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In the near future, I may find myself in need of massive amounts of passive entertainment, and no dependable access to. Which means I should start stockpiling now.
So, does anyone have recs for tv series or movies I ought to check out?
Bonus points for spaceships and/or interesting ladies! Minus points for 2D animation which I am slightly allergic to, but feel free to try to win me over anyway.
Currently I am considering:
-Luther
-Babylon 5
-Catching up with White Collar season 2
-Giving Fringe a fair change, rather than catching 10 minutes here or there and getting bored.
-FMA: Brotherhood ??? (I *did* make it through the first FMA series, by dint of staring mostly at the subtitles.)
So, does anyone have recs for tv series or movies I ought to check out?
Bonus points for spaceships and/or interesting ladies! Minus points for 2D animation which I am slightly allergic to, but feel free to try to win me over anyway.
Currently I am considering:
-Luther
-Babylon 5
-Catching up with White Collar season 2
-Giving Fringe a fair change, rather than catching 10 minutes here or there and getting bored.
-FMA: Brotherhood ??? (I *did* make it through the first FMA series, by dint of staring mostly at the subtitles.)
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Princess Tutu is lovely and light until it's lovely and not light at all. (2D animation, okay, but it's right up your alley narratively. Possibly apart from all the ballet.)
Sarah Jane Adventures, if you haven't seen it or haven't seen it all.
If you want costume drama recs, I am your girl. Downton Abbey has some seriously kick-ass women. And Cranford has wall-to-wall women of various awesome varieties.
I've heard good things about the Borgias, though I don't know how ass-kicking the ladies are.
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Jumping in because I've probably been one of the people flailing at Petra over The Borgias.
The ladies of The Borgias are individually and collectively awesome, though I don't think ass-kicking is the right term. It was a bit hard for women to kick ass in the Italian Renaissance, though the Borgias ladies each do a commendable job of being strong, flawed, and utterly female characters. There are a number of women on the show, but the three main women are Lucrezia Borgia, Giulia Farnese, and Vannozza dei Cattanei.
Lucrezia, of course is well known for her Femme Fatale reputation, but when we meet her, she's still quite young. Lucrezia here is fourteen, just married for the first time, and her story is all about learning what it means to not only be a Borgia during the Italian Renaissance, but what it means to be a woman during the Italian Renaissance. Her storyline is heavily saturated in violence (I can spoil more if you think necessary), but it's far from being pointless. Lucrezia takes what happens to her and begins to rebuild herself stronger. It's problematic, but not the only part of her story.
Giulia is the new Papal mistress and friend of Lucrezia, and she's quite autonomous for a 15th century widow. She exudes a quiet sort of assurance and control, which is interesting for a woman so relatively young by our standards (the historical Giulia was 18, this one is most likely in her mid-twenties). She's shown teaching Lucrezia explicitly how to use her "virtues" (beauty, cleverness, age) to exert some control over her life, and I love their scenes together. Giulia also gains a remarkable amount of influence over Rodrigo (aka Pope Alexander VI aka ASKDJFKDSLKL MARRY ME JEREMY IRONS), able to rein in his temper and (in future episodes) act as envoy for him.
Vannozza is my absolute favorite character on television in a long time. I love fierce, powerful older women who face a huge shakeup to their way of life (*cough* Laura Roslin, Iris Crowe), and Vannozza captured my heart in the scene that shot is from. Vannozza, we learn, has been Rodrigo's mistress for years, dismissed her husband (which, holy SHIT - GO HER, for being so powerful in the 15th century) and had four children with him. And when she finds out that he lied to her and said he had to be chaste, and yet plunked Giulia down in an ex-cardinal's palace and has been carrying on rather publicly with her, Vannozza does not sit at home and cry. No, she storms into the Vatican, calls him a lecher and Giulia a whore in front of a dozen cardinals, and generally lets him have it with both barrels. Vannozza loves her children just as fiercely - she lets Rodrigo have it again when he bars her from Lucrezia's wedding, she exiles Juan for being a hugely disrespectful asshat, she walks Gioffre down the aisle, and Cesare is clearly the favorite child of her manipulative little heart. I love that we get to see her both as a mother *and* as an intelligent politician in her own right.
Ahem. Sorry. But I am super in-love with this show right now, and you need to go watch it!
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Lol! So long as it is not an actual unicorn! I recently checked into My Little Ponies, to see what had won so many people over. *Mistake*. Though, yeah, I've heard good things about Princess Tutu.
Do you happen to remember the quality of animation? Eg, it's really a struggle for me to get through cheaply made anime, but A:TLA I managed with few problems. Batman Beyond was *okay* (though I've still only seen a scattered few eps of JLU).
Sarah Jane Adventures, if you haven't seen it or haven't seen it all.
*sads*
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The first few episodes of Princess Tutu are deeply "Hey, I saw this when it was Sailor Moon." It does kick in.
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Movies!
If you haven't seen The Gymnast, you may well love it! (Brief Gymnast squee and some pictures about halfway down this entry.)
Breakfast With Scot is an adorable, sweet and well-observed movie about a semi-closeted male couple who accidently gain custody of a ten year old boy who loves Christmas carols, make up and being fabulous.
Imagine Me & You! Oh, I love this one! Very funny, brilliantly well-observed lesbian rom com about two women who meet on one's wedding day. I love how sympathetic it is to all the characters.
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I like White Collar too.
And Babylon 5 is still on my list of shows to watch so no advice there except everyone I talk to tells me to skip the first season.
I've been catching up on Doctor Who and rewatching Merlin and I saw Justified for the first time recently.
I also second the rec for Imagine Me & You!
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Still. It is very pretty.
Are you enjoying the Dr Who, assuming you've reached the Moffat seasons? I love the streak of goofiness it has acquired.
