Comfort movies:
Dec. 21st, 2007 | 08:38 am
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bayushi wanted to know what my comfort books were. That’s too long of a post right now (although I will get to it eventually) so instead I’m going to chat about something else: comfort DVDs.
Comfort DVDs haven’t replaced the pure joy of cuddling up with a cat and a old familiar book full of familiar friends and familiar words, but cuddling up on a couch or bed with a cat and a comfort DVD brings its own joy (for one, these days you can chat on instant messenger during comfort DVDs, although I rarely bother), and for two, as the cats will note, watching DVDs usually leaves both hands free for scratching the cat. These aren’t necessarily the films I consider the best of all time, or even my all time favorite films (I’ve made some disclaimers below), but almost all of them have a sense of rightness about them, a sense that even in this mad, mad world, some stories do come out ok, and they are films that have the same effect as a cheering cup of tea, or hot chocolate.
1. The Princess Bride. You thought I was going to say The Lord of the Rings first, didn’t you? But those movies, much though I love them, are not comfort movies. And that The Princess Bride definitely does.anaisis and I used to watch this movie regularly during college (usually right after midterms or after a nasty paper or after I’d written some particularly angsty poem) and it, and popcorn, never failed.
2. Love Actually. I’ll be rewatching this one either this weekend, or over Christmas, or both: it’s one of those rare movies with just enough bittersweet realism to keep itself grounded (one of the intertwined stories focuses on a troubled marriage, and another one focuses on the tug of conflicting emotions of the love of family and the potential love of a new guy) and genuinely, joyful, happy endings that make you want to stand up and cheer – or cry.
3. Shakespeare in Love Ok. So it doesn’t exactly have a cheerful ending – and yet, something about those last few moments still leaves me inspired. And the first half of the movie is hilarious.
4. While we’re on the subject of Shakespeare -- Twelfth Night (the one with Ben Knightley) and Much Ado About Nothing (the Kenneth Branaugh version). Unfortunately, I don’t own the first, and even more unfortunately, iTunes doesn’t have, as far as I can tell, either of the tracks where Knightley sings, especially my favorite clip, “For the Rain It Raineth Every Day.” So this may be less of a comfort movie and more of a remembered nostalgic comfort movie, since I haven’t been able to watch it in years.
5. Pride and Prejudice, the BBC 2 Colin Firth version. I like the later Keira Knightley movie as well, but it doesn’t have the same comfort or familiarity or rightness about it. (Or Colin Firth in a wet shirt, which has its own soothing and inspiring effect. Come to think of it, Colin Firth is in a lot of the movies I’m mentioning here. Hmm.) I suppose in part this is thanks to the measured pace of this version, which does feel like a Jane Austen book. I also like Sense and Sensibility, the Emma Thompson version.
6. Friends Not all the episodes work; not all the lines work. But at its very best, Friends works, partly because it bases its humour off the characters, allowing the combination of unexpected and expected laughter.
7. The Vicar of Dibley.
8. Singin’ in the Rain.
9. Angel: Not the entire run, since let’s face it, several Angel episodes are either rousing or depressing, not comforting, but “Smile Time,”(the puppet episode) “You’re Welcome,” (where Cordelia returns, even if the whole episode makes me sniffle). Note: this is a clear example of what I mean by “favorite” versus “comforting” – I actually prefer the dark arc of the second season, and some of the greatest moments there, including the bit where Angel locks the Wolfram and Hart employees in the basement but….comforting, not.
10. Ever After. It’s not a great movie. The hero is annoying. It’s one of those things that I watch with a bit of guilt, like The Greatest Show on Earth (WITH THE CLAW!). And yet. On a similar note, Ice Princess.
11. And from Disney: Beauty and the Beast and Lilo and Stitch; I also adore The Emperor’s New Groove, Sleeping Beauty and a few others, but again, not in the comforting sort of way.
