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K-pop Bomb: Gangnam Style has made its mark...

so what’s next?

Austin Live Music:

Writing the Movies:

VENUE OWNERS and ARTISTS talk about the music

How the

that makes this city tick.

Austin Film Festival helps writers.

Staff Bios

P. 4

Letter From Our Editor

MUSIC Top 5 Essential Protopunk Albums

P. 9

P. 5

Austin Music

P. 7

Korea’s Secret Weapon P. 11

FILM

Local yet Focal

TV

Television Depression

Skyfall Review

P. 15 P. 16

BBC’s Sherlock and Doctor Who

P. 22 P. 26

Isaiah Silaski

Stephen Teeter

Isaiah is a student at the Liberal Arts and Science Academy here in Austin. He spends most of his time browsing the Internet for interesting mathematical papers and listening to 60s protopunk/garage rock. He greatly enjoys renting classic films, especially older war films. He doesn’t watch any TV except for Doctor Who. Who am I? Who was I? Who were you? Who will you be?

Why am I like this? How long will this be? Who is who?

Why is this true? Maybe they know...

Stephen Teeter enjoys listening to music and watching television shows. Being also a movie lover, he finds the idea of Twilight and Jack and Jill a disgrace to the movie world. Even though he does not prefer any certain kind of movie, he doesn’t enjoy movies about love or spies. He enjoys action movies only if they are creatively and skillfully edited.

He hates country music with a passion and usually doesn’t partake in the newest blockbuster. Spending most of his life with other people, he rarely has time to make an effect on the world.

Favorite Movies:

Favorite Movies:

Favorite Shows:

Favorite Shows:

Favorite Bands:

Favorite Bands:

Primer, Dog Day Afternoon, Apocalypse Now, Being John Malkovich Doctor Who

Gun Club, Velvet Underground, Doors, Television, 13th Floor Elevators

Sky Blaw

Sky uses her limited free time taking in as much media as possible. She much prefers television to movies, but enjoys going to the movies on the occasion that she gets enough money at which times her favorites are action movies. She leaves talking about the silver screen to the other two writers. Her favorite television channel is BBC and thinks that those English television writers must have something in their drinking water. Apart from fiction TV, she also enjoys variety shows like the Colbert Report and her guilty pleasure is Project Runway. She also enjoys listening to music, her favorite genres being Indie Rock, K-pop and British Invasion.

Matchstick Men, The Greatest Movie Ever Sold, Craigslist Joe The X Files, Regular Show, SNL, Top Gear

Ratatat, Passion pit, Bonobo, Crystal Castles, Modest Mouse

Favorite Movies: Clue, The Avengers.

Favorite Shows: Sherlock, Doctor Who, 30 Rock.

Favorite Bands:

Florence and the Machine, Arcade Fire, Bon Iver, Muse, Radiohead, EXO, 2NE1.

Letter from the Editors The area that this magazine was produced has a rich mix of popular media. The “Live Music Capitol of the World� lives up to its name with the popular venues and numerous festivals, concerts, and sounds from everywhere. At the same time it is a technological city growing quickly in communication and access. This opens the area up to thousands of other sounds, from the north, south, and all the way across the ocean. From Europe, to Korea, the mix of sounds that Austin is open to allows us to show the best music and how, even though it may not come from nearby, it can still affect the area and become a new favorite.

The area lends itself to all kinds of creators other than musicians, festivals range away from music and towards film.

Makers from all over the country come to the city for its crowd, a crowd that loves these mediums and supports them.

Finally, while television may not stem from Austin, it has a foothold here. Conventions feature television shows from America the UK and others.

The Austin spirit means that mediums from all over are accepted and loved. And with this kind of support it’s no wonder that our city is experiencing the huge amounts of grow that it is.

This magazine seeks to reflect that diversity and hope that it introduces its readers to new kinds of media. Kinds that maybe they never expected.

--

5

MUSIC

Top essential proto punk 5

5

albums

Many music lovers today, wrapped up in the mass of new music being produced, are oblivious to the rich musical culture of the past. Many know nothing of the rich musical culture of the 60’s and early 70’s outside of fragmentary knowledge of british invasion classics or rudimentary blues rock.

One of the most underrepresented musical movements among the current generation is that of protopunk, the experimental musical phenomena that lead to the development of punk and in turn most of the modern musical techniques employed in popular music.

