Ramble, Ramble, Doctor Who, Ramble

I know I have been pretty absent lately. Maybe it's because I just haven't felt like writing. Maybe it's because I've been spending all my free time discovering that falling for Battlestar Galactica was NOT, in fact, the last step into total geekdom, but that instead the BBC cult series called Doctor Who claims that honor.

It's not like there's a absence of things to blog about. There's the recent, polarizing Lost series finale. There's my constant worry over what I'll fill all my free time with now that all my shows are off the air until this fall. Oh, and as I mentioned above, there's my last step into what I will now refer to as Level 1,000,000 Geekdom; my surrender to Doctor Who and consequently my surrender to the lovely, charming and wholly miraculous David Tennant. So, to keep this blog afloat, some bullet points. Because honestly, who doesn't love bullet points?

• Let's start with Lost and let's be sweet and simple. I loved it. Yes, I'm one of those. Call it denial or whatever you wish but I thought the finale, though not totally flawless, was still a great finale. I didn't watch it and immediately regret spending six years of my life theorizing and discussing the grand and oftentimes headache-causing mythology of show. Even if the finale did end up being less than great to me, I would still look upon the last Lost years as mind-blowing, eye-opening and generally a fun and educating experience. For The End, the writers obviously made the decision to sideline the Island mythology and instead focus on the characters, which, yes, did leave the fans with many Dharma notebooks full of unanswered questions but left us also with an intensely emotionally and spiritual finale. I know many fans feel differently, but that was a satisfying choice for me. Lost changed the face of television. It opened a door for epic series, showing the networks that high-concept shows can and will attract a large and devoted audience, depending on the quality of the writing behind the show.




• Legend of the Seeker was cancelled. The series finale aired last weekend and I could not be more disappointed with the decision to end the series. For a syndicated show, it was extremely well done. The beautiful location (New Zealand) and the magnificently choreographed fight scenes were only a couple of the great aspects of the show. The main actors were brilliant in their roles and watching Craig Horner slowly become the Richard we know and love from the books was always thrilling. Of all the cancelled shows, this one hit me the hardest. I believe it's a horrible waste of potential, seeing as there were several more books of material to work through.





• On the other hand, Chuck was renewed!!! This was actually very unexpected and I could not be more happy. Chuck is one of my favorite shows and Zachary Levi is slowing becoming one of my favorite actors to follow and watch. He's been touring around Europe all summer and his pictures and videos from the trip and absolutely priceless. The fact that he is obviously a huge nerd only makes me adore him all the more.




• Now, to the most important and life-changing news. Doctor Who. Yup. I fight and I fight and I fight against it but there's just no helping it. I'm not just a Level 1 nerd. I am so far past that, it's not even funny. Akin to my slow acceptance of BSG, I finally gave in and watched the first episode of Doctor Who. And then I watched the next one. And the next one. And so on. I love it. I loved Christopher Eccleston as the first Doctor. So much so that when David Tennant took over the role for Season 2, I was not happy. Not at all. Of course, it took all of two episodes to change my mind. He was brilliant and wonderful and he made the character his own in such a way that when I stopped watching, even for a couple hours, I missed him. The character of the Doctor is such a intoxicating idea, as if Russell T. Davies looked into the heart of a regular, everyday woman and saw the one man that would be worth an eternity (literally) of trouble and sacrifice. And then he wrote him out and the Doctor was created. And then he decided to create a different version of that same man, and Captain Jack Harkness was created. I watched Torchwood before I saw even one episode of Doctor Who, so when John Barrowman started his run as Captain Jack in the first season of Doctor Who, it was the first time that I realized I could actually miss a television character. Watching him being introduced for the first time was like a soothing balm to my soul, something I didn't even realized I needed until that moment. There's just no other way to describe it. This is such an amazing show, filled with such unique and layered characters and focused so keenly on our subconscious fears and desires it feels like the writers know you better than you know yourself. Like Battlestar, the alien worlds and impossible technologies, the spaceships and the time-travel, are not what the show focuses on and they are not the aspects that keep you watching. This is a show about being human, from the point of view of an ageless alien. And it's REALLY good. I dare you to try it and not love it.






