You ought to get yourself... by Gixxer

GENERAL DISCUSSIONS

You ought to get yourself...

POSTED BY: GIXXER
UPDATED: Thursday, March 23, 2006 16:11
SHORT URL:
VIEWED: 4089
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Wednesday, March 22, 2006 9:18 AM

...Twin Peaks.

Fair to call it the Firefly of its day.

I think I'm recommending it to the right crowd here. You'll like it, and pick up on some parallels.

G

(There's whores in it)

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Wednesday, March 22, 2006 9:54 AM

FIVEBYFIVE

(you ought to get yourself)

...Battlestar Galactica. Easily the best Sci-Fi show on television (that's running new episodes

), and the season one DVDs are reasonably priced. Not the same show as Firefly, but extremely good.

I've never seen Twin Peaks.

----------------------------
5x5: Alan Tudyk was in 28 Days, not 28 Days Later. There's a difference.
Paladin: So, no wacky zombie with a Hawaiian shirt, then?

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Wednesday, March 22, 2006 9:57 AM

JCW

Haven't seen Twin Peaks - but I agree that Battlestar Galactica is a great TV Series.
I also recommend it to anyone.

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Wednesday, March 22, 2006 10:48 AM

GUENEVER

Quote:
Originally posted by Gixxer:
...Twin Peaks.

Fair to call it the Firefly of its day.

Northern Exposure. I'm watching it disk by disk off of Netflix right now; pleasently suprised by how good it is.

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Wednesday, March 22, 2006 10:50 AM

SADLITTLEKING

Quote:
Originally posted by jcw:
Haven't seen Twin Peaks - but I agree that Battlestar Galactica is a great TV Series.
I also recommend it to anyone.

So do I. Excellent series. And it keeps getting better as it goes on. No show has made my jaw drop in shock and awe as much as BSG.

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Wednesday, March 22, 2006 11:01 AM

MSCKAREN

Well, Twin Peaks was kind of a freak fest - closer to X-Files, I think, but a good show for sure.

BSG is a good show, too, but seriously lacking in the funny. Farscape might fill the bill for that.

Northern Exposure was "must see" for me when it was on the air but, strangely, I have no desire to revisit that territory.

For excitement now, I watch 24. The Daily Show fills my requirement for clever humor but I miss JW TV!!

So if you haven't tried out Buffy or Angel, you should check those out. JW & company did some amazing work with those shows and you'll see the groundwork for themes continued in Firefly. Angel would probably appeal the most to the 25+ crowd although later seasons of Buffy get very adult in theme and angst.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Appears they've cancelled the show and we're still here. What does that make us?"
"Big damn junkies, Sir!"
"Ain't we just."
http://karenallover.blogspot.com/

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Wednesday, March 22, 2006 1:15 PM

DAYVE

Twin Peaks...wow, that's a show i haven't thought of in a while..
I actually recorded the entire series on VHS....so you know it's been a while.
If you know anything about David Lynch (producer/director/writer), you get an idea of the kind of show it was. A few of the films he either wrote or directed were... Blue Velvet, Mulholland Drive, Lost Highway, Wild at Heart...and the movie about Twin Peaks - Fire Walk with Me..... all very odd movies to say the least. And don't forget the immortal Eraserhead... that one hooked me on Lynch's work...
At the time Peaks aired, it was, beyond a doubt the strangest thing on the tube. Dwarfs, Log Lady, Bob.... Sheryl Lynn Finn (sp), inter-dimensonal time travel.... the whole ball of wax....it really had folks sctatching their heads alright.

My guess is that a lot of Browncoats are like me in that they prefer entertainment that gives you something to think about and not just voting people off an island because they can't swim fast enough or whatever it is...

I've always been attracted to programming that was outside the box...and Firefly fits that mold to a tee.

Thanks for reminding me of Twin Peaks...i'll have to drag out the old tapes.....and the vcr...! hope it still works

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Wednesday, March 22, 2006 3:13 PM

AURAPTOR

America loves a winner!

Quote:
Originally posted by Guenever:
Quote:
Originally posted by Gixxer:
...Twin Peaks.

Fair to call it the Firefly of its day.

Northern Exposure. I'm watching it disk by disk off of Netflix right now; pleasently suprised by how good it is.

I was nuts about that show for the first 2-3 yrs. Some episode are flat out magical. It's one of those shows that was so good the 1st time watching it, I'm kinda reluctant to go back and watch them again..... strange? Yeah, maybe.

