Television
Watching School Rumble reminds me of the NewsRadio quote, “Because I’m neither Japanese, 14 years old, or a girl.” Bill says this to Matthew thanking him for the Hello Kitty! school bag in his own acidic way. I am not Japanese, or 14 years, and I’m not a girl, but School Rumble is fun in a way that makes me feel like that. I’ve got the first two DVDs and am now eager to see the rest.
If my ramblings do convince you to watch it, catch a few episodes here.
This looks to be a mess and going to be a nightmare. I’m intrigued. Emile Hirsch looks too brooding. But, damn, Matthew Fox as Racer X. Sweet. I wonder which race they’re doiong.
Awesome! Can’t wait until March for it to return? Or if ever because of the writer’s strike.
What was the most interesting revelation?
I thought it was the return of the original Cylon centurions and the raiders. Did they ever show them before?
After arriving home from Spain, I find out my Tivo isn’t working. This particular model is connected with my DirectTV receiver. The shows were coming in fine, but it didn’t record.
So naturally, I reboot.
Big mistake.
The shows from the satellite stop showing and I’m forever stuck at the start up screen.
First of all, this is the second machine that’s done this. I think also I went away for the week and came back to find Tivo gone. I think I turned up the thermostat causing the hard drive to overheat and go bye-bye.
Second, that is the worst design ever. I can’t use my satellite receiver once I restarted the machine. What bone head designed this thing. They should’ve been separate processes with barely any dependencies upon them.
So any way I solve my problem the way I know best. I buy another DirectTV receiver with DVR.
Let me stress that, WITH DVR.
It’s not Tivo, but some lame ass DVR.
It doesn’t work like Tivo.
It’s not elegant like Tivo.
It feels funny and acts totally different.
It’s not Tivo.
I don’t like it.
Like a Windows machine.
While searching for links to the previous post, I had come across this bit of greatness. I wanted to use it, but it didn’t fit the tone of that post.
Here it is now.
My favorite episode. My favorite character, evah! One of these days. I plan to watch every episode of The X-Files that I have on DVD and maybe comment on it. One of these days.
Or perhaps October can be The X-Files quote month. Erm. Probably not as it’s already a chore for NewsRadio Quote Month.
Mmmmm, Scully.
Need to get at least one last post to close out, NewsRadio Quote month.
I did watch plenty of NewsRadio episodes, especially from the final season. I saw the final episode which had Dave stuck with Matthew at WNYX and the rest of the gang off to New Hampshire with Jimmy James. Oh what adventures a season six would’ve brought. Unfortunately, it ended.
I wonder if they ever jumped the shark. Maybe, but you can’t make up for it when you lose the linchpin that was Bill McNeal. Sad. But life goes on.
NewsRadio. The best comedy of the nineties.
Earth day was this past weekend. Here’s a link to a Nova episode about solar energy.
I’ve always wanted to build a house that would give energy back to the grid so that my energy costs would be cheap. That’s a while off. I would build it with solar powers. And perhaps some kind of battery storage. Operate more efficiently with a small carbon footprint.
It seems like some people don’t like the bunching of the teams on the Amazing Race. Well for the last couple of shows several of the teams have been a full day behind. It makes it hard to enjoy as you’re so worried that they’ll never catch up.
I like the bunching. It makes every leg a race. It can bring teams from first to last (ask Rob and Amber (I miss them so)).
So I vote for bunching! F all the naysayers.
If you had watched the Amazing Race this past Sunday, you’ll know that the title tripped up the great Rob and Amber. Don’t worry it was the bane of Magellen as well.
Now who to root for? Terri and Ian! Charla and Mirna? F no! That girl is scary. But most likely, it would be those anonymous couple Dani and what’s his name? They’re under-rated.
Season 3 of The X-Files had one of the most memorable episodes of its run, Jose Chung’s “From Outer Space.” In it the titular author, Jose Chung is writing his non-fiction science fiction account of the abduction of two teenagers. He interviews Agent Scully (Wow!), but the whole abduction thing has a Rashomon effect and the truth is not so cut and dry. In fact no one knows exactly what happened. It is a mystery. As the interview with Agent Scully (Woot!) wraps up, she tells him that at least it has an ending, which is more than she can say for the rest of her cases.
That’s how Zodiac seems to have been. At least it has an ending. And at least we get some kind of closure. But (SPOILER ALERT) if Arthur Leigh Allen didn’t do it, there’s plenty of circumstantial evidence to have the fingers pointing at him.
What I found as I watched is that, in this very age, detective television shows such as the X-Files, CSI or Law and Order make it tough to watch police procedurals at the cinema. Each week Law and Order solves a crime and brings to justice the perpetrator. Zodiac neither solved the crime or brought to justice the perpetrator, but it had an ending whether satisfying or not Scully would’ve approved.
Zodiac still felt like an episode of Law and Order. It was divided into two parts. The “Order” part wherein Mark Ruffalo’s detective tries to piece together a case, and the “Law” part with Jake Gyllenhall picks up the case and identify the true killer and his motives so that he can be brought to justice. And that’s just the story’s structure.
Again like detective television shows, I expected the CSI to nail the villian. He couldn’t have been too smart to get away with it. There is always evidence that will incriminate. Yet, the detectives couldn’t find any. I was wondering if they didn’t have decent crime scene investigators in the 70s.
All in all, Zodiac felt more like television. It strikes out trying to be a film because it feels too much like crime shows on tv. If only they put the ominous chords associated with Law and Order, it may have been good.
3 of 5 stars.
UPDATE:
Matt Zoller Seitz really captures exactly what I wanted to say with his review.
