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.

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.

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.

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.

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?!

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.