Sunday, December 30, 2012

The Snowmen

Christmas trees, Santa, and now snowmen. Doctor Who really wants us to be scared of Christmas, doesn't it? This year's Christmas special introduces us to quite a few new things: new companion, new title sequence, new TARDIS control room.


Sunday, December 23, 2012

Surprise, Motherfucker!

I finally watched Dexter's season finale. I honestly don't know why I delayed watching this for a whole week when I've been following the season weekly. The whole season has been intense; it's the best one of recent years, in my opinion.

The episode contains flashback scenes of when Doakes was still alive; and the one thing I truly miss was the strings of blood spatter that Dexter used, and how he explained in great detail, visually, of how the kill happened. The visible enjoyment of the murders (or his job, as he said), is fascinating.

The main focus of the episode is how LaGuerta is closing in on Dexter's secret. I could not see how he's going to get out of it this time. And he didn't, really. Framing her with the stolen evidence was smart, but you know she's not just going to let it go. That's a smart distraction, but it's not enough. Plus, I thought it was fair since she tried to set him up with the release of Hector Estrada, who killed Dexter's mother. How bad is it that I think LaGuerta is the bad person in this situation? And how ridiculously bad is Miami Metro Homicide that I think it's insane what LaGuerta is doing –– her job. Anyways, I hated her enough as it is, but then she decided to go after Dexter. I thought that would be a good thing, since that would somehow give Dexter a reason to get rid of her (ie. cut her to pieces and dump her in the ocean). But then she had to go and implicate Debra into the mess! I mean, I know that she's technically the good guy here, but come on! I didn't expect Debra to be the one who killed her, though. I did think that Debra would end up killing someone for Dexter, but I thought it would be Hannah. I also believed that the drug in the water bottle was Debra trying to set up Hanna –– I was quite disappointed when she admitted to doing it.

Speaking of Hannah, I am glad that she's still alive, and quite excited that she's out of prison. But it also makes it seem like she's going to be The Big Bad for next season. Why can't they just all get along? I'd love her to stay for a few more seasons, if possible. More importantly, she's obviously being hunted down now; how involved would Debra, the arresting officer, be in this situation now that her life seems to be a big mess?

So what's next? They might try to run away; but that would mean being hunted. LaGuerta missing wouldn't go unnoticed for too long. Plus, Homicide would be on full force because she's one of them. The fact that she was after Dexter, no matter how little others believed her then, would mean that Dexter is a top suspect. If he and Deb ran away, that would mean that they would be chasing them, and that's not gonna end well for anyone. Also, how did they get rid of LaGuerta's body? Deb shot her with her service weapon, which probably means that if the body is found, it wouldn't be too hard to identify Deb as the shooter. So complicated! I can't believe that I have to wait for *months* to see how things play out! Who would Deb be after all this? She's a murderer now, too, even though she's still a good person. Or she tries to be. I CAN'T WAIT THAT LONG!!!

Monday, December 17, 2012

The Final Page: I CALLED IT!


I did have a little outburst a couple weeks ago but after last week's episode, "The Over-Correction," I calmed down a bit because I believed I knew where the writers were going with it. I still would have preferred Barney and Robin to be together earlier in the season (earlier in the series, even), but I guess they wanted to tell the story.

Wednesday, November 28, 2012

Sunday, November 11, 2012

I don't know exactly when I became someone who *needs* sci-fi

But in my attempt to stay away from Firefly until today's Science Channel marathon plus Browncoats Unite event, I was craving for a sci-fi show. Battlestar Galactica and Star Trek: The Next Generation are the two shows most suggested to me.

I'm a couple episodes short of finishing the first season and I have to say, I'm...confused. First of all, I haven't managed to get everyone's names. And, I just have so many questions watching this show. I guess it's the reason I keep on watching it, because I need these questions answered. I don't know what it is, but I just feel like there's something that I'm not getting about this show, and it bothers me.

Saturday, November 10, 2012

The Final Frontier

It's finally here! The long-awaited Castle episode of a murder taking place during a fictional Comic Con. We were promised Firefly references (among other sci-fi things) and they delivered. I squeed like the fangirl I am, multiple times throughout the episode.

