TV, movies, and Eurovision
1. I changed my layout. May change it again or play around with the colours.
2. Do you ever see businesses or meet people and they have the same name as someone famous? Not just the first name but the entire name? Yesterday I saw a car with 'Kevin Smith Cleaning Services' written on the side. Two weeks ago I walked past 'Leonard Cohen Legal Attorneys.' My thought on both occasions was that there should be a blog or a Tumblr dedicated to the phenomena. Which will lead to a book deal. And then a film (it would feature the famous people doing the jobs of their less famous name-sharers).
3. I've been waiting on tenterhooks for this episode of The Good Wife and it did not disappoint. I think they handled things with Alicia and Kalinda just right. It seemed to me that Alicia was hurt more by the fact that Kalinda didn't tell her and the idea that they became friends only out of pity, rather than blaming her for being the other woman - or in Peter's case an other woman. I should have known I could trust these writers.
- The way they managed to encourage empathy for both characters was amazing. To go from Alicia in her office, so close to breaking down, to Kalinda crying in the elevator and you cared about both? Wonderfully done.
- David Lee! I loved his scenes with Alicia. He rounds up to the nearest hour!
- Nancy was back! The way she plays on her innocent-girl-in-the-big-city schtick is endlessly amusing. She's doodling love hearts in the margins but you know she's a shark. Actually, she's an interesting counterpoint to Patti Nyholm. I mentioned last week that Patti uses an aspect of her gender (motherhood) in order to manipulate people but never her sexuality. Nancy does a similar thing, manipulating as a pre-sexual being (her innocent and simple young lady act), where Patti is post-sexual.
I don't think we've seen any female lawyer use their sexuality (the implied offer of sex) to get ahead. The female lawyer representing Duke Roscoe, Emily, she was fooling around with Will but I think that was almost entirely outside of work and I think she was still depicted as really intelligent and cunning and that was where her power came from (I haven't seen the episode in a while). There have been sexy lawyers before and since but I don't think we've seen them use their 'womanly wiles'.
The only character who appears to do that is Kalinda.
With Alicia, she plays on her 'betrayed wife'/'standing by her man' persona - usually at the behest of Dianne and Will as in this episode.
Hmmm. There is an essay in this if I can find the time to write it.
- Also: Jackie is awful and I am not surprised, Zach and Grace are being surprisingly supportive of their mother, and Kalinda's laugh when she thought she'd be working with Peter was the best.
4. The Chicago Code has been cancelled and I am bummed but not crushed. I thought that with time it might have sorted out the kinks and become truly great but I understand that the ratings haven't been good. I think the latest episode demonstrated a few of its weak points all too well. I enjoyed the chess game between Teresa and Gibbons (I think I'll miss them the most) but the personal stuff with Jarek and Vonda's c-plot just didn't work. With the former we were hardly invested in Jarek's relationship with Deena or Camille (that's the fiancée's name, right?) because we haven't spent enough time with either of them. How could we care about Jarek's angst or his decision?
One thing I've always appreciated about Vonda is that despite a tragic backstory she was not a cold, broken, isolated person determined to avenge her father's death (but then, I suppose that's Jarek's role). However, since they haven't paid much attention to her relationship with her father, the revelations about him didn't make much of an impact on me. They could have built to this storyline by having the other characters talk more about him in the preceding episodes.
I think that Vonda and Isaac have always been the weakest part of the show because they were only rarely connected to the corruption story, which is the most compelling part. They don't need to be on the same cases as Jarek and Caleb, but if they were working the corruption from another angle, then the episodes as a whole would be more cohesive. But that's not something they can fix now.
5. One of my favourite TV shows of last year (that I think I only posted about on Tumblr) was The Trip, a British comedy starring Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon as Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon. Basically, they play fictionalised versions of themselves and go on a trip together where they review restaurants in the north of England. You don't need to be familiar with either of them or their careers to enjoy it (I know, because I showed it to my mother and she loved it), because they establish the relationship and the tension between them really well and after that you just sit back and enjoy their duelling impressions, their petty squabbles, and the surprising moments of humanity.
The TV show was directed by Michael Winterbottom as a six episode series and he has re-edited it as a film for international audiences. The trailer is here and below is one of my favourite scenes.
6. It's that time of year again: Eurovision! Because they only sing one song throughout the competition, I don't watch the semi-finals because I like to be shocked, awed, and appalled by the final on Sunday. But I did find a bunch of photos of the costumes we can look forward to and they are under the cut.
Three women wearing ridiculous leotards, two wearing suits? Eurovision does this all the time.
Do that romper have a bustle? Or is that an ass-cape?
That hair is fierce. That dress is ridiculous.
This song could very well be about fighting and being strong.
The staging could also have absolutely nothing to do with the subject matter. Neither would surprise me. I wouldn't watch Eurovision if it mostly made sense.
What the hell?!
I actually like these.
Boring.
Better!
Aw. She looks a bit like Taylor Swift. That dress is about as classy as Eurovision gets.
It's like the gay Olympics.
The words that come to mind: crotch vortex.
The poor dear, her dress got caught in a shredder.
See? More backup singers wearing suits...and one creepy guy wearing a top hat.
Wait, he's a magician! He's changing her clothes on stage.
This is brilliant! I love it when Eurovision descends to cheap tricks. This is better than Dita von Teese writhing around for Germany a couple of years ago...but not as good as Evgeni Plushenko skating on stage for Russia.
One guy might have pulled this look off but not five.
There is about as much material in that one sleeve as the rest of the dress.
Why is the one on the end look like Castro? And what do the signs say?