Safe as Milk - Captian Beefheart and his Magic Band (1967): “High voltage man kisses night to bring the light to those who need to hide their shadow deed Go into bright find the light and know that friends don’t mind just how you grow “

- Electricity from Safe as Milk Captain Beefheart’s music is completely indescribable to those who aren’t familiar. Its almost completely genreless, consisting of warped musical improvisation. His decomposed, experimental sound is the most syncopated, sporadic, and idiosyncratic of any other musicians of his era. His debut album, Safe as Milk, is his tamest consisting of a completely convoluted amalgamation of fractured free jazz, evolved blues rock, and permuted psychedelia. It is driven by incredibly wild riffs, both on guitar and bass, resembling in no way the typical archetype of a musical riff, instead consisting of incredibly complex jazz experimentalism.

4

Funhouse - The Stooges (1970): “I took a record of pretty music I went down and baby you can tell I took a record of pretty music Now I’m putting it to you straight from hell“ - Loose from Funhouse The Stooges almost invented punk rock with the angry energy of their music. However, where punk rock is often deemed unintelligent for its lack of musical form, the Stooges are incredibly musically developed. Their music is noisy and experimental consisting of gritty blues rock influenced garage rock and punk jazz. Their second album, Funhouse, showcases Iggy Pop’s fiery vocals incredibly well.

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2

Marquee Moon - Television (1977): “I remember, how the darkness doubled I recall, lightning struck itself.

I was listening, listening to the rain I was hearing, hearing something else.”

- Marquee Moon from Marquee Moon This album is completely defined by its dual guitar interplay. Unlike much of the other experimental music of the time, Television’s music lacks the no-wave noise rock mentality that was becoming so prominent. Full of stark, undistorted tones that resonate clearly and boldly, Marquee Moon, the group’s debut LP, perfectly showcases many unique guitar techniques that would inspire many of the musical ingenuities integral for the development of modern alternative rock.

3

Black Monk Time - The Monks (1966): “You know we don’t like the army.

What army?

Who cares what army?

Why do you kill all those kids over there in Vietnam?”

- Monk Time from Black Monk Time Formed by four american GI’s stationed in Germany during the Vietnam war, the Monks is a beat and blues inspired group that produced an incredibly angry sporadic musical style. Their music possesses an almost unearthly energy, it pulsates emphatically with a strong pounding beat. Their decomposed sound is always driven by fuzz guitar, a homemade electric banjo, an erratic organ, and barked, often rambling, vocals. One of the things that makes the group so great is the military precision that they applied to their music, every instrument is completely in sync with the others. Most other bands would be hard pressed to play complicated songs like “Complication” or “I hate you”, but the monks pull it off perfectly.

1

Velvet Underground and Nico - Velvet Underground (1967): “Downy sins of streetlight fancies Chase the costumes she shall wear Ermine furs adorn the imperious Severin, Severin awaits you there” - Venus in Furs from Velvet Underground and Nico The Velvet Underground’s unique musical vocabulary is incredibly broad, ranging from a twisted adaption of decomposed avant-garde sounds reminist of monks to an evolved orchestrated noise rock that is entirely of their own. Not only did they anticipate punk with their experimental, minimalist mindsets, but also with their tabooed lyrical content; their songs often detailed drug use, violence, and sexuality in ways previously unheard. Although it was produced in but a single day, their debut album is by far their most complete, as well as their most polished of their musical library. Velvet Underground and Nico is absolutely overflowing with musical experimentation and ingenuity, from the harsh electric viola that drones throughout the tracks “Venus in Fur”, “Heroin”, and “Black Angel’s Death Song” to the prepared-piano played in“All tomorrow’s parties”.

Austin: Live Music captial of the world

Several owners of prominant clubs and musicians talk about how the Austin music scene is changing, its history, and how they expect it to change in the future.

By Isaiah Silaski

-Music-

9

Photos by Jason Sabala

Our live music world may be changing quickly.

T

he self proclaimed “Live Music Capital of the World”, Austin TX, is undergoing many new changes. It is known for its incredible openness to new musicians as well as its abundance of good music and free shows.

Here you can find live music almost anywhere. Although this isn’t going to change soon, its music is developing an increasingly national focus.

