January 19, 2007
"24" - Season 6
very year, I watch the opening hours of 24 and have a great time with the high energy and surprising twists.
Until this year.
24 has jumped the shark. After watching the Sunday/Monday 4-hour season premiere extravaganza...I realized I was bored...
Bored with 24.
Why? Well, Jack is brought back from China and within a couple of hours (after 2 years of being silent through tremendous torture) he's back doing the same ol'schtick. And in those first 2 hours he has a knife plunged into that bundle of nerves between the left shoulder and pectoral muscle, but an hour later he changes his shirt and is out jumping around like nothing happened...
And there he is chasing Arab terrorists in the company of a "reformed" Arab terrorist who is good looking and now wants to change the Arab jihad consciousness to "negotiations"....... A character that could not possibly exist in real life knowing the Jihadist mind-set...
And there's the other Palmer brother as President, trying to figure out whether and how to negotiate with terrorists...
Been there...done that....
And ironies of ironies, the muslim community is up in arms over the depiction of Muslims, when in fact 24 writers are bending over backwards to give these jihadists more credit than they deserve. If only Muslims outcries were as obvious when jihadists do their thing...
I'll plug on a little while longer with 24...but I'm ready to consign it to the trash-heap of television shark-jumpers.
*sigh*
Posted by witnit at 2:56 PM | Comments (3)
March 30, 2006
The Angelverse
f you start Buffy (7 seasons), be warned you will also have to do Angel (5 seasons, starting at season 4 of Buffy). And you will have to watch them in parallel to catch the crossovers. (Buffy, Angel, Buffy, Angel, etc.)
Here's some Angel quotes to get you going:
Angel: You don't smell human.
Doyle: Well, that's a bit rude. As it happens I'm very much human...on my mother's side.
Doyle: It's not all about fighting and gadgets and such. It's about reaching out to people. Showing them that there's love and hope still left in this world.
Homeless Woman: Got any spare change?
Doyle: Get a job you lazy sow.
Angel: Are you going to torture me, or just bore me to death?
Spike: Why do you keep playing that bleeding Brahms?
Marcus: Actually it's Mozart. Symphony 41. I find it very effective.
Spike: Yeah, well, personally I prefer his older, funnier symphonies myself.
Angel: I don't know about you, but I had a nice day. You know, except for the bulk of it where I was nearly tortured to death.
Doyle: Aye, you stood up.
Angel: Oh God. I was this close to tellin' him everything. One more hot poker and I was givin' him the ring, your mom, everything. How is your mom?
Gwen: Gunn, I already apologized for killing you. What more do you want? A wake?
Lorne: Hey, listen, Angelcakes, if it's all the same with you, I think I might sit this one out upstairs. You know how dark magick unleashing unspeakable evil gives me the heebies.
Angel: Did you hear that? There's a sword. A sword to kill the Beast. And you wanted to turn me into Angelus by having an evil shaman cut off my head. Not that that wasn't a swell plan, too.
Beast: The boy joins the father in death.
Connor: No. In kicking your stony ass.
Angelus: I don't know. Maybe he doesn't remember the good times. Maybe he won't let himself. So like him. Here's one for you. What's the deal with Angel and the Raiders of the Lost Ark?
Wesley: The movie?
Angelus: The perfect-day fantasy he came up with. Caves, booby traps? the requisite phallic sword.
Lilah: Don't go Watchtower on me, Saint Cordelia. I don't think I could stomach it.
Cordelia: Man, I'd love to punch your face in.
Lilah: Are you trying to turn me on?
Lorne: Wesley, would you please warn this walking infection that I haven't forgotten how she poked my head open like a Capri-Sun, and while my love for humanity allows me to tolerate her presence, if need be I will smack her down! Be a doll, Thanks.
Lilah: He's gonna kill us.
Cordelia: I know. Why do you think I let him out, you stupid bitch?
Faith: Angel's got a kid?
Wesley: Connor.
Faith: A teenage kid? born last year.
Wesley: I told you. He grew up in a hell dimension.
Faith: Right. And what? Cordelia spent her last summer as??
Wesley: A divine being.
Faith: Uh-huh. Can I just ask? what the hell are you people doing?
Wesley: Leading complicated lives, obviously.
Wesley: Thought you could use a little release. Feel natural?
Faith: Just like riding a biker.
Lindsey: I guess it's fair to say you've never seen anything like real poverty. I'm talking dirt poor. No shoes, no toilet. Six of us kids in one room. And come flu season it was down to four. I was seven when they took the house. They just came right in and took it. And my daddy's bein' nice, you know? Joking with the bastards while he signs the deed. See we had a choice -- you got stepped on or you got to steppin'. And I swore to myself I wasn't goin' to be the guy standing there with a stupid grin on my face while my life got dribbled out?