Tuesday, October 30, 2012

Initial Reactions: Arrow


I've only watched the first episode, so this is just my first thoughts watching the show. I know they have a lot to tell us, to introduce the characters, settings, and events to viewers; but I'm not a fan of voice-over narrations. They always seem lazy and dull. And I guess I shouldn't expect much from an action show, but I find it lacking smart dialogue/scenes. A lot of the conversations and plot points are clichés. Him doing the Robin Hood is just one of them.

The only thing that I find slightly interesting is what I assume is their main arc, what happened during that accident, what happened on that island, and what's the mom doing? I'm gonna give it a few episodes to turn me around, but I find the pilot to be...boring.

Tuesday, October 23, 2012

Angels Take Manhattan

I finally watched it! I was too scared; because, I thought, if I didn't watch, the Ponds would forever be there. But I guess I just had to at some point.

Well we all know that it was coming; that we'd have to say goodbye to the Ponds. All episodes in season 7 is pretty much preparing us to when it happened. Or, it might be just that because I know that it's happening, I see random things to be connected to it instead of just...random things.


Iron Man 3 Trailer


I hate being this excited for a movie that won't be out for another 6 months. I have to say, the trailer looks really good; it gets our interest up without giving away plot points. Or maybe it's just because I don't know anything about the comic books, so I really wouldn't know anything from seeing tiny bits of the movie. Then again, what's most interesting to me is Tony Stark's character development. From Iron Man to Iron Man 2, and then The Avengers, we've seen quite a range of Tony Stark's personality. I cannot wait to see how he deals with the aftermath of what happened in The Avengers, which he mentioned in the trailer.

On a sadder note, I hate the fact that they keep destroying his home. From the Iron Man movies to the Stark Tower in The Avengers, it's like he has to keep building a new home every year. And more importantly, that means we don't get to see the awesomeness of a Tony Stark home as often as I'd like. I mean, why won't they just make a whole movie of Stark and Bruce Banner hanging out at the Stark Tower's lab? I'm sure it'll sell.

Friday, October 19, 2012

Community Premieres...Someday

Well here's the video that the cast tweeted about:

I guess I just didn't know when October 19th is!

Why does NBC hate Human Beings?

I know this is old news that Community's season premier is postponed, and that us fans have been quite sad for a while now, but I'm watching Joel McHale on Jimmy Kimmel Live and he mentioned it again and I got sad, again. Especially because today is the supposed premier date!

Well, McHale came on Kimmel's show, originally, to promote the season premier. Of course, he handled the postponement really well. I just love the guy: "Our Halloween episode would be awesome in February!" Instead, he jokingly promoted Revolution, the new NBC show that I'm planning to watch; according to Joel, it's awesome because it's the apocalypse, "but everyone looks awesome."

Back to Community itself and why I love the cast: Joel mentioned that they shot a little sketch (about a minute long) that will be tweeted today, by the cast. Hey, if NBC wouldn't promote the show, why shouldn't they do it themselves? I know they said that postponing the show is good, and that NBC would actually promote it when it finally gets back, but I really wouldn't believe them until I see it.

Wednesday, October 17, 2012

So...is she in?


Last season wasn't the best; I think after a few episodes it was very obvious where the season was going. I have to say, even though I expected that what happened at the cliffhanger of last season's finale would happen, it did still surprise me a little bit. But, all in all, season 6 as a whole wasn't that exciting. Season 7, however, has been intense so far. The first 3 episodes are focused on Dexter and Debra, as they should. I love both of them so much, and I'm interested in seeing how this revelation would change their relationship.

Monday, October 15, 2012

NYCC '12 Firefly panel

Freaks and Geeks

I had just found out that Freaks and Geeks is available on Netflix so I decided to watch it. I'm only about 4-5 episodes in and I'm loving it so far. Well, considering that it only lasted 18 episodes, 4-5 episodes is a good chunk of it.

It is quite strange seeing these actors as kids, as I've known most of them from their more recent works. Most of them look exactly the same, though. Well, taller, but the same.

It's a very good coming-of-age show that deals with issues for high school students of certain groups (the freaks and the geeks), but they deal with it well, instead of falling to the stereotypes. I'm really not smart enough to analyze the show further, especially since I'm barely into it at the moment, but it's just a good show.


Friday, October 12, 2012

Well, it's Sherlock Holmes!

I tried, but I couldn't stop myself from comparing it to BBC's Sherlock, which is such a brilliant show. Sure, there are many "similarities" to be found – I use quotes here because sometimes we just see what we wanna see – but I believe that they're completely different shows; not just because Watson is a woman.


