bookgazing (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
bookgazing) wrote2010-12-24 02:57 am
bookgazing) wrote2010-12-24 02:57 am
Favourite Things to Watch 2010
Two posts today, before I trot off for a Christmas Eve meal and a few drinks (no hangover Christmas 2010, wuh, resolved). First some words about my favourite visual stimulation this year (get your minds out of the gutter, we’re going from tv to the lofty heights of theatre here). I’m not mentioning DVD box sets, or films I saw on DVD, just tv, cinema and theatre that appeared ‘live’ as it were, this year:
TV
'Downton Abbey' – Have I mentioned this enough yet? Is it on all your lists for DVD collections!
What I really liked about this show was what a complex picture of historical life and general human life it showed. It wasn’t afraid to make likeable characters spout extremely unlikeable, but contextually realistic views and show their privileges (Lord Grantham could be particularly frustrating, yet soooo loveable). It at least made an effort to show the softer side of unlikeable characters (I defy anyone to completely write Thomas off, even when he tips into extreme villianhood in the last few episodes, after seeing him so vulnerable in that first episode).
Mary is at times so awful, but is also so justified in her awfulness (when she ruins Edith’s chances in the last episode I was all ‘ohhoho touche’ but also ‘Agh, what, oh Mary you are beyond redemption!’). She’s unable to settle into her society’s constraints and let a marriage define her, which makes it impossible not to cheer, even if she expresses her lack of love for her dead fiancé in rather a callous way. Her relationship with Matthew is a study in fascination.
(Can I say, if I haven’t mentioned it yet, just how awful episode three is. Power through it. It goes back to being good and Sybil gets involved in suffrage, has the best outfit ever and gets flirty eyes from the politically progressive chauffeur. Episode three remains awful.)
'Dr Who' – I know not everyone is a fan of Matt Smith as The Doctor. He’s no Tennant, or Eccleston after all. However, while I think he started out apeing Tennant’s Doctor, throughout the series he really makes the character his own somewhere in the middle of the series. As Marie Phillips notes, he’s not very good at doing all the emotional, ansty, shouty bits Tennant excelled at, but he is a good comedian and I think he works the ‘I’ve been setting this up all along, but didn’t tell you because otherwise it wouldn’t have worked’ element of the Doctor. Tennant couldn’t get away with that after the first couple of series (because he was really being developed as the flawed Doctor, whose world is always spinning slightly out of his grabby, desperate control). An omniscient Doctor, may be less complex, but I think it’s a refreshing way to distinguish Smith from Tennant.
Also I love Rory and Amy. This series has taken the Mickey/Rose love story of the first series of Dr Who rebooted (note: I also remember thinking that Amy’s story was very reminiscent of Rose’s Bad Wolf storyline) and tipped it on its head by making the love story between the human characters the story of true love. Less angsty and so less tragically beautiful (although they gave it a good go for a while, but I;m not sure they were ever really committed to a never existing Rory), but still really touching to watch (Rory as Roman soldier/robot anyone – that first episode of the finale was sad right, even if the second one was too sentimental in an epic romance way?).
I was won over by the new Doctor and his companions. I found myself laughing quite a bit, scared in places (stone angels are the best monsters in case you don’t know) and really disappointed when there was a true dud episode. I always think that’s the mark of a good show, when you care enough that you’re really pissed when they release terrible episodes (see also Sherlock and Downton Abbey).
'Make it or Break It' – Girl gymnasts being friends and enemies and frenemies as they try to make it into the national gymnastics team. The program is cheesy in lots of places (it doesn’t conquer that teen drama tick of ending episodes with a variety of silent shots, accompanied by emo music). The coach is sooooo freakishly out of professional bounds on so many occasions, while being framed as the tough but essentially good coach, that I think a lot of people will be turned off by his skeeviness. Ignore him as much as possible! Concentrate on the girls friendships, their quests to be the best and their serious family issues.
Key program point - gymnastics actually plays a significant part in the series, instead of functioning as a convenient activity that groups all the characters and causes tensions between them (like basketball in One Tree Hill, where the characters never express as much passion for just playing the game as they do for each other). You can feel how important gymnastics is to these characters. I really hope it gets a second season.
