Archive for December, 2008
This device isn’t a spaceship, it’s a time machine.
Thursday, December 25th, 2008Mad Men – “The Wheel”
This was an amazing end to a great series. There were so many outstanding scenes and I’m not going to talk about most of them.
The most controversial storyline is not Betty spilling her heart to a pre-teen but Peggy’s pregnancy. I’m pretty much on board with any storyline Matthew Weiner wants to tell and I’m not fazed by the unlikeliness of Peggy’s lack of awareness.
The general comments on the AMC message board were alienating (but that’s typical of a laxly moderated board) and patronising and ignorant (because it isn’t possible for someone’s experience to differ from the norm). However, this sort of thing happens now (here’s one from two days ago) and considering Peggy was using birth control and was eating a lot I’m not amazed at all.
However, I had ENTIRELY dismissed the idea that Peggy was pregnant and I was gleefully wrong… She has to give it up for adoption though. It is simply impossible for her to keep it and continue working.
Don is so good at his job that he sold himself the dream of a happy family life in a quite incredibly moving scene (and there were no photos of it on the AMC site which is plain weird). I’m not keen on fake endings but this one had a thumping impact. Betty’s reaction when she realised he was coming was beautiful and Don’s reaction when he realised he was too late was so sad.
I am reading a collection of Shirley Jackson short stories (The Lottery and Other Stories) written in the 40s and 50s. They are an amazing collection of stories full of repression, anger, humour and women on the verge. I would be surprised if Weiner or his team haven’t read them and, if they haven’t, what did they read?
Betty is a tragic figure and she is the character that I care most about. She is incredibly lonely and while her behaviour with Glen is wildly inappropriate I can see why she does talk to him in such a way. There is literally no-one else. All the other adults in her life have let her down. The psychiatrist – the one she should be able to trust – is telling Don everything, she knows (everyone knows!) that Don is unfaithful and he treats her like a child anyway and her father has turned to another woman mere months after her mother has died. She is alone and trapped. I am looking forward to seeing her character develop.
There was a scene cut from the BBC version involving Pete and Trudy in bed. I found this out by reading the TWOP recaps and I can’t find a reason why and I’m cross because I bet Pete was in his pyjamas.
Ah, what a fabulous series. Most of the time I forget that I am watching a contemporary drama set in the past rather than an old drama. It’s like watching Sarah Michelle Gellar play Faith in Buffy’s body in “Who Are You?” and she is so utterly convincing that I get mixed up and hear Eliza Dushku speaking the lines. I can think of few higher compliments by making that comparison – SMG is superlative in “WAY?” and I cringe when people use that episode to illustrate that ED has range when she was blown away by SMG’s performance.
I won’t tell anyone. I wouldn’t do that.
Thursday, December 25th, 2008Dead Things (Steven S. DeKnight)
Wow. They should have dumped all the episodes since “Tabula Rasa” and just gone with this one. The difference in quality is vast. Sometimes all US TV series ought to be just 13 episodes long.
Amelinda Smith, who played Katrina was great – it’s weird to look at IMDb to see how little she has worked. It was fab the way she chewed out the trio after she came to. It is also pleasing to see that at least one of the trio isn’t a complete heel.
Adam Busch is exceptionally creepy and it is his destiny to be forever associated with the role. He turned up on Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles as a future collaborator with the robots and was immediately identified as Warren from Buffy.
The sex is over – thank goodness. I sound like a colossal prude but there was far too much of it and it was just inappropriate. And to be extra honest, I resent how explicit it was when two women were barely allowed to touch each other the season previously (different network, blah, blah, I know, but still the double standards are outrageous). The worse scene was in the alley in “Doublemeat Palace” because that was just sleazy. The balcony scene in the Bronze at least served a purpose and Buffy really does need help to escape from Spike – the boyfriend who does the classic bad boy/girlfriend thing and tries to separate them from their friends.
