March 2005

Monthly Archive

Thu 31 Mar 2005

Mourning Terri Schiavo’s Death is Totally Decadent

Posted by max40 under Ancient Rants
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Unless you are a member of her immediate family or knew her personally in some way. There, I said it. I mean, a sodding minute of silence on the floor of the Florida state legislature? This whole thing really is worse than Princess Diana, who at least was a public figure of some kind (albeit a totally useless one, and herself utterly decadent and parasitic).

For those feeling personally aggrieved by the death of Terri Shiavo, including Trent Lott and numerous others who have spent their careers trying to keep the federal government out of our lives (you know, because of the danger that it might provide universal healthcare), I ask:

- How many Iraqi people died today?
- How many Americans died today because they didn’t have access to health insurance (either through direct denial of treatment or the long-term unavailability of care)?
- How many people died today of AIDS/HIV, either here in the US or in Africa?
- How many people died today because of the unavailability of water fit for human consumption?
- How many people died today of malaria, and numerous other diseases that could easily be prevented if drug companies weren’t so concerned with producing sexy drugs that allow Bob Dole to get an erection?

Okay, I feel mildly better now. But only mildly. And I’m sure it won’t last.

 

Wed 30 Mar 2005

The American Office

Posted by max40 under Ancient Rants
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I’ve decided that the American version of The Office is fairly brilliant. Not brilliant in an original way, of course, what with it being an adaptation of the British Office, but brilliant nonetheless. I admit that I’m prone to hyperbole, or to what LMV thinks is the uniquely British tendency to pronounce things to be either the best thing ever or the worst thing ever, but I’m pleasantly surprised by the US version.

This comes after watching last night’s episode, the first to have been really written specifically for the US cast. The pilot, which aired last week, was pretty much a direct copy of the first UK episode. I forget the names of the new characters, so I’ll just refer to them by their British names. But Steve Carell is inspired casting. No David Brent, of course, but I think he’s probably a better choice than Steven Colbert (who, out of confusion, I’d thought had the part). American Gareth is as good a US Gareth as there could be, annoying in all the ways that an American Gareth should be annoying. I’m not sure being a voluntary sheriff’s deputy on the weekends will serve as an adequate replacement for the Territorial Army, but obviously the US Army Reserve was totally off limits (comedically, as much as politically). But American Gareth has the right combination of smugness and arrogance, all in a specifically US sort of way. And I’m glad they didn’t try to find a regional identity to echo UK Gareth’s Somerset roots.

I’m constantly annoyed by American Tim’s hair. It’s too much like English Tim, or Rob Thomas, or something. If his hair was different I’d probably be willing to think of him as more than an English Tim imitation. Perhaps when I see Martin Freeman as Arthur Dent I’ll finally be able to let go, but otherwise I guess American Tim is doing a good job. American Dawn is about right though.

Anyway, I’m optimistic. Last night’s “diversity training” episode gave me hope that the specifically American scripts will be good. Yes, it’s still got nothing on the original, but all in all I’m relieved that they stuck close to the tenor of the UK version, and pleasantly surprised that they haven’t totally fucked it up. So there.

Addendum: This would be a good time to post a link to the UK Gareth’s web site. So here it is.

Posted by B. W. Ventril in Reviews

 

This entry was posted on Wednesday, March 30th, 2005 at 9:52 am and is filed under Reviews. You can follow any responses to this entry through the comments RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

8 Responses to “The American Office”

  1. minty says:
    I agree with you on all counts, BWV. I was fully prepared to hate this show and have been pleasantly surprised.

    The pilot was somewhat annoying since it was basically a show I had seen, but with different people. And somehow “Jim put my stapler in Jell-o” does not come across as funny as “Tim’s put my stapler in jelly again.” But last night’s episode did rather rock.

    The show has been translated well for the US and the values of the original remain intact. American Tim smiles more than British Tim does, but he’s kinda cute. I think as it goes along I will think of these characters more as themselves than as US versions of the UK characters. Dwight is not Gareth, and I’m sure as episodes continue he will seem less Gareth-y and more Dwight-y.

    March 30th, 2005 at 11:35 am
  2. holagatita says:
    Well, despite your overall positive review of the show, B-Dub, I have to say I will now certainly never be able to watch it knowing that Jim’s snap-on Fisher-Price-Man ™ hair (props to LMV for the first adj.) is only a poor, pale, plasticky shadow of Original Tim’s ™.

    How I love Tim. I actually met someone who knew Martin Freeman. Said he was a swell guy. (Oh, and that Mos Def is nice, too, but a ho. And I was all, ‘And?! You can still give him my number!’ But that’s another story.) I may even wade through the waves of arrogant male nerds to see the Button movie. I mean Hitchiker’s. It has a website: http://hitchhikers.movies.go.com/

    Ah, Tim. *sigh*

    March 30th, 2005 at 12:01 pm
  3. holagatita says:
    P.S. Speaking of websites, Tim’s got one, too. http://www.martinfreeman.com/

    Who’s Gareth now?

    March 30th, 2005 at 12:10 pm
  4. B. W. Ventril says:
    The Hitchhiker’s Guide movie site is wondrous, and makes me even more excited about the film. As do the trailers. The opening shot of Tim/Arthur Dent’s bedside table shows he’s reading Kurt Vonnegut’s Slapstick and that he works for the BBC. This is a very good sign.

