"Don't make fun of me for this..."
Got a chance to finish Sharpe's Challenge. *happy sigh* I love how Sharpe and Harper work together so wonderfully. They've been together for so long -even the actors have worked together for so long- that they can communicate volumes with just the faintest nod of the head or flicker of expression. Which is good because Sean as Sharpe has an insanely aggravating tendency to mumble when speaking. My knowledge of English accents sucks, but combine whatever it is Sharpe is supposed to be with Sean eating whilst talking and I literally had to turn on the closed captioning to figure out what on earth he was saying in one scene.
I love how Patrick is still so wonderfully, endearingly protective of Richard. Sharpe is retired; Harper is a spy for Wellington. They clearly haven't seen one another in ages, and still Patrick just seems to drop back into this instinctive need to look after his officer. Which of course, Richard needs because completely aside from the fact that he seems to have lost yet another wife, he just has a knack for naively honorably charging into trouble and Patrick is always the voice of reason. And how have I neglected mentioning that, dang, Daragh O'Malley is aging nicely? Because woah.
And finally, I suspect that Sharpe is the founder of the fencing school Malcolm Reynolds went to. The characters make a point of noting that Sharpe is a rather good swordsman - or at least far better than he was ever expected to be. But he still has a hilarious tendency to use the pommel of his sword almost as frequently as he uses the blade. He head-butts his opponents. He punches and kicks and flails like a berserker. He doesn't fight to look dashing. He fights to win. Every time I see him fight, I always think of Mal - and vice versa. Although where Mal just jabs Atherton and snarks at him, Richard laughs bitterly and runs Dodd straight through. Of course, Dodd did deserve it more, but I don't think Mal would ever laugh. Sharpe has a crueler streak in him. But I do still think they would approve of one another.
In summary, I loved this movie. Another great addition to the series. I really do need to pick up the rest of the DVDs.
* * *
Watched the tape of Jericho. I'm still sort of meh about this show. They're still in the set-up stage of the story, I think, and it's making the pacing really weird. At this point, I like Jake pretty much solely because I like Skeet. There's just not much there yet. I also like Bonnie. I like the fact that her deafness isn't much of a big deal and that people in town besides just her family sign to her. Jake signing "thank you" to her in the pilot was tiny and simple and practically a background image, but it was one of my favorite parts of the ep. I only caught about half of what Emily said to her in the kitchen. "Not cops..." was definitely the first part, but I didn't grok the second phrase. It looked like either "start" or "show", and neither of those make sense in that context. I don't know if it is a regional or social group thing, the actress/director's lack of familiarity, or just abbreviated signs because Emily was worried about being seen, but her "accent" was odd to me. *g*
Then there's Hawkins. He is creepy and up to something. At the very least, he's far more than he seems to be to the townsfolk. That's two shows within a week, however, that have people easily knowing Morse code. Do police forces really still require their cops to learn it?
* * *
Ugly Betty. I really do watch a lot of television, don't I? Didn't go into this one expecting much, but it was cute anyway. I'm afraid that I probably identify with Betty's unglamorous fashion choices far too much. I spent half the episode thinking, "Hmm... all of these people look familiar. I should be able to name more of them than just Alan Dale" and the other half thinking of conversations with my mother every time we were preparing to go somewhere. "Is that what you're going to wear? Are you sure you don't want to change before we go? Those shoes are... interesting. Don't you have any others?" Every. Single. Time. Fortunately, it eventually became a joke. Especially the shoes. Apparently I have abysmal taste in shoes. So I have much sympathy for Betty. And I think I could become fond of Daniel. He's not a complete prat. He looked almost as uncomfortable as Betty did at the photo shoot and he does apologize nicely. And also I am shallow and a sucker for the pretty boys with daddy issues. The rest of the cast is very spiffy too. I think this one could be fun.
* * *
And finally, Supernatural. This was an "Oh, Dean" episode, start to finish. I love how it takes him practically no time to realize what's happened and -being a Winchester- how it doesn't really faze him. And of course, leave it Dean to continue ghost-hunting even when non-corporeal himself. Not even being almost dead can kill that instinct. He's still a protector.
I love how sharp, how truly intelligent he comes across in this whole episode. It's especially obvious in the scene when he's explaining OBEs to Tessa. Very professional, very adult. He's also quite compassionate and reassuring. This is what a grown-up Dean looks like and it's nice.
