For the TB fans, including our bloghost, via NYMag’s Comic-Con coverage:
While still a very popular supernatural soap for HBO, True Blood has arguably (or inarguably, if you like) lost creative steam as its world has become more, well, supernatural. Humans are largely outnumbered by not only vampires but shape shifters, witches, werewolves, mediums, vampire gods, and vampire-faerie hybrids, and True Blood’s new boss Brian Buckner says he wants to course-correct. Asked by a fan at the end of the show’s Comic-Con panel Friday what kind of creatures he’d be adding in next season, Buckner disclosed his plans to scale back on all of that. “My honest answer to that is that I feel like this show is ultimately about the relationships between vampires and humans and it’s about this town, and I actually want to bring it in,” he said to more than a few cheers from the crowd. “My hope is to get all these people we love living under the umbrella of one story and one threat.” More cheers….
Also at NYMag, news of the Dr. Who 50th Anniversary Trailer (which is not yet online).
In other popcult detailing, Salon talks to costume designer Shawna Trpcic about “Captain Jack’s coat, Jayne Cobb’s hat, and Much Ado About Nothing“.
What’s on the agenda, televisual or otherwise, for the ragged end of the weekend?
Redshirt
Still waiting for the zombie apocalypse…
Cassidy
The Marvel panel can be summed up as “Marvel and Disney’s plan to print money for the next few years.”
I’m very excited about the as race brewing between DC and Marvel.
David Koch
Pgming Alert: Buffy marathon on SciFy channel.
Faith is currently on a killing spree.
Cacti
Dear Fellow Juicers,
I had a non-trivial health scare this past week, and need to devote more of my spare time to getting some things under control, not the least of which is losing some weight. I know some of you will be really broken up about this, but I’ve decided it would be in my interest to take a temporary hiatus from the comments. ;-) Keep fighting the good fight, and hopefully I’ll back sooner rather than later.
Yours in incivility,
Cacti
Origuy
@Cacti: Best of luck. If the urge to read BJ strikes, jog around the block.
Ted & Hellen
This is exactly the second thing that went wrong with True Blood, beginning toward the end of the second season: Too damn many kinds of different supernatural creatures, as if there wasn’t enough drama to be mined from the human-vampire dynamics. It became ridiculous and stupid.
The first thing that went wrong was the casting of what’s her face as Sookie Stackhouse. Horrible actress.
Mike in NC
We spent a pleasant day strolling around Salem, Mass. which I only vaguely recalled visiting in my youth. Today it boasts a cottage industry of dozens of shops devoted to not just witches, but vampires, werewolves, hobbits, zombies, pirates, and any other bit of the “occult” that you can imagine. The only thing missing was a UFO museum.
lamh36
@Cassidy: was very interested in the Superman/Batman combo coming up.
I’m a Marvel girl personally but the Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman trifecta is golden to me for DC Comic, but IMHO, it’s a Marvel world and DC Comics is just trying to live in it.
For my money, and I admit I’m biased, but Superman came out better than they expected, Batman has been hititng like gang busters since the beginning, what DC needs to do is finally get the Wonder Woman movie up and going. I can totally see Wonder Woman, if done right, being a major franchise for WB and DC Comics, dare I say, it could be BIGGER than the current Superman and even equal or surpass Batman???
A Ghost To Most
@Cacti: I hope it all works out.
Matt McIrvin
Huh, no mention of Christopher Eccleston in that trailer.
lamh36
On track to FINALLY see Pacific Rim with my hubby Idris Elba. Since everyone I know is aware of my obsession, every damn body’s been telling me I’ve go to see it.
So now I”m gonna.
OmerosPeanut
This problem was glaringly obvious by the early episodes of season 3.
Redshirt
@David Koch: I loved Buffy/Angel so much – the shows. So rich and rewarding.
One of my favorite moments of both shows is in Angel, Season 4, when Faith is introduced as “Faith, The Vampire Slayer”.
Damn right, because she is THE Slayer. Buffy at that point was some monomaniacal raised from the dead wannabe. Also too, Kendra before her.
SectionH
Is True Blood from the Charlaine Harris books? If so, I enjoyed the first 2 or 3 of those, but got tired of it after.
I am a very late convert to Doctor Who, and only the new stuff, but I fell hard for that. (9 & 10 more than 11, but Matt’s ok). The best news hint I’ve seen out of CCon so far was Steven Moffat’s reply to a fan who asked why Captain Jack wasn’t going to be in the 50th anniversary special: “How do you know who’s going to be in it?” The answer would probably be because Barrowman has repeatedly said no one has contacted him about it at all. If we’re all being misdirected, I’ll be so happy.
@Cacti: Best wishes from a semi-lurker. Hope to see you back with great reports of success on whatever schedule works for you. I’m pretty much a 1/2 step forward, 3/8 step back myself.
Punchy
So Phil Micklefat won the Limey Open? Anyone else think he was the body type when they dreamt up Gru’s look for Despicable Me?
gogol's wife
@Cacti:
Good luck. I’ll miss you.
We just watched the latest Endeavour. I’m still loving it. They do a good job of the early 1960s atmosphere. The love interest tonight looked really period-appropriate. Anton Lesser was fantastic in this one.
SectionH
@Matt McIrvin: FWIW, I’ve read from more than one source than Eccleston didn’t much enjoy his experience as the Doctor, and I’ve seen actual video of him totally ignoring a question/followup about the 50th anniv. show.
