A Knight's Tale

I watched A Knight's Tale the other day. As you might have guessed, I was of course slightly pained to watch Heath Ledger alive and well on screen. It's not the same thing to watch an actor who died of old age, possibly even before I was born, alight the screen, but when I think about this man who was only a few years older than I; when I remember watching this movie while he was still alive and looked the same...it's a bit like seeing a ghost.

Regardless, though, of Heath Ledger's untimely death, A Knight's Tale is still the fabulous and terrible move that it ever was.

Shannyn Sossamon spends the film wearing the most atrociousness outfits. Her hair is always utterly bizarre, and the hat she is wearing in her first scene is the ugliest hat I have ever seen. It's hard to think of her as a beauty when she lacks style in almost every imaginable way. But William (Ledger) loves Jocelyn (Sossamon) for some unknown reason, so accept and move on.

Move on equally from the complaints about the bizarre mix of contemporary and medieval style, music, and everything else. It was done on purpose, and if you just accept it, it's actually a lot of fun.

But not as much fun as Wat (Alan Tudyk) and Chaucer (Paul Bettany). If these two don't reduce you into fits of ridiculous giggles, than you and I do not share a sense of humour. They are such great comic relief.

Finally, I must mention Rufus Sewell. So many people think of him first as a villain because of this movie, but I saw him first in Dangerous Beauty. Oh is he attractive, sexy, debonair, and all that other good stuff. And so what if he is the villain, it's really that he's not particularly forward thinking and refuses to be beaten by anyone.

What was your opinion of A Knight's Tale?

Melrose Place - Gower, S01E08

UGH...And I committed last week to watch until Ashley Simpson-Wentz and Colin Egglesfield left...well folks, we'll see, cause if I hadn't decided that was the end date, this episode would have been...well...Ella (Katie Cassidy) and Lauren (Stephanie Jacobsen) closed the episode with a touching and honest moment between them. Shows that when the two truly talented actors on the show play off each other, it can, in fact, go well.

We spent most of the episode in the drama of Jonah (Michael Rady) and Riley (Jessica Lucas)'s relationship issues. Who the hell cares. They were the couple who started the show by getting engaged, it's not like they are going to last, they're not even going to make it to the wedding night at this rate. And again, I really don't care.

Lauren even got a little eye-rolly when she turned down Ella's offer of $50 000 to fake some medical documents and cover up a drug story on one of Ella's clients. Lauren can compromise her body, but not her medical ethics. And it's sort of a good thing; that would have been a boring end to the hooker story line.

Finally, Auggie (Egglesfield) got his ass fired from Coles, and finally took Violet (Simpson-Wentz)'s hint and bedded her...well, it was on his living room floor.

So, yeah, bad episode really. Cancel it so that Katie Cassidy and Stephanie Jacobsen can go act on something worth while.

Dexter - If I had a Hammer, S04E06

Where could we go from where we left off? Dexter (Michael C Hall) in trouble with Rita (Julie Benz) for keeping his old apartment. The Trinity Killer (John Lithgow) turning out to be father and husband of the year after completing his cycle. Deb (Jennifer Carpenter) in depression because Lundy is dead.

Forward, my friends, we go forward.

Dexter is still on his hunt; he will not relent to kill Trin just because he has family. It doesn't stop him from being a serial killer. It does, however, put him in the unique position of being able to give Dexter sound advice about how to deal with the responsibilities of family while satisfying the dark passenger. They might have ended up great friends, part of the club of awesome family-man serial killers if only they had the same code, but instead Trin in the prey and Dexter the vicious beast hunting him.

Again, I got to say that I love seeing that part of Dexter emerge. He can see so normal and adjusted, simply facing the trials of every day, like the rest of us, and than that urge, that need to kill comes out. Uncompromising, Dexter would not listen to the argument that Trin is a father and has kids either. Alright, the man he is killing is also a monster, and Dexter knows that, but it's good for us to remember from time to time too.

Though, lately, I have wondered why Dexter so desperately wants to hold on to his family. He's trying and he doesn't know what he needs to do, and Rita certainly isn't helping him out. I loved when the marriage councilor reamed her out for expecting Dexter to change, like she had expected Paul to change. That's right, she needs to take responsibility for everything that's going on as well. It's not like Dexter is presenting new behaviour, it's just that she's expecting him suddenly to be able to read her mind. We women have to remember that men just can't do that, and if we want something from them, we have to tell them.

