Introductions, Memories, Red Herrings
I have a new friend. He's elegant, sophisticated, attractive, and loves taking pictures of me:
. . . and my sisters:
His name is Cassiel. Yeah, it's a weird name, but I think it's perfect for a shiny new MacBook. :-)
We went to see Superman Returns yesterday. A somewhat momentous occasion, since it's the first time I was disappointed by a Bryan Singer movie. The pacing was good; it was visually impressive; and the score was excellent: grand, emotional, heroic, intense. But an emotional score can only do so much. I never connected with the characters, or felt their emotions, the way I wanted to. I wanted to love the movie. But the Spiderman movies, and Singer's own contributions to the X-Men franchise, have set the bar really high; and this Superman, despite perfect hair and apparently limitless superpowers, flew under it.
Oh, well. The Spiderman 3 teaser looks dark and brilliant, and Wonder Woman is coming; so there is some happy news in the world of superhero movies.
As a side note: I kept thinking I had seen Sam Huntington (Jimmy Olsen) before, but couldn't place him. So I IMDbed him when I got home--and discovered that I knew him from my newest favorite TV show: Veronica Mars.
We finished watching season 1 Thursday night. I'll try to avoid spoilers (in the hopes that at least one or two of you will go watch the show, instantly), but--it's amazing. It constantly surprised me, made me laugh, and pretty much broke my heart. Which is the highest praise I can give.
Show creator Rob Thomas borrowed a few pages from Joss Whedon's book (as well as casting him as a guest star in a season 2 episode), but there are plenty of other influences here, and Thomas & his writers are rather brilliant in their own right. The result is a show that reminds you of Buffy in some ways. It takes a male-dominated genre (detective/noir) and gives center stage to a blond girl who can outwit and out-quip just about anyone; places her in a high school where she's ostracized; and surrounds her with enemies, allies, and friends--none of whom are what you expect, and all of whom have layers. Lots of layers.
But the show also has its own distinctive feel and personality, along with sharp and clever dialogue, excellent acting, and enough hilarity to (almost) balance the pain. And it's extremely well-paced. There are plenty of mysteries-of-the-week (some brilliant, others less so), but each episode provides clues to the "big" mystery, which centers around the murder of Veronica's best friend, Lilly Kane, a year before the show begins. The plotting excellent, but it always remains character-driven--so much so that when Alyson Hannigan appeared in a guest starring role, the "yay! Willow!" moment didn't even happen. It was completely overshadowed by me crying (well, almost crying) for one of the regulars.
The writers use flashbacks and dream sequences to introduce Lilly's character to the viewers. But they really make the flashbacks feel like memories, capturing the sense that Veronica, and the other people close to Lilly, can't go a day without thinking about her. You feel, and understand, what Lilly meant to the people who loved her--what she still means to them--and how they lost not only Lilly, but part of themselves when she died. That's something most movies and shows get completely wrong. (And these writers don't take the easy way out, either: Lilly was a flawed person, and not always particualarly likeable.)
My only major complaint involved a red herring towards the end of the season. I knew it was a red herring, and was upset with Veronica for being fooled by it. But after rewatching a couple of things, I've changed my mind: it makes perfect sense; I would have been fooled too. Which makes a resulting development even more upsetting . . . . but, as my mentor once pointed out, that's a sign of good writing. (Her exact words, after a tragic event in my novel: "That's good! Upset your readers!")
I could go on raving, but I won't. I'll just mark August 22 on my calendar, and hope that someone feels like preordering season 2 for my birthday present. ;-)
Now that I've finished Veronica, I need to get back to my novel and my reading list. I haven't been doing too badly with the reading: I finally read Four Quartets my first week home--I just sat down in my bedroom and read the whole thing, aloud, without interruption, as the light outside slowly faded. It was incredible, though I'm pretty sure I only understood a third of it. I also finally read a Graham Greene novel--The Power and the Glory. I'll have to read it again to be sure, but I think it makes my absoltue favorites list. I don't know how to describe it, except that Greene makes you feel like you're there, and things are so bad for the protagonist that you feel guilty for eating chocolate while you read it. (And you should read it. Soon. :-) He also shifts perspectives effortlessly and effectively, in a way that reminds me of film.