“Many other cities have a great music scene, but Austin has an unspoken, gritty elegance that r/eally caters to musicians looking to perform.” says Rob Dalley, manager for local music venue, the Belmont.

With its quirks and idiosyncrasies, local Austin music often fails to follow national trends. Although many local bands do in fact attempt to incorporate current popular musical elements, generally they still sport a unique Austin sound. During the last ten years the the scene has been transitioning away from its present insular form, but as new music festivals, such as Fun Fun Fun Fest and Chaos in Tejas, are springing up, the Austin Live Music scene is becoming more of a economic phenomena, broadening

to incorporate and attract more national attention.

“Austin changed into this attempt at the darker stuff that was popular na-

“Far from being a singular cultural phenomenon for Austin, Live Music remains a strong economic force, too, as the growth in festivals, clubs & bars have contributed significantly to Austin’s employment, capital and creative class.” says Cody Cowan, manager for popular club, The Mohawk.

However others are not as enthusiastic about this change. This is especially worrying for many local Austin music fans. The scene is known to be obsessed with authenticity and this shift is seen by many as a step in the wrong direction.

Owner of nightclub Emos East, Jasan Sabala, argues that the increasingly national focus of Austin music detracts from the local culture: “[Festivals don’t] allow much calender time for local venues that are not large organizations or associated with the festival directly to book the bands that are relevant to grow the scene. The true intimacy and the bonding that fans have with bands is lost in large fields, jumbotrons, and ridiculous ticket prices.”

To reiterate: The self proclaimed “Live Music Capital of the World”, Austin TX, is undergoing many new changes. It is known for its incredible openness to new musicians as well as its abundance of good music and free shows. Here you can find live music almost anywhere. Although this isn’t going to change soon, its music is developing an increasingly national focus.

The true intimacy and the bonding that fans have with bands is lost in large fields, jumbotrons and ridiculous ticket prices.

—Jasan Sabala tionally; This Microwave World, I Love You But I’ve Chosen Darkness and even Trail of Dead were all a bit more aligned with what was going on elsewhere,” says Marc Perlman, Bassist for local rock band “Midgetmen”.

Some find this shift quite exciting, claiming that it will bolster the local community and economy, expanding the scene and developing local culture.

“Many other cities have a great music scene, but Austin has an unspoken, gritty elegance that really caters to musicians looking to perform.” says Rob Dalley, manager for local music venue, the Belmont.

Doing a dance from the song History

Freshman Maddie Crabb goes through the steps to a song by one of her favorite groups.

Korea’s Secret Weapon It’s not a bomb or a military tactic. It’s South Korean Pop music, and it’s not just in Korea anymore.

By Sky Blaw

Art credit: Sky Blaw

-Music-

1

Fantastic Baby: BIGBANG YG Entertainment

History: EXO-K SM Entertainment

Electric Shock: f(x) SM Entertainment

Ayy Girl: JYJ C-JeS Entertainment

It is over the top in every way, the dancing is in synch, the characters young, the song is pulsing bright and loud, there are voice alterations, electronic vibes and strong beats with candy colored graphics and a catchy chorus to boot. It sounds like any number of over-the-top artists from America, but it actually comes from halfway across the globe. This is Korean pop music (K-pop) and its already in the US. If you’ve been on the internet in the past few months you’ve probably seen Gangnam Style in one form or another. With well over half a billion views on Youtube it is one of the most viewed videos in history. The “ride a horse” dance has become famous, the song is by South Korean satirist and rapper PSY. This song has brought K-pop into the public eye in a big way.

The local Austin radio station 96.7 Kiss F/M/ opened up a contest to make new video to the song Gangnam Style. LASA Juniors Alex Shultz and Chris Prinz decided to submit their own and the two grabbed their Canon cameras after a hasty lunch and got to work. The two spent three lunch periods filming dancers at various locations over the LASA campus culminating in dance off between two groups which Shultz says lead to some funny moments in the shots which can’t be seen just by watching the video.

“During the shot of the people behind me yelling mean things to the

other entourage, they were actually saying incredibly polite things with mean faces,” he says.

The two agree that, aside from that, filming was extremely stressful and rushed, with the two cramming it all into three lunch periods. However that the dancers were ready to go and made

But while the success of Gangnam Style got both of them ACL tickets Prinz feels like it’s getting old and tiresome while Shultz has his own ideas on its success.

