Briefly...

[selenak]

So, I hear BSG cornered some Saturn nominations, including both James' (Bamber and Callis) for best supporting actor, and Katee Sackhoff for best supporting actress. I'd show my partiality and root for Callis (and not just because I think the writing for Baltar has been better than the writing for Lee this season), except they're running against Terry Quinn as Locke in Lost, and I'm sorry, but based solely on the first season which I've seen, he totally deserves to win. It's galling enough Ron Rifkin never got nominated in all the years for the fabulous stuff he did as Sloane on Alias; very gratifying that at least his spiritual cousin over on that other J.J. show has been recognized.

Meanwhile, I've watched Where The Truth Lies, which is a well-done neo noir, with not one but two period settings; the Fifties, when the murder in question takes place, and the Seventies, when our main narrator tries to solve it. It's based on a novel which I haven't read, so I can't say how faithful an adaption it is, but Kevin Bacon and Colin Firth are great as the two comedians whose double act in the 50s ends with the discovery of a nude dead woman in their hotel suite. Their 70s incarnations as seedy self-loathing has-beens are particularly striking. Alison Lohman as former fan, reporter and mystery solver is pale in comparison, but she holds her own in the two quiet, touching scenes her character has with the dead girl's mother, which brings in an element rarely found in noirs, the grieving family of the murder victim. (Unless the family members are suspects, of course, but that isn't the case here.) If I have any complaint, then that the identity of the killer is a bit of a punchline.

And while we're talking complaints: found an excellent rant by Kita about one of my pet peeves in any fandom regarding a certain kind of feedback for fanfiction.

Comments

[ladyaeryn.livejournal.com]

Yes, that sort of feedback drives me batshit. I got a review like that on an Anakin fic I did a while back - all the reviewer said was that he hadn't read my story, because he thought Anakin was a pure asshat, then went on to rant about why Anakin was an asshat and I should have written him that way. Then there was a reader that said a HP ship-centric fic I wrote was squicky because they pictured the movie actors doing what I wrote - which didn't even go beyond cutesy banter. And I just think... I have control over that, how? I've don't have control over what preconceptions you have. I didn't make you hate Anakin or picture Dan and Emma, and I certainly didn't mind-trick you into clicking on my story.

I mean... what on earth are you supposed to do with feedback like that? Well, mock it, I suppose. ;) Which makes me wonder... is there an LJ comm out there where people post stupid feedback they've received? Or is that fanficrants territory?

[selenak.livejournal.com]

Community: I wouldn't know. And Anakin fic seems to invite this kind of feedback - I think I got it for each of my SW stories. (But thankfully also other feedback.) It's maddening. As Kita said, I don't mind so much when it's phrased "X is usually not my cup of tea, but you've made me think", but if it's "I hate..."

*sighs*

[yahtzee63.livejournal.com]

ITA. Anybody who says, "I don't usually get the appeal of Jack/Nadia, but I gave this a chance and enjoyed it" is a delight. OTOH, I've also gotten feedback that said, "OK, Male Character X/Female Character Y makes me want to vomit. But I could read this." Hey, don't knock yourself out to hit "send" on that one, you know?

The "vomit" line is verbatim.

[selenak.livejournal.com]

Okay, that's the worst specimen of this kind of feedback I've heard of. Did you ignore it, or did you reply?