His interactions, such as they are, with his family are interesting. He's still trying to be the family mediator, even if nobody can hear him. I love that he knows this, but keeps yelling at them anyway. I love that he finally gets a lot of things off his chest by ranting at John. Things I'm not sure he'd ever say if he knew his father really could hear him. What I really liked, however, was the way he eventually settled down and just leaned against the wall, observing. There's a hardness in his tone and expression then that is fascinating. It's a side of him we don't often see. When he's with Sam, he's much more the Dean we're more familiar with - snarky, disdainful, flippant. And I don't think he called Sam anything but Sammy the entire episode.
I loved the little WTF face Sam makes at no one in particular as he hears comments about hoodoo mojo coming out of his own mouth. I loved his little freak out at the car lot with Bobby, how he's so totally in denial that Dean is dying. And of course, his half-serious plea for Dean to not make fun of him for the Ouija board. Hee!
When Dean realizes Tessa's a Reaper, it gets a little odd. She/it seems almost fond of Dean in a respectful sort of way. She's not trying to fight him, instead trying to reason with him. It's a peculiar tactic for death incarnate and it was strangely moving. I especially liked how they pulled more continuity into it. It's going to weigh heavily on Dean after this that he's living on doubly borrowed time now. What struck me as truly bizarre in the end (which I suspect was probably just a personal reaction and not anything based on what actually appeared on-screen) was that Dean almost seemed protective of the Reaper when the Demon possessed her. He'd come to a point where he was sort of ready to accept death. The Reaper wasn't really an enemy anymore, but the Demon always is. So (in my warped little view of the world) I can almost see Dean being defensive on the Reaper's behalf. I'll have to rewatch that scene, but that really was my initial impression of it. Because Dean just can't help being protective. It's practically hard-wired into him.
As an added aside to observations on John, there may have been a trace of humor in the boys' questioning if he's alright, if he's really himself when he's essentially saying his goodbyes to each of them. But it's a very sad commentary on John's communication skills as a father that this sort of thing is so uncharacteristic that any show of paternal normalcy from him makes Sam and Dean visibly uneasy.
I was ready to throw things at the screen for that little whisper of John's at the end. Either it's something about Sam or he was telling Dean why he shouldn't believe that John was really dead. Because I'm not sure I really buy John's death. (Spending a year dead for tax purposes?) Either way, though, it'll be interesting to see how Dean copes with knowing something Sam doesn't.
Excellent episode. Almost too much to comprehend in one sitting.
And next week, psycho clowns. For as TVGuide says, as if regular clowns aren't scary enough already.
Oooh, and tonight, two and a half hours of new Doctor Who. Yay!
I love how Patrick is still so wonderfully, endearingly protective of Richard. Sharpe is retired; Harper is a spy for Wellington. They clearly haven't seen one another in ages, and still Patrick just seems to drop back into this instinctive need to look after his officer. Which of course, Richard needs because completely aside from the fact that he seems to have lost yet another wife, he just has a knack for naively honorably charging into trouble and Patrick is always the voice of reason. And how have I neglected mentioning that, dang, Daragh O'Malley is aging nicely? Because woah.
And finally, I suspect that Sharpe is the founder of the fencing school Malcolm Reynolds went to. The characters make a point of noting that Sharpe is a rather good swordsman - or at least far better than he was ever expected to be. But he still has a hilarious tendency to use the pommel of his sword almost as frequently as he uses the blade. He head-butts his opponents. He punches and kicks and flails like a berserker. He doesn't fight to look dashing. He fights to win. Every time I see him fight, I always think of Mal - and vice versa. Although where Mal just jabs Atherton and snarks at him, Richard laughs bitterly and runs Dodd straight through. Of course, Dodd did deserve it more, but I don't think Mal would ever laugh. Sharpe has a crueler streak in him. But I do still think they would approve of one another.
In summary, I loved this movie. Another great addition to the series. I really do need to pick up the rest of the DVDs.
* * *
Watched the tape of Jericho. I'm still sort of meh about this show. They're still in the set-up stage of the story, I think, and it's making the pacing really weird. At this point, I like Jake pretty much solely because I like Skeet. There's just not much there yet. I also like Bonnie. I like the fact that her deafness isn't much of a big deal and that people in town besides just her family sign to her. Jake signing "thank you" to her in the pilot was tiny and simple and practically a background image, but it was one of my favorite parts of the ep. I only caught about half of what Emily said to her in the kitchen. "Not cops..." was definitely the first part, but I didn't grok the second phrase. It looked like either "start" or "show", and neither of those make sense in that context. I don't know if it is a regional or social group thing, the actress/director's lack of familiarity, or just abbreviated signs because Emily was worried about being seen, but her "accent" was odd to me. *g*
Then there's Hawkins. He is creepy and up to something. At the very least, he's far more than he seems to be to the townsfolk. That's two shows within a week, however, that have people easily knowing Morse code. Do police forces really still require their cops to learn it?
