"And dance and drink and screw because there's nothing else to do."

[nausicaa83]

Tomorrow is the 14th anniversary of my sister's death. Anniversaries hurt me an awful lot, that's usually when panic attacks happen. I have always had this fixation with dates, which helped a lot with exams back at uni, but which doesn't help at all with overcoming traumatic experiences. So since this time it falls on a Sunday, I'm planning on spending tomorrow hidden in a blanket nest, forcefully ignoring everything and everyone. Here's hoping the plan works, but if I disappear for a few days you'll know why.

And now on to the non-real life part of the entry, my favourite part. Yesterday I had a wonderful Kingsman evening just like I planned: I made an enormous bowl of popcorn, wore my new Kingsman necklace, and watched it in all its 1080p glory on my tv. I fell in love with it all over again. And I also finally, truly understood all the My Fair Lady references in it, because Eggsy's chav accent was freaking incomprehensible and I had to stay so focused to grasp what he was saying that I gave myself a headache. And I had no problems with the thick New Zealander accents in The Almighty Johnsons, nor Gene Hunt's in Life on Mars! South London, you have bested me. *shakes fist*

We had another season finale, with Elementary. It was a subdued finale to a somewhat disappointing season. It wasn't a bad season per se, but there was really too little character development, in favour of the case of the week. A sad step back, considering how much I loved the first two seasons. I'm crossing my fingers the writers will go back to their roots next fall, and spend more time on the main characters. There's much room for improvement, guys.

And today I found out that next july they're releasing a bluray boxset of The Third Man, full of special features, and I rushed to pre-order it. I adore that movie. Mom and I bought a vhs tape of it something like 12 years ago; it was from a series meant for people who wanted to learn the language, so it had the original audio and italian subs. We knew nothing of the plot, and we were completely blown away. I remember screaming in surprise more than once. Now, I strongly disagree with people saying that "old movies were better", or that "they don't make them like they used to"; much like with everything, blind nostalgia is never the right approach, and like with modern cinema, back then there were masterpieces and there was garbage. That being said, in every genre there's one particular movie that encompasses and sublimates everything that is great about that genre, making it the best possible expression of it. This is what The Third Man is for the noir genre. It came out in 1949, and it's already absolutely perfect, the platonic form of the noir film. I can't recommend it enough. Everything about it is mindblowing. Wish I could say more of what it is about, but for those who haven't seen it yet, the plot twists are so amazing you'll kill me if I spoil anything, trust me on that.

And there's that soundtrack. Man, the soundtrack. It would be worth watching only for that.

In other news, I've been watching Arrested Development on Netflix. Most of the time it's me going "ooohh, that's where that joke is from!". It's really funny, but it's also very dated, in a way. The first three seasons are from over ten years ago, and sometimes it takes me a while to realize what they're talking about, to pinpoint what exactly was going to shit in the world in that particular moment. I just started the fourth season, the 2013 Netflix one, and I'm more on solid ground. :D Still enjoying it a lot!

And now off to dinner I go!

Comments

[sunshine1112.livejournal.com]

Thank you for the heads up on the third man! I love Orson welles and this movie. The speech on the big wheel still gives me chills.

[nausicaa83.livejournal.com]

That movie is incredible. When the light in the window comes on, and we can see him smiling in that doorstep, and the music starts, I always scream. Goosebumps everytime.

[florealpolla.livejournal.com]

Ecco, Elementary. Un'altra serie che mi ha lasciata meh.
Da quando Kitty se ne è andata la season non ha brillato per niente, e il finale mi ha fatto un po' incavolare. L'ho trovato raffazzonato e buttato lì giusto per chiudere con un colpo di scena. No, decisamente non so se avrò voglia di vederlo ancora.
Uff.
:(

[nausicaa83.livejournal.com]

Concordo con tutto, ma la voglia di vederlo non mi è passata, quindi continuerò con la prossima stagione. Il problema più grosso è che hanno sacrificato i personaggi in favore dei casi della settimana, rendendolo più simile a un CSI qualsiasi. Ma noi fan lo guardiamo proprio per i personaggi, cazzarola.

