Merlin, show of lost uppertunities.

Merlin, the 2008 BBC show.
oddly enough, it haven't been in the search light of geeks across the enternet. Neither have I detected anyone one who actually spoke of it, or even nit picked on it.
I find it kind of odd, as it does touch upon geeky and interesting subjects, the Arthurian myth, and is for all intense and purposes. is an adventure fantasy series for younger people and teenagers. perfect show material for role playing people and its likes.
For me though, this is very much the show of lots opportunities, because it have the opportunity for greatness. all the components are there, and they are right. It just lacks the courage to take that extra step into the realms of dangerous and dark story plotting. it simple just needs to stop being a children's show and take itself seriously.




What the show is about is the young Merlin, in the future to be exceptionally powerful and grant wizard Merlin.
Now though, he is just a teenage boy, already he have very powerful magic within him, but he doesn't know how to control it yet.
Somehow he ends up being the private man servant of Prince Arthur, the future king of Chamalot.

Here's where stuff get's sort of interesting. the current king of Chamalot is King Uther, and according to him, everything that has anything to do with magic or the unexplainable is evil and must die. He is actually paranoid and wants to kill people, just because that happen to have magic gifts. and I mean everyone, so Merlin must keep his powers a firm secret to the world. kind of an old fashioned Superman formular really as Merlin continuously safe the day but must keep his actions hidden.


This situation is kind of a fascinating setup, ad Uther is a very fascinating character. his idea of killing everything magic is wrong yeas, but not entirely. because to be perfectly honest, all the bad shit that does happen have always something to do with magic, and I mean always. It is only in Uthers best interests to protect his Kingdom and people whom he is extremely dedicated to, he is sincerely a selfless man, and he sincerely believe he does the king a favor so by killing off anything magical, children, women and creatures a like. all is done in the best of intentions, yet his actions was from day one extremely self destructive as magic is clearly a huge integrated part of his kingdom, not just a little thing that can be ignored, which just gives him all the more reason to fear it. And that makes Uther by far, the best and most complex character of the show, he is a wonderful character in a unique and complex situation. At first glance you think he is a villain, but the truth is that he isn't. only sometimes and in specific situations.


Merlins own situation seemed intriequin at first, how he must run around pretending just to be a servant boy but is in reality such a powerful wizard and is in reality in constant life threat on the same time as he develops a friendship with Arthur whom he must keeps secrets from. But it didn't take long for that situation to become really boring, because it doesn't goes anywhere at all. yeas their friendship is growing stronger, and their interactions are both funny and amusing, but that's kind of it, and Merlins situation reminds to much of loads of stuff I have seen before about superpowered teenagers who must keep up a secret identity. It's dull.
All though, it needs to be say he is an amusing character and very well casted, he is likable and funny, and the character withholds great potential, as with everything else in this bloody show that needs to get moving with it's own development.



Arthurs situation is a little more intrequin and manage to keep interest a little more. he is crown prince and he knows that he is destined to be the future king of Chamalot. as he is young, naive and have a big heart he is actually able to see the wrong in his fathers actions as well as the goods and his reasons. So Arthurs more often than rare finds himself in very compromising situations where he have to choose between his fathers righteous believing that is apparently in the best interest of the people, or his own judgement.
You will be surprised how often he actually do end up with the first option and only does the latter in secret. He loves his father, and he can understand his fathers actions, yet his heart is big and as a young man he is not able to kill people just for them being able to preform magic. which also makes it's so frustrating for the audience that he doesn't know yet that Merlin is a wizard, we are dying to see his reactions all though we pretty much already know them. of cause he is going to stand by Merlin, and that will leave him in a granter compromising situation where he needs to keep Merlins secret from his own father.
The trouble just is, the show is standing still, each and every single episode ends on a reset button and we are back to where we started. it frustrates me so much as all the key ingredients are right there for an amazing show.
And not only that. The show is british and is one of does who have 14 episodes pr season, same as Doctor who.
Difference is that Doctor who is really using it's time and goes places, each and every single episode matters and builds upon the plot to take the characters to new places and situations. why does Merlin not draw inspiration from that? It purely baffles me.

