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The Great Indoor Fight [Jan. 30th, 2007|07:15 pm]
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I can't believe I'm totally getting into the UFC. UFC 67 is this weekend, which includes Mirko "Cro Cop" Filipović's defection from Pride to UFC. I saw Cro Cop fight on a Pride pay-per-view event last year (in which he knocked his opponent out with a 360 leg kick to the side of his opponent's head). Looking forward to watching him again, though no doubt his first match in the UFC will be an easy debut for him.

Recently downloaded The Ultimate Fighter (Season One) reality program, who's finale contained one of the best MMA fights I've ever seen, 15 minutes of pure raw brawling, a light heavyweight fight between Forrest Griffin and Stephan Bonnar. If you've seen it, you know what I'm talking about.

I'm currently downloading seasons two, three and four of The Ultimate Fighter.
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CBC Copycatting CTV? [Jan. 5th, 2007|01:48 pm]
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Canadian television (in particular sitcoms) has been improving of late. No more are the days of Snowjob and King of Kensington. It is strange why we've been such failures at the sitcom given that our comedy (in the form of skits shows) has always been popular the world over (Bizarre, SCTV, Kids in the Hall, This Hour has 22 Minutes). But suck at the sitcom we have. So bad that Full House is the type of sitcom you'd want to tune into every week rather than something homespun by the CBC.

Then came Trailer Park Boys. And Corner Gas. Canadians actually started tuning into Canadian comedy again. But these weren't produced by the CBC, so perhaps therein lies the reason for success. But the CBC wants in the game again.

So, pushing a bit of the envelope, combined with a little bit of copycatting, CBC is premiering Little Mosque on the Prairie on Tuesday. Like Corner Gas, it takes place in a small Saskatchewan town. Unlike Corner Gas, it revolves around a minority family of Muslims. Muslims in a town without Muslims. The trailer for the first episode looks promising. One of the main characters gets into a bit of trouble at the airport, talking on a cellphone to his mother, with such lines as "Ma, I've been planning this for an entire year. It's not like I just dropped a bomb on Dad. So tell him I'm not throwing my life away" I guess lines like that begin to concern other passengers in the check-in ticketing line. Comedy ensues, or hopefuly it does.

Here's hoping the CBC can do something right. It would be nice to have something new to hang our hats on.
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Save the Cheerleader. Save the World. [Jan. 2nd, 2007|06:11 pm]
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Now that's how you write a television show that's supposed to be about intrigue wrapped around an ongoing story arc. You pose interesting questions that the viewers can involve themselves with, and then you actually start answering those questions before piling on more questions. That's what killed X-Files. Questions upon questions with few of them ever answered. And that's what's killing Lost.

This is what makes Heroes such a good show. They have a few grand intrigues, but the show continues to peck away at them. As smaller intrigues are posed, the show spends the next episodes (usually no more than three) answering those intrigues. And as those are solved, more intrigues are added. But the new intrigues use the previous intrigues as stepping stones, building a bigger whole.

When Tim Kring (the series creator) says he has five seasons mapped out, you really get the idea he's telling the truth (unlike the people with Lost who said they had seven seasons mapped out, but already in season three it seems as though the writers themselves are lost).

And it's not just the premise of the show (which is sort of like a pre-X-Men ... humanity at the point of new evolution, people just discovering their new powers and confused and baffled and scared by it all. It's just not the premise, but the characters. All very well-written, all very grounded, and all following the plot. So far characters haven't made odd leaps or decisions to advance plot or to enact a moment of comedy or drama, they're written to their strengths and weaknesses. They aren't suddenly given strengths and weaknesses to get the writers out of plot holes (of which so far, there aren't any that are readily apparent). And the characters evolve emotionally too, especially the Matt Parkman and Hiro Nakamura characters

I also like the level of gray in the story too. The characters aren't comicbook Good or Evil (except Sylar, who's purposefully 2D evil, to give the story a more familiar comicbook context in which real people act against). They're all confronted with personal ethical dilemmas that they muddy through on their own based on their own principles. They do what they think is right, using whatever rationales they have at their emotional disposal.

On New Year's Eve I started downloading the eleven current episodes of Heroes. Now that I have the nifty new laptop, I can just set it on my coffee table and sit and relax on the couch while watching downloaded television (versus sitting in front on a computer monitor in a well-lit room in an upright position in my computer chair, which isn't relaxing viewing). So I downloaded the eleven episodes and started watching them New Year's Day. By the end of the day, I was through every episode. Yes, that is how you spell L-O-S-E-R, but damn if the show isn't fantastically addicting and fascinating.

Anyhow, well worth watching. If you don't torrent, then look for it on DVD next Fall.
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The Patrick Stewart bit ... [Jan. 2nd, 2007|11:38 am]
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I reviewed Extras seasons one and two previously, and made prominent mention of the Patrick Stewart cameo, which was one of the funniest bits in the series (the actors playing themselves all play skewed versions of themselves) ... anyhow, that bit made it to youtube ...

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Into the Black [Nov. 27th, 2006|03:42 pm]
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I guess I don't really care, because I'm not going to watch it. But there is a group of Firefly/Serenity fans who are doing like the Star Trek fans, creating a fan-driven series. As with all fan-driven series I've seen, the writing is amateurish and the acting is painful to watch.

Into the Black (Trailer; 2:30 min; YouTube)
(Yeah, I'm doing everyone the favour of not embedding the trailer in this post.)

Article on Into the Black
(Interesting from a film production perspective.)
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The Answer [Nov. 23rd, 2006|04:43 pm]
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Answer to the poll question!
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As god is my witness, I thought turkeys could fly! [Nov. 22nd, 2006|12:59 am]
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Poll #873200 As god is my witness, I thought turkeys could fly!
Open to: All, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 10

Do you know what that quote references?

View Answers

Yes
8 (80.0%)

No
2 (20.0%)

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Underfunded [Nov. 9th, 2006|03:41 pm]
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Okay, I don't think CSIS is that underfunded. Greyhound buses? Dial-up internet connections? Looks like it might be pretty funny though. Unless the only joke in the show is that he's underfunded, in which case that'll get tiresome after about three episodes.