Wednesday, September 26, 2012

Bones: Season 1

After finishing Angel, I decided to follow David Boreanaz and watch Bones. I'm at the end of season 1 (already) and I still can't make up my mind if I actually like this show. Not saying that it's bad, but it still hasn't got me hooked. The fact that I went through the season quickly just proves that I have no life, not that I love the show. I'm sure it's a good show, being in its eighth season and all, but I'm still waiting for that one thing (other than Boreanaz's face) that will get me hooked.


Sunday, September 23, 2012

Wait...that's it?!

I mean... WHAT THE HELL HAPPENS NEXT?! Yet another Joss Whedon series that ended way too soon. Angel could definitely go for another season or two. But, I have to say, I think that it was a great ending to the series.

In the end, Angel signed away his chance of happiness and humanity for a chance to fight evil –– just like a hero would. I thought that was one of the defining moments in the show; Angel, for the last few seasons, was driven by The Shanshu Prophechy, which said that Angel will be returned to his human form after he defeats evil. The fact that he realized that that's not supposed to be his goal, that this thing is bigger than him, to me showed what a strong character he is. Sure, he seems shaky at best at one point or another, but he does give everything (including a chance of happiness with Buffy) for the greater good.

Wednesday, September 19, 2012

Angel vs. Spike

Obviously, the ultimate question of the Buffy series. Or not -- I mean, there's the whole saving the world (again), sharing power, not being alone anymore thing. Maybe the ultimate question is supposed to be "what happens next?" But right now, just after finishing all 7 seasons of Buffy, I'm all about Angel and/or Spike.

I've mentioned in my previous post that in Buffy, we didn't actually see enough of Angel (pre-Angelus revival). Sure, I was attracted to his mysteriousness and his brooding, but we weren't let in on his character. Not that Spike did any better in the earlier seasons, especially since he wasn't supposed to last too long in the show.

After Angel branched out to Angel and Spike became a more permanent fixture in Buffy, things got more interesting. We get to see who Angel(us) is and how much he's willing to give to help the helpless. We also get to see how adorable Spike is when he's in love with Buffy. Spike is definitely the breakout character in the universe, so if we're just talking about character development, Spike is the runaway winner. However, I'm very interested in the fact that pre-chip, soulless Spike is very tame compared to Angelus; this makes me think that character-wise, we can dig much deeper into Angel(us).

We can't really compare their relationships with Buffy, since it was more about Buffy growing up than Angel or Spike themselves. Angel's relationship was all about romance. It was both of their first loves. It was very romantic and innocent -- well up until Angel achieved that moment of true happiness and lost his soul and turned evil and tried to kill everyone. Spike's relationship was definitely not about innocence or romance. It was physical and maybe even a little toxic to both of them. Buffy admitted it herself, she was using him. Not that he minded.

Tall, dark, and forehead.
I have to say, I was very disappointed of how small Angel's part was in the final battle. I expected him to stick around until the end, but Buffy had to kick him back out to Los Angeles. I would have loved to see an Angel and Spike scene (or, even better, multiple scenes) with Buffy caught in the middle of it all. I absolutely loved it that the hundreds of years old vampires turned into jealous preteens; they're just so adorable. Both of these relationships were given a great ending, in my opinion. Sure we don't know what happens to Buffy next (except for the comic books -- I should look into it after I'm done with Angel), but it was just so them, the way it ended: Angel telling Buffy that he'd wait until she's ready, and Spike telling Buffy that he knows she doesn't love him, and still thanked her for saying so.

So, Angel or Spike? I really can't choose. I agree with Buffy. Have them wrestle it out, with oil of some kind involved. I'm sure there are fanfictions on this...right? (To Google I go!)

Monday, September 3, 2012

The Dark Avenger

To get the timeline right, I'm watching Buffy and Angel simultaneously (i.e. watch one episode of Buffy followed by one episode of Angel, and so forth). I know that there won't be much crossover –– I've checked a few fansites –– but I, stupidly, still hold hope. I just think they could make it work, somehow.

I'm about 3/4 through Angel's first season now and I am liking this show a bit more than Buffy. It might be because I like looking at David Boreanaz more than looking at Sarah Michelle Gellar. Obviously, the tall dark handsome hunk of mystery got my attention, so I was waiting for Angel to have a bigger part in Buffy. Getting his own show allows him more screen time (duh!) and more character growth. I am excited to learn more about Angel(us) –– both good and evil.