One of the thing that annoys me the most about this show is the Dragon.
I hate that dragon, the idea was good but is being way overused, and the Dragon is a big major to easy plot solver. Almost every single episode in the first two seasons ended in Merlin going down to the dragon to ask for a spell that could fix whatever problem the episode was concerned about. and he would always get the spell!
What the hell? why? it's the same as when Star Trek techno babbles itself out of problems, it's lazy writing!
What especially annoyed me was the in the last episode of the first season, we had pretty much set up a situation where the Dragon would not be used any more, I applaud that.
But already at the first episode of the second season.. he bloody goes down to the dragon again!? why? you just said you didn't want help from it because it almost killed your mother, why writers why? and that mother incident is never mentioned again.
Then in the ending of second season I really thought we had gotten rid of it as it was let loose, but no. bloody first episode of third season which came out last weekend. the Dragon come and saved Merlin.
big bloody sarcastic hurrah from my end of the line. And the worst part is, it wasn't even needed, you could easily have rewrote the situation to that Merlin escaped himself by using his own powerful magic that can do almost anything anyhow, depending on what the writers fells like.
That dragon just annoys the living hell out of me as it is one of they key things in the show that keeps the show from growing and developing.





So what do I think should be done to make the show move forward and be as great as it could have been.
cause it really could, the set up is great in imaginative, the characters are great and well casted, the universe is fascinating. It is all there.

Well, this may shock people. other than getting rid at the Dragon for good, the way I see the show go if it should move forward.
Kill off Uther.

no really. but didn't I just say he was by far the best and most complex and interesting character? I did, and I stand by that statement. but he needs to be removed to let the show grow, he sincerely needs to die. And Chamalot needs to fall and become divided in order to set up what will happen in the real Arthurian legend where Arthur must regain his throne and collect the country under a united banner.
That Uther will be killed by the uprising people is the only logical outcome of what have happened so far and his behavior. his behavior towards the people, how good intended it might be, are extremely self destructive non the less, to many wants him to dead, to many are ready to rise against him. He is already doomed, the only question just remains when the series will show balls enough to actually do it, go ahead and kill a main character and put itself on shaky grounds where the safe frame of the castle and somebody attacking the castle is a concept thrown over the shoulders and in the garbage can, become the past of the show.

In the star of the third season I was almost fooled as there was set up a grant big battle for Chamalot, it seemed like a no win scenario, and Chamalot should have fallen for the show to move on. though as should be expected, it did.
All though, it did set up Morgana as a firm evil villain. this is indeed interesting, she is Uthers ward and he loves her as a daughter, and she will have no second thoughts in killing him.
This puts Uthers position in his clear, and his future undoing is to obvious and will happen for one unlikely sorce of reason, the reason why most heroes triumph he will be conquered. His heart, Uthers heart is to big and love to much, his love to the people blinds him when seeing any potential danger, which magic very much is, his love to Morgana keeps him from seeing her deadly evil nature.



The show must move forward, to hell with the same frame that is sat up, a firm ground is only sat so you can do the impressive acrobatics later, but Merlin never ever takes that jump into the realm of unsudenty, it's so close, so often it's so close which just makes it even more bitter for me when it doesn't happen.
It would be like pulling the carpet away from the fetes of the writers, but it is what needs to be done. Kill Uthor and let Chamalot fall, then let the show be about Arthur and Merlin traveling the country trying to unit it and regain the throne while fighting all the evil sorceress. this time as somebody on the run.

Sacha Bohen Corner is casted as Freddie Mercury... interesting.

First of all, a movie about "Queens" about freaking time if you ask me.
I do genuinely want to see it.
But Sacha Bohen known from "Borat" and "Bruno" playing the infamouse singer... that is interesting.

http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE68G0E220100917

Well, I just don't know what I fell about that casting choice.

let me put it straight, I freaking hate "Borat" and "Bruno" I personally find them to be stupid, disgusting not at all funny movies.