• On a similar note and due to my adoration of David Tennant, I have been working my way through the BBC TV adaptation of Hamlet. Working my through, because it's a 3 hour modern production so it's taking me awhile to get through it. Nevertheless, it's breathtaking and groundbreaking. David Tennant is mesmerizing in his turn as Hamlet and I've never enjoyed watching this tragedy as much as I am now, with Tennant starring. I've always been a big Shakespeare fan, but this version certainly takes that fandom to new levels. I'm now of the opinion that David Tennant should play in EVERY Shakespeare play. In fact, he should just play every character in every play. No joking.

Well, all this David Tennant talk is making me miss watching Doctor Who, and seeing as I still have half of the fourth season to go through, I think I'll get back to it. The lord of daydreams is calling my name...

Jane Slayre. Really?

One day last year, most likely as I whiled away some slow hours at my desk by doing what I do best; surfing the vast labyrinth of online entertainment news, I came across a review or news item or something of that sort about a book called Pride and Prejudice and Zombies. Now, at this point in time I had recently fallen in love with the Jane Austen classic, thanks in large part to Colin Firth, Matthew Macfadyen and Kiera Knightley. I enjoyed the adapted BBC miniseries just as much as the recent adaption by the brilliant Joe Wright and as I spent the majority of my life 100% sure I would not enjoy a story that seemed, by mere cover-judging, horrendously boring, I was shocked to discover that the story was in fact a not-so-hidden (just from me, as it turned out) treasure of beautifully written characters, not to mention the surprising intensity of such outwardly boring scenes like a group of prissy nobles sitting and talking in a room together. Who knew you'd be on the edge of your seat with something like that, eh? Not I , that's for sure.

Anyhow, even though I had found the movie versions of the classic novel to be both stimulating and highly satisfying, I had yet to crack open the actual book, despite my undying love and devotion to all things musty, old, and book-like (to this day, I walk into a bookstore and am immediately soothed in both body and soul). So when I ran across the news that a well-received spoof of the original had been published, I decided to first finally read the original and then try out the Seth Grahame-Smith, zombie-infused version (which seemed far too possibly, ridiculously hilarious to pass-up). I read the original, both bored at times (as I originally suspected) and interested also, especially when scenes came along that weren't in either movie version, but which included all the best aspects of the Elizabeth/Mr. Darcy relationship. Finally, I finished (yay for me) and after stopping by three different bookstores who were sold out of Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, I found a copy and started on the bloody-good, rip-off version. It was slow work, I admit, since even though the zombies spiced up the story a bit, I felt like I was merely re-reading a story I had just read. My reading was slowed even further, stopped in fact, when some unpleasant vandals broke into my car one night and stole my bag, which contained my one copy of the book and also my lovely Phantom of the Opera bookmark that a friend of mine (Mrs. Kiwi herself) had given to me as a gift. Blasted hoodlums! My quest for sophisticated and classic, literary self-schooling (my reading tends toward the less sophisticated and more towards knights and dungeons and dragons) had been foiled and I have yet to find the will (or let's face it, the overwhelming desire) to buy another copy.

Since that first novel by Grahame-Smith, which combined classic literature with eyebrow-raising and giggle-inducing horror, there have been several other books written in the same style. Ben H. Winters changed Sense and Sensibility to include "...and Sea Monsters" and Grahame-Smith wrote another historical adaption in the form of Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Slayer. The movie rights for P&P&Z were sold and the film is now attached to Natalie Portman and now Steve Hockensmith will soon release a prequel to P&P&Z called Dawn of the Dreadfuls (see video below).





This all seems like a very long and round-about way to discuss both this new trend of classic literary spoofs and also the news of yet another Supernatural-ifed classic novel; Jane Slayre. I know, right? Is it just me or is this getting a bit ridiculous? Don't get me wrong. I love the reinvention of history as much as the next Buffy fan. One of my favorite short stories involves a slayer, her watcher, General Sherman and the re-writing of his historic burning from Atlanta to Savannah to include the motivation provided by the dangers of vampire nests too near to a recent battlefield. Needless to say, re-writing history is more often than naught a very fun and interesting exercise... but this is getting to be a bit much, don't ya think? You can only do something so many times before it gets old. And I'm starting to feel old, people.

What about you? Do you think I'm being too harsh or are you sitting beside me in my camp, enjoying the fire of literary indignity? Has anyone else attempted to read one of these re-tellings, or have you too been foiled by easily-broken, car-window glass and an unlucky parking space?

