You're gonna be bothered by how cool I am.

A couple of my fandoms have had exciting reveals this week. First, though the show is long over, I still follow the actors from The West Wing, and there's been a good bit about some of them in entertainment news in the past couple of days. Bradley Whitford is going to play Jake's dad in Brooklyn Nine-Nine, Janel Moloney is going to be on Blacklist (which I guess means I have to watch that now), and a lot of the WW cast reunited for another Funny Or Die video.

Second, OMG HANNIBAL NEWS! There have been loads of pics from shooting in Italy for the past few weeks, but the big news yesterday was that Richard Armitage (!) has been cast as Francis Dolarhyde (a.k.a. the "Tooth Fairy", a.k.a. The Great Red Dragon ... go ahead and insert your Thorin/dragon joke here). He's already posted a creepy Tweet with a quote from Red Dragon, and now I suppose I get to have another crush on an abnormally hot fictional serial killer.

The other Hannibal news is that they're currently casting for the role of Will's wife, Molly (which certainly seems to have upset the Hannigram shippers who still have not read the books or seen the films), and they're planning to make a time jump in episode 8. That part I expected, but what was surprising was that the time jump would be *years*, not months. So we'll see Will thoroughly settled into a "normal life" with Molly and her son (renamed Walter, presumably because they thought it would be too confusing to have a character named "Willy" when there's already a Will). And he'll get a real, actual break from being manipulated/stabbed/shot/having acute encephalitis. Molly's role is slated to last four episodes, which I'm guessing just refers to S3 because they've said repeatedly that the actual events of Red Dragon (or their version of them, that is) will happen in the first half of S4. (Armitage is going to be in 6 episodes, and again I'm guessing that's just for S3, with an option for more if they get renewed for S4.)

I've long been looking forward to getting to the actual novel stuff because I'm anxious to see what they do with it. One of my favorite things about what we've seen so far is that they've already used so much of the iconic stuff from the novels in other places and for different purposes that even people who have read the novels and seen the films won't really know what's coming. Also, the inevitable modernization of a novel that was published in 1981 means that certain things *have* to be different. (For example, Dolarhyde will have to have a different job and therefore a different point of access to his victims than in the book because I don't think anyone has that particular job anymore. Like, is there anyone who actually takes their home movies to a processing place now that you can just edit on your home computer?)

I'm really enjoying rewatching The West Wing with the Mark Watches community. It's a little weird to see how people respond to certain characters, though - like, I can understand that Josh might rub some people the wrong way, but it is bizarre to see people hate Sam. Sam??! He's, like, the nice, idealistic baby brother! Probably has something to do with the fact that most of his story so far has revolved around his ... special friend, and yeah, I agree that some of his behavior on that score has been icky. My perspective is obviously different, though, as I'm seeing all this early stuff through the filter of the entire series. There are a few folks who seem to think there's only one way to tell a story and that Sorkin's departure from that formula is a failure, which is annoying, and I don't really enjoy the personal comments about him either. (Criticizing the way he writes female characters? Fine. Sinister comments about his personal life and how the way he writes women makes you fear for the women he dates in real life? Way out of line, in my opinion.)

Anyway, it has recently occurred to me one reason why I've gotten so invested in this show again, far more than I was when I was originally watching it live. And I think it's significant that I'm experiencing it again on the other side of a huge fandom experience. There are just so many details and real-world parallels to pick apart and obsess over and SO MANY CHARACTERS, and in that way it sort of reminds me one of the big things I enjoyed about Harry Potter. I mean, some of these characters have wiki pages that are as detailed as those of many real-life political personalities. It just feels like such a fully realized world that you want to step into (I know I'm not the only one who wishes the Washington of this show was the real one), full of characters you want to hang out with and that you identify with. It's been great seeing other people who are as obsessed with it as I am. And we've only just started!

Falling so hard for this show all over again.

I am far, far too excited about Mark Watches The West Wing starting today. I seriously can't even tell you, even here in my own den of fannish insanity where I have held forth on the most seemingly trivial of subjects, how excited I've been for this and for how long, for fear that I will be taken for an actual crazy person. I've been stalking WW tags on Tumblr like a fool, gleefully watching other people experiencing this show for the first time and panicking over character deaths and squeeing when that couple FINALLY gets together (which makes me laugh, because it always takes these people a mere few weeks to get to that, while it took the rest of us SEVEN YEARS AMIRITE?). Bless you, Netflix, for adding this to your Instant collection and making this fandom live again.

Again, and I cannot say this enough, if you have never experienced this wonderful show and you have access to Netflix, I would most heartily recommend it. Mark Watches starts it today (and starts Friday Night Lights tomorrow, which he'll be writing about as well, on alternating days). Interestingly, LeakyNews is doing a rewatch of both shows as well, though if you're new to either, I suspect their posts will be much more spoilery, since most people there will have seen the whole series already.

Here is a trailer I made for the 1st Season. I'm hoping to do one for each of the other seasons as well, but we'll see how that goes. There are clips from all over the season, but nothing revelatory, just teases of the major story arcs. I have to commend Vimeo for its choice of thumbnail for this video. Speaking of which, it may seem like there is too much Josh Lyman in this, but let me assure you that there is no such thing. :P

West Wing Season 1 Trailer from Pam Nail on Vimeo.

Err, spoilers, I guess, if you've never seen The West Wing. (If you haven't, you totally SHOULD, because it's AMAZING, and it's now streaming on Netflix, so you don't even have to buy the DVDs. Also, it's the next Mark Watches project, starting in March, so it's the perfect opportunity to hop on the Awesome Train.)