Underfunded is a new American television program on the USA network. It's about a CSIS (Canadian Security Intelligence Service) agent working to solve international crime.

Premieres today. Not sure if it's playing on any Canadian channels. Hopefully it becomes available via torrent tonight or tomorrow.
Darryl Freehorn is a lowly Canadian Secret Service agent (yes, they have one too) on a mission: he's out to get some respect. Caught between working with top US Intelligence officials and his budget-conscious boss back in Canada, Darryl finds himself solving world-threatening conspiracies on a small-time budget.

His brilliance in the field compensates for the woefully underfunded agency's lack of resources, both high- and low-tech. As he goes about his duties, the constant indignities he faces as a result of his agency's inadequate budget causes him much frustration with comedic results.
(Thanks to [info]bitterguy for the heads up.)
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DVD and Film Mini-Reviews #85 [Nov. 5th, 2006|02:01 pm]
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Sense and Sensibility (Ang Lee, 1995)
****1/2
Ang Lee + Emma Thompson + Kate Winslet all equal one marvelous film. After the BBC five hour version of Pride and Prejudice, this is my next favourite Jane Austen adaptation. I'm not even quite sure why I'm not giving this five stars. Maybe because it's not quite the masterpiece that Pride and Prejudice is. But then it's not really a fair comparison. One is a 5 hour adaptation, while Sense and Sensibility is a 2 hour affair. S&S is certainly more gorgeous to look at than P&P, even though both were working on limited budgets. The writing in both is stellar. Maybe it's the commentary track that had me knock off a half-star, when I learned that Emma Thompson retained next to none of the original dialogue in her screenplay and that a few other liberties were taken (although this is no smack on her screenplay itself, which is sparkling). P&P is certainly the better adapation by comparison. They're both equally well-cast. I don't know, maybe consider it a 4 and three-quarter star film. The story is a familiar one to Austen: middle class family finds itself in financial straits, and an overbearing, though well-meaning mother, tries to marry off her daughters as best she can. Another treatise on the state of affairs for women during the time period, that all they could really aspire too were financially rewarding marriages (and the really lucky women were able to find love as well).

The Philadelphia Story (George Cukor, 1940)
****1/2
The British always did class satire better than the Americans, simply because the British class system was so much better defined, it was institutionalized. That said, this still does a bang-up job in a purely American fashion. Audiences were fascinated with the nouveau-riche, even moreso when they exhibited traits and characteristics of the working and middle classes. The film is about the evolution of the Katherine Hepburn character, from snotty ice queen (British-like) to a more humble, fun-loving gal (American-like), all this while she struggles with her attraction for three different men, each of whom offer her something on the road travelled.

Extras: Season Two (BBC, 2006)
****
Definitely darker than the last season, perhaps on par with the second season of The Office. This season doesn't focus so much on the "extras" aspect, since main character, Andy Millman, now has his own TV show on BBC. But he's unhappy, because his creation has been yoinked from him and turned into the type of comedy that he despises, although he still gets to take the brunt of the attacks from the media. Andy is in a depressed state through the entire series, not happy with his show, not happy with the type of fame he is receiving, not happy with the people around him (especially his mostly incompetent manager ... actually his manager seems to go through the character arc that Andy did in the first season). Lots of guest appearances here, the best of which are Orlando Bloom, Daniel Radcliffe and Sir Ian McKellen. The saddest episode is the fifth, when Andy is cast in a play by McKellen, although entirely capable of the performance, his own insecurities and prejudices get in the way.

Thank You For Smoking (Jason Reitman, 2005)
***1/2
Very nearly a great satire. What makes a great satire? Keeping true to the source, ensuring that the story and acting don't deviate from the reality of the situation. Not letting the premise get away from you by focusing too much on the inherent message or the comedy. Far too often in satires, the writers end up ruining their initial ideas by going to far into maudlinism or comedy. Satire requires a delicate balance between comedy and drama, the comedy has to be situational, based on the reality, rather than screwball. The best satire is usually more tragicomedy than anything else. Thank You For Smoking mostly maintains that fine balance between reality and comedy (except for a sub-plot that ends at the Lincoln Memorial, which seems out of place and isn't really necessary). It's about a man who is the spokesman for big tobacco. He's completely unapologetic about his job; someone has to do it, why shouldn't it be him? It's mainly about what drives a man to do work like this, work that requires one to actively lie and deceive the public.

Jackass: Number Two (Jeff Tremaine, 2006)
***1/2
It's fucking retarded. There's no arguing that. But it's hilarious. I haven't laughed so hard at a movie in a long time. My cheeks were hurting by the end of it. There were some moments in which I couldn't watch (anything involving defecation or vomiting), but everything else is a riot. Jackass isn't just stupid stunts (and pranks) per se, but stupid stunts (and pranks) set up in clever and ingenious little ways. It takes a warped mind to force a shark hook through their cheek and then thrown themselves into hammerhead and mako infested waters. I have no problem watching and laughing at idiots on-screen.

V for Vendetta (James McTeigue, 2005)
***
I never read the comicbook, so I can't comment on the accuracy of the film to the source material, so I'm not rating this on that aspect at all. As a film and a story, I enjoyed it. It holds together well and has something to say with respect to contemporary society (especially with respect to current Britain, which is the most surveilled population in the world.) The story: a Batman-like hero decides to bring down a Guy Fawkes revolution upon a corrupt, 1984-like government.