Mnemosyne
@Cacti:
If you and/or your Spousal Unit cooks, I’ve been enjoying the meal plans from Slender Kitchen. She plans the entire week for you with recipes for either 2 or 4 people, and all you have to do is buy all of the stuff and cook it.
I also highly recommend Weight Watchers (which is what Slender Kitchen does, but you don’t have to be on WW to use it). I’ve been a successful member for close to 10 years and know many people who have lost 50 or 100 pounds (or more) and kept it off as long as they keep attending meetings. (Yes, it’s kinda like AA.)
If you’re more of the loner type, G had a lot of success with Lose It! But, basically, anything that has you writing down what you eat every day has a higher-than-average likelihood of helping you lose weight. Good luck!
Violet
After our discussion about boycotting Florida, I was interested to see this:
Apparently the Congressional Black Caucus isn’t sure if they’ll support it.
Tyro
@Ted & Hellen: So true. This would be tolerable if the wrapped up the series at some point, but because it keep going on for season after season, episodes drag on with subplots of werewolf pack leadership and demon magic and so much stuff that is a distraction from why I started watching the show in the first place.
Violet
@Cacti: Best of luck to you. Hope it all works out. I’ve been having good luck with giving up gluten (finally realized I’ve got some problem with it). Lost quite a bit of weight and haven’t felt hungry.
Mnemosyne
Also, since I never got the crafts thread I asked for (snifflesnifflesniff), I’m working on a Retro Redux Shrug to wear for my dad’s memorial, depending on how freakin’ hot it is. I’m using Classic Elite Yarn’s Canyon, which is 85% cotton and 15% alpaca, so it should be simultaneously warm and cool.
Violet
@Mnemosyne: That looks cool.
Wanted to follow up with you re: my visit to my Endocrinologist, since I had told you I was going and said I would. I asked him about the wheat thing and he was having one of his days where he wasn’t chatty, so I didn’t get a lot out of him. Just said some people have a problem with it. My labs came back and although I haven’t seen the results, there is no change to my medication, so if the diet is helping any of my inflammation it hasn’t affected my thyroid yet.
Redshirt
@lamh36: I’m just the opposite. I hate this idea. I loved Man of Steel and was very much looking forward to the sequel, till this news. There’s no need for Batman in a Superman story, at least now.
I think DC is trying to copy the Marvel playbook for the Avengers, so they can launch a JLA movie. If so, they’re thinking wrong, IMO.
SIA
@gogol’s wife: I just finished watching last week’s episode. The actor who plays Morse is fantastic (Shaun Evans?), and Roger Allam Is great in the role of Thursday. But it’s driving me nuts that young Morse doesn’t have old Morse’s vivid blue eyes. In very other way I can believe he grows up to be old Morse. Even so, the show is very good indeed.
In other news the two kitties got sprung today from kitty hospital. Who knew lilies were toxic to cats?! Apparently it was both of them; lilies petals showed up in the poo of both. :(
SIA
@Cacti: I hope you’ll at least keep us posted on how you are! I always enjoy your comments.
Belafon (formerly anonevent)
@Matt McIrvin: Eccleston let it be known that he was only going to do Doctor Who for one season, to get it going. He doesn’t even appear at conventions in relation to Doctor Who.
I think he has worried about being permanently marked as the Doctor, with all the problems of being identified as one particular character.
Warren
Sad to hear that Let’s Active bassist Faye Hunter has died. Here’s a video of one of their best songs, with extra bonus puppies.
Yatsuno
@SectionH: I can recall watching some of the old Tom Baker stuff on TV when I was a kid with my dad. He actually said it wasn’t good for me (a nominal children’s show) but I recall enjoying it. Then it faded from my attention until I hung out here. I broke down, bought a Netflix subscription, and got hooked all over again. I really wish there was more of the Hartnell stuff around. The first two companions were brilliant.
Violet
@Warren: Wow, that takes me back. Loved Let’s Active and the dB’s. That sound is so 80’s.
Belafon (formerly anonevent)
@Redshirt: Everyone expects a JLA movie. Marvel was actually shocked that they pulled off the Avengers before DC got around to making Justice League.
@SectionH: Is funny, because Moffet loves Matt because he fits his vision of what the Doctor is: An old child. I personally like Matt better than David because he does a far better range of emotions than David, especially anger. I never really thought the 10th doctor’s outbursts were all that threatening, but Matt’s “Captain Runaway” speech left me thinking the room would explode.
Keith
@OmerosPeanut: I’m glad they haven’t revisited the were-panthers yet, but I am VERY tired of the werewolf pack storylines. Manganiello has gone from two dimensional to one dimensional (“Pack, pack, pack. PACK! GRRRR, PACK!”) since he became pack(!) leader, and I’m kind of tired of all the fairy shit since they brought in Queen Mab only to have her storyline drop.
David Koch
@Redshirt: so purdy
Sister Rail Gun of Warm Humanitarianism
I find myself in need of a really good mixer. As in powerful enough to survive doubling a cheesecake recipe.
Suggestions?
TaMara (BHF)
@Cacti: Sending you good thoughts.
TaMara (BHF)
I don’t know if there are any Veronica Mars fans here, but the trailer is out:
Veronica Mars Movie
Violet
@Sister Rail Gun of Warm Humanitarianism: The better quality Kitchen Aid one (stronger motor, I think), has done well for a friend of mine who bakes all the time.