But the few other places I have seen him in other movies, directed by somebody else like in "Sweeney Todd" I like him.
He is capable of acting and being both funny, over the top and go back to a more serious situation, on a huge plus side he is differently not afraid of being camp which is very important when being cast as the dear Freddie. And he can sing to.
All though, I would prefer it if they kept with the original Queen soundtrack and recordings instead of having Bohen Corner doing covers.

And if the casting was up to me, I know exactly who I would want as Mercury.
Freaking Prince Poppycock! no question about it!



Poppycock is fun, young, good looking, artistic, camp, have attitude, talented, clearly gay.
I mean, he would be to perfect.

note, I have no idea wehter poppycock is gay or not, and frankly I don't care, but Mercury was gay, so it was meant as a reason why he should totally be Mercury.

Prosa; What do I want?

For funny background information.
I wrote this piece of Lyric when I was 15 and actually won two different awards with it strangely enough.
A local youth award for most intelligent poem, and bigger Summer city award for best reflecting poem.
That was one weird experience, as people can see, the poem is rather tiny and non saying.

I don’t want to be alone
I don’t want to rely on others
I want to fit in
I want to be unique
I want to fly far away
I don’t want things to change
I hate when people have expectations
I am sad when they don’t
I can’t figure out what I really want
Can you?

Doctor who short Story; The Poor boy and the Princes.

Set right after cold blood;



Once upon a time, there was a boy. The boy was poor and humble, yet he had a great many deal of virtues. He was kind, gentle, intelligent, brave, compassionate, and his heart was made of the purest gold, though most importantly, he loved the Princess above everything else. Every day and every night he would guard the princess as she was the most valuable treasure, and for him she was. He would support her when he knew she was wrong, he would protect her when she made her stupid decisions, he would bring her flowers and bathe her in sunshine. Though he was poor and couldn't give her much, he had already given her something worth more than anything else in the universe: His heart. All he wanted in return was for her to look down and meet his gaze. But his gifts and undivided attention were in vain, for the princess' gaze only pointed one direction: Upwards. The only place the little princess would ever look was up at the stars, waiting. Waiting to be taken away from her little garden with the duck pond, and away from the poor boy who had given her his heart. No, she wanted more than this. She wanted to see the universe, to taste the finest wine and touch a burning star with her own hand. So busy was she looking up, that she never looked down, and never met the poor boys eyes, so she never even had the chance to discover what a precious gift he had offered her. And it was all her own fault.

"Amy!"

Shocked, Amy almost dropped the pen as she heard the Doctor call out to her, his voice was neither cheerful nor enthusiastic, as she had come to suspect it would be every time it was time to explore a new place. Red cheeked and ashamed, Amy put the piece of paper she was writing on down. What was wrong with her? Here she was, living the dream and adventure, so what was she doing writing? When had she ever written anything fictional in her entire life? And now that she had apparently gained a taste for it, why fiction? Why not about all those amazing things she was seeing? She could write the best selling diary of the year with all those unbelievable things. Angrily, Amy wiped a tear away from her face, before she was suddenly staring at her wet hand. "What the hell?" She could fell her checks were still red, and for some reason a tear had escaped. She felt depressed and unable to speak. The fictional poor boy she had written about on her paper stuck in her mind, and he made her cry. How could the princess have been so stupid? "Amy, are you okay?" The Doctor popped his head into her room with a worried look in his eyes. "Yes, I am fine," Amy responded, hiding her emotional state as much as possible. "Where are we going this time?" she asked with a vague smile on her lips. "Something random and new?" "No..." The Doctor shook his head, though his eyes never left Amy. "I have chosen our destination carefully this time. Ancient Greece. Arcadia, more specifically. Relaxing, beautiful, mind soothing." "Why?" Amy asked a bit baffled. "I don't need to relax." For some moments, the Doctor was looking at Amy with a very odd look, almost hurtful. "I think I do," the Doctor finally responded. "Please," he added, surprising Amy as the Doctor hardly never said something like please. "Well of course," Amy blinked. "It's your time machine ain't it? Relaxing sounds good."

