Gratitude and assorted squees
Jan. 30th, 2005 09:34 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
selenakBack from weekend with the APs and very tired, but in high spirits due to a couple of things.
1) I got a gift from an anonymous LJ fairy - six months. Thank you, oh unknown benefactor! I promise to help you escape any number of English (or for that matter, Bavarian) policemen if you turn up at my doorstep and reveal yourself to be a scary ex-con whom I met years ago.
2) Two Sparkys nominations for yours truly. I don't expect to win, given the competition, but am very thrilled nonetheless, especially that "Ghost in the Machine" made it. Having neglected Farscape somewhat recently, I feel propelled to make up for it. See below.
3) I'm also working on a theory of how falling for a show resembles falling in love. You know, sometimes, it's the "hm, could be interesting, though this guy has some habits which annoy... wait... that was really...wow... never mind, I'm in love!" kind. (I.e. the naturalistic model.) Sometimes we go by the romantic comedy model: "THAT ONE? With the freaky... and the bloody... no way!" But your friends devilishly keep throwing the two of you together, and following tradition, the blinders fall from your eyes, and you realise you were made for each other. (And possibly each other's divorce lawyers.) And finally, rarely, there is the Utterly Romantic Model which sweeps you of your feet in a burst of breathless delight. Love at first sight. In fiction, this traditionally ends badly, and sometimes in fandom, too, because the bitterness when the fen in question feel disenchanted is much worse. But very rarely, the love stays, and one still remembers the rapture years later, upon rediscovering theguy show on DVD.
Personally, I've had all types of relationships with my shows. Model A was me and Babylon 5, for example, or me and BtVS. (I had the misfortune of seeing Teacher's Pet first, which isn't that a great an intro, and so the Buffy love took a while.) Model B was me and Highlander, and me and Farscape. Model C was me and Firefly, me and American Gothic, and now me and the new Battlestar Galactica. These three have in common that they managed to start captivating, intelligently and intriguing and in-depth right away, and never missed a beat as they went on. Of course, two of them have also in common that they got cancelled after one season (not nearly a full season in FF's case, damm it!) , and I hope, hope, hope, this won't be the case with the newest love of my fannish life, the splendid, wonderful BSG, present version. Since sharing the enthusiasm is what fannish love is for, here are two reviews of the episode most recently broadcast in the US, Acts of Contrition.
4) In gratitude to my anonymous benefector, and because I feel so hyper anyway, I offer to write raves for you. Prefered subjects of choice would be Farscape, Blake's 7 (got my season 2 DVDs, yay!), Ron Moore (praise will cover his TNG beginnings and include the phrase "he wrote the best Q episode ever", continue to his DS9 years - I forgive thee Waltz, Ron, for everything else was mighty fine indeed, and thou didst write my favourite of the final eps, too, and wast very good with Kai Winn -, and finish with an elegy to his producer/writer work Battlestar Galactica, though perhaps I should wait for hmpf sending me episodes 9-13 so I can praise completely?), Joss Whedon (Joss, please let J.J. Abrams kidnap you for an episode as well, I MISS YOUR TV WORK!), and/or Buffy Summers (whom I've neglected recently as well). But feel free to ask for other topics.
1. Western writer hits town in search of dead friend. The Third Man. My favourite film noir, even though it isn't really. Post-war, occupied Vienna, Joe Cotten and Orson Welles, Anton Karas' ear worm of a theme and a fabulous bitchy script by Graham Greene, plus O.W. adlibbing the most famous lines of the film.
2. Serial killer becomes seriously unpopular with the local gangsters. M. I'm not being patriotic. This gem by Fritz Lang was the German cinema at its finest (those Weimar years before what's-his-name), and thus world cinema, too. Features a lot of our best actors of the period (including Gustaf Gründgens and Theo Lingen) and gave Peter Lorre his big breakout performance.
3. Male bonding over construction work in war time. Bridge over the River Kwai. The first of David Lean's cooperations with Sam Spiegel, and that American money payed off handsomely. Great drama, excellent performances by everyone, especially Alec Guinness. Mind you, the first time I saw this, at the tender age of 11 or 12, I completely misunderstood the message. I thought it was great the the British Colonel and the Japanese commander overcame their differences and build that bridge together, and thought the American guys who wanted to blow it up were interfering oafs. Only later, armed with some historical knowledge did it dawn on me that helping the enemy to build important transport lines was not a good thing in war time, that William Holden & Co. were the heroes and that Colonel Nicholson realized he had been wrong and repented in his dying breath.
