Spoilers ahead for the first and second seasons of "The Wire."
Watching the series is going faster than I expected, probably because I'm enjoying it so much. Season Two is an easier watch than Season One, even though in many ways it has to start over from the beginning, introducing us to a new set of characters involved in crime and corruption, and the unseen social forces behind them that contribute to this. It also continues to follow most of the characters from the police and the Barksdale organization from Season One, and sets up future conflicts in subsequent seasons.
Season Two is about the Baltimore docks, home to the International Brotherhood of Stevedores union. Work is scarce and growing scarcer, so union treasurer Frank Sobotka (Chris Bauer) has been working with a group of Greek smugglers to move drugs and contraband, and spreading the money around for political leverage. His nephew Nick (Pablo Schreiber) and son Ziggy (James Ransone) are major POV characters, who start to do extra jobs on the side for warehouse owner Spiros Vondopoulos (Paul Ben-Victor) and his mysterious boss, known only as "The Greek" (Bill Raymond). The big case of the season is the discovery of thirteen dead Jane Does suffocated to death in one of the shipping containers by Port Authority officer Beadie Russell (Amy Ryan). A separate Jane Doe is discovered by McNulty who appears to be connected to the others. Finally, police Major Valcheck (Al Brown) gets into a petty feud with Frank Sobotka and puts together a detail to investigate him. All three investigations eventually become a single, complicated case.
As a kid I was always frustrated by television shows that insisted on returning everything to an established status quo at the end of every episode, so it was hard to ignore the way that the second season of "The Wire" spends so much time reuniting all the major members of the team that brought down Avon Barksdale in Season One, even though several of those members, including Daniels and McNulty, are on the verge of quitting the police entirely. Moreover, the establishment of the major crimes unit headed by Lt. Daniels seems to be an awfully big contrivance to keep them all together. It really undermines the sense of uncertainty and institutional dysfunction of Season One. However, I do appreciate that Daniels and McNulty get ahead by using the flaws of the system to their own advantage, and their motives are less than pure. McNulty gets Homicide on the hook for the Jane Does as revenge for his demotion by Rawls (John Doman). Prez is Valcheck's son-in-law, and it's ultimately nepotism and Valcheck's outsized sense of entitlement that gets Daniels involved and the ball rolling. Still, it all seems a little too convenient and expected.
And then they kill off D'Angelo Barksdale. This was a major shock, as D'Angelo was one of my favorite characters from Season One, and I expected that "The Wire" would continue to chart his growth and disillusionment through the rest of its run. Now it's Omar and Stringer Bell who are being maneuvered into the lead positions of the local drug trade storyline, which stays firmly in the background for most of the year, but is quietly building up to something bigger to come. Rival kingpin Proposition Joe (Robert F. Chew) and Bodie Broadus (J.D. Williams) become more prominent, along with a new character, assassin Brother Mouzone (Michael Potts), who may be the most caricatured, almost cartoonish figure in the show so far. I haven't decided one way or the other about him yet, but seeing him clash with Omar is a lot of fun. Otherwise, Stringer and Avon's troubles trying to run the operation with Avon in prison are rarely very compelling. I expect all the slow character-building will pay off next season though.
I didn't find the characters from the docks nearly as interesting as the Barksdale gang members. The trouble is that none of them are particularly smart and you don't get the sense that they're trapped in their lives the way that the drug dealers in the courtyard were. Frank Sabotka, who has such altruistic intentions, is awfully sympathetic though. Chris Bauer's performance is fantastic, embodying a working class man with very deep loyalties and convictions, grappling with the unintended consequences of dealing with the wrong people. He's a perfect tragic figure, whose fairly mild aspirations end up costing him everything. Unfortunately, nobody else around him operates at the same level. Ziggy and Nick are a pretty dull set of lunkheads, even if Ziggy is occasionally a very creative and whimsical lunkhead. The Greeks don't make much of an impression.
All in all, Season Two feels slighter than Season One. Sabotka and The Greek aren't nearly as formidable as Avon Barksdale and Stringer Bell. The fight to get the case solved doesn't seem nearly as arduous. It's easy to tell who the good guys and the bad guys are. Still, the season definitely has its moments. The "the dead girls in a can" crime is shocking, not so much for the crime itself, but for the way all the different agencies keep trying to pass responsibility off on one another, and how the girls are ultimately used as political and bureaucratic leverage by various characters. It becomes clearer than ever that McNulty is not necessarily a good guy, displaying self-destructive tendencies that are probably going to get him killed. And Omar's appearance in court, tying up loose ends from one of last year's murders, is one for the ages.
Onward to Season Three.
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Sunday, December 23, 2012
Saturday, December 22, 2012
"Pitch Perfect"? Yup
"Pitch Perfect" is the most fun I've had at the movies all year and the best girl power movie I've seen in ages. I wasn't expecting much, as I figured from the a capella singing competition angle that this was going to be similar territory to "Glee." I picked the wrong network comedy as a point of comparison. In fact, "Pitch Perfect" was scripted by "30 Rock" veteran Kay Cannon, and shares that show's razor sharp comedic sensibilities and pop-culture verve.
Beca Mitchell (Anna Kendrick) reluctantly begins her freshman year at Barden University. She wants to go to Los Angeles and start producing music, but her father insists she give the college experience a real try. This involves participating in at least one extracurricular, so Beca joins up with the Barden Bellas, the school's all-female a capella group. The Bellas suffered a horrific loss at the finals of the national competition the year prior, and the group's rigid leader, Audrey (Anna Camp), is determined to redeem herself by clawing her way back to the top. Alas, Audrey and her co-leader Chloe (Brittany Snow) are stuck with a motley crew of newcomers including urban-outfitted Cynthia Rose (Ester Dean), extremely soft-spoken Lily (Hana Mae Lee), well-endowed Stacie (Alexis Knapp), and Fat Amy (Rebel Wilson). Beca clashes with Audrey immediately by suggesting more contemporary music choices and wardrobes. She also gets friendly with Jesse (Skylar Austin), a member of the Bellas' all-male rivals, the Treblemakers, lead by the uncouth, but musically gifted Bumper (Adam DeVine).