The more I learn about Angel's character, the more charming and adorable I find him to be –– or maybe it's just the more I see him on my screen instead of the whole character thing. I even think he's cute, which is strange because a brooding, skulking, and pining vampire probably shouldn't be cute. But he is. Sometimes, his adorableness almost makes me forget about his darkness. And I definitely enjoy the glimpses of Angelus. Less brooding and a whole lot more fun. But, you know, Angel-with-a-soul looks like he could use a hug, and I really want to give him one.

Sunday, September 2, 2012

Asylum of the Daleks

Tonight's the night. It's finally back. I am disappointed in myself that I only managed to get up to halfway of season 3 in my rewatch; Buffy and Angel definitely got in the way of doing this more properly. But hey, it's back!!

New title sequence

Monday, August 27, 2012

Angel: Good or Evil

I've gotten to the part where Angel lost his soul and I honestly can't decide which Angel I like more, the good one or the evil one.

Obviously, a good-looking guy lurking in the dark being all mysterious is just irresistible, which is why I was attracted to Angel since the first time he appeared. It was quite frustrating how little of Angel we were shown in season 1; I was expecting so much more of him. With all the mysteriousness surrounding his character, I thought we would regularly see him throughout the season, learning a tiny more about him each time. But we didn't get any of those.

And then, just when I thought we were getting a bit more Angel in the middle of season 2, Buffy had to step up her game and slept with Angel, which then made him soulless again. While we're on the subject, "one moment of true happiness" after how long? There's no way the poor thing never got laid. I mean, look at him!

If I'm being honest, I'd probably say that I like Evil Angel more than Good Angel. He just seems more alive now. Well, he's definitely getting a much bigger part in the show now that he's evil. His cockiness and that mischief in his eyes are definitely turn-ons. How could you not love a guy (vampire) who gives a girl a fresh, warm human heart for Valentine's Day? Can't get any more romantic than that, right? Also, I love it when he turns vampire-face and growls. Then again, Good Angel showed a lot more of his brooding skills, which he's honed for 100 years. Why do I find brooding attractive? There must be something wrong with me.

Thursday, August 23, 2012

Buffy the Vampire Slayer

From the title, I thought it would be about Buffy and a bunch of vampires. I was wrong. They have a lot of other creatures too!

Not quite sure why I even started watching Buffy seeing how I'm running out of time for my Doctor Who re-watch; but I can't stop now! I'm only 5 episodes in so I have a long way to go.

Buffy actually somewhat reminds me of Doctor Who –– the crappy special effects, cheesy dialogue/plot-line, the monsters. It also reminds me of Power Rangers.

It's quite interesting so far. Yes, I'm once again attracted to the dark, handsome, and incredibly mysterious character, this time in Angel (David Boreanaz). I'm pretty sure, after I'm done with Buffy (and hopefully my Doctor Who re-watch), I'm gonna start watching Angel and Bones.

DW Rewatch


I'm hoping to re-watch the first 6 seasons of Doctor Who before season 7 starts. It was just recently announced that episode 1 of season 7 will air on September 1st on BBC America, therefore I now have 9 days to watch about 4 seasons and a few specials. Not sure how that's gonna happen, but I will definitely try. I will be disappointed in myself if I couldn't do this.

Monday, July 30, 2012

I want a Castle-HIMYM crossover

I've been re-watching Castle and I keep thinking of how awesome it would be if they crossover to the How I Met Your Mother universe. They're both set in New York City, so it's really not difficult to imagine the two shows collide (if we ignore the fact that they're on different networks). More importantly, I want Richard Castle and Barney Stinson to meet. I think they can either get along really well with, or just absolutely hate, each other.

I couldn't help but notice how similar Castle and Barney are. They're both quite childish and refusing to grow up. They're both wealthy playboys in the beginning of the series, now ready to settle down. They both subscribe to SkyMall! And, they can play laser tag together.

The plot can be about a murder; its investigation takes Castle and Beckett to MacLaren's bar. There, they meet the HIMYM gang. Then, Barney's shady job leads him to be suspect in the case and to the 12th Precinct. Since both shows are on Monday nights, they can air a crossover episode for each show on the same night. And they end up at The Old Haunt after Barney's cleared, because I just want to see that place again after Castle bought it.

