Daniel.

Well, the show has the most fleshed out characters I've ever seen in anything outside of a novel, particularly Claire who has the very definition of a life journey and who I still adore to this very day (and is in my sig) and Brenda (who is played by Rachel Griffins, who you might recognise, as she is a main character in Brothers & Sisters if you've ever watched that show - which coincidently is heavily influenced by SFU). The show is very existential, which could be seen as pretentious but I found very profound, and the way it tackles the theme of death, especially in the final scene, is something that was very cathartic for me and in the end, ultimately comforting; it may sound sad, but I actually felt more at ease with my own mortality having watched SFU, and no other show has had such a resonance with me (In Treatment came close). I think the strongest point that can be said in its favour is that the writers stick with the characters and their growth as the central focus of the show, you see them warts and all, inside and out, over a span of five years and I was bereaved when it was all over. Some have criticised it for going a bit too melodramatic and soap opera-ish after season 2 with some of the relationships, with the storylines getting singled out the most being; one that dealt with one of the characters going missing; one when one of the characters is taken hostage and put through a harrowing ordeal that hangs over them for the rest of the series and another dealing with a mental illness. I never really understood these complaints, as I never found them anything other than painfully realistic. I also have never cried as much watching a show before, especially at the ending, and that alone is something that makes the whole thing worth while. The best and most satisfying final episode and scene I've had the privilege of watching so far, and I can't imagine it will be beaten (it is also the highest rated television episode on IMDB I believe). The general plot of the show, is that every episode opens with a death (in the pilot it's the patriarch of the family that dies which resonates throughout the whole series), and typically the funeral will be the main driving force of the episode with it reflecting on issues that one of the main characters is going through; athough that was more apparent in the earlier episodes (for example, in-the-closet Michael C. Hall preparing a funeral for a man murdered for being gay). It often mixes dark humour and fantastical elements e.g. lots of dreams, visions, talking to ghosts (which is really just externalising conversations that are going on inside the characters head) which contains a lot of symbolism and psychological depth that I haven't seen before or since (once again In Treatment comes close). Alan Ball would later use those plot devices a lot in True Blood, but not nearly as well as he uses them here. z8dNIUZZe-o One of my favourite parts of the show is when the family get together for dinner, which are often awkward and hilarious; this scene in particular is a favourite. I've rambled a lot, but yeah, definitely check it out. Also, the soundtrack is brilliant, as is the opening credits and theme, and the acting is top notch (Patricia Clarkson and Kathy Bates are two notable recurring guest roles that are really knock-out).

1) Six Feet Under 2) In Treatment 3) Buffy the Vampire Slayer 4) The Simpsons 5) Battlestar Galactica (2004) 6) Lost 7) South Park 8) Angel 9) Parks & Recreation 10) Futurama I'll leave it as my Top 10 for now.

Ron singing to himself as he was stealing cable was probably the most funny moment of the episode for me, as well as Donna's teary "I feel like I already have" line. The debate was great, and before the series is over, I want to see Leslie elected as the first female president. Please. Is Veep any good?

Teen Idle has grown on me, even though I'm still iffy on the beat, the first minute and the bi-polar FEELING SUPER SUPER SUPER suicidal are wonderful, and the middle 8 is melancholy heaven too - I found the I wish I didn't really kiss the mirror on my own, oh God I'm going to die alone lyric to mix emotional acuity and pastiche pop-diva melodrama wonderfully (or is it an insight into how narcissistic she really is? The use of archetypes cloud the personal, which is why it isn't as raw a listen as TFJ). There are some stand out pop tracks on the album but listening to it all the way through, there is an inescapable whiff of cheapness. I would probably give it a 6.5/10 at the moment; her idiosyncrasies as a recording artist, whether ironically or not, have really been watered down and the album itself is going to age terribly.

The 5 new tracks didn't make that much of an impression me, bar Hypocrates, which has a lovely CocknBullKid vibe. The extended album version of Fear and Loathing however is off the wall amazing, and might be the best thing she's ever done. My body was tingling when the beat is pumped up at the 3.45 mark, and is the song on the album that best utilises her new electro/pop sound (bar Radioactive, but that wasn't even included in the standard track listing). The album might feel like a step down from The Family Jewels, but at least she has given us one transcendent track.

