008-07-17T06:25:00.002-05:00

Just wanted to share a bit of fun with you all in case you hadn't heard about or seen it yet.

If you're a fan of Joss Whedon, Neil Patrick Harris, Nathan Fillion, musicals, or silly superhero stories, then do I have the web series for you!

Dr. Horrible's Sing Along Blog

Even the name is a beautiful thing! This is a three webisode story created by Joss Whedon and brothers to stave off boredom during the writers' strike, but man it has blossomed into something wonderful. Act one went up on Tuesday and Act two is available today, with the third and final act to follow on Saturday. You can view it online for free at the link above. You can also purchase all three webisodes for a whopping $4 on iTunes and thus have this beautiful creation to keep.

Dr. Horrible is the story of the titular wanna be super villain who is trying to take over the world while fighting off his super hero nemesis all so he can get the girl from his laundry mat that he is crushing on. It's all terribly amusing and extremely well put together.

If you're still not sure, here's a quick preview for you to check out on YouTube.

Seriously, it is great stuff. Give it a go.

Also, while I'm on the subject of how awesome NPH is, here's a fun little ditty I was directed to by Whedonesque. Enjoy.

Have a great one folks!

TTFN,
C

Three Cheers for Atlantis!

2008-07-13T11:54:00.003-05:00

Yay! It's that time of year, Atlantis is back, huzzah!

I don't really have a whole lot to say about the first episode of season five aside from the fact that I really enjoyed it. I've got it saved in my DVR so I can watch it again once I've finished my rewatch of season four.

I do have to say that I was a little apprehensive when I realized they were going to have McKay end up delivering Teyla's baby, but it was done in a pretty humorous way. I also did enjoy it for the behind the scenes humor as well--as those two each had a child born very recently (Hewlett's kiddo may have been born after that episode was filmed, but Baz was very close to making his entrance into the world at the time). It had to be an interesting scene to film from that perspective.

Also, I have got to say, Teyla is one tough broad. I mean, I realize she had some pretty big other concerns while she was in labor--like trying to escape the Hive ship of the sadistic Wraith/Human hybrid who has a very unhealthy obsession with Atlanteans in general and Teyla in particular. But good lord, popping that kid out just didn't seem to phase her at all. Good thing too, because McKay really wasn't in a position to do much to help her besides catch the kid.

Anyhoo, all in all though, I'd say it was a really good wrap up of last season's cliffhanger ending while still managing to set up some of the story lines for the season to come. I just wish they hadn't decided to let Carter be so Carter in this episode. I understand they wanted to give her a strong finish, but I think it would have been easier to let her go if they had continued to under-utilize her for just one more episode. Sigh.

Yesterday I started rewatching season four, and that just has me even more jazzed up for the season to come. This is, seriously, such a good show. I know there are a lot of people that put it in the "ridiculous" category, and I won't deny that it is certainly that. But there's nothing wrong with a little bit of ridiculousness. Especially when it is accompanied by a fun premise, some pretty interesting stories, awesome effects, spectacular cast chemistry, and pretty darn solid character development.

Even though I love many shows that could be considered better television than Stargate Atlantis (like Battlestar or Doctor Who), it is still my favorite show, because no other show pulls me in quite this much. I won't lie, I wish I was on the Atlantis team, I can't help it. So here's for season five! I can't wait to see what happens next!

In other news, I finished season five of Babylon 5 yesterday. I've gotta say, I was not disappointed. There were a few really odd episodes thrown in the mix this season, and I am really not happy with the path they took my favorite character (Lennier) down, but other than that, I really felt they wrapped it up quite well. I am very glad I invested the funds and time into discovering this series. I look forward to that time down the road when I get to give it a second watch through. I will be curious to see how some earlier episodes play out with the knowledge of what is to come.

Well, that's all I've got for today. I hope you guys have a great week. Enjoy the second half of summer!

Laters,
C

It's that time of Summer again...

2008-07-06T14:01:00.002-05:00

Summer shows are starting back up!

This week we've got Burn Notice on Thursday (USA) and STARGATE ATLANTIS on Friday!!!! Huzzah! I am so very excited about SGA, if you can't tell. I also noticed that SciFi is airing the pilot of Joan of Arcadia at seven on Friday, so I thought I might give that a try if they're going to be running the episodes of that. I caught a few episodes once a few years ago while it was still on the air and I remember it being a pretty decent show.

