Sunday 8 March 2009

TV

Mad Men
2x01 For Those Who Think Young
Mad Men's return does its best to be as confusing as can be. Clearly a long time has passed, but this is barely even referenced; in fact, it's only thanks to having read a couple of preview articles that I know the time difference is something like 18 months to 2 years. All part of the fun, I guess -- it's certainly a different way of doing a time leap, when most shows (for example, 24) spend their whole premiere episode at pains to inform you of what's occurred in between.

Non-Fiction

The Making of a Poem by Mark Strand & Eavan Boland
Introductory Statement
On Becoming a Poet
by Mark Strand (p.xvii-xx)
I: Verse Forms - Overview (p.1-4)
The Villanelle (p.5-20)
The Ballad (p.73-98)
My reading of "On Becoming a Poet" was cut short because, quite frankly, I got bored. This isn't wholly the article's fault -- as mentioned previously, I'm struggling to get enough work done to finish (and, to be honest, start) an essay, which makes everything feel twice as long and ten times as frustrating -- but I'm not certain it's wholly my fault either... Certainly, I skipped the rest of the introductions (there are three in all, including the one-and-a-half I read) and jumped to more relevant sections.
Have discovered I find it very natural to write ballads -- at last, a form to latch on to for the rest of my work!

Articles

Billion Dollar Batman by Brandon Gray
(from Box Office Mojo)
Shame it took so long to get there, as I completely missed this story (it's over two weeks old). Dark Knight is still playing at some sites in the US (and round the world, I presume) so its final tally may even go up a teeny bit more yet, though it seems Warner Bros have stopped counting.

Doctor Who - Skins Actress For New Companion? by Cameron K McEwan
(from Den of Geek!)
It's only from Den of Geek -- and via News of the World at that! -- so don't take it too seriously, but there are worse people they could pick.

Kindle 2 Review: Sheeeyah, More Like Kindle 1.5 by Wilson Rothman
(from Gizmodo)
Amazon have updated the Kindle... not that it matters to us Brits, as they still haven't bothered to bring it over here.

Meanwhile, at the US box office...

Watchmen Busts Out on Opening Day by Brandon Gray
(from Box Office Mojo)
"Watchmen pulled in an estimated $25.1 million... including an estimated $4.55 million from its first midnight shows. That ranks as the eighth-highest grossing opening day for a superhero movie and 32nd among all movies... Among R-rated movies, Watchmen's opening day was fifth behind The Matrix Reloaded, 300, Sex and the City and The Passion of the Christ. 300... holds the overall March record for opening weekend ($70.9 million)."
How will Watchmen have fared over the weekend as a whole? [Well, look below to see! I wrote this last night. But I'll include it for posterity...] Fairly well, I expect; possibly even better than the opening day would suggest, as I wouldn't be surprised if some were put off a Friday-evening showing by the epic running time and will instead have caught it on Saturday or Sunday. Plus, it seems to me that word-of-mouth reaction has been better than the majority of widely-seen reviews, so perhaps it will gain a slightly delayed audience from that. Of course, while it may not be a record-breaker, it's still done rather well!

Weekend Report: Watchmen Rages in the Top Spot by Brandon Gray
(from Box Office Mojo)
"Watchmen clocked in with a vibrant estimated $55.7 million... handily topping a weekend where overall business was up around ten percent over last year but a relative cool down compared to 2009's prior blistering pace. [It] notched the 12th highest-grossing opening weekend for a comic book movie... With the biggest theater count ever for an R-rated movie, Watchmen had the sixth-highest grossing R-rated start... Among Alan Moore adaptations, it doubled the openings of V for Vendetta and The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen."
For even more statisticy information, check out the full article.

Saturday Morning Watchmen

Can't believe I neglected to post this a day or two ago! Watch and enjoy...