'We’ve decidedly not gotten that structured in the expansion of our complexity'
Poland is so far gliding through the Volleyball World Championship. Go team. What makes me less happy is the fact that said championship take place in Japan, which means that all the fun is happening around 7 am, when there's just no way I could possibly be woluntarily awake. The cruelty the world sometimes treats me with is simply staggering.
'Numb3rs' 3x09 - 'Waste Not'
A good one, with an interesting case, some lovely interaction between among the geek squad and a promising new player making a grand entrance. All in all, it was fun.
Mildred. Damn, I like her. She's cliched, overplayed and intentionally annoying. She rams in and, without any deliberation, she proceeds to install her new shiny dictatorship anywhere she can only think of. 'She's a trifle pushy, our Mildred'. She's like a comic-book villain, foiling our heroes' every move with merry abandon and impenetrable blinders-on me-me-me perspective, a character written without any brakes to it, a wild stab almost reaching the ever-exciting field of sheer grotesque. And she's delightfully entertaining. Seriously, I approve.
Yet, I fear for this character in the future. The ever-exciting field of grotesque is a very tricky territory, where you have to walk a very fine line to stay on target. The more screentime she gets, the more danger the writers finally overdo her too much (I do realize that the 'over' element in 'overdo' already means 'too much', but, with Mildred-like figures, there is 'over' and only then there's 'too much'). So it would really be safer if she just popped up from here and now for some amusing cameo, and pretty much stayed away the rest of the time. Also, the reason this character works so well, is that one: her college-related requests really do have logical basis (I've always wondered at CalSci's suspiciously liberal policy towards the fact that Charlie sacrifices a tremendous amount of his time and the university's resources for his gallivanting with the FBI, for one), they are just delivered with staggering crudeness and two: there really doesn't appear to be any malignant overtones to her so far. She believes that she has found the one true path, and she now has to guide all these poor, straying children around her (meaning Charlie, Larry and Amita of course), who are really great, but just need more discipline, towards the light. And that everything is going to be alright because she has a perfect plan. And that no one should complain, because, hello, she has a perfect plan. I just love that woman. Please let her stay that way.
Pity we didn't get the scene when Don shows up pissed that she's messing up his game with Charlie, armed with a speech about higher purposes and the good of community, and 'Lady, step off, I'm a law officer here', and Mildred seizes what's probably her first opportunity to harangue an FBI agent. I still have hope, though.
The moments of glee:
- Larry sneaking out of the steam tunnel, his apparent new place of habitation.
- 'She didn't ask me to do it, she just announced it and I won't do it!' Sure, Charlie.
- Don's 'You seem a little rattled counselor. You better get your game face on' plus the 'I'll get you, rodent' look he throws the evil company lawyer - I love these little flashes proving that no sir, Don is not a nice man at all.
- Mildred explaining to Charlie that he has to preside over the PhD Committee because his the Sean Connery of the Math Department. 'Handsome, suave, you solve crime'. Neat.
- This week's Megan/Larry moment, as lovely as always, with: Megan: 'Hi, handsome', Larry: 'Hey! What are you doing here? Oh! I'm sorry, is it Wednesday already? Did I miss our lunch? Forgive me',
Megan: 'It's Monday', Larry: 'Ok, I'll see you later, then'. And, 'I think I should get to use the wildcard for something wild'. And Larry still carrying around various dental hygiene objects in his pockets. And, Larry: 'Do you have a bathtub?', Megan: '*an excited grin* Why?'. Yeah, that was a good scene all around.
- David impersonating an EPA inspector, and baiting the evil company lawyer to offer him a bribe.
- Mildred catching Charlie and Amita making out in the Eppes' garage - a very crudely staged incident, but I don't care because it gave me this: 'I, I can't just pretend she wasn't just here. She was just here. I, I saw the woman.'
- Amita's 'Just think, she could be your boss and your step-mom' and Charlie's nervous giggle dying into petrified silence.
'Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip' 1x08 - 'Nevada Day, Part 2'
I don't really have much to say about it. It was so bland, that I have hard time remembering anything worth mentioning about it.
Apart from the fact that it was one of the most boring ways Sorkin could have possibly brought Matt and Harriet together. Arguing about gay people in particular and culture in general (preaching alert! take cover!) for two hours and then Matt going all 'It should be me, not Tom, going to jail in defense of your honor'? Lame.
And perhaps it's just me not being able to comprehend American sense of humor, but the credit card sketch was almost aggressively unfunny.
Also, Jack is back to being one of the best on this show, that's good news. The bad news is, the concept of S60 quality got a bit devalued over the last couple of weeks, so it doesn't really mean that much anymore.
I'm getting really frustrated. I demand an entertaining episode tonight. You are boring again, 'Studio 60', and I'm totally ditching your ass.
.
And I've got two new tv shows. Meaning two hours of sleep a week less. Oh, joy.
'3 Lbs' 1x01 - 'Lost For Words'
A doctor show, of course I had to watch it.
When I looked at the synopsis, it seemed to me that it was going to be a CBS copy of 'House M.D.' Which makes not sense whatsoever because CBS already has a copy of 'House M.D.' and it's called My New Lawyer Show aka 'Shark'. Seeing another one would only piss me off. Thankfully, that's not the case.
Douglas Hanson is no Gregory House. He's an antisocial genius, sure (there seems to plenty of them on tv lately), but, apart from that, he's a man of his own. He's quieter, harsher, more serious, perhaps even more intense. He certainly doesn't have House's wild, anarchic spirit, nor his sparkling wit. Which means that he's, sadly, less entertaining. And that he feels more real. Anyway, the first encounter left me quite intrigued and I'm definitely eager for more.
What I particularly liked is: Hanson's relationship with all the assorted females, his colleague, his daughter and one of his apparently numerous girlfriends; the outright hostility between him and the Gamma Knife Doctor; the easy, though not too friendly, camaraderie with the other doctor during the surgery; Hanson's talk with the patient just before the surgery, when he gives her his iPod and tells her gently that he would get her words back. And the two beautiful shots of the room with the ceiling covered in words, first when the girl was losing them, and later when they were floating up back - pretty.
Also, 'I don't run test without evidence' - yeah, this show is certainly no 'House M.D.'
Oh, and: 'You know, when you told me you'd rather take polyps off colons than operate on a patient you don't know, were you just making that up? I mean, did you just come up with that? Because, it's very dramatic' - because no doctor show can be truly complete without a doze of snark.
On the whole, Stanley Tucci is quite great, Indira Varma finally gets to plays a non-annoying tv character and, so far, I think Mark Feuerstein, while not particularly impressive, is pretty ok.
'Torchwood' 1x05 - 'Small Words'
A British science fiction show, of course I had to watch it.
Just a few short thoughts, because it's getting horribly late and the lack of sleep seems to be finally dragging me down:
- It's not as awesome as 'Dr Who', but quite fun, too. No matter how I try I can't really take it seriously, though.
- Captain Jack is pretty, but I like Owen better.
- I don't care how adorably their accents are, it really wouldn't kill them to speak a bit clearer. Yes, I'm looking at you, Owen.
- The show seems to have a pitifully small CGI budget, but it really doesn't seem to care that much and dishes it out unabashedly anyway - it's almost cute.
- I loved the Estelle storyline, with Jack's sweetheart getting all old and wrinkly while he can't die, and with him pretending to be his own son just to be able to see her again.
- I liked that Jack decided to give the child (a very creepy child, mind you) to the fairies, so that they won't hurt any more people - he acknowledged his own limitations, that they were much too powerful for him to have a fighting chance against. And I liked that his team didn't support him in that choice - it was Jack's fight, they didn't know what it was really about, they only saw him giving an innocent little girl away, so it made sense that they didn't approve.
