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The Symbolism and Biology of The Mayor From BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER

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The third season of Buffy the Vampire Slayer is considered, along with the second, to be the show’s shining hour. One of those reasons came from the season’s main antagonist: Mayor Richard Wilkins III, an immortal demon worshiper who wished to join those ranks by ascending into a monstrous form.

He appears throughout most of the season as a human antagonist, but his slow transformation into something completely other (as well as his behavior in both) elevates him to monster status in my book, so we’re free to talk about him here.

Buffy The Vampire Slayer, Joss Whedon, Big Bad, The Mayor


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Contest! Win a NECESSARY ROUGHNESS Prize Pack!

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Contest, USA Network

TK and the New York Hawks return to the field in Necessary Roughness next Wednesday, January 23rd at 10pm on USA and to prepare for the show’s return, we're giving away a prize package to a FOG! reader!



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FRINGE: "The Boy Must Live" S5/E11 (review)

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By Brian Saner Lamken
Last Friday's penultimate episode of this fifth and final season of Fringe on Fox spotlighted crucial moments in time.

We visited the Invaders' future headquarters in 2609 with Capt. Windmark.

We learned of the discovery in 2167 that sent humanity down the path of suppressing emotion in favor of clinical analysis, ultimately leading to the Invaders' subjugation of their ancestors in 2015.

And we revisited, from the perspective of 2036 and Season Five, the fateful moment in 1985 on Reiden Lake back when the Invaders were merely Observers, the plural was a singular, and the Observer who would come to be known as September rescued Walter Bishop and his son from another universe, saying, "The boy must live."

Fringe, JJ Abrams, Peter Bishop, Olivia Dunham, Walter Bishop, Observers, September

We also metaphorically revisited Olivia Dunham and Peter Bishop's day in the park with their daughter Etta in 2015, a memory that's virtually been a recurring cast member this season. It's always savvy of a show to let us know that it knows what we're thinking; having Olivia get overwhelmed by the prospect of potentially getting her daughter back — a "reboot" plot point that's been discussed among fans since Etta's demise — was no exception. My only concern is that such an overt mention of the possibility somehow makes it feel, by the rules of dramatic writing, less likely to happen.

I'm sure, by the way, that if you arithmetically manipulate 2609, 2167, 2036, 2015, and 1985 in the right fashion you can end up with 4, 8, 15, 16, 23, 42, 108, or 815. But Lost is so three years and one colossally disappointing sixth season ago. The number that caught my eye in "The Boy Must Live" was the one on the apartment door of Donald, the former September: 211. While I don't really expect the years to have hidden significance, 211 is a number that plugs neatly into the season/episode format, and much like young Michael, the Observer Boy, Anomaly XB-6783746, Fringe Episode 2.11 was an irregularity — filmed at the end of Season One, it aired on a special night during Season Two out of continuity with the show's ongoing plot. An intentional reference in status and episode title, "Unearthed", or total coincidence? I have no idea. I didn't actually see if "6783746" was a phone number when the previous episode aired, either, partly because the "XB" suggested a Go Go Gophers emoticon more than it did an area code.

Fringe, JJ Abrams, Peter Bishop, Olivia Dunham, Walter Bishop, Observers, September

There is much to consider in "The Boy Must Live" that is not as ridiculous as the preceding paragraph. I'll try to take it in roughly the order presented.

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THE MASTER, That Movie That's Not About Scientology, Arrives on Blu/DVD

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Paul Thomas Anderson, Scientology

I still haven't seen The Master, Paul Thomas Anderson's highly acclaimed film that at one point was loosely based upon the origins of L. Ron Hubbard's Scientology and then wasn't.  Regardless of what it's origins are, Anderson remains one of the most exciting and interesting filmmakers working today.  With such a strong cast led by Joaquin Phoenix, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Amy Adams, and Laura Dern, The Master is one of the few titles from 2012 that I regret missing theatrically and I anxiously await the opportunity to check it out on Blu-ray.


