stuffs

May. 8th, 2015 06:31 pm
meganbmoore: (hwajung: jungmyung plotting while ja kyu)
1A. Secrets and Lies ended. Well, the season did, at least. I had thought it was a miniseries going in, and seem to recall it being promoted as such. Pretty much, I didn't realize it was possible to feel that betrayed and let down by a show you found faily all over the place anyway, and didn't actually like.

1B. It was renewed, and I'll probably end up at least trying out season 2 in the hopes that the one element of the finale that I liked gets followed up on.

1C. Agent Carter and Galavant were also renewed, and I'm pretty sure they were also originally promoted as miniseries? At least I mostly liked both of them, though, and can hope the second seasons will be better about the things I didn't

2. Madam Secretary's first season also ended, and was a much better ending. I've seen some people call it anticlimactic, but I don't think it really was. I think we're just conditioned to expect cliffhangers, and for parts of the BIg Mystery to carry over into the second season, not leave things resolved, especially when another season is already a done thing. Fandom seems to have skipped over this one for the most part, which makes me sad, but at least it apparently has decent enough ratings.

3. Hwajung is probably my favorite thing I'm watching right now. For those who don't like to start sageuks until the leads have grown up, they grow up at the end of episode 7. I am pleased to report that the crossdressing exiled princess heroine who wants revenge is also a conartist who braves volcanoes and Edo era checkpoints (hey, those things were scary!) I can see some of the things I liked best about Queen Seon Deok as influence here (well, the 51 episodes of QSD that I acknowledge exist), particularly in regards to character dynamics and how Jungmyung thinks and plots, but not to a really obvious degree. I made a few picspams for tumblr for it.  Two general ones for the first episode, and one for episode 8 that's more character specific.
cut for spoilers and caps )
4. Interesting article about the influence of Nancy Drew.


5. I took a break from Murder She Wrote because the narrative POV of Jessica's writing and adventuring in it really, really irked me, but I'm watching season 6 now. An interesting thing about watching older shows is that they're prone to reusing the same guest actors in multiple roles. Today, with DVDs and streaming services being the norm, it's really noticeable. But 20+ years ago, the episodes wouldn't be spaced far enough apart that you wouldn't immediately go 'this producer was the lady in prison back in X episode of season 1, and this guy was the cheating husband in Y episode, the hapless cop in Z episode, and the evil brother in T episode."

Also, people's hair looks they they could have conceivably done it themselves. I mean, you know wardrobe got their hands on them, but it LOOKS like they could have done it themselves, as opposed to completely broke people's "disheveled" look making them look like they just spent 3 hours at the salon.

6. While they don't have much in common besides being historical mysteries with a civilian female lead solving crime with a police officer who initially doesn't care for their butting in, I think fans of Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries might like Victoria Thompson's Gaslight Mysteries.
meganbmoore: (miss fisher: phryne and dot manwatching)
 111 x Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries (second half of season 2)

miss fishers2-2 61 miss fishers2-2 65 miss fishers2-2 24

here ) .




TeeVee

Dec. 29th, 2013 04:25 pm
meganbmoore: (batb; catherine x gun)
Beauty and the Beast 2.1-2.8:

spoilers )



Haven 4.12-4.13:

spoilers )
Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries
2.13: I'd say that this was a delightful "snowbound and locked in a house with a killer" episode, but poor Aunt Prudence was tormented too much for me to call it delightful.

spoilers )

Witches of East End 1.10: So glad the show is renewed, especially giving that ending.

spoilers )
meganbmoore: (miss fisher: phryne and dot manwatching)
 143 x Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries (2.1-2.6)

miss fisher s2 117 miss fisher s2 93 miss fisher s2 50

here ) .

TeeVee

Dec. 2nd, 2013 11:37 pm
meganbmoore: (woee: joanna and daughters)
Haven 4.11: I appreciate the meta and comedic value of "Mythbusters Ghost Hunters comes to town" episodes as much as anyone else, but I'm not sure the end of the season with all the show's mysteries starting to reveal themselves is the right place for one. But i enjoyed the non-Mythbusters part, and am crossing my fingers for Jennifer.

Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries 2.12: For the most part, I liked this more than i did the book it's based on (The one with the evil nuns. I forget what the title was, but I think it's the most recent, stateside at least.) but wasn't thrilled with the bad guy reveal.

spoilers )

There is AN ENTIRE MONTH between this episode and the season finale. Though now they're calling the finale a Christmas Special.

