Buys
Still have Roman fever I guess, because I just got myself I, Claudius on DVD. Hey, it's Derek Jacobi, Patrick Stewart... John Hurt as Caligula! I don't think I need to justify myself. Threw in a cheap copy of Silent Running, a minor SF classic I don't think I've ever seen.
Also bought some items for the computer desk, including a new chair. It's so comfy, it's like somebody's holding my butt cheeks. Mmmmm. And finally got an mp3 player. Yeah, I know I'm late to the party. This winter, once I can't read while walking to work without getting frostbitten fingers or a wet book, I can instead listen to Doctor Who audios! Everybody wins!
"Accomplishments"
Books: Finished Snowglobe 7, a New Series Doctor Who novel by Mike Tucker. It's got an interesting setting to be sure (globed pieces of the Arctic and Antarctic in future Dubai), but eventually devolves into yet another "monsters running people down corridors" story, with robots of course (these books are obsessed with robots). I don't want to make it sound like it's badly written, because it's more than competent. I just need a change of pace, you know?
Comics: It was the subject of a post yesterday, but I still want to mention I just finished Spaceknight Saturdays. That was a pretty big stack of comics to go through over the past year and a half. Rom will be missed around these parts.
DVDs: Flipped The Unit Season 3, at 11 episodes, a season cut short by the writers' strike. It's the one that kicked the series into Jason Bourne territory, which in a way is too bad, and in another is pretty great. I'm gonna miss this series even if it kinda jumped the shark in its 4th season. But no, I guess CBS needed another doctor show or something. The DVD includes commentary tracks on 8 episodes (a couple have sound problems, but overall they're pretty light-hearted), deleted scenes, and a writers' round table discussing the difficulties or writing for The Unit.
I also watched the Thames TV production of Shakespeare's Twelfth Night. Thames' Shakespeares are theatrical productions saved for posterity, and this one is a staging by Kenneth Branagh and starring Richard Briars as Malvolio. I can't help but compare it to the Trevor Nunn feature film, and despite there being more name actors and landscapes in the Nunn, I think I like the Branagh better. There's almost the entire text (including a lot more songs, including some not in the play, like 12 Days of Christmas and a Paul McCartney ditty), and a better sense of who the characters are. With Twelfth Night, I'm often annoyed by the "zanies", but here that's quickly dispelled. Better Viola, better Orsino, better Olivia... it's just better despite the lower production values. There's a nice interview with Branagh included too.
Kung Fu Friday was just a Hong Kong Friday this week as we watched Infernal Affairs 2, the prequel to the film that inspired The Departed (got all that?). The focus is more on the fall of Inspector Wong and the rise of Sam in the underworld than on the undercover moles, but since those two were one of the best things in Infernal Affairs, I'm not complaining. A little confusing to get into, but the end gambits are so great, you just have to cheer. Except it's a tragedy. And great main villain in Francis Ng too (oh and Carina Lau is a luscious leading lady). The DVD includes a commentary in Chinese with cast and crew (subtitled of course), deleted scenes, and a making of (again, all in Chinese).
Hyperion to a Satyr entries this week include:
Act I Scene 2 - Enter Hamlet according to the BBC
New Unauthorized Doctor Who CCG cards: 24, including all of Daleks in Manhattan/Evolution of the Daleks, and a few from The Wasp and the Unicorn.
Someone Else's Post of the Week
Another great series you should be paying attention to is Sea-of Green's The Darkness of Disney. My featured post is The Death of Bambi's Mother (sorry about the spoiler!), but you can read the whole series HERE.
Still have Roman fever I guess, because I just got myself I, Claudius on DVD. Hey, it's Derek Jacobi, Patrick Stewart... John Hurt as Caligula! I don't think I need to justify myself. Threw in a cheap copy of Silent Running, a minor SF classic I don't think I've ever seen.Also bought some items for the computer desk, including a new chair. It's so comfy, it's like somebody's holding my butt cheeks. Mmmmm. And finally got an mp3 player. Yeah, I know I'm late to the party. This winter, once I can't read while walking to work without getting frostbitten fingers or a wet book, I can instead listen to Doctor Who audios! Everybody wins!
"Accomplishments"
Books: Finished Snowglobe 7, a New Series Doctor Who novel by Mike Tucker. It's got an interesting setting to be sure (globed pieces of the Arctic and Antarctic in future Dubai), but eventually devolves into yet another "monsters running people down corridors" story, with robots of course (these books are obsessed with robots). I don't want to make it sound like it's badly written, because it's more than competent. I just need a change of pace, you know?Comics: It was the subject of a post yesterday, but I still want to mention I just finished Spaceknight Saturdays. That was a pretty big stack of comics to go through over the past year and a half. Rom will be missed around these parts.
DVDs: Flipped The Unit Season 3, at 11 episodes, a season cut short by the writers' strike. It's the one that kicked the series into Jason Bourne territory, which in a way is too bad, and in another is pretty great. I'm gonna miss this series even if it kinda jumped the shark in its 4th season. But no, I guess CBS needed another doctor show or something. The DVD includes commentary tracks on 8 episodes (a couple have sound problems, but overall they're pretty light-hearted), deleted scenes, and a writers' round table discussing the difficulties or writing for The Unit.
I also watched the Thames TV production of Shakespeare's Twelfth Night. Thames' Shakespeares are theatrical productions saved for posterity, and this one is a staging by Kenneth Branagh and starring Richard Briars as Malvolio. I can't help but compare it to the Trevor Nunn feature film, and despite there being more name actors and landscapes in the Nunn, I think I like the Branagh better. There's almost the entire text (including a lot more songs, including some not in the play, like 12 Days of Christmas and a Paul McCartney ditty), and a better sense of who the characters are. With Twelfth Night, I'm often annoyed by the "zanies", but here that's quickly dispelled. Better Viola, better Orsino, better Olivia... it's just better despite the lower production values. There's a nice interview with Branagh included too.
Kung Fu Friday was just a Hong Kong Friday this week as we watched Infernal Affairs 2, the prequel to the film that inspired The Departed (got all that?). The focus is more on the fall of Inspector Wong and the rise of Sam in the underworld than on the undercover moles, but since those two were one of the best things in Infernal Affairs, I'm not complaining. A little confusing to get into, but the end gambits are so great, you just have to cheer. Except it's a tragedy. And great main villain in Francis Ng too (oh and Carina Lau is a luscious leading lady). The DVD includes a commentary in Chinese with cast and crew (subtitled of course), deleted scenes, and a making of (again, all in Chinese).Hyperion to a Satyr entries this week include:
Act I Scene 2 - Enter Hamlet according to the BBC
New Unauthorized Doctor Who CCG cards: 24, including all of Daleks in Manhattan/Evolution of the Daleks, and a few from The Wasp and the Unicorn.
Someone Else's Post of the Week
Another great series you should be paying attention to is Sea-of Green's The Darkness of Disney. My featured post is The Death of Bambi's Mother (sorry about the spoiler!), but you can read the whole series HERE.
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