People love a happy ending. So every episode, I will explain once again that I don't like people. And then Mal will shoot someone. Someone we like. And their puppy. - Joss

" They don't like it when you shoot at 'em. I worked that out myself. "

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Wednesday, March 22, 2006 3:14 PM

GIXXER

It just crossed my mind today, and I remembered how good it was. Rich source of sig quotes, too...

I'm glad there are some who have never seen, or heard of it. Makes it so much better when they finally do.

I'm going to get the DVD, but typical... as well as canning it after the second series, they've only published the pilot and first series on DVD

Hang on to that VHS...

I've just got the BSG Miniseries. Not bad, but didn't really grip me. The po-faced earnestness of it was a bit much. Seriously needed to lighten up, or get locked in a barn with an old V-8, some welding gear and enough sheet metal to make a tank.

Mrs G, as a long-time fan of the original (judging by the number of signed Richard Hatch and Dirk Benedict photographs staring down at me) refuses to look at the new one.

G

(Capitals are for shouting. Gordon Cole (David Lynch) was really deaf)

Gordon: HOLY SMOKES! WHO IS THAT?
Cooper: Shelley Johnson.
(Gordon motions he didn't hear)
Cooper: SHELLEY JOHNSON.
Gordon: WHAT A BEAUTY! KINDA REMINDS ME OF THE STATUE, THE BABE WITHOUT THE ARMS.
Cooper: Venus de Milo.
Gordon: THE NAME WAS MILO, BUT THAT'S BESIDE THE POINT. THAT'S THE KINDA GIRL THAT MAKES YOU WISH YOU SPOKE A LITTLE FRENCH. 'SCUSE ME COOP WHILE I TRY MY HAND AT A LITTLE COUNTER-ESPARANTO.
Cooper: Good Luck, Gordon.
Gordon: HELLO. I WAS WONDERING IF I MIGHT TROUBLE YOU FOR A CUP OF STRONG BLACK COFFEE AND IN THE PROCESS ENGAGE YOU WITH AN ANECDOTE OF NO SMALL AMUSEMENT. THE NAME IS GORDON COLE AND I COULDN'T HELP BUT NOTICE YOU FROM THE BOOTH. AND...WELL, SEEING YOUR BEAUTY NOW I FEEL AS THOUGH MY STOMACH IS FILLED WITH A TEAM OF BUMBLEBEES.
Shelley: You don't have to shout. I can hear you.
Gordon: I HEARD THAT. I, I HEARD THAT.
Shelley: Um, do you want anything else besides coffee?
Gordon: I HEARD YOU PERFECTLY!
Shelley: And I can hear you, honest.
Gordon: YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND. You don't understand Miss. Do you see this? For twenty years I've been asking people to please speak up, but for some weird reason I can hear you clear as a bell. Say something else.
Shelley: Um, um, do you want pie with your coffee?
Gordon: Good Lord I can hear you perfectly. This is like some sort of miracle. A...a phenomenon.
Log Lady: What's wrong with miracles?
Gordon: WHAT'S THAT?
Log Lady: This cherry pie is a miracle.
Gordon: WOULD YOU PLEASE ASK THE LADY WITH THE LOG TO SPEAK UP.
Shelley: Um, the pie, she was talking about the cherry pie.
Gordon: I heard you again. I heard you again.
Shelley: Would you like some pie?
Gordon: MASSIVE, MASSIVE QUANTITIES AND A GLASS OF WATER, SWEETHEART. MY SOCKS ARE ON FIRE.

Shelley: Do you want some more pie? A whole pie?
Gordon: YES I WOULD MISS JOHNSON. AND A PIECE OF PAPER AND A PENCIL. I PLAN ON WRITING AN EPIC POEM ABOUT THIS GORGEOUS PIE.

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Wednesday, March 22, 2006 5:01 PM

FLORALBUNNY

Okay, gorrammit, that DOES it!
Gotta put on my faded Log Lady outfit (where's the ruttin' log???) and order up some Twin Peaks.

bun
-- bastards singed my turtle --
----- why's the rum gone? -----

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Wednesday, March 22, 2006 10:42 PM

ZOID

Twin Peaks the Firefly of its day? Hmmm...

David Lynch is a hit-or-miss kind of artist. I found "Eraserhead" (1977) very dark and disturbing (that thing with the wormbaby: creepy); but it put Lynch on my radar. He followed up with the multi-nominated "Elephant Man" (1980). Again, disturbing and yet riveting.

