shawnlunn2002

Monday, Jul 6, 2009

Not necessarily five things but hopefully still of interest.

1: Because Some People Really Are That Stupid

Every now and then I will have the misfortune of encountering people so mind numbingly stupid, it's a wonder that they are allowed out of their homes without adult supervision.

A friend of mine and I were walking the other day, minding our own business and then, these two total idiots drove past yelling homophobic abuse at us. The guy who wasn't driving hid his stupid face with a hat, probably thinking he was clever but ultimately proving the opposite as dimwits like them usually do.

The worst part is that when I got home, I then received a text from my friend who told me that the idiots hurled a rock at him for no reason, grazing the back of his neck and smashing someone else's window. Add violence to stupidity then.

As my friend pointed out, who the hell carries a rock in their car? More importantly, what on Earth gives anyone the right to not only hurl abuse at complete strangers in the street but also to assault them (and yes, hurling a rock at someone is assault in my book)?

My friend was lucky that it only grazed but if you can't even walk to your own home without having to worry about something like that happening, then what the hell is the world coming to?

I really don't understand some people. If you don't like someone it's very simple – don't interact with them, especially when you don't have to. You do not have the right to antagonise them in the streets for no reason but sadly, while there's a lot of decent people in my home town, there are also some out and out scumbags as well who I hope suffer a lot of indignities.

Sorry if I sound angry but I am angry and this happened five days ago. I guess I really can hold a grudge.

2: Connections

It seems that tv.com now have a connect with Facebook thing on the site. Well, now I have used it, so that should explain why there's a picture of me doing a gay ninja pose as my avatar. I've also managed to figure out to how to connect my Blogspot with Twitter and of course, Twitter with Facebook. I even signed for a Last FM account, though it might take me a while to get used to that particular setting just yet. It's pretty cool though.

3: Fanfiction

It seems that I'm getting some recognition on various places for it. On the LJ groups for certain fictions, I've had some positive responses and there was one person who actually wants to do a pod cast of my Buffy piece, Just Between Us Girls (which I finally completed, 5 chapters long and Darla centred). I agreed so I'll be very interested to see how my words translate to pod cast and I'll link it to either this blog or the next one as well.

Doctor Who wise, a lot of my fiction on Fanfiction.net has generated comments (including a fair critique on one story), being favoured by other members and I'm currently writing a Season 2 based story called Temple Of The Daleks. In terms of pimping though, I would love if anyone could read either Exiles or The Lone Cybermen to see if I've got a good feel on the First and Second Doctors.

Links to my Fanfiction sites can be found on my Blogspot page or Live Journal profile.

4: Video Recommendations

A link to all the videos for the current NO H8 campaign can be found here. They are mostly behind the scenes on the photo shoots. http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=no+h8&search_type=&aq=f

Also for Dollhouse fans, I found an excellent video on Dr Claire Saunders. Unless you've seen all of the first season, do not watch this because there's pretty big spoilers to be had.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ytblQCvGNHY&feature=PlayList&p=D882E7599DC72BF4&index=3

Dollhouse – 1x07: Echoes

Very interesting and informative mid-season episode.

- Caroline's last name was Farrell, she was an animal rights activist and her boyfriend Leo got killed. Adelle also pursued her for two years.
- Everyone infected by the vial had their moments but I think Dominic nearly stole the show. Soft like a kitty?
- The Dolls glitched when they were affected by the drug. Mellie was also revealed as November. I want to be Uniform.
- Was anyone surprised when Adelle hired Sam in the end?

Reviews for both these episodes are up here and on Blogspot. Needs airs Tuesday at 9pm on Sci-Fi.

Buffy The Vampire Slayer: Always Darkest

Surely three pages can't merit a review? When they're this show, they bloody well can.

- Buffy dreamed again, she's been having bad ones.
- Angel/Spike slashiness, Caleb being annoying, marrying Warren, Tara as a bridesmaid. I thought my dreams were weird.
- Jo Chen did the artwork for the three pages while Joss Whedon wrote the story.
- Surely this little comic is hinting at some things for the eighth season?