The Big Bang Theory – The fourth series has been hilarious. Blossom as Sheldon’s friend who is a girl, but NOT his girlfriend is such a great addition and it’s hilarious to watch a male and female version of basically the same, odd as character. I have developed a weird crush on Howard, to go with my much more acceptable crush on Lenard (Penny and Lenard forever btw, even though she was in the right about breaking up with him).
'Sherlock' – I’ve talked about this program at length so you know of my love. I so hope there is more to come. You just can’t beat drama that is also adept at pulling out some light comedy. Bonus points for creating instantly convincing relationships between characters. I would be so excited if they released the second Guy Ritchie Sherlock film, then released the new series of Sherlock in the same month. Dueling Sherlocks!
Simon Armitage (The Normans series) – I think poet Simon Armitage is well sweet and his look at the different versions of the Arthurian legend was comprehensive, as well as easy to follow. I’m not sure if this is available on DVD (or outside the UK) but you can read Armitage’s translation of Gwaine and the Green Knight. If you’re feeling in the mood for Arthurian knowledge (it really feels like the season for Arthur right now) you can check out litlove’s post on the origins of Arthur and Rosemary Sutcliffe’s interpretation.
'Merlin' – I got sucked into this in the third series. I have no idea why I resisted it for so long. Did I just forget that a ridiculous plot is generally no bar to my enjoyment? It contains some of my favourite tropes like a character who is very smart, who pretends not to be in order to get away with courageous things in secret. Maybe I was a little too influenced by The Scarlet Pimpernel in my youth. I have to say I’m not seeing the Merlin/Arthur slash fiction potential that a lot of people do, but based on the last episode I totally seeing Percival/Arthur and Merlin/Lancelot potential, but my favourite pairing is a very traditional, canon pairing – Arthur/Gwen. Awwww. PS Morganna is cool. I know she’s evil, but I’ve always liked Morganna.
'Ancient Worlds' – History series, full of lots of interesting facts about civilisations like The Romans and the Spartans. I can’t help but feel like many historical documentary series suffer because a lot of historical reportage isn’t translated into an interesting visual experiences. If the director doesn’t use re-enactments, or include other industry professionals they often seem to run out of ideas on how to make history interesting. It can become monotonous to watch one presenter. There’s generally a lot of presenter posing and (inexplicably) shots of birds in flight. There was a lot of that in this series and I did get presenter fatigue, which prevented all the interesting facts from going in, but I’ll forgive a lot for some interesting knowledge expansion (once I watched a series about Castles where the presenter walked in slow motion, during the link sections and he wore a black trench coat – it was very Matrix). The program on Sparta was well worth annoyances.
'Miranda' – Lots of negative press for this one it seems, but I love it. Not all of it, there are some terrible dud episodes, but awww. The touching flirtation between Miranda and Gary. Stevie and Miranda’s odd friendship and he bits where they’re talking about something and then they cut to a scene showing that thing in detail (I don’t know what that narrative technique is called, something like a scene of flashback – an example is the women talking about a game they invented called ‘Where’s Miranda?’ and then cutting to a scene of them playing said game). My favourite episode this year was the one where Stevie and Miranda try to prove themselves as young and energetic as a new member of the bar staff.
'The Nativity' – I know there’s been a bit of outrage about this reinterpretation of the nativity story, so I’ll begin by saying that not being a Christian, or Jewish I can’t comment on whether this version might be offensive to Christians or to Jewish people.
I am surprised that I’ve yet to see any commentary on how overwhelmingly white British the main cast of this adaptation was, considering Bethlehem is in Palestine, but perhaps someone who knows more than me about the racial demographics of Biblical Palestine will have a different opinion.
Being a girl whose early education took place when the Christian religion was still a pretty major part of (non-private, non-faith) school life in Britain I’ve read the nativity story a few times (probably less than The Good Samaritan, that other standard teaching story) and I was impressed by how closely they stuck to the story (in the case of the magi and Mary and Joseph anyway). Can’t help but be intrigued by the historical realities of the whole situation too, so I really liked the depiction of Joseph’s disbelief of Mary’s story. I felt like it did very well at reminding us of the genuine emotion many Christians feel about this story and the final scenes in the manger were very moving. Also I have a soft spot for Andrew Buchanan.
Films
2009 felt like a real golden year for film to me, even if I was one of the three people who didn’t go to see Avatar. I was at the cinema all the time and liked a lot of films that went on to be Oscar nominated. In comparison 2010 had less to encourage me into the cinema, but there were a few corkers.