I don't know how many of you TWW fans have spotted the roughly thirty Twitter accounts that have been started for various characters from The West Wing. I follow a handful of them - including Gail the Goldfish - and many of them are remarkably in character. They also frequently comment on current political news, which kind of sets them apart from other fictional Tweeters. I started following Josh Lyman at one point and soon realized that I needed to follow Donna Moss as well, as they frequently have Twitter exchanges with one another. I don't know who's behind these accounts (or the others, for that matter), but these two accounts (at least) are clearly maintained by people who know each other. They've got this whole post-canon life they've written for these two characters. They're married, they have a three-year-old son named Leo (*FEEEEELIIIINGS*), and they are expecting another baby (a girl) in July. I now know more about the current lives of two fictional characters from a show that's been off the air for five years than I do about many of my real life acquaintances. I'll just take a moment to be sad and then I'll be back.

Okay, I'm back. Anyway, I think it was today that the Josh Lyman account announced that he was leaving the Santos administration to spend more time with his family. And then tonight this exchange happened, while Josh and Donna watched "the documentary" (i.e., the show).

( Read more... )

My icon is not a response to anything. Just a word that begins and ends with "W". Here's another interesting (well, to me, anyway) meme.

How to play: Comment on this entry and I will give you a letter. Write ten words beginning with that letter in your journal, including an explanation what the word means to you and why, and then pass out letters to those who want to play along.

sannalim gave me W.

( Wiley, whimsical, willful wordage... )

That was a really difficult West Wing, and next week will be worse. Leo ... gah.

"Thanks, boss." - Best. Closing. Ever.

I've been way negligent about online matters lately. Not sure why - I've been on as much as usual, I think. But I haven't been consumed by the desire to post or comment nearly as much lately. I do have about half a dozen movies whose reviews are trapped in draft form somewhere in a locked post, but it's seeming too late to talk about them.

( Playing catch-up )

* And, because without memes my life would be a blank ...

You Belong in Rome

You're a big city girl with a small town heart Which is why you're attracted to the romance of Rome Strolling down picture perfect streets, cappuccino in hand And gorgeous Italian men - could life get any better?

Okay, I was totally excited to find out about the Josh/Donna smoochage on the next new West Wing, but I've been squealing about THIS for quite a few minutes.

Sam. Ainsley. Hoynes. Amy.

Could it be? Dare I hope for Sam/Ainsley goodness? *looks lovingly at icon* I probably shouldn't dare hope for any actual romance, but as long as there's some great bipartisan banter, I will be happier than words can express.

OMG! West Wing was awesome! I love John Goodman, but I don't like the acting pres. He's just too . . . Republican. :p But I loved Walken's line about "in case you hadn't noticed, I'm a few prime rib dinners away from sudden cardiac arrest." I also loved CJ giving Danny the heads up about the Sharif story and telling him to post it early. The candlelight vigil scene at the end reminded me of the end of Pay It Forward, another movie I absolutely love.

( Daily Dose of Debate Discontent )

Friends premieres tonight, so I guess I'll have to watch it even though Joey/Rachel makes me ill. But I would like to see my old high school marching band rehearse tonight before they go off to their first contest (or rather 3) this Saturday. Go, McGavock!

I was up half the night watching the Emmys' telecast, during which "West Wing" took home the Best Drama Series award for the fourth year in a row (undefeated!). I cracked up when Gary Shandling talked about Dave Letterman having a baby. Something I appreciate about Letterman is that his private life is actually private.

I absolutely cannot stand these celebrities that flaunt their private lives in public. I know a lot of people can't help that cameras follow them around wherever they go, but there are ways to keep things to yourself. I generally don't care who's dating who, unless it's an actor I have a bit of a crush on. In that case, it feels kind of pathetic (well, more so) to have fantasies about someone when you know there's someone who's got the real thing. But I think a lot of celebrities would be better served if they just declined to answer any questions about that part of their lives. It can be done. They are under no obligation to answer personal questions like that, but many of them do. There's no mystery with actors anymore, and actors are the people that need that the most. Their believability as characters depends on it. I used to think that Jennifer Lopez was a good actress (Out of Sight was one of her finest moments), but I can't watch her anymore. I can't believe that she's some character, when every time I turn on the TV or look at a newsstand, all anyone can talk about is who she's engaged to this week.

Anyway, the Emmys were a hoot. Conan was great. Jon Stewart's bit was hilarious (and he got two awards!). And Martin Short's "Here's To the Losers" was great (though his funniest thing was "like David Gest said to Liza Minelli on their wedding night - no hard feelings"). But Wanda Sykes got on my nerves - Bill Cosby seemed really annoyed with her.

Debate Disinterest
It's been four days since I posted on the DT and three days since I even looked at it. I haven't even posted on the "Can't Stand" thread in a while, because there is just so little that hasn't been said a hundred thousand times already. I'm sure the minute I cave and start posting again, acemyth will come up with another rant on his LJ that will shame me into silence once more. :)

In other literary news, I am finally getting around to reading Tolkien. I figured I should really read LOTR before the last movie comes out. I'm starting with the Hobbitt, and it has been difficult to get into. I don't know if LOTR is the same way, but I find it hard to get around all the descriptions of the landscape. I'm just not good at spatial visualization, so that stuff kind of goes in one ear and out the other.