Dalekboy

Been meaning to ask this question for a few weeks. Can anyone recommend any movies or TV shows with solid and clever female characters? Preferably in the lead role, but solid supporting characters are okay as well if it helps expand the range.

I know it's going to be a couple of years before MaybeZoe sees any of it, and even longer before she comprehends what she's seeing, but getting a list now will give me time to hunt down and buy them.

Prefer genre stuff, but anything that has good characters and storytelling will do. She's already going to have some great female role models in her life, but wouldn't mind having some cool stuff to show her. Plus it can't be bad for Lex, either.

The last couple of weeks I've been wiped and emotional, my cold has come back (it never fully went away), and today I've majorly barked the back of my right foot on the wire door, hurt the index finger of my left hand mending the gate, and hurt the thumb on my right hand fixing a tap.

On the bright side I spent chunks of yesterday watching Ghost Rider, which while Nicolas Cage was a bit crap in it, I still found to be an enjoyable film. And Christopher Young did the film's music, and I almost always enjoy his work.

And I finished The Kolchak Papers which was a good read despite the huge amount of spelling errors.

The Middleman DVDs have just been released in the US. I know many of you out there are fans of the show, so I thought I'd let you know.

Given that the creator of Middleman is hopeful that with good enough DVD sales the series may come back in some form, if your DVD player can handle NTSC discs, you may wish to buy them ASAP. We just ordered ours through Amazon.com. Wanted to buy from Shout, the company doing the DVD release, but unfortunately they don't sell direct to Australia.

For those that don't know it, The Middleman is one of the shows I will be talking about on The Best TV Shows That Never Were panel at Continuum 5.

Just watched the old 1978 film, Return from Witch Mountain. In it there are a gang of wannabe tough guys (all played by kids) called the Earthquakes. Their gang names are Rocky, Muscles, Crusher, and Dazzler.

I think Dazzler is kind of missing the point. He's way older and a good head taller than the other kids, so you'd think he'd get the whole 'tough' nickname thing. What makes it especially funny is the way he lights up as introduces himself to Kim Richards. "...and I'm Dazzler!"

For all the film's problems, there are actually some fairly full-on moments during the major chase scene, and Christopher Lee plays his part dead straight, which is especially nasty when he's trying to arrange for a child to be crushed to death.

5/10

* We survived our rent inspection

* Lex has survived his fourth tooth

( Nothing of importance, just a collection of stuff from the last month or so, and one picture. )

- Lex is simply not bothered by the heat to any noticeable degree. We haven't got air-conditioning in the car or house, and he seems fairly unfussed. Which is good, because I think people rely on aircon too much, and then are unable to cope without it.

- Lex also seems totally unphased by the pair of teeth working their way up through his gum. He's marginally more needy in that he wants more hugs, but is often quite happy to be left while we get on with Stuff(TM).

- Still struggling like a big wuss. Haven't crashed in the same way I normally do, but it's still draining.

- Back to swimming lessons tonight. Was good, but exhausting.

- Have you ever considered the great debt we owe panelists who actually care enough to do research for their panels? In preparation for the Doctor Who panel at this year's Swancon, today I watched episode 3 of Time and the Rani... I would rather be at the dentist having my four wisdom teeth pulled out.

- I still have to organise going to the dentist to have my wisdom teeth removed.

- Sharon is still beautiful.

- I would really like to be in a condition to go to the Post Office Friday to mail off some things, since I will have the car then. Time will tell.

- Last night I felt like crap and really wanted to watch something, so I picked Escape from New York. It was the first time I had seen it in around twenty years, and is still an enjoyable watch. It's funny how absolutely everyone seems to know Snake Plissken.

Given I talked about Nightmare on Elm Streets 5 and 6, I though I may as well talk briefly about the seventh film, given I've just finished going through the box set.

New Nightmare is not only the best Elm St. movie since the original, it's probably the best movie of the series. Wes Craven's had ten years to further hone his writing and directing skills, and it shows. The core premise is interesting and a clever twist on the old idea. The best summation is that of all the films, this was the only one that still evoked feelings of tension from me, even though I know the film well.

Freddy Krueger is back to doing what he does best - being an all pervading background presence that only appears now and again. This is highlighted by an appearance of Freddy as he became, a pop-culture icon, as opposed to a demonic force. It makes the appearances of demon Freddy more interesting, scarier, because we haven't had time to get used to his new incarnation.

Some clever ideas, solid acting, and a great script - I could easily sit and watch it again. Which I'll do at some point soon so I can listen to Craven's commentary track.

I wouldn't normally have bothered, but with the deaths of Ricardo Montalban and Patrick McGoohan, I decided to watch something from each of them. They are both actors who I have enjoyed over the years, possibly because they were both a little larger than life.

I ended up watching Star Trek - Space Seed for Montalban. I didn't want to watch Star Trek 2 and have yet to pick up Spy Kids 2, and after checking his credits, realised I had nothing else he'd done. There are many shows I'm planning on picking up in which he's done an episode, but none so far. So I dragged out my old videotape of Space Seed and gave it a look.

It still mostly holds up, and Montalban is very good in the part. It could so easily have been two dimensional and forgetable, but his take on the character mean Kahn always has his pride and dignity on show. It works, and is a good reminder of why they bought him back.


Then I watched an episode of Danger Man I hadn't seen before called Position of Trust. John Drake embarks on a personal mission to bring down some drug lords by getting their names to pass on to the US government. To do this he has to screw over a minor functionary, and is quite prepared to do this to have an impact on the heroin trade. McGoohan is in good form, as usual. Drake is focused and has no remorse in what he needs to do to achieve his goal.

As an added bonus the episode also starred Donald Pleasence and Lois Maxwell. It's odd watching McGoohan with Maxwell, knowing that he could have easily have been James Bond.

Goodbye you pair, you'll be missed, but I'm glad you both had good long lives.

Just rewatched Tim Burton's Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. I still prefer the original. I find the new one a bit variable, and have a hard time understanding the words in most of the songs.

But it's worth owning because I could watch Deep Roy sing and dance for hours!

* Between Lex and selling stuff, I've had bugger all time to post. So here are a bunch of things I wanted to do proper posts about. ( Nothing of vital importance in here, move along... )