To Con-Con and Beyond!

That's right, people. By this time on Friday, I will be the envy of all Leverage fans. Well, at least the ones that can't make it to Con-Con, which is not a considerable number, I'm happy to report.

TNT is sending Kiwi (who has not been a very dedicated blogger of late *slap on wrist*) and I to Con Con (with our fearless leader, Mr. Pride) to shoot, interview and mingle with our fellow Leverage fans, cast and crew. Can I get an "Amen!"? Of course I can. So, if you'll be one of the several hundred fans to join the Parti de Con, keep on the look-out* for Kiwi (Corrie) and I and if you happen to spot us, come on over and say "What up, my fellow bloggers/Leverage fans/Christian Kane-enthusiasts?". And if you show yourself to be a particularly hardcore fan, you may even make your way on camera! Not exactly my dream come true, but not everyone has camera fear like I do. *dramatic shiver* We'll be covering a couple of the panels and will also be attending the TNT Cocktail party on Friday night and the banquet with the cast on Saturday night. When not covering panels and events, we'll be walking around the hotel, talking with the fans and genuinely having a good time. We'll also be on the Saturday morning Set Tour, so if you're crazy enough to get up at 6am (we have no choice in the matter, so we don't count as crazy, just unwilling employees), then we'll see you there, with grande coffees in hand.

If anyone is from the Portland area, let me know in the comments if you have any suggestions for interesting sites to check out, but more importantly, the best restaurants to try. It will be our first time visiting, so we'll take any tips we can get. And fingers crossed that we actually find time to eat during this trip (it's looking like we'll be workin' the Con far too often to work a dinner reservation... which is a sad fact indeed).

Once I have slept for a whole 24-hours after this trip, I'll do my best to get some pictures up here and write up some of the more exciting parts of the Con. You can also follow Corrie (@corrienav) and I (@bufyluver5) on Twitter and get some live 140-word, behind-the-scenes reporting straight from the Con. We'll be pretty busy, but we'll do our best to keep you Twitter-hungry fiends entertained.

Happy Capering, my fellow Leverage-lovers!

*Look-out tip: I'll be the one with girl-y, trendy cowboy boots on, the better in which to seduce Mr. Kane with. Muwwhahahahaha. Seriously, you can't fault a girl for trying. *shrug*

The 'Supernatural' in 'Lost'

Or the Lost in the Supernatural. Whichever works for you.

One of my favorite writers (or blogger, if you will), Maureen Ryan, has recently written a fun little article focusing on the strange similarities between Lost and Supernatural - two of my all-time favorite shows. This is why I love Ryan. She always tends to enjoy the same shows I do and she always has a great perspective on these shows. You can check out her Lost/Supernatural list here. I've included a couple of my favorite observations below:

Minions of powerful forces and factions battle each other for control of the fate of the people on the island.
Minions of powerful forces and factions battle each other for control of the fate of the entire world on "Supernatural."

Mark Pellegrino plays a powerful "Lost" character named Jacob -- who appears to be inhabiting a human body (and may have upgraded into Sayid's body?).
Mark Pellegrino plays a powerful "Supernatural" character named Lucifer -- who appears to be inhabiting a human body (and wants to upgrade to a Winchester body).

The characters on "Lost" have lots of daddy issues.
The Winchesters have lots and lots of daddy issues.

Also, thanks to the miracle of Twitter, the great and powerful Damon Lindelof tweeted a link recently to a blog entitled The Final Season of Lost as Seen by Someone Who Has Never Seen Lost. Sounds awesome, right? Yeah, D. Lindelof thought so too - and so do I. It's absolutely hilarious and definitely worth the time to check out. You can read the Introduction here and this guy's take on Episode One, Two and Three are linked. Let's just say, he thought Jack's name was actually Jake and that's just the tip of the this-guy-is-totally-confused iceberg. The funny is all in the concept and the fact that he's not far wrong on how confusing and convoluted this show really is, even to fans who have loyally watching it from the beginning. Oh, and it's also in his horribly drawn pictures - pregnant Claire smoking is my favorite.

As for Supernatural, you can check out the news on the renewal of the show for a surprising sixth season here, along with the news of Kripke's step-down and Sera Gamble's possible step-up.

