Thor: Ragnarok / Justice League / Crisis on Earth-X

I’m currently on a vacation at home – or as it called now: staycation – and on Monday I had lunch at one of my favourite Italian restaurants (Actually, it’s an Italian deli that also serves warm food and it’s soo good!). Upon driving home in the early afternoon I thought to myself: what a wonderful world what now to do with the rest of the afternoon. And it just so happened that I drove past a local movie theatre. So at 3 in the afternoon on a Monday I decided to check out what was playing (I had a decent enough idea going in though). And what have you: At 3.15 an airing of Thor: Ragnarok. And at 6.00 an airing of Justice League. Quick calculation: Is Thor done when JL starts? Probably. OK, so both tickets were bought. Both movies were in German dubbing because watching O-Ton as we call it would have required a bit more planning (not every theatre shows them and only on specific times).

At the Thor airing we were three people in the theatre. A mom with her kid and I. Which is not suprising considering it was the afternoon of a regular workday in week 4 of the movie. Justice League at 6pm was also only watched by six people (including myself) in week 2 at a bit more accessible time.

Then two days later I had also caught up with the episodes of Supergirl, The Flash and Legends of Tomorrow to watch the big crossover event (Arrow being the fourth show to cross). And so I watched Crisis on Earth-X.

And here’s what I thought about all of them:

Thor: Ragnarok

Plot: Thor’s long-lost sister Hella comes back and wants to destroy Asgard. Thor gets banished to an intergalactice waste disposal and has to find his way back.

I liked the first Thor movie. I don’t remember much about the second one. But nor do I remember much about the second and third Iron Man movies. To be honest, I don’t remember much about any MCU movie that doesn’t have Loki in it, except maybe for the Norton Hulk movie.

That’s one of the issues of the Marvel movies. They are great fun while you watch them (and that’s where and how they make their money) but they are not for the ages. They’re like a good rollercoaster ride. You remember the thrill but you don’t remember the details.

The same will be true for Ragnarok. The villain was once again pretty forgettable and to be perfectly honest not really needed at all for the movie. Because the best parts of the movie took place on the waste planet. Especially all the interactions with Jeff Goldblum’s Grandmaster (Gamemaster? Whatever.).

I did have a problem with the jokes. Not any one in particular, most of them were at least amusing. More with the frequency of them. Sometimes this felt like it tried to be a laugh-track comedy were every sentence had to have a punchline. IMHO, that was a bit too much. In this regard I loved the more sporadic approach of the first movie where he’d just randomly smash his glass after he’d emptied it, praising the brew within.

As for CGI, Marvel has this part down. Although I could have sworn that the Hulk looked different than before, even a bit smaller. This nagged at me for a bit. Also, I noticed that for the sake of the plot the pathway to the Bifröst was changed, especially what’s supposed to be – or not be – under it.

I loved that Thor wised up for once and predicted Loki’s inevitable betrayal. When I saw that scene, the opening scene of Firefly sprung to my mind:

When I saw Karl Urban, I just thought: You’re in this, too? Considering how small his part was, it was astounding – or depressing depending on the point of view – how much more developed his character was in comparison to Hella’s. And at least he had a part to play in comparison to the disposal of the Warriors Three.

All in all it was once again an enjoyable ride but again no deeper meaning to be gained from it.

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TV Junkie: A History

I watched a lot of TV shows over the years. And when I say a lot, I mean A LOT. And I watched accross the board.

Keep in mind that I’m only 35 years old.

I watched The Guiding Light for two years straight (it’s a soap opera whose German title was the Springfield Story). I watched medical shows like Trapper John M.D. and lawyer shows like L.A. Law. I watched the 80s action shows from MacGuyver to Riptide. I even watched Love Boat every weekday on one of the first private channels in Germany: Sat.1. I got up at 6am on every Saturday morning to watch Rawhide (Tausend Meilen Staub, lit. “A Thousand Miles of Dust”) with a very young and pre-Fistful Clint Eastwood. I knew who Daniel Boone was around the same time I met the Cartwrights as well as the men from the Shiloh Ranch.

And last weekend I binge-watched the first Netflix show House of Cards (Big recommendation! Kevin Spacey is a brilliant Magnificent Bastard!) and I got curious as to how many shows I watched intently over the past two and a half decades.

With the help of the list on the German site Wunschliste.de I created a list of “my” shows.

