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I loved season one of Clarkson's Farm. I knew nothing about Jeremy Clarkson at the time (we looked him up and discovered he was famous for hosting Top Gear and being a driver--not things I had any particular knowledge of--and also for hosting Who Wants to Be a Millionaire, the British version--also not something I would know anything about), and I greatly enjoyed the show. I've mentioned before that I'm obsessed with all things farming, from rooftop gardens to homesteads to largescale monoculture commercial agriculture, so this show was right up my alley, especially as it's beautifully filmed and produced and aimed at the layperson, with Clarkson learning about farming from scratch right along with the viewer.

I had thus naturally been extremely excited for season two, which just came out, and which I just finished watching last night. After I read some of his comments about Meghan Markle, I wondered if I'd still be able to enjoy the show. I mean, he doesn't exactly present himself as Mr. Likable anyway. He thinks on his feet and is naturally funny. He can also be charming with effort. But he's often rude, demanding, and difficult. He relishes giving people a hard time while trying to weasel out of any kind of responsibility himself.

He's not the easiest guy to watch or root for even if you don't know about his rabid nationalism, but there are many other characters on the show and a lot more going on than just him, including his young (23 as season 2 was being filmed, 21 during the filming of the first season--!!) but mind-bogglingly experienced farmer Kaleb, his sexy farm-business manager (... I guess would be his title) Charlie Ireland, his stone-wall-builder (which I guess is a thing in rural Britain?) Gerald who is hilariously incomprehensible in nearly everything he utters--basically he's the British Boomhauer--and Clarkson's girlfriend Lisa, who came across as a doormat devoid of personality in season one but this time around was lots of fun--wry and funny.

I was glad to discover I still found it quite enjoyable to watch. Trying to understand the person behind the nasty words about Markle actually added another layer of interest to the show. Clarkson also got himself booted off Top Gear for punching a producer, calling him 'lazy' and 'Irish' as he did ... although Clarkson's girlfriend is also Irish. I read an entire article about how it's "impossible to imagine" this guy who dodders about his farm and frets deeply over slaughtering his animals punching someone. ... I didn't find it impossible.
( Spoilers behind the cut. )
All in all, even if your only feeling about Clarkson is an eagerness to see him suffer, you might enjoy the show just for that, because he does a lot of it. In season one, wonderful, competent Kaleb seemed to feel helpless to Clarkson's whims and cruelties; this season, he doesn't take a thing Clarkson says seriously, and frequently yells at him for his various fuckups (Clarkson dreads seeing him coming when he's done something stupid, knowing he's about to get another dressing down). Charlie Ireland also seems happier and more comfortable this season ... and even braver, more noble, and if possible, more decent and dutiful than in season one. I LOVE that guy! Gerald is as much a delight as ever. Clarkson isn't always a jerk; he gamely tries hard to understand Gerald, and politely responds in noncommittal way when Gerald is done talking so as not to let on that he didn't understand a word. (It's also quite cute that Kaleb seems to have no trouble understanding Gerald at all ... although they have the same last name and come from the same small town, so they might be related.)

If you were a fan of James Herriott's books (as I very much was, from childhood), there are similar feels to be found here, particularly when Clarkson's cows are giving birth, which brings a tear to everyone's eye, even the vet's. Since Herriott worked in England, and some aspects of raising farm animals haven't changed since he was a vet there, in some ways it's like seeing Herriott's books playing out on the screen. The politics of farming in England are frequently addressed, and are fascinating (and horrifying--all of his farmer neighbors are struggling to stay afloat after Brexit was set to soon greatly reduce farming subsidies there--which subsidies were the only reason Clarkson was able to make any money at all from his farm in season one, despite having a thousand acres and producing a variety of things there).

The ending is a little rushed and forced and awkward, some plotlines are brushed off or abandoned, but damn if I don't wish this show had a hundred seasons, so I could binge them all. I've seen some great shows and YouTube channels about farming, but Clarkson's Farm is the best one I've found, so if farming, rural life in England, or anything I mentioned in my review are of interest to you, too, I highly recommend it.

