Catching up with my entertainment ...
Apr. 22nd, 2004 12:31 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
sarea
So yesterday I called my cable company, intending to cancel service, because I watch two and a half hours of TV a week, all on regular channels, and just can't justify the expense (particularly since next season I'll be watching Alias and that's about it). The Web site has never said anything about their "limited" package, which includes the basic channels only, so I only found out about it when I called to cancel completely. :-l So now I'm going to be paying $15/month instead of $46, which is a vast improvement. The only reason I'm even keeping limited cable is because I like to have good reception when I do watch TV, though nowadays with everything coming out on DVD maybe even that expense can't really be justified. In the summer I can pause service (while still paying $5/month, grrr) and think about it some more.
Have any of you guys seen Equilibrium??? It's awesome. I love a great action sequence, and this one has many. With maybe a couple of exceptions, the fight scenes in Equilibrium are superior to that of The Matrix (which is still a fave film of mine), especially the gun stuff. I've always had a thing for Christian Bale, but he was unbelievably HOT in this movie. <g> And let's not forget Sean Bean and Taye Diggs. It's a sci-fi thriller a la The Matrix, 1984, Brave New World, etc., and there are plot holes galore, but I looooooove it. The plot: In an attempt to end wars and maintain peace, humankind has outlawed the things that trigger emotion -- literature, music, and art. To uphold the law, a special breed of police is assigned to eliminate all transgressors. But when the top enforcer misses a dose of an emotion-blocking drug, he begins to realize that things are not as they seem.
Okay, and now here's two hours of the TV I've watched this week:
Alias: Unveiled
Has no one ever explained to the CIA that when you have a countermission, you better make damn sure that there's a point, so the enemy doesn't get right away that you've played them??? I didn't get the point of Vaughn giving Lauren that fake code at all, particularly since now Lauren and her evil mum know the good guys are on to them! Honestly.
And while we're on pointlessness and stupidity, let's talk about the attempted rescue of David Carradine. That was some of the lamest things I've ever seen on TV. How did they even catch up to the trucks in the vast, vast desert, on horses??? And if they were dropped by air, how did the occupants of the trucks miss them? And let's say they'd actually successfully rescued Bill without any of the baddies noticing -- how the fuck did they expect to get back unnoticed? And WHY did they keep Bill in the first place, if he was already useless??? I mean, it's one thing if Sark would rather kill him than let the CIA have whatever knowlege he possessed, but he specifically says that they had all they needed from Bill!
The whole thing was clearly just contrived so that Bill could tell Sydney about her sister. Okay -- the idea of a Spy Sister is an extremely guilty pleasure, and it makes me excited at the same time that I recognize how incredibly cheesy it is. I mean, maybe if we'd been given any indication before that Syd might have a sister, it would go down easier. But yeah, it pretty much feels like a "We can't get Lena Olin back, so we're going to have to create another angsty familial tie for our Spy Family."
It upsets me to think of Irina having an affair w/ Sloane. I'm not a huge Jack/Irina shipper, but I do appreciate the t00biness of their love. The idea that Irina would have given birth to Sloane's baby ... yeuk. And I've always held a guilty pleasure love of the idea that Sloane loves Sydney in his own twisted way; I don't want that to have been about something/someone else.
Therapist lady has been on my good side lately.
Anyway, I don't fully get why Jack had to save Sloane in exactly that way. I don't see why he couldn't have at least tried to save Sloane w/ the evidence of The Trust, and if that didn't work, then do what he did. Of course, then they wouldn't have been able to psych us out. As much as I like Sloane, I wish they'd actually killed him; I am so sick of last-minute TV saves of characters you know won't really die.
Am intrigued to see where the sister thing goes. Hope they actually hire an actress (preferably one I like) to play the role, and not just have it be Jennifer Garner in yet another disguise. :))
Angel: Origin
WAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH. CONNOR. I LOVE CONNOR.
