Angel kicks my ass.
Wow. That was quite possibly the best season premiere of any show ever. Seriously. I can't praise what I just watched on television enough. First of all, Wesley. Have I mentioned before how much I love Wesley? Because I do. Tonight, he was perfection. He was naked! He had Justine in a cage! He's making Lilah, cold, evil Lilah, completely in love with him. (The goodbye kiss? That's what clinched it for me. That was not a "you're just really hot and that's why I'm doing you" kiss, that was a sweet kiss. Crap, I'm becoming a Lilah/Wesley shipper. No! Choose Wesdelia!) He has a blow-torch! He cuts his own arm and lets Angel suck his blood! If they had a Spike and Wesley show, I think I would die. Just absolutely die. God, and Alexis Denisof was just amazing tonight. Yay! for his credits promotion. He totally deserves it. Sigh.
Other good stuff: Angel throwing Connor out, which rang very true to me. I love the Angel and Connor relationship. I like how they've drawn Connor's character thus far; it makes a lot of sense to me and it's not the easy way out. It's such an interesting dynamic. Caroline mentioned Arthur and Mordred tonight, and that's really the archetype that fits the best, I think. I can't wait to see where they're going with this. Best line of the night? My sister and I are in agreement: "He needs blood, and I'm fresh out." Yeah, baby.
Stuff that's not so good: Fred. And Gunn. Eh. They're so fluffy, and hypocritical, and boring. I don't even care. Just, go away and die. Give Wesley more screen time.
The point? If you're not watching Angel, well, you should be.
Sunday, October 6, 2002
Over on Haven we're doing one of my favorite things: intentionally misspelled stupid person threads. A parody of all the dumbasses who populate the internet, especially message boards. Oh, good times. Best thing so far tonight? "Canaduh."
Saturday, October 5, 2002
Caroline and I went to see Red Dragon last night at Mann's Chinese. First of all, that's the last time we see a movie there. It's pretty and all, but it was ten dollars for a 3:45 showing, which is just ridiculous as far as I'm concerned. Secondly, it was a good movie nonetheless. I enjoyed watching it more than Hannibal, although I think the latter will probably end up being better liked by me. Hannibal had a theme of actual cannibalism versus "social" cannibalism that I found intriguing, and I thought the exploration of Lector was creepily interesting. Red Dragon was a very good film, but I'm afraid that if you took Lector out of it, it would be a regular serial killer movie, albeit one with a truly remarkable cast.
Speaking of which, I want to take a moment to talk about how fantastic Ralph Finnes was. He had an unenviable task as an actor: to portray a character so repulsive, so horrific in his actions, and yet sympathetic. There were many scenes where I was torn; he deserved whatever karmic retribution he got, and yet...I wanted to see him escape from himself. I wanted him to be able to get out of that house, and away from that painting, and get the girl. As sick as that may sound, considering the murders he committed, I wanted him to get away with it and away from it all. And I think it's really the same reason that the character of Spike resonates so deeply with me. In real life, if someone were to kill another in cold blood, I would be without mercy. Lock 'em up and throw away the key. Yet, in fiction, I just can't want this. A Francis Dolarhyde or a Spike or even, to some extent, a Hannibal Lector, is a fascinating archetype to me: the struggling anti-hero. Really, really anti. In film or television, I'm just not terribly interested in a story about someone being righteously brought to justice. What is far more interesting to me is to take that character and use him or her to illuminate simple truths about the human condition. I think we all hope, deep inside, that if we were to commit a horrific and seemingly unforgiveable act, we would be able to find some way to continue on. To redeem ourselves and become better people as a result of it. That's what I wanted in Red Dragon, and what I want for Spike, and it's tough in that I think that because it's such a messy, complicated, and ultimately difficult story to try and tell, it just won't get told. Anyway, kudos to Finnes for making me care about his character so much, I don't know if it would have happened in the hands of a lesser actor. (It certainly didn't in the original Manhunter. That guy was creepy.)
We are completely done with shooting. Whee! And, as just one more bright spot this weekend, I purchased a Zippo. It is beautiful, and from now on, I shall carry it with me always. You can never have too many cool things on your person. And, with the acquisition of the Zippo, I now have 1 (one) cool thing. Go me!
Speaking of which, I want to take a moment to talk about how fantastic Ralph Finnes was. He had an unenviable task as an actor: to portray a character so repulsive, so horrific in his actions, and yet sympathetic. There were many scenes where I was torn; he deserved whatever karmic retribution he got, and yet...I wanted to see him escape from himself. I wanted him to be able to get out of that house, and away from that painting, and get the girl. As sick as that may sound, considering the murders he committed, I wanted him to get away with it and away from it all. And I think it's really the same reason that the character of Spike resonates so deeply with me. In real life, if someone were to kill another in cold blood, I would be without mercy. Lock 'em up and throw away the key. Yet, in fiction, I just can't want this. A Francis Dolarhyde or a Spike or even, to some extent, a Hannibal Lector, is a fascinating archetype to me: the struggling anti-hero. Really, really anti. In film or television, I'm just not terribly interested in a story about someone being righteously brought to justice. What is far more interesting to me is to take that character and use him or her to illuminate simple truths about the human condition. I think we all hope, deep inside, that if we were to commit a horrific and seemingly unforgiveable act, we would be able to find some way to continue on. To redeem ourselves and become better people as a result of it. That's what I wanted in Red Dragon, and what I want for Spike, and it's tough in that I think that because it's such a messy, complicated, and ultimately difficult story to try and tell, it just won't get told. Anyway, kudos to Finnes for making me care about his character so much, I don't know if it would have happened in the hands of a lesser actor. (It certainly didn't in the original Manhunter. That guy was creepy.)
We are completely done with shooting. Whee! And, as just one more bright spot this weekend, I purchased a Zippo. It is beautiful, and from now on, I shall carry it with me always. You can never have too many cool things on your person. And, with the acquisition of the Zippo, I now have 1 (one) cool thing. Go me!
Thursday, October 3, 2002
Today sucked less hard. Which is good. Go less hard! Choose less hard! In a related story, we finished filming today. I would say "whee!" but I'm too tired to. "Red Dragon" tomorrow, which should be most triumphant. Okay, tired of typing now. Going to stop. Sleeeeeeepy.