More TV excitement!
Jan. 6th, 2007 12:19 amI do believe I've found the spackle for the NX-shaped hole in my life.
Slings and Arrows not only has quirky characters and extensive reference to classical dramatic works, but it also has a very well-developed sense of the absurd, and actors who are excellent at deadpan delivery and reactions. Plus, there's just the right amount of magical realism. At the end of the first episode, ( spoiler )
Oh, I could get to love this show.
Paul Gross reminds me considerably of a cross between Geraint Wyn Davies (aka Nick Knight) and Jared Padalecki. More of Wyn Davies, though. They both seem to have that same intense, focused look about them. Perhaps it comes from playing a Canadian law enforcer on TV for several years.
(Speaking of Canadians...they all have such cute accents! *channels Sam, although without the irony inherent in Amanda Tapping's oh-so-Canadian-accented self squeeing over Rodney's pronunciation of "sorry"*)
I think the Nigerian security guard is my favorite character so far. He won me over with the following exchange:
Oliver: "There's not one moment of truth in this whole production."
Neil(?): "Truth can be a very dangerous thing. Before I left Nigeria, I directed a production of Ken Saro-Wiwa's The Wheel, which was perhaps too openly critical of the Abasha [sp?] regime."
Oliver: "How did it go over?"
Neil: "Well, the soldiers came and burned our sets and beat the actors with sticks."
Oliver: "...Thanks for the perspective."
*
I've also watched an episode and a half of Gilmore Girls now. I'm...withholding judgement until I see more, I think. I'll look into borrowing season one from the library (not that their discs ever play on my player, but maybe these haven't been used too badly). So far there's a liiiittle too much focus on the high school end of things, and like I've been saying in comments to some people over here, I find the pace and too too perfect snark of the dialogue a bit unrealistic. They're often going so fast that there's no time to put any inflection into the words they're saying. It lacks...sincerity. Or something.
However, this isn't a problem at all between Luke and Lorelai, for some reason. I think they must slow down a bit. Or perhaps the overwhelming UST between them makes up for any problems with the dialogue feeling too scripted.
*
In a final media-related note, I finished my three-day odyssey through China Mieville's Perdido Street Station today. It's certainly an accomplishment. It reminded me of Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell, but only in the sense that it didn't get going until page 350 (of 700), and yet I couldn't put it down. I think it was the intricacy of the world Mieville created; it's kind of a mixture of Blade Runner and Pullman's His Dark Materials, with some extra Secret Adventures of Jules Verne for that steampunky edge. Sort of...scientific magic, with an evil government looming over everything.
The plot, once it got going, was rollicking and good fun, although I missed the attention to detail of the city and world with which he opened the book. The ending blared out "Sequel coming soon to a bookstore near you!", but I suppose I can't blame him; there's enough possibility in New Crobuzon for several more books. (He may have written one or two already; this is the first book I've read by him, although I think he has three or four more out now.)
The book was obviously written by a guy in his early or mid-twenties. Believe me, after college writing classes, I have experience with this. The excess attention on sex and drugs, and the unfortunate tendency to describe things in terms of fecal matter, are dead giveaways. There was also a bit too much of the main character thinking Very Stridently About Taking a Stand On Things that I wish someone had caught before publication, but that's personal preference, I suppose. It was just...I could hear the horns in the soundtrack, you know?
Also, the guy swallowed a dictionary before writing this. I'm all about new words, but using long words for the sake of using long words irritates me. And the words "pugnacious" and "febrile" should not appear twenty times each in a 700-page book.
But that said, I love this approach to fantasy; less magic, fewer elves, more crazy steampunk science and wild creatures like the vampiric moths. Mieville's a bit like a younger Gaiman, and that can only be a good thing. I'll be looking for his other books.
Slings and Arrows not only has quirky characters and extensive reference to classical dramatic works, but it also has a very well-developed sense of the absurd, and actors who are excellent at deadpan delivery and reactions. Plus, there's just the right amount of magical realism. At the end of the first episode, ( spoiler )
Oh, I could get to love this show.
Paul Gross reminds me considerably of a cross between Geraint Wyn Davies (aka Nick Knight) and Jared Padalecki. More of Wyn Davies, though. They both seem to have that same intense, focused look about them. Perhaps it comes from playing a Canadian law enforcer on TV for several years.
(Speaking of Canadians...they all have such cute accents! *channels Sam, although without the irony inherent in Amanda Tapping's oh-so-Canadian-accented self squeeing over Rodney's pronunciation of "sorry"*)
I think the Nigerian security guard is my favorite character so far. He won me over with the following exchange:
Oliver: "There's not one moment of truth in this whole production."
Neil(?): "Truth can be a very dangerous thing. Before I left Nigeria, I directed a production of Ken Saro-Wiwa's The Wheel, which was perhaps too openly critical of the Abasha [sp?] regime."
Oliver: "How did it go over?"
Neil: "Well, the soldiers came and burned our sets and beat the actors with sticks."
Oliver: "...Thanks for the perspective."
*
I've also watched an episode and a half of Gilmore Girls now. I'm...withholding judgement until I see more, I think. I'll look into borrowing season one from the library (not that their discs ever play on my player, but maybe these haven't been used too badly). So far there's a liiiittle too much focus on the high school end of things, and like I've been saying in comments to some people over here, I find the pace and too too perfect snark of the dialogue a bit unrealistic. They're often going so fast that there's no time to put any inflection into the words they're saying. It lacks...sincerity. Or something.
However, this isn't a problem at all between Luke and Lorelai, for some reason. I think they must slow down a bit. Or perhaps the overwhelming UST between them makes up for any problems with the dialogue feeling too scripted.
*
In a final media-related note, I finished my three-day odyssey through China Mieville's Perdido Street Station today. It's certainly an accomplishment. It reminded me of Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell, but only in the sense that it didn't get going until page 350 (of 700), and yet I couldn't put it down. I think it was the intricacy of the world Mieville created; it's kind of a mixture of Blade Runner and Pullman's His Dark Materials, with some extra Secret Adventures of Jules Verne for that steampunky edge. Sort of...scientific magic, with an evil government looming over everything.
The plot, once it got going, was rollicking and good fun, although I missed the attention to detail of the city and world with which he opened the book. The ending blared out "Sequel coming soon to a bookstore near you!", but I suppose I can't blame him; there's enough possibility in New Crobuzon for several more books. (He may have written one or two already; this is the first book I've read by him, although I think he has three or four more out now.)
The book was obviously written by a guy in his early or mid-twenties. Believe me, after college writing classes, I have experience with this. The excess attention on sex and drugs, and the unfortunate tendency to describe things in terms of fecal matter, are dead giveaways. There was also a bit too much of the main character thinking Very Stridently About Taking a Stand On Things that I wish someone had caught before publication, but that's personal preference, I suppose. It was just...I could hear the horns in the soundtrack, you know?
Also, the guy swallowed a dictionary before writing this. I'm all about new words, but using long words for the sake of using long words irritates me. And the words "pugnacious" and "febrile" should not appear twenty times each in a 700-page book.
But that said, I love this approach to fantasy; less magic, fewer elves, more crazy steampunk science and wild creatures like the vampiric moths. Mieville's a bit like a younger Gaiman, and that can only be a good thing. I'll be looking for his other books.
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