Binge-watch: Sherlock

Welcome to my next binge-watch segment, in which I thank Netflix for the many hours of entertainment it provides me. This time around, I gave Sherlock a try and I'm so glad I did.

To be honest, I am not sure why it took me so long to get into BBC's Sherlock. It had been recommended to me and I was fairly sure I could get some enjoyment out of it.  It might have been because it's a BBC show and therefore I was less constantly reminded to do so, or because both of the actors were relatively unknown to me, and this type of procedural didn't scream WATCH ME NOW. I started watching with my friend David, as we make our way through various shows (I've gotten him through Community, he got me through Ray Donovan, and we keep up on shows we've both already seen like Parks and Recreation.) 

The first thing I noticed about the first episode of Sherlock was that I struggled to adjust to its pacing. My attention span has been shaped by sitcoms and 40 minute shows. This is something I've encountered even when watching movies these days, especially if I'm only semi-interested in them. My mind wandered during explanations regarding the case, but my interest and enjoyment was also consistently brought up again by the humorous banter of Sherlock and Watson. By the third episode, I had fallen in love with those two and their bromance (I'm a true sucker for bromance, and this one reminds me of Peter and and Neal from White Collar) and this was enough to make me love the show as a whole. I also found myself adjusting easier to the longer format, although I'm still having my mind blown by the short seasons (series, as they call them in the UK). I feel like I just met these two characters but they've already been through so much, unlike in American shows where you'll see the trivialities of what you can assume is every major case they work on or the day to day life in sitcoms. Sherlock has already spanned more years than we ever got to see.

The end of series 2 was incredibly moving and powerful and sad, and I jumped into series 3 with my whole heart. I am now completely caught up on the series and facing a hiatus unlike any I've faced before (movie-length episodes need movie length shooting schedules). In the meantime, I'll be jumping into fandom like no other (I've already drawn Sherlock and Watson and am soon to hit the tumblr obsession) and wait like the rest of the rabid Sherlock fans. In any case, I am so glad I have this new show to enjoy and talk to others about and look forward to for an uncomfortably long time.

The Fault In Our Stars Review

A friend recently recommended a download of Adobe Digitial Editions so that I can have access to more books.  While it's certainly not my favorite way to read, it has given me a chance to get cheaper books which fit in my current budget, and anything that lets me read more is a great thing. One of the first things I read in this manner was The Fault In Our Stars.

This was a book that I kept hearing about in various ways, from friends and various must-read lists.  I heard about it so much that I started to assume that it was vastly overhyped.  How could it possibly live up to all of that?

Honestly, it mostly did.  The story is about Hazel Grace, a sixteen year old girl with terminal cancer of the lungs and how she copes with the idea of dying, having to leave her family, and making friends and relationships with people that her loss will most likely hurt.  Through group therapy, Hazel meets Augustus Waters.  She's immediately attracted to him and they form a friendship with hints of much more.  They share books with each other, and both take great enjoyment from An Imperial Affliction, a fictional book which ends mid-sentence without providing closure for any supporting characters.  Hazel's dream has always been to find out what happened to the characters, but the recluse author has never responded to any of her fan mail. Through Augustus's efforts, she may learn the answers and live her dream.

What Hazel and Augustus share is a young love always meant for tragedy -- Hazel's health is poor while Augustus's cancer is in remission.  This is the status quo for most of the book, and really shows what kind of hardships such a battle entails.

Unlike other cancer/terminal illness books, this one isn't about overcoming the obstacles.  It's about facing them together, and knowing the realities of fighting cancer are not one of "being strong" but having it take you over and eventually letting go.  It's very insightful, and I admit that I cried quite a bit towards the end.

This isn't my favorite book ever, and it does tend to stray a little too girly for my usual taste, but it got me to care about the characters.  I do understand the hype now, and I am glad I read it.  I will happily look for more books by the author in the future.

The Conjuring

I recently watched The Conjuring with a couple of friends and I can honestly say we had a great time.  The film was pretty much everything you could ask for in a horror movie.  The story itself is nothing new; a family looking for a new beginning moves into a new house, family meets demon but can't move because they sunk all their money into the home, and in any case the demon has attached to them and would follow them anyway.  All your standard horror plots, but what really made it good was all the build-up and suspense.