Review for this issue can be read here … http://shawnlunn2002.blogspot.com/2009/07/my-review-of-buffy-vampire-slayers.html (link to the comic itself is in the review) Retreat Part 1 will be highlighted in the next blog.

Angel – 6x23: Become What You Are

Wow, this was actually a very good read.

- Gunn and Illyria's conflicting feelings played out believably within in the comic.
- There's such a thing as a rehab centre for the supernatural, which does make a lot of sense.
- Angel only briefly cameos in this issue as does Gwen and Lorne.
- Fred (or Spike/Wesley's memories of her) are influencing Illyria to the point where she's embracing humanity.

Review for this issue is up here …. http://shawnlunn2002.blogspot.com/2009/07/my-review-of-angels-6x23-become-what.html Drusilla Part 1 is out on July 15th.

Dexter – 3x10/3x11: Go Your Own Way/I Had A Dream

Two earth shatteringly excellent episodes. So why are some people disgruntled with this season?

- Deb and Anton's relationship has certainly blown hot and cold. I hope she gives him a chance.
- Dexter asking Deb to be his best man after telling Harry about his CI was sweet.
- Miguel's death made an impact but will the Skinner's? He's been such an impersonal threat to Dexter.
- Maria has grown leaps and bounds since the first season, hasn't she?

Review for both episodes are up here and on Blogspot. Do You Take Dexter Morgan? airs tonight at 10pm on FXUK.

Robin Hood – 3x13: Something Worth Fighting For Part 2

And today, I'll have a quadruple side order of death. Seriously.

- Robin, Guy, Isabella and the Sheriff all met their makers in this one.
- Alan's death was barely touched on. I guess that's what happens when you die in the penultimate episode.
- Marion appearing as an Angel was neat.
- Too bad we'll never get to see Archer develop as a character.

SIDE BAR: In news that will surprise no-one, the show has been cancelled by the BBC but given that all the main characters were effectively killed off, why should we be surprised? Sometimes cancellations really are in the best interest for a show, this one especially.

TV SPOILERS

- Drea DeMatteo has been cast as a regular for the sixth season of Desperate Housewives, playing the role of Sara. Maybe she'll usurp Katherine then.
- Nip/Tuck's sixth season will begin airing on FXUS from October. Well, the first 10 episodes anyway.
- Lost's sixth season will now have 18 episodes instead of 17. Yay for us.
- Mark Pellegrino has been cast as Lucifer in the fifth season of Supernatural.
- There'll be gay characters in upcoming seasons of both Stargate: Universe and 90210. The latter has cast Rumer Willis in a lesbian role.
- Daniel Eric Gold has been promoted to regular status for fourth season of Ugly Betty.
- Medium will be moving to CBS for its sixth season to be paired with Ghost Whisperer (which is doing that five years in the future thing that's become popular).
- Sci-Fi will air Dollhouse's unaired episode, Epitaph One on August 11th. They've also snagged the rights to Legend Of The Seeker, which looks a little silly but potentially fun.
- In news that might not surprise a lot of people but I'll be reviewing True Blood.
- Channel 4 have begun airing the third season of Skins, Wednesdays at 11pm. Sorry for not mentioning it in my last blog.

The Week In Who (Contains Spoilers)

- Torchwood starts tonight for five nights, so I thought I'd remind people. US viewers will get in from July 20th-24th.
- John Barrowman, Eve Myles, Gareth David-Lloyd and Kai Owen featured on the cover of Radio Times to promote the new season.
- Hilarious deleted scene of Matt Smith in In Bruges can be viewed here … http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TCKhi8o79Uw
- I've seen some of the old Kevin Bishop Show episodes with Karen Gillan in it. Making fun of The OC is kinda fun I guess.
- Rumour has it that a Doctor Who movie will be announced at this year's Comic Con. Emphasis on rumour.
- Watch will finally air the third season of Doctor Who, Saturdays at 8pm from July 11th.

