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

[watervole.livejournal.com]

For what it's worth, I suspect you could write a Connor story I really liked if they were less tightly linked into canon. One needs to know the series so well to understand them that one watching is not enough. (I don't have Angel on tape or DVD, so I'm reliant of my memory of seeing it on TV several years ago.)

I'd like to see a Connor story that was a stand-alone. It would still need to have some canonical links (otherwise you lose his connections with the world around him, and they are an important part of what he is), but I'd like to see a new story, not new insights into an old story.

(in other words, if you write a story about one of my least favourite characters that doesn't require me to know the series really really well, then I'll read it and probably enjoy it)(Of course, if it has Wesley in, then I'll be even happier, but I don't insist on him.)

[wychwood]

...your mood icon is showing me a Photobucket error message...

[artaxastra.livejournal.com]

Yes!

I never know what to do with feedback that says "I don't like the time period you've chosen to write in" or "I hate your main character but...." It's not like I can change time periods! And you know, I probably think my main character is interesting, and that's not one of the things that's going to change.

The other thing that drives me mad is people who say they hate the canon. Because that's sort of what I'm stuck with, right?

[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?

[molly_may]

I read the book Where The Truth Lies a couple of years ago, and enjoyed it quite a lot. I haven't seen the movie yet, but I thought the casting of Bacon and Firth - two actors that I very much like - was interesting because neither of them fit my image of the characters from the book at all.