Most of the movie was like a tease -- something glass would break or a door would open and you would expect something to be there but it'd be nothing.  In this way, it really put you in a realistic position of the family.  Things happen and you rationalize, tell yourself there's nothing there, that everything is fine.  It was the wind, or just the house being creaky, or your eyes playing tricks.  That's what really built up the horror of this film until finally it all snapped and the true horrors of the house are revealed.

Definitely recommending this for fans of the genre, and here's a trailer for those interested!

Community is Back -- Really Back

When a show begins to fizzle and lose the magic, it's hard to recapture it.  Community season 4 seemed to be the beginning of the inevitable decline, with the creator Dan Harmon being fired and the on-set drama between Harmon, Chevy Chase, and pretty much everyone else.  Season 4 was by far the worst season, with forgettable and mostly laugh-less episodes. There were a few gems, but it mostly missed the point of everything that made Community great and was instead a cheap imitation trying to live up to something it just couldn't pull off.

By some weird miracle, the show still managed a season 5 pick-up.  I didn't have high hopes for it, even after it was announced that Dan Harmon would be returning.  Chevy Chase was gone, Donald Glover was announced to be leaving shortly. How could it possibly return to its former glory with all odds against it?

Well, I'm here to say I was wrong. Last night's episodes cleverly entitled "Repilot" and "Introduction to Teaching" proved it is possible to reclaim the road with the right driver at the wheel.  There's no doubt in my mind that Dan Harmon's kind of a jerk, but absolutely brilliant.  He fixed and excused season four by subtly writing dialogue that mentioned that last year there was "a gas leak in the school."  He reminded us why we love these characters, and how those one-liners are gold, and simultaneously moved the characters forward into new roles and conflicts.  I laughed so hard I cried, just like the good ole days with the Greendale Human Beings, those lovable losers we missed dearly.

Still, we haven't seen episodes without Troy yet and it's too early to tell if they can hold up this quality without both him and Pierce, who I'll also miss despite my distaste for Chevy. Meanwhile, the season 5 premiere had record low ratings though I blame that on whoever decided to schedule it on January 2nd against new episodes of ratings-hog The Big Bang Theory.  It is also possible that even a number of loyal fans skipped out because of the rough season 4 and were waiting to see what critics would have to say before they invested their time into it.  Community has never been a ratings winner though, so I'm gonna just thank the tv gods that have allowed it to run this long.

Can't wait to see the rest of this season!

Psych: The Musical Review

Last Sunday, Psych: The Musical premiered for the first time on television (it had previously premiered at Comic Con). From many interviews he's done, the creator Steve Franks has said that he'd always had a musical in mind from the beginning and that the cast and creative team had always been on board.  No doubt, this two hour special was a long time in the making.

This was their dream episode, and they pulled it off pretty well.  The story deals with the escape of an institutionalized playwright seeking revenge on the people performing and taking credit for his work. It was a pretty fun case, one that easily would have fit into the usual format but was enhanced with the musical integration. The first song, "Santa Barbara Skies" presented the fake psychic premise recap for new viewers with lyrics like "A man who sees clues, as if they were alighting. Gets accused to confess, because his hair is so exciting." and "A cop I am not, I'm just good at observation.  But with short cuts and cons, and the proper presentation."

With all original music, the songs were tailored to fit the show, tone, the characters, and their relationships. Lassie as the cynic, Jules as the optimist, Shawn and Gus as ridiculous, Yin and Woody as hilariously crazy. My favorite songs were probably "Z's Lament" and "The Breakdown" because they were a bit darker with a Sweeney Todd-esque feel to them. The funniest song was probably Woody's "Often It's the Opposite" and the funniest dance number was Shawn and Lassiter's tango.

This special definitely showed that the Psych team knows musicals and they know television and they know their own show.  They integrated fan service, call backs, and running gags very well.  For instance, Ally Sheedy returned as Yang, an old big bad whose arc ran for three seasons. They also utilized "Suck it," "I've heard it both ways," "Did you hear about Pluto?" "I can't do this with you right now," a plethora of Gus nicknames, the pineapple, and allusions to many musicals such as The Rocky Horror Picture Show and Miss Saigon.