4. Discourteous behaviour by train personel causes lawyer to consider a career change. Gandhi. Salman Rushdie didn't like it when it first got released. I was a fan, and still think it's an excellent movie. Ben Kingsley so earned that Oscar. This being said, yes, Gandhi the wily politician gets ignored in favour of Gandhi the saint. (Which was Rushdie's main complaint.)
5. Wasn't there and was therefore The Invisible Man.*g* (Claude Rains version, James Whale directing, natch.)
6. Loving couple's idyll gets disturbed by intrusive sister-in-law. A Streetcar Named Desire. I got the idea for this summary by the anecdote of L.B. Mayer reportedly asking his daughter, Irene Selznick (first wife of David), who produced this play for it's original performance, whether "that nice couple will be happy now that awful woman is gone" at the end. You must have seen either the play or the film to understand why this is funny. Anyway, the film - cuts out the reference to Blanche's dead husband's homosexuality and lets Stella leave Stanley at the end, but never mind, because the performances are so good. Vivien Leigh earns her second Oscar as Blanche Dubois, the anti-Scarlett in many ways, and young Marlon Brando earns screen immortality and years of overpaid minimal work for this great, great performance.
7. Terrorist falls for dead hostage's lover. The Crying Game. My favourite of Neil Jordan's films. Love the actors, love the characters, could totally believe the twist revelation and the resulting fall-out.
8. New head of state, gone religious after dissolute youth, invades foreign country under flimsy pretext. (NOT a contempary tale; two film versions available) Henry V. Personally, I prefer the Kenneth Branagh version, but the intro scenes in the Globe in the Olivier one are worth watching as well.
9. Maggie Thatcher inspires gay couple to become entrepeneurs. My Beautiful Laundrette. Directed by Stephen Frears, script by Hanif Kureishi. Contains sexiest male/male kiss and love scene on screen ever, is very witty, and my favourite depiction of life in London during the Thatcher years.
10. Boy gets kidnapped by posh elder relatives and as an adult finds liberty in a prison camp. The Last Emperor, directed by Bernardo Bertolucci. This was the only one nobody identified, so: the film starts with Pu Yi being brought to a Chinese prison camp post WW)). We then switch to and thro between flashbacks and present day reeducation, the first flashback being when Pu Yi, at age 3, until then the son of one of the minor princes, is made into the next Emperor by the dying Emperess Dowager Tsu Hsi. The central irony being that Pu Yi during all of his life is a tool, first in a monarchy that almost doesn't exist anymore, then in the puppet regime the Japanese erect in Manchuria, and then finally for the Communist government - but only in the last incarnation does he find peace.
11. New passenger finds effective way to end the eternal bickering of the crew. Alien. I've raved about this one before, and why it's my favourite of the four Alien movies. Love, love, love.
12. Monotonous life of middle-aged psychiatrist gets new inspiration when young law official starts to visit. Silence of the Lambs. (Actually, Manhunter and its remake Red Dragon would do as well, since Harris is fond of similar plots.) Gave us Clarice Starling as played by Jodie Foster, and Anthony Hopkins chewing the scenery deliciously as Hannibal Lecter. So deserved its Oscars, too.
1) I got a gift from an anonymous LJ fairy - six months. Thank you, oh unknown benefactor! I promise to help you escape any number of English (or for that matter, Bavarian) policemen if you turn up at my doorstep and reveal yourself to be a scary ex-con whom I met years ago.
2) Two Sparkys nominations for yours truly. I don't expect to win, given the competition, but am very thrilled nonetheless, especially that "Ghost in the Machine" made it. Having neglected Farscape somewhat recently, I feel propelled to make up for it. See below.