Or, I can always search for crossover fanfictions. I'm sure this exists somewhere! (Or I could write one)

Thursday, July 26, 2012

Castle: Season 4


I'm still in a Firefly withdrawal, so I decided to catch up on Castle. It's lacking the rest of the crew, but Nathan Fillion is definitely better than nothing at all. Also, how could I have never noticed Nathan's amazing hair? I was so obsessed with David Tennant's hair during my Doctor Who run, but it took me 3 or 4 times of Firefly/Serenity and twice through Castle to finally appreciate Nathan's.

Now that I've got that out of my system, let's go back to the show itself.

Monday, July 23, 2012

The Dark Knight Rises

Who knew that theaters have 3 AM showtimes?! So of course we went to that one! I have to say, that was quite the experience. Waiting for 3 AM to come wasn't the best part, but leaving the movie theater barely missing sunrise was pretty fun. Oh, and, also, the movie was great.

Wednesday, July 18, 2012

Firefly re-watch

In anticipation of Firefly's 10th anniversary panel at San Diego Comic-Con, I've decided to re-watch the show. Strangely, seeing how much I'm attached to the characters, I don't think I've watched this show too many times. With only 14 episodes and a movie, there are a few episodes that I don't quite remember. The thing about this show is that there's no weak episode; it's always either "I love this episode!" or "This is one of my favorites, for sure!"

Firefly is, I believe, the show that made me realize that I might actually like sci-fi. I wouldn't consider myself a fan of sci-fi before I watched this show, until someone recommended the series, knowing that I didn't watch sci-fi, but insisted that I would love the show. And she was definitely right. I always feel like I owe her for introducing me to Firefly (in turn, I introduced her to Chuck, Castle, and Sherlock, among others). But then again, it also means she exposed me to this sadness and void that its cancelation has provided.

Tuesday, June 26, 2012

The world must be peopled!

Browsed through Netflix for something to watch and came across Much Ado About Nothing (1993) by Kenneth Branagh. My only previous exposure to "Much Ado About Nothing" was through the Catherine Tate-David Tennant play, and I couldn't help but to compare the two. I thoroughly enjoyed both versions, although I thought the play was slightly funnier. The title of this post, "the world must be peopled," is one of my favorite lines.

What I wasn't expecting from this movie was its all-star cast; it featured Kenneth Branagh, Michael Keaton, Emma Thompson, Keanu Reeves, Robert Sean Leonard, Kate Beckinsale, and Denzel Washington. If I was only focusing on Tennant and Tate in the play, I was definitely paying attention to the whole cast of the movie.

This has made me interested in reading "Much Ado About Nothing" and other Shakespeare's works. And I'm definitely excited to see Joss Whedon's adaptation of the play, whenever that comes out.

Monday, June 25, 2012

We Just Decided To

It's Aaron Sorkin's newest show, so obviously people were talking about it and expectations were high. It could be another The West Wing, or it could be another Studio 60 (which I still enjoy, but if I'm honest, it wasn't a great show). I tried avoiding critics/reviews as best as I could before watching the episode, but I did see that the reviews were mostly on the mixed to negative spectrum.


Since I haven't watched Sports Night –– Sorkin's other behind-the-scenes show –– I drew more parallels to Studio 60. When I read a tweet saying that the "opening monologue was the best [he's] seen," I immediately thought of Wes Mendell's rant on Studio 60. It was both good and bad, as in I thought Studio 60 had a very strong pilot episode, but a few episodes in and it fell short of the expectations.

Monday, June 18, 2012

Mad Men: Season 5

Finally caught up on Mad Men. I was getting tired of accidentally seeing pictures of spoilery scenes on /r/madmen so I decided to watch all of the episodes this weekend.

I have managed to avoid the season reviews, but I've seen a few critics tweet that this is the shows' weakest season yet. I don't know if I agree with that, but I understand that their weakest season doesn't mean that it's weak; they do have a very high standard.

Saturday, June 2, 2012

The Avengers: Take Two

I finally had the chance to re-watch The Avengers last night. I originally watched it during its opening weekend. The theater was packed and everyone was experiencing the movie for the first time. We were all amazed by the spectacle, and our laughter would sometimes drown out the lines that followed. It's one of the reasons I wanted to re-watch it; I felt like I missed so many things.

This time, the theater was almost empty; there were probably about 15 people there. It was such a different experience. My friends and I knew what to expect and we would sometimes laugh right before a funny line was delivered. I'm sure there are a few other people at the theater who were there for their n-th time watching as well. So this time, I was actually paying more attention looking for little details that I've missed.

