Catching up, sorta

[bop_radar]

I really suck at life balance. I lurch from prioritising one thing totally over all else to prioritising something else completely... for six months or so it was work, and then a month ago I realised that the rest of my life had fallen into ruin, so now I'm on a 'get fit/healthy, get organised, get a life back' kick. Who knows if I can strike a balance at any stage?

Anyway, I'm struggling to fit fandom in, in either case, and am falling ever more hopelessly 'behind'. There are so many things I could or should be doing and I am not doing... sigh. I have lots to post about at the moment (had I the time!) so this is going to be one of those terrible, catch-all, catch-up posts... that won't really catch me up very far at all! :p

First up... Smallville. I now watch a week behind everyone else so I haven't seen 'Pandora'. But this delay means I'm spoiled considerably by icons, etc. So I knew that 'Idol' was a big Clois episode and had The Dread going in because the Clois has slowly been sucking my soul dry all season. I don't think anything constructive will come of me talking about my sadness that now, at the time I should be MOST into Smallville (when Lois finally is getting considerable screentime and show presence, and the show is focused on Clark/Lois), I have never felt more empty or distant from my show. A lot of it is self-protective to stop me feeling rageful at the way they're writing things (which I know I would if I didn't distance myself a lot). It's not just the Clois... Callum Blue is so atrocious as Zod I don't know what to do when I watch him. I can't even laugh, it just makes me feel hollow! And it's all taken a toll...

Only, actually, I was pleasantly surprised with 'Idol'. :) It didn't make me want to gouge my eyeballs out or block up my ears! And there were a couple of genuinely cute scenes (the glasses ZOMG!) and I even liked the kiss at the end. I liked it MUCH MUCH better than the one where Clark swooped in on Lois randomly for no reason. I also liked the cute little siblings and I think they need to go hang with Ollie (but they won't). So maybe, just maybe, I may rally to write an actual review of an episode... Maybe. Or maybe 'Pandora' will be soul-sucking again.

I went to see the new Twilight movie for the LOLZ. I was prepared for it to be worse than the first movie, but I found it more enjoyable. There was a lot more to laugh at and it was far less dreary. Jacob's pecs brightened things up CONSIDERABLY. (Wow, Edward, you are such a dreary dweeb... and is it just me, or was Pattinson not really feelin' it in a couple of those scenes? ;) )

Thank god for Jacob and his clan of implausibly clad werewolves (werewolves are apparently all about the PANTS and not much at all about the SHIRTS. Become a werewolf and you will never wear a shirt again). I was a bit sad when the CGI on his chestal area slipped up briefly though... or did they have to recut a scene and he'd lost a bit of tone maybe? Er, yes, I was paying CLOSE attention to the plot.

Oh, come on! What plot? Seriously I WILL NEVER UNDERSTAND how this stupid story is considered so compelling. But it was great fun to laugh at:
- The camera panning round and round emo!Bella's head to represent time passing without Edward.
- The LITERAL moon in the credits (though it was very pretty). But wow, these movies are so unsubtle.
- Bella screaming from her nightmares (LOL, I never expected that to be portrayed on screen! Too funny!).
- The desperate attempts of the screenwriters to downplay the soul/Christianity/marriage aspect. I can't wait to see how they try to stranglehold the increasingly overt Mormonism of books 3 and 4...
- Bella falling over and falling off a bike. So much fail! Yet, movie!Bella is surprisingly likeable despite that, so I laughed in principle but admired the actress for overcoming the ridiculous character premise.
- WAVE out of nowhere!
- Bella's 'oh, my life is so hard, I just have TOO MANY GUYS TO CHOOSE FROM' emo.
- Dakota Fanning (Twihard, yes?) shooting 'Pain' from her eyes.
- And finally the marriage LULZ. Always good to enter the credits with tears of laughter...

Meyer's minimalist approach to world building is laughable, but I do admire the film creators' for overcoming that with all their beautiful cinematography. Also, it makes me LOL when they pull crazy dramatic SFX on a scene that was a couple of lines long in the book.

Watched Friday Night Lights 4.4, and while I don't have time for a full review I do need to say... MAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAATTTTTTTTTTTT!!!!! OMG! That final scene really took me by surprise, I did not see it coming, and it had the intended shock value for me. I'd been delighting in having Tim and Matt in scenes together (they always delight me), and it never occurred to me we were heading for a fall of this sort! :( Ouch! And oh, GRANDMA!

There were many other moments I loved in the episode, and overall it's once again the show I'm enjoying most on television (though it has little competition).

I did watch the Doctor Who special but found it too OTT.

I'm up to speed with Dexter but it's been patchy all season for me.

Community continues to please me. Abed and Troy's duet FTW this week.

Have read a few good books and have several more I want to get to! Wish I had time to natter about them. Hmm. Wishlists are going round, yes? Wave a magic wand for more time for me? :D

Comments

[alias_sqbr]

Your spoiler cut for Twilight turned into a linky thing. Luckily I don't care about being spoiled :)

[alexandral.livejournal.com]

Jacob's pecs brightened things up CONSIDERABLY.

yes, this was the best part of the movie:D

[squirrelhaven.livejournal.com]

What I love is that, even while you clearly have some (justifiable) contempt for the entire Twilight series, you've still read and given some thought to all the books.