"Pitch Perfect" has a premise that is as old as the hills that are alive with the sound of music. Beca has to bond with the other girls and lead them to victory by rejecting convention and embracing a new and daring approach to a capella. There will be multiple rounds of tense competition, and it's only after the girls have sunk to their lowest point that they'll be able to find the inspiration to power ahead to victory. The nice thing about "Pitch Perfect" is how fully fleshed out and self-aware the writing is. Sure, the plot is old, but that doesn't mean it can't still be a lot of fun. There are lively musical numbers in the film, and they're great, but it's the comedy that's the biggest selling point. It's Audrey demanding a practice regimen that includes cardio, the thinly-veiled disdain between competition commentators played by John Michael Higgins and Elizabeth Banks, and the endless, ridiculous a capella puns. You get a little raunch and a little gross-out humor and a little irony, but not so much that they call attention to themselves. This isn't "Bridesmaids" and it's certainly not "Juno," though you can see the influences of both.
Best of all are the characters and the performances. I've been waiting for Anna Kendrick to get a headlining role in something where I could really cheer for her, and this is it. However, she and everyone else in the cast are constantly upstaged by Rebel Wilson as the boisterous Fat Amy, who explains to Audrey and Chloe that she calls herself Fat Amy so that "twig bitches like you don't do it behind my back." Not everyone gets much screen time, and there are an awful lot of old chiches in the mix, but they're all so well used. The token black girl's ethnicity is never mentioned once, but the question of whether she's a lesbian becomes a running joke. The soft-spoken Asian girl is so quiet you can't hear her, but when you do catch a few words, you realize everything coming out of her mouth is outrageous. It's only a little bit of subversion, but it helps enliven all the usual plot complications needed to get us to the big finale number and the happy ending.
Speaking of the a capella numbers, they're very easy on the ears and the big production numbers are a blast to watch. According to the press notes, everyone did their own singing, so you shouldn't go into this expecting technical perfection, but the enthusiasm and the creativity make up for a lot. "Pitch Perfect" was a pretty low budget production, and there's a lot of corner trimming in general. For instance, Carnegie Hall is namechecked several times as the site of the finals, but we don't get so much as a single New York City exterior shot. However, I think that's also part of the film's charm. It has a few stars who are on their way up, but none of them are too big yet that they overwhelm the production. The whole thing feels a little last minute and thrown-together, but that injects a spontaneity and authenticity that proves invaluable.
“Pitch Perfect” could have so easily been rote and tired and glossy and dull, but sometimes the old formula works when a movie really commits to every piece of that formula – and isn’t afraid to add vomit jokes.
---
Beca Mitchell (Anna Kendrick) reluctantly begins her freshman year at Barden University. She wants to go to Los Angeles and start producing music, but her father insists she give the college experience a real try. This involves participating in at least one extracurricular, so Beca joins up with the Barden Bellas, the school's all-female a capella group. The Bellas suffered a horrific loss at the finals of the national competition the year prior, and the group's rigid leader, Audrey (Anna Camp), is determined to redeem herself by clawing her way back to the top. Alas, Audrey and her co-leader Chloe (Brittany Snow) are stuck with a motley crew of newcomers including urban-outfitted Cynthia Rose (Ester Dean), extremely soft-spoken Lily (Hana Mae Lee), well-endowed Stacie (Alexis Knapp), and Fat Amy (Rebel Wilson). Beca clashes with Audrey immediately by suggesting more contemporary music choices and wardrobes. She also gets friendly with Jesse (Skylar Austin), a member of the Bellas' all-male rivals, the Treblemakers, lead by the uncouth, but musically gifted Bumper (Adam DeVine).
"Pitch Perfect" has a premise that is as old as the hills that are alive with the sound of music. Beca has to bond with the other girls and lead them to victory by rejecting convention and embracing a new and daring approach to a capella. There will be multiple rounds of tense competition, and it's only after the girls have sunk to their lowest point that they'll be able to find the inspiration to power ahead to victory. The nice thing about "Pitch Perfect" is how fully fleshed out and self-aware the writing is. Sure, the plot is old, but that doesn't mean it can't still be a lot of fun. There are lively musical numbers in the film, and they're great, but it's the comedy that's the biggest selling point. It's Audrey demanding a practice regimen that includes cardio, the thinly-veiled disdain between competition commentators played by John Michael Higgins and Elizabeth Banks, and the endless, ridiculous a capella puns. You get a little raunch and a little gross-out humor and a little irony, but not so much that they call attention to themselves. This isn't "Bridesmaids" and it's certainly not "Juno," though you can see the influences of both.
Best of all are the characters and the performances. I've been waiting for Anna Kendrick to get a headlining role in something where I could really cheer for her, and this is it. However, she and everyone else in the cast are constantly upstaged by Rebel Wilson as the boisterous Fat Amy, who explains to Audrey and Chloe that she calls herself Fat Amy so that "twig bitches like you don't do it behind my back." Not everyone gets much screen time, and there are an awful lot of old chiches in the mix, but they're all so well used. The token black girl's ethnicity is never mentioned once, but the question of whether she's a lesbian becomes a running joke. The soft-spoken Asian girl is so quiet you can't hear her, but when you do catch a few words, you realize everything coming out of her mouth is outrageous. It's only a little bit of subversion, but it helps enliven all the usual plot complications needed to get us to the big finale number and the happy ending.
Speaking of the a capella numbers, they're very easy on the ears and the big production numbers are a blast to watch. According to the press notes, everyone did their own singing, so you shouldn't go into this expecting technical perfection, but the enthusiasm and the creativity make up for a lot. "Pitch Perfect" was a pretty low budget production, and there's a lot of corner trimming in general. For instance, Carnegie Hall is namechecked several times as the site of the finals, but we don't get so much as a single New York City exterior shot. However, I think that's also part of the film's charm. It has a few stars who are on their way up, but none of them are too big yet that they overwhelm the production. The whole thing feels a little last minute and thrown-together, but that injects a spontaneity and authenticity that proves invaluable.
“Pitch Perfect” could have so easily been rote and tired and glossy and dull, but sometimes the old formula works when a movie really commits to every piece of that formula – and isn’t afraid to add vomit jokes.