Warren
@Sister Rail Gun of Warm Humanitarianism: The 5-qt KitchenAid is the standard for a reason, although Viking’s equivalent mixer is no slouch either. Either is an excellent choice.
the Conster
My friend Nancy Oliver wrote and co-produced S1 and S2 of TB, which is why it was so good. She detached quite a bit in S3, and it started running off the rails. She wrote lots of the episodes of seasons 3-6 of Six Feet Under – the best seasons. Also, she wrote and produced Lars and the Real Girl, based on a job she had selling adult dolls. She’s a serious talent.
Redshirt
@David Koch: Meh, as generic sexpot. As Slayer, that’s a different story.
Redshirt
@the Conster: Wow. That’s a pretty cool friend to have!
SectionH
@Yatsuno: My DIL shoved the complete DVD “Season 1” (of the New Series) into my hands a while back, because I’d been promising to watch it for years. So I did… now I have DVDs of Drs. 9 and 10. Then I bought the shows all over again on iTunes, and all the 11’s (so far). Why yes, I do have a bit of an addictive personality, pace thread below. In my defense, I own maaaybe 3 dozen DVDs in all…
I did notice that most of the Classic Doctor Who is also available on iTunes, and for a lot cheaper than the new stuff. Now I’m kind of tempted to Go There…
Also too, if you haven’t checked out the Rowan Atkinson Dr. Who (classic!) Children in Need parody: Enjoy!
jon
Just got back from Comic-Con, and it’s the usual ball of fun. Got some Evel Fett stuff for my brother (and self,) lots of t-shirts now that I work in a job where such things are allowed (yeah! escaped being a prison librarian and am now in the public library system!,) and enjoyed a Regular Show experience thing that was easily as fun as the show itself. If you haven’t experience Regular Show, think of the most ridiculous parts of the 70s and 80s childhoods, throw in some additional absurdity, and then turn the dial to eleven and await some sort of supernatural event.
As for Pacific Rim, that was a movie that had about twelve elements that are just absurdly bad. It had giant robots, giant monsters, an international cast of Dead Meat, Russians that look like they stepped out of video games, a nosebleed because that’s what cancer does, an Asian ball of rage and hate, an American hero who has a dead brother, mad scientists played by a guy from Torchwood and a guy from It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, homages to Blade Runner and single shoes, a golden-toothed character that just screams “Phoning it in”, and… more. But somehow, it absolutely works perfectly. Big. Dumb. Entertainment. I give it 5 Kaiju, 4 stars, 5 popcorns, and two shoes.
As for the Batman/Superman pairing, I’m bored. After the universe rips a hole in its pants and invades Earth there just isn’t much to do anymore. Avengers will have the same problem, but seems to be there first so they’ll be the ones who will likely seem to be handling it better. Once everything is at eleven, the place to go is for the funny. Regular Show figured that out, and it looks like it was animated by hyperactive high schoolers. There’s talk of a Justice League movie. What’s needed is to Not Take it Seriously. Not another Batman with nipples, but a full retcon 1966 mixed with a Superfriends. That could work. Why the brooding and all the Burden of Superpowers bullshit? People want some fun. Instead we’ll get a Martian Manhunter who can’t be understood and a Wonder Woman with some sort of one-dimensional drive to right the worlds wrongs and an overbearing bad guy who teams up with some sorts of outer space/dimensional overlord. BORING! Make Lex Luthor have meetings in a swamp fortress that looks like Darth Vader’s head mixed with the Neighborhood of Make-Believe’s Museum Go Round. Make Mr Mytzlplyk show up, played by Paul Giamatti. Have Apache Chief squash some guy played by Johnny Depp. Have some fun with this!
Wouldn’t Scooby Doo had been a much better movie if they just stayed with the old scripts but just had various directors do 22 minute episodes until you have a feature length? I wanted to see what Tarantino and John Waters would do with that gang. John Hughes is dead, but he could have done something great…
Violet
@the Conster: I really love Lars and the Real Girl. An unusual concept, but warm and kind. And Ryan Gosling is just so good in it.
Sister Rail Gun of Warm Humanitarianism
@Violet: @Warren: My immediate reaction was “Time for a KitchenAid”, but I’m old enough to remember when you couldn’t go wrong filling your kitchen with Kenmore. Never hurts to check my assumptions.
Hmm, Kohl’s has KitchenAids on sale right now.
Steeplejack
@Cacti:
Good luck, and come back when you can.
Violet
@Sister Rail Gun of Warm Humanitarianism: I love my KitchenAid. I’ve just got the regular one, not the fancy one with the stronger motor, but it works great for me. Happy with it so far. I don’t use it all that much, but when I do, I’m so glad I have it.
the Conster
@Violet:
Yeah, that movie could have really gone wrong, but Nancy kept it so clear and upbeat. She won the Hollywood Humanitas Award that year for that movie, but lost the Oscar to Cody Diablo for Juno. Not bad.
catclub
@SIA: “I just finished watching last week’s episode.” So I can tell you that there was an almost identical episode in the original Morse. Opera themes, wronged sociopath focuses on outsmarting Morse, a long sequence of murders designed to lead Morse about.
Not everything but many similarities. I also noticed in the later Morse, and most of Lewis, when in doubt, the pharmaceutical company did it.
catclub
@David Koch: Was she in the Hooters Beauty Contest? Am I a cad for asking?
Violet
@the Conster: Yeah, that movie could have really gone off the rails because the concept is so wild. It needed a light touch to keep the humor quotient in the right place and to keep it from being pathetic. She did a great job. And losing to Juno means you’re in good company.
Yatsuno
@SectionH: Rowan plays that so well! We tend to forget that he’s known as a very serious actor in Britain as well as Mr Bean. Of course Hugh Laurie is a comedian across the pond as well.
