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Jan. 6th, 2009 02:44 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
lls_mutantI so need blatant escapism today. Trevor is sick. Not life-threatening sick, of course- it's a GI bug. But definitely disgusting sick. The kind where you run as fast as you can with your kid to the kitchen so when he does puke, it's on the linoleum.
The LJ talk about people being laid off? Not helping.
You know, this is about a month late, and I don't normally rec reviews, but my friend Sue wrote one of the funniest reviews of Twilight that I've ever read. It's here (scroll down, although Justin's is a good read, too), at MRFH, and seriously- she totally outdid herself on this one. It's a "serious" review in that it's not like Twilight in 15 minutes or anything, but actually has paragraphs and stuff. But it's great.
Saw Slumdog Millionaire. Long version of my review will be written up for MRFH, the short version is SEE IT! I'd say it's the best movie I've seen all year, but it's January 6th. I think it deserves a much higher compliment than that.
In case anyone missed it, Al and I also wrote our Top 10 and Bottom 5 BSG Moments article. Fun article to write.
You know what my real wish is for the final season? I wish I could get all my online (and real life) friends that watch BSG together, make one heck of a dinner, and have a viewing party each week. Bon Appetit keeps putting out these awesome menus I want to try, and it would be so much fun. Of course, everyone's super scattered, so it's not an option, but maybe I'll at least try to arrange something with my RL friends (the whole two or three that watch) for the finale.
In other news: two things I really wish I discovered earlier: the comic strip Piled Higher and Deeper and the TV show Big Bang Theory. Both have way too many things I've said or done, although the first more than the second. (Including plotting to serve my committee food that would keep them happy but barely conscious and the joys of being the only woman on a road trip.) Except every time in BBT that Howard comes on the screen, I keep thinking "Moist." But even the theme song is by my favorite band (Barenaked Ladies), so... how did we miss this for so long?
And hey, while I'm feeling grumpy:
1.) You're reading too much into the Plan. The Cylon Plan? The one mentioned in the credits? I always thought it was basically "nuke humanity." The implication of that statement to me was that the Cylons had evolved beyond machines that did what they were told and had managed to think for themselves, to the extent that they could plan. That's it. Anything beyond that, they have plans like the RTF has plans. They change depending on what the other side does and what's going on.
2.) Yes, they're making a lot of it up as they go along. So what? It is obvious, especially what my friend Al terms the "mid season wasteland." (The stand-alone episodes.) And while it bugs me as much as anyone when they retcon or flat out contradict themselves, it doesn't bug me that they didn't have every detail planned from the beginning, especially since they didn't know how many shows they were going to get.
3.) Sometimes a cigar is a cigar. I can overanalyze with the best of them, I admit it. But there's a point where you have to say, "um, how would anyone expect the entire plot of the show to rest on this one tiny detail that 95% of fans didn't even notice?" If you have to write a story to make it work, it probably isn't canon. (But go ahead and write the story, because that's fun.)
4.) The final cylon is not THAT big a deal. Sure, we all want to know who it is. But the truth, I suspect, is that it's just not as big a deal as we fans are making it out to be. Somehow, I doubt he or she is the Cylon god. It's a piece of the puzzle, but it's not the entirety of the puzzle. And yes, 90% of fans will be disappointed, because they all have someone picked in their heads and are attached to their theories and of COURSE people will be disappointed when they're wrong. Me, I'll be disappointed if it's not Ellen Tigh, Cally, Dee, or Gaeta. (But no matter what, it's still not Baltar.)
Eh, that's all I've got for now.
The LJ talk about people being laid off? Not helping.
You know, this is about a month late, and I don't normally rec reviews, but my friend Sue wrote one of the funniest reviews of Twilight that I've ever read. It's here (scroll down, although Justin's is a good read, too), at MRFH, and seriously- she totally outdid herself on this one. It's a "serious" review in that it's not like Twilight in 15 minutes or anything, but actually has paragraphs and stuff. But it's great.
Saw Slumdog Millionaire. Long version of my review will be written up for MRFH, the short version is SEE IT! I'd say it's the best movie I've seen all year, but it's January 6th. I think it deserves a much higher compliment than that.
In case anyone missed it, Al and I also wrote our Top 10 and Bottom 5 BSG Moments article. Fun article to write.
You know what my real wish is for the final season? I wish I could get all my online (and real life) friends that watch BSG together, make one heck of a dinner, and have a viewing party each week. Bon Appetit keeps putting out these awesome menus I want to try, and it would be so much fun. Of course, everyone's super scattered, so it's not an option, but maybe I'll at least try to arrange something with my RL friends (the whole two or three that watch) for the finale.
In other news: two things I really wish I discovered earlier: the comic strip Piled Higher and Deeper and the TV show Big Bang Theory. Both have way too many things I've said or done, although the first more than the second. (Including plotting to serve my committee food that would keep them happy but barely conscious and the joys of being the only woman on a road trip.) Except every time in BBT that Howard comes on the screen, I keep thinking "Moist." But even the theme song is by my favorite band (Barenaked Ladies), so... how did we miss this for so long?
