Dollhouse - A Review

*This review does contain spoilers*

Earlier this week, I was sick. Most of the weekend and a few of the weekdays, I spent curled up on my couch with a blanket feeling like death had just run me over twice with a dump truck. I didn't have the concentration to read, so when I wasn't sleeping, I indulged myself with the series that I had just started watching, Dollhouse.

I'm not a fanatic when it comes to Joss Whedon like some people I know are, but I would say I've a fan. I loved Buffy The Vampire Slayer, I suffered through Angel because it had such a great supporting cast and I sang along with Dr. Horrible's Sing-A-Long Blog. I made a promise to a friend a few years back that I would commit myself to seeing the whole Wheldon World and so far I've done pretty good. Next on my list is Firefly, which I am very much looking forward to.

Anyway, back to being sick and watching Dollhouse. I very much enjoyed the series, although I think I would've enjoyed it more had I not watched both seasons in just over a week.

The first season was great. It wasn't a very deep show, and I was perfectly fine with that. I think that if they had been going for deep, Eliza Dushku wouldn't have been cast. Don't get me wrong, I like her. I think she's great when she plays the bad ass fighter, like she did as Faith in Buffy, or as many of the characters that she did in Dollhouse. She just seems to lack something when trying to be more serious, like a mom.

The story follows Echo (Eliza Dushku), a "doll" or "Active" for the Los Angeles "Dollhouse", one of several fictional facilities run by a company which hires out human beings to wealthy clients. These "engagements" range from romantic interludes to high-risk criminal enterprises. Each Active has their original memories wiped and exists in a child-like blank state until programmed via the insertion of new memories and personalities for each mission. Actives such as Echo are ostensibly volunteers who have surrendered their minds and bodies to the organization for five-year stints, during which their original personalities are saved on hard drives, in exchange for vast amounts of money and a solution to any other problematic circumstances in their lives. Echo is unique however in that she remembers small amounts even after personality "wipes", and gradually develops an increasingly cognizant self-awareness and personality. This concept allows the series to examine the notions of identity and personhood.

Within the house, opinions on such matters are divided. Dollhouse director Adelle DeWitt (Olivia Williams) sees her role as merely giving people what they need;

programmer Topher Brink (Fran Kranz) is initially entirely scientific and amoral, apart from brief flashes of moral quandary;

while Echo's mentor in the house or "handler", Boyd Langton (Harry Lennix), an ex-cop with an unknown past, is generally concerned with the ethical and theological implications of the Dollhouse's technology, seeing his inside role as an opportunity to limit any collateral damage.

Further complicating matters are other dolls Victor (Enver Gjokaj) and Sierra (Dichen Lachman), who despite being continually re-wiped, begin to fall in love.

Meanwhile, FBI agent Paul Ballard (Tahmoh Penikett) learns of Echo's original personality, Caroline Farrell. Agent Ballard becomes obsessed over rumors of the Dollhouse and risks his career trying to prove its existence.

As Echo continues to evolve and learns to work beyond the limits of each temporary personality imprint or default "tabula rasa" programming, she runs the risk of being sent to "the Attic", a permanent resting place for "broken" dolls and problematic Dollhouse employees. She is an object of fascination for the escaped doll Alpha (Alan Tudyk) – a genius and serial killer who has been driven mad by being implanted with the memories of dozens of people — who returns at the end of the first season to confront her. - Wikipedia

All in all, I like season one a lot. It was fluffy, fun, sci-fi.

Now, onto season two. I was expecting very much of the same thing as before, but right away I could tell that it was different. Suddenly all the characters had feelings and hunches, including Echo, who despite having all her personalities wiped, still retained them and became self-aware and set on freeing all of the dolls.

I felt like Joss sort of got the feeling that the show was going to be cancelled and decided to cram five or six seasons worth of plot into one. The whole season was made up of two-parters that could've easily been stretched out into an entire season. Think about it;

1) A Senator (who's really a doll) tries to bring down the Rossum Corporation

2) Echo is out on her own with only Paul Ballard to help her find her way

3) Alpha starts hunting down all the men that Echo has ever been programmed to love

4) Anthony, once Victor, leaves and joins a team of super-soldiers who all think the same thoughts and share each other's minds

5) Echo and her friends must escape the Attic and learn it's true purpose

6) Echo and friends must ban together to take on the Evil Rossum Corporation and their quest for world domination.