Then next Monday we get new The Closer (TNT)--finally! Oh man, that is such a great one. I can't wait to see what Brenda does this season. I'll also be curious to see how things play out with Sergeant Gabriel, because it seemed like there was still fallout from his suspension when the season wrapped up last year.

And if that wasn't enough next Friday we get new Monk and Psych (USA) and then on the 29th is new Eureka (SciFi). July is just a great month for cable television. It's a good thing I've also got plenty of crochet and house projects lined up to keep me busy while I watch, or I'd feel like a complete bum!

This month is also shaping up to be pretty decent for movies as well. Thursday I saw Wanted, which was actually pretty fun. Saw Wall-E again on Friday, because it is just that good. Then we've also got Hellboy II and The Dark Knight coming up soon. I also would like to check out Get Smart if my hubby and I can figure out a time go to see it together. There is also the possibility I will go see Mamma Mia! at some point. I have issues with a musical based on Abba's music, but the more I see of the previews, the story doesn't look too bad. And the cast--well, I pretty much have to see it based on the cast alone.

So there you go. Those are the shows and movies on my mind at the moment.

There's no lacking for entertainment in my world these days. That's a pretty happy thing, I've gotta say.

I hope all is well with everyone and that you have a great week!

Take care,
C

Not your average robot love story.

2008-06-29T12:51:00.003-05:00

**Warning!**
Very slight spoilers for the movie Wall-E below!
****

My husband and I went to see Wall-E this past Friday, and let me just start by saying I am already planning to go see it again this coming Friday (assuming the theater is open, and I can't imagine it wouldn't be). This movie is truly spectacular. Some reviewers have already claimed this to be the best effort from Pixar yet, and I am kind of inclined to agree.

One of my favorite things about Pixar is that they have found a way to truly make a film for the whole family. What I mean by that is that they can give you a story with a basic enough plot for little kids to grasp what is going on without actually making a basic story that will leave teenagers bored and adults cringing at the simplicity. Little kids can follow the story, sure, but there are enough story and visual elements included that all parties are satisfied.

On one level you have a lonely a robot trying to clean up Earth by himself. Suddenly another robot arrives and Wall-E instantly seeks out her companionship and follows her when she is taken from him, which leads him to make new friends and help humanity find its way home.

But beyond that you've got the story of how humanity screwed up the planet and left it for the robots to clean while they went off on an interstellar vacation. The only problem is they had done so much damage that the people in charge decided to just let future generations grow more and more complacent until they don't even think about trying to go back. So you've also got a future generation trying to overcome the mistakes of its ancestors.

Plus, there's even a mild element of good robots versus "evil" robots to add to the excitement.

Overall, we've got a sweet, funny, and intriguing story in which curiosity doesn't kill the cat but instead drives it to find a better way of doing things.

There are some wonderful nods to Hello Dolly and 2001: A Space Odyssey for movie buffs. Even spork aficionados get their own moment of joy.

The short before the film is also definitely worth catching, so when you go see it, be sure to get there on time!

I have to say, Pixar just continually never ceases to amaze me with the level of quality films and shorts they produce. Even under the Disney umbrella, they have taken "cartoons" out of the little league and consistently produced films that can be enjoyed by people of all ages. I truly believe this movie is one that will be around and enjoyed by all for years to come.

**Other Notes**

In a completely different vein, I am going to see Wanted this Thursday. I have heard several reviews stating it is truly incredible on the level of the first Matrix movie. While I tend to take those reviews with a grain of salt, Scott Kurtz over at PVP posted his own glowing review of it this weekend, so I am hoping it will not turn out to be a disappointment. Fingers are crossed.

If anyone has been watching Doctor Who, I got to catch up on the two latest episodes (the two parter Silence in the Library and Forest of the Dead). All I can say is wow. They were written by Steven Moffat, so of course they were an intense and incredible ride. They may even surpass season three's Blink, which is probably my favorite episode of scripted television ever. I am not looking forward to the shortened aspect of season five, but I am more than ever excited to see how this show goes with Moffat at the helm.