Poseidon (Wolfgang Petersen, 2006)
*
Just a bunch of upside-down sets populated by uninteresting characters dealing with hack-writer backstories. Not even shot interestingly. Worse than the original? Why remake a bad film? To make an even worse film. At least the original had cheese going for it. This has nothing, because it takes itself too seriously. A little tongue-in-cheek camp and cheese would have made this a better film, instead the camp and cheese is unintended which makes for unbearable viewing. These types of films are always better when the cast and crew know they're creating bunk, but fun bunk.
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DVD and Film Mini-Reviews #84 [Oct. 8th, 2006|12:17 am]
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The Wire: Season One, Two and Three (HBO, 2002 - 2005)
*****
One of the greatest television shows ever created. It's a visual novel. Each episode a chapter in a grander palette. This series requires intelligent viewing. You have to pay attention to the details, the show doesn't spend time explaining away everything, it involves the viewer in the process of the storytelling, much as a good novel does. The opening episodes of each season might seem a little slow for those groomed on network television cop shows such as CSI, the opening episodes introduce the themes, add colour to the palette, before application of the first brush strokes. This is not so much a cop show as it is a story about the city of Baltimore. West Baltimore is the main character here, there are no other main characters, everyone else are supporting actors. Yes, there are recurring characters, but those characters rarely get time above and beyond any other character or story element. It's Baltimore and the variety of social structures that make her tick that is the focus. In the first season the theme is the drug trade, the interrelationship between the police force and the drug traffickers. The second season focuses on the waterfront, the unions, the politics, and the police. The third season is about reformation, how a city might change and does change, how people change as well. (The fourth season, currently airing is about education, the inner city school system.) Stories from previous seasons carry-over into succeeding seasons, as do characters. Each season is not a universe unto its own, and the series builds a broader palette, a series of novels, all of which build upon each other. If you've not seen The Wire, you're missing one of the truly rewarding viewing experiences. (Beware, the show does not gloss over finality, there aren't life affirming moments for the sake of them, they either exist or don't, all part of a realistic picture of Baltimore.) (Factoid: Baltimore has the highest murder rate in the United States, perhaps the world. It averages over 275 murders per year. If Baltimore had the population of New York City, extrapolation would give it 4000 murders per year.)

United 93 (Paul Greengrass, 2006)
****1/2
I enjoyed Greengrass' Bloody Sunday, but disliked his Bourne Supremacy (mainly the action editing with this one, since the story was solid). United 93 is what Paul Greengrass does best, pseudo-documentary filmmaking. This isn't exploitative. This film doesn't dwell on character. This is about events, built around the 9/11 Commission Report on what was known about the flight and the morning before. The strength of this film is that it doesn't devolve into disaster movie tropes, the film doesn't open on characters leaving their homes, kissing their wives and children, dealing with their morning issues, in an attempt to create false sympathy with the audience. The characters barely have names in this film, we don't spend time with them in a personal manner. The film moves between three main sets, the airplane, the air traffic control centre, and NORAD. It basically recounts the confusion on the ground the morning of 9/11, and then tries to piece together those events into a whole that explains why United 93 went undetected for so long. And then pieces together what might have went down on the airplane itself. A really good film and powerful in its telling. Requires careful viewing, since little is explained as the story is told. This is no World Trade Center Oliver Stone horseshit.

X-Men 3: The Last Stand (Brett Ratner, 2006)
***
I thought the story here was better than the second film, and key characters given more to do (and say) this time around. The story stands together about as well (or slightly better) than X-Men 2, but nowhere near as well as the X-Men 1 (and I'm not huge fan of the franchise having found all the films to be pretty unfocused patch jobs ... too many characters, not enough minutes in a film). I wasn't particularly surprised when Xavier was taken out of action early, since that seems to be what happens to him every film (I guess because his power isn't action oriented, writers just don't know what the hell to do with him, so best to knock him out of the majority of a story.) It's an easily watchable comicbook film, and even though directed by a hack like Ratner, it's really no better or worse directed (writing is another matter) than the previous two films. At least Ratner doesn't resort to fast-cutting of action, so in the action genre he's bearable. About the only failing of the film are the "two" endings, both of which really weaken everything that came before. This is film, a trilogy, so there's nothing wrong with finality. Hell there's finality in the film's title alone -- "The Last Stand". Finality affords impact, gives extra punch to the story. Pulling the rug out of that finality, as they did with their endings, is both cheap and demeaning, especially to the audience. Those "holy shit" moments afford no reflection afterwards.

The L Word: Season Two (Showtime, 2005)
*1/2
A huge disappointment from the first season. Boring would be the best way to sum it up. The characters have become wholly uninteresting. Their problems and relationships mediocre. The storytelling clichéd (if you have two characters who've broken up, everytime you show one of those characters hooking up, you don't have to immediately cut to the other at home, alone, being mopey and sad ... that sort of storytelling is so network television ... if you're attempting to do something different Showtime, then try to do it in how you tell stories too ... take a page from HBO ... please.) Oh, and the character of Jenny ... please get rid of her. A character who cries in every single scene in which she appears in hugely fucking annoying, scratch-your-eyeballs-out annoying.. Involve her in a car accident in the third season, please. But if you don't, at the very least, drop the whole pretentious carnival dream shit and stop involving her in storylines that allow the actress to showcase her skill of shedding a tear at the drop of a penny. Not much else to say about this, not even sure it's worth the effort. I barely made it through the season. Not even sure if I'll bother checking out Season Three (even though I've heard it's a vast improvement over the second season). I'm not looking for murder plots and whoredom out of L Word, that's not a requirement for absence of boredom, I'm just looking for characters I can invest some emotion in. This season I could have cared less about any of them, especially the ones I really liked from the first season.
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Lost Season Three Tonight [Oct. 4th, 2006|01:14 pm]
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Q: How do you keep a Lost fan in suspense?

A: Tell you next week.
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QotD: What TV show(s) will you be watching this season? Why? [Sep. 25th, 2006|02:56 pm]
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I'll only be watching one in its regular timeslot.

Lost
Good solid mystery, and so far the writing has remained consistent.

The rest of the TV I watch this season will be downloaded and watched at my leisure, they include:

Battlestar Galactica
Solid sci-fi drama. Some lazy writing from time to time, but overall enjoyable viewing if you're into the sci-fi genre.

The Office
Almost as funny as its BBC predecessor. Best comedy currently on TV.