But Dexter's drama is not as bad as Deb's. She nearly claimed to have witness the Vacation Murderer, Nikki, shoot Frank. She would have borne false witness to put the girl away, until she realized that some of Frank's notes were missing. Suddenly it occurred to her it must be Trinity.

Better work fast Dex, Deb is on your trail.

What did you think?

V - Pilot, S01E01

The show began with ominous questions - where were you when JFK was murdered? on 9/11? where were you this morning? For those of you who read my Mad Men posting, you know that I consider the first two questions very important. Anyone and everyone alive at that time remembers exactly where they were when they heard the news. And so too would we all if one morning 29 alien space ships earthquaked their way above the capital cities of the world (3 of which were in the states).

I would hope, though, that we'd respond better to the earthquaking. You know, stand in doorways and such, rather than under falling statues of Jesus.

And so aliens, who bare a strong resemblance to mankind, arrive on Earth to be our friends, and our saviors. The Visitors, or Vs, immediately begin recruiting young men and women from Earth to learn about their culture and help spread the word around the community. How many Vs are bothering to learn of Earth's culture is not mentioned.

It is not even asked. Some very important questions, in fact, are not being asked. For instance - what exactly do they want from us, water and minerals? Which ones and in what quantity? And do we really want to allow them to have an outpost in every major city of the world, even if they refer to it as a health care provider?

Chad Decker (Scott Wolf) is a reporter who should be asking these questions, and wants to, but when threatened by Anna (Morena Baccarin), the head of the Visitors, he simply does what she wants - he refrains from asking questions that would paint the Vs in a negative light. She had requested that he conduct the interview when, at an early press conference, he had commented on the attractiveness of Anna and her people rather than asking some of the difficult questions the other reporters were pestering her with. And while that question might seem superficial, he is quite right to ask it.

We learn from the story lines of Erica Evans (Elizabeth Mitchell), an FBI agent, and Father Jack Landry (Joel Gretsch), a Catholic priest, that the Vs are not what they appear. Erica follows some leads on a terrorist organization with her partner Dale (the delightful Alan Tudyk*) which leads her to a meeting Father Jack was instructed to go to with photos by a man who died in his church...apparently killed by the Vs. There Georgie (David Richmond-Peck) informs them of the Vs true identity. They are a reptilian race, who has cloned human skin to disguise themselves. And they have been here for some time, infiltrating the governments, etc, and they are the cause of our most recent wars and economic crises.

Perhaps this would have seemed over the top, but Erica saw the photos Father Jack brought - men who's identity she could not determine, but whom she believed to be part of a terrorist cell. A V terrorist cell.

And then all hell broke loose when a group of animalistic V attacked the group, killing all but Erica, Father Jack, Georgie and Georgie's friend, Ryan Nichols (Morris Chestnut). In the skirmish, Erica was attacked by Dale. Turns out, he was one of them, and when she bashes him on the face, his reptilian skin is revealed. Ryan also turns out to be a V, but he is a deserter, siding with the humans.

And so, the battle begins. Can the few humans who know the truth fight against the increasing devotion to the V that so many others feel? Well, considering the numbers that watched the premiere, I am not the only person curious to find out.

Castle - Famous Last Words, S01E07

Monday's episode of Castle has received some flack from other reviews, but I have to say I disagree with the lot of them. There were a few moments that weren't quite as on as most weeks, but that has to happen on all shows, and as much as we bemoan it, that should not necessarily be the focus. Not when there was so much else to comment on.

The murder this week was of a young singer, quickly rising in fame, named Hayley Blue. Hayley was, in fact, Alexis (Molly Quinn)'s favourite star, and she told her father of the murder before Castle (Nathan Fillion) even received a call from Beckett (Stana Katic). Something to be said about those Internet blogs out there...hum...

Alexis was deeply concerned about what had happened, as well as deeply grieved. Some people might find it difficult to understand how the death of a famous person we have never met can affect us so much, but artists, whether actors, musicians, or otherwise, offer us a piece of themselves through every creative endeavor. We do not mourn them as we would a friend; not because we will never get to see them again, or because part of our life is now gone, but because of what will never be. When Heath Ledger died, I was upset and shocked, but I did not cry. Not until he won his posthumous Oscar. Then I bawled my eyes out, so grateful that the Academy Awards can given tribute to his performance, and given him the award that, had he lived, he would have been nominated for again and again. For me, Heath Ledger's death represented a loss to movies that would compare to the loss of Paul Newman had he died at 28.

Of course, Alexis' involvement was crucial to unlocking the case, since her obsession with listening to Hayley's final performance revealed that the lyrics of her newest song fingered her killer. Though, as Castle rightly pointed out, her interest in the case and small involvement made her a suspect as well. Though, of course, she'd tell her dad if she'd killed anyone, so he could help her hide the body.