* * *
Ugly Betty. I really do watch a lot of television, don't I? Didn't go into this one expecting much, but it was cute anyway. I'm afraid that I probably identify with Betty's unglamorous fashion choices far too much. I spent half the episode thinking, "Hmm... all of these people look familiar. I should be able to name more of them than just Alan Dale" and the other half thinking of conversations with my mother every time we were preparing to go somewhere. "Is that what you're going to wear? Are you sure you don't want to change before we go? Those shoes are... interesting. Don't you have any others?" Every. Single. Time. Fortunately, it eventually became a joke. Especially the shoes. Apparently I have abysmal taste in shoes. So I have much sympathy for Betty. And I think I could become fond of Daniel. He's not a complete prat. He looked almost as uncomfortable as Betty did at the photo shoot and he does apologize nicely. And also I am shallow and a sucker for the pretty boys with daddy issues. The rest of the cast is very spiffy too. I think this one could be fun.
* * *
And finally, Supernatural. This was an "Oh, Dean" episode, start to finish. I love how it takes him practically no time to realize what's happened and -being a Winchester- how it doesn't really faze him. And of course, leave it Dean to continue ghost-hunting even when non-corporeal himself. Not even being almost dead can kill that instinct. He's still a protector.
I love how sharp, how truly intelligent he comes across in this whole episode. It's especially obvious in the scene when he's explaining OBEs to Tessa. Very professional, very adult. He's also quite compassionate and reassuring. This is what a grown-up Dean looks like and it's nice.
His interactions, such as they are, with his family are interesting. He's still trying to be the family mediator, even if nobody can hear him. I love that he knows this, but keeps yelling at them anyway. I love that he finally gets a lot of things off his chest by ranting at John. Things I'm not sure he'd ever say if he knew his father really could hear him. What I really liked, however, was the way he eventually settled down and just leaned against the wall, observing. There's a hardness in his tone and expression then that is fascinating. It's a side of him we don't often see. When he's with Sam, he's much more the Dean we're more familiar with - snarky, disdainful, flippant. And I don't think he called Sam anything but Sammy the entire episode.
I loved the little WTF face Sam makes at no one in particular as he hears comments about hoodoo mojo coming out of his own mouth. I loved his little freak out at the car lot with Bobby, how he's so totally in denial that Dean is dying. And of course, his half-serious plea for Dean to not make fun of him for the Ouija board. Hee!
When Dean realizes Tessa's a Reaper, it gets a little odd. She/it seems almost fond of Dean in a respectful sort of way. She's not trying to fight him, instead trying to reason with him. It's a peculiar tactic for death incarnate and it was strangely moving. I especially liked how they pulled more continuity into it. It's going to weigh heavily on Dean after this that he's living on doubly borrowed time now. What struck me as truly bizarre in the end (which I suspect was probably just a personal reaction and not anything based on what actually appeared on-screen) was that Dean almost seemed protective of the Reaper when the Demon possessed her. He'd come to a point where he was sort of ready to accept death. The Reaper wasn't really an enemy anymore, but the Demon always is. So (in my warped little view of the world) I can almost see Dean being defensive on the Reaper's behalf. I'll have to rewatch that scene, but that really was my initial impression of it. Because Dean just can't help being protective. It's practically hard-wired into him.
As an added aside to observations on John, there may have been a trace of humor in the boys' questioning if he's alright, if he's really himself when he's essentially saying his goodbyes to each of them. But it's a very sad commentary on John's communication skills as a father that this sort of thing is so uncharacteristic that any show of paternal normalcy from him makes Sam and Dean visibly uneasy.
I was ready to throw things at the screen for that little whisper of John's at the end. Either it's something about Sam or he was telling Dean why he shouldn't believe that John was really dead. Because I'm not sure I really buy John's death. (Spending a year dead for tax purposes?) Either way, though, it'll be interesting to see how Dean copes with knowing something Sam doesn't.
Excellent episode. Almost too much to comprehend in one sitting.
And next week, psycho clowns. For as TVGuide says, as if regular clowns aren't scary enough already.
Oooh, and tonight, two and a half hours of new Doctor Who. Yay!