Help does come in the shape of Tara and I adore all of Amber Benson’s three appearances. You got yourself a drink when she sat with her feet up at the Doublemeat Palace. She was cute outside the Magic Box talking to Willow (despite the outfit). And she was an awesome friend for Buffy at the end (a scene which is brilliantly written).
I didn’t come back wrong?
No, you’re the same Buffy. (lightly) With a deep tropical cellular tan.
You must have missed something. Will you check again?
Buffy, I-I promise, there’s nothing wrong with you.
There has to be! This just can’t be me, it isn’t me. Why do I feel like this? Why do I let Spike do those things to me?
You mean hit you…Oh…Oh…
Do you love him? I-It’s okay if you do. He’s done a lot of good, and, and he does love you. A-and Buffy, it’s okay if you don’t. You’re going through a really hard time, and you’re…
What? Using him? What’s okay about that?
It’s not that simple.
It is! It’s wrong. I’m wrong. Tell me that I’m wrong, please…Please don’t forgive me, please…Please don’t…
OK, I’m done. My favourite episode that no one else really likes is up next.
No insights here
Monday, December 15th, 2008maurinsky tagged me ages ago but at last I have cobbled together a list of seven albums.
THE RULES:
1. Post your list of the seven best albums, the seven bloggers you will tag, a copy of these rules, and a link back to this page.
2. Each person tagged will put a URL to their Blogger Album Project post along with a list of the seven best albums in the comment section HERE at Hill’s Country. Enough already!
3. Feel free to post the “I Contributed to the Blogger Album Project” Award Graphic on your sidebar (even though I couldn’t find it), along with a link back to this page.
4. Post a link back to the blogger who tagged you.
Selecting seven albums was really hard, except for the Sugarcubes and Dusty Springfield, I could have chosen more than one album by the other artists.
- The Beatles – Revolver – not even “Yellow Submarine” can ruin this album
- Aimee Mann – Bachelor No 2 – “Save Me”, “Red Vines”, Ghost World”, “How Am I Different?” – exceptional songs and “Save Me” is the song that introduced me to Aimee’s work
- Nina Nastasia – The Blackened Air – Nina’s albums are all exceptional but this seems to be the most perfect – she is a superb musician and performer – I don’t know why she isn’t feted as much as the usual suspects
- Dusty Springfield – In Memphis – Dusty was a singles artist until this fabulous album – the standout for me is a glorious interpretation of “Breakfast in Bed” -
- Kate Bush – The Dreaming – it was hard to choose between The Kick Inside, The Dreaming, Hounds of Love and Aerial but I settled on The Dreaming because it was the first Kate Bush album that I bought as opposed to listening to my sister’s copies – I pored over the lyrics and dutifully played it loud as requested on the inner sleeve and loved its eccentricity
- Tarnation – Mirador – this was hard too – it was either this or Paula Frazer’s Indoor Universe but I chose this because of “Little Black Egg”, one of the most catchiest songs ever
- The Sugarcubes – Life’s Too Good – I can’t remember the last time I listened to this because we have it on vinyl only but I choose it because it represents my realisation that I could listen to unusual and strange music and enjoy it – Bjork and Kate Bush are similar in that they both make weird and eccentric music that is popular (though they do polarise popular opinion)
(oh man, I had to miss out Carole King’s Tapestry – sometimes million sellers are that for a positive reason – people enjoying classic songs by a classic songwriter with had warmth, depth and no sign of blandness)
I am unable to tag seven people so if you read this you are tagged.
Who cares?
Friday, December 12th, 2008Mad Men – “Nixon vs. Kennedy”
Harry and Hildy – I didn’t even know their names but I liked their short time in the spotlight though the question must be asked? Is anyone on Mad Men ever going to be faithful?