“Gangnam style is so ‘contagious’ because it had a hilarious music video, and the song was catchy,” Prinz says, “but [K-pop’s] popularity has not entered into the US because of the language barrier and how weird it sounds to average listener.

Gangnam Style was an isolated incident.”

LASA Freshman, Maddie Crabb, has a different idea. She is an avid Kpop listener and is part of a growing American group that has embraced the music from halfway across the world.

But she says that k-pop cannot be thought of as just the one song.

“PSY is amazing and really talented, but he doesn’t really represent Kpop as a whole,” Crabb says, “K-pop is a lot more than Gangnam Style, which is what some people seem to think now.”

K-pop spans many different

“[K-pop is] more dynamic than ‘here’s a catchy song listen to it 10 times and then forget it.”

—Emily Heubaum

the process easier. In the end, “Oppan LASA Style” won them both tickets to ACL (Austin CIty Limits). Shultz says that initially the submitted their video mostly for fun and only later realized that they had a chance.

“I went to their website and found out one could view the previous submissions. I watched them, and they were so horrible, so poorly shot and edited,” Shultz says “That’s when I realized we had a high possibility of winning.”

I’m the Best: 2NE1 YG Entertainment

Crayon: G-Dragon YG Entertainment

Art credit: Emily Heubaum

An extensive collection

Oppan LASA Style Chris Prinz and Alex Shultz

Art credit: Sky Blaw

of k-pop memorobelia is on the shelves of Emily Heubaum’s room. They include books, photos, magazines and trinkets. She estimates they combined total is worth over $200.

styles and takes many of it’s ideas from western music but also draws from traditional South Korean music. English is often incorporated into the chorus which can make it slightly more appealing to an American crowd. And the songs range from upbeat, to sexy, to love ballads. The songs use rock, R&B, and increasingly electro and dubstep to influence to sound.

“K-pop is kind of a mix of everything, you know? Most of the time it’s pop, but a lot of the songs have a unique sound,” Crabb says, “Personally, I don’t think I’ll really get over it in my lifetime.

It’s like your first love, you don’t forget.”

Another Freshman, Emily Heubaum, is also a fan of K-pop. She says that the mix of talent and sleekness is what makes K-pop special. “[K-pop is] dancing and singing, many of the performers are actors or directors,” Heubaum says, “It’s more dynamic than ‘here’s a catchy song listen to it 10 times and then forget it.”’

However, as the fanbase has grown there has also been a some negative publicity along with the press. Some K-pop stars from groups like SHINee, EXO, Big Bang and solo acts are often

Oppan Gangnam Style: PSY YG Entertainment

A phone case

decorated with the faces of stars from the group 2PM in the hands of Freshman Emily Heubaum. 2PM is a boyband with 6 members produced by JYP Entertainment.

the victims of stalking and some even more serious crimes.These fanatics, called sasaengs, have been known to go extreme lengths to meet their idols going as far as hiring a car to crash into the star’s car in order to meet them. Despite this however many fans are quick to discredit them as the outliers saying that their tactics are immoral.

“It is just an incredibly disgusting invasion of privacy and it’s almost inhuman,” Heubaum says, “In any organized group there are extremists and you can’t judge [the fanbase] based on that They don’t represent everyone.”

The k-pop groups are usually made of anywhere from 3 to 8 members and are almost always one gender or another, the performers are usually still young, some not even 20 years old.

Some, like the girls group, After School have a graduating system in place so that members are replaced and the lineup is replaced. Solo acts like PSY are also common and popular. And as word has spread through mediums like Youtube popularity in America has grown and festivals are being played here more frequently. In years before concerts were held but generally unsuccessful. But

things changed when performer Rain sold out a concert in New York and later when the group Girls Generation toured with the Jonas Brothers in 2009.

Since then many k-pop producers have continued to send artists and groups here.

“The K-pop industry is really a machine, and a machine that’s striving.”

Crabb says, “Although it’s a machine, they change things up, try new things all the time. They just keep getting better at producing groups that do well.”

While K-pop is not for everyone, with a sound that you don’t find on very many radios in the US. It combines singing, dance and youth for a kind of music that has captivated millions despite it being spoken in Korean, but fans say that this barrier is not a problem when the music is good.