'Inception' – You have to see this film. Look, whatever, lots of it doesn’t make sense, IT’S ALL BRILLIANT. Dreams and guns and hot guys and Mal. Mal is my favourite bit of the canon of this film. I must find some quality Mal fan fiction to read.
'How to Train Your Dragon' – One of the most sensitive, subtle, fun animated films I’ve ever seen. I’d compare it to UP for quality. There is a how to defeat a dragon montage. There is a reasonably solid plot (please remember I’m not the person to listen to about whether plots stand up). The one thing that really lets it down is the little inconsistencies (like why do all the adult Vikings speak in Scottish accents and why do all the teenage Vikings speak in American accents? Why are any Vikings speaking in Scottish accents?).
'Toy Story 3' – The best way to end the trilogy. It doesn’t just try to maintain your interest by playing on established sentiment, there’s an action filled plot as well. Something to hook kids who didn’t grown up with the characters (best villain of the whole trilogy I think), lots for adults who weren’t interested in the other films and the right amount of heart string tugging for those of us who have followed the characters all the way.
Theatre
I went to the theatre four times this year and usually I go about six time. This year I saw Hairspray and two RSC Shakespeare plays at the Courtyard theatre in Stratford. I also took a tour of the redesigned, main theatre in Stratford (short version, I like it because it attempts to approximate the intimacy of the Courtyard and that theatre’s all round good view, while seating more people). The stand out performance for me though was:
Macbeth at The Globe – I’ve seen Shakespeare performed in London before (saw the David Tennant version of Hamlet last year) but I’ve never been to The Globe before. It was a fab experience. I thought it might be a little too theme park, too recreationist, but after a while the novelty of the approximation to Shakespeare’s day faded into the background and the actors performance took over. Lady Macbeth really stole the show I thought, although the actor playing Macbeth was no slouch. The witches were super freaky and the props were gross, but not too Hollywood if that makes sense.
I’ve always wanted to see Macbeth performed, as it’s the witchcraft play and we spent a bit of time studying Shakespeare’s attitudes to witchcraft in my dissertation group. It’s also said to be a problematic play to stage, because it’s hard for some to square the fantasy of witches with the seriousness of Shakespeare (don’t you just want to buy those people paranormal fantasy novels?).
Did you enjoy, or dislike any of these? Any films that were released in 2010 that you think I should put on the Lovefilm list (I already know about ‘The Kids are Alright’ thanks to Amy)?
TV
'Downton Abbey' – Have I mentioned this enough yet? Is it on all your lists for DVD collections!
What I really liked about this show was what a complex picture of historical life and general human life it showed. It wasn’t afraid to make likeable characters spout extremely unlikeable, but contextually realistic views and show their privileges (Lord Grantham could be particularly frustrating, yet soooo loveable). It at least made an effort to show the softer side of unlikeable characters (I defy anyone to completely write Thomas off, even when he tips into extreme villianhood in the last few episodes, after seeing him so vulnerable in that first episode).
Mary is at times so awful, but is also so justified in her awfulness (when she ruins Edith’s chances in the last episode I was all ‘ohhoho touche’ but also ‘Agh, what, oh Mary you are beyond redemption!’). She’s unable to settle into her society’s constraints and let a marriage define her, which makes it impossible not to cheer, even if she expresses her lack of love for her dead fiancé in rather a callous way. Her relationship with Matthew is a study in fascination.
(Can I say, if I haven’t mentioned it yet, just how awful episode three is. Power through it. It goes back to being good and Sybil gets involved in suffrage, has the best outfit ever and gets flirty eyes from the politically progressive chauffeur. Episode three remains awful.)
'Dr Who' – I know not everyone is a fan of Matt Smith as The Doctor. He’s no Tennant, or Eccleston after all. However, while I think he started out apeing Tennant’s Doctor, throughout the series he really makes the character his own somewhere in the middle of the series. As Marie Phillips notes, he’s not very good at doing all the emotional, ansty, shouty bits Tennant excelled at, but he is a good comedian and I think he works the ‘I’ve been setting this up all along, but didn’t tell you because otherwise it wouldn’t have worked’ element of the Doctor. Tennant couldn’t get away with that after the first couple of series (because he was really being developed as the flawed Doctor, whose world is always spinning slightly out of his grabby, desperate control). An omniscient Doctor, may be less complex, but I think it’s a refreshing way to distinguish Smith from Tennant.