(Not that I have any stones to throw. I found the first movie hilarious. The RiffTrax version of the first movie is one of my favorite entertainments when I want a good laugh. And I fully intend to read the books as soon as I find used copies for $1 or less, which I surely will one of these days.)

[kassrachel.livejournal.com]

The end of the most recent FNL ep made me weep. I didn't see it coming. I loved seeing Matt and Tim together -- they've never been friends exactly but I think now that they're both still in Dillon, both struggling with the question of who they want to be, there's more common ground than there used to be -- and I thought that whole scene with them talking and drinking beer by the fire was wonderful. And then oh, my heart, the way the music swelled so we couldn't hear what the Army men were saying but we knew the news was bad... Oh, show. &hearts.

[rose-griffes.livejournal.com]

I can't wait to see how they try to stranglehold the increasingly overt Mormonism of books 3 and 4...
I'd like to see more on that at some point, even if it's just in a PM to me. Maybe it's because I have the same religious background as the author, but honestly, most of what has been attributed to Meyer's religion, I view as a reflection of the genre (romance novels) rather than her religious beliefs. So I'm curious about your perceptions on it.

Thank god for Jacob and his clan of implausibly clad werewolves (werewolves are apparently all about the PANTS and not much at all about the SHIRTS. Become a werewolf and you will never wear a shirt again).

It was hilarious! That part made me laugh and laugh.

Oh, come on! What plot? Seriously I WILL NEVER UNDERSTAND how this stupid story is considered so compelling.
My theory: the same appeal that any dominant male romance novel has on women. Which is to say, there are many people who will care nothing at all for this type of storyline, but for those who do, it's not as embarrassing to be caught reading a Twilight novel as it is to be reading something from the Harlequin Presents line of stories. And since the company chose to market this for teens, it feels 'safer' somehow, and more legitimate.

The cinematography was indeed lovely. Though I miss vampire baseball. *grins*

[cosetteferaud.livejournal.com]

Seriously I WILL NEVER UNDERSTAND how this stupid story is considered so compelling.

THIS. I know I shouldn't care but... I find the Twilight phenomenon a little bit frustrating. The first two books are almost tolerable. But the third and --especially-- the forth... Ugh. **shudders** I am going to watch New Moon though (morbid curiosity? ;P).

Jacob's pecs brightened things up CONSIDERABLY.

Glad to know. Jacob always was my favorite.

[chatchien.livejournal.com]

Thank God for Jacob and his clan of implausibly clad werewolves (werewolves are apparently all about the PANTS...

Werewolf: ::snarl, snarl, growl, growl, pant, pant pant, pant, pant...::

Well Yeah! Werewolves ARE ALL ABOUT THE PANTS! Duh!!!!

You just don't get it!!! :-D Hahaha! I just couldn't resist.

As for Smallville, I've been happy with the Season so far. Pandora was a little incoherent. And I am a Zod Lover, there! there! I like a raw, unpolished Zod. He doesn't have the ease and security of all that power of money behind him as the Luthors did. This Zod is an Horatio Alger kind of villain. He has to work for his badness.

But strangely, I forget some of the episodes as soon as I see them. There's nothing memorably bad or really good for me. And there are holes in the Happy Romance of Clark and Lois for me. I don't think that Clark would go crawling back to Lana if she ever showed up again. But I don't see the great love between Clark and Lois. For me, it's just physical attraction (and they are two beautiful people) and flirting and a good friendship. And Clark does appreciate the acceptance from Lois of his "specialness". She's like Alicia in that regard.

waiiiiiiiiiiiiitttwut!!?

[ender24]

And finally the marriage LULZ. Always good to enter the credits with tears of laughter...

what marriage!??!?!?
this is the second movie, they already are married?!?!?!?!?

[frolicndetour.livejournal.com]

More serious note: Re. your convo with rose_griffes above, I admit the general tenor of fandom discussion about Meyer's religion makes me uncomfortable. I'm not LDS and I haven't read the books, but I've never encountered anyone who both identifies with that cultural group and views the books as specifically Mormon; more the opposite. Of course, to a large extent we're all influenced by our cultural surroundings, but I feel like if Meyer were a member of a majority group (say mainline Protestant in the US), her specific background wouldn't be made an issue of. So I'd be interested in reading your thesis too!

Non-serious note!: (Wow, Edward, you are such a dreary dweeb... and is it just me, or was Pattinson not really feelin' it in a couple of those scenes? ;) )

Ahaha. That poor boy cannot act at ALL. Which is good, because it adds to the wonderful cheesiness of the whole endeavor and ensures that I won't succumb to the id-candy appeal. A couple of my friends swear he's hot enough to make up for it, but I just don't see it. Not underneath that bad hair and make-up job.

I do like Kristen Stewart's performance though! I can tell even from the movies why she drives people crazy as a protagonist, but Stewart has a whole Girl, Interrupted thing going for her which totally works for the character. And almost makes me care. Almost. Though I hope she improves now that she and Sparkles are finally tying the knot!

[skuf.livejournal.com]

now I'm on a 'get fit/healthy, get organised, get a life back' kick
Hope it's going well!

Balance is difficult, isn't it :o/