Ho trovato il personaggio di Oscar scritto malissimo: ci viene detto e ripetuto che ha un grande potere sulla mente di Sherlock, e alla fine è l'elemento catalizzatore della sua ricaduta, ma sinceramente io non ho mai capito perchè a Sherlock dovesse fregare qualcosa dell'opinione di 'sto tizio. Show, don't tell. Ripetere una cosa venti volte non la rende credibile in termini di character development. Inoltre mi scoccia da morire che abbiano usato Alfredo come pedina per una crisi di Sherlock. Ancora ancora posso capire sbattere nel frigo il fidanzatino di Joan, che aveva avuto due scene e zero personalità, ma Alfredo non si tocca.

Poi buttarmi la lettera di Moriarty là, e non fare più nulla per il resto della stagione, che spreco. Vabbè, almeno la prossima stagione si apre col padre di Sherlock, quindi avremo una storia iniziale interessante. Sperando che si decidano a tornare alle origini dello show, e non a trasformarlo nell'ennesimo procedural show senza infamia e senza gloria.

[nefertina86.livejournal.com]

I still need to watch Kingsman, sure it´s exactly a movie I will love!!!

[nausicaa83.livejournal.com]

I have this wonderful relationship with Matthew Vaughn's work, where every single movie he's ever done is one of my favourite movies. He made Stardust, Kick-Ass, X-Men First Class, and then he produced Days Of Future Past! I basically owe him a first-born child by now. :D

And then he made Kingsman, because I obviously didn't love him enough already. ♥

The HD copy was released on iTunes on friday, so you can easily find a torrent. Grab some subtitles too, because holy moley, the main character has a *very* thick accent.

[nausicaa83.livejournal.com]

And I mean, it's got Colin Firth as a sexy spy wearing bespoke suits. I was doomed from the start.

[nefertina86.livejournal.com]

Okay, you got me *starts to google* XD I will tell you what I think about it, when I watched it, but be sure it will be a loooot of fangirly ;)

Btw. - I was in Italy last week and visited Florence, Siena and Verona - hopefully Venice next time ;)

[nausicaa83.livejournal.com]

I feel like a spider in its web: "cooomeee, we have sexy british spies in sexy suits, you know you can't resist it" :D

And did you have a good time here in Italy? I love Tuscany cuisine, I hope you tried it! *______* I'm so happy you came during this weird summer weather we're having lately, so you got all the sun, but less tourist hordes. ;)

Did you visit the Arena of Verona? Once, a few years ago, I was in the audience of The Barber Of Seville: it was a wonderful summer night, lit by the moon, it was a fantastic experience. *_____*

[nefertina86.livejournal.com]

You got me already after the "sexy british" XD Couldn´t find time to watch it yet, but I will!! Hopefully I will see the new Avengers-Movie on Thursday in cinema. Aaaaand I´m also watching Breaking Bad at the moment ;)

It was AMAZING!!! I never went to Italy before and I loved it! The food, the landscape, just beautiful! And Tuscany Cuisine? I didn´t T__T Shame on me! The weather was awesome and I saw a little bit of the filming for the new movie with Tom Hanks, "Inferno"!

Unfortunately not :( We didn´t have enough time in Verona, but I will next time! It was also very impressive from the outside! But we went to Juliettas balcony and I was a little it sad, because in my mind it was more ... romantic?

[nausicaa83.livejournal.com]

I'm not actually a huge fan of Romeo & Juliet, and I wasn't even as a teenager. The double suicide bit has always made me really uncomfortable. So everytime my friends dragged me to see Juliet's house I was always the bored one in the back pointing out that the balcony is actually a Roman sarcophagus. :D

If you ever come to Venice, I'll take you to my favourite restaurant. Typical Venetian cuisine (I hope you like fish), it's amazing. *______*

[stardust-made.livejournal.com]

I share your feelings on Elementary. Not bad, just a little bit flatter, I guess? What did you think of Kitty? I thought the actress did a good job and it was interesting to have some fresh dynamics into the show.