Corner Gas
Canada's answer to Seinfeld. A show about nothing. More hit than miss. And we're not known for our comedies. We have some truly painful comedies in the Canadian television archives (Snow Job, anyone?)

Survivor
I like watching attention whores backstab each other over money. It's the (North) American dream.

The Sopranos (Mar 2007)
Excellent mafia drama.

Prison Break
This might not last very long on my viewing schedule. Depends on how unbelievably outlandish it gets. Logic is not in the writers' vocabulary.

MI-5 (UK)
A good British spy drama. It's no Sandbaggers, but then what is.

Extras (UK)
A good comedy, made better when famous folk appear to poke fun at themselves.
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Fuck fuck fuck ... Fuuuuck ... MOTHERFUCKER!! [Sep. 19th, 2006|02:32 pm]
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There's this scene in one of the mid-episodes of The Wire: Season One where two of the investigating cops do their CSI thing at an old crime scene. During the entire reconstruction of the crime, they communicate using nothing but "fucks" and "motherfuckers" as one little revelation piles onto another. It's an ingenious little scene, and how the limited language is conveyed is fantastic ... I didn't even realize what was going on until about midway through the scene (which lasts about 4 or 5 minutes). Must have been a difficult bit of script writing.

BTW, The Wire is an excellent piece of police procedural drama. Each season takes place in a different city, and each season revolves around a single case. So instead of trying to mash a complex case into 45 minutes (which shows like CSI do), you get to watch an entire case develop over thirteen 55 minute episodes. I think the latter gives you a better sense of what it actually takes to develop a case (especially in an underfunded, politics driven police department), versus the slamdunk mentality of shows like CSI who's cop departments seem to have endless amounts of resources at their disposal.
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DVD and Film Mini-Reviews #83 [Sep. 15th, 2006|03:00 pm]
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Deadwood: Season One and Two (HBO, 2004 - 2005)
****1/2
I'll review the first two seasons of Deadwood in a single shot here, since it is a continuing drama based on real overarching historical events. A number of historical characters are portrayed in the series, but are largely fictionalised (i.e. Wild Bill Hickok, Seth Bullock, Sol Star, Calamity Jane, Al Swearengen, Wyatt Earp, E. B. Farnum and George Hearst). Wikipedia greatly helps in understanding where they've been true to the history (the events surrounding Wild Bill's death for example), versus taking dramatic license with the facts (the Al Swearengen character for example). The grander historical events, such as the political events that moved Deadwood from a lawless town on Indian territory to a town annexed back into American territory, being the backdrop for moving the smaller storylines and characterisations forward. The profanity on Deadwood has been the most controversial aspect of the show, but as David Milch explains, the producers and writers had their reasons for using more modern vernacular: "Originally the characters were to use period slang and swear words ... [however] the results sounded downright comical ... [making] everyone sound like Yosemite Sam." Instead, it was decided the show would use modern profanity so that the language would hold weight with a current audience much as the older vernacular held weight in the 1870s. An excellent drama, an excellent western. On par with many of the great Westerns from Sergio Leone and Clint Eastwood. Deadwood is dirty, raw, and very real.
Note: Season three recently aired and HBO has decided not to renew the show for a fourth season. Instead, Milch (the producer) will create two two-hour telefilms to tie up all the loose storylines.
Rome: Season One (HBO/BBC, 2005)
****
Very historically accurate, in terms of the events as written. Many of the historical characters are fictionalised in their day to day existence and thoughts. Wikipedia describes the show's first season best: "The first season depicts Caesar's civil war and Julius Caesar's rise to absolute dictatorship over Rome, and his subsequent fall, between the end of his Gallic Wars (52 BCE) and his assassination on (42 BCE, the infamous Ides of March). Against the backdrop of these cataclysmic events, we are also shown the young Octavian, growing up as the young man who is destined to become the first Emperor of Rome: Caesar Augustus." Augustus is probably the biggest anachronism in the show, as he's played by the same teenager throughout the first season, even though 10 years pass from start to finish (but understandable, as it would have only confused audiences to have had the actor change mid season.) Wikipedia is a great source of what was fictionalised in each episode, but thankfully, for the most part, only minor elements were altered. What happens happened historically, and in the order it happened at the time it happened. A real tour-de-force epic. Every detail is lovingly crafted and presented on screen. If you like history, you'll likely love Rome.

Extras: Season One (BBC, 2005)
****
Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant's (both from BBC's The Office) newest comedy. Here Ricky is a struggling actor, mainly getting extra roles in films. Each episode features someone famous, playing a twisted version of themselves (the best starring role is by Patrick Stewart, who pokes fun at Trekkies as well as discussing a script he's written, which is mainly just a collection of set-ups for female breasts to be bared). Extras, while not nearly as funny, is more upbeat and not as cruel as The Office. This is much more in the sitcom vein than The Office, which was in a mockumentary format. It's probably not fair to compare the two, but since Gervais stars in (and co-wrote) both, comparisons are hard to avoid. A very good comedy nonetheless, and stands heads and shoulders above 95% of the comedies that US network television produces. Worth seeing.

The L Word: Season One (Showtime, 2004)
***1/2
Sort of like Sex and the City, but with lesbians. Strikes me as a male fantasy version of lesbianism, but then who wants to watch a show filled with butch lesbians. Lots of eye candy here and nudity. The nudity and sex are just the cherry on top, because the relationship arcs and the characters turn out to be quite addictive viewing, even if those storylines aren't fanciful or overly sensationalised, as is done with a lot of TV drama. My favourite characters would have to be Dana (the closeted tennis player) and Shane (the cool nympho- masculine figure, about the closest the show gets to butch.) Entertaining viewing, if not overly dramatic or exciting, but that's really its selling point.

