Q&A with Josh Lanyon discussion

I'm watching a BBC miniseries on DVD about the Pre-Raphaelites, Desperate Romantics. Everyone is very pretty, and I'm enjoying how much the actresses resemble the women in the paintings. Sadly, the story is played too often for laughs — those wacky upstart artists and their bawdy antics kind of laughs, with DG Rossetti as head buffoon. Well, I suppose angst and melodrama would have been worse. What actually is worse is the soundtrack. The same Irish tune is played every time there's a pub scene, and some very annoying theme music is repeated to cue that hijinks will ensue.

On the thread of creepy movies, Jacques Tourneur's films (Cat People, I Walked with a Zombie, Night of the Demon, and the noir, Out of the Past) give me shivers, but may seem too camp for others. There's also Leopard Man, set in a version of New Mexico that's oddly convincing in places.

I've seen ''Cat People'' recently and I really liked it: definitely creepy, not camp. And especially: well made.

Karen wrote: "I'm watching a BBC miniseries on DVD about the Pre-Raphaelites, Desperate Romantics. Everyone is very pretty, and I'm enjoying how much the actresses resemble the women in the paintings. Sadly, the..."

That sounds dreadful.

Karen wrote: "On the thread of creepy movies, Jacques Tourneur's films (Cat People, I Walked with a Zombie, Night of the Demon, and the noir, Out of the Past) give me shivers, but may seem too camp for others. T..."

Tourneur is the master of creepy atmosphere! I love his films. Night of the Demon (I think I own it as Curse of the Demon) is one of my favorite Halloween films. Okay, yes, it would have been better never to show the demon (which looks a bit too much like the Abominable Snowman in Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer) but other than that is stylish and fun and ominous.

Antonella wrote: "I've seen ''Cat People'' recently and I really liked it: definitely creepy, not camp. And especially: well made."

Yes. Genuinely scary in a restrained way. He was very good at capturing dread.

Josh wrote: "Tourneur is the master of creepy atmosphere! I love his films. Night of the Demon (I think I own it as Curse of the Demon) is one of my favorite Halloween films. Okay, yes, it would have been better never to show the demon (which looks a bit too much like the Abominable Snowman in Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer) but other than that is stylish and fun and ominous. "

Ha! I agree re the demon, especially as Niall MacGinnis' Karswell is much scarier than any FX. I checked my VHS copy and it is Curse of the Demon. I was looking at a filmography that listed Night of the Demon. Apparently Curse is the shortened American version, and Night is the more critically touted British version. I found a DVD with both listed on Amazon and put it in my shopping basket.

Also, for anyone who enjoys gothic, I Walked with a Zombie is a keeper.

Whatever you do, DON'T waste a minute of your life on Wrecked (2011, Adrian Brody). There are random lions, FGS.

Following my masochistic streak I went to see ''All or Nothing'' by Mike Leigh (2002).

It was grim, but in the end really not depressing. And an excellent movie.

Her you can find some critics:
http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/11173...

I watched "Quantum of Solace" (much prefer Casino Royale, but I rather suspect that's because Le Chiffre is hot and how could I resist a scene where Daniel Craig gets his balls busted?).

Also watched "The Fighter" - Christian Bale was 150% unrecognizable, and Mark Walberg still can't act, but the boxing scenes were decent.

The Dark Knight Rises. Oh YES. I loved it! I loved it WAY more than I thought I would. In fact, I basically went to keep the SO company. But at the end we were both dabbing our eyes and sniffing. :-D

The Olympics!!! The summer Olympics are my Fav!

Gymnastics, Volleyball, Swimming, Diving, Track...

Reggie wrote: "The Olympics!!! The summer Olympics are my Fav!

Gymnastics, Volleyball, Swimming, Diving, Track..."

I love fencing, the Hungarian who won the gold medal (against Italy, sigh) was so hawt. Yeah, I watch for those sport moments...

I rarely watch TV and never sports, but my son is home on vacation so I am force-fed the olympics and football :). To avoid any misunderstandings, I love having him home for a couple of weeks, he lives very far from home, so I am not complaining. (At least not much!)

And I can read while the TV is on anyway :)

I can't believe I haven't seen a single minute of the Olympics so far! Last week was nuts. How has the coverage been so far?

I haven't seen anything either, but I've read about the opening ceremony, the lesbian kiss and Romney's comments ;-).

The coverage look quite extensive to me, and I'm talking only about written media.