Song Of The Blog

Gossip – Heavy Cross

Good comeback single from the popular LGBT group.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KLLxdcrk0-s

Category: General

Posted by shawnlunn2002, 6:46am

6 Comments | Post a Comment

Friday, Jun 26, 2009

The Thrill, Aftermath Part 5 and Torchwood Preview EDITED

What a week since my last blog.

Funkyfresh, you were right. In regards to the Grey's Anatomy season finale, Now Or Never, it has been revealed that Izzie is coming back next season and George isn't. The finale was actually the best one they've ever done. Private Pratice isn't quite as good but it'll do I guess. Nice to see Amy Acker in the opening episode though.

I watched episodes of Krod Mandoon And The Flaming Sword Of Fire and Psychoville and while both of them have great ideas and the odd funny moment, I am under whelmed with them as well.

In a bid to not post over a 100 plus extra reviews on my Blogspot, I've done some articles on Nip/Tuck and Desperate Housewives to cover the basics. Expect a Six Feet Under one fairly soon as well.

Recently someone on LiveJournal asked for unpopular opinions in the Buffy/Angel verse. I came up with a few of my own … http://darkestboy.livejournal.com/14339.html

Also RIP to former Charlie's Angels actress Farrah Fawcett who died at the age of 62, due to cancer and Michael Jackson, who also died yesterday.

Brothers And Sisters – 3x24: Mexico

Not the strongest but still a cracking finale no less.

- Of course the Walkers would disrupt a silent dinner. Tommy choosing to stay in Mexico is interesting.
- We should've gotten more on Kevin and Scotty's first year anniversary.
- I doubt that Robert/Kitty will separate completely.
- Justin/Rebecca certainly are going fast and Saul made sure Ryan stayed. He might regret that one.

Review for this episode is up here and on Blogspot. I have also put up a review for the first three seasons on the latter. Season 4 premieres on ABC in September.

Dollhouse – 1x05/1x06: True Believer/Man On The Street

This is supposed to be the episodes where everything fell into place. Um, they did.

- Cults are boring clichés and Jonah wasn't original.
- Who corrupted Echo's imprint during her scrap with Paul?
- Mellie's a doll but damn, the payoff was good.
- It's hard not to feel for Victor. He nearly got punished because he was attracted to Sierra. Loved that Boyd exposed Hearn as her rapist.

Reviews for both these episodes are up here and on Blogspot. Echoes airs Tuesday at 9pm on Sci-Fi.

Buffy The Vampire Slayer: Tales Of The Vampires: The Thrill

Me, not so thrilled. This was pedestrian at best.

- The indie artwork didn't do the comics favours.
- Jacob's defence of vampires reeked of stupidity as did his mother's easy acceptance.
- I felt a little for Alex but I could see her fate coming.
- No Scoobies at all in this one.

Review for this issue can be read here …. http://shawnlunn2002.blogspot.com/2009/06/my-review-of-buffy-vampire-slayers.html Retreat Part 1 is out on July 1st.

Angel – 6x22: Aftermath Part 5

A decent end to a thankfully shorter arc.

- So some of the Potentates were a touch gung-ho? Not a shock. Is James though a new team member for Angel?
- Connor's attraction to Desdemona continues to follow a particular trend with him.
- No Gwen in this issue, even though she's on the cover for it.
- Why couldn't Angel see Cordelia again?

Review for this issue is up here …. http://shawnlunn2002.blogspot.com/2009/06/my-review-of-angels-6x22-aftermath-part.html Become What You Are is out on July 1st.

Dexter – 3x09: About Last Night

Well, the season is certainly heating up, I'll give you that.

- Miguel really does think he's unstoppable. Now I do hate him as a villain.
- Deb and Quinn just about rescued Anton from the Skinner. Poor Anton.
- Does mean the wikipedia of perv mean that Angel and Barbara are doomed?
- Some of the Harry/Ellen fantasy sequences were a little macabre, even for this show.

Review for this episode is up here and on Blogspot. Go Your Own Way airs tonight at 10pm on FXUK.

Robin Hood – 3x12: Something Worth Fighting For Part 1

This series is heading towards a bloodbath. Will there be a fourth run?

