Hugos

[selenak]

Whom to root for, that is the questions. The Hugo nominations have:

Best Dramatic Presentation, Short Form

Battlestar Galactica "Razor" Written by Michael Taylor.

Doctor Who "Blink" Written by Stephen Moffat.

Doctor Who "Human Nature" / "Family of Blood" Written by Paul Cornell.

Star Trek New Voyages "World Enough and Time" Written by Michael Reaves & Marc Scott.

Torchwood "Captain Jack Harkness" Written by Catherine Tregenna.

Razor was good for BSG but not extraordinary; it reminded me of Babylon 5's In the Beginning in that you get intriguing character scenes, but if you're not a fan it makes no sense, and if you're a fan and have watched the show so far already, then it doesn't tell you something that you haven't already seen or at least hinted at in the show proper. Seriously, if I had to nominate something from BSG's output last year, I'd go for Exodus I + II every time. Ah well, makes my loyalities less split. However...

Moffat versus Cornell versus Tregenna? Grrr, arggh! Hm. Captain Jack Harkness was undoubtedly one of the few undisputed and truly excellent highlights from season 1 of TW, but put against the two DW entries, sorry, I'd pick either over it. I mean, Captain Jack Harkness has a poignant war time romance as a main plot and a Ianto versus Owen showdown as the subplot, but:

Blink has: Moffat performing his specialty, coming up with new intentive scary, scary monsters. Also has extremely clever use of the non-linearity of time travel (also known ever since as "timey-wimey stuff") and a very engaging one shot character and supporting cast. Best Doctor-and-Companion-lite episode on New Who so far, making a virtue out of necessity. If this one wins, Moffat would be three for three (he won last year for "Girl in the Fireplace" and the year before for "Empty Child"/"The Doctor Dances").

Human Nature/ The Family of Blood has: Cornell adopting his novel without falling into any of the traps of novel adaption (to wit: either too much sticking to the page so it feels more like a lifeless illustration, or managing to loose what made a novel interesting to the reader); terrific character showcasing for Martha - who shines in relentlessly dire circumstances for her and among many other things pulls off one of the best turnarounds of a hostage situation ever. Great acting by David Tennant as John Smith, who isn't "The Doctor, only human" but a human being created from parts of the Doctor and his own personality. (Paul Cornell in both audio commentaries - the podcast and the one for the DVDs - points in particular to the scene where the Doctor plays John Smith for the Family of Blood, because as he says Tennant plays this differently than genuine John Smith.) Excellent use of period in terms other than just pretty costumes - you get the racism, classism, and militarism of preWWI England, and as opposed to the cliché in virtually every genre show ever, here not just the evil or ambiguous characters share the prejudices of their time but so do the sympathetic ones. Has the most chilling scene showcasing the Doctor's ruthless side on New Who so far. Lastly: fobwatch!


...I think, all in all, I'm pro-Cornell, though Blink is an awesome little standalone jewel of an episode. But this is where being a series fan comes in - Human Nature/Family of Blood is more layered in what it says about the time it's placed in, about Martha and her resilience, about John Smith and the Doctor. And while you could place Blink in any other season, Human Nature/ The Family of Blood pretty much has to be season 3/29.


Then we have:

Best Dramatic Presentation, Long Form

Enchanted Written by Bill Kelly.

The Golden Compass Written by Chris Weitz. Based on the novel by Philip Pullman.

Heroes, Season 1 Created by Tim Kring. Written by Tim Kring, Jeph Loeb, Bryan Fuller, Michael Green, Natalie Chaidez, Jesse Alexander, Adam Armus, Aron Eli Coleite, Joe Pokaski, Christopher Zatta, Chuck Kim.

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix Written by Michael Goldenberg. Based on the novel by J.K. Rowling.

Stardust Written by Jane Goldman & Matthew Vaughn. Based on the novel by Neil Gaiman.


Enchanted is charming fluff. Nothing wrong with that, but I wouldn't vote it to the top.

Stardust is also charming fluff, which on the one hand is based on work of a writer I adore but on the other has some added elements I dislike (the vilification of Victoria complete with "punishment", which isn't in the original novel at all where Victoria is a likeable character who just happens to be not in love with Tristan and says the challenging words as a nice put down because she doesn't believe he'll ever take her up on them; also, in the book Una becomes the regent for Tristan which makes sense because he has no idea of how to govern at all).

