in the not so bleak midwinter
Dec. 20th, 2009 09:59 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
selenakI've had a frightfully busy weekend, which makes for more short entries. However, I offer links and film excerpts!
Fanfiction of the crossover kind:
Torchwood/Doctor Who: Elevator to the moon (a little out of reach). In which post-Children of Earth Jack runs into the pre-Waters of Mars Doctor. Post-CoE this plot has practically become its own subgenre, and there have been lots of good variations, but for some reason, none of these has ever completely satisfied me. This story does, perhaps because it works with understatement, lets the unspoken be as important as the things said out loud, and is neither a fixit nor an exercise in hopelessness. Instead, it does justice to both characters and their respective situations. Kudos.
West Wing/Doctor Who: there are actually four different ficlets in the entry I'm linking, and they're all enjoyable, but the last one, which is a WW/DW crossover in which Josh isn't happy his assistant is currently vacationing with a time-travelling alien in pinstripe suits, and doesn't quite now how to handle the red-haired temp bearing her name either, has really captured my heart. Bonus use of the entire WW ensemble. And a helpful note from Ten as how to best handle slaps from Donna. Check it out and squee!
Speaking of slaps... no, one more link first: Patrick Stewart gets a knighthood. My dad the determined Jacobin would mutter about useless titles, but I think it's a nifty British honour, that one.
Now, on to my last offering. These days people talk about favourite (or most disliked) Christmas movies. One favourite of mine is In the Bleak Midwinter from 1995, written and directed by Kenneth Branagh, about an unemployed actor who directs an unlikely group in a Christmas production of Hamlet. It's funny and playful (presumably Branagh's way to relax before his own Hamlet), pulls off its insane premise, has a lot of oneliners and is guaranteed to make you smile if you're fond of Shakespeare, theatre or various British thesps who show up in this little black and white picture. First, here's Our Hero (played by Michael Maloney) auditoning his cast. His appalled agent is played by Joan Collins.
This is the climax of the film when Hamlet is actually performed against all plot-derived odds. I regret to this day that no other production of Hamlet I ever saw let Ophelia do what she does in this one, because IT IS SO NECESSARY:
Fanfiction of the crossover kind:
Torchwood/Doctor Who: Elevator to the moon (a little out of reach). In which post-Children of Earth Jack runs into the pre-Waters of Mars Doctor. Post-CoE this plot has practically become its own subgenre, and there have been lots of good variations, but for some reason, none of these has ever completely satisfied me. This story does, perhaps because it works with understatement, lets the unspoken be as important as the things said out loud, and is neither a fixit nor an exercise in hopelessness. Instead, it does justice to both characters and their respective situations. Kudos.
West Wing/Doctor Who: there are actually four different ficlets in the entry I'm linking, and they're all enjoyable, but the last one, which is a WW/DW crossover in which Josh isn't happy his assistant is currently vacationing with a time-travelling alien in pinstripe suits, and doesn't quite now how to handle the red-haired temp bearing her name either, has really captured my heart. Bonus use of the entire WW ensemble. And a helpful note from Ten as how to best handle slaps from Donna. Check it out and squee!
Speaking of slaps... no, one more link first: Patrick Stewart gets a knighthood. My dad the determined Jacobin would mutter about useless titles, but I think it's a nifty British honour, that one.
Now, on to my last offering. These days people talk about favourite (or most disliked) Christmas movies. One favourite of mine is In the Bleak Midwinter from 1995, written and directed by Kenneth Branagh, about an unemployed actor who directs an unlikely group in a Christmas production of Hamlet. It's funny and playful (presumably Branagh's way to relax before his own Hamlet), pulls off its insane premise, has a lot of oneliners and is guaranteed to make you smile if you're fond of Shakespeare, theatre or various British thesps who show up in this little black and white picture. First, here's Our Hero (played by Michael Maloney) auditoning his cast. His appalled agent is played by Joan Collins.
This is the climax of the film when Hamlet is actually performed against all plot-derived odds. I regret to this day that no other production of Hamlet I ever saw let Ophelia do what she does in this one, because IT IS SO NECESSARY:
no subject
Date: 2009-12-21 12:03 am (UTC)Hooray! I've been thinking that was overdue for a while now. I think the British should keep that particular honour even if they eventually get rid of the monarchy; it just wouldn't be right if the elder statespersons of their theatre and other institutions weren't referred to as Sir and Dame.
no subject
Date: 2009-12-21 05:34 am (UTC)