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ON THE ROAD Is A Trip Worth Experiencing (review)

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On The Road
Produced by Nathanael Karmitz, Charles Gillibert, Rebecca Yeldham
Screenplay by Jose Rivera 
Based on On the Road by Jack Kerouac
Starring Garrett Hedlund, Kristen Stewart, Sam Riley, Amy Adams, Tom Sturridge, Danny Morgan, Alice Braga, Elisabeth Moss, Kirsten Dunst, Viggo Mortensen

Sundance Selects / Rated R


I’m not going to lie. I had really low expectations of On the Road. I knew that  Kristen Stewart was in it. I knew that dude from Tron: Legacy was in it. I can honestly say I was shocked, and I thoroughly enjoyed the movie.

On the Road, an adaption of Jack Kerouac’s novel, is about  Salvatore "Sal" Paradise, a philosophical depressive who is searching for his life’s purpose and material for his novel-in-progress during the late forties. After meeting carefree vagabond, Dean Moriarty, Sal finds himself inspired to travel across the country collecting stories and experiencing the exciting life of the “beat generation.

The director, Walter Salles, guides us along beautiful roads of America through rain, sunshine, and snowstorms. While I didn’t live in the late forties I had a very strong sense of nostalgia watching this film. Perhaps it was the narration of the main character delivered fluidly throughout the film. Perhaps it was the uneasy camera that stayed close to the faces of each character capturing their drug-induced happiness, sexual highs, and ultimate emotional turmoil. The voices, the cinematography, it doesn’t matter, I was unexpectedly mesmerized.


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30 ROCK: "Florida" S7/E10 (review)

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Tina Fey, Alec Baldwin, Tracy Morgan, Jane Krakowski
By PJ Hruschak
Jack and Liz under the covers, TGS in trouble and might there be twins in there?

This week's episode of 30 Rock brings things back a bit closer to the on-set humor with at least quick appearances by most of the usual cast, plus a pair of bonus appearances by an SNL alum and former 30 Rock semi-regular.

This episode also teases closure to some lingering questions: Why have Jack (Alec Baldwin) and Liz  (Tina Fey) never partaken in personal pleasures with each other? What would Kenneth (Jack McBrayer) look like as a rogue? And what would happen if Tracy (Tracy Morgan) and Jenna (Jane Krakowski) ran the show?

Ultimately, what it really does is parallel the show's real-world cancellation and continue with the industry in-jokes about its own demise. Heck, the show even starts with a, "Classic Tracy. You'll miss this" joke.

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MAN IS SURPRISINGLY CHILL About Almost Being Assassinated

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Assassination Attempt, Ex-Wife, FBI, Laid Back

When a plot is uncovered by the FBI to murder you, I would hope that the feeling that rises to the surface of your being is not one of horror but the sublimely chill-itude that the used car salesman whose ex-wife tried to wack him seems to effortlessly possess ( he is totally soaking in some serious Dude) .

Personally, I would probably be a little miffed that someone I once loved wanted me to live out the plot to an episode of The Sopranos, but I can only hope that the inner peace that I am struggling to develop would be a beacon of hope to those whose spurned lovers are taking out personal loans to kill them (and the interest rates have never been lower I'm told) like this guy.

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ARCHER: "Fugue and Riffs" S4E1 (review)

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By Ryan McLelland
The first episode of the fourth season of Archer is finally here and if you missed it last night I am here to give you every single spoiler-filled moment!

In case you skipped to the second sentence I'll repeat myself: I'm going to tell you everything that happened in the episode.  If you don't want to know then stop reading.  OR ELSE! And I'm going to use everyday Archer speak which means I assume you've seen the show.

If you haven't seen the show stop reading spoilers on the current episode and go buy the first season on DVD.  Or Blu-Ray.  Or download it on iTunes.   Netflix.  You get the point.

If you heard that there was going to be an episode that crossed over with Bob's Burgers (an animated show on Fox whose main character is also voiced by Archer star (H. Jon Benjamin) you'll be happy to hear that the first episode is, sort of, that episode.  The episode starts off with Sterling Archer flipping burgers at Bob's Burgers.  Except he isn't Archer.  He's Bob.  

Archer, FX, H. Jon Benjamin, Jessica Walter, Aisha Tyler, Adam Reed, Bob's Burgers

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Smallville: Random, Awesome and WTF?! - S10E5: Isis

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Lois’ mucking around with the necklace of Isis leads to her being possessed by her spirit, which leads naturally to ancient Egyptian wackiness, while Ollie tries to adjust to his newfound fame as billionaire/public superhero.  I wish I had those problems.

More importantly, Clark finally lets Lois in on a little secret.  I bet I know what it is.