You see, this is the difference when you have Drew Goddard write a character farewell instead of David Fury. You get quality instead of dreck. It wasn't the most brilliant thing he's ever done; some of the Connor dialogue was a little clunky, but overall I was nearly moved to tears. (Instead of, you know, scoffing in cheesed-out disgust.)
There is NOTHING hotter than Connor kicking ass. When Wes was threatening to drop the Convenient Plot Device Box of Limited Stored Memories I could barely contain myself from yelling at him to cut the chit chat and drop it already, so Connor could regain his memories and 'learn' all his fighting moves again. And my God, was the wait totally worth it. That moment when he gets it back ... I actually squeed. Out loud. And I'm not the least bit ashamed to admit it.
The only thing is that even though there were plenty of scenes w/ Connor and Angel together ... I felt like I needed to really see them share a moment. I know, given the storyline, that wasn't exactly going to be possible -- especially since the end was supposed to pack a punch -- but I still wanted to see it. There was just not enough of this ep for me; I wanted it to go on and on and on. I'm really bummed that this is apparently the resolution for Connor. While it's a fine one, and much better than Cordy's ... I just have a terrible weakness for One Big Happy Vampire Family. Nothing would make my heart happier than to see Angel, Darla, and Connor all together. *gets weepy to think of it*
I'm really, really glad that apparently Connor is a well-adjusted person now, that he doesn't resent Angel and finally understands how much he was loved ... at the same time it's a little hard for me to buy that he regained all those memories of Quartoth and of Cordy and all the horrible things that happened the previous year and was able to remain Happy Well-Adjusted Kid. It just doesn't seem right for him; he HAS A DESTINY!!!! *in complete denial*
I do like that they closed on the prophecy thing ... and I'm glad that someone other than Angel now knows the truth. Be careful what you wish for, Wes. HA.
And before I forget: Mercedes McNab! In the opening credits!! You GO, girl.
Illyria was much more tolerable in this ep. Probably because she was paired up w/ Spike, who is nearly always amusing. Mainly because he has chemistry with a block of wood, but I've always liked watching him and Amy Acker play off each other. If ONLY I had any hope they'll give up on the whole Wes/Illyria/Fred thing.
(Another random note: Am recording S5 BtVS for Shar at the moment, and Spike looks incredibly hot in 'Crush.')
Anyway, this ep totally tied me into knots, particularly at the end, when Connor was saying his goodbyes. It's just not right that he's all well now, and not by Angel's side, fighting the good fight. *SOB*
Edit: In honor of 'Origin,' I wish to direct you to this truly fabulous Connor character study by Yahtzee, On the Education of a Young Man, set in the summer after AtS S3.
And while I'm editing, let me just say how embarrassingly long it took me to pass the third grade.
Have any of you guys seen Equilibrium??? It's awesome. I love a great action sequence, and this one has many. With maybe a couple of exceptions, the fight scenes in Equilibrium are superior to that of The Matrix (which is still a fave film of mine), especially the gun stuff. I've always had a thing for Christian Bale, but he was unbelievably HOT in this movie. <g> And let's not forget Sean Bean and Taye Diggs. It's a sci-fi thriller a la The Matrix, 1984, Brave New World, etc., and there are plot holes galore, but I looooooove it. The plot: In an attempt to end wars and maintain peace, humankind has outlawed the things that trigger emotion -- literature, music, and art. To uphold the law, a special breed of police is assigned to eliminate all transgressors. But when the top enforcer misses a dose of an emotion-blocking drug, he begins to realize that things are not as they seem.
Okay, and now here's two hours of the TV I've watched this week:
Alias: Unveiled
Has no one ever explained to the CIA that when you have a countermission, you better make damn sure that there's a point, so the enemy doesn't get right away that you've played them??? I didn't get the point of Vaughn giving Lauren that fake code at all, particularly since now Lauren and her evil mum know the good guys are on to them! Honestly.
