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Trust me, you really want to read this fic where Pepper Potts is Iron Woman, Tony Stark is her PA, Peggy Carter is Captain America, Steve Rogers is her WW2 era boyfriend, Gwen Stacy is Spider Woman, etc, etc, etc.
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Dec. 29th, 2011 05:55 pmThis feels weird to feel but I am actually looking forward to a Ben Affleck film since I read this Wired article on the origins of the plot. Basically, during the Iran Hostage Crisis, six embassy workers managed to escape and hide out at the Canadian Embassy for a couple of months until the CIA orchestrated an escape plan involving a fake science fiction film to get them out. Naturally the CIA's involvement was kept secret so Canada has been taking the credit for the last thirty years (the wikipedia entry on the subject is entitled Canadian Caper). But Ben Affleck's film looks like it's going to redirect the spotlight back to the Americans involved, specifically the CIA and the Hollywood film industry (natch).
Here is a tutorial on how to get around Release 88.
( More Yuletide recs under the cut )
Here is a tutorial on how to get around Release 88.
( More Yuletide recs under the cut )
Tags:
New fandoms, TV
Dec. 5th, 2011 11:02 pm- Right now I'm going through a Sif/Loki from Thor phase. Luckily ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
cobweb_diamond is also feeling these feelings (THERE ARE SO MANY) and I have been able to piggyback on her fandom adventures. Here is a handy dandy ship manifesto she put together.
- I tried out Pan Am for four episodes but it's just not good. Dropped.
- I marathoned Once Upon A Time a couple of weeks ago and was charmed but it's not very good either. It's just too Disney. I'll give it a couple more episodes, though.
- I am watching and sometimes enjoying Hart of Dixie without shame (I am a duck and your judgement is the rain). I really think it would be a better show if Rachel Bilson banged her hot redneck neighbour instead of pining for nice lawyer guy who is engaged.
- Shows I am watching out of habit: The Office and How I Met Your Mother. The former is close to being dropped.
- I really enjoy Revenge but I don't care about any of the characters. It's a weird new experience for me because normally I find at least one character to invest in but here there is no emotional involvement on my part. I mean, I guess I like Nolan best but I probably wouldn't if he didn't dress as he does. Thing I am excited about: ( Spoilers )
- The Dan and Blair Show is apparently coming back this week!
- If you're looking for a hilarious half-hour British comedy, may I recommend Spy? It stars a bunch of awesome people (including Mat Baynton from Horrible Histories!) in the story of a single dad who is unwittingly recruited into MI:6 but cannot win the approval of his Machiavellian nine year old son (for real, his kid is amazing. Normally I hate precocious kids but Marcus is a little shit who reads George W. Bush biographies and wants to head the IMF. I love him.).
- I have tried Ricky Gervais's new show. Was not impressed but I'll give it the series.
- For my fill of drama The Good Wife has been kicking ass and taking names, Being Erica has had issues but is still wonderful, and Homeland has been rocking my socks off. Claire Danes and Damian Lewis for all the awards.
- Yes, Dan Harmon, you are really clever but your constant need to point out how clever you are (and also - always - the way you have turned Britta into the buttmonkey) is disrupting my enjoyment of Community.
- Misfits is amazing. I don't miss Nathan at all.
- But in conclusion: Parks and Rec is the best! I would like to go on the record and state how much I love it.
cobweb_diamond is also feeling these feelings (THERE ARE SO MANY) and I have been able to piggyback on her fandom adventures. Here is a handy dandy ship manifesto she put together.- I tried out Pan Am for four episodes but it's just not good. Dropped.
- I marathoned Once Upon A Time a couple of weeks ago and was charmed but it's not very good either. It's just too Disney. I'll give it a couple more episodes, though.
- I am watching and sometimes enjoying Hart of Dixie without shame (I am a duck and your judgement is the rain). I really think it would be a better show if Rachel Bilson banged her hot redneck neighbour instead of pining for nice lawyer guy who is engaged.
- Shows I am watching out of habit: The Office and How I Met Your Mother. The former is close to being dropped.
- I really enjoy Revenge but I don't care about any of the characters. It's a weird new experience for me because normally I find at least one character to invest in but here there is no emotional involvement on my part. I mean, I guess I like Nolan best but I probably wouldn't if he didn't dress as he does. Thing I am excited about: ( Spoilers )
- The Dan and Blair Show is apparently coming back this week!
- If you're looking for a hilarious half-hour British comedy, may I recommend Spy? It stars a bunch of awesome people (including Mat Baynton from Horrible Histories!) in the story of a single dad who is unwittingly recruited into MI:6 but cannot win the approval of his Machiavellian nine year old son (for real, his kid is amazing. Normally I hate precocious kids but Marcus is a little shit who reads George W. Bush biographies and wants to head the IMF. I love him.).
- I have tried Ricky Gervais's new show. Was not impressed but I'll give it the series.
- For my fill of drama The Good Wife has been kicking ass and taking names, Being Erica has had issues but is still wonderful, and Homeland has been rocking my socks off. Claire Danes and Damian Lewis for all the awards.
- Yes, Dan Harmon, you are really clever but your constant need to point out how clever you are (and also - always - the way you have turned Britta into the buttmonkey) is disrupting my enjoyment of Community.
- Misfits is amazing. I don't miss Nathan at all.
- But in conclusion: Parks and Rec is the best! I would like to go on the record and state how much I love it.
Thor 2: Electrical Storm Boogaloo will be directed by a woman, Patty Jenkins!
The announcement also says that Natalie Portman and Hiddles will both be back, so YAY for that too.
The announcement also says that Natalie Portman and Hiddles will both be back, so YAY for that too.
