Pop Culture Round-Up: January 10 - 16

Criticism in crisis is back in full force: LA Weekly's theatre critic shifts to "Critic-At-Large" [shudder], and LA's Daily Breeze has dropped their theatre critic as well. Is there no theatre in LA? That doesn't sound right.

But what if you are in the target demo, and you don't watch any of those shows? Who's targeting me?

What? Do I really have to reconsider my slight obsession with returned Nazi art? Mind, I would like there to be some sort of condition that requires the art to be donated to a period of time to the museum of the rightful owners choice. Being too poor to go around buying expensive art, I never saw the point of keeping it locked away.

I'm not looking forward to many of these. Surely 2009 has more to offer?

Adieu.

That's true -- what did happen there?

There should be more rapping about that show.

When Gossip Girl asked us on Monday, "Does anyone remember Georgina?", the correct answer was, "Yes, the writers." Girl better get hooked up with Agnes and stir that shit up.

"A couple of songs this year, we wanted to do particular styles, like a club tune, and we wanted to do a West Side Story-type musical song." I can only hope this leads to the return of angry dancing, which is only a step away from dance fighting.

Pretty much anyone associated with Supernatural already has a good reputation with me.

People, do not deny yourselves Slumdog Millionaire. Even if you don't like it.

What the hell? That's a mistake. This, however, is not. Actually, it might be. If Spider-Man 3 taught me anything, it's that having multiple villains doesn't always work. Mind you, it worked just fine for Batman Returns.

I am going to see this one.

There's nothing about this that isn't funny.

For our tough economic times.

Huh, what? Actually, I think that's alright.

Ooo, I think I might like that. Of course, I'd like it a lot better if the stupid fuckers at the alphabet network weren't such stupid fuckers to begin with.

Oh, what the hell? Grow up, Parents Television Council.

I'm not sure how exciting a LINCOLN SMASH-less TV season will be, but I'm okay.

Yay! But why isn't it about Eric?

I'm all about 2, 7, 14, 15, and 17. As for five, it's occurred to me recently that it might be a better soundtrack than it is a movie.

GAH! Is there nothing this man can't or doesn't do? I'm beginning to think that he thinks that he's Peter the Great reborn.

Phew.

Okay, I've keep silent over this one because when your favourite (living) actor quits acting, it's little like your (movie) boyfriend breaking up with you from out of nowhere. I had some stages of grief to go through. I'm (mostly) okay with it now. He remains a prime candidate for my burgeoning celebrity interventionist* career with news like this, though. What kind of crap friend is Casey? He doesn't stop him from going out in public looking like Vincent Gallo, and he can't even be bothered to help him figure out right from left.

'Tis the season:

LAFCA winners.

BAFTA nominees.

Golden Tomato Awards.

*N.B.: This isn't for the type of problem that would land you on Intervention. We deal with more celebrity-specific issues like how to style your hair for public viewing, considering pants, and, apparently, when to keep your dreams of becoming a rapper to yourself.

Prison Break (2005 - ?)

Since the last TV Thursday was devoted to Heroes, it seems like I should write a little bit about the other competition for my attention Mondays at 9: Prison Break.

Or as I called it in season 2: Prison Broke.

Then in season 3 it was Prison Break (Panama Edition).

Now in season 4 it's Stay out of Prison by Taking Down the Company, which isn't really as catchy, so I just call it Prison Break.

There are quite a few things that PB has in common with Heroes, and, although Heroes has been better in the last two episodes, PB still does those things better.

1) The Company

In Heroes' land, the Primatech Paper is a front for the shadowy and mysterious "The Company," a nefarious organization behind pretty much every bad thing that happens on the show: the virus, the formula, kidnapping, murder, synthetic abilities. You name it, they did it. The Company on PB is much the same: an overarching, multinational corporation that is responsible for every bad thing, ever. In season 1 we learned that they sent Linc (Dominic Purcell) to prison, and they've been behind everything that has happened to the brothers ever since (although it's kind of funny that Michael's (Wentworth Miller) the genius who engineers prison breaks and all manner of escapades, but they still consider Linc a serious threat). Both Companies can be difficult to swallow at times (just like the hotels in Monopoly), but the difference is the way they are treated on the shows.

In Heroes, the Company is a catch all. The bad thing (e.g. the formula) is invented first and then linked it back to the Company (turns out they used it years ago to create synthetic abilities, felt bad about it for unspecified reasons, and hid the formula rather than destroy it).

On PB, however, the Company is the show's driving force. What the Company does and why is almost a Macguffin at this point, but it's existence is enough. What they've already done (put Linc in jail, killed his ex-wife, set up his son for her murder, put Michael back in jail, Head in a Box,* etc.) is reason enough to want to take the Company down. Their nefarious dealings in Laos or anywhere else are just the icing on the evil cake. Each person as his or her own personal reason to want revenge, which makes it all the more interesting to watch. It's not just blathering about heroes and villains.

