Idle Entertainment
Jul. 30th, 2010 04:04 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
jedibuttercupI dined at the parents' last night, and a friend of ours brought the video entertainment for the evening. I should have imdb'ed Attack Force before I let them put it in; it truly deserves a one-out-of-five-stars rating. Damn, Seagal's getting old. The plot summary's more exciting than anything that happens in it, and the only female character who isn't a secretary, a whore, or a hyped-on-drugs adversary dies before the end credits roll. We had a lot of fun mocking it.
Nearly as terribly plotted, but considerably more enjoyable: The Mummy: Secrets of the Medjai. All twenty-six episodes were on sale for something like $9 at Wal-Mart, and animated half-hour shows translate to about twenty-one minutes each without commercials, which is perfect for watching two back-to-back while on the elliptical machine. (The show pretty much presents like a parallel AU of the movies: most of the same characters are there, but they act like they don't remember anything that happened in them, and Evie's Irish or something instead of half-Egyptian).
I went through the first season of "Real Ghostbusters" the same way earlier in the year (the quality drops half-way through, but makes more world-sense than the Mummy series), and after watching the laughably-written but drawn-on-intriguing-backdrop Shyamalan movie that just came out, I think I'll pick up some "Avatar: The Last Airbender" next.
Any more animated series worth picking up on DVD for idle entertainment? I really didn't watch anything but the Disney Afternoon as a kid-- oh, and sometimes a little Sailor Moon or Inspector Gadget-- so I'm pretty unenlightened.
Nearly as terribly plotted, but considerably more enjoyable: The Mummy: Secrets of the Medjai. All twenty-six episodes were on sale for something like $9 at Wal-Mart, and animated half-hour shows translate to about twenty-one minutes each without commercials, which is perfect for watching two back-to-back while on the elliptical machine. (The show pretty much presents like a parallel AU of the movies: most of the same characters are there, but they act like they don't remember anything that happened in them, and Evie's Irish or something instead of half-Egyptian).
I went through the first season of "Real Ghostbusters" the same way earlier in the year (the quality drops half-way through, but makes more world-sense than the Mummy series), and after watching the laughably-written but drawn-on-intriguing-backdrop Shyamalan movie that just came out, I think I'll pick up some "Avatar: The Last Airbender" next.
Any more animated series worth picking up on DVD for idle entertainment? I really didn't watch anything but the Disney Afternoon as a kid-- oh, and sometimes a little Sailor Moon or Inspector Gadget-- so I'm pretty unenlightened.
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Date: 2010-07-30 11:23 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-07-30 11:59 pm (UTC)(I'm also about to start watching Avatar: The Last Airbender, after years of having it pimped to me by friends.)
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Date: 2010-07-31 12:05 am (UTC)As a kid as I was huge Scooby Do fan. I think I'd find it formulaic if I re-watched, but the character interaction was fun, and I'd get the drug references now (my parents were not aware enough to get those).
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Date: 2010-07-31 02:28 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-07-31 03:06 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-07-31 04:42 am (UTC)I had no idea that such a series even existed, but most of the comments on IMDB seem very negative.
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Date: 2010-07-31 07:23 am (UTC)Imagine a far future with Cyberpunk and Aliens, ruled by a shape-shifting megalomanic demon-wizard. And then toss a classic Samurai into the mix.
One of the things that I love about the eponymous Samurai Jack is that he is so polite. He's not one of these wise-cracking aggressive heroes - while his fighting skills are definitely kick-ass, he never takes offense, and fights defensively. And he takes all the weirdness (the first episode features talking dogs with British accents) in his stride.
It is fun. See it.
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Date: 2010-07-31 08:19 am (UTC)The two you might check out first: Batman Beyond (50 years or so ahead of primary Bat-continuity, mostly self-contained) and The Zeta Project. Technically speaking, the latter is a spinoff of Batman Beyond, but it's also mostly self-contained, and is fascinating because it's emphatically not a superhero series; rather, it's "The Fugitive" where the fugitive is a shapeshifting android and his partner is a snarky teenage girl. Note carefully: male and female lead, a fair amount of straight sci-fi thematics, and -- eventually -- a bit of interesting ambiguity among the requisite Annoying Government Agents pursuing Our Heroes.
