Great Trilogies

I obsess over film trilogies. I obsess over a lot of stuff, but trilogies are near the top of the list. The Star Wars prequel trilogy is very difficult for me to deal with, because although I recognize there are a lot of flaws in them (I don't hate them), I'm still very drawn to them as they are one half of two trilogies, and I of course love the original trilogy. I think a complete saga in two trilogies is an amazing idea and that the series as a whole holds up pretty well to criticism. The other trilogies I obsess over include The Lord of the Rings, The Matrix, Back to the Future, and to a lesser extent The Godfather trilogy.

The Dark Knight trilogy is also a major obsession of mine. It's funny, because I like Batman, although I've never read the comics. I really enjoyed Batman Begins and The Dark Knight, but they aren't on my absolute favorites list. I really love the idea of taking more than 70 years of mythology and characters and turning it into a definitive trilogy with a beginning, middle, and end. I am aware that right now there is only 2/3 of a trilogy. Obviously, The Dark Knight Rises comes out in July and I am very excited.

The trilogy is a very under-appreciated and misused way of making movies in my opinion. The Spider-Man film series ended up being a trilogy, and, while it didn't leave any plot threads hanging, it was not exactly intended as that and is does not have the definitive "feel" that I think The Dark Knight trilogy will. Indeed, the series is now being rebooted, and we shall see which series ends up being the better.

I could go on and on about my thoughts on all of the trilogies mentioned, but I won't (and may some other time). Needless to say they all have strengths and weaknesses, but what I love about all of them is that they all each tell one story in three films and as result have a very large scope and feel like very big movies. Also I'm just an obsessive person who likes movies.

House, M.D.--The Team

House has gone on for eight years, and at the time of this writing, has eight episodes left to air. During that time, there have been many changes, of course, but the one constantly changing aspect has been House's team. The first three seasons, it was Cameron, Foreman, and Chase. At the end of season three, they all were fired or quit. The characters stayed on the show however, in varying capacities. The first half of season four was spent with House doing a "Survivor" like hiring process to find a new team. This resulted in Kutner, Thirteen, and Taub. Foreman also was brought back to the original team. At the end of season five, Kutner commited suicide. In the middle of season six, Cameron finally left the show for good. Chase also then came back to the team. After the season seven premiere, Thirteen left temporarily for most of the season, and after a few episodes of her absence, Masters was brought in for half a season. At the end of season seven, Thirteen left the team for good. In season eight, Adams and Park were then introduced. There have been many small variations that I have not addressed, but this is the jist of it.

I list all of this to say that I have enjoyed every variation of the team. The first three years really made it seem like House would keep the same cast for it's entire run, and the shake-up shocked me. However, the "revolving door" approach the show has since taken has kept the show's vitality up in a way that wouldn't have been possible otherwise. All of the changes in the team have been very interesting to follow, as well. Every different version of the team has contributed to the fact that House, M.D. as a whole is a very interesting and compelling body of work.