Oh Eurovision, you delight and amaze me.
2. Do you ever see businesses or meet people and they have the same name as someone famous? Not just the first name but the entire name? Yesterday I saw a car with 'Kevin Smith Cleaning Services' written on the side. Two weeks ago I walked past 'Leonard Cohen Legal Attorneys.' My thought on both occasions was that there should be a blog or a Tumblr dedicated to the phenomena. Which will lead to a book deal. And then a film (it would feature the famous people doing the jobs of their less famous name-sharers).
3. I've been waiting on tenterhooks for this episode of The Good Wife and it did not disappoint. I think they handled things with Alicia and Kalinda just right. It seemed to me that Alicia was hurt more by the fact that Kalinda didn't tell her and the idea that they became friends only out of pity, rather than blaming her for being the other woman - or in Peter's case an other woman. I should have known I could trust these writers.
- The way they managed to encourage empathy for both characters was amazing. To go from Alicia in her office, so close to breaking down, to Kalinda crying in the elevator and you cared about both? Wonderfully done.
- David Lee! I loved his scenes with Alicia. He rounds up to the nearest hour!
- Nancy was back! The way she plays on her innocent-girl-in-the-big-city schtick is endlessly amusing. She's doodling love hearts in the margins but you know she's a shark. Actually, she's an interesting counterpoint to Patti Nyholm. I mentioned last week that Patti uses an aspect of her gender (motherhood) in order to manipulate people but never her sexuality. Nancy does a similar thing, manipulating as a pre-sexual being (her innocent and simple young lady act), where Patti is post-sexual.
I don't think we've seen any female lawyer use their sexuality (the implied offer of sex) to get ahead. The female lawyer representing Duke Roscoe, Emily, she was fooling around with Will but I think that was almost entirely outside of work and I think she was still depicted as really intelligent and cunning and that was where her power came from (I haven't seen the episode in a while). There have been sexy lawyers before and since but I don't think we've seen them use their 'womanly wiles'.
The only character who appears to do that is Kalinda.
With Alicia, she plays on her 'betrayed wife'/'standing by her man' persona - usually at the behest of Dianne and Will as in this episode.
Hmmm. There is an essay in this if I can find the time to write it.
- Also: Jackie is awful and I am not surprised, Zach and Grace are being surprisingly supportive of their mother, and Kalinda's laugh when she thought she'd be working with Peter was the best.
4. The Chicago Code has been cancelled and I am bummed but not crushed. I thought that with time it might have sorted out the kinks and become truly great but I understand that the ratings haven't been good. I think the latest episode demonstrated a few of its weak points all too well. I enjoyed the chess game between Teresa and Gibbons (I think I'll miss them the most) but the personal stuff with Jarek and Vonda's c-plot just didn't work. With the former we were hardly invested in Jarek's relationship with Deena or Camille (that's the fiancée's name, right?) because we haven't spent enough time with either of them. How could we care about Jarek's angst or his decision?
One thing I've always appreciated about Vonda is that despite a tragic backstory she was not a cold, broken, isolated person determined to avenge her father's death (but then, I suppose that's Jarek's role). However, since they haven't paid much attention to her relationship with her father, the revelations about him didn't make much of an impact on me. They could have built to this storyline by having the other characters talk more about him in the preceding episodes.
I think that Vonda and Isaac have always been the weakest part of the show because they were only rarely connected to the corruption story, which is the most compelling part. They don't need to be on the same cases as Jarek and Caleb, but if they were working the corruption from another angle, then the episodes as a whole would be more cohesive. But that's not something they can fix now.
5. One of my favourite TV shows of last year (that I think I only posted about on Tumblr) was The Trip, a British comedy starring Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon as Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon. Basically, they play fictionalised versions of themselves and go on a trip together where they review restaurants in the north of England. You don't need to be familiar with either of them or their careers to enjoy it (I know, because I showed it to my mother and she loved it), because they establish the relationship and the tension between them really well and after that you just sit back and enjoy their duelling impressions, their petty squabbles, and the surprising moments of humanity.
The TV show was directed by Michael Winterbottom as a six episode series and he has re-edited it as a film for international audiences. The trailer is here and below is one of my favourite scenes.
Click to view6. It's that time of year again: Eurovision! Because they only sing one song throughout the competition, I don't watch the semi-finals because I like to be shocked, awed, and appalled by the final on Sunday. But I did find a bunch of photos of the costumes we can look forward to and they are under the cut.
Three women wearing ridiculous leotards, two wearing suits? Eurovision does this all the time.
Do that romper have a bustle? Or is that an ass-cape?
That hair is fierce. That dress is ridiculous.
This song could very well be about fighting and being strong.
The staging could also have absolutely nothing to do with the subject matter. Neither would surprise me. I wouldn't watch Eurovision if it mostly made sense.
What the hell?!
I actually like these.
Boring.
Better!
Aw. She looks a bit like Taylor Swift. That dress is about as classy as Eurovision gets.
It's like the gay Olympics.
The words that come to mind: crotch vortex.
The poor dear, her dress got caught in a shredder.
See? More backup singers wearing suits...and one creepy guy wearing a top hat.
Wait, he's a magician! He's changing her clothes on stage.
This is brilliant! I love it when Eurovision descends to cheap tricks. This is better than Dita von Teese writhing around for Germany a couple of years ago...but not as good as Evgeni Plushenko skating on stage for Russia.
One guy might have pulled this look off but not five.
There is about as much material in that one sleeve as the rest of the dress.
Why is the one on the end look like Castro? And what do the signs say?
Oh Eurovision, you delight and amaze me.