Whatcha Bleedin' Watchin'?

[Spark Of Spirit]

I'm not sure if there's anyone around here who likes it.

I think it's good, though.

[Angus]

I should probably watch AHS: Asylum when that gets on Netflix. I skipped it because of Adam Levine and a busy-enough schedule, but I hear that he isn't that much of a problem on the show.

That one kind of got just plain gory and not much thrill, at least what I've seen of it.  But yeah hoping that stuff gets to Netflix.

[Avaitor]

I'm on season 4 of The West Wing now, and I'm starting to think that the show peaked with that excellent second season finale. There have still been some strong moments and episodes since then, but Sorkin's faults have become more apparent since. I've heard mixed things about the later, Sorkin-less seasons, but I'm hoping that I fall in the positive camp for them. I know that I'll keep on following Bartlet all the way through.

I also have to say that what might be the best episode of the season thus far is the one which is almost completely away from the White House so CJ can be with her father. It's one of the few episodes from the first 4 seasons that Sorkin didn't write, and it shows that there's life away from foreign policies and fast-paced dialogue for the show. Let's see how this goes.

[No-Personality]

Done with Sailor Moon. Maybe for all-time. I think I racked up about 81 episodes, a good 7 of which I'd never seen before. And... hoah, boy, those were some 7-10 final episodes... not good, I don't mean that. Stupid is a good word. To describe what I sat through. Something really happened to that show after it broke up in 1995. Hell, something really happened to the show in their trying to cobble together a satisfying 17 new episodes. Multiple times the show changed from functioning and watchable to outright terrible. For different reasons. First- the dubbing. I don't know at what point in the 1998 series (which is a continuation of the Rubius storyline, introducing his extremely loosely related family of other Jewel People: Emerald, Saffire, and Diamond- I'll explain that momentarily) fell into this trend but: these writers were having a lot of trouble putting words into the characters' mouths.

They apparently just flat-out couldn't think of anything to fit into their mouths, so when words finally make it into the mouths- they don't make any sense. That's the fancy way of putting it. A good example would be a scene where Emerald confronts the Sailor Scouts as a group: "hear my words good. C'mon- listen!" You said "hear me," you don't need to say "listen" too. Then Luna will turn to Serena and say something like: "hurry up! Let's go. On the double. Fast. Quick. Speedy." You see what I mean? That's not verbatim but the amount of pointless repetition in the dialogue is insane. I never laughed at the show before but I laughed here. Several times. You can count on running into some example of this at least once a minute and, naturally, several times in several lone minutes. Did the old writers leave? I don't know but these new ones didn't cut it.

Eventually this problem relegated itself to about 5 episodes in the middle. Then begins an interminably long series of You've Got to Be Fucking Kidding Me predictability and obviousness. The examples here are also very abundant and absurd. I'm going to run through a mere few, starting with the Entire Reason Why We Have Reenie in the First Place: she's sent into "present" Tokyo from the "future" Crystal Tokyo to find The Moon Princess and the Silver Imperium Crystal because her Mom is all dying in an ice castle in a polluted, wartorn, fucked up future ghetto of shredded Moon Palace glory (it's very The Ivory Tower from The Never-Ending Story but bluer and icier, less creamy). That's pretty bad / sad- her mother is ailing and weak in the future because - so says Reenie herself - the crystal (which we all know Sailor Moon has in the present, it's "The Thing" she frickin' uses to bring down Queen Beryl and eventually all the Negaverse minions and heal people and yadda yadda) disappeared.

After over 20 episodes of ultra-climactic, relationship-destroying, energy-sucking (I'm referring to the minions' evil plans), plotting, scheming, lying, brain-washing, spell-casting, back-stabbing, loyalty switching, deception, redemption, new beginnings, Serena breaking down in truly gut-wrenching tears (in the Cosmetic Caper episode), multiple people put in comas, dream-diving, conspiracies, overthrows, and battling a total of 6 Master-Nemeses... yeah, what's the source of all this drama? The missing S I Crystal? Yeah- Reenie took it. Had it the whole time. Stole it from her mother, nearly killing her. And... why, you may ask? Because... get ready for it... Nobody remembered her Birthday. If you're thinking this all smells like Sleeping Beauty but rotten and with the brains and soul ripped out- you'd be right. In what is only the LEAST predictable and obvious twist in this plot string, we all know that this Birthday was supposed to be one of those surprise parties where the one having the Birthday is meant to think everyone forgot about her.

She steals the crystal and runs away, Moon Princess mother runs after her (and we all know it's Serena, they kinda told us 40 episodes ago in "A Crystal Clear Destiny" that if it has "Moon" in the title or has the same freakin' hair style as Serena- it's Serena, or daughter, and the show thinks we would never be able to tell that in a million years guessing on our own), and is attacked by the Nega Moon minions. So, Reenie's Birthday just kinda almost completely destroyed the entire Moon Kingdom. It gets better: Reenie stole the Crystal but has no memory of doing it. Which is the show's cue to replay The Moment the S I Crystal Disappeared. Reenie opened the glass case it's held in (cough, Beauty & the Beast, cough) and it vanished into thin air. As in: we all know Reenie absorbed the Crystal into herself. There's nowhere else it could have gone. 2, 3 episodes later, the show reveals it like it's a big deal. In Most Dramatically Overplayed, We Totally Fooled You fashion. Yeah, you didn't fool Dorf.

