Face me, baby. Face me HARD.
In which Ke$ha gets embarrassed (!!!), Nick is the world's worst yenta, and Harry texts the cutest things. (Also known as: that video from a Breakfast Show interview I haven't been able to stop watching since last night and giggling like a loon. #mynickgrimshawproblem)
***
Dear friends, I have seen Pacific Rim and lo, it was GORGEOUS and SUPER ENTERTAINING! Not nearly as deep as other Guillermo del Toro work, and many of the "human" moments made me laugh where they were (presumably) meant to move me emotionally, but: this is the first time I ever wished I was seeing a movie in 3D. It is MAGNIFICENT, visually rich and thematically, internationally epic (although it stays light in tone throughout) and the fannish tropes are AMAZING - canonical soulbonding! canonical tentacles! saving the world literally requires team work!!! ALL THE ROBOTS!!! *happy sigh* It was also the first time I've felt completely, magically immersed into a visual narrative the way I used to while reading comic books as a kid. If I were to use one word to describe this movie, it would have to be: DELIGHTFUL.
Favorite details: the scientist's and the mission control officer's tattoos (because fuck yeah); the almost-ballet choreography of the audition fight; the classic kung fu coolness bit with the Newton's Cradle/kinetic balls; IDRIS ELBA'S EVERYTHING; RINKO KIKUCHI'S EVERYTHING; the fact that the word "drift" constantly made me think of Fast & Furious: Tokyo Drift (another example of soulbonding via machines, if you think about it); the fantastic world-building of a post-apocalyptic-monster era (black market!); the Russian fighters (thank you, scrunchy, for coming up with the nickname Starbuck Romanoff - it is perfection); and that extra scene after the main end credits. (In other news, Ron Perlman continues to be hella hot.)
Bottom line: get some popcorn and check it out. In IMAX 3D if possible.
***
By coincidence rather than intent, I've been watching Graceland on the USA network - the Jeff Eastin show starring Daniel Sunjata, about undercover agents living in a faaaaaabulous beach house in Southern Cali - and I suspect I'm getting hooked because I've been looking around for its FANDOM.
There are plenty of reasons why this show would generate a lucrative porn output: it's a story about a bunch of hot, dangerous, armed-to-the-teeth people who regularly pretend to be someone else - and often flirt with their targets in order to gain their trust. (A recent ep featured an undercover agent basically going on a movie date with a crime lord. It was LOVELY.) Whenever an agent goes on a mission, at least a few others from the household work as backup and listen in; it's kinda like Finch and Reese on POI, only here the communication goes just one way, and the agent must rely 100% on the backup/listener to interpret his/her words and actions correctly and jump in to save them if needed. (It's very sub-dom kinda hot.) Finally, the agents only get to be themselves with each other/inside the house, annnnnnd they happen to follow this rule of no fraternizing because that could mess up the household vibe. (Note: some of them have history. Hot, hot history.)
Above all, I'm charmed by the dynamic of the group. Within the subset of hot-and-dangerous, it's quite a diverse bunch (and the slash, for once, seems to reflect it!). The agents have nicknames, traditions, inner jokes, fully developed coping mechanisms to help one of their own after a crisis... and while there is a hierarchy, the focus is placed firmly on TRUST as the main building block of relationships among them. Of course, in a circle of professional liars, trust is quite the precious commodity. But the show gives the lying-for-a-living context a BEAUTIFUL treatment via storytelling as a favorite pastime in the house: the way the agents interact through the stories they tell each other ranges from instructive to playful to meta, and I'm kinda loving how this showcases the performative power of narrative and its role in establishing/maintaining/changing one's sense of identity.
Finally, the female characters KICK ASS. In this week's ep, a few agents are sitting around the house and practicing their "shooting up" face for drug deal missions that require them to play addicts. A male character advises the female agent to add more "O-face" to her euphoria, to which she replies: "I'm a junkie, not a sex doll." (Full disclosure: I've had a super intense crush on Vanessa Ferlito ever since that lap dance in Death Proof, so I might be a little biased here, but - she is ahhhhmaaaaaaazing.)
...well. I wrote more about this summer fling of a show than about PacRim. Guess I better go read some fic.
***
A few music recs! Two of these tracks were featured on "Motel California" a.k.a. the Teen Wolf ep that KNOCKED IT OUT OF THE FUCKING PARK. Seriously, I think it might be the show's best episode to date. \o/ Anyway, preview/DL some "have a happy weekend" music below:
Lock Me Up | Hey Mami | Kid Gloves | Girlfriend??