I like this one as well. I’m not certain if he was David’s father-in-law when this was shot. But it is brilliant.
Steeplejack
@gogol’s wife:
You are so right. I was crushing on Alice Vexin, as the yoots would say, and had to go look up the actress (Maimie McCoy) on IMDB after the episode to see how she looks outside of the ’60s. They really get the period down. The only (glaring) omission is any hint of Beatles-era swinging England. It is 1965, after all.
Compare and contrast with Inspector George Gently, set in the same time. It has the feeling of trying a little too hard to nail the period and not quite getting it right.
Superintendent Bright was terrific/awful tonight. And it finally dawned on me that Constable Strange is going to end up being Inspector Morse’s boss later.
Keith G
It seems that Teabagging policies of Kentucky are having externality effects on the tax payers of Ohio
Maybe Ohio needs to build a fence.
SIA
@catclub: There were also similarities to Sherlock, The Great Game, in that case, the demented cabbie playing a game of wits with Sherlock. Endeavour always leaves me feeling slightly low. Damn liberal empathy with fictional characters.
Belafon (formerly anonevent)
@Sister Rail Gun of Warm Humanitarianism: Bought my wife a Kitchenaid. If the bowl were larger, it could mix concrete.
Steeplejack
@Sister Rail Gun of Warm Humanitarianism:
KitchenAid is the go-to recommendation on America’s Test Kitchen. Whatever the faults of Christopher Kimball’s empire—someone once called it “a cottage industry on steroids”—the equipment recommendations are usually very good, in my experience.
Sister Rail Gun of Warm Humanitarianism
@Belafon (formerly anonevent): That’s good, as a friend whose shoulder I was just crying on about my mixer said “If he was doubling a NY cheesecake recipe, he would have done better to use a cement mixer.”
TG Chicago
I love following the Newsmax headlines. A new one:
Virus Linked to One-Third of Throat Cancers
What is the virus? One need only mouse over the link to see that it’s HPV. So wait… is the message to the 27%ers that HPV is a bad thing now? Because just a couple years ago, it was that HPV vaccines were the work of the devil. I guess HPV was cool when it was just giving women cervical cancer. Now that they realize it can give men throat cancer, it’s a problem.
Yatsuno
@Steeplejack: Plus the warranty for Kitchen-Aid is amazing. If something goes wrong, they’ll fix it or replace it little to no questions asked. Also too: totally made in the US.
Steeplejack
@SIA:
God, I wanted to kill that whole family of factory owners tonight.
Suzanne
@Cacti: Hugs.
If it means anything, I am currently reading BJ while on my elliptical machine.
Sparky
@Cacti:
Good one.
Best of luck (Meant civilly.)
Chris
@Redshirt:
There are still many episodes I haven’t seen in both shows, but Faith is easily my favorite character in the entire Buffy/Angelverse. And she’s got stiff competition.
Keith G
@Sister Rail Gun of Warm Humanitarianism:I agree with what others have typed. I bake for a living and even though I have two 60 qt Hobarts in my kitchen which I use for large batches, most of my work is done with a 7 qt Kitchen Aid
It rocks. It plugs away tirelessly mixing thick batters loaded with nuts and chunks of chocolate. It predates me and has only been down for service once in four years of near daily use. Its a commercial model, but I imagine the home products are just as dependable.
Still, if you have the spare $700, its a sweet machine.
Punchy
@Keith G: Do misplaced wrinklies that are from KY but living in OH get to vote in OH? Is a nursing home considered a permanent residence? If so, sourthern Ohio Dems could get screwed…
Redshirt
@Chris: Season 4 of Angel is the best TV will ever get.
Steeplejack
@Steeplejack:
I wanted to add that they might have done better to set Endeavour in 1963. Wouldn’t make any difference to the plots (so far), and it would authenticate the gray, pre-Beatles feeling that the series has.
Keith G
@Punchy: Good Lord, I didn’t even think of that but FWIW southern Ohio is pretty red except for Cincinnati proper.
The question is…will/can they get a valid photo id from Ohio
SectionH
@Belafon (formerly anonevent): I blame Moffat.
Srsly, I looked for an easy way to watch that speech, but didn’t find one. I’ll check it out again, but it doesn’t actually stick in my mind that much.
“You have one warning: this is it” is my kind of guy. Because then he defeats them.
Best.Angry.Doctor.Ever is still Eccleston, though.
Oh, and btw to all the Whozits on BJ, in the link I posted above, if you watch the video through, you will see the first female Doctor…
TheMightyTrowel
One thing I really miss about living in the UK/USA: pop culture knowledge that is timely. I swear Australia exists in a permanent state of 6-18 months behind the pop culture of the rest of the world.
OTOH, the local music scene is amazing.
mclaren
@Mike in NC:
Wait a couple of years. The way Shithole America is going these days, you’ll be seeing real witch-burning in Salem soon.
Followed by Republican denunciation of that evil and newfangled outrage “fire,” which causes so much destruction…
mclaren
@jon:
Quentin Tarentino directing an episode of Scooby-Doo…? John Waters directing an episode…?
Dude.
You are sick.
I like it!
Violet
@Keith G: I didn’t know you were a baker. Yum! Do you own your own bakery?
jon
Meanwhile, in West Virginia… this.
SIA
@Steeplejack: I haven’t watched tonight’s episode yet. Love my DVR!
? Martin
@Keith G: I’ve got the same 7qt Kitchenaid. Been running steady for 19 yrs 10 months. Use it nearly every day.