I saw Thor yesterday and it was good! Really good, actually. I didn't enjoy it as much as Iron Man because the central character/performance isn't as compelling but that's not to say Chris Hemsworth as Thor is bad. He played the role well and made Thor likeable yet seem of another time and place - he isn't a contemporary man.
It's different to all the other superhero origin stories we're getting because it's not about a man discovering or getting powers - Thor was born with them (right?). Thor's journey is about learning humility and maturing to the point where he is worthy of those powers, understanding the responsibility and the consequences of them. Where other men become superheroes, Thor is a superhero becoming a man.
I haven't read the comics and what I know of the character made me fear that his mythical origins and magical powers wouldn't gel with the technology based universe that Marvel set up in Iron Man. But they did a really good job of making Thor's abilities not seem hokey, drawing on Arthur C. Clarke to raise the idea that magic is science they don't understand yet.
I thought it was paced and structured well, though the transitions from Earth to Asgard were occasionally slightly jarring. The CGI for the most part was really impressive, with the ice creatures very convincing. Branagh used a lot of tilted angles and quick cuts during the fight scenes and it would have been nice to see the camera pull back and remain steady so that you could really appreciate them, but you could still tell what was going on - it wasn't all shaky cam a la the later Bourne movies. I'd need to see it again with a more critical eye to really judge the direction but I think Branagh did a good job overall.
I think he certainly pulled good performances from the actors. I've been having trouble with Natalie Portman lately but she was really charming here. Anthony Hopkins does kingly gravitas well and in other news the sky is blue. There was quite a lot of humour in the script to, some of it physical, but mostly good jokes delivered well.
As for the characters, there were so many good ones! Especially the women! The movie passes the Bechdel test in the first two minutes, I promise. In the comics Jane Foster (Portman) is a nurse but here she's an astrophysicist which I think was a really good change because it ties her storyline to Thor's for reasons other than she fancies him. She's shown to be passionate about her career, intelligent, and kind of a dork - I really liked her. She's aided and abetted by her assisstant Darcy (Kat Dennings) and guys, I really love Darcy and want to write fic about her. She's mostly there for comedic relief but she still comes across as a normal person. ( Spoiler that you've probably seen in the trailer but that I'll cut anyway )
And then there is Sif, who is one of Thor's friends and a badass warrior. There's a moment early in the film that I really like where ( Dialogue spoiler ) I've learnt that in the comics she's sometimes a love interest of Thor's but they didn't really play on that, just showing them as good friends and her as one of the guys. Sometimes its just nice to have female characters who aren't shown to be in a romantic relationship with one of the gang.
( Having said that, on shipping )
Idris Elba as Heimdall was really good, very noble and stoic. I've been a fan of Tom Hiddleston for a while and his Loki was complex. Shame about what they did to his hair, though (black and straight where it's normally blonde and curly. His fan community on LJ is calledmagnificenthair for a reason!) ( Plot spoilers )
Final verdict: fun and entertaining. It may not have a whole lot of depth but it's not shallow and you won't feel stupider for seeing it.
It's different to all the other superhero origin stories we're getting because it's not about a man discovering or getting powers - Thor was born with them (right?). Thor's journey is about learning humility and maturing to the point where he is worthy of those powers, understanding the responsibility and the consequences of them. Where other men become superheroes, Thor is a superhero becoming a man.
I haven't read the comics and what I know of the character made me fear that his mythical origins and magical powers wouldn't gel with the technology based universe that Marvel set up in Iron Man. But they did a really good job of making Thor's abilities not seem hokey, drawing on Arthur C. Clarke to raise the idea that magic is science they don't understand yet.
I thought it was paced and structured well, though the transitions from Earth to Asgard were occasionally slightly jarring. The CGI for the most part was really impressive, with the ice creatures very convincing. Branagh used a lot of tilted angles and quick cuts during the fight scenes and it would have been nice to see the camera pull back and remain steady so that you could really appreciate them, but you could still tell what was going on - it wasn't all shaky cam a la the later Bourne movies. I'd need to see it again with a more critical eye to really judge the direction but I think Branagh did a good job overall.
I think he certainly pulled good performances from the actors. I've been having trouble with Natalie Portman lately but she was really charming here. Anthony Hopkins does kingly gravitas well and in other news the sky is blue. There was quite a lot of humour in the script to, some of it physical, but mostly good jokes delivered well.
As for the characters, there were so many good ones! Especially the women! The movie passes the Bechdel test in the first two minutes, I promise. In the comics Jane Foster (Portman) is a nurse but here she's an astrophysicist which I think was a really good change because it ties her storyline to Thor's for reasons other than she fancies him. She's shown to be passionate about her career, intelligent, and kind of a dork - I really liked her. She's aided and abetted by her assisstant Darcy (Kat Dennings) and guys, I really love Darcy and want to write fic about her. She's mostly there for comedic relief but she still comes across as a normal person. ( Spoiler that you've probably seen in the trailer but that I'll cut anyway )
And then there is Sif, who is one of Thor's friends and a badass warrior. There's a moment early in the film that I really like where ( Dialogue spoiler ) I've learnt that in the comics she's sometimes a love interest of Thor's but they didn't really play on that, just showing them as good friends and her as one of the guys. Sometimes its just nice to have female characters who aren't shown to be in a romantic relationship with one of the gang.
( Having said that, on shipping )
Idris Elba as Heimdall was really good, very noble and stoic. I've been a fan of Tom Hiddleston for a while and his Loki was complex. Shame about what they did to his hair, though (black and straight where it's normally blonde and curly. His fan community on LJ is called
magnificenthair for a reason!) ( Plot spoilers )Final verdict: fun and entertaining. It may not have a whole lot of depth but it's not shallow and you won't feel stupider for seeing it.
