2 posts tagged “pan's labyrinth”

24 6.13

I had no idea I would miss the Logans this much. I have no clue what I was on last year that made me not like them. Well, I didn't like Pres. Logan, and not in a love-to-hate way. He just annoyed me. But having him in CTU made things super interesting. Chloe said it best "Sorry, I'm feeling ambivalent, I'm gonna go." Best. Line. Ever. She said it in her sour-O'Brian way. Oh how I adore thee, Chloe. Morris also took this hour to share his style habits, which include shirts that don't wrinkle. Take that Rick Schroder, God what a douchey character he was chosen to play.

But lets get to Martha, who keeps getting sent to institutions. I mean, I get she's a not the sanest one of all, but damn, she's not batshit crazy. Wait? What's that? She stabbed who? SHE STABBED HER EX-HUSBAND IN THE NECK? Take that all back, that bitch is crazy. But I do adore her, plus she offed the worst fictional president ever. Or did she? It was pretty ambiguous if Mr. Logan kicked it. (How awesome was it when Aaron Pierce put the emphasis on Mr., when he addressed his ex-boss?

Lost 3.12

One of the saddest things this season is the ratings decline. This episode hit a series low, and it's so tragic. The episodes this part of the season have been top-notch, and no one is watching them. Well, 12 mill isn't exactly no one, but the media certainly sees it as such. Oh well, those of us still with the show know how great this week's Claire episode was, and I have a renewed interest in the show. Sorry if the following comments are random, I'm pasting them from a conversation I had with a friend, much easier than reformulating my opinions.

I didn't hate Charlie at all. Actually, since Des said he was gonna die, I've begun to like him. Now I'm positive he's dead.

I'm so glad I didn't ship Jack/Claire, seeing my track record with related couples, it's a miracle I didn't jump on that boat.

Once again, bravo Evangeline Lilly. She used to be really bad, right?Because there is serious acting going on this season. I'm just astonished by how not annoying Kate is.

I love how the writers are beginning to think like the fans. Notice how Locke blamed Sayid for not telling him about the C4? I was smacking my head last week because no one told Locke. There is such a lack of communication, I'm glad the Losties are figuring this out and making note. Too bad Locke DID know and took the explosives for some reason.

Rousseau... I think it's odd that she went from stealing Claire's baby40-some days ago to get her daughter back to not wanting to know anything about her kid. She seems less crazy lately, so maybe she's gotten some clarity. That or the writers changed their mind. I like to think it's the former.

I underestimate Claire episodes, and I have no idea why. I think all of them have been fairly strong, but for some reason I tend to forget them when I list some of the great episodes.

Part of the reason I think this episode really worked was that the flashback was part of the subplot of the episode and not the main part. Claire had nothing to do with Sayid's crew, which were clearly the focus of what was going on. Claire, Charlie, and the birds were fun but not the point of this episode. It was merely a nice addition to the necessary story arc. See, the old Lost would have had Claire be the focus and we'd see Kate and others maybe twice doing nothing.

This is the perfect example of a good flashback episode that features a secondary character not involved with the major arc. Normally, Charlie,Claire, Hurley, Sun and Jin episodes try to focus primarily on those characters, who normally are pretty out of the Dharma/Others plots,which we all really want to learn more about. Hence, those episodes are stand-alones, which is probably why I forget them so easily. This episode, so obviously not a stand alone, aka AMAZING.

I think it's been so long since we've seen Jack that I was actually glad to see him. And I thought, gee Jack is a hottie. Yeah it's probably because he didn't say anything.

Next week: I hope to God this isn't a case of over-hyping. How horrible would it be if this was a case of "THREE BIG MYSTERIES WILL BE REVEALED. Major Suckage. I'm hesitant to believe we'll learn anything, but you never know, right?

Grey's Anatomy 3.18

So I didn't watch this last night because I chose to see The Lives of Others (so not better than Pan's Labyrinth) and I came home and asked my sister, without revealing anything, if it was good or not. She shrugged and said it was alright. So I had no clue what was about to occur. That was until a friend spoiled me on facebook with the following message:

"Izzie and George? Eeeeeeew."

That still didn't fully prepare me for the look of horror on Izzie's face when she rolls over to discover she just had sex with her married best friend. Holy Crap!

Now, I've expressed my newfound adoration for Meredith, and it keeps growing. Her family storyline really keeps my attention, I mean when Thatcher thought that picture was with his other daughter... OMG. What a horrible thing. Not only did this guy abandon Meredith and end up with a perfect family, but he's forgetting about his first family. Sorta. If this episode proved anything, it proved that Thatcher really WAS a caring father. I mean, we knew he had to be a good father, because look at his other family and his happy children! When Thatch pulled out the screw that he put there to protect Mere, it reminded her that this guy wasn't the devil that she deep down believed him to be. He took care of her, even if Meredith doesn't remember. I find it slightly amusing that Mere bonds more with her stepmother than she does with her own biological father.