3) I'm also working on a theory of how falling for a show resembles falling in love. You know, sometimes, it's the "hm, could be interesting, though this guy has some habits which annoy... wait... that was really...wow... never mind, I'm in love!" kind. (I.e. the naturalistic model.) Sometimes we go by the romantic comedy model: "THAT ONE? With the freaky... and the bloody... no way!" But your friends devilishly keep throwing the two of you together, and following tradition, the blinders fall from your eyes, and you realise you were made for each other. (And possibly each other's divorce lawyers.) And finally, rarely, there is the Utterly Romantic Model which sweeps you of your feet in a burst of breathless delight. Love at first sight. In fiction, this traditionally ends badly, and sometimes in fandom, too, because the bitterness when the fen in question feel disenchanted is much worse. But very rarely, the love stays, and one still remembers the rapture years later, upon rediscovering the
Personally, I've had all types of relationships with my shows. Model A was me and Babylon 5, for example, or me and BtVS. (I had the misfortune of seeing Teacher's Pet first, which isn't that a great an intro, and so the Buffy love took a while.) Model B was me and Highlander, and me and Farscape. Model C was me and Firefly, me and American Gothic, and now me and the new Battlestar Galactica. These three have in common that they managed to start captivating, intelligently and intriguing and in-depth right away, and never missed a beat as they went on. Of course, two of them have also in common that they got cancelled after one season (not nearly a full season in FF's case, damm it!) , and I hope, hope, hope, this won't be the case with the newest love of my fannish life, the splendid, wonderful BSG, present version. Since sharing the enthusiasm is what fannish love is for, here are two reviews of the episode most recently broadcast in the US, Acts of Contrition.
4) In gratitude to my anonymous benefector, and because I feel so hyper anyway, I offer to write raves for you. Prefered subjects of choice would be Farscape, Blake's 7 (got my season 2 DVDs, yay!), Ron Moore (praise will cover his TNG beginnings and include the phrase "he wrote the best Q episode ever", continue to his DS9 years - I forgive thee Waltz, Ron, for everything else was mighty fine indeed, and thou didst write my favourite of the final eps, too, and wast very good with Kai Winn -, and finish with an elegy to his producer/writer work Battlestar Galactica, though perhaps I should wait for hmpf sending me episodes 9-13 so I can praise completely?), Joss Whedon (Joss, please let J.J. Abrams kidnap you for an episode as well, I MISS YOUR TV WORK!), and/or Buffy Summers (whom I've neglected recently as well). But feel free to ask for other topics.
1. Western writer hits town in search of dead friend. The Third Man. My favourite film noir, even though it isn't really. Post-war, occupied Vienna, Joe Cotten and Orson Welles, Anton Karas' ear worm of a theme and a fabulous bitchy script by Graham Greene, plus O.W. adlibbing the most famous lines of the film.
2. Serial killer becomes seriously unpopular with the local gangsters. M. I'm not being patriotic. This gem by Fritz Lang was the German cinema at its finest (those Weimar years before what's-his-name), and thus world cinema, too. Features a lot of our best actors of the period (including Gustaf Gründgens and Theo Lingen) and gave Peter Lorre his big breakout performance.
3. Male bonding over construction work in war time. Bridge over the River Kwai. The first of David Lean's cooperations with Sam Spiegel, and that American money payed off handsomely. Great drama, excellent performances by everyone, especially Alec Guinness. Mind you, the first time I saw this, at the tender age of 11 or 12, I completely misunderstood the message. I thought it was great the the British Colonel and the Japanese commander overcame their differences and build that bridge together, and thought the American guys who wanted to blow it up were interfering oafs. Only later, armed with some historical knowledge did it dawn on me that helping the enemy to build important transport lines was not a good thing in war time, that William Holden & Co. were the heroes and that Colonel Nicholson realized he had been wrong and repented in his dying breath.
4. Discourteous behaviour by train personel causes lawyer to consider a career change. Gandhi. Salman Rushdie didn't like it when it first got released. I was a fan, and still think it's an excellent movie. Ben Kingsley so earned that Oscar. This being said, yes, Gandhi the wily politician gets ignored in favour of Gandhi the saint. (Which was Rushdie's main complaint.)