I hope this week will be better for you! *trying to avoid to be nosy ;-)*

Josh wrote: "I can't believe I haven't seen a single minute of the Olympics so far! Last week was nuts. How has the coverage been so far?"
As you would expect, both beautiful and heartbreaking moments for the US Olympians.
The men's 400m relay team was disappointed with a silver medal yesterday (although, really? A silver medal is outstanding if you ask me but they,of course, wanted the gold). Our women's synchronized divers medaled for the first time in 12 years and they were so charmingly delighhted. They were a pleasure to watch and cheer for. Women's gymnastics was heartbreaking to watch, not because we didn't do well but because the new rules only allow 2 from each team to compete in the all around finals. That meant Jordan, the reigning world champ, missed getting in by less than half a point. Watching her burst into tears and trying to pull herself together to be happy for her team mates was rough. Especially when they show you all of this background on each competitor and it sinks in all that they have sacrificed (not only the competitor but their families as well) and the unbelievable dedication it took to get to the Olympics. Tonight is men's gymnastics. That is worth a watch for the yum factor alone :)

So, the longest answer to your question ever! The coverage, IMO, has been good. :)

I think the Olympic Games are the new opium of the masses. The rest of the news are all almost hush-hush, big smile for a new medal, mumble mumble, big smile for a final, mumble mumble, etc. etc. At least in Italy. I'm going with the flow. If in 15 days we find that Italy has solved the problem of the national debt, I'll be happy.

Sports. I could watch them all day.

Emanuela ~plastic duck~ wrote: "If in 15 days we find that Italy has solved the problem of the national debt, I'll be happy."

I heard of the written complaint made about the President of the Italian Republic not having enough camera time during the opening ceremony. I wondered if there are no other problems in Italy...

I haven't Antonella. Ooooh, was this overlooked by our media? Gosh, with all the problems we have. Do you have a link or something?

I found it. The Italian Olympic Committee complained. With all the problems we have... ;)

Maybe overlooked on TV, but it's there in the written media:

http://www.ilsole24ore.com/art/notizi...

http://olimpiadi.corriere.it/2012/not...

I only read the Norme e Tributi section of IlSole24ore in this period :( Darned tax reports :(

I'm watching an old, old series on DVD. 21 Jump Street. Not out of nostalgia, I didn't watch it back in the late 80s when it originally ran. But a friend kept going on about how great it was, and then the box set was cheap on Amazon and just kinda fell into my basket... Especially when I saw stills from it and said "Wait, that's Johnny Depp!" (Yes, that's how little I knew about the show. It made him a big star - much to his annoyance, naturally.)

He's very young and clearly such a star even then. Not just because of the looks either - stunning as they are! - but he's got that "it" factor. You can't take your eyes off him when he's on the screen. He certainly gives the lie to the idea that you can't transition from TV into the big time in the movies. Or at least, like Clooney, he's one of the exceptions.

I'm working my way through slowly. Though will interrupt it next week when I get Dexter Season 6 for my birthday. Dexter! Love Dexter.

Becky wrote: "I'm watching an old, old series on DVD. 21 Jump Street. Not out of nostalgia, I didn't watch it back in the late 80s when it originally ran. But a friend kept going on about how great it was, and t..."

I liked it very much too and I stopped watching it when Johnny Depp left the series.

I don't watch any TV lately but I did manage to catch Some Like it Hot on Turner Classic Movies the other day. Still one of my favorites.

Susinok wrote: "I don't watch any TV lately but I did manage to catch Some Like it Hot on Turner Classic Movies the other day. Still one of my favorites."

I'm just catching pieces of the Olympics. We don't watch much TV to speak of, but the Olympics is one thing we do watch.

Unfortunately I have not watched any Olympics yet this time around. I normally watch some but I'm just not in the TV mood lately. Watching the movie was even a rare occurrence for me. I mostly read and surf Goodreads. :)

Watching Season 2 of Downton Abbey. Wonderful. I'm (so far) enjoying Season 2 every bit as much as Season 1, despite the difficult subject matter of the war. Something about WW1 depresses me beyond all other wars and conflicts.

I've been rewatching Sherlock and the Japanese Anime Gravitation

Just got Dexter Season 6 on DVD for my birthday, so working my way through that. Love it,as always. Though Deb being made Lieutenant made me LMAO.

Aftet that it's back to Jump Street and pretty, pretty Johnny. :)

I was just watching an episode of Midsomer Murders, and was reminded of one of those clever off hand remarks in
SKHE; when Kit describes those British detectives who live in charming villages with terrible crime rates. It is a wonder there are people left to investigate in those tiny little places!

