Sorry

I did not realize until the other day that you could have multiple blogs under one gmail account.  Der der der, I know.  But the Bill Nighy and Being Human blogs are from a previous blog I had that I deleted and recreated here.  Sorry about the confusion with timelines, I realize the Bill Nighy one is all off because its from back when Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows opened, lol.  And Being Human's season finale was two weeks ago, still an amazing show though and can't wait for the new season to start!  Again, Sorry.

Bill Nighy

I have seen Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows twice since it opened within the last month and one man I did not expect to see was Mr. Bill Nighy.  Not because I think poorly of Nighy.  To the contrary, I believe the man is a brilliant actor.  But because it took me aback that the man was in yet another genre of movie as a completely different character from any of his others.  

I first encountered Nighy in 2003's Underworld as the "father" or eldest vampire in the clan Kate Beckinsale's Selin was in.  Now at this time I hadn't seen Nighy in anything else and didn't recognize that this man was in fact a creative genius.  My thoughts were that he was extremely creepy and played the role of "the elder who knows that he was correct in what he did and too bad that it started a war and etc, etc."  It wasn't until I saw him next in another 2003 film, Love Actually, that I began to realize his full talent.  In Love Actually Nighy is an older "rock star" who must come up with a Christmas song that is new and hip and will be better than the younger, popular boy band.  Nighy's acting chops are on full display when his Love Actually character, Billy Mack, preforms his vulgar song on live television while women dressed as trashy Santa's prance around him on stage.  And the audience continues to be surprised when Mack and his manager have a heart to heart afterward.  After Love Actually I saw Nighy in a string of British comedies:  Shaun of the Dead (where he plays Shaun's stepfather and Shaun finally learns to love him and excepts him as his "father" only after he's been bitten by a zombie and Shaun must leave him in the backseat of his car that is surrounded by other zombies), Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy (in which Nighy plays a small role as one of the architects of the "new" universe after it is destroyed by a group of aliens) and Hot Fuzz (a movie with many of the same actors who joined Nighy in both Shaun of the Dead and Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy).  Each character was different, but each character was also hysterical.  I think I most enjoyed Nighy as Philip, Shaun's stepfather in Shaun of the Dead.  The last movie that I recall seeing Nighy in before Harry Potter was Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest and Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End.  Now this must be said about his role as Davy Jones in the Pirates movies and (to a lesser extent) in the Underworld movies, Nighy is not scared to play a role in which you cannot recognize him physically.  It shows great dedication to the art to be cast beside heartthrobs Orlando Bloom and Johnny Depp and the beautiful Keira Knightly looking like a giant octopus.  Kudos to him in those movies for holding his own.  Bloom, Depp and Knightly had made a name for themselves in the first Pirates, but Nighy quickly caught up with the second installment.  And by the third he was on level if not more recognized.  

So I commend Bill Nighy for not being a stagnant character.  For not doing the easy roles.  For being the drunk, old, washed-up rock star who seems crazy.  For being the disgusting, black-hearted, fishy version of Davy Jones Disney created.  For being the man who "stole" Shaun's mum and spent years being "not my dad" only to be bitten by a Zombie and have his BMW wrecked by a stepson who didn't care until too late.  You are awesome Bill Nighy!

Blood Suckers, Wild Dogs and Vengeful Spirits, Oh My!

Blood Suckers, Wild Dogs and Vengeful Spirits, Oh My!

Spoiler Alert!  Don't say I didn't warn you:P

Monday nights have consistently been good for television, and this season gave me one more reason to relax, kick up my feet and flip on the tube.  So here's my Monday nights: dinner with the hubby and TV.  First its "How I Met Your Mother at 7:30, always reruns but always good (I catch the new episodes on the Tuesdays on the CBS website, because the new episode time interferes with "House").  At 8 is an hour long episode of "House" and finally at 9 I tune in to Sy Fi to watch "Being Human."


While House has been a favorite of mine since '07, I not only have learned its basic formula but also know the exact moment when House discovers what is truly wrong with his patient.  I will give the creators some credit for bringing in something new with the whole Cuddy/House "relationship" that has been looming there for the totality of the show.  Hugh Laurie will always grab my attention with the new insults and interesting dynamics of Dr. Greggory House's relationships.


But, alas, I have to admit that my favorite part of Monday nights is "Being Human."  Maybe its the newness, but somehow I think that its more than that.  Here's where the spoilers begin, so if you are interested in this show at all and don't want to know anything till you see it yourself, STOP READING!  If you are not going to read anymore of this post, than I highly suggest you go to http://www.syfy.com/rewind/beinghuman and start watching:)  Ok, seriously, next few paragraphs, spoilers.  So no reading them if you have any desire to see it first, and no blaming me if you do read it and then regret it:)

Spoilers!  Spoilers! Spoilers!

Read at your own risk!

I will admit, I missed the first episode, but fully intend to go back and watch it.  But let me begin by giving the basics.  We have three main characters: Aiden, Josh and Sally.  Three roommates trying to make it in this crazy world.  Josh and Aiden are gainfully employed at the hospital while Sally hangs around the house.  Oh, did I forget to mention, they are all supernatural creatures?  Sally is a ghost who hasn't yet passed, Aiden is a vampire who seems to be second in command with his group of vamps and Josh is a kid (20s, all of them) who had his life highjacked when a werewolf infected him and now he has some unusual changes once a month.  Along with these main characters are some pretty important supporting characters.  Danny is Sally's finance, or he was until she died.  Bridget is Danny's new girlfriend.  Nora is Josh's girlfriend who has no idea he's a werewolf.  And Bishop is the leader of Aiden's vampire group, sect, whatever they are.  While they are supernatural beings, and the show's main theme is that they are trying to live as normal of lives as possible while being monsters by their nature, it is a social commentary.  We are all trying to fit in, to find our place in this world.  And each episode really has a way of touching the small things that we all struggle with.