Got a standing ticket this morning for the added Twickenham date on the 9th, v. v. excited. Putting that into a gif. context to really get an idea of the scope of this bad boy; http://27.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m2nb2ilLsI1qkshj9o1_500.gif And the Giorgio Armani costume designs prettily embedded into the page. Loving the Alien inspired last one. http://www.graziadaily.co.uk/pub/21publish/f/fashion/Lady-Gaga-To-Wear-Giorgio-Armani-For-Born-This-Way-Ball-Tour--BREAKING-NEWS-1.jpg http://www.graziadaily.co.uk/pub/21publish/f/fashion/Lady-Gaga-To-Wear-Giorgio-Armani-For-Born-This-Way-Ball-Tour--BREAKING-NEWS-2.jpg http://www.graziadaily.co.uk/pub/21publish/f/fashion/Lady-Gaga-To-Wear-Giorgio-Armani-For-Born-This-Way-Ball-Tour--BREAKING-NEWS-3.jpg http://www.graziadaily.co.uk/pub/21publish/f/fashion/Lady-Gaga-To-Wear-Giorgio-Armani-For-Born-This-Way-Ball-Tour--BREAKING-NEWS-4.jpg

From the looks of it tickets go on sale this friday.

The marketing has clearly worked then :D

I'm not feeling Homewrecker much either.

I finally got round to listening to the Hounds of Love yesterday and I was completely blown away, The Ninth Wave section in particular was an exhilarating listen. I also gave The Dreaming a couple of spins, and I loved it equally as much on first listen. I didn't find it too aloof at all, rather the quirkiness is what I liked most about it, in particular Get Out of My House and Pull Out the Pin. It seems odd that the The Dreaming was deemed esoteric at the time while THL was praised for the exact same qualities that were previously chastised. I guess the first section with the big singles helped balance things out but still. I would rate it like this after three listens of HOL and two of TD Running Up That Hill (A Deal With God) 10 Hounds of Love 10 The Big Sky 10 Mother Stands for Comfort 7 Cloudbusting 10 And Dream of Sheep 9 Under Ice 10 Waking the Witch 10 Watching You Without Me 8 Jig of Life 10 Hello Earth 9 The Morning Fog 8 Sat In Your Lap 9 There Goes a Tenner 8 Pull Out the Pin 10 Suspended In Gaffa 10 Leaving It Open 8 The Dreaming 10 Night of the Swallow 10 All the Love 7 Houdini 8 Get Out of My House 10 I'm about to download Never for Ever, I already know and love Violin, Army Dreamers and of course Babooshka, so it's a good entry point. I've just had the inspiration to check out my mum's vinyl collection, I've picked out some Peter Gabriel so far which is another artist I wanted to check out, and I'm going to play it later. Sadly, my mum wasn't a Kate Bush fan but she said she may have a single somewhere. I'm going to check out my dad's stash at some point to see if I have any better luck there.

Just came here to post this, the new trailer has got me ridiculously excited. 10 episodes are going to fly by though.

Independence Day possibly?

http://www.aceshowbiz.com/images/news/sundance-darling-beasts-of-the-sothern-wild-officially-acquired-fox-searchlight.jpg Directed by: Benh Zeitlin Written by: Jordan Raup _UB3vpfoU60 Its rare in this day and age of artificial special effects and over the top big budgets, that a film truly transports you to another world. Such is the case with Benh Zeitlin‘s impressive debut feature that takes you on a journey into the Bathtub, a fictionalized bayou backwoods community of Louisiana that serves as parable for living on the edge of the world. Told through the eyes of 6 year old girl Hushpuppy, Quvenzhané Wallis who delivers perhaps the greatest child performance of recent history, the film is a whirlwind of wonder and foreboding doom. Expertly shot cinematography, amazing art direction, energetic music and a fascinating script made Beasts of the Southern Wild the most unique cinematic experience I had at this years Sundance. Full review: http://thefilmstage.com/reviews/sundance-r...-southern-wild/ So Beasts of the Southern Wild is this year's Grand Jury Prize winner (Like Crazy got it in 2011), and it's getting extremely positive reviews at the moment, especially for its heavy use of magical realism in telling the story. It also won the Sundance Institute's Indian Paintbrush Producer's Award and Fox Searchlight have nabbed the U.S distribution rights, with the film planned to be released sometime this year. Hopefully, that means we get it on our fair shores not too long after, as it looks like an amazing piece of cinema.

