Rants and Weekly Raves #75 (RAWR)
Jaehyus: I'm so sad The Lost Tomb is over! I'm dragging out what's left of the translated part of the book series now. I say translated because there are three more books, 7-9, and they go into the story of Kylin Zhang a.k.a. Little Master, and they are still not translated. Everyone, tell the publisher to get to them! http://www.thingsasianpress.com/contact/
Other than that, this will be my last Rawr until mid-March because I'll be otherwise occupied and not likely to watch much TV. Plus, I won't have a computer, just the tablet, and the blogger app won't change colour and things, and it's a little slow too.
kakashi: Have fun! And hey, I think you should recap The Old Nine Gates. Never mind the length. Length is good.
Other than that, this will be my last Rawr until mid-March because I'll be otherwise occupied and not likely to watch much TV. Plus, I won't have a computer, just the tablet, and the blogger app won't change colour and things, and it's a little slow too.
kakashi: Have fun! And hey, I think you should recap The Old Nine Gates. Never mind the length. Length is good.
Jaehyus: Sure, I'll recap! It sounds fantastic!
JoAnne: Will you look at that boy? He is ridiculous!
In sum, no sympathy for creepy, psycho Jung from me.
JoAnne: Jung is a flawed human. This week's episodes bring us some understanding of how he got to be the way he is. We've already seen that he doesn't like being different, but now we know how much he fears it, too. He has been hurt, and so he hurts others - very much on the emotional level of a young child, but with the brain power of an adult. He isn't evil or sick, he's stunted. It will be interesting to see what his capacity for growth and change can be. As for Baek In Ho...what a love he is, huh?
Every week I listen longingly to the chatter and revisit my decision to wait for a marathon.
I'm not actually sure there is a plot. I'm also beginning to suspect the editor just cuts stuff because the professors have the most inane conversations...and then it cuts to the Muffins trying really hard to act. OMG are they trying. Maybe that's why I'm still watching? In sympathy of their earnest effort? because the ending of the show is very obvious now.
We also find out some pretty key information about our lovely leading lady and her very personal connection to a serial killer who's been operating under the radar for a long, long time. Seriously, every other citizen of Korea is a serial killer, I think.)
Still, this continues to be one of the most gripping KDramas I've ever watched, even without the timey-wimey (nerd girl giggle) element. By the way, I think that's handled pretty well, all considered. (Mostly by NOT considering it. They don't put a lot of rules in place, thus there aren't a lot of people screaming 'violation' and making it hard for me to hear the dialogue. +1000 for that.)
Thankfully, this is set in the Ming Dynasty, and not the Qing, because there's very little in this world that I dislike more than those half-shaved heads and braids. Ming, on the other hand, has those lovely, flowing locks on both men and women. I can support lovely, flowing locks. Once I actually watch the first episode, which is the only subbed right now, I'll come back to this space.
This goes on a list. I have other HuoShows to watch first, and seriously, no room for any of them at the moment.
SO GOOD. I start pining for next week's episodes before I even watch this week's episodes. Julia is really going off the deep end, isn't she? But man, that Hedge Witch guy. He erased her from James' life! How does that work - doesn't he have to remove her from anyone who knew them together, then, too? Did he just disappear Julia from everything she knows? Holy crap!
Also very nice opening episode! (but also quite long) I hadn't read the book yet, so I have no idea where this goes, really. Does he just keep going back over and over so he can erase whatever he screwed up the last time he went back? Think about that for a minute.
Since time is still moving forward, you don't really know what the ultimate effect of anything you change in the past might be. You can't ever know EVERY effect of it. What a gamble! Say you come back home, everything looks good - JFK didn't die, we didn't escalate in Vietnam, it's all sunshine and puppies, you relax. Two weeks later, you get hit by a bus. Boom, you're dead. Two weeks and 1 day later, JFK's illegitimate son with Marilyn Monroe sets off nuclear holocaust because he's mad that Daddy didn't love him enough to claim him publicly. You're dead so it doesn't matter to you - except now all your children are, too, and so is most of the rest of the Eastern Seaboard. When Wall Street disappears, the already shaky global economy gives its last feeble breath and the world sinks into a financial depression so vast that entire countries go under, never to recover. The destablization of the political eco-system is a fertile breeding ground for despots and megalomaniacs, and democracy now exists only as a concept. Congratulations, shithead, you just brought on the Dark Ages. Don't fuck with the past, people. You can't ever know what will happen.
Plus, it fucks back.
Did you ever watch that movie 'Ladder 49' - it was John Travolta and (maybe) Dennis Quaid as firemen? The thing about that movie that has stuck with me over the years is that Fire was a character in the story. It was real - a living, raging, dangerous beast that they fought. I had that same feeling with Time, here. Not that it is a vicious beast, necessarily, but that it is an entity that persists; one that will take swift and violent action to continue a chosen course. I like that.
That's so typical for Stephen King. And he really does it exceptionally well.
I vote they dance around their attraction but never get to act on it, absolutely. And I also vote that I get to replace his therapist. You know, with myself. You saw how giddy the cop got when she saw what he was bringing to the party.
