http://blogcritics.org/ A sinister cabal of superior bloggers on music, books, film, popular culture, politics, and technology - updated continuously. en Copyright 2005-2007 by the authors Sun, 29 Sep 2002 04:06:20 EDT http://backend.userland.com/rss Blogcritics.org custom software http://blogcritics.org/ Phillip WinnSunday, August 26, 2007, marks the switch of all Blogcritics.org article feeds from full-content to short-content. This is the result of several converging factors, and is unfortunately a permanent decision (as permanent as any decision can be on the web, that is). We are aware of all of the reasons that this is a Bad Idea, and we are aware that some of you will be quite upset about having to click on something to read the free content, and we're sorry. Unfortunately, despite great effort, full-content feeds are not currently economically viable. Two other factors are involved: full-content feeds have resulted in an unprecedented level of content theft, with BC content appearing on many websites, usually spam sites, without attribution or permission. This duplicate content causes a cascading set of problems, not the least of which is that search engines generally aren't favorable to duplicate content, and don't always guess correctly. Finally, our RSS advertising partner is strongly in favor of short-content feeds. We hope that you'll continue to subscribe to BC via RSS, and when an article grabs your eye, it's only a click away, still free on the BC website. Thank you for your understanding. Administration0@blogcritics.org Sun, 26 Aug 2007 12:00:00 EDT http://blogcritics.org/archives/2002/09/29/040620.php Matthew ElcockWarning: This contains a major spoiler for the beginning of Season Seven. If you are an Un-American (tm Buffistas) and with to remain unspoiled, do not read further.(Read more TV analysis like this over on Pinwiz.net!)Buffy's possible final season started off with a great first episode. It was funny, it had an amazing fight, and it ended with one of the scariest scenes in recent history... mostly due to the dread that Harry Groener was about to make an appearance. In an one minute span, we received many tantalizing hints of where the show could travel. I've transcribed the Big Bad's speech to dissect it for clues.(And for those of you who didn't watch the episode, the apparent Big Bad for this season is a shapeshifter that switched into each of the Big Bads from seasons past.) Warren Of course she won't understand, Sparky. I'm beyond her understanding. She's a girl... sugar and spice and everything useless unless you're baking. I'm more than that. More than flesh... Glory ...more than blood, I'm... you know, I honestly don't think there's a human word fabulous enough for me. Oh, my name will be on everyone's lips assuming their lips haven't been torn off. But not just yet. That's all right though... So far, it's your basic grandstanding. Plus, we've already gone down the "She Who Should Not Be Named" road with Glory in Season Five. Adam ...I can be patient. Everything is well within parameters. She's exactly where I want her to be, and so are you Number 17. You're right where you belong. Now it really starts to get interesting. I'm going to assume that we'll eventually hear of the prophecies that have led up to this Big Bad's attack. Drusilla said that she saw great things in Spike before she turned him into a vampire, so was he meant to go through the personal growth of the past three seasons? What is so special about Spike, and why is his soul more important than Angel's? The Mayor So what'd you think? You get your soul back and everything would be Jim Dandy? Soul's slipperier than a greased weasel. Why did you think I sold mine? (giggles) Well you probably thought that you'd be your own man, and I respect that. But... Or, is Spike just a pawn? Maybe he's supposed to turn back to evil, and is the linchpin in the upcoming battle. I don't know. It was telling that when Buffy escaped the ghosts in Spike's lair he mentioned that it was just the "three of us". He's been talking to Mr. Whatever for quite some time now, and it's strong enough to keep the other evil spirits at bay. Drusilla ...you never will. You'll always be mine. You'll always be in the dark with me, singing our little song. You like our little songs, don't you? You've always liked them, right from the beginning, and that's where we're going... And with this, I'm leaning towards the Corruption of the Soul Theory. We've already seen it on Angel, how the side that Angel chooses in the upcoming apocalyptic conflict will be the big factor in the side that eventually wins. And maybe since Angel already turned away from his greatest chance of corruption (Buffy), Mr. Whoever needed a similar person... and Spike fit the bill. That's what I'm sticking with. The Master ...right back to the Beginning. Not the Bang, not the Word, the true Beginning. The next few months are going to be quite a ride, and I think we're all going to learn something about ourselves in the process. You'll learn you're a pathetic schmuck, if it hasn't sunk in already. Look at you, trying to do what's right... just like her. You still don't get it. It's not about Right, not about Wrong. Buffy It's about Power. And now, I think I have a very good idea about what the Big Bad is this season. All this talk about the Beginning, and the appearance of the Slayer as the final apparition in the monologue, makes one avenue very clear:We've learned a little about the history of the Slayer, and we've gone all the way back to the First. However, we don't know