    March 30th, 2005 at 1:03 pm
  5. holagatita says:
    Tim plushies!!

    No, really. I’m obsessed now. Go here: http://www.planetmagrathea.com/toys.html

    And remember that my birthday is in November.

    March 31st, 2005 at 5:13 pm
  6. Bear Left says:
    Wow! That’s the BEST blog entry EVER!

    March 31st, 2005 at 5:18 pm
  7. holagatita says:
    No. The best blog entry will be after I get my Tim plushy. ;)

    March 31st, 2005 at 5:26 pm
  8. B. W. Ventril says:
    Um… what exactly do you intend to do with it? This isn’t that sort of blog you know.

    March 31st, 2005 at 5:55 pm
 

Sun 27 Mar 2005

Feeding Tube World Tour 2005

Posted by max40 under Ancient Rants
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So now the feeding tube is off to the Vatican. Is it wrong to be completely fascinated by the Pope’s upcoming death? I mean, I’m not old enough to remember a Pope dying. It won’t be as exciting as when the Queen dies, but still. And now that the Kremlin isn’t what it used to be we have to look to the Vatican for cryptic, elliptical statements about the health of an autocratic leader.

As with the Queen, we’re faced with the distinct possibility that whoever replaces the Pope will be even worse. I nominate Prince Charles. Sure, he’s not Catholic, but he’s so damn cranky that he’d make a delightful pontiff. And, well, he will be Supreme Head of the Church of England, which is almost like the Catholic Church. Except for a whole bunch of liturgical and doctrinal stuff. And that whole Reformation thing.

The Observer suggests that the next Pope may be really, really old. This would help allay fears that the upcoming Holy Father might stay in his position for a long time, surround himself with like-minded advisors, and thus secure an iron grip on the office. You know, like the Pope we have right now. Apparently a lot of cardinals want a Pope who will die really soon, a sort of revolving-door pontificate, a Pope that keeps everyone on their toes and isn’t too sprightly.

The frontrunner seems to be Cardinal Francis Arinze, of Nigeria. He’s old, and used to be in Fela Kuti’s Egypt 80. Okay, I made that last bit up. Another major contender, Cardinal Oscar Rodríguez from Honduras, isn’t as old. But he is a friend of Bono (I didn’t make that up), who I’m sure could put in a good word for him with God.

Given that I get most of my knowledge of the papacy from Godfather: Part III I’m probably not the best person to hazzard a guess about John Paul II’s successor. But Al Pacino would make a pretty good Pope. Expecially derivative-of-himself shouting Al Pacino.

 

Sun 27 Mar 2005

24 and Racism

Posted by max40 under Ancient Rants
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So I’ve become a regular viewer of 24. Aside from a few episodes, I didn’t watch any of the previous seasons. But this time round I can’t seem to turn away. It’s not so much a train wreck as a direct trip to the morgue. Initially I simply couldn’t believe how amazingly racist it was, but just at the point when I’d told myself that I couldn’t in good conscience watch this horrible shite it started putting itself through amazing contortions to prove that it really wasn’t racist after all. Which of course isn’t true, but makes for oddly compelling viewing. I can’t remember when I last saw something as heavy handed as the ‘good Arabs’ that Jack Bauer encountered running a gun store in the ghetto. But surely their pledge to fight and, if needs be, die by his side completely negates the first third of the series. Yes, it looked like anyone of Middle Eastern origin was part of a suburban terrorist cell, but that was just a device to set the plot up for the warm embrace of ethno-religious diversity that is the rest of the season.

24’s larger message for the War On Terror is a mixed one. On the one hand, contrary to all our experience, the nation’s counter-terrorism professionals are clearly operating in a comfortingly futuristic technological utopia. It’s as if they could find and catch anyone. And have completely accurate information about the weapons capabilities of foreign governments. But that must mean… Oh, never mind. And of course there’s the wider role of the show in the cultural normalization of casual torture.

Perhaps as far-reaching is the ability of 24 to make even the most vaguely competent spy thriller look magnificent. I watched The Bourne Supremacy last night which, in comparison, seemed, well, masterful. Which of course it wasn’t. But how the hell am I supposed to tell any more?

Posted by B. W. Ventril in Reviews

 

This entry was posted on Sunday, March 27th, 2005 at 8:52 pm and is filed under Reviews. You can follow any responses to this entry through the comments RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

4 Responses to “24”

  1. lady macventril says:
    I believe those good Arabs owned a *sporting goods* store in the ghetto, and just happened to have a few guns alongside the squash rackets and basketball nets.

    March 28th, 2005 at 8:30 am
  2. B. W. Ventril says:
    Couldn’t they have valiantly kept off the evil corporate weapons company’s mercinaries with squash balls then?

    March 28th, 2005 at 8:33 am
  3. holagatita says:
    To truly appreciate 24, you must visit www.televisionwithoutpity.com which offers komments on Kiefer’s hourly actions and CTU’s stunning use of Whatever Technology.And, no, I do not work for TWOP (though I’d love to — free TiVO!).

    March 29th, 2005 at 1:34 pm
  4. B. W. Ventril says:
    And I don’t work for Wordpress. I keep meaning to read TWOP and always forget. And for some shows it seems better to just read their summaries, rather than actually watch TV. Maybe I’ll try this with ‘ER’.

    March 29th, 2005 at 2:54 pm