7) It's the future! (I didn't watch these yet because the first one doesn't have sound and I was too tired to read)

That's a lot for one season. I probably wouldn't have noticed except I watched them all back to back. 

On top of that, Boyd is the head of Rossum and Caroline suddenly has all the answers that everyone needs, plus a hidden cure for the thought-pocolips. A little much, but whatever. It was still good.

I know, I know, I'm complaining. Sorry about that. There were some really great parts in it though that are worth mentioning.

I loved every scene with Topher in it, especially the ones where he's wearing the Boba Fett hoodie by Marc Ecko

Actually, most of my favorite scenes involve Topher in someway or another. The episode where he and Adelle get drugged and hang out is hilarious! Or any time that Victor gets imprinted with Topher's personality. Enver Gjokaj plays Topher almost as well as Fran Kranz does (although I don't think Enver is quite as cute or nerdy).

The cameos in the show are also awesome. It's always good to see Amy Acker and Alexis Denisof, my two favorite characters from Angel; Summer Glau, who I know is from Firefly, but who I know from Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles; and of course Jamie Bamber and Michael Hogan from Battlestar Galactica.

I always love that Joss reuses his characters in all of his shows. It makes me happy.

What did you think of Dollhouse? Leave a comment and let me know.

And as always, happy watching.

Princess Leia Stockings

Awhile back, I was perusing one of my daily websites, Let The Wookiee Win, when I came across these beauties. Never in my life did I ever think that they would make Princess Leia stockings! I was totally stoked and immediately set about seeing where I could get a pair for myself.

It appears that the only place you can get them is from a company in Australia and only through ebay. I've always been a little leery about ebay, but I know other people who use it all the time without any complaint.

I weighed my options for about 5 seconds, before placing my first bid ever. And you know what? 7 days later, I WON! woot!

Shipping from Australia took a bit of time, which was just fine with me. I had almost forgotten about them when they showed up in my mailbox the other day!

YAY! I own Princess Leia Stockings!!

The packaging it came in was simple and very similar to the picture above.

What I wasn't expecting was the fact that the picture is on both stockings! Score!!

I'm also quite happy with the quality of both the stocking and the picture. I didn't know how clear the picture would turn out, but it's very good.

It's just my camera skills that could use some work ;)

Yay for R2-D2!

I couldn't wait to try them on and snap some pictures. Turns out it's really hard to take pictures of your own legs. But I did try.

I really wish this picture had turned out clearer. I quite like it.

Finding something I could wear with these was a bit of a challenge. I finally went for a black strapless number, that's really hard to see in this picture, but I guarantee it's there.

I don't know if I'll ever actually wear these anywhere, as I don't want to ruin them, but it's hard not to.

If you want to get a pair of your own, there's a few auctions going on now for pairs and the price on one is still really low. Who knows, you might get a really good deal like I did.

Check out the auctions here & here.

And if you've missed these auctions, don't worry, they seem to always have at least 1 set up for bid.

If any of you do end up ordering a pair, drop me an email letting me know what you think or even send me a picture. I'd love to hear from you.

Update:

Jedi Kim has sent me a message letting me know that these stockings are based on her arm tattoo that was designed her her! How crazy is that? And what an awesome tattoo! A picture of her tattoo was put in a tattoo book and I guess the company that makes the stockings stole it from her!

How The Empire Strikes Back Should Have Ended

I HAVE A SON, LIGHTSPEED!

Bwahahahahaha....

Best parody ever!

Oh man, I just realized there's more after it says THE END!
Make sure you keep watching!

found on one of my new favorite sites: distracted by star wars

Alien Shoes!!

I want these shoes sooooo badly! Possibley more then I want the Princess Leia sneakers.

