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[rj_anderson]

Firstly, this report about the voice casting of Marvin in the HHGTTG movie as mentioned on TLC made me squee. SQUEE!!! How perfect is that? *drawls* "Look at me, brain the size of a planet..."

Secondly, after watching this week's Lost, I have figured out why Jack bores me and why the idea of Jack/Kate makes me want to take a very long nap and wake up when it's all over. Oddly, this occurred at the same moment I realized why Jack would probably be the healthiest and most sensible choice for Kate in the long run. Unlike the other guys she's previously been attracted to (like her bank-robbing accomplice, and of course Sawyer), Jack is an honest, straightforward, plain-dealing kind of guy. This is the good and healthy and sensible part.

The only problem is, Jack is fanatically intense and has almost no sense of humour or ability to laugh, either at others or at himself. Or if he does, it's been so long since he displayed any of that humor or wit that I've forgotten it. Oh, he can be kind and gentle and patient with people, which is very nice and which I do appreciate, but man, I just want to tell him to lighten up. Plus, the whole business of threatening to take away Sawyer's medication if he didn't give up the suitcase, which Kate gave Sawyer in the first place (even if she didn't really mean it and decided to try and get it back afterward)? Not that Sawyer wasn't being a brat, but that was pretty extreme. Especially since it was none of Jack's business what was in the case, really -- how was his curiosity any different from Sawyer's? At least Sawyer was honest about being madly curious, whereas Jack was all about the moral indignation as though he had a right to know the truth about Kate -- in spite of the fact that he already had the chance to know back at the beginning and didn't take it.

I'm not voting for Kate/Sawyer, but I will at least say that those two have each other's number. They may not know all the details about each other's pasts, but they know how to take each other as they are, for good or ill. And they don't take each other too seriously, either. Jack, on the other hand, appears to be bent on badgering Kate into being a different person, one more like himself, a nice straightforward girl he can approve of -- and yeah, maybe that'll be a good thing in the end, but given how messed up Jack himself appears to be in his own way, I'm really not convinced. Not to mention that no matter how many scenes they have together, Jack and Kate still have all the chemistry of a wet-nap as far as I'm concerned. (Not that the Sawyer/Kate scenes did anything for me in this episode either -- they seemed pretty forced. But there's been genuine sparkage there in the past.)

On another and mostly unrelated note, but since I'm rambling here I might as well -- I don't get why people complain about Evangeline Lilly not being a good actress. Is it because she's beautiful and slim, people automatically assume she can't really act and was only chosen for her looks? Sure, I wouldn't hand her the Oscar or anything, but she's never ruined a scene for me by being wooden or visibly out of character. She's not quite on the level of Jennifer Garner, who can make all but the most horrifically badly written lines or scenes interesting and convincing, but really, I think she does just fine. And she has great hysterics, which always impresses me. The way she freaked out in the Pilot or when Jack was trying to revive Charlie -- I found both those scenes completely convincing.

As for Alias, I can't say anything about it because I haven't watched it yet. But I did watch this week's Amazing Race and was appropriately disgusted. Phil's eyebrow-pop by the Danube was just about the only saving grace in the episode. What happened to all the fun, ordinary people who used to run the race? Why are we suddenly subjected to a slew of models, wrestlers, actors and other plastic creations? And although there's always been at least one eating task on the race (I am unpleasantly reminded of chicken feet and baby octopi), I don't think I've ever seen so many barf shots (with sound effects, thank you very much) in my life. What is this, Fear Factor? Feh. If Kris and Jon get eliminated, I won't even bother watching the rest of the episodes, because frankly, they are the last remaining couple for whom I have any respect or interest whatsoever. (Gus and Hera, you will be missed.) Besides, there is always the horrifying possibility that that filthy beast Jonathan will win. If the producers had plumbed the sewers of humanity, could they have found a more disgusting specimen than that guy? He reminds me hideously of a boss I once had for six months, and I don't think I'll ever quite get over the trauma of that experience. The vanity, the arrogance, the outbursts of verbal abuse, the readiness to blame everyone and everything except himself, the complete inability to see himself as he really is... *shudders* No, thank you, once was quite enough.

Note to self: Make some more icons, and not of That Guy either.

Comments

[sienamystic.livejournal.com]

But the wrestlers are adorable! Bolo is a huge softie, and I laughed when Lori nipped Phil on the neck after the Labrynth of the Vampire fast-forward (I giggle every time I think of the poor production staff working hard to create a suitably Goth atmosphere, only to have the wrestlers proceed in such a buisnesslike fashion about the whole thing).