My only real complaint is that it concluded the Yang storyline pretty conclusively, and that might have been a very interesting, emotional moment within a regular episode.  However, this framing did allow for a reappearance of another favorite guest star, Jimmi Simpson, and his scene was odd and perfect just like his character.

Even as someone who is not the biggest fan of musicals, it's hard not to appreciate all the work that was put into this, including the original songs and choreography within a television production schedule.  While I don't think it quite measured up to the epitome of television musicals, Buffy The Vampire Slayer's iconic "Once More, with Feeling," it is also one of the few tv musicals that even deserves the comparison.

Anyway, definitely recommending this for fans of Psych, musicals, and comedy.

Binge-watch: Chuck and Netflix

Not too long ago, the show Chuck became available on Netflix, and I immediately moved it up my to-watch list.  I'd known for awhile that the premise to Chuck sounded like exactly my kind of thing -- awkward nerd turned CIA agent, a funny and all around fun show with action and stakes grounding it in some nice, real emotion. That's the same kind of stuff I find in many of my favorite shows like Psych and White Collar. All I needed was the opportunity to watch, and finally it has come by way of very legal and good quality Netflix streaming.

Like many of my generation, perhaps most of my media-watching experiences now come through online streaming.  I got into most of the shows I have on my TV/Book/Film Recommendations list through Netflix, even if I then turned to appointment television to stay caught up on them.  For instance, Bones, How I Met Your Mother, Fringe, New Girl, White Collar, Warehouse 13, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel, Alphas, Pushing Daisies and Arrested Development all made it onto this list for that reason, and as you can see, Netflix allowed me to watch even shows that were cancelled before they caught my interest (like Chuck).  

For this reason, I've decided to create a recurring segment for the blog for every new (or old) show that I catch up on through Netflix binge-watches.  This will be the first of certainly many more posts to come -- all will have titles beginning with "Binge-watch" and will be tagged with the binge-watch label.  I have also retroactively added the binge-watch tag to shows I have discussed in previous posts. In this way, I want to bring to light my own personal watching habits and would love discussing that of others within the comments or in entire blog posts if people are interested.  This is a subject that's personally very engaging for me, and I often wonder what kind of compromises we make or if we get anything different out of a story by binge-watching rather than getting slow-paced, weekly installments.

That's my introduction and the reasoning behind the new segment -- now, let's talk specifically about Chuck (there will be SPOILERS up to season 2, but please don't post anything past that in comments!)  

Chuck is exactly what I wanted and expected from this show -- fun and silly and sweet and interesting.  I really enjoy all the main characters, especially Chuck, Casey, and Sarah.  Sometimes I feel like the Buy More personalities are a little much, but I still find them pretty funny.  I also really like the avoided stereotype of the "Bro" as represented by Ellie's boyfriend, Captain Aweseome, a.k.a. Devin.  Everything from the tone of his voice to his vocabulary screams bro/frat boy but he's been shown to be a lot more than that.  He's smart enough to be a doctor, and a faithful and loving boyfriend to Ellie.  Occasionally the relationship between Chuck and Ellie plays off weirdly close for siblings, but that has been explained in the fact that their parents pretty much left them on their own and they had to take care of each other.  It's nice to see siblings that pretty much never want to kill each other, as is the case on many other television shows.

Chuck can be pretty predictable at times.  I don't know if it's because I'd seen too many references to Bryce Larkin on tumblr or if it was just obvious, but I knew Bryce wasn't dead right from the start.  I hadn't seen it coming, however, that Bryce actually betrayed Chuck to protect him from the CIA life. I was also able to easily guess that Orion would be Chuck's father. Many plot points in many episodes fail to surprise, but that doesn't bother me.  I'm in it for the fun and to see Chuck reacting to these new situations, which always catch him by surprise and at the most inconvenient times.

I really like this show, but I do wonder how long it goes before something really changes it up.  Right now it's mostly been case of the week, Chuck's feelings for Sarah, and his ultimate desire to get the Intersect out of his head. I definitely feel like that might get tiresome down the line, but right now, I really enjoy its familiar consistency.  