Joan seems to have twigged about Salvatore though if Peggy hadn’t been so angry she might have noticed that he said that he had taken her blouse (a great line). Peggy’s indignation the morning after was righteous and I can see how the consequences may not have seemed inevitable to her. Her misery in Don’s office makes a lot of sense to me. I’ve been in Peggy’s situation before when everyone else seems to behaving in an unseemly fashion or in ways that are an anathema to your world view and it’s hard to deal with when you are serious or po-faced or humourless (delete as appropriate). It feels like Peggy is over Pete – please let that be so – because he really is an obnoxious shit who isn’t even very good at blackmailing (he gives all his evidence back to Don and then tries to blackmail him).
Jon Hamm has won awards for this show and in this episode you can see why. His Dick Whitman is a million miles from his charming Don Draper and his charming office Don Draper is a million miles away from his sweaty panicky Don Draper.
I don’t understand how Dick can have become Don so easily because surely Donald Draper had family and friends. It just seems too implausible at the moment but I guess/hope we will get more information for it to eventually make sense.
There were two outstanding scenes. Don’s frantic rush to Rachel and his desperate pleas for them to run away and her realisation that all he wanted to do was run away and being with her was just a bonus. I like that she dismissed him and I will be disappointed if she succumbs to him again although I will be sorry not to see her and Maggie Siff again.
The second amazing scene was “Who cares?”. Actually, that whole sequence from Don confronting Pete to Pete running after him (and pulling on Don’s arm) to Pete actually going ahead with his snitching was amazing. Don’s face was hilarious.
The ironic thing about this episode is that nearly fifty years hence we have completely different attitudes about Nixon vs. Kennedy. The spoilt privileged Kennedy is held in high esteem while the self-made Nixon was found to be dishonest. Okay, that’s not ironic, that’s season two and beyond as Pete becomes a legend and Don is revealed as a crook. Ha. You read it here first!
Favourite actresses
Thursday, December 11th, 2008There is a meme going around the best film blogs but since no-one is likely to tag me I’m just going to produce my own list of my twenty favourite actresses.
My first criterion is that the majority of the films made by the actresses are in English since I am not likely to have seen more than two or three of their films if they mainly star(red) in foreign language films. My second criterion follows from this and is that I must have seen more than four or more films with the actress in question. My third criterion is that I have to have watched any old nonsense in order to follow these actresses (examples of these in brackets)
In alphabetical order:
- Jean Arthur (If You Could Only Cook)
Ingrid Bergman (The Yellow Rolls-Royce)
Claudette Colbert (Without Reservations)
Bette Davis (The Watcher in the Woods)
Judy Davis (Who Dares Wins)
Olivia de Havilland (Airport ‘77)
Jodie Foster (Nell)
Greta Garbo (Anna Christie)
Judy Garland (Love Finds Andy Hardy)
Miriam Hopkins (The Chase)
Nicole Kidman (Eyes Wide Shut)
Myrna Loy (Airport 1975)
Julia Roberts (Pretty Woman)
Barbara Stanwyck (Stella Dallas)
Meryl Streep (Mamma Mia!)
Emma Thompson (Love Actually)
Sigourney Weaver (Half Moon Street)
Kate Winslet (Titanic)
Reese Witherspoon (Sweet Home Alabama)
Teresa Wright (Somewhere in Time)
I am going to tag Everything’s Swirling, Laughing Wild and this to say about that.
I am so glad I got to roam those hillsides
Monday, December 8th, 2008Mad Men – “Indian Summer”
The promise made at the end of “Shoot” had given me high expectations that haven’t been met. I am being harsh – this is still fabulous drama and I have to stop being impatient. This isn’t a British six part serial but an ongoing drama so I shouldn’t expect Betty to be burning her bra just yet (a myth, by the way ).
The mystery of Peggy’s weight gain is no longer. She is wearing variable quality prosthetics or else her ponytail is holding up her double chin when she is at work.
Peggy’s behaviour with her date was reprehensible. The writing was good here because it would have been easy to make him an oaf and easier to see how Peggy feels superior to things not-Manhattan.