Tuesday, May 22, 2012

What the fuck, Sony?!

So... this happened over the weekend:
Kids:

A few hours ago, I landed in Los Angeles, turned on my phone, and confirmed what you already know. Sony Pictures Television is replacing me as showrunner on Community [...]

[...] because nobody called me, and then started hiring people to run the show, I had my assistant start packing up my office days ago. I’m sorry. I’m not saying seasons 1, 2 and 3 were my definition of perfect television, I’m just saying that whatever they’re going to do for season 4, they’re aiming to do without my help.
If you haven't done so, read this candid tumblr post by Dan Harmon. It's very refreshing – in a sad "Sony is ruining Community" kind of way.

Seriously – what the fuck, Sony?!

Monday, May 14, 2012

The Magician's Code

I've just finished watching the hour-long finale of How I Met Your Mother; and as promised, Barney's bride is revealed.

On Community's move to Fridays

I mean, I'm glad that NBC made the right decision to bring it back, although it's for a short-order season, and I know that they maintain that moving the show to Fridays is a good thing, but it's called the death slot for a reason! Not only that, they get Whitney as a lead in.



Thursday, May 10, 2012

Cougar Town moves to TBS

CT's latest title card, with a quote from their biggest fan, Abed.
It's finally official! Cougar Town will be on TBS next season, with a possibility for another one (or more). The actors have deals for two seasons. Hopefully TBS puts more attention to this show! This past season has been tough on them since ABC delayed their season, and cut the season order short. Hoping for more Cougar Town-Community crossovers!

Saturday, April 21, 2012

[SPOILER] Thoughts on the upcoming season of Doctor Who

The season is still months away, but every little bit of spoiler excites me. So here's what we know so far:

Sunday, April 15, 2012

Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip

I was basically Sorkin-dialogue-deprived after The West Wing and just couldn't stop myself from watching Studio 60 – it was either this or re-watching TWW and I don't want to get tired of TWW just yet (however unlikely it now seems, it will happen if I keep watching it). Plus, Matthew Perry and Bradley Whitford and their wonderful chemistry; can't go wrong there!


It's been a while since I last watched S60, which I blogged about a little on my old blog, but I remember thinking that the Pilot episode was very strong – maybe not as strong as TWW's Pilot – it got me intrigued and captivated right away. I vividly remember watching Wes Mendell's (Judd Hirsch) rant and felt that this was gonna be a good show.

Weeds

I developed a little girl-crush on Mary-Louise Parker after watching The West Wing –– which is quite strange, with a show that has so many smart, powerful men. Side note: all my girl crushes have been brunette (Olivia Wilde, Mila Kunis, and now Parker); that must mean something.

Welcome back, Mad Men!


I'm finally caught up on this season's Mad Men, which I delayed watching because the season premiered right in the middle of my West Wing run.

It's been way too long! 17 months separated season 4 and season 5, and I couldn't remember what happened. Through the double episode premier, I was basically trying to remember everyone's names, who they are, what they do, and what they've been up to. Joan (Christina Hendricks) had her and Roger's (John Slattery) baby – though it seems like they're saying that it's her husbands – and Don (Jon Hamm) is married. Other than that, I'm still a little fuzzy on the details.

And I still hate Pete Campbell (Vincent Kartheiser). I've never liked him since the first season, and I dislike him even more now. I mean, who does he think he is, being that disrespectful to Roger Sterling?! He owes a lot to the guy!

There's something about this show that makes me uncomfortable – I haven't figured out what it is – yet I keep getting pulled into it. I'm contemplating watching the first 4 seasons again to refresh my memory but after The West Wing, I'm leaning towards something lighter to marathon.

Saturday, April 14, 2012

The Cabin in the Woods

Not the biggest horror/thriller fan; I tend to avoid them. But it's Friday the 13th, and it's Joss Whedon and it's Bradley Whitford, so I gave it a shot. A couple favorable reviews of the movie that I skimmed through also piqued my curiosity and nudged me towards the movie theater.

[It might get spoilery – although I try to avoid that – under the cut]

Wednesday, April 11, 2012

Postmortem: The West Wing


It might be my attention span problem, but I wasn't as excited about the show during the last two seasons as I was in the first five. It was still a very good show, don't get me wrong, but with Josh Lyman (Bradley Whitford) running the Santos campaign, the show became very fragmented, and I found that to be much less enjoyable than the earlier seasons.

