Squandering makes happy...
Mar. 31st, 2009 09:35 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
wiseheartI've decided not to post any work-related stuff for a while, unless I'm in real need of moral support. I'm dealing with that shit all the time in reality, why should I sacrifice cyberlife to it as well?
So, in a sudden attack of squandering I decided to waste quite some money on DVDs today. To waste, because I don't have the time to watch them - my backlog is already as long as Gandalf's beard, and there's little hope to change that before summer holidays.
Anyway, I've bought four of the Sharpe movies - alas, I'm completely uninterested in that historical era, but they have mucho Beany goodness in them. I hope one day![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
makamu will find the time to visit me, and then we can salivate over the movies together. I always take a look when I buy DVDs, to see if they start off at all, and laughed my head off hearing people say "Leftenent" instead of Lieutenant all the time. I know it's historically sound, it just sounds sooo funny to my foreigner's ears.
Also, I bought 5 DVDs with the first 13 episodes of Torchwood on them. As I know Hungarian entertainment industry, I'll never get the rest of the series - it's their little hobby to offer random parts of series out of connection, which is probably the reason why I can't find more than the first 3 episodes of Andromeda, either.
The rest is behind a tag to spare the feelings of the British, because I'm being a bit mean to Torchwood. So, if you think it would bother you, just don't look, okay? ;o))
Still, I'm glad to have found at least this much Torchwood. Granted, the series is more than a little trashy, but I've come to love it. It's like a train wreck, somehow - I just can't help watching it. The characters grow on you in no time, so that you don't mind the stupid stories that would put the worst of the original Trek to shame. And I generally love to watch stuff in original, with the actors' own voices and stuff.
Besides, British movies are always a lot easier to understand for me from the language than US ones. Despite "Leftenent" and other such charming oddities. The way Owen Harper pronounces "investigation" is a treasure, even though I needed three restarts to realize which word he was actually saying.
Also, I love the fact that the actors lack that artificial prettiness that makes most US stuff so unconvincing. (Labouring woman in a collapsed tunnel with her hairdo and make-up perfect, anyone?) Well, with the exception of John Barrowman, but Botox can do that to a person, I guess. It can also make a man have an uncanny resemblance to a wilting lady, if filmed from the wrong angle. Still, the man is pretty, despite his likeness to Tom Cruise (which isn't his fault), and he's a good actor.
Okay, I've been mean enough. I still like Torchwood. My love for British series isn't obsessive enough to spend money on Primeval DVDs, too, but I find it a good sign that we at last do have a certain offer to chose from in the sci-fi/mystery genre. Hey, they even brought out Angel - alas, I already have bought most of Seasons 1 and 2 on VCR, and the further seasons are of no interest for me. In my eyes, Angel ended before they went to Pylea (the stupid demon dimension Lorne is from).
Heh. Enough of the verbal rubbish. Back to the regularly scheduled RL chaos. If I survive until Easter break, I'll try to catch up with flist's journals, honestly.
So, in a sudden attack of squandering I decided to waste quite some money on DVDs today. To waste, because I don't have the time to watch them - my backlog is already as long as Gandalf's beard, and there's little hope to change that before summer holidays.
Anyway, I've bought four of the Sharpe movies - alas, I'm completely uninterested in that historical era, but they have mucho Beany goodness in them. I hope one day
makamu will find the time to visit me, and then we can salivate over the movies together. I always take a look when I buy DVDs, to see if they start off at all, and laughed my head off hearing people say "Leftenent" instead of Lieutenant all the time. I know it's historically sound, it just sounds sooo funny to my foreigner's ears.Also, I bought 5 DVDs with the first 13 episodes of Torchwood on them. As I know Hungarian entertainment industry, I'll never get the rest of the series - it's their little hobby to offer random parts of series out of connection, which is probably the reason why I can't find more than the first 3 episodes of Andromeda, either.