Sleepy Hollow 1.9: So many flashbacks to The Woods and Rose Red in this episode.

spoilers )


Witches of East End
1.8-1.9: Another one with a break between the last two episodes, though this one is only skipping a week.

spoilers )

TeeVee

Nov. 19th, 2013 11:40 pm
meganbmoore: (poi: carter/reese)
Haven 4.10: Well, that was considerably better than last episode.

spoilers )Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries 2.11: Wow, Essie Davis can really sing. I now expect Phryne to sing every episode. (Nathan Page isn't bad either.)

spoilers )

Ravenswood 1.5: And we've reached the midseason finale already. Overall, while I enjoy the show, it's been disappointing, and not nearly as good or involving as I was expecting. The mystery has potential and it does spooky moments well, but more often than not, I feel like it doesn't really know where it's going. I will watch the second half of the season, though.

Sleepy hollow 1.8:

spoilers )


Witches of East End 1.7:

spoilers )

Meanwhile, I'm a good 6 episodes behind on Person of Interest. While I tend to avoid spoilers, things I follow are generally fairly circumspect about spoilers for the show, so I've never had to be cautious. As a result, I kind of got bombarded by spoilers for tonight's episode earlier.

My Reaction. post-soothing dark chocolate truffles and raging on twitter. )
meganbmoore: (miss fisher: red)
Witches of East End: Apparently I accidentally got invested?

spoilers )

Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries: FYI, season one is now streaming on Netflix. Also, my twitter feed is slowly falling prey to the series, which pleases me.

spoilers )

Ravenswood: A little better at the "We want to separate ourselves from PLL but make sure we keep all the PLL fans" thing this week.

spoilers )



For the curious: I'm keeping up with Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries, Ravenswood, Sleepy Hollow, Witches of East End, and Haven*, waiting for Nikita and Pretty Little Liars to start up again, and am queueing Elementary, Beauty and the Beast and Person of Interest for when I'm in the mood, but just can't work up the desire for procedurals right now. I've moved Covert Affairs and White Collar to DVD only series, and everything I've heard about season 2 of Revolution tells me that it would annoy me a lot, so it's gone unless reliable sources start telling me good things. Season 2 of The Paradise is also airing in the UK now, but I'm waiting until it's over.

*One of these is not like the rest...

meganbmoore: (miss fisher: phryne/jack: hats)
These two shows are pretty much my main TV happy places right now, if for different reasons.

Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries continues to delight me at almost every turn. This season, they aren't trying to cram an entire book into one episode, and instead the episodes are based on short stories and original material. It's better that way, I think.

I don't have anything particularly spoilery to say, but I'm glad they seem to have picked up on Dot's popularity in the first season and are giving her more stuff to do (not that she was exactly lacking in the first season) and that, while it doesn't always actually succeed, I feel it still actively attempts to avoid the faily interpretations of female characters and their interactions that most shows do without thinking.

Also, I love Phryne's face every time she sees a sports team. "All these strapping ,half dressed, sweaty young men? Just for me? Let me make a list."

Then there's tonight's Sleepy Hollow, which is the last episode until November.

spoilers )

I can't quite recall what I did with my Monday nights before I had this super ridiculous gothic show to wallow in.
meganbmoore: (miss fisher: phryne/jack: hats)
 140 x Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries (late season 1)

miss fisher4 113 miss fisher4 117 miss fisher4 27


here )
meganbmoore: (miss fisher: phryne/jack: hats)
 116 x Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries (mid-season 1)

miss fisher3 50 miss fisher3 89 miss fisher3 81

here )
meganbmoore: (aiw: sword)
1.  So, apparently, Into the Woods is being made into a movie, with Johnny Depp as the Wolf.  I'm kind of tired of Depp?  I think I anticipate the movie, though.

2.  My apartment is getting treated for roaches (the whole building, because of some people who just moved out, not because of my apartment) the day I leave for WisCon.  Does anyone know if any smell would be gone by the time I get back, or will the Texas heat make the smell worse while i'm gone, and I should leave half a dozen airfresheners open?

3.  I have my Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries DVDs, and while I hadn't forgotten how delightful the series is, I forgot just how delightful the series is, if you know what I mean.  I watched the extras last night and they didn't really offer anything insightful, they were fun, and about 1/3 of it was Kerry Greenwood running around and gushing about the adaptation getting her books right.  I should maybe bring the first disc to WisCon to possibly force it on people?