For anyone who has been keeping track of my DVD pile, I know that it keeps growing and it doesn't seem like I've been making much progress on it as of late. Now that I am back in the full swing of crochet projects and we've got the summer television lull (with the exception of Friday nights, which are about to explode, and Eureka, the Closer, and Burn Notice coming soon), I should start to make a dent in that pile. I only have 2.5 discs left in Babylon 5 season four, and I am aiming to finish the season today or at least come pretty darn close. Of course, next week is when all of my summer DVD releases start arriving, so the pile will probably just stay about the same size I guess. Oh well. I can never truly say that I have nothing to do!

Well folks, that's all I've got. I hope you all have a wonderful week. Happy Independence Day!

Until next time,
C

I am a leaf on the wind...

2008-06-23T21:17:00.003-05:00

Oh man. Happy Birthday Joss Whedon.

So, on or around Joss' birthday each year, browncoats around the world get together to raise money for his favorite charity Equality Now by holding screenings of Serenity in local movie theaters. This year there were 50 plus events planned. Luckily my city holds one of them. We got to go last year and were fortunate enough to get to go yesterday to this year's event.

Not only do we get to help raise money for a very worthy cause, but we also get to gather with many like-minded individuals and enjoy a masterpiece of cinema exactly as it was intended to be enjoyed--up on the big screen.

I can't even begin to describe how much I love this movie. It is just an amazing thrill ride. Hell, when I went to take my lunch today, someone in the break room had found it on one of the movie channels (we work at the cable company, so yeah, we get the movie channels in our break room--too bad we have to watch them on a dinky little television that can barely compete with the volume of the ice machine...). It had just started, so I got to get a bit more of my daily Joss with my lunch. Nice. Anyway--as fun as this film is to watch at any time, nothing can compare to watching it in a theater full of browncoats. It is an experience I think everyone who loves the Joss should try to have at some point. Everyone is laughing at all of the right moments, we can cheer with immunity when things go well for our big damn heroes, and we can all still gasp in pain at that moment--you know that moment...until Jayne goes and says something else to make us just start laughing again.

So, as you can tell, I definitely had a ball at the event. In addition to the movie, each location also usually tries to get a guest from the Whedon 'verse and there's a charity auction for EN with all kinds of Joss-related goodies. The auction is fun to watch. My husband and I are starting to think we might come packing some serious cash next year so we can get in on the action the next time around. Who knows. If you are a fan of all things Joss, or if you just like Firefly/Serenity, I really encourage you to check the event out next year. It's called Can't Stop the Serenity, and here's the site link.

Our special guest this year was Tim Minear, who has worked on Joss' shows Angel and Firefly, as well as is working with Joss on the forthcoming Dollhouse. He also worked on some show called The X Files as well as both short-lived but much acclaimed series Wonderfalls (which I have yet to experience) and Drive. I have to say, he was pretty darn entertaining.

One question asked of him really got me to thinking though. The question was this: Is Shepherd Book an Operative or a Cylon?

Obviously, someone was trying to find out the truth about Book's past while also having a little bit of fun. Minear stated definitively that Book is not a Cylon , but wouldn't answer about the other part--though he did comment that his restraint in answering was due to the fact that there are plans to reveal Book's backstory in an upcoming comic book. Cool beans.

Though Minear denied that Book is the last Cylon it did cross my mind that if there were two compatible 'verses in the world, it just might be the Firefly and BSG 'verses. Is it not possible that the people who ended up on Kobol left Earth and went one way and the people who ended up becoming the Alliance's minions simply went another? Space, after all, is big. Really big. It's certainly got my fanfic writing juices flowing. The more I think about it, the more I want to write this crossover. Heck, it's not even going to take the finagling with the timeline that I initially had thought might be required--which was to move the events of Firefly from 500 years in our future to 5000. Instead, if we go with the assumption that the people of Kobol left Earth in its very distant past, and get to Earth around the time of the events of Serenity....hmm....

Okay, I promise I won't subject you to that line of thought (unless you're interested in it, in which case, I will direct you to the place of my posting once/if I get this thing actually started). This blog isn't about fanfic, I swear.