Sally

When the series begins we have no idea how Sally died, and neither does she!  But she isn't moving on.  As time progresses and we see Danny and his new girlfriend, Bridget, we realize he plays more of a role than just being Aiden and Josh's landlord.  Eventually we learn that Danny killed Sally.  Danny's always had an awful temper and when Sally (accidentally) loses her engagement ring down the sink drain, she and Danny get into an explosive argument.  He questions Sally's love for him while grabbing her.  He eventually shoves her down the stairs where she lands on a landing and cracks her skull.  For a couple of episodes after this Sally tries to contact Bridget to warn her of Danny's abusive nature and each time she gets stronger and stronger.  She struggles throughout the series with her pain and with trying to exact revenge on Danny.  Sally's other struggle in the series is that she has always been this kind girl who gave up her dreams for others, especially Danny.  There is an episode where she meets another ghost and tries to have a relationship with him.  She acknowledges toward the end of the episode that she is settling and she ends the relationship because she doesn't want to make the same mistake in death that she did in life.  She doesn't want to "live" someone else's life, she wants to "live" her own.

Josh

As of last night's episode Josh has become my favorite.  He's adorable, the voice of reason and has jokes.  Josh's history is as follows: he was in med school, he was a family man and he was engaged, but that all changed when he was on a trail with his buddy.  They were attacked by a wolf and his friend was killed.  He later discovered the wolf was not an ordinary wolf.  So once a month, every month for the rest of his life he changes into a monster that he has absolutely no control over.  Josh has faced his "creator," who begged for him to bond with him and treat him almost as if he were Josh's father.  Josh didn't seem to have a problem telling the other wolf that Aiden and Sally were his family and understood him and he would not abandon them.  In a later episode Josh's sister is attacked and he goes home to protect his family.  He must explain to them why he cannot be near them, and his family has a bit of a hard time believing he is a werewolf (indicating that instead he is just insane).  His most recent struggle is that he has impregnated Nora, his girlfriend, and is extremely concerned that the baby will be a werewolf.  

Aiden

Aiden is the mastermind behind Josh and he living in the apartment with Sally.  He encourages Sally to try to find peace and move on and for him and Josh to try to live as much like humans as possible.  Aiden has been around the longest.  From flashbacks of his past the audience slowly learns that he was married and had a young son before he was turned.  It is unclear what happened to them, but there is some hint that either Bishop or Aiden himself killed them.  Bishop is Aiden's sire (the vampire that turned him) and runs the sect in Boston.  Bishop considers Aiden his son, and therefore things become hard when Aiden has created this new "family" with Josh and Sally.  In one of the most recent episodes Aiden betrays Bishop twice.  First he rescues Josh from dogfighting and being enslaved to the vampires.  Secondly he saves one of the members of The Dutch from Bishop (he was not fast enough to save them all).  Apparently Aiden has always butted heads with Bishop but this time its gone too far for Bishop to let it slide.  

4/4/11: Your The One I Haunt

Sally is sick from the exorcism which nearly wiped her completely out of existence until she possessed the medium and the medium saw Danny kill her (Sally).  She is veiny and green and Josh is slightly freaked.  This was the moment I knew he was my favorite.  

Josh: "She looks like the grudge."

Aiden: "She looks a little sick."

Josh: " A little sick?  If we filmed her right now and showed a friend, they'd be dead in three days!"

Sally ends of getting better only after she has cut Danny pretty deep with his razor.  He is in the hospital where Josh sees him and Sally shows up to explain what happened.  She is practically giddy with the fact that she hurt Danny.  

In the meantime, Aiden and Josh are carrying stakes in their bags because Aiden is sure Bishop is coming after him for his betrayal.  This last until they find a vampire Bishop turned who attacks Aiden.  Josh stakes her and we are made to believe that part of the story is done.

There is some story with a woman Aiden "loved" back in the day and we later learn that she wasn't at the apartment when Aiden came back for her because something went down between her and Bishop, I assumed they had sex, but it wasn't really clear.  Whatever it was, Bishop threatened to kill her family if she ever told Aiden.  

Back to Danny, he is extremely at the end of his rope with Sally haunting him and decides to burn down the apartment.  Josh and Aiden come home in the middle of the act.  Josh grabs the extinguisher and Aiden grabs Danny.  Danny learns that they (Josh and Aiden) can see Sally and Aiden bares his fangs, ready to kill Danny.  Josh talks him down, but Sally finds the strength to appear to Danny.  She tells him "he'll wish he had died."  After she gets him to tell the police that he killed Sally, but the officer thinks he is suffering some delusions because he then tells her he is being haunted by his dead fiancée.  

We are now watching the three toast (Sally does not have a drink because she's a ghost) to things coming together.  And suddenly Sally's door appears.  They discuss how its not what she expected and how she wishes she could take her boys with her.  We are at a happy ending with only a minute or two left of the episode when a crazed Bishop jumps through the window and stakes Aiden.  

(I can assume he didn't stake him in the heart because A) he doesn't turn to dust like the do when they die and B) they have been signed on for a season 2).  

Thank you "Being Human" for having the moxie to pull something that daring.  This is just a good show!