[nausicaa83.livejournal.com]

I really liked her! I wish they'd kept her longer on the show, I actually liked the idea of having a trio of detectives. Plus her relationship with Sherlock was really well written. His relationship with Oscar, instead, was an absolute mess: instead of 'show, don't tell', they kept insisting and insisting that he was a huge influence on Sherlock, but nothing in the character or in their interactions showed that at all. Really bad writing there.

[stardust-made.livejournal.com]

Yes, I suppose you're right about Oscar. Luckily, the two actors did a great job in their delivery of their lines so I believed them and it didn't really strike me so much while watching. But now that you've mentioned it, I can see what you mean. I'm not sure why they did it that way, there was so much potential to do flashbacks or to even have some scenes set in the present that fleshed out the aspects of the relationship.

I would have loved for Kitty to stay. I really hope we get to see her again. Lots of female characters with, er, character on that show.:)

[nausicaa83.livejournal.com]

Frankly, if they had to make him relapse, they could have used his guilt over what happened to Marcus, or Alfredo. I think it would have worked better, as Sherlock has this habit of blaming himself for everything, and those relationships were much better written, and over a longer period of time.

Oh well. Can't wait to meet Sherlock's father next season, that's for sure. And they've been hinting a lot at Moriarty's return, so there's also that to look forward to!

[stardust-made.livejournal.com]

I actually took his relapse as the result of his stark realization just how 'human' he has become, how vulnerable and therefore volatile, in a different way. To me it felt like a more complex reaction maybe...in that sense, I thought it was very much about both his past relationships but his new ones, too, which ultimately brought home to him his vulnerability through Alfredo.

I also thought that Alfredo and Oscar symbolized the safety and fragile hope and happiness of Sherlock's new life vs. his past and the places in him he fears and loathes even. So this was lashing out in protectiveness of what he has built. But it was lashing out as much against Oscar as it was against himself.

Sorry about the impromptu essay!O_o I don't know, it was a grim finale, but I felt there was depth and food for thought in it more than it had been in most of the season.:)

[nausicaa83.livejournal.com]

I love reading your essays! *_________*

To be honest, at first I didn't even realize he had relapsed. Joan didn't show any reaction, so I thought he had just been crying or something. Then I found an interview with the writers on twitter, and they said it was meant to be obvious, what with the imagery of the dark tunnel Sherlock walks into.

At least judging from what I read on the lj Elementary community I wasn't the only one who found it confusing. ^^"

[stardust-made.livejournal.com]

You're very kind.:) I hope my 'essays' make sense.

I suspected straight away that he had relapsed; from the moment he walked into that tunnel I thought, 'Oh...oh.' I thought Joan's face was her professional face maybe. Certainly non-judgmental, non-emotional, calm. I thought if she had acted any different it would have been open to interpretation - any expression of emotion would have been like that. Which in Sherlock's state would have been very dangerous, because he could see compassion but interpret it as pity for instance, and thought she viewed him as someone not to be respected anymore but to be felt sorry for. All that besides the extra layer between them coming from the genesis of their relationship. Just how loaded their relationship is because of that alone, and the guilt Sherlock would be feeling for letting her down. So I thought not acting any different, keeping a neutral demeanor was her only chance to show him it was okay.

I was thinking about his appearance actually, because that was what for me cemented what had still been suspicion by that point. The fact that I watched it in HD on a 42 inch flat screen made a difference to be honest. I know it's a silly technical detail, but it made it hard to miss for me. But I did think after the last scene that there could be some confusion. Still, better something too subtle, I suppose than being bashed over the head with it.

I, too, am looking forward to the next season for the same things you mentioned!:)

[nausicaa83.livejournal.com]

It's not a silly technical detail at all, I think that's the reason many of us were confused. I watched it on my pc monitor while having breakfast, and the monitor is pretty old, so the quality wasn't great.

On the other hand I watch Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell on my beautiful tv screen, and that way I notice every small detail. I'm just too lazy to do that for every show I watch. ^^"

By the way, I need to buy a new monitor. The PC itself is brand new: it cost a mint, but it was so worth it. But the monitor is almost ten years old, it doesn't make sense to use them together.