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I am all caught up on Doctor Who! Basically I spent last week finally watching season 5 for the first time, and then of course the first couple eps of season 6. Eleven is amazing. Amy and Rory are awesome, and River is delightful. I'm at the stage where I just want to hug the show all the time. :D
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I'm currently watching Game of Thrones, which I love to bits, but your enjoyment of it might depend on how much you like gritty fantasy. Genre-untypical amounts of awesome women, though. (On the downside, they have to live in a seriously misogynistic world, which is more than a little wince-inducing.)
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For GoT, I suspect it's too early in its run to really serve my distracted marathoning purposes. I'll probably end up checking it out eventually, though. :)
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I got through half an episode before my brain *really* started jibbering, and now I get an adrenaline spike whenever I see an icon of a My Little Pony. It is the most ridiculous problem.
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(My issues with 2D animation... I think it's an uncanny valley thing? It's very hard to get all the pieces of character movements, backgrounds, etc to line up *quite* how I expect, and it becomes aggressively unpleasant for me to try to watch if things are in any way *off*. Flash or vector style animation gets me the worst.)
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Yeah, low quality animation can be really hard to watch.
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If you can find it, Hudson Hawk is a great movie.
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If I were to choose a 2-D animated show with which to convert you it would have to be Time Jam: Valerian and Laureline (http://www.crunchyroll.com/valerian-and-laureline) It's a British/Japanese produced show based on an old French comic book. Basically, a time traveler accidentally erases the existence of Earth, and together with his highly competent new female companion from the middle ages, he must commence bounty hunting to make ends meet and eventually find a way to undo the mistake.
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CLONE HIGH! It is animated but I cannot rec it enough. Clones of historical figures (Abraham Lincoln, Joan of Arc, Cleopatra, etc.) going to high school together. So funny.
Veronica Mars, if somehow you have not heard of it already.
I've only seen the first season so far, but Chuck is great fun.
Community is hilarious.
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...I've actually been having this urge to watch Chuck, just to see if it is viddable to Matthew Good's Downloading Blues (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o7c0JQZ2YF8). Something must be!
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The Borgias is pretty pretty pretty! And has Jeremy Irons munching on the scenery as Rodrigo Borgia/Pope Alexander VI. It does have scenes of marital rape with the teenage Lucrezia, though, and more murder than you can shake a stick at (more even than detective series set in cosy English villages!)
In animation, I've seen people raving about the greatness of Tiger and Bunny (superheroes with reality TV programmes, AFAIK) but I haven't seen it, so don't know much more.
Oh, and if vampires trying to be decent people who fight crime appeals, then RH Plus, which is funny and rarely takes itself too seriously.
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Ahaha! My first proper fandom was Forever Knight. True story.
...key word was often "trying" though.
Over on DW, I am being hardsold The Borgias as well. I am not sure I will be able to resist under such a well coordinated charge! ;)
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I got this far and shouted "Forever Knight!" to myself.
/Hangs his head in shame
//Still loved the show
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Weeds (natch)
Dead Like Me: awesome quirky show
Dexter: serial killers are people too!
Battlestar Gallactica: You've probably seen it of course... I think my wife and I were the only people who didn't, thanks to grad-school pressures, but we're watching it now!
Pushing Daisies: good for fluffy entertainment
They all have good female characterizations (give dexter an episode of two before they stop being 1-dimensional though). BG is the only one with spaceships though :).
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Which I think is a pretty good argument for your first suggestion, y/y.
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Why no funny?
Gutter Humor:
It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia (If Arrested Development had a red-headed stepchild, this would be it)
The League, Season 1 & 2
*2D* Archer Season 1 & 2
Character-Centric Humor:
Big Bang Theory (There's a lot of cliches and adolescent jokes, but its strength is getting you to invest in the characters and laughing with them or at them)
How I Met Your Mother
Perfect Couples (I don't understand why people don't like it. I guess I'm just more willing to buy into the characters)
The Office (Not funny. I'll admit it. But fun....?)
High-Brow Humor:
30 Rock (It's not a Lemon Party without Old Dick!)
Parks and Recreation (The key to burning an ex-wife effigy is to dip it in paraffin wax and then toss the flaming bottle of isopropyl alcohol from a safe distance. Do not stand too close when you light an ex-wife effigy.)
Modern Family (Luke: I say we eat what we kill. Manny: Then I guess we'll be eating the mood.)
Community (Shirley, pretend I'm saying this in a soothing, reassuring, non-robotic voice. We're not gonna make it to the hospital.)
*2D* The Venture Brothers (Henchman 21: Here is where you are wrong, my friend. This woman has killed before.
Henchman 24: Allegedly.
Henchman 21: Okay, whatever. But she was a big girl. We are talking about a large, healthy woman of questionable stability.
Henchman 24: Oh, you are totally underestimating the never-say-die scrappiness of a survivor.
The Monarch: Hey, guess what? Nobody cares who would win in a crazy fantasy fist-fight between Anne Frank and Lizzie Borden. We never should have brought the henchmen. We're going to be the only ones there with henchmen! )
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MOAR VENTURE QUOTES
Sometimes I forget just how witty Venture Brothers is. And then I am reminded...
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I liked Farscape.
Doctor Who is a good time.
The West Wing is my go to series for bulk TV watching, it's a million hours long, there are always high quality torrents of it available, and it's full of lots of cool characters, and doesn't suffer for running in the background while I poke at the laptop.
MST3k occupies a similar position, but it requires a bit more attention, and is harder to collect in large amounts.
I'm just finishing a rewatch of the full DS9, which is great.
Leaving out all the anime, It seems I don't watch that much TV, which is, good? I don't know, we seem to be missing a good sci fi ongoing right now.
From: (Anonymous)
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