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Does this make me a Bad Fan?
Confession #1:
I'm approximately 1 gazillion times more excited about Mama Mia! opening today than I am about The Dark Knight, despite the fact that I can see The Dark Knight at no less than 2 IMAX theaters within easy driving distance.
Confession #2:
It appears that I will buy anything David Simon does because, as it turns out, he's my favorite author (for television) ever. I own the book Homicide: A Year on the Killing Streets, all 7 seasons plus television movie of Homicide: Life on the Street, the book The Corner: A Year in the Life of an Inner-City Neighborhood, the HBO series The Corner, and the first 4 seasons of The Wire (with Season 5 on order for immediate shipping when it's available next month).
I am counting down to when Generation Kill will be available on DVD (I don't get HBO) so I can get my hands on it.
In short, you know how people will buy anything Joss Whedon does (even when it's total crap) and call him a genius for it (even though it's a case of the emperor walking around completely starkers)?
This is apparently how I treat productions involving David Simon, Ed Burns, and partners.
How can I put this...long before I let any of David Simon's stuff out of my hands, I will sell both my Angel and Buffy box sets.
The hell with that. I will burn my Angel and Buffy box sets before I give up any of David Simon's stuff.
(Seriously, those of you who kept looking for meaning in the "numbered shirts" of Buffy Season 6 that actually didn't have any meaning beyond, "We found a bunch of these for cheap in thrift shops?" Try The Wire, which actually has twice the meaning and twice the mythic elements of any Angel and Buffy episode without requiring you to fanwank. Best of all? The Wire actually has continuity that puts most book series to shame. No. I'm not kidding.)
I'm approximately 1 gazillion times more excited about Mama Mia! opening today than I am about The Dark Knight, despite the fact that I can see The Dark Knight at no less than 2 IMAX theaters within easy driving distance.
Confession #2:
It appears that I will buy anything David Simon does because, as it turns out, he's my favorite author (for television) ever. I own the book Homicide: A Year on the Killing Streets, all 7 seasons plus television movie of Homicide: Life on the Street, the book The Corner: A Year in the Life of an Inner-City Neighborhood, the HBO series The Corner, and the first 4 seasons of The Wire (with Season 5 on order for immediate shipping when it's available next month).
I am counting down to when Generation Kill will be available on DVD (I don't get HBO) so I can get my hands on it.
In short, you know how people will buy anything Joss Whedon does (even when it's total crap) and call him a genius for it (even though it's a case of the emperor walking around completely starkers)?
This is apparently how I treat productions involving David Simon, Ed Burns, and partners.
How can I put this...long before I let any of David Simon's stuff out of my hands, I will sell both my Angel and Buffy box sets.
The hell with that. I will burn my Angel and Buffy box sets before I give up any of David Simon's stuff.
(Seriously, those of you who kept looking for meaning in the "numbered shirts" of Buffy Season 6 that actually didn't have any meaning beyond, "We found a bunch of these for cheap in thrift shops?" Try The Wire, which actually has twice the meaning and twice the mythic elements of any Angel and Buffy episode without requiring you to fanwank. Best of all? The Wire actually has continuity that puts most book series to shame. No. I'm not kidding.)
no subject
But suddenly I keep reading about it - there are things in the papers about how it is the best tv series ever. For real.
I do still harbour a love of "Buffy", though. And Buffy, of course...
Oh, and I don't think that preferring "Mama Mia!" over Batman makes you a bad fan. Just a different fan to the one you thought you were, perhaps!
no subject
And, to be honest, The Wire is shown on HBO even in the U.S., which is a premium channel that requires people to pay extra to watch it if you want to see it first run. Otherwise, you have to rent or buy the DVDs.
The way to think of the The Wire is that it's a series of 5 true crime novels (there are 5 seasons, one season = one novel) that explore the different facets of the Baltimore, MD, drug and criminal culture.
In many ways, the storylines (especially the storyline of the Barksdale Crime Organization which takes 3 years to pay off) are built on the same structure as classical Greek tragedies.
Also — and this is really key — the series is written and produced exclusively by people who live, work, and (no shit) committed the crimes in Baltimore (quite a lot of the cast have felony records for drugs and murder and were arrested by one of the producers, Ed Burns, back when he was a homicide detective).
I got sucked into The Wire by the end of the first episode that kicked off Season 1. I ended up buying the entire series sight-unseen as a result.
Seriously. Give it a try if you've got the discs.
no subject
My brother wanted to move to Baltimore at one point - I am sure this series wouldn't warm me to the place... But then he moved to Silver Spring, MD, instead - and promptly gave me books by George Pelecanos... Mmmm, not sure I want to visit there much, either!
no subject
What about Dennis Lehane?
Actually, Baltimore is a rather lovely city (if a bit far south for me). There are parts of the city that are breath-takingly gorgeous in a historical sense, and there are other parts that are too terrifying to walk around in during the day.