The Girl of Yesterday
May. 25th, 2009 09:40 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
sisterjuneWassup Flist? I've been ignoring humanity again it seems. This time for books and a new show I've gotten into, True Blood. I am enjoying it quite alot and decided to go dl all the books in the series (so far there is nine and a 10th one comes out later this year) which I will start to read....I have no idea when considering I have a backlog of romance novels to read. I cant believe I have a fucking backlog of ROMANCE novels. I spend a lifetime not even looking at the romance section and the last two years thinking my reading fiction novels is now a lost cause. and Suddenly on a whim I pick up a romance novel or two and BAM, I'm a junkie. Shock of my life. I dont count on this being a long term interest though, I have few interests that are ever long term. But eh we'll see? I will be hopefully devoting a whole post about which novels I've read and which ones I like the most so far. and for the record I'm kind of whatever about reading them now and the shame/self consciousness about reading romance has all but dissipated. I adapt quickly. heh (I also think reading "Beyond heaving bosoms" helped)
As for True Blood, I heard good reviews about it for a while but my lord was I ever SO sick of VAMPIRE STORIES. and then hearing it was set in new orleans I was like oh God, it's fuckin Anne Rice all over again, NOOOO. But damn, once again I was forced to eat my words...er thoughts. Cause True Blood is really freaking good. It's a vampire story but it doesnt really romanticize the vampires the same way other vampire stories do, vampires arent the center of the story either like in anne rice's books and nor is the story strictly about the love between bill and sookie ala twilight. Though Bill is for the record NOTHING like Edward, if that puts anyone's minds at ease. The story is really about Sookie a girl with telepathic powers (the how and the why of this is yet to be explained) and her friends and family and their family. So true blood is at it's heart about people and relationships but just to make things a little more spicy and fun, it throws in vampires and elements of gothic horror, a forbidden romance and sets it in the dirty south. The result is one hell of a show. Though the real credit should go to the original author of the books. I do wonder how much has been changed from the books though. I'm amazed that they managed to stretch the entire first book into a 12 episode season, especially since each ep is 50 minutes. Me thinks the family and friends didnt get as much time and attention in the books as they do the show. But I'll find out myself soon enough.
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ashkt I want to say, I agree, Eric is kind of really hot. I loves me some sexy nordic menz <3 From certain angles he actually looks like kurt kobain. Also I heard apparently the character was the son of a viking, how fuckin COOL IS THAT? Would totally take him over Bill myself any damn day. I'm only sad he did not speak more swedish.
I do not live in new orleans or the dirty south, I live in the upper regions, the "classy" south if you will. *dodges rocks* but I love the portrayal of the bon temps the town in which True Blood is set, it's not often you have so much intense focus on the south or southern people so it's nice to see even if most of the people so far have not been painted with the nicest brush. That said, the cast of true blood is also a complex one which I appreciate, everyone has their dirty laundry and even sweet honest to goodness Sookie isnt perfect, but I'd say she is pretty close to it without ever being grating or annoying. So kudos to you anna paquin! I take back all the mean stuff i said about your acting skills as rogue and you having a faux ass southern accent.
So alas it seems I have yet ANOTHER show to add to my list of shows and fandoms I'm currently following, which for anyone curious include so far: Ashes to Ashes, Merlin, Leverage, The Mentalist, Doctor Who and more recently the spanish Life on Mars aka La Chica de Ayer, which I enjoyed way more than I planned to, this seems to be happening alot lately....if this keeps up I might have to start accepting that my judgment is not infallible and then what will i....aahahhaha JUST KIDDING, as if that would ever happen.
Anyway if anyone is curious about my impressions regarding the Spanish Life on mars. I wrote out my thoughts about the first episode under the cut:
First and foremost, the characterizations were SPOT ON. I was so impressed! The spanish despite the large cultural, geographical and linguistic differences between spain and the UK and even despite the fact that alot of dialogue and plot details were changed, managed to stay far closer in spirit to the show and it's characters, than did the US adaptation. It's sad because I always felt like the biggest problem with the US version was a total lack of effort. They didnt try to give their own original spin on the LOM story, they didnt try to lovingly recreate the spirit and color of the original uk characters, and they didnt try to do much to make the dialogue snap and crackle the way it does in the UK and spanish version (more on that in a bit). But enough about the failures of the US version.