how she was brought into being. She was such an elemental force, that it couldn't have happened by chance. Physics tells us that for each action there's an equal and opposite reaction. So if the Slayer was born, something had to be born at the exact same time to warrant her existence.The Slayer always seems to be in the right place at the right time to prevent all the minor Apocalypses from occurring. That fits the patience and planning that our new Big Bad is exhibiting. What if the spirit of the Slayer is just as good of a planner? That's the only way we could explain the world not having ended centuries before now, and backs the original hypothesis.It looks like the final showdown will be coming. What will it entail? Who will it affect? Will the events of this season echo over on Angel? And if this Big Bad is the end all and be all of Evil, could we rationalize a Season Eight?One down, twenty-one to go.I can't wait! Video974@blogcritics.org Sun, 29 Sep 2002 04:06:20 EDT http://blogcritics.org/archives/2002/09/25/061510.php Matthew ElcockIn about 15 hours, Big Brother 3 will be over. It's been a fun summer, watching those self-absorbed boobs whine and cry about how they had been wronged when they simply had been outplayed. There's been some shockers, like Lisa voting to return Amy to the house and Marcellas refusing to take himself off the chopping block the week he was evicted, and I never expected the final pairing. Well, I expected Danielle in the final two... but not Lisa. So, it's time to put my power of prediction on the line and call how the final vote will fall tonight before I switch over to West Wing on the TiVo. This assumes that we haven't been subjected to deceptive editing the past two weeks. In order of (final) eviction: Lori - Votes for Danielle. Lori's fortunate that she was evicted so early in the game that no one really got a chance to rag on her in the Diary Room. Sure, she and Danielle had it out over Bathroom-Gate, but the profile from two weeks ago made it appear that Lori didn't have any hard feelings. I expect that Lori will vote for the best player, and that's one for Danielle. Tonya - Votes for Lisa. Tonya was part of the original Gang of Six along with Lisa, and her retrospective last week made it clear that she wasn't happy with Dani's hooker references. This one's pretty simple, a vote for friendship and also out of spite. Eric - Votes for Lisa, neutralized by Danielle. I'm assuming that each of the finalists will be able to block one Jury vote like last year, so Danielle would be smart to take Eric's vote out of the game. Eric should vote for his girlfriend Lisa, especially after his comments at the end of her live Internet chat. He even flew into the Los Angeles to be there should she have been evicted on Thursday. Josh - Votes for Danielle. If there's anyone who would appreciate a good player, it would be Josh. He stated on his eviction that his entire annoying routine was an act, and even though I don't believe him I can see how it would work in Danielle's favor. He's one of the few players would would be able to look at the game rationally, instead of an emotional "I can't believe Danielle said that!" state. Chiara - Undecided. This is a hard one to call. Chiara's not known to be the forgiving type, but odds are that she'll still hold a grudge towards Lisa for not supporting her... or she'll be angry at Dani's comments. I simply don't know. Gerry - Undecided. Yes, I'm wimping out on him but I simply can't pick a side. And, he had an unanimous eviction so the votes won't be an issue. He's a teacher, he's looking at the game logically and will probably side with Dani's playing. Or, he might cast his vote against the "Dark Side" and support Lisa. I don't know. Roddy - Votes for Lisa. Do you honestly think that arrogant asshole will actually vote for Danielle after she campaigned against him for weeks on end and called him "The Devil"? No. Way. In. Hell. Marcellas - Votes for Lisa. He said that quite clearly in his exit interview that he's supporting Lisa. Amy - Votes for Lisa. She said in her interview that she's supporting Danielle, but post-eviction posts have shown that she's changed her tune. Amy's pretty darn emotional almost all of the time, so I'm sure she'll fight back at Dani's comments by voting against her. Jason - Votes for Danielle, neutralized by Lisa. At least Lisa finally figured out what was going on between Danielle and Jason, unlike Amy and Marcellas who were clueless until the very end. And knowing his personality, Lisa has to know that he'll likely vote for Danielle. So, she should take his vote out of the game. So, let's tally the votes: Danielle - Lori, Josh, (and Jason) Lisa - Tonya, Roddy, Marcellas, Amy, (and Eric) Undecided - Chiara and Gerry Unless Chiara and Gerry vote for Danielle, Lisa will win. If I were to hazard a final guess, Gerry will vote for Danielle and Chiara will vote for Lisa making Lisa the victor (5-3). Either way, Lisa's in the clear. It could come down to America's Choice, but I hope it doesn't. We've seen how bad America can be in the first edition of Big Brother, so I hope that we stay out of the proceedings.(And CBS's own poll has Lisa winning with 66% of the vote.)Congratulations, Lisa. You did well. I'd have voted for Danielle, but that's me. And no matter what happens, Miss Ali will return to recapping The Amazing Race next week... and I couldn't be happier.Stay tuned to Pinwiz.net for the upcoming analysis of Survivor once the game has really begun. Video: Television811@blogcritics.org Wed, 25 Sep 2002 06:15:10 EDT