In the time the princess was spending looking up in the stars, the poor boy did anything to get into her favor. One day it happened that the princess was very sad. She was sad about being left alone in her little garden, as always, the poor boy was there, right beside her, and suddenly she realized she was never alone, because he was there, even though she was still looking towards the stars. His hand found its way to hers, and before she knew it, they would always hold hands. She would depend on his strength, his ability to make her smile, and his words that made her feel special. It had become time for her to look down from the stars, and see what she had. But something held her back, something in her told her, that if she would only keep looking, she would be rewarded.

Amy hugged the piece of useless paper close to her heart, as she looked sadly down at a couple of young lovers. Even in ancient Greece that simple aspect of human nature just wouldn't be undermined. The sky had turned dark, and above her the stars were shining, all of them untouchable, but not for her. Not anymore. She had been rewarded. All she needed to do was to point towards a star and say "That one!" and whoosh, she would go there. She could be there in a minute, in a second, ten minutes ago.

And then it happened, crashing down from the stars came the princess's reward. The princess did not believe it herself, but there it was, everything a princess could dream of. The new suitor, the man she had been waiting for, for so long, was much more fitting for a real princes: The rich dashing man, with his gifts of magic and his abilities to take the princess beyond the stars. He was the man who the rest of the world centered around, and he too would give the princess everything she desired. So shining and so impressive was the man, that the blind princess immediately dismissed the poor boy, who had been fighting for her heart for so long. When the princess was invited to the dashing man's magical world, she stepped inside without hesitation, and before she knew it, she had left the poor boy behind. Never realizing that it was the mistake of her life.

Amy had to stop writing for a moment, as she had to keep her tears back. "My sweet dump boy." The words escaped her mouth, though it would be impossible for anyone but herself to distinguish the words, as they were completely spoiled by her crying. "Stupid, stupid, stupid!" she scorned herself. "Stupid." She looked down on the used paper, and it was almost as if the pen had its own life, as it put itself down on the paper.

Fortunately, the dashing wise man, that could travel beyond the stars, was also very wise. He was able to see what she didn't. The man would never forgive himself he was responsible for tearing the young lovers apart. So he did the only thing he thought could solve the problem. He came back to the little garden, bringing the princess for the sole purpose of picking up the poor boy, and letting the poor boy travel with them, so the three of them could travel together. In that way the princess could have everything she had ever wanted, she could both travel beyond the stars and have her true love.. Unfortunately, the princess wasn't nearly as wise as the traveling man, and her mind was torn. She told herself she had been waiting for so long, and she was sure the dashing man was what she wanted. Only obligation caused her to hold the poor boy's hand once more. That is, until she almost lost her love. It was first, after hurt, danger and traveling, after losing and crying. Then did it finally happen. She at last stopped looked up, and dared to look down. Once she did there was no way back. As she met the poor boy's eyes for the first time in all the time she had known him, she was drowning. It scared her but on the same time filled her with such joy. Suddenly, she realized she would never be able to go on without that poor boy. She did not know when it had happened, if it had happened through a long time or just suddenly, but the boy had stolen her heart, and she needed to be with him. He was her strength, her conscious and her reason, and she needed him. This just made it all that more tragic, that one dark day, he was suddenly gone. The princess had come to pay for her blindness, as she only dared looking down, mere moments before it happened. She had had a whole life of him being by her side, but she had wasted that life looking up, and then he was just gone. Leaving the princess alone, although she finally was where she wanted to be - beyond the stars. She had missed the greatest opportunity of all, and now she was left in a dark, sad place, with no means of escape, no means of comfort... and nowhere.

"NO!" Amy screamed the words as she threw the paper aside. "No, no, no!" She cried, not understanding why she was crying. She reached again for the paper with the intention of tearing it apart, but something within herself kept her from doing so. Sobs escaped Amy's mouth, as tears streamed down her cheeks. It was not what was supposed to happen.

Maybe the boy was poor, but he was also rich. Even though he was gone, he really wasn't - he had made the princess a better person. Such simple things as, "I'll do it for you." or "Look at that flower." really meant, 'I love you' when it had come from his mouth. He was precious, too precious to be forgotten.