12. The Seventh Seal Because sometimes, I like knowing that Death plays – and enjoys playing – the same games that we do. I should have listed this film seventh. Only for really, really rainy and depressing days where I need that view of the universe confirmed.
bayushi wanted to know what my comfort books were. That’s too long of a post right now (although I will get to it eventually) so instead I’m going to chat about something else: comfort DVDs.Comfort DVDs haven’t replaced the pure joy of cuddling up with a cat and a old familiar book full of familiar friends and familiar words, but cuddling up on a couch or bed with a cat and a comfort DVD brings its own joy (for one, these days you can chat on instant messenger during comfort DVDs, although I rarely bother), and for two, as the cats will note, watching DVDs usually leaves both hands free for scratching the cat. These aren’t necessarily the films I consider the best of all time, or even my all time favorite films (I’ve made some disclaimers below), but almost all of them have a sense of rightness about them, a sense that even in this mad, mad world, some stories do come out ok, and they are films that have the same effect as a cheering cup of tea, or hot chocolate.
1. The Princess Bride. You thought I was going to say The Lord of the Rings first, didn’t you? But those movies, much though I love them, are not comfort movies. And that The Princess Bride definitely does.
anaisis and I used to watch this movie regularly during college (usually right after midterms or after a nasty paper or after I’d written some particularly angsty poem) and it, and popcorn, never failed.2. Love Actually. I’ll be rewatching this one either this weekend, or over Christmas, or both: it’s one of those rare movies with just enough bittersweet realism to keep itself grounded (one of the intertwined stories focuses on a troubled marriage, and another one focuses on the tug of conflicting emotions of the love of family and the potential love of a new guy) and genuinely, joyful, happy endings that make you want to stand up and cheer – or cry.
3. Shakespeare in Love Ok. So it doesn’t exactly have a cheerful ending – and yet, something about those last few moments still leaves me inspired. And the first half of the movie is hilarious.
4. While we’re on the subject of Shakespeare -- Twelfth Night (the one with Ben Knightley) and Much Ado About Nothing (the Kenneth Branaugh version). Unfortunately, I don’t own the first, and even more unfortunately, iTunes doesn’t have, as far as I can tell, either of the tracks where Knightley sings, especially my favorite clip, “For the Rain It Raineth Every Day.” So this may be less of a comfort movie and more of a remembered nostalgic comfort movie, since I haven’t been able to watch it in years.
5. Pride and Prejudice, the BBC 2 Colin Firth version. I like the later Keira Knightley movie as well, but it doesn’t have the same comfort or familiarity or rightness about it. (Or Colin Firth in a wet shirt, which has its own soothing and inspiring effect. Come to think of it, Colin Firth is in a lot of the movies I’m mentioning here. Hmm.) I suppose in part this is thanks to the measured pace of this version, which does feel like a Jane Austen book. I also like Sense and Sensibility, the Emma Thompson version.
6. Friends Not all the episodes work; not all the lines work. But at its very best, Friends works, partly because it bases its humour off the characters, allowing the combination of unexpected and expected laughter.
7. The Vicar of Dibley.
8. Singin’ in the Rain.
9. Angel: Not the entire run, since let’s face it, several Angel episodes are either rousing or depressing, not comforting, but “Smile Time,”(the puppet episode) “You’re Welcome,” (where Cordelia returns, even if the whole episode makes me sniffle). Note: this is a clear example of what I mean by “favorite” versus “comforting” – I actually prefer the dark arc of the second season, and some of the greatest moments there, including the bit where Angel locks the Wolfram and Hart employees in the basement but….comforting, not.
10. Ever After. It’s not a great movie. The hero is annoying. It’s one of those things that I watch with a bit of guilt, like The Greatest Show on Earth (WITH THE CLAW!). And yet. On a similar note, Ice Princess.
11. And from Disney: Beauty and the Beast and Lilo and Stitch; I also adore The Emperor’s New Groove, Sleeping Beauty and a few others, but again, not in the comforting sort of way.
12. The Seventh Seal Because sometimes, I like knowing that Death plays – and enjoys playing – the same games that we do. I should have listed this film seventh. Only for really, really rainy and depressing days where I need that view of the universe confirmed.
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Favorite television shows:
May. 18th, 2007 | 01:20 pm
(Inspired by a conversation elsejournal and an observation that I've sort of done this for movies and books, so why not TV?)
Note the careful choice of words above. I'm saying "favorite," not "socially important," "innovative," or "great." Yep, I know All in the Family had its moments, but the truth is, I just couldn't stand to watch either Edith or Archie. I've also left out some currently running shows that I suspect will creep into my all time favorites sometime – notably Heroes and How I Met Your Mother and The Office. And before two of you start shrieking at me, no, I still haven't seen Deadwood, which is why it's not on the list. And, of course, like my book list, this is partial at best.