My biggest problem is with Matt Santos (Jimmy Smits) himself [side note: nothing personal against him, but I didn't like his character on Dexter either]. I just didn't buy Santos as a competent presidential candidate, let alone as POTUS. Smits doesn't have that presidential presence that Martin Sheen has, and that alone made the new administration seem a lot weaker than Bartlet's.

Saturday, March 31, 2012

Goodbye, Sam Seaborn! :(

I was just looking through the cast list of The West Wing on IMDB when I saw that Rob Lowe was only in 82 episodes, instead of 154 like the rest of the main cast.

Seasons 1-4 main cast

I was determined to avoid reading any stories on the issue, so I don't spoil the storyline to myself. But curiosity got the better of me, and I started reading articles that enlightened me to what happened.

Monday, March 26, 2012

Just a random thought

For some reason, I find it strange that the people on The West Wing were still using pagers in season 1, and then some - not all - of them had cellphones in seasons 2 and 3. I know it was during that time when cellphones started booming, but I honestly thought that these people, who are leaders of the most powerful country in the world, would somehow be more technologically advanced than the rest of the world. They'd have things before they're invented. Stupid thought, I know, but it bugs me that they don't have Internet on the go, that only a few of them have cellphones, that information is not readily available anywhere, anytime. We are a spoiled generation!

And, another random thought: the clock ticking in The Oval Office is, if not just a coincidence, simply brilliant. Adds an urgency around anything that happens in that room. Not that it needed any, but I just thought it was brilliant.

Sunday, March 25, 2012

Can White House people really be this cool?

I have just finished season 2 of The West Wing and, I have to say, this might be the best television show I've ever watched.

That doesn't say much, that's for sure – it's not like I've watched that many TV shows – but even when on paper, I'm not particularly interested in the subject, I can't seem to stop plowing through the episodes. I watched season 2 in 2 days!

I don't understand, nor was I interested in, the American government. This is one of those shows that I feel are smarter than I am. It's incredible to see the variety of issues that these people have to deal with on a daily basis. It shows how essential loyalty and friendship are between these very important people, to be able to do what they do.

It took me quite a few episodes to grasp the different characters and their positions within the White House. And even after two seasons, I'm still confused as to what their roles are. The senior staff seem to be doing everything important, instead of each having their own particular function. Or maybe there is, but I'm just not getting it. Again, the show feels smarter than I am; so I probably missed a lot of things – something which I tend to do, especially when I go through episodes as quickly as I do.

I did develop a crush on Josh Lyman (Bradley Whitford); and I think he and Donna have the most adorable boss-assistant relationship and friendship. I just love their banter.

I honestly don't know how to stop myself from watching more episodes tonight. I think I need a little break from it; and it'd be nice to go a little slower and save more episodes for the upcoming weeks, but that seems unlikely. I'm still debating whether I should start watching season 3 tonight or wait until at least tomorrow morning. Oh, who am I kidding; I'm probably gonna watch season 3 right after I publish this post!

Monday, March 19, 2012

The West Wing

I'm all caught up on Doctor Who, so I decided to watch The West Wing while waiting for the new series. I've been a fan of creator Aaron Sorkin's other works, especially Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip and The Social Network, and if not for all the critical acclaim and love from the fans, I knew I would love this dialogue-heavy show.


Friday, March 9, 2012

Just one more (tiny) Doctor Who rant

It's just that whenever Matt Smith does or says something, I wonder what it would be like if David Tennant was the one doing or saying it. It just makes me miss him as the Doctor so much! And it's not helping when Matt says David's lines ("don't blink; don't even blink") or does something similar to what David used to do. Also, I find Matt's Doctor to be very – odd. Makes him more alien. I guess he is alien, so him acting strangely isn't actually strange. But, UGH! I MISS DAVID TENNANT!

Back to the show itself...

Monday, March 5, 2012

The Eleventh Hour

I finally watched Matt Smith's first episode on Doctor Who. I think it's just common courtesy to hate him a little bit for replacing David Tennant. I know I'm going to like him soon enough, so I'd like to take this opportunity to rant about how much I hate him. Nothing personal; just because he happens to be there...


