My Scrubs pimpage

EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE I finally have my S2 Scrubs DVDs!!!!!!!!!!!!!

*flails wildly and squees*

OMG adore this show so much! I hug it! Other shows, I have not abandoned you, but you all have admirers and I want people to all go watch Scrubs and write me fic and vid and do all that fun stuff! Where is my fandom? Who can I squee to?

So. I have never really done this before, but gorram it, having no one to share my squee with is driving me nuts.

Ergo, pimpage!

Scrubs is a half-hour sitcom with no laugh track; despite this, it's honestly one of the funniest things I watch, and it is consistently funny. It airs on NBC but is currently on hiatus (booooo!). From what I can tell, NBC moved its premiere to mid-season. I have no idea why and am still trying to get a grasp of fandom-y things.

Anyhow, it is indeed a medical show. Generally it follows the lives of JD, Turk and Elliot, who are interns at the beginning of S1 and have become residents in S2 (I've only watched S1 and bits and pieces of random seasons). ( Character introductions )

Reasons why you should be watching Scrubs:

1. It is funny like a funny thing. If you like Joss' dialogue, you'll like Scrubs dialogue, I promise. I sit in the living room and watch four episodes at a time and cackle like a madwoman to myself. JD (played by Zach Braff) narrates most of the episodes, and the character has a lovely, unique, zany voice. The thing I like the most is that JD's got a wonderful sense of innocence -- he goes off on odd tangents and daydreams random things, but it never feels like it is supposed to be Quirky and Cute and Odd. It just feels like the way I think, actually, which is probably a bit frightening.



2. I adore the characters. (see above for adoration) I have special adoration for Dr. Cox and Jordan -- the snark! Someone needs to tell me what the status of the two is right now, so I can know and stop nervously watching. I can't believe I am OTPing people in a sitcom.



3. It feels real. I realize that this is an odd thing to say about a sitcom about a hospital with fantasy sequences, but it is true! I, however, am not an intern or a med student and have been in the hospital a grand total of two times, so I can't actually say how real it is. But it sounds like the writers have talked to a lot of residents and interns and put in many of their true stories. And they have a medical consultant. Apart from that, Scrubs has a great sense of place (Sacred Heart hospital, that is). I like that the show has things like battles with insurance companies and politics with the board of trustees. It makes the hospital feel like an actual place, as opposed to medical dramas in which people are constantly having emotional trauma and etc. The hospital is constantly understaffed, the doctors can't always provide the best care to people because of this, there's never enough funding to go around.
   
   And I like that JD and Elliot and Turk are learning the ropes of the medical world and career-building, because while AMA conferences and papers aren't as exciting as epidemics, they feel like things I'd have to deal with.



4. The show has a sweet, gooey heart without being overly sentimental, courtesy of JD.



5. Scenes like this:
   (JD's been worrying about his relationship with Turk)
   JD's Thoughts: Just tell him how you feel without sounding like a girl, for once.
   
   JD: I miss you so much it hurts, sometimes.



6. The fact that Ted the Lawyer is in an a capella group that sings cartoon theme songs.



7. Ted the Lawyer's a capella group showing up in episodes to demonstrate their a capella prowess.



8. A portrayal of an actual, long-term relationship (Turk and Carla).

So now you are convinced? But how to get eps?

I have no idea! Uh, ok, that's not quite true. S1 and S2 are out on DVD right now, so Netflix is always an option (they are addictive and I watch eight episodes at a time sometimes -_-;; ). You can also get torrents of some episodes at TorrentSpy. If anyone knows how to get S3 and S4, please tell me!

Also, if you like it, you should get the DVDs because I love my show. And write fic! And vid! I cannot find the fandom at all, and seeing as how it is on Yuletide's fandom list, the fandom itself probably isn't too big.

I just started Tivo-ing random reruns of the show, and it soon got to the point where I was always anticipating the weekly ep. I then binged on the DVDs via Netflix, and was pretty much lost. I don't even watch sitcoms, but something about this show totally gets me.

In conclusion, go watch Scrubs because it is my new shiny show (even though it is technically an old show) and I love it to tiny bits and pieces and want to proselytize!

Pride and Prejudice (2005 movie)

Um. I liked this. A lot. Despite being completely against the movie after having seen the previews, despite having an irrational dislike for Keira Knightley, despite absolutely adoring the BBC miniseries with Jennifer Ehle and Colin Firth, despite it taking liberties with the book.

I think part of it is because this is the fourth take on P&P that I've seen (the others being the BBC miniseries, Bridget Jones' Diary, and Bride and Prejudice). Maybe I wouldn't count BJD as an adaptation, except... it's sort of in the spirit of the thing. Also, with so many adaptations that I can watch, and with a really good adaptation already available (BBC!), I feel like I can be much more generous to other adaptations and concentrate more on how they're changing the story and playing with the text.

It's rather like fairy tale retellings!