Right now I'm halfway through Pilgrim at Tinker Creek. As my mother said yesterday, it's the kind of book that makes you despair of ever being a writer: Dillard's writing is so incredibly beautiful, the range of things she quotes so broad and varied. I've been meaning to read it ever since Dr. Sillars read us the opening paragraphs in English Comp--I don't know why it took me this long. But I'll definitely read more of her.
And now I'm going to go do something productive . . . . like double-checking the release date for Veronica Mars: Season 2. :-) As Garrison Keillor says: Be well, do good work, and keep in touch.
Oh, a word of advice before you go: Beware of running with scissors, or any other pointy object. And beware of watching Primer between 2 and 3 in the morning. It wants a wakeful afternoon.
. . . and my sisters:
His name is Cassiel. Yeah, it's a weird name, but I think it's perfect for a shiny new MacBook. :-)
We went to see Superman Returns yesterday. A somewhat momentous occasion, since it's the first time I was disappointed by a Bryan Singer movie. The pacing was good; it was visually impressive; and the score was excellent: grand, emotional, heroic, intense. But an emotional score can only do so much. I never connected with the characters, or felt their emotions, the way I wanted to. I wanted to love the movie. But the Spiderman movies, and Singer's own contributions to the X-Men franchise, have set the bar really high; and this Superman, despite perfect hair and apparently limitless superpowers, flew under it.
Oh, well. The Spiderman 3 teaser looks dark and brilliant, and Wonder Woman is coming; so there is some happy news in the world of superhero movies.
As a side note: I kept thinking I had seen Sam Huntington (Jimmy Olsen) before, but couldn't place him. So I IMDbed him when I got home--and discovered that I knew him from my newest favorite TV show: Veronica Mars.
We finished watching season 1 Thursday night. I'll try to avoid spoilers (in the hopes that at least one or two of you will go watch the show, instantly), but--it's amazing. It constantly surprised me, made me laugh, and pretty much broke my heart. Which is the highest praise I can give.
Show creator Rob Thomas borrowed a few pages from Joss Whedon's book (as well as casting him as a guest star in a season 2 episode), but there are plenty of other influences here, and Thomas & his writers are rather brilliant in their own right. The result is a show that reminds you of Buffy in some ways. It takes a male-dominated genre (detective/noir) and gives center stage to a blond girl who can outwit and out-quip just about anyone; places her in a high school where she's ostracized; and surrounds her with enemies, allies, and friends--none of whom are what you expect, and all of whom have layers. Lots of layers.
But the show also has its own distinctive feel and personality, along with sharp and clever dialogue, excellent acting, and enough hilarity to (almost) balance the pain. And it's extremely well-paced. There are plenty of mysteries-of-the-week (some brilliant, others less so), but each episode provides clues to the "big" mystery, which centers around the murder of Veronica's best friend, Lilly Kane, a year before the show begins. The plotting excellent, but it always remains character-driven--so much so that when Alyson Hannigan appeared in a guest starring role, the "yay! Willow!" moment didn't even happen. It was completely overshadowed by me crying (well, almost crying) for one of the regulars.
The writers use flashbacks and dream sequences to introduce Lilly's character to the viewers. But they really make the flashbacks feel like memories, capturing the sense that Veronica, and the other people close to Lilly, can't go a day without thinking about her. You feel, and understand, what Lilly meant to the people who loved her--what she still means to them--and how they lost not only Lilly, but part of themselves when she died. That's something most movies and shows get completely wrong. (And these writers don't take the easy way out, either: Lilly was a flawed person, and not always particualarly likeable.)
My only major complaint involved a red herring towards the end of the season. I knew it was a red herring, and was upset with Veronica for being fooled by it. But after rewatching a couple of things, I've changed my mind: it makes perfect sense; I would have been fooled too. Which makes a resulting development even more upsetting . . . . but, as my mentor once pointed out, that's a sign of good writing. (Her exact words, after a tragic event in my novel: "That's good! Upset your readers!")