WHAT IS UP WITH THE ATTENDINGS? This episode had a big case of the "adults acting like babies." I just wanted to smack all those adult doctors and kindly remind the writers the age of their characters. They are not 13, OK? It's OK to do funny with adult behaviors, really, it's possible.

Oh Cristina. Not mentioning you banged well-known-English-doctor? Not a smart move. She doesn't get it does she? 3 years, and she just ups and leaves? No problem? No wonder Burke's seeing warning signs everywhere. Especially since Cristina doesn't want to get married, or maybe she does, but just said it wrong. Because later she tells Meredith "I'm going to screw up my engagement," which implies she cares. So when she told Burke she didn't really want to get married, she probably meant something like, "I love you enough to get married, but I don't need to be married to feel married." That is what she meant, but it came off as "Well, if you want to be married, fine, I'll do it. Whatever, it's stupid anyways." Bad move Cristina.

Screw you Callie. I really dislike her, especially keeping her wealth from George? Bad. Men have pride, and George paying the "1/2" gave him that pride, like he was helping, but telling him his money is actually going towards tips? That's hurting ego right there. GOD. It's one thing to hide wealth to live normally, it's another to hide it, spend it, and lie about how you're getting nice things. Though Izzie bringing it up to Callie, that wasn't so great. Izzie really should have been more mature about the Callie situation, for George's sake. She owed it to her best friend (now lover) to do it. I doubt the situation will get any better, especially since George and Izzie did the nasty, just like Callie feared. I don't think it's because Izzie and George have feelings for each other, I think it's because they were drunk, George was pissed at his wife, and he brought up Callie's idea, that Izzie had a thing for George.

Am I the only one who is dying to know why Pregnant Ferry Girl is? Jane Doe is the biggest mystery on this show, and I am starting to get a wee bit impatient about this. I think PFG is, too. I mean, it's been... 2 months. I think they established this episode took place 2 months after Mere almost died and Ellis did die. 2 months and no one knows who this woman is? Poor lady.

Rumor had it Veronica Mars is getting the ax. I wish to God I cared about this show the way I used to. I just can't. For me it's not the same, Veronica is just too different for me. She's become a normal girl who comes up with clever remarks. It saddens me that this show could end and I just wouldn't care. I sorta hope it does get canceled, because shows that receive the news often have amazing episodes that lead up to the series finale. Angel and Alias come to mind. I just want my old troubled, pained Veronica back, because her inner demons from S1 and S2 aren't the kind to just *poof*, which is why this season bugs me. She says these sarcastic lines, but she doesn't have those painful memories to back them up. She's not quipping to someone who's betrayed her or quipping about stupid people, she's making these comments to everyone about everything, even in inappropriate situations, like in jail, or to her father. The quips have replaced meaningful conversation. This probably doesn't make sense to anyone, but it does to me. At least think about it, and think about Veronica in season 1 or season 2 acting this way. I understand characters need to change and develop, but they do it in a way that makes sense with circumstances. Her transformation skipped the circumstance part, and we're just seeing the result. Once again, you probably disagree and want to argue with me about it. I just don't have the passion to deal with this.

So this is the time for college decisions. Today I found out that I got waitlisted at a top non-Ivy school, one of the 25 new Ivies. I'm not sure how I feel about this, should I be happy that I wasn't rejected or disappointed that I didn't get accepted? I'm currently just confused. Do a lot of people get put on waitlists? Should I feel special? Do I have a chance at getting admitted from the waitlist? My parents seem thrilled, they thought I would get rejected. This school was a very tough school to get into, the type of school where acceptance is based on more than just intelligence, because so many really smart people apply. This waitlisting also brings up another point: I have 5 schools left to hear from. I have 2 more very good non-Ivy schools, both new Ivies. I have better chance at getting into those schools, but not that much better. They're still tough to get into. Then I have 3 actual Ivy schools, all of whom release their decisions the same day. Now, if I couldn't get into this non-Ivy, I'm sort of resigned to believing I'm not getting into an actual Ivy. Though that logic is probably flawed. This school received more applications and accepted a lesser percentage than some of the actual Ivies, but still.

Now, speaking of a school I did get into, this was also one of the 25 new Ivies. I got in, and I got a 20K scholarship, which I had no idea I would get. So that's a pretty big incentive to go to this place, except they don't have a strong liberal arts base, and while I'm a science/engineer person, the humanities are very important to me. Plus this school is in a dump of a city. I think my mom is pushing for this school more since we found out about the money, but I have no idea what to do. The schools I have yet to find out from I have little to no chance of getting any sorta scholarship, so that means this is the best I'm gonna do. Gah, I totally shouldn't be thinking about this, I'm on break, srsly. I'm gonna try sleeping now, night.

I have a lot to say about TV from this week :-) Beware of spoilers if you are behind on any show.