And hey, while I'm feeling grumpy:
1.) You're reading too much into the Plan. The Cylon Plan? The one mentioned in the credits? I always thought it was basically "nuke humanity." The implication of that statement to me was that the Cylons had evolved beyond machines that did what they were told and had managed to think for themselves, to the extent that they could plan. That's it. Anything beyond that, they have plans like the RTF has plans. They change depending on what the other side does and what's going on.
2.) Yes, they're making a lot of it up as they go along. So what? It is obvious, especially what my friend Al terms the "mid season wasteland." (The stand-alone episodes.) And while it bugs me as much as anyone when they retcon or flat out contradict themselves, it doesn't bug me that they didn't have every detail planned from the beginning, especially since they didn't know how many shows they were going to get.
3.) Sometimes a cigar is a cigar. I can overanalyze with the best of them, I admit it. But there's a point where you have to say, "um, how would anyone expect the entire plot of the show to rest on this one tiny detail that 95% of fans didn't even notice?" If you have to write a story to make it work, it probably isn't canon. (But go ahead and write the story, because that's fun.)
4.) The final cylon is not THAT big a deal. Sure, we all want to know who it is. But the truth, I suspect, is that it's just not as big a deal as we fans are making it out to be. Somehow, I doubt he or she is the Cylon god. It's a piece of the puzzle, but it's not the entirety of the puzzle. And yes, 90% of fans will be disappointed, because they all have someone picked in their heads and are attached to their theories and of COURSE people will be disappointed when they're wrong. Me, I'll be disappointed if it's not Ellen Tigh, Cally, Dee, or Gaeta. (But no matter what, it's still not Baltar.)
Eh, that's all I've got for now.
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no subject
Date: 2009-01-06 08:14 pm (UTC)"You know what my real wish is for the final season? I wish I could get all my online (and real life) friends that watch BSG together, make one heck of a dinner, and have a viewing party each week."
~ *_* That. Would be. So. Cool. We gaeta_squeers should at least try a meetup at a scifi con. And cosplay!! XD Maybe everyone could throw out their cell #s and we could to a conference call finale-thing. X3
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Date: 2009-01-07 04:18 am (UTC)If the unthinkable happened and I actually got AJ to come to the local con, you would all be more than welcome to crash on my floor ;-)
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Date: 2009-01-07 04:23 am (UTC)" If the unthinkable happened and I actually got AJ to come to the local con, you would all be more than welcome to crash on my floor ;-) "
:D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D
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Date: 2009-01-06 08:20 pm (UTC)I am sooo in agreement, especially on points 2) and 4). After being part of Lost fandom, I totally respect RDM for telling fans the truth. The Lost writers constantly bullshit fans about having a plan, even though it's becoming increasingly obvious that it's a lie and 50% of mysteries won't be getting answered because they can't think up an answer.
Of course RDM is making it up as he goes. Epic stories don't just spring into writers minds fully-formed. Heck, I don't know exactly how my own trilogy is going to end. Stories get worked out as they go. At least RDM has built on what he has got already to create a consistent story flow.
I don't give a hoot who the FC is either (but I agree that it's not Baltar!) I'm sooo over FC speculation.
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Date: 2009-01-06 08:56 pm (UTC)RDM can be cocky but in some ways he's refreshingly honest about the writing process *and* their missteps.
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Date: 2009-01-06 11:30 pm (UTC)RDM is cocky, but it seems like he's got his answers worked out. If he pulls this off, then he should be cocky!
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Date: 2009-01-06 08:44 pm (UTC)My problem with "the plan" and "so what if they are just making it up as they go along" is that RDM and Eicke get a lot of credit for their having thought out the story line, and how they respect it and how they have put all this time into it in order for it to be super awesome and to follow their vision.....
When in fact there's never been a plan and they are no better at keeping their story organized than say, the producers of Star Trek. I totally understand not having a plan - thats how all tv works. What I call bullshit on is RDM and Eicke getting credit for being clever, when in fact its business as usual. There was no vision. This is why there's problems with storylines and with basic actions making sense.
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Date: 2009-01-12 12:58 am (UTC)More my issue with "the plan" is that people seem to think that the Cylons have some Great Plan, and I think the entirety of it was "nuke humankind", and since then the Plan has been a lot less defined :)
no subject
Date: 2009-01-12 01:56 am (UTC)RDM had dropped hints about the final Cylons in season one and two, namely that they were inserted two years before the war, and that they couldn't be people who had kids or people who were famous or people who had long term relationships(ie over two years before the war) This was intentional hint dropping. Then, he decides to pull Tigh, Tyrol, and Sam out of his ass as Cylons (which btw negates Tyrol's struggle in season one and Tigh's in season three) and violate his own hints merely to shock and awe the audience.