---
Friday, December 21, 2012
Measuring up Music Videos
One region of the media landscape I've never made any headway with whatsoever is popular music. The only time I ever tried to keep up was back in college, when I'd watch the VH1 Top 20 countdowns while I did my laundry. I developed a fondness for the music videos even if I often found the music inexplicable. I never made much of an effort to really explore the medium, but last night I stumbled across a TIME magazine list of the best music videos of the last 30 years. I had a great time getting acquainted with videos like Fatboy Slim's "Praise You," and Talking Heads' "Once in Lifetime," which was recently heard in the first "Wreck-it-Ralph" trailer. I've never needed any convincing that music videos were an art form, and some of my favorite directors like Spike Jonze and Michel Gondry have done some of their best work in videos.
However, when I sat down to write about music videos for this blog, I found myself facing a basic question. Are music videos a form of film or television? How should they be categorized? Well, the modern music video as we know it gained popularity with the rise of MTV in the early 1980s. There's a reason why the TIME list only goes back thirty years. However, music videos also have many film antecedents, going back all the way to the beginnings of the sound era. "Song film" shorts were popular once the sound era came around, and much of the structure and style of music videos came straight from early film musicals like the Beatles' "Hard Day's Night." There were also promotional clips and "inserts" consisting of filmed segments for specific songs that the record companies made in the 60s and 70s, some for film and some for television. You could argue that music videos have mostly been watched on television and have made their most significant advances in that format. However, it's quickly becoming the case that most music videos are watched on the internet, which also happens to remove some of the length and content restrictions of television. The record companies embraced the internet far more quickly than the studios once they became aware that they could reach a much larger potential audience online. I wonder if the transition might result in a further evolution in the music video form.
Maybe music videos should be in their own category, unconnected to any particular media platform, like video art installations or virtual theme park rides. The television and film establishments haven't been very good about recognizing the form. Aside from the MTV Video Music Awards, few major media institutions recognize the merits of the music video. You'll find no category for them at the Oscars or the Emmys. Music videos have slowly started receiving more attention from film historians in recent years, since several major directors have gotten their start in videos. Michael Jackson's "Thriller" was inducted into the Library of Congress's National Film Archive back in 2009, the first music video to receive that honor. The New York Museum of Modern Art added two Mark Romanek videos, Nine Inch Nails' "Closer" and Madonna's "Bedtime Story," to their permanent collection. Also, I found the "The Beastie Boys Video Anthology" occupying a spot in the Criterion Collection, officially spine #100.
There's no denying that music videos should be considered a form of advertising, and there's still some disagreement in the music industry as to whether they should be primarily treated as advertisements for the bands they feature, or whether they qualify as content. Music videos clearly still have a major marketing effect on specific songs, like PSY's "Gangnam Style," for instance. In many cases this has a negative effect on the videos since their function as advertisement can often mean content that skews very commercial. On the other hand, music videos are also far more likely to feature experimental filmmaking techniques and unique stylistic conceits that wouldn't be acceptable in mainstream feature films. A recent trend has been interactivity, in videos like Arcade Fire's "Wilderness Downtown," that can be customized. They also follow a different set of content rules, with major artists like Madonna and Lady Gaga cultivating reputations for controversial music videos with boundary-pushing content.
I don't think it's possible to categorize music videos as solely a product of film or television, or the internet, which is why I ended up using the tags for all of them. It's nice to think of them as a meeting point of all three, though I think if I had to pick one it would be the short film. Shorts were always more experimental, more free-form, and more open to new ideas. Music videos fit those criteria perfectly. Moreover, they're really the only short form media that still have any impact on the popular culture anymore.
---
However, when I sat down to write about music videos for this blog, I found myself facing a basic question. Are music videos a form of film or television? How should they be categorized? Well, the modern music video as we know it gained popularity with the rise of MTV in the early 1980s. There's a reason why the TIME list only goes back thirty years. However, music videos also have many film antecedents, going back all the way to the beginnings of the sound era. "Song film" shorts were popular once the sound era came around, and much of the structure and style of music videos came straight from early film musicals like the Beatles' "Hard Day's Night." There were also promotional clips and "inserts" consisting of filmed segments for specific songs that the record companies made in the 60s and 70s, some for film and some for television. You could argue that music videos have mostly been watched on television and have made their most significant advances in that format. However, it's quickly becoming the case that most music videos are watched on the internet, which also happens to remove some of the length and content restrictions of television. The record companies embraced the internet far more quickly than the studios once they became aware that they could reach a much larger potential audience online. I wonder if the transition might result in a further evolution in the music video form.
Maybe music videos should be in their own category, unconnected to any particular media platform, like video art installations or virtual theme park rides. The television and film establishments haven't been very good about recognizing the form. Aside from the MTV Video Music Awards, few major media institutions recognize the merits of the music video. You'll find no category for them at the Oscars or the Emmys. Music videos have slowly started receiving more attention from film historians in recent years, since several major directors have gotten their start in videos. Michael Jackson's "Thriller" was inducted into the Library of Congress's National Film Archive back in 2009, the first music video to receive that honor. The New York Museum of Modern Art added two Mark Romanek videos, Nine Inch Nails' "Closer" and Madonna's "Bedtime Story," to their permanent collection. Also, I found the "The Beastie Boys Video Anthology" occupying a spot in the Criterion Collection, officially spine #100.
There's no denying that music videos should be considered a form of advertising, and there's still some disagreement in the music industry as to whether they should be primarily treated as advertisements for the bands they feature, or whether they qualify as content. Music videos clearly still have a major marketing effect on specific songs, like PSY's "Gangnam Style," for instance. In many cases this has a negative effect on the videos since their function as advertisement can often mean content that skews very commercial. On the other hand, music videos are also far more likely to feature experimental filmmaking techniques and unique stylistic conceits that wouldn't be acceptable in mainstream feature films. A recent trend has been interactivity, in videos like Arcade Fire's "Wilderness Downtown," that can be customized. They also follow a different set of content rules, with major artists like Madonna and Lady Gaga cultivating reputations for controversial music videos with boundary-pushing content.
I don't think it's possible to categorize music videos as solely a product of film or television, or the internet, which is why I ended up using the tags for all of them. It's nice to think of them as a meeting point of all three, though I think if I had to pick one it would be the short film. Shorts were always more experimental, more free-form, and more open to new ideas. Music videos fit those criteria perfectly. Moreover, they're really the only short form media that still have any impact on the popular culture anymore.
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Thursday, December 20, 2012
My Top Ten "Buffy" Episodes
Because it's the kind of day where I need a little "Buffy" to cheer me up, here are my ten favorite episodes of "Buffy the Vampire Slayer," listed in chronological order. As usual, I'll be cheating and counting two-parters as single entries. And spoilers! Spoilers everywhere!
