Saturday, May 6th, 2006
The Puppet Show (Dean Batali and Rob Des Hotel)
This is a potentially great episode which fails due to a storyline that is just too twisty, too confusing and with too many suspects for its own good. Sid himself was a little too sleazy and, unfortunately, knowing the eventual fate of Principal Synder meant that any scenes with him acting suspiciously didn’t work (though there is a great shot of him in silhouette with just his ears aglow). The sequence with the gang interviewing witnesses was nicely put together and more teamwork was shown in the final fight scene. It is worth watching for character development and interaction and, of course, for their marvellous performance of Oedipus Rex with Willow walking off.
I apologise for all the ands in the preceding paragraph but I wrote this in a hurry because I’m getting a little behind (“when’s it coming?”) with my notes.
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Saturday, May 6th, 2006
Where are they?
What I have long thought to be so regarding female roles has been shown to be true (in a study by Geena Davis’s SeeJane organisation) that girls and women are under represented in children’s films. Why is the Slinky Dog or the dinosaur or any of the minor characters except Bo-Beep in Toy Story a boy? Why is Princess Fiona the only significant female character in Shrek? Why is Spirited Away the only animated film I can think of from the 21st century with a female lead?
PS It took me ages to realise “a dope role model” was a compliment.
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Thursday, May 4th, 2006
There are some absolute corkers of “phonetic near-misses” here. One of my favourites in fan fiction is peeked or peaked for piqued: it crops up all the time and I cheer when it is spelled correctly.
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Tuesday, May 2nd, 2006
The view from Clitheroe’s Lock
Originally uploaded by moley75.
This looks so peaceful yet you can hear the M4 rushing past.
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Tuesday, May 2nd, 2006
I Robot, You Jane (Ashley Gable and Thomas A. Swyden)
This has the most unlikely and irritating plot full of clunky computer clichés like Willow speaking out loud as she types and people switching monitors on and off as if they were hard drives. It is also a rip-off episode as many of the early standalone episodes are. However, it introduces the wonderfully sexy and assured technopagan Jenny Calendar who is a smart counterpoint to Giles.
I’m in agreement with both of them as regards old and new methods of imparting knowledge and information: they are equally valid. And, there is so much to love about it because despite its plot it has the most fantastic dialogue which is delivered with such panache.
“Oh, I know, our ways are strange to you, but soon you will join us in the 20th century. With three whole years to spare”
“I mean, sure he says he’s a high school student, but I can say I’m a high school student” “You are”
“Big deal if I blow off a couple classes” (hello? hello Willow are you there?)
“What, in dark glasses and a trench coat?”
“My spider sense is tingling” “Your spider sense?” “Pop culture reference. Sorry” (oh, don’t apologise, we love it)
“These musty old books have a great deal more to say than in any of your fabulous web pages” and “Books smell: musty and, and, and, and rich. The knowledge gained from a computer, is, uh, it, it has no, no texture, no, no context. It’s, it’s there and then it’s gone. If it’s to last, then, then the getting of knowledge should be, uh, tangible, it should be, um… smelly” (poor Giles, by seasons six and seven books were practically considered evil in BtVS whereas the web was king)
“Well, it’s been so nice talking to you” “We were fighting” “Must do it again sometime, yes”
“Tell me the truth, how’s my hair?”
“What can he do?” “You mean besides convince a perfectly nice kid to try and kill me? I don’t know. How about mess up all the medical equipment in the world?” “Randomize traffic signals” ”Access launch codes for our nuclear missiles” “Destroy the world’s economy” “I think I pretty much capped it with that nuclear missile thing” “Right, yours was best” (a brilliant exchange, capped with a perfect Gilesean sheepish remark)
“Remember me, your girlfriend?” “Well, I think it’s time we break up” “Or maybe we can still be friends?”
“Let’s face it: none of us are ever gonna have a happy, normal relationship”. (man, I love the continuity of this show)
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