I cringed. Then I went back and watched the first few episodes of the first season, which I never saw, and realized that SO MUCH of what we are seeing, right down to dialogue, is a direct throw-back to the original series. I was getting surface meta, but Lord, there's 17 levels of sub-Meta here, too. And isn't there just one more episode? Have they AT ALL returned to the initial premise of the conspiracy is not a covering up of aliens, but a using aliens to cover up the true intent of the military-industrial complex? No. They have not.
It's very annoying, actually. And the whole storyline with "their son" bores me to death.
I'm just going to wait until it ends, then watch in dribs and drabs or marathon as the particular season deserves.
I've decided that I have enough on my plate, and I read the books so I don't need to watch the series, too. It's just not good enough for me to put something else aside and make room for it.
Would you stop finding new shows, please?! :D
It was I who mentioned Jessica Jones (Maybe) and be prepared for some delicious pain. Plus Killgrave totally screws with my view of David Tennant as charming, sassy Doctor Ten.
ABSOLUTELY.
Aah cannot wait! I will MAKE time for this show. *evil laugh*
So, a question ... anyone else beside me get a not-so-good feeling when looking at the Descendants of the Sun teasers and stuff? I fear... I fear this could be total and utter crap.
At the very, VERY least, any moment that the camera has any portion of Song Joong Ki's face in frame will not be wasted. I can live with that. Hell, even if I just hear his disembodied voice from off to the left, I'm good. Bring it ON.
JoAnne: Will you look at that boy? He is ridiculous!
Asian Shows
Cheese In The Trap
Ever notice how some people are obsessed with the faults of others, only to be the biggest bearers of those faults themselves? That's Yoo Jung in this show. Always blaming and pointing fingers at everyone else for having a victim complex, but the one who is most complexed (correct word?) about being a victim is himself. The Baek siblings actually don't have a victim complex: they're fairly cheerful, brash, easygoing, and straight. Even Baek In Ha is just completely herself. And they take what chances they get, and they do live their lives fully (even Baek In Ha, though she just focuses on flirting and shopping for her interests). Yoo Jung, on the other hand, just wants revenge for all the perceived slights and wrongs, and holds himself back just to make it worse for the other person when they realize the person they trusted actually hates them.In sum, no sympathy for creepy, psycho Jung from me.
JoAnne: Jung is a flawed human. This week's episodes bring us some understanding of how he got to be the way he is. We've already seen that he doesn't like being different, but now we know how much he fears it, too. He has been hurt, and so he hurts others - very much on the emotional level of a young child, but with the brain power of an adult. He isn't evil or sick, he's stunted. It will be interesting to see what his capacity for growth and change can be. As for Baek In Ho...what a love he is, huh?
Six Flying Dragons
Yep, back on this. I get a bit fed up with how intense it can get, though. It was interesting, though, to see how much everyone loved Poeun so much, that even Sambong, whom Poeun betrayed, would have preferred being executed to Poeun dying. Anyway, I'm only up through ep 36. I might get through 37-38 this week. Honestly, I just need another Lost Tomb, though.Every week I listen longingly to the chatter and revisit my decision to wait for a marathon.
Moorim School
Confession Time: This week I only saw one episode, and maybe only part of that, so I can't really speak about the plot. Oh who am I kidding, there's never really any plot to speak of, is there? Well there is, but who would talk about it? I just need the Muffins to come out of this friends, okay? And I never thought I'd say this, but I sort of miss Idol Muffin's silvery hair.I'm not actually sure there is a plot. I'm also beginning to suspect the editor just cuts stuff because the professors have the most inane conversations...and then it cuts to the Muffins trying really hard to act. OMG are they trying. Maybe that's why I'm still watching? In sympathy of their earnest effort? because the ending of the show is very obvious now.
Signal
We have now reached the layer of onion that reveals WHY Sahjussi and Hae Young were brought together by Fate, although really I'm thinking it's one of Fate's less-skilled minions, because I'm pretty sure that anyone who was dead at the start of the drama will continue to be dead at the end of the drama. Sadly.We also find out some pretty key information about our lovely leading lady and her very personal connection to a serial killer who's been operating under the radar for a long, long time. Seriously, every other citizen of Korea is a serial killer, I think.)
Still, this continues to be one of the most gripping KDramas I've ever watched, even without the timey-wimey (nerd girl giggle) element. By the way, I think that's handled pretty well, all considered. (Mostly by NOT considering it. They don't put a lot of rules in place, thus there aren't a lot of people screaming 'violation' and making it hard for me to hear the dialogue. +1000 for that.)
Madame Antoine
That rat bastard Soo Hyun loves Hye Rim now - of course, who wouldn't? She's adorable! - but he's not letting go of his stupidly designed piece-of-shit excuse for an experiment, all the same, and now the fuzzy ducklings are after his ASS. It's a lot of fun to watch, but not something I think about when not watching. Except for Sung Joon kisses. I do think about those. I suppose if Jin Woon was kissing anyone, I'd think about that, too. (No supposing. I definitely would.) I wonder if I'd think about Sung Joon and Jin Woon kissing each other? Nah. They're brothers.