Then he wrecked "Dune" (1984). Kyle MacLachlan (later of "Twin Peaks") aided and abetted in this embezzlement of Herbert fans.

I watched as much of Twin Peaks (1990) as I could stomach, but generally found it inane. My one favorite recurring character on the show was 'The Man From Another Place' portrayed by Michael J. Anderson (who some might remember as Samson of the HBO series, "Carnivàle" (2003)). But that was mostly due to 'trick' cinematography: Lynch filmed Anderson moving backwards and then reversed the film to give the impression of forward motion.

It was an intriguing effect, but not novel. The first time I had seen it was in "Top Secret!" (1984), starring Val Kilmer in a send-up of Elvis Presley movies. In that flick, Peter Cushing (a.k.a. 'Grand Moff Tarkin') gets the 'backward' treatment and it's so seamlessly done that many viewers didn't even snap to it until Cushing apparently inhales a cloud of dust onto an old book.

On a side note, this is also the trick that makes Samara so unsettling in "The Ring" (2002). The actress is filmed walking backward, then the film is reversed to make it appear as though she is moving forward, yet in an unnervingly disjointed fashion that is creepily inhuman.

F.F. Coppola (Nicholas Cage's uncle and benefactor) also used the effect extensively and to great effect in "Bram Stoker's Dracula" (1992).

So, Twin Peaks = Firefly? I think not. Twin Peaks was the fad of its day. It was the Desperate Housewives or Lost of its day. People gossipped about it at the water cooler. Nobody even got the chance to see Firefly (thanks fer nothin', F*x), much less gush over it with perfect strangers in the produce aisle of the Piggly Wiggly.

Finally, Firefly was unique for its realism, while Twin Peaks was noted for its surrealism. If anything, the shows are the antithesis of one another, on every level you'd care to examine...

Critically,

zoid

P.S.
"Bram Stoker's Dracula" is a great film, if for no other reason than that it gets 'La Bellucci' (Monica) spectacularly nude. That woman is living proof that there is a God, and that He loves us very much... For those who prefer the male form, Keanu Reeves, shirtless. Call it a 'date flick'. And, of course, it's the role of Gary Oldman's career thus far. They really got Vlad right in this one. Rent it, if you must; but you'll wind up buying it afterward, so why not just cut to the chase? That's my "You ought to get yourself..." recommendation.
_________________________________________________

"I aim to misbehave." -Capt. Mal Reynolds, Serenity, a.k.a. 'the BDBOF'

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Wednesday, March 22, 2006 11:03 PM

GIXXER

No argument with the hit-or-missness, but I think he was right on the money with Twin Peaks. If only for having gags in it for once. Makes all the difference.

I can't agree that it was anything like Lost or Desperate Housewives. They try to be quirky / weird, but it just comes off as a half-assed "look how clever / daring we are". Like Joss's stuff, Twin Peaks succeeded because it did the weirdness for real, and wasn't all that concerned about spelling it out. If you didn't get it, you probably would some day. Anyway, a little disorientation never hurt anyone.

Dune. 6-lane pile up of a car crash. I've got it, but lack the patience to sit all the way through. But to be fair, Lynch isn't precious about it.

"I started selling out on Dune," {Lynch recalls.} "Looking back, it's no one's fault but my own. I probably shouldn't have done that picture, but I saw tons and tons of possibilities for things I loved, and this was the structure to do them in. there was so much room to create a world. But I got strong indications from Dino De Laurentiis of what kind of film they expected, and I knew I didn't have final cut. And little by little - and this is the danger, because it doesn't happen in chunks, it happens in the tiniest little shavings, little sandings - little by little every decision was always made with them in mind and their sort of film. Things I felt I could get away with within their framework. So it was destined to be a failure, to me."

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Wednesday, March 22, 2006 11:25 PM

ZOID

Gixxer:

Yeah, I don't mean it to sound like I'm a Lynch hater. As I said, I admired his work prior to Dune, and I admired "Lost Highway", if for no other reason than Robert 'I Offed My Wife' Blake's character in the flick.

