Media Roundup
Oct. 16th, 2005 02:03 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
alexxkayLast weekend, I came across Tremors while channel-surfing. Never saw it before, and had heard good things about it, so I watched it. It was pretty neat. Not "Great Art", but a fine example of its genre. Would have made a good Kitchencon movie.
The characters, while stereotyped, were not one-dimensional. Moreover, they were all reasonably intelligent, and none of them decided to turn Eeeevil. Because of this, roughly half the human cast actually *survives* the movie, which is an unusually high ratio for this genre. And most of the early fatalities came from people whose only mistake was in not yet realizing that they are in a Monster Movie (knowing your genre is *so* important). Once the survivors realize the trouble they're in, they begin acting accordingly, and very few of them die after that.
The monsters, while not remotely *plausible*, were consistent in their behavior. And, as a bonus, it was -- technically, at least -- possible to kill them with conventional weapons. Mind you, it took a *lot* of conventional firepower, so they were still a formidable threat. But the writers never resorted to "They can be killed by common tapwater!" or similar copout weaknesses.
It reminded me of something![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
james_nicoll said that he wanted to see more of in stories (paraphrasing here): "Competent characters acting competently to deal with a problem." Recommended.
Have started watching the Muppet Show Season 1 DVDs. There's a semi-nifty optional subtitle track called "Muppet Morsels" that supplies occasionally interesting trivia while the episode plays. Unfortunately, I didn't realize this until after I'd watched Disc 1, so didn't actually turn it on until Disc 2.
Much of the classic show is there from the start. Fozzy and Piggy each have voices that don't completely gel until several episodes in, but their personalities are apparent from the start. Much of what was featured on the classis Muppet Show record shows up in the first few episodes, including "Mahna Mahna" in episode 1. Dr. Bunsen Honeydew shows up on disc 2, but no Beaker until next season. Veterenarian's Hospital is there from the start, as is the "Ballroom" sketch. Scooter is present from the first episode -- which is actually a little odd, since he shows up "for the first time" in episode 6, and clearly no one has met him yet. Statler and Waldorf heckle Fozzy mercilessly, and cap off the end credits. Gonzo is Gonzo, right from the start, though his chicken obsession hasn't shown up yet.
Contrariwise, there are lots of regular bits in the early eps that I'm pretty sure didn't make it into the later seasons. Most eps have a "panel discussion", featuring Kermit, the guest, and 3 other muppets, which invariably degenerates from the alleged topic within seconds. Kermit always has an on-stage conversation with the guest star, and, if she's a pretty lady, he flirts shamelessly with her! (The word 'pretty' is required here: Ruth Buzzi did *not* get flirted with.) There's a weird blackout sketch involving talking houses. A few of the early guests got given Muppet-versions of themselves at the end of the show, but they stopped doing this pretty early. George the Janitor and Hilda the Seamstress are major characters in season 1, but they don't really have staying power.
A word of caution: This set is missing several musical numbers, on account of problems securing the rights. So if you're ultra-completist, you may want to hold on to some of the earlier releases of some episodes. But this set still has much material that has never been released before, and is a must-have for any serious Muppet fan.
Oh, and after watching several episodes in a row,kestrell managed to fry my brain with one simple question: "I wonder how Fozzy would tell The Aristocrats?"
It being the first non-rainy day in what seems like forever, I went to pick up comics. It seems like my prediction that pamphlet-format comics were being supplanted by books-format is coming true, at least for me personally. For a while now, books have been predominating by weight in my purchases, but this time (2-3 weeks worth) they predominated by sheer *number* as well.
Asjducouer has mentioned, there sure are a lot of Oz-related comics out there now. It's a crying shame that none of them is Oz Squad...
While Steve was ringing up my purchases, I noticed a promo poster on the wall for "Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man #1". This is the new, Peter David written Spidey book, that has the editorial/marketing mandate to be accessible to new readers. Well, it *had* that mandate at some point in pre-production. But now, Issue #1 of this brand new book is *also* part 1 of a major 12-part crossover event. Issues 2 and 3 will also be part of this event, and not written by Peter David. This is what they call a new-reader-friendly launch? Most comic companies shoot themselves in the foot from time to time, but only Marvel seems to regularly use double-barrelled shotguns when doing so.
I mentioned my general disgust with this to Steve, and he pointed out that on page 2 of issue 1, Mary Jane gives Peter a blowjob. "Friendly" neighborhood, indeed! Looking at the actual artwork (all very tasteful, in silhouette), I'm not convinced that it was *meant* to read as a blowjob, though it clearly was meant to read as 'having sex' of some sort. Apparently some retailers Down South are up in arms over this, and are bagging the issue in plastic and not selling it to kids. After all, how scarring might it be to a child to suggest that married adults might be having sex (in their own bedroom, with the lights out)...