Halloween - One of my favorite comedic installments, where the gang falls victim to a spell that turns them into whatever Halloween costume they happen to be wearing. Willow ends up a ghost, Buffy is stuck as a ditzy Southern belle, and Xander goes one-man-army on us. It's a shame that he villain of the week, Ethan Rayne, never developed into anything more interesting despite his connections with Giles, because he shows a lot of potential here.
Surprise and Innocence - The second season two-parter where Buffy finally gets intimate with Angel, and Angel loses his soul, turning into the monstrous Angelus. This was the big turning point in the Buffy and Angel romance that kept it from being the kind of maudlin high school girl's fantasy that we got in the "Twilight" franchise. Angelus also makes for an awfully fun villain, and I count him as one of the series' most satisfying Big Bads.
Becoming - Another big two-parter that ended the second season with Buffy and Angelus's big showdown. The MVP here was Spike, though, the sarcastic vampire baddie whose resentments toward Angelus and distaste for apocalypses make him an ally of convenience to the Scooby Gang. With loads of payoff for all the arcs in a very eventful season, these weren't the show's best episodes, but they're the ones I think of first when someone mentions "Buffy."
The Wish - Of all the worst-cast-scenario episodes I've ever seen, this is probably my favorite. You have a truly nightmarish version of Sunnyvale, twisted versions of all the main characters, including a jaw-droppingly sexualized Willow, and the show even goes so far as to kill our regular universe POV character, Cordelia, halfway through the episode. And yet the good guys still prove to be the good guys at heart, and prevail in the end.
The Zeppo - Xander saves the day while the rest of the gang are distracted by yet another impending apocalypse. The episode and Nicolas Brendan's performance in it are so good, it actually sparked a small fan campaign to get Brendan cast as Spider-man in the Sam Raimi films. Loaded with humor, culminating in a great one-night-stand sequence with then-newbie character Faith, "The Zeppo" is the ultimate Xander episode.
Graduation Day - Another season finale two-parter, and one of the most significant in the show's run. These were two of the three episodes delayed due to the Columbine shootings, and the fans did not react well, resorting to bootlegging the broadcast from the Canadians, with Joss Whedon's blessing. After all, we'd waited three years to see the Scooby Gang say goodbye to their high school days, and Sunnydale High blown to smithereens.
Hush - The Gentlemen were probably the scariest villains that the show ever came up with. The floating, the grimaces, and those minions flopping about in their straitjackets - all of it was such wonderful nightmare fuel. A good chunk of the normally dialogue-heavy show is completely without dialogue, resulting in Giles having to use a projector and transparencies to deliver his usual exposition, and Buffy left to fight without her quips.
Fool for Love - The Spike episode that finally shows us his history with Slayers and brings about a definitive end to the drawn-out arc where he couldn't harm humans due to that inhibitor chip implanted by the Initiative. There's loads of good character development here, and the flashback scenes are a lot of fun, particularly Spike's origin story and his falling out with Drusilla. I'm not sure I buy his relationship with Buffy, but at least the lead-in to it is great.
The Body - The later seasons of "Buffy" were much less consistent than the early ones, but it could occasionally still come up with moments of brilliance. One of these was the death of Joyce Summers, which was not totally unexpected but still arrived with uncomfortable suddenness. "Buffy" had killed off many characters before, but this was the death with the biggest impact, and handled in the most realistic and heartbreaking fashion.
Normal Again - I know, I know. The sixth season episode everyone loves is "Once More With Feeling," the musical episode. However, my favorite was the one that took the opposite approach, questioning every unrealistic element of the series by introducing us to an alternate universe where Sunnydale is only the figment of a mentally disturbed Buffy's imagination. Though the concept came up a little short, this is still one of the show's bravest hours.
Honorable mentions go to "Out of Sight, Out of Mind," "School Hard," "What's My Line," "Lover's Walk," "Doppelgangland," (best Willow episode), "Restless," "Hell's Bells," and "Chosen."
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Halloween - One of my favorite comedic installments, where the gang falls victim to a spell that turns them into whatever Halloween costume they happen to be wearing. Willow ends up a ghost, Buffy is stuck as a ditzy Southern belle, and Xander goes one-man-army on us. It's a shame that he villain of the week, Ethan Rayne, never developed into anything more interesting despite his connections with Giles, because he shows a lot of potential here.
Surprise and Innocence - The second season two-parter where Buffy finally gets intimate with Angel, and Angel loses his soul, turning into the monstrous Angelus. This was the big turning point in the Buffy and Angel romance that kept it from being the kind of maudlin high school girl's fantasy that we got in the "Twilight" franchise. Angelus also makes for an awfully fun villain, and I count him as one of the series' most satisfying Big Bads.
Becoming - Another big two-parter that ended the second season with Buffy and Angelus's big showdown. The MVP here was Spike, though, the sarcastic vampire baddie whose resentments toward Angelus and distaste for apocalypses make him an ally of convenience to the Scooby Gang. With loads of payoff for all the arcs in a very eventful season, these weren't the show's best episodes, but they're the ones I think of first when someone mentions "Buffy."
The Wish - Of all the worst-cast-scenario episodes I've ever seen, this is probably my favorite. You have a truly nightmarish version of Sunnyvale, twisted versions of all the main characters, including a jaw-droppingly sexualized Willow, and the show even goes so far as to kill our regular universe POV character, Cordelia, halfway through the episode. And yet the good guys still prove to be the good guys at heart, and prevail in the end.
The Zeppo - Xander saves the day while the rest of the gang are distracted by yet another impending apocalypse. The episode and Nicolas Brendan's performance in it are so good, it actually sparked a small fan campaign to get Brendan cast as Spider-man in the Sam Raimi films. Loaded with humor, culminating in a great one-night-stand sequence with then-newbie character Faith, "The Zeppo" is the ultimate Xander episode.
Graduation Day - Another season finale two-parter, and one of the most significant in the show's run. These were two of the three episodes delayed due to the Columbine shootings, and the fans did not react well, resorting to bootlegging the broadcast from the Canadians, with Joss Whedon's blessing. After all, we'd waited three years to see the Scooby Gang say goodbye to their high school days, and Sunnydale High blown to smithereens.
