Moonlight and Blood Ties ...

[fajrdrako]

Thanksgiving: my first of two turkey dinners. The food was fairly traditional and fully delicious - turkey with dressing and cranberry sauce and gravy, cole slaw, peas, rice, creamed corn, and dessert was pumpkin pie with whipped cream. Delicious pie, bought at a bakery on Bank St. I'd never been to before. I don't recall its name, but it's worth going back to. I liked it as much as the pumpkin pies I make from scratch.

For entertainment, we watched a TV-series vampire double bill: the pilot episode of Moonlight and the episode of Blood Ties that aired tonight, "Heart of Ice".

Just griping yesterday I was griping about how I don't like vampires much and I seem to find them in the popular media everywhere I look. Comics currently are concentrating more on zombies - another supernatural creature I don't much like - but vampires are everywhere else.¹

I liked both shows, though both seemed like typical low-key TV entertainment, with predictable plots and characters with a certain charm. What I loved most about Moonlight was Alex O'Laughlin, who is excellent, and Jason Dohring, whom I adored as Logan in Veronica Mars and (so far) love no less here. It seems a rather similar role: the wild rich brat of the vampire crowd, as contrasted to being the wild rich brat of the Neptune, California high school crowd. What I didn't like was the role of Sophia Myles as Beth Turner, mostly because I don't much like Sophia Myles. But maaseru remarked that she resembled Hayden Panettiere (Claire on Heroes) and since I've come to love Claire, I might come to love, like or tolerate Beth. If I watch again.

I particularly liked the narrative sequences where Mick St. John is giving an interview.

The best thing about Blood Ties was Christina Cox as Vicki Nelson. She is terrific. Kyle Schmid as Henry Fitzroy was fine too, in a fairly standard good-vampire sort of way, and I loved the connection with Henry VIII. All the other characters were reasonably uninteresting. Dylan Neal as Mike Celluci was simply annoying.

After that we sort of half-watched Desperate Housewives, a show I can't stand, but we all wanted to see Nathan Fillion. He was only on for a minute at the end (no, it wasn't worth it) but it was at least fun to see him for that brief and shining moment.

~ ~ ~

¹ I used to love vampire stories, back with Interview With a Vampire and Marvel Comics' Tomb of Dracula, but the charm wore off long ago, especially in the romance genre. I do love stories about non-vampiric Immortals, especially the great Immortals like Methos and Captain Jack Harkness. But you've probably noticed that already.

Comments

[auriaephiala.livejournal.com]

I have never seen the charm of vampires myself -- just cleaning up the blood has always seemed to me seriously icky. Luckily, vampire books are easily identifiable, and go right back on the shelf.

Re traditional Thanksgiving: I actually cannot imagine rice for Thanksgiving. Potatoes, sweet potatoes, turnip/potatoes (neeps and taties): those were the only acceptable starches for the turkey holiday meals when I grew up. (And we didn't generally have creamed corn or coleslaw, either, for that meal. Very traditional tastes...)

We had the traditional family Thanksgiving last weekend, so tonight was pasta with peppers, and tomorrow will be vegetable barley soup with cheddar cheese biscuits. Both B's requests: I was pushing for meatloaf made with ground turkey. Maybe next week.

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

I don't recall ever reading a vampire story that was about 'cleaning up the blood'. In fact, aside from artistically arranged drips from the side of the mouth, vampires seem to be remarkably un-stained. You'd think their cloaks would be a mess.

I'm sure my mother never served anything with turkey except baked potatoes. I am much more - experimental. Though she did always serve something called "cabbage salad" that was suspiciously like cole slaw, only not, and which came from (I think) The Joy of Cooking.

[darthhellokitty.livejournal.com]

Just for you, a vampire song with every cliche!
http://download.yousendit.com/765AB56807B9B215

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

Did I already thank you for this link? Love it.

[jkluge.livejournal.com]

"Vickie Nelson," eh? One of the best teachers I ever worked with in Special Ed was named Vickie Nelson. Not that either name is uncommon, but... the coincidence struck me.

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

I don't know where/how/why Tanya Huff created the name "Vicky Nelson", but I like it.

aargh

[countrycousin.livejournal.com]

I liked the Blood Ties books, and have been following the airings, although many of the episodes have been mediocre. But I didn't see Heart of Ice. And neither did TiVo, which I have politely asked to scarf up all Blood Ties episodes. What was it on?

Re: aargh

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

I saw Blood Ties on SPACE, I think. It seems to be running on SPACE at 9 p.m. on Fridays - opposite Torchwood on CBC - so it seems I won't be watching Blood Ties very often! Yes, I've already seen all the Torchwood episodes many times, but Blood Ties still can't compete! I think I might rather read the books. Yes, "mediocfe" is a good word for the shows, and Julian Sands as the Mad Inquisitor was way too hokey.

But I really did like Vicky Nelson.

