Pop Culture Round Up: July 17 - 30

Oops . . . forgot to publish this one.

Netflix video-on-demand expands to Canada

Bureaucracy Meets Art, Delighting Christo

Among Celebrities, Mystery’s Not Fashionable

A new type of tear-jerker

Another reason for voting reform: Parliament needs women

Hooray for Budapest: Is Hungary the New Hollywood of Europe?

TV's Celebrity Guest Star Epidemic: What's in It for Them?

Digital movie standard tackles format hurdles

The Strange Gender-Humor Divide in Fake-Real News Shows

Jay Baruchel Broke Apatow Ranks to Make The Sorcerer’s Apprentice, and It Didn’t Work Out So Well
You can read my response to this here.

Bollywood flops take-off on TV

Why The Next Big Pop-Culture Wave After Cupcakes Might Be Libraries

Armond White: “I Do Think It Is Fair To Say That Roger Ebert Destroyed Film Criticism”

Ernest Hemingway Stories As Told By George Plimpton

The fine art of recommending books

L.A. Artist's 37-Year-Old Nudity Too Much For YouTube

Alfred Molina joins Law & Order L.A.

NoizeMC, aka Ivan Alexeyev, and Russian Rap Inspire a Movement

Verbed!

It's a name game with hybrid fruits

Gay tango festival puts new spin on Argentine dance

Hollywood is squandering one of its greatest comedic resources: Paul Rudd.

Lee Pace to Play Edward's BFF in Breaking Dawn?
Please, please let this come true.

Inception (2010)

Again, next to impossible to discuss without discussing the whole, so SPOILERS ABOUND.

Christopher Nolan has always been very, very good at layering his films, taking us through them as a characters experience them so that the twist, the reveal, whatever it might be, cuts the audience, too. It's clever without being stagy, giving the narrative thrust with little trickery. It's storytelling in the fullest possible way.

And Inception is filled to the brim with ideas and possibility. Dom Cobb (Leonardo DiCaprio) assembles a dream team of extractors -- an architect (Ellen Page), a point man (Joseph Gordon-Levitt), a forger (Tom Hardy), and a chemist (Dileep Rao) -- for a client (Ken Watanabe) who wants them not to steal an idea from his rival's (Cillian Murphy) mind but to plant one. "Can't be done," Arthur (Gordon-Levitt) insists. "The subject’s mind always knows the genesis of an idea."* Cobb knows otherwise. He's done it before. So it begins, a heist of Fischer's subconscious, getting him to carry them deep enough to make inception possible.

*I agree with Lucas on this one: "Who knows where thoughts come from? They just appear."

The idea is brilliantly conceived, and there are set pieces, like a zero g fight in a hotel corridor, that that go like gangbusters, in part because CGI is eschewed for good old fashioned guys on wires. Yet for a movie about dreams, so much of it is too literal -- particularly some character names (Ariadne, Yusuf, Mal, though the last works better if you interpret it as "hurt" or "pain" instead of "evil") --, while it simultaneously lacks any sort of levity or surrealism outside of Arthur's humourously literal take on Escher's Ascending and Descending and its inherent paradox.** In fact, Arthur and occasionally Eames (Hardy) are the only ones who seem to be having any fun here, like the idea of creating new worlds and using them to unlock the mysteries of people's minds might be kind of cool. Everyone else is all dour, dour, look at my psychological problems (DiCaprio), please explain them to me (Page).

**Completely unrelated: in the last few weeks, I have also been amused by paradoxes, remembering first year when I didn't understand what they were, and a rez mate tried to tell me that they always involve time travel. Even when I had no clue, I still went, "I don't think that's right."

Which is why . . . alright, here's what I think: the entire Saito/Fischer rivalry is a set up for Cobb. It's his mind that they trying inception on as a radical form of therapy. A once brilliant architect so paralyzed by guilt that he lives in exile in the very place where he once wooed his wife, and along comes a job whose payoff is making all his legal trouble disappear. Part and parcel with this plan is an asexual neckerchief sporting cipher who needs regular doses of exposition to live and who's main concern isn't the heist at hand but Cobb's degrading mental state in it. Other characters get left behind in the dreamscapes they create; only Cobb can travel further toward limbo, a space who's architecture (a mash up of memory and imagination) he spent 50 years exploring. Even when he finds Saito, it's in a space that Arthur first created to trap him. Cobb has to go down to the bottom, to the place where he made his most significant mistake, in order to find a measure of forgiveness.