And while we're on pointlessness and stupidity, let's talk about the attempted rescue of David Carradine. That was some of the lamest things I've ever seen on TV. How did they even catch up to the trucks in the vast, vast desert, on horses??? And if they were dropped by air, how did the occupants of the trucks miss them? And let's say they'd actually successfully rescued Bill without any of the baddies noticing -- how the fuck did they expect to get back unnoticed? And WHY did they keep Bill in the first place, if he was already useless??? I mean, it's one thing if Sark would rather kill him than let the CIA have whatever knowlege he possessed, but he specifically says that they had all they needed from Bill!
The whole thing was clearly just contrived so that Bill could tell Sydney about her sister. Okay -- the idea of a Spy Sister is an extremely guilty pleasure, and it makes me excited at the same time that I recognize how incredibly cheesy it is. I mean, maybe if we'd been given any indication before that Syd might have a sister, it would go down easier. But yeah, it pretty much feels like a "We can't get Lena Olin back, so we're going to have to create another angsty familial tie for our Spy Family."
It upsets me to think of Irina having an affair w/ Sloane. I'm not a huge Jack/Irina shipper, but I do appreciate the t00biness of their love. The idea that Irina would have given birth to Sloane's baby ... yeuk. And I've always held a guilty pleasure love of the idea that Sloane loves Sydney in his own twisted way; I don't want that to have been about something/someone else.
Therapist lady has been on my good side lately.
Anyway, I don't fully get why Jack had to save Sloane in exactly that way. I don't see why he couldn't have at least tried to save Sloane w/ the evidence of The Trust, and if that didn't work, then do what he did. Of course, then they wouldn't have been able to psych us out. As much as I like Sloane, I wish they'd actually killed him; I am so sick of last-minute TV saves of characters you know won't really die.
Am intrigued to see where the sister thing goes. Hope they actually hire an actress (preferably one I like) to play the role, and not just have it be Jennifer Garner in yet another disguise. :))
Angel: Origin
WAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH. CONNOR. I LOVE CONNOR.
You see, this is the difference when you have Drew Goddard write a character farewell instead of David Fury. You get quality instead of dreck. It wasn't the most brilliant thing he's ever done; some of the Connor dialogue was a little clunky, but overall I was nearly moved to tears. (Instead of, you know, scoffing in cheesed-out disgust.)
There is NOTHING hotter than Connor kicking ass. When Wes was threatening to drop the Convenient Plot Device Box of Limited Stored Memories I could barely contain myself from yelling at him to cut the chit chat and drop it already, so Connor could regain his memories and 'learn' all his fighting moves again. And my God, was the wait totally worth it. That moment when he gets it back ... I actually squeed. Out loud. And I'm not the least bit ashamed to admit it.
The only thing is that even though there were plenty of scenes w/ Connor and Angel together ... I felt like I needed to really see them share a moment. I know, given the storyline, that wasn't exactly going to be possible -- especially since the end was supposed to pack a punch -- but I still wanted to see it. There was just not enough of this ep for me; I wanted it to go on and on and on. I'm really bummed that this is apparently the resolution for Connor. While it's a fine one, and much better than Cordy's ... I just have a terrible weakness for One Big Happy Vampire Family. Nothing would make my heart happier than to see Angel, Darla, and Connor all together. *gets weepy to think of it*
I'm really, really glad that apparently Connor is a well-adjusted person now, that he doesn't resent Angel and finally understands how much he was loved ... at the same time it's a little hard for me to buy that he regained all those memories of Quartoth and of Cordy and all the horrible things that happened the previous year and was able to remain Happy Well-Adjusted Kid. It just doesn't seem right for him; he HAS A DESTINY!!!! *in complete denial*
I do like that they closed on the prophecy thing ... and I'm glad that someone other than Angel now knows the truth. Be careful what you wish for, Wes. HA.
And before I forget: Mercedes McNab! In the opening credits!! You GO, girl.
Illyria was much more tolerable in this ep. Probably because she was paired up w/ Spike, who is nearly always amusing. Mainly because he has chemistry with a block of wood, but I've always liked watching him and Amy Acker play off each other. If ONLY I had any hope they'll give up on the whole Wes/Illyria/Fred thing.
(Another random note: Am recording S5 BtVS for Shar at the moment, and Spike looks incredibly hot in 'Crush.')
