Saturday, March 28, 2009

The best of all possible worlds?

BSG: The End.

The future is always better than the past. Even Voltaire knew that, and he invented this trite shtick. If you can't believe that -- if you fear the future you're creating, for yourself -- you're done. Because there's no point: end it today, or stop bitching and apply yourself to making it better, because essentially the implication is that nobody knows how to save the world, but you, and nobody but yours will ever figure it out. That is dead. That is death.


It was a contradictory ending, no? Both within and outside of the story. AngelGaius bemoans the modern world of Times Square, while AngelSix counters: yeah, but maybe they won't fuck it up this time? And then the montage of RobotFutureDoom....

So. Civilization's (of the metal or fleshy sort) rush for the new new tech outpaces our emotional and big-picture understanding of that tech bringing Armageddon, and all-around badness. Certainly we've made our mistakes, Mr. Moore, but that tech also brings the pretty, pretty explosions on your teevee show and games on your iPhone. Would you like to give that up, along with your cigarettes and scotch, just to till the soil and be one with the earth and God? I thought not. We all have those moments where we're at the end of our respective ropes and want a do-over. But that Never. Happens. The show has been about a fleet that, despite incredible hardships and guilt and trauma, puts its head down and barrels through as they learn and fight for survival. Far from perfect, but noble to the end. But now they should be passive fatalists, munching on dandelions and awaiting movement from the hand of God? For a show that had prided itself on being brutally honest about human nature and suffering, that whatever, here's a pat-on-the-back ending does feel disingenuous.

Fuck, G, I woulda killed the bitch too, if I found out she shot the wife I didn't really love all that much out the airlock. Go on with your Highlander-self and be at peace! Wait, *I* killed my wife... oh well, bygones!

(We never found out what Tory's deal was and that did piss me off. Huge loose thread there, writers.)

Finding Earth is fine, but why not go outside our known history? Why ditch all the ships and redo the hunter/gatherer business? Why not integrate, learn, and grow and show an alternate-Earth story?

On a lighter note: did anyone else see the tribal Earthlings and wonder if one of them was the First Slayer? Crossover!

You haven't seen my drawer of inappropriate starches?

Dollhouse, Week 7

It's made of brown. This was...kinda exciting! Still don't care about Caroline or Ballard as characters, but the tension of containing the contagion (wordplay!) was quite effective. And a new Doll! So many questions answered! (Boyd should always be business casual.) So many raised! (EvilReedDiamond not so evil?) The most pressing being: what happened to Topher's pants?

High five!

Next week's the Doll's Awaken-rebellion-thing looks fantastic...but where can they go after that?


In other TeeVee...

BSG finale
I'm not sure I can create a coherent and cohesive response to this ending. I was not disappointed, but I was rather surprised that there was a happy ending. (Almost) Everyone lived and were able to start anew. Though I was hoping that Starbuck, Apollo, and the Fighting Agathons (Helo survived?!) found Lake Wobegon - where all the women are strong (Kara, Athena), the men are good looking (Lee, Karl) and the children are above average (wee troublemaker Hera)....

Random thoughts...
Saul Fucking Tigh. Drunk. At a strip club. With his wives. (And of course, they declare their eternal love for each other at said strip club while downing shots and watching lapdances. Their trashiness is so endearing.)

Doc Cottle humbled into speechlessness.

"The night's young and so are you." DRINK!

Well, I suppose vomiting in the gutter is better than breaking down in the bathroom again, Bill.

"...then I want you to start throwing rocks."

Wanton Centurion-on-Centurion violence!

ADMIRAL HOSHI. PRESIDENT ROMO. This is a nation I can believe in.

Baltar so pathetic with his Rubbermaid File Tote of Destiny...

So, what they're saying is, it's all Callie's fault... And Tori's.... I can get behind that.

Galen's the first Viking/Scotsman/Icelander? So the kilts were his idea? Noted! (But I want pictures.)