All three seasons of Batman Beyond are on DVD; so far, only the first season of Zeta has been released.
An older series I liked was Where on Earth is Carmen Sandiego? (season 1 available, plus one or two other small compilations). Skews younger than the DCU shows, but still surprisingly good action/adventure -- and, eventually, some interesting peripheral characterization around the edges, plus subtle meta/fourth-wall elements because there's a very understated framing device that acknowledges the whole thing is a game-world.
Three shows about which I know next to nothing about DVD releases, but which you might look into:
Jackie Chan Adventures. If Zeta is a "Fugitive" riff, this is what you'd get if you squashed together the Indiana Jones, Man from UNCLE, and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle franchises, hired Jackie Chan to play the lead, and borrowed the Muppet Show writing team to edit the scripts. A good case can be made that the fifth and final season jumps the shark, but the series as a whole is kind of amazing, because there are equal parts wackiness, high-powered chop-socky, and actual plot.
Sherlock Holmes in the 22nd Century. This was at once charming and very, very odd. The premise is just what the title promises: Holmes and Moriarty loose in a sci-fi future, in which Inspector Beth Lestrade is the police presence and Watson is an android (not entirely a Nigel Bruce incarnation, but more that than a partner). A number of scripts adapted cases from the Canon with varying degrees of success; OTOH, the ongoing Moriarty thread was often fascinating, and parts of the supporting cast developed in interesting fashion. [There's at least a bit of fic for this, I think.]
Huntik: Secrets & Seekers. One season of this popped up a year or two ago on Kids' WB/the CW, but I'm thinking there must have been more someplace, perhaps in international syndication (it's a French co-production). Structurally, it's another collectible-card-game series akin to Yu-Gi-Oh or Chaotic, but the writing in this one is focused much less on game mechanics and more on an interesting cast of characters.
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Date: 2010-07-31 08:30 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-07-31 06:40 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-07-31 06:41 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-07-31 06:42 pm (UTC)One of these days I'll find season 2 of Real Ghostbusters and watch some more of it; it is fun.
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Date: 2010-07-31 06:42 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-07-31 06:43 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-07-31 06:47 pm (UTC)Basically, the entire series exists as backdrop to The Heroic Growing Up Experience of Alex O'Connell. Basically, he puts on another enchanted bracelet thing, and Imhotep is after him again, only they never make any references to the second movie, and neither Imhotep nor Anck-su-namun seem to have the same history...? Not to mention the aforementioned change in Evie (she's suddenly a redhead, as is her brother). Basically, Ardeth just exists to show up randomly and help whenever their quest to remove "The Manacle of Osiris" takes them through Egypt; and then, in the second season (they're 13 episodes each) to give Alex some very generalized "Medjai training" to enable him to control the thing better. At the point I'm at-- about five episodes into the second season-- we've seen a glimpse of a hidden city, and an Academy where the other kids of course pick on Alex for being the "teacher's pet", and randomly Rick's dad shows up and it turns out he's a Medjai who ran away not only from his family but his calling, and .... *laughing*
So. I've been enjoying it for the LOL factor, which is awesome as long as I pretend it's not the same universe as the movies. But let's just put it this way: I'd never even attempt to use it for a fic.
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Date: 2010-07-31 06:49 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-07-31 06:50 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-07-31 06:51 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-07-31 06:59 pm (UTC)And I would hunt up "The Real Ghostbusters" on DVD, except I believe I'm not allowed to even own the movie as I can quote the entire thing.
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Date: 2010-07-31 07:04 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-07-31 07:05 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-07-31 11:46 pm (UTC)Also, I second Penguins of Madagascar.
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Date: 2010-08-01 01:01 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-08-01 02:26 am (UTC)p.1
Date: 2010-08-01 10:11 pm (UTC)Avatar:TLA is amazing, and has a pretty epic fandom. The new live action movie was ridiculous - they changed names, backstories, and cut way too many things for them to ever be able to follow the second and third 'Books' faithfully. A second Avatar series (taking place decades in the future with the new Avatar) has just been confirmed by Nickelodeon, and I have high hopes for it.
The 90's DC Universe cartoons are incredible. Batman: The Animated Series and Superman: The Animated Series go hand in hand, and are followed up by the Justice League and Batman Beyond. Static Shock is another side series that gets a huge YES from me, about teenage mutant Virgil Hawkins who controls electricity.