One last reflection on the Firefly 'verse. If we choose to look at Joss Whedon's body of work from the Stephen King angle, we can make a reasonable assumption that all of his works are somehow connected to each other by some thread. So, I give you this--what if River's a Slayer? Maybe the Alliance meddling with her brain, in addition to the creation of the Reavers, activated the first Slayer in centuries? It could explain why she shows progress overcoming her mental distress and why she is truly the Alliance's greatest success in that particular venture. Just a thought. :o)

Anyhoo, I hope you all have a super week. Watch some Firefly, or some Buffy, or some Angel. Do something to salute Joss. He's a good guy.

'Til next time folks, hope it's all shiny,
C

Theories abound.

2008-06-15T13:59:00.005-05:00

I must start by apologizing for the delay in posting. I was halfway through writing this thing last Sunday when the fuse box at my house exploded. I've been without power until this morning. The hotel we were staying at, in addition to some other personal matters that came up, really wasn't too conducive to blogging.

I know that it's a bit late, but here are my thoughts on the season four episode of Battlestar Galactica, Revelations. At the very least the late post means everyone who wants to should have had the chance to see it by now. If not, you can check it out online at SciFi Channel's website or at Hulu.

**Warning!**
This post contains major spoilers for the Battlestar Galactica Season 4 mid-season finale episode!

**Okay, you've been warned.**

Man, what an episode. There have been plenty of critics stating that this season of BSG has so far been slow-paced and that nothing really interesting has happened. I can only speculate that they have been watching some completely different series--perhaps the old school BSG?

Anyhoo, so, the Colonials and the renegade Cylons have found Earth. Or have they? No seriously though, they have. I really want to smack all of those people who are trying to say that there's no way this is Earth. Especially since they're basing this hypothesis solely on the fact that in the orbital shot of the planet we can't identify the familiar continents as we could in the season three finale. So what? It's Earth. I know Ron Moore likes to mess with our heads, but I just can't see any valid reason to assume this is anything but. I have two major reasons for accepting this without question:

The constellations match those that they found in the Tomb of Athena back in season two. We know that the original twelve colonies are based on the twelve zodiac signs of Earth, and those are the twelve constellations that the fleet has been searching for even since Kobol.
Starbuck. We’ve seen what kind of hysterics this chick is capable of. She would be throwing a royal hissy fit if they stopped outside a planet that clearly wasn't the one she had spent some time orbiting in her little Viper. I just have a hard time believing that she would fail to notice if they ended up at some completely different planet. I mean, come on.

So while these probably aren't iron-clad reasons for knowing that our heroes have found Earth, I am, given these facts, perfectly willing to accept that they have until or unless Ron Moore gives us reason to believe otherwise.

So much happened in this episode that it is difficult for me not to just focus on the last five minutes or so. But I will try to hit some of the highlights before I get to that part.

First off, there's D'Anna. With Natalie's death she's now the self-appointed leader of the Cylon rebels. She's just as ruthless as she ever was, except when it comes to Gaius. After promising Roslyn that she would reveal the final five once Roslyn had taken her to the fleet, she changes up the plan upon arrival, stating that she is going to hold all of the humans on the Base Star hostage until the four of the five who are actually in the fleet (more on that in a minute) are allowed to leave the fleet and come to the Base Star.

Obviously this is a flawed plan. For one thing you've got the fact that the leaders of the fleet are now convinced that the final five are the key to finding Earth, and you know the humans don't want to give up their ticket to their new home. Then there's the fact that three of the four don't want to go to the Base Star anyway.

Tigh, Tyrol, and Anders may not be sure of their new roles within the fleet once their true nature is revealed, but they sure as hell don't want to give up on what humanity is left to them. Tory, of course, having embraced her robot-ness long ago jumps at the chance to head on over to the Base Star and join "her people." Man, I really want bad things to happen to her. It boggles my mind that early on in season three I learned of an online BSG role playing game that was getting together and I was considering throwing in my hat to play Tory. I can't even imagine how that would have ended up going. I think her character's story arc is great, but I don't actually like her any more. Whereas, while earlier on in the season I was kind of questioning what they were doing with Tyrol, I am completely digging the place he's come to at this point. He's reached an almost Zen level of looking at things.

So, of course the fleet finds out the identities of the four revealed at the end of season three. I had been wondering if Tigh would actually be able to keep his secret from the Admiral for much longer. I am not even remotely surprised that he gave up Anders and Tyrol. His sense of duty has long since been firmly established, and he's been fighting with it all season. Once the cat was out of the bag about him, there was no reason for him not to reveal the remaining two. I also like how Anders and Tyrol were completely accepting of the fact that Tigh gave them up without a thought. They knew from the moment they found out that they couldn't keep this secret forever, and you can tell there was almost a palpable sense of relief that they didn't have to hide any more, even if that meant that their days, or more like hours, were now severely numbered.