A very smart move by the spanish writers, was that they didnt try to follow the UK version to a T. I was glad of this, because spain? very different from the UK. and it would be weird of them to try and replicate the the gritty "sweeney" vibe. The cultural landscape is very different and I was glad to see that this was recognized and they didnt make the US mistake of copying whole scenes to the letter and instead gave their own spin and flavor to the same story. What's funny is the spanish version changes ALOT of the details and dialogue, which considering the change into a different language, makes sense. they could have tried to stretch themselves and mimic the english dialogue as closely as possible but they DIDNT and it WORKS. Because as I said earlier the characterizations in lcda are far closer in spirit to the UK versions than the US LOM managed to be. Sam really FEELS like the sam of UK lom but at the same time he's not. Also the spanish gene is called Quin which apparently means King and I decided it was totally the best name they could have given him. I think it's obvious the spanish writers or at least ONE of them was a Life on Mars fan and a Gene follower cause he was definitely in full color in this show, with all his outrageous phrases, cocksure attitude and chaotic harsh style of policing. What's funny is the spanish gene has a bit more of a romanticized edge than the UK version. The Uk one never tried to paint gene as either a good or bad guy, he was ill tempered, out of shape, a chain smoker, a borderline alcoholic, a sexist pig, disorganized, and narcissistic. and Yet he managed to be one of the most dynamic, fascinating and dare I say it?, endearing characters on UK tv in a long ass time. The spanish version paints gene in a somewhat kinder way, he's still a jackass but you get the feeling that underneath the reckless careless exterior is a guy who really knows what he's doing. Not to say that the UK version DIDNT but I got the feeling that he was more likely to just utterly lose his shit on people out of rage, impatience or frustration whereas there seems to be something a bit more calculated in Quin's violence and actions, whether this is fully intentional on behalf of the writers and actor I cant say but it is clear that they chose a pretty good looking guy to play Gene and I dont think it was a coincidence at all. This version of Gene seems to be toned down in alot of ways yet still manages to keep that devilish wit and rather obnoxious personality that Gene had.
I think the scene with Quin and Fuensanta best illustrates the subtle changes between this gene and the one in LOM. For instance in LOM the girl is mostly being obnoxious because she doesnt like the police and gene responds by being more obnoxious and then finally downright violent, though he doesnt hit her and instead topples the table between them both out of shear frustration with her flippant attitude and also to scare her into compliance, which doesnt work as well as he'd hoped but does work somewhat. Yet in LCDA, Quin doesnt topple the table but he seems 3 times as intimidating as Gene did, and gene could be SCARY sometimes, but he speaks to her in more of a low quiet voice and instead uses coercion and threats to convince fuensanta to speak up and fuensanta seems more deeply upset and also nervous than the UK girl did, like she is angry with the police for their persecution of hippies (cause she is one) and so believes he doesnt care about her friend's death. Whereas UK girl's distaste of police seemed to stem more from youthful rebellion against a perceived oppressive authority, fuensanta however seemed to WANT the help of said authority but just simply felt betrayed and ignored by it. She seems to change her tune a bit when Quin has a brief moment of sincerity with her. Though I imagine what really got her to talk in the end was fear, since she seemed pretty freaked out by quin when he suddenly started SHOUTING for Samuel to GTFO of the interrogation room. Which is another interesting change from the original since I do believe in LOM sam simply left out of exasperation with Gene's unsophisticated approach to interrogating a witness and not because he was told, on the whole UK's sam seemed more aggressive and persnickety (he took a swing at gene on several occasions) while samuel I hate to say is kind of Quin's bitch right now, but we'll see how the relationship changes over the series.