Prison Break: Season One (Fox, 2005)
***
Mostly preposterous, but strangely compelling and entertaining. A brother gets himself thrown into prison to effect the escape of himself and his brother (who is on death row for a murder he didn't commit.) To effect the escape, the brother plans everything down to the last detail, including tattooing the plans of the penitentiary onto his body. Of course, these plans are thrown out the window around the third episode, and from thereon in, luck and fortuitousness rule every aspect of the escape. In that sense, the show can be a little frustrating, since many of the plot points appear out of nowhere, mainly to sweep aside roadblocks the characters are constantly finding themselves faced with. For a character that planned everything down to the last detail, the brother is often stymied by the most obvious things (i.e. like the fact that elevator doors do not close if they are obstructed, but the solution the writers come up with doesn't make any sense either.) An entertaining, popcorn show if you can get past the fact that it's completely harebrained and that random chance seems to rule every action these characters take.

Fame: Season One (NBC, 1982)
**
I used to enjoy this show as a kid. Sometimes you just can't go back to revisit your youth. The clichés, cheese and stereotypes are piled heavy and deep. Very little in the way of reality here. And as the show tries to cover "important issues" it does so in an overly generalised way, touching only the surface of the problems, wrapping them up all too neatly. If you too enjoyed this show as a youth, you may not want to revisit it, as it will likely only disappoint. Keep those memories clouded by time and distance.
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Instead of 2 months later ... [Sep. 7th, 2006|11:41 am]
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Space is actually going to be showing Battlestar Galactica at the same time as it's broadcast on Sci-Fi in the states. Well, almost. Just a day later. Sci-Fi broadcasts BG on Friday and Space will broadcast it on Saturday. I guess Space decided that showing it 2+ months after Sci-Fi was not a wise business decision, even to save a few bucks on rebroadcast rights, since by the time Space gets around to showing the eps, most of us have already downloaded them because we don't want the wait. For season three, Space will finally get to inundate me with their advertising, at least for a few episodes here and there (they are boradcasting on a Saturday after all).

The Battlestar Galactica third season debut on Space -- October 07 2006.

As well, Lost will be opening their third season October 04 2006. By all accounts they'll be broadcasting six episodes for six weeks, then they'll be taking an 8 week hiatus. What the hell? Did anybody actually enjoy when Battlestar Galactica did that in the second season? Just start your damned season later, rather than force us through these long mid-season breaks.
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David Brent's Microsoft Training Videos [Aug. 30th, 2006|12:18 pm]
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Ricky Gervais - Microsoft 1
"David Brent - Microsoft 1" on Google Video
Part one of two training videos for Microsoft UK employees featuring Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant in their roles from the BBC version of The Office


Ricky Gervais - Microsoft 2
"David Brent - Microsoft 2" on Google Video
Part two of two training videos for Microsoft UK employees featuring Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant in their roles from the BBC version of The Office.
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Top Sixteen Television Shows (2006) [Aug. 29th, 2006|03:55 pm]
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Ten months ago I threw up a list of my top fifteen television shows. The criteria for these shows were as follows:
  1. Fond childhood memories, even given that if I were to watch them again, I'd likely hate them (which is why I avoid watching them, so that I don't spoil those old childhood memories)
  2. Shows that didn't jump the shark (at least while I was still watching them) or have yet to jump the shark.
  3. Current shows that hold such a high interest for me that I can't see them dropping off the list anytime soon.
The original list is as follows:

01. The Office (BBC, 2001-2003)
02. The Sandbaggers (ITV, 1978-1980)
03. Monty Python's Flying Circus (BBC, 1969-1974)
04. Seinfeld (NBC, 1990-1998)
05. SCTV (Global, 1976-1981)
06. Curb Your Enthusiasm (HBO, 2000-present)
07. Firefly (Fox, 2002)
08. Star Trek (NBC, 1966-1969)
09. The Simpsons (Fox, 1989-present)
10. Arrested Development (Fox, 2003-present)
11. The Rockford Files (NBC, 1974-1980)
12. Magnum P.I. (CBS, 1980-1988)
13. Sopranos (HBO, 1999-present)
14. Gilligan's Island (CBS, 1964-1967)
15. Survivor (CBS, 2000-present)

And after seeing the list again, I began head scratching. Why Star Trek? I am much more enamored of Star Trek: The Next Generation than the original series. And Gilligan's Island? In terms of shows I watched as a kid, I rarely bring this one up, ever. Hell, I'm more apt to talk about The Six Million Dollar Man or The Brady Bunch or The Rockford Files (which is already quite aptly on the list.)

Even though an entire year hasn't yet passed, I'm going to redo the list. And I'll add one to the list, for the heck of it, since I've been doing the same with the yearly top film lists.

01. The Office (BBC, 2001-2003)
02. The Sandbaggers (ITV, 1978-1980)
03. Monty Python's Flying Circus (BBC, 1969-1974)
04. Star Trek: The Next Generation (CBS, 1987-1994)
05. SCTV (Global/CBC, 1976-1981)
06. The Rockford Files (NBC, 1974-1980)
07. Firefly (Fox, 2002)
08. Battlestar Galactica (Sci-Fi, 2003-present)
09. The Simpsons (Fox, 1989-present)
10. Arrested Development (Fox, 2003-2006)
11. Sopranos (HBO, 1999-present)
12. The Beachcombers (CBC, 1972-1991)
13. Seinfeld (NBC, 1990-1998)
14. The Six Million Dollar Man (ABC, 1974-1978)
15. The Brady Bunch (ABC, 1969-1974)
16. Survivor (CBS, 2000-present)
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I wanna live forever, I wanna learn how to fly ... high! [Aug. 27th, 2006|11:11 pm]
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I've been watching Fame, the television show. Borrowed it off a friend in exchange for her borrowing My Neighbour Totoro. Holy cheese factor. I remember watching this as a kid and loving it. I don't recall it being quite as clichéd as it is ... but then when you're young, you rarely click to cliché. The (perhaps not so) odd thing is that I remember so many of the episodes.