I like puzzle shows, where part of the show is solving the mystery, but it's not any fun when there's no way for the audience to solve the puzzle.Its why Twin Peaks fails, why Lost fails, and why the miniature killer on CSI storyline fails. Don't tell me you're hinting and then *intentionally violate your own hints* just to shock me.
Ron and David always have implied they had the story bible planned out and that the Cylons had a discernable plan. Now they are retconning because they went for shock value.If people *think* the CYlons have some great plan, its because the producers have been telling us that since day one of the miniseries.
They have always implied in interviews,until recently- like about the beginning of season three, that they had a plan for the whole show.
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Date: 2009-01-12 04:06 am (UTC)See, I watched the first three seasons on DVD. So we pretty much watched them night after night, unless my husband was out of town. Which in a way makes it easier, because it doesn't give you time to brood. I think we caught up right near the end of Season 4, so this haitus was the first time I had time to really think about it outside of actually watching the show. (Plus, when we were watching it the first time I was in my third trimester of pregnancy and then dealing with the baby, which I totally remember because Cally's scene at the beginning of The Ties that Bind made me SOB in empathy.) And to top it off, we got spoiled on the final four before we were too deep into Season 3. :P
Yeah, I can see where the whole changing the rules thing is annoying. And I'll admit it annoys me, because it does make me second guess what I think I know now. Although I certainly don't mind the occasional retcon (and I still think retconning the glowy spines away was a good choice), it does get disconcerting when you think you know a character or a storyline and you get the rug pulled out from under you.
I guess I'm grateful I haven't thought TOO hard about most of the rest of the show. I think about Gaeta because I like to fic him- he begs for being ficced. But Earth, the final Cylon, what Kara is... haven't given it too much thought, so I'll probably swallow what they throw at me :)
But I've never believed the Cylons have any sort of plan beyond what they put on the table, so I guess that makes me much less disappointed, too.
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Date: 2009-01-06 08:45 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-01-12 12:58 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-01-06 08:53 pm (UTC)Yes, they're making a lot of it up as they go along. So what?
Word. I normally fault a show for that kind of writing process, but with BSG I almost feel like they've made it work to their advantage. Maybe that's because they *also* knew to stop themselves at season four before it totally went off the rails or anything. (I mean, for more than an episode or three.)
For example, I think it's fantastic that they didn't know Tigh, Tyrol, Sam, and Tory were Cylons until they decided it would be cool to make them Cylons. That's actually perfect for the story, because it's a total shock and there could *be* no clues or foreshadowing. They'd all developed as characters with their own stories before the twist. And in everything from Tigh's history to the fact Anders and Tory were late additions to the show, it would be impossible to plan that from the "beginning".
So yeah, it's not always a bad thing if they figured out the Master Plan And Stuff *when they got there*. Sometimes that's actually a blessing.
ETA: Aaaaaah I loved "Slumdog Millionaire" too.
ETA2: Sorry for all the edits. :p
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Date: 2009-01-12 01:03 am (UTC)Yes. I hate to see BSG go, but I would so much rather be saying "I wish there was more!" than "oh my God, do you remember when this show used to be GOOD?" So I think that's a big help.
One of the things that I firmly believe is that these serial dramas that I adore need to be finite. They HAVE to have endings, or you get things like The Woman King and Black Market, or Nikki and Paulo and polar bears being discovered in Africa or whatever. LOST has gotten much better this past season, and I strongly believe it's because they have an end date, and they know what their pacing has to be.
I also know I've been writing stuff, planning one thing, and then saying "hey, you know what would be REALLY cool?" So, certain retcons I don't mind at all. (Like Gaeta's. I actually ended up not minding his at all. It was clunkily done, but the premise? Fine with it. Also, retconning the glowy spines? GOOD IDEA.) But yeah- I don't mind twists, as long as they work, even if they weren't planned :)
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Date: 2009-01-06 09:11 pm (UTC)That would be so fun. ~sighs~ Somebody's gotta invent a way to beam places. Or Asimov's Doors.
Sorry about Trevor. I've been really lucky so far and N.'s never had anything worse than a bad head cold. But I am not looking forward to the day that changes. ~hugs~
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Date: 2009-01-12 01:04 am (UTC)Thanks. I hope N. never catches this- it was gross. Fortunately, Trev's finally feeling better!
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Date: 2009-01-07 01:22 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-01-12 01:10 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-01-07 04:16 am (UTC)that's right, suckers, there is no Plan!
Isn't fandom fun? (...to watch from the sidelines?)
I wanna come over to your house and watch BSG! Where's my transporter, damnit? It's the 21st century! (also, then I wouldn't be paying $50 for cable to watch one damn show.)
PhD is awesome. It's worth your time to read the archives.
my favourite Twilight "review" (more of a recap. Mormonism yipes!)