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selenakWhom 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.
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.