As far as the two other novel adaptions are concerned, I liked OotP, and Goldenberg does better than Steve Kloves, but the fannish nitpicker in me thinks by giving us only that brief glimpse of the Snape's memories sequence and cutting out Harry's reaction entirely, they managed to ignore the point of the disillusionment with father figures and ill served continuity for the next films. The Golden Compass felt like the first two HP films, actually: a beautiful illustration which somehow never comes to life. Also, they pulled a Shelob on the ending, and Peter Jackson is the only one allowed to do that.

Which leaves me in good conscience and not at all because I'm biased as hell rooting for the first season of Heroes as the winner. It has its flaws (yes, it has, season 2 enemies, and they are pretty much the same as season 2's flaws), but my, does it also have its strengths. And it really is a sprawling comic book brought to life, using the to be stopped destruction of New York as a red thread loosely tying many different storylines together. I might not have mentioned it recently, due to on-the-air shows and films to review, but I love Heroes. A lot. And if that first season doesn't win the Hugo, Angela Petrelli will have a word with the voters.

Comments

[futuresoon.livejournal.com]

Y'know, I think my parents actually get to vote for the Hugos. Or maybe that was the Nebulas. Definitely the Nebulas (my mom actually ran one of them, a few years back), possibly the Hugos. I think they will be inclined to go for 'Blink', because they veritably worship Steven Moffat, and of the Long Form candidates, they might go for Heroes...but they also both really loved Stardust, so who knows.

[selenak.livejournal.com]

Oh, Steven Moffat is a great writer (for DW - I disliked his pilot for Jekyll so much I didn't watch the show, and I haven't seen his other stuff), so I will be cheerful if he wins, too. But the Cornell two parter touched me more and more levels.

Also: how about campaigning and telling your parents they need to vote Petrelli Heroes?

[futuresoon.livejournal.com]

I think that I am most definitely going to oh-so-subtly bring it up at dinner. "Hey, dad, thought about those Hugo nominations yet? And speaking of things that start with H..."

[skywaterblue.livejournal.com]

I'm afraid I have to agree with you on both; despite my best hopes for "The Golden Compass", it turned out rather poorly. (Much like "I am Legend", I hear the proper ending is going to be on the DVD.)

[selenak.livejournal.com]

Didn't you link an excerpt from it a while ago? Which was good to see, but even with that ending, there would still be the other problems.

[skywaterblue.livejournal.com]

Yes, I did. It's difficult to say if the other problems would still be there -- I think Nicole Kidman is miscast, but since there's 30 minutes missing from the director's cut /and/ the ending /and/ the film is out of order, it's hard to say if the daemon-human soulbond would have been better explained or not.

I plan on re-editing it once the DVD is out to see.

[vonnie-k.livejournal.com]

Huh, I didn't know you could nominate a whole season of TV shows. I'd have thought "Company Man" or "Five Years Later" would make an excellent nominee for the short form myself. (I have more mixed feelings about the season as a whole.)

Of the short form list, "Human Nature/Family of Blood" have my vote as well. I adore "Blink", but in terms of lasting emotional resonance and the breath of its canvas, the two-parter has that one beat. I'm wee bit disappointed that Pushing Daisies pilot didn't make it onto the list, although I guess you can say that show is more magic-realism than true sf/f.

[selenak.livejournal.com]

I didn't know you could nominate entire seasons, either.

I'd have thought "Company Man" or "Five Years Later" would make an excellent nominee for the short form myself

Those and "Six Months Ago", but maybe they have a limit on numbers of episodes they can nominate for short form and figured they'd get Heroes in via the long form instead?

I'm wee bit disappointed that Pushing Daisies pilot didn't make it onto the list, although I guess you can say that show is more magic-realism than true sf/f.

Otoh, Enchanted and Stardust aren't sci fi in any way or form, they're pure fantasy.

[mamculuna.livejournal.com]

Haven't seen all of the short forms, nor Enchanted, but from what I heard of the music alone, that doesn't appeal. I think you're right about Heroes.

[shezan.livejournal.com]

Definitely Cornell. That was a seriously good two-parter.

[rivrea.livejournal.com]

If I hadn't disliked the WWI bits in HN/FoB so much, I'd probably root for Cornell as well. So, I am rather inclined to cheer on Moffat the third time in a row.

And Heroes S1 would definitely deserve the award.

[deborah-judge.livejournal.com]

I just watched Razor and loved it - it reminded me how much better BSG is than, oh everything. Great characterization, interesting moral complexities, brilliant job humanizing dark characters without exonerating them. And oh how it fills me with squee to see a sci-fi story in which all the major protagonists are female. I don't know if I've ever seen that on TV outside of BSG (the other example I can think of is the Six/Three/D'anna episode). But I see your point about how it is utterly useless for people not familiar with the series. I'm sitting here looking at your list thinking "how could they nominate a DW season 3 episode and have it not be Utopia???" But, well, Utopia is not particularly interesting if you're not familiar with Doctor Who canons and continuity, while HN/FoB makes perfect sense on its own.