"Mulholland Drive" and "Blue Velvet"? Not so much. The former was without flavor, the latter a little too scatty, and I generally enjoy Dennis Hopper's work. Blue Velvet and Waterworld are the two exceptions to this rule. I thoroughly enjoyed his supporting role in "True Romance" (1993). The bit where he explains to Mafioso Christopher Walken how Sicilians are dark-complected because African Moors conquered the island and interbred with Sicilian women... Priceless. As a means of escaping certain grisly torture, that was a stroke of screenplay genius.

v/r,
-zed

EDIT: To respond to your edited comments, I turned 32 in 1990, the first year Twin Peaks aired. Although it was on the tip of everyone's tongue in those days -- "What's gonna happen next?" -- "Who do you think killed Laura Palmer?" -- in much the same way as Desperate Housewives or Lost is today (that was the only parallel I was drawing), I was incredibly non-plussed by Twin Peaks.

My taste merely differs from yours. I thought somebody might be interested in an opposing viewpoint; it is not my intention to negate your opinion. Not everyone will enjoy Twin Peaks, because it's so odd. Many will enjoy Twin Peaks, for that exact same reason. But in the final analysis -- real vs. surreal, outrageous public popularity vs. obscurity and ignominious public death -- Firefly and Twin Peaks are photograhic negatives of one another, in every detail. Joss Whedon excels in making his characters, stories and dialogue unfathomably real; David Lynch is the master of everything bizarre. Polar opposites. Da Vinci juxtaposed with Dali.

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Wednesday, March 22, 2006 11:43 PM

GIXXER

Hey, opinions are perfectly OK.

All I'm interested in is raising the profile. I've no idea why I've suddenly got the bug about this, but I'll get over it soon.

And if I rack up any conversions, that'll be a bonus.

I've never managed to properly catch Northern Exposure, but it does appeal to me.

And Gary Oldman does rule. Can chew the scenery with the best, but has the taste to knock it off when necessary. His quietest role must have been Gordon in Batman begins, and it was still great.

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Thursday, March 23, 2006 12:20 AM

ZOID

Gixxer wrote, in part:

Quote:
...All I'm interested in is raising the profile. I've no idea why I've suddenly got the bug about this, but I'll get over it soon.

And if I rack up any conversions, that'll be a bonus...

Well, tell it, preacher! I would certainly never say "Don't watch Twin Peaks". Lynch is a craftsman. Of the surrealist school, but an artist nonetheless. Compared to the majority of the pap that airs on television (or, hell, even in the movie theatres), his work does have one thing going for it that everybody can appreciate: Integrity.

Even if you don't like it, you'll recognize the virtuousity of the work; you'll know you've witnessed an exercise in Art. That's true.

v/r,
-zed

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Thursday, March 23, 2006 12:48 AM

AUSSAY

... Futurama series 1 - 4

An episode of Futurama and Firefly cures what ails ya!

"Shake your head boy, your eyes are stuck"

www.fireflyfans.net
http://www.browncoatsriseagain.com

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Thursday, March 23, 2006 7:12 AM

DAYVE

Quote:
Originally posted by zoid:
Of the surrealist school

had to throw this out there.....

question: how many surrealists does it take to screw in a lightbulb ?

answer: fish

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Thursday, March 23, 2006 3:07 PM

DONCOAT

... Wonderfalls.

Another series from Tim Minear that was treated, if anything, even worse by Fox than Firefly was.

Great ensemble cast, quirky characters, sharp and witty writing, cool setting, and perhaps the niftiest premise for a TV show since, well, Firefly. And for a long time before that, Firefly aside.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I don't disagree on any particular point.

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Thursday, March 23, 2006 4:11 PM

CYBERSNARK

...NCIS

One of the only three "police procedurals" I have ever been able to watch and care about (the others FYI were The Inside, by our very own Tim Minear, and Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex).

It may not be particularly realistic in the forensics department, but (as with The Inside), it's the characters that sell the show. I feel I know these people. Equal parts serious, fun, witty, outright laugh-out-loud funny, and jaw-droppingly shocking.

Last season's finale rivals the Big Damn Spike in Serenity for ripping out your heart and making you choke on it.

Hell, swap the NCIS offices for a spaceship, and I can see Gibbs, DiNozzo, Zeva, Abby, McGee, Ducky, and even Palmer as denizens of the 'verse. Loyal, hard-working Alliance investigative officers, perhaps, but they'd fit in the 'verse nonetheless.

Great, now I'm stuck on the thought of Gibbs' team being sent after a certain pair of fugitives.

Then Gibbs & Mal end up getting along like fellow veterans. . .

-----
We applied the cortical electrodes but were unable to get a neural reaction from either patient.

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