Also I love Rory and Amy. This series has taken the Mickey/Rose love story of the first series of Dr Who rebooted (note: I also remember thinking that Amy’s story was very reminiscent of Rose’s Bad Wolf storyline) and tipped it on its head by making the love story between the human characters the story of true love. Less angsty and so less tragically beautiful (although they gave it a good go for a while, but I;m not sure they were ever really committed to a never existing Rory), but still really touching to watch (Rory as Roman soldier/robot anyone – that first episode of the finale was sad right, even if the second one was too sentimental in an epic romance way?).
I was won over by the new Doctor and his companions. I found myself laughing quite a bit, scared in places (stone angels are the best monsters in case you don’t know) and really disappointed when there was a true dud episode. I always think that’s the mark of a good show, when you care enough that you’re really pissed when they release terrible episodes (see also Sherlock and Downton Abbey).
'Make it or Break It' – Girl gymnasts being friends and enemies and frenemies as they try to make it into the national gymnastics team. The program is cheesy in lots of places (it doesn’t conquer that teen drama tick of ending episodes with a variety of silent shots, accompanied by emo music). The coach is sooooo freakishly out of professional bounds on so many occasions, while being framed as the tough but essentially good coach, that I think a lot of people will be turned off by his skeeviness. Ignore him as much as possible! Concentrate on the girls friendships, their quests to be the best and their serious family issues.
Key program point - gymnastics actually plays a significant part in the series, instead of functioning as a convenient activity that groups all the characters and causes tensions between them (like basketball in One Tree Hill, where the characters never express as much passion for just playing the game as they do for each other). You can feel how important gymnastics is to these characters. I really hope it gets a second season.
The Big Bang Theory – The fourth series has been hilarious. Blossom as Sheldon’s friend who is a girl, but NOT his girlfriend is such a great addition and it’s hilarious to watch a male and female version of basically the same, odd as character. I have developed a weird crush on Howard, to go with my much more acceptable crush on Lenard (Penny and Lenard forever btw, even though she was in the right about breaking up with him).
'Sherlock' – I’ve talked about this program at length so you know of my love. I so hope there is more to come. You just can’t beat drama that is also adept at pulling out some light comedy. Bonus points for creating instantly convincing relationships between characters. I would be so excited if they released the second Guy Ritchie Sherlock film, then released the new series of Sherlock in the same month. Dueling Sherlocks!
Simon Armitage (The Normans series) – I think poet Simon Armitage is well sweet and his look at the different versions of the Arthurian legend was comprehensive, as well as easy to follow. I’m not sure if this is available on DVD (or outside the UK) but you can read Armitage’s translation of Gwaine and the Green Knight. If you’re feeling in the mood for Arthurian knowledge (it really feels like the season for Arthur right now) you can check out litlove’s post on the origins of Arthur and Rosemary Sutcliffe’s interpretation.
'Merlin' – I got sucked into this in the third series. I have no idea why I resisted it for so long. Did I just forget that a ridiculous plot is generally no bar to my enjoyment? It contains some of my favourite tropes like a character who is very smart, who pretends not to be in order to get away with courageous things in secret. Maybe I was a little too influenced by The Scarlet Pimpernel in my youth. I have to say I’m not seeing the Merlin/Arthur slash fiction potential that a lot of people do, but based on the last episode I totally seeing Percival/Arthur and Merlin/Lancelot potential, but my favourite pairing is a very traditional, canon pairing – Arthur/Gwen. Awwww. PS Morganna is cool. I know she’s evil, but I’ve always liked Morganna.
'Ancient Worlds' – History series, full of lots of interesting facts about civilisations like The Romans and the Spartans. I can’t help but feel like many historical documentary series suffer because a lot of historical reportage isn’t translated into an interesting visual experiences. If the director doesn’t use re-enactments, or include other industry professionals they often seem to run out of ideas on how to make history interesting. It can become monotonous to watch one presenter. There’s generally a lot of presenter posing and (inexplicably) shots of birds in flight. There was a lot of that in this series and I did get presenter fatigue, which prevented all the interesting facts from going in, but I’ll forgive a lot for some interesting knowledge expansion (once I watched a series about Castles where the presenter walked in slow motion, during the link sections and he wore a black trench coat – it was very Matrix). The program on Sparta was well worth annoyances.