So far 'Torchwood' is for me a British 'Stargate Atlantis', a bit more stylish, but, on the other hand, not as adorable. All in all, it stays on the watch-list.
.
'Numb3rs' 3x09 - 'Waste Not'
A good one, with an interesting case, some lovely interaction between among the geek squad and a promising new player making a grand entrance. All in all, it was fun.
Mildred. Damn, I like her. She's cliched, overplayed and intentionally annoying. She rams in and, without any deliberation, she proceeds to install her new shiny dictatorship anywhere she can only think of. 'She's a trifle pushy, our Mildred'. She's like a comic-book villain, foiling our heroes' every move with merry abandon and impenetrable blinders-on me-me-me perspective, a character written without any brakes to it, a wild stab almost reaching the ever-exciting field of sheer grotesque. And she's delightfully entertaining. Seriously, I approve.
Yet, I fear for this character in the future. The ever-exciting field of grotesque is a very tricky territory, where you have to walk a very fine line to stay on target. The more screentime she gets, the more danger the writers finally overdo her too much (I do realize that the 'over' element in 'overdo' already means 'too much', but, with Mildred-like figures, there is 'over' and only then there's 'too much'). So it would really be safer if she just popped up from here and now for some amusing cameo, and pretty much stayed away the rest of the time. Also, the reason this character works so well, is that one: her college-related requests really do have logical basis (I've always wondered at CalSci's suspiciously liberal policy towards the fact that Charlie sacrifices a tremendous amount of his time and the university's resources for his gallivanting with the FBI, for one), they are just delivered with staggering crudeness and two: there really doesn't appear to be any malignant overtones to her so far. She believes that she has found the one true path, and she now has to guide all these poor, straying children around her (meaning Charlie, Larry and Amita of course), who are really great, but just need more discipline, towards the light. And that everything is going to be alright because she has a perfect plan. And that no one should complain, because, hello, she has a perfect plan. I just love that woman. Please let her stay that way.
Pity we didn't get the scene when Don shows up pissed that she's messing up his game with Charlie, armed with a speech about higher purposes and the good of community, and 'Lady, step off, I'm a law officer here', and Mildred seizes what's probably her first opportunity to harangue an FBI agent. I still have hope, though.
The moments of glee:
- Larry sneaking out of the steam tunnel, his apparent new place of habitation.
- 'She didn't ask me to do it, she just announced it and I won't do it!' Sure, Charlie.
- Don's 'You seem a little rattled counselor. You better get your game face on' plus the 'I'll get you, rodent' look he throws the evil company lawyer - I love these little flashes proving that no sir, Don is not a nice man at all.
- Mildred explaining to Charlie that he has to preside over the PhD Committee because his the Sean Connery of the Math Department. 'Handsome, suave, you solve crime'. Neat.
- This week's Megan/Larry moment, as lovely as always, with: Megan: 'Hi, handsome', Larry: 'Hey! What are you doing here? Oh! I'm sorry, is it Wednesday already? Did I miss our lunch? Forgive me',
Megan: 'It's Monday', Larry: 'Ok, I'll see you later, then'. And, 'I think I should get to use the wildcard for something wild'. And Larry still carrying around various dental hygiene objects in his pockets. And, Larry: 'Do you have a bathtub?', Megan: '*an excited grin* Why?'. Yeah, that was a good scene all around.
- David impersonating an EPA inspector, and baiting the evil company lawyer to offer him a bribe.
- Mildred catching Charlie and Amita making out in the Eppes' garage - a very crudely staged incident, but I don't care because it gave me this: 'I, I can't just pretend she wasn't just here. She was just here. I, I saw the woman.'
- Amita's 'Just think, she could be your boss and your step-mom' and Charlie's nervous giggle dying into petrified silence.
'Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip' 1x08 - 'Nevada Day, Part 2'
I don't really have much to say about it. It was so bland, that I have hard time remembering anything worth mentioning about it.