I'm not much for horror movies, not even space horror movies. Event Horizon, for example, gave me nightmares for a month. But for some reason, when an old boyfriend sat me down to watch Aliens, I couldn't get enough of the macabre, two mouthed creatures created by none other than the King of Giving Me The Creeps, H.R. Giger.

I love these movies! I even have the box set on VHS (I know, I know, oldschool). Actually, just this past weekend, a friend and I sat down to have an Aliens-fest. I had a nasty cold coming on, so we only made it through the first 2, but oh, there will be more. (and maybe some AVP if I can talk him into it)

I was even thinking of going out as Ripley from Alien 3 with the chestbuster bursting out for Halloween, but my friend reminded me that she has a shaved head thoughout that film... boo.

But maybe now I can be an actual Alien with these kick ass shoes by Alexander McQueen.

Oh, who am I kidding, I would wear these shoes everyday!

Star Wars Being Made Into 3-D?

Rumors have been floating around about it for quite some time, but it appears that all systems are go for the entire Star Wars franchise to be re-released in the 3D format. DreamWorks Animations CEO Jeffrey Katzenberg confirmed the details in a recent interview with Comingsoon.net saying "Lucas is excited about it" and "He isn't going to put a product out, I think, that isn't anything other than first rate."

Apparently, the cost of converting a traditional 2-D movie into 3D is between $50,000 and $100,000 per minute. I'm sure that Lucasfilm will make their money back and then some, but is it really worth it? Does anyone care to see this or is it just another case of Lucas screwing around too much with the franchise?

Gizmodo doesn't seem to excited about the prospect of these upcoming releases, and who can blame them really? Lucas has been known for milking every penny he can from the Star Wars franchise and this is no exception.

That doesn't mean that I'm not totally excited about it though!

I'm sure we'll all hear a lot of moaning from fans about this, just as they did for all the other re-releases that have happened over the last 30 odd years, but I imagine when they come to theaters, all those moaners will be lined up beside me excitedly waiting for our first chance to truly be apart of our favourite films. Yes, yes, they're going to start at the beginning of the saga, as in Episode I, but I'm just fine with that. Unlike most Star Wars fan, I do truly love them all.

Of course seeing the originals in 3-D is going to be spectacular, but I can wait, and boy will it be worth it.

True Mud - A Muppet True Blood Parody

I've just recently finished watching True Blood season 1. Yes, I can admit that I'm one of those girls that loves Vampires. Books, movies, TV, you've got my interest. Now, I'm not one of those fanatic girls who cry at the thought of Edward Cullan not being a vampire in real life, but I would say that I am all for Team Edward, if you know what I'm saying. (actually, I'm more Team Jasper, but that's just me)

I was really excited when I got my hands on season 1 of True Blood. I knew it involved Vampires and that was about it. I didn't even know that it had Rogue in it.

My geeky girl cred is failing me! I was expecting the show to be more like The Vampire Diaries (which I love), but it really isn't, at all.

The entire plot of season one could probably be summed up in a few episodes, but they stretch it out. The rest is filled with sex. My god there is so much sex in that show!

The fact that they made a Muppet parody of it is kinda strange, although hilarious at the same time.

True Mud... snicker...

Shredder Costume

I'm still having a hard time deciding what I'm going to be for Halloween. There's just so much choice out there and not enough votes yet ;)

I was back on the costume sites today to make sure that I didn't miss anything totally awesome when I came across this Viking Valkyrie costume

but the more I look at it, the more I see a sexy version of Shedder from TMNT.

How easy would that be to just add some spikes to the costume? Then take the feathers on the head band and move it down to cover the mouth. If I could find a helmut to go with it, that'd be great, although not nessesary. I'd probably also take the gold sequins off the chest if possible. Then all I'd need was some black leggings and a hate-on for turtles and I'd be good to go.

Maybe I could even convince some friends to dress up as the sexy TMNT's

Now if only we could find a sexy Splinter costume....

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1 Trailer

wow

just...wow.

This trailer just gave me chills, made my heart beat faster and stop beating all at once. This was by far my favorite book of the series and I can't wait until this movie comes out!