1) Firefly: (No real surprise here, I guess.) The show where Joss Whedon finally became an adult, but kept the jokes going and provided us with a lot of astoundingly good looking people while doing so.
2) Carnivale: I am slowly drawing out my viewing of this, episode by episode, to make it last, and I'm not sure if I will ever watch it again. But this is a beautifully crafted show, and one of the most addictive shows out there.
3) Angel: Admit it; you thought this one would be Buffy. But although Buffy had some better individual episodes, and despite an uneven first season, a wild and contradictory fourth season, and a complete shift in tone and pace in the second, third and fifth seasons, overall, Angel was better integrated and a better show.
4) Friends: It took this show a few episodes to get going, especially since much of its humour turned on self-referential points: the ongoing Rachel/Ross saga, Phoebe's ongoing kookiness, Joey's ongoing dumbness. But once it did, this show was utterly hilarious -- and passes the "can I show this episode multiple times to English as a Second Language students and not end up utterly hating myself and the planet?" test.
5) Animaniacs: True story: So I'm sitting at Fort Lauderdale Airport, humming a bit to myself as I do sometimes, when I find my hum turning to actual words, "There's baloney in our slacks!" and suddenly realize that I am no longer humming, or singing, alone: the elderly woman across the row from me is also merrily singing along, "We're Animaney, totally insaney!"
The cartoon's that good.
6) Buffy the Vampire Slayer: The dreck that was much of this show's sixth season was almost enough to knock Buffy off the list – the mere thought of the Xander/Anya wedding episode is enough to make me feel slightly ill – but to balance that, Buffy offered some of TV's best episodes ever: "Hush," "The Body," and of course the Musical.
7) Blackadder: (Series 2-4) The first series, alas, was just not that funny; Rowan Atkinson went for pathetic and slimy instead of intellectually superior, pathetic and slimy, but once the new character was fully established in the later seasons, Blackadder became one of the most consistently funny shows ever.
8) Monty Python's Flying Circus: Yes, decades later, I'll admit that some of the pieces just don't work, and the fourth season, without Cleese, has a lot of missing moments.
But.
"Nobody expects the Spanish Inquisition." Even parrots pining for the fjords. No matter how many times you watch that bit. Bring out the comfy chair.
9) Wonderfalls: Another show that was on the air all too briefly: only 14 episodes, only 14 little stories. 14 perfect little stories with astoundingly good dialogue. And, as I mentioned recently, a perfectly happy ending.
10) The Tick, the cartoon show. Just because: "Well, once again we find that clowning and anarchy don't mix." What's not to love?
( And now, shows that almost, but didn't quite make that list, in no particular order. )
Note the careful choice of words above. I'm saying "favorite," not "socially important," "innovative," or "great." Yep, I know All in the Family had its moments, but the truth is, I just couldn't stand to watch either Edith or Archie. I've also left out some currently running shows that I suspect will creep into my all time favorites sometime – notably Heroes and How I Met Your Mother and The Office. And before two of you start shrieking at me, no, I still haven't seen Deadwood, which is why it's not on the list. And, of course, like my book list, this is partial at best.
1) Firefly: (No real surprise here, I guess.) The show where Joss Whedon finally became an adult, but kept the jokes going and provided us with a lot of astoundingly good looking people while doing so.
2) Carnivale: I am slowly drawing out my viewing of this, episode by episode, to make it last, and I'm not sure if I will ever watch it again. But this is a beautifully crafted show, and one of the most addictive shows out there.
3) Angel: Admit it; you thought this one would be Buffy. But although Buffy had some better individual episodes, and despite an uneven first season, a wild and contradictory fourth season, and a complete shift in tone and pace in the second, third and fifth seasons, overall, Angel was better integrated and a better show.
4) Friends: It took this show a few episodes to get going, especially since much of its humour turned on self-referential points: the ongoing Rachel/Ross saga, Phoebe's ongoing kookiness, Joey's ongoing dumbness. But once it did, this show was utterly hilarious -- and passes the "can I show this episode multiple times to English as a Second Language students and not end up utterly hating myself and the planet?" test.