Hush - The Gentlemen were probably the scariest villains that the show ever came up with. The floating, the grimaces, and those minions flopping about in their straitjackets - all of it was such wonderful nightmare fuel. A good chunk of the normally dialogue-heavy show is completely without dialogue, resulting in Giles having to use a projector and transparencies to deliver his usual exposition, and Buffy left to fight without her quips.
Fool for Love - The Spike episode that finally shows us his history with Slayers and brings about a definitive end to the drawn-out arc where he couldn't harm humans due to that inhibitor chip implanted by the Initiative. There's loads of good character development here, and the flashback scenes are a lot of fun, particularly Spike's origin story and his falling out with Drusilla. I'm not sure I buy his relationship with Buffy, but at least the lead-in to it is great.
The Body - The later seasons of "Buffy" were much less consistent than the early ones, but it could occasionally still come up with moments of brilliance. One of these was the death of Joyce Summers, which was not totally unexpected but still arrived with uncomfortable suddenness. "Buffy" had killed off many characters before, but this was the death with the biggest impact, and handled in the most realistic and heartbreaking fashion.
Normal Again - I know, I know. The sixth season episode everyone loves is "Once More With Feeling," the musical episode. However, my favorite was the one that took the opposite approach, questioning every unrealistic element of the series by introducing us to an alternate universe where Sunnydale is only the figment of a mentally disturbed Buffy's imagination. Though the concept came up a little short, this is still one of the show's bravest hours.
Honorable mentions go to "Out of Sight, Out of Mind," "School Hard," "What's My Line," "Lover's Walk," "Doppelgangland," (best Willow episode), "Restless," "Hell's Bells," and "Chosen."
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Wednesday, December 19, 2012
The Best 2012 Film Memorial
As the annual "Best of" lists and the trailer supercuts are getting passed around online, there's one internet video that caught my attention yesterday and now refuses to let go: the TCM tributee to all the actors and filmmakers who passed away during 2012. TCM has been making these tributes for several years now, and they're always wonderfully tasteful and classy and aimed at those of us who know and love the classics. So while more famous names like Whitney Houston and Davey Jones do make appearances, the final, lingering shots at the very end are of producer Richard D. Zaunck, and beloved actor Ernest Borgnine, who began his acting career in the 50s. I don't exactly look forward to these videos every year, since they leave such bittersweet feelings, but I've always appreciated them, and now more than ever.
I've been growing disenchanted with the "In Memoriam" segments that have become something of a staple of all the major awards shows. I like the sentiment behind them, and the chance to see Hollywood acknowledge its past and history, but the execution lately leaves a lot ot be desired. A popular singer will be trotted out to croon something appropriately somber. The stage will clear and the lights will dim. And then, inevitably, you get the same old scroll of famous names and flattering portraits, but few contextual clips to show you what they actually contributed to the movies. There used to be many complaints about the inclusion of applause from the audience being in very poor taste, until they took the applause away, and the segments became infinitely more tedious and awkward. They always feel rushed because of the time constraints of the awards ceremonies, yet also tend to feel interminable because there are always more unfamiliar names than familiar ones in the mix. Too many just feel forced and perfunctory.
What "TCM Remembers" does that's so effective, is to pair up the usual portraits and clips of these filmmakers with original footage, usually some nostalgic landscapes and nature shots, helping to break up the listed names and to help convey a properly reflective mood. This year, those shots centered around an abandoned drive-in theater, which we see slowly, miraculously come back to life over the course of the leisurely paced, nearly six-minute tribute. The projectors turn on by themselves as night falls, the film strips whizzing away, and the movie images are projected at both the screens and up into the expanse of the starry night sky. It quietly positions film as a means of brief resurrection for these beloved talents, while commenting on the transience of film itself. It also provides a strong reminder that the movie business is in a state of transition, and physical film and the art of projection are slowly but surely disappearing as digital is becoming the new standard. In a sense, the passing of these film greats coincides with the passing of this whole era of film.
The finale section was particularly effective for me, because I grew up with the Steven Spielberg and George Lucas movies of the 70s and 80s. At first I didn't know why we were seeing shots of "Close Encounters of the Third Kind," "E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial," and "Return of the Jedi." And then came the portraits of conceptual artist Ralph McQuarrie, swordmaster Bob Anderson, and special effects guru Carlo Rambaldi, who designed E.T. Richard D. Zaunck produced "Jaws," of course. And it sunk in exactly how much of an influence these artists had on my movie-loving childhood. Though the instrumental provided by French alt-rock band M83 is very nice, suddenly in my head all I could hear was a John Williams score.
This is what I look for in these memorial tributes, and why I still instinctively want to watch every terrible variant of them in every terrible awards show. It's that split-second recognition and connection that the really strong ones manage to evoke, that I find invaluable in helping me to appreciate someone whose death I might have heard about offhand, and never really registered. Sure, I knew that Alex Karras passed, but it completely escaped by attention that Mongo from "Blazing Saddles" was gone with him. Just that one shot in the TCM video was enough to remind me. The film medium is great like that.
Now I will end this post per the usual traditional when one discusses these kinds of tributes - by pointing out the people who got left out: David Kelly, Jean "Moebius" Giraud, Eiko Ishioka, and Jerry Nelson, to name a few. Of course, there have to be limits to the length of these videos, and everybody ends up leaving out somebody. It's inevitable. However, TCM has consistently been much better than most in this regard, and for that I'm grateful.
---
I've been growing disenchanted with the "In Memoriam" segments that have become something of a staple of all the major awards shows. I like the sentiment behind them, and the chance to see Hollywood acknowledge its past and history, but the execution lately leaves a lot ot be desired. A popular singer will be trotted out to croon something appropriately somber. The stage will clear and the lights will dim. And then, inevitably, you get the same old scroll of famous names and flattering portraits, but few contextual clips to show you what they actually contributed to the movies. There used to be many complaints about the inclusion of applause from the audience being in very poor taste, until they took the applause away, and the segments became infinitely more tedious and awkward. They always feel rushed because of the time constraints of the awards ceremonies, yet also tend to feel interminable because there are always more unfamiliar names than familiar ones in the mix. Too many just feel forced and perfunctory.