Yatsuno
@jon: I know this will come as a shock to you, but football players aren’t recruited for their brain power.
Keith G
@Violet: I work for three guys who formed a limited partnership that owns two dessert cafes/fine chocolates shop. I manage the bakery side of their original store and am their primary baker.
Last year when I got too busy to renew my gym membership, I regretted it.
lojasmo
I am in television pergatory because Mrs. LoJasMo had to fly to DC for a national labor conference.
NO TV FOR ME!
ETA: She gets home tonight, so we may watch an episode of Fringe, season 4…if she’s not too tired.
Violet
@Keith G: Oh my gosh. That makes me hungry just reading about it. Delicious.
SectionH
@Yatsuno: Possibly not. He is now. I ADORE that video. No srsly. The Brainy Specs! and Not Many Men Can Carry Off a Decorative Vegetable. And I loved Davison in All Creatures…
“Of course Hugh Laurie is a comedian across the Pond”? Whut? He’s Bertie Wooster! And before that he was 1/2 of Fry and Laurie! And… oh yeah House. He can do an American accent. He’s also a wannabe Blues musician/singer, who’s amazingly pretty decent, and did a LIVE debut of some stuff I actually caught. Dudes he’d hung out with for long enough.
MikeJ
Red Sox walk off homer in the 11th against the FY!
Steeplejack
@lojasmo:
WTF? You can’t watch TV while the ball and chain is away? What, did she take the remote with her?
lojasmo
@mclaren:
In soviet Russia, witches burn YOU!
Yatsuno
Maxpuppeh wif chicken??
@Keith G: That’s awesome. I admire those who can bake, because I can’t. I just don’t have the patience for it.
Mnemosyne
@Keith G:
I can’t find the clip, but I distinctly remember that one of Anthony Bourdain’s maxims was, “Never get into a fight with a baker,” because they would use their Popeye-like arms to beat you down.
I could have sworn it was on the Paris episode of “No Reservations,” but I can’t find the clip online.
Origuy
@SectionH: Don’t forget the three seasons Hugh Laurie was on Blackadder.
MikeJ
For a week I’ve had GbV’s Buzzards and Dreadful Crows as an earworm. Then Friday I went to see the Big Star documentary, and since I’ve had Mod Lang playing in my head non-stop, and I’m not even sure they played it in the movie.
Grand Illusion theatre in Seattle had a band play after the film, and they were pretty good. Red Jacket Mine was their name, and Friday night they did balladish stuff from 3rd/Sister lovers. I had no idea the singer was from Memphis (like me) or I would have asked him who we knew in common, because even though he looked way too young too have ever set foot inside the Antenna club[1].I know he was somebody’s cousin or little brother or something. The movie was way cool, and I don’t just say that because I worked/got drunk with/had a crush on his gfriend’s daughter of fully half of the “special thanks” credits. The biggest surprise in the movie were the people who weren’t in it.
If for any reason you ever need to get a room full of 45 year old white guys who hung out in record stores when they were teenagers, show a movie about Big Star. I had a very, very strong suspicion I could have walked up to anybody in the audience and asked them for the track listing of Teenage Fanclub’s Bandwagonesque album and pretty much anybody in the room could have answered in order.
Anyway, I’m at +2 martinis, + 3/4ths bottle wine +2 beers, and still can not stop hearing Mod Lang. If Nothing Can Hurt Me
plays near you, go see it. Every time DougJ and I took acid he had a full body purple aura.
[1] I ran sound/lights for my friends who played there, I always refer to it as the bar I grew up in.
Chris
@Redshirt:
Agreed. God, let the character breathe. Batman didn’t need any other characters cluttering up the Nolan trilogy. Neither did the Avengers characters – they were mostly allowed to grow at their own pace and events like the movie are the rare occasions when you bring them all together.
It doesn’t help that despite the wow factor of seeing them together, they live in such radically different worlds (Superman’s shtick is defending a world from superhuman threats, Batman’s is cleaning up a city infested with criminals) that there are limits to how much you can do with crossovers while still doing justice (heh, see what I did there?) to the characters.
piratedan
enjoyed RED 2 for the escapist fare that it was, about the only comic book franchise that I can be bothered to give a rats ass about these days until they start making a Flaming Carrot film.
MikeJ
@piratedan:
Still waiting for the Cerebus the Aardvark movie.
Mandalay
First they came for the porn…
I look forward to some helpful hacker publishing the names of the politicians who opt in.
The prophet Nostradumbass
Just finished watching the new episode of Endeavour. That show is really, really good.
Yatsuno
@Mandalay:
That’s adorable. If anything, kids know computers better than even the most leet coders out there. The child wants access, they’re gonna get it.
Narcissus
@Mandalay: Man I used to think I’d like to spend some time in England, but this sort of stuff and the pervasive surveillance weird me the fuck out.
V for Vendetta wasn’t a how-to
piratedan
@MikeJ: well I guess I shouldn’t imply that I am critical of the Marvel and the DC folks, just hope some of that economic boondoggle is being returned to the writers and illustrators who helped make those properties what they are. I just never got into the superhero motif as my inclinations were more absurdist and anti-superhero, hence my fondness for stuff like Mystery Men and the Earl Mac Rauch treatments of Buckaroo Banzaii and Big Trouble in Little China
Anne Laurie
@mclaren:
Not in Salem (im)proper, which is full of Wiccans and other pagans these days. (As they are careful to tell you on every Witch City tour, the actual “Salem witch trials” took place in what is now Danvers.) There are certainly Masshole communities that would institute something like Shirley Jackson’s Lottery under the right circumstances — at least if they were convinced doing so would improve the town’s MCAT rankings — but if that level of raw blame-your-neighbor were actually to return, we’d probably outsource it to New Hampshire, like so many of our regional Teahadist phantasies (Free State Project, anyone?)…
Nerdlinger
@Mandalay: Google’s going to see a spike in searches for “David Cameron Porn”
SectionH
@Origuy: I knew I was forgetting something!