Leroy still makes the show, though. And Lori Singer still seems completely out of her element. And Bruno, what's the with the 'fro? The 70s were already over for a good 2 years.
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... In Heels [Jun. 23rd, 2006|02:58 pm]
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Marian let me borrow her Masters of Communication thesis, "She Kicks Ass ... In Heels": Negotiating Representations of Femininity in Buffy the Vampire Slayer. I'm not going to read it cover to cover, since it's 274 pages long. But I'm reading the chapters that catch my eye, such as "Whedon as Feminist Auteur", "Buffy as Post Feminist Icon", "Sunnydale as Sexual-dale", "All You Need is the Love of a Good Man...No, Wait, Vampire", and "BtVS as Genre Bricolage" among others.

I get a kick out of academic investigations into pop culture, especially when said pop culture is of the very recent variety (immediacy obviously breeds a more personal examination). And especially if I've an interest in said pop culture. I have a wonderful little book that's a treatise of anime, from a cultural perspective. As well as having a nice softcover on the works of Hayao Miyazaki. It's nice to see academic treatments of subjects that most people don't see in that vein.

I've seen all seven seasons of Buffy. I don't claim to be a huge fan, I certainly don't hit the fansites or read fanfic, but as a television show it had a lot to sell it as entertainment. And apparently as a vehicle of empowerment for young women, and a view into femininity for young men.
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The man they called HBOM (pronounced H-Bomb) [Jun. 8th, 2006|12:06 pm]
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I haven't been updating much. Been wonderfully busy of late. Today heading downtown to snag another good dose of busyness and business. This time a project that will last nearly a month and a half.

I finally got a hold of the BBC version of Pride & Prejudice. Watched a bit last night. It's as good as I've heard. Maybe better. Much better than the last theatrical version of P&P, which I still thought was quite good. And in return Deb got Walkabout, Charade and Picnic at Hanging Rock, all movies I know she'll adore.

First The Great Outdoor Fight at Achewood, and now the Badass Games are starting. When will the brilliance stop?

HBOM signing out. I have some reviews half written. Maybe I'll find the time to post them tonight. As well as a few more personal posts. I've been getting lax, just posting news and humour links and what-not.
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Over for the summer ... *phew* [May. 24th, 2006|06:26 pm]
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Well, the big Lost season finale is tonight. It better be a good one, especially after what was a mildly disappointing series finale to Alias.

And can anyone believe that the Edmonton Oilers are up 3 games to nil over the Anaheim Mighty Ducks? You'd think Roloson was channeling Tretiak. He's definitely the main culprit behind Edmonton's success. Well, Roloson and Pronger.

Lost Update
That certainly wasn't disappointing. A few questions answered and more posed. And it would appear that two more major characters are dead, along with one minor. Though that isn't certain. "I don't know what's more disturbing, the fact that half the statue is gone or that it only has four toes."
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You don't leave edged weapons within the reach of children! [May. 9th, 2006|12:18 am]
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Now Alias decides to get back to its roots. After the disappointing third and fourth seasons, where they deviated from everything that made the show interesting and exciting to watch, now that they're in the final lap of the series, they decide to return to their strengths: Sydney's personal relationships (Will "Red Eye" Tippin), her enemies (Anna Espinoza and Evil Sloane), her family (Irina Derevko), her love (Michael Vaughn), and, most importantly, the great intrigue (Rambaldi).

Oh well, at least I'm comforted knowing the show is going to go out on the high note it deserves. I only ask one thing, that Sydney's final mission has her donning the flaming red wig. Full circle.
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New Battlestar Galactica Spin-off Series Announced [Apr. 26th, 2006|11:12 pm]
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When I saw that headline on /. my first thought was. "Oh no, they're about to jump the shark!" Then I read what the series will be about, where and when it will be based, and I thought, "Hmm, that might not be so bad."
The Sci-Fi Channel's hit series Battlestar Galactica may soon be joined by a 50-year-prior prequel series, called Caprica. To be co-exec produced by Ron Moore and David Eick, the new series will follow the tale of the creation of the Cylons.
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What is it with Star Trek? [Apr. 13th, 2006|02:43 pm]
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What is it with Star Trek that I can always watch reruns with rapt interest, even if I've already seen the episode before (and no matter how many times I've seen it). And it doesn't matter the series either. Original. Next Gen. DS9. Voyager. Enterprise. Some of the series I prefer over others, but I tend to enjoy all their episodes with few exceptions. There is no other TV show in syndication that I can enjoy like I can enjoy Star Trek. I won't even watch old Seinfeld or Simpsons re-runs any more.

We need an all Star Trek channel. That way, when I'm bored and there's nothing on any of the other stations, there will always be something to watch. I can ALWAYS watch Star Trek.
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National Identity [Apr. 13th, 2006|01:47 am]
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A lot of nations have historical moments that are watersheds in defining their national identity or their national pride, events that bring the nation together. For a lot of nations these are usually moments of national crisis (assassinations, wars, atrocities) or great scientific achievements.

We've few events like this in Canada, and our most recognized such moment was a hockey tournament. Specifically the 1972 Summit Series. Canada versus the Soviet Union. Our best players against their best players. It was supposed to be a cakewalk. Proof that democracy wins over communism. That's what the country kept telling itself and it wasn't a far-fetched (if arrogant) assumption. Hockey was our game. Who could touch us? There were to be four games in Canada. Then four games in Moscow. We left for the Soviet Union trailing 2-1-1 (2 wins, 1 loss, 1 tie).

We lost the first game in Moscow. To win the series, we had to win the remaining three games. And we did. In each game the team stepped to the plate. And a man named Paul Henderson stepped up a little further, scoring the winning goal in each of those final three games. Paul was a good player before the series, but he seemed to be destined to be one of those good players who fades into history. Good but never great. The 1972 Summit Series defined his entire career. Perhaps the rest of his life.

This series was a big deal at the time (the whole country pretty much shutdown the day of Game 8). (Not that I personally recall, of course.) And the series has only grown with time. It's a bigger event now, in the national consciousness, in the national memory, than it ever was in 1972. You cannot find a single Canadian (who has lived in Canada for at least five years) who has not heard of this series. Even 34 years later, sports television and sports radio memorializes it each and every year in September. It's become a cottage industry in a manner of speaking. September 28 should become a national holiday. If Canada is still a country 100 years from now, I find it hard to believe that the media won't still be honouring it.