Like many, Cowboy Bebop was my gateway anime. I watched (and loved) Voltron as a kid, but otherwise, I'd never had any interest in anime. Then one night, I turned to Adult Swim early in the hilarious forgotten-refrigerator episode, "Toys in the Attic." Intrigued, I watched to the end. All I could think when it was over was, "That was actually ... incredibly good." Wondering if the rest of the show could possibly live up to the quality of that episode, I hungered to watch it every night ... and an anime fan was born.

I was delighted to learn there would be a live-action version of it last year. I've long been a huge fan of John Cho, and the excitement and dedication of everyone involved got me excited to see what they'd do with it, because though technology has caught up to the point that I knew they could manage the effects and that they'd look really good, there are a lot of things about Cowboy Bebop I figured would be difficult to bring to the screen: the world-building would have to be done quite carefully and would require incredible amounts of work to get the sets right, even if the scripts were perfect (both of which, in the end, were pretty perfect). Many of the characters, if they were played exactly as they appear in the anime, would risk coming off caricaturish, particularly Faye and Ed. Ed is 13 in the anime, and a grade-A weirdo; kids are hard to cast. And what do you do with a genius dog?

I was ASTONISHED by all they accomplished with the live-action version (and so bummed to learn a second season would not be greenlit, though I guess it wasn't popular enough to justify what must have been extravagant production costs). The sets--magnifique!! The scripts--incredible. I loved the way they stayed totally true to the feel of the anime while telling several new stories, or showing different aspects of them. The bitter rivalry between Spike and Vicious has always been mysterious; it was awesome to get to see them together, how they were best buds, and how that fell apart. It was excellent to see Faye get to be more than a femme fatale and Julia get to be more than a beautiful woman at the heart of a love triangle. I was crazy about Cho's Spike. Spike has layers he works hard to hide; he'd have been an easy character to misunderstand and a difficult character to play with all his depths, but Cho did it perfectly. Mustafa Shakir played Jet so much as he appears in the anime, it made the transition to live action effortless with that particular character. (He even got the voice perfect!) I LOVED what they did with Faye. She was a completely different character than the (rather sexist, if cool) one who appears in the anime, but it worked. And Ein was just a (very smart) dog; I thought they did that exactly right.

The only thing that struck me as completely wrong about the casting was Vicious. He's obviously a good actor and he really put his all into it, but I thought he was terribly miscast (and ugh, the hair!). There were crazy cool things that could have been done with the character, since so little was defined about him in the anime. But Vicious's character is, at his heart, cold, ruthless, cool, terrifying. Keeping these qualities at the core of the character the script or the actor developed still would have allowed a tremendous amount of leeway in developing a personality for him, quirks, uniquenesses. Instead, we got this tantrum-throwing manchild obsessed with daddy's approval who is, yes, ruthless, but hardly the virtually unbeatable horrifically competent opponent of the anime. From the first, he's far less terrifying than annoying. I liked him a little better when he and Spike were chumming around together in their syndicate days--they did have good chemistry, and played those parts well--but ... WHYYY??

And then ... Ed. I expect every fan of the anime was eagerly awaiting her arrival from the beginning--I know I was. I thought it was a great idea to introduce her in the final scene, to show us what might be in store for season 2 (which I still believed then might be a possibility) and I was so excited to see how she would be portrayed, and then ... oh, no. Ohhh, no. Where even potentially caricaturish characters were hammered into something believably human by the writers and actors in the process of making the first season, Ed came off in that one scene as, if nothing else, fixating only on the caricaturish aspects. It was an imitation of the anime character that in no way resembled an actual human being. I was afraid that would happen with Ed, because Ed is like no one else, but it was even worse in the execution than I feared.

Though Ed is presented in the anime as a sort of magical, impossible genius unfettered by the bonds of human existence, at her core, she is basically a kid who (like everyone else on the Bebop) would rather not think about reality or her feelings, is annoying and self-indulgent and doesn't listen well, and is addicted to the internet. In the process, she's become incredibly good at it, as any other intelligent kid trying to lose themselves in their hobby rather than face reality might do. If only the live-action version's creators kept in mind these core qualities rather than zeroing in on her vocal tiks and her perpetual appearance of good cheer and her hair color, they could have done super interesting things with that character, too. For that matter, they could still change direction with the character, if there could be a season 2. Gahhh, season 2!! More Bebop, in any form, would be such a wonderful thing. Aside from Ed and Vicious, I felt like season one of the live-action of Cowboy Bebop was essentially perfect.