Speaking of the Gene/Sam dynamic, it is THIS dynamic that made LOM so enjoyable. Were it not for that I think the show would have lost so much, and that's what happened with the US lom when this dynamic was totally gone and Gene just didnt have his same spark and edge at all. To put the dynamic of their relationship simply: Gene was in a way, chaos personified, just as much as Sam was order and precision. Which is why they worked so well together. Gene used violence and went with his gut feeling, while Sam was more thoughtful and investigative. The two of them combined were truly a force to be reckoned with. Glad to see some of that present here!
Also I have to say, Iove the spanish chris! He's called cristobal (LOL) and is basically just as adorable and unassuming as the english version was, though so far not as moronic but perhaps we shall see how that goes. Spanish Annie, called Ana, is different from Annie in a notable way. Annie was sweet and good natured, but she was a tough girl, it didnt always show because she was painted as the cute girl next door type, but to live in such a rough city and work with such men she would have to have been made of iron. and as the show progresses you can see how resilient Annie really is. Ana on the other hand really seems like a cute cuddly bunny in the shape of an adult woman. So far this does not bother me very much, but we'll see if that lasts or if there's more to Ana than meets the eye.
Things I disliked: the length and pacing, the lack of music, the stubble on samuel's face, how samuel looks older than quin which is a bit odd since quin is supposed to be the big dog/papa bear to everyone so it made sense that he was the eldest of everyone, save of course phyllis. but it's not really a big deal in the end. it seems that the visuals are not as strong in general in the Spanish version. The writers put a good emphasis on dialogue and plot but a big part of LOM was as I mentioned earlier the music and also the visuals. there are alot of strong images in LOM. One of them being when annie helps ssam off the roof he was about to jump off of in ep 1. this scene is left in here, and rightly so, cause it is an important scene. however in lcda samuel ends up on the roof for different reasons than in the lom. but the problem is, the visuals completely lacked the beauty and intensity that was found in the UK version of that same scene. Alot of it had to do with camera angles and lighting, it's possible that the spanish production lacked the money to replicate this but I think unlike the music this was less a matter of money and more simply that they didnt see the need to replicate the angles to make the scene powerful. But for me I felt it was a loss. because it was filmed in a very plain straightforward way but that's how most of the show is filmed. all in all though, these are very minor complaints and hardly ruined my enjoyment in fact, i would say samuel's stubble annoyed me way more than any of their filming deviations did. Seriously, that stubble is fugly, worse it doesnt make sense. Sam is so neat and orderly normally, you'd think the spn counterpart would think to SHAVE before going to work!
In conclusion: La chica de ayer is Muy Caliente and better than the US adaptation of Life on Mars by miles. I cant wait to see the rest of the series! It's really like discovering life on mars all over again.
As for True Blood, I heard good reviews about it for a while but my lord was I ever SO sick of VAMPIRE STORIES. and then hearing it was set in new orleans I was like oh God, it's fuckin Anne Rice all over again, NOOOO. But damn, once again I was forced to eat my words...er thoughts. Cause True Blood is really freaking good. It's a vampire story but it doesnt really romanticize the vampires the same way other vampire stories do, vampires arent the center of the story either like in anne rice's books and nor is the story strictly about the love between bill and sookie ala twilight. Though Bill is for the record NOTHING like Edward, if that puts anyone's minds at ease. The story is really about Sookie a girl with telepathic powers (the how and the why of this is yet to be explained) and her friends and family and their family. So true blood is at it's heart about people and relationships but just to make things a little more spicy and fun, it throws in vampires and elements of gothic horror, a forbidden romance and sets it in the dirty south. The result is one hell of a show. Though the real credit should go to the original author of the books. I do wonder how much has been changed from the books though. I'm amazed that they managed to stretch the entire first book into a 12 episode season, especially since each ep is 50 minutes. Me thinks the family and friends didnt get as much time and attention in the books as they do the show. But I'll find out myself soon enough.