Of course, I could be wrong about all this. The movie could only be operating on the level on which it is overtly operating (though I highly doubt it), and there is an extent to which, like The Prestige before it, the movie is a metaphor for filmmaking itself: all its oddities and eccentricities (like how characters invisibly travel from one location to the next while suspending their conversations until the camera joins them again at their destination) brought to the fore instead of hoping for suspension of disbelief. Regardless, whether you think the top keeps spinning at the end or you see it falter on the way to falling, the movie is excellent: genius editing (Oscar to Lee Smith), sumptuous set design, rich score from Hans Zimmer. It's one Cheese Man*** away from a masterpiece. A-

***I am telling you, it all comes back to Buffy.

Predators (2010)

I'm not sure I can discuss this movie at all without discussing it in its entirety, so SPOILERS ABOUND.

You had to figure that there would be a point to Topher Grace's character because he's just so pointless for so long, but, as I was lulled into his pointlessness until shortly before the reveal, I was actually chilled by it. Well played, movie/Grace. Of course, I strangely found it a relief because he was the worst doctor ever. Honestly. I kept being like, "Do you want to offer any of these guys some medical care? No?" Even when he himself is bleeding, he does not suggest bandaging the wound. I survived the Predator Preserve and all I got was this lousy gangrene!

Here's something I need explained to me: movie characters who have nothing to live for have the greatest will to live. Survival instinct and military training would only take you so far, wouldn't they?* Maybe I wouldn't know because I've never been in a life or death situation, but, for the love of peace did I not understand what was motivating Royce (Adrien Brody). We're told he's a mercenary, and he uses Hemingway to deflect/illuminate the idea that he just might really love the hunt/killing people. But if that's all you've got in your life (no family, no friends, no name until the very end), wouldn't you love the Predator Preserve? Wouldn't you be really excited to be there and get to do what you love all the time? The Predators themselves don't seem to be hunting for fun or spoil (we only see one collect the traditional head/spine trophy despite multiple kills) but to hone their skills. Maybe the Predators didn't factor in the idea that getting kidnapped and dropped on some weird jungle planet doesn't bring out your best game. They should include little guide books with the parachutes: Congratulations! You've been selected for Predator Planet, a boundless game preserve on which you will almost certainly die!

The movie itself is pretty much what you'd expect from the genre: sketchily drawn ensemble cast, one liners, heavy on action, and short on plot. From the shocking opening to the oppressively heavy rain forest, DP Gyula Pados' work is of a far higher calibre than the merely competent work you'd normally see. Aside from that and the usual, there's really only Louis Ozawa Changchien as a member of the Yakuza to pay attention to. As soon as it was made clear he was Yakuza, I inwardly cheered, but then I started to worry that I was reverse Othering by fetishizing the Other (Yakuza, ninjas, samurai) instead of dealing with any negative feelings I may have about the Other, and it is a strange day indeed when a movie with no deep thoughts of its own makes you confront your own potential racism. C-

*It's sort of the opposite of Buffy at the end of Season Two when Angelus is all, "Now that's everything, huh? No weapons, no friends, no hope. Take all that away and what's left?" and goes in for the killing blow, but she stops it and says me, "Me." Her will to live is greater than the traditional things one would rely on to sustain it because her will to live is directly tied into the fate of the world. Things keep coming back to Buffy lately, but it was a really good show.

The Sorcerer's Apprentice (2010)

It's obvious Disney wants to turn The Sorcerer's Apprentice into their next Pirates of the Caribbean or at least the next National Treasure, but I don't think that's going to work. I've been trying to pinpoint why. The Sorcerer's Apprentice is no Pirates, but surely Nicholas Cage and director Jon Turtletaub could create another Treasure, right?

