Life on Mars US Finale

April 2nd, 2009 11:04am by rusty-halo | 14 Comments »

So apparently the Life on Mars US finale aired last night. I’d rather claw out my own eyes than watch that travesty of a show, but I did read the spoilers on Wikipedia, which says:

( MASSIVE SPOILERS for the end of Life on Mars US )

Seriously, you guys, if you’ve never seen Life on Mars UK, it’s not only a million times superior to the US version, but its ending is brilliant and dark and complex and moving and pretty much perfect.

Look, you can even pre-order it in the US now, or get it from Amazon UK (on sale for £9–that’s like $13! and overseas shipping isn’t bad, though of course you need a region free DVD player).

In other news:

* I sincerely have no attraction to Neil Gaiman. What’s wrong with me?

* And I’m getting excited about DreamWidth, which looks wonderful. I’m pleased about the lack of ads, the code improvements, the ability to import your journal and comments, and the owners’ friendliness toward fandom, but my favorite aspect is that you’ll be able to separate “who can read your posts” from “whose posts you want to read.” This has the potential to change the way (this corner of) fandom is structured, to get us out of our little bubbles of like-minded people and expose us to many more perspectives, since we’ll be able to check out new and interesting people without having to allow them in to our personal locked posts.

LJ Elections and an Awesome “Life on Mars” Vid

May 24th, 2008 8:40pm by rusty-halo | 5 Comments »

While I appreciate that fandom is banding together to elect a pro-fandom candidate in the LJ elections, I would encourage people to take the time to learn about the prospective candidates. I’ve seen a lot of people voting in alphabetical order or for most recognizable name, without realizing that, say, current lead legomymalfoy supported LiveJournal during Strikethrough, while rm made some of the most calm and articulate arguments against it.

You might want to consider reading their platforms and updating your vote.

(Yeah, I don’t actually think that this election will matter. But I like to live in hope, and if anyone can do something positive with the position, it’s rm.)

In happy fannish news, this Life on Mars vid, set to the Beastie Boys’ “Sabotage,” is a thing of beauty. A pastiche of a pastiche! There’s got to be an essay about postmodernism in that. (Thanks to the person who linked it from lifein1973.)

I can never unwatch this. :(

May 14th, 2008 12:15am by rusty-halo | 9 Comments »

Jesus Christ, what the hell is wrong with America? Bet you a million dollars they change the ending to make it more palatable to delicate American sensibilities. Just… keep reminding me that it’s going to inspire more people to seek out the real version. (*clutches John Simm*)

Some cheery things to scrub this travesty from my mind:

* versaphile wrote Subterranean, a beautiful coda which made me feel somewhat better about the most recent Doctor Who episode. (She’s also posting a new chapter of the amazing Praxis every week, which just gets better and better.)

* violet_lane wrote absolutely wonderful meta about Rose Tyler. She pretty much gets to the heart of what I love about Rose: that she’s the rare female character who undergoes a true hero’s journey, and that her heroism is due to her own choices, not any kind of special destiny. (And that she lives her life fully: she’s impulsive, adventurous, strong-willed, makes her own decisions, has fun, and sees the beauty of the universe along with the monsters.) It’s a long post, but completely worth the read.

* There are a hell of a lot of awesome Doctor/Master porn writers out there; I’m impressed by the quality of most of the responses at the best_enemies anon porn meme.

* Look how adorable young Stephen Colbert is! (Not that he isn’t still adorable now.)

Current Mood: annoyed

The real reason Ashes to Ashes needs John Simm

February 22nd, 2008 11:54am by rusty-halo | 2 Comments »

I’ve discovered another reason I can’t get into Ashes to Ashes. Every time I read meta with lines like “As heart-stopping as Philip Glenister is,”* I throw up a little bit in my mouth.

If the entire premise of the show is the female lead discovering that she really wants a Manly Man like Gene Hunt, and the whole thing is centered around their sexual tension… well, even aside from the inherent sexism of that story, no wonder the show grosses me out. Philip Glenister = The Anti!Hot.

(The sexism would still upset me even if he was attractive, but I might watch the show anyway as a guilty pleasure. Like how I love Sergio Leone’s Westerns even though, um, sexism galore.**)

* Obviously hotness is subjective and I intend no criticism toward those who do find him attractive.