Yatsuno
@Nerdlinger: Rule 34 we hardly knew ye…
MikeJ
@piratedan: Cerebus was certainly not a mainstream comic hero. He was a aardvark who started off cynical and as the misogynist writer descended into insanity got dumber and dumber. Which made for an interesting, if not good, comic.
And Buckaroo Banzaii is one of my fave movies if for no other reason than when I saw it in a theater I saw REM in concert the same day. And was with a Mizzou gymnast who did her balance bar routine on the sixth floor balcony of a friend’s WashU balcony railing.
piratedan
@MikeJ: I knew that about Cerebus, found it interesting at first and I wish I could say when it jumped the shark for me. The best way to describe my fascination with the Burden properties was that it manifested a seemingly intelligent yet warped worldview (also well captured by Edlund’s the Tick) that has always claimed a certain touchstone portion of my personality. I guess I can trace those roots back to Rocky and Bullwinkle and MPFC.
Mandalay
@Narcissus:
I know what you mean, and I have mixed feelings about the proposal. Of course it’s tough to argue in favor of viewing rape and kiddie porn, but the idea that you have to explicitly request permission to be allowed to view pornography at all just seems too puritanical and invasive.
The Japanese take the opposite view on internet pornography…they believe it provides a safe outlet that prevents bad things happening in real life.
TheMightyTrowel
@Mandalay: The current british govt has been an incredibly disaster for Britain. I’m really glad I got out. That said, australia is a pretty big wtf all the time – look at some of the headlines about the “boat people” – asylum seekers who come by boat. Oy. Not a good time be anything but a white straight dude these days.
SectionH
If ppl must bring up comic heroes, let’s hear it for Fat Freddy’s Cat!
? Martin
@Mandalay:
Define online pornography. How does it differ from what the beeb shows after 9PM?
Mandalay
@SectionH:
Let’s hear it for Fat Freddy’s Drop as well.
Higgs Boson's Mate
Six heavenly minutes:
I Feel Love – Donna Summer, live in HD and HQ
The prophet Nostradumbass
@Mandalay: The Freak Brothers? Yow.
SectionH
@Mandalay: Fer sure! TY!
Mandalay
@? Martin:
Well you are right that the devil is in the details. Even dumbass Cameron realizes that his idea is unworkable, but that won’t stop him pushing it…
Wasn’t there a proposal a while back that porn sites would have to use a TLD of “XXX”?
Higgs Boson's Mate
@Mandalay:
Mandalay
@Higgs Boson’s Mate:
In this version she sings for almost four minutes with her eyes closed.
Even with her hokey dance moves, that video has to be a gazillion times sexier than anything David Cameron is trying to suppress.
Mandalay
@Higgs Boson’s Mate: You win the thread.
ruemara
@Redshirt: You, sir, are a heretic. And I declare a duel of Mr. Pointys at dawn. Nothing is more despicable than that worthless accent on Kendra.
Higgs Boson's Mate
@Mandalay:
Thank you for the link. I still believe that Donna Summer is the second-sexiest woman to have ever walked the earth. The first? Janis Joplin. She looks like a truck driver in her pics and videos. If you were there at Winterland or Fillmore in ’67 you’d know. I met her at a party in Boulder Creek, CA. She called me “Honey.”
These are the memories that make me a wealthy soul.
wasabi gasp
Archie Shepp – Attica Blues
Higgs Boson's Mate
@wasabi gasp:
Al Jarreau – You Don’t See Me
mdblanche
@Mandalay: So the British government is following up on legalizing gay marriage by banning internet porn. The fuck?
@TheMightyTrowel: Has Kevin Rudd turned things around or is the Mad Monk still about to become prime minister?
TheMightyTrowel
@mdblanche: Rudd is definitely more popular than Gillard, but his idea of bold policy move is (a) announce at the start of the week that you support gay marriage, (b) fail to do anything legislatively with this support, (c) announce in the middle of the week that you’re going to gut the major legislative accomplishment of the previous PM who WAS IN YOUR OWN PARTY and (d) announce at the end of the week that secret negotiations mean that any asylum seeker who comes into Australia will be denied asylum and sent immediately to PNG.
So no. I don’t think he’s much of a saviour. I think Tony will be a horrific PM and a liberal/coalition govt with the current legislative agenda/personalities is a nightmare scenario, but Rudd is a soulless arsehole who is pretty happy to give lip service to a few high profile causes while doing just the same (if not more because PARTY OF THE LEFT, Overton window etc) thing policy wise as a normal liberal/coalition govt
I can’t vote, but i’d vote green. much good that’ll do me.
SectionH
@TheMightyTrowel: Well so far, afaik, the Aussies haven’t started trying to destroy their health care system yet, unlike the UK, although there are warning shots. I guess they’re waiting for Tony to become PM for that bit. The POS Rudd takeover was loathed among 100% of my Aussie friends. I suppose I might be in a Labour bubble… But now, well, crap.
One issue is that until recently, the Oz economy was gangbusters, because their raw materials were hot products. But as other economies slowed down, things got a bit less hot, and now ppl are not happy.