Imperial Doctress
Wallace Huo Alert! Handsome nose alert!Thankfully, this is set in the Ming Dynasty, and not the Qing, because there's very little in this world that I dislike more than those half-shaved heads and braids. Ming, on the other hand, has those lovely, flowing locks on both men and women. I can support lovely, flowing locks. Once I actually watch the first episode, which is the only subbed right now, I'll come back to this space.
This goes on a list. I have other HuoShows to watch first, and seriously, no room for any of them at the moment.
Western Shows
The Magicians
I ordered the books. This is the kind of stuff you cannot get enough of. Holymoly.SO GOOD. I start pining for next week's episodes before I even watch this week's episodes. Julia is really going off the deep end, isn't she? But man, that Hedge Witch guy. He erased her from James' life! How does that work - doesn't he have to remove her from anyone who knew them together, then, too? Did he just disappear Julia from everything she knows? Holy crap!
11.22.63
New show on our list! JoAnne made me watch it. Yes, she's the instigator. Always. (About that. I found us another show. Details below.) I've never liked James Franco much, but he is undeniably good in this.Also very nice opening episode! (but also quite long) I hadn't read the book yet, so I have no idea where this goes, really. Does he just keep going back over and over so he can erase whatever he screwed up the last time he went back? Think about that for a minute.
Plus, it fucks back.
Did you ever watch that movie 'Ladder 49' - it was John Travolta and (maybe) Dennis Quaid as firemen? The thing about that movie that has stuck with me over the years is that Fire was a character in the story. It was real - a living, raging, dangerous beast that they fought. I had that same feeling with Time, here. Not that it is a vicious beast, necessarily, but that it is an entity that persists; one that will take swift and violent action to continue a chosen course. I like that.
That's so typical for Stephen King. And he really does it exceptionally well.
Lucifer
I liked this episode! Lots of funny lines, lots of interesting developments. So he bleeds? Only when she shoots him? Or is he just becoming more and more mortal? I still think the one-crime-a-week thing is not a very good idea, but as long as they keep the relationship between her and him as sizzling as this (and NOT make her fall in love with him please), it will continue to be entertaining.I vote they dance around their attraction but never get to act on it, absolutely. And I also vote that I get to replace his therapist. You know, with myself. You saw how giddy the cop got when she saw what he was bringing to the party.
X-Files
Oh no, did you really have to do the suicide terrorists.... and the doppelgängers? Meh. I get the need for meta and the need to make fun of yourself. But ... I get it. Yes, you guys are old. So are we. Being old sucks.I cringed. Then I went back and watched the first few episodes of the first season, which I never saw, and realized that SO MUCH of what we are seeing, right down to dialogue, is a direct throw-back to the original series. I was getting surface meta, but Lord, there's 17 levels of sub-Meta here, too. And isn't there just one more episode? Have they AT ALL returned to the initial premise of the conspiracy is not a covering up of aliens, but a using aliens to cover up the true intent of the military-industrial complex? No. They have not.
It's very annoying, actually. And the whole storyline with "their son" bores me to death.
Sleepy Hollow
They just don't want to give us Ichabbie. Why not? It makes no sense. It's interesting how such a badly written show can serve to show you that we should never take really well written shows for granted.I'm just going to wait until it ends, then watch in dribs and drabs or marathon as the particular season deserves.
Shadowhunters
Somebody kill that red-haired woman. OMG she is horrible. I fear I need to drop this unless I ffward to all the Alec/Jace scenes.I've decided that I have enough on my plate, and I read the books so I don't need to watch the series, too. It's just not good enough for me to put something else aside and make room for it.
Jessica Jones
I remember someone mentioning this series last year when it started, and making a mental note to check it out. I didn't remember anything other than that it was good, though. So I started the first episode yesterday and it's dark and gritty, a grumpy PI with a serious grudge against nice neighborhoods, food that isn't booze, and pretty much all other humans - the one twist being that this time it's a girl, and you maybe see more of the trauma in her past reflected in her facial expressions. Oh but then wait: she casually lifts a car like it's no one's business. Turns out our grumpy PI is a reformed super hero with a seriously traumatic recent past, and the series is formatted in such a way that each week she battles minions en route to a big show down with 'Killgrave', another of the humans with mysterious powers. His happens to be mind-control, and he's a completely fucked up individual. This is fun, Kakashi.Would you stop finding new shows, please?! :D
It was I who mentioned Jessica Jones (Maybe) and be prepared for some delicious pain. Plus Killgrave totally screws with my view of David Tennant as charming, sassy Doctor Ten.
Looking Forward to ...
We have a date for the drama who's name I'm not sure should be mentioned ... viki's own Dramaworld! It premiers on April 17 and I hope it's as bad as we all think it is. Sounds perfect to be slaughtered on here.ABSOLUTELY.
Aah cannot wait! I will MAKE time for this show. *evil laugh*
At the very, VERY least, any moment that the camera has any portion of Song Joong Ki's face in frame will not be wasted. I can live with that. Hell, even if I just hear his disembodied voice from off to the left, I'm good. Bring it ON.