Something like an advent calendar, yes?
Dec. 1st, 2007 06:59 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
blodeueddI spent the last day of November puttering around, planning my assault upon Brother #2's soon-to-be-assembled blanket. Because I'd like to get it to him in time for Christmas, and it's now in 180 separate pieces. But before that, I have to finish my own knitted blanket, which is mostly done; only two rows (14 squares total) remain to be attached. The reason my brother's blanket has so many more squares is that the squares are smaller (about 5 inches squared versus the 6 1/2 squared of my blanket) and I was going for a double bed size, so he and his girlfriend don't have to fight over it. >:D I'm hoping it won't take as long to assemble as mine is, because I've thought of a newer, possibly sturdier way of doing so. I put B1's blanket together using crochet, but it made bulky seams, which I didn't want on mine (knit in cotton yarn and much stretchier) and don't want on B2's blanket either (knit in various artificial yarns, many of them bulky to begin with). We'll see which is the most succesful! And then -- gah, I just remembered that I want to knit or crochet a border. Crocheting might be faster, though, and I could bust out my 2 beginner's crochet stitches.
I also spent part of yesterday thinking about how to tackle my review-a-day. After making a list, of course. I thought of writing the titles out on slips of paper and drawing one at random every morning, but there are some that I want to review together, as a compare/contrast exercise. I thought of grouping them by genre, but that might make people think I'm more organised in my reading and viewing than I am. Then I thought I should do it in roughly chronological order, because there are some items that I've been dragging along for a while, unsure of how I'd like to tackle them.
Oh, and it should go without saying that these reviews will be riddled with spoilers, but since I'm usually way behind on watching and reading what's hot NOW, I doubt you're in too much danger. Unless you really don't want to find out the surprise, twist ending of, say, Flashdance. XD
Today, I'll bite the bullet and go ahead with something that I finished watching in June, if I recall correctly: .
Twin Peaks: I wrote a grand total of two lines about this back in the spring, when it deserved so much more, but I was waiting to have watched the second season as well.
To begin with, "My log does not judge" is still my favourite line from the whole series. Now that that's out of the way, allow me to go a bit more into detail.
My first exposure to David Lynch was through Mullholland Drive. I'd been lured to it by the promise of a hot sex scene involving Naomi Watts, but found a whole lot more to it than that, and walked away mystified, pleased, and intrigued. I later rented Blue Velvet, and found it a satisfyingly surreal experience. Then along came Twin Peaks and while the mood wasn't perhaps sustained throughout the whole run (especially near the end), I found quite a bit to like quite a lot in it.
To start with the bad, in order to work my way (quickly) to the good, I must say that I was very disappointed by the movie. I had been expecting some sort of closure to the events at the end of the second season; instead, I got to see the events that happened before the beginning of the first series. And thought I almost hate to say it, I preferred Laura Palmer in flashbacks, when she was dead. Somehow, she wasn't as interesting alive. This, coupled with the fact that we don't get to see Dale Cooper half as much as I'd like and the recasting of a couple of key roles, made for a "Meh" reaction from me. I didn't feel the movie really added anything to the series, and I missed the tone of the series. On the whole, the movie was too serious, lacking the comic (yet completely unintrusive) interludes of the show.
What I really enjoyed, from the very beginning, was that the series took its time to explore a whole bunch of different storylines, all of which I felt got the attention they deserved (though this didn't hold up quite as much during the second season, as I felt there were some narratives that received too much attention at times, and not enough at others). Exploring everyone's lives, learning of everyone's secret lovers -- and is that really how it is in small towns? Seems like everyone had one! -- and reasons to blackmail each other was great fun, and even the Lucy/Andy/(and later Dick) thread was given a certain gravitas, though it was most often played for laughs. The revelation of Laura's killer was surprising at first, given that it was still relatively early, but of course it only led to even more questions, and the supernatural elements picked up from there. The Packard storyline, however, which was also prominently featured in the second season, wasn't done quite as succesfully, I felt. I liked Josie, but got sick of her being so helpless after a while. You'd think she could have at least stood up for herself, even if it meant losing the mill! The other storyline that annoyed me was anything involving Bobby, because he was an ass. After Leo was taken care of, I was really hoping Shelly would move on to better things. Overall, though, I was impressed by the realism of all the relationships and of the characters' interactions, with the possible exception of Catherine Martell, who was a bit too over the top, with her not-so-subtle scheming.