The show proceeds like this. I literally sat there and said aloud everything that was going to happen. I wasn't wrong once. I am convinced anyone else in the world would have guessed what was coming episodes before it did. The other 2 major problems I had were Serena + Diamond... this one's quick: he loves to kidnap her and make her kiss him and it's someone's victim-victimizer fantasy and nobody wants to see it. Not a single person. This pops up a few times, each well after the last time it was sunk and should have stayed that way. The other being The Single Most Long, Boring, Repetitious, Drawn-Out, Predictable, Unnecessary, Etc. Series of "Fateful," What Have I Done / I Should Have Listened deaths I've ever encountered. Rubeus's death made sense. Something had to be lost in that semi-epic battle. After that, it gets real insulting real quick.

So, about this Jewel Family: apparently Emerald isn't a full-on sister to anyone since she's in love with Diamond and Saffire's in love with her, then he freakin' falls in love with Prisma who only comes back in the final 17 episodes to try and give him advice to save him. But, before that (which is just in the show to Pile On the Tragedy, none of which is interesting or heartfelt in the slightest), we have the overplayed, heavy-handed "you so jealous, now be a dragon" with Emerald hating Sailor Moon for being Diamond's kidnap-toy so she has to break out the big guns to steal him back... So, there's a Dragon Battle and Sailor Moon must analyze the deep vulnerability inside the dragon's heart to defeat it, this should be a set-up to redeem or heal Emerald's character (she gets the most screentime of all the minions since Rubeus and The Four Sisters turned up in U.S. Episode 54). No, she just dies. Even though Sailor Moon has to practically exorcise the frickin' Dragon to take it down. It was nearly an intervention.

Then, Reenie turns evil (which is a role she, as you can imagine, slips into very easily) to replace Emerald and Saffire has to go make himself the Most Interesting (and Screentimey) character in his selfless epic efforts to save Diamond by showing him The Wise Man was planning on disposing of everyone working below him and keeping all the Dark Energy for himself (building up to a frickin' obvious Queen Beryl Showdown Rip-off Ending) and there's nearly a full 2-parter on this and... guess what? Saffire dies! (Cough, Neflite, cough!) And I mean after like 5 minutes of the Sailor Scouts forming a wall around him like they did with The Four Sisters to convince him of how friendship, loyalty, and helping others is the only destiny and path in one life's journey. Which is the great lesson the entire Rubeus / Diamond courts of minions exist to learn. So... of course, he dies. So good he learned that lesson before he croaked, leaving Prisma someone to give her an excuse to be all lonely and tear-sheddy, You'll Always Be in My Memories mourny.

But, really, his death was his sacrifice to save his brother, Diamond. As in: to shorthand the whole Sailor Scout message for Diamond, don't let his death and Emerald's be in vain, don't trust The Wise Man, work With the Earth people instead of Against them... Guess what? He dies too. But in the next episode, after the show tries to distract us with a bunch of new bullshit all of which I've forgotten. And it's his death scene where I got fed up and wanted to kick the show. Exactly how poignant is this supposed to be when it's repeated 3 times for 3 shallow, uninteresting characters whose deaths are pure cliche? They worked pretty hard to make Saffire a likable character, and while they couldn't be bothered when it came to Diamond or Emerald, this doesn't mean they didn't prolong every solitary moment of inner-workings b.s. they were going through to make their deaths clunkier. And, really? This is just a tamer, warm-milkier Formula Repeat of Neflite / Zoecite / Malachite anyway. In that, we get to see what makes them tick, and even though they're evil- their deaths were pretty tragic and sad. Same can't be said for the Jewel Family.

What's even worse? Sailor Moon cries for everyone who died. No, she actually brokedown for Diamond. Which might make sense given how Prisma (and, by virtue- Avery, Catsy, and Birdie join in) got so involved in trying to help Saffire who tried so hard to save Diamond who compelled Emerald to go soak up her Super-Evil Dark Villainness Power in his name (which has the same effect as Snow White's Queen drinking the potion to turn her into the old hag). In a (very twisted) sense, someone was suffering a deep loss because of Saffire's death which has now Don't Let My Death Be in Vain'd in the form of the effort to rescue Diamond. But... well, he's stupid. Not stubborn. Not blind. Not corrupted. Not confused. Not dedicated to revenge so much as to be completely insulated after his brother's death. Just plain old stupid. And, yet, Sailor Moon cries for him. This isn't tragedy: it's routine.