4. Sarah Shahi is being made a regular next season for Person of Interest.  I was really hoping for a spinoff about Shaw, but I'll take what I can get.  I am worried about how it might affect Carter's role, though, especially given how little Fusco there was at the end of season 2.

5.  There are supposed to be 5?  It's Wednesday, isn't it.  I think I finished exactly 1 book, but I should do the meme.
meganbmoore: (the bletchley circle: ordinary)
 Know what's cool?  Amazon having decent prices on a lot of new/still airing TV shows with female (often in multiples) leads that not enough people are watching.  (What's not cool is having to remind myself that no, I actually DON'T have a lot of money to spare, most of what looks like fun money in my account is for WisCon.)

Season 1 of Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries for $26.94.  1920s flapper runs around solving mysteries and flirting with stoic detective.  Exceptionally fun, and i think the only show I've seen in which the heroine is promiscuous for no reason other than that SHE LIKES SEX (no angst or self-punishment or any such) and with an ongoing romance plot where the female half of the equation regularly hooks up with other men without once being judged by the dude or the text, or showing us her sexlife through his POV.  Also, hats and adorable sidekicks galore.

Call the Midwife Season 1 for $22.86.  1950s London, midwives who work out of a convent.  Based on the memoirs of Jennifer Worth (which are also a good read).  Sometimes lovely fluff, sometimes whimsical, sometimes utterly depressing, there's a large variety of personality types between the midwives and the nuns both, and tons of focus on women's relationships and the  changing world.

Parks and Recreation Season 1 for $11.49.  Presumably well known enough that I don't need to explain much?  Hilarious and sometimes awkward adventures of a small town civil servant who aspires to be president and make all women in the government ever proud.  Equally hilarious friends and coworkers galore.

Pretty Little Liars Season 1 for $14.96.  Take a Chrisopher Pike book, update it a bit, and then make it all about 4   BFFs trying to solve the murder of their friend, passing the Bechdel test in about 4 out of 5 scenes, while also having a ton of focus on their relationships with each other and their mothers, lots of gothic imagery, and just all around cracky and sometimes cheesy awesomeness.  Oh, and one is a lesbian WOC who gets a lot of action.

The Bletchley Circle for $15.59.  3-part miniseries (which will hopefully eventually have a second season?) about 4 women who were Bletchley Park codebreakers who reunite in the 50s to catch a serial killer.  A bit too devoted to the procedural aspect for me at times, but rather fabulous and a good look at what it was like to go back to being "ordinary" women after the war, especially if you did awesome stuff you can never tell anyone about.  Also, if you ever went "how would people treat Sherlock Holmes if he were a woman?" well, its a few decades later and Susan has considerably better people skills, but this is the closest to a direct take I've seen on that.

Continuum Season 1 for $26.14.  Time travelling cop saving the future from time travelling terrorists!  It has something of a bad habit of focusing more on the male supporting characters than the female, but most characters are interesting in their own right, and Kiera's awesomeness makes up for the rest.

Body of Proof Season 1 for $15.63.  Like Bones, something of a "female Sherlock Holmes" protagonist, with the brilliance largely focused on one medical field.  And, aside from Bones, the only case of a "genius/wrangler" setup where the wildcard genius is the female lead.  Protagonist is a former brain surgeon who can no longer practice due to injuries sustained in a car crash, and now works as a medical examiner and solves crime.  Adorable partners and coworkers galore.

Nikita Season 1 for $16.93.  Best known series in the list?  Unbelievably awesome ex-assassin working to bring down evil organization and save friends.  What  makes Nikita herself extra-awesome is that someone decided to take the trope of the damaged, stone-cold badass assassin on a mission and ditch the "stone-cold" part and create a character who, despite all the angst and traumatic background and badassery, is a warm and caring person who always sees the good in people and inspires loyalty as much for her warmth and determination to help you as for her badassery and drive.  Other great assassins and ex-assassins and soldiers and evil psychologists galore.

The Good Wife Season 1 for $25.55.  I've only seen the first 4 episodes of this so far and so can't say a lot about the series as a whole, but what I've seen I've liked a lot, despite early reservations about the premise.