“They seem perfect in a way. So I guess I’d say that the whole package just sort of hooks you from the beginning,” Crabb says, “If you give it a chance, then most likely you will be addicted to it.”

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MOVIES

THE OLD BOND Skyfall, the newest of the Bond series, continues with Daniel Craig as James Bond and Judy Dench as his boss, M. It is set in England. In the movie, a once powerful daring high stakes James Bond has been trumped to a normal life and back again into the life of a secret agent. He continues his usual super agent storyline, but with less pizazz, and has become somewhat of a broken character. After he loses a list of many MI6 agents, he must find the people with the list after they begin giving the MI6 agent identities to organizations to kill them. M is asked to retire after the list was lost, and through many ordeals, Bond is forced to take her life into his own hands.

Of course, being a Bond movie, the acting is great. Surprisingly, though, they have gone more into Bond’s character, his childhood, and his relationship with M. The writing of the movie presented great depth into Bond’s life. It shows a weak side to him that had not been explored in this way, which I felt was the essence of this new movie.

The special effects were the same as recent Bond movies, but used more intuitively and creatively. An example is when Bond is chasing an enemy and the person he is chasing sets off a bomb behinds him, which creates a hole in the wall. Bond seems unimpressed until a subway comes down from the hole and nearly crushing him.

The producers are obviously trying to reach out to a greater audience with the presentation of Adel singing the theme song. It was a good addition to the overall feel of the movie.

The length of the movie was 2 1/2 hours, but it was not obvious because it was intriguing second by second. I would consider it the best Bond movie yet. Bond has entered a new character, which I find makes a much more interesting story. Even though there is action and drama, there is also a complex character that is also human. I would recommend that anyone who likes movies go watch this film.

Focal yet Local

By Stephen Teeter

Many movies are known for their directors or actors, but how many people can recall the writers of those movies? The Austin Film Festival believes that writers of the movie may have the most important job. “The Austin Film Festival is dedicated to furthering the art, craft, and business of screenwriting,” shares the festival on its website. Rather than being a typical highly cinematic convention, the festival focuses on the writers and the stories they produce. They help new talented writers into the movie business and jumpstart their career.

The festival has been recognized by KLRU, who in 2011 started the show “On Story: Presented by the Austin Film Festival.” It is a half-hour series that gives backstories into the making of some of the most popular movies and television shows ever made. “We created a show... that we thought would be interesting to people who have a greater interest in film without being a filmmaker.” The show retains the importance of the story, rather than the way it’s told.

The Austin Film Festival is on its 19th year, and it attracts many writers and producers to the conference to speak. “it’s built a consistent and strong reputation in the filmmaking world... and there’s a lot of love there from a lot of the screenwriters and filmmakers who have been participating since day one,” explains William Mills, the publicist for the AFF and a senior publicist for Giant Noise. The festival is best known for it’s annual October Film Festival and Conference. “The Austin Film Festival screenwriting contest is widely regarded as one of the most respected in the business, and has opened a lot of doors for me that otherwise might have been closed,” says Michael Chase, the semifinalist of the 2006 screenplay competition.

The festival is different from other film festivals in how they strive to focus on parts of film not always recognized.

Those who are involved in the film festival say it’s a festival that celebrates the screenwriter. Awards are given annually in the categories of documentaries or narratives, short or full length films, and student or professionally made ones. In this way, the festival recognizes them for their outstanding contributions to the industry.

scripts into the hands of major industries.

Not only do Austinites join, but people from all around the world. The festival mostly attracts movie fans, whether it be the average movie enthusiast, or amateurs trying to learn the secret to good films. The festival accompanies both, showing both screenings of major motion pictures and film competitions and conferences and panels too. Even celebrities attend, some as well known as Sandra Bullock, Robert Duval and Claire Danes.

Celebritie may attend conferences in the first four days, at many different venues. The conference essentially offers a panel of screenwriters, producers, and directors that talk

“We thought it would be interesting to the people who have a greater interest in film without being a film maker.”

Barbara Morgan

about their experiences in the business and give pointers from their perspective. Will Mills attended the conference featuring James Franco this year. “James is an actor and also into filmmaking education. His panel had a lot to do with discussing the back story behind a lot of the film projects he worked on this year.”

