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You'll never give up, never give up, never give up that ship
Last night I dreamed I discovered a previously unknown and probably nonexistent biography of Ralph Richardson. I also dreamed my front teeth fell out like popsicle sticks. One of these dreams was better than the other.
This afternoon![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
derspatchel and I met sairaali and M. at the A.R.T. for The Last Two People on Earth: An Apocalyptic Vaudeville, starring Mandy Patinkin and Taylor Mac. It was lovely. It's more or less what it sounds like: a relationship after the end of the world, described and explored strictly through gesture, mime, and music. Songs utilized include a post-apocalyptic update of Eddie Lawrence's "Old Philosopher," the best cover I have ever heard of the Pogues' "Fairytale of New York," and a subversively straight reading of "Another National Anthem" from Assassins. I grew up on Patinkin's singing (and Spanish accent), but I had never seen him in person before; he plays the older, dourer, more damaged of the pair, a tattered hermit who may or may not have been born in a trunk, but is living ferally in one when Mac's impish baggy-pantser rows a junk-cluttered lifeboat up to his shore. Mac turns out to remind me sharply of Donald O'Connor circa Singin' in the Rain, at least with a bowler hat on, a sprightly knack for physical comedy, and a mercurial talent for extracting everything from a picnic supper to a fifth of gin from the remote regions of judy's trousers. I have discovered that I am no longer the target audience for strobe lights—I didn't get a migraine, but I watched the storm sequences with one hand over my eyes. Eighty minutes with no intermission. If you can snag the tickets, it's worth your time.
So I have this relationship with the film of Stargate (1994), where I know it's a total brain-optional chariots-of-the-gods B-picture with almost certainly a white savior problem and in the days when I lived in a house with a television, I watched it every time it came around, because there are very few movies where a dork with a knowledge of dead languages saves the day. (To this day, even after Crash (1996), Secretary (2002), and Age of Ultron (2015), I am always faintly surprised when James Spader is not playing a sweet-natured nerd. Also, Jaye Davidson as Ra is ridiculously beautiful, even if the bass reverb voice processing is kind of unnecessary.) I knew about the television sequel and its multiple spinoffs; I never paid any attention to them because I couldn't see the point. People who watch more genre television than I do: are any of them any good? This question brought to you by vague curiosity upon realizing I lived through an entire sci-fi franchise without interacting with it almost at all. I mean, I've only seen the pilot of Farscape, but I've seen it.
This afternoon
derspatchel and I met sairaali and M. at the A.R.T. for The Last Two People on Earth: An Apocalyptic Vaudeville, starring Mandy Patinkin and Taylor Mac. It was lovely. It's more or less what it sounds like: a relationship after the end of the world, described and explored strictly through gesture, mime, and music. Songs utilized include a post-apocalyptic update of Eddie Lawrence's "Old Philosopher," the best cover I have ever heard of the Pogues' "Fairytale of New York," and a subversively straight reading of "Another National Anthem" from Assassins. I grew up on Patinkin's singing (and Spanish accent), but I had never seen him in person before; he plays the older, dourer, more damaged of the pair, a tattered hermit who may or may not have been born in a trunk, but is living ferally in one when Mac's impish baggy-pantser rows a junk-cluttered lifeboat up to his shore. Mac turns out to remind me sharply of Donald O'Connor circa Singin' in the Rain, at least with a bowler hat on, a sprightly knack for physical comedy, and a mercurial talent for extracting everything from a picnic supper to a fifth of gin from the remote regions of judy's trousers. I have discovered that I am no longer the target audience for strobe lights—I didn't get a migraine, but I watched the storm sequences with one hand over my eyes. Eighty minutes with no intermission. If you can snag the tickets, it's worth your time. So I have this relationship with the film of Stargate (1994), where I know it's a total brain-optional chariots-of-the-gods B-picture with almost certainly a white savior problem and in the days when I lived in a house with a television, I watched it every time it came around, because there are very few movies where a dork with a knowledge of dead languages saves the day. (To this day, even after Crash (1996), Secretary (2002), and Age of Ultron (2015), I am always faintly surprised when James Spader is not playing a sweet-natured nerd. Also, Jaye Davidson as Ra is ridiculously beautiful, even if the bass reverb voice processing is kind of unnecessary.) I knew about the television sequel and its multiple spinoffs; I never paid any attention to them because I couldn't see the point. People who watch more genre television than I do: are any of them any good? This question brought to you by vague curiosity upon realizing I lived through an entire sci-fi franchise without interacting with it almost at all. I mean, I've only seen the pilot of Farscape, but I've seen it.
no subject
Stargate Atlantis was also somewhat churned up by casting issues, at times.
There is absolutely nothing like Jaye Davidson in the shows. Alas. (There is nothing like Jaye Davidson, period.)
However, "...a dork with a knowledge of dead languages saves the day" is in fact a large part of SG-1's particular charm, as Dr. Daniel Jackson, re-cast but still a passionate nerd, is highly relevant to the show.
I like SG:A, too, but it scratches different itches.
no subject
Check. I scrounged a couple of episodes off the internet last night and I may have seen episodes from both sides of this divide, although it's difficult for me to tell, not knowing any of the cast except the guest character that won my heart. (That would be Robert Picardo's not actually evil auditor. I have to wait seven seasons for him?)
There is absolutely nothing like Jaye Davidson in the shows. Alas. (There is nothing like Jaye Davidson, period.)
Sigh.
However, "...a dork with a knowledge of dead languages saves the day" is in fact a large part of SG-1's particular charm, as Dr. Daniel Jackson, re-cast but still a passionate nerd, is highly relevant to the show.
I noticed the recasting! It was late enough at night that I found the partial likeness to Spader's Daniel both mildly distracting and hilarious.
I like SG:A, too, but it scratches different itches.
What's it good for?
no subject
The dynamic of the team is much different in SG:A and it's less grounded in present-day (well, dated now, but present then) Earth than SG1.
no subject
I shall have to watch it, then.
The dynamic of the team is much different in SG:A and it's less grounded in present-day (well, dated now, but present then) Earth than SG1.
I got that impression, with the whole lost-city-of-the-stars setting. One of the things that interested me about last night's SG-1 episodes was the insistence on retaining strong plot links to Earth and specifically the administration of the U.S. military, as opposed to just spinning off into interstellar adventures. I didn't feel like I'd seen that a lot on TV.
no subject
If you're starting to watch SG:A, I will tell you that I have a fantasy of David Hewlett (who plays Rodney) as Richard III.
no subject
That's really neat.
If you're starting to watch SG:A, I will tell you that I have a fantasy of David Hewlett (who plays Rodney) as Richard III.
I am planning to give SG-1 a try first, but I will certainly keep this casting in mind when I get to Atlantis.
no subject
1st season especially of SG-1 is very grounded in US Military Mindset, though they keep aspects of it throughout the rest of the show. SG-1 as a whole is all about Going Out And Discovering Things, though it gets intimately wrapped up in its worldbuilding, sometimes in actual interesting ways.
SG:A is, as someone said, like Voyager (but better), in that they're a bunch of folks stuck out in the wider universe and seeking plot coupons in order to get home. The focus is more on the exploration of the societies around them and the Ancient Technology than on the getting home, though. Also, unlike Voyager, they're mostly a bunch of scientists.
no subject
Example?
The focus is more on the exploration of the societies around them and the Ancient Technology than on the getting home, though. Also, unlike Voyager, they're mostly a bunch of scientists.
That does sound appealing to me, even without the lure of Richard Woolsey. So long as they are not stupidly drawn scientists, I'm all for watching people study stuff.