Angel: Ooof. I nodded off. Did you get to the part where you're evil?
Darla: All you have do, is let me give you one little moment of happiness.
Angel: You took me places, showed me things. You blew the top off my head. But you never made me happy.
Darla: But that...that cheerleader did?
Angel: What I meant was ... I'm gonna miss her. She was just this nice, quiet kind of crazy. I found it soothing.
Cordelia: And what, I'm not soothing? I can be soothing. I could soothe your ass off, pal.
Demon: This is Jay-don. He talks too much.
Angel: I'm a people person. I like the shirt. Where'd you get that, at Ed's Big and Spiny?
Spiny Demon: He's funny. You're funny. You'll be even funnier when I crush your head.
Angel: Funny 'ha, ha' or funny peculiar?
Fred: Okay, so he survived an unspeakable hell dimension -- I mean, who hasn't? But you can't just leave him all alone on the streets of Los Angeles!
Cordelia: You were so . . . brave.
Doyle: You think you could say that again without so much shock in your voice? You're steppin' on my moment of manliness here.
--------
Posted by witnit at 4:55 PM
Buffy in Asia
brought a lot of DVDs on this trip. Thought I'd watch a few on my computer (with my nice Sony Noise-Canceling headphones). I decided to do Buffy the Vampire Slayer again.
I own seasons 1 -3. It'd been a few years and I had fond memories of it being one of the best shows ever on TV. I watched season 1 and half of season 2 before leaving town. So I brought the rest of season 2 and all of season 3.
I figured that would be enough to get through this trip.
Wrong!
Because the movie selection was bad on the flights, and because I spent most of three days sick in a Shanghai hotel, I scarfed down those DVDs and I wanted more.
But where to get quality DVDs in Shanghai? I had already spent our first night there at the Bund and walked down Nanjing Road and tried out a 12 Yuan videodisc of The Matador. That's less than $2 U.S. so I didn't expect much. Turned out it was on two discs split in half, with full Chinese dubbing on the left channel and soft English on the right. I had to adjust the balance to right channel only to watch the flick.
I wanted better quality if I were to buy Buffy. So I pondered where I could go. I was sick, I didn't know who to ask. I decided to walk across the street to buy some bottled water (I drank much more than the hotel offered each day) and guess what...
Right across from the hotel was a Video Store selling DVDs in English.
And they had Seasons 4 and 5 of Buffy. For the equivalent of $18 TOTAL and they didn't appear to be those cheap pirated copies. (At least not the awful copies one finds at Yu Gardens and other shopping districts. I think they mispriced them, but I can't be sure.)
And now I am rediscovering exactly why I love this show so much: the great acting, especially from Alyson Hannigan who plays Willow. The humor, the great writing, the laughter and the tears, the great metaphors of experiencing growing up in high school and college often translated into monsters. (People keeping their strong feelings buried? Up come the zombies to eat them.)
So here it is only two days later and I've already finished Season 4.
Oh well, Season 5, here I come...
If you've never watched Buffy from start to finish, check out the DVDs. Hang in there through the 12 episodes of Season 1 (getting on their feet) and if you're not completely hooked by the end of Season 2, forget it. You're hopelessly alienated from the Buffyverse.
Here's some quotes for you:
Buffy: Mom, dead people are talking to you. Do the math!
Buffy: You're a vampire. Oh, I'm sorry. Was that an offensive term? Should I say undead American?
Buffy: When Giles sends me on a mission, he says "please." And afterwards I get a cookie.
Buffy: When the apocalypse comes... beep me.
Buffy: Why go to all the trouble to dig up three girls only to chop them up and throw them away? It doesn't make any sense. Especially from a time management standpoint.
Buffy: You know, I always say that a day without an autopsy is like a day without sunshine.
Buffy: Sorry, but I'm an old-fashioned gal. I was raised to believe that men dig up the corpses and the women have the babies.
Buffy: Impulsive? Do you remember my ex-boyfriend, the vampire? I slept with him, he lost his soul, now my boyfriend's gone forever, and the demon that wears his face is killing my friends. The next impulsive decision I make will involve my choice of dentures.
Willow: I knew it! I knew it! Well, not in the sense of having the slightest idea, but I knew there was something I didn't know.
Willow: I just talked to Buffy, and yeah, I think she's feeling a little... insane. No, not bitchy crazy, more like homicidal maniac crazy. So I told her to come see you, 'kay?
