Linkspam

[next_to_normal]

* Vanity Fair has an oral history of Freaks and Geeks, which reminded me that I never talked about it, even though I watched the whole series a couple months back, now that it's available on Netflix streaming. GOD THIS SHOW IS SO GOOD YOU GUYS WHY DID I NOT WATCH IT SOONER?? Actually, I know why. I'm not a big Judd Apatow fan in general. Too much dudebro, man-child bullshit. AND YET. Somehow, this show is perfect. It's similar in tone to My So-Called Life, addressing the (at times, excruciating) reality of high school, rather than the artificial melodrama you get on most high school shows. Oddly, although that realism is more appealing to me now, because it's nostalgia-fueled and full of emotional truths, when I was actually in high school, I wanted to watch Dawson's Creek, with actors who were too pretty and dialogue that was too mature and clever for normal teenagers. It was the idealized high school experience, the people you wished you could be, the things you wished you could say. I think something like F&G or MSCL would have been almost too painful to watch at the time, because it's so familiar and, frankly, depressing. (The Lindsey/Nick trainwreck legit gave me flashbacks, lol.)

* Peter Jackson talks about The Hobbit. Also, if you hadn't heard, The Hobbit was filmed at 48 frames per second rather than the standard 24, which may be meaningless to you, but it's the most talked-about feature of the movie (probably because the movie itself is kind of underwhelming). This is the most hilarious (and useful) account of the experience that I've read.

* I would have to agree that Nashville is probably the one new show worth watching - which, granted, isn't saying a lot, considering the dismal crop of new shows, but I'm rather enjoying it. It's not quite a great show - it's too soapy to take seriously, but too serious to be an OTT guilty pleasure like Revenge or Scandal - but it stars Connie Britton, who is flawless, and it's about the music business, which is Relevant to My Interests. And, I mean, I don't hate country music or anything, but it's certainly not my favorite genre, and I still like the show. And the songs. I have to admit, the songs are freakin' catchy. I've downloaded quite a few of them from iTunes.

* Among the many changes to Smash for season 2? No more bowling alley sing-alongs or fortune-teller scarves. Well, that's a load off my mind, I tell you what.

Comments

[lutamira]

I'm glad to see you post about Freaks and Geeks - it is totally on the watch-soon list (mostly because it has been on the to-see list for a while and I just noticed that it is available on netflix now...) But your rec makes me more likely to actually jump in and start watching. Question: should my so called life be first?

That post about the 48 frames is really interesting. I hadn't really sat down and actually read about whatever it was everyone was talking about about the movie. I kind of feel like (reading the article) that this is the next big thing, like sound or color and that as soon as filmmaking and viewers catch up, everything else will look old. But who knows. We'll see how difficult it is to watch...

[next_to_normal]

Oh man, F&G vs. MSCL? Tough one. I guess it depends what you're in the mood for? F&G is definitely the lighter of the two - it's set in 1980, so there's lots of fun retro stuff, and in general it's more overtly funny than MSCL. In between being emotionally devastating, of course. :)

On the other hand, if you just can't get enough of Claire Danes' cry-face, MSCL all the way.

[goldenusagi]

Interesting about the 48 frames per second. So as long as you're shooting somewhere "real" it looks very clear, but if you're on a movie set, it starts to be more obvious that it's a fake movie set.

And you can see actor's contact lenses, lol.

[next_to_normal]

LOL, yeah. It kind of gives me a headache just thinking about it...