Puntabulous

Hopefully the Nikki/Micah saga is left behind us and we can forget all about that awfulness and just pretend that Ali Larter always played a character named Tracy, but I just thought of something and I had to share it. I think the whole point of Micah was his ability to control machines and help push the election in Nathan Petrelli’s favor in season 1, right? And remember how Linderman was running the whole show back then? What if, Niki’s power was mind control, and DL’s power was over metal, and people’s genetic powers combined when they mated to make children with a combination of their powers, hence Micah’s ability to control machines. Wouldn’t that be interesting? That could even be a storyline in itself, having people go back in time to set people up so they make babies with the powers they need for their nefarious deeds. Or they could flash forward 20 years in the future where the kids of the present characters have incredible powers. I can see how it could be hard to think of powers that would logically combine into other powers, but I think it could work if it was done properly and would make it more interesting than just being randomly assigned a power. But that’s not the case. Powers seem to be completely random. I just think it would be cool if they tried it my way. You hear that Hollywood? Do things my way!

This is what our presidential candidates look like in MSPaint:

Did anyone else watch Chuck last night? Because it was awesome. Chuck was one of my favorite shows from last season (behind Pushing Daisies) and I was sad to be underwhelmed by the season premiere last week. But this week’s episode more than made up for it. Sarah’s entrance into Buy More was a perfect example of the silliness I love about the show. And John Larroquette was perfect as a washed up James Bondian (totally a word) super seductive spy. I hope they have him back again. I was worried that they’d add too many guest stars this season since we’ve already had Michael Clarke Duncan, Melinda Clarke, and John Larroquette and we’re only on episode 2. But they’ve all been great and still manage to blend in with the rest of the cast without coming off as casting stunts a la Will and Grace. If you’ve never seen it, please watch it sometime, because let’s face it, if you’re reading this blog, you’re probably a geek, and a member of Chuck’s target audience.

Netflix #44 - Imaginary Heroes - Suggested by ScottieC

It’s the moment you’ve all been waiting for! The moment years in the making! Not since that fateful day when baby Jesus crawled out of the primordial ooze has a moment so changed the face of human history. That’s right folks. I’ve watched a movie recommended to me by ScottieC. No, not Angels in America. It’s just so gosh darn long! But Imaginary Heroes. And it was really good too! It’s the story of a disfunctional (aren’t they all?) family dealing with the suicide of one of their sons/brothers. Signourney Weaver and Jeff Daniels play the parents of Emile Hirsch, Michelle Williams, and someone else who’s unfamous, which doesn’t matter because, you know, BANG! Anyway, the acting as I’m sure you could already tell was all fantastic. I think this is actually the first movie I’ve ever seen with Emile having such a large role and I was really impressed. I’m gonna have to see Into the Wild at some point now. At times the movie could be a bit melodramatic, which I think is a natural effect of someone directing from a script that they’ve written themselves. Garden State anyone? It doesn’t allow for a filter between what’s on the page and what we’re seeing on screen. I think you need another set of eyes to have the same investment to balance out the writing and the directing. But that’s just my personal opinion. Overall the movie left some interesting suprises for the end, which were pretty great and would probably add to a better second viewing experience. Thanks ScottieC!

Netflix #45 - The Fall - The Infamous Dr. Para

Oh I’m sorry, were you expecting the same fanfare Dr. Para? Because you’re not getting it. I’ve already reviewed one of your recommendations and I only did it for ScottieC because he kept crying that I never watched any of his recommendations. And here at Puntabulous we like to reward whiny cry babies. Just kidding ScottieC! Moving along, this movie was the epitome of style over substance. It was beautiful to watch and some of the shots and transitions were just incredible. But the story just left a lot to be desired. Lee Pace (WOO!) plays a stuntman in the 1920’s who’s paralyzed and in the hospital where he befriends a little girl and tells her fantastical (totally a word) stories in order to get her to steal drugs for him. Both stories are woven throughout the movie, and while both were fascinating, Lee’s character would adjust points in his story to fit what he needed in real life, so the character representations were constantly shifting, making it difficult to follow. And the last 20 minutes consisted of the poor little girl (played by an adorable little girl who was incredible) crying her eyes out, which is just a terrible, terrible thing to watch. Seriously, I’m pretty sure it was 20 minutes of constant, heartbreaking crying. And no, I’m not giving anything away by saying she was crying. There are loads of reasons why she could be crying, and I promise it’s not the one you’re thinking of. All in all, while gorgeous to look at, it didn’t have a good enough story like Pan’s Labyrinth to sustain itself, so I’d recommend watching that instead. But if you’re curious, it’s worth a look.

Keep your recommendations coming!

Are you guys ready for the final installment of the Captain Flaccid Saga? A lot of blood, sweat, and tears (minus the blood and sweat) went into this, so I hope you all like it!

Previously: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6 and Part 7.

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So tonight was the premiere of Star Wars: The Clone Wars. After the less than stellar movie, my hopes for the television series weren’t that high, but like the movie, the visuals and action scenes were enough to keep me entertained for 20 minutes (god bless DVRs). The shorter episodes definitely have an advantage over the movie, by letting things move at a quicker pace. Tonight there were two episodes. The first one dealt with Yoda and a troop of clones trying to evade battle droids on Toydaria while trying to negotiate a treaty, while the second one dealt with Anakin and Ahsoka saving some survivors from a Separatist attack. I enjoyed the first one better because like I said, the second one had Anakin and Ahsoka, need I say more? But the second one did have Plo Koon who is just about the coolest looking Jedi ever.