Bear in mind that I realize that this is Disney we're talking about here, but I think the problem is that there are no stakes. The Chosen One is a story that's been done to death, but, as far as magic goes, the Chosen One is owned by Harry Potter at this point in the cultural lexicon. Those books, and by consequence the movies, grew with their readers: they got progressively darker as Harry (and the reader) got older. So to drop us into a story where the Boy Wizard Sorcerer is 20 and to at no point give us any reason to think his life might be imperiled by the ones who want him dead is a misstep. Sure, Max (Alfred Molina) keeps saying that he's going to kill Dave (Jay Baruchel), but, when presented with a prime opportunity, he doesn't even try! Doesn't even knock him unconscious. Pull it together, villains.

And while we're talking villains, can someone please explain to me the value in ending the world? Remember way back in the glorious second season of Buffy, when Spike allied with Buffy over Angelus mostly to get Dru back but partly because he didn't see the appeal of ending the world anyway? I always think of that little speech ("like Happy Meals with legs") whenever villains want to end the world in movies and on TV because then you die, too, moron. Unless that's the point, in which case kill yourself and save us the trouble. Selfish. Anyway, it's later clarified that the world "as we know it" will end, which is another thing entirely. I can see why you'd want to do something about that.

But I digress. So here are these characters, locked in mortal combat for over a millennium, waiting to find the Prime Merlinian, so they can release Morgana Le Fey (bully for Max), so Dave can kill her (bully for Balthazar (Cage)). Even when your outcome is a foregone conclusion, you can still build some suspense. But all the suspense I felt was of the tying the plot elements together variety: "I wonder how the Tesla coils will fit into this." "Oh, there we go." Did I wonder if Dave would accept his destiny and live up to his potential? Of course not. And not just 'cause it was a movie. Because it was a deliberately lighthearted movie. I've seen Baruchel in some dark places before (Just Buried), so I'm sure he can bring it. The movie didn't want to go there, so none of the actors did either.

That's not so bad, I suppose. It certainly means a less hammy Cage than you might expect. If anything, he and Molina are having a helluva time being just hammy enough. Despite the lack of pathos, Baruchel is still charming and a comic find. Plus you've got Toby Kebbell up in there (between this and Prince of Persia, I'm starting to wonder if he's got a three picture deal at Disney) poking hilarious fun at Criss Angel (just like that great episode of Supernatural!), so it's a good time. A fluffy, frothy, fitfully fun good time.

I don't know. It's like the Fantasia sequence: it feels like it was just dropped in the middle with no thought about how to properly integrate it into the story. It doesn't suit the character (a guy who has little confidence in his magic suddenly opts for a big spell?), and it involves a comical amount of mops and brooms (didn't they replicate themselves in the original? Okay, after Mickey splintered the first broom). Instead of wondering how this will end or laughing at the dedicated cleaning crew, I was baffled by the sheer abundance of mops and brooms. Why would an unauthorized lab space in an abandoned subway roundabout have all these cleaning supplies? Did Dave put them there? See?! These are the wrong things to be thinking about. But there's no tension or suspense to stop my mind from spinning. C+

Also, maybe screenwriters and the world and I should have a little talk about how we could have tweaked the Becky (Teresa Palmer) plotline a little so it came across as more of a "what if?" thing instead of a creepy, weird thing. Not that it's played it that way, but that's what you would think if some dude thought of a grade school crush as the One That Got Away. Also, why is Becky a freshman? SEE?!

Pop Culture Round Up: July 10 - 16, 2010

Breaking Dawn to film in B.C., Baton Rouge

The Creativity Crisis

Much ado about women: Modern-day reading or distortion?

Too Hollyweird for Hollywood? David Lynch asks fans to help fund his movies

EXCLUSIVE: Marvel confirms they will hire new Hulk for The Avengers
May I suggest Eric Bana?

Bella and Edward Who? Real-Estate Tycoon Deconstructs Twilight
This is amazing.

Discovering Canada's cool capital

Court rules against FCC policies on indecency

The story of pink

The bookcase you'll want to live in Historians locate King Arthur's Round Table

Mark Ruffalo In Late-Stage Talks To Be Marvel’s New Hulk in ‘The Avengers’
The Buffalo!

HBO Picks Up Dustin Hoffman Drama

Vulture’s Choose-Your-Own-Adventure Type Guide to Casting Sensitive Geeks
Quick, guess which one I got on the first try!

Tales from New Orleans
There's a larger thing brewing in me about about literature and New Orleans and Treme and feminism, but we're not quite there yet.