Hush Now | Her Favorite Song | Dance Apocalyptic | DL all
Enjoy. ♥
Click to view***
Dear friends, I have seen Pacific Rim and lo, it was GORGEOUS and SUPER ENTERTAINING! Not nearly as deep as other Guillermo del Toro work, and many of the "human" moments made me laugh where they were (presumably) meant to move me emotionally, but: this is the first time I ever wished I was seeing a movie in 3D. It is MAGNIFICENT, visually rich and thematically, internationally epic (although it stays light in tone throughout) and the fannish tropes are AMAZING - canonical soulbonding! canonical tentacles! saving the world literally requires team work!!! ALL THE ROBOTS!!! *happy sigh* It was also the first time I've felt completely, magically immersed into a visual narrative the way I used to while reading comic books as a kid. If I were to use one word to describe this movie, it would have to be: DELIGHTFUL.
Favorite details: the scientist's and the mission control officer's tattoos (because fuck yeah); the almost-ballet choreography of the audition fight; the classic kung fu coolness bit with the Newton's Cradle/kinetic balls; IDRIS ELBA'S EVERYTHING; RINKO KIKUCHI'S EVERYTHING; the fact that the word "drift" constantly made me think of Fast & Furious: Tokyo Drift (another example of soulbonding via machines, if you think about it); the fantastic world-building of a post-apocalyptic-monster era (black market!); the Russian fighters (thank you, scrunchy, for coming up with the nickname Starbuck Romanoff - it is perfection); and that extra scene after the main end credits. (In other news, Ron Perlman continues to be hella hot.)
Bottom line: get some popcorn and check it out. In IMAX 3D if possible.
***
By coincidence rather than intent, I've been watching Graceland on the USA network - the Jeff Eastin show starring Daniel Sunjata, about undercover agents living in a faaaaaabulous beach house in Southern Cali - and I suspect I'm getting hooked because I've been looking around for its FANDOM.
There are plenty of reasons why this show would generate a lucrative porn output: it's a story about a bunch of hot, dangerous, armed-to-the-teeth people who regularly pretend to be someone else - and often flirt with their targets in order to gain their trust. (A recent ep featured an undercover agent basically going on a movie date with a crime lord. It was LOVELY.) Whenever an agent goes on a mission, at least a few others from the household work as backup and listen in; it's kinda like Finch and Reese on POI, only here the communication goes just one way, and the agent must rely 100% on the backup/listener to interpret his/her words and actions correctly and jump in to save them if needed. (It's very sub-dom kinda hot.) Finally, the agents only get to be themselves with each other/inside the house, annnnnnd they happen to follow this rule of no fraternizing because that could mess up the household vibe. (Note: some of them have history. Hot, hot history.)
Above all, I'm charmed by the dynamic of the group. Within the subset of hot-and-dangerous, it's quite a diverse bunch (and the slash, for once, seems to reflect it!). The agents have nicknames, traditions, inner jokes, fully developed coping mechanisms to help one of their own after a crisis... and while there is a hierarchy, the focus is placed firmly on TRUST as the main building block of relationships among them. Of course, in a circle of professional liars, trust is quite the precious commodity. But the show gives the lying-for-a-living context a BEAUTIFUL treatment via storytelling as a favorite pastime in the house: the way the agents interact through the stories they tell each other ranges from instructive to playful to meta, and I'm kinda loving how this showcases the performative power of narrative and its role in establishing/maintaining/changing one's sense of identity.
Finally, the female characters KICK ASS. In this week's ep, a few agents are sitting around the house and practicing their "shooting up" face for drug deal missions that require them to play addicts. A male character advises the female agent to add more "O-face" to her euphoria, to which she replies: "I'm a junkie, not a sex doll." (Full disclosure: I've had a super intense crush on Vanessa Ferlito ever since that lap dance in Death Proof, so I might be a little biased here, but - she is ahhhhmaaaaaaazing.)
...well. I wrote more about this summer fling of a show than about PacRim. Guess I better go read some fic.
***
A few music recs! Two of these tracks were featured on "Motel California" a.k.a. the Teen Wolf ep that KNOCKED IT OUT OF THE FUCKING PARK. Seriously, I think it might be the show's best episode to date. \o/ Anyway, preview/DL some "have a happy weekend" music below:
Lock Me Up | Hey Mami | Kid Gloves | Girlfriend??
Hush Now | Her Favorite Song | Dance Apocalyptic | DL all
Enjoy. ♥