Buys
I'd never seen Wonder Boys before starting to read the novel, but I plan to as soon as I finish it. But to do that, I needed the film on DVD. Got it and while I was there, also bought one of the few Cohen Brothers films I don't have in my collection yet - Miller's Crossing. And on the strength of Herriman's Krazy & Ignatz vol. 1 (from Fantagraphics), I've gotten vol. 2 and the 1920 panoramic strips hardcover.
"Accomplishments"
Comics: Finished Krazy & Ignatz 1925-1926, and what can I say? I was discovering Herriman for the first time and it's wonderful work, despite the fact that I don't quite have the key to unlock its meaning. It's charmingly cock-eyed, each page a kind of visual poem, in a beautifully designed book by Chris Ware. I'm looking forward to seeing how many more variations on the "mouse hits cat in the head" story there can be, and how that primal "gag" can be subverted to mean something else.
DVDs: Finished with Enterprise Season 1, which features a slightly better DVD package than previous Star Trek series. Oh, the physical packaging is as bulky and ugly as usual, but the featurettes are less randomly assembled and actually includes deleted scenes and outtakes, rare-to-non-existent on other releases. There's even an audio commentary by the producers on the pilot, in which they spend most of their time defending their choices (got much hate mail, Brannon?). Text commentaries are also added to a few episodes, but if you don't know Enterprise intimately, you probably shouldn't look at these until you've watched all four seasons. After the first one stupidly gave away major plot points from Season 4, I decided not to look at any text commentary until I'm done with the "2-year-mission".
Also flipped the Complete The Office DVD. I'd never seen a single episode, neither of the original nor the American version, so I didn't realize it was done in a mockumentary style. Enjoyable "discomfort humor", but a little dry even for my tastes. At least at first. The more I got into it, the more I "got it", and though the Christmas special following the two series gets very bleak indeed, the ending is satisfying on a number of levels. Extras include a commentary on half the finale, deleted scenes, outtakes and some nice, funny "making of" features. A bit bare on Series 2 though.
Not quite Gervaised out, I then flipped the Extras Extra Special Series Finale, a Christmas special ending to the HBO series. Like The Office's, it left me a little cold until the last 15 minutes or so, but then it made a 180 and sold me totally. In contrast to the two series, the production values are as high as a movie's, which was offputting, I guess. No extras on this Extras DVD, though fans of this blog should note an appearance by David Tennant as Doctor Who!
New Unauthorized Doctor Who CCG cards: 7, about all I'll do from An Unearthly Child, the very first Doctor Who ever broadcast.
Someone Else's Post of the Week
Comics All Too Real started a series I hope to see more installments of this week. It's America's Next SuperModel! Check out Part 1, and especially, Part 2, starring Power Girl.
I'd never seen Wonder Boys before starting to read the novel, but I plan to as soon as I finish it. But to do that, I needed the film on DVD. Got it and while I was there, also bought one of the few Cohen Brothers films I don't have in my collection yet - Miller's Crossing. And on the strength of Herriman's Krazy & Ignatz vol. 1 (from Fantagraphics), I've gotten vol. 2 and the 1920 panoramic strips hardcover.
"Accomplishments"
Comics: Finished Krazy & Ignatz 1925-1926, and what can I say? I was discovering Herriman for the first time and it's wonderful work, despite the fact that I don't quite have the key to unlock its meaning. It's charmingly cock-eyed, each page a kind of visual poem, in a beautifully designed book by Chris Ware. I'm looking forward to seeing how many more variations on the "mouse hits cat in the head" story there can be, and how that primal "gag" can be subverted to mean something else.
DVDs: Finished with Enterprise Season 1, which features a slightly better DVD package than previous Star Trek series. Oh, the physical packaging is as bulky and ugly as usual, but the featurettes are less randomly assembled and actually includes deleted scenes and outtakes, rare-to-non-existent on other releases. There's even an audio commentary by the producers on the pilot, in which they spend most of their time defending their choices (got much hate mail, Brannon?). Text commentaries are also added to a few episodes, but if you don't know Enterprise intimately, you probably shouldn't look at these until you've watched all four seasons. After the first one stupidly gave away major plot points from Season 4, I decided not to look at any text commentary until I'm done with the "2-year-mission".
Also flipped the Complete The Office DVD. I'd never seen a single episode, neither of the original nor the American version, so I didn't realize it was done in a mockumentary style. Enjoyable "discomfort humor", but a little dry even for my tastes. At least at first. The more I got into it, the more I "got it", and though the Christmas special following the two series gets very bleak indeed, the ending is satisfying on a number of levels. Extras include a commentary on half the finale, deleted scenes, outtakes and some nice, funny "making of" features. A bit bare on Series 2 though.
Not quite Gervaised out, I then flipped the Extras Extra Special Series Finale, a Christmas special ending to the HBO series. Like The Office's, it left me a little cold until the last 15 minutes or so, but then it made a 180 and sold me totally. In contrast to the two series, the production values are as high as a movie's, which was offputting, I guess. No extras on this Extras DVD, though fans of this blog should note an appearance by David Tennant as Doctor Who!New Unauthorized Doctor Who CCG cards: 7, about all I'll do from An Unearthly Child, the very first Doctor Who ever broadcast.
Someone Else's Post of the Week
Comics All Too Real started a series I hope to see more installments of this week. It's America's Next SuperModel! Check out Part 1, and especially, Part 2, starring Power Girl.
Comments
Wonder Boys--great movie! i was interested in it initially because i knew Bob Dylan wrote an original song for it, but i liked the movie all on its own.
I better get things rolling because I hit a pause in the blogging process.
BTW, thanks a lot for the link :) Much appreciated.