“Seasoned pros will give writers tips about how to pitch their film, if they have an idea, and they need to refine it for the people who could potentially give them money to make it.” explains Mills. Panelists will also give their own experiences of how they got into the business, and tips they had or hardships they went through.

In the competition portion of the festival, screenplays and movies are voted on by a council of screenwriters to see if the chosen movies meet their criteria. “We have a jury that watches the movies,” explains Morgan, “The first and second round are screened by 60 to 70 people, and they determine if their criteria is met. Their decisions are heavily influenced by the concept of story, whether it’s a documentary, short story, or narrative.” They accept all kinds of movies, documentaries, narratives, and short stories.

The festival has a reputation for good films and good scripts. “The festival attracts so many writers and producers because it’s been around 19 years,” explains William Mills, the publicist for the AFF and senior publicist for Giant Noise, “It’s built a strong and consistent reputation... and hollywood takes a major note of the festival.” Will believes that because the festival has created such a strong reputation, it will only become more successful.

“It doesn’t hurt that the festival’s executive producer, Barbara Morgan, as well as most of her staff, is very deep in the film making world and communicates with the film

“A lot of the films that win in the short films categories go on to be nominated for an oscar.”

Will Mills

“Austin Film Festival is unique in its focus on writing and the stories behind the stories,” says Barbara Morgan, the executive producer of the film festival. “One of it’s main goals is to help foster writers and help them provide an event that celebrates their contributions to filmmaking.” says Mills. The festival invites celebrity guests for conferences, screens the latest major and independent films, and provides screenplay and film competitions. They even help the writer get their

-Movies-

17

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makers and writers all the time. They just keep at it and keep producing a steller festival and people keep wanting to come back,” Will says, explaining the success of the festival. There are 10 full time people and 25 working year round on a contract basis, as well as 500-600 volunteers who work during the festival.

Writing a good script usually leads to creating a great movie, and the film festival has many of those to view as well.

The festivals website states, “With over 170 regional, national and world premieres each year, AFF features everything from highly anticipated Hollywood fare to breakthrough independent filmmaking.” Notable screenings in 2011 include The Artist and the Descendants. “I think it’s both for entertainment and bringing in writers.....it’s probably half and half.

There’s a lot of entertainment, including the film screenings,” says Will Mills.

Some main attractions for non writers or filmmakers are events such as screenings of marque films. “I would recommend, as far as the films, to look at the great sleeper picks in the marque screenings,” says Mills. “There are always a good number of indie films that people don’t know about, but when they watch them they will love them. There is a consistent amount of films that are nominated for awards, like this years Silver Linings Playbook, which is probably going to be an Oscar contender.”

Other attractions for the average moviegoer would the

the short films portion. “One of the best short film programs around.” says Mills, “One of the festivals that has a direct line into the academy awards in the short films programs.” Even some of these films are nominated for Oscars.

The conferences aren’t just for writers and filmmakers, as Mills explains. “Even if you’re not a filmmaker you are going to learn so much about the film industry and hear stories about the movies that you’ve loved your entire life and provide a lot more story and a lot more enlightenment into those projects.”

James Franco came as a guest speaker at the Austin film festival. He spoke about his many struggles as an actor, a director, and discrepencies he had in the film world. He has appeared in the recent movies 127 Hours, Date Night, and will appear in Disney’s new movie Oz: The Great and the Powerful.

The Young FIlmmakers Pannel Is a conference for young adults interested in filmmaking. This is the only pannel meant for the education of the youth. Even so, profesional filmmakers still speak here about topics

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TV

MAKING IT THROUGH THE

Why only the rich watch TV In the past past few years, there has been a trend following the downfall of good ideas; a television depression. Every channel, now, airs at least one show per year that fail after the first season. This shows how bad of an environment the TV sphere is. TV shows are failing left and right, reguardless of how good they are, what kind of show they are, and who the are trying to advertise to. Neflix, as a result, has become a safe haven for shows on uncommon channels, old tv shows, and tv shows for people without cable. It also fits better to people’s schedule, thus leading to higher ratings. Television shows are also known to get desperate with their storylines, adding redicuous twists to try and grab more fans, and boost their ratings, but acheive the opposite. Shows on Netflix are also more highly reguarded, and often air much longer than tv shows limited to the television.

