Of Sexy Norse Gods and Endings and Beginnings

Sarah and I went to see Thor yesterday. I've been a fan of the God of Thunder ever since I was a kid, watching the cartoons. It was part of a rotation of four - Thor, Hulk, Captain America and the Sub-Mariner. I always loved Thor the best, so I was overjoyed to see that they'd made a movie, and hoped they wouldn't fuck it up.

They didn't.   Chris Hemsworth was every inch the Scandinavian hottie he was supposed to be, with tons of attitude and a body to die for. Ask Natalie Portman. She was certainly drooling, in the role of Jane Foster, the science geek whose interest in certain matters led to her running into Thor in the first place in the New Mexico desert.

I was happy to discover old friends among the cast whose presence I was previously unaware of. Anthony Hopkins plays Odin, Thor's father, and the chief God and ruler of Asgard. Skellan Skarsgard (you may remember him from POTC, Mama Mia and as the father of hunky Alexander Skarsgard aka Eric Northman of True Blood face) played Portman's mentor. One of Thor's friends is played by Ray Stevenson (he was Titus Pullo in Rome). I recognized the FBI guy too - Colm Feore, who plays the ubiquitous Cardinal della Rovere in The Borgias. Quite an impressive cast. But small wonder - their director is none other than the delightful Kenneth Branagh. And the writer is J. Michael Stracynski.  Very impressive, eh?

The film was fast paced and entertaining and held my interest throughout. The time passed before I knew it, and the ending leaves little doubt in my mind that there will be a sequel, depending on box office of course, but I've heard the figures are good, so I'm hopeful. I did miss the very end of the credits, however, which I understand contained a small snipped which will no doubt lead to the next film. I'll have to get to see it somehow sometime, as it confirms what I had suspected at the time that it happened (no, I won't spoil it lol)

All I can say is, this film is definitely worth watching. We saw trailers for some other interesting films - Conan the Barbarian, Super 8 and a real dog - Cowboys & Aliens. I'm sorry, even the presence of my favorite James Bond, Daniel Craig, can't save this film, nor can Harrison Ford, or Steven Spielberg. A must miss event for me.

I watched the season finale of Hawaii 5-0 today. I'll try not to spoil it, but let me say that by the end of the episode, I was totally sitting there with my mouth open, saying a lot of omigod, and Jesus, and wondering how the hell they are going to get out of this one. Things have never looked so bleak for 5-0. One is incarcerated on trumped up charges, one appears to have become a traitor, one is being held for something that is true, and one may just be moving off the island. More deaths, major plot advancement and a great big wtf moment. Kudos for an excellent cliffhanging finale that will keep me wondering until the show starts back up again.  All I can say is CBS better treat these people right.

The Borgias ends its season next week. Things are looking a bit bleak for the Borgia papacy at the moment. It's only due to Lucrezia's silver tongue and her charming of the barbarian Charles of France that the French haven't sacked Rome. The over-confident Juan Borgia met the French in the open field, assuming that their cannon would be ineffectual there, as opposed to tearing up their buildings. What he didn't know is that the French have connected cannonballs, and the damage done to human flesh by them is horrific. Lucrezia, who is being held hostage by the French, persuades her brother to withdraw his troops and allow the French to peacefully enter Rome. Inside the city, many have fled, including not a few of the College of Cardinals. Cesare has tried to take his sweetheart to safety, but she refuses to leave the sanctity of the convent which she fled to when she left him in horror at learning that he was responsible for her husband's death. I have to believe Rodrigo will pull them out of this somehow. I'm still waiting for della Rovere to get his. Lucrezia is with child, but it isn't her husband's. I suspect that the actual father is dead by now, we'll find out next week. I will definitely buy this when I can, this series is lush and lavish and fascinating, a true treat for the senses - and Cesare Borgia is damn hot.

That will leave me with only one show to watch, Top Chef Masters, at least for the next few weeks. Luckily The Glades is coming back to A&E in June. If you missed it the first season, I recommend you catch up and watch it. It's a really good show about a cop who used to work in Chicago but finds himself down in the Everglades now. He's unconventional but effective and I love his sense of humor. I recommend this series highly.

We're still watching Six Feet Under, in the third season now. The brothers are now partnered with Rico, out of economic necessity, which isn't necessarily the worst thing in the world. Rico is a hard worker, and he does good work. They've taken on an apprentice, a rather nerdy young man named Arthur. I think Ruth has a thing for him. In a twist of events between the end of season 2 and beginning of season 3 - Nate survived his AVM, and married Lisa, mother of his daughter Maya. At first they lived with her employer, Carol, played fabulously by veteran actress Catherine O'Hara, but Lisa got tired of her craziness and left. They had little choice but to move in with Nate's mom. Luckily David is living with Keith now. Claire is in art school and seeing a fellow student, Russell, whom everyone assumed was gay. He's not. In the last episode we saw, Brenda's dad died, and Nate went to the funeral, taking Maya. He tried to find a sitter, but to no avail. He was going to leave her with Vanessa, Rico's wife, but realized she's not quite with it, so he just took Maya with him. This pissed Lisa off, who was fixated on whether or not Brenda touched or held Maya. Billy was there, looking cute. He didn't do anything crazy. Yet. All I can say is this series just keeps on getting better and I love it to death!

That's all for now, I think. Maybe tomorrow I'll talk about Top Chef Season 5 or Beauty and the Beast.

I'd love to hear about your favorite shows or what you think of mine! Don't forget, there's a contest going on! Follow this blog and leave a comment and you could win a copy of Captivations!

Have a great day!

♥ Julie