- Alan's death was almost a non event compared to what we got here.
- Archer really does duck and dive and that's not entirely a good thing.
- Isabella was good as a baddie but the bloody Sheriff is back.
- Where has Prince John gone?

Something Worth Fighting For Part 2 airs Saturday at 6.45pm on BBC1.

NO H8

Various reality TV types and other male and female celebrities recently did a photoshoot for Adam Bouska gagged with the words, NO H8 on their cheeks against Proposition 8.

You can see the full set of photos here ... http://www.bouska.net/noh8/gallery.htm

As well as some behind the scenes antics here ... http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=no+h8&search_type=&aq=f

TV SPOILERS

- Both Brian Austin Green and Callum Blue have been cast in the ninth season of Smallville. The former will play a villain while the latter could be playing Zod himself.
- Rumours are rife that Dominic Monaghan may be returning to Lost. No-one has actually confirmed it though.
- John Lithgow will be appearing in the fourth season of Dexter. Rita will also give birth off-screen as well.
- Dollhouse's second season will premiere on FOX from September 18th. Miracle Laurie is also supposed to be reprising her role as Mellie/November in the second year.
- Merlin has cast both Sarah Parish and Mackenzie Crook for its upcoming second season. US viewers are currently enjoying the first, courtesy of NBC.
- All of Nip/Tuck's final season has now been filmed but it won't start airing until 2010/2011.
- Evan Rachel Woods will feature in an upcoming arc in True Blood's second season.

Series Preview

Torchwood – Season 3: Children Of Earth

Starring: John Barrowman, Eve Myles, Gareth David-Lloyd, Kai Owen, Tom Price, Nicholas Briggs, Cush Jumbo, Rik Marekem, Lucy Cohu, Peter Capaldi, Paul Copley, Liz May Bryce and Susan Brown.

Start Date (UK): Monday to Friday 9pm on BBC1 from July 6th.

Synopsis: For five episodes, we've got a serial involving a deal the government made back in the 1960s having a perilous consequence in the present time. Torchwood have to sort it out but given that they're being targeted, that makes things a lot harder than usual.

Yay/Nay: Excluding my annoyance that we're only getting five episodes in a week, the trailers have been freaking awesome. This storyline looks dark and delicious, there's a fantastic line up, we're going to discover a lot about Jack, Gwen and Ianto's respective families and somewhere in the midst of all this chaos, we'll get a reference of the Doctor. For one week, I officially have no life.

Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P5Z3VRFD948

The Week In Who (Contains Spoilers)

Doctor Who - Beautiful Chaos

Every now and then, I'll read a book of a particular series and I'll wonder why with a story so good is it not a televised episode? This is such a story but considering that Gary Russell is a script editor for the series, I really shouldn't be surprised that it's so good.

During the show's fourth season, Wilfred became such an endearing character that it makes total sense that he should get a book where him, the Doctor and Donna make for such an excellent team. It's only fair, right?

This story has Wilfred getting a star named after him due to a certain discovery but it also has the misfortune for the Doctor in a returning enemy. To my shame, I have yet to see The Masque Of Mandragora but thanks to this story, I really want to see that story all the more.

In effect, this book poses as a sequel of sorts with the manipulative Madam Delphi trying to take over the universe with her own influence on technology and the like. Her scenes with the Doctor are certainly powerful but there's something else that'll take you out of the main villain story.

I know there's some people out there who loathe the domestics with this series but this is a story where they bloody shine. Both Donna and Sylvia show a struggle to cope with the death of Geoff Noble and given my own personal experiences on the matter, Gary Russell writes these scenes beautifully. He also manages to continue a certain trend as the Doctor gets a smack from Sylvia at one point.

Also beautiful is the depiction of Wilfred's girlfriend, Henrietta 'Netty' Goodheart and the poor woman's struggle with Alzheimers. It certainly gives the book an emotional maturity and seeing both the Doctor and Donna's reactions add to the plight. It's because of this book and certain spoilers that I'm even more psyched for the last two specials.