5) Animaniacs: True story: So I'm sitting at Fort Lauderdale Airport, humming a bit to myself as I do sometimes, when I find my hum turning to actual words, "There's baloney in our slacks!" and suddenly realize that I am no longer humming, or singing, alone: the elderly woman across the row from me is also merrily singing along, "We're Animaney, totally insaney!"
The cartoon's that good.
6) Buffy the Vampire Slayer: The dreck that was much of this show's sixth season was almost enough to knock Buffy off the list – the mere thought of the Xander/Anya wedding episode is enough to make me feel slightly ill – but to balance that, Buffy offered some of TV's best episodes ever: "Hush," "The Body," and of course the Musical.
7) Blackadder: (Series 2-4) The first series, alas, was just not that funny; Rowan Atkinson went for pathetic and slimy instead of intellectually superior, pathetic and slimy, but once the new character was fully established in the later seasons, Blackadder became one of the most consistently funny shows ever.
8) Monty Python's Flying Circus: Yes, decades later, I'll admit that some of the pieces just don't work, and the fourth season, without Cleese, has a lot of missing moments.
But.
"Nobody expects the Spanish Inquisition." Even parrots pining for the fjords. No matter how many times you watch that bit. Bring out the comfy chair.
9) Wonderfalls: Another show that was on the air all too briefly: only 14 episodes, only 14 little stories. 14 perfect little stories with astoundingly good dialogue. And, as I mentioned recently, a perfectly happy ending.
10) The Tick, the cartoon show. Just because: "Well, once again we find that clowning and anarchy don't mix." What's not to love?
( And now, shows that almost, but didn't quite make that list, in no particular order. )
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The WB/UPN merger
Jan. 25th, 2006 | 09:10 am
So quite a few bloggers, and quite a few readers, have noted with apprehension or glee the upcoming merger of the WB and UPN channels, with some hoping wistfully that this will mean the permanent removal of America's Top Model (ok, this is probably just me and L); and most wondering worriedly what this might do to the upcoming fall television season when the schedules get combined.
Schedules? Come on, people. Think big. The WB/UPN combination can go far, far beyond scheduling Gilmore Girls and Veronica Mars on the same night. Because here we have an opportunity to combine not just schedules, but whole shows. A small sampling of the possibilities:
Veronica Mars – Smallville
Veronica Mars arrives in Smallville and instantly begins to probe the town's mysteries; having five times the intelligence of most people in that little Kansas sure looks like Vancouver town, it takes her approximately two episodes to realize that Something Is Up with Clark, and three episodes to find herself ensnared in Lex Luthor's plots. Clark prevents another bus from heading over a cliff, thereby robbing Veronica of several potential plot lines. He and Veronica exchange marvelously exquisite dialogue provided by Veronica Mars's writers, which proves to be too much for Clark, who finds himself missing bland Lana dialogue. Fans everywhere beg him not to return to bland Lana dialogue. In the meantime, Sam Jones III (Pete) returns for a guest spot and finds himself snogging Charisma Carpenter, which confuses all American viewers who still don't know what "snogging" means, but any criticism is immediately halted when Charisma Carpenter gets naked. Also, Aquaman is killed and immediately becomes a zombie, forecasting the interest level in his upcoming show. The subplot of zombie dolphins chasing Veronica Mars raises ire from environmentalists but allows Veronica and Chloe to bond over a shared "ick."
Enterprise – One Tree Hill
I know, I know. Enterprise was cancelled already, but honestly, when did a little thing like time stop a single Star Trek plot? Ok, well, maybe all of Star Trek V, but then again, didn't you wish that something would stop that one? And, ok, yes, Star Trek I was a little bit draggy. And, ok...
...ok, I've never seen One Tree Hill. You want honesty out of me, you'll get honesty. What the hell is this show anyway? The few commercials I've seen for it keep showing more than one tree.
WWE Friday Night Smackdown - Gilmore Girls
Lorelai and Rory finally realize that the only way to solve their problems is to stop all of this insightful, well written dialogue crap and just wrestle each other under the big lights, a decision that incidentally raises the ratings of the wrestling federation when Alexis Bledel (Rory) hints that it's just possible that her shirt will be ripped during the proceedings. Everybody remembers that UPN is just fine showing bits of naked breasts (Enterprise body lotion shots, anyone?) and cheers up.