As always, I apologize for the lack of posting, but life (coughWORKcough) often gets in the way. Plus, I'm relatively positive that not a one person is missing my amateur writing and blogging skills.

Hazzah!

The B-S-G in the 2-4

Yeah, I don't watch 24. That's one boat I never really found the interest to jump on. It's not that I don't love Keifer. I, like most of the creatures now inhabiting the known universe, do. I mean, he's one scary-ass vamp (The Lost Boys) that could kick Edward Cullen's sparkling ass anyday. Plus, he's one dead sexy Musketeer, no? Not to mention, his dad (Donald Sutherland) was Buffy's first watcher. No offense meant to the great Rupert Giles, but D. Sutherland was the original Man in Tweed and in my mind will always be the first stuffy Brit to reprimand Buffy for her totally unprecedented slayer-style. Which is unfortunate for him, I suppose.

No, it wasn't Keifer that turned me off of the show, but rather the cop-procedual vibe I originally got from it. I hate cop-proceduals. Like, a lot. So, I avoided jumping on the crazy whirl-a-gig of fun that was supposedly 24.

Cut to last year, around June/July, where I heard rumors of some very exciting casting for the new season of 24. I had just started Season 4 of Battlestar Galactica and I was a full-fledged BSG addict. The confirmed rumor was the casting of BSG alum Katee Sackhoff as Dana Walsh, some CTU goddess of computers and whatnot. I wasn't sure what that meant exactly, but considering I was soon to go through some serious Starbuck withdrawal, it was potentially interesting news. I soon come to find even more actors popping up in connection to 24. Freddie Prinze Jr., who was never a real talent in my opinion, but who married my girl, SMG, and who I still enjoyed watching on screen, was going to play Dana Walsh's fiance. "Ooooooo", went my mental commentary. And just to add another deliciously tempting layer of icing on the yet un-sampled 24 cake, Callum Keith Rennie, who played my very favorite (and yes, very sexy) cylon, Leoben, would be playing yet another evil-doer for the famous Jack Bauer to eventually beat to a bloody pulp (we hope).

My once-in-a-lifetime experience with the cast of 24, including the new additions, at San Diego Comic-Con last year, was the ridiculously large rocket that finally blew up the helicopter. The apparently divine Cake di 24 must be sampled and with the help of my good friend and fellow blogger, Corrie Duckworth, I started watching this past Sunday. I have spent four lovely (and highly stressful) hours with Jack Bauer in the past two days and enjoyed every high-intensity second of them.

The Battlestar Parked at CTU:

Here's the kicker with watching a new show that prominently features actors from one of your all-time favorite television shows; you squeal A LOT when they come on screen. For Katee, there was less squealing and more mental annoyance that went something like this...

SPOILER ALERT

"Who's this creepster guy calling you, Mrs. Soon-To-Be-Freddie's-Second-Coolest-Wife?"

"Ohhh...dang, he is going to cause you some tru-ble!"

"Ok, seriously...why are you taking this shit, STARBUCK? KICK HIS ASS! Where's your gun, anyway?"

"Ok, all this whining and begging is beneath you. Get your raptor and run that frakker OVER! He's making a mess in your nice apartment, for Adama's sake!"

Yeah, you see the problem. Watching Katee Sackhoff in a less than badass role was a little off-putting, but I'm sure I'll get used to it. The pretty hair and make-up? Not sure I'll ever get used to that.

As for Mr. Leoben, I feel bad for Corrie and her husband, Ryan. I spent the last couple minutes of the episode last night squealing "LEOBEN!!" every time Callum Keith Rennie's photo popped on the screen. We haven't even met his character yet and I'm already getting way to excited for the good of my fellow 24-watchers. Good thing I JUST got them into Battlestar, so they at least known where my hardcore addiction flows from. And yes, they LOVE it. Point one for the crazy sci-fi nerd.

So, what about you TV-watchers? Did you check out the four new hours of Jack Bauer goodness? What about our famous Battlestar alums? Good to see them shining onscreen again?

First Look at Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

Don't have the money for Bluray? Still playing it old school with a DVD player anyway? Then fear not! Check out the Dailymotion.com exclusive (and my Examiner exclusive) on the first look at Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.

Yes, you can thank me later. Or now. Whichever.