Jay Baruchel to get ACTRA award

Colonoscopy: It’s Time to Check Your Colons
The punctuation mark which I am addicted to. It used to be semi-colons.

How Caravaggio saw in the dark

William Faulkner Goes Online, 50 Years Later

The Smart Set: I Like Candy
I had no idea you could use the word "existential" and its permutations so many times in an article about rediscovering candy in middle age.

The Smart Set: Theater of the Completely Normal

Kick-Ass (2010) & The A-Team (2010)

I think casting directors of the world and I need to have a little talk. During this little talk, we will discuss the hows and whys of casting far more compelling and talented actors as villains instead of in the lead roles. I get why you would want someone compelling in the bad guy role, I really do. But when you put them up against vacant spaces (Kick-Ass) or smug bastards (The A-Team), it's hard to want to see the good guys win.

Really, was there any single relationship in Kick-Ass as well drawn or fun to watch as Chris (Christopher Mintz-Plasse) and Frank D'Amico's (Mark Strong)? Sure, Chris sets Big Daddy (Nicholas Cage) up, and Frank shoots some random teenager in the street. But Frank takes Chris to the movies and makes sure he gets his Twizzlers! They watch TV together! Really, are you going to root for the guy who buys his 11 year-old a butterfly knife for her birthday and lets her use the saltiest language I've ever heard this side of Deadwood? Actually, I'm kind of confused as to where she picked up this stuff give the 1950s turns of phrase her father favours. Did Marcus speak to her this way? Point is, Mintz-Plasse makes Chris sparky and fun and lonely and weird in the best, most honest teenage way, so why would I care if boring Aaron Johnson saves the day? Also, there is no scuba suit in the world that flexible. C

I know it's standard now to make the first movie in what's meant to be a tentpole series an origin story, but let's go ahead and stop doing that now. Unless, of course, you wanted to see a 30-second opening narration turn feature length yet still make no sense at all. I mean, I do get it to an extent. If you wanted me to sit down and sketch out the basic plot, I could probably get it right. Of course, half of that's only upon reflection and discussion. But if you wanted me to sit down and sketch out the enjoyable parts of the movie, they would focus on Patrick Wilson's Lynch almost exclusively. Maybe Brian Bloom as Pike. But that's it! I'd much rather see Wilson have his silly little freak out in the car than pretty much anything involving Liam Neeson, Bradley Cooper, Sharlto Copley, and Quinton Jackson. Wilson plays a lot of straight-laced and dim characters, so maybe he's just excited to let loose. He's having fun, which means we're having fun watching him. It's either that or an overload of smug characters cracking up at I don't even know what because I have yet to hear a joke. I hear catchphrases, and I hear smugness. Liam Neeson, I expect more from you. C-

Pop Culture Round Up: July 3 - 9, 2010

Jeffrey Deitch, director of the Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles, on General Hospital

Egypt unveils discovery of 4,300-year-old tombs

Putting the MEN in Menu

Teenagers inspired by Twilight sink fangs into each other in new 'biting' trend, parents fear risks

Why You Should Feel A Little Bad for Robert Pattinson

Gross - Expanded Avatar to return to theatres

The Medium Is the Medium

A heroic wiki project to identify lost and orphaned films.

See Photos of Gossip Girl Shooting in Paris

Snoop Dogg looking to walk down Coronation Street

The Twilight Saga: Eclipse (2010)

I put nearly every thought I ever had about the story on the table in Book vs. Film: Eclipse, so I've decided not to go for anything in the way of a review here but just collect my stray observations instead.

Stray observations:

• Xavier Samuel as Riley might be the hottest vampire we've seen in the series. It's not that the others couldn't be hot (the actors underneath are); it's just that the movies seem committed to styling them in the least attractive way possible.
  
  
• He's also quite charismatic! Too bad Riley's a one book wonder.
  
  
• Remind me again why they replaced Rachelle Lefevre with Bryce Dallas Howard? I was previously under the impression that Howard had at least some acting ability. Does she just not get the character? Whatever, she's dead now (Victoria, that is).
  
  
• Oh, sweet fancy Moses, some one save me from all these close ups. I can't imagine what that was like in IMAX. OME! girls must have been thrilled.
  
