I'VE GOT MY EYE ON YOU...

: "wish [komm zu mir]." franka potente.

been watching a lot of stuff lately. Trio has been running a theme throughout the month of December called "Brilliant But Cancelled", which has been kind of interesting. in addition to one-hour specials discussing how, when, where, and why network executives view the idea of television programming, and what constitutes a successful show, they've also been airing blocks of programming they consider to have been brilliant but cancelled.

it's not particularly short-sighted, either, which is what's interesting about it to me. they've been running The Ernie Kovacs Show (not sure which incarnation, actually; Trio unfortunately isn't very specific either in what they say about it when running it or on their webpage), amongst other things. they've also been running Action, Gun (link to Spanish review; couldn't find anything v. detailed in English, sorry), and various other things. it's a really great idea, and i hope they (or someone) does more things like this. it's really sad to see things like this, where the concepts were so interesting and original and were thusly killed before their time...and yet countless tons of crap are "successful" year after year. there are some things to everything they've been showing that fall rather flat, but it's because these shows did take some risks. watching the bit of Ernie Kovacs that i did was particularly interesting, both in general and in temporal context (don't know what episode it was, but the musical guest was Enid Mosier & the Trinidad Steel Drum Band). it's uneven, sure, but when it's on, it's positively brilliant. so this is fun...but more than slightly depressing. oh well.

also watched The Princess and the Warrior a couple of weeks ago. and i've been curious to see what other people had said about it since seeing it myself, so i've poked around a bit. and it seems like most people went into it expecting it to be just like Run Lola Run. which is stupid, really. and you'd hope people would know better. i'm very glad it wasn't, because nothing makes me sadder than to see someone with such obvious potential to be really interesting and engaging as Tom Tykwer has to go and become utterly monotonous with each film created. The Princess and the Warrior, as such, quite obviously has his hands all over it---but while it does also play heavily on themes of chance and fate, it's in no way some lame retelling of the same story. which serves the film, himself, and the actors in much better stead, quite honestly. i hate seeing people stuck in a rut, and so far i'm happy to say Tykwer isn't one of them (and that includes his scoring work with this film, too). must see more of his stuff. ^^

rewatched Donnie Darko again; this time, via DVD. was v. curious to see the extra stuff they'd put on the DVD, especially the deleted scenes---when watching it the first time, i felt like it was quite good, but there was something missing. perhaps in the "something's been cut out" way, not the "i forgot to put this little helpful bit in" way. so, DVD rental. and while the deleted scenes were indeed quite entertaining, i wouldn't classify them as really bringing new light to anything incredibly important to the run of the movie. but watching it again did make more sense this time around, so perhaps it was just me the first time. i think i like it more the more i watch it, and again am rather depressed to realise that Richard Kelly was only 26 when he wrote and directed this. and even more than that, that it's his first and (so far) only film! man. ;.; i think i'll have to actually purchase this sometime. ^^

finally, watched Reign of Fire a couple of days ago. and as expected, it's very nice eye candy, but the plot falls flat on its face. another case of interesting ideas that weren't carried through particularly well (if at all), and other angst!plot contrivances that were carried on far too long. the way it was shot was really gorgeous though, and the effects were quite nice as well. oh, and it also made me find Matthew McConaughey far less annoying than i ever thought possible (in fact, had his name not been mentioned in the credits, i don't think i would have even fully realised he was in it). so, pretty enough to look at, but rather eh overall.