[selenak.livejournal.com]

I loved the all-femaleness of the protagonists of Razor, too. Here's my review from when I first saw it:

http://selenak.livejournal.com/335739.html

I'm sitting here looking at your list thinking "how could they nominate a DW season 3 episode and have it not be Utopia???" But, well, Utopia is not particularly interesting if you're not familiar with Doctor Who canons and continuity, while HN/FoB makes perfect sense on its own.

While also having a big influence on continuity, but yes, HN/FoB can be watched almost as a mini-movie, as you get the essential information from the episodes themselves.

[greenpear.livejournal.com]

Really, really tough choice. It's a tossup between the two Who episodes with a slight edge, for me, going for Blink (mainly cause making good scary monsters ain't that easy...)

For me, Heroes S1 is a hands down winner. Too much Fluff and Fumble in the other entries (except for Potter, but still not as good as Heroes).

[wee-warrior.livejournal.com]

Hm. I think I'd go with HN/FoB for short format, too, although objectively speaking, I think "Blink" is the better episode, since HN/FoB does have more impact if you know Martha and if you've seen more of the Doctor as the Doctor. (And timey-whimey wibbly wobby stuff is simply the best explanation for any time travel situation ever. Moffat would probably deserve some award for coining that concept alone.)

Long format: I'm hesitant about a Hugo for the whole first Season of Heroes, because while I love it, I really think it dramatically varies in quality, needs quite a while to build up and has at least four episodes you could cut out without damaging anything. (Take Episode 8 for instance. Does anything happen in Episode 8 other than Charlie dying?) On the other hand, I haven't seen anything else except for OotP (which I don't remember much), so I think I'll abstain from putting any bets in that category.

[selenak.livejournal.com]

Does anything happen in Episode 8 other than Charlie dying?

Hiro falling for her the first time around, but as we got a repeat - though that was more her falling for Hiro - in "Six Months Ago", I see what you mean. It's an important subplot but for the life of me I can't remember what the main plot was.

And timey-whimey wibbly wobby stuff is simply the best explanation for any time travel situation ever. Moffat would probably deserve some award for coining that concept alone.

Some kind of medal for honorable services to Whodom?

[wee-warrior.livejournal.com]

It's an important subplot but for the life of me I can't remember what the main plot was.

I'm vaguely imagining a combination of Mohinder trying to decide whether to push "enter" and Jessica doing target practice. Ah, uninteresting subplots moving at snail's pace.

Some kind of medal for honorable services to Whodom?

Or sci-fi-ish TV in general! I've already seen it used to describe Desmond's whatever flashes on Lost. Works well I think. (I would even go so far and employ it to illustrate Bad Robot's relationship to time and timelines in general, which seems a bit wonky.)

[shelled-avenger.livejournal.com]

"Stardust is also charming fluff, which on the one hand is based on work of a writer I adore but on the other has some added elements I dislike (the vilification of Victoria complete with "punishment", which isn't in the original novel at all"

I'm glad I'm no the only one who was annoyed by that. I would have preferred they have simply dealt with the fact that two people not being quite right for each other does not have to make one of them a Bad Person.

[selenak.livejournal.com]

Yes indeed. I suppose the change was to make it absolutely clear Tristan did the right thing in transferring his affections, but for goodness' sake, if your main story doesn't tell you that already, you've failed, and it did. That way, he looks stupid to have cared for Victoria to begin with, and petty and malicious in the way he gets his "revenge" on her by faking her out with the "grow up" thing, and then the script has to make it even worse with the final scene - arggh. Not funny. It's just a minor element in the film, but it sticks in my throat.

[misachan.livejournal.com]

Ooooh, I have to go see what Making Light is saying about this. As much as I liked "Captain Jack Harkness," (I'm waiting until after I finish S3 to watch Razor, and I haven't seen the Star Trek piece, so I can't judge them) I'd much rather see "Company Man" up there. I wonder if the Heroes folks just didn't bother submitting for the short form and hoped to grab the award for the whole season (and vice versa for DW).

"Blink" is a great episode, but it didn't hit me emotionally the same way "Human Nature/Family of Blood" did. It was the kind of episode that made me have to sit down and write fic the second I finished it, which hadn't happened to me...well since "Company Man.":)