What "TCM Remembers" does that's so effective, is to pair up the usual portraits and clips of these filmmakers with original footage, usually some nostalgic landscapes and nature shots, helping to break up the listed names and to help convey a properly reflective mood. This year, those shots centered around an abandoned drive-in theater, which we see slowly, miraculously come back to life over the course of the leisurely paced, nearly six-minute tribute. The projectors turn on by themselves as night falls, the film strips whizzing away, and the movie images are projected at both the screens and up into the expanse of the starry night sky. It quietly positions film as a means of brief resurrection for these beloved talents, while commenting on the transience of film itself. It also provides a strong reminder that the movie business is in a state of transition, and physical film and the art of projection are slowly but surely disappearing as digital is becoming the new standard. In a sense, the passing of these film greats coincides with the passing of this whole era of film.
The finale section was particularly effective for me, because I grew up with the Steven Spielberg and George Lucas movies of the 70s and 80s. At first I didn't know why we were seeing shots of "Close Encounters of the Third Kind," "E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial," and "Return of the Jedi." And then came the portraits of conceptual artist Ralph McQuarrie, swordmaster Bob Anderson, and special effects guru Carlo Rambaldi, who designed E.T. Richard D. Zaunck produced "Jaws," of course. And it sunk in exactly how much of an influence these artists had on my movie-loving childhood. Though the instrumental provided by French alt-rock band M83 is very nice, suddenly in my head all I could hear was a John Williams score.
This is what I look for in these memorial tributes, and why I still instinctively want to watch every terrible variant of them in every terrible awards show. It's that split-second recognition and connection that the really strong ones manage to evoke, that I find invaluable in helping me to appreciate someone whose death I might have heard about offhand, and never really registered. Sure, I knew that Alex Karras passed, but it completely escaped by attention that Mongo from "Blazing Saddles" was gone with him. Just that one shot in the TCM video was enough to remind me. The film medium is great like that.
Now I will end this post per the usual traditional when one discusses these kinds of tributes - by pointing out the people who got left out: David Kelly, Jean "Moebius" Giraud, Eiko Ishioka, and Jerry Nelson, to name a few. Of course, there have to be limits to the length of these videos, and everybody ends up leaving out somebody. It's inevitable. However, TCM has consistently been much better than most in this regard, and for that I'm grateful.
---
Tuesday, December 18, 2012
Two Internet Activism Docs
A pair of interesting documentaries on the subject in internet activism popped up on various streaming services recently: "Ai Weiwei: Never Sorry" and "We Are Legion: The Story of the Hacktivists." I enjoyed both for different reasons, but one is clearly superior to the other by a wide margin.
First, "We Are Legion," which is a documentary about the recent activities of the hacker group known as Anonymous. I've done some basic reading up on the activities of Anonymous, and the documentary does a decent job of fleshing out events I was already familiar with, like their origins on the 4chan boards and the campaign against Scientology. It was nice to see some of the faces behind the screen names, and some of the interviews were illuminating. If you're not familiar with Anonymous, the first section of the film gives a nice little primer on what they're all about and provide details on some of their greatest hits.
However, where things get a little more slippery is after Anonymous attracts the attention of the authorities, and people start getting arrested. "We Are Legion" puts itself firmly on the side of the Anonymous members, glorifying their exploits and trying to justify their actions. It is particularly one-sided in how it looks at some of the Anonymous members who have been outed and unmasked, painting them as persecuted activists. The documentary also touches far too briefly on the emergence of LulzSec, a splinter group of Anonymous that embarked on a destructive hacking campaign in 2011 and 2012.
By taking the stance that it does, "We Are Legion" avoids asking the most interesting questions about Anonymous's brand of internet activism, dubbed "hacktivism" here. What's the distinction between a hacktivist and a criminal hacker who just causes chaos for fun? The group's rise in popularity and visibility seems like an accident, and maybe the group's altruistic streak will prove to have only been temporary. And if the young, photogenic kids who the filmmakers interviewed aren't to blame for the group's crimes, then who should be? Anonymous is purportedly a leaderless collective, after all. The lack of criticism doesn't sit right, especially since I've seen far more balanced, in-depth coverage of Anonymous's activities from other sources.
I think that's why the Chinese artist Ai Weiwei, comes off as a far more satisfying documentary subject. Here is a man who is operating entirely out in the open, who is committing his audacious protests against a repressive government in the view of the entire world. Ai Weiwei is known as a contemporary conceptual artist, but he clearly fits the profile of an internet activist, as he has learned to harness the power of the internet to aid him in many of his projects, and his work is often highly politically charged. Unlike Anonymous, there's no shirking of responsibility or hiding behind screen names. His fame actually protects him in many cases, making it more difficult for the authorities to target and suppress him.
"Never Sorry" often feels like a cat-and-mouse game between Ai Weiwei and the Chinese government. The artist provokes through his art, and the government retaliates. The stakes are high. We watch as these incidents escalate, particularly after the creation of an installation commenting on the 2008 Sichuan earthquake. Filming becomes a challenge for the documentary crew, with access more and more limited until Ai Weiwei 's blog is shut down and the man himself detained. At the same time, the documentary maintains a strong focus on the creation of Ai Weiwei's art. Significant portions of the film are devoted to observing the development of some of his most famous exhibits, including the celebrated sunflower seed installation at the Tate Modern.
It would have been easy to paint their subject as a saint, but in profiling Ai Weiwei, the filmmakers don't neglect the less savory parts of his character. The man is immensely likable, but pains are taken to ensure that he remains a human being in the eyes of the audience. And ultimately, his eccentricities, his hypocrisies, and his moments of weakness just make his creativity and his bravery all the more remarkable. The documentary makes a strong case for Ai Weiwei being one of the most important artists working today, whose fame could not have been possible without the internet.
Last year I wrote about a group of documentaries where the subjects played with identity and reality, including "Catfish," where Internet anonymity and infamy were used for nefarious purposes. "We Are Legion" and "Never Sorry," feel like the flip side, where we see the potentially positive effects of these same forces. What's particularly interesting is that both of these stories are still very much ongoing. Anonymous is still active, and Ai Weiwei is still working, having recently released his own "Gangnam Style" parody.
Does this mean there's the possibility of sequels to these docs? I sure hope so.
---
First, "We Are Legion," which is a documentary about the recent activities of the hacker group known as Anonymous. I've done some basic reading up on the activities of Anonymous, and the documentary does a decent job of fleshing out events I was already familiar with, like their origins on the 4chan boards and the campaign against Scientology. It was nice to see some of the faces behind the screen names, and some of the interviews were illuminating. If you're not familiar with Anonymous, the first section of the film gives a nice little primer on what they're all about and provide details on some of their greatest hits.