[LumRanmaYasha]

Yeah.... that kinda stuff is why I never really could get into the anime when I tried to watch it a while back. I found that most of that stuff that you mentioned doesn't happen and isn't a problem in the original version of the story in the manga. Chibiusa does turn into Wicked Lady in the manga, though, but the reason is more connected to her insecurity about not having her own powers and being grown up despite being alive for centuries at that point, in addition to her jealousy of Sailor Moon and fear of abandonment/betrayal, so it comes off a lot more believable, and the resolution is way better. The manga really doesn't try to make the villains all that sympathetic and doesn't force any emotional moments in their deaths, with the downside being that the minor villains aren't really all that well-defined or developed. But, I can guarantee you Usagi does not cry when Diamond and Sapphire die in the manga, so there's that. 

[Avaitor]

Now I know the difference between a gook and a chink.

Watching All in the Family is... fun! 

[LumRanmaYasha]

I've been watching It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, and am on season three so far. I'm loving it! After all, I like casts of eccentric jerks who can be likable and despicable at the same time, and this show's got the best one I've ever seen. 

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

I'm 6 episodes into American Horror Story, and I have mixed feelings about it so far. On the one hand, it has great acting, an appropriately creepy and mysterious atmosphere, and is generally good at avoiding common horror tropes and going down the unpredictable route most of the time. On the other hand, the writing is a mess, with the story being all over the place at times, and with some of the plot twists making the story feel more convoluted rather than answering any real questions that are brought up in the plot. Yet, the show manages to remain just intriguing enough for me to want to keep watching more of it, so I guess it's definitely doing something right in that regard.

[Avaitor]

AHS isn't a smart show in most ways, but as a callback to camp, it is fun.

Jessica Lange more than makes it worth the experience, too. She just has a ball all the way through.

[Avaitor]

DMR has a couple of muppet releases available to order, including the second and third seasons of the show.

I'm usually against using the site to order DVDs or Blu-Rays I can buy elsewhere, but they're each under 1000 points, and I honestly never use them, so I'm considering ordering them. It's a great show, anyway.

[No-Personality]

Been re-watching Disney's Adventures in Wonderland on YouTube. Whatever episodes are available (there are quite a few but there are also quite a few missing). They have most of the ones I remember: the pizza one, the pretzel one, the shampoo one, the Hatter hurts his back, etc.

For the most part, it's been a lot of fun. It wasn't my favorite thing ever as a kid but I did enjoy it. And except for the musical numbers (which really vary in quality, some songs aren't so bad), I would have to say it holds up.

[Avaitor]

Oh man, I remember watching the shit out of that when we got our annual preview of the Disney Channel before it became a basic cable network. That and Welcome to Pooh Corner.

[No-Personality]

I haven't bothered to try and dig up Pooh Corner on YouTube. I did try Dumbo's Circus at one point but when they only had like 1 full-length episode, I decided not to tease myself.

So, it's back to Blip as usual: today was Todd in the Shadows day. Watched at least 12 of his videos and, of course, I have to say since I just discovered the masterpiece that is his episode on LMFAO's "Sexy and I Know It"... well, I watched it twice. I'm a little surprised he doesn't put that amount of analysis into every one of his reviews. I'm referring to the section where he basically satirizes Oancitizen. With Oancitizen actually intro-ing him. It was both really funny and really smart. Like...really smart. I was more than a little intimidated. Because of his typical "I kinda" thing, I didn't expect him to let loose like he did. Not to mention that I think he just covered that song top to bottom. I sort of have the same problems with Zoolander as he has with this video and I was so glad that he mentioned the 2 things I notice most people neglect: 1) that it's a double standard and women sure as hell can't do this and get away with it, 2) that they're just mocking the idea that men could ever be beautiful. In our very Two and a Half Men culture, these sorts of double standards do trouble me.

Also, I watched Diamanda Hagan's Police Academy vlog series, a ton of Cinema Snob's Brad Tries and 80's Dan (oh, and his very shortly lived Softly from Cable series- I actually saw Bikini Carwash as a kid), a few of Phelous's Bootleg Zones and that Roger Corman's Aladdin 2-parter (the 1st part is hysterical), Phelous & Lupa's Tender Loving Care thing (all 10 parts), Pushing Up Roses' Let's Play of King's Quest 7.

And I re-watched the 3rd series of Chef! It's still terrible but, though I hate to admit it, it becomes more tolerable every time I rewatch it. That still doesn't exactly undo all the damage the show did but... at least Janice wasn't too badly character-mangled. (Honestly tried to think of another compliment there. That's the best I can do.)

[Avaitor]

Not to mention that I think he just covered that song top to bottom. I sort of have the same problems with Zoolander as he has with this video and I was so glad that he mentioned the 2 things I notice most people neglect: 1) that it's a double standard and women sure as hell can't do this and get away with it, 2) that they're just mocking the idea that men could ever be beautiful. In our very Two and a Half Men culture, these sorts of double standards do trouble me.

Oh yes. This has always been my problem with the song, and Todd's argument as to why it is the problem makes it one of my favorite reviews of his, too.

[Avaitor]

So I'm about halfway through the first season of Homeland, and while I respect the effort put behind the show, it hasn't grabbed me yet. I've heard mixed things about the second season, so if I'm still not impressed by the end of this one, I might drop it.