To
ashkt I want to say, I agree, Eric is kind of really hot. I loves me some sexy nordic menz <3 From certain angles he actually looks like kurt kobain. Also I heard apparently the character was the son of a viking, how fuckin COOL IS THAT? Would totally take him over Bill myself any damn day. I'm only sad he did not speak more swedish. I do not live in new orleans or the dirty south, I live in the upper regions, the "classy" south if you will. *dodges rocks* but I love the portrayal of the bon temps the town in which True Blood is set, it's not often you have so much intense focus on the south or southern people so it's nice to see even if most of the people so far have not been painted with the nicest brush. That said, the cast of true blood is also a complex one which I appreciate, everyone has their dirty laundry and even sweet honest to goodness Sookie isnt perfect, but I'd say she is pretty close to it without ever being grating or annoying. So kudos to you anna paquin! I take back all the mean stuff i said about your acting skills as rogue and you having a faux ass southern accent.
So alas it seems I have yet ANOTHER show to add to my list of shows and fandoms I'm currently following, which for anyone curious include so far: Ashes to Ashes, Merlin, Leverage, The Mentalist, Doctor Who and more recently the spanish Life on Mars aka La Chica de Ayer, which I enjoyed way more than I planned to, this seems to be happening alot lately....if this keeps up I might have to start accepting that my judgment is not infallible and then what will i....aahahhaha JUST KIDDING, as if that would ever happen.
Anyway if anyone is curious about my impressions regarding the Spanish Life on mars. I wrote out my thoughts about the first episode under the cut:
First and foremost, the characterizations were SPOT ON. I was so impressed! The spanish despite the large cultural, geographical and linguistic differences between spain and the UK and even despite the fact that alot of dialogue and plot details were changed, managed to stay far closer in spirit to the show and it's characters, than did the US adaptation. It's sad because I always felt like the biggest problem with the US version was a total lack of effort. They didnt try to give their own original spin on the LOM story, they didnt try to lovingly recreate the spirit and color of the original uk characters, and they didnt try to do much to make the dialogue snap and crackle the way it does in the UK and spanish version (more on that in a bit). But enough about the failures of the US version.
A very smart move by the spanish writers, was that they didnt try to follow the UK version to a T. I was glad of this, because spain? very different from the UK. and it would be weird of them to try and replicate the the gritty "sweeney" vibe. The cultural landscape is very different and I was glad to see that this was recognized and they didnt make the US mistake of copying whole scenes to the letter and instead gave their own spin and flavor to the same story. What's funny is the spanish version changes ALOT of the details and dialogue, which considering the change into a different language, makes sense. they could have tried to stretch themselves and mimic the english dialogue as closely as possible but they DIDNT and it WORKS. Because as I said earlier the characterizations in lcda are far closer in spirit to the UK versions than the US LOM managed to be. Sam really FEELS like the sam of UK lom but at the same time he's not. Also the spanish gene is called Quin which apparently means King and I decided it was totally the best name they could have given him. I think it's obvious the spanish writers or at least ONE of them was a Life on Mars fan and a Gene follower cause he was definitely in full color in this show, with all his outrageous phrases, cocksure attitude and chaotic harsh style of policing. What's funny is the spanish gene has a bit more of a romanticized edge than the UK version. The Uk one never tried to paint gene as either a good or bad guy, he was ill tempered, out of shape, a chain smoker, a borderline alcoholic, a sexist pig, disorganized, and narcissistic. and Yet he managed to be one of the most dynamic, fascinating and dare I say it?, endearing characters on UK tv in a long ass time. The spanish version paints gene in a somewhat kinder way, he's still a jackass but you get the feeling that underneath the reckless careless exterior is a guy who really knows what he's doing. Not to say that the UK version DIDNT but I got the feeling that he was more likely to just utterly lose his shit on people out of rage, impatience or frustration whereas there seems to be something a bit more calculated in Quin's violence and actions, whether this is fully intentional on behalf of the writers and actor I cant say but it is clear that they chose a pretty good looking guy to play Gene and I dont think it was a coincidence at all. This version of Gene seems to be toned down in alot of ways yet still manages to keep that devilish wit and rather obnoxious personality that Gene had.