Reactions to the revelation were fascinating for me to watch. Roslin was clearly floored to learn the truth about Tory, and her hopeful pleas to get her former aid to reason with D'Anna were very touching. Too bad Tory has turned into a raging power-hungry b*%@#. In sharp contrast to that was Baltar's highly amusing "I knew it!" wherein he quickly amended he hadn't actually known anything but had to have subconsciously suspected something. I mean, why else would he be shagging someone who didn't buy into all of his cult mumbo-jumbo? Starbuck's reaction to her husband's true nature was pleasantly surprising. We remember back in the first episode of season four when Anders stated he'd love her even if she did turn out to be a Cylon and her reaction that he was a better person than her because if she found out the same about him she'd pull out her gun and shoot him between the eyes on the spot. Instead of this self-predicted reaction, the look on her face was just floored shock. Her shock was quickly followed up by realizing that her husband was being sent to the airlock and honoring his final request to just trust him about her Viper, working to determine how it was the clue to Earth and in the end saving the lives of all three of the newly revealed Cylons aboard Galactica. I don’t think she’s by any means come to accept the fact that Anders is a Cylon, but I now have hope that she might. Then there was Admiral Adama. Poor Bill. He just finally admitted to himself how much he loved Laura, and just finally got her to admit that she loved him and BAM! He finds out his best friend and war buddy of the last thirty years is a Cylon. The man was shattered. As my husband said, he will never be the same again. His breakdown (and Lee's attempts at consoling him) was extremely well done and touching.

Another big development in this episode was D'Anna's comment that only four of the final five were in the fleet. This tidbit has sparked all kinds of debate already in the short time since the episode aired. Speculation ranges from the final Cylon being on Earth, to the final Cylon actually being Earth, to the final Cylon being someone who has died (i.e. Admiral Cane, Billy, or Kendra Shaw, etc.). D'Anna clearly knows who the final Cylon is, because we know she saw all five and he hasn't denied that she knows the faces of all five. So here are my theories as to what she meant by only four of the five are in the fleet:

The final Cylon isn't yet activated and therefore doesn't know he/she is a Cylon, so D'Anna isn't counting that one until activation occurs.
The final Cylon was on the Base Star already and therefore not part of the fleet. Obviously D'Anna wouldn't be telling anyone that since she was using her knowledge of the final five as leverage to stay alive and get what she wants. Also, she wouldn't need to bargain for the last Cylon to come to the Base Star since he/she was already there.
The final Cylon is a survivor back on Caprica who didn't escape with the fleet but has since been captured, along with other humans, by the Cylons for some nefarious purpose. Or, alternately, the final Cylon was a human that didn't escape with the fleet from New Caprica and is somewhere with the other Cylons. It would explain her "I didn't know, I'm so sorry" moment from season three when she saw the faces of the final five. I know there's no real basis of fact for this last thought, but it seems at least remotely possible that the Cylons kept some of the humans around for study or experimenting, or just as prisoners. Not all of them wanted to make amends when the Sixes and Eights started pushing for peace.

I just have a really hard time believing that it could be someone who we have seen previously who has died and is therefore no longer part of the fleet. There has been too much emphasis on the fact that Cylon resurrection is no longer a possibility with the destruction of the Hub. I realize the counter argument to this is that the final Cylon would have resurrected back when they died, and therefore the destruction of the Hub wouldn't have affected them at all. But wouldn't the Cylons have noticed if someone who was clearly not one of the established seven models just woke up in one of their resurrection facilities? Would they not be completely freaking out about that? And is that even possible? It's not like the resurrection ships have bodies for the final five lying around just in case. Because then they would know who the final five were. I guess there could be a secret resurrection facility for the final five that isn't connected to the Hub, but that doesn't seem terribly feasible, since we know that a Cylon does have to be within a certain range of the facility in order to download, and it's doubtful this one is following the fleet along. Could be though I guess. Although you have to admit it hasn't even been established if the final five are/were capable of resurrection at all. So there's that to consider as well.