So why am I bringing this up? It's not September, that's for sure. Well, last Sunday and Monday the CBC aired a two-part 4 hour film on the Summit Series. Actors playing all the old-time greats. The on-ice hockey re-enacted. It had all the earmarkings of a car wreck waiting to happen. How could they possible get this right? Yet they did. I watched it. And was riveted. And amazed, at not only the quality of the production, the quality of the performances (which gets into the quality of the casting), but the ability to tell the story, still maintain all the tension that we're so well-versed in by now, and not veer to far off into "dramatic license" land.

The casting! Wow, for the most part. Alan Eagleson (the crook who organized the event) was spot on. The Phil Esposito role, similarly impressive. The Bobby Clarke role, though initially I wasn't greatly impressed, really warmed up to me by the end of the film. The on ice re-creations, whereas not perfect, were very well done (I watched some of the actual goals Sunday night after part one). Obviously they looked long and hard to find not only people who could act, but people who could skate. And the authenticity of those re-creations was amplified by overlaying the original play-by-play for the series, the announcing of legendary Foster Hewitt and his new colour man Brian Conacher.

Since this was a CBC production, most of the show was filmed on sets. No money to start recreating 1972 out in the wild or in CGI. A lot of nicely restored archival footage was used as establishing shots as the hockey series moved from city to city across Canada. And this brings us to the cinematography. They somehow got a real 70s look out of the film stock, which added immensely to the historical feel of the film, but had the added bonus of not letting the archival footage feel out of place. There was no sharp distinction between the new film and the old (it was very cool seeing the Vancouver skyline circa '72, or seeing the Lions Gate Bridge without a wall of condos rising up the North Shore in the background). And where perhaps restoration was too expensive (or just not practical, since you can't restore an old 70s TV signal to 35mm film stock quality) they used effective trickery like showing such footage on studio monitors or television sets.

A real class act production. I can't wait to get this on DVD. It will go very well with my complete DVD set of the actual 1972 series.

(It is also Canadian Tradition #16).
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Discovery Channel of War [Mar. 25th, 2006|04:45 pm]
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I always find it disturbing when I switch over to see what's on Discovery Channel only to see them airing a show about war and weaponry. Today they're showing the top ten weapons of war. It just seems antithetical to how I view the channel's mission statement. The Discovery Channel should be about the preservation of nature and earth or simply shows about science and technology, in a peaceful context. There used to be a time when you'd turn to Discovery and all they'd be showing were shows on sharks and cougars and wolves and cheetahs. Now you almost never see shows like that on Discovery.

I've nothing against those war and weaponry shows (this particular show they did pieces on the pike and the arquebus, so it had its historical underpinnings), just seems like they should be on another channel. The same goes for shows such as American Chopper and American Hotrod. I enjoy American Chopper from time to time (there's really a lot of cool artistry that goes into the designs), but again seems like it would be better on another channel.
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Veronica Mars [Mar. 25th, 2006|01:45 pm]
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I finished watching the first season of Veronica Mars last night. I hate to say it, but I actually enjoyed it. Veronica Mars is basically Buffy the Vampire Slayer sans the vampires and the supernatural. And sans all the ass-kicking fight scenes. Not too mention that Veronica Mars has far fewer annoying characters that the viewer has to put up with, whereas Buffy was chalk full of them.

I enjoyed Veronica Mars. That's, like, so embarassing. I think I may have a teenage girl living inside me. (And that's a metaphorical teenage girl, not a real one. Please don't call the cops.)

Or maybe I'm just a philistine.
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Mercer [Mar. 18th, 2006|02:38 am]
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Every Maritime/Newfie LJer I run across has the [info]rick_mercer RSS feed on their friend/watch list. It must be the law out there. It's not statistically possible that every Maritimer finds Rick Mercer to be must reading. Or maybe it's a family thing. They're all cousins out there on the cold coast, right?

Anyone else think that Rick Mercer was better on This Hour Has 22 Minutes than on The Rick Mercer Report? I think he performed better comedy when he was only doing a few skits per show and surrounded by a talented cast of comedians, rather than trying to carry an entire half hour by himself and nobody but himself. He always seemed to hit the mark on This Hour ... and watching The Report I groan more often than laugh. Too much Rick Mercer is not a good thing, apparently.

Of course, when he was on This Hour, if you'd asked me if Rick having his own show would be a good thing, I probably would have said "Yes!" We're always greedy buggers, thinking quantity means quality. Then when we get the quantity, we're surprised at where the quality went.
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South Park vs. Kooks [Mar. 17th, 2006|11:22 pm]
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South Park has declared war on Scientology, after a controversial episode mocking outspoken Scientologist Tom Cruise was yanked abruptly from the schedule Wednesday.

"So, Scientology, you may have won THIS battle, but the million-year war for earth has just begun!" the South Park creators said in a statement Friday in Daily Variety. "Temporarily anozinizing our episode will NOT stop us from keeping Thetans forever trapped in your pitiful man-bodies... You have obstructed us for now, but your feeble bid to save humanity will fail!"

The episode in question, "Trapped in the Closet," which first aired last November, shows Scientology leaders hailing Stan, one of the show's four devilish fourth-graders, as a savior. A cartoon Cruise locks himself in a closet and won't come out. An animated John Travolta, another famous Scientologist, enters the closet to try to get him out.

The battle began in earnest earlier this week when Isaac Hayes, another celebrity Scientologist and longtime show member -- voicing the ladies' man Chef -- quit the show, saying he could no longer tolerate its religious "intolerance and bigotry."

Stone and Parker didn't buy that either.