So Asimo and the pervy AsianSexBot are the harbingers of the endtimes? Thanks for head's up, Ron.

30 Rock
Muppets. Dennis. Hornberger. Now that they've ditched the guest stars (who weren't all bad) the show has finally gotten back to the interplay of the writers room and Jenna and Tracy and the complete madness that makes it great. Plz keep it this way, thnx

OMIGOD HE'S MORTAL.

The Office
Oh no. I love it when Pam walks on hot coals.

"I'm aware of the effect I have on women."

Friday, March 20, 2009

This is getting old.

Dollhouse, Week 6

There's no porn! Oh it would've been much more interesting if there were. That said, the pretty people are doing nothing for me.

Ballard: He's an asshole and I don't care. The only good part of him kissing Mellie was that he finally shut the fuck up. Also: he is the worst FBI agent ever - Sidney Bristow would mock him. And kick his ass. She's twice Eliza's size...

And Echo is, well, a non-entity. The good thing about her this ep is that she took a back seat to the overall plot. Joss (read: Patton and/or Mellie, depending on the scene) was heavily pushing Ballard's obsession with Echo/Caroline...and I just wasn't buying it. Obsessed with the organization? Yes - hell, if Ballard asks anybody 'where's the Dollhouse' one more time I'm gonna reach through the screen and punch him in the nuts - but Caroline is just the key that gets him there. But now it's about Caroline? If this is supposed to be about Ballard chasing just Caroline, Joss might as well go full Mamet* and have him keep repeating 'where's the girl' until he reaches Olivia's door.

Patton is a tiny, tiny man. I've actually seen him live, in person, and up close. But I was drunk at a bar and sitting down, so clearly I didn't realize he was a PocketPatton. Eliza is taller than he is. Still, his performance was a highlight. You really don't get that sort of material on King of Queens...

Can Patton, NotFred, Olivia, and Boyd stay and the rest leave? Okay, Topher still amuses me in his snide, creepy way... Does his assistant have a name yet?

Moral spankitude! While the issues of identity and prostitution and free will and human nature are all fun to ponder, pedantic/didactic Joss makes my eyes roll. And the idiot-on-the-street interviews were both poorly written and poorly acted.** Make me think, but don't lecture me. And, for the love of Giles, don't lecture me badly.

The Sierra/Victor/Handler McRapey story at least had some ActionBoyd to make it entertaining...

Ma'am, do you have an exit strategy? Well, do you, Joss? There were no surprises here: Mellie's a doll?! Oh, it wasn't telegraphed from the get-go and they didn't have her callsign on IMDB for the last month or anything... And I still had to watch her get assaulted and strangled. I'm so tired of predatory white dudes assaulting young women. I know the point Joss is trying to make, but that doesn't make it easier to watch.

This was the first time I actually flipped to FNL rather than wait to watch online the next day. Coach calling a ref a 'sonofabitch' and getting thrown out of the game was ten times more awesome than Ballard's post-coital banter. So much for the game-changer super awesome episode....


*I saw Redbelt the other day, and while Chiwetel Ejiofor (The Operative!) and Emily Mortimer were marvelous (as usual), it was quite plain that Mamet has become a parody of himself. One can only stand so many stilted conversations regarding manliness and honor before you just need someone kick somebody's, anybody's ass.
**It's true! Joss can produce sucky scripts!

Friday, March 13, 2009

She's just a girl.

Dollhouse, Week 5

In brief...

Thank goodness for Tim Minear. I missed you.

'Sneizure.' HA! I was not expecting that.

Topher must own futures in sweater vests.

More Amy Acker, plz.

Not that Eliza did a bad job (on the contrary, she was way impressive here), but the Topher/NotFred/Erection story was much more fun - Topher and NotFred have great comedic chemistry.