New Moon Midnight Madness

If you hit the comfort of your bed between 3am and 4am this morning, you might have just been someone out past closing time at your local Cheers bar or perhaps you were just someone who got lost in the excellent choices of Thursday night television over at a friends place - but most likely you were actually a die-hard Twi-hard, just getting out of one of the multiple midnight showings of New Moon. If you were of the latter, then you should have been pleasantly surprised to find that having to wait all night for the comfort of your bed was, many times over, worth the wait (unlike the last time that you might have put forth the effort to see a midnight showing of another certain vampire themed love story).

Late last night, gaggles of twittering, giggling teenage girls piled into the multiple theaters at the Atlantic Station Regal that would house the premiere of New Moon. They began to fill the seats around nine o'clock, the most hardcore of the fans arriving hours early in order to procure the perfect seating arrangement for the special event. The proceeding hours were spent gossiping about Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart, swooning over thoughts of Taylor Lautner's chiseled abs and debating the pros and cons of Team Edward verses Team Jacob. High school students, grad students and adults who should know better, from all over the Atlanta area, came together to celebrate their love/obsession for everything Twilight - and let's face it, that's pretty much just Edward. Morgan King (18), Brein Millea (19), and Kiersten Smith (18) were just one of several groups of girls that arrived at the theater early enough to claim some prized front-and-center seats. They confessed to being all Team Edward but differed on their opinions on the much-criticized Twilight. "I loved it because I'm a true fan...A lot of people think that the movie sucked because it didn't do the books justice but I think that if you love the characters, you love the movie anyway", Morgan argued. Brein and Kiersten had slightly different thoughts on the first film. "The acting, we thought the acting was quite comical but we still enjoyed it. We still had fun. It was just more hysterical laughing, most of it". No matter their differing opinions on Twilight, they could all agree upon their excitement about seeing New Moon. "There's a different director right, so I think that it's going to improve and I'm looking forward to that", Brein and Kiersten agree.

A slightly older group of women could be found a couple rows up. Twilight Mom Gina Roche (39) and sisters Tina (24) and Katie Hrinda (24), all Atlanta locals (and incidentally all Team Edward), took time away from their smartly packed Twilight-themed crosswords and word-searches to discuss the merits and downfalls of having read the novels before seeing the films. "I was not a huge fan [of Twilight]. I was slightly disappointed but I loved the books so much, I think that had a large part to do with it", Tina said. However, she is was still very excited about seeing New Moon. "It looks like they did a much better job on it". Katie agrees wholeheartedly with her sister. "I was not a fan of the first movie. It was very disappointing." Katie is taking a unique approach to the viewing of New Moon. "I'm trying not to be too excited so I won't be disappointed if it's not good", she reasons. Gina, mostly likely one of the very few in the crowd who has not read the books, had a very different opinion on the first movie. "Because I did not read the books, my perspective is, I loved it! But if I read the books, I would be interested to see how I felt afterwards".

As for the film itself, shockingly after the quality of the first movie, it was a stirring and quite thrilling ride, even for those who already knew all the twists and turns. Under the gentle and knowledgeable ministrations of director Chris Weitz, the acting was elevated several notches from the previous film's performances, which was extremely helpful in taking down the level of cheese and corniness and allowing for more time to "ooohhh" and "ahhhh" instead of giggling uncontrollably. Most prominent in the improvement area were the three main actors, Kristen Stewart, Robert Pattinson and young Taylor Lautner. Lautner, though young and still in need of some polishing, gave both an uplifting and heartbreaking performance as Jacob Black. Not only did he obviously train physically to keep his role, he also proved to be someone worth watching over the next few years, showing that he has what it takes to become an excellent and versatile actor. Stewart and Pattinson also both showed signs of having got to know their characters on a much deeper level than for Twilight. Stewart's Bella was much warmer and much more accessible in this film and Pattinson proved Edward could be more than what the swooning girls force him to be, which is merely an objectified sexual being. As for the developing relationship between Bella and Jacob, Weitz's tendency towards close-ups and medium close-ups gave the audience an intimate and emotional view of their story - most likely with the effect of giving those of Team Edward a moment of doubt over their chosen alliance.

All in all, the film was far more enjoyable than its predecessor and certainly worth missing bedtime for. Feel differently or want to throw your weight into the yay-New Moon camp? Make your opinions heard below.