Spontaneous Musings

1. There's mini-websodes of Doctor Who on the internet? Where?

2. According to EW, comic book writer and artist - Frank Miller ditzes the OWS Movement. ( Read more... )

3. Is Television criticism a lost art? I think it is. Along with film criticism. [EW did a review of the Good Wife. The less said about that, the better.)

4. Once Upon a Time has a lengthy article in EW, apparently there's a fandom. (looks around...where???) And as intense as Lost's. (looks around some more...uh, where? I mean I'm fannish about it - but as far as I can tell, I'm the only one. A fandom in of myself. I don't know, doesn't seem violent enough to get a fandom or for that matter sexy enough.) The article said two things that struck my fancy:
( click if you are also a fan or at all curious, no spoilers, just how the writers/producers view the series. )

5. EW has a huge article on the latest Twilight film - Breaking Dawn (I want to call it Breaking Bad...because that would be funny. ( No offense to the tv series or fans of the tv series Breaking Bad).) The appeal of these films and books is completely lost on me. But, I admittedly don't have much tolerance for the whole damsel in distress/endless love story trope...and you sort of have to in order to love the Twilight series. (EW is always amusing regarding this series, they back away from giving it an honest review. And continue to shamelessly gush over it. Oh, well, at least they shamelessly gush over The Hunger Games and Harry Potter too. Equal Opportunity Gushing.)

As an antidote:

* Top Five Vampire Films: 1) The Lost Boys, 2)Innocent Blood 3) Let the Right One In, 4) Shadow of the Vampire, 5) Frank Lagenlla's Dracula based on the Broadway Play.

* And top vampire tv shows: 1) Buffy, 2) Vampire Diaries, 3) Angel, 4) Being Human
5) True Blood.

* Top TV Vampires: 1) Spike, 2)Angel, 3) Darla, 4)Eric on TrueBlood, 5)Damon on Vamp Diaries

* Top Vampires: 1) Spike, 2) Ivy (Kim Harrison Series and living vampire, don't ask)
3)the vampire girl in Let the Right One In, 4) David - the punk leader of The Lost Boys played by Keifer Sutherland (the inspiration for Spike). 5)Lestate from Anne Rice (sorry Angel, but Lestate was more fun and better looking).

* Top Vamp Books: 1) Sunshine by Robin McKinely, 2) Kim Harrison's Rachel Morgan Series 3) Obsiddian Butterfly by L.K. Hamilton (although not sure any vamps are in that book), 4) Interview with a Vampire by Anne Rice (best of her vamp books, although I do have a fondness for the Vampire Lestate). 5) The Blood Countess by Andrei Codescru.

6. Top Five Favorite Sci-Fi Films - (JJ Abhrams did this in EW.)

Abrhams picks: 2001 A Space Odysessy (yes, but way overrated in my opinion), Aliens (okay, will go with that one - it created Ripley), Blade Runner (I'd have put that first), The Fly ( I can't watch it), and Close Encounters of the Third Kind. (He didn't put Star Wars because it's so damn obvious. Can't say I disagree.)

My picks: 1) Blade Runner. 2)A Clockwork Orange (better film than 2001 in my opinion, more about character less about special effects...I got bored in 2001. Best part was HAL). 3) Close Encounters of the Third Kind (I always re-watch, I love Richard Dreyfuss' arc and the mother hunting her son. Those two arcs...are brilliant.) 4) A.I. : Articial Intelligence - that movie continues to haunt me. I saw it ages ago...but there's this scene in the junkyard with all the robots...also it's so innovative in places. In some respects I think it is Spielberg's best sci-fi next to Close Encounters.. 5) Empire Strikes Back...the only Star Wars film that I've been known to return to over and over again. (yes, I like Aliens...and Ripley is kick ass, but ugh spiders. Terminator II - is my favorite of the Terminator series. And of Cameron's films.)

Off to bed, and work tomorrow.

Finished watching True Blood S3 Finale. Was a fun finale.

( spoilers in case anyone but me hasn't seen it )

After a somewhat busy weekend, am hanging back today, watching the snow fall - although I think it has stopped. We didn't get that much - maybe two inches if that. It's pretty though and with any luck will melt fast.