Willow: No, no, no. See, Xander's... I like his head. It's where you find his eyes and his hair and his adorable smile.
Willow: It is kind of novel how he'll stay young and handsome forever, although you'll still get wrinkly and die... and oh, what about the children? I'll be quiet now.
Willow: You're the Slayer and we're, like, the Slayerettes.
Willow: Just sitting here watching our barren lives pass us by. Oh, look, a cockroach. *stomp*
Willow: Well, when I'm with a boy I like, it's hard for me to say anything cool, or, or witty, or at all. I-I can usually make a few vowel sounds, and then I have to go away.
Willow: Wow! He hardly talks to anyone. He's solitary, mysterious... He can brood for forty minutes straight, I've clocked him.
Xander: Calm may work for Locutus of the Borg here, but I'm freaked out, and I intend to stay that way.
Xander: I don't like vampires. I'm going to take a stand and say they're not good.
Xander: I laugh in the face of danger. Then I hide until it goes away.
Xander: Generally speaking, when scary things get scared, not good.
Xander: Well, I guess that makes it official. Everybody's paired off. Vampires get dates. Hell, even the school librarian sees more action than me.
Xander: Well, yeah. I'd give anything to be able to turn invisible. I wouldn't use my powers to beat people up, but use my powers to protect the girl's locker room.
Xander: I wish dating was like slaying. You know, simple, direct, stake through the heart, no muss, no fuss.
Xander: It's funny how the earth never opens up and swallows you when you want it to.
Xander: Forgiveness is my middle name. Well, actually it's LaVelle, but I'd appreciate it if you guard that secret with your life.
Xander: I?m just gonna go home, lie down, and listen to country music. The music of pain.
Xander: Did you hear that? A bonus day of class, plus Cordelia. Mix in a little rectal surgery and it's my best day ever.
Giles: What ever happened to Latin? At least when that made no sense, the church approved.
Giles: Testosterone is a great equalizer. It turns all men into morons.
Giles: It's devastating. He's turned into a sixteen-year-old boy. Of course you'll have to kill him.
Giles: I don't care what time it is, unlock his cell, unstrap him, and bring him to the phone!
Giles: Let me be sure I have this right - this witch is casting horrible and disfiguring spells... so that she can become a *cheerleader*?
Giles: Buffy, when I said you could slay vampires, and have a social life, I didn't mean at the same time!
Giles: Yes, and you were very nearly devoured by a giant demon snake. The words 'Let that be a lesson' are a tad redundant at this juncture.
Spike: If every vampire who said he was at the Crucifixion was actually there it would've been like Woodstock. I was at Woodstock. I fed off a flower person and I spent six hours watching my hand move.
Spike: Ahhhh, my head. I think I'm sobering up. It's horrible. Ah... God... I wish I was dead.
Spike: What's this? Sittin' around watching the telly while there's evil still afoot? It's not very industrious of you. I say we go out there and kick a little demon ass! What, can't go without your Buffy, is that it? Let's find her! She is the chosen one, after all. Come on! Vampires! Grrr! Nasty! Let's annihilate them, for justice, and for... the safety of puppies... and Christmas, right? Let's fight that evil! Let's kill something! Oh, come on!
Spike: We like to talk big... vampires do. "I'm going to destroy the world." That's just tough-guy talk. Strutting around with your friends over a pint of blood. The truth is, I _like_ this world. You've got...dog racing, Manchester United. And you've got people. Billions of people walking around like Happy Meals with legs. It's all right here. But then someone comes along with a vision. With a real... passion for destruction. Angel could pull it off. Good-bye, Picadilly. Farewell, Leicester-bloody-Square.
Spike: I'm really glad I came here, you know? I've been all wrongheaded about this. Weeping, crawling, blaming everybody else. I want Dru back, I've just gotta be the man I was, the man she loved. I'm gonna do what I shoulda done in the first place: I'll find her, wherever she is, tie her up, torture her until she likes me again. Love's a funny thing.
Spike: You know you take the killing for granted. And then it's gone. And you're like, I wish I'd appreciated it more. Stopped and smelled the corpses.
Spike: She just left. She didn't even care enough to cut off my head or set me on fire. I mean, is that too much to ask? You know? Some little sign that she cared?
Cordelia: Great, now I'm gonna be stuck with serious thoughts all day.
Principal Snyder: There are things I will not tolerate: students loitering on campus after school, horrible murders with hearts being removed. And also smoking.