Lost

After four seasons this tv show became desperate for viewers, and added twists like the island disappearing, escapees going back and getting trapped on the island a second time, the various devious parts of the island, and its all too many secrets. Lost is an example of a quality writer forced to write television that is dramatic enough to bring attention to itself. Even though it was created by J.J. Abrams, a well known science fiction screenwriter, the quality of the show seems to have been forgotten after the first season. The writers did not continue it in a way that actually fit the beginning of the story. Television shows are usually dropped because they are not popular enough for big time writers to stick around, and are simply left to the dogs.

Awake

Kyle Killen, the creator of Awake, has had his experiences with short lived television shows. Not only did he help write The Beaver, starring Mel Gibson, but he also created the show Lone Star. Both of his tv shows seemed to have promising ideas. They soon fell flat, though. Awake is a story about a policeman living two different lives.

Each one is a dream to the other, and the main character is reluctant to find out which one is true, for his wife dies in one and his son dies in the other. Things also connect from dream to dream, like evidence between cases that help him solve other mysteries. If this show had been better represented after its introduction, it may have stayed a few more seasons. Awake, sadly, only lasted one.

Revolution

This television show is probably one of the worst new shows on network television.

Although this is not uncommon, new TV shows often come out and start a complicated storyline right off the bat. Already on the 16th episode, the storyline is almost too confusing to follow without seeing the first episodes. After the world loses all its power at once, a group of refugees are forced to live primitively, and their main boon is to find the reason power was lost and restore it. Any tv show that starts by telling you how it will end can only end in one way: getting cancelled. When a show brings you in, they should not simply expect you to be intrigued by the first episode, but by each one.

Walking Dead This show read success even before it was created. Being a comic book series at first, the show was made simply to entice people in its fascinating quarrels. It is about a group of survivors surviving after the zombie apocalypse. Even though it sounds unoriginal, it focuses more on the struggles of people and how they survive, rather than just zombie gore. This show, even spelled with success, would not have such a wide fan base if not for Netflix. AMC, a payed network, airs this show but does not hold half as many fans as Netflix. This is just one example of a show on television that is most popular on Netflix. More and more shows, not just on network television, have been moving to Netflix, finding that it helps their ratings.

Breaking Bad This show appeals to a different audience, an audience of dark matters. Also being shown on AMC, Breaking Bad is a show about a chemistry teacher wanting to get money for his children, or be cured of an expensively curable cancer, by making meth with an ex-student. Even though it’s on television, this show was made most popular on Netflix, and has become a contender as one of the best shows around. This shows how much better Netflix is for TV shows. Although there are many television shows not on Netflix, most of the shows still airing on Netflix are made more popular, and become much more well known.

The X-Files

This is a good example of how old shows don’t have to die in the past. Even though it was made in the 1990’s, it was well made, and Netflix has helped a new generation experience that. It’s about a pair of FBI agents dealing with paranormal cases, and it doesn’t lack a sense of humor. Usually when a show is cancelled, people forget how good it was in its entirety. Even though the X Files ended in whimper, replacing one of the main characters thus scaring many of its fans away, the early seasons are still enjoyable and good. Nowadays, it seems like the networks have some good ideas for shows, they are just not written well. Good shows are made less often, leaving us in a time without great TV, which is a television depression.

-Film-

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Sherlock It is uncommon to become invested in characters in just 6 episodes. But somehow BBC’s modern adaptation of Arthur Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes does just that.

Sherlock takes place in modern day London and follows the work of Consulting Detective Sherlock Holmes (Benedict Cumberbatch) and his rather flummoxed side-kick and former army doctor John Watson (Martin Freeman). The two work to solve the crimes that the police and detective agency can’t and gain a few enemies on the way.

The show has a brilliant cast with Cumberbatch becoming the sociopathic, utterly brilliant, and mysterious Holmes who, despite being cold and distance, grows on the viewer from the moment her first shows his talent of observation. In the first episode A Study In Pink he, in just under 2 minutes, finds out ev-

BBC :

erything he needs to know about the victim in order to solve the crime.