This episode seemed to be a little bit coarse and cheap and perpetuates the cliché that the only way women get off when they are not with a man is mechanically.
I knew that when Parker turned up there would be sexual shenanigans but I was a little bit disappointed that it was a fantasy. Only a little bit – Betty can do better than Parker, after all.
Adam’s suicide was desperately sad and Pete is officially an arsehole after taking the parcel. I can guess what he might try to do but Don is surely made of sterner stuff than piddling Pete.
If Don wasn’t played by the gorgeous and charming and delicious Jon Hamm would he be half as bearable as he is? He treats his wife like a possession and the cold scene when he tells her he has been made partner and she can’t bring himself to kiss him without the urge to apologise seems like the beginning of the end of their mutual attempts to at least appear happy with each other.
Roger is so revolting and what he said to Joan was horrible. I’m not sure how she took it. At first I thought she was crying because she appreciated his sentiments despite the crudity with which it was expressed but maybe she was crying with horror at how he summed up their relationship strictly in terms of sex.
Hey, respect the narrative flow much?
Sunday, December 7th, 2008Doublemeat Palace (Jane Espenson)
“The workers are the tools that shape America.” “Good to know…I was kinda feeling like a tool. And now I know why.”
This is not a great episode and it’s no “Beer Bad” (take that sentence any way you like). It is written by Jane Espenson so it does have some very funny lines. However, and actually, after perusing the transcript available online (and those transcripts are extremely valuable – thanks Joan) I realise it’s not that funny but SMG does her bit to make it all seem better.
Xander’s line “I think you’re seeing demons where there’s just life.” sums up season six in that a lot of the season is concerned with Buffy’s struggles with ordinary life.
Sex in an alleyway outside a burger bar – can Spuffy sex get any more sordid? What? It can?
Amy’s behaviour is reprehensible but, on the other hand, the actual de-ratting did seem awfully easy in the end. Amy has missed three years of her life – the final year of high school and two college years – I’d be peed off too. “Oh, yeah. Sharp argument you got there. Were you on the debate team? I forget. I forgot a lot while you were failing to make me be not a rat.”
I have nothing else to say except that Xander looked good in this episode particularly when embarrassed.
Maybe you need me to lay on your couch to clear that up for you again
Monday, December 1st, 2008Mad Men – “Long Weekend”
I didn’t like this episode even though it ended with a confession from Don.
Roger is a repulsive character and I cheered when I realised he had collapsed. That wasn’t very nice of me, I must say, but the scenes with the twins were creepy and disgusting. I also kept expecting Don to do something to head off the situation and his inaction makes me think that under different circumstances he may have joined in. John Slattery is fantastic as Roger and it is testament to his performance that I almost cared while he was in hospital.
Betty’s lack of interest in Roger’s condition felt right on the nose to me. Why should she care about a man who made a pass at her that got her into trouble with her husband? And nobody cares that her mother is dead – not even her father.
I was hugely disappointed with Rachel succumbing to Don. He isn’t going to leave Betty and she knows that as well as the obvious fact that he is unfaithful and can’t ever be trusted.
Peggy’s weight gain now looks ludicrous because whether she is gaining because she is over-eating or because she is pregnant it is happening far too quickly. However, I may be misunderstanding how much time passes between episodes. I was delighted with her conversation with Pete. They are an interesting couple.
I guessed about poor Carol as soon as she said Shalimar though I didn’t guess what would happen straight after. My first reaction to Joan’s response was positive. It seemed quite a nice way of dealing with it. However, Carol is now stuck in limbo. Her friend knows the truth but she did not directly acknowledge the truth and I wonder how easy it will be to carry on like that.
I entirely missed the connection between The Apartment and Joan’s position in the lift just after Cooper tells her that Roger isn’t worth it. I love that I can miss stuff like that and still enjoy the series.
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