Honorable mention:

The Hour Series 1 for $26.34.  Honourable mention because the technical main character is a dude.  (Who is quite annoying in the first season, but I found him more likable in the second.)  If you ever thought you might like Mad Men, but wished there was more focus on the female characters and that the men were less douchey, you'd probably like this.  Despite my description, this really isn't "BBC trying to have their own Mad Men," which it often gets described as (though the first episode does have something of a "wants to be Mad Men" feel to it).  I'm sure MM was something of an inspiration, but its less about nostalgia and deconstructing nostalgia, and more of a cold war-like thriller from the POV of journalists, many of whom are struggling with their assigned roles, and the creation of a new form of news programming.  Fair warning:  Series 2 was made with the belief that a third series was in the bag, and ends with a cliffhanger, and then BBC went and cancelled it.




meganbmoore: (bomb girls)

165 x Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries (1.5-1.6)

miss fisher2 147 miss fisher2 133 miss fisher2 90

 

icons here )
meganbmoore: (nancy drew)

To my delight (even though i've read the first 10 or so through the library) Amazon has the first Phryne Fisher book free for Kindle right now:


I've been enjoying them a lot, but should warn that the first few books have a tendency to go on about Phryne's amazingly pure white alabaster flawless beautiful pale etc skin, though Greenwood does get considerably better about it, though ity cropped up again in an aggravatingly appropriative way in the last book I read.

I think I prefer the TV show due to Phryne being a little older than the average Sexy Lady Detective, and because the supporting cast is used more, but do recommend snapping up this offer if you can.
meganbmoore: (miss fisher: something to say)

The just finished watching The Mrs. Bradley Mysteries, which sadly is only 5 episodes long, though one episode is movie length.  Set in the 1920s, Mrs. Bradley (played by Diana Rigg) is a filthy rich middle aged British detective who spends her time jaunting around the countryside solving murders with the aid of her chauffeur, George, who may or may not be more than an employee (it likes making you wonder if there's more to their relationship, but whether or not they're getting frisky between mysteries is pretty much irrelevant to the episodes themselves).  She divorced her husband decades ago for being boring but comes to his funeral to sprinkle cigars on his casket (he liked them more than roses) and ask after her daughter-in-laws health (to make sure no one is going to be calling her a grandmother anytime soon).  She's very proud of her exceptionally checkered past and is on the lookout for ways to make it even more checkered.  I very strongly suspect that Kerry Greenwood used her as inspiration for Phryne Fisher, and that's not a criticism.

The mysteries are a fair bit darker than what you'd normally expect for this kind of jaunty and witty period mystery series, ans they pretty much all strike home a bit brutally for either Adela or George.  Adela also frequently breaks the fourth wall to offer commentary on society and customs, I suppose to get some of the internal narration from Gladys Mitchell's books into the show, and those are some of the best moments.  Diana Rigg also introduces each episode and...well, TBH, PBS's intros on every episode of everything (on the DVDs, at least) irritate me (partially because a lot are very spoilery) but I usually like her's and she either did these in character or she and Adela have a lot in common.


In short, a good way to spend a few hours if you're waiting for the next season of Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries and/or want a good period mystery and/or lady detective series, and I fully expect Diana Rigg to show up in a MFMM episode as Phrye's favorite aunt.  Probably one who likes to troll aunt Prudence.

meganbmoore: (girl k: training)
218 x Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries (episodes 1.1-1.4)

miss fisher 7 miss fisher 200 miss fisher 87

icons @ my LJ

TeeVee

May. 23rd, 2012 08:32 pm
meganbmoore: (revenge: emanda x gun)
Avatar: The Legend of Korra 1.6-1.7: Pretty good episodes. Pretty sure I'm in the minority regarding Tahno (don't care for him) but I lie the overall plot more and moreand how Amon is legitimately creepy and scary. Love all the flashbacks to the characters from the first series as adults, and hope we get more of those.

spoilers )

The Borgias
2.5-2.7: Can we just have Lucrezia, Giulia and Vannozza running around, manipulating the cardinals and doing good deeds with a side of wrapping everyone ever arond their fingers? Because aside from every episode needing lots of Caterina Sforza (though not at the expense of Giulia, thankyouverymuch) that's all that's going on that really interests me right now, though I still largely enjoy all the rest. Also, while Cesare is still a homicidal sociopath, I find it interesting that his less appealing traits and less appealing/successful ventures (both known and believed) are being transferred to Juan. TBH, while the first season deviated from history a fair bit, it still seemed to be trying to stay somewhat true to it, but this season is being a lot more liberal in that regard.

Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries 1.12-1.13: Not sure if this is the end of the season or the end of the series. I believe this is actually my first Australian TV series, so I'm not sure how these things go there. I was worried for a bit that episode 12 was going to go an unfortunate ableist route (it didn't, in the end) and I'm not sure what I think of Foyle's motivation, but I thought this was a pretty good ending to a very enjoyable series in which I pretty much adore the lead and her posse of friends, family and associates (including her 2 henchmen whose names I can never remember). I particularly like how well it manages to balance being adorable and fluffy while handling (and being) legitimately dark and angsty in it's subject matter. If there is more (*crosses fingers*) I hope Jack learns not to leave Hugh unsupervised if there's a chance Phryne might show up, because that boy has no defenses whatsoever when it comes to her devious schemes.

Missing 1.9-1.10: Played out about as expected. On the surface, it has the needed emotional payoff, but you see all the things that weren't addressed or start falling apart once you scratch it. Honestly, though, while this wasn't necessarily good, I enjoyed it a lot and am sad it wasn't be renewed, though I understand they're trying to sell it to another network. I hope they succeed, being I like having Ashley Judd being bossy and unrealistically badass on my screen.

Nikita 2.22-2.23: Much better ending than the first season (the last quarter of season 1 and roughly the first half of this season, I was mostly watching for Maggie Q shooting things and Amanda being evil, but it went back to being the show I wanted it to be in the second half.) I'm sure people will complain about the ending being predictable, but whatever. Looking forward to season 3.

spoiler )

Once Upon A Time
1.22-1.23: The finale was a bit rushed (should have been longer), but I liked these episodes. I have no idea what they're going to do next season.
spoilers )

Person of Interest
1.22-1.23: I was so happy seeing Amy Acker playing a character who wasn't an awkward yet lovable child-woman that I forgot to wonder where it was all leading. I suspect the development in the finale that I liked most wasn't what others liked most.

spoilers )
Revenge 1.20-1.21: I kind of desperately want the season to end with Victoria calling Emanda "Amanda," but that probably won't happen. So excited for the finale!

spoilers )

TeeVee

May. 5th, 2012 09:27 pm
meganbmoore: (Default)

The Borgias 2.4:

spoilers )
Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries 1.10-1.11: Only 2 episodes left! And I have no idea if there's going to be a secdond series? Or even if it was meant to be ongoing or limited.

spoilers )
Legend of Korra 1.5:

Whoa, not going anywhere NEAR general fandom discussions for this one, even for a casual glance.

spoilers )
Missing 1.8:

spoilers )
Nikita 2.21: Is there one episode left in the season, or two?

spoilers )
Once Upon A Time 1.19-1.20: I feel I spent a lot of these two episodes going "If I'd wanted to watch a fairy tale series about men and their relationships, I would have watched more than one episode of Grimm." (That sounds bitter. I actually did largely enjoy the episodes, but only smaller parts of each were about why I watch the show.)

spoilers )
Person of Interest 1.21: Show, you had Dagmara Domynczyk and Jim Caviezel and Dagmara Domynczyk on screen together and not a single Count of Monte Cristo reference?

spoilers )Revenge 1.19:

spoilers )

TeeVee

Apr. 21st, 2012 10:02 pm
meganbmoore: (brave: archer)



The Borgias 2.2-2.3: Much better than the first episode.

spoilers )


Avatar: Legend of Korra 1.1-1.2: I object to Katara not being the intro narrator. On principle.

In general, these episodes were largely world building, introductions, and setup, but that was expected and no less enjoyable. I think I'm going to enjoy the "fantasy 1930s Shang-Hai" bit more than the "fantasy world tour" of season 1.


 

spoilers )

And then ep 3 came out before I got around to posting the above.

 

spoilers )

spoilers )


BTW, with the filmreel beginning of ep3, I am offically in love with Republic City and about 10 times as happy that this series will apparently be centered around 1 place and that it used the 1930s-ish as its worldbuilding baseline.


Missing 1.6:

 

spoilers )

Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries 1.9:

 

spoilers )

Nikita 2.19:

 

spoilers )


Revenge
1.19: My show seems to have snuck back in very quietly.

 

spoilers )


Ringer 1.22: Only the last 3 minutes make me want there to be a second season to tune in to.

 

spoilers )

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