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castaliaNew holiday job is making my feet hurt and leaves little time for TV watching, so I'm behind on SGA, Ugly Betty, and anything else that aired this week. Lots of catching up to do.
However, I did have enough evenings off to watch the new Oz-derivative miniseries on the Sci-Fi Channel. I'm a huge fan of the Oz books, thanks to a childhood of reading dusty copies dug out of my grandmother's basement, so I was really looking forward to seeing what they did with the story.
I know a lot of people are going to say otherwise, but I loved this. It was different and ambitious and mostly well acted, even though I'm not normally a fan of Zooey whatsherface (she often looks distracted or bored). I enjoyed counting all the little throwaway references to the MGM film, although here is where I must make a bit of a confession...
I'm not really a huge fan of the MGM Wizard of Oz movie.
I mean, I like it and all, but as an adaptation of the books it's really not all that great. The adaptation I love best is the later Disney "sequel" Return to Oz, which deserves its own long rambling post b/c of how awesome it is. It was almost a total flop, b/c people were expecting bright and shiny musical type sequelness along the lines of the MGM film, and instead they got a version much more true to the books - darker, certainly, with weird and wonderful creatures who were a little scary sometimes. The Nome King freaked me right out as a child, not to mention the headless Mombie Witch, the Wheelers (I adore the Wheelers), and the broken down Emerald City. They even brought in Ozma. I'd recommend it over any Oz adaptation, any day.
Anyway, I say all that to say that the darker tone and weirder elements of Tin Man worked perfectly for me. Everything was just recognizable enough yet given such a neat twist to make it different and interesting.
DG - Okay, as a name it really doesn't roll off the tongue so well, but I love that her parents named her after the original Dorothy and that they brought Dorothy in towards the end as the start to a royal line of succession. Very neat idea, and they got the silver shoes right! I loved that. DG herself was a nice, capable heroine who never turned into a damsel in distress. I liked the references to her artistic and mechanical talents, though I was surprised we didn't get much of a demonstration of the latter. I was sure she'd do something to the machine, or need those skills along the way, but they were never really required. Still, I liked her well enough, and she got to do magic and save herself when she got in trouble. There was no screaming, so that was a relief.
Cane Sorry, Cain. Somehow that spelling seems more fitting. - I loved the Tin Man adaptation, both the concept of the Tin Man = cop and the tin suit thing they used to imprison him. Figurative broken heart instead of literal, again much more true to the book, as the original Tin Woodsman went in search of a heart because he wanted to be able to love a maiden. I've liked the actor ever since Band of Brothers, and he was terrific in this. I'd love to see him do a Western, b/c that hat and duster...guh. Bringing in the son towards the end felt a little tacked on, but it gave the character some nice closure.
Glitch - How can you go wrong with Alan Cumming? You just can't. The character design was fabulous. The coat, the hair, the zipper...oh, I loved it. This would be a great costume to see at Dragon*Con next year. He was good as comic relief, but it was the self-sacrifice and bravery revealed in the second part of the mini that really made me love this character. He was also nicely slashy with Cain, which thrilled me, b/c hey, childhood OTP! In the books the Scarecrow and the Tin Woodsman practically moved in with each other to rule the Winkie Country together, and often appeared on book covers and in illustrations in suggestive poses such as this, this, and my personal favorite, this. These two quite liked to hold hands. Cain and Glitch mostly liked to flirt and call each other "sweetheart", and that was just as good. I may have to do Yuletide next year simply so I can request Tin Man slash. Anyone who wanted to write some "just because" would be the most awesome person in the world and would be owed a favor. Just sayin'!
Raw - The healer/seer who wanted so badly to be brave and help free his people, and just needed a little push to do so. Quiet characters like this can kind of fly under the radar, but I liked this version of the Cowardly Lion.
The Mystic Man - Richard Dreyfus FTW! He had fewer scenes than I expected, but those were awesome and he had some of the best lines. Like the original, he was a very bad wizard. *g*
Toto - Shapeshifting! Didn't see that coming, but it was cute and the actor was good. I liked that his story - and everyone's, really - was all about second chances. All of them, even DG, had something to make up for.
Azkadelia - Decent baddie and I liked that she was saved at the end. The whole mini turned out to be about family and love and redemption, and I liked that. It was good to see the sisters brought back together and a happy family unit restored.
Zero - Callum Keith Rennie doing his bad guy routine. Again, what more do you want? ;)
The cinematography and design made me happy - it was all very steampunk and that's an automatic plus for me. Gadgets and strange machines and all kinds of fun sets and costumes. I totally want DG's bomber jacket.
This was also another opportunity to play Canadian Actor Bingo. The number of SG1 vets alone...heh. I nearly died when dearest adorkable Robert Rothman from SG1 turned up as a crooked con man type, and then we got Connor from The Sentinel playing the Queen. I should've kept score.
So, yeah, did anyone else watch this and care to discuss? They're showing all three parts in a row again tomorrow, so if you missed it and have a Sunday afternoon free, do tune in. If you've never read the books, head over to the Gutenberg Project and start with The Wonderful Wizard of Oz.