However, where things get a little more slippery is after Anonymous attracts the attention of the authorities, and people start getting arrested. "We Are Legion" puts itself firmly on the side of the Anonymous members, glorifying their exploits and trying to justify their actions. It is particularly one-sided in how it looks at some of the Anonymous members who have been outed and unmasked, painting them as persecuted activists. The documentary also touches far too briefly on the emergence of LulzSec, a splinter group of Anonymous that embarked on a destructive hacking campaign in 2011 and 2012.
By taking the stance that it does, "We Are Legion" avoids asking the most interesting questions about Anonymous's brand of internet activism, dubbed "hacktivism" here. What's the distinction between a hacktivist and a criminal hacker who just causes chaos for fun? The group's rise in popularity and visibility seems like an accident, and maybe the group's altruistic streak will prove to have only been temporary. And if the young, photogenic kids who the filmmakers interviewed aren't to blame for the group's crimes, then who should be? Anonymous is purportedly a leaderless collective, after all. The lack of criticism doesn't sit right, especially since I've seen far more balanced, in-depth coverage of Anonymous's activities from other sources.
I think that's why the Chinese artist Ai Weiwei, comes off as a far more satisfying documentary subject. Here is a man who is operating entirely out in the open, who is committing his audacious protests against a repressive government in the view of the entire world. Ai Weiwei is known as a contemporary conceptual artist, but he clearly fits the profile of an internet activist, as he has learned to harness the power of the internet to aid him in many of his projects, and his work is often highly politically charged. Unlike Anonymous, there's no shirking of responsibility or hiding behind screen names. His fame actually protects him in many cases, making it more difficult for the authorities to target and suppress him.
"Never Sorry" often feels like a cat-and-mouse game between Ai Weiwei and the Chinese government. The artist provokes through his art, and the government retaliates. The stakes are high. We watch as these incidents escalate, particularly after the creation of an installation commenting on the 2008 Sichuan earthquake. Filming becomes a challenge for the documentary crew, with access more and more limited until Ai Weiwei 's blog is shut down and the man himself detained. At the same time, the documentary maintains a strong focus on the creation of Ai Weiwei's art. Significant portions of the film are devoted to observing the development of some of his most famous exhibits, including the celebrated sunflower seed installation at the Tate Modern.
It would have been easy to paint their subject as a saint, but in profiling Ai Weiwei, the filmmakers don't neglect the less savory parts of his character. The man is immensely likable, but pains are taken to ensure that he remains a human being in the eyes of the audience. And ultimately, his eccentricities, his hypocrisies, and his moments of weakness just make his creativity and his bravery all the more remarkable. The documentary makes a strong case for Ai Weiwei being one of the most important artists working today, whose fame could not have been possible without the internet.
Last year I wrote about a group of documentaries where the subjects played with identity and reality, including "Catfish," where Internet anonymity and infamy were used for nefarious purposes. "We Are Legion" and "Never Sorry," feel like the flip side, where we see the potentially positive effects of these same forces. What's particularly interesting is that both of these stories are still very much ongoing. Anonymous is still active, and Ai Weiwei is still working, having recently released his own "Gangnam Style" parody.
Does this mean there's the possibility of sequels to these docs? I sure hope so.
---
Sunday, December 16, 2012
Trailers! Trailers! Summer 2013
It's December again, so that means another round of teasers and trailers for next year's would-be summer blockbusters have been deployed. Since it's been a while since I've had a proper trailer post, I'm putting down thoughts on everything relevant since the beginning of November. There are some interesting titles in the works, and the trailer releases have been so haphazard, you might have missed some of them. So, this is a good chance to catch up. All links below lead to Trailer Addict.
Iron Man 3 - Spends the bulk of its time establishing the grim threat of the new villain, the Mandarin, who will be played by Ben Kingsley. This one isn't nearly as much fun as the teasers for "Iron Man 2," which were all about Tony Stark's ego. No cutting quips or backup dancers to lighten the mood this time around. The message here is that the time for fun and games is over. However, we do get some intriguing glimpses of new suits, new powers, and lots of creative destruction. And does the ending ping as a Frankenstein reference to anybody else?
Star Trek: Into Darkness - Why do we have to wait so long for the third series of "Sherlock"? Because the actors keep running off to do movie projects like the "Hobbit" movies and "Star Trek." Benedict Cumberbatch is revealed here as a potentially familiar villain, and it's still going to be a few frustrating months until we figure out exactly which villain he's supposed to be playing, or maybe it's just a red herring and the bad guy is somebody totally new. Personally, I'm just happy to see the "Star Trek" cast reunited and the Enterprise ready for another round of boldly goings.
After Earth – Could this movie be M. Night Shyamalan's resurrection? After the infamous "Last Airbender," he's got nowhere to go but up. His new science fiction film, "After Earth," stars the increasingly scarce Will Smith and his son Jaden. People may complain about the nepotism, but I really enjoyed Jaden in the "Karate Kid" remake. The "After Earth" trailer promises an abundance of action in what looks like a fun father-son survival adventure flick. Let's just hope the little twist at the end of the preview is the biggest twist that Shyalaman has planned for us.
Man of Steel – The new trailer is all about making Superman's origin story feel as epic as possible, laying on the hero shots and the choral music pretty thick. What interests me most is the focus on Superman's moral quandaries and relationship with his adopted father. We also get our first glimpses of many of the other major players, including Amy Adams as Lois Lane and Michael Shannon as General Zod. I'm really hoping that Zack Snyder can turn out something that lives up to the promises that these trailers are making. Everything looks right so far, and I'll be keeping my fingers crossed.
Pacific Rim - The marketing team behind Guillermo Del Toro's "Pacific Rim" have been hard at work these past few weeks, putting out a countdown website, several viral clips, shiny preview images, and blueprints of some of the mecha armor that will be featured in the film. Looks like lots of sci-fi imagery to drool over. However, when you get down to it, "Pacific Rim" is a monster movie, being made by one of our best monster movie directors. The teaser doesn't show a lot, but it shows enough to assure me that this is definitely Del Toro's work, and worth anticipating.