** Leone’s films are also way more artistically brilliant.

[Cross-posted to InsaneJournal]

sexism in Life on Mars and Ashes to Ashes

February 20th, 2008 7:09pm by rusty-halo | 12 Comments »

These macros make me very happy. Maybe for DragonCon I’ll dress up as a “Vote Saxon” campaign worker? I could have a sign. And pins. And pro-Saxon literature. Don’t laugh; it’d be an easy costume. :P

***

I rewatched the first season of Life on Mars this weekend. I was worried that the crappiness of Ashes to Ashes would negatively effect my opinion of it, but nope; I love it more than ever. If anything, the failures of Ashes to Ashes just make the awesomeness of Life on Mars stand out even more.

( why does Life on Mars handle sexism better than Ashes to Ashes? (spoilery for all) )

[Cross-posted to InsaneJournal]

Very Bad TV. (Warning: Valentine’s Day makes me even bitchier than usual.)

February 14th, 2008 4:03pm by rusty-halo | 17 Comments »

Best Valentine’s Day cards ever.

jaydk came over yesterday for an evening of very bad TV:

Torchwood 2×05

* It’s “Superstar“! I liked Jonathan better.

* “Superstar” mixed with “Out of Mind, Out of Sight“? Apparently they just shuffle up old Buffy scripts and mix them with slash fanfiction to make Torchwood.

* And this one’s got a dash of Dark City thrown in. Was that Ianto serial-killer bit tacked on or what? We already know the dude can do over-the-top wibbling, and they didn’t go anywhere else with it.

* I’m amused that they’re doing a Mary Sue episode right before the return of Martha Sue.

* LOL, Ianto remembers that Lisa existed. Funny how he forgets that JACK FED HER TO A PTERODACTYL.

* I feel so bad for Rhys. He’s like a decent, sane human trapped in morass of crazy stupid people.

* jaydk thinks Owen is cute as a nerd. I still think he looks like a hideous purple-lipped frog creature.

* OH MY GOD TOSH STOP BEING SO PATHETIC. Is she purposely trying to punish herself by falling for the nastiest person on the planet? Please grow some self-esteem. You are way hotter than the frog creature, Tosh.

* Ianto keeps a diary. This amuses me. Yep, he totally would. I’m sure he draws Jack’s name with hearts around it, too.

* Jack grew up on Tatooine? I wonder if they purposely hired a child actor who’s just as awkwardly over-the-top bad as John Barrowman. I love the Boeshane Peninsula reference; just keep rubbing it in and making the fangirls cry. Jack’s going to end up as a giant ugly head in a jar! >:)

* Jack as benevolent father figure to the gang? Jack, you will never be the Doctor. The Doctor doesn’t solve every problem by shooting it! Just stop already.

* Jack LETS ADAM INTO HIS MIND. I know I’m overusing capslock here but JACK LETS ADAM INTO HIS MIND! Right after telling him that he’s about to wipe him from existence! Knowing that this is the same guy who gleefully put serial killer memories into Ianto!

* Jack gives up precious memories in order to vanquish Adam. Because it wouldn’t be Torchwood if they didn’t make noble sacrifices for NO GOOD REASON. And have the most nihilistic ending possible. I mean, Jack doesn’t even try to solve it another way?

* All in all, this was a return to the good old days of season one, when there was absolutely nothing to do with this show but throw up your strongest snark defenses and try to keep your brains from melting right out of your skull.

Torchwood 2×06

* BWAHAHAHAHA THE DOCTOR GOT MARTHA HER JOB. Oh my god I’m sorry but I can’t stop laughing. jaydk and I cracked up about this all night. HE NEVER EVER THANKED HER OR APPRECIATED HER–except all those times he thanked her and hugged her and appreciated her and OH YEAH GOT A JOB FOR HER.

So I can’t wait to see how the anti-Doctor people spin this. It’s proof that er… he hates her because he’s trying to put her in dangerous situations? Just wants to be rid of her by keeping her occupied elsewhere? No, wait, I know! It’s proof that the writers are misogynist racists because the black woman only got her job due to the white man vouching for her! Never mind that she *just* graduated from medical school and by all means should have had to work her way up just like anyone else.

Rose didn’t need the Doctor calling in favors to get a job at AU Torchwood! *falls over laughing*

* Naturally, everyone immediately loves Martha Sue. And she’s a better doctor than Owen, of course! But he can’t help himself from falling for her anyway because SHE’S JUST SO DAMN AWESOME. This like a textbook on “how to write a Mary Sue.”