The Random:
1. Ollie asks Clark if he realizes that he sounds crazy when he just starts rambling about seeing the future and destiny and all that.  I tend to agree.

2. At least Cat serves one purpose—as a verbal punching bag for Lois.  And that’s good enough for me, especially once Cat begins to believe that Lois is the Blur and tries to attack her to prove it.

3. Anyone else catch the quick reference to Black Adam with the Dagger of Teth-Adam of Kahndaq?  Nice.

Smallville, Superman, Erica Durance, Tom Welling,
How cool would it have been to see HIM enter the fray?

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THE KIMOCHI HUGGTOPUS Learns A Valuable Lesson On When to Hug...I Think There Are Some Aunts Out There Who Should Take Notes

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Kimochis, Asian Pop Culture

The personal space of a human being is sacred and when it gets violated by someone who has no concept of when it's okay to rub themselves up on you, it feels a bit like you were accidentally licked in the nether region by a dog (right, like this has only happened to me...whatever). 

So, it seems only appropriate that a super-adorable animation featuring a member of the Kimochi toy line (the Toys with Feelings- think a supercharged Care Bear for the 21st Century) would teach kids (and horribly touchy aunts) about the value of knowing when one should approach another person for full-body contact.

To me, this is a far more valuable life lesson than saying no to strangers (well, maybe not, but it's certainly up there).
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MY TOP 5: Favorite Movies That I Saw in 2012 That Weren't Made in 2012

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Ok. Fine. I'll do it. Here 'tis. My five favorite movies of 2012. But I'm gonna do this differently. This is the first in a (probably short) series of Best Ofs.

These are the best movies I saw in 2012 that weren't made in 2012.

So, there!

RESURRECT DEAD: THE MYSTERY OF THE TOYNBEE TILES (2011)
Directed by Jon Foy
Written by Jon Foy/Colin Smith


You may have seen these things around the internet or, if you're lucky, your own hometown. They're these crazy tiles that someone laid down in the middle of streets all over the world. The main text is "Toynbee idea in movie '2001 resurrect dead on Planet Jupiter." WTF, you say? So did Jon Foy and his buddies. They kept seeing these things in Philadelphia, but they found out that they were elsewhere, too. Somehow, whoever was embedding these things in the asphalt had made it all the way to South America.

Who did this? Was it one guy? Or some kind of international conspiracy of people? And are they still doing it? Foy and his friends do their best to get to the bottom of a mystery that has been haunting the internet for about two decades.

Resurrect Dead is a fascinating documentary that is at turns creepy and heartbreaking in ways that you really wouldn't think it could be.


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A SORBET That Will Help You Beat the Flu

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flu, influenza, cayenne pepper, ginger, Marker’s Mark bourbon, honey, orange and lemon juices

With flu season upon us and people keeling over like characters from Stephen King's The Stand, it's time to fight back, not with a shot, but with a spoonful of sorbet filled with a concoction that will thoroughly kick influenza's ass (well, probably not but at least it'll taste good pretending it will).

Created by the Ohio-based ice cream company Jenis Splended Ice Creams, this whopper of a flu-kicker is an old family recipe that combines Marker’s Mark bourbon,cayenne pepper, ginger, honey and orange and lemon juices that will (according to their website)...clear nasal passages, ease a sore throat, and soothe the body. It’s modeled on the home remedy my mother and grandmother made when anyone in the family was under the weather. Sniffles, aches, and fevers meant one thing: a mug of hot whiskey with honey and lemon juice, then straight to bed.

(Damn, and to think I only got a shot of NyQuil and shoved back into my room so I wouldn't contaminate the other family members).
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Marvel Comics Silver Age DisContinuity 003 Fantastic Four #3

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Marvel Comics, Fantastic Four, Stan Lee, Jack Kirby, Discontinuity
One of the greatest guides to the concept of continuity in a specific series is The DisContinuity Guide: The Unofficial Doctor Who Companionby Paul Cornell, Martin Day and Keith Topping, first put out in 1995. From my point of view the genius of this work is in the way the authors peel back the layers of a complex text like Doctor Who, and start back at the beginning, when we didn't know anything about the series or what it would eventually evolve into.

This allows us to see the ways in which the universe was expanded, sometimes carefully, often times not. We get to see undeveloped themes and the earliest examples of new themes.

