topaz119 | (no subject)

hello, good ~~morning~~ afternoon, happy monday, etc, etc, etc

So not in the mood for the reality of alarm clocks and calendar reminders. Let's talk about what I've been watching instead. Cutting for potential spoilers:

SPN

I am desperately behind, still (still trying to catch up from Bobby being gone) but I couldn't not watch LARP and the Real Girl, not once the promo stills of Dean in chain mail hit my tumblr. I can't offer any assessment as to how the current season arc is playing out, or how this did or didn't fit into it, but HEY. JENSEN IN CHAINMAIL AND LEATHER. There is NO BAD THERE. NONE. (well, except for the wig at the end, but Sam (ALSO IN LEATHER AND CHAINMAIL) and his ponytail made up for a lot.) A+++, will watch again.

Downton

Is it just me, or does the prettypretty new footman not look like he could be Simon Baker's British little brother? (I haven't seen last night's ep yet, so no spoilers as to whether he becomes Thomas's boytoy or not, 'k?)

Skyfall

Yes, I'm just now getting around to seeing this, but BabyBoy and I went on Saturday night. The theater was surprisingly crowded and all the Bond Tropes got their own little frisson of a reaction, which kept tripping BB up, as he had never actually *seen* a Bond movie (which I can't believe, given that his father will watch them any time they're on TV, but there you go.) Poor kid was all "What's the deal with the car?" and "It matters what he drinks?" and "Okay, I like the girl agent but why did everyone get excited when she finally said her name?" I foresee much netflixing of 007 in my future.

Le Mis

Having seen this on Broadway with the original cast (Colm Wilkerson's voice is still the standard against which I judge all male leads in musicals) I was srsly nervous about seeing it now. It's D's favorite show of all time; we almost had to drag him out to see the movie, but I think it compared well with my idealized memories. In some ways the intimacy of seeing faces and not having to strain for the lyrics made it head-and-shoulders above the stage production. Also, the sheer size of the rebellion and finale scenes were amazing. On the flip side, some of the bravura of the staging was lost in the more realistic sets of the movie (it's been 25+ years and I still have a very vivid flash-memory of the last of the revolutionary boys being shot off the barricade, in that jagged spill of red bunting.) And of course, I now have the score playing non-stop in my head. Definitely a successful family outing, plus, BrotherD went with movie giftcards for Christmas presents this year, so whee, Freeeeeeeeee.

Still trying to catch up on SPN and Once Upon a Time, and, no, I still haven't seen The Hobbit, fml.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Totally agree about new prettyboy footman!

Didn't care for Les Mis....guess it reads better for me as a stage piece? (I have the same gut wrench reaction/memory of the last boy falling over the barricade) I did think that some of the close-ups were good, was actually impressed by Crowe's performance-he's hit or very miss for me, and some of sets were very good (the narrow street-ways where they put up the barricade and everyone shuttered their houses and simply let them die was much more telling than the show). It's not badly done, all told. Guess I would have done better to have seen the movie before the stage production. None-the-less, singing the music all over.

I did like the movie quite a bit--I was nervous about RC's voice, but even though that was probably my least favorite part, I think there was enough good to outweigh the less-good. I think the thing I missed the most was the crowd reaction. There needed to be some applause after many of those songs.

It matters what he drinks? Adorbs!

My offspring is well-versed in the Bond verse (er, a little ahead of time, methinks, but eh..) because my 10 year old got obsessed this past year and we dutifully watched A LOT (with me trying to do some damage control, especially with Sean Connery's appalling sexism. And the general profusion of sexytimes (which still baffles/disgusts my two); and the violence (less so, alas).

And ITA on the latest SPN being awesome.

Loved Les Mis! Saw it for the second time on Friday, would love to see it again. Paige knows all of the words to most of the songs already.

And, granted, I have a thing for SPN's self-contained episodes, but I loved the LARPing.

I think I saw it twice on Broadway & twice at the Kennedy Center--I was pretty surprised at how many lyrics I still knew.

I want to make a playlist of my favorite Dean-in-costume episodes: the B/W horror homage, the Western, the Untouchables, this one... I have so much love for them all, for Dean's glee & Sam's affectionate exasperation. <3

The one with Nicholas Lea as Elliott Ness. Swooning now.

You know, I was (of course) behind on viewing so I *knew* Dean and The Suit were blowing people's minds, but even so, I almost fell off the couch when he stepped out in it. ::swooning with you::

oh! sorry, I thought I hit "post a comment" and hit "reply" to your comment instead.

No worries!

Isn't 60s era sexism awesome? Every time I watch the original Star Trek I'm always amazed at how far we've come in my lifetime.

God, you make me feel old with that observation!

Well, we were *very young* when the original Trek came out, right?

I know!

"Okay, I like the girl agent but why did everyone get excited when she finally said her name?"

This reminds me of that time I was reading episode reactions to SPN and I saw about 5000 posts from the kids on our lawn, whining, "Who the hell is Chachi?" Sigh.

I really need to get into Downton Abbey. Especially since I've had the DVDs forever.

I'm not sure how this gap in his cultural education came to be, but he thought my satisfaction at each trope was amusing, so I guess I'm doing ok.

Downtown is like crack. With a posh accent. And enough melodrama to fill up any weekday afternoon. I love it so.

I was into Downton b4 you. There is a first time for EVERYTHING!!! Cried in last ep. For obvious reasons.

oh dear...I have yet to see this most recent episode, but when I talked to my mom this afternoon she was all but biting her tongue to keep from giving anything away. I suppose I should brace myself.

I told a friend last season that Hugh Bonneville could comfort me at any time. She immediately construed this as part of my I-am-so-sick-of-Matthew rhetoric, but ... seriously. He could comfort me. I'm sure of it.

Let me know what you think of last ep.

sorry if I spoiled you unintentionally. Submitting myself for flogging.