Cooper's dream sequences were some of my favourite parts of the series. They hit just the right note between cryptic and incomprehensible, weird and frightening, and they held my attention quite well. What I really enjoy about David Lynch as a director (and similarly, of Murakami's writing) is the atmosphere he creates with such scenes; though I've never had dreams quite like those, I immediately felt the internal logic of them and couldn't turn my eyes away, fascinated by what was going on, even if it was only red curtains and a black and white floor.
I thought I'd rate things on a scale of 1 to 10 and just so you all know, a passing grade is 6 or more, and I'll never give anything a perfect 10. My final verdict for Twin Peaks:
First season: 9
Second season: 8
Fire Walk With Me: 6.5
And there it is, Day 1 is done!
I also spent part of yesterday thinking about how to tackle my review-a-day. After making a list, of course. I thought of writing the titles out on slips of paper and drawing one at random every morning, but there are some that I want to review together, as a compare/contrast exercise. I thought of grouping them by genre, but that might make people think I'm more organised in my reading and viewing than I am. Then I thought I should do it in roughly chronological order, because there are some items that I've been dragging along for a while, unsure of how I'd like to tackle them.
Oh, and it should go without saying that these reviews will be riddled with spoilers, but since I'm usually way behind on watching and reading what's hot NOW, I doubt you're in too much danger. Unless you really don't want to find out the surprise, twist ending of, say, Flashdance. XD
Today, I'll bite the bullet and go ahead with something that I finished watching in June, if I recall correctly: .
Twin Peaks: I wrote a grand total of two lines about this back in the spring, when it deserved so much more, but I was waiting to have watched the second season as well.
To begin with, "My log does not judge" is still my favourite line from the whole series. Now that that's out of the way, allow me to go a bit more into detail.
My first exposure to David Lynch was through Mullholland Drive. I'd been lured to it by the promise of a hot sex scene involving Naomi Watts, but found a whole lot more to it than that, and walked away mystified, pleased, and intrigued. I later rented Blue Velvet, and found it a satisfyingly surreal experience. Then along came Twin Peaks and while the mood wasn't perhaps sustained throughout the whole run (especially near the end), I found quite a bit to like quite a lot in it.
To start with the bad, in order to work my way (quickly) to the good, I must say that I was very disappointed by the movie. I had been expecting some sort of closure to the events at the end of the second season; instead, I got to see the events that happened before the beginning of the first series. And thought I almost hate to say it, I preferred Laura Palmer in flashbacks, when she was dead. Somehow, she wasn't as interesting alive. This, coupled with the fact that we don't get to see Dale Cooper half as much as I'd like and the recasting of a couple of key roles, made for a "Meh" reaction from me. I didn't feel the movie really added anything to the series, and I missed the tone of the series. On the whole, the movie was too serious, lacking the comic (yet completely unintrusive) interludes of the show.
What I really enjoyed, from the very beginning, was that the series took its time to explore a whole bunch of different storylines, all of which I felt got the attention they deserved (though this didn't hold up quite as much during the second season, as I felt there were some narratives that received too much attention at times, and not enough at others). Exploring everyone's lives, learning of everyone's secret lovers -- and is that really how it is in small towns? Seems like everyone had one! -- and reasons to blackmail each other was great fun, and even the Lucy/Andy/(and later Dick) thread was given a certain gravitas, though it was most often played for laughs. The revelation of Laura's killer was surprising at first, given that it was still relatively early, but of course it only led to even more questions, and the supernatural elements picked up from there. The Packard storyline, however, which was also prominently featured in the second season, wasn't done quite as succesfully, I felt. I liked Josie, but got sick of her being so helpless after a while. You'd think she could have at least stood up for herself, even if it meant losing the mill! The other storyline that annoyed me was anything involving Bobby, because he was an ass. After Leo was taken care of, I was really hoping Shelly would move on to better things. Overall, though, I was impressed by the realism of all the relationships and of the characters' interactions, with the possible exception of Catherine Martell, who was a bit too over the top, with her not-so-subtle scheming.
Cooper's dream sequences were some of my favourite parts of the series. They hit just the right note between cryptic and incomprehensible, weird and frightening, and they held my attention quite well. What I really enjoy about David Lynch as a director (and similarly, of Murakami's writing) is the atmosphere he creates with such scenes; though I've never had dreams quite like those, I immediately felt the internal logic of them and couldn't turn my eyes away, fascinated by what was going on, even if it was only red curtains and a black and white floor.
I thought I'd rate things on a scale of 1 to 10 and just so you all know, a passing grade is 6 or more, and I'll never give anything a perfect 10. My final verdict for Twin Peaks:
First season: 9
Second season: 8
Fire Walk With Me: 6.5
And there it is, Day 1 is done!