I think the scene with Quin and Fuensanta best illustrates the subtle changes between this gene and the one in LOM. For instance in LOM the girl is mostly being obnoxious because she doesnt like the police and gene responds by being more obnoxious and then finally downright violent, though he doesnt hit her and instead topples the table between them both out of shear frustration with her flippant attitude and also to scare her into compliance, which doesnt work as well as he'd hoped but does work somewhat. Yet in LCDA, Quin doesnt topple the table but he seems 3 times as intimidating as Gene did, and gene could be SCARY sometimes, but he speaks to her in more of a low quiet voice and instead uses coercion and threats to convince fuensanta to speak up and fuensanta seems more deeply upset and also nervous than the UK girl did, like she is angry with the police for their persecution of hippies (cause she is one) and so believes he doesnt care about her friend's death. Whereas UK girl's distaste of police seemed to stem more from youthful rebellion against a perceived oppressive authority, fuensanta however seemed to WANT the help of said authority but just simply felt betrayed and ignored by it. She seems to change her tune a bit when Quin has a brief moment of sincerity with her. Though I imagine what really got her to talk in the end was fear, since she seemed pretty freaked out by quin when he suddenly started SHOUTING for Samuel to GTFO of the interrogation room. Which is another interesting change from the original since I do believe in LOM sam simply left out of exasperation with Gene's unsophisticated approach to interrogating a witness and not because he was told, on the whole UK's sam seemed more aggressive and persnickety (he took a swing at gene on several occasions) while samuel I hate to say is kind of Quin's bitch right now, but we'll see how the relationship changes over the series.
Speaking of the Gene/Sam dynamic, it is THIS dynamic that made LOM so enjoyable. Were it not for that I think the show would have lost so much, and that's what happened with the US lom when this dynamic was totally gone and Gene just didnt have his same spark and edge at all. To put the dynamic of their relationship simply: Gene was in a way, chaos personified, just as much as Sam was order and precision. Which is why they worked so well together. Gene used violence and went with his gut feeling, while Sam was more thoughtful and investigative. The two of them combined were truly a force to be reckoned with. Glad to see some of that present here!
Also I have to say, Iove the spanish chris! He's called cristobal (LOL) and is basically just as adorable and unassuming as the english version was, though so far not as moronic but perhaps we shall see how that goes. Spanish Annie, called Ana, is different from Annie in a notable way. Annie was sweet and good natured, but she was a tough girl, it didnt always show because she was painted as the cute girl next door type, but to live in such a rough city and work with such men she would have to have been made of iron. and as the show progresses you can see how resilient Annie really is. Ana on the other hand really seems like a cute cuddly bunny in the shape of an adult woman. So far this does not bother me very much, but we'll see if that lasts or if there's more to Ana than meets the eye.
Things I disliked: the length and pacing, the lack of music, the stubble on samuel's face, how samuel looks older than quin which is a bit odd since quin is supposed to be the big dog/papa bear to everyone so it made sense that he was the eldest of everyone, save of course phyllis. but it's not really a big deal in the end. it seems that the visuals are not as strong in general in the Spanish version. The writers put a good emphasis on dialogue and plot but a big part of LOM was as I mentioned earlier the music and also the visuals. there are alot of strong images in LOM. One of them being when annie helps ssam off the roof he was about to jump off of in ep 1. this scene is left in here, and rightly so, cause it is an important scene. however in lcda samuel ends up on the roof for different reasons than in the lom. but the problem is, the visuals completely lacked the beauty and intensity that was found in the UK version of that same scene. Alot of it had to do with camera angles and lighting, it's possible that the spanish production lacked the money to replicate this but I think unlike the music this was less a matter of money and more simply that they didnt see the need to replicate the angles to make the scene powerful. But for me I felt it was a loss. because it was filmed in a very plain straightforward way but that's how most of the show is filmed. all in all though, these are very minor complaints and hardly ruined my enjoyment in fact, i would say samuel's stubble annoyed me way more than any of their filming deviations did. Seriously, that stubble is fugly, worse it doesnt make sense. Sam is so neat and orderly normally, you'd think the spn counterpart would think to SHAVE before going to work!
In conclusion: La chica de ayer is Muy Caliente and better than the US adaptation of Life on Mars by miles. I cant wait to see the rest of the series! It's really like discovering life on mars all over again.
