From: owner-chakram-refugees-digest@smoe.org (chakram-refugees-digest) To: chakram-refugees-digest@smoe.org Subject: chakram-refugees-digest V5 #12 Reply-To: chakram-refugees@smoe.org Sender: owner-chakram-refugees-digest@smoe.org Errors-To: owner-chakram-refugees-digest@smoe.org Precedence: bulk chakram-refugees-digest Monday, January 17 2005 Volume 05 : Number 012 Today's Subjects: ----------------- Re: [chakram-refugees] Xena above all the imitators [IfeRae@aol.com] Re: [chakram-refugees] Xena above all the imitators [meredith Jennifer is an AMAZING talent. It DOES depend on > the episode. There are episodes that do not play an emotional high (same can > > be said of all shows), but, gods, watch ONE scene with Jennifer and Lena > Olin, and there is NO chance ANYONE could play those roles besides those two > > ladies. >> Don't shoot me, but I believe almost anyone playing opposit Olin would look better. In fact, Olin's the main reason I started watching again. Wonderful actress. I did find Garner more interesting in her scenes with Olin. I think Garner's blessed with a strong supporting cast in general. I'm just not impressed with how well she can carry dramatic moments without a lot of help. True, Lucy had good people around her too, but I never found myself thinking she needed them to make Xena a compelling character in her own right, regardless of the ep content. Believe me, I really, really wanted to like "Alias." I can appreciate its differences from XWP and still prefer it to many other shows. Garner just doesn't make me care that much about the trials and tribulations of her character -- at least not within the framework of what I've seen. If Garner was recast the show would flop. I sure as hell wouldn't be > watching anymore.>> Yes, I do think Garner fits well within what the show does -- like a cog in the machine. It's probably hard for the character not to get lost sometimes in the complex spy stuff and acrobatics. However, I'm not convinced that another actress couldn't do as well or better. > Sydney is an equally rounded character, but she's different, of course. >> I'd agree she's "rounded," but I don't feel much depth. Take "Cold Files," the show Kathryn Morris (Najar) leads. We know very little about her character's personal life, and the show focuses on the lives involved in cases she's investigating. Yet I care about her character, Lilly. I'm curious about what's going on in her head, why she reacts as she does sometimes. I'm moved by her anger or sadness or sense of satisfaction. Sydney can discover her father has betrayed her and I feel, "Oops, I bet that throws a ringer in somebody's plans," as opposed to, "Poor Sydney. I can feel her pain." Obviously that's all very subjective. All I really know is that I like watching Garner okay; she just doesn't draw me in. - -- Ife ========================================================= This has been a message to the chakram-refugees list. To unsubscribe, send a message to majordomo@smoe.org with "unsubscribe chakram-refugees" in the message body. Contact meth@smoe.org with any questions or problems. ========================================================= ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 16 Jan 2005 01:28:35 -0500 From: meredith Subject: Re: [chakram-refugees] Xena above all the imitators Hi, Different strokes, and all that ... :) I'm an unabashed Jennifer Garner fan thanks to _Alias_, so I totally disagree with everything Ife just posted about the show ... but that's fine. Like you said, Ife, it's all subjective. :) I do need to comment on this, though: >Take "Cold Files," >the show Kathryn Morris (Najar) leads. We know very little about her >character's personal life, and the show focuses on the lives involved in >cases she's >investigating. Yet I care about her character, Lilly. I'm curious about >what's >going on in her head, why she reacts as she does sometimes. I watched _Cold Case_ once because Amber Benson (Tara from _Buffy_) was the main guest star one week, and despite my love for Amber I only just barely got through the entire episode. There was absolutely no development of the main characters, nothing at all to suggest why they were doing what they do. And Kathryn Morris was an automaton. Not that she had much to work with -- her character is a stick figure. But really, I expected much more. Up until that point, I had never realized just how important an ongoing story has become to my enjoyment of a television show: the one-week-one-story, you-can-tune-in-at-any-time format of shows such as _Cold Case_ has zero appeal for me whatsoever. I need a story that develops as the season goes on, with steady character development. In short, I need something like a novel for the small screen. Shows like _Alias_ and _Lost_ currently give me that ... X:WP definitely did, and _Buffy_ and the _X-Files_ as well. =============================================== Meredith Tarr New Haven, CT USA mailto:meth@smoe.org http://www.smoe.org/meth =============================================== hear at the HOMe House Concert Series http://hom.smoe.org =============================================== ========================================================= This has been a message to the chakram-refugees list. To unsubscribe, send a message to majordomo@smoe.org with "unsubscribe chakram-refugees" in the message body. Contact meth@smoe.org with any questions or problems. ========================================================= ------------------------------ End of chakram-refugees-digest V5 #12 *************************************