5. Wasn't there and was therefore The Invisible Man.*g* (Claude Rains version, James Whale directing, natch.)
6. Loving couple's idyll gets disturbed by intrusive sister-in-law. A Streetcar Named Desire. I got the idea for this summary by the anecdote of L.B. Mayer reportedly asking his daughter, Irene Selznick (first wife of David), who produced this play for it's original performance, whether "that nice couple will be happy now that awful woman is gone" at the end. You must have seen either the play or the film to understand why this is funny. Anyway, the film - cuts out the reference to Blanche's dead husband's homosexuality and lets Stella leave Stanley at the end, but never mind, because the performances are so good. Vivien Leigh earns her second Oscar as Blanche Dubois, the anti-Scarlett in many ways, and young Marlon Brando earns screen immortality and years of overpaid minimal work for this great, great performance.
7. Terrorist falls for dead hostage's lover. The Crying Game. My favourite of Neil Jordan's films. Love the actors, love the characters, could totally believe the twist revelation and the resulting fall-out.
8. New head of state, gone religious after dissolute youth, invades foreign country under flimsy pretext. (NOT a contempary tale; two film versions available) Henry V. Personally, I prefer the Kenneth Branagh version, but the intro scenes in the Globe in the Olivier one are worth watching as well.
9. Maggie Thatcher inspires gay couple to become entrepeneurs. My Beautiful Laundrette. Directed by Stephen Frears, script by Hanif Kureishi. Contains sexiest male/male kiss and love scene on screen ever, is very witty, and my favourite depiction of life in London during the Thatcher years.
10. Boy gets kidnapped by posh elder relatives and as an adult finds liberty in a prison camp. The Last Emperor, directed by Bernardo Bertolucci. This was the only one nobody identified, so: the film starts with Pu Yi being brought to a Chinese prison camp post WW)). We then switch to and thro between flashbacks and present day reeducation, the first flashback being when Pu Yi, at age 3, until then the son of one of the minor princes, is made into the next Emperor by the dying Emperess Dowager Tsu Hsi. The central irony being that Pu Yi during all of his life is a tool, first in a monarchy that almost doesn't exist anymore, then in the puppet regime the Japanese erect in Manchuria, and then finally for the Communist government - but only in the last incarnation does he find peace.
11. New passenger finds effective way to end the eternal bickering of the crew. Alien. I've raved about this one before, and why it's my favourite of the four Alien movies. Love, love, love.
12. Monotonous life of middle-aged psychiatrist gets new inspiration when young law official starts to visit. Silence of the Lambs. (Actually, Manhunter and its remake Red Dragon would do as well, since Harris is fond of similar plots.) Gave us Clarice Starling as played by Jodie Foster, and Anthony Hopkins chewing the scenery deliciously as Hannibal Lecter. So deserved its Oscars, too.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2005-01-30 08:35 pm (UTC)Er... by commiting suicide? Even Bertolucci surely doesn't equate Lao-Gai with "liberty".
But congrats for all these, which are beautifully witty!
no subject
Date: 2005-01-30 08:42 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-01-30 08:52 pm (UTC)If my magazine ever takes off, you simply must do the puzzles for us. This was funny, literate, hard to get right, and can translate into any language (whereas the exact quotes thing doesn't work so well.)
no subject
Date: 2005-01-30 08:59 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-01-30 08:37 pm (UTC)Rant about a B5 character... but said character is not permitted to be Centauri or Narn. Or Bester. Anyone else at all...
no subject
Date: 2005-01-30 08:46 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-01-30 08:54 pm (UTC)I like reading your discussions of characters very much, and I thought it would be fun to see what you could do with someone I *haven't* seen you talk about so much. More for us to learn! :)
no subject
Date: 2005-01-31 08:45 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-01-30 08:51 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-01-30 08:53 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-01-30 09:27 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-01-31 06:54 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-01-30 10:42 pm (UTC)Oh, and...
Date: 2005-01-30 10:43 pm (UTC)Re: Oh, and...
Date: 2005-01-31 06:49 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-02-01 01:37 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-01-30 11:07 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-01-31 06:49 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-01-31 01:34 pm (UTC)Mighty sweet of you. But alas, wasn't me. & ;-)
Adore The Crying Game. And Silence of the Lambs is still a surprisingly good movie (I rarely ever watch movies more than once as I tend to get bored-- not with this one).
no subject
Date: 2005-01-31 05:23 pm (UTC)And same here about both movies!