I only counted live-action fiction shows, no animated shows may they be Saturday morning cartoons like Yogi Bear or Scooby-Doo or evening shows like The Simpsons or South Park. No scripted reality (which I’m avoiding to 99% anyway with the exception of Comic Book Men). In this list are only shows which I followed for more than a year unless the show itself didn’t last that long.

And the answer was: 244 246 247. Two hundred and fourty four six seven different shows I watched with active interest since I’ve started watching television. And the worst thing is: Of most of these shows I watched 90% or more episodes at least once.

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TV Season 2009/2010 Diary, CW 13-17

Deutsche Version | CW 13-16 | CW 18

Chuck 3×14 Chuck vs the Honeymooners
I’ve enjoyed this episode very much. It had the typical Chuck mixture of fun and action the early seasons had. Sarah’s Texan impersonation was also very funny and I don’t think I have to say anything about her habit of walking around in lingerie all the time.
But I also really enjoyed Jeffster’s (IMHO good) interpretation of Leaving on a Jet Plane.

Romantically Challenged 1×02 The Charade
Nope, nothing special about this show. Just your average multi-camera sitcom with laugh-track.

Happy Town 1×01 In This Home on Ice
I’m a bit confused. Is this pure mystery? Is there a supernatural element in the story? What’s up with Chloe?
The pilot felt a bit rushed because so many different characters had to be introduced (however briefly) but it certainly looks intriguing and I’ll continue to watch.

10 Things I Hate About You 1×15 The Winner Takes It All
If there’s one thing in TV Land that gives me the creeps, it’s public embarrassments in front of a big audience, especially if one sees it coming. I always cringe and even try to stall the inevitable moment by pausing(!) the video. And yet I will not skip over it.
In contrast, I have no problem with putting myself into a spotlight and do things I’m not talented enough to do – just for the fun of it.

Unfortunately, 10 Things won’t get a second season. While it’s not the best show out there, I certainly enjoyed it.

Bones 5×19 The Rocker in the Rinse Cycle
This is one of the episodes I have my problems with. Bones always dealt with magic when it came to solve their murders but the way they found the cause of death this time was once again too over the top. It was like the episode where the bones turned into foam and they still could determine the way the blade (bullet?) went through the rips. Wall Banger.
But I enjoyed the other parts: Booth getting loose, B&B singing, Hodgins & muslim guy talking Baseball, Angela invoking her father, …

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TV Season 2009/2010 Diary, CW 13-14

Deutsche Version | CW 13 | CW 13-15

Doctor Who 5×01 The Eleventh Hour
Ironically the first thing I noticed about the new series was that the TARDIS doors opened outwards which I can’t remember the ever doing before. The plot seemed pretty straight-forward, I can’t say there were any surprises for me (e.g. that the Doctor isn’t the most punctual man has been proven time and time again [e.g. when he brought Rose home for the first time in Aliens of London; The Girl in the Fireplace]; that he challenges his enemies to look him up [e.g. Forest of the Dead]).
Even the threat that silence is descending isn’t a surprise – they need a plot for the season finale.
But I like both characters so far – i.e. I’m willing to give them a chance -, I’m just wondering if we will see any of the old characters ever again (With the exception of Professor River Song who was in the series preview).

Actually this was my first ever episode of Doctor Who that I watched “live”.

Chuck 3×13 Chuck vs. the Other Guy
While this was a very good episode it still felt a bit rushed. Shaw either knew this about his wife a while – which would explain his sometimes creepy looks throughout the season, but then it wouldn’t explain his outburst when he saw the footage; or he decided to switch sides after he saw it – which then would be very rushed.
Also some things were very sledge-hammer-y like the constant nods towards the security cam.
But everything considered I really liked how it played out and just hope that we can now return to Fun-Chuck & Ass-Kicking-Sarah for the rest of the season.

I also liked the Firefly class reunion of Badger and Jayne:

Castle 2×19 Wrapped Up in Death
I loved it how Beckett fooled Castle (it had to be her 😉 ) and how he tried to get rid of the curse of the mummy. 😀
Otherwise I thought there was a bit too much “coincidence” in this episode. The mummy of “servant girl #6” is the girl that was murdered and this is the mummy they choose to (illegally) sell into private hands? Talk about bad luck…

Bones 5×15 The Bones on a Blue Line
It actually explains a lot. I always wondered how Bones would manage to write a thrilling novel and include personality traits in her characters that are so obviously alien to her. I also loved the entire talk about “that thing he does on page 187” and also how the actual persons are not the characters in the book.
But if all the personal stuff is from Angela that would mean she invented the scene where Amanda had sex with Agent Andy. Is there something we should know about? Devil

Bones 5×16 The Parts in the Sum of the Whole
It certainly was an interesting episode but the end was a bit disappointing. They drag out the usual will they/won’t they plot but I can totally understand Booth’s POV that he won’t wait forever. He took a leap of faith and suddenly there was just air below his feet.