Like an evolutionary biologist studying our small, brown furred burrowing human ancestors, we get a look at the way things were without the baggage of the way things are.

This is the
third of a series of posts in which I hope to look at Marvel Comics the same way.
 
Marvel Comics Silver Age DisContinuity 003 

Title(s) :
The Menace of the Miracle Man
The Monster Lives!
The Flame That Died!
In the Shadow of Defeat!
The Final Challenge!
Publication Date/On Sale Date : 
March 1962/December 1961
Writer/Artists : 
Sources : 
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RE-LIVE THE NINETIES With the Color Me '90s Coloring Book

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Fresh Prince, Spice Girls, Furby, 90s

If you are a parent and happened to have come of age in the '90s then perhaps you would enjoy sharing some of the more influential cultural references from that era with your offspring in coloring-book form.

After-all, trying to explain The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air is a lot harder than handing over a crayon and letting your kid color in Will Smith before he became a movie star.
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Swords & Sandals: The Golden Age of Italian Fantasy Film

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For more than 10 years now, fantasy film fans have been feasting at a smorgasbord.  Scarcely a month seems to pass without the release of a colorful CGI fantasy film set in a magical Medieval or mythic past.  It's a wonderful time for us fans, but let us not forget an earlier era, another time and place, a span of just five years in which - literally - hundreds of fantasy films were produced for eager audiences.

The time was 1959-1964.  The place was Italy.

The first of these "sword-and-sandal" pictures (known as "pepla" pictures in Italian, "peplum" for the singular) were set in classical Greece or Rome, but many later ones were set in fantasylands like Atlantis or Metropolis, where magic mixed with technology in Michael Moorcock style.  The obvious inspirations for pepla were American drama-epics like The Ten Commandments(1956) or Spartacus (1960).  Some bigger-budget pepla like Last Days of Pompeii(1959) tried to become drama-epics in the American vein.  But the more typical - and more fun - pepla had a different mode.

Instead of trying to move us with profound drama steeped in history, most pepla tried to excite us with lavish sensuality steeped in fantasy.  The appeal is visceral.  Some fans have likened the greatest pepla to beauty contests whose main purpose is to showcase gorgeous male and female bodies wearing as little clothing as possible.  The heroes are simple musclemen - played by bodybuilders - who rarely wear shirts.  The heroines are simple maidens arrayed in colorful dresses.  The villains are scheming aristocrats.  The villainesses are evil queens and princesses who brew love potions and perform sexy dances.

Alongside the displayed bodies are other sensuous appeals: verdant landscapes, towering sets, and physical combat (including gore).  Character development and court intrigue are minimized.  Cinematic stylization is almost non-existent.  Pacing is slow.  Fifty years after these films were made, we can still enjoy the beauty and the action - if we permit a little silliness and camp into the mix.

I've found just two well-informed articles about pepla posted online, the first from Brian Bankston ("venoms5") on his Cool Ass Cinema website, December 23th, 2009.  Bankston distinguishes between the more realistic pepla featuring gladiators and the more fantastic pepla featuring super-strong musclemen ("fusto" in Italian).  I focus mostly on these latter pictures.  Bankston recommends watching the pictures for spectacle, for "100% pure peplum popcorn entertainment," and I concur.

The second article comes from Timothy Young on his Mondo Esoterica website, posted 2011.  Young defines the subgenre as I do, with emphasis on "musclebound fantasy hero films."  His article is systematic and easy to follow.  Check out his brief history of the subgrene, and note how his list dovetails with Bankston's and with my own.

Now I'd like to recommend 12 good pepla, but first I'd like to mention 10 prominent pepla patterns.  Enjoy these patterns as you enjoy the movies.

1. CITIES ARE EVIL 
Civilization and sophistication are associated with corruption and selfishness.  By contrast, rural peasant folk are sensitive and sincere.

2. TESTS OF STRENGTH
Some pepla heroes can think and plan, but most simply use brute force to save the day.  Watch for arena contests where the hero must prove his strength.

3. TORTURE SCENES
Some tortures are extreme tests of strength.  Other tortures depict our heroes and heroines chained, whipped, stretched, and sometimes scarred or burned.

4. SEXY DANCES
An evil (but often sympathetic) queen or princess may perform a dance.  Or a dozen sexy ladies may perform at court to amuse a decadent king.  In some pepla, 60s pop music accompanies the dances!