The dialogue continues to be terrible and silly, especially when the battle droids are involved. Why do they need to talk to each other anyway? Can’t they communicate electronically? But I have to admit there was one moment when one of them made me laugh out loud. As Yoda was slicing through a bunch of them, one of them cried out: “But I just got proooomoooooooteeeeeeed!” and died. It was actually pretty funny. There was also a brief glimmer of awesomeness that lasted for just about 20 seconds, when Yoda asked the clones to take off their helmets to speak with them during a break in the battle. They said it didn’t matter because they all looked alike, but then Yoda said that they were all different in the force and proceeded to give them each specific advice, and the force music was playing in the background and it was pretty great. But like I said, that lasted all of 20 seconds.

The clones actually turned out to be my favorite part of the show. They had pretty cool lines like “Eat laser!” which was cooler than it sounds, and did I mention that I’m a dork? I mean come on. It’s Friday night, I just watched Star Wars, and now I’m blogging about it. My coolness barometer is all out of wack. Also as Plo Koon and the clones were waiting to be rescued, they doubted that the Republic would send anyone to save them, and one of the clones said: “We’re clones sir. We’re meant to be expendable.” which I thought was actually a pretty meaningful bit of dialogue. All in all, it was an enjoyable bit of television and I’m curious to see if anyone else out there watched it and what their thoughts are on it.

Seriously. It’s such a good show! Much better than that other new show with a one word title. And yeah, it might be harder to spell because you want to throw an extra D in there, but it’s definitely my favorite new show this season. Joanna Garcia as Megan — the wannabe writer and tutor of two spoiled brats in Palm Beach — is the perfect combination of Veronica Mars sass and Amy Adams looks. Michael Cassidy (Zach from The O.C.) is the opposite sex best friend and is looking cuter than ever. And you’ll remember Lucy Hale as the cute little sister in the god awful Bionic Woman remake from last year, and she’s back again as…the cute little sister. The older sister Sage and Megan’s sister Lily can be a bit much at times, but their antagonism is necessary I suppose. Why can’t there ever be a show where everyone just gets along and nothing ever goes wrong? Is that too much to ask? And let’s not forget Marco, the fun gay cook and magical negro always dispensing wonderful words of wisdom as necessary to save our poor rich white girls. Anyway, the show is super fun and geeky, and I wouldn’t be surprised if Megan says “frak” at some point because it’s just that awesome. Give it a shot! It’s online! If you don’t, and it gets canceled, I’ll be coming after you.

That white film across my hot chocolate? The marshmallows. Seriously, what’s the point? Oh, and that spoon? It’s an environmentally friendly starch spoon that’s really gross to eat off of. Stoopid Environment. Blerg.

Words cannot express how happy I am now that Pushing Daisies is back on. It is by far my favorite show, possibly rivaling my adoration of Battlestar Galactica. I know, crazy right? But true. I hate to use a pie comparison, but watching this show is like eating a warm slice of delicious pie. It’s just so sweet and magical and romantic. Lee Pace makes me think that maybe it’s not all that bad being tall and lanky. And oh my, did you see him in his boxers? Golly me. And Kristin Chenoweth continues to be absolutely genius as Olive Snook, and with better hair this season! And let’s not forget Emerson’s “I’m sorry for your loss… and I do accept credit cards.” Genius! And did you know Anna Friel who plays Chuck is really British? Did anyone else forget about Aunt Lily’s secret from last season? I did, so it was quite a shock to hear it during the recap. But I love how Olive has all these secrets now and her scenes in the pie shop and convent were fantastic. Glad to have you back Pushing Daisies!

Huzzah! I finished The Amber Spyglass! So now I’m officially done with His Dark Materials Trilogy by Philip Pullman. The fact that these books were published in 1995, 1997 and 2000 and I didn’t know about them until The Golden Compass was made into a movie in 2007 is just terrible. Did I ever tell you I was never much of a reader until I got to college? I don’t think I ever read a single book in high school. Anyway, while the movie was enjoyable, I was so entranced by the world that it took place in, I just knew the books would be incredible. And I was right.

The Amber Spyglass was an awesome read. In fact, I’d rate it better than The Subtle Knife, but not as good as The Golden Compass. Everything having to do with the World of the Dead, and the Angels, and the final battle was just genius. Loved Balthamos and Baruch. Loved Lord Asriel and Mrs. Coulter. Loved Metatron (even though I kept wanting to call him Megatron). Mary Malone’s storyline with the Mulefa wasn’t as entertaining, but it was still enjoyable. Part of that might have to do with my disappointment that the Amber Spyglass itself wasn’t as essential to the storyline as the Alethiometer or the Subtle Knife were in their respective books. But that’s just a minor quibble I suppose.

Probably the aspect I liked least about it was the ending. Not the ending itself, just the fact that there was 100 or so pages after the major climax of the book. It reminded me so much of The Return of the King book in style, meaning that after the major climax, there was still a lot needing to be resolved, like the Scouring of the Shire, which — while essential — just isn’t as riveting as the rest of the book. The slow resolution of the dæmon storyline was particularly frustrating. But I understood the point of it, and I will probably be able to enjoy it more after multiple readings.

Moments that I just absolutely adored was in the World of the Dead where the children are talking about their dæmons, and all the things the dæmons did for them while they were alive. It was so incredibly touching I might have gotten a tad weepy. I also liked the Death characters and the whole “It’s time.” relationships they had with their owners. Lastly, I couldn’t have asked for a better resolution to the Lee Scoresby and John Parry storylines. It was perfect! And yes, I’m happy with the ending of the Lyra and Will storyline. I won’t go into details here, but we can talk about it in more spoilery detail in the comments section.