Josh wrote: "Something about WW1 depresses me beyond all other wars and conflicts."

Me also — horrific chemical weapons, flu and disease, the use of aircraft, millions of casualties, the seeds of the next war sown, and the hows/whys seem particularly muddled.

Lou wrote: "I hardly watch TV these days. Mostly True Blood and Top Gear. "

You should watch the Newsroom, comes on after True Blood on Sundays. Appeals to my vapid intellectual snottery. ;-)

That's likely to be shelling (from artillery pieces) - aerial bombardment against cities/villages wasn't really that used during WWI (where the plane was used more as airborne cavalry against troops and other planes). However, a shelled WWI landscape is probably my visual concept of hell.

What attracts me to WWII above WWI is the ideology. While you have some "democracies" involved, they are largely either young or not democracracies as we'd understand them now. WWII was a Social-Darwinist, industrial-scale attempt to wipe out the other side, no quarter given (or expected). The war on the Eastern Front, again, was something totally different to the one on the Western Front. (And that's really only the European Theatre of Operations--things get even uglier in Asia-Pacific.)

Mostly I watch CSI (any version), NCIS and Midsommer Murders if possible - they're all good to knit too as so much of the plot is spoken rather than visual. Although it does mean I'm very fed up with the adverts on 5USA...

So I subscribed to Acorn TV -- THE BEST OF BRITISH TV!!! Have any of you given that a shot? I'm disappointed. It's pretty much everything I can already get through Amazon or Netflix.

Wow, interesting marketing. Living in Britain, I'm hungering for HBO. :)

Aleksandr wrote: "Wow, interesting marketing. Living in Britain, I'm hungering for HBO. :)"

One of the great disappointments of my TV viewing life was when BBC America began running back to back Star Trek episodes.

Huh???

LOL. OUR TV IS YOUR TV.

(One reason why I have Lovefilm (our take on Netflix, just mostly DVD-based) and buy series I like as boxed sets... I'm getting too old for Big Brother and re-runs, and watching a series is awful when you're a writer and the Muse is getting the lube...)

Old Top Gear in Italy too. I was wondering if the guy with the last name May is Brian May's (Queen's guitarist) brother, because I've convinced myself they look alike. Sort of.

Lou wrote: "There's a US version of Top Gear, but it's not the same. The Brit one has three guys with personalities, the US three guys with perfect teeth."

Yeah, I saw an episode. Wasn't impressed.

Aleksandr wrote: "Wow, interesting marketing. Living in Britain, I'm hungering for HBO. :)"

Me too. And Showtime. And Starz.That seems to be where all the series I buy on DVD seem to come from.

Lou wrote: "There's a US version of Top Gear, but it's not the same. The Brit one has three guys with personalities, the US three guys with perfect teeth."

Hah! :) Haven't seen the US version, but yeah, like you said the guys in the British one are wonderful!

I got back from Oregon and didn't have the energy for anything, so I watched 7 episodes of Ken Burns' The Civil War. So wonderfully done, but I can't say you finish that one up feeling very cheery.

I'm just watching Breaking Bad. It's very well plotted. Master class in twisty-turniness.

Aleksandr wrote: "I'm just watching Breaking Bad. It's very well plotted. Master class in twisty-turniness."

Yes, the SO lives for that series. It's also a favorite of my pal, LB Gregg. In fact, she repeatedly tells me she can't believe I'm not a fan.

Actually...it's not that I'm not a fan, it's just I've never been in the mood to watch it. There IS a difference. ;-)

The L Word. Very addictive.

Kari wrote: "The L Word. Very addictive."

Oh yes? I've never seen it. I think it's actually the same issue as with Breaking Bad. I grew up on episodic TV, so I don't typically like long story arcs. I like to *write* them, but I don't usually like to read or watch them. I hate worrying about characters I have grown fond of. :-D

Josh wrote: "Kari wrote: "The L Word. Very addictive."

Oh yes? I've never seen it. I think it's actually the same issue as with Breaking Bad. I grew up on episodic TV, so I don't typically like long story arcs..."

My problem with episodic shows is I don't care enough about TV to remember when anything is on, LOL. If I had to watch it week to week? Would never happen, but this is great. I can get the L Word on DVD from Netflix and watch episodes in chunks if a thread intrigues me. Or in bits & pieces. *shrug*

Anyway, I like it.