Watched the premier of S3 - Being Human this morning - which actually addressed the whole vampire blood-lust = alcohol/heroine/crack addiction head on and in a far better manner than Angel did in some respects. I still think the season finale of The Closer may have handled this the best, because the problem with vampirism being a metaphor for drug addiction is that well, the drug addict isn't taking the drugs to stay alive. Granted vamps could choose another way of getting their blood. But it still doesn't quite work, I don't think you can call a drug addict a vampire. And drug addict's addiction is something they can avoid completely, while a vampire can't avoid needing blood. Nor for that matter should the vampire be alive. The only connection between the two - is the desire to be free, to lose oneself completely in the substance, and do whatever one wants without inhibition. Which is somewhat different than a compulsion to drink blood because you are a "vampire". That's not to say the two things aren't related on some level - I just think the metaphor has some serious flaws.

That said, I found how Being Human addresses the topic more interesting than far more romantic gothic dramas have to date. ( spoilers for episode 1-S3 Being Human )

[Please no spoilers for any episodes after S3, episode 1.)

Watching Being Human S2 in the background, while hunting through more flats/apts. Being Human is actually better written and acted than most of the Supernatural/horror shows but methinks it takes itself far too seriously. I feel like I'm watching some PBS Masterpiece Theater Literary Dissertation on what it is like to be a monster. Very talky tv show! Sort of The Seventh Seal with Vampires or maybe My Dinner With Andre meets Dark Shadows. More humor, less sturm and drang? And maybe less talking? Say what you will about Vampire Diaries and True Blood but they are incredibly funny in places and don't take themselves all that seriously. Also show more, tell less. Trusting their audience to fill in the blanks. Being Human is a bit like watching Angel wander about looking constipated guilty with lots of voice overs accompanied by tragic violin solos, while the other shows are bit like watching Spike wander about snarking at people and having a grand old time. Or a better analogy? Vampire Diaries and True Blood is watching Midsummer Night's Dream with blood and naked sex, while Being Human is well Hamlet. Or eating chocolat mousse vs. broccoli rabe. Oh well, it has a decent soundtrack, and I rather like Galvin and Daisy. But Annie gets on my nerves. She's so whiny. ( vague spoiler for episode 2, no further than that at the moment )

Finished episodes 5,6 and 7 of True Blood S2 last night. Release Me, Never Free Me, Hardhearted Hannah. Lots of fun. This series gets better as you go.

The last three episodes of it really did a satirical tap dance on religion. The whole giving of yourself completely to the cause or religion, letting it take your free will, your soul, so you are its bitch or puppet. The theme of True Blood or through line is basically choice or free will. Last season was about addictive substances interfering with your will. This year it is about abdicating or giving your choices to someone else - a lover or a religion. The desire to have someone else make your decisions for you. And it is actually fairly subtle about it, and hilarious in places. Jason Stackhouse story this season is hilarious, he's so adorably dumb. And dumb in a way that comes from a character place...than you know, damn, the writers are idiots place.

Sookie and Jason really do think with their crotchs. Both of them. And Eric? Actually kind of hot this year. I give Alexandre Starsgard a lot of credit. He's hilarious in places. And he looks like he could be a 1000 year old vampire. He and Bill's scenes are quite funny. As are Pam's. This show is satirical and incrediably snarky in places. Not surprising, when you consider the creators other work includes American Beauty. I was sort of reminded David Lynch's Blue Velvet, although it's not quite as surreal.
( cut for spoilers )

It's been a rough and tumble week. Work was hellishly stressful this week, and looks to be even worse next week. The rain, which has not let up in 11 days is making me crazy. Woke up this morning feeling like crap on toast, with eggs cracked on the side. Slept badly. Horrid headache. And wanting to crawl out of my skin. It was the weather of course - the changes in barometric pressure have an adverse effect on my body chemisty. If you have suffered any injury in your lifetime - changes/drops in barometric pressure will cause a dull throbbing pain.

So, I decided to wimp out on the multicultural writers meet and take the day off. Vegging in front of the telly, knitting, and playing a bit on the net. It's no big loss - I did manage to write the query letter that I had been procrastinating and am making progress on the dreaded synopsis. Also got the first three chapters printed off. I call that progress. Plus, I think I may have found another writer's group that is closer, that may or may not fit my needs. It meets on Tuesday - which is not a good night for me, so we shall see. Tomorrow, I have an appointment with a personal trainer to set up an exercise regime to get back in shape and strengthen my ankle/knees. The trainer has a background of knee and ankle injuries - so will most likely be able to give me some good pointers. I'm an active person and not being able to work out or walk off my tension/stress is driving me crazy.