(Must crash now – midnight US west coast time, but I’ve been up too long. Ttyl I hope.)
The prophet Nostradumbass
Deploy the Drudge Sirens, The Duchess of KateBridge is in labor! I believe it is mandated that all other news in the world stop happening until this is resolved.
TheMightyTrowel
@SectionH: The economy is still ridiculously amazing. It’s slowing a bit (because China is slowing) but no where near bad. People here watch too much UK tv – they still think of themselves in many ways as part of Europe and that European economic picture has tainted Australia’s understanding of it’s own strength. Tony et al are pretty happy to keep up this facade because SHOCK DOCTRINE and there’s almost no push back from the media because, aside from the amazingly anemic ABC (pale pale shadow of her mom the Beeb), all the media is owned either by mining interests or by Murdoch. The guardian has just launched down here electronically, but Australia is much less wired than the US so I’m not sure what sort of impact it’s going to have.
SectionH
@TheMightyTrowel: Mr S and I were talking this evening about the weird difference between austerity in Europe and the US. His contention (and he is the guy with the PhD in International Politics and Economics, which is 1/2 why we’re self-employed) is that there are actual serious economists in the EU who srsly bought into the Austerity idea, Ghod knows why, but they did.
I don’t believe that for a second. The Austerity Experiment is over. It fails. So, honest economists? Actual performance? You’ve had a lotta time now…
Villago Delenda Est is right. And I mean the Global Village. Starting with its Ringmaster Rupert.
Do you think Australia is less wired than the US? If I may, where are you located there? I’m testing my bubble, because if anything, I was thinking the other way around.
pattonbt
@SectionH: As an Aussie labor voter here, I think Rudd’s take over was necessary and sweet justice. I still think it’s too late for Labor this election cycle and Abbott will win and be a complete disaster for the country. The Labor party had balls overthrowing Rudd, a popular-ish PM who was not in electoral trouble (nothing like Gillard was), because the party members (not the electorate) thought he was a dick and didnt like working with / for him. Anyone who claims Gillard “was done wrong” by Rudd or his faction is being willfully obtuse if not working of an alternate history. Gillard got what she deserved and what she gave.
Gillards biggest problem was she lacks charisma. Policy-wise, she’s ok (pretty rich to whine about Rudd on gay marriage when Gillard was even worse), but as much as we are all loathe to admit it, you have to like who you vote for (or hate the other person more). And the fact she was losing to a complete a-hole like Abbott says all you need to know. I really wanted to like Gillard, and I’d vote Labor whether she, Rudd or whomever was the party leader (here in WA with Julie Bishop as my rep Labor wont even get 20% though), but everytime she spoke her voice and speech pattern made me cringe. Yes, thats superficial, but superficial matters to most of the electorate sadly. People want their “leader” to have charisma – she has none.
Rudd’s no better or worse on policy and I think he has no chance of winning, but the polls support Rudds takeover of Labor as a big positive and Rudd can do retail politics better than any other candidate out there. All that said though – too little too late though for Labor.
wasabi gasp
Death – Keep on Knocking
SectionH
@pattonbt: Sadly, I don’t doubt most of what you say. At all. I’ll skip the feminist rant, except to note that there was a shitload of sexist slant dumped on her in the crunch period. Yes, if she hadn’t already been “Meh” it wouldn’t have mattered. Possibly.
So Abbott? Gah… Still, I was in Melbourne when “Jeff Fucking Rules” Kennett was supposed to be anointed to rule VIC… heh. One can always hope.
wasabi gasp
Lhasa – Soon This Space Will Be Too Small
TheMightyTrowel
@SectionH: I’m in Canberra. The capital.
@pattonbt: By all means castigate Gillard for her stance on gay marriage (“I’m an atheist and I believe in rationality except where gay people are concerned. TRADITIONAL MARRIAGE. MAN PLUS WOMAN.”) but the second you start with ‘her voice and speech patterns annoyed me” then you’re stepping into some pretty interesting territory. What was it particularly? I know a lot of the aussie media liked to point out how shrill (female) she was and how much she hectored (female) her mail opponents. They thought she was strident (female) and pushy (a bitch) and overly aggressive (not lady-like). I am not saying this is what you think, but it’s been such a topic of conversation and so much of the coverage of her period as PM was covered in ways that were either explicitly or implicitly about her gender that I can’t help but cringe whenever people delve into those sorts of critiques. Rudd is a labor hero because he appeals to working class men (largely white). All the shit he’s pulling re: asylum seekers is part and parcel with that, he’s trying to consolidate his base.
Like I said, I’d vote green if i were a citizen. Australian labor really makes me gag. Reminds me loads of the Lib Dems with Clegg in charge – no soul, no moral centre, just a desire to be the ones setting the rules (and really not that much different from the right wingers as we’ve seen).
Matt McIrvin
@SectionH: Pity, I was kind of hoping he’d make an appearance.
Central Planning
@Sister Rail Gun of Warm Humanitarianism:
We love our Kitchenaid – it’s at least 12 years old and still going strong. It’s a 6qt model and we have yet to put anything in it that has stopped it.
IowaOldLady
Re True Blood, to me, adding “different” supernatural creatures is a lazy and ineffective way to change up your story. I’m supposed to act as if using werepanthers makes an original story line compared to using werewolves? Really?
AHH onna Droid
@Mike in NC: Yes, but the pirate museum is fun and the Wiccan stores are more local color than tourist trap. There is a sizable community there with a modicum of political pull.