'Miranda' – Lots of negative press for this one it seems, but I love it. Not all of it, there are some terrible dud episodes, but awww. The touching flirtation between Miranda and Gary. Stevie and Miranda’s odd friendship and he bits where they’re talking about something and then they cut to a scene showing that thing in detail (I don’t know what that narrative technique is called, something like a scene of flashback – an example is the women talking about a game they invented called ‘Where’s Miranda?’ and then cutting to a scene of them playing said game). My favourite episode this year was the one where Stevie and Miranda try to prove themselves as young and energetic as a new member of the bar staff.
'The Nativity' – I know there’s been a bit of outrage about this reinterpretation of the nativity story, so I’ll begin by saying that not being a Christian, or Jewish I can’t comment on whether this version might be offensive to Christians or to Jewish people.
I am surprised that I’ve yet to see any commentary on how overwhelmingly white British the main cast of this adaptation was, considering Bethlehem is in Palestine, but perhaps someone who knows more than me about the racial demographics of Biblical Palestine will have a different opinion.
Being a girl whose early education took place when the Christian religion was still a pretty major part of (non-private, non-faith) school life in Britain I’ve read the nativity story a few times (probably less than The Good Samaritan, that other standard teaching story) and I was impressed by how closely they stuck to the story (in the case of the magi and Mary and Joseph anyway). Can’t help but be intrigued by the historical realities of the whole situation too, so I really liked the depiction of Joseph’s disbelief of Mary’s story. I felt like it did very well at reminding us of the genuine emotion many Christians feel about this story and the final scenes in the manger were very moving. Also I have a soft spot for Andrew Buchanan.
Films
2009 felt like a real golden year for film to me, even if I was one of the three people who didn’t go to see Avatar. I was at the cinema all the time and liked a lot of films that went on to be Oscar nominated. In comparison 2010 had less to encourage me into the cinema, but there were a few corkers.
'Inception' – You have to see this film. Look, whatever, lots of it doesn’t make sense, IT’S ALL BRILLIANT. Dreams and guns and hot guys and Mal. Mal is my favourite bit of the canon of this film. I must find some quality Mal fan fiction to read.
'How to Train Your Dragon' – One of the most sensitive, subtle, fun animated films I’ve ever seen. I’d compare it to UP for quality. There is a how to defeat a dragon montage. There is a reasonably solid plot (please remember I’m not the person to listen to about whether plots stand up). The one thing that really lets it down is the little inconsistencies (like why do all the adult Vikings speak in Scottish accents and why do all the teenage Vikings speak in American accents? Why are any Vikings speaking in Scottish accents?).
'Toy Story 3' – The best way to end the trilogy. It doesn’t just try to maintain your interest by playing on established sentiment, there’s an action filled plot as well. Something to hook kids who didn’t grown up with the characters (best villain of the whole trilogy I think), lots for adults who weren’t interested in the other films and the right amount of heart string tugging for those of us who have followed the characters all the way.
Theatre
I went to the theatre four times this year and usually I go about six time. This year I saw Hairspray and two RSC Shakespeare plays at the Courtyard theatre in Stratford. I also took a tour of the redesigned, main theatre in Stratford (short version, I like it because it attempts to approximate the intimacy of the Courtyard and that theatre’s all round good view, while seating more people). The stand out performance for me though was:
Macbeth at The Globe – I’ve seen Shakespeare performed in London before (saw the David Tennant version of Hamlet last year) but I’ve never been to The Globe before. It was a fab experience. I thought it might be a little too theme park, too recreationist, but after a while the novelty of the approximation to Shakespeare’s day faded into the background and the actors performance took over. Lady Macbeth really stole the show I thought, although the actor playing Macbeth was no slouch. The witches were super freaky and the props were gross, but not too Hollywood if that makes sense.
I’ve always wanted to see Macbeth performed, as it’s the witchcraft play and we spent a bit of time studying Shakespeare’s attitudes to witchcraft in my dissertation group. It’s also said to be a problematic play to stage, because it’s hard for some to square the fantasy of witches with the seriousness of Shakespeare (don’t you just want to buy those people paranormal fantasy novels?).
Did you enjoy, or dislike any of these? Any films that were released in 2010 that you think I should put on the Lovefilm list (I already know about ‘The Kids are Alright’ thanks to Amy)?