So what was your verdict? Did you feel the pain of losing talent as I did? Or was the loss of talent amid the cast?

Mad Men - The Grown Ups, S03E12

It was bound to happen, and we were all waiting for it. After all, a show that's both depressing and takes place in the 60s could not avoid the inevitable episode of the assassination of President Kennedy.

I don't really recall how the episode began. Pete (Vincent Kartheiser) was told that Ken (Aaron Staton) was being promoted over him, and Peggy (Elizabeth Moss) was meeting Duck (Mark Moses) in a hotel room, their physical relationship having continued since we last saw them together, but otherwise I don't remember. Because once Kennedy was shot, that's all that really mattered...or at least, the trivial things either became far more or far less important.

That sense of terror felt by everyone is not unfamiliar to me. The generation of my parents have two such moments in their lives, two moments were they remember exactly where they were when they heard the news and how they heard it, but we young people still have one. Over 8 years ago now, 9/11 filled me with such an awful sense that the entire world was being plunged into a disaster so profound we would never see the world the same way again. And perhaps we haven't, but life has continued, and the only noticeable difference in Canada is the increase in policies that are supposed to make us feel safer. They don't actually make us any safer, but the important thing is that we feel that way.

Yet amid the horror of the death of the young president, Roger (John Slatery)'s daughter got married, and there was still hope. Hope for that happy pair, and, as Joan (Christina Hendricks) reminded Roger later that night as he called beside an unconscious Jane, babies were still being born.

But some people had less hope. Trudy (Alison Brie) decided that Pete was right to hate his company, and that he should prepare to move from Sterling Cooper and to take his clients with him, while things between Don (Jon Hamm) and Betty (January Jones) ended up even worse. Don, having been revealed to Betty as being Dick Whitman, behaved far more like Dick than like Don towards his wife. Which meant, in fact, that he stopped being such a dick, and his genuine feelings of love for her returned. Betty, on the other hand, cannot get past the lies and ended the episode by telling Don she no longer loved him.

One more episode left this season - how can they possibly top the emotions in this one.

Living Dead in Dallas by Charlaine Harris

Look at me keeping my promise to update on other media as well as television. And this one has a television connection anyway, so really, it would be wrong of me not to mention my impressions.

Living Dead in Dallas is the second book of the Southern Vampire Chronicles, the book series about Sookie Stackhouse on which True Blood is based. And book 2 is what season 2 was based on.

There are, of course, some major differences between the books and the TV series, and these differences promise to continue to grow as the seasons go on. And so far, I definitely prefer the TV series, for reasons I am about to get into, but that does not mean the books aren't worth a gander...well maybe the first one isn't (it was some bizarre, over-campy, badly-written stuff), but in the second one, the writing improved drastically.

The books are told in the first person, with Sookie relating things exactly as she sees and experiences them. Which means that Tara, Sam, and Jason get only brief mentions as they cross Sookie's path while she helps Bill and Eric deal with vampire politics. And boy do I miss them. Reading the books feels like people are missing, mostly because they are. The other characters are present to fill out Sookie's world, but the world itself is not full. In the show, you follow the adventures of the people of Bon Temps, not just of one sexy, vampire-loving, telepathic waitress.

And yet it is fascinating to read the books and see where the ideas in the show came from. The maenad is such a small character in the book, she shows up where people are having a party and takes them all as tribute to herself before she goes on. Her connection to Sookie is much more important than to Tara, and she is not searching for hearts or a particular supernatural being, just violence, sex, and drunkenness.

Plus, there are things that we haven't got yet in the series, and may never get. Like the fact that Bill is actually Andy Bellefleur's great great (somewhere in there) grandfather. Or the idea of Eric wearing multicoloured Lycra tights. Or that Sookie can occasionally hear a thought from a vampire (I wonder if that will ever appear in the series). And in Dallas, it was shape shifters who helped Sookie escape from the Fellowship of the Sun, rather than Jason. But the seeds for most of the story are already in the books, taken and elaborated upon, with the writers asking themselves how they can involve the characters we know rather than simply focusing on exactly what Sookie's got going on.

My advice? Read the books and watch the series. The order will not matter that much to you, and the differences, while noticeable are acceptable in both cases. Just to demonstrate, in the book, Lafayette dies, but you don't really care too much cause you hardly knew him. In the series, he lives, which is awesome because he's SO great.

Have you read the books?