1. The trailer for the Lee Pace film "The Fall". It looks gorgeous and it's playing with my favorite genre: the fairy tale as nightmare. I just read one review that likened it to "The Lady in the Water" and I may be the only person on the planet who would take that as a ringing endorsement. You think less of me now, don't you?
2. TV friendships. Booth/Bones, Bones/Angela, Donna/The Doctor, Leonard/Sheldon, Barney/Robin, Betty/Daniel, Sawyer/Hurley. I kind of want to squish them all.
3. Anansi Boys by Neil Gaiman. For some reason I waited ages to read this book, now I can't put it down.
4. Daniel Faraday. The Lost gods may have taken away my sweet Charlie, but they gave me an adorable bumbling, time-travelling physicist to help the healing process along. And it's totally working.
5. Corner Gas. It's Canadian and completely charming and the only reason to watch WGN unless you happen to like watching grown men run around a diamond. Now if you'll excuse me, I have a staycation to get back to.
Tuesday, May 6, 2008
Sunday, May 4, 2008
The Truth Is Still Out There
In my 21 years on this planet I have loved many fictional things. When I was five I learned boys weren’t icky when I fell in love with Mario Lopez’s dimples (conversely now I find Mario Lopez about as attractive as a Ken doll, but hey we all have to start somewhere right), when I was seven I wanted to be a Power Ranger, and at some point in my childhood I thought Rouge/Gambit had the most epic of epic loves (thanks Fox Kids!). Then of course there was Harry Potter, Buffy, Gilmore Girls, and eventually Lost—some things don’t fade my friends. But in between there was a little show about aliens, conspiracies, and the legendary love of two FBI agents that would directly impact every story I would ever care about after. And that show is getting its second big screen treatment two days after my birthday this year.
Oh X-Files, where would I be without you? Probably spending my days watching The Hills and According to Jim instead of Lost and How I Met Your Mother or reading chick lit instead of Harry Potter. The X-Files taught me the joys of dense mythologies, fed my love of stories about things that go bump in the night, taught me the joy of “shipping”, and most of all gave me Fox Mulder (my favorite TV boyfriend). I remember being absolutely terrified by the theme music and happily chiming “I made this” at the end of every episode. Oh and the sheer exhilaration I felt every time Mulder and Scully brushed against each other. I still get chills when Mulder breaks down crying next to Scully’s bed when he thinks she’s going to die. Show I’ve missed you so much.
Most of all I loved the stand-alone episodes. At ten most of the mythology went right over my head (black oil? Aliens? I’ll be over here praying that Mulder holds the door open for Scully if you need me). But those episodes where they just went to a town somewhere and searched for Bigfoot or vampires never get old. Everything I love about good TV probably stems from “The Post-Modern Prometheus”, and I still can’t hear “Walking in Memphis” without smiling. “The Ghosts Who Stole Christmas” may very well be my favorite Christmas episode of anything ever. “The Triangle”, “Bad Blood”, and “Monday”, all classics. Oh and the achy episodes like “Emily” and the cancer trilogy and “William”. To this day I can not re-watch “William”.
Watching the show now as a grown up person who has consumed a lot of media, I can see cracks and flaws in my show. It was at times overwritten and sometimes underwritten, the acting in the beginning was shakier than I remember, the mythology baffling no matter how closely you watch, but it still shines. I still owe it my love for The Twilight Zone, everything Joss Whedon touched, even my obsession with Luke and Lorelai. Most importantly I owe it for my love and patience for Lost. Whenever someone makes a face and starts whining about never getting answers, I sigh and think, “Clearly, you never watched the X-Files.” In the end it gave me a deep appreciation for good storytelling and characters. And Fox Mulder.
All that being said, I’m beyond excited for the movie. Particularly since I’ve heard rumblings that it’s going to deal with the William issue. In the end I don’t need some grand conclusion, wrapping all of those plot threads up in a neat little bow. All I need is Mulder and Scully being awesome, a spooky case, and some sunflower seeds and I will be more than happy. Oh and kissing, there had better be kissing.
Oh X-Files, where would I be without you? Probably spending my days watching The Hills and According to Jim instead of Lost and How I Met Your Mother or reading chick lit instead of Harry Potter. The X-Files taught me the joys of dense mythologies, fed my love of stories about things that go bump in the night, taught me the joy of “shipping”, and most of all gave me Fox Mulder (my favorite TV boyfriend). I remember being absolutely terrified by the theme music and happily chiming “I made this” at the end of every episode. Oh and the sheer exhilaration I felt every time Mulder and Scully brushed against each other. I still get chills when Mulder breaks down crying next to Scully’s bed when he thinks she’s going to die. Show I’ve missed you so much.
Most of all I loved the stand-alone episodes. At ten most of the mythology went right over my head (black oil? Aliens? I’ll be over here praying that Mulder holds the door open for Scully if you need me). But those episodes where they just went to a town somewhere and searched for Bigfoot or vampires never get old. Everything I love about good TV probably stems from “The Post-Modern Prometheus”, and I still can’t hear “Walking in Memphis” without smiling. “The Ghosts Who Stole Christmas” may very well be my favorite Christmas episode of anything ever. “The Triangle”, “Bad Blood”, and “Monday”, all classics. Oh and the achy episodes like “Emily” and the cancer trilogy and “William”. To this day I can not re-watch “William”.
Watching the show now as a grown up person who has consumed a lot of media, I can see cracks and flaws in my show. It was at times overwritten and sometimes underwritten, the acting in the beginning was shakier than I remember, the mythology baffling no matter how closely you watch, but it still shines. I still owe it my love for The Twilight Zone, everything Joss Whedon touched, even my obsession with Luke and Lorelai. Most importantly I owe it for my love and patience for Lost. Whenever someone makes a face and starts whining about never getting answers, I sigh and think, “Clearly, you never watched the X-Files.” In the end it gave me a deep appreciation for good storytelling and characters. And Fox Mulder.
All that being said, I’m beyond excited for the movie. Particularly since I’ve heard rumblings that it’s going to deal with the William issue. In the end I don’t need some grand conclusion, wrapping all of those plot threads up in a neat little bow. All I need is Mulder and Scully being awesome, a spooky case, and some sunflower seeds and I will be more than happy. Oh and kissing, there had better be kissing.
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