Even though it had a nice touch bringing Caroline Julian and Camille into this episode, it still is a plothole. When Caroline was introduced in 1×19 The Man in the Morgue, Booth introduces her to Bones. While Caroline may have forgotten Bones (she even says so in this episode), I doubt Brennan would have forgotten.
Also when Camille and Bones meet in 2×01 The Titan on the Track both explicitly state that they have never met before.
Both from the 1×19 and 2×01 point of view the events in 5×16 took place only about two years before.

Now I’m going to watch the pilot again…

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TV Shows – A Decade in Retrospect

Deutsche Version

Since everybody seems to be starting to count at zero instead of one the first decade of this century and millennium is now over. So it’s time to recap these past ten years and take a look at the TV Shows it has given us.

Let me give my résumé at the beginning: Of the four decades I know TV Shows from (70s – 00s) this was without question the best decade for us TV junkies. When you read my review you might say in the end “Hey what about <insert your favourite here>?” (e.g. The Sopranos, Dexter, The Wire, Six Feet Under, …) but that’s exactly my point. This decade has given us so many outstanding shows that it was impossible to watch them all. Also, everybody has a different set of favourite genres but I’d say that every genre got their fair share of excellent series in the last years.

But let’s face it: There’s rarely any series (if there’s one at all) that could keep up the quality and its appeal for its entire run. Some had a bad year in between, some fell short at the end. But even in these “bad years” they had more quality episodes in it than entire shows from previous decades. So all the shows I am going to name have of course aspects that can be criticized and I invite you to do so.

For me the most outstanding characteristic of this past decade’s shows is that they are more often than not more about the “journey” of the character(s) than the actual events. It’s not the character who shines a light upon the unfolding events but it’s the events that shine a light upon the character and his development. I have to say that shows (hereby excluding comedy shows that work with stereo- and archetypes) that don’t have a real character development don’t interest me at all. But if the character development is interesting I might even watch shows from genres that usually don’t interest me at all.

If the character development is interesting enough I might even set the fact aside that my second favourite characteristic is missing: A real story-arc. The first TV Show in my TV universe that had a real story-arc, was Babylon 5. Later Star Trek: DS9 did the same albeit not in that quality and complexity. But these shows were two of the rare exception in the 90s (another famous exception would be Twin Peaks, but I never watched it). It seemed that viewers weren’t interested in either developing characters or story-arcs.

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TV Season 2009/2010 Diary, CW 39-42

Deutsche Version | CW 41 | CW 42-43

Bones 5×04 The Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood
I really enjoyed this episode with all its entanglements in suburbia and especially the bantering between Bones/anthropology and Sweets/psychology regarding the life there.

Supernatural 5×05 Fallen Idols
Kripke warned the viewers not to judge to quickly about the appearance of Paris Hilton. And he was right, she was the perfect specimen to make the point the wood god wanted to make. 😀 And: “You got whaled on by Paris Hilton!” Hysterical

Smallville 9×03 Rabid
I didn’t care much for the zombie story (despite Supernatural horror still isn’t my genre) but I really like the way they are pushing the triangle C-L-B forward without making it feel forced. I also hope that this wasn’t the last appearance of Green Arrow. I hope he finds his path again soon and will play a larger role this season.

The Big Bang Theory 3×04 The Pirate Solution
I’m surprised, Leonard’s and Penny’s relationship is actually lasting (at least for now 😉 ). And Raj and Sheldon work together in a “Eye of the Tiger” montage – awesome!

Two and a Half Men 7×04 Laxative Tester, Horse Inseminator
It was funny (it would fail if it weren’t) but again not extraordinary. Maybe I shouldn’t watch two sitcoms in a row.

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Castle

Richard Castle is a successful bestseller author who just killed his main character in the last book. But now he has a writer’s blockage and…

Science-Fiction Mini Marathon

Deutsche Version

It wasn’t planned as such, but in the last few weeks I have watched quite a number of Science-Fiction movies and a good part of them were “Doomsday” movies, so I might as well write a few words about them. Most of these movies are very, very US-patriotic but when you can accept that and when you can ignore the scientific “inaccuracies” you can have a lot of fun with them.