I could go on raving, but I won't. I'll just mark August 22 on my calendar, and hope that someone feels like preordering season 2 for my birthday present. ;-)
Now that I've finished Veronica, I need to get back to my novel and my reading list. I haven't been doing too badly with the reading: I finally read Four Quartets my first week home--I just sat down in my bedroom and read the whole thing, aloud, without interruption, as the light outside slowly faded. It was incredible, though I'm pretty sure I only understood a third of it. I also finally read a Graham Greene novel--The Power and the Glory. I'll have to read it again to be sure, but I think it makes my absoltue favorites list. I don't know how to describe it, except that Greene makes you feel like you're there, and things are so bad for the protagonist that you feel guilty for eating chocolate while you read it. (And you should read it. Soon. :-) He also shifts perspectives effortlessly and effectively, in a way that reminds me of film.
Right now I'm halfway through Pilgrim at Tinker Creek. As my mother said yesterday, it's the kind of book that makes you despair of ever being a writer: Dillard's writing is so incredibly beautiful, the range of things she quotes so broad and varied. I've been meaning to read it ever since Dr. Sillars read us the opening paragraphs in English Comp--I don't know why it took me this long. But I'll definitely read more of her.
And now I'm going to go do something productive . . . . like double-checking the release date for Veronica Mars: Season 2. :-) As Garrison Keillor says: Be well, do good work, and keep in touch.
Oh, a word of advice before you go: Beware of running with scissors, or any other pointy object. And beware of watching Primer between 2 and 3 in the morning. It wants a wakeful afternoon.
posted by erendis nasard at 5:57 PM
5 Comments:
Too bad you didn't like Superman Returns. I don't think it's fantastic, but I liked it in general. Perhaps that is because I have very low expectations for any Superman or Batman movie, so it's impossible to fly under my mental bar. ;)
I loved the "Four Quartets." I read maybe three of them before, but just before graduation I bought them all and read them on the road home, along with "Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats." Eliot makes me happy. And I don't think you're supposed to understand more than about a third of them at once.
I should read Annie Dillard.
I agreed with you on Superman. I had no expectations whatsoever, and I hadn't seen any of him before, but I just--I sympathized more with Lex Luthor than Superman for the first half hour, actually. He reminded me of Vanderpoel. But then he started acting sort of insane, so I rescinded my sympathy.
What did you think of the son? I felt like they could have done more with his character, as well as Superman's mother. I kept having Aunt May in the back of my mind, and she doesn't compare.
Cassiel is cool. He can stay.
Veronica sounds interesting, I think you have a talent for *corrupting* long distance:-)
But Wonder Woman? Wonder Woman! Do I know you? Have we met? Can you explain to me why a superheroine wearing blue and red and yellow spandex is appealing?
Sarah, I had high-ish expectations, mostly because it's Bryan Singer: I loved what he did with X-Men, and "The Usual Suspects" is absolutely brilliant. I liked Batman a lot better--it surprised me more, I identified more strongly with the hero, and the villian was genuinely scary. And I did think "Superman" did some things really well--just not quite enough.
And I agree about the son & the mother, pinon coffee--they were very underused. I *loved* the piano scene; but for the rest of the movie I kept expecting the kid to do something else cool, and he never did. It was kind of disappointing.
Daughterofgrace, I would normally be beyond dubious about the prospect of a Wonder Woman movie. But this one is being written and directed by Joss Whedon . . . . and I'd be excited about something by him even if it was called, I don't know, "Superskunk from Outer Space." :-)
Yeah, Superman disappointed me. At least it wasn't as campy as the earlier films. I did like their costume coordinator and set designer, whoever they were. The 30s-50s style (especially Lois's evening gown and the interior of the Daily Planet) was great-- a seamless integration of nostalgic design and modern technology. But yeah, I expected more from Singer. Considering how disappointed I was with X3, I was hoping that whatever project he left the X-Men for would be worth it. I really loved Batman Begins, Spiderman 3 looks great, but X3 and Superman Returns? Loaded with unused potential-- especially undeveloped characters that begged to be used.
:P
Post a Comment
<< Home