  
• Intentional jokes! Billy Banks! Two great tastes that taste great together.
  
  
• What is with Von Pattinson's sideburns? Were they always this out of control?
  
  
• His eyelashes, on the other hand, are fabulous. I want that mascara.
  
  
• I've forgotten her name and IMDb doesn't list it, but the wigmaster is this movie's MVP. Bella's hair looks so lush and shiny!
  
  
• Has Nikki Reed lost 20 pounds or so? Not that I thought that she needed to lose the weight (because she didn't), but she looks decidedly thinner, particularly in the face, this time around. She looks good either way, just something I noticed.
  
  
• I think Kristen Stewart might have been a little worse this time around. I did not think she was all that concerned with Jacob going off to die. If Von Pattinson's default setting is "pained," then her's is "forgot how to breathe." I sort of think I like her as an actress, though, so I hope she pulls it together.
  
  
• Taylor Lautner's a sweet kid, but things I would not put him in charge of include wishing people were dead, threatening people with suicide, and use of the word "bro" (c.f. Humphrey, Dan).
  
  
• Man alive is Julia Jones (Leah) beautiful when she's not so angry. Which is exactly how Stephenie Meyer described her. Casting coup!
  
  
• Why are these olde tyme vampires so ugly?
  
  
• Em pointed out that Jackson Rathbone appears to be playing Nicholas Cage in Con Air and to a certain extent that's true, but there were also moments when genuine emotion broke through instead of ham mixed up with the accent, which makes me kind of sad for him over all. Also, why does he have different hair every time? And why are his contacts the exact same colour as his hair? He looks extra freaky!
  
  
• While I appreciated the attention to detail of giving the Cullens dark contacts at certain points in the movie to show that they need to hunt (and I'm pretty sure that these lined up with the novel), did anyone else find their golden eyes freaky this time around? Actually, you'd think that would be something the other students would gossip about: how come everyone in this adopted family has the exact same (non-human?) eye colour? You'd think some Cullens would wear contacts to blend in/mix it up.
  
  
• I bet Justin Chon's glad he showed up for his one line.
  
  
• When Carlisle and Billy shook hands, I was reminded of the time I was talking about Twilight the Movie with a co-worker, and she said that she thought that the adults' performances were better than the teens'. I started to say something like, "Well, of course, they're all better actors," but I ended up just confessing that I would totally watch a spin-off show about the dads. Picture it! Dr. Acula, Sheriff Swan, and wheelchair-bound Quileute Chief Billy Black? Admit it, that sounds totally cool.
  
  
• Re: the tent scene. Everyone was thinking, "Kiss! Kiss!" right? What is with these movies and how easy they make it to root for non-Bella and Edward coupling?
  
  
• I like how they left in imprinting but cut out the precedent-setting Quil-imprints-on-a-two-year-old stuff. Probably for the best.
  
  
• Or how pretty much everyone but Jacob imprints.
  
  
• Or how Edward likes to invade their wolf-base hive mind.
  
  
• Which later bites him in the ass when they all feel the pain of Jacob's attack.
  
  
• Ha.
  
  
• The Cullens wear matching outfits in the scene where they first try to catch Victoria. Oh goodness. Way to emphasize the fact that they are a cult.
  
  
• Seriously, what was the point of hiring Howard Shore? I'm not a huge Shore fan, but he's definitely done some cool stuff while working with David Cronenberg. They really need to get Carter Burwell back.
  
  
• I wasn't even much of a fan of Bella's lullaby, but now I kind of miss it. It's one of the two repeated elements in the books that pretty much doesn't exist in the movie (Edward's favouring of blue on Bella is the other).
  
  
• The soundtrack's a little better than New Moon but still not as rad as Twilight.
  
  
• How come no more Von Pattinson on either, come to think of it?
  
  
• I like how Seattle's vampire army wears a lot of flannel.
  
  
• Actually, there's a lot of plaid in this movie. What's with Bella and plaid?
  
  
• Dakota Fanning is good as Jane, but I miss Aro. Michael Sheen rocks.
  
  
• When the Cullens were just standing around waiting for the newborn army (seriously, they just stand there, I believe in matching outfits again), I wondered why they can't get poor Emmett a jacket that fits.
  