And what story would be complete without an old fashioned villain? Jim Moriarty (Andrew Scott) fits the bill perfectly. Scott portrays the character with a balance of genius, insanity, and just creepiness. And it works when Sherlock and Moriarty meet the two supreme intellects must battle in mind. It’s not the car chase, explosions, and guns kind of show, though those all happen at some point as well and is certainly unlike any other mystery crime show.

The scenery and filming make it one of the best looking shows as well. It is shot in a very dark light most of the time and perspective plays a key role. When the Moriarty threatens Sherlock the camera pans up and looks at him from above almost like the viewer is Sherlock and it give a strange and creepy way to see it when suddenly the viewer understands how bad this man is. And cameras go from above to below and take on the role of

This British channel has all over the world. Here

Doctor Who It would be difficult to have not heard about Doctor Who. After all the show has been around for almost 50 years. But since returning to the screen in 2000 in the form of “New Who” it has been taking it’s audience in Europe and expanding across the ocean to the US. The show follows the last of the Time Lords a race of humanoids who looked over the universe and protected time and space. After a great war only one remains and he goes by the name of The Doctor His adventures through all of time and space range from planets made of diamond to Great Depression era New York City.

The adventure has lasted so long because every time a timelord is about to die he “regenerates” which means he replac-

Adventure through time and space.

es all of the cells in his body and becomes a new person. Actors have played him for 1 or many seasons.

Along the way he picks up companions who travel with him for various amounts of time. His relationship with these companions is one of the things that makes Doctor Who so interesting. Some see him as a love interest others as a friend. In earlier incarnations when the actor playing him was older he was more of a father or even grandfather figure but as the actors playing him have gotten younger romance has become part of the story line more and more. According to the blog the Reinvigorated Programmer the age has been going lower every time The Doctor regenerates (with some variance in the pattern) and that, at just 27 years old, the 11th and current Doctor was the young-

Aliens Oh MY! In the almost 50 years since it’s premier The Doctor and his comapnions have met hundereds. Here are some recent favorites.

Cybermen:

A classic Doctor Who monster, The Cybermen are made by putting a metal outside a human body and often try to take over the earth.

The Silence: A more recent

additions this species will literally edit themselves from your memory. Look away for a second and you forget.

Modern mystery from an old classic.

security camera at times.

Furthermore it’s schedule, with three one-and-a-half hour episodes per season, makes it interesting and new, though occasionally infuriating for lack of episodes. But with a lot of time invested in each showW the story is longer, and more complex and allows each episode to have archs of their own on top of the arcs from season to season. Rather than being a TV show each episode feels like a movie of it’s own but one where the sequels are actually good and the show has even earned a 9.2 rating on IMDB.com.

When it comes down to it, Sherlock is simply one of the smartest shows on television and it’s multi-faceted characters will keep you fascinated while still being believable.

But if you get hooked now, be warned Season three is set to air in summer of fall of 2013 and according to Entertainment Weekly’s James Hibberd viewers in certain areas may not get it until 2014.

been producing shows that capture audiences are two of our favorites. est to ever play the role.

But the romance is not all that draws in viewers, Doctor Who is a very interesting show in many ways. It gives a very different perspective on the universe showing it bustling full of life, politics and potential. And it often states just how important everyone is even if they feel useless.

And it shows a lot about good and evil and how there is no clear line, how a bad circumstance can make a good person do bad things, The Doctor himself struggles with morality when it means protecting earth, a planet he is particularly fond of.

His companions are very much human, contrasting the Doctor’s often cold mannerisms and occasional inhumane ac-

tions. And often enough those companions are the ones who help him to be good.

The show covers almost ever genre at some point, covering horror, Western, romance, tragedy and of course action and sci-fi. But the show actually hides philosophy inside the fun and young interior. People who watch it are often young but the show is not just for a young audience. Some episodes are there for a good laugh but often they actually make you think which is something that is usually hard to find in a show that is targeted at a young audience. So while it may be fun to watch for the love stories, Doctor Who also gives new life to old themes.

Vashta Nerada: Though they have

only appeared in two episodes these shadows that eat you alive and leave nothing but your skeleton have already terrified many.

Daleks:

Perhaps the most well known aliens of Doctor Who these half body half robot forms chase the Doctor across the universe .

The Weeping Angels: Seen

by many as the scariest creatures in Doctor Who, these Angels appear to be stond but the minute you blink they move.

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