nonionay: (Default)
2011-10-09 09:20 am
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Thoughts on the media I've been consuming lately.

Last night I watched the penultimate disc of Deadwood. One of the many things I love about that show is that it isn't dependent on cliffhangers. The plots are so broad and intricate, it's not like being carried along on a roller coaster. And, half the episodes end on subtle character moments, like Swearengen monologuing to a prostitute, or ranting at an empty room, or the Bullocks in a mundane dialogue over dinner, dripping with hope and awkwardness. Once I finish a disc, I don't feel the urge to grab the next one right away. (It probably helps that I know the supply is finite.) And thus, I have stretched my viewing of that show out for years now. But it's almost done. ;_; And they'd only just brought in the lesbians.
That said, I do look forward to rewatching the series. I'm curious to see how much Swearengen actually changes over the course of the series, versus how much our perception of him changes. He's a man who can be both kind and cold-blooded at the same time. At the end of the series, he's protecting the people he was trying to kill at the beginning, but is this because he's a good guy deep down, or because it serves his interests? Just when you start to feel warm and fuzzy about the guy, he goes and does something unspeakably brutal.

I'm also reading Hellbent, Cherie Priest's latest urban fantasy, the sequel to her earlier book. Bloodshot. Yet again I marvel at her ability to engage me by giving her heroine a distinct personality in just a few pages. I mean, I get the idea that lots of books are successful precisely because their narrators are generic enough for the reader to project themselves into the story, but I usually prefer distinct characters.
nonionay: (Default)
2009-10-03 10:11 pm
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Stargate Universe

Just watched the first episode of Stargate Universe on Hulu. I'm not a tv watcher, but John Scalzi is involved, and more importantly, I'll watch anything with Robert Carlyle.
I liked it. Robert Carlyle plays a creepy bastard, as he always does. It's got a cheesy wish-fulfillment Last Starfighter thing going on, but that doesn't dominate the whole plot. There was also a lot of handheld camera work that pissed me off, but it also wasn't all the time.
I'll definitely watch the next episode. The writers are good at traumatising their characters, and I can live with that.
nonionay: (Default)
2009-07-18 11:15 pm
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Torchwood...question?

Finally got around to watching the first disk of Torchwood. Now, dear Livejournal, tell me... I watched the first season of the new Doctor Who, and was horrified, and then informed that Season 2 was better. This turned out to be true. Is Torchwood like that? Because, while there a lot of awesome in there, it was kind of drowned out by the fact that everyone's a sexist incompetent asshole and proud of it. One or two of these things is fine, especially if they play it for laughs. If they'd established that everyone was new at this and had no idea what they were doing, then I would have loved that they were clearly incompetent versions of Men In Black. You know, just getting their bearings through trial and error. But I think we're supposed to think they're as cool as they seem to think they are. The line between informal and unprofessional is a thin one, but I don't think Torchwood is aware exactly how far on the wrong side of that line they're on.

I know a lot of you love it, and I really, really want to love it. Please, help me.
nonionay: (Default)
2009-07-07 10:23 pm
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Tudors

Just watched the first episode of The Tudors. It was...okay. Now, the main reason I wanted to watch it is for beautiful people in beautiful costumes having lots and lots of sex, and in that, I was very , very satisfied. (Seriously, there are no ugly people.) But everything else: the plot, the characters, the acting, was just okay, and even a little boring at times. I suppose it doesn't help that I know the ultimate outcome. But there are plenty more episodes to come. We shall see...
Lots and lots of hot Jonathan Rhys-Meyers. <3
nonionay: (wwjd)
2009-04-04 11:27 pm
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Dexter and wrapping stuff.

We watched the first disc of Dexter tonight. I'm in love.
Now, there is much wrapping going on in this show. Mainly of bodies and body parts, in various stages of life and death.
In the credits on one episode, I saw "Cristos" listed. I wondered if it was the artist... who likes to wrap things...
It turns out it wasn't, and in any case, the artist is "Christo," not "Cristos."
>sigh<
Part of me hoped the big bad serial killer, who leaves neatly wrapped body parts lying around, was played by the guy who wrapped the Reichstag.
nonionay: (Default)
2009-02-22 09:01 am
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TV Series recommendations?

Though [livejournal.com profile] kehrli has bought all six seasons of 24, I would like a break after the drawn out intensity of Season 1. So Keffy asked what series I do want to watch. There's some series I'm in the middle of that I've watched on my own (Carnivale, Battlestar Galactica) or with people who aren't Keffy (Deadwood, Doctor Who). And dangit, I need to figure out what episode I'm on so I can keep going.

I'm interested in Torchwood, but Keffy hasn't seen much Doctor Who. Keffy vetoed Dexter upon hearing the premise (serial killer who kills serial killers. I've still heard lots of good stuff, though.)

Any recommendations?