TV Review -- Spartacus: Blood and Sand (Season One)

Spartacus: Blood and Sand
Season One
Starz

This is probably going to be a very short review - though, knowing how I tend to get carried away on this blog, it may end up being longer than anticipated. Insert "that's what she said" joke here.

Anyway, a couple months ago I sped through the first season of Starz's bodily fluid-filled take on the tale of Spartacus, the Thracian gladiator who led a slave revolt in ancient Rome, probably most famous for his striking resemblance to Kirk Douglas. Starz has recently been making a noticeable push in the original programming department, and the network's business model seems to be essentially: Violence + Nudity = Profit. Much like peanut butter and chocolate and Simon and Garfunkel, violence and nudity is a pretty potent combination, and it's in full effect in Spartacus: Blood and Sand. The first episode is particularly rife with TV-MA goodness; it seems that not a minute goes by without someone receiving a gory neck wound or a nice roll in the hay. Despite a somewhat rocky start, however, Spartacus soon reveals itself to be a bit more than meets the eye.

Random Topics: What's a 'Ginia Bellafante?' - A Review of a Review

It seems like The New York Times gets a lot of shit these days. First, you've got the rather unpleasant neo-conservative, Fox News-watching crowd that take every opportunity to deride the paper as a "liberal rag" and scoff at the mere mention of the paper's name. Then you've got the people that love to discuss the imminent death of the newspaper industry - guess which money-hemorrhaging national paper is their go-to representation of the growing obsolescence of old media?

Normally, I'm a pretty staunch defender of the good ol' NY Times. I couldn't really tell you why, except possibly residual fondness from having it delivered throughout my childhood. The crossword puzzles are still consistently par excellence, so there's that. In any case, it was therefore somewhat of a surprise for me to find myself, along with many others, shaking my metaphorical fist at the paper this past week.

The source of my considerable nerd rage was a TV review, published by the Times, of the (then upcoming) new HBO series, Game of Thrones, which you can read here. Many, many people have already commented on how oblivious and unhelpful Ginia Bellafante's review was (including George R.R. Martin, the man behind the novels the HBO show is based on), but I figured I would join in the fun as well.

Random Topics: Delicious Strawberry-Flavored Death

For anyone who hasn't watched Fox's awesome sci-fi show, Fringe, this last half of season three might be your last chance to see it during its original run - Fox recently announced that they were moving the show to Friday nights, a time slot that has pretty much guaranteed a quick death for everything put there in the past. The ratings were already pretty grim in its normal Thursday slot, so in all likelihood this is it for Fringe. However, that doesn't mean that Fox wants the show to die; Entertainment President Kevin Reilly recently gave fans a (probably false) glimmer of hope to latch onto, saying, "If it does anywhere near what it did on Thursdays, we can glue that show to the schedule because it can be a big win for us." Recently, the Fox marketing team gave a little visual support to this sentiment, making what is probably one of the best promo spots that I've ever seen. You might have to be an actual fan of the show to appreciate the humor and all the callbacks in it (which sort of defeats the purpose of it), but it's a real treat for those who do watch Fringe. The ad, which can be viewed below, is supposedly only for online use, but Fox has said that something of a similar nature will be airing on TV soon. So, here's hoping Fringe can beat the odds and continue to make fantastic, freaky, and forcible TV!

Random Topics: 2010 Spike VGAs

Last week, the nominees for both the Golden Globes and the SAG awards were announced, but did you know that there was actually an awards show being televised last Saturday? If you did, you're probably a huge nerd, because the awards show that I'm referring to was the 2010 Spike TV Video Game Awards.

Of course, I myself am a huge nerd, so I took some time away from actually playing video games to watch the rebroadcast of the ceremony. For those of you with better things to do (which would be pretty much anything), the VGAs are usually just fucking awful. The show is so awkward and unfunny that it becomes painful to watch - and I actually like video games: If the prospect of seeing a trailer for the next Elder Scrolls game is meaningless gibberish to you, then you'll want to stay far, far away from the VGAs. Jeff Green, one of the most respected game industry veterans, has a great piece about the problems with the show on his blog.

But the actual award show is pretty pointless anyway, because the real reason that people (myself included) watch the show is to get a glimpse at the games that are coming out next year. And this year was especially exciting for me, because MASS EFFECT 3!!!!!!!!!!!!! I'll probably be writing something soon about the Mass Effect series, but I think that honestly might be the most excited I've ever been by a trailer (especially one that essentially revealed very little about the product). In any case, you can view the trailer here, and I'm sure I'll be writing more about the game as we get closer to its release, because I fucking love Mass Effect.