On Monday, Stone told The Associated Press, "This is 100 percent having to do with his faith in Scientology...He has no problem -- and he's cashed plenty of checks -- with our show making fun of Christians."
Now was Cruise's beef really with the anti-Scientology slant, or with the not-so-veiled references to his rumoured homosexuality?
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A.D. and Mars [Mar. 13th, 2006|12:01 am]
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http://www.google.com/mars/

'nuff said. Go see Olympus Mons.


The rumour is that Showtime has picked up Arrested Development for at least two 13 episode seasons.
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For insurance purposes, again ... [Feb. 24th, 2006|10:59 pm]
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Like the Criterion photo post, this post contains the rest of the photos of my DVDs. All the non-Criterion photos. I haven't got around to arranging them alphabetically yet in movie, television and documentary categories. Everytime I look at the four shelves I sigh and decide to do it another day.

( 4 shelves, 8 photos )

Feel free to question anything on the shelves. Or "hoo-ha" anything, as well.

I guess the only DVDs left to photograph are the anime titles.
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Dr. Gaius Baltar [Feb. 24th, 2006|09:02 pm]
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I'm a week behind in my Battlestar Galactica viewing. But up until last week's episode, the Baltar from new Galactica was nothing at all like the Baltar from old Galactica. New Baltar was nothing more than comic relief, an unfortunate victim of his own ego and libido, never a master of them (except for a couple of brief glimpses over the last 30 installments). That is, until last week's episode. New Baltar has come into his own. We're seeing him take control of his own destiny, allowing his ego to drive him into moral and ethical areas he previously feared. New Baltar is transfiguring old Baltar.

Too much flourish in that explanation. To put it concisely ...

Baltar is starting to kick some ass. Baltar is something to now be feared.
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Queen & Country [Feb. 19th, 2006|11:57 pm]
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Has anyone read the comicbook Queen & Country published by Oni Press? It's up to issue #26. I just found out about it, and that the author has drawn a large part of his inspiration for it from The Sandbaggers. Which, of course, interested me immediately. I wonder how easy it is to find around here.
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R.I.P. Arrested Development S03E13 [Feb. 19th, 2006|11:42 pm]
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And thus Fox squanders another great television series (Firefly being the other one), replacing it with the inexplicably popular Skating with Celebrities, ranking highly in that most coveted of demographics, the idiot demographic, the largest demographic in TV land. The demographic that keeps alive such television shows as Will & Grace and Desperate Housewives (among many others).

Arrested Development was the show that blows you ... away.
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Lost S02E14 - Harry Gale and Hieroglyphics [Feb. 17th, 2006|12:31 am]
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( season 2 episode 14 spoilers )

( edit: updated translation )
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For insurance purposes ... [Feb. 8th, 2006|03:05 pm]
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Moved in. Still unpacking and rebuilding furniture that I disassembled. All the essentials are set to rights though. A little later I'll post on the move, so expect story time. :) And I'll give you all a photo tour once everything is unpacked, rebuilt and the place is freshly vacuumed and swiffered. Tonight (or tomorrow) for the story. The weekend for the tour.

While I have the old crappy camera out, I decided to start retaking photos of stuff for insurance purposes. Been awhile since I've taken pics of the DVDs. Here's the first batch. These are just the Criterions. Not that I have to post the photos here. But it's fun to show-off one's collection too.

( 5 shelf/drawers of Criterions )
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Prison Break [Jan. 21st, 2006|09:52 pm]
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My brother has been telling me to watch Prison Break since October. I decided earlier this week to download the first 13 episodes (Fox originally ordered only 13 episodes, but it's been popular enough that Fox ordered another nine eps, so the show is currently on hiatus until March, when the final nine eps will air). I watched the first two. Interesting. Holds your interest well enough. It's extremely far fetched, though (in the same vein as 24, for instance). The plan, for it to be successful, every single step has to work, or the entire plan fails. (And some of these steps, have unalterable outcomes, like the decision on what prison the main character will be sent too.) At least that's been the case up until the end of episode two. What is this plan? A man's brother is in prison, on death row. The brother has been framed for a crime he didn't commit (the assassination of the Vice President's brother). The man commits his own crime so that he can get sent to the same prison to break his brother out. The man's firm designed the prison in question, so he had complete access to the blueprints. On the outside, the death of the VP's brother is a big cover-up/conspiracy for something.

But I have to wonder if there wasn't an easier way for the main character to get a hold of an allen wrench. And the tattoo/prison map really doesn't make much sense, especially if you step through the scene where the relationship of tattoo to blueprint is shown, frame-by-frame.
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Captain Jean-Luc Picard of the U.S.S. Enterprise ... [Jan. 20th, 2006|08:24 pm]
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Ha ha.

Sims Picard Dance Video
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I'm just going to connect these alligator clips to your testicles ... [Jan. 15th, 2006|05:13 pm]
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I thought the only good/attention grabbing season of 24 was the first season. The second season wasn't too bad, except that they kept intercutting the main terrorist plot thread with some really lame thread about Jack's extra lame daughter. Season three kind of returned the show back to form, focusing on the terror plots, rather than family/love interest sub plots. Then the fourth season threw all reason out the window as Jack stopped 4 major calamities from happening in one twenty-four hour period (in the past, any one of the calamities would have been a single season of the show).

Now season five begins tonight. Two hours tonight. Another two hours Monday night. The show is obviously in some dire straits if Fox is pulling this marketing stunt, showing four episodes in two days. I'm going to watch. But after the shitty season last year, I'm not holding out any hope that there's much here that can be saved. At least this way I can get a feel for what they're doing this season and then can decide whether to continue watching or to ignore. So, the question for anyone who's seen 24 is:

Poll #653010 Torture, Maim, Kill
Open to: All, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 10

In the first four hours of 24 Season 5, how many people will Jack torture, maim, and/or kill?

View Answers

1
0 (0.0%)

2
1 (10.0%)

3 - 4
3 (30.0%)

5 - 6
2 (20.0%)

7 - 9
1 (10.0%)

10 or more
3 (30.0%)

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Lost: Smoke Monster? [Jan. 12th, 2006|12:51 pm]
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( Lost S02E10 Spoiler )
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