Wednesday 26 January 2011

feeling the rush like a heart attack


And so to the end of another unsatisfying page. One page in two days is not ideal, but I remain in high hopes as I simply haven't actually got to sit down for any length of time to try and churn it out yet. I gather this is a common malaise at this time of year as people struggle to settle back down into a routine even though it's nearly February, as I went to the gym last night and the place was bunged with people who obviously hadn't seen a gym for quite some time. Ah, New Year's Resolutions - I remember those! Soon they'll all have given up on ever being fit, but me, I'll be sticking to my guns and drinking every night if it kills me (it will), continuing to not eat meat or any kind of meat byproduct like gelatin (though I'm not a vegetarian), and even though watashi no nihongo hidoi desu ne, I am still trying and that is the main thing.

Watching:
The Cape - which would be utter crap if it ever stopped taking itself seriously, but as it is, it's a pleasant enough superhero outing even if the name of the superhero is uninspiring, the costume a bit unmemorable and the leading character a bit characterless and flat. It has its problems, but thankfully not being enjoyable is not one of them. It's gloriously daft, knows it, but never once feels the need to wink at the audience or feel ashamed for being a superhero series. It's like Smallville, Heroes and No ordinary Family never happened - which sounds like a great world to live in.
Bob's Burgers - now they haven't marketed this show as best they could have, as I took it to be a nihilistic and one-note Adult Swim-type affair where the burger store gets destroyed or shut down every week in the denouement, but it isn't that kind of show at all. Bob is a struggling everyman and his troubles are constant while he remains true to core values like family and decency and while that may be out of fashion in comedy circles these days, I think it would have benefited the show to be seen as the spiritual animated sitcom successor to King of the Hill that it is rather than something like Home Movies or Drinky Crow. Bob's Burgers maintains an internal logic that stretches across not only the episode but the show as a whole and while the burger bar is struggling it remains open and minor successes are had among the failures which comprise the main comedy moments. I'm pretty much sold on the show now, and do hope it sticks around.
Fairly legal - which has an interesting premise (it follows an ex-lawyer as she pursues a career in mediating legal disputes outside the courtroom), but seems to segue into straightforward legal melodrama too easily. It remains a competently made legalese show, however, and the writing is good with only some hamfisted delivery here and there letting it down.
Shameless (US) - I have never seen the UK version thanks to my need to avoid contemporary drama made by Channel 4 on the basis that I do not hate humanity, but the US version seems unique by way of grounding itself entirely in the Projects - rather than the suburbia beloved of pretty much every US drama I've ever seen featuring white people - and does so without feeling like an ill-considered transatlantic transplant operation like some other shows do...
Being Human (US) - awful. Just awful. Between the leads (particularly the perpetually typecast Sam Witwer's angsty vampire) veering their delivery of comedy reaction between camp and deadpan inconsistently and a very annoying ghost it's bad enough, but there's an unwelcome staginess to the whole affair, from Witwer's brow-rubbing to the anachronistic detached house where proceedings take place for the most part to the ever-reliable vampire staple of baring fangs and hissing at the camera while clawing the air.

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