Battlestar Galactica 3.12

So...wow! I was pretty unexcited about the cliff hanger at the end of "The Eye of Jupiter" but I thought this episode really kept some suspense. Per usual I was insanely intrigued by Baltar, Three, and Six. I really do love Baltar's character, particularly the way he encouraged Three to fulfill her destiny. I got the sense that this was Baltar not really buying into this actually working, but hoping if it does that Three would find out if he's a Cylon. I just loved how reassuring he was, it was too kind and comforting to be Baltar's words. Last time I heard him be like that was when he basically told Boomer it was OK to kill herself in "Kobol's Last Gleaming, Part 1." So, Three saw the Final 5, and one of them she felt to apologize to, and that one Baltar was right about. So... I have no idea who it could be. My  friend thinks I'm giving the writers too much credit by assuming there will be clues in previous episodes. I think she's wrong.

You see, we assumed the whole bit with Starbuck's apartment at the end of the episode was retconned, you know, just taking previous events and making shit up about it. But then I got nerdy.

This is from "Valley of Darkness", 2.02! I plan to listen to this week's BSG podcast to see if Ron Moore mentions if they planned this as carefully as I hoped or if it was "Oh, that's a cool design, let's use that again" thing. I guess I'll find out later.

General 24 Rant

I really like 24. I like it better when I can watch 4 or 5 episodes at a time, but I like it. I have a problem with their portrayal of this season's Average Joe Terrorist. See, they introduce this Muslim family with the father being unlawfully and unrightfully taken away. Then you see his son being harassed by some asshole racist neighbors. So this Muslim boy, who appeared to be the start of a storyline featuring unsubstantiated racist profiling on a personal lever, stays with a friend's family who is fully supportive of him and do not believe him to be a terrorist. Well, guess what? THE MUSLIM IS A FUCKING TERRORIST. There was even a line where the family goes "so they were right!" That's right, those assholes in the beginning were actually justified. That is what bothered me. This basically said "most likely, if you are beating up a Muslim, they're probably terrorists anyway!" That is overstating what happened, but it is kinda what went down. I thought, for once 24 would show an innocent's perspective to what is going on. Show what a poor Muslim boy goes through when terrorists go wild. But they don't, they embrace the stereotype worse than ever. If only this boy (Kumar if you were wondering) wasn't shown first as the victim, I wouldn't have a big problem. The fact that the aggressors now come off as being right, that is wrong.

Heroes 1.12

So, initial reactions: HEEEE!!! I swear, this show just finds different ways to be awesome. I watched the episode twice :-) Once with commentary from nbc.com, which was the funniest thing...ever. Plus, Sendhil is very sexy with glasses. So I've been theorizing my effing ass off with this show. Maybe it's because I think everything is so much simpler and straightforward than with other shows *cough*Lost*cough* So, let's start with Claire and who her father is. My money's on this mysterious Linderman, who we have yet to see. Tim Kring made a point by having us not see him yet, and he obviously is a very important character. The Haitian stated that Claire's parents worked for HRG, but what if even The Haitian doesn't know who the father is? I also think that Linderman is in charge of the whole HRG production. Simone said something very interesting. She said Linderman is a big collector of Isaac's art and owns almost every piece. Sure sounds like someone who knows that the paintings predict the future. Plus he has the dough to finance HRG's operation...

So, Peter. The reason he collapsed at the end of "Fallout" was because he was absorbing too much power. Think about it: Nathan, Isaac, Hiro, Claire, Sylar, The Haitian, Matt all in the same town. At one point they were pretty much in the same building or close to it. That's a shitload of abilities to be experiencing, even if he only sorta got a gift or a piece of it. I'm stuck on Peter's ability to dream the future. What's up with that????? I mean, I honestly believe it's related to his mimicry. Which brings me back to Simone's father. Peter was his nurse, and Peter probably spent 12 hours a day, 7 days a week with the guy. What if Simone's father had the future dreams? What if Peter, if exposed long enough, can permanently assume someone's power? Dunno, I'm kinda shaky on that theory, but it's probably the one I'm sticking to the most.

Veronica Mars 3.10

So after the amazingness which was "Spit & Eggs" I wasn't sure if this episode would be good. It was actually very, very good, even if Veronica and Logan only were broken up for what amounted for 1.5 episodes. I hoped they would have more onscreen not-dating. Oh well. At the end I felt so badly for Piz, though once again, I hoped he and Veronica went further so as to increase the emotional response and pain for Piz. Actually had V and Piz hooked up, it would have just complicated everything, and made great drama.

So this whole murder mystery is pretty much the last mystery arc. R.T. decided to drop that aspect of the show, and frankly I'm skeptical. I don't know how he'll pull that off with this show. Will he just amp up the character drama, which IMO would lead to melodrama? Will he put more of a focus on the MotW's, which I'm not big on in general (though the monkey this week was super cute)?

-- End Spoilers

I think if you haven't seen the Scrubs musical episode you should make it your mission to see it ASAP. It was pretty much as amazing as I had hoped. And yes, it's on my ipod, and yes I've watch it more than 5 times.

In random news, I saw Pan's Labyrinth and it was so amazing, like I could see it over and over and over again. It's probably the best movie I've seen in a while, and I've seen some great films lately (Dreamgirls and Happy Feet). I recommend that everyone see it.