ETA: So far I haven't seen a single online review that gave the mini positive comments. This makes me sad. Also, not one of them mentioned the word "steampunk", instead calling the mini a mishmash of genres with an uneven blend of fantasy and sci-fi, which makes me wonder if any of them are familiar with the genre. Since when can you not combine these elements? No reason you can't have a Victorian-era feel to a world yet give it interesting technology, especially when you add magic into the mix. Feh on the reviewers.
However, I did have enough evenings off to watch the new Oz-derivative miniseries on the Sci-Fi Channel. I'm a huge fan of the Oz books, thanks to a childhood of reading dusty copies dug out of my grandmother's basement, so I was really looking forward to seeing what they did with the story.
I know a lot of people are going to say otherwise, but I loved this. It was different and ambitious and mostly well acted, even though I'm not normally a fan of Zooey whatsherface (she often looks distracted or bored). I enjoyed counting all the little throwaway references to the MGM film, although here is where I must make a bit of a confession...
I'm not really a huge fan of the MGM Wizard of Oz movie.
I mean, I like it and all, but as an adaptation of the books it's really not all that great. The adaptation I love best is the later Disney "sequel" Return to Oz, which deserves its own long rambling post b/c of how awesome it is. It was almost a total flop, b/c people were expecting bright and shiny musical type sequelness along the lines of the MGM film, and instead they got a version much more true to the books - darker, certainly, with weird and wonderful creatures who were a little scary sometimes. The Nome King freaked me right out as a child, not to mention the headless Mombie Witch, the Wheelers (I adore the Wheelers), and the broken down Emerald City. They even brought in Ozma. I'd recommend it over any Oz adaptation, any day.
Anyway, I say all that to say that the darker tone and weirder elements of Tin Man worked perfectly for me. Everything was just recognizable enough yet given such a neat twist to make it different and interesting.
DG - Okay, as a name it really doesn't roll off the tongue so well, but I love that her parents named her after the original Dorothy and that they brought Dorothy in towards the end as the start to a royal line of succession. Very neat idea, and they got the silver shoes right! I loved that. DG herself was a nice, capable heroine who never turned into a damsel in distress. I liked the references to her artistic and mechanical talents, though I was surprised we didn't get much of a demonstration of the latter. I was sure she'd do something to the machine, or need those skills along the way, but they were never really required. Still, I liked her well enough, and she got to do magic and save herself when she got in trouble. There was no screaming, so that was a relief.
Glitch - How can you go wrong with Alan Cumming? You just can't. The character design was fabulous. The coat, the hair, the zipper...oh, I loved it. This would be a great costume to see at Dragon*Con next year. He was good as comic relief, but it was the self-sacrifice and bravery revealed in the second part of the mini that really made me love this character. He was also nicely slashy with Cain, which thrilled me, b/c hey, childhood OTP! In the books the Scarecrow and the Tin Woodsman practically moved in with each other to rule the Winkie Country together, and often appeared on book covers and in illustrations in suggestive poses such as this, this, and my personal favorite, this. These two quite liked to hold hands. Cain and Glitch mostly liked to flirt and call each other "sweetheart", and that was just as good. I may have to do Yuletide next year simply so I can request Tin Man slash. Anyone who wanted to write some "just because" would be the most awesome person in the world and would be owed a favor. Just sayin'!
Raw - The healer/seer who wanted so badly to be brave and help free his people, and just needed a little push to do so. Quiet characters like this can kind of fly under the radar, but I liked this version of the Cowardly Lion.
The Mystic Man - Richard Dreyfus FTW! He had fewer scenes than I expected, but those were awesome and he had some of the best lines. Like the original, he was a very bad wizard. *g*
Toto - Shapeshifting! Didn't see that coming, but it was cute and the actor was good. I liked that his story - and everyone's, really - was all about second chances. All of them, even DG, had something to make up for.
Azkadelia - Decent baddie and I liked that she was saved at the end. The whole mini turned out to be about family and love and redemption, and I liked that. It was good to see the sisters brought back together and a happy family unit restored.
Zero - Callum Keith Rennie doing his bad guy routine. Again, what more do you want? ;)
The cinematography and design made me happy - it was all very steampunk and that's an automatic plus for me. Gadgets and strange machines and all kinds of fun sets and costumes. I totally want DG's bomber jacket.
This was also another opportunity to play Canadian Actor Bingo. The number of SG1 vets alone...heh. I nearly died when dearest adorkable Robert Rothman from SG1 turned up as a crooked con man type, and then we got Connor from The Sentinel playing the Queen. I should've kept score.
So, yeah, did anyone else watch this and care to discuss? They're showing all three parts in a row again tomorrow, so if you missed it and have a Sunday afternoon free, do tune in. If you've never read the books, head over to the Gutenberg Project and start with The Wonderful Wizard of Oz.
ETA: So far I haven't seen a single online review that gave the mini positive comments. This makes me sad. Also, not one of them mentioned the word "steampunk", instead calling the mini a mishmash of genres with an uneven blend of fantasy and sci-fi, which makes me wonder if any of them are familiar with the genre. Since when can you not combine these elements? No reason you can't have a Victorian-era feel to a world yet give it interesting technology, especially when you add magic into the mix. Feh on the reviewers.
