Individual Entry
Movies and TV
The Oscar nominations are out and I have realized that: I don't care; there are no more LotR love-fests; and, with the exception of Eternal Sunshine, I have not seen a single film on the list. In turn, this makes me care even less.
It's not that I haven't watched a lot of movies in 2004 -- I did -- it's just that all the movies that I watched last year have been considerably older than that. Hell, most of them weren't even from this century! With movies, I feel years behind.
With television, I'm not even on the map.
I don't even know why I pay for cable (digital cable no less) as I rarely watch it. Apart from the Daily Show, I haven't regularly watched a *new* show since Futurama premiered. And thanks to Fox's retarded scheduling, I never had much of a chance to watch that regularly anyway. I just can't get into a new "watch tv at this time on this channel every week" kind of habit. It was easy when I was still in school, but not so much now.
Most of my tv consumption comes on DVD format as a result.
However, I did manage to catch the new Battlestar Galactica series. I had left the tv on Space for something, went off to do something else, and returned to see it playing. I couldn't tune it out. What I caught, I liked. Sort of.
The first episode had a habit of getting overly preachy. Though expected, as there is a Mormon connection to the series, it still remains highly irritating. The worst part is that the evangelizing doesn't add anything to the plot, it just seems to be there for the sake of being there. Useless and redundant. The second episode, which I caught this weekend, had a lot less of that and was a lot better for it. The show's got potential, and if I can catch a couple more episodes (and if they are of equal quality) I might be hooked on a new show for the first time in a long time.
It might seem predictable that I would fall for a show about a giant fleet in space escaping evil robot armies. I know this. Nonetheless, I have not seen the new mini-series and the original show was way before my time, so with no prior expectations I was surprised by it. This is coming from someone that really disliked the pilot episode of Firefly.
Or maybe my new found sci-fi interest is due to my new found sci-fi infatuation. Screw the Seven of Nine-ish "Number Six" (say that three times fast!) -- the Canadian born Number Six -- I'd rather "boomer".
(Boomer? I hardly know 'er!)
This new Boomer is also a lot more pleasing to the eye than the old one. Now there is a change of casting.
Segue: speaking of TV on DVD...
Today, on the internets, I caught the US remake of The Office. Whiskey Tango Foxtrot. It's exactly as you would imagine it to be (ie. not so hot). It has Steve Carell (former Daily Show-er, who I generally like) playing Ricky Gervais' David Brent role, and a bunch of other not-so-funny people playing the other characters.
The episode is almost scene for scene identical to the original, except that some of the Britishisms have been replaced by Americanisms and the subtlety in the acting has been removed. Typical, really. An American remake of a British dead-pan comedy translates about as well as an American remake of a culturally-dependant Japanese film; it lacks the subtlety, lacks the context, and misses the point entirely. Why do they even bother?
If you want to experience the American Office for yourself, you can either download it or you can follow these easy steps:
- place the original The Office DVD into you DVD player and start the first episode
- find a comfortable seating position
- adjust the volume up three points
- adjust the accents to -10
- set the funny level to zero
- decrease line delivery by 200%
- forget about this American abomination, and just enjoy the original
Comments (10)
Wtf? Spotless Mind didn't get nominated for Best Picture or Directing?
WTF?
January 28, 2005 03:02 AM. Posted by: Walter.Anti-americanism? Pointing out that a Lopez/Gere movie misses the cultural intricacies of the original film, because of -- duh -- cultural differences, is anti-american?
So does that mean that my liking of Eternal Sunshine make me an America-booster? Or does the fact that it was a French director null and void that?
January 28, 2005 09:49 AM. Posted by: nowak.Nowak, where did you catch the US Office? Is it mirrored somewhere, or did you get it from one of the various p2p products?
January 28, 2005 11:59 AM. Posted by: Brian Hogg.Funny - I found the religous aspect of Battlestar to be from a very atheistic, or anti-theistic point of view. After all, it's the Cylons who are using it to fuck the doctor around. I'd refer to other aspects, but I don't want to spoil the rest of the series for you, should you choose to watch it.
If anything I found it re-affirming my lack of faith.
As for the humans talking the voodoo, even though they're technologically advanced, it's been sort of impossible to rid even this post literate society of religion, so what chance does a Sci-fi remake of a show with heavy religious aspects have?
As for the office, I admit I was hoping for a miracle, but now I'm not really surprised. I'm mainly really sad that Steve Carrell was brought down with it. I enjoyed his stuff on the Daily Show.
January 28, 2005 12:51 PM. Posted by: Aubrey.Yeah, I liked Steve Carrell too. He does ok, but he's no David Brent. Carrell can do the goofiness just fine, but he doesn't have that air of obnoxiousness around him as Gervais had, which was essential for the character.
The best suggestion re: Office Remake that I've read was that they should have gotten Mike Judge to do it. Do it in a more "Office Space"-style with, *gasp*, some original scripts.
January 28, 2005 01:08 PM. Posted by: nowak.If it wasn't knee-jerk anti-Americanism, then my bad.
Mike Judge would've been excellent. But for an Office spinoff, not a remake. A guest appearance by one of the original cast members would be cool.
January 28, 2005 02:11 PM. Posted by: Walter.If religion turns you off so much, it's possible that "Battlestar Galactica" isn't the show for you. Religion — how it affects us, how we react to it, how it motivates us and gives us comfort — is a major theme throughout the show.
But you're kind of mistaken about the Mormon themes. They were in the old TV show, the one that aired nearly 30 years ago. They're not a part of this TV show at all.
January 29, 2005 03:17 AM. Posted by: Jeff Harrell.1. place the original The Office DVD into you DVD player and start the first episode 2. find a comfortable seating position 3. adjust the volume up three points 4. adjust the accents to -10 5. set the funny level to zero 6. decrease line delivery by 200% 7. forget about this American abomination, and just enjoy the original
HALP, I CANNOT FIND THOSE BUTTONS ON MY DVD PLAYER!
If anything I found it re-affirming my lack of faith.
Funny, contact with actual Mormons does that for me!
January 29, 2005 08:27 PM. Posted by: JP.HAhahahahaha ... cocksucker.
February 27, 2005 12:04 AM. Posted by: Brett.
To be fair, most remakes suck.
So does kneejerk anti-Americanism.
January 28, 2005 02:58 AM. Posted by: Walter.