Obviously, since it's a movie and not a six episode miniseries, a lot of the content gets cut. The main focus remains on Darcy and Elizabeth, along with a large side serving of Jane and Bingley. Wickham actually doesn't have as much screen time as he could have.

I felt like the focus of the movie was shifted toward the romances and toward class issues (interestingly enough). Romance-wise, Mr. Darcy comes off as less of a jerk in the beginning, and Lizzie feels much younger and more impulsive. While Jennifer Ehle's Elizabeth had a polite face and witty remarks, Keira Knightley's Elizabeth's cutting comments feel more like they are spur of the moment. They also cut most of the Wickham romance with Elizabeth, probably to focus more on Darcy and Elizabeth. Also, Bingley is very cute and awkward in this version.

There are also some additional scenes between Darcy and Elizabeth, one of which felt very fan-written! Not in a bad way! But definitely in a post-ep filling-in-the-blanks fic way!

I also liked how the director decided to portray the Bennets as country-folk; it makes Mrs. Bennet's desire to marry off her daughters more understandable. The Bennets have pigs running through their house and laundry in the courtyard. When compared to the Bingley's stately rooms with Neo-Classical decorations, it's quite clear why Miss Bingley and Darcy would object to the Bennets' social status.

The movie also makes the characters more sympathetic. Lady Catherine de Bourgh remains the villain of the piece (so much as there is a villain), but Mr. Collins and Mrs. Bennet each get their little awwww moments. There's just one small moment in which Mr. Collins gives Lizzie a flower, and she won't take and he has to awkwardly place it on the table in front of her, as though he meant to do that the entire time, that I liked. Also, there's another scene in which Lizzie is angry at Mrs. Bennet (I think it's right after news of Lydia's marriage) and snaps at her for only focusing on marriage. Brenda Blethyn does a lovely job of adding depth in her reply, "If you had five daughters, you would worry about marrying them all off too!" (paraphrased), and the audience can sympathize with her because we've seen how the Bennets live and worry about the estate going to Mr. Collins and the like.

Mr. Bennet also comes off much more favorably, as does his marriage with Mrs. Bennet. There is less sarcasm and wit in this adaptation; the focus has been taken away from the manners so that it's not a comedy of manners, but more a romance wherein the manners act as obstructions, if that makes any sense.

This isn't to say that they took out all the snark. The script actually leaves in most of my favorite bits (Mr. Collins on complimenting people, Miss Bingley's insipid commentary on Darcy's letter writing, Mr. Bennet's wonderful reply to whether Lizzie had to marry Mr. Collins or not). There's more of a gentleness to it. Lizzie teases Mr. Collins at the table, and she feels and sounds so young and giddy and full of fun that I couldn't help but laugh, and Mr. Bennet's reply ("From this day forward, you must be estranged from one parent," paraphrased) is not just snarky because Donald Sutherland also makes it clear that he goes against Mrs. Bennet because of how he loves Lizzie and wants her to be happy.

I am somewhat sad though -- I couldn't tell if one of my absolutely favorite lines is in the movie ("You must allow me to tell you how ardently I admire and love you") was cut or not!

And now, I shall stop comparing the movie to its predecessors and speak of it on its own terms.

I went in completely expecting to vent about it, and by the time the first ball came around, I was charmed and won over. I must also recant my dislike of Keira Knightley (it's totally irrational -- it's just because I felt bad that the girl who played Jess in Bend It Like Beckham doesn't have this sort of press and she was good too). Her Elizabeth is young and impulsive and full of life; she speaks perhaps a little too quickly and a little too sharply, but she loves very deeply and is fiercely loyal. She feels so young! And, yes, I was completely won over.

It was really hard not to be won over by the movie as a whole! I have no idea who wrote the script or directed the movie, but it feels like it was made with such love that it's difficult to nitpick. The acting is very good, and while Keira Knightley really stood out for me, I also loved Donald Sutherland and Brenda Blethyn as Mr. and Mrs. Bennet. Miss Bingley was wonderfully snooty, and Jane was lovely and nice. I dislike Lydia, as always, but she was done well, and Jena Malone was wonderful in the scene when Lydia comes back to flaunt her marriage. And I liked the enthusiastic but not too socially adept Mr. Bingley very much!

And Matthew MacFadyen is very, very cute, and I have now moved Spooks to the top of my Netflix queue. His Darcy is a bit shy and tongue-tied; he's awkward and consistently says the wrong thing.

Actually, this is very much a movie of saying the wrong thing or speaking too quickly out of emotion, with the exception of Jane.

Anyhow, highly recommended, though this is very much an adaptation, so I totally get why some people might have problems with it.

ETA: Oh, and I forgot! I would love this movie just for its "wet shirt" moment! Well, it's not actually a wet shirt, but it's Matthew MacFadyen strolling in slo-mo through the moors (or fields, but moors sounds better), with an open shirt and his coat flapping in the fog. Yeah. It was so Wuthering Heights. I loved it ^_^.