I've already added this show to my list of recommendations because I'm only two seasons in, but I'm definitely hooked.

TV Report Card of Fall 2013

Way back before the new tv season premiered, I made a list of some shows I looked forward to and some I was having my doubts about, both for new shows and returning favorites.  Here I wanted to take a look back at how some of these shows have fared this fall, plus add in a few new ones that have been caught on my personal radar or are generally buzzworthy right now.

Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.
C 
C for consistently disappointing.  It has potential, but it frustratingly refuses to give audiences enough backstory or character personality for audiences to care about the stakes.  My standards for anything with the Whedon name on it is high, but even by normal standards it's not measuring up.  Give me characters I root for, give me real stakes, give me emotional depths. It's on the lower end of average as it stands right now.

How I Met Your Mother
B-  
I'm guessing a lot of people would want me to rate this much, much lower.  They have several understandable complaints, like the humor isn't what it used to be, or it feels dragged out and the season long wedding timeline makes it even more so, or similar complaints.  And they're right about humor but I still get a good number of laughs from most episodes, and it doesn't feel dragged out to me. I give it a B- because overall, it still has heart, which is why I fell in love with it in the first place: Barney just hugging Robin when he found out she was infertile, Barney's surprise for Robin, Marshall realizing he's never wanted to use a no questions asked with Lily, and every scene The Mother has been in.  This is why I'm still in, why even after bumpy episodes and even mostly bumpy seasons, this is still a show worth watching for me.

American Horror Story:
Splitscore: A+/C 
For what the show is and what an audience has learned to get out of it, the show is excellent.  Shocking every week with beautiful acting and cinematography and a compelling story that keeps you going WTF the whole hour long. When you accept it in this way, it's wonderful.  But as a general show?  I'm giving this a C because it's nonsense.  Characters do things that make no sense because it's just there for shock value and would look cool or gross or freaky.  One of these days, I will outline the parallels that show how AHS really is the Glee of the tv horror genre with characters being uncompromisingly stupid and storylines that come from nowhere and end in a place that makes even less sense. And let's face it, it's also kind of preachy.

Sleepy Hollow
A+
My favorite new gem, after a slightly shaky start, Sleepy Hollow has found its legs. I care about these characters so much already, because they have heart and backstory and personality and destiny they must face together (take note, S.H.I.E.L.D.) I'm not sure, at this point, that I'd change anything at all.

Back in The Game
B
My dear little show that couldn't.  Cancelled, but man I liked it.  It had heart and was cute and felt real, it was a nice break from all the raunchy, gritty, gutwrenching drama of television these days.  I could have grown old with you and those kids, BiTG. But viewers watched all that other gritty and raunchy stuff, and ABC just didn't give you the chance you needed to gain any ground.  At least they're airing all the episodes.

White Collar
A
Possibly more than any other show, I look forward to this the most each week.  Neal and Peter and their constant struggle to trust each other and solve crimes and grow is still compelling.  One step forward, two steps back for my favorite con. They have so much fun though, I don't even care if they tread over the same territory again and again, and they have just enough stakes to keep me engaged.

Legend of Korra
A-
Had an slow paced first half, but ended with a much appreciated bang, nice emotional moments, and a cameo by Uncle Iroh, who automatically bumps the entire season up a full letter grade.  Just wish I could have the new season now.

Bones
B-
A little stale.  Some nice comedy to get me through.  Pelant's end was anticlimactic, but the Booth and Bones wedding (with a nice callback to that Gravedigger note!) was sweet.  They've still got some juice to get them through the season.  Beyond that, I'm not sure we need another one (please, Bones, go out with pride, unlike CSI).

New Girl
B
Some people say that it's lost it's chemistry since Nick and Jess got together.  I disagree. And I've enjoyed the Coach addition. Schmidt could use some more strong storylines though. Overall, still very funny and sweet.

Brooklyn Nine-Nine
B
It's getting better.  Still finding itself, still needs to work on the main character of Jake and his general arrogance, but it's usually an enjoyable half hour.

Looking at this, it definitely seems like most of the shows I watch aren't doing too badly for the most part, but almost all of them could stand some improvement in various ways.