Amy breathed out in the air. It was supposedly very cold right now, as damp was created with each of her breaths, there was even slight rim of frost around her, creating a glittering carpet on the grass that glittered in contest with the cloud free, star sprayed sky. Amy knew that she should feel cold, only she didn't. She should also feel awed or happy or something. Only she didn't feel that either. Amy just felt strangely empty. She did hear the Doctor approaching her from behind, his soft careful steps, and she accepted his jacket as he put it around her. "Are you okay?" the Doctor asked, concerned. "Yes," Amy answered automatically, as she saw the white mist escaping her mouth with the word. "Why would I not be?" "No reason." The Doctor kept silent for some moments. "What's that?" Ashamed, Amy shoveled her scribbled papers away. "Nothing," she said quickly. "Just trash I'm going to throw out." But the doctor was not easily fooled, as he sat down beside Amy, and gently pulled the papers out of Amy's hand. Amy felt her cheeks grow red in embarrassment, as the Doctor actually read her little story. She had seen him read before, he could read an entire book in ten seconds, but as of now, he took his time and read each word carefully. Amy even got the impression that he read some words twice to get it all, before he handed the papers back.

"Whatever you do, don't throw that away. Keep it safe." The Doctor instructed her, as she took back her papers. "Why?" Amy asked, at the same time she did what he instructed and put the papers safely in a pocket inside of the Doctor's jacket that wrapped around her. "Is it important?" Amy asked. The Doctor did not affirm a thing. Amy really hated when he was this cryptic all though she guessed he had his reasons. "Just keep them safe, and read them once in a while," the Doctor told her softly, kind of too carefully for Amy's taste. "If you feel like adding something in it, just do it." "Okay," Amy nodded. "Though it's sort of weird, I never write. I just felt a compulsion to it." "It's good though," The Doctor told her. "That poor boy, doesn't he have a name?" the Doctor asked, though in a way that it sounded like he was stepping around in a mine field. Amy shrugged. "Well no, but neither does the dashing man. Honestly Doctor, I don't know why I even wrote this." "Doesn't matter," the Doctor assured her. "Writing is not a bad thing." "But this story is," Amy objected. "It makes no sense. Why would that boy stay with the princess? And why would he have to pay for what she did. I don't understand it myself." "Well, I can think of many reasons," The Doctor looked out in the air, speculating. "She is a princess, so she would have to be beautiful. You didn't write of any of her virtues, other than she is a dreamer, which is a good thing. My guess would be that she is feisty, intelligent, compassionate, wise and does all kinds of things worth giving his heart to her." "But unthankful," Amy sighed. "He would never leave her in a million years, and she just left him without a second thought, and why should he pay? He didn't do anything, but be so brave all the time." The Doctor smiled vaguely at her with those sad eyes. "It's cold. Let's get back to the TARDIS." Amy nodded absentmindedly. "Yeah, we should do that."

The princess was alone, although she wasn't. Her own beloved would always be there in her heart. She remembered warm days where they had fed ducks at the pond, he had made a joke, and it had made her laugh. His eyes had lit up, as he realized he had made her do so, and the princess couldn't believe she was that lucky. As the princess lay in bed, she could fell her beloved's arms around her, his breath down her neck, and she knew no matter what she did, he would always support her. In his eyes, she would always be his princess. And even though it had taken a while for the princess to figure it out, he would always be her only real prince.

Short Story; The man that didn't choose.

There was a man.

he had not chosen this job, it was his parents wish that he should go to college all though he did not enjoy schematics, all though it was not unbearable.
It was his fathers wish his education may be used, and it was his mother who knew who would hire him. So the man willingly went with it.
The job was dull, gray and not what the man had wished for when he was younger, but it was bearable, so he supposed it was fine.

He had not chosen this apartment, the apartment was in the middle of the city, his grandmother had insisted he should be close so he could help, outside of the window it would be filled with smoke and grease, the staircase up the the little flat dirty brown and unwelcoming, equally so the neighbours, all looked like a non caring sort of people, but it was not unbearable, so the man supposed it was fine.

