catching up

i'm seriously behind reporting all the movies and music and tv i've been consuming the past few weeks. so, with the end of the year popping up soon, let's get a few of these out of the way, shall we?

MOVIES

• harry potter and the deathly hallows: let it be known that i have only seen two other HP movies, and never read any of the books. with that out of the way, i liked deathly hallows enough, though i've come to understand from other reports that this one was somewhat slow and heavy on "character" rather than action. i didn't notice that.
  also, the elf guy? so much reminds me of our pet monster. really.
  
• burlesque: this one is taking a beating with the "critics", but i liked it. great moviemaking? not at all. was i expecting that? not at all. somehow, they made cher look like a football player, but otherwise, for a farmgirl-goes-to-hollywood story (quite literally), it was as much as i would have expected.
  why so little use of alan cumming, though?
  
• who is harry nilsson (and why is everybody talkin' about him?): i watched this one on netflix a couple of weeks ago, and it hasn't left my head, since. i've been a very casual fan of nilsson's since i was a little kid ("can't live" being the ultimate emo song, before it was destroyed by mariah carey), but never knew anything about him, personally. this documentary has plenty of archival footage and photos, and goes fairly deeply into his career ups and downs, his friendship with the beatles, and his own self-destruction.
  good overview of his music, as well. watch it, become a fan.

MUSIC

• mackintosh braun: can't say enough about this band, and the two albums i've been listening to non-stop for the past month. kinda electro-ambient, but more pop, and with vocals. great, great synth sounds...like cut copy, but dreamier, and without trying to be rock stars. and they're such nice fellas on facebook, too.
  might be a pick of the year.
  
• alphaville: catching rays on giant: okay, whatever that title means. the sound of the album is classic, classic, classic a'ville. no
  WTF surprises here, and that's just perfect. i haven't picked out my favorite tracks quite yet, but if i were to rate this with the other alphaville albums, i think it might be #2 or #3 for me...after afternoons in utopia, but ahead of, or tied with, salvation.
  i wasn't aware that marian gold (the only apparent permanent member of alphaville these days) was accused of being scientologist. in alphaville's homeland of germany, that's a fairly scandal-ridden charge. i wonder if that may have contributed to such a long time between these last two albums.
  
• bryan ferry: olympiai want to like it, but it's mostly more of the same. "heartbreak by numbers" is fairly gorgeous, though. maybe i'll crack open the album once again, give it another shot.

TV

• outsourced: not to be a negative nelly, but this show just isn't appealing. stupid cross-cultural setups that make no realistic sense. the first episode, one thinks of forgiving how racist the show is, because the characters might end up being endearing or whatever. by the fourth episode, it's time to throw a shoe at your tv and swear to never watch again.
  just awful. and to think we've been denied leslie nope in parks and recreation for this?
  (while i'm at it: couldn't hang onto the event, though the husband still watches. my breaking point: the first time the jetliner vanished above the president's reception. the effect for that was so bad, i just gave up on it right then and there. too bad...i like blair underwood.)
  
• the walking dead: how awesome is this show? zombie movies rarely (never?) actually frighten me, but the walkers in this show really stick in my head. if i watch this just before going to bed, i'm looking behind doors to make sure nobody blue is waiting to grab my face.
  it's kind of like LOST, in that we already have seen a party of "the others" come and go (maybe they'll be back), and as the husband noted last night, a "hatch" where the science is still happening against all odds. i hope this one continues to intrigue.
  
• community: still loving the show from last year, but i'm wondering how much "bigger" the show is going to allow itself to get? already this year, they've had an alien/zombie episode, an alice in wonderland ep, a lord of the flies (i guess) ep, and a claymation ep. for a sitcom, that's a lot of excessive ambition.
  the alien/zombie episode was pretty great, though. and troy and abed continue to be the most watchable couple-but-not-couple on tv.

re TV

first, the new stuff:

• flash forward was cancelled. two episodes remain this year, and that's the end of that. i'm disappointed, because i really got into the premise, that the entire population of the world blacks out momentarily, except for a couple of people, during which they see a few seconds of their just-weeks-away future. how will they force that future "to come true", or prevent their perceived future from happening? i had a hard time watching joseph fiennes "act", but the inclusion of a few favorites from LOST (chah-lie, penny) as well as john ("the cho") cho, and some clever plot twists, made the show very watchable.
  
  
• community will continue on next year. hooray. it might be my tied-for-favorite show this year.
  
  
• modern family will also continue next year. hooray II...the other tied-for-favorite show this year.
  
  
• glee remains an enthusiastic viewing experience, even if the episode plots are so, so overdone now (yeah, someone's going to do away with the glee club; yeah, kurt's dad is kinda okay with the gay; yeah, this girl is dating that guy still). what i would like to see: a true musical episode -- they've come close -- where the characters play out their lives in song, as opposed to selecting a song for their weekly assignment that coincides with the moral to be learned in that episode.
  
  (note about musicals in general: why do they always have to be about performers, or people who dream of becoming performers? remember in the old days, when songs were part of the dialogue among characters, and not just "numbers" strategically placed to hold our attention?)

old stuff:

• LOST ends sunday night. this show, i'll miss it...it was engrossing, even during the season(s) where i couldn't figure out what the eff was going on, or keep track of the several new characters, and their place in the overall story. funny how a viewer comes to "care" so much about fictional characters. these characters, i'll miss them.
  
  
• so long, scrubs, you lost me at "med school". bye to better off ted, as well, which i didn't trust with the first episode or two, but thereafter became enamored.
  
  
• the office is still entirely watchable, as is parks and recreation, which finally doesn't look like the little sister of the office. 30 rock is forever hilarious.

don't question senor chang

...or you'll get bit

cancelled soon

dear project leader:

this alien is often assigned the task of following tv series that are doomed for cancellation. if this curse continues, the following shows should be making their final appearances fairly soon...much to the detriment of human society:

1. community (NBC): like cheers, interesting characters interact a lot, but without the drinking theme. (go human beings!)
   
2. modern family (ABC): similar to "arrested development" in tone (but nothing will ever match that one)
   
3. flash forward (ABC): favorite of the year; this alien will make no comparisons to LOST
   
4. glee (FOX): yeah, everyone talks about this one, and deservedly so.

this alien has seen one episode each of cougar town (ABC) and V (ABC), and couldn't care if they both disappear...so they'll probably stay on forever. this alien needn't mention that V gives us a bad name.