Principal Snyder: A lot of educators tell students, "Think of your principal as your pal." I say, "Think of me as your judge, jury, and executioner."
Principal Snyder: It's fuzzy-minded liberal thinking like that that gets you eaten.
Ethan Rayne: I've got to learn to just do the damage and leave town. It's the stay-'n'-gloat that gets me every time.
Anya: For a thousand years I wielded the power of the wish. I brought ruin upon the heads of unfaithful men; I offered destruction and chaos for the pleasure of the lower beings. I was feared and worshipped across the mortal globe and now I'm stuck at Sunnydale High. A mortal! A child! And I'm flunking math.
Oz: Sometimes when I'm sitting in class...you know, I'm not thinking about class 'cause that would never happen... I think about kissing you. And it's like everything stops, it's like, freeze frame: Willow kissage.
Oz: So I'm wondering, do the other cookie animals feel sort of ripped? Like, is the hippo going, "Hey, man, where are my pants? I have my hippo dignity." And you know, the monkey's just, "I mock you with my monkey pants!" And then there's a big coup in the zoo.
Mayor Wilkins: I have two words that are going to make all your troubles go away. "Miniature Golf."
Cordelia: When did you become Martha Stewart?
Buffy: First of all, Martha Stewart knows jack about hand-cut prosciutto.
Xander: I don't believe she slays, either.
Oz: Oh, I hear she can, but she doesn't like to.
Willow: Maybe we shouldn't be too coupley around Buffy.
Cordelia: Oh, you mean 'cause of how the only guy that ever liked her turned into a vicious killer and had to be put down like a dog?
Xander: Can she cram complex issues into a nutshell, or what?
Xander: You're considered somewhat cool.
Oz: I am?
Xander: Is it because you always tend to express yourself in short, non-commital sentences?
Oz: Could be.
Anya: I have witnessed a millennium of treachery and oppression from the males of the species, and I have nothing but contempt for the whole libidinous lot of them.
Xander: Then why are you talking to me?
Anya: I don't have a date for the prom.
Xander: Well, gosh, I wonder why not? It couldn't possibly have anything to do with your sales pitch.
Anya: Men are evil. Will you go with me?
Xander: You were looking at my neck.
Angel: What?
Xander: You were checking out my neck. I saw that.
Angel: No, I wasn't.
Xander: Just keep your distance, pal.
Angel: I wasn't looking at your neck.
Xander: I told you to eat before we left.
Buffy: Now, we can do this the hard way or... well, actually, there's just the hard way.
Darla: That's fine with me.
Buffy: Are you sure? Now this is not gonna be pretty. We're talking violence, strong language, adult content.
Giles: I suspect your mother would want to... put it on the refrigerator.
Buffy: Yeah. She saw these scores and her head spun around and exploded.
Giles: I've been on the Hellmouth too long, that was metaphorical, yes?
Buffy: Yes.
--------
Posted by witnit at 12:25 AM
February 27, 2006
Heat of the Sun
fter waiting a couple years since watching them on video, I bought the DVDs and the WitWife and I this weekend, for the third time, watched the three Heat of the Sun movies first shown in the U.S. on PBS's Mystery!.
Trevor Eve, who nows plays in the Waking the Dead set of films that show up on BBC America, plays former Scotland Yard detective Albert Tyburn, who has his own standards of justice that don't quite take to politics. He gets shipped to Nairobi, Kenya, after shooting a criminal who had political connections, and has to bring some sense of truth to a decadent set of British expats who see the locals as somewhat less then human.
The shear fun of his character, the way he responds to the entrenched idiocy around him, and the romance that slowly growns between him and a female bush pilot, makes this one of the best sets of films we've ever seen. Worth watching again every 2-3 years.
If you decide to watch these, note that in the first movie, Private Lives, the young copper working with Tybern is the actor who plays Gaius in Battlestar Galactica.
Big thumbs up.
--------
Posted by witnit at 9:43 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
February 23, 2006
Simon and American Idol
or the first time, my wife and I have been watchng American Idol. Missed the first several years, except for an occasional viewing near the end.
Yeah, I heard about Simon and his big mouth and ruthless cutting on sweet little innocent singers, how Randy and Paula would love a singer and then Simon would turn around and rip his or her heart out.
Now I've had a chance to watch most of the auditions and the Hollywood and final 12 rounds. And you know what?
I agree with Simon about 99% of the time. Of the three, he's the only one willing to be utterly honest every time, and say exactly what he experienced. What a guy. He's doing everyone a favor.
If Simon says you can't sing three times in a row, admit it. You can't sing.
--------
Posted by witnit at 1:13 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