Apart from the fact that it was one of the most boring ways Sorkin could have possibly brought Matt and Harriet together. Arguing about gay people in particular and culture in general (preaching alert! take cover!) for two hours and then Matt going all 'It should be me, not Tom, going to jail in defense of your honor'? Lame.
And perhaps it's just me not being able to comprehend American sense of humor, but the credit card sketch was almost aggressively unfunny.
Also, Jack is back to being one of the best on this show, that's good news. The bad news is, the concept of S60 quality got a bit devalued over the last couple of weeks, so it doesn't really mean that much anymore.
I'm getting really frustrated. I demand an entertaining episode tonight. You are boring again, 'Studio 60', and I'm totally ditching your ass.
.
And I've got two new tv shows. Meaning two hours of sleep a week less. Oh, joy.
'3 Lbs' 1x01 - 'Lost For Words'
A doctor show, of course I had to watch it.
When I looked at the synopsis, it seemed to me that it was going to be a CBS copy of 'House M.D.' Which makes not sense whatsoever because CBS already has a copy of 'House M.D.' and it's called My New Lawyer Show aka 'Shark'. Seeing another one would only piss me off. Thankfully, that's not the case.
Douglas Hanson is no Gregory House. He's an antisocial genius, sure (there seems to plenty of them on tv lately), but, apart from that, he's a man of his own. He's quieter, harsher, more serious, perhaps even more intense. He certainly doesn't have House's wild, anarchic spirit, nor his sparkling wit. Which means that he's, sadly, less entertaining. And that he feels more real. Anyway, the first encounter left me quite intrigued and I'm definitely eager for more.
What I particularly liked is: Hanson's relationship with all the assorted females, his colleague, his daughter and one of his apparently numerous girlfriends; the outright hostility between him and the Gamma Knife Doctor; the easy, though not too friendly, camaraderie with the other doctor during the surgery; Hanson's talk with the patient just before the surgery, when he gives her his iPod and tells her gently that he would get her words back. And the two beautiful shots of the room with the ceiling covered in words, first when the girl was losing them, and later when they were floating up back - pretty.
Also, 'I don't run test without evidence' - yeah, this show is certainly no 'House M.D.'
Oh, and: 'You know, when you told me you'd rather take polyps off colons than operate on a patient you don't know, were you just making that up? I mean, did you just come up with that? Because, it's very dramatic' - because no doctor show can be truly complete without a doze of snark.
On the whole, Stanley Tucci is quite great, Indira Varma finally gets to plays a non-annoying tv character and, so far, I think Mark Feuerstein, while not particularly impressive, is pretty ok.
'Torchwood' 1x05 - 'Small Words'
A British science fiction show, of course I had to watch it.
Just a few short thoughts, because it's getting horribly late and the lack of sleep seems to be finally dragging me down:
- It's not as awesome as 'Dr Who', but quite fun, too. No matter how I try I can't really take it seriously, though.
- Captain Jack is pretty, but I like Owen better.
- I don't care how adorably their accents are, it really wouldn't kill them to speak a bit clearer. Yes, I'm looking at you, Owen.
- The show seems to have a pitifully small CGI budget, but it really doesn't seem to care that much and dishes it out unabashedly anyway - it's almost cute.
- I loved the Estelle storyline, with Jack's sweetheart getting all old and wrinkly while he can't die, and with him pretending to be his own son just to be able to see her again.
- I liked that Jack decided to give the child (a very creepy child, mind you) to the fairies, so that they won't hurt any more people - he acknowledged his own limitations, that they were much too powerful for him to have a fighting chance against. And I liked that his team didn't support him in that choice - it was Jack's fight, they didn't know what it was really about, they only saw him giving an innocent little girl away, so it made sense that they didn't approve.
So far 'Torchwood' is for me a British 'Stargate Atlantis', a bit more stylish, but, on the other hand, not as adorable. All in all, it stays on the watch-list.
.