Game Review - World of Warcraft: Cataclysm

So here we are with the first ever video game review on The Casualty Report! Except not really! This is more of a discussion; for reasons that will become apparent I don't feel confident actually giving out a grade or claiming to have a truly informed opinion about this game. In any case, hopefully this will still be interesting and somewhat helpful (though probably not). You've been disclaimed!


World of Warcraft: Cataclysm
Developer: Blizzard Entertainment
Publisher: Activision Blizzard

Attempting to write about an MMO is a pretty daunting and usually futile task. Part of the reason that the genre is so popular is that the experience is so open-ended, and condensing a game so gigantic in scale into a brief write-up does not really do justice to the intentions of those who made the game or those who will play it.

Fuck it, though, I'm gonna go right ahead and try. My experience with World of Warcraft as a whole is minimal, and it's downright infinitesimal when compared with what the avid player puts in. A few years ago I was lured into trying out Blizzard's popular, gargantuan beast of a game with an offer of a free ten-day trial, during which I became thoroughly addicted and quickly reached the trial level cap of 20. I (wisely) realized that if I subscribed at that point, not only would I be using up money that I didn't really want to spend, but I would also probably be using up a large chunk of my free time in playing WoW. So I decided, with great difficulty, to just back away slowly and hope the addictive monster would let me go, and I never tried to play again for a long time.

Random Topics: See! I'm Not Crazy!

Just saw this on one of the TV blogs I sometimes frequent. Remarkably similar to the points that I was making about the Buffy reboot. Could it be...(dramatic sound effect) thievery?

The answer's no, by the way. More likely, it means that everyone who has given this a second's worth of thought has concluded that it's a dumb idea. Yeesh. Maybe I need to try to be less of a nerd, cause it can just be real stressful sometimes. I promise this is the last I'll post about it.



Unless it keeps bothering me.

Film Review -- Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Pt. 1

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Pt. 1
Director: David Yates; Writer: Steve Kloves
Warner Bros. Pictures

Every Harry Potter movie has seemed a bit of a doomed proposition from the get-go; the films have to deal with issues of managing fan expectations and lessening disappointment to a far greater extent than most adaptations, simply because the fans of the series are so passionate and numerous. The novels seem to be so much a part of the modern collective consciousness (or, at least, that of the audience that sees the films) in a way that even the Lord of the Rings or the Chronicles of Narnia can't compare to. Ironically, the franchise's intense popularity has prevented the movies from excelling - the filmmakers can't possibly hope to deliver the same depth and experience that the books provide, which leads to inevitably unfavorable comparisons.

Of course, I might be completely talking out of my ass, and maybe the real reason that the Harry Potter movies have been largely disappointing to me is that they just weren't all that good. Oftentimes it feels like the films emphasize style over substance, that they're more concerned with advancing plot than character, and that they fumble some of the most compelling aspects of the books. I feel obligated to defend the third and fourth films as being pretty good, and the fifth and six were alright, but I certainly wouldn't call any of them great. And while I still wouldn't call Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Pt. 1 "great," it is my favorite Harry Potter movie yet.

Random Topics: Why the Buffy Reboot Makes Absolutely No Sense

I haven't written anything for this blog for quite some time. School and being lazy have occupied a lot of my time, and I just haven't felt motivated to write much. I needed something to jolt me back into my writing groove, and boy oh boy did Warner Bros. ever come through in the clutch. Recently, Warner Bros. Pictures announced plans to bring Joss Whedon's beloved heroine, Buffy Anne Summers, Vampire Slayer Extraordinaire, back to the big screen. Details can be found in the above link, though they are few at this point, but here's the important stuff, after the break:

A Worthy Cause

For my first order of business in my return to this blog, I thought it would be fitting to call attention to the blog of someone much smarter, funnier, and more talented than I. That person is one Patrick Rothfuss. Rothfuss, for those of you who aren't quite as massively nerdy as I am, is the author of the widely-acclaimed fantasy novel "The Name of the Wind," as well as the forthcoming sequel, "Wise Man's Fear." Now, I haven't read any of his work, but "The Name of the Wind" is definitely near the top of my gargantuan list of books I want to read, and I have followed his blog for the past couple years or so.