I am of the mind that the last Cylon most likely hasn't been activated and was on the Base Star. D’Anna would have had the chance to encounter that Cylon, therefore knowing that he/she wasn’t active yet as well as that he/she wasn’t in the fleet at the time. The other posters I’ve seen who seem to agree with me are leaning towards Helo as the missing one of the final five. Of course, that’s the easy answer to the riddle she has provided, so I am probably way off base here. That’s the beauty of the show. Two episodes ago, Natalie’s death had a lot of us thinking maybe Doc Cottle was the last one, but according to D’Anna’s claim, that leaves him out. I can’t wait to find out who it actually is. Looks like I’ll have to though.

On a brief aside, D’Anna gave me one of my favorite moments of the episode, and with all of the dark things happening; it was one of the more comedic as well. As she stepped off of the Raptor onto Galactica, many of the fleet had gathered to see her arrival. This of course included the four Cylons in hiding. I loved her little look around, catching the eye of each of them, and then announcing that she was “in contact” with the four. Beautiful. I am sure there are those out there who are taking this to mean she has some sort of psychic or electric connection with the final five, and this would explain her knowledge that there were only four in the fleet, but I don’t buy that. I’m of the opinion that the only time a Cylon is really truly connected to the other Cylons is during the downloading process, while they are still just raw data outside of a body. D’Anna certainly has come closer to retaining memories of those times, but I don’t yet believe she’s figured out a way to harness it while in a body.

All of this leads up to the fleet finding out the identities of the four Cylons revealed at the end of season three. We then get the inevitable betrayal/standoff between the humans and Cylons which is resolved by an agreement to go to Earth together. Then the fleet and the Base Star jump to Earth.

Wow. The moments of celebration we get to see throughout the fleet almost made me heartsick. I’ve learned by now that any time that many people get that happy about something on this show, the rug is about to be yanked right out from underneath them. Yank. We get pretty much the entire “main” cast taking a trip down to the planet to finally get to see their new home. The planet is, for lack of a better description, a desiccated husk. A detector aimed at a fistful of soil picked up by Admiral Adama—and don’t you think this man has had enough blows yet?—indicates that the planet is radioactive. Oh joy. The place looks like everyone’s worst fears of how World War III will leave the planet. We get a beautiful and devastating shot of the cast as they all look around and realize that their quest has ended and Earth is nothing like they hoped or even expected. There’s some interesting set decoration in this shot as well. They have landed near the ruins of a temple that resemble a building shown in the scriptures (one that Lee is seen looking at early on in the episode). In the ruins is something that very much appears to be a Christian cross. Hmm.

As you can guess, there’s all manner of speculation regarding when on Earth the fleet has landed. A lot of this hinges on what the original cycle of colonization actually might be. Did the people start at Earth and then go to Kobol and from there colonize the twelve planets? Did they start on Kobol, meaning Earth was actually discovered by the thirteenth tribe? The only people who know the answers to those questions certainly aren’t talking.

There have been some intriguing proposals put forth that all of this is happening in our distant past and that the current inhabitants of Earth are the descendents of the human fleet and Cylons. This could be an interpretation of the hybrid’s prophesy that Starbuck will bring the human race to its end. If the humans and Cylons come together to create a new race—us—then the human race as the colonists know it really will come to an end. This also makes sense in the general mythology—Ancient Greece’s pantheon could be a holdover from the gods of Kobol that were brought to Earth by the colonists.

I still tend to fall in with the belief that this is all happening in our distant future. I feel that humans left Earth to explore the universe, found Kobol and colonized it, for some reason founding their religion and culture on Ancient Greece (with space travel). Then when they decided to leave Kobol, the thirteenth tribe wasn’t just going off in some random direction but actually returning home, while the rest of humanity on that planet decided to go forth and explore some more. I think it explains a little better why the original names for the colonies were those of our constellations, as well as how the other twelve colonies knew that the thirteenth went to a planet called Earth. The scriptures are full of clues on how to find the way to Earth. I don’t know that they could contain that information if the people hadn’t already known the way there at some point. Some arguments state it can’t be future Earth because we don’t have any temples like the one the fleet lands by—but it’s not like a new religion couldn’t rise up (or an old one gain new ground, for that matter) and cause new or different temples to be built.