* Freema Agyeman: still just the one facial expression. Maybe some day she could try *not* smirking?

* Martha WALKED THE EARTH. She SAVED THE WORLD. Did you miss it? Don’t worry, we’ll remind you every 15 seconds, just in case for a moment you forgot that MARTHA SUE WALKED THE EARTH AND SAVED THE WORLD!!!!1111!11!!!11!

* Gwen has absolutely nothing to do in this episode. Martha Sue’s completely co-opted her part. (And I don’t think Gwen is a Mary Sue–she’s got multiple dimensions–but I guess the writers couldn’t fit them both in simultaneously? I think they just took a pre-written script, gave Martha Gwen’s part, and threw in some medical jargon.)

If I were a Torchwood fan I’d be seriously pissed about Martha Sue marching in and parading her awesomeness while the regulars are sent to the sidelines.

* Jack made a Master reference! Only good thing about the entire episode. Well, that and the Blon Slitheen photo. Though unfortunately it reminds me that the inanity of Torchwood continues to exist in the same universe as the awesome things in Doctor Who.

* Martha’s got a magical super mutated immune system! Could she possibly be more of a textbook Mary Sue?

* I feel bad for the giant alien bug thing. Gwen’s giving it the big sad-eyed compassionate expression, which means it is soon to die.

* Yep, dead. The Pharm: We experiment on aliens in order to help humans. Torchwood: WE KILL ALIENS DEAD. I fail to see the moral superiority of Torchwood here. Notice it never occurs to them to rescue the alien test subjects. Has Jack completely forgotten that the entire reason he’s trying to be such a good guy is that he was inspired BY AN ALIEN?

It brings back bad memories of the Buffyverse and how they’d throw in three-dimensional demon characters that you’d grow fond of, but then they’d always go back to that WE KILL DEMONS thing and act like the moral ambiguity wasn’t there, and Spike and Anya were lesser beings whose feelings didn’t count.

* Bwahahaha, Martha running around undercover while wearing heels. I guess they feel obligated to play up her looks since it’s the ONLY THING this actress has going for her.

* Martha Sue really sucks at being undercover. It’s a lot harder without a perception filter and a magical space-hopping wrist strap, isn’t it, Martha? Maybe UNIT shouldn’t be hiring inexperienced people just out of school based on suggestions from insane time traveling aliens? Or is Torchwood’s incompetence contagious? Martha caught it within a day.

I like that Jack’s confidence is misplaced and the team has to burst in and save her. I’m amused that Owen’s known her for twelve hours and already adores her (again with the textbook examples of How to Write a Mary Sue). Oh, and Martha gets Owen killed. Hee! I’m pleased that her Triumphant Return is undercut by his Tragic Death.

* Is Owen really dead? PLEASE LET OWEN BE DEAD. If I never have to look at those frog lips again it will be too soon.

Ashes to Ashes 1×01

* I’ve had The A-Team theme song stuck in my head all morning. Fuck you, Ashes to Ashes.

* It’s like the Beastie Boys’ Sabotage video, only with 80s cop shows instead of 70s, and they seem to expect you to take the characters somewhat seriously. Either do a goofy pastiche or do a serious show, but you’re undercutting everything by trying to do both.

* It’s like the Disney version of Life on Mars. Exaggerate all the over-the-top surface characteristics and completely cut out the heart and soul.

* Gee, I wonder why Sam didn’t arrive in 1973 dressed as a prostitute. Can we say exploitation much? It just screams “Hey male demographic, never fear! Don’t be threatened by the female lead; just ogle her half dressed form and focus on the real hero, Gene Hunt.”

* I’d like Alex so much better if she actually stood up to Gene as an equal instead of letting him um GROPE HER and keeping her mouth shut while he makes sexist remarks.

* Gene is a completely cleaned up goody goody version of himself. Did they forget that on Life on Mars he was frequently the antagonist? Way to totally erase everything that made his character interesting. This is more like a parody version of Gene Hunt than the actual Gene Hunt.

* So if Gene represented Sam’s id, what does Gene represent to Alex? Apparently that she wants a big strong Manly Man to swoop in and save her?

* I miss the moral ambiguity and darkness and sepia tones and Sam’s genuine sense of aloneness and terror.

* Two things I liked: the 80s computer font at the end, and Gene getting drunk while brooding over his Sam shrine.