Firefly -- Seventh Heaven
In a bizarre and unforeseen time twist the crew of Serenity falls into a time warp showing up at the offices of Fox Television, where they learn the truth about the atrocious handling of their filmed adventures. Jayne shoots two executives of Fox Television, to the applause and relief of many inside and outside Hollywood. Terrified Fox executives agree to restore the show, but the crew agrees that they will never, ever trust Fox again, and insist on heading to a new network. Hurt by this disparaging annoucement, Fox execs throw the crew onto the set of the WB/UPN Seventh Heaven. To everybody's relief, Jayne shoots the entire cast of Seventh Heaven, except for the dog, because the dog is cute. Also, Mal and Inara finally make use of one of the wholesome cheery bedrooms on the show. The resulting scene is immediately downloaded across the planet.
Charmed
Various attempts are made by various writers to combine Charmed with any of the UPN shows, but are finally cancelled when people realize that Charmed just sucks.
Schedules? Come on, people. Think big. The WB/UPN combination can go far, far beyond scheduling Gilmore Girls and Veronica Mars on the same night. Because here we have an opportunity to combine not just schedules, but whole shows. A small sampling of the possibilities:
Veronica Mars – Smallville
Veronica Mars arrives in Smallville and instantly begins to probe the town's mysteries; having five times the intelligence of most people in that little Kansas sure looks like Vancouver town, it takes her approximately two episodes to realize that Something Is Up with Clark, and three episodes to find herself ensnared in Lex Luthor's plots. Clark prevents another bus from heading over a cliff, thereby robbing Veronica of several potential plot lines. He and Veronica exchange marvelously exquisite dialogue provided by Veronica Mars's writers, which proves to be too much for Clark, who finds himself missing bland Lana dialogue. Fans everywhere beg him not to return to bland Lana dialogue. In the meantime, Sam Jones III (Pete) returns for a guest spot and finds himself snogging Charisma Carpenter, which confuses all American viewers who still don't know what "snogging" means, but any criticism is immediately halted when Charisma Carpenter gets naked. Also, Aquaman is killed and immediately becomes a zombie, forecasting the interest level in his upcoming show. The subplot of zombie dolphins chasing Veronica Mars raises ire from environmentalists but allows Veronica and Chloe to bond over a shared "ick."
Enterprise – One Tree Hill
I know, I know. Enterprise was cancelled already, but honestly, when did a little thing like time stop a single Star Trek plot? Ok, well, maybe all of Star Trek V, but then again, didn't you wish that something would stop that one? And, ok, yes, Star Trek I was a little bit draggy. And, ok...
...ok, I've never seen One Tree Hill. You want honesty out of me, you'll get honesty. What the hell is this show anyway? The few commercials I've seen for it keep showing more than one tree.
WWE Friday Night Smackdown - Gilmore Girls
Lorelai and Rory finally realize that the only way to solve their problems is to stop all of this insightful, well written dialogue crap and just wrestle each other under the big lights, a decision that incidentally raises the ratings of the wrestling federation when Alexis Bledel (Rory) hints that it's just possible that her shirt will be ripped during the proceedings. Everybody remembers that UPN is just fine showing bits of naked breasts (Enterprise body lotion shots, anyone?) and cheers up.
Firefly -- Seventh Heaven
In a bizarre and unforeseen time twist the crew of Serenity falls into a time warp showing up at the offices of Fox Television, where they learn the truth about the atrocious handling of their filmed adventures. Jayne shoots two executives of Fox Television, to the applause and relief of many inside and outside Hollywood. Terrified Fox executives agree to restore the show, but the crew agrees that they will never, ever trust Fox again, and insist on heading to a new network. Hurt by this disparaging annoucement, Fox execs throw the crew onto the set of the WB/UPN Seventh Heaven. To everybody's relief, Jayne shoots the entire cast of Seventh Heaven, except for the dog, because the dog is cute. Also, Mal and Inara finally make use of one of the wholesome cheery bedrooms on the show. The resulting scene is immediately downloaded across the planet.
Charmed
Various attempts are made by various writers to combine Charmed with any of the UPN shows, but are finally cancelled when people realize that Charmed just sucks.