The characters, while stereotyped, were not one-dimensional. Moreover, they were all reasonably intelligent, and none of them decided to turn Eeeevil. Because of this, roughly half the human cast actually *survives* the movie, which is an unusually high ratio for this genre. And most of the early fatalities came from people whose only mistake was in not yet realizing that they are in a Monster Movie (knowing your genre is *so* important). Once the survivors realize the trouble they're in, they begin acting accordingly, and very few of them die after that.
The monsters, while not remotely *plausible*, were consistent in their behavior. And, as a bonus, it was -- technically, at least -- possible to kill them with conventional weapons. Mind you, it took a *lot* of conventional firepower, so they were still a formidable threat. But the writers never resorted to "They can be killed by common tapwater!" or similar copout weaknesses.
It reminded me of something
james_nicoll said that he wanted to see more of in stories (paraphrasing here): "Competent characters acting competently to deal with a problem." Recommended.Have started watching the Muppet Show Season 1 DVDs. There's a semi-nifty optional subtitle track called "Muppet Morsels" that supplies occasionally interesting trivia while the episode plays. Unfortunately, I didn't realize this until after I'd watched Disc 1, so didn't actually turn it on until Disc 2.
Much of the classic show is there from the start. Fozzy and Piggy each have voices that don't completely gel until several episodes in, but their personalities are apparent from the start. Much of what was featured on the classis Muppet Show record shows up in the first few episodes, including "Mahna Mahna" in episode 1. Dr. Bunsen Honeydew shows up on disc 2, but no Beaker until next season. Veterenarian's Hospital is there from the start, as is the "Ballroom" sketch. Scooter is present from the first episode -- which is actually a little odd, since he shows up "for the first time" in episode 6, and clearly no one has met him yet. Statler and Waldorf heckle Fozzy mercilessly, and cap off the end credits. Gonzo is Gonzo, right from the start, though his chicken obsession hasn't shown up yet.
Contrariwise, there are lots of regular bits in the early eps that I'm pretty sure didn't make it into the later seasons. Most eps have a "panel discussion", featuring Kermit, the guest, and 3 other muppets, which invariably degenerates from the alleged topic within seconds. Kermit always has an on-stage conversation with the guest star, and, if she's a pretty lady, he flirts shamelessly with her! (The word 'pretty' is required here: Ruth Buzzi did *not* get flirted with.) There's a weird blackout sketch involving talking houses. A few of the early guests got given Muppet-versions of themselves at the end of the show, but they stopped doing this pretty early. George the Janitor and Hilda the Seamstress are major characters in season 1, but they don't really have staying power.
A word of caution: This set is missing several musical numbers, on account of problems securing the rights. So if you're ultra-completist, you may want to hold on to some of the earlier releases of some episodes. But this set still has much material that has never been released before, and is a must-have for any serious Muppet fan.
Oh, and after watching several episodes in a row,
kestrell managed to fry my brain with one simple question: "I wonder how Fozzy would tell The Aristocrats?"It being the first non-rainy day in what seems like forever, I went to pick up comics. It seems like my prediction that pamphlet-format comics were being supplanted by books-format is coming true, at least for me personally. For a while now, books have been predominating by weight in my purchases, but this time (2-3 weeks worth) they predominated by sheer *number* as well.
As
jducouer has mentioned, there sure are a lot of Oz-related comics out there now. It's a crying shame that none of them is Oz Squad...While Steve was ringing up my purchases, I noticed a promo poster on the wall for "Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man #1". This is the new, Peter David written Spidey book, that has the editorial/marketing mandate to be accessible to new readers. Well, it *had* that mandate at some point in pre-production. But now, Issue #1 of this brand new book is *also* part 1 of a major 12-part crossover event. Issues 2 and 3 will also be part of this event, and not written by Peter David. This is what they call a new-reader-friendly launch? Most comic companies shoot themselves in the foot from time to time, but only Marvel seems to regularly use double-barrelled shotguns when doing so.
I mentioned my general disgust with this to Steve, and he pointed out that on page 2 of issue 1, Mary Jane gives Peter a blowjob. "Friendly" neighborhood, indeed! Looking at the actual artwork (all very tasteful, in silhouette), I'm not convinced that it was *meant* to read as a blowjob, though it clearly was meant to read as 'having sex' of some sort. Apparently some retailers Down South are up in arms over this, and are bagging the issue in plastic and not selling it to kids. After all, how scarring might it be to a child to suggest that married adults might be having sex (in their own bedroom, with the lights out)...