2) The Brothers

At the centre of both shows are a pair of brothers: the older, former bad boy (Linc, Nathan) and the idealistic, fatally loyal younger one (Michael, Peter). Nathan's conversion from bad to good happened onscreen over the course of season 1, while Linc's seems to have happened before we even met him. Linc was never that bad a person to begin with (he never plotted to blow up New York and his brother), but he's still trying to be a better person, brother, and dad. He's even put aside his quest for revenge against the man who killed his father, Alex Mahone (William Fitchner), and offered to help Mahone track down the man who killed his son instead.

Michael's a tougher nut to crack and, like, Ventimiglia, also had trouble with the Blue Steel early on. Miller's less reliant on it and more expressive as the seasons go by, and he gets to do something new this season: jokey Michael! When Scott Tobias pointed out earlier this year that, "as an actor, Ventimiglia seems incapable of having any fun," it was one of those thunderbolt moments for me. That's totally the problem. He never smiles or laughs ever even when it would be appropriate, script-wise. Miller, on the other hand, now gets to joke at least once an episode, and it allows him to keep sharpening Michael as a well developed person.

Though both shows have large casts, Michael and Peter are definitely their central characters, and it can be limiting to build a show around an actor who is, well, limited. Kristen Bell could take whatever the Veronica Mars writers threw at her (the subject of another TV Thursday, I suppose); others cannot. Despite the outlandish plots, the PB writers respect that they have a genre show/live action graphic novel on their hands and have carefully and slowly developed their characters (for the most part) accordingly.

Also, they are not afraid to kill a bitch. Roland, Whistler, and Cameron are characters that died just this season. Who will be next? That's half the fun of watching.

*Sadly not as cool as Chief Head in a Box, largely because the head in question turned out to be a fake.

Tropic Thunder (2008)

Premise: First time director Damien Cockburn (the peerless Steven Coogan) can't control his diva cast of action star Tugg Speedman (Ben Stiller), award winner Kirk Lazarus (Robert Downey, Jr.), and comedian Jeff Portnoy (Jack Black), so Four Leaf Tayback (a never funnier Nick Nolte), author of the book Tropic Thunder, convinces him to put his stars and two supporting players, rapper mogul Alpa Chino (Brandon T. Jackson) and bit player Kevin Sandusky (Jay Baruchel), out in the jungle to shoot the movie guerrilla style. Things go south pretty quickly.

It's a Jack Black double bill!

Oh, co-writer-director-producer-star Stiller, how do we get you to make more movies like this? Stop making sequels to those not-particularly-funny-in-the-first-place Focker movies, and just make more movies exactly as outrageous as this one. Mind you, seven years have lapsed between this and the highly quotable Zoolander. Allow me to revise: if it takes another seven years to get a parody of this quality, one that is this smart, silly, and fun, we'll wait.

Yes, parody. Don't bother calling it a satire 'cause it's not a satire. Satires have bite, and this movie only has bite if you are a) Russell Crowe or b) Tom Cruise, and he is obviously not bothered by it. And, while we're here, let's get this out of the way: Is it offensive? No. I'm not a member of a group that would be offended by it, but let me explain. The Simple Jack stuff is representative of a certain kind of Oscar-baiting and within the movie it is meant to be offensive, which is why it shouldn't be considered offensive outside the movie. The fact that Tugg made Simple Jack is supposed to make him look bad, so pointing to it outside the movie and saying, "That looks bad" is redundant.

As for the blackface, same deal. It's suppose to highlight that doing this sort of thing is stupid and offensive, so saying, "Hey! That's stupid and offensive!" accomplishes the same goal. Besides, Downey is doing the most hilarious parody of Method-actors like Russell Crowe (with a touch of Adrian Brody thrown in for good measure) ever. The throw away clip of Lazarus on Inside the Actors Studio is worth the price of admission alone. Downey's trademark multi-current emotional acting is suspended in favour of a more deadpan delivery, but I think we can live with it. It's worth it to see Downey and Stiller try to out crazy each other with Black's manic energy surging in the background.

Let's move on to what's really important here: When did Baruchel get so adorable? He was always adorable (nervous about grabbing the hydro wires on PMK? Adorable! Punching Lloyd in the ear 'cause he doesn't know how to fight? Adorable!), but now he's super adorable, like, boyfriend adorable. When did this happen? Maybe it helps that of the five, he's the audience surrogate. Okay, his fantastic comedic timing helps, too.