The rest is behind a tag to spare the feelings of the British, because I'm being a bit mean to Torchwood. So, if you think it would bother you, just don't look, okay? ;o))
Still, I'm glad to have found at least this much Torchwood. Granted, the series is more than a little trashy, but I've come to love it. It's like a train wreck, somehow - I just can't help watching it. The characters grow on you in no time, so that you don't mind the stupid stories that would put the worst of the original Trek to shame. And I generally love to watch stuff in original, with the actors' own voices and stuff.
Besides, British movies are always a lot easier to understand for me from the language than US ones. Despite "Leftenent" and other such charming oddities. The way Owen Harper pronounces "investigation" is a treasure, even though I needed three restarts to realize which word he was actually saying.
Also, I love the fact that the actors lack that artificial prettiness that makes most US stuff so unconvincing. (Labouring woman in a collapsed tunnel with her hairdo and make-up perfect, anyone?) Well, with the exception of John Barrowman, but Botox can do that to a person, I guess. It can also make a man have an uncanny resemblance to a wilting lady, if filmed from the wrong angle. Still, the man is pretty, despite his likeness to Tom Cruise (which isn't his fault), and he's a good actor.
Okay, I've been mean enough. I still like Torchwood. My love for British series isn't obsessive enough to spend money on Primeval DVDs, too, but I find it a good sign that we at last do have a certain offer to chose from in the sci-fi/mystery genre. Hey, they even brought out Angel - alas, I already have bought most of Seasons 1 and 2 on VCR, and the further seasons are of no interest for me. In my eyes, Angel ended before they went to Pylea (the stupid demon dimension Lorne is from).
Heh. Enough of the verbal rubbish. Back to the regularly scheduled RL chaos. If I survive until Easter break, I'll try to catch up with flist's journals, honestly.
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(no subject)
Date: 2009-03-31 08:11 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2009-03-31 08:28 pm (UTC)I'm in love with Gwen's front teeth, for example. They're so very different from the boring dental work of American actresses, it's a blow of fresh wind. And that she doesn't have this big, plastic smile - and permanently looks like a deer caught in the headlights. She's truly charming.
I've just watched Cyberwoman, and it actually had some drama in it. Tomorrow, when it comes to German TV, I'll re-watch it, because I still understand German a hundred time better than English - even though the show loses half of its charm when dubbed to another language.
(no subject)
Date: 2009-03-31 08:53 pm (UTC)And, yes, we are obsessed with Gwen's front teeth too ;-)
(no subject)
Date: 2009-03-31 09:11 pm (UTC)"Ghost Machine" was a fantastic episode indeed. It had mystery, it had drama, it had characterization - and that just a week after that utter tripe, "Day One", or whatever the one with the orgasm-obsessed gaseous alien was. It's kinda hard to keep the episode titles straight, as I first watched them in German, the DVD covers have them in Hungarian, and then there's still the English original...
That, or I'm getting old, of course.
(no subject)
Date: 2009-03-31 08:20 pm (UTC)Ooooh! I hope you find the time to drool over them... ehm, I mean, enjoy them. He is definitely worth watching. :-)
(no subject)
Date: 2009-03-31 08:29 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2009-03-31 09:26 pm (UTC)You a night owl, too?
(no subject)
Date: 2009-04-01 09:02 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2009-04-02 10:56 am (UTC)Like that horny alien episode... Although I still think that could've been good if only the authors hadn't taken their plot seriously. If that'd been a Stargate episode (classic Stargate), it'd have been hilariously funny.
I actually liked Cyberwoman, though I was fully prepared to hate it as soon as I learned that apparently, invading cyborgs from space wear skimpy bikini outfits. But it made me like Ianto and... well, it made me hate Jack. Which is bad for my Jack like, but good for Torchwood like. Because how many sci-fi shows actually have the guts to make the hero a jerk? That's a taboo in sci-fi if there ever was one. And I mean on purpose, not by turning the hero into a Gary Stu like Andromeda did. Or maybe that's just me. But for me, while Jack has never been Mister Congeniality with his "I care only about the tech, people don't matter" attitude, sending Ianto to execute his girlfriend just to prove his loyalty to him, was downright cruel. It made me believe that there's a very mean streak in Jack hidden beneath the boyish smiles and flirty charm.