[abrakadabrah.livejournal.com]

Why don't you like Sophia Myles? I like her from Tristan and Isolde. The one I don't like is Alex O'Laughlin.
He does nothing for me. Doesn't seem to fill the role much with anything.

And, heh, I found the Henry VIII tie in on Blood-Ties was kind of desperate and empty.

Mara

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

Why don't you like Sophia Myles?

It's subjective: I find her always bland and unconvincing. I'm hoping to like her in tristan and Isolde, which I haven't seen yet.

I found the Henry VIII tie in on Blood-Ties was kind of desperate and empty.

I liked the idea that they linked him to history - it gave me something interesting to link him too. Otherwise I'd have thought him a dead loss. Yolande tells me he's in love with Vicky, which would be interesting too, but the TV show didn't allude to it.

[jwaneeta.livejournal.com]

I used to love vampire stories, back with Interview With a Vampire and Marvel Comics' Tomb of Dracula, .

Eeeee, another person on this planet who liked Tomb of Dracula! I was beginning to think I was the only one who ever even read it. :D!

I owned two sets of the entire run, once upon a time. Wish I still had them.

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

Tomb of Dracula was wonderful - especially the Gene Colan art. But it was all good. I still have my issues, but I haven't reread them in years.

[benbenberi.livejournal.com]

I liked Moonlight much better when it was called Forever Knight and the characters had a couple of functioning brain cells apiece. This time round, after the first episode I was "meh" -- I coulodn't sit through more than 30 min. of the second ep., and I won't be back for a third. They're just not pretty enough to make up for the bad acting and terrible writing.

As for Blood Ties, I've never read the books, and although I watched the pilot ep. it didn't make any impression on me at all: completely forgotten as soon as it was over.

IMO, there should be a moratorium on vampire shows for the next 10 years or so, till the creative soil has recovered enough to let fresh ideas germinate.

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

I liked Moonlight much better when it was called Forever Knight and the characters had a couple of functioning brain cells apiece.

I liked the original Forever Knight pilot, if I remember correctly, but they changed the lead and I didn't like the actor in the role after that - Geraint Wynne Davies? - and why do I remember the name of an actor I didn't like in a show I didn't watch?

Both vampire shows suffer from what I call "television blandness" - which is not to say that all TV is bland, but most of it is not memorable.

there should be a moratorium on vampire shows for the next 10 years or so

I would allow one vampire series in each of several genres - TV, comics, movies, books - maybe even subdividing books into mysteries, horror, fantasy and romance. But no more than one! And I would reserve the right not to watch or read it.

[lauradi7.livejournal.com]

Happy Thanksgiving!

We watched the first half-hour of the Moonlight pilot and gave up - it struck us as badly written and badly acted. We wondered whether the two leads were spending so much time thinking about their fake US accents that they had no brain time left for other acting, or whether there was nothing to be done about the writing. Interesting, as always, how opinions differ.

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

Which two leads? You can't mean Dohring, you probably mean Sophia Myles and the guy who plays the vampire... whose name I've already forgotten. Mick? (Soo much like Nick Knight, only I like him better.) The jury is out as to whether I watch it again; goodness knows there are enough shows that bore me to catatonia (and some of them very popular) and this isn't one of them. If I had time and incentive I'd watch it for the sake of Jason Dohring - if I thought he was going to be in it a lot. He probably won't be, but it's nice to see him again.

Mind you, I'd much rather see Logan Echolls. The vampire character seemed rather one-dimensional.

[lauradi7.livejournal.com]

Mick is correct (I looked it up). He's played by Alex O'Loughlin, who is Australian, and Sophia Myles is English. Most of the stuff I've seen her in went right past me, but I thought she was well suited to "The Girl in the Fireplace."

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

I had many mixed feelings about Sophia Myles in "The Girl in the Fireplace". I love the episode and that colours my view of it; but I thought the pivotal event, the Doctor's love for Reinette or vice versa, was unconvincing, and what I was left with in the end was a certainly of the love between the Doctor and Rose - who waited five and a half hours for him and might have waited a lifetime.

I believed the Doctor loved Reinette, but it was hard for me to believe that she loved him. She seemed - disengaged? - didn't convince me of her feelings. I liked the little girl in the opening scenes better.

[magika83.livejournal.com]

and Jason Dohring, whom I adored as Logan in Veronica Mars and (so far) love no less here

And he doesn't mumble in Moonlight! Seriously, I always have trouble understanding what he says in VM - so much that I am now watching season 3 on a Norwegian channel just for the subtitles (okay, not just...). I sort of liked the pilot of Moonlight - vampires aren't really my thing either, but it was okay. I will probably watch another episode when I have the time. I kept comparing Daniel the TA to Tim Foyle the TA in VM - the latter would have fitted in perfectly with the crazy professor. ;-)

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

You're right, Daniel and Tim Foyle were conceptual brothers!

I don't think I had any trouble understanding Logan in Veronica Mars, but I sometimes have trouble with accents on American television.