* Conclusion: lame, offensive, gross, and I will not sully my brain with another episode of this drivel.

jaydk, am I forgetting anything? As much as it all sucked, at least we had a lot of fun laughing at it.

[Cross-posted to InsaneJournal]

another TV meme, gakked from… somewhere?

February 12th, 2008 6:24pm by rusty-halo | No Comments »

Choose five series (no peeking before you choose them), list them, and then answer the questions behind the cut.

1. New Doctor Who
2. Life on Mars
3. Highlander
4. Buffy
5. South Park

( Read more… )

[Cross-posted to InsaneJournal]

Fic Recs and OTW Babble

January 15th, 2008 12:59pm by rusty-halo | 19 Comments »

Should I watch the Sarah Connor Chronicles? I almost never watch TV shows as they air unless I know that they’ve already managed to pull off at least one decent season. But Sarah Connor is one of my all-time favorite fictional characters, and The Terminator is in my list of top five movies of all time. (I’m one of those freaks who prefers the original to the sequel; it’s just so raw. And it’s infiltrated my subconscious to the point where I have nightmares about being chased by the Terminator on a regular basis.) I’m kind of freaked out that Linda Hamilton isn’t in it, although I understand that wouldn’t really work because of the age issue. And I’m glad that the character, and the whole fictional world, is having a life beyond its original writers and actors. So. Is it worth watching, or am I just going to end up ranting about how disappointing it is?

I’m kind of boggled that so many of my friends are getting into Torchwood. I mean, yes, there’s bisexuality, but the show is so badly written. I’m just hoping that people will follow the Torchwood trail back to Doctor Who, and see how much better that show is, and discover the slashtastic awesomeness of the Doctor and the Master.

Today’s fic recs:

John Simm did an interview in which he confessed to having worked as a cage dancer when he was young and needed the money. No, seriously! So versaphile wrote fic in which a young inexperienced David Tennant meets cagedancer!Simm. And then they have some of the hottest sex I’ve ever read. And the end almost made me cry. Read it here: Kiss Me Quick.

versaphile also wrote more Doctor/Master. (versaphile, I swear I am not stalking you. I just kind of want to live inside of your brain.) Three for a Wedding. It’s actually Doctor/Master and Doctor/TARDIS, and it’s extremely disturbing, but it’s the good kind of disturbing.

yahtzee63 wrote The Yankee’s Loot, in which the Tenth Doctor picks up Scarlett O’Hara as a companion. And it works, brilliantly, because she perfectly captures Scarlett’s inner voice. That woman is a sociopathic megalomaniac, and somehow you can’t help but love her. I’d never have imagined that these two fandoms could be combined, but Yahtzee makes it work.

Here’s another Life on Mars fic that I greatly enjoyed. It’s like an episode–70s police show plot, entertaining dialog–just with the bonus of gay sex. You wouldn’t think those things would blend together so well, but, obviously, they do. (Sorry, I know there’s tons of slashy police show fandoms out there, I’ve just never been into one before.)

I’ve been following the metafandom discussions about the Organization for Transformative Works, and I continue to think that it’s awesome. One of the things that boggles me about the internet is that people just take for granted that things disappear. You can read a story that’s stunning, life-changing, brilliant, and then look it up one morning and find that it’s completely gone.

( here is me rambling on about the OTW, as if you haven’t read enough about it already )

[Cross-posted to InsaneJournal]

Doctor Who, Casanova, and some fic recs for Life on Mars

January 7th, 2008 12:47pm by rusty-halo | 9 Comments »

Some kind of ridiculous combination of cold medicine and coffee caused me to stay up until 2pm on Saturday night. Like I was awake all Saturday night and Sunday morning before finally crashing at 2pm Sunday afternoon. All the while thinking “this is not a very wise thing to be doing when I am sick.” And reading Life on Mars fanfic.

jaydk was over until 5am. We watched Voyage of the Damned and reveled in the mutual squee. I’m so glad that we both loved it. That one scene, where the Doctor snaps his fingers and the angels carry him up, god, I just love it so much. I haven’t felt that kind of pure fannish adoration in a long time.

We also watched some of the old series, which is the first I’ve ever seen of it. I’m not sure what the episodes were called, but it had some kind of mix of vampires/zombies/whatever that thing is in Creature From the Black Lagoon. Also Russians and Nazis and Vikings. And, um, it looked a lot like something a second-year high school Media Arts class would’ve come up with. Although I did really like Ace. After just one episode she was already more interesting than Martha in her entire series run.