Either way, this is all just truly idle speculation. We won’t know until Ron shows us. I wish we didn’t have to wait until 2009, but hopefully they won’t keep us waiting too far past January. It looks like we won’t be lacking for new material in the meantime, either. I’ve been hearing talk of more webisodes to be aired on SciFi during the break. We’re also definitely getting at least one more telemovie, possibly at the end of this year. I’m sure all of these won’t give us any new or groundbreaking revelations, but they could provide some clues. I’m even actually hoping they’ll do what they did for season two and release the DVDs in two parts, one before the hiatus ends. Though I guess I can always just check out SciFi or Hulu to watch this season’s episodes again.

So there are my many thoughts on the BSG mid-season finale. I hope you’ve enjoyed them, and if not, well, feel free to share your own opinions.

So say we all.

Spreading the love...

2008-06-08T15:57:00.002-05:00

I love getting to share a show I like with someone else. It's so much fun to hear that they enjoy it as much as I do, or to actually get to watch with them and see them experience it for the first time.

This weekend, we got to introduce my mother-in-law to the awesomeness of The Office. She had seen bits and pieces of it of course, but had never had the chance to sit down and watch an entire episode. So when we went in for a visit this weekend, we took in the first three seasons on DVD to loan to her.

She's just retired from a very admirable teaching career and now she actually has some free time to use on things like watching television shows. The hubby and I had an engagement yesterday evening, but before we left we watched the first few episodes with her and when we returned we found she had already finished the (admittedly short) first season.

Good stuff. She really seemed to dig it and I'm exited to hear her reactions as the next two seasons unfold.

So if you've got a loved one in your life (or just an acquaintance that you can trust with your stuff), find a show you know they'd like but have never gotten a chance to view, and pass it along. Adding new fans is always a good step towards keeping those great shows around for a little longer, and if the show isn't still on the air, well, that doesn't mean that new people can't enjoy it as well.

I hope everyone has a great week.

Check you later,
C

SciFiTVFanGirl

The fangirl is out.

And in the world of entertainment this week...

Send in the B Team!

Weirdest movie ever? Maybe...maybe.

In a galaxy far far away...

Go see Up.

One thing I'll definitely give the Brits...

Can the conjecture just stop now, please?

Man, just, bad ideas all around.

Summertime...

Primeval is back!

Some thoughts on the finales this week...

Star Trek...it's awesome!

My week in nerdiness.

Dollhouse had better get a second season...

Another One Bites the Dust...

Television doldrums...

Bummer, dude.

Fox, you are bleh.

Okay, I have a bone to pick.

Huh. I guess there was life on Mars after all...

Look, if you don't *get* it...

Not too much to say actually.

May as well jump on the bandwagon...

There sure is a lot of stuff going down on Mars lately.

Dissecting the Dollhouse.

I still think Peter Gabriel was robbed...

I'm pretty sure this is how my husband feels...

Well that's what I get...

Finis.

Just tidbits, really.

Back now.

Why Battlestar Galactica truly is some of the best television ever made.

Farewell Atlantis, *sniffle.*

Sometimes good things can happen to good people.

Nothing to report...

Are you watching?

Definitely not a Pokemon...

Just let us get to the good stuff already...

This is exactly what I was talking about.

Jack Davenport, Joseph Fiennes, AND John Cho?

I know it's wrong but...

Jam-packed.

You can't have any, you're too young.

How much do I love this guy?

Really, it's about time.

And cue the lightbulb over my head...

Nostalgia, I have it...

There might just be some life there yet...

Not much of anything...

Wow...

Tentative "Hurrah!"

Sanctuary, Star Wars, and Geeks, oh my!

Digging myself out...

Maybe it's a little derivative...

Fire up the DVR...

You know, culture.

I mean, really, who needs narcotics?

Dude...

Okay, when even I think someone needs to get a life...

Well, damn.

The summer show you should be watching...

I really couldn't have said it better myself...

Primeval

For Pony!

Well, darn...

Not a whole lot going on...

Great, now it's stuck in my head...

Calling all Whedonites!

Three Cheers for Atlantis!

It's that time of Summer again...

Not your average robot love story.

I am a leaf on the wind...

Theories abound.

Spreading the love...

Look, if you don't get it...

Farewell Atlantis, sniffle.