( trublood )

The other thing I watched was BuffyS4, which I finished my rewatch of this morning. Rather fascinating season - which I didn't appreciate as much the first go around. It's not an overly plotted or structured season, so much as a season that explores, often in sizable depth, character arcs. Of the seven seasons - Season 4 probably gives us the most in regards to character examination. And may actually develope and tell us the most about the characters and how the writers view them. The focus here was on character, then plot. It was also a season with a couple of fascinating thematic arcs - figuring out who you are and not letting society or someone else tell you (taking your own "initiative"), the moral quandry/ethical quandry of behavioral modification and changing someone to fit society's needs - which reflects back on the prior theme, and how people around us will influence our paths.
Very complex season.

What's also interesting about it - is in all the commentaries - the writer continues to tell us that he is literal minded and not good with metaphors. I disagree. No one who is literal minded could write Hush, Once More With Feeling, the Body, or Restless. Actually no one who is literal minded could write a tv show or come up with a tv show entitled Buffy the VAmpire Slayer. Purely literal minded folks tend to veer away from that series. To be honest? I think most of us are both, and like everything else, it depends on the situation. I'm very literal minded when it comes to social interactions - puns and jokes often go over my head. I can't always tell when someone is kidding. But give me a poem, and I can analyze it pretty quickly, and I had no problem figureing out Restless or Ulysess. Also I tend to use metaphors a lot in my writing. But the writer's statement that he is too literal minded - explains a similarily odd statement in commentary regarding S6, where he states he said au revoir monsieur metaphor - he didn't. I'm not sure he knows what metaphors are? Because Season 6 was filled with metaphors, they were just more subtle and less obvious than the prior seasons. The commentaries proved to me that writers can't be trusted to tell us about the meaning of their own work. They might be able to tell us the intent. But in truth? I doubt most writers know.
Another interesting comment that Whedon made, which I hadn't picked up on before - was that he usually carefully structures his stories. That he can't write if he doesn't know where the story is going. He has to have it outlined out first. Know exactly what the beginning, middle and end is. Restless was a departure from that - he'd never done anything like it before or since. He plots everything out ahead of time.

Odd. I assumed he did the opposite. This sort of throws my assumptions about his writing, including my defense of some of the plot holes and wonky metaphors out the proverbial window. Although to be fair, he implies that he sucks at metaphor and tends to be too literal minded to use them consistently or effectively. Not sure what to think about the writer's process now. Except that he is right in Restless - his main theme is sex and sexism. His metaphors regarding sex and sexism are obvious - perhaps that's what he means by literal - that he goes for the obvious sexual metaphor, not the more subtle literary ones people were finding in his work. I'd agree with that. A huge theme in the series - from Season 1-Season 4 is sexism, how men objectify women and demean them, how sex is used as either a weapon, a means of control, or manipulation or power play. That women from a male perspective are sexual objects and/or mothers. And what is wrong with that perspective, why it exists, why it is skewed, and why we should question it and not cater to it, as well as why we often fall into the trap of doing so. Very heavy theme in the series. At times, I felt as if he were hitting me over the head with a hammer regarding it - and I think, to be fair, the writer states just that in his commentaries, almost apologetically. Stating - yes, I was going for the sex metaphor there.
And yes, that was a statement about sexism. It also, if you know anything about Whedon's personal background or writing history - makes sense. He studied westerns and horror films,
his mother was a founder of NOW - the feminist movement, he wrote Buffy for his mother,
and his first job was on Roseanne.

If you have the DVD's? Go rewatch the S4 Overview and the first part of the Restless commentary - that's where I heard the bits about sexism, sex, and metaphors.

Every once and a while someone out there posts a little gem that explains exactly why something I watched, read, or heard captivated me.

Here's the latest - and it's about a series that one would think after all this time would have lost its allure for me, it hasn't and partly for the reasons discussed in selenak's essay on The Fanged Four.

In an essay regarding the Fanged Four or Angel/Spike/Drusilla/Darla of the Buffy and Angel series, selenak discusses how Whedon and his writers ultimately flipped previous television and book models regarding the vampire/gothic genre on their heads. Normally it's the guy who sired everyone. Hence the word "sire" as in patriach or father-figure. Look up the word in the dictionary - according to the American Heritage Dictionary - the first definition is "a father", the next: "form of address for a male superior esp. a king." Whedon in Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel the Series uses the word for men and women. Spike to Angel in School Hard: "You were my sire, my yoda" - possibly meaning "father" "king" and "teacher" all wrapped into one. Yet late in the episode "Fool For Love" it was Dru, a female, who "sired" him. Just as in "Angel" it is revealed that it was Darla that sired Angel.
( Read more... )