Rich was actually my favorite part of the con. I'm hunting for video of a HILARIOUS ad-libbed song he did Thursday about how guys aren't allowed at the con unless they're footing the bill, which he sang to a guy asking a question. I was laughing so hard I literally cried. I'm coming to feel Rich is less an actor than a genius improv comedian ... though a great actor, too, but improv comedy is a special skill--especially improv song comedy, and it comes naturally to him.

In the meantime, I did manage to find video of an epic rant he went on Friday morning, for which he kind of apologized multiple times during the rest of the con, about how we SPN fans have something wrong with us and think someday we'll get to marry Jared and Jensen--he didn't hold back, but I liked it anyway. (Somehow, he said it all in a really good way.) He included himself in the "we," btw--down to marrying J2. He later told Rob it was because Rob wasn't there to hold him back (Rob didn't arrive until Saturday), and Rich was clearly in some sort of state as he took the stage Friday, feeling angsty it seemed; I liked hearing his unfettered thoughts. Plus, sweet version of "Sympathy for the Devil." ( Cut for YouTube videos and a picture )

“Ten Inch Hero” is a (kind of weak) play on words, since they work in a sandwich shop (the ‘hero’ part), and there’s a LOT of discussion of sex, including multiple scenes in a row where they talk a lot about penis size, whether size matters, yada yada.

It’s that kind of movie--an indie that seems to think it’s being edgy and hip with a lot of dirty/frank talk about sex and relationships but that doesn’t actually break any new ground (except the scene where two of the girls help/listen to the third masturbate, which just ends up being kind of awkward), largely perhaps due to the pervasively sweet, feel-good direction. It’s the kind of movie you can quote as you go, because a lot of what happens is pretty cliched (although the characters are fairly original, and the script has some great moments).

All that said/if you can get past that, it’s eminently watchable and pretty enjoyable.

Piper has moved to Santa Cruz believing that the daughter she gave up for adoption when she was 15 lives there. Needing a job, she applies at the sandwich shop where the requisite gang of quirky characters have created a makeshift family. (I love this shit, hence my enjoyment of the film, because that’s really what it’s all about.) Trucker, the old hippie who runs the place, is infatuated with the lady who has a new agey shop across the way. She is actually psychic and has a deep wisdom and knowing about everyone she meets. Now, I worked for a psychic who knew a million other psychics and new age types, and I can tell you from knowing these people, her character is UTTERLY UNREALISTIC, but I love a good no-holds-barred romantic portrayal of a certain type of person, so though it was SO cheesy, it was very charming, and really works for the film.

Jen’s most important relationship is with someone she’s never met whom she spills everything to online. Tish (Danneel’s character) is an unrepentant maneater, whom Priestly (Jensen’s character) pines for, but she never shows any interest in him, he believes because he dresses what I guess the movie considers “punk” and is a “freak.” I was a punk, I hung with the punks, and I don’t know what’s going on with his wardrobe, which is ... ‘creative’ to say the least, but definitely not punk, or even something I’ve ever seen a real human being wear. (Except maybe the kilt-with-combat boots getup, which also looked deliciously hot.) But chalk it up to the joys of Hollywood attempting to realistically portray a type and getting it hilariously wrong.


a small example for you ....

More to the point, a major theme of the movie is looking past appearances, which is a bit obnoxious considering that the three main girls are played by hot, hotter, and ridiculously hot, and the “freak” “no one looks twice at” is played by Jensen. (Who, kind of depressingly, has to dress like a normal to get Tish to take notice.)

But anyway ... the movie sets up these characters and then follows them through their personal stories in a way that’s very heartwarming and satisfying for everyone. Though there are a lot of cliches, there are some great, unexpected lines, and the character ideas are fairly original, especially Tish, who’s not treated as bad or evil by the script because she’s a manipulative slut, and she doesn’t get catty with other girls; the movie makes a lot of (usually successful) attempts to be feminist and have very modern attitudes about gender-related perceptions.