One thing I really like about Torchwood is that it isn't trying so hard to be cool that it ends up looking forced like many US shows do. Although they sometimes do try a bit too hard to be provocative and sexy, with such debacles as the horny alien being the result. A lot of the making out seems to be there just so they can fill their quota. Like you mentioned already, the actors look like real people, not like supermodels. It took me one or two episodes to get used to that, but now I really like it.
(no subject)
Date: 2009-04-02 06:45 pm (UTC)Anyway, I agree with you re: Ianto & Jack. I had the serious urge to kick Jack into the nuts... and the others, too, for being so servile towards him. It's hard to believe the later development of their relationship.
I also agree with you that much of the sex part seems forced. Jack resurrecting Ianto with a kiss was ridiculous - I'm surprised the actor didn't get suffocated, BTW. It was a long one. But again, the series came from the author who gave us Queer As Folk (the original one, not the dumbed-down US version), so it's probably understandable that he wants to hammer his point home about gay sex and practically everyone being bi.
Again total agreement re: classic Stargate. Best American sci-fi ever... well, after Classic TRek, that is. I love it how they don't take themselves so seriously.
(no subject)
Date: 2009-04-03 05:57 pm (UTC)Yeah, after Cyberwomen, I'd be more inclined to tell Ianto "stay the hell away from that guy, he's an obsessive, possessive and manipulative creep!" *shrug* But I guess things are going to improve A LOT between them, so I'm curious about that, even if I have troubles right now imagining them being in love. I did get the impression that Jack was jealous of Playboy-Borg girl, though.
(no subject)
Date: 2009-04-07 02:38 pm (UTC)Yes, Ianto and Jack's relationship will develop a bit during the following episodes, but it still remains one-sided and somewhat abusive, IMO. I saw a few clips about Gwen's wedding on YouTube the other day, and Jack's reaction when Ianto finally gathered his courage and made a brave step was no way what I'd have wanted for poor Ianto.
It's his fault, though. He shouldn't have fallen for someone who's not trapped in the same timeslot as he is.
You should read this Wikipedia entry (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ianto_Jones), especially the paragraph titled Relationship with jack.
Whatever the two actors might think about the relationship between the characters they play, I tend to agree with author Stephen James Walker's opinion: Jack and Ianto see two diagonally opposite thing in their relationship, and for Ianto, this can only end in heartbreak and tragedy.
(no subject)
Date: 2009-04-08 10:42 am (UTC)Gwen's getting married? Huh. Wouldn't have expected that. Well, I hope she'll at least stop ogling other guys after the wedding.
I'll definitely read that article, thanks for the link. I think it's not even just the same timeslot so much for Jack as that he's stopped really truly caring about other people. Everyone dies anyway, so he's cut himself off from the rest of the world. Oh, he flirts and beds people and has friends and may even care for them, but he doesn't let alone close anymore emotionally. Can't really blame him, you can only watch so many people grow old and die on you before you decide not to let yourself get hurt anymore. He doesn't care, maybe he doesn't even realise, that he hurts other people in the process. With his whole "only the tech matters" attitude, I wonder sometimes if he sees the people on the street as real people at all or just as pawns in the big cosmic power game. And to think I read somewhere that this is the NICE Jack, who was already reformed by the Doctor to care about people.
(no subject)
Date: 2009-04-08 04:19 pm (UTC)It's meant as the transition between "I hate you, you're the biggest monster here!" in "Cyberwoman" and Ianto casually offering himself to Jack only four frigging episodes later. You'll see it. You'll hate it, I think. Not the act in itself, but the fact that there was not a hint leading to that.
(no subject)
Date: 2009-04-10 09:22 am (UTC)Yeah, I'm pretty sure I'll hate it, too. I saw it on Youtube as part of a clip of Jack/Ianto moments from every episode and even with these, I was just confused because it seemed so sudden. I figured watching the full episodes would make it seem less abrupt, but apparently, not.