  
• Von Pattinson's chest hair is still in place. Check that chest hair on Peter Facinelli! And one of the other ones (Jackson Rathbone, I think)! The Cullen men are working it.
  
  
• Edward's graduation party outfit struck me as perfect. Actually, it was really only Alice who looked oddly dressed at that party, which is the exact opposite of how Alice should look.
  
  
• I sometimes forget that Edward, and all the vampires really, should look freaky and non-human in comparison to the rest of the cast, but I saw it here a few times in a good, not obviously undead way.
  
  
• I hate narration, so I'm glad they barely used, but it's even more distracting when used so sporadically. It sounds like something you keep forgetting to do and then suddenly throw in to say, "Oh, yeah! Narration!"
  

That's all I can think of right now, but I reserve the right to add more observations as they come back to me. Massive improvement over New Moon. Probably the best in the series. B

And if you're in need: A Guide to Recognizing Your Vampires

The Last Airbender (2010)

Hey, have you watched Avatar: The Last Airbender, the Nickelodeon cartoon series on which this movie is based? No? Me neither. Apparently that's a crying shame, but let me tell you something: maybe that shouldn't be the main criteria critics should use to judge the film.

Perhaps that's an odd sentiment coming from a purveyor of Book vs. Films, and I know I've hated on movies before because of how poorly I felt they represented the source material. I've also thought that I would have liked certain movies on their own merits if I hadn't already experienced the source.

In essence, I think that's what happened here. The story, at the very least, is cool: the earth is divided into eight kingdoms, north and south for each of the four elements: air, water, earth, and fire. Within these kingdoms, there are people who can "bend" or control their element (kind of like those kids on Captain Planet, only without the goofy heart stuff). To each generation an Avatar is born: a child who can bend all the elements and maintains the balance between the kingdoms and between the Earth and the spirit world.

About 100 years ago, the Avatar went missing, and the Fire people took over the planet, forcing benders into prison camps. The world's lived in topsy-turvy chaos ever since. Until now, that is, when a Southern Water Kingdom hunter (Jackson Rathbone) and his undisciplined bender sister (Nicola Peltz) find Aang (Noah Ringer)/the Avatar trapped in a bubble/suspended animation. When Aang realizes what happened when he shirked his duties, he sets out to complete his training and bring order back to the world.

Alright, so maybe I wouldn't have let writer/director/producer M. Night Shyamalan write his own adaptation. We don't need Dev Patel (with a credible American accent) to repeat his motivation every single time he's on screen. I promise to remember who he is. And maybe I would have looked a little harder before settling on Ringer for Aang. I know quality child actors are hard to come by, but this kid didn't bring it as the role requires.

All that said, I do think the movie looked cool (I gave up on 3D a few movies back, and I doubt this one is worth the extra money given that it was added after the fact), and I may have gotten a little misty eyed during the montages of the Earth people liberating themselves from their Fire overlords because apparently team work gets me right here. So what if it doesn't live up to the cartoon? It's good summer fun, and I'd much rather see it again than or The A-Team or Clash of the Titans. Isn't that enough? C+

I am going to have to watch the cartoon, though. There's no way this movie is going to do well enough at the box office to develop into a trilogy.

Pop Culture Round Up: June 19 - July 2

Video Games - 3-D Without Glasses

The Tony Kushner "Angels in America" effect

Night of the Living Wonks

Chinese reporters schooled in news manipulation

Ivan Vasiliev: rocket man

Five Reasons Why Moving the Oscars to January Is a Good Idea

Maslow’s Pyramid Gets a Makeover

Brace for Impact — It’s Action Movie Season

Copy-Editing the Culture: Grown Ups

Fans Can Expect Lots of Skin – and Sex! – in Breaking Dawn

The Star Market - The Vulture
Taking over from the Fame Index, are we? Man, I still miss Fametracker.

The revealing truth about modern burlesque

The secrets of "Psycho's" shower scene

Are Hollywood actors saving their best for the stage?

Where have all the protest songs gone?

FIGHTING WITH TEENAGERS: A COPYRIGHT STORY

Gossip Girl Gets a Premiere Date

A Maxim a Day Keeps Bad Feelings Away