5. LIONS
Don't be surprised when our hero is attacked by one or more lions in the course of his quest.  Often, he will strangle a lion to prove his strength.

6. CHEAP MONSTERS
A monster may appear at the climax, but it will probably look shoddy and fake.  Hopefully it will look funny.

7. WATERFALLS AND CAVES 
If you watch enough of these movies, you'll start to see the same falls and caves over and over.  Symbolically, waterfalls are associated with love, while entering a cave could mean a journey into the subconscious.

8. SECRET PASSAGES 
Caves often harbor secret passages.  So do the fortresses and palaces to which our intrepid heroes must gain entrance.

9. SECRET IDENTITIES
Twin princesses unknowingly separated at birth... old kings in disguise... soldiers masquerading as merchants... devious spies, turncoats, and informants... yes, you'll find all these and more.

10. CLIMACTIC NATURAL DISASTERS 
That tall tower you've been admiring for 90 minutes now?  That impregnable fortress?  That mighty statue?  Don't get too attached to it, since there's a good chance that an earthquake/flood/hurricane/eruption will crush it to pieces before our story is out.

So here are my 12 recommendations.  I've written more extensively on each of these pictures in my Claws & Saucers guidebook, but I hope you'll enjoy my brief descriptions below.

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Growing Up?--Doah That!

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One of the joys of parenthood is the whole learning experience. You find out a lot about yourself when you become a parent and some of things you see yourself do or hear yourself say are things you never, ever expected in a million years.

But it’s not just the experience of parenthood in and of itself that you learn from. Sometimes the child teaches you more than just tolerance for temper tantrums and adjusting to an entirely new lifestyle.

Yeah, this part of parenthood? Not so fun...


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Book Report: Kobo's #1, CBS Gets King, & More

GIRLS: "I Watch Stuff" S2 / E2 (review)

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Girls, HBO, Lena Dunham,
By Caitlyn Thompson
It’s been a day or two since Hannah (Lena Dunham)’s housewarming party and everyone is still bitching. Nothing happens. Things you think the characters will say, they say. George (Billy Morrissette) and Elijah (Andrew Rannells) attempt reconciliation after he admits to sleeping with Marnie (Allison Williams), Marnie whines about being pretty and unemployed, Shoshanna (Zosia Mamet) and Ray (Alex Karpovsky) are blissful, and Hannah is still being less than grateful – didn’t we think she had grown slightly during her snooze to the end of the subway in last year’s finale? Guess not yet…

Tonight the show felt self-hating and arrogant at the same time. These characters were set up to grow and so far the plot has remained static and the dialogue stale.

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DOWNTON ABBEY S3/E3 (review)

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By Christopher Cerasi
In the two blogs I’ve written for Downton Abbey Series 3 so far I have primarily focused on the upstairs cast of characters, so for this entry I think it is only fair we check in with the below-stairs staff. In this case, it’s actually someone who used to be staff, Ethel Parks (Amy Nuttall), who figures prominently in this episode.

Ethel was the housemaid with grander visions of wealth and comfort in Series 2, alienating most of her fellow downstairs staff.

Julian Fellowes, Downton Abbey, Maggie Smith, Hugh Bonneville, Jessica Brown Findlay, Laura Carmichael, Michelle Dockery


She was brazen and naively foolish, especially when she began fooling around with a handsome army major who was recuperating at Downton Abbey, which had been (somewhat reluctantly) turned into a convalescent home for soldiers during the Great War. But things quickly turned sour for Ethel when her dalliances with Major Bryant (Daniel Pirrie) were discovered by Mrs. Hughes (Phyllis Logan), leading her to be turned out of Downton.


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Damning with Faint Praise: KABOOM

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Smith (Thomas Dekker) is a gay college kid with a straight roommate and a lesbian best friend.

One night at a party he takes a bunch of drugs.

As he staggers home, he sees a woman murdered by a bunch of guys in rubber animal masks.

He thinks.


He can’t really be sure. The next day, he can’t find any evidence of the crime. He doesn’t see any newspaper reports about a body being found.

When his relationships and his classes permit, Smith looks into the bizarre occurrence, and the entire fabric of his life unravels.


Verdict
This movie wants to be a lot of things, and comes close to a couple of them.

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