Consolidating thoughts on a number of things I’ve seen recently because I’m not likely to get around to finding time to make more fleshed-out posts on any of them. No spoilers.
Star Trek
I’ve seen Star Trek twice and am trying to make time for a third viewing… but time is in short supply lately. I’d been very concerned about this film because the advertising had suggested it was Star Trek for a new generation of fans. I liked old Trek. In fact, I bloody well loved old Trek. I was very much afraid that this new version of my childhood scifi playground was going to be warped into some crazy Hollywood bastardization that I would hate forever and ever.
I almost didn’t go out to see it opening night, but I’m glad I did.
All of the characters… crazy new actors and all… felt spot on t0 their previous counterparts. I fell in love with each of them all over again within moments of seeing them on screen. The film, as a whole, went about sixty seconds between each moment of OMG SQUEE fandom moments. In short, it took everything that I have ever loved about Star Trek, cut out all of the boring and annoying parts, and crammed it into two hours of cinematic bliss. I cannot recall a time I have more enjoyed a movie and as soon as I walked out of the theater I wanted to go back and watch it again.
For a non-Trekkie? Good action flick. For a Trekkie? CINEMATIC BLISS. For a Doctor Who fan? You will not be able to help imagining what would happen if the Doctor were there. FOR THE ENTIRE MOVIE. I don’t think this made the movie any worse, though.
The Time Machimation
I read Tony Lee‘s latest Doctor Who comic, a one-shot called The Time Machination, this week. It reminded me a lot of Star Trek in the way it does a brilliant job of continuing an age-old franchise in a way everyone will be happy with. Tony Lee writes comics that have a strong, interesting story at their core — but cater to the fans in every possible way with solid characterization and lots of references to previous stories. These comics are great introductions for fans who are new to Doctor Who, but they reward older fans by tying new stories into old, familiar territory. If Star Trek was cinematic bliss for Trekkies, Tony Lee is comic bliss for Whovians.
No, I really can’t say enough good things about Tony Lee, but I’m out of words at the moment.
Dollhouse
I’ve spent a lot of hours watching Dollhouse. I’ve spent a lot of hours watching Dollhouse wondering WHY OH DEAR GOD WHY AM I WATCHING THIS POORLY THOUGHT OUT CRAP EXCUSE FOR SCIFI? The answer, of course, is because, even when watching felt tiresome extreme, in Whedon we trust. In the end, he did not disappoint. I just wish we hadn’t had to watch eight mediocre episodes to get to the four completely awesome episodes at the end of the season.
Like everything Joss Whedon has ever done, it broke my heart a little bit. (Though perhaps not for the reason you’d expect. The two-part season finale and BIG SURPRISE? Didn’t surprise me that much. But in the episode just prior to the finale, the sub-plot about Topher had me in tears. Seriously, so sad.)
Castle
Castle is a fairly predictable cop show and I almost always figure out the ending around the half-way point. That might make it sound dull, but I must say the devil in this one’s in the details. The scripts and stories are overall well-written and interesting (despite aforementioned predictability), it’s filmed with some panache, and the acting is top notch. The ongoing story — and the cliffhanger at the end of the season — are interesting, and less predictable than case to case. But even so… you’re going to want to watch it for Nathan Fillion, who’s simply dazzling in it. The show and the role itself play up all of his strengths. He’s smart, sexy, clever, charming, devious, and an absolute pleasure to watch.
Ouran High School Host Club
There’s no reason I should like Ouran High School Host Club. None whatsoever. It’s a painfully cute romantic comedy, dripping with flowers and saccharine sweet dialog. Really, it’s so adorable it hurts. I can’t imagine how I could possibly like it, but I love it. I love it so completely and totally, in fact, that I have a pile of all 11 issues of the manga version sitting on my desk right now. And it really hurts my cynical exterior to have to admit that.
Some of my love I can explain, but a lot of my passion for the show I can’t begin to fathom.
It’s a character-driven drama, focusing on the lives of seven high school kids. The characters are unique, distinct, quirky, and sometimes downright weird… but all of them feel real and alive (and all of them have depth… they’re more than meets the eye!), something that doesn’t always come across in 2d animation. But the real joy of the show is watching the oddball cast interact and play off one another.
The series seems to stay silly, sweet, and funny all without quite pushing me over my cuteness tolerance levels. I recently finished watching the anime and I adore it beyond all reason. The manga has everything from the anime and then some. Four volumes in and I could not love it any less.
Casanova
It seems odd that my David Tennant fandom would have allowed me to put off watching Casanova for so long. But somehow it’s been in my DVD collection, unwatched, for many a month now. I pulled it out on Tuesday and watched it through — it should surprise no one that I thought it was fantastic. With David Tennant acting and Russell T. Davies writing, there are all sorts of echos to the cleverness I love in Doctor Who — years before Tennant would become the Doctor, you see the first glimpses of the character to be in the dialog and acting. But what did surprise me was just how sweet and downright touching a story it was. It was a for real love story and, yeah, I admit, I kind of teared up there at the end. (If the end does not make you sad, you may, in fact, be a robot.)