Wednesday, February 29, 2012

New Avengers trailer

A new trailer for The Avengers was released earlier today on the Apple trailers site.
The 2:21 long trailer showed a few new clips, mostly on initiating the team. Two things that excite me: (1) we *finally* see Cobie Smulders, and (2) the new Iron Man suit looks awesome!

The movie will be out on May 4. I can't wait! I'll try my best to stay away from reviews/critics because they just spoil the movie.

Monday, February 27, 2012

The Waters of Mars

I have just finished watching "The Waters of Mars" and this post is more about a few questions about The Doctor (or Time Lords in general) than about the episode itself.

Bowie Base One crew
In this story, The Doctor is faced with a dilemma yet again. For once, the TARDIS lands in a fixed point in time. This is very unlike The Doctor; being in a place and time where/when he isn't allowed to fix things.

Tuesday, February 21, 2012

Torchwood: Season 3

I watched the entire season 3 of Torchwood in about 2 days.

The season, titled "Children of Earth", was reduced to a 5-episode mini series instead of a full 13-episode season, I believe due to budget cuts. The episodes were aired every weeknight for one week on BBC One and the story was also set to be in the span of five days (each episode is one day). The concept seems interesting. I've heard good things about season 3 so I expected it to be better than the first two seasons.

Community returns March 15th!

[source]
Finally!

Monday, February 20, 2012

No Pressure

This is the one comedy show that manages to make me cry time and time again. Even though this time it was just one tiny little tear, it was still tears.


Let's go back to the end of the last episode, "The Drunk Train". I'm pretty sure most, if not all, fans of the show were left wondering, "seriously? We're doing this again?" But I have faith in the writers (and spoilers and/or fan reactions on forums etc) so I wasn't too worried about it. I mean, I'm sure the writers knew that Ted telling Robin he loved her is beating a dead horse. They know what they're doing; they *are* 7.5 seasons into the show by now.

So let's break this episode down to the three story-lines (Ted/Robin, Marshall/Lily, Ted/Barney):

Torchwood: Season 2

I have to say, season 2 is *a lot* better than the first one. It might be because they explored the characters a bit more. In particular, Ianto Jones. In the first season, we barely see him; but the second season showed us the snarky, witty, and sarcastic Ianto who plays a significantly more integral part in the Torchwood team. I always love a good looking man with that kind of sense of humor.

In my opinion, the second season has much stronger story lines, but unfortunately still has the cheesy scenes/lines that plague both Torchwood and Doctor Who.

I still have my reservations about Gwen. Her character is still too predictable for my taste, and sometimes it just feels like she's trying too hard. She's definitely not the type of character I'd like as a female lead in a show.

Season two ended with the deaths of Tosh and Owen; which, strangely, didn't affect me as much as it should. After two seasons, I would expect myself to have connected with them a lot more than I actually did. But the characters of this show have really underwhelmed me; I just can't empathize with them as I do other shows' characters.

I am excited that the show seems to be getting better, and I do love the increase of Ianto screen time. It's quite interesting to see what they're going to do now that the team is cut down in size by half.

Monday, January 23, 2012

Season vs. Series

I've been watching mostly British shows lately, and I confused myself with how I use the terms "season" and "series". The British use "series" as the Americans use "season" and I used to use "series" to mean the show as a whole. So, I've decided to try to avoid using the term "series" and use the terms "season" and "show" instead (in other words, use the American standard that I'm more familiar with).

Torchwood: season 1

A little back story: I was on my first Doctor Who marathon, fell in love with David Tennant, and was heartbroken when the tenth Doctor regenerated. I couldn't get myself to start watching post-Tennant Doctor Who, so I decided to re-watch it from season 1; and maybe, this time, if I didn't stop to mourn the loss of Tennant, I can just continue watching to season 5 and beyond. So, I thought, while I'm at it, why not watch Torchwood too? I have to say, the first time I watched Who, I missed so many mentions and references of Torchwood throughout season 2, just like I missed "Bad Wolf" in season 1.


Monday, January 16, 2012

Let's try this!

I wanted to start writing reviews or just opinions on movies and TV shows that I watch. I'm planning to at least write a short review of each movie that I watch at the theater, and a season review for TV shows that I follow. Not sure how well this would go, since I've planned on writing up reviews for Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows and The Adventures of Tintin, but they are still on my original blog's drafts list, never to be published. Fingers crossed!

There might be some cross posts or maybe I'll move some posts from my old blog to this one.