The Lone Ranger - Disney's newest attempt at launching another big action franchise has Gore Verbinski directing and Johnny Depp playing a major role, so it looks like "Pirates of the Caribbean" in the Old West. No surprise there. The teaser was selling the spectacle pretty hard, so I'm glad to see the full trailer giving us a good look at the Lone Ranger and Tonto interacting. The funny bits with the horse didn't hurt anything either. I think this one could go either way, but for now I'm just glad that Johnny Depp's Tonto getup looks marginally less ridiculous in context. Marginally.
Now You See Me - Now this looks like a lot of fun. Jesse Eisenberg, Isla Fisher, Morgan Freeman, and Michael Caine are headlining a new heist film with the twist that the bank vault is robbed while the perpetrators are performing in a magic act on the other side of the globe. I can't help feeling that "Now You See Me" is cribbing heavily from "The Prestige," with Michael Caine's involvement and Morgan Freeman's narration about magic acts. However, this looks a lot slicker, and more action-oriented, and it's not taking itself seriously at all. And not in a bad way.
Epic - Sony Animation's next big feature recently released a second trailer, which is very similar to the first. We get a few seconds of gorgeous visuals, introducing us to the miniature world of the Leaf Men. And then we meet the characters up close, and it becomes obvious very quickly that this is going to be like all the other Sony Animation films, full of quippy animal sidekicks and loads of slapstick. Between this and Dreamworks' upcoming "Turbo," it looks like we're going to get a lot of snail-related humor in next year's kids' movies. I think I'll stick with Monsters University.
World War Z - And finally, we come to the zombie movie that nobody seems to want. The teaser revealed that massive liberties have been taken with the source material, notably the introduction of swarming zombies. Fans are not happy that this appears to be a prequel to the events of the book, focusing on the initial outbreak of the zombie apocalypse instead of the more complicated aftermath. The movie could still be decent, but at the same time it's taking an awfully familiar approach - especially compared to another 2013 zombie film with a fantastic trailer: Warm Bodies.
Happy watching!
---
Iron Man 3 - Spends the bulk of its time establishing the grim threat of the new villain, the Mandarin, who will be played by Ben Kingsley. This one isn't nearly as much fun as the teasers for "Iron Man 2," which were all about Tony Stark's ego. No cutting quips or backup dancers to lighten the mood this time around. The message here is that the time for fun and games is over. However, we do get some intriguing glimpses of new suits, new powers, and lots of creative destruction. And does the ending ping as a Frankenstein reference to anybody else?
Star Trek: Into Darkness - Why do we have to wait so long for the third series of "Sherlock"? Because the actors keep running off to do movie projects like the "Hobbit" movies and "Star Trek." Benedict Cumberbatch is revealed here as a potentially familiar villain, and it's still going to be a few frustrating months until we figure out exactly which villain he's supposed to be playing, or maybe it's just a red herring and the bad guy is somebody totally new. Personally, I'm just happy to see the "Star Trek" cast reunited and the Enterprise ready for another round of boldly goings.
After Earth – Could this movie be M. Night Shyamalan's resurrection? After the infamous "Last Airbender," he's got nowhere to go but up. His new science fiction film, "After Earth," stars the increasingly scarce Will Smith and his son Jaden. People may complain about the nepotism, but I really enjoyed Jaden in the "Karate Kid" remake. The "After Earth" trailer promises an abundance of action in what looks like a fun father-son survival adventure flick. Let's just hope the little twist at the end of the preview is the biggest twist that Shyalaman has planned for us.
Man of Steel – The new trailer is all about making Superman's origin story feel as epic as possible, laying on the hero shots and the choral music pretty thick. What interests me most is the focus on Superman's moral quandaries and relationship with his adopted father. We also get our first glimpses of many of the other major players, including Amy Adams as Lois Lane and Michael Shannon as General Zod. I'm really hoping that Zack Snyder can turn out something that lives up to the promises that these trailers are making. Everything looks right so far, and I'll be keeping my fingers crossed.
Pacific Rim - The marketing team behind Guillermo Del Toro's "Pacific Rim" have been hard at work these past few weeks, putting out a countdown website, several viral clips, shiny preview images, and blueprints of some of the mecha armor that will be featured in the film. Looks like lots of sci-fi imagery to drool over. However, when you get down to it, "Pacific Rim" is a monster movie, being made by one of our best monster movie directors. The teaser doesn't show a lot, but it shows enough to assure me that this is definitely Del Toro's work, and worth anticipating.
The Lone Ranger - Disney's newest attempt at launching another big action franchise has Gore Verbinski directing and Johnny Depp playing a major role, so it looks like "Pirates of the Caribbean" in the Old West. No surprise there. The teaser was selling the spectacle pretty hard, so I'm glad to see the full trailer giving us a good look at the Lone Ranger and Tonto interacting. The funny bits with the horse didn't hurt anything either. I think this one could go either way, but for now I'm just glad that Johnny Depp's Tonto getup looks marginally less ridiculous in context. Marginally.
Now You See Me - Now this looks like a lot of fun. Jesse Eisenberg, Isla Fisher, Morgan Freeman, and Michael Caine are headlining a new heist film with the twist that the bank vault is robbed while the perpetrators are performing in a magic act on the other side of the globe. I can't help feeling that "Now You See Me" is cribbing heavily from "The Prestige," with Michael Caine's involvement and Morgan Freeman's narration about magic acts. However, this looks a lot slicker, and more action-oriented, and it's not taking itself seriously at all. And not in a bad way.
Epic - Sony Animation's next big feature recently released a second trailer, which is very similar to the first. We get a few seconds of gorgeous visuals, introducing us to the miniature world of the Leaf Men. And then we meet the characters up close, and it becomes obvious very quickly that this is going to be like all the other Sony Animation films, full of quippy animal sidekicks and loads of slapstick. Between this and Dreamworks' upcoming "Turbo," it looks like we're going to get a lot of snail-related humor in next year's kids' movies. I think I'll stick with Monsters University.
World War Z - And finally, we come to the zombie movie that nobody seems to want. The teaser revealed that massive liberties have been taken with the source material, notably the introduction of swarming zombies. Fans are not happy that this appears to be a prequel to the events of the book, focusing on the initial outbreak of the zombie apocalypse instead of the more complicated aftermath. The movie could still be decent, but at the same time it's taking an awfully familiar approach - especially compared to another 2013 zombie film with a fantastic trailer: Warm Bodies.
Happy watching!
---
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