Independence Day

Will Smith   …    Captain Steven Hiller
Bill Pullman   …    President Thomas J. Whitmore
Jeff Goldblum   …    David Levinson
Mary McDonnell   …    First Lady Marilyn Whitmore
Judd Hirsch   …    Julius Levinson
Robert Loggia   …    General William Grey
Randy Quaid   …    Russell Casse
Margaret Colin   …    Constance Spano
Vivica A. Fox   …    Jasmine Dubrow
Adam Baldwin   …    Major Mitchell
Brent Spiner   …    Dr. Brackish Okun

Synopsis: July, 2nd. Some aliens come in a huge ship. They place their UFOs all over the world and blow everything apart. July, 3rd. We try to strike back and fail miserably. July, 4th. We give them a cold and blow them apart.

My Opinion: Great movie. Love it. It’s so cheesy that falls out of the bottom of the scale and comes back from the top of it. The characters are so overdrawn that you can’t take them seriously and that saves the movie. Imagine you would have to look at this movie with a serious eye. The president that fights in the final battle, the drunken pilot that saves the day, the scientist that writes a computer virus for an alien computer and Will Smith in the middle of it.
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Deep Space Nine: Season 2

Deutsche Version | Season 1 | Season 3

Disc 1

The Homecoming

Synopsis: A new movement is growing on Bajor. They call themselves “The Circle” and they want “Bajor to the Bajorans”, i.e. all out-worlders should leave the bajoran system. Meanwhile Kira learns that Li Nalas – a hero of the resistance – is still alive and he’s being held prisoner on a cardassian planet. She and O’Brien disguise themselves as traders and try to rescue him.

My Opinion: I remembered this three-part season opener to be somewhat uninteresting but I really enjoyed it this time. It’s “funny” to see how something that happened almost only by accident can develop into a legend and how the protagonist becomes a hero. Although they are nothing alike the story of Li Nalas becoming a hero reminded me of the Firefly episode Jaynestown.

The Circle

Synopsis: Li Nalas has become the new liasion officer aboard DS9 and Kira has been recalled to Bajor. But there fights have broken out. The Circle has acquired a lot of weapons and is now openly moving against the provisional government. What they don’t know: The weapons were delivered by the Cardassians (although not directly) who are hoping that The Circle drives the Federation away and thus opening the system for another cardassian invasion.

My Opinion: That was an interesting turn of events with Frank Langella (Skeletor in Masters of the Universe) once again in the role of the bad guy. But I like him in these roles. 🙂 Interesting thing – especially in comparison to later seasons and later shows – is that you only had to hear the distant rumbling of war to believe that there is one, without seeing it. I don’t condemn special effects scenes, I really like them, but if a movie or series relies to heavy on them the actual storytelling moves into the background or is forgotten at all. That’s the reason the Star Wars Episodes I – III didn’t work for me.

The Siege

Synopsis: All non-bajoran civilians have been evacuated with the help of the runabouts Ganges, Orinoco and Rio Grande. But Sisko and his Starfleet crew remains in the hope that he can delay the surrender of the station until Kira presents the evidence of the cardassian involvement in the Chamber of Ministers.

My Opinion: A good conclusion but I hated to see Vedek Winn squirm herself out again. As I said I like good bad characters. I’Ve always liked Gul Dukat or (later) Weyoun, but I never liked Winn (Louise Fletcher; Nurse Ratched in One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest). But at least life is going back to normal on the station – for now.

Invasive Procedures

Synopsis: During a plasma storm the station is running only with a skeleton crew when a nearby ship declares an emergency and has to be pulled in. But the mayday was a fake, the ship’s crew takes control over DS9. Why? To get the Dax symbiont and transplant it into the group’s leader who feels that he deserves to be blended with a Trill symbiont. But that will kill Jadzia and Sisko won’t let that happen.

My Opinion:I didn’t pay attention to the credits but when I saw Verad (Dax) I instantly knew I knew him. But it took me a while to figure it out. I assumed that – since he had not much of a mask – he usually wears one. But then it came to me. The beard and the long hair was missing: John Glover a.k.a. Lionel Luthor from Smallville. Slap my head
I liked this episode because here we saw how a person can change when he/she is blending with a symbiont. This is one of the rare before/after moments since we’ve never known Jadzia without Dax.
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