Oh! And then we watched David Tennant in Casanova. It was probably some combination of DayQuil and lack of sleep, but Casanova just totally ripped my heart out and stomped all over it. David Tennant is so emotive, with that expressive face and those huge eyes, and every time he looks sad or hurt I just ACHE FOR HIM. Ack. I hate crying during movies.

I think I’ve completely lost my ability to judge fanfic objectively, but here are a few Life on Mars stories that stood out:

We Could Steal Time by dorcas_gustine has really hot kitchen!sex. And good characterization. Although the author has some weird issues with commas. Sam/Gene, NC-17.

All These Editions of You by dorcas_gustine is in three parts, the first of which is told from an excellent Gene POV. The author keeps him in-character while showing how much he cares about Sam underneath, as much as he’d never admit it even to himself. Sam/Gene, NC-17.

Say Hello to the Id by maestro1123 has a slashy ultra-sexually-charged fight scene that is just beyond hot. Plus fucked-up masochistic Sam. Some Sam/Annie but mostly Sam/Gene. This is more violence porn than sex porn, so technically not NC-17.

It’s Jus’ Magic by mikes_grrl is just fantastically cracked-out nonsense of the best sort. Sam/Chris, NC-17.

There are a bunch of stories that try to explain a gay Gene within canon. I thought Undercover by mikes_grrl was one of the better ones. Sam/Gene, NC-17.

[Cross-posted to InsaneJournal]

laura has a peculiar obsession with sergio leone westerns

January 2nd, 2008 11:12am by rusty-halo | No Comments »

It occurs to me that part of the reason I love the messianic imagery and over-the-top badass slow-motion Doctor in Voyage of the Damned is that it reminds me of a Sergio Leone Western. Exaggerated, stylish, drawn out, set to striking music… yep. That explains it.

(Leone wasn’t invested in religion either, but he used tons of Catholic imagery in his films because it was part of his culture, and because he understood the power of mythological images that are ingrained in our consciousness from childhood. I don’t get why people have such a problem with it. It’s about the power of image and myth, not about some kind of subconscious urge to actually be religious.

Actually, both Leone and Davies seem to have a thing about subverting religious imagery. Davies has got killer angels, a killer Christmas star, and killer Santas. Leone had… well, tons of stuff, but what comes immediately to mind is Indio at the church pulpit, “preaching” a “parable” to his gang about the bank they’re about to rob.)

I started thinking about this during one of those “Doctor striding through the fire” scenes, when a bit of the music reminded me of Ennio Morricone, and then the Doctor does that slow-motion finger snap and the angels carry him up. It feels very Leone!

(Leone, of course, has had a huge impact on the modern action film, so the influence might not even be direct. VotD is a pastiche of tons of things, mostly disaster movies. But the combination of religious imagery, extended time, and striking music in a couple of specific scenes definitely has a Leone aspect to it.)

There is totally other Leone-inspired stuff in Doctor Who, btw. Or at least, Morricone inspired. The confrontation scene between the Doctor and Giles Mr. Finch in “School Reunion” comes to mind.

VotD also has a bunch of James Bond type imagery (although thankfully the Doctor is not a misogynist douchebag like Bond–and I say that with love) and I can remember writing some college essay about how Bond and Leone’s Western heroes reflected the changing cultural construction of masculinity in the 1960s… now I totally can’t remember what it said. Mostly I think Doctor Who was just playing with the cool images, anyway.

Yeah, you can tell what I spent my weekend thinking about! Well, that and comparing Life on Mars to Fight Club. God help me.

[Cross-posted to InsaneJournal]

An immediate squeeful reaction to Life on Mars

December 29th, 2007 3:04am by rusty-halo | 14 Comments »

OH MY GOD. I just finished watching the final episode of Life on Mars and there is not enough squee in the world to describe how completely awesome that was! Best ending to a TV series I have ever seen! And one of the best shows that I’ve seen in my life, period.

Um, let’s see. Raw initial thoughts before I delve into the fandom and then re-watch the entire thing (yay four day weekend!). Warning: lots of babbling incoherent squee ahead.

( big spoilers for Life on Mars, obviously )

[Cross-posted to InsaneJournal]