I’ve never seen Danneel in anything before this, so I didn’t know what to expect. She and Jensen really have a lot of chemistry! (Take off your tin hat for that one.) You’ll recognize most of the actors--John Doe (Trucker) and Clea DuVall (Jen) have been in a ton of stuff--and all the main players in the sandwich-shop family do a great job. Jensen is typically great. But honestly, I was most impressed by Danneel, who was tasked with playing a character not a lot of people would be able to play so thoroughly and believably; plus, you could tell she added a bunch of her own flair and ideas to it. Also, she has a fucking perfect body, which we know because she gets 100% completely naked during a sex scene and you see everything. So, if you have some hankering to know what Jensen’s looking at in bed--AND I KNOW SOME OF YOU DO--this is an ideal source.

As for Jensen, there’s a lot of Dean in his character here, and a lot that’s unique to this character, which is adorable and always fun whenever he’s onscreen. He’s kind of too big for a movie and a role this small; I don’t think it’s just because I’m a SPN fan that my eyes went to him even when he was in the background with his back to the camera. The man has PRESENCE. (And he finally gets to look as tall as he is! He looms over everyone else.) He has a lot of cringey lines (he makes a big speech while buying tampons, for instance), but delivers them with characteristic aplomb, and his character is sweet and adorable.

There are some weird moments in the film, including some of Priestly’s odder lines (his declaring something “gay” really dates the film and falls flat in light of modern-day values); an unexpectedly disturbing, violent turn late in the film (it’s not bad, but it is out of place, and very ... shall we say ... testosterone-filled and NOT girl-power; also Priestly instantly gets his ass TOTALLY kicked, which is a real change from watching Dean all this time); some deliberately skeezy characters and some characters that aren’t meant to be skeezy but nonetheless are (like Piper’s decades-older, unintentionally creepy-acting love interest).

All in all, this movie is probably not going to change your life. But it’s a fine way to spend a couple of hours, especially if ya like looking at Jensen.

Day One


In your own space, post a rec for at least three fanworks that you have created. It can be your favorite fanworks that you've created, or fanworks you feel no one ever saw, or fanworks you say would define you as a creator. Leave a comment in this post saying you did it. Include a link to your post if you feel comfortable doing so.

Challenge ACCEPTED!

I blame thank kalliel for this!



Inescapable

The tragic, fucked-up sex-with-Sam story I never knew I wanted to write until I did! Inspired by Orphan Black.

Shards

Ah, my SPN/Princess Tutu crossover. Even my best friend didn't like it :-( (although a couple of you did!). As evidenced by my most recent fic, I really love the fairy-tale aspect of SPN, and this is the first story where I played with that. Here's where I get to talk to my heart's content about Princess Tutu, and if I get ONE person to watch (try Hulu--it's free on there if you watch the excellent English dub!), I will consider this indulgence a success. Princess Tutu is a brilliant anime that isn't popular even among anime fans. No giant robots, no fan service, no battles, just ballet and fairy tales and classical music. It's archetypal and beautiful. Staged like a ballet (spotlights, costumes), beautifully drawn, deliciously cracky yet at the same time perfectly sensical, fun and deeply angsty, you've never seen anything like it.

I conceived the fic when my best friend and I started noting all the similarities between it and SPN. It could be argued that the two shows are like Sam and Dean--they couldn't be more different, but deep down they have a lot in common. (Sam would be the Princess Tutu. ;-) )The fic is me tracing out all those similarities--there's even an evil, dark-haired beauty in Tutu who's only evil because she was raised by her father (basically the devil), named Rue, who I thus called "Rueby" in the fic.

It's true that no one who isn't familiar with Princess Tutu would probably get what I'm trying to go for in the fic, and Tutu isn't for everyone, but I'm proud of this one, dammit!

Echoes

Likewise with this one, my little fic no one wants anything to do with, about now-Sam and Dean encountering younger, happy versions of themselves, who have the life they should have had (a time echo created when Cas saved then resank the Titanic). It seems on par with all the rest of my fics, so I'm not sure why it's so unloved, but it got almost no attention when I first posted it, and none since. I still love it, though.

Alien

Every now and then, I go back and read this one. Most of my fics have a theme or a point or something I'm experimenting with as a writer, but this one is just a story, so when I want to get lost in someone else's life--in Sam--I like to return to it. It's just about when he went to Stanford and how he had a hard time fitting in at first then eventually found his way.


I think this is a brilliant idea for a challenge, because how an author feels about their own fics is often very different from how others feel about them. I'd love to see how each of you responds to this challenge, because who better to rec an author's work than the author themselves??