While I don't really care for Hayden, her partner Aaron is fabulous. As was the Mad Hungarian Whip-Crackin' Greeter.

[rj-anderson.livejournal.com]

Oh, agreed, the greeter was the Best Ever. What a ham! And yeah, Lori and Bolo are okay, some of the time. But some times they make me want to hurl things at the screen (like Bolo pretending to be handicapped in order to get on the plane).

Agreed that Aaron is a decent sort and that I feel for him having to tow around Hayden, although it is not quite as extreme a nice guy/shrieking harpy pairing as Zach and Flo. At least Hayden pulls her own weight most of the time... even if she natters at Aaron the whole while she's doing it.

hhgttg casting

[applecameron.livejournal.com]

*gasp*

OMG. OMG. *SQUEEEEEEEEE*

*pant* Whoa, I gotta go sit down now.

[absurdwords.livejournal.com]

Alan Rickman as Marvin's voice is just perfect.

[yahtzee63.livejournal.com]

Well, I think Jack was completely full of it about the medication (and Sawyer knew it). But I think Jack had convinced himself he was worried about Sawyer having the guns and ammo, though probably it was fundamentally his Kate curiosity at work.

As for Jack/Kate -- I am not as sold on the 'ship as once I was, but as for the two of them playing off each other, I thought that was terrific in this episode. Yes, he does push her. No, it doesn't work. But I think the message is that both Jack and Kate are people who HAVE to be pushed, and to extremes, before you see anything approaching emotional honesty. Whether romantically or just dramatically, that's interesting to me. And I don't know whether he's trying to change her; he wants to KNOW her, and that's what she won't let him do. When does Kate start pushing back? I am curious for this.

Sawyer's only going to work for me as a character if they pair him with somebody else, for the precise reason he doesn't seem to have a damned bit of interest in who Kate is as a person. They could have played his curiosity about the briefcase as being Kate-centric, but I thought it came across as being more, well, briefcase-centric. Sawyer's lack of questions about Kate is not acceptance; it's lack of interest. His curiosity in Kate's inner workings seems to be limited to: Will this person sleep with me? Great for him. Dull for me.

And in the end of the episode, Sawyer calls her manipulative too. Jack's not the only one displeased with Kate's caginess. (Count me in, too, b/c I really didn't want the episode with Kate's backstory to end with more questions than answers. So at this point, I can't be into Kate enough to 'ship her on anyone.)

As for Evangeline Lilly: I do think she's a good actress, but I see what people are getting at when the criticize. Basically, I think EL works at the level of the material she's given. When she's given terrific, emotionally wrenching stuff to play, EL knocks it out of the ballpark. But some of the quieter, everyday scenes come across as being fairly generic. I think it's more a matter of her relative lack of experience than any lack of talent (which I don't think is the case); pros like Terry O'Quinn and Harold Perrineau invest even their most mundane lines and moments with personality -- if they're asking for water, it's Locke or Michael asking for water, you know? And I don't think EL is quite there yet, though I definitely expect her to get there and believe in her inherent ability. I also think the blank-slate scripting of Kate hasn't done EL any favors; that many staring-at-the-sea moments would tax far more experienced performers.

Casting

[dragonpaws.livejournal.com]

Oh. My. Goodness.

Wild horses couldn't keep me from seeing that movie now. Alan Rickman AND HHG. And Rickman as Marvin really is PERFECT...

I really need to make me a geek icon for these moments.

[malabud.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I'm getting less and less excited about this season of TAR as it goes on. First Lena and Kristy got a mercy Philimination, then Don and MJ leave, and now Gus and Hera. I'm right there with you regarding Kris and Jon. Bert and the other TAR executives need to take a good look at the people in charge of casting. Jonathan and his ilk may bring in viewers looking for an "edgy" reality show, but that's not what I want. Nor do I think it's what the majority of viewers want.

TAR did not win two Emmys for its villains and obnoxious racers, but for its regular people rising to the extraordinary circumstances they find themselves in while in a race around the world. In season three, I watched the show because of Bald Snark and Jon Vito and Jill, not, say for instance, Flo. I want an enjoyable hour of television, and unfortunately, TAR is becoming less and less that. It's still enjoyable, but for how long, I wonder?

Also, I find myself looking forward to the HHG movie, even though I really did not care for the books all that much. Alan Rickman makes everything better than it appears on paper, don't you think?

[lucythedragon.livejournal.com]

Concerning Marvin's voice: "OMFG, SQUEE!"