skygiants | (no subject)

I have been watching some media recently! Some of them aren't even anime. (I KNOW.)

Alice in Wonderland: I saw this with

obopolsk on Monday. (Sidenote: this was accompanied by S'Mac mac & cheese and THE MOST AMAZING PIE I HAVE EVER EATEN. Cinnamon Bun pie! Cinnamon-bun-dough base with cheesecake on top with cinnamon and walnuts in the middle. AMAZING. But, uh, I digress.) Anyway, I enjoyed it! It wasn't as Tim Burton-y as I was expecting, which I can't really explain except by saying that I was watching the movie looking for curlicues and stripes, and didn't see very many at all. I thought the actress who played Alice was amazing, although I also had a hard time remembering that she was supposed to be nearly-twenty because her voice sounded to me very much like a fourteen-year-old's. (This isn't a drawback, just a note. I know the actress herself actually is twenty!)

I will put on my meta hat to say this: I've seen a couple comments in other people's reviews by people who were disappointed that Alice didn't stay in Wonderland and couldn't understand why she didn't go back to the 'real world'. But I found myself actually relieved that she didn't stay. Wonderland seemed to be a world where there were two options for female power, as reprsented by the two queens: be feared, or be loved. Iracebeth chose fear and Mirana chose love, and the movie threw its weight behind Mirana - but there were also a lot of hints that Mirana was just as constrained by that role as Iracebeth, and also just as capable of abusing it. (That moment when she dismissed all her all-in-white courtiers so she could run over to the dog instead of doing the exaggerated graceful movements spoke volumes, for me.) Alice got to wield the vorpal sword, but it was pretty explicit that heroic role wasn't Alice, per se - that was the vorpal sword itself. Getting to go home and Be Unconventional and learn about trade instead was - okay, first of all, completely historically implausible, and also historically problematic within the context of imperialism, BUT setting that aside, within the context of the film, seemed to me to be an infinitely better ending for Alice than staying in the White Queen's court.

(But I also sympathized with Iracebeth more than I was probably supposed to, which might be influenced by the fact that I was slightly bitter about all the Queen Elizabeth parody going on. >.>)

The Eleventh Doctor/The Beast Below: I was going to wait and see the new Who episodes with my mom, but then everyone started posting about how surprisingly pleased they were with Eleven and Amy, and I got impatient.

My verdict: I, too, am surprisingly pleased by Eleven and Amy! No doctor is ever going to supplant Eccleston in my heart, but I do already like Eleven more than I ever liked Ten, and I like the dynamic with Amy and that it seems clear already that it's in no way going to be about Eleven Always Being Right and the humans often being dumb. And there is SO MUCH LESS MANPAIN, oh my god, it's fabulous. I also just like Moffat's writing, which is something I knew going in - more from his other shows than from his other Who episodes - but I really had no idea how much of a difference it was going to make. It does. It makes an enormous difference. I haven't really felt excited for Doctor Who in a while, and now I do! It's so weird!

Things I am hoping: that Amy's boyfriend and relationship will get treated sympathetically and respectfully; that Amy's town will continue to get treated sympathetically and respectfully, and will play a continuing role; that Amy and Eleven will continue in a dynamic of relative equality; that they pick up another Companion! (This last is least likely, I know. But much as I like Eleven and Amy already, I am still tired of the dynamic of one Doctor + one cute girl Companion. Give me some ensemble, Moffat! I know you can do it!)

Leverage, 2.10-2.15: It took me forever to catch up on this show, and I think that is mostly because I am overwhelmingly bored by Nate and his manpain. I was hoping we'd have less of a focus on it in s2; when he started drinking again, I felt a great cry of OH NOOOOOOOOO go up in my heart, because I KNEW it was going to be All About Nate, The Heart of the Team, And His Instability, and what do you know, I was right? I saw the season finale last night and my feelings were greatly conflicted, because at first I was full of joy at Sophie turning up and being awesome and saving the day with her mad competence, and then I was full of irritation at Nate ruining Sophie's great moment of awesome with YET MORE manpain. And actual bleeding, I guess, I don't know. But maybe this means there will be less Nate in s3? (Probably not. They've got to rescue him. I suspect I will continue to not care.)

I still want the Hardison-Parker-Eliot-Sophie show. I also still want wacky crossovers with Coupling and Jekyll where it turns out that the roles that Gina Bellman was playing in those shows were just long undercover cons for Leverage. Sadly, I think I am the only person in the universe who knows all three of these shows, so no one will write them for me. ;_;

Durarara!!: My thoughts here are . . . not deep. I thought the half-season ending was kind of amazing; I did not expect all the plotlines to come together so well. My biggest beef with this show is that I actively anti-ship Celty and Shinra. I want her to move out! (She can move in with Shizuo. *_* Best wacky roommates ever!) However, I totally ship Izaya the UberTroll/Namie the Creepy Human Experimentations Lady. I am super curious about where the story is going now that we're into what clearly seems to be a second set of storylines. In which the Big Bad is a ROGUE DANGEROUS TRAFFIC COP. Oh Durarara!!, never change.

Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood: . . . do I really need to state how much I am still loving this show? (For the record, I am reading the manga along with the episodes as they come out; we're now up to around chapter 92.) I don't know how everyone continues getting even more awesome, but they do! You could name literally any character and I would be able to babble extensively about how much I love them. I can even write paragraphs of adoration about Hohenheim now, which is not something I ever expected to happen! And that note of glee seems a fitting one to end on, and so I shall.

Threaded | Flat

I know that me and my friend's main discussion about the movie after viewing it was, while we are not really anal about the source material, we felt like Wonderland was too...self aware? We were sort of like, "Wait wait wait since when does Wonderland have prophecies and such? Isn't that more of an Oz thing? In Wonderland you just...wander around and talk to everything and 'oh isn't it all so upside down and charming?'"

And then when we realized that there was a plot and therefore tried to pay more attention, we couldn't understand anything they were talking about. ^^; ("Oh okay so Johnny Depp's...Scottish all of a sudden...for some reason.")

...that, and our constant mental comparisons to The Looking Glass Wars.

I so completely agree with your thoughts re: Leverage. (Except the crossover bits, and that's mostly because I haven't seen any of either of those shows, uh.)

Re: Brotherhood: You're so close! How many chapters of the manga tend to be in an episode of the anime at the point you're at? Soooo much happens in a single chapter anymore (66 pages in the most recent one!)

Re: your Alice thoughts, I came away thinking that however important the sword itself was, it was also pretty important that Alice wield it, though, because none of the characters who were willing to take the task from her could do it. I mean, the Jabberwock says that the bearer is insignificant, but I don't know that we should take the Jabberwock's word for that. But then, I got very invested in hero!Alice so there may be some projecting on my part going on there.

Regardless, I agree that her going home is a better ending than her staying in Wonderland would be, despite the LOL IMPERIALISM (I literally had a "yay!...wait" moment in the theater when she was talking about going to China). In my head she maybe goes back to visit a few years later, but she spends some time learning how to be happy being Alice in her own world first.

If you are such a Hardison fan, have you seen this vid?

It is excellent.

it's in no way going to be about Eleven Always Being Right and the humans often being dumb.

I think it's rather amusing how consistently the Moff's female characters boss around his male ones. As someone pointed out, it has an unfortunate side effect of "boys will be boys", but I don't mind so much, because it's so my parents. And in DW I definitely don't mind, because I generally find that the best companions are the ones who aren't too impressed with the Doctor.

Give me some ensemble, Moffat! I know you can do it!

Considering that Five is his favourite Doctor, I hope he'll do it too, but IDK, it might be as futile a hope as the wish that he'll bring back Angela Bruce.

Sadly, I think I am the only person in the universe who knows all three of these shows, so no one will write them for me. ;_;

I DON'T HAVE TIME!!!! Don't tempt me.

I find that I like Nate less and less too, but with all those other awesome characters I don't have to care. I used to think I didn't love Eliot, but then he offered to kill Luke Perry for Parker and my heart just melted. I wish someone had offered to kill Luke Perry for me eighteen years ago. (Although then Buffy would NEVER have had a sane boyfriend, and that would be sad.)

Did you read those awesome fics with Parker and the kittens and Eliot helping her flirt with Hardison, or did I just show that to other people?

RE: FMA...

FULLMETAL ALCHEMIIIIIIIIST OMFG. Eugh how much are the doll soldiers grossing you out lol? When they first appeared in the manga, I was so grossed out XD

I HAVE SEEN ALL THESE SHOWS. Well, not S2 of Leverage, but that is hardly relevant.

I am not sure why I just admitted that, having no time in which to write, but: you are not alone in the universe, little Becca!

RE: "Leverage"--I would be so happy to watch episode upon episode of Eliot's career as a minor league ball player who was big in Japan (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HiDYEaiyoBA) instead of episode upon episode of "Nate's Man Pain!!!".

I am finally finally finally caught up with FMA! Only two chapters left . . . *sadness* asdfjkl; *FLAIL* I don't remember where in the plotline 92 is, so please squee very loudly at length about everything so I can non-spoilerly squee back at you. :D

Okay, next time I go to Milk Bar I'm going to have to get out of my cookie rut and try that pie.

I can even write paragraphs of adoration about Hohenheim now, which is not something I ever expected to happen!

May I please just mention that recent chapters are like one huge continuous Crowning Moment Of Awesome for Hohopapa? It is clinically impossible to not love him after 105. *________________*