BLASPHEMY. I am about 100 odd pages into Mockingjay, and Suzanne Collins is an incredibly uneven writer, I can't count how many times I've cringed at some of her clunkers. I seriously remember Twilight being better written, I could at least understand Bella's thought process, whereas Katniss can come off as though she's suffering from Aspergers at times. Not to mention the names are AWFUL, I mean Katniss?! Not to mention her pet-nickname Catnip :manson: It isn't all bad, the plot is decent and goes to some pretty grim and visceral places at times for a young adult novel, but the story has been told much better before in Battle Royale and Stephen King's The Long Walk; it's just those stories mixed with an added love triangle and plenty of teen angst. The build up to the rebellion in Catching Fire has been the best thing about it so far. THG lends well to a movie adaption though, and just from the trailer I think it could well be an improvement on the novel. Garry Ross also did Pleasantville and Seabiscuit which were great films and James Newton Howard is doing the score; I'm especially excited for Jennifer Lawrence because if Winter's Bone is anything to go by, she will absolutely nail the part and of course Josh Hutcherson as Peeta is a plus :wub: Oh, and Elizabeth Banks is already clearly brilliant as Effie. Woody Harrelson is another bit of spot-on casting and if anyone can elevate Haymitch from caricature to something cult worthy, it's him. But I really am AGOG at the looning over this Pavel. If you really want your mind blown and to see how a decent young female protagonist is written, do yourself a favour and read the His Dark Materials trilogy by Phillip Pullman. Now if there is any modern young adult series that rivals Harry Potter that is it; I am still bitter to this day over that crappy film adaption. The Gone series is another really great one that deserves more attention, and is similar to Lord of the Flies in the same way THG is to Battle Royale, but with a much better twist on a familiar story. I think one review said it best, when comparing the novel to an arcade shooter game; it's addictive and fun while you're reading it, but otherwise completely insubstantial.

I've just seen that I was nominated for and won the Worst Song category, as well as nominated for Most Ill Informed Entry. While the recognition isn't particularly flattering, I'm happy to see one of my entries have some sort of impact :D Speaking of which I still unashamedly love Beauty Killer, there's something about it I find so hypnotic.

Voted. My favourites stood out from the beginning and this time around there was no one song that towered above the others, rather there were a lot of songs I liked a lot. The only time I had to consider a placing was for my 1 pointer, where there was three songs I was considering giving the point to.

SNSD performing The Boys on Letterman. AO9yFjodDtM&feature=youtu.be

I'm glad I'm not the only one, the synths in this are amazing, it's probably my favourite instrumental from the album to listen to, and I don't think it would sound out of place on radio.

rOzXsqoJhtE HBO really did make their two biggest fanbases happy with this and the True Blood teaser last night. I think I let out a little involuntary squee when I watched it, it looks like it's going to deliver what the end of Season 1 promised and MORE. Can't wait. Joffrey really is a (fabulous) little c**t isn't he? Poor Sansa.

The scene between April and Chris at the end of the episode is the perfect example of why I love this show SO DAMN MUCH. I loved April's many voices, Andy taking Champion out of the room because "he doesn't like awkward situations" and Leslie's Bowling Comment folder, but the highlight for me this episode was Donna's reaction to hearing Jerry's daughter was about to break up with Chris. One of those moments when I just burst out laughing.

Apart from Tom, I wasn't expecting anyone to have heard this yet, let alone stan it, since the video only came out this week. They really have come out of the gates storming haven't they? So glad you do though, with your sig and everything, you're doing a better job in promoting the song than I am :P Thanks for letting Freeze know about the video btw I was going to enter Brown Eyed Girls - Sixth Sense originally, being my favourite K-Pop song of last year, but it was already entered, I will take an educated guess and assume it was you then? I'm glad though, because this really is such a POWERHOUSE of a song, and I thought entering a male group would stand out a bit more, especially one with such HUSKY voices :wub: And the video is one of my favourites in a while, the current standout moment among a sea of standout moments has to be the throbbing speakers at 1.27-1.30, such a visceral moment. I have watched the recap and there are a few that stand out already, plus Youth, which I was already aware of and love. Looking forward to listening to the others in full.

"BLOOPER REEL! You better be working on that Dean. You better be working on the f***ing blooper reel Dean." QU933jxGK0k This just reinforces my love for the show and Amy Poehler, her dirty laugh is amazingly infectious. Also, here's a short but interesting interview with the cast and creators about the importance of improv on the show, and there's a gem of a line from Nick Offerman about Tammy #2 as well. dNg10jPp0YI&feature=relmfu dNg10jPp0YI&feature=relmfu

Have sent an entry, first time in a while.

Extracts from the recent Empire article. http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6210/6079354140_a01888417b_b.jpg http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6089/6078897651_e5ae2fc719_b.jpg http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6209/6078842235_021e2965a3_b.jpg

Thanks for clearing it up, I wasn't sure. The last time I read news about the series was when 3 & 4 was announced and I remember reading that Genesis was going to be a prequel and Apocalypse would carry on from the end of the 2nd, so reading the synopsis threw me a bit. Tbh I am glad the plot is going to keep moving forward, I think a prequel would have slown down the kinetic pace.