Butch Hartman's Danny Phantom (plotty, good characters, consistent and existent storylines and universe!logic), Dexter's Laboratory (single episode storylines, great characters, good general consistency), Fairly OddParents (a Nick staple, now, awesome characters, some traces of plot between episodes/seasons, but can be viewed out of order). All of these are legally hosted by Cartoon Network and Nickelodeon online.
Back in the Barnyard and the Penguins of Madagascar are 3D/CGI animated comedies running on Nickelodeon right now, and they're amazing. Back in the Barnyard is a comedy about a barnyard of intelligent farm animals who hide their day to day activities from the farmer and his neighbors. Penguins of Madagascar is a comedy spin-off of the Madagascar movies focusing on the zoo's Special Operations team made up of penguins. There is at least one crossover fic out their where Kowalsky (sp?) from Stargate is reincarnated as one of these penguins - who shares his name.
An old Disney set: Darkwing Duck (every episode has been hosted on Youtube; not sure how legally - superhero Drake Mallard with companions Gosling (adopted daughter) and Launchpad (sidekick) clean up the streets of St. Canard and other assorted locations), Talespin, Ducktales, Chip N Dale Rescue Rangers - all of these presumably take place in the same universe, and cross over fairly often.
Other Disney cartoons are Kim Possible (plotty, good characters, great animation and acting), Gargoyles, and American Dragon: Jake Long (didn't market particularly well, but I thought it was a good fantasy).
Rugrats is a staple cartoon, and the spin off All Grown Up was surprisingly standable. Invader Zim was a fun show while it lasted, and they're reairing it on some Nickelodeon channels, despite it's low popularity. SpongeBob SquarePants will never die. The franchise has some good videogames, too.
Anime Recs: Fullmetal Alchemist (full marks for story - more than a bit dark, though), Astroboy, Rurouni Kenshin, Sailor Moon, Fruits Basket, Inuyasha (for nostalgia's sake? It's the epic romance that never ends), Dragonball series (while incredibly cracky and cheesy, I love the characters, storylines, and consistency of the first two series, however I know next to nothing about Dragonball GT), the early Pokemon episodes (before the series became too repetitive and started trading off their usual cast members), Death Note (mindblowing series, darkdarkdark), Gundam Wing, Cowboy Bepop
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Date: 2010-08-01 10:11 pm (UTC)Another movie revamp that I've enjoyed along the same lines of Real Ghostbusters is Godzilla - the specific series attached to the 1998-1999 Godzilla film. Dr. Niko Tatopoulos (sp. in serious question) discovers Mommy!Godzilla's last baby after it hatches, and is adopted as Mommy!scientist by the baby mutant. The leftover scientists from Mommy!Godzilla's rampage band together to form H.E.A.T, a response team to various dangerous mutations, and are joined by a French spy (Monique) who was sent to keep an eye on baby!Godzilla.
Marvel Universe cartoons that are worth seeing: X-Men Evolution, the new Ironman cartoon, Wolverine and the X-Men, and the new Fantastic 4 running off of Nickelodeon. The latter three are new revamps of the series(es) to go with the new movies.
Jackie Chan Adventures is outside of every cartoon collection ever, but it's probably one of the best on this list. Hilarious, fun, supernatural adventure series starring Jackie Chan as a humble archaeologist, Uncle as Uncle, and Jade Chan as Jackie's no good mischievous niece.
Top three sets on the list are probably Spielberg's collection (Animaniacs, Freakzoid, et. al), the DC Comics Animated 'verse, Jackie Chan Adventures, and Avatar.
...I hope this helps? xD
--goes back to reading at TTH--
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Date: 2010-08-01 10:40 pm (UTC)Even if you're not overly fond of the Western genre, the character of Paladin is well worth watching the series for all on his own, not to mention the opportunity to see some of Gene Roddenberry's earlier work as a scriptwriter.
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Date: 2010-08-02 10:54 pm (UTC)I do have a bit of a soft spot for cheesy Westerns, since Dad liked to watch them as a kid and of course I rescued most of his old Louis L'Amour books from the parents' last garage sale, but I never remember which series are any good. I'll keep that one in mind.