Legend of the Seeker = Terry Goodkind (Who knew?)
I’m sure right now some of you are saying: “You’re an idiot. I knew that like months ago, at least since Comic Con.” And yes, I may be slow, but how exciting is this?? If you can’t already tell, I’m a huge fan of Goodkind’s epic series. Wizard‘s First Rule, the first book in the series, is one of my all-time fantasy favorites, and I’m a big fantasy reader.
It’s the story of a young man, Richard, who discovers his true destiny (to be awesome) and his true love on a quest to prevent the dark Lord of D’Hara from… Well, okay. It’s not a new story, sure, but when was it ever original? The Epic of Gilgamesh?
Spirited Away
Instead of watching Scream, or The Shining
Well, in any case, all that was just the long way of saying this: this Halloween, watch Spirited Away instead. It’s “haunting.”
And yes, yes, I know it’s a foreign film, but you’ll be high on candy, or something, anyway - if you don’t like subtitles, watch the dubbed version or just watch the pictures, they’re gorgeous. And don’t worry, despite appearances from the trailer, if you buy the DVD from Amazon you should get all three options: subtitles, dubbing, and, for you cool people who can actually understand Japanese [!], just the plain ol’ Japanese version. (FYI: Disney distributes Spirited Away in the US.)
To prove my point, here’s the English (and whoa, heavily Disney-fied) version of the trailer… Trust me, though, the movie’s much more like the trailer above, than the one below, whether you watch the dubbed version or not:
The Mysteries of Harris Burdick
That can all definitely be cool, sure, and sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn’t, but what about something a bit more old-fashioned? I loved interactive books growing up, and went through a long obsession with one in particular, The Jolly Postman
But in any case, I always kept coming back to The Mysteries of Harris Burdick by Chris Van Allsburg. It was one of the first books I bought with my own money. If Van Allsburg’s name doesn’t sound ring a bell at once, that could be because his books have taken on such a life of their own. His most famous works, Jumanji
Aquarium by Camille Saint-Saëns
Does it sound familiar? You may have heard it in the trailer for the upcoming Brad Pitt movie The Curious Case for Benjamin Button. That’s where I recently heard it, but I just had this feeling that it wasn’t the first time. I was sure I’d heard it somewhere before… although I had no idea where.
Bones
Agent Booth fans: want to see how it all started? Check out the episode Angel or one of the first two episodes from season 1 of Buffy the Vampire Slayer for some hilarious, early attempts at acting from a radically cheekbone-ier David Boreanaz (Agent Seeley Booth on the crime show Bones), who got his start playing the moody vampire (and, of course, irresistibly mysterious) Angel on Buffy. They’re all available for free on hulu.
If you don’t want to work your way through a whole episode, here’s a fun sample from the second episode of season 1:
I have to say that (and Angel fans, I’m sorry in advance – no death threats, please) I do prefer David Boreanaz as Seeley Booth rather than as Angel; he just seems much more at ease playing a cocky, sarcastic, jock FBI agent, than a dour, emotionally torn, ethically ambiguous, butcher shop regular vampire. You know, more like the no-fear, “let it all hang out,” dancing goof seen in the previous post on Angel.
Speaking of which, more of that on Bones, please!
The case for season 5 of Angel
But what about Buffy’s spinoff, Angel, starring David Boreanaz as the titular vampire with a soul? The occasionally acknowledged series that’s still, let’s face it, the relation that’s forgotten at Christmas?
Angel started after season 3 of Buffy. It punched out a few seasons: the comparatively weak season 1 (highlights include episodes that feature Gellar and other Buffy cast members), the richer and darker and often quite depressing seasons 2 and 3, and the “love it or loathe it or just not know what to do with it” season 4, which does at least feature a great season premiere.
With all that out of the way, however, Angel could focus on what really mattered: season 5, unfortunately also the final season of the show (total injustice). Season 5 takes a completely different tack. In this season, Angel’s working for the wrong side of the tracks (i.e., evil). Many of the scenes actually take place in daylight – filtered daylight of course, since otherwise, Angel the vampire would be a pile of ash, which, you know, might backfire in the ratings. Season 5 is also lighter in a figurative way; there are physical gags, silly and often quite campy situations, numerous buddy comedy moments (think The Odd Couple
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string theories
What line of work you in, Bob?
- Ryan the Temp to "Bob Vance, Vance Refrigeration" at The Office's Christmas party
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featured brown paper packaging
What is it with accessories and DVD sets these days? Are knick knack companies going through some rough times? Or are studios just really desperate to sell DVDs? (Probably the latter.) First there was A Christmas Story (Ultimate Collector's Edition), with its cookie cutters, recipe book, apron, commemorative Christmas tin... (Whoa, I know.)
And now there's The Notebook (Limited Edition Gift Set), which comes with a scrapbook album (with stickers!), notecards, envelopes, and "themed" bookmarks. But... wait for it... no new DVD extras or features! So totally worth it. Check out Entertainment Weekly for the lackluster DVD set review (a grade of D - harsh). Or, even better, Amazon's video montage of the contents, set to the soothing, Jane Austen movie-esque sounds of The Notebook's theme music. Hey, they know their audience.