I'm kinda ready for Tahmoh to go, as he's become the Morena Baccarin of this show: pretty, wooden acting, boring cliched character introduced too early in the overall arc. I might actually be intrigued with Ballard if he were introduced this ep, just driving up at the end to ask the ATF agent questions. Wha?! The FBI is looking for Echo? How could this be?... and then we find out next week or later about the mysterious envelopes he's been receiving and that he's been meeting with the GangsterDoll and that he kickboxes...

Evil Reed Diamond. I did not expect him to do the (non)extraction himself. Evil, indeed, but kinda stupid. Why didn't pack a silencer and make sure she was dead? You travel all that way and don't seal the deal? I mean, the ATF already had video of the cult leader threatening her with a gun, so EvilReed wouldn't be implicated if she was found with a bullet in her brain.

Also: the blind savior wore heels to her baptism into an Amishy-attired cult? Oh show - you never fail to do the inexplicable to take me out of an emotional moment...

'Take the stairs.' Bish plz, you're so almost fired...maybe. (I think EvilReed has connections to the senior partners. It's the only explanation for why Adele hasn't gotten rid of him. If she had a spaceship and an airlock, he'd so be out of the picture by now...)

PATTON OSWALT!!!!!!!11 (Please tell me he's a Doll that kicks Ballard's ass...)

Sunday, March 8, 2009

Like pulling Taffy...

I've been singing this song since hearing Echo's persona's name was 'Taffy.'



Good lord, Lisa Loeb did in fact rock once, and did it quite well.

Saturday, March 7, 2009

Blue Skies

Dollhouse, Week 4

Why in the world would anyone have to hire a Doll to act as a midwife? Does the Glorious Collective of International Birthing Assistants prohibit traveling to mountain chalets? And unless the child is an alien and/or a Cylon, there's no reason that the midwife shouldn't be able remember the job. WTF, Joss - it's maddening shit like this that kinda ruins an otherwise strong episode.

I'm choosing to ignore those couple go-nowhere scenes with Ballard and RussianGangsterDoll. I...really have no idea where that's going. Why doesn't DeWitt just have Doll kill him? The Feds will just go after the Russians.)

The high points were, again, any and every scene with Boyd (the character and the actor provide the glue holding this sinking ship together) and Olivia Williams' wardrobe (and her hair was gorgeous).

Gah. Who am I kidding. Really, I'm just huddled on the floor in the fetal position, waiting for my Dr. Horrible DVD to arrive....

Wednesday, March 4, 2009

Pump Up the Volume



The iPod took me on trip down middle school nostalgia lane with the soundtrack to my fave Christian Slater film.

This album pretty much introduced me to modern/college rock, as I the only artists I'd heard of here were Ivan Neville (Dad=Aaron) and Concrete Blonde (MTV played "Joey" all the friggin' time).

A track list...

1) "Everybody Knows" / Concrete Blonde



2) "Why Can't I Fall in Love" / Ivan Neville




3) "Stand" / Liquid Jesus

4) "Wave of Mutilation" (UK Surf) / Pixies


Still my preferred version.

5) "I've Got a Miniature Secret Camera" / Peter Murphy

6) "Kick Out the Jams" / Bad Brains, Henry Fucking Rollins



7) "Freedom of Speech" / Above the Law


I recall the scene with this song featuring a very young, long-haired Seth Green.

8) "Heretic" / Soundgarden


Oh, Chris Cornell, where did your voice go...

9) "Titanium Exposé" / Sonic Youth



10) "Me and the Devil Blues" / Cowboy Junkies

11) "Tale O' The Twister" / Chagall Guevara



Music not on the disc but in the flick...

"Everybody Knows" / Leonard Cohen (aka the original, aka the Happy Harry Hard-On theme song)



"Weinerschnitzel" / Descendents



"Dad, I'm in Jail" / Was (Not Was)



"Love Comes in Spurts" / Richard Hell and the Voidoids



"Fast Lane" / Urban Dance Squad


I still have this cassette somewhere....

"The Scenario" / Beastie Boys