Monthly Archives: July 2011

Fandom, TV

Need More This

1,916 Comments

Television, no, real life needs more of this. Anyone who still hasn’t checked out Timothy Olyphant as Raylan Givens in Justified needs to just stop whatever they are doing and jump on it.

While I rarely have faith in awards shows, and the exclusion of Sean Bean as an Emmy nominee for Best Actor does little to reassure me of their significance, I will say that the nomination of my favorite Marshal makes up for it. My love for this show goes beyond my appreciation of Raylan (though that alone would be enough to carry me) due to performances of the entire cast. It’s refreshing to see people using Southern accents that aren’t so obviously affected that you want ear bleach. Take it from me, people in KY and WV sound EXACTLY like that. The sounds, sights, and stories are things right out of our backyards.

Too bad Raylan’s not.

Fandom, Movies

HP and I’m Glad It’s Over

4,424 Comments

Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows, Part 2 probably disappointed only a few people. I’m less disappointed than I thought I would be, but I wasn’t at all satisfied with the conclusion of the story.

Had I not read the books, I might have thought the movie was awesome and kickass and all the other words that one would use to describe an action flick. Harry Potter, however, is not an action movie. It’s a children’s story, albeit a very rich children’s story with more character development than most adult readings, but a children’s story nonetheless.

The final confrontation between Harry and Voldemort was unrecognizable from the book. Harry’s victory was not in physical battle, it was in a simplicity that Voldemort could never grasp. With all the survivors looking on, Harry employed one simple spell that did little, but accomplished what even the killing curse could not. Not so in the overblown fight sequence in the movie. Chase scenes, flying off the castle, one-on-one duel with no one around, little explanation, etc. were added for “Oooh” effect and the story suffered as a result.

The movie wasn’t without its merits, and I’m sure that over time I’ll be able to think of a few more than just McGonagall, Neville, and, um, uh, yeah, that’s all I’ve got right now.

In the end, I’m not sorry I saw the films, but I’m glad they’re over. I look forward to never speaking of them again.

Fandom, TV

Miraculous

5,302 Comments

I had my doubts. After losing Owen and Ianto (not to mention Tosh), I wondered if Torchwood could come back engaging and strong. Torchwood: Miracle Day alleviates my concerns and has me positively giddy at Captain Jack Harkness and Gwen Cooper’s reunion. Throw in some Mekhi Phifer, and all is good with the world. Well, except for the whole “not able to die” thing.

My first observation from the premiere is that Bill Pullman has become Robert De Niro in Cape Fear. I challenge you to disagree. I had to do a couple of second takes (what’s that make, 4 takes?) to make sure it really was Pullman. Though we didn’t get to see that much of him, his backstory alone makes him a vile, vile creature. It’ll be interesting to see where he goes from here.

You can already see the hard choice that will have to be made at some point, and though I guess we can figure out what it will be, the results will be worth sticking around for.

For new fans of the show, I think the premiere sets up just enough Torchwood lore to educate and entertain. Sure I would have liked more reminiscing, but that would have destroyed the pace of the episode. My only complaint is that all the scenes with pretty blond Esther nearly did that. I’m not invested in her, at all, at this point. Maybe she’ll get in on the action a bit in the next episode. I certainly hope so, because otherwise? Snore.

Overall, I give Torchwood: Miracle Day a strong A. Can’t wait to see the rest of it!

Fandom, TV

Super Unnatural

2,802 Comments

Well, that happened. I’ve had Season 1 of Supernatural sitting here, unwatched, for years now. I would mean to watch it, but I’d get busy with some other fandom and then forget about it. After seeing (literally) hundreds of fangirl posts, mostly from Melissa, I decided to see what the hullabaloo was all about.

I struggled. Badly. I ended up skipping most of the first season, all but a couple of episodes from the second season, some of the third season, and then…BOOM. I got hooked. I got hooked before Castiel even showed up. Insanity. I’ve liked Jensen Ackles since his days as Eric on DOOL, and I don’t know if that biases me, but I’m definitely what they would call a “Dean Girl”. I can’t even type that without snerking, but it’s still true. I like the bits of mythology the show gives us, the humor, and I like the standalone eps (particularly the meta eps) as well as the arcs, but most of all, I like the relationships; the brothers who struggle to stay close, even though it’s questionable whether that’s a good idea or not, the fatherly relationship they have with Bobby, and of course, the whole Castiel thing. (Seriously, Google that relationship and tell me it’s not fandom meets canon and back again.)

I can’t say that I’m sad I waited this long to jump in, because honestly, I needed those remaining eps hanging over my head to make me keep watching. As it is, I’ve had to back up and watch all the ones I skipped while looping it continuously, and I haven’t minded that one bit 😉