Fine, I'll tell you what you really want to know: will Tom Cruise's cameo save his career? Probably not (there a moments when he's a little too scarily committed), but it should because it is hands down the funniest thing he has ever done. It's a shame he never had the chance to be on Extras. And to those in the theatre who gasped when his name was revealed in the credits (yeah, I heard you): are you best friends with Anthony Lane? Not only does Tom Cruise still resemble Tom Cruise, but he also sounds like Tom Cruise. He has a very distinctive voice.

The details are what makes this one near-constantly hilarious from the three fake trailers that precede the movie (I would so see Satan's Alley*) to the exposition via Maria Menounos to Tyra Banks. Co-writers Stiller, Justin Theroux, and Etan Cohen have an excellent ear and eye for fitting in the visual references and double speak that makes this inside-Hollywood picture nothing short of a treat. A-

*When did Tobey Maguire start looking like Wentworth Miller, though? Well, like Michael Scofield?

It's not like I don't see the reasoning here

Because I do. I get it. He just "won" on that deplorable show (top rated and one of the worst offerings by far), so putting him on the cover helps keep him and his probably soon to be available debut album in the public mind. But seriously? This guy? Wentworth Miller and Jake Gyllenhaal I get, but this is too much.

It's not like he's one of these two guys. Redford and Newman really aren't ones I typically go in for, although I do appreciate their old-school movie star charisma. But, let's not kid our selves: these two look damn good here.

Free Market Economy

a.k.a Watch a bunch of movies you’ve never head of day!

Recently, Graham made a tiny diction error, and it set off a fire storm of thoughts and a smaller one of comments. Nonetheless, I got to thinking about whether the individual reader is on the wrong cinematic train because most of the movies I review are ones they’ve never seen or heard of.

The short answer? Yes.

Perhaps I should indulge you (and myself) with a longer answer.

Simply put, how is I that I see so many movies/come to know about so many movies in order to see them? Long before Feria Films was a twinkle in my eye, I subconsciously made it my business to know about movies and their makings.

This next bit is going to sound really pretentious, hopefully unavoidably so: although many people are familiar with those behind the scenes of their fav films, I make a point of noting the director and/or writer(s) of everything that I like for one reason or another. It’s enough, I find, for most people to think that a certain movie looks “good” or has a certain someone they like in front of the camera. For the most part, that’s enough for me as well. Even so, I will often go see a movie with people I don’t like or that doesn’t look all that good in the promos because it’s got someone I like at the helm. Case in point? Elizabethtown. I love Cameron Crowe enough to put up with Jessica Biel, which is another way of saying a lot.

Future example? Despite its condescending labelling as “that gay cowboy movie” (is that a genre I don’t know about?), I will see Brokeback Mountain, probably on opening weekend. Why? Because it’s Ang Lee’s latest. I don’t need more than that. He had me at Sense and Sensibility.

Much like the people that make them, movie watching begets more movie watching. When you see movies or rent them, you have access to trailers, which only inspire me to watch more movies.

Of course, that last part is related to the cyclical nature of my blog. See, when I write I review, I hit up the movie’s IMDb page for information. I never would have found the page if I hadn’t been looking for a source for Feria Films’ sake. Now the site is its own related but separate addiction. Not only do I follow the filmography of any and all, but I check out the site even though it’s not related to the task at hand. If I suddenly remember that I like Sam Rockwell, for example, then I look him up to see what new projects he has on the go.

While an ordinary person might see a trailer or read about a movie and then promptly forget all about said flick, I – and this is where I just get nutty – make a note. Both Emily and Madison can attest to the fact that I used to keep pages and pages of double-sided post-its to make sure I saw everything that I intended to see. Now that I have a Zip account, the list is simply transferred there. So when I decide that I haven’t seen enough Jack Lemmon movies, I look him up on Zip and add a bunch of the titles to my list.

It’s an addictive and possibly degenerative disease.

It all comes down to three little words that Sarah was kind enough to point out: Free market economy. Graham, and all readers for that matter, are you currently reading interview books (The New New Journalism and Original Minds in my case) that are changing and challenging your interests and even goals? Are you addicted to high concept Fox dramas? Do you download Damien Rice songs and wonder why he’s suddenly the go-to guy for pathos in TV and movies?

No?

Does that make one of us on the right train and the other on the wrong? Probably not. There are more books you there than you will ever read, more TV shows than you will ever watch, and more music than you will ever listen to. Just the way it is.

Are you, however, on the wrong movie train if you are never interested in any of the movies I blog about? If I said no, that would deny the reason for the blog’s very existence. So of course you are. I watch more movies than most people will ever see, and I make no apologies for it. I read more reviews than you do, I watch more trailers, and I make more notes in my calendar about upcoming premieres. It’s my thing.

Happy Watch a Bunch of Movies You’ve Never Head of Day!