Forbrydelsen /The Killing (Season 2)

Just finished marathoning the second season of Forbrydelsen/The Killing.

( In which there's again something rotten in the state of Denmark )

Meme and a rec

First, spotted while surfing around, a meme:

Who is your Doctor? Don't have a single one. It definitely isn't my first, because the first Doctor I ever saw was Tom Baker, whom younger me did not take to at all. Later, I became in varying degrees fond of most regenerations (still not keen on Four, though, but he has the majority of fandom to love him best, he doesn't need me). Which of them I prefer above the rest really depends on a) the mood I'm in and b) the medium (because, say, Six is so ill served on tv, and he certainly isn't a favourite there, but on audio Colin Baker rules, and so these days when I think of the Sixth Doctor I think of him in his audio incarnation).

Who is your Doctor's companion? Donna Noble. With close runner ups Ace and Jo for Old Who and Evelyn Smythe from the audios, but really, DONNA.

Who is your Batman? Michael Keaton. Though Christian Bale in "Batman Begins" is my Bruce Wayne. It's just that too much of the Nolan films ultimately ticks me off that has to do with the Batman worship.

Who is your Cat Woman? Anne Hathaway, wowing all naysayers and by far the best thing in the awful third Nolan movie.

Who is your Sherlock Holmes? Jeremy Brett, no question about it. If I'm limited to more recent incarnations, it's Johnny Lee Miller.

Who is your fictional female federal agent? (eg, Dana Scully, Audrey Parker, Olivia Dunham, etc) : Oh, how I loved Clarice Starling in Silence of the Lambs. Then Hannibal happened. While I like all the tv ladies named as examples, I have to change agencies to answer the question for ongoing love, because: Sydney Bristow. Who is one of those characters who aren't my favourites, nor are they the ones immediately winning me over, but they are firm secondary loves and my affection never waves. And much as I have issues with the fifth Alias season on behalf of my favourites, I thought it did well with Sydney herself and gave her a good send-off. Encapsulated in the moment when Irina says you can't be a mother and a good spy, and Sydney replies "watch me".

If we also include comics, and again, branch out in agencies, then it's Agent Abigail Brand of SWORD.

Who is your Robin Hood? The fox one from the Disney movie. I imprinted on him! Runner-up: Sean Connery in Robin and Marian for autumnal grace and wit. (Well,the script is by James "Lion in Winter" Goldman.)

Who is your Maid Marian/Marion? Audrey Hepburn in Robin and Marian, definitely. See above, re: autumnal grace and wit.

Who is your Bond? Daniel Craig from his first outing onwards. Judi Dench is, of course, my M. But not until Craig came along did she have a Bond worthy of her. *verily, my Brosnan dislike runs deep*

Who is your fictional female assassin? (eg, Natasha Romanov, various incarnations of Nikita, etc): Natasha. Especially in her MCU incarnation. Tied with Mystique (definitely her cinematic incarnation).

And speaking of the X-verse, have another rec:

Running for Cover (3094 words) by RemoCon
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: X-Men (Movies), X-Men: Days of Future Past (2014)
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Author Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Relationships: Erik Lehnsherr/Charles Xavier
Characters: Peter Maximoff, Charles Xavier, Erik Lehnsherr, Hank McCoy, Alex Summers, Kurt Wagner, Raven | Mystique
Summary:

Peter wasn't really looking for more family.

"Sucked up all the guilt"?

I know, three posts a day are too many, but I just came across a spectacular example of open mouth, insert foot on a writer's part. When actors do something like this, I tend to give them more leeway because their jobs are to bring someone else's words to life, not to come up with ones themselves, and they're not required to resemble their characters outside of said job.

But if someone writes, say, a biopic about Nelson Mandela, you would think just a liiiiiitttle bit of sensitivity to race issues and privilege developes. Not so in William Nicholson's case. He doesn't think the reason why Mandela: The Long Walk to Freedom flopped was due to inherent problems of the biopic genre (too much life to cover in too little time, and he didn't choose one period, which is the smartest thing to avoid that trap, but really tried to do it all, with the result that you get a sense of "Highlights in the life of Nelson Mandela"). Or the fact that he managed to write a script about a poltician with amazingly little politics (more on this in my review at the time, here). Or that out of a huge ensemble, the only character other than Mandela himself given a chance to breathe and develop was Winnie. Oh no. The reason, according to this article, why Mr. Nicholson believes Mandela flopped is simply that there wasn't enough white guilt around anymore after the success of 12 years a Slave. (Because clearly the only reason why an audience would want to watch a movie about Nelson Mandela was so they could feel properly guilty, and 12 years a Slave, I quote, "sucked up all the guilt about black people that was available" during this year's awards season.

Being on a roll, William Nicholson didn't leave it there. Nelson M. was also to blame for the failure of the biopic because of his dying in the week it was released. ""Mandela died as I was in the royal premiere with Will and Kate. We were deluged with Mandela stuff and after a week we all thought, please take it away, we've heard enough about Mandela."

And while we're on the subject of Mandela the man, he desperately needed Mr. Nicholson to write his speeches for him. "All but one ... were made up by me because his own are so boring. I know it sounds outrageous to say a thing like that, but when he came out of prison he made a speech and, God, you fell asleep."

There isn't enough facepalm in the world. Like I said - the man makes his living as a writer. Then again, he wrote Gladiator, and this definitely feels like baiting the arena...