Anyway, this ep totally tied me into knots, particularly at the end, when Connor was saying his goodbyes. It's just not right that he's all well now, and not by Angel's side, fighting the good fight. *SOB*
Edit: In honor of 'Origin,' I wish to direct you to this truly fabulous Connor character study by Yahtzee, On the Education of a Young Man, set in the summer after AtS S3.
And while I'm editing, let me just say how embarrassingly long it took me to pass the third grade.
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no subject
Date: 2004-04-22 03:43 pm (UTC)Yes, amazingly Illyria had one not terrible moment this ep and it was when she told Angel, "I want Spike as my pet." I actually laughed out loud—in the way they intended me to, not in that "Oh my God, did they lift Illyria from that 'What is kissing?' episode of old Star Trek?" way.
no subject
Date: 2004-04-22 06:23 pm (UTC)Duuuuuuuuude -- a show just about Connor! Oh, that would rock so hardcore.
Connor likes older women, so we'd never have to see him get it on w/ some undeserving co-ed... ; )
no subject
Date: 2004-04-22 03:46 pm (UTC)Have any of you guys seen Equilibrium??? It's awesome. I love a great action sequence,
Indeed. I saw it in the theater and was quite moved.
I really like Christian Bale. Did you watch Laurel Canyon?
no subject
Date: 2004-04-22 07:14 pm (UTC)It's a shame, too, because ... guh. I envy you greatly that you saw it on a huge screen. The part where his wife kisses him, knowing it'll be her only chance? OMG. And who can blame her?!?!
Thanks for pointing to your post -- you make a really good point here: It's an arty type movie. If you subject it to too much intellectual analysis it falls apart, but it wasn't meant to be logical or intellectual. Equilibrium is a movie about emotion. That's exactly it. It doesn't stand up to real analysis, but for what it makes you feel, I don't give a crap about plot holes.
My obsessions over actors come and go, but Christian Bale has been one of the very, very few constants, and it's because he's such an amazing actor (his various American accents are scarily perfect). And while I've seen films of his that don't properly showcase his talent, this was one example of how just what he can do when provided decent material. I'm still not sure whether I'm more excited about or dreading Batman. I think it has great potential, but unfortunately that could mean toward the bad.
There's Christian Bale and he saves a puppy and I'm so fucking happy with this movie.
Really, there's nothing more I can add to that. I've already watched it twice, and I might need to watch it again before the weekend's over.
(Haven't seen Laurel Canyon yet, but have it. I don't know why I'm resisting.)
no subject
Date: 2004-04-22 07:51 pm (UTC)It's actually quite enjoyable. Frances McDormand is really the main thing in the movie. She is really fantastic in it (she plays CB's record producer mother). BUT! There is this one REALLY hot scene between CB's character and Natascha McElhone's character, where they sit in the car together and...well I don't want to spoil it. It's a talky scene, but sooo great. I know that YOU will love it Sarea. It is going to be right up your alley. Trust me.
Make sure and watch it by yourself if you can.
no subject
Date: 2004-04-22 07:29 pm (UTC)That was such a good episode. I never wanted it to end either. And, even though I got the end, and I really liked how it was subtle, yet moving, I REALLY wanted Connor to be a little messed up, or at least share a moent with Angel. And stay around for all 4 more episodes.
*sigh*
no subject
Date: 2004-04-22 07:43 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-04-22 11:23 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-04-22 09:37 pm (UTC)WRITE IT AND I WILL FANGIRL YOU FOREVER OH YES.
I'm suspicious about this being the last we'll see of Connor, though. What with the Jossverse not being littered with happy endings. *worries*
no subject
Date: 2004-04-22 11:15 pm (UTC)Still, I wouldn't call the end of BtVS "unhappy," so there is that. Isn't that something? It's not all tied up in a little package, but it's a decent ending for the characters (with maybe the exception of Anya). And w/ Connor gone, it's not like Angel is fully happy, so doesn't that count? He doesn't get to have his son! It's my opinion (delusion) that Connor is as "gone" as Cordy.