Good morning! It's a lovely Sunday morning, isn't it? Okay, it's kind of dreary and getting cold but I don't care. This morning I have officially finished the entire draft of my manuscript. My deadline is January 31 and I have no doubt I'll make it. I'll be spending the coming week proofreading the entire thing and next week working on the acknowledgements and bibliography. I'll do one more proofreading the weekend of January 25 and then send it out on the 28th. The pics are coming in and they look great! I'm just waiting on a couple more from Buffy and Underworld. Come February 1 I won't know what to do with myself!
To celebrate the fact that I no longer have to watch any horror movies and write about them, I chose a fun film for last night, which brings me to my first suggestion of the week...
Film: Transformers
You know, I rarely complain about my home entertainment system but last night I really wished I had a bigger television. The special effects of Transformers were awesome and surprisingly realistic. The transformations were brilliant! Although the film was clearly meant to be a spectacle, I still enjoyed the miniscule plot. Perhaps my view was tainted by the fact that I turned off all lights and a pen was nowhere in sight for note-taking, but I laughed and I cheered throughout. I've said it before on this blog and I'll say it again: Shia LaBeouf is going places as an actor; he really makes the movie come to life. If you're looking for a popcorn flick on a Saturday night, this is your best bet. The film is certainly more than meets the eye. Ha ha!
Television: Dexter
Okay, this one was for the manuscript but it deserves a place here as well. Dexter premiered last season on Showtime. It stars Michael C. Hall as a murderer with a code, the Code of Harry in fact. Dexter only kills bad guys. Interesting, no? What do we do with a murderer who kills murderers? The show focuses around Dexter as he tries to negotiate between his pretend attachment to humanity - like his "love" for his sister and girlfriend - and his true calling as a serial killer. To add to the complexity, he works as a blood-splatter analyst for the Miami PD. Have I got you intrigued yet? The entire first season is out on DVD and I must highly recommend it. CBS has commissioned it to run in the spring, but it will be pretty watered down. You really need to see the Showtime version to appreciate the character. And stay tuned for the finale; it may just shock you to death.
Literature: The Golden Compass
Back in December The Golden Compass made my film recommendation; now I want to recommend the novel. As we all know, I love and study adaptation. I am always a bit hesitant when I go into any adaptation situation, whether it is reading the novel first then watching the film or vice versa. I never know what to expect. With The Golden Compass it's almost like two different texts. Yes, the basic storyline is the same. Yet, there were still lovely surprises with the novel. Neither is tainted by the other's choices, however; both film and novel are more than worth your time. Lyra is more fleshed out in the novel, as is to be expected, but the novel does not move as fast. I am really excited to read the other two books of Philip Pullman's trilogy, especially since the fate of the other two films is iffy at best. For any of my readers out there with daughters, have them read the book. Lyra is a fantastic heroine for young girls.
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9 comments:
Transformers was great on the big screen! Shia LeBeouf was great. He's so cute. If only I was a couple of years younger. ha! ha!
I wanted an Optimus Prime voice changer helmet for Christmas but never got it. boo hoo
I watched the Sarah Connor Chronicles, and I must say, I'm hooked.
Can anyone enlighten me as to how T3 fits in? I haven't actually seen T3 (been meaning to watch it) but I don't get the impression that I've missed anything important. The show seems to start just where T2 left off.
I also don't think they spent hardly any time on exposition, which is fine by me since I already know the story well. Are they assuming the audience will already know all of it?
Anyway, I love the music reminiscent of the movies. The acting and effects were great. overall, a high production-value show.
I am also hooked, Krista! I loved it!
I am trying to figure out how they are going to work out the age thing. I love T3 but the ages work out that there the fast-forward to 2007 would cause problems in T3. Claire Danes's character becomes John's wife (in the future, not in T3) but they are the same age because they went to elementary/middle school together. If Sarah and John remain in 2007 on the show, it will cause a continuity problem with T3. I am a total dork, I know!
Also, Sarah is dead by the time T3 begins. John's been on his own running for years. I'm not sure how that will play out in the series.
I loved Summer Glau and I really think the writers/producers understand the film and want to remain true to the storyline. It will be exciting to see where the story leads. Can't wait for tonight's episode!
ahh . . . the rub of the time travel story! Yeah, are they going to run into their future selves?
Well, I guess I should really watch T3 now. I've had it sitting out next to the DVD player for a few months.
I don't know if this will help (since I've never seen any Terminator movie), but here's some reaction to the Terminator show on Ain't It Cool:
http://www.aintitcool.com/node/35265
The guy writing the post says that he thinks they're just ignoring the 1997 death.
I would guess maybe they're just going to ignore movie continuity sometimes with the new show. Much the way "Enterprise" chucked much of the long Star Trek history when it was convenient. (Klingons in Oklahoma? Uh-huh.)
Oh, and by the way, if anyone's interested, there was an excellent adaptation of Jane Austen's "Persuasion" on PBS last night. Anthony Head of Buffy fame played the protagonist's father! He was very good.
Masterpiece Theatre is doing a long series of Jane movies for the next couple months. Next Sunday is "Northanger Abbey." There will also be a new "Mansfield Park," a new "Sense and Sensibility," and a new movie about her life called "Miss Austen Regrets."
Last night's ep said that Sarah died in 2005 of cancer. But since they leaped from 1999 to 2007, of course, she is alive now.
I am guessing that at some point Sarah and Connor return to 1999. That would allow them to reconnect with the T2 and T3 storylines. (T3 has Sarah's tomb in it with her death date and the cause of death.) Hopefully that's the way they go. I'd think with T4 in production they would need to get back on line with the space/time continuum. :-)
No matter what way they go, I am definitely hooked. And I want to know what is going on with Summer Glau's terminator. There is definitely something going on there.
Sarah Connor Update!
I read in this week's EW that the writers/director of SCC are not following the storyline of T3. They pretty much don't care about any inconsistencies and see the tv show as their T3. I'm not sure how this will connect to T4 or if in the end they will try to reconnect with T3, but I am sad that they are just dismissing the movie. I like Nick Stahl a lot (loved Carnivale!) and thought he was a good John Connor. I guess only time will tell.
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