Maybe the writers just got really bored of waiting any longer for the sexy stuff to happen? *laughs*
(no subject)
Date: 2009-04-10 01:38 pm (UTC)Have you seen the fairy episode the day before yesterday? I just loved the little scene, fairly early in the episode, when Jack touches Ianto's shoulder and they both froze for a moment. I think the attraction must have been there for a while, but Ianto was just too caught up with Lisa hiding in the basement. Besides, he strikes me as a "serial monogamist" - someone who's with one person at a time.
(no subject)
Date: 2009-04-11 02:24 pm (UTC)By the way, I loved the fairy episode for the simple reason that we finally see Jack showing some genuine emotions, learn about his past and his emotional shell is cracked. I like a Jack who is tortured by living outside of time a lot better than one who doesn't/pretends not to care about anything or anyone. Or maybe that's just me liking to see characters tortured *evil grin*
(no subject)
Date: 2009-04-12 09:20 am (UTC)I'm struggling with the post-Countrycide piece a bit, I don't want to make it too sappy. But once you've seen the episode (comes up next week), you'll probably understand why I think it was the turning point in the relationship between them.
Oh, and the title of the story will be "There's Nothing Wrong With Comfort Sex"... *evil cackle* I just can't resist that line ever since it popped up in my head in an entirely different context. *g*
(no subject)
Date: 2009-04-14 10:03 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2009-04-14 11:31 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2009-04-15 11:07 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2009-04-16 02:40 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2009-04-17 10:15 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2009-04-17 11:18 am (UTC)Yeah, me, too. I loved Tosh's little snide remark about Gwen getting her feet under the table quickly enough. *g* Ianto was really, really traumatized, which isn't particularly surprising. I mean, we're what? Two weeks after the Cyberwoman episode? And he gets beaten up and almost eaten? And nobody really cared in the end what happened to him, because Ohmg, Gwen was wangsting about why cannibals want to eat people?
What I find interesting was the Ianto/Tosh interaction. I don't know what Ianto used to do at Torchwood One, but it couldn't exactly be field work - although getting the half-converted Lisa out of the burning ruins couldn't have been an easy task. Still, I think that mostly he must have done administrative and research work, so it's understandable that the others being adrenaline junkies alienated him a little. He did what he had to do for Lisa but *not* because he enjoyed such action hero stuff, I think.
Now that you've seen the episode, perhaps you understand why I think that the whole thing between him and Jack must have started as some kind of comfort sex. I think Jack cares about his co-workers, if for nobody else at this point, and he didn't want to lose Ianto so soon after losing Suzie. And poor Ianto seriously needed some comforting after this ordeal.
(no subject)
Date: 2009-04-17 04:17 pm (UTC)That Ianto isn't an action hero makes me like him all the more. He doesn't do that stuff because he wants to but rather because he feels he must and I think him all the more brave for it. It's comparatively easy getting yourself into dangerous situations if you live for the thrill of it, but Ianto hates it and he still does his job. Especially since he'd have had every reason to wash his hands off Torchwood and the entire alien insanity after Lisa died.
(no subject)
Date: 2009-04-17 06:28 pm (UTC)In one of the Season 2 episodes he mentions that his father was a master tailor, and somewhere else is mentioned that he was "an able student, if nothing extraordinary" before joining TW1, so he must be at least a university graduate, although the writers mess up his personal timeline saying that he was born in 1983. With working for TW1 for 2 years already, it barely gives him enough time to have some decent studies, eh?
Timeline consistency - like steady characterization - doesn't seem to be the strength of the writers. We're lucky that the actors are so talented.
(no subject)
Date: 2009-04-18 05:03 pm (UTC)Maybe he's gifted and skipped a few classes?
(no subject)
Date: 2009-04-19 08:16 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2009-04-19 10:41 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2009-04-19 01:07 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2009-04-20 09:27 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2009-04-20 05:47 pm (UTC)*enter ominous music, while Gwen makes big cow-eyes and whimpers "Oh, Jack...!"
(no subject)
Date: 2009-04-21 04:19 pm (UTC)