The other interesting part is that the story with Madam Delphi is based a month after the events of the Sontaran two parter but the beginning and end are post – Journey's End with Wilfred and Sylvia discussing Donna's memory loss and just wait until you read Donna's letter to her mother explaining what her and Space Man really did get up to during their time together. Seriously, this is one book you will not want to put down, 10/10.

- David Tennant, John Barrowman, Russell T. Davies, Julie Gardner and Euros Lyn will be at this year's ComicCon in San Diego on July 26th.
- I have some excellent spoilers for The Sarah Jane Adventures third season here …http://darkestboy.livejournal.com/14199.html
- Karen Gillan is on the cover of this month's DWM.
- Apparently the production code for Season 5 will go under as Season 1. I know that next season's gonna feel brand new but isn't that a bit odd?

Song Of The Blog

Jack Penate – Be The One

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vKRchFtlkEI

One of those tracks that's currently stuck in my head.

Category: General

Posted by shawnlunn2002, 5:02am

19 Comments | Post a Comment

Friday, Jun 19, 2009

Brothers And Sisters - Season 3 Blog

Another season has completed its run on UK television, so it's that time again.

Top 10 Episodes

1: 3x11: A Father Dreams

Kevin goes through a series of intriguing dreams, including a moment with Julia.

2: 3x16: Troubled Waters Part 1

Robert suffers a heart attack as Kitty awaits the arrival of their son.

3: 3x17: Troubled Waters Part 2

Tommy finds out that Holly knows about his scheme to get her out of Ojai.

4: 3x08: Going Once, Going Twice

Kevin tries to be supportive of Scotty's recent success.

5: 3x21: S3X

Kevin and Scotty nearly have a threeway and Sarah has some office fun of her own.

6: 3x24: Mexico

The gang head to Mexico to try and bring Tommy home. Review for this episode is up.

7: 3x10: Just A Sliver

Kevin undergoes an operation to save his niece's life.

8: 3x14: Owning It

There's a baby shower, the introduction of Ryan and Saul's boyfriend, Henry.

9: 3x05: You Get What You Need

Kevin and Scotty attend dinner with the latter's parents.

10: 3x01: Glass Houses

Kitty and Robert proceed with adopting and everyone else learns about Ryan and Justin/Rebecca as a couple.

Season 3 Overview

This has been something of a debateable season. For a lot of viewers, it's not the show it used to be and there were a series of plot that didn't completely work. Kevin working for Robert made no sense, Ryan failed to generate interest with viewers, people were on occasion annoyed with Justin and Rebecca as a couple and anything involving Holly was met with its usual disdain. Tommy also made a huge blunder with Ojai and we've gotten to the point in the series where Nora really should have more in her life than constantly trying to mother her children and Saul was savagely underused while Julia literally did slip out quietly. So, was there anything good in the season? Of course – anything involving Kevin and Scotty, who remained the season's only stable couple (retain that next season), plots that Justin and Rebecca had that were independent of each other, Kitty's book plot (I cannot be the only person who liked this) as well as the slow but organic dissolution of her and Robert's marriage as well as the arrival of their son, Evan via Trish plus Sarah in general, who didn't have much of an angst ridden year compared to the first two seasons. It's hard to tell if I prefer this season to the second but I do know that while the first is likely to be the best for the time being, I didn't actually hate the season either but I did feel that some storylines should've either been handled or not happen at all.

DVD Extras

Interview With Sally Field/Patricia Wettig

Cast Visit To Real Life Winery In Ojai

Cast And Crew Hijinks On Location

Bloopers

Deleted Scenes

Episode Ratings

3x01: Glass Houses = 9/10, 3x02: Book Burning = 8/10,

3x03: Tug Of War = 8/10, 3x04: Everything Must Go = 9/10,

3x05: You Get What You Need = 9/10, 3x06: Bakersfield = 9/10,

3x07: Do You Believe In Magic = 8/10, 3x08: Going Once, Going Twice = 10/10,

3x09: Unfinished Business = 8/10, 3x10: Just A Sliver = 9/10,