One of the reasons I consider myself to be a fan of Pat's, without having read anything by him, is that every year around the holidays, he runs a fundraiser of sorts to benefit Heifer International. He reaches out to all of his fellow author friends, a fantastic Sci-Fi/Fantasy specialty press called Subterranean Press, and a plethora of other sources to come up with a ton of books, comics, and other items of interest to give away for charity.

The specifics of the fundraiser, which is called Worldbuilders, can be found at his blog, but the basic idea is that for every $10 you give to Heifer International, you get a chance to win one of the fabulous books that Pat has assembled. And these are things that any Sci-Fi/Fantasy lover would drool over - limited editions, signed copies, advanced reading copies, rare and out of print volumes - it's a cornucopia of nerdy awesomeness. And the best part is, Rothfuss has pledged to match 50% of the amount raised, because he's just a great guy.

Last year, Worldbuilders raised almost $200,000 for Heifer International and gave away some pretty sweet stuff. I've given money the past two years, and managed to pocket two books for my contributions. So, if you're the type of person that gets irrationally excited by the thought of owning a book signed by Neil Gaiman or Jim Butcher, be sure to head over to the Worldbuilders site and fork over some of your cash - it's a good cause with great prizes.

Hmm, Now Where Did I Put That Blog of Mine...

Howdy, readers. It's been a while since I've put anything up here, and I'm sorry for that - a sentiment that I seem to be expressing a lot on this blog. Well, you can't say I didn't warn you this time, since I said I would be pretty busy with school. I mean, technically you could point out that I promised I would have a podcast up "next week" back in September (I recorded most of it, but finally just gave up), but let's just let the past stay in the past. Carpe diem, and all that good stuff!

In any case, I finally have some time off for Thanksgiving, and I'll be doing a bit of writing over this break. I'm not promising much, and anything I put up is likely going be very random and not necessarily fit the loose format I devised for the blog, but I hope you'll forgive me.

Suffice it to say, I'm back, and I hope all my wonderful, dedicated, imaginary fans will come back too.

TCR Podcast - Episode 2

As I wrote in my previous post, I'm continuing with the making of the awful podcasts for a little while - and here's the second one right here! I have to apologize for the atrocious sound quality (and general quality) - I'll really try to do much better for the next one. Incidentally, the next podcast will probably come up either Monday or Tuesday of next week. Unless it's Wednesday. Anyway, on this podcast, I talk about my plan for the blog, the debut of FX's Terriers, have a dumb conversation with myself about ratings, touch on the new Thermals album (their music is featured today), and rapidly talk about some things I've been meaning to get to for over a month. Enjoy!

Download the podcast here:
http://www.mediafire.com/?5g98il8oxbf0e33

New Plan - It's Like a Blog, but Without the Reading!

Hello, all you fine people that read my blog! I feel as if I've been treating you wrong lately, and that just pains me so deep. So I've decided to try to make it up to you. No, I didn't get you candy, or chocolate, or flowers, or a nice little card with a cute animal saying "sowwy" on it. No, only the best for my readers: You get to listen to me prattle on about things on a regular podcast!

Some of my more jaded (imaginary) followers might be thinking, Hey, didn't this asshole say he was gonna do a regular podcast like a month ago, and then fail? Well, fucker, I suppose you're technically correct. But I'm still treating this as good news because I think I've figured out a way where I can still have a tiny amount of content posted regularly, at least enough that I can justify still bothering with this blog. Here's the deal: I'm at college right now, and while I'm definitely not an incredibly busy person, most of my free time is consumed by either schoolwork or doing things with my boyfriend. If I felt extremely motivated, I could pretty easily find the time to upload a new post probably like 4-6 times per week for The Casualty Report, but I feel like that's just not enough for me to do everything justice (especially considering fall TV season is heating up). However, I still want to be able to contribute something to the blog. So, I polled the best and brightest minds in science and, after an in-depth review of their responses, I've determined that TCR will now be taking the form of a (roughly once or twice a week) podcast.

This doesn't mean I won't occasionally write some good old-fashioned words for whatever nerds out there that still "read" things, but I won't be writing much. I'll probably have a good deal of time over the holidays to write, so I'll probably do some best-of-the-year lists and midseason check-ins on the TV shows I've been following. In the meantime, however, check back every now and then for some poorly-made and mind-numbingly boring podcasts!