It’s odd to think about but some American Wiccans are second or third generation.
Juju
@Sister Rail Gun of Warm Humanitarianism:
I make my cheesecake in a 30 year old Cuisinart food processor. I have never doubled a cheesecake recipe. I like my cheesecakes to be consistent in size, but that’s probably just me. I am not a big fan of the kitchen aid monsters. To me, they are just counter clutter.
MomSense
@lamh36:
Obsessed here too. I’m going to go tomorrow night-by myself! Nobody will go with me and that is just fine with me.
MomSense
@Cacti:
Best of luck! Come back and tell us how you are doing!
Shakezula
Ew. Sounds like someone has been stripping the shelves over at The Dresden Files(TM).
And vampire-faerie hybrids is 1st Degree Shark Jumping.
gogol's wife
@SIA:
I’m sorry I had gone to bed and didn’t see your comment. Yes, he doesn’t have the blue eyes, but I do find it touching the way the young actors playing Morse, Max, and Strange seem to have studied the performances of the older actors and are gently channelling them. You can’t have everything — I’m amazed at the way he has convinced me that this person could grow into the old Morse. (Thaw’s actual daughter is the journalist lady on the show, and for what it’s worth, she doesn’t have his eyes either!). I hope your kittehs have made a full recovery!
gogol's wife
@Steeplejack:
Yes, it feels more 1963 than 1965. But still.
I just love the guy playing Strange (Sean Rigby). I’m a huge fan of James Grout, who played the old Strange, and I love the way Rigby has studied how to say “Matey.” For Grout, see also “Mother Love” with Diana Rigg (it’s on YouTube).
And I realize it’s morning and I’m talking to myself!
jon
@mclaren: That’s the thing I never understand with movie versions of short subjects. Why not stick to what works? What works with short cartoons is that Scooby-Doo is about the adventure/mysteries and figuring them out in the most contrived ways possible. That’s the formula, it works, and putting directors under 22-minute cutoffs would be an improvement upon rather than a burden for most of them.
A Smurfs movie? Why bother? Does it actually require a backstory and three musical numbers or whatever it was that made it barely fill enough time to be called a movie? (I’m guessing musical numbers because Neil Patrick Harris was involved, and him tongue-kissing his husband was probably not involved.) Stick with what works: Gargamel fucks up, Brainy is an asshole. But did they listen? Nooooooo. They wanted Farty the Scottish Smurf. They wanted Katie Perry in the role she was born to play.
I hear Gilligan’s Island is happening. If the beginning, middle, and ending are all Gilligan making sure the rescue doesn’t happen, it will work. If Mako appears as a Japanese soldier, it can work. But if they go for a special-effects-heavy CGI storm scene followed by the movie star being a reality show star, they’ll fuck it all up and it will suck Sherwood Schwartz’s well-preserved hairy coconuts. The Brady Bunch movie worked because it understood the source material in a loving way rather than as a cash cow to milk as roughly as possible. Gilligan’s Island deserves such a fate, but they’ll fuck it up.
Steeplejack
@gogol’s wife:
No, I (almost) always check back, and I’m glad you saw the comments from late last night.
I agree. The eyes might not be the exact right shade of blue, but I can definitely see Constable Morse becoming crotchety Inspector Morse after years of working around (and against) hidebound idiots like Superintendent Bright and that obnoxious sergeant (can’t remember his name).
This is in contrast to another of my favorite series, an Italian one called Montalbano (which I highly recommend, available on DVD). The hero is a police inspector in present-day (circa 2000-10) Sicily. A year or two ago RAI put out a prequel series called Young Montalbano that is Star Wars-prequel-level awful. None of the actors look like they could remotely grow into their future selves, and they don’t even have the mannerisms down. Ugh.
Redshirt
@jon: Giligan’s Island, the Movie?! I’m intrigued. Kinda horrified, but also curious. I hope it’s Like “Lost” with more coconut phones.
gogol's wife
@Steeplejack:
That’s how I expected Endeavour to be, so I was pleasantly surprised.
pattonbt
@SectionH: Hope my take didnt come off as a slam or anything, got a bit rushed in posting. I had no beef with Gillard from a policy standpoint, and the junk she was fighting on the sexist side was nasty. Shes a tough one and she gave as good as she got. I think she did a fine job as PM and she got some good stuff accomplished. And to use an inappropriate phrase “she took her dethroning like a man!”. She put her chips and the table, lost them all and kept her word. I’ll be sory to see her leave politics, she was effective, but my personal belief is she was much better in the backroom power structure than the face. Rudd has the face and not as much the backroom. Too bad you cant meld the two.
pattonbt
@TheMightyTrowel: It was hard to describe. It was her speech pattern and accent. It was like she had the worst bits of the UK / Aus accents. Her diction also drove me nuts. She always emphasized (what I thought) were the wrong consonants and syllables. The way she “need” she sounded like a hick. In simple terms it was like public speaking was something she working really hard at mastering and you could see the work she put into it in every speech. You could see her brain working hard to make sure she spoke well and it actually hindered what she was trying to say. She would draw out words so it sounded like she was slow.
As I said, this is petty, superficial kind of stuff and shouldnt be a primary attribute for a competent leader, but every time she came on the news from a prepared speech I would just cringe at the thought she represented Australia. Off the cuff and extemporaneous, though, she was much better.
And I always hate saying this, but superficial matters. She couldnt connect at retail politics. And against a good hater like Abbott, her style coudnt cope and connect.
Of course that is all my opinion and probably not fleshed out very well.