He had not chosen this couch, it was ugly and smelled of moll. It was like the dust would fly away from it whenever the man touched it.
Yet it was an heirloom from his dead uncle, and the couch was not unbearable, so he supposed it was fine.

the man had not chosen this set of clothe, it was ugly and itchy, the sort of clothes you only see truly boring people wear, people who were accountants or really old history teachers, all though the job the man had not chosen was just such a boring job.
But the clothes was a gift from his parents neighbours, and it was not unbearable, so he supposed it was fine.

The man had not chosen his job, his education, his apartment, the couch in the apartment, the clothes he was wearing. non of these things made him happy or made him smile the least.

non of it was his choice, yet it was.

He had chosen that life.

Harry Potter, "Socrates" titles for all future reviews.

As people should be able to see, I am gleefully tucking into Harry Potter.
Unfortunately.. I just today I got a cold and a bug in my voice, which means I can't film or record in one or two days, but that gives me chance to write on the reviews instead. It should also be noted that I am differently not planning to only do Harry Potter, my plan is that only every second review is going to be Harry Potter, and then every second something completely unrelated, if people are curious, after done with. "The philosophers stone." I am intending to do a "top 10 scariest clowns" and after "Chamber of Secrets." it's going to be "Twilight." because every body loves picking on Twilight.

Anyhow, Harry Potter is a book series that have a lot going on for it, with consistent themes and so on. in the end of each movie review of the harry potter, I will add a discussion feature called. "Socrates of the week." which should give people something to tug into on boards and think about, that is however if anyone is ever going to be interested in what I have to say, I highly doubt that somehow, but anyhow. If it should happen, for strange reasons, I thought it would be funny to post the title for the. "Socrates" in advance, so people can start scratching their heads in advance of what I could possible mean by does titles.



The philosophers stone: a child's view of the world.

The camber of secrets: choice.

The Prisoner of Azkaban: beneath the surface.

The Goblet of Fire: standing together.

The order of the Phoenix: ignorance.

The Half blood prince: Love vs. Hate, Forgiveness vs. Blame and Mercy vs. vengeance.

The deathly hollows: Sacrifice and redemption.


Love.


on a side note, wow this is really incredible. I really had forgotten how much I love these books and exactly how good they are. These books are simply incredible.
People, do yourself a favor and just go read them please.

The Red Suitcase episode one; Harry Potter and the Philosopher's stone part 1

okay wauw. it's there.
Well, it's not exactly my first attempt at trying to make a video review, but it's the first time I tried to do it for this blog particularly, be nice. hopefully part 2 will be out in a week or so, I seriously can't tell as the process of making this was very long.

ofcause constructive critisme is even more than welcome.

oh and ofcause I fully admit that this is blatantly ripping off the nostalgia critic, though I do try to make this my own. just so no one would start acusing me of saying this is anything else than it is.

It's just yet another attempt of the many to try and be like the critic.

Bruce Campell makes. "Bruce Campell vs. Frankenstein"

groovey!


http://herocomplex.latimes.com/2010/09/01/bruce-campbell-on-the-horror-franchise-that-launched-his-career-all-roads-lead-to-evil-dead/


And he stated this is going to be his version of "the Exspendables." where he is gonna gather all the classic B-movie horror actors of the 70's and 80's, including Robert Englund, and Kane Hooder.

I am so gonna watch this, I am already more hyped by this prospect than I ever was for a moment hearing about the Expendables movie.


For does air heads out there who doesn't know who Bruce Campell is (seriously, go watch evil dead or something)
He is the uncrowned king of 80's B horror and slasher movies. a really camped, yet really funny actor who made his mark as the sadistic, yet stupid git "Ash" in Sam Raimis delightfully horror filled, spoke house feeling Evil Dead trilogy.

He is know a B-movie star. starring in all the grimmy really camp horror gore feast B-movies. (A B-movie being a film that that is kind of low budget and cheap, but tries to give the feel of a A hollywood movie anyhow, often ending up in a amusing camped cheap look, which when done well, I freaking love)

This spells B-movie of the decade all over. It spells this generations "Jessey James Daughter vs. Frankenstein" which is an awesome funny move by the way.. but christ is it B, Silly and camped.. love it!