I have to intellectualize everything, don't I?

I've been wavering on what to post next, as well as the general direction that I want to take this blog.  I actually dislike talking about my own life, especially since I have discovered that in this age of information, people end up reading it and knowing stuff.  And I don't really feel like guarding myself all that much.  I also don't really want to make it too political, since it'll just end up being me ranting and raving about all the people that I disagree with.  In the end, I'm left with pop culture, which tends to be the most fun to blog about anyway.

So, with that in mind, I want to return to the topic of Terminator, and also to horror and action flicks (and shows) in general.  Anybody who knows me probably knows that I absolutely love the new TV show, especially the new season.  It got to a bit of a rocky start, but the portrayal of the characters is totally dead-on.  

What I really love about the show is that it isn't an action show.  Sure, there are robots beating each other up, but that's not what it's about.  It's about people who are launched from their orderly universe into something completely unexpected, terrifying, and dangerous.  And it's actually realistic about the consequences.  Let's face it:  running from killer robots is going to give you PTSD, or at least serious social disorders.  However, it's not whiny, it's about people dealing with it and moving on.  And the ones that don't usually last long.  It doesn't hurt that it's got Summer Glau and Shirley Manson.  Seriously, that's a catfight I can't WAIT to see.

In fact, this show has gotten me thinking about horror and action movies in general.  They actually have very similar premises:  people are thrown into extraordinary and dangerous situations.  For the most part, the actual details don't matter much:  what matters is how each character responds.  This is how franchises like Terminator and Alien can be so successful:  they can, at turns, be horror or action, or both.  What matters is the reaction to the terrifying other: fear and resignation, or anger and determination.  In most horror movies, there is a specific turning point where the protagonist switches between these two viewpoints, and that is the point where the plot becomes one of action.  One may even say that the only true horror movies are ones where nobody survives aside from by blind luck or the capriciousness of the villain.  The only specific example I can think of right now is The Strangers, in which (spoiler alert) both of the protagonists die.  There was actually one specific instant where I saw each of their reactions to the situation and decided that they were doomed.  Oddly enough, this resignation on my part completely removed my fear and the film almost became pornographic in nature because all I saw was the promise and carrying out of violence.  

Well, I got kind of sidetracked there.  Anyway, I love Terminator.  As I mentioned before, I think it's pretty awesome that the franchise can have such range.  The first movie was pure horror, the second was a feel-good action movie with a dark undertone, and the third was a pure campy romp.  The TV show embraces the action, and to some extent the camp, but its focus is really the psychological impact of the situation and the relationship between all of the characters.  I'm actually really nervous about the new movie because it doesn't take place in a contemporary world:  it's after the machine apocalypse.  The strength of the story is the fact that the vast majority of the world is completely oblivious of the threat, that the Connors have to run for their lives in a world that simply sees them as crazy, that nobody can help them because they have no idea of the scope of the threat.  If they play their cards right, it could be an amazing movie, but I just have no idea how it'll end up.  If they follow the path of the third movie, I'm afraid that it's going to be a flop, but if they concentrate on the human aspect instead of the action, I think that it could be an excellent continuation of the Terminator story.

hmm, maybe I should be working on my essay...

Lions and tigers and........oh my

So my iTunes store addiction has moved on to TV shows. They make it so easy....to go broke. My latest indiscretions involve Tin Man (the SciFi channel's "adaptation" of the Wizard of Oz) and the pilot of the Terminator TV show.

First things first: Tin Man - awesome idea, excellent character concepts...terrible execution. Now don't get me wrong, it's definitely one of the best things the SciFi channel's ever done...but that's not saying much. This is the channel that brought us Atomic Twister, the movie about a tornado that sucked up a nuclear power plant to become a super radioactive tornado, and this weekend is premiering Anaconda 3, because so many people watched the first two.

Let's start on a positive note and talk about the things that I loved about Tin Man. First of all, they took just about the right amount of guidance from the original story. And by that, I mean not very much. If they had done a faithful retelling, they'd have to deal with a whole bunch of people bitching that they ruined a classic. However, they picked up elements of character design and concepts and made them completely their own, and updated them to be more realistic. The character design for the "Scarecrow" and "Tin Man" especially appealed to me. Also, the wicked witch was FABULOUS. She channeled just the right amount of crazy fierceness, and a certain amount of tranny corsets and makeup.

Now, on to things I didn't like so much. First of all, Zooey Deschanel bugs the crap out of me.
I think it's a combination of her permanently wide-eyed look and her low semi-deadpan voice, but there just seems to be something wrong about her acting. I must say, though, she was a good pick for the role of DG (their version of Dorothy) because her brand of weirdness kind of worked for the role. There's enough wide-eyed innocence and confusion inherent in the way that she acts that fit the characterization. Another thing I couldn't stand was the crappy storyline. I mean, a misfit post-teenage girl gets thrown into another world, where she discovers that she's a magical princess and has to fulfill a prophecy? Come on, every nerdy junior high girl EVER has written the exact same storyline, and I think that it would have been better if they'd stayed a little closer to the original, where she was picked up by complete chance and thrown into a strange world. And the fact that the evil witch was her sister who's actually good but was possessed for years by an ancient spirit? boooring. It would have been much better if she were just crazy, I think. Or at the very least, that she ended up twisted instead of everything turning out beautifully once the evil witch was dispelled (by the magical power of love, no less. barf.)

Also, the world design started really well...but whoa, they tried to do way too much. Somehow it's futuristic, Western, 1920s, and magical all at the same time? Seriously guys, pick a theme or two and work with them. Don't try to cram all your ideas into one thing.

Next, I'll probably talk about the Sarah Connor chronicles, and how poor Summer Glau is going to be typecast forever. Moving from crazy teenage assassin to crazy teenage assassin robot...not exactly the biggest display of acting range. I'm just sayin'.