In addition to de-cluttering and cleaning, I slacked.
Things I watched this weekend, with friends and without:
Little Miss Sunshine: Makes things beautifully hard on its characters, great cast of actors. Lots of little repeated things that build meaning: each time that bus gets started, we learn something about the state of the family. Great movie.
The Wrath of Khan: Textbook solid screenplay. Introduced its themes straight off, developed them competently, ratcheted up the stakes at all the appropriate moments. Looked fabulous on the Vudu in HDX, too. Great use of Moby Dick; a more clumsy use of Dickens.
Babylon 5, "Midnight on the Firing Line", aka season 1 ep 1, because apparently I have no copy of "The Gathering" for b5_revisited: Thud thud clunk omg terrible dialog. Love Sinclair I might, but poor Michael O'Hare was not up to the task of making that dialog work. Not the way Katsulas and Jurasik were. They saved that episode from the pit of suck. Barely. Poor Garibaldi: a character completely unsuited for the role of Captain Exposition.
Buffy the Vampire Slayer, "Helpless": Now that's how you write dialog. Sloppy backstory, though, a nonsensical situation set up to make Whedon's points about how all fathers are awful (except Giles who repents), but great television anyway. Enjoyable baddy. Great work from SMG and ASH. Made me want to keep right on going and watch the rest of Season 3, arguably Buffy's best season. (I enjoy making a case for season 2.)
Chuck, pilot episode: Enjoyable. I haven't finished watching it yet, though. And is that Jayne there playing a CIA dude?
Top Gear, series 12 episode 6, the one with the Communist cars and the most thorough car review ever undertaken on British television, of the Ford Fiesta. Awesome.
Little Miss Sunshine: Makes things beautifully hard on its characters, great cast of actors. Lots of little repeated things that build meaning: each time that bus gets started, we learn something about the state of the family. Great movie.
The Wrath of Khan: Textbook solid screenplay. Introduced its themes straight off, developed them competently, ratcheted up the stakes at all the appropriate moments. Looked fabulous on the Vudu in HDX, too. Great use of Moby Dick; a more clumsy use of Dickens.
Babylon 5, "Midnight on the Firing Line", aka season 1 ep 1, because apparently I have no copy of "The Gathering" for b5_revisited: Thud thud clunk omg terrible dialog. Love Sinclair I might, but poor Michael O'Hare was not up to the task of making that dialog work. Not the way Katsulas and Jurasik were. They saved that episode from the pit of suck. Barely. Poor Garibaldi: a character completely unsuited for the role of Captain Exposition.
Buffy the Vampire Slayer, "Helpless": Now that's how you write dialog. Sloppy backstory, though, a nonsensical situation set up to make Whedon's points about how all fathers are awful (except Giles who repents), but great television anyway. Enjoyable baddy. Great work from SMG and ASH. Made me want to keep right on going and watch the rest of Season 3, arguably Buffy's best season. (I enjoy making a case for season 2.)
Chuck, pilot episode: Enjoyable. I haven't finished watching it yet, though. And is that Jayne there playing a CIA dude?
Top Gear, series 12 episode 6, the one with the Communist cars and the most thorough car review ever undertaken on British television, of the Ford Fiesta. Awesome.